I Promise I am Still Alive

I just wanted to post quickly to let you know that I am still alive. We have been so busy. We went to NC for Christmas and now we are back in Utah because Adam's little sister got married yesterday. I have so much to catch you up on. I promise...one day soon you are going to come visit my blog and there is going to be a blog overload. So just be ready!

Bumbo Chair

We have finally gotten out our Bumbo chair and she LOVES it. Even though the box says the chair is meant for 3 months +, at 2 months she is enjoying herself. She will sit there for about 10 to 15 mins at a time before she wants out. That is the longest she will do anything by herself, so I can actually get a few things done. YAY!

Sitting up?

So here are two pictures of Mackenzie sorta sitting up. She hates tummy time and she gets aggravated when she has to lay on her back for a long time. She wants to be held all the time and she is so spoiled (we all did it to her). We love holding her, but it is just really hard when I am trying to get other things done around the house and Adam is at school or work. She loves to look around and when we hold her in our lap she wants to face outward. When she is up on our shoulder, she is looking around as hard as she can. So now we are working on getting her to sit up a little on her own so she can be happier. Here are our first couple attempts.






She is doing a good job already. She can stay balanced for a second or two before she goes tumbling, or just leans forward until she can't go any further. This is going to be our new trick since we can't get her to stay on her tummy long enough to matter. She just screams and screams and I can't stand it.

Christmas is in the air!

So with this Christmas season there are many lights around the town! Tonight Adam drove me by this house to show it off. I will not share my opinion...I want yours. Do you think it looks nice? Is it tastefully done? Is it too much? I just want to know what you think. I took a few pictures and they didn't turn out, so here is a cute video of the front of this house.

2 Month Check up

Mackenzie did great today at her 2 month check up. I was so sad that she had to get her shots today, but she did great! I wasn't actually with her for her shots, but daddy was right there by her. I had to talk to the doctor about some problems I am having. I am just so glad Adam was there with me to help. Mackenzie did great though. I heard her scream one time and then she was basically done. Adam told me she only cried when they actually gave her the shots. By the time she came back in the room with me she was perfectly content.

She is now

23 inches long (75th percentile)

9 pounds 13 ounces (25th percentile)

38 cm head circumference (25th percentile)

She is long and lean.

Here is a picture of her beside her little bunny rabbit. I decided to take the picture after her bath when she was naked so you could she how skinny she is. There are no fat rolls...sad.

And this was Mackenzie at 1 month. Wow has she grown!

Pictures!

Mackenzie and Daddy ready to go out into this cold winter weather!


Mackenzie on the plane to North Carolina. She doesn't mind this flying thing.


This is my dress when I was little. How cute is she in it?


Daddy packed Mackenzie in his suitcase to bring her back to Utah.

We're Back

We are finally back in Utah, but not for too long. We are going back to North Carolina for Christmas. I leave on the 11th and Adam is leaving a week or so later. We are so excited that we get to spend so much time with family (on both sides).

We had a great Thanksgiving...theh only problem was that Mackenzie slept for a couple hours before dinner, but during the prayer she woke up. Yes, I held her for the first half of the meal and fed her while Adam and the rest of the family ate. Then I got to eat after he was done. This is how our meals work most of the time. We had a wonderful time in New Jersey and were lucky to get to visit. I don't remember if I mentioned it, but we went up there because Adam had a job interview in Philidelphia. He got an offer!!!! We are excited and just trying to figure out what to do. This is a scary thing because it is the beginning of the rest of our lives. Pray for us that we make the best decision.

In New Jersey

So here is how I found my husband and daughter this morning...
How cute is that...

They decided to cuddle when I got up this morning.

We are in New Jersey now with Adam's family for the Thanksgiving holiday. We have been on vacation for a little while so that is why haven't really blogged much. Mackenzie is a jet setter and will actually be traveling even more in a few weeks. We are going back to NC for the Christmas holiday.

Keep Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Ok, first of all that is Meredith's title. I would have put down as the title, POOR DADDY ADAM. That's right my daughter has decided to put on a great show for Meredith's family but for some reason, she won't do it for me (I was sleeping, yeah I guess that's what I get for being lazy). Ok watch the video below and you will see what I have seen. JUST A VIDEO!

NC, That's Right NC!

Well Meredith and her mom are at it again.  That's right we somehow have landed our traveling family in NC for a weekend of fun.  Papa Bruce had not seen Mackenzie in person yet and so for a great surprise we decided to show up in NC.  Papa Bruce was astonished as we walked down to the baggage claim because he had expected to see an old friend from Texas.  I am sure that Meredith will explain in another blog at some point, but I thought you would need to know that we are in NC for the next blog, so stay tuned.

Real Quick

I have noticed a lot of people have made this mistake and I guess it is mostly my fault for naming my daughter something with so many spellings, but Mackenzie is spelled with a lower case k. I guess the capital K reminded me of a last name and so did the McKenzie or Mckenzie without the A.

Just a thought so everyone knows. And don't worry...all of you who have spelled her name with a capital K I forgive you!

Go Cougars!!

Mackenzie wanted to cheer on her Cougars, while they played the Aztecs from home in her BYU onesie!

She is even trying to smile for the camera.

With the Boys

All I have to say is you never know what can happen when you give your child to 2 guys.



They decided it would be fun to do her hair. You can tell she is not very happy! She likes to look beautiful, but here...not so much.

Smiles and Tears

Mackenzie is finally smiling! I have tried so hard to get a picture of her smiling, but it is so hard to snap a shot at just the right time. Here is one I got last night...

Yeah, she was smiling, but I took the picture a few seconds late. I will keep working on it.

Also, with these smiles, she also has completely gotten her tears. When she cries, tears just run down her face. It makes me so sad to see them. No, I don't take pictures when she is crying so I don't have one to show the tears, sorry.

Mackenzie at a month

Mackenzie is now 5 weeks old. I can't believe time is flying so fast. We took her to the doctor's office yesterday just to weigh her and she has gained weight. She now weighs 8 pounds 10 ounces. She is getting so big!

The night before Mackenzie was officially 1 month, Adam and I were in the mall and decided to go to Build-a-Bear and make her a birthday present. We made a really cute bunny rabbit that even has pink bows on her ears. It supposedly is 18 inches long, so we laid Mackenzie beside it to take a picture. So this is her at 1 month. My sister-in-law had the idea to take a picture of her little boy every month beside the same teddy bear to show how he is growing, so I am going to start doing that. I just wish I would have gotten a picture as she was a newborn.

Going to Church

This Sunday I got such a cute picture of Mackenzie. We put her in a dress that my mom brought out when she came for her birth. It was so precious. Here are a few pictures of us on our way to church.

An interesting weekend

Adam and I had friends come up from St. George this weekend and it was definetely interesting. They have a 7 month old little boy and then Mackenzie is a month and Cassie and Jonny's little girl is a month also. When we all got together before these babies we used to go have fun and do things around town. Now we just "hang out" and sit at home talking. It is really interesting how your life changes with little ones. The only thing is I forgot to take pictures! But oh well, we had a great time hanging out and I am glad we got to see them again.

A Few Halloween Pictures

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

There are more to come later I promise. These are just a few I took to put on the blog for Nana Joy!

Who does she look like?

Adam and I have been discussing who Mackenzie looks like and we want your opinion. What features are mine and what are Adam's? Please tell us what you think.


Here is baby Adam!



Little Mackenzie!


Baby Meredith!

I can't believe it has been 4 weeks

Tomorrow makes 4 weeks of little Mackenzie's life. She is growing so fast and getting her own personality. She is even starting to smile every so often when we are playing with her. I can't believe how lucky we are to have such a great baby. She only really gets upset if something is wrong...other than that she just hangs out and stares at everything. She also is doing great at night. She only wakes up once, maybe twice, during the night.

Here are a few more pictures of her as she is growing.


Hangin out in Daddy's lap

Uncle Dennis and Aunt Sue came to visit!

Mackenzie really enjoys her papasan chair. It vibrates and plays music!

Daddy playing with Mackenzie

Sitting in her boppy pillow again

This is Mackenzie today (one day before 4 weeks old) in her cute outfit that Cassie gave her. It actually fits!!!

Isn't she so adorable

We were trying to catch her smiling...this is as close as we got. (She just got out of the bath)

Little Joseph (my nephew) really loves to see Mackenzie. Tina was holding her and Joseph climbed into his mom's lap so he could see her. Isn't it adorable?

3 weeks

I can't believe how fast time is flying. Mackenzie is already 3 weeks old! That is just crazy. It is really strange because on the one hand I feel like we just had her, but on the other hand I feel like she has been with us forever

Here are a few more pictures of our growing girl.

Mackenzie having a little tummy time.


This is what she really thinks of tummy time.


After giving her a bath...I took this because she looked soooo skinny.


Mackenzie decided she does not like to wear green. This is the second green outfit I have put on her and it is the second outfit she has ruined. The diapers work perfectly until we put her in a green outfit. What is this all about?


This was taken yesterday after we found out that Mackenzie no longer has jaundice!!!! We are so excited that she is a healthy little girl now! (Sorry it is kinda a weird angle, but she was laying in my lap.)

Sleep!!!!

I really have no idea how people do it, or how I do it. As a new mom, everyone knows, you don't get a lot of sleep. Mackenzie has decided that she wants to sleep during the day and play at night. And by play, I mean she wants to stay up and stare at you...but when you finally get her to sleep, you better hold her for another hour before you try to move. If you do move before that hour is up, she will play a little trick and wake up IMMEDIATELY! Then it is back to rocking and sitting for atleast another hour. If you lay her in her bassinet and she isn't completely out, she will stay awake and cry.

I am one of those people that can't stand to hear her cry, so I pick her back up and try it all over again.

The only place I can put her down and she pass back out is on the couch. She loves laying on the couch, with her head on a big pillow. Yes, I know you aren't supposed to put your baby on anything cushy, but it works. Don't worry, I do watch her when she is there, but she doesn't roll over anyway, so I really don't have to worry yet.

Mackenzie, right now, really loves to eat about every hour or 2 especially at night, so that means we have REALLY LONG nights! I hope things get better, but I am kinda getting used to running on no sleep.

But one exciting thing that I really hoped was going to last is....
This past Thursday night Mackenzie slept from 2:30 until 7! When I woke up at 7 (I heard her making little noises so I knew she was ok), I looked at the clock and really thought something had happened to the power or someone had changed my clock. I couldn't believe that she had slept that long. Don't worry, that was the only time that actually happened.

Maybe one day, RIGHT???

Another Picture

Right now I really don't have a life....

Adam goes to school and work and has been having a lot of job interviews, but I just hang out at home.

Even though I just "sit at home" I feel like I can't get much done at all. Mackenzie, luckily, every day is sleeping less during the day (it helps her sleep MORE at night!). It is fun to interact with her, but it is really hard to get things done. She sleeps in like 30 min-1 hour intervals, so it is just enough time to get things started and then I have to pick her up again. She gets very fussy if she is left alone. I am not complaining though, because I know she won't be this little or needy forever. I will be sad when she wants to be left alone and not cuddled and loved constantly.

I just took a couple cute pictures of her, so I wanted to share them with you!


Mackenzie hanging out in the Boppy Pillow!


The car seat ruined her hair, but I still thought she was adorable!


She is now passed out...this is what she looks like right now as I am writing this blog...

Life as we know it

Nana Joy has now left and is back home in sunny NC! We really enjoyed having her here. The only problem is she completely spoiled Mackenzie rotten in only a few days. I am so glad she was here to help out, but now Mackenzie wakes up EVERY time I put her down. She can be sleeping in my arms and in a really really deep sleep, but the second I lay her down, she is wide awake wondering why anyone would ever put her down. THANKS MOM!!!! :)

Now as soon as we get her to not have to be held all the time, we are going to see family again....and it will be back to the beginning again. I guess that is what you get when you have the first grandchild/granddaughter.

When we do get her to sleep without being held, this is what she looks like.


So many people told me that she will like being swaddled, but they were all wrong. If this little girl has her hands swaddled or even held down, she is not happy at all! She loves to sleep with her hands by her head.

Ok, she just woke up from her nap, so I have to run.

Just for Papa Bruce!!!

Dad wanted a video of his little girl, so here you go!

Our First Shopping Trip

Yesterday we all wanted to get out of the house for a little. I also needed to run to the mall to buy something. Since we were going to the mall, we decided we would spend some time just walking around and getting a little exercise. This was our first time using our stroller. Mackenzie enjoyed the trip. She slept the whole time.



After the mall, Adam had to get to class so Mom and I went to Ross. While in Ross, she started waking up a little, but we wanted to get Jamba Juice. That maybe wasn't the best idea. She was VERY unhappy that we were getting Jamba Juice and she couldn't have any! We finally made it home and she was STARVING!!! This little girl eats so strange. She is like her mom I guess. She likes to graze. She eats a little every hour or so. We are working on getting her to eat more at a time so I can have a break and not have to feed her every hour. I will let you know how that goes...

Little Miss Prima Donna

So today Mackenzie has proven that she really is a Prima Donna!!!



She was having a lot of problems with nursing...as was mentioned in one of the last blogs. We were syringe feeding her so that she would get her nutrition. She would lay back with her arms up by her head enjoying the milk being basically poured down her throat. This was not working for mommy and daddy! So we decided it was time to visit a lactation clinic through the hospital to see if there was anything else I could do to get her to actually nurse properly!



Come to find out....all Mackenzie needed was a private lesson. It took her no longer than about 10 seconds to figure out what to do. She just wanted mommy to spend a little time and MORE money on her to make her feel special, because we haven't done enough already.

She is doing great now and we are working hard to continue to teach her. We really are glad that we went because it helped her to figure things out. She even ate more in the hour of "lessons" than she has at any feeding so far. We are hoping she continues to gain weight and grow like she is supposed to.

One more thing...

Tonight Nana Joy took us out to Outback to celebrate Mackenzie's 1 week birthday. This is a family tradition for the Reeses. We always go to eat at Outback for our birthdays!!!



She has expensive taste at a very young age!


This is Katie's (my sister-in-law) Mom. We went to their home on Sunday for dinner! Thanks for the yummy food! This was our first outing, except going back to the hospital to get Mackenzie's bilirubin levels checked.

Pamela and Katie....I just wanted to mention....THANK YOU for the cute strawberry outfit (Aunt Pam) and pink headband (Aunt Katie) in the above pictures!