All About Our Lives (Mackenzie and Tanner's Lives)

Video Overload

2011-12-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

Picture Update...

2011-12-14T15:13:00.000-07:00

I have about given up on blogging. I just don't seem to find the time anymore. I know many of you like to see my kids and how they are growing, and hear the funny stories about them...but my life seems to be sooo crazy with 2. And by the time I get Tanner to sleep and fight Mackenzie for hours to go to bed, I am so tired I just go to sleep too. Blogging is the last thing on my mind. But we will see if I start doing any better. I am sure I won't during Christmas because we will be traveling all over, but just keep checking in!

So here is an update in pictures...

The kids are with Santa at our church Christmas breakfast

Kenzie hanging out with one of her friends...they are singing songs from the hymn book. haha

Ready to play in the snow...When Adam came home from work she raced to get her clothes on so he would play with her outside!

Snow Angel

The snowman named Chocolate...yeah, she named him.

Tanner's favorite place to sit on the couch.

Enjoying his toy on the couch.

Tanner's first time in the jumper...he has loved it from the beginning

I burned Tanner's hand...long story short...he stuck his hand in Mackenzie's grits right when I took them out of the microwave. They stuck to his hand and he had blisters on his 3 middle fingers. I was so upset and so was he for hours.

Kenzie got a tree to put in her room.

The finished product.

This is what you get when 3 year old decorates your Christmas tree....all the ornaments on one branch.

Cute kids in front of the tree

Tanner sitting up on his own...he loves it!

So here is an update in pictures.

I am waiting for the videos to be loaded and Tanner is waking from his nap, so I will do a separate post with videos!

The Sweetest Conversation

2011-11-08T21:32:00.002-07:00

Tonight I was putting Mackenzie to bed and she has been having major problems with "scaries" in her room at night. We have tried everything and it hasn't really helped.

But as I was putting her down for the 3rd time I told her she really needed to go to bed...I had checked everywhere and there were no scaries. So then here is our conversation.

Me: Remember if you get scared just ask Heavenly Father to help you feel safe.

Kenz: I already did, but what is his number in case I need him again.

Me: He doesn't have a number, just say a prayer and he will be there.

Kenz: Well which number is his? Cause I will call him and talk to him.

Me: Honey, he doesn't have a number...just say a prayer and I promise he will be here and make you feel all better.

Kenz: I bet he has a cell phone so you need to find his number so I can call him. Which number do I press on your phone? (I have the people she would normally call on speed dial, so she knows which number to press to call them).

Me: Ok, I will call him. (I pick up my phone and pretend to talk to Heavenly Father and tell her that he is on his way.

Kenz: Let me have the phone. (I give her the phone... She puts it up to her ear and starts talking...after silence...) Mom he isn't on the phone. You told a fib (we have been working on truth and fib). You need to call him right now!

Me: Honey I can't call him we can only talk to him by saying a prayer. Do you want me to say a prayer with you?

Kenz: No, I just want you to find his cell phone number so I can talk to him and tell him I need him to come lay with me tonight.

I just love my little girl.

Free Entertainment

2011-11-02T15:08:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween

2011-11-02T14:52:00.000-06:00

We had a great time this year for Halloween. On Friday night, we had a party at church. We did trunk-or-treat, and Kenzie thought it was soooo fun.

Then on Halloween we went Trick-or-treating with a group of friends. Mackenzie was the oldest and pooped out the quickest. We thought she would definetely last the longest because she had been so excited about Halloween and dressing up and everything. But that day she didn't take a good nap and she was just really tired and moody.

But here are some cute pictures of the festivities!

Pumpkin Carving!!!

She liked cleaning it out!

This is what Kenzie did the whole time Daddy was carving the pumpkin.

Happy Halloween

The kids had to stop by the park on the way to the first house.

Kenzie wanted to open the storm door to knock on the main door.

Tanner the dragon and Kenzie the damsel in distress (because of the dragon!)

What a precious dragon

Fun Videos

2011-10-24T15:07:00.000-06:00

Its Fall

2011-10-24T14:42:00.001-06:00

This weekend we raked the front yard because it was COVERED in leaves. Mackenzie wanted to play in the pile, but she didn't want to get the leaves in her shoes so she ran inside to put on her new rain boots she got for her birthday.

Mackenzie also went exploring in our backyard...she needed the stick to "kill a bird." Don't ask...she always says she wants to kill the birds in our yard.

Aunt Katie and Aunt Lauren...notice the boots! She LOVES them.

Tanner at 4 months

2011-10-24T14:27:00.000-06:00

Tanner is already 4 months old. I can't believe how fast he is growing! We went to the doctor for his 4 months appointment on September 30...so we could bring Mackenzie for her 3 year appointment also. He is such a precious little boy!

At the doctor he weighed 16lbs and 10 oz. and he was 24 1/2 inches long.

He is such a sweet kid. He seems to be hungry all the time so we started rice cereal the same day as his appointment. He is doing well with it now. We have started other food also. He has tried sweet potatoes (which he likes) and green beans (not his favorite).

He isn't doing as well with sleeping as he used to. He used to only wake up once a night and now he is waking up 2, 3, or even 4 times at night. I am soooo tired lately. But I hope he gets better. We just stopped swaddling him and he is sleeping on his stomach now. So I will update about his sleeping after he get through a week or so of this.

Tanner has rolled over from his tummy to his back and his back to his tummy. He doesn't do it often and Adam has still not seen him do either. When you lay him on his back he moves all over the place. I definitely can't leave him any where he can get hurt now.

He is also spitting up a ton still. He has acid reflux, but none of the medicine seemed to help. None helped with the spitting up and one hurt his little tummy. So we just deal with the spitting up. And I don't mean just a lot of spit up. I am talking about waterfalls of spit up flying everywhere. It is projectile and he goes through 4 or 5 soaking wet outfits a day. He also goes through about 3 cloth diaper spit up cloths everyday. It is so hard to keep myself, him, the floor, and our chairs clean when he spits up. I just feel so bad for him and am amazed he is still gaining weight.

He is in basically all size 6 month clothes, but also wears a few 9 and 12 month pieces.

He is starting to enjoy little toys and he laughs out loud when Kenzie plays with him. He is so cute when he laughs. He also talks a TON! When he is done nursing he just lays back and talks to me.

We just can't imagine life without him! He is such a precious boy.

He has also found his toes.

One last post for the night

2011-10-10T22:01:00.000-06:00

Kenzie had her friend Luke over to play for a little bit and they were cracking each other up... it was so cute.

And Mackenzie was so excited about her new Dora Tent and Pink Potamus sleeping bag that she took a nap in it...

Binkie Fairy

2011-10-10T21:46:00.000-06:00

We have been preparing Mackenzie to get rid of her binkie for weeks. I asked her a few months ago if she wanted to send her binkies to the binkie fairy on her birthday or if she wanted to send them to Santa at Christmas to give to all the little babies who don't have binkies. The Santa thing is what my mom did for me when I was about Mackenzie's age because I LOVED my binkie.

Well, Mackenzie chose the Binkie Fairy because if she sent them, she would get something in return from the Fairy. I was nervous because Mackenzie really really loved her binkies. So like 2 days after her birthday party I told her it was time to find all of her binkies and put them in a box to send to the Binkie Fairy. This is the box we found...and it was addressed to the Binkie Fairy in Binkie Land...

We put it in the mail box and it was taken away. The next morning we found something else in our mail box...

Mackenzie was so excited to get a present in the mail. It was addressed to Mackenzie and was sent from Binkie Land.

She got a Dora necklace, bracelet, and 2 rings. She was so happy. She actually did really well. When we went to bed the night she sent her binkies she cried for just a minute and needed me to lay with her until she went to sleep. After that night she did really well. I was very proud of her!

On our way to Church

2011-10-10T21:36:00.000-06:00

My precious kids were almost ready for church...

How cute are they!

Go Cougars!

2011-10-10T21:34:00.000-06:00

These pictures were taken for the first BYU game and I just haven't put them on the blog so....

GOOOOOOOO Cougars!

Mackenzie is 3!!

2011-10-10T21:31:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe my little girl is already 3 years old. We had a birthday party for her a week early so that her Gigi and Nana would for sure be here to celebrate.

We had a really fun Dora the Explorer birthday party. I asked Mackenzie for a few months what she wanted her birthday theme to be and it was also Dora! So that was it.

We sent Dora invitations to her friends and she got lots of Dora presents for her birthday.

Here are some pictures from her party.

Enjoying Lunch...we had hot dogs and chips.

A few of the kids enjoying the "kids table"

Happy Birthday girl!

Playing at the party

We made binoculars to be an explorer like Dora

They had a great time "exploring" the back yard.

Still exploring everything they can find.

Dora birthday cake

The birthday girl with her cake

She got DOLLARS!

Gigi gave Kenzie lots of Dora for her birthday

Nana gave her a "pink potamus". It is a pillow and sleeping bag.

We had a great time at her birthday party! Thanks for everyone who came to help us celebrate.

Some Recent Pictures

2011-09-26T22:19:00.005-06:00

It seems like we are always posting pictures of our children without Adam or I in it so I decided to post some family pictures.

Our Little Family

Daddy and Tanner

Mommy and Tanner

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-06T14:25:00.000-06:00

We had a great Labor Day Weekend as a family. We didn't really do much, it was just fun to spend time together.

Tanner LOVES to eat his hand.

Already sitting in his Bumbo

Mackenzie loves to hold Tanner.

Mackenzie kept falling into the Bumbo...it was a fun game.

Eating his hand once again.

Holding Tanner once again.

On Labor Day we all went to dinner and then to Putt-Putt. It was a fun night.

Kenzie loving her daddy...Adam helped the kids while I got to eat...we decided for the next few years we will either do a date night or just go to McDonalds...it just isn't worth it.

Mackenzie at her first hole...she got a hole in 1. Seriously!

Daddy showing Kenzie how to line up her body and hold the club...it didn't stick, but we will keep working on it.

The life of a parent...Adam played like this for 2/3 of the game. I forgot my carrier, so we had to hold Tanner.

About that last post...

2011-09-02T22:00:00.000-06:00

Forget everything I said about a good night....it was not such a good night.

Kenz didn't REALLY go to bed until 10 because she was reading and wouldn't go to bed.

And then at 2 she woke up cause she had wet the bed and was yelling at me. I changed her and the sheet, she went right back to bed, but then Tanner woke up to eat. he went to sleep for about 2 1/2 more hours and then was up for the day.

Needless to say...I am tired and going to bed!

Good Night

2011-09-01T20:51:00.000-06:00

Both of our kids just went to sleep on their own!

Tanner was fed at 7:30 and then I laid him in his crib and I only had to go put his binkie in twice...and he fell asleep on his own.

Mackenzie...just had to read a book, sing a few songs and say goodnight.

Now it is 8:30 and both kids are asleep. The only thing that would make it better is if Adam were home...he is in Colorado Springs for work this week. I could get used to this whole having my night to do what I want. I really hope they continue to go to bed this early and this easily!!!

Fun Videos

2011-08-22T14:50:00.000-06:00

Smiling Tanner

Kenzie Dancing

Tanner's Favorite Toy

Tanners 1 and 2 Month

2011-08-22T14:26:00.001-06:00

Life is just soooooo different when you have 2 kids. I just knew that it would be easy to find a time when both kids are asleep so I could keep up with my blog, or at night when they are both fast asleep for the night.... YEAH RIGHT!!!! My kids don't sleep at the same time during the day, and they don't go to bed until I am ready to go to bed at night!!!

But Tanner is now 2 months old, but I want to go back and remind myself and let those who care know what is going on with him.

Tanner is growing so fast!!!! By 1 month he was just trying to figure out what this whole world was about. He was gaining weight so quickly and he is growing like a weed. He was nursing well by 1 month old (it took Mackenzie about 2 months to figure it out). The only problem is that he is spitting up all the time. By spitting up I mean he is soaking through at least a full cloth diaper at each feeding. We have tried him on 2 different medicines, but one didn't help the spitting up, and the other one seemed to give him a tummy ache. So we are just dealing with the spitting up. I guess we shouldn't worry though because he really is gaining weight well.

At Tanner's 2 month appointment he weighed 11 lbs. 6 oz. and was I think 23 inches long. He is around 50th percentile on everything...like 45 on one and 60 on the other or something (I don't have the paper with me).

Tanner did roll over on Friday. He did a VERY SLOW roll from his tummy to his back. He pushed himself onto his side and hung out there for about 2 mins and then continued on to his back. So I don't think I would really consider that a roll over, but he did roll over slowly.

He is such a happy baby when he doesn't have a burp coming. Yesterday at church he was up on my shoulder and the girls sitting behind us were being entertained. They kept touching his little hands and smiling at him and he was talking up a storm. It was hilarious. He kept smiling and talking to them. It was a fun day at church.

Tanner is also holding his head up really well already. He hates tummy time so much. He screams after being on the ground for about 10 seconds. So it is hard for me to do tummy time with him. It is a work in progress. He also fights sleep during the day. He gets really upset when he is tired and just hates to close his eyes. He just stops blinking when he knows he is tired.

But at night he does wonderfully. Take last night for example...he ate at 6:30 and went to bed at 8. He didn't wake up until 3:30 to eat and then he slept until 7. I would say that is a good night. So I can deal with not napping well during the day if I get to sleep at night.

And he is waking up again...so here are a few quick pictures of him...

Tanner at 1 month...with his doggy that Kenzie made for him.

Tanner at 2 months

Utah Trip

2011-08-18T13:58:00.001-06:00

Our family took a nice long trip to Utah for Adam's little sister's wedding. We ended up staying for almost 2 weeks. Adam's Mom rode with us, but stayed down in Provo and we stayed in Bountiful. It was a really fun trip and we were able to do a lot to keep us busy and also to keep Mackenzie entertained.

We played at Hogle Zoo for a day...

Daddy and Kenzie with the cougars.

Kenzie with the Dinosaurs.

Kenzie loved following her cousin Joseph.

Daddy and Kenzie waiting to get sprayed by the dinosaur.

Grandma got sick of Grandpa...so she wanted the dinosaur to eat him!

Grandpa the Gorilla.

The cute spraying elephant.

And the real elephant.

T-Rex.

Kenzie, Joseph, and Samuel checking out the iguana.

Kenzie in front of the chiguita (I think that is how you spell it)...this is her nickname that her Daddy uses.

It was a rainy day, so it was perfect. It wasn't too hot and not many people were there. It only rained a couple times and we just hung out inside the different animal habitats when it was raining. What a great day!

Then we went to Temple Square while Amy was going through the Temple...

Kenzie loved the children's museum in the Church History Museum...

They had a really cute magnetic wall where you could make your own quilt squares.

They also had a dress up area where you could dress in traditional dresses and dance with a movie projected on the wall of a girl dancing....you try to follow her.

She was so excited when we walked in the visitors center...She just kept saying "Mom look...It's Jesus!"

Then we had Amy's Wedding...

Tanner dressed up and happy for the occasion.

Amy and Michael as they walked out of the temple.

Kenzie with her Aunt Amy.

Kenzie and Joseph.

All three kiddos just hanging out and finding their own games to play.

We spent a lot of time in Provo as well...

Joseph and Mackenzie sitting on his bunk bed...She now tells me all the time she needs an "up bed and a down bed" in her room for her and Tanner to share.

Then while we were in Bounitful we went to visit my sister in law's Mom...Katie's Mom, Susan. She had a splash pad in her neighborhood so we went to try it out.

It was kinda funny cause she was scared of the water at first and wanted Susan to run through with her.

And there is our Utah trip in pictures...

So much to catch up on

2011-08-18T13:21:00.000-06:00

So I know I haven't blogged in forever so I am going to be doing a lot of blogs for the next day or two. It is just a lot harder when you have 2 kids to find time to blog. It seems that my kids never want to sleep at the same time, and when they do I have a million other things I need to be doing.

Well we had Tanner's Blessing and lots of family were able to come, but I don't have those pictures on my computer yet, so I will have to go back and do that post later.

After the blessing Adam's Mom stayed with us for a couple weeks. Kenzie had fun getting to know her Grandma. Looking through my pictures I realized I didn't really take pictures of Grandma and Kenzie at our house. We did get one picture as Grandma was teaching me how to make her crescent rolls andn Kenz really wanted to help!

Then we took off to Utah for a little vacation...

I love to see the Temple!

2011-07-19T19:07:00.002-06:00

She loves to sing!

2011-07-16T16:51:00.000-06:00

When Tanner cries, Mackenzie breaks into song to try to make him happy again!

Fun Ballerina Skirt

2011-07-16T16:49:00.000-06:00

Mackenzie loves her new ballerina skirt!

Still being a great big sister!

2011-07-16T16:34:00.000-06:00

Go Rockies!

2011-07-16T16:32:00.000-06:00

We went to a Colorade Rockies game while my parents were here. They had fireworks that night. Mackenzie LOVED the fireworks and Tanner slept through them. We had such a fun time at the game!

The view from our seats.

Tanner slept almost the entire game.

So much fun! Can you tell by my dad's face?

Getting ready for the fireworks.

Such a good big sister

2011-07-16T16:18:00.000-06:00

Just some cute Mackenzie pictures

2011-07-16T16:15:00.003-06:00

She was ready to get in the pool so she put her swimsuit on over her PJs.

She was pretending the hearth was her potty...she was ready for bed...that is why she has on a diaper.

Yummy spaghettios

We found a sandbox on craigslist and she loves it!

Sprinkler Fun

2011-07-16T16:11:00.000-06:00

Mackenzie loves being in a pool! So my mom found a fun sprinkler to run through. You hook it up to the hose and the little sprayers go crazy. So we hooked it up and she wouldn't run through it.

Then while the sprinkler was still going and I was trying to convince Mackenzie to run through it, Adam came home from work. Mackenzie would run through the sprinkler as long as someone was holding her hand and going with her...

The things parents do...

Kenzie Talk

2011-06-27T11:56:00.000-06:00

Gigi and I were talking about things we needed to get from the store...

Me: We need to get a new pool because Kenz's has a hole in it.
Kenz: We going to get a new pool? (very excited)
Me: Yes we are cause yours has a hole in it.
Kenz: I want a blue one this time!!!
Me: Ok, we can get a blue pool.
Kenz: (Jumping up and down) We can get a blue one because it is much cheaper for us!

Do you think we talk about money and finding things cheaper?
haha

Cute Picture

2011-06-15T15:46:00.000-06:00

Mackenzie wanted Daddy to rock her baby while she ate...

The things a Daddy will do.

Coming Home

2011-06-15T15:45:00.000-06:00

Forgot to mention him coming home and some pictures...

Getting Dressed

First carseat picture

Kenz was so excited that he was finally home

Adam's parents sent this...we got it a few hours after I got home. Yummy.

1 Week

2011-06-15T15:22:00.000-06:00

I can't believe Tanner has already been here for 1 week. I feel like he just got here, but also that he has been apart of our lives for soooo long. He is sleeping most of the time and has been a really easy baby so far. He wakes up about 2 times every night to eat and then just passes back out. He is nursing really well and has just been so chill. I am so thankful for a chill baby!!!!

Mackenzie is still being so good with him. She just wants him to be awake more than he is. We keep telling her that in a few weeks he will want to "play" more, but she just has to wait a little longer.

It is also just so great to have my mom here right now. She is soo busy cleaning and doing laundry, cooking when we don't have meals coming in from church, and just helping with everything we need. I am able to rest and just let myself heal while she is here. Adam is back at work, so this has been great.

I feel tons better and will soon be back to normal activity. The only thing is my body just has to get used to no sleep again. I have had a little bit of a headache lately, and I can tell it is just from the lack of sleep. But that is what happens when you have a new born right?!?

He also got his first bath at home and Mackenzie of course had to help. Here are a few pictures...

Mackenzie has also gotten to enjoy her new pool.

Tanner went outside to chill while Mackenzie was "swimming".

Also having Tanner around has taught Mackenzie a few new things....

Yes, she is nursing her bear.

And here is our little boy at one week!

Birth Story

2011-06-15T15:07:00.000-06:00

We were planning on having a baby no earlier than Friday June 10. That was the day I was set to be induced. It didn't look like I was going to go into labor any earlier than that, so everything was kinda on track with what we had planned.

My mom flew into town on Monday, June 6 and we came home and got her a little settled before heading off to my doctors appointment. At the doctor we started listening to the baby's heartbeat as usual, and the nurse was listening just a little too long. So I asked her what was wrong. She didn't seem really concerned, but said she wanted the doctor to hear the heartbeat and see what he thinks. After she left the doctor came in, did my exam, and said he wanted to hook me up to a fetal monitor for a few mins to see what was going on.

He wasn't extremely concerned, but said he would feel more comfortable if we would just go to the hospital on Tuesday morning to be induced just to make sure his heartbeat didn't have time to drop anymore.

So we of course agreed and there we were...Mom had just gotten into town and we were having a baby in a few hours.

My mom and I had planned to have a week to get some last minute things together and do a little grocery shopping before Tanner got here, but that was kinda gone now.

So Monday night my mom and I raced around trying to get a little done while Adam took Mackenzie home to entertain her.

Tuesday morning Adam and I were at the hospital at 6 AM. By 7 we were in the hospital room and I was all hooked up to machines with an IV and was starting to be induced.

The doc came in to break my water at about 7:15, before he raced off to do a 7:30 C-section. and then they started the pitocin drip.

Very soon I started having very nice contractions and lasted an hour or so before getting an epidural.

Things were going very smoothly and I was progressing nicely and then by 12 I was ready to push. The doc got there and after 4 pushes I had baby Tanner in my arms. He was born at 12:36 and was healthy and good. All went well.

By 3 or 4 (when the epidural wore off) I was moved into my postpartum room and working on recovering.

Right after I had Tanner and we called my mom to let her know everything went well (she was at home with Mackenzie) one of my bestest, most awesome friends went to pick my mom up and bring her and Mackenzie to the hospital to meet our little new buddy.

When Mackenzie showed up at the hospital she was so cute. She wanted to see her little brother and was so excited to meet him.

She gave him a "Yaya" which is what she calls her little blankie animal thing, and he gave her a pool. She was so excited to get a pool and couldn't wait to bring it home and play.

But she talks to Tanner in a little baby voice and just wants to play with him constantly. She also wanted to know wheat they were doing with "Baby Brother" everytime they took him out. So she followed him to the nursery when he went...

Tanner wasn't nursing well at the beginning, but he is soing sooooo much better now. I am just so happy because Mackenzie was so difficuilt to nurse for a few weeks. We are all doing well and are so happy to have Tanner in our family!

Potty Training

2011-06-14T16:00:00.000-06:00

Mackenzie has definitely been growing up so fast lately. She is learning tons and is really loving being a big sister. She is so fascinated with Tanner and wants to play with/hold/love/rock him all the time. I can't leave them alone together because there is no telling how much "love" she might give to him with my back turned. We are explaining to her that she has to be sweet and when he is sleeping, which is almost all the time, she doesn't need to bother him so that he can sleep.

But the biggest thing she has done lately..by lately I mean about a month ago...is that she is potty trained! This was such an easy process for us. We waited until she was really ready and excited to start and it took less than a week. We only had a few accidents, and none of them were bad at all. We made a potty chart, she put one sticker on for peeing and two for pooping. She had to get 20 stickers to get a prize. Her prizes were like a little sticker book, or bubbles, or whatever. She worked so hard to get those stickers.

We tried the pull ups thing for less than a day. Anyone who is trying to potty train, I would preach against them. They feel too much like diapers and she knew that if she peed in them, it wouldn't be any different than a diaper. With underwear, she didn't want to get wet so she worked really hard to tell me when she had to go.

She still wears a diaper at night, but she is 100% during the day. It makes things so much nicer now that I have another one in diapers. I don't have to buy diapers for 2. YAY!!!

Gigi also gave her a little incentive that if she was fully potty trained, with the exception of night time, she would be able to pick out 2 toys. This is what she picked out...

The movie Tangled, and a baby seat (the doll she already had).

She absolutely loves both. She puts her little doll in the baby seat and carries her around on her shoulder. She also loves to place it beside Tanner's seat so the babies can lay together.

I just can't believe how fast my little girl is growing up!

Precious Pictures of Tanner

2011-06-08T19:25:00.000-06:00

If you want to go see precious pictures of Tanner go to this website...

bellababyphotography.com

and use the password...

mlip0607rankin

These are from the people who take pics at the hospital...

Who does he look like?

2011-06-08T16:21:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we were trying to figure out who Tanner looked like. We thought he looked a little similar to Mackenzie, but not really.

But then we looked at a picture of Mackenzie when she was born...

What do you think?

Tanner

Mackenzie

Tanner James Rankin

2011-06-08T16:14:00.000-06:00

Most of you already know and have been dying for pictures, so here you go!

Welcome our little Tanner James Rankin!

He was born Tuesday, June 7 2011 at 12:36 in the afternoon.

He was 7 lbs. 10 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long.

He and I are healthy and doing well. He (just like Mackenzie) has not done well with nursing. Luckily this time he and I are working together to figure it all out. We were planning on going home today, but because the pediatrician isn't happy with his nursing yet, she told us to stay at the hospital one more night.

So Adam, Mackenzie and Gigi are at home and having fun. Mackenzie just loves her baby brother and is so happy he is finally here. She has been waiting for so long!

Me at 39 Weeks

They let Mackenzie help wash Tanner for his first bath.

Our little boy is all clean.

Mackenzie is so happy to have a baby brother.

She is trying to be soft.

Our little family.

Mommy and Tanner

Daddy, Mommy, and Tanner

Daddy and Tanner

Gigi and Tanner

Mackenzie got to hold Tanner all by herself.

He is all warm and cozy.

I will tell more later, I just wanted to get some pictures up on the blog for everyone to see!

Another Video

2011-05-23T11:38:00.002-06:00

She told me she wanted to read a book for her cousin Kaden...so here goes. The only problem is that she got so excited I was video taping her (which always happens when I pull out the camera) that she forgot the book. She really does know all the colors and animals in this book! haha. But here she goes.

Starting on the Videos I promised...

2011-05-23T11:26:00.000-06:00

This is just one of the many videos I have been promising for a while. I finally figured out how to do the youtube thing...yeah I am waaaaay behind!

Poppy and Kenzie had a great time at the beach.

And this is Mackenzie while I was showing her the video...do you think she was excited?

Just one more about the beach...I will translate under the video...

(Wanna go another time at the beach. And lets play at the beach and play sand. And went run run in the water get us. There was more water trying to get us. And we were running fast so the water not get us. And we went in it!) That is basically the gist.

I will keep working on getting more videos on the blog.

Enjoy!

Finishing my trip

2011-05-04T13:49:00.000-06:00

I am finally back in Colorado, but we had a wonderful last bit of our trip. I can't believe how many pictures I actually took. You should be very proud of me because normally I have all good intentions of taking cute pictures and then I either forget my camera or just forget to take pictures.

So to continue our trip...

The night before Easter we dyed eggs. Papa and Nana were over also to watch. Kenzie really enjoyed making them all solid colors. And if you tried to change it...she would tell you that was HER EGG! Which meant that is how she wanted it and leave it alone.

Then we went to see fireworks and the Kinston Indians Stadium. We were going to go to a game while I was home, but it just didn't work out. This stadium was my home for many summers. I worked there every summer starting at either 14 or 15.

Mackenzie was waiting for the fireworks to start, so she was playing in the car. She loves to buckle and unbuckle seat belts.

I stayed in the car, but everyone else got out to watch. Nana and Papa met us there to watch the fireworks as well.

Gigi, Kenzie and I also had fun picking strawberries. I have always loved fresh picked strawberries. There is NOTHING like them. Kenzie thought they were pretty good too. She ate 2 that she picked while we were finishing our buckets. She had a good time finding the bright red ones! She actually picked about 15 herself.

Then came Easter. Mackenzie was worried that the Easter Bunny wouldn't come to Gigi's house, so we wrote him a letter before we left to let him know where we were going to be. (I never thought a 2 year old would understand this concept, but she asked me every day for about 5 days if the Easter bunny would find us at Gigi's house). I guess he got it because on Easter morning her basket was full.

She was so excited to look at everything, this is the best picture I got.

Mackenzie in her Easter dress right before church.

Poppy has been doing a huge garden for a few years now and I guess it is just too much work to do it by hand. So he borrowed a tractor to plow everything up. Mackenzie and Kaden went outside to watch. Mackenzie even got to drive the tractor with Poppy. She had a great time.

Then we got a blow up pool for Gigi and Poppy's back yard. Mackenzie went swimming 2 different days. Yes, it was very warm there and not too cold for a pool. I can't wait for constant warm weather! I am sick of up and down 80s then 40s!!!!

There is also a great park that we went to play at 2 or 3 times. It has a nature center, planetarium, and park with lots of fun things to do. This is actually another place I worked for a summer (the planetarium). Now they even have a train there to ride with a real conductor and everything. The place has definitely changed since I worked there. We have tried to ride this train the last 3 times I have been home and either it was broken, closed, or there weren't enough kids to ride I guess. So finally we got our chance! At first Mackenzie was a little scared, but we had a good time. Gigi even rode along with us.

Not quite sure about things yet.

Enjoying the scenery.

A cute indian set up they have on the ride.

A real live train you can go in a look at!

Picture op!

And Mommy had to get in one at least.

We had such a fun time in NC this time. We hung out and had fun, but also did a ton of things, as you can tell from the blog!

I have a few videos also to come, I just have to load them and they take FOREVER! But if I don't do it soon, they will never get done. So they should be up soon.

And lastly I just have a fun picture of Kenzie with Gigi and Nana at Outback the night before I left to go back home.

Back in NC

2011-04-23T15:43:00.000-06:00

So I have taken yet another trip to NC. I have a little less than a week left here and we have had a blast. This trip we actually have done a lot with Mackenzie. When we come home, normally we just hang out a lot. Yes, we do fun things, but this time we have made a special effort to really DO things. This has also helped me to remember to bring my camera or to just have it around. So here are some highlights from the trip so far...

Get ready for picture OVERLOAD!

The first few days we were here, Mackenzie was really not feeling well. She actually was throwing up on Sunday (We flew in here Monday), but we decided to fly anyway. She just slept the entire flight and I felt so bad for her. She didn't throw up anymore that day, but she was just soooo lathargic. She was kinda out of it for about 3 days. She was just trying to get over being sick. She needed a lot of Mommy cuddling and loves, but luckily no one else, including me, got sick. Then we she was feeling better and actually eating real food, we started to have some fun.

We went out to Grandma and Grandpa Reese's grave to put out new pretty flowers with Gigi. She never got to meet them, but at least she can make their headstone pretty.

Then we tried on lots of new clothes that Gigi bought for summer. She wanted to model a pair of her new PJ's for me.

We needed to see the flower on her shirt.

Don't ask about the thing she is leaning on...She thought it would be cute.

Then as we have driven through town...we realized how pretty spring is here...

Poppy helped Mackenzie plant some tomato plants behind the house.

The next day she ask Poppy if there were any tomatoes yet. This girl LOVES to eat tomatoes.

Gigi had some strawberries that we cut up and Mackenzie made some whipped cream. She thought it was a very fun job.

On Saturday Gigi had to be out of town helping with a wedding reception, so Poppy, Uncle Chad, Mackenzie and I ran lots of errands. One of those errands happened to be stopping by a feed store where they were selling bunnies, baby ducks, and chicks, etc. Mackenzie thought they were just so cute. She got to hold a baby bunny and a baby duck.

That same day, Mackenzie was getting a little restless after her nap because we weren't running and doing lots, so Poppy took her out on the front swing to heng out. This is what I saw when I went to see what they were up to (they were out there for at least half an hour.

How precious?

We have also been to the park twice with a little friend. My best friend from middle school has a little girl who is Mackenzie's age, so we have met at the park twice to play. This is them on the alligator. The only bad thing is there is a little train out there that the kids can ride on and it has been closed both times we have gone. Mackenzie was really sad, so hopefully next time we go out there she will get her chance to ride on it.

Mackenzie's little cousin Kaden is finally back. Katie and Kaden went to see her parents for a couple weeks and it happened to be when we were here. We are just glad they weren't gone the whole time. So Mackenzie is having a great time playing with her baby cousin who is as big as she is!

Mackenzie also wanted to help Poppy in the yard the other day. So she ran out there (without my knowledge) to help him. He brought her back inside because it was a little chilly and this is what we could get her to wear. She was worried Poppy would finish before she got dressed, so we threw on her tennis shoes and a jacket over her gown so she could help.

Last night Katie, Chad, and Kaden came over and we made sugar cookies to decorate for Easter. Mackenzie had a great time using the cookie cutters and also picking out which sprinkles to use. Can you tell with that face?

Then today Gigi, Poppy, Mackenzie and I all went to the beach for the day. We figure Mackenzie would only last an hur or so on the beach and get tired of it, but we were wrong. At first she didn't like the sand or the water. I was worried that coming was a bad idea at this point just because if Mackenzie didn't like it, it would have been a wasted hour drive. But after a little time and playing she decided getting dirty wasn't such a bad thing. The water was COLD but she didn't care. She was shivering by the end because she didn't want to get out. But she had the best time.

Still trying to figure out if she should get her feet wet.

Taking a snack break with her cool sunglasses like Mom.

She had to have a place to wash her hands and shovels.

Burying Poppy's feet.

Putting sand into her washing bucket.

This is when she figured out the water wasn't so bad. Can you see that smile?

True happiness!

Thanks Poppy for being a good sport...Mommy was not up for all that.

And that is our trip so far in a nut shell. More to come soon. I really need to catch up on everything else that we have done before we got to NC.

Mackenzie Updates

2011-03-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

Things she says ALL THE TIME!!!!

I Sorry
Not et (not yet)
All done
So Full
Yummy to my Tummy
Fix it
I Miss Him (anyone who she isn't with at the moment)
Be Careful
Mommy doos that (not does but doos)
Don't get hurt
I Just Tending (I'm just pretending)
2 more minutes

She really is a talker...she doesn't just use 2 or 3 word phrases...these are just phrases that she uses ALL THE TIME in her sentences.

She loves to sing..

(She knows these without help)
Twinkle Twinkle Little star
I am a Child of God
ABCs (even during church and at Grandpa's funeral)
Sunbeam
Ring around the Rosie

One's she needs a little help on...
(A lot of church songs)
Popcorn Popping
I'm Trying to be like Jesus
A Child's Prayer
The Christmas Song (I sing it to her at night and she sings right along)
I'm So Glad when Daddy comes Home

She really likes sound books...her Grandma gave her a Clifford sound book and also a Christmas Songs book for Christmas this year. She loves to sing along to all the Christmas songs that are played especially Jingle Bells.

She likes to talk on the phone, but really has to be in the mood to really talk to someone on the other side of the phone. She normally just walks around talking to her imaginary person on the phone.

She always wants to hide when Adam gets home from work. When he opens the garage door she runs for her closest blanket and throws it over her head. When he comes in the door she yells "FIND YOU!"

She is actually really good at hiding sometimes. It kinda scares me a little. If she is in the mood to really hide and you don't know where she went, she will sit there silently until you find her. It has taken me up to like 5 mintues to find her before. She does NOT move or make a peep. We are trying to teach her that if we say "come out come out wherever you are" she has to make a silly noise so we can have a clue. She only does that about half the time.

She has been calling her fruit snacks names. She will pick up 2 and say "This one mommy, This one daddy" and then eats them and tells us they are yummy. Don't ask me where she got this from? I have NO IDEA!

She can mostly count to 20...she gets a little confused between 15 and 18.

She got a computer from Nana for Christmas that does animal sounds for all the alphabet. Well the L is for Lion and for some reason they don't know what a lion says. It makes some noise that the lion is shaking...so now my brilliant child thinks a lion says this tisk tisk kinda noise. So next time you see her ask her what a lion says. It will give you a little laugh.

She loves to clean. IF her room is dirty at night she wonlt go to bed until we clean it up. She is scared that she might fall on something if she gets up in the middle of the night.

She is doing so much better with sleeping. I don't know if I wrote this earlier, but we were spending like 2 hours at night with her in her room to get her to bed. It was really rediculous but NOTHING we were doing worked. Then one day I was so fed up, Adam and I talked to her all day about our bedtime rountine and that we weren't going to stay in there very long...and it worked! Since that day she has been so good about going to bed. And she is also sleeping through the night. It is so nice to finally after 2 1/2 years to get some decent sleep. Except now I wake up because I am uncomfortable or have to pee. Something is not right about all this! Maybe with our little boy I will teach him much earlier!

But this is about all for now. Maybe if I think of more I will do a shorter blog later. But just a few cute things about Mackenzie.

A Ton going on

2011-03-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

So this is a catch up from the last...month? 2 months? who knows...I just know I have definitely been lacking in the blogging department lately.

So you can read this if you would like to know about what has been going on in our lives.

President's Day weekend we had some of Adam's family come to visit. His two sisters, Ali and Amy, and Ali's husband Ryan drove over from Utah to visit for a long weekend. We didn't really do much but just hung out and had a great time spending time together. We went to a huge mall near Boulder and went to see the fishies at Bass Pro Shop, but basically just hung out at home. We played lots of games and Mackenzie loved having family to play with.

When they left on Tuesday morning, Alison decided she wanted to stay a little longer. She isn't working and had nothing else REALLY important to do, so she wanted to spend some more time with us. Ryan was fine with it because it gave him time to work on his motorcycles. She was supposed to catch a ride home with Amy who decided she was driving back with her boyfriend 2 weekends later.

Well that plan went down the drain.

We got a call 2 Sundays ago letting us all know that Adam's grandfather was not doing well. He ended up passing away, so we wanted to be at his funeral. He lived in Pennsylvania, but tickets were so expensive so we decided on a road trip. Wednesday afternoon Adam, Ali, Mackenzie, and I packed up our little Honda Civic to make a 22 hour drive to Western Penn. It actually was a pretty good trip. Mackenzie does great in the car and didn't complain at all the whole trip there. We slept in the car Wednesday night and made it to Penn Thursday afternoon.

The great part is that all of Adam's family was there. Even his brother Jeff, who lives in London, flew over to be there. I was the only in-law there but it was so great since we haven't seen Adam's parents in over 2 years. They got to play with Mackenzie and enjoy spending time with her.

The funeral was Saturday and it was a great service. It really wasn't extremely sad...it was more just celebrating his life and all the joy he brought to others. He was a great man and I loved hearing all the stories about him.

The rest of the weekend we just spent with family catching up and having fun.

On Monday afternoon, we packed up our little Civic again for a 22 hour ride home. Once again Mackenzie was WONDERFUL in the car. I couldn't ask for a better traveler at 2 years old. We made it home on Tuesday afternoon and were all extremely exhausted. We are catching up now and getting back to normal life.

Also, since Amy didn't come to our house this past weekend like we had planned (they are now planning on coming next weekend.) Ali doesn't have a ride home. So she had to buy a plane ticket to get home to her husband that she hasn't seen for about 3 weeks. So she is flying out on Saturday morning.

In other news, I am now 26 weeks along in this pregnancy. Things are still going really well. Just like with Mackenzie, I am not really gaining much weight and the nausea has gone away. Everything is still looking good, except this next doctor's appointment I have to do the disgusting glucose test. That is the worst part of prenatal care.

The baby is moving a ton and loves to kick, punch, and do flips all day. But mostly when I am trying to sleep or relax, so it can be aggravating. He also thinks my bladder is a trampoline. When we were having the ultrasound done, he just kept jumping off my bladder. It was fun to watch, but I felt it everytime. And I seriously feel like I have to pee 5000 times a day. That is one thing I can't wait to be done with.

Lastly in news from the Rankin household. Mackenzie has been sorta potty training on and off. I haven't been pushing it, but she really seemed ready. So we talked about it and went to pick out big girl pants. She got what she wanted and was so excited to wear them. She has done really well whenever she has underwear on, but knows she doesn't have to worry about using the potty if she has on a diaper or pull-up. Also with the trip and everything, she has been in and out of diapers. Well this morning I asked her if she wanted to wear her big girl pants again and she was excited. So back to potty training we went. Today so has peed 3 times and pooped once in the potty. She is doing so awesome. She really has been so easy to train so far. She has only had a handful of accidents through this whole process that has been going on for at least a month or so. With those accidents though she is running to the bathroom yelling "Mommy I dripping." She hasn't done any REAL accidents and I have been so blessed for that. Most of the time she would basically make it to the bathroom so I only had to wipe up a few drops along the way and a little in front of the potty. She would be sitting on the potty when I made it to the bathroom behind her. I am just proud of her for catching on so fast. This is still a work in progess but it is coming along great so far.

But that is really all that is going on in our lives. Everything is pretty normal other than these things. We have just been busy doing normal everyday stuff.

So there you go... I am sorta caught up!

Ultrasound pics

2011-01-27T09:12:00.003-07:00

These aren't the greatest because the glare on the paper...but at least you can sorta see the baby.

He was all curled up.

Still curled up...

Profile, our little boy is laying down.

Profile with his hand by his face.

Time with Daddy

2011-01-27T08:34:00.003-07:00

They were having such a good time reading together, and Mackenzie was just funny so I took a few videos.

Well the next videos aren't working now....so maybe later.

And Finally...

2011-01-27T08:22:00.003-07:00

We are having a baby.....

He was not shy at all!

Flying "Dinky"

2011-01-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

Mackenzie still calls her binky her dinky. I don't know how it started, but that is what Adam and I call it too now. Anyways, she still loves it as much if not more than she ever has. She loves to talk to us and tell us things, but I can't really understand everything she is saying with it in her mouth. So I always ask her to take it out before she talks to me.

Well the other day in the car Mackenzie was trying to tell me something and I had already told her 3 or 4 times to take her dinky out so I could hear her. Finally she got frustrated after the 4th time of me asking and a dinky went flying past my head. She had just thrown it hard at my head and started laughing. It actually was really funny, I am just glad I didn't get hit.

Our House

2011-01-24T15:15:00.000-07:00

My mom has been begging me to put up more pictures of our house. We have been doing a ton in here...especially now that we are adding to our family. So here are pictures of our after living room and master bedroom. We got a ton of furniture from my parents when we were in NC for Christmas. We are so grateful for everything they saved for us and gave us even straight out of their house.

Thank you Mom and Dad for all the great furniture. And we are so excited to start putting more in our house and making it feel like a home!

Big News

2011-01-18T15:20:00.002-07:00

So I have obviously known for a while and wanted to do a fun post, but now it is just so late that will just let everyone know....

Mackenzie is so excited because she is going to be a big sister. I am 19 weeks now and can't wait to find out what we are having!!

I have the ultrasound next Tuesday YAY!!!

I am due June 12 and am already so excited to have our little boy or girl here.

Parade of Lights

2010-12-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night we went to the Parade of Lights here in Denver (Downtown). It is the big Christmas Parade. It was so much fun, except we wish we had gone about an hour or more earlier to get a good spot to see. But we still had a wonderful time with our friends Chelsea, Nathan, and Luke.

Mackenzie had to sit on Adam's shoulders to see, and she sat there almost the enitre parade. We left maybe 15 or 20 mins before the end, and it was a LONG parade, so she did awesome! She was amazed by all the lights, loved the balloons, and danced when the bands came down the street playing music. I am so glad we went.

Kenzie on her daddy's shoulders

This was the first of I think 4 big balloons that they had.

Luke, Nate, and Chelsea

Thanksgiving

2010-12-12T08:43:00.000-07:00

We went to Utah for Thanksgiving this year to see some of Adam's family. It was really fun to get to spend time with them. It was also great to let Mackenzie "re"meet her cousins. It has been so long since we have been with them. We stayed in Bountiful with Adam's sister Alison and husband Ryan, and spent lots of time in Provo with Adam's brother Joe and wife Tina and his little sister Amy and her boyfriend Mike.

Here are a few pictures of us there.

Alison holding Samuel and Mackenzie with Joseph peeking in...they were watching Disney stuff on the computer.

Then we went to Temple Square on Sunday night because we ended up staying a few extra days. We were planning on leaving Sunday morning, but they had a big snow storm (as you can see) and we didn't want to drive on bad roads.

It was fun to see Temple Square in Salt Lake again! The Christmas lights are just so fun!

Mackenzie and me with Ali and Ryan

The Salt Lake City Temple

Thanks everyone for making our Thanksgiving so fun!

Toy Store Visit

2010-12-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

A LONG TIME AGO...we went to Toys-r-Us because they were having lots of fun stuff going on. It was a new store opening.

So we got a few pictures and Mackenzie had fun being there with all the other kids.

But Sunshine Bear, Barbie, Iron Man, and Geoffery were there to visit. There was a clown doing face painting, and other little things. So we got a few pictures.

Sunshine Bear

With Barbie, except Mackenzie was staring at the next little girl ready to take a picture.

Mackenzie's #2

2010-12-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am a bad mom! Mackenzie had her second birthday 2 1/2 months ago and I haven't blogged about it! Well, here are some pictures to show her party...and then I will right more. But this was just a party for Mommy, Daddy, and Mackenzie. We didn't do a big party this year like we did last year.

Mackenzie helped me decorate her cake!

She loved blowing out her candles...we sang to her 3 times so she could blow out her candles. Yeah, she wouldn't blow out her candles unless we sang Happy Birthday.

She got some cute sunglasses.

And some awesome new tennis shoes.

A new baby doll.

And then she ate her cake. Most kids are funny because they get really messy, but not mine. When she gets messy she gets upset and tells me she needs a napkin!

Grandma Rankin sent Mackenzie 2 new blankets. Her other one is kinda falling apart because she carries it with her every where we go! So Thanks Grandma

We also had a party for Mackenzie when we went to my parents house a few weeks later. For some reason I don't have those pictures but I will have to get those and write about that later.

I haven't disappeared forever!

2010-12-12T07:52:00.000-07:00

So life has been CRAZY lately. But here are a few little blogs about things that have gone on in our little lives.

So one thing...a few months ago, before my friend Auburn had her baby, the girls went out to lunch just to have fun together without any babies!

Here is the only picture we got to remember the lunch. We got a host to take the picture, and lets just say he didn't know what in the world he was doing. I thought everyone these days could take a "decent" picture. I was wrong. But it was so fun to just sit and chat and eat for a couple hours!

The four girls! (Me, Chelsea, Auburn, and Tanya)

Chelsea can't help herself at Macaroni Grill...she had to right on the table!

Finally pics from NC

2010-11-16T14:17:00.007-07:00

Mackenzie and I went to NC for almost 3 weeks and had a great time. We were able to go for my nephews baby blessing. I just have to say that I have the greatest husband in the world. I go to my parents house for weeks and he loves me enough to let me go without complaining.

We had so much fun!

Mackenzie played with blocks. Poppy even built a bridge for her to crawl under...

Kenz ran around outside after church while the family was all taking pictures...

Kenz got dressed up for halloween and went to the trunk-or-treat at church...

We went to the planetarium and Aunt Katie put on a puppet show with Kenz...

We went to the park...

Mackenzie was teaching cousin Kaden how to play with his toy...

She hugged him...

and talked to him...

Got lots of treats out of the pantry...

Worked on her abs...

and helped cook dinner...

What a great time!

Another Form of Torture

2010-11-08T12:58:00.002-07:00

Who really likes Day Light Savings Time...
Teenagers
People without kids

I guess that is about it. For those of us with toddlers, infants, other kids that don't understand that we get an extra hour of sleep...this night is just torture.

Mackenzie went to bed around 9 (which is later than normal). I went to bed soon after because I knew it might be a very very early morning.

Then around 5 AM I hear little pitter patter footsteps in her room, a door open, and then a little girl showed up in my room telling mommy HAPPY GIRL WAKE UP!

What is this? 5 AM? She usually wakes up around 630 or 7. 5?!?!? There is just something about change, even if she doesn't know there is a change. She just never does what she is supposed to do!

But I guess I can't complain because she was really tired yesterday because I was trying to get her to take her nap a little later. She went to bed at 730 and then slept in this morning until 730. But 5 AM....IT WAS A LONG LONG LONG LONG MORNING yesterday!

At 2 Years Old

2010-10-12T09:55:00.005-06:00

I am doing this kinda for me, but enjoy if you would like...

At 2 years old, Mackenzie is just doing so MUCH. She has such a personality and really is so funny.

- At night we go through a whole routine...watch cartoons with chocolate milk, go brush teeth, say prayers as a family, then she hugs daddy goodnight and gives kisses..over and over...and then gets daddy to help her pick out 2 books to read with mommy, gets in my lap and then does the funniest thing. As Adam leaves he says see you later alligator and then she replies crocodile (pokadile) and then over and over laughs saying alligator, crocadile, alligator, crocadile until he leaves.

-She likes to tell me what songs to sing a night
Night Night Song (A made up song about going to bed)
Prayer Song (I know Heavenly Father Loves Me, primary song)
Chocolate Milk Song (Another Made up song)
Church Song (any Primary song)
Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting...)

- I have to give all of her animals a hug and kiss at night or she won't go to bed.

-She repeats everything you say, and doesn't forget anything!! If you say something about going to the park after her nap...that is the first thing she asks when she wakes up.

-She loves riding in her stroller.

-She has to be involved in EVERYTHING...If I am cooking, doing the dishes, or unloading the dishwaser, etc. she wants to put on her apron, stand on a chair, and help.

-She loves to play hide and seek. When she hides she usually goes to her closet and hides in the corner and closes her eyes (If her eyes are closed you can't see her). SO we go around the room looking everywhere else for her and she loves it.

- Now she wants me and Adam to hide, so we close our eyes and she walks around the room saying things like "door? NOPE!", "under bed?, NOPE"! It is so funny.

-She knows our house when we are riding down the road. As we are driving she starts saying "this house?, NO, this house?, NO!" until we get to our house and then says HOME!

-She loves "talking" on the phone. She walks around with her play cell phone and talks to everyone.

-She doesn't like being dirty. If we are eating and her fingers get ANYTHING on them she has to have a napkin. It can be annoying when we are all trying to eat and every bite she wants to clean her hands.

-She is doing much better in her carseat. She loves looking out the window and telling us what she sees.

-She is just talking soooooo much. There isn't anything she doesn't talk about. And if we really don't understand what she is saying (which isn't very often), she will grab our hand and try to show us things to help us understand. SO SMART!

- She is ready to be potty trained, but I am waiting until January when we get back from all our traveling. She has to be in the bathroom whenever we are and she sits on our potty and even wants toilet paper to "Wipe" even though she is still fully dressed)

- She loves to brush her teeth. I brush them first and then she always wants to make sure she gets all the plaque off herself.

-She loves to sing especially the Wiggles. It is the funniest thing to watch in the car because she does the moves and everything. I am impressed with the amount of songs she knows.

-She loves to watch movies...everything from Snow White and Cinderella to Barney and Mickey Mouse and everything in between.

I can't really think anymore right now...but I will try to post some more if I can remember.

So there is a little more information about my big big 2 year old!

2 Years Old

2010-10-03T16:06:00.010-06:00

I can't believe my little girl is already 2 years old. Except if you ask her, she replies "Almost 2". We have been working on changing this response with no success so far.

For her birthday this year, we didn't do a big party. We just celebrated with Mommy, Daddy, and Kenzie. We went to Red Robin for dinner because she loves the big bird in the restaurant. After dinner, we came home to have cake and presents. There will be pictures to come later.

Last Sunday after church we decided to take a drive up in the mountains. We also thought this would be a great time to take some 2 year pictures of Kenzie, so thanks Adam for the very cute shots! Here are just a few.

This is a signature look of our little girl. If she doesn't want to listen to what you have to say!

House Update

2010-09-24T10:00:00.008-06:00

So I haven't put up any before and after pictures of some of the stuff we have done in our house. Ok, I don't even know if I put up before pics when we first bought the house...so I am going to try to start doing some. We have done a ton to the house, but still have SOOOOO much to do. So here we go....

Upstairs bathroom:

Before-

We painted the walls from the beautiful bright pink, took down the sliding door, refinished the tub, switched all the fixtures (except theh light) to bronze and cleaned a LOT!

We still want to tile the floor, and get a new vanity, mirror, and light fixture!

Our extra bedroom upstairs...which will be our new nursery whenever we have a second child.:

Before-

The Robins egg blue is now a cute purple (this was going to be the room we moved Mackenzie into once she got out of a crib, but we decided just to keep her in her nursery, so we might have to paint this room again at some point. We will just see...for now it is good.

We painted this room and put up a new fan.

(The dresser needs to be redone, I just haven't done it yet.)

The Master Bedroom:

Before-

We painted this room and put in a new fan.

Mackenzie's Room:

Before-

We Painted, and put in a new fan.

In all of the rooms we had to clean a ton, got the carpets cleaned (they were disgusting), built new closets, they were all a single closet with just one bar along the top, and we changed them all to a double closet to hang more clothes. We also had to paint all of the ceilings because they were the same tanish pink color as the walls were. So they are all white now. We also had to put new outlets and outlet covers everywhere because the people who left this house ripped them all ot of the walls so there were only wires hanging out of the walls. We also had to put new doors on everything because they took all of those too. We haven't put a ton of doors up yet, but we are doing that slowly.

We need to get new carpet in these bedrooms and then they will be completely done.

I will take pics of more of the house soon. THis is just a start!

Fun with Ethan

2010-09-16T14:40:00.004-06:00

We haven't seen Etahn in a while, so the other morning his Mommy called me begging for my help. It was actually kinda funny...she called asking if I was doing anything because her baby girl wouldn't sleep and was crying and Ethan was not being happy...so I threw on some clothes and we left the house. Well, things were calmer when I got there, but it was fun for Kenz and Ethan to lay for a little while. The only bad thing is that these 2 fight about everything. They both always want what the other person has...so it is fun being a referee.

But here is a cute picture of them together.

Another craft

2010-09-16T14:34:00.004-06:00

Making bows means I need a place to put them. One of my friends had a cute bow hanger that her sister had given her. So I took that idea and made my own...Here is the result!

And here it is hanging on the wall in Mackenzie's room.

Oh, and that dresser was one I found on Craigslist for bascally free. It was lime green and missing so knobs. Well, after a few coats of pant and cute new knobs...here is a new dresser for all of Mackenzie's clothes.

Hairbows

2010-09-16T14:30:00.004-06:00

I am sick of not being crafty, so I have taken on a new habit.

I have started off slow, but am working up. I am making cute little girls hair bows! I am hoping to start making lots of them and begin to sale them....pray for me! I really hope that I can start selling them and then even do a craft show next year.

Here is a picture my vey first bows!

These first bunch are for piggy tail bows...YAY for craftiness!

Conversation with Kenzie

2010-09-16T14:24:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Mackenzie was pretending to fly around our house. She finally stopped at the couch...
Kenz: Home now
Mom: Where did you go?
Kenz: The store
Mom: Oh, well what did you get?
Kenz: Yogurt YUMMY!!! (rubbing her tummy)

then she leaves and puts on her shoes

Kenz: Go to store
Mom: we aren't going to the store right now
Kenz: Yes! Kenzie's store
Mom: Where is your store?
Kenz: Right there (pointing towards her room)
Then she grabs her play grocery cart and takes off to her room to go shopping!

She cracks me up.

Beauty Salon

2010-09-06T21:01:00.003-06:00

Tonight, Mackenzie really wanted to do Mommy's hair. She wanted to put my hair in piggy tails. So we got a comb and hair "thingys" and got to work. After Daddy helped Kenzie put Mommy's hair in piggy tails about 5 times, he couldn't handle it anymore. So then we played with Kenzie's hair and this was our result.

Big Girl Bed

2010-09-06T20:54:00.002-06:00

So we found a cheap toddler bed on craigslist and were so excited. So we were just going to keep it in her room to get her used to the idea. Well for her nap she flipped when I put her in her crib. She kept crying "BIG GIRL BED BIG GIRL BED"!! SO finally I went and got her out of her crib and put her in her big girl bed. She passed out immediately. And here she is in her big girl bed. She hasn't wanted her crib since. She is just growing up so fast!

This is for Gigi

2010-09-02T10:44:00.003-06:00

So because I talk to my mom often, Mackenzie thinks whenever you are on the phone it is Gigi on the other end. So here is Mackenzie holding the phone...and then a little video of her talking on the phone.

Singing ABCs

2010-09-02T10:34:00.004-06:00

Here is Mackenzie singing her ABCs. This is the best I could do. When I pull out the camera she gets so distacted. And please excuse her appearance, she is just getting out of bed.

I had to help a little cause she was getting distracted.

A Little update

2010-08-13T08:54:00.003-06:00

So I have posted a lot of pictures, but I just thought I would help myself remember and share with everyone some funny things Mackenzie haas been doing lately!

When she sits down she throws one leg over the other to cross her legs. It doesn't matter if she is sitting on the couch, a step, the ground, a chair...she always crosses her legs.

THe other day I ask Adam if he would do me a favor and then proceeded to get him to take out the trash...well Mackenzie looked over at him when he got back in and looked very serious and said "Daddy favor?" So I said "What favor do you want?" She thought for a minute and said "HUG!" It was so precious!

We have now sold our jeep and so I take Adam to work a lot of mornings in order to have a car durin the day. A few days ago I was dropping him off and he gave me a kiss and walked into his building. When we started driving away, Mackenzie started pouting. I asked her what was wrong and she almost in tears said "Daddy Kiss". It broke my heart but Adam couldn't come back to the car. Well, he hasn't forgotten to give her a kiss since!

In the car if I am singing or Adam and I are talking Mackenzie will get really quite and then extra loudly say "Mo, shhhhhhhhhh". And then it becomes a game. I tell her to be quiet and she shhhh's me back!

She can count to ten with my help.

She sings her ABCs.

She also sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. (with her singing she really stays in tune...maybe she will be musically inclined! That would be GREAT!)

This girl doesn't forget anything or miss anything. We do lots of spelling now because if we say a word like swim, pool, shower, car, drive, etc. she will not leave it alone!

She walks around on the phone all the time talking. I ask her who she is talking to and she doesn't skip a beat and replies GIGI!

Mackenzie i being so helpful now. When I change her diaper she goes and throws the diaper in the trash can. If it is time to get ready for bed, she help me take her clothes off and throws them in her dirty clothes basket and gets her PJs out. HOW AWESOME!

She is really understanding everything. If we tell her to do or not to do something she does what she is supposed to. Sometimes we have to tell her why, but she is so great because it isn't a constant fight.

She still won't really play by herself. If she ever does, we take advantage of it and just leave her alone.

She loves "Doggies" (101 Dalmations), "Mahney" (Barney), "Elelella" (Cinderella), and "Bear" (Open Season). The only problem is when I turn these movies on I have to sit with her. She really just doesn't want to be alone!!! It is really hard sometimes because I have so much I need to do during the day.

She went through about a month of mommyitis, but she is so much better now.

Her appetite has finally picked up. She likes to eat all day now. And I don't mean snacks. She wants cereal, then toast, chicken nuggets, a hot dog, fish sticks, pizza, fruit, veggies, all day long. She has food constantly in her hands. I am happy because maybe she will finally gain some weight considering she is almost 2 and still weighs like 22 pounds (isn't that what most 1 year olds weigh?)

Anyways we are having a great time learning and growing everyday! She is such a joy in our lives! Now don't get me wrong...sometimes she drives us crazy if she is too tired and throwing full out tantrums which she is really good at, but when she is happy it is so great! We couldn't imagine life without her!

Little Monkey Business

2010-08-09T12:33:00.006-06:00

Ok whoever thought of this is a GENIUS!! It is a cute little place that has very padded carpet and room for kids to run and play on big climbing equipment and slides and bounce houses. Mackenzie and her friend Brogan went to Little Monkey Business and had a blast.

Funny girl

2010-08-09T12:11:00.001-06:00

I told Mackenzie to go put her shoes on because we were leaving...she runs into the kitchen and sits down with her white church shoes that are for like next summer. Yes, they were in her closet, but she knows they don't fit yet.

SO she sits down and puts them on anyway.

Look Mom, I am ready to go!

Mackenzieis just being silly. She loves her hat and so do we! It is just too cute!

This is the normal Mackenzie...SO FULL OF LIFE! She just makes us laugh all day long!

Yard Sale

2010-08-09T12:05:00.003-06:00

A couple of Saturdays ago, we had a fun yard sale. We did pretty well for the amount of stuff we had to sell. One thing I did notice though, is that people are lazy out here in the west. Back home, you have to be shopping by like 7 AM to get the good deals. Out here, people don't even start showing up until about 9am. CRAZY!

This was the beginning of the yard sale...

And this is Mackenzie and Brogan out playing while the mommies were yard saleing.

Chick-fil-a

2010-08-03T21:57:00.002-06:00

So a few weeks ago, Chick-fil-a did a promotion that if you dressed up like a cow you could get a free meal. Not just a free sandwich, but a whole free meal...anything you wanted! HOW AWESOME!!!!

SO Adam really didn't want to get dressed up and he had somewhere else he needed to go anyways, so me and Mackenzie went with Nathan, Chelsea and Luke...Here are me and Kenz before we left the house

How cute!

When we leave the house...

2010-08-03T21:54:00.002-06:00

Whenever we leave the house, this is Mackenzie...she always now has to bring a purse when we go anywhere!

Brogan and Mackenzie

2010-08-03T21:49:00.003-06:00

Mackenzie absolutely loves her friend Brogan. e has been "coming over to play" a lot lately because his Mommy just got a new job and sometimes she has to go to work a little before his Daddy gets home from work, so he gets to come play with Mackenzie. So last week, he came over to play and they were in Mackenzie's toy room. I was washing dishes in the kitchen and didn't hear anything for about 2 or 3 mins and I got a little worried because normally these two kid together like to be LOUD! SO I snuck in there and this is what I found.

Please excuse Mackenzie's hair and clothing...she was still in her pjs and her hair had come out during her nap!

NC Mountains

2010-07-28T13:09:00.005-06:00

For our Reese family I guess you could call it reunion...we went to the NC Mountains!

We had a great trip. Some of our activities were mining, river rafting, tubing, movies, lots of games and sitting around time just relaxing, and walking around West Jefferson looking at all the great stores and the Christmas in July festival!

Here are some pictures...and as soon as I can I will get more pics and videos up on the blog!

This is Mackenzie at the Christmas in July Festival...don't know what she is doing.

This was the only real "Christmas" thing at the Christmas in July Festival. I don't know how this man didn't pass out. It was soooo hot out there.

We were Mining....and Mackenzie loved the water!

We were all getting ready to go tubing down the river by our cabin. We all had a wonderful time! Mackenzie had fun splashing in the water.

We went to an old general store...sorry Dad, I don't remember the name... But it was fun to walk around this super old building and see all the fun stuff.

Here is Adam and Kenzie outside the general store.

Poppy and Kenzie outside Sallie Mae's.

We really had a great time just hanging out with the family and having a relaxing trip.

Riding on Daddy

2010-07-28T13:07:00.000-06:00

He makes a good horsey!

Yard Sale Finds!!

2010-07-28T13:01:00.002-06:00

So a few months ago we went to a great neighborhood yard sale andn BOY did we have FUN!!!!

We had some great finds!

Baby doll stroller-$3

2 Kenzie size chairs- $1

Coffee Table- $15

All 5 candles and the 3 stands- $5

Mackenzie's rocking police car-$5

Kitchen table- $5

Spreader and Hose roller thing-$5

What do you think? Good Deals?

We also got some baby/toddler clothes that were basically free!!! I love yard sales!

We love popcicles!!

2010-07-28T12:59:00.001-06:00

This is what Mackenzie looks like after she enjoys a popcicle without Mommy's help!

Yes, we are getting in the bathtub because she got sticky juice EVERYWHERE!

A Little Boo Boo

2010-07-28T12:54:00.003-06:00

We had a little boo boo on Monday!

Mackenzie and Daddy were out working on the sprinklers and Mackenzie was having a great time running through the water. Well one time she was running on the sidewalk and had a spill. So this is what happened! How sad!

The one thing she was happy about is that she got to put "stickers" on knees. She thought the bandaids were really fun for about 5 mins and then she wanted them off.

New Front Door

2010-07-28T12:48:00.003-06:00

So I just love Craigslist!!!!

About a month ago we were looking at free stuff on Craigslist and came across a door that someone was just giving away. It was a solid front door that the lady had tried to paint a hideous shade of dookie brown!

Well, we took it and I painted it black. Well look now! Our door is so much better now when you enter our house!!!!

This was our front door...

And this is our new front door...

How much better is that!!!

Swimming with Ethan

2010-07-16T14:26:00.001-06:00

We went to our friend Ethan's house and decided to go swimming in his little pool..

Oh what fun!

A Day at the Park

2010-07-16T14:16:00.002-06:00

So Jessica, one of my great friends out here, invited me and Mackenzie to go to a museum (that is just an outside town that is set back in the 1800s or something). So we got there and found out it wasn't open. So insead we went to the lake that was beside the park and walked around the lake looking for wildlife. Jessica's two little girls love Mackenzie and we had a great time, but here are a few pictures...

Broken Arm

2010-07-16T14:09:00.003-06:00

Well, I did something VERY VERY stupid. On Sunday morning I hadjust put Mackenzie down for a nap and was walking to the kitchen. I stepped on a toy (and the only toy that was left out in the living room) and the toy went flying out from under my foot. I fell to the floor really hard...yeah I don't even remember how I landed cause it happened so fast. Well my arm was hurting really bad after the fall, but I was going to just tough it out cause I figured it was just bruised really badly. Well, I was finally convinced to go to the ER cause it was getting worse. Well, yeah, I fractured the radial head in my right arm. (That is the bone that is on your thumb side that connects your hand to your elbow...and the head is the part that joins with the elbow. So anyways this is what I looked like after I left the hospital...

Tell me how you take care of a 2 year old with your dominant hand looking like this....

Well, I went to the Orthopedic Surgeon yesterday and the splint is now gone. So now my arm can breathe and can moe a little. He didn't want to put a real cast on me. But now I have an ac wrap and a sling. The doc wants me to be very careful with my arm, but just try to get movement back in my arm. It is painful and I can't grasp anything or use my arm to push or pull anything, but I guess it will heal. So that is where I am now.

Yay for stupidity!

Silly

2010-05-26T21:24:00.002-06:00

Ok so this picture cracked me up. We were ready for bed, and she saw my camera. She kept saying cheese, cheese, cheese, so I turned on my camera and this is what she did for me.

Eating like a big girl!

2010-05-26T13:57:00.008-06:00

My "big girl" doesn't think she needs her high chair anymore. If I try to put her in she just kicks her feet so I can't get her down into the seat. So we got a booster seat so she could be a big girl. And here are some cute picks of her when she was ready to get out.

And these are two videos of her that I just thought were cute. And yes, she says please a lot when she wants things, we are just working on getting her to say thank you once she gets what she wants.

Playing in the bed!

2010-05-26T13:50:00.003-06:00

We were over at our friend's house this past Saturday night for a BBQ and Mackenzie and Ethan always run off to his toddler room to play with all his toys. That is their "safe" room where we know we don't have to constantly watch them and they won't get in trouble. It got a little too quiet though, so I went to see what they were doing and this is what I found. They were cuddled up on his toddler bed.

Yes, she is laying on his head.

And they were playing with a computer.

And the other day she wanted to "help" make our bed, and that meant she wanted to be on the bed to help. So went to get the pillows and I turned around and she had climbed in our sheets!

Dancing with Kenzie

2010-05-11T17:42:00.005-06:00

So tonight after dinner Mackenzie wanted to dance, which isn't unusual. She says dance and then swings her arms as fast as she can until we turn on music. She just loves it....

Well this is her tonight....

Her jumping dance...bt she got distracted when she saw the camera. She always "smiles" when she sees it.

And in this one she got a little dizzy. Watch her head when she goes to pick up her "dinky" after she throws it the first time.

Kenzie fun!

2010-05-11T13:46:00.003-06:00

Mackenzie is such a cheese ball!

The dress Mackenzie got from Gigi at Christmas! Yeah, she wouldn't be serious and her hair isn't ready for church yet.

Do we love our binkies!!!

Mackenzie while we were working in the yard....She loves her sidewalk chalk!

My friend Auburn came over to make a pound cake and Mackenzie wanted to help!!!

Do you think she had fun????

Our Yard

2010-05-11T13:21:00.007-06:00

So we have been working on our backyard trying to clear EVERYTHING out. The previous owners just let everything grow and didn't take care of it...so it left us with a TON of work. We have gotten started, but we have SOOO much more. We are just tearing everything out so we can start from scratch cause everything is so gross.

So here is before...

This is the back of our house...

This is a little wider view of the back of our house.

And here is after...

The back of our house alllll clean! Now we just have to dig out all the roots and stumps left behind...we will get to that very soon.

This is in the back corner of our yard...The shed will be painted at some point...it actually is nice inside it just looks gross on the outside. And the cement patio thing beside it was covers in overgrowth...so that is clean and will at some point be an awesome fire pit area!

And this is also an after shot. Adam ripped out a fenced area. The place between the patio and the yard (right behind Kenzie's slide had a wooden fence just like you can still see in te picture. He ripped it out (with his bare hands may I add...) to make it look so much more open!

YAY!!!!

And lastly, this is our white trash area of our backyard. This is on the patio and it is what we have ripped out so far. Well actually 1/2 the other 1/2 is on the side of our house. Yeah, we need to get a dumpster soon!

Wish us luck, cause we have SOOOO much more to do.

Picture Overload!

2010-05-03T20:06:00.004-06:00

Daddy and Kenzie watching animals on TV

Playing at Ethan's house
Posing for Mommy

CHEESE!!! with my cute piggy tails

SAY CHEESE!!!! They love smiling for the camera!

Reading her book

Smile

A trip to the zoo

And Gigi came too!

I will try to put up some cute videos tomorrow depending on how much time I have!!!

Enjoy the pictures everyone! (ESPECIALLY YOU MOM!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU :))

Easter weekend

2010-04-07T09:35:00.004-06:00

Mackenzie loves running around outside!

My new slide in the back yard.

Do you think she likes it?

WEEEE

The kids after the East Egg hunt...Jason found an egg and a truck in the bushes! So he got in the picture too.

Mackenzie finding eggs

Mackenzie and Ethan playing during conference.

We had a great time for celebrating Easter. We had a great time with a wonderful group of friends! After the Easter egg hunt we all had a big Easter dinner with ham, funeral potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, salad, deviled eggs, and a yummy fruit tart for dessert!

Some Cold and Some BEAUTIFUL!

2010-03-29T15:05:00.005-06:00

It was finally warm enough to go outside today, so we went to the park for about an hour. She had a blast and there were a million other kids there too.

Such a GREAT DAY!

Smile before you go down the slide!

Ethan was showing her where to go.

Th big kid slide was the BEST!

Patiently waiting her turn.

She was having too much fun to look at mommy!

On the big kid steps to get up to the big kid slide!

Her new swing in our backyard! She calls it a WEEEEE cause that is what you say when you are on it!

On the way to church!

This is now Mackenzie's face when we say smile or cheese!

Long Time No See

2010-02-24T14:24:00.005-07:00

Lets start out with some pictures from NC...

My friend Hailey and I got together at the park and here are her two little ones with Mackenzie

This is what Mackenzie did (ran all over the place) while...

Poppy chased her like this making scary noises. It was so funny. If he stopped she would just keep saying more until he would do it again.

Poppy was her chillin out friend too.

We went to Outback to celebrate Daddy's birthday when he came to visit us in NC. Mackenzie helped him eat his ice cream.

She was happy to be eating cheese fries and bloomin onion.

Ok, time to get out now, I have finished eating!

Sorry I have been such a slacker in the blogging department. Since I have been back in Colorado I have been soooo busy whenever I would have the chance to blog.

The only time I really can blog i during Mackenzie's naps and late at night. During all of her naps I have been doing things around this crazy house. For example, as soon as she has gone to sleep everyday this past week, I have run downstairs thrown on my paint clothes and painted a pantry, closet, and another bedroom. That may not seem like much but each one needed two coats and there were lots of nooks and crannys to get to. I am just ready to at least have this house painted completely so that I don't feel icky when I walk into certain rooms.

But life has been good since we have been back in CO. Mackenzie and I really miss being in NC, and I really really miss having constant babysitters and human toys to entertain this girl.

My next big blogging project is to start taking some after pictures of these rooms so that I can post about our house that we have been working on for what already seems lie forever. But I know some of the rooms won't be completely done until July. My parents are awesome and are providing us with lots of furniture to put in our home. So my great hubby gets to drive a Uhaul across the country.

But since we have been back Mackenzie is continuing to learn so many words.

A few that I can think of off the top of my head are

- downstairs

-upstairs

-I love you

-help

-dance

-icky

-yuck

The funniest thing (ok not really funny, but you can't help laugh)...she is starting to pick her nose. Not like for real, but she puts her fingers up her nose and says yuck or icky just to see what we will do. We have tried to tell her it is icky, and to not do it, we have ignored her,but we just can't help laughing to ourselves, because when she does it...it is just too funny.

Also, the first thing she ever wants to do when she wakes up in the morning is dance. She also wants to dance whenever I walk into the kitchen. I have a cd player in the kitchen and she wants me to turn it on and make a fool of myself while she sits and laughs. She just rocks back and forth and will turn in circles if I am lucky, but she gets mad if I am not "dancing".

Also, Alison (Adam's sister) and her husband Ryan decided to take a road trip from Provo to Denver to come see us. It was a fast trip and it was cold, so we didn't do a ton, but it was great to see them. Thanks for coming you guys!

That is all for now because Mackenzie is waking up...

I will try to do better about blogging!

Things are great!

2010-01-19T15:03:00.004-07:00

Well, I am in NC and have been for a few weeks now.
I am not doing a very good job keeping up with blogging, but here is a little update without pictures. (They will go up sometime at a later date).

I have had Lasik surgery and am seeing great. I am still a little blurry in one eye, but it is still healing. I got to wear these VERY SEXY goggles to sleep in so I didn't accidentally rub my eyes. I was not supposed rub or touch my eye for a week. That also included putting on makeup, getting water in them, or anything that could come in contact with my eyes. I did a good job and did exactly as the doctor asked. Now I should be good. I my eyes are doing great and I can go about my normal life. I am just so excited that I can see!

Being at home is great, (I just wish my hubby was here too). He did come for a long weekend to spend some time with us, but it just wasn't long enough. He does have a job and has to support us somehow, so he had to get back.

Since we have been home, Mackenzie has not done a great job sleeping. She wakes up at night sometimes and thinks it is time to play. For the first almost 2 weeks, she would be awake for hours at a time in the middle of the night. I thought it was going to kill me. She still is getting up at night, just most nights it isn't for hours. I think she is just excited to have all these people around all the time and doesn't want to be left out.

I also got my hair chopped off a week or two ago. I need to take a picture. I don't really have a "before" picture, but the "after" is very different from what my hair has looked like the last few months. The only bad thing about my hair being this short is that I can't pull it back in a pony tail. If you are just so excited and can't wait to see it, you can go back on my blog like a year or so ago (the summer before I had Mackenzie) and see how short my hair was at that time. I think it is actually a little shorter now than it as then. But it is cute when it is fixed.

Oh I also wanted to put a little update about all the things Mackenzie is doing.

I think this has been a great trip for her. With all the stimulation around, she has really grown and learned a TON!

Some words she says now are:

please
thank you
Gigi (this is now what we are calling my mom cause having 2 Nana's was very confusing)
Poppy (my dad's new name)
Papa (my grandfather)
Ball
Apple
Outside (she said it for the first time this morning)
Up
Bottle (baba)
Daddy
Hi
Bye Bye
Me
Katie (she said it one time, so we will see if she continues)
Stinky, stinky, stinky (when we change her diaper)

I know there are some that I am missing but I will update this more if I think of any.

She is also changing her baby doll's diaper, feeding and burping the baby, riding her rocking horse, opening doors (she is just tall enough to reach the handle and pull it down to push or pull the door open. We were hoping this one would wait until our next trip. At our house we have the round knobs, so that is take a little longer to figure out.) She is flying up and down the stairs, she is really wanting to feed herself (even though she still doesn't eat hardly ANYTHING), she kicks balls, and it getting pretty good at throwing them, she is also becoming OCD about things being exactly like she wants them. (if you fold a blanket around her baby and it isn't exactly the way she wants it, she will take it all out and get you to do it again.) I feel bad for her cause she is at the age where she wants you to know what she wants, but she doesn't quite know how to convey it, so we are all getting frustrated. We will get past this soon I hope.

But other than that things are good. I wish Adam could come visit one more time, but I will be home in a little over 2 weeks and we will get back to normal life.

Thanks honey for letting me be gone this long. You are a good sport!!!

We miss you! Good thing we have phones and webcams!

New Years Eve

2010-01-03T14:03:00.003-07:00

We had a fun night with some friends who came over on New Year's Eve. We played some games and ate lots of yummy food. The babies even decided to be awake for bringing in the new year. Luckily Mackenzie had slept for a few hours, but about 11:30 she wanted to come join the party!

Sean, Tonya, and their little one Ethan (who never even went to sleep until after they left)

Nathan, Chelsea, and thei little one Luke (who was asleep)

And our friends Auburn and Jason came over fo a little while but had to leave early! We missed you guys!

We are so glad and grateful that we have great friends here, especially since we don't have family around!

Mackenzie

2010-01-03T13:40:00.004-07:00

This is just some pics and an update on Mackenzie!

First of all, Mackenzie hates to have her hair done, so the other day she was sitting in my lap while I was doing her hair and she decided to take her anger out on my glasses. Good thing I am getting Lasik so soon. I am now wearing my old glasses (the perscription isn't perfect) but it does enough to help me not have a constant headache.

Mackenzie in her 2T dress and her 12 month sweater. Tell me how those sizes work? I am so confused!

Nana, this picture is for you. I AM IN MY CHRISTMAS DRESS!!!

Mom took my hair down, but because my hair is so thin and straight it stays basically the same, just like I still have rubberbands in it!

I decided it was time to go outside so I put on my hat and brought Mom my shoes!

I am just growing up so fast!

When Mom didn't come get me as soon as I woke up, I decided to look outside and see what was going on. But she caught me!

I love to DANCE!

Mackenzie is getting so big! We just had her 15 month check up and everything is great. She weighs 19 pounds 4 ounces, and it 31 1/4 inches tall.

She is learning how to really eat with a fork and getting pretty good at it.

She is running all over the place and just loves to be on the move constantly

She is just sooooo busy and wants to learn about everything we are doing.

The other day she was being too quiet so I went into her room to see what she was doing. She had a diaper laid out on the ground and was putting her baby doll in it and wrapping her up. She now knows how a diaper goes on.

She loves bathtime and would stay in her bath all day long if we let her.

She now has 4 teeth (she finally got her top 2 in a few weeks ago).

She is a very picky eater and won't eat a lot. I guess she eats just enough to live on. And that is why she is so skinny (The doc says she is healthy and she is eating enough for her little body).

She isn't talking a ton, but I think it is because she loves her binky. We have been working on not having it during the day and it seems to be working.

She now says mama, dah (dad), bah (ball), baba (bottle), hi, bye, and I can't remember if she is saying any more.

She does sign

-please whenever she wants something (and if we won't give it to her she does the sign harder and harder as she gets more upset that e won't give her something she wants).

-food (points to her mouth)

-more

She loves to dance. Those of you who watch playhouse disney she loves the ooo and ah song (the song the monkeys) she gets up and tries to sing along. She also loves the little einsteins song and pats her lap the whole time they sing it.

She is really good at the stairs, she is just unsure about how to start goingn down. She will stand at the top of the stairs until we turn her around and put her on the stair and then she is good to go either up or down.

She loves to give hugs and kisses. The other day I was putting her down for a nap and I gave her a kiss on the cheek so she grabbed me around the neck and hugged me tight while saying uh uh (something my mom taught her).

She is also very good at helping around the house. If I tell her to go get something or to put something somewhere she runs to do what I have asked. She is getting pretty good at putting her toys away also if I do it with her and show her how.

She still isn't sleeping very well. She will sleep through the night maybe once or twice a week. She also only takes 1 nap a day and sometimes that only lasts 45 min-1 hr, so you can imagine those are fun days.

But that is about it for now. I can't believe she is so big! She really isn't my little baby anymore! SAD!

Ward Christmas party

2010-01-03T13:32:00.003-07:00

We had a Church Christmas party a few weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. I tried to get Mackenzie to take a picture with Santa, but she screamed before I even put her in his lap, so I wasn't mean, I just took her away and let her watch him from a far. She loves looking at Santa and saying "HO HO HO" but doesn't want to be close to a life sized version!

We were all asked at the different tables to make ornaments for the tree that was in the middle of the gym, so our table had stuff the make gingerbread man ornaments. After we finished the ornaments, there were stickers left over, so Adam decided to make Mackenzie decorative also!

We sat with some of our friends:

Chelsea and Nathan

And Krystal and her little girl Grace!