Not NC, But I Am Not Bored

I thought that I would show everyone what I have been up to while Meredith and Mackenzie have been in NC. Yes, I wish I was there with them, but at least I live in a great state with lots of things to do.

Roxborough State Park

Roxborough State Park

Roxborough State Park

Colorado State Forest State Park

Colorado State Forest State Park

Colorado State Forest State Park

Mount Evans

Farmington Utah (An old picture that I felt like putting up here)

Golden Gate Canyon State Park

Mount Evans

All of these images (except the bald eagle one) were taken in Colorado State Parks. I haven't even begu to explore Colorado yet. I have only visited 4 state parks, but I have loved every minute of it.

Fun in NC

I am just cruisin while Mommy is taking random pictures.



While we were at the airport in Denver, Mommy slammed her arm into a purse hanger hook thing when leaving the bathroom stall. Yeah it HURT!



After working in the yard for hours, Papa Bruce was really, really hot, so he took a break in my pool!


Aunt Katie is embarassed because Uncle Chad didn't know his animal sounds. While we were reading my animal book, Uncle Chad thought all the animals said "Ruff Ruff". It was funny and I kept giving him this look like, "You are how old and don't know what a cow says, you are WEIRD"

FUN AT THE POOL!!!

This is me being the center of attention when my mommy's cousins came to visit.
Mogan, Jenna, and Jason.



I am THIRSTY!!!



Now I need to wash my hands.



SOOO CUTE!



Splashin in the water.



When the cousins came over they brought me a new toy!!!!

9 months

This is a little late, but last Tuesday Mackenzie turned 9 months. I can't believe how fast time is flying!

She is now officially (as of yesterday)
16 lbs 12 oz
and around 28 inches tall.

She is growing little by little.

Her neutrophil numbers are still very low. We went yesterday to a pediatrician here in NC (a friend of the family) to get her blood drawn and they were around 300 something. So they have fallen a little since her last CBC.

But other than that, she is really healthy and developing and growing so fast! I can't believe all the things she can do.



She is crusing around furniture just as fast as she can get those little feet to run. When she gets excited she runs back and forth down the couch. It is so funny to watch. She also does this when she is trying to figure out how to climb on the couch (especially when Daddy has something, like the laptop, that she wants to play with.


She isn't really a good eater, but we have found that she likes spaghetti. We are really worried about how little she eats (especially being here in NC she is down to hardly anything!)
The pediatrician here in NC thinks that her low weight gain is probably just a matter of not enough calories, but if she won't eat, she won't eat.



Here is a precious 9 month picture. She is laying on her little twin bed that is in her room for when Nana Joy comes to visit.

Here she is with her diaper rash cream and her bunny rabbit. I would say she has grown just a little. The only way we could keep her from grabbing and throwing or chewing on the bunny was to give her something else to distract her. Yes, she loves to chew on this tube for some reason.

She also is saying HI! She hasn't gotten the wave down yet, but when you wave at her and say hi, she stretches out her hand and say hi back. It is precious. (I will have to get a video!)

She also, as you can tell from the close-up picture above, that she doesn't have any visible teeth. She does have one that is very sharp and you can feel it, you just can't see it yet. Maybe someday my baby won't be toothless. haha

I have basically kept up on the things that Mackenzie can do, and I can't think of any more at this moment, so I guess if I remember some other things that I haven't blogged about I can do that later!

A few pictures while we are away

These are just some fun pictures we have taken while we have been away from Daddy.

These are for you honey!



I am tackling my new lamb!


Nana was checking to see if my tooth had come in, so I wanted to see how healthy her teeth were.


I love spaghetti


It gets EVERYWHERE!!


Nana bought a pool for me! Mommy, Katie, and Lauren laid out to get some sun while I splashed in my very own pool.

I miss you Daddy!!!

Another Update

For all those who have been checking my blog everyday to see how Mackenzie is, here is your newest update.

The wonderful thing is that it is not the worst we thought. She does not have leukemia or lupus.

The doctor said more would be weird on her blood test if that were the case.

The doctor also doesn't think she has any vitamin deficiency, so he says that isn't it (which I have my doubts about, but whatever).

The doctor said from the information he has right now, she has neutropenia, which basically means she has a low neutrophil count.

He wants to do blood work one more time and then we will have a good pattern to see what her body is doing.

Once we get that, if the numbers stay low, we will be going to a pediatric hematologist to see why they are low and to see if there is anything we can do to fix it.

There are 3 types of neutropenia...

1. It just stays low all the time and if Mackenzie catches something she will have to go to the hospital and/or be put on antibiotics even if it is just a cold.

2. It stays low until she gets sick and then her neutrophil levels just up to protect her until whatever sickness she has is gone and then they drop back down (which if she has to deal with the the rest of her life...we hope it will be this kind)

3. One week her numbers are low and the next they are high...they just form a pattern of high and low and we pray that if she catches something it is when her nuetrophils are at the high point.

So I want to thank you for all of your prayers and I know that has helped us to get through this little speed bump.

I am now in NC visiting my family and we are having a great time. Sorry honey that I had to leave you behind, but you have to work to support my habits! JK. I hope everything is going great back in CO!

If you want to see me while I am here (*Hailey*) and you don't have my new number, just call me at my parents house...they are in the phone book!

Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers! We love you guys!

I will let you know more as we get more info!

Update from the Doctor

If you read my last blog you noticed that Mackenzie had some blood work done to see why she isn't gaining weight.

Well last night her pediatrician called me to give me the results.

They were not what we wanted to hear.

Out of all the tests he ran (I don't know how many), 2 came back irregular.

First, her pH (acid-base) levels were low. Normally they are between 22-24 and her's was at 15.

Second, her neutrophil (white blood cell) count was EXTREMELY low. Normally that should be between 2000-4000. If it gets below 1500 they begin to get worried. Mackenzie's count was at 240. That is way way way low. The first thing I thought when the doctor told me this was cancer. I know that cancer has to do with the white blood cells.

After we got the news, told our parents, and calmed down a little, I did some research on the computer.

I found out it could be anything from having a folic acid or vitamin B12 deficiency to leukemia or lupus.

The doctor also told me that he wants to redraw blood on Monday and test again because it could be that the blood wasn't handled properly, the tourniquet was on Mackenzie's arm too long(which definetely could be explained because they had a really hard time getting her blood to flow into the tube), they could have waited too long to test it, etc. There are many things that could have gone wrong the first time.

The positive thing is that she has been healthy, except for acute bronchitis a few months ago. Mackenzie is developing wonderfully. She is talking up a storm, crawling and climbing on everything she possibly can, walking along furniture and she is even learning to balance if we let go of her.

Because of all this we are thinking positively.

I am praying that it is either a mistake or that it is just a vitamin deficiency.

We are going back to the doctor on Monday and then should hear something hopefully Tuesday or Wednesday.

I will keep you updated.

All I ask is that if you read this please keep us in your prayers, and ask your friends too as well.

I know that no matter what it is, we will be ok. We just need all the support and love we can right now, especially if there is something wrong.

Our past week or 2

Mackenzie and I went for a walk a few days ago, and it was a really, really long walk. We went to see how long the walk would take to get to a park. The walk was straight up hill and I was exhausted by the end. We sat at the park and played in the grass for a while, while I caught my breathe for the walk home. Mackenzie loves being outside so this was a great trip for her.

Adam, Mackenzie, and I also went to a church activity up in the mountains. It was only an hour away. Anyone who wanted to go...there was a camping trip in a state park. We just went up for breakfast because they were cooking lots of fun stuff. Also, since we are new in the area we are really trying to meet and make new friends. We had a lot of fun and Mackenzie did also. I really wish I would have gotten pictures, but there were all these little toddlers who thought she was so cute. They were patting her head and all fighting for her attention. Mackenzie loved it.

We also finally got Mackenzie a new carseat so she can sit up. She likes it so much more than her infant seat.

Lastly, we went to the doctor yesterday for Mackenzie's 9 month appointment. We are leaving to go to North Carolina on June 30, so we needed her appointment to be a little early.

Her 9 month stats are:

Height- 28 1/4 inches (70%)

Weight- 15 lbs 15 oz. (5%)

We really like her new doctor. He seems really nice and knowledgeable. I told him that I was concerned about her weight, considering she isn't gaining any. She has weighed the same for basically 2 months.

So I felt like a horrible mother, but we did some blood work to see if anything weird is going on in her little body. They poked both her arms to try to get enough blood to test. I cried when I left because I felt so bad. She screamed and cried and kicked the whole time. We should find out if there is anything going on by Monday.

That is really all that is going on with us right now. Adam is loving his job and I love being able to stay at home with Mackenzie.

A day with Mackenzie

I got this idea from a friends blog (thanks Cassie). I thought I would follow Mackenzie around for a day with my NEW camera. (We are pretty sure that when someone came to look at our apartment in Utah that someone swiped my camera, since I always left it out so I could take quick pictures.)

We wake up about 6:30 ready to play. Mackenzie is so excited when Mommy opens to door.

Then it is time for breakfast! Oatmeal is soooo tasty.

After breakfast Mommy is trying to clean up breakfast so Mackenzie goes straight for her toys and is so excited to stare at Playhouse Disney for a while (We love Mickey Mouse and Pooh and Tigger).

Now it is time to take her toys out of the box and chew on them!

Mommy, what are you doing? Are you taking my picture?

I see that camera in your hand...GIVE IT TO ME! (Yes, we are both in our PJs)

Now we have both gotten dressed and ready for the day and it is REALLY time to play. So she tries to knock over her box of toys until Mommy goes and actually dumps it out. She loves crawling in the box and getting EVERYTHING out.


Oh wait...Playhouse Disney is still on.... MICKEY!!!!!

The blinds are probably the coolest thing EVER.

Now we move to her room. I have been working very slowly trying to get her room exactly like I want it. It takes a while because when I put something up, it usually ends up on the floor about 2 minutes later.

Mom, why did you put these socks up when you knew I wanted to eat them!

Oh books! I want to read these too.


Yeah, I turn all the pages so I can read the whole book.

Pictures!!!

Yes, I know many of you have been bugging me to death (Mom) to put up pictures of little Mackenzie....well here you have it!

Adam took some fun pictures on BYU campus before we left Utah.

Things are good here in Denver still. Adam is still loving his job, we love our apartment, ward, city, etc. It is really easy to get arond everywhere we want to go! We are still trying to move in, and with an 8 month old who is into EVERYTHING and putting everything she finds on the floor in her mouth it has taken a little longer than I would like. But here she is...

Denver

We finally got here and really like our apartment. It is really big and there is actually room for everything!

We packed everything up and checked out of our apartment on Thursday night. We spent the night at Joe and Tina's house. Ryan and Ali spent the night too because they were going to come with us. Ryan was going to drive his truck, while Ali was going to ride with me to entertain Mackenzie on the 8 hour trip.

Well, when I went to wake up Ryan and Ali at 3:30 AM (we wanted Mackenzie to sleep most of the trip), Ali was in the bathroom throwing up. Well there went our plans. I felt so bad for her, luckily she wasn't sick for too long, but she did end up staying in Provo. Well, Ryan ended up riding with me and we got him a VERY cheap one way ticket back to Salt Lake.

He came to help us move everything in since we had a LOT of heavy things. THANKS RYAN!!!!

We went riding around the area and we are trying to get acclimated to the area. It is a REALLY big place, so it will take a while, but we will get used to it. I will put pictures up as soon as I take some. We are doing just fine, Adam started his job today, so I will update you on that later.

We are loving the area so far!! YAY...it will be nice when we finally get completely moved in.

I AM BACK!

I still haven't found my camera, so I have no pictures, but I just thought I would say hello from Denver.

We just got internet today, and I am so excited I am connected to the world again.

My little Kenzie is now 8 months old and into EVERYTHING!

Her stats:
Height-27 1/2 inches (75 percentile)
Weight- 15 lbs. 15 oz. (10 percentile)

She is SOOOO little. She really doesn't look that skinny, but she is definitely light when you pick her up. She is crawling all over the place. She is walking when she holds on to anything. She still has NO teeth. I think she is teething, but at this point I have no idea. I "thought" she was teething a few times now, but she has no teeth, so I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Mackenzie is talking constantly saying:
ba, da, ma, ya, na, ga
she blows raspberries and bubbles
she also loves gurgling.

She loves to laugh when we tickle her or do silly things to entertain her.

She still isn't sleeping very well. If she wakes up less than twice a night it is a GREAT night. (yes we have tried everything)

She feeds herself, but would much rather haveme feed her with a spoon.

She pulls herself up on furniture and can now also sit down gently without falling.

She loves to help mommy, by "helping" I mean she likes to dump everything out so mommy can clean things and put them back where they belong.

I can't think of anything else right now, but if I do, I will blog about it.