The Bell Family

I Love This Face

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ward Christmas Party

2011-12-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

We had a ward Christmas part a few weeks ago. Makenzie is wearing a hand me down outfit my mom made for my little sister Halston. Makenzie hasn't taken it off since...

When Santa Clause asked Makenzie what she wanted for Christmas, she said " a candy cane..."

Tanner just wanted to grab Santa's beard...

And Makenzie got what she wanted....(as usual)...

Makenzie's 3rd Birthday

2011-12-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hike in the Desert

2011-12-19T13:50:00.001-07:00

While Nick's parents were here for Thanksgiving, we did lots of fun things...but this is the only thing that ended up being pictured....the hike in the real-life desert....

It was in the San Tan "mountains"

Halloween 2011

2011-12-19T11:11:00.001-07:00

I made Tanner a chicken costume:

Cutest. Chicken. Ever.

Makenzie wanted to be "Tangled" aka Rapunzel....so I had to make her some hair:

Makenzie Trick-or-Treating with her best friend Hailey:

Tanner playing with his best friend Kiersten:

Gilbert Temple

2011-12-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

The Gilbert Temple is under construction and will be pretty close to our house! We are excited to watch the progress.

Cornices

2011-12-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

So my mom came to visit for a multi-function visit. First reason: She really missed Nick. Second reason: she missed me. Third. She missed Makenzie & Tanner.

Fourth: We went to Time-Out for LDS Women

Fifth: We went to my cousin Stacey's wedding

Sixth: To help me get started with house projects. I have been living in this house 5 months and have no window treatments, haven't painted, haven't hung pictures...etc.

So we went online and found an idea to help us make some inexpensive, easy, cornices.

Materials: fabric, foam board, duck tape, hot glue, L-brackets, staple gun.

So the project did not go as well as expected. I think the first mistake was trying to make a 14 ft. cornice when the online idea was made for a 3 ft cornice.

The next mistake was finishing them and then noticing we made them the wrong size...and having to do them all over again.

The next mistake was not coming up with an idea to hang them. Nick just loved me when I handed him our duck tape creation and gave him the impossible task to hang them.

The next mistake was trying to ask a manly Lowe's employee for help finding U shaped brackets....he started asking questions like "so what kind of wood are we working with here" and "so how are we going to screw in the bracket to poster board?" "what? you are planning on hot gluing a bracket?" This is what happens when you have girly girls doing mens work....

So after disaster after disaster, we finally had them finished and decided nobody ever has to know we used duck tape and foam board...we did a pretty good job....

I'm not ready to post a picture of the final product because I still have to paint and etc...so you will have to wait in suspense for the duck tape project photos.

Pumpkin Picture Disaster

2011-12-15T16:04:00.001-07:00

I just wanted some cute pictures of my kids at the pumpkin patch....and my kids choose only to smile when I am not holding a camera.

A few pictures

2011-12-15T13:22:00.001-07:00

Tanner's cousin Jocy came over for a few hours one day while her dad helped Nick with our sprinklers... I looked over, saw this, and thought it was so sweet:

Makenzie at 3

2011-12-15T12:36:00.003-07:00

I'd be lying if I said Makenzie has been an easy toddler. But the difficulties I have with her are only because she is so full of life, so smart, and so curious.

I had a rough time trying to keep up with her while I was pregnant with Tanner. She was all over the place. I had one particularly scary experience with her...

Just a few days before Tanner was born, I went to a little boutique shop that was on a busy road. The place was kind of small so I decided not to bring a stroller in. As I was browsing, she was running around like crazy. After I paid, she was yelling that she didn't want to leave and then took her shoes off and threw them across the store. I went to retrieve her shoes and noticed that she was bolting through the door. I was trying to chase after her, but I was just a few days from having a baby and I couldn't catch up. When I opened the door, she was headed straight for the busy street. The cars were not slamming on breaks or swerving because they could not see that she was coming. Just as her foot hit the road, on instinct, I let out a blood chilling scream for her to stop. Under normal circumstances, she would not have stopped. However, this time, through what I know was divine intervention, she stopped..... and I was able to call her back to me. And then I cried...for about three days straight.

I couldn't get the experience out of my mind...and how close I felt I had come to losing her. I still can't think about the experience without bringing back the feelings that I had the moment she stepped onto the road and I know I will never forget that feeling. However, I will also never forget the feeling I had when she came back to me, and she was safe. I don't know if I have ever felt stronger love than I did the moment I held her again.

This experience has helped me through her hard toddler times. Sometimes she makes me feel like I will seriously lose my mind, but my mind often wanders back to that moment when she was safe, and I remember how much I love her.

So even though she won't eat, or nap, even though she now can break through child safety locks, climbs over baby gates, and can open child proof medicine bottles, even though she has to change 500 times a day and dump everything out of her dresser every 5 minutes, and she finds so much joy in making messes and jumping in mud, and won't go stinky in the potty, I am still crazy about her.

She can be so sweet and charming. She loves Tanner...she loves to play with him and to help care for him. She loves to proudly show off all of her accomplishments..from pictures, to block towers, to her wet in the potty. She probably knows a hundred songs by now and asks us to sing to her all the time. She is such a Daddy's girl and waits all day long for him to get home and play with her. She loves to learn the gospel and is excited every night for us to teach her a church story. She copies everything that we do. I love her so much and I know I should enjoys these times while I can...

Tanner 4 Months/ 6 Months

2011-12-15T12:05:00.003-07:00

Tanner is 6 months now....but I am trying to catch my blog up....

Tanner's Four Month Stats:

Weight: 14 lbs 2 oz (25th percentile)

Height: 25.5 inches ( 75th percentile)

Six Month Stats:

Weight: 15 lbs 2 oz (10th percentile)

Height: 27 in (75th percentile)

Tanner is probably the sweetest baby I could have asked for. He is so happy, he loves to snuggle, and he loves attention.

I love how when I nurse him, he locks one of him arms straight and swings it wildly around.

I love how when he is hungry and I pick him up, he just nuzzles his head into my chest until I feed him.

I love how he laughs at every single move Makenzie makes. I love how he smiles at me in the mornings even after I make him cry through the night.

He has this little curious face look, that I love...that he makes as we are walking around the house and he is looking around.

I love his chubby cheeks and his sweet personality.

I also love "straight legs." Sometimes he locks his legs straight and just hold them there...and all of these little chubby rolls appear and it looks like he is trying so hard to hold his legs straight because his body wants to curl back into the fetal position.

I love his army crawl...more of a dying man in the desert kind of a maneuver....he just drags himself around in search of toys....

I love how his favorite toy is a bag of wipes. I love how when you take one of his toys away he starts bawling.

I love how he loves kisses...and will start laughing when I kiss him...and will continue to do so through high school I'm sure...

I love his dramatic show when we try to feed him something he doesn't like...(he tries to throw himself out of him bumbo while screaming and flailing...)

I love how his eyes can't decide if they are going to be brown or blue and how his hair is growing in strawberry blone.

I love this kid.

South Carolina Vacation- Credits

2011-10-12T17:42:00.003-06:00

A special thank you to my parents for housing and feeding us.

A special thank you to my dad for arranging so many free activities...I think you picked the right line of work....

A special thank you for my mom for coordinating everything and making the house so clean and fun.

A special thank you to Madison and Josh for taking time off of work to spend with us.

A special thank you to Jordan and Kaitlyn and Riley for coming at the same time as us.

A special thank you to Hunter for going running with me in the mornings even though I was way too slow for him and for taking Nick surfing.

A special thank you to Halston for all of the taking care of Tanner that she did.

A special thank you to Continental Airlines for proving us with round trip tickets for a grand total of $450 (including taxes) for 3 tickets.

A special thank you to the rental car lady who upgraded our rental car to a rental van...for free...

A special thank you to Reed & Megan for providing our transportation to and from the airport.

A special thank you to Nick for letting me sleep in almost every single morning.

And a special thank you for all of those I forgot to thank for what you did.

South Carolina Vacation- Sunday Afternoon

2011-10-12T17:39:00.002-06:00

South Carolina Vacation- Swimming

2011-10-12T17:35:00.003-06:00

We went swimming in my parent's pool quite a few times, but I only got my camera out for a few pictures one day....

Makenzie loved the slide...I should post a video of her going down...she just slides so fast down and then just shoots out into the pool...It is so funny. And then she swims up to the surface all on her own...

South Carolina Vacation- Wonder Works

2011-10-12T17:33:00.003-06:00

That upside down building is a place called Wonder Works. It just has cool exhibits and activities. It is also something new to Myrtle Beach...

South Carolina Vacation- The Pirate Show

2011-10-12T17:27:00.002-06:00

There used to be a place in Myrtle Beach called the Dixie Stampede. It was a Southern dinner and show. Recently, that got changed to a pirate dinner show. It was pretty fun, and Makenzie LOVED it:

Tanner did too....

This picture is for my mom. She kept telling me to take candid pictures...Sometimes that means we have to pose the "candid..."Here is one of her "candid" pictures...

My kids are SO hard to take pictures with....

My Parents:

Madison & Josh

Poor child gets way too many kisses from me....

This was Makenzie the entire show...she wouldn't eat, she wouldn't blink....she did laugh and clap though...

South Carolina Vacation- The Sky Wheel

2011-10-12T17:20:00.004-06:00

Myrtle Beach recently got a Ferris Wheel right on the coast that they call the biggest ever in the world or something like that. I'm pretty sure it isn't even close to the biggest, but it is fun. It would have been cool to go in the day so we could see the ocean, but we went at night...so those of us who actually were working during these two weeks could go....

South Carolina Vacation- Everyone

2011-10-12T17:20:00.000-06:00

South Carolina Vacation- Boating

2011-10-12T17:11:00.003-06:00

My family likes to go boating on the Waccamaw River. Here are some picture of our boating day:

This is Riley and Halston...I would be scared to death to get on a jet ski with Riley...but Halston handled the experience pretty well...

I was supposed to be taking a picture of Riley doing a flip off the top of our friend's house boat...but I only caught the landing:

Swimming with Uncle Riley:

Grandpa teaching Makenzie how to drink and drive:

Tubing with Aunt Madison:

Tubing with Daddy:

Our friend's houseboat aka our docking station:

Halston spent almost the whole day standing on the top of the house boat trying to work up the nerve to flip off. Within the last few minutes we were there, she attempted...and landed on her back, but I'm so proud of her for trying!

South Carolina Vacation- Beach

2011-10-12T16:53:00.004-06:00

So our family went to Myrtle Beach to visit my family for a couple of weeks in August.

Here are some pictures from our two beach days:

Makenzie LOVED the beach. She loved the ocean, she loved the waves, she loved the sand, she was loving life...

Surfside Beach:

My sister Halston:

My Mom:

My brother Hunter taking his turn babysitting:

Tanner found the beach rather boring:

Nick is used the crazy Oregon waves...I'm pretty sure he think our waves are pretty lame...but I still think he had fun...

That black spec you see in the middle of the picture is a dolphin fin! I grew up in Myrtle Beach and never saw one....but we saw quite a few this particular day:

Makenzie did catch a few waves that she rode in all the way to the beach...The first time she did it was pretty funny. Nick just sent her on the board into a wave not realizing how well it was going to work....he ended up chasing after her as fast as he could as she cruised all the way up to the sand....

She didn't quite catch this one:

Makenzie Sings the BYU Fight Song

2011-09-26T15:35:00.003-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9CTMgXYhRA

My favorite part is:

"As we unfold our 'picture' story...."

Makenzie's Trick

2011-09-26T15:28:00.003-06:00

I have no idea where she got this from, but one day (about six months ago) Makenzie said "Mommy, do you want to see my trick?"

and I said "sure"

and then she did this:

For some reason it is one of my favorite things and I ask her to do her "trick" about ten times a day.

My Babies

2011-09-22T12:37:00.003-06:00

2 Months

2011-09-22T12:06:00.003-06:00

So, I'm six weeks late, but anyway, here is Tanner at two months:

Two months stats:

Weight- 11 lbs 8 oz (45th percentile)

Height- 23 2/3 in (75th percentile)

Tanner is the sweetest angel baby and I am obsessed with him. From about 6 weeks to 9 weeks he used to do this funny thing where we would mimic facial expressions. If we stuck our tongues out, he would too. If we opened our mouths wide, he would too. If we cooed at him, he would coo back. It was so cute! He thought it was so funny, he would always laugh during the little sessions....but he doesn't do it anymore....so sad...

He also decided at about 6 weeks that he wanted to roll over. Anytime we put him on his stomach for about a month, he would roll to his back. But, he doesn't do that very often anymore either!

All day long he just sits there and waits for me to look at him so he can smile at me. He is such a happy baby and I can't stop squishing and kissing him! Oh, and I have an unexplainable desire to eat him...Nick thinks this desire is weird, but I know I am not the first momma to feel this way.

Encore

2011-09-02T15:51:00.003-06:00

I know I really need to update my blog, and I will, but in the meantime, here are some more prayer quotes from Makenzie:

"Please bless that Joseph Smith can go to church"
"Please bless the missionaries to bring the world his truth"
"Thankful I can tickle daddy's scratchy face"
"Please bless I can throw up"

And a story:

We were at a mall a few months ago. The mall has those little quarter (only now they cost a dollar) rides where they sit on a horse, or in a car...etc. Anyway, one of them is like a mini carousel and has three cars that spin around. So we are in Old Navy, and Nick gets Makenzie out of the stroller. Makenzie takes off running out of the store and sees a single kid riding on the three-person mini carousel. So, Makenzie runs up to it, starts running next to it to match the speed (picture a person about to jump onto a moving train) and then suddenly jumps on, climbs up on the car, and gets herself a free ride...yes, we have an outlaw on our hands...

Prayer Time

2011-08-02T15:05:00.002-06:00

(the picture has nothing to do with prayer time)

Nick: "Makenzie will you say the prayer?"

Makenzie: "I can't. I'm too sweaty and the rain is coming."

Heard in Makenzie's prayers:

"Please bless the missionaries that they can ride their bikes"
"Please bless the missionaries that I can shake their hands"
"Thankful I can have ice cream tomorrow"
"Please bless I can go to the park tomorrow"
"Thankful I can go to Lainey's house and that I can hit her and that she can cry"
"Thankful I hit my bottom on the TV"
"Thankful that the school bus can be broken"
"Please bless the pizza that I can eat it"
"Thankful that the rain can come and that it can be scary"

Our House

2011-07-25T12:30:00.007-06:00

Here are some pictures of our house pre-move in:

Back of the house:

Entry:

Living Room:
Kitchen: (see Makenzie?) (pre microwave/fridge)

Family Room & Play Room:

Hallway leading to laundry room, guest bedroom, and bathroom:

Laundry Room:

Guest Bedroom:

Downstairs Bathroom:

Stairs:

Top of stairs:

Loft:

Mater Bath:

Master Bedroom:

Tanner's Room:

Makenzie's Room

Kid's Bathroom

Spare bedroom (currently a craftroom):

Around the house

2011-07-25T12:16:00.003-06:00

My blue eyed angel:

Tanner really is an angel. He smiles, tries to coo, loves to cuddle, loves kisses, LOVES to be held. I cannot get enough of him. When I pull out my camera, Makenzie has to pull out her 'clamla" too.

So Makenzie has really curly hair, and therefore it is really short. So, the other day I blow dried it straight...and it still wasn't straight so I flat ironed it so that I could see how long it is:

It was longer than I thought....enough to make a non- Pebbles Flinstone ponytail.

Tanner was kind of fussy this morning while I was catching up on blogs, so I put him in Makenzie's megablock wagon and was pushing it back and forth with my foot. Makenzie wanted to be involved so I let her pull him around the room (I'm a really good mom....) and he loved it.

He loved it so much that he cried when she stopped:

Baby Blessing Day

2011-07-25T11:13:00.005-06:00

Family in Town

2011-07-25T10:39:00.005-06:00

We had family come to town for Tanner's blessing! My parents, Nick's parents, my sister Halston, my brothers Jordan & Riley, and my sister-in-law Kaitlyn all came. I took so few pictures....
Grandpa holding Tanner for the first time:

Nick's brother Reed and his family were out of town but they let us use their house to entertain everyone because our house wasn't finished yet. Luckily, they have a pool because pretty much that is all you can do here in the summer. The first picture is taken from inside because there was a monster dog outside waiting for me to come out so he could eat me.

Tanner and I hung out inside because we were not allowed to swim....

Makenzie is obsessed with Lainey's dress up collection, so she is always a princess at Lainey's house:

Family Pictures

2011-07-25T10:21:00.005-06:00

Tanner's First Week

2011-07-25T09:45:00.005-06:00

I have to admit, I did not want to leave the hospital. I loved having nurses taking care of me and the baby. I loved having food served to me and having no responsibility! So I stayed the maximum time allowed in the hospital. Here is Tanner ready to leave:

However, at this time his name was not Tanner, it was Cameron. Our baby didn't have a name for two days. We were trying to choose between the names Tanner & Cameron, but we couldn't decide. Nick wanted Cameron, I wanted Tanner. Finally, as we were leaving the hospital, we had to make a decision. I decided I felt bad naming him Tanner when Nick didn't really like that name and I was scared I would regret it, so I chose Cameron.

However, the next day I had a panic attack when I realized that I gave him the wrong name. He didn't look like a Cameron, I kept accidentally calling him Tanner, and I wanted it to be Tanner. So, I called the hospital and changed his name to Tanner! Nick even pretty much agreed that he is a Tanner.

When we first walked into the house coming home from the hospital, I opened the the door to find Makenzie in the front room swinging around her play golf clubs. So I just kind of stood there holding Tanner's car seat because I was scared to put him down anywhere and couldn't help but notice this was a sign of how life was going to be for awhile. For the first couple of weeks we always had to have someone on guard duty because Makenzie is a little rough. She was never purposefully trying to hurt him, she is just kind of destructive by nature...

First Bath:

Thank goodness, my mom came to help us for three weeks! Tanner had perfect timing by coming the day after she got here. She kept Makenzie entertained, made all meals, cleaned, did the grocery shopping. It made my recovery nice and easy. She did it all in the Arizona summer heat....

He did have quite a few trips to the doctor his first two weeks. The doctor wanted to see him at one week for a check up. A few days after his one week check up his circumcision started bleeding pretty bad and so I took him to the doctor. When we got there, blood started oozing out around his umbilical cord and it kind of freaked me out. Then the next day, he got an eye infection caused by clogged tear ducts. A few days later he had his two week check up and he wasn't back to his birth weight yet so they asked me to go back a week later for a weight check. As you can see, he has had many trips to the doctor.

Tanner Nicholas Bell

2011-07-11T12:50:00.006-06:00

Tanner Nicholas Bell

June 7, 2011

8:37 PM

7 lbs 11 oz

21 in

Tanner was such a good boy and came the day before his due date. I went in to my regular doctor's appointment that morning at 10:00. I was dilated to a 3+ and was 80% effaced. The doctor stripped my membranes and then said "that should do it." And I said, "should do what? Like I am going to have the baby tonight?" and he said "sure." He made me an appointment to be induced just in case for the upcoming Sunday.

I started having lots of not too painful contractions. I went on with my day...took Makenzie to swim lessons, and was hanging out with my mom who had luckily just come into town the day before. The contractions started to get painful around 1:30 so my mom started timing them. They were always 2-5 minutes apart and lasting 45-60 seconds. The doctor had told me that I could go to the hospital when they were 5 minutes apart and lasting a minute. But, I have a horrible fear of being sent home from the hospital, so I wasn't ready to go yet.

I was keeping Nick updated via text. I had dropped him off at work that morning and he had no transportation so we were kind of hoping he would be able to get a ride. Luckily, he was able to because my contractions were getting more intense and closer together. Nick got home at 5:35 and my water broke at 5:36. Pretty good timing. So, we grabbed our stuff and headed to the hospital.

We got to the hospital about 6:15 and they got things in motion pretty quickly. I was dilated to a 5. I had tons of people coming and asking me all sorts of questions about insurance, health information, etc. And I remember being in so much pain that I couldn't really understand their questions and Nick was having to answer most things. The nurse was good and shooing people away from me until they could get me my epidural. I was a little nervous when I first saw the lady that would be giving me the epidural, she looked about 90 and was a little shaky....and was planning on sticking a giant needle in my back. As she was prepping/giving me the epidural I couldn't really tell what was going on or tell if she had given me any shots or if she was still prepping so I was trying to ask questions about what she was doing and she and the nurse kept talking me to me in baby voice and saying "we are getting you ready to have your baby. You are having a baby!" Me and Nick kept making eye contact when they did that like "what the heck?" I think they must have thought I was in shock or something but really I was just wondering if they had given me the shot yet or not...which, by the way, they had....it was just not nearly as painful as last time! The epidural nurse did a great job! I guess first impressions are not everything.

The rest of the labor was pretty casual. I was not nearly as numb as last time and could feel pressure (not pain) with every contraction. Nick and I were discussing if the baby was going to be born before midnight or if he would be born on his due date. The nurse kept making comments about, oh for sure tonight, we are going to have before before my shift ends. I kind of thought she was crazy because I was in labor 13 hours last time. However, I was progressing pretty steadily. By the time they finished giving me the epidural I was dilated to a 6. They called the doctor in and he broke my water, because apparently my water bag was only popped and not fully broken. At one point the baby was facing up, so that was a small concern, but then he flipped over. Also, with every contraction his heart rate was dropping so they thought the cord might be around his neck and they gave me oxygen.

When I was fully ready to deliver they called my doctor and had me do some practice pushing. When the doctor came into the room, he and the nurse were getting things ready when I felt the urge to push. I announced that I needed to push and the doctor said, "oh okay, well then push!" But, nobody was standing under me and I was so confused as to why they would tell me to push when nobody was there to catch the baby....so I just waited until they were ready. I probably pushed 10-15 minutes. Between contractions was so casual and we would all just be having normal conversation. I found out later that Nick was texting people between contractions! He texted my mom and let her know that he was looking at the baby's head....He was born at 8:37, 23 minutes before the nurse ended her shift.

When he was born they almost immediately handed him to me. He was the sweetest little thing with the sweetest little cry! I was actually cracking up as they handed him to me because his little cry was just so cute. I didn't get to hold him for long before they took him away because he had some fluid in his lungs they had to pump out. Then, he had to sit under the heater to raise his body temperature. But eventually, I got to hold him again.

My mom and Makenzie got to come and meet him the next morning. Makenzie loved him and just kept saying over and over, "he is so cute. he is so little." She was also very much a fan of pushing buttons on my bed and calling the nurse. Nick stayed with me and nights and my mom went home to take care of Makenzie. I didn't get much sleep in the hospital, but I still loved it. I love having people serve me and bring me everything I need and help me make sure everything is okay with my little baby. So, I stay the maximum time I am allowed.

A Little Fishy

2011-07-11T11:49:00.003-06:00

In Arizona, everyone (except us) has a pool. With pools around every corner, and Makenzie having no fear of the water, something had to be done. So, we signed her up for swim lessons...and it actually worked! Makenzie can swim! She swims between people, and from a person to the edge of the pool and back. She will even jump in and swim to a person. We are hoping if she ever falls in, she will remember her skills and be able to get back to the edge of the pool.

After swim lessons ended my mom was in town, so she helped Makenzie keep up with her skills:

I have this on video, but I don't know how to put the videos on my computer, so just pictures for now.

House Progress

2011-05-16T11:42:00.002-06:00

4/18/11

4/30/11

5/6/11

back of the house:

5/13/11

We have an appointment with the builder today! We will find out when our closing date will be. It should be toward the end of June!

And in case anyone is wondering, I am still pregnant. I have 3 weeks left! At my appointment last week I was dilated to a 1 and was 50% effaced! I have been feeling great....but the 100 degree days are really starting to get to me. Remind me never to be pregnant around summer again....

And, I actually am ready for him to come! My friends threw me a baby shower that was so fun! They surprised me by just giving me an invitation to it. I was so surprised when I saw it was for me! So between the shower and my own shopping and my sister-in-law giving me boy clothes, I am set! We also bought a double stroller. All I need to do is wash some clothes and put them in drawers. I am welcoming him to come anytime now!

Castles and Coasters

2011-05-16T11:31:00.005-06:00

Nick had a company party at a small amusement park in Phoenix called Castles and Coasters. I couldn't really ride anything since I was 36 weeks pregnant. But Nick and Makenzie had fun!

Makenzie's face is so funny in the next picture. She said she liked it and wanted to do it again..but I do think it kind of scared her:

We were kind of surprised that we live in the Phoenix area and do not of a large amusement park here. But, then we figured out that amusement parks make their money in the summer...and this area is waaaaay to hot in the summer to enjoy being outside that long. We went the first weekend in May and had to leave by 1:30 because it was just too hot.

Nap

2011-05-16T11:25:00.002-06:00

This was worth a post to itself because it has never happened before. Makenzie fell asleep on the couch. She only falls asleep on her bed or in the car seat.

On this particular day we didn't have time for a nap so I thought we were just skipping it for the day. When things got suspiciously quiet I went looking for her and found her like this:

Notice the spatula in one hand and a carrot in the other...she is kind of random....

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-05-16T11:12:00.003-06:00

She eventually realized that there was candy in the eggs...notice all of the open eggs in her basket:

And then it was really hard to get her to finish the hunt....because she just wanted to eat candy....

And she got a little desperate and started stuffing grass in her mouth...

And look at what the Easter bunny brought:

Easter Dress

2011-05-16T11:06:00.002-06:00

Here are pictures of Makenzie in her Easter Dress....playing baseball....random, I know...

Lately...

2011-04-13T16:16:00.004-06:00

I think my life can be summed up in three words: Makenzie is crazy.

I have proof.

So a few weeks ago it was in the 90's and I was wondering if the pool water was warm enough to swim in. We weren't planning on swimming so we were fully dressed. So, Makenzie and I walked over to the pool area at our apartment complex to feel the temperature of the water. I stuck my foot in and turned to Makenzie and told her it was cold. Then, she took off running and just jumped in. It was like she couldn't contain herself anymore and she just had to get in. So, I had to jump in after her...fully clothed...7.5 months pregnant. Luckily she didn't sink to the bottom because I'm pretty buoyant right now and I'm not really sure if I could have gotten down there. I was able to just grab her feet and pull her up above the water. When, I pulled her up, she wasn't choking or scared. She just said, "what happened mommy?" She actually seemed very delighted with herself. She spent the next few days repeating the lines "I jump in the pool. Mommy saved you. The pool's cold."

The baby has been sitting on a nerve in my leg and it has been getting gradually more and more painful. Well, after yesterday it took a turn for the worst and I know exactly why:

The following stories all took place on the same day (yesterday):

1. Makenzie and I went to the zoo with our friends. As we entered the gate, they were checking my membership pass and asked for my ID. Makenzie had wiggled out of the stroller and was running for this disgusting open fish pond near the entrance of the zoo. After our recent pool experience, I didn't want her jumping in so I had to sprint after her (8 months pregnant). Luckily I made it in time.

2. Nick and I took Makenzie on a walk to a grassy area near our apartment. At a random time, she just decided to take off running into the street just as a car was coming. I got to chase after her (8 months pregnant) and luckily got to her in time.

3. I took Makenzie to watch Nick play ward softball. The fields are really nice and fenced and there are bleachers and everything. Makenzie was having lots of fun watching "daddy's basketball game." She really, really wanted to go and play with him. So, she took off running like a mile around the fence to enter into the outfield...and I got to chase after her... (8 months pregnant). I finally caught up to her after she fell down on her face. And I didn't feel sorry for her.

4. For Nick's second game, they switched fields. It took Makenzie about five seconds to discover a "doggie door" cut into the fence. I don't know if I can explain it, but behind where the batter is, for no reason I can think of, they cut a square out of the fence that was the perfect size for Makenzie to dive through. Had I not sprinted there (8 months pregnant) and grabbed her legs in time, she would have fallen about four feet down onto the field...right behind the umpire. She was furious with me for stopping her exclaiming that it was "kenzie's turn to hit the ball."

Hopefully these stories don't portray me as not watching my child....I do watch her...she is just faster than me right now. I think it means it's time for us to stop leaving the house.

So, after yesterday, the nerve in my leg is killing me. Anytime I wanted to turn over in bed last night and I had to do everything in my power not to scream. It hurts when I walk, but it is for sure the worst when I'm laying down and try to move...or when I lift a leg to put pants on or step over something. It's going to be a long 8 weeks.

Cousins!

2011-04-13T15:58:00.005-06:00

My Impressive Gardening

2011-04-13T15:42:00.002-06:00

I decided to plant a container garden on my balcony. I had nice leaves growing for months and months but no vegetables. So, I decided that nothing was ever going to grow and I quit watering my plants. In my pregnant laziness, I just left the dead plants sitting there. Well, about a month or two after everything was brown and dead, I looked outside and noticed tomatoes growing on dead branches!

So, I guess I can't make a garden grow unless I kill it first.

*I did eventually throw out all of the dead plants and our balcony is now clean

We Own a Patch of Dirt....

2011-03-22T22:58:00.003-06:00

So we have a new address. It is currently a patch of dirt. But we are hoping sometime in July, there will be a completed house there.

Notice the tiny patch of grass in the backyard? We will be one of the few houses in Arizona that have a patch of grass....

I guess what I am trying to say is....we are building a house!!

Photo Shoot

2011-03-22T22:35:00.006-06:00

My mom came into town...which means I had a great helper to help me make Makenzie hold still so we could get some pictures....

This is what Makenzie does when I tell her to smile:

And this is what she does when she realizes I want her to hold still so I can take some pictures....
But my mom had tricks:

Tricks only last so long...

But then there is always the bribe of getting a sucker for participating:

And of course some pictures with my mom:

My mom came to visit for a week and we had so much fun! Makenzie just loves her and is always so confused when she leaves...and is always so bored when she leaves. Thanks for coming Mom!

New Bed

2011-03-22T22:25:00.002-06:00

Here is Makenzie in her new bed:

She looks so small in it....and the poor thing doesn't have bedding yet. Don't worry, we do give her more than a sheet.

I told her to close her eyes and pretend she is sleeping:

She loves it....mostly because she can escape whenever she wants....

She wakes up at all hours of the night and either plays in her room or comes into our room. One morning at like 5 in the morning I found her on the floor in front of our bed playing... but she usually comes in dragging a pillow and a blanket announcing that she woke up...

Last night she came into our room at 3:00...3:30....4:00....and then I finally convinced her it wasn't morning and she needed to go back to sleep.

I really miss the crib.

Kenzie Kenzie Kenzie

2011-03-22T22:18:00.001-06:00

Update

2011-02-28T13:32:00.002-07:00

I don't feel like posting pictures right now, but I thought I would do a few updates on our lives:

My pregnancy is going all too well. I feel awesome! I actually like being pregnant this time. Last time, I did not enjoy the pregnancy one single bit and the thought of ever being pregnant again made me want to cry. This time I just love it! The only real issue right now is that I can't sleep on my stomach...and therefore I can't sleep and I have some kind of pregnancy insomnia. I wake up all night long feeling like I have already had a full nights sleep...but by the time it is time to get up, I feel so tired and feel like I haven't slept at all.

Anyway, this baby is just as crazy as his sister and he has inherited his father's restless leg syndrome. If there is ever a moment in day when he is not moving I start to worry...

Makenzie is seriously crazy. She has way too much energy and bounces off the walls all day long. We just moved her out of her crib and into a bed. We know she falls out at night because sometimes when we check on her she is laying with her legs hanging off the bed or she has already fallen down onto her crib mattress (which is strategically placed next to her bed). But she doesn't wake up crying...so that is good... Nap time is another story...she refuses to stay in her bed. I have to lay down with her until she falls asleep.

A few Kenzie stories:

We were at a grocery store and I was just running in for a few things. I was trying to untangle a bunch of carts when I suddenly hear a "beep beep beep" and I turn around to find Makenzie flying through the store on one of those electric wheel chairs. It was beeping because she was in reverse. I was only turned around for a few seconds!! The look on her face was so typical Makenzie...she wasn't laughing...or crying...she wasn't scared....she just had matter- of -fact/ I'm busy face....like she was doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing. I laugh so hard every time I picture that face as she went cruising along. Apparently they don't make those things very child proof. On that same grocery trip...while we were checking out...she climbed out of the cart onto the bagging area and was trying to bag herself...

We were at Costco a few months ago and there was someone smoking right in the entry way. Makenzie, like her mother, is obsessed with smells and has to point out everything she smells and let me know how she feels about it. Well, when she smelled the smoke she yells at the top of her lungs "Pew, yucky!! Pew. Mommy, do you smell it? It smells gross. Yucky." and went on and on. I usually try to hush her when she is being rude...but for some reason...I let her keep yelling about it. Maybe it was because the person was blowing the smoke right in the doorway so that everyone that walked into the store had to walk through it...somebody needed to let the person know...

Nick gave a talk on Sunday. She wanted to go up and sit with him so bad and before church even started, I was so tired of trying to make her stay on our bench. Luckily, she never made it up there. However, halfway through his talk she decides to yell (very much at the top of her lungs) "DAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDY!" I think everyone in the ward let me know that they thought it was so funny when she yelled that...apparently everyone heard it....

On Valentines Day we visited Nick and work and brought him some candy. Nick shared his candy with Makenzie. Now every single day Makenzie asks me "Mommy, we go to work and see Daddy? And eat candy?"

In other news we are in the process of buying a home. We are preapproved and have started looking at houses! I have no idea how long it will take us to actually find something...but we are headed in that direction! We would love to move into something in May...but these things are just too hard to time out.

I am so lame...

2011-02-08T13:42:00.004-07:00

I am so lame and kept forgetting my camera and pretty much ended up with no pictures of Nick's grandparents....just one of Grandpa. The only day I remembered it was when we went to the Air Museum. Nick and his brother Reed did get to learn a lot about Grandpa's days as a bomber in WWII...Megan and I did our best to keep the kids entertained:

Ice in Phoenix....

2011-02-08T13:34:00.004-07:00

The November weather was beautiful...it was about 80 degrees everyday...sunny. And then Nick's parents came into town. The weather turned freezing.

The January weather was beautiful. It was in the 70's. I was wearing shorts and t-shirts. And then Nick's grandparents came into town. And this is what happened to the fountain at our complex!

I'm starting to think Nick's family brings cold weather. I don't think any of them believe that we have warm winters! Nick's grandparents came all the way from Idaho Falls expecting to escape the cold and wind...and of course, two days after they left it was warm and sunny again....

Petting Zoo

2011-02-08T13:08:00.004-07:00

Makenzie loved the petting zoo...as long as the animals didn't get too close to her. She would get all excited and start running to pet a goat and then as soon as she got close to it, she would scream and run the other way. If one started to walk toward her, she would be very amused...until it got close...and she would start yelling " i hold you" "i hold you" to Nick. (that means that she wants to be held). I love the picture where she is brushing the goat and standing as far away from it as she possibly can...

I have run into a problem....

2011-01-19T12:44:00.002-07:00

I have now been part of 2+ years of pink, bows, lace, sparkles, ruffles, flowers, etc....

Therefore, all I know is pink, bows, lace, sparkles, ruffles, flowers, etc....

And I'm getting scared I am going to turn my boy into a girl.

It all started with a nursing cover. After finding out the gender of the baby, I was really excited to start making things for him. I never really got to do many projects while I was pregnant with Makenzie because I was working, sick, and had nowhere to put my sewing machine. So, I decided my first project would be a nursing cover. I went to pick out boy fabrics. I decided brown and green were pretty safe colors...but after making it, it suddenly looks so girly. The brown swirls and green polka dots. I guess I will be wearing the nursing cover just as much as the baby will, so I'm safe for this project....

But then I found myself looking into making a car seat cover. I was finding so many with cute ruffles that I started calculating how I could make bows and ruffles look boyish.

Pretty soon I am going to be putting bows in his hair and telling myself it is okay because the bows are blue....

I went to the store yesterday to select some fabric for a baby blanket. I think I did a pretty good job of selecting boy material...but who knows what it will look like by the time I am finished with it!

Our Little Boy!

2011-01-06T13:35:00.003-07:00

Technology is not working for me today. My scanner won't work so the ultrasound pictures are pictures of the pictures. And, for no good reason blogger turned three of the pictures sideways and won't change it back. But, this isn't the point, the point is we are going to have a little BOY!

No questions about the gender...

The little spine....

His little face....

Okay, so he kind of looks like an alien. But, the good news is that he has still has 22 weeks left to turn into a baby face.

He is due June 8th

And I am so excited to be having a boy! Before our ultrasound, I was thinking that I would be happy with a boy or a girl...and I would have been....but I was SOOOO excited when I saw I was having a boy! So excited that I finally decided I needed to announce my pregnancy to the world.

So there you have it. I'm 18 weeks...had a terrible terrible first 16 weeks...But I am feeling great now! Now all we have to do is wait....and go shopping for some boy stuff because as of now, everything we own is pink (maybe a touch of purple)!

4th Anniversary

2011-01-04T12:05:00.005-07:00

Before we left for Utah, we realized that we were going to leave Utah on our anniversary. That sounded like a horrible anniversary. So, Nick planned a surprise for me! Las Vegas is about half way between Salt Lake and Phoenix. Nick planned an overnight stay at a nice hotel in Vegas! I was seriously not expecting such a nice hotel. We stayed in the 'Aria' which is about a year old. It is between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo. When we walked into our room, the curtains automatically opened, the lights turned on, romantic music automatically started playing, and the alarm clock said "hello Nicholas" on it. The TV remote controlled each individual lamp, curtain, the temperature, etc. It was so fun!

Our hotel:

Makenzie's favorite would probably have been the Bellagio fountains. But, it was way too windy and so they were not running the shows. So, her favorite was actually the Bellagio Conservatory. They had water that was shooting around and a train.
The shooting water was apparently very funny. Makenzie makes fists with both of her hands when she feels strong emotion. She does it when she is very mad, very happy, when she has brain freeze, etc.

Fish in the Forum Shops:

Tired of the Stroller:

Nick got to see a famous baseball player. I think he said his name is Pete Rose?

- Yes, most of our pictures were of Makenzie on our anniversary.

-And by the way, last year around our anniversary, I wrote out everything I could remember about the details of me and Nick meeting, dating, and getting married. I put it on a blog to preserve and share it. I think I will try to remember to re-post the link every year on our anniversary because I know that everyone wants to re-read our incredibly long story every single year.

http://usfromthestart.blogspot.com/

Christmas Activites

2011-01-04T11:29:00.008-07:00

After the wedding, it was time to get in the Christmas spirit! Here are some Activities we did to prepare:

Josh's family invited us to make gingerbread houses with them:

Madison's Nativity:
My dad & Halston made a church building:

My mom made a tree house:

I made Santa's sleigh:

Josh and Hunter made a basketball court:

Christmas Eve Day we went sledding:

Christmas Eve we went to see the lights at Temple Square:

Makenzie laughing at Halston blowing bubbles with her gum and then popping them. Makenzie was laughing. I was having seizures.

My mom has recorded my dad reading the kids "T'was the Night Before Christmas" every single year on Christmas Eve since my first Christmas. She has 25 years recorded. It starts with just me and every year the family grows. We had everyone there on Christmas Eve this year:
And a few Christmas morning pictures:

Wedding Day

2011-01-04T11:04:00.003-07:00

The wedding was on December 21st. It snowed a ton that day....so it was freezing...but the pictures turned out so pretty!

My sister Madison, and her husband Josh:
My brother Hunter:

My dad is such a good helper....

My sister Halston lurking around....

My Family:

Daddy/Daughter Dance

Strapping Boys:

Makenzie had a breakdown. She was tired of pictures:

The get-away:

Nick built a snow man on the top of the get away car. As they drove away, first its head fell off. It scarred Makenzie for life. The rest of the trip she would be close to tears and say "oh no! oh no! snowmans head fall off! hit his head! oh no!"

Wedding Dinner

2011-01-04T10:41:00.002-07:00

The next few posts are about my brother, Jordan's wedding. The night before the wedding my mom hosted a wedding dinner in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

The picture below is my brother Riley in his wheel chair. Riley was on a mission in Portland, OR. On Thanksgiving he played in a Turkey bowl and slipped on some ice and landed on his neck. He had amnesia and spent a few days in the hospital. He got his memory back, but was having trouble with headaches and leg control. So, he was sent home just a few days before the wedding to heal. He is expected to make a full recovery and return to his mission soon.

Makenzie took a few rides down the ramp with Uncle Riley:

Ta Da

Dad & Hunter

The Happy Couple:

This part was an abomination. We were supposed to get up and say funny stories about Jordan & Kaitlyn. At first nobody was getting up and it was awkward so I decided to get up first. My mom wanted it to be funny so I got up and started telling all of these funny stories about Jordan and nobody was laughing it was dead silent and dead awkward and horrible and my family will be punished for not supporting me and laughing. And the stories were funny! It was a tough crowd. After that, nobody wanted to get up. Halston and my mom never did....my experience was too horrible.

Makenzie, however, did not have any problem getting up. After the dinner was over, she spent about twenty minutes singing Jingle Bells, Follow the Prophet, and Happy Birthday. I have this all on video...I should post it. Everyone was laughing with her!

Such a performer. We don't know where she came from.

Family Christmas Pictures

2011-01-04T10:24:00.002-07:00

Santa!

2011-01-04T10:14:00.003-07:00

Before leaving for Utah, I took Makenzie to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop. One of my friends recommended it to me, so we went together. I thought Bass Pro Shop sounded so random at first, but it was awesome. They had the most beautiful Christmas display set up, activities for kids, you are allowed to take your own pictures, plus, they take a picture and give it to you for FREE. I loved it! Bass Pro Shop will be our new Santa tradition.

Makenzie loved Santa. While we waited in line she kept trying to cut and dive onto Santa's lap. She talked his ear off for about two straight minutes and showed him his house, his reindeer, etc. Here are the two pictures I got:

Halloween....

2011-01-03T14:15:00.003-07:00

I never did post pictures of Makenzie on Halloween...so, here you go....

My poor little girl...

2010-12-03T16:20:00.002-07:00

I left Makenzie playing in her jammies the other day and when I went to check on her, this is what I found:

But don't judge her too much. You might look like that too if you had to be the same thing for Halloween two years in a row, have the same birthday cake two years in a row, and then have to have a Christmas tree that looks like this:

Plus, our kitchen has smelled like onions for three days. Pew.

But in good news, Makenzie has caught up a ton on her stats!
Weight: 26 lbs (45%)
Height: 34 in (60%)
Head: 18 3/4 (55%)

She jumped from the 10th percentile to the 45th in weight! Good girl! People can now stop wondering if we feed her....

Happy 2nd Birthday Makenzie!

2010-11-30T13:12:00.003-07:00

November 30, 2008

1st B-day

2nd Birthday Party:

We will find out her two year stats on Friday. But here are some fun facts:

- we still have to battle to get her to eat

-she can count to 11

-she knows quite a few shapes

-she knows her colors

-she speaks in sentences

-she knows the words to lots of songs

-we are crazy about her!

Random Stories

2010-11-02T11:38:00.003-06:00

I have a lot of updating to do, but I can't do any pictures right now. So, I am just going to share some of the funny things Makenzie has done lately:

- We read the Book of Mormon with her every night. She repeats every word that we say. If she is repeating a word that sounds similar to a word that she knows, she will replace it with the word that she knows. For example:
-"and it came to pass" she will say 'passey' instead of pass
- when we say 'to' she thinks we are saying 'two' so she says 'three'
- 'would' becomes 'woody!' (She has been watching toy story lately)
- 'mouth' became 'mouth. tongue. nose?'
-pretty much any three syllable word becomes 'basketball'

- I keep finding her stuffed animals in really funny positions. For example:
-monkey is usually sitting in time out
-piglet takes a nap with blankey and passey in Makenzie's crib (I'm not allowed in the room during piglet's nap time)
- piglet has also been found at the kitchen table with his mouth on top of a waffle.
-pooh bear is usually swaddled in a blanket sitting on the couch
- i have found a line up of stuffed anmials sitting in front of the TV

-The first person we saw at our ward Halloween party had her face painted like a clown. When Makenzie saw her she pointed at her face and ran toward her saying "ewwww, yucky, gross. ewww. Mommy look! EWWWW!" no manners whatsoever...

-every time she sees a candle she starts singing Happy Birthday

- we have found her straddling the top of her crib a few times now. she is determined to escape.

- once she prayed her thanks for Costco

Daddy Daughter Camp Out

2010-10-05T14:07:00.005-06:00

Okay, so this is probably the cutest thing you have ever heard. Our ward had a daddy/daughter camp out and Nick decided to take Makenzie! They went to a lake about two hours away and had a great time. Camping in the desert seems quite different from what I have known. Nick set the tent up on dirt and rocks. He said the first thing that happened after they got there- Nick let Makenzie out of the car and she ran straight into a cactus. She had a little cactus rash mark on her arms for about a week. Nick thought it was fun to take Makenzie without me because he was able to let her play in dirt and get filthy.

(you can kind of see her chipped teeth in the picture below)

This was my first night being away from Makenzie. I thought it would be hard for me, but I was actually okay. I spent the entire time cleaning and organizing and it was awesome! It is sooooo nice to be able to just clean stuff up and not have someone destructing everything you are cleaning as you clean it up. But, I did miss them and were glad when they came home!

Hair-Do

2010-10-05T13:58:00.003-06:00

Finally- Pig tails!!
This is her hair right out of the bath. The longer it gets, the curlier it is getting! I am so excited about it!

Eating Trauma

2010-10-05T13:45:00.003-06:00

Makenzie has never been the best eater. However, she had been doing slightly better the past few months. Now, we have taken a step back and she doesn't want to eat anything, ever. I know they say "babies will eat when they are hungry." But mine doesn't. She is always hungry and lately has been so whiny and fussy and tired. Here she is having a melt down over grilled cheese:

Lately

2010-09-22T14:32:00.002-06:00

Makenzie loves dressing herself up with accessories lately and will often come find me looking something like this:

One of the advantages of living in Arizona is that all of the summer stuff goes on sale at the end of August, just like everywhere else. However, it is still blazing hot and well over 100 degrees so we still get to use summer sale items for a few extra months! Like this bathing suit I got Makenzie for $2 and the shoes for $1:

So we are not potty training yet, but I bought a potty seat for Makenzie so that we will have one when we are ready for one. For some reason she is obsessed with it and begs to sit on it all day long. It has pooh bear characters on it...and she calls it her "pooh potty." All day long I hear "mommy, I pooh potty." If only she meant what she was saying....

Makenzie really is a delight to have around. She is so happy and loves to help with everything. She has figured out how to open doors..which will be causing some problems. She has figured out how to charm everyone around her...for example...several times while shopping, people have stopped to admire Makenzie. When they tell her she is beautiful, she starts naming things such as "my bow?" "my hair?" "my eyes?."

She is obsessed with the movie "my turn on earth" and can often be found singing "myyyy turrrrrnnnn" while putting her arms out and spinning around. She also knows most of the words and hand motions to I Am a Child of God, Book of Mormon Stories, Popcorn Popping, Twinkle Twinkle, Follow the Prophet, Baby Mine, Give Said the Little Stream, a few Pooh Bear songs, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Ring around the Rosey, Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam, Wheels on the Bus, etc...

I will have to post some videos of her singing....

Locked Out

2010-09-22T14:17:00.002-06:00

When I was little we used to listen to a tape in the car called "PJ Funny Bunny." It was about a little bunny who was really curious and made all sorts of trouble even though he didn't mean to. He was just so innocent. Makenzie doesn't usually fit this criteria. Lots of times, I'm pretty sure she means to throw all of the DVD's on the floor, hit, throw tantrums, etc. However, sometimes she really is so innocent and doesn't mean to be bad...like in this situation...

I was talking on the phone to my mom and Makenzie was being especially loud so I decided to go outside on our deck and water the plants. Makenzie really wanted to come out with me, but I didn't let her and shut the sliding door behind me. As I was talking, I heard her in the background trying to open the door. When I tried to go back inside the house, I couldn't because the door was locked. Makenzie accidentally locked the sliding door in the process of trying to open it. Luckily, I had my phone with me....I don't usually take my phone to water plants. I had to call Nick who had to come home from work and let me in. In the meantime, Makenzie enjoyed the freedom for the first few minutes and started throwing toys and movies all over the house. Then she decided she wanted me to come back and she started banging on the door yelling "mommy, open it! open it!" (that is when I took the above picture on my cell phone)I tried to instruct her on how to unlock the door but she couldn't do it. Eventually, Nick got home and saved me!

Good Luck BYU!

2010-09-04T15:54:00.003-06:00

Today is BYU's first game of the season and Makenzie is ready!

She is slightly worried about winning though...

Chipped Teeth

2010-08-29T16:50:00.002-06:00

Makenzie and I were enjoying a nice day at the park. The weather was only 90 as opposed to usual 110 so I figured I would actually take her outside.

It was all fun and games until she crashed her teeth into a little ride-on spring toy. She chipped half of her two front teeth off! Actually they shattered into thousands of little pieces and she ate them. I took a picture but she didn't really want her picture taken at them time so it didn't really turn out. She didn't even cry...until we went to the dentist. Of course something like this would happen at 4:00 on a Friday when close to no dentist office is open. Luckily I had one nice dentist hold the office open for us. They had to file all of the jagged sharp edges off. Makenize was not a fan. Luckily there is no nerve damage to the teeth. The dentist said he could put caps on them if we wanted...but he said she didn't need them. Nick says that her teeth don't look that bad...but me, being the mother, think otherwise. I guess it could have been worse. Maybe (if Makenzie will let me) I will post a picture of the smoothed off chipped teeth...

Tomboy

2010-08-17T21:49:00.004-06:00

Sunday morning, I was getting ready for church while Nick was watching Makenzie. All of the sudden she runs in my bathroom yelling "mommy look! mommy look!" This is what I see:

Apparently Daddy can like playing dress up with kids as much as mommy does. And apparently Makenzie likes to play dress up better with daddy than with mommy. She liked it so much that after church (while Nick was home teaching), she ran up to me like this:

Then, she disappeared in my room for a few more minutes and came walking down the hall (bumping into walls) like this:

She finally figured the hat part out:

If she didn't enjoy my hand lotion, lip gloss, and painted toes so much I might think she was a tomboy. I looked the word "tomboy" up on wikipedia to see if it was one word or two words. It is one word and this is the definition:

"A tomboy is a girl who exhibits some characteristics and or behavior considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented types of clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered to be the domain of boys."

I guess she is a tomboy who likes lip gloss.

8th Grade

2010-08-12T12:00:00.002-06:00

So when I was in 8th grade, I was really attractive. The guys were just flocking around me...obviously. There is no point to this post other than to make people jealous of me...

Family News

2010-08-09T10:25:00.003-06:00

This is news is about a month old now, but still exciting. My brother Jordan is engaged and getting MARRIED! December 21 in the Jordan River Temple! His fiancee is Kaitlyn Wing from Wisconsin. Congrats!

Also, my brother Riley got his mission call! He will be serving in the Portland, Oregon mission! (that is where Nick is from and his parents still live there!) He enters the MTC on October 13th! Congrats Riley!

Yes, I used a young picture because that is just how I happen to remember him :)

A Few Stories

2010-08-06T10:43:00.002-06:00

I always try to remember funny stories to post about Makenzie but I always forget them. There have been quite a few from the past couple of days though so I want to hurry and post them before I forget.

Shopping with Mommy:

Yesterday I went to a few kid consignment stores (on the hunt for a few things). I started at Once Upon a Child, then Kid to Kid then another Once Upon a Child. Each of these places has a little kid play area that is surrounded by a short wall to keep the kids in there.

At the first stop, they had a really boring kid area. It was basically just a few puzzles and some books. The isles are too narrow for a stroller so I couldn't use that. Without a stroller, she just runs free and grabs everything off of every shelf as fast as she can. So obviously my only choice was to let her play in the boring kid area. She liked it for about 30 seconds and then I heard her yelling for me. I told her I would get her in a few minutes. Pretty soon, I heard her yelling "help! stuck!" and I heard people laughing. I peaked around the corner to see that anytime anyone was walking by she was reaching for them and yelling "help!!" So, I watched for a minute and then I went to rescue her because I was scared someone might actually help...

The second store had a really fun kid area with a play kitchen. After a few minutes of shopping I went back to check on her. She was playing with the kitchen and I noticed she had three pots on the stove with lids on them and fake food inside. Makenzie would open the lid, stir the pot with her plastic spatula, then close the lid. Occasionally she would stir and then taste the spoon. I have no idea where she learned to do that! I assume she learned in nursery because they have a play kitchen in there, but maybe she just picked it up from watching me?

The third store had a play house. When it was time to go, I went to get Makenzie out of the play area. I approached and said "Makenzie, it is time to go, come here!" She screamed and ran into the play house and slammed the door. Then, I suddenly see the window shutter crack open and her little face peak through the window to watch me. When I started climbing over the wall she started screaming (a very high pitched scream). I climbed over, opened the door and started dragging her out while she is screaming at the top of her lungs and I'm pretty sure everyone thought that I was kidnapping her...I guess she wasn't ready to leave....

The other day we had this conversation:

Makenzie: Mommy, I pashey (Makenzie is only allowed to have her passey in bed or in the car)

Me: Okay, you want to take a nap with passey?

Makenzie: yesh

Me: Okay, you want to take a nap with blankey and passey?

Makenzie: yesh. blankey, pashey, and cookie...

The other night at dinner, for no apparent reason Nick said, "2, 4, 6,..." and Makenzie suddenly yelled "EIGHT!" Coincidence or genius? If you ask me, I will say genius....

Our Million Dollar Invention

2010-08-02T12:02:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I asked Nick to make magic happen. I told him I wanted a way to strap Makenzie's car seat to a roller carry on for the airport. I needed it to be simple and quick to assemble and take apart. Did he do it?? Yes, he did. And it took him about five minutes to invent:

All it took was one little strap from a duffel bag. So here is our free project for rolling toddlers with their car seats around the airport. You might call it a stroller/carseat/suitcase all in one! Should we patent the idea and get rich???

And for the record, it worked great!

South Carolina Trip

2010-08-02T11:03:00.007-06:00

Makenzie and I took a trip to South Carolina!

We started out by going to the beach. Notice how curly Makenzie's hair was in the humidity! I couldn't believe it.
Here she is with Nonnie:

She LOVED the sand:

My brothers built her a throne fit for a princess:

Such curls!

As usual, all fun must come to an end:

We lost Makenzie's bathing suit and the beach showers, so she had a few days of no bathing suit.

Her favorite thing in the world was the waterfalls. She kept asking anyone and everyone to take her to see the "auwfal." That is how my siblings could bribe her to go to them:

She was also quite the fan of Gutar Hero:

We went to the resort pools for a day:

Blowing bubbles:

We also went on the boat one day. (Yes, we pretty much spent the whole trip in the water) We didn't actually tube like this...we just played:

I look like a gopher in this picture and everyone else looks miserable. It was fun though!

Riley didn't want to get in the water..he just wanted to drive the boat:

Grandpa came swimming with us:

The family minus Nick, Madison, and Josh (and almost Kaitlyn)

Halston:

Nonnie:

Okay, so the little red chair below is a chair my dad used when he was little. It is almost 50 years old. We used to love to sit in it at my Grandma's house when we were little. My sister Madison thinks that she is entitled to it for some reason. But sorry to break the news to you this way Madison, but mom and dad decided to keep it at their house so that the grandkids can have the memory of it at their house...just like we have the memory of it at Grandma's house :)

Grandpa:

We had so much fun! Thanks for letting us come and for letting Makenzie rule the house! Other highlights of the trip that are not pictured included:

Boiled Peanuts

My dad's tapioca pudding

My mom introduced me to the show, The Middle (so funny)

Boiled Peanuts

Zaxby's

K&W

Boiled Peanuts

Guitar Hero

I saw rain...

Boiled Peanuts

My dad taught me to make my Grandma's chocolate pound cake

Mostly playing with family

Fourth of July

2010-08-02T10:42:00.004-06:00

Makenzie in her Fourth of July festive outfit:

Video of Makenzie throwing Poppers/Snappers:

We spent the third and fourth of July alone to avoid spreading sickness. Saturday night, we went and bought a few of our own fireworks and set them off in Madison and Josh's parking lot(Madison and Josh were at stadium of fire). They were mostly fountains but Makenzie loved them. Her favorite was by far the snappers or poppers or whatever they are called....the things that you throw on the ground and they make a popping noise. She threw two whole boxes of them. Then, we went to Sugar House Park firework show is Salt Lake City. We didn't realize that it was going to be kind of a rough crowd there...but it was still a lot of fun. We laid on a blanket and watched the show in the park. We were really glad Makenzie wasn't scared of them! You never know what to expect from kids since they only see fireworks about once a year. Anyway, Nick bought Makenzie some glow in the dark bracelets they were selling there and after the show we got some icecream! We spent the real fourth of july (Sunday) driving back to Arizona. The cool thing was...that we drove into Phoenix at 9:00, when all of the firework shows in the area started and we probably saw about 12 different shows going on during our drive home. Pretty fun!

Family Reunion

2010-07-26T17:07:00.006-06:00

The family reunion started at Zion National Park in Southern Utah. It was so beautiful there!

This isn't even everybody....there were about 15 adults and 22 kids:

This was just too funny not to post:

We also found a splash area for the kids:

This picture is at Bryce Canyon. We didn't participate much here because I had the flu... The background is real by the way...

The reunion then moved up to Northern Utah where our numbers greatly increased. I have no idea how many of us there were. We don't have many pictures here because Nick ended up sick. he spend most of the day in the first aid center. Makenzie loved the rides!

Makenzie fell asleep in her stroller...this is pretty unusual I knew something was probably wrong...

When she woke up she was burning up so we took her to the first aid center. She had a fever of 102.6. So she spent the next hour here trying to bring down her fever before we left.

The only picture from 7 Peaks:

The next day we took Nick and Makenzie to the doctor where they were diagnosed with strep throat and Makenzie also had a double ear infection. So we tried to avoid the family as much as possible...but it seemed that people were breaking out sick all over the place. We joined them for a final goodbye and some family pictures. My sister in law took this one for us:

I assume there will be more family pictures to come. Overall we had a lot of fun seeing family and playing. We tried not to let sickness hold us back too much. Next time we will prepare with airborne or something. Thanks everyone for all of the planning you put into this trip! We loved seeing you all!

Summer

2010-07-24T11:22:00.004-06:00

I have lots to post about....and I don't feel like doing one long post so I am going to gradually update. Anyway, the first one will just be some random pictures of Makenzie from around the house:

She loves to wear our shoes around the house:

She also likes to match my toes. Whenever I paint my toe nails she sticks her foot out to have hers painted as well. As soon as I start painting, she doesn't want it anymore so she starts screaming and I have to hold her down while I slop paint all over her toes. When it is all over, she actually loves her toes and runs around the house saying "pretty. toes. pretty. toes."

She still has her comfortable ways of sleeping:

Look closely at her forehead. I thought she got a scar on her forehead at the pool when she tried to run away from me and fell on her face:

But clearly the scar is from when Lord Voldermort tried to get her and my love saved her:

Makenzie think that the tub of cookie cutter is actually her personal step ladder. She pulls it out about 30 times a day to see if I left something in her reach:

These are Makenzie lady bug boots that she insists on wearing around the house everyday:

And this picture was supposed to show that her ponytail is actually starting to look a little better...you can see it better in the shadow behind her....

Is that a Ponytail??

2010-06-23T11:17:00.004-06:00

Yes, if you squint really hard and look really closely, you might see a little ponytail!

This means that Makenzie's hair is actually getting longer. It may not be getting thicker, but at least longer.

She just looks so grown up in this picture:

Although she is a pretty serious baby (it is hard to catch a smile on camera), she does laugh and smile all the time:

But I guess not all of the time....

And we haven't forgotten about this:

or this:

Pool

2010-06-23T10:46:00.002-06:00

Makenzie loves the pool and asks to go every single day. She mostly likes to play on the stairs. She has no problem going under the water. She is enrolled in two week swim class and loves it! We go everyday for a half an hour and she learns to kick, blow bubbles, go under the water, monkey crawl on the wall, etc. Here are a few pictures from the swimming pool at our complex:

Whenever Nick goes under the water Makenzie says "where go?" and puts her hands out:

Then, Nick pops up and scares her and she thinks it is really funny:
She kept the hat on long enough for a picture:

By the way, I have to watch her around the pool every second. The other day she leaned over the pool and fell right in. I jumped in right after her and picked her up expecting her to be scarred for life. Nope. She just started saying "down, down, again again."

Be Careful What You Say...

2010-06-17T10:46:00.003-06:00

So Makenzie has now reached that stage where she wants to repeat everything we say. Most of the time, it is really fun... but we do have to be careful what we say. I accidentally taught her the word "stupid."

There was a very stupid bird who was sitting its fat bottom on my baby tomato plants. I was banging on the window for it to go away and it was just looking at me and not moving away. I didn't want to go out there because it looked like it might attack and peck me so I cracked open the door to our deck and stuck a broom out and swatted at it yelling "go away you stupid bird."

Anyway, a few minutes later I was in the kitchen making breakfast and I hear Makenzie yelling "stupi birrrd" "stupi birrrd." I went to look at her and she was swinging around the broom yelling stupid bird. Great. It was actually kind of funny....and I know she would have ended up learning that word from someone, somewhere, but I didn't want to be the one to teach it to her!

18 Months

2010-06-09T10:12:00.000-06:00

Something amazing happened at Makenzie's 18 month appointment. It was not totally unexpected considering I have been pumping her pediasure every single day to help with weight gain. It has been expensive, but the results speak for themselves:

Weight: 21 lbs 6 oz (10th percentile)
Height: 32 1/2 inches (75th percentile)
Head: 18 1/2 inches (60th percentile)

So yes, Makenzie is back on the charts for her weight! She has gained exactly four pounds in three months! According to the stats she also grew 3.5 inches...but the doctor things that they did not get an accurate measurement because she was going ballistic on the table while they were trying to measure her. When she lays down on the crinkle paper she automatically thinks she is about to get a shot.

And yes, I think I am a very bad mother because I don't mind holding her down to get a shot. I think most mothers can't stand it, or make the father do it.

A few other random facts:
She finally has 6 teeth
Size 3 diapers
Over 100 words
Only eats waffles, yogurt, cereal, granola bars
Is the cutest of all!

Anyway, the above pictures are Makenzie feeding herself with a spoon for the first time. It went much better than expected but maybe that is just because I waited until she was so old to even let her try!

Phoenix Zoo

2010-06-09T10:10:00.006-06:00

So my Mom came to visit last week! I was horrible about taking pictures because I hate my camera, but I did get some at the Phoenix Zoo:

They had a little splash pad area for kids to play in. Makenzie was obsessed with it. The zoo is a really great zoo, but I think it is worth it to go just for the splash pad! Here she is singing "The Circle of our Love" with a stranger:

Stay at Home Mom

2010-06-03T14:03:00.005-06:00

I always have people ask me what I do all day...being a stay at home mom. I feel like I keep pretty busy and I really do love it. Here are our usual activities:

- Of course... cleaning, laundry, organizing, making lunch/dinner, grocery shopping
- Of course, taking care of Makenzie....baths, reading, playing, feeding, teaching, cleaning, etc
- Blogging!

- Story time at the library.
- We have season pass to the zoo! The zoo here is out of control huge!
- We have a fitness center at our complex and I go in the mornings before Nick goes to work
- We also have a pool at our complex and Makenzie is obsessed with it
- We visit indoor and outdoor playgrounds

- We take walks when it isn't over 100 degrees

- I'm learning how to bake different types of breads and rolls

- I'm trying to learn to decorate cakes on my own...but I am going to need to take a class

- I'm about to sign up for swimming lessons for Makenzie and a class to learn to tie bows!

- I love "projects." Right now I am working on making a baby book for Makenzie as well as organizing all of my recipes into one book.
- Here are some recent projects (My camera is horrible and the glare ruined most of the pictures and made everything look weird. I am hesitant to post them):

I made letter's for Makenzie's room. They are hanging above her crib. You can't tell in the pictures...but they are pink and green strips with green polka dot ribbon tied around them. I also sprayed glitter spray all over them so they sparkle. Cuter in real life.

I made a rug for my kitchen floor under the sink. The general idea was supposed to be cute...and I think it would be really cute to make one for Makenzie's room...but this one looks like a girl's camp activity to me:

This is a Huggies wipe case I made into a case fit for a queen. Those dots inside the roses are rhinestones....so it sparkles! Again, the picture ruins it:

I made holders for Makenzie's hair things. (Many of them are missing around the house right now). I made lots of the bows/flowers on there:

I also planted a vegetable garden....that is actually growing! I have no idea if I will get any vegetables out of it...but if I do, I will have: basil, parsley, oregano, lettuce, cucumbers, yellow squash, cantaloupe, peppers, zucchini, or tomatoes. I'm still very likely to kill everything though.

Anyways, I wanted to post this so everyone doesn't think I just lay around all day. I do stuff.

Makenzie, Makenzie, Makenzie

2010-05-25T10:00:00.000-06:00

I know I always post about Makenzie but I figure that is what "the people" want. Maybe sometime I will post a little more about me or Nick.

And yes, I know she shouldn't stand this close to the TV, but I often catch her like this:

I know I already did a sleeping baby post, but Makenzie has found a new way of sleeping. I literally find her like this every single night:

You have no idea how hard it is for me to get pictures of Makenzie lately. She is always on the run and I pretty much have to sit on her to get her to hold still. About 90% of the pictures I have taken lately are Makenzie on the run. This is the best I could do:

And I will include a few stories...

- Lately during nightly family prayer Makenzie has been participating really well. She repeats the last word of every sentence. If she can't say the last word, ( ex- we are thankful for the Savior) she will usually just yell "yeah!!" Last night was the first time she added her own thoughts to the prayer. She wanted to be thankful for her "ball." She made this very clear.

- We were in a grocery the other day and Makenzie was doing her usual- being a personal greeter to all around her. When she smiled and waved and said "Hiiiiiiiii" to a little old man...he said 'hi' back and then turned to me and said "she's a friendly little dickens isn't she?" I'm not sure what that means but I think it is supposed to be a good thing...

Update

2010-05-18T10:02:00.002-06:00

- Makenzie has started going to time out...and she completely understands its purpose. She usually has to go because she ignores us when we tell her 'no.' So, we sit her down in the same place (next to the refrigerator) every time and she sits there and whines and puts her hands up for us to pick her up. Well, sometimes she puts herself in time out. All of the sudden she will sit in her time out spot and shake her finger at us and say "no no."

-I'm starting a container vegetable garden on my deck. It looks really pathetic right now because it is just pots of dirt sitting there. I'm going to be so embarrassed if nothing grows.

-Makenzie pretty much repeats everything we say now...so we have to be careful. I have been warned to come up with a word count before her 18 month appointment. So, Nick and I came up with a list of her words. We used only words that she has used more than once and she knows the meaning and they are pretty clear. The list is close to 100 words! I had not realized she knew so many words.

-Makenzie only gets her pacifier in the crib and in the car....(and sacrament meeting when we need a quick mute)

-Makenzie got to start nursery a few weeks early because Nick and I got called to be primary teachers and we can't bring her with us. As expected, she did perfectly fine. She ran in there, was happy the entire time, and didn't want to leave. The nursery leader said she has never seen a child do that on their first week. Their parents usually have to sit with them for a few weeks. I'm a little worried that they think we are terrible parents and Makenzie hates us. But, she just doesn't have separation anxiety issues. She likes to do her own thing.

-Nick and I teach the 5 year old class in primary. One of the kids in our class is a real character. We were talking about the priesthood and discussing how all of their dads hold the priesthood. All of the sudden the one kid said "my dad doesn't have the priesthood because he doesn't come to church and he smokes." (a complete lie). We thought it was really funny because it did not sound like a joke a 5 year old would make...it sounds more like something a 12 year old would say. He also stood up suddenly during the lesson and said that he was going to throw up and ran to the trash can and started to fake throw up in there. I could write a five page post about all of the other things he did.

-Also, people please stop boycotting Arizona, because we live here and we don't want to be separated from the rest of the United States.

Makenzie's Book Trick

2010-05-13T12:17:00.003-06:00

I know I already posted this on facebook and people probably think I am obsessed...(it is possible I am obsessed...) It is just hard to catch Makenzie doing things on camera. It took me about four months to get this on camera so I want to share it with whoever is out there...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_edWJR1q6dY

Nick's Second Graduation

2010-05-11T13:22:00.005-06:00

Nick graduated from BYU a few weeks ago with his Master's in Electrical Engineering. After seven years at BYU, he is finally finished! I'm not sure why I am included in most of the pictures...

My dad came to celebrate with us:

As did Nick's Parents...

We wanted a picture of Makenzie wearing Nick's hat, but she was not a fan of the idea...

After the graduation we had a family BBQ at my sister-in-law's house. She was giving her twins a bath and Makenzie always feels the need to be involved. Katie turned her head for two seconds and turned back around to see Makenzie was now in the bath with the twins...fully dressed from headband to shoes....
You can't tell from the picture, but she was thoroughly enjoying herself.

A few other Makenzie stories/isms:

- We were sitting in Sacrament one Sunday in Arizona and Makenzie was turned around to face the people behind us. All of the sudden she ducked down and popped quickly up above the bench and yelled "BOO!" She possibly gave an old lady a heart attack.

- She is obsessed with "two" right now. She runs around the house and says, "two, TWO" and she jumps on the second two.

- She is also obsessed with Pooh Bear right now. My parents gave her Pooh and the Honey Tree on DVD and about ten times a day she brings me two remotes and says "peh beh" (pooh bear).

-Whenever I call for Nick, I will yell "Nick". Makenzie will copy me and yell to Nick only she calls him "Dick"

- Whenever I ask Makenzie if she wants _____ (chocolate milk, cereal, candy, etc.) She gets all excited and says "yay! yeah! yay! yay! hahaha! yay!" If she asks for something (usually "gogogat galKK (chocolate milk))and I say no she starts doing a funny whine and stomps her feet (kind of like she is running in place). It usually evolves into a tantrum. I'm always trying really hard not to laugh because it is really funny.

Hopefully I will be able to keep up with posting now that we are pretty settled here in Arizona!

Easter/100th Post

2010-04-15T11:11:00.007-06:00

I have reached my 100th post! It probably means I should be a professional blogger but I am far from it. In fact, I can never do anything I want and every single time I make a post, I end up very frustrated with the computer, blogger, pictures, life... I really think they need to make blogger more user friendly...or at least more Lindsey-friendly (what a lame thing to say...I'm so embarrassed)

Well, the Easter bunny did come to Makenzie! She got the same thing she got last year: a summer supply kit!

In Utah we wear winter coats while Easter egg hunting because it is FREEZING. It kind of took Makenzie a while to understand that we wanted her to put the eggs in the basket. At first she just ran around in circles all excited with her basket.

But she eventually figured it out...

But she seemed very confused as to why we were making her do this....

But she soon decided it was fun...when she realized there was candy inside of the eggs...

Poor thing couldn't get the candy out so she just went for the entire egg...

Admiring her hard work...

Mascot Tradition

2010-04-03T16:15:00.003-06:00

Nick and I have a little tradition we do every March for the NCAA Men's Tournament. We fill out what we call a "mascot bracket." We look up the mascot's for every school in the tournament and decide which mascot would beat the other mascot. Although I'm sure someone can argue with every pick we make, we decide together who WE think will win. For example the Richmond Spiders played St. Mary's Gaels. We decided that a Gael would beat a spider. Sometimes there are harder choices like BYU Cougars vs. Florida Gators or Utah St Aggies vs. Texas A&M Aggies. Anyway, we make the picks for the entire bracket based off of this.

Usually the Mascot Bracket does terrible. It seems that the past few years, we have had very low seeds winning the entire tournament and our bracket dies around the sweet sixteen. It is usually the worst ranking bracket ever. However, this year we had a little surprise.

This year, our Mascot bracket is our best bracket. We have three of the final four! The Duke Blue Devils, the West Virginia Mountaineers, and the Michigan State Spartans killed everyone else off. This is probably the best a mascot bracket will ever do so we are pretty excited this year!

Embarrassed

2010-03-24T15:38:00.002-06:00

When babies become teenagers, they are suddenly embarrassed by their parents. I don't remember being embarrassed by my dad, but my mom was never one to hide in a crowd. Anyway, I know one day Makenzie will be embarrassed by me and I feel the need to counter her future claims by documenting the things that she does that are embarrassing...

First of all, she is a growler. She growls at people. She will be sitting there in a cute little dress with a cute little bow looking all sweet and innocent and then suddenly a horrible demon noise comes out of her. She chooses mostly to do this during church, for all to hear...most people tell me they find it funny, but I find it pretty embarrassing.

The next embarrassing thing also started at church. Lately Makenzie has been obsessed with "no no" (while shaking her finger). She paces around all the things in the house she knows is a "no no" and says it over and over. Well, she discovered a new "no no". Hitting mommy and daddy in the face is a big no no. So now she thinks it is a game to whack us in the face and then shake her finger at us while saying "no no." I can't tell you how bad this looks in public....it looks like she has learned that when you do a "no no" you get hit. I think everyone thinks we abuse her now and hit her whenever she does something wrong. I promise we don't...we have never hit her...I only scratched her once and that was an accident.

I'm sure there will be many more embarrassing moments to come.

The Point of Cleaning??

2010-03-19T14:35:00.004-06:00

So I have found that there is no point in cleaning anymore. While I clean the kitchen, this is what is happening in the living room:

While I clean the living room, this is what is happening in Makenzie's room:

And don't forget about this:

Why bother cleaning?? It only makes things worse...

And we are moving to....

2010-03-16T09:56:00.002-06:00

This story is for my own records. You don't have to read it...you can just scroll down to see where we are headed.

Pretty much all within a day, we received an offer in Maryland, an offer in Arizona, and a raise at Nick's current job in Salt Lake. That left our options pretty open.

For a long time we thought we would move to Salt Lake for a couple of years. Nick has a job there ( L-3 Communications) that paid for his Master's degree. He was supposed to owe them two years after graduation or pay tuition back. We always assumed we would work there for two years and consider his degree free... But, we learned he could pay back those two years at any of L-3's locations. There was no official transfer policy, but he was allowed to interview with another branch and get a job that way.

The job in Maryland was an L-3. At first I really wanted to move to Maryland. I love the East Coast, and it was so close to so many fun cities (DC, New York City, Boston, etc..) Nick and I also wanted to be within a driving distance of one of our families. Maryland met that criteria. We also wouldn't have to pay Nick's tuition back. The job there also sounded really cool. He would need a government clearance and he would be doing some travel to war ships out in the middle of the ocean.

Somewhere along the way we decided not to limit ourselves to just applying for L-3 jobs. We decided paying back tuition was not that big of a deal and this might be a great time to get started doing something he wanted to do long term (remember this is BYU tuition prices, pretty reasonable...). So, Nick discovered a job at a small company in Mesa, Arizona. This job seemed to be a job that would best utilize Nick's skills and he would be doing exactly what he wanted to do long term. But Arizona didn't seem to meet any of the other criteria. Not even close to either of our families. We would have to pay tuition back. Small companies can be risky. The job also involved international travel. Nick has never been thrilled about the idea of international travel.

When Nick interviewed in Maryland, he had a grave realization: although the job offered work on some pretty exciting things, and he thought he would probably be fine working there, it did not seem like work that he really wanted to do.

When Nick interviewed in Arizona, it seemed like exactly what he wanted to do.

After receiving offers from both companies, taking all information into consideration, and lots of prayer, we came to our conclusion. There was only one job that we both felt good about. And that was the job in Arizona.

It seems so ironic to me. In the beginning, Maryland was the clear choice. Arizona did not really play a part in my mind unless Nick happened to not get offered a job in Maryland. I am so grateful for prayer. I don't know how people live without it. Because of prayer, we were able to come to a decision we both felt really good about even though most practical signs pointed to Maryland being the best choice.

So the point of all this: we are headed to Mesa, Arizona on April 26th!

Sprinting Tour of DC

2010-03-11T12:59:00.004-07:00

Nick cracks me up. He had a job interview in Maryland last weekend. He decided he couldn't pass us a chance to visit DC even though he didn't really have time. So, he did what he called a "sprinting tour of DC." He called to let me know that he had one hour to tour all of DC. So, he took off running from monument to monument taking pictures as he ran by:

In case you were wondering, the job interview did go well. We received a call from the company letting us know that they are working on an offer. But, we don't know if we are going to take it. Everything just depends....

15 Months

2010-03-09T10:40:00.002-07:00

Makenzie turned 15 months last week. Here are her stats:

Height: 29 in (10th percentile)
Weight: 17 lbs 10 oz (below chart)
Head: 46 cm (50th percentile)

Random Makenzie facts:
-She is scared of two things: the vacuum and the sound of tape being pulled off the roll (she cries every time....)
- She has 15-20 words
- She knows 6 animal sounds
- She growls at people
- She still only has two teeth and about 1/4 in of hair
- Still in size two diapers
- Any time I fold my arms she thinks it's time to pray and she will fold her arms and start saying a prayer
- Only eats consistently: waffles, yogurt, and oatmeal or any type of treat
- Paces in front of the the DVD's and in front of electrical outlets and shakes her finger at them while saying "no no no no no no no"
- She says 'yes' backwards (ssssssssssssyeah)
- Always looks for Nick throughout the day. She goes back and knocks on all of the bedroom/bathroom doors and yells "dada!!!"
-She is always on the go and has some major project going on. I seriously almost never see her sit down or take a break.
-Will kiss anything in the house except mama!

Of course there are about a thousand other funny things she does but this is all I will list for now. I just love that little girl so much! She makes me laugh all day long. I think I have the best job in the world!

Checklists

2010-02-25T15:10:00.004-07:00

I'm a planner. I like to know everything that is going to happen in the future and I like to plan and prepare for it. I love calendars, checklists, organizers, etc. I am extremely impatient and my only way to deal with my impatience is to plan and prepare.

That is why I spent most of my day making checklists for our move. I made the following checklists:

-things I can start preparing now
-things to prepare a month in advance
-things I need to prepare a week before the move
-things I need to do on moving day
-I made a list of the order in which I should pack things
-I made of list of people/places to change our address with
-I made a cleaning check list for the apartment- I even color coded it to know how far in advance before the move I should clean everything
-items that are now allowed in moving vans
-items that we should not put in the moving van
-things to do when we arrive in our new home
-items that should be in the back of the moving truck
-items Makenzie will need in the car
-items we will need in the car
-questions I need to ask our landlord pertaining to our move
-things I need to tell the people moving in after us

I did start by making a checklist of the checklists I needed to make....

Now all I need to know is where we are moving to....

I'm really not crazy. We know for sure we are moving at the end of April and we don't know where. That is in two months people. I just felt the need to find some control over the situation so that the second we know where we are going, I can get to work in an organized fashion. I may have very little time to get everything done! So don't make fun of me! If you make fun I will assume it is because you are jealous of my checklists.

One word to describe Makenzie last month?

2010-02-22T11:58:00.009-07:00

Trouble

(I love her hand over her mouth...like oops...)

(She did knock the box over. It was all part of her master plan to get into the bathroom and splash in the toilet.)

(took her pants off and climbed all the way up the couch)

(She does this all the time and we have no idea why)

(She stands on her toys to press the buttons on the TV. She also took her bow and pants off.)

Don't worry, she also knows how to unzip her jammies and take them off. In the mornings I find her naked.

But one word can't describe Makenzie. After all, she can be very sweet:

And rather righteous:

Initiation

2010-02-18T17:46:00.001-07:00

I think I was initiated into real motherhood the other night. You see, before this experience, I could not refer to myself as a 'mother.' I was strictly a 'mommy.' Mothers are the real deal. They are the ones that car pool kids to and from school all day, they enroll kids is soccer, they make dinners that are actually good, they don't have to google symptoms every time their kids hiccup, and they are up in the middle of night scrubbing throw up off of the floor. Yeah, I was not a mother. I was a mommy. I talked baby talk and changed poopy diapers.

Well anyway, I awoke in the middle of the night (about 2 AM) to Makenzie screaming. Lately I have wanted to try just letting her cry herself back to sleep but sometimes I would rather just go and fix the problem so that I can go back to sleep. Anyway, the second I opened her room door I smelled something really foul. I turned on the lights to find throw up covering everything. It was all over the carpet, all over her blankets, sheets, crib, pacifier, her hair, jammies, oh just everything. Ugh. It was gross too. We are not talking about baby spit up. We are talking about human adult -like throw up. So, I started by scrubbing the carpet. Makenzie was not acting sick at all. In fact, she laughed at me the whole time as she kept handing me chunks from her throw up (I know this is disgusting). Then, she got to have a bath and be put into clean jammies. Then, I got to scrub off her wooden crib and change the sheets and put the dirty ones in the washing machine. Then I had to settle her down after her exciting experience. Two hours later, I was back in bed.

You want to know the ironic part? Makenzie did not want to eat dinner the night before. I tricked her into eating. As she was eating I was telling her that she had to eat because I did not want to be up with her all night with a hungry baby. So instead, I was up all night cleaning up the food that I made her eat. Maybe it wasn't ironic, maybe I just got what I deserved.

Although I know I still have a long road ahead of me and lots to learn, I would have to say that that night initiated me into motherhood....Oh the joys of motherhood...

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-17T16:15:00.005-07:00

Makenzie and I started the spirit of love by making cookies. Okay, well actually Makenzie didn't help. I actually wanted to make the cookies so that Makenzie could help decorate. I thought it would be a fun activity. But then I realized that there was nothing fun about cleaning up the mess that would have happened. Plus, I don't think any of her frosting or sprinkles would have made it to the cookie. So, I just made the cookies.

For Valentine's Day Makenzie got a ring pop! Really the "present" wasn't the actual ring pop. It was the fact that I was allowing her to eat the ring pop. She did make a huge sticky mess but she loved every second of it.

Nick and I went on a Valentine's date Makenzie free! It was actually the first time we have ever been out without her! When she was younger, we couldn't ever imagine going to dinner being as fun if we didn't bring her along. We loved having her around. But she has now reached an age where going out to eat without her is very fun...(but we really do love her and we missed her)

We actually spent most of the dinner trying to decide that if we had gone to high school together, would we have liked each other or dated? The conclusion, if Nick had grown up in South Carolina, I would have liked him in high school. If I had grown up in Oregon, I may not have liked Nick, mostly because I probably wouldn't have known him very well. Nick thinks he would have liked me either way but probably would never have asked me out. Asking girls out just wasn't his thing.

Google Reader

2010-02-08T13:05:00.003-07:00

With a little bit of peer pressure I discovered Google Reader! And I love it! You can consider this my official recommendation to anyone who has not discovered it yet. Here are a few things I learned/realized from it:

It is great for people with slow internet connection because I only have to bring up one page to read all new blog entries

I follow about 90 blogs

I only have around 30 listed on my blog page

That makes me feel like a stalker

But, I only look at one blog where I have not actually met the people whose blog I am reading..so it isn' t too bad.

I know I didn't really do any explaining about what google reader actually is...but I am not sure I even know. I just list all the blogs that I read and it tells me when blogs are updated and lists them all on one page for me to look at. I know you can put things on there that are not blogs...such as news updates, sports updates, etc, but I haven't done that yet. Also, I don't think that anyone else can see the blogs that you list.

Also, I discovered Goodreads.com. It is fun to list and rate all the books you have read and see what your friends are reading. It is convenient to list all of the books you want to read so that you do not forget to read them.

I love all the fun google stuff!