Christmas 2010!

Merry Christmas Everyone! We had a wonderful and busy Christmas Day! The day began around 4:00am when Mackenzy woke up screaming twice because she had thrown her pacifier out of her crib and couldn't reach it! After 2 retrievals from her wonderful parents on 2 separate occasions, she slept peacefully until about 7:30. We also got a surprise call from my step dad who attempted to sing the end of "We wish you a Merry Christmas"! Yes that's right folks, Jarvis sings! Then while daddy slept, Mackenzy and I had a yummy breakfast and built our gingerbread house! Making a gingerbread house is much harder than it seems and ours was a little lopsided which is why it's not pictured... :)

After breakfast we went over to my mom's house for Christmas brunch! We had quiche, ham, pickled cold slaw, sweet potato casserole, cranberry relish, collard greens, and funfetti cake! Yum! After brunch we opened gifts and a very sleepy Mackenzy sort of understood the concept this year! She tore the paper off a few presents but was quickly distracted by my mom's camera...

I made the mistake of letting her open her books first. She LOVES books, especially if they have anything to do with Dora the Explorer! After she opened that present she was complete and wanted nothing to do with opening gifts! If you notice in the picture, Mackenzy is so smart that she can read her books upside down!



My stepsisters came over to have brunch with us and of course Nicholas was under the table hoping for a treat!

Here is a very sleepy Mackenzy hoping someone will take her out of the high chair... She loved Mimi's ham and sweet potatoes! Even though she was sleepy she never fell asleep! Around 4pm she slept for about 30 minutes before we headed over to Nana's house (Ray's family). Needless to say, the long day left Mackenzy very tired and when she went to sleep at 7pm she was out cold until 7:30 the next morning!

We finally got some real snow (not ice) on Christmas day! The news reported that the last time we got snow for Christmas was in 1947 and this year we got about 6 inches! Mackenzy was thrilled to watch the snow from the comfort of her heated home, but when I took her outside she wasn't to happy. In the house the said "Wow" and "Snow" but when we went outside she wouldn't move from the front porch until I shoveled a path for her...

"Mommy, what is this stuff?"

And of course I had to take a picture of the parkway! I think our area look beautiful in the snow and in the fall when all the leaves are changing colors. We are also thankful to live near the school because our road gets plowed quickly!

This is Mackenzy venturing out in the snow on the path that I created to our cars. She wanted to go and talk to the neighbor's son but she wouldn't step in the snow! She was perfectly content waving to him from afar!

We were so thankful to Ray for taking us out for a ride. We were all ready to get out of the house especially since our cable didn't come back on until about 12pm that day... We went to Friendly center to look for some new shoes for Mackenzy and were very unsuccessful for the 2nd time because they never have her size... She has Ray's big feet and now wears a 5.5!

Flashback Picture:

Here is us from a year ago. Mackenzy was 3 months old. It's amazing how time flies and how big she's gotten over the past year! We are truly lessed! Merry Christmas!

Santa's Little Elf

Christmas is my favorite holiday! I love the food, the smells, the family time, and the atmosphere. Being a teacher has some perks in that I get a week and a half off to spend time with the family! Here are a few pictures taken before Christmas!

Father and daughter

Our cute little elf

"What's up!"

"Take this hat off mom!"

"Nevermind! I did it all by myself!"

Mommy's Helper!

Mackenzy loves to help me do the laundry! She likes to close the drier, even when I'm putting the clothes in it; take clothes out of the basket while I'm putting the clothes in; climb in and on the basket when I'm trying to use it; and of course lay on the towels while I'm trying to fold them! There's nothing like watching your daughter enjoy nice, clean, WARM, towels fresh out of the drier! So precious!

History Repeats Itself!

When people look at Mackenzy they see the spitting image of Ray just in a smaller package. Although some beg to differ and say that she looks like me when I was a baby, I can gladly say that she definitely has my personality and is beginning to do things that I did as a baby... Good and BAD! She's definitely a comedian and will repeat silly things just to get you to laugh. She's goofy, quiet, silly, lovable, crazy, can't sit still, busy, intuitive, stubborn, temperamental, and loves to give hugs and kisses.

When I was a baby, I used to LOVE keys. All kinds! New, old, shiny, rusty, you name it. I loved keys! I would steal peoples keys, hide them, and try to open all doors. Now Mackenzy does the same thing... She can spot a key anywhere (as well as a doggie) and will take the keys, push all the buttons, and tries to unlock the doors. We have to watch her because a couple of times her key stealing problem has had the cops appear at our house because I have an ADT button on my key chain and Ray drove down the road this his trunk open! So beware.. If you hear Mackenzy say "key" and get really excited it means that she has spotted your keys and is plotting her next move!

She's also quite the climber now. I blame that partially on the Little Gym! It can't be all my fault right??? When I was younger I liked to climb on the dishwasher so that I could get on top of the kitchen counters. I also liked to jump on it because it was almost like a trampoline! Unfortunately, I jumped a little to hard one day and broke the dishwasher... It was never the same after that! Well of course Mackenzy is doing the same thing now. I have to keep the dishwasher locked and I'm pretty sure she is on the brink of figuring out how to unlock it... Anyways, if I have it open she will come running in to the kitchen and she will pull out the bottom drawer, take the silverware out, and try to climb on it! It's very cute because she looks at me and smiles while she climbs and will even say "no no" as she does it! She knows she's doing something wrong and still finds it funny! This time I had to catch her in action so I can show her this picture in many, many, many, many years when her child does the same thing!

Snow Day!

One of the perks of being a teacher is that when it snows I get to stay home! What makes snow days even better is that I have a cute toddler to hang out with since Ray usually has to go to work.

Today is the 1st snow day of the year and I doubt it'll be out last because it's been super cold the past few months. Unfortunately I didn't get to sleep in today because Mackenzy caught my cold and poor thing can't breathe out of her nose. She's also sneezing out yucky snot, is coughing, and likes to help mommy keep her face clean by wiping her nose with her sleeve... (I know you appreciated that visual!) Needless to say, we are taking it easy today and playing in our pajamas! I love snow days!

I bought a jogging stroller a few weeks ago, but since it got cold really fast I haven't been able to use it. We did take it to the dumpster last weekend and she loves it! She even loves to sit in it when we are upstairs on the computer. If I'm not watching, out little climber will climb in the stroller! I'm not sure, but I think she was trying to tell me something today! I can't wait until it warms up again so we can go outside!

Usher Concert!

Yesterday was my 27th Birthday! Yay! Ray and I celebrated last week by going to the Usher Concert that featured Trey Songs and Miguel (Miguel who? http://http://www.amazon.com/All-I-Want-You-Miguel/dp/B0044HLA8G/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1292519969&sr=1-1). I thought the concert was AMAZING, but Ray felt Usher danced to much. I actually thought that Trey Songs put on a better singing/connecting to the audience performance, but Usher put on the best show. He floated across the ceiling on a platform, did bungee cord tricks, and appeared several times out of the ground. One thing he did do was take his shirt off about 7 times which was to many times in my opinion considering he also changed his outfit (which mainly consisted of skinny jeans and a jacket) that many times. Overall I thought it was great concert! Thanks Ray!

Toddler Tales

Mackenzy is a ball of energy. She is on the move All. The. Time. Even in her sleep! She wakes up laughing, talking, and jumping around in her crib, dances while she eats, and rolls around while she sleeps. It's very rare to catch her sitting still and usually when she is still she is trying to figure out how something works- ex. how the plug protectors fit in the outlet, how to plug in the vacuum cleaner, how to snap the dogs collar together, or how to get Mommy or Daddy's shoes on...

Taking a picture of her has become extremely difficult. Even the photographer at Portrait Innovations (which I will never go to again) had trouble keeping her still during her Christmas pictures! So today I decided to use the old play with Mommy's shoe trick so I could catch her on camera! She thought it was hilarious that my foot was moving around and I got my picture of my big 14 month old!

She's very intuitive, loves to learn new things, and gets very frustrated when she can't figure stuff out... another characteristic of mine. Below is her focused face.

It's been really cold outside and I'm very happy I decided to get her a thick winter coat this year. Last year we just put her in a onesie, jacket, and put blankets over her infant carrier and quickly put her in the car. Now that she's older and has a convertible car seat, she's out in the elements more and her winter coat is getting great use! A big bonus is that I found this coat at a consignment sale for $6 a few months ago and it will last her all winter!

Silly Baby!

Mackenzy has become a comedian over the past few weeks and has picked up on new phrases which I'm pretty sure she learned from me... She says "booger" when I show her a q-tip... She will say "no, no" as she is doing something she's not supposed to do. She tells people to "stop" or "stop that" and will tap their hands as she says it. She will throw items on the floor, look at the item, look at me, and then say "uh oh". She will sometimes say her nickname "Kenzy". She calls Dora the Explorer "Digo" and requests to read her "Digo" book almost every night. She now signs and says "eat (eee)", "more", and "cracker (cwack-or)" independently and will say/sign "Thank you (tank oooo)" and "please (pees)" with cues. She's started to tell us when she has gone poo poo and will sometimes bring us a new diaper, and she is starting to associate animal sounds with the animal (ex. dog goes woof woof, cow goes moo, duck say quack quack, and cat says meow). She's SUPER smart! Just like her mommy! :)

She LOVES to scribble and will write on anything she can find. She's already decorated our couch... She also loves to eat crayons...

As you know, she has been going to The Little Gym since last summer and I think it's been amazing for her. She gets to run around and play with kids for a whole 45 minutes which is great for her and then she takes a 2 hour nap which is great for us! She is now giving high fives to Ms. Ellen, her teacher, and she loves to talk to her favorite friends in class, Miles and Katherine. Like the genius that she is, she is generalizing the skills she learns in class to other places, and is starting to climb. She climbs on everything. The dishwasher, her stroller, my plastic bin... She definitely got that one from me because I was a climber!

Her best trick of all is her Cousin It imitation! She likes to put towels on her head and run around (supervised of course). This is how she entertained herself at our church Christmas dinner for a whole 15 minutes. She also loves a crowd so if she notices people watching her she'll keep going!

Thanksgiving Hairdo!

Thanksgiving this year was an amazingly long day filled with family fun! As usual, Mackenzy hung out with the guys first and went over to visit Ray's dad's family for a few hours while I went over to Ray's mom's family's house. Eventually we all met up with his mom's side and a very sleepy, teething Mackenzy visited with her Aunties for a while! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from the actual Thanksgiving feast (keeping up with a toddler amongst a crowd of family is difficult!) but I did manage to get a good picture of her hairdo! Slowly but surely her hair is filling in and getting longer!

Guess who's finally eating bananas!

Mackenzy was a very picky eater when we started her on solid foods at 5.5 months. She hated rice cereal and hated most fruits, but loved veggies! (Definitely my child!) As we've slowly started to introduce her to more flavors and seasonings she beginning to try new foods and will eat pretty much anything! She loves to eat her food and then graze off of our plates... One item that I could never get her to eat was a banana. I tried Gerber pureed bananas, Earth's Best pureed bananas, homemade pureed bananas, and ripe banana pieces with her and she would just spit it out! I think it had something to do with the texture. Last week when I went to pick her up she was happily eating a banana at daycare with the other kiddies and I was in shock! I thought maybe Mrs. Karen had some special power so I had to try it myself of course and long behold she actually ate it!


Her favorite foods to eat now include bananas, macaroni and cheese with veggies, chicken tetrazzini, goldfish, cheerios, and all kinds of pasta. I would say she's no longer a picky eater. Just look at hose long legs and big feet!



Lately she has been super whiny, wants to be held more, and is pooping like nobody's business. All of these symptoms together could only mean one thing... more teeth are coming. Poor kid is cutting her 1st set of molars and possibly 2 more bottom teeth... Look at that face! She looks so pitiful!

Once I showed her the picture of her "sad face" she posed for the 2nd picture. She's definately an AKA in training!

And yes, she does have a pink and green sippy cup...

My Mimi's Better than Your Mimi!

Mackenzy:"Not that I'm bragging, but my Mimi is better than your Mimi! Does your Mimi let you fly around the house?"