Our 1 1/2 year old!

It's hard to believe that our baby is already 1.5 years old!  She's growing up so fast and becoming a big girl!

What's new:  Well she loves to take off her shoes and put on other shoes.  her favorite pair of shoes to put on are her black dress shoes and she even gets them on the right feet sometimes.  She even loves putting on my shoes and will try to put on Ray's shows, but his are a little to big for her to move around in.  In the mornings I have stopped putting on her shoes and socks because as soon as I put them on she is taking them off... If they do stay on she'll take them off in the car, thrown them on the floor, say "uh-oh", or get mad at her shoes because she can't get them on.  I've even caught her sucking on her toes...  eewww..

 Thanks to The Little Gym and her amazing balance and agility, Mackenzy has learned to climb up on the couch and in to her highchair.  On the weekends you can catch her and Nicholas on the couch looking out the window!

Her well visit insn't for another week or so so I can't provide you with a status update.  I know she has gotten taller and fatter because we've had to put so many of her clothes in boxes.  She's talking a lot and is starting to put 2 words together.  She signs eat, more, cracker, please, thank you, apple, and help.  She can identify her nose, head, elbow, knee, hair, mouth, ear, toes, hand, fingers, eye, belly, butt, belly button, and boobies!  She loves giving kisses and hugs, and follows simple directions.  She loves bubbles, balls, birds, dogs, hangers, pens, and Dora the Explorer (still calls her Digo).  She can recognize and read the words in a book at my moms house and can point out various objects in the book "Goodnight moon".  Her favorite phrases are "eewww", "sit down", "bird tree", "wow", "bad , bad, bad", "go bye-bye", "hungry eat", and "no no Nick Nick".

She's a little sponge and she says something new everyday!

Random Happenings...

These are just a few of the random pictures I have taken over the past few weeks that are just now making it off of my camera...

Um.. Mackenzy.  Are you wearing my shirt?

 This is my step dad.  He's been home for a month of so now and is enjoying retired life!  It's great to have him home and Mackenzy is getting used to having him around.  She even calls him "J"!

On Mondays, Mackenzy spends time with Mimi.  They like to watch Dora the Explorer, read books, and learn about the alphabet!  On this particular day, they were practicing the letter "A" which Mackenzy now recognizes!

Mackenzy loves climbing on the couch now...  She also loves stealing every cup we have laying around and drinking out of it which explains why her shirt it all wet.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

I've decided to take a break from Mackenzy updates to provide everyone with an update on me!  This story begins on a cold December evening....

As some of you know, I got a call in his past December from my "boss" telling me that Guilford County Schools was going to implement the RIFF Policy (reduction in force) and that my job was in jeopardy for next year.  She informed me that the RIFF would mean that 7 out of the 13 teachers in my specialty area would be cut and that the cuts would be based on seniority and years in service.  Naturally I freaked out because I was the last one hired and that meant that I would be the first one to go...

So I went in to panic mode, freak out mode, cried, yelled, prayed, and thought of everything that could go wrong if I were to be let go for next year.  My mom offered comforting words, my coworkers tried to be positive, but it was my husband that kept me together.  He allowed me to cry, yell, and mope around the house for a few days and then he looked at me and said, "I know this sucks, but you kind of knew it would happen sometime in the future.  The state has no money and budget cuts have to be made.  Crying about it isn't going to make it better, so you've got to get tough and make a plan babe!"  Althought I didn't appreciate his words at the moment I made a plan!

I believe everything in my life happens for a reason, so this obstacle was God's way of testing my faith and letting me know that things will not always go according to my plan.  I've been wanting to go back to school for a while, but in the past the timing wasn't right and financially we weren't able to take a paycut.  I've thought about transitioning to a classroom instead of "just being a specialist," but I was afraid of stepping out of my confort zone.  Well the thought of not having a job finally gave me the courage to step out of my box!  So to prepare for next year I:

1. Took and Passed the Praxis II tests in core content knowledge and severe and profound applications which means that I can teach in a classroom... 

2. I applied and was admitted to The University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Doctoral Studies Program in Special Education

 

3.  I've cut my spending, begun to pay off unnecessary debt, and I even manage to save a little money each month...



4.  I got a part time job that I absolutely love!

Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that every element of my plan would become a reality.  I prayed that He would give me strength and enable my heart to trust that He would provide for us.  Because of Him I am no long asking "What will we do?" but I am evaluating my options and asking for guidance as we make the best decision for our family.  This experience has taught me that He is in control, not me.

My future is still unclear for next year, but either way I have a plan...

You'll have to stay tuned to read about my decision!

Sick Baby :(

Some of you may know that I breastfed Mackenzy for the first year of her life.  Besides having a bout of acid reflux and colic, she was a very healthy infant.  She didn't have any colds or ear infections and might have had a runny nose once...  Now that she's 17 months and no longer gets breast milk I believe this child catches a cold a month!  Since her birthday in September, she has had some sort of runny nose or cough on an off throughout the months.  Nothing has compared to the cold that she currently has right now.

Last Thursday I was woken up by a half sleep/half awake child that was coughing up a storm.  She coughed for about 2 hours and couldn't seem to catch a break.  Naturally when she woke up in the morning (for real) I was a little worried.  She had red eyes, a red nose, said "Mommy", and then proceeded to sneeze projectile snot all over me.  Yes I did say PROJECTILE!  I was going to take her to daycare, but the snot kept coming, then the coughing started up again, and then she proceeded to vomit all over the floor.  Needless to say I didn't go to work that day and we went to the doctor to only be diagnosed with a cold!  I thought for sure she had something major with all that snot and mucus, but no!  A cold... 

So for the past week, we've been dealing with snot, coughing spells, and loading her up with Infants Tylenol and Baby Vicks Vaporub.  She hasn't been eating much, but has been drinking lots of fluids.  Luckily today she began acting more like herself and is eating much better.  Unfortunately, they don't recommend giving cold medicine to children under the age of 2 I believe so we are stuck waiting this cold out and hoping it doesn't get any worse...

Here is her Day 1 of the cold.  At this point the coughing and snot slowed down enough so that she could take a nap.  Poor baby :(

17 Months!

Mackenzy Star is now 17 months old and is such a big girl!  According to my measurements she is now over 20lbs and is around 32 inches tall!  If I'm correct, that means she has put on 2 pounds in 2 months and gotten 1 1/2 inches taller!  We won't get the official measurements until her 18 month appointment and I'm hoping she is 21 lbs by then...  We'll see!

Hitting 20lbs means that were were finally able to turn her around!  Yay!  She is so much happier looking at the scenery rather than the back seat.  During her first few days forward facing we had a few temper tantrums because she could see my car keys and got angry when I wouldn't give them to her.  All I heard on the way to Mrs. Karen's house was "key, keY, KEY!!!  Ahhhh!  Mommy!  KEY!"  Luckily that obstacle passed because she has some lungs on her!

She's been taking up a storm lately and it seems like she says a new word everyday.  She can say the names of her few of her friends at daycare- Nomi (Naomi), Le-ya (Leah), Niki (Karen's niece), and Karen (Mrs. Karen)!  I've also heard hair bow, bus which sounds like butt when she says it, sky, clean up, sock, shoe, boobie, my chair, knee, apple, and cracker.  She now knows where her eyes, nose, ear, mouth, belly, knee, head, toes, and bottom are.  She signs eat, more, cracker, thank you, please, and this morning she did the sign for candy but she said apple!  I just think she couldn't get her fingers in the right position, but I was super excited!  We're also working on "yes" and nodding our head.  Her answer for everything is no and although I know she knows how to use it appropriately, I believe she means yes in some situations but doesn't know how to say it.  We're working on it though!

We're also thinking about potty training her and she has a little potty that she will sit on before bath time!  Nothing has appeared in there yet, but she looks in her potty and waits for something magical to appear!  It's very cute!  Once we get the rest of our supplies, potty training will begin...

Her new loves include buttons, zippers, snaps, mac and cheese, helping mommy sweep by holding the dust pan and taking it to the trash can, carrots, taking long walks or jogs with mommy in the jogging stroller, slides, and taking her shoes and socks off!

Our Grumpy Saturday...

This week has been "uber" exhausting and I think everything I did caught up with me and Mackenzy this morning.  Not only did I work job #1, but I've begun to get things squared away for job #2.  We finally had our first basketball game this week which kept me out past my bedtime.  I had a meeting with vocational rehabilitation services that was completely pointless and then my father in law had to go in the hospital.  Needless to say, I was one tired Mommy by Friday afternoon.

Today, I was really looking forward to sleeping late (meaning until 7:00am).  During the week I wake up at 5:20 to get dressed and I wake Mackenzy up at 6:00 so that we can eat and get out of the house by 7:00.  Usually, if I don't wake her up she'll sleep until 7:00 or 7:30 ish, but this morning she wasn't having that at all.  She was wide awake, ready to play, and slightly whiny at 6:00am.  I was NOT happy to be awake that early when I didn't have to go anywhere and I guess my grumpiness rubbed off on her...

She was whiny because her teeth hurt and bored because Mommy was still sleepy and in a bad mood because we were awake so early for no reason!  Then when nap time arrived, she wouldn't go to sleep!  She did take a 20 minute nap while we were in Target which was far from the usual 1.5-2 hr nap she usually takes.  Her lack of a nap, me being exhausted, and both of us being in a bad mood sort of ruined our Saturday plans. 

After lunch with my mom at Red Robin, I thought she would be sleepy for sure, but nope... Not. At. All.  Instead of napping, she decided to throw her paci out of her crib and poop.  After a quick change I thought she would drift off to sleep, but I was wrong again.  Luckily Ray came home and took over.  He occupied her while I took a much needed power nap, which instantly put me in a better mood!

I was rather disappointed that I had to cancel our run with Brandi because of our grumpy day so I decided to go for a walk since that usually puts us both in a better mood.  She had a great time and after all day of being awake the little stinker fell asleep in the stroller on our way back to the house!  Even thought it was 4:30pm when she finally fell asleep, we decided to leave her in the stroller so she could rest...  She slept for about 30 minutes, I was able to get dinner started, and she woke up in such a better mood!

I guess all we both needed was a little sunshine and shuteye!

Below are a few random pictures I've taken over the past few days:

This is her favorite spot in the kitchen- in our recycling crate.

 I think every parent has the naked pictures of their kid!  This is her before bath time attempting to clean up.  We're still working on that concept.

 She was ready for her close up and right after I took the picture she stole my camera!

 "Mom no close ups please.  I'm busy drinking my PediaSure"

 And yes she does have my glove on her hand...

Happenings in the Cheek Household...

Hi Everyone!  Nothing much as been happening over here in the Cheek Household.  We've been working and playing hard as usual.  Mackenzy did have her first dentist appointment last week and it went really well!  She shed minimal tears and had a wonderful time playing with all of the toys they had in the office.  She has all of the teeth she's supposed to have and the dentist said she has a little bit of crowding (I'm still trying to figure out how he could see that when she only has 7 teeth and 4 molars slowly appearing...)  Anyways, we go back in about 6 months and Mackenzy got a balloon for her good behavior!

She also went to the doctor to get her second flu shot and of course while we were there I had to weigh her.  She weighed 18lbs 14oz which means that she gained a pound in a month!  AWESOME! But that also means that she gets to remain rear facing for a little bit longer.  Her next appointment isn't until the end of March so I hope she can stand facing the back of the seat until them!  She's getting taller and is beginning to kick the back of the seat!  You might remember us having this same issue when we switched from the infant car seat to the convertible car seat...  She has the long legs from the Cheek side and just keeps getting taller!

As she gets more active it gets more difficult to take a non-blurry picture of her!  I was able to get a some good ones over the past few days.  I even managed to catch Ray!

Ray came home with this blow up chair on Monday and after we quickly realized that it wasn't comfortable for us to sit in, we put it up in her playroom!  When she saw it she said, "WOW," and immediately wanted to climb in it.  It doesn't take much to please her!  She loves her chair!

 This picture was taken at about 6:00 in the morning hence the sleepy/blank look on her face...

 By the afternoon she was more alert and even posed for the camera!  I told her to say "cheese" and this is the smile I got.  Ha ha!  Do you see her new tooth on the bottom?  That's 1 of 6 new teeth that she cut/is cutting/has been cutting over the last month.  Darn those molars!

 Doesn't she look so innocent in this picture!  Don't let that look fool you!  Right after this picture she crawled in to the dogs cage...

How could I forget the most important update!  (No I'm NOT pregnant)  She is now pacifier free!  It just felt like the right time and Mrs. Karen, her sitter, has been keeping it away from her during the day so I decided to follow her lead and she hasn't had it since!  It's been a week pacifier free and it's been wonderful!  She does get it at bedtime, but that's it!  We're very proud of our Big Girl!!!