Christmas Day

Here are some pictures from Christmas Day that I couldn't seem to upload to the last post. Mackenzie had a great time on Christmas morning. What could be more fun than sitting around tearing paper and crawling all over boxes?! She, of course, got tons of new toys and books and generally got spoiled rotten. It was so much fun to watch her, though - having a baby around just made Christmas that much more magical and special. I am already excited for next year when she will have a little bit more of an idea about what is going on!

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and I'm sorry its taken so long to get some pictures posted! We have been having some internet problems at my parent's house. The above pictures are from Christmas Eve. We had family over to my parent's house, and Santa even came for a visit! Mackenzie was a little shy with all the people around, and she really liked Santa until we put her in his lap! Thank you, Great Grandma, for the beautiful dress! Everyone said that she looked like an angel in it.

We Are Here!

Well, we made it to Colorado safe and sound and in one piece! We ended up leaving on Friday around lunchtime, and went to Colby Kansas (about 9 1/2 hours). We stopped for the night and went the rest of the way this morning, which was only about 4 hours. We actually didn't see any snow until just right before Colby. This morning it was so beautiful - huge snowdrifts, and icy fences and grass that looked like glass. Mackenzie was so good. She barley fussed the whole trip, and she really enjoyed some of her new toys that she got from her Nanny and Papa. They also gave us a portable DVD player, which was really nice. She got to watch Praise Baby in the car! She just couldn't believe it when I turned it on. It is also nice now that she is eating "real" food - I could get back there with her and give her puffs to keep her occupied. Matt and I had a book on tape to listen to, which made the drive go a lot faster.
So we are here and so excited for Christmas! Mackenzie already thinks the tree is really fun, and wants to get into the presents. We will post pictures soon!

Merry Early Christmas!

Last night we went to Matt's parent's house to do Christmas with them. The top two pictures are Mackenzie opening presents. The next one down is Mackenzie's Nanny showing her the bells on her wreath - she thought they were really cool! The next one is Kenz playing with one of her new toys, and the bottom one is Kenzie climbing all over the boxes that her other presents are in. I think she had more fun with those than the actual toy. :)
Today we went back to the doctor to check up on Kenzie's ear. We got good news and bad news - her eardrum is healing fine, but her ear is still really red and infected. :( So we are on yet another round of antibiotics. Hopefully this will clear it up. The nurse had to clean her ear out about 4 times before she could get a good look at her eardrum, and she also had to get the second dose of her flu shot, so she had a rough go of it today.
We are supposed to leave on Friday for Colorado, but they are in the middle of a blizzard! I can't believe we are missing it! Seriously, though, we are really hoping for a break in the weather Friday evening and Saturday so that we can make it in time for Christmas. So send us good weather vibes!!!!!!!!

My Little Helper

Tonight Mackenzie helped me wrap some Christmas presents! She actually saw the roll of paper on the couch, worked really hard to stand up and pull it off, and then had a great time playing with it. It was almost gone anyway, so I let her have it, and it gave me a few minutes to get some real wrapping done! The cats also had a great time playing with Kenzie and the paper.

"Hello? Is Mackenzie There?"

The top and bottom pictures are Mackenzie talking on her "phone". She was crawling around with it up against her head and I had no idea what she was doing. Matt had to tell me that she was talking on her phone! It is really cute... although I have NO idea where she learned it from... :) The middle picture is her playing peek-a-boo with a bowl. She loves anything from the kitchen. She is feeling a lot better, and has actually been sleeping really well. It has been nice for mommy, too!

Ear Infection =(

Well, poor Kenzie has had kind of a rough few days. She has been teething, and has had an awful time sleeping. The past three nights she has been up for 2 hours or more in the middle of the night, just crying every time I would lay her back down. We thought it was just her teeth, since she is cutting four on top right now, but we went ahead and called the doctor since she has also had a low fever since Wednesday. Sure enough, the doctor said that she has an ear infection in her right ear, and actually, fluid had built up behind her eardrum and it burst. I, of course, feel awful about it, but she said that sometimes they just move too fast to do anything about it. So she is on an antibiotic and ear drops (which are loads of fun), and hopefully she will be feeling a lot better soon! She has really been very happy during the day, though - she's not really acting sick. I'm just glad that we know what's wrong!

Standing, bending, and climbing

Kenzie and Daddy watching Praise Baby.

Kenzie standing and bending - without falling!

Daddy put a whole lot of bubbles on top of Kenzie's head last night in the bath tub!

Mackenzie went for the cat food (again!), but she went under the high chair and got herself in a pickle!

Our Weekend

We have had a fun and busy weekend! On Friday we went Christmas shopping, Saturday Matt went hunting while Mackenzie and I tried not to leave the house. As you can see from the middle picture, it has been very cold in our neck of the woods! On Sunday we had morning and night church. Mackenzie had fun in the nursery - she is doing so well and almost never cries when we leave her now. Today Mackenzie and I had to take Chloe to the vet for a shot. The bottom picture is Chloe and Kenzie playing. She loves her kitties!

What a big girl!

Here's my big girl this week - she is pulling up and pushing up on everything now. The second picture is her giving daddy a big hug, and the bottom picture is her eating with her spoon. She thinks it is great fun. I put some food on it and hand it to her, and she puts it in her mouth. If she doesn't get all the food off, she picks it off with her fingers and eats it that way. It's pretty cute. But she always gets the correct end in her mouth, which is amazing!

My Baby Is 10 Months Old Today...

And she has been doing all kinds of new things and growing up way too fast. In the past week she has said "Mama" for the first time (and I think she was actually referring to me!), she has been pushing up to her feet all over the place, she held her own spoon at lunch today, she handed me a ball, she actually tried to put her hat ON rather than taking it off, and she started dancing every time any music comes on. The picture above is her doing "Touchdown!" which Grandpa taught her while we were in Colorado. Matt turned on a football game the other day and she did it without us even telling her to. It is so much fun and so sad at the same time! She is such a little person anymore, but I miss my little baby, too! (By the way, can you tell Matt got her dressed?!)

Chasing Daddy!

Mackenzie and Daddy like to play "chase" around the chair. Mackenzie thinks it is so fun to catch him (and Matt thinks it's just as fun!) It is so cute!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Happy Thanksgiving! We have had a very busy and fun weekend so far. Our good friends Bryce and Brenda, and their two little boys, Jayden and Josiah, are in town visiting Bryce's family. They came over for dinner on Wednesday night and we got to meet little Josiah for the first time! Mackenzie had fun playing with Jayden (until he took the book that she was looking at!), and wanted to grab Josiah's hair. On Thursday we went to Matt's Grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner. The two bottom pictures are of Mackenzie with Papa, and Kenzie with her cousins Madison and Jacie. Today Mackenzie and I went shopping with Brenda and some of Bryce's family. We had a great time, and got a little bit of shopping done! Matt also surprised me today with an early birthday present - he installed a cd player in our car, which will make our drive to Colorado a lot more fun!

Colorado Pictures

Some highlights from our trip to Colorado - I am trying to make up for two weeks with no pictures! Here is Mackenzie and Grandma.
Mackenzie was giving Grandpa lots of hugs last night.
Uncle Tristan and Mackenzie.
Mackenzie reading Uncle Tristan's book.
Playing in Grandma's tupperware cabinet.
Playing with Bill.
One of Kenzie's new favorite games - knocking over the tower of blocks that Grandpa got for her.
Visiting with Great Grandpa, and in this picture, Great Grandma Becky.
Laughing at one of Grandma and Grandpa's doggies.


Mackenzie and I had two good flights today. We ran into Great Grandpa and Grandma Becky at the airport! What a fun surprise! Our first flight left at 6:30 this morning, so we were really tired today. On our first flight Mackenzie was flirting with everyone, and didn't fuss at all during either flight. She is such a good little traveler - it probably has something to do with the fact that she has been traveling since she was 5 weeks old. :)