Friday, February 25, 2011

Scootin'

When we came inside the other day, after playing with the walker outside, Daddy pushed Makenah around on the scooter part. 
She loved it!

And, because I continue to reminisce about the past year, Makenah's approaching birthday, and what I was doing a year ago at this time, I keep finding myself remembering through pictures. 
Here was a year ago today, February 25, 2010.
We were having a late celebration for my friend Jacey's birthday with my sweet friends (and roomates) from college. Here I am with Jacey and Danae. They were 2 months behind in their pregnancies. Kira, behind the camera, was keeping us in line. :)
There is lots of birthday planning and preparation scheduled for this weekend. :)
I also get to attend a bridal shower/party for Kira, who is getting married in a few weeks!
These things, along with snuggling Makenah who has another cold, should fill it up. 
Have a great weekend!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

11 months

This seems a little backwards, since I just wrote about how we are getting ready to celebrate birthday #1 around here! Makenah will be one next week, but I realized I never posted about being 11 months old. I have some cute pictures to go with it, so I'm going to do it anyway. Be warned, there is a lot of Makenah coming up, but, that is to be expected. 

On February 4th, Makenah turned 11 months old!
The excitement just continues around here, as Makenah is into everything! She pulls up everywhere, cruises around the coffee table and furniture, and crawls as fast as she can to where she wants to go.
She loves to play with her toys. She likes to stand up next to her toy box and empty it out. And equally as exciting are the cabinets in the kitchen and her bedroom. She will empty them and check out what is in them over and over.
She's got a lot to say these days. Mama and Dada are the most recognizable words, but she sure babbles, squeals, hollers and oohs/ahhs a lot. She is also catching on to imitating, so she is learning lots of new things. She will also make sounds back at us, wave, clap and do patty-cake, shake her head "no", and tell you "how big" she is.
She sleeps like a champ at night and during nap time. She has always required a lot of sleep, and we are really proud of the great sleeper she has grown into.
Makenah has seven teeth, and number eight is on its way in. You can see a few of them here. A wide, toothy grin, with a cute gap in the middle. Love it. 
Here is one of her shadows. It took awhile, but Makenah and Casey are definitely aware of what the other is doing these days. Makenah will occasionally take one of Casey's toys, but he mostly leaves hers alone. I think he sometimes wonders why she can touch his stuff, but when he goes for hers, he gets redirected immediately. He's a good boy.
Another sign of the big girl she is, is her ability to feed herself, and eat most all table foods that can be made into safe, kid size bites. She is a good eater, but definitely has her favorites. She drinks from her sippy cup like a pro. 
It's been a full month, with so many new and exciting things going on. It seems like at this age, they are learning something new everyday! I'm sure she is!
Right next to us the whole time...
Happy 11 months, Makenah. You are getting "sooo big!"
We love you!

It was almost time

We are planning a celebration around here!! 
In about a week, (next Friday) Makenah will be ONE! How fast does a year go?! I know that most all parents think that, and I have found it to be so true! I can't believe it! 
She is the sweetest thing, and we just love love love her to pieces!! You can bet there will be more posts to come about this celebration ahead!  YAY!

So, what was going on a year ago? It was almost time, and we didn't even know it.
Exactly one year ago, February 24th, Bryan took this picture of me. 
 I was 35 weeks.
(Interesting side note: Did you know Bryan got roped into my master plan of taking a picture every week to document the pregnancy? Yep, every week, multiple shots. We did it. You have been spared the bare belly shot. What a wonderful guy.)

Makenah surprised us a week later.  
We were ready!
I had felt the need to do some preparing during that week. 
The house had been cleaned, we put in the carseat, my bag was packed (mostly...you can ask Bryan how much I decided I wanted to add when it was actually time to leave. :), Makenah's room was ready, and I had wrapped everything up at school. And then, in God's perfect timing, Makenah came!!!

Such fond memories of all that getting ready. I loved that time, preparing, anticipating when she would come. It makes me so happy just thinking about it. 

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

So far...

It's been pretty quiet around here picture wise, but we've been up to a lot.

This past weekend we had Bryan's family here. It was especially great to have all the brothers together, even if they were doing dangerous, brother type stuff. 
I mean, come on. This does not look safe at all. 
This is my husband, flying through the air on his dirt bike. It makes me nervous that I can't even see the ground. (How cool does that look though? :) 
There are lots more pictures of the guys. I hope to get some of those posted to show.

We also enjoyed a great church service and Sunday dinner out with family, bible study with our dear small group, and mom's group (Mom's Carelink at First MB) for Makenah and I. We are looking forward to having friends over tomorrow, and some family time on Thursday and Friday.

Here's a picture of Makenah this past weekend. (I was going to say that this is something I think that she looks so cute doing...but then I laughed because I really think everything she does is cute! Ha!) It's a little dark, but I like it anyway.

So here it is...I think it is so cute when she stands and looks out the back door. She usually does this when Casey goes outside, kind of to say, "hey, where is he going?" 































Friday, February 18, 2011

Friday

Just a few smiles to start the weekend! 
Is this pretty weather going to stick around? I hope so!
Sweet Makenah + the great weather + Bryan having some days off= a great week.
We had a good one around here. Lots of walks, playground time with some wonderful friends, family time, grilling, winning a rec league volleyball championship (with Braum's afterwards :), and seeing my parents this week and Bryan's parents and brothers this weekend.  
Have a good weekend!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Our Valentine

We've got a cute little Valentine around here. 
She's been busy today! 
Heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. She loves pancakes, just like her mommy!
Oh my, what a grin! Makenah has six teeth now, and you can see 5 really well here. This picture makes me laugh. Love it. 
Our sweet valentine.
Of course, Casey had to make sure he was right where we were. As usual. Maybe even a little more than usual. He sticks pretty close to Makenah when she is getting into things because he doesn't want to miss out on anything. 
Bryan pretends to put Makenah on Casey's back for a ride, and she giggles so much every time. Casey is a good sport. 
Hope you had a wonderful day!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Friday was my mom's birthday!
We've been looking forward to celebrating with her, and tonight, we got to do just that. The family came over and we opened presents and then went out to eat a delicious supper.

My mom is just awesome! Some of the things I love most about her are the way she is so easy to talk to and such a good listener. She is so funny, too! She says such funny things and makes jokes that make people laugh.  My mom is also so generous--to family, friends, the community, and those in need. She is caring, kind, thoughtful and sweet. And, she is SO supportive--I know she is always there for me. We all love her so much!  

Makenah helped open her birthday present and something for Valentine's Day too.
Happy Birthday, Mom!