Life's adventures with Matt, Amanda and the girls... Makenzie and Madison!

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Timing

I was just talking to my Grandma the other day that sometimes I pick dumb times to do things!  For example... Tuesday.  (Keep in mind I'm going totally OCD over being sick this past weekend and have been washing and sanitizing on a daily basis!)  I decided to put Makenzie's paci in the dishwasher to get it super clean... AT nap time.  Well once you throw it in it's touched everything else and you can't just yoink it back out.  SO I figured.... I suppose it's a good day to get rid of the paci!  NOT.  I totally overdid it with housework on Monday and was paying for it on Tuesday and REALLY needed to lay down.  She was so ticked.  Screaming and crying.... but I held out because I KNEW how tired she was and she would crash any min.  Nope.  Didn't happen. 

Let me tell you as soon as that dishwasher was done I ran to it, got the paci, gave it to Makenzie and walked out of her room.  She didn't stop crying!  She was way too ticked to just let that one go.  So I sat with her and rocked her to sleep.  As soon as I knew she was out, I picked her up to put her in her crib because my nap time was limited.  She woke up... door bell rang... naptime = Over.

So that brings us to today!  I thought that I should make a to do list of stuff that I've been wanting to do, but just don't remember or end up having to do something else.  My to do list got long really quick. (Go figure!)  Just after lunch only one thing had been crossed off the list... making freezer jam.  Cleaning Makenzie's room and vacuuming would just take a few mins, so in we went to tidy up!

An hour later.... toys were picked up.  Floor was vacuumed.  And the room and closet was completely rearranged!!  Seriously!?!?  I picked then to do that why???  LOL!  I'm happy I did it.  I got her changing table out of the way and made room for it in the closet where I am using it as some much needed shelving!  So moving that out of the way left a wall open and one thing led to another and the room is totally different. 


She had so much fun! She would pick stuff up and move them too.  And by rearranging it left the room MUCH more open than it was before.  Before she had a corner to play toys in.  Now she's got the whole center of the room! 

Happily running around in circles in her room!

Look at that open space to throw even more toys!!!  Yipee!!
Before the crib was where the chair is now.  Changing table was where the shelves are.  Shelves where the crib is and as was the chair. 

A Couple of Sleepy Heads

I love our dinner times.  It's just the three of us, typically good food, no interruptions, no tv, no radio, no toys.  Just the three of us.  Makenzie is usually the source of entertainment!!  Matt's pretty good entertainment too!

The other night Makenzie came up with a good way to excuse herself from eating.... by "falling" asleep!!  LOL!  Matt joined in... guess dinner wasn't good that night!?!?!?


Monday, January 28, 2013

The Weekend is OVER!!

Whew.  What a weekend!  Right after Matt & I went to bed Friday night he started throwing up.  It lasted ALL night and into the AM.  Then at 4 am it started with me.  Thank GOD we have two bathrooms because we were each in them at the same time... the Stomach Flu has hit our house!

Thankfully Matt's mom was up to coming over and taking Makenzie from us soon after she got up so we didn't have to expose her to any germs and because we could barely move let alone take care of a busy 2 year old.  I was excited to spend the day lounging on the couch watching movies with the hubby not having anything to do.  LOL... that is SO NOT how it went!  Instead we spent our time in the bathroom or in bed trying to sleep thru the horribleness.

They ended up keeping Makenzie for the night, which gave us even more time to recoop.  By Sunday AM Matt was doing a bit better.  I'm dragging behind I think because of the pregnancy.  Just can't rebound like that!  Miss Makenzie came home Sunday morning and by Sunday night Matt was exhausted with her!!  LOL.  Kids are a lot of work when you don't feel good!! 

Today we are up and running pretty good!  I have even started some laundry, resanitized almost everything (for the 3rd time!!), and I haven't gotten sick!!  Woot Woot!

To keep Makenzie busy I found this craft to do:

Bedtime animals ready to watch Makenzie!

Boogity trying to find something to do too!
Cooking oil!
Add Food Coloring!
 
Adding paper heart to tray with a little water in it.
 
Cooking oil and food coloring mixed.
Use dropper to suck up and drop color over paper in water!

Boogity decided just to watch this time.

Finished!  Time to let them dry!

Random Pics and Last Week's Update

Boy did we have a BUSY week last week!  It took me a few days to recover from Mom's party!  But last week was a pretty typical week in our house.... which I haven't been able to do in a WHILE! 

So the week started with laundry on Monday, which fell into Tuesday (ok.. so maybe I'm not "totally" able to do it all in one day yet).  Tuesday afternoon I headed over to my aunt's house to cut my hair!  I LOVE getting haircuts and was really excited for it, but not excited for the drive.  It finally decided to snow in Michigan.  My 10 min drive to her house started snowy and blowy, then white out, then blinding sun!  20 mins later I was there.  Makenzie was ticked... she knows that after nap time Daddy comes home, but we were leaving.  So she cried pretty much the whole time making my hair cut not too enjoyable.  BUT... this is one of the best cuts I've ever had!! 
Time to bake!  With Mommy's and Makenzie's Spatula!
Wednesday morning was our first morning in a 10 week story group!  We read books, played, did a quick craft and was headed off back into the snow.  I did some light house cleaning and that night we met with our new Pastor.
Little Bo Peep stopped by!
Thursday was the first day we didn't have anything going on!  So I was making my list to head out to the grocery store and unfortunately... didn't make it to the store.  (Which was sad because our fridge was pretty much empty since Tuesday!)
Bath time is over!  All snuggled up in Mommy's towel!
 Friday morning Makenzie decided to sleep in delaying our grocery shopping adventure.  Then cried the whole way thru the store, which never happens, that got me all in a tizzy.  Left the store without diapers.  She was wearing the last one.  Off I headed to my Grandparents house where we had a quick lunch then I left to go back to the store to get diapers.  Lucky them I came back, snatched Makenzie to head back home for a quick nap then we were headed back to their house for sledding fun!

Happily eating her Co-Co Wh- Eats! Completely unaware the cat is drinking her juice!

Busted!!
Yelling at the cat and the cat totally ignoring her! He's not allowed on the table, but I couldn't help but take these pics as this was going on :-) 

Surprise 50th Birthday Party!

Early January, my mom celebrated her 50th Birthday!!  Only a week after she was making a comment about being almost the same age as a woman in her early 40's :-)  Hehe.  Yeah, she was off by a few years! 

My sister and I decided not to do anything until the end of the month because 1, I still wasn't feeling very good and 2, it would throw her off-- hopefully!

What she knew:  The immediate family was coming over for an afternoon of games and then dinner to follow.

Well she got suspicious that Monday before the party she had wanted to come over early.  I said no and that raised an eyebrow.  But to be honest... my thoughts were: you're already over for most of the day, why come any earlier??  So whether we had the party or not Mom... No is still my answer :-)

What was really happening: Extended family and a few friends were coming over with games and appetizers followed by dinner out at Logan's.

The pics:




Ricky must still be hungry!  Makenzie's watching you!  Stay away from her food or else!!!


I thought the party went great!  I had it during the day so by time I felt crappy at night everyone was out of my house.  I happily ate all the appetizers everyone brought and then happily ate a lot at Logan's!  When we got home at 7 my house was empty... and clean!  All except my mom's new honking Over the Hill Cane that she "accidentally" left. 

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Big Deer and Hoo Hoo's!

 Since my daytime has been getting better we decided to get outdoors Saturday AM and find something fun to do!  Our adventure led us to the Outdoor Discovery Center.  It was our first time going there and we will definitely be back pretty frequently!  They had 3 elk to watch (we got REALLY close to one!) a couple of deer, trails to walk, a little Indian village, owls ("Hoo Hoo's") and other big birds, etc.  It was a great morning!   Sun was shining and temp read 55 degrees.  We walked thru a lot of the trails and Makenzie did great, she walked all by herself without needing or wanting to be picked up.  She did get a tiny bit annoying when we were on the way back to the truck... she wanted to see the deer again... so over and over and over and over she would say "Where'd deer go?"  Seriously 5 mins straight!  I got video of it b/c I thought it was pretty funny, but you hear more wind than her!  It was so nice to get out in nature and just walk.  I loved it!




Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Mission Accomplished!

It's 2:30 in the afternoon... Makenzie is down for her nap and I'm blogging away!  What a DAY I have had.  I had a really good day yesterday too!  Yesterday AM Makenzie and I went to a playgroup where we read a book, sang, danced, painted, and of course played!  After that I headed over to my Grandparents house (which I normally do on a regular basis and haven't been there in about 2 months!).  We had a great visit, mooched some lunch then headed home for nap time.  It felt so good to be OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!  And I missed my gma and gpa something fierce!!!

So this morning I decided that I would make a "To Do" list for me and see if I can regain control of this casa.  Last time I tried cleaning it made me feel pretty sick and I dry heaved my way thru it.  But I made the list anyways figuring we'll see what happens.  The list was L-O-N-G.  This would take me a week to do!  BUT, I got almost all of it done!  I can't believe it.  I didn't waste any time this morning, I stayed in my pj's and went right to work.  Gave Makenzie mini projects to do along the way and my "To Do" list is almost done!  I'm shocked and so happy!  It feels good to do stuff around the house again. 

My camera's date must be off.... hmm... here's Makenzie with a painting project today!  Shaving cream and glue!

Dinner is smelling yummy in the crock pot in my sparkling CLEAN kitchen!  And I am off to shower and get ready for the day!


Christmas Eve/ Christmas Morning

Hmmm.... I'm trying to think back to what we did Christmas Eve.... this was when I had a really bad cold.  I was most likely in bed for most of the day!

Christmas Eve-evening we headed to our church's Christmas Service.  Wasn't too sure how it was going to go with me not feeling good in more ways than one and nursery wasn't open so we had Miss M. with us :0)  But it went really good.  It didn't last long, so that helped and there was a lot of singing... so no one could hear Makenzie talking really loud!

After church we came back to our house and got dinner around.  Matt had put a pork loin in the oven so we had to quick come up with some sides and dinner was served!

Makenzie put out some cookies for Santa and then she was off to bed.  And Matt was off to put her kitchen together!  Wow did that take some patience!  We had pieces all over the living room.

Makenzie bringing out the dish of cookies!
Apparently she had to "sample" it before she could let the plate go!

Christmas morning Makenzie got up to see that Santa had come!  She had a REALLY big present waiting for her to tear it open.  Boy did she have fun.  She opened and opened and opened! 

She got a train too!!

Guitar

Kitchen!  Onto stocking!

My warning to stop with all the pictures and attempts to make her smile!

Emptying stocking... just tip it over!

Stocking goodies: socks, stickers, cars, flip flops!

Once we got Santa's gifts opened we had some cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then went back to the family room to open the gifts under the tree. 


"Hmm... now what was Daddy using to open his gifts?"
She saw Matt using his swiss army knife to open stuff so she paused during opening, grabbed the knife (all folded up) and tried to open it!  Monkey see monkey do!


Makenzie put the stickers to good use right away!

After all the gifts were opened I was feeling pretty miserable.  Matt put Makenzie down for a nap and then headed to Walgreen's to see if he could find me some relief!  After Makenzie got up from her nap we headed to Christmas Party #3 at Matt's parents house!

Monday, January 14, 2013

Week 8: Caught a Cold!

(post saved from December 24)

Here we are... officially 2 months into this.  My first Dr's appt is at the end of this week!!!  My morning sickness has gotten no better.  I now have a really sucky cold and am not sleeping.  Not good... I don't feel good at all.  Hoping this passes soon so we can enjoy our Christmas parties without me being cooped up in bed.  THANKFULLY my hubby has been off work on vacation and is able to help out do EVERYTHING around the house.  Taking care of me and Makenzie. 

Normally when I get a cold I take actifed and am better in a jiffy.  Can't take that seeing as how I'm only in my first trimester so I gotta tough this out with good ole tylonal! 

Week 8:
Weight gain: 3 lbs
Craving: Still carbs, lots of cereal and toast

1st Belly Pic!

Christmas Party # 2

This was the first Christmas party I was able to attend... so that's why Christmas Party #1 is MIA!  What a way to kick it off for me!  This was my mom's family Christmas.  Each year we head to my Grandparents where we all get together, eat great food, and play games.  What was special about this year was that we had the WHOLE family there!  It's been years since we've all been able to get everyone there. 

I was still on the whole carb kick and lucky for me 2 of my cousins made a bread!  One a rosemary bread and the other a yummy roll/ biscuit thing.  My aunt made a great pink salad... not sure what all is in there but it's frozen and delicious (xtra delicious when I'm prego!  I even got one to take home!)  My Uncle Jim and Aunt Tina made the turkey and ham.  Holy cow I didn't think I was going to be able to stop eating.  That was the BEST turkey and BEST ham I've ever had.  I vote they do that each year :0)  We'll rotate who buys it... they cook!  Deal???  (Notice I was too busy eating the food to take a picture of the food! Opps!)

Of course since everyone was there we had to do a family picture!!
Here's the Family!!
Grandkids + Great Grandkid(s)
 Then games and gifts!

Playing Mrs Potato Head with Aunt Kelli!
Kaden demonstrating how to wear a headband for Makenzie!
 Makenzie made a new friend!  Cousin Kaden she took an instant liking to and stuck to him like glue!  By the end of the night he got her to sit with him and root on the football team!!  Haha! 


Happy 2nd Birthday Makenzie

Two year old is in the HOUSE!!  Matt & I have a two year old!!  Holy Cow!!!  Her turning two was a lot less emotional than her turning one.  When she turned one I was just a basket case!  I think it was because once she turned one all "baby" things were over.  Bottles, nursing, baby toys, clothes in 3 month increments, baby carseat... done done done!  Cripes!!


She's still Mama's baby (for another few months) she's just a 2 year old baby now!  What a fun day we had.  We had a "Fishy" themed birthday party.  My mom and I worked on party food the Friday before and everything was set and ready to go for Makenzie's Sunday afternoon party!  (Which she almost slept thru!)


SeaWeed: Spinach Dip; School of Rainbow Fish: Rainbow fish crackers; Can of Worms: Jello w/ worms; Fish Food: Chex mix; The Ocean: Cake 







The fish that didn't make it.... but she LOVED her "Fishys" while they lasted!

Time for presents!

Cleaning kit!  Woot woot!

Time for cake! Which Makenzie won't take her eyes off of!

"Num Num NUM!"

Makenzie eating cake thanks to her assistant Miss Natalie!
 What a fun two years it has been.  So much has changed and she has learned SO much in two years.  I'm just in awe of it.  We are still really working on growing some hair, other than that she is a big girl that takes after her Daddy!  She has been in the 75-90% for height and weight!  3Ft tall and 30 lbs.  She wears 3T tops and 2T bottoms and size 8 shoes.  Makenzie LOVES her paci and one certain specific blanket that has to be in bed with her at all times.  She gets up about 8:30 every morning and goes to bed around 8-8:30 every night and takes a 2 hour nap during the afternoon.  "Shenzie" is what she calls herself.  Maaama= Grandma  Mama= Me  Dadee= Daddy  Pop= Grandpa.  Her favorite sayings are "Yaaaaa... Ya I do!", "Hey Buddy", "You okay?".

She use to be a wonderful eater and now she has gotten VERY picky.  She'll eat some meat but not much, some veggies but not much!  Her favorite foods are breakfast foods and yogurt.  She also loves fruit, but we limit that! We hear the trains all the time at home so she loves trains, she loves books and loves to read.  Painting and coloring are favorites too.  Oh, and she LOVES to be in the kitchen cooking with Mama and outside with Daddy!!

We keep saying that she's at such a fun stage right now!!  She is such a blast!  But we've pretty much said that ever since she was born!  Bottom line... we just love her to pieces and she is a blast!