FINALLY FRIDAY!!

 Whew this has been a long week.  Makenzie came down with a cold Sunday morning and mine started Monday night.

Not feeling well, sitting on Ruger...(Sorry Buddy!!)

 Then Tuesday and Wednesday nights were pretty sleepless nights between Makenzie and I.  So here we are on Friday!  Fridays are always fun and always put you in a good mood!  We both had a good nights sleep and a good day so far... as for Matt... well now he's got our cold.

After my last post, I had felt guilty about not taking advantage of Makenzie taking a nap and me sitting on the computer blogging when I had a big to do list.  So I got up from the computer and decided to go mop the floor when I could her Makenzie crying (not a normal way for her to wake up).  So I go in there and she wants up and wanted to cuddle.  She should have gone back to sleep... she has barely slept an hour (norm 2 hr nap) and I could tell she was STILL tired, and probably not feeling well.  20 mins later I decided to put Curious George on while I mopped the floor.  When I picked her up to go to the couch this is what fell off of us!!  Notice anything wrong with this picture??

The tip is missing!!  So then I panic that she's choking on it.  Mind you... she sat ON MY LAP for 20 mins... breathing.  Why I would think then that she's choking is beyond me!  I ended up finding the tip in her crib.  So now we are down to 1 paci and I tell ya if we lose track of that one all you know what will break lose!

I mopped.  Not once.  But twice.  Grrr.  I've gone thru two different cleaners now and each one leaves the floor with a tacky residue on it.  Even after the 2nd time of just water.

I have slowly been chugging away at my list!!

Farmer's Market
Drop dug up plants off at my cousins
Library We went to a new library today!!  Makenzie is in her glory with books and within 5 seconds had 7    books in a pile on the floor and was running in the opposite direction.  I'd say she had fun!
Pay Bills Yup. 
Sweep and Mop Floor
Vaccum.... yeah... later
Clean baths... yeah.... this is on my to do during nap time... meaning I need to hurry up and finish this!
Make muffins  Makenzie and I made muffins yesterday!!  I LOVE having her help me in the kitchen and she loves it too!  She'll pour stuff into the bowl and help stir.  It makes things quite messy, but worth it.  Blueberry and Banana muffins.  I put most of them in saran wrap and froze them.  That way when Matt wants one for breakfast he can pull it out of the freezer take it to work and nuke it for a few secs!

It was PJ day yesterday! (FYI...the back splash is not finished!)

Plant tulip bulbs All of my fall landscaping projects are D-O-N-E!

I also got our family pictures done!  I can't believe how good they turned out... especially for doing them myself!  Here's a peak!

One of the pictures I sent into Meijer's and blew up to 12in x 18in.  I wasn't sure how that would turn out because my camera isn't a professional grade.  But it turned out PERFECT!!  I got a nice big frame for it and am impatiently waiting for my hubby to get home and hang it up!!  I had a vision of what I wanted and it is exactly that!  Love it when things just work out.

Our Unproductive Day

Today is one of those days where I wanted to get a TON of stuff done and I've only been able to cross off two things on that list. Matt will be home in an hour and a half and what usually happens is that last half hour I run around completing my list so it makes it look like I was busy :0) Thankfully he doesn't read this... or I'd be in trouble!

Here was my list:
Farmer's Market
Drop dug up plants off at my cousins
Library
Pay Bills
Sweep and Mop Floor
Vaccum
Clean baths
Make muffins
Plant tulip bulbs

Here's what I did:
Farmer's market, plant drop off, and swept.  I should totally be mopping the floor right now because Makenzie is asleep and I wouldn't have to worry about her slipping and sliding all over.  AND the weather is so nice that I have windows open so it would dry up pretty quick.  Eh.

Makenzie's 2 yr molars are working their way thru and we are both fighting colds (and had a rough night) so my motivation is out the window.  Yet I'm bored.

While we were outside playing I set up an area for us to attempt to take some fam pics tonight, since the weather is so nice!  I LOVE fall pictures, the colors are great.  So I raked a pile of leaves (Oh!  I should add that to my completed list!) with the thought of us laying in the leaves with the green pine tree behind us.  Then... IF it turns out I'd like to blow it up and put it on the wall in our dining room.

1 year ago... 

Look at that bald baby!!!  Today here hair (not that there is much, but some!) was blowing all over the place!!

Wish us luck!  I hear there is rain coming.... go figure :0)

Daddy's Deer!

What a nice weekend we had!  Matt took last Friday off and had a half day of work on Thursday, so for Makenzie and I our weekend started Thursday morning!!  We headed over to Grandma's work to pick up some peppers Grandpa had gotten for us and then headed to the Dr's office to get our flu shots.

Our Dr's office is attached to the hospital, and when we pulled in I could see that there was a helicopter about ready to take off.  How cool!!!  So I quick drive over there, somehow I ended up a little closer than what I had wanted to, and watched the helicopter take off.  Oh did Makenzie think that was cool!  It was loud and it was CLOSE!  Thankfully the helicopter took off just fine, and we found a parking spot and moseyed into the Dr's. 

I was a little nervous how this was going to go... they had told me to come a half hour early to register (new program).  Being in a waiting room and trying to keep your child entertained and quiet stresses me out!!  It did take us a half hour, Makenzie was great!  Once we were registered they got us right in and out.  (Deep breath!  Let the vacation begin!) 

We headed home, finished packing, and headed up north so Matt could go hunting with my dad.  So while Matt went hunting Makenzie and I unpacked and made ourselves at home in the Man Cave.  (Man Cave.... I came prepared with my cleaners and spent the first hr and a half cleaning!!)  By time Matt came back from hunting I was exhausted from cleaning, unpacking, cooking and chasing Makenzie around.  She is so curious and touches and taste EVERYTHING!!  I'm a germ-a-phobe and that doesn't fly for me. 


Friday morning went much better.  (Besides the fact that Makenzie got up an hour and a half earlier than normal when her mama hardly slept!)  We got up, watched the sun come up and could see little ice balls all over the ground!!  It was COLD out!  As we were eating our breakfast we got a call from Matt to say that he had shot a deer!  That's exciting stuff at our house.  Last fall Matt went months without seeing any deer so for him to get one already was exciting and a little bit of a relief because he knows that will put meat in our freezer!

So out the three of us went. 

34 degrees but sunny. 

It... was... cold!!!  We had fun taking Makenzie out in the woods and having her help find the deer.  Once we found it she was really excited... then like... wait why is it just sitting here!?!?  Then she didn't want to be by it, yet she didn't want to lose sight of it :0) 

Very curious about the Deer's Ears!!

Love you Daddy!

That night the rest of the family came up!  My sister and I made dinner for everyone and just enjoyed each other's company.  Saturday morning we had a great big breakfast Matt made and just hung out inside while it POURED outside.  ALL day!  Makenzie had lots of fun getting all sorts of attention from everyone and even made a new friend!  We decided to leave after dinner Saturday night so we could unpack that night and worry about getting the deer processed on Sunday.  (And get a good nights sleep!)

Sunday afternoon we headed over to Matt's parents where the boys worked on the deer while the ladies tended to the kiddies!!  I got to hold my baby nephew and give him some snuggles too before we headed for home!!  We've been so busy I haven't got my fix of him yet since he's been born!!

After dinner we cheered the Tigers onto another WIN!!!!!!  While playing zoo with Makenzie :0) 

Sold!! Move!! Sold!! Move!!

Boy Oh Boy!  It has been awhile!!  I love blogging and have not been up to it this year.  Boooo.... I just reread my entire blog and it makes me sad that I didn't keep it up.  It's so fun to see our family grow!!  Makenzie has grown up so much and I can hardly believe that was her in these pics just a year ago... now almost two!! 

Let me fill you in on our lives over the past 15 months or so.  I will flash back and update on the 15 months I missed, but here is a quick summary! 

Last winter we had our house up for sale... it was for sale for 9 months before a buyer came along.  Talk about STRESSFUL!!  Having a baby in the house that needs to be nursed every few hours and keeping the house spick and span and showing the house yourself (we sold for sale by owner) what a pain!  Then when Makenzie got mobile keeping the house clean got even harder.  Early Feb we accepted an offer and had to move out mid March.  So those first few months were busy selling, looking, packing, oh yeah... and being a mom and wife! 

Moving day.  Bittersweet!

 We didn't find a new house to buy so most of our "home" went into a storage unit and in we moved to my husbands parents house!  Poor them... empty nesters and then here comes a fam of 3 with 2 animals!!  (What they were thinking I'll never know!!)  During that time I quit my job at the Toyota dealership, while Matt stayed where he was working.  The commute ended up being pretty much the same, so it did work out!!  The hardest part of moving was leaving behind the worlds greatest babysitters that watched Makenzie when I worked every Friday.  That last day I swear Makenzie knew what was going on and she balled all night.  I cried too... what a horrible feeling.

After a few months of a lot of looking and deciding what exactly we wanted in our next house we put an offer on a new home.  Totally opposite of what we had in mind!!!  The house was fine, but the setting was a far cry from what we had before.  But we felt that that was where we were led to.  We got the keys to the house mid June and spent a whole month updating the house and working on it before we moved in.  Each morning I would get Makenzie up, take her to the house, play a bit, give her lunch and when she slept I would be painting, sanding, priming, tearing down... oh the work was endless.  Matt would come by after work and we'd pass him as we headed back to Mom and Dad's.  Makenzie was not thrilled with the house at all and absolutely hated being there.  Can't say that I blame her since she knew we were there to work. 

New house!

Finally, we moved in mid July!  And realized that life here wasn't so bad. It wasn't what we had in mind, but it works for now.  We are in a subdivision... not our 5 acre or even 1 acre property with woods around us.  We have a grass field behind us and houses next to and in front of us.  Big difference from living on a golf course! 

Makenzie now loves it here (after getting over having Grandma and Grandpa around all the time), there are kids everywhere and she has made a few new friends which she loves to play with.  AND each of our neighbors have a swing set that she can play on too.  There is lots to do here!

So that has taken up the better part of our year.  Makenzie has been growing like a weed.... has her daddy's genes that is for sure!  She has been in the 75th-90th percentile all year!  In March, April she started getting diarrhea.  It was horrible.  Non stop, every diaper change, smell the house up diarrhea.  At first we thought it was a bug, but it just never stopped.  We had dr's appointments lined up and bloodwork done, and nothing came back as signifying that something was wrong.  She still has it!!  Now 7 months later... it's not quite as frequent as it was when it first started, but it's an ongoing problem that we are trying to put a finger on.  I think the conclusion that we are at is that it is a syndrome called Toddler's Diarrhea.

This girl LOVES to dance!!  She was surprised when some lights came on and "danced" with her!!

Even though we spent a lot of time doing "house" stuff we still had a really good year.  Early in June she got to be a flower girl in my cousin's wedding, which was up at the Soo Locks.  We've got to see her cousins and gma's and gpa's a LOT now that we are in town.  We took her camping for the first time a few weeks ago to a Toddler's Halloween Party (what FUN that was!!).  She is a busy busy girl that is learning and talking SOOO much!  It amazes me how much she knows already.

Makenzie had a great weekend, but was scared out of her mind of these guys!!!

2 months from tomorrow and she'll be 2!!   

Party Party!!

The last weekend of June we had not 1 but 2 birthday's to celebrate!! We had Joshua's 1st Birthday Party first, then I hosted Grandma's 80th Birthday Party on Sunday!

Makenzie was informing Joshua that he took the ball she was playing with! She's a little stronger than she thought because Joshua ended up flying backwards! Oops!

Miss Natalie maybe squeezing Miss Makenzie a little too tight!?!? Haha!


And here's the Birthday Boy! Happy 1st year!!!

Now let's skip ahead a few years!!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

As usual, Kristi made an amazing cake for us all to enjoy!


The McDonald gals getting a little carried away here! Look like someone's having fun!!

Earlier in the week Mom, Grandma, Makenzie and I headed off to Lake MI! I was so excited to go and it just didn't go well. Makenzie got really fussy... it was REALLY hot... water was REALLY cold... and Mom was having an asthma attack. So, this is something I'll have to get use to. My beach days use to be full of stretching out in the sun and reading a good book. Well I didn't get to stretch out or even look at my book! Makenzie did look super cute tho!!

June...6 Months! Let the summer begin!

So... our house has been on the market with a Realtor for a month now. So far nothing too exciting, we for sure had more interest when we were selling for sale by owner. Not to mention our Realtor never communicates with us and has no clue when we have a showing! When we do have showings it gets a little hectic around here!! Makenzie doesn't stop crying and won't take naps and Ruger won't leave me alone, so I'm constantly tripping over him. Not a good situation :0)

I am still working one day a week! Katie, who was watching Makenzie on Friday's, has taken another job! So until Mom is done driving bus we have had some wonderful friends and family help watch Makenzie on Friday's so I can still go to work! Claire even got to watch Makenzie for a day :0) She definitely did a good job!


Makenzie has been eating solids for a few weeks now! She absolutely loves it and is such a good eater! We started her on rice cereal, then to oatmeal, then to veggies and fruit. So far there hasn't been anything that she hasn't liked!
At her 6 month appt we learned that she is in the 75% for everything!! Good growing girl!
She loves the mirror at the Dr's office! Not to mention the paper! The scale... not so much!


No teeth yet... no hair! Learned to sit up on her own! Every day she does so much!

Our first weekend in June was HOT!!! Matt went fishing with Brian and caught a good chunk of fish. I can't believe how long they went fishing... the temps were in the 90's!



Boy, I wish the cottage was closer, because Makenzie and I would have bopped over for a dip in the lake! Instead we kept busy with a neighborhood garage sale! I swear we ran across at least 100 sales in one HUGE neighborhood! Didn't find a whole lot, but ended up getting some sand toys, a ladybug baby raft and some baby clothes. It was too hot to be out long... I needed my air conditioning!
The second weekend we ended up going to the cottage for Matt's birthday! Makenzie and I met Matt in GR after we both got out of work and headed up. Hmm... it went okay. Makenzie wasn't the most pleasant! It definitely threw off our schedule being in the car at that time for so long! But turned out to be a good weekend!

Earlier in June Meijer had a promo going that got us 4 free tickets to the MIS Race for the Nextel Cup! FREE! Sweet! So Father's Day morning off we headed to the races! Not the best place for a nursing mother.... seeing as how we were there for the DAY. So while the guys ate their lunch (AND guarded the car) I sat in the front seat pumping.

Lesson that was learned: Men can't focus on multiple things! If they are hungry and want to get back to the races... they will eat as fast as they can totally FOCUSING ON THE FOOD. Not the people surrounding the car wondering what I was doing. I was mortified and NOT a happy camper to say the least.

So anyways. It was a good day for the races... Cloudy and breezy. Still hot but could have been worse! We rented scanners so we could listen in to all of the different crews! What fun!

The boys ready to go!!!


Happy First Father's Day Matt!! We celebrated a day before the races :0) Makenzie brought some pictures we had done to her Dad in bed!

Okay... the final weekend of June to follow! But first, here's a cute pic of Makenzie and Boogity. Boogity keeps sneaking into Makenzie's room and waking her up from her nap!!!

Our Fall Walk in Summer Weather

This whole week has been great weather! But we have had a string of bad days and haven't gotten outside to enjoy the weather! So this afternoon we headed out! I brought out Makenzie's walker for her to walk around the yard with, but the grass is too thick and it doesn't move :0( So off for a walk we went! We headed down the road to the KalHaven trail. I hate walking down that trail in the summer... with all the trees it makes the path SO dark. Now that the leaves are falling it's just perfect! And it smells SOOO good in the fall!


Makenzie helped hold Ruger. That dog spins his wheels the whole half hour we walked and Makenzie would giggle! He is a bundle of energy. By time we were almost back home climbing that last hill I had to pull him up... haha he was done!