Year of Dates - #2 July

A little bit of background - Jeff and I went on an Alaskan Cruise for our honeymoon. Talk about the perfect honeymoon for an Arizona summer wedding! We escaped the heat and enjoyed the use of jackets for a full week, not to mention the gorgeous scenery!

For our second travel date, we traveled to Alaska to reminisce about our honeymoon. Being 110˚ outside, I really wanted to escape the heat. Since I've asked Jeff to schedule one Friday night off a month, I hoped we could drive up to Payson for the Friday Night Fish Fry at the Beeline Cafe. We could enjoy a few degree cooler weather and Jeff really enjoys the fish fry there. However, Jeff got called in to work around 2 that afternoon, so no trip for us. Since Plan A failed (again, but who's keeping track) we can't really escape the heat anywhere in the valley. Plus we didn't have a babysitter so I made it a family date night.

We ate dinner at Pete's Fish and Chips the following night. I'm not a big seafood fan, but Pete's fish and chips has some great chicken strips. Jeff likes their seafood platter so it was a win. Then to finish off the night we watched "The Proposal" once the kids were in bed.

Although the date was nothing too fancy, we still enjoyed being with each other and remembering our honeymoon.

Year of dates -date 1!

Jeff and I made a deal when we were first married that we would trade off planning our anniversary dates. We planned year one together, year two was him so this year it was all me. Having a newborn definitely limited the activities we could do. Kenzie was 6 weeks old at that point and we weren't comfortable leaving her quite yet. So my creative skills were put to the test! 

I decided to give Jeff a passport to travel with me each month to a new location. So each month will be focused on a new area. 

Our first date was Tempe, az since that was where our first night as a married couple was spent (my elementary school friend bought us a night at the buttes for our wedding gift! One of the best gifts!) We stayed home, and acted like our room was a hotel suite. We looked at wedding photos and reminisced of that day three years ago. Can't believe so much has changed in only 3 years! After our pictures we were going to cuddle and watch a movie, unfortunately Kenzie had other plans and had the worst night of her life and was up from 7pm to 2am and then only slept if I was bouncing her till 5. She finally fell asleep at 530 and slept till 730. 

Life of a parent right! Luckily we still celebrated the following weekend. 

Happy Father's Day!

As I reflect on the "father's" in my life, I realize how truly blessed I am! I don't know what I did to deserve these great examples, and I probably don't really deserve them, but I am so glad they are in my life.

Go Diamondbacks!

My own father raised me to be the woman I am today. He taught me how to love, how to serve, how to work hard, how to let things roll off my back, how to stay calm, how to laugh and most importantly how to truly live the gospel. He supports me in everything and knows just what to say to push me forward. He willingly drove me to Utah at the end of December to check out doctoral programs without hesitation. He is always just a phone call away willing to listen to any story at any point.  He taught me how to love America's favorite past time, baseball. He fulfilled one of my dream jobs by hooking me up with the scoreboard crew at Hohokam Stadium allowing me to be in control of the scoreboard for the Chicago Cubs for many games (even had a paid gig because of this!) He laughs with me, he cries with me.  He taught me how a woman should be treated by the way he treated and loved my mom. I am so glad my kids get to call him Nonno (italian for grandpa) and have a strong relationship with him. Elsie adores him and gets very excited when I mention his name. Utah, dream job

Even lets her control the remote

Elsie and Grandpa

My father in law who has accepted me as his own daughter without question. The man that taught his son how a father and husband should be. The man that loves our family unconditionally and would do anything for us. The man that never asks for anything in return but gives everything. The man that will work in 110˚ weather to finish a swingset so his granddaughter will have the chance to slide down it that day if she wants. The man that you never quite know what will pop out of his mouth, maybe a joke, a serious comment or something completely off the wall, but we are always ready to hear whatever it may be. The man that reminds us how often he loves our family and how proud he is of us. The man that lives the gospel to the fullest everyday, showing all what a testimony really looks like. The man my children get to call grandpa. How lucky they are. How grateful I am to have him part of my life.

Elsie loves playing the water!

Already playing the piano with dad

My husband whose calling in life is to be a father. He shows this on a daily basis. He loves being a father and everyone can tell. He's the dad that chases Elsie throughout the house. He's the dad that will walk four hours in our small house with a crying newborn so I can get some sleep (luckily Kenzie didn't need that kind of walking). He's the dad that takes Elsie to the park and plays with her on the equipment. He's the dad that wakes up in the middle of the night with a crying 2 year old and will cuddle with her in a toddler bed. (Yes my 6 foot husband squeezes onto a crib mattress with his daughter.) He's the dad that I've always wanted my children to have.

Jeff and Makenzie

I'm so glad I have all these men in my life and the lives of my two girls.

Happy Father's Day!

Mommy and Me Photos

Before Kenzie was born, Hawkins Photography took some Mommy and Me photos. I LOVED them all. In 20 minutes Kendyl was able to capture quite a few of Elsie's many different faces. Here are some of our favorites. 

I just woke up face

More please!

Yeah, I don't want to do that, but you can keep trying to make me smile

I'm tired! Just let me suck my thumb!

You want me to do what?

I can reach it too!

I'm having fun, but I won't tell you

Please! 

Not sure what this is but I really like it!

Dow, Da, and Dah

Is there anything cuter than the sound of a 22 month old jabbering away in her own language? I submit there is not. Elsie does everything on her own time table, nothing very quickly, including talking. She still has yet to look at me and call me mom. What almost 2 year old doesn't refer to their mom? She loves to say "Ma", definitely a favorite phrase, but I still don't think she is referring to me as much as just saying a syllable she knows. We taught her sign language for certain words and she uses those all the time, but speaking has never seem to be a priority until now. In the last week she has become quite the little chatter box! And I LOVE it! She jabbers and yaks all day if we are home alone. It really melts my heart! I made the comment today how I love being able to differentiate between the different sounds and words she makes. Here are some of our favorites. 

Elsie signing "Please"

Dow - Down. She uses this whenever she wants down from anywhere - counter, bed, dinner table, car seat, where ever. 

Da - Dad. When dad comes home she hollers this through the house. When dad leaves, she hollers. When dad gets in the shower, she hollers. She lovers her dad!

Dah - Dog. Sparky has always been Elsie's favorite toy. And luckily Sparky is wonderful with kids. So it is no surprise that she knows Dog. Yesterday Jeff went to help find the homes of some lost dogs we found in our neighborhood while returning from a shopping errand. Jeff had to carry Elsie in the house as she was quite concerned there were dogs roaming around. When she was inside she spent the next 20 minutes in the hallway yelling "DAH! DAH!" until Dad returned. 

Pho - Phone. Oh does Elsie love the iPhone! She will play on it hours everyday if we let her. Luckily we try and hide it so she doesn't remember it, but once she sees it, game over. She will say "Pho! Pho! PHO!" until we give in or she has a melt down. Hence the hiding. 

Ma - Mom? Maybe. She loves to holler Ma throughout the house at random times. Whenever she does I try and holler back "Elsie" to help teach her that Ma is me, but who knows if she actually gets that. 

Chez - Cheese. This girl could eat cheese all day everyday if we let her. It's her nighttime snack of choice, and I actually don't blame her one bit. 

Shez - Shoes. Elsie is a lot like her mom in the fact that she hates to walk barefoot. Frequently she will wake up and within 15 minutes she will holler "shez" and bring us her shoes to put on. 

Uh Oh - Uh Oh. Seriously her cutest phrase, and the best part she uses it appropriately! So cute!

Elsie signing "more"

Sign Language Words

More, Help, Thank you, Please, Apple, All done, Thirsty. She is at a point now where you show her a sign once and she remembers it and will use it all the time. 

I love how much this little girl soaks in on a daily basis. Everyday is a new adventure! I look forward to many more adventures, especially with another one to keep us on our toes!

Newborn Photos

 This is my favorite and was definitely a quick moment! This was the first time Elsie kissed Kenzie. 

 Once she started, Elsie just wanted to continue giving her loves! 

Daddy and his girls 

Hawkins Photography is our favorite! Kendyl does such an amazing job and we are so glad she agrees to deal with our crazy family! She has taken all our family photos and we love seeing the pics she takes around our house.

Not even 3 weeks...

Makenzie has been part of our family for not even 3 weeks and we love every minute! She is such an easy going baby and we are so glad she is ours forever! In just the three weeks we've seen her personality start to emerge. Here is who we welcomed into the family...

Not a cryer. Although her lungs work great when needed, she doesn't use them very often. She gives a warning moan (more like 4 or 5 moans) before she gets too mad. Mom can recognize this pretty quick and knows how to help her get what she needs. At night dad has yet to wake up as she is too quiet with her moans. Mom thinks she can probably sleep at least an hour longer each night but because her moans wake her up, she gets up and feeds her then. Easier than trying to sleep through the moans for the next hour. 

Observant. Makenzie loves awake time! Although she is only awake for a few hours a day at the current time, when she is awake she watches everything! She is wide eyed! When she starts to get tired she will fight as she doesn't want to miss anything. 

Happy. She came into this world smiling and has not stopped. There have been so many times where I look over and she has a peaceful happy feeling all around her. I love holding her and watching her facial expressions. She smiles constantly (even if they are currently gas smiles, I still love the smiles!)

I look forward to watching this bundle of joy grow into the young lady she will become!