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!

Such a helper!

Elsie is at a really fun age where she is soaking in everything and wants to mimic anything we do. For example, when Jeff is doing P90X Elsie copies the different exercises in her own 2 year old way. Ballistic stretching is by far my favorite! She will swing her hands front to back and clap while she walks in a circle. We can now ask her "Do a ballistic stretch" and she will make that motion. Mind you, she only knows its a ballistic stretch because the video calls it that. Jeff doesn't say what he is doing.

Another mimic action she has found recently involves lotion. Every night I try and put lotion on Kenzie, who can resist a baby lotion smelling baby! Elsie has become quite the fan of the process. She will take some of the lotion and point to her foot. Once I nod my head she will rub it on the bottom of her feet. Just her feet. Not sure why she feels that her feet are the only thing that need lotion, but that's where she puts it.

When in the kitchen, Elsie likes to help stir and taste anything that may be in the bowl. I have learned that the best way to combat the tasting of food she shouldn't be taste testing is to give her 2 bowls, a spoon and ice. She will move the ice from one bowl to the next for hours. Or give her cupcake holders and a muffin tin and she will put the holders in the tin over and over again. However, when making cookies there is no stopping this bundle of joy. And who can blame her? I sure can't!

When doing laundry, Elsie loves to go through the clean clothes (not the dirty ones) and find a sock for Sparky. When Elsie first started to walk she always found a sock in the clean laundry to throw to the dog. I was never quite a fan of this, however it was very adorable.

Makeup is already one of Elsie's favorites. I am a little concerned about this as makeup is so not my forte. She will go through  my drawers and find the eyeshadow and a brush, then proceed to put it on her eyes. If you look closely at Kenzie's newborn photos it kind of looks like Elsie has a black eye. Nope, that is just purple eyeshadow mom couldn't get off in time for the photos. Mom of the year award right here.

I  love watching Elsie learn and grow. She is at such a fun age, and I look forward to watching her learn even more.

Now we welcome...

It was a typical Tuesday afternoon. Typical in the sense that it was my due date. Here I am 40 weeks pregnant, ready to burst and this baby girl is still inside me. My last doctor appointment was at 2:10pm and we were going to be discussing induction options. The end was in sight!

We go in, sit in the exam room and patiently wait for the doctor to arrive. He walks in, checks me out, strips my membranes and gets a page that a patient is ready to deliver her baby. Dang it all. Guess no induction talk. He says the office will call letting me know what day I can be induced. So here we are, figuring we will get induced the next day. One more night, I can handle that. An hour later, the nurse calls with the worst news possible. And by worst news, I mean I wanted to shoot her in the foot as she was letting me know the first opening for an induction was Friday, May 24. Mind you my due date was May 14. There is no way in anything I was going to waddle for 10 more days, sleep uncomfortably for 10 more days, have heartburn for 10 more days, be miserable for 10 more days. I wanted this baby out!

With my first pregnancy, when the doctor stripped my membranes I went into labor within 2 hours. That was the only hope I was holding onto. Luckily Nonno had Elsie so Jeff and I decided we needed to go walk and hopefully that would put me into labor. It had already been 2 hours and there was no sign of labor. We walked for 90 minutes which got my contractions going and coming every 2 to 3 minutes. I was feeling hopeful. But then we went to dinner and they stopped. So we went and hung out at grandma Boo's and Nonnos hoping something would happen. Luckily around 8:30 my contractions were getting stronger, but only 3 minutes apart. We decided to head to the hospital around 9:15 as we didn't want to go all the way home in case something did start.

By the time we got to the hospital and admitted to triage, it was 10 pm and I was only at a 4. I left the dr appt at a 3. This was not boding well for me getting this baby out. The nurse said they wanted to watch me for an hour to see if I was progressing before they admitted me. So I sat and watched Family Feud while Jeff read a book (he brought entertainment, I forgot mine) until 11. Luckily at 11 I was dilated to  a 4 and a half so they decided to admit me, but it was going to be awhile according to the nurse.

At this time I was starting to feel painful contractions so when the the epidural nurse walked in I was very happy to see her! She said we would be able to put the epidural in as soon as I got to my room. Sign me up! I love the epidural! I am so not one of those strong ladies that wants to feel all the pain of childbirth. I will take the drugs! I got to my room at midnight, epidural went in shortly after and I was on the road to having this new addition! I slept on and off for the next hour and a half until my water broke. And by water breaking, I more so mean gushing like a firehose. It was definitely a weird sensation to have so much water just hit the back of my leg. The nurse came in and said "looks like you'll be delivering this baby here soon." I was having contractions right on top of each other and I was now dilated to a 7. Sure enough an hour later the doctor walks in and we are ready to get this show started. I push through 2 contractions and we welcome our newest family member!

Makenzie Nicole was born May 15, 2013 @ 3:03am.

Thank you Grandma Boo for taking Kenzie's first photos! I will add more once I get all the ones grandma took. 

Turning a new leaf

I am the worst blogger ever. I have friends who update their blog regularly, and I am so jealous! They have such a family history record that they can keep forever and their children and posterity can enjoy for years and years to come. I don't feel I have the best writing skills, which is partly why I don't blog very well. However, even with the lack of language skills I am determined to give my daughters a record they can look at in years to come and enjoy. Here's to turning over a new leaf in my blogging adventure!

Glad we started with a puppy

Elsie has made HUGE milestones this last week when it comes to movement on her own. She's our little Leo the Late Bloomer (one of my favorite books) and as I've watched her learn to do her thing, I've realized that it's not me at all that is encouraging her to finally move. No matter how much I cheer. No matter how much I prod. No matter how much I push. No matter how much I beg. I can do anything under the sun but it's not me that got her to move. It's our dog.

As I've watched Sparky get Elsie to move (since I'm sure that was his goal) I've looked back and started to make mental note of how similar Elsie and Sparky are. Jeff bought me Sparky as a birthday gift in 2010. It was that movie scene scenario that every girl wants. Come home from work, husband has a gift behind his back, open it up and there is a sleeping puppy in the bag. Loved it! We didn't think we would be lucky enough to get pregnant right away, so we thought we would start with a puppy to get our feet wet with the whole parenting thing. People say it is similar, so we thought we'd give it a go. Now that we have Elsie, and we've experienced both we completely agree with the sentiment that puppies are great practice to having the baby. Here are the ways the two are similar:

1. Lack of sleep - When we got Sparky he was 5 weeks old and we wanted to crate train him. He woke up every 2 hours on the dot the first week and at least 4 times a night the second week and at least 2 times the next three. It felt like he was never going to sleep through the night! All I wanted was a good night's rest and Sparky had other plans.

Fast forward a year - Elsie. Need I say more on the lack of sleep? I thought I needed 8 hours of sleep to function. Nope, Elsie taught me I just need 4 solid hours. Luckily she was sleeping 6 hours straight at 4 weeks, and through the night at 8.

We did not pose this. Jeff put Elsie down and Sparky curled up next to her. He loved her from the beginning. Just wouldn't admit it.

2. Potty training - Sparky took a good solid 9 months to be completely potty trained. I hated cleaning up his accidents. But it was part of having a puppy. Teaching them how to go where appropriate.

Fast forward a year - Elsie obviously is still at least a year from being potty trained but oh how I love having the diapers. Never thought I'd be grateful for the diapers but after having a puppy, I'd much rather change the diaper than clean the carpet 5 times a day. However if Elsie takes 9 months to be completely potty trained I might cry.

Both Sparky and Elsie love to sit on my lap. It gets interesting as Elsie continues to grow and I am quickly running out of room for both. Doesn't mean Sparky won't try. 

3. Toys - Sparky loves to bring all his toys out at once and play with them, especially when I am trying to clean up. Because he is a dog I can't tell him to pick up so I am forced to.

Fast forward a year - Elsie loves toys and wants all of them at once. Her attention span can't last for more than 30 seconds before she is ready for something new. I  pick up after her every night when she goes to bed but the same mess happens every morning. At least it's a mess that hopefully someday she can help out with :)

Sparky wanting to play, Elsie thinking Sparky is crazy

4. Games - We taught Sparky how to play fetch and we use it to wear him out at night. Luckily he doesn't need it as much now, but it was a great lifesaver a year ago.

Fast forward a year - Elsie loves games - especially pass back. We hand her a toy, she hands it back. This will go on for easily 5 minutes. She tries to do it with people at church but they don't understand what she is doing so by the time I explain to them she has lost interest.

This was quite the common sight when I was nursing. Sparky wanted to play so he'd bring a sock for me to throw. Yes, his favorite toy is Jeff's sock. Not to destroy. Just to fetch.Weird dog, I know. 

5. Attention - Sparky loves attention. When we brought Elsie home we were told he will get jealous and we need to be careful. Lucky for us that was not the case. Elsie wasn't any fun for him so he left her alone. It wasn't until she was about 6 months and sitting up by herself that he started to pay attention to her. He ignored her but wanted all the attention on him when people came over to visit Elsie. He'd pounce all around just because he was excited someone new was over, didn't even phase him that Elsie was there all the time.

Fast forward a year - Elsie likes to see people that come over but takes a while to warm up to them. However when we have baby #2 (not for a long while) I can see Elsie loving a little sibling but wanting some attention for her as well.

Sparky has ruined many photos as he wants to try and be in them. This is not one he ruined, just one he decided to step in  

No I didn't put the boppy there. It was all Sparky experimenting with the baby stuff. This one was too funny not to post.  

I love having Sparky around as I figure the whole parenting thing out. He's helped Elsie out in ways I couldn't. Almost every night now I see Sparky and Elsie playing some sort of game together. Normally it is Sparky bringing a toy to Elsie and Elsie trying to grab the toy. This will go on for 10 minutes. Just the two of them. Sparky growling his happy growl and Elsie laughing hysterically. Or Sparky will have something across the room that Elsie wants, Elsie will crawl to him and laugh when he gets up and moves as he doesn't want to be bothered. Talk about having a best friend right from birth.

Definitely her father's daughter

Since day one, everyone (minus my mom) has commented about how Elsie is definitely my daughter as she looks just like me. As almost a year has passed, and I have seen her personality come out I've been able to see how she is a lot like her dad, which makes me very happy! I love Jeff and love knowing my daughter has some of his personality traits already.

Proof #1 - She loves the computer! She will sit and type on the keyboard (only dad's mind you, apparently the Mac isn't as nice to an 11 month old), move the mouse, touch the mic. She will throw a fit if you take her away before she is done. Sadly this is Jeff to a T!

Proof #2 - She can be a shy little lady and would rather stick to the people she knows best. Jeff is not a fan of being social and would rather just be around the few people he loves and cares for.

Proof #3 - She is a home body! While she is super fun to take out and about, she is way more enjoyable at home where she is familiar with everything. She laughs and giggles so much more when she is at home then when she is out. Jeff would rather spend all day everyday at home.

Proof #4 - She loves books! Elsie will sit through an entire book and just love to listen. We read a finger puppet book last night and she laughed at an appropriate time (although I'm sure it was purely coincidental, I like to think it wasn't). We read "The Hundred Dresses" over the course of the week and she sat intently through it all. Jeff has a huge collection of books, all of which he has read. Between the two of us we already fill 3 large bookshelves and we've only been married 2 years. We will need a personal library the size of a 2 car garage by the time we are married 20 years.

Proof #5 - Elsie is quite the determined young lady. If she wants something she will figure out a way to get it. Whether it be her little gymnastics scoot, her rolling to the general vicinity or screaming till she gets it (definitely not my favorite) she will find a way. The brilliant man that I married knows how to get what he wants. Nothing will or can stop him. I hope Elsie continues with this trait :)

Proof #6 - She is quite the laid back girl. She goes with the flow and just enjoys life as she knows it. If she gets mad, give her 10 seconds and she will figure out something else to make her happy. Very few things get under Jeff's skin, he rolls with the punches a good majority of the time.

Proof #7 - Elsie loves her mama! She would rather stay and cuddle with mom than anyone else. These last few months Elsie and I have become quite attached, watching her learn and grow has been wonderful! Jeff is rather attached to me I like to think :)

Proof #8 - While she hasn't always been this way, she sure has become quite the cuddler these last few months. Around 6 months Elsie decided she wanted to cuddle anytime she was tired. She only does it with mom (which makes Jeff a little (okay a lot) jealous) but she loves to lay her head on my shoulder, put her arm wrapped around my neck and lay there before she gets in the crib. I love it! Jeff has always been a huge cuddler. Any time and any where he wants to cuddle.

Proof #9 - We bought Elsie an infant keyboard a few months back and it has quickly become Elsie's favorite. She will scootch to anywhere to play it. She likes any and all music she can play with it. The other day she figured she could pull the jumperoo and it would make noise, then she could play the piano. When one stopped she'd start it up again. She loved being in control of all the noise. Jeff's wedding gift was a piano. It was the best gift I could have bought and it will always be something we cherish. Jeff is quite the piano player. I wish I had his talent but sure do love reaping the benefits of it!

Proof #10 - Elsie doesn't like to show off any of her skills unless she knows she has them mastered. She will do them at home but don't ask her in public as she won't do any of them unless she is perfect at it. Jeff is brilliant! And by brilliant I mean BRILLIANT! He has 2 computer screens, one to play his game with, one to read whatever he can find. Does he share any of that knowledge? Not unless he knows for sure that he is 100% right. If there is any doubt he won't share with anyone but me.

I'm so glad I married a wonderful man that has been such a great father to our daughter! Watching Elsie grow and seeing some of these traits come out in her has been so wonderful! Elsie and I are very blessed to have such an amazing man in our lives. Looking at these pictures of Jeff and Elsie reminds me of how much love I have for this amazing man. The moment Elsie was born and every day since my love for Jeff has grown more than I ever thought possible. I've been quite blessed to have a husband who stepped into the father role so easily. He has that nurturing sense built in and watching that blossom even more with our little girl is so amazing. I am so truly blessed to have him in my life.

Thanks for being the great dad and husband you are! I love you Jeff!