Slumber Party-Sleep=PARTY!

5 Girls.
Swimming.
Laughing.
Exploring.
Running.
Screaming.
Eating.
Swimsuit showering.
Painting fingers.
Dancing on the beds.
Feeding the fish.
Dressing up.
Hiding.
Playing.
Giggling.

All of these things equal one amazingly FUN night!

Makenna's party was so great this year. We reserved a room at Embassy Suites (the old Barcelona Court) back in April. After all the summer of craziness, we were so hoping that this party would still work out. She waited allllll summer long for this, and now she says she wants to have her party here every year. I'm thinking that might be a super idea.

The girls were a mix from everywhere...one from church, one from her school, one from her Kinder school, one bff since birth. I think this helped so much. There was not one word or action of drama the entire night, and for 8 and 9 year old girls, that is unbelievable.

The hotel went above and beyond for us. They unloaded and parked my car in the torrential rains, they watched for all the girls to come in and gave Mak birthday candy and the girls fish food to feed the koi, and they encouraged the girls to have fun. Maybe I should move in permanently?

Here is a movie of the night. I don't want Makenna to forget her totally awesome party!

15 Months Old

I'm being shy.

I'm getting ready...

And now I'm dancin' to the music!


Mailey is 15 months old, and I've officially declared her a toddler. So sad. sigh.

She still loves getting into everything.

She squinches her eyes up and tilts her chin back like she is fake laughing with us.

Her hairs are just out of control. It is the morning excitement to see what her hair looks like when I get her out of bed.

She kind of stopped talking for awhile, but is now back in full force. Some new words are
nose
door
tanuhh(thank you we think)
milk(which she also points to my you know whatsits and says that word. really? it has been months since that went on!)
gogogogogo(outside)
ba(bath)
ge it(get it...or maybe for her suckers...not sure)
eye

She climbs everything. All small chairs have had to be removed from her room because she scoots them where she wants them and then proceeds to climb up onto whatever she can. One day I watched her get her farm out of the closet(and it is big!), scoot it by her little chair, climb onto the farm, climb onto the chair, climb onto the table, and then try and climb onto the bed. She had one leg hiked straight up trying to get it over the top of the daybed. Crazy woman!

She has been sick. A lot. Strep, a fever virus with 104+ for 5 loooooong days, 2 molars, and now some snotty something with fever. Ugh. So frustrating. Time for no nursery and no church and no Bible Study??

When her hands are wet or she gets an owie she whines and shows you with her nose all squinched. She also does this if she sees an owie on you.

She's been locked out of Tracen's room by a baby gate that he got for his birthday...yes, he wanted one soooo badly....and she goes to the gate, shakes it violently, and screams at it.

When she wants to ride something she'll repeat "duhdie, duh die, duh die," over and over.

When she is upset from not getting her way she sits on the ground and sobs with one hand up on her forehead. Hilarious!

I'm totally not going to climb this time, I promise, Mom!

Here are all my new teeth!

I still tilt my head to say I love you.

Hello? Will you let me play with your phone if I look this cute doing it?


This woman is so funny...everyone always says she has the funniest personality...and we love her! She completely lights up our days, causing us to laugh often.

Her stats at the doctor were:
31.2"- 80%(still tall)
21.6lbs- 30%(she's slimming down)
18.6"- 92%(she's got a melon, I guess)

Yay for Mailey baby...oh, I mean, Yay for Mailey toddler!

Yuck.

She'll always be Mailey baby to me.

September 22, 2010

Tracen is SIX!

Tracen had a huge birthday bash last weekend at...Chuck E. Cheese! He decided he wanted his party there, and really it was so fun! We scheduled it at 9:30am to avoid crowds, and besides smelling pizza that early, it was a perfect time to go. They do everything for you so Momma was loving it as well.

Here is the birthday man at his party:



Here are his sweet friends that came to celebrate with us:



Here is his buddy from school eating on stage at the birthday table:



Here are some prizes from this morning:
He really just wanted to eat his blueberry muffin and for me to stop it with the pictures.
See if you can find Elvis, who joined us for the celebration in her highchair.




Here is my little man who is SIX!!!!





Top 6 Reasons to Love Tracen:
1. He always says, "Goodnight Mommy!" as I leave his room at bedtime. Always.

2. He gets this little smile on his face when he hears a song he loves.

3. He is so literal that sometimes he comes up with the funniest statements. Like on the night before his birthday party he said he had always thought Makenna's birthday was before his, all these years, just because he was having his party early. He was totally confused!

4. He loves his friends so much and just takes delight in hanging out with them.

5. He hugs and kisses on Mailey more than anyone else in the family.

6. He asks to read the Bible every night to learn and to hear more of what Jesus did.


I love my only boy sooooo much! He is growing up and just loving Kinder. It hasn't fazed him one bit to be there. He is so laid back and goes with the flow...well, if the flow is slooooow!
We are so very proud of you and I love watching you grow up before our eyes, Tracen Daniel!

Yay for being SIX!

September 21, 2010

Makenna is NINE!!

We had a great time celebrating today and this past weekend with all the family. Her birthday slumber party is Friday, so more pics of that will come. Here are some of her celebrations...

Her best friend Kayla turned 9 the day before her and had a party at Sweet & Sassy. It was SUPER girlie and they had fun dressing up, putting on makeup, getting their nails done, dancing like crazy(well, every girl but Mak...she was not a fan), and putting on a fashion show. We love Kayla Jo!





All the family came in town this past weekend for the birthdays. We love seeing them and miss them too much.





Today she opened presents from us and had her fav breakfast of Ooey Gooey.



Doesn't she look so old??

NINE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MAKENNA:

1. HER HUGE SMILE THAT SPREADS EAR TO EAR
2. THE WAY SHE NOTICES EVERYTHING ABOUT HOW SOMEONE IS FEELING
3. THOSE LOOOOONG LEGS. I'M SO JEALOUS.
4. HER SNORTING WHEN SHE REALLY GETS LAUGHING
5. HOW HER SIDE GETS SORE FROM HOLDING HER BABY SISTER, BUT THAT DOESN'T MAKE HER STOP
6. THE WAY SHE IS NOT AFRAID TO ASK WHY THINGS HAPPEN WHILE REALIZING GOD HAS A PLAN
7. HOW BOYS ARE HER FRIENDS JUST THE SAME AS GIRLS, AND SHE DOESN'T EVEN THINK IT SHOULD BE OTHERWISE
8. WATCHING HER CREATE SOMETHING FROM WHATEVER WE HAVE IN THE CRAFT AREA THAT IS SO COOL
9. THE WAY SHE LOVES JESUS AND IS LEARNING HOW THE BIBLE IS HER ROCK AND ABSOLUTE TRUTH

I love this girl so very much. We do argue A LOT, and she disagrees with most everything that I say about anything, but one day...maybe in about 9 more years, we are going to be best buds. She's always been mine.

I love you baby girl!

Happy 9 Years of Life

Play dates

We had some fun with friends over Labor Day weekend.

We try desperately to make up for the fact that this is our first Labor Day to have no pool. Sprinkler and trampoline, anyone?


Makenna's friend Lynsey spent the night and stayed through the next day while her parents were at the Tech game. Meredith came and played with Tracen while her fam went to the game, too. They all got along so wonderfully and had tons of fun exhausting themselves jumping alllll day.

Mailey had her first official play date with her bud Kendi, who was born a few days after her. As I was leaving the hospital, Sarah was in labor with Kendi.

The girls had fun, but sharing is not their strong point! Not that we expected them to share at this age or anything. The funny part is when we were trying to make them share, the other didn't even want what we were trying to make them share.

Kendi only wanted to push the stroller, and Mailey only wanted to ride in it. It was hilarious to watch!


Makenna wanted them to jump on the trampoline with them so badly with the sprinkler underneath, so we gave in. The little girlies had a BLAST! The mommas got a workout running like crazy women around and around the edges of the trampoline trying to catch babies screaming to the edge. We were laughing so hard and running and running. It was so nuts! That is why these pics are so bad...my lens was all blurry and I was running about. Sorry!

Look at that booty. I could pinch it off! Haha! Only time your extra can look cute in a bathing suit!







Hope you all had a great Labor Day and went to the pool for us!! :)

This road looks familiar, and I want to get off

Anxiety sucks.

I hate this mess with such a passion that I cannot even see straight.

Makenna has been struggling. A lot.

Over the summer she has had some moments, but they were controllable. Now she is constantly having issues every single night, and she has cried and been very stressed for 2 days at school.

It has once again moved on from little worries to irrational fears. She does not want to go to anyone's house, does not want to go to school, does not want to eat, and has completely changed before my eyes

Where is my confident, care-free girl?

Where is the girl that was a leader in her class?

Where is the talent show hula hooping queen?

She is lost...and it is killing me.

To think that this is over and to see such a "normal" kid for nearly 2 years has been just that, normal. To see her be a kid like she used to be has filled me with such happiness. Now square one has returned, and I am so angry I could spit.

Why is this a part of our life?

Why does a kid not get to be a kid when they only have a few years left to even be one?

So just pray for her.

She needs freedom from this before it robs us of who she really is.

I'm so sick of people saying it is nothing and let's just talk about it and she'll be fine while I watch my daughter wither before my eyes.

I will not lose her again to this monster.

So pray.
Thanks.

We're Goin' Back, Back, Back to School

Today is here, and after the Summer we've had, I haven't prepared myself at all.

With Makenna I constantly role played and talked to her about every aspect of Kindergarten. She knew how to speak up if she had to go to the bathroom, go ask a friend that is alone if they want to play, eat her lunch in the right order and quickly so she would finish on time...the list goes on. Poor Tracen just got a quick, "Raise your hand if you have to pee, listen to Aunt Bunny, don't call her Aunt Bunny at school, eat fast at lunch, and Mak will come get you at the end of the day. Love you, bye!" How sad is that?? I guess by the time Mailey goes we will just throw her in the door with a quick, "See ya!" Man, I hope not! :)

Makenna was excited, though she does not have any girls in her class that she knows. I just keep telling her that God knows exactly where she needs to be. Her sweet teacher lost her husband in May(she is younger than me), so I told Mak that Mrs. C might just need a Makenna in her class this year.

Tracen was just going with the flow this morning. He is my sleeper, and when we were walking to school(which is such an amazing thing to be able to do!!!!) he had already declared that he was ready to go back to bed. This will be a change for him! A wonderful God thing is the fact that a boy named Blaine is in his class. Blaine was in the class across the hall when Tracen was in 3 yr old Pre-K. His teacher always told me that though Tracen was quiet and content to play by himself, on the days the classes combined he and Blaine played and talked non-stop. This was huge for him. How cool is it that Blaine would end up in his Kinder class?? He also has two friends from last year's Pre-K in his class, and his teacher is our friends' Aunt Bunny! We are so excited about all of it!

Mailey was dead asleep when I went in, took her baby away, changed her diaper, got her dressed, stuck her in her highchair, shoved food into her mouth, put her in her stroller, rolled her all the way to and all over the inside of school, went on a long walk home, and then was plopped back into bed for a nap. She might not be as excited as the other two, huh? I'm afraid, just like my little Scott before her, that this is to be her life from now on.

Here are some pics of their first day. I really cannot believe that my little man isn't here. I'm going to be missing all his sweet hugs and legos and paintings and smiles forever. Same as my Makenna baby girl with her help and projects. Why is it so hard to be a mom sometimes, yet you would never change it for the world?