A Very Merry Christmas

As of last night, we are finally done with all of our Christmas celebrations. This year was even more fun than the previous years with Macy since she now understands things a little bit more. We sprinkled 'reindeer food' on the lawn and put out cookies and milk for Santa. Shanon and I made sure to drink the milk and eat the cookies (being a parent is tough sometimes!), but we left part of one cookie on the plate. Well, the next morning Shanon and I did a doubletake at the plate because the half eaten cookie was gone! For a split second I thought I heard a voice in my head say, "Yes Jennifer, there really is a Santa Claus".... then I realized our dog, Lexi, must have discovered and devoured it sometime during the night. Oh well.

Last week Macy and I made some Christmas ornaments.














Granny got the girls princess chapstick (it's red like lipstick) and here is what happens when you let uncle Jeff apply it.

Gracie, Macy, and Hadley... the three musketeers.

Macy with daddy and mommy at the Zumbahlen x-mas.














Next year's Christmas will be even more eventful with a new baby in the mix, I can't wait!

Macyisms

Macy is definitely entering that stage where she is starting to say and do funny things... she cracks me up.

This past weekend the three of us were sitting down eating lunch when Shanon decided to ask Macy what she wants to be when she grows up. She immediately responded, "a horsie!"

Tonight after her bath, Macy was brushing through her wet hair (of course she wants to do everything herself) and she paused and said, "it's crunchy!". She had just started describing chips, croutons, etc. as crunchy when she eats them, so I guess she thought her hair sounded crunchy too!

Oh, and now sometimes after she coughs she says, "goodness sakes!"

I don't want to jinx it, but she has been behaving so well lately (this is after coming off a very bad streak). She is so loving and sweet... we are just eating it up while it lasts!!

Visiting Santa

Macy has gotten to see Santa twice this holiday season. The first time was at the Santa Train (talk about a cold wait in a long line!) and the second was at Breakfast with Santa.

The Santa Train














Breakfast with Santa... can't you just sense her excitement?!

Both times she was very excited leading up to the event and we even practiced telling him what she wanted for Christmas. However, when it came to actually sitting on his lap and talking to him, she completely froze up! The last time, she waited until she was done and we were walking away to decide she wanted to talk to Santa. Too late sweetie! That's okay though, Santa in his infinite wisdom knew she wanted a Barbie doll anyway.

I can't believe Christmas is next week already, wow! Our Christmas shopping is basically done and the gifts just need to be wrapped. I haven't tackled that just yet for fear of a certain little person thinking they need to rip into them. I have the next two weeks off work though (I am SO excited!!), so there's time. Unfortunately, it won't include me lounging on the couch watching Oprah... I have a very long to-do list and I can't wait to finally start marking items off. I am also excited to spend time making Christmas cookies and candy. We'll see how that goes with a 2 1/2 year old who really likes to 'help'!

An early Christmas present!

Congrats Kelly and Jeremy Richardson on the birth of baby Mallory!!!

She was born early yesterday morning (12/4) and weighed in at 5lbs. 9oz. and is 18 1/2 in. long.

You can see pics on her sis-in-law DeAnn's blog: http://lifeisgood4.blogspot.com/

I can't wait to meet the little bundle of sweetness! Makes me so anxious :)

Merry Christmas a little early guys!

Halfway there!!

I can't believe I'm to the halfway mark already. It sure does fly by a lot faster when you're busy chasing a toddler around! I had my ultrasound on Monday and only had to wait an hour in the waiting room! (sense the sarcasm?) It went great though and the little dude was very active. The baby weighs 12 ounces and is right on track. We got a 3D photo of the baby's face (see below) and I have to admit, it somewhat freaked Shanon and I out! We only had the regular 2D photos with Macy and I guess we weren't bothered by our little skeletal alien baby. But to see the baby's actual face, wow! Of course Shanon is worried that it's deformed or that something is seriously wrong with it since it doesn't look just perfect (he also worried that Macy was going to have a freakishly big head because it kept measuring a week ahead, but she was just perfect!).

Side profile, the baby is facing down.


A 3D pic of the baby's leg and foot.


A 3D pic of the baby's face and hand.


Maybe what actually freaked us out about this last pic is the fact that the tech had to erase part of the baby's arm so we could see its face. Notice the hand appears to be floating!

Oh, and nope, we opted not to find out the gender of the baby. We didn't find out with Macy either. Although part of me would like to know, I think it would be like opening your present before Christmas and I would wish I had waited. However based on my last pregnancy, I know all of you will have opinions on what we're having anyway so look for a poll coming soon!

Third time's the charm.... let's hope!

For those of you who don't know, Macy has had chronic ear infections since she was about 7 or 8 months old. She got her first set of tubes in July 2007, which promptly fell out about 3 months later. So we went in for set #2 this past February and the doctor also removed her adenoids, hoping this would help as well. Again, one of the tubes fell out about 3 months later. She made it just fine throughout the summer without any problems or anything, so I was hopeful that she wasn't going to have problems anymore. Wrong!

Macy had a regular follow up appointment with her ENT doctor last Wednesday. I was somewhat anxious for him to take a look because the previous couple of weeks she had been acting like they might be giving her trouble again. The right ear that still had a tube in it looked great. He had me look in her left ear, it was full of pus - lovely! So we scheduled another surgery to put a tube in that ear for two days later, we didn't waste any time! She did just fine, it was somewhat of a breeze actually with the exception of the ridiculous stickers they put on her chest to monitor her during surgery. I had forgotten all about those until we were putting her clothes back on and I saw them. She screamed and cried so hard when we took them off, she hadn't cried at all to that point. After it was done I saw why, one of them left a big purple bruise. Geesh, do they really have to be THAT sticky?!! Anyway, all was good when they gave her suckers on our way out.

Oh, and we also finally moved Macy into her new bedroom over the weekend. She was excited, but you could tell she wasn't too sure about it either. She did great though and now we can think about putting the crib back up in her old room which will be baby's room. I think getting that set up will start making it all seem more real!

Veggie Tales Live!

When I saw that Veggie Tales Live was going to be at the Rosebud Theater in Effingham, I knew I wanted to take Macy. I thought she was old enough to really have fun at something like that and possibly be captivated (aka not running around or whining)most of the time. So I got some pretty decent tickets, in the center section about 10 or so rows back. Now we do have a couple of Veggie Tales movies, but Macy wasn't really interested in them before. Me with my quick thinking decided to bust them out again the weekend before the show (which was last Monday, the 3rd) so that she would at least recognize the characters.... I mean vegetables. So off we went on Monday and we had been talking to her about it so she was really excited (although I'm not sure she really knew what exactly she was excited about at that point). So we get in our seats and it starts. She just sits there and stares, not sure what to think. This lasted most of the first half, but then by the second half it was a different story. To say she was having a great time is the understatement of the year! That girl was crazy - literally bouncing off her chair, clapping, jumping up and down, etc. Shanon and I were just cracking up laughing so hard because while all the other kids were sitting calmly in their seats, ours wouldn't stop jumping up and down because she was so excited. It was really sweet... especially condsidering the show wasn't over until 9pm and her normal bedtime is 8pm, plus since we had just changed the clocks back an hour it was really like 10pm to her. Needless to say, she totally crashed in the car on the drive home. All in all she had a great time and I think it was money well spent, thank you Veggie Tales!


Macy with her newly acquired Bob the Tomato.


Just before the show started.

Trick or Treat at the Trail

Lincoln Trail College (my employer) hosts an event each Halloween called Trick or Treat at the Trail. The whole place is decorated (even the stacks in the library) and you bring your kids all dressed up and and walk through the college and trick or treat the different tables set up along the way. It was a lot of fun and more importantly, it's free! Then you can eat in the cafeteria and get free balloons and popcorn. We didn't bring Macy last year because I didn't think she was quite old enough to really even care, but this year was a different story. For those of you that know Macy, you know she is rarely speechless, but as we walked along and there were people dressed up and so many different things to look at, she didn't utter a word the entire time and only stared in awe. She had practiced saying 'crick or creat' so well that morning darn it! Of course by the time we were done and sitting down to eat, she was so wound up that she wouldn't sit still for longer than 2 seconds. Here are a couple of pics from the evening... yes, I dressed up too, as an escapee from Robinson Correctional Center(just around the corner from LTC). Thanks for the photos Danelle!



We also Trick or Treated the grandparents the following night, which Macy enjoyed too of course. This involved her wearing the Cinderella dress most of the night, so it wasn't long before she had a big hole in the toe of her tights, grass stain on her knee, and a rip in the hem of her dress. Not exactly a dainty little princess, but a darn cute one!

On the new baby front... after we got home the evening of Trick or Treat at the Trail, I finally got Macy calmed down and to bed and plopped down in the recliner for a little while before I went to bed. I felt something in my tummy and wondered if it was the baby. I've had little twitches here and there, but haven't been sure if they were the baby or not. So I waited and sure enough, I felt it again in the same spot! The baby must have been wanting to take it's turn not being able to sit still because it kept kicking several times after that. I was really excited because this is probably the thing I missed the most about being pregnant, not to mention that it is really reassuring knowing that the little booger is doing okay!

Pregnant lady with narcotics... and I'm not afraid to use them! Okay...so maybe I am!

So I had my 16 week appointment on Monday, which was pretty uneventful (yay!). I had a headache at the time, which reminded me to ask the doctor about safe medicines to take for my migraines while pregnant. For those of you that don't know, I periodically get migraines to the point of vomiting all day and/or night. I have already had this happen this pregnancy and it is horrible normally, but especially so when you have precious cargo to worry about. I was seeing a neurologist while pregnant with Macy and she prescribed Reglan, which was primarily just for the nausea. I mentioned this to my doctor, so he gave me a script for that, but he also gave me one for oxycodone (I think this is the correct name), which is a narcotic. I was like, 'Huh?? You're giving me what?!' He assured me (more than once) that it is completely safe for the baby and I won't get hooked on it or anything. So I think, okay, maybe taking narcotics is better than getting sick. So I go to get it filled at the pharmacy and they need my social security number due to it being a controlled substance, which freaked me out a little and then when I mentioned that I'm pregnant, they seemed a little alarmed. The pharmacist told me to only take it if I have to. Great, so just when I start to feel okay about it, they have to go and worry me again! Hmmm... to take the drugs or not to take the drugs, that is the question!

A princess it is

So a few weeks ago I started thinking about Halloween coming up and I thought Macy might be old enough to help pick out her costume this year. So I told her Halloween was coming up and that she would get to dress up. I asked her if she wanted to be something girly like a princess or Tinkerbell or if she wanted to be an animal (since she loves them) like a monkey or something. She said she wanted to be an 'epelant' (elephant). I thought great, can't you pick something easier?! So I would check in periodically after that to see what her answer was and it changed to a 'lion, roarrrrr!', then finally to a 'tiger, grrrrr!'. She settled on a tiger and that was her response each time, so I found a tiger costume online. Before I went ahead and bought it, I asked her one last time what she wanted to be for Halloween and this time her response was a princess! Not just any princess, a BLUE princess! I didn't prompt her at all, so I'm thinking this answer must've come from daycare, but I'm going with it. So.... Cinderella it is! The only problem now is the smallest Cinderella dress we could find is still pretty big on her, so I may have to bust out the safety pins!

2 1/2 year photos

So I wasn't originally planning to do any more professional pics of Macy until she turned three, but I wasn't that happy with her two year pics. So I threw caution to the wind and got more photos taken. Of course, the day of the appointment I pick Macy up from daycare and she apparently had decided to pretend she was pigpen and was covered in dirt and had a layer of sand and dirt caked on her scalp. I tried my best to get it out with limited time, so her hair is somewhat disheveled in some of the pics, but hey... that cute face makes up for it right!

Here is the link to Amber's website to view the photos:

http://www.photographicsgallery.net/p644484176

There are some cheesy ones because I made the mistake of telling her to smile a few times and you know how kids at that age whip out some crazy, contorted face that they think is the best smile ever. Luckily, there are some really good ones too!

New Due Date & Skid Marks

I had a doctor appointment Monday and got to hear the heartbeat again, which is always reassuring. However, I was pretty confident everything was still okay because I have really been starting to feel different (pregnant) lately. So among the many questions on my list for the doctor was what my official due date is since all three ultrasounds measured ahead a few days. He said they will go by my ultrasounds, so my new due date is April 14th. He laughed at me because I was excited by this because it makes me feel a little better about my already expanding belly!


The funniest thing happened Monday night (at least I thought it was funny). Macy was just in her underwear and Shanon was on the floor playing with her. For some reason most parents seem to have an obsession with kids' tushies.... at least in my family anyway! They're just so irresistible and with her in underwear now, it's hard not to squish it all the time. So Shanon apparently had that urge, but afterwards he looked at me and made a comment about her stinking. She had pooped earlier and he had wiped her (which was a new endeavor for him) so I asked if he wiped her good and he said he did. I said well maybe she went at daycare and they didn't wipe her good or maybe she had 'sharted' (you'll know what this is if you've seen the movie Along Came Polly). So I did the ol' skid mark check in her undies and about fell on the floor laughing so hard because there wasn't just skid marks in there, someone had laid rubber!!!! SO funny. I'm not sure at what point the rubber was actually laid, but when Macy saw my reaction she had to see for herself of course so she examined them and thought it was hilariously disgusting. Ahh, we're such a gross family!

Macy's New Shirt & Potty Training Success!

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, we got a new shirt for Macy... (be sure to read the fine print!)

I dunno, does she look like she's excited or not?!? I guess it kinda goes with the shirt! Anyway, I'm due April 19th and we are, of course, super excited! We put this shirt on Macy when visiting family and it was interesting to see how long it took them to read it (some needed a little prompting and others had to bust out the bifocals!) It was a fun way to let everyone know. Anyway, I did have problems with spotting, so I've had three ultrasounds already, but everything looks great and the baby was even measuring 3-4 days ahead. I still can't get over how loud and strong the heartbeat is on something so itty bitty! I have been surprised by nausea and fatigue in the mornings and evenings since I didn't have any with Macy. It's not fun! Hopefully I only have a week or two of that left. I'm looking forward to another spring baby and Macy will have just turned 3, so I think it will be great.

The weekend that we started telling everyone also happened to be when Macy decided to finally get potty trained - double bonus!! She's doing awesome with it and is very proud to show off her big girl panties (she literally pulls down her pants and shows everyone!). Her favorite phrase lately is "I not poopy!" because she's so excited that she didn't poop her pants that she must proclaim it periodically. She's also somewhat obsessed with the fact that our dog, Lexi, poops in the yard. She discovered this a few weeks ago and she immediately had to run to daddy and inform him that Lexi poops in the backyard. She will randomly mention that Lexi poops in the backyard, just in case I forgot.

On Saturday, we went to the Fall Festival parade and it was so much fun. Macy was literally jumping up and down clapping when she saw it was starting, she was sooo excited. I had explained to her that I would hold her bag and she would get the candy and put it in the bag and man... that girl was all business with her candy retrieval duties!! I guess she just knows not to mess around when it comes to candy! Afterwards she went on a pony ride too, which she didn't want to end because she loves "neigh's" as she calls them. She is at that age now where she is really enjoying things like this so much and it makes me enjoy them that much more. Oh how sweet it is!!!

6 years?!?!

Really?? Has it been that long?! Sunday was our wedding anniversary and on one hand it's hard to believe we've been married that long, but on the other hand I can't imagine it's ONLY been six years?! (just kidding sweetie) We didn't do anything special to celebrate, just hung out. Per Shanon's rule, we didn't even exchange cards... I'm pretty sure that's simply to avoid the possibility of forgetting (even though the date is inscribed in his wedding band for that exact reason).

It's amazing when I look back at where we were then and where we are now... we have been very blessed in our life together and I can't imagine it getting much better. Here's to another six years, love ya babe!!

St. Louis Trip

Earlier this summer, we took a trip to St. Louis for our first 'family vacation'. We went to the zoo, Grant's Farm, the Magic House, and of course did some shopping. As expected, Macy absolutely LOVED seeing all the animals and really had no fear when it came to getting up close to them.

We went to the zoo first, it was a HOT day!! Here are some pics:






Next we went to Grant's Farm, which I was really impressed with since I really had no idea what to expect. You could get closer to the animals, which was neat. Macy got to feed baby goats from a bottle, which she really enjoyed. We first went inside the fenced in area to feed them, but they were literally jumping all over her for the bottle (which amazingly didn't faze her), so we quickly decided feeding them from the other side of the fence was a better option!

Drum roll please....... this next pic is my fav from the trip. I prefer to believe that the camel was giving Macy a kiss as opposed to possibly thinking she would be a tasty snack!! Did I mention that animals were much closer at Grant's Farm than at the zoo?!!

Our last stop was at the Magic House which was a little crazy with all the kids running around, but there was a lot of stuff for Macy to check out and try, so she had a great time.

Here is a great pic of Macy and daddy during the trip:

All in all the trip was a success and we will definitely be doing it again!

Woohoo, I did it!!

Wow, if I can do this blog stuff then anyone can!! So I decided to follow in the footsteps of some friends and start a blog to keep in touch with friends and family. Plus, I love any opportunity to talk about and show off Macy. She's getting so big, it really is amazing how quickly they grow up! Our current focus is potty training. She is going on the potty, just not all the time. Hopefully, this will be conquered soon and next on the list will be tackling her thumb-sucking. That is going to be one heck of a battle, so if anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears!!

Anyway, here are some pictures of Macy from this summer:

I plan to try and post every week or two with the latest and greatest with our family. Hopefully I'll get more recent pics posted and maybe I'll get adventurous and try and post a video! We'll see!