Family Home Evening

So I blogged last week about our trip to Mesa and how we picked up the nursery manual to have Family Home Evening with Makenna. Well, we tried it for the first time tonight! Here's how it went:

We had a prayer and some yummy pizza. Then we showed Makenna a picture of a family, "Here is the Mommy, Daddy, and Baby. Heavenly Father gave us families. This is a family. They are a happy family!" Makenna kept pointing to the baby. She really likes babies!

Next, I had made some people (basically I copied it out of the manual, colored it, and mounted it on thick paper) and put them in the little house Makenna got for her birthday (thanks Annie!). One at a time, Makenna took the people out of the house. "This is Daddy. This is Mommy. This is Makenna. This is our new baby brother. This is our family. We are a happy family!" Honestly, I think Makenna could have spent all night taking the people out of their house and putting them back in. She really liked us telling her who each person was too!

We ended by singing "We are a Happy Family" a couple of times. Also, lots of hugs and kisses! Then Makenna's bath and family prayer!

Austin and I were both really excited about our FHE tonight. I mean, the lesson was only like 5 minutes long. But Makenna sat with us and mostly paid attention. What was the topic? Happy Families--so although it was very short, I think we got the point across, don't you? So we recommend the manual! It works!

Family time at the Mesa Temple

So we have decided we want to have better Family Home Evenings for Makenna. Well, actually, first we decided we wanted to actually even start having them with her and then we decided they needed to be better! Last week we had to sing "Popcorn Popping" about six times and we tried to read her a Book of Mormon story... she just wanted us to keep singing and had no interest in the story! So I decided that I wanted to get the nursery manuel to teach Makenna lessons from, lessons that were more on her level. So today Austin, Makenna, and I headed to the Distribution Center in Mesa. While there, we had a fun opportunity to walk around the temple for about an hour. Makenna loved it!

Yeah! Makenna was so excited to be walking around at the temple!

Makenna loved "playing" with Daddy's shadow!

Makenna and Daddy taking a nice little stroll.

Okay, we did this for about twenty minutes. The stairs were such small steps that Makenna could take them safely by herself. Over and over and over, up the stairs and down the stairs! Fun for one year olds, not so fun for the waiting Mom and Dad who wanted to actually walk around!

This was Makenna's "aha" moment--she finally realized that she could hold on to the stair rail and it was much easier to climb up the stairs! We thought she was actually pretty smart to come up with this on her own!

Daddy, Makenna, and Mommy outside the Mesa Temple

"... We are a Happy Family!"

Las Vegas

This weekend, very, very, VERY spur of the moment, we went to Las Vegas on a little trip! Makenna was feverish the whole time (I think she is cutting her back teeth) and so pretty whiney, but it was still a nice trip!

Our view from our balcony (the resort had 5 pools, kids playground, putting range, basketball courts, and much more!):

We stayed at a really nice resort. It was basically our house: living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry, two bedrooms, two bathrooms! It was really nice to be able to put Makenna in her own room for naps!

On Saturday we went for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Makenna loved the fish in the aquarium!

But here is a little warning for others planning the trip-- even during the day, don't walk down the strip, especially with kids! The smoke, the language, the "cards" they pass out... not good people!

Happy Birthday!

Happy First Birthday Makenna!

It is absolutely crazy for me to believe that we have a one year old! My little tiny baby is now a complete big girl! I won't say it has been an easy road- it hasn't. Makenna was a very difficult tiny baby! But she is such a delightful big girl! Makenna not only walks now- she runs! And she talks so much. Sometimes we can make out her words (mama, daddy, dad, da da, no, yeah, yes, bye bye, and tons more!) and sometimes she has her own language. But she talks all day long! She has also learned to follow most directions (although she sometimes chooses to selectively ignore mom and dad). She is completely off the bottle. She eats only big people food. To sum it up, she is the exact definition of a toddler! And she is so much fun! We love our precious little Makenna! So today was a really fun day to celebrate her being our fabulous little girl! And for family and friends who could not share this wonderful day with us- get ready for tons of pictures and a VERY long post!

I have to admit, I was so excited for Makenna's birthday that I had a hard time sleeping and got up very early this morning. And the second she made a peep I made her Dad get up and we burst in her room singing Happy Birthday. Well we scared her to death and I had to just sit and hold her for about twenty minutes! Then she opened her present from us- a little radio that plays all sorts of songs! She loved dancing to them like crazy! Soon after that we got her ready and took her to IHOP (her favorite place) for breakfast:

Makenna (and the always present thumb) waiting for her food.

Mom and Makenna (both looking a little out of it)

Dad and Makenna (her necklace is a new favorite present from Grandmom!).

Makenna got a big breakfast of strawberry pancakes and eggs. But when the waiter found out it was her birthday, he brought her a big dish of ice cream. What a lucky girl to get ice cream for breakfast on her birthday! She loved it!

We came home and Makenna and mom went down for a nap. Afterwards mom checked the mail. Makenna received a card from Grandma Linda and a package from Grandma Becky, Melissa, Alexa, Jonah, and Eli.

Looking at a birthday card.

Makenna with her new feel book. She loves to feel the fur on those bears!

Makenna playing with her new play food set.

Makenna received so many presents! Just for posterity sake (and to let all of the relatives know), we will go ahead and list them out (yes it might be a little tacky but we want everyone to know how thankful Makenna is for all of her presents!)

Grandmom and Grandad, Hollee, Logan, Gordon: table and chairs, new outfit, cell phone with carrier, purse, necklace, bracelet

Grandma Linda: Card and money! We will have to see what Makenna picks out for her present!

Grandma Becky: Lots and lots of clothes, shoes, a bed set for her new big girl bed, book, play food

Melissa: clog shoes (Makenna's favorite kind!)

Alexa, Jonah, Eli: a new float for the pool

So many thanks to all of our family! It is so wonderful to receive so many fun presents! Makenna loved all of them and she spent all afternoon playing with everything! She really is so cute- she would go from one thing to the next trying to get a chance to play with everything! So thank you again to everyone!

After Makenna played again for a while and had lunch, we put her down for her afternoon nap. Then it was time to get ready to PARTY! We invited several friends over for a BBQ outside by the pool. Thanks to everyone who came- we had so much fun!

Makenna and Annie- her absolute favorite friend! This little girl is honestly happiest when her best friend Annie is holding her!

The birthday girl! Makenna looked like a little hippie at her party! She was wearing this bright tshirt dress and bright shoes (Grandma Becky she went ahead and wore her new shoes-they are just a little too big but they matched perfectly!) and a headband and beads! Then we ended up adding her birthday crown that all the kids made as a craft. Such a cutie!

After dinner of hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, soda, and pasta salad (thanks Carly!), we had yummy birthday cake!

Makenna (and Dad) blowing out the candle.

Mom dishing up the cake.

Makenna taking her first bites of birthday cake.

Yummy! She might not eat very much dinner, but she can definitely handle that cake!

Michael, Logan, Emma, Natalie, Makenna, and Mom enjoying cake.

After cake, Makenna opened her presents. Once again, thanks to everyone! Makenna loved all of her presents! Annie, JJ, Logan, and Cole got her a Little People set with a house and a little DVD. Jenn, Nate, and Natalie got her an Elmo movie. Nate, Brittnee (is that how you spell it- I'm sorry!), Ari, and Devynn (spelling again! I'm sorry if I got names wrong!)her a little newborn baby doll. And Scott, Jillian, Michael, Emma, and Katelynn gave her some certificates for playdates (that one is very nice for mommy!).

After the party, we drove around as a family for a bit and then came home to clean up. When it was finally bedtime, Makenna cried because she wanted to stay up playing with all of her toys! Obviously, that proves it was a great day!

I've said it several times already, but thanks to all of the family and friends who gave Makenna such wonderful gifts and came to her party to make this a great day for her. She is such a blessed little girl to have so many people who care about her. Thanks to everyone! We love you!

The Long Awaited Camping Post!

As most know, Austin is on Spring Break this week. To help "celebrate" we went camping with five other podiatry families. We went to a camp about an hour and a half from here. Our camping spot was actually really pretty with trees and a lot of green grass surrounding our tent. We also managed to get our tent right next to the bathroom--which is perfect for a pregnant mommy! It was a really fun trip and it was awesome to get to know some of the other families better!

Here is how the trip went: [WARNING: This is more of a long journal entry than a short blog!]

We left Tuesday at about 2:30. When we got to camp there were already three families there (and we followed another family down). There were three spots left for the six families in the circle so we each doubled up with another family to share a camping spot. Shhh- our spot was the nicest one! We were set up closest to the bathrooms and in the spot with the fire ring. It was also full of trees and grass. Don't tell the other families! ; ) We quickly set up our tents and built a fire. We spent a nice evening making tin foil dinners and s'mores and everybody sitting around the campfire (because when the sun goes down it definitely gets cold! Brr!). The kids also had a lot of fun playing in the trees and running around! Makenna was ready for bed at her normal time, but she seemed scared to go to sleep in the tent. She also didn't want to sleep with everyone else up! So I let her get up again and she stayed up until about 9:30. Then she was so cranky she didn't want to go to sleep! She honestly cried for about 30 minutes, even with us holding her, singing to her, and rocking her! Finally she laid down with her dad and went to sleep! So although we brought the pack-and-play, Makenna slept with Austin and I on our air mattress. It was pretty cramped up! I rolled over once and fell off the bed! We were also really worried about her getting cold so we put her winter pjs on over her clothes AND wrapped her up in a fleece blanket AND put her in her sleeping bag AND put her to sleep between us AND put our sleeping bags over her! I don't think she got cold but I definitely did! I froze to death! It got pretty cold! So with being cold and cramped, it wasn't the most restful night!

Wednesday Makenna woke up at 6:00 just screaming like crazy! She was hungry and wanted her yogurt-only we forgot to bring yogurt! So Austin and I got up and we had to drive to Wal-Mart before other families were even up! I think my mom would be horrified to see me go to Wal-Mart without brushing my hair or teeth and wearing my pajamas but we were desperate with our hysterical little girl! We got back and boy was it still cold! So we quickly fed Makenna and got her changed. By then others were getting up. We all sat around the fire because it was cold! Here is Makenna with her red cheeks:


We had breakfast and then everybody headed to a little park to play. We were going to drive there, but Makenna fell asleep as soon as we got her in the car. So we drove around a little bit and then went back to camp. But of course as soon as we put Makenna in her bed she started screaming and crying again! She cried and cried and cried. I have to admit I was really grumpy- I hadn't slept the night before and I can't stand to hear Makenna cry! So Austin and Makenna went to the park to join the others and I stayed in the tent to take a nap! Afterwards, we all had lunch and played around our own campsites for a while. Here are a couple of pictures of Makenna playing in the grass by our tent:

After lunch we all went on a drive up the mountain to a place called Jerome. We stopped along the way to take some pictures:

Did you see Makenna's hair? The wind was blowing like crazy! It was pretty cold up there! The town was pretty different. All of the houses were pretty old and not that nice and they were all built into the mountain. We stopped and walked down one street and to get to the next street you had to go up stairs! The streets were built on top of each other-it's really hard to explain! We went up to a park and let the kids play for a while and there were a lot of people dressed really old fashioned. One of the guys said it reminded him of Newsies and it really did! It was crazy! It was also crazy cold up there and the wind was blowing so much so we didn't stay long. But it was still a fun drive and a fun little stop. Then we headed back to camp and let the kids run around and play for a while before dinner.

Makenna playing at the picnic table.

Makenna loved playing with all of everyone else's toys!

Jenn brought some foam visors and little sticky animals and glitter glue for the kids to decorate. Thanks Jenn!

Mommy helping Makenna put her animals on her visor.

Jenn, Natalie, Pam, Makenna, and Logan decorating visors.

Doesn't Makenna's look nice? She did it herself!

Cheese! Mommy and Makenna having fun, doing crafts!

Makenna and either Katelynn or Emma (I can't see their face to know which one it is!) playing on the trees.

Logan was so sweet and really took Makenna under his wing-he always let her play even though she is still a bit young for their games!

Logan blowing bubbles for Makenna.

After the kids played, we had dinner. It was great! Chicken burritos = yummy! This time Makenna went right down to bed at about 7:30. So Austin and I got to sit around the campfire with everyone else completely childless! It was actually pretty weird- but everyone else was having to run after their kids so it wasn't as fantastic as it could be! Ha ha. Anyway, but it was really fun to get to sit around and just talk to everyone. I think that was our favorite part of camping! But everyone was pretty tired and we went to bed at about 10:00. It was a pretty good night's sleep. Makenna slept for the most part in her own bed and I bundled myself up so I stayed toasty. Yes!

Makenna didn't get up on Thursday until about 6:40. Then we got up to get things going because it was our turn to help make breakfast with the Reagan's. We made omelets in a ziplock bag and hashbrowns. I have to admit it was pretty good! But I had a scare before breakfast- I went to change Makenna and as we were coming out of the tent I tripped and fell with her. As I was falling I kept thinking, "I'm pregnant and holding a baby! This is really bad!" So I tried to twist around and fall on my back. I just managed to twist my knee instead. It really hurt! It was also embarrassing because I started to cry! Makenna wasn't hurt at all but she was pretty shaken up by the fall I think. So she soon went back to bed- it was too much for her! My knee was sore so Austin had to really take care of me- poor guy! But anyway, we had breakfast and then it was time to clean up and start packing up. It didn't take us too long to get everything done. But Makenna was still asleep so we even had to start taking the tent down around her! We got everything done and everybody left at about 10:30.

All in all it was a very fun trip! We came home very tired. We were a little sunburned and Makenna and I were beat up- my knee is even now still a little swollen and Makenna has all sorts of bruises and cuts from being outside all day! But we had a lot of fun and loved playing with all of our friends. Thanks everyone! It was such a great time!

Oh and by the way- I can't believe I am first to blog! You guys better hurry it up, you are behind! Also, tomorrow is Makenna's FIRST BIRTHDAY! Can you believe it?!? Expect to see a very detailed post then too!

Beautiful Day, Beautiful Baby (oops, big girl)

Yesterday was a gorgeous day--plenty of sunshine and warm weather! We were also excited because Dad is done with school for the quarter and can play with us even more-yea! So we decided to go to the park and have a picnic lunch. We had sandwiches and chips. Makenna decided she wanted some chips instead of baby snacks. So I would break tiny little chips off into her mouth. She didn't like that--she wanted a whole chip! I was afraid to give it to her, afraid she would get the sharp edges stuck in her throat, but she handled it like a pro! I forget how big she is! She also decided to give her dad some chips (but not many-she was really greedy with those chips! lol):


After lunch, Makenna got out her books and decided to just sit and read for a while:

We only played on the playground for just a little while afterwards. But it was still a really nice lunch and afternoon!

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Today we had stake conference. Because it was such a beautiful and warm day, I put Makenna in her new summer dress from her Grandmom. Grandmom bought this dress on clearance and just added sleeves to it--but it matches perfectly and you can't even tell! It makes such an adorable dress! And I thought Makenna looked adorable in her dress, ruffle socks and shoes, pretty hairbow, and bracelet. Thanks Grandmom! Makenna looked like a princess! (She thought so too--she loved how the dress poofed out and she loved looking at herself in the mirror!)

A Sick Day that Ended Pretty Sweet

Makenna got up during the night last night with a horrible cough! Then she got up this morning with a horrible runny nose! I said, "Oh boy, not another sick day!" The poor baby is honestly sick more than any other child I know of! Well not only did she have her runny nose, but she had runny eyes and a cough. She also just really acted like she didn't feel well--she wouldn't eat anything and in the middle of playing she would just start crying! Well we thought she was just whiney and we took her to Babytime anyway (Austin didn't have class until 1:00 so he got to go with us--yipee!). We brought her home and put her down for a nap and she just was so fussy and wouldn't sleep. So I called the doctor and we made her an appointment for this afternoon. The verdict? Fever, upper respiratory infection, and an ear infection! No wonder she acted like she didn't feel well! Well I went to get her meds and I also picked myself up some clearance Valentine's Day candy. I felt like I deserved it after dealing with a very sick, very destructive, very unhappy almost-one year old! Makenna found the candy and dove in before we could stop her:

Can you see the chocolate candy in her little fist? When she saw us coming to take the candy away, she grabbed some up and stuffed it in her mouth! She has already learned! She looked like that chubby kid on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! Lol. I think the candy made her feel better because right afterwards she was running around and being her usual silly self! No wonder people bring sick people candy! The new saying is, "A chocolate a day keeps the baby at play!" [I made that up--pretty clever, huh?]