Another fun snow day!

I woke up again to the happy news of no school today. And Makayla even slept in too - all the way until 7! We had another fun day and spent a lot of time getting ready for her big party this weekend. It's going to be a crazy one!

She really seems interested in fish. She still loves to watch the fish screen saver and knows not to touch the keyboard or the fish will go away! Today she caught a glimpse of this book and said "ish."


She loves to turn the pages herself as I try and tell her all about the fish we have seen.

On a sad note.... Last night we packed up the excersaucer... Makayla hasn't used it in weeks but I was still sad to see it go. Our little girl is growing up... I can't believe she is almost one!

SNOW DAY!!!

Most phone calls at 5:30 am are quite unwelcome, unless it is someone saying "Sleep in, school is closed today." I happily turned my alarm off and rolled over. And then at 6:00 am, I not quite as happliy rolled out of bed to get Makayla. Apparently I forgot to tell her that we sleep in on snow days... After a cup or two of coffee, we were off having a great day together!

We started with a special breakfast of biscuits and cheesy scrambled eggs. She loved it all!

Then she carried around her new favorite toy for a while and liked pushing it on the swing. Some kids have a stuffed animal or blankie they can't part with, ours has an empty container...

Kona had a great time chasing snowflakes and eating the snow on the deck.

After her afternoon nap, I bundled her up so we could go play in the snow. She was very uneasy at first but then was doing ok - until she took a few steps and did a face plant in the snow. Then it was time to go back inside...

Once inside, she was interested in the snow again and picked up most of what came in on our shoes.

For snack, I tried to give her yogurt but she doesn't really like it. She does love cheerios though so I decided to mix the two. She loved playing with the mess! And she even ate a little yogurt!

After the yogurt mess was cleaned up, I decided we needed to make another mess - play dough! Like most things, she wasn't sure what to think at first, but then started to play. I spent most of the time trying to keep it out of her mouth!

She would carefully watch whatever I was doing, and then try to copy. After I started a little worm, she tried to roll it.

She really liked when I wrapped her hand up. After she would get it off, she would stick out the other one for me to wrap up.

And the perfect ending for a great day, dancing in the living room with daddy.

We are hoping for another snow day tomorrow!

All bundled up!

This afternoon we all bundled up for a walk in one of the local battlefields. Kona got the best workout and Makayla was definitely the warmest!

Ready to go!

Quick pause for a picture.

When we got home, Makayla "helped" me with the laundry. Unfortunately those are the clean clothes...

Her new favorite toy - this morning we gave her an empty formula container to play with and she loved it! She carried it around all day and enjoyed opening and closing it about a million times.

An early birthday present

Yesterday we did some shopping for the soon-to-be birthday girl. We found an awesome play set and of course we had to set it up last night. Makayla saw it for the first time this morning. She is a little timid today, but within a week we think she will be climbing all over the place!

Some people have fancy furniture in their formal living room, we have a playset....

After our shopping yesterday we went to Red Lobster for dinner - yum! Makayla sampled lobster, crab and shrimp and seemed to like them all but what she liked best.... the steamed broccoli!

Goofball

Now that Makayla is walking all over the house, she has discovered cabinets and learned how to open them. Today I gave up trying to keep her out and gave her one of her own. Those of you who know how much kitchen stuff I have can imagine how hard it was for me to give up such valuable space!!! But it kept Makayla happy and busy (for about 10 minutes) so it was worth it. If you have any old mis-matched pots or Tupperware - send them our way!

A fun new toy - a box! Yesterday she enjoyed putting her toys in and taking them out. Today she climbed right in!

Then she tried to close herself in the box. Maybe that's a hint that she wants to go on a trip?

Getting out was a little harder than getting in, and much more amusing for us!

Now that Makayla is eating "real" food, she has been waking up with some seriously stinky breath! We started brushing her teeth (all 6 of them!) a few days ago and so far she has been very cooperative.

Busy Day

Thanks to the Inauguration, I had today off! I really enjoyed my extra day with Makayla - although she is hard to keep up with now that she is walking and very curious!

She loves to sit in the computer chair and talk to the fish screen saver. She even says fish - well, more like "ish" but we know what she means!
Since it was still pretty cold outside, Makayla was only in the snow long enough for this picture. I hope next time we can play!

Look out world, here she comes!

Even this step, which used to be a barrier, is no longer a challenge!

An excellent patient

This morning Makayla had tubes put in her ears to hopefully put an end to her frequent ear infections. Everything went great and Jason and I even managed to keep it together! Once we got there, we spent about 30 minutes getting all the paperwork done and getting Makayla ready, the procedure was about 5 minutes long, she was in recovery for about 20 minutes, and then we were headed back home! The doctor said everything went very smoothly and she drained a lot of fluid from Makayla's ears and that she should feel a lot better right away. After a nap at home, Makayla was back to herself running around the house and playing!

She's very curious - she kept a close eye on everyone coming and going and watched whatever they were doing!

SNOW! Soon after we got home, it started snowing and lasted for several hours. Kona loved chasing the snowflakes and I'm glad he burned some energy without me having to take him for a walk!

A weekend with daddy

Jason and Makayla had a great weekend while I was away in Knoxville, TN for Kristen's wedding shower (I would say "Sean and Kristen's wedding" but we all know weddings are all about the bride :) I had a great time seeing my family but I was anxious to get back home and see what Makayla and Jason had been up to!

Jason said Makayla kept looking for me after I left Friday night. Here she is all packed and trying to find me!

Too tired to keep looking!

She loves looking at these fish - and the tank is very easy to take care of!

Peek-a-boo! She has found a new hiding spot!

She also found Nemo!

Makayla has recently learned how to open drawers and cabinets. There goes my organized Tupperware cabinet!

"Didn't I use to be able to fit in here?"

Need a laugh?

I was trying to get a nice picture of Makayla sitting in a chair but she kept sliding down and this is what I got. I don't know why the color turned out this way but I thought it was a pretty silly picture!

An awesome eater

A few nights ago we had salmon and I saved some to give to Makayla the next night to see if she would like it. She loved it! She devoured all that I gave her and got mad when it was all gone. There isn't much this kid won't eat!

And off she goes!

Makayla is really starting to get the hang of this walking thing!

After a long day...

After a long day of playing, napping and eating, Makayla likes to sit back in a comfy chair and read a good book.

She also likes to eat it!

How can this be my kid?

She likes broccoli, peas and green beans and she loves cold cheese, but she doesn't like donuts!

Our favorite time of day

With all we have going on, our favorite time of the day is when we are all home in the evening. Makayla is like a ping-pong ball in the living room going from toy to toy and we do our best to keep up with her! Good thing there are two of us!

One of the first things Makayla does is crawl as fast as she can to the nearest stuffed animal and gives it a huge hug - it's adorable!

Busy weekend

For the first weekend of the new year, we headed down to Marion. My parents recently had an addition put on their house so Jason and I did some painting (well, more Jason) and grandma and grandpa got to take care of Makayla.

Makayla is ready for the New Year's Day feast! Good thing our healthy eating plan didn't start until Monday...

Makayla and I stopped by my dad's office to show her off. We couldn't stay long because she was quite a distraction!

Peek-a-boo!

Kona keeps an eye on the horses.

What a cutie! Grandma got this cool toy for Makayla to play with. It honks and makes lots of noise - good thing it is staying at grandma's!

I didn't do it...

"Come on grandpa, get those knees off the floor!"

It was hard to tell who was having more fun playing - Makayla or grandpa?

After chasing each other all over the place, Kona and Casey were two tired puppies!