First Day of School

For all you hunters out there...Daddy, Uncle T, Papa, Gramps...i could go on and on...

Here is proof that she rolled over...

Step 1 get on my side.

Step 2 get some momentum.

Step 3 keep trying.

Step 4 Big Finish!! Now I just have to figure out how to get my arm out from under me. (PS. this was during diper free time, but I tried to cover her little tush for pics)

Makena woke up this morning (as did I) to the very loud booming thunder and bright lightening. We got quite a bit of rain this morning along with the rest of the metro area. Praise God! Hopefully Rising Star did to that is unless Dad's hay is on the ground...then I hope they didn't. :)

Makena was a happy little girl when I got her out of her bed but very quickly realized it had been 8 hours since she ate last. She was hungry!

Makena's first day of school went better than I expected. I was very sad to leave her but her teachers said she did just great. She ate well and slept really good. They reported that she spent the day getting to know her new teachers. Everyone at her new school just loved her. How can you not love a perfect baby?!? :) She is in a class of 8 girls plus 2-4 female teachers. I have a feeling there is going to be lots of drama in that class. All the girls seemed very sweet. Makena is now second to youngest in the class. I picked her up a little early because I couldn't really do much at work today because I didn't have access to my email. She was eating when I get there. Lori (her teacher) was feeding her. Lori said she hadn't even spit up today which is very unlike the last few days. I changed the nipples in her bottles back to the newborn nipples so I am wondering if that helped the spit up situation. Sorry I am rambling now. She smiled through her milk coma when she heard me. What a sweet heart! We'll get up and do it all over again.

Here is Daddy getting her buckled in to go to school.Here are a couple of pics from after school. She has on another outfit from Granny. Isn't she style'n. Thanks Granny!

Another cute pic in Daddy's big chair. Love my girl!

We are looking forward to our trip to RS this weekend. We are going to celebrate with Dad and Tyler on Saturday and then go see the rest of the Chambers crew on Sunday. Can't wait!

Wish everyone a great Friday! God is amazing...just remember you have to choose to let him be amazing in your life.

Mom goes to work tomorrow...

Well today was the last full day at home with Makena. The tears sneak up on me but it was a great day. Makena and I spent most of the day shopping. Dillards was having a big sale (big surprise to me) so we got a few things. As most of you may know I am not the biggest or best shopper. If I go, I tend to have a purpose. Today's purpose was to have a great day with my baby girl and to get some make-up and shoes. Success on both items as well as a few things for Makena next spring/summer and a couple of shirts for Daddy. I am not looking forward to the morning but I know God will get us through this change or let us know that this is not the right path. I will keep everyone posted.

Makena also is officially 12 weeks old tonight!! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful little girl. I can't imagine life without her. New things on the list this week include rolling over (she's now done it twice), sucking on her lip, and getting more hand eye coordination. While we were shopping today she played with her "Baby Riggins". Her hands seemed very coordinated. She continues to suck her thumb and fingers, but the last couple of days I noticed her sucking on her lip. She is wonderful. Praise God for such a miracle as ours!!

Rollie Pollie...

Yesterday Makena decided to roll over. It took her a while but she made it. She started out on her back and slowly worked her way to her side. Finally she flipped onto her belly. She didn't get her arm out from under herself but she certainly did it!! She is growing up so fast!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO PAPA AND UNCLE TYLER! It was yesterday. All day yesterday I was thinking their birthdays were on Monday. I was wrong. Love you both. See you soon.

Today Makena and I got up and went to get everything ready for day care/school. She is all ready to start on Thursday (30th) when I head back to work. We also got rained on during a few errands. We still need to go to the grocery store.

Other News..

I haven't been so good about actually posting how my little girl is changing. She wants so desparately to be able to pull herself up to a sitting position. It looks like she is doing crunches all the time as she curls her little body up to try to sit up. All those crunches have paid off. You can't quite see the 6 pack yet, but her little herniated belly button is getting smaller by the day. For those that don't know what that is. Her belly button looked like a big out-ee due to her abdominal muscles having a little "hole" between them allowing her intestine to poke through. There is nothing to do for it except wait. The ab muscles will go back together over time. She is also laughing and smiling a lot. This week has marked another big change in sleep. She has consistently gone 8.75-10 hours between feedings at night. She is a great little girl...even if she didn't sleep she would be great. She usually wakes up with big smiles when I walk into the room. However, she is very ready to eat. I am a big breakfast fan so maybe she gets it from me. :)

1st Riggins Wound and Makena's Photo Shoot..

Yesterday Makena experienced her first Riggins wound. I say first because even though I would like this to be the only time, I am sure they will have many more run ins over the next few years. However, I know they will also be great friends! Makena and I went out to lay in the yard yesterday because it was really nice with the cooler temperature. Riggins had brought the ball for me to throw and he brought it back just like the first time. As I tried to get him to move back he tried to grab the ball with his paw and it slipped off the ball and on to my little girl's foot. I felt so bad. She let out a horrible little cry. She was ok. Just a little scratch on her foot and no broken skin. Thank goodness. I'll be more careful the next time.



Prior to the scratch..

Today we had a little photo shoot. She looks so cute in her blue polka dots (Thanks Great Aunt Joy!) I couldn't help but take some pics. We got all dressed up today and didn't really have any where to go, but now that I have posted the pics she had visited a lot of people 2009 Cyber world style!

How about those baby blues...

Doesn't this just make you smile..

My little lady!

Oh so tired...modeling is hard work...

Miss spitty spit says "all done". THE END!!!

Dogs and diaper rash?!?

Thanks to Uncle Tyler for coming to see us. As you can tell, Makena loves him. He was making her laugh so loud in this picture by nibbling on her toes. It was hilarious. She went from this in her cute little outfit from Granny. (Grammy, she wore the blue dress and looked really cute, but I neglected to get a picture.)

Then her tummy was hurting so I turned her over thinking she would go potty but instead in one minute she had fallen asleep. She was tired after her play time with Uncle T.This was after Poop-a-la-palooza. After Makena's nap we thought she had gone to the bathroom so I went to change her. In the process of getting her diaper back on she decided to finish going to the bathroom. I thought I was safe since the diaper caught it all then the next little grunt left poo all over my hand, the table, and on the floor. I decided next stop was the bath tub. Afterwards, Tyler spent a little more time with Makena and then left for Rising Star. Thought these pics we cute of the two of them.

Well as a mom diaper rash becomes a daily battle. However, I didn't know I would be battling it both with Makena and Riggins. I took Riggins to the vet today because his testicles (sorry if that offends anyone) were very swollen, red, dry and cracked. I expected that he might have allergies again. It seems to be a summer thing with him. However, much to my surprise she told me he has a heat rash and the best thing to do for it is treat it like it is diaper rash along with some antibotics. So I got him started on his antibotics, steroid spray for pain and diaper ointment for dry skin. I guess all the swimming and running through the field in Rising Star for the last two weeks just took it out of him. This is what a dog with diaper rash looks like after a trip to the farm. :)

Welcome home Riggins!!

Today Uncle Tyler brought Riggins home to us. Riggins has been with Tyler and my parents for the last 2 weeks or so while we were traveling. Tyler is staying with us for a couple of days for a short visit.

Grammy came yesterday to visit with Makena for the afternoon. Makena decided yesterday evening that she was tired of being held. Grammy put her in her swing and she laughed and coo'ed. She really loves her swing with the mobile and lights.

My little girl has also become a pretty good spitter. She doesn't seem to like saliva in her mouth so she just spits it out of her mouth. Maybe she is perfecting her watermelon seed spitting. She is sooo cute...spit and all!!

Yesterday we also helped some friends move into their new house. Congrats Jack, Jenny, Colten and Caden on your new home!! Mr. Caden and Miss Makena did a great job of napping while Jenny and I got the kitchen unpacked. They are such good kids!

Memphis...July 13-14

On our way back to Dallas, we stopped in Memphis for the night. We spent our one night at the famous Peabody Hotel. Yes that is the one with the ducks. That night we walked over to Beale Street, which Don told me was the most visited street only behind Bourbon Street. We ate at Pig on Beale. Man, it was great pork bbq! Makena also enjoyed her time on Beale Street in Daddy's arms. There was one other baby out and about that we saw...remember it was Monday night. For some reason we didn't take the stroller that night. We are new parents. Everyone was polite on the streets even the homeless guy said she was beautiful and made sure is cigarette smoke didn't come close to her.

The Peabody is a beautiful hotel hopefully no one was offended that our little girl first entered the hotel with her diaper showing. We had a poop incident in the car before we arrived and her bloomers became the victim.
Here come the ducks. The Peabody ducks come out of this elevator each day on their way to the fountain where they spend the rest of the day. So as we were leaving on Tuesday, we watched the ducks march out.

We decided that we would also visit Graceland since we didn't think we would be back to Memphis any time soon. I want everyone to know that even though Elvis owned many fancy cars, he also owned a John Deer!! Made me feel right at home. The house was much smaller that I thought it might be for the King of Rock, but for that day in time was probably considered big. The grounds were beautiful, but the 60s and 70s decor was kinda crazy!

The ride home went into the late hours of the night. We also encountered one of the scariest things. As we (Don actually...) were driving down I-30 in Arkansas, Don looked up and there was a car driving straight toward us. Don slowed down and moved over and the truck went right past us. The driver caused a number of accidents that night. We praise God that we are safe and ask him to be with any of the injured drivers. Life is precious!

We had a great vacation and were glad to be able to spend our first vacation together before I go back to work.

Our visit to the Biltmore Estate and more time with the family..

On Sunday we took a trip to the Biltmore Estate, which was built by the Vanderbilt family. It is an absolutely amazing estate. Very hard to believe a single family used to live there, but they opened their wonderful home to a lot of people. Here is Don and Makena approaching the house.

Most of the tour couldn't be made with the stroller so Makena spent a few hours on Daddy's arm. Makena also got to feel the wonderful grass on her toes on the front lawn.

After the tour of the estate and winery we went back up to Black Mountain to hang out with the fam. Here is Julie and Becca (I think this is spelled wrong...sorry), Gary and Makena, Linda and Makena, Gary and Patty, and Josh and Julie.

Wedding Continued...

Here is Makena in the Doubletree in Asheville. She is so precious with the "sweet dreams" pillow. This documents her journey to North Carolina very well, since she slept very well during our adventures.

Here are Makena and Jessie the night before Jake and Jenni's big day. It was a wonderful evening at the park. She looked so precious in her blue polka dots and stripes. (Thanks Granny!)Uncle Gary also took turns with Makena.She spent a lot of time gazing in his eyes...it may have been his beard, but either way they seemed to hit it off. Wedding day came. It was a beautiful day and Uncle Gary put together a beautiful ceremony.

Makena has successfully found her thumb. It has gotten to the point that she will now spit out the pacifer to suck on her thumb or fingers. Isn't she cute?! Hopefully it won't be too hard to break. We'll keep trying the paci. She also has discovered the fans in the house. Not sure why all babies like those, but my little one like all others seems to like it. She is also noticing her mobile and lights in her swing more than she did before. Along with moving things, she is smiling and responding to people even more lately. She is laughing too! She lets out the cutest little coos as well as happy little squeals and chuckles.

Can you tell these two are father and son!? Uncle Gary and Cousin Jake as the wedding began.

Here is most of the wedding party...Jess, Don and Makena enjoy some time together after the wedding. It was a pretty evening, no scorching heat.

The beautiful bride and handsome groom after the wedding, making them husband and wife...Jake and Jenni Southern.Here is Zac Southern being such a good boy after the wedding.Uncle Bill, Uncle Gary, and Don...Here is my little munchkin after the wedding. She was all bundled up because it got pretty cool once the sun went down.To all gravy lovers out there...Uncle Gary got a gift from his college buddies and Jess helped out with the cigar so the new t-shirt could be shown off. Great fun with the Southerns!! We had a wonderful time. I'll continue the trip events in another post..