Duck Pond Adventure

Makena and I went to the Duck Pond yesterday to feed the ducks. The ducks had already had there fill before we arrived so we fed the turtles instead.

Calling all turtles...here they come (notice all the little spots in the water).She loved the turtles coming up to see her.


What a happy girl!

Playing on the playground.

More pics and the Aggie Sauna

Makena getting on her tricycle by herself.

Don't you love this outfit! Might I mention she has another pair of pajama shorts under those pants. She still loves to dress up in her PJs. Also, notice that little toungue sticking out. I hear that is a Carroll trait...pure concentration.

Best Friends


We went to the September 11th Aggie game against Louisana Tech. It was HOT! Ok, really, really humid. Makena was still swetting after the game (9:30pm). Not sure if you can tell from these pics but she was dripping the entire game. Aggies won too!

Giving high fives to me...

and everyone else in the stand.

After a long night of hot temps, she spent some time curled up with daddy for some needed rest at The Oaks! (I have a pic from last year just like this...too funny!)

Pregnancy Update - Week 22

This week has been a good week. Last Thursday, I saw the baby move for the first time. I guess she is getting stronger and stronger. Sometimes she has to bench press Makena laying on top of her. Don actually just saw it for the first time tonight. It is still hard for me to believe we are going to have another baby. I keep wondering what she is going to be like. It is hard not to think she'll be another little Makena but I know she will be her own little person. I can't wait to meet her, but need her to keep cooking for a while longer before she decided to make her debut.

Cravings: I have had crazy sweet cravings this week. Even more so than normal. Cinnamon sugar donuts and chocolate pudding with whip cream of course. Oh and did I mention the craving for coffee. My appetite is definitely back. Crazy!

Potty Time...

Ok...I am a few posts behind with other things but I wanted to post a first for Makena. She turned 16 months old yesterday and today she pooped on the potty for the first time. I bought a little potty seat for the toilet and she didn't really like it at first. We would sit her on it before bath, but she usually won't go until she hits the bath water...which her Daddy loves. hehe. Today I thought she had a dirty diaper but when I changed her it was clear she wasn't finished so I sat her on the potty. After a little distraction and talking about the toilet paper, she went. We aren't really potty training but she has started telling us when her diaper is wet and if there is a time she seems to have held it for a while, I wanted to have the option to let her experience the potty. I honestly think there are a few more things she needs to master before potty training but we'll keep using our opportunities and see where it goes from here.

Yea Makena!! You are growing up so fast!

16 Happy Months

What a sweet 16 months it has been! I have to say Makena has definitely made some big changes over the last month. Although it is a little bittersweet for Mommy, Makena is turning into a toddler. She has been walking good for just over a month and now her personality is really taking shape along with her words.

Playtime:

- She loves to play in Mommy's bathroon cabinet. It is a nice past time while I take a shower.

- She still loves her time with the "Riggins" dog.

- Kitchen cabinet time, diaper cabinet and pajama drawer...loves to empty things.

- Coloring and sticker time.

- Necklaces and lipstick...she's a girl!

- Tricycle - She can now get on it by herself.

Personality:

- Clothes - yes she has an opinion of what clothes she will put on for the day, including her shoes.

- 'Is your diaper wet?" - Makena will pat on her diaper. Sometimes she will even go get her diaper. However, sometimes she can just see a new diaper and think it is time to change.

- Kisses - She has the cutest little pucker face. It's an exaggerated face of what I used to call her "Monkey face". She loves to give kisses. Even Riggins get his share.

- High Five - She is loving to give high fives these days. It is so cute and girly!

- More opinions - She is pretty good about telling me what she does and doesn't want from food to taking directions.

- Cleaning - She is my little cleaner. I need to find her a broom so she can help me keep the dog hair off the floor. :)

Learning:

- I can tell we now have a little sponge. She is starting to repeat words more and more. She also is recognizing pictures in her books when you ask her where the dog, raspberries, frog and tomato.

- She now knows where her ears, hair, and elbows are.

- During bath time, she will wash whatever I have washed and sometimes wash what I tell her to wash.

- Loves for Mommy to sing "if you're happy and you know it"

- Clasps her hands together when she is ready to pray. Through prayer and the previous song, she is learning to say "Amen"

Church:

- She graduated to the "Walkers" class (I may have updated this last month.)

- She continues to attend service with us and is pretty well behaved. Hopefully this continues.

Food and teeth:

- Eating more and more table food but still loves her fruit. Grapes are now #1!

- Started cutting left top molar on August 15th and right top molar the beginning of September.

- Current count 2 front bottom teeth. Top front 4 are about half way in. Two molars are just starting. I think that is 8...kinda.

Size:

- Weight - 22.5 lbs

- Length - ?? (haven't measured)

Mentioned she liked my bathroom cabinet and she likes stickers so combine those two things and this is what you get.

Fun times with Riggins. He wants her to throw or kick the ball. She wants to take it to him. This results in frustration for both parties, but fun times too.

First 2010 Aggie Game! Still warming up to her new environment.

Now she's warmed up...she entertained everyone.

Love to my baby girl! We have had a great 16 months and looking forward to many, many, many more.

Granny and Grammie time...

While Don and I were in Maui, Miss Makena got to spend time with some pretty special people. Grammie has been staying with us while she is working in McKinney so Makena had been getting to see her during the week Sunday night thru Wednesday night. Granny B came on Wednesday night (reminder after the throw-up episode that day). Grammie took Don and I to the airport before Miss Makena woke up on Thursday morning.

Granny B spent Thursday and Friday with a sick little girl. Evidently, she got a stomach bug. She woke up Thursday night covered in throw up along with her bed. After a bath, stripping the bed and curling up in Mommy and Daddy's bed, Granny B and Miss M got some sleep. She also has some diarrhea, mainly while in her high chair which also required a few washings. (Poor Granny B!) Papa and Uncle Tyler came on Friday to join in the fun. I think they had a good time going to Cabella's and Bass Pro. She also managed to give her sickness to Papa, whcih I am sure came through many kisses. Makena also tinkled on potty while Granny had her. Granny and Makena also took many walks, played in the water, played with bubbles that Grammie brought, and went to the park. She had her first experience feeding the ducks at the park. I am sure that's just the tip of the iceberg. Makena had a great time and we can't thank everyone enough for giving Don and I time to enjoy each other.

Thanks again everyone!

Pregnancy Update - Week 21 (Maui Style)

The last week has been absolutely amazing. On Thursday, Don and I left for Maui and spent 6 days in God's beauty. It is amazing to see the power of God in the wind and the waves, not to mention the beauty of the sunsets and diverse fish.
Thursday was mainly a very long travel day. I woke up at at 3:30am and thought I was getting sick and could never go back to sleep. I was able to get a script called into Maui if things got worse. God thankfully cured me without having to take it. Praise God! After arriving we had a great dinner at Pita Paradise, mahi mahi for me and chicken fettachini for Don.

Friday morning we went to Kihei Cafe, a little dive I found online, for breakfast. I had the best French Toast I have ever had. It was covered with macadamia nuts and fresh bananas. I was also introduced to coconut syrup, which was amazing. I think I am going to try and find a recipe. Yum! Don had coconut pineapple french toast. Although he was on sugar overload after the fresh squeezed orange juice, he thought it was very yummy. We spent the remaining part of the day shopping or browsing around the market and mall. Just so happens that Brittany Spears and her boyfriend were in the mall just a few hours before we were. Then walked around the grounds of the resort that evening. Lunch was at Burgers in Paradise and dinner at Big Wave Cafe.

(morning view)

(the best breakfast ever...)

Saturday, we went back to Kihei Cafe for breakfast...it was that good! I had cinnamon roll french toast and Don had eggs. After breakfast, we headed out for some sun at the pool. While we were there, Brittany Spears, her boyfriend and a couple of bodyguards came to hang out. No one got close, the bodyguards made a nice barrier. However, someone was leaking pics. There were a number from each day of her vacation online. We heard that Michael Phelps and Eddie Murphy were also in the hotel but we never saw them. The weather was great while we were there. The trade winds blew in the afternoon bringing some storm clouds with them but it never rained. We had dinner at Matteo's Pizzaria. Yummy pizza. We drove down to Makena beach to take some pictures. Sunset was gorgeous.

Sunday, we set off for Turtle Town (Makena beach) to do some snorkeling. Neither of us had snorkled from the shore before so we weren't really sure how it would work. Our first experience was from a boat in 60 feet of water. I had a little trouble with my mask staying sealed and I had come in but Don actually saw a turtle. We didn't get there as early as we had liked and the water got rough due to the tradewinds. The spot was great. The coral was gorgeous and we saw some great fish.(water fountains headed down to the pools)

Monday, we set off for Turtle Town a little earlier and got in an hour or so before I saw the first white cap. I knew when I saw that it was only a matter of time before the waves were going to cause issues. (Note: Getting caught in the trough makes you very close to the coral.) Although we didn't get as much snorkel time as we planned, it was a lot of fun. After getting sand blasted, we headed back to the pool. We also had a fabulous dinner at Humuhumunukunukuapua'a...yes that is the name of the restaurant. It is the name of a fish. Actually, we saw some of them while we were snorkeling. The restaurant is surrounded by the ocean on all sides and is the sight of a beautiful sunset.

Tuesday, we snorkeled just off the shore of Wailea which also ended up being a great location to snorkel. We got in about an hour and a half before the wind started to pick up and we had to head back to the hotel to clean up and check out. After lunch, we spent the afternoon taking pics at the hotel, shopping, and driving back down to Makena beach. Then it was time to head back to the airport for our 10:30pm (Hawaii time) flight out. After a short layover in Pheonix, we made it home around 1pm Dallas time. We actually slept a lot during the flight so the trip seemed a lot shorter than I expected. I was so ready to see Makena by Tuesday when we left. When I saw her come out the door with Grannie, it seemed like she had grow so much since we had been gone. And oh by the way she didn't want to come to me at all, but she snuggled up with Daddy pretty quick. She is a Daddy's girl right now. I love it though. It is awesome to see Don interact with her and he loves all the hugs and kisses.

I felt great throughout the trip. The nugget was a trooper and loved all the great food, sun, and water activity. I didn't feel her move as much but I think that is because we were pretty busy the whole time. It was a great little "babymoon". I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband, beautiful baby girl and another precious baby girl on the way.

(21 Weeks 3 Days)

(21 Weeks 5 Days...I think I grew in two days! Yikes!!)

It's a....

GIRL!!!
Makena is going to have a little sister. In my mind, this is so weird because I have no idea what having a sister to grow up with is like. Don't get me wrong, I love my little brother, but I think it is going to be awesome for her to have a sister.


We had a crazy morning getting to the doctor. Makena and I rushed out of the door to get me to the doctor on time. Don was trailing by a few minutes thankfully. After Makena and I got a mile or two from the house, I heard some noise in the back seat and looked up to see Makena throwing up everywhere. I called Don and told him that we were coming back home. He met us half way and we changed cars. I was crazy emotional at this time because I wasn't sure what was wrong with Makena and Don probably wasn't going to be able to get her and the carseat cleaned up in time for the sonogram. It seems that Makena just had an upset tummy. She has been fine since the that episode.
After I made it to the doctor, it became apparent Don would not be there. More emotions! I managed to make it through and see my little girl up close and personal. Here are some pictures from the morning.

She is currently in the breech position and today she kept her feet close to her face. Having her legs crossed and out in front of her made determining her gender a little bit difficult, but she managed to keep them there the whole time. Here she is using her knees to get her thumb to her mouth. She seems to be a thumb sucker right now.

Here is her pretty little profile.
This is actually a picture of her sucking her thumb, scratching her head, watching her feet kick...she is already a multi-tasker. I am not sure where she got that talent from.

Here is a picture of her looking at the camera.

And another...

Can you find the lines that indicate little girl???

We are totally excited about the arrival of our little nugget! Can't wait to see her!!

Playing Dress Up...

Some more early August fun...

First Makena loves on Riggins...

Then she accessorizes...
Then she admires her work...

Then last week she decided it was her turn...

She loves to pull out her swim diapers and her pj's from the drawer. She has discovered that her clothes go on her body. She began bringing me clothes, which happen to all be bottoms, and wanted me to put them on her. So let's recap the list of things she had on:

Diaper

Skirt including under shorts

2 pair of PJ bottoms

2 pair of PJ pants

Swim Diaper to top off her outfit

It was a precious moment!

Pregnancy Update Weeks 17-20

At 15 weeks, I thought I was on the downhill swing of the nausea. However, baby nugget had other plans. We managed to continue to be nauseated and headache filled until the completion of week 18, plus a few days. I think the biggest aspect to be dealt with was the mental aspect. It was hard to think it would all be all over and then it wasn't. Anyways, we made it with help from Daddy and little dirtier house than I would prefer. I am feeling much better and am hoping it stays this way for a while.

In the last week, I have felt the baby move more and more and even felt he/she from the outside tonight. The nugget seems to be strong and active at this point and loves food as much as me. In the last week the scale took a much larger jump than I ever thought it would. However, as I am typing I remember it was around Christmas time when that happened with Makena. Maybe I can keep this a little more under control in the weeks to come, but I am not holding my breath.

I have had some other changes with my body that haven't been so welcome but no one needs to know about those. All I am can is I hope this "new normal" is not the "new normal" forever. :)

We are supposed to find out on Wednesday (25th) whether we will be welcoming another precious little girl or a bouncing baby boy into the family. I can't wait. It is so weird not to know. There was no sonogram at 16 weeks so it has seemed like a long wait! I just hope everyone is cooperating. It makes me a little crazy because I'll feel sure it is a girl one minute and start getting all these ideas and then the next minute I am thinking it could me a boy. Then I start the process over again. I have such a precious little girl it is hard to think of having anything else but another precious little girl. (Yes, I do understand they would probably be very different, but precious none the less.) Then on the other hand I would love to experience having a little boy. (shhh...I hear little boys love their momma.) Either way I will be happy, I just want our little nugget to be healthy and ready for the adventure of life.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story...

From Rome, Italy to Abilene, Texas

Actually we were only in Abilene, however, Makena got to meet her cousins from Rome on Friday the 13th. Heather and Matteo brought baby Kate to meet the family.

Proud Grammie and Grannie... cousins...

baby Kate...

Aunt Vonnie and Daddy

Thanks to Aunt Amanda and Uncle Marcus for letting us keep them up all night and crash there! It was a quick trip and we really appreciated it.

Opinions developing..

I think today marks another first for Makena. As I was picking out her clothes this morning, she shook her head "no" at the first outfit I pulled out. I think she is developing some fashion sense...or maybe just an opinion. It was too funny!

Makena's 15 Months Old

Where has the time gone? I can't believe I have already been home with Makena for 5 months. It has been an adjustment but definitely a joyful one. The ball of stress that was in my chest is gone and now I get to enjoy my little girl every day. She is a true blessing and I thank God every day for her. What has the last month of growing up gotten us you may be asking?

- 31 inches tall
-22.2 lbs
- Shots – 15 Month shots weren’t any fun. 3 shots in the leg and two days worth of fever left Makena a little tired and cranky, but she bounced back pretty quick.
- Walking - She has really taken off this last week. Six steps is now a thing of the past. It has helped being around some of her older friends.
- Climbing - Although, there isn't much to climb on around our house (since she can't get ont he furniture by herself yet) but she loves the stairs. She climbed all the way to the top at a friends house recently.
- Words - In the last week, I have noticed Makena mimic more and more words we are saying. She can't pronouce them usually but you can tell she is trying which is new. "Riggins" sounds a little like "Ninins", "Milk" sounds a little like "ilk", “waffle” sounds like “awful”, and she is using "mama” more than the past. The words are coming!
- Reading – She still loves to sit with her books. She likes to sit in Mommy or Daddy’s lap and begin to read a book but sometimes she gets bored with the first page. However, other times she’ll sit through the entire book.
- Food – Makena is a pretty good eater all around. She sometimes doesn’t want to try things but I think that is normal. She loves fruit (nectarines, watermelon, banana, strawberries, mandarin oranges, plum), some veggies (broccoli, potatoes), and bread…oh and fruit bars and crackers (whole wheat Ritz).
- Friends - Makena loves to play with her friends.
- Socially - Makena likes to figure out how things work. She will study things and try them out until she figures it out. Watched her for 20 minutes last night trying to put a pair of shorts on. She is still very observant of the world around her. In the last week, she has begun to show signs of separation anxiety, which is a huge change for her.
- Baby Dolls and Kisses - Makeana loves her baby doll. She knows where the babies paci goes and give the baby big "smacking" kisses. She now loves to give kisses to Mommy and Daddy as well as blow kisses. Sometimes she is a little selective with them but she can give a big smacking kiss when she wants to.
- Body parts - Makena can now identify her eyes, nose, mouth, hair and ears. She also knows her hands and feet. She will also point those parts on someone else.
- Sleeping - She is still sleeping around 10 hours a night and takes about a 3 hour nap during the day. For the most part she is down to one nap.

Here are a few pics marking the occassion:

Yummy Pizza! My favorite remote and a huge smile...

"Hello, is anyone there?" "Cheese!"

Look how big I am!

"look I am walking!"

My friend Riggins...a little stand off.

Reading Mom's magazine...

Daddy is teaching her how to play NCAA football on the playstation.