My little reader and her Doggie Do

With great joy, my little reader has emerged. Due to the sad fact that Don and I don't read too much, I am happy to say Makena some how got the good gene. Hopefully, Don and I will be better examples in the future for her. Riggins loves to style Makena's hair. It doesn't matter how much I get on to him, he insists on licking her head when he walks by. She doesn't mind at all but she gets so wet and sometimes his breath is stinky...yuck! We love him though! Here are some cute pics of her Doggie Do.
Also Makena has learned where her belly button is. It is so cute to see her lift up her shirt and pull up her belly so she can see it (her belly is a little round so she has to shift her belly to be able to see it). I'll try to get a pic or video. It is soooo cute!

I think I blogged before that she stood briefly on her birthday. She stood by herself a few more times today, but she thought it was a game for her to fall into my arms.

Love my baby girl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

May 22, 2010 marked Don's 40th year!! It has been a great weekend. We celebrated with friends on Saturday night. Everyone got a chance to razz Don a little bit. We went through 40 things you may or may not know about Don. We ate Rosa's fajitas and had a little ice cream to top off the night.

Amanda, our next door neighbor, came and played with Makena for the evening. I am really bummed that I didn't get pictures of the event. I guess I was a little busy trying to make sure everything was ready and in order. Also, Makena's evening started off a little rough. I think her teeth were bothering her because she is never cranky like that. She is currently cutting her 4 top teeth at the same time and I think she has 2 more bottom teeth on the way. That seems like a lot of change for a little girl.

Don and I also finished the Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey tonight. I would recommend it to everyone. It is a great course and really shows you that with some discipline, anyone can get rid of debt and build wealth.

4 Happy Years!

Dear Don,
I can’t believe it’s been four years. It seems like yesterday you were proposing to me on that very cold Colorado night. I will never forget the surprise and excitement when we got to share our news with family and friends.
Our first year began with a fabulous honeymoon to Costa Rica. The rainforest, lava flow, and watching the rain from balcony hot tub were the highlights for me. Then we spent the rest of the year getting used to each other as roommates (Jiff or Peter Pan…).
Our second year we bought a new house and what a great house it is! It is now our home filled with lots of love and dog hair. I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Our third year had some trials as we tried to get pregnant but then we were able to spend time enjoying each other awaiting the arrival of our little girl. Our trip to Hawaii was amazing (even with the scary ride around Maui). What a beautiful journey to celebrate with each other!
Our fourth year has been full of joy as we welcomed our precious baby Makena Ashtyn. Memories of naps on Daddy’s chest and tearful 5am battles are all blessed moments of the year. Thank you for being willing and making it possible for me to be home with our precious miracle.
Happy Anniversary Baby! I love you more and more each day!
UNLB

May 13, 2010

Happy Mother's Day!

Yesterday marked my second mother's day. Last year at this time, we had just gotten home from the hospital and it was what I thought was one of the best days of my life, but I can now say it just keeps getting better. After my first full year as a mom, I can say the joy has been never ending. Each day as I watch our beautiful baby grow and change, I am truly amazed. God works in our lives every day. He created us, he created the ability to conceive, and give birth to a baby. We serve an amazing God. He has the ability to knit together every fiber of our being as well as get us through any kind of difficult situation if we choose to let Him. He never intended for us to always be happy but He does always want us to trust in him. I pray every day that he will keep Makena safe allowing us to have many other Mother's Days together.

In honor of this special day, I want to thank my Mom for all she did raising me and all the things she continues to do now that I am prepared to make decisions on my own. She was always there when I was involved in sports, graduating from high school and college, my wedding day and for the birth of my first child. I always know who to call if I need help. Thanks Mom! I am truly blessed to have a loving Mom like you.

I also want to take the time to thank Jeanette for opening her arms and accepting me as a part of the family. As well as thank you for being a wonderful mother to Don all these years. I know he is the man he is today because of all the love you gave him and prayers you raised on his behalf. Thank you.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of me and Makena on Mother's day. However, here is one from our Christmas trip to Colorado.

Now and Then

Here is Makena Now...
May 6, 2010 taken by Mom

and here is Makena Then ...

Going home from the hospital May 8, 2010

May 14, 2009 by Melanie Lee
May 21, 2009 by Steve Colwill

Today, I took Makena to see Dr. Tomecko. She said she was absolutely perfect. We talked about the transition to cow's milk, development, and got shots. It is amazing to think how much she has changed from the first day she entered the world. She has grown 11.5 inches and 13.5 pounds. That seems crazy to me! No wonder why babies aren't happy sometimes, they are changing so fast it has to hurt.

Now:

Weight: 21 lbs (50th percentile)

Height: 30.5 inches (90th percentile)

Head: 17.75 inches (50th percentile)

Then:

Weight: 7 lbs 9 oz

Height: 19 inches

Overall the appointment went good. I still hate to see her get shots. It breaks my heart to see that little face wince in pain and then see tears poor out of her eyes. Luckily, it only lasted for a few minutes. She passed her vision test too. She was so good to sit still for 5 or so minutes with 3 leads contected to her head and a patch over her eye.

After a much needed nap (Makena that is), we also had a fabulous dinner at Los Cucos with Chris, Stephanie and Caleb to celebrate Makena's birthday. Makena loved dancing to the mariachi band. However, it was really loud! Fun times with family.

May 6th is here! Happy Birthday Makena!!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY MAKENA!! Here are some pics from the last month. I have had a lot of fun being at home the last two months. At 1 year old Makena is:

Food:
- Loves broccoli, strawberries, yogurt, ice cream (of course that doesn't happen too often)
- Wants a turn with the spoon after every meal.
- Usually has to eat something all by herself before she will eat from a spoon.
- Can drink out of her sippy cup or straw all by herself.

Church:
- Attends class on Sunday morning and has been going to the Nursery while Don and I have attended Financial Peace University Class on Sunday evenings. She always seems to enjoy herself.

Playtime:
- She loves playing and watching other kids play. She doesn't quite understand playing together just yet, but she definitely loves to sit and "take it all in".
- She loves to read her books. It sometimes amazes me how long she will just sit and read her books. This may be the making of "Miss Independent".
- Favorite Book: My First Counting Book (Golden Books)

Family:
- She loves spending time with her family. She is always ready for Daddy to give her hugs when he get home from work and to send him off to work in the morning.
- She loves to rub Uncle Tyler's hair.
- She is starting to know all of her grandparents more and more each time we see them.

Words:
- Dog and something that sounds like "Riggins"
- She has said mama and dada but doesn't seem to use them consistently yet.
- I think she said "All done" at the table the other day.
We go to the Doctor tomorrow so I will post some other stats after that.

Transportation:
- She pushed her stroller now on the carpet and the wood floor, but not walking unassisted yet.
- Crawls everywhere.

Riggins:
- Loves him!! Always wants to put her hands in his mouth.
- Loves feeding him treats.
- Trys to "throw' the ball to him. He doesn't seem to want to chase the 6 inch throw just yet.
- I have also caught her crawling over to him and kissing his face while he is laying down. So sweet! Followed up by kisses from Riggins of course then she pats him on the head.

Also if you would like to view the video Don made for Makena that I wrote about earlier go to http://www.farmersfight.net/ and select the "videos" tab.

1st Birthday Party!

We spent the last week doing house work and getting ready for the big day of bright pink and flowers. On Friday morning Makena and I went to Mother's Prayer breakfast. Makena had a great time playing with Jake, Mallory, Emilyn, and Charlotte. I did look over as Makena was playing with Jake and she was reaching up to him with both hands to come get him and pick her up. It was a precious moment.

Friday afternoon, Grammy joined us at the house so that Mommy and Daddy could go celebrate another birthday with a friend. Happy Birthday Matt! Papa, Grannie B, and Uncle T also came to stay with us on Friday night for our special day on Saturday. Before Mommy and Daddy left, Daddy shared a magnificent video with Mommy. He created a "1st Year" video of our baby girl. As the tears welled, I was putting on my mascara, which is kinda ironic. The video consisted of 4 fabulous songs... "I Saw God Today" by George Strait, "Arms Wide Open" by Creed, "All-American Girl" by Carrie Underwood, and "It Won't Be Like This For Long" by Darius Rucker...and the most precious moments in our little girls life captured in pictures and video. Thank you Don for capturing our baby's first year is such and awesome way!

Technically, Makena doesn't turn 1 for a few more days but it was time to celebrate with friends and family on Saturday, May 1st. So bring on the pink, the flowers, the family, and friends. We started the event at 1:30pm. Attendees included: Those mentioned above, Gramps, Aunt Amanda, Uncle Marcus, Great Aunt Nancee, Monica, Sydney, Cody, Theresa, Clayton, Casey, Maria, Aidan, Melanie, Tyron, Luke, Faith, Hannah, Laine, Dana, Jackson, Jack, Jenny, Colton, Caden, Michael, Lisa, Maggie, Maci, Jason, Bethany...hopefully I didn't miss anyone.

The video played for all to see during our time together. As our guest arrived we spent time hanging out and catching up. Then we moved to open gifts and ended with the cupcake extravaganza! Makena received some wonderful clothes, money, books and the greatest toys. We have already worn a dress and pa-jama-jams as we call them. Thanks to everyone for being so generous and thoughtful.

Here are some pics from our day...

Our precious princess in her Birthday Outfit!

Cute as a button!

Blowing out her candleNot exactly sure what to think of the icing and cake...Mom gives her a little taste.And then...As you can tell, it only took one taste. Then she thought Daddy needed some too! Aidan might be missing out on the yummy cake.Now it is Makena's turn to feed Daddy. I hope this is an indication that sharing will be no problem for her.Playing with the balloon with Granny.Makena sits proudly on display as quest arrive.Melanie and Makena. Friends and family...

Papa making faces at Caden... Are these two brothers? I think there was a lot of computer talk.

Theresa, Cody (cousin), Clayton, and Aunt Nancee

Makena and Grammy getting ready for the festivities.Pics of the birthday girl... Yummy cupcakes, cookies, strawberries (which is now Makena's favorite fruit!!), veggies and queso.

This was a display of pics of Makena each month for the last year.

We had a great day with everyone including the extra family time afterwards. A couple of milestones/firsts:

On Saturday, May 1, Makena let go breifly while standing. Not for long before plopping on her bottom, but it was one of those intial changes before other "big" changes.

Today, she walked behind her new stroller with no assistance. I believe we'll be walking by June. I guess we'll see.

Thanks again to everyone!

Painting fun...

Makena had many experiences testing her artistic ability while she attended daycare so I wanted to continue exercising her talent. We spent the day making birthday cards for Granny. HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY GRANNY! HUGS AND KISSES! (I neglected to take pics of the final product so we'll have to take a picture next time we are in Rising Star.)

I also wanted to capture a couple of things Makena has started doing before I forget.

- Dad discovered that she knows how to wash her hands. She reached up to the hand sanitizer like she was getting some and then rubbed her little hands together. It was the cutest thing ever. This shows me how much of a little sponge she is because we usually don't use that hand sanitizer. Instead we wash our hands in the bathroom, which is where she would see us get soap out of the pump and then wash our hands in the sink. She is so smart and so cute!

- She continues to get a little bit braver while standing but not standing on her own. I am not in a hurry for her but it has been amazing watching her go in the process.

- She seems to be willing to try foods that shock me a little. The other night I made enchiladas with broccoli, onion and chicken. I had chopped them in my food processor. Then I added a little cheese so that it would stick together and she could pick it up. She couldn't seem to get enough. She loves fresh broccoli but hasn't taken to the fresh carrots yet, but still loves her baby food carrots. Overall she tends to eat a little bit of everything but not a lot of anything. She also loves her yogurt and water (sippy cups and straw cups...Mommy's water bottle mainly) but is not the biggest fan of fruit.

- Words - She likes to use the word "AAAAhhhh" a lot. Sometimes we hear "mamamama" or "dadada" but most recent "dog". Then we hear her start to tell stories or that's what I like to think. She starts babbling with the cutest and sweetest little voice.

- Church - She has now gone to the nursery a few times but is still usually pretty content through class and church. I am also teaching the class above hers this quarter, which has been fun and a little scary for me since I have never done this before in a structured environment.

- Books - She loves flipping through her books. Maybe there will be a reader added to this house. :)

- Bedtime - In the last couple of weeks, we have been working on her staying in bed through the night. She has done really good. She now only wakes up and cries but is able to put herself back to sleep. She is also very comfortable getting in bed these days. We can barely get through our song and prayer and she is reaching for her bed.

As I get ready for Makena's 1st birthday, I keep thinking about who she is and who she will be. She has the cutest smile yet a quick temper. She loves to sit quietly with her toys or books but the next minute she wants to sit in my lap and turn upside down. She loves for me to read to her and spending time outside. I love it when she burries her head in my shoulder when she meets someone new but then reaches out to them the next minute. She is cautious but loving...happy and knows what she wants. MOMMY and DADDY LOVE YOU MAKENA!

More family fun!

We spent yesterday with some of Don's work friends and their twin boys. We had a great lunch with the Medranos. Thanks so much for spending time in our home.

After a yummy lunch, we went to visit Aunt Rebecca and Colten. Praying that baby boy #2 goes full term. It was so great to see them! Colten is getting so big. I wish I would have taken pics.

Then we were off to Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Chris's for dinner with the Carrolls. Uncle Marcus and Aunt Amanda came to town and Grammy and Gramps came up. We had a great time. Makena absolutely loved Uncle Chris's grilled pears!! Yea fruit! (She hasn't really liked fruit.) We had a fabulous dinner of steak, potatoes, asparagus, grillled veggies and yummy bread. Makena also started learning how to go up the stairs and got up onto their hearth. She may become a climber...yikes. Thanks Chris and Steph for a great evening!

Makena and Grammy cuddling before we left.

Daddy and Makena playing.Caleb teaching Aunt Amanda all about "Cars".

Today Grammy, Gramps, Marcus and Amanda joined us at PC this morning and then to lunch. Fun times with family. It was great to see everyone. Thanks also to Grammy and Gramps for the Easter treats (pinwheel, book, shoes, DVD and jammies).

God shows us beauty every day..

Dear God,

Thank you so much for the precious life you have brought into our lives. We love to see her smile every day, a true light in the world. Please give us the wisdom to raise her to be a bright light for you.

Amen