Mackenzie's 1st Birthday!

I now know how it feels when older people always told me "take it all in" when it comes to enjoying children.  I absolutely can not believe Scott and I have a one year old daughter.  It felt like yesterday that I was posting this story.  It's still strange to think we've already been married for 5 years and have known each other for 14 years!!  I have loved every single minute of being Mackenzie's mommy, even on the days she hasn't felt good (seems to be common right now), I haven't felt good, or just down right yucky days.  Mackenzie has been the one to keep me strong through the tough times.  She cuddled with me on the days after my Gramma died, and she has brought so much laughter and smiles to our family.  Due to my crazy class schedule this semester, Mackenzie spent the night the day before her birthday, so she wasn't home on her actual birthday, but Gram made sure to make it extra special for her.  I picked her up from Gram around lunch time on the 4th and we ate lunch at Steak n' Shake.  After lunch, it was off to get 1 year pictures made.  They did a fantastic job and I love how they all turned out.  Daddy insisted on taking Mackenzie out somewhere for her birthday, so we all had ice cream at Dairy Queen after a yummy supper.  Here are some fun facts about our 1 year old!

*has taken 10 consecutive steps.  She's a stubborn girl who will walk when she's ready.  She doesn't like people watching her and cheering her on.  We learned this lesson quick.  If this happens, she immediately sits down and crawls away.
*has her two bottom teeth.  One coming in while we were in NY and the other one about 2 weeks later.
*started "meow-ing" and "woof-woof-ing" while pointing to our cat and dogs.  She started this all on her own and she now will meow and bark at random dogs and cats.  When she "meows" she makes this funny distorted face making sure to elongate the, "meeeeeeoooooooooowwwwwww"!
*has a new found love of balloons.  She goes nuts in stores when she sees them.
*started playing peek a boo on September 20, 2009.  She found my baby blanket and covered her head and sat completely still while giggling.  When she took the blanket off, she thought it was the funniest thing she's ever done.
*not eating many solid foods due to the lack of teeth, but loves macaroni and cheese, but not the baby kind.  She hates the graduates and will either spit them out or put her head down and cover her face.
*started giving kisses!  This is my all time favorite.  She was sitting in my lap one day and hit me pretty hard across the face, I told her that we don't hit and that she needs to be soft.  She immediately brought her mouth to mine and "kissed" me.  Completely melted my heart.
*Got her first scary fever on September 15th.  She woke up with a 102 degree fever and was very lethargic, of course it was 7:30 a.m. and the doctor's office wasn't open, so I left an urgent message with the operator and Dr. Kim called back with 7 minutes.  He said as long as she was breathing properly, and we could give her medicine to break her fever, she was ok.  She had the fever well into the day, but it steadily went down.  We're pretty sure this all had to do with her teething.
*Mackenzie LOVES to dance...to anything.  Her latest favorite is Barney.  I thought I was put through enough Barney abuse over 15 years ago when my brother when through this stage, but nope.  The first time I ever put it on she immediately stopped what she was doing and focused on the tv...for 30 minutes, in awe.  She now dances to the music and it's so darn cute.
*Can go from sitting to standing.  She can also lean down to pick things up.

Yay for presents!                                                          For the love of balloons...