The 4th of July

We had such a busy day planned.  My aunt and uncle have a 2nd home in Highlands, NC and my cousin and his family recently moved to the area as well. They invited us up for the day to celebrate the 4th, to meet Nolan, and for all the kids to run a play together.  All I have to say, is we have the best kids for traveling.  We left our house in Dallas at 9 a.m. and made it to NC by noon.  Not a peep was said between you two the entire way, although you were so excited when you finally got to get out of the truck.  We had a nice time visiting with everyone and eating!

 You and Uncle Matt...the best of friends.

 Playing with Sophia and David in the "pool".

 My mom, brother and our family were also invited to Uncle Matt's girlfriends' house for a party as well and this party was in Cumming.  So here we go again...in the car for a few more hours.  Luckily, you didn't nap at my aunt's so you got a nice nap in and was roaring to go when we got to Hannah's.  You absolutely love Hannah and when she's not around, you're constantly asking for her.  Hannah's dad went a little overboard with fireworks and had his whole backyard taken over with spiny things and lots and lots of explosives.  As the sun went down and the dancing stopped, the lights dimmed and the music started.  He had the whole show synced to the "Transformers" soundtrack and it was amazing.  You were literally in awe of it all and when it ended you loudly announced, "Uh oh!"  Nolan was with Daddy on the side of the house because of the noise and the fact that we were being showered on by cardboard from the fireworks.  And we got a special treat that night.  A friend of Hannah's mom opens her home up every summer to a group of boys from Kenya.  They were about 8-10 years old and they were absolutely precious.  They were so cute running around with all the kids, laughing, and enjoying the "American Life".  I found out that they all go back to Kenya after being here for so long.  It broke my heart.  I felt selfish, spoiled, thankful, scared, humbled, and happy all at the same time.  At the end of the night, the four boys walked over to The Ryan's (Hannah's parents) and sang the most beautiful song about thank you for your hospitality, thank you for your kindness and so on.  I had a lump the size of Texas in my throat.  Makes you think, how lucky are we?

The set up at The Ryan's.  There were fireworks attached to those spiny wooden pieces...crazy.

You, my dear, got a hold of a rice krispy treat that had color chips in them.

And you asked to hold your baby brudder, Rolan right there.

Claiming the perfect fireworks watching spot. 

THERE!

Sweet, sweet boys.

July 4, 2010

The 3rd of July

I guess because the 4th was on a Sunday this year, many towns were doing their fireworks on the 3rd which of course was a Saturday night.  All week we were anticipating going to Marietta Square to watch the fireworks, but as the weekend got closer, I started to get nervous.  I myself, don't do well with big crowds, and with a newborn and a toddler that thinks she's 16, I was beginning to doubt how much fun we would have by going to the square.   Well, thankfully, The Pendley's invited us to the funeral home and we had such a fun time.  We arrived early enough to enjoy watching all the kids run around, eat, and catch up with great friends, as well as meeting some new ones.  The weather was the coolest it's ever been in GA for the 4th which made the night even better.  You had so much fun running around with Sailer and Maddie, and sadly I got no pictures to prove it.  Every time Maddie walked away, you would shout for her and even the week after was still asking for her.  We ate the typically picnic food-fried chicken and macaroni salad and ended the night with a great firework show.  Nolan was a charm and hung out the whole night rarely making a peep except to eat and slept through the entire firework show.  We can't wait for next year!

Daddy and his boy.

And his little girl...how lucky are we?!

Oh the faces!  I love your personality.

Hee, hee! 

Sailer and you socializing.

And not to fooled, you're not covering your ears, you're actually saying, "OH WOW!"

July 3, 2010

Father's Day 2010

If you were to tell Scott that he would have 2 children to celebrate Father's Day with him this year, he would have laughed at you.  It's amazing how your life can change forever in a matter of seconds.  With all the excitement of Nolan's arrival, Scott has never, ever acted any other way than happy and excited.  No, he doesn't show emotions very much, however, the thought of becoming a dad in less than a month to another child could send someone over the edge...not him.  He has been my rock for the past 10 years, and even more if you count all the years we were friends.  He has stood beside me when I thought I had nobody to run to, he's been the one to carry me when I was down, yet encourage me to get up and keep going.  He was my biggest fan when I delivered you (Mack) and you (Nolan) and he has never told me that I couldn't do something...he's always told me that as long as I put my mind to it, I can do it.  He has been an amazing Daddy to you (Mackenzie) and now to you (Nolan) as well.  I know he will continue to teach, guide, and be there for both of you for the rest of his life.  You (Mackenzie) are so in love with him.  When you hear his truck coming down the road, you immediately stop whatever you are doing, do this crazy dance and then run to the window and waits for him.  And then when he walks through the door, you shout as loud as you can, "Daa-dddyyy's home!"  How can you not smile at that?  You love for Daddy to "hold you" which means hold me, and you crack up at all of his silliness.  Daddy sings to you (Nolan) when you're sad and bounces you around when your tummy hurts.  He talks to you when your crying for more food and knows how to do the tightest, strongest, best burrito wrap even your can't escape from.  *Sidenote* Even the nurses in the hospital were impressed by his mad baby swaddling skills!  The key-it takes two receiving blankets.  So, this Father's Day was a quiet one.  We spent the Saturday before at Nanny and Papa's grilling out and then on Sunday, we went to lunch at our favorite Irish restaurant, Patty's and then headed to Home Depot to buy plants.  Scott asked multiple times for a Topsy Turvy, and he got one from M and N.  When we got home, Scott made a neat arbor to hang his plants and we played outside while you (Nolan) took a nap.

Watching Daddy build his arbor.  Your shirt says, "Daddy's Little Girl."  So true!

Sweaty, hot and still happy...that's Mack for ya!

Monkey Mack climbing...as usual.

That hair is one hot mess!

I see you!  We love our blue/brown/green eyed girl!

And this was later on that night.  You had no idea that I was watching you.  You were singing to "Baby Rolan".

And giving him kisses.  You would slobber and kiss him all day long if you needed to.

June 21, 2010

Mackenzie the Mermaid

You absolutely love to swim!  You were a bit too little last year to really enjoy it, however this year...it's a different story.  When we were at Gwama's for a little over a week, every single afternoon Daddy would take you down to the pool where you two would splish, splash, and jump all around.  You even walked all the way over to the diving board, got up on it, and walked to the edge...by yourself.  I was standing behind you and Daddy was in the water and you jumped to him!  Crazy girl, I tell ya.  You have no fear whatsoever of the water (which makes me a nervous wreck) and you know to hold your breath and sometimes close your eyes when you go under.  You love to stand on the steps and launch yourself off.  A few times, you slipped off of the steps, but you would quickly come to the surface and attempt to find your way back.  Of course, someone was always right there with you to make sure you was safe.  And as previously mentioned, we bought you a life jacket, but you hate it.  We've tried rings, swimmies, bathing suits with foam in them...nope you want to swim freestyle.  And as of last Sunday, you will now jump to you without holding onto our hands into the water.  You kick off with your feet and every once in awhile will use your arms, but you poor girl has such short arms, that it wears her out.

First one in Gwama and Pawpa's pool!  This was before you decided that the float was no fun.

And when you liked wearing your life jacket...

Splashing and swimming with Daddy in the rain...

but then the thunder came, so we sat under the cabana until the storm passed.  You didn't like the thunder.

And this is what Nolan and Mommy did while everyone swam. 

Nolan's Birth Day

Once we found out that I was pregnant, we began to get things ready for you.  Since we were unaware of what we were having, I did wash the few gender neutral outfits I had from Mackenzie and started working on the guest bedroom to transition it to a baby room!  It's amazing how much stuff (junk) we had.  The goodwill was given a truck load of stuff and we were well on our way to making room for baby.  Since I went early with you (Mackenzie), I knew I was going to go early this time too.  I had a doctors appointment the Thursday before Memorial Day and I hadn't made much progress from the week before.  My next appointment was scheduled for June 4th.  We had a relaxing Memorial Day spent swimming in the pool and hanging out with family, and slowly starting to spread the news of our soon to be arrival.  The following week, I worked on getting the house together, laundry and packing bags.  Can you say nesting?  :)  Daddy was working the last half of the week on Lake Lanier so it made for long days at home.  On Thursday, the 3rd, I spent the day running errands.  I had a huge to-do list set for Friday that weekend and Daddy was going to get in our attic and get down all the baby things we needed.  Daddy didn't get home until almost 9:30 that night, and we were all in bed by 10...thank God I had mine and your's (Mackenzie) bags packed.  I got up at 1:30 to go to the bathroom.  On a side note, I never got up in the middle of the night until after I found out I was pregnant...I think it's all in your head!  At 1:43 I rolled over from one side to my other and I thought I peed in my pants.  Huh?  I got out of bed and it happened again.  What.  My water did NOT just break, did it?  Well, yes it did.  I woke Scott up and we got moving.  I called the on call nurse where she told me that I needed to head to the hospital even though I hadn't had any contractions.  I decided to take my time and take a shower, blow dry my hair, and do the dishes.  I cleaned our kitchen right before we went to the hospital with you (Mack) too.  We dropped you off at your Nanny and Papa's and were on our way to the hospital by 3:30-still not one contraction.  I had my first contraction at 3:38 a.m. but it wasn't bad at all and I was able to talk through it.  I was just starting to feel uncomfortable.  We got to the hospital at 3:52 a.m. and while Scott got me registered, I walked into triage.  There were about 8 nurses sitting there and they all jumped up.  It scared me at first, but later found out that because I was so small, they were worried that I was in active premature labor...nope, not me I was full term!  After being evaluated, I found out that I was 4 cm dilated and even though I was in minimal pain, I went ahead and had an epidural called in just in case it took awhile for the anesthesiologist to get there.  The anesthesiologist was fantastic and actually sat around with us for some time just chatting with us.  I was in complete comfort by 5 am and was well on my way to getting some rest.  I did however, have to get medicine to raise my blood pressure because it kept going down and apparently it can make you nauseous.   Poor Scott was tossing and turning on his wonderful "bed" and I later found out it was because he was trying figure out a girls name (we had no idea what name we would pick if this child was to be girl).  It really bothered Scott that we could have potentially gone home with a child that had no name!  I abruptly woke up at 6am feeling like I was going to explode. I hit the epidural button to give me a "boost" but that didn't cut it.  As I was hitting the call nurse button, in she walked and said that my contractions were literally on top of each other and were only getting stronger.  She checked me again, and I was 9 1/2 cm!  She was shocked as were we.  I kept explaining to her that I needed to push, but she insisted that I wait.  Dr. Klein (the same doctor that delivered Mackenzie) walked in at 6:18 am, and 12 pushes later at 6:39 am, we became parents for the second time to a little boy.  At one point I was so out of breath and kept saying over and over how bad it hurt, only to be told by the doctor that because of how fast Nolan was coming, my epidural couldn't keep up, so needless to say, I felt A LOT more with him than I did with Mackenzie.  And Daddy kept on laughing at me every time I said it hurt.  He finally looked at me and said, "Babe, it's supposed to hurt-you're having a baby!"

Nolan Scott

Surprise!  We had a baby!  Well, I guess I should say, I had a baby!  However you look at it, Scott and I now have a son, and you, Mackenzie are a big sister!  I know, I know it's shocking and completely unexpected by many, including us.  No, I didn't sign up to be on any TLC shows and don't plan to.  Here's the story of our little sneaky squirrel...

I went to the doctor on May 20th for a crazy leg cramp up by my groin and some other issues.  It seriously felt like I pulled a muscle, but it would come and go.  I had Daddy meet me at the office because I needed him to hang with you while they did whatever I thought they were going to do.  After waiting what felt like forever, I was finally called back and did the ever so lovely pee in a cup for the nurse.  She then came back and said that based on my last period, April 16th, I was due in January. Daddy looked at me and I looked at him and proceeded to tell the nurse that we were NOT there for a confirmation of a pregnancy.  She said that she wanted to do a test anyways just to make sure, and sure enough it positive!  Whoa, whoa, whoa.  I was extremely surprised and not how I expected to find out that I was pregnant.  Daddy had turned a ghostly greyish-white at this point and my stomach was flip flopping...but NOT from a baby.  I wasn't ready for this, we didn't plan this, however, you (Mack) were a surprise too.  How were we going to now have 2 under 2, how would we prep you to become a big sister?  So many questions/emotions reeling through my head.  We went back into a room and were greeted by a super fabulous doctor that I had seen a few times when I was pregnant with Mackenzie.  She estimated that I was approximately 5 weeks pregnant until she checked me and got a very confused look on her face.  Of course, I got nervous and then she said, "I think I feel a head."  Yes, a head.  What?  How in the world was this possible?  She ordered an ultrasound and within 3 minutes we saw the most amazingly, huge baby on the machine.  The baby was so big in fact, that the tech couldn't determine the sex.  Then she explained that I was 36 weeks pregnant...basically full term.  I covered my face and felt like the world was racing and I was standing completely still.  Daddy is amazing, he was holding you and didn't drop you and maintained his composer the whole time.  How was this happening?  I made fun of all the ladies on all of the silly I didn't know I was pregnant shows, and now I was one of them?!  When we got back into the room with the doctor, she was so excited for us.  She was literally skipping down the hallways calling for all the blood work tests that needed to be done asap.  My due date was estimated for June 11th, our 6th wedding anniversary!  I was having a hard time getting myself together and she sat with us for some time reassuring us (me) that this happens way more than we all think and I had many factors that aided into me not knowing I was pregnant.  1. I had my period the whole time.  2. I was on birth control until Dec., therefore, I again got pregnant on the pill.  3. I had an inverted uterus that pushed little man so far into my back I felt little movement i.e. gas pains and because of the inverted uterus, I didn't "pop".  4. The stress of this past year was enough for me to never think I could be pregnant.  I had some back pain starting in April, but we took a road trip to NY, and I started working in the classroom 5 days a week, therefore, I was on my feet all day long.  5. I knew I gained weight and Daddy knew it too (he just never said anything because he didn't want to start a fight...smart man I married!), but he never, ever thought I was pregnant  6.  I never needed to wear maternity clothes, in fact, I went to the hospital in my normal clothes.  Hopefully, this answers a lot of questions everyone has, and we'll have this to read to you two one day about our sneaky squirrel.

June 14, 2010

21 Months and A New Addition...

My, my, my what a month!!!  I can't believe in 3 short months you will be 2 years old.  This time last year you were just crawling, not a tooth was to be seen, and you were still in your baby carrier.  Oh, how things have changed.  You are well beyond our years when it comes to vocabulary and your speech.  You do say the funniest things, such has Yolives=olives, cookie conster=cookie monster, yackpack=backpack, hold you=hold me, I yuve you=I love you, peapop=teapot (my current favorite) and many more that I can't think of right now.  When we were registering for Nolan at Babies R Us, Lady Antebellum was playing over the speakers.  You kept on saying a phrase over and over again, but we couldn't for the life of us figure out what you were saying.  You closed your eyes and started swaying back and forth and saying the phrase again.  We finally figured out that you were singing with Lady A!  The song was "I need you know", and your interpretation is, "IIIIII meeeeeed you moooooow."  Thankfully, I have the CD and we listen to it all the time.  You love to make animal noises and your new favorite is the sound you make for a skunk, you make this puffing noise all while holding your nose, and you say that a penguin says, "waddle, waddle, waddle", and whenever you say any animal, you insist on making the sound that goes with said animal.  You also have a new found love of cows, and we have no idea why, but it's pretty darn cute.  Whenever we pass a pasture, you shout with delight, "COWS!"  While we were in the hospital, Uncle Mike taught you to say "dude!" and if we don't reply back to you, you will say, "Dude Me!" and you love to give "Knuckles" now too.  I'm telling you, you are IN-SANE and too stinkin' funny.  You are my little side kick and we have many, many conversations throughout the day that mostly consist around "Gora", animals, her toys, or food, but every once in awhile, you will ask me something so crazy.  Just the other day, you were sitting with Daddy watching Transformers and you said, "Daddy?" and when he responded to her you then said, "Whatchya watchin'?"  It was the cutest thing ever and when he told you that he was watching Transformers, you said, "Oh, ok, thank you."  I have a feeling that potty training is right around the corner.  You LOVE to announce when your pooping and then shortly after you will repeatedly say, "poopie".  After your all finished, you'll walk backwards towards us saying, "Sheck, me poopie."  And you've had a lot of yucky loose poopies, (sorry, Mack, but this is too funny not to post) and it looks like peanut butter...I know, disgusting.  Well, I guess we've said a time or two how it resembles said peanut butter and now you'll say peanut butter every single time we change your diaper.  We've been spending a lot of time at my Gwama's because Daddy's been working on the lake and we've reintroduced you to the pool.  You have absolutely no fear of the water and of course you think you can do everything the big kids can, so we've been extremely careful with you around the pool.  We actually had to go out and buy you a life jacket (coast guard approved, I might add) because I can't stomach all the "what ifs" when it comes to the water.  Oh, and on the day that you turned 21 months, YOU became a BIG SISTER! 

June 4, 2010