Warm Weather in February

Gramma took some time off and spent a few days with us in late February.  Since the weather was so beautiful, we decided to visit Swift Cantrell Park in Kennesaw.  The park is massive and of course we went when the rest of the county was there too.  Thankfully, even with all of the people out, we were able to still have so much fun.  Both of you love the swings so much and it was so fun to watch you swinging side by side and giggling at each other.  Nolan, you would squeal with delight and Mack, you would giggle every time you went high up.  While you, Nole, were swinging away, Mack you were being your daredevil, rock climbing self.  You wouldn't take any of the easy ways up to the slides, you insisted on climbing up.  It was such a nice, fun day and we all had such a great time.

 Mack, you such a goof ball...all of the time!

 Ridin' along in my automobile...

 Elbow, Elbow, wrist, wrist...no, no that's not right!

 Nolan, you were loving the swing!

 You would take your right hand and pat the swing.

 Mr. Giggles.

 Such a boy.

 How are Earth are you this big already?!

 I love that little smirk.

Here's the start of the balance blocks.  Poor girl, your short legs wouldn't make it to each one, so you would balance on the beam in between.

 Such concentration and determination.

 Almost there...

 And JUMP!  I'm so glad I caught this mid jump.

Valentine's Day 2011

Mommy and Daddy celebrated Valentine's Day the weekend before on the 12th.  We went to the Cheesecake Factory with Uncle Mike and Aunt Kari and enjoyed a nice evening out.  The restaurant was so crowded, but that was to be expected.  Daddy got me a gift certificate for a massage (Hallelujah!) and an owl bracket with matching earrings.  I got Daddy a new North Face fleece jacket.  Mr. Skinny has been losing all kinds of weight and his old one looked silly on him.  Mack, you had a little party at school the Friday before Valentine's Day and you talked about that party all week long leading up to it.  You had no idea just how much fun you were going to have.  We went that week and you picked out Tinkerbell cards that had stickers to go with them.  When I picked you up from school, you were running around like a mad woman!  You made a cute foam heart necklace and you had a bag slapped full of all kinds of goodies.  All the teachers on your hall gave you some kind of treat and some kids in your class gave you candy along with a card.  Mommy didn't know about allergies in your class and what was and wasn't allowed, that's why we bought the cards with stickers.  You're still talking about how sweet all of your friends are and you still wear your heart necklace from time to time. 

Maddie's 2nd Birthday Party

Kristin and Chad had Maddie's party at Gymboree and I knew from the minute I knew that's where it was, that you, Mack were going to love this place.  There's nothing that kids can't climb on, jump on, run around, skip around, hop around.  It's a kid's wonderland.  Nolan, you even got in on the action and were having some serious fun yourself.  Mack, you really loved this place and it was hard to get you to stop long enough to get a picture, but we got a lot of you in action.

You loved this little balance beam.

Poor guy, you kept running into the windows trying to crawl all over the place.

You loved this half circle climb-y thing.

Mack, I think this was your favorite part besides eating cupcakes!  You would walk up this tube and then blast off of it.  It was so much fun watching just how fearless you really are.

The only pictures I have of the birthday girl are of her watching you devour your cupcake!

February 5, 2011

Baby Food Making 101

When you were baby, (Mack) I tried to make your food, but I tried with fruit only and it was a failing attempt.  Now that you (Nolan) are eating like a grown man and will soon be eating your parents out of house and home, I decided there has to be a more efficient, cost effective, safer way for you to eat.  I have a dear friend, Kendra who I consider by baby food guru.  She gave me a few basic steps and I was on my way to making food.  Daddy's NaNa bought me the book Double Delicious by Jessica Seinfield and I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone.  There's a whole section in the book on how to steam, boil, and cook all kinds of vegetables.  And I will also add that I don't own a food processor.  I got hooked on The Magic Bullet infomerical one year so for Christmas Carmen bought it for me!  I've done all kinds of recipes in it and now I make your food with it.  Making your food is so much fun for me.  It's become a game for me to find out which stores have the cheapest, highest quality foods. We went shopping back in late January and I bought 7 bags of frozen vegetables.  Each bag was $.77 for 16 oz.  I bought a 5 lb. butternut squash for $1.49 a pound, a bag of carrots for under $2.00 and 2 sweet potatoes.  It's now March 16th, and I'm still using the same food!  Insane!  And the best part, it doesn't smell funny, look funny, or taste funny and you, Mr. Nole, absolutely LOVE it.

I really enjoy cooking and I would say that this is the most time consuming part of all of it.  It takes about an hour for the squash to roast.  While that's roasting, I'm steaming away.

 This is the squash after it's cooked.  Mixed with water and pureed.  

This is just a fraction of what I made.  It was getting late and the battery was about to die in the camera, but from what you can see, that's 26 containers of food!

Nolan's First "Puffs"

Now that you have 2 of your bottom teeth, we decided to let you try out some puffs.  You definitely didn't know what to do with or think of them to begin with, but with a little help, you decided they were worth the trouble.  You started by chasing them all around your food tray and getting pretty angry that they would stick to your finger, but you just couldn't figure out how to get one, just one in your mouth.  Finally, you did it, and you really enjoy your morning and afternoon snack times now.  And since your first puff experience, you've also have tried the dry yogurt rounds, and you my love, think those are pretty good. 

January 21, 2011

Mackenzie's 1st Day of School!

Well, preschool, but it was still your first day being instructed and care for by someone other than family.  We've debated for over a year now about putting you in preschool at our church, but let's be extremely honest here, Mommy just wasn't ready.  Now that I'm babysitting and we're at the church everyday of the week, you were crying every time we left because you wanted so badly to stay.  It took one week for me to realize we both needed this.  Your first day was January 31, 2011 and Mommy and Daddy both took you to school.  You were so excited...until they tried to take your Barney lunch box away from you.  You have always had a difficult time with transitions, you are a girl that likes to do things on your own time, and you had no control over this situation.  Lucky for you, you were able to carry your lunchbox around with you and you were happy once again.  You go to school on Mondays, Fridays, and Wednesdays as you like to tell people.  You cried every time I dropped you off for the first week or so, but the funny thing is, you would walk in to the classroom willingly, you just had tears in your eyes.  Now, you give us all big hugs and kisses and run barge right through the doors to get into your classroom.  I personally, can not be happier with this decision.  Your teachers are phenomenal and you're already learning so much.  You call all the kids in your class "your friends" and you've bonded so well with everyone.  For me, it was difficult.  It was that whole letting go process and I'm just not good with that.  I was being very selfish wanting to keep you all to myself and wasn't thinking about what is best for you.  Because your Uncle Matt and I had such horrible anxiety about school, I just assumed that you would be the same way, boy was I wrong.  It was by far one of the best decisions we've made for you so far.

January 31, 2011

Mack-29 Months Old

Ok, so sweet girl, you're now 29 months old and Mommy will be 29 years old in March!  Lately I've been having flash backs of your first few months of life.  I'm trying so hard to hold onto you and you seem to always be one quick step ahead of me.  I'm so desperately trying to keep you a baby and I'm failing miserably.  By putting you in preschool has really helped me to start "letting go".  It was a very big deal for me to put you in preschool, but I had to as previously talked about.  I'm so excited for the future with you, what you'll look like this time next year, what new crazy things you'll be saying, but for some reason, I'm having a tough time with this whole growing up thing.  You're my little side kick and have such fun conversations now.  I never want you to be disappointed or embarrassed by your Daddy and me (although we both tend to act a fool every once in a while).  We love so much, Mackadoodle.  So here's what you've been up to for the past few months.

*You went to the doctor in mid January for what I thought was a cold.  Turned out you had a nasty ear infection.  The dr. was so impressed by your verbal skills (no shock to us) because you were able to tell her exactly where it hurt and what it felt like.   After a round of terrible, horrible medicine, you were back to your crazy self.  They weighed too, and you're right at 30 lbs.
*You say the absolute funniest things!  There's a new show on called Bubble Guppies and you refer to it as "Gubble Buppies", you call a tape measure "teasure mape".  You have no problem telling us if we "make you sad" or you say, "I'm sad at you."  And you've been exploring with pushing our buttons so to speak, and a few times, I've yelled raised my voice at you.  One day I did this, you very matter of factly pointed your finger at me and said, "Mommy, you don't yell at me."  This really put me in my place.  It came as a shock and I'm trying very hard to find other ways instead of raising my voice at you to get the point across.
*You're still very interested in "The Wizard" and you just told me the other day that you wanted your brugger to have a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Curious George birthday party because you think he really likes those things.
*You are obsessed with those crazy dancing-dancing-people-blow-up-things.  You refer to them as "the red guy" because our local BBQ joint has one in it's parking lot and you go nuts when you see it.  You do the little dance like them and it's so funny.
*When you get really excited about something, you cover your mouth and start to squeal which is then followed with, "I really yike that!"
*You're extremely creative and think outside the box.  You recently took the foam letters "a" that's green and a "p" that's red.  You put the p on top of the a and told me that you made an apple.  I was stunned.  And during snack not too long ago, you said, "My frozen yogurt is yike ice cweam...well awmost."  And then giggled your head off.
*Daddy taught you that his ring means Mommy loves him and Mommy's ring means that Daddy loves her.  It's the sweetest thing ever to hear you talk about it.  I thought I would stump you, and so I showed you Gramma's (gorgeous) ring and asked you what that meant.  I was fully prepared for to say that it meant that Daddy loved Gramma.  Well, Miss Smarty Pants, without missing a beat you said,"Gramma's ring means Pawpa loves her."  And then you followed it with an, "Awww!"  Funny girl, you.
*You are so compassionate.  You will randomly give us hugs, kisses, and tell us that you love us, or that we're your best friend. 

We love you so much and Mommy and Daddy are trying our hardest to raise you to give respect and to expect respect.  You have lit up our world and continue to shine.

February 4, 2011