Seven Months

Seven months! Our little girl has a glow about her. A week in Kauai and she is sun kissed. Over the past month things are continuing to change in Makenna's world. She ate her first watermelon while on vacation. Loved it. It was another way to keep her hydrated against the heat. She is now bouncing in place every chance she gets. Just a couple of weeks ago she started leaning forward when in a sitting position so much so that she topples onto her stomach. Crawling here we come! In a way we are ready for Makenna to start becoming mobile. I know, right...what are we thinking. She is currently at the point where the lack of mobility is really frustrating her. For now though we are enjoying the bouncing while sitting Makenna and the assisted standing Makenna. It won't be long before locomotion occurs then we will have our hands full! The child is full of sounds. We are still working on "mama" and "dada" and it seems that too will be just around the corner. Having always been a love bug Miss Makenna has been giving more kisses as of late. Today after her lunch of tomato puree is the only time I cringed at her gaping mouth kiss! How strange is it that even the smell of tomatoes makes me gag? Hoping that our sweet girl grows to have a sophisticated pallet- enjoying tomatoes & blueberries :) .

Aloha!!

Our first family vacation. Makenna's first flight. Evan's first trip to Hawaii. Just a few first among many on a week long trip to paradise.

First it must be commented on...Makenna did wonderful on both flights!! She is just an amazing baby. How did we luck out? On our flight to Kauai she only slept (maybe) an hour and a half on the 6 hour flight. Even though she was tired, being it was WAY past her bedtime she was in good spirits and won over our fellow passengers. Surprise, surprise!

We sure lucked out on weather, for the entire week it was 76+ degrees, sunny and not a drop of rain during the day! Our condo was gorgeous set on immaculate grounds. Having not spent too much time at the south end of the island it turned out to be the most ideal for our family and this vacation.

Snorkeling, soaking up the sun, LOTS of Starbucks :) , turtle watching, yummy Mai Tai's, warm blue waters, whale watching, grilled chicken, fresh fruit, meals on the lanai, beautiful sunrises, and great family time.

Meeting Grace :)

Lucas showing off his "helper" skills by feeding Makenna.

Literally shoveling it in!

This just cracks me up. Between Lucas' expression and Makenna's I don't know which is funnier?!

Holding Grace Marie's hand. Too cute :)

Going to become the best of friends. Watch out Lucas because these two are going to give you a run for your money!!

Our friends Andy and Alysha (Lucas' mom & dad) just welcomed their daughter, Grace Marie, on December 31st, 2010. Such a sweet little girl. Having Makenna by her just illustrates how our little one has grown. Lucas, as always, is such a sweet little boy and really enjoying his new role as big brother. Having the three of them together for the first time allows my mind to wander to years to come and the fun they will have growing up together.

First Birthday as Makenna's Momma :)

The best gift I have ever gotten: Makenna!

Opening my cards from Makenna & Evan.
Makenna is "sampling" the information for my birthday whale watch
Evan & I are going on while on Kauai!!! My husband knows me too well!

Birthday family portrait.

Being one that has always coveted birthdays I knew my view of birthdays would once again change as I added the new role of momma. As I predicted new emotions surrounding my day of birth entered into the picture. The amount of gratitude I feel towards my mother for doing a great job of raising me in a home of love and support is indescribable. During the day with my girl I kept looking at Makenna, taking her in and thinking about her birthday. Her birth story. How blessed am I to have such a daughter. To have such a mother. Makenna and I are lucky to have such strong women in our lives. I think of my birth story and how different it is from Makenna's. How my life will be different from hers in many ways, but hopefully she will look back one day as she gazes at her child and feel the same gratitude. The sacrifices one does for love. The devotion. It was a beautiful day spent with my girl. That evening I celebrated with Evan and my other parents. It was a simple day, but in its simplicity it was great.

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Birthday girl celebrating her first birthday as a Grandma!!!

Makenna "cheesing" it up with Grandma- the birthday girl!

This little girl sure loves her Grandma! Happy Birthday DelRae!!!

Lazy Sunday

To gaze out a window and look upon the beauty of the day is a treasured event.

The joy a slinky brings even to a 6 month old. It's movement, colors

and sounds leaves her transfixed.

The love our daughter has for her daddy is paulpable.

Tales from a wee one of the adventures her and turtle have puts even daddy to sleep.

After 3 1/2 days apart our reunion called for some lazy play time in bed. Oh the giggles that poured from that room. These are the moments that make days great.

Northward Bound

Julz finally gets her hands on those pinchable cheeks! Our visits with our lovely friends are too few and far between. The time that lapses in between major changes occur with our girls. Distance is cruel.

Makenna quite taken with Holden and her beautiful locks. Holden was such a sweetie letting her pull and "eat" her hair, while exclaiming "she pulling my hair" and she "licking my hair"! Thank goodness it produces smiles and not tears!

Funny faces of Holden! She is becoming quite a lively little girl full of love, creativity, spunk and stories. Her vocabulary has exploded as well as her memory.

The lovely Miss Iona and her sweet momma. What a precious addition to the VQ family! So happy to have finally gotten my hands on her sweetness. Only problem was that I had to let her go. :(

The girls! Oh, the adventures these three will have together. :)

Makenna: 6 months - Holden: nearly 3 years - Iona: 2 months

At Gran's house Makenna had her first sink bath!

Our Stanley the Snail rocking chair is by far the BEST consignment find to date! Retails for $140 US in England and we only paid $15!! Gran will say that I was more

excited about it than Makenna.

The tongue is out. This has become our "norm".

After a great visit up north, I returned home wishing I had taken more photos of the trip. What I didn't document was the reunion with the Aggergaard family at their farm. How their kids have grown. As always it was great seeing them and the progress of their home which is under construction. How I managed not to take a single photo of Makenna and her Gran is beyond me. I guess I was too wrapped up in enjoying observing their interaction. Our Makenna sure does love her Gran. Such a fortunate child to have 3 loving grandparents that just adore her. Unfortunately, by the time it came for us to head home Makenna wasn't feeling so great. The sweet little one had her first episode of constipation. It was a long afternoon on Saturday upon our return home. She is slowly returning to "normal".

6 Month Well-Baby Check-Up

Yesterday, Makenna and I went to visit Dr. Barer for her 6 month well-baby check-up. Our growing girl now weighs 16 lbs. 4 oz!! She measured 26 inches in length and her head circumference was 42 1/2 inches (50%tile all across the board)!! Dr. Barer was very pleased with her overall development as our gummy grinning girl sat in my lap just babbling away. :) She enjoyed showing her ladybug toy to Dr. Barer and how she is able to make it make noise by shaking it wildly in the air!! Once again Makenna was most upset by the oral vaccine, while the 4 shots didn't seem to bother her too much at all. "Such a trooper"- commented her nurse. We opted to have the flu vaccine administered and will return in a month for the second dose. Here is hoping our healthy baby has built up quite an immune system to handle a 6 hour flight with recirculated air without catching a "bug".