11 Months Old!

Our happy BIG 11 month old!!

There was no sitting down, let alone still for this months photo shoot.

Oh, how she loves her birds. Even though she has been standing for a while now, I haven't had the heart to remove her mobile. She loves those birds dearly. I've got to figure out how to keep them incorporated in her room once the crib is gone.

Our sweet little love bug giving kisses to her bird.

What does a monkey say? "Aah aah aaah"~ Makenna

One little monkey jumping on the bed :)

I love how this image captures her silly/crazy/fun side! She is such a little ham.

Introducing purple monkey to Oatmeal the bear & her elephant.

Where do I begin to describe our little one and her amazing personality? She has become a crawling machine and she loves walking as she is assisted by hands of a loved one or fixed furniture she can cruise around. She is also free standing and becoming confident in her balance. She loves loves loves books. We have settled nicely into a new bedtime routine as we are easing ourselves into weening by nursing then having story time before placing her into bed awake. There are nights when after changing into her pj's she immediately started pointing at her basket of books seemingly nursing has become second to reading. She sweetly pulls out her books onto the floor until she is surrounded and then begins to flip through their pages. While spending time "reading" her stories on her own, she will see animals she recognizes (sheep, elephants, monkeys, dogs, fish, and cow) and make their respective sounds. It's incredible to watch. She is such a smart cookie. And a little love bug. She is so sweet with her hugs and kisses. Chances are if you are lying down on the floor or have a tail she is going to try and give you some love. Since I don't have a tail I spend lots of time lying on the floor to get my Makenna fix! Her babbling is now on overdrive. She talks to herself and anyone in ear shot. She sweetly waves "bye-bye" to passing cars as we are getting loaded up in ours. She dances to tunes that for one reason or another inspire her bounce around. Oh, and if you are feeding her dancing will always bring a huge food-full grin. Speaking of food. Even though she is small, she sure eats A LOT!! Forget breakfast, lunch and dinner. Our Makenna has a little hobbit in her. She has milk, then breakfast, then first snack, then lunch, then second snack, then third snack, then dinner, and then milk. Yes, she practically lives in her highchair! :) How does she not weight 35 lbs or more?? One thing is for sure...she is full of sugar and spice and EVERYTHING nice! :)

Lions, Tigers & Bears...

...oh my!!

We saw Tigers and a couple of Polar Bears while at the Point Defiance Zoo. With Makenna perfecting her animal sounds we thought it was great timing to introduce her to the zoo.

First stop upon our arrival...the food court! Our Miss Makenna sure loves to eat. We found some healthy bites for Makenna- she loved her cantaloupe, honey dew and sweet potato fries.

First stop the Elephants. This is one Makenna knows. She even finds them in books and makes her elephant sound. Even a live elephant is no match to a new tree. She was fascinated with the bamboo. What can we say...we have a little tree hugger on our hands! :)

We found "Honey", the owl, on our way to visit the penguins. Yet, another animal sound she knows and all she wanted to do was hug this sweet little owl. The volunteer was kind enough to let her get close as long as I held her arm to her side. She was content with a closer look even if she couldn't touch.

She loved this bathing bear!

Snailing around.

Just like her mama, she loved the goats- even if she first thought they were dogs!

How could we pass up a trip on the carousel?

With her zoo visit souvenir in hand, Makenna happily plays introducing purple monkey to the outside world.

We found an escapee on our way back to the car. It was a challenge to keep her at arms length from her new feathered friend.

After a day at the zoo we continued to the point to get some beach time in at Owen Beach.

A hidden talent- zen garden artist.

Loving the feeling of sands between her fingers.

Another great adventure with our little family.

Shave and a Hair-cut

So there was no shaving of Miss Makenna, but definitely some hairs were cut. I hated doing it. And to be honest I was very worried for our daughters sake that I would butcher her beautiful blond mop. I think people would understand my trepidation if they could see what became of my Barbies after a visit to my hair salon. Regardless of my fears due to my lack of haircutting ability, I set out to trim Makenna's bangs since they were encroaching her eyes.

A couple of before pictures of our shaggy rag-a-muffin beauty.

Someone told me to grab a section and twist so that her bangs would not be straight across and have a more "natural" look.

"OH MY GOODNESS, MOM WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HAIR?!?!?!"

-her stunned look just says it all.

After a few moments to take in her new "look", she thankfully approves!

Sunny Days, Sweeping the Clouds Away...

Makenna, the snuggle bug, loves her Wayne Dog to pieces. Now that she is mobile she delightfully squeals and "speed" crawls after he has left the "scene" upon having had enough of Makenna's affections- which include her version of patting, hair & ear pulling. Makenna's sweet hugs right after she planted a sloppy kiss right atop Wayne's head. :)

Saturday kicked of Memorial Day weekend beautifully. We spent the majority of the day outside soaking in every ounce of sunshine we could possibly take in. Right after nap time we took our second stroll of the day down to our neighborhood park to play amongst the trees and in the lush grass. Makenna discovered she could fly with a little help from Dada.

Makenna was totally oblivious to Wayne's crazing rolling fest going on behind her until moments after this photo was taken. The dog just loves thick lush grass, especially when its been freshly cut.

Our happy outdoor girl.

Evan's First 8K & Makenna's Operation Grape Freedom :)

Dada with little M at the starting line.

And they're off!!! All smiles and still dry.

Shortly after this Makenna, Mom & I headed back to the car and attempted to quickly get ahead of Evan. Didn't think that was going to be so challenging. :) Not only does Evan run fast, but we hit EVERY single light through the downtown. We did manage to pass him at the far end of the lake and park about a mile out from the finish line.

Finishing strong :)

I barely made it to capture this special moment. Once again I didn't realize how fast Evan runs. I ended up running along side him while snapping photos. Was surprised I even captured this and its somewhat straight.

Great job Dada!!

Mmmm just like her Dada, Makenna loves her apples.

Our little monkey. :)

Eye on the prize.

Placing FIRST in his age division for the 8K!! I am pretty certain he was 5 or 6 overall. Sometime in the next week times and places should be posted online.

Flashing the blue.

Makenna was impressed with Dada's ribbon. And it tasted pretty good, too!

Great Job Ev!!! We are SOO proud of you!!




The other morning I was getting Makenna's breakfast together and I turned around to find Makenna b-lining it for the opened fridge. Instead of scooping her up and redirecting her focus I decided to grab the camera and just watch. Upon standing she came eye-to-eye with her new love- grapes. Immediately she started tapping at the drawer and making grunts.

I opened up the drawer to again see what she would do.

The taste of sweet sweet freedom. :) She was quite proud of her accomplishment and her mouthful of grapes! I think it's time to get a lock for the fridge.