Busy, busy!

I've never really understood the phrase " Where does the time go?" until this year. Something about watching a human being grow from a helpless, screaming , constantly hungry newborn to a " I wanna do it myself", screaming and constantly hungry toddler has that effect on someone. But really, where did it go?

The next few weeks are going to be busy ones for us as we anticipate a visit from my mom , Mackenzie's birthday and baptism all in one week! The next week is filled with doctor's appointments and play dates and when it's all said and done, I'm sure I'll still be trying to find those moments that I've somehow lost...Somewhere between newborn and one year old, I seem to have let the business of life sweep me up into it's dizziness . I miss Mackenzie as a newborn....I love her so much now as a toddler. Even when you hear a million times " Don't, blink! That newborn will be a little girl" you never believe it. Instead, you get pulled between the vacuuming and studying and before you know it, you've got a little hand on your leg, looking up at you like a starved baby bird wanting that last bite of your sting cheese! So my project this year is to stop taking life so seriously and enjoy the every day moments and the little blessings I've been given.

So what's new at our house? Are you ready for some real excitement? Mackenzie has a little diaper rash so she got to run around with no diaper most of the day. I know what you're thinking and yes, I did have to follow her around with that " pet stain remover" stuff ( kinda the same concept, right?) . It was lookin' much better at the end of the day. Her new favorite word is 'pretty', or " pw-tee" as she says. The prettiest thing to her? The chandelier over the dining room table. She tells it so at least four times a day.

Mike worked a long 12 days in a row and is now trying to help me get ready for Mackenzie's birthday. He's repainted the bathroom and even picked out new towels! We've had a lot of fun trying to give our little house some character. It's a slow process but that's ok!

I've been busy with party preparations. While I've still got a month to go, I am a glutton for organization and so every day, I pull out my note pad and rework the menu or recreate our invite. I'm still working out 6 days a week! I'm down about 32 lbs since Nov but I've still got a ways to go before I'm a good healthy weight. I'm loving the challenge! More to come next week ( maybe it will be even more exciting..if you can imagine! ) Until then, here are a few snap shots of our week.

Here's Mackenzie on the No diaper day!
Mike's Jester hat had Mack puzzled!
Mackenzie has enough hair for "pony tail"...even if it does look dangerous.
Here's a tooth shot!
She's such a happy little girl




Mackenzie wasn't really excited about helping with laundry.

Mx3

Here we are on Christmas Eve in our new Pajamas!
I'm obviously not the best person at keeping in touch. If I were, I wouldn't need a blog! So I wanted to sort of catch everyone up to date on where we are seperately and collectively...


Mike- M # 1: Mike is a busy guy and pretty hard to keep track of ( that's why I had to buy a HUGE mom calendar to help me keep track of him). He works two jobs: He is a paramedic for Huron Valley Ambulance based out of Ann Arbor. He's worked there for a long time- dating back to high school. It's a great job for him because he is only obligated to work 72 hours in a quarter but can work as much as he wants. The shifts are either 12 or 24 hours long and he can self schedule. It's awesome even though it's pretty draining at times. His second job is as a registered nurse in the Trauma/Burn ICU at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He's been working there for about a year and a half and serves on several nursing committees. His days there are stressful ( as one can imagine) and he comes home physically and emotionally exhausted. He works 12 hour shifts there are well. Both jobs are awesome because, even with working shifts at both places, he is usually home with Mackenzie and me two days a week. He's trying to get his feet wet in a wood working ( " making saw dust") He is a great guitarist ( although he will deny it) and has lots of other hobbies that he rarely has time to fully delve into. On top of all that, he always finds time to help me out around the house. He LOVES being a daddy . He and Mackenzie are two peas in a pod and she adores him. You would never know that he didn't have much experience with kids before last year. I love listening to him talking to Mackenzie before bed time.


Missy-M # 2: That's me! I never know what to say about me...I'm fortunate enough to be a stay at home mommy. It's meant a lot of sacrifice for us and things get pretty tight but I wouldn't trade it for even the biggest piece of chocolate cake! To be able to see Mackenzie growing and watch the subtle changes that I might otherwise miss is probably one of life's biggest blessings. I love chasing her around to hear her squeal or read stories to her or just explore new things together. I am a big time clean freak so I spend my days cleaning and recleaning...organizing and reorganizing...vacuuming and revacuuming...you know the drill. I love to scrapbook although I get burnt out on it easily and need to take a few weeks off after I've done a big project. My " me" time comes in the form of a gym membership to SnapFitness which I absolutely LOVE. I go 6 days out of the week working out with weights and also on the cardio machines. I feel great and am losing weight at a very healthy and maintanable rate! I also like to read and just veg in front of the TV as well. I admit that I spend way too much time on line...

Mackenzie- M # 3: Well what can be said about Mackenzie? She's a one woman recking crew ( even when she's " helping" me unload and reload the dishwasher). She's full of spunk and always on the go- no time for cuddling! She's gone from this little squeeking newborn to a little toddler! Her first birthday is just around the corner- I can hardly believe it. She's quiet the chatterbox and will repeat anything she hears. Her favorite words are: hi!, daddy, mom, kitty, here, light, more, kids ( we live hear a school and she waves to the kids every morning and afternoon), no, yay, whoa, wow" and probably a few other's that I may have forgotten! We've recently weaned her off of the bottle. She was a champ and took right to a sippy cup. The last bottle to go was the " prebedtime" bottle and she had no troubles whatsoever! She loves brushing her two little teeth or maybe it's just the bubble gum flavored baby toothpaste that she likes? She's cruising around the furniture like a pro and clapping and dancing to any thing that resembles a song. She knows all the motions for "patty cake" and is learning the part of the body. So far she's only mastered nose and is working on mouth! I could go on forever. She's just pure joy to us and just when I think I couldn't love her any more, I do.


Mx3 ...When Mike and I got married, I started signing our wedding thank you's as M&M so the nickname Mx3 sort of evolved from that. As a family, we LOVE outtings...we miss the warm weather that allowed us so many nice walks to the park but have been to the museum several times this winter. We love to have people come to visit us but our favorite thing is to just be together. Cheesey, I know, but so true!

So that's a snap shot of us...

Stolen idea

It must be known that I have stolen this AWESOME idea from my favorite cousin, Christine! She started a blog for her family and has done such a great job with it and I realized it's a fantastic way to keep people up to date! With so many people all over the place, there really isn't a better way to keep everyone in the loop on what's going on. Often times, I forget the little things that go on in our lives. Those "little" things are sometimes the best parts of life.

So now that I have admitted that this was not my own idea, I feel so much better ( Thanks, Christine! From here on out, I promise not to steal any other works of art from you..). I'm planning on updating the blog once a week or so and I hope to not keep it super boring . But you'd better check back frequently, you never know when there may be a test!

Signing off ( I don't know why I typed that. It just seemed appropriate! )
Missy