Animal noises

A video! Mackenzie climbing off the couch and on again...

This video was actually made for my mom and niece, Brooklyn( who absolutely ADORES Mackenzie). I thought it'd be fun to post here, too. I'm a really bad videographer, so try not to lose your lunch watching...

And now, back to the show!

Alright, Mom, you got your updates and pictures of Mike and me, so now I'm getting back to the cute one!

" Big" news: Grandma Mary worked some pretty long hours to make this HUGE stuffed bear for Mackenzie. We lovingly , and appropriately, named him Bigley. You can see why!
She loves Bigley! Her favorite thing to do is toddle over to him and throw herself on his big tummy!

Aunt Janet bought us a pass to Kensington Metro park! It's an enormous park full of hiking trails, fishing, play grounds, a petting zoo and much more. We took Mackenzie to see the animals she's been reading about in her books.


Mackenzie and I had a really nice visit with Aunt Meg over the weekend. She had been in California visiting Chloe ( and Leif and Marie!) . We wanted to hear all about her trip and that sweet Chloe! While Aunt Meg and I chatted, Mackenzie scoped the place out. Here's a cute picture of the two of them:
Mackenzie has moved from the high chair to a booster seat! She's even mastered using a plate ( with out flinging it on the floor) , cup and silverware.
Oh! And sharing, too:
And with the really nice weather last weekend, we headed over to Grandma Mary's to soak up some sun. The tiny inflatable pools are the perfect size for Mackenzie but I think we'll be graduating to a bigger size in the next few weeks!
Isn't this swimming suit so cute? It was given to Mackenzie by her godmother, Erin!
Who needs pool toys when you've got mommy's giant floating shoes?!

This one's for you, Mom!

Well, my mom was saying that, as much as she loves to see pictures of Mackenzie, she wanted some pictures and updates for Mike and me, too. Here's the best I could do, Mom:
I never know what to say about myself since most of what I have to say about me turns into something about Mackenzie or Mike. I am still plugging away at my weight loss goals. I was stuck for a while but have recently started picking back up again. I am down 42 lbs towards my goal of losing 60 lbs. With the nice weather, I have started jogging more. That may be on hiatus until I can get some new running shoes, though, since I've been have issues with plantar fasciitis. School has been put on hold for a little while but I hope to pick back up on it for summer semester.

I love this picture of Mackenzie and me, even though it's off centered.

Mike has been really busy the last few weeks. He's working full time at U of M and then picking up one or two shifts at HVA on his off days. Mackenzie misses him and often wonders " Daddy! Where are you?". When he's got a few bits of time, he can be found in the garage, working on a wood working project. He made a really cute shelving unit for Mackenzie's room. I'll have to get some pictures of that, too. He's really creative and loves wood working!

Mackenzie really did like taking daddy for a ride, you just can't tell it from this picture!

I call shenanigans

That's the phrase Mike has taken to. Since other previously used phrases are no longer appropriate, he came up with this on the fly.

I am calling shenanigans on the dentist who told us that brushing Mackenzie teeth like we do would keep her from becoming fussy while teething. Well, we brush and brush and, well, she cries and cries! But who can blame her? She's got one tooth that's partially in and three others that are trying to break in! The last few days have been veeeeeeerrrrrrrrryyyy loooooonnng. She woke up today with a fever and has been glued to my hip all day.

On a lighter note, here are a few new pictures of Mackenzie.

This picture leaves me speechless which is ok because I'm not sure words are needed:



I heard the jingling of my keys at the door and figured Mackenzie was just playing with them ( I'd dropped them on my way in). Here's what I found her doing.



She must have been thinking " If I could only get this key to work...."

How to eat an ice cream cone

Grandma Mary brought Mackenzie a treat the last time she came over. It was fun to see Mackenzie enjoy her first ice cream cone ever!

1. Take a small taste to ensure it's not mom's new " Healthy" ice cream or mashed up cauliflower.
2. Once you know it's safe, lick to your hearts content.



3. Keep an eye on daddy.

4. Work your way down!
5. Mom says the last bite is the best one!
6: Wipe your hands of any evidence.

Greenfield Village

Even though it's been spring for over a month now, Michigan apparently didn't get that memo- or maybe it was a text message? Either way, we've had a mostly dreary/chilly spring with a few sun shiny days to keep us going ( Think donkey and carrot). Mike, Mack and I took advantage of one of those days on Friday and snuck away to Greenfield Village (in short, it's a historic village so it's like walking through a page in history). Here are a few pictures of our day:

After slathering on some sunscreen, Mackenzie was ready to go! She even wore her sunglasses for more than half a second!

It was really neat to watch her. She'd never really seen real life animals, just pictures in books. Even still, she was able to match the sound to the real life animal. She could be heard all over the petting zoo imitating the animals as she saw them!
Mike in the hay barn:
All of that walking around made us hungry! We stopped to have our picnic snack. Mackenzie had a few geese hanging around her stroller, waiting to gobble up a yogurt melt if it came their way:


The horse like Mackenzie more than she liked it.

Mackenzie had a lot of fun! She took in all the sights one could hope to at such an interesting place ( you know, trees, benches, a strangers ice cream) and said "HI!" to every one who looked her way. Once we made it back to the car, she was out for the count.
The weather was so nice that when we got home, we called Jeanette and Ben for a play date at the park! Here she is scopin' out the park:
We hope to spend many more sunshine-filled days at Greenfield Village!

Odds and Ends

Here are a few " odds and ends" pictures and some stray tidbits of news:

Mackenzie had her first dentist appointment on April 1st ( the only joke that day was the extremely long wait we had to see the dentist!) . She did very well! She laid on the dentists chair and didn't cry when the dentist examined her. Her dentist is a pediatric dentist who is very thorough and great with kids! We look forward to seeing her again in October. She confirmed our suspicion that Mackenzie will soon have a mouth full of teeth. Right now she has two bilateral incisors coming in on the bottom and her front top teeth coming in as well.

It's hard to eat corn on the cob when you've only got three teeth but she sure tried.


Mackenzie is walking ( and climbing) ! She's still not very good at it and crawls most of the time. Every day she gets better and will surely be running around in a few weeks.



Grandma Mary showed Mackenzie how to inflict supreme punishment on her parents.
The punishment is dual action: You can either blow into the recorder as hard as you possibly can or inflict pain in other ways:
She's been keeping her social calendar full with real life friends:
And the more quiet version as well. Here she is checking out " Josie".

We've had some rainy weather. Today Mackenzie and I stomped around in the puddles on our balcony!
Mike's interview for the research coordinator went well but the position did not come with benefits so he had to turn it down. They seemed very interested in him and we're hoping they'll keep him on file for a better position in the future.

Easter Fun!

It's hard to believe that this wasn't Mackenzie's first Easter! Here's a quick flashback to Easter 2008:

As you can imagine, things were vastly different this year! At 13 months old, Mackenzie wants to know EVERYTHING there is to know. Here are a few pictures from Easter 2009- a two day event!

Mike had to work on Easter Sunday so we had Saturday brunch with Grandma Mary and Aunt Janet at the Cracker Barrel:

Here's an "artsy" picture of Grandma and I walking Mackenzie to the car.
Mackenzie at breakfast

Thankfully, the Easter Bunny knew that Mike had to work. He left a special surprise for Mackenzie at Grandma's house!
The EB knew just what Mackenzie likes and the basket was full of special treats!

It even had a very rare treat: A juice box!
" Wheee, whee, wheee"!
Mackenzie and Aunt Janet were having a deep, philosophical discussion:

Easter Sunday was another fun-filled, busy day!
Mackenzie in her Easter Dress:
Great Grandma Hank ( Mike's adopted Grandma) brought Mackenzie a special treat- a puppy back pack!

She kissed and hugged it and carried it around!

Mack and Aunt Meg reading a book that was given to Mackenzie by Doris, Aunt Janet's mom.




Dinner was great! I think Mackenzie ate more than her fair share of olives and deviled eggs! Needless to say, she slept very well that night.