Our mini M

Mike and I didn't know what to think- when we had an ultra sound for Mack at this age, she looked like a little jumping bean, hopping all over in her little home. This little one was still as can be, only moving it's arms and legs occasionally. The tech wasn't concerned about this and it was enough to convince Mike that it's a boy. Why you ask? He says boys are lazy. How amazing it is to see it's little heart beating away on the screen and to know that that little grape sized blob contains so much joy and love.
We have another ultra sound between 11 and 14 weeks and then the " big" one nearing the end of November or early December.

Way to go, mom!

My mom has been working extra hard to try and get a group of projects done for an arts and crafts fair she and her friend ,Kim joined. She got it all done and it turned out great...well everything except the crowd...which didn't really turn out at all! None the less, mom did make a sale and learned a lot from her first art fair. Look at all the things she made in only two weeks!
If you're interested, you can find her work at etsy.com or by clicking here

Congrats , Mark and Carley!

Mark and Carley tied the knot last week! We wish them many happy years together !

Celebrating fall!

It's officially fall . While the Michigan peeps are enjoying cider and a cool chill in the air, we celebrated like this:


Everyone had a great time, even Ellie who did her fair share of sprinkler running. Here she is shaking the extra water off. It's not a great picture, but you can see how Ellie's tail is bent in the shape of a 7! From what we can tell, she was part of a larger litter inside a smaller mommy. Her tail must have grown pressed against her leg . When she lays down, that indent fits perfectly against her leg. What and endearing quality!

So much for taking it slow

We went out for a family dinner at Noodles and Company ( Thanks, Aunt Meg!!!!) and somehow found ourselves in front of a crate-full of the sweetest puppies! But wait. There's that logical part of my brain again- we were gonna take it slow and really plan out what kind of dog would be best for our family. Isn't that the best way? After all, adding a dog to the family is just like adding any other member of the family. The decision needs to be handled with care...

But HOW can you say no to THIS:


You just CAN'T. Especially when you already have a pretty red collar ( that looks so good on black puppy dogs) and a fuzzy stuffed animal with no one to chew it.

So we eagerly went through the adoption process ( again), this time sure a puppy was the way to go. And since I am " frugal" and we already had a brand new, super fashionable collar tag that proudly proclaimed " Elliot Long", we recycled the name and welcomed " Ellie" ( again) into the family. She is a border collie/lab mix and she is just adorable.

Though I couldn't say " no" to Ellie that day, I have easily said it a million times since.

" NO! Peeing in the house!"

"No chewing!"

" No eating your own....'waste' " quickly followed by " NO licking my face!"

Mackenzie and Ellie have a love/hate relationship. Mack doesn't like chasing Ellie around trying to reclaim her toys and she doesn't like when Ellie plays to rough or tries to steal her snack. But she loves having a tireless puppy to chase around and play with .

The good news- Ellie is afraid of the cats. The cats like that. Things are well.
Ellie is doing great with potty training and is already trained to her crate during the night and while we're out. The stray toy kidnapping and cat food stealing....that's a work in progress.

5-4-3-2-1 Blast off!

Mike and Mackenzie did their first rocket launch last week. Mack was so excited and ,though she didn't expect such a load noise, she's ready to do it again!

Assembly:

The fun stuff! Blast off! :
Watch Daddy retrieve the rocket:
And totally unrelated...look what we have growing in our yard!

Back on track

I have continued to work with Mack using the preschool work books ( that I am obsessed with ) . She has learned so much from them and still asks to do them every day. She'll work on them as long as I let her!

Her favorite thing these days is to cute and sort. She's gotten quite good with the scissors!

Along with cutting, Mackenzie has learned early math, logical thinking, patterns, she's a pro at writing all letters ,even writing some basic words. She has also been reading simple words . She's really at sounding words out and has surprised me several times by reading things out of books that have no picture cues to give her hints. Seems like she's growing up so fast. Each time we pass the school she asks " Is that MY school?"

We're also back in the routine of doing near daily arts or craft projects. Pics of those will be on their way soon!

Daddy's girl

This is undeniably a direct transfer of Mike's DNA to Mackenzie:

Elliot part 2

Things didn't work out with Elliot. While she adored us and was great with Mackenzie, she was very aggressive towards our cats. Duncan and Sydney have been part of our family for nearly 10 years and Mike and I didn't feel comfortable with Ellie's behavior towards them. We were heart broken that things didn't work out but the Denver Dumb Friends League was very understanding and grateful to know more about Ellie so that she could be placed in a home that is even more fitted to her needs. So, we aren't sure where to go from here. We all three are still very interested in finding the right dog for our family. We'll take it slow and see what turns up! Though they are lots more work, we feel a puppy might be the way to go in order to acclimate him/her to our family instead of the other way around. We are trying to decide if this is better done before I have the baby , or after. To be continued.....

Elliott

Mike and I have wanted a dog since the day we got married. I grew up with dogs and missed having one around the house terribly. Now that we have a house with a big yard and lots of room, we felt it was a good time to add another four legged friend. Sooo...Meet, Elliott!

She's a two year old black lab mix and we adopted her from the Denver Dumb Friends league. She is probably among of the smartest and most well mannered dogs I've ever met and we feel so lucky to have found her. When you tell her to " stay" she will stay there until told to move. I've had to remind myself to go back and let " Ellie" move again and when I go back to her " spot" , she's still there waiting patiently. Now, after just two days, when she sees me preparing a meal or snack, she automatically goes to her spot and wait for me to tell her the meal is over.

To Mackenzie's delight, Elliott loves to play fetch. The only fault I've found with that is that she occasionally gets so excited that she has to be reminded not to jump up. Once she's reminded, she is sure to keep all paws on the ground. She also loves water as we found out at bath night....


We're trying to assimilate her into the cats' world which so far has meant to keep them separated. They sniff at each other under door ways and the only time I've heard Ellie bark is when she got swatted under the door by a kitty claw. We were advised to keep them apart for at least a week and hope things will go smoothly after that.

More of Ellie to come, I'm sure:

I may have forgotten...

There may be one room I have forgotten to post a picture of. It's not much to look at yet, but it's a room with a big future:

That's right- our nursery! Just when we thought things couldn't get any more exciting- Mx3 will become Mx4 at the end of April! I go for my for blood work and my first OB appointment next week and an ultra sound a week later! After that appointment, we'll share our exciting news with Mackenzie and the rest of the world!

Here it is!

I am shocked at how quickly we were able to get things unpacked and put in place. We've been here less than a week and it seems like we've lived here for years. Mike and I both commented on how happy we are to have found this cozy nest for our family.

So here are a few pictures. They are a little dark since I took them last evening . If anyone wants to see more, they'll just have to come visit!

The living room:

entery way:

window:
View from the stairs:
stairs leading to bedrooms:
Kitchen:
From the living room:


From the dining room ( see the microwave Mike installed?):
From the dining room toward the living room:
Mackenzie's room is at the top of the stairs to the right:
And her bathroom:
Our bedroom entry- top of the stairs left:
The master bathroom is just to the left of the window.
Look! We don't have to store our seasonal clothes any more:

The playroom! I love this room- it's got polished concrete flooring and it leads right out to the backyard which is our new favorite hang out place:
The yard was once very nicely landscaped but needs a little help. With the help of Brian ( Annie's husband who manages a landscaping company) it'll be looking good in no time! The weeping willow tree is one of our favorite things about the house. We also love that our back yard opens up to an open field and golf course. There's also a shed just across the yard from the tree:

Off the play room is a hall way where you can find the stairs to the basement. The basement is designated as Mike's " Man Cave" and he has big plans for it.

There's also a storage room to the back of the basement.
Across the hall way is the laundry room and third bathroom:
And directly back from the play room is the entry to the 2 car garage!

So that's it! Our new home in one big post! I hope you all get to see it in person very soon!

You're kidding me!

We made it back to Colorado to find that my mom and Annie ( and her sister Emily) had finished moving the rest of our things to our new home! Not only that, there was basket of house hold " goodies" on top of our kitchen table along with a gift card and a new patio set on the front patio! I still get weepy when I think of how much that helped us and how much we appreciated it. Thanks girls!

The Wedding

We dragged ourselves out of bed dark and early the day after closing to drive ten hours to Kansas! The ride went fairly smoothly although there was a short stent where our car AC hiccuped and left us in the 105 degree Kansas City heat but it corrected itself and we were glad. For a while.

While we were excited to see Andy and Andie get married , the "cherry on top" was that Mary was going to meet us in Kansas and we'd stay with her in her hotel for a few days. We had a blast exploring an antique shop and the Hallmark museum. We all four enjoyed that. After such fun, we decided it was best to head back to the hotel to get ready for Andy's rehearsal dinner. Oh, remember that pesky AC hiccup we had earlier? This is where it not only hiccuped...it up and died. Leaving us wondering what to do. So after a lot of worry, a lot of trips " here and there" and Mary's level head, we figured out and solved the problem. Even better, despite missing the rehearsal dinner, we made it to the wedding and had a great time.

So the star of the show, Mackenzie; flower girl, got a case of stage fright decided she "just didn't wanna"be the flower girl. So I was given an impromptu cameo in the wedding as I guided her down the aisle, praying that this little bump in the road didn't ruin Andrea's day. Of course it didn't and everyone "ohh" and " awww"ed as we went down the aisle.

Mack danced the night away at the reception. At once point , she came to me dragging a much older boy behind her and declared " I have a husband now." and off she went again. The reception was beautiful.

Mike's best man speech was the best one I've heard- heart felt and funny, he had the whole crowd laughing...or crying...at some point or another.





It was a short and long trip . Despite the misadventures, we still had a great time! We can't wait to see where life takes the new Mr. and Mrs. Thueme and can't wait until November when we can see Grammy again!