Merry Christmas Tuesday Night Gang!

For many years, Brad and I have enjoyed the blessing of "Tuesday Night Tom" at our weekly bible study group.  We found this group shortly after we were married and have learned much from Tom over the years.  We find in many of our other bible studies, we share things we've learned from Tom - so much so that Tuesday Night Tom has become somewhat famous:)  Tonight, we were fortunate enough to be able to get up in front of Tom's Tuesday and Wednesday night study groups at their annual Christmas party and share Makenna's special story.  She was SUCH a good girl the whole night and it was so exciting to be able to meet all these people that have been praying for her over the years.  Thanks to all of you for supporting us on this journey!  Thanks Tom for the years of service you've put into this group! 

Makenna and "TNT"

She LOVED Bev - sat so nicely on her lap during the Christmas program.  Thanks Bev!!

She was all smiles by the end of the night - she KNEW it was WAY past her bedtime:)  It was sooo worth it, though!!

The oldest and the youngest from our Tuesday night group - almost 100 years between them:) 

Puffer vest

Seriously, how cute is this little vest (and the little girl in it of course)!  I just coldn't resist a little impromptu photo shoot!!

Such a big girl!

I swear she thinks she's a model!  I sure do take enough pictures of her:) 

Squealing away in delight!

Helping mommy work

Sent from my U.S. Cellular BlackBerry® smartphone

First dada

Makenna had a little playdate with Lucy today and Lucy can only say dada and Makenna can only say mama so we were hoping they would rub off on each other.  Sure enough, she gave us a big dada before we left and when we got home, she couldn't stop with the dada's.  Looks like this little girl is a total daddy's girl!  As if we didn't already know that:) 

When God made me, He was showing off!

Love this onesie!

Oma and Papa day and a visit from Santa!

Thanks for coming down to visit me today Papa and Oma!  I had SO much fun!!  I promise next time I will giggle for you!! 

Makenna had a VERY special visit from Santa today:)

All smiles!!

Today's doctor visit

Little chubbers is a whopping 19lbs 2oz!  She did great with her shots today and is looking good:)  She only cried for a minute or two after her shots and then was all smiles shortly after.

This afternoon we had a super fun playdate with Lexi again:

Well, super fun until Lexi started to beat me up:)  Usually I'm the bully!  Ha!

FREE Christmas Cards!!

I came across a great offer from Shutter fly on a fellow embryo adoption mama’s blog the other day. Shutter fly is offering 50 FREE Christmas Cards if I give them a little shout out on my blog! In the past years, I have ordered from Walmart. com, but Shutter fly has WAY cooler cards to choose from! I am all about free and all about showing off this sweet little girl of mine on this year’s Christmas Card so I took a look at what they have to offer and here are my 3 faves:


# 1: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/with-love-chartreuse-christmas-5x7-folded-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93496 - I think this one will be the winner as the saying on it has special meaning to us. In Hawaii, Brad fell in love with the IZ cd – one of the songs on it was “What a Wonderful World.” We played the song in the hospital room right after Makenna was born:) 

# 2: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/count-your-blessings-christmas-5x7-folded-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93496 – love this one, but we always try to make sure our cards say “Merry Christmas” on them instead of Happy Holidays – HE is the reason for the season after all, right?

# 3: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/snow-flurries-cocoa-christmas-5x7-folded-card?sortType=1&fa=8&storeNode=93496 – gotta love the snowflakes!!

Now the hard part – which card do I choose and which pictures do I put on it? So many cute ones from this year to choose from!

Makenna's first snowfall!

All bundled up and ready to go outside, with a bib on of course:) 

I was frozen for 3 1/2 years, of course I like the snow!!

 My first sled ride! 



My first snow angel:) 

Ok, my cheeks are FROZEN!  Time to go back inside!!! 

Thanks Amy, Madison & Bryce!

Thanks for coming down to Milwaukee to play with me so mommy and daddy could go see A Christmas Carol!  I had so much fun playing with you and can't wait to see you again!!

Clubhouse sale day at Miller Park!

 

Elizabeth, Annika, Makenna and I had a blast checking out the good deals & hanging out with the racing sausages on Friday morning. 

6 months already!!

Can you believe it?  Makenna is already 6 months old!  Needless to say, we are enjoying every single minute of this little girl!  Daddy certainly can't get enough of her and she's got him wrapped pretty tightly around her little finger:) 

Some fun things about me this month:

-I sit up all by myself! 
-I love to stand with the help of mommy and daddy
-Still no rolling over - everyone has been trying so hard to get me to roll, but I really am perfectly content laying on my back and looking at the ceiling. 
- I am a little piggy and can't get enough food!  So far I've tried rice cereal, pears, bananas, green beens, avocado and sweet potatoes. 
- I still have pretty bad reflux and spit up more than ever.  We tried some new medicine, but it didn't seem to help.  Thankfully, I am a happy spitter and daddy is really good at doing laundry:)
-I am in physical therapy 2 days a week for my torticollis.  I do a pretty good job in PT - though my trainer works me pretty hard!  By the end I am POOPED and like to take a good long nap.  My neck is already getting quite a bit stronger.
-I love to make lots of new noises and often will "talk" myself to sleep in my crib
-I'm a pretty good sleeper at night.  I get up once in the night, usually at 4am, but sometimes I make it straight through from 7ish until 6ish:) 
-I love it when daddy sings to me.  After he gets home from work, we have a little daddy/daughter time and he likes to sing and dance with me. 
-I had a wonderful thanksgiving with my family and can't wait to see everyone again at Christmas.  My cousins make me smile and laugh, especially Drew. 
- I LOVE the camera!  As you can see by the pictures below, no matter how tired or crabby I am, when mommy turns that camera on, I am ready!

Totally looks like a football player ready to hike the ball in this one.

One of my favorites

Listen here, Bugsey!

So sweet

Love the funny face in this one

Oops, maybe I don't sit so good - little tumble!  Loved it under the tree - so much to look at and grab!

Notice how her chest is a little red in this one?  Took a little tumble on the pine cones while we were trying to get a good pic for the Christmas card.  Oops!  She didn't seem to care though.  Anything for a good picture!

I think this one might be the Christmas Card winner!  Love the drool, too.



Happy Birthday to me!

Apparently getting up at 1:19am is for babies - this big girl skipped the early morning happy birthday wishes and slept straight through to 6am:). Brad and I were just reminiscing about where we were 6 months ago. I was waiting for my pain meds to kick in and watching for my baby girl to get wheeled back into my room. She was wheeled in shortly after and I sobbed tears of joy - so amazed that she was finally here:). Happy 6 month birthday sweet miracle girl!

Makin' us laugh....

This little talent is new today - so funny to watch her!  SOOO stinkin' cute!

Hanging out with Quincy

Funny faces on them both here - wonder what they are thinking...

Makenna wants to eat Quincy - no surprise... 

Quincy is sooo proud of himself here:)

Seriously, girl - stop talking...

Sweet cuddles.  I think Makenna found herself a little boyfriend

Quincy seems pretty happy, himself - check out all the spitup on them both!  Ha!  That green blanket was drenched in spitup from the two of them by the time we were done. 

Such a big girl - sitting up all by herself (well, after she rolled over and hit her head on the wall shortly before this.  Oops!)

Love how her dress has a puddle of spitup in it - that's my girl. 

Thanks for having us over to play today Rachel, Adelyn, Ellie and Quincy.  Thanks for feeding us and hanging out with us Amy B - we had a GREAT time!!! 

Thanksgiving weekend

A fun shot with mommy's new camera - such a sweetie!

Havin' fun reading a book with Grandpa while everyone else eats their Thanksgiving dinner at Craig's house

Smiling at daddy

 This one is for Papa - look how comfy and cozy I am in my pack n' play, just about ready to sleep....  Thank you for getting me up when I started crying a few minutes later so I could stay up until 9:30 and play with my cousins!!!!  Hee Hee Hee!

A "Bucky" Saturday morning with my cousins!