Mackenzie was Jealous!

I mentioned before that we had three newborn shoots this past week-end. Two of which were at our house. Well, by the second one, Mackenzie was, well, jealous! The baby was getting all of the attention. . .including her favorite camera time. She decided that while the baby was taking a break, she would fill in. This is the shot that resulted. . .
What I have learned from this experience is that if I need some pics of Mack all I need to do is invite someone else over!

Tulips!

We had a very busy week-end! We had three newborn shoots! And, not that I am biased or anything, but they were the most beautiful babies! Be on the look-out for some pics from this week-end. Until then, I will show you some pics of some tulips that I took.

I love Tulips. . .in fact, I believe they are my favorite flower! They are so cheerful, and friendly, don't ya think? I thinkthat maybe the reason I love them so much is because they totally remind me of SPRING! Anyway, I recently was the recipient of the most beautiful tulips in an adorable vase (thanks to Kimmie, one of my co-workers). Take a look for yourself!


Does it not look like the vase has arms, and is standing akimbo?

What a week-end!

We had FOUR, count them, FOUR, parties to go to last week-end. Two on Saturday, and two more on Sunday. It was crazy! Fun, but crazy! The first party was for one of Mackenzie's friends named Noah. He is now four years old! He used to go to Mackenzie's school, but now stays home with his mommy, so we only get to see him every once in a while. We miss Noah, and are so glad he invited us to his birthday party! You never would have known that it had been a while since Mackenzie and Noah had seen each other. . .they played like the best friends they always were!


Noah's party started at 3pm, my nephew, Ryland's, started at 4pm! Ahhhh! We made it a few minutes late to Ryland's. . .he forgave us! His parents held his 1st b-day at the park and went all out. Ryland had three cakes. . .well, two cakes, and a bunch of cupcakes. The food was fabulous, and so were all of the guests!
Here is the Birthday Boy!!!

Here he is enjoying his cake. . .

I KNOW Mackenzie had a great time! She got to play hopscotch, climb a rock wall, and play with a bunch of her friends. . .including Bethany. . .a new friend she met on Saturday. Bethany and Mackenzie had identical laughs, and it was hilarious to listen to them playing together!
I love this photo of Mackenzie. . .it looks like she was modeling something. . .I am not sure what. . .the slide, maybe? Who knows? She has that certain wind-blown look. . .hmmmmmmmmmm. . .could have been b/c the wind was blowing!



Here is Mackenzie sliding down the slide - under Bethany's legs!


Sunday started off EARLY celebrating my birthday. . .my real b-day is in Feb., but it's hard to get everyone on my side of the family together to celebrate! So, we did it Sunday. . .sorry. . .no photos!

The last party was a welcome home party for Matt's and my great-nephew, Aiden. And Boy-oh-Boy! is he precious!! And HANDSOME! Look at those piggies!

Look at that FACE! Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks?!?!? It's hard getting near him really, his grandma happens to be somewhat of a baby-piggy. It's understandable of course, but one of these days, when she is off her guard, I will hold the baby! :)

While we were visiting Aiden, a friend of the family had his son, Braden, there visiting as well. Take a look at this face. . .Doesn't it just scream out for some smoochies?

Although the week-end was BUSY, it was amazing. We were surrounded by family and friends the entire time. It was incredible! And how could we possibly be sad when we were around so many babies?!?!

Camera toys!

We recently bought a Gary Fong Lightsphere II for our cameras. Basically, it diffuses your flash light, and makes it look much more pleasant. I am here to tell you it really, REALLY works! These are some pics that I took last night in our home. We didn't have any lights on in the room, so the only light source was from the flash on the camera. I am not going to get too technical, I just wanted to share some cute pics taken with our Lightsphere!

Oh, and notice who is becoming quite the little model. She poses on command now. I AM LOVIN it!!!


Matt even volunteered to let me take a pic of him w/Ms. Mack!

After our impromtu photo session, Mackenzie decided to hold a concert for us. She wanted me to pick songs for her to sing, while she stood on "stage". Her stage was the tile in front of our fireplace. What amazed me about the whole process what that it was 100% her idea. The stage, the singing, all of it. Of course, it was my idea to capture it on film!!

The Dentist. . Part III

I mentioned in a previous post that Mackenzie's school was doing a spirit week. One day was crazy hair and sock day. It happened to be the same day that Mackenzie was going to another dentist (count them now. . .this was number THREE) to get a 2nd opinion on her cavity issue. So, her hair had to be crazy, but still somewhat "normal" for her dental visit. Here is what her hair ended up looking like. . .kinda reminds me of a "Who" from "Whoville"!



Ahhhhhhhhh. . .you say, but what about the dentist appointment??

Turns out that my dentist received a letter from the pediatric dentist regarding their treatment plan. My dentist called us and asked us to call him back. After speaking with him and various family members, we agreed to seek a 2nd opinion on her teeth. And boy, were we glad we did! No more CROWNS! She has three teeny, tiny cavities. Remember the two that were between her teeth? Turns out they weren't through the enamel yet. So, what did the new dentist recommend? Nothing. We are going to watch them. Keep em clean, and watch them. THAT'S ALL. NO CROWNS! She does have one cavity that will require a small filling. But not the dreaded hospital visit. She will not even require a shot to numb the area. . .the cavity is that small. She will get a wee bit of laughing gas. . .a small white (NOT silver) filling, and that will be all. Period. Unless we completely ignore her teeth. . .in which case, everything will be reviewed. We will NOT ignore her teeth. I promise! I am so thankful we got a second opinion. We went from 4 - maybe 5 crowns. . .AND having the work done at the hospital to one tiny cavity and a filling. . .at the dentist office.

Lil Ms. Mack

This week was spirit week at Mackenzie's school. On Monday the students were encouraged to wear their jammies to school. (I wish I got to wear my jammies to work! Even once or twice a year would be nice!) Tuesday was class spirit day. . .Wednesday was crazy hair day. . .Thursday was dress up like your favorite character from book day. . .and Friday was School Spirit Day. Fun, Fun!
Pajama day turned out to be the most beautiful day, so after work/school Mackenzie and I decided to enjoy the outdoors until we absolutely HAD to go inside. I also wanted to grab a few photos of my new sping flowers (see the previous post). So, for your viewing pleasure, here are a few of the pics I took while we were playing around! And, you must admit, the jammies are adorable!!


Here is the dandilion that Mackenzie picked for me while we were playing in the backyard. I love dandilion bouquets. . .they totally come from the heart!

While waiting for daddy to get home, Mackenzie decided to do some gardening. At this moment she decided we had too many weeds.

And here is the weed she found. . .You might want to click on the photo to make it larger. . .that way you can actually SEE the weed in her hand.

Uncle Matt came over for a visit. Just for fun I had them stand next to each other so they could compare shoe sizes. . .Mackenzie wears an 11. . .Uncle Matt wears a 15. Not that big of a difference, you think???

Spring has Sprung!

Last year we had a late freeze, and none of our spring flowers bloomed. We didn't get any peaches on our peach tree, and only got a few cherries on our cherry tree. This year was a different story! I got some beautiful photos!! Take a look. . .
This is our cherry tree.


This is our peach tree. . .


Does that not make your heart purr???!!!

Art Fair

Each year Mackenzie's school has an art fair. . .complete with refreshments and drinks. It is a very classy event. The staff dresses in all black, and the children's art work is displayed as if it deserved to be hanging in the Louvre! We couldn't go last year b/c it happened to fall on the same day that my nephew Ryland decided to make a surprise appearance. This year, however, Matt, Mackenzie and I were able to attend!
Here is Mackenzie showing off one of the two pieces of art that she had on display. . .She entitled this piece "A Snow Man" and created it in January.

Here is the next piece she had on display. As you can see, each piece shows you a photo of the child as the are working on their art. And, each child displays an original piece of art. Surprisingly enough, Mackenzie entitled this piece, "A snowman". . .and she created it in February. SO, both pieces of art were snowmen!

Mackenzie went to each and every piece of artwork and gave her professional opinion.

Here are some more pics I took so you can get a feel of the event. . .


The school also auctions off canvases from each classroom. Every child in the class contributes to the canvas. . .aren't they beautiful??

Catching up!

It's been a few days, and a lot has happened since my last post. . .let's see. . .what has happened since the dentist last Thursday...Oh, I finally got that pic of Mackenzie "meditating" that I promised from before. This is her demonstrating how to meditate. Cute, eh? I am loving those pinched fingers. . .and of course the "oooooohhhhmmmmmmm"s!

And, wait for it. . .we went to another birthday party! We have TWO more planned for this month!!!!! Mackenzie decided she was tired after about 1 hour of solid play, and that she needed a rest. . .and where better to rest, but on daddy's legs!

After the birthday party on Saturday, we went to Matt's parents house for dinner. We took the opportunity to take a few pics while we were there!! This is Carter - he was wearing an actual Marine Recon hat (courtesy of our nephew Zach, who just graduated as a RECON MARINE), AND actual marine face paint. He looks intimidating, don't you think??

Here is a pic of his sister, Emily. . .I am lovin' those blue eyes!

And I couldn't forget to get one of Mackenzie. . .

Here's one of the three of them acting VERY goofy. Oh, alright! Um, I may have suggested that they make a "face"!

On Sunday, Matt, Mackenzie and I worked to get her new room finished. Since it's not done completely, I am not posting a bunch of pics. However, here is one that will give you a glimpse of her new room. . .

Last but not least, a pic of my child being crazy! What is up with that tongue. . .and those GLASSES?????

Mackenzie goes to the Dentist, Part II

FYI, there will not be any photos like at the last dental visit. . .and this is a LONG post. . .you will see why at the end. . .

I took Mackenzie to the dentist on Wednesday. Ugh! Doesn’t the word “dentist” send an uncontrollable shiver down your spine? It does mine, and I still go every 6 months for my regularly scheduled appointments! The smell of the place when you walk in is almost overwhelming. . .but, I digress. . .Wednesday was Mackenzie’s turn - she needed a follow up to the visit she had last week. She had already had her teeth cleaned at my dentist office, but became an unwilling participant when the tooth “hook” thing came out. She shut her mouth and gave me a huge boo boo look.

So, on Wednesday we went to "kiddie" dentist. Upon arrival, I had to fill out the necessary forms, and Mackenzie got to play in this cool playhouse – equipped with windows and a train! How cool is that? She was in great spirits – even when walking up to the dental chair. However, when she sat in the chair, she glanced over, and saw the tooth hook thing. She immediatly pointed and exclaimed, "I don't want that in my mouth." So the very kind dental hygenist put it far, far, away from where Mackenzie was sitting. But, it was too late. She recognized the situation for what it was. . .and it didn't help when the phrase, "I am just going to count your teeth" came out of the hygenist's mouth.

Let me preface the rest of the story by saying this trip was only supposed to be about 30 minutes. It took us two hours. Needless to say, I was frazzled by the end of the trip.

After somewhat successfully counting Mackenzie's teeth, they hygenist needed to take some x-rays b/c there wasn't any decay detected by just looking. That is when the major storm hit. Mackenzie was scared out of her wits by the thin little x-ray film that she had to hold between her teeth, not to mention the heavy iron "blanket" resting on her arms and chest. I also had to physically restrain her at times. . .all to no avail. Finally, I gave the hygenist my best, "Look, I have no idea what you want me to do, you are the expert, tell me what needs to be done" face. So, she did. My options were: 1) they could restrain Mackenzie while I went into the waiting room, or 2) they could sedate her and take the x-rays at the hospital. Cha Ching! I went with option number 1, and waited in the waiting room for the whole 5 minutes it took them to do whatever they had to do to get the magic dental photos. They got em. I am not sure how, but they did. And they weren't blurry either. Hmmmmm. It WAS magic. And yes, I could hear Mackenzie screaming while I was in the waiting room.

The dentist, a very nice lady, came in to review the x-rays. She said that she saw decay between Mackenzie's teeth, and that basically she could tell we were brushing, but not FLOSSING her teeth. Ironically, we did floss - every once in a while - the front of her teeth. Of course it was the back ones that had decay. SO, my advice to anyone with a wee one - brush and FLOSS, and get them to the dentist as early as 18 months. SERIOUSLY. It will save you some cool cash, and craziness later!

Mackenzie's psychotic-dentist-hatred returned when the dentist needed to use the hook thing to actually look in her mouth. Ocne again, I restrained her, she cried, which gave the dentist a WIDE open mouth for her to look at. We were told that Mackenzie needed four "princess" crowns on her molars (two on top, and two on the bottom) b/c she will have them for another 9 or so years. . .and they will have to put them on in the hospital, due to Mackenzie's total lack of participation. They explained the procedure, they how's, the why's and the what's. And also the $$$ (don't ask - only because I am not totally sure yet. . .I am waiting for the quote from the insurance company). In addition, they said she is going to need a doctor's physical stating that she is heathly BEFORE she can even have her new crowns put in. After all the info was presented, they said they would see her again 6 months after the surgery for her next cleaning. Nice. I may have to conk one or both of us on the head before that trip!!!