Stop Growing, Please

Recently, I have really started to realize just how quickly Makenna is growing up.  Some days, it seems like it was AGES ago that she was a tiny little 7 pound, 11 ounce newborn.  And other days, it seems like it was just yesterday.  I can't believe she has been here for more than eight months already!  When she was born, I felt like it would be FOREVER until her first tooth came in, or she started standing, or we celebrated her first Christmas.  Now she has TWO teeth and two more on the way, is constantly pulling herself up, and Christmas is right around the corner.  (Don't laugh...it is!)


I think about how many "firsts" have passed us by already, and honestly, it kind of makes me sad!  I sometimes wish that I could just stop her from growing, just as she is, for just a little while longer.  Some of the "milestones" we've already passed are:


4/21 - First time laughing out loud
5/16 - First time rolling over
5/20 - First solid foods
6/18 - First road trip with Mommy and Daddy
8/1 - First time swimming
9/4 - First tooth came in
9/10 - Started crawling
9/17 - Started clapping
9/26 - Started pulling up in her crib


That's a LOT for one little girl!  


I really think this eight-month-old, smiley, drooly, extremely curious, cuddly, lovable little girl needs to stick around!  In bed this morning, she snuggled up next to me, laying on her back like I was, and I just wanted to freeze that moment and hold onto it forever.  Then she rolled over, grabbed my face and gave me a slobbery smooch on the cheek...and yanked out a chunk of my hair.  I'll admit, the hair pulling is kind of a pain.  :-)


Every time I get sad about her growing so quickly, I try to focus on all of the great "firsts" that we still have ahead of us - first Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, first steps, first word, first birthday, first time she says, "I love you!", first dance class, first day of kindergarten, etc.  I have to keep reminding myself that yes, she is growing up, but that doesn't mean she will be any less amazing and beautiful than she is right now.  

I love you, my sweet little Tootie!!

Drooly Face

I'm suffering from writer's block over here, so this is all I could muster today.  But OH. MY. GOSH.  I LOVE THIS ADORABLE LITTLE FACE!

Makenna Is Starting School: Is Mommy Ready?

On Tuesday, September 6, our little Tootie started school.  I know she's only seven and a half months old.  School?!?  Yes, that is correct.  She will be attending the Day School at our church two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays.  And do not - I repeat, DO NOT - call it Day Care.  I will smack you.


Being totally honest, this Mommy was NERVOUS.  I registered her months and months ago, so I knew the day was coming, but I was just not ready.  First, we had Meet the Teacher night.  I LOVED her teachers right away, and they both have the same name, which makes them extra easy to remember!  We learned a little about the two Ms. K's and about what the kiddos will be doing.  The infant class is ages six to 16 months, and their curriculum includes sign language, Bible verses, a color and animal of the month, and themes like sharing, being kind, etc.  They will do "artwork"and play outside.  There are also the all-important lunchtime and naptime.  Their room was decorated in a froggie theme, which was really adorable.  And, God bless them, they spelled Makenna's name right everywhere that it was hung up - in her cubby, on the birthday frog, on the door, on her artwork hanger.  Hooray!


Two days later, it was time for Makenna to meet the teachers.  We arrived early, so we were able to spend time with just her teachers.  She was showing off right away and seemed to really like the toys they had out.  Not that I was surprised.  As more kids came in, Makenna crawled over to meet them, which was really sweet.  The Ms. K's were joking that she was already the class "social butterfly."  That's my girl!


To get Makenna all ready, I of course spent time putting name labels on her bottles, sippy cup, bowls, spoons, clothes, diapers, etc.  We got her an adorable little elephant lunchbox.  I even let her pick it out.  And by that, I mean I held up two lunchboxes at Target, and I went with the one she grabbed.  I love doing that with her!  


The first morning, we were up bright and early to make sure we had time to get everything ready to go.  I was nervous that I was going to forget something, but we managed to get everything she needed into her bag, get ourselves dressed and ready AND get Makenna all beautified.  I think she looked pretty adorable!

From here on out, Chad will be dropping her off in the morning, and I will be picking her up, but there was NO WAY I was missing her first drop off.  We hit traffic on the way there, which was no fun, but still made it on time.  It was fun to see all of the kids going in for their first day, and most of them seemed really excited to be there.  Some friends of ours were there greeting people, which is always nice.  We gave Makenna kisses at the door and handed her over, and daddy snapped a few pictures before we left.  As we walked away, of course, I started to cry.  It was VERY hard to leave my baby girl there for the first time, but I was definitely feeling better knowing that she was already in the room, happily playing with her new friends.  I thought I would cry all day, but really only cried for a few minutes.  


When I picked Makenna up, she gave me a huge smile when she saw me, and I just absolutely love that.  I got to see her first "artwork" hanging on the wall, and I was just so proud of our little artist!

She was so worn out that she passed out in the car before we even got out of the parking lot!  

I left her in her carseat for what I thought would be a short nap...and it turned into three hours!  Regardless, I could tell that she had a wonderful first day, and that made dropping her off on Thursday so much easier.   Even though I had my reservations to start (But *I* want to be there when she is coloring/fingerpainting/playing with new toys, etc.), I know this is going to be great for her.  She will love being with other children and will be learning so much. I am so happy that we are able to give her this opportunity, and I will look forward every Tuesday and Thursday to that beautiful smile when I pick her up!

Sleeping Beauty

 We recently received a couple of offers for free photobooks from one of our favorite photo websites.  Not wanting to let them go to waste, I began looking through our pictures of Makenna to see what kind of fun theme I could come up with.  In doing that, I discovered that we have what *might* be considered an inordinately large number of pictures of Makenna...sleeping.


At first I thought, "Man, what kind of weirdo am I that I have all of these sleeping pictures?"  But the more I thought, the more I realized that it's not really THAT strange.  I mean honestly, what is more peaceful and beautiful than a sleeping baby?   It's innocence personified right there  in front of you!  When Makenna was first born, we were always thrilled when she was able to sleep for any lengthy period of time.  That meant naps for Mommy and Daddy, or catching up on cleaning, and most importantly, peace and quiet.

As Makenna got older, we started noticing that she had some favorite sleeping positions.  

The Sprawl (aka, Frog Legs): 

The Cheerleader

The Cuddler

With Uncle Colin

With Daddy

The Naked Napper

The Carseat Crash

And finally, my favorite - The Totally Random, That Doesn't Look Comfortable But Apparently Is

Any way I look at it, I LOVE watching Makenna while she sleeps.  It gets me all warm fuzzy and fluttery inside looking at her and knowing that she is my little girl, that she grew inside of me, and that God blessed us with her.  Just last night, Chad and I stood in her room before we went to bed and just marveled at how beautiful she is.  We are so lucky to be Mommy and Daddy to the cutest, sweetest, most lovable little girl in the world.  

Our Little Water Baby!

Makenna LOVES bath time.  She hears that water start running, and you can just see the excitement in her face. As a newborn, of course, she wasn't a water fan, but once we invested (quite wisely) in her whale bath tub, she was hooked.

She loves splashing, loves every water toy you can give her, loves when Mommy and Daddy dribble water over her head.  She especially loves sucking on her wet washcloth or spongy crab toy (until Mommy pries it from her hands!).  So naturally, when a friend told me that there was a swim class available this summer for little ones ages six months and up, I knew we HAD to get Makenna in it.  Memorial Day weekend, we went to the Hurst Recreation Center and got her all signed up.  I have to admit, I was really excited to go swimsuit shopping for her.  I was, however, a little shocked when I ended up buying 12 and 18-month size swimsuits for my six-month-old baby, though!


On the first day of class, I was VERY excited. I just couldn't wait to get her in the water and see how much she loved it!  So after work, I started to get her ready.

Adorable Old Navy swimsuit - check!

Dora swim diaper - check!

   

Sun hat - check!

Seriously...this child could not look ANY more adorable in her swim gear!  I tried to get her in the sunglasses, suit AND hat, but couldn't manage it.  She was constantly pulling either the hat or the glasses off, but I finally caught her with the glasses actually on her face and not in her mouth!

Sunglasses - check!  Our superstar!

And don't forget the ever-important cover-up and princess towel!

Cover-up and princes towel - check and check!

I packed up her diaper bag, made sure the stroller was in the trunk, and off we went, in the 100 degree plus weather!  We arrived to find that she was the youngest in her class, which I suppose isn't shocking, since the youngest they will allow is six months.  There were only about six other kids, which was perfect!  When we got into that water - which, unfortunately, was tepid and not really refreshing at all (Thanks, Mother Nature, for heating it up so wonderfully.) - Makenna immediately started splashing.  She was so excited!  I knew right away that we were going to have a little mermaid on our hands.

Over the two weeks she had "class," she had such a great time!  She "jumped" off the side, learned to make "scoopers" with her hands, learned how to kick and even got really good at going underwater.  We had fun singing songs, like "The Hokey Pokey" and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."  She charmed her two teachers and talked up a storm, and she loved chasing the little floating toys they had for the kids.  On the last day, we played in the kiddie pool with Daddy.

Makenna even went down the "big kid" slide and "jumped" off the diving board like a big girl!

Daredevil baby!

Overall, I would say it was a VERY successful two weeks.  She really seemed to love the water, and I was glad that we started getting her used to it so soon.  Sign us up to do it again next summer!

Sleepy Town

Ever since I was a young child, I have always loved writing stories.  In the third grade, I won a writing contest at my school with my story "Hollow Hill Mansion," about a group of kids who go to a "haunted" mansion and run into Dracula.  I had a poem about the seasons published in the newspaper as a child, and I worked feverishly on my old typewriter for months to write a "book" about a boy detective named Art Perspective and his friendly ghost-assistant, Mr. Voodoo.  In high school, I started a story not-so-loosely based on my group of friends about some girls playing with a Ouija board who got themselves into some scary trouble.  (I'm sure you have all noticed a trend here...too much Scooby Doo as a youngster, I think!)

As an adult, I started to focus more on children's stories, although to be honest, I have a terrible time finishing them.  However, a few years ago, I did manage to come up with a story that I felt pretty darned proud of.  It's called Sleepy Town.  When I was young, my mom used to tell us that it was time to go to Sleepy Town when she was ready for us to go to bed.  So I wondered...what was Sleepy Town actually like?  I scribbled this down in probably 30 minutes, in the DFW Airport waiting for a flight to New Orleans for work.  It's been through many drafts since then, but I have to say, I'm happy with this one.  I am really looking forward to reading it to Makenna as she grows older. 

Makenna visiting Sleepy Town. :-)

Sleepy Town by Amanda Morrissey

Little Laney Lou was an angel by day,

The sweetest young lady was she.

But at night, when it came time for bed and not play,

An unhappy child she could be.

“But Mommy!” she cried, her eyes tearful and red,

“I’m really not sleepy, it’s true!”

And Mommy would nod her wise Mommy head

And say, “I have a story for you.”

Mommy told her the story of old Sleepy Town,

Far beyond all the stars in the sky.

Where the blankets are all made of soft, fluffy down

And the Man in the Moon sings a lullaby.

With pillows of clouds, and swings hung from the stars,

It is surely a beautiful sight.

And nightlights of lightning bugs, snug in glass jars,

Will brighten up anyone’s night.

On beds made just for jumping, kids have all kinds of fun,

They laugh and they giggle ‘til dawn.

And before night is over, a contest is won,

For Sleepy Town’s most wonderful yawn.

There are flannel pajamas for the townsfolk to wear,

In all colors, like blue, pink and plaid.

Soft, fuzzy bunny slippers, each child has a pair,

To soften their steps just a tad.

And as a companion, each person will find,

Chosen with the most tenderness and care,

A furry friend, with a face so gentle and kind,

Their own personal snuggly teddy bear.

To drink every night, the hot chocolate flows,

With or without marshmallows, as you choose.

And in the wee hours, long before the rooster crows,

Is a beautiful moonlit cruise.

“Mommy,” Laney said, eyes now shining and bright,

“Tell me how I can get to Sleepy Town!”

Mommy answered, “It’s easy, you can go every night.

But you first must be still and lie down.”

“Now just close your eyes,” Mommy said with a smile,

“And breathe slowly and deeply, my dear.

Then think sleepy thoughts, and after a while,

The town will begin to draw near.”

Laney did as Mommy said, with no fuss and no frown,

And saw the stars in the far-off sky.

She felt the down blankets of old Sleepy Town,

and heard the Man in the Moon’s lullaby.

A Heavenly Baptism Day

Yes, on Sunday morning, our baby angel was baptized!  What a truly beautiful, blessed, memorable moment for our family.   But of course, like most beautiful, blessed, memorable moments, there was a lot of preparation involved that was anything BUT beautiful!


First, of course, came the invitations.  For weeks before the big day, I searched and searched for ones that I liked - if you know me, you know I like to have things JUST so - but really couldn't find one that jumped out at me.   So I decided to make one.  I tried several different angel pictures and other types of designs, then finally settled on this.  

Simple and sweet, which is what I wanted.  I printed them off, and off they went!  Forget that I completely forgot to put OUR names on it!  


We decided to have the reception at our house, so that we could easily set things up beforehand and just have to run home and pull out the food the day of.  I got to work planning what we needed - chips, dip and salsa, of course, plus sandwich meats, cheeses, rolls.  Vegetables and fruit would round out the spread, along with sodas and bottled water.  I made multiple lists to remind myself of everything we needed.  Why multiple lists, you ask?  I'll tell you - I don't know.  Of course, there also had to be cake.  There was no doubt that I would make it myself.  Mom came through with her old cross cake pan, and I got to work looking for a design.  I found a stained glass cake on the Wilton website that I feel in love with, so stained glass it would be.  


The week of the baptism, I took a half day off of work on Friday for cleaning, errands and food prep.  My first order of business was making the icing for the cake.  Quick and easy, into the fridge it went.  Then I loaded Makenna into the car, and we headed out to shop for a gift from mommy and daddy.  We then hopped over to Party City for a tablecloth and some serving trays, then hit Michael's for the piping gel I needed for the cake.  That night, I baked the cake and cleared out its spot in the fridge.


Saturday, Chad and I were up bright and early, ready to clean the house from top to bottom!  He got to work on the yard, and I got to work on the cake, getting the icing base down.  Over 100 degrees outside translates to at least 80 degrees inside...which translates to melting icing.  But fear not!  I just popped it into the refrigerator when necessary, and all was well!  We cleaned bathrooms, did laundry, dusted, shoved items in closets (yes...I'll admit it), straightened counters, swept floors.  We had our shopping list all ready for the last-minute items...and then Chad was called into work.  WHAT?!?!?!?  We almost had a Major Mommy Meltdown, but I tried to stay calm.  He headed out, none too happy about the situation, and Makenna and I hit up good old Kroger.  Once we were back home, it was cake time!  I knew that I could clean when I was groggy and sleepy, but there was no way I could finish that cake half asleep!  It turned out pretty darned fabulous...if I do say so myself.

When Chad made it home, we knocked out some more cleaning and got our fruit and veggie trays ready to go.  After a little bit of relaxing, we headed to bed in the hopes of getting some decent sleep before the craziness of the morning.  


Makenna woke up much earlier than usual Sunday morning, at 6:52 a.m.  I know this because she woke up crying, which is VERY unlike her, and I immediately looked at the clock.  We both stumbled out of bed to get started.  Feed the baby, shower, vacuum and mop floors, pick up toys that are laying around, get dip bowls ready to go, get OURSELVES ready to go, pick up the meat trays, ice the drinks, set up the table...WHEW!  We dressed up our little cutie in her beautiful baptism dress, then raced out the door to get to the church. 


Once we were at the church, our family began to arrive, and Chad and I guzzled down sodas to get some caffeine into us.  We were TIRED.  I still had that nervous, slightly stressed, nauseous feeling that you have when you have been rushing around and are just starting to come down from that high.  When it was time to be seated in the church, I didn't even have time to look around or think about what was coming at all.  I just rushed in and sat.


Not long after, our pastor called us up, and the choir began to sing their song: "Makenna Paige, God claims you.  God helps you, protects you and loves you, too."  I barely heard them as our family and Makenna's godparents got up and took places at the front of the church.  Chad held Makenna while we renewed our vows and promises to God and to the church.  Then, our pastor took Makenna, put water on her head and baptized her in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  She was very confused about what was going on, but such a good girl!  After that, we all placed our hands on her head for another blessing, and Dr. McKee walked her down the center aisle for everyone to see her.  He let her know that she was now a disciple of Jesus, and that in order for her to become a faithful follower, she would need to know the stories of Jesus, so those stories could become her stories.  Makenna cooed and talked, looking up at him with her sweet little face, and I could not have been prouder that she was our daughter.  All of the stress from the weekend just melted away, and I was just plain happy.  THIS was what it was all about, not the food, not the party, not the house cleaning.  Our little girl was officially being welcomed as a child of God, with our families and her amazing godparents there to celebrate with us.  There is no feeling like that in the entire world.