The Family Reunion

Well, the whole reason we embarked on this great expedition across the country was to attend Michael's family reunion in Boise, Idaho. Mission accomplished. And what a genuinely fun mission it was!

But let me back up to our trip from Utah to Idaho. This would have been our shortest leg of the entire journey had we not opted to make a couple of extra stops en route. First, we wanted to take our kids to Temple Square in Salt Lake City. I think, despite their grumpiness from over-exhaustion, they really enjoyed seeing the sites. One funny moment occurred when I was trying to help Maia remember that she can ride escalators. Anyway, she really wanted to go in the basement of the Visitor's Center where her dad, Mason and Marlee had gone, but was too afraid to go down the escalator. (Side note: about a year ago we actually paid for some psychotherapy for her so she could overcome her anxieties—including riding escalators. After meeting with the psychologist, I took her to the mall where we practiced “The Relaxing Breath” and eventually conquered this fear by riding up and down escalators for a couple of hours.) Well, there was no way I wanted to go back to our too-afraid-to-ride-the-escalator days. I calmly reminded Maia that she could do it and then said, “Look, let's watch the rhythm of the steps as they come and then step on. One...two...three...step!” She remained frozen in place with a frustrated look on her face. “Mom, they move too fast! What do they think we are—cheetahs?” Ah, my sweet daughter. The good news is that she did eventually get on and ride down where there were no less than six smiling missionaries cheering at her success.

After temple square we stopped in a little town called Corinne, Utah to visit our old home teacher and his family. When Michael and I were newlyweds we were in a huge Provo ward where we felt like no one knew us and no one cared to...until we met our home teacher, Kurt. He and his wife were expecting their first baby around the same time as we were expecting Maia and we just bonded. Stopping by their house was the best pit stop of our whole trip. They have a farm with tortoises, ostriches, emus, pygmy goats, chickens, and a pig (I'm probably forgetting some animals, too). Mason was running around not knowing where to go next. I think he thought he was born into the wrong family. He loved all the animals and was in their pens most of the time. Marlee and Mackenna loved the tiny leopard tortoise most and, after spending the better part of an hour refusing to exit the car due to the presence of said animals, even Maia put a tentative finger on the tortoise's shell. Sweet Larissa wouldn't let us leave without giving us some new books on tape, an emu egg and and ostrich egg (which she opened with her power drill and emptied before our very eyes—that's one BIG egg). Anyway, it was great to see this fun family after so long.

The road in Idaho was plagued with multiple construction zones (shut down to one lane) and even a brush fire. Finally, we got to the Boise area and went straight to my friend Carmen and Brian's house. I lived with Carmen in the dorms my freshmen year (We met Brian lived there, too—we were all great friends. They started dating and now have the perfect Mormon love story). Anyway, Carm and I had our first babies three days apart so it was fun to see how big they are now! She and Brian look the same as they did when they were 18. We had a great barbecue with them and let all the kids get their wiggles out in the park right behind their house.

After the reunion with my freshmen friends, we went to the hotel to greet our family for the start of the family reunion. Michael and I chose not to stay in the hotel for the entire duration of the reunion because we had a free house offered to us just ten minutes away. Michael's mom offered up the extra bed in her room and Maia and Mason were thrilled to spend the next two nights in the hotel with Grandma Margaret. We took the little girls back to our house and got some shut-eye.

Thursday morning a bunch of us went to Zoo Boise. Michael's aunt had procured 60 free passes for the zoo (children 3 and under are free anyway) so a huge horde of us went together. It was a grand time to see all the little great-grandchildren running and playing and looking at the animals together. Highlights for us included Michael obtaining a porcupine's quill and walking through the butterfly garden.

After a quick lunch in downtown Boise we headed back to the hotel where I took Mackenna up to Margaret's room for a nap and Michael took the older three down to the pool with the rest of the crew. After nap time, Mackenna and I joined the merrymaking at the pool. Soon, it was dinnertime and the whole fam-damily went to a little Chinese restaurant around the corner from the hotel. To get the idea of how our family filled this restaurant you have to understand that Michael's mom is the second of eleven children. This reunion was for Michael's grandmother, her eleven children/spouses, their forty or fifty some-odd children and their spouses and their children. Did that make any sense? The point is...it's a lot of people (even when some couldn't come). So, we packed that restaurant and had a nice meal together.

Friday was Riding the River Day. Michael took Maia and Mason with countless relatives to go tubing down the Boise River. I am so proud of Maia and Mason for having the courage to try this new activity! They both returned with smiling faces and endless tales of splashing fights and “falling” into the river. I stayed back at the hotel with Esther, Jessica, Chuck and Marilyn on baby duty. Together, we watched all the little children deemed too young for the river expedition. Esther and I took some kids to the park for a minute, but we mostly hung out at the hotel and enjoyed a pizza lunch. After lunch, I took my girls and my niece, Savannah, back to Margaret's room for naps. It was so cute to watch Marlee and Savannah together; they are first cousins and only three months apart in age, but they rarely play together. At family dinners, they ignore each other most of the time. I don't get it because I always wished I had a cousin my same age to play with but they don't seem to care. OK, they are still pretty young. I'll get over it. My point is that I was so happy to see them playing together all morning and when we went down for naps they were in the same bed, laying on their sides facing each other and giggling. It was so cute!

Grandma Betty hosted an open house to show us all her cute house in Boise. She's got pictures of her descendants everywhere. It really shows how she treasures her family.

Michael attended a family meeting Friday evening while I took our kids back to the house and put them to bed. My childhood friend and daughter of the woman whose house we were staying in, Emily, came over to visit me for about a half hour. We grew up together with our moms as best friends so it was nice to sit and chat about our families.

When Michael came back from the family meeting, I had to wake myself up and go back to the hotel. Christy and Lori, a couple of Michael's cousins, and I had made a date to go buy the new Harry Potter together at midnight. We recruited two more cousins to join us: another named Michael, and my old college roommate Kimber (the gal who started it all for my Michael and me). The five of us set out on our quest. We searched for a Barnes and Nobles on the GPS and headed over. WOAH! The bookstore had already met is maximum capacity of 1200 and the parking lot was filled with shoulder-to-shoulder humans awaiting entrance. After deciding it just wouldn't be right to knock over some people with our car to snatch their books from them, we did another search on the GPS and looked up Wal-Mart. We were there in less than five minutes and greatly encouraged by a parking lot full of cars and not human beings in a queue. There was a twenty- or thirty-minute line and that's all. We laughed and joked while we waited for our turn to buy books. The beauty of the Wal-Mart book-buying excursion was that we were still able to see die-hards in costumes (our favorite was a Prof. Trelawney with giant glasses) but also buy Michael the new deodorant he so badly needed! It was a win-win!

Saturday we had a massive photography session at the Veteran's Memorial Park. Enter reunion t-shirts. Each child of Grandma Betty and that child's descendants had a t-shirt color; ours was “funshine yellow,” as I like to call it. We got all kinds of photos—grandkids, great-grandkids, families by color and then the giant group photo of all of us. I don't have a copy of that one yet since every one of us was actually in the photo. After the photos, we fought swarms of wasps to eat a nice picnic lunch. Then, we played silly games like a relay, egg toss and wacky hair-style competition. After several hours at the park we headed back to the hotel for some more family time poolside.

This time Michael took a turn at nap duty and I got to relax and chat at the pool with our fun relatives. I am so lucky to have so many great in-laws. Of course, I love that I get to see my fun friend/old roommate Kimber at any and all family reunions. You just can't beat marrying your dear friend's cousin for a guaranteed good time at any extended family gathering. Through my friendship with her, I knew Grandma Betty and various other aunts and cousins long before I met my Michael. I enjoyed my hours by the pool chatting with the many family members, especially my sisters-in-law. Each has such a uniquely pleasant personality. I managed to supervise the kids for about four hours and never once got thrown in the pool. Let me tell you, with this crowd that is quite an accomplishment.

After picking on picnic leftovers all day, we didn't feel the need in our guts to go to dinner, so we just got the kids out of the pool long enough for a twenty-minute break before heading to the YMCA. Our family had rented the entire pool area at the local YMCA for more water fun. And what fun it was! There was a very large kiddie pool with a little dragon water slide for the babies and toddlers. Then, there were two larger slides for the rest of us; one was very twirly and curvy and the other was a short, steep drop. I couldn't believe that Maia tried the steep one, but she did. Maia and Mason both spent the hour and a half in constant water slide mode. At first, Michael and I were taking turns watching the little girls, but when we learned we could take them on our laps we gave that a try. Both of them loved the slide (the steep one was off-limits for the littlest kids) and suckered both their parents and their Uncle Chris and Aunt Meredith to take them down repeatedly. It was a great finale activity for the whole family!

People started leaving early Sunday morning, but for those of us who stayed a little later, we had a nice family breakfast at the hotel. It was lovely. In our big family, there are just so many interesting and diverse people who have one important thing in common (other than their DNA): they know how to have fun! I look forward to the next reunion in 2012.

The Rest of Utah

Sadly, my time and trip are both getting away from me and I am a over a week behind in chronicling our adventures.


Last Sunday we went to church with my brother Joel and his family. I got to go to Joel's Gospel Principles class. It was a wonderful lesson on prayer and the Spirit truly touched my heart as I watched my big brother bear testimony of the miracles prayer can perform. It was a wonderful lesson.

After church we came back for some more time with Whitney and Jared's family. Mason was sad to see Jared's boys leave later that afternoon, but they had to head back to Vegas. I'm so glad they made the effort to come and visit us for a day and a half.



















After Jared's family pulled out, we loaded our kids in the car and headed up north to visit our friends Lori and Barton. We hadn't seen them for three years since they moved from Maryland. Their little boys are now huge and we were thrilled to meet their two-month old daughter, Ally. She is a really doll. Lori even remembered Michael's favorite dessert (angel food cake with fresh strawberries and whipping cream) and had that waiting for us.

A side note on our first trip up I-15 in nine years: there are houses everywhere! It was so strange to see houses all over the point of the mountain. Everything is built up so much that you actually have to look for temples as you drive. Strange.



Anyway, Monday morning we went to a park in American Fork to meet my dear friend Amy and her three kids. What a treat! Alissia and Mason were best friends in preschool. Cead ("The Cead" as Teensy called him when they were little) has grown so much he was unrecognizable! Little Mina was only a few days old when she moved from Maryland so she's grown the most. It's always funny to see other people's kids. You always see your own so you don't get the dramatic effect of their growth, but when you see someone else's kids after a couple of years you can really see the passage of time. It was nice to sit and chat with Amy and watch the kids enjoy themselves at Discovery Park. I miss having Amy around to call me on a moment's notice and get together with the kids. What a fun friend she is.




Monday night for Family Night we (Joel's family and mine) went to Thanksgiving Point for a very fun activity put on by my very own baby sister, Whitney! It was called "Harry, Hagrid, and Hogwarts" and it was so FUN! All over the Gardens, there were stations set up centered around a Harry Potter theme for the kids to do little fun activities. My favorite was the wand-making station where we helped the kids stuff their wands with things like unicorn hair and phoenix feathers.

Oh---after the acivity was over, Michael and I got to ride all over the beautiful gardens on Segways. We now know how we want to spend some of our retirement money. We plan on being Gramps and Gram Segway! Those things are so fun.
Tuesday, we spend the morning at Thanksgiving Point again. This time we went to the dinosaur museum. Again, the kids really enjoyed the activity. Their favorite parts were playing with little dinosaurs in the sand and water and then going on a "dig" to unearth dinosaur bones.

While we were at Thanksgiving Point, Michael and I just had to go to the spot where we got engaged almost ten years ago. We used to go there for picnics often when we were dating and it was on one such picnic that Michael popped the question. Thanksgiving Point has grown quite a bit these past nine years, but we were happy that we could still revisit "our spot."

Tuesday evening, after a quick tour of BYU for our kids and a cougar-wear shopping spree in the bookstore, Joel watched the seven kids while Whitney, Kim, Michael and I went to Los Hermonos. Michael and I used to go there when we were engaged/newly married with our friends Melissa and Brad. It was always a fun treat to slurge and spend the $6 each to get our favorite meal. We always all got the Smothered Burrito. It still tastes the same! Actually, it was even better because we weren't spending our last $15 until payday to eat it! Michael also enjoyed drinking a non-alcoholic Sangria--something he has not been able to find in all our years in Maryland. The four of us had a great time laughing and talking and stuffing ourselves sick.

While I did the clean-out-the-car and repack routine, Michael, Mason and Joel went on a long ride up in the mountains on the four-wheeler and motorcycle. They were gone so long I started to worry. Mason came home so happy to have just had a manly adventure with his dad and uncle.
(This picture is actually of Mason and my brother Jared on an earlier, much shorter four-wheeler run.)


Well, that is the end of our Utah time. There were plenty of tears when it was time to leave, both from our kids and their cousins. We tried to tell them we'll be back to spend one more night on our way home, but that didn't appease them. Idaho was calling, and it was time to hit the road for the next leg...The Family Reunion.

Up in the Mountains

Well, here we are in grand old Utah. On the way here, our kids had their first complaint about being in the car. It came from Mason and passed quickly enough; he merely observed that we have been in the car quite a bit. All complaints were forgotten when we reached my brother's house and they got to reunite with cousins!

We haven't seen my brother Joel's family for two and a half years so it's really wonderful to see them again. Maia has just been in heaven with her cousins Courtney and Aubree. Courtney is just 5 1/2 months older than Maia; Aubree is 9 days older than Mason. Anyway, the three of them are doing make-up, playing Littlest Petshop, and pretending to be puppies and ponies.

Mason's biggest delight came when my brother Jared brought his crew up from Vegas. His oldest son, Cole, is just 8 1/2 hours younger than Mason and Mason also really gets along with Dylan, who is just 20 months younger.


Truth be told, Marlee keeps saying she wants to go back to Sydney's house. She misses having a little girl to play with. The big girls don't seem to want her around because she's so little and the cousins her age, Easton and Brock, are happy to have each other. I think I am making sound worse than it is. She's still been having fun, don't worry.


This afternoon we all loaded up in the cars and drove up Santaquin Canyon into the mountains for frolicking and a cookout. We had a great feast and the kids all played until they were filthy beyond description. We had a fabulous time in such a beautiful setting (I quite enjoy the aspens) and were extra happy to share this time with our friend Jamie. The kids were so excited to be reunited with their old babysitter and I was thrilled to see my sweet Laurel.

The three older girls pretended to gather and grind wheat to make bread on their "fire" while the boys all gathered wood for their own "fire."

We are looking forward to seeing a few other friends while we are here. I'll post on all that in a few days. In the meantime, know that it warmed my heart to see the "Y" on the mountain after nine years. I can't wait to take my kids to the BYU Bookstore and deck them out in cougarwear!

The Colorado Leg

We got on the road a little behind schedule. We ended up having to wake up Maia, something never before needed in her 8+ years of life. Anyway, we hopped on I-80 West and were on our way. Again, I must state how impressed Michael and I are with how well our children are doing in the car. We did a pit stop while still in Iowa and then didn't stop again until a late lunch in the middle of Nebraska. Maia just wasn't eating her food. While this might be normal behavior for her when given average fare, it didn't seem quite right when she had before her a banquet of french fries and "ketchup on a bun" (her favorite vegetarian alternative at fast food joints). I asked her why she wasn't eating and she told me that it felt "weird" in her throat. I reflexively placed my hand on her forehead and felt immediate excess heat. Can this really be happening? Does Maia now have strep throat?


To make a long story short...YES! I gave her Motrin on the road and took her temp the minute we arrived at Stacey's; it was 101.9. More Motrin. By Tuesday morning when she woke up, it was 103.9 and we ran her to the Urgent Care where the rapid strep test was "very positive"--a direct quote from the doctor. We got started getting antibiotics in her a half hour later. She slept that whole first day we were here but is now feeling quite herself and is wondering why she still has to take the meds. I am so grateful that we were able to get a quick diagnosis and treatment. I wonder what ailment she's going to come down with in Utah--Lyme's disease?



Anyway, back to our fun visit here in Colorado. Tuesday morning was pretty much eaten up by breakfast, a doctor's visit and getting the Rx for Maia. The rest of the day was pleasantly passed by just playing. Mason played countless games of dodge ball on the trampoline with Blake and Tanner; Marlee dressed in Sydney's clothes and the two of them painted nails, played Playdough and danced to princess music. We all went that evening to Blake's baseball game (with two doses of her antibiotics in her by then, Maia's fever was already broken) and then to Chic-Fil-A for dinner.



Yesterday was a great pool day. Stacey and Mike's neighborhood here has some really great pools. The one we went to yesterday had a diving board and a couple of water slides. I'm not sure if Mason was ever not in line for or going down the one slide. He really loved that. Teensy was enamored with the diving board--if she jumped off it once, she did it a dozen times. That girl is a maniac! Of course, Michael and I were in the 10 ft area at the end of the board treading water, just waiting for her to jump to us, but each time she jumped away from us! She loved it. Maia has always enjoyed the pool and tried a little of everything. Mackenna was really unhappy at first, but discovered the large baby pool and was happy as a clam to play there with her new friend Courtney.


After swimming, we came home for showers and an early dinner before heading out to Tanner's baseball game. Right after the game, Stacey and I went and picked up Ashley, a friend who was in the RS Presidency with us in the Laurel Ward like 6-7 years ago. Ironically, she lives about a mile from Stacey here now. The three of us went out for dessert at the Cheesecake Factory and then to a movie. It was so fun to sit and chat with these old friends. We reminisced about our old presidency meetings (and missed Jill who was our absent member) and they quizzed me about who is doing what in Maryland these days.


In eight years of friendship with Stacey, I think I've gotten two photos with her and her eyes are closed in both of them. I thought this trip would be a great time to get one where her eyes are actually open. Well, we had our server take a photo of us at the restaurant and let me tell you it was no small task. It took ten shots before we got one with Stacey's eyes open! By the end, the three of us were laughing so hard; tears were rolling down Stacey's face. I was talking to the waiter but still trying to smile at the same time and he clicked the last photo. I'll just have to love it because Stacey's eyes were finally open. There's gotta be a name for that kind of syndrome where your eyes shut so fast upon seeing a flash that it's almost impossible to photograph you with your eyes open. If there is such a thing, Stacey's a text book case!


This morning we loaded up the kids and went to a super fun museum called The Wildlife Experience. It was a great way to spend the morning. It was very kid-friendly and hands-on. We walked through exhibits on various animals and elements of nature. Before coming home we watched an Extreme movie about Beavers on a giant movie screen. I don't know which my kids enjoyed more: the movie on the big screen or the rarely-enjoyed treat of having popcorn and soda while they watched.

For our last night we went to Stacey and Mike's stake musical, 1856: The Musical. Maia was captivated by the pioneer story. The little ones were...monsters, but what do you expect?

It's just been wonderful to see our dear, dear friends. It feels like not a day has passed between us. I just wish Colorado were a little closer to Maryland.

Iowa

Well, here we are getting ready to leave Iowa. We've had a great couple of days. Happily, I report that the vomiting bug only lasted eight hours in Maia and about ten in Kenna. So far it has not reared its ugly head since that first morning we got here. Cross your fingers for us; we're getting in the car a little later this morning for our biggest driving leg of the month.


After the girls were feeling a little better on Saturday, we drove out to a fun lake for some swim time. It was a blast! The kids loved playing in the sand and swimming around in the water. Mason and Teensy really enjoyed having their dad available to throw them into the air so they could land back down with huge splashes. Maia contented herself with playing in the sand after she "felt a crab" in the water. Our logical discussion of there not being any crabs in this freshwater lake was completely lost on her. Her good time was not spoiled in the least by her fear and she was utterly happy to play in the sand and help everyone look for the little fish which swam close to shore. You can imagine Kenna's delight as seeing several small fish right in the water with her and proclaimed them "happy fishies." We took a small break from the water to have a yummy picnic dinner, after which all the kids worked together to build a giant sand fortress. Then we headed back to bathe 9 children and get them to bed on time in anticipation of 9:00 church the next day. Ahhh...children in bed on time for the first time in several days...heaven!


Church was nice...or should I say Primary was nice? Marlee wouldn't get off my lap so I spent a nice two hours with the Sunbeams. Mackenna went to the strange nursery without looking back or shedding a tear, to the amazement of many. After church, the little ones napped and then we went to downtown Iowa City. It is really quite quaint for a "city" and certainly has charm. Hugh took us to see his office at the University of Iowa and then we headed back home for a delicious breakfast for dinner--my favorite!

I just realized that I haven't written about our dear friend's "smoking skills." Hugh made us some pulled pork and brisket in his smoker and boy, were they fabulous! I ate tender succulent pig every day and never tired of it. I just had to mention that.

OK, that's the overview of our time in Iowa. It sure was great to see our old friends. I am really enjoying this vacation. With each successful leg completed I get more and more giddy that we are doing it. It's like several vacations all in one--with visits to cousins, siblings, friends and a family reunion all in one short month. Anyway, two states down, four to go! Colorado or bust, baby!

Road Trip Legs 1 and 2

This is a photo of Mackenna on her actual second birthday. She doesn't seem to mind spending six hours of it in the car, does she?

OK, here we are on the biggest road trip of my life. I must say that I have impressed many, especially myself, with how lightly I packed for my whole family to be on the road for a month. My trunk is only half full! I even had room to bring the oldest three kids' scooters. With food treats and tons of activities in the cabin and suitcases and scooters in the trunk, we headed out Thursday afternoon.

The trip to Ohio was uneventful. The kids were all super excited to finally get the treat bags they'd been hearing so much about. Between their activities, a couple of DVD's and a book on tape, they were well entertained for the duration of the journey.

After a short night's sleep, we awoke to some cousin fun. Maia and her "favorite second cousin" Hannah busily wrote and illustrated books while flapping their fairy wings and jumping around. Mason and Logan wielded light sabers and ran around the yard. Marlee divided her time between her cousin Collin and tailing the big girls. Mackenna reveled in squeezing her adorable four-month old cousin, Ella. OK, I enjoyed that activity as well. That baby is a chunk and absolutely adorable! Michael had some nice chat time with Sean and I visited with Jessica for the morning.

We didn't stay very long with our cousins because we will be with them when we get to the family reunion. At about 11:30 we threw our bags in the car and made way for Iowa.

Our children were fabulous! I don't mean to brag and I am sure that all legs of this trip will not go as smoothly, but our kids were picture perfect (except for one low point, but at that time we were completely stopped I-80 for an entire hour in the heat of they day; even I was losing it). No one even asked to go to the bathroom until 7:00 p.m. Can you believe that? I sure couldn't. We had, of course, stopped for lunch at about 2:00, but still. We cruised right here to Iowa without a hitch (not including said highway closing, of course).

It was so fun to reunite with our old friends. We stayed up late last night visiting and let the kids run around outside to get their wiggles out and catch lightning bugs. We went to bed feeling great about our arrival and looking forward to our visit.

Enter the vomit. That's right. In the middle of the night I heard this moaning and found it was Maia. She said her tummy hurt. I took her to the bathroom hoping she just needed to go. Oh, boy. That poor girl had it coming out both ends in a matter of seconds. I gave her a bath and got her back to bed where she slept peacefully for another three hours. Then she and Mackenna woke up vomiting. Yep, we've got TWO kids vomiting now. See how lucky we are? And "You're welcome, Jessica and Hugh, that we brought you our special virus all the way from Maryland!" Here's to hoping that it's like an eight hour thing and the other kids escape its clutches. I just don't need this on my big road trip!

Happy Birthday, Mackenna Rose!

Today is the second birthday of my sweet baby girl, Mackenna. Since we are leaving for our trip today, we did all the celebrating on the 4th of July. It worked out really well since the day was special anyway with Daddy being home, a fun ward breakfast to attend and, of course, fireworks as a finale.


For her birthday Kenna got a new baby doll, doll cradle and baby bottles. She was thrilled when she came down the steps and saw her gifts in the living room. She immediately went into "mommy mode" and fed her baby before putting her to bed.

For dinner we had Daddy's traditional KFC for the fourth but finished it off with some yummy birthday cake. Mackenna loves everything fish so I put a fish on her cake. As she opened her Dora the Explorer magnetic paper doll kit from Miss Tracy, she exclaimed, "Wow! This is cool!" It was rather adorable to hear that coming from a two-year old.

During the fireworks, I couldn't help but think back two years to when I was 41+1 weeks pregnant with Mackenna and watching the same display. I remember how I started taking caullophylum in the car on my way home from the fireworks because I was ready to have my baby. I thought she'd never come! Little did I know that she was just waiting for her own birthday; she didn't want to share with the nation. My water breaking woke me up when my bedroom clock said 1:00 a.m. I woke up Michael and my mom, called my friend Stacey to come watch the other three and was off to the hospital. Of course, by the time I got to the hospital I didn't think I could walk. My sweet mom pushed me in a wheelchair to the L&D unit where I couldn't even take off my own clothes to get the hospital gown on. Thank goodness for moms and nurses. When the doctor on the floor got in the room, I pushed a couple of times and delivered Mackenna. They put my sweet little princess on my chest and I looked up at the clock. It was 1:28 a.m. I know there are skeptics who think I am making this up, but I've got witnesses! My longest pregnancy yielded my fastest labor.

To this day I think Mackenna would rather be inside me than out, especially when I am making dinner and she is trying to stand between my legs (it's like she is trying to re-enter the womb, I swear!). She is very much a momma's girl. I'll be glad if she always loves me even just a portion of how much she adores me now. I am all too aware of how quickly my baby will grow up and pray she and I will always be close.


To preserve a little of what's left of your baby self, Mackenna Rose, I hope to always remember how

*You just recently started putting the "s" sound on the beginning of blended-sound words like "stop" and "sparkle." Until a couple of weeks ago, you wore "parkle shoes"--I already miss that.

*You love to eat watermelon, corn on the cob, and yogurt.

*Your drink of choice, hands down, is chocolate milk.

*You love to play with baby dolls--way more that either of your sisters ever did.

*You prefer to "read" books to yourself before naptime.

*You are all about shoes! Recently, I found you a pair of flip flops and you won't even let me take them off you to sleep! You enjoy your shoes that much.

*You honestly try to swim in the pool--laying flat and putting your face in the water and everything. You come up looking genuinely confused that you can't figure out how not to sink.

*You say, "Mommy, hold you me" at least 25 times a day.

*You love your brother and sisters and ask them if they love you. "Buddy, you love Kenna?"

*You say Teensy is your best friend.

*You love to draw but are my naughtiest at drawing on nonpaper items like legs and walls.

*You are crazy about all things fish. I have no idea where this came from.

*You like to watch Signing Time and Baby Songs.