Monday, April 27, 2009

How Long Ago Was This?


I was going through my photos on disc yesterday when I came across this shot and had to share it because I just think it's the cutest!! Belynda took this photo on Christmas Day and I hadn't really taken the time to look at all her photos, but this is now one of my favourite photos of Mackenzie!! (Thanks Binny for taking it!!) Sometimes I forget how small she was!
Today Mackenzie is a little under the weather so it's been a long one for us! She picked up a little cold from our time with the kids last week. She has a runny nose, which is a little green at times and is a little warmer than usual, but she doesn't have a temperature. Her appetite is still the same, in fact she might be eating a little more than usual! My common sense is telling me it's a little bug and nothing to worry about, but the Mummy in me is a little scared with this whole swine flu going around! We only live 20 to 30 minutes away from Mexico!!
So my plan is to keep her in our little bubble for the rest of the week. We don't have any plans so we are just staying in. I will definitely be keeping a close eye on her and will be taking her to the doctor if things don't get any better for her. Keep your fingers crossed for us that she kicks this thing quickly!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Mackenzie Goes to School!


Hanging out in the swing...her favourite new thing!

This week we have been helping my friend Chrissy out. She runs a home daycare with her sister, and her sister went out of town so I've been helping her out since Wednesday. It's been a lot of fun. Mackenzie has really enjoyed herself. She likes being around the other kids and has been smiling and talking with them since she got there! She loves to hang out in the swing and laughs when I swing her. She also looks like she's trying to swing herself at times so I might have to buy one for home. Maybe she will allow me to get a little more done! Tomorrow is our last day and it's going to be an early one, so hopefully she'll co-operate with me when I have to get her up and going!



Hanging out with her friend Alex...he's two days older than Mackenzie!



We don't have any plans for the weekend. I have been very slack with my study this week, so the weekend will probably be spent trying to get that all done by Sunday. I hope everyone in Australia enjoys their ANZAC Day. Make sure those of you who celebrates it with a drink or two has one for me! Also does anyone know if their is a kids book about the man and the donkey? I remember learning about it at school and would be interested in getting a book so I'm able to share it with Mackenzie. Even though she's not growing up in Australia I still really want to teach her all I can about it...so let me know if anyone finds anything!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Aussie! Aussie Aussie!


A little Aussie in the making!!

We have been having some really hot weather the last few days, so Mackenzie has been getting to break in some of her summerish clothes! Last night I put her in her Aussie outfit. Unfortunately she didn't seem to appreciate it because we ended up having a night of crying and screaming until she finally went to sleep. I told her that she wouldn't be able to wear it again if she kept crying...but maybe that was what she was going for? :) Today when she woke up I was changing her when she peed all over it and I had to change her...do you think she's trying to tell me something!?! :)
Today we headed out to get some groceries and it was hot! They said at one point it was 97 degrees, which is about 34 for you Aussies! I guess I've been away from Darwin for too long because I was back home as soon as I could get there and we've been enjoying the air conditioning ever since!

All dressed up and ready to go!

On Saturday we had my friend Chrissy's bridal shower. Mackenzie looked cute and got to wear her shoes for the first time. I think I might enjoy playing dress up a little more than she does, but she wore them without complaining! Anyway we had a good time at the shower and Mackenzie spent her time looking at everyone and smiling at them. We were actually gone for a big part of the day and she was very well behaved considering she slept maybe 30 minutes!

A self portrait Mackenzie took of herself when I didn't have enough hands!


Me, Mackenzie and Chrissy!

On Wednesday through Friday we are actually going to help Chrissy out at her home day care while her sister goes away. I don't know how Mackenzie is going to be having to share her Mum, but I hope she enjoys herself. My only real concern is her going to sleep. I'll be sure to take plenty of pics of her first day care experience!
I got my paper written and handed in with 16 minutes to spare! I think I did ok, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I have about 5 weeks left of school I think so the end is near! At the moment I don't want to do anymore study, but if I don't I'll never get this degree completed. I am going to take the summer off and then I think I'll just do one class in the fall. With John going away again I don't want to take on too much, but I think it's important that I don't give up all together. I do want to thank everyone who sent me a little message of encouragement...I really appreciated getting to read them! It was definitely what I needed!

Me and my girl. (finally a photo we didn't have to take ourselves!)


Mackenzie in her dress Auntie Binny got her!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Pity Party!

I'm having a rough week! Most days I try to keep it out of the blog, but I need to vent!! Maybe it's because I've cut back on my soda/soft drink intake!? :) I haven't had one since I can't even remember now. Ok so here goes....
I'm totally over studying!! Every spare minute I have I'm trying to read or I'm typing away madly before Mackenzie wakes up. I've been studying on and off since 2001!! I don't want to do it anymore! I have about five weeks left so I will suck it up and get on with it, but I really don't want to do it anymore!
I'm tired!! Mackenzie is doing this thing now where she goes to sleep at night for about 30 minutes, then she's up again wanting to hang out! It's frustrating because I need to get my study done! Then she's also doing this thing where she wakes up from about 4am, but she's not really awake and cries until I reposition her, then she falls asleep for 30 minutes or more. I would love just one night of uninterrupted sleep!
I'm over being a single Mum! My floors haven't seen a vacuum in I don't know how long! I haven't read for pleasure since who knows when. I would love some time to scrap book! I guess I'm just over this deployment. It's frustrating because I thought I was doing this right. I waited till I found a good man to start a family and I'm doing it on my own....ok it's all out so and I feel a little better, pity party over!
Mackenzie is 19 weeks old today! Apart from the sleeping drama she is just the cutest little thing ever! She's growing so fast! She is a chatterbox, she's in love with Suzie and she is possibly starting to show some independence in her outfits! I tend to show her two different outfits and sometimes she'll smile at one but not the other! She is also doing rather well at sitting up. Some days she can sit up all by herself for at least half a minute before she loses her balance! In case you didn't know I'm really proud of her! :)
John found out too that he will be deploying yet again in the fall. So either September or October we will be on our own again for another six months. He'll be missing Mackenzie's first birthday, Halloween and Thanksgiving. He also won't be here for Christmas. Part of me is glad that Mackenzie is too young is realize that he's not around, but the other part of me is just plain frustrated! He's basically missed out on her entire first year!...but don't let me get the pity party started again!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Enjoy Each Day....

I have a blog that I want everyone to check out. Yesterday's Oprah was about not so ordinary Dad's! There was a single Dad with nine children, mostly adopted. An gay couple and their adopted family. The heartbreaking story of a solider who met his little guy once before being killed in Iraq, but left him the most amazing journal full of advice and wisdom. Then there was this guy called Matt. His story broke my heart, and I could cry now just thinking about him.
In March of last year his daughter Madeline was born. She was premature and his wife Liz had been on bed rest for the last five weeks before Madeline arrived. I believe the following day after Madeline was born Liz was getting ready to go and meet her daughter for the first time when she felt dizzy and dropped to the fall and basically died. She had a blood clot.
So now Matt is left to raise Madeline alone and work through his grief and this blog tells their story. I have read quite a few pages of it and it just breaks my heart to read it. I haven't been able to bring myself to read anything from before Madeline was born because I know it's going to be full of their excitement for the baby! He doesn't really hold anything back, this includes swearing, but if you can get past that it's an amazing story. Madeline is the cutest little thing, and it just makes you want to appreciate what you have and those you love a little more.
The address is: http://www.mattlogelin.com/
Let me know what you think!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Mackenzie's First Easter!


All dressed up for Easter!

Today was Mackenzie's first Easter and although she had no idea what the big deal was I think she enjoyed playing with her new stuff! Things are a little different here. They don't have the variety of chocolate eggs like they do at home. Placing little eggs and other treats into plastic eggs is the thing to do so I got Mackenzie some plastic eggs, so she could pick them up and I also got her a little bunny and a Easter book. We've been reading the book for a week or so now and she seems to like it!

Her cute little bunny tail!

Of course I just had to get her a Easter outfit! She had bunnies on her feet and a cute little tail. The outfit was a little too big, but she did fine. I also picked up a hat at some point which she just looked the cutest in! Next year though I'm sure she'll have a lot more fun!

Poor Suzie got thrown to the back ground while she played with her Easter stash...she was soon back in Mackenzie's arms though!

Her cute bunny hat!




Our Easter self portrait...I didn't think to fix my hair!


Her Easter book!

We had a quiet day for my birthday. We went out to dinner with the girls and that was nice. Mackenzie spent her time looking at the girls and frowning! This week her sleeping has kind of changed. She's sleeping a lot more during the day which is great, but staying up a little later at night. I've managed to get used to the change, so hopefully my study will still all get done. I had this week off of school which was nice! Unfortunately though I didn't make the most of the extra time I had, so this week I'll be madly working through my assignments that are due next Sunday. I'm coming into the home stretch now and I'll be real glad when I'm done!
I've been having problems recently in bathing Mackenzie. She is getting too big for her bath and that was posing all sorts of problems. I was bathing her on top of our bathroom counter and sometimes when she moves she would send water flying. This week she created a real mess! She sent so much water flying that I had water going into the draws and everything! So I now have moved her into her bathroom, which she is slowly getting used to. She kind of freaks a little when a lower her into the bath. She's definitely not ready to go into the big bath yet so today I got her a little seat to move her out of the baby bath. She seemed to enjoy her bath today and it was a little easier for me!
John is doing fine and is enjoying a little break at the moment after two months at sea. He keeps telling me that he shouldn't go back out to sea before he leaves, but I'll believe that when I see it. As of yet he still doesn't know the ship's schedule either so we don't know how soon he will be deploying again. I just really hope he doesn't join the ship only to leave again! In some ways it could be ok to just get it out of the way while Mackenzie doesn't understand, but at the same time I don't want him to totally miss out on her first year. Just keep your fingers crossed for us that he doesn't have to go anytime soon.

In her new bath seat!

On a funny note...I guess I am now getting some pay back from when I was a kid. I can always remember my Dad getting upset with us kids when the news was on. I guess we would always get loud at that time and he would always say to us, "Why do you always want to talk and make noise as soon as the news comes on!" Well Mackenzie seems to have learned that news time is crying time! Every time, especially when it is something I want to hear she starts crying and I always think of my Dad!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Sitting Up Like a Big Girl!


Mackenzie sitting up with the help of the Boppy!

So Mackenzie is sitting up kind of on her own which is making her Mummy very proud!! I still put the Boppy behind her for a little security, but she's able to maintain her balance for a decent amount of time! She's growing up way too fast!

Leaning forward for the camera!


We had a very quiet weekend. We didn't leave the house, just relaxed and took things easy. Sunday night saw me madly typing away as I left some of my study until the last minute and Mackenzie decided that she wanted to stay up late that night! I got my work in a little late, but hopefully I won't lose too many points. This week is my Spring Break. I don't have to do any of my weekly work, but I will be working on some of my bigger assignments. My semester ends I believe around May 20 so I can almost see the finish line now! At times I've felt that studying was not one of my best decisions, but I am kind of proud of myself that I've managed to get these classes completed with decent grades so far! I am feeling a little over the whole study thing at the moment. I just feel like I've been doing it forever and I want to be done once and for all. Unfortunately I still have quite a few classes to go before I'm done.


Today we went to the zoo with a friend of mine. I met her when I looked after her little boy at work. It was great seeing him too. He's grown so much! She had a little girl roughly a month after Mackenzie was born so eventually she'll have a play mate when they get to that stage. Today turned out to be a pretty hot day so I didn't take Mackenzie out of the stroller too much, but I think she had a good day just the same. I got a great work out in however pushing her up all those hills! I might have to go to the zoo more often as I'm sure I'll be feeling a little sore tomorrow!

Mackenzie all ready for the zoo in her hat that Grandma Chris got her!!

Tomorrow we have Mackenzie's four month old check up which means more shots! I'm not looking forward to that! I hope that it goes well and I manage to hold back my tears!! Then on Wednesday it's my birthday. I don't even want to say how old I will be...I'm getting old! I am going out to dinner with the girls which should be fun. I was going to stay home feeling sorry for myself, but my friend Chrissy arranged dinner so I'll be happy to be out and surrounded by friends. It's times like these that I miss John even more.
Speaking of John, he finally made it back to Bahrain!! It's been great to get to talk to him again and he says that he shouldn't be going out to sea again before he leaves, but I won't hold his command to that! He is telling me that he should be home early June for a few days before heading to Texas for a month to go to school. It's going to be great to have him home, although I'm not looking forward to having him come home only to leave again. The life of a sailor's wife!!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

17 Weeks Today


Ready for bed!


Well my baby is 17 weeks old today...it goes so fast! We are both doing well and had a quiet weekend. At the moment it seems like it's one day blended into another for us. We have our little routine with not a whole lot of variation. Mackenzie is doing great! She's just the cutest little thing and I'm so in love with her!! She is becoming such a chatterbox and loves to do this little growl thing. She also blows a lot of bubbles and a bib has become part of her every day outfit.

Tummy time!

As you can see she's doing great on her tummy! She'll roll over onto her back, but not the other way yet. She's so close...she does all the actions, but she just won't do that final push! She has been sitting up straight twice for me. I keep her in the boppy, but she is able to sit for a few seconds before she becomes unbalanced. It's tough sometimes because I want to keep her little, but then I love seeing her develop!
Next week she's back for her next round of immunizations, so fingers crossed that goes as well as it did last time!