Two Steps Forward....

This was my daughter a matter of days ago!! Since then she has become more confident in her crawling and sitting up and is now also attempting to pull herself up into a standing position. This sleeping angel has been replaced by a monster!!! As you all already know getting Mackenzie to sleep in her own bed hasn't been an easy thing for the both of us. The last few days it's become virtually impossible! The other night with her usual screaming I heard a small thud. I thought the worst and ran in thinking she'd managed to fall out of the crib/cot. Seeing that she was ok I assumed it was the little girl next door being loud and Mackenzie eventually cried herself to sleep. Two days later I hear the thud again and Mackenzie's cry change. Thinking she had fallen out again I rushed in there and realised she had smacked her head on the side of the bed. I settled her down and put her back in and she eventually went to sleep. She is trying to pull herself up into a standing position and falling down. Now we're at the stage that I can't put her in there because she continually smacks her head till I give into her because I'm scared that she is going to really hurt herself or actually work out how to stand up and launch herself out of the bed! When John gets home he needs to lower her bed so we can all get some peace.
Deciding that I was going to win this battle I have as of today started to put her in her portable crib/cot to go to sleep. There is no way she can stand up in it yet, and she can also bang her head against the sides all she wants because it's not going to hurt her. She did not appreciate this at her morning nap, but eventually went to sleep for me...one point to Mummy!!

Crawling about the room.

As I mentioned above she is becoming quite the confident crawler. She doesn't have much speed behind her yet, but she is doing great moving about the room. She is never in the same place I left her!! I'm hoping she'll remain at her turtle pace till John comes home so we can get the house ready for her!! At the moment she's trying to work out how to get my books off the book shelf so she can destroy them...so far they are safe. She has also begun head butting the furniture which she doesn't particularly like! She always seems to want to start rocking on her knees directly in front of the coffee table or tv unit and the other day got a nice little red mark to her head. I guess I need to add ice packs to the shopping list!


Eating has also become a drama filled event! The little angel that opened her mouth and ate everything I put in it has been replaced by a child that has to whine the whole time. As she opens her mouth to protest the injustice of it all I place a mouthful of food in which she proceeds to eat! I still don't understand why she has to whine when she eats!?! What happened to my little girl!?!!

John comes home this Thursday and I can't wait to see him. I think it's going to be a big adjustment for us all, but I'm looking forward to the extra set of hands. At the moment I'm getting the house ready and counting down the days! I'm a bundle of emotions and just want Thursday to be here already!! I hope Mackenzie will be nice to Daddy when she sees him.
With John coming home however I'm having to face the reality that I have to go back to work at some point. I went and visited my old boss the other day to see if she would hire me at her new center so that looks promising. I will be able to put Mackenzie into care there (although I won't be able to work in the same room as her) and it is quite reasonably priced! (I will get half price tuition while she's an infant and eventually free care) She actually called me on Friday and offered me a job with an almost immediate start. Feeling bad for her I almost said yes, but when I stopped and thought about it I was totally not ready to go back yet. I want to spend July with John while he's not working. He'll go back to work in August and be gone in September so I want to be able to spend this time as a family. Also I'm totally not ready to give up Mackenzie yet!! I get sad just thinking about it!! I have to also get her drinking from a bottle! I really don't want to have to go back to work at all and John knows this (I remind him every opportunity I get) but unfortunately to enjoy the lifestyle we lead here in San Diego we have to have two incomes. Going back to work will be a big adjustment for Mackenzie and I...I'll eventually be a single working Mum/Mom who is studying on top of that! I didn't sign up for this!!! The crazy things we do for love!! Three days to go!!

Father's Day Pics

We didn't do a whole lot with John not being here, but Mackenzie still marked the day with her "I love Dad" onesie! I found this a few weeks ago now, and was saving it for Fathers Day. I also finally found one that declares her love for me too, so I had to buy that as well!



Anyway nothing else to tell you about since my last post yesterday, just wanted to share the pics. Enjoy your week!!

Happy Father's Day John!

As soon as I took the camera out Mackenzie started smiling...unfortunately my camera has a delay so this is what I got...still cute though!

Today is Father's Day here in America and it's a kind of bittersweet day for us having to spend the day apart. Mackenzie is wearing her "I love Dad" onesie, but is sleeping at the moment so I will take some photos once she wakes up. John is going to go see a movie and get himself something to eat. I told him to make sure he treats himself even though it kind of sucks. We plan to make up for it once he is home. I have the cutest gift for him from Mackenzie, but can't show you yet as he sometimes reads this!!
I've also managed to upset myself further because I went and read Matt's blog. I have told you all about him before. Well today is also his four year wedding anniversary, so as you can imagine it's a pretty tough day for him. His blog manages to make me cry at least once a week, so I'm trying to put a positive spin on John not being here because at least we get to see him soon. Please take the time to spare a thought for Matt and Maddy....

Eating or should I say sucking on banana!

So change of subject before this gets too depressing!!...We haven't had the easiest of weeks this week. With Mackenzie's shots on Monday and possibly the tooth she is cutting she hasn't been my normal, happy girl! Every other night was screaming, not wanting to go to sleep till late and just being rather unsettled! It's also been a week where my little baby is just disappearing before my eyes and a big girl is appearing in her place! She is now so close to crawling that any day now I'm expecting her to shoot across the floor! A couple of nights ago she did a couple of proper crawl movements, but at the moment I think she's still try to get it all together! Maybe she'll save it for Daddy's arrival!!

She prefers to feed herself now...

She's doing ok when it comes to eating. Some days she's eats everything, then other days I'm lucky if I get her to eat half a container. I started to feed her some rice crackers which she really likes and I also give her the spoon which always gets her to eat a little more. I think maybe she is just too independent for her own good! When I first gave her the cracker she wouldn't hold it for herself. I put it in her mouth and as soon as it dissolved a little and she was able to break some off in her mouth she snatched the cracker out of my hand and began to eat it! It was almost like hearing her say..."Give me that thing, I know what I'm doing now!!"


She has also tried some banana and quite enjoyed that! The dummy/pacifier looking thing you can see in some of the photos is this net thing that you place food in and she is able to suck on things without having to worry about her choking on things. She is not too willing to hold this, but she seemed to like the banana. At the moment I'm still feeding her twice a day as I'm a little unsure if I should add the third meal when she's so up and down with her eating...maybe I'll give her another week!?


On Thursday we went and had lunch with Dakota and Mackenzie had a great time showing off for her big sister. She was all smiles which made Dakota's day and we had a good visit. Dakota is doing great and is getting to move with her mother and sister. They are moving to a different suburb in San Diego and Dakota is very excited because she will be finally getting her own room. There is quite a big age difference between her and her sister so I'm sure they are both going to enjoy having there own space.
John is doing great and working through his school. Tomorrow is the last of three exams he had to do and I believe this week he and his class will also be going to visit a prison there. He's finding the class very informative. He also got his flight home changed and confirmed. He had to end up calling Bahrain to do this...talk about government bureaucracy!! So now I am officially counting down days...10 more days to go!!!
Got to go as Mackenzie is awake and is over sitting at the computer with me and doesn't want to play with her toys....

Yet Another Milestone Achieved!!

Just a quick note to mark today down so I don't forget the date! Tonight Mackenzie took her first "steps" at crawling! She's been up on her knees for a while now, but in order to move she would either launch herself face first, go down on her tummy and commando crawl or roll to get where she wanted to go! So tonight as I was talking with John I thought I caught her move out of the corner of my eye, but thought I was seeing things. I started watching her a little closer and she did it!! She only crawled an inch or two, but it's a start!! I'm so proud of my girl!!

Convict Pics!!

Her citizenship pics...or as John likes to call her application to become a convict!

On Saturday I had to take Mackenzie to get some passport photos so I can get her application for her Aussie citizenship done. We went to the local pharmacy and I had to sit her on a stool and keep myself out of the way so the girl could get a decent shot. I can see that I still managed to get into the pic as you can see my thumb creeping! It was hilarious trying to get a decent shot. The camera had a delay, so Mackenzie would stare intently at the girl right up to the time that she was about to take the shot, then she would look at me! I think it took us about eight attempts before we got this one! I think the white background gives her that jail look! We got the nurse that has checked her out since she was two days old to sign the paperwork so now all we have to do is complete it and send it in...oh and I need to get her birth certificate too!

Mackenzie with her bff Sophie

On Sunday we met up with the girls for lunch. Mackenzie got to catch up with her friend Sophie which was nice. She no longer lives in San Diego anymore so they don't get to see one another as much as I would like. They weren't too interested in one another. They looked and tried to touch one anothers slobbery hands and take each others toys, but I'm sure as they get older they will enjoy playing! I think Jennifer and I were more excited to be able to catch up with one another than the girls were. We got the cutest shot of them together so in the end that's all that matters!!
It was real nice to see all the girls again and we are arranging a scrap booking day which I believe is on the 28th so I'm really looking forward to that.

Jennifer and I with our girls...almost impossible to get them both looking at the camera at the same time!


The rest of the girls....Sasha, Marisa, Chrissy and Rhona


Mackenzie finally wearing the bracelet Melissa and Tim got for her!! (Thanks Mel I love it so much!!)

Like I mentioned above Mackenzie finally wore her bracelet on Sunday. At the moment it still slips off or she manages to pull it off so I haven't let her wear out of the house. I'm too scared that it will fall off and I won't see it. I want her to get used to it just the same though! She kept it on for a few hours while she played so I was happy with that!
Yesterday she went for her six month check up. She's doing great and weighs 16 pounds and I think it was 72 cm in length. (I have it written down somewhere, but I'm trying to type this while she sleeps so I'm trying to be fast!! ) She's in around the 40ish percentile for both of them (again can't remember exact numbers) and the nurse said that she's right where she needs to be!! Unfortunately we're doing all we can when it comes to her eczema. It could possibly be something we deal with until she hopefully grows out of it. The unfortunate part about it now too is that I notice her scratching her face a lot now, where as before it never used to bother her. If anyone has any advice or product suggestions I will definitely welcome them all!!
Yesterday was Mackenzie's last visit with her nurse too which I was a little bummed about. She will be leaving to have her own baby so we won't be able to see her until maybe Mackenzie's 12 month check up. It's been nice seeing the same person every time you go. Mackenzie got her a couple of Dr Suess books for her baby and I was even able to get her to sign the card which Nurse Saunders really liked!
She screamed bloody murder when it came time for her shots which broke my heart! She went so red this time because she wouldn't breathe!! The guy that gave her the shots said, "Wow she has a set of lungs!" I forgot to warn him about that, but maybe that can be their punishment for hurting my baby!! She's doing ok now. She's definitely not her normal self, but I'm sure by tomorrow she'll be back! Last night I ended up giving her Tylenol because she had a slight fever and was kind of miserable. Oh course I get the child that doesn't go to sleep with drugs!! She was awake until after 10!! I haven't had to give her any Tylenol today, but she is kind of off her food. Like I said before though, I'm sure she'll be fine tomorrow!!
OH MY GOSH!!!....I almost forgot to mention our big news!! I felt her first tooth yesterday! She's cutting her first tooth! I'm proud, excited and scared! Scared because she can hurt me now when I'm feeding her so I can only imagine the damage she might do with fangs! Her breast feeding days may be numbered!! I will try my hardest to get a shot of the tooth, but at the moment there is nothing really to see!
Only two more weekends left before John comes home!!!

Dakota's Graduation

She's a high schooler now!!

Yesterday Dakota graduated from Middle School and Mackenzie and I went to her ceremony. For all you Aussie's middle school is grade 6 through to 8. Mackenzie and I had to get up and ready a lot earlier than what we are used to, but we made it there on time, unfortunately without my morning coffee! Dakota, along with 439 other 8th graders were dressed in their finest to take their walk across the podium. It was a nice little ceremony.

Dakota taking her walk...look closely and you can see her!! :)

Mackenzie did a good job for most of the ceremony. As it got time for the kids names to be called she started getting a little fussy, so I got up from my seat and moved over to the edge of the garden so we didn't bother everyone. Of course by the time I can see that Dakota's turn is coming Mackenzie starts to make a little more noise, so I'm trying to juggle her and the camera, while telling her just to wait a few more minutes for her sister's big moment. By the time Dakota's name is called Mackenzie's out of patience so I click my photos and run away with my screaming child to find a dark, secluded place to feed her. I couldn't believe that out of all those kids and all that waiting around she picks Dakota's moment to pitch a fit!!

A quiet Mackenzie at the beginning of the ceremony!

Once she was fed and happy again we went back to watch the remainder of the ceremony. Watching all those kids go up there I started to think that maybe I'm getting a little too old, because some of those girls were dressed up like they were 18 not 13 or 14!! Some of them were walking in shoes I couldn't even walk in if I tried!! Mackenzie ended up falling asleep right at the end of the ceremony so I thought to myself, 'great! now I won't be able to get photos of her and Dakota together!'

Dakota and I

My first attempt at a sister shot!

Determined that I was going to capture the moment I had Dakota pose beside a sleeping Mackenzie! This photos cracks me up!! Mackenzie was passed out and not going to wake up for anything!! I love how her mouth is open, and I imagine if you were to look close enough you could see the drool coming out of her mouth!!
She eventually woke up however and I was able to get some real pretty shots of Mackenzie and Dakota together. It was great too that Mackenzie didn't cry when Dakota held her because that's what she normally does and it was starting to worry Dakota!




It was a real nice ceremony and Dakota looked beautiful. It seems like every time I see her now she is changing into a beautiful young woman. John is going to notice the changes when he gets back I think. She doesn't seem to be his little girl anymore. We are going to meet up next week for lunch so I'm looking forward to that. Her plans for the summer is to help look after her little sister Jordan and she's also going up to L.A. to spend time with her cousins there.


An attempt at a self portrait (please excuse the bra!)

Mackenzie and I haven't been up to much else. We have just been hanging out at home. Her eating has become better, especially now that I've changed spoons. There are moments when I wonder just what I thought I was doing in deciding to have a child. There is so much to learn and sometimes I feel a little over my head! The whole spoon thing is one of those times! When I went to buy spoons and bowls and stuff I found this set that contained everything I thought I needed. At first when she started out and was mainly sucking the food off the spoon she was doing a great job, then as time went on she wasn't opening her mouth much and I was beginning to feel like we were going backwards instead of forwards! Out of frustration I decided that I would try different spoons to see if that would help. When I went to the store to get some I saw that there are different sizes for different ages and the ones I had at home were 9 months +! No wonder the poor girl wasn't eating the damn spoon was too big for her! I felt terrible!! We now have more age appropriate spoons and she can't get enough of her food! Why can't they hand out some kind of manual when you leave the hospital with these poor, defenseless children!?!
Her sleeping is coming along, but not as good as John would like it! A lot of it is me. I want her with me. (there I admitted it!!) I went to visit my old co-workers yesterday and one of them (she's Filipino) told me that is normal for them as it's a cultural thing and she had her children in her bed until they were quite old. John likes to call me Asian (it's a little in-house joke with us because Australia is in that region) so today I told him that she's sleeps with me because as I'm Asian it's a cultural thing and he wasn't buying it!! She goes down for her morning nap in her own bed without a problem...it's just all other sleep times that the screaming starts!!
Below is how I found her asleep when I went to check on her today!! I guess it's time to think about removing the border!!

John is Almost Home!

Mackenzie's new sunglasses!

This weekend John made it back to America, so he is one step closer to coming home. The flight sounded long because he made stops in Greece, Italy and Portugal. He landed in Norfolk and had a stop in Dallas before arriving in San Antonio! He started is school today and seems to be enjoying himself. I'm just glad to have him a little closer...only 24 more days till he gets to come home!
Mackenzie and I had a good week since my last post. She's eating good and is now onto two meals a day. It seems to change from day to day with how much she eats because one day she does a great job, the next not so good. I don't know when or how to add in the lunchtime meal when she's eating like this. I guess I'll give her a week or so before I include it. She does seem to want to eat more however when I give her the spoon! I think I might possibly have a rather independent (headstrong) little girl on my hands!
This week I also started sitting her in the trolley/shopping cart when we go out. I have a cover thing that sits over the seat so I don't have to worry about germs and she loves it!! She really enjoyed sitting up high and being able to look around. When we were in the lift/elevator she would stare intensely at people for a few uncomfortable minutes, then smile and charm them!! She was quite the flirt with all the guys! I got her these cute sun glasses while we were out and she loves them. I have the cutest photo of her on my phone, but these ones are also cute!

Mackenzie's Half Birthday!!

The Half-birthday girl!!

As I begin to type this it's basically six months to the day that I was trying to get myself prepared for the fact that I was about to give birth to Mackenzie. Now I can't imagine life without her!! I think right about now I was throwing up!! :)
We had a great day today! I wanted to make Mackenzie's day as special as I could and I think she enjoyed herself. She got to talk to her Daddy and then we got dressed up and went to JC Penny for Mackenzie to have some photos taken. She did such a great job and the photos turned out great. I had a real hard decision in picking the ones I wanted, but I think I chose well. I will scan them and put them on the blog when I get them back!

Opening her presents!

My plan once we got home was for Mackenzie to take a nap then get a couple of toys that I had bought for her for her special day. Her sleeping patterns have been a little off this week, so of course she didn't go to sleep so she got to play with her toys instead. I got her this cute little purse that comes with a bracelet, lipstick, keys, money and a mirror (everything a girl needs!!) and she loves it...especially the money! It's been in her mouth ever since she got her hands on it. The purse sings and counts, and I think once she gets a little older she will enjoy putting stuff in it and taking it out again! I also got her this little milk and cookies container thing. It's basically a container for dumping cookies in. She really seems to like that. When you turn it upside down it moos, but to me it sounds more like a goat! She played with her new toys for a while till she finally got tired and went for a nap. The problem with this though is that she's now not taking her afternoon nap until around 4pm, so as you can imagine she's not wanting to go to sleep now until almost 10pm! I think I have to be mean Mummy again to get her sleep back to where I want it!!

Investigating her new toys!


Out of the packaging finally!!

We have been working on her sitting up and she's getting pretty good at it! I think by next week she should hopefully be a pro at it! She is now always wanting to sit up in the bath which gets a little stressful for me! I really want her to get the hang of it so she can sit up, especially in the bath. Bath time gets a little tough these days, because it will normally end in tears when Mackenzie can't get her way! Here are some shots though of her doing her sitting up thing!!

She's such a big girl now!!


Last week I also started sitting her up in her stroller/pram and she loves that!! She really enjoys being able to sit up and look about and we are now having less tears when we are out and about. On Tuesday we went for a walk with my friend Sasha and got to test it out big time! Sasha suggested going for a walk around Miramar Lake. She told me that it was five miles and not knowing what five miles I said sure. Let me tell you people...five miles is a very long way!! I was exhausted! I had to carry Mackenzie part of the way because she got tired and bored. She did a pretty good job considering, but had I known we would have been out there for that long I would have reconsidered. The weather was a lot warmer than what I anticipated and unfortunately Mackenzie got a little too much sun on one of her arms. I still feel like a horrible Mummy for allowing that to happen. I had smothered her in sun screen, but I either missed a spot or we were just out there too long...

Out and about in her stroller/pram

John is doing good and leaves Bahrain this week. He will be flying out early Friday morning and is really looking forward to that. He should get to Texas sometime on Saturday and will begin his school on Monday. Like I said he is rather excited to be leaving. I guess to him it feels like being a step closer to coming home. For me it still feels like forever. I know we are almost at the end, but this has just been a very long deployment. I am definitely looking forward to him finally coming home. At the moment his arrival date is July 2nd so I guess only 29 days to go.

Proof that she does sleep in her own bed occasionally!

Well the time is now 10:42pm and this time six months ago I held Mackenzie for the first time. Only six months to go and she'll be one!! :)