Thanksgiving Vacation

After Celebrate the Season on the Friday before Thanksgiving, we headed west for a short vacation. Our friends, the Farells, have a house in Cloudcroft, New Mexico. We joined them and the Stewarts for a few days in the mountains.

The guys played golf. Here's Les fishing for golf balls.


The girls went shopping. Mackenzie loves to shop - can't you tell?




The kids played.








We went hiking. Let me just say that when the sign with the trail description says 2.5 miles, it really means 2.5 miles. It. was. cold. (and exhausting!) but the views were amazing!






We also enjoyed staying up late playing games after the kids went to bed. It was so much fun to spend time laughing and talking with each other. Thanks, Farells for inviting us - we had a blast!

Thank


goodness


it's


Friday!!!

Visit from the Grandparents

Sitting up (sorta)!


Grammy & Mackenzie


Playing dress-up.


More dress-up.


Cheesin' with Daddy.

Weekend in review

Well, we finally had a weekend where we didn't have anything going on... no traveling, no out-of-town guests, no social events of any kind. Not that we haven't enjoyed being "on the go" these past few weekends, but it was time for a break. After a low-key dinner with friends on Friday night, we hung around the house on Saturday and then ran some errands just to get out for a few hours. Sunday we went to church and listened to the guest speaker, Kirk Cameron. He has an awesome testimony. It was neat to see him go from an '80's teenage heartthrob to a Christian father of six kids under the age of twelve! After church we did some yard work and M hung out in her stroller. She eventually fell asleep holding onto Bunny. I hope your weekend was just as relaxing!


Posing for a rare shot with Mom.


Looking stylish in her red and animal print combo.


Little fashionista all ready for church. Her daddy thought she looked like a painter (he wasn't a fan of the beret). Annie thought she was like a cute little cupcake. I'm not sure what she looked like but I know she was precious, and got lots of attention at church :-)


Hanging out with Mom & Dad on the patio.


Too tired to stay awake any longer - taking a nap with Bunny.

Baby Dedication

We dedicated our little girl to the Lord at church last Sunday. It was such a special occasion, and we enjoyed being able to celebrate it with our family.


The church gave us this card - I love that it has the meaning of her name.


Grandpa & Daddy with Mackenzie before church


Looking cool with her shades while hanging out with Gigi.


Posing with Aunt Kimberly.


Stylin' in her new "mink" coat.


Granddad with his two girls.


Uncle Matt & Aunt Kimberly came up on Saturday to hang out.

Dinner with friends

Last night we had dinner with our good friends the Tolivers. We went to a fun neighborhood Italian restaurant, and Mackenzie slept through a good portion of the meal so that we could eat and visit. She looked pretty cute in her new outfit, and you know I couldn't pass up a good photo opportunity!

Sweet Girl

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.
Psalm 139:13-14

Doing big girl stuff!

We've been busy around here... I suppose "busy" is a relative term, and it's probably way overused, but I'll go ahead and use it here because, after all, it's my blog, and I can write whatever I want :-) Due to aforementioned "busyness", I've been a blog slacker, so I wanted to go ahead and post some pictures of how we've been spending our time. Our weeks have been filled with - both Steven and I have been putting in extra hours. We've done a lot of traveling on the weekends. (I'll be posting Lubbock pictures later) During all of that, Mackenzie has been doing a bunch of big girl stuff. I can't believe how fast she's growing!

She's holding her head up really well:

She's started eating stage 1 baby foods:

And LOVES them:

Notice how she's trying to grab the spoon:

Good Morning, Sunshine!

Good morning, good morning, good morning,
It's time to rise and shine.

Good morning, good morning, good morning,
I hope you're feeling fine.

Come on and get up, Get out of bed,
You've got to get up you sleepy-head,

The day is dawning just for you,
And all your dreams are coming true

Doodle-la-doo, doodle-la-doo, doodle-la-doo
Good morning, good morning, good morning,

It's time to rise and shine!

My mom used to sing this to us to wake us up in the morning. I'm sure it was better received this morning than when Mackenzie becomes a teenager. I'll have to post pics in a few years so you all can compare. Happy Friday, friends!

You're always 17 in your hometown...

We went to Sweetwater last weekend for Steven's 10 year high school reunion. I can't believe it's been 10 years. Steven and I started dating during the spring semester of his senior year, so I already knew most of his classmates. It was interesting to see how some had changed. (and how some hadn't changed at all!) Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very good for the Homecoming football game. It was rainy, so we only went for a little while. Mackenzie was really cute in the red dress her Grammy made for her. I even bought her some red patent shoes to match. The guys braved the weather on Saturday for a round of golf. Susan came over and spent the afternoon with us. Saturday night we went to the reunion at the country club. Sunday we went to church and visited with Kerri and Annie. M was really good all weekend - I can't believe how much she's growing. She'll be 3 when we go back for my 10 year reunion. Kinda crazy to think about! Here are a few pictures:

Labor Day Weekend

Here are some pictures from Labor Day weekend. We didn't do much - just hung around the house on Saturday, made a quick trip to Fairfield to visit my family, and then ran some errands on Monday. We enjoyed having an extra day off!

Pictures

Here are some pictures from a few weekends ago. Mark and Kimberly (Steven's brother & sister) came up to visit. As I mentioned here earlier, our computer had died, so Mark was able to rebuild it over the weekend. Kristen came over for dinner Saturday night, and for some reason, she was the only one to pose for a picture. Well, the only one to pose besides Mackenzie - she poses on a daily basis ;-)

Wanna get away?

Have you ever seen those Southwest Airlines commercials where someone does something really embarrassing, and then the tag line is "Wanna get away..."? I love the one where the two guys are playing a baseball game on the Wii, and the guy that's never played before chunks the Wii remote at the other guy's plasma TV, causing it to come crashing to the floor.
I had one (or several) of those moments yesterday morning. When I'm dropping Mackenzie off at daycare, I usually park in the garage. There are a few places on the street where you can parallel park, but they're almost always taken. Yesterday there was one available, so I decided to take it. Someone was behind me, so I didn't feel like I could follow the parallel parking rules (pull even with the car in front of the spot, back into the space, etc). It looked like I should be able to just pull into it with little effort - wrong... I pulled in, backed up, and begin repeating this process over and over. By this time, Mackenzie had started to cry, so that wasn't helping my concentration. I could see the security guard watching me (he was trying to act like he wasn't, but I know he was), and I was beginning to get frustrated. Finally, I decided it was good enough, even though I wasn't straight and was barely out of the flow of traffic. I got M out along with all of her gear for the day and proceeded to the door where I had to stop to show my badge to the security guard. Of course, I couldn't find it and had to put down everything to go through all of our stuff. The security guard waited patiently while all the other Moms and Dads showed their badges and filed past me. Finally I found it and took her upstairs. I got her settled in and and was ready to head back to the car. I should also mention that on Tuesday I had minor toenail surgery, so I wasn't walking very well at this point (so I probably shouldn't have put on those heels yet). As I was coming down the stairs and walking out the door, I missed the step down and started falling. Guess who caught me? Yep... the security guard. I was beyond embarrassed. I muttered, "Thank you" and hurried to my car. As I was getting ready to leave, I saw the security guard standing by my car to help guide me as I backed up to give myself enough room to pull out of the spot. I suppose he thought I might need a little help. I really wanted to disappear.
Of course none of this fazed Little Bit... good thing she's not old enough to be embarrassed by her mother!


Dear God,
Thank you for the kindness shown me by the security guard yesterday morning. However, if it's not too much trouble, perhaps you could find him a different job so that I never have to face him again! I would be forever grateful.
Amen

Sound Advice

What do you do when it's 11pm, and your baby would rather "play" than sleep?

Get out the video camera, of course!

I apologize to the readers who were looking for something witty or inspiring - this is one of those posts that only the grandparents will be excited about.

The week in review

Here are some pictures from this past week. Nothing exciting to report, but the grandparents are requesting new pictures.

A perfect Saturday...

Begins with a visit from the cutie next door,


continues with a bath after breakfast,


and then involves getting all dressed up.


But the best part about a perfect Saturday...
is having no place to go.


Happy Saturday, friends!

First Day of Daycare

We've enrolled Mackenzie in the daycare at our church. It's located downtown, so it's convenient to my office. Plus, we know some of the people that work there, so it's somewhat comforting to know that she's with people we trust. I say it's comforting now, but it didn't really seem that way when we dropped her off the first day. Mackenzie had been dreading it all weekend.

(see her eyes - don't they look scared?)


We had a long talk, and I assured her that the ladies at daycare were nice and would take good care of her. I told her that Mommy was going to work, but that she would only be a few blocks away. I also told her that I'd come visit her at lunch some days. Even though we'd talked about all these things over the weekend, she was still pretty sad when Monday morning came.



But....she...



got



over



it.

Hmm... she could at least have acted like she was going to miss me!

Back to Work

I started back to work on August 3rd. My mom came up to keep Mackenzie since she couldn't start at daycare until the 17th. She kept a log of M's activities, including feedings, diaper changes, and whatever other little things that go on during a 9 week old's day. I had planned a post where I would list out what was going on with Mackenzie and me at various hours throughout the day. Unfortunately, the log my mom was keeping on our computer wasn't saved, and then our computer crashed (more about that later). Needless to say, no log, and now, no energy to fully discuss the events of a day that's 3 weeks past. In general, M's day was pretty ordinary - I don't think she even noticed I was gone! The high points of my day included:

• Using jumper cables to get my car started that morning
• Realizing on the way to work that I left some nursing mom supplies at home
• Stopping at Target to pickup supplies (needed 2 items... purchased 5 items; only 1 of the needed items was among the 5 purchased)
• Arriving at work to find my desk had no electricity
• Setting up a temporary workspace in the conference room and deciding that it surely must be almost time to go home (it was only 11am)
  

There were a few other hiccups during the afternoon, but let it suffice to say I was happy to see this sweet girl that evening.

Note: Picture taken on Sunday (8/16/09). First day back to work was not captured on film for posterity (probably a good thing).

Feeling Crafty

I'm the queen of unfinished projects. I have a terrible habit of starting multiple projects instead of finishing one before moving on to the next. A good indication of how long I've been working on something is the number of times I have to put it away for the cleaning lady to come. She comes every two weeks. I had to move Mackenzie's in-process bedding off the dining room table many, many times. I think I moved these letters twice. They're finally hanging on the wall, and I think they turned out pretty cute!

Currently my project list includes:

• Staining some wooden ledges for M's room
• Finishing a quilt for the twin bed in her room
• Adding embellishments to her curtains
• Sewing a fabric topper for her little round side table

Unfortunately, these items have taken a backseat since I started back to work. I told myself I wouldn't start anything new until I finished them. After all, I need another project like I need a hole in my head....
And then, today I saw this:

Isn't it precious? Can't you just see this little cutie wearing it this winter?

Nevermind the fact that I've never crocheted before. How hard can it be, right? I'll keep you posted on the progress. The cleaning lady comes Thursday. Maybe I should wait until Friday to get started. It'll be one less thing to pick up :-)

Fun in the Sun

Our friends, Brian and Meghan, have a family lakehouse at Cedar Creek that they have graciously allowed us to enjoy several times over the past few years. A group of our friends from Sunday School all met out there and grilled burgers, swam, went out on the boat, and enjoyed the sunshine and good company. Our little munchkin was the only kid, so she definitely got lots of attention.

And with a face like this, can you really blame them?!?


Looking cool in her shades while getting ready for the lake.


Boys enjoying the sun.


Getting ready to play.


Cooling off on the porch.


Such a fun day!

Weekend in the Country

Playin' in the sand,

shootin' clay pigeons,

stylin' in the cowboy hat and swimsuit,


chillin' with family & friends,


and fryin' some fish for dinner


makes for a fun-filled weekend


and one tired baby girl!

Thanks, Stephanie!

Our good friend, Stephanie Poage, took some really great pictures of Mackenzie while we were at the lake on Saturday. She's really talented, and of course, the subject matter was perfect, though I'm probably biased! I especially love the way Mackenzie's eyes look.

Family Ties

After we left Kerrville, we traveled up the road to Fredericksburg where Steven's family reunion was being held. We spent the weekend talking and laughing, shopping and eating, and, of course, doting on Mackenzie, the newest member of the May Family. That's why we continue getting together each year - to reminisce about old times (remember the year Aunt So-and-So wore that funny dress or remember the year our kids almost got us kicked out of the hotel?) and to remember those who are no longer with us while embracing new life as the family continues to grow. I'm so thankful that my daughter has such wonderful roots!

Rolling, rolling, rolling on the river

Kenny Chesney paid homage to this Creedence Clearwater Revival classic several years ago with a line in one of his songs that talks about rolling on the river with Creedence. The song was played on the radio frequently, and one day my younger brother (who shall remain nameless to save him from embarassment) was singing along and we hear him say "rolling on the river with Creducks." We started laughing and tell him that's not how the song goes. He immediately gets defensive so we asked him what Creducks meant. And guess what he said.... drumroll, please... "it's the plural of Creduck, duh!" Of course, why didn't we think of that? Ha - these are the types of intelligent conversations we have on our family vacations :-)



Well, this year we didn't run into any Creducks, but we did head to the river - the Guadalupe to be exact. We stayed in a really fun house with a floating dock, a rope swing, canoes, and a great deck. My parents joined us, along with Daniel and Nathan, and my Grandmother.

We went swimming,


worked puzzles,


cuddled with Mackenzie,


visited Luckenbach,








toured Cascade Caverns,


and got soaked in the process.


We had a wonderful time and are already thinking about next year!

Sunday Best and Monday Outing

Do you remember Saturday night baths as a kid? Now, don't get me wrong... that wasn't the only day of the week that we took a bath, but for some reason, that Saturday night one was the most important. There's just something about getting all squeaky clean in preparation for church the next day. I probably didn't understand the difference between cleansing my body and cleansing my soul at that time, but it did lay a foundation for giving God my best and showing reverence when I enter a place of worship. I look forward to the day when I can put those pink rollers in Mackenzie's hair after her Saturday night bath (at the rate her hair is growing, it won't be long), and I'll talk to her about who God is and why we go to church. That's the good stuff.. ya know?



Today we went to eat lunch with Steven (in the pouring rain), and then I took Mackenzie to my office to show her off. We'd already been once, but some people were gone, so they have been asking me to bring her back. It's hard to believe I'll be starting work next week.



I was trying to decide if the big white bow was a little too much.



She doesn't seem to like the little one either, but I decided it would stay in better. You can't see them in this picture, but her shoes match the dress. Are you surprised? ;-)

Never say never...

Never is such a strong word. Have you ever found yourself doing something you said you'd never do? I wonder how many times God laughs when we make one of those "never" statements, knowing that someday we'll eat our words.



I used to laugh at my mom because of all of the pictures they took of me as a baby/toddler. My grandmother has a complete album of snapshots- probably all taken before the age of 3. That's alot when you consider they were using a film camera. We take for granted that we can shoot gobs of digital images and never have to worry about paying to have a bad shot developed. I also thought it was crazy that she had videos of me sitting on the couch "reading" a book. I asked her if she didn't have anything better to do. (surely I would never be that bored) Now I understand - she wasn't doing it because she was bored... I find myself taking pictures of M every time she gets dressed and videotaping her doing absolutely nothing because I don't won't to forget any of the little details.



I also thought baby sunglasses were silly. I mean, they don't need sunglasses, right? It's more for the parents' sake anyway, and I would never waste my money on something like that. Hmm... I just couldn't resist...



I specifically remember calling my dad from Bass Pro Shop one day to tell him that there were people actually taking pictures of their kids with the animal displays and fish tanks like they were on vacation or something. He, of course, didn't see anything wrong with it, but I knew I would never do anything like that. Wrong again...



So, the moral of the story is... never say never... but if you do, be sure to document the results with photographs and post them on the worldwide web, so we can all laugh at/with you! :-)

Friday Again

Wow... where did this week go? I can't believe how fast time is flying. I've only got one more week before I start back to work. How am I ever going to leave this face?!?!



Yesterday morning we drove to Teague to have professional pictures of Mackenzie made. Mom, Angela, Nathan, and Madison met us at the studio. Libby (Studio G Photography) took pictures of M & M together in their matching outfits. She also did individual pictures of the girls and some family photos of Steven, Mackenzie, and me. I'm excited to see how they turn out.



We went to the doctor this morning for M's two month check-up. She had to get two shots, which weren't much fun, but everything else was fine. She's growing like crazy! It must have worn her out because she's been zonked out for several hours.

Four Years Ago Today

Four years ago I married my high school sweetheart. We dated for six years before tying the knot in Granbury, Texas. Much of that day is still a blur, but I remember thinking, "Wow...we finally made it." We've done alot of living in the past four years, and there's no one in the world I would rather have spent them with. Happy anniversary, Sweetheart - looking forward to many more!


Wedding Day - July 23, 2005


Leaving the church in a yellow Corvette (thanks Tolivers)


Honeymoon in Negril, Jamaica


New York - August 2006


Thanksgiving 2007


Grand Cayman - April 2008


Christmas 2008 (expecting Baby May)


And Baby Makes Three - May 2009

New Mom Playdate

This morning Mackenzie and I went over to Andrea's to hang out with some other friends and their kiddoes. Technically, I was the only one that's actually new to the mom thing (the others are pro's with toddlers), but Lydia & Brenna have both recently added to their families. Brenna's baby, Everly, is 10 days older than M, and Aubrey (Lydia's baby) is 5 weeks younger than M. I'm not sure the babies were really into the playdate thing, but the moms definitely enjoyed it! Thanks, Andrea, for having us over.


L to R: Mackenzie, Aubrey, Everly


Everly with her cute smile


Will had such a serious face


I had a haircut appointment yesterday afternoon, so Steven met me there after work to pickup Mackenzie. I thought she looked pretty cute in her little hat. Unfortunately, the outfit isn't going to fit much longer :-(

Pics

I've been a little behind in uploading pictures of Mackenzie from the past few days. The grandparents are asking for some new ones!

Happy face


Trying out her Bumbo


Funny face #1


Funny face #2

Life Lessons from a Magnet

When I was little, my mom had a refrigerator magnet that said "So I'm not Supermom... Adjust". It was a phrase that really puzzled me. Was Supermom supposed to be like Superman? Was Mom trying to be Supermom? And what about that "adjust" part? What needed adjusting, and who was supposed to do it? For whatever reason, it was something that I really had trouble comprehending. Mom said I would understand when I was older.

I took Mackenzie to the grocery store a few days ago. This isn't anything out of the ordinary - we get out of the house frequently to run errands. Mackenzie was wide awake, but she'd been awake for several hours, so I thought she would fall asleep on the way to the store. Much to my surprise, I saw two bright eyes staring at me in the rearview mirror the ENTIRE trip to the store. I decided to proceed with the grocery shopping as planned and hope that she behaved. If my life were a movie, that ominous, foreshadowing music would probably have started playing at this point...

One thing I've noticed over the past few weeks is that having a baby makes you a magnet for people, particularly elderly ladies. As I entered the store, one immediately notices us and begins asking me all the usual questions... age, name, etc, and of course, she makes a comment about Mackenzie's hair. I make conversation politely, and then proceed to the produce section, knowing that my best chance for a happy baby is to keep the basket moving. I stop at the avocados, and another older lady stops to comment on M's hair and shoes. We continue shopping, but she's beginning to get restless. I take her out of her carrier and hold her to see if she'll go to sleep. Another lady approaches, and I end up changing positions so she can see her... so much for going to sleep. I continue shopping, holding M with one arm and pushing the loaded buggy with the other. I cross paths with the lady from the avocado stand again, and she smiles and strikes up conversation again. I'm feeling loved but slightly suffocated!!!

I decide it's time for us to leave. M is happy as long as I'm holding her, but it's getting difficult to hold her and maneuver the shopping cart. We checkout and head for the parking lot. I'm starting to feel pretty smug. I've managed to get my shopping done and take care of my 6 week old. Perhaps God looked down and dubbed me "Supermom" for the day. Hmm... cue that ominous music again. As we step out into the bright sunshine, M starts squirming, and her paci falls to the ground. I bend down to get it while still trying to hold onto the buggy. Of course, I'm also stalling traffic at this point. An older lady must have seen my struggle, so she approaches and offers to help. I try to resist, but she's persistent. Nothing like a little "humble pie". She unloads all my groceries while I put M in her carseat and start the AC. She sees my Texas Tech emblem and starts telling me about her grandson and niece that go there. I thank her and then get in my car to leave. As I drive home, I think about that magnet that used to hang on Mom's refrigerator. I guess going to the grocery store with your baby is pretty ordinary. So maybe I'm not Supermom... Adjust!

Happy Friday!

A happy baby makes for a happy Friday - don't you think?

A few new pics

Come on... look at the camera...



That's a little better.



Maybe it works better this way.



Close-up (with too much flash).



Cutie patootie!



Definitely!



Self-pic with Mommy (bff's - ha!)

Photo Shoot with Dad

I found these on the camera this morning. I guess Steven decided to pose Mackenzie with her stuffed animals yesterday. (special thanks to the Poages for the bunny and to Mimi for Curious George) I thought the pics were pretty funny.


Hanging out with my pals... Bunny & George.


George is almost as big as me!


Hmm... I think I've had enough of this.


No, really... move over, Bunny.


I told you I was getting upset.


Here comes my pouty lip to prove it!

Playing Dress-Up

Kerri May (Steven's cousin) hand-smocked this precious dress for Mackenzie, and I wanted to see if it would fit her. Since she looked so cute in it, we couldn't resist taking a few pictures.







Here's one of Mackenzie and me getting ready for Lydia's birthday party.

A different kind of Saturday morning

Here's another video for the grandparents. Steven dressed her this morning while I was still in bed and brought her into our room. She was in a good mood, so we thought we'd shoot some more video footage. Wow... our Saturday mornings have changed!

Facial Expressions of a Six Week Old

Here's one of those posts that's probably only appreciated by the grandparents. At 6 weeks, they don't do much that's "video worthy", but I love her facial expressions these days, so I was trying to catch some of them on film yesterday.

Disclaimer: If your sound is on, you'll probably hear some crazy person speaking in a really "syrupy - sweet" voice (aka baby talk). Please disregard and don't hold it against her!

Showin' Off Those Baby Blues

With the exception of three or four 10-15 minute "cat naps", Miss Mackenzie was awake from 12:30 to 11:00 pm yesterday. That's a really long time for her to go without sleep! Mom & Dad stopped by early yesterday evening, but I didn't ever take any pictures because Mackenzie would get fussy every time I was going to get the camera out. Steven took her on two car rides while I was at Bible Study, but she never stayed asleep. When I got home, she was in her swing, happy and bright-eyed. I fed her, put her in bed, and she finally fell asleep. Mom would probably say paybacks are heck :-)

This morning we both slept in. While she took a late morning nap, I dealt the insurance company over some of our medical claims - that's a whole other story! Steven called and wanted us to meet him for lunch, so I got Lil' Miss Bright Eyes ready, and of course I couldn't resist taking a few pictures - she looked so stinkin' cute. (but of course, I'm slightly biased)