Makenna's First Birthday

Makenna just recently turned 1! We had a small Valentine's-themed party for her with some of our family. My buddy, Steve (we've been friends since middle school) was in town for the weekend and his family came too. They will hopefully be moving back to Colorado soon, which would be just perfect since they have girls that are only a month apart from our kids.

We had panini's for lunch and angel food cake for desert. Makenna also got to open her presents. She is such a lucky girl (especially for a girl who already has almost everything from her older siblings). She got a carseat from us (exciting, right?) and a purse, a doll, a swimsuit and a sprinkler ball toy for the summer, a new towel that Aunt Courtney made, bath toys, and a really cute summer outfit.

Here is a video of her with her cake. She loved the strawberries and didn't get too messy. We ended up cutting everything in smaller pieces to make it easier.

I can't believe that she is already 1. Her stats are 21.9 lbs (50-75%) and 30" (75%). She is a goer. She started walking about 6 weeks ago and now she tries to run to keep up with the twins. She always has been a momma's girl and is even more-so now... and she is still not sleeping through the night, but we are working on that. Her words are daddy, uh-oh (her favorite), hi, and mama. She can also make a lion (woar) and snake (sss) sound and she likes to try and sing-along to the ABC song. Such a cutie, we are so glad she is in our family.

Favorite Things

A couple of weeks ago it was my turn for Tot School and the theme was "My Favorite Things". The kids were SO excited to tell me all about their favorite toys, snacks, colors, friends, etc.

The first project we worked on was painting boxes for the kids to keep their favorite things. I was amazed how seriously they all took the painting of their boxes - even Nick who will usually paint for a couple of minutes and then get up to play. They all very carefully picked a color and painted every surface of their boxes.

The snacks for the week were the kids' favorite snacks. On the first day we had cheese and crackers (for Lindsey), fruit snacks (for Keegan), and chocolate milk (for Nick).

On the second day we had green jell-o jigglers (for Tanner), cinnamon teddy grahams (for Bridget), and apple juice (for Alli).

For our project on the second day we made books about all of the kid's favorite things. I interviewed them on the first day and then found pictures of their answers. They were very excited to see pictures of all the pictures. Here is Keegan getting ready to work on his book. He is such a sweetie. When I asked him who his favorite friend was he said "mommy".

I took a picture of each kid for the front of the books. Lindsey and Nick's turned out especially cute, I thought.

Poor Makenna!

Makenna has been through a lot lately. I took her to the doctor yesterday for an allergy test that involved taking blood from a vein in her arm (very sad!) and found out that she has yet ANOTHER ear infection. This is the 5th ear infection she has had since Thanksgiving! Luckily the doctor prescribed an oral antibiotic this time, instead of the 3 shots she had to have last time (very, very ouch!). She will see an ENT specialist at the end of this month to find out if she will need to have tubes placed in her ears. At this point I am willing to do whatever will make her better. I keep putting off sleep training (yep, still up twice a night on average) and weaning until her ears are clear. Makenna and I are on a dairy-free diet right now to see if that will help her ears and unfortunately she's not a big fan of soy formula so weaning is a no-go.

But on to happier times:
In the bathtub, with her bubble hat that Alli made her.

Playing in the house. It has been SO cold this week, so we have been inside a lot. A week ago it was 65. That is just how Colorado is in the winter. Shorts one day, heavy winter coat the next!