Makenna's Mom

Kinsley 4 Months Old

2010-12-23T12:50:00.001-08:00

Kinsley was 4 months old on Dec 16th. Four months old?!! How did that happen? How the time goes! She is laughing and talking like crazy. She is a very happy baby. She smiles a lot! She can be very serious too. She has a face I call the "papaw face" cause she looks just like my papaw when she does it. She has that face when she is concentrating. She is almost rolling over from her back to her tummy. She can get all the way over but she can't pull her arm out from underneath her. She is getting so big! She has short, chubby legs just like her momma! She is so sweet and precious and we are so blessed to have her in our family.

Makenna's First Haircut

2010-12-23T12:45:00.001-08:00

Makenna got her first haircut a few days ago. Our next door neighbor is a barber so he came over to our house and cut her hair. She did so great! He said be still and you would have thought she was a statue! She is not your typical two year old. We just got the ends trimmed up but it makes a big difference. It looks great.

The finished project!

She was such a big girl!

Christmas With Nana

2010-12-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

We had Christmas with my mom this past week. She made a wonderful dinner with all of our family favorites. We stuffed ourselves and then we opened presents. Makenna had a wonderful time! She loved opening up presents. When we were all done she said "I want more presents!" Nana gave us all from amazing presents. Makenna got a Dora video and book with her face on it. Kinsley got an adorable canvas picture with her name and birthday. My mom gave DJ and I her property in Hot Springs!! OMG!! What else can you say. Thank you Nana for a wonderful visit and awesome Christmas. We had a blast!

The brochures for the Hot Springs property Nana gave us.

Makenna's Dora DVD starring Makenna!

Isn't she precious!

Kinsley got this super soft blanket with her name on it. She loves to chew on it!

Nana, Makenna, and Kinsley

Makenna got a towel set with her name on it. It is hanging in her bathroom now!

Nana and Kinsley

Makenna loved opening up presents!

I got a cookie jar with the girls picture on it that said "Treats for Mommy's sweethearts" and had the girls names on it.

DJ got a mug that said "Daddy" with the girls picture on it. Of course he loved it, it says "Daddy"!

Makenna got a Dora clock with her name on it.

Makenna got a book that has a recording of Nana's voice reading Makenna the book. So cute!

Her Dora book with her picture on it.

Makenna's Christmas Program

2010-12-23T12:28:00.000-08:00

Makenna had her Christmas program at Mother's Day Out on Dec 16. Her class made sweatshirts that they wore during the program. They sang Jingle Bells while shaking little bells. It was very cute! She did a great job. But it went by so fast cause they only say that one song twice. I wish they would have done more! She looked adorable!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

DJ and I took Makenna and Kinsley trick or treating last night. Makenna was Minnie Mouse and Kinsley was a pumpkin. I pushed Kinsley in the stroller and DJ pulled Makenna in the wagon. They were adorable!! We went to Gap Creek to see one of DJ's favorite customers and then we drove to our neighborhood and went to a few houses. Makenna loved trick or treating! She kept saying " I want to open the door, close the door, say trick or treat!" Makenna didn't want the people to put the candy in her basket. She would take the candy from them and put it in the basket herself. We went to one door and the lady had the basket in her hand and she gave Makenna a piece of candy. Makenna reached back into the basket to get another one!! Her daddy would take her to the door and when they would open the door sometimes she would say "thank you" first and then say "trick or treat" when they gave her the candy. But she had the right idea! I had no idea she would love it so much. We will have to go out earlier next year so she can have more time to trick or treat. We all had a lot of fun.

She had been eating a blue sucker.

Minnie Mouse and her pumpkin.

My cute pumpkin!

Look at all my candy!

2010-10-07T10:54:00.000-07:00

This week Mimi and I took the girls to the pumpkin patch. We played in a corn play yard, took a hay ride, and picked out our own pumpkins. We had a great time. Here are some pics.

Look how big I am!

Kinsley in her pumpkin shirt. Could she be any cuter?

Getting ready to pick pumpkins.

Mimi and Makenna getting ready to go on a hayride.

Playing in the hay maze.

Playing in the corn.

The Birth of Kinsley Grace Walker

2010-08-27T18:23:00.001-07:00

This is the birth story of Kinsley Grace Walker. It is not a typical American birth story but that is why I tell it. I tell it to encourage and empower women to take control of their bodies and be in charge of their birth process instead of letting someone tell you what should be done. In America we as women don't share our birth stories except to say how terrible they are. So I write this blog to give an example of how amazing, beautiful, and awe inspiring birth should be. I write it to show something our culture seems to have forgotten: that birth is natural and beautiful. As most of you know we planned to have a home birth with Kinsley. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life! I was 40 weeks on Friday Aug 13. I wasn't feeling anything in regards to labor and I didn't even feel like my body was getting ready. So, on Sunday Aug 15 I called my midwife, Mary Alexander, and asked her if there was anything I could do to possibly encourage labor to begin. I didn't want to start labor if my body wasn't ready but if I was ready then I wanted to encourage it to begin. My mom was in town but she had to leave on Aug 28 and I wanted to have her here for a while before she had to go home to help me adjust to having 2 children. Mary said I could use the breast pump and pump 15 minutes every hour all day. She said not to pump past 5pm so I wouldn't go into night labor if I didn't have to. She said it would only start labor if my body was ready. So Monday morning I pumped at 9 and 10 then I had to go to the chiropractor and run some errands. I didn't feel any contractions when I pumped so I wasn't feeling very optimistic. But I was still ok with that because I knew my body was created to know what to do. So I didn't get home until the afternoon and I pumped at 3 and 4pm. I started to feel contractions at the last pumping sessions but I wasn't sure if labor would really begin that night. I laid down for a nap for about 30 minutes but I had several contractions during that time and it was hard to fall asleep. When DJ got home I decided to get up. Around 5pm I could really tell the contractions were beginning and so I decided to time them. After I had a contraction about every 10 minutes for 1.5 hours(about 6:30) I decided to call Mary my midwife. During the hour and a half I was able to eat a good dinner and begin getting prepared for the birth. Mary said my labor sounded promising and I should call her whenever I needed her or wanted her to come over or my contractions were about 5 minutes apart. Then I called DJ's parents and asked them to come pick up Raider. I called my Aunt Bev to let her know I was in labor and told her I would call her when I called Mary to come over. DJ's parents arrived and we talked in between contractions. DJ's dad left and took Raider to their house for a few days. DJ was mowing a yard across the street and I went over there and told him to hurry. He came home and showered and started helping me labor. Over the next hour my contractions became very irregular. They were between 2-9 minutes apart. During a contraction I leaned over the counter in the kitchen and someone put a heating pad on my back and gave me lots of counter pressure on my lower back. In between my contractions I would sometimes feel like a contraction was going to begin and then it would just fade away. I wasn't sure but I thought these might be small contractions. So I called Mary around 7:30 and told her I thought she needed to come over. She got here around 8pm. She checked me and I was at 6cm but she could stretch me to 8cm. I was excited about the birth and getting to meet Kinsley for the first time. By this time I had moved to the living room so I could be on my knees and lean on the couch during contractions. While waiting for Mary we had cleared out the living room to get ready to set up the birthing pool. When Mary arrived we aired up the pool and started filling it up. My contractions were becoming a lot stronger and required a lot more concentration to get through. DJ's mom, my mom, my Aunt Bev and my cousin Natalie were all at my house. Mary (my midwife), Amy (her apprentice) and Kim (Mary's partner midwife) were also here. In between contractions we would all just relax and talk. It was a very relaxing and natural environment. Nobody was stressed, it was very laid back. Our hot water heater was much better than we thought and when the pool was full it was too hot. They wanted it to be less than 100 degrees for when the baby was born. So they had to get big pots and empty some of the hot water out and put in cold water. It took longer than we thought but labor was progressing well and we were excited. Amy, Mary's apprentice, checked me before I got in the pool and I was 8cm. My water bag was still intact. I was finally able to get in the pool around 10:45pm. A few minutes and about 2 contractions after I got in the pool I started to feel an overwhelming urge to push. I tried to tell Mary but I started pushing before I could even tell her. When the contraction was over I said "Mary I really need to push!" She checked me and said I wasn't fully dilated. She said I had a thick lip of cervix left but if I felt the strong urge to push I was welcome to. The next contraction was the strangest sensation. If someone said they would pay me 1 billion dollars not to push, I wouldn't have been able to do it. My body just started pushing. It was crazy feeling. During this push I felt Kinsley head start to crown. I was shocked! I couldn't believe she was coming out so fast. I told Mary she was coming. When Mary checked me after the contraction she said "well, she's not crowing yet." I said "well she was when I pushed but when I quit she went back up!" The next contraction I pushed and felt her crown again. It was burning like crazy and I knew I wasn't stretching well. I knew I had to have some control or I was going to tear. I was pretty sure I would tear anyway but I wanted it to be as little as possible. The next contraction I thought it was impossible to do but I controlled my push and when I felt her crown and felt the crazy burning, I backed off. I don't know how I did it, but I did. This time she didn't slip back up and I had to deal with the crazy burning until the next contraction. The next push I tried to control again and I was able to stretch a little more. The next contraction it was too much and I had to push and she came out. She didn't come out like most babies where their head comes out and the next push their body comes out. She just came out all at one time, head, body and all. It was good I was in the water cause she came out so fast nobody was aware she was all the way out until I said " she's out, she's out." Then I reached in the water and picked up my precious baby girl. Seeing her face for the first time is something I will never be able to describe. Her cord was really short so I couldn't put her on my chest. Amy helped me hold her in the warm water with her face out of the water. She cried for just a minute and then she calmed down and was very relaxed and calm in the water. Mary checked the cord several time waiting for it to quit pulsing so she could cut it. After a while I noticed her color suddenly changed. She became very pale and then gray. I told Mary and Mary listened to her with a stethescope and said that we needed to cut the cord and get her out. Kim, the other midwife, cut the cord and Mary took Kinsley to the couch. Within a few seconds she was crying and pink again. She had just gotten too cold because the fan in our living room was on and I couldn't put her on my chest because of her short cord. Mary was awesome and knew just what to do and Kinsley was totally fine and healthy in a few seconds. Mary swaddled her and DJ put a heating pad on his chest and held her. In the meantime they helped me get out of the pool cause I hadn't delivered the placenta yet. They put the birthing chair on the floor right outside the pool. As soon as I bent to sit down on it, the placenta came out. I felt such relief! I had still been feeling so much pressure and I was happy to fell it come out! They put a sheet on the couch and propped me up with pillows and handed me my beautiful baby girl! She was beautiful and absolutely precious! I couldn't believe she was really here! She was born at 11:05 pm. Aunt Bev brought me a change of clothes so I could get out of my wet ones. About that time Makenna woke up crying and her Daddy was so excited to go get her. He brought her out to meet her new sister. I asked her who was in my arms and immediately she said "baby Kinsley!" She loved her instantly and touched her face and gave her a kiss. Before this moment I didn't think life could get any better, but I was wrong. Sitting there on the couch holding my new daughter with my husband holding our oldest daughter sitting next to me, I was reminded of the grace and glory of God. How he has blessed me and my family. Kinsley's birth was amazing and wonderful. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything on this earth. It was an experience that could never be had in the hospital. Not only is home birth very safe, it is also wonderful. Kinsley's birth proved that midwifes can handle not only routine births but sudden changes as well. Mary new exactly what to do when Kinsley turned gray and within a few seconds she had her pink and crying. I hope this birth story inspires its readers to have an equally amazing and wonderful birth story. And I hope it makes all who read it consider alternate birth solutions. You do have safe birth options outside of the hospital. It isn't scary or unsafe. On the contrary it is amazing, beautiful, and incomparable to the birth you will be able to have in the hospital. Take control, know your options, and be in tune with your body. We are women hear us roar!!!

Kinsley Walker

2010-06-01T16:59:00.001-07:00

We had our 4D ultrasound today. Kinsley was very cooperative and we got some great pictures of her face. She has big chubby cheeks! She has her daddy's cute little nose and big lips. She looks bigger than Makenna to me. Her face is a lot chubbier than Makenna's was. She is measuring a little on the small side but still in average range. She liked to have her right hand up by her face and she turned her head over her right shoulder a lot. She was so precious. Sometimes I still find it strange that there is a human being inside me. It was really fun to get to see her. Mimi, Nana, Grandma, Daddy, and Makenna were all there. Makenna loved hearing the baby as usual. She really liked seeing her too. When the lady would take the ultrasound probe off my stomach for a minute Makenna would say "more baby!" It was very fun. I'm a little shocked that her face is so chubby. She looked absolutely precious! It was a lot of fun.

Zoo

2010-05-18T21:23:00.000-07:00

DJ took off one day last week and we took Makenna to the zoo. She hasn't been there since last year. We had a wonderful time. Her favorite were the lions. And according to her everyone animal had a baby. We have talked about it several times since then and she remembers many of the animals that I didn't remember seeing. It was a wonderful day spent together. I wish there were more like it.

If you can't tell she wasn't fond of walking, she wanted to be carried.

After the zoo she took a nap. When she woke up her daddy needed to mow the yard. I had to work a few weeks ago and he mowed the yard with her in the backpack. She liked it and asked to do it again. So he put her in the backpack. They looked so cute I had to get some pictures. However this time she only wanted to do for a few minutes and then she said it scared her cause the mower is so loud. So we watched her daddy from the window the rest of the time.

Now DJ Is Sick Too

2010-04-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

Well Makenna was sick on Sunday but she did much better on Monday. Monday night about midnight DJ started vomiting. He kept that up most of the night. He slept all day today. I was actually worried about him because he didn't hardly move for about 8 hours. He isn't nauseated any more but he has no energy. I thought Makenna was over it because everyone who has it is over it in about 24 hours and she was acting great today. I fed her a normal diet because she kept down her bland diet yesterday and she acted better today. But tonight I was about to get her ready for bed and she vomited everything she ate today. I'm not sure what is going on. She isn't following the pattern every else did. I hope that was a one time thing. I let her have yogurt and milk today cause that's what she wanted and I think that is what made her vomit. I called into work tomorrow because I didn't want to send her to school if she was going to be sick. Hopefully it was just the milk. I will feed her a bland diet for the next 2-3 days and hopefully no more vomiting. I have been downing vitamin C so hopefully I won't get it. I'm ready for my family to be healthy again!

Makenna Was Sick

2010-04-05T20:13:00.001-07:00

Makenna woke up at 1:30am Sunday morning vomiting. We had to give her a bath and strip her bed. We padded our bed with tons of towels and put her in bed with us. She continued to vomit about every 20-30 mins until 5am. She fell asleep for about 2 hours and then woke up vomiting again. The next several hours were more of the same except that now she was just vomiting bile and she was choking on it. It was kind of scary for mommy and daddy. It made her very very mad!! After she would quit vomiting she would scream her head off!! She absolutely hates to vomit. She would rather be any other kind of sick but that. The next morning I had an entire washer full of towels and clothes to wash, that's how much she vomited through the night and day. I had to work Easter night (no I don't work nights but that's a story for another day. Needless to say I wasn't happy about it). So she took a nap with me in the afternoon and she slept good. Then she threw up a few more times but when I left for work she started feeling a little bit better. What was making me nervous was that she had only peed one time in 24 hours. For those of you who don't know that means you are getting very dehydrated. Little ones don't tolerate that well. Her daddy fed her some toast and powerade. She went to bed and slept with her daddy and he said she slept all night. She spent the day today with her Grandma and Grandpa so I could sleep and she did good. No more vomiting so far. I had them feed her a bland diet so she hopefully wouldn't vomit. I feed her a little bit when she got home and she is asleep in our bed right now. We wanted her to sleep with us one more night cause I was afraid she would vomit and choke. Hopefully she sleeps good and she doesn't get sick anymore. I hate it when she is sick. I feel so sorry for her. She looks so miserable and I hate it that I can't help her. I hope she is over it. She is still feeling a little puny but hopefully no more vomiting.

Arkansas Diamonds Game

2010-03-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Last night DJ, Makenna and I went to the Diamonds game. For those of you who don't know (liked I didn't) the Twisters changed their name to the Diamonds. For those of you who don't live around here, the Diamonds are an indoor football league. We thought Makenna would have fun because she is not your typical 2 year old girl and she loves football. I guess I shouldn't say "we" it was DJ's idea. So we drive to the game and pay $10 for parking (yes I said $10 for parking??!!:{ Then we were walking up to the ticket counter to buy tickets ( which range from $23-$33 for decent seats) and we saw this guy in a Twisters jersey. He had 3 tickets in his hand. I thought he was trying to sell them. He looked at us for a minute and then he asked us if we wanted the tickets. He said the owner gave them to him and he didn't have time to find anyone to give them to so he wanted to know if we wanted them. We were stunned for a minute! They were free tickets and he said they were better seats than his. So we said thank you so much and took the tickets. The seats were great!! They were 2nd row about 20-30 yard line ( I think, you should ask my husband, he is better at these things!) Makenna was very sleepy so we didn't plan very well. But we have an amazing daughter and she didn't complain at all. Once the football game started she enjoyed the action. She liked it when they kicked the ball and hit their head and their butt! What a girl!! After half time she was very sleepy so she wanted to get down and walk around. But we told her where to go and she obeyed pretty well. She was so cute! She is the best daughter in the world! We had a great time. We left after the 3rd quarter cause it was late but we all had a great time. I think we will do it again.

IT'S A GIRL!!

2010-03-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

We had our ultrasound today at Babyviews. We found out we are having another girl. We are very excited, that is what we were hoping for. It will just be so much easier since our house is already plastered in pink. I can't upload the pics from the ultrasound because our scanner is broken so I'll just have to see you and show you or my hubby may be able to figure it out somehow. She looks perfect. All of her parts are there, in the right place, and functioning well. She wasn't very active which the ultrasound tech said may just be the time of day or she may just be a laid back baby (we're hoping for the second!) She was so cute! She is average size, about 9-10 ounces and about 8-9 inches long. The tech said that size isn't very accurate at this stage of pregnancy but I'm voting for a small baby like Makenna since I have to push her out! I was relieved to see that she is looking great. She was so cute! She opened and closed her fists, crossed her arms across her chest and put her hands up on her cheeks. She kicked her legs a little bit but she didn't change her position much. She looked so precious. So, somehow DJ Walker managed to pull off the miracle of the century by creating two girls! Who would've thought it possible!

Makenna's 2nd Birthday

2010-03-13T15:16:00.001-08:00

Today was Makenna's 2nd birthday. We had our families over for some wonderful food cooked by my mom and some yummy cake. Makenna got tons of books which is awesome because books are her favorite thing in the world. Me and DJ got her a kitchen which she loves and is playing with right now. Mimi and Poppy got her some really cute clothes and a lawnmower that blows bubbles. Shannon, Chris, and Nash got her some Dora books with sounds and an adorable razorback dress. Aunts and Uncles got her some new movies (yeah! we watch the same one over and over!) Nana got her some divided plates, silverware, and minnie mouse stuff. Ma and Pa got her lots of books and some plates and silverware. I know I'm leaving out some presents and some people and I'm sorry but I have a 2 year old tugging on my arm right now. Thank you so much everyone for coming and for all of the gifts. We had a wonderful time and are so grateful to for all the wonderful family and friends that we are blessed with. Thank you all so much!! We love you!! Makenna had an amazing time and is playing with all her gifts right now. My cousin Natalie is starting to get into photography and she is amazing!! Here is some of the pics she took.

Makenna and Grandma.

Uncle Phillip and Aunt Whitney.

Me, DJ, and Makenna

Makenna and Daddy

Makenna and Nana

Makenna and Mommy

Makenna and her Minnie ears playing with her kitchen

Uncle Greg and Aunt Jessica

Nash and Shannon

Makenna and Nash playing with the kitchen

Uncle Gary

We Have Some News

2009-12-27T09:02:00.000-08:00

In case you can't read the shirt it says, "I love being a Big Sister." For those of you who don't understand that (we love you anyways!) it means that I'm pregnant! We are very excited. We meet with the midwife this Wednesday so hopefully we will like her a lot because she lives really close to us. I think the baby is due sometime in August. I won't know for sure for a few weeks until I get an ultrasound because my cycles are very irregular and we aren't exactly sure when we got pregnant. So I'll let you know when I have more info. But for now, our family is 4 people instead of 3!

Animal Sounds and Various Other Noises

2009-11-30T08:34:00.000-08:00

DJ took a video of Makenna the other night making some animal sounds and telling what her favorite book is. I think I've posted a video like this before but it was just too cute not to share. Her hair is getting so long and it wasn't pinned back with a bow. I hate it in her eyes, it drives me crazy but the video was so cute I had to post it anyway. Enjoy.

Holiday House

2009-11-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

Me, Aunt Bev, Natalie, and now Makenna have a few traditions that I absolutely love. One of them is going to the Hot Springs craft fair every year. Another is a new tradition that we started last year and that is going to the Holiday House. For those of you who are not from around here it is an annual thing that happens around Thanksgiving. It is at the Convention Center and it is huge. It is made up of tons of booths of every kind. Food, crafts, clothes, jewelry, kids clothes, housewares, anything you can think of. And the whole thing is decorated beautifully in Christmas decorations. It is put on by the Junior League of Little Rock. We make a night out of it and go to the Holiday House and go to dinner. It is a blast. This year I bought a few things for Christmas gifts that I'm so excited about and I bought some things for Makenna. Of course Mimi bought some things for Makenna (are you surprised?) We just walked around and sampled all of the fabulous foods and candies they had to offer. Makenna stopped and played at all of the toy booths. We had a great time. Afterwards we went to Benihana's restaurant to eat. It was yummy. Of course I forgot my camera but Aunt Nat had her iphone so she took a few pictures. Mimi bought Makenna this adorable hat which she wore for the rest of the night. We should have gotten paid for advertising because TONS of people said how cute she looked and wanted to know where we bought the hat. I bet we made that lady a lot of money that night! I love doing things with Natalie and Aunt Bev. We always have such a wonderful time. I look forward to continuing our yearly traditions.

Isn't she the cutest thing you have ever seen?

Florida Trip October 2009

2009-11-21T19:15:00.000-08:00

Makenna and I went to visit my mom in October. DJ stayed home because he had to work. We had a wonderful time. We stayed at her house in Ocala for a few days and then we went and stayed at the beach for several days. As usual the time was wonderful but way too short. The week before we came the temperatures were in the 100's which is unusually warm for that time of year in Florida. I was so excited about this because that is when we were having a major cold snap and it was freezing here. But of course the week we came it was a different story. The first few days were very warm and wonderful. But the first two days we were at the beach it was very chilly. In the low 60's during the day and in the 40's and 30's at night. They even set a record low that had stood since the 1920's. Lucky us! And of course I had only brought one pair of jeans for me and Makenna and all summer clothes becasue I thought it was going to be super hot. So we had to wear the same things for a few days. Now that I just typed that, it seems so silly to say because its not like wearing the same clothes is going to kill you. I'm so spoiled. Anyway, back to our trip. It was still great to spend time with my mom and grandma and we even got to see most of Sheila's family. Overall we had a wonderful time. I look forward to making that October trip to Florida a yearly tradition for Makenna and I. Of course I forgot to emtpy the memory card on my computer before we went so the second day we were there I took about 3 picures and my card was full. But my mom took lots and she emailed me some. So here are a few of the pics from our wonderful vacation.

Sleepy baby

Walking the beach

She got sand and salt water in her face!

She absolutely LOVED playing in the sand!!!! She had a great time!!!!

Makenna and Nana

She became obsessed with her sunglasses when we were there. She wore them constantly!

This was one of the days it was cold. It was sooo windy on the beach.

She has the craziest morning hair! I wonder where she gets that from?!

She loved sitting in Nana's refrigerator.

Makenna and Mamaw.

Makenna and Neil (Mamaw's fiance)

Cute Pictures

2009-09-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

Last year Nana bought Makenna some Raiders clothes. They looked so cute on her and DJ and I LOVED them so we decided to buy her some more this year. We have decided this will become an annual thing as long as she is growing out of her clothes each year. Of course there will come a time when she will be able to wear the same size from year to year and our bank account will appreciate that! :) Those of you who know us know that we don't splurge on much but this is one exception. There will be no expense spared on making our daughter the cutest Raiders fan ever. We ordered two outfits for her and they just came in. We are having two custom onesies made at the T-Shirt Shop and they should be in soon. So here are the pics of the cutest Raiders Fan Ever!

Her teeth were hurting her this day and she wasn't very happy with me. But she looked so cute in her new clothes I couldn't resist taking pictures of her.

Her daddy started a new thing the other day. He put her on his back and acted like a horse (or doggy I'm not sure which he called it). She laid down on his back and she looked so cute. From then on they have been doing it almost every day. She was very tired if you can't tell.

She got a princess backpack from Mimi for her birthday. She started Mother's Day Out one day a week a few weeks ago and she has to take a lot of stuff. It won't all fit in her diaper bag so I decided to put some of it in her backpack. DJ got the idea to put it on her. So every Thursday she walks into school with her backpack on. She couldn't be any cuter!

While I was typing this blog Makenna was running around the living room playing. I looked up and she had put her daddy's hat on her head. She looked too cute not to run and get the camera and take some pictures. By the way, she is sitting in her princess chairs that Mamaw Callahan got her for her birthday. She LOVES those chairs. She sits in them probably 100 times a day. A lot of times she won't eat unless she can sit in her princess chairs. Thanks Mamaw we love the chairs!!!!!

This is her new look. I have no idea where she got it from but it is sooo cute! Her hair is getting very long.

Painted Bedroom

2009-09-13T19:01:00.000-07:00

DJ and I have been talking about painting our bedroom ever since we moved into our house 2 years ago. We had a very good idea of what color we wanted, a little lighter than chocolate brown. We bought a comforter that we thought would go well with that kind of color a few months ago. I'm not very motivated to do things so DJ kept saying that we needed to paint our room. So we finally set a date when I was going to be off for the weekend but it ended up not working out because I worked Friday and I was just too tired to go get the stuff. So we rescheduled for this past weekend. We went and bought everything we needed to paint over the last week. Friday night DJ taped and caulked the room and we moved the furniture to the middle of the room and moved everything else out (thanks Whitney for your help!). Then we put most of the plastic down. Then we woke up Saturday morning and put the rest of the plastic over the furniture. Then we started painting. DJ painted two walls while I took care of Makenna. Then when she took a nap I painted the other two walls while he painted the trim on the ones he had already painted. I have never painted before so he had to show me what to do. It was a little challenging at first but then I got the hang of it and it was fun. We had music playing and I was painting and dancing at the same time and it was a blast! Hard work but very fun. Then DJ had to go mow so I took care of Makenna while DJ and Greg mowed for several hours. Then when he got back I painted to second coat on two walls and then while I took a shower he painted the second coat on the other two walls. We did it this way because I put a much thicker coat on the walls than he does so we made sure each of us did one coat on each wall. Then we went to Greg and Jessica's house for a cookout. Talk about one full day!!! We were very tired. When we got home last night we pulled the tape off and took off the plastic. This morning we went to church and tonight DJ did some touch up and we moved all the furniture back. It looks awesome!!!!! It is amazing!!! It makes the room look totally different. We love it!!! So here are the pictures of our new and improved bedroom. I think we did an awesome job. Well DJ did most of the work and I just helped but that seems to be the story of most things in my life! :)

Before Pictures (with a messy bed!):

After Pictures (the color looks darker in real life):

I tried to show the color of the walls.

Nana In Town, Crazy Workout

2009-08-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a long time since I posted. My mom has been in town for almost 2 weeks and it has been awesome!!!! I thought two weeks would be so long but it has flown by! She leaves Thursday and I'm so bummed! I hate it when she has to go but we have had a great time. It has been a lot slower than when she is normally here and it has been great. We have laid at the pool several times and have both gotten a good tan. Makenna has loved having her Nana in town. I know she is going to miss her terribly when she leaves. But Makenna and I are going to Florida in Oct. for a visit so that will be awesome. A few weeks ago Whitney (Phillip's fiance) told me about a new workout she started. It is called Kettlenetics and it uses a thing called a kettlebell. She said she loved it and she had only been doing it a few weeks and I could tell a difference in how she looked. So, I looked into and decided to try it. I got the DVD's from her (thanks Whitney!) and I ordered a kettlebell from WalMart.com. I was excited and didn't want to wait the two weeks for the kettlebell to come in so I bought a small dumbell to use until my kettlebell arrives. I did the workout for the first time last night and oh my goodness. It is only 20 min and it is not very fast paced. It has a few parts that are a little quick but somehow before I knew it my thighs were on fire and I was gasping for air. Somehow this workout gives you cardio without you knowing it. I knew I was going to be sore today because my thighs were burning like crazy during the workout, but I had no idea. Oh my goodness!!! I can hardly walk today. I haven't been this sore since cheerleading camp in high school 10 years ago!! The worst thing is trying to sit on the toilet. I moan and groan all the way down (sorry if that was tmi)! I hate it but I love it. I love it because although it sucks being sore I know it is working. Not just working but kicking my butt!! I just hope I can stick with it. I have a tendency to start things but not finish them (just ask my hubby). But I'm so tired of being fat. Not just being fat but being fat and getting fatter. There comes a point where you just say "this is ridiculous!" I'm at that point. So, say a prayer I will stick with it and in a few months, supermodel stardom here I come!
P.S. I love you Whitney!!

We Love Luggage Spotter

2009-07-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, my mom is an inventor. She has invented several products one of which is called Luggage Spotter. It is a piece of cushioned fabric that can have your business or team logo put on it. You can then put it on your luggage, backpack, laptop bag, and a variety of other things. Anyway she just got a really big blessing and Luggage Spotter is in Cracker Barrel Academy sports stores. The catch is that they ordered a small amount to test the product. If they sell out then they will do a big order. So everyone needs to go to Cracker Barrel and Academy and bug a Luggage Spotter so that they will sell out!!! She also has an commercial that is going to air soon for another product she invented called MicroWax. It is a special type of precut wax paper that you put over your food in the microwave. It prevents splatters and it allows you to cook lots of things in the microwave that would normally turn out yucky in the microwave. It is an amazing product that I have been in love with for years. The informercial should air sometime in Sept so be looking for it. It is the same deal as Luggage Spotter. They are airing it for 2 weeks and if it sells out then they will air it for one year. So if you see it then buy some!!! Be praying for my mom that these deals go great. She really really needs this right now!!!! Go buy some Luggage Spotter and Microwax and tell everyone you know how great they are so they will buy some too!!!

Potty Chair

2009-07-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

When Makenna turned one we got her a potty chair. Every time we go to the bathroom we put her on the potty chair and clap and tell her that we are going peepee in the potty. We don't take her diaper off yet. We just want to get her used to going to the bathroom and sitting on the potty chair. She looks so cute on it. After a few weeks she loved sitting on it and would clap. But lately she will only sit on it for a few seconds and then she gets up. She is too busy to sit for very long. But we decided to try and get her used to it early so maybe potty training won't be so hard in several months when we really start trying.

Sunday School Party

2009-07-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago our Sunday School class had a party. It was at Craig and Cindy's house. They have a beautiful new house. There was a lot of really good food and we all had a great time. There was a slip and slide. I didn't think Makenna would like it but she loved it!!! All she wanted to do was go on it again and again. She had a great time!!! When it got dark they shot off fireworks. It was really good to social with our sunday school class outside of church. We all had a great time.

Craig and Rebekah racing on the slip and slide.

Crazy Nap

2009-07-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

This is how I found Makenna when she woke up from her nap a few minutes ago. The blue thing on the floor is her diaper!! Being a mother is full of hilarious unexpected surprises!!

The Wonder Place

2009-07-12T21:12:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago DJ and I took Makenna to The Wonder Place in Little Rock. It is a play place for kids. It took her a little while to warm up but as soon as she did she had a great time. It has a lot of different rooms with things for the kids to do and things for them to climb on. DJ and I had a great time watching her play. I love to watch her figure new things out. We all had a good time. Here are some pictures.

This thing was really cool. You put a ball or scarf in it and it blows it through all these tubes and spits it out and it goes flying through the air.

This is what DJ did during our day! I'm just kidding. He only played on his phone a little bit. He played with Makenna a lot.

She made this picture.

There was a window in this tower. When she realized it she tried to see the people below her and then she tried to kiss them through the window!

Which one is the kid?! :)

The had a water table to play in.

A New Tooth

2009-07-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted in a while but I have several to do so hopefully tomorrow I will get to them. The other night when Makenna was nursing she pulled off and looked up at me and smiled real big. I saw her 4 little teeth but I thought I saw something else. So I put my finger in her mouth and sure enough I felt another tooth. How she had a tooth break through and I didn't notice it, I don't know. But she has a new tooth on the bottom. I felt her top gums and and she has a tooth on each side of her existing two teeth that are about to come in. So now she has 5 teeth and any day now will have 7 teeth. I must say I'm not a fan of the teeth. I know they are necessary but they are not my friend when it comes to nursing!! :) She is getting so big and doing new things everyday. She is so smart. I have pics to post from the 4th but I have to get them from DJ's mom first. Hopefully in the next few days I will get all of my posts done. For now the new tooth is our most recent news.

DJ's Test

2009-07-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

Today DJ had an EGD done. It is when they use a scope to go down and look in your esophagus, stomach, and first part of the intestines. He also had his esophagus dilated because he has a narrowing of his esophagus and it causes him to have a hard time eating certain foods. He had this done several years ago for the same problem. It is something that will need to be done every few years. The doctor Aunt Bev works for is the one who did the procedure. He is very nice and I fully trust him. DJ had to be sedated for the procedure. He is very sensitive to this type of medication so he asked them to give him less than usual so they did. But Dr. Metrailer said that when he started the procedure DJ asked for more medicine so he gave it to him. He did wake up afterwards and drank some water. He said his throat was very sore and he was feeling nauseated. I offered to get him some food but he didn't want any. He just wanted to come home and sleep. His procedure was at 10:00 am and he is still asleep. I'm sure he will sleep the rest of the day. But tomorrow I'm sure he'll be feeling much better.

Greg and Jessica's Wedding

2009-06-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

DJ's middle brother Greg got married on June 6. Makenna was the flower girl, DJ was the best man, DJ's brother Phillip was a groomsman and Whitney, Phillip's girlfriend, was a bridesmaid. I sang during the lighting of the unity candle. It was a very beautiful ceremony and Jessica's dress was absolutely gorgeous. Makenna was the cutest flower girl I have ever seen. She did pretty good that day. The wedding was at 2:00 but we had to be there at 11:00 so she didn't get a nap. She was supposed to walk down the aisle with the other flower girl but when the doors opened she just stood there. So DJ walked down the aisle and carried her down. It was so cute. Then she went back to the nursery with a friend of DJ's mom and slept the rest of the service. Of course when I took her home she was so exhausted that she wouldn't take a nap. But overall she did very well. Here are a lot of pics from the rehearsal and the wedding.

Makenna practicing walking down the aisle.

The tables at the rehearsal dinner.

Phillip and Whitney

Groom's Cake.

Wedding cake.

DJ's parents

Camp Formosa 2009

2009-06-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to Camp Formosa. For those of you who don't know it is a church camp that I have gone to since I was a little kid. The first week is junior camp which is for 3rd-7th graders. I don't go to that one. The one I go to is senior camp. It is for 8th-12th graders. It goes by the grade you are going into. But you also go as a camper the year you graduate high school. I have been associated with this camp for a majority of my life. I absolutely love it. It is in Formosa, AR which is way out in the sticks. It isn't a fancy camp but it is wonderful. It is very inexpensive so we have a lot of poor kids that come. We also have a lot of kids who have never been to church. The goal of our camp is to help kids get saved and to teach them how to live a Christian life in a world that isn't very supportive of Christianity. I taught half of the 8th grade but I also had four 7th graders in my class because their moms were working at camp. I also had a small group at night which is a group of about 8-10 girls that me and Lisa (another member of the camp staff) met with each night to discuss different things. I've never been to another church camp before so I can't compare Camp Formosa to other places but I think this place is amazing. The Holy Spirit is so heavy in this place. It is amazing. One of the girls in my small group had never been in church before. The first few nights she was very overwhelmed with all of her emotions. She fought it very hard but after a few nights she got saved. It was awesome!!!! What an amazing feeling to have God use you to accomplish His plan. I get just as blessed as the kids do. Sometimes I think I get blessed even more than they do. The evangelist this week was Cliff Clark. I have known him since I was about 8 years old. He is the most amazing preacher I have ever listened to. He has cerebral palsy. But that doesn't stop him. He is in such close communication with God on a daily basis. I've never known anyone to have such a direct line to God. He is so awesome. My favorite thing about him is he preaches on the kids level. He is very entertaining and he talks about things that are relevant to them. He is very big on doing things that will interest the kids. He makes the kids repeat out loud a lot of what he says. He appeals to all ages and his so awesome. I've never known another preacher who the kids not only listen to his sermons but they remember them. The next day I would ask them what he preached on and they could immediately repeat all of his main points. If you've never worked with teenagers before you won't understand how amazing that is. He is one youtube if you would like to look him up. Search for boots1956 on youtube. By Thursday or Friday of this week all of his sermons from church camp should be posted. His wife videos all of his sermons to post on youtube. Our camp video will also be posted. We are very blessed with a young man named Austin who is very talented in the video field and he does a camp video for us each year. So much happened that my mind is kind of spinning right now. I can't think of everything and it would take me forever to post so I'm going to break it into a few posts over the next few weeks. Needless to say I was touched by God. It happens every year but in a different way every year. I could never thank God enough for letting me be a part of Camp Formosa.

A Few Cute Pictures

2009-06-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Makenna's mimi bought her a very cute swim suit a few months ago. We haven't tried it on yet because she got two other swim suits for her birthday (also from her mimi) that we have been using. So, we decided to wear this one when we got in the pool the other day. It was soooooo cute!! She looks like such a big girl. Here are a few pictures.

Homemade Dishwashing Detergent

2009-06-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

So, DJ sent me a link about some other homemade things I could make since I love the homemade laundry detergent so much. So I googled how to make homemade dishwashing detergent. I found several recipes but the most common one was this:
1 part baking soda or washing soda
1 part borax
Use 2 tablespoons in the wash per load. Put vinegar in the rinse dispenser where you would usually put jet dry.

A lot of people said that it caused a buildup on their dishes. Some people said that putting a few drops of dish washing liquid in with the powder fixed the build up problem. Other recipes called for this same recipe but also added 1 part cascade powder. A lot of people said this worked great. I tried it for the first time tonight but the dishwasher is still going so I'll let you know how it works.

As a side note I now a lot of people don't know much about cloth diapers and may think I'm crazy for using them because of the folding and pins and all of that. A lot of people don't understand what these new kind are so I thought I would put a link to the ones I use so everyone could see what they look like and how they work: bum genius 3.0 one size pocket diaper
I've also decided to make my own cloth wipes out of old receiving blankets. We got a ton of receiving blankets as baby gifts and we never used them because they weren't big enough to swaddle. So I thought I would cut one of them up for cloth wipes. I'm going to DJ's mom's house tomorrow for her to show me how to use the sewing machine. I don't have a clue how to sew. I can sew a button on, that is it. I have never used a sewing machine before. These wipes will be much thinner and less absorbent than the ones I bought but they are just for wiping Makenna's butty so I don't think it will be a big deal. I have some other homemade things in mind I'm going to try so I'll let you know when I decide to try them.

Cloth Diapers

2009-06-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I started to realize how many diapers we have used over the course of Makenna's life. Since disposable diapers don't degrade for a long, long time then they just end up in a landfill and they just sit there. As I have gotten older I have become more aware of my ability to be impact the condition of our planet. So I started to realize how wasteful it was to use disposable diapers. However I was still being selfish in that I didn't want to have to do a lot of work. I wanted to use cloth diapers but only if it wasn't going to be a hassle. Selfish I know, but hey what can I say. I have a friend named Jessica who has always used cloth diapers for her daughter. So I knew she would be the expert on what kind I should get. I also talked to her about how much trouble it was and how she liked them. She loves cloth diapers and had a lot of good advice. It turns out that cloth diapers have come a long way since the old days. No more pins and folding diapers. Well, you can still buy that kind if you want to but they make much easier ones now. She said they have tried a lot of brands and the one she liked the best was Bumgenius. She likes the Bumgenius Organic One Size All In One diaper. It is a diaper that is just like a disposable. No folding, no inserts, no nothing. Just put it on like a disposable diaper, velcro tabs and all. When you are done with it, you take it off and wash it. No assembly, no pins, just wash as is. I looked at those for a while and actually ordered some but ended up sending them back because they are very expensive. What I ended up buying was something similar. The Bumgenius One Size Pocket diaper. It has snaps in the front so it goes from 7-35 lbs so you don't have to buy any sizes. The one diaper works from newborn to toddler. This one is very similar to a disposable diaper. Same shape, same velcro. The only difference is there is a pocket on the inside where you put an absorbable insert. You put the diaper on just like a disposable, velcro and all. When you are done you take it off, pull out the insert and wash the diaper and insert. What I do to make it easier is when they come out of the dryer, I go ahead and put the insert in the diaper. That way they are all ready to go when I need them. I love them. They are a little pricey, so it is a significant investment in the beginning. However, they save a lot of money in the long run. Not only are they good for 7-35 lbs but they last a long time so we can use them for the next child. I bought 6 of them and am going to try them for a week. If I continue to like them as much as I do then I'm going to order 6 more. They come in lots of cute colors. I also bought cloth wipes and these little squares that you dissolve in hot water. You put it in a squirt bottle or pour it over the wipes. Its easy because you are already washing diapers so you might as well wash wipes with them. The solution smells great and is made several different oils that help prevent diaper rash are good for babies skin. So far I am more than pleased I switched to cloth diapers. They are so absorbent and I feel great about the fact that we are not being as wasteful. The only thing I don't like is that they are very bulky and they take a long time to dry in the dryer. So, Makenna now has a getto butty. But that will be good when it comes to buying new clothes because we won't have such a hard time finding pants and shorts that fit her!! One more reason to use cloth diapers!! If you are interested in them I recommend a site called Nicki's Diapers. They offer free shipping on many items and any order over $75. They also have a large selection. Here is a few pictures of one of the diapers.

Museum of Discovery

2009-06-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

DJ found out that there is a Museum of Discovery in Little Rock. As a kid I loved the one in Hot Springs. For those of you who are out of town and don't know what this is let me explain. It is a very cool museum with lots of hands on things for kids. Everything is educational and science based. It is very cool and it shows kids how science works and that science can be fun. There used to be only one in Hot Springs but apparently there is one downtown now. So DJ and I decided to take Makenna there on Sunday because DJ found out that admission is free the second Sunday of every month. For the most part we were disappointed. We didn't think it was that great. But there were a lot of fun things for older kids to do. There were only two play areas for little kids. However one of them was pretty cool. Makenna had a great time! She played and played and played. She wore herself out. We had a great time watching her play. I didn't take very many pictures but I did take some video. This is her playing with blocks with her dad. She had a great time. I hope you can hear her squeal. It was really loud in there. He would stack the blocks up and she would knock them down and squeal. It was so cute!!

Laundry Detergent

2009-06-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Over the last year DJ has suggested a few times that we should make our own laundry detergent. He visits a web site run by a guy who has a lot of ideas of how to be frugal. So DJ sent me a link the other day to his post about making your own laundry detergent. I was never too keen on the idea but I decided to visit the link and see what it was all about. Once I read the post I really wanted to try it. So, I decided to use his recipe and make my own laundry detergent. It was very easy and only took about 20 minutes to do. And it really works just as well as Tide which is what we used to use. It also saves a lot of money. So, for now on we will be making our own laundry detergent. It may sound silly but it saves a lot of money for a little effort. And it helps the environment by us using one less plastic container. So here is the recipe for the homemade laundry detergent.

1 5 gallon bucket with lid
1 bar soap (I use Ivory)
1 cup washing soda (not baking soda but it is made by Arm & Hammer)
1/2 cup borax (I use the brand 20 mule)

Grate bar of soap with a box grater. Grate very thin. Boil 4 cups of water. Add one hand full at a time of the grater soap. Stir until it is mostly dissolved. Continue to add one hand full at a time of the soap until it is all dissolved in the boiling water. Fill the 5 gallon bucket with 3 gallons of warm water. Add the soapy water and smash up any chunks with a big spatula or spoon. Add the washing soda and stir until it dissolves. Add the borax and stir until it dissolves. Put the lid on the bucket loosely and let it sit for 24 hours. Now it is ready to use. Just add one cup to every load. It works great!!
It may be a strange consistency. Mine is a mix of lumpy, jello like stuff and a watery substance. I just use the measuring cup to mix it up and then make sure when I scoop I get some of the jello and liquid. The consistency will depend on the type of soap you use.

Here is the link to the web site. It has a picture of all the ingredients and a video demonstrating how to make it. It is very helpful
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/

Nash's Birthday Party

2009-06-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Nash Horton's birthday party. Nash's dad is Chris, DJ's best friend since forever. Nash is 3 months younger than Makenna. Makenna had so much fun at his birthday party. She is so much like her dad. She wants to observe the action but she doesn't want to participate. She went right over to where all of the kids were playing and she picked up a toy. But then she just stood there and watched all of the other kids. She is so observant. She loves to watch other children. She's not like the other kids. She doesn't just jump in and start playing. She just stands there and analyzes the other children. She did that the whole time we were there. Nash got a swing just like Makenna's. Makenna knew exactly what it was and she climbed in it. She wanted to swing. It was so cute. She spent most of the time playing in that swing. I think Nash had a good time but he was really tired. His cake was very cute and it tasted wonderful. I got the ladie's card so we can use her next time we need a cake. We all had a good time. Here are some pictures.

Makenna and Nash playing with Nash's toys.

The birthday boy (Nash) playing with a spoon.

He is too cute.

Nash opening the music set we bought him.

Nash eating his cake. He was so funny, he just poked at it just like Makenna did at her birthday. But after a while he dove in.

Makenna climbed into Nash's swing. That's where she spent a big part of the party. She's so silly.

Makenna loved Nash's motorized four wheeler. We may be buying one of those soon.

Makenna and Nash hugging. So sweet!

Sunday School Get Together

2009-06-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday we had a get together with two other couples from our sunday school class. We have a great sunday school class. It is for young married couples and we have a great time. We have recently done small groups within our class. We drew two other couples names and once a month we get together with them. It has been awesome. The two other couples have small children close to Makenna's age so it is great. One time we got together it was just adults but the last two times we have had kids. This past weekend we had a get together at our house. DJ grilled out steak and chicken and the other couples brought side dishes. DJ did an awesome job!!! The steak and chicken were the best I've ever had, hands down. The older girls played in the pool and we all just hung out. We had a wonderful time. I hope we can do it again soon.

Pool Is Up

2009-06-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

DJ got our pool up around Memorial Day Weekend. He had some trouble draining the left over water from last year but he did an awesome job and got it up and filled. I'm so excited. I love the pool. We are having a problem now though. The pool is green. DJ has shocked it several times and put several chlorine tabs in it but it is still green. Hopefully we will be able to get it back to clear soon. He dose such a great job on everything outside. He is a great at that kind of stuff. I look forward to swimming this summer! It is so refreshing when it is so hot outside.

No Sleep

2009-06-12T12:04:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night was a rough night. I had worked at Children's that day and I had to work at Baptist on Thursday. So Makenna and I went to bed early. She woke up about 12:30 screaming and crying. DJ brought her to me and I nursed her but when he tried to lay her back down she went crazy. She cried and cried so he brought her back to me. I laid her in bed with me and she wiggled around but then almost fell asleep. So I asked DJ if he could take her back to bed. As soon as he laid her down she started to cry again. So we let her cry for a little while but then she just got more hysterical so DJ brought her to bed and laid her down with him. She laid that way for a while and then made her way to the middle of the bed. She wiggled and wiggled and wiggled. DJ can sleep through this kind of thing but I can't. So, needless to say I wasn't getting any sleep. After a few hours she finally fell asleep, just in time for me to get up to get ready for work. So needless to say I was a walking zombie on Thursday. Of course when I left for work at 6:00 DJ and Makenna were sound asleep in the bed together. Figures!! Well, thankfully I had wonderful patients on Thursday and had a good day at work. I'm still tired today. It has been a while since I have had to go on a few hours sleep. I forgot how hard it can be!

Mamaw In The Hospital

2009-06-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

My grandmother, the one who lives in Arkansas, is in the hospital. She has had Alzheimer's Disease for the past few years. Well, the past few weeks she has passed out several times. Aunt Bev said she went over on Sunday and Mamaw was out cold on the floor. She had a very hard time waking her up. So she took Mamaw to the cardiologist to see if there was anything wrong with her heart. While they were there they did some orthostatic blood presssures which is where they take your blood pressure lying, sitting, and standing and see if there is a major drop in your pressure between the different positions. Well when Mamaw stood up for her blood pressure she passed cold out. So, they sent her to the Heart Hospital. They did some tests and found out her carotid artery is 80% blocked. I think they were supposed to put in a stint yesterday. I haven't called to check on her today yet but I will keep up updated. Aunt Bev is sleeping at the hospital so she is exhausted. Please keep Mamaw in your prayers but also Aunt Bev because this is very hard on her trying to juggle a sick parent and the rest of her life.

Good Bye Arkansas Children's Hospital

2009-06-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well, after 4 years of being a pediatric nurse at Arkansas Children's Hospital, I am saying good bye. As most of you know I started a new job at Baptist Hospital in Little Rock at the first of the year. I still kept my job at Children's but only worked about 16 hours a month in the ER. I am VERY tired of the ER, just burned out. So I decided to transfer to the PACU (recovery room). I thought this environment would be less stressful and would be an easy transition from the ER, because much of the work is very similar to what I do in the ER. So, I interviewed and excepted the position. The position was for ZB which means you work 16 hours a month, whenever you want, you can work more if you want to. It is meant to be very flexible. When I interviewed I told them that I already had another full time job and that I had to have something that was very flexible and would work around my other job. They said no problem. I knew I would have to work more in the beginning because I would have to do training so I could learn the job and get oriented to the unit. But in the interview they said it is a very easy transition from the ER and made it sound like my orientation time would be relatively short. I emailed them my schedule at Baptist, and they emailed me back an orientation schedule. Well, it was not what I had expected. They wanted me to work 2-3 12 hour shifts for the next 6 weeks. That was on top of my 2 12 hour shifts I already work at Baptist. I just wasn't willing to do that. The whole point of this second job was just to make a little extra money, not to work so much that I would never see Makenna. So, I called my boss at Baptist to see if it would be possible to work one extra shift a week there. Long story short she said she couldn't guarantee it but for the most part I should be able to get one extra shift a week at Baptist. So, after some thought and counsel from my husband I decided to quit Children's all together and just work some extra at Baptist. It was a hard decision because Children's is where I learned to be a nurse and where I grew up as a nurse. It is an amazing place and I was very proud to be a part of what they do. But it is time to move on. I gained invaluable experience when I was there and learned an amazing amount. I have one shift let next week and then that's it. I guess that is life. One chapter ends and another one starts. I really enjoy my job at Baptist and am learning to be a good post partum nurse. I still have a lot to learn there but I really enjoy the work. So, in a bitterweet moment I say good bye Arkansas Children's Hopsital.

Mamaw In Town

2009-06-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

My grandmother is in town visiting from Florida. She flew into Memphis almost 2 weeks ago. She has family there. Then she went another part of Arkansas to visit some more family. She got here on Monday night. She leaves tomorrow sometime. I have to work tomorrow so tonight is the last night I will see her. I wish she could have stayed longer but she is a busy grandmother. She has a lot of family in the Arkansas area and is leaving tomorrow to go to Searcy for several family reunions. She is definitely a traveling grandmother. She is always on the go. We have had a very good time together. Not doing anything particularly special, just going to lunch, WalMart, and hanging out. All the usual stuff. Last night she made fried fish and fried potatoes and they were to die for!!!! She is an amazing cook. For those of you who have never eaten any of her food, I feel sorry for you. It is one of the great pleasures of life to eat her food ( now you know where my mom gets it from). Between my grandmother and mom visiting several times a year, is it any wonder I can't keep weight off very long? I'm so glad she was able to visit and hope she has a great rest of the trip. Our little garden is doing great and we are getting closer and closer to having ripe tomatoes. I will post some pictures soon. I would take some right now but it is storming and pouring down rain.

First Trip to The Zoo

2009-05-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend DJ and I took Makenna to the zoo for the first time. She loved it! Her favorite were the camels. She went crazy over them. She kept saying uhh, uhhh, if you know her then you know her noises. She doesn't say words yet but she makes a lot of sounds and she can definitely tell you what she wants and communicate with you. She made noises at the camels for like 10 minutes. We finally just had to move on and when we did she was looking back at them and yelling. She was so cute the whole day. We had a great time!! She yelled at all of the animals. She was so excited to see all of them. It was a great day.

She pointed and yelled at all the animals we came to the whole day. It was so cute!

DJ favorite, the tigers.

Makenna's favorite.

That eagle only had one wing. It was very sad.

This animal was crazy looking.

I don't know if you can tell but these are little bitty deer. They were tiny. And they pooped a lot!!

When she first saw this bear she ran up to it. But then when she actually got close to it she was scared of it.

She was getting very sleepy.

They had several cut out where you could put your head in and take a picture so I held Makenna and DJ took a picture. I think it is too cute!

She was scared of this one too.

They had a lorikeet exhibit where you could feed the birds. Some nice guys gave us some so Makenna could feed the birds. She thought it was hilarious.

Look at the bird on this guys head!

This is a pavilion type thing to sit under. I thought the art work was really cool.

Florida Trip May 2009

2009-05-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

DJ, Makenna, and I went to Florida to visit my mom for her 50th birthday. We arrived on Friday. We stayed in a condo on the beach for the first few days. We laid in the sun and played at the pool. Makenna LOVED the pool. She cried when I made her get out. On Saturday my mom had her 50th birthday party at a restaurant on the beach called the Palm Pavilion. There were about 40-50 people there. We had a great time. My mom's sister gave her a walker for her birthday!! Leave it to family to remind you of the joys of getting older!! Of course Makenna was the life of the party as usual. As I'm writing this Makenna decided to play with the fire poker set and before I could get to her her hands were covered in soot. Okay that disaster was averted. So, on Sunday we (my mom, DJ, Makenna and me) drove to Orlando. We stayed in my mom's time share which was beautiful!!! Thanks mom! It was a huge condo with a big jacuzzi tub that we ended up not using! My mom watched Makenna on Monday while DJ and I went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We had a great time! The first ride we went on was the Shrek ride and it was great!! It wasn't really a ride it was a 4D movie and it was so fun. Then we went on the Simpson's ride. Big mistake!! It was a simulator and it made us so sick! We felt sick for the rest of the day. But we still had a great time. The Superman ride was really fun in Islands of Adventure. DJ rode a roller coaster but I didn't go with him. We lost our camera but we managed to find it, thank you Lord!! We had a wonderful time! That night Makenna woke up at 11 throwing up. She threw up about 10-12 times that night. Needless to say we didn't get much sleep so our plans to go to Hollywood Studios on Tuesday were put on hold. She slept and laid around the most of the next week. But on Wednesday she was feeling a little better so DJ and I decided to go to Hollywood Studios. We had a wonderful time there too. And I actually rode a roller coaster with DJ and it was a lot of fun. It was so great to spend time together just the two of us. We came home late on Thursday night. Makenna was still vomiting off and on but we managed the trip ok. Overall, even with Makenna getting sick it was a great trip. I'm just sad it ended so soon. Here are our pictures. You now me, there are a lot of them.

Makenna and her Nana.

My mom at her birthday party.

Four generations, My mamaw, my mom, me, and Makenna.

My grandmother and her boyfriend Neil.

Me and my Aunt Debbie.

She couldn't be any cuter!!!

Kassie's niece is about 5 weeks old, her name is Emma. Makenna loved her! She is giving her a hug! So cute!!

Here she is giving Emma a kiss!

Universal Studios

In front of the Jaws ride.

Ahhh! DJ's getting eaten!

One of the sharks they used for the movie. It looked very realistic.

The street of Universal.

One of the indoor/outdoor roller coasters.

This was really cool. It was a thing that you put your camera on and it made it look like this background was behind you. It is really hard to explain, but that background isn't really there.

The sidewalk in between Universal and Islands of Adventure.

Islands of Adventure was made up of different "islands" (duh). The first one we came to was Dr. Seuss Land. It was AWESOME!!! Every building, fountain, everything looked like it came out of a Dr. Seuss book. It was so cool!!

Popeye and Olive were standing there so kids could take pictures with them.

Somebody help!

Hollywood Studios

You can't really see it but this was a scene from Beauty and The Beast all made out of plants. It was really cool.

This was the waiting line for our favorite ride, the Toy Story ride. It was a ride where you wear 3D glasses and shoot at carnival type games. It was so fun!! We rode it 3 times. The line you wait in was decorated with all sorts of toys we played with as a kid. The whole experience was really fun.

A singing Mr. Potato head.

I loved Barrel of Monkeys as a kid.

This was a show where they showed you how they make action movies and blow things up in the water.

Herbie

This was a train ride we took where they showed you how they make a big outdoor action scene with a small set.

The actual ship from Flight of the Navigator. How cool is that!

The Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.

The buildings in the background aren't really buildings. They are cardboard that are placed at certain angles to make the depth appear to be the New York skyline.

This was our favorite show. It showed you how they make car chases in movies. I thought most of that was fake but it isn't. They really drive those cars and do all of that crazy stuff you see on TV. It was amazing to see someone make a car do that. It was the best thing we saw while we were there.

DJ rode the Tower of Terror, but not me!

Some of the characters from cars were there for kids to take pictures with.

Look at how much smoke their tires produce.

I don't know if you can see but they are really driving on two wheels.

The finale of the car show. It was awesome!

It's Been A Long Time

2009-05-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

So I know it has been a long time since I have posted. Sorry to everyone who likes to read my blog. I'm going to try and update my blog today so you may be tired of me in the next week or so because you will probably be hearing a lot from me. We have been very busy the last month so I have a lot to tell.

Nothing Exciting

2009-04-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

There really hasn't been anything exciting happening around here lately. Makenna is doing good. Her two teeth on the bottom are really starting to show and she looks really cute. She has had a little bit of a fever the past two days and has been fussy. I looked in her mouth yesterday and she has two teeth on the top just about to break through. She isn't eating or drinking well and I think that is because of her teeth. She is such a big girl now. She just walks around all day long. She makes a HUGE mess wherever she goes. You can tell where she has been because there is a big path of destruction. I can't believe what a big girl she is now. Today I was sitting on the couch watching TV and I heard Raider drinking from his bowl. A few minutes later I heard it again and I thought, wow he must be thirsty. But then I thought, that doesn't sound like Raider drinking. Then I realized I didn't see Makenna. I went to Raider's water bowl and there she was splashing around having a great time and making a big mess. I couldn't help but laugh. She is really enjoying her swing. We go out there everyday when I water the plants. Here are some pictures of her in the swing. There are also some pictures of her in a cute outfit we bought her in Branson. She looks so grown up in that outfit.

Doesn't she look like a big girl!!!

She loves her books now. She loves to pull all of them off of the shelf and carry them around.

She decided to stand in her dad's boots. Isn't she cute!!

Stuffing her face again. Does anyone else see a pattern here?

Bad Week

2009-04-30T15:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I didn't feel good last week and I don't really have an excuse for this week. WARNING: If you don't want to hear about my female issues then stop reading now. Last week I started my period for the first time since Makenna was born. It was awful! DJ had to bring me clothes to work, it was a blast. I forgot how awful I feel during that time of the month. I was reminded of the loveliness of being a woman. I guess I shouldn't complain since it has been almost 2 years since I have had a period. So, I felt yucky for about 4 days last week. But thankfully I'm feeling much better now. Enough about that. I gave Makenna a bath a few weeks ago and she decided she wanted to splash like crazy. She was being very funny so I decided to take a video of her. She is so cute.

Gardening

2009-04-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

Today DJ and I planted some tomatoes, strawberries and herbs. We planted them in pots and put them on our back porch. I'm so excited. They are going to taste very yummy! We had a great time. We planted two of the tomato plants in "topsy turvy" planters, the upside down tomato planters. DJ heard from a friend at work that it was the easiest way to plant tomatoes. Hopefully we will have some yummy fruits and vegetables very soon. DJ also put up a swing for Makenna. Mimi bought her the swing for her birthday but the weather is finally good enough for her to use it. She loves it! She had a great time in it today. I will post some pictures of her in the swing later.Here are some pictures of the swing and our garden. Don't look at our back yard, it really needs to be mowed.

The upside down tomato planters.

The upside down planters are better boy hybrid tomatoes.

This is a strawberry plant.

Cherry tomatoes.

Sweet basil is on the left and cilantro is on the right.

Awesome Film

2009-04-18T20:18:00.000-07:00

I watched an amazing documentary this week. It is called "The Business of Being Born". I know not everyone is really into the birth process the way I am, but everyone needs to watch this film. It is very informative and has a lot of research that everyone needs to know. I'm a big fan of being educated about lots of things but especially about what is happening to your body. I don't hold to the adage " The doctor knows best." In some cases that is true but in some cases they are idiots. They are running a business just like everyone else. They want to make money. And sadly many of the decisions they make are not based on research, evidence, or the good of the patient, but they are based on what is easiest for them and makes them the most money. Now don't get me wrong, there are some awesome doctors out there and I'm so glad we have them. But obstetricians are trained surgeons. Someone like that taking care of a healthy, low risk pregnancy is overkill. It is unneccessary. I think everyone should watch this film but especially women of child bearing age. We as women need to stand up and take responsibility for our bodies and what happens to them. Don't let someone bully into doing something that isn't good for you. As a society, I think women have lost our power. We have forgotten the power that lies within our own body. We need to stand up and take that power back. Birth is not something that just happens to us or something that is done to us. It is a process which we are a part of. As a society we have lost that faith in women and their bodies. We think that the female body isn't capable of having a baby without help. Why? Women had babies without any ones help for thousands of years. Does it make sense that all of a sudden our bodies aren't capable of that anymore? What changed so drastically that we are now not capable of having a baby without being "induced" or "medicated" by a doctor? Women go in to be induced into labor every day. Have you ever asked yourself why. Why do they need to be induced? The baby will come when it is ready. What did they do before induction? They waited until labor started. Other women go into labor on their own but then the doctor says its not going fast enough so they speed it up by using pitocin. Why? There is probably a good reason her labor is the speed it is. Her body may know she needs a break or the baby may need a break. Contrary to popular belief there is no time limit on labor. Your body is very smart. Our Creator is not stupid and he made our bodies very intelligent. The female body was created to birth babies. We just need to get out of the way and let it do the job God created it to do. I'm not trying to rant but I'm terrified about where the obstetrical community is heading in our country. We are the wealthiest country in the world and we have the worst maternal and infant death rate of all the developed countries. That is terrifing!!! We have more moms and babies die than some third world countries. Why is nobody bothered by this? Why are our doctors not trying to figure out why this is happening? With all of our money why are so many moms and babies dying. It is because birth is a business in this country. Its sad but very true. New research is also showing that since our percentage of interventions during birth have increased so have many childhood problems such as autism, cancer, and chronic diseases. Why are these not on the rise in other countries but they are in ours? We as a society and we as women need to stand up and take control of our healthcare. People are so scared of birth in this country. The media has done a great job of making birth this scaring thing. It is only scary when the medical field gets in the way. A natural, undisturbed birth is one the most beautiful and amazing things you will ever witness or be a part of. Most of our society will never know that truth. It breaks my heart. We as women have so much power that God gave us through our bodies that we are not using. What a shame. Please, please, if you can get your hands on this movie, please watch it. Your eyes will be widely opened.

Some Random Thoughts and Pictures

2009-04-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

Makenna has had a hard time going to sleep lately. This is really the theme of her life. She will sleep great for a few weeks and then she won't sleep good for a few weeks. For about the past week she cries when we put her down for the night. Sometimes she will quit on her own and sometimes I will have to go get her and hold her for a while. Even then she still cries when I put her back down. Maybe she is cutting some more teeth. I don't know.
Breastfeeding is going better. I nurse her 2-3 times a day. In the morning, at nap time and at night before bed. If she wakes up in the middle of the night I nurse her then too. My milk supply seems to have stabilized for now. I know some people think I'm crazy but I don't care. It is so good for her and I love it, so I'm going to keep going until I feel like stopping or she wants to stop.
I have some pictures that I have taken recently but haven't gotten around to posting so I thought I would share them with everyone. I know I post a lot of pictures but I have a lot of family who live out of town and this is how they get to see Makenna. So for those of you who see us all the time, sorry about the overload of pictures. Also I have the cutest daughter in the world and I love to show her off!!

Makenna opening her Easter basket from my mom.

She was very excited!

DJ got a really cool Raiders check book cover.

She loves to stuff her mouth with food.

This is Makenna after a dinner of Ravioli. Oh my!!

I gave her a bath the other night and she had a blast splashing around!

Stuffing her face again.

Isn't she the cutest. She gets this sleeping position from her Uncle Phillip.

Easter 2009

2009-04-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Last year on Easter Makenna was only 10 days old. So this Easter was much different. We went to church with DJ's parents and his brother Phillip and Phillip's girlfriend Whitney. They go to New Life Church and we thought it would be nice to go to church with family on Easter. Once we got over the shock of how huge it was, we really liked it. If you're not my mom, stop reading right here. Hey mom I think this would be a great church for you. I think you would really like it. OK everyone can start reading again. During church we kept hearing this rumbling and we weren't sure if it was thunder. Then all of a sudden it started raining so hard. It was SO loud. For a few minutes it was hard to hear the preacher. The weather for the rest of the day was no better. It was very rainy and cold. Yuck! After church we went to DJ's parents house and ate lunch. Yum! Thanks mom, and Whitney your squash rocks! Then we opened our presents. The boys got money and a really cool glass basketball on a stand. Makenna got silver sandals to wear in the wedding, 3 sippy cups with straws (the only kind she will use) and a barn with animals. It goes with a fisher price set she already has that she loves. She also got money. We all hung out for a while and of course took pictures. Then DJ and I went to Walmart to buy groceries for his new diet. He's as bad as I am about trying new diets all the time. Overall it was a great day. Here are some pictures. As usual there are a ton of them because my daughter is so cute I can never pick which ones to post so I just post a bunch!:)

DJ and his brothers opening up their presents.

Makenna opening up her present. She was really into getting her presents out of the bag.

Her silver sandals to wear in the wedding.

She was showing up her basketball Easter egg.

Her barn.

She loved her new sippy cup and tried to drink out of it even though there wasn't anything in it.

Makenna opening her Easter egg and finding her money.

This is kind of a weird face!

Isn't she so cute!

I have to say this may be the cutest family I have ever seen!

Greg and Jessica.

Whitney and Phillip

Grandma and Grandpa. Can you tell Makenna was not very thrilled to be taking pictures.

The whole Walker family.

I she looks adorable in this dress (thanks Mimi)

The don't get any cute than this!

Makenna is giving her bunny (her Easter present from Aunt Whitney and Uncle Phillip) a big kiss.

I don't know what she is doing here but she looks precious.

Pushing her firetruck around in her pretty dress.

This is a scary face! I think she gets this from her dad!

My Wonderful Husband

2009-04-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

I felt the need to write a post about how awesome my husband is. As you know we went to Branson recently. That was totally his idea. He called me at work about a month ago and said he wanted to take me on a trip. He gave me three choices and I chose Branson. He let me buy whatever I wanted, for myself and for Makenna. He even let me buy a Coach purse. For those of you who don't know my husband that is a really big deal. He is REALLY tight with his money. Which is not a bad thing at all. I love that he is that way. He is a WONDERFUL dad!!! I can't say this enough. He does things most dads would never even think of doing. When I have to work at Baptist I have to leave at 6:00am so DJ and Makenna are still asleep. So when he gets up, he gets her dressed, gets her stuff together and takes her to his mom's or Aunt Bev's. He dresses her really cute with matching shoes and socks and a bow in her hair. That is a major thing for dad. He gives her a bath everynight and after her bath they snuggle for a few minutes. He plays with her a lot. When leaves for work and when he comes home he always gives her a hug and a kiss. Recenlty he started to read to her at night after her bath. He uses different voices for the different characters and Makenna loves it. I was listening to them the other night and they sounded so cute. All I could think of was what a great dad he is and how I'm so blessed that the Lord sent me someone that takes such great care of my daughter. I couldn't ask for a better dad for my daughter. Anytime I tell people the things he does for her and with her they are always impressed. He goes above and beyond what most dad's do. The best part is he doesn't think its a big deal. He thinks that's how all dads should be. Thank you Lord for giving such a wonderful husband and father for my daughter. I love you honey!

Picky Eater

2009-04-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Makenna didn't used to be a picky eater but as she has gotten older she has gotten very picky. There are a very few things she will eat. It doesn't help that I'm the least creative person on the planet so I have a hard time thinking of things to make her. I don't really cook so DJ and I never sit down to dinner. I usually eat a salad and he eats a sandwich. She can't eat either of those so I have to come up with things for her to eat. She likes tuna casserole which has tuna, mac & cheese and cream of mushroom soup (thanks Nana!). She will eat that like crazy. She also likes lunch meat, cheese, strawberries, lime sherbert, and some pasta. That's about it. She doesn't like green beans, peas, bread, hamburger meat, eggs, bananas, oatmeal, and lot of other things. We are starting to expand her menu thanks to suggestions from my friend Alison (thanks Alison!) so hopefully she will have a more balanced diet soon. She is not a big fan of vegetables in general. The funny thing is that she will eat something for a while and then decide she doesn't like it. For a few weeks she ate a scrambled egg and a banana for breakfast. She loved it. Then one day she refused to it. She hasn't eaten it since. But the things she does like she eats a ton of. She is a pig. She can eat a lot of food. She comes by that naturally! She can eat a whole plate full of tuna casserole. Now that I'm thinking about it there are several other foods that she has started to eat recenlty. Maybe she is losing some of her pickiness. She certainly doesn't come by that naturally. Her dad will eat anything and everthing!

Walking

2009-04-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend DJ and I went to Branson. When we picked Makenna up at his parents house she was playing in the living room. All of a sudden she wanted something on the other side of the room so she just walked over there. They have a big living room so it was a long way for her to walk. She has been walking for a while but just 7-8 steps and then she sits down and monkey crawls. And before she would prefer to sit down and monkey crawl than to walk. But when we got back on Sunday night she decided she liked walking better. Now she walks everywhere. She can walk really far. She walks from our kitchen to our living room and back. She is walking so well now too. Before she was unsteady. Now she is really steady. Its like she just woke up one day and decided she wanted to walk. She walks constantly. If you turn your back she is gone. She is so cute. I haven't posted pictures in a while. I need to take some. We have been really busy lately. I'll post some soon.

One Year Check Up

2009-04-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

Makenna had her one year check up on Monday. She weighed almost 16lbs and was 27 5/8in long. She isn't on the growth chart for weight and she is between 5-10% on length. Basically she is really petite. I wonder where she gets that from?! For those of you who don't know her dad used to be really little! She comes by it naturally. Dr. Choate said he would like her to weigh about 2 pounds more. He encouraged us to put extra butter and oil in her food. We are fine with her weight. She is just little and we have no problem with that. I really don't think she needs extra oil and butter and even if she ate lots of it I don't think she would gain more weight. Does this sound familiar Mom Walker? DJ's mom went through this with all of her boys. Hence the reason I call them the stick family. He said she is ahead of schedule developmentally which made her dad happy. I was a little concerned because she doesn't talk all that much. He said she was right on schedule. He said she is just probably going to be the thinking, analyzing type. She also gets that from her dad. Is anyone seeing a pattern here? She has had a wet cough and runny nose but her lungs were clear so I'm pretty sure its just allergies. Guess who she gets her allergies from. If I have to say "she gets that from her dad" one more time I think I will puke!! I'm just kidding! I don't mind her being like her dad. He is awesome so I'm very happy she is like him. She had to get 4 shots. I hate it when she gets shots. Her dad always comes with me. This time was particularly awful. She cried a lot more than usual and looked very pitiful. I'm going to do some research before we have another baby. I think we might do a delayed shot schedule for our next baby. It just seems like so many at once. Part of me thinks that is too much for their little body to handle at one time. But after a few minutes of crying she was better. We came home and she took a long nap. Her next check up will be at 15 months.

Branson

2009-04-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

DJ and I went to Branson last weekend. We left about 5:00 on Friday night and got back about 7:30 on Sunday night. We didn't take Makenna, we left her with his parents. It was the first time we have ever left her overnight and for more than one day. She did really well and surprisingly so did I. We had a great time. We haven't been on vacation since the week before I found out I was pregnant with Makenna so it has been a long time. We really needed some time away. We stayed in a really nice hotel in Branson Landing. That is an area with restaurants and stores. It was really nice. Saturday we got up early and went to one of the outlet malls. We shopped all day. We had a great time. Of course we bought Makenna a ton of stuff. Before we left we measured the waist and length of her clothes because she is so hard to fit. She has a ting waist and long legs. So we only found two pairs of pants that fit her but that is pretty good for her. We're usually lucky if we find one pair. We bought her several dresses, some onesies, some summer shirts, and two pairs of sandals. DJ got four polos at the Ralph Lauren Outlet. That is one of the few things he will pay a lot of money for. He has tried lots of different shirts but those are the only ones that fit him right and they look great on him. And they were having a major sale. Saturday night we went to a show called The Haygoods. It is 7 brothers and 1 sister. They can all play multiple instruments, sing and tap dance. It was awesome. We loved it. Sunday we slept in and then went to the other outlet mall. It was a nasty day outside. It was freezing and really windy. This outlet mall wasn't near as good as the first one but we bought a few things. It took us longer to get home than we thought because there was a bad accident. We would have loved to stay on vacation longer but we were both missing Makenna a lot and ready to get home to see her. It was a wonderful trip and I'm so glad we went. I'll be ready for another vacation soon.

One Year Pictures

2009-04-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

Makenna had her one year pictures taken a few weeks ago. My friend Christen has taken all of Makenna's professional pictures and she took pictures of me when I was pregnant. She is an amazing photographer who does awesome work. It was very difficult to get pictures of Makenna this time because she wouldn't be still. But as usual Christen did a great job. They are beautiful! Here is the web site www.seemyprints.com. Type in Cristi Walker and the password is walker, my email address is cristi.walker@gmail.com You should look at them, they are precious. I can't believe how big she has gotten. She is starting to lose that baby look. She is turning into such a big girl!

Poopy In The Tub Again, And Again!!

2009-04-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

So apparently Makenna has decided that bath time is also poopy time. Thankfully she does it at the end of the bath when we are getting ready to get out. But it is a pain the butt for me because I have to wash all of her toys and the tub. But once she starts pushing there is nothing you can do about it. Tonight I tried to get her out before she pooped but she got really mad at me and yelled at me and then pooped. I have to admit it was kind of funny.

Weaning

2009-03-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

Sadly, I think my milk is drying up. Makenna still wants to nurse and I still want to nurse her but I don't know if I'm going to have that choice. Last night I nursed her at bedtime and then DJ put her down. A few minutes later she started crying. After about 10 minutes he went and got her and I put her in bed with me. She still cried so I nursed her again. I still couldn't get her to go to sleep. I knew she didn't feel good so I had DJ get some Motrin. She sucked that down like she was hungry. So I gave her a bottle of milk (she is drinking whole milk now when she doesn't get breast milk). She drank about 4oz. Then she went to sleep. She woke up about 2 hours later. I tried to nurse her but she would only nurse for a few seconds and then pop off and cry. So DJ gave her a bottle and she drank 4oz. I had to give her a bottle twice today after I nursed her. I really wanted her to go straight from nursing to the sippy cup but she doesn't like the sippy cups very much and I can't get her to take very much milk from them. She drinks a little bit but not as much as she needs. I'm going to continue to nurse her and if she continues to need milk afterward that then I will probably start weaning her. Although it probably won't take much because I'm not making much milk. She did nurse very well this morning and didn't want a bottle afterward so if we can we will probably hang onto that one for a while. I'm very sad about this. Especially because we both aren't ready. It's not a choice we made, my body just won't cooperate. I know most people will say that she is one years old and needs to be weaned anyway but I disagree with that. I had plans to continue to nurse for a while and now I don't think that will happen. I'm very sad about this but there isn't much I can do about it. We will continue to try to nurse for a while and see how it goes. I also hope to get rid of the bottle for good very soon. If anyone has any suggestions on how to get her take the sippy cup I'm all ears. We have tried several different kinds, even the straw kind but it doens't seem to make a difference. I'm going to work hard over the next month to get rid of the bottle. In the meantime I will try to deal with my sadness and hopefully get to nurse for a little while longer.

Ear Infection

2009-03-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

Makenna has had a fever on and off since Friday. She has been putting her finger in her right ear and messing with that ear since then also. She is such a good baby that she doesn't let you know when she feels bad. She is still playing but you can tell by looking at her eyes that she doesn't feel good. She has also lost her appetite. She normally eats very well but the last few days she hasn't eaten much at all. So today I took her to the doctor and they said she had an ear infection. She said it wasn't a terrible one and if she didn't have symptoms she wouldn't treat her. But she said her ear drum was red and a little dull and since she had symptoms she was going to go ahead and treat her. So she gave us a prescription for an antibiotic. She said it could take 48 hours to work. She didn't sleep very much last night so hopefully tonight will be better. She is very tired today and looks miserable so I hope the medicine works quickly.

Poopy In The Tub

2009-03-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

DJ was giving Makenna a bath the other night when he called for me to go in there. There was a rag on the side of the tub and he said there was poop in it. It was just a little bitty piece, no problem. So I flushed it and put the rag in the laundry. About 5 minutes later he called for he again. When I went in there Makenna was standing up in the tub and DJ looked at me and said, "We have a floater and I don't know what to do." I didn't quiet know what he meant at first. Then I looked in the tub and there were two very large pieces of poop. It was very funny! I was very surprised to see this because she has never pooped in the tub before. I guess we are lucky to have gotten through a whole year with no poop in the tub. So, needless to say I cleaned it up and then I had to wash all of her toys and clean the bath tub. It was a very eventful night!

Makenna's Birthday Party

2009-03-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

We had Makenna's birthday party on Saturday March 14. My whole family except Natalie and her husband and DJ's whole family were here plus Chris, Shannon, and their son Nash. We had a house full. My mom made lots of wonderful food and we stuffed our faces, including Makenna. Then she opened her presents. Wow, there were a lot of presents. She had a great time. She got lots of toys and clothes. We were so excited to see her eat a piece of cake. She was so funny. She tried to be very careful. She just took a little bit of icing off and ate it. As she kept going she got more daring and at the end she was eating a handful of icing. But she never would eat the cake. So DJ took a piece off and fed it to her and she did not like it at all. So, after that she didn't want any more cake. It was too funny. She wasn't very interested in opening her gifts. She didn't really know what to do. I think there was so much she was just overwhelmed. So I opened up her gifts and then she started playing with them. Her favorite thing was the cards. She just wanted to play with the cards. I had to hide them from her so she would play with her other toys. It was a very fun day but we were all very tired. It was wonderful to have everyone here to celebrate her first birthday. Thank you to everyone. Makenna loves all her presents and we appreciate everything you gave her. We love you all. Here are the pictures of her party.

Nash, Chris and Shannon's son. This is Makenna little friend.

Eating the good food her Nana made.

Birthday girl with Mommy.

Her Mimi got her a princess luggage set with her name on it. It is so cute!!

Sitting with her Uncle Greg and Aunt Jessica.

Nana got her a mailbox with her name on it.

This is a very cool toy her Aunt Jessica, Uncle Greg, Uncle Phillip and Aunt Whitney gave her.

Eating birthday cake for the first time.

This is an adorable princess patio set her Mamaw Callahan got her.

She loves to play with all her cards.

Grandma, Grandpa and birthday girl.

Nash Horton, he is so cute!

Mamaw and Papaw Heavener.

Makenna and Nash.

She made a mess!

Look at all her presents!!

A barn with little people that her Grandma and Grandpa got her. She loves it.

All her clothes and other misc things she got! There was too much to take pictures of!

Thank you everyone for everything!! We can't thank you all enough. We love you all!!

Happy Birthday Makenna

2009-03-15T19:27:00.000-07:00

Makenna's first birthday was Friday March 13. We had her party on Saturday. I will post pictures of her party very soon. I can't believe a year has gone by so fast. It's amazing how fast a year can go by and how much your life can change in one year. We worked so hard to get pregnant with Makenna and at times we thought it would never happen. And look at us now. So much has changed over the last year. She has grown so much and is starting to lose that baby look. She has brought us so much joy over the past year and we look forward to another year with our precious daughter. Being Makenna's mom has been the best experience of my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Thank you Jesus for sending us this precious blessing. It is our honor and privilege to get to be her parents. May we raise her the way the Lord intended. Here is a look back at how it all started.

WE LOVE YOU MAKENNA!!!

Houston, We Have A Tooth!

2009-03-10T18:27:00.000-07:00

Makenna has had a spot on her bottom gums for the past few weeks that felt like she was going to get a tooth. DJ's mom kept her on Monday and when she brought her home she told me Makenna's tooth had broken through. I felt it and there it was!!! A tooth!!! Wow!! I can't believe she's old enough to have a tooth. I know most babies have several teeth by the time they are here age, but I still can't believe it. I have been anticipating/dreading this day for several months. I know from my friend Alison that breastfeeding a baby with teeth can be very painful. So I'm not exactly excited about this but at the same time I knew this day would come. I keep feeling her gums to make sure it is real. So, another mileston in her life has passed. Sad and happy at the same time. That seems to be my feelings about everything in her life. Sad and happy at the same time. On a more crappy note, I have sick since Saturday. Not just sick, I mean seriously sick!! Like someone please put me out of my misery kind of sick. I have had to call in to work the last two days. Anyone who knows me knows I must be really sick because I don't call in to work very often. I am feeling better today except for one thing, my congestion. That is gettting worse by the minute. I'm not just talking about congestion. I'm talking about the snot runny out of my nose because I can't even sniff it up (sorry for the gross description). Even nose spray doesn't work. So enough about my crappy stuffy nose. A tooth, I just can't believe it.

Singing Dog

2009-03-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

I know I have already posted a video of Makenna with her singing dog that my mom got her for Valentine's Day. But I thought this video was cute. This day she thought the dog was funny and played with it.

Sleepy Baby

2009-02-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

DJ was watching Makenna the other day and after he fed her he put her in the living room and gave her some carrots to eat. He had tried to get her to take a nap earlier that day but she wouldn't (big surprise!). So she was very sleepy. She was eating her carrots and watching tv. Then she fell asleep in her highchair. In the video she fell asleep and then she startled herself and woke up. This is too cute!

She's The Cutest

2009-02-26T14:11:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I just can't believe how cute Makenna is. I can't believe she is my daughter. Thank goodness she looks like her dad! Here are some pictures DJ's mom took of her. Last night she started taking 7-8 steps at a time. She was walking just like it was no big deal. And all this without us making her. She has been taking steps but not on her own. DJ and I would have to sit in the floor across from each other and she would walk to us. But last night she just took off on her own. Very soon she will be walking everywhere.

DJ's mom put her in front of a mirror they have in the hall. She gave herself kisses.

She is so cute!!

DJ's mom dressed her up in this cute dress and took pictures of her.

I could just eat her up!!

The cutest baby I've ever seen!!!

Stinky Makenna

2009-02-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

Makenna thinks the weirdest things are funny. One day I smelled her butt and told her that she was stinky. She just laughed. She thought it was hilarious. So, we started smelling her and telling her she was stinky to get her to laugh. Every time we do it she laughs so hard. Here is a video of her.

Valentine's Presents

2009-02-16T11:55:00.000-08:00

Makenna is a very blessed girl. She has so many people who love her. For Valentine's Day her nana got her an outfit and a really cute dog that sings. Her grandma and grandpa got her a toy that she can push around and converts to a toy she can ride when she is older. She loves both of them. She dances to the dog when you turn him on. She pushes her toy around the living room until she runs into the wall. Then you have to turn her around and she goes the other direction. She will do this until you make her stop. Thanks grandma, grandpa and Nana. We love you.

Random Pictures

2009-02-13T20:33:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy with my new job lately that I haven't been very good about posting new pictures of Makenna. So here are some pictures of her adventures lately.

This is Makenna and her friend Nash. Nash is the son of Chris, DJ's best friend.

This is Makenna eating her new favorite toys. They are pieces to a bbq grill that her Mimi bought her. They are plastic ketchup and mustard bottles and a spatula and grilling fork. She loves them. She just carries them around all day.

Makenna hates it when I vacuum, it scares her. Her dad loves it because she snuggles with him.

Raider hates it when I vacuum too.

This is her dad's idea of doing her hair!

As most of you have seen Makenna now has a play room. The gate to the play room is not yet bolted to the wall. Makenna has discovered this and figured out how to escape. I caught her one day on her way out of the play room.

Makenna's room is very strange. It is freezing in the winter and burning up in the summer. So, we bought some very thick thermal lined curtains to put up in her room to try and help regulate the temperature. My wonderful handyman husband put them up. I think they look great. And they seem to be helping with the temperature.

Look At This!!

2009-02-08T18:33:00.000-08:00

We went to pick Makenna up from DJ's parent's house tonight. They have a firetruck that was DJ's when he was little. She loves to play with it. DJ's mom got it out and showed me how she plays with it. She walks behind it and pushes it!!!! All by herself!! Can you believe it!! I was so amazed I just stared at her. I couldn't believe she was walking by herself and pushing that fire truck! Here is a video of it.

Tired Today

2009-02-04T20:13:00.000-08:00

For some reason I'm very tired today. Makenna slept all night last night, again, which was awesome. Then she slept in late, which is usual for her. But despite all of that I have been exhausted all day for some reason. I was going to take a nap when she did but she didn't take a very good nap today. I put her down at 1:15 and she woke up at 1:40. I heard her fussing but she wasn't crying so I usually let her fuss cause sometimes she will go back to sleep. I listened to her making noise for about 15 minutes and then she started to cry so I went in there to get her. She was standing up in her crib. She had thrown her pacy out of her crib and taken her socks off and she was holding one sock in her hand. She is so crazy. I reswaddled her and put her back down. After some fussing she fell asleep but only for about 1 hour. So needless to say she was not very pleasant the rest of the day because she was sleepy and wouldn't take a nap. So, I'm going to bed soon. Hopefully I won't feel so tired tomorrow.
On a different note, I'm so sick of this cold weather. I can't wait for it to get warm. It has been sunny the last few days but so cold we can't go outside and enjoy it. Even if I'm inside I just hate knowing that its cold outside. I'm so ready for Spring and warmer weather. On another note I have some video of Makenna that I will post soon. I just need DJ to edit for me so it isn't so long. Hopefully it will be soon. She has this new thing where she thinks its funny when we tell her she is stinky. I got her laughing about it on video. I also have one of her playing in the tub. Well, I guess I should go to bed since I talked about how tired I am.

A Tooth?

2009-02-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

I think Makenna might be getting a tooth. She has been congested for the past few days and she has been drooling a lot. She is constantly chewing on her fingers or her toys, even more so than usual. DJ and I both thought that we felt a bump on her bottom gums. Her bottom gums are definitely not at thick as they used to be. Now whether she is really getting a tooth or not I don't know. I guess we'll find out. Knowing Makenna it could be another 3 months before she the tooth. But I'm definitely not complaining because I'm still nursing her so the sooner she gets a tooth, the sooner I start getting bit! Another amazing thing has happened the last 4 nights. She has slept through the night! For 4 nights in a row!! All night long!!! That is amazing for Makenna!! One night she slept from 10:30pm to 9:00am without waking up once!! WOW!! Can you tell I'm excited!