Babies, Bunnies, and Words, Oh my!

Who says Daddies are too old to wear PINK bunny ears? Who says Mommies won't post for the whole world to see? Daddy even obliged and posed for the picture after Kenzie strategically placed the ears on his head. Fun times of fathering a girl I suppose. Do you see this photo? Three. I said three car seats in MY four door sedan. And three sleeping babies to boot. They were all pretty exhausted after a day at the Florida Aquarium.

Is it cold where you're at? Shame. Really it is. Our weather is beautiful. Though the months to come will soon turn to miserable. The girls LOVED playing in the fountains at the aquarium. More so than last time when they were barely crawling.

And to end. Kenzie says Baby, Happy, That. I cannot believe she humored me and did it for the camera. She however, refused to show her belly even though this is the ONE body part she gets right 110% of the time! Kids.

A whole lot of somethings

Ahhh- It's been a busy week.

Where do we start? Hmmm? OK, here it goes. My OB called with our genetic results and our little bub had 46 normal XX chromosomes. She would have been baby girl number 3. Duane's hope for a blue bundle is fading with all this estrogen floating around here.

It's really good news. However, there wasn't enough tissue left to test for CHARGE Syndrome. Zoey had this. It's rare(1 in 10,000 births) and recurrence is even rarer(1% on average). So I feel confident about trying this again.

We're waiting to get more healthy(lose about 20 pounds for me, cut caffeine, heal from the D&C procedure) and then we're going to be on our knees praying to God that he blesses us with another healthy pregnancy and baby. I don't think our hearts can endure anymore heartache.


Kenzie spiked a fever early Thursday morning(of about 103 degrees at first) and it got higher by Friday(104.9 at one point, rectally). We took her to her doctor on Friday and she sent us home with little suggestions since her ears looked perfect and she had no real symptoms. She did give us her personal cell phone number, though.

Her fever broke yesterday. Finally. And soon after she broke out in a rash all over her trunk and a bit on her face. I called the doctor and was told that she is relieved to tell me that McKenzie had Roseola. She's no longer contagious and her rash should fade over the next few days. Fun.

Kenzie has been pretty cute through her illness. Each time we ask her "Where's so and so's belly?"- she MUST rip so and so's shirt up enough to expose the belly button to point to it. Simply adorable and a tad inapppropriate.

She's also doing quite well with a spoon, fork, spork. We'll end with a video-

Girls just wanna TALK!

McKenzie is becoming quite the little chatterbox! She's very expressive and like most girls LOVES to speak with her hands.



We're in for it it when the 'Japanese' turns to English! What is really a riot is when in between the blabbering you hear some real words. That kids wheels are a turning'- that's for sure!

Little Pentecostal

Kenzie learned a new word in the church daycare- 'Jesus' pronounced 'geesus'So I've heard about a trillion times, "Hi, Jesus" or "Oh, Jesus!"

She even has been calling on her Father to help her climb things with "Up Jesus!"

I had my follow-up appt with my OB( and she is sitting in her stroller with a cookie(so she wouldn't have a total meltdown) and the doctor tells her how cute she is and she replies- "Oh, Jesus!"

My doctor cracked up- as did I.

McKenzie: You're 15 months old!

A lot has changed since you turned one-year old. For starters you had your fifteen-month appointment on Friday. We had actually brought you in a few days early since you have yet another cold and your doctor spotted the starts of an eye infection. You were kind enough to share your infection with both Mommy and Daddy and we're all on antibiotics for it. You weigh 24 pounds, 8 ounces and you stand a whole 32.5 inches tall.
Your doctor was impressed with your development and mentioned how "bright" you were- especially considering you don't go to daycare. Who knew some one else's compliments could have Mommy gleaming with pride.

You've learned a ton of new things in the past three-months. You know most of your body parts and your favorite to point to is your toes. You bed ALL the way over and dramatically point to your "piggy's". You're learning to repeat random words that you hear and your all time favorite word is up.

You've decided that being restrained is for babies. You absolutely hate, hate, hate, being tied down. It's not out of the ordinary to see Daddy pushing the stroller and Mommy trailing behind with you tightly holding my hand.

You're all about independence. You MUST feed yourself and although you understand how to use the spoon, you're less than clean doing so. You've started getting a shower after breakfast and dinner for this reason.

You LOVE climbing. Nothing is off limits. Your favorite thing to climb is our dining room table. Just a friendly reminder that you make Mommy's heart skip a beat when you do this. So. Stop!

You love your dog and love hanging on her. Bayleigh is complaisant- but is less than amused with your billion kisses.

As mentioned before- you love, love, love books. You can be in a totally different room and when I ask if you want to read a book- you'll run in your bedroom and pick out a book for Mommy to read to you. You really understand a lot now. It's really surreal how fast you've developed in 15 short months.

Recently, you survived your first full day without Mommy and Daddy. It wasn't by choice- and Mommy's hospital stay was extended by a few crazy hours. But you survived. Maureen and Pop Pop watched you. Pop Pop put your diaper on backwards(and Daddy had to remind him to FEED you), but I was impressed that he changed your poopy diaper. You didn't seem phased by our absence.

You've also left our nest- well, sort of. You're sleeping in your own room. It only took Mommy 14.5 months to cut the cord. But- we did it. I still check on you a dozen times through out the night.

I still cannot believe that we've been your parents for over a year. We've watched you develop from a newborn to an infant- and now we're watching you bloom into a toddler. I often dream about what kind of little girl you'll become. We can wait.

You're incredibly sweet, stubborn, and you have a temper that Daddy thinks resembles mine. You know what you want and how to get it. You are my whole world and I thank the Heavens every day that you're here and I get to experience being your mother. Life is good.

Little Intellect

Kenzie LOVES to read books. She's quite gentle with them, too. She doesn't rip the pages anymore. No books are off limits: Bibles, Duane's work books, menus- they're all of interest to my little braniac.

She loves to point at the characters and babble along as she "reads" each one thoroughly. Randomly, she grab one from her room and come into the living room or where ever I may be. She'll toss the book into my lap and proceed to climb up. You think she's trying to request something from me?

Seriously? Other than the obnoxious corn popper they are are favorite things in the whole world. Hoping she loves them as much in about 17 years when she's applying for Harvard.

A long week

We had a routine ultrasound appointment this past Tuesday. I was pretty excited to see the baby again. Sadly, the ultrasound reveled that the baby no longer had a heartbeat. The doctors believe the baby stopped growing around 12 weeks(2 days prior to my scan). We were told that there is no reason for this and 35% of first trimester pregnancies end in miscarriage.



I would have been in my 2nd trimester in less than a week. We're beyond disappointed, sad, shocked, even angry. We weren't planning on making McKenzie a sister until quite awhile- but we happily accepted our news and begin to become excited for the arrival of our third blessing.



Monday I'll have a D&C procedure to remove the baby from my womb. I am a bit nervous about going under general anesthesia. Although, I've been under it a few other times without complications. I guess I worry a bit more now with Kenzie and something happening to me and her being left motherless. I know, paranoid much?



It's really amazing how this sweet little girl can be so healing. She's such a reminder of the GOOD things God does in our lives everyday. We're beyond blessed to have her here- happy and healthy. The fact that she is simply adorable is just a bonus to it all. Seriously could her little face be ANY cuter? My heart just explodes with love thinking about how much she's already given us in her short 14 months on Earth. Thanks sweet girl, thanks.