Cherry Pickin

We had some great cherries on our cherry trees a couple of weeks ago. Mackenzie loved picking, eating, and then spitting out the pits.

Little Hiker!

Mackenzie had the pleasure of going on her first hike with her daddy, Uncle Jason, and his girlfriend, Inga. (We hope to one day call her Auntie Inga!) I was not able to go with as I had already committed myself to being present at a dear friends baby shower. So, off they went to Wallace Falls. Matt borrowed our friend's backpack child carrier and Mackenzie could not get enough of that thing. She loved being in it. Matt said Mackenzie did really well on the hike. Here are some pictures!

Kenz, Uncle Jason, & Inga

Kenz & Daddy

Now, back to Inga. She is the sweetest chick! She brought Mackenzie a super cute stuffed monkey on Easter. Anyway, Mackenzie was being really shy toward Inga even before Easter. We all know Mackenzie is shy toward everyone though! After Jason and Inga left, I asked Mackenzie what the monkey's name was going to be. She proceeded to say "Inga Monkey." She has called the monkey by this name ever since. Now is that the cutest side story ever??? Here is our monkey with Inga monkey. I should add, Inga didn't know we had a monkey theme in Mackenzie's room. How cool is that! So Inga if you read this, know that we love you!!!

A once in a lifetime opportunity

I got a phone call from my friend Sarah yesterday. She asked if I had gotten her email, which I hadn't, yet. The email said she had good news and I had to call her asap. She assured me she wasn't pregnant and she assured me that her house hadn't sold. What on earth could she be talking about? She asked me if I was busy today at noon, I wasn't. The next question was if I had childcare, I didn't but I was thinking I could. Matt's parents are out on their boat for 6 weeks. What I was told was, Selah is going to be at Spirit 1053 and ANGIE SMITH is going to be there too. I WAS INVITED TO GO TOO!

I have to thank my dear friend Katrina for offering to watch Mackenzie so I could go today. You are an amazing friend. I would be lost without you!!

Now here is a little history. Sarah introduced me to blogging. Shortly after I started blogging, I came across Angie's blog, Bring The Rain (thank you Sarah!). I was hooked on her blog. I cried every time I read her blog. Seriously. Matt would come into the room, see that I was crying, and he would ask "are you reading that sad story again?" Yep, that hooked. Angie is an amazing writer. I have shared her and Todd's story before about their precious baby girl Audrey Caroline.

People, I GOT TO MEET ANGIE TODAY! She is just as sweet in person as she is in the blogging world.


On a deeper note, Selah is amazing as well! Hearing them sing today really put life in perspective for me. I've been longing to find a church for a very LONG time. I keep saying "Ok God, next Sunday I will go to church." I still have yet to go. Today, that is changing. It's a bit tough since Matt doesn't want to go. When I was a kid, I always saw myself having a family that went to church together. Well that is not the way it ended up. I don't know what God has in store in that department. But, it is up to me to start the trend. I have felt this longing, this tugging for way too long now. It's time to answer the call. Thank you to Sarah, Selah, and Angie for making the ringtone louder.

Strawberries and Ponies!

We took Mackenzie to Biringer Farms today for a little strawberry celebration. There was facepainting, pony rides, strawberry shortcakes to eat, and goat feeding! It was a small thing but it was fun and Mackenzie really wanted to ride a pony. It was $3 for a ride. We weren't going to do it but the lady there said that if Mackenzie ended up not wanting to ride then we could have our $3 back. So we tried it, and Mackenzie LOVED it. She rode that pony like a pro! Here is a short video of the pony ride. Mackenzie was not the one fussing.

Silent Saturday

How long has it been?

Man, I haven't updated this thing in months!!! Oh where to begin?

Did you know we moved? We love our new house. Although, it's a pain in the butt to clean. I don't like the carpet, it shows too much dirt. Matt is finishing up putting a sprinkler system in and the neighbors are jealous! Here is our new house. In case you were wondering if we kept streamer up all the time, the pictures were taken the day of Mackenzie's birthday party.

Front entry that leads into the either the living room (go right as you walk in) or kitchen area.

The kitchen with a door to the covered porch. Separate dining area can be seen here too.

Separate dining room that has two entry ways. One from the kitchen and one from the living room.

Living room that looks very bare. I think it needs some color. The stairwell overlooks the living room.

A view of the stairwell and upstairs. The doors to the master bedroom are on the right looking up.

In other news:

Mackenzie is a 2 year old now, oh wait I did blog about that already. She's getting so big and I still can't believe how fast time goes. She talks so much, pretty much full sentences. Today she told me these exact words "mom I'm going downstairs, k." That's right, she calls me "mom" now. Not sure where that came from.

I don't remember if I told you that she is in a big girl bed now. If there is one piece of advice that I could give any parent with a new baby it would be the following: DON'T TRANSITION THEM INTO A BIG GIRL/BOY BED UNTIL THEY CAN PUT THEMSELVES TO SLEEP. That is the mistake we made. Because I felt guilty spending so much time away from her while in nursing school (next subject up) I felt the need and wanted to rock her to sleep. That was my time with her. I meant the world to me and I know it did to her. Well now, she can't just lay down and fall asleep. ARGGGG. We are having major sleep issues with this now. She doesn't want me to rock her anymore and she wants to lay in her bed. But she WON'T lay there and go to sleep. She thinks it's time to play. I am at a loss here and I have no idea what to do. Now I'm using the threat of "if you don't want to be rocked in the chair then you have to lay still and close your eyes" and I have to stay in the room. I am kicking myself in the rear. OOPS.

Mackenzie also is riding her tricycle around and can almost start it out by herself. She can keep it going if I give her a push on it. She is doing somersalts all by herself, she does them so well.

On to nursing school. ONE MORE QUARTER AND I WILL BE AN RN! That's right! I made it through 5th quarter folks. It was a tough one but I did it. My instructors this quarter were fabulous and very supportive. I put in my very first IV while doing a rotation in the ER. I have the summer off and will go back in the fall for the last of it. I can't wait.

That is about it for now. I wanted to put more pictures in this post but blogger cut me off and only let me put the ones above. I will post again with more pictures so you can see the backyard and some other nonsense. Until then...

Kenzie's Birthday Party

Kenzie's birthday party was so much fun! The rain held out for most of the afternoon but it did start pouring as people were leaving. Kenzie had a blast and even did a great job blowing out her first candle. I thought she would try to grab it but she somehow knew exactly what to do. Hmm. The food was great, the cake was adoreable, and Kenzie was in a great mood. She was a bit quiet but no tantrums at all. I will post more pictures soon but here is a little video!