The Desert May be Ugly...but...

there is one redeeming quality. When the poppies are in bloom, they are so beautiful! We went out to the poppy reserve last week with Nathan's siblings and took a few shots. It was super windy and my hair is like "supermodel" hair. We are hoping to go back on Friday and we are hoping it will be less windy! But for now, take in the beauty the desert puts out for a few weeks every year :)

How Silly of Me!

Why in the world would I update about Makaela and not include pictures?!?! I don't know what I was thinking. Here are a few...

This is the new toy from Grandma and Grandpa's. She loves this thing and will be occupied under it for a good 30 minutes. Wohoo!!

Making eyes and smiling so big at Grandma :)

Trying out the Bumbo

One day last week, I put Makaela in the Bumbo seat while I was getting ready. It was our first time using the seat, and I slid her right up in front of the mirror. She was lovin' on herself so much going through every facial expression she knows! It was very entertaining! I took a real cute video, but again, it wont upload so here are a few pictures. She loves the seat (for a short time then, like the flip of a switch, she hates it).

2 month check up

Well, today was dooms day-sorta. The inevitable 2 month check up with the shots :( At least she is still little enough that she doesn't resist too much and doesn't recognize the nurses to know she doesn't like them. It was so sad to see her get her shots. I'm not gunna lie, i had little tears welling up in my eyes but I was SO PROUD of Makaela. She did so great! She only voiced her discomfort and pain for a very brief time, and she wasn't even screaming. She cries and screams louder when she gets a bath--something is wrong with this picture :) And she recovered so quickly and was just bright eyed and back to her normal self immediately after they were done. And thankfully, she hasn't even been any more fussy today because of them. She's such a big girl and i'm so proud of her :) Her stats are:

weight: 9lb 6oz
length: 23 in.
head:15cm.

She is below the 50th percentile in all of those measurements, but the doctor was not concerned at all. He said her body is very proportionate for those measurements and her development thus far. He said she is "just a petite little thing" which is somewhat strange to me because clearly neither of her parents are "petite little things." I surely do not shop in the petite department, but so far she is (i.e. still wearing newborn clothes and swimming in 0-3 month clothes).
In regards to her strength, i'm sure she's in about the 750th percentile. When the doctor put her on her tummy to check out her back, she was pushing herself up with her arms to which he replied "oh my, look at that." When I told him she started rolling over 2 weeks ago he said "oh my, thats early! Not unheard of, but wow!" I've decided there must be something to be said for being over due:)

The past month has been nothing short of incredible! We are continuing to love being parents to this sweet little (and I mean little) blessing of ours! We have conversations with her all the time which go something like"
Makaela: "aaaahhhh"
Mom: "aaaaahhhh"
Makaela: "aaaaaahhhhh"
Mom: "aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh"
Periodically she'll go with another vowel sound :) She squeaks and squeals which is probably the most adorable thing I've ever seen. She just discovered a new toy up and grandma and grandpa's which they were so gracious to let us bring home with us! It's not a baby gym, but very similar and oh my does she ever love that thing! She will just lay under it and ooohhh and aaaahhh and squeak and squeal at those hanging plastic smiling stars :) She loves them to death and it is so cute!! I'm trying to get a good video of it to share because it will melt your heart :)

Thats about it for now. She's great. We love her. Over and out.

We Are Dreamgirls

The conversation went something like this...
Nathan: "do you have any breastmilk in the freezer?"
Leanna: "no."
Nathan: "do you think you could pump some today?"
Leanna: "yes, how come?"
Nathan: "I'm taking you out for your birthday tonight."

Snapped this shot right before one of the ushers came and told me that cameras were not permitted inside. Oops!

He's so sweet! He had planned a surprise date and arranged for his sister to watch Makaela. So this was our first date without the baby, and pretty much all we did the whole time was talk about how much we missed the baby! How life has changed :) We did reminisce about some of our dates and such in college...that tends to happen whenever we are in the LA area. Ok...back to the story.

So he was trying to be super mischievous on our way down...acting like he was going to exit at various places to try and throw me off (because I was sitting there thinking the whole way down about what we might be doing.) Since we had to dress up, I thought we might be going to a show of some sort, but could not figure out where. I knew if we were going to a musical in Palmdale, we wouldn't have had to leave at 6. I remembered Master's was doing their last performance of Forest Lawn that night (then I thought, he wouldn't take me to that for my birthday. that would be lame...how selfish of me! After I thought that, I then prepared myself to be very thankful incase that was what he had planned :)). But leaving at 6 would have been too late for that. I couldn't think of any shows in LA that were going on so I really was clueless. He finally did get off the freeway down in LA and I finally realized what show we were going to see when I saw the "Dreamgirls" signs. I loved that movie, so he took me to see the musical. So fun. Love the guy.

There Were 10 in Bed and the Little One Said... "Roll Over, Roll Over"

The event went something like this... I actually missed the first time she did it. I put her on her tummy and ran to the bathroom real quick and when I came back, Lo and Behold she was lying on her back. I knew there was only one way she could have gotten there so I very excitedly put her back on her tummy and watched her roll over again! Then I thought to myself..."How dumb! Get your camera... hello?!?!" So I again, excitedly put her on her tummy and managed to capture her rolling over!! She did it at least 5 times, and just did it 2 more times for daddy after we got home from church.

I am so amazed... I know its possible for them to roll over this early, but it doesn't seem too common. At least in the "what to expect the first year" book... rolling over is listed under the "may possibly be able to..." for month 3 and she is only 6 1/2 weeks old. I think I made a joke about her walking by the time she's 6 months in my last post... but i'm not sure how much i'm joking. She is such a strong little girl!

So happy I captured this moment to share with you all!!

The 6 Week Mark

Well, I do realize that it has once again been several weeks since I've blogged. I can't even say that its because I've had to take care of Makaela all the time... I just haven't thought to sit down and blog. But, I thought since Makaela is preciously sleeping, I would take some time to update on whats been going on.

I am loving life as a mommy and am SO thankful that the Lord has blessed us with Makaela. I don't think I could be any happier and I'm so thankful that I don't need to be working. I'm thankful that the Lord allowed us to start a family so quickly, and I really believe that being a full time mom is what the Lord has for me. What I do throughout the days is pretty much all the same so I will just tell you whats been going on with Makaela.

Where to start...bathtime. She has not been a huge fan of bathtime for the past few baths, and Nathan is usually not home when she is getting a bath. Hence... there are no pictures of how much she hasn't enjoyed bathtime, however, last time she loved her bath and Daddy was home (maybe thats the trick). We'll see how it goes tomorrow...

She also has not been a huge fan of tummy-time, but has recently taken a liking to that... again after she has been fed. We know the more time she spends on her tummy, the better... but she seems to be excelling so quickly! Today, she had her head lifted far beyond the 45* and was even using her arms to push herself up!! She will also stand up by herself--all we have to do is balance her and she does the rest of the work herself. She seems so petite, but she is so incredibly muscular! She is one strong little girl and has been since the day she was born. Must have been that extra week she got to cook :) I'm convinced she is going to be able to walk by the time she's like 6 months... ok maybe a little exaggeration :)

She started smiling at us about 2 weeks ago. It was hard to tell at first if her smiles were still just from gas or something. Nathan and I, on separate occasions, said "she smiled at me" followed by "at least I think she did." We quickly realized that they were intentional smiles and she is just a smiling machine now...as long as she's been fed and changed that is. Her little toothless smiles are so cute we just can't get enough!

She has also entered the "cooing" stage. Again, most often after she's been fed and she's happy, she will make all kinds of noises and they are just SO CUTE! We could just sit and watch her forever, and sometimes we do...needless to say there is an abundance of housework that needs to be done now. We just can't help ourselves though :)

Lastly, we have started to put Makaela into her crib and she doesn't seem to mind at all...in fact she might like it even more than the bassinet. She has given us 5-6 solid hours of sleep the last few nights before she decides she is ready to come sleep with mom and dad. She picks and chooses her nights when she sleeps well... that is... sometimes she will sleep for about an hour by herself, then if she comes to bed with us she will sleep for another 5-6 hours just fine. Sometimes she will sleep for 5-6 hours by herself and then she will come to bed with us and sleep for a while longer. We put her in her crib on Tuesday night for the first time and she has slept great each night since then. We are so thankful for this and are hoping the pattern will continue, but we'll see. We can only take each night as they come :)

Thats about it for now... she is just growing and changing everyday. I'll try to do a better job to keep things updated as she changes :)