Birthday Brunch

One of Kenzie's first birthday parties was a champagne brunch. Some of our close family and friends gathered to celebrate her milestone. We enjoyed lox and bagels, strawberries, salads, pastries and mimosas. The birthday girl enjoyed the brocolli cheddar quiche courtesy of Grandpa Marc!

Once it was time to serenade her, she sheepishly looked at everyone and was not sure what to think. She needed some help with her birthday candle and her little cousins were happy to oblidge. Kenzie's favorite dish was her slice of cake! She really enjoyed it, and was heard saying, "yum-yum yum" after every bite.
It was a very special day!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Little Kenzie, since the moment we held you, we were overwhelmed with joy and love. Now that you turn one, we remember that special day and can not believe how fast the time has gone. You are our sunshine and little blessing from above. We wish for you continued happiness, good health and love. Happy birthday, sweet baby girl!

Our Kenzie Is Growing So Much...

Kenzie began walking at 10 months, and since that time, it has really made us realize how quickly our little baby is becoming this little person..

We are thoroughly enjoying her various stages of development, and we feel quite blessed to be able to witness all of her "firsts". With Mommy only working Monday through Wednesday and Daddy's business allowing him to make his own schedule, we spend as much time as we can loving and enjoying her. Some of our Kenzie favorites include:

• Kenzie's morning greetings to her trains and dogs with giggles and saying: "too-too" for choo-choo, and "doug-doug" for doggies
• Wanting "out" of bed by saying in her little voice, "dahn, dahn" for down
• Giving us kisses with her mouth wide open or throwing kisses with her hands
• Her body-bouncing when she is excited or hears music playing
• Her quick walk/run to get away when she knows she's doing something she shouldn't
• Hurrying to find her shoes when she sees us getting ready to go out
• Signing "more" when she wants more food and saying "Moh, Moh"
• Giving her Daddy high "fives" or "cinco"
• When she rests her sweet head on our chests when she wants to be comforted or when she is just resting
• Sitting on Mommy's lap during reading time and stroking her leg with her little hand
• Daddy teasing Kenzie by saying "Mackenzie!?"and she responding with "Da- Da!?" and they continue to go back and forth over and over

You bring us so much joy little one!

First Mother's Day Memories

Kenzie, with the help of her school teacher, made her Mommy a little floral arrangement with her picture on it. It really touched her Mommy's heart.
We let Lorena sleep in a bit that morning while we planned a special day.. We spent the day treating her to a day of clothes shopping and then we had lunch at the Nordstrom Cafe. Kenzie was treated to a new pair of shoes at Nordstrom and was able to walk around the shops pretty well in them. It was great to hear Kenzie giggling as she tested her new-found walking skills in such an open public area. Hooray, Mackenzie!! Overall, as Lorena mentioned, it was just wonderful to enjoy the day together.

Happy Mother's Day to our Mom's who are far away, yet so close to our hearts. We love you.

She's a Traveling Girl...

Our little Mackenzie sure does love the camera, which makes it hard to take good pictures and videos. Once the camera comes out, she gets so excited! She likes to have her picture taken, and she loves to check the picture out on the digital camera screen. She has tons of energy, and Mommy and Daddy do their best to keep up. Good thing there are two of us! One of her favorite activities is to walk around the house with the assistance of a hand or a piece of furniture. She can do this non-stop!

So Mommy was out running errands one evening about a week and half ago, and Mackenzie and Daddy were playing catch with one of her balls. Mackenzie missed the ball, and it went under the ottoman. So she crawled over, got down on her tummy to check out the situation. After discovering the ball was out of reach, she pulled herself up to a standing position using the ottoman. She turns around, lets out a squeal, and proceeded to walk all the way across the living room to her surprised Daddy! She had taken 2-3 steps before, but this was a good 10 feet of walking for her! Needless to say Daddy was pretty excited and couldn't wait to tell Mommy. While we didn't catch this amazing feat on camera, it has taken more than a week to catch her taking more than a couple of steps. She just gets too excited when she sees that camera!

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Easter Weekend! Mackenzie's first Easter was spent with Mommy and Daddy and her friend Xander and his parents at brunch. The previous evening Kenzie attended her first dinner party. Close friends gathered to celebrate our dear friend, Marsha's birthday.
We are thankful and blessed to have wonderful family and friends in our lives.
(photos: courtesy of Great Grandma and Grandpa Holliday)

My Favorite TV Show

I don't watch a lot of TV, but I love to watch Dora the Explorer and The Wonder Pets. I usually only watch a few minutes at a time, but I like to have it on in the background while I'm playing or getting ready to go to school. Here I am watching the Wonder Pets on Saturday morning, I'm so excited!

Time sure does fly...

Mackenzie pictured here at a few days old, and now at nine months. We really try to remember to cherish each day with our little girl as we know this special time will but a sweet memory.

Can you find Mackenzie?

She's enjoying playtime with her new little friends..

Every Thursday afternoon, Kenzie goes to her gymnastics class where she moves to music, learns songs, works on her agility and balance skills and plays with other babies in her age group.

Her favorite equipment to balance on so far are the trampoline and the swing. She also enjoys rolling the balls.

Warmer weather means more outings..

Kenzie loves to be outdoors even if its only to run errands with Mommy

or to play with other babies in her tumbling class

or just for afternoon strolls in Old Towne Alexandria

Auntie Katrina's Birthday

Mackenzie enjoyed some quality playtime with her cousins as we babysat the boys so Katrina and Javier could enjoy a nice evening out for her birthday. When they returned, we all had some tasty strawberry shortcake and cocktails. The kids of course did without the drinks. Happy Birthday, Auntie!

Eating is getting easier

Mackenzie's two front upper teeth have come through and instead of gumming everything she can now take some good bites out of her meals. After she takes a bite she sometimes says, "yum, yum, yum"!

Nine Months

Mackenzie weighs 19lbs and is 28 inches

The latest in Kenzie's world: She is almost due to be transferred to a forward-facing car seat and we know she will definitely enjoy the view a bit better that way. Mackenzie stands as often as she is able to support herself and enjoys trying to test her strength. She is less interested in her toys these days and much more interested in exploring everything inside the house and outside. Her walker is her favorite way to get around other than crawling, and she enjoys chasing us down with it. Just listening to her little giggles as she charges towards us to mow us down make the pain of our smashed toes bearable. She also crawls up the steps to get to the upper level, and when she finds her room she gets very excited. Saying "no" to Kenzie when she is ready to get herself into some trouble seems to be translated by her as "do it quickly and move away fast". She makes many sounds and can mimic many of our words. Her latest effort is the word "doggie". She has learned casue-and-effect and claps happily when she is pleased with her actions. At school, she enjoys snack-time that consists of different fruits and crackers, playing with her school mates, music time, reading sessions, outside buggy rides, and the special music and puppet shows. She is growing so fast our little girl..

Happy Birthday Auntie

Today is Auntie Kristi's birthday. Even though we are not together, we think of her often, especially on her special day. Have a wonderful birthday, Auntie. We love you!!

Just some Kenzie favorites..

"Okay, hi Daddy.."

"I'm hungry Mommy, no more pictures.."

"It's playtime!"

Playtime with family

Mackenzie enjoys her visits with her cousins, Sabastian and Diego. She tries to keep up with them as best she can even while crawling. They give her lots of hugs and kisses, but at times she gets caught in the crossfire when they are running around or playing with their big toys. She accidentally gets hit with a ball, a truck/car or gets pushed over when they roughhouse. The good thing is that when an accident befalls her, it doesn't phase her. The boys are very patient with Kenzie as she enjoys touching their facial features, tapping at their heads and pulling at their hair. All the while, she's giggling and squealing with delight as they allow her to prod and pull. When Kenzie is at their home for a visit she gets free reign over the boy's toys and play space, and they are good sharers.

It is very special to watch the three of them laugh, play and grow up together. We are lucky to have family close by.

Playing in the Snow

On February 25, 2007, we got 6 inches of snow. The forecast only called for half an inch! We usually know what's in store for us when we see what the weather is doing where Auntie Kristi is, but this storm wasn't supposed to hit the Mid-Atlantic as bad. It seemed as if all the neighbors who had been hibernating during the winter, came out to enjoy the snowfall by playing in the snow. There were also those including Jeremy who were hard at work with their shovels.

After two hours of shoveling, Jeremy let Coco and Duke go outside so they could enjoy the fresh powder. Mackenzie got so excited as she watched the doggies run about with their tails wagging. Lorena decided Mackenzie should get a turn to play outside with her Daddy, so out came the snow suit! Jeremy took Kenzie outside and she was happy to join him. She happily visited with some of the neighbors who were amazed at how much she had grown since they last saw her. After about half-n-hour, it was time for some warmth, so in they came. Jeremy enjoyed some fresh warm clothes and lunch and Kenzie returned to her floor play.

We look forward to Spring so we can enjoy our walks and outdoor events.

New Milestones

8 months and 17lbs!

Kenzie's smile has changed as signs of her second tooth started showing up the week of February 19. Her first tooth appeared on January 13. Her vocabulary is growing to include some little melodies. She now calls her Da-da, Pa-pa and enjoys calling out to him whenever she has the chance. When she wants to be comforted, gets tired or is hungry she begins to say Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma. When she hears music she likes to rock her body back and forth or she gets excited and lifts her arms up and down and claps.

Instead of scooching to-and-fro, Kenzie has mastered the ability to crawl. She now realizes she can get places a bit faster this way. She has become quite the little explorer around the house which gets her into a little trouble sometimes. She continues to pull herself up on everything she can get her hands on and has a good time testing us in the process. At times she looks at us a bit surprised at our tone when we call it to her attention.. she will look at us like a deer in headlights and will then begin to squeal with delight while she continues on..

Kenzie's eating has expanded to finger foods and her favorites are her organic barley teething crackers, egg yolks and organic fruit of pears and bananas. She is quite an eater, although she is still a bit hesitant about eating meat.

Not a day goes by that we don't have a giggle at the funny things Mackenzie does or smile at her tender moments. She is a little firecracker that lights up our days with the unexpected and colors it with such beauty.

I smile and giggle when...

• I knock over my blocks
• it's storytime
• Daddy plays peek-a-boo with me
• I successfully lift myself up
• Mommy or Daddy walk into a room
• the doggies greet me when I come home from school with kisses
• Mommy sings nursery rhymes to me
• I see my cousins, Sebastian and Diego
• Daddy roughhouses with me
• I successfully find the remote from Daddy's hiding place
• I am in my peek-n-play
• I wake from morning naps to find Mommy & Daddy cuddling beside me
• it's bathtime
• I hear music and Mommy & Daddy dance and clap
• my Baby Einsten DVD's are played
• I try to get the doggie's tails and they come close to me
• I crawl around and explore new things
• Daddy plays chase with me and pretends he's going to get me
• we get ready to go somewhere
• Mommy dances around the house with me
• Daddy helps me take some steps

The World of Kenzie!

Mackenzie is warming up to be on the go! Although she scooches to-and-fro, she really prefers to lift herself up and stand for short periods of time on anything that's above her liitle head. Sometimes grabbing a hold of something that's not sturdy makes for a scary accident, and needless to say, there have been plenty of small accidents at the expense of her little noggin! Mackenzie also enjoys taking small steps with her Daddy's help. She squeals with delight as she accomplishes putting one wobbly leg after the other and manages to move a few inches.

It's very exciting for us to watch our little girll grow into this little person. Every morning as we see her big smile and hear her 'happy talk', she lights up our world!

A retreat is what everyone needs, and Mackenzie has found it in her little "peek-n-play" abode. She gathers all her toys and bangs, tosses, pulls and rolls them all about. Time just flys, and before you know it, it's nap-time!

Ringing in the New Year with Celebrations

The month of January was quite busy. It was filled with birthday wishes for special people in Mackenzie's life..

We started 2007 with Jeremy's special day. Mackenzie joined us in celebrating her Daddy's birthday at a sushi restaurant that evening. Sushi is one of her Daddy's favorite foods and it was wonderful to be able to have our little girl enjoy herself as much as we did that evening. Although, Mackenzie could not enjoy the great sushi that was served, she did enjoy eating her squash and getting all the attention from the servers. She sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time and enjoyed the view. Happy Birthday to a wonderful Daddy!

Mackenzie's cousins, Sebastian and Diego had a second birthday shortly after her Daddy. It was a low-key affair but a fun-filled event nontheless. With Grandma, Maria and Grandpa, Marc traveling from SC to join the celebration.It was non-stop spoiling of love for all three of thier grandchildren during the visit. Mackenzie loves to watch her cousins rough-house. She squeals with delight when they chase eachother around the house at full speed. The day of the festivities they did not dissapoint her as she sat and watched them go round-and-round as Grandma chased them down. She passed out from the day's excitement as soon as we left their driveway! The boys enjoyed being showered with love, their Elmo cake and of course the many presents they received!

Mackenzie and the twins have a little friend named Xander. He also had a celebration this month, and he, like the boys also turned two! His special day was celebrated at 'My Gym'. There were so many fun activities and lots of equipment to jump, slide and tumble on. The boys had such a blast. Of course Mackenzie was limited at what she could play with but she enjoyed the puppet show, and trying to catch the many bubbles that were blown. She also had fun watching all the kids run around especially her little cousins. Unfortunately, the birthday boy was feeling under the weather that day, but we were thankful to be able to celebrate his day with him.