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.

It isn't Christmas without Santa!

Mackenzie (6 months)surprised us by enjoying her first meeting with Santa. She especially enjoyed running her little fingers through his beard (it was real) while the camera clicked away!

Christmas in Iowa

This Christmas was really special for us as our little girl celebrated her first. Talk about the "joy of the season", she was it for us.

Mackenzie made us so proud by doing so well on her first flight. She really enjoyed watching the flight attendants do their spiel on the plane's safety instructions.

She met most of her Daddy's extended family during the trip, and enjoyed all of the attention and love she received from them. With Daddy, Grandma Becky and Great Grandma Mardie's help, Mackenzie learned how to open her first Christmas presents. She celebrated evening mass with the family and was such a good girl till the end. She especially enjoyed meeting her second cousins, Allison, Eddy and Biny. We are very thankful for our family and so grateful that we made it home safely.

December Milestones

6 months and 15lbs!

This month was filled with Mackenzie milestones. On December 1st, she started eating solids (a month delay due to her illnesses in Nov). She loves her sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, pears, bananas, and apples. To date, peas are her least favorite. She continues to tummy scoot, enjoys playtime in her sit-up position, and practices waving hello and goodbye. Kenzie tries to sing-along with Mommy by humming in her little voice and says "da-da" which melts her Daddy’s heart. She can also wail an "ah-ma" when she really needs her Mommy! Everyday we are in awe of how lucky we are to have her in our lives..

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SC Bound

The second week of December we went to SC to visit Grandma and Grandpa. A rescheduled trip from November. We traveled with uncle, Javier, auntie, Katrina, and cousins, Sebastian and Diego. The car ride was a long 8 hours and Kenzie did pretty well, considering. The visit was very nice. We got to see their new home and it was great to spend some quality family-time together. Kenzie enjoyed playtime with her cousins and getting hugs and kisses from them. We look forward to Grandma and Grandpa's visit to DC in January for the boy's 2nd birthday!

The Fall Season

October was the month Lorena returned to work. She on leave four months bonding and caring for kenzie. Her time apart from her is only M-T-W, as her status changed to part time. We were on the waiting list for a private academy for Kenzie and we were lucky enough to get a call for her enrollment. She enjoys playtime with her little schoolmates and just loves her caretaker, Dania, who showers her with love and teaches her spanish.
November was a month where the family was plagued with colds. Jeremy got bronchitis and Kenzie got a cold. Lorena took care of us and after we recovered, she succumbed to illness as well. We all spent Thanksgiving recovering and unfortunately couldn't make it to South Carolina to spend it with Grandma and Grandpa.

Mackenzie's first 90 days

The first three months, Mackenzie's favorite pastimes were bath time with Mommy, 20 minute naps, and morning ESPN-time with Daddy.

It took us two months to get used to Kenzie's little cries in order to meet all of her needs, but once we crossed that hurdle, it all became more managable. As a result, she began to sleep through the night (yeah!). Although, some nights she would wake up at 3am if she was hungry...

Her milestones for the first few months: her first smile, recognition of Mommy and Daddy, cooing, first giggle, holding her head up, and enjoying tummy time.

We were quite blessed to have many visitors, both local and from out-of-state meet Mackenzie this Summer.
We are so grateful to have our little girl in our lives. Our love for her knows no bounds.

Celebrating a Birthday!

Our little girl arrived June 15th at 9:33pm. She weighed in at 7lbs, 1oz. We experienced many overwhelming feelings on this wonderous day!