Easter and some random things-Updated with Pictures

Macie loves her new bunny!

The Easter baskets Macie got

Lookin' cute in her Easter/Spring Dress

New hat from Grandma and Papa- too cute.

Papa came over to play with me while Mommy rested.

These are the beautiful flowers I got. The ones on the left are from my parents and the ones on the right I just got today from Aunt Lynne, Aunt Deb, Uncle Steve, Dani, Sammi, Marissa, Shawn, Jackie, Mike, Jacob and Andrew. Thank you!!!

This is the Edible Arrangement I got from Mark, Gayle, Kate and Ryan. The fruit is so good and there are chocolate covered bananas in there- YUMMY!

I will be posting some more pictures a little later when I have Phil's laptop, but wanted to make sure I got caught up on everything going on lately.
We went over to Mark and Gayle's for Easter and it was wonderful. The food was yummy and Macie had a great time visiting with everyone. My parents were there, Gayle's Dad, Aunt Flo and Cousin Kurt were all there. Macie got some really cute Easter baskets from Auntie Gayle, Uncle Mark, Kate and Ryan and from Grandma and Papa. She loved everything in them!!!
Thanks for having us over Mark and Gayle!
As you all know, I had some rather unpleasant surgery on Tuesday. The pain has been pretty unbearable, but I think the worst part is not being able to pick Macie up. I'm sure she doesn't quite understand that I am not spending as much time with her the past few days, but it doesn't make it any better. Phil has been amazing- he took two days off of work to help out. He has been working his butt off cleaning, cooking, laundry, running to the store, feeding and bathing Macie, etc. He does help with these things regularly, but has had to take them on solo for a week and I really appreciate it very much. He's such a great husband and father! Thank you to my parents also- my Dad came over for a few hours yesterday while Phil had to run out. My mom and Dad made some food for us for the past few days so we wouldn't have to cook. Phil also dropped Macie off at their house today so that I can get a little more rest. This was definitely more painful than I expected and being able to rest today should help a ton. I can't wait to pick up my little munchkin and carry her around again.
Thanks Mom and Dad for the beautiful flowers you sent. I can smell them throughout the whole house! Thanks to Mark, Gayle, Kate and Ryan for the awesome fruit arrangement from Edible Arrangements. I haven't had much of an appetite and the fruit is so good and I have been enjoying it very much (so has Phil).
Thank you to everyone who called and e-mailed to check up on me, and all the offers of help with Macie, or whatever we may have needed. I really appreciate it!
I will be adding some pictures to this post a little later, so be sure to check back in!
Love to all!

Just like her Daddy!

You will have to turn up the volume for this one! Poor thing was beat and she has a cold. She snores just like her Daddy.

Just a fun day!

We didn't do anything super special today, just hung out as a family. It's really unfortunate, with the economy, people are stretched to the limit with work, taking on second jobs. All that just so that they can provide for their families, and sadly can not spend time with their families because they are out trying to make ends meet. We can't take vacations right now, or buy expensive things, but I wouldn't trade the "family day" like we had today for anything in the world. I dream about the nice "things", but have to remember they are just "things". I have an amazing family and that's all I need!
We were able to relax, go for a walk, have lunch, and just hang out, and we had such a great time.


The following video is while we were out to lunch. She is so good when we are out, never makes a peep. She had a ball today!!!

Happy Easter!

Here is the picture of Macie's first visit to the Easter Bunny. I would have cried too, what a creepy looking bunny!

It had to happen sometime.......

My little munchkin is ill. I took her out of the carseat yesterday and she was more warm than normal (she's always warm in there with the Bundle Me). I took her temp. and it was 101.3 (not that high, but high enough for me to worry a bit). I decided I would wait a bit and take it again just to make sure she wasn't just overheated from the seat. Took it again about 45 min. later and it was the same. So, she officially has experienced her first illness. She woke up fussy this morning and her cute little face was plastered with boogers!!! Hoping it's just a minor cold and something a little tylenol will take care of.

"You have to put that thermometer where?"

I know, not a very exciting post....I haven't had much material to work with this week!

Congratulations!

Congrats to Nicole, Johnny, Olivia and Sophia- they just found out they are having a BOY!!! How exciting. We can't wait to meet him!

Happy 40th Birthday Nelson!

We went over to Susie and Nelson's house yesterday to celebrate Nelson's 40th Birthday. It was a surprise, and I think he was quite surprised!

Susie surprised him with a trip to Vegas- he was in shock. She had literally saved for this for a year and 1/2- dollar by dollar (she's a stylist so she tucked away her singles so he wouldn't know what she was up to). What a great gift!!!

He is trying to process what this is. He said "an itinerary?".

Susie told him that Grandma would be watching Jaden while they were gone. At this point, he is finally realizing it's for REAL.

Jaden got a gift too (it was kinda bribery to get Nelson out of the house). It was so funny, Jaden was guarding this box with his life.....he wanted to "Rock".

Ahhhh, finally. Jaden puts on quite a show. He played the drums and sang too!

The two Macie's meeting for the first time.

"Come over here"....."No, you come here." They are only about 3-4 weeks apart....Macie is HUGE compared to the other Macie. My little chunker!

Macie's Mommy and Daddy- Jen and Kevin.

Lookout Hef, there's a new girl in town!

Daddy, That's MY Binky!

B

6 Month Checkup

Macie had her 6 month check up today. She had two shots and did really well. She seems to cry less and less every time. We also talked to the Dr. about her "lazy eye". Her right eye seems to turn in a little when she is tired. I developed Esotropia when I was two, and it is hereditary so we are concerned that she may have it. Mine was corrected with glasses/contacts until I was able to have surgery when I turned 18. They now have other ways to "train" the eye and strengthen the muscle. We were referred to a Pediatric Opthamologist so we'll be taking her there soon.

Here's her stats:

Weight: 18.0 lbs (83rd percentile)
Height: 26 inches (56th percentile)
Head: 17 3/4 inches (97% percentile) She is growing into her head and leveling off so the Dr. said that is good.

He said she is doing great and told us we can start her on finger foods (Puffs, cheerios, teething biscuits, etc.) if we would like. We got some of the puffs and gave her one, but she just made a funny face and spit it out.

Happy Easter/Spring

Macie and I met up with my friend Susie and her son Jaden. We decided to go visit the Easter Bunny, but it didn't quite go as planned. Jaden talked about the Easter Bunny the whole time we were shopping, and then when it came time to get his picture taken, he wasn't as excited anymore. He didn't seem scared, he just seemed uninterested (probably because we took too long shopping)! I got Macie all dolled up (thanks to Susie and Jaden for the adorable dress) to see the Easter Bunny for the first time, got up there and put her on his/her lap and she started screaming. She was all smiles until I set her down....poor thing. She did calm down briefly, but she just never warmed up to him/her, but she still looked darn cute in her outfit.

Her picture with the Easter Bunny will be revealed at a later time......hold tight!!!

Annual Blackhawks Game

We went to the Blackhawks game on Sunday which is an annual outing organized by our friend Matt. I missed last year since I was about 3 months preggo at the time so was glad I got to go this year. Macie stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Scimeca for the day. John and Kari came to their house to see Macie that morning, they haven't seen her since the day before they got married. Macie was very content hanging out with Kari while we enjoyed some breakfast.

6 Months

Dear Macie,

You are 6 months old today, and I am still trying to comprehend that fact. While I was carrying you in my tummy, six months seemed like 2 years. Now that you are here, 6 months seemed like 2 weeks. It has by far, been the most exciting, rewarding, challenging, and memorable 6 months of my life. I still stare at you all the time and am amazed that your Daddy and I made you, and are now responsible for raising you. I often wonder if I am doing all the right things, and I learn something new about you everyday. I study your adorable face all the time, it never gets old! I could stare into your huge, beautiful eyes forever. They are so expressive and seem to say everything that you are not able to right now. You seem to want to talk so badly and I think it's only a matter of time before "Dada" comes out of your mouth. You just adore your Daddy so much (can't say I blame you, I'm rather fond of him myself) and you get all Bejiggity (I'm sure I did not spell that right, but it's the perfect word for your reaction) when he walks into the room. When I am with you and call Daddy, I put the phone up to your ear and when you hear his voice you just light up and start looking around for him. It's so cute.

Your bottom two "toofies" are completely in now, and I think you are starting to get the top two. You chew on anything you can get your little hands on. You use those two bottom teeth to amuse anyone who will watch you. A few days ago, you started making this face and you stick out your two teeth, I about wet myself when you did it. Now all we have to say to you is "make your funny face" and you do it on command. You are quite the clown. You have now realized that you can, in fact, make people laugh and you love doing it.

Grandma got you to do the funny face, and she even got a picture of it! Hilarious.

You sat up on your own for a bit without any help. You are getting to be such a big girl. It's so much more fun for you to play with your toys when you can sit up. You love playing the piano.

You still need a little support, but I think it will only be a matter of time and you will be sitting all by yourself for as long as you want!

This past month you decided to switch things up a bit and you flipped from your back to your tummy. It took you all of about 2 days to master this task. Well, this is where the challenging part came in. You would go to sleep on your back and then decide to flip yourself over onto your tummy. You couldn't quite get the concept of flipping back the way you came from and you would get fussy. So, for about a week Mommy had to wake up every hour and flip you back since you weren't fond of being on your tummy at the time. Now, you immediately flip to your tummy when we put you to bed and you stay there. I was a little nervous at first since you would bury your face in the mattress, but I am slowly getting over it. I only check on you about 4 times in the night now!!!

This past month you have really taken a liking to your fruits and veggies. It is not physically possible for any of us to shovel it fast enough into your mouth. You get mad and pound your fists on the tray. When it finally reaches your mouth, you go "Mmmmmmm"!!!

This past month has been so exciting. Our lives have changed so much since you came into the world and we wouldn't change a single thing. We look forward to what the next month brings. You make everyday so special and it's amazing to know that no matter how bad our day may have been, we have you and that makes everything better.

Love you Macie Face,

Mommy

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

McMacie Face

Macie's Weekend

We played the piano!

Katie and Colin came over to visit

They brought me a really cute outfit!

We went for a walk with Otis. He's beat from the weekend.

Thank you for my cute outfit Katie and Colin, I can't wait to wear it.

Katie is 27 weeks pregnant, and she looks adorable!!! We can't wait to meet the little guy. Thanks for coming over to visit.

A Gigantic Thank You to Macie's Grandparents

Thank you does not even begin to cover our gratitude to both sets of Grandparents. Macie is very fortunate to have all of you in her life.
As most of you know, my Dad was taken to the hospital (yes.....via ambulance- I know, hard to believe if you know my dad) on Thursday afternoon. He was sent home on Sunday afternoon with a diagnosis of Vertigo from an inner ear infection (a HUGE relief considering his history and the symptoms he had). Thank you to everyone for your well wishes, prayers and phone calls to check on him. A HUGE thank you to Mrs. Collins for getting to the park so quickly and calling 911.
Most of you also know that my parents take care of Macie 3 days a week in addition to caring for my Niece and Nephew 5 days a week. I still am not sure how they do it, but they do, and they do an incredible job!
We wanted to give them a break this past Monday so my Mom and Dad could rest. We asked Phil's parents if they would watch Macie, and of course they were more than willing! Phil dropped her off at their house and she spent the day there while we both worked. Macie had a great time, and we are so appreciative that we had that option. Can't thank you enough!!

Do I look like a boy?

Please feel free to reference previous posts' pictures to cast your vote!

"Awww, he's adorable."

"How old is he?"

"What is his name?"

"He has the biggest eyes."

These are just a few things that we hear when out and about!

Apparently the pink outfits, pink blankets, pink bundle me, etc. are not enough. I am starting to get annoyed! Maybe I need to get some pink bows for HER !!!

UGH!

Where do I start?

It's been quite an exciting week with Macie. I have taken a ton of pictures, and just don't know where to start with posting them.

Ok, here goes! Bear with me, this is going to be pretty random. I will just write a little something with each picture.

Sitting up on her own...what a big girl.


Hanging outside enjoying the nice weather (while it lasted).

"Please, no more pictures."

Macie the Movie Star!

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

Grandpa and Macie

Macie was calling in a favor from Ronnie. We were visiting my Dad in the hospital on Thursday and this Ronald McDonald statue was in the waiting room. He's a little creepy if you ask me!

This video is Macie doing her new favorite thing.....spitting all over Daddy!!! He taught her this! Of course the lighting was bad for the video, but you get the idea!

An exciting milestone....not so much for me!

Last night (actually this morning) Macie was fussing around 1:30 so I went in to check on her and she had flipped over to her tummy. She's been trying to do it for about a week or two now, and I am so glad she accomplished her goal, but WHY in the middle of the night??? I flipped her over, put her binky back in her mouth, and headed back to bed. 2:30- she's fussing again. I decided to wait a bit to see if she would fall back asleep, but all I kept thinking was "what if she is on her tummy again and is so sleepy she doesn't turn her head to the side to breathe?"....so, I go flip her again. 3:30- yep, you guessed it- the fish is out of the water again! Flip her, and back to bed I go. 4:00 she's up for good (this is her new waking hour for about 2 weeks now-crap). I try to get her up quietly and let Phil sleep since he gets up so early as it is and he works so hard so that I can be home a few days a week, but I had pretty much hit my breaking point this morning. I can handle only having a few hours of sleep, but the waking every hour gets to me. He got up and fed her and played with her until he had to hop in the shower. This gave me about another 2 hours to sleep.....thanks hon!
So, she has officially rolled from her back to her tummy. I'll get a picture or video to prove it one of these days, but she wasn't being very cooperative tonight.
She's getting pretty close to sitting up on her own now too. I have this vision of her fussing and I go in to her room and she's sitting straight up in the crib. We shall see!

Too Cute

Macie bounced herself into a coma earlier. She was bouncing away and I looked over and she was asleep. I have to admit I was a little worried since she went from Miss Bounce Alot to Sleeping Beauty in a matter of seconds. She just bounced in it so much she wore herself out. Too cute for words I must say!