Picture of the Week *Buggy Rides!*

January 20, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Life has been a bit busy now that I’m back to work but a fun little e-mail popped up in my Inbox this week and it totally made my day!

The WONDERFUL teachers (aka saints) at Doodlebugs had the patience and skill to load 8 adorable and squirmy little munckins into 2 buggies this week and take a cruise around the center.  And if that is wasn’t enough, they found time to take some pictures and then e-mail them to the parents.

A-MAZING!!

So here are the hilarious pictures I found in my Inbox —   Enjoy!

1_16 Buggy at DB 1

Buggy fun for Makenzie with Hadley, Conner and Evan!

1_16 Buggy at DB 3

“But Miss Danielle, I wanted to ride in the front!”

1_16 Buggy at DB 2

All tuckered out.. good thing the green paci was along for the ride!

Talk about a highlight of the week.  🙂

Thanks for coming along for the ride in our little world.  I promise I’ll update more shortly.  Have a great week!

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Picture of the Week *3 Months!*

January 6, 2013 by · 1 Comment

Hi friends,

It’s me, Makenzie!!  Mommy went back to work and has been sooo busy lately.  Daddy has been super busy lately too doing laundry and snowblowing (Mommy says he’s the best –I agree).    So I borrowed the laptop while Mommy thought I was napping to help her out with a blog post.  She says that the family and friends like to see how cute I am (sheesh, my face is red).

Guess what?!?  I’m 3 months old already!  Can you believe it?  I’m almost as old as the iPhone 5! Wow!  It’s been such a fun month.  Here’s what we have been doing:

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Daycare!!  I’m officially a Doodlebug!  Yay!  My classmates are so fun and my teachers are really good snugglers (not as good as Mommy and Daddy but pretty close).  When they aren’t looking I like to kick my socks off and then make Mommy and Daddy look for them when they pick me up (it also works with my pacis and my headbands).  Tee hee!

Sleeping at night without my swaddle.  Talk about freedom!!  I really love to suck on my finger at night while I dream about my next bottle (yum!).  And sometimes Mommy thinks I have a question because I raise my arm while I’m dreaming.  Not being swaddled is SO much fun that I sometimes like to wake up in the middle of the night and remind Mommy and Daddy about my excitement.  They don’t seem to share my enthusiasm at 4 AM.  Oh well.

Holding my head up!  Turns out that my neck has a purpose (aside from storing milk, eww).  It helps me raise my head so I can watch my toys… and the TV, and the cat, and my glowworm.  I’ll pretty much watch anything if you lay me on my tummy!

1_4 3 mo front

Look at me holding up my head, whee!

Taking pictures!   Surprise, surprise, Mommy’s taking more pictures of me.  I doubt I even needed to mention that but it’s a big part of our day and they turn out pretty cute sometimes.  Take a look at the ones Mommy took today.  I was cold but I put on my best cute face to try and make her finish faster.  I think it worked because we took a nap together right after this.

1_4 3 mo ruffle butt 2

Mom distracted me with my glowworm and took a picture of my ruffled bum bum.  Oh man, I fall for it every time.

1_4 3 mo sticky on tummy

Sunny side up!

And of course I had to take a picture in my tutu

And of course I had to take a picture in my tutu.  I saw Daddy and I was hoping he would save me.

I think I hear Mommy so I better go!  Don’t tell her you saw me on the laptop, I’m not supposed to play Angry Birds during bedtime.

XOXO

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Kenzie

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Maternity Leave from a Quantitative Perspective

January 1, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Tomorrow is the day I go back to work and spend the day away from Makenzie.  Wow, maternity leave FLEW by!

Tomorrow I have to wear pants that zip.  Tomorrow I’ll be checking e-mails instead of snuggling with my baby.  Tomorrow I need to limit use of the words tummy tums, bum bum and Kenzie Bear. Tomorrow I have to trade having a little fun today with Ellen for having a little staff meeting with my co-workers.

I’ve already been crying at the thought of having to say good-bye to our girl’s sweet little face so I figured I’d keep this light.  And since I need to get back into a business mindset, here is my Maternity Leave Overview from a Quantitative (and slightly guesstimated) perspective

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1,000,000+ lessons learned about life, lullaby singing, parenting, poop consistency, bottle sanitizing…      I can go on for days about this

14,134 minutes spent feeding the babe (this is a fact according to the app)

3200 minutes spent shushing and bouncing and wondering if my baby would ever possibly go to sleep, then when she did go to sleep I stared at her waiting for her to wake up so I could see her baby blue eyes

2640 kisses (at least) given to her little forehead and tummy tum and bum bums

1779 pictures taken of her from my camera

1250 miles traveled to introduce Makenzie to our family

522 diaper changes

$148 spent on Pampers

97 loads of laundry (thankfully my husband did most of them or I’d still be in the outfit I wore home from the hospital)

88 days spent with a beautiful baby girl – I’m SO thankful for this

50 shades of grey… clothing!  (It was maternity leave, friends, get your minds out of the gutter)  Grey yoga pants, sweatpants, t-shirts, zip-ups, hoodies – all cozy clothes are grey!

44 minutes of pushing to meet her

One 31 purse party.  Hey, I had to introduce her to cute bags even if she cried during the entire party, oops!

14 hours of labor

6 amazing people in our lives that are new grandparents again

5 “S”s to make her the Happiest Baby on the Block

4 trips to the pediatrician office

3 Baby’s 1st Holidays!

2 Picky Sticky photo shoots

ONE sweet, awesome, lovable little girl that I’m going to miss like crazy all day

So that about sums it up!

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Thanks maternity leave, you were even better than I imagined (aside from a few mommy meltdowns which they failed to tell us about in birth class).

Hope to see you again soon!

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Picture of the Week *The BEST Smile*

December 10, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Here it is!

The smile I talk about but rarely capture in a picture.  It melts my heart everytime!

Enjoy!

Pretty girl

Pretty girl

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Two Months!

December 5, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

This shouldn’t come as a surprise since Denny and I have been with Makenzie every day since birth but our daughter is Two Months Old!!  How did that happen?  She is so cute and really brightens our world (I know that sounds cheesy but it’s true)!

Here is what she has been up to for the past 30 days:

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 ::  Moving into her own room!  ::

Our first moving day as parents happened this month.  We decided Makenzie was old enough to finally start sleeping in her own room, so we packed up her cute little Rock & Play Sleeper and moved it 11 steps away (yes, I counted).  Don’t worry, we did our due diligence before we shipped her across the hall.  We checked that there were no escaped prisoners or zoo animals within 90 miles.  We also checked the batteries in the baby monitor and the carbon monoxide detector.  The results…So far, so good!  Denny and I can go to bed without using the flashlight app on our cell phone so we don’t wake her, and we think she’s enjoying the new freedom too.  In 18 years and 9 months she will possibly be heading to Athens to start her freshman year at OU so we are proud we have started working on giving her some space.

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::  Lots of playtime!  ::

Makenzie has recently discovered that her arms and legs are attached and she loves to kick and move them!

11_29 Playmat

She is actually having fun, but this picture doesn’t really capture her level of happiness.

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::  Smiling  ::

Lots more of this!  Her sweet smiles make us SO happy!  (Too bad I’m not great at capturing it on the camera)

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::  Getting ready for Christmas  ::

Over the past few weeks Makenzie and I have been having lots of holiday song dance parties!  She loves staring at the tree lights, and she has even gone along with me on some Christmas shopping trips.  She does great in stores and is very patient with me as I try to decide what to buy people.

12_2 Kenzie under tree

Cutie elf!

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::  Growing, growing, growing!!  ::

Here are some pictures of her 2 month photo shoot so you can see how she is changing (check out those cute chunky thighs that she unfortunately gets from her mom).

Enjoy!

12_4 2 months 7

I’m finally getting a use for the letters we bought for her room (but have yet to hang)

12_4 2 months 3

Sweetie pie

12_4 2 months 1

I think this is her thoughts about the photo shoot

12_4 2 mo tutu

She can’t escape the monthly tutu photo

12_4 2 months 5

Keeping Baby Legs in business

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Picture of the Week *Meeting Santa*

December 2, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Santa Success!

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This weekend we took Makenzie to meet the Jolly man from the North Pole and we were able to accomplish what we set out to do in one attempt, hooray!!  We took her to an awesome little toy store called Bloomsbury Lane Toy Shoppe right in downtown Lancaster and it was a great experience!  WNY Mommies, I highly recommend going here.  There was no line, there were no fees, and we even got to meet the Mayor of Lancaster himself.  Talk about dedication to small businesses in the town.

Here are a few pictures of Makenzie with Mr. Claus.  She did great in the beginning but then got a little bit nervous.  I’m pretty sure the tears were caused by her inability to vocalize everything on her list — new leg warmers, the end of the NHL lockout and endless Fancy Feast buffet for her big sister, Lex.  The poor girl just couldn’t express it all at once!

12_1 Kenzie with Santa 1

So far, so good!

12_1 Kenzie with Santa 2

Minor meltdown

Shortly after the second picture, we called it a day and headed home… but not before our free family caricature!  How great is this!?!?

Family photo

Love those chubby cheeks on our girl!

So, it looks like our holidays are off to a great start.   Hoping yours are just as jolly!

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Pictures of the Week *Giving Thanks with our little turkey*

November 29, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Almost December?!?  But where did November go?  Before another month flies by, I want to post about our Turkey Day week.  Denny was off work and we had a full week of family fun!

Here are some highlights:

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Makenzie’s 1st trip to Ohio! 

We went to Cleveland for a night and Makenzie got to meet lots of family.  Not only did our girl travel well, but Denny and I also fared okay.  I was so nervous about all the “what ifs” while traveling with an infant that I was up at 4 AM before we left to check and double-check everything (we are such rookies).  For any new moms, my best advice is to pack some extra outfits and the Stain Stick (especially if your baby shares her excitement in an explosive way like Kenzie does).

Makenzie and her always hilarious & crafty Aunt Lorraine

Makenzie meeting her cousins in town from Germany, so fun!  Come back soon!

Makenzie’s GREAT grandparents. What a lucky lady to have 6 grandparents!

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Makenzie’s 1st Biggest Party Night of the Year! 

Having two parents that went to one of the Top Party Schools in the Nation puts a lot of pressure on Makenzie, but on Thanksgiving Eve our little one managed to toss back a few bottles in the wee hours of the night!  Party on baby girl!

Just about to pass out after a few Breastmilk Lites

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Makenzie’s 1st McGee Thanksgiving!

On Thanksgiving morning (after we started the turkey of course) we got to snuggle with our girl and watch the parade!  I loved the parade as a kid and I can’t wait until Makenzie can enjoy it just as much.  Then she gave us the ultimate reminder of why we are so thankful, a HUGE melt-your-heart grin (bonus – we actually captured it on film).  Denny’s parents came to town and we had a great meal and Makenzie got some special time with her MaMaw and PapPap.

Can you handle the cuteness??

Kenzie and Mamaw. “Can you say pierced ears, Makenzie?”

The girl was passed out by the end of the day! Apparently she overate too.

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Makenzie’s 1st Quilty Thanksgiving

My parents and my sister and her family came up Saturday for another celebration!  With 2 little kiddos under 18 months, it was a great (and tiring) end to the week.  Kenzie LOVES her cousin Ryan and is super excited for another little boy cousin arriving around St. Patty’s Day.

Fun times!

Now that Turkey Day is over, we can tell Ryan all about Santa. 🙂

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So now it’s on to Christmas and New Year’s…  We’re trying to enjoy every moment because it is Makenzie’s 1st holidays and the end of my maternity leave.  Without sounding cheesy, we can’t say just how thankful we are to have such wonderful friends, family and beautiful baby girl!

See you in December!

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Pictures of the Week **So Thankful!**

November 17, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Maybe it was because I rocked Makenzie to sleep tonight and fell in love all over…  Maybe it’s the crazy hormones (yes, still)…. Or maybe it’s just the warm fuzzies I get thinking of the upcoming holidays.  But regardless of the reason, I feel very thankful tonight!

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I haven’t been great about updating this blog, or returning calls & messages, or finishing Thank you notes.  In fact I haven’t been great at much lately (the Health Dept. would be scared of my kitchen floors right now) but I have been great at spending lots and lots of time with our sweet baby girl, and taking pictures to prove it.

So I thought I would make a quick slideshow of why we are so incredibly thankful this Thanksgiving!  She will be 7 weeks on Turkey Day and she is getting so big and changing everyday!  See for yourself…

Happy Thanksgiving from the McGees!

(click here)

Wishing you and your families a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

May your dinners be yummy, may your pants be elastic and may your Black Friday shopping adventures be fabulous!!

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Pictures of the Week *Makenzie is a month old*

November 11, 2012 by · 1 Comment

Happy One Month Birthday Makenzie Ruth!

(Mommy confession… it was actually last Sunday but I’m totally behind in everything)

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How did the past month go so quickly?!  Our baby is already growing and changing so much!

Here is what Makenzie has been doing:

  • Taking her one month photos!  She didn’t love the day I put her in a tutu (clearly) so we got took a few more shots a couple of days later
One month photo shoot, take 1!
One month photo shoot, take 2!
(Sadly the 1 month picky sticky got ripped during failed attempt 1, please envision her wearing it in this picture)
  • Growing!  Our little Beanette was 8 lbs 3 oz at birth and has grown to 10 lbs at her one month check-up.  Way to go baby girl!  She is pretty much out of her newborn clothes (yes, I cried) and into the next size.
  • Enjoying Tummy time.  She loves her playmat and does pretty well at holding up her head.

  • Visiting friends and family!  We are slowly but surely getting better at leaving the house.  So far Kenzie has visited lots of our friends, cruised around the mall, enjoyed a lunch downtown and can practically drive to Target on her own.  No matter where we go she can’t fight sleep.
Out & about!
  • Meeting her cousins!    We’ve been loving all of our visitors and Kenzie was thrilled to meet Deegan, Connor and Ryan.  I’m sure they’ll teach her lots of tricks.

  • Smiling!!  This is her newest and BEST trick.  We haven’t captured it on camera but I promise it would melt your heart.

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That’s a quick recap of her first month of life.  It is AMAZING how much we have learned since the day she was born, and we continue to find out more about Makenzie and being parents each day.  We love her SO much and we can’t believe how fast time is flying.  We are looking forward to many more adventures in the future!

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What a difference a year makes…

November 3, 2012 by · 1 Comment

::   This weekend makes me think about how lucky we are   ::

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Exactly one year ago tonight we were in the emergency room of Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital finding out we lost our baby.  We were seven weeks pregnant during the 2011 fall back weekend when something went wrong.  It was without a doubt one of the toughest and literally one of the longest nights of our lives.

Fortunately we visited the same hospital again. but this time for different reasons….

Exactly one month ago tonight, we were again at Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital in the midst of labor awaiting the birth of our sweet baby girl.  She arrived in the wee hours of October 4th!  It was another long night, but a wonderful night.  And it was wonderful enough to make us realize that the heartache we felt on a cold night 11 months prior was part of our journey to turn us into a family of three.

I can’t believe it’s been a year since we said goodbye to what we thought would be our first baby, but I especially can’t believe it’s been a month since we said Hello to Makenzie!  How did time go so fast?  I’m certain we’ll need the extra hour of sleep tonight, but I’m pretty sure we won’t be too heartbroken if we spend it wide awake with good company.

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