Happy Easter! Depending on who you ask....

We're going camping with Grandma & Grandpa Howard this weekend so since I work now, today was the only day that we could take Makenna to visit the Easter bunny! Let me remind you of what Makenna looked like this time last year....

We were pretty sure that Makenna had no recollection of who the Easter bunny was... She was so sweet sleeping in his arms in that picture. AWWWW.... Okay, so we get there and they were having some technical difficulties with their credit card machine. The Easter bunny was no where in sight so Makenna explored his stomping ground......

Everything was all fine and dandy until the Easter bunny came out. She was clutching onto Howie for dear life. We put her in his lap and SHE LOST IT. Poor baby was so scared!

They took three pictures but of course we could only buy one of them. Jerks. The first two are of her screaming and reaching out to us. We decided to buy the third one (it's the only one where she's looking at the camera) but after we paid for it, I really, really wanted the one of her screaming. I went back to tell the guy I wanted to buy the other one separately and he said, "Sorry. Once I print it, the others are gone." WHAT?? It was seriously the dumbest thing I'd ever heard. What computer system does that??? Oh well, I wasn't going to put her through sitting on his lap again (until next year at least). So we have what we have. I keep telling myself... "If you would've bought the screaming picture, you would've wanted the sad face picture." That's just how I am. ;) The picture is still so cute and it will be remembered forever...

-Kristine

Blogging overload...

When you haven't posted in such a long time it's hard to just leave stuff out. So my goal today was to get everyone caught up! The weather has been so nice the last couple of days so I just wanted to share Makenna's outdoor experience. Not too many pictures in this post since it was just today and I like to just pick out my favorites. Selfish, huh? Kidding. Oh, this outfit was giving to Makenna by my good friend Suzanne, for Makenna's 1st birthday. I was just waiting for the weather to get warmer so she could show off those chunky thighs of hers!!!

"What do I do out here? This is different... "

"Oh, I get it.. those kids are playing so I better check out what they're doing."

After daddy brought her back from hangin' out with the older kids, she set her eyes on the stairs out front.

I was so afraid she was going to scrape up her knees...

Here's one thing you may not know about Makenna: She is a pointer. She points and says, "EH?" to everything! So in this picture she's either pointing at the kids playing, the truck, the tree, daddy or the horse. Not quite sure what....

Here's those thighs! What a chunk. ;)

13 months... well, so far!

Makenna is officially 13 months old now and is definitely becoming her own person... Here's our day... Makenna happy, Makenna mad, Makenna wants a kiss, Makenna starts screaming, Makenna takes a nap, Makenna happy again, Makenna sad. It's a rollercoaster for sure but we wouldn't trade our day for anything! Although, I'm having a hard time leaving her for 8+ hours three days a week. Gotta make the money to pay the bills though. Once we win the lottery then we'll be set. ;) I keep wishing.... but in the mean time I'll just take lots of pictures every second I get.

Okay, I know I need to get rid of the Christmas jammies but they're so cute and they still fit!

Big yawn from Belle, kisses from Makenna.. this picture kind of grosses me out because I know how bad Belle's breath smells!

I love this dress! We were headed out to Hayden's birthday party...

If it's on the floor then Makenna has to have it... This is one of Hayden's new toys she's holding onto. Keeping it safe.....

"Hey Bentley? Whatcha looking at out there?"

Some mornings Makenna just likes to hang out and relax on the couch. In this picture she was just getting done playing on her computer and decided to take a breather and watch some cartoons. ;)

YAY for milestones! She's finally learned out to drink out of a straw. She still has trouble learning how to swallow the water before she opens her mouth to let the straw out... Drinking out of a straw is tricky for a one year old!

My old co-worker Cindy bought this outfit for Makenna while I was still pregnant. It's an 18 month outfit and Howie decided to put her in it.. well, it's almost too small! I'm so sad because this outfit is soooooo cute. So, I had to take a picture of her wearing it.

Okay, so maybe more than one picture....

HAPPY, HAPPY GIRL!!!

5 minutes later...... The plus side of this picture is LOOK AT HER MOLARS!

Loving the weather yesterday.... exploring the concrete in the backyard.

And I'll leave you with a "pretty face" picture.. Always my favorite kind.

Oh... one more milestone.... BYE-BYE bottle! She hasn't had a bottle in 2+ weeks! We just decided one night to put her milk in a sippy cup and that was it... DONE! I just hope the pacifier is as easy. I'll keep my fingers crossed for that one!

Love,

Kristine

BBQ at Aimee & Sam's house

This last Saturday we went over to Miss Aimee and Sam's house for a BBQ. It was fun to actually get all our our friends together again. Hanging out with everyone these days are few and far between since we're all in relationships and most of us have kids. So, Aimee was in charge of the BBQ since Sam was out running around picking people up. ;) I should've taken pictures of Aimee cooking burgers cause she burnt some of them. Good times. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

HAHA.. this toy suctions to tables and Makenna used all the strength she had but COULD NOT pull this off the table.. It was hilarious!

Roy was feeding Haley and Makenna had to check out what was going on... She was probably thinking that she was going to get a bite!

Here's Tank (Kelly & Roy's dog) hanging out on the couch.. notice the neck pillow around his neck?

Makenna and Haley "playing" after Haley's dinner... They get so excited to see each other!

Look at that tongue!!!!

Our big girl sitting in a camping chair.... I think it's time to buy her a mini camping chair!

Exploring the deck....

Tuckered out from her long day of playing, exploring and eating!!

Thank you for having us over Aimee & Sam! Now that the weather is getting nicer, I hope we all get together more often.

A brief visit to the park....

I really need to learn to post more often! I have a ton of pictures saved up but just not a whole lot of time these days to post them. I just recently got a job outside of the house. :( I hate leaving Makenna but I know she's in good hands while I'm gone. I work Monday, Wednesday and Thursday but my boss will be extremely flexible with me if I need it. Which is good....

I took Makenna to the park about a week or two ago when we had 5 minutes of sunshine. We weren't there very long but just enough time for her to swing. She loves it! She laughs and laughs when I pushed her higher and higher.... What a daredevil she is.

Being a ham

I swear her eyebrows could kill... Howie says they take after me....

HA HA! Her face is funny here!

"CHEESE MOMMY!!!"

I think that a couple of kids showed up right when I took this picture. She loves watching other kids so she wouldn't look at the camera anymore...

I discovered that it's difficult to take pictures while a child is swinging... while trying to maintain the swinging speed that makes her smile. Next time daddy is coming with us. ;)

Grandpa, Grandma, Jacob & Ghunnar.....

We went up to Grandma & Grandpa Howards to hang out this last weekend to celebrate Daddy's birthday.. Howie turned the big 3-0 on March 15th. He's such an old man... LOL. Kidding. ;) So, we drove up to Monroe, WA to hang out. We had scheduled a BBQ but only a few people could come. We were finally able to meet Jacob DeWitt! He is the son of one of Howie's friends, Justin and his sweet wife Lindsey ( I hope I spelled it right!) Sunday morning we went to brunch with Glenn, Rhyan and GHUNNAR! Makenna got to hang out with her future boyfriend again! She was cute.. A little flirt she is. I think we're in trouble......

On the drive up....

100% obsessed with holding onto my Carmex...

Hanging out with Grandma by the BBQ fire

Makenna, Daddy & Jacob.. She had to touch his head. (He is 8 months old and the same size as her. Tank!!!)

Here we go again.... Daddy mocking Makenna. Who knows what she was upset about. This happens often now. ;)

"Oh! That's my boyfriend Ghunnar! Hey you??!! How've you been??"

Look at his sweet face! He's just now learning to eat "real" food. He enjoyed himself!

Profile shot of the princess herself....

Ghunnar. He is so handsome! Chunky cheeks and all!

She's either shoving a banana or cheese in her mouth. She's pretty much addicted to both.

Here's that face again! HAHAHA! It cracks me up everytime!

Okay, I'm a horrible mama and I forgot to bring some books up to Grandma & Grandpa's house. She LOVES books. So, Grandpa was reading the paper and she HAD to get into his lap to look at the ads. Let me know if you find any good deals Makenna!

Still hanging out... "Don't interrupt me MAMA! I'm reading!!"

We had fun! It's always a good, relaxing time with Grandma & Grandpa Howard. We're going camping with them in a couple of weeks. We can't wait. ;)

Love,

Kristine, Howie, Makenna & Belle

12 months old!!

Oh man... It's so amazing watching Makenna grow everyday. She's moving on to 13 months old in two days and I can't believe this last month has gone by as fast as it has. She's such a happy girl and brings us so much joy on a daily basis. I've definitely been a slacker on updating the blog but the only time I have is in the evening! Lucky for us, she goes to bed between 8-9pm and sleeps until 7-8am. So I guess I have plenty of time to post but it is time consuming! Here are some pictures from the last month. She is walking like a maniac now.... won't sit still to save her life. You'd think that I would've lost some weight by now but I'm still a professional eater so no such luck!!

Makenna is now a professional backseat-facing-forward rider! She hams it up every second she can. Her face says it all!!!

She is still completely obsessed with my Carmex. Tube or tub of it.. I can't sneak it past her! I also have to add in that her face is absolutely adorable here too!!She's so cool that she has to wear shades. Sorry... I had to throw that in!So, she's got dimples in her butt. HA HA! Yup, it must be a family thing. We went to Grandma's house (my mom's) and we decided to put Grandma's glasses on her. In typical Makenna form... she had to ham it up.Here she is.. proving Grandpa Howard wrong and sitting in her chair. He claimed that she "probably" wouldn't use it until she's 4. Well, she uses it daily! She grabs her book or laptop and sits in her chair. She loves, loves, loves it.
We're having some naptime issues with the Punkin' these days. She is so good to go to bed at night but we're having some problems getting her to nap during the day. She'll sleep like a princess as long as we're holding her but I'm sure you can understand how much fun that is for us. Sense my sarcasm? Well, Makenna didn't want to sit with me so I let her play until she ran out of fuel. Here she is... passed out on the floor. This is the first time this has happened. Too cute!

She'll learn real quick that weighing yourself is not cool. In the meantime.. have at it Chunky! I think the scale read 26lbs. ;)At her 12 month appointment we were told to try to get rid of her bottle in the next month. We've been putting milk in her sippy cup and she's been enjoying it to say the least. She's learned that it's super fun to push the top of her cup on the floor so it leaks out. She then proceeds to "draw" (AKA: play) with the milk. We caught her in action.I really can't remember what she's doing here besides being sweet. I can't even count how many times I say, "I LOVE HER FACE." Seriously.For Daddy's birthday (it was on Sunday the 15th) we decided to drive up to Mt. Hood to see the snow. We went to lunch and just hung out. Here is Miss Thang in the car on the way up to the mountain. I can't resist taking pictures of her. It doesn't take much to get her to smile. ;)My biggest mistake was buying Daddy an XBox 360. Well, he loves it so I guess I should love it too? He likes to play games and Makenna loves to join in. Here she is trying to talk "smack" to people online. "Don't mess with my Daddy!!" Uh, don't worry that the headseat is facing backwards. She can still tell them off!
I hope you enjoyed all the new pictures. I probably take 300 pictures a month but I have to pick and choose when I take so long to post. I'm going to try to change that!!!

Love,

The Howard Family

(Kristine)