Happy 15 months old!

Makayla Ann is 15 months old today! I still can't believe it! She is still the love of our lives and the most wonderful little gift from God.

Her newest developments consist of WALKING, eating and getting into everything! She started walking just a few days ago and now she is unstopable. She smiles and laughs as she's walking like she just discovered the coolest thing ever. It's so cute watching her walk around because she just gets so excited.

She gets into everything! She only has about a million toys but she would rather play with anything but toys. Her favorite things are still cell phones and remote controls. Her alltime favorite thing to do is to eat. It seems like all she does these days! She loves any and every thing....she's not picky at all! She pretty much eats whatever we eat and then some. When I ask her if she wants a "bite, bite" she licks her lips...too cute! Sometimes she acts like she hasn't eaten in forever which is never true.

I'm sad that she's growing up so fast but I'm looking forward to all of the fun times ahead. Now that she can walk I'm sure we will have lots of fun!

Polar Express Party

On the last day of school before the Christmas break, my students and I had a Polar Express party. They wore their pajamas, robes, and slippers and brought their blankets and pillows. The students found a comfy place on the floor to watch the movie as I made hot chocolate for them!

After watching the movie, it was time to party! We made Snowman ornaments, ate pizza, chips, cookies and LOTS of candy! Then it was time to exchange gifts. We played a game to see which gift they would open. We had a great party and a wonderful day. I think it was my best Christmas party yet!

Let the fun begin...

Makayla has officially learned how to walk. She started taking a few steps here and there the week before Christmas but she really began getting around while at my mom's on Dec. 23rd and 24th. Since I left my video camera at home, I captured a video of her walking and chasing daddy around when we got back in town. I really can't believe she's walking! She's definitely not a baby anymore! :(

Thanksgiving Break (Better late than never!)

I know this post is a little late but I've been so busy with school so I'm catching up!

One of the greatest things about being a teacher is the long breaks we get for the holidays. This year we were so blessed to have a whole week off. It consisted of visiting with family, shopping, going to see Santa, my birthday, visiting friends, more shopping, cleaning, being lazy bums and going to Galveston to see the Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens.

The first weekend began wonderfully as my mom and Tom came into town to visit. They drove all the way from Alabama just to spend a few days with us. We spent most of the time just hanging out at our house so that Makayla could spend time with Nana and BudPaw. We also did some shopping because Nana and BudPaw think they always have to buy prizes for Mak! :) Since I wouldn't be home for Thanksgiving this year, mom decided to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for us and it was wonderful. We had turkey, ham, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, rolls (I think that's all) and Jeff made his yummy pecan pie! On the day that they had to leave, we decided to take Mak to see Santa. I was so afraid that she would scream but she was so good! She sat in Santa's lap like a big girl and the pictures turned out great. I was so sad to have to say good-bye to mom and Tom but I was so glad that they were able to come see us.

On Tuesday, Makayla and I decided to stay home since it was a rainy day. We stayed in our PJ's and were lazy all day. On Wednesday, Mak and I did some shopping and then we went to visit our friends, Christine, Abbie, and Caleb.




On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, our friends Kareen and Aaron invited us over for dinner. Mak played with Kai and Dorian and had a great time. We are so grateful to have such wonderful friends to spend Thanksgiving with since we weren't with family this year.
Friday was also spent at home cleaning and being lazy. On Saturday, Jeff, Mak and I headed to Galveston to go to Moody Gardens to see the Festival of Lights. We went down early so that we could go shopping on the strand and go out on the beach before going to see the lights. We had a great day just being together. The lights were pretty awesome too!

Dance Fever

Makayla's favorite thing to do these days is to dance. She will dance to any music on tv or the radio. She even dances to her toys that play music. Her favorite show to watch is So You Think You Can Dance! Here is a video of my little dancer. She's still in her pajamas but that didn't stop her!

Remembering Oct. 31st...one year ago

This Halloween was a lot different from last year. On this day last year, we brought our sweet baby girl home from the hospital. It was the happiest day of my life. I was finally able to bring her home after 5 LONG weeks of staying in the NICU. I got very emotional just thinking about this time last year. I know I keep saying this, but it's crazy how things can change in a year. I got a little teary eyed thinking back to this time last year and thinking about how little Mak was.

Leaving my baby girl in the hospital was the hardest thing that I have ever done. I cried and cried the day I left her there. It felt so strange coming home the first night without her. Somehow I felt as it were my fault that I couldn't bring her home with me. I know it was where she needed to be since she was born at 30 weeks but I wanted to take her home with me so badly. It just didn't seem fair to have to leave her there. I am so grateful for all of the nurses and doctors that took care of her when I couldn't be there. They will always hold a special place in my heart. They took such good care of her. I am also grateful that I was able to spend as much time with her as I wanted. I went up there every day and stayed and held her almost all day. I just couldn't seem to leave. When Jeff got off of work, he would come and we would stay until it was time to go home and go to bed. The nurses were so good about letting me be hands on and do most of the diaper changes. At first I was afraid because she was so tiny, but I caught on quickly. The nurses felt like family to me. They were always there for us. I also was able to hold her as she ate through her IV in the beginning. But most of all, I count my blessings that she was healthy. She wasn't sick at all, just too small. So many things could have gone wrong and she could have stayed in the hospital a lot longer than she did.

On October 30th, the doctor came in to check her as I was holding her. She checked her chart and asked me if we wanted to stay the night to do care by parent and then we could take her home the next day. I was so excited and scared all at once. That night we stayed in the care by parent room with Makayla and we didn't have any problems. We got up in the middle of the night and fed and changed her. She did a great job. The next day, we were able to leave. It was so surreal being able to walk out of the hospital with Makayla in our arms. October 31st will always be a very special day for us!

Makayla has come such a long way since that day, one year ago. She is now a healthy 1 year old and no one would even know that she was only 3 lbs 10 oz at birth. Here are some pictures of Makayla one year ago.

Zoo Boo

Makayla and I attended Zoo Boo with our friends Christine, Caleb and Abbie. We got up early to head to the Houston zoo. We met Christine and the kids so that we could follow each other there since I have only been there a couple of times and couldn't remember the way! :)

We got there at 9:00 and the parking lot was already getting packed! I'm so glad we decided to go early. Once we got inside, we stopped at the first booth that was set up to get the kiddos zoo boo tattoos. The girls got theirs on their cheek. It was so cute. Caleb got his on his hand.

We went to the children's petting zoo next. Makayla was NOT interested in touching any of the animals. I thought she might like them though, since she loves dogs, but she wanted nothing to do with them. We walked around and looked at lots of the animals. I think Makayla was more into watching the other kids that were there instead of looking at the animals. Next, we went to the pumpkin patch so the kids could pick their own pumpkin to decorate. While inside the pumpkin patch we decided to take some cute pictures of the kiddos sitting with the pumpkins.

We also saw a dance performance from the Aldine Dance Company. It was so neat because that's the school district that Christine and I work for. They were dressed up as animals and they performed to the song "thriller." It was awesome! Makayla really enjoyed the music and dancing since she loves to dance!

We spent a couple of hours looking at all of the animals. It started getting very crowded and we could hardly walk around. Once it got that crowded...it was time to go! We had a great time before everyone else in Houston decided to get there. :)

Here are some pictures from our fun day at the zoo!

It's FUN to be ONE!

Jeff, Makayla and I headed to sweet home Alabama on October 1st to celebrate Mak's first birthday with our family and friends. The plane ride was an adventure, as usual! Mak is just not into sitting still for 2 hours. She would rather get down and play. She cried and screamed most of the time (I apologize to the other passengers). However, we did survive. We arrived in Birmingham at 9:30 p.m. Grandpa Ken (Jeff's dad) was there waiting for us.

We spent all day Friday visiting family and just relaxing. We got together with all of my family Friday night, at Nana's house, for dinner. It was great having everyone in the same place. All of the kids had a great time playing together. And of course Nana had a present for Makayla to open!


Saturday was spent with my mom shopping for birthday party supplies. We went all over the place trying to find the perfect party decorations...and we DID! I was so tired when we were finished but I love going shopping with my mom no matter what we're shopping for. We always have a great time and I miss it so much.

Of course Saturday night was spent watching the Auburn game. We all went over to Jeff's dad's house. Dinner was great and so was the game! WAR EAGLE!

Sunday was the day of the BIG party! We got up and got everything together. We met my mom in Hueytown to get the few last things we needed and to get all of the balloons blown up. After that, we were off to Grandma Ann and Papa Bob's house to decorate for the party. We didn't really have a "theme" for the party but we had a pink and brown color scheme. Everything was pink and brown...tablecloths, plates, napkins, balloons, even the cake! Her dress was supposed to also be pink and brown but I couldn't find one I liked, so it was pink and black...complete with a beautiful hairbow from Aun JenJen. We started setting up the tables outside on the deck and of course...it starts raining!! The tables looked great so we decided to move them inside. We were still able to set up the food table on the screened in porch and it looked great! I was hoping it would stop raining but it just rained harder and harder. I was disappointed to have to move it indoors because I wanted the kids to be able to play outside, but it was still a wonderful party. We were so glad that so many of our family and friends were able to come! Although I was so sad that my sister was sick and couldn't make it.


Before eating, we decided to go ahead and open presents while everyone was still there. Makayla wasn't really into opening them, so Abby, Morgan and Reese were able to help us! Makayla wasn't sure what was going on but she loved all of her gifts! She got lots of toys and lots of clothes. We had 4 boxes full of toys to ship back to Texas! She got a push behind walker, a push behind baby doll stroller with a baby doll, books, a ball pit with balls, a cabbage patch doll, more baby dolls, puzzles, and lots of cute clothes. She got so many toys, I don't even remember them all. :) She also got a very special gift from her cousin, Abby...a picture that she colored just for Makayla!

After opening presents we ate the yummy hamburgers and hot dogs that Jeff's dad grilled. Next, it was cake time! The big cake was in the shape of a 1. Nana had it made at Edgar's Bakery. It was so cute and it tasted so good. She also had them make a little cake for Makayla that also had a 1 on it. We sang Happy Birthday to Makayla and as soon as I set the cake down in front of her, she picked it up and took a big bite out of it. It was so cute. She really did a number on that cake. She ate almost the whole thing. She had cake from head to toe! I think that was her favorite part.

After getting her cleaned up, it was time to start saying good-bye to some of our guests. It was still pouring down outside! Even though the rain changed our plans, we still had a great time and are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends! Makayla was so tired after her party. She fell asleep as soon as we got in the car to leave.

Monday, we spent the day relaxing and getting all packed up for the trip back to Texas. We headed out of Birmingham at around 5:00. Makayla did better on the trip back because she had her own seat. The plane was almost empty, so they let us use an extra seat so she would have more room to move around. We were so very tired when we got home but we had to get ready to go to work the next day.





Thank you to everyone that came to the party and made it a special first birthday for my sweet baby girl!!