Some Highlights from the Holidays

Here are some highlights (in pictures) from Winter Break, Christmas, and New Year's Eve.  Enjoy!

We went back to Pretend City.  We were hoping to meet up with cousins and friends, but it was so crowded, it was hard to find and visit with them.  Mckenzie and I had a fun time while we were there.  Her favorite area is still the farming area.  Mckenzie loves to dig for plants and then replant them.

We also went to Disneyland to see all the Christmas Decorations and ride the rides.  We went to Small World first.  As we were leaving the ride, we saw the end of the parade and saw the snow falling.  Disneyland is an even more magical time during this season.

Random picture in front of the Christmas tree

On Christmas Eve, we went to my Grandparent's house to see the entire family.  I loved Mckenzie's little outfit!

On Christmas morning, we opened up our presents in our pajamas at our house.  It was nice seeing Mckenzie excited about her gifts.  She didn't quite get the whole opening presents idea.  Once we started ripping the paper, she would continue.  Everything was excitement when she saw it!  Mckenzie would look at the new things and not want to put them down.  Needless to say, we still had some presents to open after Christmas was over!

After our presents at home, we went to my parent's house to open presents with them.  Mckenzie loved her new tricycle and kitchen set from Uncle Mike and Grandma and Grandpa.

Even later, we went over to Matt and Stephanie's house to do dinner with Doug's family.  It was a nice day full of family.  Mckenzie loved the dinner, especially the dessert.  It was "plate lickingly" good.  :)

The day after Christmas, we went to Doug's parent's house to do presents with Doug's family.  Tommy and Tracy also came with Christina and Nick. 

On New Year's Eve, family and friends came over to our house to celebrate.  Matt and Stephanie and the girls even stayed the night.  It was nice to be with family and friends together in our house for once.

Visiting Santa

We took Mckenzie to visit Santa at the mall on Friday night. She did not like waiting in line, so Doug stayed and we went exploring. She found some cars that you ride in and was very entertained climbing in and out and sitting in those while Daddy was waiting.

When it was finally our turn, Mckenzie kept trying to excape back to the cars. Silly girl! But once we started walking over to Santa, she pointed at him and said, "Santa," and couldn't take her eyes off him. I put her in his lap and left quickly, not knowing how she would like that. At first she was unsure; she didn't cry though. After a minute, she felt more comfortable and we even got some smiles from her!


On Saturday night, we went to a get together at Doug's parent's church. They had a Santa there too, so Mckenzie got to see Santa twice this weekend! This Santa came in pretty quickly. Mckenzie pointed and ran towards him with a big smile! She was a little hesitant to be on his lap, but she LOVED to watch as he was handing out the presents! She got a broom from Santa that she had fun playing with.

Halloween Pics!

OK, I know these are late, but better late than never, right? We had a lot of events happening around Halloween. We visited the pumpkin patch, which you saw in the previous post. We also went to Disneyland's Mickey's Trick or Treat Party. On Halloween Day we carved our FIRST pumpkin then we headed over to Sydney's birthday party in costume. Mommy and Daddy even dressed up. Daddy was a chick magnet and Mommy was The Cat in the Hat! After a fun day at Sydney's party, we came back to our house and did some trick or treating! Mckenzie's real costume was an elephant, but she did wear her pumpkin costume to some events because it was cooler!

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

Last Saturday we went to the Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch with Robert, Katherine, and Kyra. We had a great time with our family and theirs. The Pumpkin Patch had tons of pumpkins, cute displays, a corn maze, a haunted hotel, John Deer Tractor racing, pony rides, hay rides, and of course the train. We got lots of cute pictures with Mckenzie checking out all the pumpkins. I think she wanted to touch every pumpkin there! :)

We let her pick out a pumpkin. She picked up her pumpkin and walked around with it for a while. We plan on carving the pumpkin later, so I will post pictures of it when we do.

We went through the corn maze and haunted hotel. My friend, Holly, from work, was leaving as we got there and they gave us their train tickets. Katherine, Kyra, Mckenzie, and I all went on the train. It was a long wait, and Mckenzie surely was not acting like she was happy, but we all went on that train anyway. Kyra loved the train.

Here are some pictures from the day...

Ferber Method Take 2

Tonight was EVEN better!

We went through our new bedtime routine. I love reading with Mckenzie before bed. She actually lets me read the book to her! She just smiles and looks at everything I am pointing out to her. I think I am loving this new bedtime routine as much as she is! Here is how the night went...
8:01 - I left the room. Little crying and a bunch of whining was heard!
8:08 - I went back in. I didn't know if I should have or not. Mckenzie was not crying or anything. She was only standing in her crib. I thought I should make her feel comfortable.
8:10 - I left the room. She screamed as soon as I left, but stopped by the time I made it back into my room.
8:14 - She was laying down and asleep. Wahoo!

Oh, just wanted to add that last night she slept through the night without even waking up once! I hope it continues!

We are being Ferberized!

Mckenzie has been a bear at night! She has been refusing to sleep, screaming at the top of her lungs. Last night she didn't go to sleep until after 12 - I don't really know when because I was SO flippin tired!

So today I read up on the Ferber Method. I tried to have dinner earlier because that seems to be what she has been wanting lately. At about 6:45 Mckenzie was showing signs that she was tired. I took her upstairs and gave her a bath. After her PJ's, I took her into my room and gave her a bottle of milk. When she drank half of it, she started wanting to play. I then took her into her room and rocked her as she finished her bottle. After that was finished, we brushed her teeth and I read two stories to her. We cuddled a bit and then I put her in her crib. Then the wild rumpus began...

7:49 - I left the room
7:54 - I went back in again to comfort. That 5 minutes was the LONGEST in my life. I wanted to go in there and pick her up and hug her and love her.
7:56 - I left the room again
8:01 - She layed down and stopped crying for about 10 seconds - That SO gave me hope that this would work! Thank you for that little message, God!
8:06 - Went back into the room to comfort.
8:08 - I left the room again
8:15 - Layed down and stopped crying again, but soon got back up
8:17 - Layed down with no crying - FOR THE NIGHT! Wahoo!

My New Smilebox Creation

I LOVE to make these! They are super easy and a fun way to send pictures to friends and relatives. Check out the new pictures of Mckenzie's adventures.

Make a Smilebox photobook