Picture crazy!

Our family is picture crazy! Apparently we get new family pictures all the time! I think the only time I post pictures is when we get family ones done! So sad!

It helps when you have an amazing sister who has an amazing talent that LOVES to take pictures of your family!

We braved the cold and the rain yesterday to get some family pictures. We got them and they are amazing!

Here they are in no particular order. Because lets face it.... That is way to much effort with this many pictures to upload!

I tried to upload them by photo bucket but for some reason it wouldn't let me.

So here they are....... small! ( I guess you can click on them to make them bigger.)

This one has to have an explanation! We were trying to get her to be happy so we were asking her what she was getting for Christmas.... "Hmmmm" She had to think about it as she was listing off everything she wanted!

My favorite picture ever!!

Gotta love the face!

She is Just a baby!

Makenna rolled over from back to front on Sunday! I couldn't quite believe it and I am still having a little difficulty with it!

She is still that helpless baby I brought home from the hospital she cant be doing these things yet.......

A Good Day!

I have had a really hard week! Its rough having someone to depend on all day and then having to do it all by myself all day. Yesterday and the day before were really good days! Thanks to my sisters and their wonderful advice I have figured a few things out!

With Makenna it feels like I am completely starting from scratch! I know that every child is different and I expected that. I did not expect to have everything I learned with Riley to be completely thrown out the window! This is a totally and completely different experience.

Riley was an extremely patient baby. She needed to be, she had to be strong for all the crap I was going through after I had her. It was rough on me and she was the perfect baby for all of that! She was patient and happy and content almost all of the time. Makenna, however, is not! She knows I am capable and she is pushing me to my limits. Always wanted to be held, entertained, or fed. I am sure there is a permanent butt imprint on the chair now. I am there all day!

The past couple days have been great and I almost have it figured out! I have figured out that she isn't too young to let her cry a little to put herself to bed and that the floor is good for her!

I HAVE MY SANITY BACK!

With Some great naps with me not holding her I have more opportunities to give Riley attention that she NEEDS from her mommy! Her behavior has improved quite a bit! We aren't all the way there but we are starting to figure it out!

There are more happy times in our house now! It is amazing how everything can change in a couple days!

It was really my fault, I realized, not Makennas. I was being clingy and not really wanting to put her down! I thought I wasn't ready to give it all up. I wasn't ready to do what I needed to do and I was putting off some of the blame on Mak but when it came to my sanity and Riley's attention I figured out that it was me with the problem! I needed it, Riley needed it and Dale needed it. He needed a happy wife to come home to, to talk to on his lunch break. Not a wife that had lost it all! I am not the only one that needed support in this strange transition!

I wont say that Mak isn't as strong willed as I thought, because BOY IS SHE EVER!!! She LOVES to be held and entertained ALL THE TIME! The thing is that both of us kind of need to find that there are other wonderful ways to get and give the affection that is needed other than constantly being held and cuddled! We still have some work to do in that area but we are working on it!

I am SOOOOOOO unbelievably grateful for the constant support Dale has given me the past three months but I think I depended on him way to much and became incapable when he left me! I needed to know I COULD do it by myself during the week. He continues to give me support but not the kind I was used to! On his hours off on the weekend he really does step up and help me out an unbelievable amount! I could not survive without him!

Are you kidding me?

Today has officially beaten out last Thursday as the worst day of my life! I need some serious help if I am gonna make it through the next couple weeks with both my children's, let alone mine, heads attached!

As if both the girls being ridiculously difficult today wasn't enough... My head is killing me, (probably from the crying) my eyes are burning, (again the crying) My throat is killing me, (not from the crying) and I feel really nauseated and every part of my body feels like it is bruised!

I DO NOT need the flu right now.... We cant afford the flu! My baby CANT get the flu. If I get it Riley will get it then Dale will get it and then Mak will get it from someone!

I need help!

I need a nap!

I need someone to tell me how to get my baby to fall asleep during the day and get her be asleep for longer than 10 minutes somewhere other than my arms!

Most of all I need Dale to be finished with school so I don't have to do this for the next never ending years!

Spit

I have spit making its way all over my hand and down my arm! Mak is loving getting things in her mouth and biting! She is 13 weeks... Could she really be teething already?! Too soon....

Why?

I just payed some hospital bills and I am more stressed out now than I was before I started! How is that possible??

.............

I am not a fan of today. Today is the day Dale has to head back to work after his 3 month paternity leave. He is still in school for 3 more weeks so that means that I wont see him from 7 in the morning until 10:30 at night!

Its the first day and it could not be more horrible! The girls woke up early so I didn't get hardly any sleep, Mak wont stay asleep which means that I am confined to the couch feeding her and Riley wont listen to anything I say!

I feel bad for her because she wont ever see her daddy! His schedule is like this Tuesday through Friday! I seriously am crying thinking about all this! I don't know how many times I have already done this to myself today! I have some separation issues.....

This would be so much easier with Dale here! He can get Mak to sleep and stay asleep and I cant. He was always so good at getting Riley lunch on time and I cant do that because Makenna is always eating or NOT sleeping. Riley is getting NO attention because i am to busy catering to the always needing to be held Makenna.

I don't think this arrangement is going to work out for anybody here! I am so close to just telling Dale to forget his job and just go to school all day! At least he will be able to be home in the afternoons and I would get some sort of sanity during the day!

This is just the first day........

What makes me happy......

I LOVE sitting here at the computer holding Makenna and just listening to her coo like crazy!!!!!! It is the most adorable thing ever!

Also watching Riley Bug Play with her over loved stuffed piggy. Putting him in the swing swinging him with her hands giving him a bink and loving him up like he is her baby!

Also....Having to type this with one hand!

I am glad I get to stay at home!!!

Mak Attack!

I realized that I haven't done an update about Mak! I need to do it for myself before I forget it all!

Mak is THE CHUNK! She FEEDS all day! I said it...... She doesn't just eat, she feeds...Its a constant! People don't really believe me that almost all the time if she is awake she is eating! She might be happy for 20 minutes after eating a 4oz bottle but that could be the longest she goes with out having a bottle in her mouth! I think ONCE we got a good hour out of her....ONCE!

With that being said, her thighs are to die for! I could eat them all day! Roll after roll! And of course her cheeks are amazing as well! I kiss those non stop!

At her first doctors appointment after she was born her doctor called her his Miracle baby because she had gained all off the weight she lost after birth plus quite a bit more! At her check up appointments She has been in the 75th percentile for weight, and height. At her last appointment she weighed Just over 12lbs! We were so excited! With Riley we didn't see that weight for a while! Mak at just 11 weeks old weighs HALF of what Riley weighs!

Mak is quite the high maintenance baby! Riley was so different. Riley loved to be left alone she could have cared less if someone was holding her. I could get everything done that I needed. I would just put her in her bouncer and talk to her while I did my "jobs." Mak is the COMPLETE opposite! She loves and needs to be held ALL THE TIME! We really can get nothing done! Unless she is sleeping but even then we have to watch her amazingly close because Riley is a hawk and will attack at the first sign of being alone! She hates that Mak has to sleep and will do anything to stop it! The only way we can get Mak to not be held and be happy is if we lay her on the floor on her back with a boppy under her head while we hover over her and talk to her! She loves it! She gets so happy she gives us the biggest smiles and will talk like crazy! Well, to Dale at least! She doesn't talk to me all that much but I do get lots of smiles! She could talk forever to Dale! She is SUCH a Daddy's little girl!

She is sleeping through the night now! AMAZING! She falls asleep for good at about 10:30 every night and then will wake up at around 8 every morning! Sometimes we have to get up with her at 6 feed her a couple ounces and she will fall right back to sleep! During the day is a different story! She will sleep for a few hours at a time if she is in her swing but during the day she WILL NOT sleep in her bed! If we get her drowsy we can put her in the swing and she will fall asleep pretty quickly with it rocking her. If we even try to get her to sleep ourselves then put her in the bed she will wake up 5 minutes later! We really don't try that any more.

Since Makennas first tries at rolling over she does it every few days! Last night she rolled over three times in a row and after that didn't want to do it anymore! She is figuring out her hands pretty well and has started to reach for things! She grabbed one of her rattles out of my hand the other day and brought it to her mouth! It is very exciting! I forgot about all the little things that were so exciting to watch happen with Riley! All the little things that seem just so little are huge for a baby and are so exciting to watch her learn how to do!

Riley loves her Mak! Riley loves now that Mak will smile at her if she can just handle to not kiss her for 2 seconds and just talk to her from a comfortable distance! She gets so excited! Riley has boundary issues and Mak does not like it when Riley gets in her face but if she stays back both girls are really happy!

We love Makenna and the role she plays in our life and we couldn't be happier!

Trick or Treat!!

We had a lot of fun this Halloween! We had a lot to do an unfortunately didn't get to do all of it but we got all the really fun stuff done!! The day before Halloween we went to Jamie's house to get the girls pictures in their Halloween costumes. Riley was all cheese!! When Jamie takes pictures she will not stop smiling for her!! She was happy to do all we wanted her to do! Even Mak was really cooperative! We got some amazing smiles out of her!

Every time Riley puts on her costume she has to say "Super hero to the rescue!!" and put her arm up in the air like she was flying! I could have heard that all day. (and I pretty much did!) She wanted to wear her costume everyday from the day we bought it! When we went to the store to buy her Snow White costume we had it all picked out and then Riley saw the wonder woman costume and there was no looking back! I couldn't have been more happy!! And neither could she!

When we went to go get pictures taken Brittany brought Cayden and Addie along and we got the CUTEST pictures of them!!

Cayden was such a big help and was brave enough to hold Mak to get a cute group shot!!

These two girls get along so well and are SOO cute together!! They love each other to death!

They are the funniest group of kids! The second Dale said "Make funny faces!" they knew EXACTLY what to do!! They are the cutest group of superheroes EVER!!

Then there is our Makenna... She has the BEST smiles I have ever seen!!!!! every time i see this smile i giggle a little! I just cant help it! She was the cutest kitty there was this Halloween and for all Halloweens to come!

The night of Halloween we went to Mom and Dad Whipple's ward trunk or treat! Its always a lot of fun. We make sure we go every year! This year they had a huge bouncy gym blow up slide! (I really cant think of what they are called!) For the first little bit Dad Whipple was stuck by the slide while he watched Riley slide over and over and over! We were able to pull her away for a bit but then it was right back to the slide! It was not fun when we had to leave but she was fine once we were able to go trick or treating!

Dale let me have fun again this year and we got all dressed up as pirates!

Aren't we so cute?!?! Ha ha

We cut the trick or treating a little this year and pretty much just went to the houses of people we knew so we didn't end up walking 5 miles but Riley still got LOADS of candy which Dale and I are really enjoying ;) It was really fun to have Riley really understand what was going on and to have as much fun dressing up as we did! I cant wait until Mak understands everything and can walk around with Riley and have fun doing everything!