and she ROLLS!!!

Just one day shy of her 4-month birthday, Little Miss Macy showed off her skills by rolling over for Grandpa! 

YAY Macy!!  We are SOOOO Proud of you  :-)

She has "mastered" both back to front and front to back!  Okay, so she has a ways to go before achieving "master" levels, but hey, SHE DID IT.  She had previously, with a LOT of effort, flipped from her back to her front, but that dang arm would always get in her way...

Now, again with a lot of work, she is able to at least move that arm and be 100% on her tummy...plus she was really holding her head up well yesterday.  Not as "wobbly" as usual.  :-)

It is sooo hilarious to watch her try to flip from her tummy...her heels shoot straight up in the air as though she is attempting a hand stand...she'll have six-pack abs in no time if she keeps this up...swimsuit season, here comes Macy!!

Am I sad that I missed this "first"?  :-(  Not really.  I accepted and am at peace with the fact that I may be missing out on some of her "firsts".  One of the sacrifices that every working mom makes, it was a decision I made and I have to be ok with it.  I am, however, thrilled that my dad was there to experience and celebrate it.  Hearing his play-by-play was about as good as actually being there!

We haven't got the roll-over on video yet...but here's a clip of her telling me all about her & Grandpa's daily adventures...

Quite the story-teller...you can't believe everything that comes out of her mouth!

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In other news, McKenzie was pretty excited to get a visit from "The Donut Fairy" this morning.  A sweet. yummy. delicious delight was hiding in her stuffed animal basket this morning.  (Silly Grandpa Lee - but don't tell Kenzie, she's convinced that the donut fairy came because she has been such a good girl lately - so much for our trend of healthy eating - oh well, what'r ya gonna do?).

:-)

3 Babies in 3 Days Tour

I can NOT believe this baby boom! So many people having babies...makes you wonder what the heck was going on 9 months ago...hehe

Our baby tour started out by visiting Brian and Heidi's newest addition on Saturday. Meet Nathaniel, he is about 8 days old in these pics, I believe :-)

Quite the charmer isn't he? He was sleeping so peacefully my entire visit...Macy on the other hand was sort of a crabby patty :-( I think she liked him and was playing "hard to get". Plus, her tummy wasn't quite as full as she would have liked...

Here she puckers up and tries to go in for a kiss, but Nathaniel is too quick and turns his head before she could get her smooch in...maybe next time girlie :-)

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The next day (Sunday) we ventured out to Lincoln to meet McKenzie & Macy's newest baby cousin Harrison Michael Masin (born to Tod, Jessica and big brother Sam).

Harrison was born 8 days prior. He decided he wanted to enter the world a little earlier than planned, at only 34 weeks old. He spent his first 9 days of life in the St. Elizabeth NICU, where the nurses and doctors took wonderful care of this new little guy. After being upgraded to a "room with a view" a couple days ago, and finally able to lose all those IV's, tubes and monitors, we just learned that he also got to go HOME today! wow, AMAZING! This teeny tiny precious baby has already been through SOO much in his short little life, but now, hopefully he can just put all of that behind him and get on with his new big adventure!

B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L!!!

Momma getting a couple shots of her own :-) Better get used to it buddy...you're just too cute not to capture as many blessed MOMENTS as possible :-)

Jessica, you LOOK amazing! We are so glad you finally got to bring your prince home today. He is SOO lucky to have such wonderful, caring parents...not to mention a pretty cool big bro in (2 yr old) Sam!

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This morning, the girls and I took a two hour road trip up north to Hubbard, NE where my BFF from college, Jill, had a brand new bubbly baby girl (about 10 days ago)...

meet Isabella:

Proud big sisters (that cute curly blonde haired, blue eyed little angel is big sister MaKenna).

checkin' each other out.

Macy and Isabella chit chatin' with McKenzie

okay...so the baby girls were WIDE awake and playful (and you know how RARE that can be with a 10 day old)...so I HAD to take a FEW more pictures...I couldn't resist, that little Isabella was just TOOO cute! :-)

"our tummies are full...our diapers are dry...life is good today"

Jill & Rob...congratulations on welcoming your precious Isabella to the world, you two make beautiful babies :-)

I was trying to get some pics of McKenzie and MaKenna...

but as you can see...(almost) 2 and (almost) 3 year old's do NOT sit still for very long...places to go, people to see.

Oh and it was SOOO funny...the girls got along really well aside from the fact that MaKenna kept telling McKenzie to "Go Away". At one point she said "Go Away Poop Monkey". McKenzie replied, "I not poop monkey, I Kenzie", you POOP!. Her little feelings were hurt, but it didn't take long for her to "talk back". way to go girl, stick up for yourself. haha :-) too funny! Sorry Jill, I had to share!

Your little Kenna is quite the "ball of energy"...what a doll!
btw - I am sad that I did not a pic of the two of us together...tear...you sure do look great for having given birth to a baby only 10 short days ago!

All 3 of the new mommas I visited looked great, Heidi, Jill & Jessica...congrats!!! :-)

Pretty Pink Tree

Pretty Pink Tree...Oh how I Love Thee...

This tree in front of our house blooms BRIGHT, BEAUTIFUL PINK flowers every Spring!  We never know how long the flower's will stick around, so we thought we better take some pictures to remember them before the ugly Nebraska wind comes and blows them away   :-(

 yep, that's Joe mowin' in the background...mmm...LOVE the smell of fresh cut grass!

McKenzie sure does love that porch swing...best $15 Kids 'R' Us investment we've ever made! 

Giving sissy some smooches

 busted   :-)

oh...so now you're too cool and are going to walk away?

This picture is about the TREE...but I thought I'd get the girls in the shot too, why not?

oh and look, what do ya know...we have a bunch of beautiful Tulips blooming as well!!  :-)  Awesome  I do not recall  these from last year...I do remember Toby EATING the heads off of these flowers before we could have a chance to see what they were...nice huh?  I am certain that these tulips were special delivered straight from Holland.  :-)   as referenced in this earlier post - read Welcome to Holland Poem at bottom

they smell...pretty?

We have been enjoying the fruits of this pretty tree for almost 2 weeks now...yippee!  I also love the view of this tree from inside McKenzie's room...it goes great with her colorful "daisy" decor  :-)

Distinguished Family 2010 - MLC

As most of you know, Joe and I both attended Midland Lutheran College. It's a small, private, NAIA school in Fremont, NE. Due the fact that several other immediate family members also attended MLC and I suppose since we all put our Midland degrees to fairly good use, the college has awarded "The Harnisch Family" with an exciting honor.

We are THE DISTINGUISHED FAMILY of 2010.

pretty cool huh?!? :)

Not sure what that means exactly, we'll find out more at a special Alumni banquet tomorrow :-)

here's a link to a little more info about tomorrow's event Alumni Achievement Awards

All of us graduated from Midland, with the exception of Bethany (Concordia) & Tod (UNL)... This photo was taken about 3&1/2 yrs ago...McKenzie was cooking in my tummy when this shot was taken...but shhhh, don't tell, it was still a secret to the family. We spilled the beans to everyone later that afternoon!!! What a great day that was!!

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A little more Midland chat: Joe wooed me at a lovely Kappa Phi fraternity (St. Paddy's) mixer with my sorority, Pi Epsilon. I was a Sophomore. It was, I guess you could say "love at first sight" and we've been living the "dream" ever since :-) hehe

We were both very active and participated in several academic as well as social clubs. I was a Journalism major with emphasis' in Broadcasting, Advertising and PR.

While attending Midland, I recall the many late nights (several over-nighters) spent up in, my second home, the J-Lab while finishing stories for the paper or editing and producing videos/news stories for MLC on the AIR. FUN TIMES!!! I am proud to have been a part of Midland's (once great) Journalism department. I respected and very much appreciated the guidance of my Journalism professors, Doug McAllister, Dr. Joyce Winfield and Barry Anderson. All of them were instrumental in helping me find my way through college and figure out what I wanted to do upon graduation. They all truly cared!

It was also an honor being a member of the Midland Lady Warrior Basketball team for some of my college days. I learned a lot in the time that I played, both on the court and off the court. Coach Bracker is a great coach and a wonderful role model. Most of all, and the part that sticks with me the most - I treasure the lifelong friendships I formed with my many college girl friends. We have all moved away and have started families of our own, but we still keep in touch, we have a bond that will never be broken. We have so many great sorority & basketball memories! I also have several wonderful memories of living off campus in the "Duece House" with my 5 closest Pi Ep sisters :-)

Oh MAN those were the GOOD 'OLE Days!!!!
a little side note: I am soooo glad that social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, etc did not exist when we were in school, I/we certainly do NOT need any old photos and crazy stories coming back to haunt us...it was all good, we were responsible college kids and all, but, we all sure have grown up A LOT since then :-)

I would not change a SINGLE thing about my college experience...sure, along with the fun times there were many challenges and struggles, but overcoming those obstacles has made me a stronger person and has helped define who I am today.

Arizona Diamondbacks!

We also went to an Arizona Diamondbacks game.  We hopped on a bus with 20 other HFMA folks and headed downtown to the stadium...what a BEAUTIFUL night for baseball!!

Me, Gretchen & Jen getting ready to head into the stadium.

Doug, Joe and I sporting the Rally caps...the D-Backs could not however catch up with the St. Louis Cardinals...  :-(

Our group!  It was fun that we were all able to sit together...fun times, fun times...

NBA Playoff game

While in Phoenix, we attended our first ever NBA Playoffs Game. 

It was a great game right up until the end...sadly the Phoenix Suns lost to the Portland Trailblazers.

We snagged some awesome seats...just 10 rows up from the floor!

Joe had to, of course, pose for a pic with the Sun's Dancers...okay, so maybe it was more  my idea, but I'm glad he played along  :-)