Butterfly Birthday

Another Birthday on the books for McKenzie! Thanks to all of our amazing family members for being a part of McKenzie big celebration...she is so blessed!

She told all of us that she wanted a butterfly cake. Ask and you shall receive...She loved it...it's made of cupcakes :-)

Cheeeeese

She is still holding her party favors from Aunt Bethany's baby shower, which was right before her big party.

The twins next door let us borrow their adorable lemonade stand for our party...Thanks Fast Family...all the kiddos had a lot of fun with it :-)

McKenzie pouring cousin Anna a drink

All of the girls at the party got their own custom nail polish. The labels say "McKenzie's 3!! June 4th, 2010" and there are 2 butterflys :-)

several different colors for everyone to choose from :-)

Daddy made a little highlight video with music "Here comes the Sun". Here the girls are viewing it on the computer as McKenzie commentates :-)

Anna guarding the gifts!

Cousin Danielle pouring Brook some lemonade...whoa...
Oh and Brook us quite the business man. I asked him how much for a cup. He confidently told me $40. He also said "you don't get any until you pay $40).! Ha. :)

Me and my big 3 year old posing for a pic (or as Ja said "Manufacturing a smile").

Everyone watching McKenzie open her gifts...Grandma has Macy OUT!

McKenzie LOVED her bug catching supplies...she's a "Sid the Science Kid" fan, so she totally knew what to do with her magnifying glass...I love Sam's expression in this picture :-)

CAKE TIME!

Make a wish...Blow out your candles...

Thanks Shelly for videotaping the moment for us :-)

Exploring the cake with her magnifying glass...

What a goof!

Me and my poppa out on the porch

Me, Macy and my beautiful sisters :-)

Aunt Heather wanted to (at Macy's expense) have a little fun with the boas. CUUUUTE!!

okay, so it was MY idea to gather ALL the grandkiddos (minus Colton) up for a cousin picture...

...karma set in...of course, my child would be the one who would NOT cooperate :-(

For some reason McKenzie wanted NOTHING to do with this group shot!

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to"

I like this shot...but we did lose Mason...shoot! :-) oh and check out Dalton's face, too funny. tell us how you really feel buddy! ha!

this is ironic...the fire chiefs wife (my sister Keri) would be the one to park illegally...not only on the wrong side of the road (see sign), but in front of a fire hydrant no less. We found it especially fitting that the Yukon has a fire union sticker on the back...nice shot Chad. Aren't you proud Dan.

Anna and McKenzie searching for Ants.

Look Anna, I found one!!! She stepped on it a couple seconds late. :-(

So I had a few extra minutes before the party and decided to make labels for all of the food dishes and beverages. Tied them all into the Butterfly party theme :-)

Here are just a few...I think I made a total of 13 labels (I know I'm a dork).

MMMM....fresh asparagus. I love this time of year!!

Thanks again to all of my wonderful family for helping us celebrate McKenzie's 3 year birthday, you all mean the world to us! It would not have been the same without each and every one of you!!
After everyone left I went inside to access the damage...yikes! It looked as though World War 4 took place in my living room. oh and the family room, kitchen, dining room as well as front office. seriously!! good times - good times :-)
It was a busy weekend...aside from some other activities, McEvoy's Car Counting party in Waterloo, college friend's Bachelorette party, Easton's Memorial event/fundraiser, Bethany's "Benson" baby shower, our house also played host to my friend Al's wedding shower the day before and we get to do it again next week for Bethany's "Harnisch" baby shower. Bring it on!! :-)

final note before I head up to bed...our volleyball team (Pete's Pucca Posse) were champs tonight, winning the season. Oh yeah, free t-shirts, pizza and beer for us baby! woot-woot!

Birthday Breakfast

SHE's 3!!
McKenzie and I went to Mimi's for her Birthday Breakfast...and Daddy skipped out of the office to join us for a bit as well :-) All the while Grandpa hung out with Little Macy on the porch, beautiful morning! (not so beautiful afternoon - it was a hot/sticky day yesterday).
McKenzie - Daddy and and I are so proud of the big girl you have become. What a good helper you are too (most of the time). You are so smart (we can't get nothin' by you). You can count to 20 (okay so sometime's you forget the number 15, but hey, it counts). You have known your alphabet for a long time now (and I will always sing with you "next time", thanks for asking). I am impressed with, and Macy loves, all the nursery rhymes you sing and fairy tales you recite. Aside from these "memorized" things, I mostly love listening to your imagination at work. You are quite the story teller. Oh the things that come out of toddler's mouths. Where do you get this stuff?? :-) One of the biggest feats of your "2's" is potty-training! Whoo-hoo! Thank the Lord, the girl wears "big girl panties". Sure, there will still be a few accidents here & there...but I suppose that's expected...all in all WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU SWEETHEART!!

We didn't have a candle, but we did have a CRAYON! Even though you thought this was silly, you still pretended it was a candle and "blew" it out :-) Thanks for for playing along.

mmmm Mimi's blueberry muffins!

All the kid wants is MILK...no Milk makes for a very unhappy girl (and daddy).

stompin' around in the puddles (hey, it's your birthday and you can STOMP if you want to).

who needs presents when you've got 100% all natural rain puddles. I think we still have the receipt, not too late to return those expensive birthday gifts :-)

My Big Girl

McKenzie has been talking about her June Birthday Party for several months now. She's got pretty big expectations, I sure do hope I don't let her down. She's been inviting (and uninviting) people everyday. Sadly, she uses it as a negotiation tool with me. "you no come my party mom!" tear. One day we were in the car and she asked me "We go to my birthday Party now"? and I said "no, not yet, Your parties in June". "oh" she said "then we better go find it"! When we got home, she asked Grandpa where June is? She was searching all around the house. Grandpa was puzzled at first, but it didn't take him long to start playing along....long story short, he somehow convinced McKenzie that her cousin Ally TOOK HER JUNE! as she and Brook had stopped by the house earlier that day :-( oh, was she mad! "We tell her mommy" she scourned. Now that Ally had her big 2 year party a couple weeks ago, McKenzie now has her "june" back. We are looking forward to her big 'ole "Butterfly Birthday" Party tomorrow :-) Complete with butterfly cupcakes (per her request).

Gotta get the house cleaned up for my college friend Al's wedding shower I am hosting today...then we can make way for the 3 year old party!!! Let's get it started :-)

A sneak peak

I just HAAAD to share a sneak peak from Little Miss Macy's recent photoshoot (for the ODSPN calendar).

Here are a few of my favorite proofs :-)

copyright: Regal Photography

Grandma Lee said she likes this one best.

Baby Therapy & ODSPN photoshoot

I was having a very rough day yesterday. I was super busy at work and just could not seem to focus. I was having a bit of an anxiety attack as I just could not seem to focus on one task at a time, I was extremely overwhelmed and kept getting interrupted. It was just one thing after another! I feel as though I am normally good at multi-tasking, I love people, and I love challenges. All-in-all, pretty good under pressure....But not yesterday, I just wanted to close the door to my office, unplug the phone and be unresponsive to all emails. AAAAGGGGHHHHH help me!!!! I could not manage my emotions and every little thing pushed me over the edge and made me cry. Yes, I cried. I cried over STUPID nothings! It was a kind of "hyperventilation cry"...you know the one. I suppose we are all entitled to bad days huh? My morning got worse once I realized I had forgot my breast pump at home. SWEET. :-( Instead of the 12 minute break, I now needed to leave the office and go home. I did not seem to think I had time for this. This was not scheduled in my outlook calendar...STRESS!

In hind sight this was the best thing that could have happened. Everything happens for a reason. I did not know it at the time. But I think this was God's way of telling me I needed a break. I needed to leave the office for a short while and get my head back on straight.
I arrived home to Grandpa and Macy rocking out to some country tunes in the front office. This is their special place! They hang out either here or on the front porch just about all day long!

The "therapy session" started a few minutes later. I nursed Macy and it was the MOST calming moment. No therapist or Yoga instructor could have brought me to this place of peace. It was pure ZEN. All of the sudden my head was clear and I knew at that moment that I did not need to worry or feel anxious anymore. I also really appreciated the chat with my dad. He knew just the right things to say to get me grounded (sometimes a girl jsut needs her daddy)...I needed that. All was well for the rest of the day.

****
Oh and speaking of the rest of the day. Macy was in a photoshoot last night. Yes a photoshoot for ODSPN (Omaha Down Syndrome Parents Network)! We are putting together a high quality FANCY calendar to raise money for our mom's group. Vollen's Grandpa, Russ Lindemann (owner of Regal Photography) has taken on the task of capturing all of the kiddos, teens and babies who all share this common bond. That extra special chromosone. Macy did great (as well as a 5 month old could be anyway) there were some cute smiley shots! :-) We also managed to get a great little group shot of Macy with her buddies, Vollen, Brady, Tessa and Wesley. All five of them were sitting still and smiling big for the camera...how the heck we managed to get 5 little's under the age of two to cooperate we'll never know...Whoo-hoo. Can't wait to see how the photos of all the kids turned out.
Thanks again to Russ for donating your professional services.

SOOOO, to all my blogger friends out there, let me know if you want an adorable, melt your heart kind of a calendar that goes toward a good cause...they are going to be $15 each. I'd say that's a steal :-)

below are some pics:

Wesley getting ready for his big shoot (yep, I do believe that's hair gel) All out baby! And gotta love the jean jacket, he's pimpin'

yes I am that person...that person who takes pictures of people taking pictures. ha!

Little man Brady...boy this kiddo's got some personality. What a DOLL!! His expressions are priceless :-) Momma Jen fixing his collar.

Jessie trying to get Wesley positioned comfortably.

Here's a sideline shot of the "group shot" I'm sure Russ got several good ones of this. It was especially adorable when Brady and Vollen started hugging (well, not sure sure if you could actually call it hugging, it was more like a choke hold that Brady had Vollen in) Boys :-) oh and don't you just love baby Tessa's yellow flower, it matches Macy's pink flower...LOVE IT! :-)

Hot Air Balloons!!!

So Monday night. We just got home from the lake. The cars unloaded. I was just starting to unpack the bags and cooler. Dinner's cookin'. I had not yet cleaned the sand off of McKenzie. And the phone rings. It's Grandma Lee...she tells me that 5 vehicles just pulled up on her street...you know what that means? We've got about 15 minutes until lift off. At first I was thinking uggggh :-( NOOO I am pooped from a long weekend and I am seriously about 10 minutes away from clean, calm & cuddly girls. I wanted to call it a night. After about 4 seconds of deliberations, what did we do?? We threw the girls in the car, grabbed the burgers off the grill. turned off the stove, momma's Brussels sprouts can wait...Within 4 minutes we were hanging out in Grandma and Grandpa's front yard waiting for the Hot Air Balloons take off!!!

There they are!

And we wait.

Still waiting patiently as several neighbors gather around to view the spectacular event as well.

I must say that we've got the BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE

FRONT ROW VIEW from G & G Lee's front yard! As you can see I am a hot mess, still in my lake clothes, but who cares right? both the girls are still in their swimsuits...check out Macy's bikini :-)

Aww sweet big sister tells little sister all about the big balloons.

You see this is not her first time watching the balloons take off from the field across the street.

Yay, "look Grandpa, its getting bigger and higher"!

"fly. fly. high in the SKY"!

uh oh it's a little out of control...keep 'er steady.

There ya go.

Wait for it...

And we've got LIFT OFF!!!!!!

"Look Mommy, it's going high in the sky!" :-)

Heaven...my child is in heaven.

The Sun is beaming! What a gorgeous night for hot air balloons!

Grandpa and McKenzie go in for a closer look.

Wow, what a LUCKY girl...one of the "balloon guys" walked over and gave McKenzie a balloon. That was soo very sweet, she was smiling from ear to ear...she thought that was pretty special indeed.

I love this silhouette shot of Grandpa and Kenzie

tellin' stories. Grandpa got to go up in a balloon last year. The pictures he took from up in the sky were amazing. I think it would be SOOOO fun to take McKenzie up for a ride someday. Someday soon perhaps :-)

okay, so perhaps I did not NEEED to take and actually post 30 photos, but I was having a hard time choosing the ones I liked best...I like them all...so there...it's my blog and I can do what I want to! hehe :-)

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for alerting us to the balloon arrivals. Consider us always "ON CALL" when it comes to Hot Air Balloon takeoffs. :-) Until next time...