Nice visit with Great Grandpa & Grandma

The snowy roads have cleared and school is back in session.  And thank goodness for that.  Macy and I were able to run some productive errands this morning while McKenzie was at school for a couple hours.
We had a little visit with our pediatrician.  I am happy to report that Macy's weight gain is back on the UPSWING.  She weighed in at 14lbs 6 oz this morning, which was almost a full pound heavier than a month ago.  woot woot.  keep it up girlfriend.  Now if only you'd start giving whole milk a chance - she's turned into quite the little "breast-milk snob" - seems we have another "Battle of the  Bottle" on our hands (that's a whole 'nother post  :-(  )

After pre-school me and the girls ventured across town to visit Great Grandpa & Great Grandma Salisbury.  They are two of a lucky few who actually have living "Great" grandparents, for this we are grateful.
I do think of our others of whom I wish were still here with us today.  Oh how Macy & Kenzie would have loved them too.   And vica-versa I'm sure  :-)

 yes...that's a "Movin' with Macy" shirt Great Grandpa is wearing.  He was not able to "physically" be at the Buddy Walk, but he most certainly IS part of her "team".  I delivered the T-Shirt to him a few days before the big day back in October.  I asked his nurses to dress him in it every so often.  This shade of blue really does look good on him  :-)

 I enjoyed a really nice conversation with my grandparents today.

 Grandpa Dick was wide awake, very alert and talkative today.  He had nothing but a big smile on his face the entire two hours we were there.  He is just so darned proud to tell everyone at the home about all his grand-kids and especially loves being able to show them off "in-person".  :-)

 He held and had chat a with Little Miss Macy for at least 20 minutes or so.  Until she started to get a bit too squirmy and I was worried he might drop her!

 Silly big sister McKenzie had fun, she had all sorts of cool stories to share.  She loves getting suckers from the kind man near the front door every time we visit. 

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I am sad that the vets nursing home is so far away (it's about a 45 minute drive), I wish we could visit MORE.  But that's no excuse.  I am going to make an effort to visit him more often this year...perhaps another "resolution" of sorts  :-)

Video footage from Macy's party

Oh my goodness.  I am just sooo thankful for the very kind gift that my friend Emily has given us. 
She shot tons of great footage at Macy's party and is not only sharing it all with us but has put together a wonderful highlight video for us to enjoy and treasure forever.  Can't believe her lightning fast turn-around too.
Emily, from the bottom of my heart, THANKS, you did a fantastic job.  I could NOT have done it better myself!!!!!   :-)

here it is... click here if "full" video is not appearing below...looks like my blog cuts in half some of the time... .

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It was also nice of her to give a sweet "shout out" on her blog...Auntie Em's Eyes

here's what she had to say (so it prints in my blog book)

"Today Steve, Olivia and I went to Macy's 1st Birthday Party.  Macy is the daughter of Sherri and Joe Harnisch.  Sherri and I met years ago through my cousin Leah as they were classmates and best friends. 

On December 28th Macy was born and I remember asking Leah how Sherri and the baby were doing not expecting anything else but "fantastic" to come out of her mouth.  Leah broke the news that Macy had Down Syndrome.  At first I didn't know what to say but I do remember saying that if anyone could handle a baby with Down Syndrome Sherri and Joe would be the best parents.  As long as I have known Sherri she has always been upbeat, happy and can turn anything negative in to a positive.  She proved me right.  After today I could see that even though Macy has Down Syndrome they certainly don't treat her like she has it. 

Macy was dressed like a princess in an adorable tutu (made by one of Sherri's friends) with a personalized onesie (made by Sherri) and zebra striped leg warmers.  (Pictured above)  All the decorations and food were hand made and cooked by Sherri and her friends and family.  She definately knows how to throw a party!  Great job Sherri!  Macy is absolutely adorable and you have a beautiful family. 

God Bless!

Love Always Emily"

Emily behind Kenzie, capturing all the special moments of the evening!  :-)

Emily with her beautiful daughter Olivia.

 

Macy's 1 year Party!! pt. 5 of 5 (CAKE TIME)

I saved the best part.  THE CAKE!  for last...

Oh Man.  Macy was SOOO ready for the cake!  Poor thing has been deprived of sweets her entire life.  Aside from a few instances when her aunts, cousins or Grandpas may have sneaked her a sugary snack or too.  Totally against her mean momma's wishes of course.  shame on you guys!   :(

I was a little nervous to watch her dig into the cake as she only has about half a tooth...but she shoveled it in and swallowed it down like a champ!!!

 She spots the cake and is READY to go. You can't see it in the photo, but she is SHAKING and grunting...her mouth open WIDE!

 her very sweet sister explains to Macy why ALL these people are watching.

 Singing Happy Birthday  :-)

This is the view from Macy's seat.

 McKenzie has been such a good girl, so I promised her that I'd let her blow the candle out on Macy's cake (that is if Macy does not do it herself).  She's been talking about it NON-STOP!

 Good job Kenzie!

 This is cute.  I saw Kaylee's mom taking a picture of her by the cake pops.  Yes, my friends, they were THAT cute!  :-)

 Grandpa!!

 "Here,  you try"

 Daddy trying to encourage her to "get a little messy"

 There you go...now you're getting the hang of it.

 YUUUMMMM!

 She was having a BALL!

 Tada!  Just about done.

 cousin Dani giving her a little pep talk

 Me and my Messy Miss Macy

 She was not ready to be cleaned up...

Buttoning the Onesie back up.  Nice shot Heather!   hehe   :-)

Macy's 1 year Party!! pt. 4 of 5 (the gifts)

Gifts were not expected...as I tried to make it clear that "the gift of our friends' presence" was all that Macy would want.  But apparently people had too difficult a time coming to a 1-yr old b-day party without a gift in tow.  okay  :-)
We appreciated ALL of the gifts.  Each and every one was thoughtful and perfect.  Some were store bought, some were hand-made.  Some were fun & cute while others have great "developmental" concepts.  Some were clothes, practical and just plain cute.  Many people also made donations to the Down Syndrome Alliance of the Midlands.
Like I said ALL were appreciated, but I must say, I REALLY LOVED the handmade ones.  Macy sure does have some talented friends who put a lot of time and energy into their creative gifts   :-)
Once the party was over, our family stuck around and helped us clean up and put away all the tables and chairs.  A HUGE thanks for that!!!  There's no way we could have done it alone.  And then, they watched as Macy opened her gifts  :-)

 Miss Danielle folding up the tissue paper nice and neatly.  What a sweetheart!!!  

Dare I let perfectly good tissue paper got to waste...I'm thrifty like that :-)

 Macy thinks this little Slumber Buddies Butterfly is pretty neat!  :-)

 Baby!

 Grandpa Helping Macy tear into her gifts.

 oooh.  what does it dooo?

 A very cute flower canvas from Grandma & Pa Harnisch

 How adorable is this homemade little ensemble from my sweet friend Christina.  oh MY goodness!!

 Of all the gifts she is opening at the moment, what does she choose to be entertained by??  Aunt Keri's keychain.  :-(  sheesh.

 haha - some people gave big sister McKenzie gifts and another person (Toninette) even thought of "big brother" Toby! (the dog) too funny.

 I need to get some pics from Dani too as she was also snapping lots of pics at the party!  :-)

 Some of our friends did not want Macy to wait until the party, so they chose to bring gifts by the house beforehand - a bit closer to Macy's actual day of birth.  how thoughtful  :-)

Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful Birthday presents.  

Love MACY!