All dressed up!! :-)

The girls got all dressed up to go next door to Lauren & Dylan's 3rd Birthday Party.

It was a "Pirate & Princess" theme.

Even Macy dressed up as a princess! :-)

The kiddos having a great time at the party Party...mmm cupcakes!

Pin the tail on the Donkey :-)

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I was having kind of a rough afternoon & evening on Friday, to top it off, McKenzie was driving me nutso. She was super clingy & whiny and would NOT leave me alone. Oh my goodness, I was going crazy. I called next door and Lynn let me borrow her very sweet daughter Hannah for a while. Hannah's in kindergarten and played very well with McKenzie, they colored, played in the ball-pit downstairs and played play-do. I was able to fold a couple loads of laundry without McKenzie toppling over my piles, plus I was able to nurse Macy withOUT Kenzie swinging on my leg! Thanks Hannah!

*******

Just another reason Grandparents rock! My dad popped in on us early Friday and brought some Jimmy Johns. All he wanted in exchange was to cuddle with Macy...sounded like a fair trade to me! :-)

Jerry & Lynette wanted to come and hang out with the kiddos on Saturday. They thought it would be a good idea for me and Joe to get out and enjoy ourselves. We went to Red Lobster and had some yummy king crab legs and saw the movie Blind Side. VERY good movie, highly recommend it! It was sooo nice to get out and have a date with my husband :-)

Thanks Grandmas & Grandpas!!! :-)
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Here are a few pics of the girls & Toby hanging out...




So far we are having a very nice Sunday afternoon. Had a nice morning at Church and now Macy and Joe and napping down stairs while McKenzie is napping upstairs. I have the whole quiet main level to myself :-) tehe.
McKenzie is in for a treat when she wakes up. She was invited to a sleepover at cousin Anna's house! Her best friend from daycare, Sarah, is going to spend the night as well! I am not sure what crazy Aunt Keri has gotten herself into, but it was 100% her idea, which makes it her problem. haha! Those girls are going to have a blast :-)
bye-bye for now...

Goin' to Work

Macy got to meet Mommy's fellow Skarfaces today!! What an awesome reception...Beans made a P.A. announcement of our presence and there was quite a crowd up front within a matter of seconds! We didn't even leave the atrium :-) Thanks guys for making us feel so welcome!

This is Joleen, President of SKAR Advertising. She too has a child with special needs. Her son Jason is a Junior at Burke high school. I really look up to her and admire the strength and passion she has. She gave me a couple very special books of which I very much look forward to reading. Thanks Joleen.

Thanks for the sucker Greg! tehe

After our visit at SKAR, Macy and I joined the Media gals on a "media lunch" with our friends at KMTV. Thanks for treating us to Jaipur, mmmm yummy!! :-)
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Since we were out & about & in the neighborhood...Aunt Keri made us swing by US Bank to say hi to her and her co-workers.

Look at how PROUD Macy's Aunt Keri is to show her off :-)

ah geez...gooo-gooo-gaga...get back to work ladies! haha :-)
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next it was off to Boys Town to visit Grandma Lee!

Again, check out how proud Grandma Lee is to show off her newest grandbaby (#10 for her).

It was finally a pretty nice day (I think it was like way up in the 30's or something like that) a real heat-wave! So we ran a few errands around town.

Now that Miss Macy is back up to and beyond her birth weight (of 5lbs, 4oz), we do not necessarily have to feed her every 2 hours anymore, we are simply waiting for us to tell us she is hungry. That is about every 3 to 4 hours or so. I am thrilled by the fact that for the last 3 nights she has slept for 4 hour stretches (that's the minimum)...woo-hoo! Keep it up baby!!!! That makes for a happy, well-rested momma :-)
Also, last night marks the first time she slept in her crib in the nursery. She (and I) did very well with this arrangement.

Oh and this is not a story I am not exactly proud to tell, but I suppose it came as no real surprise. I was sitting on the living room floor no more than 2 feet away from the bassinet where baby Macy was sleeping. I was chatting with my neighbor Lynn on the phone. Big sister Kenzie was keeping a close eye on Macy and telling her a sweet story. All of the sudden, it was like "slow-motion", I see out of the corner of my eye, the bassinet (with big sister hanging on the side) slowly falling sideways. I threw the phone to the ground, screamed "MCKENZIE!!" and caught baby Macy. Like I said, I was just a foot or two away, so luckily I was right there. The eerie thing about it, was holding and assessing baby Macy, I was shaking terribly, she looked 100% un-phased and unaware of what just took place. She was wide awake and perfectly FINE! I am pretty sure I gave Lynn half a heart-attack, sorry about that. She understood though, Hannah was just 2 & 1/2 when they brought their twins Dylan & Lauren home. They too, I'm sure, had many close calls similar to this. In any case, needless to say, we do not EVER leave big sister alone for more than a second with Macy. She will learn sooner or later!
Also - about Dylan & Lauren. These two are turning 3 and have invited McKenzie to their birthday party this weekend. McKenzie's first "friend" party, she is SOOO excited!! :-) There's a first-time for everything!

Best Grandparents in the WHOLE world!

Macy doesn't know it yet, but she will find out soon enough, that she has the world's greatest grandparents. You know those mugs & shirts you can buy in stores that display this "not so original" phrase? Well...they were made especially with Macy's & McKenzie's Grandmas & Grandpas in mind! We are soo lucky to have them close by (or maybe their lucky that we all stuck around to live nearby), either way, we are thrilled that both G&G Lee & G&G Harnisch are just a "hop, skip & jump" away!

Yes, Macy, these are your Grandparents trying to pose for nice family Christmas pictures with your wild & crazy cousins!! :-)

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Between the many, many friends we had come visit these last couple of days, we were also able to have a meeting with a few gals from the Elkhorn Public Schools Early Intervention program. This first meeting was to basically talk about Macy and assess her needs (not much to "assess" given the fact that she is only 14 days old), she of course qualifies for this program given her diagnosis of Down Syndrome. In any case, we talked about Macy, filled out some paperwork and got a brief overview of how the EPS Early Intervention team works. Due to the fact that children with Down Syndrome typically face delays in certain areas of development, it is important for us to, even in these early weeks & months, "help her achieve the basic physical, cognitive, language, social and self-help skills that lay the foundation for future progress." So the team will come to the house regularly and teach us specific physical therapy exercises and activities designed to assist gross and fine-motor abilities, strengthen muscle tone, etc...
We know that have sooo much love to give Macy, we've got that covered, but anything else above and beyond we can do to help her thrive and reach her fullest potential, we will absolutely do our best to do!!

Today, Macy and I are going to run some errands, a trip to Target to get some grocery's, plus big sister McKenzie is "too big for her britches", quickly growing out of her size 2T clothes and size 6 shoe. We may also stop in to SKAR Advertising, and show her off to my co-workers!! We'll see how the day goes :-)

Photoshoot!

What a great day! Started off with a photo shoot...then some co-workers came over to meet Macy & brought lunch. Thanks Jenn, Jenny & Theresa for the Mediterranean Bistro, oh how I've missed those yummy Chicken Kabobs!! Shortly after that, McKenzie, Macy & I (yes, just the 3 of us) ventured out for for a doc appt. Macy is back up to her birth weight of 5lbs, 4.5 oz. YAY!! Victory! How good that makes me feel...sometimes, due to the fact that I'm nursing, I just can't quite tell exactly how much milk she's actually getting. Looks like she's at least getting enough, whoo-hoo! *****
Below is a sampling of photos from today...We were able to take them in the comfort of my friend Traci's home. Doesn't she do a fantastic job! How special it is to have these photographs, now I just need to decide which ones I want to print & frame! hmmmm....it's gonna be tough :-)

If you would like to see them all, follow the link to my album in facebook :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136539&id=502498936&l=7728fb9863

First "Family of Four" Church Outing

We attended church for the first time as a family of four. I was a little nervous about how it would go. Sometimes McKenzie can get a little ancy and loud. But she was an angel just playing with and talking quietly with her toys. Macy just slept the whole time. Not too bad! :-)

We had lots of visitors over to the house today. So nice to have all the company. Makes the day go by fast. Jeremy, Becca, Izzie & Blake came over in the evening and brought us a yummy dinner. I've gotta say, we appreciate all of the delicious meals that our family and friends have brought over and have already planned to bring over. Who are we to turn down delicious, nutritious meals. Again, THANK you all sooo much!

Thanks Aunt Gayle for taking a little family pic for us :-)
Time to go to bed. But first, I need to figure out we are all going to wear for our little photoshoot tomorrow. My friend Traci is going to take some Macy photos. We are also going to sneak in a couple family shots, we'll see how that goes. I am mostly excited about getting some baby Macy photographs! :-) hmmm...what to wear? what to wear?