We've Been Busy

I know it has been a while since I have blogged, but what can I say...we have been busy. Busy in a GOOD way.

First, I have really been working the Young Living Essential Oils, and I LOVE them. I have seen AMAZING results from my customers (especially in the area of arthritis, pain and skin conditions - most of my customers deal with this). Hopefully my next round will be focused on personal prevention and nutrition, but who knows. I am excited about an in home party I am leading (my friend is hosting) next Wednesday. So fun.

Second, Mackenzie is SLEEPING. No more of this waking up in the night stuff either. She is really sleeping. For about a week now Mackenzie has slept anywhere from 9-11 hours straight through the night. I want to get a full month of this under our belt before we do anything silly like an overnight trip to anywhere or staying out late. This needs to be her routine. Another great thing is that we no longer need "tricks" to put her to sleep. No more driving around in the car, no more drinking a bottle, no more rocking and singing. At nap time I just tell her that it is time to take a nap, I give her a big hug and kiss, I tell her that I love her and I lay her in the bed. Mackenzie then flips over onto her tummy with her bottom stuck in the air and falls asleep within 5 minutes. We do the same thing at bedtime, but first we have bedtime prayers with Daddy and night, night kisses. This has been an AMAZING breakthrough, and the perfect storm for us. The day I started giving Mackenzie 1/2 oz of NingXia Red drink and changed her sleep oils formula is the same day she started sleeping ALL NIGHT LONG. I also consider her age and the half 'cry-it-out' routine we started (only needed 3 days of that). Praise the Lord.

Onto other news, we had to get a new battery in our car. No big deal; it was just DEAD, but since it was still under warranty that didn't cost us a dime.

Also, Mackenzie LOVES swimming. Or at least being held in the pool acting like she is swimming. So much fun. It has been really hot here (100* plus), so we have to swim in the morning or the evenings, but that's OK with us.

Well, that is all for now. Take care everyone and come back soon for more blog reading.

Kids Eat Free

I was curious what restaurants in our area have KIDS EAT FREE options, so here is what I have found.

La Finca Mexican Restaurant 1520 S. Mason Road,
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, all day. One kid’s meal per adult purchase.

Las Rosas Mexican Restaurant 21810 Kingsland Blvd., 2310 Hwy 6 South,
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, all day. One kid’s meal per adult purchase.

Cici’s Pizza 811 S. Mason Road,
Every day, all day. Kids 3 and under eat free pizza and salad buffet.

Victor’s Mexican Restaurant1939 Fry Road,
Tuesdays, after 5:00 p.m. Kid’s meals are 99 cents with adult purchase.

Luby’s Cafeteria 485 S. Mason Road,
Wednesdays after 4:30 p.m., Saturdays, all day. Kids under 10 eat free kid’s meals.

Black-Eyed Pea Restaurant
Kid's Eat Free on Tuesday evening from 5:00 p.m. until close. One child's entree free with each adult entree purchased, kid's 12 and under.

Candelari's Pizzeria
Kids Eat Free Monday - Wednesday. Receive a Little Buddy's menu item with the purchase of any regularly priced adult entree or pizza. Dine-in only.

Pappy's Cafe
Monday Nites from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Kids 12 and under Eat for 1.99 cents. *Two Kids Meals per Adult Entree Purchased.

Prince's Hamburgers
Kids eat free on Wed.after 4:00 pm with adult meal (one free per adult purchase)

Ray's Grill
3 years and under complimentary for Sunday Brunch Buffets only.

Sam's Boat
Saturday and Sunday 11am - 3 pm. Two children per adult please. Sam's Fountains location only.

Long Time, No BLOG

OK, so it has been a while since I have blogged. You would think being stuck in doors due to the extreme heat of 101*, 104* and 102* would give me extra time, but nope. I work on Young Living when Mackenzie goes down for a nap, so I rarely have time to get on here. Right now she is watching Signing Time and brushing up on her American Sign Language skills, so I have a moment. Can you believe that she can sign over 100 words in ASL? I am pretty amazed.

Last night we started a new sleep routine. I haven't written about Mackenzie's sleep habits lately because they are terrible. She does sleep much better with her Young Living Oils (waking up only 2-3 times instead of 6-8 times), but come on...she is 15 months old; she should be sleeping. We decided to do the semi-cry-it-out. We lay her in her bed awake, give her a kiss and tell her it is bed time then we walk out. Of coarse, she screams. Wayne and I alternate checking on her every 5 minutes and each time we wipe away her tears, give her a kiss and tell her it is time to go to sleep. Last night it took 39 minutes before she decided to lay down and go to sleep. It was really hard and sad, but she only woke up once last night. I hope this semi-cry-it-out thing only lasts a few days. They say it can take anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks. Uggg. I will say that I tried it today for her nap time, and it worked GREAT. She laid down and said, "Milk" to which I told her, "OK, just wait one moment." I gave her some milk and she put herself to sleep. Wonderful!

On to better news: What Mackenzie likes.

All day long Mackenzie finds a shoe (either Mommy's shoe or Daddy's shoe) and walks around in it. She only wears one at a time, and she prefers high hills.

Also, when she wants to feel feminine she looks and me and says, "Girlie." I in turn ask her what she wants in order to feel girlie, and she usually says, "AirBow" (hair bow). Love it!

She has also learned how much fun it is to feed the dog. She runs to the dog's food bowl, takes out one or two pieces of food then runs over to the dog and feed her. She likes to do this once a day for about 20 minutes straight. And she giggles nearly the entire time.

So much personality. She looks just like her Daddy and Nani and acts just like her Mommy. Funny!

Clara's Dance Demo

We had the pleasure of attending Clara's Dance Demo for ballet and tap. She did great! Mackenzie loved watching the girls dance, and she kept standing on her chair pointing at the girls and saying 'Dance'; then she would start dancing. So much fun.

Petting Zoo

At the petting zoo Mackenzie kept trying to hug and kiss the goat. She also would squat down and talk to the goat as if he understood her. So cute.

First Zoo Trip

Mackenzie went to the zoo for the very first time, and she LOVED it. All of the animals were either "Dog", "Horse" or "Bird." When I would tell her what they really were she would say the correct name, but I think she still thought they were either a dog, horse or bird.

Even in the Houston heat the animals were out in full force, and some were showing off; especially the monkey. He was so funny, too bad Mackenzie fell asleep before we got to see him.

Mackenzie's favorite part were the sea lions. She barged her way through some people's legs to find a good spot for viewing. She was mesmerised.

Nani, Auntie Kristi, Wayman III and Lance went with us; so much fun.

Mackenzie with the cool frog.

Boys will be boys.

Flamingo's

Auntie Kristi & Lance

Sea Lions!

Nani & Mackenzie

Crazy Monkey.

I want to walk.

Mackenzie drinking her own water.

Swimming

Here are some pictures of Mackenzie 'swimming' over at Granda & Grammy's house. She kicked her legs and used her arms like a big girl, and even put her face in the water a couple of times. Of coarse I was holding on the entire time :)

Swimming :)

Look at me!

Meeting Uncle Barry!

I need to post

We have been doing a lot lately, and yet I still have not posted a blog. Uggg :( I will try today to post pictures.

For one, Wayne and I went to the Astros game last Friday and had a really good time. Tickets, soda, popcorn and hats were all courtesy of Farmers Insurance. Unfortunately, Mackenzie did not go with us...maybe next time!

Also, Uncle Barry is in town from England, so Mackenzie met her Uncle Bear for the first time (that is what she calls him while doing the sign language for bear. Funny what kids think.). She hit it off really well with him, not crying or trying to run away. She was also fond of Di. While we were over at Granda & Grammy's house she took a swim in the pool. Actually, she took a ride with Mommy in the pool. Eventually she became quite adventurous and actually got on her tummy in my arms and started kicking and moving her arms. She even put her face in the water more than once. Time for swimming lessons! If she is not afraid of the water she needs to know how to swim, or at least float on her back until help arrives. At her age there is no telling what she would do given just a short window of opportunity.

While at Granda & Grammy's house Mackenzie also got to see her cousin Clara. Now that Clara knows the big news I am free to say that she (Clara) is going to be a Big Sister. So exciting! So Mackenzie will have 2 cousins on Daddy's side; a total of 6 cousins. Wow! Congratulations Laura, Justin & Clara.

I will post pictures for this blog later. Bye for now.

Tooth #12 (Again)

So, we thought tooth #12 was coming in just over a week ago, but it stalled out. It was definitely hurting Mackenzie back then, but it never did break through the gums.

Then yesterday Wayne informed me that he thought Mackenzie was getting sick because she had a runny diaper. I put some essential oils on her, she slept through the night just fine, and guess what...tooth # 12 has barely broken through. She is finally trying to cut that fourth molar. The other three molars are really big, so I can see why this is a painful process. They actually bleed a tiny bit when she was cutting them. Poor thing. The good news is that the last few nights she has been sleeping through the night, so maybe she is sleeping through the major cutting and pain part of this teething process. The other good news is that she is not sick :)

Don't worry Sweetie, one day in the not-so-far future you are going to be trying to loosen and lose your teeth in hopes for the Tooth-fairy to come during the night (you will know, of coarse; that the Tooth Fairy is Mommy), and the teething will be a thing of the past.

Pictures

Finally, Here are some pictures to catch you up!


Mackenzie in her rocking chair...that was my rocker when I was a toddler.





















Mackenzie trying on hats. Such a girlie girl :)





















Mackenzie's first boat ride down at Brother's bay house.




















Daddy and Mackenzie getting ready for the boat ride. Fun, fun!





















Mackenzie playing in the roses after Auntie Kelly's wedding.




















Clara and Mackenzie at Auntie Kelly's rehearsal dinner. Yummy tortilla.