Surprise!!! She's FREE...I mean THREE!!

So it's happened. Our little girl turned three!! It's so crazy to think that it's been three years since the first joy of my life (our lives) came into this world and that three years ago was the start to a better, happier life for Mike and I...one we never dreamed or imagined possible. I know we knew that having kids would be a joy and a blessing, but to have a Makenna...has just made it that and more! She makes life Fantabulous!! =0)

March 5, 2006

1st Birthday!

2nd Birthday!

Look who's 3!

Makenna is such a beautiful, smart, spunky and wonderful little girl and we love her soooo much. It's been funny to hear her the last few months as she has been practicing sharing her new age. We've gotten many answers, 2 and 1/2, 3 and 1/2, 3 months, 3 and FREE! =0) We're starting to notice that we only wish she were FREE still, she's now turned an age that we get charged for at many places. Luckily we got to celebrate the last bit of "FREEdom" and got some pretty good discounts while we were at it for her THREE/FREE birthday.

WE WENT TO DISNEYLAND!!!!!

With all of the "what will you celebrate" hoopla being advertised and my crazy randomness we decided to surprise Kenna and take her to Disneyland on her birthday and all I can say is we can't wait to return the end of April!!!

Ever since we decided to take Kenna we've been getting her all psyched up by telling her that for her birthday her present is SOOOOO BIG that we had to take her to it because it wouldn't fit inside of our house. If only I could see what her little mind was imagining she couldn't stop talking about it and when she did, her voice would squeal and her eyes would light up...she's so fun to excite!

Mike and I stayed up ALL NIGHT LONG the night before we FLEW so we were extremely tired, but when we woke Kenna up and FINALLY told her where we were going I think she was in total shock because she was speechless...that or she was really tired, LOL. We had been talking a lot about Disney before because we have a trip planned the end of April and she has been super excited about that so she was definitely thrown off with this curve ball. By the time we were on our way to the airport, she was so excited she gave herself a tummy ache! =0)
On the plane!

With Mike's car rental perks (FREE car, FREE gas) we were going to just drive, but then we found an awesome deal through Jet Blue $39 a person to Vegas (one way) and decided that was way worth the money to save us from a 7+/- hour drive with two little ones...and it was!! Unfortunately with our No sleep from the night before the drive to Cali seemed to last forever, but we arrived and crashed at our awesome hotel for the night.
Playin' in the hotel room

Disney lets you in for FREE if you visit on your birthday so obviously we went on K-Bug's birthday, March 5th. It was a Thursday so the park hours we crummy (10 a.m.-8 p.m.--Friday was like 8/9 to midnight!) we had reserved a place to eat at Minnie and Friends character dining so she could meet a lot of the characters but we kind of got stuck in "traffic" just to PARK!! We new we weren't going to make it and I admit, I might have been more of the three year old at that time, but luckily we noticed the Disney Hotel during our traffic jam, took a detour to the hotel and crossed our fingers that Goofy's Kitchen had some tables open. AWESOME, that's all I can say about that---it was the best experience!!!!!! And to top it off, the sweet lady at the register was teasing us about Kenna's age "what time was she born?" I told her 8am and then joked with her (cuz I knew where she was going with this) and said "I mean p.m." (wink, wink)--She let Kenna in for FREE!!! =0) But the BEST part was we got there at a later time, still had more time than we would have had with Minnie and Friends (even if we got to M&F when it opened) AND since we were there later there weren't as many people and most were leaving so GOOFY, CHIP, DALE, and BALOO just hung out with us A TON!!!! Oh, my gosh I was in heaven (I'm such a kid!!!) =0).


DALE became one of our favorites, we had a lot of conversations with him (his was on paper). We talked about Maisy (her name) and then he told Makenna that it would be a crime if she didn't have ice cream on her birthday so he took her by the hand and got her some ice cream and then got a strawberry to put on top....he was soooo cute with us!! Alice came and sang "Happy Birthday" with our waitress and sat with us while Kenna blew out her candle, she was so cute and then Goofy, Chip and Baloo were totally googly eyes for Maisy. They would just sit and stare at her and then shhhsh us when she fell asleep and we were being too noisy---so cute. Seriously, it was the BEST start of the day!!


Playing "Copycat"

Kenna would bounce and then they would copy her, she thought it was hilarious!

We made it to Disneyland and Kenna got in FREE she was even given a "special" ticket along with some awesome badges to wear. Even Maisy got a "first time" badge. So fun. Our main goal for this visit was to meet her HERO, CINDERELLA. And we did, along with some other fun friends...ARIEL, JASMINE, MICKEY and MINNIE. The line was about an hour to meet the 3 princesses and you never know which ones you're going to meet, so we were SOOOOO happy (and relieved) that CINDERELLA was there!!! Makenna was totally herself with the first princess, ARIEL, very cute! We mentioned to her (ARIEL) that she was a little distraught on which princess dress to wear (so many to choose from, but it was between the Ariel and Cinderella one) but that CINDERELLA has been her favorite for a very long time (obsessed might be a good word/explanation too =0)). So ARIEL took Makenna by the hand and told her that she had a surprise for her and to cover her eyes (how sweet was that?!) and then she carefully walked Kenna over to CINDERELLA and told her to uncover her eyes---when she opened them, MAKENNA was in total AWE!!! The princess she dreams about, talks about, refers everything to, BECOMES DAILY was right in front of her---all of the sudden Makenna became so shy and timid, it was DARLING, she SOOOO LOVED visiting with CINDERELLA she didn't know what to do with herself!! It seriously made her birthday PERFECT, a wish/dream come true!!!


Maisy even visited the princesses in her Snow White costume, and boy did we get a lot of inquiries about the outfit and compliments on how cute she was---even the Disney workers raved about her and the costume they'd "never seen in all 20 years of working here". That was fun!

You can only meet characters until 5:30 so we just did rides for the rest of the evening. We tried to talk Kenna into taking a break and getting something to eat, but she just wanted to keep going on rides...she is sooo my daughter! LOL What was great too is I was able to go on all the rides we went to. They allow you to take your infants if they're in a sling, it was great!

It's A Small World Ride




Dumbo Ride

By the time the park finally closed and we put Kenna in the stroller, as soon as Mike started to buckle her in, she was OUT!!...LOL What a party animal!

We've joked around about what we've now done...giving our 3-yr-old Disney for a Day on her birthday, can't imagine what she'll expect now for the rest of her birthdays (or our other kids for that matter, LOL). But we loved having a reason to go, and for me, you just can't pass up FREE! There's definitely not enough time to fit everything into one day, so we are way excited and looking forward to going back next month (end of April), can't wait!!

Right now...

...I'm listening to the moniter...and I just heard my little girl say her prayers, I didn't tell her to, infact I forgot to say them with her, she's just doing it on her own...she should be sleeping, instead she's having a conversation with her Father in Heaven.

...I've got a darling, beautiful, healthy baby laying on my lap sleeping peacefully, my leg has fallen asleep, but I don't want to wake up this precious little girl.

...I have a husband working hard to take care of our family, I miss him, the girls miss him, he misses us and is tired all of the time, but does it because he loves us...he sacrifices so much.

...I feel very blessed.

Maisy's Two Months Old!!

I guess with all of the holidays it shouldn't be too surprising that Maisy's two months already, but at the same time it's crazy...pregnancy seems to last so long and then they arrive and you can't seem to slow them down! She has grown and changed a bunch.

So here's her stats...

Weight 12 lbs. 8oz.,

Height 24 1/4 inches

She's already a drama queen like her big sis...one minute she's smiling huge and talking to you and the next minute she's screaming her lungs out ( it must be exhausting being so cute)! I Love the talking though, it's worth the screams (for now) =0). I seem to remember with Kenna that it wasn't until she was 8 or 9 weeks old (around her blessing day) that she started cooing, but Maisy's been doing it since she was about 4 or 5 weeks old and smiling happened much faster with her too (just a couple weeks old). We always thought Kenna was more like her Daddy, looks like Maisy's more like her Mommy. What a cutie, she's so much fun!! Happy 2 mo. b-day Maisy...how about some presents to celebrate?! Very well, the 25th it is! =0)

The video is a couple minutes, it's a cute conversation with Maze. Sorry it's so long, but as long as she was talking I didn't want to stop the camera. I've seriously tried to catch her talking to me for a few weeks and everytime I'd finally get it ready she'd be done and be fussy or crying. She talked so much in this one though that it was worth it!

It's almost Christmas and I'm posting Halloween ("Just a little behind?!")

So just trying to catch up on some things, obviously I'm still trying to get a handle on everything now that I have two kids and this busy time of year isn't helping (I know, I know, really when is it not a busy time of year?...)

Maisy was born 11 days before Halloween, so there wasn't too much time for life to slow down...I probably could have and should have, but you know me, can't miss out on any fun! =0)

I took Maisy to her first Witches' Tea Party. She was only 5 days old (gotta start 'em young!) =0). She had her very own witch costume, something that is very important to my mother (grandma) who is Queen of all witches--- gotta have her girls dressed right for the holiday you know =0)! Tea parties happen a lot at Mom's, especially Witches' Tea Parties (atleast 3 in Oct.), can't get enough of the delicious food, beautiful table setting/decortions, time spent with friends, and of course the dressing up!

Usually we do Boo at the Zoo, but due to the massive lines we decided to try the Trick-or-Treat on Halloween Street earlier that same day. I was surprised when they charged Mike and I as well, but then we got to trick or treat and participate in everything too (except the bouncy gym, maybe I should've complained =0)). There was a good amount of things to do and with the pounds of candy we got, it was definitely worth it! Kenna's so funny, as we were heading over to the expo, she started "posing" for me, she just LOVES being Cinderella!!
We picked pumpkins on the 13th of October (tried to have it put me into labor, yah, didn't happen!) and then carved them on the 27th, celebrating my dads birthday and Maisy's week old birthday. Both sets of grandparents came too, it's crazy to think my kids make them Great Grandparents, although to me, they've always been GREAT =0).



So for Halloween Makenna was set on the entire family being Disney Royalty. She was Cinderella, of course, and chose Sleeping Beauty for me (if only I could sleep a lot and be beautiful 24/7! LOL) Prince Charming for Mike (great choice!=0)) and Maisy as Snow White. Luckily Mike and I were able to slide on wearing the exact attire, she still called us by our royalty names, she's such a hoot! My princesses were darling, Maisy was the Snow White after she ate the poisened apple, cuz she pretty much just slept the whole time (definitely not a complaint!) and Kenna danced with anyone she could get ahold of! What a day, it started off at the airport where Mike and Kenna welcomed Mike's step-brother Andrew home from his mission. We then trick-or-treated at Med-One Medical, Grandma Hartwell's, got together with a small group of families from our ward for trick-or-treating, did our neighborhood a little and then Grandma and Grandpa Jacobson's....good thing we had a lot of candy to keep us going!!

We just LOVE Halloween!! Kenna still talks about it, wanting to know when we'll get to celebrate again and what we'll all be... can't wait until next year!!!

Maisy's Birth Story (Finally! =0))

I can't believe how quickly time has flown...it's already been 3 weeks since Maisy was born and we're so happy to finally have her here! Thank you for everyone who has been so interested and eager to hear the news...sorry it's taken me so long to post --I actually started this post 3 weeks ago, seems like I have no time now...go figure! =0)


So in case you don't want to read my novel of a story, here's the main info...

Maisy Nola Stevens was born on Mon., Oct. 20th at 1:15 p.m.

She weighed 9 lbs. 4 oz. and was 23 inches in length
Other than her being a little "late" everything was awesome this time around!

And now, the story...

Maisy's due date was the 16th, but I started to figure/give up on the thought of her arriving on time. My doctor., Dr. Barton had given me some hope when he first started measuring me..."Your about a 2 and 50% effaced" about 3 weeks before my due date (a MAJOR accomplishment considering on the day Makenna was due I was 0 and 0!). But the joke was on me because by my next appt. my Dr. told me I was more like a 1- ha, ha (all I could do was laugh, just my luck!)! That measurement stayed pretty much up to Maisy's due date ---a 1+. I tried the "Labor Pizza" a few days before her due date, but this time it did nothing for me (that was helpful!). By that point I gave up and decided she's coming when she's ready. My Dr. didn't think an induction was needed until a week after her due date and so that was what we had to look forward to when her due date came, a long EXTRA week.

Anyway, she was due on Thurs. and on Sun. morning I had some contractions that gave me some hope...a hour later they were over. Went to church, and that evening while at my parents house we were all a little bit tired of waiting and wondering when she was going to arrive. My mom had the last three weeks off of work for this baby who never came and she was supposed to start back to work the next morning. It's so hard when the pressure is on you (and in you)! Cathy, one of my mom's best friends and a long-time family friend called to see how things were going. She is a delivery nurse at the new IMC (the hospital I'd be delivering at) and I was really hoping that she'd be mine when it came to delivery time. She offered to "check" me at her home to see if I'd progressed any, but of course, no change, still a 1-2. Her husband tried to cheer me up saying the last girl she checked went into labor the next day, who would have thought I would too!! She has a magic touch or something, ha, ha!

At 3:00 in the morning, just like the morning before, contractions started. These ones however felt even stronger and getting up did not stop them. I was excited because the contractions were more hopeful than the other ones because they felt EXACTLY like the ones before Makenna was born. I just hoped I wasn't going to be feeling these contractions for the next 3 1/2 days like I did with Kenna! Definitely back labor, which meant Maisy was posterior as well (thank goodness I could recognize it this time!). So with each contraction came pain and major concentration on breathing and just getting through each one. =0)

I didn't want to call my parents too soon, I seriously thought with my luck they'd be on their way over and then my contractions would stop. That, and I did NOT want to go to the hospital too early and get sent home like I had with Kenna (twice!). Since the contractions weren't easing up and stayed a steady 5 to 6 minutes apart I had my parents over by around 5:30. I regret telling my dad about a video we watched in our birthing class for Makenna where the father-to-be sings the song "She'll be coming round the mountain" to his wife during her contractions ---seriously--- because what does he do then?...That's right, he sings the stupid song as I have a contraction and since I can hardly breathe let alone TALK telling him to SHUT-UP about killed me! I think it was a little stressful watching me go through contractions because every time I had one he would start talking (or sing) a mile a minute like a nervous reaction. He then joked around about me staying longer and that I didn't need to go yet. Thank goodness Mom was there...we are NOT having this baby at home! He recorded Kenna's reaction when he told her the news, isn't her new hairstyle sweet?! Thanks for helping out Dad! =0)

We arrived at the hospital at 6:30 which gave us just enough time to check in, get changed and get checked by a nurse who, well, I'm just glad to say that at 7:00 my angel nurse Cathy arrived (how perfectly planned was that?!!). The first nurse checked me in the most painful way I had ever been checked and said I hadn't changed (my mouth dropped in complete shock, what's wrong with me?!!!). Thank goodness when Cathy came just a few minutes later and checked me I was a 4 (that sounds better!)!! I got the epidural pretty quickly after that and then it was time to wait... My Dr. had been on call all weekend so he had this day off, which made sense now when I tried to schedule my reg. appt. for Monday and the book was completely clear, ha, ha try and have a day off with me, I don't think so! =0) They called him to see if he would like to deliver (I asked if they'd call and check)---hey we got him a good deal on his rental car he better deliver our baby! LOL. He came a little while later. When he arrived he came in a turned Maisy's head---which was so much better than pushing forever with no progress (Kenna). When he told me to push a little while he turned her, I started pushing and looked at my mom with this expression like "are you kidding me, this is it?" it was so easy this time!

A young intern doing rotations asked if he could be present for the delivery and I told him that would be fine, little did I know that my Dr. was going to let him DELIVER!! Dr. Barton was right there, but he gave this guy a great "learning experience" and talked him through the whole delivery. I asked for the mirror this time...SO COOL!! It is incredible what your body can do and endure!! So I went through about 4 to 5 total contractions and little (big) Maisy was out, again, so much easier this time! I was shocked when they weighed and measured her, I knew she was going to be bigger that Kenna's 8 lbs and 21 in., but Maisy was 9 lbs. 4 oz and 23 in.!!!! That was one crammed little kid! She had such a soft sweet cry and she stayed awake and alert for a really long time. It's amazing the emotions you go through as you anticipate it all and then when you are finally holding this child in your arms for the first time it's hard to put into words ....INCREDIBLE!!! She's such a beautiful girl!! We love her sooo much already!

Kenna was the first one I called. My brother Michael was taking her to the Scarecrow Festival and so he answered first saying "Did you do it, is she here yet?" I said yes and can I talk to Kenna and then in the background I could here her she answered and... (Kenna) "Did you do it Mommy? Did you do it? Did you have baby sister? (Me) "Yes Makenna, Mommy did it, baby sister is here" (Kenna)"Ohhhhh, I love her more and more!!" I couldn't wait to see Kenna and for my girls to finally meet! I was taken to my room with Maisy where they bathed her (I requested it to be done in my room...very cool!). And then it was time for recovery, bonding with our new bundle and visitors!

When Kenna came she was so excited, unfortunately she was fighting a cold so she wasn't feeling her best when she met her. I wanted to give her a moment with just Mike and I to let her know how special she still was to us (I was really concerned about her and this huge adjustment) we had put Maisy in her little hospital bed, but as soon as Kenna came in she was on the prowl for her new sister..."Where is she Mommy? Where's baby sister?" No need to ease in the introduction I guess. =0) It was total love at first sight, she wanted to hold her, and even though she wasn't feeling good I let her hold her for a minute. She was so cute, Kenna just kept looking at her and wanted to give her tons of kisses, I wish I knew what was going on in her little mind as she met and stared at her new sister. Just watching though I could tell that she already loved her new baby sister, she's going to be a great big sister!

We had other visitors come and go. My mom had been there with us from the beginning, I asked her to help take photos and video =0). Mike's mom works at the IMC and so she was able to drop by right after Maisy was born and a couple times during our stay. Mike's Dad and step-mom, Laura stopped by and my brother Mike and Dad came by that day as well.

Such a wonderful day, we are SOOOO happy to finally have our Maisy here with us and couldn't be happier that both her and I are doing so well! We've had so many friends and family waiting to hear the news and asking for updates, thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and sorry it's taken me so long, hopefully I can get us all caught up!
The next day... Kenna was feeling better, the hospital put this darling black and orange bow in Maisy's hair and my mom helped me get both girls dressed up so I couldn't resist taking LOTS of pictures--you know me and pictures... We also had Mike's sister Megan, her husband Mark and their cute little munchkin Reese come visit and then later my sister was able to come and visit too.



It was so nice staying at the hospital, relaxing (somewhat) and spending time with my new daughter. It's so weird to think that my life will never be the same now. I now have TWO girls! TWO daughters, TWO children which means double everything...double the "needs", double the diapers (definitely need to get Kenna potty trained again!), double the DRAMA, double the laundry, but double the FUN (double-mint gum ha, ha), double the love, double the cuteness, and double my JOY/HAPPINESS!