Family Dinner

Last weekend John, Makenna, and I had the rare oportunity of having dinner with all three of John's younger brothers who are at BYU. We went to Utah because one of John's old college roomates was getting married, and we decided that rather than flying in just in time for the wedding, we should go a few days early, so that we could spend some time with friends and family (and so that John could visit a few clients for work).

We loved hanging out with John's brothers, and only wish that we could see them more often.

We also had such a great time being able to see my sister in Logan, visit with some good friends in Salt Lake, and attend all of the wedding festivities (congrats Logie!). We even got to go to the BYU football game. I just hope we can visit again soon!

Did I Mention...

that I REALLY regret letting Makenna play in the sink?

Ever since, whenever she is anywhere near a sink (bathroom or kitchen) all she wants to do is play in the water. I don't mind letting her sit on the counter and put her hands or feet in the water for a few minutes, but she usually ends up soaking her clothes,

and she always throws a fit when I take her out. (Kinda sad I know, but surprisingly I have other things to do besides stand by the sink for hours during the day.)

A Great Weekend

Saturday

The first good news of the weekend happened early Saturday afternoon when John got home from taking his GMAT!! I was a little worried and anxious all morning because John hadn't slept very well on Friday night, but he came home with good news. He did really well, and scored right where he wanted to, which means a couple of things for us. First, he doesn't need to retake it, (i.e. he gets his life back, and I get my husband back!) secondly, he is right where he needed to be in order to get into a top 20 school, which was his main goal. I am so proud of him for studying so hard, and we are both excited to be done with the whole thing.

To celebrate we went out to a nice dinner, and then came home and watched the Nebraska game. They lost, but Makenna looked cute in her little Husker cheerleading outfit, so we still enjoyed watching the game.

Sunday

On Sunday morning, John asked me to make cookies for his Home Teaching appointments later that evening. Usually this is a pretty easy task, but this time I had a little "helper" that made things a little more difficult.

First Makenna just sat next to me on the counter, which worked out okay.

Then she wanted to play in the sink while I did the dishes.
Well then she decided that it wasn't enough to sit next to the sink, and she climed in.
And tried to drink the water.
After soaking her shirt, I gave up and just got her undressed.
She quite enjoyed this, and spent the next 30 minutes playing in the sink.

(I have since regretted letting Makenna play in the sink, because she is now obsessed, and that is all she wants to do!)

Our next BIG news of the weekend is that Makenna started walking!! Makenna had been taking one step here and there, but at church while John was watching her, she took 4 in a row. Then on Sunday evening while John was home teaching, she just started walking!! I was shocked, because she is only 10 1/2 months old, and I just figured she wouldn't walk until she was about 12 months old. Here is some video of her new skill (sorry no sound).

A Much Needed Break

For the past couple of months, and even more intensely the past couple of weeks, John has been studying for the GMAT (the entrance exam for MBA schools) which he takes TOMORROW!! His nights have been spent taking practice quizes on the computer, or studing from one of his numerous books. He has also been taking 4 hour practice tests every Saturday for the last couple of weeks. Throughout this process, I have tried to play the role of "supportive and loving wife", but I have to admit sometimes it has been hard. Of course I love Makenna more than anything, but sometimes I just need a break, and those have been harder to come by since John needs to study more than I "need" a break.

However, last Saturday we were both able to get a break from our normal routines, and go wakeboarding at my parent's lake. It was only my second time wakeboarding, so I am still quite shaky, but I did get up, and even went outside of the wake. (I know that probably sounds rediculous to some people, but I was excited.) My sister Amanda was in town, visiting from Utah, so we hung out at my parent's house all day watching football and in John's case taking long naps.

(I should note that while I have been typing this post, John has been playing with Makenna, and is now giving her a bath even though his test is tomorrow...I have a pretty good husband!)

I would like to introduce...

my second part-time job:

Aiden

He is a 2 month old little baby who lives across the hall from us. His mom went back to work in the evenings, so I will be watching Aiden on Tuesdays and Thursdays for about an hour and a half inbetween when his mom leaves for work and when his dad gets home.

When Aiden's mom asked if I could watch him, I hesitated at first since I already have one part-time job. (I work from home for the company at which I worked full-time when we lived in Vancouver, WA. It has been a really great part-time job for me because the hours are flexible, I work from home, and my bosses are great. However, it does take up a lot of what would be free-time, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to have another "job".) But I thought that since it was for such a short amount of time, it would probably be fine.

So far I have only watched Aiden 3 times; 2 of which went really well. The first day I watched him, Makenna and Aiden both took naps, and I was able able to make dinner and clean up while they slept. I thought, "this is gonna be a piece of cake, I can handle 2 kids"! Of course the next time I watched him was not so easy. Both Makenna and Aiden cried off and on for the first half hour while I struggled to get Makenna down for a nap while tending to Aiden. Luckily, this past Thursday when I watched him, it was really fun. Makenna was so excited to see Aiden, and just wanted to touch him and give him kisses. I kept him in his car seat (for his protection), and just tried to keep Makenna from crawling in with him.

She also spotted his binkie, and was then on a mission to put it in his mouth.

It amazes me how big Makenna is getting. She is almost 10 months old now, and has changed so much in the last month or two. She is now crawling all over the place, standing up by herself, "walking" the furniture, poining at things to communicate what she wants, and is even initiating "come and get me" games with us (which is so cute). I am really enjoying this stage, although she does get into EVERYTHING! Here are a couple of her favorites:

the dishwasher

and the old VHS tapes

Go Cougs!

On Saturday morning, I awoke with a dilemma...

Do I dress Makenna in NE clothes, or BYU clothes? (My life is tough, I know.) Since we were actually going to be able to watch the BYU game on tv, I decided to have Makenna wear her BYU t-shirt that her Uncle Dan bought for her.

Makenna enjoyed watching the game from John's lap, although she did get startled a few times when the game got exciting, and Daddy got loud.

On Friday night, we also took Makenna to her first football game. We went and watched my brother Morgan play. Makenna had a great time feeding us food, and pointing to everyone around her. I am happy to report that both of "our" teams won.

Lollipop Lollipop...

Oh Lolli Lolli Lolli Lollipop...

Makenna was one happy baby when Daddy gave her a Lollipop.