6 Months Old

Makenzie went to the doctors for her check-up. She is very healthy and still a chunkster.

WEIGHT - 22 lbs 2 oz

LENGHT- 28 1/4 inches

The doctor is not too concerned about her weight. She is just very solid and is gaining the same weight as any other baby, she just started off heavier than most. She is advanced in her motor skills just like Carson was. She gets around well. She is getting the hang of the army crawl. She is becoming more vocal and talks and make nosies all the time. She loves to be played with and will smile at anyone. She is such a great baby that I can not think of what life was like before she came. We just love her!

Never any Time

Lots has been happening and I think to myself today is the day that I am going to blog and then the day is over. So finally some time to my self on the computer (Matt is into playing games computer games so I rarely get the computer at night once the children are in bed) to write.

Carson is still being Carson, all over the place. We have taken our gate down so he now goes up and down the stairs all day long. We keep our bedroom and hallway bathroom doors locked. So he can go into Makenzies bedroom and his own. He likes to go into Makenzies room and climb into her crib and play with the printer which is right next to her crib. He played with it so much one time that he changed the language setting and it took me awhile to change the setting back to English because I could not read the words. Also when Carson climbs into the crib, he does not know how to get so he waits for me to get him. I very clearly remember him climbing out of his crib causing us to convert his crib into a toddler bed at 17 months of age. He is obsessed with playing in the kitchen. He has to pretend to cook, bake, play with the dished in the sink and help himself to anything in the fridge. It is very cute at times and frustrating at times. I cannot wait until his birthday when he gets his play kitchen, hoping he would leave mine alone.

Makenzie is getting so big, she is 6 months old and is so close to crawling. She rocks back and forth on her hands and knees and get really frustrated that she can't quite move yet to reach those toys. She has started solid foods. She has been eating rice cereal for a month now and on Thanksgiving day tried sweet potatoes which she did not like. She has no interest in holding her own bottle and will give a smile to any who looks or talks to her. She has been unusually fussy the past couple of days and it makes us wonder if she has a tooth trying to come through.

Matt and I are doing well. Last weekend, Matt took the kids up to Logan to visit his family while I stayed home. I almost cried missing my kids, but it sure was nice having a clean house and not having pick up or cook. I must admit that I spent a lot of my time cleaning but I did get to do some fun things. I went to Quilted Bear, dinner and a movie "New Moon" with my mom on Friday and then did some shopping and made curtains for Makenzies room on Saturday. I was excited to see my family return home unharmed on Sunday night. Work for both of us has kept us pretty busy. I have been trying to get extra shifts to help pay for Christmas and matt has being trying to get a couple of hours of overtime each week.

Thats all for now. Hopefully I'll have time to download picture for all to see.

Boys Trip

A couple months back when my dad was in town, my brothers and Matt all talked about going to Denver to watch the Jazz first game of the season against the Denver Nuggets. They were able to plan the boys road trip and go watch the game. The Game was last Wednesday. So Matt and my brothers left Tuesday night and left just before the storm hit. They got to Denver about 2:30am and the last couple of hour driving, they were driving in snow. They woke up and chilled at my dad townhouse for the day. They went out to dinner before the game. They had 9th row seats across from the Jazz bench. Unfortunately the Jazz lost, but they all had a great time. On Thursday it snowed all day so they did not get to do much site seeing. They left Friday morning and got back into town around 5:30pm. Matt had a great time of not dealing with work or having to take care of the kids.
So for 4 days I got to experience what it is like to be a single parent. It was difficult at times, but it was not to bad. I took time off from work due to not wanting to get a babysitter @ 5am. I was able to get things done around the house and got some sleep. Both Carson and Makenzie were sick so we did not go out. We just stayed home and played. I was glad that Matt had a fun and safe trip. I was excited to see him and so were the kids. Since Matt was able to leave for a couple of days, we decided that Matt would take the kids to Logan to see his family and I would stay home so I could have a couple of days to myself. I think that is a fair trade. I sure am looking forward to that, but I sure will miss my family.

Primary Program

Our primary program was given today and they did a wonderful job. I am very glad that it is done and I don't have to worry about it for another year. Luckily I have wonderful counselors and chorister to help make my calling easier. Our theme was "My Eternal Family" and all year long we talked about our families and returning back to our Heavenly Father. My stress level kept going up as this last week progressed. I worried about not having the children show up and them not sitting reverently while on the stand. I was amazed by how many showed up and how well they did. We have sacrament last and so while we were practising I was already starting to cry. Their were times during the program I would tear up and when it was my turn to talk at the end, I had to compose myself in order to talk. I thought it went extremely well. I really do love my calling and am grateful for it.

4 months old

Our cute Makenzie is now 4 months old. She is getting so big so fast. She did have her doctors appointment this past week and she is very healthy. She did get shots and cried really hard for a minute and then calmed down. When we got home I gave her medicine to help with the pain. I had to go to work that night so I told Matt to keep an eye on her. Well she had quite the fit and screamed for half an hour. Matt finally gave her a little bit more medicine, even though it was not time for more, and she was able to calm herself down to go to sleep. Poor girl. What a ruff day. Her stats are as follows:

Lenght - 26 1/2 inches

Weight - 18 lbs 9 oz

Head - 43 cm

She was off the charts. We have one big baby. She does not look 4 months but she sure is cute. She loves to be held, can roll over, laugh, smiles all the time, loves to chew on her hands, only wants a pacifier when she wants to sleep, and lets you know when she is tired or hungry. She really is such a calm and mellow baby. We just love her and so does Carson. He can't wait until she can play with him.

We decided to take some pictures. Enjoy!

I just love this picture.

Are we done yet?

What a cute SMILE :)

Driving Pet-Peaves

So as I was driving to work the other night, I noticed some things that really bug me about driving. I thought I would share them with you. (Mind you I am not a perfect driver and I have been guilty of doing the things mentioned. )

1- I really, really don't like being suck behind one car (making me #2 in line) when that car is going straight and I need to turn right. Most of the time I cannot get past them to turn, so I have to wait for the light to turn green in order for the car to move forward so I can turn. This almost always happens to me when I am on redwood road trying to turn onto 35 south. I get really frustrated having to wait. I think they should leave the right lane clear for those that are turning right and those going straight can get over into the right lane after the light. (only in my perfect world)

2- It really, really bugs me when people are turning left on a red light and I have a green light to turn left. I end up spending some of my green light turn time waiting for those people to drive threw who think that where they need to go is more important than my destination. I think that there should be a two second time period where all lights are red for those to finish driving threw. Then I and the cars behind or in front of me can use all of the time allowed on a green left turn arrow.

Basically I much prefer driving at 5 am when they are no cars on the road. I have gotten used to that so I tend to get frustrated more often now when I drive during rush hour.

Food Poisoning

Matt and I went to a wedding Friday night. The ceremony was great and they had a dinner afterwards before the reception. Because of having two small children we waited until the line died down to go and get our food. They had salads, pulled chicken sandwich's, fruit, chips, and brownies. We ate and the food tasted good. We had visited with family and had pictures taken and the gift given so we decided to go home. Carson was getting fussy and Makenzie was falling asleep. On the drive home I started to feel sick to my stomach. When we got home Matt took care of the kids and put them to bed while I went to lay down. As the night progressed I got sicker. Finally around 10:30 that night I was able to throw-up and I felt so much better, but still sick. Matt came to bed around 11:30 because he was feeling sick as well. Around 2:30 Matt threw-up and he felt better. All night Matt and I kept taking turns with the bathroom.

We got woken up Saturday by Makenzie and we were both so tired and weak. I tried to get a hold of my mom to see if she could take Carson off our hands for awhile but I was unable too. My brother said he could watch Carson but a work activity got in the way. When I finally talked to my mom she as well got sick and so did one of my uncles and cousin. So that confirmed our thought of food poisoning. We did not want to eat anything, but we were very thirsty. So we kept drinking lots of water and eating otter pops. Matt was the trooper and allowed me to take some naps while he watched the kids and the BYU football game. I also got the body aches and was hot and cold at the same time. By dinner time I was feeling a lot better and watched the kids while Matt went to lay down. Matt slept the rest of the night while I put the kids to bed and picked up our house.

Today we feel back to normal and were able to eat food. I have never had food poisoning before so it was all new to me. I truly hope that I never experience it again because it was not fun.

FOOTBALL SEASON

Football Season is officially here. Today is the first day of games being played. Playing tonight is the UofU against Utah State. Matt and I went to Utah State so we will be cheering for them even though we know they will lose. BYU plays this saturday and we will be having a party at my parents house to watch the game. My whole family likes BYU except my one brother who likes the UofU. Matt has looked forward to football season for the past month and is excited that it has arrived. Football is Matt's favorite sport and he has introduced Carson to is already.

P.S. The background is in honor of Matt's favorite sport.

UP-DATES

Makenzie is three months old. Time sure has gone by fast. She is now sleeping in her own room and sleeping most of the night. She goes to bed around 8:30 and wakes up around 6:30. She is smiling all the time, becoming more talkative and loves to chew on her hands. She is so sweet.

Carson thinks clothing is optional. He is always trying the take is clothes off and if he succeeds the diaper is next. To him it is a game and not so much fun for me. He has learned how to open doors so we had to buy the door knob covers so he can't get into things like the bathroom to play in the toilet. His favorite word is "shark" and he loves being outside. I do not look forward to winter and being locked up inside.

I have had to change my work schedule so I now have Mondays off and work the rest of the week. It is going to take some getting use to. I am done working out with a personal trainer so now I am on my own. Luckily I have a brother to go to the gym with who knows his stuff. I have really not lost much weight yet, due to my poor eating habits. So I still look like I am pregnant and have around 50 lbs to lose. I guess since it took me 9 months to put the weight on I have 9 months to try and lose it. I really hope it does not take that long. My clothing is pretty sparse and am in need of new clothes.

Matt is doing well at Wells Fargo. They are keeping him pretty busy with training new employees. Lately he has been thinking about going to back to school. Either get a Masters or another Bachelors in a different field. He has also toyed with the idea of Law school so will see what the future brings. He is excited for football season to start and has three fantasy football teams. The love of football has already begun in Carson and gets excited when it is on T.V. I hope it is something the two of them can do together.

Dr. Check-ups

Last week I took Makenzie to the doctors for her 2 month check-up and here are her stats:

Length- 24 1/2 inches
Weight- 14 lbs 13 oz
Head- 41 cm

Basically she is a little chunkster. She has very chubby checks and legs and it looks so cute on her. She is healthy and the only minor problem is that she sounds congested all the time. The doctor said it should go away by the time she is 4 months old. If not then we might have to see a specialist. She does seem to be doing better so lets hope it goes away on its own. She is starting to smile and talk and likes to eat her hands.

Carson went to the doctor today for his 18 month check-up and here are his stats:

Length- 34 inches
weight - 25 lbs 2 oz

So he is tall and skinny. I filled out a questionnaire of about 20 questions to see if he is showing any signs of autism and he is not which I am glad to hear. It has always been a worry in the back of my mind. Carson is very active and does not know how to sit still. His vocabulary is starting to come along. Some of the words he knows how to say, that we can understand what he is saying, are: Stir, Dog, Duck, Hi, Bye, Baby, Mom, dad, Grandpa, Grandma, More, Fruit, Cheese, Shark, Car, Truck, and Flower. It is nice to finally understand what he wants. The down side to him getting older is that he now throws fits when he does not get what he wants or gets into trouble.

So my kids are so cute and I just love them.

Back to work

Well my wonderful time off from work has come to an end. Seven weeks sure went by fast. I started on Monday and felt like it was my first day on the job. There were some changes that took place while I was gone and I had to learn some new things. It has been nice being back to work to help bring money in and to visit with my friends. I really do have a good job and am greatful for it. It allows Matt and I to work and not have to pay for daycare.
Matt has taken over the night time feedings and we have had some struggles with that. I wake up only to wake Matt up to feed Makenzie and then it takes me awhile to fall asleep or I just stay awake because I have to get up to go to work at 5:00am. I have not been able to get both kids to take a nap at the same time so I feel like I walk around like a zombie at times. At least it does not last forever.
I was reading my parenting magazine and it listed a top ten ironies of motherhood and the first one listed fits me prefectly about working. It reads "That you could miss your little ones so much all day at work but be unbelievably relieved when they fall asleep an hour after you get home". If only they would fall asleep.

Makenzies Baby Blessing

We had Makenzies Baby Blessing on July 5th. We had family in town due to the holiday and thought that Sunday would be best. A couple of weeks earlier my mom found a box with my baby blessing dress and gave it to me. So we had Makenzie blessed in the same dress that I wore when I was blessed. I plan in keeping it to pass on if the time comes. She looked very cute in it.

Makenzie Rose Meldrum

She is 5 1/2 weeks old

Matt did a great job on the blessing. I had my mom write down what he said so she can read it whenever she wants to. Of course Carson started to cry when Matt started to talk. Thankfully a friend came and took Carson out in the hallway so I could listen to the blessing. We had a family picture taken afterwards while we all still looked nice. We went to my parents house to have a nice lunch and visit with everyone. When everyone left to go home and we came home I was very tired from such a long and busy weekend.

Happy 4th of July

So our day started out with going to my parents house for a nice breakfast that my dad cooked. Then my parents were nice enough to watch them while Matt and I went to see the Transformers 2 movie. It is hard for us to go to the movie theater these days. I wonder why:) When the movie was over we picked the kids up and headed home. I had to make deserts for our food assignment for the BBQ at my brothers house in Tooele. We had a great time filled with good food, great family and friends, football, volleyball, water balloons, and illegal fireworks.

We had to take some cute pictures of their outfits. I took them in the morning and Carson was not in the mood to have is picture taken. It was hard to get him to sit still and not have Makenzie fall over. We got some OK shots. But at least they looked good!

My brother and sister-in-law bought a small bounce house. Carson had way too much fun playing in it. It took him a minute to understand what you do. He still has not master the jump concept yet.

This was Carsons first time playing with fireworks. He was a little scared and did not know what to make of them. He did enjoy watching the fireworks. We were lighting fireworks off for about an hour and still had some leftover. We also were able to see the city fireworks from where my brother lives. Overall we had a great 4th of July.

Another reason for wood floors

I went out last night to Joannes to buy fabric to make a quilt for Makenzie. When I got home Makenzie was on the couch and Matt and Carson were not around. I figured they must be up stairs when I heard Matt shouting for me. I walk upstairs to our bathroom to find Carson in the tub and Matt taking off his diaper. Come to find out Carson had a really bad blowout and got diarrhea everywhere. He had been sitting in it and it was everywhere on the floor. Thank goodness for wood floors. The mess was very easy to clean up and so was Carson.

Grateful for wood floors

Carson has learned to play with markers I think due to my mom letting him play with the white board and those markers. We have a drawer in our kitchen that holds pens, markers, and odd items. He thinks it is fun to grab a marker and draw on our floor. Luckily it comes off pretty easy with some cleaner. We knew buying a house with would floors would have its benefits, but I did not see drawing on them as one of them. Everyday I become more thankful that we have wood floors and not carpet.