Bringing Home Makynzie

There was much excitement surrounding the arrival of Makynzie into our home. I knew that as soon as I got home, Kynzie and I would go from our quiet hospital room to a relative whirlwind of activity and noise, so I decided to take the opportunity to have a brief photo shoot before we entered the hustle and bustle of being at home. I always try to take the opportunity to snap a few photos when her eyes are open during these first few days because it is a rare occurrence. :) The picture of her in her car seat is still one of my favorites.



Makynzie came home on a Sunday and Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle Michael were going to take the kids to church while David brought us home from the hospital. Since the hospital is 1 minute away, we arrived just as they were walking there. :) When Kaci saw me, she wanted me to hold her and just kept saying "Mama," and since I hadn't been there with her for three nights, I couldn't make her leave me again so she got to stay with us while the others went to church. Daddy had done a great job on her hair that morning, by the way. :) Here she is when we first got into the house... This is such a typical "Kaci look" right now and I had to include it even though it doesn't really represent how she feels about her baby sister coming home. Kacianna has always been so excited about the baby and always kissed my stomach. Meeting Makynzie has only intensified her love for her and she is always very loving to her. She smothers her (gently) with kisses whenever she sees her and always wants to lie next to her and share things with her. The closest thing to jealousy that we have seen from her is that once in a great while, she will point to Makynzie's bassinet when I am holding her and i know she means she wants me to put her down. I am so grateful that these two are close in age and that they will grow up having not only two fun big brothers, but a sister to share things with as well! Grandpa and Uncle Michael stopped by one last time before making the drive back to Littleton. I was so happy that it worked out that Makynzie was born while they were here so that they could meet her! It was so perfect. Mason and Carter both are the best big brothers Kynzie could hope for. They are very attentive to her and always wanting to make sure she is okay. I have not seen any jealousy from these two either. It was so nice to have my mom be able to stay and help with things for the first week that Makynzie was in our home. The kids sure loved having Grandma read to them and play with them and I loved being able to nurse the baby in peace and know that my kids were happy and having fun. Mom also cooked delicious dinners every night and made sure the housework was caught up on, (not a small feat with four little ones with endless amounts of energy) I think sheets and blankets were pulled off the beds quite a few times (they make great landing pads when jumping of bunkbeds) haha. Just one example of why my house is usually not in perfect order. :) Anyways, the Maudsley's also came down the first week that Kynzie was born and it was so fun to see them! I had to include the pic of Cindy helping Mason hold Makynzie 'cuz i know there is a similar one with Cindy helping him hold Kaci just two years earlier. :) Mason loves to take pictures and whenever he can get a hold of our camera, he will always take a bunch. He has even started to train Carter to take pictures of him. I had to laugh at these last pics that he took. The potato is a creation that he and Carter invented while I was feeding Makynzie one time. :)

Makynzie Noel

November 25, 2011, was a special day for our family. It was the day that we welcomed this little princess to our family:









Weighing in at 6 pounds 11 ounces and officially 18 inches long (though 5 days later at the pediatrician she was 19 inches so we think there may be a discrepancy there), Makynzie Noel Ford was born at 4:18 a.m. at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, Utah.

Makynzie didn't have a first name until she was about 36 hours old, although we knew her middle name, Noel (pronounced No-el) after her Daddy (his is pronounced Nole), for at least 3 or 4 months before she was born. We just couldn't make a decision and had to go through a book of 100,000 names. We wanted something that was cute and seemed to fit her and it just had to be right. Finally we decided that Makynzie was the perfect name for her. Then the hard part began. There are hundreds of ways to spell Makynzie and we spent an hour and a half spelling out all the different ways and deciding which way we liked the best. Makynzie is very loved by all and we are so grateful to have her sweet spirit in our home! We are adjusting to being a family of 6 (wow that sounds big)!

I will post Makynzie's birth story soon (hopefully) along with pictures from her first month of life.

Snakes and Slugs

Around here, snakes and slimy things are pretty common. Unfortunately (for me), our back yard seems to have an endless supply. The boys love finding snakes, but are also very understanding of my aversion toward them and only ask their father for help with these creatures. Kaci has quickly picked up on my phrase of "Ewww" whenever there is a snake, spider, bug, etc., involved, but she is also pretty daring and curious about these too. She loves dressing up in her tutus, but is definitely not afraid to get close to the more yucky things in life. Yes, that is a snake slithering right next to her. If you look closely, you can see that it is being held by Daddy. I would never just sit and take a picture of her that close to a snake if David didn't have the stiuation under tight control. :) I love my boys and am so glad that Kacianna gets to have such fun big brothers. :)

Mission and Masters...

We had a fun time visiting with David's family. They were out here to drop Donald off at the MTC! The kids gravitated towards him and had a thoroughly enjoyed the time they got to spend with him. We are excited that Donald is choosing to serve our Heavenly Father and know that the people of Hong Kong will love him. What a great example for my boys to see their uncle serving a mission! It was also sad to say goodbye to Aunt Cindy. The kids love her, even Kaci, which is saying something! Cindy is going to be spending then next year getting her Master's in York, England...so we will not be seeing her at all during that time. We've really enjoyed having her so close the last year or so and we will really miss her. She always takes the time to play with the kids, which is the way to win them over for sure!

Colorado Trip

We were blessed enough to be able to spend a few days in Colorado before school started this year. As always, the time went by way to fast and it was hard saying goodbye. It definitely made me want to wish away the year to 2 years that will have to pass before we can live closer to our families. It was so great watching my kids get to play with their cousins and see the special bond cousins always seem to have. We felt very welcome and right at home from the beginning. I am mad that I didn't get pictures of the trip Diana and I took with our kids to the pool. It was kind of an ordeal getting there since all of the ones in our area were closed. Our kids were so excited though so we searched our brains and Diana finally found an indoor one in Downtown Littleton that ended up being really fun! There was a wave pool (I think) and the kids loved it! I just remember going in there with them and it seemed like it was nonstop splashing, running and keeping kids' heads above water, very chaotic, but definitely worth it to see how much fun they were having.

These are just some random photos that i took and some of them are pretty blurry, but we were having so much fun, I didn't take the chance to get better ones.

Thanks everyone for a great couple of days! :)