What...another one!!

Yes, the Cook's are having another child. We're very excited to have another crazy one running around. I am due July 13th and have had a rough bout this time. With Kenzie I wasn't very sick, but this one is another roller coaster that's for sure. I am more tired every time I even stand up, the toilet is my worst enemy, and all I want are smoothies and cucumbers and vinegar, unlike with Kenzie I wanted whoppers, but that is how I gained the larege 47 pounds, hopefully we won't be doing that again. We had the ultrasound and everything looks really good. I changed my OB doc to Dr. Hodges who is like the best doctor ever. He said everything I needed to hear and he was just as excited for us and we were. Steven also was very impressed. I'm excited because he said I can have a v-back, which I definitely didn't want another c-section if I can help it.

Sorry I haven't posted for so long, but it has been a very busy last few months. We changed wards, got new callings, Kenzie turned 1, Thanksgiving Holiday, Steven works a lot, and once again, Kenzie keeps me busy too. I am doing a bridal show in January with my jewlery so have been very busy making jewlery for that and of course the many Christmas presents I decide to make last minute...

Here is our latest family pic.

Time to catch up, what we've been up to

This is Kenzie's walker she cruises on

Kenzie will go into my closet, get a shirt of mine off the hanger, and crawl around with it around her neck. She keeps trying to put it over her head, she must think she is ptuting it on.

Kenzie loves getting into the cupboards. We finally had to put locks on them, but I let her keep the pots and pans cupboard.

Kenzie loves the bath, she'll try to get in before she is even undressed. She loves to splash and splash.

So I know it's been forever since I have blogged, but I guess time has gotten away from me. Steven is working a lot, but I'm grateful that he has a job that he likes, enjoys, and is very good at. I am still working part time with Dr. Bateman and Grammy Thompson gets to watch Kenzie, in which my mom loves very much. We have gone to Utah several times this summer for nieces and nephew's baptism's and the Stan Cook reunion at Kristen's home in Spanish Fork, UT which was a lot of fun with boating and bad sun burns and all. Kenzie now talks none stop. Though it sound like chinese she totally thinks she is talking. She'll sit down and read a book and read out loud to herself which is very cute, she also points and acts like she is telling you something, which I just respons, yeah!! She laughs a lot and loves to hang out with her daddy. He throws her around and chases her so she loves that. She has this walker/push thing that she cruises around the house in. She's really fast and can maneuver pretty well. She also climbs up the whole set of stairs quite well, but is a little scared of coming down. She has taken her first steps recently in which she walked from our couch to the bar stools, which is pretty far, so we're excited about that. She's a pretty good baby and we love her a lot. She's not shy at all so she loves to go out on the town and see people. She talks to everyone. She's a social butterfly just like her parents, ha ha!!

Kenzie's 1st birthday, what the!!!????

The shirt says chatterbox, if you know Kenzie at all you know she consistently jabbers no stop. So this shirt is very fitting

Grandpa and Grandma Cook even came from Blackfoot for the party

She loved the paper, go figure!!

The strawberry outfit. Yes matching hair bow that my friend Jennifer make her and of course a matching bracelet

The awesome cake!!! Thanks Megan

She snarfed that cake right up

So Kenzie turned 1 on September 18th. Looking back at this last year, it is the fastest year of my entire life. I don't even know where it went it went by so fast. I still remember the day that she was born like it was yesterday. The first time I got to hold her, when Steven and I named her, when Steven saw her for the first time, that first little cry I heard, the first time I saw her and those beautiful lucious lips, and most of all the cutest face I have ever seen. I remember her first smile, first laugh, first time saying dada. It just seems like it wasn't very long ago. My baby is growing up.
I decided to make her birthday a strawberry theme since she loves strawberries. My wonderful friend Megan helped me make cute invites and an awesome cake. The party was with family and a few friends, nothing big, just another reason to get together I guess. Plus, Kenzie didn't even know what was going on, she just knew she was opening presents, playing a lot, and eating a whole lot of cake. She was a little cranky because she didn't take her 2nd nap so we all just kept saying "it's my party and I'll cry if I want to." Very fitting, but she enjoyed the day and fell asleep very fast that night in Grandpa Cook's arms, she was wasted after an evening of fun. Good food and good company, couldn't have been better.

Thompson Family Pics

All the grandkidos

My bro Scott, Jamie, Ella, and Cole

The whole Thompson Clan

Our family pic

Ohhh la la!!! OK I do like him a little!!

My brother Ryan, Kiley, Kade, and Jeff

Our lovely Kenzie

On Father's Day this summer Scott and Jamie, Ella, and Cole came to visit. It was so much fun to see them and be with them again. I miss them so much. We went to Eagle Fun Days, BBQed, talked a lot, shopped, and just enjoyed being around each other. I know Kenzie already misses her best bud CoCo. We also got to sneak in some family pictures that my friend Mandie was so nice to do for us. These were taken at my parent's house in which I was quite impressed of the awesome scenery we were able to capture.

Kenzie's sleeping positions

So Kenzie is doing so awesome with sleeping, though recently she wants to skip her morning nap in which I am not letting her do so quite yet. I found her like this one day when I went to check on her. I just had to grab the camera. We have some other funny sleeping stories where my mom found her bobbing her head and still sitting up. I guess this girl tries to do everything she can to not give up. I wonder where she gets that from....ha ha

It Has Finally Happened

So the whole life of McKenzie I have worried about her sleeping schedule. When she naps, goes to bed, etc. I guess, what any typical mom does. She is just like her momma and needs her sleep, so I have really tried hard to help her sleep well. Well, I am a mother, so I have found out that loves to rock Kenzie to sleep. I love the cuddling and being able to see her drift off to sleep. I finally was done with HAVING to rock her to sleep. I have tried several times since she was about 5 mo to just let her cry herself to sleep, but she would never do it, and personally I had a hard time too. I guess it is the first time mom syndrome. Well, Kenzie is almost 9 mo and I finally can just lay her in her crib and she cries for maybe 1.2 seconds ands she goes right to sleep. It took some time and long nights, but she finally does it. I am so excited about it. It makes life so much easier I can't believe it. Sorry I had to write about something so boring, but this is a huge deal for me.

Kenzie's 7 mo photo shoot

So this is Kenzie's 7 month photshoot. She did really well, though her only smile right now is with a wide open mouth. She wasn't even grumpy until the very end so we were able to take a lot of pictures. My friend Mandie took them who is AMAZING at taking pictures. Go to her website which is on my list of friends and families links (Mandie's Photography). She does so well and I am so grateful to have a friend that is as talented as her to be able to capture these special moments in our life.

Ohhhh

There is nothing sweeter than Kenzie sleeping. In the morning she sometimes gets lucky and gets to sleep in our bed, especially when Steven doesn't have to work until later and I am already at work. She is so peaceful and cute. She loves to be sat up on her dad's pillow and watch cartoons. Yes, I know we're bad parents because we let her watch TV, but hey she only really watches it for like 2 minutes then she wants attention of elsewhere.

I can't believe how fast she is growing. At her 6 mo appt this month she was 19 lbs 3 oz and 27 inches long, in which both are in the 95th percentile. She's our chunky monkey. She is so much fun. She babbles all day saying "da da" "ba ba" and lots of other gibberish I don't understand. She loves her toys and sitting up right now. She'll be happy for about 45 minutes with me just putting her on the floor where I am at and playing with toys, it's pretty nice. But I do have to be in the room. If I leave, she starts to cry. Yes, the separation anxiety has already set in. Oh boy...any pointers on how to get over this one?? I'm all ears. We're excited for her to have her first Easter Egg Hunt this weekend and get to wear her Easter dress. She our little princess and we're so excited she's ours.

Thumb sucker?

So Kenzie loves her binki. She loves it during the day and especially when she goes to sleep. It is constantly hooked to her. Steven and I have even attempted to help her put it in her mouth herself because she wakes up at least one time per night lately just to have her binki put back in her mouth. It gets pretty tiresome when her bedroom is on the other side of the house. So lately Kenzie every once in a while sucks her thumb. We finally got a picture of it. I am not against thumb sucking because it is a self soother and we are having such a hard time with bed/nap times right now. I'll take anything that works. So we'll see what she decides to do.

Like Father Like Daugher

Ok, Steven and I have a favorite spot in our house. It is the recliner which Steven's parent's gave us, which is in our bedroom. We put it there when we got back from the hospital with Kenzie because I had a c-section I couldn't sleep in our bed, it was too hard to get in and out so we put it in our bedroom instead of in Kenzie's room. This was so nice to wake up when I was well enough to sleep in our bed and just feed Kenzie in that recliner. We still haven't taken it out. Steven and I are always trying to be the first one in it. It's so comfy. Kenzie loves the remote so we took the batteries out of an old remote and we let her play with it, she loves it.

Kenzie Eating Cereal

So starting at about 5 months we started Kenzie on rice cereal. She loves it, but at first she had the hardest time figuring out the spoon. She has this new thing that she does all the time. She acts like she is spitting with making the spitting noise with her lips. Well she figured out it was pretty funny and was doing it while we were feeding her. She got it everywhere and Steven would always say..."how come she gets so messy when YOU're feeding her?" After seeing me do it, he now understands. She is much better now, she has tried carrots, sweet potatoes, applesauce, pears, squash and has really enjoyed them. She does much better with the spoon and not spitting all the time. I now walk away much cleaner!!!

I can sit up!!

We also got an exersaucer for Kenzie this weekend. Grandma Robbie has one and she loved it, so we decided to get one for her. I got one for such a good deal, so it was hard to pass up. She loves it and will stay in there for about and hour. That gives me some time to get some real things done for a change.

So on Kenzie's 6 month birthday this month she broke through 2 teeth and now a 3rd is on the way, and she sat up all by herself. It was a big day for her. She loves to sit up now. When I put her on her back she lifts her head off the floor and tries to sit up on her own until I will put her up. She feels like she is seeing a whole new part of the world now, she loves it.

Cook Cousin Time

We went to Utah the end of February to go to our nephew Jacob's baptism. We stayed in a hotel with a conjoined room with a door with Collin and Alysia (Steven's bro and wife). It was a lot of fun and the next morning when the kids were getting ready we put Tyler, Kenzie's cousin who is 2 months older than her, next to each other and see how they reacted. They touched each other and smiled. Kenzie is pretty close to his size, watch out Ty, she might be able to beat you up when you are older.

Daddy Daughter silly time

We were getting Kenzie ready for bed one night and Steven took Kenzie's pants and put them on her head. It thought it looked so funny the way her eyes were squished and her ears stuck out, and then he had to add in on the fun too by putting his own shorts on his head. Steven is such a great dad. Kenzie's face already lights up all the time and she smiles when she hears her dad walking through the door after work.

Disney World 2009

Kenzie and I in front of the "Tiki Room." Notice Kenzie's cute hair bow. A friend in my ward made it for her, sooooo cute, had to have a Mickey bow!!

Here is Kenzie asleep in Planet Hollywood. She was so tired she slept through that extremely loud music!!! Steven put blankets by her face to cover her ears.

Alysia (my sis-in-law) in Epcot walking through world showcase.

When we went to eat at a Japanese place in Epcot where they cook the food in front of you, they gave Steven a b-day hat and a yummy cake.

This is Kenzie's face during the firework show at Magical Kingdom, she thought it was pretty cool, can you tell by her face. Also, notice how wrapped up she is. I bet Disney World made millions of dollars on hot chocolate that night.

Family pic in front of the good 'ol traditional Mickey in front of Magical Kingdom.

Kenzie's first ride. She thought it was pretty fun. She was talking and laughing.

Yes I realize I am a little late on this post but we forgot our camera in Florida. My dear sister-in-law mailed it to us and we're very excited to look at our memories again and wish we were there, again!!!
The week went by so stinkin' fast. We have been saving and planning for this since Christmas 2007. The week finally came, and it went way too fast. We started out the week going to Hollywood Studios which was a blast, the rockin' roller coaster was my favorite. Also, it was pouring rain outside. We were wearing ponchos and all!! It would not stop all day long, so we had to cut that day short in which Steven and his nephews and nieces went swimming at the condo instead. Then Tuesday we went to Sea World (my personal favorite) It was a little cold, but not too bad. The whale, dolphin, and sea lion shows were awesome. If we ever get to go back I'm paying that large amount of money to swim with the dolphins. That has been a dream of mine ever since I can remember. On Wednesday we went to Animal Kingdom, it was freezing cold that day, but little did we know it wouldn't be the coldest. We bundled up the best with what we had and kept havin' fun. Thursday we went to Magical Kingdom, what a blast but it was 36 degrees. Freezing, especially for Florida!! Wish I would have worn/brought my Idaho clothes. We had a blast that day with seeing all the kids have fun and enjoy the rides. Kenzie even got to go on a few. My favorite was Space Mountain, roller coaster in the dark, doesn't get better. Friday we went to Epcot and had some seriously good food, but we needed a whole other day there to do everything...it was fun. The last day we were there it was Steven's b-day too. What a deal, this kid has spent his birthday in Hawaii and Disney World, we're all jealous. We went back to Magical Kingdom, repeated rides we loved, enjoyed my last delicious funnel cake and met Michael Douglous and Kathryn Zeta Jones and they're kids on splash mountain. We ended the week with an awesome meal at Planet Hollywood and some shopping in downtown Disney where we spend all our last pennies. It was so much fun and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Kenzie was sooo good the whole time, probably because she got so much attention from all sorts of people. One lady came up to us and said "oooo muy bonita." It was so cute. Also, it was to our advantage to have Kenzie there because we got baby switch passes which have no time limit on them and you can take 3 people with you through the fast pass lane. We were very strategic about getting our fast passes and not waiting in lines. We probably waited 20min in our longest line, all thanks to Collin and Alysia for having such good skills in that category. We also thank Scott and Kristen and the kidiots (especially Christopher) for letting us stay in their condo with them for 1 week, even with a crying baby. And Stan and Mary helping us out in more ways than one. We had the best week of our lives!!!!

Yes, I'm one of those moms!

So yesterday I was talking to one of my friends and I got in the car to go home and realized that the last two hours we talked about pregnancy, giving birth, nursing, having kids, how many, what to do with kids...etc, etc, and the list goes on. I realized that I am one of THOSE mom's. All I talk about the majority of the time is being a mom, yes I realize that it is 99.9% of my life now, but I remember when I wasn't a mom and that's all I heard and I would be like...don't they have anything else to talk about. Well guess what, I don't have anything else to talk about, McKenzie is my life and I know it, so I am one of THOSE moms and proud of it!!

Thompson Family Pictures

My oldest brother Ryan his wife Kiley and Kade (5) and Jeff (21 months)

My brother Scott his wife Jamie and Ella (2 1/2) and Cole (3months)

All the grandkids. Aren't they so stinkin' cute!!

The whole crazy Thompson Clan!!

Our first "real" family picture

My mom and dad. 34 years of marriage!!

This is the Thompson Clan. When Scott and Jamie were in town we managed to get everyone together on New Year's Day for a family pic. My cousin Michelle took these with her fancy camera in which we were so grateful for her to do this for us. We haven't had a family picture for 2 years, so it was due time. Looking at these and being able to enjoy Scott and Jamie and Ella and Cole this Christmas because they live in Indiana now and our family has never been apart like this except when my bros were on missions, really helps me realize how special family is to me and how I am truly grateful that I get to be with all of them for eternity. Each person holds a different piece and a special part of heart. I am grateful that I have an awesome family that supports and loves me through all that I do. I appreciate awesome parents that have led me lovingly to help me become who I am today. I appreciate the great mother my mom has been and all the sacrifices she has made to help me be who I am also. I am grateful for a husband who always tries to make me laugh and make life wonderful. I am also grateful for Kenzie and her sweet spirit that she has brought into our life. She is so sweet and the look that she gives me each day helps me realize that it is all worth it. She is truly meant for our family.