She Got it From Her Mama

Most people say she looks like Mark, but these dance moves are all me. Here is a little bit of her shaking what her mama gave her.

"Good News". . .

. . .is the first thing the doc said as he burst into the room followed by 'the ultra sound showed so much improvement Makenna won't need to have kidney surgery!" To say we were relieved to not have to go thorough another major surgery would be a huge understatement! Although our little 'old soul' must have known all along that the kidney problem they detected when I was 20 weeks pregnant had fixed itself because as we headed into the hospital from the parking garage she was all smiles and singing the happiest tune I had ever heard. I kept thinking "this poor kid doesn't know what's coming" because our last trip here was an only slightly less than miserable day. But even so, she was so happy nearly every passerby smiled a little, giggled a little and eventually couldn't resist poking their head into the stroller to see where this joyful noise was coming from. And of course, she sailed through it all and a few high fives and flying Dubbie laps around the office later we all left with smiles on our faces. Yay!

Happy Kidney!

So if you're keeping score, the upcoming surgery/treatment count is holding steady at 6 for the immediate future with her laser procedures starting on September 11. Please wish us luck!

Hedgehog of the Lake

This past week we made our way to Ohio for our yearly trip which marked a number of 'firsts' for Makenna. Many of which had me beat by about 15 years. Here we go. . .

First flight

Successful but no less uneventful we made it to Ohio in one piece. The short story is we had a quick layover in Vegas where somehow I ended up running across the airport with Goose in hand (stroller and ergo were logically with her dad on the other side of the airport) after picking up a sandwich, made it to the flight just in time for boarding which was great except the pilots didn't which meant we got to hang out on the plane for an extra hour before takeoff, in which time said sandwich fell on the ground. Here's what she looked like halfway out of Vegas (the only 5 minutes she slept the entire trip):

Her Dad usually looks like this leaving Vegas too

First time in Ohio

Mark has been going back to Ohio every summer for most of his life and I just made my 8th (ack!) trip myself. It was so fun to have Makenna make her first of many summer vacations here at the lake.

Hello Apple Valley!

Her own digs

The flying Dubbie

First boat trip

She got to see her Daddy do what he does best (wakeboarding if you didn't guess), and cruise around the lake in the lap of luxury (her bouncy seat). We were happy to see that she LOVED being on the boat because there's a good chance she'll spend quite a  bit of time on it over the years. We had many conversations about 'how young is too young to learn to wakeboard?" over the course of the week.

Daddy's still got it

Proud Dad and Dubbie

Momma's still got (some of) it

Best seat in the boat

First Midwest storm

Open the fridge door too quickly or heaven forbid Mark sneeze somewhere upstairs and she'll jump, but thunder, lightening and fireworks don't faze this kid at all. Which happens to be a good thing since we had quite a bit of all three this week. 

First big storm!

Snuggly on the porch watching the rain

First trip to Pleasant Hill

We made a day trip to the cabin at Pleasant Hill Lake where Mark spent his summers growing up for a day of boating with his cousins. We were lucky enough to get the best water and the best weather of the week.

They spent 20 summers on this lake

Flying Sponge

He spent a lot of time here growing up

The next generation 

First time meeting the family

Makenna is great-grandchild #39 with two babies already younger than her and we were lucky enough to see quite a few of them at the house and again at the farm for the 4th of July party/fireworks extravaganza.

We knew from the past few weeks of bbqs and bdays that this kid liked to party (no idea who she got that from) but this was taking it to another level as she did great cruising from arm to arm and table to table. We had a great night as we watched her daddy be part of the firework crew putting on the display (I was equally entertained by the number of lightening bugs out that night - for a California girl that never gets old:)

She didn't even flinch when these went off

First horse encounter

First 4th of July

Mark's Aunt Claudia and Uncle Mack joined us at Apple Valley to celebrate the 4th with some good food and lots of cornhole.  

First Fourth!

Our Sweet Pea

Aunt Claudia and Uncle Mack

The Cornhole battlefield

California Goose takes Ohio

First time getting 'iced'

Well, not really. Someone thought shaking a shiny bottle at her would make her smile, this is how that turned out. . .

Until next year. . .

West coast or bust!

FYI - the blog is public now.

The Aunts Come Marching In

I don't know if it was the California sunshine or this precious little goose, but either way were able to lure my Aunt Teetsie (remix of Theresa by one of us when we were young) down from Seattle for a week to hang out with us back in May. We had fun walking along the beach, a quick trip up to Redondo for cousin Dom's second bday party and lots of shopping and lunch dates. We really tried to make her miss Cali by taking her for a cruise to La Jolla topped off with a fun lunch at the La Valencia Hotel where the Goose (and her monster stroller) got the royal treatment.

But quite possibly the most valuable discovery of her trip was the magic of the 'Jump in the line/Shake Senora' song that prompted Makenna's first outward chuckle at 2 and a half months old. We all know Pandora can throw some wild cards at you, but this just might have been the wildest. In the full throws of her reflux angst, butt naked and wearing a ducky towel, this song came on and we went from distress to pure heaven and it continues to make her laugh to this day. I'm sure Winona Ryder would have been proud (name that movie!).

Fancy shmancy at the La Valencia

Seals in La Jolla

And speaking of SEALS. . . .

My sister (you may know her as the 'Seal') made her way to the mainland for a visit back in June. Now I know it wasn't the California sunshine that brought her here from Hawaii ('Dina - how can you live here? It's so COLD in Southern California!') so I'm going to say it was the Goose. Either way it was so nice having her here to spend time with us!

No this photo isn't in black and white

In other, less fun, news I was contacted by Boston University to participate in a study as they are researching birth issues that don't run in families or have any known causes, and since we've got this times three I figured I better sack up and do it. The only discomfort listed was the 'anxiety that may be caused by some questions' asked during the phone interview which had me a little apprehensive before we began. All in all I realized that because I'm a worry wart (something that DOES run in the family) I was neurotic about doing everything 'right' during my pregnancy and ate enough leafy greens to make even Popeye blush, so I wouldn't do anything different and that these things sometimes just happen.  I don't know if that makes it better or harder to understand, but I do know that this kid is amazing and that all of this crazy stuff she has had to (and will have to) endure will only make her tougher and even more awesome.