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Aleah Shay MacKinlay

10/7/2009

Born 10/7/09 at 11:35 AM
8 lbs 6 oz
21 1/4 inches long

Mommy is good and baby is sleeping. She's a little chubbers. She looks a lot like Maddy in my opinion. Life is great.

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Update...I'm still pregnant...

9/24/2009

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I'm not really due until October 10th, but I've been dilated to 3cm for the last 2 weeks and I think I was admitted into the hospital in labor with Maddy when I was a 3, sooooo go figure. Ally is really hanging on, which is fine, I still have things to do and I wouldn't mind her waiting just one more week!

At my appointment yesterday my doctor said she didn't think I would last another week, and in the middle of the night last night, I was up for 2+ hours thinking I was in labor. Real contractions started, although fairly mild, but baby was moving a lot? For some reason that doesn't seem normal. Plus they stopped and all quieted down because I fell back to sleep and haven't felt the real ones again, just braxton-hicks like usual. I didn't think you could begin labor and then stop, but maybe it was something else. I really have no idea and figure I'll know when I know! But we're excited no matter what and I've been trying to prep Maddy for baby Ally's arrival telling her things like, where Ally sleeps, and when she goes night-night we have to be quiet (Maddy is starting a squealing phase, but it could be because I haven't taken her out of the house for the last week or so...) I'm excited to bring Ally home for Maddy to meet and give lots of hugs and kisses to. I think they will be kindred spirits from the start.

On the up side...we picked a name (Ally is the nickname as mentioned above), full name will be disclosed to the public when she's born! The Arizona heat is slowly dying down. Under 100 for the last few days, though it will be back up later this week, I sense it is coming to a close. And new recliner/nursing station SHOULD be here any day!

Followed by a random selection of pictures from the last month or two including my 35 week pregnant belly and my view looking down at Maddy needing something or other...haha! Bye for now, until #2 gets here!

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YOU MUST MAKE THIS!

9/24/2009

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I've had this recipe for a while, and it was probably last fall that I received it, likely from my sis who emails me 15 recipes a day as though I'm actually an avid cook/baker....yeah not so much. But this one sounded muy yummo and I made it and it was DELISH! **I adhered to the "Karen's notes" modifications. One pan works well, you just have to bake closer to the 50 min mark, depending on your oven I suppose. You can also do a little more of the topping if you prefer, it ends up baking down in the top, not really a crumbily topping like I imagined. And I added a little extra pumpkin, cuz I knew I wouldn't have anything else to use it for and I wanted it to taste "pumpkin-y" I don't know if it really made a difference. Or I guess you could make 2 cakes! I also used fat-free sour cream cuz that's what I had. I doubt it makes a difference and you still have a stick of butter in there.

Let me know if you try it and what you think!!

PUMPKIN COFFEE CAKE
TOPPING INGREDIENTS:
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons cold butter or margarine
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
CAKE INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup canned or cooked pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, combine sugars and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the sour cream, pumpkin and vanilla; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream mixture. Beat on low just until blended. Spread the batter into two greased and floured 8-in. round cake pans. Sprinkle with topping. Bake at 325 degrees F for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

KAREN'S NOTES:
I used a mixture of cloves, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg for the pumpkin spice and skipped the nuts for you :-). I also used one pan instead of two and I think the thickness was perfect.

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Name block, treadmills, and rattlesnakes...oh my!

8/24/2009

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We still don’t have a name for the newest addition to our family…I’m beginning to worry about that. This child is slightly neglected with our attention focused on other things. I have yet to take a belly shot, I don’t think I’ve journaled at all about her, and she’s still no name baby girl around our house. I feel badly, and she’ll be here in just 7 short weeks (give or take, hopefully take…) But after this post I will be blogging on Blog, Jr. about her, so not all is lost.
No trips or very exciting things have happened to us since our June (Oregon) and July (Chicago) trips. Just getting ready for baby, welcoming a new niece to our extended family, trying to stay cool and making sure Maddy enjoys her time in the spotlight before she’s no longer the only child. Yikes…mother of two…I must admit I do have moments of panic from time to time…I know it can be done, I’m just nervous for the learning curve.
This past weekend we purchased a treadmill and disposed of a rattlesnake. All in an Arizona afternoon… Haha…okay I’ll elaborate...

So Dan went to take the trashcan to the curb for pick up when he noticed something on our doorstep. Thinking it was a lizard he approached it only to realize it was a snake, coiled up next to our front door mat. Fortunately for him he had exited the house through the garage or he would have likely stepped on it, or right in striking distance of the slithery thing. He told me about it and I rolled myself out of bed (I have to roll myself out of many places these days) to check things out, and take pictures to document the adventure. Sure enough, it was a rattlesnake. Granted it was a young one, maybe 14 inches long, but creepy nonetheless with its slithery tongue and rattling tail. Not to mention after some research we think it was a Mohave rattlesnake, which is apparently a lot more poisonous than your standard western rattlesnake. Double yikes!

With shovel in hand Dan attempted to scoop it up into a bucket. Not wanting to kill the thing…who can kill something that has real body mass to it? Gross! He tried to be gentle, but it soon was in attack mode, striking at the shovel, and began to escape into the rocks. Letting it get away was NOT an option, so Dan got a little more aggressive with it and eventually got it in the bucket. Soon enough some neighbors came out to see what exactly we were doing; they were from Michigan and had a camera ready to document their close encounter with real Arizona wildlife. Then we walked it behind our street of houses where a large empty desert land area remains undeveloped and Dan got down in the ravine/wash area and let it loose under a bush. All is well now, but we definitely keep our eyes more open even walking in our own yard.
Back to the treadmill... So I'm excited for this new purchase and hope to really dedicate myself to it once the baby comes. I have all the motivation right now, I just hope it stays through the exhaustion of having a newborn in the house. Wish me luck!
Our next big purchases will be a recliner (since we have no comfortable nursing seating anywhere in the house right now) and a double stroller....oh boy!

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Chicago in July

8/12/2009

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We had a lot of fun on our visit to Chicago to see The Spriks (my sis and hubby) and the highlight was meeting baby Connor for the first time! A quick recap, my sis delivered Connor 13 weeks early. Born with the expected slew of complications and a 4 month stay in the NICU, Connor was finally released to go home where he belonged. (you can read more about this miracle boy here.)

He seems like such a happy, smiley, healthy little boy, it's hard to believe what a rough start at life he had. The future is still unknown for him, developmentally, but in my opinion he seems quite perfect and I loved snuggling with him and hearing him learn to laugh and talk and watch Maddy fall in love with her little cousin. My sis wrote up a blog about our visit, complete with pics so check that out here.

And here are my highlights, based on the pics anyway...

Since Maddy had only ever seen Connor in pictures, I think she must be checking to see if he was real. That or she's showing us where she kissed his cheekies.

These two were so cute together. Maddy really was always giving him hugs and kisses, but the camera was never ready in time to really capture it! There are more cute ones on Aimee's blog post I referenced to above.

We went to a local zoo. Both Maddy and Connor were asleep for the first half of the wandering, but eventually woke up and had fun!

For our 4th of July festivities Dan and I took Maddy to the Eyes to the Skies festival. They had a carnival area, a couple bands playing, various food and crafty type booths, and of course, the hot air balloons. Apparently they take off at one time, then land, and then do a simultaneously light up in the evening. That's what we went to see, and even though the intense flames scared Maddy at first, she loved seeing this giant bunny and the fireworks later on that night.

Someone gave Maddy these bunny ears and she looked so darn cute. She still wears them at random wandering the house and making her bunny face. It seems like she'll forget she has them on sometimes and just be sitting and playing with blocks or whatever. It's so funny.
Looking at this picture she totally looks like she is either a private school student or works at Target. ha! Well she had to wear red for the 4th, and the khakis are the only long pants we packed that fit her without sliding off her bum and getting stepped on.

We all made a trip downtown to the Shedd Aquarium that Maddy seemed to enjoy, except for the part about not being allowed to run free.

Dan and I had been there when we visited Chicago a couple of years ago and were excited to show Maddy the "fishies." Here she is making her fishy face!

Our fam of 3.5 outside the Shedd. Not even like 3 feet to Dan's left where other people were trying to take pictures, these little birds would come up out of the bushes over the ledge and peck at anyone's head within range. It wasn't just one guy, or one time, it was EVERY person that stood there with multiple pecks for as long as they were dumb enough to stay put. It was actually quite humorous to watch. We found a safe spot further away with a nice view of the Sears Tower in the background... :)

After the Aquarium we walked further downtown to the Taste of Chicago. It was yum, but the kids had had enough so we were only there long enough to sample some grub, although that's basically all you really go there for.

There was a lot more we did while visiting...for example, Dan spent some time alone downtown during the day before meeting up with Brian for a Cubs game. Meanwhile Aimee and I and the kiddos went outlet mall shopping. We ate at some yummy places, spent quality time outside in the awesome weather, took the cousins to their first photo shoot, and other things, but mostly it was just nice to be with family and have time with the newest addition to the extended Rogers' family.

Thanks for the great time guys! Looking forward to your visit in December!

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We love Daddy, yes we do!

6/25/2009

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I'm sad I missed doing this tribute on the actual Father's Day, but really....are we surprised? I'm not so good at the blog upkeep.

So Father's Day... with Dan typically waking up for the day 1-2 hours before me, breakfast in bed was a long shot. Although I was up early this day and went downstairs to find Dan eating cereal. So plan B....breakfast for lunch! Chocolate chip waffles - per his request. Dinner was taken care of, we had the annual round of dinner with my fam in Scottsdale followed by dessert with Dan's fam in Mesa.

I just have to say what an amazing father Dan has been in just the 14 short months we've had Maddy. She gets beyond excited when she hears him come through the door, with huge grins and squeals, and running all over the place. It is so fun to watch! She adores her Dada who sneaks her all kinds of treats when Mama isn't looking (and even when she is...), she loves dancing with him, going to the park while I cook dinner, and getting to splash him during her bath time.

A Daddy and his little girl have a special bond and I am excited to see their relationship blossom and she will get to learn all sorts of things from him as she gets older. Not to mention, with another girl on the way, Daddy will be really outnumbered, so he has to get Maddy on his side from the start! :)

Dan, thank you for being the amazing husband and father that you are! We are sooooo lucky! XOXOXO

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Playing Catch Up

6/25/2009

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I have been horrible with the blogging lately...not that you all feel deprived, but it is sort of our family journal so I need to resolve to do better! With that said....

What we have been up to:

*May 2009 - Took a weekend road trip to Prescott, AZ for some r&r and cooler weather. We had lots of outdoor time with hikes, glorious scenery, and a stop in Jerome on our way back to Phoenix.

*June 2009 - We flew to Portland and took the Seaside to Florence to Medford route. We spent a night in Portland going downtown a couple of times to walk around, visit Voodoo Doughnuts, bookstore, town square, and the Portland Saturday Market. Next day was Seaside, OR where we stayed in a hotel on the beach, and what an amazing beach it was! Miles of clean, soft sandy beach which Maddy LOVED! (see pics in our Photos link) Florence was just a brief stop, the most unique was the inn we stayed at, described as "you'll feel like you're back at Grandma's house." Which was true, if your Grandma were obsessed with Lighthouses. Of course it was called Lighthouse Inn. Then on to Medford where Dan's sister lives with her cute family. It was soooo nice to be in one place for more than one night! We had a lot of fun with the family, Maddy loved having her cousins to play with, and we got to see a few things that Medford and surrounding towns had to offer! Dan and I even toured Harry & David and picked up some goodies to give away, and sample :)

On our return route we stopped to see the breathtaking Crater Lake and stayed a night in Bend with our room right on the banks of a river giving us some nice background noise to sleep to! We got to the airport about 3 hours before our 5pm flight and I noticed an earlier flight that was currently boarding. With Dan and his airline privileges we were offered an attempt to catch it. Imagine chubby pregnant lady pushing daughter in stroller, wearing sandals, "running" through the airport with husband - having been stopped for a search at security - with 2 carry on bags in hand trailing behind. It was an exhausting sweaty experience, but we caught the plane, had a full row to ourselves, and take away Maddy peeing her pants, and subsequently mine since we didn't have time to change her diaper beforehand, and her increased agitated state having to stay seated for the 2.5hr flight since she had already been strapped in her carseat for the previous 2hr drive to get there....it was worth it! It gave us time to get home, unloaded, and still keep Maddy on her bedtime schedule. After a week of different porta-cribs almost every night, she slept quite soundly in her own bed....ahhhhhh.... And that was a run down of our Oregon coast adventure!

Next up! CHICAGO.... and no driving....HOORAY!
(pictures of the above mentioned trips can be seen by clicking on the "Photos" page and following our web album link)

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It's coming...It's coming!

4/23/2009

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The big ultrasound day! May 7th we get to find out what we're having! Yippee! The last 2 dr appointments the baby's heartrate was 140, so maybe boy? Although no medical professionals use the heartrate theory (high = girl, low = boy) we still can, just for kicks. Everyone place your bets!

And if you didn't know I was pregnant by now, then get with it! This is actually the first time I've mentioned it, in text, on the blog. Although if you perused our blog, jr. page from time to time you may have noticed the pregnancy ticker. For those that aren't so bored with your lives to check, or observant if you are...now you know!

I'm due October 10, so Maddy will be exactly 18 months old. Kinda quick, yes, but we take what we get! It has taken a little while for the news to settle, but we still feel it is a blessing nonetheless!

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Guess who's coming home on Friday!?!?

4/6/2009

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It will have been just one week shy of 4 long months in the NICU that Connor will be going home, FINALLY! We're so happy for my sister and her husband! We've been praying for this day for so long, and after so many hurdles the day has finally come. Now they can really have the family experience they so desperately desired and deserve! Hooray for Connor! You can read the story of his life thus far on my sister's blog to see how far he has come.
EDIT: Due to some circumstances, plans changed, we're now praying for a Tuesday homecoming...Think happy thoughts!!

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Love in the Air

2/24/2009

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We had an enjoyable Valentine's Day, hope you all did too! We celebrated with flowers (thanks buttercup) and dinner out as a family, and I made a frozen key lime pie for Dan. Don't we know how to live it up! Here's our little munchkin in her pink velvet Valentine's/Sunday dress. It's probably my favorite one of hers. I even got crafty and learned how to make hair bows and made one to match!

Posting these pics per your request Mom! Enjoy!

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