Eleventy-Four

 

I was sitting with Maklyn tonight and got a few tears in my eyes thinking of just how much I love this lil lady!  I love how excited she gets around 8 o'clock when it's 'naked time' for the last hour before her bath.  Her legs don't stop moving and she talks and talks and talks and smiles to the moon and back :)  I love making her 'laugh' and shriek at my silly faces and games.  I love how she snuggles into my neck when she's just woken up or is getting tired.  I love how she can be in her own world while laying on her mat cooing away at the colors and toys.  I love everything about her!

I remember my parents saying that I would never understand how much they loved me until I had a child of my own.  I always thought I already did understand that they loved me a lot and that was great and all, but now that I am a mama, I truly understand what they were talking about.

It's a kind of love that is truly indescribable at it's fullest point.  It's a love that never ends no matter what the circumstance.  It's a love where you can be at your wits end with baby screaming their lungs out and your frustration is peaked and then you finally pick them up, and they give you a lil smirk and all your worries fly out the window. 

I believe I have only begun to fully understand a parent's love for their child.  It has made me appreciate my parents so much more and the love they had and showed me on a daily basis.  My dad has always said 'love you eleventy-four'. I have no idea where it came from, but I've decided now that it's a way to describe the kind of love that is impossible to express fully.  It's the best kind of love, an eternal love!  So grateful for the amazing people in my life!  So blessed!

        

Started Our Summer Adventure Up North

Well we've officially arrived and started our summer away from home again, but this summer we're spending it up in northern Alberta in Fort McMurray for May, Grande Prairie for June and Red Deer for July- August.  We tried to get in some good family time before we came up and I wish I had more pics to show for them.  Apparently Nana stole the spotlight for time with Mak before we came :)  Maklyn loves her Nana!

 I believe this one was taken during conference... Nana got a lil distracted :)

 Two of the cutest lil babies around!

We took our time driving up to Fort Mac by stopping in Calgary on Thursday and then Edmonton on Friday night till Saturday and we got to spend some time with some great friends!  Maklyn and Renne got to hang out again and Ashton and I can't wait till they start playing with each other instead of their moms shoving their faces into each other trying to create that best friendship haha

 

We even got to do a dinner with a bundle of friends including Braeden and Kenzie, Chris and Robin, and Ash and Tim.  We had a lot of laughs and great conversation!

Maklyn did so great on the drive up.  She slept most of the way from Edmonton, which was really nice!   

They tried to put us in these 'crack house' looking apartments and we said heavens no to that.  We were very uncomfortable with the set up and luckily had another option for a basement suite that it pretty tiny, but in a great neighborhood and very nice landlords.  Renting it sooooo expensive up here.  I was talkin to the lady upstairs and she told me that she charges $2100/month to live down here.  Back home, this place would maybe be $800 a month.  But we're happy where we are and are starting to figure out the place.

 This lil lady is 4 months old now and is growing so fast!  Her hair is longer, she's gaining weight and she's continued to move and groove!  She's so happy and loves to hear her own voice!

 She's started to giggle a little and loves having tummy time on her pillow and mat!

 She always slants to the side in the bumbo chair we borrowed from Lynz and she is slobbering and sucking all over her arms and fingers.

 She likes to fold her arms while she sleeps sometimes and is so much fun to have around all the time!  We took her swimming on Monday at the leisure center here and are planning to go tomorrow too.  She wasn't too sure about it the first time, but I'm sure she'll learn to love it throughout the summer!

 We love our lil Maklyn!

Baby Girl is 3 Months Already!

It's crazy how fast time flies when you're having fun!  Maklyn is already 3 months and has changed in so many great ways! 

She now loves her bath time and starts getting fussy when 9 o'clock comes along because she is ready to get in the water and splash away.  She is sleeping through the night!!! :)  Whoo hoo.  Not that she's ever been a bad sleeper, but it's great to not have to wake up during the night at all now.  She goes to bed between 9:30 and 10:30 and sleeps till 8:30!  It's soooo great and I can only hope her future siblings follow her lead :) 

 

 

She got blessed on February 3, 2013 in a dress that her great Granny Hill made for her and all the other great granddaughters.  We had tons of family come to celebrate her blessing day and it was such a great day!

 

She went for her first swim with mommy and even did the dunk :)  She did great!!!  Her swimsuit and swimming diaper were a lil big, but we still managed to get them to stay on her haha  She LOVES the water!
 

She got her two month shots at the end of February and I think I took it harder than her haha  It was the saddest thing and it knocked her out for the remainder of the day.  She just snuggled with mom and dad and snoozed the whole day.

 

She got to meet her new best friend, Renne, and Ashton and I just know they will be such great friends!  They're already holding hands hehe

 

Maklyn also got her ears pierced when she turned 3 months.  Her daddy was against it the whole time, but mommy convinced him finally and she looks cute as ever!!!  Grandma Hill and Aunt Kait came to help support.







Mak is holding her head up so well and has shown the beginning stages of turning over!  Won't be long now!







 
She also loves sitting in her bumbo chair that we borrowed from Lynz.  She just chills in it while momma cooks or cleans.
 
We've also started reading books to Maklyn and she loves looking at the pictures!

She's starting to finally not look half the size of Jeter and we're convinced they are going to have a lot of fun together in future years.  Aren't they the cutest!!?!?!?!?








We also experienced her first sickness... the flu :(  Last Sunday morning she seemed so tired and I wondered if she was going through another growth spurt, but I noticed her temperature seemed really warm, so we brought her home early and took her temperature and she had a fever.  She ended up throwing up twice that evening and once yesterday, but we're hoping today goes well and that she gets back to being healthy and happy.  She's been such a trooper!


She is smiling like crazy these days!  My favorite time with her is when she's just woken up in the morning and I walk into her room and say 'Good morning pretty girl' and she gets the biggest smile on her face :)  Then after I feed her we smile back and forth at each other for a good 45 minutes.  It's the best!

 

I just cannot get enough of this lil lady!  She is so much fun and such a blessing in Dust and my life!  I can't wait to continue our journey with her and fall more and more in love with her every day!!!

My #1 Main Man is Getting Old ;)

We met many years ago and had no idea of the love that would grow between us.  Today is my best friend and hubby's bday and he is the big 27.  I'm glad he's finally the same age as me because he always comments on how much older I am even though it's only 6 months :)  I must be 6 months wiser than right!?!?!

Yes, I was the first to have a crush on my handsome devil and it began young for me.  A high school crush.  I loved watching him play basketball.  He was so athletic and such a smooth player. He was tall and studly and I wanted to hang out with him, so I began making friends with some Cardston girls hoping that someday I would get lucky and get to hang out with my lil crush.  That never happened as he ALWAYS had a gf throughout high school.. lil stinker :)

But we found our way to each other in college.  My best friend, Jarah, grew a crush on him and she drug me over to the house he lived in with some buddies.  I had mostly got over my crush on him especially because my friend now had a fresh crush on him, but it was always stirring around.  Then he left on his mission to the Philippines.  So I spent the next couple years dating various not-as-good-as-my-hubby men that never seemed to last.  I also became best friends with Dustin's lil sister, Kenzie.  When Dustin got home, I was a flirty gal who thought it was funny how uncomfortable most returned missionaries were when they got home.  Kenzie and I went to a pool party with a bunch of friends and Dustin ended up coming to try to get back in the swing of being around girls :) I gave him a hug and made a joke that I would help him get over his awkwardness with girls...so smooth haha

That fall he ended up living with my lil bro, Carson, in Calgary while they played football at the University there.  He, of course, found me irresistible and while we were at home during Christmas, he put the moves on.  I had spent New Years with Kenzie and her fam and we went out sledding with the boys.  Later that night, Kenz, Dust and I were watching a movie and, of course, Kenzie fell asleep (she never could make it through a movie) and Dust couldn't keep his hands off me ;) We ended up having our first kiss right there in front of my sleeping best friend.  This led to Dust coming up to Edmonton to seal the deal, but I had other plans... committal issues.  He left Edmonton frustrated and gave up on the idea of he and I.  I, of course, had many regrets of letting him go so easily.

Who knew a couple years after this happened that we would go for round two and that it would work out as a happily ever after story.  We joke around all the time about whose fault it is that the first round didn't work out so well, but I truly am so thankful that he took another chance on me because I know I would never be happier with anyone else!

Dust is my best friend!  He has my back through the thick and thin.  He loves me through all my faults and shortcomings and makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world on a daily basis.  He has amazed me with how naturally he has taken on the fatherhood role.  He adores our beautiful daughter and I love watching him with her.  It's an unconditional love and she has him wrapped right around her lil finger. 

 

 

He brings out the best in me and pushes me to be better and strive for greatness in our life together!  I very much dislike when we're apart and can't wait to be back by his side at any opportunity!  I feel so blessed and can honestly say I have the best husband and friend for me in the whole entire world!!!!!!

I love how goofy he is...

 I love how he can always make me smile...

 I love that he's a pretty darn good cook... especially breakfast!

 I love that he looks pretty darn sexy on a horse...

 I love that he can sleep ANYWHERE...

 I love that he's a Mr. Fix It with ANYTHING...

Dust... I love you eleventy-five and am so grateful to have you in my life every day!!!!!!

I've Been Busy... I Promise :)

Introducing Miss Maklyn Serine Sheen...

She has been stealing all my time since her birth and I'm not complaining one bit!  We have quite the little birth story so I'll start with that.  So on December 24, 2012, Christmas Eve, I had a doctor’s appt with Dr. Godwin. Everything looked good.  I was still measuring small, but they weren’t worried because of the ultrasound I had previously gotten.  She checked to see how dilated I was and said the baby's head was REALLY low.  She did her checking (very uncomfortable) and said I was maybe 1 cm and that I may spot a lil because of how she had to check me.  After the appt, Dust and I headed out to Raymond to spend Christmas Eve with the Hill family.  We went up to the cultural hall where the boys were playing some basketball and I decided to jump in and play a little myself.  So at 39 1/2 weeks I was shooting, jumping (or at least trying) and running as we played bump a few times.  I was feeling pretty good and agile.  Dust was pretty impressed too :)  We went to bed that night and I woke up at 4 a.m. and thought I needed to go to the bathroom, so I got out of bed and while walking there, I felt like I had pee’d my pants a little (oh dear), so I got to the bathroom and cleaned myself up and noticed that it wasn’t a yellow liquid but was clear.  I then wiped again and my mucous plug came out.  I had no idea what was going on.  I started having some contractions in my front and back, but tried to go back to bed.  I heard Aunt Lynz get up to feed Jeter, so I got up and told her what had happened and she wasn’t sure what was going on either because she had been induced with Beckam and Maddox and Jeter came through contractions.  So back to bed again I went until we were woken up by Santa ‘HO HO HO’ing.  By this point, I was feeling the contractions a little stronger.  I told the rest of the family what had happened and mom said that when her water broke it wasn’t very much either and that she thought my water may have broken.  Then Dr. Tollestrup came over to say hi on Christmas morning and I told him what happened and he said I should plan on having our baby in the next 24 hours.  I was freaking out a little.  The only day I didn’t want to have her was on Christmas haha  I timed my contractions and they were very irregular, so Dust and I headed to Cardston in the late morning to go spend some time with the Sheens. 

 

When I got to Cardston, Lyndsey called and said that if my water had broke that I needed to go to the hospital because there is a chance that the baby can get an infection if you wait too long.  So Dust and I headed to the Cardston hospital where I told the doctor I was supposed to get my fluid checked.  I also told the doctor what had happened and he did a stress test on the baby.  He proceeded by telling me that I wasn’t in labor and it wasn’t my water that had broke AND that I probably wouldn’t have the baby for at least another week.  We left the hospital and I was disappointed!  I even cried, I know surprising that this emotional preggo mom cried yet again :)  I think I just had built it up that we were finally going to meet our baby girl and the doctor just slammed it down.  So we headed back to the Sheen house and continued to enjoy family time.  I continued to have irregular contractions and felt like they were getting stronger and more uncomfortable.  I barely slept that night as I was VERY uncomfortable and in pain from the contractions.  I was dreading the idea of going through the next week or more feeling like that. 

The next day we had pictures with the Hartley family (Brenda's side), so we headed back to Raymond for that.  We got there earlier than everyone else and were just hanging out.  Riley was goofing around and was trying to do a cartwheel.  He then turned to me and said ‘ok Kris, your turn haha just jokin’, but I took the challenge and did a full out cartwheel at almost 40 weeks haha.  I wasn’t gonna let Riley think I couldn’t do one :)  I felt a little dizzy after, but was pretty proud of myself and again Dust was pretty impressed too :)  Shortly after, I went to my mom and dad's house and was talking to Lynz about how I felt like I needed to call my own doctor just to let her know what had happened.  She agreed, so I called.  My doctor, Dr. Watke, responded by saying ‘uh that doesn’t quite add up to me.  I want you to go to the Lethbridge Hospital and get your fluid checked’.  Oh boy.  So I called Dust who was watching Riley play at Sugar Bowl and we finished watching his game and then headed into Lethbridge with our truck full of Christmas presents we had been given.  We got to the hospital at about 5:30 pm.  I was sure we were going to be sent home and it was going to be nothing.  About 10 minutes later, the nurse came back and said that my water had broke and that they were going to put me on the drip so they could get our baby out quicker.  WHAT!?!?!? I was shocked, nervous, but excited! 
 
Dust went home to get our hospital bag and anything else he thought we’d need and I started on the drip.  At 9:30 my contractions were getting stronger and more painful and I got an epidural!  Best decision ever! The nurse checked me and I was still only 1 cm dilated.  At 12:30 a.m. she checked again and still 1 cm.  I thought for sure they were going to have to do a c-section because of how long it had been since my water had broke.  I went to sleep and woke up at 2 a.m. feeling A LOT of pressure.  I told the nurse and she said it’s probably nothing, but that she’d check me.  All of a sudden she was like ‘uh your fully dilated and we’re gonna have you start pushing’ WOAH!  I pushed for 20 minutes and they had to tell me to try to stop pushing because the baby's head was coming out and my doctor wasn’t there yet, so I tried my best to just breathe through the contractions (again I cannot imagine doing it without the epidural!!!).  The doctor showed up and two pushes later... ta da... there she was.  She was absolutely perfect! She was wide eyed and beaming at us.  She had so much hair just like I did when I was a baby and your Dust had quite a bit too.  I couldn’t believe she was actually ours.  At first glance, I thought ‘holy cow she is all Sheen!’ and I still think she looks a lot like a Sheen baby haha  She was beautiful and so happy.  They laid her on my chest and Dust and I were so in love!  She measured at 6 pounds 8 ounces and 20 inches long.  Dust held her in his arms and I could just see his heart melt.  She had him wrapped around her finger in no time.   My mom and dad just couldn’t hold back their excitement and they ended up driving in at 3:30 a.m. to come meet her!  They didn’t stay long as it was late and we were exhausted, but they already could not get enough of her!

We are loving having her home with us!  She has been such a good baby!  She sleeps great most of the time.  We put her down at about 11 and she wakes up at 5 and then sleeps till 8:30 or 9.  She feeds great too, which is awesome!  She loves to smile just before going to sleep and making kissy faces!  I am absolutely loving being a mom and Dust a dad!  We can't imagine our lives without her anymore and feel so blessed to have such a beautiful and healthy daughter!  It's still kind of weird to think of myself as a mommy, but it's so fun and I just can't get enough of the lil angel!