Similarity?

Here is a picture of Makenna at 1 year

And a picture of me at 1 year

What Did You Do Today

I went to my friend Mandy's house to make peanut butter balls. Now I am enjoying a plate of them and a latte! It doesn't get much better than that. Especially on a gloomy day.

10 Honest Things About Me

So Jared's cousin's wife, Dorothy, nominated me to complete a list of 10 honest things about me. Be prepared to be thoroughly entertained.....or not.

1. When I was in High School I wanted to be an architect.
2. The only pet that I have ever had was a guppy named Teddy Roosevelt Jr. Which was a science project of my dad's.
3. I would really love to live on an acreage. Preferably one with a pond or creek and a large area for a veggie garden and small orchard.
4. I like to dip fritos and pizza crust in applesauce. Nope this is not a pregnancy craving. This is an all the time thing.
5. My favorite season is summer. Bring on the heat and the sun. I love 'em both.
6. I would like to spend my "golden years" living in the deep south. Where I will hopefully pick up an authentic southern accent.
7. There are many days that I wear sweatpants and t-shirts all day. A benefit of being a stay-at-home mom. Some days I feel like I'm in college again though.
8. I have never learned how to drive a stick shift.
9. I am not a big fan of going out to eat. I prefer a home cooked meal any day.
10. I have watched and participated in the dissection of a human cadaver.

Well there you have it. 10 honest things about me.

Makenna on Facebook

As you might know, Makennna has been on facebook for awhile now. Here is some proof.

Fair weather fan?

Allison and I were discussing going to the football game this weekend. She asked about the weather.

J: It's mostly nice through Friday, don't know about Saturday.

A: If it's raining I don't want to go! I guess I'm more of a fair weather fan.

Pause.

J: You realize "fair weather fan" relates to how well a team is doing, not the temperature.

A: (laughing) Oh.

A Comparison

Pregnant with Makenna at 12 weeks....

Pregnant with Baby 2 at 12 weeks.....

For those keeping track, the above picture was taken last week. I am actually 13 weeks pregnant as of today.

Why the slacking?

If you have wondered why the Willis' have been slacking on blogging lately it is because the mama has been overly tired and out of energy over the last month and a half. Why you ask?

Well....



Yep you guessed it. We are expecting again and with God's grace we will be welcoming baby two into the world sometime around May 18th!

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

Happy Birthday Nana and Uncle Jason

Today is my mom's birthday. (I won't tell you how old she is, but I will tell you she will be celebrating her sixth birthday ending with a zero next year.)

Today is also my brother-in-law, Jason's birthday too.

We hope you both enjoy your special day to the fullest.

Halloween

Makenna got to dress up as the great pumpkin for Halloween this year. Not that she knew what was going on, but she was cute anyway. The hat didn't make it too long, and we were amazed we even got any pictures with it on due to her extreme objection to it inside the house.

I saw the Ames Library had trick or treating all day so we went. Basically a couple buckets of candy around with no one manning them. Lame. But she enjoyed running up and down all the isles, stopping only to pull a random book off the shelf. People were always pleasantly surprised to look up from their books to see a giggling pumpkin whiz by them.

We also took her to the play place in the mall and let her run from one end of the mall to the other. Yes, the Ames mall is that small. She was the hit of the place. Lots of "Oh how cute!"

We went to church that night so we missed out on most of the trick or treaters, but Makenna and I stopped by a few neighbors houses when when we got home. Again, the baby in a pumpkin outfit killed.

We finished the night off with Makenna going to bed and Allison feeling ill from eating too much candy. Happy Halloween indeed.

One Year Stats : Finally

We finally had Makenna's one year appointment today. Here are her stats:

• Weight - 18 pounds 13 ounces
• Height - 29 inches

So I was looking back on our blog and I have definitely been slacking on updating on Makenna so here are some updates about her over the last few months.

10 Months

• Eats all table food
• Drinks from a cup with meals and snack
• Loves pulling things out of drawers and baskets, also loves pulling things off shelves
  
• Walking well
• Likes playing with blocks...aka knocking over towers
  
• Climbs up the stairs

11 Months

• Gives high fives
• Likes turning pages of her books but only will sit still while you read to her when she is tired
  
• Signs "milk" and "all done"
• Loves to play Peek-a-Boo
• When asked "Where is Makenna's baby?" , she will go find her doll
  

12 Months

• Loves to dance
• Loves to bring books to you to read to her - favorites are touch and feel or flap books
  
• Can stack one block on another
• Puts toys into containers - doesn't just empty stuff anymore
• Signs "please"
• Will rock her doll in her arms and put her in her rocking chair and rock her
  
• Climbs on anything and everything
• Great at problem solving...aka moves somethings she has the ability to climb on next to something she doesn't so that she is able to climb on the reachable thing
• Whenever someone is eating she come running... guess we must not feed her enough
  

Pumpkins!

This post is a bit late, but few weekends ago we went up to Jared's parent's farm to pick some pumpkins. Jared's brother's family came too. Makenna seemed to have a fun time trying to keep up with Ally and Drew. The weather was great that day and the kids got to spend a lot of time outside. While we were there Jared's mom planned a treasure hunt for the kids to find pumpkins with the letters of their name on them. We also enjoyed celebrating Makenna and Drew's birthday with Jared's brother's family. Makenna got a much loved guitar that she carries around quite often and dances with.

Party!

It's unbelievable to think our little Makenna is now one! Time sure flies by and we love her more and more each day.

We celebrated with family on Saturday and Makenna had a blast being the center of attention. She loved the cake and did a pretty good job opening presents.

Thanks Connie for the cake and all the grandparents and great-grandparents for her great toys and sweet winter outfit. Hopefully she will grow a little before the snow flies!

If you like The Office......

We watched the office last night. I like the show most of the time, but last night's was so funny at the end Allison and I were both crying.

Here's a link to the clip in case you missed it, or just want to re-watch it....

House Update

Here is the progress that Jared has accomplished in the kitchen/dining/living room area since we moved in.

• the wall between the kitchen and dining/living room was demoed
• reframed in columns and beam
• new paint in dining/living room
• removed carpet in dining/living room
• layed new wood floors
• hung curtains in dining/living area
• new Willis original custom made coffee table
• started to trim out the columns and beam

view of the demoed wall and reframed beam and columns

view of the progress on the trim work
the old floors (yep there was two)and the new floor in the kitchen

More Helping Daddy

Makenna continues to be a big help to her daddy with all of the work he is accomplishing on the house.

Rolling up the carpet

Reading the directions on 'How to install the wood floor'

Suggesting alternative ways to use the hammer

Climbing

Makenna's new favorite thing to do is to climb on and into things.

Neighborhood Potluck

I truly like living in an established neighborhood. It has many benefits and we got to enjoy one of those benefits this past weekend - "The Annual McKinley Neighborhood Potluck." Our first neighborhood potluck included wonderful food, meeting several of our neighbors, firemen and a fire truck.

Don't worry the firemen were there only to talk to the kids in the neighborhood and show them their fire truck.

The Checkerboard

Saturday night we went out to eat with my parents at a restaurant in Pleasantville called the Checkerboard. It was fun looking at all the antiques and stuffed animals that they had as decorations. Makenna also thought that our waitress was fascinating.



After enjoying a wonderful supper we took a stroll up and down the 2 blocks of Pleasantville's main drag. We stopped at a small garden for Makenna to take a ride on a Lion (the town's school mascot) and sniff (more like try to eat) the flowers.