Mckenna's First Laugh Ever!!!

Making the Most of Opportunities

Hi, Y'all...Mandi Here (thought I'd give you the heads up since it isn't Monday!)

The title may make it sound as if I'm going to share with you some great, life-changing opportunity that I have triumphantly capitalized on that resulted in me being transformed and bettered. If you're looking for that kind of post, you're definitely going to be disappointed. This is a tale of a tiny, insignificant opportunity that you'll likely question why I took the time to share it...never-the-less, here we go...

Mckenna likes to wake up to eat in the night...but shoot so does my mother-in-law (sorry, Denise, it was too easy...Ron Sr., maybe don't let her read this one!). Afterall, that's what babies are wired to do, right? Anywhoo, she tends to wake up somewhere between 3 and 7 to eat, and then goes back down until between 8 and 9. When I hear her on the monitor, I typically stagger down the hallway, illuminating my steps with the light of my cell phone. I then sit half-consious as she enjoys her mid-night snack, stagger back to my room, slither back into bed, and quickly drift back into dreamland. Well last night (Thursday night), I carried out my typical nightly ritual, except I crawled back into bed, only to lay awake. For those of you who have ever been up in the night, and tried with all your might to will yourself back to sleep, but couldn't, you know the feeling. It can be frustrating...right?

Well I had two choices, I could take a sleeping pill (which would require going to the store because we don't have that kind of thing in our pharmacy, I mean house). OR I could get up. So instead of getting annoyed that my little hungry monster was back to bed and I was awake, I decided to make the most of the opportunity. I got up, made a cup of coffee and started in on my work day. I figured if I was awake, why not just get up, finish my work day before she and Ronnie wake up, and then I could PLAY the rest of the day...maybe even nap. And I have to say, I have been incredibly productive (well until I decided to write this blog when I realized Ronnie didn't have anything scheduled to post...but what's a 20 minute break, right?).

Moral of the story? There are a few. First, if you don't want to be up in the night, don't make a baby. Second, if you can't sleep, but want to, choose Unisom, not coffee. And lastly, make the most of opportunities today.

Thankful Thursday: Webcams & Generosity

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for giggles. As I think we've mentioned, Mckenna is a SUPER smiley baby. But what she isn't is a giggly baby...at least she isn't yet. She'll smile and throw her head back with her mouth open, as if she's going to laugh, but no sound actually comes out. However, that all changed yesterday. We actually got a couple goo laughs out of her, and oh my goodness, that may be my favorite sound in the whole wide world!!

I'm thankful for webcams. We are so blessed that there is the technology available where people far away can see us and we can see them. I webcam with my mom and dad pretty much daily, and this week we webcammed with Ronnie's mom, dad and stepmom. What a blessing it is to get to see their faces and have them get to watch Mckenna grow.

I'm thankful for heat. It doesn't get all that cold in Arizona in the winter, but it does get pretty chilly at night (in the 30s). And even though it's not super frigid outside, I'm still huddled under a blanket with the heat on. I LOVE being toasty warm, and thanks to heat, I can be if I want to be :)

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for my little girl still being a little girl yet sometimes acting like a big girl. Follow that? It absolutely warms my heart to see Mckenna stand with her little legs and support her own weight. Or follow me with her eyes as I walk through the room. Or get excited when she "rolls over". Or giggle. I'm seeing more and more of a little girl inside that baby of mine.

I'm thankful for the generosity of others. Whether it be a contribution of time, money, support or prayer - I'm thankful for those who God has placed in our lives. We working on a pretty sweet project right now with CysticLife, and it's been awesome to watch it gain some major momentum because of the generosity of others. Stay tuned.

I'm thankful for Skype. I finally got my mom to download Skype in order to see Mckenna up close and personal when we haven't had a chance to get down to Tucson for a while. Because Mckenna seems to change daily, it's a very nice way to keep my mom on the up and up. My dad has been all over Skype since the beginning; I'm just glad I got my mom to come around :)

So, what are you thankful for today?

Interval Training

"Has anyone else noticed that a minute of running is at least 45 seconds longer than a minute of walking??"


I posted this yesterday on Facebook after my cardio workout. I decided that I would do some interval training to switch it up a little as just running can get a little boring sometimes. (I would actually highly suggest interval training to anyone else who wants to change up their running routine as well). Basically, it's a series of sprinting, running, jogging and/or walking done in timed intervals. Yesterday I decided to do 1 minute interval training. I started with a five-minute warm-up walk and then immediately went into a 1 minute sprint followed by 1 minute of walking. I repeated the sprinting/walking cycle for about 16 minutes. All in all I covered about 1.5 miles of ground.


One thing that I love about interval training is that it always seems to get out more mucus than just straight running. I have a feeling it's because I bounce much more sprinting than I do when I'm running. And I know for a fact that I'm pulling for air much harder and it's getting deeper into my lungs. Doing the sprints followed by a 1 minute recovery walk lets me concentrate on getting as much air into my lungs as possible (as well as trying not to fall flat on my face from a lack of oxygen!). Yesterday was no different as I'm pretty sure I coughed up some stuff that has been down there for quite some time. Again, I would highly recommend this form of training to everyone.


But to get back to the quote I started with in the beginning -  it is amazing how true that feels. Like clockwork, I would look down at my watch 40 seconds into my sprint thinking that there was no way I would have any time on my minute left. And just like clockwork, about 1 minute into my walk I would look down at my watch swearing I was only 30 seconds into my recovery. It was seriously astonishing to me! It was consistent the entire 16 minutes and I can't help but think what my brain must've been processing each and every time I took off into my sprint. The hope of course is that those sprints feel shorter and shorter and those walks feel longer and longer. Although when I happens, I have to change up the routine!


Have any of you ever tried interval training?

Top Ten Favorite Candies

Before I get to my top ten favorite candies...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!! Love you and thanks for reading this blog every day :)

These are in no particular order as it's almost impossible to decide...except for the top 3! Actually thought of this post after devouring my second favorite candy today.


Cherry Sours - I dig anything cherry, especially pies.

 Chewy Sprees - Favorite are red or purple.

 Hot Tamales - Recently cracked my top ten...bumped out Milk Duds.

 Mini Chewy Sweet Tarts - You can get a big ol' box of these at Sam's Club...and we did...last week :)

Pumpkin Candy Corns - Love eating these while at the gym...don't ask me why.

Skittles - red and purple all day.

Starburst - If the bag only had pink ones I wouldn't be disappointed one bit.

3. Mike and Ike Original - I've eaten far too many boxes of these than I'd like to admit.

2. Conversation Hearts - I love it when Valentines Day is right around the corner!

1a. Brachs Jelly Beans - I go crazy on these things when I'm in the Hole...love the pink ones!

1b. Canadian Wintergreen Mints -  I've loved these since my Grandma gave them to me to keep me quite in church :)

Mckenna Monday: Head, Shoulders...Hands and Roll

Happy 3-month birthday to me...well almost. Tomorrow (the 17th) is 3 months officially. The time has flown. It feels like just yesterday that I was warm and cozy, snuggled up in mom's tummy. Man, I kinda miss being in there. Luckily mom brings back some for the comforts of my old home at nighttime: I get white noise and I'm swaddled while I sleep. So while it's not quite as awesome, it'll take it! Helps me sleep better at least.

This week has been a big one. Mom and dad keep saying "it's like she grew up over night." First, I'm using my hands a lot more than I used to. They seen shocked by how I'm grabbing things...but I'm not sure why. Of course I'm going to reach up and grab my butterfly, Buddy, and all the fun stuff hanging off of him while I'm on my playmat. I mean, when I grab the rings at the bottom and move it around, Buddy makes fun noises. Plus when I move Buddy around, I can see all the fun different patterns he has. They sure are impressed though. What's funny is that I'm still not that great with my hands and they're already impressed. I'll really blow then away when it doesn't take me 10 tries to actually grab what I want to grab. Maybe then they'll take 20 videos and pictures instead of just 10..ha!

Another thing I've been doing that really gets them excited is partially roll over...but you'd think I was totally rolling over by their reaction. I can't totally roll over yet though. As of now, I have to be half way between my side and my tummy. You can see how it unfolds in the pictures below. Mom and dad thought it was maybe by accident...so they had me do it over and over again and finally believed it was intentional when they noticed I do it the same way every time. It gets a bit frustrating though, because they take forever to get me set at the beginning. They want to make sure I'm far enough on my tummy that I can't topple over to my back by accident, and it takes what feels like forever.

This is how I start. Arm underneath me. Knee, foot and, shin of top leg on the floor.

I used my leg to give myself the momentum to get to my back.

My new favorite song is "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes"...do you guys know that one? I think it's one that everyone knows, but I never quite know because mom and dad make up songs about everything that happens in the day. Anyway, I love that song. I mean who wouldn't? They sing a body part and touch it at the same time. I really start smiling when they get to "...eyes and ears and mouth and nose" because I think it's funny to touch all over my head and face.

Well that's it. I'll leave you with this picture. It's post bath time...man, I LOVE bath time!