Young Party of Four

February 28, 2013 7 Months Old Dear Mackenzie, Happy 7 months Smiley!! Since, February is a short month, we have elected to say you are “7 Months” old on the 28th. How on earth did your half birthday come and go so quickly? I swear, just yesterday I was talking to Daddy about how you are half a year old and we were officially closer to your 1st birthday than your actual birthday. I just can’t figure out how time keeps speeding up on us. I have so much I want to tell you about how you are growing and what you are doing for this past month, but as usual, I will try to keep it to a reasonable length. =) So, in January, you cut your first two teeth. This is relatively early for most babies and I wasn’t sure if you were just going to start cutting them one after another or what. So far, you still only have those two adorable little bottom teeth. I think you might be starting to teethe again based on your amount of drool, but I haven’t seen anything showing up yet. Time will tell. W

Recently we have learned that Mackenzie loves to swing. We always knew she liked her baby swing she had at the house, but we have had to pack that up because she figured out how to slither out of it. With her new found ability to sit though, she was finally ready to start swinging at the park in the real "baby" swings. This past weekend we had Momma (Nana) take Jack back to Palatka with her so that we could clean our carpets. That was much needed with a dog and a soon to be mobile baby. So, after cleaning the carpets we were looking for things to do outside the house that wouldn't be too monotonous for Kenzie. She gets bored easily it seems. =) Anyway, we decided to try the park. While she isn't big enough to use the playsets yet, we figured she could swing. She LOVED it! At first, it was a bit scary I think but once she realized that she was safe, she had a great time. The downfall was that it was so very cold! We were only able to stay a few minutes. Since then

Happy Valentine's Day from the Youngs on Kenzie's first Valentine's!!!

This weekend we spent Saturday as family time. It was nice to have a day to ourselves. We are often so busy trying to spend time with our families and friends as well as each other that we rarely have time that seems to be just for us. We love to spend time with our family and friends, but it is a nice change up once in a while to have nothing planned for a day. Saturday we decided to take Kenzie for her first picnic. We went down to Magnolia Park on Lake Apopka. Our hope had been to eat by the water, but they are working on the boat dock apparently, and that part of the park is shut down so we had to eat on the other side of the park. Kenzie sat in her stroller and ate her applesauce while Steven and I had Subway. It was nice to just get out of the house for a while and be together. We were going to let Kenzie play on the baby swings, but the park was really crowded. Our hope is that we can go early to another park this Saturday so that she can swing for her first time.

So, I have had a Canon Rebel XS since I graduated from grad school. That was what? In May 2009? So, almost 4 years now. Until recently I have always used the camera as mostly a point and shoot. I took a photography class in high school, but we are talking over 10 years ago at this point and I remembered very little. I have now decided to attempt to teach myself (with a bit of guidance from a friend) some of the basics just so that I am able to take better pictures now that Kenzie is a part of our life and hopefully I will continue to grow as our family does. I still keep my handy dandy point and shoot on hand for quick shots or to just throw in her diaper back when we are going somewhere that I don't feel like lugging my bigger camera along to. I just wanted to share a few of my favorite shots (so far) with everyone. (Also, the shot of Kenzie in the pink skirt from her monthly letter was also taken after I decided to nix the point and shoot option on my camera.)