Two Years Ago...

Two years ago today, my life changed forever.

I became a Mom!

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, amazing, beautiful, funny, cute, intelligent, quirky, dramatic, cheerful, loving, adorable, cuddly.....

Well, let's face it, I could go on FOREVER about how much I love this little girl and all of the joy she brings into my life!

So I thought I'd do a tribute to her and how much she has grown in the last 2 years!

She was born March 14, 2008

In Winnie Palmer Hospital

Orlando Florida

She was 7 lbs 6 oz & 21 inches long!

Born by c-section, as soon as she was out, she was perfect! No issues, no problems she just laid in my arms, a perfect little miracle! (those with kids know there is no adequate way of describing the feeling of the first time you hold your child!)

2 weeks

she was starting to give us some stresses. She wasn't a fantastic eater and she went down to 6 lbs! But she was still as cute as ever!

1 month

she had already been to all four Disney World theme parks!

6 weeks

she had already made her first 8 hour road trip, and moved to the other side of Florida for her Daddy's work. Now she lived in Pensacola, Fl. And she could SMILE! It was so beautiful to see her smile! She was also getting pretty good at lifting her head up too! This was one of my favorite outfits on her, I LOVED this dress!

2 months

she LOVED playing in water and going to the pool with Mommy!

3 months,

she stopped wanting to nurse and moved on to be strictly bottle fed.

She loved to sit up and watch everything!

4 months

she moved to Melbourne, Fl.

Right on the beach and she LOVED going as often as possible!

She also lived through her first Tropical storm, Faye!

5 months

she lived through her first Hurricane as we traveled from Melbourne to Houston and got caught in the traffic moving out of the way of Hurricane Gustav! Once again though, she did great on a LONG car ride!

6 months

old she lived through her first Natural Disaster in Houston, Tx when Hurricane Ivan hit! We were without power, food or diapers for DAYS! But our neighbors were great and gave us lots of boiled water for her, and hunted out "baby friendly" food for her too!

When we finally got power, we headed up to Dallas, where she went to her first professional baseball game!

7 months

old we moved to Olympia, Wa. On the drive we drove through Idaho so at 7 months she finally had met all of her aunts and uncles and grandparents! She was pulling herself up on things pretty well now, but fell a lot!

9 months

she was trying to walk around, but could only take a few steps before falling over.

She was already loving hanging out with her cousin Andrew though! She would grab a hold of him when ever he got close enough and she tried to copy everything he did. Including his car noises when he played cars with her!

10 months

Her first Christmas was so much fun! I loved getting her a stocking and planning out presents! It also snowed that winter so we got a lot of use out of her first snow suit from Aunt Nicole!

She also got her first doll... a cabbage patch doll!

11 months

she was a great walker by now and tried very hard to run, but only fell when she did.

She could also climb up and down stairs really well too and I FINALLY got to put her hair in a pony tail! Even if it was just on the top of her head!

12 months

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I could "kind of" put her hair in pig tails, but mostly I just had to clip it away from her face in the front! Her first birthday party was at Dirty Dave's!

13 months

She moved across the country to Akron Ohio!

She went to more baseball games (Cleveland Indians!) and loved playing in the snow in Ohio!

14 months

She could REALLY run now! We were finally getting warmer weather so she could play at a pool again! She LOVES the water! It was also at this time we found out she was going to be a big sister!

15 months

Her hair was long enough to pull back a lot now! Hooray! She loved to run and play outside. She loves the rain and splashing in puddles!

She is saying a lot of words now too! Mom, Dad, Outside, Pool, Book, Doll, Baby (she LOVES babies!) Dog, Woof, Meow, Moo... she knows what all of the animals say! (including giraffes!)

18 months

She is a california baby now! She moved across the country again to live in LA!

She LOVES going to DisneyLand, the beach, the pool, on walks and to Hollywood to play in the big fountain! Her favorite movie is DEFINITELY "Sleeping Beauty" whom she calls "bitty boos" She asks to watch it every day! But I don't mind, I love that she loves Disney!

20 months

We live in Washington again! We drove up the coast, and like always, she was WONDERFUL on the car ride! We are so blessed! She is talking really well now, and loves to throw balls, and pillows with her Dad. She also loves playing "monster" with him!

22 months

She's a big sister now! Her little brother was born Jan 2!

She also has a passport and has gone to Mexico! Long airplane ride! :-P

She still loves water and swimming and is talking like crazy!

She is also singing now! I love it! She humors me a lot when I want to do her hair

and dress her up, but really she wants to dress herself.

She also is starting potty training (her idea!)

2 years!!!!!

I ADORE this little girl! She says complete sentences, uses please and thank you, covers her mouth when she coughs or sneezes (really she's done this for a long time) sings and dances tries to dress herself, wants to take care of her little brother (including "feeding" him... cute but awkward!) She is getting into the "mine" stage especially when other kids come over to play. She is still working on potty training, but loves to pick out her underwear for the day! She loves big poofy dresses, and monsters and balls! She likes watching Disney cartoons and can even put them in and start them herself! She loves candy and chocolate (what kid doesn't?) her favorite foods are waffles, peanut butter sandwiches & popcorn that her Daddy makes! She loves to read & watch Pokemon. She loved stuffed animals & dolls. She is a dreadful mimic & noy only do WE have to watch what we say & do, she also copies what she sees on tv! She also really gets into what she's watching, and cries, or laughs or says "oh no" when the bad guys come on!

She is such an amazing little girl! She has grown so much in 2 years and I find myself amazed by her everyday! It was hard to imagine when they first put her in my arms that I would ever love her more, but today I know that it was such a tiny sliver of love compared to what it is today! She is becoming her own little person and has such a funny personality! When she is upset she runs into her room and throws herself on the bed (dramatic!) But she is also so caring and loving! She loves to give hugs and kisses and cuddle! I love waking up to her next to my bed calling my name so she can come cuddle in bed with us!

I could go on and on and on!

But I'll stop here so we can go celebrate with her!

Happy Birthday Makayla!