Busy Day!!!

First off all, Sam and I have a new niece! Her name is Macy Olivia Dollins. She was born at 9:51 this morning and weighed in at a whopping 10 pounds, 7 ounces and was 22 inches long! Mom and baby (and Dad and big brother Truett) are doing well! Ben was able to text me the picture below, hopefully they send more soon!



In addition to the excitement of Macy, Chacey had "eighteen-month" pictures taken today. While I recognize that she is now nineteen months, it is important to remember that when she turned eighteen months I was in Philadelphia. Immediately upon my return she obtained some lovely stitches that I didn't feel would compliment her photos! :)

Also... the two topics of this blog DO tie together... Chacey's dress came from Macy's (the store).



Chacey was playing "shy" when we first got there, so the photographer taught her to push the "test" button on her camera that made the flash go off. So, between every picture, Chacey would push the button and then smile really big and wait for the flash to go off!



In the next picture, Chacey was laughing hysterically while being tickled.



The photographer gave her some beads to play with...





Chacey laid herself down like this for the next picture (which is why her dress is laying all weird). She was posing herself so that she could hurry up and push the "flash" button again.



Her face looks kind of weird in the next picture, but it is the only one that really showed all of her dress.




We weren't very successful in getting family pictures. The photographer couldn't get close enough to let Chacey take the picture, then run back and get all three of us in the shop before Chacey started saying "more, more" wanting to push the button again.

Visiting Maryville

We went to Maryville this week for a visit. We got to hang out with some friends and finally meet Baby Birk. Chacey loved giving kisses to Birk and dancing with Lauren. Stacey took pictures, so maybe I can get some from her to add of the kids. While we were in town, Dan (Daddy's roommate) gave her an early morning music lesson, we played in the fountains of Centennial Gardens, got shots, then had icecream! Each time we go up there, I come home a little bummed though. I miss my old job, our friends, being in class, marching band, homework, and the general crazy-busy that comes with being a college student, a parent, and having a job. Don't get me wrong... I like it here just fine, but still... Maryville was good to me in the four years I spent there!

Anyway, part of the reason for our trip was that Chacey had her eighteen-month well baby visit. She has now reached a whopping 32 3/4 inches, 24 pounds 3 ounces. I cannot believe how much she is growing!!! Visiting the doctor was a traumatic experience (who knew a one-year-old could hyperventilate). The doctor said it is normal, that the whole process would remind her of the stitches and scare her... and that she would probably have issues with doctor visits for the next three to four years!!! The poor thing kept bringing me her clothes in her shoes and crying "bye bye!" Broke my heart... but we survived... and they gave her a free icecream cone from McDonalds when it was all done.

Before the shot experience, however, Chacey got to go play in the fountains at Centennial Gardens. She stepped on the shortest fountain, put her hands in the taller one, and managed to play without getting a drop of water on her clothes!




For the sake of comparison, in reminiscence of how big Chacey is getting, the next few pictures were taken at these fountains last year! Chacey's six month well-baby visit was on July 30, 2009, about a week short of a year ago. At that appointment, she was 27 1/2 inches long and 17 pounds even.






She has grown and changed so much in the last year. She is so full of personality that I know I am going to have my hands full. Today at lunch she got in trouble and I said "Chacey Madelyn,"to which she responded "one... two..."! She has also gotten very good at the phrase "I want it!" I just hope that she develops a little more grace and coordination as she gets older... cause she is clumsy! All in all, she is a great kid, and I know that we have been very blessed.

Wonderscope

This morning when I woke up, I decided that we needed to get out and do something. So, I opened the computer to Google and typed "what to do in Kansas City with kids." The result of this was Wonderscope, a children's museum in the area that I never even knew existed!!! I drug the other two out of bed and off we went!

The museum is actually in an old elementary school. There are about a dozen different rooms, each with their own theme. Some are designed for older kids (Tinkertoys and Legos), but most were perfect for Chacey!

Our first stop was at "The Market." Chacey picked vegetables out of the garden and collected fruit from the market, piling it all in her shopping cart! There were also chickens to collect eggs from and a cow to groom, bottle feed, etc. And what farm would be complete without a conveyor belt for hay!!!















After collecting an abundance of "fresh" produce, dressing up like a cow, feeding/grooming a cow, and throwing a chicken, we decided to leave the market and head on to the next room.


The next room, "Small Wonders," was for children under the age of two. It was basically a room filled with tubes, slides, tunnels, stairs, and ramps... but the perfect size for little kids!



Chacey was so excited when she found a slide. She even got Daddy to do a little climbing with her!!!


After spending A LOT of time in that room (twice), we went to the Artwork room for a little coloring, and then we were able to move on to the "H2Oh!" room. This room was full of water tables/toys, some caged animals (turtles and salamanders), and aprons/towels to keep dry. I had to take all the boats away from her though... she was using them to scoop water OUT of the table and throw it on the floor...




The next room was called "Raceways," and was definitely Sam's favorite room!!! It was a room that had hundreds of golf balls, buckets, and tracks to launch the golf balls down. Sam was definitely fascinated by the different tracks/stations in the room. In the picture on the left, they are dropping the ball down a track of hills that extended the complete length of the room.




I was finally able to drag Sam out of there so that we could move on to the next room. We went to the indoor picnic area and had a little snack of grapes, checked out the Lego room (which also fascinated Sam), and made one last stop in the "Healthy Me" room.











Well, despite the fact that I probably have twenty more pictures... I think I have included plenty to demonstrate the gist of the morning. Chacey had a great time between farming, being a doctor, playing with Legos, coloring, splashing in the water, etc. She came home and took a good nap! I was glad to have stumbled onto a fun little place to take her once in awhile!!!

First "Real" Owie...

Since I haven't taken many pictures recently... and I want to write my first blog... we will write about Chacey's first owie (of any significance anyway). And FYI those who are unfamiliar... you can click on the pictures to make them bigger!!!

Chacey has been quite the klutz lately... tripping over her feet, falling into furniture/bath tubs, shutting her fingers in things, etc.


So, it came as no surprise when she took a tumble into a coffee table one day. Apparently it didn't really phase her though... she stayed pretty happy!





This was on the way to the Children's Mercy Urgent Care @ about 5:30 PM.




When we first got there, they immediately put this lovely bandage on her head and directed us to a room. We then sat in the tiny room (with no toys except for two crayons -- not even any paper to use the crayons on) for about an hour. Then the doctor came in and poked around on Chacey while she screamed bloody murder... not because she was in any pain... just because she didn't want him to even look at her.


Finally, the doctor decides that with the width of the wound, stitches would be necessary. Nowadays, they would normally use glue on these wounds, but apparently there are three criteria that make this not possible: (1) when the area is in hair - like eyebrows, (2) if it is too close to the eye - like eyebrows, and (3) if it is a movable part - like eyebrows.

By this time, about 8:00, we had a VERY hungry kid. The doctor didn't want her to eat anything solid, so we were given a hospital gown, a bright orange slushy, and an Elmo's World DVD. They taped numbing gel to the area and left us in the room for forty minutes... for those forty minutes, Chacey thought she was in heaven. What kid wouldn't love Elmo's World and orange slushies!!! Her fingers are pointed in the picture because she was dancing...

Finally, they were able to "do the procedure." Four stitches, across the eyebrow. I had to leave the room... couldn't watch. She was a trooper though. They wrapped her in a sheet to make a "baby burrito," as they were calling it. It just held her arms down. She cried, but not as much as I expected (I was standing outside with my ear to the door). They kept telling her to "focus on Elmo" and she did!



When it was all done... she was as good as new!!!

Giving It a Shot...

I have lately had some friends/family members telling me that I should start a blog to help them keep up with Chacey better. So, I decided to give it shot. Not sure how long it will last... or how interesting it will be. We aren't all that exciting and I will probably run out of things to say. Regardless, thought I would try it out for awhile. It has already entertained me for an hour while I try to figure out how it works. Definitely going to have to find a new, more personal background... but will save that for later.