Pictures of

McKenzie Noel Maxfield

FINALLY ;)

She's HERE!!!

McKenzie Noel Maxfield has arrived!!!!
She was born Wednesday November 26, 2008
at 9:02 AM She was born at 36 weeks and 1 day gestation so was about 4 weeks early
She weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long.

She is absolutely perfect and didn't need the NICU at all. She is amazing!

I'll have pictures and more details up later once I get to the other computer.

Night out with Mark!

This weekend Mark took me to watch Twilight. We both didn't like it, they really did some wierd things. I'll just stick to reading the books and imagining it myself!

It was soooo nice to get to go out with Mark. It's been so long since we've been on a date. And since it will probably be a while before we get to go out on one again at least without the baby it was nice to reconnect without the kids around. A great big THANKS to Natalie and James and Linda and Roger for watching the kids.

6 weeks and counting!

Ok so I had my appointment on Tuesday and was exactly 34 weeks along. Yeah I'm almost there. Well my doctor said that I was measuring small but that I had grown since last time. I was measuring only 32 weeks. So he wanted me to get another ultrasound. I went in this morning to get my ultrasound. I was excited to get one this far along so we took a DVD with us. Unfortunately their machine wasn't working so I didn't get any pictures of her. BUT...
I was measuring at 35 weeks and 3 days!!!! Everything I've read recently says that the baby at this stage (34 weeks) should weigh about 4-4.5 lbs. Based on her measurments today she is 5-5.5 lbs!!!

I've been so frustrated when people keep telling me that I am small for how far along I am. Well the other day one of my friends in the ward was telling me that and I said oh, it's because I'm carrying her all in my back. She looked behind me and said "Oh yeah, you do look pregnant from behind!" At first I was like OMG, but I really do!

I'm so excited for this little girl to get here! We still need to pull out the crib to see if we have all the parts, maybe a good weekend project for Mark huh! But I've made nursing covers, burp cloths, and car seat covers. There's probably a lot more I need to do but for now I'm glad that my kids are excited and that we are finally getting the next little one to add to our wonderful family.

Happy Holidays everyone and enjoy the season!

TIME FLIES!!!

7 weeks left!

As the beginning of November came I realized that this little girl is supposed to be here NEXT MONTH!!! As LONG as the pregnancy seems sometimes I can't believe that it's time for her to be here so soon. I can't wait to get to know her and play with her, McKenzie Noel Maxfield is on her way!!

That means there is also 7 weeks before Paul and Candy come home for Christmas. About 8 weeks until my parents and at least some of my siblings come and Mark's sister Anna is coming around New Years too!

Unfortunately and Fortunately that also means there is only 7 weeks and 3 days until Christmas!!! We are excited for the holiday. I can't wait to get my decorations up since that is the one holiday that I have Oodles of things to decorate the house with! But it also means that I need to have my Christmas shopping done ASAP and since I haven't started I think we're in trouble! Hopefully McKenzie will come early enough to let me get more done after she comes before the holiday is upon us.

Happy Holiday Season to everyone and God Bless you all. We love you!

Halloween

This year for Halloween the kids were Marines 0313, LAV Crewmen to be exact. Just like daddy! We borrowed Linda's Garden Wagon and made them an LAV.

Finished LAV

They had a parade at School and they ended up being the stars!

Going down the Halls you would hear everyone saying oh, how cute etc. Then when Jordan and Moriah would come by, pulled by Mark, the people would Cheer and were giving them Hi fives and the kids thought it was great.

We didn't do much trick or treating but went around to friends houses, and Grandparents.

The kids really had a great time and lucky for me didn't get too much candy so their candy is already gone!!!

THANKS A LOT CANDY!!!

SO I'VE BEEN TAGGED
Rules:
1. People who are tagged need to post these rules, and 8 random habits/facts/quirks about themselves.
2. At the end of the post you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names.

Eight things about me...
1.I've been married for 28% of my life time!
2.I love to make gifts for people instead of buying things.
3.I wish I could see my parents more often and see their new house.
4.I am almost 31 week pregnant and still am talking about the "next baby" after this one!
5.I wish I was more organized.
6.I am finally going to college.
7.I love spending time with friends and family
8.I'm way too lazy for my own good.


Now anyone reading this you have been tagged. I couldn't think of 8 people so everyone gets tagged!

12 more weeks!

Well, I'm officially 28 weeks today! McKenzie is getting very big and I can't wait until she gets here.
After my appointment today we went to the mall to walk around. My friend that watched Moriah was taking her to school so we had time without the kids! We tasted the most wonderful toffee candy that was..... $50.00 for 3 lbs!!! OMG ok it wasn't THAT good! LOL We also went to Modest by design, since it's across the street from Fashion Place mall.

For those who don't know there is a Marine Corps Ball EVERY YEAR! it's also mandatory. So even though I will be 8 months pregnant I have to put on a formal and go with Mark to a dance! So I've been looking at dresses to get an idea of what I want. My mom's friend is making me my dress as soon as I can afford to get the material! I tried on like 5 dresses and only 1 of them could zip all the way up! it was a size 18!!! AHH but it was HUGE on top so I felt better. Still trying to decide on what color to do. Any suggestions? Mark's uniform is a DARK DARK Navy blue, with gold buttons and red trims etc.

Anna came to visit this past weekend and we loved seeing her. The kids made a banner for her so that when she got here from the airport and walked into Roger and Linda's house she would see it. I'll have to get a picture from Linda and put it up here. It was adorable. Moriah is my little artist and loves to decorate and draw and bake.

Linda's fruit and veggies are coming on in enormous amounts. We have had a ton of zucchini and Peaches. My mom was here visiting a few weeks ago and we made 27 loaves of zucchini bread!!! I've also been making peach cobbler. Sooooo good and such an easy recipie:

4 cups fresh peaches (you can substitute frozen)
1/2 cup of sugar
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp lemon juice

Heat oven to 400
combine ingredients into a 2 quart sauce pan and bring to boil. Boil for 1 min stirring constantly. remove from heat and place in 2 quart backing dish and place in oven to keep warm.
This could be bottled or used as topping for icecream etc! SO GOOD

Pastry top
1 cup flour
3 Tbs shortening
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
cut shortening into flour mix until the whole mixture looks like crumbs. (I used the bottom of my wisk and it was WAY EASY) Add milk and mix, dough will be sticky.
Drop in 6 spoonfulls over the top of the peach mixture and bake for 25-30 min
Wondeful topped with whipped cream or ice cream!

I love this because it is simple and doesn't have a ton of extra sugar added!

So that's some of what we have been up to. I'm currently working part time at a Target Portrait studio. If anyone wants to come get pictures I'm at the Target at 70th south and Redwood Rd in West Jordan. I usually work mornings a few days a week 10-2 Stop by and say hello if you get the chance.

I can't wait until conference this weekend. I'm bummed that mark will miss it, he has his Marine drill that he can't miss :( But I definitely need the boost and to help my children learn more about Heavenly Father and Jesus. It always interests me to see what things they get out of talks when we are sitting and listening. All of a sudden they ask a question and I didn't even know they were paying attention! How amazing and insightful they are and how we can learn from them as well as help to teach them!

Mark's Birthday
Mark turned 29 this weekend.
Well, the kids and I went to Wal-Mart Friday night to get a birthday present for a birthday party the kids are going to on Labor Day. (That's what we told Mark anyway) We did that too but went to get Mark something for his birthday which was Saturday. After looking around for a while we couldn't really decide what to get him that wasn't going to break the meager bank for the occasion. Finally we decided to get him some of his favorite candies: Butterfingers, Snickers, and Twizzlers. The kids wanted to get him a cake. I normally would make one but I've been to tired :D and then it wouldn't be a surprise! Well, we went and looked and the tiny rounds were $8! I decided at that price to just make a cake! As we were still walking around we passed the expires today 40% bakery cart. There was one of the cakes we wanted to get for only $4.80! We got home and I left the kids in the car and ran in and grabbed a lighter and a few candles. I ran back out and got everything ready and then I called Mark to get Moriah out of the car cause she was asleep and I couldn't carry her. :D I ran out ahead of him and lit the candles and we sang happy birthday to him and enjoyed the cake. I think Mark really enjoyed it and the kids were so excited to surprise daddy.
Saturday we slept in and then went to the Deseret Book outlet in South Jordan. They had a stack of books, most by general authorities, for $0.99 each!!! One was the first book of the discourses of President Hinckley 1995-1999! We got 5 books and then I remembered that I had plenty of points so we got Mark a bunch of books and didn't spend anything!
Then we went to get Mark some military garments and looked around the Deseret Book for a while. The kids and I then took Mark to lunch at Golden Corral.

We all enjoyed being able to spend the day together and celebrate Mark's Birthday!

Well, I'm late getting this up, like everything else :D

First day of school!

Jordan and Moriah started school on August 11th.
Moriah loves Kindergarten and really enjoys making friends and getting ready for school. Jordan is doing much better this year and he has great teachers.
He is being tested at school and as soon as we have insurance again we are going to have him medically tested to see what LDs he has (learning disabilities)

*I will add the pics later they are on the other computer*

***Fun day with friends at Liberty Park***

We met Fred and Amie and their girls on the south end of the park. The kids really enjoyed feeding the geese.

We walked to the other end of the park to play at the playground and in the water park area. We stopped to have snow cones and the kids posed for pictures.

Moriah and Gabby

Jordan, Moriah, and Gabby.
(Yes Moriah is carrying Gabby)

Now Jordan is carrying Gabby.

Jordan and Moriah are going to be so good with thier baby sister!

This is Fred and Amies other daughter Emilie. She's 2 1/2 months older than Moriah!!! lol

**ONTO THE WATER PARK!!!**

Fred and Gabby playing in the water

Moriah decided she didn't like the water! Look at that sad face :(

It's adorable!!! lol

Jordan did have one problem with the water though ...

We couldn't get him to get out!!! lol

Once we got Jordan out of the water all the kids played in the playground and had a blast!

Round and Round they go!

Do I look as tired as I felt?

Mark and Moriah playing. What does her hair make her look like?

Mark said it looks like devil horns! That does fit sometimes but really she just looks adorable!

After our long day we made Mark and Fred go up to their house in the van and we rode Front Runner back up to Clearfield. It was the first time for us to ride it.

*Girls Night Out!*

Later that evening while the boys fed the kids dinner and stuff, Amie and I went to the movies and watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. It was really good, they could have ended it a couple of scenes earlier but other than that it was good if you liked the first one!

Mark's Graduation from LAV school!

7/18/08 He's FINALLY DONE!!!

This is his class. There were about 45 of them in this class.

I was so glad to have him done! It was nice to be down there and get to see him every weekend for June and July but nothing beats getting to see him every day and how good it is for the kids to see him too. They've missed him so much. I'm glad they were, for the most part :D, good little troopers and know that their daddy is doing something important and that he will always love them. It's much easier for them to believe now that he's home!

Well, I finally got some of the pictures from this summer onto the computer! While we were visiting California we went to Sea World for the first time. The kids enjoyed it and I think Mark enjoyed it even more because we got in free!

The kids really enjoyed the tide pools and seeing the starfish.

It looks like he got to touch it! They loved the aquarium. I was dying cause of the Humidity but we all had fun seeing all the animals!

This is REALLY how big the fish was!!! This isn't zoomed in! CRAZY!

As you can see these are the flamingos. Moriah is showing us where we are going and what we are going to do next!

Moriah took this picture all by herself with my big DSLR camera. It's her favorite thing to do!

WAITING TO SEE SHAMU!!!

We wanted good seats so we had to sit for almost an hour!!!

The kids taking turns with the camera:

We really enjoyed our day. We saw the shamu show, still haven't developed those pictures yet. lol. We saw the sea lion show and rode the Rapids ride. We got so soaked and the sun had already gone down so we were FREEZING!!!

Time for school

Jordan and Moriah start school on Monday August 11th. Their back to school night is tomorrow and Jordan will meet his teacher for the first time. Her name is Mrs. Wartman. No offense to her but that is a horrible name for a 1st grade teacher. When Jordan's friend Brittany came over to play last week she was telling him that they were in the same class and that his teachers name was Mrs. Wartman. He came running down stairs to me saying that Brittany was using bad words!! lol It's going to be a long year!

Moriah has a new kindergarten teacher. Mrs. Proud, the teacher from last year, had a baby and is switching to a charter school that will allow her to work a half day. Her new teacher, Mrs. Brown, I think, seems very nice and I think Moriah will do great in her class.

I've been very busy with school myself. 3 classes but the most difficult thing is with the kids around it's hard to concentrate on the computer. Things should run smoother next week once they are at school.

Mark is still looking for work but has been very busy working at Camp Williams last week and this week. It is hard work and he comes home EXHAUSTED!!

I think what exhausts all of us the most is that we are trying to get the kids on a better schedule before school starts and it's not going great. But we continue to work on it so hopefully it will be easier once they are expending more energy during the day!

We're having a girl!!!!

Baby number 3 is going to be a little girl. My due date is still set for December 23rd but I'll have another ultrasound in 5 weeks so we can get a better idea by then. I'm 19 weeks and 2 days today. I am so excited for the new baby to come and can't believe it's only 20 weeks and 2 days until Christmas!!! How quickly this year is flying by.

A Busy Family

Well, I haven't written for just over 3 months. So much has gone one so I will try to catch you up. First of all, right after my last blog we found out that we were pregnant. I'm currently 16 weeks prego, almost half way!!!
I just started college yesterday. I'm taking 18 credit hours this trimester. All online classes too.
Mark finishes his training in 10 days on July 18th and shortly thereafter we will be heading back home to Utah. Jordan and Moriah have school starting August 11th and by the beginning of September all four of us will be in school!
The baby is due December 23rd and we hope to find out what we're having as soon as we get home.
If anyone knows of any job openings that mark could apply for that would be wonderful since he's just a reservist he'll need to get a job asap.

My life

Well, I decided that I would start a blog like so many of my friends have. My name is Elaine I've been married for almost 7 years obviously to Mark :) We have two kids that are growing up WAY TOO FAST. Right now life is crazy. Mark is in the Marine Corps and finishing initial training. So the last year has been hectic to say the least, but also rewarding in a way I didn't really expect. I HATE having him gone but it has taught me a lot about myself!
Well, right now we are trying to conceive, which is obviously difficult with having only seen him twice in the last 6 weeks :) Luckily we will be moving in with my parents which is near his training so in another 8 weeks I will get to see him on a more regular basis. My youngest is almost 5, OMG, and I've been baby hungry for a while, to say the least!

Right now we are visiting my parents so I've seen Mark the last two weekends and it has been WONDERFUL!!! I just wish that it wasn't going to be so long before I see him again. Hopefully I can come visit him for my birthay :D (May 7)