Sit Still

Last Friday Gwynn had her first official hair cut. I did some research and found a cute little children's salon called sit still. I made Gwynn an appointment and invited Grandma along for the ride. Sit still is an adorable salon with two cute cars for children to have there hair cut in. There is also a flat screen on the wall for the children to watch cartoons during their cut, as well as candy and a mechanical rocking horse. It was a wonderful environment for both myself and Gwynn. It was very clean, modern and sassy. The employees were all so kind and did a wonderful job. Gwynn was so good she sat in a pink car and played with a cute comb and checked out the salon during the process. Grandma video taped the whole event for Charlie and our personal video library. Gwynn decided she wanted a trim with a little bit of sweepy bangs. After she was done with her cut she got some all natural organic hair products to keep up her style and a cute little first hair cut card that included a bag with her locks of hair and a Polaroid taken by the salon of her first sassy style. It was such a fun milestone for Gwynn in her growing up process and the salon really made it wonderful.

We had a great week of playing, play dates, story time and of course Christmas shopping. This weekend we had Charlie's work Christmas party on Friday night. It was very nice this year. It gets better every year because we have made friends within the company. Its nice to have people you get excited about seeing. While mom and dad were away Gwynn played with Grandma at McDonalds and looked at Christmas lights.

On Saturday we went to a tree farm in Sherwood and picked a beautiful nobel. Gwynn was hilarious and very unsure about all the trees and long grass. She was apprehensive to go into the trees to find one. She insisted someone hold her ninty percent of the time. The only time she wanted down was when Charlie was sawing the tree down. As soon as he was done she wanted me to hold her again( which is getting increasingly more difficult with my growing belly). We then decorated the tree as a family and Gwynn of course liked all the tacky ornaments I didn't want to hang. Later in the evening we went to visit santa but the line was so long we thought we would try later in the week. Then it was off to a party at our friends home. We had a great time, the ladies were in one room making candles and having drinks (not me of course) and the gentlemen were in the living room with the babies. There were about twenty people total excluding all the crazy kids. We learned how to make candles and decorated the glass. The candles were all organic soy and don't burn hot. It was really neat and it was good to know that I am not burning any unnatural substances into our atmosphere. In addition if Gwynn touches the wax she won't get burned! On Saturday I had to get up at four to be at a wedding in Vancouver at six thirty. Then when I got home Charlie and Gwynn had been busy working on projects and cleaning for me. It was wonderful. We also made some snicker doodle cookies and did a little more Christmas shopping. This Christmas is going to be so much fun with Gwynn she loves all the pretty lights and decorations. This morning when Gwynn woke up she looked at the tree and said "WOW"..."pretty" and just stared at the tree for a good five minutes while she was waking up. It was a super holiday fun filled weekend and look forward for the many more with all our friends and family!!!

Lots of fun with turkey week!

The past two weeks have been a happy blur. We have had two weeks of Thanksgiving fun. Last weekend we had a dinner with Charlie's Dad and step mother on Saturday. It was very nice. I had my first attempt at making Thanksgiving for a group. Libby, Brian, Sarah and Greg also came for dinner. It was a nice visit. Gwynn also loved all the attention she received from everyone. The dinner turned out very well in my opinion. The following day it was off to Sherry's (Charlie's mom) for another wonderful Thanksgiving. Rachel made wonderful pasta from scratch. It was great to visit with all Charlie's family.

This weekend we traveled to Ashland on Wednesday to have Thanksgiving with my family. It was so good to see everyone. We all live in so many different states it was so good to visit. My Grandmother is also a wonderful cook who made a great meal as always. There were around thirty people at my grandmothers. We stayed in Ashland with my sister Erica. I must say she lives better then I ever did in college. She was so sweet and gave us her room with a huge bed and our own private bath. Erica also insisted on cooking us breakfast every morning...even though she normally doesn't cook....pancakes, bacon, eggs and so on. She also made Charlie the most wonderful sugar cookies. For a girl who doesn't cook she sure can! We stayed with Erica for three days. Charlie went riding two days and I took Gwynn for some nice long walks. The weather was so wonderful. We also had many wonderful meals at the local restaurants. We attended the Ashland holiday parade and light ceremony on Friday and went to Porters for dinner where my aunt rented us a private room so we could have a nice calm dinner with someone waiting on us. On Saturday we took Gwynn to my aunt and uncles home to let Gwynn swim. They have an amazing pool that is heated. We all got to do our favorite activities on this trip....eat, play and spend time with family.

Growing too fast!

Gwynn is growing up way to fast for me. I get sad about it because I feel like the days fly by way to fast. I always wonder if I could have done more for her everyday. I want her to have the best life possible. Its so fun to watch her grow and gain new knowledge everyday. I just can't help but think if I miss any moment of her life I will wake up and next thing I know I will be taking her to college..and balling my eyes out. Gwynn has been talking up a storm and imitating everything I do. This is good and bad..it makes me so aware of all my actions. Gwynn loves to read more and more everyday. She walks up to me all day and says.. read.. read. OF course I stop what I am doing and read to her in the kitchen on the floor while dinner burns, in the bathroom, anywhere in the house she doesn't care. She just backs up to sit in my lap. I have read Sticky People at least ten times a day in the past week. Gwynn knows whats coming next in the book and she will say it with me. I find it so adorable. Gwynn also loves trucks and points them out wherever we go..in the car, on TV in the store. She also loves makeup and says so..she tries to get into my work makeup daily and says please..please makeup! Its becoming more and more evident that she will be a reflection of her parents as well as her friends and family. Its amazing how children can change and shape you as much as we do them. Gwynn makes me want to be a better person and in doing so I hope we can create a wonderful little being.

Good weekend!

On Saturday we got up and spent the morning together as a family. We had a nice breakfast together then Gwynn and I went for a walk to the park while Charlie worked on his truck. We then drove to Brian & Libby's home so they could have a sleep over with Gwynny Penny. Uncle Brian had been wanting to have a slumber party with miss penny for a long time! Charlie and I had a dinner event on Saturday for his work...so we thought it was time Brian got his wish. It is adorable how much Brian loves that little girl. I think they had fun too! Gwynn did get Brian and Libby up pretty early on Sunday morning...three a.m. ready to play. Charlie and I had some good quality time together while Gwynn was with Libby & Brian. Charlie's work put together a wonderful dinner with some of the most amazing food I have ever had. It was very nice. It was honoring Charlie & his company for the work they did at Pacific University. It was so amazing to see all the work Charlie did. I was so impressed with him! After dinner WALSH treated us to a room at The Grand Lodge. We had a relaxing night and in the morning a wonderful breakfast and then came home to meet Miss Gwynn. Gwynn came home on Sunday and was happy to see Mommy and Daddy but very tired. Later in the evening we took Gwnny to Disney's Princesses on Ice. We decided to take Gwynn because there had been commercials advertising the event..when ever it was on Gwynn would stop what she was doing and get excited start dancing and clapping. We were told by some of Charlie's work associates that all the little girls dress up for the show as there favorite princess. We decided to dress up Gwynn as a little tinker bell. It was so cute to watch Gwynn check out the other little girls costumes. She would look down at her dress and then at the other little ones. When we got to our seats we had the princess from Aladdin to our left and Snow White in front of us. Gwynn took the liberty of petting them both. The Little Mermaid was Gwynn's favorite act. There were bubbles coming down from the sky. It was so much fun to see how happy she was watching the dancing, singing, lights and special effects. Gwynn started getting tired of sitting towards the end but seemed have a great time despite the fact. She was sound asleep on the drive home. Charlie and I had a great time watching Gwynn's facial expressions and her reaction to the other children. It was so sweet and we realized once again there is absolutely nothing we wouldn't do for this little princess..even if it means sitting through Princesses on Ice!

Halloween

Halloween was a blast this year for our family. Gwynn was the most adorable cow and loved wearing her costume. We started our day with a party at a cafe we visit frequently for moms and there children. Gwynn's friends Jackson and Carter also went to the party as skunk's..two little stinkers! They were all so adorable together but wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a photo. There was also a story teller whom was an older women dressed as a nice witch who sang songs and told Halloween stories. The cafe also did cookie decorating and a treat bag. Gwynn loved everything about the party she danced, checked out the other kids in there costumes and played very hard. After our party we can home and Gwynn napped for a very long time. In the evening we had pizza and took Gwynn trick or treating at some of her friends houses in Sherwood. We went and visited Gwynn's friend Max who was a lion..but unlike Gwynn was not a big fan of his costume and had it off before we got to his home. Max gave Gwynn some play dough for her treat. Gwynn and Max played for a while and then it was off to Jackson and Carter's home. At Jackson and Carter's house Gwynn got a lot of candy! Jackson and Carter were still out trick or treating so we visited with there very sweet grandmother who loves Gwynn and was so happy to see her in her costume. It was so fun to see Gwynn enjoying herself so much. She is still searching the house for the hidden candy...she can't get enough!

Pumkin Patch Fun!

This weekend was really great! Charlie, Gwynn and I stayed home for the most part and spent some good quality family time together. It was the first weekend in a long time we had nothing to do. On Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch and it was a blast. Gwynn had a wonderful time. We went on a tractor ride and spent a good amount of time in the pumpkin patch. Gwynn had to touch all the pumpkins. She also had to knock on a couple ( like mom does at the grocery store). She also took a seat on a few pumpkins and tried to ride one like a pony. After all her shopping around she settled on a perfect medium size pumpkin. The pumpkin patch also had a neat play structure and a hay maze Gwynn ran around in. We then went to good old Red Robin for some french fries and hamburgers (one of Gwynn's favorite restaurants). When we got home Charlie was a sweetheart and took Gwynn to the park to play and let me relax with a good magazine. Charlie and Gwynn got some good Daddy daughter time in. They were gone for so long I started to worry...until they came home looking very tired and snuggled up for a nap. Then on Sunday Charlie worked around the house and I cleaned and ran errands. It was a great weekend and everyone had a great time.

little sick but happy

So..Gwynn was up a lot last night and we just thought she was being difficult. She has been changing her sleeping patterns a lot lately. This morning when she woke up she was sick. She has a runny nose and I think her throat is hurting her. She was so adorable today..I never want her to be sick but love it because she normally is to busy to cuddle most of the time...but when she is feeling under the weather she loves to cuddle. So...Gwynn and I watched Monsters Inc. she loves saying monster, monster. She also is very attached and I love that too. When Charlie came home from work she was ready to play after resting most of the day. So of course they played horse and she was laughing hysterically...and saying monster a lot which I had to translate for Charlie. She has been talking so much lately and learns a couple new words a day that I catch on to and relay to Charlie. It's so cute but sad at the same time. Gwynn in the past couple months has been growing and changing... leaps and bounds everyday. We really hope Gwynn feels better tomorrow. We want to take her to the pumpkin patch and do some fall activities this weekend. So hopefully all the rest will help. Hopefully Gwynn will be up for the pumkin patch this weekend.

MacDonald Family's first blog

Hello Everyone,

After many people requesting and asking if we have or have considered having a blog...here it goes (thanks Jessica too..she said it was so easy and it was). Charlie and I have been married for a year and eight months and we have a beautiful baby girl Gwynn who is twenty months....yes do the math. I was pregnant prior to marrying Charlie. I think it was God's way of saying don't let this one get away. I am so happy.. I didn't he is truly the best thing that has ever happened to me. He gave me Gwynn also! Absolutely nothing about Charlie and I is traditional and I like it that way. I heard someone say I wanted a marriage not a wedding and that is just what I got...some people find this so hard to believe but oh well. I am truly happy and blessed in so many ways. I have a wonderful family life and always go to bed happy. We also are expecting baby number two at the end of May. I am so happy but have to say this pregnancy has been a lot harder then Gwynn. I am just happy to be pregnant Charlie and I want two children and so Gwynn can have a play mate. I say I only want two kids now but how soon you forget what it's like to be pregnant and to give birth.