My goodness but it has been a long time since I last blogged anything! There have been some really great things that have happened and some sad things that have occurred. An unexpected event that happen was the death of my mother-in-law, Doris Louise Bridges. We used her middle name as Makenzie's middle name. Doris had not been feeling well for some time. The doctors would run test, take their time looking at the results, and then tell her they couldn't tell what was wrong. Finally on May 4, she went into the hospital, and on May 20, she passed away from cancer. I can't believe that she is gone. She was so young, 63. I tried to stay strong for my husband, who is an only child, and had the burden of taking care of everything. When we realized she was not going to get any better, we had her taken to the hospice house. Since she had been in the ICU for over a week, she had not been able to see Makenzie at all. The first thing she asked when she saw me was, "Where's Makenzie?" That's when it hit me that she wasn't going to be here to see Makenzie grow up. She was going to miss Makenzie's first birthday, her next Christmas, and so many more milestones! That is when I broke down and cried. Doris, or grandmama as we would call her, loved her granddaughter. She always was willing to "show" her off to anyone who would listen! It has been a long and hard journey...life will not be the same again. We are trying to take things as they come and we'll miss "Grandmama" very much. But, we will make sure that Makenzie knows how much her Grandmama loved her and what made Doris special.
One of the best things to do when 
you are expecting your first child is to go baby shopping!! Ken and I headed to Babies R Us in San Antonio about one year ago during spring break. We decided that that would be one place we would register for Makenzie. WOW!!! The store was HUGE! Being new parents, we were not sure what exactly we needed. However, there was one thing we really WANTED: a bouncer that was in the shape of a horse. At one of our babyshowers, Ken's side of the family gave it to us. I was so excited that I wanted to open it up before she was even born!! Finally at the tender age of 3 months, I convinced my husband to put it together. I had visions of her getting in it and jumping, giggling, and having so much fun. Reality sucks! We put her in and she looked at me and then cried. So, being the mean parents, continued putting her in and "helping" her ride the horsey. After 5 months, I am glad to see her enjoying her horse as much as I enjoy watching her! She now gets in it and jumps and jumps and jumps. She really loves it. The only problem we have now is she is getting to "plump" for it! Well, we aren't going to send it out to pasture just yet.
On December 28th, 2008 Makenzie was baptized at Ascension Lutheran Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is the church where I grew up in until I was in 5th grade. I had my first communion here. My parents, when they moved back to Oklahoma, rejoined this church. Even though Ken was raised nondenominational, he thought it was fine to have her baptized, since I was raised to believe in it. It was the same with me for the baby dedication. It is hard to raise a child in a family where there are different religious backgrounds. However, I feel that the most important thing to teach our children is that God loves us, he sent his son to die for us, and when we accept Jesus as our savior, confess our sins, God will forgive our sins and we will spend eternity in heaven. If Makenzie decides later on that she wants to rededicate her life to God, I will support her in every way!
