To my baby sister...

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday Dear Mackie!

Happy Birthday to you!!!

The BIG 2-3!

Love you so so much my special sister!

Have the HAPPIEST day!

Week 28 and Mackie's Birthday Part 1

It's a big week...

It's week 28, the beginning of the third trimester, and it's Mackenzie's Birthday...oh...and you won't believe this one, but I found my first ever gray hair! Is it possible that McKenna is already giving me gray hair?! yikes!

We had a really nice time at our weekly family dinner. We celebrated part one of Mackenzie's birthday, part two will be on her actual birthday on Thursday. How is it that she gets two birthday celebrations???

She's the baby of the family - 'nuf said! :)

Actually, the real reason she gets two celebrations is because my dad will be out of town on Thursday to celebrate on her actual birthday. But, let's just say that Mackenzie is loving the idea of a birthday week - but I guess who wouldn't?!

So, the baby of the Milazzo family is already 23 years old...unbelieveable! Our little Pugga, Puggie, Chunky Monkey, Kenzie, Kenz, MackAttack, Mackadoodle, Mackie, Goobs....the little girl with the most names in the family....is already 23....

...and she doesn't have an ounce of attitude....nope!

Along with sausage, green peppers, and onions, we had the most delicious salad, and of course...

Funfetti cupcakes!
as a kid, Mackenzie loved the candy part of the Funfetti frosting...so much in fact that it would often be eaten before my mom could even make the cupcakes! this year, I was able to get the sprinkles and Nerds on the cupcakes before Mackenzie could get at them...it's nice to see that at 23 she can finally restrain herself! :)

reading Dad's card

Dad and his baby

Mom got Mackie a Beer Pong table! Party at Mack's house!

Kristen and her new Elliptical! She put it together all by herself! You Go Girl!

...here they come...

you know what happens when Mackenzie gets ahold of my camera....

she's just missing her partner in crime...imagine Lizzie next to her!

...looking tired...

Week 28 - third and final trimester!

By this week, McKenna weighs two and a quarter pounds and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

Only 12 weeks to go!

A Special Time

10:00 - 10:30pm

it's my favorite time of the day

it's the time in the day when the world is quiet, teeth are brushed, prenatal pills are taken, the only light that is on is the bedside table lamp...

all that is left is sleep

we're all in bed...Brian on the right, me on the left, and Trippy laying in the middle against her sister

what makes this so special?

well, this is the time we take each day to read to McKenna

just about every night, we pick out a picture book

Brian reads

Trip and I listen

McKenna kicks

it's our way of winding down the day, being together, beginning tradition

it's our way of sharing something we both love with the little girl we love even more

I can't wait until she's here snuggling with us

that'll only make it better

two of our favorites include...

...and...

The Bike Lesson was Brian's favorite book as a child and it is actually the copy that his mom & dad used to read to him - torn binding and all - you can tell it was loved

Stone Soup was a Christmas gift to McKenna from Aunt Kristen. Stone Soup was Kristen's favorite book as a child. "Soup from a stone...fancy that"

I wonder what McKenna's favorite book will be...

Week 27

Once again we headed over to my parent's house for dinner this week. Due to a pretty busy week, we weren't able to have everyone there - it was just me, Brian, Lizzie, Kristen and Mom. Mack was working and Dad was at Walsh University in Canton, OH attending Board of Director Meetings. We went over for dinner on Saturday night and not only was it a chance for the fam to see how much my belly has grown in the past week, but it was also a chance for us to hang out with Liz before she left for San Francisco. Lizzie got a promotion at work - Wells Fargo - and she is headed to "Credit Camp" for the next two weeks in San Fran. In honor of Liz we had her favorite wings - Wing Stop.

By the way...a special shout out to our friend Stephanie Bea - she so graciously lent me a bunch of maternity clothes and the outfit you'll see in these pictures is hers. Thanks for making me look good, Steph! You're the best! Love you!

I continue to feel great! McKenna is moving around like crazy - mostly at night when I'm finally laying down and in the early morning when I first get up, but there are times when I feel her moving about when I'm at school during the day, what's funny is that it's usually when one of my students is reading. I've really enjoyed being pregnant and I still can't believe how far along we are - it sure has gone fast. We were looking back at some pictures from the beginning of my pregnancy and we just had to laugh at how we thought I was showing then! See? Here I am at week 7 - amazing the difference - I guess it has been 20 weeks, but still!

Sleep is starting to get a bit uncomfortable. Trippy loves to sleep right against her sister, protecting her. It's sweet, but man sometimes she just needs to move. I have a body pillow that I use, but sometimes it just really doesn't seem to help. I'm not really sure there is anything that'll help...that'll just make for an easier transition for when McKenna is here demanding my attention at all hours of the night, right? All in all this has been a dream pregnancy. I'm sure there's more to come in the next 12-13 weeks, but at this point I couldn't have asked for better.

Week 27: This week, McKenna weighs almost 2 pounds - like a head of cauliflower - and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, her brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on.

Glucose Screening

The glucose tolerance test is done between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy in order to identify gestational diabetes - a high blood sugar condition that some women get when they are pregnant.

My test was on Monday. When I arrived they gave me 10 oz. of an orange pop like sugary drink and 5 minutes to drink it. It wasn't that bad, I had it built up in my head that it was going to be much worse. I just wish it would have been cold. Then I had to wait an hour.

Just past the hour mark, the nurse called me to draw my blood. It was as simple as that.

Now, I just wait for the results. My doctor said that they would called if anything was abnormal, otherwise they would just talk to me about my results at my next OB appointment, which is February 3rd. I haven't received a call just yet, but who knows. If I happen to fail this glucose test, it doesn't necesarily mean that I have gestational diabetes. If I failed they'll call me back in for a 3 hour glucose tolerance test - same idea just they'll draw my blood at 30 min, 1 hour, 2 hours, and 3 hours.

A big thanks goes out to my friend Katie, who kept me company while I waited for the hour. You're the best! Love you!

all gone!

Week 26

Week 26 brought a very special weekly family dinner. Not only did we sit in the dining room for dinner - but my cousin Nick, his wife Amanda, and their daughter Hallie were in town to join us! Nick was in town for a job interview at a Nuclear Power Plant in Ottawa, IL and Amanda and Hallie joined him for the ride. What a great chance for us to see them and really catch up - the DeFisher family is so big that at Christmas we all didn't really get a chance to catch up as much as we would have all liked. We're hoping that Nick & Amanda move this way - it would be so great to get to see them all the time. We have our fingers crossed!!!

Hallie playing with my dad in the family room

look at that sweet girl!

Hallie & her Daddy

Hallie, Kris, & Amanda

shy girl...

there's that beautiful smile!

snuggling with Brian

starting to fall asleep

cousins!

(just missing Mackie - she's in Wisconsin opening up a new Chili's)

What a great visit! Not only did we have a great time catching up with Nick & Amanda - but, as you can see by the pictures, it was so great to get to play, snuggle, and love on Hallie.

There's nothing better in this world than family - we are just so lucky to be so close to ours.

Week 26:

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. She's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she's born and takes that first gulp of air. And she's continuing to put on baby fat. She now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches from head to heel.

Week 25 and The Addams Family

It's Sunday and it's the end of yet another week - week 25. Baby McKenna keeps kicking away - so much that you can actually see my stomach move. I'm feeling great and am just in awe at how fast my pregnancy is going.

We forgot to take pictures at our weekly dinner, so Brian took one before we headed out on Saturday night. I measured about 40.5 inches.


On Saturday night after dinner at White Chocolate Grill, we headed downtown Chicago with Brian's mom & dad and brother, Eric to see The Addams Family at the Oriental Theatre. It starred Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia. We really enjoyed it and we had a great time with his family.

We have now made it 7 days without T.V. Last Sunday around 10:30pm, the lamp in our T.V. went out. Brian has since ordered a new one, but of course it won't be in until this coming week - we hope. I'll be honest, yes, we watch T.V. - a lot of T.V. It is what we do at night. Before dinner, during dinner, after dinner - it's awful, but yes the T.V. is always on.

Not this week.

This week we put together a 1000 piece puzzle that I received for Christmas. It is a portrait of Cinderella's grand arrival to the castle. We were planning on framing it for McKenna's room. We just weren't planning on putting it together this early. Plans change when there is no T.V to watch.

You may be wondering why we don't just watch one of our other T.V.'s in the house - everyone has more than one, right??? Well, no...not us...not anymore...thanks to our realtor, Brian Ernst. He advised us to take the plasma off our our bedroom wall. (it wasn't that crazy of an idea - our house did sell in only 19 days - but still)

So, why am I getting into all of this, well...after a quiet week of puzzling, reading, and playing with Trippy we headed over to my parents house for some of the playoff football we've been missing. Ahhh T.V....

Dad made me a decaf and everyone else got a decaf with Bailey's
Trippy got her own puppacino of whipped cream - yum!

Krissy and Mom enjoying their coffee with Bailey's

licking it clean!