the big white dress

My sister and I and ofcourse my precious little ones went shopping...for..the big white dress...

My little sis is getting married!

So we headed on over to our local bridal shop and the wedding dress bonanza began....

With sooooooooooooooo many to choose from...we had to begin narrowing down.

Ok, but sis had done her research and knew exactly what she was looking for.

It wasn't at all like the $1000+ enormous dress, enormous train, beaded, pearly, sparkly dress I wore.

My little sis was going for much simpler, beautiful and classy.  

Seriously yal, I wanted to dive right in and try these suckers on.

But I didn't.

This was the day all about my sister. And I wanted it to be special for her. So I snapped pics along the way, making her swear she wouldn't let her fiance peek at my blog.

She started with these 3 beauties and they were even prettier on her...

Rylee said she looked like Cinderella.

She was perfect as a peach. Just glowing, couldn't stop smiling, and looking so lovely.

That's what love does to you.   

The bridal consultant was precious as a plum too. She was a short little thing, very personable, and in a steady relationship ( I love learning details about everyone). She chatted about wedding details, venues, and colors. 

We giggled. We chatted all about weddings. Our likes, our dislikes, and the such nots. :)

 more posts to come as we prepare for her big day...

I love big fancy dresses.

And I love love.

“The real act of marriage takes place in the heart, not in the ballroom or church or synagogue. It's a choice you make - not just on your wedding day, but over and over again - and that choice is reflected in the way you treat your husband or wife.”

date night

so me and my honey are suckers for anything sweet with a cold glass of milk.  

So we hit up a yummy little spot that has the best cheesecake on the planet!

seriously, we are just so wild...I mean look at the size of these cheesecake slices!

And the fact that we EACH got a slice, double bad!

I love date night.

Mr. Mackey loves it too.

We love our babies but we are ever so greatful for a night out of just the 2 of us.

It gives us a chance to unwind, catch up and chat about grown up things... like cheesecake.

"true love stories never have endings...."

Happy Monday!

"thank you God for everything..."

Thank you, God for everything …


The big things and the small,

For “every good gift comes from God,”

The Giver of them all.


And all too often we accept

Without any thanks or praise,

The gifts God sends as blessings

Each day in many ways.


And so at this time,

We offer up a prayer,

To thank You, God, for giving us

A lot more than our share.


First, thank You for the little things

That often come our way,

The things we take for granted,

But don’t mention when we pray.


The unexpected courtesy,

The thoughtful, kindly deed,

A hand reached out to help us

In the time of sudden need.


Oh, make us more aware, dear God,

Of little daily graces

That come to us with “sweet surprise”

From never-dreamed-of places.


Then, thank You for the “miracles”

We are much too blind to see,

And give us new awareness

Of our many gifts from Thee.


And help us to remember

That the key to life and living,

Is to make each prayer a prayer of thanks

And every day Thanksgiving


~Helen Steiner Rice

biggest. scare. of. my. life.

See this face....that precious smile...those little bubbly cheeks, that perfectly round head, and those big blue eyes....

well...she didn't look this happy 2 days ago...



I normally work Saturday and Sunday nights at a hospital, but this past weekend, I switched with someone and worked days...

This would have been Reese's first "day" ever without me, and for a breastfeeding baby, that's a pretty huge deal. Being only 17 weeks old, she's still getting adjusted to a bottle when I'm not home.

So, I leave at 6:30 am  that morning.

I get calls throughout the morning from Daddy Mackey on how fussy Reese is being... crying, unconsolable, and such.

 I suggest walking outside, tummy time, singing, reading a book, playing with her, giving her a bottle....ofcourse all the things he had been trying all morning long.

At 12 noon, I get the Scariest, most heart stopping phone call I could ever imagine. It's Mike, panicked, stating "I just called 911."

I threw the phone across the desk without hearing another word, and without hesitation, grabbed my things, and flew out of the hospital.

It was pouring rain, but nothing could have stopped me from getting home.

I called Mike again in the car to find out what had happened....Reese had been crying and couldn't catch her breath from being so upset and when Mike gave her a bottle she choked.....her lips went blue.

Now luckily the neighbor across the street is an EMT, so Mike ran across the street to him after calling 911....and this is when Reese passed out and went limp in Mike's arms.

The car, I swear was airborn (perhaps carried by angels) the whole 20 mintues home (that seemed to be an hour long)....I must have arrived at my house within 7 minutes.

2 ambulances are parked in front of my house, I slam the car in park in the middle of the street, and run into my house to find my little Reese in the arms of an EMT lady smiling.

I get Reese in my arms, snuggle her, kiss her what must have been a million times....

The EMT stated that she sounded fine, her oxygen levels were perfect, temperature was perfect and couldn't find a thing wrong.

Poor Mike, pouring sweat and so shook up.

The EMT suggested that we take Reese to the hospital to be certain that her lungs were fine. So we did just that.

And the doctor stated that she must have gotten so upset and irritated from choking and crying that she passed out.

I couldn't sleep a wink that night, we were up every hour checking to make sure she was still breathing.

It was truly THE SCARIEST THING I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED.

And now....our baby is fine. Back to smiling, cooing, staring at us, and her normal every routine.

And I vowed to never work a day shift again.

I need my children and they need me.

As for Mike, he's feeling much better and glad that I won't ever be gone during the days again.

my heart belongs to....

this guy...

because even when I've looked like this...

or when I stuff my face like this...

and right after birthing a baby like this...

 or wearing a kid like this...

and even being ridiculously goofy like this.... 

he loves me.

Today we have been married 5 years....

I love him  more than life itself.

I'd be completely lost without him.

My heart belongs to him  forever....

Happy Anniversary to us...and to 100 more :)

busy little mackeys

well, us Mackey girls have been keeping quite busy...with school, dance, christmas shopping (yea you heard me, Mama has a goal of having Christmas shopping completed by Oct. 31!....awesome? yes?)

In the meantime,

We've been doing all of our favorite things and preparing for some Fall weather!

Now don't get me wrong, I love love summer time, but with the weather being a total scorcher, it's lovely to know Fall is right around the corner.

With every picture I snap of my beauties, I just marvel at how lovely they are. I'm so blessed.

We spend many days at the Science Center because they have a mini zoo..and the girls love it...

note to self: plan a zoo trip when weather is in the 60's

We enjoyed a little family dinner one night with my mom, sis, and sis's boyfriend...and I snapped this precious pic of the girls with their "Nanny"

this cutie has been gettin in her tummy time while Miss Rylee is at school. Side note: I love love baby headbands and I'm pretty much obsessed with them these days.

*do you notice how shiny those floors are? that's all thanks to my Swiffer...

We made chocalate whoopie pies with icing and sprinkles...and devoured them...

for real, if you make these, get them out of your house quick (like share with co-workers, neighbors, or friends) or you will eat them all.

Rylee does her favorite thing of all...paint..

And lately I've been buying canvas frames at Hobby Lobby for dirt cheap...so she can paint pics that I can hang up in the house...

adorable right?

I love this booger

I'm in love with these girls.

this time last year...

We had been trying to have another baby since August of 2009.

After months of frustration and worry...I became pregnant in March 2010.

We were beyond excited. I mean grinning from ear to ear. 

So, I went to have some lab work done to check the blood levels in April - to make sure we were indeed growing a baby. 

On April 26, 2010... I got the most heart breaking phone call of my life, we had lost the baby.

So, we have an angel in heaven who never made it to our arms but is resting peacefully in God's arms.

I remember feeling empty and alone for days, weeks even. Too weak to speak to my own family. Too upset to be consoled.

I remember standing in our living room wrapped in Mike's arms.

And I remember thinking "maybe God doesn't want us to have another baby?"

Then, after some time to heal our broken hearts, back came my optimism.

I thought about what a miracle our little Rylee girl is. And what a wonderful plan God had for us when he gave us her. She wasn't exactly planned, but we wouldn't take ANY.THING. in the world for our beautiful daughter. I began thinking that the directions of our lives aren't always chosen by us, because God has other plans...

And then the unthinkable happened...

I took a pregnancy test on September 12, 2011 at 4am. (ONE YEAR AGO TODAY!)

I waited on those 2 pink lines....

I WAS PREGNANT!

But, I was scared, nervous, anxious, excited too...

I knew God would take care of me and our baby. I prayed.

I talked to my growing belly everyday, letting the sweet baby inside know my voice.

And boy did my belly grow!

and grow..

and grow...

and...grow

I took pictures every week of my progress ...I won't post all 40 of them :).

Each week passing gave us more and more hope.

We loved this baby already and couldn't wait to meet her.

And then God gave us our Reese.

Our other miracle baby girl that we had been dreaming of.

"A dream is a wish your heart makes..."

September 11....

do you remember...

8:46 am Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center

9:03 am Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center

9:37 am Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon

9:59 am The South Tower of the World Trade Center begins to collapse

10:03 am United Airlines Flight 93 is crashed by its hijackers and passengers

10:28am The North Tower of the World Trade Center begins to collapse

I remember.

I remember my heart almost stopping.

I remember tears welling up in my eyes for the lives lost.

I remember bowing my head to pray.

September 11 brought us tragedy, but it showed us heroes. Remember the fallen. Remember the heroes.

http://www.911memorial.org/

.

me...from A to Z....

A. Age: 27
B. Boring: baseball...(my husband will hate me for this...)

C. Chore you dislike: putting laundry away, uggghh, I seriously would hire someone to do it for me

D. Dream: duh, to win the lottery.. 

E. Essential start to your day: raisin bran, always. no. matter. what.

F. Favorite color(s): pink since I was 2 

G. Gold or silver: silver

H. Happiness is: my lovely babies

I. Interested in: crafts, bloggin', reading, cooking

J. Job: most important...being Mommy  

K. Kids: best thing that's ever happened to me.

L. Love: sunshine, beaches, holding hands, hugs, lipgloss, febreeze, shopping 

M. Memorable Moment: when Mike proposed to me in Chimney Rock..sweetest.thing.ever./ best.day.ever. 

N. Nicknames: "clicky heels", "Chris", "sis"

O. Overnight hospital stays: birth of my babies

P. Pet peeves: drivers with road rage, burping without using manners, shoes left all over the house 

Q. Quote: "All you need is Love" ~ John Lennon

R. Righty or lefty: right

S. School: way. too. much....Associate of Arts, Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling... no. more. school. ever.

T. Time you wake up: 7am ish (*yawn*)

U. Ultimate guilty pleasure:  chocolate. anything chocolate

V. Vegetables you don't like: brussel sprouts, gaaag (why do they smell like sweaty feet?)

W. What makes you run late: nothing, I'm always early

X. X-rays you've had: my teeth

Y. Yummy food you make: lasagna

Z. Zoo animal favorite: polar bear

loving these faces...

just look at these sweet faces...I can't help but feel very proud to call them mine.

 this makes me smile the most....

when Rylee makes Reese grin. Just watching Ry talk to her in a sweet little high pitched voice and Reese's face light up..

cutest thing.

xoxo

blog name game...

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THE BLOG NAME YOU HAVE?

My blog represents my family...We are the Mackeys...and these are our Moments.
I blog to keep my family and friends in the "know" about what's going on with us Mackeys.
I blog so that my children will one day be able to read back on all their firsts, special moments, and times we shared.
I blog because I love to write.
I blog so I can reflect back on our moments.

I blog to spread happiness and laughter.
I blog because I'm living my happy ever after...

a love letter to my little one..

This week we have referred to our Reese as "monster baby"...true story.

Now, I know when you look at this face, you think: "absolutely no way"...

Ok, Reese will be 16 weeks old on Thursday and we think that maybe, perhaps, she could be teething...

Is it too early?

This sweet sweet little beautiful bundle of love has been sucking on her fingers, screaming, had rosy cheeks, and a slight fever... all signs of teething...so what do mama and poppa do? EVERYTHING we can think of. Seriously. everything.

And alas, you know what works...snuggling up with us, being cuddled up and smooched on.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if cuddles and kisses fixed all our problems? ;)

So, today, I'm writing a little note to Reese because despite her irritability and my craziness to try and help...I love the little booger.

Dear my little Binky Bear,

Mommy can not believe how fast you are growing. You are 16 weeks old! If I could freeze time, I would. I wish I could hold you in my arms forever. Your sweet face, that beautiful smile, and those baby blue eyes melt my heart everytime I look at you. 

I believe you may be at the teething stage, which is nightmarish for you and I but I love you none the less. And this to shall pass my precious baby. 

What you think is so funny right now is the sound of a cat meowing. (your nanny would be so proud, because she love love loves kitty cats) Mommy meows all the time, sounding quite ridiculous, yet making you almost squeal with delight. 

I will not say that you are a little porker, but little honey pie, you love to eat! You eat about every 3-4 hours even if that means parking somewhere to stop and feed you. I don't mind, because I always get a kick out of your excited face when you see the... "food" coming.

Bad habits? you have started sucking your thumb to go to sleep...this will be ok for now, but later my pumpkin we will have to work on that..
I couldn't be a more proud to call you mine.

"I'll love you forever
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be",
love, Mommy

my favorite onesie

Go Irish!

tummy/play time

what a sweet baby..