MAK is ONE

Wow--and yet again time has passed us by. Since my last post in October, we've had so many wonderful life experiences. Here is a short glimpse of what's been going on in our household lately.


Boo from you know who!




I had a blast dressing up the girls in coordinating outfits for Makenna's first halloween. Kaleigh was Fancy Nancy--her ultimate favorite red-hed and Makenna was Fancy Nancy's pink poodle. I think they were pretty adorable! We celebrated by hitting a couple community events and then continued with our tradition of decorating the golfcart. Kaleigh has such a blast with this tradition, and we look pretty cool driving around the neighborhood that night :) Pam and Merit also joined us on Halloween night--Merit was wonder woman. The crazy creatures in the picture are Brandon and me all decked out as Fraggle Rock's Gobo and Red!





Makenna turned one in November! Wow....what a wonderful milestone for our sweet baby girl. We had a wonderful time planning, preparing and celebrating at her "guess whooos turning one" birthday party. Aunt Melissa and Mrs. Jennifer came over and stayed up til the wee hours of the morning helping mommy prepare the numerous owl snacks that we enjoyed at the party. Uncle Daniel came through yet again in preparing a yummy and super cute owl birthday cake. We had a wonderful time with all our family and friends.







In Early December, our family took a trip up to the Boone area to a Christmas tree farm. We rode on a train pulled by a tractor up to the mountain where we searched out, carefully measured, and cut down our Christmas tree. The girls had a ball helping to decorate.








We were blessed with a very Merry Christmas--we went to Christmas Eve service at church, had plenty of food and quality family time, and the girls had a wonderful Christmas morning.  Kaleigh's one request from Santa was a "white board"--a dry erase board which she has become obsessed with since starting kindergarten. However, during December we had "Hidey" the elf-on-the-shelf join our family. He was here to monitor Kaleigh and Makenna's behavior and to report this back to Santa every night when he flew back to the North Pole. Hidey also possessed magical powers as he could let Santa know of things Kaleigh and Mak were wanting this  year. So, needless to say...I think Kaleigh did her fair share of whispering to Hidey as both the girls were happy to find too many toys under the tree.


We also took a trip to the Charlotte Motor Speedway to view the festival of lights. It was an awesome experience and Kaleigh was thrilled to meet some real-life "Hidey" elves.




This New Year we are blessed with two happy and healthy little girls. Makenna had another trip to Dr. Chad in genetics and he had nothing but great things to say as Makenna waddled around the room. He and we remain nothing but optimistic regarding Makenna's development. She starting walking all over the place around 13 months old and is quite the verbal child. She is always smiling and very opinionated :)




Much love to all of our followers from the Lawrence household. We will keep praying for Makenna as we face the unknown of days ahead; but, we are so thankful for all she is and what she brings to our family everyday!  We look forward to the year ahead!

As we remember, how much they change in a year!

Happy Fall!

...and WOW it's now October

The summer has been such a fun time for our family. This seems overwhelming, but I'll try a quick recap to catch everyone up to speed. We took a few beach trips (not quite as many as usual since packing up an additional little one and all her things added some hassle). But, when we made it down, the girls had a ball.

 Kaleigh enjoyed her last summer as a "preschooler" which included a big 5-year-old birthday soiree (that's a fancy word for party). The party was quite the hit and everyone arrived in proper attire! It was Fancy Nancy themed and came complete with plenty of dress-up attire, a tea party, bounce house, water slide and custom-made birthday cake (by Chef Uncle Dan).

Kaleigh started school the end of August. I"m sure no one is surprised by the fact that she LOVES it. She is attending Hopewell Elementary School and is in Senorita Asch's kindergarten class. The first day was quite emotional for mommy, but we're getting comfortable with the whole process now. In fact, we saw many tears the week she was sick and had to miss a few days. Kaleigh was lucky enough to be chosen from the lottery of interested students and gained a spot in the Spanish immersion program. Her school day is taught entirely in Spanish--and she is soaking it up. She can sing several Spanish songs and her pronunciation is remarkable. We're so excited to see her continue to learn this new language.

Brandon has been quite busy this summer/fall as he has been coaching Kaleigh's soccer team and helping to re-do our basement! Kaleigh's team consisted of 4-5 year-olds from our church/community. Last weekend was the final game. And, we're proud to say that with the help of coach Daddy B, the team was definitely most-improved. Best of all--Kaleigh boo scored her first goal with her biggest fans all watching from the sidelines!

 If you look back at the photo from Kaleigh's party and take note of the unfinished background, you can gather that his whole basement-facelift was quite the job. However with the help of a family friend, Brandon has pretty much finished the project. We now have walls, carpet and roof overhead. We even added a craft room for me and the girls. This means I have no excuse not to catch up on my scrapbooking! Kaleigh is loving the new craftroom already-- paints on her easel and does her own version of crafting!

And oh little MakMak. Hard to believe she is 10 months now. Makenna is such a joy--she is growing up so fast. She now is officially into EVERYTHING. She is a quick crawler and can cruise along furniture and pull up on anything she wants (including climbing the stairs). She has a vibrant personality and we're just now getting a good dose of it :) She is so verbal, expressive and happy! Her favorite word is "uhoh," and she loves to clap and cheese it up to play patti-cake!

We are so thankful everyday that Makenna is continuing to develop and progress--meeting all her milestones with ease! The home service coordinators who come to "evaluate" her are scaling back their efforts because Makenna just doesn't need any extra help at this time. What a blessing! We are staying positive and just eating up every little moment along the way. Makenna is proving a determined little bit who is full of life! We have this feeling that she might just be our little trouble-maker.

With all this going on in my life--I've just been attempting to keep the family going and taking it all in. Things have been very busy at work. But when I'm home, I've just been enjoying this time with the girls. As I think that in a few short months we'll be celebrating Mak's first birthday, it really puts things in perspective. Where is the time going?

Well there is a quick update of the past few months around the Lawrence household. All are healthy and happy--what a blessing! These two--no a care in the world :)

Busy, busy

It's hard to believe it's been almost a month since I posted. Needless to say, time has slipped away as our family has just been busy, busy, busy. We've had family vacations, dance recitals and just the round' the house excitement of watching our two girls grow.  Brandon and I agree that the girls are at such fun ages now. We'd be just fine if they stayed where they are for a long while :)

Kaleigh had her third dance recital the middle of May. She did "acrodance" this year at The Dance Shop. She was in class with five of her best friends which meant for some precious memories for the girls and all the mommies and daddies! She had quite the fan group coming to watch the big night--and she impressed us all. We were proud of her awesome shakes and cartwheels on stage.

On that note, we have to brag a little for little Boo. Kaleigh was invited to try out for the competition team TINY TOTS at her dance studio! We were so proud of her for even receiving the invitation and she was thrilled. On Saturday May 21st, she went to tryouts and is now in her second week of practice for the team! YAY Kaleigh....we can't wait to see all the new things you'll learn this year. We're eagerly awaiting your first competition to see you do your "sassy walk."


Makenna is still impressing us all too! She turned six months old yesterday (hard to believe I must say) and guess who is sitting unsupported? Our little Mak of course. Another milestone reached, another answered prayer, another beaming mommy and daddy!

Makenna is discovering all kinds of new things. She's gone swimming (and LOVES the water) and taken a boat ride. She's become very vocal lately--her most impressive squeals usually come first thing in the morning. She's getting better at eating whatever mommy offers on a spoon, and you can surely tell as she is getting few new rolls on her legs--so sweet!

It's hard to believe that in another six months we'll be celebrating Makenna's first birthday--man how time flies. In the meantime, we're taking in every sweet moment and milestone; just having a blast watching our babies grow!

Time Flies

So cliche' I know. But, literally the past five months have passed in the blink of an eye. Look at our big girl!

This past Saturday Makenna turned five months old. It was a very special day for our family because it was baby dedication day at our church. Brandon, Kaleigh and I accompanied Makenna on stage as we made a commitment to raise her in a loving Christian home. Makenna was all smiles the whole time despite the fact that the celebration time was right in the middle of her usual naptime. I must say, I think our family looked pretty sweet together on that day!

So much has happened in the past five months. We're just continually amazed by what Makenna is bringing to our life. She is quite the pleasant baby, always smiling. She has proven herself a determined little girl and has accomplished so much. She is right on track with her milestones and is learning new things every day. I wanted to share some pictures of her most precious moments.....ENJOY. We love you Makenna!

Napping with Daddy.  Don't hate us, but overall, Makenna has been a great sleeper from the start. She would consistently sleep for 8-9hrs as early as 7weeks old. We took some advise from Babywise but were not crazy strict about it either. Now, we did have some setbacks along the way, but nothing worth complaining about. What can we say--she gets it from mommy and daddy. Makenna now goes to bed at around 8-8:30 and wakes between 6:30-7:30. Morning time is definitely her happiest of the day. She is full of coos and smiles for us. What a sweet little thing to wake up to; and yes, she is still sleeping in our room. What can we say--her co-sleeper just seems the best place for her right now. We tried one night in her room. Makenna did fine, but mommy and daddy did not. We'll try again at six months :)

As you can see, Makenna was thrilled to death over the fabulous things Santa brought her! Her sweet big sister did take the time to show her every item though.

Makenna's first encounter with a spoon occurred on March 8th, 20011 at 14weeks old. We introduced her to rice cereal mixed with breast milk. She was very interested in the spoon, just not so great with getting the food to stay in her mouth. We took a break for a while and started back up in April. She now (at a little over 5months) has had 2 1/2 weeks of solids. She's tried, and LIKED, squash then sweet potatoes and now bananas. I've been making her baby food by pureeing mawmaw's canned vegetables and fresh fruits. We were originally worried that Mak might have some difficulty with mastering the spoon b/c of her occasional tongue thrust--but she has proved us wrong. Way to go Makenna!

Makenna is so blessed to have such a wonderful big "sissy." Kaleigh has been nothing but delighted to have Makenna added to our family. Kaleigh loves talking (in her cute baby-talk voice) to her sister, holding her, playing with her and reminding Makenna of all the things they will one day do together. Just yesterday, Makenna was taking a ride in her stroller while Kaleigh cruised in her Barbie jeep. Kaleigh rolled up and said, "Makenna soon you will be riding with me, and you'll want to drive won't you!"

Makenna is fascinated by watching Kaleigh's every move and definitely knows her sister's voice.

We took our first family vacation since Makenna's arrival in late April. We went to Myrtle Beach and stayed at Mimi and Papa's house for a few days before Easter. Makenna got to see the beach, stick her toes in the sand and even took a dip in the pool. She just loved it all, as did we!

An Extra Piece of Love

The next day, we received a visit from one of Makenna's pediatricians. He explained to us that our little girl had been examined again, and due to some of our concerns along with some of theirs, they were sending off some additional blood work. The labs would take a closer look at Makenna's genetic make-up doing a quick test to detect for any extra chromosomes. He assured us that they were not expecting to find anything major based upon Makenna's clinical appearance.

So, with the best wishes of the doctors when Makenna was only twenty-four hours old, we headed home. I remember feeling overwhelming happiness as the four of us drove down the road as a "family." I beamed at the backseat where our two girls were sitting. Everything just seemed so right and I had this wonderful peace in my heart.

Over the next twenty-four hours we experienced the usual chaos of bringing home a baby. I was doing my best to keep up and slowly regaining some energy. Makenna was such a pleasant baby and everyone was enjoying loving on her. One afternoon when my mom and mother-in-law were insisting that I take a nap break, I was awakened by a call from the doctor. I took the call and heard the comforting voice of Dr. Jedlica revealing to me that the specialist at Wake Forest had been busy working with Makenna's samples all day. She calmly explained to me that the initial FISH  (Fluorescent in situ hybridization) test did show some extra copies of a specific segment of Makenna's DNA. She said the results totally blew her away. She helped me remain calm and explained that the next step in piecing together this puzzle was being performed as we spoke. This was a "karyotype."

A karyotype would be helpful because it is the standard analysis of chromosomal material and tells us both the number and structure of the chromosomes in Makenna's make-up. "Okay," I uttered as I felt my heart drop to my toes and my stomach pushing up my throat. "So, how is that going?" She informed me that the doctors had been working on Makenna's karyotype all day long! She explained that they had been counting and recounting Makenna's cells. They were certain that Makenna had a mosaic form of trisomy 21, but they were trying to figure out just how many of her cells were effected in this way.

Dr. Jedlica  told me that this process is usually much quicker because as they dig into the cell lines, many mosaic forms of genetic conditions are found to be close to a 50/50 breakdown. This would mean that the individual has two cell lines in their body--one with the expected number and structure of all 46 chromosomes, the other cell line with an unexpected number and/or structural arrangement of the chromosomes. "Okay," I uttered again.

"With Makenna, they are still busy counting because they are only finding the trisomy 21 in about 1 out of 10 of her cells," she explained. She had wanted to at least call and give me an update as to the progress of the results. She then went on to tell me that Makenna is really throwing them for a loop because in the cell line where they are seeing the extra copy of chromosome 21, the configuration is a very unique one. It's called a "robertsonian translocation." This just means that there are still three copies of chromosome 21, but the extra copy, instead of being separate as in most trisomy 21 patients, is actually attached to another chromosome.
You can see a picture of this here.

I thanked Dr.Jedlica for taking the time to call and update me. She said the final count would be in tomorrow. (We later learned the official count was 91% "normal" cell line and 9% "robertsonian translocation of two chromosome 21s") I hung up the phone and felt warm tears swelling in my eyes. A few fell down. At that moment, I was in shock. Yes, I felt sad--not for myself, but for my sweet Makenna. What did all this mean for her? I wanted her life to be nothing but wonderful. And as her mother, there was now something that might stand in my way of ensuring this fate. I called Brandon right away and told him to get home because I had some shocking news. Honestly, by the time he got home and I retold the story in his arms, I began to feel better.

 I realized what a foolish thought had entered my mind. I needed to hold onto the fact that God was in control of Makenna's life. He would be the source of our strength and Makenna's JOY (which is much better than happiness anyway, right). I was not going to fail as a mother. I was determined to give Makenna everything I had--all my love and support to fill her childhood with kisses and giggles and all that is girly.

This diagnosis  was not going to change that. I was still her mommy. I'd still dress her in frilly bows and paint her toes We'd blow bubbles and catch butterflies. She'd get millions of bedtime stories and bubble baths shared with her big sister Kaleigh. They'd play dress up and keep secrets. Her Daddy would still make her laugh tickling her neck with his beard wiskers and kiss all her booboos.

Life was good. We were so blessed.

The Journey Begins

Psalm 139:14; "I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works, and my soul knows very well."


With open arms, Brandon, Kaleigh and I welcomed our sweet Makenna Coe Lawrence on November 30th, 2010 at 7:51 pm. As many of you know, this moment of meeting your precious baby is one that cannot possibly be described in mere human words. From the minute Brandon and I caught a glimpse of those chubby cheeks, button nose and slitted blue eyes, she captured our hearts.


I must admit, the early hours of Makenna's life now seem like a blur. I recall being wheeled into the closet-like post-partum room and being utterly exhausted. We had arrived at High Point Regional Hospital that morning around 6:00 am for a scheduled induction. Needless to say, it was a long day of labor and I was just thrilled to finally have met our daughter. We were blessed to have many of our immeadiate family members at the hospital for Makenna's arrival. Late that evening, everyone had a chance to share their kisses and were heading home to catch some rest.  


It was around 11pm that night...I'll never forget the moment. I was sitting in my bed holding Makenna in my lap. She was staring up at me in her diaper and hospital shirt which was busting at the seems. Poor little thing was so swollen from the trauma of birth; and, she was a big girl to begin with! She had the most piercing blue eyes. Brandon was sitting next to me. Then, it hit me. Slowly, the tears started forming in my eyes and rolling down my face. I remember looking down and Makenna and just losing control. I had the most overwhelming emotions hitting me all at once. Now, maybe some would say it was just new mommy hormones. But, I beg to differ. My world broke into "pieces."


Brandon asked, "Mir what's wrong?"  All I could say, "I'm worried about Makenna. Babe, I just have this feeling." Now, the doctors had already checked out are little girl, and had given a clean bill of health. We'd even been to a special maternal/fetal medicine doctor at Baptist after an early ultrasound had revealed an echogenic focus on Makenna's heart. They checked her out system by system and drew special blood tests from me. The specialist then told me to STOP worrying--the lab work looked great and Makenna had no abnormalities they could detect via ultrasound in any system of her body. We'd slowly come to believe this and were relieved when the last few ultrasounds showed no remnant of the little "white spot" they originally visualized.


I called my sister even though I knew she'd be sound asleep (she is currently working crazy hours in her first year of residency at UNC). I had bugged her with pregnancy questions several times as this was now her area of expertise. As she picked up the phone, I voiced the same helpless words to her, "Mel, I'm worried about Makenna."
Brandon and Melissa did a wonderful job helping me sort through my thoughts, and I ultimately decided to mention my concerns to the nurse. Trouble is, I had a very difficult time putting my feelings into words. 


What I wanted to say is, "In my heart, I have this tugging. God is whispering to me. I know I'm holding a very special baby in my hands."




And I WAS


The Four of us enter this journey full of faith, joy, hope and anticipation giving thanks for the marvelous opportunity God entrusted to us.