Mackenzie’s first birthday — showered in presents

Ayla may have been confused about whose birthday it really was last Wednesday, but we knew that it was in fact Mackenzie who has been receiving packages in the mail from friends and family over the last week. And after we opened everything on Wednesday, there were more presents to open on Friday and Saturday as friends (and godparents) arrived for our Thanksgiving feast.  And as if that isn’t already enough, she’s also going to get more stuff this weekend when Stefan’s parents come to visit. How lucky is this little girl??

First round of birthday presents opened on Wednesday

Mackenzie was really excited to finally get to open everything. The presents collected on a table in our kitchen for several days while we waited for her birthday to arrive. She would point to the packages when we walked in the room and was just so thrilled about all the cool stuff sitting over there. I’m sure she didn’t imagine she would get to have so much fun with what was inside the cool paper, too, not just with the paper itself.

The first gift she opened was a set of wooden building blocks from family in Bavaria. Those were fascinating! She loves to take them all out of the container, examining each one closely before she sets it aside or back in the container. She’s not interested in building anything with them and she’ll knock down your tower in no time…but she has her own fun with them which is what’s important.

Then Mackenzie got to open this tiny little package which came from my dad in Texas. It was a cute little gold necklace with a heart on it. Mack may actually find the box itself more interesting than the necklace right now, but that won’t be the case for long.

At this stage I’m just happy that she didn’t try to eat the necklace…only the box.

The necklace is a perfect accessory for all the clothes Mackenzie got too! Once again, she’s going to be WAY better dressed than her parents. Hopefully she doesn’t decide that she can’t be seen in public with us anymore because we’re just not cool enough. I think we have another 10 or so years before she decides we’re that uncool, though.

This was a little dress and sweater from Stefan’s grandmother. Mack found the flowers stitched on it to be fascinating. I can’t wait til she grows just a tiny bit and can wear it! I think by Christmas she’ll definitely be giving us a little fashion show with it on.

This jacket was Ayla’s favorite gift of all: a faux-fur jacket from one of Stefan’s aunts which is just adorable. Again, I have to make note of the fact that Mackenzie is way more stylish than us. I told Stefan we’re going to have to find a few excuses to take Mack out to dinner at some nice restaurants just to show her off!

Mackenzie got a bunch of clothes from us too. This little skirt in her hand is just too cute, even though it does remind me of some of the stuff Fergie and Christina Aguillera wear. Thankfully on Mack’s short legs it will appear a whole lot longer! Don’t want to get her started on looking distasteful already!

On Friday, Mack’s season of presents continued when Steffen & Steffi arrived. Mackenzie was pretty apprehensive about everything and very clingy all weekend because she needed some extra comforting. Not only was it a lot for her to deal with having all so many people in the house, but she was also cutting another tooth which made her a bit more cranky than usual. She’s toughed through it all though and still tried to keep her game face on most of the time.

Inside that box was a really cool wooden train. Most of it comes apart and you can play with the various blocks. It also has a really quiet train noise and whistle that has yet to freak Mack out. Maybe it’s because it lights up too when you push the button. Or maybe it’s just because it’s specially designed not to scare little kids, which is quite a feat considering there are a lot of noises that can make kids start bawling.

She also got a really cute little toy chest from them which is just the right height for her. She can reach over the side to everything laying on the bottom and open/close the lid on her own. She even manages to hold on to the inset portion where she can’t close the lid on her hand…which is useful. It’s in a really stiff spring so it wouldn’t hurt her anyway…unless she purposely slams it down on herself.

Saturday Daniel and Henni came armed with the biggest gift box yet! Mackenzie thought the box itself was already really cool. I think we could have just let her play with it for a while, especially the ribbons. But the adults wanted to see what was inside….

Inside we found the world’s coolest wooden motorcycle. This thing is just beautiful and so nicely built. Mack sits on it at least once a day and rocks herself back and forth really quickly. And so far she hasn’t squished any fingers or toes under the rockers. She’s still got a little growing to do until her feet touch the floor but she’s found that she can hold the handlebars and just kinda make a rocking motion that gets some decent results. Stefan actually considered building something like this himself…but I assure you that it would have been many, many, many hours in his workshop getting all these pieces done so it would have been more like a project for next year! But now he doesn’t have to worry about it at all

Thank you all again so much from Mackenzie and us. You have truly made this an incredible birthday for her and you were way more generous than expected. I hope to share more photos of her using and wearing everything over the next year so stay tuned.

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