November Wrap-up

While Dan's been quite busy finishing his semester, working, and working at his internship, there have been many days where he doesn't see McKenna at all. :( I try to document the day-to-day things here and there so he can still be able to "see" her.

I love that she actually "posed" (stood still) for most of these pictures. :)

Eating lunch- I just love this face!

Movies in the fireplace- she's posing and saying "cheese."

Getting ready to swim at the Rec Center

Building "towers."

She's smart enough to put these blocks on the tile so they stand up better.

Visiting the pet store. It helps her be a little more brave around animals.

I was trying to get a pictures of her playing with her shadow, but she wanted to pose facing me.

LOVE this face!

I got some cute videos of her talking too. Favorite moment: when she says, "Stop taking picture for me."

I had no idea what she was pointing at up high or what she was talking about, but loved the last 15-20 seconds the most.

Here are the only pictures I took of our Thanksgiving weekend. We ate our big meal with Dan's family in Mantua (pictures to follow). All of Dan's siblings (and families) were there minus his oldest and youngest brothers. Then we went to my mom's parent's for dessert and more fun visiting with family!

We were so excited that my parents came to town for a quick visit, aka "McKenna fix." Here's my mom bouncing Kenna on her lap and singing to her.

Dan's family had an extra ticket for the big BYU/UTAH rivalry game and was nice enough to invite my dad to attend. From the looks of it, these guys were pretty happy about the results! Me? Not so much... ;)

Again, here's McKenna posing for pictures with her adoring grandparents!

Had to squeeze in one last round of ring around the rosies. Too bad she doesn't get a lot of attention when family's around. ;)

We are so blessed and have so much to be thankful for! A home, clothing, food, employment, graduate school, eternal families, and the restored gospel!

Pregnancy #2

Week 24

Week 26

Week 28

Week 31

Week 34 (growth spurt for sure!)

It's also fun to see how my hair has grown.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how different this pregnancy has been from my first. Not so much physically, but mentally and emotionally. I'm pretty sure it's due to the fact that we've been trying to sell our condo and move into this home (which is still on the market and hasn't had any other offers besides ours).

-Nesting- A very REAL instinct! Don't get me wrong, with each showing we've had on our condo, I've had plenty of opportunities for CLEANING. However, because I don't know where we'll be when the baby comes, I haven't even thought about moving McKenna into a toddler bed and getting baby brother's room ready. I haven't been able to wash and organize all the boy clothes we've received either. It's killing me!

-Ultrasound video- When I was pregnant with McKenna, I'm pretty sure I watched her 20 week ultrasound 4-5 times. This time around, we haven't watched baby boy's even once (besides in the doctor's office). This may be due to lake of time. But I really think it's because I'm having a hard time letting myself get excited, once again, because I don't know if we'll be in the new house by the time he comes or not.

-Reading- This time around, I'm not constantly reading about the baby's growth and development. I've even had weeks where I forget how far along I am. I'm not as anxious to count down this time because I want to know where we're going to live! Are you seeing a theme here?

-Overall Feeling "Prepared"- I was convinced if McKenna came early we would be ready and thrilled no matter what! This time, I DO NOT want baby boy to come any earlier than January 1! I want as much time as possible to move into the new house and get settled.

I've asked our realtor about the "what ifs." What if the baby DOES come early? How will we stage our condo for showings with all the baby stuff around? How will I clean while I'm trying to heal and recover? She hasn't really addressed any of these concerns because she wants us to keep thinking positively and I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

For now, I have to remember how WONDERFUL this pregnancy has been! I was hardly sick at all. I Never threw up. I was much more exhausted this time but thankfully had/have MANY opportunities for naps! I have exercised more. We've had very generous friends, family, and neighbors GIVE us baby boy clothes! I have had zero "complications:" excellent blood work results, baby growth, and weight gain. McKenna and Dan also have excellent health and Dan's almost done with his first semester (of three) in his master's program. I know Heavenly Father has a plan for us and we've learned a LOT about faith, patience, and submitting our will to His. The waiting game continues...

2 Years Old!

Yes, McKenna turned 2 back on October 19th and I'm just now posting about her stats and development. So sue me, and ENJOY! :)

STATS

Height: 34 in (2 in increase in 6 months) 60th percentile

Weight: 24.8 lb (3.8 lb increase in 6 months) 25th percentile

Head Circ: 18.7 in (.2 in increase in 6 months) 40th percentile

Once again, we had our sister-in-law, Lara, take some photos to document McKenna as a two-year-old. THANKS Lara!! These were taken on the Bountiful Temple grounds and the weather was gorgeous! And in typical two-year-old fashion, it was difficult to get her to hold still and smile. Luckily, this fabulous photographer brought some PEZ candies.

Now for the new and funny things she's done in the last 6 months:

MAY

• Said "sorry" whenever she got hurt
• Used everything as a phone
• Loved to wander and explore. Didn't care if mom or dad were following you
• Took a trip to Las Vegas
• Went camping for the 2nd time in her life
• Began to adjust to nursery at church

JUNE

• Sibling on its way confirmed by doctor
• Tried a bounce house for the first time
• Always "talk" on play phones to Uncle Sammy and Aunt Swa
• New words in vocabulary every day
• Filled in blanks of lyrics to favorite songs
• Getting good with people's names
• Loved to point out possession, "Mommy's shoes," "Daddy's book"
• Generalized all men were daddies, all women were mommies
• Started saying, "mine." Although thankfully, this didn't last too long.
• Still love books and Baby Einstein movies
• Yelled, "Ah-me" after prayers
• Great memory
• More intense tantrums

JULY

• Loved fireworks this year
• Awesome sandle tan line on feet
• Started saying, "hold you" to be picked up
• Started praying for funny things- Blessed Barney and the Chicken mascot from a baseball game
• New tooth (upper left canine)
• Discovered a new love for Barney and Friends after only watching 2 episodes
• Started saying basic sentences, "I need _____." "I want _____."

AUGUST

• Two new teeth (upper right canine, lower left canine)
• We listed our Condo for sale...
• Much less signing, almost all talking now
• Found out sibling will be a BROTHER!
• Said a 5-word sentence, "I need some daddy's cherries."
• Counted from 4-8 :)
• Loved to count down, "2,1..."
• Started to sing songs by herself
• Would move most of her toys to another room if she thought I was going to be there longer than 2 minutes
• Started to express likes and dislikes
• Favored one or two books for a week and then got a new favorite

SEPTEMBER

• Sang 90% of ABCs
• Said, "bless you" after sneezes
• Pronounced peek-a-boo, "peek-a-loon"
• When it got dark outside she would whisper, "dark side"

OCTOBER

• Sang, "I Am A Child Of God"
• Started telling me when things were stinky
• While struggling with a puzzle piece she said, "Oh come on!"
• Sings to herself for entertainment
• Pronounced jack-o-lantern, "jack-o-tern"
• Started saying, "yes-siree"
• 2 year check up went awesome! Got regular vaccines and the flu mist up the nose
• Going along with vaccines, she limped for a few days and would tell everyone that she got shots. Just a little dramatic. :)

NOVEMBER (So far)

• Knows 90% of basic colors
• First haircut
• First time ever no nap for the day
• Started asking, "What doing mama?"
• Cries at most people's loud coughs and sneezes
• Loves to jump!

She's the best two year old we've ever had! We love her so much!

First Hair Cut!

Yes, this is McKenna's FIRST hair cut since birth. I have some skill cutting boys hair with clippers, but I didn't want to attempt using scissors for the first time on my pretty little girl's hair. I also knew she would not be as inclined to sit still and stay calm for her me as much as she would a stranger doing the dirty work. So, I took her to a kid's hair cutting place called Cookie Cuttters. They have adorable chairs (cars or airplanes), TVs at each station, treats, and other entertainment (a slide) in case there's a wait. She loved the "Princess Car," loved watching "Dora," and didn't seem to mind the leopard cape either. She did want her hands out so she could grab the steering wheel. And no treat necessary; she was plenty distracted by everything.

This is the best "before" picture I got

She had this look on her face pretty much the whole time.

They even "styled" it with the blow dryer, which she also, surprisingly, did NOT freak out about.

The stylist did a cute little flipped pony tail too.

The "after!"

Aaahhh! It's even!

Yes, I saved some, and yes, Dan thinks I'm weird... :)

Such a big girl!

Carving and Trick-or-Treating!

Trying to find time with Dan to carve our pumpkin was a bit of a challenge this year. We're grateful we could squeeze it in Oct. 29th. :) This also made it a little difficult to find a decent, symmetrical pumpkin at the store. In the end, we found one that was nicely shaped but it was covered in "warts." It made it extra spooky though. I was very grateful for Dan's muscles being present. This pumpkin was still quite cold from being outside and had a super thick rind!

The before- She's saying, "cheese!"

"Good job daddy!"

Such admiration! :)

What's in there??

She was so brave!

Besides drawing the face, McKenna and I also scooped the guts.

More muscle action

Keeping herself occupied

Ta Da!

I'm quite traditional when it comes to jack-o-lanterns. Kenna calls them "jack-0-terns."

These next two pictures were taken at the beginning of October when we had just borrowed these costumes from Dan's brother's family (THANKS!). I think she was sold on Mickey Mouse from day one and never gave the Bee a second thought. But it's cute to see her in it anyway. :)

Since we didn't decorate our car, these are only pictures I got of our ward's Trunk-or-Treat!

With her friend Shyah

Trick-or-Treating

Because we were waiting for a rain storm to pass, we didn't start until about 7:30.

And she's off!

She did pretty well saying, "trick-or-treat!" And we could occasionally get her to say, "hap haween!" (Happy Halloween)

We ran into another Mickey! I kind of wish McKenna's was plush like this little boy's was. :)

My sister Mickelle also joined us. You can't tell, but she's sporting a nice afro!

~Happy Halloween!~