Mckenna

Oh how we love our little Mckenna...

We have been having lots of fun over the last couple of months! Mckenna has grown up SO much and we have loved MOST minutes of it :-)

Here is what we have been up too the last couple of weeks...

** Mckenna got a bubble machine (Mommy DESPISES blowing bubbles!). We had friends over to play in our beautiful backyard and enjoy the bubbles. Chandler and Ryan are two of her best buddies!

**Mckenna's cousin, Jaci, had her first sleepover at our house. Mckenna LOVES her cousins!
**My great friend, Amber, and sister-in-law, Jana, threw me the most ADORABLE baby shower!! They "SPRINKLED" me with gifts and love :-) Aren't the umbrellas and colors so super adorable? The food was tasty too!I look SO awkward in this picture, but I had to post it for the umbrella :-)

**Grandma and Grandpa Jones visited. They came to watch Jana and Chad's kids while the lucky couple went on a cruise. We got to spend lots of time visiting Grandma and Grandpa AND playing hard with Jaxon!
Also ignore how funny I look in this picture. The self-timer on my camera wasn't working how I wanted it too (I only had 2 seconds to run, haha) But this is a pretty good belly picture. Huge huh?

**The weather has been GORGEOUS!!!! You have no idea! We open our windows every morning, Kenna plays outside several times a day, our yard looks AmAzInG and the sun is so cheery!!!!! One afternoon while Jeff was watering the flowers we let Mckenna play in the water. She thought it was great for about 8 minutes until the wind started to blow- brrrr!

**Daddy built Mckenna a........ SANDBOX! Yay! No more digging in the garden! Jeff and Mckenna built it in the daytime and then we played in it for FHE. Mckenna thought it was great and she ran out there first thing this morning to play!

**Mckenna is growing up sooo much! She eats a TON. This was her at breakfast this morning (Daddy bought us donuts!!!) YUM!
**Lastly, I love this view while I am doing the dishes! She loves this chair. She also loves our glider chair. She has learned that we "take turns" and lately if Jeff or I are sitting in one of those chairs she will walk up to us and say "turn, turn" or "Kenna turn". If we don't let her have a turn right at that moment she will say "MOVE!" What a kid! Oh how I love her!

KITTY...We need HELLLLLP!

Every kid gets attached to something, right? When I was a nanny the parents had SEVERAL of the oldest boy's favorite blanket. They probably had 6! At the time I didn't understand their reasoning like I do now...

Last night was the second night this week that Mckenna woke up (around 1am) crying for KITTY. The first night kitty was hidden under the blanket and last night kitty was in the dryer (she needed a bath, BADLY) .... Last night we realized WE NEED MULTIPLE KITTIES!!!

Our problem- this is where you all come in- we can't find kitty at any Target around us (we have tried 4). SO, if any of you happen to be at a Target in the next couple of weeks will you PLEASE check the stuffed animal section for KITTY...PLEASE! She is Circo brand, black and white, and floppy. We will pay you back (and would even pay shipping)!!! If you could find multiple kitties that is even better!!!!!!!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

I know this is a bad picture, but do you see how much she LOVES this Kitty? :-)

Growing

Mckenna is GROWING up. Sometimes it makes me so sad to see her be so big- like a kid- but then I see her play at the park with Aunt Rylie (pictured above) and I love that she is growing up!!!! Isn't she adorable??? I love this girl!

PS...Can you believe you are looking at a park in Utah in February? There is no snow and it is the same temperature as it has been in San Antonio- CRAZY!

Today

Was a good day...

I have been really struggling with motivation the last couple of weeks. I don't even have motivation later in the day like I used too. It just completely left. All I wanted to do was lay around doing NOTHING! The result: a DISASTER of a house and LOTS of eating out!!!

But...today was a good day...the house is clean and I made dinner.

The reasons:....

#1- Last Wednesday I came home from having lunch with my friends and their kids and the house was SPOTLESS!!!! Jeff came home from school while I was gone specifically to clean the house and leave me a sweet note that said "You are the best. Now you can rest! Love you both! Jeff" ISN'T HE THE GREATEST!!???!!??! We were having the missionaries over for dinner that evening and my "to-do" list was too long to allow for a nap. But last Wednesday despite my long to-do list I got my nap :-) and since then I have had a very clean house (I know my parents used to preach it, but IT IS EASIER to keep a clean house clean than it is to clean a dirty house!)

#2- Jeff decided (last Wednesday actually...what a great day) that he would take his GMAT prep course in Dallas- of course, I was not complaining :-). There wasn't once offered in San Antonio for awhile and the ones offered in Austin weren't the most convenient time wise. I started looking into hotels and found an excellent deal, so we decided to make a little trip out of his class- YAY! We invited our friends the Phillips to go with us (and I am very glad they decided to go!) I got to spend 4 days not worrying about cleaning, cooking or any of the day-to-day tasks that wear me out :-) It was AWESOME!!!! While Jeff was doing his class from 9am-6pm I shopped, read the 4th Percy Jackson book and took naps! What a life! :-)

Now, I feel refreshed...

I am ready to tackle a gazillion projects before baby boy comes and I don't have as much anxiety. What a relief!

Today was such a good day that I even sewed a project I have been wanting to do! I made burp cloths. I have seen tons of people use the cloth diapers as burp cloths. I have also seen tons on the internet that have cute fabric one them. They are SUPER cute and very useful. Since all of the burp cloths we had from Mckenna are PINK, I decide to make my own! The picture isn't the greatest, but it shows the 3 fabrics I used. Jeff's favorite is the monkeys!! Mine is...all of them!!!
Yay for a good day!!!! And to end it...a belly picture- FINALLY!

I wouldn't consider this my best picture, but not too bad for 10:30pm!!!

31 weeks and counting :-)

Let's Play THE NAME GAME...

8 weeks....do you know how short 8 weeks is???? AHhh, I am having minor "freak-outs" almost daily now. What was I thinking when we decided to have another child, haha??? I am so not ready for this. One of the BIGGEST sources of anxiety... PICKING OUT A NAME! I know that shouldn't be so stressful, but I don't feel super connected to any name. With Mckenna we had a list of about 3 that we both loved and a list of about 30 that were great options. This poor little guy has a list of like 10...that's it...not even a small list of ones we both love. Sad, huh? The picture above is of the names we "like". ANY SUGGESTIONS? I think I just need to hear some more names. So, if any of you have a great name PASS IT ALONG :-)

Otherwise, I feel decently prepared! We have some clothes, bottles (and new nipples- I decided to stay with the Avent bottles because we already own them and had good luck with them...in general...and I read online about how to make them stop leaking- YAY!) a bassinet, etc. etc. But, the poor BOY will be wrapped in pink receiving blankets :-) We are working on getting some boy themed blankets, haha!

Then there is Mckenna....The past couple of weeks she has found a new play spot. She LOVES this basket! I wasn't going to keep it in this spot until I saw how much she loves to play with it. Now it has a permanent home!
As soon as we pull out the camera Mckenna runs up, gets her face right in front of the camera and then puts on the cheesiest smiles. This is a great example!
Mckenna LOVES, loves, LOVES to help around the house. She helps bring the groceries in (one item at a time), helps me sweep/mop the floor, and unloads the dishes (usually the ones we want to be loaded...) This morning Jeff was making the bed. I walked into the bedroom and found Mckenna very unsuccessfully helping Jeff :-) He said "What is the opposite of helpful?" We agreed "MCKENNA!!!!" But we love all of her helping! It just makes for some interesting times. The other day I was pulling spaghetti sauce out of the freezer. She wanted to carry the "coolllld" into the kitchen for me. I told her to put it on the table. Good thing I HAPPENED to see where she put it or else I would have never found it come dinner time!!!
She put it in our cupboard with the tupperware!!! This cupboard is deemed "Kenna's cupboard" because nothing is breakable, but she sure destroys it (as seen above!!!) The cute thing about this is that usually she helps put the clean tupperware away in the cupboard and the spaghetti sauce was in a tupperware! SO CUTE!!! She is so easy to love!

She is also on a "Barney" kick right now. She will hand us the remote and say "Show" or "Barney". It is funny. She doesn't get to watch very much TV (nor does she stay entertained for very long by it), but she sure loves to ask for it! PS... she just called Barney on my cellphone! Haha!!!

She also found the butterflies in her room (on her rug and wall). She will run into her room and scream "Fliesssss!" and point them all out. She enjoys "ca-R-ring" (interpretted as "coloring"), as well. Any time she see a writing utensil she says "CA-R-RING!!!!!" and begs to color! It is pretty cute! Although, she isn't very good at just coloring on paper :-( We are working on that!!!

Jeff and I are doing well. Jeff is just chugging away with school and preparing to take the GMAT in a few weekends. I am nervous for him, but he will do AWESOME!!!

I am still busy with life. My calling definitely keeps me busy. I also have a list of "must do" projects before the baby comes. Some of the largest ones include GETTING OUR HOUSE READY TO SELL AGAIN!!!! We have to paint Mckenna's bright green room and a couple other projects. Shouldn't be too much work, but definitely will be time consuming :-)

Here's to 8 more weeks.......... I CAN DO IT :-)

Mommy questions

Quick update on Mckenna...

She had her VCUG re-done today (the one she had to do about 6 months ago that found her urinary reflux). The good news is that her left side doesn't have the reflux anymore. Which means her ureter on the left side closes when she urinates now- YAY! The right side has stayed about the same, but at least it hasn't gotten worse!!! Yippy! We were so glad to have some good news today. Although, I had to go out of the room during the x-ray (b/c of being pregnant) and almost cried. I could hear Mckenna screaming through the door and felt so sad! Jeff said she did great despite all the crying.

Afterward, we took her to the Humane Society to play with the doggies and kitties. She loved running around the puppy room looking at all of them! She misses Rowdy!! Someday we will have another doggy for her and maybe a kitty :-) haha!!!

ANYWAY...

This week I have been thinking a lot about having baby number two. Double strollers, bottles, sleeping, potty training Kenna, etc., etc., etc.

I have found several double strollers that I LOVE, but of course none of them are below $600- ha! I will have to keep looking at others, but until then I need some suggestions. Which ones have you guys tried or do you like????

Next, bottles. I wasn't able to nurse with Mckenna and don't know if I necessarily want to with baby #2 (I enjoy the freedom a lot...don't think I could have some one NEEDING me soooo much!!!) With Kenna we used the Avent bottles. She never had problems with gas or ear infections or anything that gets associated with bottles, but they LEAKED! Mckenna was always covered in milk, ugh! I need some suggestions. I was looking at the Playtex Vent-Air ones, but I don't know much about them. So again any suggestion is welcomed!!!!

THANKS!!!

Our Western States Tour...

WE ARE HOME!!! Yay, but we LOVED our trip and are glad we got to see so many family and friends.

We decided to drive to Utah so that we could give my parents our dog, Rowdy. Sad, I know, but he LOVES his new house! He has two built in best friends, Kia and Phoebe. I should have gotten a picture, but no such luck :-(

Our first stop was a night in Trinidad, Colorado. We stayed at a hotel that had an indoor pool so that we could take Kenna swimming. She LOVED it!!! She learned how to jump off the deck to one of us and even wanted to stay longer even though it was pretty chilly.

After our swimming adventures we drove the 3 hours to Denver. We stayed with Jeff's sister, Melissa, and her family. I was excited to see Mckenna and Jennifer (their 14 month old) play, but instead of playing Mckenna decided to get sick. She woke up at 1am PUKING...ugh! We were up for the next 9 hours with a sick baby! It was miserable!!! Poor baby! We spent one more day in Denver and then headed out to Utah.

Our next drive was from Denver to Lehi, Utah. What a drive. It was so beautiful, but FREEZING. The car thermometer showed -4 degrees for several hours of the drive. BRrrrRRr!

We spent the next (almost) two weeks in Utah. We played and ate and played so more! It was so great!

Mckenna loved CHRISTMAS!!!! Her favorite part... CANDY! She learned how to say candy and asked for it 100's of times a day. She is a true kid.

Jeff bought a snowboard and enjoyed going several times. I was sad I couldn't go, but maybe next year :-)

I loved EATING- haha!! We had Spaghetti Factory TWICE and Brick Oven (Yum...I am already craving their cream of broccoli soup again!!!!).

Twice we went sledding. Mckenna thought it was FABULOUS! She would sit on the sled and say "wee, wee, wee" the whole way down! She also loved eating the snow. It was so fun to watch her enjoy it so much.

After Utah we made the long trek to Arizona. We saw lots of family and Kenna got to play with lots of cousins. We enjoyed the beautiful weather by going to the zoo. Mckenna and Anndi (my sister's 2 year old) loved playing together. It was cute to see them enjoy each other- finally!

When we visit our families there are always several restaurants on our MUST HAVE list. In AZ we enjoyed Elmer's, Serrano's, and El Sol. YUmmmmy! (I am SO pregnant...haha!)

Our last leg of the journey was LONG. We left Arizona several hours later than we had planned, I had a headache and Jeff was TIRED. We made it to Las Cruces at 4am and were able to sleep in a hotel for a few hours. We left Las Cruces around 12pm MST and arrived home (WOOHOO!) at 10pm CST. It was so nice to sleep in our own beds! (also the italics won't turn off...annoying!)

Now...get ready for lots of pictures!!! :-) Most of them are from our Utah portion of the trip too..sorry!
Christmas Eve... I showed Mckenna the little Nativity while my Mom read the Christmas story. Also, notice Phoebe (the dog) in the pictures. She had to be in the middle of everything that night!
We opened our traditional PJs on Christmas Eve. Mckenna LOVED opening presents!

Santa Claus came to Grandma and Grandpa Gall's house!! Mckenna got a baby doll stroller, a HUGE stuffed puppy and some other fun toys!
We got all bundled up to go to the Temple Lights in SLC. It was BEAUTIFUL, but oh so cold!!!
Uncle "Ty-Ty" and Aunt "Rybee" at the Temple Lights.
Pretty picture of the Temple with some red Christmas lights!
Our cute girl eating an oreo. Her piggy tails are adorable, huh???
This is a bad picture, but Aunt Ry put Kia (the dog) in Kenna's stroller one morning. This is pure joy on Mckenna's face as she ran around pushing Kia just like a little baby. Good thing Kia didn't hate it TOO much!!!
My Grandpa Charlesworth pulling Mckenna and I on the deer sled. It was so fun, but a little too bumpy for my liking :-)
This is an "action shot" of Kenna and Aunt Ry on the sled. Mckenna's beanie kept falling over her eyes! It was fun for me to sit on the back of the quad and take pictures!!!!!Mckenna saying "WEE!"
She LOVED the snow!!!
Mckenna and Anndi at the Phx zoo (by the monkeys) Aren't they cute together???
Mckenna and the monkey! We know she could see this animal :-)
"THREE little monkeys playing at the zoo......"
Playing at the park with Grandma and Grandpa Jones!
Our family sledding picture! This was taken with Jeff's phone, so sorry it isn't the greatest!!!

I know I should post a belly pick- I feel huge :-) but I haven't really felt up to taking one, haha! But I promise one soon!!!