Mckinley's First Thanksgiving

Mckinley enjoyed a feast of cold mashed up peas from a jar. What more could a 6 month old want?

Luckily I felt good enough to go to Thanksgiving dinner but I didn't eat much. We had dinner Wednesdsay evening at Brandon's parents house so everyone could go with their inlaws on Thursday.

Then Friday we all headed up to Salt Lake to stay in a hotel for the night and do a little swimming. Look at this adorable swimming suit my sister made.

I thought Mckinley would love swimming a lot more than she did during the summer because she kicks and splashes a lot more now during her baths. She was still super mellow though. But she does like it, I swear. I wanted to put her under the water so bad but Brandon said no.

She barely fit in to her swimming suit that she wore all summer. She's got the cutest chubby thighs you've ever seen.

In other news, Mckinley has finally started to show a little emotion when I try to take her picture! Wahoo!!! It's so frustrating to see so many cute smiles and not be able to capture them. Those days might just be over. (Knock on wood.)

Enjoying the big King bed (that turned out to be not so big anymore once she slept in it with us) at the hotel.

Look at that little toe hanging out of her jammies. Love it!!

Just cause she's cute.

I think this might have been the day when she all of a sudden started looking at me when I was holding the camera. She gave a little half smile.

The morning after Thanksgiving Brandon left while I was still sleeping to do a little early morning shopping. When he came back he came upstairs and told me what he got, and then he said "I have a surprise for you downstairs." He had crawled down in our yucky crawl space, pulled out the Christmas tree, rearranged the whole living room, and set up the tree. It was still dark outside and the tree lights were on. It was awesome.

I got out all my boxes of Christmas decorations (the only holiday I even have decorations for) and had a blast looking at everything in there. We didn't decorate last year, so it was extra fun doing it this year. Mckinley got in the Christmas spirit by wearing these cute reindeer antlers. They usually light up but the lights are broken. :( Anyway, we are excited for Mckinley's first Christmas! And then the month after that, she gets to finally meet her grandparents!!! Woohoo!!!

I Hate the Flu

Good thing the weather has been kind of crappy this week. Mckinley and I have been stuck inside while I am fighting a bad case of the stomach flu. I knew I should have got my flu shot this year!! Mckinley got hers and hopefully it saves her from catching this yuckiness. We're hoping somehow Brandon can dodge the bullet too because this just sucks!! I know people always say it's not fair to be sick and pregnant at the same time. Well, I think being sick while you're trying to take care of a baby is about as bad as it gets.

Here is Mckinley with her best friend (and cousin) Kai a couple weeks ago at a family dinner. Kai is just in love with Mckinley and it's so stinking cute! He watched her while I was busy in the kitchen and he surrounded her with all the couch cushions in case she fell over or in case his 2 brothers tried to get near her. He would ask me what every little sound she made meant. And at the end of the night when I was leaving Kai said "I can't look at her, because if I look at her, I'll follow her." And then he sighed and laid down on the couch while I walked out the door. Too cute!!!

A whole new world has been opened up to Mckinley now that she sits on her own in her stroller and the grocery carts. She loves it. But of course once I pull out the camera she is all serious. I swear, this girl will not smile for the camera. So if you haven't seen her smile in a while, you need to come visit her in PERSON. :)

Brandon and I decided to try out the Lehi Trafalga last weekend. We golfed with this beautiful sunset in the background. That place was really fun, but it's very kid oriented. A little heaven for 5 to 10 year olds.

Mckinley is one step closer to crawling. She will actually stay on her stomach for more than a split second. She still doesn't love it, but one day all of a sudden she stopped rolling on to her back the second her belly touched the floor. She still isn't very interested in moving, which is fine by me. I am putting off baby proofing the house as long as possible.

I might miss Thanksgiving all together this year. I already missed pie night last night (dessert first, totally my style, too bad I was stuck home), and Thanksgiving dinner is tonight. Unless a miracle happens, I don't think I will be going. Good thing I don't care that much about Thanksgiving.

Why do I go to work at 5 in the morning?

Because at about 7:30 I come home to this: (so precious!)


And because it's only 1 day a week. For a couple of hours.

CUTEness

Yesterday my friend Ashli got these great shots even though Mckinley was less than cooperative.


We've figured out that this girl knows when she is getting her picture taken and tries to fight it...


Love that tongue. And those cheeks!

She sucks on her lip. And then smacks her lips. It's the cutest thing ever.

Then today Ashli took our family pictures and of course Mckinley wouldn't smile but I'll bet we still got some good ones. Thank you Ashli!

6 Months

Sunday was Mckinley's 6 month birthday. It's crazy to think how much she's changed and grown and how much we have fallen in love with her in such a short time. Being pregnant was awesome, but having her here is a million times better.


To celebrate turning 6 months old, she decided she would act all grown up and drink from a glass. She actually did really well. She loves grown up things. We think it's adorable.

She finally has enough hair on top to put it in a tiny ponytail.

Mckinley also has a hidden talent: whistling. She is a pro. She'll whistle any tune you request. Okay, just kidding. She is actually rubbing her teeth on her tongue, her favorite pasttime as of late. But doesn't it look like she is just casually whistling? Ha ha, I love it.

I probably took 40 pictures just trying to catch a smile. She NEVER smiles for the camera anymore. Ashli, I need your help! Here is a little smile, but it's not her typicall cheeser that she gives us all the time. I'll keep trying.

I even solicited Brandon's help one day and still just got this. It doesn't do it justice.

Mckinley's 6 month Dr. appointment was Tuesday. Her official stats are:

Weight: 16 lbs 4 oz - 56th percentile

Height: 26.2 inches - 67th percentile

Head: 17.3 inches - 86th percentile

The main thing we came away from the appointment with was the fact that it is time to crack down on sleeping through the night. For the past couple of months Mckinley has been waking up a couple times a night wanting to eat. Time to stop!!! She did excellent last night and didn't eat till 5 this morning. I think that was like 10 hours in between feedings, and about 7 hours of sleep. I just woke up a few times and put her binky in her mouth to keep her sleeping longer.

Yesterday after her appointment we did the meanest thing possible and left her to be babysat by her grandma while we went to the temple. While we were gone the pain from her 4 shots set in and was at it's worst. Who does that to a babysitter? Thank you so much Karen!!! That was the first time we had been to the temple together since Brandon was worried I was going to go into labor during our session (at 8 months pregnant). It felt so good to go again.

And speaking about feeling good, yesterday, on November 9th, I finished my visiting teaching for the month. I got a new partner who actually called me to go (the first time in...forever). I haven't been visiting teaching since before I got pregnant, except maybe once or twice. I've been so bad! But I'm turning over a new leaf. And it feels good. Have I rambled enough? Yeah, I think I'm done now.