Rice Cereal

I wasn't planning on starting Mckinley on any type of "solid" foods (if you can call them that) till she was 6 months old. But then my neighbors gave us all this baby food for FREE. And it got me a little excited.


Yesterday we gave Mckinley her first taste of rice cereal. I guess I should have known by how fast this girl is growing up, but she was R.E.A.D.Y. She loved it!


I always secretly hoped I would have one of those babies who doesn't touch the food they are eating and is just super clean about it, but wow, Mckinley likes to grab my hand, the spoon, the mouthful of food, her bib, anything she can get her hands on. It was pretty messy. But totally fun!


How she is smart enough to open her mouth way before the spoon even touches it is beyond me. Then she would chomp down with her two little teeth and hold on to it in there.


Even during her first feeding, she thought she was ready to feed herself. Hmm...


This video is totally just for my parents, I don't expect anyone else to be excited about us feeding our baby for the first time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI2F3_UYDO8

She Sits!

Mckinley is getting better and better at sitting. Like I said in my last post, it started out on our laps.


But today she was doing a lot of this...


It's so adorable and makes her seem so BIG.


Mckinley attended her first ever BYU football game on Saturday. The only way I was able to bring her was because we had box seats. She never would have survived down in the crowd. Too bad it was a pretty boring game.


On Sunday we had dinner at my brother's house. This is one of the rare smiles captured on camera these days. Every time I try to take her picture she just stares at the camera and won't do anything. It takes 2 of us to do it now. Brandon was making her smile while I snapped away. And we got one little half smile.


This guy sure loves his little girl.


We had to take some more pictures of her with her cousin Bryce. He's 2 months younger but totally catching up to her. I love that they are holding hands. They did that all on their own. So cute!


It seems like Mckinley just wants to grow up. The bumbo chair isn't containing her as well anymore. She twists to the side and leans over the edge, trying to get out.


Good thing we bought her this little toy that she still has a lot of room to grow into. She's supposed to be able to bounce on the little orange pad but her toes barely reach it if she stretches her legs out.


I don't think I've ever mentioned this before but I think it is the cutest thing when Mckinley wants to hold grown up things. She'll play with anything you give her. Keys, cell phone, wallet, anything. Her favorite is playing with the mail. Well, any paper really. Guess she loves the crunch.


She is coming up on 5 months in about a week and a half and I can hardly believe it.

I can't think of anything cuter

than a sick baby. Mckinley got her first tooth last week. We had no idea it was coming. I think I mentioned this already. Anyway, the second one is coming in and this time she has the whole runny nose, fever, cough, and she is just sad. And holy cow, she is CUTE! I really didn't think she could get any cuter than she already was but wow, seeing her sick just melts my heart. It is the cutest thing ever.

I put on her Baby Einsteins video yesterday for her and she just sat on the couch and watched it. She looked over at me as soon as she saw me get out my camera. Speaking of Baby Einsteins videos, I just read online today that they may actually hinder your child's development. Hmmm. Interesting thought.


Here she is looking at the TV. It looks like her eyes are closed but if you zoom in, you'll see that they're open. Isn't this exactly what adults do when we're sick? Just veg on the couch and watch TV? I love it! I couldn't get enough of this sick little girl yesterday.


Today she is feeling slightly better but she's definitely not herself yet. It's times like these that make me so grateful that I don't have to work very much and I can just be home with her.

In other news, Mckinley has been sitting up on her own quite a bit lately. Mostly just when she's on my lap, she's still learning to do it when she's down on the floor, but wow, she just surprises me all the time.


It seems like she is doing some of this stuff a little early and I can't help but wonder if she is on the schedule of her original fertilization, instead of when she was transferred into my body. (She could be 10 months old right now instead of just 4.) By the way, I'm just kidding, I'm pretty sure that no development went on while she was frozen in liquid nitrogen for 6 months...

September

I haven't blogged for a while. I'm not entirely sure why. Life is so stinking good with this little sweet girl in it. We've had a lot of fun, I guess I just haven't taken a ton of pictures that I felt were "blog worthy."

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So, here's a little of what we've been up to lately. Friday nights are usually spent watching Brandon's little brother play football at Provo High. He is the kicker and a pretty darn good one at that. Here is Brandon with Mckinley at one of the games. She was bundled up in her cute jacket from Aunt Linda!! It's a tad too big but so cute that it doesn't matter.

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Wednesday nights we watch Brandon play softball. Last week he slid to get on base and got a nasty raspberry on his thigh. Poor thing. It's healing up pretty well though. Survivor started up again this week so now we will also have our weekly Survivor nights as well. Gotta love that show.

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Mckinley's cousin Kai is absolutely in love with her and they are just adorable together. She makes the cutest little noises and still loves putting everything in her mouth.

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Still can't get enough pictures of her sleeping. This little girl is The. Best. Sleeper. Ever. Starting at day 1, she was so good at sleeping during the night and is still awesome. She wakes up maybe once a night and just eats and goes right back to sleep. Some nights she doesn't wake up at all. Then during the day she takes lots of naps, maybe 3 or 4, and she is so good at going down. All you have to do is put her down in her crib with a binky and give her a blanket and she just falls asleep. She still sleeps in her car seat or pretty much wherever and I am just going to enjoy that while it lasts!

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Mckinley has become quite the thumb-sucker. We think it is oh-so-cute now but will probably hate it later. She doesn't just sit and suck on it forever, she usually just kind of plays with it in her mouth.

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I used to be so convinced that she was going to be a lefty but now I'm not so sure...

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Occasionally I do cook and Mckinley really likes being in the kitchen with me. Thanks so much Shannon for the bumbo chair. It's awesome!

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Look how tiny she used to be in that thing. (This was at about 6 weeks old.)

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On Wednesday this week I noticed that Mckinley's bottom gum looked really red. And then yesterday all of a sudden she had a little tooth pop through! The one right next to it is just starting to show as well. We hurried to the store to buy her some teether toys. (Didn't think we'd need those for quite a while.) I've heard so many bad stories about people's kids teething but we didn't hardly even notice anything was wrong. She was spitting up a little bit, and she hardly ever does, so Brandon thought maybe I ate something weird, but that was about it. We are so lucky to have such a good baby on our hands!

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This is a picture of her today. Doesn't she look so long? I love it. I don't have a ton of pictures of her smiling anymore. For some reason they are harder to catch. I think it's because she pretty much always has something in her mouth, and also because she is just so much more active.

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I wish I could describe how in love we are with this little girl. We talk about it all the time to each other and we can hardly believe how much we love her. We feel so lucky to have her in our home. I wish all of you could see Brandon with her. I've never seen a dad be so cute with his kid before. My favorite thing is anytime he is home and she is sleeping, as soon as you hear any tiny little noise escape her mouth (she doesn't usually cry when she wakes up, just kind of starts fussing), you will immediately hear Brandon half-whisper, "Yes!" and then he bolts up to her room to get her out of bed. It's adorable.

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I am just working a little bit and I love it. A lot of times it's early in the morning I got up at 4:30 a.m. twice this week) and it's actually really nice to finally get up early again and get going. I made a goal this month to do my workout video every day and I haven't missed a day yet! It's just an easy 30 minute video, but it feels good to at least be doing something. I also started indexing again last week and man, I can really get addicted. I started 12 days ago and have already indexed 1200 names. I think that's about everything. I am getting SO excited for my parents to come home from their mission. Just 4 and a half months to go!

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PS. McKenzie and Jessica, have you noticed how much I LOVE the bows you gave me? They're pretty much all I put on her because they go with everything and are just adorable. Thank you!

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PPS. I realize I need to do a better job at posting things other than pictures of Mckinley. At least I got one of Brandon in there.

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K, wait, I just saw this picture and I don't think I ever posted it. How cute are these two just chillin' on the couch? Oh, I just love it.

4 Months

Our little girl is growing up right before our eyes. She'll be 4 months next Tuesday but I already took her to the doctor for her 4 month check up (had to get in before we lost insurance).

Her cousin Brynlee thinks she's big enough to wear sunglasses. Ha! Cute. (This was at Brandon's softball game last night.)


I can carry her around on my hip. But choose not too because I like to think she's still too small. :)



Her 4 month stats are:
Weight: 13 lbs 8.5 oz - 55%
Length: 25 inches - 82%
Head: 16.75 inches - 89%

She and I went and hung out at Nielsen's Grove Park today. That place is gorgeous! It's our second time there this week. The other time we BBQ'd hamburgers with Jason, Haley, and Brynlee. But I didn't take any pictures then.


Just chillin' on the grass by the pond. The ducks were going crazy today. They were really fun to watch.

I feel like I'm living a dream. It has been so amazing to be Mckinley's mom. My heart goes out to all those girls who want kids and haven't been able to have them yet. I know this is the biggest blessing and I am so grateful for it. I hope I never lose that perspective.

7 Peaks

We went to 7 Peaks tonight for the Nu Skin summer party (Brandon's dad works there for those of you who don't know). They had the whole place rented out and we had a lot of fun. I only got my camera out once. Here is Mckinley snuggling up with her towel after some time spent in the wave pool.

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It was a lot of fun. There was all sorts of free {junk} food for us to eat. Nachos, churros, ice cream cones, snowcones, pretzels, fries, hamburgers, hot dogs, drinks, and more. I hadn't been to 7 Peaks in years and years. There's not a ton you can do with a 3 month old, but we still enjoyed ourselves. So much so, that we are probably going to buy one of those sweet season passes for next year that includes Trafalga and Owls games. Hopefully it helps us have a fun summer next year with a curious little one year old on our hands. :) Ahhh, can't wait!

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Yesterday I took Mckinley to the mall and made a lot of people think I was the meanest mom ever. I got Mckinley's ears pierced. And oh, did she scream. But I think she'll thank me later. Hopefully.

Here she is asleep after all the trauma.

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Aren't those the cutest earrings ever? I might borrow them when she's done with them. :) The holes are a little uneven and I am still on the fence about whether to have one of them (this one in fact) redone or not.

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Mckinley finally has a girl cousin close in age!!! My sister in law Jessica had a baby on Sunday. We didn't know what the gender would be and I am very happy that it's a girl. They are just 3 months apart. Mckinley and Mia. Hopefully they grow up to be best friends. Here they are taking a nap together in the hospital.

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And a picture of me since I'm not doing very good at including picture of me and Brandon on here. This is me and Mckinley watching Lincoln's football game.

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PS. Have I mentioned lately that I love summertime?!! I can't believe it's almost over.

3 Months

I have a 3 month old. Someone pinch me.

I've been having a hard time getting a picture of Mckinley smiling over the last few weeks. Not because she doesn't smile. Not because she's not happy. Because she found her hands and LOVES to have them in her mouth. See what I mean?


This one I just threw in because it's cute. She was watching Baby Einsteins.


Mckinley's cousins sure love her a lot. They always run up to her when we walk in the room and want to see her and play with her. It's adorable.


Now that Mckinley is 3 months old we figured it's time to move her to her own room and upgrade her bed from the pack n play to a real crib. She LOVES it. The first night she set her new record and went 10 hours 45 minutes in between feedings.

Oh yeah, I finally put her name up on the wall too.

Proof that she loves her crib. She looks so peaceful. (Recognize that blanket McKenzie? She loves it!!)

At 3 months Mckinley:

• Still sleeps like a champ. She is getting really good at putting herself to sleep.
• Coos and talks all the time.
• Has the cutest laugh in the world. We spend a considerable amount of time trying different things to get her to laugh.
• LOVES her binki.
• Holds her hands together like she's praying when we're holding her in our arms rocking her to sleep.
• Always has her hands (or blanket or burp cloth) in her mouth.
• Is starting to pick things up and put them in her mouth.
• Loves her bouncy chair.
• Is starting to recognize her own name.
• Rolls over from back to front (ever since she was 2 months old) but still can't figure out how to get to her back from her stomach.
• Loves her car seat to death. She would probably stay in it 24/7 if I let her.
• Still only poops every few days. It's awesome.
• Has never been sick (knock on wood).
• Has transitioned from kicking off her blankets to picking them up and bringing them close to her face. So cute!
• Has her mom and dad wrapped around her little finger.

Annie and Jordan

Last week we went on a FIVE day road trip to Arizona to see Annie and Jordan get married. Jordan is Brandon's little brother for those of you who don't know.



We stayed the first night in Flagstaff to break up the trip and then drove some more the next day. It wasn't the funnest thing packing up all our stuff every night.

We were all excited to stay 2 nights in the next hotel in Benson, AZ. Until we got there and found out the city was infested with bugs. Which meant all the hotels were infested with bugs too. This is our welcome mat with lots of little bugs around it and a beetle and a cockroach. (At least we didn't have big beetles in our room like some of the others we were with.) The town was so small that there wasn't a lot of options for hotels...



Our little family of 3 at the wedding dinner the night before.


Jordan and Annie coming out of the temple. They got married in the Gila Valley Temple, it's a new one. It was pretty but oh so hot outside.


We could barely stay out there long enough for the family picture, then we made a mad dash for the car and some much needed AC. Mckinley is not a fan of the heat.

Mckinley and Daddy outside the temple. If there is one temple in the world that needs a fountain out front, it's this one. But they didn't have one. Don't know who was in charge of the planning on that one...

Cutting the cake...

Isn't this picture precious? I love sleeping pictures!!!

After 2 nights in the middle of nowhere, we headed back to Flagstaff for one more night to break up the trip home. Luckily their small pool was super warm so Mckinley could get in.

We spent 30+ hours in the car and Mckinley earned the award for the world's best traveller. She did awesome. She seriously slept almost the whole time. It worked out pretty well to just feed her a bottle in her car seat. Then she would go right back to sleep.

Usually after the last vacation of the summer I am sad that there's nothing else to look forward to. But after going on 3 trips in the last 4 weeks, I am happy to be HOME. And I don't want to go anywhere for quite a while. :)