Hello Stranger!

It's hard to believe over a year has gone by since I last posted. What is going on in our lives right now? To start off we are expecting Miss Monroe Paige in a little less than four weeks. Yes, we are having another girl and yes I am crazy because Mckenna will only be 19 months old! Mckenna is in love with the "baby" or "roe roe" as she likes to call her and loves to try and see her by picking up my shirt and showing the world my tummy. Some say awww how cute....Me not so much. It doens't bother me at home but in the middle of Target, not my favorite time for Mckenna to talk to her little sister.

As for Mckenna she is growing by leaps and bounds everyday. She is truley a Daddy's Girl. I can't get over how big she is and how independant she wants to be. She recently started informing Matt and I when she was wet or dirty so we took this as a sign to start potty training. How great would it be to get one out of diapers just before the second arrives?! Mckenna picked out a pretty pink potty and Elmo panties. She loves to sit on the potty but has yet to go on it. Her teachers at school are so great and have her sit on the potty as well. It's just a matter of time before we master this milestone.
Another big step for her was getting a "big girl" bed. Her crib was recently recalled and I had to get rid of it. Instead of putting her in another crib Matt and I decided to get a toddler bed. We are finishing up our third week in the toddler bed and she is a CHAMP! She doesn't get out of it when it's time for bed and she has only rolled out of bed one time.

As for Matt he is busy as always. He recently had his tonsils removed and recovered quite nicely. He started getting sick last November and we couldn't figure out why or what was causing it. Finally six months and almost 30 pounds later his tonsils are gone and he now needs smaller pants! It is definatley not fun to watch your husband shrink and your belly expands!!! I am so thankful he is feeling better.

Next week Matt and Mckenna will fly to New York to visit family. Yes, Matt is taking Mckenna on an airplane SOLO! I will almost be in my 38th week and have to stay home. So while my mom, Aunt Sally and I get the house ready for Monroe, Matt and Mckenna will be jet setting to the East Coast. I have known of this trip for several months now but I still get tears in my eyes when I think of being away from Mckenna for four days. This will be the first time we are apart since she was born.
In order for Matt to be able to travel through the airport with Mckenna, the stroller and the carseat, I was asked to pack a bag early so he could ship it to his aunt's house. I made sure to make dressing Mckenna as easy as possible. Each outfit she has to wear is packed individually in a zip lock bag down to the shoes and hair accesory. I wish I was going to be there since last summer she was only six months old when she met everyone for the first time. Matt's mom will be there as well as his aunts so he shouldn't have to do much in the way of Mckenna seeing as they are ready to spoil her every second she is there! They are going to have so much fun. I am just hoping Monroe does not decide to make a grand entrance before they come home.

As for me, I am doing good. My pregnancy has been great and has gone by really fast. I can't believe we will have two precious girls in less than a month. If you look at the 3D ultrasound pictures of Mckenna and Monroe they look almost identical. I am very proud to say I have only gained 17 pounds so far and hope to not gain much more. I am still teaching at the private school in Kyle and am looking forward to having Monroe at the school as well. It is such a blessing to be able to have the girls in the same building as I am. It makes going to work so much easier.

Given my updating track record I am not promising anything but I will try my hardest to keep my blog updated. Hopefully I find myself here again in a lot less time than a year!

What could happen in 6 months?

Well.......A LOT


Mckenna will be ONE in 7 weeks and I have no idea where the time went. She has been walking for 3 weeks now and is trying to RUN everywhere. My living room now consists of a baby gate blocking the front entry and an ironing board on it's side blocking Mckenna from the rest of the house. This works for a little while until she becomes brave enough to flip (yes I said flip) her body over the ironing board and laughs as she lands on the other side. She is eating everything in sight and pretty much feeds herself now. Jake and Lola are quite fond of Mckenna when she eats because she ever so carefully stretches her arm out from her high chair and waits till the right moment(when I not "looking") and drops food to them. They also REALLY love when I take her out of the high chair and everything "stored" in her lap falls to the ground. Whatever makes clean up easier on ME!!!! Matt is busy as usual and is totally wrapped around Mckenna's finger. Every night when he comes home she hears the garage door open and she looks at the back door and starts screaming until he walks in! As for me, we started another school year and my kids are CRAZY but what's new! I am constantly haunted by laundry and dirty dishes but Mckenna makes it so easy to ignore them. I love every second I spend with her. I just wish they weren't going by so fast.

Martha Stewart, Eat your heart out!

I am going to start this post off with a little back ground in my ability (or lack there of) to grow petunias. Last year I planted almost 20 purple petunia plants in my front flower bed. Needless to say, before summer was even over they were all dead. Convinced petunias are not my friend, they were not on my shopping list this year when I bought flowers to redo the beds with. As I took on the overgrown flower bed pulling the weeds and turning the mulch into the dirt, what did my eyes see.....a tiny little petunia plant with one purple flower. I dropped the shovel and ran into the house knowing as soon as I shared this excited news with Matt he would leap from his chair and share in my joy. YEAH RIGHT! I got an eye roll and he went right back to watching ESPN. I carefully transplanted into my cute green Fiesta pot and placed him on my back porch coffee table. I am proud to say this morning he BLOOMED for the SECOND time. Yes, you heard me correct. Did I mention, the peas sprouted today as well. I am pretty sure my thumb became a little greener today.












Today I managed to replace 3 light switches, without electrocuting myself. We have had these timers for over a year now and they have yet to be installed. As I was watching the DIY network, they showed how to install a motion sensor in an outlet. It didn't look that hard so I was instantly inspired to give it a go. After staring at the breaker box for several minutes trying to figure out which of the four breakers labeled; switch/outlet; I should turn off, I went with all four. I wasn't taking any chances, I've seen Home Improvement and I was not about to be Tim Allen. I am proud to say, my front porch light now turns on at 7:45pm and turns off at 10pm and I don't have to flip a switch. Below you will see the before and after pictures. Oh yeah, I didn't electrocute myself either! All and all it was a pretty productive Sunday.

Mary Mary quite contrary.......Hope your garden grows!

Mckenna and I planted the seeds for our garden today. For those of you who don't know me well, my thumb is the darkest shade of BROWN. Since Mckenna is started to eat veggies, we planted peas and green beans. We also planted broccoli for Matt and okra and basil for myself. Hopefully they grow so I can try my hand at making baby food for Mckenna. I also need to mention, Matt and I are having a "friendly" competition. He planted two blackberry bushes and two blueberry bushes. He is very confident his fruit will not only produce more but will live longer than anything I plant. We will see. I plan to post pictures of the progress. Stay Tuned!

500 Eggs and 1 Diaper Change

Today we had an egg hunt in my classroom; 16 kids taking on 500 plastic eggs. It was total mayhem. How did I stuff 500 eggs you ask? Well......I didn't. Each table in my classroom had a bowl of candy and toys and plastic eggs. My kiddos really enjoyed filling the eggs. You would think with as many eggs as we had it would take at least 15 minutes to find them all. YEAH RIGHT! There was not an egg in sight in only five minutes.

After the speedy egg hunt we moved inside for our party. There is nothing like five year olds hopped up on Capri suns and cupcakes to make nap time completely POINTLESS.

Matt, Mckenna, and I were leaving shortly after our party to go the Valley for Easter so Matt came to the school to pick Mckenna up for some Daddy time. He knew about my party and brought my kids some candy and cookies; making him their new best friend. I need him to come to my classroom more often. As soon as he walked through the door a silence hit the room unlike any other. I looked at my kids and their chins were on the ground. One little boy was walking across the room and didn't notice him until he was right in front of Matt. He stopped in his tracks and just stared at him. Finally one little boy broke the silence with, "Mr. Matt did you grow?"

For those of you who have not heard, Matt is yet to change a diaper. Yes you heard me correctly, of the approximate 1,000 diaper changes Mckenna has been through in her four months of life not one of them has been done by her father. Well I am proud to say this is no longer true. During Matt and Mckenna's daddy daughter time there was a diaper change included. Now if you ask Matt he did no such thing. Little does he know, I emptied the diaper genie this morning before I went to work. When I came home Matt had Mckenna on the changing table and there was a diaper in the genie. It might have taken four months but better now than never. He is lucky he decided to do it when she was just nursing. Wait until the cereal and baby food kicks in.

Please Sir, May I have some more?

Mckenna had her first taste of cereal today. Once we got the hang of using the spoon and the right consistency she LOVED it. I read the box to make her first bowl. The box actually has a recipe for first time eaters. Apparently first time eaters need a straw because it was so runny I could hardly keep it on the spoon. Between Mckenna's constant moving hands, her tongue going 90 mph, and my unsteady hand, more cereal ended up on her bib than in her mouth. I am convince Mr. Gerber never mixed 1 TBSP of rice cereal with 5 TBSP of breast milk and tried to feed it to a very curious 4 month old. After I thickened it with more cereal the feeding frenzy was on.

I am ready for the pool......now if the weather would warm up!

We are going to the valley this weekend for Easter. Mckenna will be baptised on Easter Sunday in the Methodist Church in our home town. The same church Matt and I were married in. We are hoping the weather will be warm enough for Mckenna to go swimming for the first time. She tried on her gear last night to make sure it fit. She looks so cute. I can't wait to see her in the pool.

It's Been A While!!!

I know, I know it has been FOREVER since I posted anything. Oh how Mckenna has grown! I am adding pictures and info from February and March so just scroll down to read. I will try and stay on top of this. Happy reading!!!

4 Month Well Check

We had our four month well check this morning. Yes, that means more shots. Luckily there were only two this time. Unfortunately, Matt was not there to offer moral support. She cried longer and louder than the first round of shots but I handled it much better this time. Mckenna weighs 15pounds 15 ounces, she is 251/2 inches tall, and her head is 17 1/4 inches around. She is at the top of the charts in everything and her pediatrician is very pleased she is doing so well.

Abigail's 5th Birthday Party

Mckenna and I were invited to a birthday party for a co-workers daughter. It was at a dance studio here in Kyle. There was going to be a dance lesson so all the girls had to wear dance attire. I made this tutu for Mckenna to wear. She looked so cute and loved the tickles from the tulle.

I love my Doll!!!

My mom and Aunt Sally fought over who was going to buy this doll for Mckenna. Aunt Sally won. Mckenna would have loved it all the same if Mims had bought it for her too. This doll goes everywhere with Mckenna. To school, bed, shopping, and around the house. She loves to chew on the pig tails.

Is that a grape?

Yes, that is a grape and Matt is letting Mckenna gum it. He was having grapes for a smack and she is teething so he let her go to town.

Say Cheese!!!!

The highlight of my spring break was when Elisha came over to play with Mckenna and take pictures of her. Despite the fact that she is SUPER pregnant. We had such a blast and as you can see the pictures are AMAZING!!! Did we expect anything less from her?

Spring Break and the RGV Livestock Show

Joey caught a pig in the greased pig scramble. Kymie took this picture. She was so excited that you can see Joey in focus and everyone else is blurry.

Uncle Joey saying HI to Mckenna.

Mckenna watching Uncle Joey show his hog. She loved looking at all the hogs. She didn't know what to think. We had such a great time in the valley during spring break. Time went by so fast, when we were packing to leave on Sunday mom and I realized we hadn't even turned the TV on once while I was there. Between a baby shower, the livestock show, and one GREAT Photo Shoot, time flew.

K-Man's 1st Birthday

Keenan first birthday was on March 10th. Oh what a weekend it was. Mckenna and I were going to go to College Station after school on Friday. Little did I know my plans would be made according to Mckenna. We went to sleep on Thursday night. Mckenna woke up in the wee morning on Friday screaming. She could not be consoled. She was running a temperature and threw up all over me. The poor thing didn't even have her eyes open she just kept crying. We sat in the rocking chair in her room until she finally settled down around 6am. Luckily out pediatrician could fit us in Friday morning. She said it was just a virus. I was making the cake for Keenan's party so we had to go to College Station. We got there in the early evening on Friday and came home on Sunday. I think I spent more time in the kitchen than I got sleep all weekend long. It was worth every second. Keenan LOVED his cake (it was a GIANT cupcake) and my cookies were a huge hit. We thought Keenan would dive right into it but he just wanted to poke his fingers into the dots on the cake. The picture above in of Jennifer Rader and Mckenna. Jenn was such a life saver while I was finishing up the cakes and cookies and Mckenna loved every minute of being held by her.

Go Spurs Go

Much to Matt's delight Mckenna loves basketball. She watches it at home with him, and now she has watched a game live. This was the fist game back at home after the rodeo. The spurs were playing the Mavs. I was cheering for the Spurs and Matt was cheering for the Mavs. I am happy to say, the Spurs killed them. It was great! Mckenna watched the entire game with the exception of a short nap in the 3rd quarter.

What a big girl!

Mckenna is now tall enough to stand in her Baby Einstein bouncy seat. She LOVES it. She is particularly fond of the frog. She stares at him and spins him around. This was a new found independence and she couldn't be happier.

Jenn & Collin's Wedding

Jennifer and Collin where married on February 22. Mckenna did so good. She stayed so quiet through the entire Full Catholic Mass. Just a little note: The dress Mckenna is wearing, I made. I wanted her to wear a black and white dress and I couldn't find one anywhere. So I whipped this one up on my sewing machine. It was so much fun. I took it and had Mckenna's initials monogrammed on the front. She looked so cute.

Valentine's Day = Shots, Flowers, Mimosas and Breakfast

February 13, 2009 was a day of many milestones. It marked what would have been the 60th wedding anniversary of my grandparents. I had a great conversation with my grandmother. She told me of the trials and tribulations of getting married at six months into their relationship and being only 19, how Big Daddy was 11 years older than she, how he was the love of her life and how much she misses him. Their love is one for the books and I am so blessed to have had their examples to instill in my own marriage.

February 13, 2009 also marked the day of Mckenna's first round of SHOTS! Yes I said it. You don't know pain until you see you child being hurt by someone else and you can't do anything to stop it. Luckily, Matt went with me to make sure I didn't slap the nurse for making Mckenna scream. There were three shots in total and the cries were louder with each one. As you can see in the picture she was fine. I am still recovering!!! Before we left school to go to the doctor I was called up to the front desk. As I walked around the corner their was the most beautiful bouquet of roses. I was smiling from ear to ear. I grabbed the card to read it and in Matt's handwriting it said Love, Mckenna. What a great way to start my day.

On Valentine's Day Matt had the day off and made breakfast and mimosas. It was such a nice treat. We lounged around the house and didn't do much. It was FANTASTIC. Jake did get the biggest raw hide bone I have ever seen. It was his 6th birthday after all!

Mckenna's frist trip on an airplane!

Aunt Rebecca turned 21 on January 31 so Mckenna and I flew to Harlingen to celebrate. Aunt Leslie and Cousin Keenan flew with us. We were so lucky that our flights were not full. Mckenna was able to stay in her car seat on the plane. I was worried she would cry when we took off and landed but she slept the entire time. As most of you know Keenan is nine months older that Mckenna and much bigger. When we landed in Houston the four of us stayed in our seats until everyone had left the plane. A women waiting in line to exit looked over at us and smiled and said, "They are so cute! Are they twins?" I turned to Leslie and said, " Yes, Leslie how was carrying Mckenna for an extra nine months after you had Keenan?" While we were home we had the joy of attending three wedding showers for Jennifer and Collin. Mckenna was such a perfect angel at them all and my arms were given a much needed break from holding her.