Family Vacations

We just got back from San Diego yesterday and we had so much fun. I was hesitant to leave the perfect 75 degree weather and I should have just stayed there. We practically melted in Yuma where we stopped for lunch, but we somehow made it home in one piece. Now I have a mountain of laundry and a huge pile of dog hair in every corner (thanks Badger). I am happy to be home and I think McKenna was happy to be in her own bed last night too. We took McKenna to the beach while we were there and she loved it. We would ask her where the water was and she would practically run to small waves and let the sand cover her feet. She wasn't too fond of the dry sand but she got accustomed to it after a while. Get this she even fell asleep in Chris' arms. This is a big deal because if you know McKenna she is not big on cuddling or being held for very long. She slept for an hour and Chris and I loved every minute of it. It was so great to be there with all of my side of the family for our reunion. McKenna got to hang out with her second cousin Avery and they played pretty well, mainly taking McKenna's cup away from the other one. This cycle repeated many times. We all went to Sea World and the highlight of the day was McKenna getting to see Telly and Grover from Sesame Street. We got in line for pictures and Chris and I both thought that she would be scared to death. But it was the complete opposite. She loved them. She was giving them hugs and posing for some very cute pictures. She cried when she could no longer hug on them and we distracted her by taking her to the play area. It was so darling. Chris and I also got to go to Houston a couple of weeks ago to see my cousin get married. It was an unofficial family reunion on my dad's side of the family. We had so much fun and McKenna loved being the center of attention. During the rehearsal dinner in the cultural hall she just walked around waving, clapping, and dancing-she was in Heaven. She is getting so big... I just signed her up for the parent tot swim class and it starts on Monday. Hopefully it is not a complete waist of time. Breaking Dawn comes out in a month I am so excited:)

The Host

I just finished reading Stephanie Meyer's new novel The Host and it was so wonderful. If you have not read it yet I highly recommend it. I was a little bit leary at first because I was mad at her for putting this out before Breaking Dawn, but I liked it just as much as the Twilight series. For a science fiction novel it was very well written and kept my interest. The characters were interesting and I loved the ending. So if you are need of a great book to read I would get this one.

Happy Birthday McKenna

We celebrated McKenna's first birthday last week! I cannot believe that she is officially a toddler. She is walking all over the place, I think she may even start running soon, which scares me to death. She had such a great birthday party and she was completley spoiled by everyone. She has more toys than she knows what to do with. She also had her cousin Rylan and her second cousin Avery there too, so she had a lot of fun with them. At first she didn't know what to do with the cake she sort of licked frosting off of her fingers. It didn't take long however to figure out that cake is yummy and she devoured her whole piece. The next couple of days were spent going to my cousin's highschool graduation and spending time with family that came in from out of town. She had to have her shots today so hopefully she won't get to cranky. She has been so personable lately. She waves at everyone, loves to clap, and she is learning how to play peek a boo and blow kisses. She says dada, yum, all done, mama(on rare occasion) and her favorite word to say is du-short for duck which she happens to be obsessed with. Happy Birthday to my little girl!!!!

Check out my Slide Show!

Best Friends

Recently I have been thinking about how lucky McKenna is to have a cousin that lives so close and that is three weeks older than her. I hope that Rylan and McKenna will always be there for one another and always be the best of friends. These are some recent pics of the two playing at our house. They are so cute:) Also, incase you were wondering McKenna is doing a wonderful impersoniation of Popeye. She just came up with it all by herself.

I am finally free:)

McKenna has been weaned for the last two days and she finally drank more than an ounce of formula from her sippy cup. (It's the little things that get me all excited) I love sippy cups. Also, little girl has decided that she wants to give walking a try. She will stand for a minute or two and then take a couple wobbly steps. Still in the developmental phase but I'm sure she will master it soon with flying colors. I can't believe that she is almost 1, this year has gone by so fast. Hope everyone is doing well and have a fantastic day.

The Cutest Baby Chick

So as many of you know my daughter's hair stood up all over the place when she was born. It tamed itself for a while, but now it is standing up again. I refuse to use product in it because I think it is adorable and endearing. Yesterday at the store a clerk came up and touched McKenna's hair and said, "Her hair is so cute, just like a baby chick." Chris and I laughed about this never having made the connection before. What do you think?