Saturday, June 19, 2010

Favorites

McKenna has some favorites:

Necklaces -- She crawls around the house collecting them and putting them on. If she finds a cords ... it turns into a necklace. Real Safe...

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star -- She loves this song with all her heart. She can be screaming and this song makes her smile. When I sing a different song to her, she opens and shuts her fist to tell me she wants Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Baby Dolls -- When she finds a baby doll, she hugs it and rocks it and tucks it under her arm to keep crawling around the house.

Telephones -- She loves phones. She loves to "answer" the phone and then hand it to me so I can talk. If she can't find a phone, she will use anything that remotely looks like a phone.

Music -- She loves the DVD player. I put burned CD's in the player. She pushes the open button, takes then out and puts then back in. She pushes play and moves on to other toys. She also has quite the pretty head bang dance.

Cords -- See "necklaces" above.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Birthday Do-over

So, tomorrow is McKenna's new official birthday this year. The miscarriage seriously collided with her special day. Since we couldn't move the miscarriage, we moved the birthday.

So ... tomorrow... Happy Birthday, McKenna! We'll have mickey mouse pancakes for breakfast with fresh berries. Her party will be tomorrow night. (Family and close friends. But basically it's come one, come all. Come join us for ice cream after Family Night.) I'll be baking a way cute cake today that looks like the party invites, and I'll be buying balloons first thing in the morning.

I'm working from home tomorrow and baking brownies on my lunch break for the ice cream sundae bar. (The only kind of bar this house will ever see...) There is a stack of gifts waiting for the birthday girl, and the weather says it is going to be sunny and warm. So, we are ready to celebrate.

Plus, I already took those adorable pics of McKenna on her "real" birthday, so no pressure there!!! Love it. Happy Birthday, Kenna-boo.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Birthday Pics Part 1










Happy Birthday, Baby.

McKenna turned 1 year old today!

(Technically we are not celebrating the big event until next week because I had a miscarriage yesterday and couldn't pull it off the way I think McKenna deserves.)

But I was able to pull a few things together for my little one today after all. We spent some time together as a family this morning, and Kenna opened her first gift. It was a gift bag with two Zhu-Zhu pets inside. The girls played with them in the morning. Kenna went back and worth between loving them and being just scared enough to crawl into my lap to watch them cruise around the house from a safe distance.

I was feeling better after our naps today and decided to try to really enjoy the birthday with my girls. I put together the sand and water table that Kenna got from Grammy and Grandpa John, and then, of course, we needed some ... SAND!

So, I took the girls for Ice Cream and to get some sand. We also stopped to eat very bright pink cupcakes. Quinn and I sang Happy Birthday, and McKenna dug in. I was really happy. I love my kids so much, and it meant a lot on this not so great day to be close to my angels and to show them how much I care.

As for my little 1 year old: Kenna is a new baby everyday.

She is pulling up and stand up next to things, and now that she has figured it all out, she's got guts.

Today she was very passionate about learning to climb up stairs.

She also got a new tooth, and she kept her shoes for the first time. She decided to give shoes a try so she could stand up at the water table outside without ouchy feet.

She used a spoon to eat her cupcake and then practiced eating yogurt with a spoon. I let her make a huge mess at the table, and she was so happy.

And then I put her in the bath with Quinn, and they played together and had a great time.

She ate sand today and liked it. Then she went back for more.

She turned her spider monkey crawl into a much more normal funny looking crawl, and she managed to learn to hold something in one arm while she cruises around. And for the first time today she took her bottle with her and drank along the way.

Tonight she laughed historically when I knelt down by her crib for her good night prayers. She pulled her head up to the bars and laughed out loud over and over again. She thought it was great.

She has her own soul, and she is full of love and life.

She's also like a parrot and can repeat anything I say. She says "Mama" and "Dada," and she'll try to say anything. (Quinn was very careful about not trying out a new word until she knew it would come out right.)

Kenna is her own girl. I adore her. She is cuddly, and when she wants to cuddle, she puts her head all the way over to one side and smashs her head into my chest. She rips out clips and head bands and throws them as far away as possible. She reaches up to play the piano. And once she gets playing with a toy or drawer of junk, she never looks back. She gets in her own world -- a world that I look forward to being a part of forever.

Happy Birthday, baby girl! I love you so much. You really make me feel complete and happy and full of purpose. One year ago today, you brought some crazy love into our home and made us feel like a family. You made me feel real and wonderful. Thanks, baby.