Giggles, Grunts, and Gurgles!

Smily and strong at 4 months old!

McKenna turned four months old on Feb. 2nd. I can't believe how quickly time passes.  I am glad that  the school days pass quickly and I can hurry home to play and laugh with my little girl.  She is so much fun.  I was told by a few people before she was born that once she got here it would be hard to remember a time without her, and it is true.  Life seemed so ... Not boring, but just less exciting without her.  When we get home all I want to do is play with her and work with her to get her stronger.

Smiling and playing with mom one night after work

Since about December she has been rolling from front to back, and she is getting better and better at it.  She is now getting to the stage where we are working with her to roll on her own from back to front.  It is insane how strong she is, she loves to stand and is starting to balance, but funny thing, she doesn't really enjoy sitting.  However, there are times we joke she is doing crunches because she will try to sit up on her own from a laying position.  She loves her toes, and her little butterfly bug.  Everything goes right for her mouth now.  She has moved past her growl stage and only growls when she is mad, and has started gurgling in her throat.  It is funny how quickly she changes and adapts her sounds.  She loves to squeal and scream back at her dad, they get into squealing battles with each other.  She is full of smiles for just about anyone who will take the time to talk with her.  She is also getting really good at buzzing her lips, get too close and she will make sure to spray you with her baby spit, which also results in foamy bubbles covering her mouth and chin, it's so cute!

We went to the doctor today for her next round of shots.  :( Don't like those at all, but we know that they are to help her in the long run.  Thankfully my mom could come with us.  McKenna didn't like Dr. Madsen at all this time, as he was poking and prodding her this time, she was screaming at the top of her lungs.  It is sad to see her cry like that.  I think the main reason is only because he scared her, she didn't nap well at all today, and slept horribly last night too. So, she was just exhausted.  She is currently sleeping in my arms right now as I finish this post because she woke up crying and fussing again just a little bit ago.  Poor girl.  However, on a happier note, she is growing! We kind of knew that by the cute chubby rolls she is getting on her legs and by how she is starting to finally grow out of 0-3 month clothes.  She is now 24 1/2 inches long and 12 lbs. 7.25 oz. I thought she would be right close to 12 pounds, so still just a small little girl, but she is right in the middle of the growth chart.  She handled her shots again like a champ, and really only cried because she was woken up from her nap.  Now we have 2 months until we go back for check ups and round three of shots.  On the upside, Dr. Madsen did say that it seems that our area is finally coming out of this bad flu and RSV season, keep fingers cross we can continue keeping the sickness at bay!

I'm also kind of combing this post with our Anniversary post too.  This Friday, the 8th, Daniel and I will have been married for five years.  Looking back at where we were five years ago it is hard to imagine how we got to where we are today.  Lots of hard work, teamwork, sacrificing, and determination.  We have grown so much as a couple these past five years, and especially these last two with the challenge that comes with staring and having your own family.  We thank The Lord every day that we were blessed to be parents to McKenna.  We still have a lot to learn and are not experts by any mean.  It there is one thing I have learned these past five years it is to trust in The Lord and to have faith.  It is only him who knows what lies in store and what we need to be faced with and how it will help us to grow.   I am so glad and so blessed that I have Daniel as my eternal companion to go through this life and eternity with.  I'm wondering if eternity will be long enough with this amazing guy :). There are days that I wonder how he tolerates two stubborn red-heads, (McKenna can already be a little stinker), but I am sure glad he has the patience to do so, and is so helpful with her.

Bring it on!

It seems like time just keeps flying by. I don't know where the past three months went and I find myself back to work now, and missing my sweet little girl.  One good thing is that with my job I have my own brood of 26 nine and ten year olds that keep me pretty busy and entertained, so while I am at school I don't really have time to worry about McKenna.  I have four wonderful women who watch her for me.  Three are in our ward from church and they take one day a week ( this way I figured they wouldn't give up every day all the time ) and she gets to go have some fun bonding time with Grandma Richens on Thursdays and Fridays.  I really appreciate their willingness to tend my daughter, and they are such wonderful moms themselves that I don't worry about her.  I am counting down the months until summer though, 5 months! Next week we have a three day weekend so I get to see McKenna an extra day, yay!

A little update on the last month or so, we had a wonderful quiet Christmas. We spent a little time with both of our families, but Christmas Eve and almost all of Christmas Day was spent with our little family.  We woke up christmas morning at 8 am when McKenna was hungry, I know our Christmases of sleeping in that late are becoming fewer and fewer.  McKenna was spoiled with toys and clothes and she is lovig her new rattles for her hands and her feet.

She is now talking up a storm with her little noises, she buzzes her lips, and coos, and can get to squealing pretty loud. :)  She has also started rolling over from her stomach to her back more consistently, she did it about ten times tonight! She also loves to arch her back and scoot to the top of her blanket, this is especially fun whe trying to put a diaper on, or letting her air to help with the diaper rash she gets on occasion.  One of my most favorite things she has started to do is giggle.  She has such a cute little giggle, and it is contagious! She will laugh so hard that she gives herself the hiccups.  She has also found her toes within the last week and a half and whenever she is laying on her back, and especially when she doesn't have socks on, her feet are up in the air and she has hold of both feet. She is still sucking on that little thumb of hers, but she just loves her hands in general!  We love this little girl and still have to sit back sometimes and ask ourselves, is she really real? Is she really ours? The answer is yes, and we love that!

Daniel and I are both doing well. Daniel will be managing a new job really close to home on Hwy 10. It should take until about May to complete and it will be so nice to have him home at a decent hour each night.  He has started setting time aside to run and lift weights and it is fun to see his excitement wit finally having some time to do things he enjoys each night.  I am back to work as earlier stated, and it is good to be finishing what I started.  I did miss my kids, they just seem to find a special place in your heart, climb right in, and don't let go.  I started my second to last class for my math endorsement this week.  So by the end of the school year I will have my elementary math endorsement and 18 credits towards a masters degree.  We are busy and loving being parents to this sweet little girl.

McKenna got spoiled for Christmas.  Her leggings are almost as long as she is!

Family picture with Santa

We were able to get family pictures taken just a few days before the new year, they turned out wonderful!  Thanks dad!

Such a smily little girl!

McKenna turned 3 months old on January 2nd!

McKenna got to hang out with dad the first week mom was back to work.  She was so helpful, she loves to help with the laundry!

Happy Holidays!

I love my new little model, she is so patient - and so much fun to snap photos of.  Hoping everyone has a wonderful holiday season, remember to slow down in all the hustle and bustle of things and enjoy the season.  This is my favorite time of year, and feel very blessed that we get to start sharing Christmas time with McKenna.

She is starting to really grab with her hands now

Beautiful, deep, baby blues!

Mid-yawn, but always working that tongue!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Two months old and a kitchen remodel!

This beautiful little lady turned two months old on December 2nd!  How crazy is that!  She is so much fun, and I think gets cuter each day, if that is possible!  We went in for her two month checkup and she now weighs 9 lbs. 13 oz.  and is 23 inches long.  I don't think she will have any problem passing up her mom in height!  We also got her shots, she handled them like a champ and was a little sore that night but slept wonderfully that night despite her discomfort. 

Some things about McKenna at two months.  She loves her bath time - she will kick and splash in her little tub, and get the kitchen and mom and dad soaked!  We have to hold a hand over her arms so it doesn't get too bad.  She loves to kick and play.  She will talk your ear off if you let her with her little coos', and she will brighten anyone's day with those sweet smiles!  She loves tummy time and pushes like no other with her feet - I sure hope I don't have a crawler at 5 months, but I'll take whatever she gives me!  She loves to be propped up so she can be sitting up because she likes to look around at everything, which is why she has a bald strip across the back of her head because she is and always has been turning her head from side to side.  Her hair has been coming in so well also the last few weeks, and it is still red!  She is so much fun for her dad and I - we love her so much!

Oh... and she now sucks her thumb! :)  She just loves her fingers more than her bink sometimes, so here is hoping we can break her of the habit! But it is pretty darn cute!

She puts her thumb in and then the rest of her fingers rest on top of her nose.

About two weeks before Thanksgiving Daniel came to me and said he needed a new project to work on in the house, so I told him I wanted to give a fresh coat of paint to the walls in the kitchen and replace the wall paper border to something more fitting to our taste...... note to self, do not ask Daniel to look at something (such as how we would go about changing the light bulbs in the kitchen if they were to ever burn out) because he broke the cover, so we took it down and saw how ugly it was, and the annoying buzzing of the florescent lights, and the fact that one kitchen cabinet came out into the light fixture.....  Needless to say, the simple kitchen project turned into almost a month long project.  It looks amazing!  I am so grateful for a husband who will humor me and do projects like this :)  He put can lights in, climbed up in the attic to wire them and everything, sheetrocked the opening at an angle to make it look nicer and cause less shadows to keep the recess, retextured the ceiling, painted the walls, then I hung wall paper border ( with the aide of my dad so I could learn how), and now we have a beautiful kitchen with quiet lights, with new wall paper that McKenna can splash all over for bathtime!

Our light project, 6 ft florescent bulbs...

Can-lights in!  Success!  As well as the wood framing for the sheetrock.

What they look like in the attic, Daniel had to lay up there on the joists for about 3-4 hours while he wired them,  He is such a good guy to me!

Daniel sanding, plastic put up to try to keep the mess in so McKenna didn't have to leave the house.

We would try to clean up a little bit each night so as to not track dust everywhere in the house... and the kitchen is McKenna's bathtub.

The Finished Product!

I have an amazing husband who humors me, we have so much fun doing stuff like this.  Every project we have seems to turn into something bigger than we initially thought.  I love him though, he worked so hard on it, about a weeks worth of hard work every night after putting in a full day of work.  Love you hun!

A name and a blessing...

McKenna Mae Luke was given a name and a blessing by her father, Daniel on Sunday, November 4th, 2012 

We were surrounded by our close family members, and appreciate them for making the trip to spend time together on McKenna's special day.  Daniel did a wonderful job on the blessing and we enjoyed being able to visit with family.  McKenna did so well at her first sacrament meeting, didn't cry at all during the blessing, and slept most of the meeting.  She is such a good little baby!

Something special about her dress, this is my blessing dress that I was blessed in twenty-four years ago!  I'm so glad that my mom kept it tucked away safely in her cedar chest all these years.  I plan to do the same for McKenna, and who knows, maybe it will be used again when the dress is fourty-eight years old!  She looked so pretty in it!  A lot of dress for such a little lady, but she sure makes it look easy!

The proud parents - we are still on cloud 9 with this little one, not sure when or if we will ever come down!

A Picture is worth a thousand words... or a few at least!

Could not get this to rotate correctly, so sorry!  We celebrated Daniel's 27th birthday on Oct. 28 - just small and simple, but this new dad is a very special guy!  He loves his two girls so much and takes such good care of them!  We hope he had a special day and we sure love him a lot!

This sweet smily little one turn 1 month old on Nov. 2nd - it is crazy how fast time flies!  She is getting to be so strong, whipping her head around left and right, she has successfully rubbed a strip of hair off the back of her head because she is constantly moving it back and forth to see what is going on no matter where she is.  She is getting to be so smily, and wants to be wherever you are right in the mix of things!  She is starting to outgrow the newborn clothes, but is still way too tiny for 0-3 months, so we are in the between stage.  I'm afraid this little girl is going to stay pretty teeny - which isn't a bad thing, I may just have to buy more newborn clothes for her to wear when the others start to get holes :)

Caught this pretty little smile the other day on my phone - she is so much fun, I don't feel the least bit guilty about not going back to work until after Christmas break... and even then am dreading that day!  I'm having so much fun being mom to this sweet angel!

Passing down from generation to generation...

Last week my mother retaught me how to make homemade bread - I've always loved the fresh, warm loaves that she would often make, homemade bread is best warm out of the oven with butter on it!  I have not dared make bread since I have been married because the oven at our apartment would always bake so much hotter - I could bake a cake mix cake in half the allotted time :S  so I didn't want to chance ruining home made bread.  This past Friday my mother came over to entertain McKenna, since there are times she just wants to be loved and given attention :), and I tried my first batch of almost solo bread baking.  

My Mom keeping McKenna happy while I mixed up the dough

I feel very blessed to be raised by a mother who has taken the initiative to teach me homemaking skills such as cooking, baking, cleaning, as well as quilting and other skills that are becoming lost among many of the women who grow up today.  I am also thankful for a wonderful, sweet, grandmother who would also entertain a young granddaughter in the kitchen letting me work alongside her - I still remember vividly baking yummy cinnamon rolls with Grandma Wilson and helping her to cut them with the string.

Bread before it went in the oven, cross your fingers for no splits or bubbles!

Surprisingly, the bread turned out great, I was surprised - and it made my house smell so yummy!  It felt so good to be self sufficient like this and to see the five big loaves and two small ones sitting on the counter.  What was even better was the hot bread we had for lunch that day!  Thank you mom for being willing to teach me skills like this - I am excited to teach my little girl how to bake bread and many other things as well.

The yummy outcome of a mornings hard work!  Only one split, the one we cut into for lunch!

Daniel had a fun autumn photo idea so we gave it a try this weekend and I thought I would share, I think the pictures turned out darling!  This little red head does all colors!  :)  We are having so much fun - and she is so patient with us, and our crazy ideas!

This little sweetheart did so well, after we put her to sleep :)