Squealing, Super Bowl, & New Toys!

Mckenna will be 4 months old (16 weeks) tomorrow - Thursday, February 5th! Here are some fun pictures from the last week or so, 15 weeks old. Enjoy!

This is a clip of Mckenna when we were changing her one night, right before bedtime. She is really chatty right now - squealing, gurgling, cooing, and laughing. She was tired when we took this, and she is usually a bit more vocal than this. But it gives you an idea of her noises.


Mckenna likes this little green bouncy chair. She sits in it and plays with toys she can hold, watches Nemo and her antics, plays with us, etc.




These next several pictures were taken last Wednesday, which was JJ, Kelly, and Caleb's last night at BCC. These pictures were taken during youth group time. We had cake, sang songs, and shared memories from the past 5 years that they've been at BCC. After many years volunteering with the youth group, Matt and I have taken a break this year to focus on Mckenna. But we came back for this special night of goodbyes. As you'll see below, Mckenna even got a goodbye hug from JJ and Kelly's son, Caleb - so cute. Thanks for everything - we'll miss you guys!














One of my students in business class at MA won an award for an essay he wrote for class on investing. Here is a picture of us at an awards luncheon last week at the Carlson School of Management, on the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota.


We've tried out a few new toys with Mckenna in the past week. First, we tried the Johnny Jump Up. I'm not sure if she's quite ready for this yet, but it was fun to see her in it anyway. I don't think she really knew what to make of it! I'm sure this is something she will enjoy over the next few months.


Super Bowl Sunday - we didn't do anything too exciting. Matt went ice fishing over the weekend, so he had just gotten home and was tired from the trip. So my parents and sister were over for the big game. This bouncy activity jumper toy (not sure what exactly to call it) has been in the box since we got it for a shower before Mckenna was born, but we decided to get it out and put it together. It says 4+ months on the box - I never could picture little her playing in it, but now she's old enough! Kristi set it up for us (thanks, Kris!) and Mckenna loves it. There are quite a few pictures of her playing in it below, but I can't help it - it has been the new excitement for the week! :)


We had some of the always healthy Super Bowl food favorites - spinach and artichoke dip, mozzarella sticks, celery sticks, and BBQ meatballs - yum! Nemo of course was trying to get some of the good stuff... I don't think so Nemo.


Aren't those cheeks just the cutest?






Mckenna is always keeping an eye on Nemo, even if Nemo isn't doing anything! I guess Mckenna just wants to make sure she is still there, ready to hang out at a moments notice. I think it's cute how Mckenna is looking at Nemo... forever friends! :)

More fun pictures!

These pictures are from the past week and a half or so. Mckenna is 13-14 weeks in these pics... it's hard to believe that she is already 15 weeks old this week! She is "talking" a lot - making a lot of squeals and gurgles, and also smiling a bunch - SO cute!

On Monday, January 19th, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Janna, Abby, Mckenna and I met up for lunch at Longfellow Grill in Minneapolis. It was nice to have the day off and to catch up with good friends. Our few short hours together flew by. And Janna and Mckenna got to meet for the first time - they were having fun together! :)

Janna's getting married in March, so she was updating Abby and I on all of her and Robby's fun wedding plans. I'm going over to Janna's on Friday night to help her address wedding invitations, along with two of her bridesmaids, Mary Kate and Rachel. Janna is so fun and creative, and I'm excited to see the cool invites they chose and to help them in that way. I'll have to take some pictures on Friday and post them next week...








These next pictures were taken one night last week. Cute and smiley, as (almost) always. Matt read her some stories and she got a shower - it's funny how much she loves those!








Nemo had a puppy friend to play with last weekend, which was great for her since she hasn't been getting quite as much play time with us lately. (Hmmm, I wonder why?) Jennifer Marcotte, a fellow teacher and friend from Minnehaha, and her family went out of town Saturday night. They left their male Bishon named Mikko with us, and she and Nemo had a ball together and played the whole time. Jennifer and I traded notes earlier this week, and both Mikko and Nemo were sleeping and taking it easy after they parted ways - they were tired after their busy time of playing. :)




Last Sunday was both a sad and happy day for us as our church said goodbye to our good friends Jeromy (JJ), Kelly, and Caleb Johnson. JJ has been the Youth Director at Bloomington Covenant for close to five years, and they recently accepted a call to move to Long Prairie, MN where JJ will work as the Program Director at Lake Beauty Bible Camp. This is sad for Matt and I as we have grown to be good friends with Kelly and JJ over the years, and sad for our church to be losing them. But at the same time we're really happy for them to be moving on to such a perfect position and situation that fits them so well.

Matt and I got to know Kelly many years ago, singing together in the Bethel Choir. And we both met JJ while working at Covenant Pines, also where Kelly and JJ met. Helping with the youth ministry at BCC over the years, we worked closely with them. They've done so much for the youth group at Bloomington Covenant, as well as helping to bring more praise and worship music into our Sunday services and Wednesday night programs. Thanks JJ, Kelly, and Caleb for all you've done at BCC, and for being good friends to us over the years - we'll miss you! But we know that you have a fun and exciting journey ahead of you at Lake Beauty. We definitely want to come and visit you sometime! :)

After the morning service on Sunday at church there was a reception to say goodbye to JJ, Kelly, and Caleb. Then we went over to a couple's house from our 20s and 30s small group for lunch. Here are some pictures from our Sunday. Unfortunately Matt didn't make it into any of these pictures because he was home in bed with the flu over the weekend. But he's feeling much better now.

JJ, Caleb, and Kelly

One of our high school youth group friends, Natalie. Natalie seemed to really enjoy holding sweet, peaceful Mckenna.

Kelly and Mckenna

Mckenna and Jess, a friend from our small group.

Caleb jumping on a cool trampoline toy that was at the house we had lunch at. Doesn't it look fun?

Good friends - Julie and Kelly.

At the end of a long morning and afternoon, Mckenna was tired and ready to go home.

Slideshow of newborn Mckenna

I got an email a few days ago from First Day Photo (my brother Brad and his wife Jessica's company) that this slideshow link is going to expire soon, so I wanted to share it one more time. I know I put the link in a posting a few months ago, but it is so special to Matt and I that we thought it was worth posting again. These pictures were taken by my fabulous and very talented sister-in-law, Jessica. I remember that Mckenna wasn't in the best mood when Jessica was there, but she still seemed to get some pretty precious shots regardless of her mood. The pics were taken a few days after Mckenna was born, and we'll cherish them forever. Make sure to have your speakers on when you view this - it is set to music. If you'd like to contact First Day Photo, their website is linked to our blog page. Also, feel free to leave comments if you feel so lead... I cry every time I look at these, I hope you like them too!

For some reason the "insert link" option isn't working for me, so you'll have to copy and paste this link into your browser:

http://www.firstdayphotogalleries.com/slideshows/102308aMckenna/index.html

Covenant Pines - BCC Winter Retreat 2009

This weekend we went to Covenant Pines Bible Camp in McGregor, MN, about three hours north of the Twin Cities. We once again didn't want to miss our Bloomington Covenant Church's annual winter retreat at CPBC - it is one of our favorite weekends of the year. We had so much fun! I grew up going to camp with my family and as a camper since I was a little girl, Matt and I worked there on staff one summer during college, and now we get to bring our daughter to camp too. Mckenna did great - she pretty much stayed on her eating/sleeping schedule, enjoyed everything that was going on, and of course, got a lot of attention from all of our church friends. Here are some pictures from our weekend.



This picture was taken literally minutes after we got to camp on Friday evening. I wanted to get a picture of Mckenna right away when we arrived - her first few moments at Covenant Pines. She will be spending a lot of time here in the future, I'm sure. As you can see, she's happy to be at camp!

Such a big girl, sitting up (with some help!)

All bundled up and ready to go outside!


Hanging out with church friends in Oak Ridge Dining Hall.



A family photo op by the nice, warm fire.

"Aunt Kristi can't stop giving me kisses!"





Snuggling with my friend, Dawn Anderson.


This was the second year for the annual ping pong tournament. Matt is really good, I'm really not... but we all play for fun. :)




"Daddy, time to wake up - we have a lot of fun things to do today!"



Before we left to go home on Sunday, we took a walk around the camp. Here is Mckenna all ready (and fast asleep) to go on our walk.

13 weeks and rolling over!

Mckenna is 13 weeks old today! Today she rolled over (twice) for the first time, from her tummy to her back. My dad was with her when she did it, lucky guy. We will have to get that on video sometime soon. Here are a few pictures from the past week. I can't believe she is already 3 months old - time has really gone by fast!

This weekend we're going to Covenant Pines for the Bloomington Covenant annual winter retreat, so I'm guessing that we will have some really cute pictures to share next week of Mckenna's first camp experience!

P.S. Yes, it's EXTREMELY COLD here (-20 with a -35 wind chill this morning), and yes, we're keeping warm. :)

Mckenna and I met my friend Jamie for coffee last week. Jamie is due with her third little boy in a few short weeks. I think she would say that she's ready for him to come now any day!

13 weeks today! Playing, but kind of sleepy...

Peace, Love, and Rock & Roll! We think her big, lovable baby cheeks and belly are so cute. You've gotta agree with the peace and love message when you see this little sweetie...