-carrots and funny games-

Today I made some carrots for Mckenna to eat. It was so easy! Peel some organic carrots, steam, and puree in a blender. I tried them, and they were actually pretty good. She seemed to really enjoy the new flavor... getting excited when she saw the spoon coming up to her mouth. What a cutie!







This video is so cute. Mckenna has really been into imitating lately... make sure your speakers are turned up!

Kristi's Birthday

Kristi turned 26 while we were in Chicago last weekend, so Matt and I took her out for dinner on Friday since we missed the family party. Happy birthday, Kris - we love you!





Matt is behind the camera, and for some reason he always cracks Kristi and I up every time we're together. I think he likes the easy laughs audience! :)

Mckenna's First Cereal

A few weeks ago we gave Mckenna her first baby rice cereal! It was fun to see her seem to get excited for something new, and she actually did a pretty good job with it for her first time. She ate and swallowed most of it, and not too much came back out of her mouth. She's been doing great with the cereal since this first introduction! Next is carrots and pears. :) Here are some pictures of this fun milestone.

"Give it to me - I'm ready!"




Here it comes...


...hmmmm, not too sure...


...I think I like it!

Easter and Mckenna's 6-month check-up!

Hi again! We've been pretty behind on posting over the past several weeks, so I'm hopefully going to get a few postings on here in the next few days... stay tuned.

Mckenna's first Easter was a lot of fun. We of course went to church in the morning and enjoyed the annual Easter breakfast served by the fabulous youth ministry kids. Matt and I also helped out with music for the morning, and we joined in on the Hallelujah Chorus with the choir at the end of the service, a wonderful Easter tradition at Bloomington Covenant. So the morning was busy! Then we came home and got ready to have the Person family over for an Easter meal. Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures from our gathering, but we had a great time. Here are a few.

My parents hid small "baskets" of candy around our yard for Jacob, Tommy, and Sarah to find, including one for Mckenna. She of course didn't get to eat the candy inside (although I'm sure she would've tried if we let her!), but it was fun to see her holding it. Here she is with someone that I'm convinced is one of her favorite people in the world, her Grandpa Bob. :)


We were all pretty tired after a long and fun Easter Sunday. Kristi was resting on the couch, and Mckenna and Nemo decided to join her. Do you see part of Nemo in the picture? She blends in with the blanket... poor Nemo doesn't get much blog time anymore! But she still is alive and well, I promise. And for those of you wondering if Mckenna smiles all the time, the answer is yep, pretty much!


We had Easter Monday off from school, so we also scheduled Mckenna's 6-month baby checkup for that day. Of course I had to take a lot of pictures at the doctor. :)

Getting ready to be weighed...


She has certainly grown a lot in just 6 months! At birth she was 7'7 lbs. and 20.5 inches long, and now at 6 months she is 17'1 and 26 inches long - it's amazing how fast they grow! She is a very healthy and happy little girl.












Later that day we took all took a walk. It is so nice to get outside after the long, cold winter. Easter Monday was actually pretty chilly, so Mckenna was all bundled up. My aunt Barb knit Mckenna this hat (and matching booties) for her when she was born, so it's fun to have her wear it - and cute too! She has really drooly days, and this was one of them. So we try to keep a bib on her a lot of the time, otherwise she drools through her clothes and her front is soaking wet... not too comfortable. This is Matt's favorite bib - Daddy's little Bears fan!


Friends of ours gave Mckenna a "Baby's First Easter" outfit (see the top picture on this posting) and it included pants with fuzzy bunnies for feet - so cute! I thought it was okay if she wore it still on Easter Monday (Mckenna = ever the fashionista), so here she is sporting the bunny feet on our walk. :)

Mckenna's first job!

A few weeks ago Mckenna had her first job! She was a baby model for Gopher Sport, which has a division that offers early childhood developmental and learning products called Play with a Purpose (pwaponline.com). She was at a catalog shoot and shot photos for some nursery type furniture - a rocking chair and some mirrors that would go on the wall in a baby room or nursery school. I was in Chicago at a business education conference when it happened, but Matt had the day off from school for Good Friday, so he and my dad took her. Here are some picture from the fun day! When the catalog comes out later this summer I will post the link to look at the pictures online.

This shot was selling the rocking chair. The woman is a model that is playing Mckenna's teacher. Matt couldn't take any pictures during the actual shoot, but during the transition time Matt took this picture while Mckenna chewed on her teething ring. By the way, two days before this day Mckenna got her first two teeth - bottom middle, they are so little and cute! :)


Matt and Mckenna inside the front door of the Gopher Sport building - so smiley!


And back at home - still smiling! Matt said that Mckenna was a "model model" - happy and smiley the entire time they were there. That's our girl!

IT'S A GIRL!

Ayla Ray Person was born to Abby and Dan Wednesday morning, April 22nd, at 8:03 am at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. She weighs 7'1 and is 19 inches long. Everyone is doing well. Here are some first glimpses of sweet little Ayla... enjoy! Congratulations to the new mommy and daddy! :)







The happy new parents with their sweetie!


Must hug my new cousin! :)


It's hard to believe that Mckenna was that small just 6 months ago!


A proud Uncle Matt.


Mckenna is deep in thought and happiness after meeting her new friend. "I love my new cousin!"


A proud Aunt Kristi with another new niece to love!


I love this picture so much - look at Ayla looking at Abby... getting to know her mommy's loving face during her first few hours of life. So sweet and special!


And then there were three!

A baby shower for Jessica and Joel

On Sunday, April 5th we went to a fun baby shower for Jessica. The shower was to celebrate Person baby number five, Joel Andrew, and was hosted by a family friend named Kendra. At the time of the shower Jessica was 34 weeks along and looking great! Here are a few pictures from our afternoon together.

Love this cake! Who knew that a caterpillar cake could turn out this perfect and cute? :)


Sarah (age 2 1/2 and Person baby number 4) enjoyed helping Jessica open the gifts. Isn't she cute? Check out those dimples!




Mckenna and I posing with the pregnant ladies. At the shower Abby was 28 weeks along, and Jessica 24 weeks. Abby's due date is April 17th - just a few days away! And it's funny to see Mckenna in front of my belly and know that she was inside there just 6 short months ago! :) Mckenna was pretty tired at the shower, she has that glazed over baby look...


The cute, pregnant mommies.


Kristi and I were changing Mckenna on the bed in the host's bedroom... smiling as always!

Janna and Rob's Wedding

Happy Easter to all!

We've been a bit behind on updating the blog - sorry about that! I have been sick for several weeks, and this past week I was in Chicago at a business education conference, so I just haven't had a lot of extra time or energy to devote to the blog as of late.

On Saturday, March 28th my good friend Janna (from junior high, high school, college and roomie, etc.) and her now new hubby Rob got married! It was such a beautiful ceremony, and a really fun reception. The ceremony was at Roseville Covenant Church, and the reception was at the Wabasha Caves in downtown St. Paul - a very cool venue. Here are some pictures from the happy day!





Janna looked absolutely GORGEOUS - she was definitely a glowing and happy bride, and her dress was breathtakingly beautiful. And Robby was of course very handsome as the upbeat and (I thought) somewhat giddy groom. Who wouldn't be giddy and so happy marrying fabulous Janna? :)






This picture doesn't do the Wabasha Street Caves justice, but there were several "rooms" like this that wove around the whole reception site. And I don't think you can tell from this picture, but Janna's moms side of the family, the Ahlbergs, are all standing up on the stage (way in the back of the picture) singing the prayer before dinner was served. Janna's mom has been a church choir director and musician for most, if not all, of her life, so I expected something fun like this to happen.


The new Mrs. and Mr. - could they look any happier? I don't think so...


Mckenna was of course being her very cute self at the wedding and reception, and I had to get a picture of her with Janna and Robby... cute couple + cute baby = cute picture. :)


Kelly Johnson and I. Kelly's husband JJ was working that weekend, and their son Caleb was home with a sitter. We missed them, but it was so fun to see Kelly. I miss seeing them since they have moved on from Bloomington Covenant, and I really hope we can stay in touch over the years to come.


Mmmmmm... many, many different kinds of gourmet cupcakes - almost too pretty to eat! The problem was which one to choose. I thought the cupcake tables were a great way to do the dessert - very creative and fun, just like Janna and Rob.


This is Katrina and Matt Mouser's daughter, Ahlea. She is just too sweet for words, really. Matt, Mckenna and I sat with the Mouser's at dinner, and I found myself staring in awe at Ahlea. She was literally singing and smiling the entire reception. She doesn't know me well at all, yet she still came up to me several times and talked to me, sang me a song, and more. You can tell from this picture what a sweet and happy girl she is... reverently admiring her cupcake - adorable!


The parents to be - Dan and Abby. Abby is due in just a week, so we are all eagerly anticipating "Dabby" - my name for their baby during this pregnancy, not knowing the sex or actual name. Abby was an usher in the wedding, and did a great job on her feet for being so pregnant!


Janine, Michael, and Dax Connor. Janine is yet another wonderful roommate from Bethel, and the three came all the way from Denver to be in Minnesota for Janna and Robby's wedding day. Janine and Dax came several days before Michael did, and Janine, Dax and I planned to hang out one day, but all three of us were sick, so it didn't work out - no fun.


Janine, Mckenna, and one of her future boyfriends, Dax. As you can see, Mckenna just can't take her eyes off of the oh-so-cute Dax, and I don't blame her! :)


The Bethel roomies, together again - Janine, Abby, Janna, Ang, Katrina, and Julie. Janna, thanks not only for having us with you on your special day, but also for giving us a reason to get together again. The times that we all get to hang out are too few and far between.


Yet another very cool part of the reception was Janna and Robby's version of the guest book. They had a photo booth and you took a picture, cut one, put it in the book, and signed next to your picture. Our snapshots are small and hard to see in this picture, but it was the end of Mckenna's night (Kristi came to pick her up and bring her home to bed), and her eyes were really drooping. And there were some fun props next to the photo booth - feather boas, hats, etc. - so Mckenna wore a feather boa in the picture. So cute! :)




And what wedding reception and fun night out with Janna would be complete without a major dance party? The dance was great - we closed the place down. Ah, to hang out with the college roomies again - so much fun!


Last picture, and a pretty cute story. It was later into the dance, and I was sitting on the stage by the dance floor taking a break. All of the sudden Janna's adorable nephew Tor (in his PJs) came up to me, sat down, and put his head on my shoulder and cuddled up to me, really without even looking at me. Did I mention that Tor has never met me in his life? I don't know if he maybe thought I was someone else or what, but it was cute. After about 5 minutes he got up and walked away, just as quietly as he came. Janna's brother Dave was the officiant at the wedding, and Dave's wife Karin was her personal attendant, and Tor is one of their sons. What a sweetie!