- the pointe, lake calhoun, & the park -

Last Saturday we went to an annual neighborhood garage sale near our house. The area is called The Pointe and has 40+ homes that participate in this big sale, which is always the weekend after Mother's Day. We've been before, and it's pretty fun to walk around and take it all in. There are even homes that sell snacks along the way, including BBQ hot dogs and burgers, mini donuts, etc. The day was unusually chilly for mid-May, with high winds and temps in the 40s. So we bundled up to walk around outside, including Mckenna. We found some nice toys and good deals for the summer - a swim/sun hat, a couple of swim diapers, and some cute blue sunglasses. Mckenna didn't seem to love them at first, but didn't really try to take them off either. Such a cool dude! :)



Back home, and time to eat - more carrots!


Look at those two little bottom teeth - so cute!


The next day was much nicer, sunny and warm. We drove to the Lake Calhoun area, had lunch outside, and then walked around the lake. Here is Nemo and Mckenna ready to leave the house for the lake. We thought it was cute that Nemo hopped in the car seat and Mckenna was hanging on to her leash!


And it was even warmer on Monday! We usually try to get outside and walk every day that it's nice, so we decided that we would take Mckenna to the park by our house. She has been once with our neighbors, Tim, Nicole, and their 9-month old son Carter, but we've never taken her before. She loved the swing! Matt and I also climbed around a bit with her on the playground. We had a fun first park visit as a family!






















And Nemo waited patiently for us while we played. She wasn't complaining though - she got a lot of attention and love from other kids at the park. :)

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day, a day I had been waiting for for a long, long time. To now finally be a mother, with the most precious of little girls at my side, is amazing and very satisfying. It's humbling to have a 6-month old be able to teach you new things about unconditional love, joy, happiness, a fresh perspective on life, and so much more... all without words. Just plain sweetness - that happy, toothy, drooly smile, those big, beautiful blue eyes that look at you with utter love, her big, kissable cheecks. Can you tell I'm in love? So this was easily one of the most fulfilling, happy days of my life thus far. My first Mother's Day was very meaningful to me.

I got to do everything I wanted to do on Mother's Day, and Matt treated me like a queen, including making me breakfast - lucky me! In the morning we went to church, after that we went to brunch with my family (at the same hotel that we had our wedding reception at - fun), then we went home and took a great nap, and took a nice walk outside. It was a wonderful day!

Mckenna was definitely loving being with all of her Person cousins. Here she is admiring Dan and Abby's 2 1/2 week old little girl, Ayla. I know these two have a lot of fun together in their future!


Ayla is so little, cute, and sweet!


Jacob and Mckenna were having a ball together. Jacob was making Mckenna laugh so hard, just look at her face! I love that there are so many cousins to play with and have fun with... so much to look forward to over the years!


Dad, Tommy, Mckenna and Jacob.


Jessica and Sarah. Brad told me that the other day Sarah said to him, "Let's go pick up Mckenna and Ayla and go shopping!" Isn't that cute? With all of those boys in the house, I'm sure Sarah will definitely enjoy all of her play times with her girl cousins. :)


Little Joel - I think he was sleeping almost the entire brunch. Here he is one day shy of one week old. Little peanut!


Two new mommies with their two cute little babes. Again, Mckenna really likes her cousins! :)


I love these girls!


Happy new parents on our first Mother's Day!






When we got home, we changed Mckenna out of her dress and she took a nice, long nap. After waking up refreshed and happy (as always!), she was ready to play with her in-house fluffy sister, Nemo. You can't tell from the picture, but Mckenna's onesie says "I love my mommy" - good choice Mckenna! :)


Daddy and daughters...


Nemo is really a good sport with all of Mckenna's playfulness with her.


Time for our walk. My Aunt Barb knit this cute hat for Mckenna, and it matches a beautiful knit sweater dress that she will wear in the fall. Could she be any cuter?




Happy and tired at the end of a long and fun day. Thank you God for the awesome blessing of being a mommy!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day - we love you!

Love, Julie, Matt, Mckenna, & Nemo

(Make sure your speakers are turned on...)

Baby Shower #5

Today after school our Minnehaha friends at north campus (the high school, grades 9-12) had a baby shower for us and the other teachers that have had a baby in the past year or so. There were 5 cuties that were celebrated - Mckenna, Josiah, Ellorie, Kate, and Keira. Here are some pictures from the shower. Mckenna has been having a rough few days - we think she is cutting some top teeth, so you can see in the pictures that she looks kind of tired and dazed... that's how she seems to be handling her teething periods so far - just kind of quiet and dazed, not really too cranky or crying. I'm happy to say that she is sound asleep at the moment, thank goodness! :)

Cute balloon cakes for all the babes!




This is Baby Lucy and her mom, Sarah. I work with Sarah's husband, David, and they have two boys also. The shower was actually celebrating Lucy's older brother Josiah. MA gives showers for the first baby born to a teacher while they are working at MA. Even though Lucy is younger than Josiah, her brother was the first to be born after David starting teaching at Minnehaha, so he was the guest of honor. Lucy is 4 months old and looks pretty tiny next to Mckenna, who is 6 1/2 months old. I still can't believe how fast they grow from week to week, month to month! As you can see, Mckenna is starting to fade...


Here is our good friend and colleague, Liz. I think Liz is one of Mckenna's #1 fans! Here Mckenna is getting more tired...


...and now definitely overdue for a nap. This is our friend and one of MA's Spanish teachers, Julianna. She and her husband Marvin are expecting a baby girl in August, their first child. Notice the top front of Mckenna's dress is darker than the rest - that is drool! She is quite the drooler these days.


And one last smile for the camera before leaving to go home for the evening. If you look really closely you can get a glimpse of Mckenna's two tiny bottom teeth - so cute!


A nice nap will do wonders! Mckenna slept in the car on the way home, woke up as we drove into the garage, and was all ready for a walk around the neighborhood. Again, look closely to see those two small pearly whites! :)

* * * Joel Andrew Person * * *

Joel Andrew Person
Born Monday, May 4, 2009 at 3:55 pm
7 lbs * 8 oz, 21 inches long

Congratulations, Jessica, Brad, Jacob, Tommy, and Sarah!