February 2010

Here are a few pictures from the beginning of February at Mckenna's 16-month check-up at the pediatrician. Matt had to work during the appointment, but my mom was able to come with Mckenna and I, which was helpful. It is always fun to see her sit in this little car seat looking scale, but she's definitely not a baby anymore - she's growing so fast!


Even though these are old numbers now, here are Mckenna's 16-month stats:
weight: 24 lbs, 15 oz. (76th percentile), height: 31.5 inches (75%), head circumference: 18.8 inches (90%) She's a healthy girl!


Clothes back on, ready to go.


That evening, February 2nd, we went to the hospital to see Carter's new baby sister! Her name is Reagan Makall (and no, Carter and Reagan are not political names on purpose - Nicole and Tim just liked the names), 7 lbs. 11 oz., 20.5 inches long. It was fun to go back to Fairview Southdale and to walk in and tell Mckenna that this is where she was born. I guess she'll be back here again around her 2-year birthday to welcome a new sister or brother! :)


This day there was a Valetine's party at Mckenna's daycare. I tried to get a good picture of her cute Valentine's outfit before we left the house that morning, but it was easier said than done. Check out those cute heart tights!


Cuties! I've said this before, but I love that they celebrate holidays at daycare. Everyone brought everyone else valentine cards, including Mckenna, and had some treats. Fun!


These next three pictures make me laugh. Mckenna and her reading books is cute as always, but keep your eye on the kind of book she is reading (one of her favorites, called "Dogs"), and watch Nemo closely. Right now she is just lazily hanging out with her favorite friend, Mckenna...


"Hey, I think Mckenna's trying to read to me... maybe I should pay attention!"


"I'm really into this dog book!" :)


Cute bath picture. She had RSV and a really runny, raw nose, poor girl. But we can almost always get a smile from her at bathtime.


Shopping at the Mall of America. Of course we had to stop and play with the hair accessories at Nordstroms. :)


Craig and Karen stopped by for a short visit after being at the cabin in Wisconsin and volunteering at the Birkebeiner. It was cold but a nice sunny day, so we took a walk in the neighborhood. Mckenna seems to like riding in her wagon.


All bundled up! Can you tell that these two proud grandparents love their little sweetie?

It was nice to be able to see Karen and Craig for a few days in February, and also hang out in Chicago and see the Johnsons in March over our spring break. Fun pictures of that week coming up in the next post!

January 2010

Well, I just looked at all of our pictures that we've loaded onto the camera since our last big post from Christmas break 2009. There are many of them going back to January, and now it's past mid-April already. I have a lot of catching up to do!

Many of you have heard the exciting news that we are expecting baby number two! The baby is due October 13th, and now that I am officially into the second trimester, overall I am feeling quite a bit better. The first trimester was really rough, with me being sick everyday, almost all day long. Luckily the typical "morning sickness" for me was mostly afternoon to evening sickness, so I could generally get through my work day okay, and just about when it was time to for me to get in my car for the drive home, I would start feeling yucky. Then I would go home, lay on the couch in a crumpled mess, while Matt kept life going while being a wonderful husband and father. All of this coupled with a massively bad sinus infection that lasted about a month (who knew it was more difficult for pregnant woman to shake infections? I didn't!) means that I've been basically dead to the world for the past few months.

This leads me to the blog... generally speaking I try to blog during the evening hours, after dinner, and after Mckenna goes to bed. So, me being out of it during the past several months, especially during the evenings, equals me not feeling motivated to post or update the blog for many moons. Not a great excuse, but it is what it is. Now that I'm feeling a bit better, I'd like to get back to keeping this thing up! And back to trying to capture the fun pictures and stories of our life. So please bear with me, we're going back a few months in order to get up to speed!

One of the first things we did in mid-January, after we had gone back to school after our Christmas break, was go to Covenant Pines for the annual Bloomington Covenant all-church retreat. This is what Nemo does whenever we pack up to go anywhere... "Please, don't leave me!" :)


We love camp! For this retreat we usually stay in the main retreat center with other church friends. There is always a nice sign welcoming us to our room when we get up there.


Right outside the door of our room. We pulled Mckenna around in this pink sled all weekend, and she had a lot of fun!


Kristi, a wrapped up Mckenna and I on a "hay ride." It was cold! At Covenant Pines in the winter, a hay ride means no hay, sitting on the cold wood trailer, but driving around camp and seeing everything covered in snow and everyone participating in their outdoor activities. Still fun... but fun Northern Minnesota style! :)


Kristi and cutie pie in her sled. She really seemed to like being pulled around in her pink chariot. :)


Playing in the gym with Daddy. Lacrosse anyone?


Some of the kids playing on the stage in the dining hall. Many of the kids loved to play with Mckenna. I think she liked it sometimes, but got overwhelmed other times - like in this picture.


Back home! Mckenna has a thing for hats. Any hat will do, even if it's not her own. This day she went in our front coat closet while I was working in the kitchen, strategically picked out one of Matt's Bears hats (she had to dig down in the hat bin to find this one), and decided that she was going to wear it around the house for much of the rest of the day. Cute!


Isn't that such a sweet face?


Mckenna still has a thing for books. She will pick out some books and sit down in her little chair in her bedroom and "read" - it is so cute! It's so fun to watch her study books and really enjoy them. I hope this carries on for her later in life!


I also love her little feet up on the ottoman. Make yourself at home! :)




This night she decided to take out all of our DVDs from the entertainment center, one by one, very methodically, and stack them in the just emptied garbage. It was pretty funny, so I had to snap some pictures.


"Here's one of your Yoga DVDs!"


As I said above, Mckenna loves hats. This particular hat has showed up on the blog before. My Aunt Barb knit the hat and some matching baby booties for Mckenna when she was born. I love that the hat still fits her (despite her large noggin!) because it is so stretchy. So Mckenna wanted to wear her hat while playing this day, and then when I went to take it off when it was time for lunch, she didn't like that idea. So I just thought it was better to let her wear it and keep the peace. Pick and choose your battles, right?


Like most toddlers her age, she likes to play peekaboo. What a sweetie...





Where's Mckenna?


Peekaboo!


Still wearing the hat after lunch, and more playing. My parents gave her this little trike for Christmas that she really likes. At first she wasn't sure what to do with it, but since getting it in December has learned how to scoot herself along with her legs.


That's it for January. Stay tuned for February pics... I'm determined to get this thing updated! :)

Notice anything new? :)

There is a new thing we added to our blog page... can you find it? :)

P.S. I PROMISE to update this blog soon. I know, I'm so behind!

Bear of My Heart

As you may remember reading in previous posts, Mckenna LOVES books! She loves "reading" them and being read to, carefully choosing the books to read from her bookcase, sitting in her little Mckenna-sized easy chair with them, turning pages, touching the pictures, etc. Maybe we have a bookworm on our hands, who knows? :)

So, a natural gift for Mckenna is a new book - it's something you know she'll love. For Valentine's Day, Matt and I gave her a new book called "Bear of My Heart" - written by Joanne Ryder, illustrated by Margie Moore. It is a simple little childrens book; short and sweet, with beautiful illustrations (a cute baby bear with its mom or dad together in different nature scenes on each page) and an even more special and touching message. Mckenna has only had this book for a few days now, but we have read it several times. It is so awesome to cuddle with her and read it to her and watch her, mesmerized by the sweet story and lovely images. So, if you have a young child that likes books, I recommend Bear of My Heart - it is a loving winner, sure to be a favorite. Here are the sweet and touching words, which I will admit, have choked me up a few times since we've gotten it. (Call me cheesy if you will, but I just love her so much - I can't help it!) Enjoy.

There are so many bears in the world, dear,
but there's no other one that will do.

You are the bear of my heart, dear,
and I am the one who loves you.

I have so many stories to tell you.
I know wonderful places to see.

And because we can see them together,
they'll be nicer for you and for me.

Let's race in the sun and be happy.
Let's splash in the stream and drip dry.

Let's roll down a hill and be silly.
Let's lie and watch clouds drifting by.

Let's sit nose to nose and share secrets.
Let's wish on a star, eyes shut tight.

Let's whisper our dreams in the darkness.
Let's snuggle together at night.

If you need me, I'll be there beside you.
If you're lonely, I'll hug you awhile.

If you're lost, I will be there to guide you.
If you're sad, I won't quit till you smile.

Paw in paw, we will greet every morning.
Paw in paw, we will meet every day.

You are the bear of my heart, dear,
and nothing can take that away.

No matter how big you may grow, dear,
or whether we're near or apart.

I will love you forever and ever,
for YOU are the bear of my heart.

*Isn't that beautiful? I think so... :)

100th post! -Christmas break 2009-

I'm finally back to post again - for the 100th time! :) We had a fun 2-week Christmas break from school, as always. It was fun to be home, spend time together as a family, and travel to see the Johnsons in Illinois. There are quite a few pictures posted here, but it was hard to narrow them down - we took a lot!

Every once in awhile I'll put Nemo on a chair near Mckenna while she eats. It keeps them both entertained. So I put Nemo up on this chair, went into the kitchen to get Mckenna some food, and this is what happened when I turned my back...




Mckenna doesn't look too amused, does she? I don't blame her!


Fun in the bathtub!


You may see what looks like a little bruise on Mckenna's shoulder. She was born with a small hemangioma (a buildup of blood vessels in the skin) on her shoulder. When she was born, it was a darker red and raised a bit, but the doctor said it would go down, fade, and eventually disappear as she gets older. It isn't a health concern, and now it just looks like a little bruise - I'm guessing it will be completely gone in the next few years.




MBJ = Mckenna Bethany Johnson!


Out to dinner at Maggiano's as a family. It was pretty funny - so many people kept coming over to our table to say how cute and well behaved Mckenna was being at dinner. We've been lucky so far, she really is pretty easy to take out - it's so nice!


We took Mckenna to Burnsville Center to see Santa... it didn't go over well. Mckenna seemed deathly afraid, shaking, and looking at Santa like he was a scary alien. Poor girl. Here is Matt and Mckenna after we walked out of the Santa area - she's glad that's done!


At home by our Christmas tree. Mckenna was definitely much more interested in it than last year at this time (when she was only 2 months old), so we put all of the soft sided ornaments towards the bottom of the tree, just to be safe.






The next few pictures are from our Person family Christmas Eve gathering at my parents house. Mckenna and her cousins Sarah and Ayla all had the same Christmas dress on - CUTIES! :)


An attempt to get a picture of all of the cousins by the tree...


...good luck with that!


We were planning to leave for our road trip to Illinois on Christmas Day, but because of the big snow storm, we decided to hold off a day. So because we didn't have any plans and it wasn't the best idea to drive somewhere (like to hang out with my family), we were invited over to our neighbor's house for dinner - thank you, Nicole and Tim! Carter is one of Mckenna's favorite friends, so it worked out well to be over there hanging out all together. Here is our attempt to get a picture of Mckenna and Carter by their tree. Again, not gonna happen!


Because we had spaghetti for dinner, we took off the fancy kids clothes and let them play au natural. Carter got this cool tube fort for Christmas that the kids had fun playing in.


This picture makes us laugh... is Carter looking where it looks like he's looking?


Having fun playing with another of Carter's new Christmas toys, his big dump truck! And yes, we were getting ready to go home - red fur hat, black velvet shrug, and all. We wanted to get a good night sleep because the next day we would be on the road to Elgin, IL!


We finally made it to Illinois. The roads were not too good, but with driving slow and some anxious prayer, we made it safely. Here are the cousins - Sonja, Mckenna, and Gwen.


Present time! Gwen did a great job passing out gifts.


Mckenna got a cute purple plate and bowl with her name on it from Linnea, Cam, Gwen, and Sonja. Such a unique gift - thanks guys!




We were happy that we got to spend some time with Matt's Grandma Fran and Uncle Dave.


Matching cuties!




Matt gifted Cam with these funny boxers with a bear on the back taking a dip in a hot spring, with a sign that says "Beware of Natural Gas!" Those funny Johnson brothers - gotta love them! :)


Cam, Linnea and family recently sold their condo in Chicago and moved to a house - congratulations on your home! We gave them some housewarming gifts for Christmas.


Here I'm painting Gwen's finger nails (clear pink polish with sparkles, to be exact) and she is holding so still. I always love spending time with Gwen - I love her so much!


Here are the same-age cousins, Mckenna and Sonja, playing with this old school desk/magnet board toy.


The many faces of Santa Baby... :)






Mckenna with Grandpa Craig and Grandma Karen, Matt's parents.


We enjoyed getting to visit Linnea's sister, Greta, and her husband, Scott. We also got to meet their new twin baby girls, Addison and Caroline. They were just a few weeks old when we saw them in December. So tiny and cute!


Mckenna seemed momentarily interested to see such a tiny baby. She has a few baby dolls at home that are bigger than these two little gals! :)


Gwen really loves her new baby cousins and always wants to hold them and be around them. I don't blame her!




We also got to visit Matt's Grandma Harriet and her husband John. It was fun to see their nice new apartment that they recently moved into, and they both really enjoyed seeing Mckenna walking and moving all around.


Harriet and John gave Mckenna a gift of a fun book, and it was cute to watch her tear off little pieces of the wrapping paper and hand each little piece to Harriet.


Playing the piano with daddy. When Matt and Cam were young, Grandma Harriet gave Cam piano lessons. Matt skipped the piano lessons because he was busy with his violin lessons. A very musical family, indeed!


Mckenna is becoming more and more independent every day, and it is interesting how even the smallest new things are fun to watch her learn. Here she is enjoying walking in, standing in, and walking out of the elevator at John and Harriet's all by herself. Such a big girl!




A tired girl with her daddy, ready to leave Harriet and John's place after a long day of visiting loved ones.


The red jacket family (not planned!) outside of Craig and Karen's house in Elgin. Thank you for the fun visit - we'll be back to see you again over our spring break in March!


The past few years we've started a tradition of staying overnight in Madison as a family on our way home from Illinois. We have this same picture, at the same hotel, when Mckenna was just a few weeks old. (But of course she is laying a lot more still - haha.)





All ready to go to the pool. Is that a little ballerina stance with her tutu swimsuit? :)


Testing the waters...


She loves it!




These last two pictures are random ones from the end of our break. Our good friend and co-worker, Liz, and her son, Sam, gave Mckenna this "snow princess" outfit for Christmas. Isn't it cute? Matching dress, pants, and hat. As you can see, Mckenna likes it. :)




As always, we had a great break, and continue to feel blessed that as teachers we have the time to do fun things like be together with family and travel during our weeks off. Thanks to the Johnsons for being wonderful hosts - we'll be back soon, we promise!