Since we've been MIA....

.... and I don't have any time for a well-thought out post, I'm just going to share some random pictures. Because this baby is too much of a goofball not to share funny moments. 

McKenna and yogurt didn't originally hit it off. All we had to do was find the right brand and now it's one of her favorite foods. 

The nursery usually just stays like this because it's a game for her to take them all off of the shelf. 

This is a "Mommy actually had her hair AND makeup done so let's take a selfie" picture. 

Words can't describe the relationship these two have. Just chillaxing with her homie. 

This doesn't need any words. I left this mess there all day. It helped me get some  computer work done. 

Because I wanted to see if it was doable...

#notamused

This child is such a ham. I know she's my baby so I'm biased, but she has the goofiest sense of humor I have ever personally encountered in a baby. Everything is fun and silly with this one. 

Alright, I've worn myself out enough to finally catch some Zzzzzzz's. Nighty, night Jacksonille!  

Blog neglect

Oh how I have missed you!!! We've have a rough and busy couple of weeks. Busy is good! I've been working harder than ever any moment I can divert a second away from a busy baby. Even working a couple hours after she goes down at night. 

Kevin's grandma passed away this week as well and we will be traveling to Jacksonville for the service. She was such a loving, kind-hearted woman. We will miss her terribly. 

With everything going on McKenna's party planning has also come to a halt. Lucky it is a small family gathering so decorations are absolutely crucial. I had teetered on having a big party for so long, and I am painfully happy we decided to forgo that right about now. I will of course still share pictures and everything, as I can't believe my BABY will be one in just over a week. Denial. Denial. Denial. Denial. Denial. 

Can't you tell I'm in denial?

Just Tomatoes

So I need to give a gigantic shoutout to our snack time savior. 

Just Tomatoes offers dried organic fruits and veggies. They are the perfect quick snack time for on-the-go. The best part??? ONE ingredient. You heard me right: 

Nothing added. And let me tell you, they are delish. We haven't gotten our hands on veggie options, but almost all of the fruit options that we have been delicious and McKenna has gobbled them up. 

Check out their website: http://www.justtomatoes.com

A little heads up before you start the search party. You definitely pay for quality!! The first time I bought them they didn't have a price tag on them, and I didn't check the price when we got to the register. I was a little surprised when we got home and I read the receipt. BUT McKenna loves them and they are a nutritious alternative to puffs, crackers, or goldfish, and much easier to have on hand than fresh fruit and veggies. 

Crib sleeping vs. co-sleeping

McKenna is a wonderful sleeper. We have been very blessed in the sleep department. That being said, she still goes through sleep regressions and wakes every once in a while, which I never have or will complain about. I personally think attempting to "fix" "issues" like waking in the middle of the night is really just wasted energy. Babies have tiny bellies, busy brains, and active bodies, no doubt they'll want sustenance or love throughout a 10-12 hour span! Even I do as an adult! But it must be said, I am fairly certain that in technical terms a baby "sleeping through the night" is 6 hours. 

 

Every parent makes the personal decision to have baby sleep in a crib or sleep in their bed. I whole-heartedly believe this depends on the baby, the situation, and the parents. McKenna goes to sleep in the crib every night, and most nights wakes up there around 6-7am. Up until recently however we would bring her into our bed anywhere from 1am-6am. Sometimes she would make it back to her crib, sometimes she would finish out the night with us.

 

Again I reiterate that everyone's situation is different, but wanted to share some differences I have noted between McKenna's crib sleeping and bed sharing:

• She nurses much more often when we co-sleep
• This could be partially due to my fear of her waking. If I feel her stirring I just whip out a boob and everyone settles back in. This likely means she nurses for comfort rather than hunger when we co-sleep.
• AND I have NO CLUE how often she nurses when we co-sleep
• Everything is a haze when you're just tossing and turning and not actually getting out of bed.  Like in the previous point, I just react naturally and don't really use my brain. When she's in the crib, I have to get out of bed, walk across the house just passed the clock that laughs at me, bring her back to bed, feed her, get out of bed to walk passed that laughing clock to take her back and hope she settles back in immediately.  The process is a tedious one. The tile always feels cold (because I often can't find my slippers) and I ultimately always have to stop for a pee break. But I digress.
• If we co-slept full-time, I am not sure how I would be able to relax in the living room in the evening time with McKenna asleep on our bed alone. Nothing can keep her safe and secure from the edge of the bed like the crib can. Co-sleeping hardware would be a must.
• Which leads to morning routine.
• When McKenna is in her crib when we wake up in the morning Kevin and I can both get up and get started on our morning routine (or not). When she's in bed with us, it's a tag-team effort.  I get up and make lunch and coffee while Daddy stays and chaperones, and then he tags out.
• The kicker: I get much more {READ: better} sleep when she sleeps in her crib
• Not only am I awoken by every single fidget, but I often worry about her somehow getting off the bed now that she's mobile. I also often get kicked, headbutted, punched, slapped. And it's not Kevin. I wake up, look over, and that little angelic face is peacefully in Zzzzz's Land while my mind plays through all of the What If's
• BUT I love when she rolls and tucks in tight into my chest.  Knowing your baby is right there, safe and sound is such a comforting feeling.

Overall, I think if she woke up every couple of hours to eat like many babies do, we would consider co-sleeping. The middle of the night treks are rough.  And me being a light sleeper personally sometimes make it difficult for me to fall back asleep after moving around the house so much. But in the grand scheme of things, this phase of life is only a minute. The long, exhausted days from disturbed sleep will all be a blur, a distant memory.

McKenna's first Christmas

I had originally began writing this post just a couple of hours before we took McKenna into the ER the day after Christmas. So I'm just going to quickly go over what we did over the holidays and share pictures... because that's the best part! The pictures! It was such a wonderful and magical Christmas... McKenna was at such a perfect age to enjoy all of the lights, decorations, and GIFTS!

We kicked off Christmas in Jacksonville the weekend before Christmas with Kevin's family. This was McKenna's first taste of opening presents. She had such a blast with all of the fun toys she received and getting to spend time with family. She really didn't "get" pulling paper and opening gifts, but you could tell she was anticipating what was inside. She just wanted us to do it for her. We have pictures and video on our GoPro from Jax, but I still have yet to find a streamlined way to upload and edit. So here's me, Kevin's sister, and McKenna
 

On Christmas Eve, we spent the day relaxing and went to Christmas Eve service... McKenna's first time sitting in the sanctuary. She sure wanted to help the Pastor with his prayer :-X

On actual Christmas Day, we woke up in our own home. As a matter of fact McKenna wanted to try and play at 4am. Luckily she wore herself out after a while, and we all woke back up a few hours later. McKenna and I "slept in" and woke up to Daddy cooking breakfast!

 Most definitely Christmas Morning Smiles.

She went to town on opening presents under the tree. Again, on the GoPro.... hoping to upload some stuff from that soon. Unfortunately I'm so behind no one even wants to think about Christmas 2 weeks into January! Anyway, here's a shot of McKenna and I before Christmas Lunch at my grandparents' house!

The day after Christmas, we relived Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

 

While our week ended scary with a sick, sick baby, I think McKenna had a fabulous Christmas week.  We were very blessed. There is no greater joy in life than to watch the creature God gifted you grow day-to-day, and the holidays always seem to bring this feeling to light even more.

11 months = 1 month left

McKenna is 11 months old (officially New Years Day)!

 

Man, she's really shown her true character through a pretty serious illness. Cheerful, optimistic, adventurous, silly, caring. She's stuck it out and remained her happy little self through it all.

She's babbling up a storm. Not just to make noises, but she seems to be talking to herself in her own language. She says Dada and Dog (Dauh [silent G]). She makes the Maaa noise and she knows I'm Mama but I don't think she has distinctly verbalized that I am Mama. While we're on the subject... we got a picture of her and me during this shoot....

... totally didn't realize I was in JUST a sports bra until downloading the pictures.
 

McKenna has found and mastered the ability to throw things. Want her to be occupied for 5 minutes? Put all of her toys back in her toy box.... There they go flying over her shoulder. Oh, and she is officially STANDING on her own! No big deal! If we weren't getting over super illness in this house it would have already gotten its own post.

 

She loves her Little People Princess Castle. She stuffs the Little People through windows and stacks them up in the tower. Watching her problem solve is officially my favorite hobby.  Watching her try to fit the triangle through the square at multiple angles to then switch if over to the triangle for it to fall through.

She points to get your to take her where she wants to go.  If you try to take something from her she wants, she has a little fit.  It's cute.... for now.

She has the longest most beautiful eyelashes.

And here's a sneakpeak behind the scenes of this month's shoot. We actually got Dadda's help for the photo this month which was nice because of last month's difficulty. It was FSU gameday and New Year's Day so we had Dadda home with us! He always knows how to make his baby laugh, she is so in love with him!

Only one more month of these photos! I can't believe the first year of her life is rapidly coming to a close! I just want time to pause so I can continue sharing this special moment in her life.
 

The inevitable post-holiday blues

It's the day after New Year's Day. I get the post-holiday blues almost every year, but this year is a doozie. I got a little choked up this morning that it's all over. 

My baby's first holiday season and her last "first" holiday is over. Kevin is back at work, no more holiday work days off as we head into our busiest time of year. Sporadic Christmas decorations lay around here and there that were forgot to be put away last weekend. I turn on pandora to have to change from the Chrsitmas station. No more holiday outfits. And My baby is now less than a month away from being a year old.  

To boot, McKenna and I have been cooped up in this house for going on a week now, attempting to celebrate the last part of the season by ourselves. One great part about this day is that from yesterday to today her chest congestion has improved significantly. Our baby is getting better!

As the ball was dropping the other night on the tv, I turned to Kevin in a moment I panic. "I'm not ready for 2014 to be over!" There was no way to stop it. Even turning off the television would not have stopped the inevitable. But just because 2014 was the best year of my life to date doesn't mean 2015 can't be better. I try not to make phony New Year's resolutions. But I do plan to embrace life more in 2015 and use every single day to make myself a fuller, more complete human being. For daughter, for my husband, and most importantly for me. 

I'm up for the challenge. Let's see what you've got 2015!