One.

Read more...

One Year Old.

Read more...

12 months

Insane. Ya'll I am not ready for my baby girl to be ONE. (single. tear.)

Dear Lou Lou,
You are one. You are one. How can you be one? I feel like you are a baby and not one. Can we stop time? We're spending your first birthday at the beach! You're going to be in heaven crawling around, eating sand, playing with your brother and your grandma and grandpa.



Let's see. This month you are becoming stronger and more confident on your toes. You continue to cruise all over the furniture and pull up on everything. Your hobbies are pulling tupperware out of cabinets and clothes out of drawers. You LOVE that! You also started standing up from a squatting position and are trying to take steps once you get on your feet.



You eat anything and everything. You drink whole milk full time. You also LOVE to escape from your chair when you're eating. No matter how tight we buckle you in, you always wriggle free. It drives me crazy and gives me a heart attack! Maybe stop that, okay baby girl?

This would be classic Mugs!


You take 2 naps. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Your morning one is around an hour and sometimes we can stretch the afternoon one to two hours, but mostly you wake up an hour-to the minute-after you fall asleep. You beg to go to bed by 7 and you sleep until 7:30 or 8.

You started being clingy this month. When I drop you off at the daycare at the gym, you cry. It upsets Lane too. He doesn't like when you cry. But they always tell me as soon as I leave, you stop and start to play. So I'll go with that and hope you are just putting on a show for your mama.

This would be what most of pictures look like lately of you.


Or this...



You need your time to wake up from your naps. You like me to hold you for, what seems like sometimes, hours. If I put you down, you cry so I just have to keep you in my lap until you wake up. This can be challenging when I am trying to cook dinner or get ready for work.

You LOVE getting your teeth brushed. You even like to use Lane's Spiderman Spinbrush. I would go as far as saying you are better at letting me brush your teeth than your brother. It must feel good to you!

Your favorite word is "Ohhhhh." You say it all the time. It's very cute. You also love to say lots of other words too. You seem very mechanical. You are always trying to put legos together or attach things that you know are supposed to be connected. You love to pick up shoes and put them on your feet. Your favorite toys are cars, trucks and tractors. You push them all over the house. We don't have many girl toys yet, but we're working on it. Last week you got your very first real baby doll and a single and double stroller to push her in. You also got a highchair and there is a changing table waiting for you at Nene's house. We'll try our best to girlify this place, very soon!


Happy First Birthday Baby Girl. We love you to bits!

Momma

Read more...

First day of K3 Preschool

Piece a cake. A breeze. Momma felt like crying when she left her baby, but the baby? He's 3 and just like big and stuff so he walked in (a little shyly), but got right to business. And was all like bye mom. (yes, he's started calling me mom more) and that was it. So Park and I left and did our thing and wondered if Lane was thinking about us. :-) And when we walked in the door to pick him up...uh-um...10 minutes early. What?! We were in the "area." He didn't even look up from the book he was listening too. But he did smile when he saw us!



So those lines at the bottom are his "name." At least there are 4 of them! I asked him to write his name. Hope to do this every year so we can see how it changes!




And sometime this week, I'll post his dentist pictures. I know! Going to the dentist for the first time and starting K3 this week. Couple that with Parker drinking whole milk out of a sippy and telling us she's one. Whew! It's been a big one!

Read more...

11 months

Insane, my baby girl is approaching ONE. ONE. whole. year.

Dear Parker,
You are 11 months old today. What a budding little girl you are. You are mostly sweet with just the right amount of sass. And that sass has earned you, yet another nickname, Muggy!


I'll explain later.

You love your brother, but you also have caught onto the fact that he, alot of the time, takes things from you, is faster than you and sometimes just bugs you so you have taken to going after him with your only form of defense. Your teeth! It's a little comical at this point because he doesn't really have to do anything, but if he is coming near you and you have a toy you open your mouth at him. You're like a little puppy. We have started telling you no though and you are starting to get it.

2 peas in a pod




You make everyone feel amazing because...you clap whenever someone enters the room even if you just saw them seconds ago. You also clap when I open the door to take you our of your car seat. You LOVE to clap at everything. You also love to dance, wave (the cool girl way) and show us just how big you are.

Here you are pictured with all of the boys!


This month you started pulling up on everything and you still crawl super fast in your own little crab way. But when you are really determined both knees come down. I am personally partial to the one-knee scoot. I like it!

You LOVE food and the teeny rolls on your legs and dimples on your arms tell us so. I have started transitioning you to whole milk and you aren't doing too bad. This month you also started sticking out your tongue to try new food before putting it in your mouth.

I'm pretty sure you have a mouthful of sand and/or shells here, but hopefully it's goldfish. :-)


You are still so vocal! You pretty much repeat just about anything you hear (in baby language) and have full on conversations with me-hands going and all.

You sleep really well. The last 1 1/2 months were challenging to get you down, but once you were down, you never woke up. Something clicked on vacation because one afternoon at nap, we let you cry (and we've tried that before without success) and you fell asleep on your own. No patting or rubbing your back. And? Since we got home, you continue to go down just that easily. This week you have been sleeping in so late. Anywhere from 9-10:30. I guess you are taking after your brother. It is messing up our routine a bit, but I don't wake a sleeping baby so I'll deal!

You have a good amount of hair, but it's hard to tell because it is so light.


You got 2 more teeth this month bringing your grand total to 8. I feel as though your molars are upon us. Lots of drool and chewing. I'm preparing!

That's you in a nutshell right now. You are a light in our lives and we love you to bits!

Love,
Momma

Read more...

Three on August Two

I can't believe my baby boy is THREE.

3 years ago at this exact time we were celebrating a new life.

Three years old.

To my first born: thank you for making me a mother and teaching me everyday about the little things in life.

Love you Bubba!

Click HERE (and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE) (sorry I did it in parts) to read about how you came into the world.

Click HERE to read about your first birthday and HERE to read about your second birthday.

Read more...

10 months!!!

We interrupt the regularly scheduled program (aka the rest of my "A Week in our McLife posts) to celebrate Parker's month day!

Dear Parker,
I feel like I just wrote your 9 month post and here you sit before me eating pancakes and talking and grabbing anything and everything in your reach on the counter and whipping it around with a smile on your face so proudly. This past month has been pretty big for you. You hit the 20th% for weight! BIG accomplishment. You now (as of 7/07/11) sit at 16.69 lbs. Yay! Yay! Yay! No more weight checks.



You started crawling and at first it was quite jerky, but everything has smoothed out now and you are faster than ever. You still use your right foot as a brace out to the side and you look like a little crab crawling around.



You've pulled yourself up a few times on various items, but you are not doing it regularly. You still have 6 teeth. You haven't gotten any new ones for a few months, but you drool and chew so something must be working it's way through.

You ADORE your brother. This month you two started "wrestling" like little puppies on the ground. It's very cute, but I have to remind him not too rough. I guarantee you will be a tough cookie after he's done with you.

He has a soft side too. :-)


You still sleep through the night usually 11-13 hours. We had a hiccup while we visited IL. It took you a while to adjust to the time change and would wake up at very random (and early) hours while we were there. You also had a low grade fever for a few days. This month you also started becoming very hard to put down to sleep. You don't take a pacifier or suck your thumb so self-soothing has become a little bit of an issue. You sing and talk, but mostly we have to rub your back or pat your back to help you fall asleep. It seems like it's getting better, but there are good days and not so good ones. You still nap twice a day and like to be in bed for the night by 7, but we can push you on the weekends. :-)



Words you say are momma, dada, ni-ni (night night), woof woof, love you, papa, no no, ow, and your favorite....UH OH! You say that one before the "uh-oh" even happens. You really take everything in all the time.


You like to be in on the action. When Lane and Daddy play, you crawl very fast after them and breath really hard in and out before you get to them because you are so excited. It's cute to watch you go.

You are spunky. You scream very high-pitched when you're mad and diaper changes can sometimes be a challenge because you try to escape. I can usually distract you with a song though. (You love when I sing to you-it's safe to say you are the only one that loves my singing voice) You look (and touch) things you aren't supposed to touch while shaking your head no...like plugs and cords.

You are mostly eating finger foods, but I still like to give you some sort of puree once or twice a day. You love food. You eat anything!





You're so much fun and we are in awe of every little thing that you do. Even Lane-when you pulled up to stand for the first time Lane said, "Look, Parker is standing!" and then we all clapped.


Love you baby girl,
Momma

Read more...

Wordless Wednesday (Is it really Wednesday?) {We're home}

and look who's more mobile than when we left....

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It's jerky and uncoordinated and I can't help but laugh when I see her really moving cause she's pretty fast.

Read more...

A post about Parker-9 months in-9 months out

Dear Parker,
MY big girl! 9 months old and learning more and more about you everyday.

You have a birthmark on the inside of your left ankle.


You rub your eyes when you are tired and pull at your ear. You sing yourself to sleep. You smile the biggest smile I have ever seen. All. the. time.


Sometimes we get into smiling and staring contests and I don't want to look away because you are so sweet.


This month you perfected your pincher grasp and started sitting up from a flat-on-your-back position all by yourself. Strong little abs you have. That means sometimes when I lay you down to sleep, I hear you playing through the monitor and I walk in to you sitting up! You are starting to explore more finger foods. You love whole grain blueberry muffins at breakfast and when we wake up extra early we come out to the kitchen to make them. You still love your puffs and mum-mums. Also starting to eat cut-up blueberries, peaches and grapes.

I've been signing to you for about 2 months now and although you don't use the signs, you know what I am talking about when I do them. In fact, instead of signing you are just talking. I guess that's the girl in you. When I say 'poop?' you say 'pff pff pff' when I say 'bye' you say 'bye bye bye' when I say momma, you say 'mommommomm' when I say 'night night' you say 'nininini'....and so on. You LOVE to wave. You get your whole arm into it.

Naps have been an issue this month. It all started when we moved. You are definitely taking some time to adjust. If you can sleep in my arms, your stroller, car seat or the Ergo, you much prefer that over your bed. Nighttime sleep is not an issue, you sleep 6-6 or 6-7, but napping is hit and miss with you!

You took your first airplane ride this month and did great. Fell asleep on me during take off and slept for the first half of the flight. When you woke up you were all smiles and ready for lunch.

When your nap issues started, I put you to sleep with a little baby doll and she is quickly becoming a comfort for you. We call her Dolly. :-)

You aren't crawling, but get into the crawling position and seem to be able to move around.




You scoot on your bottom around the room as well, but it's still nothing I can't handle. :-) We'll call you immobile for the time being.

One of my favorite faces of yours...

You show your excitement in your toes and your love in your eyes. You are curious, spunky, sweet and oh so lovable. Happy 9 months sweet girl!

Love,
Momma

Read more...

I have 742 emails in my Inbox-unread, Parker turns 8 months, Lane finished school, we have 3 addresses, Grandma and Grandpa come to visit and other very crazy, very fun, very busy things happening with the McConvilles!

Hi! It's been a while! But for good reason!

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit last week. Of course it was fun, of course it was short, of course we hated to say goodbye.





We closed on our house on Friday the 13th. We officially have the keys and demo starts in a few weeks. We also picked up our keys to our temporary apartment today. That makes 3 addresses, 3 water bills, 3 power bills, 6 bathrooms, 3400 sq. ft., 8 bedrooms, 3 kitchens, 2 washers, 3 dryers (how did that happen??) 2 cars (we sold one!) 1 pool (which is almost the only thing I care about at this moment) a gazillion boxes and a partridge in a pear tree!

Don't worry, those numbers will soon be cut in half. We are canceling all services at our current home, the only home my children have ever lived in, the place we lived at the longest as a married couple, the beginning of our journey to living in this new state, our stability and comfort for the past 5 years, and passing it along to a new family who can't wait to live here, who we talk to almost daily and who will be renting from us for at least a year, if not more and then possibly purchasing. Yep, time to close the doors on this portion of our life and start anew!

The excitement surrounding it all is almost unbearable! But first, we must move and that I am not so much looking forward to. But our bags are packed and the movers come Wednesday and then we will say goodbye forever (or at least until we can't make the mortgage payments at our new place and have to move back) KIDDING!!!

The kids are almost oblivious to the big changes ahead. Besides for the boxes and junk all over our house. But even that doesn't seem to bother them. I am still going on play dates and keeping an active schedule, as to try not to disrupt normal life for them.

Lane finished his first year of school!


The 2 year old class made tie-dyed shirts last week and all wore them on the last day. How cute!
We attended a picnic with the whole school...Matt couldn't make it because he was busy at work, but Parker and I did and this is one of the reasons I stay at home....to have the flexibility to do this stuff!





Since I've been MIA...We had a picnic with Matt on his lunch break,

went to the Duck Derby



(If you can't tell, there are 1000's of yellow rubber ducks racing down the falls. It's a charity event that coincides with the Kentucky Derby!)
Barney's Birthday Bash,

and got a much needed hair cut!

I'm not going to try to cram anymore into this post, but I thought I better make time for an update because I got a comment from a person who shall remain nameless...cough...Nene...cough saying "one week."

Yeah, yeah, point taken.

Read more...

7 months

Dear Parkie,
Yes we sometimes call you Parkie. It's not a name I ever thought I would use, but it just rolls off of the tongue so nicely and Lane calls you that too.


You are 7 months old and such a big girl. (Well not really figuratively.) You actually are still really small, but at our last appointment, Dr. Nelson said our goal was the 5th percentile at your next weight check and guess what baby girl? You made it just past the 5th percentile! Yipee! Momma was so happy. That brings you to almost 14 lbs.




But you are starting to act more and more like a big girl. You sit, roll everywhere and if it's within your reach, grab EVERYTHING. You started sleeping in a pack-n-play in your own room last month and you went from sleeping 9 hours to sleeping 12 hours. You take 2 cat naps in the morning and sleep for 3 hours in the afternoon. You are still the best baby ever! Just so calm and chill. We love love love you so much.

Your cheeks are getting smaller (but lets face it, they're still huge!), and your eyes are still big. You have a blond mohawk and a tiny patch of dark newborn hair still left.


You eat cereal and pears, apples, bananas, avocado, sweet potatoes (your favorite), butternut squash, chicken (that you will eat if I mix with sweet potatoes), beef that I mixed with carrots (you were not a fan) and turkey. You eat twice a day. You nurse 4-5 times. You love Mum-Mums!

You have 2 bottom teeth and the other day when I laid you down in your stroller, I saw one of your top teeth has poked through! You love to be in the Ergo and when we pull the sun shade you fall asleep. When you wake up in the morning and from your naps, you sing and talk until someone comes to get you. You sit up by yourself. You are starting to look like an inch worm on your belly, raising your butt up in the air and pushing off with you feet. But your preferred method of movement is still rolling. You sit in this seat to eat and have discovered the game of "I drop it, watch it hit the ground and Lane picks it up for me" and repeat!



You are more and more in awe of your brother. I love the way you look at your Daddy and you mostly prefer to be in my arms. You are my sunshine Lou Lou and we love you so very much! Happy 7 months!


Love,
Momma

Read more...