6 Months Old

February 15, 2016

15 lbs 10 oz (10th percentile)

26.13 inches (16th percentile)

Size 2 diapers

Size 6 months clothes

Well this last month has been an interesting one.  Both kids got a bad cold for about 4 days, McKay then cut 2 teeth. Then after being snotty for over week he got an ear infection.  He was then on antibiotics for 10 days but still wasn't totally back to himself.  This whole time he hasn't been sleeping as well and just wasn't super happy.  He had a couple really awful nights in a row so I took him back to the doctor and he ended up having a double ear infection.  This time they gave him a different antibiotic and it worked much better.  After a few days he was back to his cheerful self.  It was definitely a long couple of weeks for all of us.  Craig and I were barely getting any sleep and I ended up getting pretty sick for a few days.  I'm just glad it is all over and he is smiling and giggling again.  Besides getting 2 teeth this month he also started solid foods.  So far he has tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes, bananas, and carrots.  He does pretty well with all of those.  He is very interested in food and you can tell he always wants to eat our food.  Now that we are passed all of the ear infections he is finally sleeping better again.  We will feed him last bottle around 8:00 pm and then lay him down.  I will then feed him a bottle sometime between 4:45 and 6:30 am and then he will go back to sleep until about 8:00 am.  He is now down to 3 naps. He lays down for a cat nap around 10:00 that will last 30-45 minutes, he will then lay down again around 1:00 for his "big" nap which will last an hour and a half to two hours typically, his last nap is then around 5:00 and it is usually only about 30 minutes.  Not the best napper in the world, but he does ok.  Luckily Brooklyn will do about 45 minutes of quite time while McKay does his big nap so it gives me a little bit of time to myself.  Most moms would use this time to get things done, but most of the time I sit on the couch and watch a show.

For being such a happy and smiley baby he hates going to the child watch at the gym.  I usually can only get about 40 minutes of a workout in and I usually have to go in to calm him down once during that time.  I don't know what his deal his, but it is really obnoxious and I am really tired of it.  My workout is my "me time" and it just isn't the same if I am worrying about them coming to get me or if I workout at home and try to squeeze it in during a nap and trying to entertain Brooklyn at the same time.  Hopefully it will get better soon because I would really like to get back into teaching classes, but I'm not going to be able to do that until he will cooperate with the ladies at the gym.

He is so close to rolling over.  He could totally do it, but he really just doesn't care.  He is way more interested in sitting up and I think he will get that soon as well.  He has some nasty eczema on his cheeks, chin, elbows and legs.  So far what we have tried has not worked.  Hopefully the doctor can get us something that will help, it looks so uncomfortable and painful.  One thing that is really quite funny is that he thinks it is hilarious to get undressed.  Anytime I undress him for his bath or to change his diaper and just to change his clothes, he just giggles and giggles.  He has started sitting in his Bumbo and playing in his saucer a lot the last few weeks.  He does pretty good and will be content for 10 -15 minutes so that I can get a few things done.  Brooklyn is still a big helper and a great big sister.  While I was not a big fan of his awful sleeping, I sure do love this sweet little boy.  His smile really does just light up my day, you just can't help but smile back.

Big sister helping feed baby brother

Everything goes into his mouth

Happy boy after his first try of solid food

A few of the other babies in our ward

This is what happens when I try to get a picture of all 3 of them, also Graham is obsessed with McKay's hair

Dance Class

Brooklyn has been begging to take a dance class for months.  We finally found one with the Eagle Parks and Rec.  It is a tap/ballet class.  She was so excited the first day of class.  I even let her choose out her own leotard.  She is so cute in class.  She pays so close attention to teacher Suzie and does exactly what she's asked.  They haven't learned a whole lot yet, which is to be expected with a class full of 3 and 4 year olds.  They have 3 more classes left in their 6 week session.  She is the cutest little dancer I have ever seen and she is very coordinated too.  I think she could be a very good dancer, especially since she has such a great memory, so she would be able to remember a routine very well. I love her excitement for learning new things.

Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam

Last Sunday Brooklyn was finally able to go to Sunbeams for the first time.  Yes, I know it was the last Sunday in January, but we have had some weird circumstances.  We were out of town the first Sunday of the year and then the next Sunday church was cancelled because of bad weather.  The Sunday church was cancelled our church building flooded because a pipe froze and then burst.  So we had to go to a different building for the next two weeks, which meant we only went to sacrament meeting.  Brooklyn was so excited to be a part of Primary.  She even got to go up and sing during sacrament meeting.  She loves her teacher, Sister Ramey, and she has some fun kids in her class.  I can't believe she is finally a Sunbeam and I love her enthusiasm and love for Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.  She loves to learn the scripture stories and knows quite a few of them already.  I sure love my little Sunbeam.

McKay 5 Months Old

January 15, 2017
Size 2 diapers (huge on him)
Size 3/6 and 6 month clothes

I feel like McKay has really grown this last month.  His cheeks have really filled out and he is starting to get some rolls on his thighs.  I'm not sure how much he weighs since he didn't have a doctors appointment, but he definitely looks chunkier to me.  He is still eating well.  I cut back my pumping and now only pump 3 times a day and have to grab some milk out of the freezer to supplement.  I am hoping to keep up just breast milk until he is 6 months old and then we will have to start supplementing with formula and then totally switch over around 7 months.  We are still working on the whole rolling over thing.  He doesn't really seem to care much and honestly I don't really either at this point.  I figure he will get there when he is ready.  He does however seem interested in sitting, sometimes he can balance a little bit when he is leaned over and has his belly on his legs.  His sleeping is still about the same.  We lay him down around 8:45pm and then usually have to put his binky in at some point and then I will feed him between 5:00 and 6:00 am and then he will sleep until 8:00/8:30.  Every once in a while he will throw in a full night and sleep until 7:00 or 8:00, but those are few and far between, but I am just fine with having to get up just once to feed him and I usually get to go back to sleep for an hour or so.  His naps are still sporadic.  He will typically have one decent nap in the middle of the day an hour and a half to two hours but then his other naps are about 30 minutes.  We are trying to transition him out of swaddling which he does ok not having his arms in, but the problem is that if I have to go put his binky in to get him back to sleep he just pulls it right out and gets frustrated because he can't get it back in all the way.  If anyone has suggestions I am open.

We took him swimming for the first time.  not the biggest fan.  He was doing fine until he got splashed pretty good, so then I just dried him off an we watched the other kids swim.  But he looked dang cute in his swimsuit.  He loves bath time and to kick his legs and make splashes. He has also started sticking his tongue out a bunch, well like all the time.  He laughs a lot more now and still smiles all the time. He is super tickalous (sp?) and you can always get a good giggle out of him that way.  He really is just a happy baby overall.  He found his toes this month and loves to grab them and try to eat them.  Brooklyn loves to get him to laugh and she continues to get louder as McKay gets louder, which  is not very fun when we are in the car.

Happy New Years from McCall

Craig took a few days off of work right at the new year so we decided to head up to the cabin.  We drove up Saturday morning the 31st during McKay's nap.  Craig's brother Mark and his family were up at the cabin when we got there.  That afternoon everyone headed outside to play in the snow.  Brooklyn loved having her cousins there for a few days with us so that she could have other kids to play with and I loved not having to entertain her. On Sunday we went to church and then that afternoon everyone but McKay and I headed into town to go sledding on a small hill by the lake.  Craig and I also went snowshoeing that afternoon during McKay's long nap.  It is just just a winter wonderland in McCall this time of year.  On Monday Mark's family had to head back to Boise, but we stayed a few more days.  We were just lazy at the cabin, played in the snow a few more times, drank a ton of hot chocolate, went out to eat at Pueblo Lindos, My Father's Place, and Pancake House, we also went sledding one more time in town and brought McKay along this time.  We bundled him up nice and warm and he even went down the hill with me one time.  After a little bit Craig took him back to the car to let him warm up for a little bit and he ended up falling asleep.  Luckily the car was parked right by us so we just left it running and kept sledding for a little bit longer.  We were going to head back home on Wednesday, but Boise got hit with a huge snow storm and so we decided to wait one more day since we didn't have anything we had to be back for.  It was such a fun little getaway and it is so nice that it is only two hours away and we can head up there anytime.  Craig enjoyed his much needed time off after a very busy last few months at work, but we were all very sad when he had to head back to work.  Hope everyone had as great of a 2016 as we did!

Merry Christmas

We had such a wonderful Christmas together as a family.  Christmas time just keeps getting better and better as the kids get older.  Every night Brooklyn would ask us how many more nights before Santa would come.  On Christmas Eve we spent a lot of time with my family and it was fun to do some of the traditions that I did as a kid.  It snowed a bunch the night before and so that morning Craig and Brooklyn headed out to the backyard to trudge through the snow.  We then went to Chinese food for lunch and then Brooklyn and I went to a movie with the rest of my family while Craig took McKay home to take a nap.  We saw the movie Moana, super cute.  It was Brooklyn's first movie at the theater and she loved it.  There will definitely be more movies in our future.  After the movie we went over to my parents house and ate a bunch of treats and other yummy food and then read the nativity story and a few other Christmas stories before we headed home to watch The Grinch.  After we got the kids to bed Santa came and filled up there stockings and ate Brooklyn's cookies.

Since Christmas was on Sunday this year we had church at 9:00 so we woke Brooklyn up in time to be able to see her gifts from Santa before we headed off to church.  After a wonderful church service full of beautiful music and testimony we came home and finished opening presents and Factimed with Craig's parents so they could see the kids opening their gifts.  I then went to my parents church because my Dad was giving a talk and Craig stayed home with the kids and then we went over to my parents house because my brother Tucker was calling from his mission in Arizona.  It was so good to talk with him and just hear his voice, he is such an awesome missionary and we are all so proud of him.  We then headed home to cook up our yummy Christmas dinner of ham, funeral potatoes, green bean casserole, and rolls.  It was quite delicious if I do say so myself.  We had such an enjoyable Christmas together.  I really hope that we are teaching our kids the true meaning of CHRISTmas and continue to remind them that it is a time to serve and remember the ultimate gift that our Savior Jesus Christ gave us of the atonement and eternal life.

Her sweet nursery leader gave her this apron embroidered with her name

She was so proud of the necklace that she made with her new bead set