Early Christmas Present

Jenny, Eric and Emmett stopped through yesterday on their way to Fayetteville and surprised McKenzie with an early Christmas present.  I must admit that I was a little nervous as to what McKenzie's reaction would be to her hand-knitted hat, even though I knew I would love it.  Well, it's pretty much her favorite accessory so kudos and a big thank you to Jenny for an awesome gift!  Little Annie also received the same hat, but smaller and with colors opposite of McKenzie's.  Can't wait for the newborn pics with those, because McKenzie actually wanted me to take pictures of her wearing the new hat...

Lovin' the new hat!

Another silly face.

She got super serious with the bear.

Christmas Festivities

Last Saturday McKenzie got to spend some time with LaLa, Aunt Erin and her cousins.  They went to see Santa, did some Christmas crafts and enjoyed the annual Christmas parade downtown.  As you will see, she had lots of fun.  And we were grateful for the opportunity to get some things done around the house while she enjoyed time with her cousins.  A big thanks to LaLa and Aunt Erin for providing such great weekend entertainment!

All smiles vs. Why are you taking my picture?

No tears!

Let me just give this a little taste.

So surprised she allowed this to happen!

Directing the bands at the parade.

Parade watchers.

True sign of a great day!

Dressing with Daddy

If you want a no-fuss morning of getting McKenzie dressed, there are two options: put clothes on her as soon as she wakes up when her will to fight is low or let her choose every single clothing item.  On this particular morning, Brant chose the latter of the two.  Fuzzy black boots with a sparkly red skirt (no tights) would be an ok choice, if not topped of with an orange and white striped shirt.  It really was worse than the picture shows, and I'm certain it won't be the last time she leaves this house looking a little less than stylish.  That is, by the way, her official donut shirt.  For some reason, when we go on Saturdays to get donuts, that is the shirt she always wants to wear and asks for by name (i.e. I want my donut shirt).  

Can you believe Daddy let me wear this?!  Sucker!!

Carnival Fun

This post should have been written about a month ago, as the carnival we went to was for Halloween!  But I was looking through pictures on Brant's phone when I came across these and wanted to share.  We headed out on a chilly Friday night to a church that had a huge Halloween carnival.  I was excited about corn dogs and funnel cakes.  McKenzie was just excited because we were going to a castle... yes, every church with a steeple she says is a castle.  Sometimes it's her castle, sometimes it's mommy's castle, sometimes it's daddy's castle.  This one happened to be her castle and by the time we missed the exit and had to go on down the interstate, passing right by the castle, she was DYING to get there.

So was the carnival fun?  Well, not exactly.  I think most parents refuse to admit that events like this are not a whole lot of fun for us.  Sure, it's great to see your child delight in things they have never experienced before, but otherwise it's a lot of chasing around said child, standing in lines and bargaining when it comes time to leave.  I haven't asked him specifically, but I don't think Brant's ride in the two feet per hour purple car topped his list of exciting things to do.  Although, he does look pretty happy in the picture below.  Overall, I must say the best moment of the night came when McKenzie gained a little confidence and a lot of speed in the hall of mirrors.  One thing she has now experienced: plexiglass, in the face!  She was stunned, but not hurt, so we laughed.  A lot.  I guess the night wasn't a bust after all!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

I love the sophisticated Christmas decor that I see in magazines.  I love the simple, handcrafted looks as well.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to pull off either in my own house.  What I end up with is a mismatched look scattered throughout the house.  Our tree isn't covered in fancy ribbon and perfectly matched ornaments.  Instead, we have shiny white lights that are surrounded by random ornaments, some that have great meaning, some that were on sale at Target last year.  I've decorated my own house for the last seven years and I think this is the first year that I'm just going to own my mismatched, sometimes sloppy, always full of color Christmas style.  I don't expect Pottery Barn to show up wanting to take pictures, but I do think McKenzie will fondly remember decorating with her Mommy and Daddy, parents who don't care if every single one of her ornaments was hung within about a foot of each other at the bottom of the tree.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Purple Tree Pride

Artistic shot of the purple tree

Our Tree for 2011

McKenzie prefers the cluster look

A few of my favorite random ornaments

Christmas Tree Pickin'

When Brant and I moved backed to Little Rock, we began a tradition of heading out to a tree farm to get our tree.  We both prefer real trees over fake and we always have a good time at the tree farm.  The first time we went, it was just the two of us and we picked a great tree.  We did not pick a great tree loader.  We veered off the interstate onto a somewhat sketchy exit just in time to see our tree fall to the side of the Tahoe.  Brant shoved the huge tree in the back of the Tahoe and we went on our merry way.  

This year, there was no such drama, but we did have lots of fun.  McKenzie ran all around the tree farm searching for wooden reindeer and snowmen that were all over the place.  She insisted on riding the cow train and I was happy to ride with her.  The joy and excitement I got to see on her face far outweighed the very bumpy ride.  And just before the rain came, we loaded up the tree (with guys that knew what they were doing) and headed home.  We still have some decorating to do, but pics of the fabulous tree are coming!  

She's a Thinker

A few weeks ago, Brant and McKenzie were reading her bible at bedtime.  Her bible is basically a board book with lots of pictures that highlights a few bible stories.  One of those stories is that of Moses as he treks across the desert and eventually parts the Red Sea.  That's where we'll pick up the conversation:

McKenzie: What's he doing?
Brant: Parting the Red Sea.
McKenzie:  Whyyyy?
Brant: So he can take his people across.
McKenzie, pauses and considers: Why didn't he take the boat?

Valid question, especially when you know that just a few pages before Noah had a huge boat full of animals.

Very Happy Halloween

McKenzie had a GREAT Halloween this year.  She went trick-or-treating for the first time and we were amazed at how easily she caught on to the concept.  After just one house, she had no hesitation following the kids to the other houses and getting her treats.  She was very polite, although she did linger at times on some porches and I wondered if she was hoping to get another treat for being so darn cute.  We had several friends over and walked all around the new neighborhood gathering candy.  It was such a perfect night for the little fairy!  And yes, she is wearing her fairy costume right now, the day after.  Somehow I convinced her that trick-or-treating was over because she really wanted to grab her bag and head back out this morning.

Come on guys, we have more houses to go!

Friends Always Help

Now that we have pushed through 90% of this move, there are so many things on my mind.  Annie's room needs to get painted, other rooms in the house need to get painted, I need to find some garage sale furniture pieces, pictures need to be hung...

I could go on.  Luckily, I have great friends to take my mind of stuff and help me to just enjoy this great new house and yard and the incredible weather we've had lately.  Spray paint parties with Kelly are not only productive, but loads of fun.  I actually kind of fell backwards when I tried to stand up at one point.  Don't worry, there was never really even a risk of injury, except maybe from laughing too hard.  Picture an egg wobbling and then rolling over.  Now picture my head on that egg and try not to laugh.

Then there are the days when McKenzie has friends over as well.  She and Brinley found a jungle in the backyard and ran through the bushes like little monkeys.  Finn showed her how the little purple shopping cart actually rolls just perfectly down the slide.  And my heart skips a happy beat when I see McKenzie bend down and ask (or demands) to hold baby Harper.  All the while, I get to relax and talk to Kelly, Jennifer and Brittnee about the crazy thing that is motherhood.

Little Annie has a lot to look forward to!

Thinking about everything she needs to do...

And saying "Forget it, let's have fun!"

Been a While

Wow, I didn't realize it's been almost a month since I last posted.  I guess we've had a little thing called moving going on.  We have been in our new house for about a week now and have settled in just enough to have company over.  Earlier this week I made the first pot of chili for the season on a cold, rainy day.  Chris and Rebecca joined us and as you can see, McKenzie had fun playing with Chris and her iPad.  I'm actually quite surprised she's letting him hold it, but for some reason, she actually lets Chris play the iPad with her.

And why is she dressed in her fairy Halloween costume?  Why not?!

Randoms

Just a few random thoughts on this Wednesday.
-This cooler weather is incredible.  It's nice to be outside!
-McKenzie is becoming tougher at bedtime.  She does anything and everything she can think of to put off going to bed:  read a book (recent choices include Barbie book and the Bible, interesting combo), asking for her iPad, crying for her iPad, giving up on the iPad, asking to poo-poo (no she's not potty trained), asking for each and every stuffed animal.  You get the idea.  It's frustrating, but hopefully will pass.
-The girl loves apples.  Just don't try to cut one up for her.  She wants to hold the whole thing and gnaw at it.
-She's excited about our new house.  Although, she always tells us it's Sandy's house.  He's our realtor and he was there when she first saw it.  Hope she doesn't expect him to be there when we move in.

And a recent conversation, if you could call it that:
Brant: McKenzie, Mommy and I are saying a prayer.  You can either say it with us or not.
McKenzie: Not.

It's really hard to pray when you are laughing at your child.  Obviously, she was not happy about being put to bed, so she expressed herself pretty clearly.

Pinnacle Mountain State Park

With Ben and Mary Elizabeth, after a sweaty morning playtime!

Pinnacle is probably one of my favorite parks in town.  They have a brand new playset that McKenzie has almost no trouble navigating.  And recently, she has enjoyed walking the little half mile trail which is great exercise for me and great to wear her out!  On Labor Day, we met my parents at Pinnacle for lunch before they headed back to Fayetteville.  And a few weeks ago, McKenzie met her cousins out there one morning on her usual Daddy/Donut/Park Saturday morning extravaganza!

Enjoying a fudgesicle with Mom after the long walk.

Showing off at the top of the ladder.

Cheesing with Daddy at the big tree.

It was a bit windy that day!

It's Still Summer

And the girls want to have some fun!

Labor Day Fun

We didn't have much to do this Labor Day weekend, and it was actually quite nice.  We got all of our household chores done on Saturday and Sunday, just in time to enjoy the absolutely beautiful weather on Labor Day.  We decided to take McKenzie to the zoo, because even though she's been several times, she's never been with her Daddy.  For whatever reason, she really wanted to see the giraffe and the fishies.  We pointed out lots of other animals and she just said "ok, find the giraffe" or "ok, go see fishies."  She also yelled at the train to "COME BACK!" when it passed right on by her.  It was the perfect outing for Labor Day!  On account of trying to enjoy the moment, rather than snapping pics, I didn't take my camera.  But I had to pull out the camera phone for a few cute photo ops!

A True Big Girl Bed

Several weeks ago, we turned McKenzie's crib into a toddler bed.  From what I recall, we did this because we had just gotten rid of the pacifier and we were trying ANYTHING to make her feel better about her sleeping arrangement.  Also, I think we saw her throw that long leg of hers over the crib rail...

After finding out that Baby Owens #2 was another little girl, we decided to use the nursery furniture for little Annie and get McKenzie a new bed.  Thanks to Mom, she has a very cute quilt that matches her room perfectly.  Thanks to Carter, she has her favorite purple fleece blanket and big, fuzzy pillow.  And thanks to McKenzie, she has adorable flower sheets that she picked out all on her own.  So, here it is!  When we first showed her the bed, she had a pretty funny look on her face... part excitement, part "what the heck is going on?!"  She pretty immediately got in it and covered herself up.  I guess the true test will come this evening.

And after two minutes, filled with all of her goodies!

Besties

Like it or not, these girls are pretty much best friends.  Although it may be by default since Kelly and I hang out so much, they really do seem to have fun together.  Even if fun sometimes includes a fit or two because that toy that hasn't been played with or even noticed for the last two months is suddenly "MIIIINE!!!"  But once we get through the reminders about how to share, Brinley and McKenzie generally have a great time together.

Brinley's house has the best (and most!) riding toys.

Fun with hats. 

We have aprons, now what?  Oh yeah, riding toys!

Brinley getting right in my face.

Ma-dy

After a long day with Mommy, McKenzie is usually quite excited to see her Daddy.  Unfortunately, her transition to calling him Daddy can sometimes take quite a while.  For the better part of two hours, she refers to him as "Ma-dy." It's as though she remembers mid-word what to call him, but decides to just go with it anyway.  It's quite hilarious.

By 9:00 last night however, she had his name down.  We had a long night at the softball field and were playing on the bed as we attempted to put pajamas on McKenzie.  Brant gave her a gentle push into a pile of pillows and that did not sit well with her.  She expressed her feelings pretty well by saying, clear as day, "that's not nice, Daddy."

Today brought the second day of Mother's Day Out.  Because Annie's arrival is closing in each day, we want McKenzie to get used to either of us taking her to school.  So, Daddy took his turn today.  Brant called me after he dropped her off and said he thinks she only cried because the little girl that went before her cried.  Based on what I heard when I picked her up, I don't think that was quite right.  Before the door even opened, I heard her crying, "Dadddddyyyyy."  It was very pitiful.  Once she saw me, she said "I miss Daddy.  Daddy don't drop me off."  And as we pulled into the driveway, "Daddy doesn't miss me."  Heartbreaking!  I guess when she's used to Daddy taking her to donuts and the park on Saturday mornings, it's a rude awakening when he drops her off and leaves.  

Got a Minute?

At the very end you can barely hear it, but she calls me over and says "take a picture."  Guess she felt like her spinning efforts deserved some recognition.

A Little Break

Yesterday, we finally had a break in the heat.  So for the first time in a while, we headed out to play in the back yard.  McKenzie had fun swinging on her own.  And I had fun taking a few pictures and relaxing outside.  With baby #2 inching closer each day, I'm really starting to realize how precious this time is with McKenzie.  I just hope it stays cool (and by cool, I mean not 100 degrees, which doesn't seem to be asking a lot) so that we can continue to get outside and have fun.

Love those little curls!

She never fell out of the swing!

Whistling on her way to see Daddy!