Life...As Amy Knows It

Happy Valentines Day!!!!!

2012-02-14T21:01:00.002-06:00

Here is my sweet little valentine in her new princess dress and eating her cotton candy I got her for Valentines Day . Hope everyone felt loved today!

"Tail" Envy

2012-02-13T09:25:00.001-06:00

When I dropped McKenna off at school this morning, I let her teacher know that she has been complaining of her "tail" hurting, so to let me know if she did it today. I then explained to the teacher the whole tail situation. (A little information...her room has a bathroom in it, that the boys and girls both use.) She said that she asks the kids to close the door when they use the restroom, but that sometimes it doesn't always happen, so that it probably how McKenna saw Drew's "tail." She then told me that last week, she caught McKenna try to go to the bathroom standing up like a boy and that she saw her touching her private area and looking down at it. I'm guessing that she's just confused why some people have a tail and she doesn't!?I'm assuming (hoping) that this is normal! Funny girl.

Random Pics And A Funny Story

2012-02-12T21:26:00.000-06:00

I have been so awful at taking pictures with my camera lately, and even worse about uploading on the computer. So here's some random pics from the last few weeks!

McKenna decided she wanted to "play with the abc's", I decided I didn't want her to ;)

I ordered her a new bow and she wanted me to take a picture of her with it on! This is the way she posed...I'm loving the hip pop! Gosh she is getting so big!!

Out celebrating for Becky's birthday!! Love these girls!

McKenna and her baby having a sleepover! I love that she loves to play with her dolls!
And I love that PJ does, too!

And now a funny story. My sister was watching McKenna for me for a little bit today while I ran to the store. She called me saying that McKenna was holding her "pee-pee" and saying that her tail hurt. I have never heard her say that before and it made me laugh! Well later on tonight, she said it again. I asked her why she calls it a tail and she said "Drew has a tail." Drew is a boy in her class and she must have seen his "private" area, thought it looked like a tail and must think she has a tail there too. hahaha. I LOVE little kids' minds!!!

L-O-V-E

2012-02-09T19:11:00.000-06:00

Last week at PJ's, McKenna and Trippy were having their lovies kiss each other. Looking at these pictures reminded me of something McKenna said to me yesterday that I NEVER want to forget!
We were playing in the basement after school and I asked McKenna to give me a kiss. She came over to give me a kiss and afterwards she said "I love you soooo much, Mommy!" It seriously melted my heart and I've thought about that so much since then! She is such a sweet girl deep down and has such a love for life...and her momma!! :)

Weekend

2012-02-08T21:11:00.000-06:00

I feel like every weekend this winter has been nothing but lazy. Part of the reason for this laziness is Netflix. I get sucked into shows and can't stop watching them! First was Parenthood and now I'm on Friday Night Lights. So while I'm watching the shows, McKenna gets to watch her own shows on the "compu(ew)ter"
and do a little playing. Win-win situation!! (Please not that she is in jammies in all the pics! I'm not kidding when I say she is in these jammies every second that she is not at school. And she would wear them to school if I let her!)

Praise Ye The Lord

2012-02-06T22:30:00.000-06:00

McKenna came home singing this song last week and it made my heart smile because this song reminds me so much of my Grandma Bernice. I can hear her singing the song, while doing the standing up/sitting down motions. That's what I love about music...it can bring back so many fond memories. McKenna just don't seem to understand that songs are meant to be sung, not screamed.

Big Girl Panties

2012-02-01T20:41:00.002-06:00

Miss McKenna is finally wearing big girl panties all day! Last week her teacher wanted her to start wearing panties at school, and McKenna only had 1 accident all week! However, this stuborn child of mine would NOT go at home! I would make her sit on the potty for 15 or more minutes and she wouldn't go. But then she'd pee in her pants as soon as she got off the toilet. Words cannot express how frustrated I was! Yesterday and today, however, she's gone at home. I am so proud of her!

There is 1 thing she's having a problem with, though. And that is pooping in the toilet. She can't quite figure out when she has to go, so she has been pooping in her pants. Today we were outside playing and then she yelled "mommy I need some help" and came running, with her drawers full!

Hopefully she will figure that out soon! She is also still wearing a pull up to bed, and I don't see that ending anytime soon. She goes tinkle a lot during the night. Yay McKenna!!!

Can I Carry You?

2012-01-30T21:08:00.001-06:00

I guess that I can hold you

one more time before you grow.

And tell you that I love you

so that you will always know.

Please let me tie your shoe again.

One day you'll tie your own.

And when you think back to this time

I hope it's love I've shown

One day you might just care for me,

so let me care for you.

I want to be a part

of every little thing you do.

Tonight could I please wash your hair?

Can I put toys in the bath?

Can I help you count your small ten toes

before I teach you math?

Before you join a baseball team

can I pitch you one more ball?

And one more time can I stand near

to make sure you don't fall?

Let's take another space-ship ride

Up to the Planet Zoor.

Before our Cardboard Rocket

doesn't fit us anymore.

Please let me help you up the hill.

while you're still too small to climb.

And let me read you stories

while you're young and have the time.

I know the day will come

when you will do these things alone.

Will you recall the shoulder rides

and all the balls we've thrown?

I want you to grow stronger

than your Mom could ever be.

And when you find success

there will be no soul more proud than me.

So will you let me carry you?

One day you'll walk alone.

I cannot bear to miss one day

from now until you've grown.

By:Brad Anderson

(From this blog)

Afternoon Snack

2012-01-26T18:50:00.002-06:00

Most afternoons after school, McKenna has the same snack...

...goldfish and milk! I'd prefer oreo's and milk, but whatever floats her boat!!

Weekend Part 2-Camera Pics

2012-01-25T20:50:00.000-06:00

Here are the pics from Trippy's Toy Story birthday party. The kiddos all had fun playing together, and Trippy was the cutest birthday boy!!!

Weekend Part 1-Cell Phone Pics

2012-01-24T21:45:00.000-06:00

My camera battery is dead, so this post will only be about the things we did when I took pics with my cell phone! Honestly, this weekend was nothing but laziness. I don't know what it is, but I'm like a bear in winter and want to hibernate! After school on Friday, we went to Hobby Lobby so I could get some stuff to start working on McKenna's birthday stuff and then we went to get Trippy a birthday present! That night my sister came over and we watched many episodes of "Say Yes To The Dress" while McKenna played.

If you look real close, you can see her in the tent. She was playing her new Vtech Dora game!

Saturday morning, we went to the gym and then stayed home the entire rest of the day! We didn't leave the house until church on Sunday. Like I said, I'm in hibernation mode! We played and watched TV in the basement all day. I started the first 2 seasons of "Parenthood" last weekend, so I watched the last of those episodes. My sweet cousin Andrew came over after he got off work to bring us a pizza from
Dewey's (where he works). I LOVE their pizza! He read McKenna some books, and it was really cute!

Sunday, we went to church and then to Sam's. I basically ate my lunch off of all the samples! Sunday is the best day for samples! McKenna got a hot dog and loved it! We then went to Trippy's party, but those pics are on my camera, so I will post them later!

Can't wait for next weekend!

Basketball

2012-01-16T21:38:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I took McKenna to a high school girls basketball game. Two of my co-workers teams were playing against each other, so another co-worker of mine and I went to the game. McKenna had fun watching it. After the game she looved running around the court. She even picked up a basketball and tried to shoot at the hoop! Guess she paid attention during the game. After tiring herself out running, she decided it was time to make a game plan! My sister and my dad would be so happy if she became a basketball player! :)

In Her Shoes

2012-01-10T18:22:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, we went shopping and I was in the dressing room trying on some clothes. While I was trying on the clothes, McKenna decided to try on some shoes that I brought in to try on.

A few days ago, I was going through the pictures on my phone and saw these. As I was looking at them, it just hit me how much McKenna looks up to me, emulates me and looks to me as an example.

I will be the first to admit that I am not always a great example. I say things I shouldn't say, I get frustrated faster than I should, I yell at her a little too often, I'm not always the nicest person, etc.

And though I'm sure I've thought of it before, looking at these pictures it just hit me that I HAVE to become a better example for her. I need to be the person I want her to grow up to be. A person that's compassionate, loving, giving, and so on.

She tries to be "in my shoes" and I need to make sure that those shoes are worth filling! Geez, being a mother is such a big responsibility! :)

Christmas Break

2012-01-09T21:20:00.001-06:00

Unfortunately, our Christmas Break ended a week ago. I'd love to say that I was super productive over the break, but I was nothing but lazy. And it felt great! :) Here's some random pics of Kenna from break. As you can see, we spent lots of time in our jammies!

All About 2 1/2 Year Old McKenna

2012-01-03T07:54:00.001-06:00

-Her talking has just skyrocketed recently. She is putting together full sentences, and can use verbs properly. For example, the other day she was talking about on of her lovies and she said "she does have it on there." She also uses "too" properly
-Whenever she is playing, she loves to sing what she is doing. She will just make up words like "and he looks in the mirror" and so on, to no particular tune!
-She is such an outgoing child but has this little bashful side that I love.
-She has started these tantrums where she will kind of hop and then fling herself face first on the floor and kick her feet. Cracks me up every time!
-She loves to say her prayers at night and I can often hear her saying some more after I leave the room. She's even thankful for the walls ;)
-She is wild, hard headed, strong willed and a little bit of a troublemaker but she is sooooo sweet. She loves to give me kisses on my cheek, often times when we're shopping. If I cough, she always asks me if I'm okay. She is usually very good at saying please and thank you. Many nights she loves to tell me "I love you so big, Mommy" after I close her door for the night. Whenever I'm laying on the couch, she always comes and lays with me. She will lay facing towards me, put her arm around my neck and touch my nose with her nose. Melts my heart.
-She can be soo particular about things. At night after I put her in bed, if there's something in her room that she doesn't want, she will stand by the door saying "I don't want it" until I take it from near. It can be a brush, a stuffed animal or whatever.
-She wants complete control of her wardrobe. On school mornings, I can usually get her clothes on while she's still groggy but she has to pick out her coat. And its usually a coat that isn't weather appropriate. So that's a fun fight with her at 6:20 am :) on weekends, we she gets dresses later in the day, she wants complete control of what she wears. I usually give her a few choices but sometimes she just likes to go in her closet and pick it out herself!
Also, she hates to wear any jeans or pants that aren't black stretchy pants that she calls tights. My sister was the same way!
-She has so many friends. Everyone at the gym knows name and always says hi when she comes in. The older girls particularly love her and get excited when she comes. She also always talks about all her friends at school, especially Raymond and Sadie. She's actually called my sister and me Sadie a couple times lately.
-She is so very happy. The smallest things make her smile and laugh. But on the flip side, she can get so very mad! Very easily! At least she is passionate about how she feels!
-She looves to wear her pj's and "slipperies." Sometimes when we get home from school, she walks right in to her room and changes into her pj's. There has been more than 1 day this break that she has stayed in her pj's all day, even when we've gone the the gym, mall, etc.
-She does not like for her dolls or stuffed animals to have clothes on. As soon as she got her new dolls for Christmas, their clothes came off immediately. Funny girl.

That's all I can think of for now. I'll do another when she turns 3!

Christmas Program at Church

2012-01-02T23:49:00.000-06:00

The weekend before Christmas, McKenna and the other preschoolers at church sang during the Christmas Program. Well, let me rephrase that. All of the other preschoolers sang. McKenna didn't sing a word. And she lifted up her skirt. And shirt. I was such a proud mama! haha

This girl is toooo much!! :)

Christmas Day

2012-01-02T11:39:00.001-06:00

Christmas morning Santa made a little visit to our house!

But before we opened gifts from Santa, we went to church to celebrate the real reason for Christmas. (Side note:I love that McKenna's favorite song she's sang this season is "Happy Birthday, Jesus; I'm so glad it's Christmas" and then she skips some lines and sings 'you' in a really high note :)
After church, my mom, sister, Randy, Kelly and Ryan came over to open presents. We were all spoiled.

After a short nap, we headed to my aunt's house to celebrate with my mom's side of the family. We always have a good time together :)

Before the presents began, it was picture time!

Then it was time for the kiddo's to open their presents! They got some great things!! Including this fun doll house that my grandma got both Trudy and McKenna!

She was ready to go home and play with it right then!

One of these days I'll finally get a cute pic of me and her, where she's actually smiling!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-01T11:14:00.000-06:00

We spent Christmas Eve over at my dad's house. My dad's side of the family was all over there and it was such a good time!

Cute cousins :)

Opening her Christmas jammies from me. Christmas Eve tradition :) She LOVES wearing jammies and "slipperies" all the time, so she put them on as soon as she opened them!

Cutest Gramps ever :)

Her christmas present from my dad and Dana. It's safe to say she loved it. So much so, that she threw an epic tantrum when it was time to come inside.

I love Charlie's face in this picture. It's that "I'm not sure what I've got myself into" smile!

My lovie lovin' girl!

Santa's Early Visit

2011-12-30T12:56:00.000-06:00

The weekend before Christmas, Santa made an early visit to McKenna, Trudy and Trippy to give them a little something before Crhistmas. I hadn't taken McKenna to see Santa this year, so I really wasn't sure how she would do with him. But she LOVED him! I love seeing the magic in their eyes!

At the end of the night, the kiddos put on a litte concert! They were singing different Christmas Carols and it was sooo sweet!

Fun Night With Good Girlfriends!!

2011-12-29T01:56:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago a few of my friends came over for dinner, dessert and chatting! It was such a fun time to relax and just catch up. McKenna also got to hang out with her little friend Kiera!

Trip to KC

2011-12-28T11:49:00.001-06:00

At the beginning of December, McKenna and I made a quick trip up to Kansas City to see some friends from college and their cute kiddos. My friend Shari and her daughter Rebekkah were in town from Guatemala, so it was great to get to see them. Both the adults and kids had a great time! I am so thankful to have such good friends!

White {2 Days After} Christmas

2011-12-28T00:26:00.000-06:00

This morning, we woke up to our first snow of the season. McKenna was so excited that she snuck out while 0; was going to the bathroom. This is apparently her snow apparel!

After breakfast, she wanted to venture out again, but most of the snow was gone :( She did like playing with her "unrella", though!

Tech Savvy

2011-12-26T23:12:00.000-06:00

McKenna LOVES to play with my ipad. She has a Dora game on there that helps her learn how to draw her letters. Just this last month, she has been able to do the letters all by herself! I found out a couple weeks ago that she can also find TV shows! I came out of the kitchen and she was watching Charlie Brown from the ABC app. I thought it was a fluke, but she goes to it all the time now! It's so crazy how fast little kids catch on to things!

Lips

2011-12-20T21:29:00.001-06:00

Last week I was in the bathroom getting ready. McKenna loves to put makeup on while I am, so I gave her some lipgloss, which she calls "lips". A few minutes later she said "look mommy, PJ's got lips!" Poor littlen PJ just sat there and let her do that to him! He's so sweet to her!

Christmas Program!

2011-12-11T18:23:00.001-06:00

McKenna had her first ever performance! I was soooo excited about this cute little Christmas program. It's so fun to see your cute little kiddo performing! Unfortunately, she didn't do too much "performing" on the stage! I was so surprised that she didn't sing. She's got such an outgoing personality and knew all the words to the song, so I just knew she'd be up there singing away. Not so much. Oh well, at least she looked cute!

Christmas Picture Outakes

2011-12-07T18:46:00.002-06:00

McKenna was a smiling machine this year when I was taking her pics!! She is soo stinkin' cute, I can't stand it sometimes! (And, yes, I know I'm biased!)

Oh Christmas Tree!

2011-12-06T18:44:00.000-06:00

McKenna was so excited to get to help me decorate the tree this year! Please ignore how lame my tree decorating is this year and focus on the cutie decorating it! Christmas is getting so fun with her, now that she understands it more!

Happy Birthday, Trudy!!

2011-12-05T20:44:00.000-06:00

The weekend after Thanksgiving we celebrated Trudy's 3rd birthday! She had an Ariel party and it was so fun! The kiddo's really enjoyed themselves!

Thanksgiving!

2011-11-30T20:27:00.000-06:00

I absolutely love Thanksgiving...it's my favorite holiday. I love that it is all about being grateful for what we have and spending quality time with our family. This year, we headed to Matt and Jeanie's again. It was such a fun time and I love the time we get to spend together! McKenna also loved hanging out with all of her cousins!

Me and my little "turkey"

All of the "big kids" climbed up to the top of this deer stand. Of course McKenna couldn't be left out!

McKenna really wanted to get in the pond. So bad, that she began taking off her clothes to hop in. Everyone told her multiple times that it was too cold, but this child has to learn the hard way..with EVERYTHING. So, we let her get in! haha. She was back out in about 30 seconds, saying "coooold."

The Little Princess

2011-11-26T13:57:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite movies growing up was "The Little Princess" with Shirley Temple. My mom got me the DVD for Christmas last year. I brought it on our trip for Thanksgiving and McKenna has loved watching it. She calls it Shoey Timble. She asked over and over to watch it this afternoon. I can't wait to watch the whole thing again! I love that she likes something I loved!

Thanksgiving Treats

2011-11-23T16:02:00.000-06:00

To celebrate Thanksgiving with McKenna's classmates, I made them these turkey cookies. The turkey in the recipe looked much cuter than mine, but oh well. I just hope the kids could tell it was a turkey!

For her teachers, I gave them this cute little card I found on Pinterest! I just hope they like Starbucks!!

lazy sunday

2011-11-20T16:21:00.001-06:00

We've spent the day laying around. My perfect rainy day!!

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Long Weekend

2011-11-16T21:27:00.005-06:00

In honor of the selfless Veterans who have served our country, we had off of work on Friday. So it was a long weekend! I LOVE those!! If every weekend was 3 days, I would be sooo happy!! The weather was beautiful and we spent lots of time outside. She is getting so good at jumping!! She kept saying "tire, tire" (higher, higher) as she would jump.

After a long time outside, we came in to rest. McKenna loves to "sit in mommy's spot" on the couch. She will race me to the couch to get there first. I guess she was also mimicing me, too!

After church on Sunday, we walked to the park. McKenna is really into her babies right now and she is such a good mom! She made sure her baby was buckled in before she buckled in herself!

Hopefully we'll have at least another weekend as beautiful as this one, before it gets super cold (although, crazy enough, I'm looking forward to the cold weather and cuddling inside).

Beautiful

2011-11-15T18:19:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite songs right now is a song called "Beautiful" by Mercy Me. Everytime I hear this song, I think of McKenna. I pray that she knows and remembers this for the rest of her life!!

Days will come when you don't have the strength

And all you hear is you're not worth anything

Wondering if you ever could be loved

And if they truly saw your heart

They'd see so much

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

You are made for so much more than all of this

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His

You're beautiful

Praying that you have the heart to fight

Cuz you are more than what is hurting you tonight

For all the lies you've held inside so long

But they are nothing in the shadow of the cross

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful, You're beautiful
You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His
You're beautiful

Before you ever took a breath

Long before the world began

Of all the wonders He possessed

There was one more precious

Of all the earth and skies above

You're the one He madly loves

Enough to die!

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

In His eyes

You're beautiful!

You are made for so much more than all of this

You're beautiful!

You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His

You're beautiful!

You are made for so much more than all of this

You're beautiful!

You are treasured

You are sacred

You are His

GO CARDS!!

2011-11-14T21:18:00.000-06:00

I am wayyy late posting this, but woohooo the Cardinals won the World Series!!! The first, of hopefully many, McKenna was alive for!

It was so much fun to watch all of the playoffs. It was kind of depressing once the season was over, because my life (and everyone else's in St.Louis) had been consumed by baseball for a month! It was such a magical feat and I'm glad to have witnessed it!
On Sunday, we went down to the parade to celebrate the win! It was soo fun. There were hundreds of thousands of fans down there, all in red. Such an amazing sight to see! I got pictures of everyone riding by, but I'll post my faves!!

Hopefully we'll get to do the same thing next year!!

happy saturday!!

2011-11-12T13:46:00.001-06:00

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Halloween Part 3

2011-11-03T20:35:00.000-05:00

On Halloween evening, we went over to my cousin Julie's house for dinner and trick or treating.
I LOVE this pic I got of Miss Minnie Mouse before we went in.

The girls had fun playing before the big night!

How cute is this little gnome?!

Elvis was also in the house!

The 2 have so much fun together!

I have no idea what this face is for, but it's so cute!

All the cute little kiddo's ready to get some candy!

This year was so much fun for her since she understood more what was going on.

Halloween Part 2

2011-11-02T20:35:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, our church had a Harvest Party. McKenna was so excited when she saw all the fun things to do!

Unfortunately, the first thing she saw was the bounce house. She is obsessed with these things and stayed in there for 30 minutes. I finally had to climb in and get her. Embarassing.

After we left there, we headed to Boo at the Zoo with Becky, Kevin and Kierra.

I brought the wagon (or dragon as McKenna calls it) for her to ride it, but she had more fun pulling it.

The two beautiful ladies in red!

We had such a good time and hope to make it a yearly tradition!!

Halloween Part 1

2011-11-01T20:57:00.000-05:00

On the Thursday before Halloween, Downtown Kirkwood businesses always hand out candy. Minnie got all ready to go for her first trick or treating outing of the year. She actually let me do her hair since I told her she wouldn't be able to wear her Minnie ears if she didn't let me. How cute does she look with her hair like this?! I sooo hope that as she gets older, she'll start to let me do her hair!

She looked so stinkin' cute, I could hardly stand it!!

I'm obviously not meant to be one of those parents who makes their children's costumes. All I had to do was iron the black marks on her gloves, and I couldn't even do that right. She ended up with 2 right hand gloves! Thank goodness for Etsy (who made her dress and ears!!)

And the fun begins!

She was starting to drive me crazy because everytime she'd get a new piece of candy, she'd have to have it right then. Patience is not in her blood.

Mouse on a mission!

After about an hour of trick or treating, we headed to PJ's. McKenna was so excited to see her besites!

26.2 Miles

2011-10-30T21:56:00.002-05:00

One of my life goals (1 of 2 I actually have!) was to run a marathon. When I ran the half marathon in April, I decided that now was as good as time as any to run a full marathon, so I signed up at the half marathon expo. After 18 weeks of very time consuming training, last Sunday was finally the big day to run the marathon! My friend Becky also ran it!

We ran together for about the first 16 miles, but then she kept running and I needed to walk! Around mile 18, I really just wanted to walk of the course. I had just passed by my dad and knew his car was somewhere around there, but with a little self-talk, I was back on track! Your mind really messes with you!!After 4 hours and 58 minutes, I crossed the finish line! (5 hours was my worst case scenario time...I barely made it!!)

I started to get a little emotional the last mile or so, and when I made the turn for the last bit of the race, I saw McKenna. Then I really teared up and didn't stop crying until after the finish line! I'm not an emotional person, but after running almost 5 hours, I was a little out of it. haha.

My cousin Julie brought McKenna and Trudy and Trippy! I was so happy to see all of them!

I'm not one to brag, but I think we look pretty good for just running a marathon ;) haha!

Showing off my marathon bling. haha

I'm happy that I was able to do something that I thought was out of reach. I can now check it off my bucket list. However, I am disappointed with my time and will run another one to beat it. It just might be in a few years!

Football Cheerleader

2011-10-25T19:13:00.000-05:00

One of my friend/co-worker decided to go to a high school football game between some schools in our district. We sat right behind the cheerleaders and McKenna had soo much fun watching them! I think she looked like a pretty cute cheerleader herself that day!

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

2011-10-24T21:12:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I took McKenna to the pumpkin patch. We went to a different one than we've gone to the last 2 years, and I like it much better! We first checked out the cute little chicks.

I tried to get a cute pic of her with the pumpkins, but she only sat long enough for 1 pic. There was too much to do!

{Nothing special about this pic, but I just think she looks soo big!}

After a quick lunch, it was off to ride the horses! She had so much fun on the horse and looked like an old pro!

The barrel train was next. She was so excited to get in!

Last stop was the huge playground. She had a blast. Can you tell?!

Inside the play area was a corn maze. I went in with her the first time. She ran out of there at the end and before I could catch up with her, she had run in the maze again. There were some people who went in after her, so I decided to just wait at the exit and hope she made it out. She did...thank goodness!!

Jesus Loves Her!

2011-10-21T20:29:00.001-05:00

Love this!!

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Happy Birthday, Charlie!

2011-10-19T20:52:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was Mr. Charlie's birthday!! Isn't he such a cute little guy?!

I don't think McKenna realized the party wasn't for her because at one point in time, they were both sitting at the kitchen table yelling "no it's my birthday" back and forth to each other. McKenna then had to up the ante by sticking her tongue out and blowing after she said it. It was so funny and cute! (But she did get in trouble for the tongue!)

I got Charlie his first drum set. Melanie and Tom loved me. :) He was a natural!

McKenna, not so much. But she had fun!

The night couldn't end without a good night kiss!

More Imagination

2011-10-18T20:46:00.001-05:00

McKenna's imagination has just been getting cuter by the minute!! The other day we were playing in the basement. She told me that she was going to go get her baby breakfat and headed upstairs. I didn't see her for a while, so I went upstairs and saw this...

I then walked into the family room and saw this...

Seriously one of the cutest things I have ever seen!

When I was redoing her room, I had the stuff that was on her shelves sitting around. She loved this little wood lady and was carrying her all over. I then heard her say "wanna go ny-ny. okay." When I walked into her room a bit later, I saw this...

I just LOVE her and all her imagination cuteness!!

McKenna-isms

2011-10-17T20:46:00.000-05:00

I want to remember all the cute things that McKenna says and does. These are the cute things I never want to forget when she gets older!

"kenna, why'd you do that"
no fear. not afraid of anyone or anything
"oh my gosh"
runs with right arm moving back and forth...while left arm stays at her side
"push it" whenever the car stops
"lips" is chapstick
"slipperies" are slippers
lashlight are lights
dump trucks are pickup trucks
paint is "pink"

Friday Night Fun

2011-10-15T19:16:00.002-05:00

Last night was a fun, lazy night at home! I LOVE nights like these in the fall and winter. We played in the basement all night and McKenna had so much fun with her babies!!! And to make the night even better, the Cards won!!

Fall Football

2011-10-10T20:18:00.001-05:00

One of the fun parts of fall is getting to go to football games. We went to our first game of the season and McKenna had so much fun. And was the cutest spectator there!!

Big Girl Room

2011-10-05T21:34:00.002-05:00

I am almost finished redoing McKenna's room into a big girl room. It is my new favorite room in my house! She seems to like it too, and she loves her big girl bed! I will post the whole room pics as soon as I get the last few things done.

Cooking Adventure

2011-10-02T16:49:00.000-05:00

McKenna helped me make some pudding last week. She had a lot of fun helping me! Maybe I'll have to do this more often!

{I think she liked it!!}

Brentwood Days!!

2011-09-27T19:51:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was Brentwod Days at a park down the street from my house. On Friday night, they had free carnival rides and Bob Kuban played. The carnival didn't open until 5, so we played in the backyard for a bit before we left.

Then it was time to go. She was so excited to go to the "carnibal"!

Once we got there, she was a {lot} out of control. She get's sooo excited about things that she seriously can't contain herself. If we had to wait any amount of time for a ride, I seriously had to hold her while she kicked and screamed. A couple times I had to chase her after she went in the exit to get to rides. This girl is seriously out.of.control!! That night, it was a good thing I love her so much! ;) She loved all the rides...especially the climby thing and the swings! I'm pretty sure she wasn't tall enough to ride the rides, but the carnie's don't seem to care too much about all that!

My sister then came up and I took McKenna on the Ferris Wheel. And I'm pretty sure I'll never take her on a Ferris Wheel again! The entire time she kept trying to stand up or slip under the bar on our seat. My heart was seriously beating so fast and we couldn't get off that darn ride fast enough!

When I could take no more of the craziness that was McKenna, we went over to get some food and watch Bob Kuban. Kenna got a hot dog and then did some dancing. She was so cute and sweet. And I was happy!

All in all, it was a good time! Can't wait until next year!

Sunday Funday

2011-09-26T21:51:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, we went over to my aunt's house for our {almost} weekly Sunday dinner's. As always, McKenna, Trudy and Trippy had so much fun with each other!!

However, the fun did come at a cost. These 2 were sitting on a bench on the deck. No one is sure how it happened, but I heard them squeal, looked over and saw both their legs up in the air. The somehow fell backwards, off the deck, into the flower bed. They both landed on some sort of rock. And they have battle wounds to show for it!

But, regardless, it was great night!

Little Imaginations And A Cute Story

2011-09-18T22:29:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago, McKenna was playing with her beloved troll and pretending the troll was on a train. She kept saying "chuga chuga choo choo." I look over and I see this...what a cute train (her high heel!)! I love how little kids use their imagination!

And here's a cute story...
Last week we were in the car driving and McKenna was in the backseat talking. I turned down the radio and heard her saying "Sammy, stop crying, your mom will be here in a little bit. Sammy, it's okay, you're mommy will be here." Sammy is a kid in her class, so I figured out she was just repeating things her teacher says. Next I hear, "McKenna...McKenna, Be Quiet, Be Quiet." Hahaha. I couldn't stop chuckling. I'm assuming she hears this a bunch from her teacher ;)

Future Wildcat

2011-09-14T20:50:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago, we went to the new Westminster campus. It is AMAZING! While we were there, I had to snap a pic of McKenna in front of her future high school! ;)

Wedding Weekend, Part 4

2011-09-12T22:39:00.000-05:00

Now on to the REALLY fun part of the wedding...the reception!!! Everyone had such a blast. The food was great, the cake was beautiful, the photobooth was fun, the ice luge was a blast (especially when my grandma's 80 year old friends did it!) and the Bob Kuban band was amazing!!

We all posed with the bouquet...but my sis actually caught it!

"Brown-eyed girls!"

Wedding Weekend Part 3

2011-09-08T21:01:00.000-05:00

I'm going to break up the actual wedding day between the ceremony/after ceremony and the reception. So here's the pics from the ceremony and right after. Annemarie was SUCH a BEAUTIFUL bride!!

{I LOVE this pic!}

Wedding Weekend Part 2

2011-09-07T21:29:00.000-05:00

Friday night was the Rehearsal Dinner at the Top of the Met. The view was so beautiful! Mark's parents did a great job with the dinner and it was lots of fun!

Wedding Weekend, Part 1

2011-09-06T20:56:00.001-05:00

My cousin, Annemarie, got married last weekend! It was such an amazing time!!! I have sooo many pictures to post, so I'm going to break it up in sections! The first section is from the Bridal Luncheon. First, we got mani's and pedi's in the morning. Unfortunately, I got no pics of this, but it was fun!!
After that, we headed to Norwood for lunch. It was good fun, good company and good fun! Annemarie got everyone cute gifts and wrote a sweet note!

Next up...the Rehearsal dinner!

First Ram's Game!

2011-08-25T21:50:00.001-05:00

I won tickets at school last week for Saturday's Ram's game. There were going to be some other staff and some of my students there, so I decided to take McKenna. We took the "train" down there. In order to get her to sit in her seat while on the "train", I bought her some candy corn to eat. She basically ate the whole bag on the way down there!

She was so excited when we got there. She kept saying "going to a baseball game" and "Gooo Ram's." As much fun as we had, though, I don't think I had enough fun to take her back to another game anytime soon ;)

First Haircut

2011-08-24T21:27:00.000-05:00

Last Friday McKenna got her very first haircut!! Her hair was growing uneven in the back, so I thought it was time for a little trim. We went to a children's haircut place called Sweet n Sassy. It was such a cute place!

Honeymoon Is Over

2011-08-23T21:27:00.000-05:00

Well, the honeymoon is over. After 2 good weeks, this sweet little girl has started to show her true self at school! I had a staff meeting at work today, so I didn't get to pick her up until 3:30. I usually pick her up at 2:30 and they are eating snack, but by 3:30 they are playing in the gym. I walk into the gym to get her and I see all the cute little kids in her class all standing still at the door, hanging on to the little rope they all hold when walking. I look at the line to find McKenna and she wasn't there. So, I look further into the gym and see McKenna running all over laughing while the teacher was chasing her. I have to admit, it was quite the funny sight, but I know how frustrated that teacher had to be! When she saw me, she came running over and I made her apologize to the teacher. This wasn't her regular teacher that I bribed last week (she get's off work at 3), so I guess I will have to bring gifts to bribe this teacher for the few days McKenna will have to be there after 3. Oh I love this girl but she is a handful!

Spirit Week At Pre-School

2011-08-22T21:28:00.000-05:00

Last week was Spirit Week at McKenna's school. Tuesday was Disney shirt day. I do not buy McKenna character clothes, so we had to make a trip to Target to buy her one.
She was so excited about getting this shirt that she put it on in the store and refused to take it off for the rest of the night and even wore it to bed! haha

Wednesday was Tacky Day.

Thursday was pajama day. I wish I had one of those!

And Friday was Career Day. I may be biased, but I think she is the cutest darn chef ever!

And here's her artwork from last week:

God Is Great

2011-08-20T23:13:00.000-05:00

McKenna learned a prayer at school. Her voice when she says it is BEYOND cute. I have listened to this hundreds of times!

Last Week's Artwork

2011-08-18T21:18:00.000-05:00

I'm going to start taking pictures of McKenna's artwork and posting it on here so she and I can always look back on it. That way I don't feel obligated to keep all of it...just the really cute stuff!!

First Friday of Preschool!

2011-08-17T21:53:00.001-05:00

McKenna's first Friday of preschool ended up such a success!! She didn't cry when I dropped her off and was all smiles the rest of the day! No crabby apple like she had been!

Since I know what a handful McKenna can be, I decided that I wouldn't be above bribing her teacher this school year!! So to say thanks for making her first week great, we gave her this gift I found on Pinterest (my new obsession!). It says "Thanks for making my first week of preschool AW-some!" It was attached to an A&W Root Beer (get it! ;) ) and some chocolate candy. There will be many more bribes to come!

360

2011-08-16T21:52:00.001-05:00

A couple weekends ago, my friends and I went to the new restaurant 360 on top of the downtwn Hilton. The place is absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to go back!

Pool Par-Tay!!

2011-08-15T21:53:00.001-05:00

The week before school started, my cousin Julie threw an Ice Cream Pool Party! The party started out with some swimming...

then the ice cream man came! yummo!!!

next was pinata time!

Everyone had such a fun time and it was such a cute party!

First Day Of Pre-School

2011-08-14T22:22:00.000-05:00

Doesn't she look so excited to go to her first day of school?!?

Here she is outside ready to go in!!

Getting excited!

On our way upstairs!! She looks soooooo big!!!

In her morning room. She couldn't wait to get her backpack off and go play!

She did fine at first but once I said bye, she started crying. It broke.my.heart. I just had to leave real quick and let myself think she stopped right away. In fact, she cried everyday I dropped her off except Friday. I just think that she is going through a little separation anxiety here lately because she has been crying when I drop her off at the gym daycare and church, too. I hate that she gets sad! I'm hoping she gets over it really quickly!

And just for fun, here she is on her 1st day of school in 2009 and 2010:

My Heart Smiles

2011-08-11T20:55:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting up in my room making a little gift to give McKenna's teacher to thank her for the first week of school and listening to McKenna over the monitor. I just heard her saying over and over "God is great, God is great Aaaaaaaaa-men." This week has been a little trying as she adjusts to getting up so early and new school, and hearing her precious voice say that wiped all the frustration away.

So Long Summer...

2011-08-10T21:23:00.000-05:00

Our 9 weeks of summer are over and it's back to school. Here is a list of the things I will miss:
1. McKenna turning on the light and coming up to my room to wake me up every morning.
2. Snuggling in bed in the morning before we started our day.
3. Hearing her sing "Someday I'll be living inanana city", "it's all about the money, money, money" and other songs on the way to the pool.
4. Being about to let my Night Owl self stay up late and sleep in
5. Getting to spend so much time with my Kenna Benna, even when she drove me crazy with all her stubborness, tantrums and non-listening skills!
6. Going to the pool almost everyday.
7. Having a tan!!
8. The Muny!!!
9. Spending more time with family and friends.
10. Being super lazy.
11. Eating frozen yogurt all the time!

I am so incredibly thankful that I have a job that allows me to have this time off in the summer. I truly cherish the time!!

She's A Jumper!

2011-08-09T22:28:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago, McKenna had another first...she jumped off the diving board!!! How did my little baby get old enough to do that?!

I'm sure to no one's surprise, she loved it!!!

And wanted to do it again!!

Good job, Kenna!!

Funny Girl

2011-08-07T14:04:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday I took McKenna to the movie theater and got her a kids' popcorn and soda. When she got tired of the movie, after about 15 minutes, we left. She still hadn't finished her popcorn, so I gave it to her once we got in the car. As we were leaving the theater I hear her say "OMG...I spilled the popcorn." I could not stop laughing. Its probably the hardest I've ever laughed at her. I say OMG a little too much, apparently! (in the oh my goodness sense, not the other way!) She is something else!!

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Sunday At Queenies

2011-08-06T12:39:00.001-05:00

Last weekend was pretty low-key. The highlight of our weekend was getting to go to Queenie's house on Sunday afternoon!! It's actually the highlight of many of my weekends!!! I changed McKenna into her "baby suit", as she calls it, when we first got there. She went to go show it off to Queenie, and Queenie taught her how to do a ballerina twirl.

Then it was time for a little snack. She knows right where to go!

McKenna was very excited when Trudy go there!!

It was now time to swim!!

And what better way to end a dip in the pool than with a little naked Ring Around the Rosy?!

After dinner the kiddos got a cookie. How many places can one eat a cookie?!

It was such a fun time!

Our Day With Trippy

2011-08-05T12:11:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, we got to spend the day with Trippy! It was such a fun time and I actually think 2 is easier than 1!
First we went to Target. These 2 bookworms had fun reading the whole time I shopped. That was the most peaceful trip I've had to Target in over 2 years!!!

When we got home from Target, McKenna got some new bows in the mail. She wanted to share her bows with Tripp, so she put one on him!

After lunch, we headed to the pool. I think these 2 spent more time snacking than swimming. That's on O'Hara for ya!

Fun Times With Friends!

2011-08-04T00:11:00.000-05:00

For my birthday, I met up with some girlfriends and my sister on the rooftop at the Moonrise Hotel. It was such an amazingly fun time and I love the great friends and sister I have!

The next weekend was my friend Rick's 40th Birthday Party. Such a fun time!

After the birthday party, I went to go see one of my friend/co-worker's band play. Some of my other friend/co-worker's also came. It was such a fun time!!

Rock Star

2011-07-31T10:01:00.001-05:00

This summer McKennas speech has blossomed. She has been able to say lots of words for a whiile but now she is putting together whole sentences. One of my favorite things she says is "Mommy whatchya doing out there." She says this every night after I put her to bed and I do something in the kitchen.
In addition, her singing has gotten so much better! She's always "sang" songs, but now I can a@tually understand her words. Here's a video of her singing one of her favorite songs!

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Budding Artist

2011-07-27T22:57:00.001-05:00

McKenna has always loved to color. That is the one thing she will do for more than 3 minutes. Lately she has gone beyond the typical scribbling. If there is a picture with a face, she will color in the eyes, nose and mouth. She also took her skills on to her lovie. She drew marker all over. Her lovies eyes, ears, nose and mouth the other day. And she was sooo proud! I love watching her grow and develop new skills!!

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Ted Drewes!

2011-07-22T21:39:00.001-05:00

Last week I took McKenna to Ted Drewes. I'm actually not a huge fan of it, but we were in the area so I took her. She liked it, but I think we both prefer froyo!!

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Book Club!

2011-07-17T12:41:00.001-05:00

Last Friday night was book club! I picked the last book, so the meeting was at my house. The book was about an adoption from India, so I had Indian food. Thankfully, Trader Joe’s has a huge Indian section in the frozen foods, so I didn’t have to cook anything! I did make the dessert though, and it was good!

Veteran’s Home Carnival

2011-07-16T12:34:00.001-05:00

I was so excited to be able to go to the Carnival at the Veteran’s Home again this year!! McKenna had such a fun time!! She ate lots, picked lots of duck’s to win prizes, danced to the band, made new friends and had a blast watching the fireworks!!!

Happy Birthday, Sissy!!

2011-07-15T12:18:00.000-05:00

Last week was my sister's birthday!! My aunt got a cake for her to celebrate at PJ's! McKenna and Trippy loved the cake!

And McKenna had fun telling sissy Happy Birthday!

Date Night With Trudy

2011-07-14T11:10:00.001-05:00

Last week, I took Trudy and McKenna to the Magic House because it was free.

Terrible idea. The place was swamped. The first place we went was the Alice In Wonderland special room. The girls’ spent about 30 minutes in here.

After loosing them both in the room at least 5 times, I decided that it was time to go to one of the attractions outside. It was way less crowded and actually relaxing!!

Unfortunately, it was starting to thunder and lightening, so we had to leave! There was no way I was going to go back inside with all the madness! We went to Taco Bell to get some dinner and then went to get some yogurt. The girls’ had so much fun!

Mini Me

2011-07-13T18:50:00.001-05:00

In the office/guest bedroom/whatever room, there is a piece of furniture that I always stand on to look at myself in the mirror. I bought a new dress the other day and stood on the furniture to look at it in the mirror. I got down and went upstairs to change clothes. When I came back downstairs, I saw McKenna doing this…

She was just posing away and looking in the mirror. She even went and got some {too small} shoes out of her closet to get the full on model effect going on!! She is sooo cute!!

Fun With Cousins

2011-07-12T18:30:00.001-05:00

Trippy and Trudy surprised McKenna and came over the other day to play. They always have so much fun together!!

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-11T23:14:00.000-05:00

We had such a fun 4th of July weekend!! Friday night started out with some Yo My Goodness. We LOVE that place…can you tell??!!

On Saturday, we went to my grandma’s country club pool. I got confused and though my family was going to be there, but it was actually the next day. McKenna and I enjoyed our time swimming, anyway! After we came home and got showered, we went on a choo-choo train (the Metrolink) to the fireworks Downtown!! We got some funnel cake and enjoyed the fireworks. She loved them!! After that night, anytime she would hear a loud noise, she would say “You hear that? It’s fireworks. Boom, boom.”

Sunday we went to church and we were supposed to go swimming with my family but it was pouring! So we just lounged around at home, fixed our make-up and then met my family at Norwood for dinner. McKenna was so good and so sweet!

On Monday, my sister, McKenna and I went to the Webster Groves festival. Bad idea. The ground was so muddy, and every time you stepped, mud would fly all over you. That didn’t hamper McKenna’s good time, though!

It was such a great weekend!!

No Walk In The Park

2011-07-02T11:10:00.000-05:00

Poor PJ. McKenna isn't the best dog owner in the world but she LOVES PJ. Her version of walking him recently has made me chuckle. First, the other day she would not leave me alone until I put PJ on his leash so she could walk him in the house. He was thrilled, let me tell you.

Then, the other day, she wanted to walk him in the wagon. So he, and her baby doll, went for the ride of their lives. I'm sure PJ had never been so happy to have his little paws back on the ground before!

Little Diva

2011-07-01T21:39:00.001-05:00

Kenna Benna looked sooo cute yesterday for playgroup. We met up with some of the kiddos in her class from church and she had such a good time!

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Last Weekend

2011-07-01T01:10:00.000-05:00

Last Friday McKenna actually let me put her hair in a ponytail with a bow! I didnt' have my camera handy, so I snapped this pic with my phone, hence the poor quality. But I just had to get a pic of how cute she looked!

Friday night I was going to a party at my friends house, so McKenna hung out with my upstairs while I got ready. She did a little repair on my IPad and did some jumping on my bed! (And, yes, those are snowman sheets still on my bed. I can't find my summer ones!)

I had so much fun at Mike's party and loved chatting with him and Marla. We worked together at the Exchange Center over a year ago, so we had lots of catching up to do!

The guy who took our picture told us to do a "crazy" picture, and this was as wild as we got. I know, out of control!

Saturday McKenna decided she wanted to "hello Sissy", which means she wants me to call my sister. She was soo funny...jumping and talking at the same time. I love her!

I was going stir crazy on Saturday night, so we took a little adventure to Kirkwood park. It was our first time there and it was lots of fun!

On Sunday, we went over to my aunt's house. I didn't bring McKenna's suit because I didn't know anyone would swim, but of course they did, so she just wore a swim diaper!

Not a great pic of the girls, but love that the dog is playing with them!

Trippy looked so cute in his little trunks!

A little father/son bonding!

These girls always have lots to talk about!

Nothing finishes of a great weekend better than ice cream!

Bathing Beauties

2011-06-25T20:45:00.002-05:00

McKenna is obsessed with "sissy"when we go to the pool. Lately, McKenna has been enjoying walking all around the pool, more than swimming, and she makes my sister follow her everywhere. It's pretty funny. Here's the 2 pool BFF's themselves!

Wonderful (Almost Completely McKenna Free!) Weekend With Friends

2011-06-23T18:48:00.000-05:00

My friend Heather and some of her friends were in town for the weekend. My dad kept McKenna over night, so I got to go hang out with her, late! We went out on Washington and it was lots of fun!

On Saturday morning, I went to Annemarie's Wedding Shower.

My dad dropped McKenna off afterwards and Heather came over to meet McKenna for the first time. Heather got to see first hand McKenna's crazy self! She then went down for a nap and I got ready to go to the Cardinal game. My mom came and got McKenna and then Bec and I were off for the game!

After the game we met up with Heather and her friends at PaddyO's.

I finally got to send sometime with my babes before church on Sunday. Apparently she wasn't very fond of getting her picture taken!

She Wore An Itsy Bitsy, Teenie Weenie Blue and White Stripped Searsucker Bikini

2011-06-22T19:31:00.001-05:00

Seriously, how stinkin' cute does she look in that suit? I could eat her up!!

Mama's Got New Wheels

2011-06-21T19:22:00.001-05:00

After spending much money on my car and finding out I had much more money to spend on that darn car, I decided that it was time to get a new car. I had my dad go with me so that they wouldn't take advantage of me. It was also convenient that he was there because he watched McKenna while I test drove, negotiated and bought the car! We got there are 6:30 and left at 10:15. My poor Dad was worn out chasing her in and out of every car in the showroom at least 100 times. I ended up getting a Mitsubishi Outlander Sport and I love it!

The Many Faces Of McKenna

2011-06-20T23:05:00.000-05:00

My sister took these pictures of McKenna at PJ's last week and I think they are so cute and funny! I may be biased, but I think she is so pretty!

No More Monkies Jumping On The Bed

2011-06-19T22:22:00.000-05:00

We followed the Dr.'s orders and stopped jumping on the bed. Instead, we jumped at Monkey Joe's with Trudy and Trippy!

I think these pictures are a foreshadow of what's going to happen in 14 years. These 2 behind the wheel, driving somewhere. Yikes!!

Lazy Days of Summer

2011-06-12T12:51:00.003-05:00

Here's how we're spending our day. LOVE being lazy!!

Having a Ball at the Carnival!

2011-06-09T12:13:00.002-05:00

St. Mike's school carnival was the other night and we met Trudy, Tripp, Don, Kathy and Julie up there for some fun! McKenna was in her own paradise there and was running off everywhere! She wanted to ride everything. The first ride she rode was the elephants. The just had her buckled in with a regular buckle, which she can undo, so I was a little nervous she might try to jump out of the elephant. Thankfully she didn't!

McKenna had a little breakdown when she couldn't ride the elephants again, but she was better when she realized she was getting to go on the ferris wheel!

We had a fun time! I'm sure McKenna is dreaming about the next time she can go to a carnival!

First Weekend of Summer Break!

2011-06-08T16:04:00.002-05:00

We kicked off our first weekend of summer break by heading to the pool. Trudy, Tripp, Tara and Kristin came with us! We had such a good time. The kiddo's play so well together and had so much fun playing around while we were waiting for Julie to pick up Trudy and Tripp.

On Saturday was my cousin Annemarie and her fiance Mark's engagement couple's shower. My battery was almost dead, so I only got one pic! It was such a good time!

Sunday we went to church and then went back over to my aunt's house to eat leftover's from the party. I thought McKenna looked so stinkin' cute in her shades!

She then found Coco's glasses and wanted to try them on.

Trudy, Tripp and McKenna found Brendan's helmet's and had so much fun wearing them. Hopefully McKenna will be wearing a helmet in the next couple of years when she plays t-ball!