Our Little Leprechaun

Papers and elements by Andrea.

Summarizing

McKay Update
We are now to the middle of March and it's only starting to sink in that my baby will turn a year old next month. Much of my days over the last few months have consisted of walking around my house with McKay holding on to my fingers. He takes us where he wants to go, pointing out things along the way. We've done the following things at least a bazillion times on our wanderings: inspected my closet, played with the washing machine lid, turned off and on the XBox, played the piano, turned off and on the lights, opened every door and drawer in the house, and turned off and on the water. We've also found time to swing, dance, eat Cheerios (a favorite) and go for walks OUTSIDE. He loves the computer the most (all of it---keyboard, mouse, cords, etc.) and we've had to sneak to use it so he won't be tempted. His little fingers can pop the keys off the laptop so fast. I'm probably leaving out some things, but I'm simply amazed at how McKay is getting more active everyday. He will take a few steps on his own, but only when we distract him from what he's doing. When he realizes he's walking alone, he sits down or lunges for one of us. I can usually get him to play by himself for a few minutes, but that doesn't last very long before he's calling "Mom" and off crawling to find me. We've tried having him push a walker around, which he can do, but he gets so mad at us and screams while he's doing it. I guess the walker doesn't give him enough freedom to touch and grab what he wants. McKay does his best talking when he IS mad...it's almost like he's giving us a lecture in his own baby language. He's very good with his use of "Mom" and "Dad", and usually calls for the one who's missing or who he's not mad at. It's amazing to actually hear those words come out of his mouth. McKay also has this thing with feeding his dad Cheerios. He will not feed them to me...ever...and I'm usually the one that feeds him. When we're both sitting in front of him asking for Cheerios, he'll always give them to his dad. Last night, we were both asking for a Cheerio but McKay kept putting them into his mouth until they were all gone. Finally, McKay took a mushy saliva-covered Cheerio out of his mouth and offered it to Nathan...which Nathan happily accepted. It was too cute to be gross. Besides Cheerios, McKay is crazy about bananas and guacamole!


Melanie's Wedding
Last month, my spectacular cousin Melanie married her sweetheart, Greg, in the Bountiful Temple. I'd been looking forward to this wedding for months. The day couldn't have been more perfect, and Melanie looked simply stunning. Unfortunately, my camera malfunctioned and I only ended up with a few pictures of the event.

The Happy Couple

It was tough to get a good angle amidst the crowd of picture-takers.


My Sisters and Mom

Grammy and McKay

Happy Birthday to My Magnificent Father!

(Taken at Melanie's wedding on 2/21/09. More pics from wedding at a later time.)

Week of Milestones and Anniversaries

McKay
McKay is now 3/4 of a year old! Here's his nine month photo montage taken on January 26th:


McKay is quite independent, but there must have been something magical about the nine month mark because he now allows us to rock him in the upright head-on-shoulder position. I thought it was a fluke the first time it happened, but now every time he wakes up he'll let us hold him this way. There does seem to be a time limit though...five minutes tops. We'll take what we can get. Since the day he was born he would push and fuss when we tried to put him up on our shoulders. If Nathan is home when McKay wakes up, we try to beat each other to his crib in order to experience this little slice of heaven. Also, McKay has fallen asleep in Nathan's arms twice this week---without any resistance. He still prefers to fall asleep in his crib, but hopefully he'll be more easy to handle during naptime at church on Sundays.

McKay's grin got a little more toothier (it's a word...promise) this week. After a few days of abnormal fussiness, I noticed FOUR bumps along the front of his upper gum. The two front teeth have broken through and it looks like the others won't be far behind. He also has another one trying to break through next to one of his bottom teeth.

He continues to do his army/inchworm crawl. I'm not sure if he'll actually do a crawl on all fours. He prefers for us to walk with him where he wants to go. (He also started pointing this week.) He walks along the furniture when he's motivated by an object he wants to grab. McKay loves to make me scream, either by splashing in the bathtub or swinging his pacifier around on its holder. When I scream, he copies it and then laughs and laughs. I've been trying to get it recorded, but am always too slow.

McKay went for his first dip in the pool while we were in Las Vegas over the weekend. He wasn't pleased at first (he was pointing at me to rescue him), but he slowly warmed up:

Janet
My beautiful sister Janet celebrated a birthday on the 28th. Since I've been neglectful in my posting, I didn't write about how wonderful, smart, talented, witty and generous she is, along with how I'm so lucky to have such an amazing sister. Oh, I guess I just did. ;)

The Price is Right
I can't believe two whole years have passed since we took my dad to the Price is Right (January 29th). It really was one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life. Two of my sisters (Janet and Suzanne) and I (plus Nathan) took my dad with the intentions of getting him chosen as a contestant. We came up with clever t-shirts, camped outside CBS studios overnight to get a good place in line and acted crazy in front of the casting producer. It all paid off and I'll never forget the feeling that came over me when I heard the words, "Dean Pearson, come on down! You're the next contestant on the Price is Right!" These pictures are priceless (thanks to my cousin Susan for getting stills from the recording---thank goodness I'm not in any of them---I looked like a lunatic---not that anyone else in any of the pictures does.):



25 Years
How can I have survived that many years without cancer when I don't feel that old? I had a malignant tumor and the adrenal gland it was attached to removed on January 31, 1984. I really can't believe how long ago that was. I would post a picture, but my scanner isn't working. I know, you're disappointed that you can't see how I looked at age seven with my frizzy mullet. Maybe I'll post a picture next year...on the 26th anniversary.

Free Photobooks Galore!

My digital scrapbooking hobby has fueled my search for inexpensive printing options. I've come across a few free photobook offers here and there. I mentioned a free offer at the beginning of the month here on my blog...and I compiled a list of more offers for my digital scrapbooking presentation at my ward's last enrichment night. Today I received an offer in my e-mail from Artscow.com for 10 free photobooks...that's right, T - E - N!!! This offer applies to hard-cover 20 page 8x8 books. After you register at artscow.com (or if you're already registered) go to the "Credit & Discount" link in the left-hand column. Enter in the coupon code FREE10BKS and 10 photobook credits will be generated with five expiring on 2/27/09, and another five expiring on 3/30/09. You should also see a list of several other credits on your account for free photo items.

Here are a couple more free photobook offers, just in case ten aren't enough:

Multiply.com - Coupon code FREEBOOKG (I mentioned this one in a previous post, but the expiration date keeps getting extended. If you haven't made this one yet, I highly recommend it.)
Picaboo.com - Follow this link.

If you've never made a photobook and don't know how awesome they are, here are a few pictures of the free ones I've made so far:

I Couldn't Resist

I need more Christmas decorations like I need more laundry. However, when I heard Robert's was having a Christmas clearance sale (90% off!!!), I HAD to check it out. I really tried to ignore all the ads and e-mails..."they" know my weakness(es). I told myself I would only buy something if it was an amazing deal and I ABSOLUTELY loved it and would regret for the rest of my life not buying it. I'm not sure how amazing of a deal this was, but it met the rest of the criteria so I bought it.

Regular price $209.00. Sale price $20.90.

McKay seemed to like the sleigh, and I'm tempted to dress him up in his Santa suit again for more pictures.

Need Another Project?

If you took advantage of Snapfish's free photobook offer in November you'll know what I'm about to mention is a great deal. I was searching around for photobook deals when I stumbled upon another FREE photobook offer. This one is from multiply.com and more info can be found here. Hurry...the offer expires 1/7/09. You'll only need to pay for shipping (around $7...I think). Of course there's also the time and effort that goes into putting one of these things together, but it's totally worth it. I'm completely in love with the first book I made. I think this time though, I'll make my own pages using digital scrapbook stuff and then load them in as full-page photos. If you're not up for that, there are a few different background themes to choose from.

Also, artscow.com has a great deal for an 8x8 photobook...$6.99 with free shipping. It's almost the same deal, just a little smaller book. I'm not sure when this offer expires.