H a P p Y B i R t H d a Y to a S u P e R S i S t e R

I know I'm the luckiest girl to have FOUR of the most FABULOUS sisters and best friends ever, and one of them is celebrating a big birthday today.

Happy Birthday to Suzanne!!!

Here are a few fun pictures of the two of us through the years:

We still enjoy sharing a good snack.

That was the beginning of many fun driving experiences together.

A snack, again. I wonder what that look is all about.

We looked tres chic with our twinner mullets!

We happened to arrive home from my high school dance and her college dance at the same time. I guess that explains our expressions.

We've shared a lot of good times together and I look forward to many more!!!

The world's a little brighter when Suzanne's around. She's creative, fun, inspiring, kind, talented, supportive, wise (the list goes on), but you better watch out---she's crafty in more ways than one!

Happy Birthday to you again, Suzanne! We love you!

Child Slavery?

Some of you may remember this post where McKay's daddy helped him wash the car.


McKay also needed some help washing the dishes. He's a little too short to reach the sink on his own, so naturally, Nathan helped him out and held him up to the sink to do his chore. Doesn't McKay look like he's having the time of his life? ;)

Button! Button! Must push a button!

Not unlike most toddlers, McKay has a curious fascination with buttons. McKay routinely walks throughout the house pointing at things, grabbing whatever he can get his baby hands on and trying to push any button in sight (I know, that's normal.) If I'm free and paying attention I'll generally say the name of the thing he is pointing at. Recently, he started pointing at the smoke detector in each room. I think that in one day he stopped and pointed up at the smoke detector at least fifty times. When Nathan got home from work on that particular day, I told him of McKay's attraction. Nathan said, "I think he wants to push the button." So Nathan stepped up on the couch and held McKay up so he could reach the smoke detector. With his little pointer-finger ready, McKay went straight for the button and pushed. Luckily, the button has to be held for several seconds before it goes off so we were spared the alarm. He still points at the smoke detector quite often and we will indulge him a little and hold him up so he can push the button once in a while. We've asked him "Where's the smoke detector?" so much that he now inspects the ceiling of any home or building and will point out the smoke detector (yes, even at church). We are so proud! ;)

McKay also likes to touch the digital thermostat because of the pretty glowing green light that comes on. One night before bed I let McKay touch the thermostat for a few seconds. On my way to bed later that night I checked the thermostat (as I usually do) to make sure it was set at the right temperature. I awoke at 2:00 am, thought it was a little chilly, pulled the covers a little tighter, fell back asleep and then woke up at 4:00 am to McKay's cries. I couldn't believe how cold our house was with the A/C still on. As I passed by the thermostat on my way to get McKay, I saw that the current temp of the house was 60 degrees, but the target temp was set at 45. What?!?!?! How did that happen? In the few seconds McKay touched the screen, he must have programmed the temp to go to 45 degrees at midnight for every night of the week.

I thought it would be fun to include a picture of how McKay looks when he really, really wants something (mainly something with buttons...like a camera).

(He also makes that face and gesture when he wants food.)

The look paid off. I gave him the camera and he learned that by pressing one particular button a light would come on. He managed to take this picture of himself:

Monkey Business

McKay usually follows me around the house, room to room, all day long. When I left the kitchen for my bedroom I expected him to be close behind. When he didn't follow, I called to him to see if he would come. He didn't come, so I continued putting the laundry away for a few minutes happy that he was entertaining himself. I decided since things were a little too quiet I had better go find him. I found him in his bathroom having the time of his life:



I try to keep the door to the bathrooms closed at all times, so this was his first toilet-paper unraveling. When he saw me, he laughed like I'd never heard him laugh before. I wish I would've been fast enough to also catch his laugh on camera.

Birthday Bash!

We had a two day fun-filled celebration in honor of McKay's first birthday. On Saturday evening, we had a little party at the park. It was so fun to have some of our family and friends come celebrate with us. On Sunday, Uncle Preston and Aunt Kristin came over and I made McKay's favorite dinner of chicken and rice. After dinner, we sang "Happy Birthday" again and gave him his own little cake to smash and eat. We then opened presents, played with them a little and then put a worn-out McKay to bed.

Ahh, yes, the pictures. Here we go:

The cake.

(There was supposed to be a fondant banner between the two monkeys on the bottom that read, "Happy 1st Birthday, McKay!" At the last minute, I couldn't find my icing writing pens so I scrapped it. I guess I shouldn't have pointed that out.)

(For all you fondant users out there, use this recipe...only mix it in a
KitchenAid or Bosch instead of by hand to avoid the sticky mess.)

Birthday Boy


Pinata Time

Brennan Kemp getting ready to take a swing!


Ethan's turn.


McKay trying to figure it all out.


Happy to not be forgotten about.


Not quite enough to get air born.


Playing in the grass at home.

Cake time!

So fun to get Mom messy, too!

Let's not forget about Dad!

McKay stayed surprisingly clean. Most of the cake just ended up in his lap.


McKay loved all of his presents!

The Big ONE!

Happy Birthday to our precious little man, McKay! There's no doubt about who has ruled our house over the last year and we wouldn't want it any other way. Having McKay in our home has brought us so much joy and happiness. We can't imagine what we ever did without him.

Here are some pics from a year ago today, followed by the first 48 hours at home:

7 lb 7 oz
20" long
Born at 10:11 am
Saturday, 4/26/08
McKay was given his dad's middle name.
McKay's middle name, Orion, was chosen because of its symbolic nature...
he is our little star.

Not our very first meeting...but close.

A thinker!

The resemblance wasn't so obvious at first...but now it is unmistakable.

Nothing smells sweeter than a newborn babe!

Jaundice Treatment (It was torture to have to do this to him.):

McKay is such a big boy and has such a fun personality. He is so happy and friendly and has a smile for EVERYONE. He is turning into quite a big tease...I'm pretty sure that's genetic. (I'll admit it's from my side.) He is a momma's boy most of the time, but gets so excited when Nathan comes home from work and actually gets a little offended if Nathan doesn't go straight for him first thing. He's been walking for over a month, but still is a little resistant to walk around the house without one of us by his side. He's great at feeding himself with a spoon for the first several bites until he gets distracted by how fun it is to play in his food. McKay's all-around favorites are bread, buttons (the kind you push), books, balloons, baths, dogs, and cords. (I bet if he had a favorite letter it would be "B".)

Oh, how we love this little guy!

(Party pics to follow.)

Cold Turkey

I've officially been dumped....by my baby. There wasn't a warning...no signs. You know the old saying, "It's not you, it's me." Well, clearly in this situation, the saying was, "It's NOT me, it's YOU!" Who told him he could just decide when he wanted to quit nursing...all at once? That's MY job! It's not even that he just didn't want to nurse...it was his reaction at even the thought...crying, screaming, pushing and kicking.

It doesn't matter, what's done is done. It's now been three days and obviously McKay has moved on and I'll only sulk for a little while. Not that I loved every minute of it...we definitely had our issues (especially the first three months). I just don't understand how he can go from LOVING it, to completely despising it in the blink of an eye. I am enjoying the freedom and had been anticipating this day for months, but I wanted to do it on my own terms.