"Ha-Ha-Happy Birfday!"

Happy birthday to the cutest guy we know! Here's hopin' one day we have a little clone of you too!

XXXOOO,
Your gals

Bittersweet Farewell

We will miss President Hinckley so much! We all knew he couldn't be here forever, but somehow it seemed like he always would be. We're so grateful for the legacy our prophet left for us. Let's all "stand a little taller" in his honor.

To find out more about our church, click here.

Silly Costumes & Spilled Milk

It has been SO stinkin' cold here lately! A few weeks back we had a wonderful week of warm temperatures. I'm talking 50s and 60s. The trees started to bud, the birds came back and I got major Spring Fever. It was glorious. I was so caught up in the excitement, then I remembered, IT'S ONLY JANUARY! We still have another good 4+ months of winter ahead. Shoot.

Now that it is freezing again, we have had a few days where Mckinlay and I didn't want to go out and brave the cold, so we have had to get creative at home. We have made up new games, new songs, started dancing a lot, and one of our new favorite things is dress up time.
Also, I thought that it might be fun for Mckinlay and I to start baking together. So I pulled up a chair to the counter for her to stand. She loved helping me stir and pour all the dry ingredients into the big bowl. Everything was going great until I poured the milk in. This girl L-O-V-E-S milk. I should have known it would be a disaster. And I somehow always forget that her arms grow 8 inches longer when there is something naughty waiting to be done.
OOPSIE! Ingredients all over the floor!
I wish I got a picture of the floor (because the counter doesn't look any different that it normally does when I cook, right Ty?) or that somehow someone got a video of me trying to clean it all up while holding her to keep her out of the mess she made. I picked her up and held her right in front of my face, in a moment of frustration, and said "Mckinlay Marie!" And she just giggled and gave me the biggest grin. Ah man! How could I be mad at her!? It was, after all, my fault for letting her get close to all the temptation.

I'm beginning to better understand what my mom went through whenever she would get mad at me. She is always telling me how when I was young and she would try to punish me I would just look up at her and say "I love you Mommy!" or "You're so beautiful Mommy!" And she couldn't help but laugh. I think as I got older it turned into me saying "What flab?" Right mama!?

Anyway, kind of a random post, but I guess I've learned my lesson...stick with the Groucho glasses and hold off on the baking.

Old Mckinlay Had a Farm...

E-i-e-i-o!
And on that farm she had A PARTY!!
Barnyard vinyl, check.Lulu lamby cake, check.
Goodie bags and cute napkins, double check.
I totally spaced taking a picture, but luckily I forgot to give Evelyn hers before she left. Sorry about that sweetie! I"ll bring it on Sunday. But somehow I think you'll make it until then since you are only 3 months old.
Barnyard toys, check.
Super fun party guests, check.
Sorry I didn't get a picture of everyone, but I thought this picture was so funny! Hello little Josh, little Kurt, little Jonathan and little Meghan! Is there any denying who these kids parents are? I mean really?
I gave Mckinlay the hoof cupcake and she very gingerly picked off each and every marshmallow and each and every chocolate chip. Then she picked it up, held it out, and dropped the bare cake on the floor. So different than last time.

Thanks to all Mckinlay's little friends (and my BIG friends) for coming and celebrating with us!

Oh yeah! Here is the best part of the day for me. Mckinlay and I were watching Baby MacDonald (of course, didn't you get that there was a theme for the day?) with her new little boyfriend.
It warms my heart that she loves these little guys so much! She picks them up and gives them big hugs and kisses. If I were a little quicker with the cameras I could have caught her with both Olive and Archie in a giant bear hug!

One Today

I can't believe my little girl is one today!! Ty and I were talking last night about how it seems like she has always been here in our little family, and on the other hand she still seems so new. Then Ty said, "but if you think about it, if she had a warranty--it would be expired by now." There you have it. Thanks for putting things into perspective Ty.
Here are some of Mckinlay's favorite things:
Favorite foods - pears, bananas, raisins, strawberries, ravoli, frozen peas, and any sort of treat
Favorite games - loves patty-cake (she is really good at "roll it"), giving five, and playing peek-a-boo
Words - "Mama", "Daddy" or "Dad", "men" (as in "amen"), and "a-nah-a-nah-nah" aka "e-i-e-i-o"
Favorite books - "Animal Kisses" and "Where is Baby's Belly Button?"
Loves - waving, "Family snuggles", smiling all the time, and giving really wet kisses

It's crazy to think how much life has changed in the last year. We love our little girl so much and feel so blessed to have her. Life is definitely more excited and there is never a dull moment. I know this is just the beginning. She has already earned the nickname "Hurricane Mckinlay", just like her mother--"Hurricane Meghan." And sadly, if she is like me, she may never grow out of that. While we were home I looked around my mom's house and I had stuff everywhere!! Sorry about that Mom, but it brings back good memories, right?
Mckindee, we love you so much! Thanks for being such a delight and for all the joy and smiles you bring to us. Happy first birthday!!
You have all our love...even if you don't have a warranty.

Jiggity jig.

We're home! We had a fabulous trip and loved spending so much time with our families. There are so many of you that we wanted to see and never got a chance to. I'm so sorry we weren't able to connect, but know that we love you!

I really don't know where to begin with a post about our two weeks in Utah...so maybe I'll just post some highlight pics and call it good. What say you?We started off the trip by celebrating St. Lucia Day. I made my family start this tradition about 12 years ago after reading about it in one of my American Girl books. We have a family breakfast and such and then we get gifts from Jultomten (the Swedish Santa). His gifts are always our Christmas jammies and an ornament. The funnest part about his gifts are the poems. Each gift comes with a poem that hints to what is inside. This year I got to write the poems. I'll post them if I can find where I saved them...
Happy Jo was in Heaven with both Mckinlay and Addy-Lou there. It was so fun to have Addy and Mckinlay meet, even if all Mckinlay did was poke Addy and try to get her fingers up her nose and in her ear. But Addy didn't seem to mind. I think it was the start of a great friendship.
Try as we did to get a good picture of these two... I think this is the best we came up with. I have decided it is impossible to get a decent picture of a one month old and a 1 year old.
The cool gift to get this year (OK, what we gave everyone...) was a homemade apron. I made one for both Moms and for Bryn (and one for myself) and Ty made this one for Alli! Impressive, no?
My wishes and hopes came true on Christmas when Mckinlay was the happy recipient of an Alli-made Strawberry hat! Oh how I've, I mean she, has wanted one! It is just too darling. We decided on homemade gifts for the little cousins. I made Addy a little dress (one of the secret projects). And look at Archie sitting there in all his cute glory. I DID finish them in time...even if I did stitch his bottom up on Christmas morning.
And sorry you didn't get an apron too Daddy...but Santa DID leave you a stocking full of potato peelings. What? He was on the naughty list! Guess you gotta try a little harder next year Papio!
It was so fun for Mckinlay to be able to play with her Loveless cousins! She fell in love with Jackson, Maci and Maddox. Maci was such a little mommy to her. It was so darling. Next time we need a sitter, we're flying you out Mace! Seriously!
Peyton and Mckinlay got to tickle the ol' ivories together.
And Mckinlay got a lot of quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Loveless. How fun is it that the aquarium is 5 mins for Grandma's house? Pretty sure it's gonna be a regular stop on our trips home with the way she loves it!
While we were in Sandy, we got to meet the Harmon's for brekky. Kristen, how many times have we tried to get a picture of them together where they are both looking, let alone smiling!? What a winner! I'm glad we got to meet up with you guys. Boston is not the same with out ya!

I have a lot more pictures I could post, but I think these will suffice. Heaven forbid you tire of looking at Loveless pictures (is that possible?)! Mckinlay's first birthday is tomorrow and you KNOW there are gonna be lots of pictures to come.

Happy New year everyone! Thanks for checking in with us. It makes us feel loved to know that more than just our moms read our blog. :)