It's a....

GIRL!!

Mckinlay informed me yesterday that if she got a brother it would ruin our "girl's club -- plus Dad."  

Phew!  Glad the club is still intact.

We couldn't be more excited about this baby girl!!

She's 5!!

 My little 5-year-old woke up looking 5!

She requested "those tart things with the swirly frosting" {pop tarts} for  breakfast,

broccoli cheese soup for dinner,

homemade ice cream sandwiches with sprinkled edges for dessert, 

and she chose to bring donuts to her preschool class.  

The excitement of bringing a treat to school was almost too much to take!

She also requested to have a pirate themed birthday party.  Worked out great for me, since I have a little experience with pirate parties!

Her BFF Molly was going to be out of town for her birthday party so she threw her a "birthday play-date" before she left.  It was pretty darn cute.

Her friends all came in pirate attire.  

They decorated pirate hats,

played "pin the mustache on the pirate skull, 

followed the trail to find the buried treasure,

and then my camera ran out of batteries...

BUMMER!!

Thanks to all of Mckinlay's friends for making her party so fun!  They really are a cute bunch of kiddos and we had a great time.

Happy, happy birthday my sweet, sweet girl!!

Cocoa Bean Birthday

The night before we left Utah, we had a little birthday celebration for Mckinlay.  We went to Chick-fil-a, Provo Beach Resort and then for birthday cupcakes at The Cocoa Bean.  

Oh. My. Yum.  

Those were some delicious cupcakes.

{Is it just me, or is she looking way to grown up here!?}

Happy Jo fulfilled all Mckinlay's birthday wishes by giving her her - oh so wished for - seal For Real Pet!

 Also special thanks to Happy Jo for the puppy shirt and Grandma Becky for the darling bow shirt she is wearing.  Someone sprouted {again} and all her shirts were suddenly too short on her.  Thanks for adding to the new shirt collection necessity caused her to gain over Christmas!  Thank goodness for after Christmas clearance sales!

Utah Christmas in a picture nutshell

 We:

 {apparently Mom and I didn't get the "crazy face" memo for this one.}

photo by Emily Aldrich

 {probably one of my favorite memories of the trip}

Have you been there?

We had a great trip!  

Thanks for all the fun Mckinlay and Loveless families!!

Eliza's 2nd birthday

Here are some pictures of Eliza's birthday, back in November.

 Liza LOVES puppies!  As soon as she unwrapped this big guy she said 

"Oh!  It's Ruffie!"  

 2nd favorite present of the day, her "Elton John" glasses.

{Thank you Addy and Eli!}

This girls loves cupcakes and ice cream, so we compromised on her cake.

Some things about 2 year old Eliza:

-She is extremely independent. {"I do it!  I do it!"}
and a long with can be very stubborn!

-She loves to dress up and, more often than not, is wearing a princess dress or skirt of some sort.

-She wants to do everything "just like Mckinlay."

-She is a very big cuddler and tells you a million time a day how much she loves you.

-She mimics everything you say, or asks it back to you in question form 

{"It's time to put on my shoes Mama?"}
-She has decided she can say her prayers all by herself, and does a darn good job!

-She has a contagious laugh and makes people happy wherever she goes.

We love this blue eyed girl of ours!!

{photos by Sarah B.}

We are alive and well...

...but I've been too busy growing one of these in my belly to do much of anything else.

Now that I'm feeling better, I may or may not try to play a little blog catch up -- if not, you can at least expect some more regular posting in the future.

We find out if #3 is a boy or girl on Friday.  The girls are convinced it's a sister.  

We'll keep ya posted.