Flashback

 Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband!  "It's been four years and a munch (aka McKinley)...." that's our little saying.  We're having our first date, minus the munch, tomorrow, to celebrate our anniversary. We joked about our date, agreeing we'll probably talk about McKinley the whole time.

Probably my favorite wedding photo.

Our wedding party.

Our close up.

Our weekend vacation

McKinley and I took advantage of Southwest's cheap seats and traveled to California over the weekend for Shawna's (Benji's 'lil sis) bridal shower. It was fun watching McKinley interact with her cousins.  We went to In & Out immediately after landing, and Auntie Shawna fed her french fries.  She also ate cream puffs and doughnuts for the first time and loved them both....thanks to Dumpa (Grandpa Howard). Overall, we had a wonderful weekend hanging out with the family. And we look forward to January, when we return for Shawna's wedding.

Brushing up on emergency protocol.

Uncle Alan, Abby, McKinley, Dumpa, Lizzie,

Auntie Cassie & Ahmma at a Christmas festival.

All four Howard grandkids: Lizzie, Micah-moo, McKinley-roo & Abby

pose for a picture with Dumpa and Ahmma.

10 Months

Well, I thought I better get something posted before McKinley reaches eleven months....even if I'm not completely satisfied with my first attempt at her 10 mos. photo shoot.  It's just been too cold or too rainy to snap some pictures outside with the outfit I've chosen, and my living room isn't any prettier.  I think I was in the middle of cleaning, hence the Windex bottle in the background.  But I'm pleased to report that Miss McKinley gained over a pound in the last month.  We took her to the hospital to get weighed, and she tipped the scales at 18 lbs, 6 oz.  It's interesting, though, that the range of sizes she fits into varies.  She still primarily wears six month clothing (especially if it's Carters), although she is also wearing nine and twelve month attire. I'll make more of an effort to update you on our little pickle pea in the next 10 mos. post, hopefully sooner rather than later.  Until then, these will have to make do.....

Happy Thanksgiving

We had our first turkey feast at noon, but made sure to leave plenty of room for leftovers for dinner. McKinley especially loved the black olives and canned cranberries (just like her Momma!).  The turkey was perfectly seasoned and the gravy showed no signs of lumps! Dadda played flag football with some church buddies while I cooked all the trimmings.  Tonight, we'll follow dinner with some decadent, homeade pumpkin cheesecake!  But both of us agreed that we were most looking forward to tomorrow's turkey sandwiches. YUM!

First Snow

Alright...so we bundled up and went outside for the sole purpose of snapping some shots this morning, but it was worth it, to see the dusting before it melted and to capture McKinley's reaction.  Our first snow!  And McKinley finally got to wear her adorable, fleece, Columbia snowsuit (Thanks Liz!).

My little snow bunny!

New Floors

Benji is replacing our tri-toned (shag carpet, linoleum & honey hardwood) flooring in the great room with some beautiful, hand-scraped, wide-planked laminate.  Okay, so the laminate isn't hand-scraped, but it looks like it.  And the dark wide planks give our room a rustic vibe.  The job is three-quarters complete, but the hard cuts are yet to come in the living room.  We eventually will replace the hallway and bedrooms with the laminate, but definitely not now.  For this being Benji's first crack at putting in flooring, he's doing an amazing job!  McKinley is modeling the new floors for your viewing pleasure.

 

McKinley-Roo

 

Barely squeezing into a raggedy ann and andy snowsuit that 

used to be mine when I was a baby.

This shot was totally staged....

she's not even crawling yet!

She sure loved peeking out the window while 

holding herself up. 

Fall Colors

A couple of days ago I photographed McKinley in the park behind our house.  I wanted to capture the fall colors before the leaves fell.

What a belly!

    

   

Love this one!

Quick wardrobe change:                                      

       

 

Such amazing core strength!

Sneak Peek: Fall Colors

Cowmooflauge for Halloween

I had a blast dressing up McKinley and I in coordinating outfits for Halloween!  Thanks to Gramma & Grampa C. who gave Miss McKinley her cow costume. She looked adorable! And thanks to Dadda who took some pre-trick-or-treating photos of us before he went to work.  The fall colors were simply spectacular and made an excellent back drop. McKinley and I hit the streets around 5 pm.  I believe we were the first trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood. We visited four houses and then went back home to eat dinner.

Momma & me enjoying a beautiful fall day.

  

 

Yummy candy!

 

Finally...a picture of her two bottom teeth!