Mckenna is 1!

Ok, so maybe I should just face the facts that I will not have time to update our blog more than once a month! :) As always, we are staying really busy here. I have a lot to update on...so I will start where I left off...Halloween! :) Mckenna was a fairy (kinda a last minute costume because we were honestly so busy!! She was so cute! She was so cute that she made it on our local news! Someone in our ward is a reporter and so he took some footage from our ward party.

Mckenna eats and eats and eats all day long. You would never guess it by looking at her because she is so skinny (she must get her metabolism from Devin). Here she is after another big meal...her belly looks like it will burst!

Mckenna turned 1 a few weeks ago! It is crazy how time flies. She is so fun though! We had a great birthday party with family and friends.

Mckenna loved her cupcake! She devoured the whole thing in no time.

Mckenna with her presents. We got her a forward-facing car seat (exciting, I know). However, she won't be able to use it for a few months probably because she is only 17 1/2 pounds and she has to be 20.

For Thanksgiving, we went to Idaho Falls and ate dinner with both my family and with Devin's family. We had a really good time! I went shopping on Black Friday and got a really good deal on a computer. It is our Christmas present...but of course we had to open it up early and I have to say it is much much faster than our laptop. Maybe I will be able to post more often because it won't take so much time. Anyway, after Thanksgiving, we went to Island Park to my parents cabin. Here Mckenna is with Aunt T.

Devin, my brother Devin, and my dad all went paint balling.

Before...

and after

I think they gained up on my dad because the Devin's didn't have much paint on them. Either that or my dad is a bad shot! :)

We took Mckenna in for her 1 year appointment. Here are her stats:

Weight- 17 lbs 8 oz (5th %ile)

Height- 28 inches (18th %ile)

Head- 18 1/2 inches (93rd %ile)

So...she has balanced out a little bit :) They drew some blood (part of the routine 1 year checkup) and found out that her Hematocrit (the red blood cells in her blood) was 21 (which is dangerously low)! Her hemoglobin was only 7. So...we gave her tons and tons of iron the past week (like 250% of the daily value needed). We took her in yesterday to check it again. If it was still low, she would have to have a blood transfusion, but if it increased, we would have to just watch her still and check it again in a week. Turns out it went up to 29 and her hemoglobin increased to 9. That was a relief! It is still pretty low but we are just going to continue giving her tons of iron and check it in about a month.

Last week, my parent's stake had Stake Conference and Elder Nelson was coming. So, of course we had to go! It was a really good meeting. Afterwards, Elder Nelson talked to Mckenna! All he said was "Hi little one. I think it is past your bedtime" (as Mckenna is yawning big time) It was pretty cool! :)

Anyway, I think that is about it from here. We are just staying super busy with church stuff and school. Devin will graduate in December with his Bachelors in Exercise Science. We are quite excited! We got our Christmas tree and decorations up last night, now we just need a few more presents and we are set for Christmas!

October...

We went to the BYU vs. USU game the first weekend of October. Mckenna was good as long as she had graham crackers in her mouth.


Devin was trying to convince me that he needed a haircut...and it worked :)


Mckenna tried on her snowsuit for the first time since it has been so cold. I'm sure we will use it a lot this winter.

Playing on the toys

Fall leaves

I have been into cupcake decorating lately and it really isn't too hard. This was actually my first attempt at it and it was a lot easier than I expected

September...

I know I keep saying this...but we are soooo busy! So here is an update from September...and hopefully I will have time to catch up October too. And as always...we mostly just have tons of pictures of Mckenna :)





Mckenna tried to stand up under our chair...she quickly found that she was a little too tall.


"Helping" with the dishes

We took a trip to Washington the beginnning of September to visit Devin's brother and his family. Mckenna LOVED their stairs!

Mckenna and Aunt Brittany at the Splash Park

I love her face!

Bath time!

All ready for church

Devin put Mckenna in the bucket and she loved it...for a few seconds

Yes...We are Still Alive!

Yep...we are still here! We have been way busy! We thought that we would have tons of free time because Devin is on a 7 week break from school. No such luck! Here is a quick update...



Devin flew to two interviews for Physician Assistant school, one at South University in Savannah, Georgia and the other at Des Moines University in Des Moines, Iowa. He flew to Georgia, came back for a day, and then flew to Iowa. We actually heard back from both schools and he got accepted to both of them! We accepted a spot at Des Moines University and will be starting there in June of 2009. We are excited! Other than that, Devin has just been working a lot. His school will start up again on September 10. This will be his last semester! After going year round since Jan of 2007, we are so excited for him to be done, for a few months at least! :)


Mckenna is 9 months old now! Time goes by so fast! She is crawling all over, waving, pulling herself up to the couch and pretty much anything, that's pretty much all. She now has 2 teeth too. Her 9 month checkup went well. The doctor said she is advanced developmentally, so that is good. Here are her stats:


Height- 7th percentile at 25 1/2 inches
Weight- 2nd percentile at 16 lbs 2 oz
Head circumference- 90th percentile :)

At least she's got brains! As far as height and weight...I don't think I gave her very good chances :) She loves bread and could eat it all day! One of her favorite toys is a golf ball which she carries around with her all day...even during naps sometimes.



Now for me... I got a big surprise this last month by being called to be the Relief Society President in our ward. As much of a shock to me as to you! :) It has been quite overwhelming, but I feel like I have a better hold of the ropes now. I was in without counselors or a secretary for about 2 weeks because a lot of people in the ward were in and out of town during the break from school. Actually, we didn't have any Relief Society teachers, an Enrichment Leader (that was me), any Enrichment Committee Members, a chorister, a pianist...etc :) I think that is partly why I was so overwhelmed. But, now most of those positions are filled or are being filled. So things are a lot better now! I am realizing how big of a job this really is and that their is a lot of behind the scenes work that goes on. But, I am also realizing the great help that comes with a calling like this and the miracles that occur daily by following the spirit.

Well, that's a brief update from us! Sorry it has been so long!


Mckenna with her thumb...this picture brings out her big head! :)




We went to the zoo the day Devin had between interviews. Mckenna loved it!



One of Mckenna's favorite activities, eating food along the couch



The golf ball


Waking up from a nap with the golf ball



Mckenna and her great great grandma at the 5-generation party



The Splash Park in Rexburg




Oh, another thing... we have decided we need to stop being pansies and let Mckenna put herself to sleep instead of rocking her to sleep so often. She actually has been doing really well. One night, she cried for about 15 minutes and then fell asleep. When I went in to check on her, I found her folded over onto her legs. It made me feel so bad! She must have been crying sitting up and then fell asleep from there. She must have been tired.

July...here and gone

As promised, here are some more pictures.

Family Reunion in Bone, Idaho

Mckenna's mid day nap, doesn't look too comfortable

Devin on the rope swing

Mckenna with Grandpa and Grandma Collins

Mckenna has grown up a lot in the last little bit.


...she gets into everything,

...she likes to adventure down grandma and grandpa's stair,

...she pulls herself up and stands next to the couch,

...she army crawls everywhere, so much that she got a blister on her foot (not a good picture, but you get the idea)

...and she eats a ton! I am sure that by her next appointment she will have gained a few pounds. She eats at least 2 jars of baby food twice a day. Because of that, she has had 4-8 poopy diapers everyday! She must get her metabolism from her dad because it all goes straight through!

The latest news from our home is that Devin got an interview for PA school at Des Moines University! The interview will be Aug 25. We are still trying to figure out if we are going to drive, all fly, or just fly Devin there. We are pretty excited though because Devin was picked for their first batch of interviews. We won't hear back from most of the other schools until late fall probably.