Slacker!!

Ok, we are slacking big time here. Things have been so busy here that we haven't updated in a long time. We are doing really well though. Devin just barely finished his classes for spring/summer semester! So, we will now have a 7 week break from school! We have been looking forward to this for a long time. With Devin going to school year round, we take any break we can get! Devin will be working 4 days a week at his job, but it will still be a good break from school. We have a family reunion, a trip to Washington, and hopefully a trip to Wyoming planned before school starts up again. As for me, I have been pretty busy with my calling. We have had 2 activities that both went really well. 1-we made bracelets and 2- I taught how to use coupons to get really good deals. They both turned out really fun! Next week, we will have free manicures by the Paul Mitchell school.

But, here are a few pictures we have taken

4th of July

Mckenna and Aunt T

Hopefully I will put more recent pictures up soon

Summer

Some of you have been asking how my half marathon went...well, I didn't end up running it. We received news that my cousin passed away in a car accident on the way to Girl's Camp last week. We wanted to go to her funeral to honor her life and to support her family, so we left for Las Vegas last Friday and returned Sunday. It was a quick trip, but we were so glad that we went. My running partner's husband was able to take my place in the half marathon and ran with her, so it all turned out ok. But, I plan on signing up for a different half marathon. I may do the Mesa Falls half marathon or one in Pocatello. Another option is that my brother and his wife are training for a half marathon and we could meet up together in Utah somewhere (he is from Las Vegas also) and run one together. The only thing is they just started training so we would have to wait a few months until they are ready. I still haven't decided what to do, so I will keep you posted!

Nothing is too new here though. Devin is still studying hard and is excited for his 7 week break from school in August. I got a new calling... I am over all of the Relief Society activities (mostly Enrichment Activities). I am really excited, but I haven't ever done something like this before. Our ward has different groups like a craft group, book club, sewing group, cooking group, exercise group, etc. Me and my committee are over those and need to plan one Relief Society activity every month. I am really excited about it and look forward to getting to know the women in our ward better.

Mckenna is doing great. She actually did really well with the short trip and long car ride down to Las Vegas. She was so happy to be back home though. She is crawling all over the place now! I have had to rearrange some things in our house because she gets into everything! It is so much fun. She really loves other kids. We walked by a water park near our house the other day and she couldn't stop smiling and laughing as she was watching the kids play in the water. She is always so happy! (Yep, that is a ball of tin foil that she is playing with...one of her favorite toys! :D )

Coupons

I recently started using coupons...and I have to say it is quite addicting. I think this is my new found hobby! Basically what I have learned is that if you use coupons with a sale, you can get stuff from next to nothing to free.

The stuff in this picture all cost me about $40. The saving that I had was about $200. I got...

20 boxes Mac and Cheese

24 rolls toilet paper

6 tubes toothpaste

10 canisters of Crystal Light

2 canisters Kool Aid

2 packages Bagelfuls

2 bottles BBQ sauce

8 bottles Ranch dressing

Aspirin

12 string cheeses

4 boxes Capri Suns

6 boxes Jello

1 container Mayo

2 boxes granola bars

2 bricks cheese

2 bottles V8 juice

8 boxes Velveeta shells and cheese

(I think that is all)

It takes some planning and time, but the savings is worth it to me. I have spent much less on groceries and I have bought tons of stuff for food storage at the same time. Some items I actually made money getting them because the coupon gave me more money off than the actual item was priced at. What a deal!!!

By the way...I just posted a few other things below...so keep reading!

Mckenna Gained Weight!

After 2 weeks of feeding Mckenna every 2 hours during the day, giving her formula supplements, and feeding her solids twice a day....she gained 11 oz! The doctor was really impressed. So, she weighs 14 pounds 1 oz now. I can now go back to feeding her every 3 hours and give her solids twice a day (no more formula). That will be so nice! The last two weeks, I haven't had much time to do crafts and fun stuff because I was feeding her all day it seemed! But, it looks like our hard work paid off!

She does so good with solids now. Mckenna gets excited when I start getting her food ready and when I put her bib on. She has loved every food we have given her so far!

I'm not sure what she is doing in this picture...but it is sure cute!

I'm sure I will post pictures later, but Mckenna is starting to crawl! Well, more scoot around, but she does get on her feet and hands and then propels herself forward. We will have to be more careful with things that are on ground level.

12 Miles!!

This morning I ran 12 miles in the rain! It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. This past week, I got some new songs for my MP3 player from my sister. I think the new music helped a lot. The half marathon is a week from today (June 13). I am a little nervous, but I feel pretty prepared. Physically I feel that I am ready. As far as my knee goes, I'm not so sure. I found out that I have runner's knee, which is basically shin splints in the knee. They could have been caused from running around a short track, sprinting, running up and down hills, and/or my shoes. The best solution is to rest it, which I really can't do at this point! So, I am just going to endure the pain and rest after the half marathon. We'll see how it goes. It hurts pretty much whenever I run, but it hurts a lot worse when I go up or down hills. Which is not good because the Teton Dam Half Marathon is all hills (I've heard that it is the hardest half marathon in Idaho because of this). But, I just have a week more of the pain. After the half marathon I plan on continuing to run, just not those dang hills! :)

Memorial Day

Monday, we went to my parent's cabin in Island Park. It is always fun to go there and just relax. Mckenna went on her first 4-wheeling ride and she loved it!

Devin had both Monday and Tuesday off of school and work so we went 4-wheeling and stuff on Monday. Tuesday we worked more on Devin's application to Physician Assistant schools and finished the main application and submitted it. We are applying to 8 schools including schools in Idaho, Illinois, Florida, two in Texas, Virginia, Georgia, and Arkansas. We probably won't hear back for a while because the application just opened for the year and it is rolling admission. We are hoping that by getting the application in early, we will have a better chance of being accepted. We are applying now, but he wouldn't start PA school for about a year.

6 Months Already!

Mckenna turned 6 months old this week. We went to the doctor and got her shots, which she didn't like obviously. She has acted totally normal since then and hasn't been fussy, tired, or anything like that from the shots. Here are her stats:

Length- 25 1/2 inches (40%ile)

Head- 17 inches (75%ile)

Weight- 13 lbs 6 oz (5%ile)

So, as you can see, we are really working on the weight part now! :) Sometimes she will go for like 4-5 hours until I realize that she hasn't eaten. But the weird thing is that she doesn't act hungry and is happy. So, I am now feeding her every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I am also feeding her more rice cereal and solids. We are going to weigh her again in 2 weeks to make sure that she gains weight. I have been doing this for the last two days and it seems like I am feeding her all of the time!! I encourage her to eat as long as she will (I shoot for 30 minutes). 2 1/2 hours comes around awfully fast when she eats for 30 minutes. As far as the solids go, she loves baby food. Weird enough, she likes carrots the best so far. But, with all of this eating, she really should gain weight. Other than that, she is doing really well.

6 months old

5 months old

4 months old

3 months old

2 months old

1 month old

2 weeks old

1 day old

It's crazy how much babies change! I have learned a lot the last 6 months...

• There is never a baby that is quite as cute as yours :)
• You won't be able to pay attention in church like you used to
• When you get a full nights rest, you are grateful
• Enjoy each developmental age they are in instead of looking forward to the next
• You can never have enough pictures of your baby
• Moms (grandmas) are the best people to go to with any parenting question (Thanks Mom!)
• No matter how long it takes them to go to sleep and how much you have to get done while they are asleep, you still check on them often to make sure they are ok.
• Now I know why all that moms talk about are their own children
• Their is immense unconditional love for your own children
• Even when you look back fondly of your life without children, you would never go back

I love being a mom! Some days it seems like I could be accomplishing much more, but I know that staying home and raising Mckenna and our future children is exactly what I need to be doing at this time in my life and that I am accomplishing much more by staying home with her than I realize. It is so great to be home with Mckenna and to learn from her and teach her. I am sure there will be many great memories to come too!