Izzie Bear...

I feel so bad, baby arrives and all of a sudden my "first baby" gets a little neglected! I thought I would dedicate this post to Izzie...just a little walk down memory lane...

It's almost Christmas!

It's hard to believe that it's that time of year again! And let me tell you, it's a good thing Santa takes care of everything, because I have no idea where I would find the time to take care of anything right now with this new baby! Can you say, "Got your hands full?"...You bet I do! But despite the hard work, I am loving every minute of it!
McKenna is now 9 weeks old, a whopping 11 pounds 13 ounces (60%-tile) and 24.5 inches long (95%-tile)! She is getting very strong, holding her head and cooing up a storm! It boggles my mind how quickly babies grow. She got her 2 month shots on monday and we survived, though neither one of is looking forward to getting the next round!
McKenna had a blast with her aunties who were here for Thanksgiving! We all enjoyed a wonderful turkey dinner (thank you, Brian) and spent the following morning hiking it off at Torry Pines Reserve. Grandma Nancy was here over this past weekend for a short visit, and Grandma Harper is arriving tomorrow for a holiday visit, then she will travel with McKenna, Izzie and I to Sacramento where we will spend the holidays. Daddy will be joining us on the 23rd since he has to work.
Izzie is healing nicely from her surgery, getting harder each day to keep her calm. She's getting a little stir crazy being cooped up all day long, but she will live. Hope all is well for you, our friends and family...have a safe holiday season and we send our love to you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here we are, Thanksgiving Day, in San Diego. Brian is hard at work in the kitchen, cookin' up some of his famous turkey day grub, Leslie is taking a nap, Greg is watching Home Alone ('tis the season!) and I have handed over baby to Auntie Heather so I can catch up on some email & blogging. I am thankful that our family is here (abd not JUST so that I have someone to hold the baby and give me time to do something else for a few minutes!). Although we are missing the big extended-family hoorah up north, we are enjoying our intimate day together! McKenna got to wear her special Thanksgiving day outfit (that lasted all of about an hour) and is loving her aunties love and attention! Izzie is recovering from her surgery and waiting patiently for her piece of the Thanksgiving Day dinner! Here are a few pics from today and the past few weeks:

Finally, an update!

OK, so it's been a little hecktic around our house for say, oh, the past 5 weeks...but here I am, finally, with an update! McKenna is thriving, getting bigger and bigger everyday. We have had lots of visitors, including Grandma Harper, Aunt Leslie and Aunt Heather, Grandpa and Gigi Rasmussen, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Sarah and lots of mommies friends from work! We are thrilled that McKenna has so many people who love her and want to know her. It really makes mom feel better knowing that although it takes a little effort to see eachother, McKenna will be able to really know her family members, despite the distance.

Other news: We've mastered the feat of breastfeeding, we've taken our first walk at Mission Bay, after which we attempted to go out to breakfast (we made it ALMOST all the way thru the meal without a meltdown!), mom and dad got both of their flu shots in an effort to protect thier baby, dad painted the master bedroom (cause he has SO much spare time these days- ya right!), and Izzie is doing a great job as big sister (although she is scheduled for surgery on her knee next week which will leave her lame for about 2 months- just what we really need right now, huh? Gotta take care of our "first baby" though).

We are very excited that Aunt Leslie, Aunt Heather and Greg will be visiting us for Thanksgiving!! It will be a full house, but it will be nice to have a quiet Thanksgiving here in San Diego. It will give McKenna a chance to bond with her two favorite aunties! Shortly after their visit, Grandma Wachtman will be here from Arizona and then the following week, Grandma Harper will visit from Washington! Wow, such a busy holiday season! Let's not forget our travels to Sacramento- we will be visiting for Christmas, I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Thank you again for all of your love, support and prayers for our family!! We love you!

Here are some random pictures from over the past month:

SHE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our beautiful baby girl, McKenna Alexis Lowe, arrived early, born October 5, 2009, weighing in a 7 pounds, 9 ounces and about 21 inches long. We are thrilled to have her here! Mom, dad and baby are all doing well and look forward to having you all meet her soon! Be sure to get your flu shots!!!

SHE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our beautiful baby girl, McKenna Alexis Lowe, arrived early, born October 5, 2009, weighing in a 7 pounds, 9 ounces and about 21 inches long. We are thrilled to have her here! Mom, dad and baby are all doing well and look forward to having you all meet her soon! Be sure to get your flu shots!!!

One last hoorah!

So this past weekend, Brian planned a weekend getaway for us to beautiful (and hot!) Palm Springs for our "babymoon". We started the day by dropping Izzie off at her friends house, which was very nice- no responsibility this weekend! We headed off to the desert and by the time we got there...I think it was somewhere around 107 degrees out! We took a tram ride up to the top of Mount San Jacinto where the temperature dropped a good 25 degrees up at the top...so that was nice! By the time we got off the mountain, it was 112 degrees outside. Surprisingly, it was not so bad, probably because it was dry heat. So we went and cooled off over burgers and milkshakes at Ruby's Diner....OMG, SO GOOD! After lunch, we headed to the hotel where Brian treated us to a massage at the day spa...much needed! Once we settled in our hotel room, we rested, and later that night had a nice dinner and actually headed to bed early. The following morning we had a little breakfast and then guess what!?!? We went back to sleep! I haven't done that in forever- nor will I likely do that again for a very long time! I loved it! All-in-all, it was a very restful and relaxing weekend and I appreciate all of the planning my dear hubby did for us! Thanks, baby!!