We Love the Little Gym!!

For the past three weeks Mckenna and I have been attending The Little Gym. The Little Gym is a curriculum based gymnastics class that is intended for parent and child. They reinforce developmental milestones while the little ones have fun! The first week we went Mckenna spent most of her time soaking in the routine and the layout. By the fourth time (we went twice this week to make up for missing this Saturday) she knows the routine and is excited to get her bells in the beginning and end of class, she loves "play time" where they climb, swing and tumble on the equipment, and she is beginning to show off her exquisite vocabulary, saying "bubble" during bubble time and "OH NO" when the instructor forgot something. I love this time I have with Mckenna, it is a time when she can just be a kid and the word "no" is rarely used because everything is for her to use! Matt took a few "outside the window" shots last Saturday. (Don't pay any attention to me in any of the pictures!)

"Tickle the sky, tickle your toes, tuck your head and ROLL!"

Walking the balance beam!

Using the "cheese mat" to do a backwards roll

About to swing upside down on the rings

New "skill" for the week: a handstand on the bars

Sunday a terrible thunderstorm ripped through town and took my school's power with it. We herded the kids in the High School Gym on Monday for 3.5 hours and then sent them home. Tuesday the power was still out so we didn't have school. What a bonus day it was, the weather was beautiful, Mckenna and I went to The Little Gym for a make-up class, and went to the park when Matt got home! The extra bonus is that we don't have to make the day up!!!

I am going to leave you with a cute picture of Mckenna trying to ward off Daddy's prickly kisses! I can't say I blame her! :) The beard gets shaved after Matt shaves some ridiculous mustache for the Alumni Games at Mount Mercy this weekend!

Love from the Lucas Family!
P.S. We find out the sex of baby #2 on MONDAY!!!! That is if we don't have any shyness!

Beautiful Weather and Visits from Iowa!

We have had two very nice weekends here. Two weeks ago Mom and Dad came down to redo my kitchen back splash and counters. Dad painted the back splash on Friday night and Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon we went downtown to the Boat Show. Mckenna had, had enough with holding her down so we ate Olive Garden at the Lucas house! Sunday was the big day, Dad and Matt installed the new counter tops and the new sink! While they were working Mom, Mckenna and I went for a nice long walk, as the weather was beautiful. When we returned Mckenna played outside, stomping in the mud and eating the disgusting snow and ice. Oh, and she tried to help Papa and Matt too! Dad and Matt finished the counters around 6, we enjoyed pizza and the company of Matt's parents and the weekend was over. Just like that, in a flash! The kitchen looks so good, I still take two looks when I walk in the door!

Tasting the snow!

"Helping Papa and Daddy"

Sitting on a paint can, holding "baby" and watching Daddy and Papa!

Last weekend we had another dose of Iowa. Uncle Chris, Auntie "Ala" and Brooke came down for a visit! We had so much fun watching the girls "play" together. They would play next to each other but not really with each other. Mckenna has renamed Auntie Lala to "Ala"! :) Saturday night the adults got out of the house and went to the Mouse Races at John's Carpenter's Union. It was a lot of fun. Laura was the only lucky one. Winning 70% of the time, all the time! (That was her montra for the night) Sunday we had to say good-bye but not before we ate our traditional Stefanina's pizza.

"Playing together"

Silly Cousins!

Hugs!

After The Meade Family left on Sunday we spent some time outside. It was at least 70 degrees and we took advantage of it! Our original plan was to go to the park but it changed when Matt suggested we put up the play house. Matt and I cleaned off the deck and put the house together while Mckenna played on the slide. Once we got it together Mckenna had a ball playing with her doll, some rocks and the house. (Thanks Dad for bringing the house to us! It was totally worth it!)

Dropping a rock through the hole...

and looking to see where the rock went!

I couldn't end this extremely long post without sharing some of Mckenna's favorite words these days... "apple", "papa", "nieni"(Nini), "ryee"(Rylie), "outsi"(outside), "ala"(LaLa), "nigh, nigh(night, night)", "chareen" (Charlene) and "I Lo..."(I love...you). We truly love this little girl to pieces no matter how many times she tells us "no"  and throws temper tantrums because she doesn't get what she wants. We love hearing the new words she picks up everyday and fully enjoy every moment we have her all to ourselves!

Love from the Lucas Family!

MORE Snow in the Lou!

Well, it has been a icy, snowy week in St. Louis. We were all home Tuesday and Wednesday and today it is just Mckenna and me! We had some good times being stuck in the house together. Not much really to report but I thought I would share a video of Mckenna with you. I took the video this morning right after we woke up. You can tell that Mommy isn't thinking too clearly and Mckenna still has a case of bedhead! She isn't really a performer but she did pretty well this morning. I couldn't get her to address Patches or "moo" or say bye-bye but I think it still shows you some of her tricks, mainly eating with a spoon! After video taping her I let her watch, when I asked her to tell me what a cow says on the video she made the "moo" sound. Funny girl, like I said, not a performer!

Enjoy!


Love from the Lucas Family!

Snow Days and Catching Up

Wow, time flies! I feel like it has been so long since I have written that I might have lost some followers. :(

I had a New Years post waiting for pictures and ready to publish two weeks ago and I never got it done. So in short, we are looking forward to what 2011 has to offer for our family. Things we know about 2011; in March we will make our annual trip to Cedar Rapids for Alumni weekend, in April we will celebrate Cousin Brooke's 1st birthday, in May we will visit the lake for one of only a couple of summer trips, in June I will be teaching summer school, in July Matt and I will celebrate our 5th year of marriage and THE BIRTH OF OUR 2nd CHILD (July 15th is the due date), in September Mckenna will be two (really?), in October we will dress two kiddos up for Halloween, in November we will visit Iowa for Thanksgiving with TWO kids, and in December we will celebrate Christmas with TWO kids! Did you get that TWO KIDS! We are so happy we will be blessed again! (Watch for an update on the sex of the baby in March! :) )

January has been a good month for staying home, hibernating and playing in the snow. We have had 3 snow days since Winter Break and it has been nice. This is the first 5 day week I have worked since December. A girl can get used to time off! :) Mckenna and I had quite a few nice days snuggling, wearing P.J's and playing.

Mom and dad were here a couple of weeks ago. We had a nice time with them. Dad and Matt installed a microwave over the stove for me and the next visit in February they plan on installing new counter tops and back splash. I will have a brand new kitchen! We also celebrated all of the January birthdays that weekend!

Mckenna had her 15 month check-up a week ago. She is following her own growth pattern. She is still in the 20th percentile for her weight (20lbs 3oz) and the 50th percentile for her height (31 3/4 inches). The doctor still says multiple time that she is so smart. We would have to agree. She has many words in her repertoire including some two-three word phrases. She is beginning to identify sounds animals make, last night there was a cow on T.V and she automatically said "moo" and then went about her business. She now will point to my eyes and say "eye". She is still a climber, not as interested in it at home as she is at Grandma and Papa Lucas' house. She is beginning to "play" with toys or other household objects more. She LOVES filling her basket from Nini (my mom) with all sorts of objects. We have found she picks one toy, plays with it for a day or two and then moves on to another toy. Mckenna loves Elmo, Matt was home with her one day and when he was deciding on what she should wear she blurted out Elmo. There was not a question in Matt's mind, he dressed her in her Elmo shirt. You only have to show Kenna how to do something once or twice and she's got it down!

I am always hesitant to change routines that we have been doing forever. But usually Kenna proves those feelings to be wrong and does much better than I ever expected she would with the change. Recently we decided no more formula. I was hesitant because she didn't like milk and she still isn't fond of veggies. The doctor told us no more formula, so I listened. She has been doing wonderfully with the change. To be honest I don't even think she misses it. So since I used to rock her and give her formula before prayers and bedtime our routine had to change. Now, we read and drink some soy milk, say bedtime prayers and go to bed. And I love our new routine, she sits still while I read two books and steal some snuggles! 

I think that is all for an update for the last month. I will leave you with a few snapshots.

Our Computer Genius

I don't know if there was more color on the paper or on her face!

Watching Elmo with Elmo on the new chair.

Snuggles with Nini

Ice cream cake with Papa Ken.

One last picture with Papa Ken and Nini

Tasting the snow

"What is this cold stuff you have me playing in?"

Finally digging into the snow!

Well, hopefully this will get Matt off my back! :) (I love you honey) Have a great week.

Love from the Lucas Family!

Christmas in Iowa

Well, I know some of you were on pins and needles waiting to know if we made it to Iowa for Christmas. Wait no more, we made it. It was a close call since I had Mckenna's flu on Tuesday and the weather was looking a little dicey on Thursday. We made it long before a snowflake fell and just in time to judge cookies at the Meade Family's traditional cookie decorating night.

Christmas Eve service was very nice even if Mckenna was so antsy that Matt and I got about half of the message. You just can't hold that girl down, she likes to MOVE! After service we returned home for our traditional roast dinner. Mom cooked several DELICIOUS meals as well as this one and  Mckenna was a fan! We let Brooke and Mckenna open presents first thinking that they would crash before we got done. Mckenna played the part of Santa and the unwrapper. She would bring the present to the person it belonged to, then "help" them open the presents up. One thing is for sure, Mckenna knows how to open up presents! After Mckenna willingly went to bed we finished opening up gifts and then played Mom and Dad's new game: Mexican Train Dominoes.

Mexican Train Dominoes was so much fun that Uncle Jim and Aunt Marge returned on Christmas day for a rematch! Christmas day was a relaxing day and Mckenna caught up on some of her sleep. We had a great Christmas in Iowa and made it home just in time for Matt to have the flu on Monday.

I have sanitized the house and opened the windows on Friday when it was in the 60's around these parts and fingers crossed we got rid of the buggies! ... Just in time for me to go back to work and carry the buggies back home (I hope not).

So without further adieu pictures from Christmas in Iowa!

Snow:

Mckenna got to sled, make a snow angel and daddy even showed her how to eat snow too!  

Presents:

Mckenna was spoiled once again! She got a table and chairs, octopus bath toy, Little People boat, princess rocking horse/ride on toy, and Cabbage Patch baby.

Dancing:

I took video of this! Papa Ken and Mckenna dancing to Christmas music. I might have to get special permission to release that video though! :) 

  Hanging:

Hanging out with Papa Ken and Nini. Mckenna and Papa Ken were trying to find something to watch. Once they found something she snuggled up with Nini and Sundae for a few seconds. 

We hope you had a good Christmas and we wish you the best for 2011! We know 2011 will be another year for the record books! 

Love from the Lucas Family!

Following Through...

Last weekend was a first for Mckenna, she had the FLU! It was horrible, this was one of those times that I felt like I was not so qualified to be a mom. I questioned my every move, I felt desperate and I just wanted my baby to feel better! She is on the mend now and were were able to celebrate Christmas on Saturday with the Lucas family.

Mckenna was spoiled by everyone. I don't even know if I can mention everything but the big hits were Elmo in Grouchland movie, the Little People House, and a little vacuum that talks and makes vacuum sounds. She also likes the little critters from Aunt Kelly that are supposed to move, but due to a lack of batteries they just make little squeaking sounds.

Mckenna's vacuum to help mommy clean the house!

 Mckenna had a blast opening presents. She would pick a person to help her get them started! 

Mckenna was also our little Santa. She delivered all of the gifts to each of us!

Then Daddy got the best gift of all...

Mckenna!!!

We hope the weather cooperates and we make it to Iowa and back home safely this weekend!

Love from the Lucas Family!

Slacking

Everyone asked me how I was going to keep this blog up. I have great intentions to do so but I have been slacking lately. Maybe it is due to the fact that I am extremely exhausted at the end of the day or because I can't get a good picture of my subject because she is constantly on the move! Or maybe it is because Matt is working overtime lately and it is good on the pocketbook but hard on this momma. It is my promise from this week forward I will blog once a week!  I promise! I do!

Matt is working overtime and I have lost my ever-so-helpful husband. Don't get me wrong, he still works hard at home and helps me fold laundry and wrangle Mckenna. But I am trying to pick up the slack for him since he is working 9 or 10 hours everyday. I have failed to tell everyone about Matt's promotion at work I am so proud of him! He will now be training new employees to True Manufacturing. His job will be to welcome employees, introduce them to the supervisors, and make sure they are getting trained properly. This will be a job with a lot less stress and for that we are thankful!

Mckenna is changing everyday. She is such a chatter box these days. It usually sounds like one of the minions from Despicable Me and ending with Mommy. Monday night when I was picking up Mckenna she was peeking at me through the window between the kitchen and living room at John and Charlene's and clear as day she said to me "I See You"! It was the cutest "I see you" I have ever heard! We have always viewed her as smart, partly because we're her parents, because of her ability to learn something so quickly. This is Matt's favorite story to tell as of late:  
One night Matt and I were eating dinner. Mckenna was done and she was running around. She had her milk cup and was setting it on the water dispenser's shelf. She kept shaking the water dispenser, looking up at the water and then picking up her cup. Matt finally caught on to what she was doing... she wanted some water. He opened her cup and it was empty. He rinsed it out, filled it up and gave it to her. Satisfied she took a long drink and ran away.
Now really, how smart is that? She knew the water dispenser would fill her cup, she was just too short to touch the button. Mckenna is now tall enough to climb up onto the couch, if she has something to push off of once her feet are in the air! She is cutting two more teeth on the bottom and I can't wait until she gets all of her teeth. It will make her a happy girl and make eating easier.

Dad had to pick up a piece of equipment last week and was down on Thursday night. I think he enjoyed the bonus visit with us. We ate homemade pizza and had Dairy Queen for desert! He played with Mckenna before she went to bed and then we watched a movie! It was a great Thursday night treat!

Very Tired Kenna with Papa Ken

Here are some recent pictures from my phone camera. Better than nothing, right!

Rooting on Mizzou against Kansas!

Eating her first Ice Cream Cone... She ate the WHOLE thing!!

Well, that's all for now! Love from the Lucas Family!