Magic of Christmas

Elf on a shelf= I'm not a fan.

I know a lot of families who love this idea/ tradition but I'm not a fan. Why you ask? Well first it's creeps me out! 2. Got no time to move him/she around and or make messes or whatnot. 3. I'd rather do a more Christ centered tradition.

Now full discloser I was raised in a home that didn't have Santa. Often I hear people say to me oh that's so sad Santa was so fun and made Christmas so magical. Or tell me how since I didn't believe in Santa I lost some if the magic of Christmas. Been a great debate in our home of rather our kids will be Santa believers or not. I loved Christmas! As a kid Christmas was sooo magical!!! I could hardly sleep Christmas Eve knowing mom and dad were hard at work getting things prepared for Christmas morning!! I remember wondering what we would walk out to Christmas morning. I also remember waking up Christmas morning with an excitement only Christmas Day can bring!! I didn't think Santa came I thought mom and dad are done and ready for us to open gifts!!!! My parents never threated us that if we weren't good Santa would bring us coal or nothing they simply said if your naughty we won't get you the things on your Christmas list so we had to be on our best behavior because mom and dad are Santa!! We never had Santa decorations around the house we had a nativity. We had a count down to Christmas and wise men seek him still display we had the magic of Christmas in our home and knew that the true magic was the birth of our savior and being with family love and joy and service  not jolly old st nick. I don't feel deprieved and I am so glad my parents chose to raise us knowing they themselves were Santa. We knew how awesome our parents were because on Christmas all the gifts were from them! They knew us and loved us and it was from some old man at the North Pole. I wouldn't have had it any other way. I am glad Lance had Santa and I love that people have their traditions I am in no way saying Santa is evil or takes away the true meaning of Christmas I honestly think people can choose what they want to do in their home. But I would hope that they know even if your not a believer of Santa no magic is lost at Christmas! I love this time of year! I can't wait to see kensleys expressions when she opens her gifts!! Kids bring such a magic to Christmas!!

So much to do so little time

Including today I have 4 days to clean our apartment top to bottom, clear out fridge, get laundry done and put away, finish Christmas shopping for 4 people, figure out what to get lance!!! Pick from his wish list!!, go to my midwife appointment, finish my baby wipe study and have an interview to complete for it, get k and I adjusted, get daisy to the groomers and get traveling sandwiches made and ice chest, get myself and k packed!!!! And I'm sure I'm missing something lol feeling a little overwhelmed right now! But so excited to leave Friday!!!

Mark your calendars!!!!

That's right mark your calendar One year from today Lance graduates Chiropractic school!!!!!! He is indeed amazing! He has been rockin it in his classes and I am so grateful to have married such an amazing man who has juggled his busy schedule and made/makes time for me and Kensley! It's been a long tough 2+years but it's true we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!!  Next week is finals and then it's Arizona time!!! Woot woot!!! The last 2 years have been busy and packed with adventure between moving to a new state getting pregnant, losing my dear aunt judy, having a high risk pregnancy, giving birth to our beautiful kensley, surviving tri 5, losing lances sweet grandpa McGee, getting pregnant unexpectedly, morning sickness with a 9 month old!, kensley turning 1 and now daddy finishing his last tri of book work!! We have indeed had our ups and our downs but it's been a great adventure!! It's nice to know this is the last Christmas we will be living in Texas! :) 2014 I think will fly by quickly! Lots going on for the McGees in 2014!! With Emily arriving in February celebrating 7 years together kensley turning 2 and lance graduating!!!! We got a full year of adventure before we make our way back home to the Grand Canyon state and say good by to this beloved Lonestar state:)

What's in a name?

Well I didn't blog every day in November:(  after we left for arizona I was busy and then got sick and then Had a teething sick baby :( it was a rough couple of weeks with little sleep!  But I am feeling a lot better and little miss is sleeping better and feeling better too! Still teething but most of the teeth have broken through all 5 of them!!! Crazy!

However in this time we have finally agreed on a name for new baby girl!! But first I must start out with the names we have picked out since Kensley was in my tummy. 

First we love family names!

Kensley's full name is Kensley Noel 

Noel is lances fathers middle name and grandmas maiden name we pronounce it like the Christmas carol to make it feminine. :)  

Our boy names are named after Lance. That's all I'm saying for now.

Now our second girls name that we loved after the ultrasound Lance wasn't sure about. Well after many weeks of trying to figure out what names he likes we finally have decided on a name. the same name we picked but a different middle name .....drumroll please...............................................

Emily Tawnya 

Emily being my great grandmothers middle name ( moms side) who passed away in February of 1999 at the age of 101 and Tawnya being my sweet oldest sisters name who was born February 5th 1980 she is our family's February baby. This little miracle is due in the same month as her aunt Tawnya and her papa johnston was born February 12th. My favorite aunt Judy returned to heaven February 3rd 2012 so February is very dear to me! I strongly feel that Aunt Judy had a hand in getting this sweet baby girl to us so soon:) and what a more beautiful month for her to come then February!  So come February we will have the honor of meeting and holding our precious Emily Tawnya McGee.

I am so excited for February!!!!

Allergies!!

Man my allergies have hit with full force off and on the last 2 weeks!! I have even woken up super nauseous and my eyes won't stop watery and my nose is a faucet and my eyes! I want to scratch them out of my head soo badly!!!! I finally got some more local honey I ran out!! And this evening finally I am getting relief!! I just hope I wake up better than today! I never had allergies growing up and just recently well maybe it's been about 4 years that seasonal allergies get to me! It's no fun! I think it's worse right now because I'm pregnant too. I would like to feel better very soon since I get to board a plane on Wednesday for Arizona!! Yay!!!

Saturday is a special day....

I love Saturdays!! I love it cause after Kensley's morning nap when she wakes up lance gets up with and I get to sleep usually for another hour. It's a nice trade off he sleeps in and I get up with her and then I take a nap when she does but then he gets up with her:) it's beautiful!! We ran errands and played at the park kensley loved that!!  watching the planes fly by and exploring are a few of her favorite things again I wish I got a picture! Lance picked some flowers for her and put them behind her ears it was just too cute! I love spending time with just the 3 of us! It's seriously a little piece of heaven on earth!

Heart attacking

Being in young women's has been super fun I feel like I have been there for forever but I love the girls I have been gotten to know!! Tonight me and my good friend Jessica (personal progress leader) heart attacked our newest Mia Maid!!! Newest and only Mia Maid!!:) it was fun I hope she likes waking up to it!!

Afterwards me and Jess got to talk I could talk to her for hours!!! She is seriously a kindred spirit! I just wish I took a picture!! Grr I'm such a slacker!!

Egg Nog

Tis the season of Egg Nog!! Yes I have already had my first egg nog of the season in October with pumpkin egg nog and then regular egg nog and then today I found this gem!!!

Oh so yummy!! And healthier than reg dairy egg nog!!!:) so yay for that!! Lol this is one of my favorite holiday treats!!!

One week

7 days till Kensley and I fly to Arizona for a week!!! Hooray!! Haven't seen my family since the end of April!!! We get to watch my sister run in her first Ironman!!! Super excited for her!!! So excited to meet my new nephew Captain and see the rest of my arizona babies!! Plus kensley and Lucy are gonna be so fun to watch together!! Only 7.5 months apart!!! Let the good times roll!! I'm beyond excited and beyond stressed to fly with her by myself and see how she does cause let's face it she only flew twice and it was when she was a baby who nursed and slept the whole way!!!:/ I'm a little anxious about that. So anyone reading this please say a prayer for me!! For us!!:) thanks!!!

What really matters

I love bedtime! It's a glorious time of day. Kensley is extra cuddling and it slap happy and just all together so sweet! Tonight bath time was fun like always she loves baths and now watches while the bath fills up with excitement and squeals!! It's just down right to cute! Then it's lotion massage, Jammie's, Storytime and then off to music land of sleepy dreams. Well lance and I will either share the bedtime routine or one of us will do it completely. Tonight Daddy had Storytime and music land aka cuddle time before she gets put in her crib. I have many moments where my heart melts when I see daddy and kensley together either playing or cuddling or reading a book tonight I had to capture the moment! I hope she knows how much her daddy loves her and when she gets older I hope she realizes he has loved her for forever! I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man who treats me like a queen but also be married to such a wonderful daddy to my children! I am forever in debt to his parents for raising such an amazing person!!

Rough day

Well today was a rough day my allergies have been out of control and then little bumper her face on the metal part of our bed frame she wasn't on the bed but fell into it and poor thing cut the inside of her mouth and there was blood!!!

Needless to say I don't do well with blood and Lance wasn't home which made it more stressful!! Poor little girl! She is a tough cookie! But I was so happy for bedtime to come. it was an emotional day! That ended with a best friend dropping off clothes for baby girl 2! So that was amazing.

Day light savings

I grew up in the Grand Canyon State aka Arizona and we didn't have to mess with changing our clocks! 

Well now that we live in Texas DST exsist and before we had Kensley it wasn't a big deal however having a child who has a great schedule and adding DST is not easy! Last time it took her a few weeks to  adjust and now I just hope it doesn't take as long cause waking up at 6 is just to early! I'm spoiled and 7-7:30 is her wake up time. I just wish the USA would not do DST! Lol plus my family gets confused with how many hours ahead we are from them because we change. So kudos to Arizona for getting DST right and not participating!! 

Girls night!

Last night we had girls night superhero themed party it was such a blast! I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing wonderful ladies who are awesome friends! Being away from family is hard and living in a new state and area was scary but our ward here is amazing and I feel like they truly are a ward family to us!! Which makes being away so much easier!!  

There is something so refreshing about girls night! I love My Hubby don't get me wrong but there is something about being silly with my girlfriends that lifts my spirits! I feel very blessed to be here in Texas and get the opportunity to brush shoulders with such amazing people!!

NaBloPoMo

National blog posting month!

Never have done this but my Aunt Mel is awesome and has and so this year I thoughts I would join in on the fun!

I can't believe it's November!!! Where has the year gone!!? Halloween was yesterday and no we didn't go trick or treating we did have lunch with daddy! I made sure to dress kensley up when we went to the school! 

Needless to say she was a hit!!!! She is such a sweetheart! We just love her so much! She is getting so big! She has 4 teeth on top and 3 in the bottom now! 

She says mama, mommy, dad, daddy, daisy, bur(bird, pane (plane), ball, moo, meow, who( owl sound), no, and baby. 

She talks a lot I just don't know what she is saying yet lol it's super cute. She loves out doggie daisy and daisy is finally being good around her and will now runaway from her to avoid her. I'm excited to see her play with her cousin Lucy this month when I go to visit Arizona! Lucy was born January 30th 2012 and kensley was sept. 12 2012 so they are super close in age!! And haven't seen each other since end of April! It's gone be fun!!!Happy November!!!!!

Pregnancy and Infant loss Remembrance Day

October 15th another reason I love October so much! 

A day that shines light on so many who silently mourn for their sweet angels. This is my second October 15th in which I have had the amazing oppurtunity to finally hold my sweet miracle in my arms. Last year I was extremely emotional (4 weeks postpartum) and my heart was just over joyed to have Kensley in my arms! This year I reflected a lot more on the past years between the TTC and only seeing that negative line month after month after month to the year I finally saw my positive line only to have my baby die in my womb, and then 7 months later get another positive to only again have tradgedy strike again and right before we moved hundreds of miles away from my family and friends. And then on a cold day in January 2012 another miracle a BFP and this time for some amazing reason this baby stayed with me after a high risk pregnancy bleeding early on and GD she was born healthy. She was our Rainbow and has brought so much peace into our hearts and joy in our lives. Not that we didn't have joy before because we did but this was a different kind of joy and I felt so blessed and so lucky to be her Mom. And every time she says Mama our how my heart smiles. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would get a second miracle. I didn't allow myself to hope so deep. If I only had her then okay at least I have her. But i figured it would be another 5 years before such miracle would happen. But in the middle of our crazy life and my body getting back to "normal" We got another miracle! I am so excited and thrilled that Kensley is going to have a little sister. My heart still aches for the babies I didn't get to hold and the heart break we went through but I know with out a shadow of doubt that because of my experience and the things we have had to endure and overcome that we are better parents and more compassionate towards others who are fighting the fight to make their dreams come true that comes so easily for others yet so dang difficult for some! 

So tonight I lit 3 candles 1 for each of  my angel babies and 1 for a sweet friend who's son returned to heaven way to young this year and I kissed my Rainbow baby a little bit more today and held her just a little bit longer tonight. Because I know I'm one of the lucky ones who still has her little one here on Earth. To all who have suffered a pregnancy or infant loss my heart goes out to you and I am so very sorry for the pain you have had to endure. God Bless you all.

Moments that take my breath away

It's those little moments that take my breath away ya know the sound of a little heartbeat through an ultrasound or Doppler, the random smile, giggle, hug or kiss from your child, the look your honey gives you and you know exactly what he is thinking;), the list goes on and on and today I captured one on camera while I was in the kitchen making almond milk fir my princess daddy was watching her and I looked over to see this 

Can she be any cuter!? Can he be any better of a Daddy!! Doing homework and chilling together. This household is beyond blessed to have this man living here!! 

These two melt my heart in ways I can explain and in ways I never thought possible. My whole world in one picture. The loves of my life!

1 year, 365 days, 8765.812 hours, 525,600 minutes

I have had the honor of nursing, hugging, holding, kissing, playing, snuggling with this little princess

I can't believe it's already been a year since we welcomed our sweet rainbow baby into this world. She is such a happy baby and so full of laughter and smiles!!

I can't believe how fast she has grown and how much I love her with every passing day!

So here is some favorite things about Kensley Noel

Color: Pink Pink Pink!!!

Food: avocados, sweet potatoes, bananas (she's a great eater!!)

Toy: dolls, stuff animals, balls. And the dog water although that is not a toy she seems to think so.

Friend: Daisy our doggie, she thinks Daisy is the funniest thing!

Loves: walking, bubbles, meowing like a cat, and getting into wipes and cupboards, silky blanket

Sleeps: 6:30-7:00 to 7:00-7:30

She likes playing with her clothes and blankets anything soft she carries around and hugs

Snuggle bug!!

Sucks her thumb when she's tired 

Bath time=fun time!

Music: loves it! She bounces to it and dances its so cute!

Game: peek a boo with a sheet

Snack: Cheerios

Sport: football but only if daddy is watching Italy COD

My little rainbow baby has brought so much joy into our home and peace into our hearts I am so lucky to call her my daughter and that I get to be her Mommy! My heart is so full I can't put into words how I feel about her turning one and the fact that she is mine well ours;) but I love her more each day and I hope time slows down a little because its flying by way to fast!!!! Happy birthday my beautiful baby girl!!

Finals week!!!

It's that time again!! The end if yet another trimester!!! Woot woot!!! I live for these breaks! I'm not even the one in school and in all honesty tri 6 has been pretty nice. I have seen lance more this tri than any other tri! :) He is doing amazing like always! Seriously it amazes me how much he has learned and all he knows! I am not going to lie its a turn on! I am married to a genius! A sexy genius;)

One more week and I get my hubby back! 2 weeks! It's going to fly! I still can't believe we're half way done with August!! I am excited for cooler weather fall holidays and my sweet Kensley's first birthday!! Where has 2013 gone!!? Excited for the break and

September!!!:) enjoy the pictures of kensley and her new favorite thing to do play outside in the yard and porch...puffs and daisy.

I could go for that...

All I want is fried pickles, teak woods sweet potato fries with their dipping sauce, and Navajo tacos. 

But instead I'm just going to go to bed because I can't get any if those! I miss Arizona!!! 

What to eat, what not to eat?.....

So with both pregnancies I have had 'morning' sickness. But more accurately it should be called pregnancy sickness because its not always in the am ect. Anyways I have made a list for future reference for myself as we'll as you mothers/ mothers to be / flu catchers as to what tastes good coming up and what doesn't. 

Does taste good.      Doesn't taste good.

Fruit smoothie.             Chipotle burrito

Juice.                            Salad/lettuce

Ice cream.                      Pasta

Peaches                         Alfalfa tablets

Scramble eggs.             Egg burrito 

 Mashed potatoes          Hamburger

Milkshake.                      Water

                                      French fries

                                       Fish

                                       Apple

Please feel free to add to either side of the list. 

Also eat what your craving 9 times out of 10 you won't throw it up! Don't wait to long to eat something and add Lemon juice to ice cold water and brush your pearly whites after each episode of up chucking ;) I'm so grateful I don't throw up my whole pregnancy cause my heart goes out to all you ladies who do! No fun! But at least it's worth it in the end!! Plus for me it's a great sign that things are healthy!! So I don't mind the temporary discomfort as long as baby is healthy!:) but I am looking forward to feeling like myself again! 12 weeks now and hoping the light at the end of the tunnel is coming soon!!!:)  

                      

Don't be sorry, I'm not.

So the big news is out! Kensley is gonna be a big sister!!!!

I am so excited! We are so excited! We never thought it could happen so soon and so easy! We thought we would actively start trying after Kensley turned one. But I did pray that I would live it if I was already pregnant by the time we started trying! Well my prayers were answered! After feeling like crap for a couple of days I took a HPT thinking and knowing it would be negative but to my utter surprise 2 lines and it was positive!! Lance didn't even know I was taking a test cause I'm a POASA pee on a stick addict. So that was June 5th! I just finally got in to see the doctor yesterday and baby looks great 168bpm heart rate and everything looks great!! I felt like it would be since my morning sickness has not let up at all and I have been barfing dry heaving and super super neaseous!! Which is a great sign and so worth it! So please no need to say I'm sorry. I would gladly puke everyday of my pregnancy if it meant that at the end I have a healthy baby! Thankfully I stopped barfing after 15 weeks with. Kensley! So I'm guessing I have another month of it but that's a ok with me! I am so excited to be pregnant again and have a little miracle join our family February 15th 2014!!! Yes K and baby #2 will be 17 months apart! :) so excited!!!!!!

Fathers Day

I feel beyond blessed to have had such wonderful men in my life. First off My Dad. He is seriously the best dad I could have asked for. In fact I know I chose him before I came to earth. I am amazed by him I loved all our camping memories, building a log Cain play house for us girls, making Barbie dresses for me, letting me put hair clips and make up on him, running triathlon's with him, the turkey trot every year , he taught me how to pitch a softball, to slide and how to shoot a free throw and basically the rules of basketball, he cheered me on in both sports and always got after me for my poor math grades!  He was my personal math tutor for a while. He let me go on all the school trips- San Diego, San Fran, Washington, D.C., New York /Boston, he took his girls to New York to see wicked on broadway! Best trip ever!!! He has ran 2 or 3 iron mans and loves canyoneering he just might be the best in shape 59yr old I know! He has taught me a lot in life and the two things I remember the most is 1. Love conquers all 2. The only difference between a stepping stone and a stumbling block is how high you lift your foot. 

Happy Fathers Day Dad!! I love you thissss much-------------------------------;)

Now to the man I get to call Dad since the day I married his son. I by far have the greatest best father in law ever!!!! He makes me feel like his daughter and not an in law from day 1!  He is so fun to be around and so sweet with his grand kids! I am so blessed to have him in my life and that he is Kensley's Papa! I will never forget our cruise to Alaska and how much fun it was with them! Even if he did accidentally cough/sneezed lemonade across the table right in my face. bahahaha I still remember thinking .(..mind you Lance and I had only been married for a year at this time....) I didn't know what happen or if I should laugh or cry! Lol I of course ended up laughing so hard seeing my Dad in law laughing with the reddest face ever! Good times. He is a great example of how Dads should be so its no surprised he raised a son who makes a great Dad himself.....thank you dad!

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree Lance is an incredible Father and soo sweet with Kensley I have never doubted for one second if he would make a good dad. I saw him with his cousins and my nieces and nephews and have known he would be a great Dad. With that said he still amazes me with just how great of a dad he is! kensley has him wrapped around his finger since day 1!  I love watching him and her play! He is so good with her and soo sweet! kensley is sooo lucky to have such a wonderful man as her father.  Happy Fathers Day to my handsome baby Daddy!! ;)

9 months

I can't believe I have a 9 month old!! Where did the time go!!!!? She had two teeth and cutting two more! She loves bath time, cleaning off surfaces, pulling DVDs off the shelves, playing in the dog water, trying to get to the dog food, laughing, loves sweet potatoes, bananas, apple sauce, Daisy, loves to get into anything and everything! Loves her rubber ducky! And loves to dance with us. She has brought so much joy into our home! I am so excited to see her continue to grow and learn!! Some picture of her now and pictures of her as a newborn!

A Marvelous work and a Wonder...

So we realized we didn't pack a lot of our church books for Texas! Lance has a great collection but we downsized for Texas. However we decided that reading A marvelous work and A wonder by LeGrand Richards together is a good choice anyways. Ian really excited we are reading a chapter a night together and should be done with it by the end of this month:) so far I have learned a lot. I know 3 days into June and I have already learned a lot. I really like this book! Plus it's nice reading a book with my Love. 6 years we have been married and its the first time we have done this! Lol better late than never right.

It's been a fun experience between reading the conference talks together and now this book it's the most churchish thing we have done together in a consistent manner. I have noticed different changes in our relationship and have noticed I'm a lot more laid back and less cranky and flustered lol. Lance is very mindful of me not that he wasn't before but more now. Glad we are doing this together. 

I feel very lucky to have a spouse who is so willing to do things with me even things that some might feel not would be boring but its not cause lance makes everything better and fun:) 

 

Life is short. Enjoy it.

Six Years

6 years ago today I was putting on a beautiful white dress and making my hair pretty and getting ready to make the best decision of my life! I had the honor of making Lance my companion in this life and for eternity! How I snagged him up and got him to propose in the first place I will never know but I thank heaven every day for him in my life!
It's been 6 years since we were sealed for time and all eternity!
6 years! It's been the greatest hardest hardest beautiful years of my life!
It's crazy to look back at what we went through. If you'd asked me 6 years ago if I saw myself where I am today - living in Texas, lance in chiropractic school, 8 month old daughter and me a stay at home mom. I would have thought you were crazy. I am so glad We have put our faith into The Lord and listened to the spirit guide us where we needed. I am so grateful for the trials we have gone through for they made us stronger as individuals and as a couple and because they made the good times that much better. There are lots of things I don't understand or know in this life but these things I know without a doubt ; Christ lives and suffered for our sins, Heavenly Father hears our prayers and answers them( not always in the way you thought But he answers them) family is the most important thing we have in this world, I love Lance more than anyone could love another human being, lance and I work great together, and last but not least we make beautiful babies!
Happy anniversary Lance, love of my life, McGee! Here's to eternity!

Quality time as a couple.

I have been trying to think of things that will help build and strengthen our marriage and relationship towards each other.
Lance and I are the kind of couple who just have tons of fun together no matter what we are doing. We are each others best friends and the whole no secrets in our relationship works well. People know if you tell me not to say anything I won't but Lance doesn't count he is like a branch of me .. I guess that's one way to describe it. Anyways we have a good relationship but with every relationship if your not actively working on it caring for it nurturing it. Then what are you doing? I had the lesson in yw on Sunday and one of the topics was - how can I strengthen your testimony?
We have all heard the plant a seed/ testimony comparison. So we decided that once a week we would read a conference talk together from this last conference. We have been trying to think of ways to 'fireproof' our marriage and thought this a good idea for us to grow in the gospel together. Cause let's face it when people get married they don't think yeah in x amount of years we're probably gonna get divorced. It can happen in any marriage. Lance and I don't want that happening to ours and we will work our best to insure it doesn't by putting in the time and work now. I'm am excited!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day has always been a rough day for me between the years of yearning to be a mom and being a mom to angel babies but not feeling like 'celebrating' because I didn't have my own baby in my arms to hold. Mother's Day to me is honoring the women who love like a mother.

My Aunt Judy never birthed a kid but she was a mother in my eyes. She was my second Mom she loved me as her own. I hope I can feel like a second Mom for my nieces and nephews because I love them as my own and would do anything for them.
This Mother's Day is the first one I feel like celebrating and am honored to be Kensleys Mother. Not a day goes by I don't thank Heavenly Father for her. I also don't go a day without praying for my sweet friends who are waiting for their own miracle baby. So for all the Women who have their own babies the women who are waiting and the women who love other children as their own Happy Mother's Day!

Time Marches on...!!!!

How is it March already!!! Kensley will be 6 months old on the 12th!! She is all over the place rolling around and scooting she hasn't mastered the sitting up on her own yet but getting there! She is finding new sounds and loves to be vocal! She is such a happy baby and loves to smile and cuddle!!

I am still doing no poo and still liking it! So far I have gone5days without washing my hair! And I think that is the max I can and will go! Lol happy march!