Fiiiiine

It's been forever since I last blogged. It's just so weird sitting down at my computer, and taking time to re-hash everything we've been doing lately! I used to think people were really genuinely interested in all of the ins and outs of our little family. But I think I recently realized that our family is somewhat booooooRING. So, I suppose you could say that's why the blogging has really slimmed down. I'd say that blogging was a fad, just like myspace was. But, that's just not true. I've been blogging for nearly 7 years now. Wow! But now all I do is talk about my kid. As exciting as that is for meeeeeee, I know that it probably gets a little repetitive for the rest of you. But alas, a couple of blogs ago I had announced that I'd be blogging in order to capture our lives in a nutshell for our posterity. Alas, I must be better at blogging! (Sorry Shelley, I know I've really slacked!)

In early March, LOTS happened! Heather, Adam and Ethan were sealed in the Newport Beach temple. The week prior to that, Heather received her own endowment. That was beautiful. It was a very touching and personal experience to share in those moments with Heather. I am so happy for her, because I know that she really is at a good place in her life, and is sharing in her joy with her own growing family. Adam is a good husband to her, and is an especially great father to Ethan. It's comforting knowing that Heather and Ethan are so well taken care of.

The weekend after Heather's sealing, Neal's friend and mission companion, Rory Hatch (who was also his bestman at our own wedding) was sealed to his own sweetheart, Kristi. In an effort to break up the travel time for Mckenzi (destination:Manti Temple), we got a head start and stayed in Las Vegas for a few nights. We shacked up at the Monte Carlo, and it was aweeeesome. Lotsa late night jet baths, yummy food, and quality time with my sweetheart and little darling.

Mckenzi has a very big personality. She must ALWAYS be busy, or she unleashes the beast within and demands to be entertained. This little lady CAN NOT wait to be more mobile. She's ready to run, run, run, and she can barely muster the coordination to crawl more than 12 inches or so at a time. She's mastered the backwards crawl, and has the form down great. She just needs to figure out how to continuously move her hands and knees forward. She does a couple movements forward here and there, when she's especially motivated. I see crawling full speed in the very near future. She's been sittin up on her own now for a while. She hates baby food still, but loves to eat off our plates. She'll chew a bite of real banana, but will spit out banana pureed baby food. Go figure. She lets us know that she wants to do big girl things in EVERY way. She doesn't want to drink from a bottle or a sippy cup. She wants to drink from OUR cups. Gag me! It's so cute, but it'd be nice if she would happily do something on her own, as opposed to wanting to do everything we do and need assistance! :P Her bottom two teeth are threatening to pop through - those gums are SO swollen, and have been swollen for months now. But each day, the swell gets bigger and bigger. I'm certain they'll be out any day now! Thank goodness!

Mckenzi said her first word last week - "dadda". Cutest thing ever! It melts Neal's heart, OBVIOUSLY! And mine, too. And she's not just saying it. She knows who he is, and she says it to him. She has started saying it to other people she loves, too. But she certainly recognizes the meaning, and Neal can't get enough of it!

Mckenzi has since graduated to a more toddler friendly bathtub, since she started doing THIS:
Hahaha!

Kenz still primarily nurses. I'm always with her, so I rarely pump. If I need to leave her for some reason, she takes a bottle well for Neal. The only other person who has tried giving her a bottle is my mom, and she doesn't like taking one from her. Go figure. She nurses every 3 hours, for about 3-5 minutes on one side. I'm very lucky! She's an efficient eater, so when we go out to restaurants and what not, it's a piece of cake to feed her super fast and not miss out on enjoying my own dinner. :)

I love getting my girl all cute and ready for church each sunday. I hope she'll always let me put big obnoxiously adorable bows and headbands in her hair!!

We just got back from a trip to Las Vegas, again. My parents 25th wedding anniversary was friday, the 9th. We stayed at the LV Hilton. Their buffett was excellent! In addition to spending lotsa money on food, most everyone went indoor skydiving. The LOVED the experience, and the consensus is that they all want to do it again. If you ever go to Vegas and want to give skydiving a try, but the heights are holding you back, try the indoor skydiving! It's cool.

Kenzi went in an outdoor swimming pool for the first time while in Vegas! Do you think she liked it?

Sources say she loved it!

Ethan chilled in Mckenzi's ducky bathtub (hey, it works as a pool toy too!!!)Here's a pic I snapped of her while shopping at the Gymboree outlet store. GOSH I have to get this hat. Her dad was with me, so I spared him a long visit at GYmboree. I WILL be going back for this and much, much more!

I got a 24 hr fitness pass again. I refuse to do the whole monthly pass crap again. I bought a 2 yr all sport pass from Costco. This way I pay it all up front, and don't freak out about my monthly payment if I don't happen to be using my pass :) I know it's basically the same thing, I lose money if I don't go either way. But, I also save this way too. There's no initiation fee, and the monthly payment breaks down to $12/mo. Here's to working out again! The idea is to get in shape, so that when I get pregnant again, I don't lose myself to the nausea devil. I'd like a fighting chance, so I'm hoping that if I'm in better shape, I'll be able to fend it off.

Some cute pics from the park last month:

She loves her toes! I love her fat legs, and her hammy grin. And her BRIGHT and HAPPY eyes!

Lucky to have a husband is deals with me through all my shortcomings. It seems like the older I get, the more flaws I wrack up.