Was I really prepared for this...

...I don't think I could have ever been.

one week old

WOW how time has flown by! Tucker is already one week old!!!

• He is awake for about 15 min. a day sleeping is his favorite past time
• He is a champ at eating, and is already back up to his birth weight of 6.15 lbs.
• His belly button has fallen off
• He is patiently enduring the endless poking and prodding of his curious sister
• He makes you smile every time you look at him

Heres to a great first week of life!

Christmas

At its most basic level, the Christmas story is about a family.

Ever since that first Christmas night when Mary and Joseph welcomed baby Jesus into the world and began their family life together, Christmas always has and always will be about families.

-Newell

A busy couple of days

Our days and nights have just become a whole lot busier. Our lives have truly been blessed with the new arrival of little Tucker McKean. He has brought us so much JOY we can not imagine a more perfect gift. Here are some of the things we love so much about him.

He makes the most adorable faces, and loves to sleep! That is great for me, because I am one tired mom!
We love his "Big" little feet and are learning to appretiate the difficulty that comes with changing a baby boys diaper.

His big sister Finley loves to hold him and give him kisses. She calls him "my baby" seeing them together melts my heart.

But most of all we love the sense of completeness that he brings to our family. We love you little guy...

Our baby is born

Born on December 10, 2007

at 1:08 pm
Weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces
20 1/4 inches long
mom dad and baby are exhausted but doing great!

Christmas Cheer and Traditions

Today we made a great attempt to bring some Christmas Cheer to our home for the holidays. We started with the annual tradition of picking out the "perfect tree" and this is how it went...


...Unfortunately there was nothing, cheerful or perfect about this wonderful Christmas tradition. I actually told her, "Stop screaming, you're ruining Christmas!!!" I'll admit it was not one of my best moments.

I thought things would smooth over once we got the tree home and loaded it with beautiful sparkly ornaments. I quickly realized what an impossible task it will be to keep the tree from getting destroyed. I told her nicely over a dozen times I am sure of it, to please leave the ornaments alone!

After the 12th time I lost some of the niceness and changed my plea to a command, DON'T TOUCH!!! Again, not one of my better moments. Tell me honestly though is there anything easy about getting through to a teething 18 month old.

I think Fin sat still for about 1 minute the whole day while she "Happily" ate a candy cane.

So far our home is BRIMMING with CHRISTMAS CHEER! Wishing you and your family a holiday season filled with love!!! ( keyword wishing)!

Happy Thanksgiving

We hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving feast with family and friends.
We are so thankful for each of you in our lives.

The New Science of "Thank You"

I read about this in a newsletter this week. The article said, "Recent studies have shown that people who focus on gratitude are healthier, they report fewer headaches and colds, are more active, pro-social, and are more compassionate. When people find something to appreciate everyday they are less materialistic."
The finding also show that grateful people are less depressive, anxious and are more likely to help others, "...they even get more sleep".

Who doesn't want to get more sleep! Being 8 months pregnant I would sleep all day long if my back didn't hurt, and my ribs didn't feel like they were going to pull apart like the thanksgiving wishbone. But I am "THANKFUL" that all of this discomfort will bring about a joyous result!

We made it to Nursery!!!

For months Chad and I have been anxiously awaiting the Third Sunday in November and today it finally arrived. Finley is old enough now to go into nursery and we were able to enjoy 2 kid-free hours of spiritual enlightenment. I leaned over to Chad in Sunday School class and said, "I feel like we are out on a date." Not a particularly fun date but a Finley break nonetheless. I have to admit I did get a little fidgety sitting through an uninterrupted 40 minute lesson. And Chad left class 5 min. early so he could go and peek at Finley through the spy hole in the nursery door. Other then that we did great!

I realized today how much I've missed quiet time at church. I'm used to running the halls, pulling her kicking and screaming away from the drinking fountain, stopping her from knocking on any closed doors and obstructing her view of the stairs (which if she sees she must climb). And as a last resort, sorry to admit, leaving church a 1/2 hour or more early to take my hysterical toddler home to bed. Hopefully we have at least 3 more weeks to enjoy this newly appreciated 2 hours of peace before Jr. arrives, and then it's back to the beginning again.

Finley getting ready for church. She didn't want to put her bloomers on right.
She thought she was so funny!

After 45 min. and a lot of chasing her around the house
we were finally dressed and ready to go.

With only one newly bruised cheek, one pony tail still in tact, a big smile, and art work in hand
I would say that nursery was a big hit for everyone!!!!

Rattails...

Do not underestimate this species!

The Rat Tail is the sacred cousin to the mullet. It is found most commonly among male adolescents.

Within the Rat Tail species, there are two major classifications: The Dumb Bully (on the left) and the Techie Dork(on the right). They have NOTHING in common, yet they still share a unique bond unknowingly...the Ratullet.

P.S. Nice pants, Bully

I'm just saying...

(Click on Fin's picture for a better view of her progress. "Splinter" might be a good nickname...)

baby shower

Tonight some of my girlfriends threw me a great baby shower. I wasn't expecting a shower for our second child but one of them said to me, "...every baby deserves a shower." So nice!!! Yummy food, great company and spoiled with gifts. Is there a better way to spend a Saturday night?! Thanks ladies!
So here are the thoughtful things Tucker received.

(According to the polls I'm going to try out the name Tucker for size... So far so good, I haven't slipped up once and dropped an F-bomb.)

ME OH MY! You mean to tell me this fat lady has another 5 weeks of pregnancy left!

This week I pulled out the pack and play for a friends little girl to nap in. I thought I might as well leave it up since the little guy is soon to be on his way.

Boy did Finley love it!!!

She thought it was her own private little bounce house. She actually refused to get out. I'm a little doubtful she will learn the concept of sharing before her baby brother gets here.

Are we in for some fun times or what!?!

Halloween

...I'm a kid and all I want to eat is candy. Just candy, candy, candy.
And the only really clear thought I have as a kid is get candy.

So this year when I heard the concept of Halloween my brain
could hardly even process the idea.

I was like, "What is this? What did you say?
Someone is giving out candy? Who's giving out candy?
EVERYONE WE KNOW
is just giving out candy?

"I gotta be part of this! Take me with you!
I'll do anything they want. . .

I can wear that.
(adapted from Jerry Seinfelds HALLOWEEN)

Well that's about how it went this year. Trick-or-Treating was a big hit at our house. I didn't really think that she would be that into it. But boy was I wrong. We only went to 5 houses but by the time we were done she was dragging her treat bag on the ground behind her it was so full. Right when we got home she climbed up on the chair and dumped it all out. She was in HEAVEN!
Oh, the joys of childhood.

These are some of her friends that we went with. We met up with a couple more along the way. I wouldn't say she completely understood the concept of trick-or-treating because she loved to put her candy in the other kids treat bags.

Some other fun things we did this week were going to the trunk-or-treat and carving a pumpkin. We LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!!

A couple of Chick farmers and their Chick!

Finley and her friend Zadie