2 Months Old!

Overnight it seems, my little newborn is two months old! Kenna is growing in leaps and bounds... gaining weight, doing better with nursing, and developing new skills and showing more personality by the day! I love the ease of this blog for keeping track of all the things I want to remember about each of her stages.

She is starting to discover that she can reach out a touch a toy, and loves to smile back at us when we smile at her. She's such a nosy little social butterfly... she will turn to look at us when we're talking, and loves to be in a room full of people, right in the middle of the action. Another specific personality trait we're seeing is her strong temper! Unfortunately, she got a double dose of temper and impatience from both Matt and I (or as Matt likes to say, she must have gotten her temper from me, because he still has his!). She also hates her car seat and will scream half the time she is in it. The minute those straps click, she loses it! She also dislikes diaper changes and getting dried off after a bath.

(these two pictures are a little older, as you can tell from the Christmas bib!)

We borrowed a bouncy seat from Aunt Alisa and Uncle Jason, and she loves it! She concentrates so hard that sometimes her eyes cross, and it's awesome to see her realize that she can make the toys move. Her favorite is the blue and yellow little giraffe, and I love to see her excitement in trying to smack it make it rattle. As any parent knows, any toy that entertains a baby for 15-20 peaceful moments are a lifesaver, so thank you Jason, Alisa, and Evan for sharing with us! We can't wait to give it back to you, oh I don't know... in June!

Snow Day

Today was a busy snow day for us. Randleman was blanketed with nearly 2-3 inches of snow and we tried to take advantage of it. Pontouf couldn't wait to get out into it this morning when I let her out and probably would have stayed out all day if it was not for the fact that we needed to take Kenna in for her 2 month checkup and also her first round of vaccination shots. We were so proud of how she did. The doctor approved of her weight, head size, and height and then came the shots. Our brave little girl took them in stride and minutes later was happily sucking her paci.
We headed straight from the doctor to church where I worked for a few hours before some quick grocery shopping and then back to the house where Pontouf, again, was ready to play with her white soccer ball (even though she lost it amidst all of the snow several times).
We thank God for Kenna's fantastic checkup today, for the the blessing of snow, and for a warm place to come home to. His blessings never cease!

***Edited to add***
Matt is going to call me OCD about this blog, but I had to add just a few more pictures to his post about the snow! Kenna has somehow accumulated 3 or so of these warm "bunting" type outfits, but it has yet until now been cold enough to wear them, and they are all several sizes too big. I put her in this one today that she got from her big cousin Ansley because it was the warmest looking and the prettiest! She was my little snow bunny in her white and pink cloud! Underneath it she had socks, a onesie, a fleece footie outfit, and a hat. This little one was NOT going to be cold in the snow!

Little white wizard, baby yoda, etc!

It must be as warm and snuggly as it looks, because she ended up napping pretty much all day in it, which is unusual since she hates the carseat so much! The funniest part was that her arms only went about halfway down the sleeves, so the mittens were like giant flippers every time she moved her arms at all. It reminded me of the little brother in the movie "A Christmas Story," but I think every mom thinks of that when she bundles her kid up super-tight!

2008 Recap

Since I never really wrote about our New Years, I stole this idea from my good friend Beth Anne to recap our adventures in 2008, especially since it was so crazy and eventful! (I also did the same in my crafting blog). What a year it was!

January

January, as many of you know, started off in the unimaginable tragedy of losing my Mom very unexpectedly to cervical cancer. It was a deeply difficult time for our family, and we each still feel the void that Mom left behind in different ways every day. We had the pleasure of my Dad staying at our house in Wake Forest for weeks on end, and we were able to enjoy the comfort of having him nearby.

February

February was a bit of a blur of work and trying to get 'back to normal.' I spent Valentine's weekend with my sister in law at Dad and Mom's house in Orlando, FL sorting through all of Mom's clothes and crafts. We also remembered what would have been Mom's 54th birthday at the end of the month, and Matt and I began praying together about how we felt God telling us to go into ministry in some way.

March

In March we celebrated two birthdays... Matt turning 27, and our nephew Evan turning 1! I took Matt to our first Casting Crowns concert for his birthday, which was a great Christian band we had discovered during the difficult past few months. We applied to over 100 churches this month, including one in Beaumont, TX and Randleman, NC. We didn't know it yet, but we were already pregnant with our first baby in these pictures at Evan's birthday!

April

The first week of April, we found out we were pregnant with our first baby! We told my Dad first, and were excited to share with both our families that there would be new life after all the sadness. Matt continued to interview by phone and email with two churches in particular, Beaumont, TX and Randleman, NC. Our families began to root for Randleman so that the new baby on the way would be close to them while growing up! We began preparing our house to go on the market for when we did find the right ministry position.

May

We started May with a day trip to the beach just for fun. We spent a beautiful spring day at Topsail Beach with just our dog, each other, and some fried shrimp. We also celebrated my Dad's graduation from his PhD program with a small graduation party at our house. Mid-month, we had our ultrasound and discovered that our babyto-be was a GIRL!

June

June started off with me starting a new job as an office manager for a small dental school. We took our first trip to meet the church in Randleman, NC where we were still in the application process for Matt to be a youth pastor. We took a second trip for house hunting, and the church voted for us to officially start the job in August! Meanwhile, we already had an offer for our house in Wake Forest.

(house in Wake Forest)
(new house in Randleman!)

July

We stayed constantly on the road in July, taking loads of our things to the new house, and getting carpeting and painting finished. Each weekend was a trip either to attend church, or to move things a truckload at a time while we stayed with Matt's parents in Raleigh. I can't say that moving at 5 months pregnant was a smart idea!

August

We hit the ground running in August, with Matt's first official week on staff at Forest Park Baptist Church being Vacation Bible School week! By the end of the month, we were also holding 5th Quarter outreaches after the football games. I was also busy finding a new OB practice and transferring all my medical records of my pregnancy from Raleigh to Randleman. We spent lots of time getting to know our new church members, and unpacked the whole house in two weeks!

September

September started with the birth of a new nephew, Beckley, born to Matt's sister and family! We also celebrated Matt's ordination service after he had studied for and passed his ordination council! Several family members were able to be in town for the service and a little reception at our house. We also went to our first church annual picnic, and my friends in Raleigh threw me my first baby shower!

October

October started with our 4th wedding anniversary! We celebrated with a day full of movies, and enjoying not yet needing a babysitter. The same week, we took our youth group on a trip to Carowinds for Youth Music Day. A great day of rollercoasters and Christian bands ended in heartache for our church family when our church bus was hit on the way home. Matt and a youth parent were both hit by an oncoming car, and the parent ended up losing her legs in the accident. While we still struggle to understand how evil this fallen world is, we were proud of how our youth took the opportunity to grow closer and support each other as a group of friends. At the end of the month, Matt and I took a day trip to Boone, NC to see the fall leaves and clear our minds a little.

November

November was, of course, a blur of baby preparations and countdown! It felt like we were constantly at the OB for more check ups, and Matt was going to the orthopedist almost as often as a result of the bus accident. I didn't think I'd ever get everything done that I wanted to finish, so I distracted myself with a women's conference and rehearsals for a Christmas musical. We were anxious to see if our little girl would arrive before, after, or on Thanksgiving! Kenna McKay arrived at 2am on November 23rd, throwing our lives into a happy tailspin. We finished out the month with a nice Thanksgiving with our families, and celebrating my 25th birthday.

December

December was a whirlwind of holiday preparations and church events. We had a Christmas musical, women's group Christmas lunch, staff Christmas dinner, and youth caroling! We celebrated two family birthdays, our sister in law and brother in law. We also spent Kenna's first Christmas in Raleigh where we got to see both families. We stayed with Matt's parents, who gave us a great Christmas present- a night of sleep while they took care of the baby! From my family, we got the gift of a growing family- Alisa announced that she and Jason are expecting their second baby in June, and my Dad announced that he was engaged and would be married in January.

What a full year it has been. I feel like I need to take a deep breath just from writing all that! It sounds so crazy when you try to put it all in a nutshell, but I think it's good to take the time to look back and see everything that we have enjoyed and survived through the year- the good and the bad. Our prayer for 2009 is that the Lord would continue to lead us in everything we should be doing, and that we would draw near to hear Him even more clearly in our days to come.

Growing Girl and Busy Days

We've had so much going on recently, that our little girl seems to be growing up as quickly as we can blink. We left her in the adoring and doting hands of her Nana B and Grandgraddy (Matt's parents) for an overnight trip last weekend, and came back to find a baby instead of a newborn! When did that happen? She stayed so happy and well-fed (who isn't at the grandparents' house?) that suddenly she had fat little cheeks, some chunk to her tummy and thighs, and outgrew a diaper size! She's also getting long enough to where some of her smaller newborn clothes are too short in the feet. I still can't believe we have an almost-2 month-old baby.

Kenna at 4 weeks:
Kenna at 7 weeks:
It might not look like much growth to the naked eye, but to this Momma, my baby is getting so grown up! I even claim her cry sounds less 'newborn' and more 'baby' but Matt just says I'm crazy.

I don't feel like we've even caught a breath since she was born in November. Here's some of the major things we've been up to since Christmas:

• We are still sleepy parents trying to adjust to even less of a schedule than we're used to. Breastfeeding for me has been really difficult, and it can be so crazy-making most of the time. We have lost all semblance of a schedule (or even night and day!) and I'm starting to wonder if I will ever get the fully-functioning brain I once had back. Needless to say, we take our sleep when we can get it! (Check out those dark eye circles...)
  

• We all survived bad colds between Christmas Day and New Years. Matt got sick, and passed it to me, and I passed it to Kenna. It was especially stressful for her to be sick while so tiny, her congestion and cough made her sound so terrible! Praise the Lord that the pediatrician found no signs of anything serious like pneumonia or RSV! She's doing much, much better now and just has a runny nose.
  

• We traveled back to Raleigh for New Years to spend time with my side of the family, and specifically to meet my Dad's fiance, Jana Harp. He announced their engagement to us just before Christmas, and we were able to eat several meals together and attend an engagement open house at my aunt and uncle's house.

• On January 5th, we remembered the one year anniversary of my Mom's death last year. This fact cast a pallor on Christmas and New Years for me and made it really hard to get into the spirit. It's changed the way I look at so many things, most of all, the fleeting and momentary quality of life. I never thought I'd be raising babies without the support and wisdom of my own mother, who so dearly loved the thought of having tons of grandchildren. I completely disagree that "time heals all wounds"- it seems time only brings more situations and life changes for which I need her Godly advice, and miss her all the more.

• On January 10th, we took a whirlwind overnight trip to Arkansas to attend Dad and Jana's wedding. We traveled one leg of the trip with Jason and Alisa, and tried to help keep them sane through Evan's first airplane rides! He did really well despite all the having to sit still and threats of delayed flights. We were so grateful to be able to leave Kenna home, and not subject her to the masses during cold and flu season, especially after just having been sick. Thankfully, Matt's parents jumped at the chance to keep her overnight, and we could focus on the wedding without worrying for a second that she was in safe and loving hands! Thank you again, Nana B and Grandgraddy!

Now we are home and have hit the ground running with our normal busy-ness of life... Matt is helping plan a missions trip to Tokyo for our church this fall, and I am preparing to possibly take a trip back to Orlando to help sort more of my Moms' things since Dad and Jana will be moving to Geneva, Switzerland this summer, and will need help clearing out and packing up the house. What a busy start to 2009!

Little Miss Expressions

When life gets tough, what better to distract yourself with than a beautiful baby girl? Kenna at six weeks old is all expressions! She's more alert and happy during the day, and loves to make faces at us. Soon there will be happy giggling and cooing going on with all these faces!

Hanging out with Mommy, and not sure what she's up to with this camera.

Yawning... are we having fun yet?

Coughing... which usually makes her mad.
Getting hungry... time to nurse a little to calm down.
The tiny "o" lips... one of Mommy's favorites!
Looking a little worried about something...
Sitting on me with her feet frogged up and little baby bird legs! I love it!

January 5th

I miss you, Mom.

Two Family Christmases

Finally- we've got some time to post Christmas pictures! We had a great Christmas holiday, and were able to spend time with both of our families in Raleigh. This year was a bit different for us in that it was the first year we had to not only travel in from out-of-town, but also travel with a baby and all her gear in tow! We also brought Pontouf, thanks to the generosity of Matt's parents and their willingness to let her stay at their house with us. This is extra special since it saves us money on a kennel for her and we get to spend Christmas as a complete family!

The Broglis

We drove in Christmas Eve afternoon, and got to relax for a little while after a 1.5 hour drive from Randleman with a screaming baby. Yes, Kenna screamed the whole way there. Luckily, Grandgraddy and Nana B were waiting with lots of hugs and snuggles to take her off our hands! Leanne brought Beckley to join us at Bayleaf's Christmas Eve service... Sandy had to stay home with Ansley since she was sick. We went back to the house together to enjoy the amazing food and open presents, as is the Brogli tradition!

Grandgraddy and the two littlest cousins, Kenna and Beckley!

Nana spent lots of time soothing these little ones... despite their faces, they had a fabulous Christmas! (LOVE that face, Beckley!)

It's such a joy and a blessing to see our family love on one another!
One of the funniest moments... the ceremonial giving of the Bebah, one of the world's strangest and ugliest toys! Thanks a bunch, Sandy and Leanne!

Mommy started a tradition of Christmas Eve jammies... how funny is Kenna's face? Hopefully that little smirk doesn't mean she'll be too cool for jammies soon!
Christmas Day afternoon, Ansley was feeling better, so all the cousins got together for a picture. (Kenna 1 month, Ansley 4 years, Beckley 3 months)

The Deans

Since Jason and Alisa are the only ones of our immediate family that still live in Raleigh, they hosted us for Christmas Day at their house. Alisa did a great job as hostess of her first Dean Christmas, honoring the memory of our first year without Mom by making sure that all of the favorite foods and traditions were included. Nana would be so proud of her hostessing skills!

The Dean's beautiful Christmas tree! Their house was decorated so beautifully, with many of the Christmasy things Nana has given us through the years.

Alisa and Evan- fully napped and ready to go in his own Christmas jammies!
We had our traditional Italian paninis for lunch instead of Christmas Eve dinner, and loads of goodies for dinner and dessert after opening our presents!
Jason and another 5 pound bag of gummy bears- I think it's becoming tradition! (We'll see if he's been able to eat them all by next Christmas).
Uncle Matt and I scored a slam dunk (pun intended) with Evan's present- a real basketball goal for this grown up boy!

Kenna got to spend some quality time with her Papa Dean as well as her Great Momma Dean!

Alisa and Jason gave our family the best present of all- another cousin for Kenna due this coming June! As her bib says, she will finally be one of the "big cousins!"

Here's to a happy and healthy 2009!