McCoy’s Birthday Pictures

I have been slowly working on that last post for weeks now.  I’m pretty lame for not posting it earlier.  McCoy keeps me so busy I rarely get around to posting. 

Anyway, here are the pictures from his 1st birthday party.

He had his 12 month well check on Monday.  He is 30 1/2 inches tall (70th percentile), 21 1/2 lbs (25th) and his head circumference is 18.5 inches.  Still tall and skinny.  The way this kid moves I’m not at all surprised that he is skinny.

McCoy is 1!!!

My baby turned 1! I still can't believe that a year has gone by since this little man joined our family. I think back to a year ago and it all seems so surreal. It is so strange to think that this crazy boy who runs and runs was once so small. This last year has had a lot of trials and has included many lessons in parenthood. It has also brought so much joy and love. I always thought it was silly that people said they couldn't remember life without their children. I can remember life without McCoy, I just can't imagine life without him. He has helped turn Jeff and me into a family. He is constantly making us laugh and keeping us entertained.

• He is still in a lovey stage.  He likes to give many “loves.”  His favorite people to give “loves” to are his new cousins, the triplets.  It is the best!
• He understands so much right now.  When he hears the door to the garage close he knows that someone is home and goes running.  If you ask him to take something to Mama, Dada, Grandpa, Grandma, JuJu, Bracken or Doggie he knows who I am talking about and does exactly that.  When I ask him if he is ready for his bath each night he says yeah and either runs to my parents bath tub or to the bath tub downstairs.  I will ask him if he is ready for breakfast or lunch and he will run to the high chair.
• His new football is his favorite toy.  This is thanks to Uncle Bracken.  He will throw the football, more like spike it, then go get it and do it all over again.
• When his Grandpa McGuire gets home from work, first thing he does is grab the Sponge Bob baseball and throw it to Grandpa.  They enjoy playing catch.
• He now says “yeah.”  I love it!  I ask him questions all day just to hear him say yeah.
• He also knows what a cow says.  This is thanks to Aunt JuJu and Dada.  He loves to hear us say “moo” and then he will repeat it.  Not only does he say moo but he tilts his heaad up and says it.  It is cute!
• He thinks he is so funny!  I love to hear his fake laugh when he thinks he is being funny.
• He prefers to eat things like bananas and rolls by biting them.  He does not want me to cut them into pieces.
• If we are sitting on the floor he likes to sit on our laps.  He will stand in front of us, turn around, back up and sit down.  Then stand up and do it all over again. 
• When he wakes up he has to throw all of his stuffed animals out of the crib.  Then when I come in he wants me to put them back in his crib so he can throw them out again.
• He has to point to everything now.  This started when we went to the store and he was amazed by all of the Halloween things.  He points with such authority, throwing his arm out as he points.
• He dances by sticking his bum out and bouncing up and down.

Those are just a few of some fun things he is doing.  We love him so much!  We had a fun jungle themed birthday party for our little monkey.  He dug into the cake just like we had hoped.  I even had to bathe him after because he was so messy.  Of course he couldn’t sit still to open all of his presents so I had some little helpers do it for him.  Everyone was so gracious with the gifts.  He was definitely ready for a nap after the party.  We are so lucky to have such a happy boy and can’t wait to see what happens during the next year!

Triplets

Molly, Hunter and Maddie

Julianne and Bracken's triplets were born on July 28th. The decision to induce Ju was a quick one with many reasons that it had to be done that day. For the whole story go here. I was able to make it to the hospital just before they took her back to get her ready for her c-section. Hunter was born at 11:40 am weighing 3 lbs 10 oz. Madison was born at 11:41 am weighing 3 lbs 8 oz. Molly was born at 11:42 am weighing 2 lbs 15 oz. I was able to stay for a while after the surgery and was even able to go in and see the beauties in the NICU. These babies have been fighters from day one. Miss Molly, the littlest decided about a half hour after she had her CPAP put in that she didn't want any tubes in her nose so she pulled it out. She was completely fine. Her siblings followed just a few hours later. They all handled there tube feedings well and were quickly changed to bottle feeding. Poor Julianne had a rough recovery in the hospital but was able to come home a week after she was first admitted.

To our surprise the babies were only in the hospital for 3 weeks. They were born at 31 weeks, 2 days and were expected to be in the hospital for a while but just did amazing. They had no reason to keep them there so the sent them home. They have been home almost a week and I have been able to go help out or see them every day. They are so beautiful. As you can see by the pictures. I went with Ju and Bracken to the doctor's appointment last Thursday. All of the babies had gained at least 3 oz in 2 days. Hunter- 4 lbs 7 oz, Maddie- 4 lbs 2 oz, and Molly- 3 lbs 12 oz.

We are all so excited to have 3 new babies in the family. I feel so lucky to be able to help out so much and watch them change and grow. Love you babies!

Hunter

Maddie

Molly

July

I know that it is almost the end of August but I needed to post some pictures of the happenings during July.

First of all, the 4th of July. We enjoyed the best parade ever, the Kaysville City Parade. Bracken and Jeff went the night before and picked the greatest spot to save. The weather was perfect. We had chairs for everyone and even had a canopy to shade us. I think we'll have to go with that set up next year. We went with my parents, Ju and Bracken. Bracken and Jeff were on the candy committee, I was on baby duty and Ju was on growing babies duty. McCoy loved the parade and clapped the entire time. He hadn't clapped in a long time and since the parade he hasn't stopped. He thinks he is so funny. We rested then had a barbecue and did a few fireworks.

The Set Up

He had fallen asleep on the way there

Just relaxing and enjoying the show

Matching outfits for McCoy and Gavin, Jeff picked them out!

We were lucky enough to have Billy, Jacee, Kenslee and Cade come stay with us for a while. We enjoyed time with cousins and just hanging out.

Peter, Kenslee and Emma enjoying some cookies

Brody enjoying his cookie on the other side of the kid's table.

All the kids wanted to get in the little kid pool

Sir was ornery most of the time so I had to get one of him smiling

We had dinner at my parent's on the 24th with Billy & Jacee's family, Bobby & Erica's family and Bracken & Ju. We did a few fireworks. It was a fun day but ended up being a long one for the kids.

Pops, always fun!

The McGuire's, enjoying the fireworks

Stinker walking over to Aunt Ju Ju

Laughing with Aunt Ju Ju and Harley

Oh and I don't want to forget one of the most exciting things to happen. McCoy started walking. He had taken a few steps here and there but he decided that it was finally time to walk full time. He has now been walking for about a month. He no longer walks, he runs everywhere. My dad calls him the Energizer Bunny because when he is awake he never stops walking. He will pick up a toy and walk around with it for a while, then pick up a different one and continue on.

Then something big happened on July 28th, but I'll leave that for the next post....

10 Months Old!

Today my baby is 10 months old! In no time he will be a year old. I can't believe how fast time goes! Here are a few things that I love about him right now.

• He gives lots of loves right now. He still doesn't snuggle much. There is a difference. He likes to nuzzle his head into your neck when you first pick him up or hold him. It is sweet.


• He loves blankets and pillows. Basically if there is anything soft on the floor he likes to go lay down on it. There is a pile of blankets sitting by our chair and he will take breaks between playing with toys to go lay down on the blankets.


• He loves his blanket. He knows there is a difference between any blanket and HIS blanket. He will grab it and snuggle it into his face. I love it!


• He can walk. Now, I love it and it has been hard for me to deal with. He has been walking, not crawling at all, for 3 weeks. He is too little to be walking. He is really good at it though. Sometimes his upper body wants to go faster than his little legs so he has to catch up. It is cute. I'll have to get it on video and post it here. It is hard because he gets places a lot faster.


• He is constantly taking the towels off of the oven. It is a pain because we have to change the towels a lot more but I think it is so cute. He will wander off and come around the corner holding 2 towels in his hands.


• He loves to throw balls. All of you that have boys know how exciting it is when they learn how to do boy things.


• He is a clapper. Any time you say "Yay", or "clap", or if he hears someone clapping, even on the tv he will start to clap. I love it.


• He says Mama all the time. How can I not love that!


• He has a coy little look. When he first sees someone, even his aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas, he will turn his head into the person that is holding him and look at the other person from the corner of his eyes. It is so cute.
• If mommy is mean he starts crying for Nana. This is my mom. I guess that is what Grandma's are for.
  
• He has quite a bit of hair now but you can't really tell. He is a blondie like his dad was. Although his dad didn't have hair until he was about 1 1/2.
  
• He thinks he is bigger than he really is. He likes to follow around his older cousins and copy them. We got him one of those red and yellow cars that kids can ride around in or use their legs to move around. He know how to open the door, climb in, close the door, then open it and climb out, one leg at a time. It is so cute.
  

Of course I could go on an on about things I love but I will leave it at that.

Happy 10 month birthday McCoy!

First Father's Day!

This was Jeff's first Father's Day. I didn't want to forget to let him know how much I appreciate all he does for me and for McCoy. He is a great dad. You know, the type that every kid loves to have because he is loads of fun. That is Jeff. McCoy just adores him and loves to play with him. Jeff teaches McCoy so many fun things. I think McCoy copies Jeff because he wants to be just like his dad. One of my favorite things that Jeff and McCoy do together is chase each other. Jeff will say, "I'm gonna get you," and McCoy will giggle and start to crawl away as fast as possible. He will then turn around to see if Jeff is still coming then quickly turn back to continue crawling, often times he ends up falling because he is too excited. Jeff will then get him and tickle him. I love it! Sometimes when I'm in another room Jeff will get McCoy to follow him down the hall to surprise me. It is fun. I always knew Jeff would be a great dad by the way that he interacts with his nieces and nephews. I know he and McCoy will be best buddies forever and I couldn't ask for more. Today while McCoy was napping I decided to go lay down. Soon after McCoy started crying. Jeff went in to get him back to sleep, the crying indicates that the nap was not long enough. I didn't hear McCoy anymore until just before I woke up. I came out to see the boys playing and asked Jeff how long McCoy slept and how he kept McCoy quiet while I napped. He said that he pulled McCoy out of his crib and put his blanket over him. He then came and sat on the couch to see if he could get McCoy back to sleep. He snuggled him while he was watching tv. About every other minute Jeff would look down and McCoy would just be smiling up at him. Then McCoy fell back to sleep but Jeff was having so much fun snuggling that he just held McCoy for the rest of his nap. I love to hear that! He is a great father! I know he and McCoy will be best buddies forever and I couldn't ask for more.

Oh and don't you love his new glasses. He has needed them for about 8 years now. He should have gotten them sooner because wow, he is SEXY!

Blogger catch-up

For Mother's Day Jeff bought me a new digital camera. I am so excited about it! I had wanted a smaller one so that it was easier to carry around. I love it! It is a Nikon Coolpix S230 and it is purple. It has gotten lots of use so far. Here are a few of the things I have captured on film. (Sorry, it will be a long post!)

McCoy went swimming for his first time. Okay this isn't his first time swimming because I didn't have my camera yet but this is his second time. He LOVES swimming! I should have guessed it though, he loves his baths.

We have had fun sitting outside on the grass. We just put McCoy on the grass on his tummy to see what he would do. Obviously he doesn't really love grass but since this he has gotten use to it more.

We played with cousins.

Had a baby shower.

Decided to low ride our pants.

Show off the cheesy grin and McCoy's 2 bottom teeth.

Learn how to clap.

Play in our fun swimming pool (Thanks McCoy Family) while the dog played with the hose.

Slept like an angel.

I don't have a picture of this but McCoy also learned how to stand on his own. He is still a little wobbly but he is determined to walk soon. He can stand on his own for a long time and basically stands all day long. I love my little wiggle worm!

Last of all we ended up going down to St. George this last weekend to pick up the last of our items. We ended up finding a better deal through U-Haul if we picked up the truck in Layton and returned it to Layton. The only problem was that the truck just had 2 bucket seats. I was nervous about driving down to St. George alone so we called Jeff's sister, Lisa to see if she and her family would like to go with us. Lisa and her 3 kids, Carly, Chandler and Weston, left at 4:00 on Friday with McCoy and me. Thank goodness for the kids, they really kept McCoy entertained. With one stop in Beaver we ended up making it to the condo at 9:30. Jeff and Mike left at 7:30 and made it down to the condo around 12:30. We were able to surprise our friend Brian and introduce him to McCoy. The kids did lots of swimming and I did some shopping. We had dinner with family at a mexican restaurant and then went to Jeff's Mom's house for a bbq one night. On Saturday night we were able to go to Cruz McCoy's 2nd birthday party. It was so good to see some of our friends from St. George. Cruz loves construction equipment so that was the theme of his party and Brittney made the cutest front loader cake. Of course we stayed up too late every night. All I know is vacations with a baby are not that easy. The sleeping was difficult and the naps did not work too well. It was so fun though. McCoy was in heaven playing all day with his cousins and his fun aunt and uncle.