A belated McKinney Christmas

I am aware we are well into the new year.... but blogging is so low on my list of things to do right now.  Sleep is a much higher priority.  Baby is still not sleeping through the night (boo!)  She is on a good daytime schedule now though, which makes everything run smoother.  Leila's schedule keeps me busy--preschool, dance, gymnastics, playgroup, playdates.  And on top of that I am busy with my own activities.

Skylar's 1st Christmas was wonderful.  She made the day easy.  It was so much fun with Leila understanding more about Santa and the nativity.  We are blessed to both have our parents nearby so it is a busy day but we get to celebrate with everyone.  Santa was good to both of the girls--yes Skylar needed her own presents!  Santa brought Leila a camera and Mrs. Potato Head, among other things.  He brought Skylar Mr. Potato Head so they can play together.  Skylar also got some Weebles from mom & dad--we had to get our baby something of her own. 

We saw the whole family at my parent's, including four dogs: Shrek, Missy, Lucy, and puppy Aspen, who is bigger than all 3 other dogs.  At the McKinney's, Mary surprised the guys with "McKinney & Sons" Dozer Company hats, which is hilarious since my father-in-law just bought a bull dozer!  It was a great holiday.

The 4 of us on Christmas Eve.  Never wake a sleeping baby, not even for a picture opportunity.

Little Skylar (almost 3 months here!) balances pretty well in the bebepod. Just a little bit of cushioning needed.

Daddy got Leila tools (hey, every girl should have some!). We heard all morning "I want to tool something." Ha!

I couldn't get enough of this ridiculous flower head band.  Thanks April!

My sister Lisa with her fiance Jerry holding Skylar.

All of the cute doggies.  Why did we even try to get them to pose??

Aunt Courtney with Skylar.  Both look gorgeous!

McKinney & Sons... Dozer work done right!

Skylar with her Mimi, who gave her the adorable gingerbread outfit.  Poor Skylar looks terrified in most of these pictures!

Countdown to Christmas

We are having the best time preparing for Christmas.  This year Christmas is extra exciting because well, for one we have a darling new baby, and secondly because Leila is really into it this year.  And because I still have my dog around to celebrate with us. 

Leila and Skylar-- so far they look nothing alike.  Time will tell.  Skylar's hair photographs red but it is a light brown--for now.

Leila at her school's Christmas program.  She was front and center, as usual.  Last year she was for her school program AND the church program and I missed recording it both times!  But this year I got it.

We made spiced sugar cookies and they were delicious.  We had a blast.  Little did I know dad does NOT like spiced sugar cookies, he likes regular.  Oops.

Decorating is the best part aside from eating them

We made gingerbread houses too. 

Had to get extra icing, I wonder where all of ours went??

Leila has been using my camera a lot, which means she is going to LOVE her big Christmas present from Santa (hmm, what do you think it is??)  She takes a lot of interesting photos, such as this one above and the one below.

Snow in Kemah!

Making a REAL snow angel

And a REAL snow man, with dad's help

Beautiful Baby Skylar @ 2 1/2 months.  She is such a little doll and a wonderful baby. 

Enjoying brunch with dear friends.  Sweet Gracie on the left (9 weeks) is crying while Skylar (12 weeks) is laughing, as Gray, Leila, Luke and Jamie look on.

Santa Pictures

We tried twice (twice!) to get good pictures of the girls with Santa. Now, even preparing for these pictures is no easy feat. A preschooler and an infant must be groomed from head-to-toe and dressed in their Christmas best, all the while praying there will be no spilled drinks or spit up in the time it takes to drive to Santa and get the picture. 

Leila was an absolute angel. And Skylar, well, she slept like one. Both times. So much for my perfect Christmas card picture. These pictures, however, are priceless all the same...

Posing with Santa at Leila's School

Brunch with Santa (and Mrs. Claus) at Sweetwater Country Club with my dad

Sadder News about Shrek (but he is still here!)

We got the devastating news last week Shrek had a tumor that had to be removed immediately. Even worse, it was on his cheek. He had surgery last Wednesday and came home that night. He had continued to lose weight and along with his other ailments was of grave concern to the vet. He is recovering slowly but his face looks 100x better. The surgeon did a great job. The good news is, being a shar pei, he had lots of extra skin around the tumor for the surgeon to use when sewing him up. The bad news (well, a small piece of all of the bad news) is that the tumor was on his face so he could not remove enough skin around it for a clean and total removal. This means it is a waiting game as it will most likely return. Luckily, the type of tumor Shrek has is not that kind that spreads.

Shrek means a lot to us, me especially, and I am so happy he will be home for Christmas. Last Tuesday I thought they were going to tell me his cancer had spread but for now he is hanging in there. He is currently on 6 (six!) prescriptions and 3 supplements. But you know what? He still loves life and is a fighter. The surgeon said if it was his dog, he would do the surgery and bring him home too.

I wanted our Christmas card to be special for Skylar but since this is probably Shrek's last Christmas, he is in the picture too. Anyway, Skylar slept through every single photo shoot for the card anyway! Wake up, sleepyhead!

He is such a funny dog. He sneaks on the couch when we are not home. He eats any grocery left on the floor--including flour (yuck!) He loves bread and has stolen hot dog buns and taken the bag outside twice (we didn't learn the first time.) He is always in the way, who knows how many times we have stepped on him or accidentally kicked him. He is extremely gentle with children and let Leila pull on him and hug him and even sit on him. He is basically a really great dog, despite all of his quirks.

We have a lot of funny stories about him. When we first got him, we took him to the beach. We were on a walk at dusk with Shrek on his leash. A couple with 2 bigger dogs not on leashes were coming towards us when their dogs ran up to Shrek, growling. He had one pinned to the ground by the throat in about 2 seconds. The woman ran up and said something about a "mean little dog" but our dog was the one on a leash and her 2 dogs charged him! Patrick likes that story because it shows what Shrek could do with that huge mouth of his. They were bred for fighting originally.

I have 2 favorite stories. After Hurrican Ike, my parent's fence blew down. When I went to stay with them because we had no power, Shrek got out of their backyard. I drove around looking for him in their unfamiliar neighborhood. When I found him, I got out of the car and called his name. He started running as fast he could in the other direction. I followed him back to my parent's house and when I pulled up, he was sitting by the back gate like he had been there all along waiting for me. Except he was panting!!

My other favorite story is about when Leila was a baby. We did not know how Shrek would do with a baby. He was great. He used to sit between me and the door when I was rocking her, protecting us. One time we took her and Shrek to a friend's house. She was in her car seat. A huge great dane-lab mix puppy walked up to her car seat to investigate what was inside. He jumped up and knocked that dog to the ground!

He is an amazing dog, and as anyone who has dogs know they are part of the family. He always knew when I was sad and would let me cuddle with him or pay me extra attention. He was around me all of the time during my pregnancies, like how they say dogs know something is different. Also, I am the one who feeds him too though...

This picture was taken in the middle of the night during Skylar's 1st month. Shrek could not find his bed in the dark and I woke up to find he had crawled into the laundry basket!! And yes, it was clean laundry. He loves to be on something soft.

Skylar is 2 months old!

I can't believe it; my baby is 2 months old today. The last 2 months have gone by so quickly. I don't know if that is sad or wonderful. Skylar is just a doll--she is a happy baby, sweet, cute, and cuddly. But she is not sleeping through the night, not even close, and I am so tired. Leila (also sweet, cute, and cuddly) has pretty much given up naps forever and decided to be an early riser all at the same time. Patrick and I both are tired.

Skylar has grown so much in the last 2 months. I am going to the dr. tomorrow for her stats and her shots :( She outgrew newborn clothes at 4 weeks and is about to outgrow 0-3. She is very long. She can wear 3-6 month onesies even if they are a little big. She is very strong! She can hold her head up now really well. She is a little houdini and can get out of any swaddle. She flipped herself over onto her tummy two days before turning 2 months, though I have not seen it yet (she also did it at 2 weeks when she was extremely furious, haha.) Skylar loves to be held, and prefers to be upright. She has the saddest sad face you have ever seen, lip quiver and all. She is not fond of pacifiers (boo, I am a fan) and went from loving formula to hating it. Her hair is still light brown and the jury is still out on whether it will turn red or not. She definitely has Patrick's coloring though. Leila is so sweet to Skylar and fascinated by her. I have not been able to get any good pictures of them together yet though.

Update: 2 month stats

Skylar weighs 11.0 lbs (55%) and is 22.25" long (45%)

Hurray!

One week old

Almost one week old

With new friend Madeline McClung! Madeline is 6 weeks older


Baby's 1st Halloween - one month old

This is how we roll... on our way to trick-or-treating

Tried to get a good picture of the girls in their "Big Sis" "Little Sis" outfits... this says it all

Skylar in her party dress @ 7 weeks

Me and my girls! On my birthday, 11/11/11

Cute & happy @ 6 weeks

Ranch wear... with her Dude in overalls @ 8 weeks

Skylar and her dad @ 8 weeks in hunting gear... yes that is a camo onesie, with lace

Trip to the Zoo

Trying to get out of the door with a dwadling preschooler and a newborn is almost like a comedy routine. We had hoped to leave for the zoo on what was promising to be a gorgeous fall day around 8:00 a.m., since it opens at 9:00 a.m. HA! What were we thinking?? OF COURSE Leila woke up reallly early when I was planning on packing up while they slept. OF COURSE the baby had a blow out, on Leila's bed no less. And Patrick still had to put together the double stroller. But we finally made it out the door at 9:40 a.m. and actually got good parking. We laugh that when Leila was born we did not want to take her anywhere but with baby #2 we are itching to get out of the house.

It was a beautiful day and we got to see all of our favorite exhibits--Leila's is still the goats. The most random thing ever happened at the Lion exhibit. We were looking at the lions when one of the moms next to me addressed her daughter as "Skylar." I asked if her daughter's name was Skylar to make sure I heard correctly. It turns out BOTH of the little girls on each side of us were named Skylar. So we had three Skylars in a row! What are the odds of that??? We all agreed it was a beautiful name.

Leila got to feed the giraffes--look at his tongue!

Family portrait! Doesn't the baby resemble her daddy?

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Our visit to the pumpkin patch was a little different this year with 2 girls. Leila posed beautifully but Skylar slept through the whole photo shoot. She is also too little to wedge between 2 pumpkins since she can't quite hold her head up yet. Skylar is a very strong little baby so I do not think it will be long.

This was my first opportunity to dress the girls in matching outfits. Missoni did a line for Target and I was thrilled to find these dresses. They are so beautiful and I hope they get to wear them again. Dad was slightly dismayed to find I dressed them in matching outfits but little does he know it will not be the last time.

Such a sweet big sister!

For some reason, Leila especially likes the bumpy pumpkins




Skylar turned one month old on the 29th! I can't believe it. She is such a little doll