Still here . . .

If anyone is still checking in, we are still here and doing well!! My lack of blogs is somewhat due to lack of time and energy, but mostly due to the lack of a camera!! Our camera broke and I'm wanting to replace it with a nicer one since I have such beautiful subjects to shoot. So, I'm hoping to find a good deal after Christmas. In the meantime, I have been capturing memories with my iPhone . . so if you're on Facebook, I post pics there more often since it's so easy to do from my phone!

Mckinley is so into Christmas this year, it is too fun! We went driving in the neighborhood last night looking at lights and every 2 seconds she would say "Ooooo so pretty! Over there mama! So pretty!" She was loving it!! She's very into Santa and snowmen and every night she kisses the Christmas tree goodnight.

Reagan is also doing well, she is the happiest little baby - always smiling! And she is absolutely facinated by her big sister. It is so much fun to see them together! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and a happy new year! Here is one picture that a friend of mine took for our Christmas cards:

Newborn Pics

Only took me 6 weeks to post some more pictures! With 2 little ones there simply are not enough hours in the day! Or I just simply don't have enough energy to utilize the hours we do have . . . either way, I never seem to be caught up.

Reagan is doing great, she's a very good baby! Mckinley is adjusting well, but we've definitely hit the 2's. Some days every single thing seems to be a battle of wills, and I'm pretty sure I am not winning. But most of the time, Mckinley is a very sweet, very fun little girl! We had her 2nd birthday party last weekend and it was great - pictures to come . . eventually!

Reagan Elizabeth is here!!

Reagan Elizabeth Mattison was born July 14th, at 7:51 am weighing 7 lbs 4 oz, 18.5" long and absolutely gorgeous!! It's pretty busy with 2, so it's taken a week to get pictures loaded and sent out. I'm still moving pretty slow from the c-section, so hopefully I will be up to full speed soon to keep up with these 2 little girlies!

Here is Mckinley's first trip to the hospital . . . she was a little overwhelmed!!

My dad's first chance to hold Baby Reagan

Mckinley didn't hold the baby on her first trip . . there were fewer people around the next day, so she got her chance then. And she's held her every day since!

Getting ready to head home!! Which one is the baby?

My mom with their 11th grandchild!

The hospital makes these cute little bow hats for the baby girls.

Is that a smile???

Finally at home. We came home on Friday afternoon and here's Mckinley watching cartoons and snuggling with her baby sister.

How sweet is this picture?!

At home with Nana (Trent's mom).

Mckinley loves to feed her babies with the real bottles!

And she like to help feed the real baby!

Trent surprised me with this huge stork in our front yard when we got home!

Ready and Waiting!

I went to my last dr's appointment today and we are still planning on delivering via c-section on Tuesday, the 14th! Pretty much everything is ready for Baby Reagan's arrival . . the clothes are washed, my bags are packed, the nursery upstairs is ready, the bassinet downstairs is ready . . so now I'm just trying to keep Mckinley and myself occupied for the next couple of days!


We didn't make many changes to the nursery, but here it is . . ready for baby girl #2!

And since we didn't have to do much to the nursery, we could spend our time and energy on Mckinley's big girl room!! Trent worked his butt off painting the room pink (including the vaulted ceilings) and we both spent a lot of time on the stencils . . it was a lot of work, but we love the result!

We painted and distressed the dresser and bedside table that were already in there. We also painted the 2 canvases on the wall.

Mckinley loves her room and loves to point to the "tree" and "bird" and "bee!". She doesn't really say flower, she just wrinkles her nose and sniffs to smell the flowers! The big girl bed is still an adjustment, but we're getting there. We can't wait to see Mckinley with the baby . . I think she will be a great big sister!!

Summer Fun

Between the TX heat and being sooooo pregnant we haven't done anything too exciting this summer! But I thought I would share a few pictures . . .

I mentioned to my friend Jackie that Mckinley didn't have a tutu, so she made one for her! She loves it . . .



This girl would drink 20 juice boxes a day if we let her. I used to give her "juice" in a sippy cup . . about 99% water with a splash of juice. But since she discovered juice boxes she is no longer interested in anything in a sippy cup, except milk. So, I buy those Capri Sun Roaring Waters . . flavored water so not as much juice. And I get the Motts for Totts, which is juice mixed with water . . but I know she still gets a lot of juice (sugar!) throughout the day with as much as she drinks!

I found this hat at Gymboree on clearance for 17 cents! She loves it!!

Happy 4th of July!!

Our neighborhood put on a great 4th party . . bounce houses, bbq, water slide, a band, and of course fireworks! It was a lot of fun, but HOT!!

Yummy! Sweet tea!!

Since I am usually the one taking pictures, there are hardly any with me in them! Here is a lovely 8 1/2 mo. pregnant profile shot that I didn't know Trent was taking! Check out that belly - HUGE!

Not quite as large from behind . . .

Silly Uncle Walker!

Dancin and waiting for the fireworks to start.

Mckinley actually stayed awake this year for the fireworks, until after 10 pm!!



Even though I'm tired and hot and really just want to lounge on the couch, our days are better if I muster up the energy and get Mckinley out of the house. So, we've been going to the park behind our house (when it's not too hot) or the neighborhood pool or just filling up the baby pool in the back yard. Mckinley seems to love all 3! And since the switch to the big girl bed, she sleeps a lot better if we wear her out playing outside.

Vacations

We've recently taken our last 2 vacations as a family of just 3! In April, we took a long weekend in Horseshoe Bay, TX - just outside of Austin. We spent a lot of our time playing at the pool:

The resort was very pretty:

Relaxin' with a book:

There was a small beach down by the lake. Not exactly Florida, but it was still fun!

We also took our annual Memorial Day weekend trip to Scottsdale, AZ with Trent's family. We met up with them in Lubbock first and Mckinley had fun playing with her cousins!

She adores her cousin Tucker! He is almost 4 and she wants to do everything he does!

Reading with Daddy on the way to AZ:

She fell asleep in the pool while being held! Vacation is exhausting!

Higher Daddy!!

Now we're going to be close to home for awhile. With only 4 weeks left, I'm definitely in nesting mode. Most of the baby stuff is washed and ready, my hospital bags are almost packed, the nursery is all ready and Mckinley has been sleeping in her big girl room for over a week now! Still have a few more projects to get done, but trying to take it easy when I can. Still pretty nervous about taking care of 2 little ones, but I am so uncomfortable and so done being pregnant that I am ready to start figuring out life with 2!

House Projects

With the baby on the way, we've been trying to complete a long list of house projects that we probably won't et to anytime soon after the new peanut arrives! We have a couple of art niches in the house and we painted 2 of them a metallic bronze. This one is in the upstairs hallway and I love the way the dark color sets it off!




Since we're having another girl, we don't have to make any major changes to the nursery. But we wanted baby Reagan to have a few new things for her arrival! We painted these canvases with a stencil kit we ordered.



We've done a few other small things, but the BIG project we're working on is Mckinley's big girl room. I'm hoping it will be done soon and I will post pictures then!!