6 Months!

Well, we knew this time would come...just didn't know it would happen SO FAST! Our little girl is 6 months and we (I) can hardly stand it! We are at the HALF-WAY point...eeeek!

McKenna is doing such big girl things! She is doing really well sitting on her own. She teeters at times, but for the most part she is flying solo! We have moved into sitting in highchairs and grocery carts! We moved to the "big girl" part of her baby bath tub. She has really started to play and manipulate some of her bath toys, so that has been fun. She hasn't strung her consonants yet, like BA-BA-BA, MA-MA-MA, but she gets them in there. You have to listen closely and carefully but she has used the B, D, F, and M sounds. She loves to jump and stand on your legs. She does NOT like to be craddled anymore. She likes to sit up and facing the world. She doesn't want to miss a thing!

A big change has been that we've moved her to a 4 hour schedule! She is still up by 8:00am and goes down for her first nap at 10:00am. She's up at 12:00pm, and then goes back down at 2:00pm. When she wakes up at 4:00pm she's up until her bed time at 7:30pm! She is still sleeping through the night beautifully (knock on wood/Praise the Lord) and naps well too! She has also broadened her horizons with food! I mix avocado or applesauce in her cereal for breakfast, and for lunch and dinner she'll have various combinations of sweet peas, sweet potatoes, green beans, acorn/butternut/yellow squash, carrots, pumpkin, pears, and bananas. She is also strictly on formula now! Mommy is done breastfeeding...thank you Jesus! :o)

McK has absolutely no interest in crawling. She is no where near getting up onto her knees. She still does well on her tummy, but no rocking back and forth or anything...so we'll see when she gets interested. Still no sign of any toofers either. She sure is a drooly little thing though, so I'm sure within the next 2 months we'll see little white teeth appear!

She is still doing well in the church and YMCA nursery and she will go to anyone who wants her. Not looking forward to the whole "stranger anxiety" thing. She loves to smile and we are JUST now starting to hear a little girl giggle. Up until now she really hasn't laughed outloud in the way you usually hear little babies giggle...it's been more of a back of the throat gurgle :o) But she loves to play peek-a-boo and be lifted high into the air...you'll get an actual giggle...it sure is a sweet one too! :o)

We took McK to her 6 month appt and it ended up being a "sick visit" so we'll have to reschedule her shots :o( When we took her though she weighed 16.7 lbs (a little about the 50%) and she was 26.5 in (75%). I know that while she's been sick (with NO apetite) she's lost weight...so hopefully we'll be back where we're supposed to be at her next visit.

She continues to be an absolute joy and I still can't get over the fact that we get to keep her.

Highchair Mania!

What better restaurant to have your first highchair experience than Sonny's Bar-b-q! Sonny's is near and dear to our hearts (it's where Dave asked for my # for the 1st time), so it only seemed appropriate we share another first there :o) McKenna has been sitting up so well by herself that we thought we'd give the highchair a try. We met up with Ginny for lunch and McK sat up so big with us at the table! McK had her bottle and everything (see the evidence in pictures). We're still working on table manners :o) So much fun!

Christmas footage

I had two short clips from our time in TN that I thought were cute to share. McKenna's cousin, Elliot, loves her! He is 3 years old and runs around saying that McK is HIS cousin! He cracked us up when McK jumped in her "jumperoo" and he jumped too.

The other video is from when we got to spend some time at Chad and Jennifer's with Emily and Sam too. We set all 3 kids on the couch and the cameras went craaaazy! The kids didn't know what was going on! It was near the end of the night and at one point I think all 3 kids yawned :o) Us adults were having too much fun, not caring about bed times!

Christmas 2008

This year's holidays have been a little different for us because of McKenna being sick. She got sick in Oklahoma during our Thanksgiving time and then she started to cough the day before we left for TN :o( We ended up having to take her to the pediatrician while in Cleveland. She tested positive for R.S.V. (a respiratory virus). Although it was sooooooooooo good to be with family and friends, we were a little preoccupied with our little one and her health. Luckily we seem to be back on the road to recovery. Hopefully we can kick this thing soon. The weather in TN made it feel like Christmas. Saturday was warm enough to be in short sleeves, but every day after that we were bundled up and had the heat going! The entire fam got together at Dave's parents' house that Saturday. We had a blast watching the kids open their presents and us adults stuffed ourselves with all of the holiday treats! It was good to see our sweet nephew, baby Eli, who is 2 months old now! The 3 of us got to go into Knoxville on Sunday. We saw my aunt, uncle, cousins, Chad and Jennifer (McDuffie) Eidemiller, and Sam and Emily (Evans) Wright. Thank you Jennifer for the yummy dinner and Em for the dessert! It was such a quick trip, but were so thankful for ANY minutes we could get with them.

Dave had to work Christmas day so we were home the night of the 24th. We openned our presents from each other and had a quiet night at home. Christmas day McK and I started out slowly...playing with some of her new toys. We ended up over at my girlfriend Kim's house. She made the most delicious meal and we were able to relax and enjoy the day. Thanks Kim! We were home in time to get Miss McK to bed and to talk to Dave on the phone before my bed time! It's been different...an OK different...I'm thinking from here on out, every year will be different! :o)

I splashed some other pics in the slide show of McKenna and I just hanging out at the house. She is learning and changing right before our eyes. I will post her 6 month update soon...just wanted to get some Christmas pictures up before it got too late. Hope each of you and your's enjoyed this Christmas season....now....on to New Year's!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Dave's Birthday!

Dave's 29th birthday was yesterday (Dec. 9th)...thank you to all who sent cards, emails, and called with happy birthday wishes for him! I think all in all he felt loved and celebrated. He got to spend the morning with McKenna while I went to MOPS. I made him cinnamon toast and we opened cards and presents before I left. He got to hang out with 2 of his buddies doing "car stuff," so I think that made him happy too. We made a yummy dinner of bar-b-q chicken on the grill, potatoes, and broccoli with cheese! I made him a cake, put all 29 candles on top, with a side of Publix "birthday cake" ice cream :o) McKenna and I sang to him and he got the red "You are Special Today" plate :o)

Dave, we sure do love you and are proud of you. You work so hard to provide for our family and we're so very thankful. You are a wonderful husband and Daddy. Thank you for all that you do to make our lives happy and full! Happy Birthday! Love, Erin and McK


29 candles burning brightly!...we thought the smoke detector might go off :o)


Just in case...

We almost had a catastrophe when the chicken tried to jump off Dave's plate!

A few of my favorite...

PEOPLE!

I was over at my good, dear, sweet friend Kim's house the other night and we took some pictures of our kids! They turned out so cute that I couldn't resist putting them up to share! I love these children as if they were my own. The Kirton family is VERY special to us Burkes. Kim was there when McKenna was born and she more than got me through my 3 years of teaching! We love you guys!

Kaileigh, Kelsea, and Korbin

Kelsea and McKenna
Their pjs were both pink and had snowmen on them :o)

It's beginning to look a lot like....

CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!


She was soooo interested in his beard...


We had to jingle bells to get her attention :o)


Look how big I am!


So funny!


My favorite little gift!

Little Jumping Bean!

Our friends from church let us borrow a toy that their son has grown out of (Thanks Millers)! McKenna is now a little jumping bean and it's hysterical. I don't know why I find it so amusing, but I can sit and watch her in this toy until she is ready to get out...and she is NEVER ready to get out :o) She is getting better and better at jumping and it wears her plum out! The toy makes fun jungle noises and she loves the little things to play with. It makes her seem so big jumping and playing the way she does...(sigh). She's so much fun!


CHEESE!!!!


Always a smile and her hands in her mouth!

Thanksgiving

Well...to sum it all up...a good time was had by ALL! Dave, McKenna and I enjoyed our Thanksgiving holiday in Oklahoma with my side of the family! McKenna traveled SOOOO well (thank you Jesus)! We went to my Memom's house and saw MORE family. We ate way too much, laughed out loud, shopped til we dropped, drove tractors, played games, and enjoyed the mess out of each other...wishing for MORE time! My brother Keith and his new wife Hannah moved into their new house while we were there, so that was fun to be a part of too! These pictures are WAAAY out of order, but you'll get the drift :o) Thank you family for a wonderful time. We miss you already! Now....onto CHRISTMAS!!!


Sweet baby girl...she's in her happy place :o)


Keith and Hannah in front of their new home (it's the church's parsonage home)!


Keith accepted the children's minister position at my parents' church!


All the kids at my aunt and uncle's farm!


Dave driving the tractor...yes, I was in front of the tractor in the bucket :o)
If you look closely, Kevin is behind Dave in another tractor...yes...we did race :o)


Memom and McK


We had Badgett family pictures taken...this was one off of my camera...3 generations!


All of the GREAT grandkids...Nora, McKenna, and Isaac!


This was McK's Thanksgiving feast...along with some sweet peas and sweet potatoes!


Baby's 1st Thanksgiving!


City folks enjoying country life :o)


Pop, Gigi, and McKenna


Uncle Kevin and McK


Thanks Mom and Dad for being such AWESOME parents and grandparents! We love you!

Oh the weather outside...

Oh the weather outside is frightful...but not too frightful to go on a walk! McKenna sported her new, little coat and hat we got her to take to Oklahoma today. It was chilly, but with her new duds she was ready to stroll!

5 month pictures

Here are some pictures of our big 5 month old girl and her new toy!


This is how we prop her up with the boppy pillows.




Look Mom...no pillows!


I love to look at myself...Mommy always tells me how pretty I am :o)


What does this button do?


Sittin' so big!


I love my new Sing-Along-Stage!

5 Month Update!

Well, it's that time once again to share that our little girl is one month older! McKenna seems to be changing and growing by the minute. We still are cherishing every bit of her as she continues to enrich our lives with her sweet smiles and little personality.

As you can see from previous posts we have entered into the wonderful world of solid foods! We started with yellow squash and pumpkin...both in which is HATED! We then moved to sweet potatoes, sweet peas, and acorn squash...which she GOBBLES up! I have green beans, avocado, applesauce, and prunes (eek) to try next. I tried to get sneaky with her by adding yellow squash to her yummy sweet potatoes and there was NO FOOLING her :o) She didn't want to have anything to do with it! Too funny...

She is now in 3-6 month clothes and in size 2 diapers! We went to the doctors about 2 weeks ago and she weighed 13.8 lbs. So I know that she is well into the 14 lbs range these days. We had our 2nd bout with ear infections and colds. We have since been cleared of both...praise the Lord! I'm hoping for a clean bill of health for a while.

McKenna has started to laugh out loud. It's amazing to see the great lengths Dave and I go to get her to giggle. She still smiles sooooo much, but is just now starting to find things really hilarious!

She is also trying her hardest to sit up by herself. She sits easily propped up with pillows, but she gets a little wobbly without them. She's sits OK for about 30 seconds and then topples over :o) It won't be long now though! We got her a little Fisher Price "sing-along stage" toy where she can sit, look at herself (oh brother), push buttons and listen to music. She loves it! It'll be really fun when she can sit alone and even pull up on it.

The last little "new" thing that McKenna is doing is SQUEALING!!! Oh my heavens...she is LOUD! At first I thought she was always about to cry...but I soon realized she just loves to hear herself squeal! She squeals allllll the time. I have had to put my hand over her mouth when we are out in public because she can get going! It's a sweet squeal...but none the less LOUD! Our little "cooing" days seem to be over!

I feel that we are on the verge of the teething adventure. She has certainly started the drooling process and everything goes to her mouth. Dave and I have to have clean hands all the time because she gets a hold of our fingers and they go straight to her mouth! I'm sure there will be more to come on that topic in the not-so-distant future!

We are heading to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving! We can't wait to be with family. I will post all of the Turkey-Day happenings when we return! Have a happy thanksgiving everyone. The Burkes are beyond blessed by our friends and family. Thank you to each of you for your love and friendship!

PS. There will be no pictures for this post due to the fact that I lost our memory card for our digital camera :o( I know...I'm totally in the doghouse about it too! We will post pictures soon...hopefully!

Tagged by Anissa!

This one is for fun.
Go to your fourth picture folder and then go to the fourth picture in the folder.
Write four things about the picture and then tag four other people.
It's amazing what you'll find!!!



I was all nervous to know what was our 4th folder and 4th picture :o) I didn't cheat...I promise!

1) This was the last day that previous crew members could board the JFK before it was decommissioned.
2) Dave was sooooooo proud to show me around his old Navy stomping grounds.
3) I remember feeling so patriotic and felt like I was experiencing and participating in a part of our nation's history.
4) I also remember feeling so grateful and thankful that Dave is NOT active duty, and that he served our country.

I tag...Lacy, Jennifer, Marie, and Meredith!