Happy Halloween!

McKenna says, " Happy Halloween Everybody!"

She is so excited for trick-or-treats!

Her 1st Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

We finally got to take McKenna to the pumpkin patch. We are really getting our money's worth out of this pumpkin onesie (Go Wal-Mart $3). She was all smiles when it came time to snap her picture...what a girl!

Pumpkin Carving Party

The Zelenka family held their annual pumpkin carving contest party this weekend. After trying 4 babysitters, we ended up taking our little pumpkin along! We did not enter her into the contest, because that just wouldn't be fair to the others :o) Our Sunday school group had a great time. The weather was perfect and so were our hosts!


Us and our little pumpkin

The rules were...there were no rules!

Me, Lauren, and Kel

Daddy and his little "ghoul"

Oh goodness...

Our fabulous hosts...Joe and Rebekah

It's a TV pumpkin and an underwater diver's helmet!

Pastor T and Noelle's creation (first prize overall)

everyone was so creative...

The Bunso's pumpkins got "Most Boo-tiful"

The Abels won "scariest"

4 month update

Needless to say another month has gone by and our McKenna is 4 months old! It's been another fun-filled, fast paced, full month. She continues to be a complete joy and we are enjoying every new "first". We took her to get her shots and she did beautifully. She did end up having an ear infection from her cold a couple of weeks ago, so we are on antibiotics for 2 weeks. She weighs 11lbs 15oz and the doctor was a little concerned that she slipped from being in the 50% down the the 25%. The pediatrician gave us the green light for solids and we got a formula that is geared towards premature babies and low birth weight. I have started to wean McKenna and have dropped one feeding. This is when she gets the formula. Hopefully all these extra calories will get our girl where she needs to be...good and fat :o) She's 24 1/4 inches long (75%) and passed all the other tests given by the doctor. The office continues to be impressed with her neck control and the fact that she is sleeping 12 hours through the night!! We're proud too!

McKenna is smiling and cooing a lot these days. We just know any day we're going to hear a giggle out loud. Daddy tries sooooo hard to make her laugh. She seems on the verge each time he gets her going! We dropped McK's 4th nap so she is staying awake from 5pm-8pm. We have been taking some nice evening walks to keep her a happy camper. As you've seen from previous posts she has done some more traveling and has enjoyed some new toys. She has found her hands and has started putting things in her mouth. She is drooling lots (teething to come) and has found the TV. Of course I don't sit her in front of it, but if it's on she can find it and she seems to watch it. She's enjoyed some Sunday football with Daddy too! She hasn't sat up yet, but certainly tries. She doesn't like to be cradled in your arms anymore...this makes Mommy sad...she likes to sit up in your arms facing out so she can see the world!

Thanks for all of your prayers, advice and support during these first 4 wonderful months of McKenna's life. We are surrounded by so many wonderful family and friends and are so thankful for that!

Here are some pictures of our first attempt at some rice cereal. I actually made the cereal myself. I'm going to attempt to make her other solid foods myself too, so we'll see how it goes! Sorry for all of the pictures, I couldn't decide on which ones to choose (Lacy, I know you hear me on that one)!

The ExerSaucer

The ExerSaucer...what a wonderful little invention! We recently put together this new toy for McKenna. The box said 4 months old, and she'll be 4 months tomorrow, so we dumped out the giant box assembled the pieces! I wasn't sure if she was strong enough to enjoy sitting in the little seat, or even if her toes could reach the bottom, but there was only one way to find out! She LOVES this thing!

The seat spins around so she can get to any of the toys she wants. Her feet do reach the bottom and her neck doesn't seem to get tired for a long time. It plays music, shakes, rattles, and rolls. The neat thing about this particular exersaucer (made by EvenFlo) is that it is 3 stages. It came with a mat and toys for babies, the exersaucer for older infants, and it extends into a play table for when she's standing...amazing :o) She will sit in this thing for 20-30 minutes! Our dear friends Chad and Dana gave this to us for a baby shower gift and it's tremendous!


McKenna is staring down the bumble bee!

Look at that concentration!

Her little feet are so sweet...

"I'm having so much fun Mom!"

She's getting so big.

One happy little girl!

And now for more of your viewing pleasure (basically for the grandparents)...McKenna in action!

Friends!

We have been having so much fun with our friends! We have had several play dates!
First, Vanessa and little Josh came with Anissa and little Asher! Josh and Asher are 3 months apart and see each other often. It was McKenna's first time hanging out with them, and she fit in nicely. She watched them closely...I think she wanted to be big like them!


Asher holding McK's hand.


The girls


Josh and his 2 lady friends!

Then we got to hang out with Aunt Erica and Riley! They drove in from down south and got to spend the morning with us. Riley is SUCH a good girl and it was a really enjoyable visit.



Aunt Erica showing Riley how to kiss McKenna gently!


Riley says, "CHEEEEEESE!"


Riley shared her teddy and loved to help McKenna swing.

We just got back from a quick trip to Orlando. There we got to see Aunt Mer Mer and Unkie Drew :o) Thanks guys for driving to meet us and hang out!


The reason we drove to Orlando was because Uncle Keith (my brother) was in town for a conference with work. We got to spend the night with him at the hotel and got in as much visiting time as we could. Thanks for sharing a room with us Keithy!