Outdoors

Today, while Courtney was still sleeping, McKaila and I decided to chill outside for a while. I took McKaila's walker outside and put some shoes on her and headed out to the front yard. We put her in the walker outside one other time and she didn't know what to do really, so I thought I would try it out again. She really loved it. I think she just needed to get used to wearing shoes because while she's inside, she's bare foot. We were outside for about 45 minutes before we started getting to warm. So, once inside we needed to enjoy a nice cold cup of water.

I made her a license plate... hehehe

She was very intrested in Daddy's jeep. Especially the big wheels

Off exploring

Enjoying some water. She's drinking from a straw. Today was the first time she actually was able to get water up the straw.

It was a very fun day and can't wait to have Courtney home for the next fews days. We have to bring some friends to Baltimore tomorrow, so we get to explore there a little bit.

8 Months Old

Today our baby girl is 8 months old. It's so crazy and she's getting so big. We're really looking forward to the 9 month check up to see how much she's grown.
Most days are now spent trying to avoid getting run over by McKaila as she's walking around in her walker. She literally follows you where ever you go. She even tries to get into the room you're in, but the walker doesn't go on carpets. She hates that and gets super frustrated, but after a little bit, she just turns around and finds something else to go after. So, today McKaila spent a lot of her day walking around the house. Lots of times I found her lurking by the bedroom door. I think she wanted Daddy to come out and play, but he needed to sleep.
I decided I needed to take some pictures of McKaila. It used to be so easy to get pictures of McKaila because she would just sit there and smile, but now she just wants to go. Just as I would try to take a picture, she'd get onto her belly and start rolling around. She did start getting the hang of getting her leg from under her to start crawling, but still no go on that. I'm thinking it may happen very soon because she is very eager to GO!!

 McKaila and Meeko playing

In this picture, you can see her two bottom teeth coming in

Watch Out For McKaila

We've been putting McKaila in her walker a lot lately. That seems to be the number 1 thing she likes these days. She likes to be on her own and go where she pleases, for the most part. For a while, when we put her in the walker, she only wanted to go backwards. Finally one day she figured out she could go forward and since then she's been go, go, go. And when she's coming for you, you better watch out. She literally follows Courtney and I around the house. But she always loves to find the cats lying under the kitchen table and try to get to them. Roxy always seems to be the object of affection for McKaila. If Roxy is in sight, McKaila is going after her. It's so funny, but I don't think Roxy likes being put in the corner like that.


The last few days Courtney has had off, so one day we decided to go to Tyson's Corner Mall in Virginia. Before going, we had to drop off a friend of ours off at Reagan National Airport. As we were leaving the airport, we seen a park. We pulled in and noticed it was right next to the airport. I was super excited 'cuz ever since living in San Antonio, I have talked about when I was younger my parents would take us to the airport and watch the planes arrive and take off. I enjoyed that so much, that I wanted find a park or something to do that again. Finally here, we found one!! But oh my gosh... the planes literally fly right on top of  you to land. It was crazy. I knew they were coming, but it still scared me. McKaila loved it. We would point to the plane as it turned the corner and she would keep an eye on it until we saw it land. It was so cute. We can't wait to go there with a little picnic and enjoy lots more time there.

Here are some pics from the park

Just getting done eating her fruits:-)

McKaila and I with the plane right above us!!

Right above us

Plane is about to land

This was a pic taken the other day that I just needed to share because it was so cute. Roxy was trying to get the squirrel from inside (You can see the squirrel underneath the humming bird feeder)

McKaila and Mommy

Courtney has been working nights this month, so McKaila and I some times do a photo session and send pics to him while he's at work. We really miss him not being home at night, so we have to let him know we are thinking about him!!

We love you Daddy <3

It's Bedtime

Last night was McKaila's night for a bath. I know there are some babies out there that aren't too fond of bath time, but McKaila loves being in the bath. She could be super cranky, but as soon as we put her in the water, she's happy as can be. She loves splashing around and playing with her rubber ducky. (it's dressed as a cheerleader, of coarse)

Being all cute after her bath

Of coarse after her bath, all she wanted to do was play. So, I put her in her crib for a bit so I could put that bath supplies away. When I came back, McKaila was struggling to pull herself up. She puts her hands to the top of the crib, but doesn't pull herself up. She sure was happy when I stood her up though.

Playing with her penguins

Sippy Cup

For the last week we've been introducing McKaila to a sippy cup. At first she didn't want anything to do with it, but little by little she's getting more comfortable with it. She is now bringing it to her mouth, but she still hasn't gotten the idea that she has to tip it up a little bit to actually get something out of it. She will sit on the floor in the living room for a good hour and bring the sippy cup back and forth from her mouth to the floor. It's so cute.

A couple weeks ago, we started giving her 3 meals a day. So now she's been eating a whole container of 2nd foods (Gerber) 3 times a day. We've been able to tell the difference now that she's eating breakfast because now she goes about 4-5 hours in between bottle feedings. She has really loved the food. As soon as she sees the container she freaks out because she knows what it is. She does the same thing for her bottles. She is one crazy kid, but so cute.

Lately, Courtney and I have been helping McKaila support herself by grabbing onto something when she stands. She does a great job standing up in her crib. She's still a little wobbly supporting herself on the couch, but she's very intrested in doing it.

Thank you Grandma Kuipers for Dora pj's, I love them! Love, McKaila

Air and Space Muesum

I feel so terribly bad that I haven't kept up to date on the blog. It's been harder these days with Courtney working nites and it's hard to find any down time with McKaila always wanting to play. She is keeping me busy during the days and nites that's for sure, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I could be terribly tired and not want to do anything but sit around, I look at that beautiful smile of McKaila's and I can't help but get up and play around with her. She has the most amazing laugh and who could resist that??
So, yesterday we went out to Virginia because Courtney's cousin Brooke was in town. The company that she works for was having a cook out and were nice enough to invite us. Thankfully it had cooled down some so it made for a beautiful day! It was great getting to catch up with Brooke. We haven't seen her in a few years, so it was great seeing her again. And she was really excited to finally meet McKaila. We only got a couple hours together, but it was nice to be around all the nice people and eat some good food.
We then decided to go to the Air and Space Muesum since it was about 10 miles from where we were and we've been wanting to go for a while now. So this was a great chance to finally go. Courtney was researching our trip there and found out that after 4 it was free parking, so it was pretty entertaining when we arrived 15 minutes early. We found out we weren't the only ones that wanted to save the $15 to park.

We had so much fun walking around. Courtney knew a lot about most of the planes ofcoarse, so it was a bit of a learning expierence for me. McKaila did so well too. As long as there is plenty to see, she is very content. We even got the chance to go up in the observation tower. 7 stories high and you had a full view of everything around you. You could see the mountians and Dulles Airport. While we were up there 2 planes flew by to land, so that was really fun to see.

All in all, it was a great day!!! We took many, many pictures of our time in the Muesum, but here are a few of our favorites!!