Visitors and a girl on the move...

We've been enjoying a mostly beautiful February here in Fresno (and over at the beach). Norah is already working on the letter of the week "T" at school and is getting very good at writing her name all on her own. Her class led weekly chapel this week, so Dan and I stopped in to watch her sing and dance with her schoolmates. She loves school and Dan and I are impressed with how much she is learning.

A few weeks ago, we headed to the beach/Livermore for a nice weekend, capped with a birthday celebration for my Grandpa Ray. Maddie got to try out the swings at the park for the first time (as you can see in the picture below, she was not that impressed - we'll try again when she's a little bigger), and then she got to meet Great Grandma Shirley. It was a great weekend with good company!

After a slow start to solid foods, Maddie is now flying through the orange veggies and getting ready to move on to greens. She was a bit of a stubborn/picky eater at first, quickly mastering the art of shutting her mouth tightly (to prevent the food from getting in), followed by gagging on anything that did make it past Fort Maddie. Luckily, it's going better now, but we're still a little concerned about her future eating habits :)

Over the President's Day long weekend, we were excited to have Judie and Mike come out for a visit. We spent part of the time over at the beach, then the rest in Fresno. Judie had seen Maddie when she was very little, but this was Mike's introduction to his newest granddaughter. Norah was happy to show Grammy and Grandpa all her favorite beach spots, and we all got to eat some wonderful seafood (Lenten Friday's don't seem like much of a sacrifice when you're enjoying lobster rolls and clam chowder at a beach-side restaurant!). We know the trip from Missouri to California is a long one, so we really appreciate the time we had with them!

After about a week of working up the courage to do it, Maddie is now a girl on the move! She's scooting faster and faster each day, and her distance traveled is quickly increasing. The video below is from yesterday, but as Norah will attest, she's even better today. I guess it's time to put those baby gates back up soon, and Norah has learned that her toys are no longer safe.

That's all the updates from us. Love to all!

First Food!

Happy February! With the various wintertime illnesses making their rounds, we've been doing our best to stay close to home. So far, we've been lucky with cold and flu bugs - I hesitate to even type this lest I jinx us - but pinkeye seems to be this year's bug of choice. Norah had her fun on Christmas, with Dan and then me following in the new year. We're not sure where Dan picked his case up (he can't blame Norah since his was viral and hers bacterial), but I'm pretty sure I know where my (viral) pinkeye was from. In any case, we've given the washing machine quite a workout.

Dan and I have been taking advantage of the nice weather the past couple of weeks by trying to get our garden under control. We have big plans for how we would like the yard to look, but our progress is slow (though steady). As usual, Dan gets to do most of the heavy lifting, while I do the weeding and pruning. The girls were helping me outside one afternoon, and Norah was doing her best to keep Maddie entertained so I could finish just one more rose bush...

Maddie sure loves her big sissy! (And don't you like Norah's outfit? She likes to pick out her own clothes now! If we're just staying around the house, I don't press the issue.)

It's hard to believe, but Maddie is already six months old!

She's happy to be sitting on her own and is getting very good at picking things up, (putting them in her mouth), banging them on the floor, (putting them in her mouth), picking up something new, (putting it in her mouth), etc., etc., etc. We waited until the six month mark to introduce solid foods, so we just started her on rice cereal this past Saturday. She was a little wary of the taste/texture/delivery, and the whole process was very messy. We're pretty sure she didn't actually swallow any of the food. As soon as she gets the hang of it, we'll move on to veggies - yummy!

Happy 2013!

Now that Norah is back at school, it really does feel like we're back into our regular routine. We had a wonderful holiday season, complete with a wedding, a couple of birthdays (happy birthday mom and dad!), Maddie's first Christmas, and a happy start to the new year...

The festivities kicked off in Boise with Aunt Barb and Richard's wedding. Maddie got to take her first plane ride (luckily, she did very well on the plane... sleeping in the Pack and Play at the hotel was another story) and had her first experience with snow. Norah had tons of fun on the trip... she got to ride in a car, bus, train, and airplane - all in one day - and then spent the weekend playing with her cousins, dancing with her aunts, and disc golfing with her daddy, grandpa, and Jake. (Ask Jake about disc golfing in Boise sometime. Let's just say he had a little run in with his new disc, a very cold lake, and some goose poop. Luckily, Norah was not part of that outing.) We're so excited to have Richard join our family, and had a wonderful time visiting with all.

Maddie's first plane ride... Norah is a seasoned traveler

Notice who is NOT in this picture - that's right, it's her parents. Who wants to spend time with them when there are better options available?

Aunt Barb and Richard

Cousins! (They're fun playmates, and they have some great toys!)

Snow in Boise (Maddie is impressed!)

The wedding was quickly followed by Christmas. We were in Fresno for Christmas this year, and Maggie, Jake, and Laura all came into town to celebrate, too. Santa was very good to all of us. Maddie is getting pretty good with her hands now, so she was able to help open a few of her presents - though she was more excited to put the wrapping paper in her mouth after it came off the boxes than she was about actually opening anything. Norah is a girl who likes to savor every present she opens, and wants to play with each new gift before opening the next one. It's really great that she appreciates what she's given, but it means that opening presents is a VERY long affair. We actually stopped about halfway through and saved the rest of them for her to open, a few at a time, for the three or four days after Christmas. Norah did get one unwanted gift this year - she woke up on Christmas morning with pinkeye. For all of our head shaking at the stores who were going to be open on Christmas Day, we were one of the families at Walgreens that afternoon, getting Norah's eye drops. She was on the mend by the next day, and the rest of us seem to have avoided sharing her fun.

Christmas Eve before mass (luckily we took our family pictures before the pinkeye set in)

We headed to the beach the day after Christmas for a little more family time, but only got to spend one night since Dan had to be back for work on Friday. Aunt Sue and Grandma made a quick trip over so we could celebrate Christmas with them, too - it was great to see them!

We had a pretty quiet New Year's Eve - an early-evening birthday celebration for dad, then home to get the girls to bed. We're so exciting! New Year's Day was likewise low-key, but the time at home gave us a chance to get our Christmas decorations down and work on some projects around the house.

Maddie is five months old already, and growing bigger every day. Time flies!

Happy 2013 to all! Sending you wishes for a happy and blessed new year.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

We've been busy getting ready for Christmas here at the McCoy house... from decorations and the Christmas tree to Santa and baby Jesus.

The doorway jumper came down from the rafters along with the Christmas decorations... Maddie has it all figured out now!

We got our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving from our usual "Christmas tree lot" at the grocery store. Because their space is limited and they're not really going for a fancy presentation, the store leaves most of the trees wrapped up in their shipping twine. You can pretty much assume that any tree that IS unwrapped has already been checked out and rejected by some other family, so I usually have Dan unwrap A LOT of trees before we find the perfect one. He's a very good sport (this year he at least had the forethought to bring a knife along so we didn't have to go through the usual twirling tree routine to pull all the twine off), and we did find a very nice tree.

Picking out our tree

Baby's 1st Christmas Ornaments... a new one to add this year!

Almost finished!

In addition to getting the tree up, we also took our annual trip down Christmas tree lane and met Santa at one of the local shopping centers. Norah was excited to talk to Santa this year, and Maddie was pretty unfazed by the whole thing.

 

Dan decided to put up outside lights this year, too, and he did a great job. Our whole neighborhood looks very festive!

In between all the craziness of getting ready for Christmas, we're having lots of fun watching Norah and Maddie get into the spirit of the season. They remind us to slow down and remember the true importance and joy of Jesus' birth. Merry Christmas to all!

Thanksgiving and Baptism

Thanksgiving weekend was quite a whirlwind for us - thanks to all of our family and friends who made it so special! We started with a trip to the beach (and a very full beach house!), then over to Uncle Tom's and Aunt Kelly's for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. It was so fun to catch up with my grandpa and aunts and uncles and to hear the adventures of my cousins who are spread around the world! Maddie was too young to be able to enjoy the food on her first Thanksgiving, but she was very interested in watching all the activity going on around her. She's still a very laid-back baby and is happy as long as she's being held (i.e. part of the action).

We decided to stay away from shopping on Black Friday, and headed down to the beach instead. (When the weather is 75 degrees and sunny in November, it's hard to get motivated to be inside all day with the crowds, no matter how good the deals are!) The guys opted to go disc golfing instead (shocker!). Norah loved her time with her aunts and Jake, but was also a good sport about having to share them with her sister.

We came back to Fresno on Saturday just in time for a game watch (go Irish! - undefeated and heading to the National Championship game). Poor Maggie was a good sport about being surrounded by a bunch of crazy Notre Dame fans :) Even Jake is into football this year, so she just can't get away from it.

Sunday was Maddie's baptism day. We were thankful for the people who were able to celebrate with us in person, and grateful for the prayers from the people who were celebrating with us in spirit. God has truly blessed us with this beautiful baby girl, and Dan and I - along with her godparents Maggie and Matt - have the privilege of teaching her what it means to be a child of God.

Thanks again to everyone who made this Thanksgiving and baptism weekend so memorable for our family! Is it really almost December already?

Thankfulness

In this season of giving thanks, here is a week's full of things to be thankful for:

Monday... Norah, Maddie, and I were proud to recognize Dan and all his fellow veterans on Veteran's Day (observed). Dan doesn't get the day off work, but we have a tradition of taking him out to lunch to celebrate his service. Norah is now old enough that she's starting to ask Dan questions about what he did in the Army - at this point mostly about his uniform, the trucks he got to ride in, the helicopters he saw, etc.  We're thankful for the many freedoms that we have and the sacrifices America's veterans have made in order to preserve this.

Playing Army

The real thing... deployed in Iraq

Tuesday... Dan and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. What a fun day our wedding was... followed by so many memorable ones since then. I am thankful to have been married to such a loving, kind, and generous man for the past eight years, and for the beautiful family that has come into being during that time.

Wedding day...

...And now!

Anniversary pic... Norah took this one!

Wednesday... Norah had her Thanksgiving feast at school, and I was able to be a part of it. We are thankful that Norah is having such a fun time in preschool and that she has been blessed with teachers that she loves. I am also thankful that I can be there for events like these - now that I'm staying home with my girls full time. (I officially left my position with Fresno State MESA on November 1. It was a great job that allowed me to work with some amazing students and teachers, but Dan and I both felt that the time was right for me to be home with Norah and Maddie.) Also on Wednesday, Dan took and passed his broker's exam, which will allow him some additional opportunities at work. Not surprisingly, he waited until the last minute to study, but as usual it all worked out in the end. Congrats to Dan :)

Thursday... Dan turned 33! We celebrated with some nice family time at home, and of course, cake! I am thankful that Dan has let me be a part of his amazing life for the past 13-plus years, and for his family, who helped him grow into the man I love.

Friday... Dan and I had a date night. I am thankful for our usual tradition of family dinners, which give us time to tell each other about our days and spend some good family time together, but I am also thankful for the occasional times when Dan and I can have dinner alone. In addition, I am thankful for our Grandma and Grandpa babysitters, who Norah was probably more excited to spend the evening with, anyway.

Saturday... While most of the day was spent catching up on errands and house cleaning, we did certainly make time to watch Notre Dame beat Wake Forest in football to go 11-0. We were all thankful for the victory! It's been a fun season to watch.

Sunday... Some of our neighbors organized a Christmas tree lighting party, complete with a crane to get the lights up in the tall trees. Norah was in heaven watching all the lights go up, and even got to take a short ride in the crane. I am thankful for the excitement of the holiday season, especially now that I get to watch it through Norah and Maddie's eyes.

It's been a busy week - with lots of blessings - with another one to follow. Happy Thanksgiving to all!