Welcome Nelle Avery!

Nelle Avery McCoy has arrived!

July 21, 2014 at 12:45 a.m.

7 pounds, 7 ounces ~ 19 inches

Big sisters Norah and Maddie are so excited to love and hold their "Baby Nelle." We wanted to share a few pictures now, with more details to come soon...

Summer with the McCoy's, the Abridged Version

Here we are in the middle of July, and I still haven't posted Mother's Day pictures yet! Where has the time gone? (We have been kind of busy getting everything ready for baby, but still!) So here is a very abridged recap of life at the McCoy house...

I had a wonderful Mother's Day with my family. Dan and the girls spoiled me with lots of good family time, lunch out, a manicure, and a wonderful dinner. I enjoyed the time to relax for sure!

Norah turned the big 0-5 at the end of May. We had a nice party at home - princess-themed, of course. (We were able to avoid the Disney princess thing for quite some time, but preschool and the release of Frozen this year has thrown our house into full princess-mode. Even Maddie know the words to "Let it Go," and enjoys getting up on the fireplace "stage" and singing it for her sister.) Norah's big gift this year was a new bike, with plans to take off the training wheels soon.

Norah graduated from preschool in June. We enjoyed several year-end events at her school: a picnic, an open house, and the last day of school. She had some amazing teachers during her time at Shining Star and is very prepared to start kindergarten at St. Anthony's in the fall. Luckily, some of her preschool friends will also be heading to St. Anthony's, so we'll see some familiar faces from the beginning.

Next up was Father's Day. The girls and I always like to take some silly pictures for Dan in addition to our yearly shot of Daddy and girls on the hammock. We did our best to spoil him, though he did end up grilling his own steak, "to make sure it was done right."

With school out, the Summer Box of Fun has returned. So far, activities have included solar oven s'mores (a messy hit, as you can see), a visit to our local fish hatchery, and a trip to the water park. Norah is having fun (and even learning a little), and Maddie is enjoying being more involved this year.

Maddie's big event of the early summer was a move from the nursery to her new big girl room. Maddie's new room is our old office, so we've been doing lots of reorganizing and relocating as we make room for our newest family member. Maddie has done very well in her big girl bed, though she hasn't quite figured out yet (and we're not going out of our way to tell her) that she can get up on her own now. She still seems a little too young to get the reason behind the move, but we have seen a few glimpses of understanding. As we were moving her toys and books, there were a few that we left behind "for baby brother or sister." She looked at me, looked at her stuff, crossed her arms over her chest while mumbling "baby brother or sister" - and then continued to move the aforementioned things to her new room. Lately she has been a little more agreeable, pointing out baby's room as she passes it in the hallway. We'll see what happens once baby is actually here to stay.

I'm now almost 39 weeks along, which means that while my official due date is next week, baby could arrive at any time. The nursery is not quite ready and the projects around the house not quite done (are they ever?), but crazy nesting phase is slowly giving way to tired and ready to be not pregnant phase. Thank goodness for all the help I've gotten from Dan and my mom. Even Norah and Maddie are pitching in and keeping themselves busy while I get things done. They're going to be really excited if I still haven't had the baby by the end of next week and I give in to letting them watch an endless loop of Frozen while I take a nap! More baby news to follow (hopefully) soon!

Almost 39 weeks, with one more (or so) to go!

Easter Fun

Happy Easter (a bit late) to all! We're just finishing two fun-filled weeks of parties, road trips, and airplane rides, so here's a quick recap...

Norah had her Easter parties at school before she headed out for a week-long Easter break. (She gets to celebrate most holidays twice this year, since her Monday through Thursday schedule overlaps with both the Monday/Wednesday/Friday party and the Tuesday/Thursday party.) The four-year-old classes decorate Easter bonnets for the school-wide Easter parade... she her bonnet in the picture below. She had quite the audience at this year's parade... Daddy, Mommy, Maddie, Grandma, and Grandpa all made appearances. Norah was very kind to include her little sister during the brunch portion of the party, and Maddie felt like big stuff sitting at the table in her own chair with all the other big kids.

The weekend before Easter we made a quick road trip to Davis for Picnic Day. For those that have never been, Picnic Day is UC Davis' annual open house, and all the departments offer activities and displays. (Plant Sciences, for example, had an exotic fruit tasting, while Entomology offered cockroach races and maggot art.) We had lots of fun visiting with Laura, checking out the exhibits around campus, and - of course - watching the Veterinary School's famous dachshund races.

After a few days at home relaxing and enjoying Norah's break, we headed to Festus on Thursday to celebrate Easter with family in Missouri. Luckily, both girls are good travelers. (Maddie was so excited by all the moving things at the airport... "Airplane! More airplanes! Truck! Bus! More airplanes!") Norah had tons of fun with her cousins - especially since Grammy and Grandpa Mike put in a new play structure right in their own backyard! We enjoyed beautiful weather, great food, and fun times catching up with everyone. Norah and Maddie got not one, but two visits from the Easter bunny, and they definitely ate (more than) their share of sugar. Thanks to everyone who helped make our visit special!

Finally, my spring and summer garden at home is starting to take shape, meaning out with the old (Dan will be sorry to see the kale go) and in with the new (my tomato seedlings are finally ready to move from the patio into the garden). Our blackberries and boysenberries are in full bloom, the apricots and blueberries are ripening, and our strawberries are ready to enjoy. We're looking forward to a tasty (if a bit more drought-conscious) summer!

Vanities

I have now reached the halfway point of my pregnancy... 20 weeks that just seemed to fly by, right? In addition to being thankful that I feel better, have more energy, and finally have overcome my early-pregnancy aversion to chocolate, I also decided that it was time to start wearing my maternity clothes. Dan and I had an interesting conversation about this a month or so ago.

D: (As I'm getting ready one morning) Do you think it's about time to pull out your stretchy pants?
K: (Slight raise of eyebrows, forced even voice, sweet smile on my face) Do you think I NEED to pull out my stretchy pants?
D: (Realizing he has started a conversation which cannot possibly turn out favorably for him) No, I was just wondering. You look great!
K: It's just that most of my winter maternity clothes are for work, which doesn't really fit my new stay-at-home lifestyle. I have more casual things for the summer, but it's not quite warm enough to wear those yet. I was hoping I could wait until I'm about 20 weeks along, and then my clothes should be just fine.
D: (Trying to solve the problem, like a typical male) Why don't you just go shopping then?
K: That's not the point. I still have regular clothes that fit... so I don't need more clothes right now.
D: (Clearly deciding that all is lost anyway, so deciding to go for broke) It sounds like you're just being vain.
K: (Knowing that Dan is probably right, but NOT willing to make that admission) It sounds like you're not helping.

Now this isn't our first rodeo... or even our second. And my last pregnancy was not that long ago. It's lucky that Dan banked some favors while I was down with morning sickness - otherwise I might really have lost it. Alas, I remained (relatively) calm and continued wearing my regular clothes... right up until I was fully 20 weeks pregnant. (So there.) Luckily, Dan has been super-supportive since the above-mentioned interaction and has attacked my nesting list with renewed gusto. All the same, I thought I might offer him a few points of advice:

1. Though I can only speak from my own experience, it is my guess that pregnancy usually does not make women MORE rational. If jokes weren't funny to me before I got a baby-fueled infusion of hormones and grew a basketball in my mid-section, they're probably not going to be funny now... even if you try to use your fancy logic.
2. Though I like to bill myself as a fairly low-maintenance person, I do have my vanities. This is probably not the best time to see if they have suddenly disappeared. They have not. Also, you don't need to point them out. I know they're there.
3. It might be (sort of) cute when Norah or Maddie point out the (growing) size of my belly. More affirmative comments are appropriate from you. However, don't over-exaggerate or outright lie. For example, don't tell me that I don't even look pregnant. (I do.) Just tell me that my shirt looks great or that my dress is really pretty.

Jokes aside, I am so thankful for my healthy pregnancy and growing belly. God has truly blessed us with this new life, and even in my most irrational, vain moments I am so grateful for the baby we are soon to meet. And Dan is truly the most supportive and loving husband and dad any pregnant girl could wish for. But that doesn't mean I can't give him a bad time now and again, right?

Finally, thank-you, Dan, for your advice about going shopping - I may just take you up on it. Except I probably won't get myself more stretchy pants. Now that it's warmer, I have plenty of options already in my closet. Instead, I might just head to the nursery to get another blueberry bush for the yard. I'm sure you'll be happy to plant it for me.

Springtime!

Spring has sprung here in Fresno, and while we're still hoping to get a lot more rain to help with our current drought conditions, we are also enjoying some really nice sunny, warm days. Norah and Maddie love playing outside this time of year... they were nice enough to slow down for a few minutes so I could get some pictures of them with the blossoms.

Dan, Norah, and Maddie also took advantage of the nice weather by running in a race this past Saturday. Norah and Maddie did the 1/8 mile kid's race, while Dan (joined by Maggie, Jake, and Laura) did the 10K. Both girls did great! Norah took a bit of a spill while trying to navigate the crowded starting line, but she hopped up, wiped away the tears, and completed her race. Maddie - as the youngest competitor in the field - was the last one to cross the line... but she ran with determination from start to finish. They both had a lot of fun and were very proud of the medals they got at the finish line. (The adults did great, too, even if their race didn't draw quite the same crowds of spectators as the kid's race did.)

Norah is cruising along through her last few months of preschool (sigh...). She has made some good friends, some of whom will be continuing on with her at St. Anthony's next year. Maddie has been ramping up her vocabulary the past few weeks. She has a few obvious favorites (no, doggie, ball), but also some harder words that are obviously very important for her to be able to communicate (cookie, swing, dinner ["ninner"], sister, yucky, stinky, gunk, shoes, and balloon ["manoon"]). She's even realized that she can convey attitude with her words ("um, no")! It's very cute, and she is surprisingly patient with us as we try to figure out what she's saying.

We have also started preparations for our new arrival, with cleaning closets and organizing cabinets first on my list of to-do's. Maddie will be moving out of the nursery into what we have been using as our office, so there are a lot of things to relocate. As I was moving some boxes of old keepsake clothes from my childhood, I couldn't resist having a dress-up session with Maddie. I was also able to find of picture of myself in one of the outfits (along with some very stylish ladies, I might add!).

Next on the nesting list is wallpaper/texturing removal, retexturing, and painting. Luckily for Dan, I think we'll be hiring a professional on this one. I'm sure we'll think of plenty of other things to keep him busy, though! Happy spring to all!