It's a Boy!

No, not us. :-) My sister Rachel found out the sex of their third little baby on her birthday, and kept it a surprise until her party the following night. We decided to guess whether they were having a boy or a girl by wearing either blue or pink. I couldn't decide, so I wore both colors.

After Rachel opened her presents, she gave us the best gift of the night. On Rachel's cue, Miles opened his button-up shirt to reveal a painted t-shirt that said, "It's a Boy!"

Three little McKenna boys! To say we were filled with joy is an understatement. We can hardly wait until June. The only other thing I can imagine that would have been as nearly as exciting, is the news of a little girl. :-)

Christmas Highlights

Todd and I were very lucky this year because we had the chance to celebrate Christmas TWICE! Hello? Why didn't we get married sooner? Two Christmases and Two Christmas Eves, you really can't beat that. Here are some highlights between the Walker and Heitshusen Christmas celebrations. Here's a sleepy Ava and an even sleepier Rebekah on Christmas morning.

A sea of presents greeted us Christmas morning at the Heitshusen's. I pretended to be surprised and in awe of what Santa brought, even though I helped set the gifts out the night before. It's always fun to pretend. So this is what being an adult is like, huh?

I'm sad the holidays are over, but on the bright side, Wrigley is relieved I no longer have an excuse to dress him up. This was a Christmas present from Grandma Walker.

Emri, Miles and Max on our second Christmas morning. Adorable.

The little kiddies weren't the only ones to receive CHRISTMAS JAMMIES!! Red tops for the girls...

And white tops for the boys. Yes, this is what we do. :-)

Christmas Eve at the Heitshusens. Todd and Scottie with Ava. Can you tell Ava was bribed with a cookie to take the picture? It was a sugar cookie in the shape of a tree with green frosting, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. That reminds me, New Year's resolution, eat healthier!

Todd's mom made a delicious and beautiful spread for Christmas Eve dinner. She surprised everyone with childhood Christmas pictures of us on the table. Everyone at dinner that night had a picture from a past Christmas decorating the table. What a fun surprise! Todd as a little boy was my favorite. I just want to squeeze those cheeks!

Last but not least, I'll leave you with yet another torturous costume I made Wrigley wear over the holidays. Although he looks timid and shy in this picture, he surely will be brave enough to lead Santa's sleigh next year. I just have to find reigndeer antlers in a size small.

Laura's debut on the blog

We celebrated a birthday party in Lawrence with Todd's family this weekend. December is the perfect month for Todd's mom, Laura, to have her birthday. It is most fitting because she loves Christmas, especially decorating the house with her Santa collection AND she loves cold weather, including the snow. So here is the Heitshusen/Ashley gang: John, Scott, Mike, Todd, Holly, Laura, Ava and myself. We asked Mike to stand closer to Todd, you know, to make the picture more even...but he refused.

Todd's Gram made a DELICIOUS Italian dinner. Spaghetti, home-made sauce (or some would say smooth sauce), meatballs and Italian sausage. Amazing, simply amazing. Not pictured is the ceasar salad, which I had the heavy responsibility for bringing. I went out on a ledge with the ceasar idea because I really wanted to showcase my cooking skills. :-)



Seated around the dinner table is Todd's Gram, the Heitshusens, Ashleys and Pattersons (Todd's aunt and uncle). Hmmm, but where are Todd and Ava?

There he is! Todd can hardly EVER refuse the self-portrait. Although I am not exactly sure what he is doing with his right hand...

And here is Ava! Ava was actually standing against the wall during the "family at the dinner table" picture. And then Todd tracked her down in the kitchen later on for this adorable pic.

Laura, your wish is granted - your debut on the blog! I hope you are excited to have a post devoted to you!! :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Oh Christmas Tree...

This past Saturday we went to St. Micheal's Church and bought our very first real Christmas tree from the Boy Scouts. We had our own little boy scout to show us around the lot. And because it was our first time, he explained the difference between the firs, the spruces and everything else. He was so adorable, I can't recall a single thing he said about the trees. Even though I cannot recall the difference between a fir and a spruce, I can tell you this -- those Christmas trees were not PLANTED at the church, although the they were propped up against the post...it can REALLY be deceiving.


A Christmas tree lot can be kind of intimidating if you've never been before. Or at least as the person who needs to make important decisions about buying the tree...like a tree taller than 7 feet would not fit in our living room, stuff like that. It didn't take long before we set our eyes on this beauty. In just a few moments, the little boy scout had this guy sitting on top of the hefty ole civic. And yes, Todd was a little embarassed to be taking home the tree on the roof of our "off-roading", "sturdy", "mans-man", silver civic.

My husband is so strong. He carried the Christmas tree into our house all by himself. :-)

It's a little trickier than you would think to get the tree to stand up tall. I have a great amount of appreciation for my parents and all the years they did this. I just remember being impatient as I was DYING to adorn the tree with lights and hand-crafted ornaments from when I was two. Isn't it crazy how you see things different as an adult?

Although not too terribly exciting at this point, stay tuned for the tree trimming!!! We're ready for the lights, garland and ornaments. Tis the season!

I'm Stuffed

Our first Thanksgiving together. Todd and I took the backseat in the 4-runner as my cousin, Liz, took shotgun and my dad sat at the wheel. We hit the road last Wednesday around twelve and nine short hours later, we arrived in Indianapolis. Todd's first Thanksgiving with my extended family. Todd's first experience with Buckeyes (that is, fresh from my Aunt Anita's freezer), first experience with a CRAZY house-full of relatives (which we love!) and his first experience with...


...my grandma's noodles, which are infamous. To say they are amazing, mouth-watering and delicious are understatements. Needless to say, I love them and this year, Todd did too. He loved them THIRDS-worth. Not just seconds, but thirds. We were all impressed. So our Thankgiving holiday consisted of a little of this......

A whole lot of this....

And of course, we had to leave the couch and the buffet line at some point...therefore, a little of this...

Such a fun Thanksgiving with all the Indiana folks. Lots of games, laughing, movies, conversations and yummy, yummy, yummy food. Todd and I made a pact on our way home: we're never eating again.

That Time of Year

I could try and pretend that I'm a person who has rules about Christmas. I could pretend that I don't listen to Christmas music on the radio until after Thanksgiving. I could pretend that I am against the fun and seriously exciting holiday decorations at Hobby Lobby, Michael's and every other craft store. I could also pretend that our family room doesn't already look like this.


The Christmas tree is subtle in this picture. But nonetheless, it's up! Again, I could also pretend that it hasn't been up for three weeks already. But that would be a lie. I love Christmas. I love everything that has to do with the holiday. I have to start celebrating before Thanksgiving, because if I wait, I just don't get my fill.

I can't wait for more decorations to go up. And believe you me, they will. Maybe I'm just excited because it's our first Christmas together since we've been married. But whatever the case, I can't wait until I can come out of the closet (less than a week away!) and officially start celebrating the most wonderful time of the year. By the way, don't let Wrigley's demon-like eyes or grim expression lead you astray, he's the most excited of us all. :-)

Happy Halloween!

We had a Halloween celebration at my mom's house. Here are some of the women of the family including Rachel the witch, Aunt Nee-nee the bumble bee, me the rocker w/the incredible awkward hand pose, Liz the other witch, Emri as Tinker Bell, Mama with her apron and funky tights and Kerri with her super cool spider web shirt. Max and Miles are below.

A true Halloween celebration would not be complete without Ghoul's Brew.....

I think Wrigley really liked being a cowboy for Halloween. He enjoyed the opportunity to ride a pretend horse, and sing old Western songs in front of the campfire late at night. No wait, I have that all backwards. He hated it. He hated me, Todd and the entire world when he was in this costume. And while I'm not one for cruelty to animals, I loved every minute of Wrigley in this little get-up.

This is a goofy picture, but the only one we apparently took together that night. As a side note, this is the same arm-band I wore when I was three for a dance recital. If you look closely, you can tell it's scrunched a bit...apparently my arm is bigger as a 29 year old. :-)

All you really need for a great costume: fake glow in the dark finger nails, false eye lashes and a big fake spider on your forehead.