Influenced by Hollywood

tuckers first month video

clear your schedule and make some popcorn this is a long one!

we're still working on the music selection
chad thinks the beginning sounds like a church video
and the Christmas music makes him want to poke his eardrums out

any suggestions?!!

4 weeks old

he is older, chubbier, and losing a lot of hair, no not chad, i'm talking about tucker. we can't believe how quickly tuckers first 4 weeks have flown by. christmas and new years helped time to pass quickly. well what to say... he still doesn't do much besides cry, eat, sleep and poop a lot of diapers. his favorite place in the house is the bathroom counter. its the only magical place in the house where you can lay him down and he won't cry. finley doesn't like to hear him cry and will tell me every time he does. "baby cry, cry" she'll say as she runs to stuff the binki in his mouth, or ear, or eye...whichever is most convenient for her. when you ask her what does the baby say, she says,
"Wa Wa" we sure do love our 2 babies! here is a little peek of how tucker celebrated his 4th week of life.

like a new mom

Thanks everyone for your support and encouraging comments. Last night I received my desperately needed 3 hour block of sleep and this morning I feel like a new mom. Its amazing how sleep changes things. The next step is to be able to make it to our 9 o'clock sacrament meeting. All in time.

It Can Be Done...

well i did it, my first whole day all by myself. i dropped my mom off at the airport on tuesday afternoon and thought, how am i going to manage two kids all day on my own. finley is as crazy as ever. chad says that her hair is an reflection of her attitude for the day. by the looks of it you can see just how crazy she was today. her two favorite words were, no,no! tucker is nowhere near sleeping through the night, and sleep deprivation does not suit me well. a friend told me that when she was raising her two children she was so exhausted she thought he was going to die. she called her mom up and her mom told her, "oh hun, you're not going to die, your gonna just wish that you did!" by 5 o'clock i was ready for rescue. i know i am not alone when it comes to struggling with the difficulties and joys of motherhood. but please God grant me with a solid three hour block of sleep!

Happy New Year!!!!

We celebrated the 2008 New Year at home with Grandma Cindy. We got Chinese take out from PF Changs, banged on pots and pans (@8:30pm) and threw lots of confetti. Fins favorite part were the helium balloons which she calls "bubbles" and sipping sparkling cider.

New years resolutions have never been high on my list of things I like, but this year I came up with one that I really hope I can accomplish. I read a quote by Henry David Thoreau where he said, "My greatest attribute is that I am content with what I have" I loved that philosophy. So this year I am going to work to become content with what I have and not NEED the WANTS.

Chad has resolved to get into Beach Shape by June.

Finley is going to Potty Train.

and

Tucker is going to grow and thrive.

We are so excited for the New Year and for the Tax return having 2 children will hopefully bring. My brother said, "Life will be GREAT in 2008" We certainly hope that it is!

It was a very Merry Christmas!

It was another Merry Christmas at our home this year! My family came up to visit and to meet little Tucker. Finley loved waking up Christmas morning to see that her aunts and uncles and Grandparents were there to celebrate Christmas with her.

One of her favorite gifts was a darling little chair that was sent to her by her Papa Joe and made years ago by her Grandma Dixie before she died. It was a wonderful gift that we will cherish always. Finley spent most of the morning and afternoon in it watching the Jungle Book and Planet Earth.

We also attempted another family photo. WE NEED HELP! I swear, is it really this difficult to get a good photo? We gave up after a handful of failed attempts.

This pink retro kitchen was another of Finley's favorite gifts. She loves to force feed you every single piece of plastic food she can find.

We truly had a wonderful Christmas. Delicious seafood, rowdy late night card games, good movies and great conversations made our holiday season memorable. We are so blessed with the love of a great family. We miss everyone that was not able to be here, and love you all.

Was I really prepared for this...

...I don't think I could have ever been.

one week old

WOW how time has flown by! Tucker is already one week old!!!

• He is awake for about 15 min. a day sleeping is his favorite past time
• He is a champ at eating, and is already back up to his birth weight of 6.15 lbs.
• His belly button has fallen off
• He is patiently enduring the endless poking and prodding of his curious sister
• He makes you smile every time you look at him

Heres to a great first week of life!

Christmas

At its most basic level, the Christmas story is about a family.

Ever since that first Christmas night when Mary and Joseph welcomed baby Jesus into the world and began their family life together, Christmas always has and always will be about families.

-Newell

A busy couple of days

Our days and nights have just become a whole lot busier. Our lives have truly been blessed with the new arrival of little Tucker McKean. He has brought us so much JOY we can not imagine a more perfect gift. Here are some of the things we love so much about him.

He makes the most adorable faces, and loves to sleep! That is great for me, because I am one tired mom!
We love his "Big" little feet and are learning to appretiate the difficulty that comes with changing a baby boys diaper.

His big sister Finley loves to hold him and give him kisses. She calls him "my baby" seeing them together melts my heart.

But most of all we love the sense of completeness that he brings to our family. We love you little guy...

Our baby is born

Born on December 10, 2007

at 1:08 pm
Weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces
20 1/4 inches long
mom dad and baby are exhausted but doing great!

Christmas Cheer and Traditions

Today we made a great attempt to bring some Christmas Cheer to our home for the holidays. We started with the annual tradition of picking out the "perfect tree" and this is how it went...


...Unfortunately there was nothing, cheerful or perfect about this wonderful Christmas tradition. I actually told her, "Stop screaming, you're ruining Christmas!!!" I'll admit it was not one of my best moments.

I thought things would smooth over once we got the tree home and loaded it with beautiful sparkly ornaments. I quickly realized what an impossible task it will be to keep the tree from getting destroyed. I told her nicely over a dozen times I am sure of it, to please leave the ornaments alone!

After the 12th time I lost some of the niceness and changed my plea to a command, DON'T TOUCH!!! Again, not one of my better moments. Tell me honestly though is there anything easy about getting through to a teething 18 month old.

I think Fin sat still for about 1 minute the whole day while she "Happily" ate a candy cane.

So far our home is BRIMMING with CHRISTMAS CHEER! Wishing you and your family a holiday season filled with love!!! ( keyword wishing)!

Happy Thanksgiving

We hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving feast with family and friends.
We are so thankful for each of you in our lives.

The New Science of "Thank You"

I read about this in a newsletter this week. The article said, "Recent studies have shown that people who focus on gratitude are healthier, they report fewer headaches and colds, are more active, pro-social, and are more compassionate. When people find something to appreciate everyday they are less materialistic."
The finding also show that grateful people are less depressive, anxious and are more likely to help others, "...they even get more sleep".

Who doesn't want to get more sleep! Being 8 months pregnant I would sleep all day long if my back didn't hurt, and my ribs didn't feel like they were going to pull apart like the thanksgiving wishbone. But I am "THANKFUL" that all of this discomfort will bring about a joyous result!

We made it to Nursery!!!

For months Chad and I have been anxiously awaiting the Third Sunday in November and today it finally arrived. Finley is old enough now to go into nursery and we were able to enjoy 2 kid-free hours of spiritual enlightenment. I leaned over to Chad in Sunday School class and said, "I feel like we are out on a date." Not a particularly fun date but a Finley break nonetheless. I have to admit I did get a little fidgety sitting through an uninterrupted 40 minute lesson. And Chad left class 5 min. early so he could go and peek at Finley through the spy hole in the nursery door. Other then that we did great!

I realized today how much I've missed quiet time at church. I'm used to running the halls, pulling her kicking and screaming away from the drinking fountain, stopping her from knocking on any closed doors and obstructing her view of the stairs (which if she sees she must climb). And as a last resort, sorry to admit, leaving church a 1/2 hour or more early to take my hysterical toddler home to bed. Hopefully we have at least 3 more weeks to enjoy this newly appreciated 2 hours of peace before Jr. arrives, and then it's back to the beginning again.

Finley getting ready for church. She didn't want to put her bloomers on right.
She thought she was so funny!

After 45 min. and a lot of chasing her around the house
we were finally dressed and ready to go.

With only one newly bruised cheek, one pony tail still in tact, a big smile, and art work in hand
I would say that nursery was a big hit for everyone!!!!