Good Shot!!

Last night was seriously a scene right out of a movie or sitcom! You can't write this stuff! Okay, maybe you can since it was straight out of a movie or sitcom. Anyway, McKinley was taking his mid evening bottle and had finished about two ounces. Because we are overly cautious new parents, we generally try to burb him after every two or three ounces. Upon completion of his burp, Joel tried to give the bottle back, but McKinley wasn't having it. He just pushed it around with his tongue, a sheer indicator that he done. Seriously kid, its been over four hours and usually you are ravinous! I suggested to Joel that maybe he needed a diaper change to calm him down and then we could try again. Get out your popcorn because this is where the movie starts.

It is now around 7:00 and that is generally pj time. So, up the stairs we all went. Joel was in charge of the diaper change while I searched for pajama's that actually fit. Everything was going smoothly until we smelled something a little funky coming from the little guys bottom. No wonder he wasn't interested in eating, he was trying to poop! So, Joel removed the soiled diaper only to find that McKinley wasn't finished. No problem, just wipe up what's there and hold up the feet. What took place next was priceless!

As I was digging through the pajama drawer, I hear an airy toot coming from the behind of McKinley and the next thing I hear is "Is there poop on my ear?" That's right people, McKinley pushed so hard with the toot that poop literally shot out and a TINY particle wound up on Joel's ear! Not only was it on his ear, it was on the bedroom door and all over the wall! Not huge shards of poop, just tiny little spots! EVERYWHERE! I can't tell you how many times we pulled out wet wipes to wipe down more places on the wall and door. McKinley has a powerful push!

As this was all taking place, I recalled an episode of Sex and the City where Miranda wiped Brady's poop across her forehead and a scene out of Life As We Know It where Kathereine Heighl's character also had poop on her face. Again, you can't write this stuff in real life! Joel and I laughed about for the next hour or so. I'm pretty sure I laughed longer. Joel on the other hand took a shower almost immediately! As for McKinley, well he finished his bottle and then took another one two hours laters! He was a hungry man after that enormous load he dropped. As for the new pj's, look how adorable he was last night!! That's one happy camper!



What's In a Name?

Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with the Twilight Saga. I've read all the books twice, and with the exception of Twilight, have been to the midnight viewings of New Moon and Eclipse. I recently saw a preview for Breaking Dawn Part One and I got cold chills! I can't wait for the release! Not sure if I will make the midnight showing, but I made my husband promise to take me for my birthday! (The movie opens in November which just happens to be the month of my birth.)

Because I am so obsessed with the franchise I've collected some memorablia along the way. I've begged Joel to get me the life size cut out of Edward, but so far no dice! Anyway, if you were to walk into my office cube you would find the following:

With that being said, I guess I shouldn't be shocked that after hearing we had named our son McKinley Edward Krasnow, most people immediatly thought I named my child after the character Edward Cullen! Honestly, why would I ever think to name my child after a character? Again, I love the books, the movies and Edward (plus Robert Pattison is #2 on my laminated card) but still! How would I ever explain that to McKinley? "You see, son, I was obsessed with these books before you were born and because I loved the character of Edward so much I decided to name you after him." Silly!

McKinley was instead named after his father, Joel Edward Krasnow. I love that I can say I have my very own Edward, even though Joel isn't a vampire. He does sleep with his eyes open sometimes.... Something to ponder! Anyway, as we were driving to the hospital that morning, I told Joel that we had never really solidified a middle name for a boy. (We didn't find out the sex of the baby.) I threw out three options: McKinley Lawson Krasnow after my maiden name, McKinley Richard Krasnow after my dad and McKinley Edward Krasnow. Joel has always said that he hates his middle name so when I originally suggested Edward he said no. I'm not sure what changed his mind that morning, but of the three he said that he would like to name him Edward. And I agreed. I really wanted him to have part of his father's name. Family names, to me, are so important!

So that's the story of how McKinley Edward got his name. I do chuckle at times when I think about naming him after a fictional character, which many people to do, but not a vampire from books that are truly aimed at teens. Now, if it were a girl....

As a side note, I would like to add that McKinley is also family name. We named him after my great grandfather on my dad's side, not the president or the high school from the television show Glee! I do have some original ideas!

First of Many

I commented to Joel over the weekend that I am so happy McKinley was born so early in the year. Granted April isn't terribly early, but early enough that we will experience so many of his first holidays together. So far, we've had our first Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day and Fourth of July. There are tons of others firsts as well, like our first road trip which you've already read about, our first time at the pool, our first time at a Royals game...really our first time to do just about anything! He's so little now that he has no idea what is truly going on around him and I can't wait to see his reaction when he realizes all of these new adventures.

Our first Easter with McKinley was so much fun. He was only two weeks old, but he got his first Easter baskets from both us and his grandparents. He also had his first Easter egg hunt where he scored over $200 from the Easter Bunny! Where was that bunny when I was two weeks old?? But the best part about his first Easter was the fact that his great grandmother and great aunt flew out to Kansas to meet him. They were here for a week and we loved spending time with them. He was showered with love and affection.

Our first Mother's Day together is something I will always treasure. He really took the time to think through his gifts and gave me things I will use and definitely treasure! For starters, he got me What to Expect the First Year and he wrote the sweetest note informing me why he purchased the book. I need to laminate the note so it doesn't rip. I have to say the book has come in very handy. He also gave me the sweetest Mother's ring. Now, he is an only child so technically there should only be one stone, but he said that he wanted my birthstone in the middle with his and daddy's on either side since I am the center of their lives. How thoughtful is he and how insightful? Again, he was only two weeks old!!! He also got me a little picture frame that says "I Love Mommy" but love is actually a heart. His cards were sweet as well. McKinley truly is a swell guy! I should also add that his daddy ain't too shabby either!

His first Father's Day was a great day as well! Again, McKinley is such a thoughtful kid! He got his daddy a sizeable gift card to his favorite golf course in town, Royals tickets for the Diamond Club, as well as some pretty adorable Father's Day cards. They spent the day together, with me in the background, just being father and son. It was fun watching them bond! I have a feeling they are going to best friends when McKinley gets older. I can't wait to see their relatioship blossom.

Our first Fourth of July was wonderful and we made a weekend of it. We kicked things off with a bbq on that Saturday. McKinley's friend Kaitlyn came with her parents, and in typical guy fashion, he ignored her all night long! What is it with men? I seriously see now that they are born with this trait, where we girls put it all out there as Kaitlyn did that night. She tried several times to gain his attention but he had nothing to do with her. We are going to have to work on that! Monday was the actual fourth and McKinley celebrated by taking the longest nap ever!! When he finally woke up around noon, he had his afternoon bottle and then we dressed him in bathing suit. That's right! We went to the pool! My parents have a neighborhood pool down the street so we loaded up the pool bag, put McKinley in his stroller and took a leisure walk to the pool. We weren't sure how he would react ,since there are times when he hates taking a bath, but he LOVED it! I am elated! I personally love the pool, well water in general, I was so hoping he would be a water baby. Granted he's only three months and things could change, but for now he loves it.

The remaining firsts for the year are going to be amazing! For holidays, we still have our first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year's. Our other firsts are unlimited and I can't wait to experience them all!

First Day Back

Yesterday was my first day back at work which meant I had to leave my precious little guy for the first time! Yes, I've left him before, but only for an hour here and there. Not for eight straight hours!! This day had been looming for twelve weeks, but during my last week I grew increasingly sad. I tried to be brave, but inside I was crying and on that final night, the flood gates opened. It all started with tears while feeding him his last bottle before bed which were followed by more tears as I reluctanlty crawled into bed. I cried to Joel that McKinley would forget me or resent me for leaving him. And I truly do have those fears. Will he eventually resent me for not being with him every day? Am I a horrible mother for not taking the time to figure what needed to be done in order to ensure I could stay home full-time? And I'm sure these fears will continue to haunt me over time.

To make matters worse, I watched a Beverly Hills 90210 re-run on Soapnet Saturday afternoon and it was the episode where Janet goes back to work after her maternity leave. Steve was the stay-at-home dad with Maddy. Having to work late one night, Janet came home to find a note from Steve and he signed it with handprints of both him and Maddy. That broke my heart, but what followed really hit home. She says to Steve, as she's rocking Maddy to sleep, that she hates she just missed an entire day of her daughter's life. That's where I began to bawl because that's exactly how I feel! I am missing every day of his life and it kills me to know I can't get that time back! Sure, I have evenings and weekends, but what am I, a divorced parent? No, I'm a working mother. It's seriously painful.

With all of that being said, I got up Tuesday morning, got dressed, packed up the car and drove McKinley across town to my parents house where they were eagerly awaiting his arrival. He "talked" all the way there, killing me softly with those tender coos, and then smiled sweetly as I carried him from the car to their front door. He had no idea that I was leaving him for the day and maybe he never truly knew I was gone. What I do know is that as I hugged him goodbye, choking back tears, it was one the hardest thing I was ever going to do. That of course is until I take him to his first day of kindergarten. But let's not get ahead of ourselves!

My work day went just fine. I teared up off and on during the day. I put up photos all over my cube and now my walls bleed McKinley! I limited my check-in calls so I wouldn't seem like an overprotective mother and so I didn't have to hear about all the things I was missing. And then it was finally 5:00! I eagerly packed up my belongs, walked quickly to my car and hurriedly drove across to town. Upon entry to my parents house, the three of them were on the couch reading "Scuffy the Tugboat". I leaned over the back of the couch to see his sweet little face and like a dog when they get excited, McKinley proceeded to crap his pants! I guess that's his way of greeting his mother!

After I cleaned up his messy diaper, he smiled and talked to me and told me all about his day. He got fussy for a bottle at exactly the same time my dad served up dinner, of couse. (I want to prefess this by saying that Joel was attending a work dinner so I stayed for dinner with my parents.) Around 7:30 or so, it was time to pack up and head home. I was ready to sit on my couch and relax with my baby boy. Instead, he fell asleep on the couch at my feet so I caught up on The Talk on my DVR. He roused around 9:00 for yet another feeding and I was happy to oblige. I cherish these moments more now than I did in the first 11 weeks because they are so few and far between. And then it was time for bed.

All in all, the day wasn't horrible. I survived and so did he. I will be honest, I've told Joel that we need to figure out a Plan B and soon. I honestly wasn't meant to be a working mother. Work was fine when it was a paycheck to fund clothing and entertainment. But now, for me, the paycheck isn't worth the time I am missing with my son. And Joel agrees. But for now, I am a working mother and will do my best to let McKinley know that I am with him even when I can't be right be his side.

Take Me to the River...

McKinley took his first major road trip over Memorial Day Weekend to Tecumseh, MO, a small town 20 miles outside of Gainsville, and it was quite the adventure for this one month old. My parents own a small house, a home we affectionately refer to as "The River House", that sits a mile and a half off a paved road. The river is the North Fork of the White River, a blue ribbon trout stream for my fly fishing father.

The trip usually takes about five hours, but for this crew it took us roughly six! We left Overland Park around 4:00pm on that Thursday and things were going well. McKinley slept on and off, Joel and I caught up with one another since we hadn't spent all that much time together since McKinley's birth and around Harrisonville, MO we plugged in our iPOD and sang along to a large array of tunes.

When enroute to the river, we typically stop in Springfield, MO for gas and dine at the McDonald's across the street. Well, we rolled into Springfield around 6:30 or so, got gas and ran into McDonald's to change McKinley and grab a quick bite for the road. McKinley had other plans! Turns out our little traveler was not only wet but hungry. So, our "to go" order turned into "for here". Now, McKinley is not what one would call a fast eater, which is an unfortunate trait he inherited from his mother. But it wasn't just the length of time in which he ate, it was the fact that he soaked in every ounce of his surroundings while chomping down on his #2 combo meal and vanilla shake that we told him he was enjoying. He even made friends with the couple who sat down behind us. All in all, it took us over an hour to finish up our dinners, have another diaper change and get our things loaded back in the car.

It is now 8:00 and we still have another two hours to go. McKinley continued to doze on and off as we continue to listen to Barry Manilow and others on our iPOD. We finally pull into my parents "driveway" around 10:00 and begin unloading the car. If you've ever traveled with a child, and this was our first time, you take EVERYTHING they own!! And again, since we are 20 miles away from the closest town, you have to take everything you own! Joel is exhausted from working a half day, mowing the lawn, packing the car and driving six hours and all he wants to do is feed McKinley one more time and fall into bed. But again, McKinley had other plans! He had slept for six hours so he was ready to play! It was the longest night of our lives. He was awake on and off all night long and we barely slept ourselves. Friday was going to be a long day!

Friday was a dreary day. Dad hadn't been to the house in months and it needed a major mowing so he headed out early to tend to the yard. Mom and I headed into town for groceries and our holiday trip to the Dollar General. That left Joel and McKinley to fend for themselves. What did they do? NAP! Both boys snoozed in the quite of the house and by that evening McKinley was back on a routine.

Saturday was a big day for the family! We loaded up the car and headed out for a picnic lunch along the bank of the river. Wait, what river bank? The river was so high that we were forced to tailgate out of the back of the Explorer, which was fine. We love a good adventure. And an adventure it was. I'm not sure if McKinley can sense that everyone is eating but him, but he will immediately start fussing for a bottle the minute we all start to eat. No worries little man! A bottle is always at your service. What we weren't expecting was a major poo! But that's exactly what took place. With that begin said, we immediately started making room for a makeshift changing table in the back of the car. We threw down a blanket, placed a large trashbag under his little butt and began the clean up process. So glad we could dump that messy diaper in the trash cans at the campground. Not really something you want in the car ride back home!

The rest of the day was somewhat lazy. I took a long nap after we got home while McKinley, Joel and Mom played in the living room. (Grandpa "watched" from a chair where really he napped.) McKinley never napped that day. Instead, he proceeded to play under his floor gym for the remainder of the afternoon and for the first time slept a full seven hours! And what did I do? I was up every hour making sure he was still breathing. Thank goodness I napped earlier in the day.

Sunday found us taking a roadtrip to Hodgson's Water Mill. The mill was built in 1861 to channel a huge natural spring that flowed into Bryant Creek. An amazing fact; that spring still spews almost 3,000,000 gallons of water a day! McKinley was so blown away by that information that he continued to nap I sure hope this trend doesn't continue when he's in school. That could be a long 12 years!!! The rest of the day was much the same. Once home, we spent the rest of the day relaxing, playing, napping and getting things ready for the trip home the next day.

Before we headed out Monday morning, my dad wanted to see how McKinley would react to swinging in the hammock. We placed a large blanket in the middle of the hammock, laid him down and stood back. He hated it as you can see from the photo below. I'm pretty sure he won't ever want to get in that thing again!

Since McKinley did nothing but nap the entire way to the river and was then up all night, we decided to be smart about our trip home and leave after his mid-morning bottle. We knew he would need to eat again along the way, but he could nap in the afternoon so that he was awake when we got home by early evening and stay awake until it was truly bedtime. Four hours later, and on the other side of Clinton, MO, we stopped at one of my favorite gas stations on the way home. (I'm a creature of habit when we travel. I know what gas stations have the nicer restrooms and I make sure we stop there every time. That's why we stop at McDonald's a lot too.) Anyway, I come back from using the restroom and McKinley is in the car screaming! Well, it's been several hours so we know it's probably a wet diaper. Instead of getting out of the car and going back in, I decide to change him in the car. Bad idea! He's sliding all over the place, I can't get a good angle on him and he's ticked! Turns out, it's not just the wet diaper but a hungry belly as well. So, I proceed to make a bottle while holding him and throwing stuff into the back of the car to make room. Once in place, guess what? That's right! We spend 45 minutes in the gas station parking lot feeding little mister. Again, slow eater!

We finally get home around 5:00 that evening. McKinley was amazing! He woke up just as we reached I-435 and I slid into the backseat to keep him company. He cooed and smiled and I praised him for being such a good traveler. We got the car unpacked, fed him his last bottle before putting him down for the evening and as Joel and I finally made our way into bed we both agreed we have the best go with the flow baby anyone could ask for!

Going Places

Joel and I are very social people. More social than Joel would prefer. So when I talked to others about the possibilities of having a baby, I was constantly told that our social life would be put on hold. We couldn't take a baby anywhere, we were told. Well, I beg to differ. I knew that our baby would be just as social as we are and I wasn't wrong!


McKinley's first real outing, other than back and forth to his grandparents house, was Target. He slept through the whole store. Since he did so well there, we followed that trip with a visit to Nordstrom and he was amazing! A natural born shopper and it's a good thing too. Momma loves to shop so he better get use to this frequent outing. Of course I couldn't walk out of there empty handed. He got two of the cutest Boden separates which can be seen in photos below.


What I loved most about that trip to Nordstrom was feeding him in the ladies lounge. Because their lounges are equipped with large sofas and comfy chairs, I decided it would be the best place to tend to his needs. Well, he loved that idea as well. He laid back as if he were at home, and after his bottle, filled his diaper as though marking his territory! Thank god they have a huge changing station because we needed it! As I removed the soiled diaper, McKinley threw his arms back and waited for that diaper change to take place. I think Nordstrom will be our restroom of choice if we ever need to go through that again while shopping the mall!


In addition to shopping, McKinley is eating his way through local restaurants as well. He's had sliders at Applebee's, a turkey burger and truffle fries at Blanc Burger, the Buffalo Blue Chicken salad at Houlihan's, a summer chicken salad on the balcony of Brio and Corona Shrimp Taco's at Jose Pepper's! At least that's what we're telling him as he drinks his formula. During each of these dining experiences, he has either slept through the whole thing or people watched the entire night! This kid is remarkable in public!!

And he loves bathrooms, just like his mother! As a child, and even now, the first thing I do upon arriving almost any place is check out the restroom. McKinley loved the Applebee's ladies room for their loud music, as mentioned earlier the oversized changing station in Nordstrom and the huge family restroom at Buy, Buy, Baby! He may be fussy upon entry, but once he's laying down, it's all smile and coos for this kid.

You will find, if you haven't already, that kids are very adaptable. If you take them out and about during their first couple of months in this world, they will become acclimated to the world around them. If you leave them at home all the time, how in the world can you blame them for acting out when you do finally expose them to the outside world? It would seem to me that they are on sensory overload and can't handle all the things going on around them. I guess each to his own, but for this family, we are movers and shakers and McKinley is shaking it like a pro!!

Photo Session:
These are the two pieces McKinley received on his first trip to Nordstrom! The hoodie on the left was taken on his one month birthday. I love the green and cream stripes with the navy anchor. Very nautical! The madris plaid shorts were captured on his two month birthday. He has room to grow into them, and he sort of looks like Urchel, but I don't care! I just can't believe how much he changed in just one short month. Regardless, he is styling in both photos, as I knew he would!