My, how things have changed!

After a 3+ year hiatus, I've decided to update this blog. Life has changed considerably for the McKinney family. In 2016, we moved from our old home in Montgomery to our current home in Pike Road, Alabama. While we loved our cute, little house it was just too small to contain all of us. Our new home is considerably larger. We went from 1550 square feet to roughly 3600 square feet. Of course, I had to carry my bride over the threshold of our new home! The best thing is that we have room to breathe now! We are blessed to have such a lovely home.

Our new home!

Carried over the threshold!

In other news, Elisabeth worked at Brewbaker Elem. School and then received the opportunity to move to Dalraida Elementary School. This is a much better fit for her and she is SO much happier there. She also finished her Master's degree is Special Education. She somehow managed to run our home, take care of the kids, keep me in line and keep nearly a 4.0 GPA. She's pretty amazing.
I left Bullock County Schools after serving as their Technology coordinator for about 3 1/2 years. I was getting so burned out that I was glad to leave. I'm now working at the Air Force Culture and Language Center which is part of the Air War College. Becoming a defense contractor has been very interesting for me. It's a very different world than the K-12 environment. While back in Bullock County, I wasn't able to work on my PhD at all. The Tech Coordinator job ate all my time. Now, I'm planning on going back to school and getting this PhD knocked out.

On the family front, we have added a new member! Wyatt Russell McKinney was born on October 5th, 2017. He is the most unique looking of all the McKinney kids. When the first four kids arrived, they were all bald (or nearly bald) with bright blue eyes. Wyatt came out with dark hair and the biggest brown eyes. He's a handsome little guy and I can't get enough of him. He really has completed our family.

The Gymnast!

The other children are also growing like weeds. Charlotte is now 5 years old. She's a beautiful, opinionated, spunky little lady. She can also be a bit of a handful sometimes. She's loving kindergarten and she's involved in gymnastics.

First day of the 2018-2019 School Year!

Bennett is now 6! He's in the first grade and is doing really well in all of his classes. He loves soccer and right now, he's taking ninja classes! I'm not sure what that actually means.
Yes I do. It's an excuse to wrestle with dad and practice roughhousing with me. He's a great little man and we have tons of fun playing and learning together.
William is now 15! He has his permit and he's learning to drive now. This is only mildly terrifying for me. He's in his sophomore year at Prattville High School and he is heavily involved in the marching band! (Go Lions!) In the past year, he's grown over 7 inches! He's taller than his mother, his stepmother and much to her chagrin, his sister. It's been fun watching him change so quickly. You can actually see and hear changes in him over a 2 week period!

Sarah is about to turn 18. She's a senior at Prattville High School and she's currently the show choir captain. She's having a great year and as of a few days ago has decided to attend Auburn as an engineering major.  I got top spend one day with her on campus. AU has a great engineering program and I'm proud of the young woman Sarah has become. She's going to have a great time there and I expect that I'll be traveling some to see her, particularly on game days!

While the past 3 years have been really great, we've also had our share of heartache. Elisabeth's father, Jim, passed away unexpectedly back on March 10th. It's been a difficult few months since his passing and we have all felt his absence. We did have one last surprise visit with him back in February, almost exactly a month before he passed. It was a great week and we had a good time with him. We were particularly glad that he was able to meet his newest grandson, Wyatt.

Overall, it's been a good 3 year run for the McKinneys. The family is healthy, the children are growing and learning and somehow, the adults are managing to keep their sanity. Running a home with 2 teens and 3 young ones isn't easy, but somehow we make it work. (I actually think that it's Elisabeth who makes it work). Anyway, life is great in the McKinney household. Come on down and pay us a visit!

Playing Catch Up for Three Years...

I was looking at my little blog entries from being a first time mommy and started thinking that maybe I will give the blog another shot.  
Y'all when I say things got busy, I really mean it!  One reason I found it so hard to juggle the blog (and my sanity) was that B always had ear infections as a baby so we NEVER slept.  He finally got tubes...Hooray but his sleep patterns were terrible by that point.  Teaching with no sleep, then finding out we were expecting Charlotte when B was about 8 months old tends to catch up with you...so I guess this is my apology for not keeping up with things...
Originally, I wanted my blog to be a way to store memories for the kids...I will just have to do my best from this point on.  There can't be much backtracking for me at this point.  haha
Some people think it was totally insane to have our kids so close in age but as a teacher, we don't get much in the way of maternity leave so we planned her for as close to summer break as possible.  May 24, 2013 Charlotte Jane arrived! 
She is very feisty and has a strong will.  We are now in the throws of the terrible twos.  She has this one-eyed mean face she learned from Grammy.  I will have to insert a picture of it because it is a sight to behold...

Currently, Russ moved from AUM as the Instructional Support Specialist for the School of Education and is now the District Technology Coordinator for Bullock County; which is just outside Montgomery in Union Springs, AL.  It was such a blessing and awesome career move.  He is working on his Ph.D at UA.  

Me???  Well, I have been teaching at a private school in Montgomery for quite some time but recently took the plunge into public school this year.  I have been working very hard on my classroom: Painting, laminating, cleaning, etc...  Everyone has been so awesome and I already know a few teachers that work there.  I am working on my masters for special education.  Two semesters down, a million more to go!  As far as hobbies are concerned, I have been chalk painting and distressing a ton this summer.  I love it but kinda hard to find time with the "twin tornadoes."  I also just got a new monogram machine.  (Happy birthday to me).  That hobby still needs some work, but I have one dress that turned out really cute.  My next phase will be applique.  Any advice is welcome.  Pictures to follow of the kids...

B is almost 6 months

Can you believe that B is almost 6 months old?! Where did the time go? He is such a happy baby who loves to give his mommy sugar and play in his exersaucer. He has super strong hands. In fact, if it is within reach, it's his! I think it's his curious nature. B has rolled over from back to tummy now but we haven't crawled anywhere. He loves to stand (assisted of course). And let me tell you, he is finding his voice. Making silly noises and laughing is our favorite pastime. So far, solids have been a big hit! His fave are sweet potatoes but he isn't picky by any means. Our menu consists of sweet potatoes, peas, beans, apples, bananas, peaches, squash, and Frosties from Wendy's!

Mommy is still nursing but may taper off soon. I am still working through the summer but thinking about staying home and raising my little family for a while. It's tough work getting up for nighttime feedings and still rising early for work. Sleeping Beauty needs her rest and so does this gal! B sleeps through the night but occasionally wakes once or twice. I can say that it feels great getting a full night of sleep although I usually wake up anyway...mommy misses her boy now that he's in his own room. Bittersweet, I suppose... ;) Ps: diapers after solid food are no joke!!! Ugh

Working Girl

I had a job interview recently with a Christian preschool to sub for a lady that will be on maternity leave starting in May.  Well, she was put on bedrest and I am now teaching 4 year olds at Aldersgate Weekday.  There is a possibility of it becoming permanent, but I'm still searching for a teaching position in our public elementary schools.  The best part is that B gets to go with me everyday.  I find it important for his social development and I LOVE that even the nursery attends chapel every morning.  If nothing else, I'm glad B was given such a precious spot at Aldersgate.


I love the ladies that I work with and my students are very sweet.  The only downside for me is that I wasn't quite ready to go back to work.  My time with B is so precious to me and I wasn't prepped for the phone call two weeks ago that they needed me earlier than expected.  Also, we went to Disney World a couple of weeks ago for Spring Break and B's routine got super crazy with the time change.  So my first week of work was rough due to lack of sleep.  We think he's back on track now (fingers crossed).  I will post more about our trip soon!

8 Weeks Later...

So two months have come and gone. I have recovered from my surgery and so happy that I can move around again. Simple everyday pleasures such as showering were a huge feat for me. Feedings every two hours were rough on me during my recovery because I needed my sleep but had this new little person depending on me to take care of him.

Anyways, B is getting so big and weighs a little over 11 lbs. We have our two month check-up next week and I am super nervous about the shots. I think they hurt me more than they hurt him.

Developments:

Bennett isn't sleeping through the night just yet, but he only gets up once between 1-2am and then again around 5-6. There are still nights where he gets up more than once but they are few and far between. We are getting sooo close to sleeping all night (can't wait). He has just started smiling and laughing some, usually in the mornings. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen but you be the judge.

As for being a mommy, I am starting to settle into the title. I was a teensy bit nervous with him in the beginning. I was the gal that found it uncomfortable to hold newborns, lol. Funny how they aren't nearly as fragile as they appear. My bee is very strong though and holds his head up very well for being 8 weeks.
Sorry for my lack of blogging but I hope to be posting more regularly now that I'm healed and getting into the swing of things.
Ps: I dislike nursing! I sooo can't wait to be done with this stage but I know it's best for B.

James Bennett McKinney

It's with great pleasure that I'm announcing the arrival of Mr. James Bennett McKinney! Bennett was born at 7:22AM on December 6th! He weighs a very healthy seven pounds, five ounces. He's 19.5 inches long and he's absolutely perfect.
Elisabeth was a trooper through the c-section. I held her hand throughout the operation and we both teared up when he was presented to us. (Okay- she teared up while I boo-hoed)
Anyway, Bennett was born and was crying in no time at all. I escorted him to the nursery while the docs stitched Elisabeth up. Once in the nursery, he started looking around for his Mommy right away. (and by looking for Mommy, I mean he was rooting around a lot!) After he was weighed, warmed and cleaned up a bit, back to Mommy he went. He had no problem finding his 'target' and took to nursing right away!
One of the things that we've learned is that it's tough to get rest in the hospital. Between Bennett needing to eat and the nurses coming in every few hours to check on Elisabeth, it's tough to get rested up.
Other than the lack of rest, things are going really well! Elisabeth is back on her feet and moving around, albeit moving slowly. I try and walk her around the floor here at the hospital. I've been told that the more she walks the quicker (and better) her recovery will be. I'm going to walk her legs off today. :)
Bennett is doing really well too. His weight is down to 6 pounds 14 ounces, but that's to be expected. When Mommy's milk kicks in later today or tomorrow he'll pile that weight back on quickly.

I guess I'll close this entry out. I'm tired and it's been a long day/night. I'll post more later.

Baby Showers

I have been so lucky to have some wonderful friends and family host baby showers for me.  My first shower was hosted by the girls I went to AUM with.  We had such a wonderful time and I racked up, receiving lots of supplies such as lotion, powder, pacifiers, bottles, etc.  I also got a diaper genie (Russ insisted on this registry item, so he was very excited about getting it).

The girls at work threw me a surprise shower.  Honestly, I have never had any kind of surprise party thrown in my honor.  I was very honored and turned all shades of pink when I walked into the room.  The food was amazing and the cake was delicious.  They all chipped in and gave us our baby monitor.  Those ladies are very special to me and I will miss working with them.

Finally, my Aunt Jane threw me a shower in Birmingham.  I got to see lots of my Ham friends and spend some quality family time.  She had the cutest little sandwiches for nibbling on as well as other scrumptious foods.  Her table was decorated with a little piggy bank and picture frame with a sonogram picture of B that was mine to keep.  My Aunt Jane even put a little $$$ in his piggy bank to get him started...how cute!

Here's some baby bump shots just for Angie!  :)