Our Little Graduate!

Grady graduated from preschool this morning, and we couldn't have been prouder! Yes, it's only preschool, but it was still very emotional....sad and exciting all at the same time. Every milestone is hard because you just start to realize how fast the years go by. Parenthood is the hardest job in the world, but at the same time you want time to stand still because you know you can never get these moments back. Today really made us stop and appreciate what an amazing little boy we have...he's super sweet and loving and really worries about people and their feelings. And he's hilarious. I have been told numerous times by his teachers this year that he reminds them of David Letterman because he has such a dry sense of humor and keeps such a straight face when he cracks jokes. One of his teachers told me just today that she predicts he will either be an engineer or a comedian when he's older. Ha! I thought that was pretty funny!

Here is Grady walking in  - to Pomp and Circumstance of course! :)

They sang several songs during the ceremony, which was really cute. So proud that our little guy sang and danced....definitely way more than I would have done when I was 4!

Grady getting his diploma!

Granny came down from Boone for Grady's graduation, which was really nice. And she gave him a card with $20 in it! Grady said he could buy 20 things because he had $20, but then ultimately decided to save it instead and buy something big later. :)

Aunt Carleen and Elle also came!

Elle got a lot of attention! :)

Grady had wonderful teachers this year that he really bonded with. We will definitely miss them next year!  Here he is with Ms. Barb:

Grady and Ms. Linda:

Here is Grady with his best friend Ezra. Despite many attemps to have them both smile, this is the best picture I got. (The cupcakes were way more exciting than smiling for a picture!)

Next stop....kindergarten!!

We've been keeping busy so far in May and enjoying the beautiful weather! I just had to post this picture first because I think it's so cute! Yep, that's Landon driving his little red car naked (wearing his cowboy hat of course!). And he couldn't be happier!

Carleen and Elle came over the week before last, so the boys got to spend some time with her, which they loved! They immediately started piling toys all around her and ultimately decided that she should play with Smurfette because she's a girl. :)

Last week I picked up Grady from preschool one day, and he came out looking like this! The poor little guy fell on the sidewalk walking to the park and skinned up his face. (It actually looked a lot worse than it really was!)

The following day Grady's class performed a play - "Glee Under the Sea" - for everyone. Grady was a whale and did great (especially for being a little shy)!

Here is a video of Grady's part....He did forget his lines (as did everyone!), but if you turn the sound up really high you can hear him! :)

This past weekend I took the boys to Jordan Lake while Brandon went ziplining (a Valentine's present that he hadn't used yet!). It was the most beautiful day, and boys had a great time running by the water, watching fish and playing in the sand.

And of course we took a little break for some lunch....

This coming week is Grady's last week of preschool. And yes, it could make me burst into tears right now just thinking about it. He "graduates" on Thursday. Of course I'm so happy for him and know that kindergarten will be great, but reality has set in that he's really growing up. Stay tuned for pictures later this week..... :)

Welcome to the World Elle!

As you saw from the last post, my sister Carleen went into the hospital the day of her baby shower and the decision was made to induce her because she had developed preeclampsia. Despite the fact she had to be induced, she had a great labor and beautiful birth! Elle Adris McKenna arrived on April 16th around 11pm (ish) weighing 6 lbs, 12 oz. And let me just tell you - she is PRECIOUS!

The happy family!

The day after Elle was born the boys got to go over to the hospital and meet Elle. Grady was in absolute awe over her. At first he was really nervous holding her, but he warmed up quickly and then became obsessed with the idea. He must have asked me 500 times afterwards if he could hold her again. :) 

Elle and her cousins!

Here she is at 2 weeks! Yep - I'm a proud aunt!

Strawberries and More!

Kelly, Louis and Hannah stayed in NC for the week following Easter so that Kelly and Hannah could go to Carleen's baby shower on April 14. In addition to doing some final preparations for Carleen's shower that week, we were able to squeeze in a few other fun activities.  One morning we went to visit Carleen at work - at Duke Medical Center (Labor and Delivery) - because we had never been there before. It was so nice meeting all of her co-workers, who were all extremely nice and welcoming. We kind of thought people might look at us strange for visiting her at work (and bringing two kids along!), but everyone was so friendly. Carleen even listened to Kelly's baby's heartbeat, which was a lot of fun!

It's definitely not easy being almost 37 weeks pregnant and being on your feet all day (for 12-hour shifts)! Poor Carleen!

Later that week we decided to go strawberry picking. There is a great organic strawberry farm just outside of Hillsborough that we always love to go to, and everyone had a great time! I think we may have the only child in the world who doesn't like strawberries....but he still enjoyed picking them (and he at least tried a bite)!

 

Before we started picking, we told the kids to only pick the strawberries that were very red.  Grady had no problem with this, but before long we realized Hannah and Landon were picking anything (even the strawberries that were still white!). Before we knew it, Grady was holding a training session on which strawberries to pick and which ones to leave (pictured below). It was really cute! After the "training session," they always asked Grady, "Is this a good one?" and he would tell them yes or no. The funniest part is that they would pick it first and then ask him, which kind of defeated the purpose. :)

On Saturday, April 14 we threw a baby shower for Carleen, which was a lot of fun!

She thought doing some sort of craft would be fun, so we decided to have everyone design a block, which would be part of a large set for the baby. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it, and it was amazing how artistic everyone was!

We had a large spread of food, and one of Carleen's friends made adorable owl cupcakes!

And I was kind of proud of my fruit salad!

Kevin arrived towards the end of the shower to help open some of the remaining gifts. We kept joking that this is what they're going to look like in 60 years in the retirement home. :)

And here is the crazy part of the day... Carleen wasn't feeling all that well, so she gave her midwife a call after the shower just to check in. She suggested she go to the hospital to get checked out. This is a picture of them leaving their house....little did they know it was the last time they'd be home without their little one!