Finally....a name!

We made the decision in the wood aisle at Michael's that Joseph William would be our baby's name. So, I like to say that my husband Joe is going to have a mini-me. We are going to call him Joey. The main reason that we came to the decision now is because I wanted to put his name on the wall in wooden letters and we needed to know which letters to buy. Joe painted the letters and hung them up.

CeCe and the Tomato

I dropped a container of cherry tomatoes tonight and CeCe took one and started playing with it. She is one of the smartest dogs you will ever meet, but she is easily confused by vegetables!


CeCe and the Tomato from Maria on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!
Our morning started at 6am with CeCe waking up and puking on Joe's pillow. Needless to say, we woke up and washed the bed sheets. I think that yesterday, she ate too much of the toy that my dad sent her. Here is what the toy looked like after she ripped it apart:



Last night, we spent our Christmas Eve with our friends Miles and Pam Middleton and Miles' family. We know from Miles and Pam from Minot. We joined in on their English Christmas tradition of Christmas crackers. Here is a link to see what they are all about:
Christmas Crackers

We are going to spend our Christmas day quietly enjoying our last one without a lot of noise:) We realized last night that this is the last time that it will ever just be the two of us!

Week 37 News

I had my 37 week check up today. After waiting in the waiting room and examining room for a combined total of 2 hours, we found out that I am 40% effaced and 0 centimeters dialted. I also had an ultrasound and all of his organs look good. He is currently measuring 6 lbs 7 oz. I would love to put the ultrasound picture up, but my scanner won't work.
UPDATE: Joe fixed the scanner so here is the picture of the baby. If you can see him, let us know because we can't see anything.

Our daytrip to Bakersfield

Joe and I went on a roadtrip to Bakersfield, CA today. Bakersfield is about 82 miles away. The drive is a boring hour and a half drive through the desert (the Mojave Desert that you read about.) We went there to shop because they have a Macy's and Babies R Us. It was probably the worst Macy's that I have ever seen! It was a small store and way too crowded. But, I can't complain too much because it is better than Herbergers(the department store in Minot.)

Our First Visitor in California!

Our first visitor in California was of course, my mom. She came on Thursday and is leaving tomorrow, Sunday. CeCe is her morning wakeup call around 6:00am everyday. If you know Cece, you know that she likes to sleep until atleast 9am. She is so excited every morning to make sure that my mom is still here. CeCe runs into her Grammie's room, jumps on the bed and licks her a few times so that she is definately awake, then goes back to sleep with Joe.



Yesterday and today were spent shopping as much as I could. My stomach is getting really heavy. I also had a doctor appointment on Friday. I am not dialated at all. Next Friday at my appointment, the doctor wants to do an ultrasound to find out how big the baby is. Joe and I are really excited about another ultrasound, because we haven't seen our baby boy in a few months!

The Last Piece of Furniture!

The glider came in the mail yesterday and Joe put it together in less than 20 minutes! He has gotten so good at putting together furniture. We are ready for our baby to come now! This weekend when my mom visits, we are going to shop for some wall decorations and other random things that will make the nursery complete.

Soon-to-be-Major McKenna

We received good news today. Joe made the Major's list, which means that he will be promoted to Major. He probably won't pin on for over a year. Click here to see his name on the website!

35 Weeks

We finally got the replacement parts for the crib. It came with two broken pieces so we had to wait over a week to get it put together. The only thing that we are waiting for now is the glider and ottoman. Unfortunately, it won't be here for another two weeks. Here are 2 pictures of the crib:

I had a doctors appointment today. Everything looks good and he wants to see me every week. I have an appointment next Friday. My mom is coming for a visit next Thursday until Sunday so she will be able to go to the appointment with us. I think she is more excited than we are for our baby to be born!

Our Christmas Tree

We put our Christmas tree up this past weekend. Joe did most of the work and I did most of the directing:)

The Interlopers

No, that isn't a lost dog roaming around base. That is a coyote looking for a snack. We took this picture today while we were driving.

33 weeks pregnant

For all those that have asked for a picture of my stomach, here it is:

Thanksgiving Day

Our first Thanksgiving in California was an all day event. Since the football games started at 9:30am Pacific time, our company came over at 9:30am. We started the morning with a breakfast casserole. We ate the traditional turkey dinner at 1:30. Here is a picture of our guests Miles and Chris with Joe.

And, of course, CeCe's friends came over. Miles brought his three dogs over. They played ball non-stop! It drove us crazy!

Joe the Carpenter...kinda

We orderd the baby's furniture on Sunday and it arrived today, Wednesday! I guess that is one good thing about living in California! The baby stores are only about 500 miles away. Joe took the boxes into the baby's room and started opening the changing table box. I was in the kitchen and all of the sudden, I heard a huge SIGH. I knew what it meant...a million pieces with horrible, overwhelming directions. He put it together, though, and it looks great.















One changing table down, a dresser and a crib to go!

Casa de McKenna

Here is a picture of the outside of our house. It is a small house because it is junior enlisted housing. The good thing is that we won't have to move out of the house after Joe graduates. We will get to stay here until the new officer housing is built. Atleast they gave us 3 bedrooms. Our furniture takes up all of the space in every room.

An Empty House...

Well, we are in California without our belongings. Joe has called the moving company many times, but they don't know where are stuff is and the truck driver won't call us. It is very frustrating and boring sitting in a hotel room all day. The room doesn't even have Wi-Fi, so we have to go to the library every day to check our email. As soon as we get settled, we will take some pictures to show our new life in California. A few things that have happened in the past week of living in California include getting the keys to our house on base, Maria getting a referral to a doctor in Minot instead of in California (people are just stupid) and various sightings of coyotes close to our house. The last one is the one that I am concerned about the most. Hopefully the next time that I post on here will be from our house and our belongings will be here!

Our Going Away Party

We went out with some of our friends to celebrate our last weekend in Minot. We have made a lot of good friends here and we will miss them! We went to Sammy's Pizza and then to Off the Vine, a wine bar in Minot.

Joe's "Finni Flight"

This past week, Joe had his last flight in Minot. It is tradition for the family of the flier to go and meet him at the plane and spray him down with water. Here is a picture of me spraying Joe down with water. I forgot my camera in the cup holder of my car, so I had someone take a picture with their camera phone.

Here is a picture of the crew that Joe flew with. He picked a few of his good friends to fly with him. In the picture is Denny Cummings, Joe, Doogie the flight doctor, Ron Nigro, Monty Moncrief, and Jason Morgan. Denny and Ron are good friends of Joe's that were also in his band in Minot.

Happy Halloween!

Until we have the baby we have to settle for dressing CeCe up in costumes and clothing. She hates it, but she looks so cute! We put it on her head and she just stands there and won't move.

A First Blog

I am new to they whole blogging thing, but thought that this would be a great way to keep everyone updated on our lives as we move to California and have our first baby.

Here are a few pictures of our unborn baby boy: