one year older

april is a favored month in the mckinley residence. two out of the three of us have birthday's in the month of april. on the second, it was my turn to have my special day. and thanks to my amazing husband, and loving family + friends, it was just that.

basically the entire week of my birthday was a party. on wednesday and thursday, max and i visited danny at work. oh my goodness!! those high school girls were ready to eat max up. even the boys loved him. we forgot to take clothes for him to change into, so he was in his footie pj's showing off to danny's classes. they loved it...and basically every girl in seminary wanted to hold him. it was so much fun to meet his students; they really are great kids. we sang a duet together in each of his classes and the spirit was always so strong. perfect activity to get us pumped for conference.

we've also been eating out {for FREE} the past few days thanks to e.birthday coupons. i love food...and it is ten times better when it is free! yoasis, red mango, noodles & co, fuddruckers, red robin, cold stone, baskin robbins, rubio's are some of the places that we've cashed in our coupons. i'm probably going to regret it when i step on the scale, but it was so nice to be able to go out and not have to worry about cooking when finals are coming up!

on my actual birthday, i woke up to find balloons and a little gift outside on the porch from my family. they are the sweetest. at ten, max and i walked to his six month doctor's appt. {stats to come soon...} he did great, until he got his shots. it seriously breaks my heart to see him scrrrrream like that, but it's for his own good {just like they talked about in conference!} danny picked us up and when i got home i found he had made the bed and placed birthday cards from his students all over. they were the sweetest cards, and so much fun to read. i love his students!

then...he sent me to the SPA. it was amazing. in one of my classes at byu, women from around the valley who have started successful businesses come speak to us. one lady started up a spa, primrose retreat. she gave us a fifty percent off coupon and i kept it up on the fridge hoping that one day i would find the time to use it. i haven't yet...and probably never would have had it not been for my husband! he scheduled the appt all by himself and told me not to worry about a thing. after a bath soak {greatest thing ever!}, massage, facial, and pedicure i was feeling like a queen.

when i got home, {more relaxed than i have been in a looooong time} we headed to my parents for a little birthday party. bekah {my sweet sister-in-law} was in town for her brother's wedding, so we got to catch up with her, which is always nice. we had yummy treats, and my mom made me the cutest abc scrapbook. i love it.

that night, we went to danny's mission reunion, where i got to meet his mission president who had traveled all the way from argentina! he is such a sweet, humble man so that was really neat.

it was a wonderful day, and to top it all off, the day after my birthday was conference...which of course was fantastic! thank you for all of the birthday wishes, and cards. i loved them all.

grandma debbie

max may be in the third percentile for weight...but he is in the ninety ninth percentile for finger painting skills! he thought long and hard about what to get his grandma debbie for her birthday, and finally settled on this:

i know, i know. you are probably amazed that he already knows how to spell. so were we! he is such a talented little boy. he wanted to make sure that his grandma knew just exactly how much he loves her.

he also wanted to make sure that it was a big surprise, so he asked us to wrap him up in his blanket {he is also eco-friendly} and he brought along this green bow to place on top of his head.

as he had predicted, it was a hit with grandma. she unwrapped him to find his personalized birthday message, right on his shirt. he is going to have a hard time doing better next year, but i have no doubt he'll come up with something great.

we love you {mom} grandma debbie!!

hope you had a wonderful day.

six

one, two, three, four, five, SIX.

can you believe it?? our little bubba is now six months old. that is half way to a year!! crazy. we haven't had his check up yet {i'm excited to see if that baby food is helping his weight gain at all!} but to me it seems like he is growing like crrrrrrazy.

last night i was going through a bunch of old pictures and i got caught up in looking at pictures from six months ago. it amazes me that in six short months our little man has gone from this:

to this:

he sure does have a LOT of personality. no matter where we are, people comment on:

1. his big, bright, beautiful eyes.

2. the energy he has. when he is awake and content...he doesn't stop moving.

3. his gigantic smile. it's contagious.

in the picture above i was trying to capture the latest milestone of his...he has TEETH. two of them right on the bottom. they are super cute {and crooked} but that explains why he has had such a weird sleeping schedule lately. they pretty much popped up out of no where.

to celebrate his {half} birthday we took a little trip down to st. george with danny's fam to watch aaron play soccer. we got there friday afternoon, went to olive graden with the team, cheered on weber state, and got max to bed really late. he was such a trooper though. we even let him bathe in the sink of our hotel room. he was loving it...and splashing ALL over the floor {oops!}

enjoying the beautiful sunshine with daddy

hanging with grandpa frank at dinner

cheering on uncle aaron with mommy

relaxing in the sink

on saturday we slept in, then aaron, missy, danny, and i went to the st. george temple. oh. my goodness. such a gorgeous temple!! i have never been to the temple grounds before and it is BEAUTIFUL. we got to do baptisms and had a great time. {unfortunately i forgot my camera} on our way out we stopped at the outlet's and grandma debbie couldn't resist getting this little easter shirt for max. he wore it today to church and looked like such a little man! where has our baby gone??

and this is his latest trick:

{he'll sit like this for minutes at a time...it is pretty entertaining.}

he seems to be learning sooo much and we love getting to know him more and more each day.

we love you maxie max!!!

king for a day

ps this is danny.

so this post is mostly for my mama who never thought this day would come! it took roughly three byu years, a regis transfer year, a couple of withdraws, a couple of d's, and some major flirting with professors... but i made it!!! i am a college graduate.

it feels good to be done. ive had the diploma for about 2 months, sorry mom, but wanted to put it in the frame and take a cheesy picture to show it off. thanks mom and dad for always encouraging me to finish, you're the best! if you can't read the small writing i have a double major of pre-med and pre-law, which some think isn't offered at byu (jenny) but believe me, IT IS. ok so i have a single major in sociology, but its pretty much the same thing.

my sister fini already did the doctor thing, and i totally would have but two docs in the fam would be too much so im going the seminary route. we find out in exactly 24 days what happens with our future. crazy eh??? if we stop answering phone calls after that day you can assume we have crawled into a deep dark hole. haha. just kidding. we can honestly say that God is in charge and He guides our lives. if He doesn't want me to be a seminary teacher, that just means he wants me to do something else and become rich!

as my brother matt puts it: faith. the answer is always faith.

just a couple more pics for fun.

we love you all

calling all mama's

lately i've had this desire to do be more crafty. i've been finding all these awesome craft blogs...and now have a list of {at least} ten projects that i want to get started on.

i LOVE this blankie idea

and this blog has tonnnnns of cute ideas. love them all.

the project though, that i've been most interested in starting is a quiet/activity book. there are some darling ones out there. {see here, here, and here.} but, goodness, they seem like a lot of work.

so. i thought i'd throw this idea out onto the ol' blog and see if any mommy's/mommy-to-be's are interested in joining a little "quiet book group."

i'm not quite sure how i want it to work yet, but i thought each mama that is interested could be in charge of one page {or a two page spread} and then we could send that page to each of the mom's in the group. {am i even making any sense??}

that way, each mom would just have to master one page...and it {seems} like it would be a lot less work.

i just wanted to see how many {if any} are interested, and then i can work out all the nitty-gritty details later. if you want to join the group, leave a comment or email me at jessie.lynn.george{at}gmail.com

p.s. happy st. patty's day!!

first's

{i am obsessed with those big brown eyes!!}

i don't know where this week has gone, but with school, seminary, a baby, and everything else in between i haven't been able to update the blog in a while.

we've been having a b.l.a.s.t. with our little guy. he is getting so much more interactive and is laughing multiple times a day. he's a tiny bit better at tummy time, is obsessssssed with my phone, still loves baby food, and has just recently begun letting danny put him to bed...some of the time {he is a serious mama's boy!}

here are some of maxwell's first's:

first {real} encounter with the sun. yay for spring time!! we can't wait.

first time clowning around. ok. i guess this was our doing...but it was awesome! the ring stayed on his forehead no matter how much he moved his head around.

first time letting danny put him to bed without screaming for one hour straight. it was awesome.

first day of "school". is it bad that we play around with him so much?? he probably thinks his parents are crazy. but with that little polo shirt on we couldn't help but think he looked like a little school boy.

first time being mr. potato head. again, max probably thinks he has the craziest parents. hah. this was not my doing though...danny told me to come into the room and this is what i found.

needless to say, we've been having fun over at our household. life is good. max is growing bigger every day. and we love it.

p.s. i've been a little blog crazy since max is taking a marathon nap. make sure to check out my last two posts as well!

first aid

a few of you may know about the entrepreneurship class i am taking at byu where i have to earn $1500 before the end of the semester or we fail the class. and if you know that, you also know that my group has earned $0. awesome huh??

not so much. BUT, the good news is that we re-vamped our idea and have come up with something pretty awesome:

first aid kits

{in a hot pad}

we are selling them for seven bucks a piece and they are awesome!

each kit comes with:

alcohol cleansing pads
germ-x antibacterial soft wipes
kleenex
flossers
cotton
gauze
safety pins
nail file
band aids
plastic gloves
and instructions on how to do cpr on adults, children, and babies

they fit nicely in purses, glove compartments, etc...and make excellent gifts as well.

{if you buy more than one, special deals are available!} colors of hot pad/buttons are customizable.

if you or anybody else you know is interested, let me know!

we can get them to you asap.

san fran

we are headed on a little vaycay next month {first family vacation with the three of us}...and we can't wait!! we'll be leaving ONE week before finding out if we get hired so we thought a little get-away would be much needed. {we'll be a tad bit stressed out}

we've always wanted to go to san francisco {danny went when he was a little boy, and i've never been} so if any of you have any recommendations as to what we HAVE to do, we'd gladly appreciate it!

spudalicious

two weekends ago, max and i ventured up to beautiful idaho for a little weekend getaway. {danny had a campout with the young men in our ward...he is such a trooper! camping in february??? no thanks!}

my cousin jordan got married to a cute girl, inna, originally from russia. so my family went up and we decided to tag along. it was a fabulous trip. besides the fact that i was husband-less for almost three days. that was definitely no bueno.

we arrived friday afternoon just in time for the sealing in the rexburg temple. it was wonderful. i'm glad i was able to be there. then, we went back to rigby and rescued a screaming max from uncle bri. the rest of the day, we relaxed, had a stamp group with my aunts, watched the olympics, had a yummy dinner, and taught my fam how to play monopoly deal.

saturday was spent playing more games {i love games with the georges!} and getting ready for the wedding reception that night. there was a big family dinner at five and in between the dinner and the reception, max and i went to see my bff meagan, and her husband ryan, and cute baby brinley.

i LOVE them. it is always soooo so good to see meagan...especially since we are living the same lives right now {more or less.} we are both crazy busy with school, being new mommies, and trying to be good wives, all at the same time.

remember this post? scroll to the bottom and you'll see a younger version of max and his girly-friend, brinley. they are basically the cutest babies...ever. and totally destined for each other. well, no matter what happens between them, we sure do have a lot of fun together now! {too bad we live four hours apart though.}

all-in-all, it was fantastic! thank goodness for spur of the moment getaways.

month FIVE

our little baby is growing up sooooo fast!! yesterday marked his fifth month birthday--my how much we love him. he is such a joy to be around and we honestly can't imagine life without him. here are five of max's favorites as of late:

1. his latest LOVE is his toes...he grabs those things and sticks them in his mouth every chance he gets. in the tub, when we're changing his diaper, in his bouncer, on the floor. he is one flexible baby.

2. he also can't get enough of that baby food! i think it's safe to say that sweet potatoes are his fav. a close second are bananas {all the sugar in those things made him a little crazy though!} and after today i'm thinking peas are his least favorite. it sure is fun watching him learn how to use his tongue, and experience new flavors. we did, however, have to learn the hard way with the timing thing. we thought it would be wise to feed him right before his bath at night {so we could wash off all the sweet potatoes that hide under his double chin...} but oh my GOSH it messed up his sleeping schedule like crrrrrrazy. he was up basically every hour for the past three nights. finally i started reading some stuff online, and most people advise against feeding your baby at night. his meal is now right after breakfast in the morning.

3. putting everything, and i mean everything, into his mouth. he is getting a lot better with his hand-eye coordination {he is constantly pulling his binkie out of his mouth} so the second he gets his hands on something, it goes straight to his mouth.

4. his blankies. lately he hasn't been a huge fan of his car seat...but the second i throw one of his blankies on him, he calms right down and grabs it with both of his hands. sure is cute.

this is how danny takes care of max when he is doing laundry...gotta love my boys!

5. the mirror. i guess this has been a favorite of his for awhile now, but everytime he sees that little baby in the mirror, he gets so giddy and can't stop smiling.

babies are the best.

have you ever...

read this book??

pretty sure i was alexander today.

it actually started out as a beautiful day. the sun was shining and max slept until 8:30. not bad. there were some guys upstairs working on refinishing the hardwood floor, but they weren't being too noisy so it was bearable.

then, everything went downhill. i already have an irrational fear of someone breaking into our home, so when i heard footsteps practically running down the stairs to our basement apartment my heart started pounding. fast. then the door to my bedroom opened {where i was feeding max!} and this guy walked right in. i about had a heartattack.

he had earphones in so he didn't hear me yelling at him to get out...and he didn't even see me until he was halfway into my room. you could tell he felt bad, he didn't think anyone was home, but seriously!

then, i didn't have a car to make it to my weekly mommy's lunch group that i look so forward to.

once danny got home, i felt like a migrane was coming on {probably due to the stress of the morning} so i quickly took some excedrin migrane...but the splitting headache still set in. it didn't help that the once quiet wood finishers were now being sooooo loud. so we decided to head to my parents, were i crashed in my sister's bed and took a much needed nap.

when i woke up, i was still feeling pretty weak...so danny thought it would be best that i didn't go to my class. {my fav class of the week, might i add.} so i didn't get to hear any of bro. richardson's awesome stories.

after resting for awhile longer, we decided to go grocery shopping before returning home {since we've been out of town all weekend.} max was starving when we got home...but the second we opened the door the smell of wood polish was basically too strong to bear. we took a screaming max back out to the car while i hurridly packed up a few of our things and we headed over to my parents to spend the night. luckily, my brother doesn't mind that we are kicking him out of his room for the night...or two or three.

so there you have it. good thing we love adventures!

who knew??

who knew that max would loooooooove sweet potatoes so much?? cuz he totally does. wanna see the proof?

day one:

gotta love those big brown eyes!

day two:

day three {tonight}

he just can't get enough. we decided that since the doc noticed he's been dropping a little bit of weight we'd squeeze in an extra meal of something a little more nutritious. he doesn't seem to mind one bit!

weekend of love

wasn't it great having valentines day fall on sunday?? i'm definitely a fan of having a weekend full of activities. as with most things, it was a little different with a baby...but we still had a blast! danny surprised me with flowers on thursday; he is the best! i was in charge of the activities this year {we switch off} so this is what we did on saturday:

.dinner at tgi fridays.

neither of us had ever been there so that was fun.

.dessert at the sweet tooth fairy.

my new absolute favorite place! their cupcakes are a.ma.zing.

.redbox rental {danny's choice}.

he chose imagine that with eddie murphey. funny show.

sunday, after sweet baby ellie's blessing, we drove up to layton to spend time with the fam. we got to see danny's grandma, and aunt & uncle and finally introduce them to little max. of course, he instantly loved them...how could he not?? they are the best.

for v-day dinner, danny's mom planned a delicious meal and had the entire basement decked out with decorations, roses for the girls, and baggies of candy and every plate. it was awesome. we spent the night hanging out, and playing monopoly deal and farkle {our two favorite games at the moment.}

we spent the night, and monday had a very relaxing day. danny had his friends over to play nintendo. yeah...you read that right. they were like little kids but they had a blast. cameron has a little girl two days younger than max...they almost look like they could be twins! little jenny about took max out though, it was pretty funny.

after the friends left, we went with aaron and missy to boondocks for a little laser tag and arcades. it was a blast! danny killed us all in laser tag, and aaron won the jackpot for the jumping jack game. pretty sweet.

all in all, it was a fantastic weekend! we are so lucky to be surrounded by such great family!

i have the greatest job EVER!!!

(danny) - in case you didn't know i am currently in the seminary program at byu. i get to teach three class periods at maple mountain high school. last semester i was at timpview, and the one before i was at diamond fork junior high. so often when people hear i wanna be a seminary teacher they say something like 'i heard it's really hard to do' or 'wow didn't you sleep/sluff your way through seminary' (haha, dangit, im still repenting). so this is why i consider myself the luckiest guy in the whole world, and if things don't work out i will still be the luckiest guy since i got a year and half with God's most precious children. here are some of the best, and wierdest things i have heard from my students' mouths. my words will be in blue and theirs will be in red:

here is a picture of my wife and son.

how did you get her to marry you?

i have no idea

yeah me neither.

ok everybody here is your new seating chart.

if you make me move i'll leave the church.

(what in the world do i say to that?!)

(to a girl who had lost her father a few years ago)(speaking about enduring through trials)

do you have a testimony of enduring to the end?

yes, i know that even at your lowest point God will help you through and comfort you.

(to one of the timpview basketball and football stars)

how has that helped increase your faith in God?

i know that no matter what happens with basketball or football God always comes first, no matter what. God always comes first, no matter what.

(just last week)

bro mckinley what happened to bro maughan? (this kid's last teacher)

hmmmm, i don't know, i think they transferred him up north

oh... why?

they just like to switch us around, sorry.

(he slept through class that day, argh!)

(at the end of each semester)

could you give me some suggestions on how i could be a better teacher

without fail:

bring more donuts

yeah bring more treats

don't have a seating chart

more games

(i suppose i said the exact same thing to my seminary teachers. karma, its real)

(as we are about to start singing a hymn at the start of class)

FART!!!

what the...

(maybe if i pretend it didn't happen, it didn't)

FART!!!

i think: im gonna kill em

ok who was that?

ty: it was lucas

lucas: no way it was ty

i don't care who it was just put the fart machine away!

(i guess its better coming from a machine right?)

(an email i received the other day from a girl i taught last semester)

bro mckinley guess what!!! im getting sealed to my family on wednesday, can you please be there?

God is so amazing!!!!! and for some reason i got to be there with her and her family.

(a student comes running into class)

what's up?

i just ran away from my friends who wanted me to sluff seminary, but i came!

(it is hard for me to express how amazing these kids are!)

What a wonderful thing it has been to teach seminary to these amazing youth. it has been the greatest job in the whole world! every day as my kids leave class i yell out look unto Christ in every thought and they yell back doubt not fear not!

Let's stop doubting and look unto Him always.

and the winner is...

kate lowe!!

all entries were accounted for and thanks to random.org a winner was chosen.

{thank you, thank you to ALL of you for checking out belly mama's and entering the drawing!! aren't giveaways fun??? i should do these more often!}

i hope you all have a FANTASTIC valentine's weekend.

xoxo.

p.s. kate--i'll drop off your gift friday! congrats again.

belly mamas + a giveaway!

it's been hard not to tell all of you about this amazing blog that my friend kim has had in the works for a couple months. but it is now up and running...so get excited!!

belly mama's is THE place to go for all of your pre/during/post baby questions. we {there are five of us all together} will address the questions that arise when that special baby is on the way. not that it isn't awesome to see what fruit/veggie you baby resembles at babycenter.com--but it's a little impersonal, wouldn't you say? all five of us belly mama's have recently had little babies of our own, and thought it would be fun to pass along what we have learned.

so. to encourage you {and your friends} to check us out, i thought i'd try my hand at a little blog giveaway! valentine's day is just around the corner {and i've been learning more and more about illustrator} so i'm giving away eight hand-made cards {like the ones below} and some chocolates for v-day!

for ONE entry, leave your name in a comment.

for a SECOND entry, please visit belly mama's and leave us a little love {in the form of a comment!}

for a THIRD entry, become a follower of belly mama's, so you can be the first to hear about special giveaway's and guest bloggers.

for a FOURTH entry, blog about belly mama's on your own blog! the more mama's that know, the better!

p.s. be sure to clarify how many entries you deserve. good luck!

i've never done a giveaway before...i'm excited! have a fabulous week. the giveaway will end tomorrow {february 10} at midnight. just in time for valentines day! xoxo.

731 days

it's true. 731 days ago daniel scott and i met at a super bowl party. what a glorious day. it is a little crazy to think about all of the amazing/crazy/awesome things that have happened since then...but i wouldn't have it any other way. yesterday my sweetheart surprised me with brand new sheets for our bed. i don't know about you, but brand new sheets are basically the best thing ever.

i love him.

{images courtesy of the amazing sammy yarbrough}

giggling in the snow

what is cuter than a little baby boy laughing at the sound of his mama shoveling??

i have yet to find out.

we love him!!

p.s. are there any fellow LOST fans out there?? what did you think about the season premier??

king max

so thats what danny calls max basically every day...i really hope it doesn't get to that little guys head. he sure is cute though. friday {as mentioned below} was max's four month check up. can you believe it?? i can't. he is growing up so dang fast.

stats: weight: 12 lbs 8 oz {8th percentile}

length: 25 inches {52nd percentile}

head circumference: 16.5 inches {39th percentile}

we honestly can't imagine life without this little guy. his smile is absolutely contagious. {i'm pretty sure every smile is a little bit wider than the last} he has started giggling and it is the cutest thing ever. {which reminds me! the other day danny and i were outside shoveling and max was just chillin in his car seat. i don't know what it was...the snow falling or the sound of the shovel on the cement...but he was laughing SO hard. once i find the video i'll post it} he loves to look in the mirror, fly around as "super-max", and he hates tummy-time more than ever. he has learned how to splash a TON in the bath, and he has officially grown out of his newborn size clothing. {took him long enough!} he may be a little small for his age, but he has got one gigantic personality. oh how we love being parents to this little boy.

phew

wow. where in the world did january go?? i can't believe that it is already february first! the past week has been a little crazy. i'm just now catching my breath. want a recap?? here you go:

monday: play date with the girls and all our little babes. meeting with group for business class. religion class. fhe with our bff's kim & clay, and bj & ellery.

tuesday: homework. class. decide that we are going to enter the bridal fair at provo high as a group for class. questioning my decision to stay in school...

wednesday: visiting teaching. class. danny decided to show maple mountain kids how to play soccer, while max and i hung out with my family. mom helped me come up with flyer for bridal fair. verrry cute.

thursday: buy lots of cute paper, staples, and ribbon for tote stuffers. cut lots of paper. homework. class. teach group how to assemble fliers. spend every other minute of spare time with my boys.

friday: meeting with THE brother ringger. {he works for seminaries & institutes, and goes around visiting student seminary teachers and their wives at home!} he stayed for a little over an hour, while chatting with us and taking copious notes. {talk about intimidating!} he is one of the men who decides if we should be hired on. i think my hands were sweaty the entire time, but danny was awesome. my husband is amazing. plus we had max's four month check up!! my how time flies. {stats to come...}

saturday: illustrator 101 class with the AMAZING alma loveland! danny and i both got to go {thanks to debbie for watching max!} and we learned so SO much. i can't wait to put it all to good use when designing wedding invites/blog headers...and who knows what else!

sunday: teach ctr 5 class. finish tying "knots" for the bridal fair in two weeks. see sam & penny + get family pictures back. they look fab.

so. there you have it. we are living very busy lives right now...but we love every second of it.

happy february!!