Lynn, Tim and Isaac come for a visit

My best friend Lynn came over from the Seattle area to visit us before heading to her parents' house for Christmas. Lynn and Tim had their baby boy, Isaac on November 11th this year, and Seth and I had not had a chance to meet him yet. So we finally got to meet Isaac and and Lynn and Tim were able to see Ella for the first time too. It was so great - Isaac is one of the cutest little guys I've ever seen! I just wish that we lived closer together so we could watch each other's kids grow. Maybe one day..... Thanks for stopping by you guys! We love you, and can't wait to get the babes together again soon!

I can't help it!

Thank goodness for digital cameras that's all I have to say! Now that Ella, Serena, Seth and I are all adapting to our new lifestyles inside this house (Seth and I are feeling somewhat human again these days), I can't seem to take enough pics of our little girl. And right now, she's not doing a whole lot, so I know that this is a problem that will only get worse as time goes on. But like I said, thank goodness for digital cameras. It's not the easiest thing to capture a truly good picture of a newborn, but I keep trying. Here's a couple new shots to share......

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

Christmas 2007

We celebrated Christmas this year at my older brother Zac's. He and his girlfriend Kristen live just down the street - seriously, we live on the same street - so it was really convenient for us to just make the trip from our place to theirs and back again. They made an amazing dinner, with a lot of help from my younger brother Gabe. We had prime rib, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans with bacon, sausage stuffing, pasta salad, and apple/snicker salad (whoever came up with this idea is brilliant!). I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but these were the main things on the table and it was all so good. I'm a foodie - so had to mention everything we had. It was weird to not be in the kitchen helping, but everybody was so nice to Seth and I making sure that we didn't have to work that day, and could relax and share Ella with everyone. Thanks guys!!! Zac was able to hold her for the first time, and my great aunt Hazel was also able to meet/hold her for the first time. It was wonderful! We named Ella after my Grandma Ella, and Hazel was Ella's sister, so they've got a unique bond right from the start.

Ella's first bath

She pretty much thought we were out to torture her, but Seth and I only intended to clean her up a bit by giving her her first bath. These pics will be great for embarassment/blackmail purposes a few years down the road don't you think?

Some new pictures

Here are a few shots of Ella with some of our family. Katie's Mom and Dad, and brother Gabe and his girlfriend Nancy. It's so amazing to be able to share her with family. The holidays help make that happen since everyone's getting together anyway. McKinstry family -we can't wait to see you all and introduce you to Ella Rose!!

Ella likes to party..... all night long

It's our 3rd night at home with a newborn and we are learning a lot. One of those things is that our daughter loves to stay up late, or maybe we should say early. She is an easy baby all day long, but once 9 or 10 pm rolls around, watch out. Sleep, we miss you!

our biggest adventure yet....

Seth and I are now home from the hospital with Ella. We brought the laptop with us with intentions of sending everyone emails and pictures of what was going on with Ella's birth. Well after being up all day on Tuesday and then starting labor in the afternoon and delivering Ella at 3:03 a.m. on Wednesday, we didn't exactly have time to sleep at the hospital let alone get organized to send emails and pics. Trying to make up for it now..... You'll be seeing more than your share of pics on this site in the next few years!

Here are some pics for now and maybe later (after some sleep has occurred) I'll come back and give some details about them.....

Meet Ella Rose McKinstry

We are so happy to introduce you to our daughter, Ella Rose McKinstry. She was born early on Wednesday morning, December 19th, 2007 with very few complications. Isn't she lovely? We are in love!

Keeping busy

Not much to do now but wait and take pictures of the pregnant belly in front of the Christmas tree..... sorry to any squeamish people out there. Serena wanted to be in the pic too. And I dragged Seth in with me for one too. Makes for a great Christmas card don't you think? Maybe not. Speaking of Christmas cards, I hope that anyone who is reading this isn't offended we don't get them a card this year. We're waiting until Ella arrives and then we'll do a "Happy New Year/ Holiday" slash birth announcement all rolled into one. We do wish you all a very Merry Christmas though!

Seth's finishing up painting doors and trim in the basement today! Hooray! I think he is going to be done with painting for a long time once he gets this wrapped up and can't blame him at all. It looks great down there - such a big change. Will have to post some before and after shots soon. We get carpet in on Wednesday so maybe after that.

Progress, but no baby yet....

OK, I promise I won't be posting everyday whining about how the baby hasn't come yet.... really I won't. But I went to the doctor today and I think deep down I felt like the doctor would tell me that contractions would probably start at any time and we'd be meeting our baby very soon (like in the next 24 hours). Why was I thinking that? That didn't happen. I have made some progress.... I'll spare you the details, but I guess the progress made so far will help when contractions and actual labor does begin. So Seth and I have more waiting to do....

and so begins my maternity leave.....

Made it through the last day of work for the next few months....work in a formal office setting that is. I've heard that motherhood can be a little work too :). Feels good to be done, and able to settle in at home and "nest" as they say. We'll see how long Ella gives me to try that out. Looking forward to cleaning house and cooking up a storm!

One more day of work!

So tomorrow is my last day of work before I go on maternity leave. I'm just a little excited about that! Just need to stay focused and get through the day..... No Ella yet, but my official guess for her birthday was 12/14, so we'll see what she thinks about that. Seth's guess was today - I would have been just fine with that but it wasn't in the cards.

Seth and I just got back a little while ago from one of his co-worker's houses. A get-together for his group at work for the holidays. Lots of fun and great food. He works with some very cool people. We're so lucky!

Good night!

NURSERY PICS

Last week of work before maternity leave!

So I'm at work today....my last Monday for a few months! Pretty exciting. My last official day before maternity leave begins is this Thursday. It'll be nice to have a little time off before baby comes to finish up a few things. But then again if Ella comes today, I will be just fine with that!

My mom Sharon, is also starting her last work week. She has been working for the same doctor's office for over 20 years! Wow! She's retiring so she's available for babysitting at any time. Someone's excited!! :)

We're tired....and the weekend is over

It's been a very busy weekend. Seth has been hidden away in the basement for at least 14 hours the last 2 days, painting. (For the last 3 weeks we've had someone at the house remodeling the unfinished area of our basement. We are excited to see that things are just about done....and with the new walls up and taping and texturing done, Seth moved in to prime and paint) What a project! He also went into his office today to work on some things at work that have to be done before he is out on paternity leave when Ella's born. No a whole lot of relaxing went on at our house this weekend. I guess you could say we're both trying to get as much done as possible before all our time is focused on our new little one. I spent yesterday cleaning house and hanging things up in the nursery, and made a trip to Babies R Us today to pick up some of those last few items we don't have yet.....oh my gosh, is it possible we still need anything? The nursery can't fit anything else in it! It does look pretty cute though, even if I say so myself.



We got snow today - probably a little less than an inch, but snow. Sure makes it look pretty outside.

Caution Readers: This is our first post

So welcome to the McKinstry Family "blog" site! I am absolutely clueless about what I'm doing here, so please bear with us as we try to make this work. We figured since our first baby - Miss Ella - is due anyday (officially Dec 20th), that we'll soon be sharing millions of pictures, and this may be the easiest way to share them with family and friends. We'll see how it works, ok?