Merry Christmas

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas.

Thank you

Thank you so much to most wonderful friends in the whole world, Abby, Karen, and Leslie. You guys are so awesome. You threw me the best baby shower ever!!!!!! There was so much thought that went into it. It is so nice to know that you have friends that really know who you are. From the perfect cake, to my favorite jelly belly's, to two weeks of housecleaning. You guys are the best. Love you very much my dear friends.

Thank you also to all of you that came. I felt very loved that day.

29 days

WHAT!!!!!!!!!! When did we get to 29 days left? I'm getting so excited to meet this new little McNally. We have spent the last two days getting his room ready for him. The kids are so excited. Anytime we pray before meals, or before bed the only thing Brandan prays for is baby Mcnally. Ryan asked me last night, "What is Brandan going to pray for once Logan is born." Very good question.
We are officially on the countdown as of today!!!!!!

Getting to Know Your Friends - Christmas Addition

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I especially like to use wrapping paper when my friend Karen helps me. She is the best wrapper EVER.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real!!!

3. When do you put up the tree? Day after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? On the 2nd of January.

5. Do you like eggnog? NO

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My purple bike with the awesome banana seat.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My husband. He is a really good gift finder and I always feel like I just can't find the perfect gift for him. I think this year he is just going to have to settle for the gift of LOGAN.

9. Easiest person to buy for? The kiddos.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. Except for all of you etiquette people you may not judge me this year. I am actually not going to send out a Christmas card I am going to do New Year's cards after our family has become complete. I know, I know I should send out both, but not this time.

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Not sure.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? The day after Thanksgiving at 5:00 a.m.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? NO

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? FOOD.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? clear on the tree...

17. Favorite Christmas song? Away in a Manger

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? It really has varied every year since we moved. This year I am looking forward to staying home and enjoying the four of us.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? No.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning!! Christmas eve we do one present which is Christmas p.j.'s and new slippers.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? I am majorly guilty of this one, but forgetting the real reason for Christmas.

23. What do you want for Christmas this year? Logan to come a few days after Christmas, but before the 31st. Come on Santa is that to much to ask?

24. Favorite ornament theme or color?

25. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Prime rib. The one down fall of us being alone this year for Christmas is my family won't be having my brothers awesome prime rib. My family is going to have to settle for a ham.

Join in the fun!!! Copy and post it on your blog too...

Good Job

Good Job to all of you ladies that made it through blogging everyday for the month. I can honestly say there is NO WAY I could of done it. You guys are the bomb.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Have a wonderful day filled with family, fun and tons of food. God Bless you all.

Homework

My homework assignment. I'm looking forward to our blog party.




1.What is your Motto?
Truth be told I could give you one, but it would probably be really lame and I think the honest to goodness truth is I really don't have a motto.

2.What superhuman power would you most want to have?
I would definitely like the power to heal. I told Ryan this and he told me I am watching WAY to much "Hero's".

3.Cats or dogs?
I know I am going to lose a few friends by this comment, but I'm not a real animal person. Truth be told I'm allergic to cats and dogs, so this makes it hard to really like them.

4.Would you rather be a little smarter or sexier?

SEXIER!!!!!!!!!!!! Especially when your 8 months pregnant.

5.What's the one thing you'll never understand?

Why I do laundry everyday all day and it never seems to get done.

6. My life would be simpler if?
I had a live in Maid.

7. The big decision I'm currently wrestling with?

How to decorate the nursery?

Walking With God

Love, Love, Love this from my Beth Moore study that I am doing. Some of you may of heard this before, but I wanted to write it down because it is very fitting.

Imagine going to heaven and standing by God as He lovingly shows you the calender of His plan for your earthly life. It begins with the day you are born. Once you received Christ as Savior, every day that follows is outlined in red. You see footprints walking through each day of each week of your life. On many of the days, two sets of footprints appear. You inquire: "Father, are those my footprints on the calendar every day and is the second set of prints when you joined me?"
He answers, "No, My precious Child. The consistent footprints on the calendar are Mine. the second set of footprints are when you joined Me."
"Where were you going,Father?"
"To the destiny I planned for you, hoping you'd follow."
"But, Father, where are my footprints all those times?"
He answers, "Sometimes,you went back to look at old resentments and habits while I was still going forward, hoping you'd join Me. Sometimes, you departed from My path and chose your own calendar instead. Other times, your footprints can even be seen on another person's calendar because you thought you liked their plan better. At other times, you simply stopped because you would not let go of something you could not take to the next day."
"But, Father, we ended up OK even if I didn't walk with You every day, didn't we?"
He holds you close and smiles, "Yes, Child we ended up OK. But you see, OK was never what I had in mind for you."
"Father, what are those golden treasure boxes on certain days?"
"Blessings, My child, I had for you along the way. Those that are open are those you received. Those still closed were days you did not walk with Me."

I know for my life I want to open as many of those treasure boxes as possible.

A princess

Cute Brandan story:
Let me set up the scene for you;
I am sitting in the office doing work and Brandan walks in.
Brandan: Mom you are my princess. (he gives me a huge hug)
Me: I love you Brandan.
Brandan: I am your prince.
Me: I really love you.
Brandan: Mom I really like princesses with yellow hair.
Me: (not real sure how to respond to that one) I'm glad you think mom is your princess. I will be your princess forever.

For the record my little three year old has always liked "yellow" haired girls. He loves Cinderella. I'm a little bummed by this because the two most important women in his life, Morgan and I, both have very dark hair.

The Tooth Story

Here's Morgan's tooth story:

For many of you who do not know me that well there are two things that I can't stand the sight of, 1. BLOOD, and 2. VOMIT. The other major problem is when I see blood it makes me want to vomit. Very, very bad comenation. My husband knows this about me so he knows these are his areas to do. The major problem with this plan is as all of us wives know these blood and vomit never come when our husbands are home. So begins the tooth story. Morgan has had this loose tooth for months it has just been hanging there. Totally gross. On Tuesday night she came down from bed and told me she wanted to pull it out. Not good timing Morgan daddy won't be home till 10:00 we still have another hour. She told me not to worry she would take care of it all. Alright you go girl. And that was what she did she pulled it out. When she came out of the bathroom she told me, mom there was alot of blood, but don't worry I have cleaned it all up off the white rug and the counters. Great thank you so much. So there's the tooth story and my hate towards blood.
draft

the tooth

The tooth is gone!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks

Thank you all for the wonderful encouraging words. Priscilla was right when she said that when things are going smoothly in our lives we don't really call out for the Lord. She didn't really say it like that, but that is the way my little brain processed it. I am in that good time in my life where things are running smoothly. It is during those times that I still need to rely on the Lord and allow Him to be close. Thank you again for the words.

Sunday

It's funny because when I heard about the blogging everyday for a month I said no way can I do that. I still know that I won't be able to do it all month because we will be out of town this month, but I am going to try and do it as much as I can. I really enjoy the time of writing down my thoughts.
My friend Leslie is going to do a spiritual Sunday and I thought that is a great way to talk about what God is doing in my life.
A couple of friends and I meet every other week to do a bible study. This has been a great accountability for me in my walk with the Lord. They are a great group of gals who listen and challenge me. Last week Leslie asked us how we are all doing spiritually. That was a great question for me. I answered honestly, I am going through a dry time. What does that mean? It means I feel very distant from the Lord. I know we have many seasons in our spiritual walk with God and I realize this is just one of them for me. In the past when I would go through these times I would just put God in the back seat, my prayer life would stop, and my time in the word would come to a halt. During this time I have decided it is in these dry times that God wants me to be praying and reading the word even more. God is not far, I am the one who is far. God is always there for me, I just need to reach out for him and let him in my day to day.
Thank you so much Leslie for asking me where I am spiritually. You are truly a blessing from the Lord.

Morgan's hair

THE HAIR CUT

BEFORE AFTER

Morgan was born with a THICK head of hair. I have been trying for the last few years to get her to cut it off. She has been dead set against it. She loved her long hair and wanted to keep it forever. Up until Thursday she said she would never cut her hair. On Thursday evening she informed me that she wanted to cut her hair. I wanted to take her right that minute in fear that she would change her mind. We had to wait till the next day, but it worked. I asked her what made her change her mind and she said because her best friend Morgan has short hair.

Apple Crisp

I'm going to follow Kim's idea and start doing recipes on Friday's. That is a great idea for this time of year. I love new recipes, so I hope some of you send them over my way.
These is a really easy recipe and it is very low cal.


Apple Crisp:

Heat oven to 375

Ingredients:
5 cups sliced fruit
4 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup regular rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter

1. Place sliced fruit in greased 2-quart square baking dish. Stir in sugar.

2. For topping, in a medium bowl combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping over fruit.

3. Bake in a 375 oven for 40 minutes.

ENJOY!!!!!!!

Halloween

Halloween was a blast at our house this year. Morgan was a rock star and Brandan was Bob the builder, of course. Yes, my husband is wearing a mullet and his jacket from when he was in junior high. The scary thing is when I fell in love with him he was wearing that jacket. My how we have changed. I hope all of you had a great family day.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my wonderful daughter. I can't believe you are 7 years old. Mom and Dad are so proud of you and the beautiful sunshine you bring to our family. God has truly blessed us with such a wonderful daughter.

The Sun is Gone

As we packed for our trip it was very hard to believe that the weather would be in the 90's for the week. I just couldn't wrap my brain around only packing shorts and bathing suits. When we stepped off that plane the heat hit us with a force. It was amazing!!!!!!!! The same thing was true when we flew home last night. We still had our flip flops on and short sleeves. It was really hard to wrap my head around needing sweat shirts and jackets. When we stepped off the plane the cold hit us.

I'm going to give you the cons of the week first and then the pros's:

CON'S -

1. Six crazy kids running around ALL day long.

2. Major colds for all

3. Brandan waking up every 30 minutes with his cough

4. Drinking a hot apple cider in 90 degree weather. It really doesn't work.

That is really all of the con's I can think of.

PROS's

Tons of pros

1. Hugging and kissing my four beautiful nieces whenever I wanted to.

2. Sitting after a long day with the kids and talking to my sister in law and brother.

3. letting the kids swim.

4. watching the kids run through sprinklers

5. the sun

6. the sun

7. the sun

8. drinking a frapachino in the fall

We had a wonderful time. It is always so hard to say goodbye. I will miss my nieces so much.

How could you not miss these beautiful faces?

Fun In The Sun

Well, don't be to jealous but the kids and I are off for sunny Arizona for a few days. The average temperature for the week will be 90. I am really excited for the sun, but also for the chance to see my brother and his family. The last time we saw them was last Christmas and a year is way to long for us to go without seeing each other.
I'm really bummed I'm going to miss my friend Julie speaking at MOPS this week, but I know she is going to do awesome.
Have a great week and I'll have sunny tan pictures when I return.

The Dentist

Let me start out this post by saying the worst thing I can ever imagine happening to me while I am pregnant is visiting the dentist. Who wants to be seven months pregnant and have their mouth poked in? Well apparently my dentist thought I was the perfect pregnant person to undergo this.
Let me take you back to last week. My wonderful friend Leslie and I were talking on Tuesday evening about the dentist and how we hate going until we are in pain. Well, you guessed it at 3:00 in the morning I was awoken by a horrible tooth ache. The next morning I went into the dentist and he said you really need a root canal and I just happen to have a cancellation how about we do it now. SURE, why not!!!!!! 2 1/2 hours later I thought the story had ended. I left the dentist office with the idea of returning after the baby is born to get the permanent crown put in. In fact I even said to the dentist have a great Christmas because I won't be seeing you till January. Well the joke was on me. Two days later my filling fell out so I scheduled an appointment to go back in and have it fixed. Let me make this story clear as far as I knew the root canal was done and I had a perfect tooth again.
When I scheduled my appointment the women said plan about two hours. For some reason I didn't seem to question that.
When I arrived today at 9:30 the dentist said ok lets finish up that root canal. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!! I am done with it, we finished it last week. Well, apparently we didn't. I learned alot today about a root canal. There are four roots and two of mine were really stuck so he wasn't able to get them last week. I wish he would of told me. He said lets try again and if I can't get them then I will send you out to a specialist. I am so happy to report that 4 1/2 hours later he was able to clean all four out. Yes, I said 4 1/2 hours!!!!!!!!! Upside down in major pain for 4 1/2 hours. At the moment all I have is tylenol to cut the pain. Let me tell you it barely even touches the pain.
Well, I just really wanted to write this down so you all can feel sorry for me. I also want to put it in Logan's baby book so he can see what a hero I am.

thank you

Thank you all so much for the thoughts on our final names. You guys are so awesome. At the moment it looks as though Logan Joshua has won. If you know me very well you know that the name can still change but for the moment we are calling the baby Logan. I will be sure and let Logan know that I had many friends help me with his name. You guys are the best.

The Name

It's just not coming to us. It is not like us to have a hard time making a decision, but this time is different. For the life of us we can't decide on the babies name. We need your help. Here are the three names we have narrowed it down to:
1. Dylan Joshua McNally
2. Logan Joshua McNally
2. Nolan Joshua Mcnally (thank you Sharon)

Please I am desperate anyone who reads my blog vote. This is a major decision in our household and your vote can make all the difference.

3 blind mice

3 Blind Mice
3 Blind Mice
See how they run
See how they run
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Not in my garage. Any suggestions on how to get rid of these very gross things in my garage. My kids think it is the coolest thing ever. While I am trying not to panic and just put my house up for sale, or burn it down. Neither of these two options seem like good choices to my husband so I am left asking if any of you have experience with these little things.

First Grade

Home school mom, this is a word that I would of never used to describe myself. There are many things I am, but I never thought home school mom was one of them. There are many reasons why I never thought I was cut out for such a HUGE job. Now that we have a few weeks behind us I am finding the reasons that I didn't think I could do it simply came down to my own insecurities.
We are loving it!!!!!!!!! I love getting up in the morning dare I say around 8:30 and starting our day on our own schedule. It has been so neat for the four of us to grow even closer during this change. On Ryan's days off we aren't rushing around to get to school, we can just use the day for our family.
The school work itself has been great. Morgan loves to learn, so it makes it really easy.
I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to teach her for this year. Thank you Lord for speaking to me so clearly.

Birthday Boy

My big boy is three now. He has told us that he had the best birthday ever!!!!!!!!!!! All he wanted this year was tools, tools, and more tools. That was what he got. In the top pictures he is with Morgan posing by his new table bench with tools in hand. Happy Birthday my big guy.

SCHOOL, SCHOOL, SCHOOL

Some of you know my craziness in the last year as what to do for school this year. For a few months I knew for sure we were going to home school, then I got pregnant. The idea of being pregnant, dealing with a crazy three year old and focusing on Morgan was WAY to overwhelming. These feelings led me to decide to send Morgan to our local school. I never felt peace about this decision, but felt that I just couldn't handle the idea of teaching at this time in my life. After we got back from vacation we went to the school to register her and as we took a tour of the school I just got the overwhelming feeling that this wasn't right. There are very few times in my life where I really feel God speaking to me, but this was one of them. I came home and told Ryan and he said well lets pray about it and decide in the next week what we are going to do. God kept me up most of the night with school very heavy on my heart. I really feel as though keeping her at home for this year is the way to go. I am only committing to one year at a time. Once I made the decision an overwhelming peace came over me and I knew that this was the right decision.
Here's to two days down and many more to go!!!!!!!!!!!

Vacation Pictures

Vacation Pictures:

1. Morgan fishing.

2. 108 degree day. Probably child abuse that we had them at the park.

3. Just a cute picture before going to dinner.

BOY

That's right the McNally's are having another boy!!!!!!!! What an exciting day. The kids went with us and loved watching the baby on the screen. Brandan was a little confused on why the baby wasn't coming home with us. Pretty funny.
Thank you to everyone for commenting on names for us. We will spend some time now coming up with the perfect name. I will keep you all posted.

Pink or Blue

I changed my background this week on my blog to blue and pink in honor of next Tuesday when we do our ultrasound and find out if we are having a boy or girl. I would love if you guys would take a second and write down if you think it is a boy or girl and if you could give us some name suggestions with your guess. We do have one HUGE problem with the names it has to end with an. Right now the three names we have are, girl, Paytan or Lillian, boy, Corban. Thanks for taking the time to share in this fun time with the McNally family.

CA Vacation

There is not much to say about our 2 1/2 weeks on vacation, except we had a great time. Catching up with friends we haven't seen in 2 years, hanging out with family, a camping trip gone very wrong, and swimming everyday. We are very happy to be home and back into a some what schedule. I have lots of fun pictures to post. I'll get them up very soon I promise.

The Bathing Suit

Well, it has come down to it, the much dreaded thing had to happen. Yup I had to get a bathing suit. There just wasn't any way around it. I really don't mind my huge pregnant body, I just figure it is for nine months than I can get back to my really skinny self (hee, hee). I do draw the line though with prancing this body around in a bathing suit. I had to give in and on Monday the kids and I went to motherhood and tried on suits. It was really helpful to have my daughter in there being really honest on how they looked. Here are just a few of the comments she said, "Wow, mom your belly sure is getting big, I'm not sure that one covers enough, and my favorite line of all was, mom I'm sorry that your legs are getting so chubby." I had no idea she even knew the word chubby, let alone had the idea to say it to her pregnant mother. She had no idea that these words were slowly bringing my cofindence level down. After all was said and done and we decided on the perfect suit she made sure to tell me how beautiful I looked.
The torture is over and the bathing suit is bought. All I need now is the tan to go with it.

Sleepover

Morgan had her first sleepover. It was a hit. Lots of food, laughing, movies, no sleep!!!!! Good times.

Yesterday was my routine monthly doctor visit. On any ordinary visit this one would be very boring. I am only at the point where they weigh you (sigh), pee in a cup (gross), then you see the doc for one second and they listen to the heart beat. My visits have worked out awesome because Ryan has Mondays off and he can be with the kids while I go to these fun appointments. Yesterdays visit went like normal until we got to the heartbeat part. My doc listened and listened and just could not hear the heartbeat. She said hold on I am going to go and get my super machine and for sure we will be able to hear the heartbeat. She left as my heart rate became out of control with worry. She came back and used this super machine and after 20 minutes of trying had no luck. She very calmly said I think you should go home and get your husband and you guys need to get an ultrasound. I left the office and called Ryan and he met me for my ultrasound. God just wanted us to have the chance to see our angel another time because everything was perfect. The baby is as cute as can be. It's amazing how much it has grown. Everything is there even its little ears. Children really are a blessing from God and every time I see this little one I am reminded.

Say GoodBye to the First Trimester

CAN I PLEASE GET AN AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!! I will not miss the last three months. I'm not really sure where they have gone. I guess most of the time I was either on the coach or in bed, that is where the days have gone. The coast is still not clear, I still can't go near Mexican or Italian food. The sight of salsa makes me want to throw up. The need for sleep all day long has defiantly gotten better. My stomach seems to be MUCH bigger than it ever was with both of the other kids.
Alright enough of the complaining about the three months. The praise the Lord part is I made it through those crucial weeks!!!!!!!! Lord willing we are going to have a very healthy baby in six months.
Thank you to all my friends who have stood by me through all of my agonizing and annoying complaining.

HAPPY 11 YEARS McNALLY'S

Wow, 11 years have flown by. I can still remember the moment I smashed cake all over my new husbands face not knowing that he had a major sinus infection. He says he saw the look in my eyes when I came towards him with the cake and he knew that he was going to be in major trouble for the rest of his life.
We had a beautiful wedding, 14 attendants, 4 candle lighters, 400 people. It was the perfect day. Our pastor that married us had been a major part of our lives. He had been mentoring Ryan for years so it really made our ceremony more personal. After our ceremony we just had a cake reception at our church. It was a good time for us to thank everyone before we were off for our big honeymoon.
Six months before our big day we sent in our payment for a week long stay in Santa Cruz. We rented a great cabin by the ocean and we were so excited to just veg for the week. We hadn't make any plans. We knew there would be plenty to do. After two days at the cabin we realized we were MAJORLY bored. (I would KILL now to just have a week alone in a secluded cabin with my husband. My how times change.)
We decided we would just get in our car and travel down the coast. We had a great time going to Hearst Castle, Disneyland, then traveling back home.
Our honeymoon reflects who were are today, we love new adventures and discovering new things.
I am so lucky that God gave me such a wonderful husband and I feel so blessed to have a union of marriage that is centered around the Lord.

CAN YOU SAY R&R (Rest and Relaxation)

Well I have to start off this post with a baby update. Last week before the kids and I jumped on a flight for CA Ryan and I headed down for an ultra sound to see how the baby is doing. I was a little nervous, but once we saw that little peanut all the nerves were gone. We saw that little heartbeat and the little shape of the body. It was so amazing. I don't care how many kids you have each time you see your baby for the first time it feels like that is the first baby you have ever seen. It was AWESOME!!!!!
OK on to the R&R. The kids and I left last Monday for a week in CA. We had such a good time. I can honestly say I really didn't do much. My parents did everything. They cared for my kids, they cooked, they cleaned up after us. It was great. Of course I did manage to do a little bit of shopping (yes Julie I did buy an outfit for myself). Well we are back and very rested and relaxed.

Graduation

Well, it was bound to happen my baby graduated from Kindergarten yesterday. We had so much fun watching her up on stage being a flamingo, reciting verse after verse, and singing wonderful songs. I couldn't help the whole time sitting have flashes of what it will be like in 12 years when she graduates high school. The last six years have just flown by, so i can't imagine how fast the next six will be. We are so proud of the beautiful little girl she is.

Shopping

As many of you know my favorite thing in the whole world to do for a past time is shopping. This past Saturday I was able to drop the kids off at church and spend a few hours with my friend shopping. Here's the problem nothing fits!!!!!!!!!!! As I have told some of you, my body hears the words your pregnant and instantly can't fit into my cloths. My body is very stubborn and not very nice. I'm at the point where it is WAY to early for maternity clothes, but my other clothes are just not fitting right. My friend Leslie turned me onto some pants at Old Navy. They were a hit!!!!!!!! I'm sorry but for the next few months you will only see me in two outfits. I hope most of you don't notice. At least I won't be wearing my black sweat outfit. Up till this weekend that was all I had. Thanks for letting me share my clothes problem with you.

Season Ending

Ryan and I have found our evenings lost in the television world this year. We have tried to stick to my resolution of going to bed earlier, but I must say we did not cut out any of our shows. Last week started the season ending of our television adventure. Thursday was the "Office" I was extremely disappointed that they ended the show exactly like last year minus the kiss. As my friend Stephanie pointed out maybe this will be the year they really connect we'll see. (for those of you who don't watch the office none of this makes since.) This will be the busy week, HERO'S, The bachelor, American Idol, and LOST. Oh wow!!!!! I can hardly wait for a week filled with cliff hanger after cliff hanger.
Please don't feel like you have to comment on this post. I realize it is completely boring, but I have had a really hard time topping my pregnancy post. I have been trying to come up with something good to post, but it just wouldn't come to me. So, because of this you are stuck with reading about my television obsession.

Happy Mother's Day

Thank you all for all of your nice posts on our pregnancy. That was the reason we wanted to share, we know we have such wonderful friends that will be with us through the whole process. I want to wish all of you a wonderful Mother's Day. Each and everyone of you deserves a very special day. Thank you Lord for these wonderful children you have blessed us with.

The Pregnancy Story

Per the request of my friend Becca, here's the pregnancy story.
I knew this was the month. For some reason I just knew. I have been telling Ryan all month that this is the one!!!!! No one told me they have five day ahead tests. That sounded great!!!!! I started taking them last Wednesday. By Friday morning they were showing a very faint line. I was so excited. I ran and showed Ryan and he said where is the line. I held the test up to the light and loudly shouted right there!!!!!! DON'T YOU SEE IT!!!!!!!!! A little bit he says. Alright so the story goes on and two more tests later the line is still faint. I decide on Sunday that Morgan and I should just run up to Target. As we are shopping I happen to go over to the Women's personal aisle and see that they have digital test that say PREGNANT or NOT PREGNANT. This sounded like the perfect solution. I ran home and took the test and PREGNANT popped up. I ran downstairs and put it in Ryan's face and said see!!!!!!!!!! We jumped up and down yelling for the kids. They ran upstairs and we shouted the news. (We don't have to mention all of the money that I have spent on the five tests that I took. It will be our little blogging secret).
We decided it would be fun to have Morgan call all of our family and tell them. There is nothing more fun than your child so excited on the phone describing this new baby we are going to have.
There you have it blogging friends. The McNally's and their pregnancy story. Not to exciting, but perfect for our family.

MCNALLY'S ARE PREGNANT

So I know it is really hard to see, but here is the proof that we are finally pregnant!!!!!!!!! We are really excited. We debated back and forth as to whether to tell everyone because of miscarriages. We decided we would love your prayers that is why we want to share with all of you are exciting news.

Our due date is January 15th. Anyone have a good O.B.?

Customer Service

Warning!!!! Warning!!!!!!!! Warning!!!!!!!! This blog is a complete rant. The kids and I had to go to Safeway today on our way home from school. To begin with this is not a good idea. It is lunch and nap time, but I just needed a couple of things. We get out of the car the kids get into one of those driving carts and we are on our happy way. We are very successful in the store. We find everything we needed and we head up to the checkout. The store is very quite so I know we are going to make it through this whole journey. I step in the only line open and am standing behind another women who is checking out. Brandan decides to look at the candy then to touch the candy. Time keeps going and the lady in front of me is still talking to the check out lady about some shrek movie tickets she gets for buying certain items. The checkout lady is rudely telling her that she can't help her. By this time Brandan is trying to open the wrappers. I really don't blame him it is lunch time. Safeway has still not opened another line, I guess they mean business when they say threes is a crowd. There was only me waiting for 10 minutes. Now the manager has come and is helping the lady. He is able to get her movie tickets and she is on her way. I step up, the lady did not apologize for my wait, the manager is standing there talking to her about something not even related to the lost tickets. I am getting very angry at this point. Not only did she not apologize she didn't even greet me. After everything was rang up she finally spoke and asked if I needed help out. I was afraid to say yes, but I had to. It took another ten minutes for someone to come up and help me out. By this time I said I can just help myself out. A man who works there says oh, do you need help out. Oh my goodness I had it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The moral of the story is, I will never go back to SAFEWAY for a few items. I know I will pay more at Roth's, but you can't beat their customer service.

Trouble for the first time

This post may sound dumb for many of you. It is one of those posts that I am going to make a copy of and put it in a baby book for Morgan. One day I know she will laugh about it.
It was bound to happen, I knew it would. We are almost through the school year and not a problem had occurred. Until today, her teacher said, "can I talk to you." Oh no, what in the world. Well apparently Morgan has had some problems with talking in class. She is not following directions because she has become the social butterfly. This may sound stupid, but this is totally out of her character. I'm not in denial, I know she isn't perfect and at home she is always in trouble. But, I did think she was pretty good about respecting the classroom.
Anyway, I told the teacher I would talk to her. When we got in the car Morgan just stared crying and saying she was really sorry. She told me she has a really hard time not talking and she's not sure why. Of course I am trying to not laugh. She is so easy, because she punishes herself.
I told her she will write a letter to her teachers saying she was sorry for how she was not respectful in class. She is also not allowed to watch t.v. today or play her video game. These were huge punishments for her.
I'm sure this won't be the last time this happens, but it stinks when it is the first time.

Leason Learned?

So I have been debating the last two days whether I wanted to share this story or not. I finally came to the conclusion that you all have gotten to know me by now and will see the story for what it is worth.
Here it goes, I would not consider myself an angry person, but when it comes to parenting I have been known to raise my voice a time or two. A few nights ago we were at the dinner table the kids were done eating and Ryan and I were just sitting there talking over the day. Morgan was sitting at the table listening intently to our grownup conversation about who knows what. Brandan had decided that he needed something upstairs, so off he went to his room. A few minutes later I hear, "Mommy, I had a big potty accident." I jump out of my chair and start running up the stairs as I am yelling loudly, " YOU KNOW BETTER, GET IN YOUR ROOM." He is by this time crying loudly, "no spanking mommy." (for the record he has NEVER gotten a spanking for having a potty accident). I clean him up and we talk about the problem and we are happy again.
The evening goes on and Ryan says, "I need to tell you something, while we were downstairs when you were changing Brandan after his accident Morgan said that when she becomes a Mommy she will not yell at her kids when they have accidents. As tears come to my eyes, I say, "OH NO."
I felt horrible!!!!!!!!!
Then it dawned on me, I could use this as a great lesson. (I think it is the home school coming out of me, that everything is a lesson, right Leslie?)
I called Morgan in and asked her if she was upset with my reaction to Brandan. She said yes. I explained to her that I shouldn't of yelled at Brandan, but I already apologized to him. I then reminded her of all the times that she has yelled at her brother. I asked her to think about how angry she was and how she yelled. So, next time you get angry you remember how you felt when Mommy yelled at Brandan. The point was well taken and she told me she wouldn't yell any more at him.
That lesson lasted at least an hour before she yelled again.

Breaking Free

Many of you already know that I am doing the study Breaking Free. I have committed with three of my wonderful friends to dive into this intense study by Beth Moore. When we first started the book I was excited to see what areas in my life are holding me captive. Basically the study reveals what areas are keeping you captive from experncing the life the Lord has in store for you. I had no idea what this book was going to show me ,but I was up for the challenge. Let me tell you I am only in week three and it has revealed more to me than any other study I have done over the years. Ryan and I heard a pastor speak one time and he said nine out of ten people do not live a fulfilled life. I believe that. I can say I have spent most of my Christian life not living the fulfilled life that God desires from me. Since moving to Oregon God has slowly revealed to me that He wants so much more of me than I have ever given to Him before. While doing the study this week, I have learned one of my huge captivities is unbelief. This is horrible to admit, but it is very true. I believe in God, but I do not always have the belief that He has my life in control. This goes with my personality. My CONTROLLING personality. God does not want me to only believe in him, but to let go of my control and give Him all of my life. To allow Him to control everything in my life, even if I don't understand. To have the belief that if I believe in what He has in store for me than His purpose for my life will be fulfilled. Until I get rid of this area of captivity I will not be able to serve the Lord and have the fulfillment of the Lord.
This revelation is so freeing. I bet that is the reason Beth Moore named the book Breaking Free.

Easter

Thank you Lord for dying for my sins and raising again. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!! We had a wonderful Easter. God truly blessed us by some friends inviting us to their wonderful home. It was so wonderful to spend the day with a family that understood the importance of the day.

VACATION

How can you describe the best vacation ever? I guess that is the way you do, we just got home from the best vacation ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We enjoyed our family so much. Ryan and I were able to catch up with some old friends. We even snuck away for a night. The weather was a perfect 80 degrees. So today, I am back to reality of MAJOR laundry and house cleaning. I will write more about the perfect week later.

THE HUGE FISH

Friday night Ryan said how about I take tomorrow off and we go over to the coast for the day. I of course said,"AWESOME." SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, he had the idea that we would go to the fish Aquarium. That sounds like fun, but I must be able to hit the outlets on our way out. The plan was perfect and we were off for a fun day.
We had an awesome time! The kids were on their best behavior.
Brandan was so cute when he saw this huge octopus. He yelled HUGE FISH. It was pretty funny.
What a fun filled day for the McNally family.

Starbucks

You really can't get any cuter than this story I am about to tell;
Yesterday Ryan had to work after church, so I was in for a long day. I decided after nap time we would go on a trip to our favorite place Target. Morgan had been dying to spend her money and Target is always a good place to kill some time. Morgan grabbed her purse and Brandan grabbed is wallet and we were off for our shopping trip. As we were pulling out of the driveway I said, "Brandan would you like to buy mommy a coffee today?" Of course I thought he would say no because I would take some of his dollars. He said, " I WOULD LOVE TO MOMMY." These words came out of my little guys mouth. I still wasn't sure that he got the concept so I pulled up to the drive through and ordered my non fat sugar free vanilla latte. When I got up to the window Brandan said, "here you go mommy." He pulled out five dollars from his army wallet and gave it to me. How cute is that? I got my coffee and pulled over to the parking lot and got out of the car and gave him the HUGEST hug ever. It was so awesome.

Dreams

What do your dreams mean? Almost every night I have a dream and in the morning I wake up and can remember every detail of what occurred in the dream. Most people have told me they think they have dreams, but they can't always remember them. I have also had people tell me they never have dreams. Well, I do have lots of dreams and I always remember them. My dreams usually go with the day that I have had.
Last night I had a very disturbing dream. The dream started out that I was waiting for a train at the train station. While I was waiting I started talking to the people around me. I started sharing my faith and the way the Lord had been working in my life. All the sudden the people turned into people I knew and they started telling me that they didn't see that this work was happening in my life. They were telling me that they didn't see any growth in me and that I was kidding myself that my relationship with the Lord was as close as I thought it was.
WOW!!!!! I woke up and just started praying. I really felt that God wanted me to have that dream. Not that he wanted me to feel bad about where my walk is with Him, but that He wanted me to make sure that I am constantly standing up for Him in all I do.
One of my friends wrote about how people are having to make major decisions to follow the Lord. Everyday people are killed because of their choice to make the Lord first in their lives. I want to be like that. To stand up for my faith. To live everyday filled with the Lord and to do His work on earth.

CRAIG'S LIST

Many of you I'm sure have gathered that I can tend to have an obsessive personality. Whether it be food, shopping, caffeine, you name it I have obsessed about it. Well, I must confess my latest obsession: CRAIG'S LIST!!!!!! I love it. I'm sure many of you have been using it for years and think I am totally uncool that I am just now discovering it. The obsession started with Brandan's car bed. YES we found it there. The second came last week when we found the new piano that my husband has been dreaming about for the 17 years I have known him. He loves it and it has really added a beautiful sound to our home. The last item came this weekend when I found a rug. WOW this is soooooooo fun. Thank you so much for letting me share yet another obsession of mine with you.

Update On The Big Boy Bed

Well it has now been three nights in our big boy bed. He is doing awesome. The only problem I am having is getting him to nap. He WILL not stay in the bed to save his life at nap time. It has really came down to how much do I want to fight it. The answer is not very hard. The benefits that have occurred is he is going to bed very easily at 6:30 and not waking up till 7:00. This schedule works for me except I do love that afternoon quite time.

The Little Guy

My little guy has had a very exciting week. He started swimming lessons on Thursday. He had a hard time getting useto the water, but once he was in he did great. The other huge change we had this week was moving to a big boy bed. Tonight is the first night in our new car bed. He is very excited. I will keep you posted on how the transition goes. Wish me luck in continuing to live my dream.

My dreams

After coming home from the women's retreat this weekend I feel like I have alot to share. I'm not sure where to start, but I will just give you some quick insight into the weekend.
I had a great time with friends. My roommates Leslie, Karen, and Abby made me laugh nonstop. They were great to bunk with. One night Leslie and I went into JULIE and Sharon's room for a game night. (julie I have now used your name twice on my post and one of the times I put it in caps).
Here's the deal with the game night. I don't like games. This may surprise many of you, but I am extremely competitive. The girls made me laugh and I was able to make it through the dumb game. Of course I had to state that the game was dumb several times.
The music was so wonderful on the retreat. Lara did a wonderful job allowing the Holy Spirit to flow through her talent. It was so beautiful to hear 60 women praising the Lord.
Abby organized the weekend and not one thing was left out. It was perfect!!!!!!
I have to tell you my friend Karen did a great job with the hospitality. I loved all the treats we got in our rooms each day.
The highlight of my weekend was definitely the insight that I had when I got home. My husband was actually the one who really helped me realize what I got out of the weekend. The last day we were there the speaker asked us what our dreams are. She asked us if we are living our dream. She said everyone has one and everyone needs to be driving towards it.
When I got home I told Ryan I don't really have a dream. I feel like my dream is the life I am living. Ryan said, " that is your dream." You are living your dream. All I ever wanted to do was be a mom. I wanted to be a wife and a mom. Coming from a broken home I wanted to have a stable family who served the Lord. I wanted to be a mom who shared the Lord with her kids. Thank you Lord for this dream. Thank you for letting me live my dream!!!!!
I am sure there will be many more dreams in my life, but for now this dream is real and I am able to live it out.

UPDATE ON CAFFEINE

Many of you know that today was the opening for Dutch Brothers. I didn't know this, but thanks to some great friends they shared the news. I'm going to start out by blaming these two friends for this blog. As I am waiting in line for an hour I decide that I am done being off caffeine. I have decided that I hate myself without that energy boost. I NEED THAT ENERGY!!!!!!!! I decide the best thing to do was to call my husband my accountability partner. He said just go ahead and get a coffee. After a month off caffeine he is done with my complaining. A month ago I read a book about caffeine and how bad it is for you. The book really convicted me to make myself go off of it. Ryan went off too and he is doing great and feeling great. The same did not happen for me. I have been very irritable, and very hungry. Caffeine is a known appetite suppressant. Many of the over the counter appetite suppressants are just a huge shot of espresso in pill form. Because of this I am confessing to all of you my weight is going crazy. I just can't have this. It really starts to weigh on my emotions (no pun intended). So as of today I am done. I am back on and NO ONE CAN STOP ME.

Prayer

So my journey continues with this deep longing I have to grow in my relationship with the Lord.
A couple of days ago I was in the shower doing a quick five minute prayer thinking that would be a good way to start the day. Before I continue this story, I must clarify that I totally understand that this is not the way to start my day. I completly get it that I SHOULD wake, up grab my bible, sit down and focus on the Lord before the rest of my day starts. Well, I hate to say I am still really sturggling with this. I recognize that it is a problem and it is a really selfish problem. So, on with the story, I was in the shower doing my prayer and as I was praying I found myself saying, "Dear Lord please give us a good night sleep with sweet dreams." This was not a good sign of where my prayer life is.
Praying has never been a strenghth of mine. This is so horriable to admit, but I know you will not judge me. I hate to admit but my prayer life usually consists of, a quick shower prayer for the day, and a night prayer with the kids. I always find myself on my knees when a problem occurs, but that is the only time.
It's funny, because I have talked to so many people that say to me, "I have a really hard time reading the word, but I spend alot of time praying." If this is true I am in Big trouble because I am struggling with both.
My first step in developing this prayer life of mine is really trying to understand what prayer is. That has been my focus this week. Simply put, prayer is a way to communicate with the Lord. It is the way we can talk to Him and He can talk to us. It is a way to be silent before the Lord and listen to His will for me. It is a way for me to experesse my feeling to God. When I really think about it, how in the world would I have a good relationship with my husband if we didn't talk? How can I expect to have a great realationhip with the Lord if I don't talk to Him. My PRAYER is that God will continue to open my eyes and heart to the understanding of this wonderful comminication between me and my Heavenly Father.
I am so excited about talking to the Lord and listening to Him.

Growing Deeper

I am in a very intersting place in my life right now. I have a wonderful husband great kids, an awesome church, beautiful friends. With all of this said I think God is saying Kristan you aren't were you need to be in your relationship with ME. I feel God tugging on me and saying Kristan you aren't bringing me completly in to this wonderful life I have given you. I have been very convicted on the amount of time I give to the LORD. How can I excpect to grow deeper in the Lord if my time is not given to Him. Now that my bed time is earlier, and my brain is no longer clouded with caffiene I feel that I am going to run with this feeling and take a spiritual inventory. My prayer is that God will open my eyes and my heart to put my focus on HIM. To focus on where my daily priorities are and how they fit into this deeper relationship with the LORD.

Morgan's wonderful week

Wow!!!!!!! My little princess continues to grow up. As I have said many times I am having a really hard time with my baby growing up. I'm sure it boils down to the control that I want to have over her life. As she gets older I am losing more and more of that control. I have given my children over to the LORD many times. I repeatedly say to myself, they are not your children Kristan they are God's. Well, these words keep getting harder and harder as they grow up.
This week Morgan had a very exciting week. She reached to major milestones. The first occurred on Friday at school during chapel when she received a certificate in front of the school that she was caught being good. This certificate is like getting student of the month. Three other kids got this award and at some point in the year all of the kids will get one. But, for this day and this moment I felt like my daughter was the center of the world. I of coursed had to fight back the tears as I watched her go up on stage and get this award. I waved and smiled and made a complete fool of myself, but I didn't care!!!!!
The second milestone came on Saturday when she lost her first tooth. This was a huge deal because alot of her friends have been losing teeth for a while. Morgan has been really excited for this moment to happen. I think she has been playing with her teeth for the last six months trying to get one to fall out. Well yesterday was the day. She told Ryan and I that her lose tooth had to come out. She went in the bathroom and came out with one less tooth. Of course I cried again for this step in her life.
My prayer for this little angel is she will continue to grow in the Lord and strive to be the best Godly women she can be.
Thank you Lord that I have been able to experience such a wonderful gift on earth.

The Journey of a Caffeine addict

Well the journey has begun. I feel as though I have had a very successful week with my goals. Getting to bed earlier and eating less at night have been a success. The other goal I had for this week was to start to cut out my major caffeine addiction. Ryan and I are MAJOR addicts. I don't even want to confess how much coffee and soda I drink in a day. I decided that I would allow myself one soda a day around 3:00 when I really crash. I'm still asking myself why I decided to cut myself off by that much. I think the correct way to do it is to slowly go off of it. But, no my all or nothing personality thought I could just drop it down to a little 12 ounces. The week has actually gone really well till today. At 10:00 I called Ryan with a very important question, "Please tell me now why I should just not drive myself through Starbucks." He calmly talked me down from my craziness and told me that I CAN DO IT!!!!!!! I thought that was all it would take. It wasn't I went ahead and had my soda then. You would think the story would be uphill from there. It wasn't I was so foggy. My poor friend Abby had to help me do my work at the church because I couldn't focus. She even witnessed me handing my son a pair of sharp scissors. I really do not like myself this way. So by 4:00 I was onto my second soda. I have confessed to my husband and now I am confessing to all of you. I am hoping that it is out of my system and I am back to one a day by tomorrow. This blog is written to all of you caffeine addicts out there. Please enjoy a cup of coffee for me.

Reflection

I feel like I am a little behind the game with this post. Most of you wrote on the first the many changes you wanted to see made in 2007. I knew that many changes needed to occur, but I wasn't sure what yet.
Well, I think I am seeing the light. One of the biggest changes that needs to occur is in myself. I am tired of always being tired!!!!! I don't want to be like a million other Americans that join clubs and try every game in the book. I want to have a whole lifestyle change.
It's funny because of working in the weight loss industry for twelve years I should know what to do. I think most of us know what to do, it's just doing it. For years I would tell my clients that they needed to change their whole lifestyle for them to be successful. That usually meant every aspect of their life needed to be evaluated.
I feel like this is the process I am in right now. I know of some changes that need to be made for sure.
The first major one is staying up way to late at night. Ryan and I love our late nights this is our time. The problem is it is really makeing us both suffer when his alarm goes off at 5:30. So, my first solution to this is to stay up only a few nights a week later and see if this makes a difference.
The other problem that comes with these late nights is eating. Ryan and I also love to eat together on these late nights. It is very unrealistic for me to say I won't eat at night, but it is realistic for me to say I can chose healthy choices at night.
So this is the begining of my new lifestyle change.
Thank you all for begining this journey with me.
I'm sure that I will have many more borring post to follow about this whole new "LIFESTYLE".

God is Good

Alright the pity party is over, for now!!!!!! No, I really do feel much better. Last night I went to a sing and prayer time at church and I was really rejuvinated. What better way to get over myself. How can I be focused on myself when I am focused on the LORD? How can I sing HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lamb, and be focused on my self? GOD IS GOOD!!!!! I am so thankful that God is patient with me even when I don't deserve it. GOD IS GOOD!!! I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who is always wise with his words even when I don't want to hear them. GOD IS GOOD!!!!! I am so thankful for my church and the wonderful women's ministry they have. GOD IS GOOD!!!!!! I am so thankful for the beautiful friends God has blessed me with and that I can praise the LORD with them. GOD IS GOOD!!!!!

Christmas is really over now

Today was the day that Christmas was officially over. I find myself very sad tonight as I drove my mom to the airport. I keep hoping this sadness will get easier over the years, but so far 1 1/2 years later it has not. I feel like such a big baby missing my mom so much, but the feelings are real none the less. I think of myself as always trying to be a positive thinker but for some reason this area is really hard for me to be positive about. That is the pity party that I am having for myself tonight. My prayer is that tomorrow I wake up and remember this wonderful life I have in Salem. I have a wonderful family, awesome friends, a great church, a beautiful home. All of these things were given to us because we followed the Lord's call for us to move here. I am going to allow myself a little more crying tonight and I just pray that you all will hang in there with me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

WOW!!!!!!!! That is really the only word that I can use to describe the last two weeks. We had such a wonderful time with my family in town. We are so blessed to have wonderful family. I love my brother and his beautiful family. I don't think I can ever get enough of my three adorable neices. I love my sister and her beautful family. My nephew is so cute that he makes me want to have ten more children.
I think the other word I would use to describe our two weeks is CRAZY!!!!!!! We started out the trip with a broken back window in our Expedition on the holiday weekend and we ended the trip with everyone managing to get the stomach flu and horriable colds. Through all of this we still kept our perspective that we were only together for a short time and enjoy that time (even if you are throwing up).
Everyone but my mom left today. I feel an extreme since of saddness. I am prepared for this because I knew I would feel this way.
I am ready to jump into this new year and make a few changes. I'm not sure what the the changes are going to be so you will have to stay tuned, but I'm sure they are going to be good ones. I'm sure that some new clothes are going to have to fit into those new changes.