Our Home

Our great house search finally came to an end & we couldn't be more relieved. Our awesome realtor, Paul McKinney helped us find an Edge home that we loved and the perfect neighborhood in Heber. It's been fun to go up and watch the progress. Mckinlie can't stop talking about her new house and room. It's so cute and it's fun to talk about it with her and have her be a part of it. It's set to be finished in late December & we can't wait to be up there again! 

Best Buds

These girls have the best time together. I love seeing it! 

Fall Zoo Visit

The other weekend, my cousin Brandy invited us to the zoo. Mckinlie asks to go all the time so of course we jumped on it. 

We met Brandy, her kids, Dave & Leila there and set off to see some animals. 

We brought our wagon and the girls started off in there but Mckinlie wanted no part in that. She quickly jumped out and throughout the day pulled various different kids around in it. It was so funny seeing big Leila being pulled around by tiny Mckinlie but she was set on that being her job. 

We saw all the animals and a lot of them were pretty active. It seems like every time we go, we catch them at nap time. 

 

We walked into the otter exhibit and Mckinlie peered through the glass with this random little girl. The girl turned to Mckinlie and said, " the otters are making babies. " She turned to her horrified and said , " really?!"  And watched the otters with wide eyes. I don't think she knew much of what that girl meant, but was more confused. Thanks a ton, girl. I was hoping to avoid that subject all together for awhile. 

We had a blast & can't wait to go again! 

Mckinlie: 2 1/2

Our wild child is 2 1/2 (actually she's just over that). She is getting SO big. In less than a year, she will be starting preschool. Kenna & I are pretty sad about that. I'm not sure what we will do without our buddy. Kennedi will be totally lost. 

Mckinlie is too smart for her age. She will say & remember things that even Ive forgotten. She amazes us everyday. She just recently memorized the alphabet and sings it a million times a day. She also loves to sing primary songs and nursery rhymes. She loves for us to sing with her and always says, " um.. How bout child of God". How could we say no? She is all about learning and taking everything in right now. She is a champ at saying prayers and it's adorable. She's a good example to her sister & has kennedi saying prayers now, too. She folds her arms for a few seconds, then throws them open and shouts, "amen" ! 

Mckinlie is really loving to talk about Jesus & God lately. She also loves to drive past the temple and let me know that God lives there and " it's so God in there. ".

She also is super sassy. Who knew that it started this early. I've been told too many times that I'm mean and that " she's sad at me". While lecturing her, she often says, " don't look at me... Don't say that to me... Be nice!" Etc etc. I've read 1-2-3 Magic and we've started implenting it. Good thing she's adorable! 

Mckinlie can also be very loving. She is sensitive to how people feel. She is always asking me if I'm happy and is very affectionate. She makes sure to share treats with her sister and always wants things to be equal. 

Lately she's regressed a bit & is obsessive over binkies. She's been off them for awhile but she will find her sister's and hide so that she can suck on it for awhile. I just had to put the binkies up because she keeps sneaking them. Stinker. 

She LOVES to have her hair cut. She talks about it all the time. Her hair grows so fast now & we have to trim it often. Everytime we are in the District she begs to go there. We take her to Cookie Cutters and she knows exactly where it is. 

We love this girl & her spunkiness. She's giving us a run for our money & we wouldn't have it any other way. We're excited for your 3rd year, Mckinlie Rae! Or as you say it, " Mckinlie Wae Ebwards" ! 

Kennedi: 15-months

I can't believe this girl is 15-months-old. It's not fair! It's true when they say that time flies. It's so weird that she will go to nursery in a few months. I don't like it! With Mckinlie I was ready for her to go & I felt that she was ready, but with kennedi it is totally different. I'm sure that has to do with her being much smaller than her sister at that age, and the fact that I had a newborn when kinlie started nursery. 

She just started walking in the past month or so & is now running. If she's moving, she's running. She toddles all around the house following her sister & it's the cutest thing. Kenna is very active and she's always getting into something. It makes her sister so mad that she spends forever cleaning up her toys & then Kenna toddles in and it's like a tornado came through. 

Kennedi is so loving. When I'm busy doing something, she will stop what she's doing from time-to-time to come find me. She'll proudly shout, "hi" and give me a hug before she runs off to get into something else. I'm so glad that she's still cuddly. She loves to be carried around and would be thrilled if she could hang on my hip all day. 

She LOVES to "help" me do laundry. As soon as she hears the door open, I can count on her coming around the corner in the next few seconds. 

Kennedi loves her sister and most of the time the feeling is mutual. She used to let kinlie push her around but just recently has started fighting back. They screech, fight over toys & swat at each other. It's bad, but I totally think it's cute. I secretly laugh & giggle. They really are the best of friends though. They've started playing well together and can't function without each other. I'm so glad that they have each other and get to grow-up together. It's so nice that they are getting to be in the same "stage". 

They get into lots of trouble together. When I hear the bedroom door close, I know I'm in for it. They enjoy "painting" each other with diaper cream. They always find the cream when I thought I've hidden it well and out of their reach. 

We love her and are so glad that she was sent to our family. We are excited to see you grow, Kennedi Grace! 

She knows how to Party

For her 2nd birthday, we decided to do an Elmo theme. She doesn't watch Sesame Street but she got an elmo toy randomly for Christmas and loves him because of that.

We had two parties for her; One on Saturday and one today. I didn't get great pictures for her first party, but got some during the second. We are so worn out from the party prep but it was so worth it because she loved every second of it. It was all for her & we loved seeing her enjoy it.

 She started her morning with breakfast in my bed & watching Barney. She was in heaven.

                                     This was her reaction to coming out and seeing her Elmo party set-up.

 Apparently we planned the party on a bad weekend because all but 1 cousin were unable to come. Mckinlie was so excited for Bella to get there & they had way too much fun together.

 I thought that she would be scared to have everyone looking at her & singing to her, but boy was I WRONG! She was soaking it all in & loved having all eyes on her.

She got a dog from Gampa & Gamma that she is in love with. It walks on a leash and will stop & dance. 

It was a fun fun party and we are so glad that she loved it and had fun on the day all about her. Heaven knows that child loves attention!

It was a busy weekend, so we bought some pizza to bake on Sunday after the party and had a pizza & movie night with her. She was exhausted. I set her up on the floor and put Kennedi down on the floor. When I came back I did a double-take & Kennedi had a breadstick in her hand and was gumming it and attacking it like crazy. I guess Mckinlie felt bad for her and gave her a little food. Yikes!

It was a fun day for our sweet Mckinlie & we are so excited for her 2's. 

Thanks to everyone that took the time to come and celebrate with her. She is a lucky girl! 

Mckinlie turns 2 !

Today our baby turned 2. It's so crazy to think that she is that old. It's not possible! We love her at this stage and it is so much fun-minus the tantrums. She is so fun, silly, crazy, energetic, creative, smart & loving.

Mckinlie at 2:

(Her 2-Year well-check isn't until the end of this month so I'll have to add stats later)

Weight:
Height:


* Loves food of any & all kinds. Her favorites are steamed broccoli (trees), peas, black beans, strawberries (steebies), and candy (canee-not that she gets much of it). These are odd things for a toddler to like, but she loves them and asks for them on a daily basis. One day she was watching a movie with some goldfish and refused them so that she could ask for peas. I put some in a baggie and she ate them out of the bag during her movie. Crazy kid, but I will take it! She also has to smell everything before she eats it.


*Is obsessed with babies. She has quite a few dolls and loves to swaddle them and take care of them. She is an awesome helper and will make a great mom. I'll be getting Kennedi in her carseat and ready to go & Mckinlie will come in with her baby in her carseat and all bundled up. So cute!


*She is a great sleeper! She still is taking one nap a day and needs it. I've tried to cut that nap out and it just doesn't work. It's usually at least 2 hours and if I let her, she will nap for 3 or 4 hours. When Kennedi doesn't wake her up, she will sleep in until 9 or 10 some mornings. She even has an early bedtime of 7 and still will sleep that late. I'm not complaining.


* Mckinlie is an awesome big sister. Kennedi is a lucky girl. I have to watch them carefully because Mckinlie likes to feed Kennedi her food all the time. She always comes out in the morning and first thing she wants to do, is find her sister and say hi to her. She loves to rock her, and give her a binky when the baby is crying.


*This child is constantly dressing up and comes out wearing "gabs" (bags), jewelry & high heels. Her favorite thing to do is dress-up and push her baby around in the stroller. It's funny how that is just engrained in little girls from the very beginning.


*She is very loving. She is constantly giving us random hugs and kisses.


We are so lucky & are grateful that she came to our family. We are excited to see what this year brings for her and to see her grow. We love you Mckinlie Rae.


Message from Dad:

Mckinlie, you are a sweet, fun, loving, happy, smiley, silly, cute little princess. The short two years you've been around have been a lot of fun. I find myself thinking during the day about things that you do and smile. I can't imagine not having you around to enjoy life with mom and me. Keep growing healthy like you are. Keep being curious and adventurous because there is lots of fun and amazing stuff to learn about. I love how loving you are and how well you take care of sister Kenna. I love you. Happy birthday to the prettiest 2 year old in the world!