McKamey Clan

18 Months!

2012-01-23T22:35:00.000-08:00

It kills me that my baby boy is already 1 1/2 years old. I feel like every day right now I am losing my baby more and more and he is getting less dependent and more mature. I know he is still a baby in so many ways, I can just see the toddler coming out in him. In a lot of ways this has made my life easier. I feel like he is more manageable than he was a few months ago. His intellect and maturity is starting to catch up to his physical abilities, which is a big relief to his constantly worrying mother.

Facts about Conner at 18 Months

weight: 26.4 lbs height: 34 1/4 inches

Favorite Food: any type of berry, applesauce, fruit snacks, waffles with cream cheese, chicken

Favorite Toy: cars, books, pound a peg and ball tower

Says: Mama, Dada, dog dog, all done, bye bye, cheese, sissy, whoa, wow, nigh night, sheep, tree, num num, uh oh, no, duck

Points to his head, legs, belly, toes, eyes, mouth, nose, hair

You always have to be careful when you turn your back on this little boy. There is nowhere/nothing he can't get into!

I remember Kellen going through this same phase at this same age when he loved to where his sisters headband. So funny.

Con has always loved his blanket (referred to as his "nigh night") and lately his love for it has only intensified. It may be a bit nasty how gross the corners of his blankets get with all the sucking they receive, but it keeps him happy.

Big Cheese face. At least he smiles for a camera!

Trouble!

Like Weeds

2012-01-23T22:09:00.001-08:00

I swear my kids have all been going through crazy growth spurts right now (especially Kellen, but all of them have!) A friend of mine commented the other day that she always feels like her kids make a big change right after the new year. And right now I am feeling like I agree with her. I feel like my baby is totally becoming a toddler, my toddler is becoming a little boy and my little girl is become a kid....I'm too young for this still, right?

Conner Con. The little baby love as Makenna so often likes to call him. I feel like his maturity is starting to catch up with his physical abilities and I am finally getting a bit of a grasp on him again. He certainly is my funny man that keeps me on my toes, but also makes me laugh more times in a day than I can count!

Oh Kellen, sweet Kellen and his many, many babies. This boy takes such good care of his babies. He LOVES to arrange them on his bed and pretend to put them down for a nap, then line them up in his room, or put them in a circle. Some days he puts them all on the couch or under the desk. I swear he loves and cares for them all so well. As you can see in the picture, Santa still dominates the babies though. He told me tonight "Mom, some of my babies are getting kind of old. But I love all my babies, even when they get old and don't look so cute. Right?" Love him!

A few weeks ago Makenna and I got to go on a much needed mommy/daughter date. She is definitely my kiddo that I get the least one on one time with these days. It was so fun to spend time just the two of us, get to focus totally on her and enjoy our time together. She is such a big girl. We can have such fun, cute conversations together. She is growing into a little lady and just makes me smile seeing her face every day.

Makenna, like Kellen, is a child after my own heart. She LOVES stuffed animals. That is really the toy she plays with most of all. She always has a favorite, but the favorite rotates on a fairly regular basis. Here are a few of the fav's listed by name: Deery, Dalmationy, baby simba, Simba, Nala, Otter, Racoony, Pony, Dragony. As a kid stuffed animals took up more of my bed than I even occupied, so it sort of makes me smile and makes me a bit of a sucker for them too.

For some reason Conner always makes me think of Makenna when he is out of the bath and all wrapped up like this. But just look at those cheeks! Goodness!

I'm going to be very sad when my kids get old enough that the zoo starts becoming less exciting for them. I love that we go all the time and always have a blast!

Isn't this how everyone makes breakfast in the morning?

siblings?

Makenna often says she wants brown hair....what do you think?

Like mother like daughter

Grinches Not Welcome!

2012-01-17T21:21:00.001-08:00

We made the good list this year!

Santa knew how much Daddy loves John Deere, and since Conner is just happy with anything that looks like a truck or that he can sit on, this was a perfect gift from Santa this year!

Kellen got the Bat Cave (or Bat Cage as he calls it) that he wanted so badly! He was worried that it would have a hard time fitting in Santa's sleigh, so he was over the moon that it was under the tree where he was hoping it would be.

Christmas morning after church

Makenna also got her Christmas wish and got her Nala and Simba that she wanted. She is a girl after my heart and LOVES stuffed animals. Daddy thinks she has plenty...I had a bed covered in them so I am not as concerned ;)

Kellen was so caught up in the moment that he could barely stop and look up for a picture

Makenna's present was barking....but no, it was not a real dog.

You know how every year at Christmas it is some obscure gift that ends up being the biggest hit. That last minute $10 item you decided to get that ends up being the favorite. Well, this year it was a dirt devil vacuum. I had ordered one on Amazon and they had ended up accidentally sending us 2. It was a good thing because for days all I heard were these vacuums going crazy!

Taking the new puppy and Santa on a walk.

The Eve of Christmas

2012-01-17T21:05:00.001-08:00

This is Kellen at the peak of joy and excitement on Christmas Eve! He got to open his First Christmas presents at Grammy and Pa's house that night with all the family. It was tons of fun and so cute seeing the kids finally get to indulge in Christmas :)

Such a cute girl...but getting a bit too big for my liking!

Probably one of her favorite Christmas gifts this year

After only one or two gifts Conner totally grasped the concept of opening presents. He wasn't nearly as interested in what was inside the wrapping paper as he was about the idea of running to the tree and finding another present to open.

The munchkins in their Christmas Eve Jammies

While Visions of Sugar Plums....

...Danced in Their Heads

More Festivities

2012-01-08T21:31:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite days during the Christmas season is when my mom, my sis and I all get together and do our baking. It takes up the whole day, and honestly by the end of it I am so overwhelmed with sugar that the thought of another Christmas treat/cookie makes me a bit sick (which actually comes very much in handy when trying to stay away from putting on too many of those extra Christmas lbs). But it is so much fun and one of the best ways to spend a whole day. This year we got smarter and had the Daddy's stay with the little kids to make our baking more timely and efficient. The older 2 both took turns coming over and helping with some baking which was fun and much more controlled than years past.

Please note Santa in Kellen's apron pocket.....he was a good kitchen helper as well!

Mama and her girl! Just love her to pieces, even if she is looking way too grown up for my liking! And aren't our Santa Ginger Snaps adorable? She was actually a really good helper with these.

My other 2 favorite ladies

Baby Kipper was also invited to join in the baking. We figure any child that still requires milk from the source is entitled to participate in the baking. Maybe what we are actually saying is we are excluding all children that are 1 or 2 years old. It's just not an age that is conducive to productive baking...sorry Brooke and Con

By the end of baking all 3 of us are a bit delirious!

Amongst the holiday festivities we also celebrate Big Pa's 50th Birthday! He was a great sport about turning 50 and (don't tell him I said this) looks pretty good for a 50 year old. We had a good time reminiscing and telling stories and sharing memories about Pa. Everyone had a good laugh, including my Dad who received a bit of an impromptu roasting.

Show me a lady luckier than this!

Getting in the Spirit!

2011-12-30T21:57:00.000-08:00

Daddy and the kiddos with the winning tree for the year! Seriously, picking out the tree is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season.

Daddy and the Con trimming the tree for his first time. The little man really embraced the whole decorating idea and did a really good job. And even more impressive than his decorating abilities were his abilities to leave the tree decorated. I was sure that a decorated tree in our home was going to be a complete disaster (Conner is a bit on the destructive side), but he more or less left the tree alone. It's always nice to be pleasantly surprised.

Everyone is looking so grown up all the sudden!

This picture is a little blurry, but I thought they looked sweet.

I bet you didn't know even Spider Man enjoy making a good gingerbread house :)

The finished product. Definitely made by kids....just the way I like them!

A Whole Lot of Sweet!

2011-12-29T21:42:00.000-08:00

My ferocious Connersaurus!!!

A little boy in an over-sized t-shirt, just plain cute!

Me and the munchkins on my birthday!

Love this picture of Todd and Kellen, after Kellen's Christmas sing at his preschool.

Kellen is such a character! The other day he loaded himself and all his "babies" under the desk. He actually stayed there for Quite awhile, just cuddling and then showing them pictures...such a silly guy

My little poser....darling as can be and growing up all too fast!

Conner likes to put himself on time out these days. Unfortunately he sort of enjoys being on time out and finds humor in it. Though we have to work on the effectiveness of time out, it is sort of funny and entertaining to watch.

If you don't know by now he loves Santa with all his heart then you don't know Kellen.

Since Christmas cards have been sent...

2011-12-26T22:04:00.001-08:00

Family picture can finally be revealed....

It still amazes me sometimes to step back and look at my family....they are the very reason why I wake up every morning feeling so blessed.

There were some other cute pictures of me and the kiddos that were more "posed" and smiling, but I just love the energy in this picture. Really sums up the way my normal life is lived with these kiddos....such love, laughter and smiles!

A Mother and her sons....there is just a sweet love that resides there!

Grammy and Pa with the McKamey kids

For having so many Young grandkids I think this picture turned our really well!!!

Grammy and her girls

This picture almost makes me want to cry, it is so precious

Love my sis and her sweet little family!! I'm not only blessed to have adorable children but such a sweet niece and nephew as well

Jolly Ol' Saint Nick

2011-12-06T22:03:00.000-08:00

That special moment every year when you get to take the kids the see Santa, tell them if they have been naughty or nice and let him know what they are hoping to find under the tree. It's something I look forward to Every year! This year was an interesting one. The kids were VERY excited about going to see Santa. They were asking all the time when we were going to go. When I let them know the day arrived they were thrilled. That afternoon they wrote their letters for Santa. We got dressed up and ready and excitement was high. When we got their Santa was up on the roof feeding the reindeer, so the kids were running around waiting for him. Suddenly they saw Santa approaching. I was rounding everyone up and grabbing my bag when Kellen saw Santa and just lost it. Poor kid just burst into tears. He was all freaked out that Santa was going to "Put his arm around him" (or that is what he kept saying). We managed to calm him down enough to at least go close enough to Santa to tell him what he wanted for Christmas and sit in a chair to take a picture. Of course once it was over he couldn't stop talking about Santa and was getting upset over things he forgot to tell Santa and wondering if Santa would let him touch his hat. Such a silly kid.
Makenna on the other hand was right there, ready to go, so excited to see Santa that she could hardly stand still. She went right over to him almost immediately, gave him her letter, made sure he knew she had been nice and let him know exactly what she wanted for Christmas. She looked so happy and comfy just sitting there in Santa's lap. It was almost as if no one in the world existed in that moment but her and Santa. Looking at these pictures of them made me realize what a big girl Makenna is turning into. She just looks so mature and grown to me. Always such a bittersweet moment.

Conner, well, I don't think I need to provide an explanation for how he felt about Santa. The photo takes care of that on its own.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!

2011-12-05T21:05:00.001-08:00

Right before Thanksgiving Kellen had his very first opportunity to perform in public at his Preschool Pow Wow....and boy did he ever perform! He was amazing! That little boy sang his little heart out. And when each of the classes took turns getting up and dancing to the music he was right there in the center of it all, jumping up and down and dancing and workin it! I was not only proud but surprised! He is such a cutie!

Kellen and his teacher Mrs. Jurish. He just adores her! And she has been so good for him and done such a great job helping him adjust and grow and learn at preschool.

Conner and his little buddy Rawson. These boys are only a few months apart. Conner is actually the younger of the two of them, but as is usually the case he is a fair bit bigger. Such cute boys!

Makenna was hilarious the other night. She came up with her very own idea, or as she called it her recipe for a special dessert. The gist of it was a cookie, Hershey syrup, skittles on top of the chocolate, then topped with a large marshmallow and more Hershey syrup. She loved eating it, but even more she loved teaching me to make it and watching me eat it. It wasn't too bad...minus the skittles.

Nothing/Nowhere in my house is safe from the Con! When you see me posting an obituary for our poor little beta you will now understand why....

Makenna's new pet name she wants me to call her is my "Kissie" So here is my beautiful Kissie!

Todd took the kids out to breakfast and then swung by the store the other day. While at the store they found a Santa Hat. If you know anything about Kellen and his love for Santa you know that he was in absolute heaven. This hat has not been far from him ever since. While he, Todd and Makenna were walking through the parking lot and he had his Santa hat on a lady looked at him and said "Are you Santa?" I guess Kellen's eyes just lit up and he said "Yes, I am!" Love that boy and his Christmas spirit. He makes me wish it was Christmas all year!

When Peter was over playing the other day I walked out in the room and here were the 3 of them, under our chair like mechanics with Kellen's Handy Many tools "fixing" our chair. Just made me smile. I love kids!

Christmas Tree decorations the kids made with Abby the other night while Todd and I were out. We have the best babysitter ever!

My handsome boys. I feel like a lucky woman every morning I get to wake up to these handsome little devils

They are trouble together, but they really love each other! Can you tell??

Kellen in all his Christmas glory

From left to right: Santa, Kellen, Frank E Post, Conner

Just try and be a Grinch around this kid.....impossible!

Full of Thanks

2011-12-02T09:36:00.000-08:00

There is no way I can even come close to expressing just how much I love my family and how grateful I am to be so blessed in my life. I can't tell you how often I look at my amazing, loving husband, my sweet, beautiful and healthy children and think about how lucky I am. I have more than I ever thought was even possible. I am happier beyond my wildest dreams!

To give the kids the chance to think about what we have in our lives to be grateful for and to make sure they understood what Thanksgiving was about we made a little "McKamey Tree of Thankfulness". Every night people in the family took turns saying something that they were thankful for. We then wrote it on a leaf and taped the leaf onto the tree. It was so sweet how much the kids enjoyed this every evening. They wanted Every night to be their turn to say something they were grateful for and it was always them remembering to have us put leaves on the tree before they went to bed. I really think it did it's job and helped the kids be thoughtful of all the blessings we have in our lives. Here is the list of what was written on our tree. There are a few repeats, but I think it is sweet.

Home

Christmas Songs

Temple

Pictures

Jesus

Grammy

Bella

Family

Bella

Nice Home

Mickey

Time Together

Horse Jammies

Chocolate

Our Children

Nala

Daddy's Hard Work

Books

Church

School

Shoes

Kenna, Kellen and Conner (said by Abby)

Healthy Body

Baby Toby

Abby

Job

Animals

Grandkids (said by Grammy)

Spider Man

Santa Movies

Rain

Yummy Food

Toys

Horses

Jesus

Simba and Nala

Christmas

Grammy

The Thankful Tree

Native American Day

2011-11-22T21:38:00.000-08:00

Our elementary school here rocks! Seriously, we are only a few months into the school year and they have already had so many neat things for the kids. The week before Thanksgiving they had a native american day for all the kindergartners. It was so much fun, for the kid and adults alike. The kiddos all got dressed up in items they had made in class. They then went to the auditorium and had a bunch of different stations with activities set up for them. Makenna probably told me 10 times "This is Awesome Mom!"

Makenna and her little friends. Girls are so funny and social, at such a young age!

Makenna and Kara! Such good friends! I heard someone ask them the other day at school "Are you guys sisters?" They both laughed and said No! Then the little girl said, "Well, why are you always together and always playing with each other?" So cute!

Planting corn the way the native americans did, by putting some pieces of dead fish in the soil with it. That stinky thing only lasted at home about a week, and I think I was a saint for keeping it around that long :)

Dancing around the pretend fire they helped build

A very fun day to be a mommy!

Catching a fish from the river and hanging it up to dry

About to be lead on a buffalo hunt. The kids took this very seriously and it was a very intense atmosphere. They would be some really good hunters!

Getting ready to sneak up on the buffalo...

Posing with their "kill". They then got to go in and eat some buffalo dogs, which many of the kids were confusing as hot dogs :)

BFF's

2011-11-22T21:35:00.000-08:00

You might think that 5 years old is a bit young to have that "soul mate" kind of friend. I completely beg to differ. Makenna and Katie are the cutest little friends I have possibly seen. Katie and Makenna were in Preschool together 2 years in a row. It was their second year together that they really grew close. Makenna would talk about Katie every day. They just loved each other so much. Once Makenna left Circle Preschool and was getting ready to move onto Kindergarten, I sort of figured that was the end of that Makenna/Katie duo. But I was wrong. She asked about her all summer long. She was in tears a couple of times having to explain to her that Katie would not be in Kindergarten with her.

And then when Kellen ended up in the same Preschool class as Katie's little sister, I discovered that Katie's summer had been very much the same! So we were finally able to reunite the two and have a few playdates. A month or so ago Katie came with us after preschool to pick up Makenna and surprise her at school. I still wish I had gotten a picture of Maknna's face when she first saw Katie....It was like Christmas morning. I didn't even get a hug that day after school...all of the affection was focused on Katie (sort of a glimpse as to what the teenage years may be like as mom). These two girls just inspire me. Their love and friendship with one another is just so sincere and genuine and sweet. Love them!

Part of what bonds these two is their appreciation for the same type of humor...silly girls.

Makenna and Katie at Funbelievable

My handsome boy! Isn't he just looking so grown up and mature all of the sudden?!

I love Funbelievable because I am forced to go up in the toys with the kids. Conner insists on hanging with the big kids there...he wants nothing to do with the "toddler" section. So I have to escort him and help him the whole way through, which also gives me lots of fun play time with Kellen and Makenna. Since Makenna was busy with Katie the whole time, I got some fun time in with my boys!

My little Con! He likes Funbelievable for many reasons, one if which is the sucker he gets on the way out. Love my silly boy!

McKamey Catch-Up and Christmas Fever!

2011-11-22T21:26:00.000-08:00

I feel so terrible that it has been so long sine my last post. I know life has felt very busy. I don't know what it has felt so busy with....maybe these pictures will explain some. Maybe they won't. Either way, here's the going ons of the McKameys....

Kellen has become quite the handy helper as of late. Makenna has a reward chart she fills out for each day that she gets a "green tag" at school, and I felt like Kellen deserved a way to earn rewards as well. So we made him a chart that he gets to fill in when he helps mommy or daddy with chores around the house that are above and beyond his normal cleaning up. He has totally embraced this and is happy to help with everything and anything he can. A lot of the time he isn't even worried about filling out the chart, he just wants to help. When Makenna is not around he tends to be my little shadow a lot and just follows me through the house. But I have discovered that us doing chores together is not only productive but something he really enjoys and is a fun and bonding all at the same time!

The kids have also started joining me in my exercising on occasion as well. I think they just like playing with the hand weights and the only way I let them is if we turn on a video. They tire pretty quickly but love to brag about how strong they are. Silly kiddos.

And Conner just likes to pretend to play wii. He grabs a remote and sits up on the coffee table where Makenna and Kellen sit to play and just smiles. He cracks me up

The eye mask only lasted a couple of days, but it was cute while it did.

Conner helping me clear off the table after dinner. I tell ya, you can't turn your back on this kid for more than a minute.

The many looks of the Con. He enjoys dress up right now

About a week ago Sarah and I got together with our cousins Danielle and Shannon and Danielle's kids and had a lunch/play date. We stopped and saw aunt Stephanie, ate at Cafe Rio and then went to Chuck E Cheese for a bit. We did get some crazy looks with us 4 ladies out with 7 kids 5 years old and under and Danielle due with another in a couple of months. But we also got a lot of compliments and had a really good time.

Kellen and Makenna had a blast with Grammy making some cute Thanksgiving crafts. I told them both to smile big. I guess they didn't need to smile quite THIS big :) They also made a turkey pin for Grandma, Grandpa and Papa and were very proud of their work. These kids love anything crafty!

My adorable boys. Con gives some good hugs!

Kellen in his Santa Jammies...already! We start Christmas early in our home. Kellen is the ring leader of this. He has been singing Christmas songs every night at bed time (most often "The 12 Days of Christmas") literally since Christmas last year....and every night is not overstating it. He says that when he grows up he wants to be Santa ("not a pretend Santa, A REAL Santa!") and he has changed from wanting to be Batman next year for Halloween to wanting to be Santa and having Kenna be Rudolph. This boys love for all things Christmas is just contagious and makes the season that much more fun and exciting!

And here is Rudolph. Makenna already wants to be Rudolph without Kellen having to request it. She got a trip to the dollar store after a blood draw last week. She picked out a pair of Reindeer antlers. So cute. And the quickly pulled out the red paint and requested that I paint her nose. She did this last year as well. I guess things don't always change all that much.

Conner and Rylee....this is his little crush. She is the little sister of one of the girls in Makenna's Kindergarten class, Kara. They came over for a play date last week and Conner was in heaven. He can't keep his hands off of her :)

Kellen's new thing is making his own breakfast. He loves putting things in the toaster and getting them ready all by himself. Independence....it is sweet and sad all at the same time!

Halloween 2011...starring

2011-11-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

A very Proud Butterfly! Makenna quickly chose to be a butterfly this year, but wanted to make sure that her costumes had wings that opened as she spread her arms out. She didn't want wings on her back, for after all, that is not how a real butterfly is! But thanks to an amazing Grammy that was able to make this adorable costume, we got it done. And she was a very cute, very happy butterfly! Love my girl!

And then there are the boys...my tough, muscle men!! Conner couldn't have cared less what he was. But Kellen on the other hand insisted that Conner dress up as a superhero with him. And of all the superheroes, I think Thor most accurately described our dear little Conner! He was a cutie in it. He either loved his muscles or hated them, depending on the moment. This is Conner's pose for pictures; if you pull out a camera and point it at him he squats down and says "Cheeeeeeese". I don't know where the squat comes from, but it is cute and funny

Kellen wasn't being too picture cooperative this evening (this was the night of the ward halloween carnival), so this is the best picture I have of him that night. Love his huge, cheesey smile as well. Seriously, pictures of kids at 3 are probably my favorite, with this adorable, forced smile! Yes, Kellen was spider man last year as well. But hey, if my kids are happy in their costume I don't really care if they are the same thing 5 years in a row. We did have to get a new one....last years has taken quite a beating. He already says next year he wants to be Batman, but I'll believe it when I see it. This boy lives for spider man...which cracks me up since he has Never even seen a spider man movie/cartoon.

The Trio

Conner in a "I don't like my hat and muscles" moment!

Love my family! So Much!

5 of the cute baby boys all born within months of each other. These little guys are going to be such good buddies!!

Makenna and Ellie! She Adores Ellie! Seriously, Makenna looks up to Ellie so much. And Ellie is very patient with her! Thanks Ellie!

Rah Rah, Brookie and baby Kipper (aka the Wonder Pets) came to our carnival this year as well. It was fun to get to see my cute niece and nephew all dressed up in their adorable costumes!

Makenna and Kara. These little girls love each other. Such good little friends!

Halloween night, getting ready to go Trick or Treating

Such a handsome little boy, he just kills me sometimes!

Oh, my heroes!

This isn't the best picture, but Conner was adorable to watch trick or treat. He totally figured it out and was having a blast running up and down from house to house, sometimes just to run and have fun, other times coming back with his own goodies. Such a big boy all of the sudden!

The morning after Halloween Conner found his costume in my bag, brought it over to me and started trying to put it on. And he happily ran around in it all morning.

October!!!

2011-11-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

I love pumpkin patches. I really do! Even though we don't buy our pumpkin from the actual pumpkin patch, going and enjoying all the festivities and activities is just the perfect way to get in the holiday spirit and kick off fall. Of course our San Diego version of a pumpkin patch trip was a very toasty one. It was a Hot day. And poor Kellen (the McKamey child that was The MOST excited of all the children to go to the pumpkin patch) was sick and not feeling good that day. But we still went and had a good time!

The highlight of Makenna's day....the pony ride. Now she asks me every day when we can have a pony. I feel her desire! I just tell her Daddy has promised me a horse "someday".

I don't know that Conner loved the pony, nor did he dislike the pony. I think he was just digesting it all.

Kellen on the other hand didn't even want to look at the pony....poor sick baby!

I think the train ride was the most exciting part of the day for Bud Bud. He even smile a bit!

Love my ladies!! Love 'em!

Look at that cute face!

This picture is for Grandma and Grandpa! The kids get soooo excited when they see a John Deere tractor!

Makenna was really excited to take a picture on this truck

Sneak Preview

2011-10-30T21:29:00.001-07:00

Just a little taste of Halloween.....More to come soon!

Little Todd

2011-10-26T22:54:00.000-07:00

I am just in love with these pictures of Conner. And I think he looks Soooo much like his

Daddy here!

The overalls Conner is wearing were once his Daddy's and/or his Uncle Bob's. Grandma and Grandpa had sent them to us to let another generation of McKamey's run around in them. I just think he is absolutely adorable and the sentiment is so sweet.

My Goons!

2011-10-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

Conner is nuts, and Kellen has fallen in love with it. He thinks Conner is hilarious (which he is) and totally encourages his crazy behavior. Conner loves climbing in Kellen's shopping cart and then Kellen just cracks up and pushes him around the house laughing. It's cute....

Kellen and Peter. Good little buddies. The thing I love most about this is that they are only a few months apart in age and they both have the same cheesey face smile right now. Funny!

Dollar Store special! The kids both picked out this while Knight get up a few days ago. They came home all excited to "battle" and then within just a few minutes of getting in the backyard to let the duel begin Makenna abandoned her shield, helmet and sword and decided she should be the Princess and Kellen and I could fight over her. That's more like it!

Oh, Con!

Is he not a little stud?!

I just love these handsome boys. Could I be any luckier?

Makenna and Kellen have this new "thing/game" they like to play where they pretend to be statues and pose in silly ways. Then I am supposed to walk around pretending like I am in a museum and am taking pictures of them. Silly kids. I thought I might as well snap a few real pictures while I could. They just make me laugh!

Bye-bye Baba. I have finally taken the bottle away, and surprisingly it went Really, Really smoothly. Almost unnoticed other than one or two tantrums. He was just so darn cute with his bottle, and I guess in a lot of ways I become more and more of a pushover with each kid we have. But he's a big boy now and Mama needs to accept that as well. The other cute thing right now is that Conner is sort of calling his blankies his nigh-nights. It's Soooo cute, I hope it sticks!

This was a real fun moment for both the kids and I. When I was little I used to love taking our big tin of hair pretties and brushing my moms hair and putting clips and barrettes and pony tails everywhere. And the other night I got to be on the mom end of it while Kellen and Kenna made me beautiful. It was sweet and fun, though I did lose a fair bit of hair while the clips were being taken out. Still way worth it.

You turn your back for a moment and this boy is on the table stealing someones juice box. That's the Con!

Happinees is Being 3!

2011-10-11T22:19:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Sweet Kellen! 3 years ago we were blessed with a small piece of heaven. You continue to be a blessing to us every moment of every day. And such a handsome, good looking one at that!

I've known people that really know how to appreciate and cherish and soak up a good holiday or celebration. The people that are decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. The ones that have home decor for every season and holiday of the year. And I applaud those people for their passion.

But I think Kellen just blows those people out of the water. This kid LIVES for things such as his Birthday, Halloween, Christmas, etc. No joke! Not even exaggerating, he has been having us sing Christmas songs to him as we tuck him in bed EVERY night since Christmas season last year. Every Night! And he we are, practically right back at Christmas again. He's going to be the man that has a garage FULL of decorations and who has cars taking the long route home just to drive past his house on Holidays. Or maybe he won't be, but if he is then I won't be one bit surprised.

So for Kellen, his Birthday celebration was nothing to be taken lightly. Especially since he is the last of the children in the family to have a birthday this year. He has been waiting and planning patiently, counting down the months until he birthday. The first time we were out at a store and he saw that Halloween decorations were on the shelves he just about lost it, because he knows that his birthday is just before Halloween. And we all remember just how slow time goes when you are a kid and you are waiting for something. So Kellen's birthday was a big deal for all of us...his excitement is just contagious!

When Kellen woke up on his Birthday he was greeted by a table full of presents! A very loved and lucky boy!

That morning he has preschool, which he was actually thrilled about. He brought cupcakes and goody bags to everyone in class, got to make a crown for him to wear at school, was the special helper, etc. It was a very exciting experience for him. Makenna and I picked him up that afternoon with a bunch of birthday balloons and headed off to Taco Bell for lunch (Kellen's favorite place to eat!)

That afternoon we spent a few hours at Funbelieveable. We stayed until both Mommy and all the kids were ready to drop. Except Makenna, she probably could have stayed longer....but who can ever exhaust that one?? ;)

That night we went to Ruby's diner for dinner. Kellen soaked up being the center of attention while they sang to him and brought him a sundae.

When we got home it was time for the birthday chair and more cake and singing!

I swear Kellen blew his own candles out, though it looks like Sissy was giving a strong assist.

He opened all his presents while Makenna, in a very oldest sibling manner, choreographed and ran the whole event.

Kellen scored big with a lot of great Lightning McQueen toys, a tent, remote control cars, books, candy, peanuts, etc. I don't think there was a happier 3 year old in all the world that night. He was just the cutest and sweetest thing.

...And then came the party....but we will save that for a post of it's own.

And for record keeping sake, Kellen's 3 year check up went great. Healthy as a horse and right on track. He checked in at 35lbs (85%) and 39 inches (85%).

Happy Birthday Kellen. We love you with all our hearts!

This and That

2011-09-27T23:13:00.000-07:00

Cartoons have sort of been a thing of the past in my house these days. The new craze is "writing boxes." It's an idea I got from Kenna's open house at school. They suggested making a box for your child with different size and shaped papers, pens, crayons, pencils, markers, rulers, glue, stickers, books, scissors, etc, etc. The kids LOVE their writing boxes. They could sit down together for hours and just color and write and create. It has been awesome! It does take some supervision, but it is so nice to see them doing something like this during their down time. I seriously feel like my kids are coloring or drawing All the time! All The Time! It's great. Kellen is especially in love with it. And he even requests for me to give him "Homework" all the time now. Too silly!

Love my baby boy! His eyes just make me melt.

Makenna and Kellen were "painting" each others faces with pen. Thankfully it was dry erase pen and came off easily. Makes me remember to keep the Sharpe's far away!

The other day Makenna had a party to go to that was a girls only sort of birthday party. Kellen was feeling a bit down so I decided to take the boys to Chuck E Cheese for a couple of hours and play some games. It was great because with just the two boys 5 bucks is all it takes. Kellen decided to go out as Spiderman that day. Silly boy! Love him!

Makenna brought this home the other day and I just thought it was totally cute. I loved her pictures with the flowers and birds and the girl with the really long neck (perhaps part Giraffe?) I was especially impressed when I learned that the words she wrote here she sounded out and wrote on her own (mostly). And they have only been in school a month!!!

This is another cute piece of Makenna work: A list of everyone in the family. She initially wrote every ones name and brought it to me and then said "Wait Mom! I forgot someone. Will you tell me how to write Jesus?" Times like this I smile and think I must be doing something right!

Last week I got to work in Makenna's class for the first time. I loved it and loved the chance to see Makenna in her class. She is doing Such a good job and I am so proud of her. When I came in Mrs. Folks had her come get me by the hand and bring me up to the front of the room. Her teacher asked her to introduce me to the class. She said "Hello class. My name is Makenna McKamey (the way they always address the class when speaking up front). I would like to introduce you to my mom." Her teacher asked if I had a name and Makenna replied "Mom". Mrs. Folks then asked if I should be called Mrs. Mom then? Makenna said yes. This just made me smile :) I LOVE her teacher. She is Amazing and PERFECT for Makenna!

The same day I worked in her class they had a little Picnic at school with the parents for all the Kindergartners. It was cute and Makenna was thrilled and we had a blast!

Kenna and her best buddy at school Kara.

All Gussied Up

2011-09-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

Little story to tell that I don't want to forget, don't want Todd to forget and want Makenna to smile at someday -

Todd was on his way home from work the other night. Makenna had been coloring while I had been on the phone with him. Suddenly she jumped up and ran into her room in what seemed like a really big hurry. She returned a number of minutes later with some pink, dangling, pretend earrings on and her hair brush and squirt bottle in her hand. She came over to me and said "Mom, will you brush my hair? I want it to be straight and beautiful. I don't like it when it is bumpy and tangly like this." This request alone made my jaw drop. Every morning hair brushing induces whining and complaining and is always resisted, never welcome. So a Request to brush her hair??? What?!

So I tell her Of Course I will brush her hair, tell her how pretty she looks with her earrings and ask her why she is getting all dressed up. She responds "Because I want to surprise Daddy and be Beautiful for him when he gets home from work."
Heart melted, eyes got teary, smile to my face. Our little girl has a crush on her Daddy...her first love!

Once her hair was brushed she wanted to know what else she could do to be beautiful. So we put on some perfume, and lip gloss and then we heard Daddy pulling in.
I wish I would have videotaped her coming out around the hall with her shy, coy little smile when she came out to say hi to him. The look on her face and in her eyes as he told her how beautiful she was and smelt her perfume...I just about died.
Makenna is a lucky girl to have such a great man to adore and love, and Todd is a lucky man to have such a beautiful little lady getting all dressed up for him and pining away for his affection.

All Over The Place....and Everywhere In Between

2011-09-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

I don't know if Conner is starting to calm down a bit, or if I am just getting more used to his insanity....probably the latter. Either way, I feel like I am starting to get a little better of a handle on this crazy little man. I love his spirit, his happiness and excitement and his bravery and confidence. He's just a little nuts, that's all.

One of Conner's favorite activities right now is climbing on, in or over anything and everything he can. Here are just a few of the really cute pics I have been getting lately. Love my babe!

He's such a handsome little stud. And he is always so proud of himself!

This one was a bit of a surprise the other day. Usually I can trust him in Kellen's room to play nicely and safely. Not so much the case anymore. Thankfully Todd has already anchored the dresser to wall, which I am thinking is an important thing with Conner on the scene.

Kellen likes to get in on the action with his little brother. I always feel sort of bad taking a picture and then saying, "Okay, you have to get out now before you break the cart!"

Not only is or little Con brave and silly, but he is also quite smart! This really impressed/surprised me the other day- without ever having taught Con how to do this he picked up a baseball and a bat, put the ball on the tee, grabbed the bat, swung and hit the ball right off the tee and then repeated this a few times over. I guess this may be our baseball star Todd was hoping we would have!

B is for Big Boy!

2011-09-06T22:58:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not our little Kellen is already taking those first baby steps away from the nest....just this past week he went to his first day of Preschool. The pictures speak for themselves. Kellen was in absolute Heaven! He was thrilled, beyond thrilled about going to preschool. And if you know Kellen then this comes as a little bit of a surprise. Kellen is not the type to venture off on his own. He's a mama's boy, a home body. He likes his comfort zones and gets a bit shy and stand offish in new environments and situations. I don't know if it was all the talking to him about preschool that prepared him, or it is due to him having seen Makenna go there and understand the routine already. Whatever it was he acted like an old pro.
First thing when he woke up Tuesday morning Kellen told me he needed to eat breakfast and get dressed so he could get ready for school. He got very sad when he realized we would be taking sissy first and then he would have to wait a little longer before it was time for him to go. He was very anxious and excited to get moving and get to school. While we were getting ready to go I asked him if he was excited and he said "Yeah! I'm not going to cry mama!" And I just responded "Of course you are not, Preschool is fun!" It was that moment that I knew he was going to be just fine and do great. And he did! He was a little shy when we got there at first but he got going with the play dough and had no problem giving me a kiss, saying good bye and letting me walk away without a tear. I know this may sound strange, but it was almost sad to me that he didn't get emotional. Made me realize how grown up he is and how ready he is for this big step. He's not my little baby boy the way he once was. He is standing on his own two feet and doing so well.

Look at how big these boys are!

Look at this handsome boy. And that little face just melts my heart. He is such a good kid and such a funny little boy! I'm proud to see him getting bigger, doing so well and being so happy. I miss his silly little self when he is gone, but I am happy to know he is growing and learning and venturing out on his own.

Kellen got to pick where we went for lunch after his first day of school. He chose quesadillas at Taco Bell :)

M & C

2011-09-06T22:35:00.000-07:00

I like to take the kiddos to get pictures done at their birthday every year. I do love the photographers out there and the cute, artsy, creative things they do. But I must be a bit old fashioned as well and still appreciate a photo studio type picture. Since Conner and Makenna have birthdays so closed I did theirs together this year and will do Kellen's right around his birthday, as well as a group pic of the kiddos. I especially wanted to wait on Kellen since we are trying to grow his hair a bit...I want him as shaggy as can be by the time he is 3 :) So here are my little blond, blue eyed babes!

Conner was in a very serious mood this morning. Well, only every moment we were trying to photograph him. Seriously, we couldn't get him to crack a single smile. I don't know what was wrong with the kid, he is normally such a goof and a happy kid. But this day he was having nothing to do with it. But I went with it anyway. Still got some very cute shots.

"The Scowl" - one of my favorite looks right now and very representative of him at this time.

This first picture I just love because it Really shows off those missing front teeth. It's great how being toothless can be cute when you are a child....not so much later in life...

Isn't she a beauty!

Such a ham. I always laugh at poses that are just Sooo not Makenna. She looks cute and loves posing this way, but is just not her at all :)

Her hair is getting so long! And she is not letting anyone come near it with scissors at all. She has aspirations to be like Rapunzel.....I'm not so sure about that! Can you IMAGINE the tangles?!!

5 Years Used to Sound Like A Lot...

2011-09-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

...but not anymore. Now it seems like your sweet little baby girls is born...

...you blink...

....and she's 5. A regular little girl. Graduated from everything toddler, shopping in the little girls section instead of the baby section, making her own choices, making her own friends, choosing what she wears, giving you a kiss on the cheek and telling you not to be sad and that she will be home from school soon.

Having a 5 year old just seems strange to me. I remember being 5. I remember the friends I had, I remember my kindergarten teacher and what she looked like and our classroom and the way my name looked at my desk. I remember my mom bringing me to school that first day. I remember 5. And now my daughter is 5 and it is strange to think that these moments in her life are now moments that may stay engraved in her memories forever. That she may be able to sit some day and reflect with me and have us tell the stories together of the things she did as a little girl. And though it pulls at my heart strings to remember how small she was not all too long ago, I look at her now with pride. She is beautiful, she is smart, she is full of life and laughter and joy and love. Her name means Happy One. I wanted my daughter to be happy. And I feel like the first 5 years I can call a success! For if Makenna is Anything she is happy!

Kenna and Grammy share a birthday just a few days apart. Grammy was so sweet and wanted to spend her birthday night together with our family and Makenna so they could celebrate together. These two girls have such a huge place in my heart!

Grammy and Pa gave Kenna her gift that night...

...her very own music box, WITH a ballerina that twirls around. This has been high on Makenna's wish list for the past year. Makenna told me that night "I always dreamed I would have a jewelry box with a ballerina and tonight my dream came true!"

Makenna's birthday was on a school night, but we went out to dinner with Cameron and his family and then she opened the rest of her family gifts that night before bed.

She was very sweet to Kellen that night and Kellen was Very cute with Kenna. He stood patiently watching her, helped when she said he could and got excited right along with her for all her new books and toys. He's a good boy and these two have such a good relationship!

Sat we had a small party for Makenna with a few of her friends

Kenna wanted a Little Mermaid party. We had pizza, played some games, played with water balloons, ran around on the slip and slide, had a pinata and cake. What more could you want?!

I always wonder what little wish is going through their head as they blow out their candles. In the case of Makenna it may have simply been "I hope I get the biggest piece of cake with the VERY MOST FROSTING!"

Kenna and Cam...buddies for life.

Makenna has been working hard at skating for a good 6 months or so and has wanted a pair of "big girls skates" for awhile! She has been so patient and finally her birthday made it's way around and sure enough Mom and Dad got her a new set of knee and elbow pads and her very own big girl skates. I was a bit worried about getting her roller blades vs classic skates. I was afraid the roller blades would be tough to balance on at so young. Boy am I glad I didn't get the reg skates because this girls was skating like a pro on these within minutes. Such a cutie and a little stud! That's my girl!

Happy Birthday Makenna Mae! We love you more than could ever know. You bring so much life and laughter and love into our home. You have taught me so much about life, love and happiness and I continue to learn from you every day. You are beautiful as can be, smart, funny and full of drive and determination that is going to take you so far. Reach for the stars and then reach beyond. Nothing can stop you! We love you.

You Can't Keep Them Forever

2011-08-29T21:28:00.001-07:00

The day has come. From the first held her I knew this day would eventually be here. Eventually I would have to take my little girl by the hand, walk with her to her first day of Kindergarten, give her a kiss on the cheek, tell her to do her best and then stand back and watch her become her own little person.

Even though I knew it was coming eventually, it didn't make it any easier when it was finally here. The couple of weeks and days leading up to her first day of school were rough on Mama. I found myself tearing up all the time. I just couldn't help but feel like letting her go to school was like losing a part of her. It is hard leaving your little girl for such a long time. School is from 7:55 - 2:15. That's a long day on anyone, especially a 5 year old and her mama. It makes me sad being away from her that much of the day. I feel like I have lost so much time to just Be with her, enjoy her, listen to her thoughts and watch her play. Perhaps I now appreciate and cherish my time with her in a way that I didn't before. Sure, it is quite a bit easier getting my errands and shopping and running around done with 1 less kid in the house. And I do very much enjoy my time with the boys....the chance to have more one on one time with each of them. But we all miss her energy and her spirit in the house when she is gone.

Makenna did great on her first day of school. She was definitely ready! Ready for the stimulation, the friends, the socialization, the learning. She had gotten a bit bored and stir crazy towards the end of summer which made it easier to accept her going to school.

The night before school started we found out the she was going to be in Mrs. Folks class. From what I had heard, Mrs. Folks was known to be an amazing, very good teacher with a lot of experience, and also a bit on the strict side. Mrs. Folks has high expectations of her students and their behavior and does not take a lot of slack. Initially I was a bit worried about this, but by the time we found out that this was going to be her teacher both Todd and I felt strongly that Mrs. Folks was actually the best fit for Makenna. And we both felt very blessed when we found out that she was in fact in her class. Makenna is the type that likes to push the line and test her boundaries. The idea of her having a teacher that makes her lines and boundaries Very clear and sticks to them is a great thing for Makenna. Plus, she is a very sweet and loving woman!

Kenna did good going to school on day one. She did get teary eyed a number of times (not too unlike her mommy, but her mama's tears were a little more in secret). She wanted to stay close to Todd and I, didn't initially want to go sit down with the other kids and had a hard time when she needed to say goodbye when the mommies and daddies left. But she recovered quickly and did well. She made a friend or two that she was able to stay close to and was able to dry her eyes and go be the big girls she was supposed to be. Since then she does better and better every day. She always gets a touch clingy and sad right before she needs to go to class, but with a kiss and some encouragement and as soon as she spots her friends she is off and on her way with perhaps only one or two looks back.

We are now about 2 weeks into Kindergarten. By Makenna's report is sounds like she is doing really good. She has made a couple of friends, Kara and Elli and gets excited to see them every day. She says that she has fun and that everything about school is exciting. She does complain that it takes "so long" and doesn't like that she has to go Every day other than the weekend. Like I said before, it Is a long day and I can understand her dislike for how long it is. But she seems to be doing good work, behaving well and having fun. She has a smile on her face every day when I pick her up and that to me is a good thing.

I do think that today we hit the "overtired, emotional kindergartner" phase. Everyone warned me about this and up until today she seemed to be doing pretty well. But from first thing this morning she was just tears after tears. Anything was offending her and making her sad or upset.

Of course today she did get in a little trouble once and was quite sad about it on our way home. Then tonight while we cuddled together in bed she told me a teary rendition about recess - That her friend Kara knows how to go across the monkey bars but she doesn't. That most kids don't know how to, but the monkey bars are her favorite thing and Kara is her best friend and it's not fair that Kara can go across and she can't! She continued to tell me that the teacher (duty) out during recess won't let her go on the monkey bars because she keeps falling and she might break her arm. But Makenna tries to go on them anyway and then keeps ending up on time out for not listening. She was upset because "if they never let me try then how can I learn? It's not fair!" (nothing is fair in Makenna's eyes these days!)

I did see her point, but I told her that she had to listen to the teacher and that it's not okay to be disobedient. I promised her that we would go to the park and practice until she could do it on her own. It may have been a dramatic re-telling, but I did feel bad for my little girl. And it was strange to hear about the struggles and battles she has when I am not there to help or intervene. But I guess that is all part of stepping into herself and growing up.

We love you Makenna. You are a good girl, a beautiful girl, a smart girl. We miss you so much but we are proud of you, what a good job you are doing and what a big girl you are becoming!

Our Big Con!

2011-08-27T21:45:00.000-07:00

I don't know exactly what happened, but apparently when Conner turned 1 someone told him he was no longer a baby and that starting immediately he must behave like a toddler. I swear, it seems like practically overnight Conner put his infant ways behind himself and adopted a very big boy, 'nothings gonna stop me' sort of attitude.
I truly look at Conner sometimes and wonder what happened to my little baby. Conner is a wild child now! 100% boy all the way. Totally fits the stereotype for what you expect a little boy to be through and through! He is still sweet and cuddly and cute as can be. But now he is into EVERYTHING! He is smiley and funny and loves to laugh. He also loves to run around grunting and growling and yelling with glee. He loves to carry things around and hit anything and everything in his path....walls, the floor, the furniture, toys, siblings, etc. I'm trying hard to curb this impulse of his, but it's a bit tricky when he can't really be disciplined all too much at this age beyond telling him "no".

Conner is a climber! He started walking at 11 months and already at 13 months old the kid can climb on all my furniture, coffee table, bathroom vanity, all the way to the top of the playset, etc. It scares me that he is skilled enough to successfully climb but lacks the maturity and skill to know what to do or how to get down safely. He is definitely one that needs an eye on him All the time!

Here are a few things about Conner at 1

- Not just walking but running and climbing. Just learned the fun of playing chase and loves to run away from someone trying to get him while he squeals with delight!

- Says Mama, Dada, Dog and makes a "num num" sort of word when he wants to eat. Not saying much else beyond that, even though he does make a lot of noise!

- Loves to give high five and gives amazing kisses

- Very much a water baby! Loves the water so much...he acts as though he is ready for you to let him go and have him swim away on his own

- Weighs 24.2 lbs (70%) and 32 inches (95%)

- Hates getting dressed and getting his diaper changed

- Has 7 teeth....4 on top and 3 on the bottom

- In love with balls. Happily spends a large part of the day collecting, carrying and throwing balls around the house. And he has a good arm too!!

- Gets along great with both Makenna and Kellen. Wants bad to keep up with them! Would love to play outside all day long if he could!

Hanging with the big kids now. And he's even starting to look like one of them!

I just love this face! And that hair...it just kills me! That boy was blessed with a beautiful head of hair! Very lucky kid....

Look at this boy go! I feel sort of ripped off though! I was totally looking forward to that stage where you can let them run around outside and they can be just happy to run and play without having to worry too much about them getting into everything. Yeah, we sort of skipped that phase. I guess he's just an over- achiever!

Isn't he just so proud though?!

My happy babe with his baba and his blanky. I'm a bit of a push over with him! He may have his bottle a bit longer than his older siblings. He is just so sweet and cuddly when he has his bottles, I am sad to give that up!

The scowl! He gives this look a lot, but it is normally followed by a smile.

We just love our little Conner so much! He is as adorable as they come and has such a sweet heart. He is full of love and laughter and kindness. And at the same time he is a force to be reckoned with. Conner makes his presence known! He is full of like and spunk and attitude and knows how to hold his own. I can tell already he is not going to ever let anything stand in his way. We are so blessed to have his spirit in our home and have all the joy that he brings to each and every one of us. We love you Con!

A Little Shag

2011-08-25T23:06:00.001-07:00

Conner's cute and shaggy hair has inspired me to try and grow out Kellen's hair and see what other options are available with it. His hair is VERY different from Conner's. Kellen's is pretty thick and course, Conner's is thin and fine. Kellen's has a bit of a wave to it, Con's is straight as can be. Last time I had taken him in to get it cut the lady pointed out the way that his hair starts to get a bit wavy with length. What a better time to grow it out and see what it is like than right now when he is 2 and no one is really going to care what his hair looks like. For awhile it was going through that in-between stage that was driving me crazy, but recently the length has started growing on me and looking cuter. It still has a long way to go, but I am starting to see what it may end up being. He's adorable no matter what his hair is doing, but I am also enjoying the chance to have fun and experiment with him.
Kellen and I have had a lot more time together recently, and it has been such a blessing and so nice to have this special time together. Children are so different one on one than they are when all their siblings are around. It has been so good to have that time with Kellen again, to play together, just he and I. To laugh and be silly and enjoy time with each other. I feel like Kellen is really growing up right now. He seems to have gotten taller and more stretched out and is just looking more little kid like and less toddlerish. He gets smarter every day and I am always blown away by the details he remembers and the connections he makes with things all on his own. He is a great big brother to Conner and really loves be the leader when it is just the two of them and teaching him things, showing him the ropes and helping him out. He's just a good boy inside and out. I love my brown eyed boy!

This face and those eyes will always melt my heart!

He can be such a goon. I love his silly side!

What a Babe!

2011-08-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

Seriously, that shaggy blond hair and those beautiful blue eyes make me smile and melt my heart every day. I just know this boy is going to be a hottie. Hands off my baby boy ladies!

Well Conner is learning what Chuck E Cheese is all about and this last time we were there he gave it a big nod of approval! This boy is into everything and Loves to try and run with the big kids. Chuck E Cheese was a great place for him to get to do that. It's crazy seeing my little man acting and being so big all of the sudden.

You see the wild in those eyes? I tell you, this boy has some crazy energy. Fearless. Brave. Total Boy all the way through. He can get onto just about any piece of furniture he wants to now. Thankfully he is pretty good about safely getting off the furniture too. He is just full of mischief and adventure. I swear any time I turn my back on him he gets into something. He is doing his best to keep mommy on her toes at all times and is succeeding in this mission to run his mama wild. Having 3 had been going so smoothly.....He wanted to make sure the 2 to 3 transition was really as hard as everyone had made it out to be. He has done his job, and some :)

This is Conner's fake little pouty face. Any time you tell him no, this is what you get. If he doesn't get his way, this is what you see. If his siblings are picking on him this is the face he gives them (along with a good high pitched scream!). Silly boy.

Makenna really just dotes on Conner. I can tell already that he is going to be here little baby that she always just keeps under her wing. I think that she and Kellen really view each other as equals and treat each other the same. Whereas Conner is definitely her "baby" brother and she treats him the way you would expect an older sibling to care for their little baby. He adores her right back and knows he can always get his way with his sissy. I just hope the two of them don't team up on Kellen....I worry. Makenna and Conner have very similar personalities and energy. One of them can be a lot to handle, let alone 2!

Moms Main Man

2011-08-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

I love my little Bud Bud! I think Kellen is always going to be my little mama's boy. And I have to say I love it! He just brings such big smiles to my face, how sweet and loving and cuddling he is and the way he looks at me, smiles at me. The boy just melts my heart. Just the other day I was out at lunch with the boys while Kenna was at school (which we will be posting about soon!) and even though it was just he and I sitting at the table with Con in his high chair he still wanted us to sit on the same side of the booth. And then while we ate our sandwiches he kept his right hand on my leg pretty much the entire time. Once I had to get up to grab Conner's water that he had dropped and as soon as I sat back down he slid all the way over to me again and put his hand right back. What a little lover!

Kellen and Makenna are at the age of loving to mix their ice cream up until it is smooth and melty and delicious. I can't blame them....I loved it that way as a kid and still love it like that today. These pics crack me up though. I guess this is what Kellen may look like in another 14 years when he is trying hard to grow a mustache :)

Now that's some passionate ice cream eating!

We are finally passed (most of the time at least) the stage of not wanting to look at the camera. Instead I now get the totally cheesey, big smile, which frankly I love. I know it looks forced, but it is cute as can be anyway.

This boy is a snacker! Seriously, the kid wants to snack all day long. I think he would rather sit and eat snacks than do just about anything. And he has ALWAYS been this way, since the time he was old enough to have snacks. It was tempting him with snacks that finally got him crawling at 10 months, otherwise he would most likely be rolling around and army crawling to this day. He's a skinny boy though...far from chubby or overweight. And we keep his snacks healthy. He's just a silly boy with a love for food. I tell ya, he's a little chef in the making!

Dress up with Hanna Knoop. The mouse and the princess....it's a good sounding fairy tale, right?

Kellen and Conner getting into everything already. These two boys are such a contrast with one another. Very different looks, very different personalities. Both adorable, cute and funny. I actually think they will compliment each other well, and I do see them being quite a pair together. They both looked so big and cute together here. Love the little brothers!

Kellen loves to give. He is even willing to share his precious snacks with is fellow action figures and friends. This just made me smile.

And then there's the Makenna/Kellen tag team. These two are something else together. Sometimes they get along Wonderfully! They can spend an hour playing nicely together in the room, having fun, laughing, sharing, being good. Other times they will tease and torment one another relentlessly. Some days Makenna is Very mothering of Kellen and is happy to be his mentor and example and be a huge help with him. Other days the two of them feed off of each other so much, get all wound up and wild together and get into endless trouble. One thing is for sure though, Makenna does bring out the silly side of Kellen. I love this about their relationship, even when it does cause me grief here and there. They are good for each other and will always have a strong bond.

Catch Up

2011-08-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

Well somehow July turned into a totally insane month! So much happened, so many pictures were taken and I feel like I got completely behind! So here is my attempt to play catch up, one kid at a time. We will just go in birth order, since that's what you do, right? :)

Grammy and Makenna had the chance to go on a fun little date together. Grammy surprised Makenna by taking her to the circus! I have to say I was a bit jealous....I would love to see the circus! They had a ton of fun together and I was really happy for them to have the chance to have some special time with each other. One on one time is not always the easiest to come by. Grammy has pics from the circus that I still need to get from her, but aren't they cute together?

While we were up visiting Sarah for the day Bicky got home from work right as we were getting ready to go and offered to take the kiddos on a quick quad ride. Kellen decided to wait until next time to try it out, but Kenna got up there instantly. She had so much fun and was raving about how she got a turn to help drive it. She is always asking when we can go up there and she can go on a "really long ride this time!" Kenna loves her Uncle Bicky!

So about a month after tooth number one had to be pulled we had another tooth incident. I know what you are thinking - "What wild thing was Makenna doing this time that knocked her tooth out?" But believe it or not, she wasn't even being wild when she damaged tooth #2. She actually hardly hurts herself doing daring things. It's always the ordinary kid stuff that damages her, go figure. Anyway, we were just finishing up in the pool and as she was lowering herself into the water from grabbing a toy off the pool side she smacked her mouth/tooth right on the pool edge. Sure enough it was bleeding like crazy and was loose as can be. I knew instantly that it was a goner. And sure enough a few days later the dentist took it out. On the bright side she looks Very cute with her 2 front teeth gone, she now has 2 gold coins from the tooth fairy, she will have a Great Kindergarten picture this year and she will have a fun song to sing for the next couple of Christmases!

Kenna with Ashley's little boy, Baby Evan. She was in love and in awe. She keeps wanting to know when we get to have another baby. I keep reminding her that we still have a baby. I'm not ready to call Conner a toddler yet!

Sissy takes such good care of her baby brother. She really adores him and he totally matches her wild energy. These two little blondes are going to be total partners in crime! I see it now!

Makenna, London and Gwyn. No reason why a swing for 2 can't have enough room for a 3rd. Trust Makenna to find a way to make it work!

I love my crazy Goon!

Papa Time

2011-08-14T21:27:00.001-07:00

Since Papa moved up to Utah a few years ago we have not gotten to see him nearly as much. The kids miss him. He is so incredibly young at heart and knows just how to get down on the ground with the kids and play with them in just they way they enjoy. While I was in post-surgery recovery we decided it would be a great time to have Papa come down for a visit so that we could see him, he could spend time the kids and provide them some entertainment while I was getting used to getting around again. It was great to have him hear, to have him spend time with the kids and get the chance to be together. We had a lot of fun times and some great memories. We love you Papa!

Any time I think of a harmonica this is the image that comes to mind....Papa. He always had his harmonica out playing songs while I was a kid. And now my kids love to sit by him and listen to him play as well. It's a very sweet thing to see.

Kellen giving it a shot....still hard to say if he has the natural talent or not :)

Papa and the Con! It was nice for them to get to spend time together and get to know each other more, since the last time they were together Conner was just a newborn.

The kids tried to help Papa fly his kite. Unfortunately the wind was just not the best, but they had fun seeing him try anyway.

If you look closely you will see that Kellen is in between Papa and Makenna somewhere.

A child at heart :)

Papa was able to be here for Conner's birthday party as well. It was nice to have him here to get to celebrate this fun time with us as well. We love you Papa!

More Than Just Cake

2011-08-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

Cake may be the highlight of a one year old's party, but it's not the whole thing. Here's the rest of the party.

Could there be a more handsome birthday boy?

Daddy can never resist the jumpers! The kid in him comes running out and before you know it he is bouncing off the walls. Truth be told, this is one of the real reasons I get the jumpers for the kids parties, it's fun for the kids and adults :)

Of course we had some pinata action. Conner enjoyed holding the stick, but the concept meant nothing to him.

However, the concept of candy coming out it is one he totally grasped and very much appreciated! It's good to be 1!

While Conner through cake all over the patio, the older kids and adults got to decorate their own cupcakes with their choice of frosting and candies to go on top.

The next day Conner and Brooke had a combined birthday party for family, seeing as their birthdays are only 1 day apart. Plus, they are about the same size, so it looks natural having them celebrate together!

I think I was deprived of pinatas at my parties when I was a kid, so it always feels like a must to have a pinata. My kids very much appreciated 2 days of filling up bags with candy! Makenna showed no mercy on the pinata. She very much wants to be the one to bust open the pinata one of these days.

Brookie took some good swings, but in her soft Brooke sort of way

Kellen got in there too. Now the he knows there is candy to be had once that pinata gets beat enough, he is happy to let the poor pinata have it! Nothing gets in the way of that boy and some candy, nothing!

The birthday boy and girl! Apparently Brooke was not too amused with sharing her party?! Either that or she is annoyed that Conner is already as big as her! But they sure are cute together...definitely can tell they are cousins!

We thought it would be cute for both of them to have cakes together. We all saw how Conner attacked his cake. Brooke took the more mature, gentle approach to hers!

If you look closely at the picture above you will start to laugh, I guarantee it! Makenna and Kellen kept stealing fingers full of frosting. So I said to Sarah, "Wouldn't it be funny if I smashed Kenna's face in the cake?" She totally nodded and agreed! So I encouraged her to get close and when the iron was hot I struck and pushed her face right in!

Well, Makenna did not share the same humor that Sarah and I saw in it! Poor girl! I think she was mostly embarrassed. I explained to her that I was just trying to be funny, not mean. That I thought she would laugh about it. I also promised her she gets to smash my face in a cake on her birthday, to see the humor in it. I swear someday she will laugh at this! I'm still laughing!

Kellen was very disappointed that his mother would do such a thing to his sister and made sure to make the statement that that was not nice. He's just lucky it was his sister, not him! :)

All About The Cake

2011-08-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

It's why you come to a first birthday party, right? To watch the baby graduate from infant to toddler through the ritual "smashing of the cake." I don't know why we have to stop this ritual after the first birthday...wouldn't it be great to see a 50 year old sit down in front of a personalized cake and go to town stuffing their face with cake by the fist full?

Anyway, for all those who missed this milestone in babyhood, here you go.

Knowing Conner and his "Go Get 'Em" personality, I sort of expected him to Dive right into his cake, both hands shoveling food in as fast as he could handle it. But to my surprise he took his time in the beginning.

I have often times thought Kellen just might grow up to be a Chef. Watching Conner eat his cake made me wonder if he will grow up to be a food critic. He took the job very seriously in the beginning, happily eating the cake and trying bite after bite, but doing so in a very contemplative manner. He did not think the task at hand was any laughing matter. But it must have satisfied the critic because he kept right on eating.

Kellen happily stood by his side, grabbing a finger full of icing when he could.

Apparently Conner did not appreciate this and smeared a big handful of icing across his face. My poor, sweet Kellen was very sad and offended by this. But once Mama cleaned him off he felt better and was right back to stealing frosting.

Kellen wasn't the only one sneaking a taste or two.

Conner was happy to share. Once the critique was done it was all fun and games for him!

In the end the cake eating became much more playing than eating. He was literally grabbing fists of cake and throwing them around him. Good way to tell he was done! Certainly the happiest full belly I have ever seen

Daddy at 1 year old

Conner at 1 year old

Mommy at 1 year old. I don't think he is an exact replica of either one of us, but there is definitely some stronger Daddy influence here than Mommy, at least in my opinion. Good thing I think his Daddy is Handsome as can be!!!

Who Ever Knew...

2011-07-28T23:35:00.000-07:00

....That a haircut could be so painful?!?

Conner is usually so happy, easy going, quick to make friends, comfortable with mostly anyone and any situation. So taking him to get his haircut just sounded like a fun and exciting outing to me. I figured he would wiggle like crazy, but that was my biggest concern.

It started like this, "What is this place? What is this chair? Why am I wearing this ridiculous cape? Mom?"

His unsureity became a little more intense as each moment passed....

And then he lost it. Sheer terror on his face the entire time. You would have thought they were chopping the kids arm off....the poor thing. And the saddest part was he kept reaching a hand out to Daddy and Mommy, looking for someone to rescue him. I'm sure my response of just taking pictures and trying to get him to lighten up just further infuriated him.

Then I had the Genius idea of grabbing him a sucker. "This will get him distracted and quiet him down." It worked....

...for about 15 seconds.

In the end he walked away traumatized, but cleaned up and looking sharp for his party. His hair doesn't really look too different at all. We both like the shaggy look he has going on, so they basically just cut the back (which was forming a mullet/pony tail thing) and evened out the top a bit. He looks adorable to me, but it will be awhile before we go back...

Any Canvas for My Little Artists

2011-07-28T23:18:00.000-07:00

The kiddos are obviously too young to know that every one's favorite thing about a cast is that you get to have people write on it. So the look on their face was just classic when I casually sat down, pulled out a sharpie and said, "Hey, who wants to draw on mommy's cast?" They were both over the moon. And they really did a great job turning an ordinary hot pink cast into a beautiful work of art. Makenna put the names of everyone in the family on there, drew me a flower, a heart and a picture of me wearing a cast. Kellen scribbled his little heart out and then got really excited when he realized one of his scribbles looked like a "candy cane". He was Very proud of his "candy cane" that he "drew" for mommy! I love my kiddos. I did not love my cast quite so much. But they made it a touch more tolerable.

My kids always think they need to do a silly face picture following a smiling one. I guess most kids do, right?

Can this face get any cheesier. Love it! At least he is once again smiling for the camera....you've got to appreciate that much!

One of the things I love about Kellen is that he is a complex individual, much like an ogre, with many layers to him. Those who don't know Kellen super well can see him as a more quiet, shy, introverted person. And he does have these qualities under certain circumstances. But in the comfort of our home, surrounded by people he loves and is at ease with, he is the biggest goof there is! He has such a silly side, I love it! And I love that not everyone sees it. You've got to be "in" with Kellen to really see him let loose. As little children do, Kellen love to wear his mommy and daddy's shoes. His favorite pair right now is this pair of mommy's boots. He calls them his "Hee High Boots". And hey, they are pretty great boots, can't blame him for loving them!

Bubbles, Kicks and Big Arms

2011-07-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

This year the kiddos got to have swim class with Big Daddy. Mommy in a cast is really not conducive to pool time. So Daddy stepped up to the plate and got right in there with the kiddos. Kenna is old enough to be in a class without a parent, but Kellen needed a swimming partner. It was great to see Todd have the chance to do a class with the kids (since so often classes are during the day when he is working). It was so fun to watch them all have a "splashing" good time together.

Con and the gimp got to sit on the lawn and watch everyone else enjoy their pool time. He had a blast running around and playing with his little buddy Carter (they share birthdays and are just destined to be best buds!).

Kellen is not generally your water baby. Day 1 was met with some resistance, as anticipated. But within just a couple of days he was happily standing on the edge of the pool jumping in to Todd. Each day he smiled more and more and made such great progress. I was really Sooooo proud of him! Good Job Bud Bud!

Kenna did a really good job this year. She is really swimming phenomenally (which of course is relieving and exciting for us all!) It was really hard to get a good picture of her swimming since much of her swimming is done under the water and I had to take pictures from behind the gate. So naturally the only 2 decent pictures I could get are of her goofing off and getting in trouble. Yep, that's my girl being a fountain and spitting water on the side of the pool. And then there she is again, having been "benched" because she was not keeping both hands on the edge of the pool and listening. But I was proud of her because it only took one good talk with her and an apology to her teacher and then she was hands on and a good listener the rest of the session. Silly girl.

How cute are these boys?!

The Rest of "The 4th"

2011-07-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

What a cutie, right? Well, Con missed out on the fireworks this year. It had been a long day, he had not taken a cooperative nap and the fireworks weren't coming on until after his bedtime. So he and mama went home, relaxed and put baby in bed early :)

I love this pic of my two little men. It makes Kellen look so little standing next to his handsome Daddy. It freaks me out to think some day he will be as tall as his Dad standing next to him :(

Makenna after inhaling her s'more. She looks so grown up these days.

Kellen had a rather smart approach to getting his marshmallow in his mouth without too much mess! Such a clever little boy.

Ding busted out some sparklers. Makenna was thrilled about it.....

Kellen not so much. He tried it briefly but then abandoned the idea. He still gets upset if you mention Ding's fireworks!

Pre-Firework Festivities

2011-07-16T22:25:00.001-07:00

The fourth of July this year was really great! The kids had a total blast. We had a great time at our wards pancake breakfast. Then we went to Grammy and Pa's house, took a dip in the pool and then had the chance to just hang out, bbq and enjoy each other before the fireworks got underway. It really was a really good day...loved every minute of it!

We definitely have another water baby. Conner is a happy little clam in the pool. He loves it! Reminds me a lot of the way Makenna was in the pool as a baby. He was just content as could be to float around, splash and play.

This girl is such a swimmer! And doing such a great job this year swimming on her own. Her favorite animal is a river otter and she tries her hardest to be one herself. This swimming activity also lead to further tooth drama with Makenna, but we will continue that story at a later date....

The way I got to enjoy the pool festivities.

Pa taught Kenna how to do a cannon ball. And she learned and perfected it almost immediately. Pa was very proud!

Whenever I see these two together I realize just how much they can resemble one another.

Pa also made a total breakthrough with Kellen! He is Not a water baby. He really doesn't care all too much for the pool. At least not big pools. But on this day Pa was not only able to talk Kellen in to going out in the middle of the pool, but he even took him on a bunch of "Shamu rides" on his back. It was incredible! And Kellen was Loving every minute of it.

We put on tattoos....

went streaking...

had pedicures...

and kicked back and played.

Sleeping Babes

2011-07-16T22:06:00.000-07:00

I love sleeping babies, kids....hey, even sleeping adults can be kind of cute.

Kellen recently took to sleeping next to his Book of Mormon, which he calls his "Book of Mormon Stories". Such a sweetheart. I look forward to showing him this picture some day when he is called on his mission. I am sure it will be here before I even know it.

Makenna and I sleep in very similar positions. I too LOVE to have the blankets pulled right up to my neck. Either that or she sleeps with her hands above or behind her head, which I am also a fan of. Such a cutie.

No picture of Conner sleeping. He wakes up really easily in the middle of the night, and I was not willing to risk it for a picture. Maybe when I am not gimpy anymore :)

This is what happens....

2011-07-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

They learn to walk. And for a very brief period of time, just being able to walk around and explore becomes complete and total entertainment. And they are happy to just walk anywhere they can.

But then walking is no longer enough. Then they want to climb, and jump, and get onto and into everything they can. And that is right where we are.

For the last week the backyard has been great for Conner. He has been thrilled to have more freedom out there, to walk around and explore and push things around and chase after Bella and climb on our small trampoline. And then the other day I turn around and there is Conner, trying (and doing quite well at it) to climb up the slide! What in the world? And seriously, he was making good progress up it, even all on his own.

Of course Makenna saw this and thought it was the greatest thing ever. And in her big sisterly fashion got right over there and helped him up and wanted to slide down with him over and over. I tell ya, the older Con gets the more and more I see his energy and his drive equal to Makenna's. I think those two are going to have A Blast together and get along great and cause their mother a lot of worrying and a lot of grief!
They were adorable to watch play on the slide. Makenna loves to be Conner's little helper, loves to teach him and help him do new things, loves to have him follow her and try to be just like her. And he adores his big sister and does all he an to keep up with her...which is exactly what worries me :)

She was so proud the first time she got Con to the top of the slide. And he was just as proud to be up there. I was too nervous to grab to camera and take a picture of him in that moment.

Tryin his best to keep up!

Such a handsome boy!

I've never known someone quite like this little girl....she always knows how to have fun and try and make people laugh along with her.

My Sweet Boys

2011-07-08T22:00:00.001-07:00

I always thought I was going to be a mother of boys. I guess I just thought of myself as being more of a "boy mom" than a "girl mom". I am Beyond grateful to have a daughter and can't imagine not having the chance to raise a girl. In fact I would love for us to get one more girl in the mix if we could!

There are times though when I look at my boys and it almost feels surreal to see them before me and think that this is my life in front of me, playing out right before my eyes. The boys I always thought I would someday raise are right here, right now. I feel so blessed, so lucky to have these sweet little men in my life.

I am slowly seeing the age gap between Conner and Kellen close in bit by bit. They have a lot of fun together when they are not harassing one another. They are so adorable and so sweet. They just melt my heart.

2011-07-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Big Mama McKamey had to go under the knife and finally have an ankle ligament reconstruction that has been needed for years and years now. The only bad thing is that it has come at a time in my life where I need to be up and going and chasing 3 kids around. But for about 10 days that just wasn't an option. Todd took off a week and patiently took care of his pathetic wife and chased after the kids. I think it was a healthy dose of "Mr. Mom" for him....made SPAWAR not seem so bad :) Though we all know he missed us like crazy once he had to go back!

Then Sarah was a saint and offered up herself (9 months pregnant and all) and helped me/chased my kids (and her own kid) around for a week. I am so lucky to have such great people around that love me and take care of me. I couldn't be luckier.
The kids were great too. Makenna was a huge helper and did a lot of tasks for me day in and day out. And she really didn't even complain or groan about them either. I was Very impressed with what a willing helper she was. Kellen was a big helper too and loved to fetch me my ice pack and rub my leg and make sure I was okay. Such a sweetie. Conner tried to stay as patient with him gimpy mom as possible, though by the end he had really had enough of it! It's hard when you are old enough to understand that something is not the same and get frustrated about your mommy not picking you up and carrying you around but too young to understand the reason why all this is happening.

But I am in my hot pink cast now and all is well!

While Sarah and Brooke were here we took a trip over to playtown. We've been meaning to try it out with the kiddos and Brooke and this was a great way to get out of the house and give the kids something to do. We were there for 3 hours and none of the kids were ready to leave when we dragged them (literally) out of there. On our way in a lady just sat on the bench watching us come in the door: A gimp with her huge leg all wrapped up on crutches, 4 children ages 4 and under all being escorted by a pregnant woman who looks like her baby just might fall right out of her stomach at any moment. She looked at me and said "You must be crazy!" The reality is that getting out of the house that day was the only thing that was keeping us all sane.

These two girls are something else together. Makenna adores having Brooke as her little sidekick. She takes good care of her and loves knowing that Brooke is following her example. Brooke loves her "Kenna Mae" (as she calls her) and does a great job keeping up with her (which is not always an easy task). We can all tell you right now that these girls are going to be trouble with each other. I love seeing our daughters be so close.

Conner was also doing a good job keeping up! It was his first time at playtown on two feet. He was having a blast toddling around everywhere and climbing all over everything. He wants to be big so badly and he is starting to act the part more and more!

I just always laugh seeing these two together. Especially now that Conner is walking. And their features look so much alike. It's so funny.

Kellen used to be a bit shy at playtown. That is far from the case now. He is all over the place as much as Makenna is. This is the coveted toy of playtown...the little roller coaster. He could ride this all day long.

Brookie always gets a good dose of "big kid" life when she is here visiting with our family. She did a great job at playtown. She was off and running and being a big girl and having a blast.

Strut Your Stuff!

2011-07-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

I swear one morning I woke up to this...

And then before I even knew it all I was seeing was this!!

Yes, Conner is most definitely a walker by every definition of the word! It is still crazy to me, when out of the corner of my eye I will see this little guy toddling past, arms up, wobbly step after step, just cruisin on past. I knew it was coming. Makenna and Kellen both started walking between 10-11 months. But it just feels like with Conner it snuck up a lot faster. Maybe it is because one day he was just taking one or two steps on his own. Then a day or two later he was taking 5 or 6 steps. And then really quickly after that he was getting across the entire room without falling. For some reason when I was younger and used to imagine having children I would always picture that moment where Mommy and Daddy are on the ground and their little baby is taking a few independent steps at a time back and forth between them. It still almost seems surreal (even when it is the third time around) to catch myself living out that moment.

These two pictures just melt my heart. So sweet. Such a proud Daddy!

Now the Con is everywhere! And I mean EVERYWHERE. He has become a real handful in the matter of just a week. I can tell already that he is going to be All Boy! The type of kid that climbs everything, wants to jump off tall things, try to scale the side of the playset, find a way to climb up to the roof, etc. I just see that energy in him already.

Now that he is pretty steady on his feet it makes it sooooo much easier to have him outside. And I think for Conner this is the biggest perk to walking. He wants so badly to be out in the back chasing Bella and trying to keep up with Kenna and Kellen. At least now I give him the opportunity more often. He is in heaven when he gets to play outside.

I feel like all week I Todd and I have been saying back and forth to each other "He's really growing up!" Such a bittersweet feeling.

One of Conner's favorite places in the back is on the trampoline. He needs to learn a soother way to climb off of it, but he is always quick to get right back on.

Conner is also at the age where he is just figuring things out- how they work, what they mean, cause and effect, etc. He knows to put the balls in the right holes to make them go down the slide and then watches for them to come out the bottom. He can give kisses when you ask for them. He knows what nap time and baba's are. If he sees you eating food or opening the fridge or putting him in the high chair he says "mmmm". Like I said, He's just really growing up.

And with his walking and growing come "boo boo's" The poor kids head has been covered in bumps and bruises the last week. He takes it like a champ, but he looks silly. This particular one was from trying to climb onto Makenna's bed. His foot slipped and he fell down and hit his head on her frame. He has already mastered climbing onto Kellen's bed and toy box and he is close to getting up onto the couch. And of course all of this is happening while I am in a cast. Wish me luck! :) We love you Conner and are so proud of what a big boy you are becoming!!!

That's Our Daddy

2011-06-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

I know that I speak on behalf of all the kiddos when I say that we are blessed beyond words to have the best Daddy there could be.
It was Kellen's year to pick out the Father's Day card and he chose a great one with a SuperDad superhero on the front.

I don't think he chose this just because he happens to be into superheroes and action figures at the moment. I don't think it was solely because his Daddy would look amazing in spandex and a cape. I know that it is because to Kellen, Makenna and Conner their Daddy is someone they look up to! And not just because he is "Big Daddy", towering over them at 6'3''. But because he loves his kids with all his heart and his kiddos know it. Because he sets the example of someone our children want to grow up to be just like.

We love you Daddy. Happy Father's Day. Thank you for all you do for us. We are the luckiest!

I love this picture so much! We'll get the kids to work on teaching Daddy a new silly face for next years silly face picture!

Makenna giving Daddy her handmade Father's day gift. Very proud of her handy work.

The kids and I got Daddy a "Paul" book for father's day. The kids know how much their Daddy loves Paul and share in this love and affection.

2011-06-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

The other day I was in the middle of putting up Makenna's hair in pigtails when Con woke from his morning nap. He was quite unhappy in there, so I asked Kellen if he would go in the room and give Conner a toy to play with while I finished Sissies hair. Well, there was A Lot of laughter coming from the room. And when I walked in Kellen had literally put EVERY toy in Con's room that was within his reach into Conner's crib. Needless to say, both boys were very happy, excited and proud of this!

Such silly kiddos.

Conner is already looking forward to the next time I ask Kellen to "babysit" again.

Daddy and Kellen were having some fun dressing up Kellen in his blankies. Well, they have become his blankies but they truly are sarongs...it's a long story. The point is, they were being silly and it was totally cute! I love Kellen's silly side.

A little blurry, but such a good pictures of the bud bud and his sis!

Such a handsome boy. And a good wrap job by Daddy. I was impressed!

Kellen is really into bringing his pillow and blankets out of his room and tucking himself, his toys, his stuffed animals, baby Toby in bed. Today Daddy joined in the fun as well.

Blue airheads. A new favorite treat in the McKamey household.

I love his hair. I love his eyes. I love that he holds his own bottle when I need him to. (My other two were completely lazy and always required/demanded mommies assistance at bottle time). I don't love that when I look at him now I am seeing less and less of a baby...

Makenna loves this picture of herself. She says it really "catches her missing tooth". And it does. Recently she has been very anxious for another tooth to come out. I told her she is going to have to wait for that. I tried explaining that the only reason she already has a missing tooth is because the dentist had to take it out early, but it really was not ready to come out on it's own. She gets a lot of attention for the missing tooth, being that she is really the only one in her group of friends with a missing tooth yet. We all know that Makenna likes attention. And we all know she is constantly looking for even more.

A friend of hers told he that if she hits her tooth on things enough times it will start to get loose. She has already done this once or twice now. It has not been easy trying to convince her that this is a Very Bad idea and she wants those teeth to stay in. Here's to hoping we don't see the tooth fairy again for quite awhile!

Compare and Contrast

2011-06-16T23:21:00.001-07:00

...Just because it is fun to look at the kids and see in what ways they look alike and look unique from one another. Here is a look at all 3 kiddos right around 10-11 months old.

Makenna

Kellen

Conner

Kellen

Makenna

Conner

A Crazier Con

2011-06-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

This silly boy is something else these days. He really is full of smiles almost all the time. He is such a cheery little guy. He is just so full of love and laughter. He loves to laugh and he has the silliest laugh ever. He very much likes to mimic and join in the load laughter from his older sister and brother all the time.

He is also into everything. Really, the boy doesn't stop moving from the moment he wakes up. And he loves to get into things that he is not supposed to. I don't remember Kellen being this way. He was pretty manageable and was pretty responsive baby when told to leave something alone. Conner on the other hand seems to have his older sisters love for getting into things and seeing just how much he can get away with. You have to really watch the boy around outlets. He loves to pull thing out of outlets, mostly my plug in air fresheners or nightlights in the bedroom. Seriously, no matter where I put my plug in air fresheners, he finds them and find a way to get to them. He loves the bathrooms, emptying the trash, pulling the t.p., flushing the toilet. I just feel like all day long I am having to move him and try to contain him somewhere/somehow that he won't cause trouble and get into things.

Really, the older he get the more he reminds me of Makenna, both in looks and in personality. He doesn't have the feist that Makenna has, but he has the same energy, same persistence, same ideas. At least it keeps me busy.

Look at that face! How can you not just want to smile right back?!

Such a ham!

We have two of these small tables in our house, and these tend to be Conner's favorite place to hang out. He is climbing in and out of these and laughing at himself for it all day long! Sometimes getting stuck going in and out, but that doesn't stop him!

Cute and trouble, all at the same time!

Con Loves, and I mean LOVES the vacuum. He is a nut about it. So much so that I can hardly get the job done if he is around. It's sweet and challenging all at once.

Just tonight Conner was standing at a footstool and let go and confidently took two wobbly steps on his own. His first independent steps. I knew it was coming! He has been starting to let go of the furniture and stand on his own a lot more and you can tell he has big ideas about walking. But to see him let go and take off and try it out and actually get a few steps in, it was a bit of a surprise! Walking is just around the corner!

My Buddy and Me

2011-06-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

I can't even begin to express just how cute, sweet and adorable my little Kellen is to me. I just love that little boy. He knows how to have some feist in him when he needs too (and sometimes when he doesn't need to but is choosing to). But really, he is such a little lover.

One of the things I love about him is that he just loves to be together. He knows how to entertain himself when he needs to, but really he loves to just be with someone else as much as he can. Not in a bothersome way (most of the time). He is my kid that is content to just walk around the house with me, helping me empty the dishwasher, watching me fold clothes, following me when I am changing Conner's diaper, just talking and having cute little 2 year old conversation.
The other day I needed to was my car and I just knew he would jump at the opportunity to join in the fun. So we did a quick car wash together and it was the cutest, funnest thing. He got completely drenched and had fun doing it. But he also took the cleaning job very seriously. He helped move the heavy buckets of water all around and commented on how strong he is and how big his muscles are so that he can move the buckets all by himself. It was, for whatever reason, one of those moments and memories I will always have with me.

A few things about Kellen that I love and that just melt my heart:

-The way he comes and takes my hand in his when he wants me to come with me and play with him somewhere.

- The way his voice goes high pitched and excited when he says "you want to play with me?"

-How every night when I tuck him in bed and give him a kiss he says "I'm going to miss you out there" (meaning he is going to miss me while he is in bed and I am in the living room)

- When he has me sing lullabys to his baby Toby and gentle tucks her in bed.

- The way he comes and sits down on my lap and curls into me still. Or when we are sitting together or I am holding him and without even realizing it he runs his fingers through my hair or along my face.

- The fact that he has no perception of personal space. If he his sitting by you he has to be touching you!

Kellen is just a sweet boy...there is no other way to say it. I already think about how lucky his wife is going to be some day. He will be the type of man that is a total romantic, knows how to show affection and is loyal as can be. He is going to be an amazing father and his kids are just going to adore their Daddy. I promise you. I can see it already, even in his little 2 1/2 year old self. And some day I will show his fiancee this post and make her promise me that she is going to treat my boy good and take good care of his heart.

Because, after all, I loved him first.

The Many Faces of Makenna

2011-06-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

Dull moments? What in the world are those? Not when you have a Makenna in your family. One of the things I always cherish about her...She is always able to put a smile on my face!

Amused

Excited

Cute

Goofy

Shy

Insane

Optimistic

Swagger

Cheery

Makenna

I Guess He's Grown a Foot or Two....

2011-06-09T23:20:00.000-07:00

Because my little Brother is going on a Mission.

On May 20th David's mission call came in. Normally you get the envelope in the mail on a Thursday. But Thursday had come and gone with nothing for Dave, so we were all thinking it was going to be another week of waiting before he got it. But then, very surprisingly, there it was in the mail on Friday.

We all went out and got some Mexican food from "hot burrito" that night and talked/joked about where we all thought Dave would be going. Todd was confident (cocky even) that he was going to be called to Ohio. I was hoping that it was somewhere foreign but nothing too nuts. Either that or somewhere in the southern states. I think David was just praying it wasn't Idaho or Utah! You could tell he was feeling quite nervous about the whole thing. Makenna kept teasing that she was going to sneak the envelope and open it up before him...(I was grateful that really didn't happen....would not have been pretty!)

Once we were back from dinner we got all the family members on the phone(s) and everyone listened in while he opened the envelope and began reading out loud his mission call.

I think we were all quite surprised when he announced Culiacan, Mexico. (none were as surprised as my mom....see the picture below!)

Everyone was immediately very excited for him. I think there was a long moment of shock and surprise for Dave. I can only imagine how crazy and overwhelming it is to find out where you are going to spending the next 2 years of your life. Pa and Damo had a good time teasing Dave and trying to look up everything scary and intimidating about Culiacan (any of you that know Pa are not surprised by this at all). But we are all excited for Dave and he is happy and excited to serve the people of Mexico.

It is weird to think that in 2 years he will come back older, wiser, matured, rattling off everything in Spanish and probably thinking that "hot burrito" is only slightly better than Taco Bell after living 2 years on all the great Mexican food he will be fed while he is there.

And Makenna is just excited that he gets to go on a Mission where Dora lives!

Congrats Dave! We love you!

Doing Something Right

2011-06-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

Makenna in the car tonight on the way home from a picnic at the park for FHE:

"Mom, what is your favorite thing that you have? Not your family, Mom. I know you love your family. What is something you have that you love?"

One of the most important things for me as a parent is to make sure my kids always know just how much I love them. It was rewarding and reassuring tonight to know that I am at least succeeding in this part of parenting.

I love my family!

Walkers, T.P. and Saving the World

2011-06-05T22:54:00.001-07:00

Half scary, half exciting to think about and say, but our little Con is not too far away from being a 2 footed traveler. We seem to be inching closer to walking every day. The other day I set him in front of his little walker to see what he could do with it. And I swear, within seconds he was across the room!

Walking with his lion is now one of his favorite things to do. He is doing really good with his walker. He's got fast feet and he can definitely move along, balance himself well and even catch himself and recover if he is about to fall. Today on a couple of different occasions I saw him let got of the furniture and stand by himself for a few moments. And today he was also trying to stand himself up from a crawling position without holding onto anything. He is getting ideas. Big Ideas. And if he is anything like his older siblings then these ideas will translate into action at a fast pace! He sure does look cute and grown up moving around like the big boy he is!

They all do it. At some point or another we all unroll a roll a t.p. Other's of us will later go on to unrolling t.p. in peoples bushes, on their cars, over their trees, etc. But this is where it all begins. And that is where Conner is. Feels like a cute milestone....and then begins to drive you nuts when you are going through a whole roll of t.p. in a day! Still love you Con!

This is not an attractive picture of Makenna's mouth full of cupcake. But I thought it was cute in it's own way and, mostly, thought it did a good job capturing here missing tooth!

Once again, sort of an odd picture, but very cute to me. I love my boy and his stunning, big brown eyes! He totally melts my heart!

Grammy (sweet as she is) made Makenna and Kellen each a cape. I was sort of hoping I would get one too, but I guess Mom's are supposed to remain superheroes in disguise. Anyway, if you know my kids at all then you know what wonderful, appropriate gifts capes would be! So if you are over visiting and you see a flash of red fly by, that would be my superhero children on some mission or another. A day or so ago I was in the kitchen and Makenna was helping Kellen put on his cape. She finished buttoning his and was getting hers on herself and said "Wait Bud Bud! Don't go Save the World yet. You need to wait for me!" The world has been saved numerous times in just the last week. You have the McKamey children to thank!

Family Matters

2011-06-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

There's nothing as special as time spent together as a family.
Todd had suggested that we take the kids to do something fun over the Memorial Day weekend. So on Memorial Day we loaded the kids up in the car, took a drive over the Coronado Bridge and into Downtown. We parked over at Seaport Village and took a nice walk along the embarcadero. The kids (and the parents) had a really good time seeing the ocean, looking at all the Sailboats and Ships and even a Submarine! They were a little bit disappointed that we were not going on the ships, but we will definitely save that for some other time in the near future!

But it was a gorgeous day down by the water (aside from the big crowds and difficult parking). It was so nice to get outside, walk around together and just spend some time together, all 5 of us, doing something out of the norm.

My 4 most favorite people in this world!

A close up of Kellen from the previous picture. Such a silly boy. Totally appeasing the parents.

Makenna was playing photographer while we were walking back to the car. She was hilarious. She would take a picture and then turn it around to me and say "Look Mom, what a great shot!"

After a few hours in the sun a diet coke and nice lunch were in order. We took the kids over to the Corvette Diner and had a fun lunch. It's always nice to just relax, enjoy being silly and have fun with each other. Our kids are pro's at this already, so maybe it is just nice to give the adults a good excuse to get silly right along with the kids!

We girls feel a bit out numbered these days (especially as Conner is getting a bit older and starting to take upon his role of being another little boy in the family).

Conner, happy, as always!

Two of a Kind

2011-05-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

These two have a funny relationship. Sometimes they LOVE each other to death and Conner will just bust out laughing at the site of Kellen. Sometimes Kellen gets in a total mood to tease and harass Conner, or smother Conner or lay right on top of him. Sometimes Conner plays along with this. Sometimes he gets mad and annoyed about it. I guess it depends on how tolerant he is feeling for the day.
Luckily (and gratefully) there is not really anything mean that goes on between the two. Kellen is really quite loving and gentle with Conner. If he is rough it is out of immaturity and being too overwhelming or strong for Conner. But he never really tries to be mean or gets really mad at him. (This is not always the case in the relationship between Kellen and Makenna)

It has been fun watching their relationship evolve more over the last month or two. I am starting to get more of a feel for how they are going to get along and interact with one another once Conner is getting around even more and the age gap closes between them. I am optimistic that they will be really good little buddies. I think Kellen will enjoy the shift in power and sort of "get a kick" out of being able to be in charge and be the bigger one and boss Conner around. But I think it will all be done pretty innocently. They have a sweet love for each other and I can already see how their personalities are going to balance one another out. Just the way that Kellen and Makenna bring balance to each other and challenge the other person in ways that is good for them. It is just so neat to watch the way the personalities within a family sort of all fit together like a big puzzle. How could you say that we were not all destined to be together as a family??

This is what I see most of the time I look down at my feet during the day. My little blond, blue eyed shadow that I adore.

One of Kellen's new activities when he is out in the backyard is to load his pockets up with rocks. He has decided he enjoys having a rock collection. He calls them his "collection rocks". It makes me smile every time I hear it. Now any time he or Makenna are outside playing with each other and they find a rock the will run and show the other person "Look, it's a collection rock!"

Something Missing?

2011-05-27T23:03:00.000-07:00

You think that you are taking your kids to the dentist for their normal, routine cleaning and check-up. But I should know by now that often times with children the unexpected happens, probably even more often than the expected happens.

The good news: both kids were cavity free. The not so good news: Makenna is going to have a harder time biting into an apple for the next year or so that she did a little over a week ago.

Upon doing x-rays of Makenna's teeth they quickly noticed in the x-ray that there was something "not right" going on with Makenna's top left middle tooth. Even to my untrained eye it was evident that things were not as they should be.

Once the doctor was able to look at the x-rays it was quickly determined that Makenna's tooth had developed an abscess above it. At some point she must have hit the tooth hard enough to damage the roots of the tooth. I can't remember any particular time that this would have happened, but I can attest to the fact that there have been some cut lips and bleeding mouths before as a result of falls or running into things. Just nothing that I had ever thought would have done serious damage.

Anyway, an abscess had developed and was becoming infected and so the tooth needed to be pulled. It just happened to work out that she had not had anything to eat or drink before her apt since it was so early in the morning. So they were able to pull the tooth then and there. It was nice being able to just get it done, but it also caught me (and the tooth fairy) very off guard.

Makenna was a trooper about the tooth being pulled. She didn't really know what was happening until the tooth was out. They gave her a tiny little pink treasure box to take the tooth home in (cutest thing ever!!). That night she put her treasure box under her pillow. She had expectations that the tooth fairy was going to bring her a coin (don't know why she thought that, but that works for us!). The next morning there was a bright gold dollar coin under her pillow next to the tooth. The tooth fairy had agreed to allow Makenna to keep the tooth, seeing as it was her very first tooth she has lost.

It is still a bit strange seeing Makenna with her new smile. It certainly makes her look older and more grown up. We better get used to it though because she will probably have this goofy smile for a good year or so until the adult tooth works its way down. She is the envy of her preschool and primary class, since she is the only one in there with a missing tooth.

All the fun adventures with children. It keeps things exciting!

It's kind of hard to tell she is missing a tooth in these pictures, since you just see her bottom teeth right through the gap. But I promise, it is gone. I'll try to get better pictures. Still cute though!

Rite of Passage

2011-05-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

I'm just finishing up giving Conner a bath. I hear Kellen crying outside and know Todd will intercept and figure out what is going on. 30 second later Todd calls for me and says "Kellen is bleeding, a lot!" Of course I am thinking "How much is a lot?" and "Where is he bleeding from?" I pull Conner out of the bath and rush into the living room to find Todd holding a blood soaked paper towel on the back of Kellen's head. One look at his head and it iss evident that we will be taking an ER trip that night.

Apparently Kellen and Makenna were outside in the backyard playing. It sounds like Kellen was trying to climb up the small hillside in our backyard and fell backwards, hit his head and sliced it open. It's a pretty good gash...probably a good inch long and relatively deep.

Once we get the bleeding slowed down I wrap his head up with some gauze on the wound. Grammy quickly comes over to stay with Kenna and Con (yet another moment where I find myself incredibly grateful to live only a block away from my mom). Poor Makenna is quite sad to see us go. It is hard to tell if she is sad because of Kellen being so hurt or seeing Mommy and Daddy have to take off on such short notice. I think a bit of both.

By now Kellen has relaxed and calmed down pretty well. He looks both hilarious and adorable with his head all wrapped up. A story or two on the drive over and we are at the hospital.

Luckily we don't have to wait more than about a half hour. The nurses and doctor are wonderful! They load him up with stickers and he is a happy camper. Apparently cuts on the head (in the hair line) are closed up with staples, not stitches. The nice part about this is that it is faster and there are no needles involved at all. A little gel to numb the area, a bear hug from mom and two staples in the back of the head later and he is good to go!

I'm still amazed at how tough he was. While they stapled him up there were some tears and an "Owe" here and there, but that was it. I was glad to be the one holding him because that seemed better to me than having to see his face and watch him cry.

I know a million parents experience similar ER trips all the time. I am certain this will not be our only one. But I have to say it was a bit emotional a couple of times. Just seeing my baby boy sad and hurting and scared. Thinking of how grateful I am to have strong, healthy, happy children. To think of how painful it is to watch your child hurting. It's always good to count your blessing and be reminded of the important things in life.

Kellen, you are a stud! So cooperative and brave and tough! You make me smile every day and brought some good smiles to the ER staff tonight. Love you boy!

Mama and Kellen reading books while waiting in the ER. Not a bad wrap job on his wounded head if you ask me! Score one point for the mama!

Lookin cute in the hospital bed, accompanied by his "b's" and "baby Toby"

Two staples, a little ointment and we are good to go!

The Little Artist

2011-05-23T22:16:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Makenna had her Preschool art show. It's the cutest thing! Throughout the year the teachers save some of the children's artwork and then display it at the art show at the end of the year. It is so fun to see all the little munchkins running around so proud, finding their names on their artwork and showing their families. For me the night was a touch sad because it was Makenna's last Preschool event. It is still just so weird to me that we are only a few months away from embarking on the kindergarten adventure. Seems like she just started Preschool the other day.

However, seeing her holding her little best friend Katie's hand and walking around by herself, talking to her other friends, checking out the art, grabbing cookies, she seemed like such a big girl. It was all too easy to see the pre-Kindergartener in her.

I love Makenna's Preschool and am so happy that Kellen will be Preschool age next year so that I can still go by there a couple of times a week.

Kenna and her best little preschool buddy Katie. These two are so cute together. It's fun seeing her play and be buddies with another little girl since she is so often around little boys.

A true work of art.

Kenna and Mrs Silva. An amazing teacher. She will be greatly missed by Makenna! She has set the bar high for the Kindergarten teachers to live up to.

As much as I think Conner looks like his Daddy and the McKamey line, I can totally see resemblance to his Grammy as well!

Kenna's Preschool hatched baby chicks in one of the class rooms. This was one of the baby chicks 5 weeks old. It was such a neat thing for them to get to do!

Rah Rah and Brookie were down during the art show so they got to join in the fun. Brooke was perfectly happy to be there, as you can tell! Such a doll! Love her!

Around the House

2011-05-17T21:50:00.001-07:00

Con is just about everywhere these days. He is doing what a 10 month old should be and is getting into everything. It's half cute, half difficult. One thing he Loves is the dishwasher. Any time I am in the kitchen and he sees me open it up he comes bookin' over and gets his hands in their right away. It's fun when the dishes are clean, not so helpful when they are dirty. Still, he always looks cute doing it.

I love being a mommy of 3....such beautiful faces, tons of laughs, different personalities, So much fun! Really, can't think of anything more wonderful than being a Mommy to these kiddos.

This girl has so much spunk. Love it!

Kellen is becoming goofier and goofier the older he gets. It's fun to see him growing and maturing and coming into his own. He can be such a reserved and shy boy, that it is fun to see his wild, silly, light hearted side busting out more and more. He was getting a kick out of pretending like he was sleeping while I was trying to take the picture. As soon as I gave up and put the camera away he sat up and laughed out loud and said, "ha ha mama! I tricked you. I'm silly!" He's right.

Kenna is such a little mommy with Conner. It's still so fun seeing this side of her come out more. She's never been the type of kid to play much with dolls or play pretend mommy. So seeing her comfort and nurture and sweetly care for Conner is just so sweet to me. It is a big contrast to the way she "takes care" of Kellen. She prefers more to be Kellen's Sgt. and just boss him around all day long. It's fun to see the different dynamics/relationships between the kids.

Makenna and Kellen have adopted this new activity of making "gates" or "cages" for themselves using a serious of pillows, blankets and furniture. They then pretend to be an variety of animals while in their "gate". Makenna is often times Rudolph or a river otter (though in this picture she appears to be being something a bit more vicious). Kellen is always either a Rhino or a Kitty.

Poor Conner wants so badly to hang with the big kids outside. Almost any time they go outside Conner will go to the screen and stand there whining, screaming, yelping or just watching with envy as they ride their bikes and swing and run. He loves when Bella comes over and licks the screen and says hi to him. We spend a lot of time outside swinging because honestly, he is probably happier outside or swinging than he is anywhere. This is the main reason I am anxious for him to walk. It will be much easier to let him to keep up. My kids are just not the indoors type. I can't blame them.

Goofballs. What else can be said.

"Wild Zoo Animal Park"

2011-05-15T23:19:00.000-07:00

An unexpected and very spontaneous trip to the Wild Animal Park with my mom and sister turned out to be one of the most fun days I have had in awhile. We go to the Zoo so often (which the kids love), so the Wild Animal Park was a really fun way to mix it up. We had a blast and the time flew by there. We need to go back again some time soon so we can actually walk through the rest of the park. We stayed busy the whole time seeing the Butterfly Jungle, going through Lorakeet Landing (where you can buy nectar and the birds land on you and drink it from a cup) and then riding the tram through all the wild animals. It was a blast and the kids keep wanting to know when we are going again. The answer is Soon! I can't wait to go back.

Here is just a portion of the pictures. The rest will be posted as soon as I get them off the other cameras. That's what happens when you having 3 people using different cameras all day :)

Is this not the cutest picture? I mean seriously, that many kids all looking at the camera and looking more than decent?! It was a miracle. And such a fun thing to do and remember.

Conner already has ideas about wanting to get out of the stroller and walk along. My baby is getting bigger! And cuter every day I might add!

I thought Kellen would be in heaven when he saw this giant Rhino (the kid is In Love with Rhino's! He pretends to be one ever single day, multiple times a day). But much to my surprise he was a bit stand offish. But he got aboard with everyone else and, once again, such a cute picture! We had good luck that day!

If I thought Kellen was having issues, Brooke took the cake!

These little girls are just the cutest things together. They have such a sweet little relationship. I really think they are going to be like sisters for each other, which is nice since they both have younger brothers. They really love each other to pieces. But I tell ya, those two are going to get into some mischief! We're keeping a close eye already!

Gotta love the Mama of all Mama's!

Beautiful ladies. Love em!

And then there's my sunshine!

It's That Time Again

2011-05-15T22:59:00.000-07:00

New bathing suites have been bought, the sunscreen is always within reach, and the kiddie pool has taken it's place in our backyard. It's not quite warm enough to get in the big pool yet, but it's not too far off either! I love this time of the year. The kids are happy, they spend the day away outside running, splashing, having fun! They are literally putting on their shoes and going in the backyard in their PJ's at 7:30 in the morning. It just seems like people get along better, they rest well at night and just live it up all day long!

This is Conner with Carter, his Twin from another mother. Conner and Carter were both born on the same day, just 4 or so hours apart. Carter's older brother Peter is just 4 months older then Kellen. There are some good little boy friendships and bonds being formed here! Suzy and I are both hoping to get lucky and have girls together next....which still won't be for awhile!!!

Sadly Conner did not too much enjoy his first swimming play date with Carter. He loves splashing in the bath for as long as he can, so I thought that buying this little tiny pool for the babies to play in would be a huge success with Conner. But apparently Conner does not do cold water. Carter just thought he was being ridiculous and lived it up himself!

The big kids got a fancy pool this year, all equipped with a slide and everything (only because that is all they had left unless I wanted to buy and 8 foot pool, which I didn't). The nice thing is that the kids just now stay busy running in circles going up and down the slide. This keeps them from getting bored in the pool attempting things like jumping off the patio table into the pool, or swinging off the rope swing into the pool.....we will see how long the slide excitement holds out!

Kellen and Peter....Buddies

Bud Bud sliding in style!

Kenna does not do anything conventionally.

Out of deep love for this little boy, I kindly carried buckets of warm water outside from my sink to fill up Conner's pool the next time we had a swim day. He was much appreciative of this and the outcome was a much happier water baby!

I just love this picture. Kellen cracks me up. He can be so serious one minute.....

and then a complete goofball the next!

Conner wants so badly to keep up with his big Sister and Brother....it's cute and sad all at once. He has no idea what he is in for.....he needs to learn to enjoy the peace of his safe little baby zone while it lasts!

Mixed Emotions

2011-05-11T23:02:00.000-07:00

My little Bro just got his mission papers turned in last week and now we are all excited and waiting for him to get his mission call, find out where he will be going and when he will be leaving. I'm totally excited for him! I know that his mission will be an amazing thing for him. But I am sad for me that my little brother will be gone for awhile. And even more sad for my kiddos that they will not have their Uncle "Ding" (or Dingy as Kellen calls him) around to get them all wound up, push them too high on the swings, throw them around, use them as weights to work out with, etc. However, I am grateful for the wonderful example he is setting for our kids and showing them how important the Lords work is. We love you Dave!