New Years "News"

For those of you who have had your suspicions, and those of you that didn't have a clue, we've gone and done it again! That's right.....Baby McKamey #3 is in the oven and cooking away. Today we had our first apt and the doctor confirmed that I am 9 weeks along today. Our official due date is August 4th....we seem to have a lot of birthdays in August in my family so why not add another one?

We are all very excited and anxious to have another little one. For those of you who are questioning it...we were actually "trying" this time ;) We just got pregnant Right Away (which I guess in no shocker). We told the kiddos today. Kellen just ran around screeching like normal, but Makenna was very excited. She kept wanting to see the baby in my belly and seemed disappointed that my belly is still small. It was nice to have her call my belly small because even though I am only 9 weeks I feel huge already. I am certainly growing much quicker this pregnancy. They say that you show earlier with each pregnancy. This time around I believe them.

This pregnancy has so far been much more exhausting and nauseating that my previous 2. I don't know if each one is just going to get more and more challenging. Or maybe it just seems harder because I am chasing more on the outside now??? Either way, I have been wiped out. It has been a bit challenging being in the first trimester during the holidays...I feel like I have struggled to keep up. But life is finally slowing down and that is nice. My family is enduring my crazy, irrational moodiness and inability to cook a normal meal. I keep telling them it will get better and soon I will be able to make more than mac n cheese, sandwiches or cereal for them :)

Anyway, we are happy to share the news and excited to see what 2010 has in store.

Milestones of sorts....

Well, I have a few milestones to share...silly ones, but important to me all the same.

First off, Kellen got a potty for Christmas! It was Soooo not my idea to try "potty training" with him this young. But Kellen wants to pee on the potty more than any 15 month old I have ever known. The kid is crazy! I don't know if it is because he sees his big sissy doing it and it looks cool, but he really wants to go on the potty. He has done it a few times already. In the last month or so he has gotten amazing at letting me know he needs to or has just gone potty. He will come over to me and tell me any time he is going "pee pee". And although he usually leaves the room to take care of #2, he immediately comes to me and lets me know he is "stinky". It just amazes me that he is so aware so young. So we have a little potty of his own now. He can't be trusted around the big potty because, as much as he wants to pee in there, he wants to splash in it even more. But we have been spending a lot of time on the potty and he loves it. I am not pushing him at all...I figure he is setting the pace on this one. I am just here to encourage and assist. So here is my little bud bud on the potty....

Also, I have no picture to go with this, but Kellen is talking Sooooo much all of the sudden. He easily says 20+ words and seems to be saying something new all the time. His favorite thing to say is "all done!" He is also suddenly Really good at saying Sissy and today I heard him say "No" for the first time (which was much less exciting than all the other words he says). It just seems like the talking has come out of nowhere and it is so sweet to hear his little voice!

And then my dear Makenna Mae....she also hit another milestone the other day. I had just finished up cooking dinner and come into her room to find this....

I have to admit that when I first saw it I smiled. This is something that every child does sooner or later. Honestly, I am shocked it has taken her this long. Even better, she had Kellen standing there helping her out....the little sneak. I am sure she knew she would get in trouble and figured it would be fun to have a partner in crime. It was almost sweet seeing the two of them together coloring away on the walls.

Of course I let her see none of this. I had a serious talk with her, we ate dinner and then she helped mommy clean it off and served her time out. Mommies frustration over the ordeal settled in during the clean up job. She had used dry erase markers and I naively thought that it would come off with just a spray and a wipe. Boy was I wrong. 40 minutes of scrubbing later the magic eraser finally did the job...and it is still not perfect. So beware of dry erase markers. I guess beware of markers all together.

And lastly, Makenna got her first "board game" for Christmas. We got her Chutes and Ladders and Candyland. So far we have only played Chutes and Ladders and she loves it! It is just so sweet to see her playing a board game. She has gotten so big!

Naughty or Nice??

For at least the last two months there has been a lot of talk about which list the children would end up on....The Naughty or Nice List. Well, Christmas morning the results were in and it looks like the kids just barely made the cut! Much to their overwhelming excitement the awoke to a coal free house and a load of presents under the tree.

We had a great Christmas this year. Everyone enjoyed their gifts, we all soaked up the time together, had lots of fun, smiles, laughs and memories. Another good Christmas for the books. The holidays truly mean so much more and are enjoyed in a way I never anticipated now that I have children and can see the magic of the holidays through their eyes. The pure and innocent excitement in Kenna's eyes when she saw that Santa really did eat up his cookies and milk...and even left some crumbs on the plate! I just love it!

I hope everyone had as much fun and love this Christmas as we did! Now on to the new year!

The cousins having fun together on Christmas Eve. Kellen now gets really excited seeing Brooke and saying "Baby, Baby!" And Makenna just loves to hold and play with Brookie as much as Brooke can tolerate! Such good buddies!

The Tree Christmas Morning

I was amazed at how well Kellen did opening his gifts. He would barely stop unwrapping for me to get a picture taken!

Very happy Christmas babies

This gift was the highlight of Makenna's Christmas...a chest with 3 Princess Dresses, crowns, shoes and jewelry. She is obsessed with playing dress up and with these new dresses is even further convinced that she is a real princess.

Christmas fun for everyone

Well, we have been slow this year at getting everything ready and up and decorated for Christmas. But eventually we got with the program. Christmas cards made it out before Christmas (not a small task), decorations have gone up, cookies have been baked, Christmas lights have been looked at, a perfect tree has been picked, brought home, decorated, and most of the presents have been wrapped (which is a good thing considering it's Christmas Eve). This year I have just had a hard time keeping up. But, we've gotten it all done and now, just one day away from Santa's big arrival, we are all anxious and excited and feeling the holiday spirit. The kids have been hyper as can be. I thought that Christmas time would mean perfectly behaved children with the threat of "naughty/nice lists" hanging over their heads. Instead, I feel that all the excitement and anticipation of the Jolly Man's arrival has left the kids bouncing off the wall and full of excessive energy. Oh well....tomorrow morning will come and seeing the hugs smiles on their faces will make it all worth it.

Frankie the Christmas Post makes his return! The kids LOVE this singing post. Mom and Dad survive it, but it just makes them sooo happy that hearing the song 100 times every day is pretty worth the accompanying insanity that is provoked.

The kids loved the Christmas lights....especially Kellen. He "ooohed and aaaahhhed" his way around the block until I got tired of chasing him off peoples lawns and put him in the stroller.

Daddy and Kenna with the chosen tree.

Surprisingly, Kellen really got the whole concept of decorating pretty well. He knew to take the ornaments and stick them on the tree. Most would immediately fall off, which he seemed very confused and frustrated with. But with Mommy's help he got a good number up there himself.

More than putting them on, he loves taking them off and excitedly walking around saying "Ball! Ball!" It is a good thing I like decorating trees because, thanks to Kellen's passion for undecorating them, I have been able to redecorate ours at least 6 times!

Makenna was sooo excited to put the star on top! And she did a good job at it too! Except the top branch is a bit crooked and she keeps stressing out about the star looking like it is going to fall off....and she is right :)

Our annual Christmas Tree timer picture. This one turned out pretty darn good!

Ho Ho Ho!

Last year we didn't do a Santa picture, so this year it was a must. It turns out that both kids are at quite a challenging age for Santa pictures. Kellen screamed his head off at the mere sight of Santa. I anticipate that one and was prepared to just throw him on poor Santa's lap and snap away. However, Makenna gave us more resistance that I was expecting. She is so excited and in love with Santa right now, I though that seeing him would be a dream come true. Apparently the jolly fat guy is more appealing and exciting to see on TV, read in books and only approach in person as a stuffed, inflated, painted or plastic version. Kenna wanted nothing to do with the big man in red. And no amount of bribes were working either. "I will buy you your own box of candy from See's" "We will get you cotton candy flavored ice cream from cold stone" "You can stay up late and eat popcorn and watch Christmas movies" Nothing was working. So, after about 10 minutes of negotiating and failing, I told the camera man to get ready. My plan was to get the other kids screaming on his lap and then throw Makenna in from of the Jolly man and pray that a few pics could be snapped before she ran away in hysterics. To my surprise, as soon as I sat her down she just froze. At first she looked on the verge of tears and was practically trembling. But with all the bells jingling, Pa jumping up and down shouting "woo hoo", Auntie Rah Rah making funny faces, her name being shouted a million times and mama waving candy canes around, she looked at the camera (pathetically) and got some good shots in there. It is definitely one for the memory books. Thank you, dear Santa for your patients. You truly are a saint.

Here is a look at the progression of pictures. We got one of all the grand kids for my parents and baby Brooke was the only cooperative one. I am sure she was looking at Makenna and Kellen and thinking "What the heck is wrong with these fools?" I don't know Brooke...but I am guessing that you will understand a year from now.

'Tis the season...and stuff like that

Although I am feeling in a holiday mood this year, we are having a hard time catching up with time. We still haven't gotten our tree (which Makenna keeps reminding me about...we will be doing that early this week). We just barely decorated the house this weekend...but Todd did get lights on the outside of the house this year as well! Go Daddy! It just feels like time is getting away from me and all the things I want to be doing this Christmas seem to be happening late.

But we have done a few things and we will be doing more this week! Here are a few "christmasy" pictures and then just some other random silliness that is always taking place in our home.

Grammy brought over a gingerbread house kit and she and Makenna, with some help from mommy and daddy, built it! It was so much fun and neat to see Makenna really enjoy the assembly job. Kellen kept sneaking candy off the table and stuffing his mouth full, so he too enjoyed the activity.

Kenna found these silly glasses in uncle "ding's" room. Our form of dress up at our house :)

Kellen wants so bad to be big and ride Kenna's tricycle. And although he is a big boy, he is not quite big enough for that one yet. However, he has learned that if he sits on the back like this, his sissy will give him a free ride around the backyard. Smart little guy.

I hate the rain. Really, I do. And don't try and convince me to feel any differently about it...you will be wasting your time. So, in an attempt to improve my mood in the midst of all the rain we have recently had, I bundled the kids up (San Diego style) and we went splashing in the puddles and playing in the rain outside. The kids and I had so much fun, as did Bella (the dog). It really made the rain much more tolerable that day!

Kenna, teaching he little brother the art of splashing in puddles.

As you can see, in our backyard the word "puddle" is and understatement. We have some sever drainage problems on the side of our house, which forms Lake McKamey any time it rains. But it makes for good fun for the kiddos.

Uneventful Events

They may not seem that exciting to you, but it is every day life. And that is the stuff I want to remember when my kids are grown.

Other than the toilet and trash can, Kellen's other obsession is taking pens out of the drawer in the office. Todd and I keep saying we need to move the pens up higher and then we never do it. Apparently we like to pick up pens all day.

Kellen on the hunt for his binky. It has to stay in bed when he wakes up and he only gets it when he is sleeping. So sometimes he will be willing to take a nap, just to have his binky. Works for me!

For Thanksgiving Kenna's preschool class put on a little pow wow. The kids were dressed as indians and pilgrims and sang songs for the parents. It was Kenna's first ever performance and it was the cutest thing ever. Sadly, the minute I pulled out my camera the battery died. I was in tears (literally). So when we got home I made Kenna dress back up and let me take a few pics of her playing her drum. I had to capture the image. At least it is something I will never forget.

She may only be three, but this girl already has a passion for wearing lip gloss. She will put it on as many times in a day as I will allow her to. How does this start so young? I was just not that type of little girl. I am not even that type of big girl. Though I wear more lip gloss now than I ever have before because Kenna loves to be my make-up artist as well.

Makenna AKA Super Girl

Why?

The dentist kept telling me to get her to stop sucking her thumb, but I had no idea it would do THIS to her teeth.

Hanging out at the mall the weekend after Thanksgiving. It was raining so it was really the only thing to do.

When did my brother become such a handsome man?! Watch out ladies of Idaho...here he comes!

Kellen was not amused.

The clean up may not be fun, but I just love to see my boy (and girl for that matter) getting in the mud and playing and having fun. It's good for 'em. He looks cranky in this picture, but he was really having a blast.

Brooke was down visiting and we were trying to get ready to leave. Kenna was keeping an eye on Brooke in her car seat while we got the bags packed up. When we went to get her this is what we found....Kenna had filled her car seat with blankies, toys, blocks, dolls, etc. You could barely see Brooke, who was looking a bit freaked out. It was hilarious.

My big girl, cruising around the lakes. That girl is a maniac on her tricycle!

Kellen is IN LOVE with animals of any kind right now. So I knew he would have a blast feeding the ducks, which he did. He was so enthralled. The only sad part was that he kept trying to touch them and they would just steal all his bread, which he would get very offended about. It was way cute though.

Sarah giving Brooke a pickle. We were expecting some crazy face and reaction, but she loved it and went to town on it! Weird kid.