A little bit of this...

A little bit of that.

Life has been a bit nuts lately. But in a good way. Starting mid August I feel like things get busy and then it stays that way until the new year. We have had an onslaught of Birthday's, parties, blessings, our sealing day is coming up around the corner, more birthdays, Makenna starting preschool...just a lot of busy things to do. But like I said, good busy.

Makenna had her 3 year check-up this last week. She is mostly doing really well. She is 31 lbs (48%) and 38 inches tall (54%). She is developing just as she should and, according to Makenna "learning how to grow up!" She had to get blood drawn because she has been anemic and on iron since she was 1. They wanted to recheck her blood thinking that she would be able to come off the iron by now. She was a champ getting her blood drawn, but the results were not so good. Apparently, even having been on quite a bit of iron for two years now she is Still anemic. The doctor was mildly concerned that she could still be anemic while taking as much iron as she is, so we are supposed to set up an apt to see a hematologist soon. Hopefully they could figure out better what is going on with my little anemic baby. Other than that she is in tip top shape.
Kellen is such a big boy these days. He is officially saying his first word (other than Mama and Dada... I don't count those as a first word). He has been saying Dog and saying it for a little while now. He is finally thinning out a bit. He really has not gained any weight in the last two months but has grown a little over an inch. He is 25 lbs 10 oz and 32 1/2 inches tall. Yup, still big. But I think being mobile has slowed down the weight gain a bit. He is soooo ready to walk and will be taking off any day now. He has taken a few independent steps a couple of times and you can see the look in his eyes that he wants to running with his sissy sooo bad. I give him 2 weeks tops and we will have a walker!

Well, that's the main gist of it for now. We have a big week coming up though, so we should have more fun stories to come!

In my book this is sort of a right of passage from infancy to toddler hood. Every kid has to get into the toilet paper at least once, right?

Mine!

I can't tell you how often I find these two like this when I come out from putting Kellen to bed. Love it! "Daddy's nigh night mama!"

Milk bubbles discovered!

Kenna and Uncle Ding. I just love the names that kids give things/people.

The happiest boy I know!

Makenna lovin her birthday loot!

"Happy Day" Kenna

Happy 3rd Birthday Makenna! I love you with all my heart. You are my angel and always will be. You bring so much love, joy, laughter and happiness into the world around you. You are a beautiful girl with so much strength and the potential to do anything you set your mind to. You are a powerful little force to be reckoned with!

I am grateful beyond words to have you in my life.

To have you with us here today.

You mean the world to me.

Happy Birthday Kenna!

Here's lookin' at you kid!

Sooo Big!

I swear my little man is growing up so fast right now. It seems like one year is right around the corner, and yet it feels like he was just born yesterday. But he getting to be a big boy and not my small little baby anymore. But he still likes to cuddle and needs his mama a lot, and that makes me feel good. He is such a sweet baby boy. He is 10 1/2 months old now and growing every day. He is still a little over 25lbs. Yes, he is a big boy, but he actually lost a few ounces in the last month. I am sure it is from being mobile and burning more calories, but you can tell he is starting to thin out. Still my chunky little man, but less chunky. According to my measurement he is a little over 32 inches tall, so that means he has grown about an inch in a month, which I believe. He is getting taller. He is catching up to his sissy quickly. Kellen is a crazy fast crawler. He has his own "hybrid crawl" that he does and it is a very quick, effective method of crawling. He is a smart one. Kellen definitely says Dog now and will mimic other words and noises. He is pulling himself up on everything, cruising along furniture very quickly. He can take a step or so from one piece of furniture to the next. He just started standing on his own and it won't be long before he takes off walking. He is such a happy little guy. He and Makenna have a blast playing together, especially now that he is crawling. They love to chase each other around. I just love my little Bud so much!

Kellen got a new walker the other day. Sissy was nice enough to show him how to use it and help keep it steady for him to stand up on.

It goes a bit fast for him right now :)

This boy LOVES to be outside! Sure way to stop the fussing.

Getting a little taste of frosting...

My little beach babe....he didn't even try to eat the sand!

Stealing his sisters Capri Sun...so a little sneak. Thankfully she thought it was funny too.

Kellen learned how to crawl up onto the trampoline...to bad he hasn't figured out how to get down safely yet.

Funnies

Kellen:

Since Kellen has been on the move he has really embraced mobility and been getting into Everything, as a mobile baby should. But he has picked up a new habit along with the mobility. Every day Kellen seems to pick something that he will get attached to in the morning and then carry around with him in his left hand All Day! He will bring it or drag it with him everywhere. And don't you dare try taking it away or a melt down bound to happen. The funny thing is that the item changes every day. It is not just one thing in particular. But some of the favorites tend to be a baby wipe, a brush of some sort (toothbrush or hairbrush), matchbox cars, squeaky bath toys, etc. And he doesn't really "play" with whatever item is the chosen item for the day. He just needs to carry it with him. Funny boy.

notice in the picture below the green plastic mini-slinky he is carrying. That was the "item" for the day :) And now that he can crawl I have a little man at my feet, whining and complaining and following me from room to room when he wants to be picked up. I find it cute.

Kellen is starting to dance when he hears music and has also started this new head shake that he does. It's funny because any time I sing to him "shake, shake, shake...shake, shake, shake...shake my Kellen, shake my Kellen" he will almost always start shaking his head. Both he and Makenna enjoy this a lot. You can tell Kellen amuses himself because he will often do something or make a funny noise and then start laughing at himself. I guess that is a good thing.

Makenna:

Whenever we watch The Lion King Makenna will transform from a sweet, loving little girl to a ferocious, growling, roaring lion for the rest of the day. Seriously. She will growl at Kellen if he comes to sneak some of her snacks away. She will "roar" at people for no good reason. She will lick you to give you kisses and will walk around singing "Hakunamatata" for at least a good 24 hours. Well, the other day we started our morning out with The Lion King, so after a day full of lion taming we were taking our bath to relax and wind up the evening. I was rinsing out Makenna's hair when she looks up at me and says:

"Mom! Your messing up my mane!"

Seriously?

We were having craft time at the counter and were coloring and playing with crayola markers, crayons, scissors, glue, etc. The phone rang and I got a bit distracted talking to my mom. Makenna gets down from the counter to go potty. A few minutes later she comes around the corner and proud as can be says "Mama, look at me!"

Here is what I saw...

I was a very poor parent in this moment. If I was supposed to reprimand my daughter for coloring all over herself with marker, I very much failed to do so. As soon as I saw her I went to open my mouth and tell her she should not have done that, and instead a laugh just came rolling out. It was hilarious. I couldn't keep from laughing and we both laughed together for a long time and enjoyed a good photo session. We kept it all on until bath time that night. We got great looks while running errands the rest of the day :)

You can't tell in these pictures, but she had even colored one of her teeth! I just love her! And thank goodness for non-toxic crayola markers.

I love my silly family.

Life goes on

Since our big scare it has been weird for me to just have life keep going on like normal. And although everything around me seems to be moving as it once did, I know that for me life will never be quite the same. The good part about that is I have endless amounts of patience with my children now...I don't care if they are being annoying, I am just happy to have them here. And for the time being I am a bit of a nervous wreck, but I know that will heal with time.

Makenna on the other hand is doing GREAT! You would never know by looking at her that things had come so close as they really did. She is being her old self and is back in the pool with no trouble at all. She is a strong girl. I always knew that about her, I guess I just never knew how strong. She makes me so proud.

So here is just a quick up date as to how we have been spending our time. I feel like we took it pretty easy this week and I am falling behind in real life, but that's okay. I just needed to take is slow for a little bit and hopefully this week I can join the rest of you in the real world again.

I am so blessed to have my family here and healthy and happy. It just makes me grateful for it every moment of every day.

This is Makenna and KC...the man that saved my baby. Talk about an instant bond with a person. We will love this man forever!

Such a happy girl...she doesn't miss a beat!

My baby is getting so big all the sudden. 10 months old...can you believe it?!

Kenna's lookin kind of thuggish here :)

We went to the wild animal park and Makenna thought this was the neatest thing ever. You buy nectar and can feed the birds. They landed all over her.and we didn't even get pooped on :)

The little "Bud" is finally on his hands and knees and getting into EVERYTHING now. But he is soo much happier, so it works for me. He is already trying to stand alone too. He wants to walk badly...he's to big for this baby crawling stuff.

They really adore each other!

Daddy knows how to be a good sport...only for his little girl!

What a rock star!