Is This What I Signed Up For?

BOYS! Sigh...

I don't think that...

...I will ever get sick of taking, looking at or posting pictures of my children.

My brother and I were talking on the phone the other day. He filled me in on all the new and current events going on in his 20 year old life. He had a number of things to tell me about, updates to give me, etc. Then he asked what was new with me.

At first I just said, "Oh, not much. Just the same old stuff." I told him that as a stay at home mom my ongoings and updates might not be that exciting to him.

I then let him have it anyway.

Told him how Kellen is driving me crazy with the toilet because he wants to stand to pee now. (Yes, I encouraged this and am regretting it now. What is so wrong with boys sitting to pee?) Though he has bladder control, knows when he needs to go potty, is out of pull-ups even at nap and night time, and can get his shorts up and down mostly on his own...he Cannot get all of the pee into the toilet. I swear I have to mop 3 times a week. Teaching a barely 2 year old to lift the lid every time and "aim" into the potty....not easy. I'm starting to think it may even be impossible.

Told him that Makenna had either been growling or making high pitched "whale" noises all day long that were driving me crazy.

Kellen is constantly asking me for candy and fruit snacks for breakfast and has a melt down almost daily when I tell him no.

Conner is just cute and cuddly. He is still at the age of not being able to do any harm or drive me insane at all.

Makenna has decided she wants to drink Slim Fast shakes for breakfast in the morning like her mom, and there is NO way I am going to do that (for $ and principle reasons). I am occasionally letting her have pediasure for breakfast, but those are pricey too.

I told David how bossy Makenna is with Kellen and that I worry that he is going to grow up to be a man that wants a bossy, overbearing wife since that is what he is used to dealing with now. I told him how Makenna TOTALLY manipulates Kellen. Sometimes he catches on and resists it. Sometimes I interfere. Sometime it is just funny and you just have to sit back and laugh.

Ex: We were at lunch the other day and the kids each got their own kids quesadilla. Each quesadilla came with a small strawberry. Makenna quickly scarfed her strawberry down and then started eyeing Kellen's strawberry. She asked him if he was going to eat it and he responded "I don't know." She waited a minute and asked again. He still told her "I don't know." She tried a third time "Bud bud, are you going to eat your strawberry?" Still, "I Don't Know!"

So then she says "Kellen, that's a little bit spicy. Those are spicy, huh bud bud?"

Kellen: "Yeah?"

Makenna: "Yeah. Do you want me to eat that for you bud bud?" (almost as if she is doing him a favor by being willing to eat is spicy strawberry for him)

Kellen: handing over his strawberry "yeah sissy"

Makenna: "Okay Kellen, I will eat it for you."

My life can sometime be a bit of a broken record. Wake up, feed, cloth, errands, clean, play, feed again, clean more, play, feed again, play, bathe, clothe, books, teeth, songs, bed...wake up and do it all over again. I may not have "new" and "exciting" big moments or things to share and give update on. My blog posts may seem like I am just posting the same things over and over again. But what I do have are days full of love, smiles, lots of laughter, cute faces, little chubby fingers and cheeks, silly games, innocence, sweetness and more love. Yes, of course this is all intermingled with screaming, fighting children, time-outs, cleaning up pee covered toilets and floors, counting to 3, repeating myself more times than I can count, asking people to stop singing like whales or I might go crazy, tantrums, complaining, messes, etc. But at the end of the night, when my kids are tucked snuggly in bed, when I know that they are happy and loved and are looking peaceful with their mouths agape and all tucked under their covers, what I remember are the laughs, the smiles, the love. My hands may be full. My life may be "uneventful", but I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING in this world!

I'm so glad my children know how to not take themselves too seriously :)

This is hands down one of the highlights of every day...that big smile you get when you walk in to greet a baby that has just woken up from his nap. Makes you feel so special to see how happy they are to see you!

Mine!

Makenna may no longer be the lone thumb sucker. I am actually grateful in a way to see this right now. It makes life easier and it is Soooo darn cute. But I know I will be complaining 2 years from now. Oh well, what can you do?

6 Months....Seriously?

Yeah, I am still in denial that my baby boy is so big. He just feels so itty bitty to me still. And I know, he is not. But that's the way I feel inside and I am keeping it that way.

It is incredible however to think it has really been 6 months since our littlest guy was brought to our family. As always happens, it is hard to imagine our family and lives without his sweet little spirit in it. Conner is such a loving little guy. You can tell he is such a gentle and tender soul. I really believe that he is going to be the peacemaker in our family. He just has that nature about him.

Here are some things about Conner at 6 months that I want to remember.

- He is a rolling champ now

- He is Almost sitting on his own. He can do it alone for a minute or two here and there, but he still needs to be closely supervised and assisted at times

- He acts like he is teething (tons of drool, constantly chewing on anything and everything in a ravenous sort of way, fingers Always in his mouth) but still not a tooth bud in sight

- His most ticklish spots are his neck and his upper thighs. It takes some effort to get a laugh out of him, but when you do it is Soooo worth it

- He is only waking up once a night most of the times and sleeps until around 7:30 in the morning...good baby :)

- He plays his own version of peek-a-boo. He will pull a blanket or burp cloth over his head and if you say "Where's Conner?" he quickly pulls it off with a big excited look on his face. He does in fact Love to have things over his face, silly boy

- He is eating 3 solid meals a day, plus bottles. Due to the way things have gone, he is only nursing 2 times a day now, but we will try to keep that up as long as possible

- He is a jumping maniac. He will jump anywhere and everywhere you can. Stand him on your lap and you will have him jumping away all over you in no time at all. He is going to have some strong legs with all the squats he does

- His hair is losing its strawberry tint and turning more and more blond

- He is a total hair puller/eater!

- He loves giving kisses (aka sucking on your face)

- He is becoming much more of a chatter box

Conner, we love you so very much!

Conner's first time going to church with a tie like the big boys.

Everyone wanted a piece of him!

I don't know who is more proud...Kenna or Conner?

My Cambridge boys :) Todd got this onsie a long time ago when he lived in London for his future sons to wear. It's sweet to see them in it. And just for comparison sake, below is a picture of Kellen in it when he was a baby (mind you Kellen was 3 months old when he wore it, Conner is 6. Conner, though big, is my petite little boy!)

Things I love even more than holidays

As much fun as the holidays were, it is nice to be back to regular life. Honestly, one of my very favorite reasons for keeping this blog is because it makes me sit down, think back on our days and weeks, remember all the highlights, the fun moments, the crazy moments, sometimes even the not so fun moments, but to think about just how much I enjoy my days and my life. Just how many smiles my family brings to my face each and every day. As the new year came it brought with it a bit of sadness for me. I thought ahead to all the things that will happen this coming year, all the ways that my children will grow and change, where we will be and what we will be doing a year from now. And though these things are all fun and exciting, it feels as though time with my children, time while they are young and innocent and spending every day at home with their siblings and parents, having the loving influence of family around them all the time...it feels like that time is just slipping through my fingers. I want to make it a point this year and every year, every day of every year, to cherish these times and moments. These smiles and laughter and play. I want to enjoy them and I want them to enjoy me. So I am grateful to be able to sit down and look through my pictures and think back on my days with my kids and all the great moments we have every day. These things are my greatest treasure.

Mini-bud is rolling all over the place, half way sitting and thinking a lot about how he can get himself on the move. He reaches and grabs at EVERYTHING. Though I don't feel a single tooth bud in there, the kid Must be teething because he is slimy, drooley mess and will gnaw on ANYTHING that comes remotely close to his mouth.

Conner loves his sissy, and she adores him right back. She loves to tell me to lay him on the ground so that she can talk to him and make him smile and laugh. Sometimes she gets a bit too loud for him (he is a sensitive things), but his face lights up the minute he sees her!

So much love!

You want to know what my daughters personality is like?...this right here sums her up :)

I had to bribe her with marshmallows to get her to smile Without crossing her eyes. But she is just so beautiful when she's not being a complete goof!

Oh Conner!

I remember when I used to have to pedal this manually for her to help it go up. She would ask me to do it over and over and over again and it would sometimes drive me insane. And now look at her.

If I ever want Makenna to eat, Chuck E Cheese is the place to take her. This girl likes pizza all around, but Chuck E. Cheese pizza is a whole different thing. The girl INHALES this pizza. I think last time we were there she had either 4 or 5 slices. Where she puts it I don't know.

Kellen boy is getting so big himself. He loved playing air hockey last time we were there. And he is not too bad for a 2 year old. He just looks so tall to me here.

We now have annual Zoo passes and are so excited about it.

My handsome boys! So different and similar all at the same time.

This is a total "okay mom, take the pictures so I can go play" kind of a smile. Still cute!

I think Kellen is getting taller and thinner again because he looks different to me in these pics. Maybe it's the haircut? I don't know...

Rubba dub dub

A Holly Jolly Christmas

We must have all made it on the "Nice" list this year because Christmas morning was full of presents and fun and not one lump of coal in sight (much to the children's relief).

Kellen took no time getting right into his things. He went for the stocking first... I think he was eager to find the candy. That is what he wanted most of all.

Santa brought Kenna a dollhouse. Mommy was very happy for her to have this...with 2 little brothers she doesn't play very many girly things. This will be good for her :)

Santa must have known how much Kellen likes his superhero action figures and his love for nice shoes. We have had lots of "Batman!" running around the house and he is now doing it in stylish red crocs. The boy loves his crocs!

It feels like they are getting so big!

Grandma McKamey made all 3 kids beautiful blankets for Christmas. All 3 of them were so cute and you can tell much love and time went into them. Thank you Grandma!

Poor Conner was sick on Christmas. He doesn't look too terrible in these pictures, but he had a bit of a fever, a stuffy nose and a pretty rough cough for awhile. Christmas morning he slept in until 9:30. So he missed the mornings Christmas festivities and the kids just helped him open his gifts later on. But I did make sure to get a few pics. Merry Christmas Baby!

Christmas night we went out looking at Christmas lights. It was a lot of fun and something I want us to do every year!

The kiddos with their cousins Heidi and Riley.