1 Month

 Papa taught us many things that we will take with us. One of which is to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of the world more often. I find myself stopping, noticing beautiful roses, watching beautiful sunsets unfold in a way I did not alway appreciate before. There is so much goodness, so much beauty all around us each and every day. We just have to take the time to stop and acknowledge and appreciate it. I am thankful to my dad for teaching me that every day is a beautiful day.

 On a nice Sunday afternoon the kids and I went down to the park and had a great time just having fun, being together, playing and enjoying the weather and fresh air. I just love these special days spent with these little ones. I know it won't last forever and that there will come a day when I don't have anyone at home that wants to go the park and slide and swing anymore. I try my best to appreciate them and soak them up right now.

 Our little Toby-Tob....getting so big!

 Makenna seriously has some natural frisbee talent...something that would make her Papa proud!

 Love these two! This little girl certainly does not lack great big brothers that love her and will do a  great job taking care of her her whole life. 

Who Doesn't Love The Fair??

McKamey children certainly know how to appreciate a good, wholesome, family filled day at the fair. All of them look forward to it all year and are anxious to go as soon as they know that the 4th of July is approaching. Really, even though it hardly changes at all from year to year, I don't think I could ever get sick of the fair. Especially with my kids. It's just so fun...watching them have fun. A few highlights for the kids this year.

 HUGE games for the kids to play!

 Conner was very impressed by the Huge transformer. 

 Grammy (who is a total sucker...) got her teeth a few shades whiter :)

 We enjoyed some stinky, smelly animals. 

 We ate....

 ...and ate...

 ...and ate! (After all, that is what a fair is all about)

 And of course riding the horses! This is probably my favorite thing to watch the kids do. Makes me remember being a kid and how much I loved the horse rides.

 Last year Kellen opted out of the horse ride. This year he wised up and joined in! (make your mama proud little boy!)

 Carys took to the horses no problem at all. She was thrilled with the whole event. She got into the rhythm of the horse and bounced up and down the whole ride. So Cute!

While we were at the fair there was a home made ice cream demonstration where they showed how to make ice cream in a gallon bag. It takes a lot of shaking and some patience, but it actually works. It was fun to come home from the fair and get to try it out at home (well, at Grammy's house). The kids loved it! Kellen by far was the best and hardest ice cream maker of them all. But then again, that's the sort of thing Kellen loves!

 What a great Grammy! We love her more than she will ever know and appreciate all the fun things she does for us, all the time we have with her, all the hard work she puts into our Sunday dinners with them. I know it is something our kids will always cherish.

 And in the end the ice cream turned out pretty good. Carys certainly appreciated it.

And then there is the Con....our silly, silly boy. So grateful for him and his constant comic relief!

S.U.M.M.E.R.

 You know school is out when your weekly trips to target end up looking like this. There are times when we get through to store and back into the car and it feels like I just ran a marathon. I figure this is just the lords way of blessing me with the opportunity to work out since finding time to exercise is a joke!

 We spend hours and hours in our backyard. And I just love the summers and the way it stays bright so late and that we can completely loose track of bedtime because we are swinging and playing and having so much fun.

 2 chocolates and one vanilla.

 Makenna's good friend Katie came in town and was able to spend a couple of days hanging out with us. Those two girls are so great together. Makes me sad that they moved so far away.

 Watermelon. More or less the only thing my kids want to snack on all summer. There is either a cut up watermelon or cantaloupe in the fridge at all time. Summer fruits are the best!

 Working those hands and knees at the same time!!

 Went up to the wild animal park for the day. It is not often we go here instead of the zoo, but I decided it would be a good change of pace and a fun thing to do. So we drove up there and the kids were having a blast. They were super well behaved, we were taking our time, enjoying the sights, stopping to play on everything we passed. Then all of the sudden, about an hour and a half into it, Conner starts to cry. His shoes had rubbed blisters on each of his feet. So JUST as we were getting to the Lorakeets that you get to feed (the highlight of the trip for us every time) we had to turn around and walk all the way to the entrance of the park to get band aids at first aid. So we band aid up and turn around and head back to the birds. We do the bird thing, and then within 10 minutes these crummy band aids totally start falling off. Conner is a mess and is in total melt down mode. The band aids keep pulling backward and he keeps trying to put them back on. It is hot and sweaty. Carys is hungry (needs to nurse) and tired. So we stop at the playground. I send the kids off to play and try to sit and nurse the baby. But the toys are hot and burning everyone. Conner keeps crying about his blisters and I have to try and help him re-adhere his band aids one handed while trying to nurse baby (without exposing myself to everyone) at the same time. It was complete and utter chaos. What started as the best wild animal park trip ever quickly went south. I did have many people come up to me and tell me how brave and amazing I was for coming to a place like this with 4 little kids all on my own. I just laughed and thought "Probably stupid, not brave." Eventually baby passed out while nursing, I put con in the stroller, carys in the baby carrier and pushed the stroller out of that park as fast as we could roll. It will be awhile before we are back there on our own....

 Makenna is going through a real bat loving stage. Actually, she loves everything that has wings.

 Makenna's idea of heaven. The bird were trying to take her pony tail holder out of here hair and makenna thought it was the funniest thing ever. She said it felt like they were making a nest on her head!

 Kellen boy...excited and nervous all at once. Loved holding the birds...at a distance.

 The con...

 When Makenna and Kellen were babies I would have thought bad things about a mom giving a push up to here 8 month old baby. Now that this is baby #4 I have a whole new perspective on the things that are really worth stressing about and those that don't matter as much as I once thought. She loved her push up!!!

 Who doesn't love a nice summer hairstyle? Daddy did a great job giving Kellen's hair it's first buzz. Thought the initial change in look was strange to adjust to, I actually think I like his hair more like this now. Especially since he hated to let me brush it when it was longer, so it always just looked silly. 

8 Months!

In my opinion the first 6 months of the first year let you adjust to your baby growing and changing at a gradual pace. Your baby puts on weight, gets chunky, starts to smile and interact and recognize your face. They laugh and roll over and then start to sit and play with toys. They are all exciting milestones, but they just sort of slowly emerge and you feel like you naturally adjust. But the second 6 months are like BAM! One BIG milestone after another. They start eating solids. Start to scoot. Then crawl. Then they stand. Then walk. Then talk! BIG time life changers all the sudden. Too much! These babies need to slow down.

At 8 months old Carys was doing just what her 8 month old self should be doing. She still didn't have a single tooth to call her own, but hey, one less kid to worry about brushing their teeth...right? Here is what Carys was up to at 8 months:
-Eating solids, but not very well. She hated baby food! When most kids go through 2 things of baby food each meal of the day, you were lucky to get 1 into this girl in the entire day. Yogurt however was a completely different story. This girl is a yogurt maniac. And we figured out that she has texture issues and just wants something to chew on instead of mush to eat. So we started some banana and steamed apple or carrots. We also did some baby cherrios and puffs and that was making meal time much happier.

-Scooting around and moving quite well...Just on the verge of crawling (started crawling right after she turned 8 months old).

-Pulling herself up to standing. Mostly in her crib but also on furniture sometimes.

-Taking 2 good naps a day. Goes to bed around a 8 and wakes up around 7....with a middle of the night feeding and waking up 1 or 2 other times as well.

-Loves the puppy. Loves to watch Toby and loves when Toby comes and lays down next to her.

-Loves to be in the swing outside. Will sit by the sliding glass door and watch the big kids play outside and long to be out there with them.

-Loves to play patty cake and sing songs or read books.

-Loves her big brothers and sister!

-Does not love strangers. When people in stores try to talk to her she just gives them dirty looks or stares at them or starts to cry (unlike her siblings who would smile at anyone that would give them attention. Apparently Carys is a bit more guarded and cautious)

 Those eyes definitely seem to be staying blue and her hair just gets more and more blond. Carys definitely looks the most like her big brother Conner. She is such a happy, easy going, fun loving little girl. We love our little Carys so much!

All About The Daddy!

What amazing Dad doesn't deserve a home made, "Best Dad Ever" tshirt to wear proudly a few times a year? The kids and I had a great time making it. They took the job really seriously! And Daddy seemed really pleased with it and was happy to wear it with pride the reset of the day. We love our Daddy so much! 

 It's fun having the kids old enough to make their own individual things for Daddy at school. They are always so excited when it is there turn to give him his gift and show off what they made.

 This picture seriously melts my heart. The 5 people that I adore more than anything in this world. I love father and mother's day because it really feels like a chance to reflect upon what an amazing blessing your family is and be grateful for the love they bring to your life. I am so grateful that I found this man and that he asked me to be his wife. I love him so much. It still amazes me to think that I was lucky enough to end up next to his side, raising this beautiful family and these amazing children. I am so grateful that my children have been blessed with a daddy that loves them with all his heart. That worries so much and tries so hard to be an incredible father. To have a relationship with his children that is meaningful and that they will always know that their father is there for them and cares for them. We are so lucky to have him as our Dad!

Yes, this father's day was a bit bittersweet. I feared that the day was going to be really painful and difficult. But that morning when I got up I knelt down and said a prayer that the day would be able to be full of joy. That I would feel my Father's presence and know that he knew how much I loved him and cared for him on Father's Day. That prayer was answered. Though there were moments of teary eyes and moments of missing and longing to just call him or see him or hear his voice or give him a hug, there was also much peace. Peace knowing that I was blessed in my life to have the relationship with my father that I had. Peace knowing that he is happy and surrounded by those he loves that have gone before him. Peace knowing that some day he will be there, waiting to greet me and embrace me when it is my turn to return to my father in heaven.