A Weekend on the Farm 08/28/09 – 08/30/09

We visited the Hill Family Farm this weekend.  We crashed a friend’s birthday pool party Friday night.  Swimming, pizza, cake, and too much partying occurred.

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Saturday was spent playing, working on sharing with our cousins, gator rides, and checking the silos for mice.

Sunday we enjoyed a lazy morning and sent uncle Chris to get us fresh garden peas to bring home – McKenna likes them raw, but not for dinner cooked….just like a two year old.

We ended the weekend happy, tired, and bedecked in a bright green lei.  :)  We had so much fun, the camera was basically forgotten after the too much partying pics and then brought out for the ride home.  Check out side-by-sides…notice in second even Alex is exhausted!

Kara’s fourth month stats

Kara went to the doctor today.  These are her measurements:

weight: 12 Lbs 8.5 oz     25th percentile

length: 25 1/2 inches     90th percentile

head: 15 1/3 inches       5th percentile

So, basically, she is long and skinny with a tiny head.  These measurements make her 2.5 ounces heavier and 1 inch taller than her sister at this same age.  These measurements also make fitting pants a difficult – if not impossible – task.  She has a tiny little waist with long legs making her need 0-3 month pants for waist and 6 month pants for length.  So right now, she is sporting capri length pants and will be in tights and leg warmers this winter. :)

Flower Power – Aug 23, 2009

We spent Sunday morning enjoying the Atlanta Botanical Garden.  We dressed up in cute clothes and hoped for some cute pictures.  However, McKenna (being in a typical two-year-old) mood, did not really want to cooperate much.  So, only a few cute pictures, but lots of fun.  McKenna ran all over the children’s garden and play area; she looked for frogs, watched the butterflies, and played on the slide.  Kara spent most of the morning in the Bjorn and fell asleep just before lunch.  It was a gorgeous day and a wonderful chance to laugh and play among beautiful flowers and fountains. 

 

 

 

 

 

McKenna was so enthralled with this cow brushing her teeth!

 

 

 

Mani-Pedi Day

   Last Friday, McKenna declared (during her shower with me) that she wanted to paint her nails “like Anna”.  Anna is a classmate.  She said she wanted them to be pink.  So, we clipped our nails and sat down to polish.  McKenna let me get her right hand painted before getting nervous about this new thing and then told me to paint mine.  I painted my left hand to match her right. 

She then wanted to paint Daddy’s hands.  We told her she could paint his toes.  So she set to work painting his toes light pink.  She then wanted me to promptly remove her polish.  (She is not too into new things and especially not on her own body – don’t think I’ll have to worry about tattoos, odd piercings, etc.) 

We removed her polish and mine – Daddy’s toes are still pink….

A Mommy-Daughters Day

Work was cancelled for me today, so I spent the day playing with the girls.  I covered the plans with McKenna for her approval.  We discussed visiting Daddy at work, taking him to lunch, then home for naps.  After naptime, the plan was to meet up with Heather, Finn, and Riley at Leaping Lizards for some bounce house fun.  McKenna fell asleep on the way to see Daddy.  When I woke her up in the parking lot of Chad’s office, she excitedly exclaimed “Heather, Finn, Riley HERE!!!  Time to bounce!”  I reminded her we were visiting Daddy first.  She said “but I napped”.  Smart girl.  She got over it quick enough and we looked cute and remained shy meeting some of Daddy’s co-workers.  After lunch, on the way home, I worked really hard to keep McKenna awake.  If she fell asleep in the car, that would be the end of naptime.  She managed to stay awake – just barely – until we climbed into bed.  After a good nap, we met up with not only the Heather and her boys, but Sarah and Davis as well. 

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McKenna was finally able to climb the steps of the bigger slides without help and was SOOOO Proud of herself.  A BIG thanks to Heather for helping her “learn a new trick” which gave her such independence!  Kara spent the afternoon in the Bjorn watching the toddlers play.  She finally got to lay on a blanket and stretch out as McKenna’s energy wound down and she stopped running all over.  We met up with Daddy and had dinner out with Heather and the boys.  We ended the day with showers/baths and playtime.  An exhausted McKenna and Kara happily went to bed and and exhausted mommy is still working….A good day had by these three ladies!

Fairy Princess

Mommy had a great idea to pull out McKenna’s fairy (Tinkerbell) costume she bought last year. It was originally purchased for the wings to make her Halloween costume last year…the actual outfit was way too big. Though still big, McKenna loved putting it on. She ran around twirling her skirt and prancing. She thought the costume was very pretty; she was fascinated by the skirt. When dinner was ready, she declared “have to take it off. Not get food on it. Too pretty to get dirty.” All I can say is: “too cute”!

Lions and Elephants and Carousels…Oh My!

Saturday we went to the zoo.  We met up with Todd and Finn.  It never ceases to amaze me as to what entertains a child! 

 

 

Finn and McKenna played on the lion statues before quickly moving on the the hand washing station.  They each delighted in getting soap, running water over their hands with the automatic sensors, and then running to the hand driers.  Giggles, laughter and squeals…oh my!  

 

We left Todd and Finn to go home and were on our way out when McKenna said “choo choo train!”. 

So we turned around and went to ride the train. She then saw the carousel and wanted to ride it…4 times!  Tiger, elephant, panda, and peacock…oh my!  Kara enjoyed the pretty weather and a good nap.  She also liked the carousel music kicking her legs and waving her arms each time it went round and round.     

 

The Littlest Mommy

McKenna loves holding Kara – every morning and almost every night she asks. She does a great job and is quite gentle – for being two. She used to push her away as soon as Kara started crying or fussing, but now she holds her and talks to her. Kara used to not tolerate more than about 5 seconds in McKenna’s arms before she would cry. Now, she actually calms in her arms and (I think) even likes it! On the day of this picture, it was past time for Kara to eat, but McKenna kept insisting on holding her. Kara was calm and quiet in McKenna’s arms. I kept taking Kara briefly and saying she needed to eat and McKenna would say “I need hold her”. She even turned Kara’s head to her own chest and said “I feed her momma”. She then quickly said, “I can’t feed her mommy. I don’t have breasts.” Kara remained patient throughout all of this and was more than happy to be in the arms of her big sister.

Eat Your Veggies

McKenna used to eat all sorts of veggies…carrots, broccoli, peas, beans, etc.  Since about 18 months of age, she has cut every vegetable out of her diet except carrots.  Hence, we eat a lot of carrots here.  I always put a few veggies on her plate, but they go untouched every night.  For about 6 months, I’ve not seen her touch anything but a little bit of corn and carrots…until last night.  I steamed carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli.  I put a lot of carrots, and broke down one small bit of the other two.  I made a big deal of the white and green trees on her plate.  She said “white trees?” and began to eat the Cauliflower!!!!  Then, she found the “green tree” and ate that too.  She proceeded to eat 4 servings of trees!  I don’t know what got into her, but I was so stunned we took a video.  Tonight was lasagna – so I didn’t get to see if this was a one night wonder or a new love of trees.

Prayers with McKenna

Each night, before McKenna goes to sleep we say an individualized prayer and the Lord’s Prayer.  We’ve done this since she was an infant.  She has never joined in before.  Usually she lies quietly, listens, and if she’s super tired falls asleep before the “amen”.  Tonight, was different.  When I got to the “hallowed be thy name” she said, in unison, “how big is thy name”.  I almost laughed and could hardly make it through the rest of the prayer.  In fact, when I got to the “and lead us not into temptation”, I paused, struggling to remember where I was and she reminded me with a “temption momma”.  SOOOOO Cute! 

Potty-Time with McKenna

McKenna first initiated potty training when she was 17 months old…17 months (12/08)

She stopped for several months before restarting around 20 months. Unfortunately, the transition to a new classroom and the addition of her baby sister at 22 months set her back.

Now, at daycare she does a fairly good job going to the bathroom and staying clean and dry throughout the day. However, at home, her motto has been “I do it like baby Kara. I go in my diaper.” So, we’ve been trying to find ways to make potty time more fun (doesn’t it look like she’s having fun?!). Mommy bought her Minnie Mouse panties to dress up in and play with after she tee tees in the potty; Daddy bought her a step stool to help encourage independence with getting on and off the potty.

At 25 months (8/09)

The panties are way too big (smallest size we could find at Target) so she has a hard time keeping them on. Potty time has never been so humorous and full of laughter as now.

Kara’s First Day of “School”

Today was the first day I sent Kara to daycare.  McKenna was excited to know her sister was going to school today…until today.  When we got to school, McKenna went straight to her classroom as always; she didn’t even realize I would be leaving Kara as well.  Ms. Renee, Kara’s lead teacher, was also McKenna’s when she was in the infant room.  McKenna loves Ms. Renee and was excited to go visit her today…and according to Ms. Renee, even more excited when she saw Kara.  As for Kara, she ate very well (sucking down both bottles with vigor), slept very little (all the excitement of a first day), and was generally sweet.  I felt like I was forgetting something all day as I ran errands…what, no carrier, no crying baby, no searching for pacifiers and lugging diaper bags?!  I didn’t know what to do with myself and just one little purse to carry! 

When I picked my girls up early this afternoon, one was all smiles and the other all snores.  Kara went to bed early this evening and hasn’t made a peep since.  Apparently learning and meeting new people is tough work when your 3 months old.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings…. 

 

Bar-B-Que, Blues, and Bluegrass Festival

   We attended the annual festival in Oakhurst again this year.  Very smartly, our friends set up in the shade of a tree right in front of the cool mist truck making a hot afternoon bearable.  We enjoyed good music, good food, and good fun with friends.

 

Kara celebrated twelve weeks with a cold beer and a nap….followed by flirting with her boyfriend Riley.

 

McKenna played in the rocks, cooled off in the mist, and ate part of Mommy’s sandwich.

Daddy and Mommy tag teamed chasing McKenna and watching Kara.

Kara’s first recorded conversation

Kara is usually very happy after bath time and makes funny faces.  Last night, she decided to talk….and I finally remembered the video camera.

LottaFrutta

 

We visited a new extremely fun place this past weekend: LottaFrutta in the Old Fourth Ward.  It is a fresh fruit market and restaurant filled with yummy treats.  Myrna is the owner; she is warm, personable, inviting and engaging.  McKenna (shy around almost everyone) warmed to her quickly – though it may have been the treats.  We tried their delicious fruit pops – one strawberry and one andean blackberry.  Myrna gave us a small sample of one of their fruit cups: the Cremolatta.  It was so yummy we ordered a large cup to share as well!  It will certainly be a place we visit again…and again.

Breaking out the Boppy and Bumbo

Kara has not been the type of baby who likes to be left alone to her own devices – she much prefers a good snuggle on a nice warm body.  But, as she is “maturing” and getting stronger, she is beginning to tolerate and at times even seems to like the independence of not being held – as is her mommy!  These are some of the first times she has not screamed when placed on/in one of these contraptions.

 

Snow Cones

Just before McKenna’s 2nd birthday party with her neighborhood friends and family at the park, I bought an ice saver.  My thought was: “this will be a fun treat at the party”.  However, I missed the “electric” portion of the title on the box. I was so excited about finding it on sale and thinking what fun it would be, I guess I thought we’d use batteries.  To my dismay, the morning of the party I finally opened the box to find we would need a really really really long extension cord…approximately >1 mile to plug in at home and use at the park….so, no snow cones at the party.  Anyway, we pulled it out tonight and used it…LOTS of FUN!  McKenna was so excited and loved it.  She chose the grape flavor and even wanted mommy and daddy to make their own as well.  For the rest of the summer, you’ll see us on the porch enjoying snow cones – if you do, stop by and have one with us!

A Visit to the Recent Past….McKenna Turned Two

         McKenna’s 2nd birthday lasted much longer than most celebrations – almost three weeks!!  It all started with a trip to my sister’s house in central Georgia for the July 4th weekend and to celebrate McKenna’s birthday on July 5th.  Unfortunately, Kara began running fevers on July 3rd and we had to rush her to the emergency room in Macon as she was only 6 weeks old.  After an all night stay in the ER with a chest x-ray, blood cultures, urine cultures, and a lumbar puncture, they told us we would be admitted for 3 days to monitor Kara, administer IV antibiotics, and watch what might grow in the cultures.  Lucky for us, Aunt Nic and Uncle Chris kept McKenna with them July 3rd and 4th.  Grandma and Poppa picked McKenna up and took her to their house July 4th until July 6th when we were finally released with Kara and were able to come home.  McKenna helped her Grandma bake cupcakes on the 4th (and enjoyed an un-iced one that night).  She decorated them with Grandma on the 5th and enjoyed singing and cake to celebrate turning TWO!!!  When we came home on the 6th, we had to have cupcakes and singing…since we missed her real birthday.  Then, Tues, the 7th, she got to celebrate her day at school with more singing and cake.  Thursday, she celebrated her friend Finn’s second birthday with singing and cake.  Friday, Aunt Nic came to visit and help with party organization.  She helped McKenna decorate cupcakes for her party.  And enjoyed licking the icing off the can.  Saturday was her birthday party with friends from the neighborhood which meant more singing and cake.  She then ate left over cupcakes thru middle of the following week.  Saturday two weeks from the start of her cake eating adventures, she enjoyed celebrating with singing and more cake with her Great Aunt Lindy and Gram B. 

Add to these, celebrating Ella and Addison’s birthdays in June and Caleb’s half birthday in late July, and it is no wonder McKenna thinks if you sing the birthday song, cake appears.  She woke up for two weeks straight saying “Happy birthday to McKenna.  Where’s my cake?”.  Pictures here include McKenna’s celebration, Addison’s, and Ella’s. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Happy Baby Kara

Kara has the sweetest smile and is using it more and more frequently these days.  She is beginning to coo and make silly faces as well.  Mommy and Daddy are laughing at her more and more and she seems to like it…maybe she’s destined for comedy.  She loves her mobile and will coo at it.  When it stops, she makes an angry little grunt and I turn it back on – which brings smiles and a look of surprise on her face. 

 

She also loves going to the pool with the family and usually quite content to sit and watch the children play.  We are having difficulty finding a hat to fit and are doing the best we can.  With a head in the 5th percentile, our face is often covered by the hat…unless we keep our eyes on it.  Out of 5 pictures taken, this is the only one where her eyes are showing!

Reasons why Mommy is sometimes late....

There are a multitude of reasons why we sometimes run late...some are our fault and some are out of our hands. Now, I am usually the time keeper in this family -- the "not be late" nazi...so to speak. But, with this maternity leave, a hot summer, and two little ones, I have relaxed in the time keeping department and am taking longer to get us all out of the door. I am still stressed about being on time when meeting others, but seem to be having difficulties with time management. I'd like to blame it on my little ones, but I think I just need to plan ahead a bit better. So, here are some of my reasons and excuses...(most seem rather justifiable in my mind).
1. McKenna can't sit still long enough to get her hair fixed, yet cries "my hair is in my face" when it is not done properly -- thus causing mommy to re-do her hair 2 and 3 times each morning

2. Kara just can't be rushed through breakfast -- and when she is, she then spits up on me and we both need changing

3. Mommy forgets each morning how much stuff has to be loaded into the car for simple trips -- chalk that up to sleep deprivation (not really, Kara usually only wakes one time between 9pm and 6am)

4. Mommy forgets until all children are in the car that she has not brushed her teeth, forgot deodorant, etc...then we all unload and run back in (chalk that up to the distraction methods of 2 year olds)

and finally...the best one yet:
We were meeting friends at the zoo this past Friday and Kara slept in. We were supposed to be at the zoo at 9:30..Kara woke up at 8:50...I quickly dressed her and fed her. 9:05...we could still make it...until Kara needed another diaper change. Now, normally, I am super quick with diaper changes and was not worried about this sudden happening (the car was packed and I have become adept at getting to kids in and buckled up). But, after removing the dirty diaper and lifting Kara's legs to place a fresh clean diaper, she sneezed and pooped at the same instant....thusly sparying poop 4 feet away all over the bedroom wall, stuffed animals below the changing table, and McKenna's hair bow collection on a hanging ribbon. Now, we would be late. ICK. After cleaning Kara, throwing the stuffed animals in the washing machine, tossing most of McKenna's bows, and disinfecting the wall, we were finally on our way. By the way, we made it to the zoo at the same time as our friends! But, had we been late, I think I had a good excuse. So, we'll save this one for another time. :)

Zoo Trip

McKenna's daycare was closed on Friday, so that gave us a chance to play at the zoo. We met Kara and McKenna's boyfriends (Finn and Riley) for a day at the zoo. McKenna LOVES the elephants and lucked out as Kelly (one of the elephants was working with a zoo keeper for exercise). He (the keeper) was moving all around the enclosure with peanuts and lettuce; Kelly followed him and performed various "tricks" to recieve treats. McKenna was delighted. She also enjoyed the lions who were out sunning and napping. Kara mostly slept in the bjorn. Both McKenna and Finn delighted in watching the zoo keeper cleaning the otter enclosure -- what is it about kids watching humans cleans up after animals?! McKenna rode the train (it scared her a bit) and the carousel (loved it and cried when we got off). I think her favorite part this time was running about and racing Finn from one place to the next. It never ceases to amaze me how patient and calm McKenna is watching the animals. She could sit for an hour watching the elephants and lions. She will tell you stories about them and remember from one visit to the next what her favorite animals were doing. Her two favorite stories about the zoo:

1. "Elephant picked a penut up with his trunk....and put it in mouth."

2. "Lion is napping...want lion wake up...daddy lion switches (swishes) tail and rrrrrrrrs (roars)."

They have to be related....

I thought this picture was super cute....I know my girls do not look much alike...but notice their facial expressions.....

Playtime with Boyfriends

McKenna and Kara both have adorable boyfriends who live just down the street from us. These two boys come from an adorable and wonderful family of four....three gentleman and one mommy -- which is just perfect for our three ladies and one daddy! The boys are Finn and Riley. Finn is just 1 week younger than McKenna and Riley is four months older than Kara. Recently we had a playdate at our house for the four little ones. Kara and Riley cooed, babbled, yawned, and held hands occasionally. Finn and McKenna played together with some fighting over toys...McKenna has a hard time sharing these days. Finn is super laid back and tried to smooth things over by giving in most of the time to McKenna's fussing and crying over toys. After pulling out all the toys we could in our tiny playroom, it was on to the bedroom...yes, my daughters move fast with their boyfriends.... :) While Kara took a short nap, Finn and McKenna played in her "big girl" bed. They even had a pillow fight! Later, it was time to get dirty with paint. Both Finn and McKenna painted the table, their paper, and their hands. No pictures, but later they helped Chad "fix" the art table with screw drivers and duct tape...a sticky mess Christy cleaned up later. Time flies when kids are playing and having fun...so the afternoon was over way too quickly.