The Little Everyday Things

Lena helped pick out and prepare dinner.  She wants to be a chef one day!

These days go by quickly.  It's a whirlwind of daily happenings...breakfast, chores, crafts, outings, quiet time, play time, story time, bath time, bed time, and everything in between.  I am in that phase when life is a blur.  And I don't want to forget the everyday things...the little things.

 Like when I tell Kinley to pick up the Light Bright pieces and she picks them up with her toes because she is just plain silly like that.  Or when Lena exclaims for the thousandth time in the middle of January " Mom don't you just LOVE Christmas time?!"  Or how they make little voices together when they play dolls or sing the "nigh-night " song with me or beg to be read Ma and Pa before bed.  Or how Lena prays for "everyone" and thanks God "for everything he has done" in the most grandios and general fashion every night.

 Or how excited Kinley gets about eating hotdogs with red dip. Or best of all those kisses and hugs right before lights out.  All these little moments are precious and I am afraid to lose them to time.

 I saw an eleven month old baby the other day and I realized that I've already forgotten so much. I am glad though to live in the moment and enjoy who my girls are now, in this stage, at this time.  And tomorrow I will enjoy who they are then at that stage, at that time.  And I just wish time would slow down just a little.

McKinley's Two Year Pictures

Likes:

Playdough

Going on the swings

Mickey Mouse

Being with sissy

Eating yogurt and grapes

Her little stuffed dog "Ruff Ruff"

Dolls

Miss Kinley Jane loves people, can get moody, has lots of energy to play, and loves fish cracks and chips.  She is a girly girl who pays attention to her clothes and favors light blue as her favorite color.  She loves wearing sun glasses and jewelry.  She is a mama's girl and always needs Mom when she gets hurt or has a problem.  

 She is outgoing and loving but needs her space sometimes.  When she gets really frustrated or mad she will put herself in "timeout" and go lay down on her bed.  She enjoys and needs her sleep and .naps.  We are starting to see a strong sense of humor peek out of this bright girl.  Like her sister she is creative and loves art.  She prefers painting on white paper rather than doing art on coloring books.  She is an animal lover and enjoys being read to.

McKinley Jane: 18 Months Old

McKinley Jane - 18 Months Old

Our tenderhearted, fearless daredevil, Miss Kinley Jane is now 18 months old!  This girls is growing lightning fast.  She is still a Mama's girl and loves her time with me but has proven to be a people person like her big sissy.  Her Sunday School teachers LOVE her and think she has a big personality.  She is tough as nails and tender as a flower.  She will quickly scammer up to the tallest part of the big kid playground and slide down the big slides on her belly.  She will lay her baby doll tenderly on the floor, cover it with a blanket, and give it a big kiss and say "awwww".  She generally plays well with Lena and they often hug each other just because.   

18 Month Stats

Size 5 Diaper

Size 6-7 Shoe

Size 2T Clothes

26 Pounds

34 Inches Tall 

Naps once a day from 1:30-3:30

A doll among dolls.  Yes Kinley and Lena have a dozen dolls...literally.

Ready for a cupcake treat.

A little humor and Kinley's favorite "Baba".

This girly girl loves her tiaras, jewelry, and shoes!

Kinley HATES the sand but wants to play. She refuses to sit in the sandbox but will play from the outside.

18 Month Favorites

Book: Mickey Mouse Road Trip

Anything Mickey Mouse

Food: crackers, M&Ms, dip (katchup and ranch), and not much else.  She did like strawberries for a short time.

Toys: playing dolls with Sissy, her stuffed puppy, reading books, putting things inside something then taking them all out...over and over again. 

Playing outside (She is fearless and will go down all the big kid slides on her belly.)

Naptime and her "baba" (bottle) 

Dressing Up:  Our little girl loves anything girly: sunglasses, hats, tiaras, shoes, etc!  

Reading a Mickey book on a family road trip.

Juice and scrambled eggs is a breakfast staple in our house!

Getting into Mommy's cabinets.

Its always great to be outside.  Here she is enjoying a wagon ride.

This girl loves her dips!  She calls it "dit" and always gets lots of curious stares when she eats in public.

Got a pretty bad black eye from crashing into the bunk bed ladder.

18 Month Milestones

Four teeth and getting two more in the back

Favorite Words: Mama, Dadda, Nooo, caka (cracker), wawa (water), Give back!, 

Started coloring

First big black eye (from bumping the new bunk bed)

The Thaw

Five years ago today I got one of the most important phone calls of my life and I missed it while I was at my friend Sarah's baby shower.  I remember after the shower was over standing on the sidewalk outside the house nervously listening to this voicemail message....the message that brought news that would change my life.  March 5, 2011 was the day that Lena and McKinley were thawed as embryos after being frozen together by their genetic family in 2006.  We received this precious picture of these embryos four days after this phone call on transfer day.  Lena and her twin (on the left) were transferred to my womb and McKinley (on the right) was refrozen and kept in frozen storage for almost three more years before she was thawed again and transferred to my womb.  I kept this voicemail on my phone for four years...I couldn't ever bring myself to delete it and so I recently recorded it instead.  The Lord has done things in my life that I would never have imagined.  Miraculous things!  He is so very good to me. http://youtu.be/zHw6DwcRvjM

Orlando 2015 - The Girls' First Disney Trip

In November 2015 we took the girls to their first ever Disney trip to Walt Disney World.  We bought 10 day park hopper passes and spent 17 days at the the Harbor Lake MVCI property there.  It was exhausting but awesome! 

So much fun on Dumbo!

The highlight of her trip was getting to hold a baby alligator!

Lena had fun learning about pin trading and making crafts in the kids club.

Sisters watching the Florida sunset.

Looking for alligators and turtles.

Winnie the Pooh is one of their favorites!

A short romantic moment in front of the lit up castle.

Sundown over the water

She is game for the rides!

Always these two together.

McKinley Jane: 15 Months Old

Miss Kinley Jane turned 15 months old on our trip to Orlando, Florida.

Stats

Four teeth

Size 4 diapers (almost size 5)

Size 18 months clothes

Size 5 shoes

First visit to a Disney Park (Orlando)

Kinley's Language Skills

Ka-Ku "Thank You"

Yeah! (This is how she responds to most questions.)

Num! Num! (What she says when she is hungry or eating something she likes)

Mickey (She said it clear as a bell once.)

Favorites

Going down the slide all by herself like a big girl

Climbing on EVERYTHING

Mickey Mouse

Cheese

Putting on pretty crowns, necklaces, hats

Her new Winnie the Pooh bear