Hi Baby: Happy 3rd Birthday

Happy birthday my sweet baby girl.

 I know every mom says this on every birthday- but I can't believe you're already 3! Today after your nap you cuddled with me for a full 15 minutes. And while that might not seem that long to some, for you and your world with big, explosive feelings and energy- it felt like forever. And it was just what this mommy needed. Your sweet soft skin clutching onto that stupid old puppy and still fitting your head right where it needs to be. It was the best 15 minutes I've had this week. You can tell everyone your birthday is "August 5th!" and when asked what you want for your birthday you immediately yell "CAKE!" and then a notch quieter yell "AND POPPY AND NANA AND JAKE". You're an easy girl to please.

I remember August 5th 2014 and being told you were coming TONIGHT, not in 3 days like we thought. I was in labor but your stubborn body was breach which meant we had to do things a little differently. But you came out perfect at 6PM and I've been enamored by you ever since. You have made me a better person. You have shown me my purpose here on Earth. Being your mom is the most satisfying and fulfilling thing I have ever done. Not a day goes by that I don't thank my Heavenly Father for trusting me to be your mom. I pray that I can raise you and love you and mother you in the ways that will help you grow and succeed and flourish. I never want to be the person that dulls your sparkle or rains on your crazy little person parade.

 I've learned to give you space and independence and you're thriving. You have such amazing control over your body and strength. You're such a physical person and I love watching you experiment and test your body's limits. You're starting to draw and I'm pretty impressed by you. You can draw circles and faces and lines that are "mom and daddy and Booger and Kenzie!" You love to use your scissors and still aren't super into toys. You still yell "I'LL HELP YOU!" and proceed to drag a kitchen chair over to the counter to help me cook. You get frustrated, but can be talked down pretty quickly. You throw tantrums, but only when you're tired. You love to watch movies/TV and we usually watch a show in the evening to help you calm down a little bit. You're starting to become sweeter and nicer to Cooper and you two actually played together for 20 MINUTES and I thought I died and went to Heaven.

You're smart, sassy, funny and quick. You ask questions when you don't understand something. You repeat until you totally comprehend what I'm saying. You love making new friends and can play for hours with others. You also sometimes like to act like a "little baby" and need to be held and I don't mind it one bit. You're starting to test bedtime and try to pull the "I need a drink. I'm hungry. I want dad to sing me a song" but I'm still winning that game...for now.

I don't know how to express my love for you. And this last year has been so much FUN. I've loved being able to talk and communicate. I love your funny sayings and demeanor. You make me smile and laugh every day, and I try to make you laugh every day too. You're my best girl. I say a silent prayer every day that we can always be best friends. I hope as I write you something on your 13th birthday I can say that same thing. But for now, I will soak up every sweet moment with my little 3 year old. I love you Kenzie girl.

xoxo
Mom

Kenzie update

I realized Its been a long time since I've done a little update on Mckenzie! She'll be three in 5.5 weeks and I am amazed at the difference that comes almost every month at this age! It's like she's a newborn again learning new skills and tricks every few days. 

had a blast at the carnival and went on almost all the rides! big girl

Her language has improved a ton and she is speaking in full sentences. Sometimes she is a little slow at completing a thought and you can tell she is searching for the right word in her head. If you give her the chance, she'll complete her sentence using the right words and phrases 70% of the time. She is starting to voice her emotions like "she made me sad" or "I'm having a hard day" or "are you mad at me mom?" Don't worry- that last one had me rethinking all my motherhood behaviors! I can call her on the phone and we talk about her day or I can calm her down if she's upset. She still very much likes to talk through things and that's the fastest way to get out of a tantrum is talk out of it. Either by explaining or putting words to her emotions. 

She loves apples and would eat 3 a day if I let her. And sometimes she does because I'm not in the mood for a battle. She is still a great eater and will try and eat most things. She doesn't really like potatoes but that's the only food I've seen her consistently not like. She still loves oatmeal and cereal and would eat hummus with a spoon. 

She's still napping 2 hours a day and goes down great at night. She's still in her crib and has never once tried to crawl out or fight it. I'm scared of the big girl bed but will start to think about it more after her third birthday. She still loves her puppy and tried to take up the binki again, but after a disastrous weekend when she couldn't have it I told her no more and she's now back to sucking her thumb.

loves to draw and color!

She can totally get herself undressed and dressed and loves to do it herself. She can also brush her teeth and brush her hair. She's basically an adult. She's wearing her summer clothes from last year and she's getting taller but not much bigger. Still in the 2T range. 

The hardest thing for me right now is her behavior toward Cooper. It's like 50% nice and 50% mean and I don't know how to teach her how to be kind to him. It's a struggle and I'm hoping I can help her somehow.

Loves him soooo hard

My favorite things about her right now:

She's awesome at climbing and using her body. Can go up those kid rock walls and ladders, etc. 

She sticks with things and tries until she can figure it out. And then she practices until she has it mastered 

She's turning really social and loves playing with other kids. Calls everyone her friend

Still goofy and likes to play/goof around. Says "I'm just teasing", "stop talking mom", "you're a good parent"

Doing pushups with mom!

Mckeznie at the moment

Obsessed with oranges and water. Other favorite foods include oatmeal, berries, pasta and anything else that's for dinner. 

Wakes up crying from her nap like its the worst day ever 

Can't go anywhere without Dog and her baby doll. She also loves to have as many stuffed animal friends on her lap as possible. 

Walks around yelling "mommy!" in the most authoritative tone

Points to her diaper and says "poop" all day. Even when she's clean (it's the best when she does it in the middle of Sacarment Meeting) 

Speaking of church- yells "daddy!" Whenever he sits up on the stands and usually goes over for a visit 387 times 

Calls herself "Nenzy" or "Neney" 

Loves playing with laundry (dirty or clean) she knows which clothes are hers and she will take them from the pile and go hoard them in the corner of her room 

Loves to "run"- which is the cutest thing you'll ever see and she only biffs it about 30% of the time 

Loves to sit on my lap and read books. We read 30 books in one sitting and I have severa of the books memorized. Time for the library! 

Has opinions and can't be fooled too easily. 

Says "no" to any question asked. She doesn't know the word "yes" yet. If she yells "no" then she means no. If she says no nicely- she usually means yes 

Thinks every animal says "moo". Points to any and all animals and says "moo" (dog on her dress, lion logo on the hotel in SLC, pig on my Dirty Dash shirt- all say Moo) it's the best when we're driving. She'll randomly say moo and you have to figure out what animal she saw. The only time she is accurate is when she sees the Chic-fil-a billboards 

Hi Baby: 18 months

Hi baby girl,

Tonight I put you to bed with a tortilla. You ran to the pantry and grabbed a tortilla when I told you it was time for bed, probably thinking it would stall The inevitable. It didn't work. And you didn't hate it. You happily ate in bed, sang to your puppy and fell asleep. When did you become a little person?? With thoughts and reactions and decisions? Every day you are less a baby and more a little girl. 

You understand every word I say, and are now saying things like "here you go" and "that's mine". You know how to kneel down when we say prayers and you fold your arms and can make it almost a full minute before you start fidgeting. But you wait patiently and say "amen" right on cue. Seeing you kneel down and understand prayer time is so special for me. I hope you continue to grow up and understand there will always be a loving Heavenly Father listening. 

You call out "mommy!" whenever you need something. From getting out of the tub, to taking a big step over a snow pile. You yell "mommy" and hold out your hand. Even when I'm standing behind you, or you can't see me, you know I'll be there if you say my name. You're showing more of a preference for me compared to daddy right now. But you'll still only nap on dad's lap and not mine. God is fair that way. 

You must be having some kind of development jump because you've reverted back to carrying Dog everywhere, and even found your (now year old) binki and started sucking on it again. It's like your trying to sooth yourself into this next phase of life. I like it because that means more cuddles and loves for me! 

Your last 3 teeth are making their way up so you're eating preferences change from day to day, depending on how much your mouth hurts. You're obsessed with drinking water and just this last week I have started saying "no" because you just keep drinking it. I think at this point it's more of a soothing habit than a need. 

We went for a 45 minute walk today and you pushed your baby stroller up and down the sidewalk. Sometimes you would run. Sometimes you would try to run me over. You'd find a crack and follow it. You'd see your shadow and get distracted. You'd practice walking in the snow and need me to help you move things along. 

I never would have imagined 18 months ago that this is the kind of person you have turned into. That my baby is no longer a baby and that you walk/run more than you are held. You understand the world around you, and you're loving every minute. Thank you for filling my life with a love I will never be able to explain, and that only moms can understand. This last year and a half with you has been the most uneventful and yet life changing phase of my life. And I am so excited to see what's next. 

I love you baby girl. 

Xoxo 

Mom 

16 months

Good news! My demon baby is gone, my angel baby is back 

And I just love her. 

After this latest developmental milestone from hell, she is like a new kid. Less baby. More kid. She laughs and giggles and plays in a whole new way. She is chatting more and every once in a while she mimicks something I say. (Tonight she said "all done")

Her appetite is back in full swing and she is eating a ton. Like, everything. I definitely prefer it that way. It was so weird to have her barely eat anything and say no I almost everything I offered her. Now that she is feeling better, she wants to eat all the time. Growth spurt anyone? Also, her new word she can say is "hungry". So there you go. 

Her bedtime also shifted 30-60 minutes later which is also weird. I'm used to having her in bed by 6-6:30 but this weekend she has been happy until closer to 7:30-8pm. AND she even slept in until 8am on Saturday. That has NEVER happened. It was amazing. I don't know if the late bedtime will last once we get back into our weekday routine, but we haven't minded having our little buddy around for a little longer at night. 

She says no like a champ, and doesn't seem to be as attached to Dog. We can leave him in the crib during the day and she is fine without him. She's growing up!  I love the light at the end of a developmental tunnel and see what has changed. 

So at 16 months here are some baby stats 

23lbs 31inches 

12 teeth (4 molars are now in) 

Sleeps 10-12 hrs a night with 1.5-2hr nap 

Loves tortillas, apples, cheese and blueberry muffins 

Climbs on everything! No fear

Gives kisses and hugs 

Hates being in her car seat 

Loves to turn the music on and dance 

Still totally goofy and silly 

It was so much fun to spend Thanksgiving with Bart's side of the family and watch her play with cousins. It was a wonderful weekend spent with family. On Sunday we went down to Utah County for my niece's baby blessing. I just love my siblings! I really loved having this last week filled with family. It's such a nice time of year to refill my life with what matters most 

14.5 months of love

Since Mckenzie turned one I stopped thinking of doing regular updates because it seemed changes slowed down a little bit. And while she isn't learning a new "trick" every day, she is still growing and changing so much!

So here is an update since her LAST update:

14.5 months and is just about running. She can step up and down really small steps without falling. She knows exactly where the swings are in our neighborhood and when she wants to go, she leads me right to them. She loves to be outside, but lately she hasn't been as interested in exploring. It's like she knows the neighborhood landscape by heart so she's kinda over it. When I open the front door and sit on the porch she will just hang out there with me. No more running off on her own.

The last few weeks she has been right by my side at all times! She has NEVER been a mama's girl like that so I have had to get use to it. It's actually kind of nice to get this sweet attention, but I do find myself a little impatient sometimes when I'm cooking or something since I'm not use to it. She even cries sometimes when I give her to Bart and leave the room. I know that might seem normal to some of you mamas out there, but this is bizarre behavior for Mckenzie. She's still really good compared to other babies, but it's a noticeable difference to me.

She still sleeps 11.5 hours at night with a 1 hour morning nap and a 2 hour afternoon nap. For a while naptime was hellish, but things have gone back to being settled and easy. (knock on wood). I thought she was getting ready to drop her morning nap but I was wrong! She loves her sleep. She also loves her stuffed animals and drags them everywhere. We call them her Friends and she tries to carry all of them as much as possible. She has toned down the book reading obsession and isn't as interested in food either. She is still a really good eater, but I can't distract her with food anymore or use food to make her happy (unless she's hungry). She's now old enough to know when she's not hungry and when food isn't interesting to her anymore. I don't really worry about the amount of food she eats. I can tell she isn't eating as much, but she eats until she's finished so that's good enough for me. She just recently started using utinsels and loves them! She's getting better at using a fork and prefers it over her hands now. She's definitely thinning out the last month or so. Her chubby legs are still there, but barely! I give it a few more months and they will be gone. Her belly exists only after a meal. but luckily her cheeks are still here.

She loves to talk and make noises and blow bubbles or play with her tongue. She can say mom, mommy, dad and hot. She uses "da" for dogs and knows to say "moo" when asked what the cow says. I know for a fact she understands most everything that comes out of my mouth and can follow commands like "give that to daddy" and "put that back". I'm excited for that next big stage of language. Right now she likes to yell at people who aren't paying attention to her and use her sign language of "more", "please" and "thank you".

Time seems to have slowed down a little bit the last two months. It seemed like forever ago that we celebrated her first birthday. I love spending my days with this squishy baby and she makes me laugh every day. Her little BIG personality is something I am blessed to have in my life. I'm so excited for this holiday season to start and make all new memories and traditions with her and Bart.

Birthday Recap and more baby thoughts

Football season has officially begun (I swear I've said that like 8 times now but since school is starting too it reeeeeally means it's football) which means I'll probably have a new blog post up every day because  
1. I'm by myself without by bestie to talk to and no good TV to watch (YET!)
B. my baby is in bed by 7:30  
3. I no longer have to be in bed by 8 
D. I have 598234 random thoughts running thru my head.

We celebrated Mckenzie's birthday on Saturday and I loved every minute of it! Our families and friends came over for a suuper causal party and I really thought it turned out great. It really means so much to me that we have such amazing family that love Mckenzie. One of the best things about having a child is seeing the rest of your family welcome them into that love. We sang happy birthday and she gave us her best "not impressed" face and after a solid minute of just touching the frosting, Kenny double fisted her cake and even offered some to Bart.

her face the entire time we sang "happy birthday"

She will no longer smile on command- it was nice while it lasted!

playing with her friend E

obsessed with the balloons (and in this pic stuck)

I was emotional earlier in the week about her turning one, and bawled my eyes out writing her birthday letter, but since then I have been good. I am just enjoying her and not thinking too much about how fast time goes. Just in this last month she has turned into so much more of a little person. She obviously understands what we are saying to her. She goes to the front door when she wants to go outside (which is 3885 times a day). She is so dang smart and it's amazing to watch her everyday become more aware of what's going on and figuring out who she is, and how she fits into this big world.

We went to her 12 month check up. She weighs 23 pounds and is 28.5 inches long. That puts her about 72% weight and 23 % heights. Bart is now convinced she is going to be a little person, but I remind him I'm 5'2'' and I do just fine. The doctor says she is perfect and he's amazed that we have never had to bring her in for any kind of illness. It's been such a blessing to have such a healthy and happy girl.

favorite toys: tooth brush and tylenol bottle

we rarely wear pants. you're welcome.

She's officially a walker and doesn't crawl anymore unless it's in the grass because grass is hard. It really feels like my baby is gone and I have a toddler now. She's a speedy little demon and loves walking down the sidewalk. We go on multiple walks a day and on the weekend we take even more! Luckily the weather has been cloudy and not too hot. She still goes barefoot, but only because the shoes I bought her still haven't come in the mail. Hopefully she accepts them and doesn't demand to be a homeless looking baby for life.

I know I make her sound like an angel baby (because she is) but that doesn't mean we already have our fair share of tantrums around here. I'm trying really hard not to just laugh at them (because baby tantrums are hilarious) and remembering to acknowledge her frustration and ask her what's wrong. I know one day she will be able to tell me, but for now she's quite the drama queen.

10 Months- Photo OVERLOAD

10 months! I love writing monthly updates because it makes me pause for a few minutes and think about all the fun new things Mckenzie has been learning and experiencing lately.

9-10 months was 100% better than 8-9 months. Her 2nd front tooth finally popped through so we didn't really deal with teething this month. She did get sick for the first time in her young little life and it was the saddest thing ever! She had a high fever for a few days and then woke up one morning with nothing. She is such a healthy little thing it was weird to see her sick. I didn't know what to do and it was definitely a first time experience for both me and Bart.

our days were spent just holding her all day long while she slept on and off. she usually isn't very cuddly so it was fun to be able to snuggle with her

So other than the two days she was sick this girl hasn't stopped moving! She cruises all over the house. She pulls herself up on everything and just the last week has started trying to stand on her own. It usually doesn't take her very long to master new skills so I predict she'll be standing solo by the end of next week. She LOVES the fridge. Whenever we open it you hear her grunt excitedly and head straight for it. It's pretty funny and I usually leave it open and let her hang out for a minute. The dishwasher comes in at a close second. She loves playing with it when the door is down. She even learned how to climb on top of the lid- she just isn't able to get back down

she also likes to crawl into the dirt when she is wearing a new outfit. go figure

this was my first "it's too quiet" moment. I go into check on her and this is what I find

hanging out at Grandpa Larry's house and kind of stuck...

She started saying mama and dada and it just melts my heart every time. She LOVES Bart. She get so happy when he gets home and follows him around if he is doing something cool. The last two weeks we have been playing in the pool a lot and she really seems to like it. I have no doubt we will be living there this summer.

some of my favorite pics- Mckenzie watching dad install baby proofing items

she LOVES animals (doesn't get that from me)

she also loves food- but we knew that already

sleepy smiles!

her face says it all (or it might be saying "mom just gave me some licorice and it was prettygood")

She still sleeps great and takes two naps a day and 12 hours at night. She is SO ticklish and loves balls, food and being outside. She is such a goofy kid and we really do love being around her every day. I can't say enough good things about my baby girl- she completes our family.