Spring BREAK!

One might wonder how I am able to post a little more this week......well, the answer is I only have ONE child to watch this week! Mackenzie went to Florida for "Grandparents' Camp." :) I thought a few weeks ago (actually, while she was off from preschool for winter break in February!) that maybe I'd have her go visit her grandparents during spring break because I was really feeling a need for a break from the constant exhaustion of caring for two little ones! So, I checked with my parents & Brannon's, and (of course) they were up for the idea. She spent 1/2 of the week at Brannon's parents & then the other half of the week at my parents.

She has handled it all like such a big girl. She just waved goodbye when she drove off with Meemi & Poppee like it was no big deal (of course, I'm sure she didn't know exactly how long a week would be!). I can't believe she's big enough to just go off like this. Doesn't miss us too much. I think she asks about me in the morning, like where I am & they tell her I'm at home & she's going to be there for a little longer and then she's okay with it! I did give them gifts to give her from us each day so that helps!! But, I'm glad she's had SUCH a wonderful week with her grandparents. I'm pretty sure she knows a good thing when she sees it! We'll probably have to spend a few days next week re-programming her that "No" is still actually a part of the English language! I'm not sure she's heard it much this week. HA!

We've been missing our big girl this week, but it has also been soooo nice to have a bit of a break. Amazing how easy it seems now to take care of just one baby :) Keelyn & I have had some one on one time, which I have loved. Getting to take time to rock her to sleep & just hold her has been so nice & I'm pretty sure she's been loving it too!

On the Hunt

Last week, Mackenzie got to enjoy her first egg hunt of the season! We went with my MOPs group to a local retirement home where we had an egg hunt and visited with the residents. It was a lot of fun to watch her this year because she totally understands the goal of the hunt AND also she was a little social butterfly telling the residents "Happy Easter" and "Look at my eggs!". They loved her (naturally!).

Here's a few pictures from the fun!

These two best buds were so cute, holding hands on the way to the hunt! Love them!!!

And....They're OFF!

Found one!

Keelyn enjoying the fun :)

I love this picture of Mackenzie - she looks like she has a secret & Mady Kay is trying to figure it out!

Sophia & Mackenzie enjoying their goodies :)

Got a better smiling shot of Keelyn at home sporting her cute little bunny outfit!

Four Little Girls

Brannon's best friend from college and his family came over last weekend while they were in town. It is crazy to me that just a few short years ago the four of us with no kids were hanging out & going to the beach and such.....and now we each have two little girls in our families. And they are so close in age. Mackenzie & L are about 2 months apart, and the new little ones are about 1 month apart. And ALL girls. Such fun :) The older girls had a lot of fun playing - though they are more into parallel play than truly playing together, they did warm up and play more together right before time to leave (of course!).We took some pictures of the 4 of them before they had to leave & that was pretty funny b/c Keelyn wasn't too into it and their little one liked to pull on Mackenzie's hair!

It was great seeing them.... Too bad they (or we if you asked them!) don't live closer..... It's always great to have friends who are in the same boat as you are in this crazy world of parenting. For example, both families (unknowingly) took a trip to IKEA on Sunday. Brannon & I were lamenting the fact that Keelyn had a COMPLETE blow out diaper while we were there requiring full costume change. But that didn't seem so bad when we found out their trip to IKEA ended in vomit and a trip to the ER! (She's all better now, but sounded pretty scary!). Like I said, knowing other parents in your boat makes your struggles seem normal (or even not so bad!).....

Here's a few of our out take shots of the 4 girls:

I think Keelyn was a little scared of 4 adults trying to get them to smile! I love how the big girls are looking at her like "what's wrong with her???"

L eating a play pretzel, A pulling M's hair, M is yelling, but miraculously K chilled out due to her interest in noticing the remotes!

In My Shoes (or Dress I Should Say)

My mom saved a lot of my old dresses that she made, particularly the ones she smocked herself. I have had one hanging in Mackenzie's closet for a while now that I remember wearing (I think) for a preschool picture. Anyways, Mackenzie had her class picture taken last week, so I got her all dolled up for the picture in my old dress. Then, I got to school and no one else seemed very dressed up, so I asked & I had the week wrong. They were the following week. So, we took a few pictures outside since it was a nice day. I didn't manage to get it washed by the day of the real pictures so I picked out another outfit for the pictures. But she'll probably still be able to wear it in the fall, so I may try again!

So serious about something.....

Checkin' out planes flying above

Lovin' this weather!

Had to get a few of Keelyn while we were outside

Such a happy girl!

Our Budding Photographer

Mackenzie wanted to take some pictures the other night with my little point & click camera. She did pretty good (except the last photo seems to have missed the mark). Here's her first portfolio :)

Keelyn's not sure what to think of Mackenzie holding the camera!

A shot of mommy.....hope it doesn't scare anyone. Somehow, I didn't manage to put on makeup that day (not sure how that happened, I mean, I always look good watching my 2 kiddos! HA!)

Looking down at her shoes

Oops, where's mommy & Keelyn's heads???

Two Cuties

Mackenzie still LOVES to hold her baby sister. We have a book called "I'm a Big Sister Now" and it talks about how the big sister can hold the baby & make the baby 'warm & cozy". So, Mackenzie will ask to hold her and then tell me that she's making Keelyn cozy! It's very cute :) It can still be a rough ride at times for Keelyn, but she is learning to tolerate pretty well! And occasionally, Mackenzie tries to pick her up or move her instead of sitting still & holding her. That's okay, we're still learning :)

I love this look from Keelyn. Her eyes seem to be saying, "Mommy, are you sure about this???"

There's a smile!

The Real Kee Kee

I am amazed at how much faster time is flying by with Keelyn than it did even with Mackenzie (and I thought that flew by!). I realized the other day that we didn't even really have a nickname for Keelyn & for Mackenzie by this age, seems like we had many! I asked Brannon if he had a nickname for her and he said, "She is the REAL Kee-Kee". I thought it was funny that Mackenzie & her friend Mady Kay called each other Kee Kee for so long when trying to learn to pronounce their names. And then, we named our next child, Keelyn, which really is a name that you could shorten to KeeKee!

She's also throwing me for a loop because she's doing

things a little later (so far) than her sister did. So, I'm comparing her to Mackenzie and thinking she must be younger b/c she not rolling both ways yet because Mackenzie was rolling all over the place by now, so it feels like Keelyn should be more like 3-4 months old! I did try and sit her up the other day & we have a ways to go on that too. M did it at 5 1/2 months, so we'll see what Keelyn can do in a couple weeks! These are some photos of her attempt & then just being propped up. I love how the feet pop right up to the mouth, such flexibility! (Can I have some of that?)