Cute Kids!

It is so much fun to watch kids grow and develop personalities. Both my kids have had very distinct and very different personalities from birth. McKinley is my crazy fun kid. She has so much energy and enthusiasm. Now that she can talk and is starting to figure things out, its funny to hear what she has to say about things. I decided to share some of my favorite recent McKinley Moments.

*McKinley loves to ride elevators. However, she calls them Alligators. A couple of weeks ago we were staying at a hotel in Washington. When we got off the elevator McKinley asked if we could ride again. I told her we would ride again later. So she turned to the elevator and said "See ya later Alligator."
*Potty training McKinley was difficult because pooping scared her. Once she finally figured it out she would get really excited when she went poopy. She would make me come into the bathroom to flush the toilet for her so that she could wave goodbye to her poopies. Then she would say "See you later poppies. Thanks for coming out of my Bum-Bum."
*The other day Brett burped at the table. He quickly said excuse me, but apparently that wasn't enough. McKinley looked at him and said "Daddy first you say Sorry, then you say excuse me." She has such good manners that now she corrects me and Brett. :)
*The other day we were driving in the car and I told McKinley that we needed to stop and get gas for the car. She gave me a concerned look and said "Yeah, the car has gas, I think he needs to go poopy."
*I took McKinley to the grocery store with me. I grabbed a carton of ice cream and McKinley wanted to hold it while she was sitting in the cart. She kept telling me she wanted to share it with me. I thought she was telling me that because she wanted me to open it for her. I kept telling her we couldn't have it until later. Finally McKinley said "Mommy I want to share it with you because you are my best friend." What a sweetheart!

While we were in Washington McKinley's fish Dory died. I think this is like Dory the fifth. Normally we would just hurry and replace the fish before she noticed, but this time she noticed before us. So we decided maybe she was old enough that we shouldn't just tell her that Dory went to 42 Wallaby Way. We explained that Dory got sick and that she was going to go live with Heavenly Father. When we told her that Heavenly Father was going to take care of Dory she seemed to be pretty satisfied with that idea. Then I flushed Dory down the toilet, and I had McKinley come help me so that she could tell Dory "Goodbye".
The next day McKinley was very eager to tell every person that we saw that Dory died and then we flushed Dory down the toilet so that she could go live with Heavenly Father. I tried to explain everything that died wasn't flushed down the toilet, only fish. I also tried to explain to her that being flushed down the toilet wasn't how we went to see Heavenly Father.
The next day McKinleys stuffed animals were dying. I was worried she was going to start flushing them down the toilet, so I took her to Walmart and got her a doctors kit. When we got home we fixed all of her stuffed animals.

...and anyone else who would sit still long enough for a Dr. McKinley check-up

Everytime Dr McKinley checked me she would tell me that my problem was that I had bees in my ears. Apparently, I need to clean my ears.


Our little Annabelle isn't near as busy and wild. She is such a pleasant and easy going kid. This past weekend Annabelle and I took a trip to Montana to visit Great Falls and look for houses. Annabelle was so good on the plane. We were flying first class and I could tell the other people in first class weren't thrilled about sitting near someone with a baby. After each flight I had multiple people comment on how well she did. She didn't ever cry. When she wasn't sleeping she was looking around smiling at everyone.
We recently started Annabelle on rice cereal. I know she isn't 6 months yet, but we decided to start introducing her to the idea of eating. We are mainly just trying to help her become familiar with spoons, bowls, and cups.

Her first feeding went as I expected. She was much more interested in the spoon then the food.

As you can see from the picture, rice cereal isn't her favorite food. After a few bites she refused to open her mouth, and then she would push the spoon away with her hand. However, I can't eat with her in my arms because when it comes to my food this kid has cat-like reflexes. Her hands are always in my food.
Annabelle turned 5 months this weekend ...where does the time go. She is rolling over and she'll sit up by herself for a little while. She is becoming so much fun as she is getting older and starting to interact and play.