We Miss You Daddy!

On Sunday the 15th we blessed Anabelle. The blessing was beautiful. We were grateful to have so many of our friends present, and we were even able have my parents there. The day after the blessing me and the girls flew back to Idaho with my parents. Brett is starting his open heart rotation, so we knew we wouldn't be seeing him very much, and decided to go spend some time with our family in Idaho.
We've been in Idaho for a week so far and its been great to see everyone, and especially to introduce Annabelle to everyone. Annabelle had a hard time adjusting to the new enviroment for the first few days,but is now starting to warm up to everyone. Unfortunately all 3 of us got sick once we got here. I was really hoping that some how we could atleast keep Annabelle healthy, but she woke up this morning all stuffed up. However she is still being so happy, what a good baby.

As much fun as we are having spending time with our family, we sure do still miss our daddy. We've been able to talk to him on the phone, when he has some free time. Hopefully the next time we come out for a visit he will be able to come with us. This post is for you daddy. We miss you so much! Love ya! -Melissa, McKinley, and Annabelle

McKinley the Builder

A few months ago McKinley got a toy tool set from one of our friends. It is a big craftsman tool bench with tools ranging from chainsaws to power drills. It is such a cute toy and McKinley loves it. Last night we had the missionaries over for dinner. We were upstairs talking to them while McKinley was down playing with her tools. All of a sudden we heard her say "Oh Man! The TV is broken." She came running upstairs to tell her dad that the TV was broken and needed fixed. We told her we'd fix it later and that she should go play. On her way back downstairs we heard her say "Okay it will be twenty dollars". Brett and I laughed at her response. About 5 seconds later we heard her hammering away on the TV. Thank heavens her tools are plastic. Luckily, we were able to stop her before the TV was actually broken.

As I've mentioned, our daughters best friend is her rocking horse Hee Hee... whom she carries around the house with her all day. A few weeks ago we had to go to town and McKinley met me downstairs at the door with Hee Hee in hand. I told her that he wasn't coming with us and she instantly had a melt down. I was thinking of every excuse possible for why he couldn't come with us, but nothing was working. I told her he was to big, that he didn't like cars, that there wasn't a carseat for him, and I even told her that we would have to leave Annabelle if we took Hee Hee; and nothing worked. I knew that if we took him with us in the car once, that we would be taking him everytime... and thats not happening. Finally, I got her to leave her horse by allowing him to pick out a movie to watch while we were gone.
We had to put her horse in the recliner chair, wrap him in a blanket, and actually turn on a movie for him. I couldn't believe I was turning on a movie for a toy horse. Then before we left McKinley gave him a kiss and told him we'd be right back. It was kind of cute, and slightly irritating. It will be very interesting when we go out to Idaho for 2 weeks and our poor little Hee Hee has to stay home. I'm a little nervous about how she is going to cope with it. I guess we'll find out soon. My cute little McKinley sure does keep life interesting. I sure love that girl!

My Baby is Growing Up!

I can't believe our cute little Anna"Baby" is 2 months old. It goes by way to fast. She is such a sweet little baby. She doesn't have the luxury of being an only child like McKinley was for a few years. Sometimes I feel guilty that Annabelle doesn't get as much one on one attention as McKinley did at this age, but my sweet little baby patiently waits her turn for my attention. I love my moments with Annabelle. She has such a beautiful smile and she lights up when I talk to her.

I feel so blessed to have 2 sweet little girls. Part of me gets sad when I think about how fast Annabelle is growing up, but then I look at McKinley and it reminds of how much fun each different stage/age is. I can't wait to watch Annabelle grow up, and to have those same memories and moments with her.
Since I had Annabelle I feel like I start all of my posts with "The past week has been crazy." I keep wondering if thats ever going to change. McKinley has really stepped up as a big sister since Annabelle arrived. She is such a good helper.

We have less than 6 months left until Brett is done with his Anesthesia program, and we are definately counting down the days. Brett will be gone for the next 2 weeks and then he starts his 6 week open heart rotation, which is very intense. Basically I am going to be husbandless for the next few months. My parents are coming out in 2 weeks for Annabelles blessing and then me and the girls are flying back with them. I'm excited to visit my family and let them meet Annabelle.

"Thats My Sister"

In the past few weeks we've all had a bunch of doctors appointments. Last Friday we took the girls to the pediatrician. It was Annabelles 6wk check-up and McKinleys 3 year check-up. Annabelle did great. They weighed and measured her. She's up to 10lbs and 11oz and 23 1/2 inches. She cried for just a second after she got her immunization and that was it. However, the "Big Sister" wasn't so well behaved. She didn't get shots, but you'd have thought she did by the way she was acting. In her defense she hadn't had a nap and wasn't feeling well.
Today I had a doctors appt. and I had to take the girls with me. I got poked in the left arm and so the doctor didn't want me lifting Annabelles carseat with that arm. The nurse was carrying the carseat/Annabelle out for me and I was holding McKinleys hand. As we were walking toward the door McKinley started looking very concerned. Then she said "Thats my sister" and tugged on the carseat. I tried to explain that the nurse was helping us carry her to the car. The closer we got to the door, the more intense/upset McKinley became. By the time we got to the door McKinley and the nurse were having a tug-of-war over Annabelle. McKinley just kept saying "Thats My Sister!". The nurse said "Maybe I should give her back, because I heard about what she did to the nurse at the hospital". The doctor was standing there and asked what she meant. So the nurse informed her that McKinley hit the nurse at the hospital. The doctor looked at her nurse and said "You better give her back her sister", so thats exactly what she did.
For any of you who haven't heard the hospital story, here it is. McKinley came in the room to see me after I had the baby, and freaked out when she saw a nurse touching me. She threw her body on top of me and started swinging and kicking at the nurse when she came near me. She kept saying "Don't touch my Mommy". Later that evening the nurse came back to check on Annabelle. McKinley sneaked up behind her and swatted her on the back side. Apparently she didn't want her touching Annabelle either. We weren't happy that she hit the nurse and made her apoligized. However, part of me thought about how lucky Annabelle was to have a sister, that from the day she was born, was willing to take on someone 10x her size to protect her sister. I would say that I don't know where she gets this over protective nature from, but I remember being 12 and slamming a boy twice my size into a wall at church because he was picking on my brother. I was always very timid and shy, but I wouldn't tolerate someone picking on my brother. Apparently McKinley got her protective nature from me. So I guess this is a warning to all. If you ever pick on McKinleys sister, well.. You better watch your back side.

Princess Party

This year McKinley had her first friend birthday party. She had a princess birthday party on Valentines Day. We had 11 kids show up for her party. It was a lot of fun. The kids started by making princess crowns and then we played a bunch of games. They all played together so well. It was so cute to see so many cute little princess's running around the house, and the one little prince Braden. McKinley recieved a lot of fun presents from her friends. She really enjoyed her party.

When McKinley saw all the princess decorations and cake for her Birthday party that morning she was so excited. I think thats when it finally sank in that she was having a party. She was so excited that she just kept saying "Thank you so much for my party mommy." It was so sweet. She also kept saying "Its Wonderful!", everytime she saw her cake. Seeing her so excited about her party made all the stress and time that went into her party very worth it.

McKinley's Three!

Well I haven't done very well at updating my blog the past couple weeks. The past few weeks have been crazy. I finally got our baby announcements out, which is pathetic since she is now 6 weeks old. I've also been trying to get caught up on McKinley's scrapbook and babybook so that I can get busy on Annabelles. This weekend is McKinley's birthday party so I spent the past weekend making birthday invitations and birthday games/decorations. Meanwhile I was trying to get McKinley's barbie house painted before her birthday. Like I said earlier, the past 2 weeks have been crazy. So now I'm going to try and get caught up on our blog.
Yesterday we celebrated McKinleys 3rd birthday. I cannot believe she is 3, which is funny because anyone else we meet can't believe she is only 3. When Brett got off work yesterday we took McKinley to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. It is her favorite place to eat and it is so much fun. Then we took her to this place in the mall called "Jeepers" where they have arcade games and little rides. This was her first time there and she loved it. Her favorite part of the evening was riding the carousel.


Afterward we went home and opened presents. McKinley did pretty well for herself. She got some fun new princess jewelry and and high heels. She also got some barbie dolls and a barbie house. While my parents were out visiting my dad made a barbie house for her that I've painted/decorated and Brett put carpet in. It turned out pretty nice. The kitchen even has a tile floor, which makes it nicer than our house.





Her grandparents sent her a blow up princess house that is a ball pit. McKinley loved playing with all the little balls. However I think her favorite present was the little remote control car we got her. It was really cheep and only goes one direction, but it was perfect for her. The car starts driving as soon as you turn it on, so McKinley spent the evening chasing it around the house. Overall it was a great birthday, and it was so nice to be able to celebrate it together as a family. We sure do love our McKinley bug! She is such a sweet little girl. Since we had Annabelle she has grown up so much. She tries so hard to be our big helper. We are so grateful for her.

Best Friends

In the past 6 weeks, since we had Annabelle, we have only left the house a few times. So McKinley has had to find things around the house to keep her entertained. Luckily, her 2 best friends are at home with her; and they would be Anna "Banana" and Hee Hee.

McKinley has loved being a big sister. She is so cute with Annabelle. The other day I was doing the dishes and McKinley was in the living room talking to Annabelle. All of a sudden I heard her run into the bathroom and she came back with the corner of a square of toilet paper. She then leaned over Annabelle and was attempting to blow Annabelles nose. Apparently Annabelle wasn't real excited about it because she kept moving her head around tring to keep her nose away from McKinley. However, McKinley is persistent. She put her hand on Annabelles head to hold it still while she then proceeded to blow her nose. Meanwhile I could hear her saying "Annabelle you silly, hold still." It was cute. What a great sister. We call McKinley our little baby monitor, because we know that if Annabelle fusses at all McKinley will track us down to tell us. She sure doesn't like it when her sister is sad.

McKinley's other best friend is her rocking horse Hee Hee. She has been very attached to this horse for awhile, but since we had Annabelle she has become Hee Hees mom. In the past few weeks she has started dressing her horse in clothes and fixing his hair. Hee Hee sleeps with her and she makes sure that he gets 3 meals a day. She wasn't very happy when I told her that he couldn't sit up at the table, so we have a special place for him on the floor next to the table so he can still eat his meals with us. I've had to keep track of Hee Hee lately because McKinley has this new idea that Hee Hee needs to be taking showers and that he needs to use the bathroom. So far I've been able to convince her not to put him in the tub or the toilet, but we'll see how long that lasts. I must say that I am very grateful for our little Hee Hee because he keeps McKinley company when I'm busy with Annabelle.