All about Kenna

Kenna had her four year old check-up today and all is good with her. I am glad to have two healthy beautiful children.
Just in the past couple months I have seen McKenna mature so much and it has been a joy to see her growing into a beautiful young lady. She seriously amazes me at her wisdom and her kindness and her willingness to help and for her compassion and freindliness. She just has that personality that just draws you in and she has so much zest for life and makes you want to be so happy. She gets so excited about everything and I love that!
If you would have asked me about a year ago I would have told you that I will always have a wild child, but now I am pleasantly surprised to say that she is becoming more mellow which I am very appreciative of. She still has her exuberance don't get me wrong, but she is a lot more contained in her roudiness and will actually sit down with me for more than 5 minutes.
Now that one is finally settling down I have another who is into everything, but I guess that will always be the case right.
McKenna will be starting dance classes in a couple weeks and preschool which she is so excited about. She keeps asking if she gets to go to dance class and school yet and I know she will have a blast with both of those things. I am interested to see how well she will do in both those aspects of her life. I am sure she will be great.
She is really excited about Halloween too. She keeps asking me if it is Halloween time yet and I have to keep telling her it is not for a couple of months, it is a ways away yet....lets just say she doesn't quite grasp the concept of months, because the next day she is asking me again.
She has become a little mother to everyone and everything. She is always telling Graysen what to do and helping him with everything and she does this with any kid she sees. It is so sweet to see her to take on that nurturing roll and be so kind and soft with everyone. I just love her to death and am so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter.

All about the G-man

So Graysen had his 12 month check-up on Monday and all is well with the G-man. He is getting so tall, he is 30 inches and is now in a forward facing car seat since he grew out of his other one. He is only 21 lbs. which I was surprised at because he only gained 1 lb in like 3 months. Guess it went to his height instead. He absolutely loves the forward facing carseat and is a lot happier when we go anywhere. Kenna got a new booster seat so of course she is happy too.
Graysen had to have 5 shots which was kind of brutal on all of us. The first two shots he was just like oww ok this hurts, but then after they kept coming he was like mom what are you letting them do to me. It was so sad and I hate seeing him cry like that. He does really well with shots though as far as not having any reactions to them so I am blessed in that department. Kenna was crying and getting upset at the nurse again which was so sweet and funny at the same time. She looks after her brother so well and is such a good big sister. The nurse just kept saying "I know I hurt him and I am sorry, it will help him though so he doesn't get sick." I felt bad for her cause she had to deal with the wrath of Kenna.
Graysen is walking all over the place now. He was taking a few steps here and there in July but nothing major until the 27th, the day Travis came home he decided he would walk all over the place. With this new found freedom he has decided he will just get into everything and try to climb on everything now so I have to keep a close eye on him at all times. He has 6 teeth now with one more coming in, which is why I cut him off about a month ago and have introduced him to cows milk. He doesn't really like it that much but I think he is getting used to it.
He is still the happiest little boy I know and does so many cute things. Whenever he hears music he will start bouncing up and down and tries to twirl around, it is the cutest thing ever. He also tries to wave his arms like he is trying to bust a move, it is awesome. McKenna and him love playing with eachother and when he gets up in the morning he is so happy to see her and climbs all over her.
He points to everything and says "wassat" and tries to neigh like a horse and trying really hard to talk in general. He is really curious about everything and just wants to see and touch and taste what he finds.
He loves being outside no matter what we are doing. Rocks and dirt are among his favorite things to play with as well as put in his mouth....he is all boy. I am amazed at how entertained he is with just one little thing and it can keep him busy for so long. Kenna was the total opposite.
Graysen really isn't a water person though which I am kind of bummed about because he will only go in the little pool with Kenna for a little bit and he won't get wet at the splash park because he doesn't like being wet all over. I hope he will grow out of it.
I am so glad he is happy and healthy and that he is learing so much and enjoying life. I love this age and am so grateful for him. My favorite thing is when he gets up in the morning and we cuddle while he drinks his milk and then Kenna will come in and we will all just lay on our bed and look out the window and play, it is moments like that I hold close to my heart and enjoy life and love being a mom.

Graysen's 1st Birthday!

I can't believe my little boy is one years old! The time has just flown by, it feels like yesterday that I brought him home from the hospital.
He is such a happy little boy and loves everyone! He always has a smile on his face and is so happy go lucky about everything. He is walking all over the place now and is so proud of himself. He points to everything and says "wassat" and is always giggling and laughing at everything, especially big sister. They love to play together and I love watching them have fun with each other.
For his birthday we went to Grandma and Grandpa Allen's house. We had a really nice dinner that Grandma made. It was so nice outside so we had it outside. Aunt Melanie was here from Utah, and Uncle Tyler came over and celebrated with us.
We opened presents after dinner. He wasn't quite sure how to open the presents at first, but towards the end he started to get a hang of it and started opening them by himself. He started to eat the paper though instead of unwrapping it. Of course McKenna was so excited and more than happy to help him open his presents and play with them afterwards :) He got a lot of fun toys and a cute outfit and book and pillow pet and shoes. McKenna and him have been playing nonstop with all the new toys.

We sang him happy birthday and had cupcakes after the presents. He devoured his cupcake, he loved it! He was a mess afterwards of course, but it was so worth it to watch him have so much fun. He didn't know what was going on but I think he still had fun and enjoyed everthing.
We love him so much and we are so happy to have him in our family. He is the sweetest boy and so cute! I love his little personality and I am so excited to make many more memories with him and to watch him grow.

McKenna's 4th Birthday

So I can't believe my little girl is already 4 years old. She has grown up so fast and I love seeing what a young lady she has become and watching her figure out the world in new ways.
She is such a joy in our lives and I am so grateful for such a beautiful, happy, loving, and wonderful little girl. She brightens each day and gives me resolve to be a better person and live life to the fullest. I love her so much and could have not asked for a better daughter.
Since daddy was gone for her actual birthday we waited to celebrate it until he got home. I did however take her up to grandma and grandpa's house and we went out to lunch at Burger King (her choice) and then we went and saw Cars 2. She was happy about that and liked the movie even though it was kind of long. We went to the speghetti factory with grandma and grandpa Allen which was really good. Aunty Abbey and Uncle Trevor gave her a princess doll you could change clothes and some jewelry and she absolutely loved it! We waited until later to open her other presents.
Travis came home the next week so we celebrated her birthday then. She was so excited that it was her birthday and made us sing the birthday song to her about 50 times. She helped me make her cake which was a princess castle cake that she wanted. I used the wrong kind of cake so it was really crumbly and hard to frost, but good thing she is four and doesn't care if it looks that good :)
Grandma and Grandpa Allen came down to Salem and we took Kenna to Chucky Cheese. She hasn't been there since she was like less then 2 so she was so excited! I think her favorite part was putting all the tokens into the games and rides. She really had a blast and it was so fun to see the joy she had and the pure excitement that exuded from her. She played tons of games and rode a lot of rides and she redeemed her tickets for a slinky and some squishy ants. It was so fun and Graysen had a blast too looking around at all the pretty lights and flashes from all the games.
Kenna said she wanted french toast for dinner so we decided to go to Sharis which was really good. After dinner we came back home and opened presents and had cake and ice cream.
Kenna got a princess tent, hello kitty backpack and watch, a super cute outfit, a pink piggy pillow pet (what she calls it,) a book, some makeup, angry bird toys, tops that light up when they spin, candy, and two remote control cars. She loved everything she got and it makes me happy too because she has new toys to entertain for a while. Graysen loved all the paper when she was opening presents and he loved the princess tent because there is a tunnel that is attached to go into the tent and he and Kenna had so much fun playing in it together.
It was a such a fun time for McKenna and I am so glad she enjoyed herself and that she is so happy.
I love my little girl so much and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father blessed me with such a wonderful daughter. She is such a sweetheart and I am lucky to be her mom.

Emergency room trip

So I was talking with my sister in law Amy the other day and saying that I was really surprised that McKenna had never had to go to the emergency room yet. Needless to say I jinxed myself because the next week where did we go but to the emergency room.
My mom and dad and I were all out on the front porch enjoying the warm Sunday evening and Mckenna was playing on the front steps. The next thing I know Kenna is crying and I see her on the ground. She told me she hurt her arm so I gave her kisses and hugged her. Usually by this point she gets up and just goes right back to playing but she just wanted to be held and kept crying. She wouldn't really use her arm and kept saying it hurt.
I took her inside and got her ready for bed thinking she would just shake it off, but she was not her normal energetic self. Her arm was kind of starting to swell a little so I was worried she might have broken it. After much debate in my mind we decided to take her into the emergency room in Fort Madison Iowa.
She had to take some x-rays of her arm which was actually the worst part because they had to bend her arm and straighten it out and she was screaming because it hurt so bad. The doctor didn't find anything on the x-rays but said that a radiologist was looking at them tomorrow and if they saw anything they would call me.
I was hopeful that nothing was wrong, so we went home. Kenna was happy cause she got a cute bear and 4 stickers for being so good for the x-rays and everything.
The next day her arm had swollen up pretty big and she was still not really using it and was not playing like she normally was. I got a call from the hospital that afternoon saying that the x-rays actually showed a hair-line fracture on her elbow. We were referred to a Orthopedic and took in her a couple days later.
They didn't put a cast on her because they said at that age they just grow so fast and heal so quickly that a cast wouldn't be the best. Instead they gave her a sling.
I was really skeptical that she would actually keep it on and that it would do any good. To my surprise she not only kept it on, but if I forgot to put it back on when she took a bath she would remind me she needed to put it back on.
She was so brave and good considering what happened and she went right on using it and adapting to the sling like it was part of her arm.
She was pretty sad daddy wasn't there to show him her arm and tell him all about it but at least we were able to tell him over the phone. It was quite the experience and now I can no longer say she has never been to the ER.

no Easter bunny this year

The Saturday before easter we went to our church Easter activity at this nice park. They were doing easter egg hunts in shifts according to ages and we had to wait a little before they started. There were other activities to do while we waited to do the easter egg hunt, but before we started they had the "easter bunny" pay a visit. I proceeded to point him out to McKenna and try to have her take a picture with him but she was not having it. She took one look at him and started crying, granted the face on the costume was kinda angry looking so I don't blame her. She kept saying she wanted to go home and just wanted me to hold her. I told her we didn't have to see the easter bunny and she said she didn't want him to come to our house. I could have used this as an opportunity to keep her candy for myself, but instead I told her that the real easter bunny was cute and soft and that this bunny was just a worker for the bunny. I think that made her feel better because she was fine after that as long as we weren't around him.

McKenna got her face painted and she asked for a pretty butterfly. She was really excited about this part and she kept showing everyone.
She also did a relay race which was funny because you are supposed to put an egg in the spoon and try to run to the end of the cones and back without dropping it, so McKenna just held the egg in one hand and the spoon in the other and ran there and back, it was pretty hilarious to watch. She had fun though so that is all that matters.
When the easter egg hunt began, McKenna took off and started getting all the eggs in sight. She collected so many eggs I had to tell her to stop so that the other kids could get some too. She was very happy with her spoils.

Graysen was content with just observing everything and playing in the grass. He really like the feeling of the grass, it was so cute. We tried to have him pick up some eggs but he was more interested in eating sticks....go figure.
I guess next year I am not buying him anything, I will just go out in the yard and collect sticks.
McKenna and I colored easter eggs together later that day. Daddy was studying for a final at school so he couldn't do it with us :( We had fun though!

Sunday morning McKenna came out and found her easter basket and was so excited.
She went on another hunt for eggs around the living room which was fun for her. Graysen found a couple eggs and opened them right away and started eating the little puffs in them.
It was so fun to see the joy on their faces.
We had a nice day at church and then we went over to Travis parents for a nice dinner. It was nice spending time with his family and the dinner was soooo good! both Grandma and Grandpa gave the kids little easter baskets with lots of goodies so they were happy campers. McKenna also got a new princess bike which she was obsessed with and Graysen got a cute little wagon that I can pull both of them in They absolutely loved those things. It was a very nice weekend.
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And of course the most important part of Easter is that Christ is risen and that he lives! He has paved the way for us to break the bands of death and to be able to live with him and all our loved ones again. I am so grateful for him and love him with all my heart. He is my Savior, king and friend and I know that he lives and loves us too.

8 months

So my little man is officially 8 months old! I really can't believe that it has been that long. It seems like I just brought him home from the hospital yesterday. I wish I could just stop him from growing because I absolutely adore this age and he is just so cute and fun!
I really try to treasure every moment with him and make sure that I don't miss anything. I think with McKenna I was always excited to have her move to the next step because she was the first, but now with Graysen I want to slow him down and don't want him to get to the next stage so fast. I know that there are fun things at each stage and that I have lots of things to look forward too, it is just going by so fast.
Graysen is now crawling everywhere and getting into everything. He gets faster at it each day and discovers that there are lots of rooms to go into and lots of things to get into. He also pulls himself up on everything, and needless to say he has a few bumps on his head from losing his balance.

This morning he was crawling on our bed and just crawled right off the edge...luckily there were pillows all along the floor so he didn't get hurt. It was kind of funny to watch actually but I felt bad that he got away from us so fast and fell off. It scared him more than anything.
He likes to say "dada" all the time and make ssss sounds, it is soooo adorable! He just got his first tooth in and was a little grumpy until I gave him meds and then he was just fine :) I swear every time I blink he is changing and growing up; i guess I will have to keep my eyes pryed open.
Before we found out we were having a boy I would have been content with all girls, but seriously Graysen has made me into a boy lover. I wouldn't mind having all boys from here on out. I am just glad I have one of each and now I don't care what I have after this.
McKenna is liking playing with Graysen more since he is more of an active participant now and can actually move around and follow her places. Of course she still prefers to pick him up and carry him everywhere, she is pretty strong. She really loves him and loves doing things for him and entertaining him which is really nice for me :)
He is still so happy and just loves everyone. He hardly ever cries and he sleeps so good now. He does wake up a little earier than I would like (6:30,) but I don't mind too much because I get to sleep the whole night. He takes long naps now too so I am able to get a lot done.
He is such a wonderful little boy and I am thankful for him every day! He reminds me what life is all about and to always have a smile on my face.