Slacking

I feel like I have been slacking lately on the blog.  Life has a way of keeping you busy.  I feel bad mostly because I have missed blogging about Mackenzie and the milestones and cute things she does each month.  So this post is just a little catch up and update on the kids.....

Where do I begin with Mackenzie??  This little girl melts my heart and makes me laugh at the same time.  She couldn't be any cuter or more fun.  She loves life, loves her brother and loves to play with him.  It is so fun to watch them play and interact together.  They really do get a long and have fun together.  However, I can tell she is already going to be a little instigator....she knows what makes Cameron react.  It's funny to watch her grab one of his toys he is playing with and immediately turn and run!  I look forward to watching them grow up together.  Mackenzie's first word is DOG, she says "woof, woof" every time she says "dog".  She is really interested in Tica and gets excited when she gets to pet her.  She also says "ouch" every time she hurts herself (bumps her head, runs into something, or gets hurt with a toy).  She says "ought oh" when she drops something, but it sounds a lot like "ouch ouch".  She also yells "gotcha" when her and Cameron are chasing each other and she touches him.    Mackenzie loves to give high fives, and laughs every time you give her one.  You can't give Cameron something without giving it to her too.  If you get him a cracker or a candy or anything, she squeels for one too.  She loves suckers and would eat one all day long if I let her.  She is a pretty good eater.  Although, she doesn't like any fruits and isn't a fan of veggies.  Her favorite foods are macaroni and cheese, cheese, bread, yogurt, black beans, any pasta noodles, peanut butter and honey sandwiches.  If you let her eat with a fork I have discovered she will eat more and if she gets to eat off Cameron's plate she eats even more :)  Bath time is still her favorite time of the day.  Naps are a close second.  She does take two naps a day (yippee) but they are usually 30 minutes each (still better than Cameron because they are in her crib!).  She loves her two snuggle bears and has to have them to sleep.  She goes to bed at 6:30 pm and wakes up at 5:00 am.  I sure hope that pattern of sleep changes soon!!  Mackenzie likes to blow kisses and give hugs.  She is such a loving kid.  She also likes other kids and babies.  She is going through the Mommy separation anxiety thing right now and has to have me in her sight or be holding her usually.  She has had a few colds the past few months and the funny thing is she likes me to wipe her nose.  After she sneezes she points to the tissues.  She doesn't run from me and she actually tries to blow, however she blows out her mouth and not her nose.   She loves to touch and feel things especially food.  She tries to dress herself and put her own shoes on.  She still has the tubes in her ears, but they are doing great and the Dr. says they will fall out "sometime".....

She does pretty well in the car these days.  She has a routine of falling asleep on the way to take Cameron to preschool, I carry her in and put her in bed for her morning nap.  It works out great!!

Cameron has been busy with preschool and soccer and Kindermusik.  He also keeps me laughing and thinking on a daily basis.  I had the best night with him tonight delivering neighbor Christmas gifts.  He is such a good helper and was so excited to take the gifts up to the door.  I love his enthusiastic attitude with everything and can't believe how observant he is.  Cameron is such a cool kid!  This last week we spent an entire day doing a photo/video/training shoot up in Ogden.  He was chosen from his pictures to do this ad for Similac and a sister product of Similac that is for older kids.  The commercial will actually be shown internationally so I don't think we will ever get to see it.  It was a long day but he was a champ.  Everyone couldn't get over how good he was and said he was "a natural", so "well behaved", "great listener", "very focused" just to name a few things.  It was a fun day but I am glad it's over :)

Murphy's Law: the night before the photo shoot your child will take a pen and write all over his face for the heck of it.  You can't even tell how bad it was from these pictures either.

Good thing it came off :)  Cameron is continuing to get better and better at soccer.  He has been scoring at least one, or more, goals each soccer game.  He loves to draw and color.  And he has a great imagination....the things he makes up for us to play is hilarious   I have no idea where he comes up with these things.  He loves to build things with blocks, play hide and seek, and we have dance parties during the day.  Cameron is a great dancer and loves to sing.  We put on the music and dance like nobody is watching and sing like nobody is listening....

Gobble 'til you wobble

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays!  It was a little more low key this year but still a great day.  

Kenzie loves books....such a cute picture of Grammy reading to her 

She thought it was funny we put an olive on her finger...but that's how you have to eat them right?

getting ready to stuff ourselves

Taking a picture of Kenzie we said "say cheese" and this was her face.  We all died laughing...she squinted her eyes shut.

Cameron had fun taking pictures of everyone at dinner.  That's how I got him to stay in his seat and eat.  He had to take a bite and then he could take a picture.  I deleted about 15 pictures of the ceiling, floor, his shoes etc.  It kept him busy.

I am grateful for my family and for my parents' example of what a family is!  I am grateful for traditions and for a mom who despite a fractured femur bone, being on crutches, and suffering from carpel tunnel still made a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner (she NEVER thinks of herself or complains).  She loves to serve and do for others. I am thankful for my dad and his sense of humor, I am guaranteed a good laugh whenever I am around him.  I appreciate the example he is and for the support he gives my mom.  Without him this year there wouldn't have been a dinner!  I love my immediate family.  Thanksgiving time is also our anniversary month....6 years ago we were married and now I have 2 amazing kids.  I am blessed to have all that I have....a hardworking husband, healthy and happy children, the gospel and knowledge that families are forever.  I am thankful to live in this country where I have many freedoms.  I am blessed in so many ways and count my blessings everyday.  It will be interesting to see where we are a year from now, I look forward to another Thanksgiving!!  Next year I won't buy the pie from Costco I plan to make a pumpkin cheesecake :)

Indoor soccer

This is Cameron's second session of soccer (he played outdoor in the spring and now we have him in indoor).  He seems to really enjoy it and is doing well going after the ball and being more aggressive this session! Even though he is the youngest and least experienced one on the team, he is the fastest!  The games are fun to watch they are more fast paced than outdoor which seems to be helpful in keeping the kids attention. 

Frosty the Snowman

It has been in the 70's and upper 60's the last few weeks and I was beginning to wonder where the snow was??!!  Well, it snowed all day Friday and Friday night.  I told Cameron we could build a snowman after breakfast.  We named him Frosty.  After he said, "I wan't to build a real snowman" and I said, "what do you mean a real one?" and he said, "I wanted to make one that had legs and could walk."

We had soooo much fun.  I forgot how much fun it was to play in the snow :)

Ready to go shopping

Mackenzie loves to play with this purse we gave her for her birthday.  It came with play keys, a credit card, a mirror and a phone.  She likes to take all that stuff out and then put it back in.  It cracks me up when she puts the phone to her ear and babbles and then she puts the phone up to my ear.

She is ready to go shopping.....

Halloween all month

The month of October was one big party.  I think Cameron wore his costume more than regular clothes :)  We did the traditional pumpkin picking at the farm by us.  I thought I got pictures of us there....Cameron with his little wheel barrow, us on the hay ride, and the kids on the cool old tractors but I don't know where they are??

Cameron concentrated really hard on drawing the face on his pumpkin and I got to cut them all out.

We took the kids to the Halloween party where Paw Paw Herb lives.  They got to trick or treat to all the residents and then there was a magic show after.

Mackenzie, the little Bee, was the hit of the party.  At least 30 people commented on how cute she was and how cute her costume was.  I loved this picture of the bee attracted to the flowers :)

Kenzie with great Paw Paw Herb.  It was so hot in there, we took her cute little bee hat off.

The magic show was a hit with Cameron.  I had more fun watching him and his reactions.

He laughed pretty hard, while Mackenzie wandered around taking candy out of the other kids' bags while they weren't paying attention.  It made me laugh to watch her.  She was pretty sneaky.

Our next party was our annual friend Halloween party which is always fun.

Cameron didn't even try to cheat and use his hands.  It was funny to watch!

Pinata time!  Waiting in line for a turn to take a swing....

Then there was Cameron's favorite party (which was a little different this year but still as fun!)  Grammy's Halloween party is always fun for the cousins.

Pumpkin pizza for dinner

the balloon popping game was hillarious!!  First of all I tipped the chair over trying to pop my balloon and fell backwards....I was trying to be too competitive and beat Troy :)

Then Cameron and this balloon that wouldn't pop was the funniest part of the night.

We all got a good laugh out of the pumpkin decorating stuff.  Everyone decorated their faces instead of the pumpkins :)

Goofy Janessa

Silly Troy

funny Cameron

Dorky mommy

Some of the stickers made it on the pumpkins :)

Mackenzie's favorite game was the duck number matching game.  She loves playing in water!

Halloween day we went to daddy's work to trick or treat there.  Each section of his office decorated their separate areas.  Jeremy's area was football themed and turned out pretty good!

Cameron had fun decorating cookies.

Once again sneaky Kenzie was off taking candy while we were decorating cookies (see her hands)!  She kept walking over to these girls at their desks and point to the candy bucket and grunting.  They thought it was so cute that she kept wanting candy and just let her grab more and more.  The best part is she wouldn't put her candy in her bag....she wouldn't let go of it.  I guess she thought she wouldn't see it again.  After we left daddy's office we got some dinner and came home to start trick or treating!!  Somehow I didn't get any pictures of the actual night, but they both wore the same costumes and had lots of fun.  Jeremy took the kids while I stayed home and passed out candy.  Cameron didn't want to stay out as long as I thought he would....he came back and wanted to pass out candy with me.  What a fun month we had.  See you next year Halloween!