School fun

Cameron's teacher does testing once a month individually with each child.  On these testing days she asks for at least 2 parents to volunteer and help with an art project.  I was looking forward to volunteering and hanging out with Cameron at school.  (side note: I ended up being a little late because my car wouldn't start.  Luckily Michele was coming over to watch Kenzie and, after 15 minutes of looking for the button to pop the hood of her car, we successfully jumped my battery.)

I think this little girl likes Cameron.  I watched her follow him around from activity to activity (Cameron doesn't stay playing one thing very long).  He was playing with these dinosaurs and she came over to play with him.  He really didn't want her to play with the dinosaurs, but decided it was okay.

The project I decided to do with the kids was a little messy, but the kids had fun!   We put big shirts on them so they wouldn't get paint all over their clothes.    So we traced their hands and then cut it out to make the trunk and tree.  Then I cut out some grass and glued it over the trunk.  Next the kids got to paint leafs on the tree. 

Cameron was excited and had fun....

so proud of his picture.  It's hanging on our fridge :)

It was interesting to watch each child paint and to see all the different masterpieces.  There were a lot of children, we did them in groups and I was tired after it was over.  But I had fun and can't wait to go back and help!!

Little clown

I am still laughing at this silly girl.  She is going to be a little clown.  She knew it was funny to put on Mr. Potato Head's glasses and she was walking around with them on laughing.

I couldn't get a non-blurry picture because she wouldn't stop walking around....

Looking a little cross eyed :)

Friends

Cameron's friend Tyson came over to play in the morning and I was just finishing Cameron's hair.  Tyson said, "I want my hair like Cameron's."  I asked him if he wanted me to do it for him and Cameron said, "yeah mine has gel in it so my mom will need to put gel in yours."

I couldn't get them to look away from the TV for a picture :)  Tyson's mom said that he told her he wanted his hair like Cameron's the other day when he was home and he went in the bathroom and put water on it and tried to spike it up himself.  So funny!

Birthday party

Cameron was invited to a birthday party.  A little boy in his preschool class turned 4 and had a fun party at Thanksgiving Point in the children's discovery area.

After they ate lunch and opened presents the kids had fun playing in the Noah's Ark water area.

I didn't get pictures of the other things, but we went through a maze, fed fish, sailed boats down a stream in another water area, and went in a few bear caves.  Cameron had fun.  I can't believe he is getting old enough to get invited to birthday parties!  It is so cute to watch him with his friends and listen to the things he says.  The other day he said to his little friend, "we can either play toys in my room or go play outside. Which choice do you choose?"  

1 Year well check

We went to Mackenzie's one year well check the other day.  She is growing and on the charts!  She is 29 in long (41%), weighs 18 lbs 2 oz (7%) and her head circumference is 45.3 cm (52%).  She was so brave...they pricked her finger to squeeze out some blood for two different tests.  She didn't even make a noise or act bothered.  Then they did 3 shots in her leg....she didn't like that and cried for about 20 seconds.  She was mad!  She got over it quickly and was walking around.  She picked a bouncy ball from the prize drawer.  Cameron was so cute when we were there.  He was worried for her and when she   got the shots he had such a look of concern on his face, then she started crying and he hid under the table.  On the ride home I asked him why he hid under the table and how it made him feel to see Kenzie get shots.  He said, "I didn't like it, I felt sad."  Such a good, protective brother already!  The Dr. seemed to think Mackenzie's head was looking good and healing well.  She said we don't need to go for another CT scan that the blood should be reabsorbed and the fracture will heal in time.

We have a pet rabbit that likes our yard.  We aren't sure where it came from but the kids like it.  Tica chases it, but luckily she can't catch it.  I gave Cameron some carrots to feed the bunny.  Mackenzie wanted one, but the bunny wasn't that interested in them.  So I took out some lettuce and the bunny seemed to like that.  Mackenzie took her carrot and went over and sat by the bunny.  She seems to love animals and gets so excited when she sees fish (the Dr. office has an aquarium) any other animals (likes to see them at the zoo and the aquarium).  She laughs at Tica and claps when she sees her.  Mackenzie LOVES to be outside. She gets so mad if I open the door to let Tica out and we don't go outside.  She likes to go on bike rides and now she sits on Cameron's old bike and I push her.  It's so cute how she holds on and just smiles.  We went for a long ride around the neighborhood today.  I couldn't believe she just sat on there the whole time.  If we stopped for any reason she cried.  It will be fun to see what her personality is going to be....she can be strong willed and knows what she wants when it comes to certain things.  But she is also very chill and just goes with the flow.  She likes to play with her toys and play with Cameron.  When he takes toys from her she just gets a different toy.  It's hard to believe she only joined our family a year ago!

Take me out to the ball game....

A few more pictures of Cameron's baseball games.  It was hard to take very many while he was playing because I had to chase Mackenzie around and try to watch him too.  They finally got their team hats about 4 games into the season.  So he was excited to have his hat.  He was enjoying the team treat after this game :)

mouth full of doughnut=hard to smile

There he is running to 3rd base.  Cameron really had fun playing and said he "loves" baseball.  He said he liked it more than soccer, but who knows if that is just because he was playing it right then??  He was pretty good at hitting and seemed to catch on to the whole concept of the game.  The best part was just watching him learn something new, interact with other kids, and have fun!

Mackenzie loved going to the games too.  She socialized with all the other little siblings and thought it was a fun game to put every disgusting thing she could find on the ground in her mouth.   From wrappers, to rocks, to grass, to nuts and shells and seeds and who knows what!  I was on garbage duty usually when I was there.  She liked to play with Cameron's glove when he wasn't using it.  On the ride home she was playing peek-a-boo with it.

"where's Kenzie"?

"there she is!"

"Where did Kenzie go? Where is she?"

"oh there she is!!"

I signed up to bring the team treats for the last game.  I made baseball cupcakes and brought Capri Sun drinks.  Cameron thought they were so cool and had fun helping me hand them out to all his friends.  I didn't get a picture of him wearing his dog tags he got or the nice bag they gave him for the awards.  Mackenzie commandeered the dog tags and wears them around the house every day.  She plays with them or carries them all the time. It's so funny, but to her it's another necklace or piece of jewelry!  Way to go Cameron your first experience with baseball was a success.  You found another thing that  you do well, that you like, and that you have fun doing!  I can't wait to cheer you on again!

I can't get enough of this girl

She cracks me up.....

I love when she smiles and laughs it's so funny!

We were at Cameron's baseball game Thursday night.  I almost didn't go for several reasons....1) Thrusday games are hard because they are later and Kenzie gets tired since it's past her bedtime. 2) It had been raining and Jeremy wasn't going to go to the game....it's hard to watch Cameron play and watch her so she doesn't eat every little piece of garbage and rocks she can pick up.  3) Last game I went to by myself it started pouring halfway through the game.  No warning, just thunder lightening and then a down pour.  The game ended and we all ran to our cars....I looked like I just jumped in a swimming pool.  4) This game I knew it would be hopeless to keep her from getting muddy and wet.  But Cameron only has a few games left and he really likes baseball.   So....we loaded up and went :)

Mackenzie has made several friends and there is one little girl she always has to give a hug to.  It is so cute.  Every time she sees her she starts squealing and reaching for her.

YUP!!  That was a puddle she just decided to plop right down in...and then splashed in it with her hand.

That little girl kept trying to take off Kenzie's hat.  I think she had hat envy.   I did watch Cameron play :) He is fun to watch.  He hit the ball every time and since he was the last batter on one inning he got to "hit the home run"  I really like baseball, I hope he wants to keep playing :)

Birthday girl

Mackenzie isn't my little baby anymore!!  I can't believe she is one already.  I kept telling her it was her birthday throughout the day and she would laugh and then smile so big.  I think she knew the day was all about her.

We had a family party that evening and Kenzie ended up getting pretty tired since she stayed up way passed her bedtime which is usually 7pm

See the balloons in the back??  Well, I spent hours calling around and trying to find somewhere that had helium.  Apparently there is a helium shortage in Utah.  Good thing I knew that (thanks to Cookie Cutters not having balloons last time Cameron got his hair cut.)  So I was prepared to search high and low.  After all Mackenzie couldn't have a party without balloons...they are her most favorite thing ever!

We had just barely started getting our food and were starting to eat when Kenzie decided she wasn't going to wait for everyone to open presents.  She crawled over to them and started ripping them up.  So we stopped eating and watched her open presents.  It's her party :)

She got so many fun toys.  She loved this little princess car and got on it by herself and didn't want to get off.  Cameron had just as much fun "helping" her open her presents and he would get so excited about each gift.  The next day he was so excited to play with them like they were his toys.

The bounce house is always a hit with the cousins and Cameron too.  This was Mackenzie's first time in there and she had a blast.  Of course we didn't let her in with all the other kids jumping around.  Cameron  bounced her a little bit and she laughed.

I love how the cake turned out....the inside looked like zebra too.  I thought it was fun and fairly easy to make, just time consuming and probably took twice as long making it while taking care of 2 kids and a million other things :)

The part we were all waiting for....Mackenzie and her cake.  We weren't sure what she would do, but I guessed she would demolish it knowing how much she loves to squish things and play with her food.  Soooo, I figured it would be best to take the party outside at this point :) We were all laughing so hard because she just stuck her hands in either side like she was grabbing it to pick up, then she just reached down and took a bite of the bow.

she only ate a few bites, she had more fun playing in it.

I thought to take her shirt off, but not the shorts....bad idea....chocolate cake and pink icing smeared all over white shorts is never good combination!! 

After she got to this point she started throwing it and dumping it on the ground.  The cousins were all laughing.  Cameron thought it was hilarious but then he turned to me and said, "oh no mom, now we don't have any cake to eat she ruined it." 

I am not sure why they all ate their cake on the stairs but it was easy to take a picture :)

What a fun day we had!  I am so thankful for sweet little Mackenzie and the happiness she brings to our family.  I had no idea how fun it would be to have a girl.  I didn't fully appreciate all the pink and princess and girly stuff until now....and although I haven't fully embraced it I have to admit I love seeing all the cute pink princess toys around the house.  Mackenzie started walking at 11 months and hasn't slowed down.  She gets into everything she can.  I actually have had to "child proof" my house with her and move all decorations.  Mackenzie has the cutest smile that just melts your heart.  She likes to laugh and big brother Cameron knows how to do that the best!  Her favorite thing to do is take a bath, she runs in there as fast as she can when she hears the water.  She also loves to be outside any chance she gets.  She  claps, plays peek a boo (so cute how she covers her head with something and then pulls it off while laughing).  She gives the best hugs and tried to hug everyone especially other kids.  Mackenzie is great about taking naps, she actually loves to take them....she takes 2 naps a day I just wish they were more than 30-60 minutes.  At least I get to put her in her crib and have a little free time to play with just Cameron.  I love you Mackenzie.  It's so exciting to watch your grow and learn new things every day.  You bring such a happiness to our home, thanks for being part of our family!!