Random Thoughts. Some sentimental, some not.

It has been far too long since my last post. I hope that it hasn't completely discouraged you all from checking in on our little family.

I am sitting here thinking about all that has happened this year. It has been a crazy year, a fun, happy, busy, wonderful, enlightening year and a year of growth in many ways.

My ATM turned 4 this year... Where did time go? It seemed like just last night it was just Dustin and I staying up until 2am taking walks together and dirt bike rides in the field behind our old house-and this morning I woke up to 2 children who we cannot imagine our world without and who are the most amazing blessings in our lives. My favorite part is watching the girls play together. I remember the anxiousness I felt about having another baby. What if Ashlynne felt replaced? What if I'm not able to communicate to each child that they are loved and special more then they'll ever know? What if I spoil one and not the other? What if I'm not fair? What if I favor one? They were all questions that flooded my brain each day. All without answers. I had the most special one on one quality time with ATM. I was able to turn the page of the only child chapter in our lives and open the one labeled "My girls". It has been an amazing chapter. ATM has grown from awe and wonder at a new baby to a ridiculously possessive big sister who's life revolves around her baby sister. Every time we're in the store, Ashlynne shops for McKynzie. "Can we buy this for McKynzie?" I asked her what she wanted for Christmas and she keeps saying nothing- she just wants to shop for McKynzie. I keep explaining that we will- but what would SHE like? She still hasn't been able to say one thing. She is the most giving little girl I have ever seen. Ashlynne's favorite part of every day is when McKynzie wakes up. She gets so excited and goes with me every morning and greets McKynzie with so much excitement that you'd think it was the first time she had seen her sister and had waited for her for years! And it was only nap time! I LOVE it! Ashlynne has started taking piano lessons. WOW! I can't believe she is old enough to sit on that piano bench and comprehend music. (well-not music really- just colors and ABC's and keys of three and groups of two!) She loves performing in any form. Her dance is going well. I put her in hip hop-probably because I was living out my dream through my daughter. Have you heard of that syndrome??! LOL! I quickly learned she is NOT a hip hop dancer. Too much jazz in her blood. Sigh! So I put her back in jazz/tap. She found her joy. I always tell her that dancing is her shortcut to happiness. I guess some girls were born with glitter in their veins! She keeps us going with the most hilarious conversations ever. Things like- we're driving down the road and Ashlynne, out of nowhere pipes up and says -"ya. I don't think Grammy will EVER EVER say fart. Just don't think she will." as she is shaking her head, very concerned. See, my mom will not say fart. She has other ummmm, descriptions of bodily function that is relieving the body of said gas. Cracks me up! We had never talked about it, but Ashlynne knew Grammy will not bend on that one, like it's a bad word or something. Ashlynne has alot of Daddy in her. She loves anything that will go fast. Disneyland rides- Oh! we went to Disneyland too. I'll tell about that in a bit. Cars, etc. She just talked her dad into buying her a quad. It was at an estate sale. They had it priced for 100$. Dustin talked them down to 25$! What a man! THAT is why you want him with ya when you buy your car! He always gets the best deals. They have spent the weekend cleaning it, working on it etc. It is a real one- not a barbie plastic thing. It's an actual 70cc quad. (I think that's what I heard him say.) Dustin was grateful it has a governor on it- and a pull cord thingie. So that when she starts going to fast, you can pull a cord and it kills it. Like either one of us can run fast enough to pull it in the first place. If she goes fast enough where we think it should be stopped, and we're behind her, it's cuz she'll be draggin us!

McKynzie. Where would we be without our MNM? She is the sweetest, teasiest(is that a word) craziest little baby ever. I can only say baby for another 2wks. Not even that. for my baby turns one. sniff sniff. She walks, talks,( a little bit.) Says poop, more, mommy, daddy, banana, bye bye, night night, dog, cow, guck- which is my fave, grammy (gogo.) My mom would make her say go go go and now MNM thinks that's my moms name. so you tell her to say grammy and she says gogogo! I love it. For a while, everything was a guck. She called Isaac a guck-sorry dude! She said it with love! Birds were gucks, babies were gucks, etc. She eats like she's never going to have another meal. At one meal she ate 7 chicken nuggets, 1 huge banana, and a bottle. She eats that amount pretty much every 3hrs to the minute. Sometimes she doesn't eat as much, but then that means she has to poop. She poops as much as she eats-LOL! ALOT! And when she cuts teeth, she poops even more. I have washed the crib, bumper pads, sheets, blankets, pacifiers all in my spare time that I don't have. Some of which have been several days in a row. Some even naps in a row! She is the happiest baby. LOVES people. She is also the loudest baby! She has a scream that will pierce your ear drums. I kid you not. That little girl has the craziest voice range ever. I pray to God that she doesn't sing opera. That is the one genre I can't stand. And it's also the one that her vocal cords are most compatible with. She has the deepest laugh for a baby, yet alone for a girl. She laughs at everything and then she'll scream at it. It's hilarious. She is very easy going, yet so stubborn at the same time. Ashlynne is the best big sister ever. Most of the time. Aunt Rachel relayed this to me. Some history. So. McKynzie walks around carrying a blanket all the time. We joke about her being Linus on Charlie Brown. Everywhere she goes, blankets in tow. Well, according to Aunt Rachel, Ashlynne told her to watch- this would be funny. It sure was. Ashlynne stepped on McKynzie's blanket so that when she took off walking- she walks fast- it yanked her around and she fell. She is determined, so she got up again. took off again. Fell again. All the while, Ashlynne was rolling with laughter, still standing on the blanket. McKynzie got up yet again and tried. AGAIN. and again it yanked her shoulder around and she fell. You'd have to see it to see why it is so hysterically funny. I had no idea Ashlynne thought of doing that. McKynzie eventually gets mad and yells. Too funny!

We went to Disneyland. Grandma went with us. We had a blast. Ashlynne rode every ride except the 3 she wasn't tall enough for. She even rode the tower of terror. Yes she did! Wasn't her fav but she wanted to ride it even after we explained that it would be soooo scary. Didn't scare her off! She rode it. I was so glad for the seat belt. Every time it dropped, because she is so lightweight, her butt came off that chair and didn't land until we did. She loved Thunder Railroad or whatever it's called. McKynzie on the other hand, it was a bit of sensory overload I guess you could say. She had her "oh" face the entire time, unless she was eating! She wasn't crazy about it, but didn't dislike it. She loved Minnie Mouse and pictures with Minnie Mouse. That was the only thing she reacted to. It was fun! I'll post pics when I have time.

We are moving! We bought a house closer in! Dustin will be closer to work and I will have more room! We fell in love with it and God has worked it all out so amazingly that we get it. It's so cool!
We close the 19th of November. So we have been packing like crazy. This is the longest time that I have lived in one house. It's a bit sentimental for me. Both of my kids were born in this house. Sniff sniff. I am so ready for more room though. I will LOVE having my husband home an hour and 15min extra a day! Ashlynne has been a huge help. She helps pack, and she labels boxes, AND she has been obsessed with packing McKynzie's stuff. For some reason she is very concerned that we're going to leave her baby sisters stuff behind. I tell her we're not. She just wants to make sure.

I had better get back to packing- hopefully I post again before next summer! LOL!

Week at Uncle Jerry's

So. We went to Uncle Jerry's for a week for Uncle Jerry's and Grandpa's birthday. It was a suprise for Uncle Jerry. Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Rachel and Uncle David and Auntie Ginger were all there too so it was like a family trip I guess you could say. I'm so far behind in blogging its not funny but heres quite a few photos to catch up! We had soooooooooo much fun. It was the most pleasant, relaxing, restful, stress free vacation we have ever had. Thanks Martha and Jerry for an awesome time! While we were there we went to Cabela's multiple times (thanks to Dustin and Ashlynne), went to Idlewild park which is an amusement park geared towards kids. We of course had fun too! We did some tree trimming, and by that I mean Dustin, Dave and Uncle Jerry, played with Coco, (uncle jerry's dog) and went to Oglebay which is my all time favorite place back east. It is absolutely gorgeous there. We also went to the Good Zoo which was alot of fun (minus the birds)Lol! I loved every minute except for going in the bird pen at the zoo which I only did at the last minute to be a good sport and take a few pics of my girls. I HATE birds! Oh, and the humidity. It makes your armpits mold and your hair do crazy things! LOL! You should have seen Ashlynne's hair...


riding the teacups at Idlewild. Im NOT a spin-around-kind-of -girl... I love fast rides and rides that go up and down like roller coasters but I get insanely queasy with round and rounds. Ashlynne kept singing "you spin me right round baby right round like a naked baby.." I quickly enlightened her to the correct lyrics! Hillarious!

ridin in the boat all by herself. She loved the rides she could do alone. Felt so grown up.

Merry Go Round with Grandpa

McKynzie's first time on the merry go round.

Our photo for our Christmas card. JK! Cute one, though huh?!

Ridin' Uncle Jerry's quad. I couldn't go fast enough for her! We went all over- even got to go see Uncle Jerry's cute little hunting blinds. Ashlynne thought they were too dirty and needed cleaning!

Trimmin trees

OK. so this part is hilarious. These were taken at Cabelas... Ashlynne was the photographer and grandma and this nice cabelas puppy were the models! Ashlynne even used her own hair bow as a prop! All other props courtesy of Cabelas!

Sorry Grandma but this is too good!

Posing with the puppy.

Before the hair bow.

More shots with props.

Naked mole rats. Ugghhh.

Ashlynne liked the goats. You got to feed them and pet them. They stunk tho. I don't miss the country life!

McKynzie's first time seeing and petting a goat. I got nominated to go in with the kids for the goats since I opted out on the birds and since we had goats when we were kids.

Trying to get her pacifier. Yuck!

We were popular!

Blue eyes!

Lookin' at ducks and turtles

Such a beautiful walk! If you haven't been to Oglebay, you HAVE to go! It's crazy beautiful.

More quads

Ashynne loved to run and play in Uncle Jerry's yard. She played all day long every day as long as we were there!

Could she be any cuter?!

Watchin Ashlynne play

Walking with daddy. Can't see McKynzie but she's there!

Sparklers



Ashlynne was dancing with Uncle Jerry

Gettin down!

McKynzie and Uncle Jerry

Aunt Rachel and McKynzie

Playin in Uncle Jerry's yard

I LOVE that smile!

One of her many adorably cute faces!

Oops! More Good zoo pics! Here are the birds!

She wanted to touch the birds so bad!

Watching Big Sister feed the bird.

Ok. At first she wasnt crazy about them... I kept my mouth shut about how I feel about birds so I wouldn't influence her. She warmed up to them quick though. So brave!

McKynzie. Soooo cute!

Sistas!

Ridin with daddy. She had to check it out first. Figure out how it worked and then...

Good to go!

Ashlynnes turn

Ridin on the tractor with Uncle Jerry

Have you ever seen such a pretty girl? It was cold enough for hot chocolate and a sweatshirt!

She loves Uncle Jerry

From the back. It was too cute!

Grandma's girls

Best Friends

This was at Oglebay. Gorgeous!

LOVE the profile! She's so stinkin cute!

All smiles!

I love this one. McKynzie is such a momma's girl and I love it! Ashlynne is my best friend though. There is nothing more special than your firstborn I don't think and yet nothing so special as your baby.

Lookin' at deer poop. Ashlynne is fascinated with a variety of animal pooop. weird.

This hill was huge. It doesn't look like it but it is. We decided to roll down it.

Walking back up.

rolling down

and down. I picked up alot of speed. I had no idea I would roll that fast.

Have you ever seen a picture of your kids that astounds you with their beauty? This was that picture for me. So beautiful!

Her "OH" face! My favorite!

Her big smile

Cheesy grin!

Ashlynne loved the water fountain.