Road Trip!

We made the trek down to the Oregon Coast to visit Grandma B and Grandpa D this past weekend and, as usual, we had an amazing time. Our trip started Thursday, with a pit-stop in Portland. We stayed in a hotel Thursday so Kevin could work out of his work's Portland office Friday. While he was working the kids and I shopped around downtown Portland and ate a super yummy lunch. I was pretty nervous about how our evening in the hotel was going to go because in one room it was Kevin, me, Mckinley, Kyan and Max. For the first time, Mckinley stayed in a bed that was neither her crib (which is now her toddler bed) nor a pack-n-play. As expected, I was really apprehensive about how this was going to play out. However, Mckinley did amazing (she also stayed in a double-sized bed at the grandparents--in her own room this time--and never had an issue). She is such a big girl it shocks me! It was also Kyan's first time in a hotel--not that he really enjoyed any of the amenities, but still!

So anyways, after our stop in Portland it was off to the coast! Our weekend was packed with fun, exciting events starting with some pool time at B&D's. So, again, we did not have a swimsuit for Mckinley (I didn't know they got this little pool for the kids!), but she enjoyed the pool nonetheless in her shorts and tank! :)

 Of course we thought Murphy (Grandma B & Grandpa D's dog) was SO funny!

 Then we played with water guns for the first time...ended up being a fun toy for everyone throughout the weekend! :)

 We dumped water on our head to cool off!

 Kyan took his first dip....

 ...and wasn't real sure he liked it!

 Big sis came to help though...or shoot him with the water gun?!

Later that day we got some swing time in with grandpa....

The next day we spent enjoying the Toledo Summer Festival....

First, the parade!

 She LOVED it!

I had to wear a cowboy hat to fit in with the locals...see two pics down. 

 Waving at the parade participants...and getting some candy!

This was the pet snake of some people standing behind us. Mckinley wasn't real sure about the snake or the locals!

After we watched the parade we headed over to the carnival for some more fun.

Our first face painting! She got a butterfly...

After eating lunch (and her first snow cone), we headed home for a nap before we were back out again in the evening. 

Once Mckinley and Kyan were all rested up, we went back to the carnival for more fun, including, Mckinley's first elephant ear (lots of firsts this weekend!). 

Dancing away to the music! :)

Laughing away with Grandpa Dennis!

Rolling away for Kyan! 

We ended the night with an AMAZING fireworks show---honestly one of the best I have ever seen. Mckinley liked it, but I also think she was pretty tired. No pictures to show--I think we have enough other pics though! :)

Our last full day on the coast we headed to the beach. Kyan slept most the time, but Mckinley had SO much fun. As she was sitting playing in the sand she proclaimed to all of us that it was the "sandbox"!

 Love this girl so much!

 Snoozy Kyan hanging out with Grandma!

Another first, her first kite flying experience!

 Running away on the beach!

"Oh maybe I'll come back!"

 Buried Kinley!

 "I guess I can play here still".

 Breaking free...

 Success!!

We couldn't quite get the perfect family pic...still good though!

Sleepy Kyan snuggling with daddy!

 Then we made Grandma carry everything back from the beach! (surprisingly this was only about 1/3 of what we took down!).

As always, it was such a fun trip! We love visiting with grandma and grandpa and even the LONG car ride home cannot taint how much we enjoyed it! 

Already looking forward to our next trip.....

4 Month Old Kyan!

Holy cow, Kyan is 4 months old today! That seems old. He is no longer a "new baby". He is 4 whole months. Craziness is what it is. Me? I have a 2 year old and a 4 month old? No way! I guess it is though. He seems to have changed so much this last month. He seems older. He acts older. He is older.

Kevin and I were just talking last night and I mentioned how it doesn't seem like 4 months have gone by. When I really think about it, that is true. On the other hand though it does seem like a lifetime ago that we were just a family of 3. Kyan seems to have been here forever. Forever or not, I can't believe he is 4 months old!

Kyan had a very busy and very fun fourth month! Here are some highlights

- Kyan started laughing! :)
- He also rolled over from his back to his belly (for the first time on the same day he laughed for the first time--it was a BIG day!). Now he rolls over almost any time we put him on his back.
- He celebrated his first 4th of July! He slept through the fireworks though.
- He went on his first boat ride--thanks Grandma Cheryl and Papa Steve!
- He went to the zoo for the first time...again, slept most of the time.
- He went for his first big boy stroller ride (sans his car seat).
- He is starting to sit really well supported.
- Still a thumb sucker!
- He tracks Mckinley wherever she goes--his eyes follow her every move all day.
- He is sleeping 8-9 hours at night and is still taking 4 naps (3, 1.5-2 hr. naps and 1, 45 min-1hr nap).
- We haven't started any food yet, but think after our 4 month appointment next week we will probably start.
- We're still battling acid reflux. He goes to a specialist this week to make sure there isn't any other issues going on.
- He is really interacting with Kevin, Mckinley and me. He smiles constantly! He is an absolute amazing little baby and we love him so much!

UPDATE: We had Kyan's 4 month wellness check and here are his stats:

Height: 26" - 75%
Weight: 15 lbs 2 oz - 60%
Head: 16.3" - 25%

Long, lean, and a tiny head! Looks proportional thought because babies usually have huge heads for their bodies! :)

And one more from just the other day...

Happy Birthday GG!

Today is Kevin's Grandma's 80th birthday! Grandma Neva to us, or GG to our kids, is a very special lady in our lives. Since today is a big day for her we wanted to make sure she new we are thinking of her!

We love you GG and hope you are having a fantastic day!!

Us with GG at our wedding! :)

Mckinley & GG when Mckinley was about two and half months old.

 Mckinley with Grandma B & GG this past Memorial Day weekend! :)

GG with Kyan (who is apparently shocked by something he sees) this past Memorial Day weekend.

2 Year Stats and Details

On Wednesday Mckinley had her 2 year wellness check and we got all her stats updated. She currently weighs 30.4 lbs (85th %) and is 35.8 inches tall (93rd %). She also still has a pretty large head at 19.6 inches (92nd %). This is why she looks like all the 3 and 4 year olds on the playground! On a side note, when does it become inappropriate to broadcast your daughters weight? Not any time soon right?

She is still doing really well language wise--she is hitting the 3 year old development level. However, she doesn't seem real coordinated. :) She can't really jump all that well and apparently she should be able to. She does have a lot of accidents lately. Overall the doc said that she is doing great! Now if only she could magically stop throwing tantrums and WHINING all the time things would be great!

Really she is pretty amazing and we love her to pieces. Things have changed a lot for her lately and she has handled it all so fantastic. I wanted to jot down some of the things Mckinley is up to lately since I don't really do a lot of posts for her on this type of stuff these days.

So Mckinley....

- You are silly--just like mom and especially when you are sleepy (also just like mom).
- You are sweet (when you want to be) and especially to new kids!
- You are smart! You know many of your colors, some of your letters and numbers, all of your body parts, and you talk really well.
- You understand much more than I ever expect--you surprise me every day!
- You are potty trained in the day, but still wear diapers at night and nap (naps you could probably go without though).
- You still are drinking from a sippy-cup. We haven't even come close to mastering a real cup! :) You do use a fork and spoon well.
- You sleep in a toddler bed, but we haven't tried a "real" bed anywhere other than home yet.
- You are a GREAT sleeper. You sleep around 12 hours at night and take a 2-3 hour nap during the day. Even better is that you go to sleep on your own and with very little, if any, persuasion.
- You love Kyan...most of the time. You do get a little jealous of him when it is just you, him, and daddy.
- You absolutely love to be outside.
- You have a special love for animals, particularly doggies and kitties.
- You are starting to call your extended family by name including aunts, uncles, and cousins.
- You are a big Elmo fan still, but also like Clifford the Big Red Dog. You do not like to watch much TV though. You will watch for a few minutes and then are done. We also attempted to watch your first movie just this weekend--Beauty & the Beast! You did not stay interested very long though.
- You are a klutz--sorry, but it is true! :) Apparently you take after dad, who at your age was nick-named Crash Kevin!
- You are a great eater. The only thing I've found you do not like is mushrooms--too bad because I cook with them all the time! We'll pick them out for you though!
- You still love books, but they have taken a backseat to playing with toys or being outside.
- You and your daddy still have a VERY special relationship. You still ask for him every morning and are beyond excited when he gets home every night (you know the sound of the key in the door and what it means!). You talk all day long about what we are going to do when daddy gets home!


It really feels like this last year Mckinley has grown so much and had such dramatic change. Looking back at pictures of her from her first birthday I cannot believe how much she has changed. She is honestly so amazing and we love her SO much! I absolutely do not want her to grow up too quickly, but each day I get more and more excited for her to grow just a little. I am excited to share experiences with her and watch her learn about the world. So I am very much looking forward to this next year and cannot wait to see the types of things I can document about her third year of life!

Our little sweetie with Murphy--Grandma B and Grandpa D's dog. Mckinley thinks he is pretty awesome!

Mama's Boy

The Next American Idol

So sometime last week Mckinley looked at me a proclaimed: "Kinley sing!". I of course respond, "oh you do, huh?". Then this unfolded:

The first time she sang it I obviously didn't have the video camera handy. Actually she was going to the bathroom --sorry Kinley, that will be one of those embarrassing childhood memories. Anyway, the first time she sang it she said "na-na-nas" instead of "da-da--das", but she then quickly made the change and that is what it has been ever since. The Da-Da Song.

For a few days straight she would break out in tune at any point, but the singing has lessened as of lately. We'll have to see if we can coax a new song out of her. Enjoy!


PS

Don't mind my over-emphasis on the word "love" in the video--we are working on her pronouncing it correctly since we desperately want to hear her say this phrase, but she obviously has a little work left! :)

Happy Birthday America!

We had a GREAT 4th of July weekend! We crammed as much as we possibly could into the weekend, which may or may not have been a good idea! On Friday, we spent a fun afternoon and evening shopping around. Pretty low-key, but it was really nice way to start our weekend. Ok, so Friday wasn't that entertaining, but it was still a nice day.

Saturday we spent the first part of the day enjoying the sunshine at our house, and in the evening we went to a wedding for two of my dear friends Billy and Leisl (congrats guys!!). The wedding was at UW and surprisingly it was the first time we had taken Mckinley (or Kyan for that matter) on campus. It was a gorgeous day and Mckinley thought it was the best thing in the world to get to run all over the place. Unfortunately at the wedding reception Mckinley took a little stumble and came up with a few injuries to her face. It honestly looked like she had been boxing--her lip, gums and nose were all bleeding and her chin, forehead, and eye were all bruised. The next day she actually looked ok and things had started to heal already. Today she just has a nasty rug burn to the side of her eye and a bruised lip. Apparently once you turn two the stumbles and falls happen a lot more frequently (see her 2nd birthday party).

Sunday things really started to get busy. First we went to brunch with some of my family at Salty's. Which was so yummy--most people know that going out to breakfast is one of my favorite things to do. Is that weird? As always it was a little bit of a challenge with two kids (it's nearly impossible to crack crab holding a 3 month old), but luckily we had lots of family to help so that we could still enjoy the morning. We then let the kids play on the beach for a little bit before we headed home--Mckinley thought she would be helpful to another little kid on the beach and add some rocks to his bucket. :) Later Sunday afternoon my dad and his cousin came over to visit for a while. My dad's cousin hadn't met either Mckinley or Kyan yet (shame on him and me!) so it was really fun to get to introduce them. Kevin also thought it was a good time since they showed up with a cooler of "cold beverages". :) To wrap up our Sunday we headed up to my brother in law's for dinner and for some more cousin play time! It was a busy, but very fun day!

Finally we get to the actual celebration! We started the morning by going to a 4th of July festival at a park near my brother's place with both my brother's family and my dad and Leann. It had so much fun stuff for kids (unfortunately the lines were a little long--or ridiculously long--for the extra fun stuff. i.e. pony rides!). Mckinley as usual had a blast. She really like the bounce houses, even though she wouldn't bounce. See, Mckinley is still working on her jumping abilities so she had a pretty big disadvantage in that arena. She still thought it was super fun to sit in the bounce house while ALL other kids bounced around her (she literally was the only kid sitting down). Kyan slept almost the entire time and was completely content when he was awake. We ended the festival in the splash park--Mckinley was a little hesitant to say the least.

 Don't mind that she is in her dress and we forgot her bathing suit--she doesn't know the difference!

We ended our 4th of July weekend celebration with a trip to my mom and Steve's boat. We first had a crab feast and then headed out on a boat ride to watch the fireworks. I so wish I had more pictures (none of mine turned out really well), but Mckinley thought it was SO fun. She talked to almost every boat that passed us, made sure every single person on the boat saw the "moon in the sky", and wanted to know that everyone was watching the "pretties" (aka fireworks). She stayed up until 11:30 without a single complaint! Kyan slept through the fireworks--maybe next year he can enjoy them too. Thanks mom and Steve for a really fun way to enjoy the fireworks with my family! :)

So that was our very eventful and very fun weekend, explained in a very long post. I'm so sure you all enjoyed the play-by-play. I promise that I will try and keep future posts a little more entertaining! Hope you all had a great 4th with your family and friends!