Mckinlee 16 Months

My sweet girl your 16 month bday took me off guard this month. In fact I did not even realize you had turned 16 months until 2 days later. Slacker mama. You have such a personality at this age. You are lovey, feisty, bossy, spoiled, cuddly and funny all rolled into one. You definitely keep us on our toes.

Mckinlee at 16 Months

Eating: You still eat everything! You are always going to the panty, opening the door and pulling something out. Breakfast and lunch are your big meals, dinner is so so. You prefer to play in my plate at dinner. You are still drinking soy milk.

Sleeping: You nap from 1-3 daily and go to bed between 8 and 9 and sleep until 8/8:30. You fight going to bed when you are teething which is no fun at all.

Size: Still teeny. You are still 18 lbs, and can wear anything from 0-3 months to 18 months. All of your dresses from last year are now shirts, and your pants are now capris. You still have 3-4 bm a day, so I think that is part of what keeps you so skinny :).

Teeth: you still have 6. Your two lower canines look as though they could pop through any day.

Speech: your speech has blown up this month. You talk all the time, and you use almost all your words in context. You have about 25-30
words, and you use about 15-20 of them consistently. Your favorite word is still Bella and you make the cutest face when you say her name. You have also started using the sign for please while saying the word....so cute.

Exciting New Things:
you squeal all the time out of excitement now. so cute. You always squeal while running down the hall when daddy gets home.
You stand on a stool in the bathroom and peak your head over the sink until you can see yourself in the mirror. You then play with my make up brushes and pretend as though you are putting make up on.
You have become very stingy and scream so loud if someone tries to take a toy. We are working on that.
Tantrums are in full swing ugh.
I have to redirect you often to keep you out of trouble.
You love holding your baby dolls, patting their backs, rocking, and prying your finger to your mouth while saying "shh"
You love to help with baby Shelby and you always walk up to her a say "hi". "oh".
You have become very attached to your blanket. You always bring it to me to put over my shoulder, and then you like to cuddle up on my chest and lay your head on it.
I put you to bed the other night and when I started to leave your room you waved and said "bye bye" haha
Your hair is getting more and more blonde and curly.
You always want me to carry you around, and will get mad if I do not take you where you wanna go. We always play a guessing game of me saying "do you want to..." and you shaking your head yes or no.
You love to go through the pantry.
You can ride small riding toys like a pro.
You can walk backwards.
you love to spin in a circle.
You still have no fear other than me going into another room without you.
You are still super clingy, and you do not let me get out of your sight often.
You live to play in the dirt.
You always grab shoes out of your closet, lay flat on your back for me to put them on while saying "shoe on" or "shoe eet". You then walk over to your bows, pat your head and say bow please. Diva!!
you love to brush your teeth.
you love to flip through books. You'll say "ead please", but you will only sit for about 2 pages.

I love you my sweet girl.

Catching Up

This past weekend Nick and I took a couple's trip to South Haven, MI to visit some friends from college. The weather was blah, so we didn't get to sun bathe on the beach uninterrupted as I had dreamed, but it was still tons of fun. I was so happy to see my sweet friends!
The kiddos stayed with Nick's family and we face time chatted a few times. They seemed to of had a great weekend.
This week has been filled with getting back to reality. Playing outside, library outings, parks etc.

Library Time

Yesterday after nap the girls mama picked them up early. I was left with only three kiddos so we decided to take a trip to the library. We needed to return some books and movies and Caleb was excited to pick out new ones.

The library in our area has so many fun activities for kiddos. The kids enjoyed playing puppet show, blocks, puzzles, playing on the computer and with all the toys. They also helped me pick books and movies and I swear my bag weighed a million pounds on the way out.

I am thankful for such a fun, free activity. It was just what I needed before I had to travel to my in laws to do laundry until 1 am. I hate laundry. Thankfully our new appliances were delivered today, and once again all the kids are napping!! Today is my Friday and I can't Wait for this weekend (post to come)!

My First Day with 5 Under 5

Today I began my new life as a caretaker to 5 children (2 being my own). I was a little nervous, but surprisingly I wasn't super worried. I honestly feel that the transition from
one to two children was the hardest transition for me. I really think that once you have 2 kids so close in age another child thrown in the mix does not make that big of a difference. Obviously we have our bad times where one child is not listening, so I am dealing with putting that child in time out, a baby is crying etc etc, but such is life with kids. Of course I have my moments where I have to step. back, take a breath, maybe vent through a text with a friend, but then I'm good again. Tantrums, boo boos, feeling as though you are going to scream are all just momentary issues, and they too shall pass.

Anyway, today has actually been really good so far. The 4 year old girl is cracking me up with her stories, dramatic play, and sassy personality. she has the boys in the palm of her hand already. I entertained the older ones today while baby Shelby was napping by placing ice cubes in the water table. HUGE hit! I highly recommend!! They were entertained for about an hour 1/2 before we had our first melt down and first time out.

Lunch time came an hour earlier than normal today. They were all getting cranky. I decided that lunch in their bathing suits on the deck was the best option. They all listened to my rules, and stayed seated until they had eaten their food, and we sang some fun nursery songs.

I knew that changing them out of their wet clothes and into dry ones was going to be chaotic! I decided to pull down a bin of books and some puzzles and told them we were having "quiet activity" time. They were able to read or work a puzzle while they waited to come to me to get dressed. Even Mckinlee did well with this one. So I basically assembly lined them, and made them potty, come to me to change and then go back to their activity.

Once they were all dressed Shelby and Mckinlee were put in their beds, and then I put each big kid to bed, and now my house is quiet, and I actually have time to blog!!

Today was good so far!! The only bad thing is my dryer broke and I literally have 5 baskets of laundry that I may have to take to my in laws to do tonight ugh!

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend has been amazing so far!! The weather has been hot hot hot, so we have spent most of our time dipped in water of some sort...best way to spend Memorial Day Weekend!

Yesterday the local water park opened for the season, and despite our fear of it being overly crowded we decided to go.  It was not crowded at all, and it was the best day with the kiddos.  They are so different this year, and it definitely took us both chasing after them to insure that every one remained safe.  Caleb is a little fish this year.  He is all about laying on your arm and kicking.  I must get him in swim lessons this summer! Mckinlee doesnt have much interest in the water, but she enjoys walking EVERYWHERE!! She is all about practicing her new skill.  Nick spent most of his time in the pool with Caleb, and I chased Mckinlee around all day (hints why there are only pictures of her), 

Last night Nick's sister came over the watch the kids, and Nick and I had a low key date night planned by me. I didn't let him know what we were doing a head of time, so it was all a surprise (makes for best dates).  We started off at Target and did this scavenger hunt that I found on Pinterest. I WON!

We then got City BBQ for dinner and had a candle lit picnic at a park.  I gave him a fun little gift that I also found via pinterest. Basically you pre plan 12 dates for the year (one for each month), and you place them in an envelope. These are dates where you "stay in", and do fun, free things around the house as a couple.  Example for July "play with fireworks togeter".  I'm excited for our low key date nights. 

We still have 1 1/2 days left of this weekend, and I am ready to continue enjoying it with my little family!