Our Day at the Mall

We spent most of the day yesterday at the Glenbrook Mall in Ft Wayne. The kids were GREAT. We didn't have any problems with them at all!!!! We went to see Santa. This picture was snapped right before Mackinley went into a meltdown! LOL!! Kaeleigh sat on Santa's lap for a while but she wouldn't talk to him or even look at him! Hahaha!! It was a fun day for the most part (no problems with the kids...but I did get a bad attitude after something happened with a stranger).

The One We Chose

We took the kids to The Picture People to have some Christmas pictures done. Kaeleigh was fabulous...she smiled, laughed, played along, she was great. Mackinley would NOT smile. He even cried at one point. This was crazy because Mackinley is ALWAYS smiling!!! We had 6 shots to choose from. This is the one we chose. Although, it was VERY hard choosing between this one and the next two you'll see. We chose this one because they're both looking at the camera, Kaeleigh isn't doing anything silly with her mouth, Mackinley isn't crying, and the way Kaeleigh's holding her feet is just too cute to pass up.

The One With The Smoosh

We LOVED this one, too. Ugh we had such a hard choice between these three!!!! But Kaeleigh does look a little like she's getting smooshed! HEHE

The One With The Side-ways Glance

Like I said, it was so hard for us to choose between these top three. This one is precious, but Kaeleigh is again (see below) looking at me and not the camera.

The One With The Clapping

We really liked this one, it's so cute how they're both clapping. BUT...Kaeleigh's looking at me, not the camera! Hehe

The One With The Tear

This one we didn't really like...Kaeleigh has a silly look on her face and Mackinley has a tear on his cheek!

Baker Nativity

I keep forgetting to blog about this!!! (Thanks for the reminder, Cousin Pam!!) This is our nativity set. It is very sentimental to Jason because his Grandpa Baker made the manger and his Mom made all the people and animals. It's been tucked away in Michigan and finally found it's way to Jason this Christmas and he's SOOOO happy!!

Merbaby??

This is how I found Mackinley in his crib this morning!!! Notice how he has both legs in one leg of his jammies! He reminded me of a mermaid! LOL!!! Made me laugh so I wanted to share!

WOW

Ok, I just had to share. I was sitting here surfing the Web, looked at Mackinley and he let go of the chair, took THREE steps, and sat down on the floor. Simple as that, as if he's always known how and just chooses not to! In typical Mackinley fashion, instead of having ONE as his first step, he decides he needs THREE. My baby boy is growing up!!!!

Christmas Picture

I wasn't going to post this until AFTER the Christmas cards have been mailed but oh well! The top picture is the one we used for our cards this year. You may wonder how we got both kids to look at the camera AND even have tiny smiles...well, we're not really sure! LOL!! Got lucky, I guess!! Right when the timer was about to go off, Jason said "CHEESEBURGER CHEESEBURGER CHEESEBURGER!!!" and there you have it.

Coloring with Daddy

Kaeleigh and Daddy spent HOURS coloring Monday. She's such a precise little drawer...she draws tiny intricate circles over and over, while instructing Daddy on what he should draw.

Pouty Girl!!!

This is the pitiful show we get for telling Kaeleigh she can't have a cookie until AFTER lunch. Look at that face!!!!

Fun with Daddy's hats!!!

A man of many hats!!!

New coat!!

Mackinley grew out of his coat so we had to upgrade. The new one is fun because his cute moose hat from Kamma and Papoo matches it perfectly!!!!

Oh, what a morning!!

Mackinley woke up this morning and was soaked...all the way to his toes! This happens a lot...why can't they make diapers absorbent enough to last through the night?? So, we get up, get him cleaned and dressed for the day. Jason is at an appointment, so it's just me and the little guy. He has his breakfast and is happy playing on the floor. So I decide to check blogs and do my daily internet browsing routine. This is when it starts. He immediately crawls over to the TV and turns around and looks at me with a big grin on his face. I said "No...come back out here, please, Buddy". He grins again and starts pulling things off the shelf. So I go over and tell him "NO". He grabs a tape from our camcorder and drops it on the floor, looks up at me and says "Uh uhh" (this is "Uh Oh" in Mackinley language). This tickles my funny bone and makes me laugh. So then HE laughs. I pick him up, bring him back to his toys. He seems occupied enough, so I go back to my blog world. He immediately heads RIGHT BACK to the TV and the same thing happens all over again, including the tape on the floor followed by the "Uh uhh". This time after being reset, he decides to go behind the rocker...which is ANOTHER no-no because there is an outlet there and I don't want him getting electricuted! I ask him to please come out of there. He peeks around the corner at me with his HUGE grin and then ducks back behind, giggling exuberantly. How am I supposed to be serious Mommy with THAT going on??? So I dig him out and get him set up with his walker. That surely will keep him occupied long enough for me to finish this comment on Mom's blog! WRONG. As soon as I sit back down and get the laptop on my lap, he is full speed ahead going behind the recliner this time. Yet ANOTHER no-no because there are ALL SORTS of things for him to get into back there! So I put the laptop down, go to get him and he again starts laughing hysterically.

At this point I realize something. He wants ME. He wants my attention. So I decide to play with him on the floor. He starts fussing and squirming and wants me to hold him. So I hold him. He starts fussing and squirming again. Thumb goes in the mouth, and he's just restless. So I think ok, he's been up for 2 hours...maybe he's ready for his morning nap. I started typing this blog right after I put him down. He's in there still talking right now.

I really don't know what the point of this blog is, other than the fact that I don't have Jason here to talk to and laugh with about it, so I thought I'd just type it out for the world to see. Now I guess I'll go clean up the kitchen while the little guy is "napping".

FINALLY!!!!!

I have been waiting and waiting for this!!! SNOW! No, it's not much at all, but I'm just so happy to see any amount of the white stuff!! It actually was coming down pretty good in this picture, you can't even see the school (this picture was taken from our patio doors)! I'm a snow bunny FOR SURE and I really hope we have a white Christmas this year!!!!

Later Edit:



All done snowing now...we have a nice little dusting, you can barely see the grass!! YAY! But now the stupid sun is out =( So we'll see how long it lasts!!!! But I'm not complaining...I'm happy to finally have some SNOW!

Munchkin Updates!!

Kaeleigh is becoming a little girl...moving on from toddler-hood. She can speak in full sentences (if she chooses to do so, of course!). She can eat without wearing more food than she puts in her mouth. She LOVES LOVES LOVES to play dress-up. She likes to play little pretend games with her babies and her brother. She teaches her brother all sorts of things.

Monday when she was here, Jason got down on the floor to play with her. She brought him pillows and told him to lay down and "Daddy, you relax". She gave him a back massage and if he would get up, she would go over to him and say "Daddy, no, you relax! Here, Daddy, relax" and she would help him lay back down on the pillows. It was quite possibly the CUTEST thing I've ever seen!!!!!

Mackinley is doing WAY TOO MUCH!!! I know it's a good thing, but he's just growing up too fast! He literally learns new things daily. He says "hi" and "uh oh". He also says "Dada" and occasionally "Mama" (he's definitely a Daddy's boy!!!). He will take his play cell phone, put it over his shoulder and "talk" on it, he'll say "Hi Dada". The biggest new development in his little life is his attempt to start walking. He will stand by himself while playing for sometimes as much as 20 seconds at a time!!! He hasn't taken a full step yet by himself, but he thinks about it and he attempts it. He'll walk if we hold his hands, he'll even walk if we hold only one of his hands.

Our children are growing up entirely too fast!!! We're SO PROUD of both of them and we are SOOOO blessed to have them in our lives.

Date Night

Jason and I went to Indy Sunday and left Mackinley with his Aunt Korie. We went to the Imax Theater and saw "Polar Express". It was spectacular!!!! Then we did a tiny bit of Christmas shopping for the kids, and tried to find a carriage to ride in. Couldn't find any (but of course we saw one on our way OUT of downtown!!!) so went to Bahama Breeze for dinner. Spent WAY too much money on nothing but food and drink (but we're worth it, right???). We had a great time, and I think Mackinley & Korie had fun, too!!!!

This picture is for Mom because she loves Nutcrackers! This cute display was at the Museum, where the Imax Theater is.

Our DELICIOUS "chocolate island" from Bahama Breeze. SO YUMMY, you don't even know!!!!

No-No's!!!!

The TV. Mackinley is obsessed with it. Not watching it...but pounding on it!! I think I tell him NO! and pull him away from it 56784 times a day.

He found a cell phone charger (notice the TV cabinet is closed, LOL). I had to share this picture because of the look on his face...

Little "Walker"

Mackinley will take steps if you hold on to his little hands. But he looks like a gorilla! LOL

I know it looks like his arms are going to come out of their sockets in this one...but it's because of his gorilla walk!!!

Look at that happy face!!! Click on this one to make it bigger and look VERY closely...you can see his top front teeth coming in!

Getting Dressed!!

Mackinley knows where clothes are supposed to go...and he TRIES to do it himself. It's the funniest thing ever. He tries and tries and ends up frustrated when he can't do it!

Late Decorating...

I finally got our Dept 56 (Dickens) village put up. I forgot we got a new addition last year, so it was like Christmas all over again for me!!! Jason's mom gives us one every year and we love them!!!! (Thanks, Mom!!!!)

Kelly's Video

Kelly wanted me to share this video with everyone. (Cathy I hope you don't mind that I'm doing this!!!)

Kelly's House!!!!

Kelly sent me some pictures of his house with the lights up! I told him I would blog them so everyone could see his hard work! Looks great!!!!! He said he wants to do a few more for the roof.