Makenna Facts

Makenna is seeming so grown up lately. We love the little person she is growing in to. We really, truly enjoy being with her. She makes us smile all day long. Makenna is so thoughtful and loving. She is always thinking of what those around her need. She often knows what I need before I do. She is always helping with Hadley without even being asked.  It warms my heart to see how much she loves her little sister.

Here are some facts about Makenna at five years old:
She is such a GIRL and I really don't know where it comes from. She asks to have her fingernails painted and loves to play with makeup. (I've had to actually go and buy nail polish since I didn't even own any.) And she would wear dresses every day if she could.

She is still the PICKIEST eater EVER. Hopefully she slowly starts liking more foods. Ugg.

Makenna has tiny, little CINDERELLA FEET. They are so cute but such a pain to find sandals for.

She LOVES to SING and DANCE. I don't know where she gets some of her hip moves from.

Makenna is A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. She just is. (I know I am a little biased.)

I love the crafts and art that she CREATES. I think she gets her artistic side from my Grandma Brown. She would be so proud if she were still here.

She still loves her MOVIES and SHOWS. We love to cuddle up and watch a movie together while Hadley is taking a nap. (Even though Mommy tends to fall asleep.)

She is my CUDDLER. I love every moment of it.
As sweet as she is, she gets in MOODS where she just wants to test us. And boy, does she. I was never like that, right Mom? ;)

She just wants to get BIG. She asked me the other day, "Why is it taking so long to grow up?" It definitely doesn't feel that way to us.

She loves her ALONE TIME. She likes to just play by herself for a few hours. She gets this from her dad.

Makenna just reached 30 POUNDS... at 5 years old. Hadley has 3 pounds until she is caught up with her. I guess her hair is just following along with the slow growth.

She loves to solve "MYSTERIES".

She has a little CRUSH on a boy from her preschool and it cracks us up. Oh boy, here we go...

She is sooooooooo excited for KINDERGARTEN. :(  Me, not so much.

Makenna SAYS the funniest things. Here are a few examples:

             "Mom, Hadley is all growed up now, so we need another baby. Maybe twins? I can help now because I am big."

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We seriously had such a good laugh from this one:
             Recently, Makenna threw something over our neighbor's fence.
             So, Travis said he would climb over the fence and get it for her.
            And here's how the conversation went:

             Makenna: "But Daddy, you have a peeny, right?" (Don't ask us where she came up with this  word.)

             Travis: (taken back a little) "Yeah, why?"

             Makenna: "Well, when you climb over the fence, won't it hurt
                              your peeny?" (illustrating by acting it out)

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           She is so concerned about littering. The other day, we were in a parking lot and there was some garbage on the ground and she said to me, "Mom, we need to clean the earth. This is not where we put garbage."

Potty Time!

         

Disclosure: Please be prepared for a lot of  mommy and potty jargon in this post. I apologize. It is not my fault. I have been sucked into another dimension of toddlers and "potty" talk. 

     

       This is how we know that Hadley is growing up way too fast. It's potty training time!!! I have been dreading potty training for a while now. Between both of the girls, it has been relatively easy, but still is one of my least favorite parts of parenting. It takes so much persistence and dedication and is, well, a pain. 

But I am happy to report that we have been potty training for 10 days now and we are definitely making progress. On day 4, she seemed to just get it and it has been easier since then. She has it mastered for the most part, especially the peeing thing. We just need to work out the rest of the kinks. She has started telling us when she has to go but there is still an accident or two each day. And it is so cute to see her sitting on the potty and see her cute little bum in panties. (She does however, still have some "padding" back there just like her daddy.)

             

She doesn't love taking the time to go potty, especially #2,  so we have a big basket of books and she loves to read on the pot. (Just like her dad also.) And she does not want anything to do with diapers now that she has big-girl panties. She says, "I big now like Makenna." It's great to have an older sister to motivate her.  And we also have to keep the toilet paper out of reach or she will use up the whole roll in one sitting (we learned that the hard way). 

      

 Our motivation to get going with potty training was that she would be trained by the time we go on all of our summer adventures. So, I think we are well on our way. Yay for no more diapers!

Mr. Sun

Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun, please shine down on me, preferably without the 40 m.p.h gusts of wind.

Motherhood

Today I couldn't help but contemplate about motherhood. I absolutely LOVE being a mom. It really is the greatest privilege of my life. I love cuddling with my girls in the morning. I love when we are all rolling around on the floor laughing. I love when their little hands wrap around mine. I love after they get hurt that through their tears, they automatically look for me. I love how perfectly they love me and how I am the most important person (along with their dad) to them. I love it all. Even those moments in the day when everything seems to fall apart all at once (A.K.A. naptime). Even when they are mad at me and call me "Stinky". (Isn't that great that that is the worst name they can think of?) I love adore them through it all.

My life if truly enriched by these little girls and by my role as a mom. I am so lucky to get to stay home with them. After having done the whole working mom thing, I can truly appreciate that. The other day someone asked me, "Why aren't you using your degree?". I was taken back by the question and answered with, "I use it every single day with the two most important people." It is the best job. I am lucky to be able to spend so much time with them and just be their mom.

And I feel so blessed to have such great examples around me. My mom has always been such an amazing mom and has always put her kids first. I know that much of the mother that I am, I owe to my mom. And then I lucked out twice and got a wonderful mother-in-law who loves unconditionally and is always willing to help out her kids.

So, here's to motherhood. Happy Mother's Day!

Aquarium and Family

We took a quick trip to Salt Lake this past weekend to visit family and to get out of the house for a few days. We visited our grandparents and other family. We also took the girls to The Living Aquarium, which was ridiculously crowded but really fun, nonetheless. Makenna and Hadley loved all of the different fish and other creatures.

My aunt had a delicious lunch for us. My aunt is a teacher and has always read to us since we were little. So, it is fun to see her reading to my kids and they love story time with Aunt Kathy just like I did. She read them "Mama, Do You Love Me", which is about Eskimos. My aunt taught in Alaska for many years, so had to show off all of her genuine Eskimo momentos. The girls loved it!