April Newsletter & Slideshow

Man, this one was hard to sit down & get together for some reason... but here ya go!




McKINLEY:
-Mom was getting after Ireland for something & said “Ireland- are you listening to me?” McKinley overheard & chimed in “or are you listening to SATAN?”
-McKinley has progressed SO much with her reading. She really can read short 3-letter-word books all by herself. It is so exciting to watch her really “get it” and learn.
-Mom & McKinley have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia for Mommy & McKinley time. It’s been so neat to share this magical world with her. We have finished The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe & are now on to The Horse & His Boy.
-McKinley came running up to mom one day & said “Mom!! Ireland’s got the cheese shredder! She’s going to shred herself!” (She learned this from experience as she “shredded” her finger one day while helping to shred the cheese)
-McKinley has really wanted to fix her own hair lately. She will put a headband in and put 4-5 flowers or bows on it. Mom lets her do this sometimes if she will let her fix her hair for things like church & preschool.
-One day while mom was fixing McKinley’s hair, she said “Mom – we can kill animals!” Mom was a little taken-aback. “What do you mean?” She said “They have stuff for us.” Upon further explanation, she was talking about killing animals for food. Sounds like a conversation her daddy had with her.
-McKinley still asks constantly about when mom & dad were kids – “when you were a kid, did you ____?”
-One of McKinley’s prayers “Please help us move to a house with Curious George”
-McKinley’s word mix-ups have been humorous lately. She said “Mom – don’t forget my googles!” (instead of goggles – when we went swimming) and “Look mom – I can do a skirtsy!” (instead of curtsy, though it’s appropriate because she was indeed wearing a skirt)
-Mom took the girls to story time at the library this month. They were learning about frogs & it was so cute.
-McKinley likes to stand on the wall almost every day & ask how tall she is compared to yesterday.
-McKinley & mom were talking about tomatoes. Mom said she really liked them. McKinley said “Well, if you tasted like me, you wouldn’t like them”
-McKinley is getting to be a really big girl & can pour the milk all by herself (providing it’s ½ full or less)
-McKinley hurt her finger one day & said “Mom –but it just hurts so bad that I can’t stop saying OUCH!”
-We couldn’t find McKinley’s other flip flop when we were heading out the door one day. She said “Well, I guess I’ll just have to be like Cinderella!”
-McKinley’s prayers have included “if it be thy will” a LOT. McKinley was saying a prayer one night & whispered into mommy’s ear so Ireland couldn’t hear “and please help that I can get out of the room when Ireland falls asleep if it be thy will”
-We watched Snow White for the first time & at the end when the Price kisses Snow White & she wakes up, McKinley said “Well, he doesn’t have magic, mom – he has the Priesthood.”
-McKinley has been learning a LOT in Primary about choosing the right. One day Ireland was pestering her & McKinley says in a very angry voice “Ireland! CTR – Choose the Right!!”

IRELAND:
-Ireland & Kezia have a special bond. Kezia gets SO excited to see Ireland when she gets out of her crib – and when Ireland wakes up from naps or nighttime, we lay Kezia next to her & they look at each other. Ireland makes this high-pitched screeching noise to Kezia that is really loud & annoying, but Kezia seems to love it.
-When Ireland prays, usually she says “Thank you Heavenly Father…Thank you for the day…and thank you for the day… and thank you for the day… and thank you for the day…Jesus Christ Amen”
-Ireland had a period that was really hard where she was scared to be alone & would cry & didn’t want to take a nap & always wanted to know where mommy was.
-Ireland went for a few days without a nap. After church one Sunday, she just knelt down on the floor & fell right asleep.
-Ireland spilled water on the floor, so mommy told her to get a rag & clean it up. There she was on the floor with the rag in one hand, holding the drink of water in her other hand. She would lean over to wipe up the water & more would spill out of her cup. It was a humorous sight.
-Ireland has learned some new tricks this month! She can (and does) open the fridge & the freezer all by herself & tries to get into it. Also –she is finally tall enough to reach the lights without a stool or a book! Now we have lights on & off all over the house. She also has learned how to undo the deadbolt lock, so we have to keep a close eye on her. AND she has really learned how to ride McKinley’s “scooter bike” and has basically taken it over. She will ride it & say “look mom! I’m doing good!”
-One day I put Ireland down for a nap & she said “I forgot…”like she usually does (to give McKinley a hug or something), but this time she says “I forgot! To get outta here!”
-Mom came downstairs one day & Ireland was pointing to the blinds saying “turn the sun up!”
-Ireland has been quite the copy-cat of her sister the past little while & will say almost everything McKinley says. So far McKinley hasn’t seemed bothered by it, but who knows for how long.
-One morning after Ireland got up, she looked up in the pantry & said “Mom, I’m hungry… for sugar!” Hmmm – maybe we need to re-examine our diet.
-One day Ireland marched right up to mom & said “I’m upset!”
-Ireland sees pictures of Jesus & says “look – Jesus Christ amen!”
-For some reason, Ireland really doesn’t like cheese sprinkled on top of her food & she will get upset if you put cheese on her food.
-Ireland was SO excited when Joshua & Michael came over one day. She RAN over there & shouted “Hi! Hi! I love you!”
-If you ask Ireland “How are you?” she will often answer “I’m just kidding.” (which, really, is true. She is just “kid”ing)
-Ireland has the sweatiest hands & feet of anyone we know. It makes stickers and band-aids difficult to adhere.

KEZIA:
-We are bewildered that our baby girl is already 6 months! She is such a doll!
-She can hold and (sort of) drink out of a sippy cup now!
-She has started solids & seems to really like sweet potatoes.
-Kezia is THISCLOSE to crawling! She can get her bum up and on her hands & knees now. She can move backwards easier than forwards, but if she REALLY wants something, she will do a modified army crawl to get it.
-Kezi is quite adept at rolling over both ways now.
-Kezia is pretty consistently sitting up by herself now. Once in a while she’ll still topple over, but mostly she’s fine – and when she does topple, it usually doesn’t phase her.
-She has started splashing in the tub & gets so excited when we run the water for her bath – she starts kicking her legs & panting.
-Kezi squirmed out of her Bumbo seat on to her tummy while we were at the table. I guess she’s too big for the Bumbo now!
-All these newly acquired skills (sitting up, almost crawling, flipping over) have thrown off her sleeping. She will flip over & get really flustered. We’ve had many crying fits just trying to get her calmed down enough to fall asleep.
-At Kezi’s 6 month appt, she was 33% for weight & 80% for height.
-Kezia has been a pretty good night sleeper since we took away the binki. Usually she wakes up between 5 & 6am & goes back to sleep till 8am.
-She still is a nursing champ & will eat every 3-4 hours.