Our Girls and Mud

I thought Makenzie had a weird fetish with mud.....or perhaps she was just lacking in some nutrients that she wasn't getting in the food she eats. However, on Thursday, I found that Ashlyn seems to take a liking to the sick stuff too! Really, the girls won't keep it out of their mouths. As a baby, Makenzie also loved playing with the dog bowls and I have found the same to be true for Ashlyn. However, with Ashlyn, I have discovered this weird thing she does with her mouth, almost like she is bobbing for apples, but with plain water from the dogs' bowls, mud or the wood chips that you find at most parks. She just puts her face down to the ground and comes up with a mouthful. Perhaps the pictures will shed some light on my description. Oh, and Ashlyn has been dealing with an awful diaper rash, so I figured in order to give her some relief from the sweaty diapers, I would put her in a pair of Makenzie's panties. The funny thing is, they just about fit!

Notice Anything Missing?

This morning I had a doctor's appointment so Aaron was left in charge of the girls. Ashlyn would be going down for her nap soon so that left Makenzie who loves to play with daddy. Well........I get home from the doctor's office and not only does it appear a tornado has whipped through our house (granted, I was only gone a little over an hour), but Makenzie is adament in telling me how she licked the icing off the cupcakes. I thought she was referring to ONE cupcake that her daddy let her have while I was gone. She kept telling me over and over as if I was not understanding her, and rightly so, b/c it wasn't until I walked over to the counter and discovered that she had licked the icing off of the remaining FIVE cupcakes. Of course, I asked Aaron if he was aware of what his daughter had done and his reply was "man, I don't know, I WAS SLEEPING." Hmm...............I am thinking busy season better be over very soon.............. :o)

Girls Trip to Tomball

It's been over a month since my last entry. These days, I am so tired once I get the girls to bed that I rarely have the energy to sit and type. Aaron is still going through busy season so it has been me and the girls since January. I decided it was time to make the trip to see my sister and parents and that with a lot of prayer, I could make the trip to Tomball by myself. Up until about 2 months ago, Ashlyn would scream in the car and I just wasn't looking forward to an almost 4 hour drive. As it turns out, my mom was at the country with my dad and she decided to make the rest of the trip with me and the girls. I couldn't have asked for a better drive down. The girls did great and we had a really good time hanging out with my sister and her family. I don't like to do much once I get to Tomball since our time is so limited, so other than a trip to the Woodlands Mall to eat lunch and ride the carousel, we really just hung out at my sister's house. Makenzie and Madelyn had fun jumping on the trampoline, painting with Aunt Heather, and riding the gator. My dad had some bonding time with Makenzie at the country as he drove her around on the mule to see the cows, chickens, and horses. Makenzie is already wanting to go back to see her cousin and Aunt Heather, so I am sure we will be making a trip within the next couple of months.

Valentine's Day

Last year for Valentine's day, I planned a small party for Makenzie and some of her friends from church. My friend Tamara and I made lunch for the kids and let them decorate cookies. Tamara and her family have since moved out of town, and with Valentine's day being on a Saturday this year, it made for a fun family day. Aaron and I spent the morning playing with the girls. We enjoyed decorating cookies with Makenzie and laughed several times as she licked more icing than she placed on the cookies and dumped large amounts of red and white heart sprinkles on top of the icing. Then we watched the girls open a gift from their grandparents and from us. Makenzie has been wanting another room for her dollhouse so her daddy made a special run to Toys R'Us since I was unsuccessful finding it at two other stores. We also had some time to play outside in the afternoon and Aaron took Makenzie for a stroll through our neighborhood bike trail. All in all, it was a great weekend spending family time together, especially since we don't get much daddy time these days with busy season in full force. Here are a few pictures from Saturday.

Ashlyn's 9 Month Milestones

Our baby girl turned 9 months on January 30th.  She has really started to develop a personality which is quite different from her sisters.  Ashlyn LOVES her big sister.  Her face just lights up when she sees Makenzie first thing in the morning and she almost always gives Makenzie a BIG kiss on her cheek when I take Ashlyn to her.  Some of the milestones Ashlyn has reached since she turned 9 months are:  waving bye-bye, signed "more" for the first time, pushing her walker, climbing stairs, and dancing.  I have yet to capture the dancing on video (soon to come), but Ashlyn loves to bop up and down to one particular song her daddy likes to play over and over (thanks Scott Keith for sharing the song ............).  Ashlyn also enjoys riding her "Music in Motion" rollercoaster and playing in the dogs' water bowls at the back door.  It has been fun watching all of the changes that have developed recently in our little girl.  This age is certainly much more enjoyable than seven months ago when I thought time could not go by fast enough.   We are extremely blessed to have our girls!

Christmas came and went in a flash.  We were blessed to have Aaron home for over a week as he was able to take a little vacation time before busy season begins.  We were also blessed to spend time with Aaron's grandparents who live in Montana and were down visiting and staying with Aaron's parents.  Makenzie loves to look at Christmas lights, so we spent many evenings looking at them (usually the same houses-she never tired of them) around our neighborhood. We also went to Rockwall to see a house we visited last year that is decked with lights synchronized to music, and accompanied by a performance from Mr. and Mrs. Claus.  We decorated cookies at the McGilvrays (a family tradition) and spent Christmas Eve at our church.   Aaron and I were even able to squeeze in the movie, Marley and Me (thanks Grandma for watching the girls).   If you have seen the movie and enjoyed it, I would recommend the book-it is better than the movie.  Perhaps I am a little biased since we have two two labradors.  Ashlyn didn't have a clue what was going on Christmas morning, but Makenzie had a much better understanding this year and was VERY excited to get a dollhouse for Christmas.  She has played with it every day and I keep wandering how long it will take for the newness to wear off.........hopefully, not for a long time.  We hope your families had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior!

On the Move

Ashlyn is now 8 months old and started crawling about three weeks ago when her daddy was in Canada.  She actually started a couple of days before he left, but every time he came home from work and I tried to get her to move, she wasn't having any part of it.  I think Aaron thought I was making it all up, but sure enough, the day he left, she took off crawling across the floor.  This is a bit earlier than Makenzie who crawled around 9 months old.  It only took Ashlyn one full day of crawling before she started pulling herself up on everything.  I guess she figures the wood floors under her knees are not so comfortable and she would rather be on her feet.  We'll see if she follows in her sister's footsteps and begins walking before ten months.  My guess now is that she won't, given that they are complete opposites.