an perfect morning ....

Mak and I were rocking out on the back porch this morning ... the birds were happily chirping away in the trees surrounding us and the sun was shining on her  hair ... each strand looked like a golden-red thread, with a little shine, as I twirled them through my fingers ... The air was a little brisk (since it is March, after all) so we were snuggled up tight, wrapped together in my big pink bathrobe.... she took this time to happily chatter a random story about kitties (since she was petting Bella) ...every so often, she would turn her head back to mine, to proffer up a big kiss and rub her cloud-soft cheek against mine .... my heart is happy in this moment, snuggled with my little kermuggin on the back porch...I hope to remember this moment forever ....

a long time gone ....

Wow, I can't believe it has almost been three years since I have shared anything! Much time has passed which has seen the kids growing at an unprecedented rate .... instead of trying to get back to blogging on a regular schedule (which is just not possible with the school and family schedule), I am just going to randomly log in to share poignant moments that I experience with my family.....

It became painfully obvious the other morning that the kids are growing entirely too fast. Mason has started school and Mak will be starting preschool in the Fall..... so, I am going to capture these little moments, so I am sure not to forget them as sometime in the future, I will not remember the little things said, the sly little looks, or the shenanigans had ......

Pictures from Jennifer

Click here to view these pictures larger

THESE ARE PICTURES FROM FEBRUARY 2010

May 2010

I always thought it was a cliche' when people said that time passes more quickly as you age. I now know, especially since I have little ones, that what they say is true.

I am amazed that 4 months have passed since I have last shared our family stories, pictures and videos of the kids. It is truly awesome to watch Mason and Makenna grow and flourish before our eyes.

Mason has grown into quite a little boy. He has entered the "why?" and "what for?" phase of his life. I now understand, after answering a string a questions in a row, why my mom would say, "BECAUSE I SAID SO!" Tim and I are encouraging his imagination, exploration and absorbtion of our big world. His current passion is "going swing" on our little play set in the back yard (which he helped daddy, grandpa and Uncle Cory assemble, by the way). When his inertia slowly decreases, he shouts out, "ready for a push mommy!" He is happy to share his daily swinging with Makenna who lounges in the infant seat next to him, happily chewing on the strap that holds her in place.

Makenna is entering my favorite stage of babyhood. She is sitting on her own, but is not yet mobile. We have just begun feeding her solid food. She wasn't too sure of rice cereal, but seems to be enjoying her latest concaution of banannas and breast milk. Makenna (or Kenna) has turned out to be quite an easy-tempered baby. Everyone told Tim and I that we would have a little hellion since Mason was mellow; well, she is doing her best, in her infancy, to prove that theory wrong. She does, however, have a little temper (who knows where she got that from?) and I am sure we will encounter the hell-raiser phase in her teenage years.

We are blessed beyond reason to have two kids that sleep. On average, the kids will wake themselves up between one and three times a week: a pacifier falls out, sheets get tangled, or a diaper gets too wet.

The kids have been in relatively good health lately. It seems we have had more run-ins with the common cold, allergies, and ear infections over the past few months. Mason has had a snottie nose since February and we just can't seem to get him better. I finally started giving him allergy medicine today and hopefully, that will make a difference! We should buy stock in Kleenex with as much tissue we have been going through in this house!

Kenna will have her 6 month appointment in the coming week. I had to take her into the clinic on a Sunday (two days after she actually turned 6 months) and our little hefty-Hannah weighed a whopping 19 pounds 9.8 ounces. She is moving OUT of 9 month clothing and is getting ready to show off her dimpled elbows this summer (if it ever gets here).

The coming weeks yield an exciting development for our family. We are going to start potty training Mason the 3rd week in June. It is time to kick the diapers! Tim will be home with the kids this summer (since summer school was cut due to budgeting issues) and will be the front runner on facilitating the potty training. I will be so proud of my big boy (well, both big boys: Mason for training and daddy for stepping to the plate)!

So, I know I am WAAAAAY behind in posts ... here are a few pictures from January: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbMnDJi3ZN2T-A

February and March should be separate posts from Shutterfly (on the blog page).

I hope this finds you all doing well! I will hopefully post again soon to re-cap the next months (April - August) ....

Jenn

Family Resemblances .....

I am on the left, Makenna is on the right ....

Mason is on the left, Makenna is on the right (look at the face similarities) ....

Mason is on the left, Jake (his cousin) is on the right ...