Mackenzie Quotes

I'm really loving all the the cute things Mackenzie is saying now... here are some more darling quotes!

"My do it myself!" - I do it myself

"Dare De Go!" - There you go

"Pips!" - Chips

"Toes ter eyes!" - Cloese your eyes

"Bushel and a Neck!" - asking me to sing "I Love You, A Bushel and a Peck"

"Isten Me!" - Listen to me

"I need Elper Chare, I elp Mommy!" - I need helper chair, I help Mommy

"I poming too!" - I'm coming too

"Hold you me!" - Hold me

"It's Meesy, Meesy!" - It's messy

"I need whips!" - I need wipes

"Pray, Amen!" - reminding us to pray at dinner

"Pray, Amen, Aubrey, Pray, Amen Aubrey no tying!!" - Pray for Aubrey so she stops crying

"On duce!" - Orange juice

"yite on!" - Light on

"It's locken" - It's locked... more like, she just can't open it and needs help

"Dude 'gain" - Do it again

"peshle mudic" - Special music... her Wee Sing CD that we listen to in the car... but the rule is we can only listen to it when Daddy isn't in the car because Daddy likes to listen to "Daddy Music" and not "Special Music"... yea, I wish I could jump on that band wagon!

We always pray after she needs a correction, we confess our sin and ask Jesus to forgive us and help us to change. Lately she's been taking over the job of praying and it sounds like this: "Dear Jesus, I run away from Mommy. Amen!" or "Dear Jesus, I hit Aubrey. Amen!" or "Dear Jesus, I no obey Mommy. Amen!" ... she is so cute... she doesn't really get that it's more than just confessing your sin, she thinks once she confesses she can just move on... we crack up at her little prayers and I'm sure they do bless her Father's heart!

One last cute story: Aubrey pooped up her back AGAIN today, this happens about once every other day, and Mackenzie wanted to help wipe up her back which was covered in poop. Fine. I let her "help" me and then proceeded to get Aubrey dressed. Well, Kenzie declared that she wanted to help me with Aubrey's clothes which I had in a big pile on the floor and I was kinda absent-minded and didn't pay attention to what she was doing. It wasn't until I picked up the poop filled clothes to go wash them that I realized the pooped smeared onesie wasn't with them. I heard the water running in the bathroom and there was my sweet little two-year-old rinsing out her sister's poopy onesie in the sink just like she's seen me do a million times. She declared, "Mommy, I helpin' you. I wash Aubrey's clothes!" It was hilarious... luckily my friend Megan was over so I had another mom to enjoy that precious moment with!

First Bites of Food!

So far she's had rice cereal and some little tiny bits of rice puffs. For the first time in her 6 months of life she has demonstrated anger... she SCREAMS when she can't get the food in her mouth or when I stop feeding her if she thinks she shouldn't be finished yet. It is still at the really funny and cute stage... but I wonder what I'm in for, Kenzie didn't do that!

Sharing Jesus with the "Mean Step-Mudder!"

Mackenzie got little, palm-size princess stories for her birthday that she loves... but the thing she talks about the most is the MEAN step-mother. I wasn't really sure what to do about it, she is a mean step-mother (Cinderella, Snow White, and then that scary witch lady in Sleeping Beauty), but why is Mackenzie so focused on the mean people instead of the pretty princesses? So today at nap time we talked about reading the princess books and she of course started talking about the "MEAN step-mudder" and I told her that those people were only mean because they didn't know Jesus. So we took the next five minutes to share the gospel with these poor "mean step-mudders" and we colored happy faces on them with a Sharpie (she helped with a crayon). I don't think she got anything out of it besides the fact that Jesus takes a mean person and can make them nice... but it was a start for her little heart to evangelize to even the "mean step-mudders" in her princess stories. Take a look... I think Maleficent might look even scarier after I was done with my Sharpie!

Our Little Helper!

Helping Mommy plant mums...

Helping Daddy seed the lawn...

She was pushing that around without any seed in it and saying, "So heavy, Daddy do it. Daddy has strong muscles!"

"Fends"

"Fend" is what Mackenzie calls other people... I love her outlook on life! Anyone is a friend, young or old, family or neighbor, they are all her "fends." Her best friend though is her sister, Baby Aubrey! We all affectionately call her "Baby Aubrey" and she continues to be a joy and delight to our family!

We had a great time with the Lockhart's a few weeks ago... we all made smores together in our fire pit... it was so much fun!

We had Jamie and Liv ("Bamie and Lib") over this past Tues. and Mackenzie sweetly read books to the two babies all on her own initiative!

We had play group this past Friday at Katie's house and we all enjoyed a trip to the park together! We were asked by a woman in the park if we were all college friends and we replied that we all went to church together. One thing led to another and my friend Shana got to share her experience from being raised Catholic but converting to Christianity when her friend shared the good news of Jesus with her. This women was asking so many questions and before we knew what was happening Shana was full out sharing the gospel, explaining how she (Shana) had failed to understand grace and how the Book of John opened her eyes to what Jesus had done for her! She did a wonderful job articulating herself and Julia, Katie, and I all silently prayed for Shana's words and this woman's heart as we watched our kids! I do pray that the seeds that were planted will reap a harvest and one day we may meet this woman in heaven!

"Help, Please, Mommy!"

Couldn't have been a more beautiful day or a more beautiful baby in a swing!

"Mommy, MY do it!"

Gracie, Kenzie, and Lissey... hope they all grow up to be friends cuz I sure love their moms!

Thank you, Lord, for "fends!"

TWO!

I can't believe that two years have gone by since I became a mom... it feels like I've been a mom forever, but I can't believe how big my BABY is! These first two years of life have astounded me. She went from being a little blob of cuteness and cheeks to a total little person with the ability to communicate what she is thinking, ask for what she wants, hold her own opinions, and make me laugh! We even have an inside joke now that only she and I will ever get and she brings it up all on her own when she wants to make me laugh! I LOVE having a two year old too! There are moments when the phrase "Terrible Two's" rings so true, but the sweet moments are far more often and make it all worth while.

Today was a great day to give you a glimpse of life with a two-year-old and almost six-month-old: I went to get Aubrey out of the car seat to put her in the backpack while we grocery shopped. Well... she was covered in poop! I had only put two diapers in my purse in my FIRST attempt to go shopping with a purse and NOT a diaper bag in the past two years... figures, ha! So I can't go in the store, she is covered in poop and really not all that happy about it. So I tell Kenzie that we'll have to go home, she has a melt down cuz she loves Shoprite, but she gets over it and continues to eat the marshmellow I had given her from something else. Ok, so we get home and I have one child asleep covered in poop and another child who almost fell asleep so I gave her my cell phone to keep her awake forgetting that she had sticky marshmellow fingers. So now my only phone is covered in goo and I have to get these two kids inside, cleaned, and in bed cuz it's nap time. Mackenzie, of course, doesn't want to come inside... she gets distracted by wanting to play in the mulch. No big deal, I thought, I'll lock the gates and let her play while I get Aubrey dressed. I left the door ajar in case she wanted to come in. I go change Aubrey and when I realize the extent of her poop I know she needs a bath. I'm holding one naked child when my two year old comes running in with hands that were covered in marshmellow goo now covered in goo AND dirt. She's saying, "Mommy messy, I need soap!" I figure why not just throw them both in the tub? So Aubrey is left naked on her changing table (I know I'm not supposed to do that, thank God she only ate her poopy toes and didn't fall of the table!) I rinse Kenzie's hands and then tell her to get naked cuz she's getting a bath too. She needs help getting naked of course, so I sit on the edge of the tub with Aubrey in my lap while I undress her... then I hear a, "Hello, I'm home!"... "We're in here, Babe!"... Jake enters the scene of naked, messy children and just as he asks me what's going on, Aubrey decides to pee on my lap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are both cracking up... him a little more than me, he's like rolling on the floor, and I'm laughing and half crying from the past 10 mins. of life! So glad he arrived when he did... after he stopped laughing he jumped in and was an amazing help as he always is!

Here are some pictures from her big day this past Sunday! This game always ends with, "Daddy, do again!"

Trying to do the same thing with her baby!

Aubrey is always happy! Especially in her exersaucer!

I want to take pictures of each of the girls on their birthdays on this bench so we can see how they grow each year. Here she is telling her daddy to "sit right here!"

She knew what to do with the candles this year!

Mommy's Elmo cake didn't turn out so hot, so Uncle Andy saved the day and got her an Elmo cupcake which she LOVED!

"Deff and Tia" got her a wonderful tea set that she adores!


Memom got her "Pincess" books... she loves them!

And Aubrey loves eating them!

The Lockharts gave us a caterpillar that spun a cocoon and then hatched into this butterfly!

It sat on my finger!

Bye-bye butterfly!

Painting!

We have been having a blast doing crafts together in our spare bedroom. We set up our old computer desk in there and yesterday I showed Mackenzie how to paint with a brush for the first time. She LOVED it!

She also learned that you get brown when you mix them all together!

"Messy, messy, Mommy!"

She is so cute... I love watching her learn!