Jordan Gets Baptized!

Sounds like a great name for a book. Maybe a future joint venture for Jo & I? His new love is writing & I'm not terrible at illustrations, so maybe...

I'm so far behind in the blogging world, I don't know if I'll ever catch up! I guess I'll start with the recent baptism of Jordan.

We were able to have a few family members come to town for the big day, which was really nice. Both my parents, Dave's mom, & my younger brother Grant (just got home from a mission in the Phillipines) came out to witness the special occassion.

Jordan, waiting for the font to fill with water.

My Mom, Dad, & Ty

Dave & Logan, who looks like he's devising a plan of sorts.

Ty & Grant, goofing off.

Jojo & Daddo (as Jo used to call him)

Just before the baptism.

Amazingly, I captured a true Logan-look. He's totally a Mikey & that grin proves it!

Dave & my Dad goofing off. Nice grills!

Watching the water rise.

So handsome in his Sunday best!

Jojo & his Yaya (Dave's mom)

Jo, with the honored mom. :)

Proud parents. :)

My Mom, Dad, & Jordan.

On August 31, 2010, Jordan was officially baptized & confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I'm so proud of him for making the decision to join the true church of Christ!

Jordan's thrilled to be able to go to Scouts, finally. He's been looking forward to it for some time now & it couldn't have come soon enough!

Little Poser

Ever since she was about 6 months old, whenever a camera is present, Hayleah is a total ham. It started off with majorly, toothless, cheesy, sloppy grins, & has evolved in to posing. I adore this little princess! She has such a strong sense of fashion & is frequently in trouble for changing in to yet another outfit (I'm not a fan of extra laundry). Head bands are strictly for the forehead, according to Hayleah. And pink boots will NEVER go out of style!

Spring has Sprung!

There are cherry blossoms everywhere in our little community.

Around the corner from our home is a business park, sporting a "lake" with real whales in it. They like to hang out in the same place all day, spouting off (at their mother?). For the longest time, every time we would pass this corner, Jordan would diligently search for the sharks he knew were in there.

Checking out the "floaters" they spotted. They were much more interesting than trying to spot sharks!

Of course, what's a nice Spring day walk without posing in front of whales?

There was much drama to get this pic, so even though 3/4 of the people in the pic have their eyes closed, I'm posting it! It was sunny & Jordan was counseling everyone to close their eyes for the picture so they won't have to complain about mom making them pause for this shot.

And of course it isn't Spring without a little kite-flying at the park.

Apparently I missed getting a picture of Logan with his Super Hero's kite. He was pretty mad at the kite though, after it didn't magically take off like he had planned. He's all about the Super Heroes right now. I can barely get him out of his black Spiderman costume long enough to wash it. It needs a serious patch job. The neighbors think we're crazy & are unsure if he even owns anything other than a Spiderman costume. I'll have to try to get some pics up of him, as Spidey, once I get the thing fixed.

Overall, we had so much fun trying to fly kites that day. I smiled, laughed, & ran so much I was sore from it all the next day. Fun times!

February is gone!?

February flew by for us. It was a busy month, with Tyler returning home for his schooling. Plus with Logan & Hayleah going to preschool 3 days a week. And we can't forget about Jordan & his schooling (though I think I let a little too much slide with this one).

I'm going to try to catch up on some posts in the next few days, as time permits.

Can you believe Spring is already upon us!?

A Haircut For The Girl!

Princess Hayleah's hair was constantly in her face, if it wasn't pulled back in some piggies or a pony. And even then sometimes it was by the middle of the day. This child plays hard, right alongside her brothers. So, after much pleading from Dave, I took her over to a friend for a cute new 'do. :)

It's such a cute cut on her! (don't mind the blue lips... she's breathing just fine here. such a faker! ;o) ) She's showing off her Princess book her Yaya sent to her. She LOVES this book. So much so, she took it outside with her to "read", only to accidently leave it out there overnight. Of course it rained. And, of course, we didn't discover this for a few days, since it rained for most of the week. And, of course, we're now on the hunt for a new Princess book.

"You KNOW!"

This is the response I get to nearly *every* question asked of Logan. Sometimes Hayleah (Logan's mini-parrot) gets on a "You KNOW!" kick, too. While it's very frustrating at times, it's also kind of cute he seems to think I know everything. :)

Me: "What do you want for breakfast, buddy?"

Logan: "You KNOW!"

Me: "No, actually I don't. That's why I asked you."

Logan: "You know, Mom. You know."

This kid seems to know a lot more about me than I do!

Preschool

Days 1 & 2 have been a SMASHING success!! I don't expect the trend to continue (not pessimistic, just realistic), but for now I'm enjoying it.

I'm feeling like a really bad mom, though. I keep forgetting to take Logan & Hayleah's pictures, & pics of their new classroom, to post but I'll try harder tomorrow.

We switched Jo back to his old class due to some GROSS misrepresentations & outright omitting of the facts on behalf of the school.

Slightly off topic, but my Mom used to tell me even if you don't outright lie, it's still a lie if you leave out the truth! Someone must have missed class the day they taught that one!!

Anyway, Jo's happy as a clam & had a great day hanging out with me & later going to the park for our Wards playgroup. It was a fun day for me too. And the weather has been absolutely GORGEOUS!!

LOVE the fall!! :)

Fall Sports

It's here!

I'm brave (crazy) enough to have 3 kids in sports this Fall. Ty made the soccer team at Desert Oasis, which he's totally stoked about. They had their first assembly yesterday & the team got to wear the jersey's to school along with some khaki pants. Who knew slim-fit Dockers cost so much!? And what's with the skinny jeans/pants craze going on right now? I don't get it. Anyway, he's been practicing like mad every day after school since the first day of school. His first game is next Thursday & I know he's excited to get out there & play!

Jordan & Logan have both been signed up for Fall baseball/t-ball. We did it in the Spring & Jordan loved it. Logan had issues with the coach, the teammates, the ground (anything & everything) if his mood wasn't just right. It wasn't easy, but he says he wants to do it again. I'm sure this time around will be easier for him. He was so shy in the beginning & by the last game I didn't have to stand out on the field or in the dug out to coax him to do what he was supposed to do.

Both the boys have a mean swing & Logan has an amazingly accurate throw. The first time Logan's coach actually got him to participate he made a comment about what a great golf swing Logan had. That's very true but not such a good thing for t-ball. LOL

Jordan will be in the 7-8 year old division this time which means he won't be in coach-pitch anymore. I hope the kid pitchers are also fast movers! There was several games when the coach had to hustle to get out of the way of a ball Jo hit. He really cracks them off hard! It was rare to have a ball not wind up in the outfield.

Baseball starts in the next couple weeks & that will mean at least 3, sometimes 4, practices & 2 games each week. If they didn't enjoy it..... I don't enjoy being so busy but I guess that's what you get when you have more than the average 2.5 kids. ;)

In the Winter I think I'll sign Hayleah up for a tumbling class, or maybe dance. She loves to shake it. :)

It's going to be a very busy Fall for us, but as long as the kids are having a good time I think I'll survive. I'm not interested in running the bases with a three, almost four, year old tucked under my arm this time around. That happened a few times too many! LOL I plan to spend more time in the bleachers this season, that's for sure!

Risky Bidness

Hayleah, the big girl that she is, is a whiz at this panty-wearing stuff. Though I know it's risky to let her wear them instead of a pull up whenever we go places, she manages to stay dry as long as I don't make her mad in some way.

She has this fun, new, quirky little behavior where she will just stand there & pee if you make her mad. It's a revenge thing. She knows which buttons to push & by George does she use this knowledge!

Who knew a two year old with big girl panties would use her new skills as a weapon!?

Drama can be found in all things

It was YOYO night (as in, yo-on-yo-own) last night. It just means that I'm either too busy to cook or I'm gone. Dave took over the reigns while Ty & I went to the Seminary Kickoff. He had a fun time with the littler kids, from what I can tell.

Dad: What do you guys want for dinner?

Jordan: I'm not hungry

Logan: A Popsicle

Hayleah: I want soup

Jordan: Okay, I changed my mind. I'd like a tuna sandwich with hot sauce on it. Just a little, though.

Dad: Alright. Logan, would you like some soup as well?

Logan: Just a Popsicle.

Hayleah: I want a Popsicle tooooo! With hot sauce on top. Just a little, though.

Dad: I'm not giving out Popsicles for dinner.

Hayleah: I NEED a Popsicle with hot sauce!! (in her whiniest voice)

She proceeds to drop to the ground & thrash around sounding tortured. Much wailing & gnashing of teeth could be heard in the McKenney household last night....all over a Popsicle with a little hot sauce on top. *sigh*

Shark Boy & Lava Girl

This Disney movie is a current favorite amongst the little people in our house. And when I say little people, I mean Hayleah (& sometimes Logan & Jordan, too). She's obsessed with "Labba Durrrl". She's two. How did this happen!?

If you're brave enough to sit next to her while the movie is on, she will literally do a play-by-play recap for you in her cute little voice with her too big vocabulary.

This movie is almost like nails on a chalk board for me. Lame in a big way. The only good thing that's come of it is Jo has started his own "dream journal". Whatever it takes, man. ;)

The worst part of all of it is that Shark Boy is played by the actor Taylor Laurant. For the Twilight fanatics, like myself, you would know that (((Taylor))) plays the role of (((Jacob))) in the Twilight series. And if you've seen the recent clips for the next movie New Moon, you would understand my dilemma here.

It's hard to look at this:

Without thinking of this:

It makes it seem wrong on a whole 'nother level to love him (the guy in the first picture) when I see him as a child portraying a shark-wannabe practically every day.

No more diapers!!

I figured it was time to try using the potty when I kept catching Hayleah removing her diaper & replacing it with one of her brother's pairs of underwear. I had already bought a princess seat to sit on the big toilet a while back. All we had to do was reward her when she did well & break out a bull whip when she didn't. :) Bribery can be a beautiful thing. LOL

Really, though, she's been remarkable easy going through all this. I think it's because we've been easy going about it all. She's barely 2.5 so I wasn't worried about it at all. It was hardly on the radar, but she had other plans.

As of the past few days, Hayleah is completely daytime potty trained!! She even stays dry through her naps! Night time will be the next hurdle, but again I'm in no hurry. The less you rush things, the more likely you'll be not to have an intermittent bed wetter when they're older, from what I've read.

Today is a bad thing to be a "thinker"

Why must my children question everything? And in every way imaginable? Plus a few I wouldn't have thought of myself? And why must I explain both sides of things, instead of being able to give an easy answer?

Day 1: Wearing pig gurrl panties ALL DAY (except for the nap)

Hayleah: "Mommy, I need to go pee-pee reeeeally bad"

Mom: (thinking "you just went 2 minutes ago") "Okaaaay *sigh*, but do you think you could ask Daddy next time?? (he's sitting there watching sports, much closer to the bathroom than me....I'm doing important things here {I don't get much computer time})

Once situated on the potty she proceeds to do her bidness, just like she said she needed to, gets her panties back on & declares she needs to go pee-pee reeeeally bad (again).

Grrr.

Me: After sitting her back on the potty, "Please call for Mommy when you're finished. And don't call me back until you're finished."

Wait, didn't I just say that? I swear, my kids not only have to ask it every which way, but they also have to hear it every which way.

Hair pretties look good anywhere

Even on Daddy.

At least that's what Hayleah thinks.

When she was unsuccessful at clipping a "pretty", as she calls them, to his head (there hasn't been enough hair up there for any pretties for a long time....I should know ;) ), she told him to pull his shirt up because there's enough hair under there.

:-O

Another tooth & a concussion

Early Tuesday morning, I'm alerted to the fact that Hayleah has hurt herself again. She is a rough & tumble girl, but can be very sensitive if the time of day is right. Usually, this early in the day, there's not much that phases her. Just a few days before she skidded across the back patio on her face & barely mentioned it in passing. But today was different.

I could tell she was hurt, but it didn't really register how hurt she was until I spent a few minutes with her.

She likes to perch herself on the back of the couch. It's something we get on all the kids for, but when we're out of sight they tend to do it anyway.

Apparently she fell backwards off the couch on to the tile & cracked her little head. I felt a good-sized knot on the side of her head. It wasn't cause for much alarm. We've seen some knots before & this wasn't the worst yet, but still something was off.

She wouldn't stop crying. She didn't even want her thumb (so rare for her). She was acting really drowsy & it was barely 8 a.m. when this happened. She cried a strange cry for almost 2 hours & protested even more loudly if I dared set her down for even a moment. After about 30 min. of the crying I called Dave to tell him what had happened & to let him know I was probably going to take her to the doctor.



I called the doc's office & got an appointment with our favorite PA there. It was a struggle to keep her awake. Just before leaving for the doc's, around 10, she threw up. That was the final symptom that convinced me it wouldn't be a waisted trip to the doc's. We headed off & I gave her a popcycle to keep her awake in the car (messy but effective).


By the time we made it to the doc's, she was not only forming coherent sentences, but she was singing & acting very much like her self. It was a complete turn-around from earlier so, along with the blessing Dave gave her (he came home from work to help with the other kids while I took her in) that helped ease some of my concerns.


The PA confirmed what I already knew, said she was sure it wasn't a skull fracture since she couldn't feel any fluid on the spot where she hit her head, but wanted us to head over to the ER for a CT Scan "just in case".


I called Dave & told him what she said, prayed about it for a while, & headed home instead of the ER. "Just in case" has its place, but I pretty much knew what to expect the ER doc to tell me to do when I took her home. I knew it wasn't serious enough for them to keep her, so we headed home to keep an eye on her instead of going to the ER. I decided I would take her in if she stopped acting normal & just keep her glued to my side the rest of the day.


When we got home, Jordan proudly showed me his second lost tooth. He was pretty excited about it & the tooth fairy was just as generous with the second tooth as she was with the first. I thought these teeth were worth progressively less more are lost, but what do I know?!

Hayleah is totally fine today. In fact, other than a little extra crabbiness (probably from me hovering over her & not letting her do much other than sit down....that's hard on a 2 year old!) she's been fine since we left the doc's office. Thank goodness for that!

Jo is still thrilled to have lost another tooth & keeps asking deep questions about them that I don't know how to answer. An example:

J: Do teeth grow?

Me: Yes, um, sort of. Well, they don't always grow. But yeah, they grow. (not at all confusing...)

J: Well if they don't grow then how do they come out after the little teeth fall out?

Me: They push themselves out.

J: (laughing) Teeth can't push. What do they push? Each other?

Me: Well, they can push each other out of alignment, making them crooked.

J: (laughing at me some more) What do they shove? Each other? (laughing at the ridiculous image I'm sure going through his head)

Me: Um, sort of.

My lame attempts to explain it in terms that didn't sound ridiculous to him went on for another 10 min., at least. We didn't get anywhere.

It's confusing, trying to explain things to inquisitive 6 year olds. I felt pretty dumb after that conversation. I couldn't seem to find the right verbs to explain how teeth come out & all my attempts were met with his laughter.

Stinkin' kid.