Updates!

Last time I wrote that Ella was being introduced to solids and she wasn’t that “into” them….well just as I thought, her taste buds woke up and she is loving all of her baby food! I must say she doesn’t seem too fond of green peas though as she will start to gag on those! I also gave her some of these…

She just LOVES these Mum Mums! The other night after she finished one, she decided to rub her hands through her little bit of hair though. Let’s just say that once they dry, they become extremely hard and even more challenging to get out of a baby’s hair!!!

She is waiting patiently with her toys for her dinner!

The week after Ella turned 6 months, Grammy and I took her to get her ears pierced on Feb. 21st. We went to Merle Norman at Friendly Center where we took both Taylor and Caroline when they were 6 months old too. Actually the same two ladies have now pierced all three girls’ ears. They are wonderful and I highly recommend them to anyone! As for Ella, she did great too. She only cried for a few seconds and then was fine. She went right back to smiling and laughing like normal and looks just precious with her tiny earrings.

I also finally changed out Taylor and Caroline’s earrings too. My sister informed me that Taylor definitely needed some new bigger ones since you could barely tell she had her ears pierced. I must agree that my sister was right and the newer bigger earrings look much better in the older girls’ ears!

So I TRIED to get a picture of Ella and her new earrings but she wouldn’t sit still! She would move her face in the direction of the camera and I couldn’t get her earrings in the picture! Of course, when you want them to look at the camera they WON’T!!! With the help of Caroline as entertainment, I was able to catch her ears in the tub.

Last month, Taylor had her first meeting as a Girl Scout Daisy! Ms. Alicia and Ms. Lori started Troop 1937! Alicia’s triplets go to school with Taylor at Village Kids and Ms. Lori is actually a teacher at VK. All of the kids at VK have developed a strong bond with one another and it is going to be sad to see them separate next year when they go off to Kindergarten. Alicia had this great idea to start up a Daisy troop to keep some of the girls in contact with one another while also starting a great program for them! Taylor has been so excited about the meetings and the fun activities that they have been doing over the last month. We even got to sell Girl Scout cookies too! I was absolutely amazed at how easily those expensive little boxes sell!!! The troop had their first meeting on Feb. 12^th, so we were a little late on getting started on selling (Other troops had sold in January and picked up their cookies in Feb.) Taylor did a great job though and sold 70 boxes!! After we got the cookie sheets, Taylor begged all night Saturday and Sunday morning to go selling. After church Taylor and I went to a few neighbors to see if they were interested in any cookies. I am sure it is hard to turn down an adorable little four year old; but Taylor did great as she sold to everyone at least 2 or more boxes!! She also could not wait to go and get her uniform- or as she liked to call it, her “costume”! We went the following week to the Girl Scout store to get her apron, pins and various badges. So far the girls have earned the center part of the Daisy patch and one petal. They are all so excited about all the fun activities that Ms. Alicia and Ms. Lori plan every other Saturday morning. I thought it was so sweet when the other day Ella was fussing and I heard Taylor start singing the little Girl Scout song to Ella…I immediately recognized it, “Make new Friends but keep the Old, One is Silver and the other Gold…”

Daisy Troop 1937 making/watering their new garden of Daisy’s!

Yummy treat THANKS to Ms. Alicia!

As for our sweet Caroline…she is POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!!!!!!! She is doing so well and we are very proud of her. Daycare had told us one day last month that they decided not to put a pull up on Caroline that day. She did great her first day and only had one accident. We had been putting her on the potty at home but not actually “potty training” though. I didn’t want to push it at all and figured she would let us know when she was ready. I think it did help seeing Taylor going all the time. She wants to do just about everything that Taylor does too. She really has done a great job with it as we have only had a few hiccups here and there over the past month. I hope it continues to go smoothly as having ONE in diapers is WONDERFUL and much better on the wallet of course!

(OK so the picture above of Caroline just makes me laugh! We have had some really nice Spring like days. The other afternoon, we were off to jump on the trampoline and it was about 75 degrees! Caroline insisted that she wear her winter gloves!?! Oh AND she picked out that fabulous outfit!! :-)

Caroline is always making me laugh with the little things she says and does (well really all three of the girls do!), but her newest and sweetest thing is coming up to me and saying, “I Love you Bunches and Bunches!”….seriously melts my heart each and every time.

Yummy!!

A couple of weeks ago we decided to start Ella on some solids. She had just turned 5 months old and her teachers at Village Kids thought she was ready. Me; well I am in no rush :-) Ella is the youngest in her class though and most of the other little ones are eating a few times a day. She must have been getting jealous of her friends at school! We started out with cereal and she seemed to do OK. I think she preferred to grab the spoon and just chew on it instead!

We have been gradually introducing all of her veggies and fruits. So far, doesn’t seem like she has a favorite one yet!?! I can barely get her to take in three or four bites before she starts gagging and spitting up. I am not sure what it is, but we will keep trying. I believe Caroline was the same way when we first started her on solids and I don’t think it lasted long! Soon she was lovin’ some good baby food!

Taylor decided to take some pictures afterwards. I thought she did pretty well with these…

Tickle MONSTER

SISTERS

Taylor and Caroline are wonderful big sisters!  Ella is one lucky girl as she has two older sisters who just dote on her.  Ella thinks Taylor is absolutely hilarious!  I am going to try to get video of it soon to post, but Taylor can talk or act silly in front of Ella and she will just laugh.  It is the sweetest thing ever!!

The girls are also a big help for me too.

Just this morning, we had to get Ella’s bottle ready and put her down in her swing.  She really was not feeling the swing at the moment and started a little pitiful cry.  I asked the girls to go and talk with Ella.  As soon as they went over there, Ella stopped crying and started to smile at her two sisters.  I think she is really going to look up to Taylor and Caroline.

Taylor loves to hold Ella.  I have to be careful though because Taylor is now into picking Ella up and walking with her?!  Oh no, that makes me nervous so that is off limits unless I am walking with them :-)   I try to encourage the girls to hold Ella while they are sitting in a nice secure place!

This morning as I was getting ready, Ella was sitting in the papasan chair and Caroline decided she was going to “read” to Ella.  She went and got her bear counting book.  She did a good job and was actually even pointing to some numbers and saying the correct ones.  Caroline was doing so well with the counting.  She got up to eleven and then she said “Forty” as the next one?!  We are still working on it!

It was just precious though to watch her read and try to show Ella the pictures in the book.  I think they are all going to have a special bond.

Right now, Rob usually takes Taylor and Caroline to school and I drop off Ella.  I am usually still getting myself ready when they are leaving.  Caroline comes up to me and Ella too before they leave to give kisses and hugs, then she ends by telling me and Ella to have fun with our friends today!  Makes me laugh and smile every time!

I just LOVE these girls.

Ok so normally I don’t let Ella just hang out in her bathtub but it is easy to put her there when I am giving Taylor and Caroline a bath!  I thought she looked too cute not take come pics!

Ella thought her sisters were so funny!  She just enjoys watching them all the time. (they are pretty entertaining!)

Tangled

My Mom and I had been promising Taylor that we would take her to see the movie Tangled about Rapunzel. We were supposed to go over the Martin Luther King Holiday but unfortunately Taylor lost that privilege that afternoon. She has gotten really good at NOT LISTENING and showing us all of her sassiness! Rob and I are not always super consistent concerning punishment for the girls. I think it is so hard to discipline although it is something that really needs to be done and followed through by both parents! We are definitely working on it together. Rob and I agreed that we needed to stick with our threat of taking away Taylor’s movie privilege if she continued to misbehave and eventually we did. Fortunately after she realized that we were serious and there was not going to be a movie that day, she was on her best behavior and earned the privilege back the following weekend.

I was not sure if Caroline was really ready for an hour and half movie. She really doesn’t have much interest in the TV yet. She will say she wants to watch a certain show but I don’t think she has sat down and watched more than 5 minutes, if that! I should have seriously considered all that information before deciding to take Caroline with us to the movie. To be honest, I just hated leaving Caroline out!

My Mom (Grammy) and I took Taylor and Caroline to see Tangled the following Sunday afternoon. They were both extremely excited! Taylor kept telling Caroline that they could get a drink, popcorn and some yummy fruit snacks while we watched Tangled. (Taylor went with her Mimi last year to see her first movie, The Princess and the Frog and she totally remembers what she got as her movie snack!)

I wish I had my camera, because it really was cute watching them walk into the theatre and sit in those big seats with their little kid movie pack. I think what I saw of the movie was very cute! Taylor did great, although she did ask several questions during the movie. Now as for Caroline, that is a whole different story!!

Let me start by saying we have been potty training Caroline and the half water/half pink lemonade was not the best drink decision for the movies! We went to the bathroom about 4 times in the hour that Caroline and I lasted there. Three times she actually did use the potty and the other visit was just that…a visit! She wanted to wash her hands again and use the hand dryer! Then she suddenly had an obsession with the trash can?! She wanted to throw her popcorn away, then her drink and then I had to put a stop to it when she wanted to throw each napkin away individually!! She played musical chairs the whole time too. She went from the chair next to Grammy to the chair next to me and then eventually on my lap- well and then down again to let the whole cycle start over! I had finally had enough and thought she had too, so Caroline and decided to leave. Taylor and Grammy stayed to watch the end of the movie. I just laughed though as Caroline and I were leaving because she turned to me in the most excited voice and said, “Mommy I LIKED the movie Tangled!”

Hmm Hmm I thought because she could have fooled me :-)

Sickness GO AWAY!

So I guess ‘Tis the Season for nasty colds, ear infections and coughs! I think we have all been passing it back and forth. I hated though that little Ella was getting so sick. Ella started off with one horrible stuffy nose and nasty sounding cough. Rob and I were both a little concerned so we decided to take Ella in on Wed. The Dr. said unfortunately it was simply a nasty cold that we would have to let run it’s course. I was happy her ears and her lungs were both clear but poor Ella didn’t get any better as the week went on. On Friday afternoon, daycare called to tell me that Ella had nasty yellow/greenish stuff coming from her eye. Of course we thought it was pink eye (especially since she has already had that four times!!) and started the drops. By Saturday morning, her left eye was swollen shut and she just looked completely miserable…not to mention we had not been sleeping well all week long! I took Ella back into the Dr. that morning. We saw Dr. Walker at the after hours clinic in Kernersville and he helped Ella on her road to recovery. She didn’t end up having an ear infection or pink eye but she developed an infection in her sinus cavity causing the red puffy eye. Ella got one of those awfully painful antibiotic shots in her leg (well I have never had one but he nurse and other people have told me that they are really painful!) and then a round of antibiotics. Luckily by the middle of the following week, she was feeling better.

I will say that one good thing that came out of all of this was getting to see Ella ROLL OVER from her back to her belly!!!! We were waiting for the Dr. to come in and I was letting Ella play on the long table. She had been trying to do it at home but I never saw her get ALL the way over until this day! If the nurses heard me, they most likely thought I was crazy since I was clapping for her and what not. I am not sure if she has done that before at school, but I just pretended it was the first time :-)

Baptism for Ella Kathryn McKay

A child is a precious gift from God
and baptism is God's gift wrapping.

Today we placed our child in God’s care forevermore.

Ella Kathryn was baptized this morning at the 9 am service at Saint Pius X in Greensboro. My sister, Kerri and brother, Keith agreed to help guide Ella in her faith by agreeing to be her Godparents. Kerri and Keith, both hold a VERY special place in our hearts. They are wonderful people, ones I have always looked up to throughout my life. I am confident they will be wonderful role models for my girls as well! Thanks to both of you for sharing this special part of Ella’s faith with us!

We had a good family weekend. My sister and her family are awesome! They took a long weekend and DROVE down here for this special occasion. Rob and I really appreciated this as I know making the trip a couple of times ourselves…it is really a LONG drive, especially with kids! THANK YOU!!!!

Ella was perfect during the church service and whole baptism. She had fallen asleep right before the actual baptism so I am sure it was a big surprise to her to be woken up by water pouring over her head! Again, she was wonderful as she only jumped a little and then lifted her head, looked at the congregation and just smiled! Just precious.

We went back to my parents house with some close friends and family and spent the morning/afternoon together. It was a perfect day!

Jake LOVED his baby cousin and was so sweet to Ella…

I am pretty sure he was trying to give her a kiss :-)

Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas! Taylor and Caroline were SO excited to see all of their presents. The girls came into our bedroom around 6:25 am. They usually like to come and lay with us for a little while before we all get up for the day. So that is just what they did today too. The only exception is that a few minutes after they came in, Taylor sat up in bed, she paused for a moment like she was thinking of what or how she was going to say this to me… “Mommy, I JUST peeked and I THINK Santa may have come and left us presents??!!” It was so cute! So a few minutes later, the girls and I went into the bonus room to see if Santa really did come; and he DID! Since Rob was still “resting his eyes”, we decided to go and check out the stockings downstairs. Taylor and Caroline were beyond excited. Only a few minutes later, Grammy and PawPaw arrived to help us open presents and celebrate! We are lucky that both sets of grandparents live in town. They came over bright and early to share the whole Christmas morning experience with us. As soon as Mimi and Popie arrived, the girls started unwrapping. I think they were overwhelmed but totally excited about all of it.

The best part for me was how Taylor kept saying, “Oh my gosh, I got exactly what I wanted!”

After we jumped on the NEW trampoline (THANKS Grammy and PawPaw) and played with all the new games, toys and BARBIES! we got ready to go over to my parents house for a night full of fun with our families. During this time, we were blessed with a WHITE Christmas. It snowed for the rest of the day and through the night. It was beautiful!

Just a little glimpse of the craziness Christmas morning…

Only a few hours later!!!!

Heading to Grammy and PawPaw’s House

Lovin’ from Aunt Brandy

The girls had a BLAST spending time running around with their cousins.