Chariots of Fire

(insert music)

Skinned Knee

Macyn got her first skinned knee today. Hard to believe she did this in freezing weather as opposed to the spring or summer. Since it was in the 50's last week, I have been letting her walk to the car when we leave daycare. She loves doing this and likes to point at rocks, trees, and snow along the way. Now when it has been colder the last couple of days, I carry her. Let me tell you, once you give her and inch, she wants a mile! Me carrying her instead usually results in her flailing around, throwing a fit,and me holding on to her for dear life.

Today I gave in and let her walk since it was 34 degrees out today. We went all the way to the car. As soon as she realized I was going to pick her up and put her in the car, she once again threw a fit, but this time falling forward onto her knees. I thought she might have skinned her knee, but the knit pants she had on were still intact and she was doing her "drama queen" cry. She cried for about 2 blocks and was done. I figured it was because I put her in her car seat. It wasn't until we got home when I changed her diaper to find the skinned knee! I felt so bad of accusing her of being dramatic! I cleaned it up with a warm rag and she cried a little bit. This seems to be a minor skinned knee - I'm sure there will be many more to come!

Literal Little Lady

I told Macyn to the put the baby in stroller. This is what she does:
Technically, correct.

Tall Toddler

It seems like Macyn is growing taller by the day. Those pants I bought her about a month ago are starting to get short already. And by the looks of this picture, she looks taller too!

Twins Much?

Macyn & her Daddy.....in the words of Maury, "You ARE the father!"

Caged Animals

Macyn decided to unlock the door to Buddy's kennel and climb in with him. Good thing she came out simultaneously when he started puking all over due to eating play dough (see previous post.) I thought she escaped the ickiness, but I was wrong. She had some on her shirt and pants. So we stripped her down which gave us a nice shot of her nice, big belly:
No modesty, I tell ya!

Play Dough!

I remember my mom making me homemade Play Dough when we were younger. I thought it seemed like something Macyn would like to play with since she likes to squish all kinds of foods between her fingers. So, once again, I hopped on over to food.com and found a play dough recipe:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
1 T. oil
2 t. cream of tartar
food coloring

First, mix all ingredients in saucepan (we were making purple play dough)Then, mix together and stir medium heat until thick:It turns into a ball when its all done:Then let it cool & play away! Store in an air tight container. It actually makes a pretty decent glob about the size of a softball:We gave Macyn some to play with, but as soon as she touched it she make a sour face. It was pretty funny. Maybe another day....

P.S. I wouldn't suggest letting your dog eat any of it, that is unless you want to pick up mounds of dog throw up. Trust me, I know.

Fun at Fareway

I decided to be brave and take Macyn grocery shopping with me since DH had to work. I thought I would try out the kid carts with the car attached, hoping it reminded her of her Cozy Coupe. Well, put it this way - with a Rice Krispie bar in one hand and a sippy cup of juice in the other, this makes for a happy toddler. She also thought she had to say, "hi" to everyone we walked passed which made for a lot of stopping for people to talk back to her and make comments like "at least she isn't texting and driving!"

The car was a great solution for a usually fussy toddler - until it came time to check out. I took her out of the car and she threw a fit. So I put her back in while the cashier rang our groceries. It was at that point where she tried climbing out of the car and was wedged between the register & the cart. I had to do some rescuing and once I got her un-wedged, she threw another fit because she wanted back in the car! During our shopping trip she took off her shoes as well. So I quickly paid and took a flailing child out to the car, strapped her in, put on her shoes, and drove to Hy-Vee. She screamed the entire way. So part of the problem was solved, only to lead to another problem - trying to get her out of the car without a fight. Sigh.

Pre-Spring Swinging

Since we are in an Ice Storm Warning (yes, there is such a thing) we decided to take advantage of the last nice day and go outside and swing. Its funny, because even though Macyn was excited to swing, I think she was a little scared and was much happier just sitting in the swing without moving. But her fears went away once Daddy came home for lunch and did his classic "throw Macyn in the air to make her giggle" game:

Creative Cooking

I was hungry for something sweet & I didn't feel like running to the store, so I had to make use with what I already had on hand. I had 1 white cake mix in the cupboard and that was it. I looked for some recipes on food.com for frosting and came across an easy peanut butter frosting recipe:

1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 t. vanilla

Cream butter and peanut butter together. Add half the powdered sugar and blend. Blend in milk and vanilla. Add remaining powdered sugar. Stir until smooth and well blended.

I decided to go with it since I had all the ingredients on hand. So when I was making the cake, I added some peanut butter and melted some chocolate baking squares I found in the cupboard. The batter itself was oh -so - delicious! The cake baked really well and the frosting was even BETTER!

It seriously is to die for. I could totally just make the frosting and eat it plain. It is the perfect consistency & full of peanut butter flavor. Needless to say, I was quite proud of my "made up" cake. And it was even better because it helped clear some extra stuff outta the cupboards!

16 Months Old

Macyn is 16 months old and is growing more and more each day! The newest thing she has learned this past month is saying, "hi!" She likes to say this to complete strangers in public, or if you tell her to say "hi," she does. She can also say kitty on occasion, "Go!" which is usually followed by her waving. We think she is trying to say, "Buddy" with either "bwee" or "bee-ee." We think this is true because she dropped her muffin on the floor and she pointed to it and said, "bwee?" (aka. where's Buddy to clean this up?)

Speaking of food, boy does she have a hearty appetite. I picked her up from daycare today and they told me she had four half-bowls of soup today for lunch. And they had to give her more cinnamon roll 4 times. She will also eat 3 fruit cups and one sitting if you let her. She is starting to use her fork and spoon more and more. She tries to stab her food with her fork & usually prefers to use her silverware. When she is finished we ask her, "do you want to take a bath?" and this is how she responds.
Clenched fists, wide eyes, and shaking. The only other time she does this is when you ask where Alissa is (the cook at daycare). She loves her baths. It usually requires me to put a towel on my lap and up to my neck to keep dry when she is in there. I think she gets excited about her baths because she knows she gets to take off her clothes. More times than not do we have to chase our naked baby around the house in order to get her in the tub. Yesterday she ran around with just her diaper on for 1.5 hours before church. I think this girl and summer will get along just fine.

She completely understands most things you say to her. Like brush your hair, brush your teeth (she opens her mouth really wide for that), where is _____? She understands. There are also other things she has started doing - like taking her dollies out of their beds & wrapping them up in a blanket. She's such a little mommy!

We are also doing well with getting her off her paci & only giving it to her at night or napping. She isn't completely weaned from the bottle yet. She doesn't like to drink milk out of her sippy cup. So she gets 1 bottle in the morning and that is it. For the rest of the day she usually drinks juice & we still offer her some milk.

Climbing is another issue. The other day she climbed onto the couch, then to the top of couch where she proceeded to stand up in order to look out the window! She also likes to push out chairs & climb them to get up to the table. Nothing is safe with this girl!

Her bedtime routine is much better as well. She still only takes 1 or 2 half hour naps per day, so she sleeps about 11 hours at night. We read her a book, give her some milk & lay her in her crib. It is nice that she can go to sleep by herself now. Its crazy how much she changes in 1 month. We just feel so blessed to have a happy, healthy, little girl!

Valentine Presents

We decided to get Macyn a Valentine's Day present this year. I picked up a sock cow, but I changed my mind that its a zebra since it has stripes. I'm not sure what it is, but its cute! I actually bought it about a month ago so she has been playing with it for a while. We just decided to wrap it up for her. Needless to say, she wasn't enthused as she threw it off the couch once she opened it :)Then DH's parents decided to get Macyn this cute caterpillar and some M&M's (her favorite). The caterpillar is super cute and plays music & his nose lights up. However, the song it plays is, "The Birds & the Bees." Let's just hope the batteries die before she realizes what that song means!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here is Macyn's Valentine this year! These got sent to Great Grandparents, Grandparents, and Aunties. Its fun to make this a tradition - see last year's Valentine's pictures here.

Sisters with a Little Mister

Baptism

Our nephew, Caden was baptized on Sunday. It was a great day and he was so good in church. He was baptized in the church where I grew up in & it was nice to visit there again. Here are some photo highlights from baptism:After the service we had some gift opening and lunch. I made a double batch of Wild Rice & Cheese Soup and it was a hit! I had at least 4 people ask for the recipe. We also had this soup, home made chicken noodle, chili soup, and cabbage soup. I went for the home made chicken noodle and it was delicious. We also had ham sandwiches, cake, & peanut butter bars that were to die for! After lunch the kiddos found a nice place to sit - right on Grandpa's lap.During the service Macyn saw Grandpa in the back of the church & he started waving. She threw a fit because she wanted to be with him (during the prayers, mind you) and had to be taken out. Needless to say, Grandpa got a talkin' to after church :)

It was a great day with family and friends. Congratulations Caden, we love you!

Quiet Time

As I was sitting in the living room watching TV, I had noticed Macyn went into her room (usually to play with toys.) I can always hear her knocking things around, when all of a sudden it got really quiet. Whenever this happens, it always seems she's into something she shouldn't be. So I go into her room and find this:Macyn had climbed onto the rocker and began looking at books! Disaster averted. It was super cute seeing her rocking herself!

Winter Whitewash, Part II

We decided to try and take Macyn outside sledding in hopes that she didn't get Winter Whitewashed again. She didn't! Her outing was better than her last one, but she's not a huge fan of riding on the sled. Silly kid - LOVES to be pulled inside, not so much outside. I guess I shouldn't have pushed her down the bunny hill in the backyard :)Since she wasn't a huge fan of sledding, or laying in the snow not being able to move, it was time to try something else:At least she likes doing SOMETHING outside :)