Brat

I started this post a while ago and completely forgot about it. Thank goodness for auto-save.

Comforting my little princess after a fall at a b-day party.

Markay was having a hard day today, crying about everything. Yelling, screaming, throwing tantrums... I got a little fed up finally and picked her up & put her in her bed. "You can come out when you stop crying and whining and being a brat!", I said.

Well, a little while later I hear her say, "Mom, I stopped crying and whining.... But I'm not done being a brat, can I come out of my room now?"

Uh, oh! What have I started?

Now we just need help w/ a name!

Well, we had the "comprehensive" ultrasound today. And, with further inspection, our suspicions from the last appointment have been confirmed. We are having another little boy.

Because I was so sick this time (and Dannik said Heavenly Father had told him it was little girl), we thought for sure that this would be a little girl. Daynen has been calling him her the whole time (thankfully the baby does not yet understand, and won't remember it anyway) and we had a little girl name all picked out. Even plans on how we would move the rooms around so that the boys could share a room and the girls could share a room. Funny how plans always get a monkey wrench thrown into them.

We are now making new plans on how the big kids will continue to share a room & the little kids will share a room when the new baby comes. We are also going to have to figure out a new name! We are open to any suggestions that you may have. You know, we like those plain names like we have given the rest of children.

(This is what I walked in to find after a quick potty break, right before the ultrasound started).

From the ultrasound room:

When the technician announced that the baby was in fact a he, Dannik says:

"Oh man! That messes up the pattern!" (boy, girl, boy, girl...)

The tech, "Well, who's fault is that?"

Dannik, without hesitation, "Daddy's!"

The tech, laughing out loud, "You are the smartest little boy I have ever had in here!"

Dear Santa...

So, the kids have been asking if they could write letters to Santa, and I finally got around to complying w/ their request.
These are the 1st letters we have ever written to Santa, and I thought they were so cute I had to share!
They are such bright kids. They both did them by them selves (w/ a little spelling help & one or 2 of the letters on Markay's paper)! I am just so proud of my little smarties!

Just in case you have trouble seeing them Markay's says:

Dear Santa,

I want a Little Pony with

a Roller Coaster.

Love,

Markay

Dannik's Says:

Dear Santa,

I want a Sled and a

Dinisaur a

radio a watch

a clock a

fairytale book

a ninja turtle from

outer space.

Love,

Dannik

When Dannik finished w/ his long list, I said, "Now Dannik, you know Santa may only bring you one or two things from your list. He usually doesn't bring everything."

"I know Mom. I is a LONG list. But maybe Santa will look at the letter and say 'Woah! This kid asked for a lot of stuff. Maybe I should give him 3 or 4 things on his list!' "

"Maybe Dannik. But don't count on it"

baby pictures

Sorry that it has been so long since I have posted. There are several reasons, but the most prevalent is that our camera is broken. So, we will have to wait until Christmas for Santa to bring us a new one!

However, I do have one new baby picture to post. I had my 1st ultra-sound on Monday. It was just a regular in-office one (my new mid-wife does them at each appointment) and so we did not find out the sex yet. I did, however think that the baby is already getting cute, and can see the McCarthy head starting to form, so I thought I would share.

The comprehensive ultra-sound is scheduled for Dec 23, so if you would like to start placing bets on the sex, we will know at that time :)

Love to all!

Maybe I should lock the pantry....

Kieran is a persistent little fellow. He is constantly getting into things, no matter how many times I remove him, tell him "no" or try and re-direct his attention. Not only does he love to dismantle the video shelf, but he LOVES the pantry!

He is very funny. When he is hungry, and mommy is not getting him something fast enough, he will get into the pantry and bring something to me. He usually brings a box of fruit snacks, or macaroni and cheese. As you can see from the above picture, he decided he wanted some rice. He brought a half empty bag out to Dad, and ended up dumping it on the floor. The second picture is actually him putting uncooked rice into his mouth!

His new fascination is the bag of wheat flour, he thinks it is sand! He will even go and get the shovels from the bath toys to dig. He was having so much fun in the flour I just had to get some pictures. I loved that after I removed him up, there was a perfect little footprint left.

The above pictures are actually only the 1st time he did this. He has done it 3 times since I took these pictures! In my defense, at least one of these times the pantry was locked, but somehow he shook the door & the key turned in the lock... no more leaving the key in the lock!

What are we going to do with this little handful?

Halloween

Kieran as Pooh Pumpkin... So cute!
I'm Batman!

My own little Cinderella

All three of my little spooks.

This year we decided that we wouldn't buy new Halloween costumes, but use ones we already had in our dress-up box. I couldn't be more pleased w/ the way the costumes turned out. I think all 3 of the kids looked so adorable!

Dannik went as Batman 2 years ago, but since the new movie and game just came out, he's popular all over again and we got some more use out of the costume.

As for Markay, well, I have been trying to get her to go as a princess the last 2 years, but she hasn't ever wanted to. I can't say how pleased I am that I finally convinced her to wear this lovely dress up gown that Aunt Britney brought to us when she came to visit in July. She's just so pretty!

Kieran's costume is on it's 4th or 5th turn as a Halloween costume. It was a hand-me-down I got from my sister-in-law, Gina when Dannik was 2. All 3 of my kids have worn it and one or both of hers did as well. It is such a warm costume and so adorable. It was a little big, but I have to say he just looked so cute walking around in it.

We had a great Halloween and were actually able to do dress up 4 times! We had a party for the pre-schoolers (where they actually used different outfits), a Halloween carnival at Dannik's school, a ward party/trunk-or-treat and of course trick-or-treating on Halloween night. The kids had such a good time at all of these events! We got way more candy than we possibly need (of which I have been munching way too much).

On Halloween night Markay was having such a good time that when Dannik wanted to come home at 8 pm, she was ready to keep going. Since we only went down the street one way, I walked her down the street the other way & we hit about 6-8 more houses. I believe she could have kept going all night if I hadn't told her that people were done handing out candy because it was bed-time.

Hopefully next year I will be more motivated to decorate my house & get in the mood earlier :)

Tagged

So, my niece Tawny tagged me w/ this a week or so ago, I just haven't gotten around to it. Since our nicer computer went down a little while, I find it very annoying to do anything on this much older, much slower computer... But, I promise I will try harder and do a better job at posting in the future.

Here goes... 8 Things:

8 TV shows I watch (I am ashamed to say, I DO have 8 shows I watch, probably a lot more... need to change that)
1. Psych
2. Monk
3. Chuck
4. CSI NY
5. Bones
6. NCIS
7. The Starter Wife
8. Word World & Super Why (I love to watch these w/ the kids, especially now that Dannik is reading & gets into "helping")

8 Favorite Restraunts
1. The India House
2. McGrath's Fish House
3. Olive Garden (I have really been craving their salads lately)
4. Sonic (yes, I know it's fast food, and really it's not the food at all, but their slushes & limeaids..mmmmm!)
5. Applebees
6. China Hill
7.
8.
We don't really eat out much... so I don't have a ton of favorite places. I am always open to suggestions!

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Slept in a bit
2. Threw up
3. Went to buy wipes, toothpaste, cotton swabs & lotion
4. Took the kids to the Halloween carnival
5. Thought about cleaning the kitchen
6. Took a nap instead
7. Watched "Topper" w/ Cary Grant
8. Bathed the kids

8 things I am looking forward to:
1. Being done w/ pregnancy
2. Getting the basement finished
3. Daynen starting his new career
4. Getting my pre-school opened (next school year... lots of work to do before then, staring w/ the basement getting finished!)
5. Family get together in Idaho in a few weeks.
6. Trick-or-treating w/ the kids
7. Having a date night
8. Going to bed :)

8 things on my wish list:
1. The basement getting done
2. New dishwasher :)
3. A computer that works properly
4. Finding Daynen's birth certificate
5. Self-folding laundry
6. No more morning sickness
7. New dishwasher
8. Finished basement :)

People I hereby tag:
Vanessa
Camie
Ashley
Janelle
Carrie
Cheryl
Jen
Anyone else who feels like sharing :)

Announcement

Yes, we have an "official" announcement to make. We are pregnant with our 4th! We are so excited. I am about 13 weeks pregnant at this point, and am due at the end of April. Of course it is too early to say for sure what the sex is, but I have been VERY sick this time. The only other pregnancy I was this sick with was Markay.
We told the kids a few weeks ago and had a big Family Home Evening planned to help announce it. We talked about how special each of us is, and the unique things each of brings to the family. At the end of talking about how important each of us was to the family, we said, "And we are adding a new person to our family. Mommy is pregnant and we will have a baby in the Spring". I was hoping for excitement, but instead I got "Oh, okay, what are we going to do now?" from Markay. Dannik simply said, "I know Mom. I prayed about it and Heavenly Father told me it's a girl!" How anti-climatic! Oh well, they talk about it all the time now and Markay is so excited to have a little sister that she can share her room with.... let's hope Dannik is right!

The Dishwasher Curse

Those of you who know me, know that the bain of my existence has been that I have lived in homes the 6 years, that have had a dishwasher... a dishwasher that doesn't work! Now, really living w/out a dishwasher probably wouldn't have been that bad, BUT to have a dishwasher staring me in the face, taunting me every time I stood to do dishes, really it was just discouraging. Honestly, I believe that there is a dishwasher curse on me! Any dishwasher that was installed, either by us or a landlord in any of these places, for one reason or another just did not work.

So, you can imagine my joy when my friend Natalie called me a few weeks ago and said "We bought a dishwasher that works, but doesn't fit in our kitchen, I'm bringing it over!" HOORAY! Then Daynen installed it today and low and behold, there was a leak in bottom. "You have to be kidding! The dishwasher curse", I almost cried. I was beginning to think that perhaps, my sister-in-law was right when she said that I just wasn't meant to have a dishwasher in this lifetime. Oh the pain!

Then, Daynen had a friend come over to help with the electrical wiring in the basement and VOILA! he found the problem and FIXED IT. I was ecstatic! THE DISHWASHER CURSE HAD BEEN BROKEN!... or so I thought.

I ran the dishwasher last night and, unfortunately, when as Daynen and his brother Ben were working on the basement this morning, they noticed water coming down the wall and through the ceiling in the laundry room. Yes, the dishwasher curse lives on! Not only is there a bad leak, but it leaked all over my arts and crafts box! Alas, perhaps Debbie is right, I am not meant to have a dishwasher in this life time. Or perhaps, there is a lesson in all this... quality is important, or more likely, I should be doing my dishes every day and not letting them build up.

One day I will have a nice, new dishwasher. Until then, I resolve to learn my lesson and do the dishes every day! Maybe, just maybe, I will lift the dreaded dishwasher curse.

New "Do's"

Kieran's hair was getting out of control again & Dannik was in need of haircut, so Daynen gave the boys both a haircut last night. I was a little sad to see Kieran's shaggy look go and a new "big boy" look take it's place. But, I do have to admit that my boys look very handsome in their matching hair do's! All I can say is, good thing it's still hot outside!

Kieran before:

Dannik before:

All my handsome men!

Mommy moments:

While talking to Dannik the other day he figured something out by himself and I asked him, "Dannik, how did you get to be so smart?"

Dannik looks at me and says, "Oh, I've just alway been that way!"
--------
While cleaning the bathroom last Saturday, Markay said, "This is hard work, Mom! Just like on Dirty Jobs!" Then after a minute, "Hey! They should come to our house!"
Hopefully our house isn't that bad!

First Day of School

My big boy started kindergarten on Monday! I can't believe that he is so big.

The first day was actually just an hour long orientation. They got to meet the teacher, Mrs. Erickson, find their seats, cubbies and coat hangers. They drew pictures of themselves and learned about the things they were going to be doing in class this school year. One of Dannik's favorite parts was when Mrs. Erickson had them sit on the rug and she read a story to them. "The Kissing Hand" by, Audrey Penn. It was very cute. I would definitely recommend reading this with your youngsters, especially if they are feeling nervous about being away from you (for school, or daycare, church etc).

Tuesday we went back for an assessment test. I sat outside the room while Dannik went in and talked with his teacher. When she came out she looked at me and said, "Wow! He's a bright kid!" My mommy heart SWELLED with pride! He's such a great kid! Because he has already started reading at home, she sent home some books for him so that he could begin reading to us each day. She seems like she will be a great teacher and really help him to keep his love of school.

Last night at dinner, Daynen asked Dannik what kinds of questions his teacher asked him. Dannik said, "She asked me all the stuff I already knew!" Daynen said, "Those are my favorite kind of tests!"

Dannik putting his name on the board, finding his cubby, and drawing a picture of himself.

Dannik listening to instructions, posing w/ Mrs. Erickson and Mommy.

Hugs and kisses

(Picture taken July 2007)

The other night as we were getting ready to go to bed, Dannik refused to give Markay a hug. It really hurt her feeling. She got over it quickly as I offered to give her an extra hug from me. Dannik, it seems, didn't. As I was tucking the kids in and doling out more kisses and hugs, Dannik was looking grumpy.

"Dannik," I asked, "why are you grumpy?"

"I'm not grumpy, Mom. I'm sad".

"Why are you sad?" I inquired.

"Because I feel bad inside."

"Why do you feel bad inside?"

He started to tear up and then said, through his tears, "Because I didn't give Markay a love".

What a sweet little guy! I am so thankful that he loves his little sister and cares about how she feels ...most of the time. Feelings were mended as he got up on the bed and gave Markay the hug and kiss he'd refused earlier.

Our Family's Got Talent

Today we had a Mother/Child activity at the church where the children put on a talent show. Everyone was so cute. And though I may be bias, I must say, my kids are SO talented! To prepare for the show today, we talked about talents in our Family Home Evening last night and let the children practice their performances for us. As we talked about the different talents that each of them possessed, Dannik was amazed at how many talents we all had. I hope that they never lose that confidence & remember how special and wonderful each of them are!

Watching the big kids

Kieran is still a little too small to have developed performing talents, but of course he is very smart, and cute, and has a special talent for loving others. He loved watching his brother and sister and all of the other cute little kids share their gifts!

Poetry in motion

I missed the beginning of Dannik's performance, but he did a few nursery rhymes with actions. He did a great job! If you hear me whispering in the back-ground, we changed the order at the last minute and I was reminding him which order to say them in. Such a cute kid.

I'm a star!

I was a little worried about Markay, because she tends to get a little shy when performing in front of people. She started out quietly (and again you can only hear me) but she finished wonderfully! She LOVED singing for everyone, and again, did a great job! She even wanted to do it again... guess she did inherit my performing bug after all!

Little Fish

The mess one little Kieran can make

Now that Kieran is walking all over, it is not uncommon to come into a newly cleaned room to find a mess similar to this! One of his favorite new past-times is to pull all the books off a bookshelf, or all the videos and DVD's off the shelf and out of their cases.

Markay and Dannik just finished their first swim lessons this week. They loved it, and they both did very well. Dannik who would not put any portion of his face in the water to begin with, is now going all the way under and has started to learn free-style! I am so proud of him!

Markay absolutely adored her teachers and took great pains to follow their instructions and do whatever they asked. She is now very comfortable in the water and loves jumping in and making big splashes.

The kids were both very dissappointed that this session was over. Once I find out what kind of schedule we will have when school begins, maybe I will enroll them for another round!

Mommy moments:
Markay singing "Jesus Said Love Everyone"

"Jesus said love everyone, treat them kindly too.
When your heart is filled with love
BROTHERS will love you..."
-Can you tell who is important to her?

Tonight we were doing a "dog-pile" on Dannik and he says to Daynen.
"Daddy get off me, your as heavy as a book shelf!"

Trip to Grandma & Grandpa Walters

The kids and I took a trip to my mom & step-dad's last week over the 4th of July weekend. We had a lot of fun. There was a parade, a carnival, running in foam, swimming, and lots of playing at the park. I don't know why, but I only got the one picture of the Kieran w/ Grandma, but the kids really love their grandparents. Markay especially loves Grandpa (sorry Mom). In fact, the 1st few days we were there, he was gone fishing w/ his sons and she kept wondering around the house asking "Where's Grandpa?" We all had so much fun. The kids also really enjoyed playing with their cousins from both sides my family.

While we were in Idaho, we also got Kieran's 1st official haircut. I was a little worried because I love how crazy his hair is and feel it is part of his quirky personality. I am definately pleased with the results though!

Getting bigger

We turned Kieran's carseat around this last week. I didn't think much about it really, he's such a good natured little guy, he never complained about facing backwards. But, Daynen didn't like the way the carseat rubbed up against the front passenger seat, so we turned him around. He was so excited. Infact, he is still excited. Every time we put him in his carseat now, he gets a big smile on his face and starts waving to me in the front. I know I say this all the time, but he is such a cutie!
Kieran has also learned how to navigate the steps like a pro, walk 10 steps at a time, climb on and off the couch by himself, say "uh-oh" when he drops something and has weened himself down to one nap a day!




Grammy and Grandpa came to visit this week. The kids had lots of fun spending time w/ them. They especially liked going swimming at the hotel with Aunt Britney and when Grammy and Grandpa came over and read stories to them. This was my favorite picture of the kids w/ Daynen's parents. So much love!



Mommy Moments:
All boy...
While walking in the store Dannik looked at me and said just out of the blue, "Mom, if Spider-man, the Transformers, and the Ninja Turtles combined forces, they would be unstopable!"

Too cute not to share

Sorry, I know this is my 2nd post for the day, but I was deleting the photos off my camera and I saw this and just had to share! Yesterday we went to SLC to visit w/ some friends. We went to the park to have lunch and play while there. The kids had a lot of fun. I got this picture of my friend's little girl Megan feeding Kieran. She is about 10 weeks older than Kieran. Just had to share 'cuz it was so cute.

Birthday and more

Saturday, we had a small birthday party for Kieran w/ my brother-in-law Shane and his family who were in town from Oregon. Debbie was very sweet and made the cakes for me since I still do not have an oven. They were very cute. Thanks Debbie! Kieran had fun destroying the cake and opening presents etc. He is my 1st one to actually get really messy w/ his cake. The other 2 kind of picked at the cakes, or just ate the frosting off the top (Markay still will only eat the frosting about 70% of the time).

Dancing with my stars

We love to read!

We have been practicing Dannik's reading every evening with scripture study & having Dannik sound out and read the small words from the verse. Thursday night during story time, instead of me reading his story to him, he read the whole book to me! It was so amazing to watch him read it and figure out the words. He had very little help from me. I was also impressed at his comprehension of the book. I can't believe how fast he is growing up.
Not to be outdone, Markay wanted to read her book too. She had me read the words & she repeated them like she does during scripture study. I love that they are both so excited about reading!

I'm 1 today! June 11, 2008

Kieran turned 1 today! We are planning a very small family party for Saturday. He took his first steps on Friday! He's so funny, he will take a step or two towards me and then just fall forward into my arms. And he's so proud of himself! We will say, "Good job, Kieran!" and he gets a big grin and starts to clap for himself. In fact, any time you said good job, no matter who you are talking to, he stops where he is and starts to clap. Too cute.

Dancing Fools

One of our current television favorites is "So You Think You Can Dance", and the kids really enjoy it as well. Any time I put on music they get excited and dance around. A phrase heard often around our house lately is, "Mom! Watch my moves!" I took this video of them dancing together to the song at the end of a movie we watched. It was so cute. I was disappointed I didn't get my camera out fast enough and missed him twirling her.

Mommy moments from the week:

Dannik was fascinated while watching a show on Animal Planet this week about two-headed animals. Later on that day I heard him playing in his room and yell:"I am a two-headed super-hero!" Guess when fighting crime, two heads are better than one.

Another one from Dannik... I came into the bathroom to find the toothpaste out on the counter & toothpaste in the sink. I asked, "Dannik, were you playing with the toothpaste?" Dannik said, "Mom, I was fighting decay!"

Markay got out of the bath the other night, looked down at her hands and said, very concerned, "Oh no! Mom, my hands are ruined!" She was very upset until I convinced her that they would eventually go back to normal.

Dinos & More

Last week we studied Dinosaurs in our co-op pre-school. The kids had fun reading stories, learning information and making fun dinosaur crafts all week long. Camie (my friend that does pre-school w/ us) and I decided that since it is only 20 minutes away, we would take a trip up to Eccles Dinosaur park in Ogden. The kids had a blast looking at all the dinosaurs and playing at the park. We took sac lunches and spent 5 hours in total exploring and learning.

Dannik is my little ham (wonder where he gets that from?). The minute he saw this dinosaur, he walked up to it & made this scared face! I just had to get a picture.

Kieran loved going down this slide. I would put him at the top & he got all excited & started scooting up little by little until he started going down. It was perfect for him because it went right to the sand with no drop off. Such a little cutie.

The kids had fun being paleontologists, digging in the sand to find bones. I couldn't resist getting this picture of Markay's "plumber's crack". She's so skinny, she has the hardest time keeping her pants all the way up!

Mommy moments from the week:

Markay has started using a phrase often this week that melts my heart & truly makes me smile (and sometimes feel a little sheepish)...especially when she says it right after or even during getting scolded. She looks right at me and says, "Mama , You're the best!"

Today I was teaching Dannik how to sing the alphabet song in French. Kieran LOVES music and was singing along saying "Ah, Ah" the whole time. It was very cute. Later Dannik looked at me and said, "Mommy, I think when Kieran starts talking, he's going to speak French!"