Wheelers: April 2011

And she's 2!

After storytime with our dear friends Jocelyn, Josiah and Audrey, we headed to McDonald's for lunch. Since she already had her birthday party, we thought a last minute lunch would be a treat to celebrate on her actual birthday. I think we've been to McD's maybe 2 other times, so I knew it'd be a hit. Aunt Candice, the cousins and a couple of Corey's friends were able to join us too.

Cousin Haley...not sure what she's showing me

baby Audrey, Mck's little friend whom she often tackles or takes her shoes off

Cayden doing a cool trick! "Look, Mom!"

the cousins minus Jon

It's all for a good cause

This year, Corey had the opportunity to participate in Relay for Life. As a fund raiser, a booth was set up for the residents in the courtyard of the residence halls. They paid a dollar for a plate full of whip cream to smash in the faces of everyone on his staff, including himself. I was surprised at the eagerness of his residents...it got messy quick!

the scene before it all went down. notice Mck by the trashcan talking with dad.

Here, she's trying to decide one, if she's scared of the messy faces and two, if she still wants to hug daddy who is super messy

one of many plates...what a good sport

At one point, I looked over and saw both of the kiddos leaning over and taking handfuls of whip cream off the ground in hopes of making it to their mouths. I was faster than them! :)

Our Mckinley

Mck at school eating a birthday cupcake!

And now for that sweet baby girl...here are some fabulous things about Mck that you may not know:

- she likes the idea of and gets so excited about taking a bath. Well, shower at our house. But once she's in there, it's a struggle just to get your hands on her. You see, she will paste herself to the very corner of the shower just far enough away that you can barely reach her. You are then forced to crawl forward onto the wet floor to pull her back toward you. Bath time is drama time. I don't know what it is.

- she will wave, smile and talk to just about anyone. She's much more out-going than her brother and is easily approached. She's just like her daddy.

- she has a super high piercing scream. Her octave is commendable, although I'm not encouraging it. Maybe she can use it later for something more constructive.

- she often, oh about 52 times a day says, "hold you" and I'm personally working on doing just that and putting off whatever domestic chore I might be in the middle of. She won't always want me to hold her and I need to remember that. She wants and needs so much cuddle time and I'm loving that right now.

- she will eat nearly everything. She hardly ever puts up a fight about food...wonder how long it'll last.

- she always prefers playing with cars, tractors, puzzles, trains and blocks over feeding her baby dolls. I know it's b/c of her brother and she just wants to be with him. Since they share a room, it's all kinda meshed together, so she gets to share everything with brother.

- her favorite characters right now are a cross between Dora and Minnie Mouse. She is so cute when she says their names and gets so excited when they come one. Sounds like we watch a lot of tv. Ha, not really, only in the morning during breakfast. She fought me just this morning from taking off her jammie gown that had Minnie on it. I guess it could've passed for a dress.

- she holds her own ground. She will often be seen charging Cayden and being the aggressive one. Cayden is more mellow with her and will play the trapped victim. Mck will run with it and control the conflict. She's rough, and we're working on discipline and obedience. Time outs have been real affective.

Silly girl

thumb in mouth, in her stroller, ready to head to school

Daddy loves her in pig tails, so it's pretty much the norm now. I'm growing her bangs out, so it's a good way to keep them out of her eyes. Little girls' hair can be so much work, but oh so cute!

Our Cayden

Some fabulous things about Cayden that you may not know:

- he loves to dance. We routinely dance to the Curious George theme song just about every morning. He'll dance to commercials, tv shows and of course music from the radio. He's pretty good, too!

- he's addicted to gum. I don't allow him to have it but maybe a couple times a week. Maybe he's addicted to asking. Grandma started the gum thing. :)

- he loves to push the button to open the door to our building. It's probably equivalent to pushing the elevator buttons at a hotel. Exciting stuff.

- he can be quite the gentleman. He insists on carrying sister's lunch to and from school and pulling Gracie's (his little friend that stays with us on Wednesdays) backpack from the van all the way up to the apartment, all the while wearing his own backpack. He's so macho!

- his very favorite movie right now is the Wiggles and just about anything that has to do with real trucks, tractors or trains.

- he will not sleep with a pillow and sleeps completely covered, head to toe, under his "big blanket."

- he's on a hamburger/french fries kick right now and would probably eat that meal once a week if we'd allow it

- he's left-handed :)

- his favorite places to visit are the Jumpy Place (an indoor blowup slide place), story time at the library when he's in the right mood, school (mother's day out) and CBS.

- his sister is his best friend. Praying it stays that way always.

- he is still singing Christmas carols and makes up his own songs in his sleep about mommy, daddy and sister.

- every night during prayers, he prays for Christmas lights and fireworks. He'd like to go see them tomorrow. At least it's something we can look forward to every 6 months. :)

Putting money into his piggy bank!

Don't be fooled by this sweet picture. After fighting it, he sat down for maybe 2 seconds for this quick shot. As soon as I got the picture, he took off in a fit behind the rope, you know, where you're not supposed to go. You see sweet Cayden, I remember stinker Cayden.