Happy St. Patrick's Day

The Leprechaun sent the kids on a rainbow scavenger hunt to find the gold at the end of a rainbow!

Even McKinley got in on the action!

McKinley standing and dancing

I thought for sure that McKinley would be walking any day after filming this since she would put herself in a standing position in the middle of a room and stand there for a long time.  She did take 4 steps a couple days later (technically walking on March 14th) but then we left on our cruise and she couldn't keep her balance.  I didn't want her crawling all over the ship either so I mostly held her most of the time. 

McKinley loves dancing!  

It made it a little more difficult when she was first learning to stand but when you feel the groove you can't help but shake it!

I was hoping to get her to walk because she kept standing up but then the kids put music on and it was all over!

Dancing and her famous crawl

Kind of got her taking 1 step in this video

Nathan's birthday!

We celebrated Nathan's birthday back in March.  I saw a giant Samoa cookie on the internet and decided I would give it a go.  It turned out good I just wish that I would have decorated the top the correct way! I realized I was doing it wrong about half way through and tried to fix it but it didn't work.  It still tasted good!

I had some extra cookie dough so I made some regular sized ones.  Here's a comparison of how big the giant one is.

We managed to get all 36 candles on that cookie!

Happy 36th birthday Handsome!  We sure love you!

Breakfast

I woke up one morning and Easton had made me breakfast!  It was so thoughtful!  Maybe I shouldn't admit this but at first I was a little concerned that he had done something bad and was buttering me up so I wouldn't be so mad.  Afterwards I felt bad that I even thought that.  Every once in a while that boy surprises me with the kind and thoughtful things he does.  I sure love him!

Gator sightings!

We saw the gator(s) a few times this year in the swamp.  We had one about 4 feet long and then later we saw a bigger gator that was probably 6 feet long!  So scary!

First sighting this year...

Different day but probably the same gator

Another day...this one looked bigger to me but it was hard to see since it was in the water.

Another day...this one was definitely a lot bigger.

We get a lot of bunnies in our yard

It's always fun to see all kinds of different animals in our backyard.

Dyer lost his first tooth!

Dyer lost his first tooth on March 5!  I believe he was my first kid to have a hole/gap in their teeth.  Easton and Blair both waited so long to pull their teeth that as soon as their baby tooth came out their adult tooth was right there to take it's place.

Side note: The last post I wrote back in February but somehow I forgot to post it...

Happy 1st Birthday McKinley!

McKinley turned 1 about a week ago!  She seems too little to be one already.  I'm probably jinxing her but she seems like she might be walking soon.  She's starting to stand up from a sitting position in the middle of the room and balance for a good 5-10 seconds before she sits back down.

 Happy girl!

She LOVED the balloon that was tied to her wrist.  

Presents!

Squeaky shoes!

Birthday card and money from Grandpa and Grandma Whiting!

Drum set from Grandma and Grandpa Earnest

She loves the drum set!

Bike helmet

We took a family bike ride around the neighborhood.  McKinley enjoyed the first half of the ride but eventually she was done and we headed home for lunch and cake!

Smash cake

Dyer was concerned that McKinley would burn herself on the candle...

I thought she would dig right in but she just picked at it and licked the frosting.  Maybe she would have if she didn't eat a full lunch right before eating cake.

I stuck it out and breast fed her until she finally turned 1! I was worried I made a mistake a few days after completely weaning her because she wasn't drinking very much regular milk and I was worried about her getting enough fluids.  About two days ago she finally started drinking regular milk like a champ!  Thank goodness because I was feeling rather guilty and selfish for weaning her before she was obviously ready.  I felt like a terrible mom.  

 Now we just need to wean her from her pacifier, but luckily for her that wont be until after our cruise next month.  I think it will be best for everyone on the ship if she still has that for an extra month.

Her two top teeth are almost completely in now.

She enjoys walking around with help.

The things that this girl thinks is funny!

I've yet to get it on tape since I have to be holding her but she LOVES getting horsey rides from Blakely.  She thinks it is hilarious!  She just laughs and laughs and laughs!

The other day she climbed into her car seat and was quite enjoying herself...

Rocking in the car seat

Yesterday she taught herself how to come down the stairs.