Lil' buddies

Ella and Cameron have been playing together since they were babies and they have the sweetest friendship. They are so fun to listen to and I usually have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing at them. For my BONKO friends, this months' BONKO gift (snow cone maker) made me super mom today! They each picked out 2 flavors for their snow cones and couldn't wait to get home and make them. It was so fun...we'll be having snow cones all summer! Aside from that, here are just a couple of the things I heard Ella tell Cameron today:

After Cameron leaned over and kissed Ella, she said "Please don't kiss me on the lips. Those are special kisses I only give my mommy and daddy and that I'll give when I get married." (mom signs a sigh of relief and hope that she'll always save those special kisses!)
Cameron: Ok, I'll kiss you on the cheek. (Ella leans over so he can do so).

When we started making snow cones and they were trying to decide who would get theirs first, Ella tells Cameron, "Gentlemen always let ladies go first." Cameron said, "okay, you can have the first one."

Can you believe these things came out of the mouth of a 5 year old?! She's too young; it's going to give me a heart attack! When I was 5, I didn't know the first thing about any of that kind of stuff. But I'm also so proud of her. These comments remind me what a strong spirit she is and I hope she never settles for any boy that won't treat her like a lady, even if it's with her friends at the age of 5! I hope that she will always expect to be treated the very best, and always maintain that integrity.


I thought they were so sweet working together.


Every time I'd go to snap a picture, they would stop everything and smile. This picture below makes me laugh...in a round about way, it reminds me of Green Acres!

Soon to be a family of 5!

After my last couple of posts I've gotten several surprised emails. I didn't realize I had told so few of my friends that I am pregnant. Sorry everyone! You know how babies seem to suck out all the brain cells!! I am due Sept 25th, which makes me about 18 weeks. After a 4 1/2 year gap between our first two, this came as quite a shock. Ava will only be about 16 months when baby #3 comes along. We're excited for the coming addition. Dave is really praying for a boy; and I think HE needs a boy more than everyone seems to think I need one! Ella is hoping for a boy too. Maybe I'll let you all know in a couple of weeks!

It's hard to be big too...

I've been thinking I would post something every once in a while with the title "keeping it real" and fill you in on some of the less glamourous things that occur in the MacKillop household. Let this be the first.

Sometimes life is just not fair. I will start this out with a warning...for the easily grossed out, weak stomached people reading this, you may want to stop now (although I will try to avoid too much detail). For those that don't want to hear me bellyache, quit reading now. I generally call my sister in situations like this (ya know, the situations where I really just need to whine a little and here "ah, that stinks. I'm sorry" and don't need any kind of advice or anything else...ie the person I can feel 100% comfortable complaining too about everything and know that I won't be judged even a little) But I can't reach her because she is in class and I really feel like bellyaching now. So, here goes my rant...

7:30 Ava wakes up. She's feeling a little warm this morning and still extra snuggly. We snuggle, I give her a bottle. Life is good. I go to change her diaper; I get her legs out from her jammies and her legs and feet feel very cold and sticky and stinky, just as the jammies are. I'm thinking "Wow! She has a very wet diaper which is great because maybe she isn't as dehydrated as I was concerned about." Not the case. I pull the diaper off only to find that somehow my angel baby has mostly missed the diaper. It looked like it was put on okay. Wierd. But no biggie. I just put her in the tub for a quick wash down and we'll go on with our day. Just as I'm carrying her to the tub, she pees. Not a little. A LOT - and it's ALL OVER ME. Ugh. Okay, I'll just hop in the tub with her real quick. We get all cleaned up, hop out and get us both dressed for the day. She's still pretty lethargic but I take her in to get breakfast going. Ella by the way was being very patient and got herself a stack of books to occupy herself in the mean time. I thought, all right, we are already a little behind this morning, let me just get her and Ella a quick breakfast because I know they are both pretty hungry and Ava really just wants to go back to bed and I'll feed me something afterwards. Much to my delight, Ava really is hungry and actually eats her whole bowl of oatmeal and applesauce. YEA! Girls finish up and Ava is looking more than ready for a nap. Clean her face up, pull her out of the highchair, and suddenly I feel something all warm and squishy on my hands. Hmm, now it's on my clothes. And all over her legs. Remember that diarrhea I mentioned in my last post? Yeah...it so grosses me out. I frantically holler at Ella to go get wipes, a diaper and a towel and I run over to the sink, take my shirt off as fast as I can, get some warm water going and carefully try to peel Ava's clothes off without spreading poo everywhere. She is not happy. I put her in the sink and get her rinsed off. She's screaming. Once she is pretty well rinsed off, I wrap her in her towel and we go back to my room. Start all over...finish getting her all cleaned up, diapered, and dressed. Oh and I forgot to tell you that somehow my little magician missed her diaper again. "The diaper must be too small" is probably what you are thinking? But I can guarantee you, it's not. She just works wonders! So while I'm dressing her and she's crying and I'm feeling all bad for ME I look down and see all the little bruises from our fun trip to the urgent care the other night. The guilt kicks in and I just hold her close and sing her a little song. She is soooo ready to go down. I take her back to her room (she's already mostly asleep in my arms) and I lay her down. The crib sheet is cold and wet. There was a bottle in there that leaked. Why did the bottle leak? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Is this a joke? Is there a hidden camera somewhere in my house today that is going to put me on tv and make me lots of money? I hope not, because I still haven't gotten a shirt back on me. Or is this for real? I have no patience at this point. It's 8:45, I still haven't eaten and have I ever told you how when I am pregnant and hungry I need to eat NOW? I don't know what it is, but when I am pregnant I cannot wait. Baby must be hungry huh? So I'm a bad mom and lay Ava down on the opposite side of the crib where it's not wet and hope that she won't roll over to the other side. I leave and head to the kitchen to finish cleaning up the poop mess. Some of you may recall hearing me say that this has been my easiest pregnancy thus far. I stand by that. Only really foul smells set me off, and just as you guessed it, this is one of those smells. I don't get very far into cleaning up before I am puking in the sink. At least I haven't had breakfast yet, right?! So I finish that, go brush my teeth, and go back to the cleaning up. It's almost done, but I stopped to bellyache and give my stomach a few minutes to settle down. I don't want to eat as I have no appetite now, but know that I have to. I'm feeling a little guilty now as I think about my baby laying in her crib in a little romper trying to get over a nasty virus. I can't leave her in there and risk her rolling over onto the cold wet sheet that isn't going to help her get any better any faster. I better go change it. She is not going to like it. And I guess I better go finish cleaning the poop mess up and get me some breakfast. I've got Ella watching cartoons... I really hope this isn't any indication of how our day is going to go. Wish me luck...I feel I will need it today. But now that I've got this out, I do feel a little better. Very little. But that's okay. Thanks for listening.

It's so hard to be little...

Sometimes when I get tired of being an adult and wish there wasn't so much responsibility, I look at my sweet children and think it must be nice to be little and not have anything to worry about, nothing to be accountable for, and to be care free and happy with the simple things in life, like a clean diaper and playing patty cake. But after weekends like the one we just had, I am reminded that it's just as hard to be little and that it comes with it's own set of problems. Here are a few examples...

Ava woke up Friday morning with a fever. It was low and the only other symptom she had was a little congestion. No biggie. By Saturday afternoon she was clingy and wanted nothing to do with anyone except for mom. She wasn't satisfied with Grandma who was babysitting while Dave and I attended a class, and she wasn't satisfied with Daddy. Which if I'm being honest, does make a mom feel extra special! So we snuggled. And we snuggled. And we snuggled some more! Typically I don't hold Ava to put her to sleep, but I knew she really wasn't feeling well and maybe just needed a little extra TLC. So Dave and Ella went on to our nephew's baptism on Saturday evening while I stayed home with Ava. While I was holding her I realized I was getting hotter and hotter. But with the pregnancy hormones and having a baby sound asleep on me for so long, I really didn't think much of it. I took her temperature anyways and much to my astonishment it was 104.2. Okay so it obviously wasn't just the hormones or the sleeping baby. I'll admit, I freaked out a little. In my 5 1/2 years as a mother, we have never reached a temperature above about 102. I called Dave, who at this point was at a friend's house being "handy man Dave", and we agreed it was best to take her in. We went to A-cute Kids Urgent Care in Flower Mound (I'm only telling the location for those that live near by and ever need an urgent care place to go.) They were amazing! We were there for an hour and while it was the longest hour of my life, they were so great with her. After a throat culture came back negative and there were no other obvious symptoms, they said they would have to take a urine sample and do some blood work. Poor baby. If she could only tell us where she hurt or what she was feeling, we could most likely avoid all of that. It took 4 people to hold her down while they drew blood and my heart has never ached more. I finally got to pick her up after what seemed like an eternity only to have to lay her back down right after she calmed down so they could give her 2 shots of antibiotics. She thought her world was coming apart. I thought my world was coming apart...it was just awful! We left with nothing, no answers...to make the rest of my long story short, she was still running a fever yesterday and started having diarrhea last night. I'm thinking it's probably just a virus that is going to have to run it's course, but my fear now is that she will become dehydrated because she will hardly drink or eat anything (even though I have tried EVERYTHING...water, pedialyte, gatorade, popsicles....). We went to our pediatrician this morning and she told me just what I expected. We are praying for at least 2 wet diapers today and that the fever will be gone soon. Until then, we are quarantined...See, it's not so easy being little... :( And while I don't have any great pics to post, here she is. These were taken yesterday morning after I gave up trying to get any breakfast in her. (Don't you love her bed head?!)





And then there's Ella. Ella reminds me frequently actually that it's "just so hard to be a little girl." I never should have told her that in the first place! She says it in this whiny voice that if you didn't know better, you may actually feel a little sorry for her! Every Friday at school the kids get to pick something out of the treasure box if they were good and got a sticker that day. So Ella comes home and shows me two bracelets. I admire them with her because they are so sparkly and pretty. And then in the most excited voice, she tells me she got "BOTH of them from the treasure box!" After a bit of listening to her explanation, I realize she was only supposed to take one but that it was okay because one of her friends took two also. And the lesson begins. My happy overjoyed girl suddenly had a sad look of disappointment on her face as I explained that what she did was dishonest and that it was actually stealing from Mrs. Stephens. Much to my surprise, she then tried to cover it up! I really couldn't believe it. "But mom, I just forgot how many I was supposed to take." No no no...we've done this every Friday for the entire school year. I'm certain she didn't just forget. We talk about it some more and she finally fesses up..."Well, I was holding them both in my hands and I couldn't decide which one I liked better." Mom: So you took them both? Ella, looking down seemingly ashamed: Yes. While this is unfortunate and made me feel a little disappointed too, we talked about why it was wrong and what we could do to make it better. We talked about repentance, which I realized was something we haven't really talked about before. Ella picked a bracelet and put the other one back in her backpack to take back to Mrs. Stephens today. Fast forward to this morning when she realized she was going to have to actually face Mrs. Stephens..."Mom, I don't feel good. My throat hurts and I really think you should take me to the doctor with Ava." The whole ride to school, she was fretting it like you wouldn't believe. We talked more about it and how we get in less trouble when we do something wrong and admit it instead of trying to hide it. She kept telling me all the awful things that Mrs. Stephens would say and do to her. I walked in with her. With her head hung low, she explained to Mrs. Stephens why she took 2 bracelets and that she knew what she did was wrong and then she asked Mrs. Stephens to please forgive her. Of course Mrs. Stephens gave her a big hug and thanked her for being honest. I could see the look of relief come over Ella's face. Afterwards I gave her a hug and told her I was proud of her for telling the truth. See, it's hard to learn these life lessons! Maybe I don't want to trade being an adult for being a kid again! I was kind of laughing about it on the way home as I was going over in my mind the conversation on the way to school. As a mom, those cheap plastic bracelets are really not a big deal. Ya know, they are the cheap 3 for $1 ones. But to my 5 year old, they are sparkly and beautiful and it's so hard to pick just one! I'm hoping this lesson will stick with her and that we won't have to deal with this on bigger issues (like the girl we saw at Walmart being busted for shoplifting the other day...) I'm actually glad we had this experience.

This is long...I wonder if anyone is actually still reading it!! I wanted to post a picture because I think blogs are more fun with pics. So here is one that Ella took of herself the other day. I didn't realize she had my camera and had taken any pictures until I downloaded them this morning and found about 30 pictures I hadn't taken! Here is one of my favorites that my sneaky girl took...

Texas Luau Campout!

This weekend was the first ward activity I've planned since being called as the Activites Chairman. We had a Texas style luau campout...and it was so much fun! We went to Murrell Heritage at Grapevine Lake; it was so beautiful there and the most perfect weekend for camping. We told everyone to come in their hawaiian shirts and cowboy boots. Dave was a really good sport about wearing matching shirts! He didn't complain about it once! So, we greeted everyone as they arrived with "Aloha!" and a lei and got the activities going around 6:30. We had fun music going and did a hula hoop contest, the limbo, had hula lessons and then a hula contest. The kids painted prayer rocks and we played a fun get to know our new bishopric game around the campfire, and then roasted marshmallows and sang songs. I think the night was mostly settled down by midnight and then we all froze to death in our tents! It was SOOO cold! My family didn't get any sleep...Ava had a very difficult time and cried off and on for the better part of the night. By about 2 am we took her out of the pack and play and she slept on top of Dave. Dave said we were his heat suckers for the night! But I would think that with Ava on top of him and me smashed up against him he would have kept nice and toasty warm all night! I don't know how, but Dave never seems to be cold. I on the other hand am always cold, so it's nice to have my own personal space heater in bed! So anyways, Ava was up and down all night long and at one point when Dave and I were both actually asleep at the same time, we were awakened by Ella screaming "Get her off of me!" I guess Ava didn't like that everyone was sleeping and she wanted to play! I had to get up about 7 to get breakfast going for the ward. We all warmed up around the fire, ate a yummy breakfast and then started to pack up. Overall I think the activity was a huge success and I was glad we had such a great turnout. Even though I am not the most avid camper and the thought of having to go somewhere with no water and an outhouse for a restroom makes me utterly disgusted, we had a great time and I am looking forward to another campout soon! So, here are a few pictures...

I normally would have gotten more pics of my girls but I was so busy trying to run the activity that I missed several great shots of them. So when Ella gets home from school today I am going to dress them back up in their hawaiian outfits so you can see how cute they were!

If you click on this picture of Ava to make it bigger, you will see her little scratched up forehead and nose. Even when she's buckled in, she has learned how to wiggle her way out of her stroller. She did, stood up backwards in it, and tipped the stroller over. She biffed it hard...poor baby. She literally ate dirt. (I guess we'll wait to get the pictures made we were going to do this week!)

How low can YOU go?! Had we a prize for the limbo, it definitely should have gone to Jeff. He was awesome!

Hula lessons with Rita (they moved here recently from Hawaii and were perfect for teaching us!)

I know this picture is really dark, but these girls were cracking me up! They were such good sports! I love you Nikki, Toni, and Bridget!

Blake was awesome at this...the kids LOVED it!

Isn't it a beautiful morning?!

WHAT A WOMAN!

This girl cracks me up! She was running around tonight doing the supergirl thing when all of a sudden, she jumped up on this cooler, struck this pose and very emphatically said "What a woman!" Where on earth did that come from?! I was thinking The Incredibles but she informed me it was from The Hunchback. Are any of you familiar with this line?! She then proceeded to explain to me what a woman is..."You know mom, a woman wears makeup and goes to the temple. That's what you do!" I love the way her little brain works! And I think it's great that she aspires to wear makeup and go to the temple! She is definitely my little woman! Just had to share today's Ellaism...

Ava's big week in review

For those that have asked, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a week. I found myself becoming very addicted (like I knew I would) and had to force myself to stop! So here is me having the willpower to change! My goal is to post once or twice a week...So with that, here is Ava's big week in review...

My sweet girl has had the cutest toothless grin until this last month and all of a sudden BOOM! she got 3 teeth in like 2 weeks. Her third popped through this last week. So now she just has the cutest grin! I got this picture yesterday when she was being silly at lunch. If you click on it to enlarge it, you can see all 3 of her teeth very well.



She's thinking these teeth are a pretty good thing! Suddenly it's like having 3 hands because she's gotten crafty and can carry more this way. The fake french fry isn't the only thing that gets carried in the mouth! It's just the only thing I've actually gotten a picture of quick enough!



But these super cool teeth have also caused a few complications...she fell down and bit her lip :( which caused her to get her first fat lip. And yes, mom wanted a picture of it. Dave tells Ava "Right after mom gets the scrapbook picture, she'll love on you and make it all better!" I think I might take too many pictures...



It's been a rough week. We've just been so busy and baby #2 doesn't always get catered to quite the same as baby #1 did when it comes to working around naps. This morning she woke up not feeling well and was running a fever by this afternoon. As you can tell, she really wasn't too interested in lunch...

Poor thing....she spent a lot of time sleeping today and hopefully will be feeling better soon. Just look at those sad, tired eyes...I have to admit though, I do love how she's extra snuggly when she's feeling this way!