about McKinley...

Baby "B"

born at 11:09am on 6.16.06

named after her mommy

spent the majority of her time in my belly next to Carter

did relatively well in the NICU, came home after 64 days

roommates with Madison

aka our princess, drama queen, social bug

once she warms up to you, she'll be your best friend

as soon as we get out of the car she's asking to hold our hand

loves to take daddy's spot on the couch when he gets up

great memory like big sister

after getting out of the bath, runs around saying "get my hiney!"

will carry on a conversation with herself in the mirror

sleeps with a silky blanket every night

now completely potty trained, big girl panties 24/7

most often the ring leader, the others will usually follow

loves watching Reagan at gymnastics

will be the one the teacher's calling home about..."trouble!"

cute as a bug, but we try not to let her know that too much

loves babies, especially her cousin, Tristan

loves being messy and dirty

of the four, the most pickiest eater, but still not much she won't eat

my guess...future cheerleader

We love you McKinley Jo!!

Our Queen

I've decided to do an individual post on each of the girls to give everyone their "time to shine!". So Reagan is first, she is "the queen". She turned five this past summer and started Kindergarten in the fall. I'm not really sure where to start...this girl is amazing! Her little world was rocked at the age of almost 3 and she has handled it very well. Oh don't get me wrong, she's a normal kid and has her moments. But if I can brag a little, she has a few extra special qualities...one being an awesome big sister. The "babies" love her and think she hung the moon.

We are often asked who Reagan gets along best with and I always say Kennedy. They seem to have a special bond, but on that same note she doesn't really show favoritism towards her. They just seem to play best together and laugh alot, but Reagan enjoys one on one time with all of them. Every once in awhile I will catch her pulling one of the girls in her room to play, and boy do they love that! I could go on and on about how much she helps me around the house... let's just say she's missed during the day while she is at school now.

Reagan is also involved at our church in the Kids Choir and loves it. I'm hoping she gets her daddy's singing ability and not mine...yikes! I know Janet is laughing in heaven right now at the remark. :) On Wednesday's she does Awana Sparks at church as well. She has memorized many, many bible verses and is teaching me some along the way. I love it! Then she is in a gymnastics class one day a week...busy girl! Mommy and daddy are seeing lots of improvement and she is having fun learning!! She is going to the same gym that Mommy went when I was her age, so it's a sweet feeling to be back there again. No pressure on her continuing, just glad she is giving it a shot.

Here is a little video of some snapshots taken throughout 2008...poor thing is not a bit camera shy as you will see. They are in chronological order so you can see how much she's changed this past year. Our little girl is growing up...makes me sad and proud all at once! We love our "queen"! Thank you God for giving us Reagan Gail, we are better parents because of her!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

3 down, 1 to go

I feel confident enough to call it official....we have 3 of the 4 potty trained!! Hip hip hooray! And the best news is that I'm still not completely crazy! McKinley, Kennedy, and Madison have been wearing big girl panties all week, 24 hours a day! Yes, they are even sleeping through the night wearing panties, and we've only had 2 accidents. One of them being the night that I blogged about Madison, so that was a bust, but since then she has been home free.

Taylor is trying, but mommy is going to have to try harder with this one. She's just not quite as interested, which is ok. She's our "baby" (last one born, baby E) and she is filling the shoes. She's the only one with the paci still (nap and bedtime only), so we might have to concentrate on that first....maybe there's a pecking order for success.

Here's a pic of each from last Monday morning after breakfast...

McKinley Jo

Kennedy Lil

Madison Kay




and last but not least, Taylor Nan

The reason I blog...

I received this email from my cousin, Kelly, who lives in Wisconsin and decided it was too sweet not to share. Even more, it made me realize the reason I blog! We have lots of family and friends that do not live close, and I know they enjoy seeing the girls "grow up right before their eyes" via the computer. Thank you for checking up on us Kelly and Sara...and all the others that do the same. We miss you all!!

sara and i were reading your blog again, and she saw the picture of reagan. she asked who it was, and i said her cousin reagan. i asked if she remembered her, and she said yes. then she asked if she could go over and play with reagan. i said no, she's far away in texas. and sara said, well maybe she can come over? i said no, she's too far away honey. and she said, but maybe? so i said, but maybe :)

And yes, Sara....we will come play again one day very soon! Your cousins miss you!

My favorite picture of Reagan and Sara taken at my cousin, Laurie's wedding in Sept 2007.

"I Gotta Go!"

I really want to do a "looking back over the last year" update, but before I do, I wanted to get this one in. I'm hoping I am not jinxing myself by bragging too soon, but had to share. The girls are now a little over 2 1/2, so it's safe to say that we have gone through AT LEAST 25,000 diapers...ugh! Thanks to Ford Elementary students and staff we didn't have to buy any of those until the girls were 18 months old! WOW! And since then many have helped out with boxes for their bdays, gift cards, etc. (and recently the "diaper angel" has been bringing them, thank you Grandma!)

Well, I am very happy and proud to say, that those days are almost over! We introduced "the potty" to the girls around the time they turned two, but only used it (or tried to) before getting in the bath at night. At the first of November, we ALL (minus Daddy) got very sick and I knew we weren't going anywhere for awhile, so decided to go ahead and give it a shot. It was hit or miss, mostly a miss, but I felt like the girls started understanding a little more. During the holidays, I let it go again, but decided to start the sticker chart a couple weeks ago...and it's WORKING!!

I must admit, I'm a little surprised to say that Madison is our first "Big Girl"! I really thought Kennedy would take the lead, as she has in everything else, but Madison proved us wrong. That strong will and determination is paying off! Way to go Madison! She has gone about a week with only a couple accidents, she sleeps in big girl panties at naps, and I'm being extra brave tonight and letting her sleep without a pull-up overnight (I'll let you know how that goes!). Kennedy and McKinley are right on her heels. They are both doing very well, panties all day, a few more accidents, on and off at naps, but pretty much a success! So, I'll go as far as to say we have 2 potty trained (1=Madison 1/2=Kennedy 1/2=McKinley). Taylor on the other hand, could care less!! She's definitely the baby of the four, but that's ok. Our box of diapers should last us almost a month, instead of a week now! We are proud of you girls!

Madison and Kennedy on the "double potty" in their bathroom. They are going to be shocked to only find one potty per stall in the public restrooms. :) I'm sure they will love that I'm sharing this picture with everyone but couldn't resist. I feel like the bathroom has been my "home away from home" lately, so wanted you to see where I've been!

These are the sticker charts from the first day. This is the same thing we used for Reagan when she turned two and it worked just as well. You can still see the pin holes in the walls from her chart, seems like just yesterday. :( We had to use the big wall this time. Their charts are filled up now (Taylor has about 15 stickers on hers) and Madison & Kennedy have had to turn theirs over and use the back already. Their different personalities even came through with stickers. Madison's are lined up nice and neat in rows, no sticker touching another. Kennedy a little less neat, but likes them to be right side up. And McKinley's are all over the place, overlapping, off the page, upside down. I never thought I might be able to predict the future through a sticker chart!! None the less, we are having fun, in and out of the bathroom!