Lots to be thankful for

Another year, another Thanksgiving, another “holy cow, the girls are so big” moment.  We’ve had so many things that to list all the things we are thankful for would take up a lot of your computer screen.  So instead of the boring old parent thankful things (you know, good doctors that take care of little broken arms, great teachers that teach your little ones how to be great people, awesome grandparents that love you and your little girls unconditionally, so on and so on), here are some things that Myla and Kinsley are thankful for:

Myla is thankful for Christmas trees and princess dresses and Christmas lights and footie jammies.

Kinsley is thankful for baby dolls and milk cups and blueberries and pennies found on the floor.

Happy Thanksgiving!  We hope you have too many things to count to be thankful for!

Hey, even princesses need to do their homework!

Another reason to love Colorado

Yesterday was a perfect 60 degree day in our fair state and a rare day when Johnny didn’t have to be in to work early.  So we took advantage of the sunshine and ventured out to the zoo.  (Do you know, we got the family pass for Christmas last year and this is the first time we’ve been as a family?  Crazy huh?)  There weren’t a ton of people there and the girls really enjoyed walking around at their own pace.  I took Myla into the the lorikeet area where she got to feed the birds and was very brave once she saw how it all worked.

We also got to ride on the merry-go-round and Kinsley got to give a mermaid toy to the penguins.  (Well, not exactly on purpose and not without a few tears.)  There was also a lot of speculation around the Christmas lights that we saw all around the zoo.  I have a feeling that we’ll be going back there in the night soon.  We grabbed a large bag of popcorn on our way out of the zoo and nibbled all the way home.

So, basically, it was a perfect day.

Catch up

So, I’ve been a little slow getting some updates on here with colds and Halloween and well, life.  But I think I’m all caught up now!

Goodbye Cast!

Kinsley got her cast off on the third and never looked back.  I don’t know if she knew why her arm was in a cast, but I think she knew it was better once they took it off.  They took the cast off and then had to take an x-ray to make sure the bone had healed, so they left us for a minute.  She looked at the pins in her arms, pointed to the door and said something like, “okay, lets go!”  They did take the x-ray and were very pleased at the amount of new bone growth and happy that it had healed just about perfectly, so the pins came out.  Kinsley watched them do it – mom did not – and didn’t even really fuss.  In fact, the nurse that was observing commented that Kinsley didn’t even cry.  It took her a couple of days to remember that it wasn’t locked in one position any more and she could use it now.  She still prefers her left hand to do things, but has started to get her right arm moving around.  Basically, its like it never happened except for the scab where they pulled the pins out.  And her mom might be a little more hovering on the playground for the moment.

Boo!

This year, the girls were recovering from a cold on Halloween, but they were not going to let that stop them from going trick or treating.  Mermaid Myla was so excited that all day she kept changing her mind about who she was going to take with her.  When the time finally came, she just wanted to go and was off like a shot.  I had to remind her more than once to wait up for Lizard Kinsley (she was supposed to be a turtle, but never wanted to put on her shell).  Kinsley had the best time when people would let her take candy to put in her basket and got a little confused when they put one in her basket for her.  By the end of it though, she had discovered that she could hang her basket on her cast and pick more candy with the good hand.  She was happy with that.

Myla was very good about saying trick-or-treat and thank you at each house, but I think she was a little confused at the houses that were dark.  Why would someone not trick-or-treat?  She made a good haul though and loved being a mermaid all day.  I didn’t see any other ones out there – a snow white and a belle – but no mermaids.  She even let me put some red glitter in her hair in the morning, but it was all out by candy time.  Again this year, she loved helping hand out candy and even did it at the Baker’s house – a stop we have to make on Halloween so they can ooo and ahh over the cute little girls.  Which of course they are!

Myla turns 5!

Our tiny little girl turned five in October and was so happy to be so.  We had a little mermaid party with a couple of her friends on one of the fantastic Saturdays that was sunny and warm and then she got a little early birthday present from us – another bike to keep at our house.  She was pretty excited to ride it, even though she acted like she’d never been on a two-wheeler before.  By the end of the ride, she was pretty confident except for the dips in the sidewalk.  She’ll get the hang of it in the spring I’m sure – or this winter if the weather stays this warm.

The party continued through the week and we carved pumpkins with the family on the next Sunday.  She was like me in not wanting to put her hands inside the pumpkin, but she loved watching and was very excited to see the faces.  Myla got all sorts of cute dresses to wear, a tea set, nail polish pens, Cabbage Patch doll and a doll house as big as she is.  I think that everything has been played with extensively and she could not be more excited to be five.

She’s so big – the doctor clocked her in at 29.5 pounds and 38.5 inches.  And she thoroughly impressed her with her language skills and happiness.  Its amazing to think that it was five years ago.  Five years.  My sister told me that she remembers the World Series was on the night Myla was born and here it is on again on her birthday.  I remember not being able to see it very well – I didn’t have my glasses – and I was probably pretty out of it.  This year I didn’t see it very well because I had tears in my eyes – how can she be five!