Spring already!?

We’ve had a number of really nice days already that have given us all a chance to play outside, plan a backyard and garden and take wagon rides with the dog.  It has been good for all the fresh air to come flowing through the windows.  Myla is most excited for the tulips and other flowers that are popping up and Kinsley is … really enjoying being down in the dirt.  She isn’t afraid of the grass either and she much happier down on the ground moving.

Myla is busy learning lots of new things – big words like “expedition” or how to write her letters or how to take pictures of herself (she must have been taking lessons from A2).  Her imagination has taken us to the circus in the basement and into the fort from the Kinsley-monster and on searches with Hailey-dog in the backyard.  She had a random fever last weekend that made her less than her tornado self and had us worried for a little while, but she kicked it and today ran 3/4s of the way on our walk.

Kinsley has decided that she’s quite the funny girl and sometimes will say something and then laugh.  She is a big talker and sometimes I can almost make out what sounds like complete words and sentences.  She loves to play with her sister and still thinks its very funny to pull her hair.  Kinsley is everywhere and has begun trying to stand on her own and will walk with us while holding on to our pants.  Another step closer to chasing down that sister!

Omaha Trip

We got news of a new niece in Omaha born in December, so the first weekend in March, we packed up the car and headed out for the baby blessing.  It was Kinsley’s first loooong car trip and we weren’t sure how either of the girls would do, but we were pleasantly surprised.  Of course, we left at 4:30 in the morning and they slept the first leg of the trip… details, details.  On the way out to Omaha, we stopped in York and had some ice cream to break up that last part, and on the way home, we stopped in Wiggins for lunch.  The last hour was hard for them, but they hung in there and I think its safe to say we’ll do it again.

It was fun to be with the family and to see all the Washburn cousins together.  No more room on the couch though… Myla had the best time playing with her cousins and even went to see the Lorax movie with her Auntie Becky and Miss Crissy.  (Such a funny girl, after she got in her seat, she said “I won’t be scared mom, bye!”  He, he!)  Kinsley was content to walk around the furniture or to scoot around from room to room.  The only part they didn’t like was those winds that whipped us around from the time we crossed the state line until we were home. 

Thanks family for having us around on Isabella’s special weekend!  Here’s some more cousin fun!

Myla was so good holding baby Isabella.  She loved to keep track of that new baby!

Cousin Kaidy brought princess dresses to play in.  Aurora and Rapunzel.  So cute!

See my little ham – she was “playing” golf with cousin Tank but saw the camera and came in for a picture.

One Year Old!

There she is – our one year old baby girl!  Its crazy to think how fast the past year has flown.  And she has grown so fast.  (Part of that I think is that she wants to keep up with that big sister of hers.)  Her actual birth day was spent kind of low key because she really needed the almost three hour nap she took to finish kicking a cold.  But we made up for it at the party.  The day before, Kinsley went to the doctor and measured at 29 1/4 inches and 22 pounds 13 ounces.  He thought she looked really good and happy and healthy.  (Officially he said the cold wasn’t in her lungs, which was a good thing for me to hear.  No more RSV here, thank you.)  And then he gave her permission to eat cake!

For the party, we had our friends and family over to celebrate.  Holly’s brother made Kinsley a great cake with a purple hippo on top.  Kinsley got the hippo and tore it apart.  I think she may have tried a little bit of the cake, but it was way more fun to make a mess.  She really enjoyed just playing around with the people that were here.  Myla helped her open her presents and the other kids had fun playing with them.  It was a good day – and she was exhausted by the end of it. 

We are very much in love with this little one.  She is a true joy to be with and mostly very happy.  She’s become quite the ham for the camera and loves to smile at us.  Her new thing is also to give us hugs, over and over, which we don’t mind at all.  She has definitely developed her own personality and will voice her displeasure at being moved from someplace she wants to be.  She likes to play chase and be tickled and play with her tongue.  We love her, love her, love her!

Breckenridge

For the long weekend, we spent the time up in Breckenridge with my family at a friend’s cabin.  (We left Johnny here, he had to work.  Boo.)  Myla was so excited to go to the mountains, she almost wanted to go on Friday.  On the way up, we stopped at the ice castles.  It was really cool to see the different structures and Myla had a blast going in the different tunnels and around the different castles.

Kinsley was all bundled up in her new ski parka but has the cold that Myla had at the beginning of the week, so she wasn’t quite as excited about the ice castles.

When we got up to the cabin, Myla spent the rest of the afternoon up and down the stairs, playing on the bunk-beds.  She played outside in the snow for a little bit, but it was up to her waist and hard to walk in.  She kept saying, “I’m trapped!”  And then the next day, after some hard work by my mom and Uncle Scott and Holly, we got to go sledding on our own private hill.

Myla thought it was awesome.  She laughed all the way down the hill and went with everyone.  The first time, she got snow in her face, but it just added to the fun.  Kinsley even got in a few runs, but she wasn’t exactly sure what it was all about.  We sledded for an hour before Myla’s little hands got cold and we went inside.

That night, we went for a sleigh ride up the mountain.  Myla loved watching the horses go and spent time looking for the fox that the drivers said might be out.  Kinsley couldn’t move because of her snowsuit and jacket, but she did really well while it was going.

We had a great time and made some really great memories.  Thanks mom and dad for taking us!

Finally!

Finally, after almost five months (!?) Kinsley has two more teeth popping through on the top.  She gets along just fine with the two on the bottom, loves to crunch into apples and cheerios.  She also loves to suck in her top lip, which is going to be a lot harder to do with the top ones in.  We do not expect it to make her stop screaming though - a new sound that she's discovered works really well when you're not paying enough attention to her.  Maybe she's singing really high and loud...?

Myla is fighting another cough this week.  I've heard that school is just a petri-dish for the little ones, but this is crazy!  She's still pretty active though, most recently her favorite game is to be pretend kitty-cats.  So we are mommy-cat, daddy-cat, Kinsley-cat and Haley-dog-cat.  She's also learning to whistle, which is pretty quiet and you have to listen carefully, but she's getting it.  There isn't much this girl won't try and learn, and sometimes when she can't get it, she puts this little pout on and says "I can't do it."  (She's just like her daddy in that, except he says "Next time, we're hiring a professional.")  But she tries again and usually nails it.  She's pretty amazing. Both of them are.

Falling and Jumping

Just some more fun from our snow day.  Have I told you how funny these girls are?

Surprise!

When we woke up this morning, we were all very excited to find lots and lots of “deep, deep snow” to play in.  (Well, except for Johnny who had to drive home from work in it and then in again tonight.)  We had a great snow day, a little unexpected time off to have some fun.  So, in between the time we shoveled, played with Haley dog outside, shoveled again, watched a movie, and shoveled one more time, we did this…

Kinsley worked on her new found legs.  She’s all of a sudden decided that these get-away sticks (as Johnny calls them) are actually pretty cool.  She pushed that baby doll stroller across the basement a lot tonight.

Myla worked on her hula hoop skills in between taking her turn with the stroller, running around like a crazy girl and tackling her daddy.  She’s actually got the technique down, maybe with a smaller hoop she might actually do it.