Cosmic City VBS...

McKenna and MakenaKatelyn and Makena


McKenna, Heidi, Cooper, Sully, Katelyn, Caleb, Eagan, and Makena.

Ice Cream = Quiet 2 year olds

Ms. Chelsea helping with self-portraits.

Brooklyn and Daddy

Makena singing

Makena's first year in a VBS class was wonderful. I was fortunate enough to teach her class with a good friend. The week was so much fun. We learned about how awesome our God is. We can trust Him, count on Him, worship Him and believe in Him. Rather than meet during the day on Friday, Prestoncrest had a VBS Extravaganza to celebrate with parents. It included pizza, singing, and snow cones along with laser tag and other games for the bigger kids.

Makena had a great time but missed one day due to another "fever virus". She stayed home with Daddy while Mommy and Brooklyn went to VBS for the morning. Brooklyn spent time in the nursery with our amazing nursery staff.

Makena is known to be very quiet in front of others but she defintely takes in every little detail. She proved that once again after being very quiet all week in class. I was trying to get all the kids things ready to go on Thursday while the rest of the kids went to the auditorium and she was playing at the table. She went around to each seat talking to every person in class. She called them by name and somewhere in the conversation meantioned something that had happened that week. She gave Katelyn and Heidi frogs and Caleb his "daddy" toy. It was so cute! She and Katelyn became buddies because they went to the potty together. It is funny to hear potty conversations with 2 year olds. I love both of my sweet girls and I look forward to doing this for many years.

Catching Up

May was a big month for the Carroll family and it somehow flew by faster than I could keep up. I am going to post some updates over the next few days and will date them according to events in May. So if you keep up with us, take a moment to scan back a few post over the coming days.

I hope June has started off wonderful for everyone. June started paci free for Makena. She is struggling with naps a bit but overall doing very well. We are still practicing on the potty and I intend to start more intense training over the next few weeks.

Brooklyn was still not sleeping well until about 5 days ago. She has gone at least 5.5 hours for the last five nights with her longest being 10 hours. The 10 hour night had one paci fix and all was well with the world. Thank you God for answered prayers.

Makena and Brooklyn both had a "fever virus" this week. Some of our friends had it but for them it resulted in a stomach bug. Prayers are still with them as they get better.

We also have had visits from Grannie B, Grammy, Uncle Marcus and Auntie Amanda. So fun to see them for a few hours or a few days. We are looking forward to our summer and what the months will bring.

Weekend with Grammie and Gramps

What a busy month. We wrapped up the month with Gramps and Grammie...so FUN!

Gramps and Makena talking on the phone.

Grammie's Toy Tower...so fun!

Talking with Grammie.

Cuddle time with Grammie.

Project Paci - Week 1 Complete

Night 3 and beyond: Night time has gotten progressively easier for Makena without the paci. As of night 3 she has stayed in her bed at night. She tends to get up a little earlier than before since she has issues soothing herself back to sleep. We may spend a little more time with her to get her ready for bed but other than an extra book, song, or a second prayer we really haven't had much trouble. She may try a few more stall tactics but ultimately at night she has done pretty well.

Naptime however...totally different story. She has a hard time going down for her nap and if she ever wakes up too soon we have a screamer on our hands.

She confirms daily that she "gave paci's to mommy" and we then walk through what Mommy gave to her. It is so precious and is hard sometimes to stick to our guns but again we know it is for the best.

A couple of days ago she found some of her old 'little" paci I had stored in a box. She did very good saying they were the baby's paci until she came across one that was more her size. I found her sneaking it into her mouth but after only one time telling her she didn't attempt it again.

I love my big girl! Sometimes growing up is a little hard but she has done great!

Makena's First Ponytail

Up until know my sweet little girl has been blessed with little hair. It has been a blessing because she is hot natured and it is cool as well as the fact that I haven't had to fight the tangle wars or spend extra time getting it fixed every morning. However, getting a little extra hair on top has enabled us to finally have a little ponytail.

Here she is sporting her new do as she comes back from getting the mail with Daddy. This is a special time for Makena and Daddy every night.

Makena's cute little ponytail. Looking forward to many more.

Rollie Pollie

Brooklyn decided to roll over today. I suspect we will see more of this in the days to come. I think she is already ready to walk but she can't seem to get the whole "balance while picking up her feet thing" down. Growing up fast. Of course I didn't get a picture but wanted to document the occassion.

Lions and Tigers and Bears oh my!

Really it was the Fort Worth Zoo. As we were leaving I tried to find a good sign to take a picture in front of but there weren't any. We opted for a picture in from of this crazy looking dinosaur. It was part of the special dinosaur exhibit at the zoo that day.
Here the girls are watching the kangaroos. Daddy was mistaken by what they were so we all got a big laugh.

Here Makena is seeing which bird has the same wing span as she does. Winner...the Peregrine Falcon.

Daddy is showing Makena the giraffe.Touching her first reptile.First visit with the flamingos.Watching the elephants play.And after a warm day at the zoo...a much needed nap.

"Paci, please"

Don woke up this morning with a little girl in his bed and the first thing she muttered was "paci, please." It was Makena's first night without her paci and she just knew her Daddy would feel sorry for her. He didn't of course but it is very sad and hard to hear her ask for her paci. I decided after we got through shots last Tuesday it would be time to get rid of the paci. On Wednesday, she got sick and we convinced her to give it up Wednesday night to try to keep her from coughing so much, but she was ready to have it back for nap time on Thursday. Because she was not resting well, I gave it back to her because I thought it would help her rest.

We decided we would try the trading method. On Saturday she picked out a toy and it remained on the counter until Sunday afternoon when I told her she could open it when she brought me her paci(s). She immediately went to her bed and got 2 paci's and brought them to me. All things were good until bedtime. We continued to tell her that she now had her big girl drawing pad and drawing book instead of her paci. It took an hour or so, many prayers and some rocking time, but she finally went down. She did at one point yell at us that she needed a new diaper, which was funny because she knew she knew that would probably get us to go in there. Brooklyn woke her up with a blood curdling cry around 2 so Makena ended up in our bed but slept good.

Nap time was pretty much the same as night time. I rocked her and she went to sleep but she woke herself up coughing and at that point wanted up. She ended up laying down with Daddy and sleeping a couple more hours.

Night #2: Daddy put her down like normal and then in a few minutes "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" emerged from the room. After a while Daddy went in and changed her diaper. Then she requested Mommy come rock her. She is down now.

Love my big girl and am a little sad to see that paci go, but I know it is for the best. However, I won't miss the stinky slobber all over her face in the morning or hearing her get choked while she sleeps with it in her mouth.

From a Mommy trying to stay strong when I hear "paci, please"...stay tuned for more paci updates.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

Happy Birthday to Daddy...Hawaiian style!! Last year on Don's birthday we found out that we were expecting Brooklyn. This year marked two precious bundles to hug and squeeze.

We found these dresses in Hawaii last year and they are so cute on the girls. Thought these two pics of Makena were super cute. Shows off her beautiful smile and personality.

Daddy and Brooklyn.

My sweet Hawaiian girls.

Brooklyn is 4 Months

At 4 Months old, Brooklyn weighed 13 pounds 10 ounces (47th percentile), was 25.25 inches (80th percentile) tall, and had a head size of 16.25 inches (56th percentile). At her doctor's appointment Dr. T told us to give her some probiotics to easy the tummy discomfort to see if it would help her sleep at night. Brooklyn had also stopped taking a bottle but she told us to keep trying. We still weren't getting much sleep over night but hoping the changes would make it better.

Brooklyn is a little jumper. Her legs never stop and they are really strong. She loves her sister and they laugh together. It is so precious to watch.

Happy 5th Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to us!! Don and I were able to celebrate our 5th Anniversary at the Gaylord Texan. We only spent one night away from the kids and were so thankful for Grammie and Gramps coming to brave the night of potentially no sleep. We ate ate at Big Fish in Grapevine. I had wonderful crab legs and Don had fish and chips. Yummy!! We walked down main street and enjoyed the festival music. We then rounded off our day away with a big breakfast and a little shopping.

Here are the beautiful flowers from my hubby. Love you!

While we were away...Brooklyn decided to take 3 bottles really well (throughout the night) and then decided not to eat for 11 hours until I got home. She wasn't upset or hungry. This proves she is ready to sleep through the night and not be fed which has not been tackled at this point due to all the screaming that would take place and fear of then having two kiddos to take care of during the night. Soon...very soon. Makena enjoyed her day with Grammie and Gramps. She and Grammie drew pictures and wrote words. Makena loves to color and "write".

Thanks again for coming while we enjoyed ourselves for the evening.

Happy Mother's Day 2011

Happy Mother's Day! After a long night Mother's day got off to a rocky start but we ended it with time at worship, lunch at Anamia's and some family time. We missed having Chris's family with us and Grannie B, but we had a great time.

Makena's 2nd Birthday Party

A Sesame Street celebration with family and friends.

Happy Birthday Makena!

Happy 2nd birthday Makena!!! I can't believe my little girl is 2. This is how we greeted our new two year old. You can see her 4 prize possessions. Two paci's, one pink big blanket, and one "triangle" taggie blanket.

On to her presents...Elmo attire for our birthday celebration the following day.

Then to a birthday cinnamon roll...yummy!!

2 year old photo shoot in Mom's wedding dress. Isn't she the cutest?!?

The morning Makena turned two she started singing her ABC's. She became obsessed with me singing that song.

She weighs 26.5 pounds and is 34.75 inches tall.

Along with singing, she jabbers new words and will repeat just about anything. Most of the stories are in front of us only. She is still very shy when around others, but we see the arms flying, wobbly running, giggly little girl with very little hair and beautiful blue eyes.

She loves the big wood park and feeding the ducks and turtles.

Favorites:

Toys...kitchen, diapering all of her babies, her new castle she got for her birthday a few weeks back.

Food...Strawberries, grapes, pizza

Clothes...Elmo PJs, anything cool

Shoes...Crocs and "Starfish" shoes

Time of the day...Going to get the mail with Daddy

TV Time...Elmo Sing Along

Book..."I am a Big Sister"- She now can "read" the book herself. It is so cute to see her sit in the rocker by herself and tell the story as she turns the pages. I believe we have read this every night since Brooklyn was born. Thank you Grammie for picking out such great books.

Songs...ABCs and Little Bitty Fishy

She also loves bible class and her church friends.

We love you Makena! You are a true light in our lives from God.

I think they might be sisters.

See any resemblance??

Brooklyn Kennedy

Makena Ashtyn

Brooklyn 3 Months

Brooklyn is precious in her very own special way. Her very unique personality gets more vibrant every day. She has the cutest belly laugh and the biggest open mouth smile you have ever seen. She can get a little impatient from time to time. I think she gets that from her Daddy. :) However, she may have to wait a little longer because most of the day I run a zone defense. Overall, she is a happy baby and I have loved every minute with her. She is going to be chasing Riggins and Makena in no time.

Brooklyn stands upright with the strongest little legs. She can stand holding on to my fingers. She is having problems going more than 4 hours between feedings at night. Her feeding changed right at 3 months and we haven't seen very long stints of time at night or during the day. She started nursing only 5-10 minutes each time which is less than half what she was doing before. We plan to watch her weight to make sure she continues to gain weight. The thought is that she is just getting more efficient. At 3 months she weighs an unofficial 13 pounds. Two pounds more than last month.

Thank you God for my precious little girl...and my big girl too! They are so amazing.

Potty Tr....Trying

I am really behind in the blogging world. I have yet to post a month 2 update for Brooklyn and she is about to be 3 months old. Not to mention a number of events that I have yet to post pictures for between now and then. We'll just chaulk it up to trying to get enough sleep and having little time to get on the computer without a couple of sweet little distractions. However, I wanted to make a note about today. My little...or actually big...girl is changing by the day. She amazes me with what she can say and do. I bought her some big girl panties a number of weeks ago in anticipation of potty training at some point. I have showed her the panties a few times. She has put them on over her diaper and other times just ignored them. However, today she decided she wanted them on so I thought we might as well try. We have sat her on the potty before baths and other various times over the past number of months with the hopes that she wouldn't be afraid of the big potty. Every once in a while she would go, other times she would not. So after her nap we ditched the diaper and put on Makena's big girl panties. We sat on the potty every few minutes (using a 15 minute timer). After a couple of hours we still had no success. She drank a huge glass of milk as this point so I knew it had to be coming. We sat on the potty again...nothing. However, just a few minutes after I took her off the potty down her legs it came. She wasn't sure what to think. We cleaned up the mess and I asked her if she wanted panties or diaper and she of course insisted on the diaper. I continued to remind her that we were going to have to sit on the potty. After dinner and getting close to bedtime, I told her it was time to go try again and we had SUCCESS! She did both and we danced and sang! I think she thought she was pretty big stuff. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I don't think I am quite ready for hard core but we are going to see how it goes. If she is interested tomorrow, we'll try again. But today was a good day...in 4 or 5 hours we had one accident and 2 successes. Love my girls! I can't believe they are growing up so fast.