Crock Pot Helper!

Kelsey helped me prep the crock pot for Smoky Chicken Chipotle Tacos. She loves to help me in the kitchen. It was good but it was missing something in flavor, so I added some cumin, paprika and a little salt at the end and that did the trick. We will make this again!!

Exersaucer Time!

Little Ms. Kaylee is such a happy baby when she is in our arms (most of the time) and when you have her "standing up". I had Lou pull the exersaucer down from the attic and we cleaned it up for her before trying it out. She was very happy. Like anything else, we can't leave her in it for too long (but much longer than the bouncy seat). And if we are out of site too long, we will hear about that as well.

Whatchoo looking at horse!

Yummy!!!

Kelsey's First Day of School...

We enrolled Kelsey in a Pre-3 class at a christian school. She goes Monay, Wednesday and Friday from 12:30-3:30. Today was the first day! Yesterday afternoon we took her to the meet and greet to meet her teachers, Ms. Kim and Ms. Robin. She had a good time reading books in a little rocking chair and was enthralled by the class bunny. She din't want to leave the room when it was time to o. Earlier in the week she had asked me if her teacher was sewing beds or if she could take her bed to school with her. She jst turned 3 at the beginning of August and is still a very good napper. The downside to school is that it is offered only in the afternoons :-(

This morning Lou and I kept talking to her about school and at one point she said she wanted mommy and daddy to stay in her classroom with her. uh oh! She was excited though and chose what twirly dress she wanted to wear. We've had to move lunch time up so we can get to school on time. She was very happy in the car and even waiting in line to go in. So much so that after Ms. Kim took our family 1st day picture, she went right in and we had to call her back for hugs and kisses. I was shockingly okay and didn't cry...UNTIL we got in the car and Lou put it into drive and then the waterworks turned on.

School ends at 3:30, so we woke Kaylee up from her nap and went to go pick up Kelsey. Being the first day of school we hit a few school zones with cars, but it was not as bad as I expected. You wait in a car line and when you pull up, you hold your childs name sign out your window and they come and put them in and buckle them up for you. Kelsey said she had fun and as the door shut she let out a big yawn. We had to go to Publix and Kelsey was so tired she tried to lay herhead down on the cart handle, I slid my hand in between. hen as Lou pushed the cart out to the car she was asleep sitting up and fell right back to sleep after he buckled her in. he got another 15 minutes or so in on the rest of our trip home and then Lou tried to transfer her to the couch. That was unsuccessful. She just cried and whined and was not happy. Eventually she snuggled up in my lap for a few minutes and then was ready to go with a smile on her face. All in all it was a good day (minus the whole cranky whiny no nap for Kelsey, very short nap for Kaylee who then became cranky and we put her down at 7)

And she rolls...

Kaylee began to fuss a little as she was waking up, so I went upstairs to get her up from her morning nap. A little background, she sleeps on her belly (I know, I know they're supposed to be on their backs, but when you have a fussy baby you do what works for you). So when I get up there, this is what I found..so I ran and grabbed the camera

Thinking this was all she was going to do, I was very impressed that she got herself on her side.Then she flipped over a little more...

And then she went all the way. I wish I had chosen to use the video, but I didn't think she was gonna go all the way over. How cool that I got to see it the first time it happened. She is 1 day shy of being 3 months old.

Kaylee and her friends...

She doesn't know it yet, but these will be her two best friends! 

Asher and Gabi

Cousins...

Just 10 weeks apart, but Kaylee looks like a giant next to Karen. Pictures are deceiving, because Kaylee is on the small side on the charts.

The Cradle moves on......

Last picture at our house

We have a "family cradle" that has been used on the McDonald side of the family for generations. Kelsey was the 38th baby to sleep in it and Kaylee is the 41st. Kaylee slept in it in our room for about 10 weeks. My sister had her baby girl about 2 months after Kaylee was born, so it was time to hand it off to the next baby in line.

Babies 41& 42: Kaylee and Karen. 11 weeks and 9 days

Kelsey's 3rd Birthday Party!!

We held Kelsey's birthday party on Sunday Aug. 8. I let her search through the oriental trading catalog to choose her party theme and she chose Ladybugs...so Ladybugs it was! We set up the water slide, a small pool and took down the baby gate around the pool. The Roselli clan came up and my parents came over along with a bunch of Kelsey's friends. I hired Kelsey's nanny/babysitters to come over and help out with  watching the water.

I did end up in the water, fully clothed with my camera in my pocket. My friend's son (who is K's age) was basically drowning his sister by holding onto her. Lifeguard in me took over and I went in. The kids were ok (sister was scared) but my camera was ruined :-(

Other than that I think everyone had a good time. The rain held off until about cake time. We ordered Pollo Tropical, Lou's mom made a Ladybug cake, and I made Gluten Free/Dairy free cupcakes with green coconut grass and a ladybug candy on it. (This was my first attempt at cupcakes and icing..I was pretty proud of myelf...K ate 3 that day! Wooops! But so did I....)

Kelsey's 3rd birthday

Lou went to get her up this morning when we heard her on the monitor. He opened the door and starting singing "Happy Birthday" and I joined in singing through the monitor ( we have a new one that you can talk into the child's room by pressing a button..sooo cool). When we finished, she asked if she could go in the backyard to her party now. (Party is this coming weekend)
She had her 3 yr check up and we ran some errands. Before nap she and I made her cake. We made a gluten free, dairy free cake. Kelsey had fun pouring things in and mixing them.

After nap, Gma/Gpa McDonald stopped by for presents and to sing and have some cake. She had fun opening her presents and walking around in her new dress up shoes.

                                                           Pardon my horrible singing!

Kelsey's 3 year check-up

Kelsey had her first "big girl" check up today. She got to stand on the scale and have her height and weight taken. She is 32 pounds which puts her in the 50th percentile for weight. She is 3 feet 2 inches tall and is in the 75th percentile for height.

Nurse Nicole put a pulse ox on her finger to check her pulse. At one point Nicole asked her if she was breathing...her oxygen had dropped because she was holding her breath while watching the screen.

She had her blood pressure taken for the first time..the cuff was so small. Her BP was 102/74.

She was dancing all around while waiting for Dr. Chiong to come in and check her. She actually talked to Dr. C this time. He said she looks great. We do need to work on her gross motor skills, she's not yet jumping off 2 feet and she's a little clumsy at times. We also picked up her forms for "school" which she is going to start at the end of this month.

How the heck did my baby just turn 3???