Mack-
She is a dinosaur LOVING little girl. Her dinosaur obsession has been going on for almost a year now and if anything just seems to be picking up speed. She is able to fully draw a t-rex, a "broccolisaurus", and a stegosaurus. All of which actually look like dinosaurs. It is pretty incredible. She has started to use scissors and glue on a regular basis. She can count to about 20, can sing her ABC's and can name several letters, knows all her basic colors (her favorite color is green like dinos), "reads" (memorized) about 6 books. Her favorite letter is "B for bear" which was her first obsession before dinosaurs came into her life. She sings songs that she makes up all the time, but especially when she is in bed. She loves to play outside in the snow and wishes we could go out more often. She likes to play library and dinosaur museum. (Yes those are games to her). She is starting to understand how board games work, but doesn't always have the patience for them. She asks to do her workbook almost everyday. Mostly because it has stickers and the girl loves stickers. She is still NOT potty trained which is probably our biggest challenge with her. She has great manners and I absolutely love that when she says thank you to people she is always very specific about what she is thankful for. (Ex. When leaving a friends house she said, "thank you for letting me read your dinosaur books!") She has a hard time at meal times because she eats like a bird, but she is not a picky eater which is good for us. She has been known to fight over broccoli and frozen peas with Kait and loves to eat any frozen veggies I pull out of the freezer. She goes to Awanas every sunday which is a Sunday School program offered by the base. She is happy-go-lucky and smiling about 85% of the day but her determination and independence make for some hard-headed moments with her. She makes collections everyday and most of the time they are of COMPLETELY random household items. Tags from teddy bears, clothespins, pieces of paper, etc. Anything that she gets a hold of has the potential to become another treasure to add to her collections. It's funny because she has pretty much always made these collections and I used to think that it was just an age thing and that every kid did that. Turns out, it's a Mack thing. I'm sure I could go on and on for awhile, but this pretty much covers the gist of all things Mack.
Kait-
Kaitlyn is hilariously awesome. If she thinks that she is doing something naughty and you give her any kind of shocked/disapproving look, she cracks up and does it more. She loves to "steal noses" and then eats them. And laughs an evil little laugh. You think I would be making that up, but I am definitely not. She is OBSESSED with our new kitty, Dini. Even when the kitty swats at her and gives her scratches, she still goes back for more. She seems to be a bottomless pit when it comes to eating. We rarely have to tell her to eat more. She can count to ten and can count from 4-10 in spanish. She loves to watch Dora and is a little too intrigued by Swiper (the naughty fox). She can talk in relatively clear sentences now which is a relief to me because I was starting to worry that she wasn't using consonants when she talked. She loves music and sings to everything. She likes to play with legos, weebles, little people, and of course dinosaurs. In fact, she can name quite a few dinosaurs that most 2 year olds would not know. All because of her sister of course. She is very stubborn and is easily upset, but is becoming happier and happier everyday. She used to be a very grumpy baby, but has found that now that she can vocalize her wants/needs she doesn't have to be so upset all the time. She is pretty good at using the potty but we are still a ways from having her fully potty-trained. This is Kait in a nutshell.
Gregory-
I will have a better Gregory update after Wednesday. I was supposed to have an appointment last week but apparently pregnancy brain got the best of me and I missed it. As far as I can tell he is doing quite well. He is moving around A LOT and it is definitely not always comfortable. I have been having braxton hicks pretty regularly which are also NOT comfortable. So far this pregnancy has probably been the hardest physically, but compared to many women it is still pretty easy. I am currently 30 weeks along, which should mean 10 weeks left. This is when I will probably start to get nervous at every appointment though. When I was pregnant with both girls, they stopped growing between 34-36 weeks. No one knows why, and they obviously still came out healthy and with no medical problems, but it is still a nerve-wrecking thing when something is wrong and there isn't really anything you can do to fix it. I just know that I do not want to be induced again, but I guess I will just have to wait. And maybe this boy will be different and won't stop growing! That is the hope!
Brian-
Brian is ready to find out what his next assignment will be (as am I) so we can start planning. There are so many things that happen and things to think about once you know where you will be going. He is also looking into starting his Master's degree. He has been looking into different programs that offer on-line courses. He says he doesn't want to actually go to class so that he isn't missing family time, which the girls and I appreciate. It is one of those things that he has to get done in order to become a Major in the Air Force though, so eventually we will have even less time with him once he has started that.
ME!-
I actually don't know that I have a lot to say about just me. It's hard to talk about what *I'm* doing that isn't directly related to the rest of family. I guess that's what it is to be a mom and a wife. Pretty much all of the things I am routinely involved in (MOPS, playgroup/playdates) all revolve around the fact that I have these kiddos. Even just being pregnant means that I am not just me right now. Which might be why I really dislike pregnancy. I have a very clear sense of who I am and having someone else directly connected to me is slightly disconcerting. It throws me off. And I know most women love being pregnant and think it is just so amazing, but I just don't. Sorry. I don't. Besides all that though, I am ready for Minot summer, however we do seem to be having a crazy warm front lately and a lot of snow is melting, which I am loving! Being able to be outside makes all of our lives easier, so here's hoping for an early spring and early summer!
