9 Months

My babies are 9 MONTHS OLD! I can't even believe it, in 3 short months they will be a year old? How in the world does that happen???? As much as I miss my teeny tiny little babies, they are getting to be SO much fun! (And A LOT of work!) :) They are just full of life and curiosity these days. It's been so much fun to watch them grow into their little personalities and to learn and discover new things. What an amazing blessing these babies are to me! I still can't even believe they are mine, here, healthy and thriving. And though so far it has been a rollercoaster ride, with ups and downs, and lots of exciting and hard times we are SO THANKFUL FOR Cameron, Blake and Madison. God has been so good to us! Well let's get to updating....

Cameron continues to be the ham and life of the party! He is SO funny! Pretty much always laughing and giggling and doing something really goofy! He is going to keep us laughing I can tell! :) As you can see he is sitting up very well these days. It's just been a few weeks that all the sudden - he wasn't falling over anymore. It's weird how quickly it just changes. He is moving all over, getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth. He hasn't learned to crawl and take off yet but I can tell it's coming any day. He also has learned how to pull down his bumper around the crib so he can look out and see what's going on. He hollers at me in the morning for me to come and get him. :) He is probably weighing in around 17-18lbs now. He is a CHUNK! It's so cute, he has fat rolls that go on for miles! :) He is still eating every 3-4 hours but we have switched out 2 bottle feedings for solid foods. He LOVE LOVES his food! He would eat all day if I would sit and feed him. We just broke out some cheerios for the first time too for them to start practicing. We also started on sippy cups. We only do water right now as they are still learning and most of it ends up in them! :) Cameron is growing up so fast! He is so fun and so healthy! We love him and are so thankful for hiM!!! Oh, and Cameron can say dadadada, mamama, babababa and lots of other shrieks and screams!

Blake has really started changing in the last couple months. He used to be our quite totally serious little boy. He has started to just laugh and talk all day long! I love it! He says dadadad, mamama (new this week!) and lots of other rambles. He is still the more cautious study you kind of guy but his smiles and flirting come out pretty quick now. Blake is pretty laid back most of the time. When he does get upset I think he has it all saved up from being so chill all the time and it comes out hard! But they are few and far between usally. Blake is a great sitter! He has been very sturdy at sitting for quite a while now. He could just hang all day. He hates to lay down, when I lay him on his back he keeps his head up to his chest just as long as he can handle it. It's so cute! He hasn't moved into the crawling stage yet, he's cool to just hang out where we put him. He walks(with assistance) very well though. If you help him he just takes off in a run. He is also good a walking around in the walker. He does roll around quite a bit on the floor and will figure the rest out in his own time! He also eats every 3-4 hours with solids for two of the feedings. He is not impressed with solid foods. I usally have to finish him off with a bottle or he would starve. He is getting better and would eat bananas all day. That's about all he likes. He does like to chew and teething biscuits, just none of that nasty looking stuff no one in their right mind would eat! :) He knows-he's smart! :) He is SO lean and tall! He is also probably 17-18lbs but doesn't have an inch of fat on him! He is doing so good and we are so proud of him. So awesome to have this boy in our lives!

And there is Madison - the fiesty full of life little girl that is going to keep us hopping for the rest of our lives! Are we ready for this????? I hope so! :) She is something else this girl! She is so full of life and energy! She is sitting, crawling, pulling herself up on anything and everything! You name it, she's got it down! She is still in the army crawl phase but has mastered that and is everywhere. She thinks now that she can get to me she should have me, every second of the day! If not, she cries and whines until I do pick her up! Part of that could be cause she has a headache from the thousands of time she falls on her head in a day! I can not keep her from standing and crawling up on things. And no matter how much padding a try and race around to keep near her - she misses it when she falls. So, every couple minutes these days I hear a lound BONK Madison cries, I comfort and she does the same thing all over again! LOVE this girl! I am so proud of her (and she is proud of herself!) She is going through quite the whiney phase I hope ends soon! :) She eats the same as the boys and does pretty well with the food. Most of the time she likes it and chows down. Grammy gave her her first cheerios and she LOVES them! They keep her entertained for hours! She is still only around 14 lbs and in 6month clothes. She can only fit in to newborn size shoes still......She is a small little lady! She is so fun to watch and play with! What a blessing she is!

They were so done with my photo shoot! :)

HAPPY (belated) Father's Day!

I am SO behind on my posts - especially on this all important one! :( But I suppose it is better late than never! :)

First to my WONDERFULLY AMAZING husband! Jason is such an incredible Dad! I love watching him with his babies. He is a natural! You know how the Mom is supposed to have that feeling, the just know what to do kind of feeling? Well, in our house, Jason has it! I am usally the ONE asking HIM "what should we/I do??" Sometimes that bothers me, however most of the time I step back and think how amazing it is that I have a husband that is that apart of our babies lives. He knows their in's and out's just as well as I do! Isn't that great? From the very beginning he was 100% there, helping and managing. He has stayed with them by himself four the entire day since they were newborns (well, since they came home at a month ) He makes their bottles, changes diapers, feeds, plays and so much more! The only thing he doesn't do is put jammies on them. From the beginning, he has never dressed them. He says they like being "free" - so if Daddy puts them to bed they wear a onsie from the day or some other funny combo so long as he doesn't have to put them in the pajamas! :) It's pretty funny! He also is so thoughtful about me! He is like a mother hen, making sure I get plenty of rest and relaxing time! Even after he get's home from a 10 hour work day in the freezing cold or scorching heat. I am so glad he is my husband and the father to my kids!!! LOVE YOU BABE!!!

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful Dad myself! Growing up I can't remeber a time that I ever thought "I wish I had so and so's Dad" I always thought "Man, I am so lucky to have such a great Dad!" He has always been there for me! Always spending time with us. One thing that always meant the most to me is how important any sports event (or any kind of event) were to him. It didn't matter what was going on for him - he was there. And he always had a pen and paper to take my stats for me! I LOVED that! He would always tell me all about it after that game. It was never that I didn't do good enough or that I needed to work on something. It was always how good I did! I loved just sitting with my Dad. He is not always big on talking but was always ready for me come cuddle with him (even now!) He always is so concerned for me and if I am happy and doing ok. Always making sure that my family is safe and happy. And what a Grandpa is! WOW! I am so blessed to have such a guy for my kids to grow up with! It's going to be fun! :) And one of the most important things my Dad showed me was to love and serve my Savior! Dad I love you more than you will ever know! THANKS SO MUCH!!

I have also been blessed to have a great Father-in-Law. Curt is such a special guy! He has always been so accepting of me and treats me just like I'm part of his family. He is always ready with a hug and so excited to see us! He has always been a great Dad to Jason and I am so thankful for the loving, godly example he is to him. I am so grateful that Jason was raised in a christian loving home. Curt is also a WONDERFUL Grandpa!! He is always so full of energy and love for his grandkids! He is always doing something with them, 4wheeler ride, fishing, wrestling throwing the football. Thanks Curt for all you do for your family!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!

CAMPING!

We had a GREAT time camping. It would have been better without the rain but it was fun anyway. It pretty much poured the entire time we were there. The kiddos got a little tired of being cooped up in the camper because of all the rain but they still did good! The first night our battery died at 3 in the morning and it was getting really cold! I was getting pretty worried about the babies so Jason had to get up in the cold/wet and rain and go get the battery out of his truck to get us through the night! :) It worked and we stayed toasty warm for the rest of the night. Just as a disclaimer - had it only been Jason and I we would have lived through the cold but we had to keep it warm for the babies! :) I can't wait to go again - all in all it was a great first camping trip with three 9 month old babies! I think they are going to be campers!!

Look Who's Crawling!

It's Madison! YEA! :) Last week Madi started to crawl, so exciting! She is still mostly doing the army crawl but get's up on her hands and knees occasionally. She get's pretty frustrated that she is not getting places fast enough. SO, we have been having a lot of whining and gumpiness this week! I thought crawling would make her happier - but she is a girl! (As Jason would so lovingly say!) She is such a show off that just learning to crawl in one week was not enough, last Thursday she learned to stand in her crib and hours after that on anything she can get a hold a of! I was SO surprised the first time I found her in her crib. She was ready to get up and had been fussing and talking in there. So I rounded the corner expecting to see her peeking out at me from the lower portion of her crib, instead she was standing there grinning looking quite proud of herself! Since then she climbs up on ANYTHING and promplty falls over and hits her head, cries and starts the same process all over again ALL DAY LONG! She is one fiesty wonderlful little girl who is going to keep her mama on her feet!

Look! I can crawl!!

She LOVES standing on this toy!

To my great surprise!!!

Fun Pics

We went to visit my good friend Karli last week. We have been getting together once a week for a few weeks now - it's been a blast! She is such a SUPER sweet person and wonderful friend. She is also so good at taking pictures. So I asked her to take a few of the kiddos. These are some of the cute ones she got!

This and That

My new project I just finished. Karli got me hooked on these! I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. Now I just have to get em hung up!
We had a lot of fun in the basket! :) Had to take Blake out cause Cam and Madi were attacking him! :)

Blake asking me to PLEASE save him from these two.

Grandma teaching piano - we are so cultured!

Grandpa is SO much fun! He not only let's them chew on the remotes he chews with them! :)
Cam was helping Daddy pour our new wonderful patio!

Family + Babies = Good Medicine!

Saturday we had a bbq in the park for all the McKinneys. It was such a good time! It's been such a long hard week for a lot of people! But the family has just come together and blessed each other so much. The babies have been such a blessing too I think. It's been good to have them to pass around for loves and kisses!