Christmas

As most families, our Christmas celebrations started a few weeks before Christmas and ended just this past weekend. Kaitlyn loved opening presents so we had to hide them all until it was time to open them. Thomas our cat was the only thing under our Christmas tree this year. This Christmas was also a little snowy. (I wonder if I can say that 12+ inches is a little snow?) Nate spend most of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day either plowing or sleeping, so we had to do some rearranging of our plans.

Santa was in Mora and Kaitlyn wanted nothing to do with him, so we decided to make this a family picture. Kaitlyn was not too thrilled that she was close to Santa, and Nate and I were trying not to laugh.
Kaitlyn and Cousin Hailey during our McNeilly family Christmas in Mora.
Kaitlyn showing off her dance moves with her new Tutu she got.
Auntie Mel and Uncle Sam got all 3 cousins computers with their names on them. They all had to open them before we could move onto more presents.

My sister found this super cute Christmas dress for Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn called it her Santa dress!

Christmas morning while Daddy was plowing and we were waiting for everyone to come over, we took some pictures with the timer on the camera.

We had to wait until the afternoon on Christmas day to open our presents and stockings from Santa. We didn't want to have daddy miss out on all the fun.

My mom made her a super cute scarf and head thing. (It has some sort of weird name that I can't remember.)

The snow stopped just in time for us to travel to Mora for our last Christmas Celebration. Here are all the cousins.

This is my favorite picture of our niece and nephew. They are growing up way to fast.

Here I am with my sister-in-law Mandi after we enjoyed a yummy drink.
Kaitlyn was a lucky little girl this year. I think we need to buy a bigger house to fit all of her new toys. Here is one of her favorites from her Bopapa! A new bike.

It's That Time!

The other day when I picked up Kaitlyn at daycare I was told that Kaitlyn climbed out of the crib after nap. Daycare has tried to have her sleep on a little cot but Kaitlyn just thought it was play time. At home Kaitlyn had never tried to climb out of the crib, so I knew it would only be a matter of time.

Today Nate called me around 8:20 to ask if Kaitlyn was awake when I left for work. I said No! He said he woke up and when he checked the monitor she wasn't in her crib. So, he got up and she had climbed out of her crib, opened her bedroom door (which is a new trick too) and was down in the entryway with Cody.

So, we might need to go shopping for a new bed very soon. Maybe they will have some after Christmas sales on Twin size beds.

Baking Cookies

This weekend was the perfect weekend to get all our Christmas baking done. Saturday morning I headed to the grocery store for all the supplies. After Kaitlyn's nap we began baking. We made 4 dozen on Saturday evening and another 6 dozen on Sunday. Kailtyn loved adding ingredients, mixing them together, and watching mommy do the rest. She was a big help.

Getting ready to start making cookies. Kaitlyn was very excited to help mommy in the kitchen.

Here is Kaitlyn mixing the dry ingredients. She did a great job. Mommy actually made a bigger mess than Kaitlyn.
Here is Kaitlyn watching mommy mix all the other ingredients.

Mommy and Kaitlyn having fun making cookies together. A few hours later we had to keep daddy away from eating all the cookies we made.

Kaitlyn is almost 2 1/2 and has really began to start testing more of her boundaries. This weekend she learned how to climb up her dresser to get to her nukies. She is only allowed her nukies at bedtime or in the car. Nate found her in her bedroom with the door shut a nukie in her mouth and her laying on the ground with 5 more in her hands.

Kaitlyn also started putting herself on time-out. One time I asked her why she was on time-out and she said it was because she wasn't listening. After a couple more times of her putting herself on a time-out we had to tell her she can only go on time-out when mommy and daddy tell her too.

McNeilly Recent Happenings

I can't believe that November is over and Christmas is just a few short weeks away. We were certainly busy in November. We were in Mora for 3 weekends for Deer Hunting. Nate got a nice 8 point buck on opening morning. Kaitlyn and I spent the weekends hanging out with Nate's family. We went to a few craft fairs, raked leaves at Mel and Sam's, and played with my niece and nephew.

Kaitlyn, Cousin Darren, and Cousin Hailey hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Thanksgiving we spent the day in St. Cloud. I stayed overnight to experience the great joys of shopping on Black Friday. Nate's 2 aunts and my mother-in-law and I got up at 3:30am to start our shopping adventure. We found some great deals and I got all our Christmas Shopping done in one day.
We brought in some of Kaitlyn's outside toys for the winter. She insisted that we bring her car upstairs while she watched a Veggie Tales movie. It entertained her for about 20 minutes before she got bored.

Fall Leaves!

Sunday was a beautiful day. We woke up after having an extra hour of sleep and headed outside. We spent a good part of the day mowing and racking up leaves and sticks. Kaitlyn loved helping by jumping in the piles, putting leaves in the bags, picking up sticks, and riding with Daddy on the lawn mower.

Kaitlyn hiding in the leaves.
"Look at me mommy! I am laying in the leaves!"
"Cheese!"

Little Miss Talker

Kaitlyn is quite the little talker. She loves to repeat everything you say. She also remembers a lot of things. She points out several things while we drive places. She loves letting us know when she sees Semi Trucks, Dump Trucks, School Buses, Aimee's Van, Water (which are Lakes or ponds), Boats, and Motorcycles. (If we don't respond to her she will keep repeating it until we confirm what she saw.) Here is a little video I took the other night. We needed to coach her on a few things, but I am pretty sure you will understand it.

She also loves to talk to people on the phone. Most of the time I have to translate for the other person, but all in all I can pick out enough words to know what she is saying.

Happy Halloween

This year Kaitlyn was a Dalmatian. (Thank you to my co-worker for the cute costume.) We went Trick or Treating with a group of friends from the Mayer Fire Department. We had 12 little trick or treaters to keep up with during our journey around the neighborhood. Kaitlyn wasn't too big on pictures this year. Her new phrase is "I don't want to!" While I was taking this picture she was saying "Woof! Woof!".
Here we are on our way to the big Halloween Party and Trick or Treating! Kaitlyn was really good at saying "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You!". She didn't want to stop, even though she had plenty of candy.
Here is the whole group heading out for a night of Trick or Treating! There were 10 adults and 12 children under the age of 10.

Texas

Last Thursday we headed to Texas to celebrate my Aunt and Uncles 40th Wedding anniversary and visit my mom. We left bright and early on Thursday morning. We decided to bring Kaitlyn's carseat with us on the plane. It worked perfectly. Yes, it was a little difficult lugging it through the airport, but it worked awesome on the plane. Kaitlyn loves to talk and repeat everything you say. We taught her to answer several questions about our trip. "Where are we going?" - her answer: "Texas". "How are we getting there?" - her answer: "Airplane - Nana!".

The weather started out a little chilly on Thursday but by Sunday it was sunny and in the 80's. My mom and aunt picked us up from the airport and we headed to Onalaska, TX. My Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins from Minnesota flew down with us.

Here are some pictures to illustrate our trip. They say a picture says a 1000 words - Right?

Kaitlyn and Nana on my Aunt and Uncles dock. A few days later there was a Snake sunning itself on the dock. Reason # 1 why we don't live in the South - Poisonous snakes.

A cute family picture of the McNeilly's!

Explanation of above picture: For some reason Kaitlyn loves to pull down her pants. We aren't sure if it is because we have started the potty training process or because she thinks it is fun. Some people have commented that she learned this from her mother. You be the judge.

Here is my mom and I at my Aunt and Uncles 40th Wedding Anniversary.

Kaitlyn had a great time dancing at the Party. Of course when we told her we were going to a party... she asked if "Smokey Bear" was going to be there. (Side Note: We had a Mayer Fire Summer Party and Smokey the Bear came...) The cute outfit is from my Aunt Marsha. It is a 3T and fit her perfectly.

My cousin Heather, Kaitlyn, and I enjoying a beautiful day outside. We spent most of the time at my mom's house and my Aunt and Uncles house. We had to teach Kaitlyn not to play in the grass.... Reason # 2 - Why we don't live in the South - Fire Ants. So, every time I carried her across the grass - she would keep telling me about the Fire Ants.
We had a great trip to visit my mom (nana). We enjoyed the warmer weather, but still love the fact we live in Minnesota. Crazy - I know!

Apple Orchard

A few weekends ago Nate and I took Kaitlyn to the Minnetonka Orchard. It was a beautiful day to be outside. Kaitlyn loved looking for the right pumpkin with Daddy.

We walked through the corn maze, but half way through - Kaitlyn wanted to go back. So, we turned around and went onto the next activity.

She loved playing in the wooden train. We had to had carry her away because she kept running back to it. We finally were able to distract her with going on a hayride and seeing the tractor.

We were so happy that we had a nice day to spend outside and enjoy the little fall we have had.

Fix It Mommy!

Last night as Kaitlyn and I were coming in from outside Kaitlyn got her finger caught in the door hinge. After we searched the house for her comfort items: Nukie and Blankie, we called Daddy. He was still on his way home, so he said to go to the doctor. I wasn't ready to make that decision especially since I am not good at judging when to head to the doctor. Anyway, Nate called me back and said that one of the EMT fire fighters was going to stop by and have a look. (It sure is a nice benefit to know people in the medical field.) By this time Kaitlyn did not want anyone to look at her finger. After a little convincing she let him look at it. We decided to keep an eye on it, since it was starting to take the shape of a finger again.

When daddy got home we all cuddled in the living room where we at a "picnic" in the living room for dinner. By this time Kaitlyn was starting to move her hand and finger, but still favored her other hand. She convinced daddy to feed her peaches, watch Dora and Diego, and have cookies for dessert.

This morning on our way to daycare... Kaitlyn holds out her fingers and says: "Fix It Mommy!" I told her I couldn't because I was driving and it would have to heal, but if she kissed her finger it would be better. So she did! Than I had to kiss her finger when we got to daycare and so did Cindy our daycare provider. I wonder how long she take advantage of her injury.

My Husband thinks he is funny!

Last night we decided to watch America's Funniest Videos. At the beginning of the show they had a montage of video's of people rigging the sprayer at the kitchen sink, so when you turn on the faucet the sprayer goes off. Now lets fast forward about 2 hours. Nate is downstairs checking is fantasy football and I am getting ready for bed. So, I go into the kitchen and turn on the faucet... and guess what happened? I GOT SPRAYED.... so I start laughing... and turn off the water, take off the rubber band and try again... Yep.. I GOT SPRAYED AGAIN... the lever got stuck.

I went to downstairs laughing so hard that I had to keep my legs crossed. I should have known this would happen since Nate likes to play these little tricks.

Daughter Like Father

Saturday my girlfriend Aimee and I went to some garage sales in a near by town. We found a few treasures to bring home. One thing I did find was a new bike helmet for Kaitlyn. She calls it "elmo"... or that is what it sounds like. Sunday morning I tried the Helmet on her. She loves it.

After we finally convinced her to take her helmet off so she could get dressed we went outside. She must have her daddy's blood because she started showing off on her new bike. I am not familiar with all the trick names, but Nate said they all actual tricks. As a side note... We didn't teach her any of these... she did these on her own. Daddy only showed her where to put her feet on the pedals.

Here is her before she started doing all her "tricks". Nate is a proud daddy. Me on the other hand is a little nervous on her new abilities.

This one is called a "heel-clicker". She demonstrated this one several times during the course of her Tri-cycle riding.

Not sure of the name of this one, but it doesn't look to safe. Good thing she was not moving forward, but I guess you have start somewhere.

Nate called this something, but I don't remember what it is. She has good balance because she didn't go over the handle bars.

Here is another "heel-clicker" move. As you can see she loves doing tricks.

I am glad that she enjoys wearing her helmet. I think our next purchase will be full body armor.

Labor Day Camping

It's official... Summer is over. We did end the summer with a great camping trip to Maple Grove. We camped at the KOA right off Co. Rd. 101 and you would have never guessed we were still in the cities. The campground is beautifully wooded and peaceful. We arrived Friday evening to the festivities in full swing. We unloaded and settled in for the long weekend. A few notes about the weekend.... There were 9 children under the age of 6, 12 adults, and one dog.

This was picture 6 of 6. It was really hard to get all the kids to look and smile at the same time. Kaitlyn loved playing with all the kids that she didn't nap on Saturday. We tried to put her down, but 20 minutes later I found that she climbed out of the pack n play and was using half the wipes to clean the camper in her diaper. The good news is that she wasn't the only one who didn't nap and no one really broke down until 7pm.

We decided to bring our picnic table for the kids to use. It came in handy with all the little ones. I actually found this table at a garage sale for only $2.00. I love garage sales.

Here is Cousin Hailey and Kaitlyn enjoying some pudding together in the wagon.

Kaitlyn relaxing during our camping trip.

The weather was perfect. Kaitlyn loves to be outside playing in the dirt, picking acorns, playing at the park, and being with her cousins. When we were packing up to leave... she kept saying "Bye, Bye Camper". The nice part of camping so close to home is that we were home by 1 and unpacked by 2.

It's Just Begun!

Ever since Kaitlyn's 2nd birthday I have noticed that she is really learning more and more everyday. She loves to repeat sentences. She has started to say "Luv ya" back to us. We are also starting to learn colors and numbers of objects. Our next big task is potty training. We have all the tools and we are now starting learn about them. She loves reading her Potty book she got for her birthday. She also is intrigued with the new potty chair in the bathroom. The problem is that she likes to take out the bowl which will someday hold her pee and poop. I am a little nervous about this. I pray she doesn't do this when she has a successful potty! Kaitlyn pretending to go potty in her new big girl potty. She wasn't too excited about it, but now talks about it all the time.

On Saturday morning as I was getting her dressed she decided she wanted to add accessories to her outfit. See below:

If you can't tell... these are bloomers that go under her dress to cover up her diaper. She thought she was so funny....
Of course we weren't done with just one pair... so she had me put on another one. The whole time she would say... "Kaitlyn silly!" and laugh! I almost left them on for the whole day, but decided against it.
Kaitlyn needed to add to her silliness by climbing on her crib. The good news is that she has never tried to climb out of her crib. I am crossing my fingers she won't ever try... before we move her to a big girl bed.