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.

Kaitlyn's 2nd Birthday Party

Sunday we celebrated Kaitlyn's 2nd birthday. She didn't really understand the party was for her, but she enjoyed opening presents and eating her cupcake. Here are some pictures a video from the day.

Kaitlyn opening one of her presents. Every present she opened she would turn to me and say "open". We would have to distract her with a new present to unwrap.

After I started the unwrapping process Kaitlyn didn't take long to get to the actual present.

Kaitlyn wasn't too sure about the candle on top of her cupcake. She also got the cool placemat with her name it as a present too.

Kaitlyn really enjoyed when everyone was signing to her. At first she wasn't too sure, but when she realized she was the center of attention she loved it.

Kaitlyn wasn't too sure about how to blow out the candle.

Here is Kaitlyn, Cousin Darren, and my sisters dog (Teeney) in the wagon Bopapa got for her. She loves to open and shut the door, but I have taught her that the door is stuck when we are walking.

It got pretty warm in the afternoon, so all the kids got Popsicles to cool off. We will just have to say that we needed an outfit change after.

Kaitlyn's 2 year stats

I took Kaitlyn to her 2 year wellness check this past Friday. She is such a big girl now that she gets to stand on the scale and against the wall to check her weight and height. No more stripping down to the diaper and laying down on the scale.

32" Tall - 10% - Hey at least we are on the curve now.
25 lbs - 50% - Wow - we are moving in the right direction.
18 1/4 head size - 25%

We also had her blood tested for lead and when they pricked her finger she didn't even cry. She was very intrigued with the My Little Pony band aid the whole way home.

This weekend has also brought out a few more milestones...
* She has proclaimed her toys as "mine" and makes sure you know this. Especially if it relates to anything for her babies.
* When she wants to go outside she says "side" and last night when I said "No." She asked "Why?" - I hope this isn't the start of the "whys"!

Lighting Storm

A few weeks ago we had an intense lightning storm come through Mayer. It was an amazing show until lightning hit a tree in our back yard. We didn't realize this happened until we woke up and our upstairs TV would not turn on. I looked out the window and noticed some bark falling off on of our trees. We have learned a valuable lesson to unplug everything or have GOOD surge protectors. The lightning cut through the tree and killed the grass around it. We are hopeful the tree won't die and will heal from it's brush with mother nature!Here is one side of the tree that shows were the lightning traveled.

We are also very thankful for some very generous people who have donated a new/old TV for us to have.

Happy 2nd Birthday to our Little Girl

To my little Girl on her birthday!

Kaitlyn you are really growing into a beautiful little girl. You definitely are a mommy's girl too! Everyday you learn and say new things. You love playing with your babies and helping mommy and daddy around the house. We are truly blessed to have you in our lives.

Here are a few things that you are up to these days.

* You love going to the park. You have no fear and will climb up anything no matter how high it is. You like to scare mommy by hanging over the edge or climbing up the slide.

* You are a blankie girl. We have 3 pink blankies, but really you only like 2 of them. Whenever you get hurt you don't want mommy or daddy.... you want your blankie and nukie.

* You love to say what you see... your favorite things to point out are: Motorcycles, trucks, horses (even though you are scared of them up close), rain or anything related to water.

* You love going on the boat and you know it goes in the water. You aren't a big fan of cold lake water just like your mommy. You take naps on the boat and don't mind wearing your life jacket!

* You love walks and being outside.

Last night Daddy brought home 2 babies and a baby buggy from one of his clients from work. You were so excited you danced around and wouldn't eat dinner without at least one of your babies.

Happy 2nd Birthday Kaitlyn! We love watching you grow into a little lady!

Vacation

A few Saturday's ago we headed up to Nisswa, MN to our new favorite resort: Cozy Bay on Lake Edwards. We were enjoyed by 20 other family members for the week. Our vacation started out great. The weather was good, the sun was out, and we were enjoying the company and the lake.

The weather turned to cold and rainy on Tuesday. So the rest of the week we were land locked except for the occasional fishing trip. Nate did catch a nice size Walleye in the rain one day. Our boat ended up tied to the dock for most of the week with the exception of Tuesday night....

Tuesday afternoon a group of us went into Brainerd for a movie and bowling. On our way home we rec'd word that a severe storm was headed our way. We decided that if we got back before the storm we would pull the boat out of the water. We had it all planned out... Nate and Alex were to run and get the boat. Dan and I were to get the trailer ready. As Dan and I were waiting on the launch... The boat got stuck about 50 feet from the trailer. Before I knew it... I was taking off my shoes and pants... and running into the lake. (Normally weeds gross me out, but I drove right into the mucky and weedy part of the launch.) Alex also stripped down to his boxers and we were both pushing and pulling to get the boat to move. (On a side note: Everyone else is watching from the dry windows of the cabin.) We finally get the boat loose and we pulled it out of the water. You know the saying: Hindsight is 20/20: Well it is. I am not sure why I had to take my pants off since they got wet sitting on the ground in the rain. (Sorry no pictures at this time.)

Bowling in our new group shirts. "Bad Girls of Up North!"

The ladies in our bright "Bad Girls of Up North" shirts!

To be honest... I am a little disappointed about our vacation. The weather really put a damper on our usual activities. Good thing we had 20 of us to play cards, go shopping, and visit with while we huddled in our sweatshirts and jeans.

Kaitlyn loved playing with her cousins. They were there until Wednesday and Kaitlyn loved following them around.