McKenna's Birthday Party

We had McKenna's birthday party today at the Pirate Island restuarant. It was so much fun - the restaurant is really great for the kids - there is plenty to do! Her cousin Courtney had a birthday today so we combined efforts and had one big party! McKenna was spoiled and loved having everyone around - she was especially excited to have Staci, Chris, and Ashley back from Washington.

Thanks everyone that came and partied with us! We had so much fun!

When Did He Grow Up?

River no longer looks like a baby, he is a little man. Every day he is doing new things - it feels like I am going to wake up in the morning and have him going off to school! Babies grow up way to fast! - But I love watching them grow up and reach new milestones!

I don't know how you can look at these two and not love them!!!!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Our little girl turned two today! I can't believe that it has been that long - she completely changed our lives and we love her so very much!

At this time in her life, she is very stubborn and strong-willed. She wants to "help myself" or "do it myself." She adores her brother and he adores her. She makes us laugh everyday, especially when we are supposed to be disciplining her. She talks a mile a minute, calls her dad "Jade" and "a pain in the butt!" She wants to go on the plane with grandma and grandpa and loves playing with all her cousins and aunts and uncles. She worries about me and asks "you okay, mom" any time she thinks I am hurt or sad.

Happy Birthday McKenna! We love you more than words can tell.

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! It was so fun to watch McKenna get excited about presents - she was a great helper to everyone while unwrapping gifts! She was a trooper and didn't get too cranky with the parties being in the middle of nap time. My kids opened up pajamas on Christmas Eve and were good while I made them take pictures!

We told McKenna that Santa had brought her some presents - she now likes Santa!

My kids got a ton of loot!

River got a wagon from Santa and it was a hit for both kids!

My mom and dad got McKenna an adorable panda outfit - it has tons of interchangeable pieces - pants, skirt, shirt, coat, gloves, leggings, shoes, and hair pieces.

McKenna got a Potato Head family and has been putting them together since we opened it - she still needs more work on where the parts of the face go, right now she is our own Picasso.

My parents got River a cowboy outfit - so cute! And a play center that he loves! (Maybe it will help him with his physical growth - this kid just wants to sit and be held!)

I think it is more fun to be a parent on Christmas and watch your kids open up their gifts and get excited about each one than it is to get presents yourself! Thanks to everyone that made this day wonderful. I am so grateful to have a loving family to celebrate these special days with!

Ornaments

We had our Christmas Eve breakfast this morning and McKennna was so excited to open a present! She got a precious moments ornament of a little girl sending a letter to Santa. She is deathly afraid of Santa but still wants to talk about him all the time - and "River can try it!" We had a wonderful breakfast and McKenna helped River open up his ornament - a Christmas moose because he is so BIG! I love watching McKenna with River, she is adorable with him - she helped him with his present - didn't do it for him but helped! I love my cute kids and can't wait for tomorrow morning! I love Christmas!

Thatcher Christmas

My siblings and I decided to have our own little Christmas party with everyone before Ashley, Staci, and Chris left for Christmas break. We ate dinner and opened presents from each other. It was so fun to see McKenna open presents...she wanted to play with everything the moment she opened it! - Christmas is going to be so fun, it might take us all day to open her presents though! I am so glad that I have my siblings so close to me - I LOVE them all a ton!

McKenna had to try on Ashley's hat!

River enjoyed the bows!

Tessa was so cute! She was an excellent unwrapper! - She wanted to eat all the wrapping paper.

What We Have Been Up To

Time seems to fly by! It seems like only a few weeks ago I had River and started the school year. I feel like I do a million things each day to just keep up with everything and hope that I am not missing out on the important things. McKenna is so fun now. She counts when she wants us to do things and we are not going fast enough for her, has A Wocket in my Pocket memorized, sings Christmas songs, and tells everyone what to do. The only person she is always nice to is her brother, who adores her. River is still growing like a weed - pretty soon I will be able to win a strong man competition with the muscles I am getting. He has two big teeth on the bottom of his mouth - he's ready to start eating some food! He is our precious little boy who loves to give kisses, be cuddled, and enjoys laughing. He has no desire to roll over or be on his stomach! He is content to sit on someones lap and watch his sister dance and sing.

Here are some pictures of the past little bit - hope this catches us up.

Staci got married! We went up to Washington in October to add Chris to our family! We had so much fun and enjoyed being in Washington during the fall!

We had the first snow fall. I am already for the sun again and swimming at the pool - but McKenna enjoyed playing - we just need to get her to keep her hat and gloves on.

My mom and dad came here for Thanksgiving! All of us kids are here so the two of them came to us for the holiday. My kids loved having everyone around all the time! My parents had a special breakfast for us on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and gave us our Christmas pajamas since we won't be all together for Christmas this year.

McKenna was so excited about Santa! She sings about him and wants to read books about him, but freaked out when we took her to see him. Now if you talk about Santa she gets upset - she can still sing Santa Claus is Coming to Town, but Santa is NOT allowed in her house!

He's Four Months

River had his four month check up today. He weighs 17 pounds 12 ounces (92%) and is 27.5 inches long (98%). He will definitely always be a tall kid. His little head is only in the 39% - maybe that is why he doesn't look like a giant!

Just for mine own curiosity I looked back at McKenna's stats and she was 16.9 pounds and 25.75 inches long at SIX months! River is going to catch McKenna by the time he is a year old - we will have people ask us if they are twins for a while and then I think that people will assume that River is older!

We love our big boy!

Worth Every Penny

Last night we took the kids to Disney Princesses on Ice. It was so much fun! River sat the entire time watching the ice and McKenna had a permagrin on her face the whole time. McKenna would clap and dance and point as new characters came out. I don't know if Jade and I even watched the performers, we were too busy watching our kids!

McKenna was excited all day about going to see the princesses!

We forgot our camera, so all we had was our phones...but I had to get a picture of her so happy at the performance. She screamed the whole way out and was yelling for the princesses because she was so sad that it was over!

During this performance I think I finally realized that I am a "real mom" now. There are so many things that I could have used that money on - like new clothes...I am down to one pair of jeans, but it never occurred to me to use that money on myself - we knew McKenna would love it so we bought the tickets. Luckily for me, I have such great parents as role models...maybe one day I will be like them - I guess last night was a start because truly no pair of jeans would have made me as happy as watching McKenna last night - it was worth every penny!

He Loves Reading

River gets to listen to all the books we read McKenna and so he has learned to love looking at the pictures! He will sit on our bed in the morning while we are getting ready and stare at the pictures. We just have to go flip the page every few minutes. He is such an easy going baby!

Hot Baby Girl

McKenna has learned to take her pajamas off...the world of zippers is fascinating to her. We have been keeping a humidifier in both of the kids rooms since McKenna was sick and sometimes it can be really warm in their rooms. It must have been too warm the other night because this is how I found her!

Halloween

We had so much fun on Halloween! McKenna was so excited about getting candy! She looked so cute in her witch costume.

River was an adorable little spider, his clothes underneath doubled as a robber!

McKenna trick or treated on Main Street after a carnival at our church. Staci, Chris, and Ashley joined us. That evening McKenna trick or treated at Jade's grandparents and Staci and Chris's house - they gave her a light up glitter ball! We decided she had enough loot from the afternoon and went home. She thought it was so much fun to have people coming to our door all night and ate way to much candy! Kyle and Jen brought Tessa over in her unicorn costume. It was so much fun to have McKenna so excited about the holiday! We can't wait to see her on Christmas morning, we are already using Santa as a bribe to keep her from being naughty!