Two many ways to count...

Dear Lorelai,

Tonight is your last night of being one. I cannot believe how much you have learned and grown this year. You've gone from saying a few single words here and there to speaking in complete sentences most of the time, using big words like delicious and beautiful. It is precious to me how many of your words are pretty, happy, encouraging words like those. I think that says a lot about who you are and about your sweet personality. You are such a happy, laid back, funny girl and the joy you have brought to our lives in two short years is immeasurable. Being your Mommy is one of the greatest joys of my life. It has opened my eyes to new things in the Lord. I can hardly grasp that my delight in you is just a shadow of the delight He finds in you and in His children. I look at you sometimes with a heart so full of joy and stop and try to imagine Him looking down on you, smiling even bigger than I am, laughing even deeper, loving even more. It makes me love Him and you even more and puts a fire in me to do everything I can to lead you to Him so that you can feel it, too. I can already see so many of the gifts He has given you blossoming and I know that He will use your innocent eyes and joyful heart to do great things in His kingdom. One of my favorite things about you is how observant you are. Once we were driving up a hill at dusk and you said, "Ooo, happy! A moon." I looked and saw the moon hanging there, looking very pretty and thought about how I probably wouldn't have noticed it if you hadn't pointed it out. You do that often - see the beauty in the world around us and point it out to me. My prayer for you this year is that you would continue to see the world around you with your special perspective and share it with others, that you would grow safe and healthy, that you would feel loved and accepted in our home and by your parents for just the precious person that you are and that your sweet heart would be fertile ground for the seeds planted there of your Fathers love for you. My prayer for me this year is that I would look to the Lord to guide you and teach you, that He would open my eyes further to the gifts that He has given you and help to nurture and grow them, that I would model for you someone who loves and needs the Lord passionately and lives her faith in words and actions. I cannot wait to see all the Lord has in store for you in your third year of life!

There are TWO many to list, but here are a few of the things you love at this age and I love about you.

The gallop - you rarely actually run, but gallop instead, especially if you are really excited. You usually have big eyes as you do it and it always makes us laugh!

Little Bunny FooFoo - I was probably the only mommy buying Easter bunnies on Valentine's Day, but I saw one and knew you would love it. You fell in love with this song when we were doing shadow puppets one night, and now anytime you see a shadow you say it. You ask for it all the time and love to sing it with your own finger bunnies. It is the cutest!

"happy" - This is what you say when you see something you like. The first time I remember it is the first time you saw our neighbor's Christmas lights. We were getting out of the car, and you pointed and said "Ooo, happy." I hadn't even noticed they were up. You say it often, and usually about sweet things like that.

You love to sing! Here are some songs you know and sing to yourself - I know you (from Sleeping Beauty), chim chimeny, Do you want to be my friend, God made me to wink and blink (my favorite about this one is your "aye aye" sound effects)

Your silly face - Once at night when I opened the car door the light came on and you snapped your head up to look at it like you were startled. Something about the face you made cracked me up. The next day we parked in the daylight and you did it again and looked at me to make sure I noticed. It made me laugh even harder that you were trying to make me laugh on purpose. Now you say "silly face!" and lean your head way back to make us laugh.


Knows letters and numbers - I couldn't believe it when I started to work on your letters and numbers - you knew 8 letters and almost all your numbers! I guess you really pay attention at school.

Notice the letters and numbers you knows - If you see the letters or numbers that you know you love to point them out on signs and things. I think you are so smart!

How much you love Daddy - you always ask for him second every morning (after Maelie), after nap anytime you hear a car drive by you say "daddy home!" and pretend talk to him on my phone anytime you get ahold of it.


the deep laugh and the high laugh - thanks to Mary Poppins, your favorite movie, we've started using different kinds of laughs. Anyway we laugh - deep, high, fast, etc. - you will mimic. It usually turns into real laughter because it is so funny.

You are the sweetest sister! You love Maelie so much and ask for her first thing every morning. You love to hug her and you two play so great together. If she's sad, you get so concerned. You say "Mae Mae cwyin'" and hug her and pat her. She is such a great sister to you, and I love the relationship that the two of you have.

The way you so often will grab my leg or hug my neck out of nowhere and say "I luba you Mommy." It's my most favorite thing you do.

Other Things You Love at Two:
Yo Gabba Gabba
My chenille socks - you put them on like leggings and wear them all over
Chocolate milk - well, hot chocolate mix with cold milk. It's one of the only times you are near tantrum mode screaming "chokit milk!!"
Cheese
Oranges
Ms. Brandi, your teacher. You will grab your backpack and run down the hall when you see her come in in the morning, you love her so much we invited her to your birthday party!
Playing with my phone - you love the games and you've figured out how to watch tv shows on my ipod
Mary Poppins
Princess books
Being "nekid jay" even if it's only you're "nekid jay feet" you love having some part of your clothing off.
Jumping - in your bed, mine, the bouncehouse, a trampoline - if it's bouncy, you're jumping!
Bible time - I love hearing your sweet voice say "it's Bible time!" everytime we say time for bed.
Your Bwankie - it seems you get more attached to it everyday. Luckily, it can be anyone that is silky on one side. You love to tuck into a ball and cover yourself in it when you're sleepy.

Snow Days!

We had such a great time this week! It is pretty much Maelie's dream to "stay home all day in her jammies" so four days in a row was about the best thing she could think of. I knew we might be in for one day, so I stocked up on paint, crayons, new coloring books, popcorn, m&ms and hot chocolate. It was such a gift to have all of that uninterrupted time playing with my girls and getting our house a little more organized. Here's a little glimpse of our snow-cation (in reverse order because I'm technically challenged like that):

Making snow ice cream. They both loved it!

Playing in the snow with Daddy. This is the beginning of the snowman that she talked about making all day. However, once she got bored shoveling, she decided she would much rather just throw snowballs at Daddy.

The pictures aren't that great because that would require me actually going outside. In the snow. Not. Going. to. Happen. She was one proud snow-shoveler, though!

We made a tent to watch Mary Poppins in. It was super warm and comfy, and just a hair

static-y

Hanging out in the tent

And when we couldn't think of anything fun to do, we blew up the bouncehouse in the living room and had a jumpfest.

Lorelai woke up the next day saying "I jump! I jump!"

Mommy got to craft a little.

We did lots of painting and coloring and reading Mary Engelbreit's Fairy Tales over and over. Both girls LOVE this book and will sit with me under the covers reading it forever.

How could you not have a great week with these sweet girls?

Maybe it'll do it again next month :)

10 years and a New Song

Somehow it's December and I haven't even blogged about the most significant event of the year for me. August 4, 2010 marked ten years of being married to Kyle McKillip. What a journey it has been together. We were 19 when we got engaged and 20 when we married. I think maybe we were both too young to be scared. I can only remember feeling a mix of total calm and bubbly excitement. The Lord has blessed us everyday since August 4, 2000. Sometimes the blessings were hidden and came wrapped as hardships. Sometimes they were compeletly evident as blessings and as direct gifts from His hands. On two precious occassions, they were wrapped in pink blankets and covered with little pink hats and I remember looking at Kyle both times in amazement that He allowed us to be a small part of His miracle making. Oh, how good He has been to us and to me to give me Kyle. Kyle is a constant compass, pointing me towards the Lord. He is the Lord's hands and feet as he walks hard roads with me, holds me in his arms and reminds me who our Father has created me to be. He lives out daily the Lord's tender affection for me and is a physical reminder that the Lord loves me dearly and accepts me just the way I am. He was precious when I married him, and has allowed the Lord to grow him and mature him into an amazing spiritual leader, father and husband. He simply gets better each year. I am so thankful that he's mine and even more that our sweet girls have him as an example of what love looks like. I think back to who we were - the young people we were when we got married - and like the song says, it is harder than we dreamed. Those young people never imagined marriage and life being so hard, throwing us so many curve balls. They also never dreamed of the how good the good days could be and how 10 years in, how much richer and fuller love and life could be. I think they probably could never have grasped all of the growing that the Lord would do in them and through them, all the hard work it would take to get there, the deep peace, happiness and contentment that could come with an ordinary, extraordinary life. I can't wait to see what the 70 year old uses and 50 years married uses think about how much more they know of love and the Lord than the 30 year old, 10 years married uses do.
I still love "our" old song by Keith Whitley (When You Say Nothing at All), but the one above brings tears to my eyes everytime I hear it and makes me love what I have in Kyle and in the Lord.

Summer's Blog

My friend from church and YCW, Summer, is on a journey to adopt a baby girl from Ethiopia. We are so excited to be a small part of the journey as we pray for their family and anticipate welcoming a new member to our church family. This month, if you visit http://www.goseeklove.com/ you can buy a super cute shirt that supports their families' adoption. I've already gotten mine in, worn it, and loved it. If you are looking for a unique and meaningful Christmas idea, I would so recommend getting someone you love (or yourself) a go seek love shirt and help a great family and a great cause. You can get to know Summer, her family and her journey better at coxragamuffins.blogspot.com

First Day of School

We had a great first day of school this year! It is always a fun, crazy day and a great reminder of why I love my job so much. I LOVE bringing my babies to work with me.

Lorelai and I are very spoiled this year - Ms. Brandi moved from the nursery to the toddlers this year, so of course we are at her table. I love how much Lorelai loves her "Bandi" and know that she gets loved on so much in class. She never even cries to go in when her second Mommy is there!

Playing at the playscape and looking super cute

It was Gracie's first day, too! We are loving having her at YCW to love on and play with Lorelai in class.

On the way home...

This year was a little bit sad for me, too. This is Maelie's last first day of school at YCW. I'm really not sure how that happened, but somehow in the blink of an eye we went from this...

...to this!

So proud of our big Pre-Ker! She is with two precious, godly women this year, Ms. Denise and Ms. Terri and she is doing wonderfully under their care.

The whole family

Mommy and her girls

YEA!

I finally figured out how to download pictures to our new laptop! Here's to three months of catch up - one month at a time :)

For the second year in a row, we had the world's greatest intern. We love our Shelvy (or Shelby if you're not Maelie). Lauren, Cam and the McKillip girls took her on a going away playdate to Central market and a yogurt place. We love her and I hope my girls turn out just like her - she loves the Lord and is one of the most mature, confident young women I've ever known.

One of our favorite things about summer - popsicles!


Okay, have you ever seen anything cuter?

Two of my three favorite people relaxing before fireworks.

On the 4th of July Lorelai learned a new word - CHEESE! Here she is practicing.

We had our very first sleepover!

With who else - our sweet Elizabeth

Making ice cream sundaes at our sleepover

Looking back, it was such a quick summer, but we had so much fun. We spent so much time together as a family. I think after a super crazy June we were all in the mood to just hang out at our house together. Except for trips to NRH2O, Maelie's "favorite place in the whole world."

Chatterbox

Lorelai has turned into quite the talker lately and we have loved hearing what's on her mind. She does a lot of jibber-jabbering, which I don't really remember Maelie doing. I feel like she went from pointing to five word sentences. Lorelai has a language mostly all her own, but there are quite a few words that the rest of us recognize, too.

Here's what she says:
Mama
Dada
Mae mae (this is her favorite and most used word)
bye bye
up (usually tripled - up, up upie!)
down
jump (gump)
outside
Papaw
Papa
Gigi
shoe - I love this one because she always says it with a shoe in hand trying to shove it in your hand so you will put it on her. She loves wearing shoes! The other day she got really mad because I would only put one pair on her at a time.
Yum! - when she's eating something good, she says this everytime she takes a bites and with a lot of enthusiasm. The other day I gave her a donut hole and I thought she was going to choke she was saying YUM! YUM! YUMMY! so energetically
Fufa - this is making me feel a little like a slacker, especially right after the donut hole incident listed above, but this girl loves her some Yo gabba Gabba and Fufa is her favorite.
No
Uh Oh
More - love this one because you get half of the sign for more, too.
baby
book
ball
go
nose - double points for this one, you usually get an unexpected finger up your nose with it.
duck
quack
woof
ooh ahh - the monkey sound
hello

It makes me laugh because so many of these are action words. She is a very active girl, so it makes sense! She is also the sweetest baby I can imagine. So laid back and happy. She just sings to herself all the time and she loves to dance and snuggle.

June so far...

Maelie stared dance class. She was so excited and asks me everyday if it's dance day. She loved the outfit and special dance bag to carry all of her shoes around in.

Sitting on her square waiting for class to begin.

Doing her own made-up scarf dance. Afterward, she got to practice her bowing, which was one of her favorite parts.

We celebrated one great Daddy! We are all so lucky to have such a precious man in our lives. I mean, look at that guy - does it get any cuter? And he does an amazing job taking care of his girls. They swam all afternoon, and then the Burchfields came over so we could celebrate together. It was a great day!

About a week ago while brushing Lorelai's hair I thought "I could probably do little pigtails." It took me a little while to work up the courage, but she actually loved having her hair sprayed and brushed and played with. I actually do not love the fact that she looks like such a big girl, but it sure is cute!

Back view. Those little flower clips were on her hat in the hospital - time really does fly!

Maelie got new glasses. I didn't think she could get any cuter, but there ya go

Uncle Drew came over to hang out and spend the night. Lorelai was pretty fascinated by his XBox skills.

She's thinks Uncle Drew taught her some skills, too :)

Catch Up

These are just some random things I've been meaning to post about. We have been so busy lately - but with lots of fun things! We rocked Baby Dedication in the usual McKillip style - acting like a little maniac. I was stunned - I've never seen Lorelai act like that, but she was a wild, wiggly woman from the reception and prayer beforehand to the stage. Until she saw one of her very favorite people, Ms. Brandi, in the auditorium. This is what she did for Brandi....

...and this is what she did for us. I'm trying not to judge my parenting skills too harshly :)

We had a Mother Daughter Tea Party at church that Maelie still talks about. It was so much fun! We got dressed up, had a cupcake and some lemonade and even got an etiquette lesson from Ms. Mindy. All her friends were there and it was so girly.

She was a little scared she was falling off the tall stool.

Lorelai got a new swing. That girl loves to be outside and is never happier than in her swing.

Kyle turned 30!

We had a party at our house with a lot of our friends. We are so blessed to have so many good friends. I'm thankful for each man in this picture and the fact that my husband surrounds himself with godly men. I'm most thankful for that handsome guy in the middle who has been a blessing in my life for almost 10 years!

We went to Ham and Eggs in Lewisville for a special birthday breakfast, then came home and Kyle and a couple of the guys went to the shooting range. This is Maelie and Daddy at the "new pancake store." (as opposed to OC Burger where we go every other weekend.) Their food is out of control - Maelie, Lorelai and I shared two pancakes and still left about 1/3 of them on the plate. These two have gotten to be really close lately, which is something else I'm very thankful for!

Princes, princesses...and Pharoah

Okay, I know I desperately need to update some pictures, but my camera is not cooperating. In the meantime here are two funny exchanges I've had with Maelie lately.

One morning Maelie woke up and told me she'd had a long, funny dream. I asked her to tell me about it and she told me all about the kids in her class being princesses, fairies, princes and "King Ty." I was really excited about that one because Ty has an identical brother in class, too, so I asked Maelie how she knew which brother was the King. "Oh, I just picked one."

Later I told her to tell Ms. Kelli her dream. She looked at me in all seriousness and said, "I dreamed there were 10 fat cows and 10 skinny cows, but the skinny cows ate up all the fat cows." I crack up, and she interrupts me to tell me there were also "Helfy corn and skinny corn but the skinny corn ate all the helfy corn." Don't worry, we're working on the number thing...

Funny for the Day

Conversation as we're leaving church today:

Maelie (singing) "I say no to the devil, I say no to the devil" Mommy, why do we say no to the devil?

Mommy: Everything he does and says and thinks is bad. We say no to everything about him.

Mae: Mommy, the devil's tricky.

Me: He sure is!

Mae: The Easter bunny's tricky, too. Maybe they're friends.

Me: laugh til I cry...

ONE Sweet Girl!

I can't believe we've had this little ONE for ONE whole year! What a joy it has been to watch her grow, to see her little personality emerge, to love her and care for her, to "get to know her" and be her Mommy. The Lord has used her precious spirit to bless my life, to teach me and show me His love for me in new ways. It is such a priveledge to have her entrusted to my care. It has been one of the best years of my life! We celebrated with a cupcake party at our church with lots of friends and family.

Sweet little face

The closest we got to a picture with her "cake"
She loves this cozy coupe! It's the first thing she goes to each morning and she was in it for 90% of the party. Luckily, she had lots of people to push her around :)

The party!

Checking out a present - with a pizza face

Tiny hiney!

(P.S. Your hiney could look this cute, too! Or your bib or your onsie - check out my little pumpkin designs on etsy or facebook! Thanks, Donna Jo!)

Opening presents

Playing with her main man

Not a big fan of the cake

We had a great day!