29.

I've been trying to get Mckinlay to say "Happy Birthday," but it keeps coming out "Happy Jo."

That's pretty cute too though.

We love you Dada!

Happy happy birthday!!

{photos by Emily}

We've had a lot of this lately:

A lot, a lot.

Good thing Mckinlay was there to hold all that snow back.

But lots of snow = snow swinging.
Our favorite!

Drum roll please.....

"Cleveland Rocks!"
{Or at least we are hoping it does...}
'cause that is where we will be living for the next 5 years!

Today is "match day" and we just found out we matched to Case Western's oral surgery program.

Apparently we will:
be referred to as "Clevelanders"
become fans of the Cleveland Indians
{who needs the Sox anyway...}
will refer to our city as either --
"The Cleve" or "The Land"
and we will be regulars at the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame

Awesome!
Case is only 5 years as opposed to 6 and it will only be one year of medical school.
And B and Alli are only a 3-4 hour drive away!
Wahoo!!

since i'm such a big girl...

now i sleep in a

{mommy tells me i should stop letting "baby emmy" go to the tanning salon.
she thinks she's looking a little orange.}

i love my new bed!
i sleep with all my favorite friends and i make sure mommy and daddy give each and everyone one of us a "hug & piss" before we go nite-nite.
it takes a long time.

and just before they shut the door, i ask for another round of "pisses."
{i think my mommy really likes it.}

"It's my party..."

We had:

X always marks

Fun treats

& fun friends.

This is the best out of three photos.
I dare you to get a good picture of all 4 kiddos.

Double dog dare ya.

Brianne, Laura and I all made crowns and skirts {well, a cape in Marcus' case} for the kidlets .
We love felt.

Speaking of darling:

I'd say we had a great party, but what would be a party if it didn't end in tears?
You would cry too...
if all your friends went home.

Where were we...

Oh yeah.
Birthday pictures:

I made her a puppet show theater,

complete with puppets...

but naturally Mickey Mouse Memory was her favorite gift.
Make a wish!

Back in business

New computer:
check

Blogging to come.

Blog break

Our computer crashed.
{Shoot}
Be back to blogging soon-ish.

Lots of birthday photos to come.

2 today.

I can't believe it.

Where has all the time gone?
In honor of the birthday girl, here are 10 things we love about her:
1) Getting an unsolicited "hug & piss."
2) How well she is talking.
She is getting really good at expressing herself and forming quasi-sentences.
3) That this is her favorite song.
4) She is always up for a snuggle
...and a treat.
5) When she turns "circles!"
6) When she grabs our hand and leads us around the house.
7) That every time I turn on the Kitchen Aid she yells "cookies!"
{and...more often that not she is right}
8) When she names a subject and says "talk."
ie. "Mama horse talk" then she waits for me to talk to her about horses.
9) That she likes to say prayers.
Her list of "thankful fors" is all inclusive --
everything from Mommy & Daddy to apple juice.
10) "Family snuggles!"

We sure love this girl.
{Again, photos by Emily.}

You know this is only the first of several birthday posts right?
Just checking.

Christmas in a nut shell:

1) Christmas Eve nativity puppet show at Happy Jo and Papa's house.
2) Curtain malfunction -- which Mckinlay loved.
3) Hugging the puppeteers.
4) "Dindee's turn!"

1) Putting cookies out for Santa...
only after taking a bite of each one.
2) Chocolate Santa.
'Nuff said.
3) Excited about her "Ella" loot.

1) Mustache ala Tyler.
2) Each year Tyler does something creative with his gift wrap. This year, everything was wrapped as a bomb.
3) Tyler got an electric fly swatter from Santa.
If you ever get one, don't let the fact that it is powered by 2 little batteries make you think it is safe to touch. All the men in the Mckinlay house hold had to touch it.
{after seeing how high Ty jumped off the floor after touching it}
I think it was a Christmas rite of passage or something.
Silly boys.

1) A "hug" & a "piss"
-- hey, we're still working on Mckinlay's "k" sound.
2) Twinner jammies.
3) "Darius is hand."
4) BFF Cambry.

1) Classic Staking Bouncepark.
If you are in the Sandy area GO!
It's fun.
{even for adults}
2) Making gingerbread houses at the Children's museum.

1) Mckinlay fell in love with Buster.
We really want a puppy now.
2) Grandpa's hat.

Thanks for a fun trip everyone!
We love ya!

Family pictures

We had a great trip to Utah, and now we're home. I have about a million photos and stories to tell, but first thing's first. The fabulous Emily took our family pictures for us. I'm so in love with every single shot. I'm sure I will be posting more of these photos, but here are a few of my favorites.

I love this one because it totally sums up the day.
Mckinlay was not too happy and this is a perfect illustration:
{click to enlarge}
1) "Mckinlay stop crying."
2) "I'll give you a jelly bean if you say cheese."
3) Fake cheese for said jelly bean.
4) Then the look of satisfaction because she gets the jelly bean.

Classic.

More photos here.
Thanks Emily! You are wonderful and so talented. Thanks for taking time out of your break to spend the morning with us.

Enjoy and Happy New Year everyone!!