The Flip Side

It seemed only appropriate to write a post that included all the positive and wonderful things I love about my sweet Mckinley. The blog has been riddled with her shenanigans, which, for all intensive purposes are good to remember, BUT, it should also be noted that she brings beauty and happiness to the world too.

 

Mckinley loves to play pretend- ponies, Disney Princess dolls, squinkies. Any given day, some elaborate story takes place. She loves school, her teachers, Primary, edimame & calamari,  and going to the library.

 

She loves popcorn, gogurts, showers, her Hello Kitty rain boots, dance, her cousin Brynlee, and our best imaginary friend Kiley, is still part of our daily routine.

 

I love that Mckinley is confident, unafraid and friendly. I have mentioned it before how when her dad blessed her, the part that stood out was the prayer for her to be "outgoing"- which she is.

 

I will miss the days when I get to pick out her clothes, decorate her room and buy her simple toys that make her so happy.

 

Mckinley loves to color and recently, her people have meticulously drawn eye lashes. She is so particular in coloring and has greatly improved on staying inside the lines since she started preK last year.

 

Her kisses are the best- targeted and full face smashed.

 

She loves to go on "adventures" and to try new things.

 

Last week when she had the "snack sack" for preschool, I asked her what she wanted to bring and without hesitation, she said, "fish sticks".

 

She keeps us laughing. She is so inquisitive and lately shares with anyone that Mark & I like "mommy and daddy time" (thanks Little Bill!).

 

WE LOVE YOU MICKEY DOO!



 

Most nights, she is snuggled up in our bed under all the covers so you can barely see her. So quiet and stealthy we don't even know she got out of bed.



After a spirited game of candy land where she got to choose our play pieces. She was Sleeping Beauty. I was Belle.

St Patricks Day.

Moo

Wednesday night, we gathered our Young Women together to bask in the cheesiness known as "Johnny Lingo". For those of you that have yet to experience this cinematic masterpiece, I recommend the newer version- far less painful, way more attractive Toma and more relatable.

Recap of the story- Mahana is a girl in a village that every says is ugly (made even more so by her lack of hair combing and strategically placed sticks and leaves in her fro). And to just solidify her ugliness, everyone says "Mahana, you ugly". She and Toma become friends and children and swear to take care of each other. Toma leaves the island, runs into this rich trader, Johnny Lingo. He grows, learns to barter and eventually decides he needs to follow his heart and return to Mahana, 8 years later. Cows I guess were the big ticket item on the islands & Johnny Lingo had a herd. No one had seen a cow so to present them as a dowry, well, you hit the jack pot. As Toma returns to Mahana's island, she doesn't recognize him but he offers her "8 cows, for each year I was gone"- so 8 cows for a girl that no one thought was worth anything. You get the idea- told she is ugly her whole life and in the end, her true love sees her worth above all else. Let's just say, the girls went NUTS for this movie. It was pretty great.

Anyway, this movie got me thinking. We spend every week telling these girls how pretty they are. To love themselves. To not care what people think. As an adult, I think that gets lost somewhere. It's hard to feel attractive in this carbohydrate cocoon I have created for myself by not running since December. Or when I have worn work out pants all day. And while snot stains and a race T-shirt are the mark of a Mom, it doesn't really scream "I feel like a million bucks". I remember in college attending a fireside where Elder Holland said, "put on some lip stick, you don't want to look like death warmed over". HA!

I need to stop and think about what I love about myself more often. It's hard to do. So much easier to TELL these young girls, "You are beautiful", "It doesn't matter what you look like", than to really live it. On that note, I challenged myself to think about a few things that I really, genuinely love about myself rather than focusing on those things that may be less than desirable.

Here goes:

• I have never plucked my eyebrows. They have a great arch, seem pretty standard issue but they are low maintenance and I am happy with them. I remember my Grandmas being particularly jealous of them.
• The bow in my lips. I love the way it looks with a good opalescent gloss.
• My small feet and I love the way my freshly painted toes look in sandals.
• My deep blue eyes.
• My genes produce the darlingest of children.

Practicing what you preach isn't always easy. But when you really start to think about it, and focus on those minuscule details, you can find something to love and find that those details make you stand out of a crowd...or a herd.

Testing, testing.



It seems that the bodily function posts on the blog have become the framework of our lives. This week, we started taping the man child's diaper. Without fail, we were going in 2 hours after bedtime, finding him full out naked, pee covered and asleep, bum freezing cold and all. His naps result in him waking up naked, dry diaper but wet (or worse) sheets, pillow and blankets. The last one added an extra surprise as he excitedly jumped up and down when I went in to pick him up.

We couldn't find any duct tape so electrical tape was the next best thing. This was successful while he was awake however, after nap time, he woke up wearing a tape girdle (painfully stuck to his tummy skin) and another dry diaper on the floor. Fail.

We have tried safety pinning the zippers. This kid doesn't use the zipper- backward, forward- he just shimmies out the neck hole. His one piece pajamas are usually found on the floor inside out and the onesie that used to be a deterrent, still buttoned, beside them.

So while Mckinley has made it almost 3 weeks without peeing on the floor (sing choirs of angels!), the other child has decided to add his own personal "markings" to the house as well. Does anyone know if they make full body, spandex pajamas? baby spanx?

This picture is after his Saturday diaper free/nap time. It really is hard to be angry at this darling little boy.