On Saturday, October 20th our baby girl turned 3! Where have the last three years gone?!
The past three years have been the most amazing years in our lives thanks to this little blonde haired, blue eyed beauty!
Our birthday girl woke up around 8:00. We started her morning by singing “Happy Birthday” (with the help of her little play birthday cake) when we went to get her out of bed. She came out of the living room to find her presents wrapped and ready to be opened!
We had her start with cards that came in the mail. I was surprised at how excited she was to open them! She wanted us to read each one to her and would smile when it said “Happy Birthday”! Then we let her start with presents from Lexi. New “click- click” Cinderella Princess shoes and the book Clifford’s Birthday Party!
It was a Strawberry Shortcake themed birthday so that meant lots of Strawberry Shortcake gifts! (The book Meet Cherry Jam, a storybook with little figurines and a playmat, a paint with water book, the movie Strawberry Shortcake- Sky’s the Limit, and a Strawberry Shortcake picnic blanket!)
After opening presents mommy ran with Auntie to Sam’s Club to pick up the food for her party on Sunday. Daddy and Kenna enjoyed playing with all of her new “fings” (as Kenna would say)!
Not only was it our little girl’s third birthday, but it was also UNI’s homecoming! With it being a 4:00 game, that meant the birthday girl was treated to a no nap day!
The weather ended up being pretty decent for an end of October game. When the sun came out we were able to take our coats off!! The Manfulls were super thoughtful and brought Kenna a gift- new Minnie Mouse puzzles!
We ended up leaving at halftime so we could get home, eat supper, and enjoy some time with our birthday girl!! We also had some serious preparations for the big party day on Sunday.
Kenna helped with the cupcakes. I’m pretty sure I heard, “Mom, can I “yick” it yet?” 100 times!! :)
At 8:26 PM we read the story On the Night You Were Born and thought back to that night three years ago when our lives were changed forever.
We thank God daily for the opportunity to become parents. We had no idea what parenthood would bring but it has definitely surpassed our hopes and dreams. There are multiple times a day when we look at each other and say, “Don’t you just love her so much?!”
Thank you Miss McKenna Rene’ for bringing us more joy than we could ever have imagined. You are the light of our lives and we look forward to watching you in your new role as big sister come February. You have grown up so much over the last few months and we wish you would just stay little forever! We love you!
At three years old:
*You weigh 38 pounds, putting you in the 95th percentile, and you are 39 1/2 inches tall, putting you in the 90th percentile! You’ve been in the 90’s just about your entire life so we weren’t surprised at all!
*You are definitely a daddy’s girl, as you prefer your dad over mom for just about everything. You would rather have him brush your hair, give you a bath, brush your teeth, read books, and play with you. It melts my heart watching the two of you together. You love laying on his back with your blankies on his head while he reads to you. You shed less tears when he brushes your hair. You get him to play Barbies and Princesses with you. It makes me giggle to listen to him change his voice to sound like a girl and to watch him help you set up all your girlie toys. You have your daddy wrapped around your finger. :) Even though I am sad when you tell me to leave the room or tell me no when I ask to play, I am forever grateful for the relationship you have with your daddy. I’m praying this will continue when the baby comes!
*We think you are pretty smart! :) You know your birthday, you can count to 20, you can spell your name (thanks to your laptop computer), and you can recite prayers word for word! You also know a lot of letters, connecting them with family and friend’s names, along with basic objects. When you see a letter you will say things like, “That’s my letter. M for McKenna!” “L is for Lily and for lion.” “E is for Ella, and Ethan, and Eli, and elephant!”
*You LOVE to sing! You amaze us at how quickly you pick up lyrics. Whether it’s a song on the radio, from nursery, or from swimming lessons, it doesn’t take you long to learn the words. Some of your favorite radio songs are: Carly Rae Jepsen’s- Call Me Maybe, Fun’s- We Are Young, Taylor Swift’s- We are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Katy Perry’s- Wide Awake, and anything Justin Bieber. Some of your favorite kid songs are: Tiny Tim (the turtle), I’m Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee, Donut Shop (from swimming), Ring Around the Rosie, Skidamarink- The “I love you” song, and the Hokey Pokey! You also know parts of the Disney Princess theme songs!
*You LOVE to read! It only takes one time for us to read you a book before you start memorizing the words. You do an incredible job of knowing majority of the words, if not nearly all. We love to listen to you read to yourself in your sweet little voice. You would sit in your room for hours on end reading if we would let you. You would have to be sitting in your pink chair and the door would have to be closed! Some of your favorite book series right now are: Strawberry Shortcake, Princesses, Clifford, Dora, and Little Critter.
*Eating: When we ask you what you want to eat you say, “Chicken nuggets, french fries, and chocolate milk!” It doesn’t matter what meal we’re asking you, this is always your response!! You also like Special K strawberry breakfast bars, fruit of all kinds, cereal (for breakfast and snacks), yogurt (with fresh raspberries), and milk is always your first request. You also like juice boxes, Gatorade, and pop. Every now and then mommy and daddy let you have a couple sips from their pop after you have begged us for some time! At the beginning of the school year we went through the stage where you cry when it’s meal time and don’t want to eat. Things in this department have gotten much better lately!
*Sleeping: Once you are asleep you are an amazing sleeper. It’s been over a year now that you started going to bed late. There are nights when you are in bed for an hour and a half and still wide awake. Although we love listening to you sing songs (most that you’ve made up), recite prayers, and read while in bed, we wish you would fall asleep earlier! We’ve tried many things to get you down earlier and we haven’t found anything that works, even taking your nap out! Thankfully you sleep in, normally getting up after 7:45 or 8:00. Most days I have to pull you out of bed at 8:00 as we are leaving the house for the day. Mommy’s very thankful that Shannon doesn’t mind that you arrive half awake in your pj’s on a regular basis! We’ve noticed your naps are getting shorter. Up until now you’ve slept for a solid 2.5-3 hours, sometimes even longer. Lately you’ve been sleeping around 2 hours and we’ve found that if we don’t get you down in time, you aren’t going to take a nap! Surprisingly you do very well on your “no nap days" and you aren’t a complete bear at nights so we are just accepting the fact that you like to be up late! (You are exactly like your mom in the sleeping department!)
*Clothing: You still can fit your 3T clothes, but majority is 4T. For shoes you are in a 9 or 10. You’ve learned how to dress yourself as of a couple months ago (with the help from Shannon)! You haven’t started picking out what you are going to wear yet. Mommy hopes this doesn’t start for awhile! However, you do prefer to wear your pajamas all day long (“I’m a jammie girl, Mom!”).
*Hair: Your hair is the longest it’s ever been. We decided to keep it long through swimming lessons because we put it in a pony tail. I’m thinking we will be cutting it as soon as lessons are over because you do not enjoy having your hair brushed one single bit! It’s rare that you don’t cry. Mommy is wondering where you came from since she has the toughest head ever! You’ve always been great about keeping bows and clips (barrettes as you call them) in. I normally let you pick which one you want. You’ve started trying to match your hair accessories with what you are wearing. That’s my girl! :)
*Toys: Playing by yourself is something you are really good at. You are easily entertained while playing with any of your toys or books. You could spend hours setting up your toys so that they are perfect. (You get this OCD behavior from your mom!) Some of your favorite toys include: anything that has to do with Strawberry Shortcake or Princesses, Legos, Little People, Barbies, or My Little Ponies. You are also into playing board games: Candyland, Discovery Toy Bingo, Zingo, Cooties, and Princess UNO. We are working on teaching you good sportsmanship by having you shake hands at the end of the game. You are actually a really good sport for a three year old!! (Maybe you are more like your mom in the department of competition!)
*Technology: We’ve nicknamed you “Geek Squad Jr.” because you are pretty much obsessed with anything that has to do with technology. You LOVE playing on our phones. This comes in handy when we need you to be entertained, but it can be a pain when you cry when the timer goes off!! You like drawing on Kids Doodle, ANIMAL games, Kids Zoo, taking pictures and videos, as well as looking at pictures, and watching home videos. You also love to listen to books being read to you on Storia on our computer and on Shannon’s Kindle. A few months ago you figured out how to put a DVD in the player and push play. You’ve recently learned how to change the source on the tv by looking for the “S” like Shannon on the remote. You are now able to start a movie all by yourself!
*Activities: This fall we enrolled you in your first swimming lessons at UNI. You are in a three and four year old class with 4 other kids. You impress us with your listening skills and the way you get involved each day. You are the loudest one singing the songs, knowing almost all of the lyrics. :) We also participated in Kindergym at UNI this fall. You played the shy kid who didn’t want to participate in the first station most weeks. This was the same thing you did when we participated last spring! Mommy and daddy would find themselves getting frustrated with you because we knew once you got started you would love it. Over the summer we went to a week long multi-age Kindermusik session. You were able to show cousins Lily and Ella your love for music! It was really fun being able to be in a class with them. You know how to ride your scooter, but haven’t quite mastered pedaling on your little pink and purple bike. You love to run, especially in your “running shoes” (this is what you call your Nike tennis shoes). You love jumping on our bed and always say, “I’m being careful” when we catch you in the act. You love your turtle sandbox and will play in it even if it’s cold out or if the sand happens to be wet. Jumping in leaves is something we didn’t know you were so into! You asked on numerous occasions if you could go out and play in the leaves. Maybe the reason you liked it so much is because you got to use your jumping skills. You try jumping EVERYWHERE, whether it’s around the house, from furniture, or when we’re walking down the mall. You are always jumping! (Maybe this is an area that you are going to be like your dad, as his vertical is amazing!)
*Favorite phrases/sayings: You have us laughing all the time with the things you say. Here are some we want to never forget! “You’re the best!” “I’m attending (pretending).” “I don’t phink (think) so.” “I just can’t decide.” “Do I look tootie (aka cute in Danielle’s language) Mommy?” “Yeah or no?”/”Now or later?” (when asking to do something) “No, thank you.” (you have awesome manners for your age) “Krista, turn it on already!” (wanted me to turn her movie on) “It’s just perfect!” (you say everything is just perfect) “A wipekin (napkin).” (when asked, “What should you ask for?”) “I’d love to!” (when asked if she wanted to go to Shannon’s) “I’m in time out.” “No, I’m a big gurl (girl)!” and to your babies we catch you saying “I’m so proud of you!” and “I got you!”
*Nicknames: Kenna, Kenners, Kenni, Nenna, Nen, Sis, and Buddy Loves
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