The Little Everyday Things

Lena helped pick out and prepare dinner.  She wants to be a chef one day!

These days go by quickly.  It's a whirlwind of daily happenings...breakfast, chores, crafts, outings, quiet time, play time, story time, bath time, bed time, and everything in between.  I am in that phase when life is a blur.  And I don't want to forget the everyday things...the little things.

 Like when I tell Kinley to pick up the Light Bright pieces and she picks them up with her toes because she is just plain silly like that.  Or when Lena exclaims for the thousandth time in the middle of January " Mom don't you just LOVE Christmas time?!"  Or how they make little voices together when they play dolls or sing the "nigh-night " song with me or beg to be read Ma and Pa before bed.  Or how Lena prays for "everyone" and thanks God "for everything he has done" in the most grandios and general fashion every night.

 Or how excited Kinley gets about eating hotdogs with red dip. Or best of all those kisses and hugs right before lights out.  All these little moments are precious and I am afraid to lose them to time.

 I saw an eleven month old baby the other day and I realized that I've already forgotten so much. I am glad though to live in the moment and enjoy who my girls are now, in this stage, at this time.  And tomorrow I will enjoy who they are then at that stage, at that time.  And I just wish time would slow down just a little.

Lena Joyce: Five Years Old

 Miss Lena turned 5!!!  Likes:  Elena of Avalor, coloring, making friends, going to preschool, playing with Dad, swimming, Hawaii, animals, eating "cheese burger robots", and visiting Grandma and Grandpa.

Lena is blooming.  She continues to love people and has made several close friendships.  God has blessed her with the gift to make people feel included and loved.  She continues to stand out and make us so proud. 

McKinley's Two Year Pictures

Likes:

Playdough

Going on the swings

Mickey Mouse

Being with sissy

Eating yogurt and grapes

Her little stuffed dog "Ruff Ruff"

Dolls

Miss Kinley Jane loves people, can get moody, has lots of energy to play, and loves fish cracks and chips.  She is a girly girl who pays attention to her clothes and favors light blue as her favorite color.  She loves wearing sun glasses and jewelry.  She is a mama's girl and always needs Mom when she gets hurt or has a problem.  

 She is outgoing and loving but needs her space sometimes.  When she gets really frustrated or mad she will put herself in "timeout" and go lay down on her bed.  She enjoys and needs her sleep and .naps.  We are starting to see a strong sense of humor peek out of this bright girl.  Like her sister she is creative and loves art.  She prefers painting on white paper rather than doing art on coloring books.  She is an animal lover and enjoys being read to.

McKinley Jane: 18 Months Old

McKinley Jane - 18 Months Old

Our tenderhearted, fearless daredevil, Miss Kinley Jane is now 18 months old!  This girls is growing lightning fast.  She is still a Mama's girl and loves her time with me but has proven to be a people person like her big sissy.  Her Sunday School teachers LOVE her and think she has a big personality.  She is tough as nails and tender as a flower.  She will quickly scammer up to the tallest part of the big kid playground and slide down the big slides on her belly.  She will lay her baby doll tenderly on the floor, cover it with a blanket, and give it a big kiss and say "awwww".  She generally plays well with Lena and they often hug each other just because.   

18 Month Stats

Size 5 Diaper

Size 6-7 Shoe

Size 2T Clothes

26 Pounds

34 Inches Tall 

Naps once a day from 1:30-3:30

A doll among dolls.  Yes Kinley and Lena have a dozen dolls...literally.

Ready for a cupcake treat.

A little humor and Kinley's favorite "Baba".

This girly girl loves her tiaras, jewelry, and shoes!

Kinley HATES the sand but wants to play. She refuses to sit in the sandbox but will play from the outside.

18 Month Favorites

Book: Mickey Mouse Road Trip

Anything Mickey Mouse

Food: crackers, M&Ms, dip (katchup and ranch), and not much else.  She did like strawberries for a short time.

Toys: playing dolls with Sissy, her stuffed puppy, reading books, putting things inside something then taking them all out...over and over again. 

Playing outside (She is fearless and will go down all the big kid slides on her belly.)

Naptime and her "baba" (bottle) 

Dressing Up:  Our little girl loves anything girly: sunglasses, hats, tiaras, shoes, etc!  

Reading a Mickey book on a family road trip.

Juice and scrambled eggs is a breakfast staple in our house!

Getting into Mommy's cabinets.

Its always great to be outside.  Here she is enjoying a wagon ride.

This girl loves her dips!  She calls it "dit" and always gets lots of curious stares when she eats in public.

Got a pretty bad black eye from crashing into the bunk bed ladder.

18 Month Milestones

Four teeth and getting two more in the back

Favorite Words: Mama, Dadda, Nooo, caka (cracker), wawa (water), Give back!, 

Started coloring

First big black eye (from bumping the new bunk bed)

The Thaw

Five years ago today I got one of the most important phone calls of my life and I missed it while I was at my friend Sarah's baby shower.  I remember after the shower was over standing on the sidewalk outside the house nervously listening to this voicemail message....the message that brought news that would change my life.  March 5, 2011 was the day that Lena and McKinley were thawed as embryos after being frozen together by their genetic family in 2006.  We received this precious picture of these embryos four days after this phone call on transfer day.  Lena and her twin (on the left) were transferred to my womb and McKinley (on the right) was refrozen and kept in frozen storage for almost three more years before she was thawed again and transferred to my womb.  I kept this voicemail on my phone for four years...I couldn't ever bring myself to delete it and so I recently recorded it instead.  The Lord has done things in my life that I would never have imagined.  Miraculous things!  He is so very good to me. http://youtu.be/zHw6DwcRvjM

In Times of Sickness...

2016 Started out pretty rough for the Shackletons

First Kinley took a pretty bad fall hitting her head on the edge of our wooden bed frame.  It looked pretty awful for quite awhile - poor girl!

 We took a little trip up to Big Bear to experience the record snow fall up there while we stayed in Dan's Aunt's cabin.  It started out fun building snowmen and enjoying the view but Dan quickly became very sick.  I ended up taking care of everyone and soon Dan's head was hurting so bad we decided to go back home.  Once there we became increasingly concerned about Dan's condition.  It was the worst pain he had every experienced.  The girls were asleep and he was debating if he should go to the ER.  He decided to drive himself which ended up being a big mistake.  He passed out in the ER and was promptly admitted after many painful tests for Viral Meningitis.  He is looking fairly perky in this picture after spending nearly a week in the hospital. 

A few weeks later just as Dan was getting back on his feet, Lena's fever shot up to 106 degrees and she couldn't breathe and was throwing up everything.  We dashed her to the CHOC ER where she was admitted for complications from asthma.  She stayed in the hospital for two days getting care from the pulmonology department.  We had the hardest time getting her to eat...ANYTHING!  We tried everything from hamburgers to M&Ms.  Finally she began to eat and drink little by little and she was released.  Since she has been on her new medicine regimen her asthma as been much better.

Getting the IV in was a pretty horrible experience!

The Child Life Specialists were great about giving Lena fun activities to do.

Lena called her stay at CHOC the "Doctor's Palace".  Despite the fun activities she would rather not go back.

When she returned home a kind neighbor who bakes brought her double chocolate princess cupcakes to continue to tempt Lena to eat.  It worked. 

Valentine's Day 2016

Valentine's Day 2016

As usual we celebrated Valentine's Day as a family with fun food and treats including cheese and chocolate!  Lena had a special Valentine's surprise from her new friend, Max, at church.  They have become best buds and so have Dan and I become good friends with Max's Mom and Dad. 

Special flowers for Mom!

Lena is excited for her cookie and upcoming playdate with Max!

Lena and her best buddy, Dad!

Kinley and her best buddy, Mom!

Our Valentine's Feast

Treats for the girls!

My adorable Valentine girly girls!