The Mac Kinnon Family

Mac, Emily and I went for a bike ride today. It's usually alot of waiting or slowing down as Mac can't keep up with me. I was a little bit ahead of him today and hear starts complaining, "Mommy slow down", "Mommy I can't go as fast as you", "Mommy your wheels are bigger than mine and you go faster", I chuckled when I heard the third statement, he so darn cute, how could I have not laughed and slowed down.

I had to say goodbye to my "Harley man" today. He hasn't been looking well for a few weeks, some days were better than others, today he didn't look so hot and it just broke my heart to see him feeling so crappy. I got my neighbor to watch the kids, another to help load Harley in the truck and off we went to the vet, hoping it was something easy but I kind of knew it wasn't. The vet clinic was fabulous and the vet was great. Harley already had some health issues, he had battled endocarditis and has a neuropathy in his hind legs causing his feet to buckle over frequently when he walked. His breath had turned horrible over the past few days, wasn't eating for days at a time, until I gave him sausage, and was just down and out. We ran some blood work and it showed he was in kidney failure. I had to make the best decision for him, I couldn't let him feel crappy anymore. Although my heart hurts, I know he now is running free and feeling great somewhere in heaven...

Mac has a new love of "short" pajamas. I had never bought him pj's with shorts, I don't know why, guess I thought Mac might get cold at night. Holly sent a care package of lots of clothes for the kids a month or so ago and in that box was pj's with shorts. Mac was immediately fascinated with them and I've had to keep them washed and ready to wear. Sometimes I get too busy for laundry and he has a melt down if he can't sleep in shorts so I would let him wear a pair of regular shorts to bed. Yesterday when I was at Wal-mart I picked up another pair for him, Mac wanted the "superman" ones, and of course it has an annoying cape with it. I had to wash them yesterday so he could wear them and wouldn't you know it he spills cereal all over them this am. Of course he wanted them clean to wear tonight, so I had to wash them AGAIN! His room does get warm at night, it's over our garage and with the hot days here, his room is the warmest in the house...

Emily had a bite of some sort of "ice cream" that Ana got her and Mac, can you tell she didn't like it. I think the cold of it bothered her! Too cute.

We had a busy day today, Mac had a really neat program at the Yorktown History Center. He learned all about games played in the colonial times and he got to make a toy. It was pretty cool and he was all jazzed when he was done. After that we went with our neighbors to the county fair. It wasn't full of carnival rides and your standard carnival fair, but the kids had a great time which is all that matter. There were numerous "bouncy house" things, slide, all kinds of fun play stuff. We also visited the petting zoo and Mac got to ride a pony and a camel. The camel was pretty darn cool. The firetruck was another big hit, Emily loved sitting in it almost more than Mac and screamed when I took her out. She didn't want anything to do with the animals, no surprise there, she likes them from afar, but not up close! Mac topped the night off with a temporary tattoo and a hug from smokey the bear! I'm sure he'll sleep hard tonight, hopefully Emily will too. She...

Emily's had a rough couple of days. She started being clingy and fussy off and on Saturday afternoon. She didn't sleep well Sat or Sunday night, Monday morning she was acting fine, after she woke up from her nap she was miserable. I think she is getting her eye teeth in and it's causing discomfort. I decided to take her into the doc to make sure she didn't have an ear infection. She checked out ok, they did a strep test which came back "slightly pink" so they gave her antibiotics. She woke up Tuesday acting fine, I thought we'll maybe it is strep, she woke up from her nap again miserable. She was up every few hours last night, then at 4:30 was up for the day. There still isn't anything obviously wrong, she'll be her happy go lucky self until she sleeps. We had a busy afternoon with friends, dinner and ice cream. She didn't get to bed until 9 pm, which is 2 hours past her normal time so I'm hoping and praying for a little sleep tonig...

My neighbor Ana had a get together today for the kids. She will be leaving next week, they are being transferred to Florida. They have been such wonderful neighbors and the kids love playing together. We will miss them. Mac and Emily had a great time playing in the sun and having some water fun.

This morning we went to one of Mac's favorite parks. We get out of the car and I asked Mac what area he would like to start in, he says "let's start in the baby area first for Emily so she can have fun first". What a thoughtful young man, I doubt it will always be this way but it was so sweet and I hope it lasts!

Happy Fathers day to all the dads out there. We missed John today, we got to see him via the computer to wish him a happy day. I wish he were here so we could spoil him! I wish I could have enjoyed the day with John, my dad and Robert, all of which are great men in our lives. Happy Fathers day to you, maybe one day will all be in one place to share in your day!

Almost every day Mac does something to grow more independent. As parents we work hard to teach our children to grow and be independent but sometimes it seems to be happening too fast. I know he's only 4 1/2 and we've got a long way to go, but it's so fun to watch him grow and think! This morning as we were waking up, he immediately says he hungry and wants breakfast, Emily wasn't awake yet. I told him I'd go get him some milk and we would have breakfast when Emily got up. He asked if he could try to get his own drink and some cereal, he was really hungry. I told him I would go downstairs and help, he asked if he could please try by himself. So I agreed. As I listened carefully from upstairs he used his stool, got a cup and bowl, got his cereal and milk. Poured his milk in his cup, poured cereal and milk in his bowl, all without spilling or making a mess. He comes running upstairs to tell me and wants me to come see how good he did, he was so proud of himself...

We headed off to a local farm that has a small array of farm animals with one of Mac's good buddies. They were doing story time this morning, which turned out to be a magician, Mac just loved it. After the magic show we went to visit the animals. Mac liked the horses and feeding the goats. He seemed really into the ducks, turkeys and peacocks too. Emily was a bit stand offish as she usually is, just as she started warming up to the animals, she put her hand in the duck area and it bit her finger. We enjoyed our lunch then played some more at their playground. It's a pretty neat place and best of all it's free. My favorite picture is the last one, Mac was trying to get one of the goat to come up higher to get the food, it ended up nipping his arm, his face was priceless! Mac was a very good boy all day today. He found a quarter at the farm, somehow he saw it on the ground by the pigs and worked very hard to retrieve it. He put it in his pocket and proudly walked aro...

Last time John left I had a few very hard days with Mac not listening and exhibiting some bad behaviors, which all seem to mellow out after a few days. Well today my normally good boy has turned into a challenge once again. As of tonight he has lost several privileges (no TV, no fun today), spent some time in "time out" and spent a half hour in his room, which he normally doesn't like to do by himself. After about 20 minutes I went to check in on him to find him happy as a clam, playing, wearing a goofy hat, his old karate belt and a jacket. He was having a grand old time. While I was glad to see him enjoying his room by himself, it was a bit frustrating as it turned out not be so much of a punishment! Ah well....

We are all already missing John, it was a short turn around before he left for another deployment. Emily woke up this morning and when I brought her into bed she immediately looked to John's side and started saying "dada, dada, dada", this am at breakfast she was asking for him again. Mac kind of gets it, he misses John and wants him to be home but Emily has no clue. We all love and miss John.

We had a wonderful time at the Outer Banks. The weather was wonderful and the kids loved it. Mac just loved every minute of it. When we arrived Sunday I was still under the weather so John took the kids to the park and for a walk. After dinner we walked to the beach. Emily didn't quite know what to think of it yet. Monday we had a full day. After breakfast we headed off to the beach again. Mac and John played in the water and Emily finally seemed to like it. She would chase waves then run back, it was too darn cute. Mac loved rolling in the sand, although the expression on his face doesn't seem so! After some fun in the sand we got cleaned up had lunch then as Emily napped Mac and John went fishing. Then we all went for a bike ride to get ice cream and we stopped to play miniature golf. After dinner we watched the sun set, it was wonderful. We had such a great family day. We woke up today to rain, we packed up and started our journey home which was much better then the ride th...

So the plumber came this am and couldn't determine where the leak was coming from...so we'll watch it. I woke up with the lovely bug that the kids had last week and John had on Friday, yes I started puking but I was determined, nothing was stopping our camping trip. We made it to the beach and it's wonderful. I had a "bucket" which came into use a few times, John had a few beers tonight which were much deserved. After fighting the kids to get to bed everyone is asleep and I'm joining them..... We'll post some good pictures when we get home Tuesday, Internet connection is not great.

So today was a busy day, yesterday John worked all day and was sick last night. We are all trying to get the camper packed so leave tomorrow on a 2 day trip to the beach. Our neighbors had a bbq tonight to see friends as they are transferring to FL soon. Amidst all of this earlier this week John noticed a "wet spot" in Emily's room (near the bathroom). He didn't say anything thinking Emily may have peed as the kids were running around for a few minutes naked after their bath. The next night he noticed the water spot again, as the bath was finishing and called me to take a peek. Again we chalked it up to strange but probably one of the kids. It didn't really smell like pee, but yeah well. The next night, no wet spot. Last night, again a wet spot appeared. There was also water along the wall in Emily's room so we called our home warranty folks. A plumber came out today, after 3 hours and a whole in the wall he still can't find the problem, John mis...

As John was unpacking from his last adventure, I came into the living room to John showing Mac how to hand cuff someone, then Mac doing it on John, oh what the kids learn in the Mac Kinnon household!

John got home late Sunday night, when the kids woke up yesterday the both were all over him and so glad to have him home (as I was too). They were so happy to see him. For the past two days both of them have been attached to daddy at the hip. Earlier today I took Emily home for a nap while John took Mac to the shop to get his truck looked at. For half the ride home Emily cried, dada, dada..... Very sweet to see and John soaks it up!

It's hard to believe our little peanut is a year and a half old. She had her check up today and she is right on track with all the normal stuff. She's still gaining weight well, but in the little peanut range! She is 22 1/2 pounds, 30 3/4 inches tall. She got 2 shots today, she was a bit crabby from that but overall did well! Hopefully with summer here we are done with the doctors office until flu shot time, we can only hope!

At 5 am I was awaken from a dead sleep hearing the dreaded sound of vomit......Emily's turn, poor girl. Guess Mac did have a bug! I'm still amazed that I can awake from a dead sleep hearing that lovely sound. Before I had kids a bomb couldn't get me out of bed, but hearing my child puking and I'm on my feet in seconds! Of a vomit bug to get, it really hasn't been too bad. Emily, like Mac, puked for a few hours, slept then felt ok. No fever and by tonight she was almost back to 100%. I'll continue to count my blessings, it could have been much, much worse! Thank goodness John gets home tonight!

Since I joined facebook I've been able to connect with some wonderful old friends including some that I worked with when I was in Richmond several years ago. It turns out Kim was hosting a "remember when the VEC" party for all the old staff, 99% of which is no longer works there and invited me to come to Richmond. It was such a great time and so wonderful to see many of the old crew I worked with. I look forward to meeting up with some of them again, it was a blast!

Just when I think everyone is healthy for a while......last night Mac gets sick. We had a great day yesterday just running errands and hanging out. I put the kids to bed and about a half hour later Mac calls out for me. I was in the middle of putting legs on a work table I just got so I told him to hold on a second. Next thing I know he comes walking into my room with vomit dripping off him...yes I was in for a fun filled night. After cleaning him and his bed up, I put him back to bed with a bucket. After laying with him a little while he fell asleep. Shortly after he's up again and hit the bucket this time. From 8 pm to 1 am the poor guy was puking/dry heaving every 45 minutes or so. I finally brought him in bed with me and he tossed and turned all night and begged for water. At 6 am I let him have some water, he held it down. He was in great spirits throughout the morning, I made him take it easy. Of course he enjoyed laying in bed watching TV. He would get up to play...

Mac was talking to John on the phone tonight, as they were chatting Mac says "Daddy when you get home will you put your swimsuit on and slide on the the slip and slide with me (slight pause), well you may be too big for the slip and slide but your not too big for the sprinkler". I was cracking up, what a sight it would be to see Mac and John running and playing with a whirly bug sprinkler!

This afternoon the kids and I were in the back yard, all of a sudden Emily started crying and holding up her foot (she didn't have shoes on). I picked her up, looked at the bottom of her foot and saw a something sticking out of her toe, by logical conclusion I think she stepped on a bee. I got the tweezers and pulled it out. There was a red area, a little swelling and it's a little sore. After a quick call to the pediatrician I gave her some benadryl and put a baking soda paste on her toe. She was good after that! I'm glad to see she didn't have an allergic reaction.

As I continue with some struggles with Mac, one of those is his lallygagging, often he goes at his own pace which drives both John and I nuts. Sometimes if I ask him to hurry, he asks me to be patient, or just looks at me like I'm nuts for bugging him to get going. Today as we were leaving the house to go to swimming lessons, we head out to the car and as usual I ask Mac to hurry up and get in his seat. Mac likes buckling himself in his seat, which takes a little extra time, but I like that he wants to do it. Anyway I get Emily buckled in, I'm in my seat with the car started and my seat belt on, Mac still isn't in the car, which is a regular occurrence. After me asking twice for him to get in and let's go, he finally is ready to go, 5 minutes from the time we walked out the door. When I asked him what he was doing, he tells me "watching the birds". Tonight as I was replaying our day in my head I finally came to the realization that Mac just enjoys life an...

After my workout today I decided to take the kids to water country. I have a feeling we'll be spending alot of time there this summer. Anyway the kids were playing in one of the kid areas that has slides, water falls, etc to keep kids entertained. As Emily and I were watching Mac come down one of the slides, he was a bit twisted and immediately started screaming. He hit his face on the side. One of the lifeguards came over to see if he was ok, then told him he was going down the slide the wrong way, which caused his boo boo. Anyway I didn't see anything cut or scraped, but by the time we got home he had a little bit of swelling and bruising starting. I'm sure this is won't be his only boo boo there, but we can hope it is!