Mary Mary quite contrary...

Each morning when we wake up Mikenna's first request is to "water the fowders pease!"

So each morning I fill up the watering can and missy attempts to water the flowers (she spills about 75% of the water on the ground but hey, it's the effort that counts.)

"Wait.... let me slyly creep the neighbors for a second..."

"Ok, everything's cool. CHEESE MOMMY!"

Isn't she the cutest little helper?

Fairytale Town

Fairytale Town might be my favorite place.

I am so beyond excited that Mikenna is old enough to go this year!

We had a FUN playdate there this morning with Joanna and little miss Hannah.

"The cheese stands alone"

Seriously, for about the first hour we were there neither of us could get either girl to smile.

It was actually comical.

They had fun playing with everything, but with such serious faces!

They finally started warming up and smiling... (thank you girls, we are not torturing you!)

Kenna started jumping on the bridge making Hannah "bounce."

They both thought that was hilarious!

Future cheerleader? That's my girl!

"Jack and Jill went up the hill."

"CHEEEEEEEEESE!"

"The crooked mile" was definitely their favorite.

The girls were giggling the whole time in the playhouse over something neither Joanna or I could understand, and they were both saying "Whee-ee-ee!" the whole time we were walking the crooked mile.

They are so stinking cute together, little buddies.

"Jack be nimble, Jack be quick..."

Both of the girls loved the big turtle.

No, really... they LOVED the turtle. (Kisses? Really Kenna? Gross...)

Such a fun place, can't wait to go again!

My name is Mikenna, and I like to paint.

Do all 1-year-olds like to paint this much?

Artist in the making? I think so...

But... I'm probably a tad biased.

Sacramento Zoo

Ryan and I spontaneously decided to take a trip to the zoo for some family time with our little monkey.

Have I mentioned how much she loves "and-imals?"

Her favorite was definitely the flamingos, we had to go back to see them a second time.

We haven't been to the zoo since she was about 10 months old...

But when we went back then I had to pry her away from the flamingo fence.

She's a big fan.... maybe a future flamingo wrangler? (It's totally a profession... get off it.)

We also saw reptiles, fish, zebras, ostriches, monkeys, tigers, lemurs, kangaroos, and probably more I'm forgetting...

I love all of the little play areas scattered throughout the Sac zoo.

We had to bribe Mikenna away from the dump truck with a promise to come back.

When we went to see the Giraffe's we were able to pay an extra fee to be able to feed them.

Giraffe's are my hands down favorite animal so we did it without question.

Mikenna kept saying "here giraffe, get a cookie!" Kinda like a dog, only a smidge bigger.

Hehe... why are they so funny lookin?

Mmm..... lunch.

Before leaving we walked through the gift shop and Mikenna spotted a stuffed flamingo.

That thing has gone with her everywhere since we got it, totally worth every penny!

On our way back to the car we stopped to feed the rest of Mikenna's sandwich to the ducks.

I'm pretty sure this was her favorite part of our day, which reminds me... why do we pay to do things? She is so happy with the little things!

I love spending my days with those faces.

I started looking through the pictures from our previous year's trip to the zoo and was amazed at how much my little one has changed.

It's crazy what a difference a year can make...

Until next year zoo! (If we don't make it back before.)

Little Bookworm

Mikenna has always LOVED books.

We read books before she goes to bed and throughout the day when I am home.

We have read to her since the day she came home from the hospital, and it has always calmed her down.

She is becoming more and more independent and lately I hear her chattering away in her room doing this:

Always with a baby near her, mumbling away. 

The only word I usually catch is the title of the book she's reading. This one happened to be "Cyifford."

Grammy and Aitachi bought her a new, forward facing bookshelf, and she is one happy girl.

CHEEEEEEESE!

She takes all of her books out daily, and then puts them all back. She wasn't able to put all of her books away in her regular bookshelf, so I think she is just proud that she can do it herself.

Read on little bookworm...

The things she does...

My baby is 21 months old. (BAH! Closer to 2, please stop growing immediately)

She is sweet, loving, stubborn, focused, and very, very funny.

She "gets" jokes now and laughs very loudly and says "that's so funny!" (She's a great little self esteem booster.)

She is very much a mama's girl at the moment. (FINALLY!) I am soaking it all in.

She does and says some of the funniest things, and I wanted to write some of them down so I don't forget.

-Everything is a question. She raises her voice at the end of EVERY word/sentence and it sounds like she's asking a question no matter what she says. Anyone listening to her speak for the first time thinks it's hilarious. We are used to it, and actually the rare times she doesn't do it catches me off guard.

-She pluralizes just about everything. Our current favorite is the way she says "soaps" when she's in the bath. "Where'd the soaps go?"

-When we are outside walking around she tells me, "No step on the Jala poops!" or "Mommy keen up the Jala poops? It's too ucky." (Mind you, this is after all of the "Jala poops" are cleaned up.)

-I gave her broccoli for the first time without cutting it the other night and she said, "Mommy, I like the nummy trees!" The next morning she requested "trees" for breakfast.

-This morning she was jumping and trying to throw her ball at the same time and told me "I pay ba-ketball like Daddy!"

-She has finally officially figured out how to jump, and that's all she does all day long. Each and every time she says "JUMP!" It makes walking through a store extra fun... and very long.

-Every child we see is now a "Kenna" (they all used to be "babies"). Every woman or man is now a "mommy" "daddy" "grandma" or "grandpa." (Truly sorry to those we've offended, if you are over the age of about 50 you are a grandparent in Mikenna's mind.)

-She counts "1, 2, 5, 7, 4, 9, 10!"

-Letters are "yedders" and if she doesn't know what letter it is, she calls it an "R." (Apparently that's her default?)
-All of her babies and stuffed animals need diapers on, and need their diapers changed often. Mommy is changing lots of diapers lately!
-The other day I was changing and she told me, "Mommy, I like your princess panties!"

-She still makes the BEST elephant sound I've ever heard, I have yet to catch it on video, but I'm not giving up.

Mikenna is very much her own person at 21 months old, she knows exactly what she wants and how she wants it. Although it may be a little frustrating at times, that stubborn little spirit will be a great thing when she is an adult. I love the funny little sayings and things she does at each age... life is getting more and more fun! 

Happy Birthday to ME!

This year for my birthday I got the BEST gift ever.

(Kenna, I'm not sure I consider anything you have to suffer through 54 hours of pain for a "gift," otherwise this would be second, next to you of course.)

Anyway, my hubby did an amazing job at listening to me and got me exactly what I wanted.

I had no clue what he was getting me, in fact I had been a little irritated that our money had been so tight lately... little did I know he was actually putting money aside for this. Whoops, sorry babe!

I opened my present and instantly started crying.

Not the pretty, one tear runs down your cheek kind of cry either... the ugly face, borderline hysterical crying.

Here it is, in all its glory... my Nikon D5100:

Take a minute to take it all in... beautiful, isn't it?

Ok, I'm a photography freak and most people wouldn't be this excited. But I am! And that's all that matters!

I am a little bummed that I have been so busy and haven't had too much time to use this baby, but I've been playing around with it every chance I get.

Much more to come, as I figure all of these settings out (it may take me years).

In the mean time, a little sweetness for you:

Love her.