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Sunday, July 19, 2015

Kaycee walking update

Just a quick picture-less post about Kaycee and her walking! She has been doing much better, especially on Sundays after a day in nursery. Seeing all the other kids walk is so good for her!

We had a play date the other day with my good friend Lindsey from the bank and she brought her 2 kiddos, Kherington (who is a month older than Kaycee) and Tristan who is just over 2 months. Kherington is an amazing walker and nearly runs everywhere she goes. Kaycee kept looking at her in fascination every time she went anywhere and ever since our play date Kaycee has been walking EVERYWHERE. She isn't holding onto things for balance anywhere near as much as she was before and she has learned in the last few days to stand up by herself without holding onto anything.

I am SOOO proud of her!! She has make HUGE progress this week! The therapist at Kids on the Move told us that if she wasn't walking by 18 months that we would need to schedule a follow up appointment and I've been stressed since she can walk but has been choosing not to. Well, that all went out the window this week! She's doing so awesome and I am so proud of her for overcoming something that was challenging for her!

Way to go, princess! We knew you could do it!

Service for Jake

I was listening to a talk the other day from General Conference called "We'll Ascend Together" by Linda K Burton. It's an amazing talk about how important fathers and husbands are, regardless of what the world is telling us. She asked some questions about when was the last time we praised them and did service for them and it made me realize how much I needed to work on that.

That morning during breakfast, as we were watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Daniel was talking about doing service for others because it makes your heart feel good.  I got the feeling we should make Jake his favorite cookies and that I could involve Kaycee to not only make a fun memory but teach her about service.

I found a recipe on Pinterest and we went to the store to buy the stuff we didn't have. We also went to Costco and got Jake some chocolate covered coconut almonds - his favorite. We came home from the store and put on our aprons to start baking!



She added a few of the ingredients and loved to watch while I used the beaters, then would pretend to help me stir. She stood so good on her chair and never tried to jump down. 


She LOVED licking the beaters! And she didn't put that measuring cup down the whole time!
She stood by me while I put them in balls and kept sticking her hand in the bowl to eat the cookie dough. She's just like me - I LOVE cookie dough!! While the cookies baked we had lunch and then I let her have a cookie so she could enjoy the fruit of her baking labors.


Right before nap Kaycee helped me color a card for dad too. It was hard to keep it a surprise for Jake since I wanted to send him the pictures but we waited until he got home to see his cookies. He was surprised and has told me so many times how yummy they are. I'm not normally a baker so that makes me feel so good that I found a recipe that I can make homemade cookies with! 


I've been looking for ways I can provide more service to Jake because he works so hard for us and completely deserves it. In addition to making him cookies, I gathered up all the garbage that night and took it to the curb for him and also picked up all the weeds in the backyard and added them to the garbage while he was having some down time to himself in the house. He was so surprised the next morning when he left for work and saw all the weeds in the garbage can. I absolutely love that feeling of knowing that I did something to make someone else happy. 

In addition, I had so much fun making cookies with Kaycee. I totally can't wait to do it again. I also was able to listen to a prompting from the Spirit to do something nice for Jake and to involve Kaycee. I've been praying for more opportunities and everyday teaching moments and this was definitely an answer to a prayer! 

Scottish Festival

Last weekend we went to the Scottish Festival in Payson. The McClellan / MacLellan's are Scottish so it was REALLY neat to learn more about our heritage!

Did you know Santa was Scottish? 

Our family has a booth! I immediately felt so cool! 

Jake's uncle John. The kilt is very close to our family pattern but not identical. 
Dancing on the stage to Scottish music with grandma and grandpa
Wearing our new Clan MacLellan shirts while we watch the games


Kaycee wearing one of our shirts - it's a little big! 
We had such a good time! Can't wait to go next year!! 

4th of July!

I love the 4th of July. It is one of my favorite holidays!

The day started nice and early with a work out with my mom and 2 of my 3 sisters!

Before the workout... 
Afterwards! 
After our workout I ran home, showered and changed and we went to the parade in Provo. We thought it started at 10:00 - turns out it started at 9:00. Whoops! We watched it at Brianna's house. She is Cassie's little sister and Brynne's best friend. It was Kaycee's first parade and she loved it!! 




After the parade we came home and Kaycee took a nap, then it was time to continue the festivities!


Someone hung a flag in the canyon by the G mountain in Pleasant Grove and we went to see it. Jake brought the quad copter and got some cool aerial shots of it! 


Kaycee pointing at daddy's quad copter

Then we went to my Uncle Bryan and Aunt Shauna's house in Pleasant Grove. The usual gang was there - Brian Delaney, Troy and his family, Uncle Gordon and Aunt Myrleen, Karlie and Colton (and Ryker in her tummy!) and Kajsa and her family were all there, complete with all the yorkie's too.

Kaycee loved playing with Jacie, Kajsa's little girl. Kaycee and Jacie - has a nice ring to it doesn't it?




Her first sparkler! 
We did fireworks at the house and then walked to the Elementary School and watched some there too. Jake flew his quad again and got some cool shots of the fireworks! 
It was such a fun day full of yummy food, family and fireworks! Happy birthday, America! 

Jeannene's Mission Call

The night of July 3rd, my family all came over to our house to open Jeannene's mission call! They had been on vacation in California but had a feeling it might come so they left a few days early to come home and it arrived the day they were traveling home! They got home at 9:30 which was past Kaycee's bed time so everyone came to our house to open it since Kaycee was asleep.


She was called to serve in Billings, Montana and will be report to the Provo MTC on August 19th!


So proud of you, Roo!! You're going to be a wonderful missionary!! 

Candy Bomber

On July 3rd, the candy bomber came through Orem and did a drop! He came when I was in elementary school in 5th Grade and it was so fun! I love hearing his story, especially in Meet the Mormons, and I wanted Kaycee to get to see him, even if she is too little. He changed the world with his 2 sticks of gum!


We were too late to get any candy but we saw him fly by several times.
Hot day and sitting in the stroller too long equaled a squirmy baby who wanted to get up! 
I'm so glad we were able to go and see him fly by! Talk about life goals - I want to do something so awesome in my life that I am remembered the way he will be!

Roseola

At the end of June, Kaycee got pretty sick. She had a really high fever that turned into a really bad rash. We took her to the InstaCare twice - the first time she was diagnosed with a UTI and the second time they realized they were wrong and diagnosed her with Roseola, a viral infection that looks scary but isn't too bad. She was VERY cuddly for almost a week and I slept on the couch with her the entire week.







Snack station complete with 2 sippy's to help her stay hydrated
Having ice cream and brownies at Grandma and Grandpa's to feel better
Her rash on the worst day 

It was hard seeing her so sick but made me that much more grateful when she got better! This is the sickest she has ever been and it was very scary for us for those few days. Having her tested for the UTI was one of the worst experiences of my entire life - seeing her cry and be so scared was absolutely heartbreaking. I am so grateful that she's normally so healthy and that this was just a really long week and nothing more!

Fathers Day 2015

June 21st we celebrated Fathers Day! Kaycee and I woke up and let dad sleep in for a bit and then brought him breakfast in bed and presents. Kaycee and I made him a card, love coupons, a framed picture with pictures of Kaycee spelling out "DAD" and a new helmet for his motorcycle!



After church Kaycee took a nap and we relaxed for a little bit and then Jeannene, Popper and my dad came over. Brynne and Blake were out of town so they weren't able to come. We had a barbecue and watched Mockingjay Part 1. It was so fun! Kaycee made him a matching card similar to the one she made for Grandpa McClellan. 



It was such a fun day and it was nice to celebrate the fathers in our lives. I sure lucked out with such an amazing husband, dad and father in law!