Three Years

Dear Kinley,

You are three now! Where did the time go? We are so proud of you for the kind of little girl you are already. You are sweet and thoughtful. You are adventurous and of course, still sassy.

You are currently 36.5 inches tall and weigh about 28 lbs. Your hair is still blond and slowly growing and you eyes are now more greenish than they are blue. They were blue for so long we were convinced you were going to be blue for good, but over the last 6 months or so they have developed a little more green, and I'm actually excited about it. That is one thing I have always loved about myself is my eye color. I love having green eyes, and it is not very common compared to other eye colors, so I always counted myself as special because of it. I hope you see it that way as well.

You love to be outside. You love to explore and are so interested in the world around you. You love running. Dad and I joke that when we have a house we are going to have to put in a track in our backyard with how much you love to run. I have started taking you on "walks" wearing my running gear. You get to run and I chase after you, it's another way for me to get my exercise in. You love holding my hand and running with me, also.

Well, a month before you turned three we decided to try and potty train you again. This was our third attempt. The first two times were pretty rough to say the least and you didn't have a lot of interest in it after the first day or so. This third attempt was proving to be the same. Dad and I had gotten to day three with you. It was a Monday so Dad was going back to school and the morning had not gone well. I had told Dad and myself that if there wasn't any improvement by nap time, I was going to quit again and wait a few more months. While I was sitting at the table eating breakfast, feel discouraged, you went and sat on your potty seat all by yourself and when you were finished, ran into the kitchen yelling, "Mom! I goed pee in the potty!!" I was over the moon excited! I realized that maybe I just needed to give you some space and let you be in charge. Once I changed my tactics, you did great! We still had and still have accidents every now and then, but for the most part, you are my little potty champ. You gave up the potty seat all by yourself and now use the "big potty" exclusively (with a little ring insert so you don't fall in). You have fallen in once so far, which I have to admit I giggled at when I first saw you; you were not as amused, but that has been your only fall so far.

You love to talk, read books, dance and sing. Your favorite songs right now are still a few songs from Frozen, but you are loving the songs from Moana. Some other songs you love are: "I Love to See the Temple" and "Families can be Together Forever".

Your friends you currently play with are Luci McMullin and Liam Tate. Sometimes you and Luci have some power struggles, which makes having play dates hard, but you and Liam get along all the time! We love having these friends so close! As far as your relationship with Haley... it's a little hot and cold. I think you are wanting her to be bigger so you can play and tumble together, but since she is still so little, we are working on appropriate play with each other. Also, sharing has been a bit of an issue, but I was expecting that and we are practicing all the time. You will get the hang of it soon, I'm sure.

This year will have lots of adventures! We have a Glenn family reunion coming up at the end of May. You, Haley and I are going to California to see Na-ma and Papa for a couple weeks in June. We are moving back in with Gigi and Pa-do-work for the month of July and then we will move to our own place in August. Dad will also start his second and final year of grad school in August; and we also have Aunt Cara's wedding coming up in October. I'm sure we will have lots more adventures in between there as well.

Kinley, you are our little sunshine. You make us laugh constantly and we love your laugh as well. We love that you love nursery and learning about Jesus so much. Your prayers right now are so precious and I hope they stay that way. We love you, little sass! Can't wait to see what this next year brings!

Love, Mom

Christmas 2016. We didn't make it to church because Kinley decided to run through the mud...

First time meeting Santa

December 7, 2016

First attempt at potty training... FAIL

Alice, Haley and Kinley

Kinley and Aunt Cara

Friends on a walk. Kinley and Luci

introducing the potty

First time at Temple Square

Papa and Na-ma come to visit

Friends! Kinley and Layla

Kinley is 2!!

Dear Kinley,

Happy happy birthday my lovely little two-year-old! Two years of having you around have been so wonderful! Your personality shines through more and more each day and we love it! You crack us up all the time with your funny faces and expressions, the famous ogre walk (oh yeah, can't wait to tell you about that one when you are older) and just hearing your laugh. Your laugh is so contagious! It  is definitely Dad and I's most favorite sound by far. You are so happy-go-lucky and easy going... most of the time. Don't think we haven't gotten lucky enough to skip your "terrific" two's  stage. You are definitely testing the boundaries more and more, but I just keep reminding myself that it means you are learning and growing and that always makes for a happy Mamma.

Now for the stats: You currently weigh 25 lbs and you are 33 inches tall. Still petite as always. You not only have a long torso, but long legs as well. Currently you wear size 24 months, but are getting into some 2T's for your tops, but you are still holding strong with 18 month bottoms. (it's the fact that you are long and lean) Mom heard a theory a long time ago that if you take the height of your two-year-old and double it, that is how tall you will grow to be. We'll see how accurate that theory turns out to be, but as of right now you are projected to be 5'6". Dad and I were pretty surprised when we learned that. Even though it's average height I am not very tall, so we figured you'd stay on the shorter side like your mamma. We are anxious to see if it will hold true or not.

Other things you enjoy are being outside. You, my dear girl, would live outside if we let you. It is the highlight of all your days. You can't wait to put your sandals on and start exploring. You still love collecting rocks, but you are starting to branch out to flowers now too. Speaking of sandals... you LOVE shoes, especially your "fancy" shoes (church shoes). I think the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning, besides look for Daddy, is to put on your fancy shoes. It is so cute, but I think we might be in trouble later if this passion continues later in life. You are learning new words all the time. Most recently you started saying: thank you, doggie, blessy (bless you), all done, and want some. You coloring and you are such a good helper around the house! You throw some of your diapers in the trash, put your toys away, and put your bottles in the sink. We love your helpfulness!

Kinley is 18 months!

Miss Kinley is now 18 months old! Time has sure flown! She is getting bigger and her personality is shining more and more each day. Since the last update she:

-Started walking at 15 1/2 months
                     (Mommy and Daddy were beyond ready when she finally started walking, but also a little grateful for the extra time that she got to be "our baby".)

-Uses forks and spoons pretty well, but still needs help every now and then

-Loves broccoli, sweet potatoes and corn which = one happy mamma

-Is  a pro at bath time. She both LOVES being in the bath, but is also does not like to soak too long

- Still sleeps through the night as always and is still on two naps a day

-Loves running outside and she has become quite the geologist! She loves rocks!

-Had her first trick-or-treating experience this year
                      (she was a little taken a back with all the costumes, but she warmed up eventually)

-Had her first beach experience  2 weeks ago with Mimi and Grandpa Nunes and was in heaven 
                        (she is her mother's daughter, for sure)

-Loves swings and slides

-Still babbling. No real words yet besides mamma and dada every now and then
                        (although I'm pretty sure she said "baby" the other day)

-Has been on a total of 5 trips via airplane this year, with one more to go!
              (She is honestly really good considering the lack of space she has and the extra mobility she has gained, but each trip is getting a little harder than the last.)

-Saw our nations capital in September

-Loves brushing her teeth and is getting better about "clean up"

We sure love our sweet girl! Nothing has brought Matt and I more joy than raising our amazing daughter! There really is nothing better!