Well Baby Check Up

Well someone just had a birthday (besides Jesus)and you know what we do on birthdays? Yup, that's right, we go to the Doctor where they poke and prod and measure and check and discuss development. So here's the report.

Age: 30

Height: 5'7 3/4" and shrinking

Weight: 143.8 and not shrinking

Eating: too much sugar and not enough vegetables ...typical

Sleeping: continues to be a problem -could use about 3 more hours a day to fend off late afternoon fussiness

Cognitive development: declining -definitely something to watch

Reflexes: cat like

Areas of concern: communication -jumbles names together /can't finish sentences. too much screen time. potty training

25 years ago.

Duncan Sings...Kind of.

Duncan's Singing Debut from Holly MacDougall on Vimeo.

Killing Ants

We have ants in the shower. I know. I don't get it either? They must be adrenaline junkie ants -the fear of a spontaneous downpour wisking them away to a watery death must be the draw. Anyway, do you ever feel uncomfortably powerful when you kill mass amounts of bugs at one time? There I am with this big spray bottle of lysol wiping out these little life forms with just a few squeezes of my ALL-PURPOSE spray. I mean does anyone else feel funny owning a pray that says, "ALL-PURPOSE" and knowing that one of those purposes is death? Sometimes when I'm killing the ants I imagine what they must be thinking. Like when I see one clinging on just a little longer, I wonder, if he is looking for his brother, calling out to him in Ant language to see if he survived the attack? I already regret typing this last part but please tell me I am not alone in this.

Tide Pools

Last Saturday we went to the tide pools. We saw a star fish, sea star, lobsters, fish, dying crab, and lots of hermit crabs. I think I enjoy the tide pools more NOW than I did as a kid.

Doesn't Get Much Better Than This

Christmas lights on your Ferrari bed?? I hope he remembers this when he's 16.

Where We Eat, Sleep and Brush Our Teeth

Our new place! We are downstairs. Behind that fence is our front door and little yard.

My new kitchen. This picture is really embarrassing

We do have furniture now but like any good Mac family we have made the yard first priority. As soon as the house is a bit more decorated I'll post updated pictures.

Oh, how he missed the race car bed!

The before picture

The after picture in progress. Hopefully grass next weekend.

Sitting on our new garden wall. It's a bit uneven but hey, so are we!

Still melting my heart.

Experimenting With Photoshop

I have a long way to go, but look at that PIE! I had almost finished it before I thought to take a picture.

I'm Not "Crafty"

I've never considered myself "crafty". Probably because I still associate crafty with tole painting and scrap booking. I do, however, like to make stuff. Halloween inspired me. I made Duncan and Bennett's vests complete with handmade patches. I also made Livi's B-day cake. I was particularly proud of this one because, at the time, I had no Internet. It was 9pm and I knew I had to make this cake and had no ideas. I normally would just google "cute kid cakes" or something like that and get some ideas. I was a bit scared but it was actually really fun to figure out how to make these cute butterflies and caterpillars all on my own.

The butterflies are white chocolate covered pretzels and the holes filled in with sprinkles. The caterpillars are mini marshmallows stuck together with frosting.
For the flower I warmed up starbursts and molded them into petals. While I know this is very uh...amateur (even that's an overstatement)I think it shows that you can make a cute enough cake for a 1 year old with using the old thinker and some left over Halloween candy. I always loved my birthday cakes as a kid. They were typically still in the pan, with yummy homemade frosting, sprinkles and M&M's shaped into balloons or something. I think I'm going to stick to that tradition. No fondant -just butter cream, candy, cookies, pretzels, whatever. Nothing fancy =)

Yes, We Do Celebrate Halloween

We had an Animal Scientist and a Super Baby. Duncan originally wanted to be Diego but then told me he wanted to be Diego's Dad instead who is an Animal Scientist not an Animal Rescuer. So I just made his vest and put made a patch that said Animal Scientist. He loved it. Finlay was going to be a dinosaur. I bought the fabric and pattern but Halloween was really hot so I thought a skimpy super hero outfit might be more appropriate (not to mention a whole lot easier).

Oma's Pumpkin Patch in Lakeside

The greatest place on earth. This place had it all. More details and pictures to come.

Me Want To Go There

Sorry I've been out of touch (I just typed that and had to laugh. All my poor "readers"). I'm on a 30 Rock kick right now so most of my free evening time is spent watching past seasons on Netflix through the Wii. And if you didn't know you can watch stuff on Netflix through the Wii, I just changed your life.

(and just in case you forgot what we looked like and where we live)

(the only recent shot of Jimmy - by Duncan. He's not always so serious but his nostrils are always that menacing)

A Waste of a Night/Morning

Maybe I am just in a bad mood from the lack of sleep but I thought this was awful. There are things about her writing that really bug me. Like her inability to surprise me while making me feel like I should be surprised for some reason. It was pretty predictable. Anyway...I kept reading into the wee hours of the morning in search a good feeling. Wow...I really am in a bad mood.

(A Waste of Sleep...the original title of this post. After I woke up a bit more I realized that it didn't make sense)

Duncan Said

We have one Wii remote with a rubber cover. Duncan refers to this remote as the one with "protection".

Duncan was trying to say something mean to me and told me that I will never be bigger than a whale. (ouch...that one hurt)

Duncan named all his elephants. Here are the names: Bronta, She-bal, Nisha, Chunker, Daxer. We're thinking of letting him name the next baby.

I need a nicer mom (because I told him he couldn't go in the hot tub when he was already late for bed)

Duncan: What are you doing?

Me: Relief Society Stuff.

Duncan: It doesn't look exciting (he thought I said "Really Exciting Stuff").

Out of Order Pictures Part (-)2

So I started this post not realizing I had 3 posts worth of pictures to post so as a result, the first has become the last and the last the first. Thank you blogger. And just for your information, there has been no editing done to anything in any of these post. Just raw, uncut, uncensored, unspell checked material. Enjoy.

This is an old beach picture. (notice the SUN. That tell us it must've been spring because we sure haven't seen much of that this summer). I may have already posted it, but it's just so cute I couldn't resist.
Duncan's first campout. Fathers and Sons in Jullian. Obviously I wasn't there, but I heard ALL about it.
We've been to the Mormon Batallion Center twice this year. If you come to San Diego, this is a must. It's free and pretty fun.

Super Mario Brother's WII has taken over Duncan's world. It's pretty much all he thinks about these days. And he doesn't really play that much. Instead if you listen closely you'll hear him talking about the game going on inside his head. In fact, the other day he came downstairs and I asked him if had been reading books and he told me, "No, I was just doing what was in my brain."

Out of Order Picture Post Part (-)1

The crane. This very crane picked up a pool and carried it over the house and place it neatly in the backyard. "Crane Watching" -a spectator sport for children, grown up and neighbors alike.
The Crane showing off and getting everyone excited. I don't mean that in a dirty way.
Another day at the beach. I will miss you for sure (no plans of moving just yet, but I'm pretty sure the beach won't be quite as convenient wherever we do end up next).
Workin' those big brown eyes. Mommmy: "Yes, of course you can have your 50th grape. I don't care how many stinky diapers I have to change."
Duncan showin' no mercy. That ape didn't know it would be such a dangerous "play date". (read Duncan's shirt and this caption may be funnier...or not)

Out of Order Picture Post

Duncan caught in a questionable pose with the dot stickers. It's one of the few pictures I have of him this summer. I really need to start bringing my camera along.
Watching "Up" in the backyard. I would say even better than the theatre.
Playing with cousins over the family reunion.
Sisters and cousins...everyone needs some!
And this boy needs some clothes. This is his "cheese" face.

Boobs Only a Husband Could Love

I've had this title ready for a blog post for a while. It sums up perfectly how I feel about those things. Turns out Gabby over at Design Mom has some of the same issues going on so I'll just let her do the talking.

Do you ever get over it and start liking your post baby/done nursing boobs?

Duncan Said

Me: Lets clean these toys up before we go watch a show.

Him: But my body isn't really made for cleaning.

*nice try buddy. I wish I could use that one.

"My body isn't really made for cleaning up vomit" or "My body isn't really made for plunging toilets"

MacDoodle Update

*I just copied and pasted this little update from my family's website. Sorry about the weird spacing.
I've been inspired to give a quick family update. Finlay is napping and Duncan is in "not so quiet time". I can hear him in there making up his own stories to the books he's reading.
He even changes the voices for different characters. I must get that recorded some day.

We're still here in Carlsbad at my in-laws. We're gearing up for a big weekend and week. All 7 kids plus families will be here at the house for a reunion. Bedrooms are being fixed up.
Towels and sheets are being washed. Freezers and pantries are getting cleaned out. Sabrina is cleaning the carpets and that's just the beginning. Oh my gosh...and the BACKYARD!! Allan
moved the entire deck with the built in trampoline to a different spot in order to build twoconcrete slabs. One for the hot tub and one for the Aqua fitness Pool. We're praying the hillside can hold the extra 20,000 lbs or so. So, does anyone want to come visit yet? It is paradise for ages 3 and up and Mom's worst nightmare for anything less. Finlay is addicted to the
outdoors. Anytime that back door is open he is right there within seconds just waiting to make his escape. Talk about stress. He really keeps me on my toes. Good thing he is so cute. Like melt your heart, just want to eat him up cute. He gives the best snuggles and kisses. When
Jimmy gets home from work Fin runs to the door, arms wide open screaming, " Dad! Dad!
Dad!"

Duncan is now 3 and 1/2 and is amazing us with that little brain of his. His vocab is hilarious. And his desire to learn is out of control. His favorite books are the kid encyclopedias about
different topics like animals, plants, weather etc. Luckily we have a live in kindergarten teacher (grandma MacD) who will literally read to him for hours somedays. What will I do when it's just
us? Yikes.

There are of course difficulties combining 3 households. Did I mention Jimmy's bro. Bruce and his wife and baby live here too? My big problem is that I NOTICE everything. I realized that I
am a nosey nellie. Some how I need to figure out how to be more oblivious and not notice all the stuff going on around me. It's a bit overwhelming sometimes, but really not that bad. We
are looking to buy a place. We're taking our time, waiting for a raise in Sept. so we'll know
what we really can afford. Jimmy is doing amazing at his job. He just finished up his 4th month and already got promoted to team lead which is the first step to getting his own team.
In case you didn't know, he is an enrollment counselor at Ashford University. He is going to
start his Master's program in a few months there as well.

Overall we are so happy to be here in Carlsbad and would love to be able to stay in the area. Liz and I get together a few times a week and going to Mom and Dad's for sunday dinner is
always a treat. They make the best food! Now if only we could transplant all of you, life would be perfect! We think of you often and have all sorts of great ideas for cards and care packages which remain just that -ideas. Sorry. Lots of love!
-Holly and her MacDoodles