The McLaughlin Family: And we're back :)

Not that we were really anywhere....and that was the problem, I think, with my lack of posts these last few months. It wasn't because we were too busy and I didn't have time to sit and write but because I really didn't have a whole lot to write about let alone any photos to share. The last month or so has actually been pretty nice, getting back into a routine and slowly working on little projects around the house. The weather has been crazy (as I know most of you have experienced, in fact it is hailing right now as I type!), so photos haven't really been on my "to do" list. I much prefer to shoot outdoors and between the rain and my general lack of creativity lately I just don't have any to share. I do have a few i-phone pics I will post to try and make this entry a little more interesting :)

Monkey has been growing fast, like they all do. Has the walking thing down, working on her speed. Loves to climb on everything...it's like she thinks she isn't tall enough! In fact, we just had her 16 month appointment today and all Dr. M could say is "well she's really tall isn't she?". She is currently 35 inches tall (which is the average height of a 28 month old girl), but on the lighter side at 23 lbs. I think she would have been a little heavier but has been fighting a cold the last couple of weeks and hasn't been to interested in food. So as you can imagine, it is very difficult to find clothes!

As anyone with a little one will tell you, they amaze you every day. Matt and I have to remind each other that she understands way more than we sometimes think and have to be careful what we say. Something had spilled on the floor and I casually said, "Fiona, go grab a towel and wipe that up". She disappeared and came back with a wash cloth from the hall closet and started to wipe the floor. I didn't even know she knew what was in that closet! And the other day I was in the kitchen and she had wandered off to her room and came back in a few minutes later with her trash sack from her room and brought it over to the kitchen can and put it in. She loves having little jobs to do. After I change her diaper she grabs the dirty diaper and takes it to the diaper trash. It has been so much fun to see her figure things out and how pleased she is with herself when she does :)

We have a trip to Hawaii planned for May. It seems so far off, I have had the travel bug lately and am so excited to go somewhere. We are staying at a place right on the beach, which will be great for Fiona to play in the sand. The only thing I am not looking forward to is the flight. We are taking advantage of the under 2 yrs lap child policy which means we will have a squirmy little kid on our laps for 5+ hours....yippy. Other than that, not much else planned. I am hoping to get down to Salt Lake City to visit my friend who just had twins and see them, and possibly a trip down to SD to see family with my mom.

Well, I guess that is about it for now. I have promised myself the next nice day out I will pull out my camera...hope that it will be sooner than later but the forecast doesn't look too good. Until then, here are a couple random photos I took with my i-phone of the munchkin....