Cuddle Time

Dear Mackenzie,

Some choice Mackenzie quotes:

- When you were scared to go over a tall bridge at a play space last week, I said you could do it and you replied, "Okay, Mama, I will try my best."

- When you tried my lemon blueberry cake, you shouted, "It's amazing! Everything Mama bakes is so amazing!"

- When we all discovered weird green marks on our feet, you said, "Guys! What is going on in our house?! I'm so confused!" (Turns out I had spilled some green food coloring on the kitchen floor and we'd all stepped on it. Oops.)

 - "Guys, I didn't fart! I didn't hear it or feel it!"

- "This is Aurora. I'm going to put a baby in her stomach."

- You said, "Mama, Daddy, give each other a special hug for your anniversary." And then you pushed us together. (This was made funnier by the fact that I have told you and your siblings that babies are made when mommies and daddies give each other a "special hug.")

- You were pretending to be on a cooking show and said, "I'm going to add a cup of milk to make it sweeter. This recipe is so good, you can't wait to try it."

- When you were looking for me in the house, you asked, "Where is my beautiful Mama?" (Awww!)

- You crawled into bed and asked, "Do you want to cuddle with your little daughter?" (Always!)

Love,

Mom

Milking It

Dear Mackenzie,

Me: Do you want milk?

You: I want to sit on Mama's lap and hug Mama!

Done!

Love,

Mom

Slip 'n Slide

Dear Mackenzie,

As a former editor, I hate grammatical errors. But as your mama, I think your grammatical errors are the cutest!

Exhibit A: the way you say "ointmeal" instead of "oatmeal"

Exhibit B: the way you say that police will come "rescue" criminals when you mean that they will "arrest" them

Exhibit C: the way you exclaimed, "Mama's going to get slipped!" and moved the books that were on your floor out of my path when I came into your room with a basket of laundry

Love,

Mom

Insta-Famous

Dear Mackenzie,

I'm currently sitting at my desk while you are playing with your DC Super Hero Girls action figures on the floor next to me and I just heard you say, "I need someone to help me with my Instagram!" Oh geez.

Love,

Mom

Chicken Plants

Dear Mackenzie,

I went on a moms' vacation last month (my first time traveling without Daddy or any of you kids in 13 years!!) and you were not happy about it. During the days leading up to my departure, you kept asking me to cancel my trip. On the morning of my flight, you were still sad and asking me to cancel but as I was walking out the door, you suddenly called out after me, "Don't forget to buy me a present!" Hahaha!

When I came back home a few days later, you were already asleep but you woke up in the middle of the night, ran to my room and asked, "Where's Mama?!" I was in bed so you jumped on top of me and hugged me so tightly! Later in the morning, I asked you what you wanted for breakfast and you replied, "Mama hugs!" You also told me, "I love you more than a 1000-feet-high building!" Kenziebear, you are so sweet!!! 

You are also so funny. Examples:

- "I've been waiting for ages!"

- "Guys, what is on your phone that is so interesting?"

- "Shoo! Shoo!" (when you see bugs)

- The way you annihilated an ant with your palm when you saw it crawling across the floor--it was the teeniest ant but you smacked it so hard that it probably turned to dust.

- "Mama, they had to evaporate from Florida. Because of the hurricane."

- When you drank water that had been in the fridge, you said, "It's so refreshing."

- When you tried my apple pie, you exclaimed, "It's perfect!"

- You asked me, "Is Taylor Swift real? Is she real in this world?" (You are still working out real people versus real people who portray other real people in shows versus real people who portray fictional people. It's very confusing, I know.)

- When I told you that we were going to make jello, you said, "I'm so happy!"

- When we were at Target, I said you could pick out a new outfit for your Barbies. You exclaimed, "I get to pick one?! For real life?!? I'm the luckiest girl in the whole world!!!"

- You also told me, "I'm a girl who is really hungry" when I told you that you were asking for too much food for lunch (you requested dumplings AND a ham and cheese sandwich).

- When I was whispering, you asked me, "Mama, why are you secreting?"

- I was cleaning up your room and said that if you helped me, I'd have more free time. You replied, "More free time? Got it!" and then started cleaning up your own things.

- You came out of my closet smelling very strongly of perfume. I asked you which one you'd put on and you told me, "All of them." Yikes.

- While we were walking home, we saw a flock of birds eating seeds and you said, "Let's keep walking so that we don't scare the birds and they can keep eating."

- When we were scrolling through Netflix trying to find something to watch, I said there was a movie called Migration. You exclaimed, "I want to watch Migration!" I joked, "It's about tax laws!" You shouted, "Ooooh!! Tax law--what??" 

- In Migration, there is a plot line where a chef is trying to kill the family of ducks. Thus, I explained to you that sometimes farmers kill animals like ducks and chickens and that chefs cook them. You replied, "I thought they planted chickens." Hahahaha!

Love,

Mom

Mama's Helper

Dear Mackenzie,

I was cooking dinner the other day and asked you to put the box of couscous back on the counter for me. You did, and you even got a rubber band to wrap around the box and close it back up first.

Then today, we were getting ready to leave the house and I was running around like a crazy chicken like I usually do when we have to go anywhere all together. I asked your older siblings to help gather things but they engaged in some hand-clapping game instead. Meanwhile, YOU, the YOUNGEST child, got the snacks and water bottles and put them by the door so that I could pack them up. Thank you, sweet girl, for always being so helpful!

Love,

Mom