Kyle and Brittney

Oh the Joys - Mommyhood

2011-05-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

poor charlene has thrush (and guess who she shared it with). so until it clears, i am pumping. nursing has been a roller coaster with this one. she started to wean herself at two months - who does that? she only nurses during the let down and then doesn't want to work after it stops. is anyone elses' baby like this? so for the past month and a half i have been nursing as often as possible, then pumping immediately afterward for 15 minutes. which by the way is so hard to do with a toddler and baby needing your attention. plus, now i am washing bottles and pump equipment. before the thrush, we were trying something called a sns. what a hassle, but it has stretched nursing out this long. i wish my babies were good nursers. so frustrating!

purple mouth girl:

then there is this stinker. isn't she beautiful?! at dinner with kyle's family she got a balloon nemo (her FAVORITE movie). she loved it.addison got into my makeup before church. "how i look mommy?" ahhhh perfect addy. i love her face!

Charlene - Six Weeks

2011-05-18T23:29:00.000-07:00

does her hair look red to you too?! i love it.

kyle helped me with charlene's six-weeks pictures. the naughty charly wasn't really in the mood and cried or looked away most of the time, but i managed to get some great ones that i love. she sure is cute!love that her dark brown hair has a beautiful tint of red. i would love to have a dark red-head.not always happy, like i said, but she sure is cute.

Dinner at the Park

2011-05-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

carson and jen recently moved and are now in our stake. we have visited them a couple of times since they moved, and the other day decided to have dinner at the park in their neighborhood. addison loved getting out of the house (when you only have one car, and it's hot outside during the day, you don't really leave the house.)

for dinner we decided to make hawaiian burgers. if you know me, you know i can't eat classic hamburgers - kyle says i'm unamerican with all the foods i don't like. so to get around this, we make hamburgers with a twist. tonight's twist includes: carmelized onion, bacon, mango, pineapple, and a mango-pineapple sauce. it's totally awesome!

our setup:

cute huh? well, so is this girl, who slept for quite a while...... and this awesome griller. super cute. and yummy.looks awesome right? they were loved by all.
cuddled with my girl while kyle and addison played on the playground. fun family time.

Los Reyes de la Tortas

2011-05-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

a friend suggested los reyes de la tortas on her blog last month and since then i have been dying to go. it was featured in the show man vs. food and it's here in phoenix! kyle has been saying latley that we should go out to lunch, so we met up with michelle and jesse and my dad at the restaurant today. i ordered the sandwich featured on the show - del rey - and oh my gosh it was heaven. four different kinds of meat, an egg, tomato, their special sauce, and topped with cheese. it was huge, and as you can see, i couldn't even finish half! kyle and i also split a banana-mango drink. next time, kyle will order his own. yeah it was that good.

if you have any sense, you will drive yourself tonight to see how good it really is. i promise you won't be disappointed!

Two is Better Than One

2011-05-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

charlene napping. this kid cracks me up. i have no idea why she loves to grab the side rails of her rocker, but it cracks me up. she fell asleep like this. i think i text this pic to everyone i know. her and this pose of hers made my day.

i took all these pics with my kin phone. it has an 8 mega-pixel camera, and i'm pretty sure it's the only camera phone with that many pixels - the new iphone coming out this fall is suppose to also have an 8 mega-pixel camera. not that i can get it (would love to), but i was informed of this by my dad.

addison is adorable in her $1 sunglasses from target huh? she loves them and thinks she is so cool. she totally is.

rockin' the alfalfa hair-do. poor girls, they both have the mccleve elf ears! charlene is more like dopey though with that bald head! they love bath time. charly already knows what it is and gets so excited when she hears the bath water running. her wrists and ankles go crazy with excitement.
addy almost poked out her eye the other day. you can't tell from the picture, but the hole is triangle shaped and her skin is puffy. she was so tough and i know it hurt!
the girls love my once-in-a-while mid-morning runs. with this free double stroller we picked up before charly was born. so nice to have.

charlene is really starting to take an interest in addison, and addy loves her little sister. i love having two girls. i hope when michelle has her first, that she has a girl. girl cousin parties would be so much fun.
and yes, that is a huge bump and bruise on addison's forehead. she seems to always be getting hurt, and i have to tell her constantly to slow down. poor girl!

Gardening Away

2011-04-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

above and below: addison helping weed the ward garden. we did this for fhe as a ward today and addison loved it. we walked to the garden - an empty lot in our neighborhood owned by a member of our ward. the weather was great and we took our time coming and going so we could see the horses, goats, turkeys, cows, chickens and cats all our neighbors have. addy was in heaven, but charlene and i got sneezed on by a horse on the way home so that put a damper on things.it hasn't been very long since we planted our garden, but we are starting to see some of the signs that it is growing. i'm sure we will be eating from it soon! did i mention we planted 20 tomato plants?

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

both sides of our family got together for easter. unfortunately, i only got pics of the brown/ stradling dinner. we met at clint and debbie's around three pm with our food. we were missing quite a bit of the married grandchildren, but we all had a great time.

isn't this just the sweetest?

addison stopping for a second to smile for me. she had a blast, running around and playing with the other kids, most of whom she didn't know.all the stradling/brown aunts and uncles talking and having fun.

addison playing with her second cousin sophie. love those cute curls!the older cousins played flag football with carson and todd as referees. the game got quite intense when brian and allison trotter's little zeke - 15 months- took off with the football to the playground. it was so funny. watching the game and talking:

earlier i took some easter pics of the girls. it didn't go as well as i had hoped. charlene cried much of the time, addison picked up and dropped my camera, it was nap time, and it was hot. plus i did this shoot without kyle to suprise him. i did get some cute shots of addison, but she wasn't really in a listening mood. next time: cooler weather, napped kids, kyle, and bribes - lots of them.the sun was a bit bright for my pics, but these are sure cute huh?i couldn't get a shot of charlene looking at me, she was too interested in her bright dress.had this pose worked like i'd had it in my mind, it would've been beautiful. charlene cried the whole time and addison just wanted to throw her down. all well.i love addy's adorable smile in this one. she's such a good sister.

Backyard Playtime

2011-04-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

charlene is getting cuter everyday! yesterday we watered our garden (it's doing so well!) and pushed the girls in the swings fir a bit afterward. they loved getting outside. we'll have to do it more often before it heats up too much.

below: check out charlene's feet. her legs are always straight out like that, and she's always rotating her ankles - she cracks me up.beautiful girl! love those cheeks!addison decided it was her turn to push charlene. she started talking to charly in a cute little voice like an adult would talk to a baby - she catches on so fast.as you can tell, charlene loved it.when i ask addy to smile, this is what she gives me:all well.

Attitude Changes

2011-04-05T17:37:00.000-07:00

lately, this is what charlene looks like when i hold her...

and when daddy holds her...stinker.

Painting Grandma's House, Some More

2011-03-27T16:27:00.000-07:00

our mccleve family got together again to paint more of grandma's house. we didn't have as great of weather as we did last time, but it was still fun getting together and teasing eachother. mccleve's always tease.

a perfect example: kyle helps me get a photo of jalee even though she looks "terrible".getting those hard-to-reach places was made much easier with grandpa's tractor.you know you're not working hard enough if there's not paint all over you. my dad was probably the cleanest of his brothers. it was fun to watch them try and stay clean. didn't last very long.caiden cleaning out a spray gun.caleb was everywhere. kyle and i got a kick out of watching him strip down in the irrigation. this kid ahas a ton of personality.strpping down and staining the front door.

taking a break for lunch.some of the grandkids talking business over lunch.addy, she's so darn adorable. and stubborn.our painting equipment mess left in grandma's garage. going around and cleaning up at the end of the day. this is the part where everyone wants to just go inside and take a nap.looks great with the main color though. just a bit to finish. almost done.

Changing

2011-03-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

we're really excited to plant our garden this year. again we're planting at the same time as our ward garden is getting started. it's gonna be bigger and better than last year, and hopefully will last longer.charlene and addison are awesome friends. charlene loves to watch her big sister run around in circles and addison thinks it's hilarious of herself to entertain charly. charlene and i left the house today and came back with a new hair cut and color and peirced ears! we love our new look.i pulled this outfit out the other day, it was one i wore as a baby. so fun to see it on charlene, but i don't think she enjoyed it very much.adorable, isn't it?! love my chunkster.

Cousin Plays

2011-03-11T17:38:00.000-08:00

time with cousins is the best. it's even better when you have a trampoline and a hose.

maeli was jumping and landing on her bum and also sliding her legs out until she'd fall. addison trying to copy her but too scared to make herself slip as well, would start to slide her legs apart, then jump on her bum and say, "slip mommy!"

"slip mommy, whoa!"

it's too weird to drink from the hose, so licking it off the tramp makes much more sense.

love saggy "unerwear" on addy. she's adorable.

Bath Time Is The Best

2011-03-08T00:51:00.000-08:00

bathtime is a favorite in the mckay household. as soon as we announce it, addison strips herself down and charlene gets excited when she hears the bath water running. showers with mommy or daddy are a hit too. since charlene was born, addison sometimes want to be held in the shower just like her little sister. we have many bath toys that come to life with daddy's and addison voices and the conversations they have are funny to hear.

Baby Hairdos

2011-03-05T00:39:00.000-08:00

if you don't have your hair already done when your aunts come over, it's okay, they'll do it for you. then they will laugh and show you around and then take pictures. sumo charlene!
doesn't she look like my dad, papa mccleve?!

A McCleve Project: Painting Day 1

2011-02-27T12:29:00.000-08:00

grandma said that when her and grandpa built this house, they knew they would need to paint it someday. here in county island and all around there have always been dirt fields. and even though there aren't as many as when grandma and grandpa moved in, the house over the years has soaked up a lot of dirt and grim. so yesterday morning, everyone met at grandma's for breakfast and then we started working outside.
my dad makes the best french toast out of stale french bread. the key is lots of love (or butter) as he says. we ate the french toast with hash browns, sausage, ham, and oranges.

charlene and addison were so awesome the whole day. i was so greatful. brookie was right when she said it was one of the lord's tender mercies. kyle brought charlene's cradle upstairs so i could hear her and she hardly ever made a peep. addison and caleb kept each other busy until she papa mckay came to get so he could take all the grandkids (they were all in town) to amazing jakes. she had a blast and didn't want to come home.

the first thing we had to do was power wash the whole house. there was trouble getting grandma's power washer to have enough pressure, so someone made a quick run to the store to rent another one.

and even though it might not look like it, power washing is a long, hard job. your arms get tired from holding the out so long, your face is tired from squinting to keep out the water that sprays back at you, and you are soaking wet by the time you are done. we were lucky to have great weather that wasn't hot, it even got cold by late afternoon, but kevin did most of the power washing and it took him all day. by the time he he was done, the wind was whipping around and it was cold.

kenna and jalee scraping the walls flat.

i love this. there's always an uncle on their smart phones or ipads.

there were two spray guns going and that helped to get as much done as we did. ladders and step stools were everywhere. oh and plastic. we had a nightmare trying to get it to stay in place with the winds we were having.

not only did we start painting the house, but we also got the storage area of the backyard on it's way to being weed -free and organized. i grabbed all the grandkids that weren't helping with the house and put them to work cleaning up here. not done yet, but it sure looks better.

we burned all the dry weeds and some of the green ones too. it was a lot of hard work, gathering, throwing away, and shoveling.

kyle was the runner who went on the roof to help paint the eaves and i couldn't watch because i was too afraid for him.

taking off the tape and paper.

the painting mask is just sitting on his head here, but i wish i would've snapped a picture when he had it pulled down over his face. my dad loves ridiculous hats and i think loren said this one was grandpa's.

these next two pictures are what the house looked like at the end of our first day painting. we finished all the pop out color and much of the eaves. still have a ton of work to do, but it looks great so far!

oh, and here is what the house looked like before we did anything.

A Little Bit Of Sass

2011-02-26T00:48:00.000-08:00

she is changing so much lately. maybe it's part of being two? she puts more words together and talks about new things that kyle and i haven't taught her. she's constantly making us laugh and we both find ourselves running through the house to find the other and share whatever the newest addyism is. we enjoy her so much. kyle and addison have a special bond. kyle acts like more of a friend to her sometimes, asking me if she can come out of bed because she's not tired yet, or can she please be done with dinner - she's just so full and wants a cookie, or how asks me how i can ever say no to that face. he makes me feel like a meanie sometimes. some days i give in.

she is still so skinny and has to hold up her pants when she runs so they don't end up around her ankles. she's so skinny, in fact, that she still wears her 12 months jeans and they are finally getting tight. i'll be glad to retire those pants that looked more like bermuda shorts on her.

love her huge mouth!

we have a hard time when we are away from this squirt and find ourselves passing the time by acting like her or quoting her. then we bust out laughing. try it. it's so much fun.

we gave addy the green light to act crazy and run around for these pictures, so it was hard to reign her in for a few with me, as you can tell. her faces just make me laugh. what is she doing?

her 18 month shorts just slide right off her bum. we'll have to wait a while longer before they really fit her well. otherwise i do love "unerwear" on a cute pair of squishy buns. sometimes she'll come up to kyle and i and let us know we can pinch her buns. so of course we take the opportunity and pinch away, and we are always sure to thank her later for letting us. she is just so nice to share!

she totally needs to be a model. i would just tell her where to stand and she would do her own thing for me as i walked around getting different angles. give it to me baby!

she's so happy!

it's so hard to contain all that cuteness when you're newly two and totally awesome! thanks addy, i'll be sure to book you again.

Terrible Twos - Here We Come

2011-02-21T12:49:00.000-08:00

addison's birthday snuck up on us. she has really changed since charly was born and especially this last month. it's so fun to see what she learns by observing the things around her, she catches on so quickly!
we celebrated at papa mckay's the day before her birthday. aunt jen helped addy light the candles... and then she blew them out. love the leftover dinner on her face.

opening her first present from jen. if anyone has been around addison lately, they know her favorite movie is finding nemo so it wasn't a suprise when her gift was her very own...

NEMO!

and she's in love. the rest of the day was spent making nemo swim and playing hide and go seek with him. (yes she still talks to her animals and kyle is their voice. so cute.)all the grand kids go matching clothes. all the girls have this cute pink shirt from grandma with matching pink shorts and cameron has a coordinating outfit. love it!

more books!

her favorite present was having uncle kirt come home for a week from flying planes in oklahoma. kirt loves her too. below: jen, addison, and kirt.

the next day at papa mccleve's addison got her own water and sand box to play in. she loves the attached umbrella and detaches it so she can walk around with it.

kyle and i gave her a few more books, some doggy slippers, and her own pink sunglasses. the sunglasses are her favorite and she goes everywhere with them and shows them to everyone. she even shares with charly every once in a while.

most of the time i can't believe she is two already, but then she gets sassy, and i believe it. love you addison. you'll always be my baby girl!

We Just Think You Look Good In White

2011-02-06T23:01:00.000-08:00

name that movie. it's one of my favorites: the best two years. if you haven't seen it, do and you will laugh your head off. promise. and if you don't, well maybe there's something wrong. just sayin.

i can't believe we've had her in our family for two months already! today, at exactly two months old, charlene was blessed. it was beautiful and i'm thankful for all the family that came to support us. we were lucky that kyle's brother kirt was able to come too. he was suppose to be in town the week before but got delayed. so we were only missing kyle's oldest brother shawn.

so here we have some pics of our beautifully blessed charly. she's wearing the same dress addison was blessed in.

i love her sweet little pout and crop of hair. she's just so adorable.

after the block, we had a party to celebrate charlene's blessing day. and just like after addison's blessing, we had navajo tacos. it was so fun to have everyone over! below: kyle's mom julie, my mom camette, janell, and great grandma mccleve

addison was having too much fun to stop and go potty, so she peed her pants in thebackyard. this is kyle multitasking: watching her in the bath and eating. as you can tell, he takes his job very seriously.

below: all tuckered out. we sure do love our charly!

Gone

2011-02-05T13:52:00.000-08:00

i don't know when it happened, but charly lost the hair that was growing on the back of her ears. i am so sad about it. i meant to take a picture of how the short hair curled around to the front of her ear, but i never did. that hair was the last thing charly had to connect her to newbornness and it's gone. to say i'm dissapointed is a huge understatement. so, gone is the newborn cry, the newborn smell, her little quivering chin, and now the last of the soft, fuzy hair that covered her sweet body. she was a newborn yesterday, but today she is a baby and tomorrow she will be a toddler. i am already missing newborn charly, she grew so fast.

maybe the next baby won't grow in the blink of an eye. doubt it though, they're all stinkers.

Kyles Notes

2011-02-02T01:06:00.000-08:00

i stay up late by myself often. last night was one of those nights and when i went to bed i found a note on my pillow from kyle. he had drawn a picture of us cuddling in bed with instructions for me to give him a big kiss when i got in bed. he is so thoughtful and i just love him! since we have been together, i have saved all notes and poems that he has written to me and i love to spend time and read them.

our first valentine's day when we were engaged, i woke up to find a bouquet of flowers and hearts with notes taped all over my car. i kept all of them and am so glad i did. no matter what has happened on any given day, if i find a note and read it, it makes my day better. kyle is a great person with a big heart who is always looking out for me, making sure i have everything i need and telling me how much he loves and appreciates me. he is the best.

Dolled Up

2011-01-23T23:11:00.000-08:00

i have been waiting for addison's hair to grow out for a long time so i can finally do more creative things with it. it is still not long enough to do all the things i would like (braiding will be so fun) but i do have fun with it.

i always give addison something to play with or read while i do her hair. today she read and played with my over sized makeup brush. this is sassy addy: i love her wild hair. we looked at her reflection and laughed a lot, calling her hair "crazy". she loved to look at herself.

side note: you can see writing on the mirror where i wrote what started out as a love note to kyle and turned into me asking him to switch the laundry when he woke up. i think he was disappointed.

addison loves to suck on the hair spray bottle for some reason. one time when sucking on it, she angled the nozzle just right and got sprayed in the mouth. i laughed and she made a face, trying to use her fingernails to scrape her tongue. surprisingly, she still sucks on the bottle.

talking to her reflection:

finished and beautiful, ready to face the day.

We Love Bath Time with Grandma

2011-01-23T18:09:00.000-08:00

this is what happens when your family gets halo reach for christmas. they become zombies in front of the tv, who only get up every couple hours to eat and go to the bathroom. as you can tell, kinsey loves it too and plays anytime someone will let her. (she kinda kicked jesse's butt the other day, but in all fairness it was his first time playing and he killed her a couple times too.) kyle asked for an xbox game for his christmas present, but i knew better than that. sorry kyle.

while the men (and kinsey) played reach, i decided it was time for charlene to have a bath. my mom LOVES to give babies baths. while i got charly ready, mom scrubbed the sink. she has this whole routine when it come to their baths, and a clean sink is first on the list. i handed a very cute, very naked charlene to my mom. she made sure the water was the right temp and started soaping up my chunky baby, scrubbing every crevice and lifting every roll. charlene loved it. she was kicking and splashing the whole time. she got serious when the camera came out, but i swear she was all smiles seconds earlier.

next comes lotion time. mom insists the lotion must be rubbed everywhere, even the bum. i personally won't be smelling that area, but she insists. if i try to stop her and tell her charly is cold, or she might pee, my mom will just start rubbing her lotion on faster. as a baby, addison peed on her several times.

this was charlene's first time being bathed and lotioned by grandma. she didn't like being exposed during lotion time, but loved everything else.
clean, smelling good, and all snuggled up. she fell asleep promptly.

Baby Time

2011-01-21T17:52:00.000-08:00

charly mae took newborn pictures of this beautiful baby girl. she was a little older than the typical age to take newborn pictures - six weeks. it was harder and took more time to get her to sleep and stay that way, but i enjoyed it. totally in love with all her squishiness. love my girl.

A Quiet Moment

2011-01-18T12:16:00.000-08:00

i was on the computer the other night when i realized addison and her daddy had been awfully quiet for quite some time. i got up to check on them and found this...notice addison telling me to be quiet while her daddy sleeps in her house. kyle had gone in there to play with her, but obviously fell asleep, even with toys making commotion around him. so tired. it was so cute. love his legs hanging out like that.

a close up of the tuckered out daddy inside the hippo house...addison was using kyle's legs as a seat while she tried to take off her jammies. this is as far as she got before she gave up. adorable.

Ending 2010

2011-01-15T21:58:00.000-08:00

we rang in the new years at my parents' home where my sisters were hosting a party. they had a lot of fun food made when we got there and i took the opportunity to eat as much of the homemade spinach dip and salsa as i could. all the furniture had been moved from the family room and into the living room to create enough space to play their xbox connect. the living room was made into a movie theater where the new release inception was projected onto the wall.

at midnight everyone at the party followed my parents to light their fireworks on top of their black barrel. a few other neighbors on the street did the same thing, but not too many people were outside surprisingly. after my dad had lit all of his fireworks, (not the most amazing display, but the stores aren't allowed to sell the good stuff, bummer) porter mclaws asked my dad to light his firework - a cherry bomb he smuggled from mexico. of course my dad did, and as he was quickly walking away from the cherry bomb it exploded, sending out a huge aftershock that pushed him forward. the noise was huge and i was shocked that such a small thing made such a big bang.

after everyone left, kyle and i were too tired to leave so we spent the night. addison of course loved every minute of it. the next day michelle and jesse came over with their puppy jet whom addison loves. so cute to see them play together.

some goals i have for myself this year are:

organize my time better. i have so much time that i waste everyday with things that aren't productive. if i prioritize my list of to do's i will be successful with the rest of my goals so this is the most important one to me.
lead a healthier lifestyle. while i have an idea of how much weight i'd like to lose, i'm going to focus more on preparing healthier meals and exercising several times a week.
going along with preparing healthier meals, my next goal is to come up with a meal plan for dinner every week so we can eat a healthy dinner as a family. family dinner is important to kyle and i, and making this a habit now will make it easier when my kids are grown to keep it up.
exercise. specifically, running. right now i am a couch potato. i wasn't active at all while pregnant with charlene but i hope to change that. as a senior in high school i ran cross country and our meets were always three miles long. i hope to work up to jogging three to five miles several times a week. this will prepare me for a half marathon i want to run at the end of the year.
play with my girls and go on more dates with my cute hubby. spending quality time with my family all together and one on one with each of them. kyle gave me a dating jar of ideas for christmas in 2009 and we hardly ever used it. i would love to change that. of course i will try to document as much as i can with my lens.

this is gonna be a great year.

A Very McKay Christmas

2011-01-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

we woke up and spent the first part of christmas morning with great-grandma mccleve. it was so fun to watch addison open up her presents that santa got her. she was so excited about everything.

we gave grandma a picture of our family with my parents and siblings - (for the picture we took that red couch she is sitting on and posed around it. very cute.) addison checking out her walking and barking dog with daddy. all her pants are too big on her and we constantly tell her to pull her pants up:

then we went to my parents' home to open more presents and eat breakfast. charlene had a blast and was quickly tuckered out so jalee was first to hold her. i think charly looks very comfy here. makes me want to cuddle with her so bad.addy ripping the wrapping paper off (of course she was the center of attention) ...

and daddy assembling her new bike from grandma and grandpa.christmas breakfast: dad's famous french toast made from italian bread and fried with so much butter (or love as he calls it) that your arteries start to clog while you watch it cook. homemade buttermilk syrup and fruit top it all off. best breakfast ever.daddy and addy in her "hippo house". she LOVES it. she is into building forts right now and this present could not have come at a better time!great-grandma charlene brown-stradling holding baby charlene mckay. love it. trying out her new bike. we love that daddy can push her right now until her legs can reach the pedals a little bit better.we left around late afternoon and went to kyle's parents' where the whole mckay clan was gathered for food, a movie exchange, and tons of laughs. babies were passed around and pregnancy stories were exchanged. some fell asleep from full tummies. it was perfect.

after extended family left, we opened presents.

below: addison and her cousin cameron eating together christmas night. love cameron's cute little dimple!unfortunately this is where the pictures stop. i got a few more repeats of addy and cameron but, if i don't take the pictures, none get taken. charlene made it clear i was not to put her down for the rest of the night. i feel terrible about not having more pictures to document to fun, but i will get better at juggling the camera with everything else!

one thing's for sure: christmas is so much more fun when you have kids!

Rainy Day

2010-12-28T16:48:00.000-08:00

poor addison has been cooped inside for a long time. i have many excuses for not wanting to go out with her: i'm pregnant and tired, it too hot, i need to get other things done, she need a nap, i need a nap, and the list goes on. well i am no longer pregnant, it's not hot anymore (in fact it sometimes is too cold), and addy needs to get out. so while charlene was sleeping i got addison and myself prepared for the beautiful rainy weather outside and we took the "bwella" out with us. here we are in our matching hats. love how she put her hands on her knees all by herself, she's a poser!she loved it so much she kept it on the rest of the afternoon - how adorable is this picture?

i let her get those pink pants wet, splash in the puddles, and touch the rainwater. showing kyle and i the "wocks" she discovers has become a favorite pastime and grandma mccleve has a big collection to look at. sometimes on our way out the door she'll even pick up chunks of cement and think it's a rock so she'll hold it in her hand for the entire car ride. it's so cute to look back and see her holding her special "wock". here she had to show me just about every rock there was in the backyard. she got so excited when i "ohh" and "ahh"ed everything she brought to me.then daddy came out and she asked him to take her to see spike and caden next door. so this is kyle walking her over. it was a fun day for her. she got to play outside with mommy and then with cousins.

Christmas Traditions

2010-12-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

we just got back from kyle's parents house. addison is loving that maeli and cameron are in town and is so worn out from all the "cousin plays" as kyle likes to call them. we watched "tangled" in the theater while grandma and grandpa took care of cameron, addison, and charly. later for dinner we of course went to the mckay favorite - texas roadhouse. we will have a movie gift exchange with all the mckays tomorrow night.

kyle took several pictures and heather made me crack up looking at them because she is making a different face in each one. addison and maeli are around the tree playing with toys. cameron is also on the other side of the tree passed out on the floor like grandpa on the couch and shawn who already went to bed. colin is playing the piano and everyone else can be seen in the picture. it was perfect to unwind next to the christmas tree, listening to music.

we had our annual christmas parties this year with both sides of my family too. we always eat first (a potato bar with the mccleves and soup bar with the browns) and then gather around for the fun gift exchange. friends were invited to both family parties and we had a great time with everyone.

this year, before we started opening gifts we heard funny christmas formal stories from jalee and devin who are both going to mesa high, and each had horrible dates. it was so fun to hear the stories from them - i'm glad they can laugh about them!
above: dad trying on the gift he went home with. amazing! below: santa leaves gifts for the grandchildren under eighteen. always one of the highlights of the night.addy opens her santa gift - books, her favorite!i wasn't thinking and forgot my camera so i grabbed these photos from alison's blog. the brown party was at clint and debbie's this year, my favorite place to have it at. new this year was the fire pit in the backyard. it was a big hangout and addison loved it.

above: cute grandma and grandpa! it's their first christmas together and we couldn't be happier to see them so happy too! below: the gift to steal this year. matt and celeste ended up with it, they're lucky!

(braiden, celeste, dylan (cj's baby) and matt's dad.)

some of the cousins having a fun time together. thanks for the pictures alison!

Happy Holidays

2010-12-23T23:42:00.000-08:00

i made this christmas card on our computer. unfortunately it's too late to send it out now. hopefully i get around to it sooner next year. have the merriest!

Nap Time

2010-12-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

we take advantage of any time that we can squeeze a nap into. kyle and i LOVE naps and sleeping in. addison has yet to realize how special they are, but charly seems to understand perfectly. we will try to establish a family nap time soon. it will be glorious.

notice in these pictures how tan charlene is right now. soon she will be whiter than white itself thanks to her mom and dad.

like i said, addison dreads nap time right now.

Because There Are Never Enough Pics

2010-12-15T23:25:00.000-08:00

adding a baby to the family has made our family more tired and prone to napping with her. the other night i was the only one left awake just before 6 pm. bedtime came pretty early, not a usual occurence here.

my three yummies: charlene
addison

kyle

cute huh? i love them all. and because i know you need to see more pictures of charly and addy, here are some more.

addison loves being a big sister. i can't leave them alone yet because addison loves on charlene a little too much and doesn't realize her own strength yet. sure love seeing them together though.

the grandbabies are the center of attention everywhere:

beautiful charly mae. those chubby cheeks are amazingly soft and so kissable!

these are my beautiful babies.

Kyle Turns 26

2010-12-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

four days after our little charly was born we celebrated kyle's birthday. it's gonna be crazy fun to have two birthdays so close together. we didn't do any big celebration, but we did go over to kyle's parents where they made his favorite dinner - taco soup and homemade rolls. addison helped kyle blow out the 26 candles on his cake after dinner. to her that was better than actually eating the dessert and afterward, she spent some time mutilating the cake with the spatula and candles. it's always fun when you're allowed to be messy!

we haven't gone out yet to pick up kyle's present. he wants black sunday shoes and reef sandals. no toys for kyle, seems strange to me.

Love This Girl

2010-12-08T19:02:00.000-08:00

it took a second for her to cry when she was born and she still doesn't cry much. charlene mae mckay was born on monday morning just a few minutes after eleven. my membranes were stripped last tuesday, the day before i was 38 weeks pregnant, and i was scheduled for an induction sunday night. i checked into the hospital at eleven pm sunday and after monitoring the baby and myself for a while, my nurse hooked me up to pitocin at 1:40 am. then she told me that i was dilated to a three. i was so mad i had only progressed 1 cm since my membranes were stripped. i called kyle (who dropped me off at the hospital and drove a mile away to my parents home with addison - stinker) to let him know what was going on. then i went to sleep.

remembering that my contractions became painful within 15 to 20 minutes with addison's birth, i wasn't expecting to sleep for very long. it surprised me every time the nurse came in to check on me that i still wasn't in pain. thirty minutes, forty five minutes, and hour and a half passed without any pain. i could feel my stomach tighten every couple minutes, but there was no pain. when i compared that to addy's birth, i knew this labor was going to be longer than hers. at four a.m. i finally started to feel more pressure with each contraction and knew that pain would soon follow. i called kyle and told him to come to the hospital.

but charlene was in no hurry. when kyle got to the hospital, any pain that was starting to build left completely and we both fell back asleep.

dr. huff came in at 7:15 monday morning and broke my water. at that time i was dilated to a four and was upset with how slow i was progressing. i just knew this baby had to come within the hour like addison came 30 minutes after my water broke. this labor couldn't have been more different than addison's. one hour later and i was just starting to get pain with my contractions. i was so excited! gradually that pain became more and more intense and they continued to give me more pitocin. at 10:30 i asked for an epidural and had it at 10:45. my experience with the epidural was much better this time. with addison's birth i had a severe case of the itches for several hours, so when i told the anesthesiologist her answer was to give me less of the drug fentanyl. because of the lower dose of fentanyl, my epidural wasn't as strong and i could partly feel each contraction throughout the rest of the labor. it was perfect because i could feel when to push later on with out being in pain. my nurse checked my progress at 10:50 and told me i was dilated to a 9 1/2. she figured i was probably a seven or eight when i got the epidural.

five minutes later (10:55) she checked me again and told me i was complete! i was so excited. dr. huff came right in and i was pushing at eleven. charlene was born at 11:06. just over five minutes of pushing, it was so fast! i got that epidural at the perfect time. i wasn't in as much shock as i was with addison, but i remember right before i saw her i couldn't imagine what she could possibly look like except for exactly like addison. it was a shock to see how different she was.

she came perfect with all her finger and toes and i got to hold her right away. charly has a sweet bunch of long hair on the crown of her head. her ears lie straight back (thank goodness). she has adorable chubbiness tucked away in every little crevice possible. charly is completely her own person and looks nothing like addison or any of the mckay's except for her slight dimples. when looking at baby pictures, she shares similarities with my sister kenna and me.

interesting thing i learned from dr. huff about big babies: they mature slower than small babies and are happy to stay in the womb while small babies are under stress and mature quicker so they can come out sooner. so i have happy, healthy babies! as delivery approaches, babies shed their coating of vernix, but charlene was born with a thick coating if the creamy vernix all over, indicating that she hadn't started to plan her exit yet. if she had come on her due date (dec 15), she would've weighed about the same as addison (9 lb 7 oz); and if she would've gone four days overdue like addy, charlene would have been around 10 lb 1 oz! thank goodness i was induced!
quick facts:
name: charlene mae mckay
born: december 6th, 2010 at: 11:06 a.m.
weight: 8 lbs 14 oz height: 21 1/4 inches
hair: long and dark

note: even though she weighed less than addison, she measured bigger. addison was 21 inches long and charly was 1/4 of an inch longer. addy's head and chest were both 12 inches while charly's head was 14 1/2 inches and chest was 12 inches. i had three deep tears with addison and no tears with charly. healing has been a night and day difference so far. i wrote with addy's story that my recovery was great, and now i wonder why i said that. it was horrible; this recovery has been great!
charlene was named after her great grandma charlene brown (the one that was recently married) and her great-great grandma ella mae mccleve. we fell in love with that name a few months back when i realized that by naming her after grandma charlene and calling her charly, we could pay tribute both to my grandma and my late grandpa charles. how many people can do that?!

charlene is a beautiful baby, hugged and kissed to death by big sister addison who loves everything about her. two beautiful girls. i am completely happy!

Grandma's Dinner and Wedding

2010-12-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

grandma and mel got married for time in the mesa temple today. it was beautiful and am so happy kyle and i were able to attend.the dinner on thursday was a lot of fun with good food, family and entertainment. mel rented a kareoke machine and he and grandma took a turn with it first. cousin kyle brown broke it in for everyone else and uncle carson was the constant kareoke monitor helping everyone get a go at the mike.

addison had so much fun running around the cultral hall with her cousins. it was so cute to see her little crack keep showing because her underwear couldn't keep her pants up. love that girl, she's cute. this is some of the family that attended the ceremony today. the new brown-stradling family. the first family get together will be in a couple of weeks for the yearly caroling party. it's gonna be fun.

now our family is is larger and i am so excited. family get togethers will be so fun! couldn't be happier for the happy couple. love you grandma!

Addison's Life in Pictures

2010-12-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

addison is so old! i have been looking at old pictures of her, and remembering some funny things she used to do. i miss all of it. i can't believe she will be two in february - i don't think it's fair how fast she is growing up. she's such a sweet girl and she'll be a great big sister.

i gathered some old photos of her since the day she was born. beautiful. funny. charming. all words that have and continue to describe addy. the pics are in order from newest to oldest(backwards, i know). she's perfect in all of them.

December 2010
November 2010

October 2010

September 2010august 2010

July 2010

June 2010

march 2010

February 2010
January 2010

December 2009
November 2009

October 2009

September 2009

august 2009

July 2009

June 2009

may 2009
march 2009

February 2009

i miss how little she used to be. there were so many cute things she used to do, but has since grown out of them. i can't wait to do everything all over again!

Always My Baby

2010-12-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

addison thanksgiving afternoon

the lastest with addison grace:

girls (what kyle and i call addison) has been walking around the last two days saying "yummy tummy!" (meaning yummy in my tummy) while she rubs her belly. we are still working on her eating better, but she has improved a lot.

the girl is very sweet and lovey dovey too, and not just lately. she always runs to me squealing "mommy!" and grabs me in a bear hug. i LOVE when she hugs me and does her little dance while shutting her eyes with a smile and saying "mmmm". those hugs are my favorite. i could hold my baby forever!

i love that she has the squishiest buns ever and she lets me squish them all i want. she's a pal when daddy is gone and misses him just as much as i do. we often call him together just to talk. addy LOVES shoes. she can often be found wearing mommy's or daddy's shoes over her own or on her bare feet. it's so cute to see her in nothing but underwear and shoes! she tries to get herself dressed from the clean laundry and always get frustrated when she gets stuck.

for a while now, she has had a love affair with blankets and anything that resembles one, including rugs. i love to watch her cuddle under a blanket with her bum in the air. lately she has become very picky while going to sleep, making sure her blanket is perfectly covering her shoulders and back. her favorite games are with daddy under our covers - teasing him and running away laughing.

she loves to hide in small, tight places. when maeli and cameron where here last week the played in forts made of pillow cushions and addison couldn't have been happier. other places like this are under our legs while we stand, behind doors, and under tables. her favorite game is "nah nah nah nah nah!" which she says with a hand on either side of her face. then whomever she is playing with chases her around while she laughs her head off.

lately, a stuffed minnie - almost her size - has become her best friend. she carries minnie around with her and asks to see her first thing when she wakes up and last when she goes to sleep. she loves for kyle or i to hold minnie and make minnie talk to her. kyle is great at this and has a special high -pitched voice he uses for the doll. addison loves it and totally ignores kyle and i when talking to "mimmie" as she calls the doll.

i love it when her sweet hand takes my finger and shows me what she wants, which is often the tv. poor thing is very upset when i tell her the tv won't be coming on that day. we had a ward and stake rodeo in november. of course the only thing addison wanted to do was stay in the animal petting area all night. she has no fear when it comes to animals. i love that she's not terrified of dogs.

addison has a big heart and is always concerned about others. if we watch a movie where someone is crying, she will turn to kyle or i and ask "happy?" her cute eyebrows will move up and she'll put her hands in the air asking 'why'. if someone is teasing her by fake -crying, she will do this and then give the sad person a hug. once they stop crying, she laughs and screams "happy!"

i love addison so much. i worry when this baby comes that addy will not get all the attention she needs from kyle and i. growing up, each time i got a new baby sister, i would devote all my attention to them. that would've been fine if i had realized each time what it did to the sister that had previously been the baby. the girl who used to have all the attention was then left to herself. looking back i feel terrible about this and i don't want it to happen to addison. this is all i've been able to think about these last few weeks as this new baby's arrival gets closer. hopefully i'll figure it out fast because any day now i'm going to have TWO babies to love!

No Labor Yet

2010-11-30T22:41:00.000-08:00

38 weeks tomorrow! i went to the doctor today and he stripped my membranes for me. totally forgot to ask him what i was dilated to and now it's KILLING me curious! doc made an appointment for me to be induced at the hospital on sunday (december 5th) at 10 pm. so this baby will probably be born sometime monday morning. ideally, i will go into labor on my own, but having fears of recovering like last time, i'm fine with delivering a week and a half early.

addy was so funny at the appointment. she usually cries when the nurse takes my blood pressure thinking that they are hurting me, and sobs "MOMMY!" today, though she was very calm and kept a close eye on me, watching my reaction to getting my blood pressure taken. later, after doc left the room, addison, who watched everything the doc did, walked over to me and lifted the over sized napkin from my lap to see what the doctor was looking at! from her angle she could only see up to my knees, but it it made me laugh. kyle got embarrassed even though we were alone and told me to not let addison do that. it didn't bother me though, i thought addison mimicking the doctor was so cute and hilarious! when she saw me laugh, she started to laugh too and i had to kiss her.

so far today (11 pm now) i have jumped on the tramp and walked a little with no obvious change. i've had only two small braxton hicks contractions the whole day! i knew not to get my hopes up from my experience with addison when i still had to be induced almost a week after my membranes were stripped. hopefully i won't have to wait and go on pitocin!

McKay Family Time

2010-11-28T22:12:00.000-08:00

for every person that celebrates a bithday in the mckay family, that person gets to choose what they want for breakfast as well as where they want to go out for dinner that night. kyle and i didn't eat breakfast with his family, but we went with them that night when shawn chose to go to King's Fish House for dinner.

we got home, sang happy birthday, had cake, and roasted marshmellows. addison was too excited to roast any, she ate them right off the skewer. the rest of the night was fun with grandchildren hiding in forts while being chased by kyle and shawn trying out his present - a remote controlled helicopter.

it's so fun having everyone in town. they're all leaving this weekend, but will be back in a week and a half to two weeks for christmas!

Thanksgiving Feast 2010

2010-11-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

thanksgiving this year = perfect. i got to sleep in until 11:30. the house was already clean in anticipation of family coming over (well coming up stairs), and all the food i was in charge of was already cooked as well.

above: L-R: jalee, heidi, kerstyn, casey, elissa, darwin, chad, mcall and caden. opposite: mom, dad, kinsey, loren, logan, connor, connie, brookie, and jenell. below: grandma, kevin, and jenell gather around the food.

the mccleve's ate at 1:00 on our back porch. the weather was perfect - even getting a little chilly once the breeze started. of course the food was great - yams (look forward to those every year), turkey, green bean casserole, rolls, salads, mashed potatoes and gravy, ham, and cranberry relish. i just learned this thanksgiving, that cranberry relish was for your turkey! who knew? i always have eaten my relish with my rolls and i guess kyle's always done the same too. relish on your turkey? that sounds so weird!

kinsey - still toothless

of course addison wasn't much of an eater until dessert came. cookies, cupcakes, chocolate delight, and a pumpkin pie were among our choices. i assumed everyone would bring a pie, so i made chocolate delight because who doesn't need a little chocolate. turns out everyone thought like me and there was only one pumpkin pie from darwin - thank goodness my mom brought a second just in case and i made a sweet potato pie the day before.

above: michelle and jesse concentrated on their food. below: kinsey, my dad, and my mom finishing up. mom wasn't too happy getting her picture taken.

after everyone one was full on good food, we started digesting in the living room and soon there were three ipads being played with and passed around. about that time, kyle and i left for his parents' home.

as always, kyle's dad showed me all the food they had and told me to help myself, but i was already having trouble breathing from all the food i had already eaten. so kyle and i sat down in the living room and started talking with the family already full on turkey. kyle's cousin emily and husband spencer came down from utah. i loved talking to her about her pregnancy. she is due in early april with two twin boys dallin and monson - love those names! i'm so excited for them!

the mckay feast with kyle's dad and cousin robert looking over it.

everyone was impressed with addison who is completely potty trained now. she is doing great, i just hope she doesn't go back to diapers once baby mac comes - which i hear is not uncommon. addy's favorite person was probably uncle kirt, who she was so excited to see. she yelled "DTURT!" all day and mostly just wanted to be on his lap. i think kirt was secretly pleased with this."DTURT!" addison is getting so big!

dil, exhausted from eating the turkey. cousin leroy won the weight-gaining contest this thanksgiving by eating 7 lbs worth of food.

stephanie and bobby taking yummy leftovers home

when i went to bed i found a thankful note from kyle on my pillow. i love how thoughtful he is. not only is he handsome and has the cutest babies, but he also is so sweet and caring and i know that those things aren't always packaged together!

mckay family. november 25th, 2010

thanksgiving has been perfect. this year i gave thanks for:

kyle: husband and father extordinaire

addison: most adorable and quickest learner

healthy pregnancy: can't wait to meet this baby soon

healthy moms: both our moms have been told this year that they are in COMPLETE remission from wegner's disease and ovarian cancer, two miracles.

country and freedoms: and all those that lead and protect us

gospel: the one thing that never changes and makes me happy no matter what happens

hope you had a wonderful day of thanks with the ones you love!

Addison's Dress and Accident

2010-11-21T15:29:00.000-08:00

i love having my sewing machine fixed! i found a tutorial online that teaches you how to repurpose a man's t-shirt into a dress and three weeks ago i made this for addison:she wore it to church today with some white stockings. it's not perfect, but considering i haven't made a clothing item since i was in fourth grade, i was pretty happy with it.addison went to church in underwear today! she's done with potty training, but has trouble going poops on the potty. she's very good at telling us that she need to go poo-poo, but when we sit her down on the potty she'll get a scared look on her face and say "no!" the poor girl has sometimes even held it for a day or so because she's so scared. i put a diaper on her and told her to to poops in that last week, but an hour later she still hadn't gone. then, out of the blue, she ran to me in the office yelling "POO-POO!" so we went into the bathroom. when she saw the potty she started shaking her head and crying. i told her to just go in her diaper she had on, but i think she was afraid of getting in trouble. she started running around the bathroom on her tip toes and crying, trying to hold it. i felt so bad for her, but she wouldn't listen to me when i told her it was okay to go in her diaper. then all of a sudden she stopped crying, bent forward slightly, and her face went dark red. she couldn't hold it any longer. the past three days have been much better and i think she understands where to go now.

today she wore her new dress to church with panties and stockings. kyle took her potty just before and after the second. after church they came and waited for me to finish talking to several people in the YW's room. then megan oliver got my attention when she asked me if addison was potty trained and pointed to addy. i looked over and to my disappointment saw a huge puddle on the carpet between addison's feet. she was looking at the puddle, like she was curious about it along with megan's two little girls. so kyle took her panties and stockings off and cleaned her up while i soaked up the nice little puddle addison left behind. after seven or eight trips back and forth from the bathroom i was done. of course everyone who walked past me was wondered why i was on my hands and knees and asked me what i was doing. i think the whole ward knows by now that my baby marked her territory in the church building. all well.
now on to happy news. i went to the doctor on wednesday and found out i was 85% effaced and 2 cm dilated! hopefully this time around, i'll go into labor early and on my own. in the above picture (taken today) i am 36 weeks, three days along. three and a half weeks left. at this point, baby mac is so big that i often have to push my stomach back in where she is poking out to relieve the uncomfortableness - is that even a word? i'm hoping she'll be no bigger than eight pounds. cross your fingers for me.sweet addison kisses are the best thing in life - i can't get enough.

Picnic at the Park

2010-11-16T13:26:00.000-08:00

above: addison sliding with daddy - she love him so much!

we went to freestone park to have lunch, play on the playground, and feed the ducks. we spent some time there and i had so much fun watching addison get out of the house. kyle and i don't have much more time having a family of only three, so i really love the time we have to dote on addison.

above: throwing the bread to the duck like daddy. below: kyle holds addison as she leans over the pond to feed a particular duck.

kyle: a handsome and playful daddy. i dare you to tell me he isn't yummy.

she is so special! look at that tongue stick out in concentration! love it!

i'm a darn lucky girl to have such a beautiful family!

Our Little Michaelangelo

2010-11-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

addison is becoming an aspiring artist and coloring is her medium. unfortunately her creativity sometime shows in places where mommy and daddy don't appreciate it like she thinks they should. above and below: addy colors on the dry erase board in the office. today while mommy and daddy were busy, she found a dry erase marker and colored all over the walls and tv. after a time out and many tears, she tried her best to help clean it up.

What a Week!

2010-11-07T16:57:00.000-08:00

that was kyle's facebook status today after getting back from a week of babysitting four extra kids. this job was harder than usual because we didn't know the family prior to babysitting them. that meant not only were we getting used to the usual things that come along with babysitting, but we were also getting to know these kids, starting with their names.

kyle and i are worn out from all the driving around, extracurricular activities, and entertaining four extra kids. thanks goodness housekeepers came three days that week - what a blessing. kyle thought so too and told me someday he will get a house keeper for me. i just say what my parents told me - you don't need a housekeepers when you have children! i always hated that.

addison loved having older siblings for the week. the youngest was three and even though they didn't always share and get along, i think they both had a lot of fun. kyle jokingly asks me every time we have a babysitting job whether i really want any more kids. i always say of course! it's nice right now, though, that we only have one - almost two - because we're a lot more mobile.

one thing kyle and i really liked about this family that we sat for was their morning routine. they had a cd they would start as soon as they woke up. the cd went through the list of things they needed to do before they were ready to leave for school. make bed, say prayers, get dressed, shower, eat, brush teeth, and have family prayer. between each job, they would have a certain number of songs that would play so they knew how much time they had for each job. the whole thing took about 45 minutes from the time they got up. pretty good. kyle got them going each morning for me and he said that cd is what made it possible for them to get to school on time. if only my mom had something like that when my sisters and i were little!

babysitting for other families is great, because you learn things that you can take back with you to your own family.

taken today. 34 weeks, 4 days. i had a lot of back pain this week, making taking care of four extra kids even harder. ironically, when our job is done, so is my pregnancy discomfort.

Pumpkin Carving Dinner Party

2010-11-01T15:01:00.000-07:00

i love surfing the internet and getting ideas for parties, crafts, food and all kinds of fun stuff. i always save the pictures i find and some info about the project. since kyle got my sewing machine fixed for my birthday, i have worked on a couple of my sewing crafts and i used my cousin chantell's bridal shower as an excuse to make another craft.

above: the key hanger i made for chantell last month. one of the first craft things i done since i started searching them out.

some of the most exciting ideas i have collected have been themed dinner dates. some are for friends and family and others are just for my hubby and i. i came across one of these themed dinner parties that centered around fall which i loved. because halloween was just a few days after my party, i decided as an activity, we would carve pumpkins.

i planned for a set number of people and made individual servings. the main course was white bean and sausage stew served in pumpkin bowls. there were many ingredients - some of which i had never heard of or used, but it was fun to try and it turned out so good. i thought using pumpkins as bowls made the dinner much more fun, but that's just my opinion.

see the pumpkin centerpiece in the above picture? i made that too. it was my second attempt - my first was way too ugly to use as decoration so it's a dry board eraser now.

above: L to R. chantell and chad page, nathan and aleece martinez, michelle and jesse woodbury, and of course kyle and i at the end.

two of our guests brought the sides - a yummy salad and rolls while the other helped me out making some of the pumpkin bowls. kyle set the table - kyle has an eye for decorating sometimes, funny huh - and bought IBC root beer and cream soda. after we ate, we started the pumpkin carving. we had lots of laughs while we carved and ate candy. addison even came out and helped kyle and i with our pumpkin carving. she's too cute. right before everyone went home i brought out individual pumpkin pies with homemade whip cream - so good. i forgot to take pictures of the pies, but it's okay because the decorations i made out of dough and put on top of them didn't turn out. when kyle asked me what the clump of dough on top of the pies was, i told him it was suppose to look like a witch's hat and he laughed. it was that pathetic. all well, it's the taste that counts and i think it got an A+. i had so much fun doing my first themed dinner party. i'll have to think what my next one will be about - after the baby comes of course.

Trunk or Treat

2010-10-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

yesterday i got addison ready with the "grandma brown" hairdo and let her play with my makeup brush which she loves. i put her halloween costume on and we all left to kyle's parents' ward trunk or treat party. at the first trunk we went to, addison didn't know what to do or why we were there. when the owner of the vehicle put some candy into her pumpkin, addison looked at it and excitedly pulled it right back out - asking kyle and i to open it for her. then she went back over to the trunk and put her hand in the bowl of candy and started filling up her pumpkin bowl with the goods. she was upset when we took her and walked away from that first trunk until she caught on that we were going from one trunk to the next. LOVE this face addison is making for the picture below. eating candy while walking to the next vehicle. ah, she is adorable.addy loved going around to each trunk and picking out her candy. it still took a while for her to understand that she only gets to take one piece of candy from each person and she never remembered to say " trick or treat" but she always said "da-doo" (thank you). sometimes she thought she could fish for candy in other kids' goody bags, but she was pretty good and kyle and i had so much fun showing off our angel.above: grandpa is bishop mckay and had a great costume for his ward party! below: i wanted to do a picture like last halloween with addison surrounded by her candy. this year she was more interested in the wrappers than looking into the camera.the pic below shows addison on the potty (still takes some motivation to get her to sit until she goes) after we got back to grandma and grandpa's house from the party. i took off her costume and shoes. in this picture she is checking out the bottom of her feet which had a ton of grass stick to them. if you click on the picture, you can see little bits of grass stuck between her toes. it's so funny how her tongue sticks out in concentration!

Always Addison

2010-10-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

i just had to post a couple of pictures of addison taken recently.i found addison cuddled into her blanket like this the other night. the way it wraps over her head reminds me of someone who just got out of the shower. lately she has been picky with her blanket when she goes to sleep. it needs to be perfectly over each shoulder and arm. then she'll wiggle her back into it. she is so funny!the picture above and below are from the park. her faces are perfect. i LOVE her candy cane pants and cute "i love daddy" shirt. we just got both of them for her. kyle loved the shirt and had to get it which i thought was so cute! the stockings/pants remind me of an elf. what a cute girl!

we started potty training addison on wednesday. she's only 20 months old, but has been taking off her diaper when she pees for two months now. two weeks ago, for the first time, she took off her diaper and THEN peed. i figured since she knew what she was about to do, she knew how to controll it and we needed to start her on the potty. notice how she is not on a potty chair. i hate those nasty things. cleaning them out once they are used is not a job i am willing to take! thank goodness i learned that while babysitting for other families with young children and not with my own. yuck!

addison is only two days in but is doing great. she's had two poopy accidents and one pee accident which i think is pretty good considering the fact that she is still trying to make the connection of realizing she needs to go and then telling me. i can't wait for her to be accident free! it will be so nice to only have one baby in diapers.

Coming Soon: Grandpa Mel

2010-10-10T13:02:00.000-07:00

grandma brown has been dating melvin stradling in her ward for just over three weeks now. she was very good friends with his late wife for five years and met mel two years ago when she moved into their ward. earlier this year, she tragically died of cancer. it was sometime in late august or early september when grandma and mel began to like each other and sit together at church. well he finally asked her out and she has been like a love -drunk school girl ever since.

they have held hands, danced in her kitchen, and kissed. they secretly saved eachother seats when they met at ward functions and then pretended that the seat they saved just happened to be empty. mel told grandma that before they started dating and they were sitting next to eachother at church, his arm rubbed against hers and it felt like electricity. i guess that's when he knew he liked her.

grandma has been an open book about their relationship, even though she claims she doesn't want to tell us anything. she came to vivst me when i was in the ER. i started asking her questions and she would wave the question away. but when i asked her if they had talke about marriage she said "i don't know," but she was grinning from ear to ear. when my mom and i teased her and pressed further, we found out that he had purposed the night before. immediatley we were sworn to secrecy until that sunday when they were announcing it.

my mom told me that grandma couldn't even remember how to get out of the ER because she was in such a dazed thinking about mel. she didn't even remember that she took an elevator up to the third floor. she is on cloud nine, completely twitterpated, and acting like she is twenty again! it's so funny to see her and her her talk - mel can do no wrong.

today mel's family met grandma's at her house and it was so fun. turns out my dad went to high school with a son in law, jalee and heidi go to mesa with several granddaughters, and a son and daughter in law are in connie and darwin's (my aunt and uncle) ward. kyle's dad even knows mel rom working together at hospitals. small world.

grandma and mel have set the date for december 4th with an open house at grandma's home where they will both live. i took their engagement pictures yesterday and will also take pictures at the open house. hopefully with baby will come right after not before (due december 15).

My Perfect Day: 22 Years Old

2010-10-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

(this pic was actually taken on the 5th, but pretty much shows how big i was on my birthday)

i had a great 22nd birthday yesterday. i woke up smelling stuffed french toast and bacon. addison came to me while i was lying in bed and said "day" to me, wishing me happy birthday. so cute! the breakfast was heaven and then kyle cleaned everything up. wonderful.

i spent the day hanging out with my hot hubby and gorgeous girl. kyle got mesomething i had wanted so much for my birthday - a fixed sewing machine! i love him. i have found so many things i want to make and now i finally can. he totally spoils me!

because i was craving sushi, he took me to the restaurant ra (pronounced "raw"). it was his first time having sushi and i am so glad he liked it. i didn't actually eat anything raw, just veggies and cooked crab and eel, but kyle tried the spicy yellowtail roll and loved it. i'll have to try it as soon as i have this baby!

afterward we went over to kyle's parents where kyle's mom had thrown a surprised birthday party for his dad's 60th birthday! how awesome to share the same birthday. shawn and neesha even surprised him and came down for his birthday!

this afternoon, grandpa mckay is taking the grandchildren and anyone who wants to go on a hike to sycamore creek. i am going to take the opportunity to go fabric shopping for addy's christmas present and i am so excited!

How to Play

2010-10-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

Trip to the ER

2010-09-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

last weekend we babysat for the trotter's. we thought we had brought everything back with us, but realized sometime after we returned home that kyle's phone was dying and we'd left his charger. the phone finally died on tuesday night. while at he was taking his school break at my parents house the next morning, i called him and told him to grab his charger before he came home that night. after hanging up i thought to myself, "what if there was some kind of emergency and addison or i had to go to the hospital and i had no way of reaching kyle? what would i do? maybe call the school and have them patch me through to him?"

how ironic that i would have this thought and that very night need to drive myself to the hospital, praying that my baby would be okay. at 6:30 i burned the potato soup i was preparing for dinner and after trying to fix it, had to open the doors to air out the nasty smell that was incredibly strong. i told addison that she could look outside but not go out or she would step on bugs (she has a fascination with bugs). i went to the computer to try to find fixes for burned soup. every two minutes or so i would get up to check on addison and make sure she was not outside. at 7:00, about the third time i stood up to check on her, i felt a sensation and thought i had lost control of my bladder. i held still and focused on controlling it and was surprised that i could not hold it at all. i looked down and saw the carpet had dark spots on it and thought, "oh great i got it on the carpet." i put my hand there and about a cup of blood poured into my hand.

i ran to the bathroom and knew that things like this just don't happen to me. i tried calling my mom, wondering if i should go to the hospital or reach my doctor first. when she didn't answer, i called my doctor and left a message with the answering service for him to call me back. i started cleaning up my mess when my mom called back. i called my dad and we decided while i wait for my doctor to call, i should head to the hospital. i threw clothes on myself and addison and ran out the door.

on my way to the hospital, my doctor finally called me and after i described what happened he told me that i lost a significant amount of blood. he said that much blood could indicate a placenta previa and if my condition was bad enough, he would have to deliver my baby that night. i was terrified. the next morning, i would be 30 weeks, and a baby born ten weeks early can have significant problems, if the baby survives. i was shaking the whole way to the ER, trying not to cry again. i couldn't believe how slow the hospital staff moved when i told them what was happening. even though i was taken to a triage room within thirty minutes of arriving at the ER (about 8:45), the staff all acted so nonchalant, which made me want to scream at them. i finally was hooked up to monitors and many fears were relieved just by hearing my baby's heartbeat since she hadn't been moving this whole time.

kyle finally made it to the hospital around 9:30 after he came home and learned i was at the hospital. grandma brown, my mom and my dad were all there too. after being monitored for two hours, an ultrasound to check for placenta previa and other problems, and many questions that proved i was in perfect health, i was released at 11:00 and put on bed rest. the doctor and nurses couldn't figure out why i bled at all. this morning i called and made an appointment for tomorrow with my doctor's office to see if i can come off bed rest. bed rest has been awfully tedious for just one day, but i could do it for the rest of my pregnancy if i had to.

my aunt jenell said, it isn't until something like this happens to you that you realize just how attached you are to your unborn baby. the whole time this was happening, all i could think about was how i just wanted to hold my baby and know everything would be fine. even though i haven't met her yet, i couldn't imagine not having her and i am so thankful heavenly father protected her from many complications that could have made the situation much worse. and even though i never want to go through this again, i am thankful that it happened. i think i take for granted my easy, uncomplicated pregnancies and healthy babies, both born and unborn. i now have a small sense of what mothers who fear for their sweet babies go through during complications. i know everything heavenly father lets us go through in life can be a learning experience, and it already has for me as i have heard other women's stories, ending in either tragedy or triumph, since my small trial. hopefully the rest of my pregnancy continues uneventful, but even if it doesn't, i know that i will have my family and my heavenly father to turn to. i love addison and i love this baby mac so much already!

"Thank You"

2010-09-26T23:42:00.000-07:00

addison was such a big girl today. we took her for a well check at her doctor's. she hasn't been in months and is behind in shots and we put her on a schedule to catch her up. she was terrified of the nurse who listened to her heart and checked her ears, nose and throat. i don't understand why she is so scared, nothing they did hurt her, but you'd never know what by the way she screamed!

the doctor sent us to get some blood work for addison. in the lobby of the lab, addison was happy go lucky. running around chasing a ball. a group of teenagers watched her and commented on how cute she was. when her name was called and kyle picked up addison, the teens laughed and one said, "how sad, she doesn't know what's coming. she's so happy right now." i had to smile. i was very nervous for her, but knew she'd be fine.

the technicians asked kyle to sit on a chair with addy on his lap and as soon as he did, she started screaming as they came toward her. kyle held her down as they tied the rubber string around her little arm. i could tell she was terrified again, but this time, she was actually going to get an ouchy and i was feeling so bad for her. they swabbed her with alcohol and then inserted the needle. neither the pitch or volume of her screams changed because she was already screaming as loud as she could at this point. lastly they put a cotton swab and medical tape on her arm and she was done.

as i tried to calm her down and tell her what a big girl she was, kyle told her to say "thank you" to the technicians. "da-doo" she sobbed to them. that about broke my heart. i felt so bad that i made her go through this painful experience.

i told my parents later this story, and my dad laughed and said how sad it was that she was told to say thank you to the people that hurt her. it's true, kyle was mean to have her say that, and i will never forget her sweet little voice crying as she said "da - doo" through her tears.

Baby Steps

2010-09-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

starting august 25th, i decided to quit addison on the bottle cold turkey. i was so fed up with how much milk we were going through and how she never seemed to be full. i thought that maybe she would also stop her once a night cry for a "baba" as well. because she still needs milk everyday, i started giving a smaller amount to her in a sippy cupright after i would feed her solid food. the first two days were the worst as i expected, crying for her bobbi, but she is much better now. addison still has a long way to go with solids - how did i get such a picky baby? it has been fun to see different ways to coax her to take bites of her food. at first we told her if she wanted down off the high chair then she needed to take a bite, but that only would work for two bites in a meal. then she was told if she didn't want a flick in the mouth she would eat. sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. i realized i needed to dangle a carrot. so we started telling addison that if she wanted to sing a song, she would need to start eating and that seemed to work until last week when i guess even that got old. lastly, we've also been able to distract addy by asking her questions about the room as we popped things in her mouth. now it looks like we will have to start the cycle over again. hopefully things will get better as time moves on.

for some reason, she liked mixed veggies a.k.a. - green goo. she ate this all by herself! woohoo! (living in a basement means it's hard to have enough light to take decent pictures of a moving baby, thus much blur. ugh.)

Lately for Each of Us

2010-08-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

Kyle:

* has started his own window washing business - sun state windows. so far he has only had residential jobs, but his plan is to work his way to commercial buildings. he has a website he created for sun state windows, he posts ads on craigslist several times a day, and he is making business cards. i am so excited for him to finally own his own business, something he has talked about since we were dating. no longer is he "working for the man" as he puts it. kyle's goal to own a business before he turns 26? check!

* kyle was accepted in to asu's business school and just finished 15 credit hours of summer school with them, studying both semesters. a couple weeks ago he finished the second semester which we were both greatful for. the last week was very stressful with so many long papers and presentations to prepare. but even with all the stress he got straight A's. he especially needed the vacation to california. now he has started school for this fall and i just hope his teachers aren't too hard on him if this baby is born right in the middle of finals.

* it's so cute to see how much daddy loves his girl. addy is becoming more attached to him all the time and follows him wherever he goes. this first week of kyle's new job has really magnified to us how much she loves him. if he doesn't give her his full attention for 1/2 hour she's heart-broken with tears everywhere, and sometimes thirty minutes is not even enough. kyle is so good to her, singing songs, chasing her, and making up new games with her. seeing how great a father kyle is, it makes me sad to think of some people who don't have that kind of relationship with their dad. kyle is amazing.

* (this is a pic i took of kyle last night. he fell asleep while helping me fold clothes. isn't he's so funny?!) and speaking of amazing, that's what kind of husband he continues to be. being the oldest in my family i am very stubborn and outspoken, and kyle is so paitient with me. i can't always make him underdstand that my way is gospel, but no matter what he is great at hearing me out and letting my try to convince him. he is awesome at budgeting and keeps me in line. he studies hard and is very logical. he's the best provider for our family. puts addy and i first and is always concerned about our feelings. plus he is so funny, and if you're married you know how important that is for a marriage. love him to death!

Brittney:

* i am currently 24 weeks along with baby girl mckay #2. kyle and i are currently discussing names and will let you know our pick when she is born, so for the rest of the pregnancy i will lovingly call her "mac" short for "mckay". i am still feeling great - actually no pregnancy symptoms. for the first 16 weeks paranoia took over and i thought i had had miscarriages because there were no symptoms at all. sound great to be symptom free? not really. everytime i went to the doctor i was terrified they wouldn't find a heartbeat. i was scared until i started feeling faint movements at the end of week 19 and continuing to pick up since. so i predict mac will be a mellow girl (hopefully) as i look back on the way this pregnancy has been.

* school is probably a no-go for me since i am due finals week and classes are so full anyway. i really would like to take my next math course so i don't forget everything i learned in the spring, but none are available. kyle found an english class that starts late and ends early (perfect), but online registary says i need to retake the placement test or take eng 090. no thank you. i have actually already taken eng 101, but i was engaged that semester and had marriage on my mind, thus i got a C. kyle teases me everytime we talk about my grades that semester - all C's. so i'm behind and am playing catch up.

* i am starting to schedule photography sessions for the fall now. i took off the summer (you can do that when you are your own boss) since i was pregnant and didn't feel like melting in front of my clients - not very proffessional. i'm starting mid september and will book thru until thanksgiving. then i will have another break for the birth. i can't wait to start! to see my work and pricing visit my photography blog.

* currently (maybe it's nesting) i have had a strong craving for sewing. mostly repurposing old clothes into new clothes. that and holiday decorations. i have an all metal sewing machine that needs repair/tuning i'm not sure which. staying up into the early morning hours reading tutorials and saving pictures is becoming more frequent. i have been begging to get my sewing machine ready for use as an early birthday present (october 7th to mac's arrival might not be long enough for projects). anytime would be great i keep telling kyle. we have moved the furniture in our office around to make room for sewing/crafts. i'm going crazy waiting.

Addison:

* addison is so cute and i can't believe how much she is changing, especially in the last month. she now calls me "momma" instead of "mommy" which i am very sad about and currently trying to reverse. she loves her baby doll more each day (all on her own) and shares many hugs and kisses with her. she has learned how to take off her diaper. often when i get her up in the morning she is completely naked in her crib and playing. cute so far until i find a surprise (hopefully never).

* i am thinking about potty training her, but i know she is probblaby too young now. she is 18 months and i would love to have only one child at a time in diapers with the expectant arrival of our new baby girl in december. maybe that's too soon. possibly for her birthday in feb? the question i have running through my mind: what age works and how should i modivate her??

* she pointed to my tummy the other day and said "baby". i don't think she fully comprehends what that means, but it's so cute for her to say that. kyle and i have half-heartedly been trying to teach her this since early july and then when i don't probe, she does it on her own? so cute!

* addy is a very stubborn thing when it come to solid food. she hates it. kyle and i blame it on the thrush she got twice in a short time around her birthday. she ate solids great before that time and i would give anything for her to go back to that habit. she has a bottle all day now, and starves herself if i try to force anything else on her. solids she will eat: tortilla chips, plain chicken, cereal (of course, clone of daddy), and sometimes a banana. not much. i have tried the suggested fruit smoothies which she seems to like the taste but won't drink. does that even make sense? no. so i drink the whole thing myself. i dream of her someday eating dinner with kyle and i, not just watching us eat.

above: addison snuggles up to me on the computer so i can tickle her back with my free hand. she never stays in one position for more than two minutes, but rolls over so i can then tickle somewhere else.

* even though tickling has been a favorite in this family forever, addison is wanting it more and more. lately she lays on my lap and if i continue to just sit there she will grab my hand and put it on her back so i know she wants to be tickled. being tickled is the only thing she will hold still for and it's so funny. this past week, she sat on "mama"s mccleve's lap (that's how she says grandma - slightly different than my name "mamma"). my mom was tickling her skin and stopped for a second, so addison reached behind herself, took my mom's hand, and placed it back on her shoulder. just like her mommy and daddy and something i never want to forget!

L.A. Temple

2010-08-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

While on vacation to California, we went to the L.A. temple on Sunday and got to see the newly renovated visitor's center. It was pretty awesome. They really took advantage of the many different technologies available today. One of my favorite things in the visitor's center was the Book of Mormon display. Each Book of Mormon had a chip inside so when you picked it up and waived it in front of the TV it would tell you what language it was in and even give you a verbal sample. There are many features they just installed that are unique to that visitor's center alone. A sister missionary told us they have the video "God's Plan For The Family" just like in Mesa, but L.A. has an extended version. The L.A. temple is beautiful and sits on a hill over looking much of the city. It reminded me of the scripture in Matthew 5:14 which says, "Ye are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hid."

I took this picture. Pretty amazing photography skills if you ask me.

I love this picture of the Angel Moroni. All credit goes to Brittney.

Daddy and Addy.

Together Forever!

Beach Time

2010-08-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

i know i keep posting about california, but we did so many things there and i want to include everything! i lived in santa clara when i was young and as a result love two things about cali - farmers markets and the beach. we did see a farmers market on the way to the beach, but unfortunately it was gone when we drove back. just trash in the parking lot to show it had been there, and boy was i sad. but, we had a great time going to the beach. saturday we went and left addison asleep at the house. then on monday before we left to come back home, we went back to get some family pictures. i really missed addy on saturday, but we did have a blast and it was nice to not have to worry about where she was. i don't have a maternity suit, so i just wore my regular one. the usually cute swimsuit made me look overweight and not preggo and i definitely felt stares. all well. we found a ton of sand dollars and cool shells which is so fun for me. kyle said on our honeymoon to las palomas in mexico that i looked like a little girl fishing for shells. he thinks i look like a little girl in a candy shop, but i wasn't the only one looking. i had kirt and jennifer fishing for cool shells as well.

shawn rented boogie boards and everyone had fun riding the waves in to the sand. i just body surfed since i couldn't use a board and was able to ride one wave pretty far. to dry off, the mckay brothers and sisters tried to play a game of volleyball. when they realised they couldn't get two hits in a row, they switched to soccer and had a great game.
monday, we took addison. kyle took pictures of her feeling the sand as she walked around for the first time on a beach. her confused and excited face was so fun. then kyle took her to the water to experience the waves. i remember my younger sisters being terrified when they were addy's age and i expected addison to be scared as well. she really surprised me by loving it! we had to even grab her when she ran into the water with out us holding her hand. we will definitely have to go back soon. above: addison feeling the sand for the first time. below: addison loving the waves with daddy!

this cute pic was actually on the way home to az. addison wanted some of my fire cheetos and loved them as you can tell. for the entire seven hour trip, she only had a 30 minute nap right in the beginning and she did surprisingly great! love that face!

Picnic at the Park

2010-08-15T23:38:00.000-07:00

saturday in california was spent enjoying the AMAZING weather, going to the beach, and having a family picnic - something residents of arizona would never try in august. shawn and neesha drove us fifteen minutes away from their home to a great park that we were told is very popular. the park is on a huge hill with a road that takes you all the way up to the top and has side streets along the way. we parked up top and were able to take in the gorgeous view all around. everyone brought blankets and jackets being from arizona and not used to the cold temps of 64 degrees and windy. we got a great spot with tables right next to a playground. perfect when there are three kids with tons of energy to spend!

this is shawn and dad grillin' for the family. we had burgers, grilled chicken, veggies/fruit and dip, homemade potatoe salad, chips, and pop - so great when your starving! dad is a great cook and really gets excited to share new recipes with me. he's like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to bargin shopping and cooking!above: neesha and maeli waiting for the food to be ready to eat. neesha is also pregnant and i am so excited to be pregnant with her. #3 for her is due in late march (she's about eight or nine weeks here). there will soon be five mckay cousins running around when we get together, i can't wait! below: kirt stacking his burger like an artist. above: bundled in cali's unusual cold spell for this time of year - loved it! and below is addison just being darn cute by saying "cheese" for the camera!

I'm Sailing!

2010-08-11T22:18:00.000-07:00

have you ever seen the movie what about bob? hilarious - starring bill murray and richard dreyfuss. go rent it, you won't be sorry. the title is a quote from the movie and the first thing i thought of when i heard we were going to be sailing in california. unlike the movie though, no one on our crew had to be tied to the mast. pictures from the boat:
after we found shawn and neesha's home in culver city everyone loaded up into the cars and went to the pier where shawn had rented a cute sailboat for several hours. i volunteered for the short ride and shawn took us out around the pier while teaching us sailing terminology and how to's. i loved taking pictures of the docks and was surprised at how fast you can go without a motor. kyle's father taking a turn at steering and (below) maeli helping daddy sail.after my short ride, i traded with kyle and went back to the house with addison who never went sailing because she was afraid to wear a life vest. silly girl.

Finally Here

2010-08-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

we made it into culver city around 1:00 pm friday afternoon and we are loving it here. i want to move. neesha told me no one has a/c here because it hardly ever gets hot enough to need it! can you imagine?! they just leave their doors and windows open for a cool breeze when they need it. kyle thinks it's cold, but i love it. being here has made me so happy and reminds me of memories when i lived in santa clara as a young girl. i would move here in a heartbeat if housing wasn't so ridiculous. shawn and neesha will probably live here for at least five years which means we will be vacationing here at least once a year... hopefully. above: shawn and neesha's home with cameron playing out front. below pictures: we took a walk in the neighborhood to enjoy the weather and look around.

addison had never seen anything like this tree (above) and seemed to be very awed by it. so cute.above: each street is lined with trees, at least one in front of each home. doesn't it just make you happy? this blue flower (below) is one i associate with my memories of california. these and vines grow everywhere. beautiful.

kyle's parents are leaving tomorrow afternoon, but we will wait to leave until monday so we can take addison to the beach. oh i can't wait!

Impromptu Vacation to Cali

2010-08-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

this picture has nothing to do with the post, i just wanted to show you how much i am already popping out with sweet baby girl #2. i am 20 weeks 6 days here. finally i can wear maternity clothes! yeah!

yesterday kyle's parents left to california with colin, heather, and jennifer to visit his oldest brother shawn and his family. shawn and neesha moved to culber, california (near santa monica) in january of this year, and grandma and grandpa have already visited i think fives times. it is so nice to have them closer than indiana! it happens that kyle has a two week break from school right now and kirt is driving from florida all at the same time. so when kirt is rested -either late tonight or early tomorrow - the four of us will drive together to join the rest of the family in california! woohoo! today is cleaning, shopping, and packing day all rolled into one. can't wait for the beach!

We're Growing... By Two Feet!

2010-08-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

get the title? i thought it was clever. this pregnancy is a surprise to most people, although some family could tell my tummy has been taking on a new shape for a couple of weeks - no matter how hard i tried to suck it in. two people that didn't notice, kinda funny, were both of our dads. they had to be clued in by our moms! so while kyle's family was quietly suspecting for two/three weeks, my family was calling at 12:30 am, constantly asking me many questions, and grilling me about if i was pregnant. so i lied. a lot. and i'm not sorry. i stopped going to my parents to avoid the questions, and then i got calls about that. but kyle and i like to wait for three months before telling anyone. it's fun to have a secret for a while. we found out back in april - while we were staying at my parents for a babysitting job down the street. at first i wanted to surprise kyle and tell him in some cute way. but, the minute he came home to me smiling, kissing him and telling me i loved him, he looked at me and said, "are you pregnant?". should i have been offended that he thought i was acting like that only because he suspected i was pregnant? don't i treat him like that everyday? maybe if i would've stopped to think about it, but i was in dreamland, having wanted to get pregnant since november of last year. i had begged and pleaded, cried, refused to talk to him, promised rewards, and anything else i could think of to no avail. all kyle could think of was how much we were spending weekly on formula and diapers. he told me that as soon as jesse and michelle got pregnant we could too. we had heard them say they wanted to wait until summer of 2011 - a year and half away.

i don't really know what changed his mind just four months later. maybe he was fed up with my whining, but boy am i thankful! my pregnancy with addison was, for the most part, a breeze. i got sick for three weeks early in the first trimester and for the duration had to be careful of what and how much i ate and drank. i only threw up four times. my mom said it wasn't fair. this time around it's even easier. no nausea or sickness at all - just tired. i know others who get really sick and have horrible pregnancies, and i am so blessed to have it this easy.

i am 20 weeks along - that's four and a half months based on a ten month pregnancy (how ob/gyns measure it) but not looking as a doctor, i'm five months. halfway there! and because i wasn't pestered at their house, kyle and i have been spending these last weeks at his parents house to avoid suspicion from my family. (funny since kyle's parents were also suspecting - at least they were quiet about it.)

we told kyle's parents saturday night so they could let everyone know on their weekly sunday calls to the rest of the family not in town. we told the whole mccleve family last night during brag time for FHE. last wednesday we had our ultrasound and sealed up the gender pics. i took them to the bakery and had a cake made with either blue or pink icing inside. (kyle and i didn't peek at the gender). so after we told my family at brag time, we announced that not only were we pregnant, but we were going to find out the sex of the baby for dessert! usually when someone announces they are expecting, you have to wait for months to find out boy or girl. it was so fun to have two surprises in one night.

we let my dad cut the cake and what do you know? the mccleve family curse is STILL alive. (six girls - no boys - in my immediate family and many girl cousins) we call it the mccleve curse although i know kyle is really to blame, the father always determines the sex. even though i have had dreams of blue icing, i really wanted a little sister for addison and i couldn't be more excited!! having all girls really isn't a curse and i hope they will be really close. two girls to dress up!

**edit: we only took video, but jenell sent me these pics from that night.

ok a vote right before my dad cut the cake to see what everyone thought we were having. a little more than half screamed "girl!" in the pic below, watermelon is being cut and eaten while people are waiting to find out. watermelon to me says mccleve family.the evidence:we are so happy to be welcoming another little girl soon!

TV Land

2010-07-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

for the first two months that kyle and i were married, we lived in an apartment in north mesa with no tv. kyle comes from a family where tv was only allowed on weekends for a couple hours by his mom and never by his dad. i love to listen to him tell stories about watching saturday morning cartoons while his mom slept in and his dad was attending a scouting activity. that was their favorite saturday because if dad was home, he would turn off the tv and tell the kids they had chores waiting. kyle recalls how awful it was to be home, sick from school, on a thursday - his dad's day off. dad thought being sick meant not moving from your bed, and of course no cartoons. it felt a lot better to be sick any other school day when mom allowed you to watch all the cartoons your heart desired.

my family is glued to the televison set. they cancelled dish for six months. so far, there has been no change of habbits since they bought a WWD (i can't remember what the device is called) that connects to the internet and allows them to watch hulu or netflix on the tv. very nice, but problem of sisters being addicted really not solved. argh.

kyle and i had cable/dish at our home with the brown's and still here at grandma mccleve's. we love having the option of tv and watch for an hour or so about three nights a week - more than kyle did growing up, but less than me. addison has always loved the tv since before she could even sit up. i remember feeding her at my parents (around three months old) when all of the sudden she turns her heard at an awkward angle to see what all the noise was on the tv. she watched for a minute or two and then was tired of it and looked away. at the time, it was funny to see her interested in the tv, but now it's annoying to have her scream when we turn it off.

being a lot more tired starting at the beginning of the summer kyle would get up with her and let me sleep. when summer school started, addison used to sleep until he got home, but recently her clock is getting her up a few hours earlier. so kyle would let me sleep, turn on nick jr. for addison, and slip out the door. every week she is content by herself for longer and longer periods of time. it's horrible, but i just can't pull myself out of bed. so tired.

Surprise!

2010-07-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

we all know how much addison loves the water and wet n' wild just made that a little more clear. so daddy surprised addison and mommy when he came home from the grocery store with this:what a great daddy huh? we put her down for a nap, turn on one of the last episodes of prison break, and blew the whole pool up. i did the whale. man it took forever and i was really light headed! kyle put it on the back porch and we grabbed addison. bubbles, toys, the hose - she was a happy camper!

since that first day swimming in it, she has used it three times and loves it. we pass it every day to go out in the car. she sees it and tries to get in the dry pool with her clothes. she's so funny. i love my baby girl!

Wet n' Wild McCleves

2010-07-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, the entire McCleve clan went to Wet N' Wild together. The water park was pretty awesome with their fun slides, kiddie area, and wave pool. We had so much fun and Addioson loved playing with her aunts, uncles, and cousins. We took many pictures and videos, here are some.Above: Brittney and Addison in line for the wave pool. Addison loved the pool until we put the lifesaver on her and then she was terrified. I think it made her feel like she had no control with that huge thing on her. Below: Aunt Kenna showing Addison around the kiddie playground. She loved it.
Above: Addison fell asleep on Brittney while taking a break to drink a bob. Brittney laid her down to take a nap while we went on some slides together. Great Grandma McCleve watched her for us until she woke up about a half an hour later. Below: Taking a quick rest from the sun. Doesn't Addison looks so cute?!

A few hours of swiming really wipes out your energy and makes you super hungry, so the whole family trekked out to the parking lot for lunch - three three-foot subs, potatoe salad, chips and veggies, and sodas!

Below: L-R. Kerstyn, Kasey, Aunt Jenell, Aunt Connie, Grandma McCleve and others enjoying the good eats.

Busy eating is Jesse, Michelle, and Jalee.All the food was gone when everyone went back inside the park. It was a great time to chat and fill up!

Below: L-R. Chealyn, Chad (Fiancee to Chantell), Chantell, Caden, Uncle Loren, and Aunt Brookie.

Girls Camp: Spiritual Edition

2010-07-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

immediately after we moved into this new ward, we heard the bishop - a.k.a. my uncle loren - had some callings in mind for us. hearing that i became terrified that i would be put in as a relief society teacher or something. two weeks later i was put in as the beehive advisor and kyle was put in as the 13 and 14 year old sunday school teacher. whew, i blew a sigh of relief. we pretty much just left those same two callings in our last ward and i knew i could handle that one.

our ward beehive count is ridiculous. we have 15 girls in my class alone, compare that to my last ward where the beehives was also the largest class with an average of four to five girls per sunday. mia maids had two - three girls average, and the laurels class was virtually non- existent. i didn't go to girls camp with them since i was nursing, or trying to, but i remember my president ( i loved kim johnson) saying we only had eleven girls go to camp that year. then she told me we weren't the smallest ward to go. holy crap!

well, i went to girls camp last week and had a blast!

it was incredible how much i missed kyle and addison. i thought about that they were doing every day and worried about something happening to addison while i was so far away. she wasn't too happy to see me when i came home. she had been woken up very early from a nap and didn't warm up to me until that evening. and speaking of that evening. i went to take a nap at 5:30 and didn't wake up until 9:00 the next morning. i was exhausted!

but that's getting off topic. our theme this year was EXTREME MAKEOVER: SPIRITUAL EDITION. how do the leaders come up with these ideas?!? it was amazing. we learned a lot about building our foundation on christ, being strong for him, and what we want in our homes. each ward represented a different part of the home with a value assigned to them as well. our ward theme was the front yard where we talked to the girls the importance of how the curb appeal for a home reflects what the home will look like on the inside. also that it is one of the more important aspects of the home because if we compare it to our bodies we need to make sure the first impression of who we are and what we stand for is clearly visible on the outside, the first thing people learn about us. the motto the girls came up with was "how's your curb appeal?" i thought it was great.

not everyone likes it, but i know that girls camp changes lives. it gives the young women in our ward families a chance to learn more about christ and how to gain a stronger testimony of who they are and where they really want to go in life. i hear about girls who make excuses of why they can't go... work, vacations, they're not campers, or some other reason. these girls are really denying themselves a great opportunity to get away from the pressures and ugly things of the world and surround themselves with leaders and fellow girls who love them. girls camp is like drinking a huge energy boost, but instead of caffeine, they will be full of knowledge and experiences that will strengthen their testimony and fortify it against those things that will try to tear at them. nothing else can compare. it's a week of the best positive peer pressure out there. and if you have teenage girls you know they don't always listen to you, but at camp, surrounded by those that become best friends, you don't need to worry about their choices. they all choose the best together. and by the time the young women need a reminder, a year has gone by and girls camp is back again!! what could be more perfect? girls camp is truly inspired.

i told the girls in my ward how i went to girls camp all six years and after i graduated, i begged my young women's president to let me go again, but i wasn't allowed. i wanted to go because i knew what i was missing out on, and i cried. i know, somewhat dramatic.

as a leader, camp was still incredible. i loved getting to know the girls better and i gained a huge appreciation of all that my leaders did, starting months before camp. i really love megan and jessica - the second counselor in YW and ward camp director. we had so much fun together even though i was at least ten years younger than either of them. (yes, i got confused for a young women almost hourly).

one thing we did that i personally loved was the hike. i wasn't excited to go at first because i was already so dirty, but it was a great experience. at the beginning of the hike, we each received a paver (basically an over sized brick) to write our names and the date on. we listened to the hiking leader, brother olsen, talk about burdens and what they are. some that we talked about were anger, guilt, sickness, school, financial, and jealousy. he told us that as we hiked we were going to carry these pavers, representing our burdens, on our hands. he wanted us to constantly think of them as we hiked (leaders were asked to carry a paver too).

right away my five little first years, weighed down by their burdens, started to have a hard time ascending to the top of the mountain. we had breaks every ten to fifteen minutes and the girls talked about how much they hated their paver and wanted to put them on Lou the donkey to carry for them. i encouraged them as best i could to carry their burdens themselves and stay in lead of all the hikers, that helps you a lot mentally. at the top of the mountain we had lunch, rested for about an hour, and talked some more about burdens. some of the stake leaders shared personal experiences that helped everyone to really understand why we were doing this.

then we went back down the mountain and i was so proud of all my girls who stayed together in the front and had great attitudes. when we had hiked 3.4 miles, we were stopped and given bio-degradable pieces of paper to write down the burden that we have been carrying. hiking a bit further, we placed our paper under our burden in a path brother olsen had made for the entire stake. he explained that jesus, as part of the atonement, will carry our burdens for us, if we are willing to give them to him. when it rains, our burdens will wash away.

towards the end of girls camp, after we did singing trees, the whole stake walked on the path of "burdens" from each person and we had a devotional about christ. these are the kind of experiences the girls will remember throughout their life because of the physical things they did that represented spiritual things they need to do.

i love girls camp and i am so glad i got to go!

What to Give A Guy?

2010-06-18T09:35:00.001-07:00

growing up with all girls in my family was so much fun. we had many of the same interests and loved doing things with each other. life was peachy. okay, maybe that's too brady bunch. there was chaos everyday with so much going on, but it was fun. i have to brag that my dad was great with us, better than most dads would be. especially considering he had six daughters, a female dog, and a wife who was a brown - and anyone who knows the browns, or breinholts for that matter know that you need to have a little bit of saint in you to deal with them sometimes. or just go insane slowly. but that's another topic. back to my dad. christmas and birthdays were hard every year for me. like i said earlier, i knew my sisters well and knew that kind of gifts they would love. but every year, i struggled when it came to getting a gift for my dad. he was a boy. what do boys like? what should i get him? what does he need or want? i remembering this bothering me even as young as second grade. in elementary, the teachers try to fix this problem by giving their students crafts to make like a paper tie, picture frame made out of Popsicles sticks, or a miniature christmas wreath with colored macaroni noodles and a pic of yours truly in the center. while these were fun to make, i knew these weren't true "gifts" that could help my dad. the gifts i wanted to give didn't need to cost very much or anything at all, i just wanted to feel like i did my best. i needed ideas. does this ring a bell with anyone? this was and still is a very real struggle for me, so when kyle and i started dating, i freaked. i have boyfriend - awesome. his birthday is coming up. crap. crap, crap, crap.

i told kyle my dilemma and he shrugged it off saying he didn't want anything. ha, yeah right.

all you women out there would know if you heard this it wasn't true. well i knew i had to get him something. now as i type, i just can't remember what i got him. for christmas that year, i got him a digital camera - i do remember that. mostly it was given so that we could start taking pics to go in our wedding video. so i guess in a way i bought the camera for me too. but i don't feel too bad about that now. remember valentines day last year with the laptop kyle gave to me?

point of this whole post is that father's day is in two days. that means i have been saying "crap" a whole bunch of times these past two weeks every time i think about what to get for my husband and father of my baby.

then, earilier this week i had an "ah ha" moment. i know what i want to get for kyle, turns out it might not be available. argh! finally i pick something i know he'll love (and needs) and someone else might get it.

i'm crossing my fingers that it will be mine and hopefully i'll know soon.

Fruits of Our Labor and Our Bug Man

2010-06-16T23:18:00.000-07:00

our garden is AWESOME! tomatoe plants are huge. we have sixteen of them around four wire racks which are completely hidden now. buds and green tomatoes are everywhere and these ripe ones are our first harvest from the tomatoes. there were at least six more that i had to throw out because bugs and birds got to the first which is very frustrating. the corn is so tall and my cilantro has really shot up. i love cilantro, but the thing i anticipate most is the basil. ever since i went to oregano's and had their bruschetta, i have been obsessed with basil. so yum! the squash (we have four kinds) has taken over. thank goodness we made their boxes bigger. this zucchini was the first we have picked - isn't it huge?! making zucchini bread! we do have a problem with our green bell pepper which has brown rotted spots and we can't figure our why. it looks like a jungle. brookie says it's on steroids. i'm loving it. it's getting pretty hot though when we water it. argh!

now about the bees!

on sunday, kyle wasn't feeling well and came home early with addison. as i started to walk down the back porch toward our door when i got home, kyle was on the stairs and told me to go around the house. on our way to church, we had noticed about six bees flying around the grill. now it was around twenty. when i got in the house, i saw kyle was wearing my hoodie and he told me underneath was a windbreaker and his church clothes. he was wearing this to protect himself from the bees in the middle of JUNE! and he was dying. yuck. kyle also told me that he was pretty sure they were coming from the grill so he had turned it on earlier to kill them. he wanted to get a closer look at it, so he had me tape a net to his face and gloves on so he could go outside. so that's what the second picture is.

armed with bug spray, he started stepping on and misting the growing population of now 70 bees. once he began to get that under control, he went looking around the grill, tables, chairs, and other odd ends that are on the porch. not much. then BINGO! sure enough, when he opened the grill there was the hive like he thought. hundreds of bees were piled about seven inches high on top of the rack and even more below, dead from the flames and smoke. i was watching through the window and couldn't believe it! kyle finished killing as many as he could and the next day he cleaned it up. what a handy bug man!

Havasupai Adventure

2010-06-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

Havasupai... Arizona's paradise! When my Dad said he was going down and offered to take Brittney and I, I was so excited. As the days were approaching we started making a list of supplies and food we would need down there. It was decided that I would carry the big backpack (weighing it at 45 lbs.) and Brittney would just carry her camelbak (10lbs if that) with water and snacks. We left Memorial day in the afternoon and got up to the rim later that evening. This was my third time going and memories started coming back and I told stories of my previous trips. We camped up on the rim and early Tuesday morning we began the decent into the canyon.

When we got to the Indian village, one of the girls was struggling with her pack so I had Brittney carry our pack while I carried hers. It was another 2 miles from the village. Brittney wasn't sore yet from the 10 mile hike we had just completed from the rim to village, but after those two miles, she became pretty sore, but she was a tough girl.

** note from brittney: i would like to clarify some things here. my camelbak was about 20 lbs with all my water, food, and other necessities - not 10 lbs like kyle says. plus our shared backpack was atleast 50 - 60 lbs not 45. so i was carrying 70 -80 lbs down a 3.2 mile hike (yeah the havasupai website will back me up on the mileage) again not like the two miles kyles stated. no big deal you think? well, when you got up at four am and started hiking ten miles for several hours, your already tired when 55 lbs gets added on your back. not to mention, kyle and i did nothing to prepare for hiking the grand canyon ( i assumed i would be fine since i was only carrying 20 lbs - or so i thought.) so the only reason that i pulled my groin, rotated my ankle, and basically did the havasupai shuffle every time i stopped moving for ten minutes was because of that dang backpack i had to carry 3.2 miles. thank you.**

We got to camp about mid morning and we rested, ate, and then got ready to go to Havasu falls. After the flood in 2008, the fall now only flows to the one side, but it still is as beautiful as ever. After hanging out there we went back to camp, rested, ate dinner, played cards, and got cleaned up in the river flowing next to us.

The next morning our muscles had stiffen up, so getting up was a real "pain." We ate breakfast and then got ready to go down to Mooney Falls (my absolute favorite). Mooney stands around 200 feet high (higher than Niagara). To get down you literally have to climb down a the cliff face with chains, latters, and stakes driven into the rock for hand grips. Being terrified of heights didn't work out in Brittney's favor, but she did a good job going down.

"DESCEND AT OWN RISK"

Exercise Extreme Caution!

Brittney descending down the cliff to Mooney FallsMooney Falls

About five miles down from Mooney Falls, is another fall called Beaver. We hiked through the river, jumping and sliding down from little water falls.

Mooney Falls in the Background

Fall hopping our way down to Beaver Falls

I think I'll name this "Garden of Eden" or
"Heard it through the Grape Vine"

Just Chillin'

Hanging Out

One of the best parts of the trip is that we didn't have to hike the whole way out. Dad paid for all of us to fly the helicopter out from the Indian village. It was a flipping awesome experience! The best part was when the we flew out and above the canyon. The pilot was heading right toward a canyon wall then the helicopter went straight up and over. It was intense. It was good to be in a car on the drive home, but I was already starting to miss our great adventure. Needless to say, we were both missing our baby very much and it was so much fun to see her.

My, How They Grow Up

2010-06-01T13:25:00.000-07:00

this just shows how she is so much like her mommy who was videotaped trying to breastfeed her baby doll around three and couldn't wait to wear bras.

Just Some Pictures

2010-04-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to go with mom to a photo shoot. Addison loves balloons. We got her a big one for her birthday a few months ago and for the first little bit she was terrified, then all of a sudden it was her favorite toy. Amazingly, it lasted for two months with her dragging it around, punching it, and jumping on top of it.

Aunt Jennifer did Addisons hair and put on a nerdy collared shirt to look like Alfalfa in "Little Rascals". She looks like a cute little boy!

Addison enjoying a bubble bath. She loves to lay on her tummy and slurp the bubbles. Aren't her little teeth so cute?

Easter

2010-04-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

This was a great weekend! Not only was it Easter, but Gerneral Conference as well. It was such a privilege to see our chruch leaders counsel, edify, and uplift us with their discourses. It was addisons second easter, and this time she was old enough to go easter egg hunting. It was so much fun to see her looking for eggs. I don't know if baby was more excited or Grandpa McKay. It amazing how fast she is growing up.

Becoming Self Reliant

2010-03-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

since kyle and i have moved, we have put several hours worth of paint onto the walls of our new home. we have hung pictures, moved furniture, and decorated. while we are still in the process of giving our home the "mckay touch", we needed to get out of the house for a while and thought planting our own garden would be a perfect opportunity. this is the spot we chose:

in our new ward, the bishop (a.k.a. - my uncle who lives next door) has been coordinating a ward garden. the 1/2 acre of land for the garden just down the street from us was donated several months ago by a fellow family in the ward. early on the morning of saturday, march 6, the whole ward got together to plant the garden. each organization in the ward is in charged with keeping their assigned area free of weeds and well watered.

after hearing my uncle talk so much about the garden, kyle and i decided to use spring break as our time to make a garden. we live on an acre of land and grandma said we could put our garden anywhere in the backyard that didn't have grass - about half of the backyard. so kyle and i picked a spot that will get the right kind of sun and got to work. in the corner that we chose, there was a flatbed trailer, luckily we had kyle's dad's truck to move that. next came the worst part about gardening - removing any unwanted plant life. and believe me, there was a lot. for two hours kyle and i hacked at the shoulder height weed-bushes that seemed to be plentiful in the area we'd chosen. we raked several piles of shrubbery and filled up the bed of the truck. once that was done we took the rototiller we borrowed from kyle's uncle and tilled the rock hard ground. that handy machine saved us hours of work! i told brookie - my aunt next door about the garden and the rototiller and she and loren (uncle and bishop) came over to see it. loren asked if he could use it next door so kyle showed him how to work it and turn it on. loren got so excited that he walked it over to his house and used it right then. funny thing is he had just come home from church meetings and was still in his sunday best - down to his shiny shoes. i laughed so hard seeing him walk through the dirt in those shoes and his church attire, using that machine! too bad i couldn't take a picture. that ended day one.

i woke up on day two pretty sore in my back. (one thing about me: i love being sore. like after a great workout - like weed killing - and i can hardly move. that kind of sore. call me crazy, but it just feels good!) we dumped the weeds and pick up some fresh and *free* manure down the street at fisher ranch. (illene fisher is the young woman's president). then kyle backed the truck into our garden and we sprinkled it everywhere and tilled it in. then we were off to home depot to get seeds, soil, transplants, and a few other odds and ends. we came home and dug trenches on the south and east sides of our garden where we put walls.

addison was hard to take care of during this time of gardening. g-ma has a fenced in trampoline that we put her on with many toys, books, and a drink. she was always fine until she would see one of ours heads peek out from over the wall, or we had to run past her into the house. we tried to let her roam free, but she would just get stuck trying to climb over the berm to see us, or whine for us to hold her. so she had lots of tramp and quiet time. (quiet time is something we have started recently to encourage her to learn to entertain herself. quiet time means she is in her crib with books and a bottle. she does very well with this. i heart quiet time.)

day three was the sabbath, and on that day we rested from our labors.

day four. we made a grid on our garden and placed tile for our two paths. we then planted - which takes a surprisingly long time. we watered our garden, kyle did many excited fingers, and we celebrated with dinner - pb&j. i love pb&j. kyle said the blessing on our delectable dinner and asked God to bless our garden. we both will be very disappointed if it dies. family prayer had the same pleading. there is a sign on the ward garden that says " as the seeds grow, so does the gardener". i'm sure some things will die, but gardening is a process of trial and error and kyle and i have many things to learn.
this morning we woke up and learned it had rained. i think God is looking out for us.

Second Aniversary - A Scavenger Hunt

2010-03-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

Since last year I planned and executed our first year anniversary, Brittney decided it was her turn to plan this years. I knew she was up to something making mysterious phone calls, and deleting the history on our Internet. The big surprise actually came a week before our anniversary. After going to the temple, I was walking out to my car (we drove separately) and I saw a note on the windshield. The note told me to look in my glove box and from there I was sent on a scavenger hunt.

I went to Barnes and Nobel to pick up a book, and in the book was another note telling me to go to an address in Tempe (thank goodness for map quest). I soon found myself in front of Brittney's favorite restaurant the serves an authentic cuisine of India. After eating there she gave me a note and left. The note was a puzzle in which I had to go through my book and find letters to figure out my secret password for my next destination. In the car, I found another note that led me to the Arizona Grand Resort.

I was forced to say my passward (it was naughty) several times because she "couldn't hear me" outside our room - quite embarrassing. She had bought some fun finger foods and I brought our leftovers from the restaraunt. It turned out to be a very fun and unexpected stay-cation. Sorry, no pictures.

Dear Addison,

2010-02-25T10:39:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that you've already completed your first year. It's hard to think that my precious little baby is growing up so fast. I remember how excited I was the day you were born. It was very special to see you come into this world, to hear your first cry, see your beautiful face, and to feel your little hand clasped around my finger. It was hard to believe that in just a matter of seconds I became a Dad and how my love for you grew so much. I could not believe how absolutely beautiful you were. You had stunning blue eyes with long eye lashes that would make any movie star jealous. I remember holding you for the first time and thinking about how much I loved you and how excited I was to see you start your new life.

Your Mom and I were so exited when we were able to take you home for the first time. You were such a good baby. You would never wake up during the night. In fact, your Mom and I would have to wake you up in order to make sure you were fed. It was hard going to back to work after we took you home from the hospital. While at work I would constantly think about you and during my breaks I would always call and tell Mom to put me on speakerphone so I could talk to you and let you know how much I loved you.

We got so many compliments on what a friendly, happy, and easy going baby you were. Both your Grandmas and Grandpas were jealous on how good you were. They told you that you needed to be harder on us because we were difficult babies compared to you, and that it was not fair that you were just an angel. We got so many compliments on what a smiley baby you were. Your sweet, innocent smile would light up the room. You also loved to laugh, especially when we tickled you. Sometimes you would laugh for no apparent reason.

You were always a very friendly baby and loved to be held by anyone. You have a sweet spirit and a loving heart. Even at your extremely young age I was impressed at how you would watch and interact with other babies or children. You were always drawn to them and would try to befriend them by showing or sharing with them your binky, bottle, or whatever it was that you had.

It's been so much fun seeing you learn an grow every day. I was so excited when for the first time you laughed, rolled over, crawled, stood up, and when you took your first step. You learn so fast and you are so determined. I was especially excited and proud I was when you said "DA DA" for the first time. I constantly reminded and teased your Mom that you said "DA DA" before you said "MA MA." You learn new things almost every day - like folding your arms during family prayer, waiving your hand when we say goodbye, putting mommy's cell phone up to your ear and saying "hi", and kicking your ball around with me when we play soccer. It is so much fun to see you learn and developing your talents.

This year has gone by so quick and I already miss my little baby girl, bit I'm so excited for the years to come. You are my prized possession, my happy thought, the apple of my eye, and my little princess. There is nothing in this world that I wouldn't do for your own good or benefit. My life is your life. You bring so much joy into my life and I love you so very much.

Love,

Daddy

One Year Older and Wiser Too...

2010-02-21T14:09:00.000-08:00

above: addison blew out her candle all by herself!

...happy birthday to you!

it happened. even though i have been looking forward to this day, i also dreaded my baby growing up. yes, i know she'll still need me for a while yet, but february 19th made the inevitable one year closer. so, because i knew it couldn't be avoided, i let addison turn one. aren't i nice? i sure think i am. there are so many precious things that she does, cute ways that she thinks about things, i am terrified that she will suddenly stop. on the other hand, i love watching her continue to learn about the world around her and figure out how to accomplish the things she wants. she is mi bebe guros (baby laguage for my baby girls) and i absolutely LOVE her.

she had a family birthday party at our new house. it was a great turn out with kyle's parents, my parents and sisters including michelle and jesse, both great grandmas, and great, great grandpa breinholt. we ate amazing food - hawaiian burgers - a great recipe kyle's dad found that includes mango, pineapple, bacon, and a mango sauce with anything else you like. way better than regular burgers.

above: jalee trying to get addison to eat her cake by example. addison was having fun being quite the tease - right when jalee would lean forward to take a bite, addy would pull the fork away and laugh. below: addison opening her presents. favorite toy thus far - balloons, go figure.we totally didn't think to get pictures of anyone but addison until afterward, sniff sniff. but, we are so lucky to have such great family who loves addy there to wish her happy birthday.

she is growing up so fast, and i'm gonna enjoy every minute of it. i am the luckiest mom in the world. i know everyone says that, but only this mom is right!

Since We Moved

2010-01-16T15:25:00.000-08:00

we have been very busy cleaning, unpacking, organizing, decorating and painting. i know i said in november that i was going to paint befroe we moved in, but things just never turn out the way you would like them too. so kyle and i spent our school vacation time painting. my sisters have put in many hours to help us out (thanks guys) and though we're not done yet, we will be taking a break until summer. we still need to paint our office, bathrooms, and hallways. plus touch ups. grandma is so nice to let us do this in her basement. her favorite color for walls is white, so i think our tahitian red in the kitchen is a bit bold for her taste.

it's an amazing feeling to go from a 900 sq. ft. one bedroom, one bathroom and shared laundry to 2,200 sq. ft. three bedroom two bathroom complete with our own laundry. we are absolutely loving it and feeling like we are swimming in the extra square footage. oh, what a wonderful feeling! i think addison's favorite part is the carpet. her poor knees really had to toughen up for crawling all over hard, mexican tile. now they will somewhat soften on the carpet. well, i guess i should say would've softened. addison started walking a couple of steps at a time in later december, now she is walking pretty well. i laugh every time i see her going from one room into another because when she sees a transition in the flooring, she gets down on hands and knees to crawl over it, then is back up and walking. what makes her even think to do that?!

Harley Puppy Dog

2010-01-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

I was looking though some of our family pictures and wanted to share some of these.

A few months ago Uncle Carson suprised us one night by taking us back to his bedroom and showing us the cutest little boxer puppy I've ever seen. Harley and I soon became great friends. She was full of energy and loved to play and then she would turn around and be the best little cuddle bug ever.

Harley was surprisingly obedient for a little puppy dog. When we took her on a family walk we couldn't find a leash so we put her in the back of Addison's stroller. She was soon excited by the new sights and sounds and wanted to walk on her own. I letter her out and she stayed no more than 20 feed behind or ahead of us and would come right when we called her.

We enjoyed watching movies together, taking naps, and playing outside.

A couple of weeks ago Harley had quite the adventure and so did we. On new years day she escaped out the front gate and was lost. We frantically looked for her all over the neighborhood.

We posted dozens of signs, talked to neighbors, and searched the streets up and down for her. Luckily though we got a lead from an animal hospital nearby that someone had dropped off a boxer puppy and they had animal control come pick her up. I spent that afternoon waiting at the animal shelter for the truck to return from the route. When I saw the truck pull up and watched them take Harley out my heart was relieved. Poor dog had quite the adventure.

Addison's First Christmas

2010-01-03T12:07:00.000-08:00

All of my family was in town this year for Christmas. Christmas Eve the family always goes to a movie and dinner at Texas Roadhouse. This year, Maeli - the oldest grandchild - and Jennifer really wanted to see The Princess and The Frog. Grandma and Grandpa watched Addison and Cameron at home, which is starting to become part of the tradition and they couldn't be happier.

Christmas was a blast this year. It was my first Christmas as a Dad. Growing up I thought that parents got jipped on Christmas because the kids got all the fun toys and stuff. But it was so much fun watching my daughter opening presents even though she had no idea what was going on. We woke her up around 8 am and started opening presents. Santa gave Addison blocks, and a Disney movie. Brittney bought me a beautiful painting, several Calvin Klein belts, and my favorite candy bar - Butterfinger. I made her a Dating Jar where on any weekend she can pull out a fun and unique date idea for that night. She also got a gift card to her favorite store - Charlotte Russe. We cooked our traditional Christmas morning breakfast, crepes, and then headed out to our parents. Both Grandparents gave Addison toy cell phones since she is always putting ours up to her ear and saying "hi" and then she presses all the buttons. She got a toy monkey and a puzzle from the Grandma and Grandpas and princess sippy cups from her cousin's Maeli and Cameron. Let's just say she was one spoiled grandchild.

The next day, Grandma and Grandpa McKay took the grand kids to Freestone park to ride the train while Brittney had a photoshoot with Uncle Ernest's family. Addison loved the train.

For New Years, Addison saw fireworks for the first time at Grandma and Grandpa McKays. We walked out to the end of the cul-de-sac and watched the Jones' traditional display. She cried when they exploded and we had to take her back inside before any more went off.
We moved into our new place which is Brittney's Grandma's basement. It's 2,200 sq. ft. of space and we couldn't be happier. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen with a small pantry, a large storage room, and a very spacious family room. Oh, and we have our own laundry which is a huge plus! We are loving all the room and Addison loves the carpet. We will miss our French Cottage, but we are excited about our new home and can't wait to give it the "McKay" treatment.

Mesa High, State Runners Up

2009-12-22T21:06:00.000-08:00

I'm sad the title doesn't read State Champs, but I do want to say that Mesa put up a good fight. After being ranked 11th at the beginning of the year in their division, to become state runners up, that itself is a crowning victory. Those boys fought and bled together showing us that spirit and determination is more valuable than statistics and odds. After defeating Mnt. Pointe, a undefeated at the time, they were challenged again by Hamilton, another undefeated tea

m. The whole week before the game, I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. I was stoked to go to the game with my wife( a Mesa High graduate) and daughter( future Mesa High graduate). My parents bought tickets and shirts.

Even a shirt for Addison that was way too big for her, but it was super cute. On the shirts it said "Mesa Believes." We all believed that they could surpass the challenges that they had faced. Mesa showed that they could win, even though they face insurmountable odd, as they showed what they were capable of when they played Mnt. Pointe.

Before the game Brittney and I made a sign that said on one side, "Mckay Alumni: Kyle 2003, Brittney 2007, Addison 2029, Heart Mesa High" on the other

side it said "The McKay's Believe." Then we were off to the game with my two sisters.

Mesa was to face Hamilton at the University of Phoenix Stadium. The stadium was awesome. The crowd that came out to cheer on the Jackrabbits was even better. It was a sea of purple and gold. Our numbers were far superior than that of Hamilton, and our spirit was even greater. Old friends and alumni were reunited in this glorious field of battle. My father-in-law, a 3rd generation graduate and football player came out to the game. He participated in the State Championship back when played football for Mesa in the early 80s

The Mesa High Jackrabbits came marching onto the field. The stands erupted into thunderous cheers of support. The Mesa High team preformed the Haka, a mauri war dance, that has become a tradition started by many of the Tongan and Samoan players. After the kickoff the game began. It was a back and forth battle between Mesa and Hamilton ass each team struggled to advance on the field. I was impressed as Mesa's defense prevented Hamilton from gaining yards. At one point during the second quarter, Hamilton was at the goal line with two yard to go. After being shut down, Hamilton was forced to take the field goal. Though disappointed that they had scored, we still know we had a fighting chance. Toward the end of the second half is when Hamilton scored its first touch down. You could feel the disappointment of the crowd, but we didn't stop believing.

The second half of the game I'm hardly going to mention. Lets just say Mesa could not hold onto the ball and gave it up to Hamilton after several fumbles. Toward the end, Mesa continued to fight valiantly, but to no avail. The buzzer rang, the game was over. Hamilton left the victor.

Though no state champion title was awarded to Mesa High, those boys have something to be very proud of. We had not seen as state champion game since 1992. Mesa was just considered a second rate team. But those boys proved otherwise. Its funny that even though Mesa hasn't seen a state champion game for a while, the spirit and support for our football team is unlike any other school. Though winning is great, Mesa High students and alumni continue to show great support and love for each other even in the times we lose. We stick it though during the thick and thin. We are so proud of those boys, and humbled that we were able to participate in the state champions. Carry On Mesa High! Carry On!!!!

Happy Birthday Kyle!

2009-12-10T11:57:00.000-08:00

kyle,

i remember the first time i ever saw you in june of 2007. you were in the ballroom at nau and efy

was in session. i could tell you were a great counselor by the way you interacted with everyone around you. you had some crazy energy that whole week as you bounced down the halls and made sure your group had spirit. i remember thinking, " the poor girl who marries him, he's all over the place!"

michelle loved you as her counselor, and when she asked me to write on your facebook page and say hi for her, i was excited to write you a message. your reply came back, and i was so afraid that our conversation would end there. so i wrote you again, pretending michelle wanted me to. when you replied and asked for my number, i was shocked. excited. thrilled. and nervous. i was going to go on a date with a counselor. an efy COUNSELOR. you seemed so much older than me, with with much more experience in dating. i knew you were fun, and i was terrified to disappoint. i had a wonderful time that night.

i couldn't believe you liked me enough to ask me out again. but you did. over the next four months as we dated and got to know each other, i fell in love with you. i loved how you could make me laugh. you were so clever with the way you talked and i found myself laughing for days as i reflected on a single conversation or a look you gave. i loved that you had the ability to talk to anyone around you, even strangers, and be completely comfortable. you were great with kids of all ages, and it impressed me that you got along with my sisters so well. they still love you. that was very important to me. i saw you dig in with the work at your house and you even looked to be an extra help with things you thought needed to be done. you made chores fun. people who were normally considered "different" in society always had a friend in you. they knew to call you for a ride or a visit and you would be there. i appreciated the trails you had gone through and was amazed at how much stronger they made your spirit and testimony.

once i knew that i wanted to marry you, march 7th couldn't come fast enough. i had the jitters that whole week. in the temple i was so nervous that i nearly threw up, but when i saw you smile at me and take my hand, i knew everything was going to be fine. that day was perfect. i will never forget it.

in the whole year and ten months we've been married, we have accomplished so much. moving, going to school, counting pennies, and having a baby. and consequently, you have been the rock through it all. i have never doubted your ability to provide for our family or achieve anything you want in life. as i continue to get to know you better, sometimes what i learn drives me nuts, but i can never stay upset at you for long. i learned that you never let the small things get to you, which is completely opposite from me. you always encourage me to be more than i am. when it come to school or hobbies, you say if i want to do it, then i can. you help me see how i can accomplish my goals and road map a way for me to get there. you stick up for me and support me. you let me cry. you love me, and so much more.

i can't get enough of you and addison together.

you are so good to her. you are going to be a perfect doting father to all of our children - just like your dad. addison lights up when you get home each day and loves talking to you on the phone. i know a you'll always have a special place in her heart.

thank you for being the husband and father that you are. thank you for your love and patience. thank you for your service. i will forever be greatful i was the lucky girl that got to marry that energetic counselor from efy. i love to be with you and i am so excited to do just that for eternity. i hope you have a wonderful birthday! i love you so much.

with much love,

brittney

The McKay's are Alive!

2009-12-06T14:11:00.000-08:00

i know we have been down and out for awhile, but i am back to announce what we have been doing for the past month!

1. addison cut her first two teeth back in early october. before she got them, i would talk about how much i loved her gummy smile and how i didn't want teeth to ruin it. i can honestly say that the two little buds on her bottom jaw have only increased her cuteness!

2. i participated in black friday. not the getting up early - heaven knows i love my sleep - but i did go shopping that day. jen and i hit up two tuesday morning stores. i bought a standing plant, (they go everywhere.) i also bought kyles christmas gift. i spotted it at the second location we went to and showed jen. she loved it too. because of a manufacturers flaw, i got it for 15% off - i do love me a good bargain!

3. i am so thankful my dad is still here on this earth. one year ago december 3rd, he had a heart attack. i was pregnant with addison and all i could think about was if my sweet baby would be able to meet my father. it was one of the scariest days of my life. looking back on this year that we have been blessed with, i can't even begin to fathom it could have been without him. i am thankful for my many blessings - i love you daddy!

4. i gave addison her first trim the other night while she was bathing. it was hard getting her to hold still long enough for me to cut her hair the same length, but i think it turned out pretty well.

5. for those the few of you that didn't know, the mckays are moving to south chandler. my grandmother has a huge basement that she is nice enough to share with us. we will have our own entrance to a 2,200 sq ft, three bedroom, two bathroom, and 1 storage roomed basement with a HUGE backyard for addison! part of our agreement for living there is that we help fix up the place. the home was built only about eight years old, so the "fixing" part is more like painting and accessorizing it for my g-ma who doesn't enjoy doing that herself. uh, heck yes we'll do it! so i met my aunt jenel at home depot. an hour and a half later, we left with half of the stores paint swatches and instructions to pick my favorites and buy some samples. i have four samples which i will be trying out. we move in january so i will have it painted by then!

6. i finished my last two photoshoots that i was so concerned about getting done in time for the holidays. they both turned out beautiful. great news: my work is not only starting to pick up, but i have had to turn business down because i have had so much business. if that sounds mean to you, all well. i was able to see several photoshoots used as christmas cards and wedding announcements. i can't explain how exciting that is!

7. earlier this week addison started standing all by herself. everyday the length of time she can do it for increases as she proudly shows off her new trick. she knows that we say "yeah!" and clap for her and she loves the attention. she'll show off her bright smile before she stands now, waiting for us to praise her.

8. school is ending! kyle and i are wrapping it up for this semester and putting a boot in it. kyle has two finals to study for and i am putting together a picture slideshow for my final. the end is in sight, the end is in sight!

9. we have all been sick. i think addison had it the worst. fevers, coughing, throw up, aching, and the runs have all been enjoyed thoroughly - all of them by addison and only a few by kyle and i. addison and i still are coughing and poor kyle is just getting started with the list.

10. since we don't want one huge move, kyle and i have been making trips to grandma's house to drop off furniture and things we are not using. i have bought totes, labeled them, and filled them several times. yeah for organizing! so on the weekends, you can drive by and see us loading up my mom's truck to send to the new house.

11.thursday is kyle's 25th birthday. i told him that means 25 spankings. remember when you were little and you got those? don't forget a pinch to grow an inch! kyle doesn't need any inches added to his 6' 3" frame. i can tell he got plenty of those growing up. anyway, we will get a christmas tree (real) that night and decorate it. can't wait to be with him. i love my man.

12. saturday is the mesa high game. they are playing hamilton high for the state title. just so you guys understand, the last time mesa went to state is when my dad was in high school - 1981. they got close one time since then, but sadly lost at regionals in 1992. the mckay family are stanch supporters of mesa high - since both kyle and i went, i being a fourth generation mesa high alumni - and will undoubtedly be at the game screaming for mesa. please pray for mesa high school! I BELIEVE!!