What a Week!

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.

Lately for Each of Us

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!

Home Sweet Home!

i have never been more greatful for home! words can't even express how divine it was to sleep in my own bed last night. what a wonderful feeling! of course, we have a mountain of laundry to catch up on, mail coming out our ears, and a completely empty refrigerator, but all that pails in comparison to the sheer joy of being at home. looking around right now, i am surrounded by chaos but i'm feeling on top of the world. why? yes, you guessed it, because i am home. amazing what an affect your own home has. in the month of july, we were only at our house for the first five or so days. i can't think of a better way of making anyone appreciate their own home. after finishing up the two weeks at my parents house we went straight over to my aunt and uncle's to house sit while they took their kids on a week-long road trip. it was great to be able to use their fun pool, big screen tv, huge home, and incredible hot tub for the week. and even though my home is completely opposite from theirs, there is nothing like home!

Moms, Jobs, Babies - such fun!

there is no time to blog when you are the mother of seven - at least a temporary mom! (eight if you count kyle) i have a renewed respect for moms with large families - especially those with teenagers!my sisters have been pretty good for the most part. last week, i bribed them with tickets to harry potter, this week it's sunsplash. a few of them lost their tickets and had to earn them back with a chore. thanks to that, my mom's room and hall closet are getting very organized.

this week, kyle stared his new job at bank of america. since compass bank had to lay off all employees in az back in march. kyle applied for jobs and heard back from several places and found this job with balboa insurance. just in time for school, thank goodness. kyle was really excited in march when he was able to stay home and be with addison and i, but the excitement wore off quickly when i put him to work helping with addison, cooking, cleaning, or when he got real bored. i miss him though.

remember me saying i wanted to be more crafty? well i got down to business with my sister kenna and made addison (and me) some serious flowers clips for her hair. prolly like fifteen. but i have a problem with addison finding the flowers and bows and pulling them off. any suggestions on how to get her to stop? my sisters and i shopped and bought some of the cutest ribbon too - clearance! i can not wait for that.

speaking of babies and bows, my cousin stacia just had her baby girl saturday morning at 6:50. breckyn ray rogers was 7 lbs 1oz, 20 1/2 in long. what a sweet baby! she is so tiny and has beautiful dark hair at the back of her head, a cute pointy nose, and itty bitty wrists. stacia and i have been close cousins for our whole lives and i am so excited for her and what a great mom she will be. when i got a phone call telling me about the birth of breckyn, i remember how happy i was for stacia and reflected on the special time when addsion was born. i miss those first days and can't wait to have them again some day. the precious babies grow so fast.
last saturday, my parents ward had a slip n' slide day using billboard signs and a fire hydrant. adults and kids got in line to slide down the steep hill for several hours while others liked to just watch from the shade and eat watermelon. it was a blast. we had a short scare when kyle lost his wedding ring, but it was found. the last hour, they poured soap on the slide and it was fun to watch to little kids fly! Kyle even took Addison down a few times. She liked the slide, but didn't like the water spraying on her.

Work, Boredom, and Mischief

kyle's last post was about us taking my sisters to efy. we have been staying at my parents house this whole week, since the day before we took the road trip to flagstaff. why? well because i am trying to get a photography business up and started. i use this nifty program called photoshop to make cool edits to the pics i take before i give them to my clients. one problem. since this program is so complex and heavy duty, it has crashed my laptop three times. rewind with me to that time in february when kyle bought me my laptop. he gave it to me so i could run this business from home, or anywhere i wished to take it. fast forward to present time, three crashes, and a whole lot of frustration later; i choose to loose the tears and keep my hair. since the "at home" business plan hasn't been working out, i have brought work to my parents house. they have been great to let me take over they're computer and help out with addison.

hence kyle and i gone to my parents house for the past week. it was a long week. we have been so excited to be back home and actually stay the night. but i can't complain too much. because two of my sisters were at efy and the other two were farmed out to family, it wasn't too bad. i finished up my last two photo shoots at my parents house, but i have another one tonight. that means more editing at my parents. maybe i'll wait to start until tomorrow. give myself and my parents a day, you know?

can you spot who doesn't belong in this pic?

we did come home for a few hours on wednesday so i could go to mutual. we were so tired when we got home that we took showers and kyle conked out for a few hours with addison. i am so envious that he can fall asleep so fast no matter what is going on around him, even with the sun shining. i wanted to take a nap next to him so badly, but knew that if i did, i would never wake up. i was bored. no editing. nothing to eat. no one to talk to. so what do i do with time to kill? i look at kyle. he's spread out over the bed with his arms crossed over his chest and legs straight down over the covers. i look at his feet, touching the end of the bed and am jealous of them. mine are thick and plushy with stubby toes. his are more flat with long, narrow toes. i wish i had a girl version of those feet.
next thing i know, i am rummaging through the closet. i find what i am looking for and tiptoe to kyle. wives are scary when bored. making sure he is good and asleep, i start to paint his toenails pink. he never even moved! once i got done with one toe i went to the next and before long, he had ten perfectly pink toenails! with white flowers as the finishing touch, he had feet any girl would envy.

i decided not to tell him and see how long it would take for him to see it. i knew it wouldn't be long. every time he puts on his sandals he looks at his feet. he walks around barefoot in the house. how could he not notice? well i took some pics and waited. went to mutual, came home. went back to my parents house. (where he watched tv with his feet propped up on the ottoman in front of himself) edited more photos. waited. then he went to bed. thursday same story. he didn't ever see his toes. i was shocked. friday morning i was woken up by tickling fingers. kyle came from the bathroom laughing and tickling me asking when i painted his toenails. i told him and we had a good laugh. it is so funny how clueless he can be sometimes, not noticing white flowers on pink toenails! people, he walked around like that for TWO DAYS! hilarious!

when i told my parents, kenna heard and wanted to repaint his toenails a more noticeable red. kyle agreed as long as he got a foot rub from anyone who helped paint and he could remove it right away. unfortunately for him, it didn't work out the way he planned. his foot rub stopped short and he couldn't take the polish off when we had to suddenly hurry home with a fussy baby. so now he has red polish with with flowers. cute.

even better, home teachers come this morning. kyle put on baseball socks to hide his vibrant toes. because we're "out" of nail polish remover he will have to keep his toes painted for a while. (wonder how long it will take for him to notice that i lied...)

i took a close up pice while kyle was still sleeping. in the above pic, kyle's feet are the pair on the far right after we repainted them.

make sure to give him a hard time when you see him next. :)

A Little Bit of Everything...

argh! there is so much for me to blog about!! well, maybe not "so much" but a few little things here and there. we are still babysitting for the olson's (from may 1st to the 13th), which means we are ending tomorrow. bittersweet. i will miss having house cleaners twice a week, wow what a difference they make! i have loved being in a home with more than two rooms and will miss nick and laren a lot - good thing they will probably be over a lot this summer. i think addison has a sort of attachment to lauren. she saves some really big smiles for her, and then throws up on her. but she only throws up on the really special people, so that says a lot. but our job ends tomorrow so i guess we will have to settle on visits.

like kyle said in his post, michelle went through the temple today. yesterday she took her bridal portraits and in two days she will be mrs. woodbury! it has been so much fun to watch her take the same steps that i took (last year!) i wish i would've recorded more of my thoughts and memories down at that time, but seeing her getting ready has helped to jog my memory. she made fun of some of the things kyle and i did and it's funny how i see her doing similar things all the time. the other day i asked my mom if i talked to kyle funny when we were engaged, and she said that i did (although i have no recollection). side note: i was reading another blog, and a girl said that her and her husband have their own language that they communicate in. her psychology teacher told her that most married couples have their own baby language! how funny. coincidentally, kyle and i have a language all our own that i implemented not too long after we were married. i thought we were the only ones!! do any of you do that? what cute things do you do? in mckay language you = yous; kyle = kyles kay; i'm = in's; brittney = bwittney just to name a few. i love it.

jen and i are having a contest to get to our ideal weight by june 1st. i am really excited and so far have lost weight and gained it back, lost, gained, etc. so even though i am not doing particularly well right now, i am better than when i started and hope to get even better. i just got new running shoes and can't wait to try them.

so like kyle said in his post, pete's was good, but not good enough to break tradition. maybe we like pizza mart the way mccleve's love pete's because they are traditions. my dad got bummed that he couldn't go (he has been going since he was a kid). but ever since the heart attack in december, he has been watching what he eats and exercising. last i heard, he lost 55 lbs and had 55lbs more to go. his goal is to weigh 185 i think, his post mission weight. he looks amazing. for my wedding he got new teeth, and for michelle's he is losing weight. what will he do next?!

my mothers day was amazing. i literally have the best husband ever. saturday night he stayed up until two forty working on my present. even though he went to bed so late, he got up early to take care of addison (who woke at 6:30) so that i could sleep in ... yummy sleep. he then made my breakfast of choice - grandma brown's whole wheat pancakes with fruit toppings. on my plate was my gift. first i saw my card. on the outside he wrote about 15 adjectives that he thought described me, telling me how much he loved me! on the card was a sweet four stanza mother's day poem (i didn't realize until later in the day that the poem was one that he had written for me. this is the reason he was up until 2:30 a.m.) i looked into my gift bag and pulled out a steel stapler. i thought it looked like a really nice stapler but couldn't understand why he chose to give this to me. then lauren said, "you can't give her our stapler!" then i understood. the stapler was just a paper weight, i looked back into the bag and noticed a folded paper. i unfolded it and read. "let's have a WICKED time!" oh my heck, he is taking me to see the musical wicked!!! isn't he sweet? ladies, eat your heart out! don't be jealous i snagged him first! the rest of the day he wouldn't let me lift a finger. he is so good to me!

i have been thinking about father's day for a while, but after mother's day, i want to make his first father's day awesome. can anyone help give me ideas? i'm not good at these things. i'm not trying to out-do him, i just want to make his day as special as he made mine.

addison is growing up so much!! she will stand for long periods of time and loves to work out her legs. she talks to everyone and always has a smile ready. she is still in the 90 percentile for height and weight. she loves to sleep with her hands above her head and has became quite the little Houdini when she gets wrapped for bed. she went swimming for the first time on saturday. it took her a while to get used to the idea of a cold bath, but once she got used to the temperature, she loved daddy flying her around everywhere. oh, and the 12 month swimsuit i bought her fits - at eleven weeks! she has what has been lovingly nicknamed a "budda belly". she laughs more often, so far, kinsey can get her to laugh the quickest by making faces and talking to her. drooling is the new thing. addison holds her head up better than most four month olds. she is amazingly so strong. she recognizes mommy (since about 5 - 6 weeks) and greets me with a smile. she falls asleep in the shower. i guess it's just so relaxing to be cuddled and have warm water running over you. she knows what a "baba" or "bobs" is. (that's bottle for those of you that don't speak baby). she squeals when she is set down or when she is left alone, and loves people. she has rolled over three times. she still has reflux, and as a result, still throws up - even with medicine. when this happens, she just smiles at me. so sweet.

the other day she threw up in the car seat and before i could take her out and clean up she also exploded out her pants. i think she understands that when she does one of these, she gets treated to a bath. there is no limit on how many baths you can have in one day. right now she is working on seven.

thank you to all those who have visited my photography blog. set up a time with me for free pics thru september. tell all your friends. i have posted a few recent shoots and will continue so visit frequently!

Life of Luxury.

okay, so at this very second i am sitting at the computer posting on my blog. only, i am not at my own house, or even using my own computer! i am not at my parents house, at kyle's parents',  or even at a family member's home. you see, for the next two weeks, i am doing this thing - you might have heard of it. the thing where you

• get to eat other people's food (yum!)
  
• sleep in a king size bed that is as tall as your waist, and comfy
  
• drive a different car
  
• go crazy because dumb cats won't leave you alone and want to sleep with you and/or baby
  
• pretend you are someone else
  
• answer phone calls and talk to strangers
  
• tell teenagers what they can and can't do
  
• chauffeur
  
• blog in a new office
  
• try to find out which light switch belongs to which light
  
• find something for dinner?! make sure it's ready at what time? uh...
  
• pretend you know your way around this side of town, like a pro i might add...
  
• get paid? for reals?
  

that's right, kyle and i are teen sitting/house sitting.  the first thing kyle said when we all sat down to dinner last night ( at 6:45 not 6:00, sorry kris) was that he was laying down some family house rules. if everyone followed these house rules, he continued, we would all get along just fine. first he looked at 15 year old (?) nick and said, " nick, you will rub my feet every night as i drift off to sleep, " then, " lauren (12?) i have a bell. when you hear this bell, it means i want a snack, which you will bring to me. remember guys, we get along just fine if you obey my house rules." what a way to start off. slaves? YES! we are going to be living the life of luxury for the next two weeks...

FREE PICTURES!

i posted this in my new photography blog. i will be adding more pictures soon, so look at it frequently! check it and sign up for free pics.

{i will be posting more pictures soon! my computer is finally working again and the holidays are far over. also, i just had a baby in february and took a long break. but now i am back to business. just a little 411 about me.

• i live in chandler, az with my very supportive husband and beautiful baby girl.
• i'm twenty and just discovered my new love - creating memories and capturing moments though pictures
• i am taking photography and photoshop classes and i love it
• i love meeting new people

i love taking pictures and am i need of models to build my portfolio. i am talking about FREE photo sessions for families, engaged couples, missionaries, seniors, babies, and children. tell everyone you know! because i am fairly new to the photography world, the first models to book a time will recieve 15% off a later session after i have a portfolio.
my offer stands through until september. my number is (480) 290-3523 and email is limesublime87@yahoo.com

Blog: brittneymckayphotography.blogspot.com - or just click on my link. remember, i do have more to look at and will post them soon!
thanks, i hope to hear from you soon!}