Kyles Notes

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.

Coming Soon: Grandpa Mel

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).

Thoughts for Today

today i am sick. i think i have strep throat - not fun. every time i answer the phone the person on the other line thinks i just woke up because i sound so awful. i have gargled and am drinking my second glass of water of the day. i know i should drink more but it hurts so much to swallow. i have no appetite for food at all - which is not like me. is it common for your ears to hurt with strep? mine do, especially when i blow my nose. i have a photoshoot tomorrow morning so i hope i feel better soon. my day has been filled by sitting on the couch, changing diapers, and watching my wedding video. right now i am listening to classic christmas songs by mahalia jackson, the andrew sisters, bing crosby and more. christmas music makes me happy.addison started giving kisses this week. she isn't consistent with it yet, but it is so cute to see her lean forward and open her mouth! it is a sweet, slobbery kiss and kyle and i can't get enough of them! it has been really hard for me to not kiss her chubby little fingers and cheeks today so i don't get her sick. just today while i was sitting on the floor addison crawled to me and pulled herself up. then for some reason she chose to let go of me. there she was standing all by herself. i quickly grabbed her and sat her down, but she did it again two more times. i couldn't believe it! is it common for babies to do this just before eight months?

today i am feeling so greatful for kyle. kyle works so hard for our family, making sure we have everything we need and keeping me in line. i know he loves me very much and he certainly spoils me in many different ways. (since he doesn't have work until the late morning, he will get up with addison and make me breakfast while i sleep.) i love talking to him and cuddling on the couch. this morning i couldn't sleep and i found kyle on the couch, online. i told him how growing up when i didn't feel well, my dad would sit on the couch and hold me for a while. sometimes he would talk to me, sometimes we would watch tv together. i asked kyle if he would hold me while he was typing. kyle kind of laughed as if to say, "you're 21 and you still need to be held when your sick?!" but he was so sweet and held me for a while. that's the kind of memory i never want to forget. i love you so much kyle!

Brittney's New Fathers Day Date

So what's with the title your probably thinking? Well in the McKay house Father's Day came early this year and it wasn't on purpose either. Brittney thought that this last Sunday was Father's Day (I guess she never checked a calender). So on Saturday she had a big special surprise for me( she planned it on Saturday because it couldn't be done on Sunday). For some reason or another I always figure out what Brittney's surprises are and it's always by accident. So Friday morning her cell phone rang and she told me to answer it. We were both in bed sleeping, so I got up to answer it, but it was too late and whoever called just left a message. I gave Brittney the phone and rolled over to go back to sleep. She check the message and all I heard was,

" Hi, this is Tiffany from Massage Envy calling to confirm Kyle's appointment for Saturday morning"

Later that morning I confessed to Brittney that I had overheard the message (though not on purpose). She was disappointed, but I was super excited!

Saturday came and I left for my massage. One word can only describe the sheer ecstasy of soft cool hand's rubbing my labor harden muscles..."DIVINE!" When I was done Brittney called and asked me to go to the store to pick some things up. I could tell she was stalling, so I played along. When I got home she surprised me with a clean house and hearts all over with *messages of her love* (see end note). I was thrilled!

Later that night we went over to her parents. Her sister Michelle informed Brittney that Father's Day wasn't until next week. Unfortunately I received no special treatment on Sunday.

Oh well. I'll call this a practice run. I can't wait till the real Father's Day!

* The hearts that Brittney put all over our house were actually hearts I made for her two years ago. I plastered them all over her car while we were dating for Valentine's Day. Some of the sweet nothings included "I love you like a fat kid loves cake" and " Roses are red, Violets are purple, when I think of you, I go all gurple" ect. I thought it was a clever way to recycle them.

Wedding Weekend

well, we can add a new addition to the ranks of marriage! last weekend, michelle and jesse got married for time and all eternity. it was a beautiful ceremony at 9:45 a.m. (i told michelle she was crazy for making it so early). it was amazing to be there, and it made my mind flood with memories of (only) one year ago when i was making those same covenants that she was making. there is so much to take in, and looking at michelle i knew that she will remember the most important things. the day was perfect and michelle and jesse were so happy and in love. at the luncheon, jesse sang "it's your love" and played the guitar for michelle. she of course ate it up. they could hardly take their eyes off eachother...

michelle is married!! she picked a great guy, and he is lucky to get such a sweet and caring person. i love them both and couldn't be more proud - LOVE YOU GUYS!!

A Mothers Hands

by: Kyle McKay
In Honor of his loving wife for Mother's Day

Her hands may be a little dry

Her nails are chipped and worn

But her hands wipe wet tears that cry

And gently caress those that mourn

Her hands are clasped each day in prayer

As she pleas for the ones she loves

Such faith to be found on earth is rare

When she supplicates to the Lord above

Her hands will guide through life's dangerous shoals

Catch reaching hands that fall

Helping them strive for higher goals

Coming to the aid of all those that call

Her hands are a sign of selfless devotion

Ever giving to those in need.

They're filled with love deeper than the ocean

Such perfect hands, Indeed!

Walking Down Memory Lane

Brittney and I had our first anniversary on Saturday March 7, 2009. I can't believe one year had already gone by. For our first anniversary I wanted to do something for her that was really special and personal. I decided to do a themed type date and the theme was "A walk down Memory Lane." Brittney, on the Thursday before, asked me if I had anything special planned, and I putting on my best poker face told her that I had no idea what to do for our first anniversary. I said "Lets just go out to dinner and then watch a movie or something." I could tell she was disappointed, and I knew my plan was in motion.

Saturday came around and I went to work for a little bit and Brittney went to her parents house. For the past three weeks I had been working on a video for Brittney and I wasn't quite finished yet. I took my laptop to work and made the final touches to the video. On the way home from work I made some calls to make sure everything was going to flow according to plan. So this is how it went.

I went over to Brittney's parents house and got there around 5:30. She was over there taking care of Addison. I sat down and watched a movie pretending like it was any other day. Around 7 I told Brittney that I was hungry and that we should go out to eat. She was feeding the baby and I was kinda in a hurry so I told her we had a reservation. Her eyes lit up and curiosity beset her. She asked where we I had made my reservation at. I told her it was a surprise. (Brittney hates it when I do that). She gave Addison to her mom to finish feeding her and we went out to the car. I told her she was not allowed to look where we were going and I made her put a blanket over her head. She kept asking me questions trying to figure out where we were going. The only thing that I told her is that we had both been there before.

We arrived at Tempe Town Lake and I told her she could uncover her eyes. I informed her that before we ate that we were going to go for a walk and that during the walk she would have to look for her first gift of the night. She was really excited now and after walking 100 yards, she saw my younger bother Collin any my sister Heather standing by a table. They came up to us, wished us happy anniversary and left. I told Brittney that this was her first gift of the night, a CANDLE LIGHT DINNER next to Tempe town lake. She was ecstatic. The night was perfect. My brother had did an excellent job with the location and setting the table. We were right under one of the bridges and a few feet from the water. Dinner was Yoko's Terriaki Chicken (one of my favorite places to eat).

This was the first phase of my "Walking Down Memory Lane" themed date. Here at Tempe Town Lake is where Brittney and I had our FIRST DATE. We reminisced about that date as we ate dinner under the glow of the candle light. After dinner we walked back to my car and I told her that she had to put the blanket on and told her that we were going to her second surprise. Again she excitedly put on the blanket and began asking questions. Again I didn't tell her anything. 15 minutes later I pulled up in front of my uncle's house.

I escorted Brittney out of the car with the blanket on her still and walked her up to the front porch near a wooden rocking bench. I told her she could take off the blanket. Her eye's lit up and we sat down on the rocking bench. It was here that Brittney and I had our FIRST KISS, and later it was here that I PROPOSED to her. We talked for a little bit about both events and I gave her a second gift. I pulled out a paper from Fred Astaire Dance Studio which informed her about the Ballroom Dancing lessons I had signed us up for. She was ecstatic! One of our favorite things to do when we were dating was to go to the Wednesday night country dances that they had in Gilbert's Boys and Girls Club. Now we would learn other dancing styles, plus it would be a great date night for the next couple of months. After a few more minutes of sharing memories we left for the final phase of the date.

We went back to her parents house and I gave her my last gift. Her and her family gather around my laptop and I played the video I made her. It was so much fun to reminisce about our courtship, engagement, and the last year of married life and take a walk down memory lane. Life has been so wonderful with Brittney and I'm excited for our life together. I love you sweetheart! To view the video go to my facebook for now.

Husbandly Love

kyle works every other saturday and yesturday was a working day. he gets off at four, and when he came home i happened to be grocery shopping with jen. i got home around five and he had left. when i called him to see where he was, he said that he couldn't tell me because he was buying my valentines day present. when he finally got home, he wanted me to open it right away instead of waiting for the 14th. i asked him if he was sure, and he was. my baby got me a hp laptop! i coundn't believe it, i was so excited. we were going to get one for christmas, but thought that the money would be put to better use by getting my car paid off sooner.

i was so surprised to see it on my kitchen table. then, as i started to open everything, i thought about how he had been talking about that fact that he was going to need a laptop and a new phone for his new job. the stinker, he really got it mostly for himself and used valentines day as an excuse to buy it. when i called him on it, he confirmed it with a smug smile saying he had figured out "man's secret of gift giving. buy something that you really want yourself" and i add to that "something you really want yourself that you might have a difficult time sharing in the future" right now, he is sharing just fine, but i can see in the future him not sharing 50-50. i really don't mind kyle buying a gift that he will use just as much as me, i just like how he called it my present. i've already caught him refering to it as "my laptop". i just have to laugh, he is so cute and funny.

but he is not always funny. the other night, i asked him if he liked the name "brooklyn" for a little girl in the future, and now he likes it better than "addison". he has tried to convince me to switch to that name now. kyle says that when i'm in the recovery room, he is going to sign the name papers with either felicity (a name he loves and pictures for a littel girl with flowing red hair), addison, or brooklyn. i told him that i'd kill him if he did something like that behind my back. he thinks this is hilarious and that he is so funny and clever.

well, obviously i still haven't gone into labor yet. i am very disappointed. i am terrified that the baby gains several ounces every minute and that she will be a miniature elephant when she finally arrives. i hope i have continued to efface and dilate since tuesday. i have had random contractions that don't feel very strong and are not painful at all. i don't know if these would be called "braxton hicks" or not since i am so close to delivery. i do also have very dull cramping every once in a while that continues to became more frequent. i heard that that is a sign labor is near. baby continues to move all the time and the only painful movements are the ones that are straight down. they're not too painful at all, but i like to think of them helping me to efface more.
well, kyle needs me to get off the laptop because he needs to use it. he is so funny!

Pregnancy Blubberings

so pretty much kyle and i are cheap and love to be frugal (although he wouldn't agree that i am frugal because he complains about my grocery bill). kyle gets excited and makes us budget worksheets that are followed for a while until we forget about them and then he'll get excited and make another. we hardly ever go out to eat, mooch off our parents all the time - because hey, what else are they around for - and i used gift cards from our wedding to buy all of kyle's christmas gifts.

so when this past saturday came around and i suggested we go maternity clothes shopping, i was kinda surprised when he was okay with it. we headed out to the chandler mall and stopped only in barnes and noble book store before going to motherhood. i have always dreamed about being pregnant since i was little and loved playing with my baby dolls. i even was video taped trying to nurse my cloth baby doll by lifting my dress and placing her on my chest. now that i am really pregnant, i love dressing up and showing off my very pregnant belly. but, it's so hard to love being pregnant in non-maternity wear. well, i do have some, but they are a limited supply. because i have grown so huge in the last month, i was down to only four shirts for a seven day week. in fact, those four shirts aren't even maternity, they're baby doll style so they fit fine. i am tired of stretching out my nice non pregnancy cloths.
back to shopping. so we walked into motherhood and took everything off the clearance and sales racks that were size small. kyle was so sweet and helped me try on everything and put all of the hangers back on, something i hate to do. i asked him while trying on more shirts if he hated shopping and if he was wanting to bolt of of the store and he told me it wasn't his favorite thing, but he was ok and liked being with me. that sure made me love him a lot more.

we picked four items from the first go-around of the store and then went for a second. kyle probably thought there was no more to find and try on, but i found just as many shirts the second time. kyle was passing a rack and saw a dress that he fell in love with for me and insisted i try it on too. when we left, i had two new shirts and the dress kyle found - he wouldn't let me leave without it even though i went to buy shirts. he gets so funny sometimes. it made me laugh.

the next night, we ended up going over to grandma brown's and i got some more cloths from courtney. you may think i am dumb because i only have three and a half weeks left, but who doesn't want to look cute in the last inning? plus i have my shower coming up. and i plan on having another baby in the not too distant future.

maderma scar cream. i heard that it works for stretch marks so i bought some today and all i can say is that it had better work. i paid $23.57 for a 1.76 oz tube. i was so mad when i saw the price, i almost didn't get it. i text kyle and told him the ridiculous price and he said to get it. that's how bad he wants my stretch marks gone. remember how i said i got really big this last month? yeah, stretch marks. when people would ask me if i had any, i would say no because i could only see the upper half of my tummy. one night, about a week and a half ago, i got a hand held mirror and was so mad to see what looked like three little scars on the right side of my tummy, just below my belly button. i don't even want to say how many i have now, probably more than triple that first amount. and not all of them are staying so tiny. makes me want to cry. hopefully the mederma works.

Family Traditions

when this past school semester ended - i think it was december 18th - kyle and i went out to eat to celebrate. we have this tradition that in order to celebrate, we eat breakfast at three in the morning. kyle started this when we were engaged after the fall semester of '07. the whole time that we were dating and engaged, we got to bed somewhere between two and three thirty every night, sometimes even later. it was so hard when we had to wake up for 8:00 classes and then go to school, back to some more classes, and then hang out for the rest of the evening until the early morning hours. the only thing different about the weekends was that we didn't work (kyle did some saturdays) and we didn't have school, just church. so as you can see we never got any sleep. but the only time we complained was when our parents would call us home because they wanted some sleep. in our minds, we never saw each other enough and never spent enough time with each other. school was the enemy, the reason we were tired everyday. we had no fault, of course. if we could just sleep in a little and then start the day we would be fine. so the natural thing for us to do would be to celebrate when school is over for the break. and just to be spiteful, we went at 3:00 am and had breakfast at ihop.

the first time we went, kyle acted like he was drunk the entire night and i was so embarrassed when he let one slip right before the waitress came over. i had never seen him act like that before and thank goodness never since. we did the same thing at the end of the spring '08 semester, and pictured is the tradition living on at the conclusion of the fall '08 semester. i did change however going at three in the morning. i'm pregnant, so it really didn't appeal to me to stay up until three or wake up at three and be tired all the next day. we went at ten. kyle and i get to bed late enough as it is, something we really need to work on before addison comes in four short weeks!

this past time at ihop was so fun. it's always a treat when i get to hang out with kyle. not that he's always gone, i just can never get enough of him! so yummy!

kyle ordered an amazing omelet with a side of buttermilk pancakes, and i ordered stuffed strawberry crepes and a plate with egg, hash browns (mmm) and sausages. the over-easy eggs turned out to be my favorite next to the hash browns. neither kyle or i could finish the crepes because we thought they were a little too sweet. what a fun tradition, one i'm excited to pass on our kids when they start school. i can't wait for a new semester!

Recap on Christmas

well, now that the holidays are over i can finally breathe a sigh of relief, and tell you guys how christmas and new years was for the kyle and i - pretty much plain awesome! i waited until last minute to wrap any gifts for kyle and started after he went to bed christmas eve around ten. that was pretty dumb of me, although i think i did pretty well at buying them when i did - i finished my shopping in the middle of october. 

we woke up at about 8:15 christmas morning. let me rephrase that, kyle woke up at 8:15 and then proceeded to wake me up. since it was christmas, i didn't make him work too hard and got up pretty easily (i am definately NOT a morning girl, sleep is something i worship on a regular basis). kyle was just like a little boy as we took turns opening presents. his "excited fingers" was a regular occurence. (for those of you that don't know what this is, you're are sorely

 missing out on a good laugh. when kyle gets excited about something, he feels a great urge to get rid of that energy through his fingers. imagine his fingers close to his face, pointed away from himself, and moving like he is tickling someone really fast. his face also scrunches up and he makes a noise like this: "ewwwww, ewww, ewwww!" i love it! i smile just thinking about it.) i actually catch him doing it quite often. so funny.

we opened gifts from each other and then had our favorite breakfast - crepes with tons of good fruit and syrup as well as fresh squeezed orange juice with the juicer kyle gave me. then we waited until carson and jen woke up and watched the boys open their presents. crazy to think that we will be having the same kind of christmas at the end of this year! the rest of the day was spent with my family and then kyle's, ending at grandma brown's. 

the surprise of one of his presents that i was so excited about was ruined when he accidently found out (my fault) what it was. i had decided to make a quilt for him and began to work on it in july. cutting all the squares the same size, fitting them together, sewing them, picking out the backing material, and all the work was ruined when i asked him to switch items from one purse to a matching other one. he saw the receipt of the fabric store and knew what i was making him for christmas. i was pretty bummed to say the least. but, i must say that the quilt (my first) and matching pillowcase turned out so cute!! 

so anyway, kyle was doing his excited fingers every couple of seconds, and our first christmas with just the two of us couldn't have been more perfect.

kyle and i met in the summer of '07 after being at the same efy (especially for youth) session. he was my sister michelle's counselor and i was a last time participant. (kyle has been endlessly teased for dating and marrying a participant). we have michelle to thank for bringing us together when she asked me to say "hi" for her on kyle's facebook. we subsequently went on a blind date and hit it off from there.

efy - summer of '07. michelle is in the midst of the boys, and kyle is the yummy one.


the lengths we went to for some fun. it wasn't easy fitting in here. if walmart is going to add a ride, they should make sure it fits all sizes - don't you think?


We're hot, what else can I say!?