November Already!!!

I can't believe that it is the 2nd week of November already, this year has flown by so fast. Being so busy makes the days sometimes just blur together, that is one thing that I really look back on this year and regret..not taking enough time to enjoy everything! But seriously this year I felt like most days there was not enough time in the day to get everything done. Besides feeling stretched a little too thin these days, life is really good. Adam has had a few really steady good months at work (which we really needed) the real estate/mortgage industry has been such a struggle over the past few years, but it is nice to see him busy at work! It's a good thing because my job has been soooo slow lately, and it certainly would not be good if we were both slow! I will say that Adam getting busier has afforded me to take an extra day off here and there, which has been so nice! I miss putting the girls to bed at night and reading them stories w/out having to rush out of the house!

Pumpkin Patch...


So onto the kids..... McKenzie is doing so great, she is so in love with school right now. I just had her parent/teacher conference and her teacher raved about her. I asked if there was anything extra we could work on at home, and she said" I think you guys are doing it, it shows" such a sigh of relief. You always think maybe I should be working with her more, teaching her more! She has workbooks with activities in them, and we call it her homework! She is still the biggest princess on the block! Dresses everyday, pink shoes and some fancy headband in her hair..I love buying her outrageous headband and so does she! No other kids have them and they are so adorable with that kids amazing head of hair!

So not to rave too much, I will say that this stage/age is the hardest with Kenzie we have had yet. Weird, 4 almost 5 is a challenge. She has an attitude, is nasty to her sister, sometimes way too rough and angry at Haylee. Has a hard time listening/following directions and a little talking back. Thankfully I will say that she only does it with us! I keep telling myself that it is just a phase and this too will pass!

A day at Disneyland....



Haylee is doing awesome also, Haylee is my little ball of fire, and her and Kenzie has such different personalities. Haylee is my daredevil and no fear child. She climbs everything, jumps onto and off everything, not scared of new things(except monsters). We are literally waiting for the day that we have our 1st E.R. visit....cause it will be Hayls falling off a table or a chair or the bed or the slide, because when I say she is crazy and climbs and jumps off everything I am not exaggerating!! She is still thankfully locked behind the gates of her crib at night, she has not attempted to escape as of yet, and going against Adams wishes(because he's crazy and doesn't realize what he's saying) I will keep her in there as long as I possibly can! She is still the tiniest thing on the block, but totally healthy!

Starting in about 1 month we are signing both girls up for Ice Skating lessons, they both have been begging for it and I think they will love it! I think we will probably put Kenzie in ballet also per her request, because I really want her to grow up dancing if she loves it!

We had an awesome Halloween and the kids had a blast. Adam and myself are doing great, we still don't get enough time together, but we make it work!

Up and Coming......

Well my birthday is in a couple of weeks, the big 29. And I would like a party or something fun!(hint hint) LOL :

Then there's Thanksgiving, which thankfully I just found out that I DON'T have to work, so I am very excited, I think we at doing it at Lo's house this year!

Then we have Kenzie's 5th birthday, she wants her party at Pump it Up, It' a place where they have a a whole bunch of blow up bounce houses and slides etc...

And then we have Christmas, I have already started my shopping. It's going to be a mellow Christmas this year. I am taking all the stuff my girls have outgrown( clothes, toys etc..) and I am teaching them how lucky they are, and we are donating along with food to a place called Laura's House. It is for domestic abuse of mother's and children!

We hope everyone has happy and safe Holiday's, and I will probably blog after they are over!

Long time and No blogging....

I have been really slacking on the blogging lately, but once again life and summer have taken over all my free time!!

I figured it was time to post since this is our last week of summer, bitter sweet I think. I am not really to the point that a lot of parents are at, that I dream about school starting so my kids will be gone all day every day. Don't get me wrong I am excited to have a little time to myself, but we had a really great summer packed full of stuff! I think I will be more excited next year when both of my monsters are in school and I truly will have a break!!

Over the summer we just spent a lot of time outside, swimming, playing at the park, going to the lake, and having lots of play dates with friends. Haylee turned 2 a few weeks ago, and we did have a little family party for her. I can still get away with that I think a few more times, b/c my high matience child is already planning her birthday extravaganza in her mind for her 5th b-day.I swear the day she gets married is gonna cost a fortune! But I am probably part of the problem, I love that my girls are girly and love pretty dresses and having their hair and nails done, with big bows and headbands in their hair.....I admit that I am a sucker for it!!

I have decided that I am not doing school shopping this year, seriously Kenzie doesn't need anything except maybe a pair or 2 of shoes and a new pair of jeans. I will buy her a new 1st day of school dress though, cause I can't resist! She is super excited about going back to school, all I heard all summer was how much she can't wait to go back and see all of her friends and her teacher. I hope she always has that attitude about school!

Once school starts I am going to sign both girls up for swim lessons, Kenzie took some this summer and she did amazing, she is swimming in part by herself, but I am afraid of her regressing if I don't keep up with it, so Kenzie and Haylee are going to start taking lessons in a few weeks!

I took Haylee in for her 2yr. old check-up on Friday, and she has not gained any weight in 6 months. Her Doctor says that in a normal case he might be worried, but he says Haylee is mentally and physically developing just perfect if not above the curve. But he does want me to bring her back in in 6months to weigh her again and then maybe talk about some supplementaion of her diet. End result....our kids are just going to be very petite.

We are also deciding it is time to take away the pacifier...Haylee calls them her DeDe's so we started last night that she only gets it at bedtime, we are doing that for 1 week and then next week we are putting them in bag and giving them to the DeDe fairy!! Just let me be strong!!!

All in all we had a fabulous summer and we are all healthy and happy!!!

A lot to blog about....4th of July, play dates, and swim lessons!!

So I know it has been awhile since I have blogged, as we all know summer time can be even busier than the rest of the year! For me that is the case!! Kenzie has been going to summer camp 2-3 times/week and she absolutely LOVES it! The coaches are awesome and they do everything from arts-n-crafts to gymnastics to dance to water fun outside...etc...! She has also been taking swim lessons, and is doing FABULOUS!! In just 1 week she went from being total freaked out to even put her face in the water, to now swimming across the pool with her head totally submerged and only coming up for 1 breath in the middle. She is great at holding her breath, and 1/2 the time starts with plugging her nose and then 1/2 the time doesn't even need to! Her swim teacher is awesome, she is the Capo High water polo coach and kenzie really likes Miss Jenny!

I am so proud of her and hopefully by the end she be able to paddle on her own!!


The 4th of July also just passed and Adam and the girls went up to Mark and Stacie's house for the weekend, sadly I got stuck working and couldn't go. It was my 1st 4th w/out my girls and missed them terribly!! They had a really good time though lots of water fun and the girls both talk non-stop about the water slide!! I know Adam was happy to see Mark, it is sad for him to know he is moving so far away( Pensacola Florida) for all who don't know, Adam's brother Mark is in the Navy and just got accepted to the Blue Angels!!! It is a huge honor and we are all so very proud of him! And to be totally honest we will probably see them more now than we did when they were 4hrs. away.....weird how those things work!

Trying to keep kids busy during the summer may be a little more challenging, but actually I love all the stuff that summer entails.....swimming and the lake, just lots of outside play. Kenzie has a really great little group of friends that she made in school last year and all the moms are great also, so we all switch off on hosting play dates and giving each other a break, I had the girls yesterday minus a few that were on vacation.

All in all so far we are having a great summer! Haylee just goes with the flow and I am still working, so we are pretty busy, but Healthy-Happy-and Together!!

Vacation......I Think???

So we just got back from a family trip up to visit the family up in Washington, we have been working non-stop for the last 2 yrs. and needed to get away!! We really needed a Vacation but couldn't really afford to go to Hawaii (that is the next Vacay we are taking) so we decided anything would be nice just to get away and spend some much needed family time with the girls and Adam and I needed some time together as well!!

Well we decided that we would drive instead of fly for a few reasons....save money, since you can't get a plane tix to PDX under like $250. I can fly to NYC for $99, but not Portland..Go figure!! Anyways 3 tickets (Haylee is still free) and then to rent a car and we would have had to board our dog ( even if I had someone walking him everyday, he would have gotten bored after the 26th hour and I would have come home to a pile of my couch in shreds). So Money was the main factor!! So off we went for a 16 hr. road trip with Jax in tow! We decided to leave when the girls were going to bed and just drive straight through the night, um bad idea....it was so hard to stay awake in the dark of night for that long, I went in and out of consciousness and Adam drove the entire way...I don't know how he did it!

We decide to drop Jax off at mom's house in Battleground and head another 2 1/2 hrs. up near Seattle to see his grandparents for a couple of days! We were all so spent by the time we got there, but seeing all the family was great. By this time I thought the girls were just acting tired, but come to find out they were not feeling good. Kenzie had started to have a tiny cough a few days b4 but thought nothing of it. Yeah well the next day when we got back to mom's house that night Kenzie woke up screaming that her ears hurt...OH SHIT!! So we took the kiddos to the Urgent Care b/c Haylee had a fever also! Yep Dual ear infections and a cough that sounded like it was moving into their chests!! They both went in and out of having fevers ( I think Haylee's fever was due to teething, but she had the cough also). So here you go day 3 into our Vacay and both kids are down for the count.

Oh while we were in Seattle we did go the Pike Street Market for all of an hour, b4 the girls started not feeling well! Adam got to go golfing with his Uncle John( they live on the golf course).

So pretty much I spent the entire time taking care of sick kids, sick kids do sleep a lot, so I did catch up on some rest and I started reading the Twilight series. We made a trip to the mall and let the kids build a bear and had dinner one night with mom and Joe. Adam got to go play some softball with all the guys he use to play with and went out for some guy time! We did go out one night for a couple of beers and people watching.

Adam got to go out to Portland to see his dad one day and then he came out to see us one day, that was nice for the girls to see Papa! I think the girls Favorite part of the whole trip b/c we didn't do too much, was Grandma buns animals....The Llama Pamela, the goats pint and 1/2 pint, and of course all the birds! They got to feed the animals ad run around on all the space outside! Jax had a blast, he has never had that much room to explore b4! Now that we are home I think he's a little depressed ( he misses Shultz). We made it home in one piece, but made the drive home in the day( much better).

I have to go back to Twilight for a second, I avoided it like it was the plague....I am not a reader, I actually hate to read but figured I had a lot of time to kill. Just like everyone told me, I could not put it down, I an now about 1/2 way through the 3rd book. OMG Edward Cullen is AMAZING, Sexy Vampire!! Yeah it's all Vampires and Werewolves and I love it!! If you haven't read it you should!

So needless to say we are home and it is back to the grind, crazy work schedules and not getting enough sleep, not getting enough time with Adam and not enough Family time...but next time TROPICAL....HAWAII!!
and p.s. I can't retrieve my pics, that's why no pics, I am going to keep trying!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was a wonderful day, This was the 1st year that my kids, I think truly got that today is about honoring me as their mother and all the other mother's that make an impact in their lives....my mom, Adam's mom, aunt LoLo, aunt Stacie, and all of their extended aunties( my best girlfriends). I love every single one of you, and think that everyday that we wake up and make that conscious choice to be the BEST mommy's that we can be, is a great day!

This morning was a bit like any other Sunday morning. I work Saturday nights, so Adam lets me sleep in on Sundays. I got up about 9:00am and as soon as I walked down stairs Kenzie ran to me and said Happy Mother's Day mommy! Couldn't wait to give me their surprise. She had told Adam a few days earlier that I wanted a giraffe...um yeah I think she wants a giraffe, but that's beside the point, so this morning she hands me a soft fuzzy kitty cat. She told me well mom you said that you didn't want a giraffe, so I knew you wanted a kitty cat! She then asked if we could share it, it was really adorable!

Adam had take the girls out this weekend to pick me out something special, and that he did. He knows how much I love snow globes, and a beautiful one with the girls pictures in it that plays a beautiful song! It was the best gift, it took thought and time( absolutely not generic) it was an incredibly thoughtful gift!! He then went and got us breakfast and I sat and enjoyed my coffee. We then got up and took the girls on a walk to the park, we came home and had lunch, put everyone down for naps, I took one as well while Adam got to watch the Ducks get their butts whooped:( After everyone got up, we just played around awhile just being silly! We ate dinner, did baths and then it was off to bed for the munchkins!

Adam and I spent a little quality time together and then snuggled up in bed and watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button....I thought that was a fabulous movie!!

It is now 1:00am and Adam is sleeping like a baby, the house is quiet, so I thought I would tell you all about my fabulous mother's day....a day pretty much like any other, but with just a touch of something extra special.

My mom was out of town today, so me and the girls are going to take her out for a mommy's day lunch sometime this week. Throughout my life, I honestly don't know what I would have done without my mom. She is one of my best friends, and I think I owe a lot to who I am today to her and how she raised me. I hope she knows how much I love her and couldn't live my life without her....so she better live a hell of a long time!

You can never explain to someone who doesn't have kids, what it's like to be so utterly in love with someone, the way you are with your kids. It is just something you have to experience, it's just our moms always told us, you will understand when you have kids of your own!

I hope in my journey as a mother, I can teach my kids to be good stand up people, to know right from wrong, to love just to love, to never judge before knowing, and that it is o.k. to be different!

I want them to know that their is no dream too large or too small! Stand up for what you believe in and just to live life, in any and every way possible!! I want my girls to be strong and independent, but still have the courage to lean on people when they need to. I have a lot of goals as a mother, and everyday I wake up and make that choice to do it the best that I can!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE FABULOUS MOTHER'S I KNOW!!!!

My Child Is The DEVIL!!!!!

So almost 41/2 years ago I had our Beautiful baby girl Mckenzie, through the last 4 years she has given me so much joy. She is incredibly smart and witty, funny, sweet, lovable and can be a challenge at times!

Almost 2 years ago Adam and I brought the 2nd joy of our lives into the world, Haylee. Haylee and Mckenzie are pretty much the complete opposite, Haylee is energetic( she can't sit still for one moment) crazy, fun, fearless, total daddy's girl (which by the way I hate). She is also super smart, counts 10 sort of, says her ABC's and wants to go potty on the big potty (which she does 1/2 the time) The 2nd child always grows up quicker due to watching her big sis all day long....she thinks she is 4 also.

Let me just say we love our beautiful girls!!

But Haylee is definitely our challenge.....

She is into everything, and when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING!!!

The other day, just about every day for that matter...well here's how my day goes....

Kenzie and Haylee fighting one moment and loving each other the next....and here's what I hear all day long.....

Mom Haylee is pouring out the dog water

Mom Haylee is playing in the toilet

Mom Haylee is getting into the drawer with the pens and scissors

Mom Haylee is drawing on the dog

Mom Haylee is pulling everything out from underneath the sink

Mom Haylee is pulling off her diaper and peeing on the floor

mom Haylee is standing on the kitchen table

The list goes on and on......the end my child is the Devil!!

I love her but she is going to be the death of me!!!:)

100 Degrees and it's only April!!

So today was another day of it hitting triple digits at our house...YUCK!! I love warm weather but hate HOT weather. But I sucked it up and we played a while outside today, the girls had a blast!!

Also this morning while I was doing laundry, Haylee decided that she was going to get herself dressed....she was very proud of herself!!