More patio cover madness

Apparently, our goal to have the patio cover completed a few weeks ago was a little too ambitious. We got stuck with the mounts for the fans and quickly stalled. The good news is that Charles has worked it out over the last couple weeks and should finally be ready to go by this afternoon. Assuming it all goes well, the electical conduit will be run and the rest of the rafters will be up by tonight. Maybe we'll even have the fans installed... My goal is to finish planting the back planter. We'll see how far I get on that... I'm feeling lazy today. :P

School!!!

Oh my. School starts on Tuesday. Where, oh where, did this summer go? Poor Austin is so tired of trying on clothes. I think we've been to every store in the mall twice. Going back today for round two. Luckily, Austin knows two of the boys in his class this year. Hopefully they don't cause too many problems for their teacher. Looking forward to a wonderful year in second grade!!! :)

Summer Fun

Spent the day today at Chargers Fan Fest- Kenzie got to spend the day at Grammie's. Autographs for kids, open practice, and $1 hot dogs and sodas. The autograph session was a little crazy and Austin nearly got trampled, but he had a suprisingly good time anyway. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and it stayed around 73 degrees the whole day. After practice was over, we took Austin to the beach and he was in heaven. Made me realize again how much I miss living down in San Diego. On the way home, Austin realized that next week is his last week of summer break. He was somwhat depressed by that but said he had an "awesome" day nonetheless. Now... to get ready for school!

Kenzie's birth announcement (created by Melissa at http://lilladybugshoppe.blogspot.com/)

The neverending project

After a year and a half, the backyard project from hell is finally coming to fruition. The grass has filled in with the exception of a few bare spots, the putting green grass is growing like crazy, the back planter is almost completely planted, the barbeque is stuccoed and partially tiled, and the patio cover is steadily nearing completion. I do have to admit, that although the projects have seemed neverending, there is a certain feeling of accomplishment when you do the majority of the work yourself. Even though I haven't personally done much in the way of heavy lifting, I've tried to help as much as possible. I'm still amazed that we managed to get the 4 x 10 x 20 piece of lumber (about 200 lbs) 8 feet up in the air with just the two of us. We have planned, designed, and built for months and to see it all come together is very gratifying. We plan to have the patio cover finished within the week, the barbeque tile done next weekend and crossing our fingers that we can host our "grill warming" on August 8th.

I did it

First day of work was uneventful overall but emotionally exhausting to the max. I missed my little girl like crazy. I had pics developed at Target and picked them up today so my cubicle wall is now wallpapered with pictures of the kids. Being able to stare at my beautiful babies made it slightly more bearable. Kenzie got to stay home with Daddy today so that made me feel good too. When I got home she gave me lots of big smiles and didn't seem to mind that I had abandoned her all day. Daddy said that she was a great sleeper and let him sleep in late and she had been good all day long. Such a big girl! Austin got to go to a special science class at the museum and he's been talking about it all day long. I love that he's so into learning. Lets hope that this continues as he gets older. I get tomorrow off so we'll try this work thing again on Wednesday.

Last weekend of freedom

Trying my best to enjoy my last weekend before I head back to work. We spent Friday at the San Diego County Fair. First time out ALL day with the baby and she was a trooper. It was cold too! I think I ate my weight in fried foods, but it's my once yearly splurge. Started with my 10 pound bun, then a blooming onion, then a mexican funnel cake, and finally some garlic fries. Yes, garlic fries after the funnel cake. Lol. Also got to watch Charles and Austin polish off my absolute favorite fair food- roasted corn on the cob- since I am out on corn on the cob this year because of the braces. Boo!

Saturday was party day. We did get the rest of the header attached to the posts on our patio cover and Charles stained 10 of the 26 rafters before we headed out to the neighbors house for food and fireworks. Lost track of time and hung out till 2am talking and enjoying the night.

Today is a lazy day. Hoping to do some house work and relax before heading back to work tomorrow. Trying to get the kids all situated for where they will be and everyone on the same track as far as who goes where when.

I am nervous and excited about going back but absolutely hate the idea of leaving my baby behind. If I could wear her around all day at work I would. Even my regional manager suggested just putting her under the desk. (Sadly, I actually tried to figure out a way to make that work.) But I'm looking forward to the idea of being part time for now and having lots of time to hang out with my kiddos.

Back to work

After dreading this for the past three months, it is official: I go back to work next week. I would love nothing more than to stay home with my kids and be the doting housewife, but we do need my income for now. Luckily, we are in a position where I can take advantage of the County's voluntary furlough program. I will be working 30 hours a week while keeping all my benefits and accruing my normal paid time off. Because of the new schedules, I get to go in Wed-Fri and every week is a four day weekend! Short of staying home, I don't think it gets much better than this.

2 month checkup

Today was Kenzie's two month checkup. I was so curious to see how much she weighed since it seems like she just doesn't get any bigger. I guess it's because I see her everyday. At her one month visit, she was only 8 pounds. Well, my little chunky monkey tipped the scales today at 10 pounds 1 ounce and 22 1/2 inches long. She's getting so big! I still laugh when I think that there are babies that are actually born weighing what she does now (or more!).

Doctor said she's doing great and has hit all of her developmental milestones (plus some in the 4 month category). Then the shots. She gets sooo mad. I held her at her one month visit while she got them and the look she gave me killed me. This time I stood where she couldn't see me and let the nurse give her the shots and then I came over and swooped her up and gave her loving. She cried so much less this time than the last. I was so glad that they have made the vaccines combinations so they have less pokes. Austin got five needles at his two month visit and it was awful. Lucky for Kenzie, she only got two needles and one oral vaccine.

She has been sleeping ever since and is running a low fever but she is my little champ. Austin was in the room with us when she got her shots and I think it gave him a new appreciation for her. He was so concerned about her when she was crying and immediately wanted to console her. He is going to be such a great big brother. Probably a little overprotective, which I'm sure will drive her nuts, but I think they'll actually be pretty close. I feel like such a lucky mommy.

Haz mat!

After years of working with Haz Mat, the experience has paid off! Charles was one of two fire fighters the City sponsored through CSTI's Haz Mat Tech A-D. Once completed, he will most likely take up residence in the City's only Haz Mat station, Station 44. While it means leaving his crew that he loves, every step is a step ahead. This makes him much more valuable to the Department and right now, that's never a bad thing. We're all so excited!!!

Having a Little Sister by Austin Lacey

Today is Austin's last day of school (1st grade) and he came home with a backpack full of work he had done at school the last couple weeks. I read through most of it when I pulled out a paper he had written last week. So sweet I had to share.

Having a Little Sister by Austin Lacey

I like having a little sister. Her name is McKenzie and she is seven weeks old. She can smile now. She can poop and pee now. She sleeps a lot. She cries from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. I love my little sister.

(Aww.)

Our newest addition

After many years of trying for a little brother or sister for Austin, we got pregnant and were due April 25th. We chose to not find out the sex of the baby ahead of time, which was very difficult to explain to family and friends.

After months of anticipation, we arrived at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women for my scheduled c-section on April 21st. The whole experience was very undramatic compared to the very difficult and stressful delivery with Austin. I was checked in, monitored for about a half hour, got my IV set up, and waited for a free OR. We went back around 5pm and baby came at 5:53pm. Even the doctors and nurses in the OR were excited to see the sex of the baby after finding out that it was still a suprise to us. My doctor let Charles announce the sex to me and I will never forget the look on his face when he looked down at me and said "It's a little girl!" (I was SURE it was going to be a boy- guess mother's intuition isn't always right.)

Our little bitty arrived on April 21st at 5:53pm weighing a whopping 6 pounds 7 ounces and 19 inches long with APGARs of 8 and 9. Even better, the nurses were able to sneak Austin back to the nursery while I was getting stitched up and he was the first, other than Daddy, to see her. He then got to go back to the waiting room and announce to all the family the sex and her stats. Everyone was shocked that it was a girl! After she was here, Austin confided to me that he "really wanted a sister" even though he wouldn't have been upset if it was a boy. Sometimes he just melts my heart.

After raising a boy for the past 6 years, we could not be more happy and excited to start this new journey. Austin is a fantastic big brother and helps wherever he can (sometimes too much so!) I am (so far) enjoying the age gap between the two since Austin is such a grown up kid and able to do so much that it takes a lot of the pressure off me going from one child to two. All in all, I am a very happy mommy right now. :)

Austin's Belt Testing

Austin tested for his yellow-white belt for Tae Kwon Do on April 17, 2009. He successfully completed the requirements for the white belt and was awarded his yellow-white belt on April 25, 2009. We could not be more proud of our little warrior.

Link to video of our little man going at it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEReoHDDBeE

The begining of our story

We met over nine years ago and have been together ever since. Charles was in the Marine Corps while simultaneously attending San Diego Miramar College and Cuyamaca College and I was a full-time student at San Diego State University. In September of 2002 we proudly welcomed our first child, Austin James. In August of 2003, Charles finished his enlistment and the family moved to Temecula. In March of 2004, I was hired as a Social Worker for the County of Riverside. In June of 2007, Charles finally landed his dream job as a fire fighter for the City of San Diego. (He spent his first shift rolling hose lines on the beach!) We then bought our first home and got our keys to our brand new home on December 1, 2007. In April of 2009, after three years of having fun trying, we welcomed our daughter, Mckenzie Aislynn.

Our fur babies include Smokey (our cat of 9 years), and our four (yes, four) large dogs: Harley, Dyna, Goliath, and Lefty. Harley and Dyna are Rhodesian Ridgebacks and were both pound rescued (Harley in August of 2004 and Dyna in December of 2007). (We LOVE our pound puppies!!!) Shortly after adopting Dyna, we noticed she was gaining A LOT of weight. Finally figured out she was newly pregnant when we rescued her. We ended up welcoming 10 puppies on February 16, 2008. We were able to find forever homes for 8 of the puppies, but two puppies stole our hearts and we couldn't bear to let them go.

Our house is definitely hectic and we are always on the go, but I can not imagine it any other way. Welcome to our blog! :)