Easter

Just some quick pics of our Easter. The kids had fun coloring eggs and they were excited to get their baskets on Saturday morning. (We decided the easter bunny would come on saturday instead of sunday). We did an easter egg hunt at the park with a few friends on saturday. It was fun and the weather was beautiful. I tried to get pictures of the kids all together in their sunday clothes, but Kaden was being uncooperative so he's not in them. All in all, it was a fun and relaxed Easter.

We're Moving!

Well, it looks like we are going to be moving in the next couple weeks! We signed on a house back in August, but we couldn't sell our current home. So we took our house off the market and decided we would just back out of the new one. We had pretty much stopped even thinking about the new house and we were both fine with staying where we are at.

Then a couple weeks ago our builder contacted us because the walk-thru and closing dates were coming up. We told them that we were going to back out because we couldn't afford the new house. We bought it with the plans to make money on our current house and put all the money down on the new one. Anyway - times must be rough for homebuilders too - because they came WAY, WAY down on the price of the house. They are also paying all closing costs, putting money down, and buying our interest rate down. All in all it is an amazing deal!

All of this happened only a week or so after having Lexie - so I haven't been in the best frame of mind: no sleep, crying baby, raging hormones, etc. So I had a really hard time deciding if this was best for our family. I didn't want to over-extend ourselves or make too risky of a move. Anyway - after a couple agonizing days (thank goodness my husband is patient with me - he already had his mind made up) - we finally decided to go ahead with the new house. We both feel really good about it and several things have fallen into place for us - so we feel it was meant to be.

Soooooo . . . . we are in the process of packing and getting ready to move! We also have to get this house ready to rent. Supposedly the rental market out here is pretty good - so we will rent it for a year or two and hopefully the market will pick up enough to sell it. All of this has been so sudden! But we are very excited. We feel like the new house has room for us to live in it more long-term than our current one. We don't have a definite close date yet (which is driving me nuts - I need to plan my life people!) but we should close before the end of the month.

I don't even have any pictures to post because I deleted all of them - that's how sure we were that we weren't buying it! I can't make any promises with packing, moving, and a 2-week old! - but I will try and post pictures as we go! Anyway - that's our latest!

(Here's the floorplan - we got the extended laudry and the 4th bed/3rd bath upstairs)
http://www.sheahomes.com/cfm/miscellaneous/floorplan.cfm?planid=1546

One Week Old

Just some pictures of Lexie at one week old! I have taken probably hundreds of pictures - it's kinda getting ridiculous. But I just can't get enough of this cute girl!

Lexie Lyn McKenzie

Lexie is here! She was born on Feb 29th at about 9:30 am. She was 8 lbs 1 oz and was 20 inches long. She is beautiful - I am just in love with her! I could just sit and stare at her all day! Kaden and Bailey love her and are so good with her. Matt is so in love with her too. She isn't even a week old and we can't imagine life without her!

Kaden and Lexie

Mom and Lexie in the hospital


It's so hard to get cute pictures at this age

Sleepy and deary-eyed after trying to sleep in this hospital chair.

Bailey and Lexie

Kaden loves holding Lexie!

All About Matt

I got this from Jennie's blog and I liked the idea. I agree - our husbands need a little playing time on our blogs!

What is his name? Matt McKenzie

How long have you been married? 6 years

How long did you date? About a month before he went on his mission and then about 9 months after he came home.

How old is he? He will be 28 tomorrow!

Who eats more? Depends on what it is - I am way more of a sweets person and he loves anything salty and crunchy.

Who said "I love you" first? I don't remember - how bad is that? I think it was him, though.

Who is taller? We are about the same height. Matt is taller by an inch or two.

Who sings better? Definitely Matt, although he doesn't think he's any good.

Who is smarter? Depends on the subject. I think we are about equal.

Whose temper is worse? We take turns.

Who does the laundry? Matt does the majority of it.

Who does the dishes? Both of us - but probably Matt more often.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Matt

Who pays the bills? Matt - he doesn't mind doing it and it majorly stresses me out. So it works good for us!

Who mows the lawn? Matt (I starting to see a pattern. It seems like he does everything!) He takes care of everything outside.

Who cooks dinner? I usually do, but Matt is a good cook and will take a turn when I have had a rough day.

Who drives when you are together? Matt

Who is more stubborn? That's probably a tie

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? That's a hard one - but probably me.

Whose parents do you see the most? Mine

Who proposed? Matt

Who has more friends? Probably me - I think that's just the way girls are.

Who has more siblings? I have 5 and Matt has 1.

Who wears the pants in the family? We take turns- it depends on the issue! I would say he does and he would probably say that I do.

I tag anyone who wants to do this!


Well, since Matt's birthday is tomorrow - Happy Birthday honey! I love you and am grateful for all that you do (and this post made me realize that you do a lot around here)! The longer we are married, the more I realize that you are a good match for me. You are good in areas that I'm not and you seem to balance me out. You are a great husband - especially lately (dealing with a grouchy, uncomfortable, and extremely emotional pregnant wife). And I couldn't ask for a better dad for our kids. Thanks for all you do. Happy Birthday!

Shower

Here are some pictures from my baby shower this week. It was really fun - but I am a dork and forgot to take pictures. So we snapped these after almost everyone had left.




Me and Maelynn pigging out on the chocolate fountain and all the yummy stuff to dip in it!


Me and Jennie (thanks, Jennie, for throwing the shower for me! It was decorated so cute and was lots of fun!)

Since this is my 2nd girl and I have what I need - Jennie suggested doing a scrapbooking shower. I got so much fun scrapbooking stuff. I can't wait to use it! Although I know it will be quite awhile with a newborn!

I have to brag about my husband for just a minute. I got home pretty late (a few of us stayed and talked and talked . . . ) and I came home to find that both kids were bathed, read to, put in bed early, dinner was cleaned up, and my house was clean! Seriously - I think Matt is better mom/housewife than I am! I can't seem to get all that done in a night! Anyway - it was so nice to leave for the whole night, not to worry about the kids, and come home to a clean house! Thanks honey - I love you! Thanks again Jennie - for doing everything. It turned out great!

Best Vacation Ever!

Matt and I went to Sedona a couple weeks ago and it was seriously the best vacation ever. We stayed at an awesome hotel - well it wasn't even a hotel. More of a glorified B&B - we had our own little "villa". Matt was in charge of booking our hotel and didn't tell me where we were staying til we got there. He got an awesome deal and what a great surprise it was! Here's our courtyard leading to our room.

And this is what our room looked like. It was awesome - I seriously can't say enough about it. I have never stayed anywhere this nice. There was even fresh bread baking when we walked in - they have bread machines in every room! It smelled so good!

It was pretty big - I think about 900 sq ft. It was so nice to have a little kitchen and the best part - well one of them - was the bathroom! A walk in shower, huge closet, and the best of all. . . .

A huge jacuzzi tub and a fireplace! It was so great - I took so many baths!

This is pretty much what I did the whole time. Curled up in front of the fireplace with a blanket and a good book!

It was so relaxing! We watched movies in our room, layed around, took naps, read our books, etc. I have always wanted to take this kind of vacation - but they usually drive Matt crazy. He always wants to be out and about. But this time he humored me because this was our getaway before the baby, and I'm 8 1/2 months pregnant and TIRED! It also helped that he had a cold - so he didn't mind laying around and sleeping a lot. I don't think we even left the room the first day - except to grab something to eat. The next day we got out a bit more - took a little trolley tour, walked through the shops, and just kinda wondered around. My brother, Lane, came down from Flagstaff and met us for dinner - that was fun! All in all - one of my favorite vacations ever!

Thank you, to Matt's mom and dad, who came to our house and stayed with the kids. It was great to get away!

Bailey's Big Bed!

So we finally made the transition from Bailey's crib to her big girl bed. She was climbing out of her crib all the time and I decided if I was going to be fighting her to stay in bed, I might as well make the transition! Plus it was more than time since our next little girl will be here shortly!

The first night was pretty rough. Matt and I took turns and it took about an hour and a half before she finally went to sleep. Since then she has done pretty well. She occasionally gets up and turns her light on to play or to pull all of your clothes out of the dresser. It has been about 3 weeks now and I have to admit that overall she has done way better than I expected.

So here are pictures of Bailey and Lexie's room. I wanted to use that same crib bedding - since my mom and I made it together when I was pregnant with Bailey. So I ordered Bailey a bed set that kinda went with it.



I found letters to match the ones I already had for Bailey's name. So the letters for Lexie's name should be here soon - so I can get them painted and up on the wall!









Bailey loves her big girl bed. She is very proud to show everyone who comes over and to tell people she sleeps in a big girl bed! (Can you tell she dressed herself that day?)

Finally!

Yeah! I finally have my computer back! So almost two weeks ago our computer just stopped working. When I turned it on, it would just reboot over and over. I called a computer guy we have used before and he couldn't come for like 4 or 5 days! You don't realize how much you rely on, enjoy, and are addicted to your computer until you don't have it. That was a long 4 or 5 days. So he finally comes and says our computer is crashed - it most likely needs a new hard drive. And if you're replacing that - then you get to replace the processor, mother board, blah, blah, blah. And, oh by the way, it's gonna be about $600 - $800! So he takes the computer with him and says he'll call once he has checked it out. So I drag out our old laptop to use in the meantime. We used it for a couple days and then the dang thing crashes too! Seriously? Two computers in one week? Are we jinxed or something? We finally had to go over to a friends house to use her internet just to check our accounts, pay bills, etc - since we do everything online! Computers are wonderful - until they don't work and then they are a huge pain!

So the computer guy finally calls me this morning - and to my surprise he says the computer is ready and he will drop it by this morning! All he had to do was reload Windows! Thanks goodness! But I wish I would have known that was all it needed - I could have done that! Anyway - I'm just glad to have our computer back up and running! Although I have spent the majority of the day reloading all of our programs on here. And I think I lost all of my music that I had in iTunes. That does not make me happy!

Anyway - I have lots to update and hopefully I will get around to it tomorrow. I've got a busy day - shuttling kids to and from preschool, going to vote, taking Kaden to his first day of karate (should be interesting), and other misc errands.

By the way - the one plus of not have a computer for the last couple weeks - every blog I checked had at least one new update! It was so fun to catch up on everyone's blogs!

Only 7 weeks left!

Here's the latest sonogram picture of Lexie. It is actually almost a month old, but I'm just getting around to putting in on here. I am on the countdown now - and I am finally starting to get excited. I don't know if it's because I have two other kids to keep me busy, but this pregnancy didn't really hit me until recently. I only have a little over 7 weeks left and I just can't wait! They scheduled my C-section today and it looks like we are going to have a leap day baby! My surgery is schedule for Feb 29th at 9:00 am! I could do it a different day, but then I couldn't have my doctor deliver her and we have decided that being born on leap day will give Lexie something unique! I am definitely not looking forward to the hospital, surgery, recovery part - but I just can't wait to meet our little Lexie. This last sonogram was the middle of December and she was measuring pretty big - so we will see if they keep the delivery day or move it up. No complaints here if it happens a little sooner! We'll keep everyone posted.

And to add to the chaos - our builder called today to schedule our final walk through and closing date. They wanted to do it March 3rd, but considering I'll probably just be coming home that day - we moved it back a week. The timing on this just couldn't be worse! We still haven't sold our current house, but we're still trying! If it sells - we will be in our house the first part of March! If it doesn't we will call it quits on the new one and stay where we are. I will, of course, be a little disappointed. But I will just be glad when it's all over one way or the other and I don't have to worry about it anymore! Part of me will be relieved not to have to pack and move with a brand new baby. We'll see what happens! It's going to be a hectic few weeks - but Matt and I have a trip planned that we are very excited about! We decided we needed a little getaway before the baby comes. So Matt's parents agreed to take our kids for a few days and we are going to Sedona! I'm so excited to get away and relax! It will be a much needed break!

Well, I better go. Kids are asleep and I have lots to get done before I can go to bed!

Our Christmas

This christmas was so fun! It was simple and low-key and honestly - the most relaxing christmas I can remember. Matt had to work on Christmas Eve (that's the life of a cop) so we stayed home for the first time this year. We stayed in our pj's all day, watched Christmas movies, decorating our gingerbread house, made goodies, and just relaxed all day. That night the kids opened their new pajamas and hooded towels. They were bathed and in bed by 7:30 I think - that's a record for Christmas eve! Matt was able to stop by for a minute, so he got to see them open their presents and grab some dinner.

Christmas morning was kinda funny. Matt and I both woke up about 6:30 (I don't sleep much this late in my pregnancy since I can't ever get comfortable). Anyway - neither of us could go back to sleep, so I got the video camera ready and we actually woke our kids up! How stupid are we? We both couldn't believe we were doing it. The kids pretty much got everything they wanted (we are counting our blessings that their wants are very small at this point). Kaden's favorite was his new pet guinnea pig, Joey. Bailey's favorite was her baby doll and accessories: bottle, bib, diaper bag, clothes, etc. Kaden was so excited to see that the treats we left for santa were gone (Kaden also insisted that we leave some in a bag so Santa could take them home to Mrs. Clause - he was worried that she wouldn't get any treats). And the carrots we left for the reindeer were nibbled on! He was almost more excited about that than about any presents! It was such a fun christmas morning with just our little family.

Matt was going on about 4 or 5 hours of sleep - he didn't get off work til 1 am. So after all the presents were opened and we had our yummy breakfast casserole, he went back to sleep. The kids and I played with their new toys and just bummed. Later in the afternoon Matt's parents, his sister, and her family came over. We all went to dinner at a cousin's house in Mesa. All in all a very good Christmas!

Christmastime!

We have been busy getting ready for Christmas. Here are some of the things we've been doing:

Decorating our tree

Drinking hot chocolate and eating candy canes

Making cookies

Going to look at christmas light in our jamas

Reading stories with uncle Lane

Early Christmas Presents

It may be silly - but this is one of my very favorite christmas gifts. Every couple of years my parents give us year's supply for christmas. We make a HUGE trip to costco all together and make a day of it. Some may think it is a boring gift - but I love it. This isn't even everything we got - because it wouldn't all fit fit into our coat closet turned pantry. Anyway - we have been enjoying our early christmas present!

A Kaden Moment

Last night when I was putting Kaden to bed we had one of those moments that is just so precious and makes me glad that I'm a mom. The conversation started out somewhat like this:

Kaden: Mom, did you get married to me?
Me: No, I'm married to Dad.
Kaden: Then who am I married to?
Me: Well, you're not married.
Kaden: Why not? (very worried look on his face)
Me: You'll get married when you are older like Dad.
Kaden: But who will I marry?
Me: You will marry a girl that you really love.
Kaden (very sad): But I want to be in THIS family!

Talk about melting my heart! So the conversation turned into a discussion about getting married in the temple and being sealed together. Kaden kept asking what sealed means and how do you explain that to a 4-year-old? So after a few explanations that didn't make sense to him - we finally settled on "It means our family can't be broken". When I said that he got a huge grin on his face and said "You mean never? We will always be together? Bailey too?" It was so sweet. This simple sentence seemed to give him so much joy and sense of security.

And then . . . . Kaden seems to be thinking hard for a few seconds and I am anticipating another deep question and he says "What about the other kind of seal. You know the animal? What color are seals?" What a Kaden comment! And just like that we were onto another subject! This kid never ceases to amaze me.

I'm always grateful for these moments with my kids. All the hard work, worry, and everything else we go through as moms - it makes it all worth it!

What a nightmare!

So we took the kids to get their pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. I try to do one every year near their birthday. Since Kaden's and Bailey's are only a couple days apart - we have to do a double session. Honestly, it's something that I look forward to (because I love getting new pictures) and it's something I absolutely dread. You just never can predict how the kids are going to cooperate. So after rescheduling like 3 times - I finally had a day that we had plenty of time and Matt wasn't working so he could go with me. I would never attempt to take both kids by myself. Anyway - I was kinda expecting Bailey to be difficult (she is 2 after all). But of course, true to typical Kaden fashion, he gave us way more trouble. Bailey did pretty well - but Kaden was a nightmare! And that's an understatement. He was screaming, kicking, trying to rip his clothes off, etc. I have no idea what his problem was. But thank goodness we got a few good shots. We didn't get many shots of the two kids together - which is what I really wanted to send in the christmas cards. But we got one that is ok:

Honestly the only reason we got any shots is because our photographer was so workable. She didn't get impatient or flustered (even though matt and I were about to lose it!) She was trying everything to get Kaden to cooperate. Being a typical boy, the only thing he laughed or smiled at were the words "poop" or "boogers". By the end the photographer was repeating "Kaden - poop and boogers! Poop and boogers!" It was pretty dang funny. I really like the place I go - it's called Portrait Innovations. Just south of the Chandler mall - by the target. Every time I have been - the photographers are very patient and understanding! Anyway - here's some pictures that tell the true story of how our session went:

Thank goodness we don't have to do it again for a whole year!