the things no one tells you.....

I knew Lindsey's surgery was going to be stressful ( she had ureter reimplantation surgery last Weds) and the recovery might be a little taxing, but no one told me it would be this hard.
So, I'm doing you a small favor and letting you know that if your child ever has surgery (especially if he/she has half the willpower of my daughter), it's hard and the recovery is long and stinky and both physically and mentally exhausting. And if you need to vent or cry or whatever, you can call me. I wouldn't be able to do this without my extremely supportive friends and family.
Breathe, Kacey, Breathe.

Girls weekend!

A few weekends ago, I headed south to AZ with 2 redheads (aka Blakey and my mom) to visit a redhead (my sis) and soak up some sun!

Blake did pretty well on the plane- he has entered the busy, squirrely stage, but with 4 hands to help, we survived :)

The 2 cousins, 6 months apart (although Blakey is much bigger than little Tessa!) loved playing and exploring together. Blake especially loved having free roam of the house without a certain someone bugging him all the time :)
I mean, how happy can this little guy be?

Exploring Scottsdale


Getting some pool time

In and Out
Visiting the Gilbert Temple site


We tuckered these kiddos out. Do you love Blakey's pink car seat?!?

Great trip, minus the stomach flu we all had on Saturday. :( We're trying out how we can do this quarterly.......

The Half

We survived our half marathon!!

We left our house at 6:30 am Saturday and arrived in Battleground at about 9:40. We got lost several times (thanks mapquest), and at one point, we really thought we were not going to make it to the starting line. Luckily, we did, with only a few minutes to spare.

Before the race: looking bright and fresh. Good thing I knew where Clint was at all times!

My running buddies, Quinae and Kristy.

We started running all together until I told my sweet husband that he did not have to run with me. As soon as he heard that, he was off like a gazelle. I stuck with Q and K for 2 miles or so and then ventured off on my own. It was a beautiful run through wine country.
My goal of the race was to beat my time from my 1st half marathon 10 years ago (wow, that makes me seem so old!!), and I did by 3 whole minutes! I'm thinking each kid made me run 1 minute faster. It was hard, but the feeling of accomplishment I got at the end was priceless. I have great expectations of running a full someday, but after hobbling around the last few days, that dream may be on the shelf for a bit :)
Clint did awesome and finished 3rd in his age group and 20th overall. He finished about 7 minutes ahead of me.
My other girlies did great too. It was so fun to run this race together!

9 months

It's amazing how much things can change in 9 months.

Days before delivery. Who knew a 9 lb 8 oz baby was hiding in there?

A crawling, smiling, curious, little (not so little in size though- he's around 25 pounds) boy who brings us so much joy (not to mention who has given me some serious arm muscles!). We can't imagine how we lived without him :)

Little bit of randomness....

Since I have been seriously lacking in the blogging department as we have been in the midst of a series of unfortunate events.....here's a bit of randomness to catch you up on our lives.....


We completed the summer 2011 bucket list!! Even though summer weather never quite arrived in the Seattle area, we still achieved 30 items. We had so much fun planning fun outings, eating at favorite/new places, and doing "summery" things at home. I want to do one for the school year now too. Um, maybe not. We barely have time to read stories at night we're so busy! And we only have 2 children in school!! I fear for the future.....

Clint and I have now been married 9 whole years. Growing up, my mom would put on her wedding dress on every anniversary and my parents would take pictures as a couple and as a family. It was fun to see us kids growing up in each picture. We decided to start the same tradition each year in our family. Instead of my wedding dress only being worn once in its lifetime, it gets worn once a year. And yes, it still fits. And actually, it is a lot looser on me than on my wedding day.

We ended the summer with a Mariner's Game:

Aren't these boys delicious? Especially the one on the left. He is a spitting image of his older brother except for the red hair (that is beginning to curl!)
This girl keeps us on our toes. She will be having surgery in a few weeks to fix a minor bladder issue. We were hoping that they could fix some other things too....but that would make life too easy for us. She's the one here to teach us.

We have lots of crud going on right now and it seems like there is no end to it, but we will come out of it sooner or later, or our perspective will change..... The one thing that has been therapeutic for both of us has been training to run a 1/2 marathon on Oct. 1. The training schedule has been tricky, but once I get out running for an extended amount of time, the stress starts to subside. It's a great time to meditate and pray.

That's all the randomness for now.....

School days

This post is a bit overdue, but life's been a bit crazy busy lately. And as my kids get older, I am getting the feeling that this is the new pace of life.

Jack started 1st grade. He is in a 1/2 split with his best friend and really likes his teacher. He loves going to school every day. Soccer season started again and games begin this week.

Lindsey started preschool at the same elementary school Jack went to for preschool. She goes 4 mornings a week. She is also in class with 2 of her best friends and likes her teachers.

With the 2 older kids in school, it means I get to spend a lot of time with this handsome fella. He is trying soooo hard to crawl, but hasn't quite mastered it yet (which I am grateful for) and he cut three teeth this week.

We took a quick family vacation last month to central Oregon. We stayed at the same resort that my family stayed at 10 years ago (the vacation in which my "friend" Clint came along). We credit Eagle Crest as the place where we started liking each other. It was fun to go back and bring the kiddos. We took a picture at this exact spot 10 years ago, which I wish I could upload, but that was in the years before digital cameras :). Let's just say I think we're a lot cuter now :)

Blake

Blake, being such a big baby with delicious cheeks and thighs (I think they may be thicker than Lindsey's!), has always elicited some sweet comments from people wherever we go. Here's a few of my favorites....

"I think you're starving your baby."- grocery store checker
"What are you feeding him?"" uh...breastmilk"
"Your baby is fat!" - my friend's neighbor kid
"He sure doesn't miss a meal."

This little boy, though portly :), is such a happy cuddly dude. He is days away from crawling, but he still manages to get to things feet away. We went blackberry picking tonight and I set him on the grass for a few minutes so I could pick. After we got home, Clint found a leaf in his mouth he had been keeping for a late night snack. He even bathed and nursed with it in his mouth!

For some reason, these pictures downloaded kind of funny, but you can still get a sense of the chub factor. :)

lWe love Blake (a.k.a. Blakers, Blakey boy, loves, bubba, little brother, Lief (after the incident this evening).

Bucket list item #20 and #21

20. Riding bikes (aka a Surrey)
21. Alki Beach

Jetty Island part duex

We love Jetty Island too much to only do it once a summer... especially when it FINALLY hit 80 degrees around here.

I'm lovin' the hats as of late. Now that I am in my thirties, I've gotta protect this face of mine :)

"Blakely" (wearing Linds' pink dress since I failed to pack sweatshirts) The perfect combo meal: a little sand, a little sunscreen, followed by a little drool.

Boy, this kid is cute and HUGE!! Notice the mohawk. Whenever our kids' hair looks good and/or cool, it is Clint's doing. I am retarded in the hair department. That's why I've had the same hair since I was 13.

We're not waitin' on the sun....

In Seattle, the summer usually starts after July 4th. That's why Clint and I chose to get married on July 6th. Well, this year, we are still waiting for summer to begin. At first the kids and I were in a state of deep depression because we have been stuck wearing pants and sipping hot chocolates rather than spending our days at the beach sipping slurpees. However, enough was enough. We have kept plenty busy doing fun things even though the sun rarely decides to grace us with her presence. Here's to you sunshine! (And as a side note, there is sunshine present in some of these photos, but the temperature was not above 70 degrees, which in my book, is NOT warm enough to be classified as a summer day)

Jetty Island: One of the best places in the Seattle area to spend a "summer" day with friends

A pre-birthday dinner at Red Robin downtown and a walk on the waterfront.

Lots of hiking. We hiked Rattlesnake Ledge on the 4th and we've been hiking on Wednesdays with some other moms and kids in our ward. I love it that our kids love to hike!

Do you love my patriotic shirt? Don't worry, I only wear it once a year. And where's Lindsey? Oh, she decided to jump in the picture of the other family we were hiking with.

9th Wedding Anniversary/ 30th Birthday Festivities

We had a 2 day break from the kiddos that found us going to the temple, running Alki beach, going to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and doing some shopping. It was a glorious couple of days and helped turning 30 go a little smoother.

Losing teeth
Jack lost his first tooth!! It had been loose for a while and he woke up one morning to find it had fallen out while he was sleeping! Luckily, he was able to find it in his bed. :)

Turning 6 months!
This nearly 21 pounder is the cutest, happiest thing on the planet. He's now sitting up and really enjoying his independence. He's started eating a few solids- applesauce seems to be his favorite so far. He's still getting up twice a night, but I think it's because he's lacking calories. :)

And nursing....
I don't know if you can tell what's going on here, but it's Lindsey and I nursing our babies on the front lawn in ancient beach chairs. Can you say "white trashin' it?"

Happy Summer!!

Honks

I've been trying to run more these days as I'd like to race a bit this summer. I've noticed something though.....pretty much without fail, I got honked at sometime during the run. I'm usually in the zone or into my music, so it always scares the beejeebs out of me and I jump a foot in the air.
It got me to thinking...why all the honks? I mean, I'm flattered and everything, but I'm not a young pup anymore ( which means I have child bearing hips and a few wrinkles around the eyes), I wear modest clothes (okay, sometimes I wear a tank), and I'm not particularly fast or have some amazing trot.
Oh, I know. There is something different about me during the year 2011. I have some assets that belong to my burly 20+ lb 6 month old. And they are usually full of a certain nutrient while I am running. It all makes sense now. Well, I will enjoy the honks while I get them. Next year, they will most likely be concave and elicit no such response from drivers.

The Graduates

There's been a bit of commencing around our house as of late......

Jack graduated from kindergarten tonight. I can't believe how quickly the year has flown by and how much he has grown and developed. I have a very social 6.5 year old who has a wiggly tooth and can read!! How did that happen?!?

Lindsey graduated from our mommy co-op preschool. She also grew leaps and bounds this year. She loves pointing out letters and numbers.

The fearsome five.

The hot preschool teachers.

I wish I could have announced that Blake had graduated from waking up every 3 hours to eat at night or blowing out an outfit an hour or drooling through at least 4 bibs a day, but he is still working hard at accomplishing these feats. He is the happiest, smiliest, not-so-little boy (check out those cheeks!!) who brings such joy into our home. :)

We all survived the first year of school!!

A more accurate family photo that makes me giggle.

3.5 days of school left and let summer begin!! Here's our bucket list for the summer. I'm betting these kids keep me so busy for the next few months that I may not update this blog for a bit. We'll see how it goes :)