18 more

September 27, 2007 is definitely a day to remember! After returning home from our ice cream experience, we started to get the girls settled down. William had the girls on his lap, watching sports to make them fall asleep, while I was on the phone with Karen. I hear, "Kristy- hurry up and come here: there's new babies, looks like 6!" About an hour later, our count was up to 18 baby fish- 95% sure... they move fast and are great hiders. Whoa mommy fish! Anybody interested in breeding fish- CHOOSE DALMATIAN MOLLIES=)

Baby fry hiding in top foliage (they're the little silver spots in the photo)

A few were already brave enough to swim out in the open

Fun Day

Thursday was going to be a fun-filled day over at Downtown Disney. But, when we had to postpone so Grandma Carol can be here, we made changes to celebrate Makenzie's actual birth day.

Mommy and Makenzie met Zamma, Auntie Tricia and Mrs. Jan at Sun On the Beach- an awesome little restaurant over in Satellite Beach. We enjoyed lots of yummy food... Makenzie polished off two scrambled eggs, 1/4 of a waffle and two strips of bacon- this was all after eating cereal with Kaylie before we took her to school! Makenzie's favorite part of the restaurant is that you can see the ocean from our seats!

Afterwards, Makenzie snoozed on the way home and took an early nap, leaving Zamma to pick up Kaylie and help Mommy in the kitchen. Kaylie was my baker for the afternoon. We made lots of muffins and egg salad.

We got to pick Daddy up from work and headed over to McDonalds for dinner. Our original plans were to go to Olive Garden, but at 7 o'clock, it was already getting late. The girls enjoyed chicken nugget happy meals!

Our night ended at a local ice cream shop, where we met Zamma and Auntie Tricia. Talk about loads of ice cream!!! Kaylie got a small- which was like a medium to an adult, and Makenzie got a kiddie cone- NOT! Both were way too much, but boy did they love eating/playing with it! Zamma and Mommy had strawberry shortcakes, Daddy had a dipped cone- a ridiculously large one for the heat- about 25% dripped to the floor, and Auntie enjoyed an ice cream sundae. It was a perfect ending to our day! :)

Breakfast time, again!

Enjoying the view

YUMMY ICE CREAM CONE!

Daddy and Makenzie

Auntie Tricia, Kaylie and Zamma

What a tongue!

Faster, Daddy!

Mommy and Makenzie

Happy 2nd Birthday Makenzie!

Yay! Another year filled with lots of fun and new accomplishments. Makenzie graduated to a toddler bed, learned how to use the potty, and began speaking, a lot! We're so proud of how much she's learned and are ready for another fun-filled year!

Here is a link to view all of the pictures taken at her birthday photo shoot. We selected a few as a "peekaboo" montage (75, 77, 76) and one of her sitting up on a stool (85) looking so grown up. She started off with a death grip on me, and eventually enjoyed herself and the photographer. Great job Target! http://www.thesmilestation.com/asp/tss_photo.asp
(Customer Name: kristy lavella Access Code: LTT99501076006TAR)

Here's a slide show of Makenzie's year as a one year old=) What a big girl!


Happy 2nd Birthday Makenzie

Okay... more info and changes=)

Tuesday was Makenzie's two year check-up. She weighed in at 29 pounds 11 ounces and measured 37 1/2 inches!!! Tall and slender=) She's in the 75% for weight and 115% for height. The doctor was impressed at how well she speaks and acts so politely. Makenzie makes 4-5 word sentences and can count up to 10. She fussed a lot when the nurse tried to weigh her- the whole idea of stripping down to nothing on a scale out in the open would make me cry too! When it came time for her hepatitis and flu shots, she pouted her lip for about two seconds, then didn't even cry. The nurse did a great job. Next visit isn't until next year=)

William was ready to begin his new job at Little Caesars, until he finally got word from Pizza Hut. For about a month now, he's been through four interviews and waiting to find out if there was an opening for management at Pizza Hut. To get out of SNS, he willingly took the GM position at LC, but was really hoping to hear back from PH. Yesterday, he met with the trainer and accepted the Assistant Manager position. The good news is it's the same pay, with room to get higher in the GM position and up. He was excited to hear they were ready for him to start in two weeks. But when he said the availability was open for now, they snatched him up and he started today. Can't wait to see where this career move will take him=) Great job William!

The funny thing about Pizza Hut: When Kaylie was little-er and would see a picture of a pizza , she would shout "Pizza Huuuuuut!", even if it was by itself or on a PH, PJ or LC commercial. Us girls have always favored Pizza Hut... my special cravings while pregnant with Makenzie were their bread sticks- yummy!

What a weekend!

With Mel and Donna here, our weekend couldn't have been any better! Friday was a long day... the girls knew of their upcoming arrival, but were a little anxious for the exact time. After bouncing off the walls once they came, bed time wasn't until around 10:45pm- eeeekkk!

Every morning, we enjoyed a nice walk around the neighborhood followed by yummy breakfasts. William and Mel accomplished a lot from our "to-do" list: fixed and replaced dining room floor board, installed doorbell, replaced complete exterior outlet, fixed and installed carport lighting, hung family spoon collection, and put up a gliding/reclining swing in front yard. William found an article in the paper about the county giving away free gallons of recycled exterior house paint... 13 gallons later: we have 10 Harvest Wheat and 3 Dockside Grey. Between trips to the grocery store, Wal-Mart and Sports Authority, I think we found some great deals! Donna and Mel made dinner for the four of us and my Mom and sister. We had grilled vegetables, two types of baked chicken, grilled potatoes, meatballs, baked beans, tender steak, herb alfredo noodles, and so much more! We have never had so much food in our house=)

A big thank you to Mel and Donna for helping us celebrate Makenzie's birthday. It was really nice spending time together and see how much the girls really enjoyed having them around. We're so thankful for all of the goodies you brought and can't wait to use them all. I so graciously received a bread machine... the one kitchen item I've longed for... the bread turned out great!!!

Anxiously waiting

Lots of smiles=)
Kaylie's getting strong muscles!
Light load!
Kaylie and Grandma Donna power walking

Swing me, Grandpa and Daddy!

I love all of my new Littlest Pet Shop toys!

Kaylie riding Makenzie's new Dora three-wheeler

Thanks for helping fix our floor board, Dad!

Birthday Party

We had a great day Saturday. Along with the birthday girl, we had Mommy, Daddy, Kaylie, Zamma, Auntie Tricia, Grandpa Mel, Grandma Donna, and friends Heather, David, Alex, baby David, Brooke, baby Dylan, and Craig. Such a nice turn out... thank you guys for helping with the special day!

The day started off with a walk around the neighborhood with the four of us and Grandpa and Grandma. We then had yummy alphabet cereal and juice- had to have energy for the fun ahead... William and Grandpa tinkered around fixing some things around the house while us girls played and shopped.

Three o'clock came around and our family and friends gathered to help celebrate the birthday girl. We enjoyed lots of chips and dip/salsa, pretzels, burgers, hot dogs, beans, beanie weenies in BBQ sauce, and most of all cake... "cup" cake that is. Ever since Kaylie turned two, we started the tradition of having "cup"cakes for their birthday cakes. It makes for lots more fun, especially for the kiddos. We've never had so many people and food at our place before! Makenzie had tons of fun playing with the other little kids and interacting with everyone.

A memorable moment for me... I was able to get my Dad's grill, so we honored him by breaking it in at our house on this special day=) The sounds of our girls laughing and smells of the grill brought goose-bumps. I kept feeling like someone was always around my shoulder all day... hmmmmm?!?!? Like I have always said, I believe my Dad hand picked our little Makenzie from heaven and sent her to us to help remember him.

Makenzie officially turns two this Thursday. She's gone from a little baby to a growing little girl. Where does the time go?!?!? Here's to many more years with our little angel=)


Makenzie's Birthday Party 09/22/07

Goodbye SNS, hello...

It's been a long 14 months with Steak 'n Shake. William started on this 27th birthday as a manager in training and worked his way all the way up to RM- Restaurant Manager. After qualifying as an RM, he was ready to begin the next process, GM- General Manager. A few managers were shifted around and within those shifts came lots of promises of help towards advancement. William even agreed to transfer to another location, one adding 2 hours and 120 miles per day to the already 10 hour shift. He realized that the once promised help was lacking on upper management, so the look was on for another adventure.

William's new adventure begins... with Little Ceasars! He starts Tuesday with 6 weeks of store training. After that, William will be a GM- GENERAL MANAGER of his own place=) It'll be a nice change... the store doesn't have dine-in or delivery, so he can focus on customer service and keeping his store perfect.

Good job Daddy!

Cheese, please!

1st Family Trip to Beach

Well, it's official... we had our first day at the beach together as a family. It's only taken 2 years?!?!? You'd think with us only being 10 minutes away this day would have come sooner. Many times have we just stopped by to look, or even take a little walk down the beach. But, now we actually played in the water and had bathing suits on. Kaylie's gone in a hand full of times. Makenzie, this was her first in the water. While there, we saw two dolphins and three sea turtles all within 40 yards from where we were on the beach! The ocean temperature was not too cool, not too warm- just right. Plus, after spending only an hour, all four of us got a refreshing little tan:)

Absolutely beautiful day!!! Ready, set, go!WAHOO!

Nice waves

Daddy and his girls...

Family shot... thanks to the kind lady who took the photo:)

New "job"

Without going into too much detail over the ridiculous working situation at Perkins, I'm finally writing to say it's over... no more baking for me. My family and friends are the only ones I care to bake for anymore. I'll miss the great smells and idea of a fun atmosphere.

Starting in October, I'll have a new "job" to enjoy each week day. My good friends Brooke and Matt had their little boy, Dylan, back on 08/02/2007. I'll be his babysitter:) We're so very honored and anxious to have him stay with us during the week days. With Kaylie in preschool from 8:30-11:30, I'll have Makenzie and Dylan in the mornings, and all three afterwards through around six o'clock. We're getting ready for a BIG change in our routine, but are excited to see what new one we can accomplish. I think Makenzie might have the hardest time, since she's always been very clingy to me, especially. I'm sure with how helpful and inquisitive my girls are, they'll adjust fine. Hopefully, all of our hard work can pay off to be able to keep the girls learning and feeling loved and make sure Dylan feels the same in our care:)

Kaylie holding baby Dylan

Miss Brooke helping Makenzie hold baby Dylan

Ants attack

After nap time on Thursday, all four of us went outside to do yard work together. William and I started digging up the flower beds, again, and the girls got their little buddies out to play in the grass. While we were removing dead plants and digging up a new pathway, the girls found a nice spot to make dirt castles. Unfortunately, we didn't know there were ants in their castles. Kaylie and Makenzie are very brave when it comes to playing with bugs and lizards... sometimes too brave. Makenzie managed to get only one bite on her arm. The official ant bite count for Kaylie is 34! I swear it looks like chicken pox. We originally found a few here and there, but the more we uncovered her, the more popped up. Not once did we hear the girls talk about the ants or even hear any fussing over them biting. I've done everything from benedryl creme, benedryl medicine, swabbing alcohol over each bite with a q-tip, and warm baths. Getting her to stop scratching is the hardest. No more playing in the dirt for a while!

Hidden pain...

Miss Makenzie has been a little uncomfortable these past two weeks. After helping her through sleepless nights, sniffles, diarrhea, fussiness, anger issues, and the urge to be held a lot, we finally realized why every thing's been so upsetting for her... she cut one of her 2 year molars:(

Today, after getting something out of Kaylie's tooth, Makenzie came over to show me her teeth. What do you know- her top left molar is at least 3/4 of the way in already. Now we understand what everything was about. She's had a full set of teeth since she was about 14 months old... a lot sooner than Kaylie's teeth all came in. I feel bad for not catching it earlier- baby orajel is on the way:)

Six new babies!

After moving into our house last October, we put up our fish tank. We started off with 7 and even though we lost 4, we now have 17! A Fantail Guppy died and gave us two little ones, both of which are still alive. We lost a Mickey Mouse to "dropsy" disease last month. The ones we lost meant a lot, especially to the girls. We had the "ceremonial" flush with each one... they are now in heaven with Papa- he'll take good care of them.

We purchased two Dalmatian Mollies a few months ago. They made a really cute little one, who is now called the teenager. After seeing the Mollies mating and going crazy since the beginning of June, we've been watching them really closely. Each month for 4-5 months in a row, they can have live births of up to 15 babies! We saw the Mommy one get huge, but couldn't find the frys for the longest time. One night while feeding them, the girls and I got so ecstatic when we saw 2 babies. The next day William said it's actually 3, then later that night it was up to 4. A few days later, we had a final count of 6 baby fry! If our calculations are correct, there might be more born soon:)

Here's a look at them starting from a few months ago. I never thought I'd get so interested in fish... I guess the whole being pregnant and having babies thing sticks with a mom, no matter what!?!?


Fish Love

Little Dancers

The girls are very much into dancing lately. They love to put on little shows for us. One of their favorite things to watch is High School Musical 1 & 2. Turn up the volume and let the fun begin!

Here's a clip of them dancing/tapping around in the living room.

*Don't worry, the little crash at the end turned out okay!*