two years & a few days later...

Well, where do I begin... My last post was January 28th of 2009... After my post I took a sleeping pill that evening while Mackenzie stayed with at my parents... I woke up & we went to Saint Agnes to be induced & have baby #2! IV, Pit & Epidural... 5 to complete in about 10minutes, then at 11:13am we welcomed ASPEN ELIZABETH a healthy 7lbs 13oz & 20inches! Now fast forward... she turned 2 two days ago... where have the past two years gone??? I can say that one of my resolutions this year is to start blogging again & to actually do it reguarly... which I'm hoping for monthly at this rate. SO there is so much to try to catch up on from the past 700 plus days... so here it is in short... 2009 was adjuding to life with two kids... two girls for that matter! I returned to work part-time at SAMC in L&D and cousin Tiffanie was Aspen's nanny for a few months before there was room for her to start child-care. It was fabulous & we were blessed to have her help us out! Mackenzie turned 4 that June & we celebrated at Pump It Up with family & friends. That September we went to Disneyland which was a blast. Aspen was 8mo & did great... we also took my mom along to help out with the kiddos. Cousin Shanna & her girls joined us as well, it was such a fun trip! We also took a family trip to South Lake Tahoe which was great until Guy got sick & we came home early. Poor Aspen had a rough fall & winter with repetitive ear infections, constant antibiotics, croup, RSV, etc. She has been on 2 inhalers regularly since then & had tubes put in her ears the week before her first birthday! Aspen was also diagnosed with hip dysplasia so she sees a pediatric orthopedic surgeon frequently... but it has seemed to mellow out. She has been a trooper through all her lil body goes through. The start of 2010 was absolutely insane... I cut back to per diem at SAMC due to our move to Lemoore, CA. Guy has always wanted to buy land, farm & build a house in Island District and we found ourselves in a situation too good to pass up. We are renting a home from some friends of ours & hoping to build in the next 3-5yrs on our property. Any sooner would be a miracle, but I would love to have OUR OWN house tomorrow. But I am being a patient wife & trusting my husbands plans... We hosted Aspen's 1st birthday party, Easter party, Mothers Day, etc... so it's been a fun change for our family... even if they have to drive 40 minutes to see us! In February our nephew Kolben Malcolm Powers was born & he is such a cute lil kid... no visible signs of Portuguese at all! Mackenzie & Aspen were adorable flower girls in my cousin Tiffanie's wedding in Avila Beach (the same day as Guy's cousin Sarah's wedding too... in Shell Beach, so we were able to make an appearance!) I decided it was too much with the commute, so I resigned from SAMC in May. Both girls did swim lessons at Jan Thomas again, they are natural fishies! Miss Mackenzie turned 5 in June, but unfortunately both Guy & I were sick with the flu, so no big party. She lost her first tooth with the help of Mimi (my mom) & her dental assisting skills! We also took advantage of living on the south fork of the Kings River & floated a handful of times which was awesome! Good times with great friends! Looking forward to floating season again! Wonderful weddings in Paso Robles & Pebble Beach over summer, it just flew by! Mackenzie started Kindergaten in August at Island Union School, which convienently is right behind our house... well, through the pistachio orchard... she has an amazing teacher who we had heard nothing but wonderful things about... and who has now become a friend! I help out one morning a week in her class & have become involved in the school through the Parent Booster Club. I am in charge of the Accelerated Reader (AR) reward program, worked the Secret Santa Shop & help out wherever I can! It's such a fantastic school with so much parent involvment! Guy just finished landscaping 3200sq.ft. in the Kinder yard, complete with a new irrigation system, sod & DG pathway! We have 8 more yrs for Mackenzie at Island than a few more with Aspen and I know it is where we are supposed to be! We have met some wonderful families, many of whom went to school with Guy, including the principal! Aspen attended preschool 3 days a week & has had a blast in the program. Another blessing in moving down here... we wanted to find a church for US! We were attending 3 churches in Fresno/Clovis between Sunday services, AWANAs & bible studies, so we were really hoping to find it all under one roof! We decided to try a chucrh we had heard so much about on Easter Sunday & we knew we found the one! We have been able to get in a parents group, moms group, financial bible study, etc. We just feel blessed that we found a church where we feel that we fit! Mackenzie was in the Christmas program as a sheep! sooooo cute! We have met some great people & made new friends through church! We love Koinonia Christian Fellowsip! In August we found out that we were expecting again... not overly shocking, but not neccesarily planned! Everything seemed to be going great, but on October 1st, I miscarried & had emergency surgery. It was tough to go through...again... but through faith, family & friends we got through a dark time & even saw the light! God has great plans for this family & we want to do His will! One perk, and huge secret, of 2010 was when we went to Lets Make a Deal with Wayne Brady in September. Our friends, Brandon & Sheri Schmidt aka.the newlyweds invited us to join them for the taping of the show. We were hoping that they could get on as a contestant & win a honeymoon! They wore well, their tux & wedding dress of course...me a cheap, last minute girl scout vest and then there was Guy... he wore & fit into his actual Eagle Scout uniform from when he was 18... high socks, short shorts, oh yah! It was hilarious, Guy & Sheri won for costumes, but again you have no idea who they will pick for the deals. You go through a brief interview process, but who knows what they are looking for. Again we were just hoping one out of the four of us would get that chance. Well they moved Guy & I right before they started filming to front & center (right next to Wayne Brady) probably cause I am loud & full of spirit! Sheri got picked in the first act & unfortunately lost $4000 in her pinata but won a lifesize ZONK paper airplane. So happy she was picked, I just kept cheering in my seat for whomever was making a deal, when all of a sudden Wayne Brady picked me as the first of three contestants for a deal. He said in this act we could win a all-expense paid trip to... ASPEN, Colorado! Aspen of all places... kinda crazy, thats my kids name! Oh my goodness... so we had to pick can 1,2 or 3 (one had $1500, one ZONK & one wins the trip!). I picked can 2 for my 2 girls and guess what??? I won! Yep, me! I won a $8000 trip plus his&her ski's, boots & bindings. Awesome right! But wait, I was the person with the highest valued prize... Wayne was going to ask me if I wanted to give up my Aspen trip & go for the Big Deal of the Day??? What would I do??? I didnt even think I'd get picked, let alone win, and then now this... so I did it... I went for the big deal! So now I have to pick door 1,2 or 3... there are no ZONKS, but the prize could be valued less that what I gave up ($8000 trip). So of course I picked door 3 since I was 10weeks pregnant with our 3rd... (made for a bittersweet moment watching it air) but very real on my reasoning. Anyhow, they showed me door 2, I passed up a snowmobile (Guy shed a tear) but I was okay with that. Then Wayne said he was going to open door 1 so I got really excited thinking that he was saving the big deal (my door) for last... but he called me out & said, you think we have a system? so after getting boo'ed he opened door 3... it was a 2010 Lexus IS 250 fully-loaded worth $34,163... MINE, but only one catch... I had to keep it a secret til in aired in early 2011... how was I going to do that??? Holy moly, it was hard, but on Friday January 21st, 2011 our episode aired & even before I got to see it, friends from all over the world watched it & messaged me through Facebook. It was crazy, my friend in Key Largo was the first... so crazy! Anyhow... that was the hardest secret to keep, but if CBS found out the show was leaked, then I lose my prize! So it wasnt that difficult when they dangle a $34k car in front of you... anyhow, good times! So now its 2011, kicked off the year with a week up at the cabin. Had the Cromwell family join us & had a blast. Mackenzie skiied for the first time, we built a killer sled run & enjoyed putting the kids to bed so we could drink wine, eat nachos and play Farkle & Catch Phrase! So much fun! Back to school routines & life as we know it... can't believe its been over 2 years since my last blog entry... its theraputic, I should try this more often. But now I'm tired & am ready for bed, so with that... til next time, and I surely hope its before 2013!

Well Happy New Year...it has been way too long, but I sort of have a good excuse! A few days before Christmas I was at work and very uncomfortable. I was only 33wks and honestly didn't know what contractions felt like because I experienced no signs or symptoms of labor with Mackenzie til I was being induced. Anyhow, something just didn't seem right! So needless to say, others could sense my tension and comfort level, or there lack of...and I was put on the monitor. There they were...contractions! So I was officially off the clock and now a patient! I was expecting to work through the beginning or middle of January, but Dec 22nd was my last day. I was on "terb" for weeks and didn't think I would even make it to 36wks...but here I am at 38wks finally being induced tomorrow. Who would have guessed? Not that I ever expected to be dealing with pre-term labor, but then to still make it passed 38wks and have to be induced...God sure does have a sense of humor! So tomorrow is the big day, Baby Brautigam will make his/her entrance into the world! It also just happens to be our anniversary, which I have realized is actually kinda cool, even though that was the one day I was hoping not to deliver on or near...again, God's sense of humor, a lesson in patience and trust for me! So today is the last day of just the 3 of us! Tomorrow there will be 4 in our family, I'm still a bit curious of how our family dynamics will change, but I know it will be great! Mackenzie is going to be such a wonderful big sister to the baby! She is very excited and I hope the transition is smooth and calm for her! Guy is freaking out a bit, wondering if he is going to be surrounded by girls or if it's going to be even with 2 & 2. We will see very soon! We think we have narrowed our names down but until baby is out we are not putting anything in stone! We are too up in the air on them, and not knowing the gender just makes it that much more difficult. Or just a second list to have to make! So we will see in about 24hours! Yeah!!! Oh, and the new family pics I posted...thanks to Nikki who did a wonderful photo shoot on January 2nd! We wanted some good family pics of the 3 of us, and the belly of course! You can see some of the pics on http://www.nikolaidesigns.com/ in the belly, kids & family galleries! Nikki is amazing and if you need any pictures taken, definitely check her out! She was our wedding photographer years ago and we are so excited that she moved back to California so we can utilize her talents! She is amazing and super creative...besides being the nicest person ever! We love her, can you tell? Ok well I wish you all a Happy 2009 (only 28days late) and I will post baby news and pics some time really soon. I'm not going to promise a date, cause knowing me, I will fail at meeting my own deadline, so soon, just soon! Take care and have a wonderful day! Happy Anniversary tomorrow to my wonderful hubby, thanks for putting up with me and for helping balance me out! I love you more!

Snow Day...well kind of!

Guy, Mackenzie & I were lucky enough to get to spend 3 nights up at our family cabin in Huntington Lake! Thanks again Unce Tom & Neicie for letting us be part of the building process from start to finish!!! And thanks Mom & Dad for helping build this amazing cabin! Mackenzie has put in more hours than Guy & I, so we get to reap the benefits now! We had such a wonderful time relaxing as a family and just enjoying the cabin in it's natural setting! Our friends Bryan & Tishka joined us on Friday afternoon to hang out and play games...then they had to head home late that evening. On Saturday the Schwebach family came up to visit! We love hanging out with Dan & Tiff! The triplets and Sophie wanted to see some snow, and besides a few piles on the side of the road, it was pretty much snowless! So we treked over to Sierra Summit and found the man made hill of snow to play in! The kids had so much fun and they were more than satisfied with the man made snow. I convinced them to all eat the snow, just make sure it's white!!! No yellow or dirty snow! We took pictures of their family and they were nice enough to take a few of us...so I am currently putting together our Christmas card...I know you are anxiously awaiting it's arrival! We really enjoyed our time with Dan, Tiff, Luke, Lily, Kate & Sophie! Thanks guys for making the trip up the hill! Guy BBQ'd TriTip and we had a very nice dinner with Jeff, Karen & Brooke who live across the street from the cabin. We really enjoyed their company and Mackenzie had a blast playing with Brooke! Bryan & Tishka drove back up on Saturday evening just in time for dessert and more games. Guy & I taught them Cribbage and they taught us Hand & Foot, a really fun card game! At about 2am we finally headed to bed...Sunday morning came quite fast! We made breakfast and started the cleaning process of laundry and vaccuming. By early afternoon, the girls (Mackenzie, Tishka & I) headed down the hill. The boys were a few hours behind us! It was such a fun weekend and we are so thankful to be able to have the cabin in our family! Can't wait to go back!

Monday, Monday

So here I am again, it has been a few weeks but I am taking some time to update my blog. Your welcome Lily, Tiff, etc. Ok, I will try to catch up from my last blog in late October. Halloween was lots of fun! We had some family over to our house for dinner and to enjoy all of the trick-or-treaters coming to our door. I must say that the numbers were small, but we still had a wonderful evening! Mackenzie was Snow White and was adorable as you can probably imagine. The only little set back to her costume was the knot/rash/open wound on her forehead from earlier that day when she and stucco on the side of the house became friends! I have to laugh only because it occurred on Guy's watch, not mine and the story behind it just makes me giggle. Needless to say, she is ok and besides looking like a battered princess, no major tragedy occurred. As for Guy and my costumes...what can I say! We were pretty creative and had everyone laughing on our block! My husband was dressed in a chef jacket and apron appropriately titled "Bun Maker". I looked lovely in my oven costume with working latch on oven door and authentic oven knobs from our very own kitchen. The stove top design was detailed and looked like the real thing. I of course was "A Bun In The Oven"!!! Good times! When you opened the oven door, it revealed a bun baking (25+wks to be exact). It was one of a kind and I owe Guy many thanks for making such a great kitchen appliance to wear. Our family laughed, our neighbors laughed, most of the children did not really get it, thank goodness! We never really left the house, except to take Mackenzie to a few neighbors houses to trick-or-treat, and then around the corner to visit Erika & Brandon at Brandon's parents house. We didn't win any costume contests, though we probably could have if we actually had gone somewhere! It was a fun evening and we were all in bed shortly after 9pm! I love to sleep! Ok moving on to another day... Saturday the 1st was a fun day too! My inlaws took the family out to dinner for teppan yaki to celebrate my birthday (belated from Sept) and also as a farewell dinner to Jana & John who left for China a few days later. Anyhow, it was a fun dinner and I always love to eat some good Japanese food! It was an early dinner and then I was off to my 10yr reunion planning committee meeting! Yes I know, it's still crazy to me to think of how fast it has flown by. I got nominated to the committee because somehow I have become known as the walking yellow pages of our graduating class. I do not know how I hear these things, but somehow I do...I really do not know how I know the things I do. Anyhow, we have a great group that is putting together our reunion and I am excited to be a part of it. We finalized a date (Saturday November 7th, 2009...for all of you CW c/o 99 grads) and are busy working away on the planning details. We are meeting up again after the holidays to keep woking away on the big event, but there is lots to do!!! We hope it is as successful as we are expecting it to be! Ummm, let's see, this past Saturday I went to a baby shower for a friend and co-worker, Brianne! It was lots of fun and Erica (another friend & co-worker) did a great job hosting the event! Her mom catered and the food was sooooo yummy! There were lots of people from work and some friends from high school & college as well! It was a fun time and Brianne was truly showered with gifts! After that I drove up to the cabin to meet up with Guy, Mackenzie and the fam! The drive up was beautiful and there were lil patches of snow on the side of the road as I was entering Shaver. When I got up to Huntington, it was almost sunset and simply breath-taking! There was some snow on the ground here and there and the air was so clean and fresh. It was chilly and I had to wear a sweatshirt...I was loving it! The girls made dinner while the boys did who knows what...we all ate dinner then let Mackenzie entertain us by performing songs, dances, and showing off her gymnastics skills. We played Yatzee and just hung out by the fire, it was perfect! We went outside to make s'mores, but it started raining so we moved inside where we roasted marshmallows over the gas stove! It started snowing a little bit before we went to be but when we woke up in the morning... This is what my car looked like! We probably got 3-4 inches and it was a winter wonderland! We got all bundled up in snow gear and went outside to play in the snow! Uncle Tom and Dad were plowing snow, Guy and Mackenzie were helping too! I took these pics on my phone and was so impressed how well they turned out! My lil snow bunny and her Daddy!!! So darn cute, I know! She wanted to help and shovel snow so we put her to work! Don't know much about child labor laws, but she insisted on it! Anyhow, we had a big breakfast with sweet potato pancakes, apple cider syrup, eggs, ham, linguisa, cinnamon swirl bread...shall I go on? After our tummies were nice and full, Brooke and Mackenzie grabbed their sleds and their daddies to go find snow covered hills. They had so much fun playing and making snow balls! Guy tried to get me a few times but even me and the belly were able to dodge his aim! It was 36degrees outside most of the day on Sunday! I think it was 33 when we first woke up at 7am, but never really warmed up, so the snow stayed. Guy and I had to drive home mid afternoon, but I was able to sneak in a lil nap with Mackenzie before headin down the hill! We had our last meeting of the Crown Financial Study that we have been taking on Sunday evenings. We love our group and it was kind of sad to meet for the last time, but we know that we will stay in touch and see most of the people at church every now and then. We had a potluck at our facilitating couple's house and just had a really good time fellowshipping (is that a word???) and just getting to know eachother better. It was a 7wk study but we all are interested in taking the more in-depth 10wk study this spring. This one was good, but we all said we didn't want it to end, we were just getting started and there was so much good information to gain and apply to our lives. I highly reccommend the Crown Financial programs and it is absolutely amazing that there are 1,000's of verses in the Bible regarding finances in one way or another. Ok, well I really should be getting going, I need to go be productive of some sort. I have to thank Tiff for showing me how to add pics and a neat website for blog backgrounds...I am slowly learning all of this, so one day I can be a professional blogger. As for my amateur status, I will return again, sooner than later I hope! Until then, take care and Happy Monday!

...okay it's been awile...

well, thanks to Lily bugging me that I hadn't posted a blog since August (she actually knew the exact date)...here I am to give an update of what's been going on since the end of August. I will try to make it short and sweet! Let's see....our friends Don & Alyssa got married the last Saturday in August in Cambria, CA. It was a beautiful ceremony and a wonderful weekend away for us! September was kind of crazy as I worked more in Sept than I had in like the previous 6 months. But the paychecks were nice and I did enjoy seeing all of my coworkers! On September 11th, of all days...we got to go do our major ultrasound and the baby looks great! We did not find out the gender, cause we are THOSE people! (Props to Lily & Bryan, Brianne & Pat, etc.) Baby was measuring perfect and all major organs and parts were there! Always a reassuring feeling after having a pregnancy loss, and pregnancy complications & difficulties! So far so good and we are excited for all that the new year will bring! Moving on...I celebrated my 27th birthday on Sept 21st (sharing the day with Lily, of course). My hubby took me to the central coast for a relaxing weekend. We ate great food and were able to see some friends and family along the way, which completed our great trip! Let's see, October has flown by so fast and we have definitely been staying busy! Mackenzie and I were suppossed to take a trip to Lake Tahoe with my Mom the first weekend in Oct, but doctors orders were to not travel, simply to stay home and rest. Nothing major, probably just some stressed induced side affects! Again a relief that it was not any pre-term labor or other serious issue. Sad to not make it to Tahoe, but amazed at what sleep can really do for the body! My doctor's a pretty wise guy, but than again, that's why he's the doctor! Guy's sister got married on the 11th so it was a long week and weekend for our family. Both Guy & Mackenzie were in the wedding, so we all were a bit run down from the festivities! We had a wonderful visit with Lily and the belly when she was in town! We compared bellies and stories and all the fun stuff related to pregnancy! We also shared our first Chik-fil-A experience together thanks to Tiffany's request! What a memorable evening to say the least, right ladies! We had a wonderful breakfast with all of the SAMC gals and Lily got some really cute pics...see her blog! Anyhow, we all really miss her and are so excited for her and Bryan with their 2 bundles of joy to be arriving in February! Mackenzie got her Halloween costume, she is Snow White! We went to ZOO BOO with my Dad & Allie and our friends Brian & Tishka and had a really fun time! Mackenzie enjoyed herself, finally got the idea of trick-or-treating, won a pumpkin at the pumpkin walk, and really isn't too excited about the candy she got! We will see how long that lasts! And now October is almost over...where does the time go? We will be having family over on Friday to eat dinner and watch the neighborhood trick-or-treaters! I need to go finish cleaning our house and decorating for the evening! Ok well, Lily I hope you are happy now...I will post again before 2009, I promise! For now, I hope life is blessing others as it is for us! Until then...

Oh, what a week...

Well, it's Friday and I couldn't be happier! Guy, Mackenzie and I had a fun morning at Chuck E. Cheese celebrating the triplets 3rd birthday! Thanks Dan & Tiff for all of the fun! We are now home and it's the blessed time of day known as "nap time". I really should go lay down myself, but I will quickly give an update on our family. Mackenzie and I returned home on Wednesday evening from a week ling trip to Washington state visiting both sets of my grandparents, her great grandparents! We had a wonderful time and I am sure they enjoyed our visit too! Traveling with an independent 3yr old and being prego is quite an accomplishment I can say. It started with a 3hr drive to Sacramento, an almost 2hr wait til boarding, a flight just shy of 2hrs, retrieving luggage and sprinting down the baggage claim area to catch the shuttle, a 2hr drive on a shuttle bus...catch my drift! Let's just say getting up at 6am, leaving our house by 7:30am made for a lobg day! My aunt and grandma picked us up in Silverdale at almost 7pm, we grabbed dinner at Applebees and drove home to Cape George (Port Townsend). After saying hi to Grandpa and Uncle Dave, we finally went to bed after 10pm...exhausting! Needless to say our time in Port Townsend was cherished! Lunch and shopping trips, picnics in the park, good home cooked meals, and most importantly family time! The Walden Resort will never be the same, but so many good memories! Then it was off to Sequim to see the Longstaff Grands! Mackenzie felt comfortable with them so fast after not seeing them in 2yrs. They were amazed, in awe, and excited to have such energy running through their home! I continuously apologized for her attention span, her demanding ways and her "moments" as we like to call them! They quickly reminded me, how she remined them of a lil' red head who used to act the same way just a few decades ago! Mackenzie and Grandpa enjoyed drawing on the magic board, I must say Mackenzie is doing excellent on her circles and swiggly lines! Grandma and Mackenzie bonded with books and playing doctor with special pills (aka M&M's). It was an awesome time to spend with them, and it makes me value family so much! We headed back on another all day process including the drive to Silverdale, the shuttle to Sea-Tac, the flight to Sac, and the drive home thanks to our driver, aka my dad, or as Mackenzie calls him, "big guy!" So it was a crazy but wonderful week and we were so happy to be home and see Guy! We got to wake up early yesterday morning and walk to breakfast together. We then went to the park and just hung out as a family! It was great and much needed! So now it's back to crazy schedules and daily life! Laundry and dishes have already resumed their "piles". I am very excited to fianlly be 16wks along and feeling pretty good, just very tired! I'm sure between the anemia and chasing after a 3yr old I have a good excuse for fatigue, right! I have been dealing with some sciatic pain in my left buttock and lower back area, this is not fun! I'm trying to stretch and adjust how I sleep at night to see if I can find some relief. Guy is playing mud volleyball tomorrow morning for the March of Dimes, so we will go out and cheer him on before it gets to hot! Maybe a quick run to the lake in the afternoon??? Anyhow, Life is good and I have no complaints right now...give me a few monutes, but right now I'm good! I 'm going to go lay down and see if I can sneak in a 30 min nap or so. Have a great weekend and we will post again soon! Until then...

...just Wednesday...

Well, here I am again...with many things to do, yet stuck at the computer. I can't believe it is already Noon and I have really little to show for productivity today! I enjoyed watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with Mackenzie this morning and singing and playing in her room...but I have yet to shower, get out of pajamas, etc. guy got a late start this morning and it just seems to be that mid-week drag. I can also admit that I am a horrible friend and have been terrible this summer, keeping in touch with people who really do mean a lot to me! I do not have any excuses, but I am really feeling the void from the lack of intereaction with some of our closest friends. It seems like I saw everyone for seconds at Mackenzie's birthday party in late June and it's already 6weeks later, and I might have talked to 5 or 6 or them briefly. It's not something I am proud of by any means, so here is my public apology to all of you out there! I hope you can forgive me and we can all get together soon! Miss & love you all!!! Ok well, I think I am going to attempt the whole shower thing now! Sounds pretty appealling to me at this time! Gotta run some errands here sometime, and I think that everyone will appreciate my decision! He He He, I can always rely on some humor to lighten the moment! Wishing all our family & friends well! Until next time...