Expectant Mother Parking...

Growing up my family always shopped at the Harmon's grocery stores. I thought it was pretty cool when a few years ago they added in a few Expectant Mother parking spots. I looked forward to the day when I could have front row parking. When I was pregnant with Brooklyn my brother took me with him to Harmon's and I was so excited. I could FINALLY park in the special parking spot made for waddlers just like me... and then we discovered that the Harmon's we chose to go to didn't actually have these specials spots... I really was quite disappointed.

But tonight, my dream came true. I finally got to park in the Expectant Mother parking spot and Ohhhh... did it feel good. Especially since you can't get much more expectant than I am now.

TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY!

Since we have to commute to the hospital and Karl doesn't have much time off earned we decided to schedule an induction. So here I am, the night before this (still yet to be named) baby finally arrives.

A trip to the country store...

Today the girls and I had the opportunity to go to the cemetery with Karl's parents to see Grandma Bailey's grave. Granny B passed away just before Karl and I got married and so I thought it would be a good idea for us to go to the cemetery with them so they could learn a little bit more about her. Brooklyn ended up falling asleep on the way there so she didn't actually get out of the car. Maddie loved getting to help "clean" the headstone and put flowers on her grave.

After we were done at the cemetery we decided to make a quick stop at the country store next door. Since Brookie was asleep Pop pop asked Maddie if she wanted to go in and get some ice cream to bring out for Nana. The second Brookie heard the word ice cream her eyes popped open and she yelled "YEAH!" Let's just say the girls LoVeD it! 

 Brooklyn however, did not love it when she got covered in her ice cream (which was happening quite frequently due to the fact that she was so insistent on eating the ice cream all by herself!)

 Thanks again Nana and Pop pop for the outing. It was really fun to get to spend some good quality one on one time with you- even if it was only for a little while.

Playing the waiting game...

The time has come...

To play the waiting game.

The girls and I made our way up to Logan this past weekend so that we can be close to the hospital- for when this baby decides to make her appearance. At my doctors appointment yesterday we were able to schedule an induction for next Wednesday if this baby hasn't come by then. (For those who may be wondering we are only scheduling an induction since Karl has to drive up from Salt Lake and doesn't have more than 2 days of time off earned yet at his new job. I would much rather have it happen naturally if possible though.) But for now...

We wait.

I have to admit though, since we are not at our own home with our own belongings, I have let the girls do a lot of this...

While I do a lot of this...

...

Oh wait, there's no way I'm putting up a picture of me sitting at my computer in all my pregnant glory.

Hopefully the next time you hear from me, I will actually have some exciting news for you.

A new found something...

We have a new found freedom problem at our house...

And of course it has to do with this little stinker.

This morning I walked in my room to find Brooklyn standing in front of the TV completely naked!

Unfortunately a picture of this one would not be appropriate so you get this one instead.

Lately we've been:

-Pinning her Pajama's shut so she can't just take them off whenever she wants to... she hasn't figured out how to take off her shirts for the most part but can sometimes get her pants off if they are loose

 -Making her wear a onesie every day since she also likes to stick her hands down her pants if she can't find any pockets... the results of this one can be not so pretty.
...

But today was laundry day so all of her onesies were in the wash.

I guess I got what was coming to me.

Ready for a baby...

As the birth of our new baby girl is quickly approaching, the question of whether our family is ready for this change has crossed my mind a few times.

Am I really ready to be a mother of 3?

Is Brooklyn going to adjust well to having a new baby around the house?

Today I was able to get a small glimpse into what life will be like with a new baby around, and from the looks of it, I think we might survive.

The girls got to meet their new cousin Violet today and lets just say, we could barely keep them away from her.

 Brooklyn was so sweet with her.

Although I know there will still be some struggles involved, I do believe we will survive!

We can't wait for you to join our family baby girl!

We love you so much already.

Renovation begins today!

When I was a child I used to dream about having a big, magical playhouse or treehouse in my parents back yard. I remember laying in bed making plans as to how we would build this house and everything I would put inside. 

It was a wonderful dream but until now, it was just that. A dream.

 

Now that my brother and I have started having children of our own we decided it was time to once again try our hand at getting our dad to finally build us that play house we have been dreaming about for years. Every so often we made sure we casually mentioned the idea around my dad and used every method we could to convince my parents that they wanted it too. And then something crazy happened.

My mom and dad agreed!

Today we began renovation for the coolest playhouse known to mankind.

Step one: Removal of the Ivy ground covering.

There is no turning back now.

 Hey, no one can complain, even the little tykes are doing their part to help out...

We'll keep you posted on the "coolest playhouse known to mankind" as it starts to unfold.

Interesting...

This past week has been... interesting to say the least.
On Monday I took Brooklyn in for her 18 month check up where we not only came home with sore legs, irritability and a fever from the shots, but also a little flu bug. The poor girl was so miserable. The actual throwing up was intense but it only lasted for about 12 hours, for which I was grateful, but the affects lingered around for a few days.

At times I felt like doing this...

 The time finally came where we felt like we were on the mend. Since graduation was on Friday, we loaded up the car on Thursday night to drive up to Karl's parents house for the weekend. We were excited about getting to see our new baby cousin and to see our Daddy graduate.

 Then Friday morning happened...

We woke up early to get ready for the day and quickly discovered the day wasn't going to go as expected because our little Madison was now throwing up. Uncle Eric volunteered to stay home with her while we all went to graduation which ended up not being such a good idea as he ended up catching the nasty bug. Oh and just to make things a little more interesting, cousin Ivy (who's new baby sister had just come home from the hospital) caught the bug too.

Here are a few of my "favorite" highlights of the day:

-Brookie getting her head stuck in the fence outside the Spectrum
-Almost putting myself in labor at 35 weeks from walking up and down those lovely stadium stairs a few too many times

-Catching throw up in my hands 2 minutes before reaching home because we got stopped by the train...

-Picking up a child with an overflowing diaper and getting covered in poo only minutes after catching throw up in my hands

It's Graduation Day!

We made it, we made it, we finally made it!

Today was the day we finally got a little closure on a certain chapter of our lives.

And oh did it feel good.

(well minus the yucky flu bug our little family was fighting today)

You may notice that Madison is non existent in these pictures. She unfortunately had to stay home because she was too sick to go.

Before we left home she informed me I had to take lots of pictures for her since she couldn't be there.

She was so proud of her daddy.

So here they are Maddie, just for you.

 And just because I never include pictures of myself...

Here I am at 35 and a 1/2 weeks pregnant.

I think I almost put myself in to labor today by climbing up and down the stairs at the spectrum. So as of right now, I am in a lot of pain but not enough pain to be in labor...

To my graduate:

Karl I am so proud of you for all you have accomplished these past few years. I know it was not easy going to school full time and working full time so I could stay at home with our daughters. We've always said we knew the sacrifices you were making would pay off and so far, we were not wrong. I am grateful you have found a wonderful job where you are actually getting to use the knowledge and skills you developed through your schooling and am even more grateful that you absolutely love what you do as well.

We love you so much!

Love your wife and children

My sweet new niece

Sweet little Violet Abigail is finally here and oh how we love her so.

Since our little family all happened to be sick this week, we didn't get to spend much time snuggling with her but I did get the chance to take a few pictures.

We love you miss Violet!

Congrats Lacey, Steve and Ivy!

Pictures that make me happy

The girls in their pretty new Easter dresses...

being MY girls.

And just because I'm so darn excited I have to announce that we are getting a new niece today!!! Good luck Lacey.

Easter Hall Style

Getting the party started...

 ...Coloring Eggs...

 ...The candy hunt...

 ...The disappointed look after I dumped her bucket in to the plastic bag...

 ...Catching Bubbles...

 ...The aftermath...