Trust..

Sometimes I wish I could control how things turn out. My insurance runs out as of May 1st. However I am due on May 7th. This means that we will be switching insurance, hospitals, doctors, and nursing staff right before we have the baby. We will also need to meet a whole new deductible, even though we have already met our other one for the year. Even worse, May 1st is a weekend and so the soonest I can have my initial prenatal intake is on the 3rd of May. The soonest I will be able to see the Dr. is the 5th of May. What happens if I go into labor before those appointments, but after my other insurance has run out? As someone who is never a procrastinator, but always a preparer I am scared that things will not all be in place when I go into labor. I have been praying that if it is God's will and if Preston is already fully developed then if he could come now before our insurance runs out, then it would be best for us. However I have a feeling that it will not happen, because my baby probably is not ready to come into the world. I once again am faced with the need for patience and faith in the Lord that everything will work out according to his timeline and not mine. (This is a constant lesson and theme in my life.) As someone who believes that babies should come when they are ready and are fully developed according to themselves, not when a due date says it is, I turned down the option to be induced with my Dr. now and have put my trust in the Lord. It was so hard to do, but I am feeling good and more confident about the decision. Now all I can do is pray that everything will go well and that God will help me endure the rest of this pregnancy. The waiting game continues but now with a little more trust and faith in the Lord.

Taken 38.5 weeks.

Baby Preston's Big Top Baby Shower

Lana threw me an awesome baby shower about a month ago. It was filled with lots of good friends, cute decorations, awesome treats, fun games, and lots of love. It really was the funnest baby sower I have ever been to, and we all had a great night. Thanks to everyone for helping me to celebrate our new little boy coming to our family!

Yummy Treats!!

Super Cute "Big Top" decorations!

Lots of super cool people, and awesome friends!

Tons of fun "minute to win it" games.

= One super fun girl's night and baby shower.

Thanks so much to the amazing Lana for putting everything together! I loved it!

Yummy!!!

Lana came over yesterday after church and we were both wanting to make something sweet. After a little searching we decided to make a carrot cake that was posted on

www.dana-made-it.com. I am not a carrot cake fan nor a cream cheese frosting fan, but this cake was so divine, easy, and it became one of my favorites after a few bites. I enjoyed it so much I thought I would share it with you. So go to the site and make yourself some delicious cake!! You deserve it! (By the way I know our cake doesn't look nearly as good as Dana's but it tasted amazing!)

Earth Day / "Blueberry"

Brooke and I woke up on Earth Day and thought about all the fun ways we could celebrate our beautiful earth. One of the first things we (I) did while Brooke slept was convert a few diaper boxes into storage bins for a few things I needed separated in my kitchen. I didn't take a picture, but I was feeling very "green" and everything worked out perfectly for the awesome cost of $0.

Once Brooke woke up we decided to make some earth cupcakes and enjoyed eating them. We then went and saw Brooke's first movie in the movie theater "Oceans." It was a great movie but Brooke is one loud little girl and wanted everything explained to her. "What's that Mommy," "oh no Mommy, what eating?" She was very cute and luckily there were lots of other kids in the theater, so we decided that no one really cared about the added commentary.

Once we got home Jason told Brooke that he had a surprise for her. He walked down the stairs, and walked back up with a little Betta fish that he won at a work meeting (actually his D.O.N won it and gave it to Jason.) Brooke loves it. I am scared to death I am going to kill it just like all 12 goldfish I had growing up (I won them at a fair and they all died within hours). I am not good with pets and my mom was surprised I even wanted to keep the fish once I told her about it, because I am pretty admit that I don't want any kind of pet. However, I felt an immediate bond with this little fish (pregnancy hormones) and decided we needed to make him a part of our family. Today Brooke and I decided that we needed to take a trip to the pet store to learn how to take care of him and get him a nice comfortable home. After making him comfortable, we are now happy to present to you...Blueberry (named by Brooke) our first family pet.

She really does love the little fish. She has already hugged it, kissed it, and fed it a sippy cup. All through the glass of course!

Some of our Earth Cupcakes. Somewhat retarded looking but we had fun making them!

We hope you all had a great Earth Day too!

Happy Easter!

Today I feel extremely grateful for the knowledge that I have of the Savior and of his ministry here on this earth. Sometimes (most of the time) I feel I fall short of all that is required of me on this earth, but I am grateful to remember that through Jesus Christ I can be made perfect and return to my Father in Heaven. I am grateful for the example He is and was on this earth. I am thankful that I have the opportunity to continually better myself and try to be more like Him. I know that He died and bled for me personally so I could repent and return to my Father in Heaven and live with him again. I am so grateful for the gift of the resurrection that was not just extended to Jesus Christ but that will be extended to all of us. I am grateful for my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am grateful that I have grown up knowing the answers to the questions that so many people go through this life not knowing. I am grateful that this Easter holiday reminds me of the sacrifices the Savior made for us, and that it gives me the opportunity to thank Him more fully for all the blessings I receive in my life as result. I know that my redeemer lives. I know that he passed below all things and died for every man and women on this earth. I know that He was resurrected and that He lives today and loves us all, and knows us by name. I wish you all the peace, love, joy, and happiness that this holiday brings. Happy Easter!

A 2 year old and a pregnant lady

My friend Andrea took some 2 year old photos of Brooke for me. She did such a great job, especially since Brooke will not cooperate with photos at all. Here are some of my favorites.

I took so many pregnancy photos when I was pregnant with Brooke, that I feel pretty guilty that I have only a few from this pregnancy. Here a few Andrea took of me at 33 weeks.

Disneyland!

We took Brooke to Disneyland for the first time the day after her B-Day. She loved it. The carousel ride she was a little hesitant on, as you can see in the picture, but she loved everything else. She absolutely loved Mickey Mouse and wanted to hug and kiss him when she met him. She is at such a fun age, and I am so glad we got passes so we can take her all year long.

Brooke's Birthday Party

This year for Brooke's B-Day we decided to just have a party with Jason and I. We got Brookie a Mickey Mouse Cake and all her presents were Disney themed. Here are a few pics -

"Blowing out the candles."

She doesn't like cake, but she loves frosting. She kept saying "mmmm, so yummy" as she ate it.

She loved opening her presents, and loved everything she got.

Playing with her new toys afterwards.

That was it, we kept is super simple but she loved every minute of it!

Happy Birthday Brooke

It's official. My little girl is now 2 years old. It does seem about right that Brooke should be two, but where did my 6 month old baby go? While the time feels about right, Brooke growing up so fast doesn't. She is such a little lady now. She loves to have her nails done, her hair out of her face and done, her hands clean, and her pearls, jewelry and accessories on. She loves to take care of her baby dolls and kisses them, snuggles them and really treats them like they are real (except for when she throws them down the stairs.)

Brooke is also extremely smart. She learns and absorbs everything so quickly. She talks so well and enunciates her words perfectly. She knows all her colors and can identify them wherever we go (one of her favorite activities). She can count to 10 but skips one and seven most of the time. She can identify letters and tell you what they are, but still doesn't have very much interest in learning the ABC's song. She knows most shapes except for the hard one's like hexagon's and such. Her favorite shape is a triangle which she says so cute "trigaingle." She loves to watch shows and is pretty addicted to them. She loves Mickey Mouse Club House the best, followed by Little Einstein's, Super Why, Elmo, and Veggietales. She would watch them all day long if I let her. She loves to read books especially Fancy Nancy (thanks to Aunt Amy) and tells me when she does things that are fancy like Nancy. She likes to go get her little high heels on when we read the books so she is fancy too.

She loves Jesus and Temples and it is so fun to see her grow her own testimony at such a young age. She loves nursery and always has a hard time sitting through Sacrament because she wants to get to nursery. She also loves to pray and always reminds me if I put her down to bed without saying one with her. I know she already has a very special relationship with her Heavenly Father.

She is getting very independent now and loves to walk, shop, play at the park, run on grass and ride her "new bike" as she always calls it.

There are so many things I could write about her, this post could go on forever. She is such a blessing in our lives and we are thankful everyday that we get to be her mommy and daddy. Brooke we hope you have a great day and we are so excited for this next year of watching you learn and grow. We love you!!!! Happy 2nd Birthday!!!

Here is Brooke the morning of her 2nd Birthday!!

I couldn't help but put this one in. Such a cute little face and she is already accessorized at 7 in the morning. Going pee pee in the toilet on her Birthday.

Worth It

Heartburn, pregnancy depression, nausea, hemorrhoids, food aversions, varicose veins, leg cramps, swollen feet, super dry skin, mood swings, super sensitive smell, gag reflex, areolas the size of large pepperoni's (not mention the super awesome dark color they turn), daily mini throw-ups, peeing every 20 minutes, aching body, constantly drained of energy......... Should I continue?? All of these are the fun symptoms I have had during this pregnancy (I know TMI, right?)

But I know it is all worth it because I will get another one of these out of it....

I just pray I can keep the last little bit of my sanity until that day comes.

Potty Trained!

I started potty training Brooke last Wednesday. She caught on pretty quick and only had 2 accidents the first day. The second day she only had one accident and slept through the night without wetting the bed, and then the same the next night. She has begun to go every night now and so I bought her some washable training pants that don't absorb so that she can still feel when she is wet and learn from going at night. I hope it contains some of the mess though.

We are so proud of her and are amazed at how quickly she learned. She loves to sit on her potty and read a book while she goes pee pee or poop. Thank goodness that I will only have 1 child in diapers at a time. Now I need to enjoy these 2 months of diaper free days!! Hooray!

Her first poo poo in the toilet. I tried to blur it out so it wasn't so gross! Look at that smile!

San Francisco Day 4

Day four of our trip was the first day we didn't have anything planned, other than our plane home. We slept in, snuggled, watched TV, and then finally got ready. We decided to walk down by the bay and see if we could find this really good hot dog stand called "let's be frank" we didn't walk far enough to see for sure if it was there, but it was a cold and ominous looking day so we decided not to trek the rest of the 2 mile walk to it. Instead we went and had lunch at Rainforest Cafe. It was a yummy meal, and then we walked back to Ghiradelli and finished it off with a huge strawberry/chocolate sundae, a cup of drinking chocolate (pure melted chocolate) a huge glass of milk, and a chocolate cupcake from a store right next door (the best chocolate cupcake I have ever had!) Needless to say we were stuffed and felt super sick after this little chocolate binge of ours. We headed to the hotel took another fun bus trip to the airport and headed home. It was a nice trip and I rally had fun with Jason. Thanks honey for all the fun things we did! Love you!!

San Francisco Day 3

For day 3 of our trip we decided to go to the Exploratorium. It is a science museum. It wasn't quite as cool and advanced as we thought it would be, but they did have a really cool section of mind science to experiment on yourself with and I loved that part.

After The museum we went to Presidio Park and walked around (this is the really nice area of San Fran with lots of beautiful houses). We then finished our tour ride, ate dinner and headed out for Ghiradelli square.
We got hot chocolate at the Ghiradelli factory. It is by far my favorite hot chocolate I have ever had. This was actually one of my favorite activities that we did in San Fran because Jason and I just sipped our hot chocolate and talked for an hour or so. It was nice and relaxing.

San Francisco Day 2

We started day 2 off by eating breakfast at Trader Joes, and then hopping on a hop on/off tour bus to take us to The CA Academy of Science Museum. Of course we had to stop and try on these super awesome sunglasses first.

On the open top tour bus.
At the museum. I really loved it here and would recommend if you ever go to SF to go here.
The Albino Alligator. So cool, we learned a lot of fascinating facts about alligators too. Like how they can determine the sex of there babies by how deep or shallow they bury them in the sand as eggs.
The awesome roof top.
This is a tree that they thought was extinct until they found a whole forest of them in East Asia. It is a type of Redwood tree. It was Huge!!
While in San Fran. we really got to see how liberal they really are out there. This was called Carbon cafe and they were trying to get us to not eat red meat, diary, etc..to reduce our carbon footprint. I loved that they wanted me to eat less red meat (or pledge not to eat it at all) so that there weren't as many cows to fart there carbon farts!
This frog was one of my favorites. It is called a monkey frog. It just looked so darn cute.
The awesome Jelly fish. They didn't come out nearly as cool as in real life.
Jason touching all the sea life. I can't do it, I get too freaked out. Maybe someday.
Right before we crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge. I did much better crossing over this time around then when I went last April. Maybe my fear is going away!
On the bridge. Last time I was hyperventilating so to have a smile on my face is pretty good. Jason of course kept me nice and safe.
After our museum trip we headed out on the ferry for our night tour of Alcatraz. It was fun going at night and getting to see a few extras that they don't do during the day.
Poor Jason locked away!
We were in the pitch black solitary room when I took this. That's why we look so crazy. I would go nuts if I was ever put in there!
On Alcatraz overlooking the city.
What the cell looked like. Also a replica of the fake soap heads the guys who escaped made to look like they were still in there cells.
It was a fun day, and ended by taking two Tylenol, throwing up and a long night sleep, due to pushing it a little to much! I forget you just can't do as much as you want to when you are 30 weeks pregnant. Especially when you are walking up and down hills all day long. Next time we want to have a pre baby vacation we are going to a super relaxing place and just sleep and eat and hang out in the room or beach all day. Hopefully I will read this and remember that the next time around.