today

thought about how cute e looked, with her hair in her face and her heart melting smile.

i'm going to miss having her all to myself.

life

I just scheduled the rest of my appointments for this little man.  It makes it seem so close.  7 weeks until the due date.  Maybe 8 until delivery.

Little e is giving me kisses on the tummy.  She still wants me to hold her all. the. time.  She is using her whining voice more often and bursts into tears over the silliest things.  Does she know what's coming?  I'm really hoping this is not her new normal. 

She was sweet today, though.  An early morning snuggle in our beds, since she is still getting used to her big girl room.  Helping clean a few things and start to get things organized for the new man.  Dancing and kisses and lunch and singing the ABCs in the wrong order.

Two more days until summer vacation.  Five more days till the man starts summer school and his summer job. 

Exhausted, but life is good.

tag, i'm it

 My friend McCall tagged me, which is nice since it gives me a topic to write about.  The rules are:

A. List 11 things about yourself

B. Answer the questions the nominee created for you

C. Choose 11 bloggers to nominate

D. Create 11 questions for them (or use the previous questions)

About me:
1.  I am 5'8".  I wanted to grow up to be 5'10" but I didn't quite make it.  

2.  I am the 8th child of 14.  My mom is a rockstar.

3.  I graduated from BYU-Idaho with a Bachelors degree in Math Education.  I taught for one year before retiring to be a mom.

4.  My greatest fear is being fat.

5.  I've never been to Disneyland.

6.  The 5 things that changed my life the most are 1. Being born   2. Going to college   3. Marrying Jeffree  4. Having my daughter   5. Getting braces

7.  I had virgin lips until I was 20. 

8.  My wedding ring is size 4.75 and I can still wear it when I'm pregnant.  I have really small hands.

9.  I love road trips and I always loved family vacations.  I have so many memories of singing in the van with my siblings.  We went on simple, inexpensive vacations, but I loved them!

10.  I love running.  It's not easy or pleasant by any means, but I love how I feel after a good run.  A few nights ago I dreamed that I was running.  It was beautiful.

11.  I have ADD when it comes to completing any task.  I get distracted with a gazillion other things, and sometimes I really have to force myself to just complete something before moving on to something else.  You can tell whether Jeffree or I did the dishes, because if I do them, there are like 3 dirty dishes left on the counter.


Now to the questions I'm supposed to answer:

1. What is the strangest thing you ever did?  
Jeffree drove to Rexburg to visit me when we were dating.  We performed an impromptu musical in the gazebo on campus.  It was really funny to try and keep a straight face and make up song lyrics off the top of our heads.  I imagine the people who walked by that night thought we were pretty strange!

2. What is your most embarrassing moment?
My very first youth conference (I was 14), I was doing a ropes course with my "family group."  I had to swing from a fallen log to a platform, where my brother was supposed to catch me.  I put my feet down a little early, my toe caught on the platform and I went flying and tumbling through the foliage.  The worst part is that someone caught it on film and showed it to all the youth on a big screen in slow motion.  The 3rd time it played, I noticed that my shirt flew up and flashed my belly to all witnesses.  Lovely.

3. What is your favorite thing about yourself?
I'm really funny.  Especially if I'm just around women.  That's why Jeffree married me. 

4. What three items would you take with you if you knew you were going to be stranded on an island for a year?

Assuming that my family is stranded with me, I would bring a tent, Vaseline, and my camera.

5. What dessert do you order the most often?

I don't really "order" dessert.  We rarely eat out, since it's not in our budget, and I think I can make some pretty good desserts.  But I do like going out for ice cream.  Cake batter ice cream with brownie is my favorite.  

6. If you could have any superhero power, what would it be?

To love people.  I wish I just could love everyone perfectly and sincerely.  

7. What is the best gift anyone has ever given you?

Hmmm... this one is hard for me to answer.  The gift of life?  I suppose I'll say when Jeffree and I gave ourselves to each other in marriage.  I know that's cheesy, but that's what you get. 

8. Where is your ideal vacation spot?

Hawaii.  I secretly want to "surprise" Jeffree with tickets to Hawaii for when he graduates with his Masters, but it will probably be a couple years after that before we actually go.  Plus, he's not huge into surprises.  Plus, he reads this blog, so it wouldn't be a surprise.  But yes, I really want to go to Hawaii (so if anyone wants to sponsor me, let me know haha:)

9. What makes you feel most alive?

Playing with Jeffree and little e.  Loving them so much that my heart melts.  And hearing them tell me they love me.

10. What has been the best decision you've ever made?

Marrying Jeffree.  I had pretty high expectations for the man I would marry, and he exceeds them all.  He constantly lifts me up when I am down, always loves me, and takes such good care of me.  He is a better person than me in every way.  Except that I am funnier. ;)

11. What is your greatest accomplishment?

Having children.  It was no small thing for me to bring little e into this world, and taking care of her through months of post par tum is the hardest thing I've ever done.  But knowing that she's mine forever, that she loves Jesus, and that we're best friends - I know there is nothing greater I could ever do in my life than be a mom.  I already feel the same way about my little man.  

I nominate:

Elyse Brantingham 

Lynae Lewis

Bekah Hintze

Caitlin Stewart

Krisann Leavitt
Michelle McGuire

Carissa Johnson

Portia Fitzwater

Lindsay Rosas

anyone else who reads this blog :)

The questions are:

1.  What is the strangest thing you've ever done?

2.  What is your most embarrassing moment?

3.  Where do you see yourself in ten years?

4.  What's the best decision you've ever made?

5.  What is your greatest accomplishment?

6.  What does a perfect day look like in your life?

7.  If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

8.  What is your greatest fear?

9.  If you had to choose a different name for yourself, what would it be?

10.  If you were a kitchen utensil, what would you be and why?

11.  If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

happy birthday TWO you

This little gal turned 2 and was so excited for her birthday! 

Here she is in all her birthday glory...

We started the day off by letting her "open" her new big girl room.  She loves it, even if she doesn't sleep in her new bed quite yet.  I made her a little reading canopy.  She still has no idea why it's there, but she likes to play in it :)

Every girl needs cute nails on her birthday, so we did manicures and pedicures after watching Daddy play frisbee that morning.

Sweet little e loves pretending and playing with Daddy.  The baby wipes are her pillow, of course.

We invited little e's cousins over for cake and ice cream.  We really didn't think very many people would come.  Turns out that everyone we invited showed up except one family (we missed you Paul and Mykal).  37 people, 2 cakes, 1 pan of brownies, a huge tub of ice cream, lots of presents, and a broken swing set later (note to self: our swing set cannot hold ten children at once), we put our exhausted little girl to bed.

We love you, little e belle.  You bring us so much joy and laughter and beautiful, tender moments.  We are so glad you are part of our family.  Thanks for making our lives that much sweeter.