pregnancy.potty.wedding

31 weeks pregnant! As of today I am 2 months away from my due date. I had my monthly check up and my last ultrasound on Monday. Baby is now weighing in at 4.5 lbs and measuring 12 days ahead of my due date. They won't change my due date unless baby measures 14+ days, so at this point I am still due Nov 30th. Nesting has definitely started to kick in. Last weekend instead of taking a nap Matt and I cleaned and organized the garage- finally! I have been baking and cooking constantly. Now all we need to do is get the nursery somewhat cleared out and organized. I am officially ready to find out the sex of the baby, I am just so excited I can hardly stand it!! Boy of Girl??? I truly have no clue. It's one or the other, of that much I am sure ;)

This is a very exciting week, my sweet sister in law, Erin is getting married Saturday. Wohoo! Let the celebration begin. Tuesday night we had her bridal/bachelorette party. Bethany did a fantastic job putting it together and it everyone had a great time.

Tomorrow is the brides maid brunch, then off to rehearsal, home for a nap (very important ;) and then the rehearsal dinner. Fun, fun, fun. I'm sure Sunday will be filled with lot's of temper tantrums and sassiness from the party hangover.

In other news- we are potty training! Brooklyn has caught on so fast and I am just trying to go at her pace and not push too hard. She has been showing interest for some time, but we are on day two of officially wearing only big girl undies (except nap and bed time). I have read so much about the 3 day, stay home training, but in the end I think this approach seems to be a better fit for her. She is so proud of herself when she goes, it just lights me up! She can't wait to tell daddy when he get's home that she went potty on the "big girl potty". Last night she said "daddy, I went potty in the big girl potty, you're so very proud of me". ha! Classic Brooklyn :)

Yesterday we met Kristin and Kali at the library for story time, and this was how the girls greeted eachother when they saw one another- by lifting their shirts up to show their tummies. Silly girls.

B at story time

Goofballs :)

cheers to five years

Friday, September 17th was matt and my 5 year anniversary. Brooklyn and I spent Friday afternoon making dinner and a delicious home made apple crisp for dessert. It was fantastic! We had a day trip to hood river with our moms group the weds before (pics below), and came home with a bag of fresh apples to use. I will definitely make the recipe again. Yummm.

Saturday night Matt and I went to dinner and a movie. It was very nice to go out and be adults for a while, not to mention reflect on all God has done in our marriage in the past FIVE years. Love that man so much and so thankful to be married to my best friend. He would tell anyone that he's the lucky one, but secretly I know it's me that scored big time.

I am 30 weeks pregnant as of yesterday. 10 to go! Like I have said over and over, this has been such a great pregnancy thus far, no complaints, but it's going to be a trying last ten weeks physically with Brooklyn. Our dear friends the Brownlee's welcomed Alexis "baby lexis" as B calls her, into the world saturday night so we went to visit them at the hospital on Sunday. Brooklyn had a full fledged melt down, which broke my heart and terrified me! Matt and I just sat silently staring out the window the whole drive home, with the same thought running through our head "oh boy, is this how it's gonna be?". I have very low expectations for the first few weeks, and if it goes great, then hey- I'll take it. I just anticipate that it's not going to be easy, it's going to be a HUGE transition for all four of us, but especially Brooklyn. It's been just she and I during the weeks and to add a new person to the mix is going to take some getting used to- I don't know if you know this, but two year olds don't love to share :)

Here are a few pics from the Hood River trip. Such fun, even though we did not get a nap that day.

The first farm we went to, Draper Girl, was BEAUTIFUL!

mmmm fresh farm apple

Feeding the alpacas- no fear AT ALL

Brooklyn LOVED him

The alpaca farm dog was very patient

To live on a farm

Those of you who know Brooklyn know how much she hates to wear shoes. After our visit to Baggenstos farm Sunday night to get some fresh produce and visit the goats, Matt and I have concluded that Brooklyn should have been born on a farm. We walked out back and no more than two seconds passed before she turned around and declared "I'm gonna take my shoes off!!". So, off went the shoes and she had a BALL. Running in the field, talking to the goats, she even plopped herself down on the gravel and rubbed her feet back and forth in the gravely dirt. As much as she loves princesses, dancing, party dresses and fancy shoes...she loves nature more. Her converstation with the little goat was precious. "Hi goat, how's ya day? Mine name is Brooklyn". What a great family friendly place! We will defintely go back next month for some pumkins and cider. mmmm.

Chickens!!

The belly

Ahhhh, September in Oregon

Welcome Third Trimester!

28 weeks?? Really? I'm not going to lie, it's flown by this time- but I think that has more to do with keeping extremely busy with a two year old than the actual pregnancy. There are days, no weeks, where I go to bed thinking "ummm, where did the time go and what did I do?". It's a very bitter sweet feeling as I know this is *most likely* the last time I will ever be pregnant, and watching Brooklyn move completely into the toddler stage is saying good-bye to seasons I will never get back. As difficult as the pregnancy road was, with the losses, the grieving, the pain and lack of understanding, it has contributed in a monumental way to the person I am today. Very bitter sweet. The best taste in the world.

Next dr appointment is on Monday Sept 27th.

Switching gears, here are some silly pictures of Brooklyn when we took her for her birthday ice cream at Baskin Robbins. (Sign up for a free scoop online, they'll send you a certificate on your or your kiddos birthday).

mmmmm, ice cream

"Brooklyn! Show me your teeth"

Nothing better than ice cream in your pj's!

"I'm TWO yeeers owd" Part 2

Matt & I were in the kitchen making dinner and heard her reading out loud from her Bible to her babies about Adam and Eve...can you say precious?

Birthday girl at breakfast on her "special day"

One of her fav gifts from Uncle Jack- a doodle pad built into a princess book!
Fruit tart at breakfast on her Birthday
Goof-ball
Dad, Te-Te, gwampa Chuck, gwama Lisa, uncle Jack and Mom
Aunt Claudia and B reading princess book for the ummm millionth time

Aunt Claudia and B had a great time together!

A birthday cookie, complete with TWO candles on her actual birthday

Mom, Aunt C and I feeling #2 move


What a weekend!! Family, friends, food, fun, fun, fun!! Brooklyn and I drove past a park the other day and she said "look mama, my party's at the park, gonna have some cake and presents". Ahhh, yes, we are two and we understand exactly what a birthday means. Can't wait to see what kind of fun we have at THREE!

"I'm TWO yeeers owd" Part 1: The Party

What a weekend!! What a fantastically wonderful weekend. The party was soooo fun, and best of all, the birthday girl had by far the best time of anyone! She was so thrilled to have all her fam and best friends there to sing to her and give her presents and CAKE oh the joy of cake to 2-5 year olds. The cake scene was hysterical. Matt went to tell all the kids on the play structure that it was time to sing to Brooklyn and then have cake and they all stopped dead in their tracks, looked at him and screamed at the top of their lungs "CAKE!!!!" and then a stampede came for me. I was laughing so hard (and sweating a bit from all the little humans screaming cake at me) it was a precious scene.

Here are some pics from the big day.