Good Morning!

I thought I should write a quick post today. It's Halloween! I am very excited to get Brenna in her costume tonight and enjoy ourselves as a family! For now though, I just wanted to say, good morning! This morning, I got to sleep until I wasn't tired, I was the first one up, and I enjoyed the quiet. Then I got a long shower. I did Brenna really fast at the beginning, handed her to dad, and then enjoyed a nice warm shower alone. (This almost never happens because I shower when Jeremy isn't home and have Brenna in there the whole time). When I got out and got dressed and everything, also by myself, I came out to get Breakfast ready, and I found Jeremy and Brenna making french toast, eggs, and hashbrowns. This has happened.. I don't even know if it has happened before! It was awesome! So we ate as a family, and that is the best way I can think of to start my day! Last thing on my good morning list, is that Jeremy was able to feel our little man move for the first time, and it was sorta special! So thank you to a great husband and a cute daughter and a moving little man who are making today a very good day to be me!

Isn't it funny that when you start your day happy, you get more things done and that just makes you feel happier? That's my experience anyway! Today at least! So happy Halloween, and good morning to all!

Instead of Ward Campout We...

We didn't go to our ward campout this year, unfortunately, but we did get some things done! We enjoyed a nice family date night on Friday. We went to Panda Express for dinner, and then this frozen yogurt place for dessert. We enjoyed our yogurt while walking around Westgate a bit and Brenna had lots of fun running along the benches with daddy. She loved flying over the gaps!

I think this picture is hilarious. I can't stop laughing every time I see it. She looks CRAZY!

On Saturday, I made Jeremy promise that if we were going to stay home from camping that we'd get some things done. So we spent the morning garage sale shopping for some winter clothes for Brenna (she's actually going to need pants when we go to Canada to visit!). We didn't find much, so that was a little disappointing, but the afternoon proved to be very productive anyway. Jeremy got to work on the yard. Our yard is FULL of plants and bushes that have thorns all over them. If it were up to me, I'd just get rid of them all and plant a garden... maybe one day we will do that. But right now our yard is sort of a danger zone. Also, Jeremy breaks out in nasty rashes after doing yardwork and then itches and can't sleep for days. As a result of this, we don't get our yard work done all that often, so it piles up. This Saturday, we were going to tackle it. We did the whole backyard. Cut all the bushes back down to size and dragged the remains down to the street for bulk trash pick up. This is the aftermath:

Ok, it doesn't look that bad, but his legs were covered in blood drips from all the thorns poking. I just thought to take a picture too late and most of them were cleaned up already.

Half of our backyard!

Even though I wouldn't say our yard is kid-friendly yet, it is MUCH better. One day, we'll get rid of all the rocks and lay down turf, and we'll get rid of all the bushes and plant a garden... that's my vision anyway!

Projects

I really enjoy having projects. Any kind really, but I especially like sewing/creating things. These are some of the things I've been working on lately. I still have a little stack of things to get to. Things still to come: fitted crib sheet, changing pad, hooter hider, and possibly some burp clothes or another towel!

This is Brenna's Halloween costume. She is being a ballerina! I just have to convince her to wear it!

A new edge I tried to make the blanket more boyish. I might leave it empty, or weave a matching ribbon between the holes, haven't decided yet.

This is the usual shell edge I do on the blankets. This was made before we knew if it was boy or girl.

Hooded bath towel.. I like it a lot!

Sunday Best

Here are some new pictures of Brenna! She loves playing the piano, and can sometimes sit there for 10 minutes or more all by herself, just playing away! This is Sunday morning before the hair has been tamed!

And after the hair has been tamed. Her other favorite passtime is taking all the credit cards out of my wallet. This is no longer allowed though because sometimes they're hard to find after!

And lastly, a short video of her piano genius. She was playing and dancing away, and the video didn't get a ton of it, but still cute!

Ultrasound Pictures! (for you daddy)

Here are a few of the pictures from our ultrasound. I wasn't going to post any because generally I don't think they're that exciting unless it's your kid, but my dad wasn't there and wanted to see them, and we did get some pretty good ones. We actually were given like 20 pictures, which makes up for Brenna when we left with one or two pictures if that at each ultrasound. This guy likes to show his stuff though!! hehe (Maybe I'm not mature enough to have a boy yet, because honestly, everytime I look at the uh, gender telling picture, I giggle just a little.. or a lot..)

The doctor asked me when he saw the first picture right away, "Do you see what I see?". And I was like... uhh, I don't think so... because I thought that there's no way in heck it would be that obvious. Then he took the words right out of my head when he said "Well, here's one leg, and here's another, and here's leg number 3! I think it's a boy!". We were all giggling in embarrassment I think!

Pregnancy Complication

I am just putting this out there since I'm not really informed on the subject, and I'm wondering if anybody has experience/knowledge about it. I guess I have placenta previa which showed up on my ultra sound. They didn't tell me then because I didn't see the doctor after the ultrasound. The doctor has said that for now it's no reason to worry, that although it isn't a common problem, it does usually resolve itself before delivery. I am taking certain precautions until my next ultrasound when we can see if it's corrected itself or if it needs to be monitored more closely. I'm trying not to worry or freak out, but I want my little boy to be ok so badly! I'm sure he's fine, I guess the biggest risk is premature delivery or having to have a c-section if the placenta does fall all the way to cover the opening of the cervix. This might be TMI, but I really just wanted to know if anybody has had this! Thanks!

PS - I'm working on posting some ultrasound pictures for those who have asked.. I just need to remember to scan them!

My Marvelous Mother

My mom was here for a few days this week, and I have to say how very nice it was to spend time with her. I wish my dad and siblings could have all come, but I'll take what I can get! I love having my mom visit, or visiting them in Canada. I knew when I got married and moved here that it would be hard to be away, but I don't know if I realized how hard. I miss them all the time and deep down I harbor a hope that one day we will be able to live a little closer (I'd say Canada, but I don't want to push my luck). It's nice living here close to Jeremy's family too though, so it'd be a tough move to make either way. ANYWAY, we had a really fun time for 5 days and forgot about all worries/responsibilities (not that I have many). We shopped, ate, relaxed, and played with Brenna. We forgot to take pictures a lot, but I do have a few of Grandma Smith and Brenna.

I'm glad they got to spend some time together. My mom even watched Brenna one afternoon so Jeremy and I could go on a date. We saw "Surrogates" and enjoyed a couple of hours out. She was also able to attend the Dr.'s appointment when we discovered that we'll be producing a grandson for all these anxious grandparents, and that was special to have her there.

She also taught me how to make these kitchen "scrubbies" for the dishes, and they're super easy, cute, cheap, and fast. It's a fun little project, you can finish one in ten minutes or less and I bought enough blue netting to make 24 scrubbies for under $5. So, I should never have a shortage of dish scrubbers if anyone is in need!

Saying goodbye is always tough, but it doesn't diminish the desire to plan the next trip to visit ASAP! My mom and I are already secretly plotting for the next visit because Christmas seems a little too far away (I know, it's not, but I'm an emotional pregnant lady that needs her mommy), and Brenna needs to see some snow this Christmas season I think. So, wish me luck in convincing the hubby that I NEED to see my family in between now and Christmas badly enough to spend the $350 or so on the airfare!! I will be trying my hardest! :)

Disclaimer: If I could go back I wouldn't change anything about marrying Jeremy and our life to this point, just so we're clear... I just might have had a more serious conversation about the probability of staying in Arizona FOREVER! haha but I love him a lot and love being here with him, almost all of the time!