16 Weeks and 16 Months

I must admit, it's a little daunting and occasionally gives me a panic

attack to think about having a newborn and a toddler under the age of 2.

But mostly, it's really exciting.

I hope that they'll be good friends growing up.

 

I can't believe we're 16 weeks along already!

Scarlett's pregnancy went by soooo slowly because it was basically the only thing

we could think about.

But having an energetic toddler to chase around usually takes my mind off of everything

and sometimes I forget that I even am pregnant.

Plus, I know things are going to be soooo busy once this little guy

comes, that I'm trying to enjoy every moment that I can spoil

my little girl with my undivided attention.

 

Everything continues to go really well.

It was so exciting to find out the gender a couple weeks ago.

I can't wait to have a mini Christopher, but I also don't have a clue

what to do with little boys, so that'll be an adventure :)

I'm getting my appetite back, thank goodness.

Chris was getting pretty tired of having to cook his own separate meals

while I ate my Easy Mac or ramen.

I'm also starting to get some energy back and not be so tired all the time.

(Though I continue to take advantage of any nap time I can get)

And I'm starting to notice a little bump!

And starting to get really achey already, what the heck!

 

Anyways, I thought that I was also due for a Scarlett update.

It's fun that she's 16 months when I'm 16 weeks along.

She is as sweet and sassy as ever!

Her main accomplishment in the last couple of months is her speech.

Every day it seems she's learning exponentially more.

She's starting to figure out that she can say words and express what she wants.

She loves to say "peez" all the time asking for bites of food.

That girl is seriously never full.

But I can't resist when she's being so cute and polite.

She's also starting to be more gentle and cuddly and gives lots of hugs

and kisses, which completely melts my heart.

Her new favorite thing is all of the Christmas lights outside and begs

all night long to go "side" to stare and point at them.

We're trying to get her used to the idea of a baby in mommy's tummy,

but she has no clue what's going on :)

It's going to be so fun to see these two together!

 

The Reveal!!

We found out the gender today!!

I took a new blood test that can tell earlier than an ultrasound and they call with the results.

 Chris took the phone call and told me himself for the reveal.

(It just about killed me those two hours knowing he knew)

 

Sorry for picture overload!

 

Look at my cute cotton candy-makin' hubby!

 

 

What do you think, blue or pink??

Scarlett guesses pink :)

 

Black and white of course, you can't know before I do!!

 

Soooooo anxious!

 

 

IT'S A BOY!!!

 

We couldn't be more thrilled!

I've always wanted one of each to start with.

 

Blue tongue family :)

 

We already love this little boy so much!!

I just want him to be a little mini Christopher, cause that would just be the cutest thing ever :)

Aaaaand now we can start thinking about names, hooray!

Can't wait to meet you, little one!!

Farewell First Trimester!

We are so excited to be expecting another little one in May!

And excited to finally have it out in the open, I'm terrible at keeping secrets!

Today is my 13 week mark, second trimester, woohoo!

 

 

(Thanks to my cute mama for enduring a crash course in photography

and getting this photo for us at the last minute.  Not an easy task with a grumpy

runaway toddler!)

 

Rewind two months to my birthday, aka best day ever!

Because after a fantastic day filled with fun activities with my love,

I came home and decided to take a pregnancy test.

We'd been trying for a few months unsuccessfully, and I was due

to take another test in the next few days, but I thought it'd be

sweet if I found out on my birthday, and it was positive!!

 

            

 

Best present ever!!

        

 

We had to tell Chris's family right away because they were planning

a family reunion right around my due date, so we had to explain why we may not be able to go.

So that was exciting to be able to share our news so early.

But I wanted to hold off with everyone else to make sure everything went smoothly.

And let me tell you, that is a HARD thing to do when living with my parents

and trying to hide why I was soooo tired and icky feeling all the time.

When we finally did tell them, we carved a pretty sad looking pumpkin to break the news.

This is supposed to be me....haha



       

 

And the little babe when lit up.

         

 

Everything has gone so well so far!

With Scarlett, I threw up almost every day during the first trimester.

This time, I haven't gotten sick ONCE.  I've been plenty nauseated and don't have

much of an appetite, but I'm taking this news kind of naively and assuming

that it means this one is a boy because of how different it's been :)

Overall though, we're just excited to be adding to our little family!

 

A few weeks ago, my brother Todd and his cute wife Christine came for a visit.

A random visit....which I assumed to mean they were coming to

announce the much anticipated news of pregnancy and guess what,

I was right!  Christine's due date is 12 days before mine.

But I'm not giving up just yet, we'll see who will get the coveted #10

grandchild ;)

(This one will be number ten on Chris's side as well)

To announce to the siblings we wore these shirts with Thing 10 and Thing 11

written on them.  It took a little while for them to get it, but they finally did.

I'm so excited to get to share this exciting time with my sister in law!

 

Here's when we told my parents:

 

 

And here's my favorite video.  This is when Todd and Christine announced

to all of us.  I had already decided that if they were indeed prego that I would wait to tell

them so that we wouldn't steal their thunder and impose on their moment.

Well, my dad happens to be the WORST at keeping secrets and took it upon

himself to break the news.  And I love that we got in on video.

 

 

I love looking back and remembering moments from Scarlett's pregnancy,

so I'll probably do similar updates with this one.

Can't wait to meet this little peanut!

Sometimes Sundays are Hard...

Last Sunday was pretty tough.

We've been trying to sit in the back of the cultural hall lately

so that Scarlett has room to roam and isn't too distracting.

But this week we had family in town so we took a risk and sat smack

in the middle of the cushy seat section, squished in the middle of the row.

Big mistake.

Before the opening prayer even finished I could tell that Scarlett

was itching to run and explore and would not be contained for long.

Then the Bishop announced the unthinkable.

There were to be three baby blessings.....THREE!

(Cue scary music)

Baby blessings are the hardest because I want more than anything for perfect

silence so that the sweet new mama can hear and focus on her precious

babe's blessing.

So I panic if Scarlett even makes a peep.

Blessing number one started and peep she did.

Not enough to warrant immediate dismissal,

but enough to be embarrassed and worried and plan out my escape route.

Shockingly, we made it through all three.

And then the Sacrament was starting to be passed

and she passed the point of no return.

We made it a whole 20 minutes into the meeting.  Not too shabby, huh? ;)

Every Sunday I look longingly across the aisle at the sweet little boy

about Scarlett's age who is always just snuggling his mama and looking around quietly.

Scarlett was given very different qualities.

She is fun and happy and sweet,

as well as energetic, fearless, curious, and independent.

I wouldn't change her for the world, it just makes for a very busy and active life :)

Anyways, as I made my way out to the foyer, like either Chris or I do every Sunday,

I quickly realized with horror that it would not be our quiet, less stimulating sanctuary that it normally is.

Again, THREE baby blessings that day.

So not only were all the foyer seats jam packed with visitors,

but even the hallways were lined with people.

And here was a very stressed out mama who just wanted a little alone time

to compose herself and try to calm her baby down.

Rather, I felt like I couldn't escape the public eye and ended up chasing a screaming

child who was trying to escape around every corner.

Add to that, a sweet older man told me (for the second week in a row by the way)

that Scarlett looks like a boy.  Innocent intentions, but that was just icing on the

not-so-delicious cake.

Of course, I forgot my phone in the chapel, so I wasn't able to text Chris

to come save my sanity.

I got so overwhelmed that I came to the conclusion that the only logical option

was to walk home in the cold, trying unsuccessfully to hold back tears.

ADD to that that my primary lesson was supposed to be about feeling the Spirit during Sacrament,

and I was feeling anything but.

I write this because I feel like so often, especially at church, I'm trying to come

across as the perfect mom who's got it together.

But most of the time, especially with an energetic child, that's just not the case.

She's going to run around, she's going to have melt downs, and there's really not

a whole lot that I can do about it.

But I look around and think "Why can't I do this?  Everyone else is handling mommy-ing JUST fine,

so what's wrong with me?"

But I'd like to think that we all have days that overwhelm us, which makes for a perfect situation

that Satan can convince us that we're not doing a good enough job.

I'd like to think I'm not the only one that has these days.

So to my fellow mommies out there having a bad day,

know that you're not alone!

It's a tough job that we have, but we're all figuring it out and doing our best, right?? :)

And after we think we can't give anything more,

our little one gives us a hug or kiss or comes running to you

when they're hurt, and it makes it all worth it.

None of us are perfect, and neither are our kids, but we still keep

trying cause we love them more than life itself.



Peters Family Pictures

I got to take some pictures for this cute family tonight!

Their little boy seriously melted my heart, he is so adorable!

Here are some of my favorites :)

 

 



Fall Selfies

I've been wanting to go up to the canyon and take some family pictures for a while now.

For the past few weeks I've been hearing about how stunning the trees and leaves are.

So we finally made it up and guess what....

I'm pretty sure we missed it by a few days,

cause the trees were completely bare!

Oh, I was soooo disappointed!

But we still gave it a shot.

And let me tell you....it is NOT easy taking your own pictures with a remote,

especially when you have a one-year-old who has nothing to look

at or keep her attention.

So it was a fun experiment :)

And though it got dark quicker than I anticipated, we still managed to get a few cute ones.

 

My two favorite people in the world :)

 

This one is our engagement picture reenactment.

 

Love my little family :)



I am one spoiled wife.

My mom pointed out the other day that in

the entire time we've lived with them (about ten months),

she doesn't remember ever seeing me cook a meal by myself.

And sadly, I think that's mostly true haha.

 

I am the most spoiled wife in the world because I have a husband

that enjoys to cook (and I really do not).

AND, he's stinkin good at it, too!

So it's either him and I cooking together, which is a fun and cheap kind

of date night, oooorrr it's like right now and he's

cooking a delicious meal all by himself.

(I offered to help, but he declined)

He knows too well how bad of a cook I am, I guess!

 

The nice thing is, though, that I enjoy cleaning.

And his number one most hated chore is washing dishes.

So it's a win-win, right?

He gets to cook and not have to clean.

And I get to eat a delicious meal without having to cook anything.

Score!

 

One of the many reasons why I'm the luckiest girl in the world

to have this stud muffin by my side :)

 



Brooks Family Photos

My brother, Chad, has the cutest little family

and I had the honor of taking their pictures last night!

Their kids have such fun personalities and it was so fun

getting to capture them on camera.

Love you, Chaddy!!