28 Weeks

I am 28 weeks and officially into the third trimester! Baby girl has been increasingly active this past week or so and it is fun to feel her moving inside of me. I can actually see my belly moving from the outside now, too. Every once in awhile she kicks me so hard that it surprises me how much it hurts. But, I always love the reassurance that she is there and getting ready to join the family soon.

Mountain Weekend

This weekend we were able to get away to my sister's cabin near Estes Park. It is always nice to breathe the fresh mountain air and relax a bit. My parents and two of my nieces also came. The kids had fun exploring and Blaine set up the climbing gear to let the kids repel. But it started to rain shortly after Grace and Ellie had their turn. I don't think Bella was too upset about missing her turn. In fact, she said later, "I'll repel when I am 16." I guess she is in no hurry.

Bella Graduates from Pre-School...Well, Not Really...

But don't tell HER that!



Bella went to her first year of pre-school at our neighbor's in home pre-school. She had a great year. Really, I was just hoping for her to fine tune her social skills but I was pleasantly surprised that she started learning to read pretty well, too. I feel like she is ready for kindergarten this next year. All of her friends in her church class are heading to kindergarten in the fall. But, Bella's birthday is 3 weeks past the cut-off so she is in for another year of pre-school. This year it will be at a real school and it is called, "pre-kindergarten" so she kind of thinks she is going to kindergarten. All I know is that my little girl is growing up so fast. She is a beautiful, sweet, and smart little (big) thing and I am so proud of her.

Here are some pictures from Miss Robin's pre-school graduation ceremony.

A realization...

Today a perfect stranger asked me when I am due. I told her August. She looked surprised.

So, I've been looking in the mirror frequently since that encounter and have had a horrible realization...

I'M HUGE!!! AND I STILL HAVE 3 MORE MONTHS TO GET EVEN HUGER!!!

Mother of the Year

This is a great adoption story.

Catching Up...

A few weeks ago my good friend from Jr. High and High School, Melanie, came to visit for the weekend from California. Both of us are due the same week in August with our third child. Melanie left sunshine and blue skies to be under a 2 day deluge of constant rain and cold. We couldn't even see the mountains the whole time she was here. Although our maternity massages had to be canceled, we still pampered ourselves with a pedicure, a movie, much eating out, and a few visits to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. We had a great time! Thanks for coming Melanie.

And with the weather turning warm, the kids have been outside alot more. I love when the kids can just go outside and play.

Sharing a popsicle.

I am now 24 weeks pregnant. If it looks like this picture was taken by a short person, that's because Bella was the photographer. The second trimester really has been great so far. I have felt like a normal person who is just getting fat for the most part, although I am starting to have some back discomfort, especially at night.

And here are my parents opening up their mission call. They report to the MTC at the end of June and will serve in the Chile, Osorno mission. If that sounds familiar to you, that is because Blaine's parents are CURRENTLY serving in that mission. It is pretty wild that my parents will be replacing Blaine's parents even though we knew it would probably happen since my parents actually requested that mission.


Last week a bunch of us took the kids to the zoo. It was nice to be out in the warm sunshine but since when did 70 degree weather feel like 95 degrees? Oh yeah...ever since my body became an oven cooking up another human being...that's right. This just may be the hottest summer of my life.