Celebrating the 4th of July with our first Overnight Visitors!

We had such a fun 4th of July! First off, Matt and Jen came up to visit, and stayed with US! This is a first - we never have had enough space for Vegas visitors to stay with us. So it was a lot of fun. Bucket and Toby played so well together, and Brooklyn was in heaven spending so much time with her Uncle Matt and Aunt Jen. Any time they weren't around, she'd ask me, "Where's Jen? Where's Matt?" It was so cute. And Toby. Brooklyn loves Toby like I have never seen her love a dog. She followed him everywhere, giving him hugs or nudging him to make him mad, or trying to get him to lick her. She was so happy, it was hard to see them leave. :( 

Jen and I made this watermelon cake for the barbeque - yum! And yes, it's purely watermelon, not really a cake. We went to a barbeque at Kristin's, and there was water fun for the kiddos, and... YouTube videos for the adults. Haha we spent a lot of time sharing funny videos and just enjoying each other's company. Towards the end, most everyone went to the park to watch the fireworks, but we just went home because Brooklyn was tired and grumpy. To be honest, so was I. :) Being pregnant in the summer turns me into somewhat of a monster. 

Matt and Brooklyn played a lot of guitar, which was great fun for her. This is my guitar, but I only know a few chords, so it was fun to play with Uncle Matt, who knows all.

We miss them already! We played dominoes, ate Dominoes... It's always so nice to spend time with Matt and Jen, and they made our holiday fabulous! 

65 Years

We went down to Orem to celebrate my Grandma and Grandpa Seastrand's 65th wedding anniversary! I was glad to be there, because I missed their 60th. :( I was on my mission, and they photoshopped me in. Needless to say, it's better to be in a picture in person. :) Although we were missing some people, most of the cousins and relatives were there, and we had a fantastic time. 

Grandma and Grandpa sang a sweet old-fashioned love song to each other, and it was such an encouragement to see how love can last so long. They are wonderful grandparents. They wanted to bring back some of the "races" they used to do as youths, so we had a few competitions. A three-legged race, a foot race (which Brooklyn participated in and was adorable, albeit last-placed), a burlap sack race, a basketball competition (which Craig came in 3rd), and a tug-of-war. Also, Grandpa climbed on the roof of the playhouse to throw out candy and see how many people would have a heart attack watching him climb back down. Seeing an 88-year-old man climb up a two story playhouse puts one on edge.

Brooklyn played in the giant blow-up pool with a slide and a water gun, and was shooting all the other kids with it. That girl loves water!

Summer begins...

 Summer is going by so fast! It's been so busy, and has been SOO HOT. Wowza. Being pregnant doesn't help, but it's hot anyway.

Recently we were able to go to Grandma and Grandpa Davis's wedding anniversary! (Craig's grandparents.) Everyone was able to try on Grandma Davis's wedding dress, including Brooklyn. :) Don't ask me how this picture worked out, because I have no idea how they got it to stay upright.

We also visited the South Jordan Country Festival, where Brooklyn got to ride a real pony for the first time! She loved it, of course, and would have ridden enough to put us in the poorhouse if it was her choice. She loved the horses so much.

Now she turns everything in the house into a "horsie" so she can ride it. 

We went to see Monsters University last night! It was great fun. Brooklyn loves Monsters Inc, and she did surprisingly well keeping her attention on a movie she hadn't seen before. She was so excited to see it on the "big screen", and jumped on Craig when she was scared. We enjoyed the movie, too!

So far, our summer has been great!

Happy wife, Happy life

I have a thought. Plus my camera is broken, so I don't have any pictures to post. SO I will just share my thought. A couple of days ago, I had a really bad day. Like a rip-your-hair-out, lock-yourself-in-the-bathroom-and-cry bad day. Nothing specifically terrible happened, but Brooklyn was whining all day and kept kicking me in the stomach, and I was tired and feeling more pregnant than usual. As you can imagine, by the time Craig got home, the beast came out. I was in a bad mood, and poor Craig got the brunt of it. The worst part is that I knew it was happening but I just couldn't stop it! (Side note: He took it like a champion.)

After he cooked dinner, and before he took Bucket out, cleaned up dinner, gave Brooklyn a bath and put her to bed (I know), and then studied, I huffed and puffed and growled, "I will be relaxing in my BED if you need me! But you better not need me!!" As soon as I got in my room, I thought of all the dishes that had been piling up over the last couple days (my belly and the height of our counters makes it really hard for me to do dishes), the leftover dinner on the table, and my ragamuffin child. I heard Craig say, "Come on, Brooklyn, let's go take Bucket out. Mommy needs to rest." That did me in. I thought of all the things Craig does for me - much more than your average husband, I believe - and without complaining. I knew he had to study for his CPA test, and although he wouldn't show it, I knew he was stressed. It's hard on him to have to pick up my slack, and honestly it's hard for me to let the slack be picked up. I like to be productive, and this pregnancy has really taken it's toll on me.

On to the thought. As I sat there, feeling unbelievable guilty, I knew there had to be something I could do to help. No, I couldn't do dishes, or give Brooklyn a bath, or study for him, but I could make it easier. As a wife, my responsibility is to help my husband and comfort him. And really, was I so tired that I couldn't even function? No. No, I was not. As tired as I was, I knew I was capable of a little bit more. So I got up, and started cleaning the kitchen. I put on some music that we all like, and started putting away clean dishes and filling up the dishwasher. I cleared off the table and put away the food. Now, I know you're thinking that's not a big deal, but it made a huge difference to him. The whole feeling of our house had changed. When he came in, I gave him a big hug and kiss and told him we make a great team. Which we do. Ahem.

So basically, my point is this. You may not be able to do all the things for someone that you want to, but you can sure make it easier for them to bear a burden. It's difficult to feel helpless, but even doing something so small as changing the mood will help the other person. That's all they need - someone to understand their efforts and help keep their spirits up. And that, I see, is my role right now in our marriage. Cage the beast and bring out the lovely, encouraging wife. PS my husband is a rock star. Just sayin'.

It's a Boy!

 We're having a boy! We found out this morning. Here are some of our favorite announcement pictures.

Eek. What to do with a boy?

The ultrasound was pretty normal, except the technician said the baby was in a really terrible position, and it was very hard to tell the gender (and he had his legs squeezed shut, which didn't help). So we may be having a girl, but we will assume it was a boy. Craig said he thought she seemed pretty confident towards the end, but I guess we will find out soon enough. Here are his little feet.

His arm.

His little man-parts. We think.

Towards the end, she said he was measuring pretty small (Brooklyn did too), and thought we may move our due date a few days later (right now it is November 1). Then I said, "That's fine with me! The farther away from Halloween the better!" Then he yawned. Just like a little mummy. Fitting. It was so cute to see on the screen, albeit a tad frightening. We can't wait to meet him! Although I'm not going to lie - I have no idea how to raise a boy. Girls I understand, but boys.... Yikes. Good luck to me.

On another note, my kids had their piano recital tonight, too (the first!). They all did so wonderfully, and I am so proud of all their hard work! Great job, Tanner, Josh, Aubrie, Ashley, Kade and Emily! You guys rock!

Singing in the Rain

Daddy is a good sport to go play with Brooklyn in the rain, while I sat on the safe, dry, back steps and took pictures. She loves the rain!

Swinging. On a big girl swing!

4th Anniversary

On Thursday, May 23, Craig and I celebrated our 4th anniversary! Woo hoo! We went to the Roof for dinner, walked around Temple Square, and then came home and danced around like children in our empty house. It's so fun to feel young again! Of course I love Brooklyn, and she is such a big part of our lives, but it was really fun to be just the two of us. Brooklyn slept over at Grandma and Grandpa Davis's house, which deemed us free. Heehee. It helped remind me why I fell in love with Craiggy in the first place, and reminded me of when we were dating. It was wonderful. What an amazing man I married! Not a day goes by that I don't smile and feel grateful for him. He keeps me anchored, and brings me so much joy. I could not have asked for a better husband and father! Happy anniversary, Craiggy! 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... Just kidding. Here are some pictures of Brooklyn's fun time with her grandparents.

Feeding the ducks (her favorite activity).

And playing on the slides (a close second)!

I tell you, this girl loves her grandparents. They are amazing. Both Craig's parents and mine.