What We've Been Up To

Here's a picture update of the haps from the last few months...



In August we went on a little family trip down to Moab with two pregnant ladies: myself and my  sister-in-law Paula.  We hiked, and we were awesome.  The pictures of us, however, were not.  But Evie had a blast and climbed all the way up to this ridiculously high spot navigated by Kristen, John, and Grandpa.  I, the mother, was nervous the entire time she took this adventure.

 In October, my cousin Stacia's little girl had her first birthday party, which we were honored to attend.

Evie had fun learning to eat a push-pop.  That brought back memories :-)

Also in October, Paula had her baby girl, April.  Evie was very excited to meet a real, live baby.

With me being preggers this fall, we didn't make it out too much, but Evie did get to play outside a little bit.  She rode her tricycle around the back patio...

...and scavenged for bugs.

Evie also found some resilient weeds and helped me removed them.

She is such a good helper.

Yes, we did have a Thanksgiving, but who takes pictures of that?  Not me, obviously.  I was good and got lots of pictures of Christmas, though :-)

I love those Crayola markers that only color on these specific pages.  As a renter, I am much more comfortable letting 3 year old Evie use these kinds of markers.  Brandon helped her figure out how they worked.

After Christmas, we were still busy preparing for the arrival of baby Charlee Brynn, who made her appearance January 5th.

I'm not gonna lie; she looks way cuter after losing the cone-head and getting cleaned up :-)

Last weekend my awesome cousin, Larissa from Visual Legacies, came up to Utah for some photo sessions, and took this of my family with us and our girls.  We are so good lookin' ;-)

And that's pretty much it for the exciting-ish things we've done.  (Other activities not pictured are Brandon at work and me attempting to handle two kids instead of one.)

Updates

 For the last couple months or so, we've been working extra hard to hold Family Home Evening.  At first we tried singing primary songs so that Evie would become familiar with them, then we'd have a story/lesson for the older members of the family, then we'd top it off with dessert or an activity. Evie had a hard time with structured family time lasting that long (15 minutes).  So we decided to focus them more on her, showing her pictures of Jesus and Heavenly Father, the goal being to get her to identify them on her own.  That particular FHE ended with Evie screaming bloody murder and being put to bed at 7:30, which benefited no one.

So the last two weeks have simply consisted of an activity (walk, getting ice cream) and singing primary songs.  Those worked out much better.  Anywho, the point of this story is that it's working!  In addition to this introduction to primary songs, I've been singing them to Evie when I put her to bed.  Last night, she tried singing "I Am a Child of God" with me.  So cute!  She's pretty good at singing "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam," "Popcorn Popping," and "Once There Was a Snowman," but it's nice to know she's learning the more spiritual ones.  Yay :-)  She can also identify who is in the pictures of Jesus in her room.

In other news, we are continuing the battle of solid foods vs juice fast. 

If Evie had her way, she would survive on juice, and never eat anything but hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and popcorn.  While most of her meals still end up being hot dogs or chicken nuggets, I am still fighting the battle to introduce new foods to the inside of her mouth.  The greatest success I've had so far is with-holding juice in order for her to take a bite, and the success hasn't been that great :-I 

 Why can't she just love food the way I do?

Lastly, I figured out a way to get pictures from my phone to the computer.  So here is the string of protruding belly shots I've taken of Baby #2.  She is definitely growing.  Mommy can feel it.

 15 Weeks

 16 Weeks

17 Weeks

 19 Weeks

 20 Weeks

 21 Weeks

25 Weeks

I feel I need to apologize for my hair in this last picture.  I'm working on growing my hair out, and doing that while I'm pregnant seems to be a good idea.  So, in an attempt to make it healthier, I've been trying not to destroy it so much, the way I usually do when I tease it and such.

My name is Brooke...and I'm a Mormon.

This last weekend was our church's semi-annual general conference.  I love conference, for lots of reasons.  I get to stay home and watch it with Brandon.  Sunday usually means we get together and watch those sessions with family.  But even if you take away the cozy, family aspect, you are still left with a phenomenal feast of spirituality.  No matter the questions or attitude I come into conference with, I am always left with an overwhelming feeling of love from my Heavenly Father.

During this conference, I had the impression to share my testimony.  I don't normally stand up during fast and testimony meeting to do this, but I felt that perhaps it would be better shared this way, even though most of you reading this are also members and have your own testimonies.  I appreciate the example you set for me, even through what you post on your own blogs--I look up to each of you :-)

For as long as I can remember, I've had a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, of the Book of Mormon, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is God's church on the earth today.  At first this was a product of the instruction I received from my parents, extended family members, and teachers within the church.  But since my younger, more naive days, I have come to reinforce that testimony with knowledge gained myself.  I have read the Book of Mormon, prayed about it, and have felt the warmth and reassurance from Heavenly Father that it's teachings are true.  I have heard the arguments and been shown the literature of others who would dissuade me from my faith and my beliefs.  To those of you I say, I may not have the counter-arguments and responses to win a debate, but I have a relationship with my Heavenly Father that I can't deny.  I have felt his love, I have received answers to my prayers, and there are many instances in my life where I have gone against the "logical" and followed his promptings to find greater blessings than I could have planned for myself. 

I love the Church.  I love the gospel and doctrines taught within it, especially the doctrine of eternal families.  I am grateful for my temple marriage; that I am sealed to my husband and my children for time and all eternity.  They mean the world to me, and all the titles and worldly pomp I could gather for myself would be little consolation to me if I lost them after death. 

I testify that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God.  He is the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I sustain him with all my heart.  He truly is a witness of Jesus Christ, not only through his words, but through his actions and demeanor as well.  Everything that I've observed of him speaks of love, kindness, and all other Christ-like attributes.

If any of you reading this are feeling lost, looking for answers, or simply have questions about the Church, I invite you to click on the "What We Believe" button on the side of my blog.  That will direct you to the mormon.org website and to some answers you may be looking for.

Happiness Today, and Tomorrow...and Probably Sunday.

I LOVE Fridays.

And I'll tell you why.

Brandon pretty much always has weekends off, so Friday marks the beginning of two days of uninterrupted "Brandon Time."  :-D  

Fridays also remind me that I have a life outside of being a wife and mother, namely, I get to see friends who are still in school, or who work.  Yay!

Overall, there is just something in the air on Fridays, be it sunny, cloudy, rainy, or what not, that screams "FREEDOM!"  Even though I'm not in school anymore, weekends are still a godsend, and Friday is another reason to give thanks.

And for this particular Friday, I think I'll be a little bit lazy.  Instead of scrubbing down and sterilizing the bathrooms, which is the usual plan for Fridays, I think I'll just clean the toilets and call it good.  Also, I am attempting to use my bread machine again...so far so good.  I've checked on it, and I have rising dough at this point.  In addition to home-made bread and minimal cleaning, I will be giving Evie a bath, which means a not stinky Evie (always a plus) and I get to do her hair some intricate way that will allow me to leave it alone the next few days :-)  So much fun!  As if that wasn't enough...I will maybe pamper myself a little.  Finish the manicure I started last night, or something else fun.  

And I get to see my friend Ashley tonight!  (Bonus!)

Saturdays are also great.  We usually stay in bed till 10, sometimes I make a big-ish breakfast.  Sometimes we go out and walk around the mall, or other stores, which is a high-light for Evie.  And this particular weekend means we get to see Brandon's family.  I enjoy this, because it means good company, and Evie gets to play with her cousin Alex (she only has the one).  

I love spending time with family :-)

Sunday will also be great, because this Sunday is Stake Conference, and Brandon's parents are in our stake.  So, we will get to see them at church, and instead of being 3 hours, church will only be 2 hours.  I feel that life is good right now.  

After church, we will come home, maybe Evie will take a nap, and around 2-3 that afternoon, we will walk to Brandon's parents' house (we live that close) and we will be treated to a phenomenal meal cooked by Brandon's dad, like we are every other week we come to visit :-).  I feel good about this.  

And then sadness will set in around 8, when the realization hits that the weekend is over, and Brandon has to wake up at 5 the next morning to go to work, and our week will start all over again.

But until then, I will be happy that I have the weekend to spend with good friends and wonderful family.

Still Alive!

Ugh, I know it's been forever since I updated our blog...like 5 months :-( So, here's a quick recap:

The biggest news is that we are expecting baby #2 in the middle of January, so I am 22 weeks pregnant right now, and the doctors are predicting a girl!  Yay!  Still trying to determine a name, but there's still time for that.  The biggest challenge with this change in our future has been preparing Evie for the arrival; the challenge being to help her acknowledge it.  Ah well, it will become all too real for her once the baby comes.

Big change number 2 is that we moved to Spanish Fork, UT at the end of May.  A little upgrade from our two-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom town house.  It came at probably the best time a move can come during a pregnancy, but either way, I detest moving at any time and it wasn't the most joyous event needing to eat during a majority of the process.  C'est la vie.

Also, we were able to get Evie potty trained before our move, which was an adventure.  I think we were pretty lucky though, because she got it down by the end of the second day.  I'm just happy I had Brandon to keep my sanity in check; that first day was awful.  But definitely worth it at the end of day two.  Since then she's been fairly consistent with using the "big girl potty."  Not to say she hasn't had minor relapses and accidents, but I feel overall our experience was not as bad as it could have been.  I'm mainly excited we got this taken care of at the beginning of the pregnancy, so that when the baby comes, Evie will have had nine months to have the whole thing down pat.  Also, we won't have to buy diapers for two kids. Bonus!

And finally, I have officially, OFFICIALLY, graduated with my Bachelor's of Science.  I received my degree in the mail shortly after our move, and at some point I may get it framed :-)  Now, what should I do with all that knowledge that I paid for? Hmmm....  At this point in time, I am thinking about teaching piano lessons to beginners.  This would allow me to work at home, it won't be super time-consuming, and it'll bring in a little extra income, which definitely wouldn't hurt.  So, for the past while I've been casually investigating different book series and tips/techniques for teaching...hopefully this will all come in handy if/when I can get this gig going.

That's a brief overview of what's been going on at our end of the universe.  I'm hoping now that the nausea has left, I'll be able to get back to being productive and keeping everything together more effectively. 

The other half...mine.

Brandon, lucky man that he is, has been called to work with the 11-12 year old scouts pretty much since we've been married, and we've lived in 5, read it FIVE, wards.  Lucky for them, he likes outdoors stuff, like campouts, hiking, and merit-badging it up. 

Unlucky woman that I am, I have yet to get used to being alone at night. 

However, I was a bit excited for this latest campout.  I was gonna get stuff done.  And I did.  But come 6:00 PM, I was missing him.  Not that I saw him a lot during the day before then, but we had some time together driving to and from work and daycare where we would catch up with each other, and provide whatever support was rendered necessary at the time...I feel like I've been relying on that support a bit more as of late.

Anywho,  I was excited about crossing things off my "To Do" list...and no, not the one I have on the side of the blog :-)  And then, as soon as I dropped him off to leave for the campout, I felt as though I'd lost a piece of my soul.  Knowing that I wasn't going to see him for the next 48 hours was...disheartening.  And I felt lost, disoriented for the rest of the day.  Not in an "I'm incompetent and unable to function properly" kind of way, but an "I don't feel like a whole person" way.  I felt like I was missing a substantial portion of my support system.

Which could be a good thing.  Opposition in all things, right?  Brandon will have returned at the end of the 48 hours, and I will feel a renewed sense of overwhelming love, appreciation, and dependence on/for/towards him.

Since I've returned to the school scene after my year long sabbatical, I've told myself that part of the reason I was doing this was so that if something ever happened to our family, I would be able to step up and get something better than a high-school equivalent job.  Just to be prepared.  While that is true, I've been telling myself that I would be able to support our family, financially--probably, but on an emotional, spiritual, and mental level as well. 

So, with these brief periods of separation, I have realized that I would not be able to survive as well on my own as I thought I would be able, should the need arise.

Ugh, I am so NEEDY :-(

So here's to you, Mr. Palmer.  Jesus (and Brooke) love you more than you will know.

Now that I have the pictures....

A picture update of our lives since we moved to our own little apartment last year--

So sweet asleep.

We made a breakfast run for donuts. Evie couldn't wait until we got home.

Yes, we made our daughter dress up as Batwoman for Halloween.

Evie loved that I babysat little Kymbree last semester. They were so cute together!

I just think she's so gosh-darn cute in her church clothes :-)

I bought some curlers for experimenting on my hair...Evie REALLY wanted to join the party.

Who doesn't like bathtub shots?
(Please no off-color remarks).

My first attempt at french braids in Evie's hair. I thought it was successful :-)

Evie excited Christmas morning...

...and the carnage begins.

The cutie grandkids at Christmas. This was the best picture I got of poor Alex's eye :-(

Evie's thoughtful Uncle Zack got her bear feet slippers which she refuses to wear

One of the traditions in our home is to take pictures of our German pancakes right when they come out of the oven. We like to see how high the sides rise... :-)

One of Brandon's employees makes cute little tutus, and she gave this one to Evie.

Evie attended her cousin, Hawnee's, 3rd birthday party in January

Hawnee with her daddy and my cousin, Chris.

This is our happy family :-)