And we're back!

So this was the fastest trip that I think I have ever done! We flew most of Thursday to get to New Mexico, spent Friday there, and spent most of Saturday flying home. It was definitely not long enough but we missed Hailey and we were very excited to get our whole family back together!

This picture is taken at the New Mexico temple! It is absolutely beautiful and we felt very blessed to be there. We are very lucky that John has a suit on in this picture...to make a long story short...his bag and Isabella's car seat ended up in Rhode Island instead of New Mexico so John had to buy a new suit, shirt, tie, socks, and shoes so that he could come into the temple. He did it all in 1 hour (remember our trip was really short and time was very limited) and spent only $200! It could have been MUCH more expensive...thank you to Target for making this happen. We are hoping to get reimbursed from Southwest!

Check out my family! John and I, and my brother Chris and his wife Keri, are the only ones who brought a baby so it was relatively relaxing...for everyone else at least. We did have lots of hands to help us which was nice.

I love these girls! That's Katelyn, Jennifer, and Jessica! What great cousins I have...and it was so fun to see them again. St George, Utah is way tooo far away!

This was not one of those sleep-in vacations...infact...we didn't really do much sleeping at all. Isabella apparently did not like her crib in the hotel and ended up in bed with us each night. I do not sleep well with kids in my bed. For one, I need my sprawling space, and I also get nervous about moving...in fear of waking them up. I end up on the edge of the bed, in the same position all night. Remember that I am prego and usually toss and turn all night. This is the only way that we could get Isabella to nap-on John's lap! She was really happy to see her crib and has slept A TON since we have been home.

My beautiful sister-in-law Keri! I hardly get to see her and my brother because they live in California. It was great to visit with them. The last time that I saw them was Christmas of 2008 and I was at the end of my pregnancy then too!

Chris and Keri, John and I, and Leah and Kurt!

Thanks to my mom for EVERYTHING that she did. She certainly made this trip so much easier for all of us and we can't thank her enough. She is so organized and perfect. She even had gifts for us, waiting in our hotel rooms full of goodies. All of the maps were printed off and waiting for us to help get us from destination to destination...the itinerary was immaculate. All of her hard work paid off!

Megan and Corey had their reception at a beautiful little "cottage like" place. It was decorated beautifully and all the desserts were delicious.

Uncle Kevin is always fun to have around! He is the last one in our family to be single...the next wedding will be his...right?

Izzie was a great flyer! This picture is of her at the airport (yes in her jammies). John and her walked up and down the walking path at least 10 times. She loved it! It killed some time and wiped her out too.
On one of our flights, the flight attendant stole Isabella and introduced her to the entire plane from the intercom. She then escorted her up and down that plane as Isabella did her parade wave and high fived everyone in the aisle. She soaked all of the attention in...it was so fun to watch everyone ohh and ahh over her! By the way, did you know that if you are pregnant you can get a Pre Boarding Pass? It's a medical condition that they take very seriously! Cool huh!

We are so happy for these two! They are enjoying themselves this week in Colorado but we look forward to seeing them this coming up Friday here in Virginia Beach for an open house that they are having.

And we're off!

My brother Corey is getting married this Friday in the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple! John and I are so lucky to have the chance to fly out there and celebrate with him and my new sister-in-law Megan! Isabella is coming along for the ride and Hailey is lucky enough to get to stay with some great friends. What a cute couple! They are both so excited and we can't wait for the party to start. I'll be sure to blog all about it next week.

Perfect Weather and Fears

Today I am thankful for beautiful weather! Yesterday the temperature was in the low 80's and it was such a nice break from the heat and humidity! The girls enjoyed being outdoors most of the day and so did I!!

I had another appointment yesterday and the baby is now only measuring 1 week ahead! My doctor said that we can probably plan on inducing me one week early which would be Sept. 8th! That's less than 2 months away! I am completely unprepared for this child...he has nothing to wear (and no place to keep his clothes if we had them), no where to sleep (Isabella is still the proud owner of our crib), and no room in our car for him (three car seats will not fit in our Corolla!) Even though these are all a potential issue...I'm not stressed about any of it! I just feel like it will all work out...of course it will...it always does.

I'm actually only stressed about delivery at this point. I was never even nervous with my first two. I think that I am too prepared in the knowledge department. Both of the girls deliveries were very traumatic...one minute they are fine, the next they are threatening me with a C-Section because their heart rates had dropped severely. The next thing I knew they were being pulled out of me as fast as possible (Hailey with forceps and Izzie with a vacuum). I also know it's going to be painful and uncomfortable to recover...and I just don't think that I am ready to handle three children and trying to heal from being split in half! Having big babies usually means severe damage. Again...I know that it will all be fine, even if I am sore and uncomfortable...the pain doesn't last forever! We can't wait for this little guy to join our family...even with the fear of delivery...the sooner the better.

These are Hailey's first pictures right after birth!

These are pictures of Isabella right after delivery!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!! We had a great weekend! This is the first year that we have not been around either Johns family or my family on the 4th so we had to get a little creative. In Virginia Beach there aren't any fun parades. There are some great firework shows but they are absolutely INSANE with all of the crazy people around this town! My kids will get their fill of fireworks someday...when they are old enough to handle the crowds! We decided at the last minute to take a drive on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. You may be thinking...um...you drove on a bridge-what's the big deal? This bridge is one of the 7 wonders of the world!! I have lived in Virginia Beach most of my life and have never actually done this (at least not that I can remember!) The toll is $12 each way!! It is 23 miles long from shore to shore and has two tunnels and 4 man made islands along the way! One of the islands has a fishing pier, restaurant, and gift store. We stopped there for lunch and took a stroll along the pier. Hailey learned a ton about fishing in the few minutes that we were out there. Lesson #1- Do not sit down anywhere (or lean on anything)...most likely a poor fishes head has been cut off there. Lesson #2- Clothes are optional while fishing! Lesson #3- The fish sandwiches do have bones in them and the crab cake sandwiches might have shells (and nobody thinks thats strange!) Lesson #4- The cute little crabs that a little girl was playing with were actually NOT pets...they were dinner for the fishies!
Check out this fish sandwich John ordered. Can you even see the bun...it's the small round dot in the middle!!
The girls thought this bridge was pretty cool. It really does take quite some time to get to the other shore! It cost $450,000,000 to build. No wonder why the toll costs so much!!

The girls though we were on a roller coaster! Hands Up!
Hailey loved our binoculars. She couldn't understand why she couldn't see all the boats out on the water...it could have something to do with the fact that they were facing the wrong direction. She wouldn't let us help her turn them around!
On Saturday, John had to get back to work on his dissertation so the girls and I went to a great BBQ/Lake Party! We stayed for hours and the girls had a lot of fun. I have to say that the food was the best part.

Being the emotional and unstable woman that I am when I am pregnant, I had to hold back tears every time Hailey asked me to tell her about what the 4th of July Holiday was all about. I am so thankful to be an American and so thankful for the rights and freedoms that I have been blessed with. I pray so often for our leaders to help protect us, by making the right decisions, and that is a prayer I will continue to make. I think that it is so easy to take for granted the simple pleasures that we have been blessed with. For today...I will not forget and I will thank my Heavenly Father for the wonderful life that I have! For all of our family that is not near...but very far...we love you and missed you on this great holiday. We hope that you all had a great, relaxing day filled with red, white, and blue!!

He's just big!!

I had my ultrasound appointment today and everything looks fine. I'm measuring a little big just because he is a little big! His head is measuring 2 weeks ahead...uh oh...and other parts of him are measuring at 1 1/2 weeks ahead. The amniotic fluid level is fine which I am grateful for! He looks so sweet and cozy to me in this picture...just sleeping away the hours until he can be with his family! We cannot wait. He is already almost 4 lbs. and I still have 10 1/2 weeks to go. My doc says that when it gets a little closer then I can have another ultra-sound to see what his measurements are then and then they will decide about inducing me. It's amazing how much you can love these babies before you have even met.

Tennis and Busch Gardens!

John has finished his internship at Langley Airforce base. We have already enjoyed having him around a little bit more. He is working on his proposal for his dissertation, which still occupies most of his time and on Tuesdays and Thursdays he has class for most of the day. We are not usually last minute type of people...I typically need at least a day to prepare for an adventure, but at the last minute we decided to go to Busch Gardens (theme park) for a few hours. Hailey and John have been talking about riding this roller coaster together, for about a month! It was 100 degrees and we were sooooo hot but we still had the best time. Hailey and John rode "The Big Bad Wolf" which is a real roller coaster-I cannot believe that my 4 year old is tall enough to go on it-but she is! She rode on it earlier in the summer with me and loved it! This time she was not so sure. She was crying when she got off the ride and told John and I that she did not want to ride that ride anymore. These pictures are of the family on the tram ride from the parking lot to the park! We could have gone home after that...they thought it was so cool.

John loves to play tennis...he played in High School and has put a lot of time into it through the years. He has always wanted to have athletic children. It's interesting to see how kids start getting into sports though-I think that a lot of times the parents decide what the kids do because we are the ones that are researching, and usually paying for lessons, etc. It would make John a very happy daddy if Hailey enjoyed tennis as much as he did and so he has already invested some time and money into making it a fun thing for her. I LOVE IT! They are so cute. She has her own special racket and she loves going on dates with daddy to the tennis courts. He is a great teacher and she is already pretty good. They are planning a special date tomorrow morning but she was so excited that we had to get out some balls and her racket so that she could practice. Isabella just loved chasing after the balls (OH... BY THE WAY...SHE HAS FINALLY STARTED WALKING!) Isabella has her own racket as well and John is starting early with her.
Hailey just hit a great shot and she is giving her daddy a high five! She was so proud of herself.