GRANDMA CAME TO TOWN

daron's mom came into town last week and truly saved the day for this pregnant lady. she took care of our busy toddler, cooked, cleaned, organized, helped us feel more settled into our new home and - my favorite - helped me feel more prepared for this little girl to come.

we literally had an earthly angel in our midst. 

i laid down every day she was here. i couldn't believe how good i felt! you know that crippled-old-lady thing i talked about before? it was practically gone the whole time she was here! i had no idea how taxing taking care of carter has been. this whole time i've just been thinking it was the little one inside me! hello, realization! 

i was planning on making a little collage out of all of these pictures but then i made them all big. the expressions in them make me so happy. for me, i can almost feel the joy that is in these pictures. 

one day, daron and carter were playing upstairs and daron asked carter, 

"carter, do you love grandma?" 
and carter stopped playing and looked at daron and said, 
"yeah dad, i love grandma." 

it was the sweetest thing. 

carter, you better know, we all love grandma, too!
and that you are one lucky kid to have the loving, supportive, incredible grandparents you do... because one day you'll realize, they don't come better.

FULL TERM (!!!!!)

is this day really here!? am i really full term!? guys, this is nuts! 

at 37 weeks, the waddle is in full force. i tell daron i feel like a "rocking ship." my legs feel like they are not attached to my body and i look semi-crippled by nightfall (thanks to the whole my legs do not feel attached to my body thing). hunger strikes have hit. i can't make it through the night without food. last night, daron had the pleasure of "sleeping" next to me while i ate yogurt and almonds in bed. the night before it was an orange with bread. the night before that it was peanut butter toast. he also has the pleasure of hearing me get up 5 times a night to pee and trip over the shopping bag at the foot of our bed that i keep forgetting to move ;) yeah, he's a lucky guy...

every where i go, i get sympathy from strangers. i wish i could say i make pregnancy look good and effortless and oh, so appealing but that is not the case. 

it's funny though because at 34 weeks this little girl dropped over night. i stepped out of bed one morning and could feel that she was much lower (and it was a lot because even daron noticed!) ever since, the nausea and a few other very unfortunate symptoms disappeared. poof. gone! it's been heavenly. (okay, that's an exaggeration). but really, i'm good at this uncomfortable, crippled thing. i can do this. this feels so doable to me compared to the whole i want to throw up all day feeling, etc... now i look awful but feel so much better. so when i'm at trader joes, and it's clear from people's comments that they are in pain from just watching me walk... i feel dumb saying, "i actually feel amazing!"

it's ironic to me that i have impatiently waited for the end of this pregnancy to be here for months and now, i'm more than okay if she takes her sweet time. heaven knows, i need it. 

her room is a disaster 
i haven't packed the hospital bag 
washed the car seat 
bought an outfit for her to come home in 
kicked carter out of the crib (i'm so dreading that one)  
bought her bedding, 
along with the other 1,583 things on my to do list. 

i need two weeks, baby girl. two weeks! 
then, it's time for you to come, okay?

A NO NAP BEACH DAY

this morning, i went to get carter out of the pack n play and found him with a huge grin on his face. when he saw me he gasped and said, "mommy, i feel better! i slept well!" and looked around the room like let's get this party started! i wasn't aware he was feeling bad but it reminded me how nice it is to wake up on the right side of the bed. this kid was ready for an awesome day and he got it!

we spent the entire day chasin' waves, giggling with cousins, exploring the rocks, eating our weight in high-chews and fishy crackers, and digging our toes in the sand. it was spring break at it's finest, almost too good to be true. 

^running to the waves with not a care in the world...

^tag on the lifeguard tower, a recent favorite

^teenagers...these two parked it there and didn't move 

i guess life is tiring when you're growing

^watching these 3 together made my heart want to burst

and also gave us all some serious entertainment!

^no one can get enough of sweetheart...

oh, and then there is me... at a whoppin' 37 weeks!!!!!!

and don't you worry, i got the waddle to prove it..

easter!

a few pictures from our easter weekend...

^^a little melt down because we were very confused where the candy was

^^36 weeks!

the first part of our easter weekend was spent in palm springs to see friends we never get to see. we were there less than 48 hours making it a short trip but we are grateful for any second we get to spend with our friends from far away. 

it was especially fun to celebrate 36 weeks with my pregnant twin! i'll never forget the day shelby called to tell me her big news that she was expecting and then revealed her due date which was the same exact day as mine! i wasn't planning on letting her know that i was also pregnant but, of course, i couldn't hold it in after that. 

after palm springs, we made our way to my parent's house for general conference and easter egg hunts. i had big plans for the easter bunny to set out baskets but woke up sunday morning having completely forgot. high five to me, ha. i thought for sure this year would be my first year doing easter baskets! but alas, next year it is. 

i was sort of sad because i felt like easter sprung up on us this year. moving always throws things off. i am hoping next year to figure out a way to make the holiday more meaningful. easter is such a special holiday and i felt like i kind of missed out on "the real meaning." however, i did teach carter the song he is risen the week before and it was about the cutest thing i've witnessed. 

next  year, i plan to teach him all of the easter greatness and to remind the easter bunny to get into gear! ;)  

TODAY

today... 

carter discovered goggles
the game of tag
what it means to be "pruney" 
and how it feels to swim all day without a care in the world
(except what junk food is next).

daron called me after work to ask about our day
(carter and i are staying with my parents for a few days because my sister is here with her kids on spring break)
and i told him i basically just watched carter love life today.

i watched him swim around in the pool with his puddle jumper with a ginormous grin on his face that stretched from ear to ear. 
i watched his jaw drop as he watched the big kid cousins do tricks in the pool 
and look around in amazement at the chaos in the spa not knowing what fun activity to participate in next.

it was one of those day where time slowed down
allowing me to really savor all the good moments. 
i never want to forget carter's smile at this age 
and what it is like to watch him discover all of life's simple gems it has to offer,
especially when they are things i remember loving so, so much as a teeny tiny one myself.

today...

you were good to us. 

getting settled

about a week ago, we made the big move into our new place. 

we are so thrilled! 

this move was a long time coming and the anticipation of it was looming over our heads for too long. it's a huge thing to finally be checked off the to-do list! our new place still has lots of unpacking. i wish i could just act like the boxes in the garage didn't exist... sometimes i do! and of course there are 1 million things to do to feel settled into a new house but, surprisingly, none of it really bothers me because we are here! and we are just so happy to be in the place where we will bring this baby girl home.

last night, we ate sunday dinner outside. one of the big perks of this new house is that it has a back yard (!!!!!) 

{you should have seen carter when we took him looking for houses. the first time he saw a backyard he yelled "mom, dad, look! i'm inside... now i'm outside! i'm inside.. now im outside!" over and over while hopping back and forth. can we all just agree that backyards are game changers????}

after dinner, carter and daron sat in the lawn chairs while watching the sunset. our new house is about 5 minutes from the beach which is totally nuts. i've never lived so close to the coast before. the weather is incredible. i've lived in southern california most of my life but have never experienced weather this good. sometimes i think it's a joke or something. 

anyway, back to watching the sunset outside. i couldn't help but capture this moment. 

there is a lot about these pictures that cracks me up. 

like the lawn chairs... daron came home the first day in our house so happy about these. they happen to be in a neighbors yard with a sign saying, "free." daron called me way too excited them. however, i will admit they have already come in very handy.

carter is in his favorite pajamas which are his christmas pajamas... 

and yes... that is his jack-o-lantern from halloween with halloween candy inside on his lap. i had forgotten all about the thing but the little squirt found it during the move and now requests it every. single. day. 

we make him wait until after dinner and then let him pick one candy. daron keeps telling me to just throw it away but i can't! it makes him so happy! and i haven't minded having a little halloween around the house. 

^^ "dad! what's this?" alllll day long.

once he gets his jack-o-lantern, he goes through each piece of candy asking what it is.

i try and tell myself that at least he will be really knowledgeable about candy. 

knowing what almond joys, lemon heads, whoppers, starbursts all are is important, right?!  

later, i went inside to do the dishes and while daron and carter finished watching the sunset, i watched them. 

i couldn't get enough of this scene. 

a few other notable things since we moved in...

daron was making his merry way to the bathroom when he noticed a little visitor...

we may leave the back door open too much because this little guy was in our bathroom.

daron and i couldn't wait to show the little critter to carter so we excitedly woke him up from his nap to show him. 

carter was elated.

also, finding lots of spiders on our new, free lawn chairs.

"look dad! there he is!"

and helping dad to do a serious cleaning on them.

oh, we also took a trip to ikea on saturday to find a dresser and a zillion other things that we didn't buy because i can't make small decisions. they are the death of me. but we did get a dresser. and when daron bought the dresser, thanks to the price, he remembered why he loved ikea so much.

then, after he spent almost 4 hours putting it together, he remembered why he doesn't like ikea so much... 

yay for all things moving ;)