My Brother is a Missionary!

Our main reason that got us down to Utah was dropping off my brother at the MTC. He went in on Wednesday April 14th. It was a strange experience dropping him off. There is no longer any kind of welcome ceramony or anything that the family is allowed into, you basically shove them out the door and drive off. We drove up, gave him one last hug and "whoosh" he was wisked away into a sea of white shirts and nametags. It was abrubt but I guess its best that way. It was also strange leaving him in Utah, and not having any real way to check in on him just to see how things were going. I got an email from him on his first p-day and he is doing well. Im so proud of him and his decision to go on a mission and serve the Lord. The only thing that makes it bitter sweet is that he will miss the birth of my second baby and Connor wont even know him until he is Camerons age. Also that Cameron will already be 4 when he comes home! But we talk about him a lot and Cameron knows he went on a mission. I ask him "Where did Uncle Chris go?" and he responds "A mission!" He has a picture of Uncle Chris thats his to keep with him too.

Before he went into the MTC I took a few pictures of him and my parents. He sure makes a handsome missionary! We had a lot of fun spending time with him before he left and also spending time with my side of the family.

See you in two years Christopher!

Baby Update

I am now 34 weeks along and so ready to meet my little guy! I cant believe how quickly this pregnancy has flown by. Part of me is thankful and part of me wants it to slow down so I can savor it. I am on the official countdown now to my due date, only 6 more weeks.

I had a doctor appointment last week and found out my doctor is going out of town on my due date. This throws a kink in my plan because I really want him to deliver me. The fact that he delivers his own babies instead of whoever is on call was one of the main reasons I switched to him. So, if the baby hasnt come on his own by June 5th we will be inducing my labor that morning. I am not a huge fan of being induced, I really want to go into labor on my own. But on the other hand it will be nice because we will drop Cameron off at my inlaws the night before, both Bret and my mom will be off work so they can be there and I dont have to stress about them not being around when I go into labor. Also, this is a biggie, I can take a shower and do my hair/makeup before I go in! That way hopefully I wont feel quite as grungy and gross during and after labor and I will look somewhat decent in pictures. I know its silly to care about that, but with Cameron I hadnt showered that day and it was the middle of the night and I felt so gross, not to mention I looked like a hobo in all my photos. There are definate advantages to being induced, but Im still holding out that he will just come a little early on his own, fingers crossed! He is head down right now and very very low. My doctor felt around my belly and was surprised how low down his head was already. I have been having lots and lots of braxton hicks so lets hope that gets things started. I am still doing Zumba too so Im hoping the exercise will help push things along as well. I have another doctor appointment on May 5th and he may check if Im dilated or effaced yet at that appointment, if he doesnt he will the next week.

I am loving feeling (and watching) him move, he is a busy boy in there! I always have a foot, elbow, knee or someother body part jabbing out. Cameron has felt him move once, now every time he puts his hand on my belly he yanks it right back and says "Ooh, move!" even if he didnt really feel anything. He is getting excited to be a big brother, we talk about it all the time. Today we bought some binkies for the baby and Cameron insisted on carrying them the whole time we were in the store. He kept saying "binky for baby Connor." I have a feeling I will have my hands full but he is going to be a wonderful big brother. I feel so incredibly blessed to be carrying this little spirit around in me all the time, and blessed that I get to be his mommy. Im thankful to my Father in Heaven for sending him to us and we are so excited to meet him and have him in our family. I already love him so much!

Now... to a quick 6 more weeks!
(Or 5 weeks and 4 days if Im induced!)

Our Trip To Utah

We headed out early Friday morning at 4am! We wanted to leave early in hopes that he would sleep part of the way and so we wouldnt get there too late at night. We ended up getting to Utah around 7:30pm that night. I was highly impressed with how well Cameron did on the car ride. I will admit I gave him benedryl once each way at nap time to help him get some good rest, but he did really well on his own.

Here he is at 4am ready to roll to Utah.

Nickys Baby Shower

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was able to attend my cousins baby shower which was a lot of fun! I havent seen her since my wedding which was almost 5 years ago. She is my only cousin that is close to my age and thats a girl. We played together a lot as kids and I have many memories with her in them. It was great to see her and Im so excited we are having babies so close together. We are due only about a week apart! I cant wait to see pictures of her little girl!

Family Lunch

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We were able to meet up with some of my moms side of the family for a family lunch! It was a lot of fun to see them all! We got to spend a bit of time with my aunt Jenny while we were there and we have seen her a few times over the past few years. But I havent seen my moms cousins Bonnie and Amy since my Great Grandmas funeral just before Cameron was born. Amy and I were both pregnant last time we saw eachother so it was great to meet her little girl and Im glad she got to meet my little boy! It was great catching up with them.

SLC Real Game

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Saturday, our first day in Utah, we went to the Real soccer game against the Sounders. It was a lot of fun! We went with my brother and sister in law Jon and Susan and their 5 kids. Here we are walking into the stadium...

Cameron and I watching the game. Even though he looks distressed he did have fun.

We even got to see a performance from David Archuletta. This is the best picture I could get, you can see him up on the screen, way up there, I know he is small. It was cool to get to watch him. He was doing a make a wish for a little boy who wanted to sing with him. The little boy way so cute singing the song along with him.

Hanging Out With Cousins

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cameron took an immediate liking to Emery. She is in kindergarten so she is closest to his age and hom the most since she goes only half a day. He loved playing with her. Every morning he would wake up and ask "Wheres Emery?" or "Wheres Angel?" which is their cute little dog that Cameron attacked at all moments chasing her around like crazy. Im sure that dog was SO glad when we were gone!

Tessa showing Cameron how to play the piano.

Dax and Cameron played with the nerf guns a high percentage of the time we were there. Camerons Aunt Susan bought him one to bring home for his birthday before we left.

Emery showed Cameron how to take care of a baby. So here he is toting around Emerys baby. I asked him what his babies name was and he told me "Baby Connor" which I thought was really cute. Silly kiddo:)

Soccer Games

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our neices and nephews play soccer and we were able to attend a few of their games while we were there. Cameron had lots of fun watching them. In fact he has asked me a few times since we got home if he could watch Dax and Tessa play soccer. Isnt that cute?

Tessa on Brets shoulders after a game, thats my strong husband:)

Bret carrying Cameron back to the car after Dax's game.

Cameron and I watching the game.

At Tessas game Cameron wasnt in the mood to just sit and watch. So we played with bubbles while we watched. He insisted on blowing the bubbles himself even though he couldnt really do it.

Cameron and Emery running through the bubbles Bret was blowing. They did this for almost an hour!

Emery showed Cameron how to roll down the hill. He loved it and had lots of fun rolling!

Temple Square

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days before we left we made sure to visit Temple square. The whole time we were in Utah Cameron was amazed at how many churches and temples there were. He asks to see the temple sometimes now and I have to explain its far away and we cant. He loved the temple and the temple grounds. Especially all the flowers and the water fountains.

I love this statue, its so beautiful.

Cameron playing at one of the many water fountains on the temple grounds.

Bret, Cameron and I, and of course Connor:)

Cameron was fascinated with all the flowers! He spent a good deal of time wandering from flower to flower smelling them all. We had to watch him careful cause he kept wanting to pick them too.

He also really enjoyed the reflection pool. He had to put his hands in and splash for a minute. I wished that it wasnt so busy, there were a few weddings going on. I wanted to get a good picture of the temple with its reflection in the pool but it was too crowded:(

The Salt Lake Temple. So beautiful as always. If you look close you can see a bride down in one of the door ways. Its always fun to see bridal parties and remember back to when I was married. Although Im always thankful its not me doing it again!

We had such a fun time in Utah! We always love visiting there and seeing family. Thank you to Jon and Susan for opening up their home so we could stay with them for a week. We were very lucky to make good time and we got home on Sunday at 5:30pm which was nice because it gave us time to unpack and wind down a little before going to bed. I was very happily surprised that Cameron did so well both drives. Im thankful for it, thats for sure! We cant wait to go back again!

Easter 2010

We had a very relaxing but fun Easter this year. I hid eggs all around the house the night before so that Cameron could do an egg hunt in the morning. He had so much fun looking for eggs! Then later that night we went to my parents house for dinner.

Seeing whats in his Easter baskett.

Finding eggs.

Enjoying what was inside the eggs.