Need a laugh today?

Then do yourself a favor and check this out.


Way too good. This makes me so happy every time I watch it, and you better believe I've watched it more than a few times today. It kills me every time!

I had an oral surgery earlier this year, and when I was waking up apparently I had a hard time getting my eyes to cooperate with each other. (P.S. You should see Dallin's impression of my confused, groggy face and wandering eyeballs. It's probably even funnier than I was in person.) Anyway, I was trying so hard to focus on Dallin but I couldn't stop seeing double for a little while.

Even though I only have a very faint, dream-like memory of this, and wasn't really all there at that point, Dallin says I smiled in his general direction and said, "Two Dallins? What could be better?" Annnnd then I conked out for a few more minutes before really coming back to life. I must really love him if I'm mushy even when I'm barely conscious, eh? That's nowhere near as great as the guy in this video but it still makes Dallin and I chuckle.

Happy Tuesday! :)

5 happy thoughts

Because sometimes writing them down makes them come into my head, and if we're being honest there aren't very many happy thoughts in my head at the moment as I lay in bed grouchy, sick, and tired.

1. I will be sleeping in my own bed tonight! This babysitting gig has been (for the most part, as seen by my last post) easier and more fun than I was anticipating, but 10 days is a long time to live in someone else's house and it will be nice to get back to normal life.

2. I married a keeper. He really is the best. Patient, sweet, and always making me laugh. I can't believe he was crazy enough to want to marry this crazy goof of a redhead, but I'm sure glad he did!

3. One of the little girls in the family we've been watching loves to come up, pat my belly, and say, "Hi baby" several times a day. She is also really excited to find out whether it is a boy or girl (as am I!) and has made me promise to text her mom when I find out in a few weeks so she can tell her. It is adorable. I might have to sneak her home with us tonight. Her parents won't notice, right?

4. It's Friday! I get my husband all to myself for the next couple of days! Yippee!

5. My almost 2-year-old sister makes my little heart melt every time she tells me "Lah-loo" (Love you) on the phone. She is pretty stinking cute. (And I'm not biased or anything....)

Funny to look back at these happy thoughts and see exactly what is on my mind... sleep, husband, and babies/kids. Must be pregnant or something... eh? :)

On an unrelated note, you should watch this. And all the other Kid Snippets while you're at it, because they are hilarious. Almost as hilarious as listening to the youngest kid we are watching start quoting lines from it at random and then bust up laughing. THE BEST.



Happy Friday!

Deep breaths.

Today was hard. Really hard. 

Dallin and I are watching 8 kids while their parents go on a trip, and so far it has been going... remarkably well. Eerily well. Almost uncomfortably well. You'd think that taking care of so many kids would have at least a few hiccups, right? 

Well, it did. But rather than being spaced out, they all fell on one day. Today. 

It was miserable. Two kids sick at home. Cramping baby-maker. Painful ankle, thanks to a most unfortunate incident involving a grumpy man and a shopping cart, which is a story I might have to tell one of these days when it doesn't tick me off so much. Kid's rides falling through. Meals turning out poorly. Messes and dishes and laundry galore. Then on top of it all, I seem to have caught the same bug going around the house and spent most of the day achy, even more tired than usual (something I truly didn't think possible), and in the foulest of foul moods. It was truly a chaotic, stressful mess of a day all around. 

One of the things I need to change about myself is my stubborn-to-a-fault desire to be independent. I want to do it all myself. I have a hard time humbling myself enough to ask for help, even when I really, truly, desperately need it. I wish I could say that when I became completely overwhelmed today I accepted that I needed some backup and asked one of the many willing friends we have in common with this family for help. I wish I could say that I wasn't too proud and stubborn to do that. Instead, I just about drove myself insane trying to do it myself, which of course ended in frustration and tears. Ugly, mascara-melting, red-faced tears. 

My point is that there is great power in recognizing our limits. One of the things I don't like about social media, especially in blogging, are the unrealistic expectations it often causes us to set for ourselves. Sometimes I'll read something about a mom with, say... four kids (plus one due any day) who just finished some amazing, time/energy consuming project and when I'll had energy to do that day is eat, sleep, pee, and repeat, it is hard to not feel a little lousy about myself, especially when I think about the mountain of dishes, laundry, and other chores I've been neglecting lately with this dang pregnancy fatigue. But you know what? That's okay. That's my limit. I shouldn't try to "run faster than [I have] strength" (source) or be too hard on myself if my capabilities might be a little less than normal, and also might seem pathetic when compared to others.

All I can do is my best, and that is enough. 

Even if that means asking for help when I need it.

And let's be honest, I need it a lot more than I ask for it.

(Also, I am way too tired to really proofread this thing, so forgive me if it makes no sense at all. Kthxbye.)

Le Bump

Well, there is no hiding this baby now, even if I wanted to!

I have been about the same size since I was 14. You know, besides filling out a little here and there and the like. I've never gained or lost a significant amount of weight over a short amount of time, so this pregnancy thing is taking some getting used to.

Specifically the fact that I really wasn't showing just a week or two ago, and suddenly I have an undeniable, unmistakable, very rapidly growing baby bump. This dress is flowy enough that it looks much smaller than it really is, but trust me when I say there is a (relatively) big pregnant belly under there. And every time I try to sit down in the jeans I can hardly fasten (even with the nifty hairtie trick), or button a fitted shirt, or give Dallin a big hug, I am reminded of that fact. ;) 

Weird? Yes.... but it's the best kind of weird. :)

Other than getting used to how much my belly has been growing, things have been going so well. I'm excited to meet this little one in February!

Pterodactyls, blackberry jam, and Duck Dynasty

Well, this week was a doozy. A real doozy. I am so thankful today is Friday. Rather than whine about everything that went screwy this week, although I am tempted, here's a list of five happy things. :)

1. We got to see our little jelly bean yesterday! Annnnd... I'm pretty sure I am going to give birth to a pterodactyl. Either that or a chicken.

(P.S. Here is an even more hilarious ultrasound picture... bahahaha!)

2. I needed to switch to a different OBGYN. Usually this would be no problem, but in a town that only has two of them and the one I wanted was supposedly not accepting new patients, it was kinda stressing me out a bit. That's a major understatement, by the way. If I couldn't switch I was going to have to find one somewhere else, and the idea of traveling to all my appointments didn't really appeal to me, but sticking with the one I have been seeing was not an option. 

A couple weeks ago I called to see if there was anything that they could do, anything at all. That's actually a really funny story, but long story short I guess sometimes being a somewhat emotionally unstable pregnant lady has its perks. I completely broke down in violent tears which conveniently touched the heart of the sweet receptionist who made it her personal mission to get me the good doctor. This week they called to let me know she decided to take me on, and I am so thankful for that. So thankful. She is much more supportive of the birth and pregnancy I want to have, and it really puts my mind at ease to have her as my doctor! 

3. I found a blackberry patch not to0 far away from our house and I picked enough to make a triple batch of jam. Now, homemade jam tastes much better on homemade bread, so I made my mama's whole wheat bread to go with it. It was so worth the time and effort to enjoy this deliciousness. Mmmmm... :)

4. Duck Dynasty started again this week! :D My husband and I are big fans. It's really nice to see a wholesome, hilarious, uplifting show for once... makes me happy, happy, happy. ;)

5. I get to visit my sister in CA very soon! I can't wait to go to the beach. As much as I love my mountains, there is something about the sand and the sea that makes me happy. P.S. She is pregnant with twin girls due about 2 months before our baby! So exciting! 

Happy Friday! :)

Exciting news!

Just in case you haven't heard the news already...

...we've got a bun in the oven, coming February 2014!

We're pretty dang excited. We've been looking forward to it for a while, but now that it is actually here it's kind of hard to believe that there's a mini human being hidden inside my expanding midsection. A MINI HUMAN BEING, GUYS. 

And you know what? That's kind of rad. 

Even if said mini human being likes to turn me into a narcoleptic. A constantly peeing, always hungry, emotional, sometimes nauseated, pimply, narcoleptic, hot mess of a woman that doesn't want to do anything but eat, sleep, and watch Parks and Rec/The Office/Monk (again) on Netflix. 

All day, erryday.

And yet, I'm feeling very, very happy and thankful to be able to take on this crazy adventure. This might be a little personal, but I wasn't entirely sure I would be able to have kids, so we're both feeling very blessed indeed. Here's to a healthy pregnancy!

Before I finish up I just have to say that I really, really got lucky when it comes to that husband of mine. Not only does he put up with sharing a house with a psycho pregnant lady, he has been taking such good care of me by doing dishes, making me food when my stomach is wonky, giving me extra snuggles when he can tell I'm feeling blue, teaching seminary for me today (oh yeah, I'm still teaching this semester!), and just being sweet, supportive, and wonderful in general. 
I'll keep him, I s'pose. ;)

We are cheeseballs. Also, thanks to my lovely mama for the pictures!

Brain Dump

My brain has been on overload, so enjoy this (mostly) unfiltered unloading of my cranium.

I do not understand Twitter or Google+ even though I have them both. So far, the only uses I've found for Twitter are following the people that live tweet General Conference to help me remember quotes for my notes, extra entries for giveaways, and also there is a slight chance I might possibly follow an undisclosed amount of Bachelor/Bachelorette-related accounts. Go ahead, judge me. DO IT.

Mulan is on Netflix. Need I say more?

I had a check up at the dentist today, and I came home and ate candy afterward to celebrate that it went well. Because somehow sugar-packed Sour Patch Kids seemed like an appropriate way to do it. Considering how much time I spend in the dentist's chair in the past year, I was just really happy that everything is looking good, knock on wood, and hope that it stays that way! I also get to have my wisdom teeth removed before long... oh joy! :)

I'm very thankful to have a husband that helps with the dishes. This week has been a little rough on me, and he was wonderful enough to pick up the slack a bit. Oh, I love him. I'm also thankful he comes to seminary every morning with me, even though it isn't officially his calling. It makes it much easier for me to get up at 5:45 when he does too, plus he drags the electric piano across the gym, helps set up chairs, makes copies, and pretty much does whatever he can to help me out. He's a keeper.

I'm not biased or anything, but I think I just might have the cutest siblings. My mom is (rightly) cautious about the interwebz, so I won't post pictures on my blog and you'll have to take my word for it. (Or follow me on Instagram!)

I see these shoes on fashion bloggers all the time. No offense to anyone that owns them, but they kind of scare me a little bit. However, I have to give mad props to anyone bold enough to wear them! :)

I sat out on my deck this morning for scripture study, and it was perfection. The weather was glorious, birds were singing, and my tummy was full of some of the most delicious strawberries I've ever had. It was rather nice, to say the least, and I think I might need to make it a habit. Morning is my favorite time of day, right before that golden hour around sunset.

Apparently we have an oak tree in out backyard, because there are gangs of mischievous squirrels and birds that find great pleasure in throwing them down on my neighbor's metal shed. I wonder if they know how many times a day they make me jump when they send a particularly large batch down... Oy.

This video makes me happy. Very happy indeed. You must watch it and be happy too, ok? Kthxbye.



Also, I guess this means we are getting a trampoline...? ;)

HAPPY THURSDAY!!!! It's Friday Eve, yippeeeee!