Saturday, May 26, 2012

Two of my favorite things

I have been dying lately to blog about two of my favorite things, our charismatic, hilarious, tender hearted, sharp little Caroline and Olive.  Oh I just die over them and can't believe how well they have made transition after transition. We are still in a bit of transitioning preparing our home from a rental to a place for us to settle again.  They just go with the flow and go from Grandparents homes, to friends homes and they are always
excited for what is next.

 They turned a corner several months ago where they just bloomed into the best of friends.
They love to just hide in a little spot and whisper and play, little do they know that mom is just outside of their little hiding spot listening to their cute voices.  Olive likes to ask you what something is, like an animal in a magazine or book.  If you say it right she energetically says, "Good job!"  Also when we tuck her in at night (now in her big girl bed!) she yells as we shut the door, "Don't let the bed bugs bite!"  
  She was less than thrilled when we pulled up to our home in Salt Lake.  I excitedly said, "Girls, this is our new home, what do you think!?"  Olive took one look at the overgrown jungle lawn and flower beds and bluntly said, "It's not good."
She is a total hoot.

Here is one of their cozy little nooks.  They have their little camping lanterns that they got for Easter and they were reading under the comforter.  Adam and I found them because it was too quiet so we had to go on a search.  
Olive basically watches Caroline's every move and does accordingly.  If Caroline pushes her own hair out of her face, Olive follows suit.  If Caroline crawls into a small little closet to hide, Olive is right behind.
Caroline is the ultimate caretaker.  She is always there to help me, daddy, or Olive.  I just melted over the sign she made and taped to their bedroom door to help keep things calm for sleeping Olive.  She is so ready for another little sister!

When Olive wakes up for the morning, or from her nap, Caroline often reads her stories and Olive happily listens.  Caroline also makes sure to pile her crib with plenty of toys so Olive doesn't get bored.

This darling baby is not ours, it is our first niece! (We have 9 fantastic nephews.)  Caroline begs to hold her and just sits their so still and calmly and makes sure baby Nora is happy.  We are so lucky to have such a helper.
Olive says she will feed our sweet baby her bottles.  The other day when I had a jacket on, my sister asked Olive where her baby sister was.  Olive smiled and rubbed my belly and said, "She is in this cozy jacket."

Our little one is still cooking and this pic is from several weeks ago at 31 weeks.
I am now almost 35 weeks feeling really good.  I know that the second trimester is supposed to be the time when you are full of energy, but my energy was sucked dry.  I had to nap almost every day to survive.  Lately, I have gone all day and into the night working away moving in, organizing, planting our tomatoes and cucumbers, painting bunk beds...it has been great.  The nesting bug really hit and I am so grateful that I have been full of energy.  The only strange new thing that I have been experiencing is my rib pain on the left side.  It's mostly when I lay down and the nerves just ache, but truly I can't complain!!

If this baby comes when Caroline did, I have a week and a half left of pregnancy.  If she comes on Olive time she will be a week early.  We are excited to see when her arrival will be.  I am still hoping for her due date, July 4th, my favorite holiday!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Sails away to Utah!

We have made one last move for a while and we are now working to get settled back again in Utah.
It has been bittersweet leaving a place that we have fallen in love with.  Yet, to see our little ones faces light up when we get to go see grandparents or cousins in Utah has been tender.
I was sad to leave such dear friends, friends that have taken such incredible care of us during hard times and who have celebrated the exciting times as well.

Before we left, two of these amazing friends threw a farewell to us, as well as a welcome to our baby girl who is coming in July.  It was a nautical theme baby shower which was absolutely perfect for my stripes and anchors obsession.  Every detail was fitting.  I would have posted a picture of the darling invitation, but I don't want to spoil something it may be used for later.

I died over the rope center pieces, the handmade boat card and that the truly divine soft pretzels were in the shape of a sailors knot (which you can learn to make here.)

There were a variety of delicious dips like cookies and cream, brown mustard, queso poblano, and sweet cream.  I really couldn't get enough, I am a sucker for soft pretzels.
Everyone shared a little of their crafty talents and we made bows for our new little baby girl.  It was the perfect gift and activity for the shower.  You'd think we had countless bows with having two girls already, but although we have had a lot, there have been a lot lost!  I loved how they turned out and how there is such a variety of color too.
IMG 2049 682x1024 A Simple Shower with Sailors Knot Soft Pretzels



Here are the two beautiful hostesses that put this beautiful shower on.  I felt so lucky to be able to celebrate this little one coming!  Only 8 more weeks!  I used to think that having a shower for someone having a baby of the same sex was unnecessary, but after helping throw this shower, my friends helped me realize it 's something to make a big deal about!  Anticipating a new baby coming for 9 months is thrilling to think about and be excited about alone, but so much more fun to celebrate with friends!
Thank you so much, we miss you already!