Brandley Family Reunion 2012

Alisha and Pug were in charge of the Brandley family reunion this year and we went to Willow Flats in Idaho  to camp over the weekend.  We got up there Thursday evening and stayed until Saturday afternoon.  It was great to be up there with our family.  We played some fun games and got to know each other more.  Avery was a little moody while we were there.  A combination of not getting very good sleep and the fact that she's been quite clingy lately.  That made it a little horrible at times.  It was a good reminder though of how wonderful my Brandley family is.  They were so helpful and took Avery for me every now and then so I could have a break.  We are so blessed with the family we have, we love them!  I was really bad about taking pictures, so here are the few pictures I did take.

Maya and Avery sharing a chair by the campfire the first night

I was trying to get a picture of how DIRTY her face was, but she got
too close to the camera and you can't really see it

This was one of the games we played, you had to get everyone balanced
on the crate for a certain amount of time

It was hard

The most they got on was 6 people I think

Just hanging out

Louis and me the last day we were there

We can't wait until next years reunion!  We may be going to Nauvoo!

28 weeks

Welcome to the third trimester!  It feels good to be almost done.  I am getting more and more ready to meet this baby.  Although I am starting to feel a little apprehensive about having two kids.  Ever since I got called into nursery Avery has gotten EXTREMELY clingy.  All she wants is me me me.  I'm literally there with her every waking hour.  I don't even get those 2 hours a week anymore while she's in nursery.  She needs to learn how to be without me, being called into nursery pretty much ruined that.  I'm getting nervous about how she's going to be when I just can't be right there all of the time.  Especially in the beginning when it takes so long to nurse.  I think she'll be fine with the baby herself, just not so much with all the attention she'll get from us.  Tips?  Please??
I had an appointment today and the baby is doing well, her heart rate is at 154.  She was moving around a lot during my appointment, it made me happy.  Yesterday I didn't feel her move for 4 1/2 hours and I was starting to freak out.  She almost always is moving around like a mad women at 8 or 8:30 in the morning, but yesterday she didn't.  I ate some breakfast and said a prayer and she moved a little at 9 then I didn't feel her again until 1:30.  I almost went in to make sure she was okay, but then she finally moved and I started crying!  After that she was crazy the whole day.  I did't like the little teaser she was being.  At the appointment today Dr. Craig told me I'm anemic.  I already knew that from my appointment last month, they told me I was anemic and that I needed to take an iron supplement.  Today though Dr. Craig said I'm very anemic!  She said that "back in the day" if your iron level was at 30 you'd be immediately taken up to get a transfusion.  My iron level is at 32!  The plan now is to test me again at my 6 weeks postpartum appointment and at my annual check ups we'll also check it.  Just to make sure it's not a problem I have all of the time.  She suggested I eat a lot of spinach.
I've been starting to get uncomfortable.  The last two weeks I've been having sciatic nerve pain.  (sciatica) It started when we went to Manti.  When we were walking around I would randomly have sharp shooting pains go from my lower back to my hip.  Not fun, but it doesn't happen too very often.  Other than that I still have heartburn and that's pretty much it.  Besides just the ever growing size of my stomach making it hard to bend over without loosing my breath.  Also my belly button is pretty much all the way out.  I don't know if it will pop out any more than it is now.  I like it :) it's the only time I get to see the inside of my belly button!
I have been nesting a lot by making things for the baby.  I've made two car seat covers, many burp cloths, (when I say burp cloths I mean I took plain white ones and added to them a bit) and three adorable skirts.  I want to make more skirts because they are so easy and turn out so cute!  I think I have plenty for this baby though!  I'll probably make some, but save them as presents for other people!  I've made most of these things all in the last week too!

The first cover

The second cover

5 burp cloths

My first skirt matched with one of the onesies Sarah made

Bubble skirt

Did you notice the second car seat cover matches the diaper bag my sister made for me?  I made the first one before I got the bag and once I got the bag I said, "What was I thinking?  Why didn't I make it to match the bag?"  I already knew what the fabric looked like because I picked it out.  So I decided to make a new one to match!

See?  Matchy matchy!

Avery likes playing hide and seek in there

I'll save the blue and yellow one and give it to someone as a gift.  Also if you noticed I made a skirt and burp cloth to match the bag and car seat cover.  Obviously, I like the fabric!  

We are very much looking forward to this baby girl, only 12 weeks until my due date!  If I have her as early as Avery then there's only 9 more weeks!

From My Sister

For the whole month of June my parents were on vacation.  For part of their vacation they were in Germany visiting my sister Sarah and her family.  I had sent some fabric with my mom so Sarah could make me a bag. (I'm going to use it as a diaper bag) Some of the fabric I sent over freaked out when Sarah pre-washed it so they had to go pick out something different.  Sarah and my mom were worried it would be too bright for my liking, but I love it!  Plus my awesome sister Sarah put a bunch of extras in the bag!  I wanted to share pictures of them so everyone can see.  Mostly it's for Megan because she saw the bag, but didn't get to see any of the extras Sarah had made.

The outside of the bag

Look at all of the pockets!

Diaper changing mat and a wipes/diaper holder

A closer look at the wipes/diaper holder

Burp cloths

And if those weren't enough there were also some SUPER cute clothes in there.

These match the bag!

This is probably what she's going to wear going home

I LOVE this one!

Cute onesies and pants

The back of the cute pants!

Thank you so much Sarah!  You made me doubly excited for this new baby girl.  Still no set name for her.  We talked about a lot of names yesterday, but there was only one name that we both liked.  Not loved, but liked.  It's driving me crazy, I like to have a plan and I really don't want to be going into the hospital still trying to decide on a name.  Today is the last day of my second trimester so three months left is all! 

Independence Day Week

This past week has been fun, we've been able to spend a lot of time with family.  I'll start with Tuesday.  Up here in Logan they always do the firework show on the 3rd.  We went with Josh and Megan to a field across the street from our house which was nice because we avoided the 1+ hour drive home we would have been facing if we had gone anywhere else.  I had bought some glow sticks earlier that day and Avery had fun playing with them.  She also liked the fireworks.  Yay!  You never know, she liked them last year, but that could have changed!  The moon came up over the mountain during the fireworks and Avery kept calling it a ball.  It was super cute!

cutie patootie at the firworks

The next morning we drove down to Pleasant View and had a 4th of July breakfast with my side of the family.  We used to do this every year, but as we've all grown up and got married we've stopped.  It was so good to do it again.  A lot of people were able to come.  We enjoyed some delicious scones, fruit, biscuits and gravy, eggs, and much more.  Avery had thrown up that morning and we almost didn't go, but she was acting normal so we did.  She was pretty clingy though and has been ever since.

The boys playing basketball

Matt, Valery, Uncle Dennis, and Dad

Charissa talking to Elizabeth

After the breakfast we went back to my mom and dad's house.  The boys later went golfing and the girls and kids (minus Trey, he went golfing with the boys) played in the water.  Charissa and Sarina bought a slip n' slide and a swimming pool.  I totally thought I would get a break from holding Avery (like I said she was really clingy and didn't let me put her down much) because she LOVED water and running through the sprinklers.  I was wrong, she didn't want anything to do with it and the only time I got to put her down was when we took a break to eat popsicles.

Chase's awesome slip n' slide face

See what I mean?  What a grumpy butt

After a while Avery and I left to go visit my friend Kristy at her mom's house.  Kristy is pregnant with her first baby, a little boy.  She is 35 weeks and due on August 9th.  She is one of my first friends to have kids so it's super exciting to finally have someone to talk mommy stuff to!  Her mom had fun watching the two of us together and said, "the babies are having babies!"

Kristy at 35 weeks and me at 27 weeks

Avery and I went back to my mom's house and had dinner then I left to do a little shopping with Charissa and my mom.  It was extremely nice to have a break from Avery.  We left for home before the fireworks because Avery had been woken up from her nap early and was wouldn't of had a good time.  She fell asleep within 15 minutes of our drive home.

Yesterday some of my family came up for the Cruise-In.  Every year in Cache Valley there's a car show and on the last day of the show all the cars that want to can drive down main street and have a little car parade!  Josh had his trailer and grill parked in front of the library saving our spot and everyone brought a treat to share.  It's fun!

A green Delorean??  That's a first!

A Jeep Liberty.  I don't know why they wasted the money
to enter it into the show.

This was the first car we saw break down.  It over heated.
They ended up pushing it into a parking lot and not getting
it started again

Jake and Celestial in the cruise-in!

That was our week!  It was full of fun and family, just the way we like it!  I hope everyone had a fun Independence Day week!

Manti Pageant

This weekend Louis and I were able to go to the Manti Pageant.  We were invited by some of Louis' older siblings.  I was excited!  With Louis' work and school schedule we don't get to do too many exciting things.  My sister Charissa is in town and she watched Avery for us, isn't she so nice!  Before getting to Manti we stopped at Yuba State Park to have a picnic and swim.  The water was beautiful and cold which was amazing on that hot hot day.

After we were done being in the water we showered and headed out on our way to Manti!  Along the drive we could see smoke coming up over the mountains from one of the fires down south.

When we got to Manti we saved some seats then set up our tents in the park.  Then we headed over to the church for a pretty delicious dinner!  I was surprised, I wasn't expecting the meal to be very good, but it was great.  Then we stopped to get a sno-cone!  ("Free sno-cone at the end of the game" guess how many times that was said)

The last time I went to the pageant was five years ago so I was excited to see it again.  Louis had to work a 12 hour shift the day before and hadn't gotten any sleep before the pageant.  This means he was going on 28 hours of no sleep.  Needless to say, he fell asleep within the first half hour!  That's okay, he was with me and that was all that mattered.  The pageant was good, I had a few favorite parts.  The first one was when Joseph was talking about eternal families.  That just always makes me happy.  I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have of eternal families and that I've been sealed to Louis in the temple.  It means everything to me that I get to spend eternity with him and that our children are sealed to us.  I can't imagine a life without them.  My next favorite part was when Jesus came to the Americas.  It made me think of what it's going to be like when I see Christ again.  The whole time he was there I just kept thinking I want to be able to run up to Christ and give him a huge hug.  The last thing wasn't a favorite part, it's just something that stuck out to me.  They said the word remember a lot in the pageant.  It just got me thinking of the people in my life that once believed in the gospel and somewhere along the line they forgot.  For whatever reason, they just don't believe anymore.  It's sad.  I wish they'd soften and open their heart and remember.  I think I need to make a special effort to remember the special things that happen in my life and the spiritual experiences I have had.

After the pageant we headed back to the park and talked for a little bit then went to bed!  6 hours later Louis and I were woken up by a stupid rooster that wouldn't stop crowing.  Seriously, it was crowing for about 2 hours.  Finally we decided to just get up and get ready to head home.  It was lots of fun to have a little mini getaway!