31 weeks

Only 9 weeks to go!

Bryn is convinced she has a little baby in her tummy, too, so we're both showing our 31 week bellies.

I think I've got her beat :)

Burp Cloths

My goal was to finish up all my "baby projects" by the end of the month.

I don't think I'm going to quite make that goal, but I'm almost done!

Today I used THIS tutorial to make a dozen burp cloths. It was a really simple, really quick project and I think they'll be nice and absorbent with the chenille backing.

We definitely needed some new, fresh burp cloths with this second baby because Bryn's burp cloths had all been retired after nine full months of spitting up all day long. 

Bryn was cute, though, so we couldn't get mad at her....even if we had to bring 25 burp cloths with us wherever we went :)

Woohoo!

We finally know where we'll be living at Dartmouth....

I am THRILLED!!!

Dartmouth has awesome, newly built Married Student Housing, but there are only a few 3-bedroom units and we soon found out that it's really competitive to get one. We've been trying to get one since February, but hadn't been able to nab one yet. I was going a little crazy. 

But....today was our lucky day! One of the 3-bedroom units popped up this morning and luckily Josh was up at 5 am and checking the housing website. Three cheers for Josh!!! Securing our housing while I snoozed away! That's my boy!

For about the same rent as we're paying in SoCal we'll have a great, little 3 bedroom, 2 bath condo with a dishwasher, washer/dryer, front porch, and a beautiful neighborhood. Those are certainly luxuries compared to our lovely, little abode in Huntington Beach. (I think you definitely get more for your money when you leave the OC!) 

As a "nesting" pregnant lady, I am sure relieved to get our housing figured out and to have found something great.

I know it's not the biggest thing in the world, but I had prayed so hard to get one of these units and I'm feeling really grateful that everything worked out! 

Hooray!!!

This calls for brownies!!!

Felt Hair Clips

 I mentioned a few weeks ago that I wanted to learn how to make felt hair clips to use with Bryn and the new baby. The next thing I knew I got a package from my good friend Jen, who is the queen of all things FELT! She told me her favorite place to buy wool felt and then sent me four felt hair clips she had made (see above). THANK YOU JEN! I bought some wool felt from that website and then got to work trying to copy her hair clips :) I don't think I'm skilled enough to make a pinwheel like that (I love that one), but I do want to try making some felt bows like her blue one. 

Anyway, here are my little felt flower clips....

I love projects like this that you can just do by hand, in your lap, while watching Pride and Prejudice. That is the definition of a good craft project for me!

No sewing machine, glue gun, ironing board, etc. Just felt, scissors, needle and thread!

Hopefully I can put these to good use with Bryn and baby girl #2 :)

Weekend with Bryn

Josh has been in New Hampshire the last few days for "New Student Weekend" for the incoming MBA students at Dartmouth. Bryn and I are excited for Josh to come home, but we've tried to have a fun girls weekend while he's been away.

 Bryn and I had a fun Disneyland day. We hadn't gone in two weeks, so Bryn was thrilled to be back. (And I hadn't let her ride "Dumbo" for about 2 months because of the long line, so she was especially thrilled about riding her beloved "Dumbo" ride!)

I needed to finish up a few baby projects this weekend, which meant I needed a good project to keep Bryn occupied! Painting always does the trick!

 Her favorite thing lately is mixing her own colors. She spent a good hour mixing the bottled colors to make new colors. Each time she'd exclaim "Mom! I did it! I made a new color!"

 We also read about 100 books,

made and ate way too many cookies, 

played at the park,

got together with friends, 

sorted through baby clothes,

and skyped with family members.

I love my little buddy and I'm really trying to soak in these final 2 months with Bryn as my only child. I don't think she'll be getting quite as much undivided attention once the baby arrives!

Salute

Josh and Bryn have this cute little habit of giving each other a salute when he leaves for work.

Bryn gets so excited about it, but I think I love it even more than she does.

Cute, right?

The only problem is that lately Bryn has also been trying to do the salute position during prayers instead of folding her arms. We're trying to break this prayer-time habit, but it's hard not to giggle when we peek at her during prayers and she's got one arm behind her back and the other across her forehead, with her eyes tightly closed.

P.S. Bryn picked out this lovely ensemble today. I think it's her third outfit of the day and I'm sure it won't be the last!

Cute

I love this little girl.

And I cannot wait to have another mini Bryn in just 11 weeks!

Utah Trip: Random Shots

Here's the last few pictures from our trip. It was so fun spending time with family and watching Bryn play with her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.

Mom, Bryn, and Logan

Dying eggs

Log seemed so much older on this trip! It turns out he's the master of the BBQ. He whipped us up some BBQ Chicken Quesadillas on the grill one day for lunch.

Yum.

We met up with my aunts Margaret and Carolyn.

Bryn is lucky to have such a great extended family on both sides that is so sweet to her.

Bryn had LOTS of grandma bonding time during the trip!

My sister and I loved playing "Polly Pockets" as kids, and now Bryn is a big fan, too!

Grandma doing Bryn's hair

Bryn followed my mom around all day and wanted to do whatever she was doing....even if it was cleaning the toilets.

Playing the piano with Logan

Reading with Jordan and Grandpa

Other fun things from the week:

-Attending the Sunday morning session of General Conference with my family

-A temple trip with Josh and my parents

-A Jane Eyre movie marathon (My mom and I both just read the book. We watched two different versions, but got Jane Eyre-ed out before we made it to the third version we had rented!)

-Lots of fun game nights

-Beautiful walks/hikes in my parent's area

-Lots of late night conversations and laughter

This trip to Utah was kind of spur-of-the-moment, but I'm so glad we could fit it in! It was such a great week! I love my family and Josh's fam, and I wish we saw them more often!

Utah Trip: Easter Sunday

We had a beautiful Easter Sunday with my family.

It was Stake Conference for my family's stake and my dad is Stake President, so it was really neat to get to hear him speak to the stake and bear testimony of the Savior and the Atonement.

My two younger brothers, Jordan and Logan.

We missed Jae!!!

Jordan, Dad, Mom, and Bryn

Bryn, Marie, her husband Devin, and Logan

That night we got a surprise visit from the Easter Bunny!

(Big thanks to Uncle Rich for totally making Bryn's day! She is still talking about how she met the REAL Easter Bunny in Utah).

What a great day! We are usually in California on holidays, away from family, so it was so wonderful spending the day with family!

Utah Trip: Bryn and Halle

Bryn and her cousin Halle and really good buddies. They are little pen pals and send each other letters in the mail. Halle was so nice to set up a little Easter Egg hunt for Brynlee, and Bryn was so thrilled.

We're spoiled with our SoCal climate, so Bryn had to borrow Halle's winter gear just to play outside on the tramp without freezing.

It was so much fun hanging out with Jason and Brandi while Bryn and Halle played. Thanks so much for having us over! I wish we lived closer!

Utah Trip: Fun with Cousins

We met up with some of Josh's family at the "Classic Fun Center" in Sandy. When I went there as a child it was just a skating rink, but now there's a huge room with inflatable slides and obstacle courses. The kids had fun running around together and wearing themselves out!

Bryn is just 4 months younger than Beckham and they play really well together.

Beckham is the only child of Josh's twin Joe, and Joe and his wife are expecting a baby girl just two days after our baby girl this summer. So we are kind of on the same track with our little families! Hopefully our little girls will be good buddies like Brynlee and Beckham!

Bryn and Vela are a year apart, but they get along great together as they're getting older!

Thanks Becky and Rindi for bringing your kids to come play with us!