Awesome. Not Awesome.

I can't seem to keep up on blogging... so here's our recent highlights:

Awesome: Youth Conference. We love being lucky enough to spend time with these great kids every week and it's even better when we get them out of there element and away from cell phones, ipods, etc. This year was especially fun, because we weren't in charge, all we had to do was be there and keep our youth out of trouble. It was a great few days, starting with an all day service project at the Utah Food Bank. We were then off to Snow College for plenty of outdoor fun, an evening at the Manti Pageant and some of the best testimony meetings and devotionals that I have ever been a part of. Definately awesome.

NOT Awesome: 3 hour hot sweaty bus rides and sleeping in a twin size dorm bed.

Awesome: Summertime, sunshine and warm temperatures. Sno-cone anyone?
Also Awesome: Being lucky enough to be pregnant. Such an amazing and magical time in our lives. I absolutely love feeling her move and kick and squirm and I don't take one single minute of it for granted.

NOT Awesome or always easy: Being pregnant in the hot, sunny summertime. Another sno-cone, please!

Awesome: 4th of July Traditions. I love that we live in a neighborhood that has strong, patriotic traditions. Our neighborhood has been hosting this annual "breakfast in the park" and party for everyone throughout our area for decades and it seems to get better every year. Not only is an amazing pancake breakfast served, but the kids go all out for the traditional bike parade, we have the ridiculously fun slip-n-slide with the water courtesy of the amazing firefighters that join us, this year also included a bouncy house and most importantly, the amazing opportunity to stand with hundreds of friends and neighbors to salute our flag and sing the national anthem and recite the pledge of allegiance. It is especially awesome when the adorable old lady who is leading us in the national anthem at the top of her lungs into the microphone messes up all the words but still keeps proudly singing random mumbled words, still at the top of her lungs. It might have been my favorite part this year. Yep, it was! Awesome, indeed!

NOT awesome: The fact that the youth of our ward are in charge of setting everything up at 6 o'clock in the morning. That means loading every single table and chair from the church over to the park and then making it all look pretty. Just so you know... 6am is early, really early, but did they all show up, work hard and have a blast doing it? Of course they did. Love them.

Also NOT awesome: Having to go straight to work after the party. Working on your feet all day until evening, after waking up at 5:15am to start the day working hard...definately not awesome. Needless to say, the C*K*J's were in bed, long before the lights in the sky started exploding!!

Awesome: Getting to babysit my boss and good friends' dog, Coco for the weekend. We've had her before and couldn't love her more. She's teeny tiny and so low maintenance. We pretty much love ooing and ahhing over her and having a little lap dog to snuggle with.

NOT awesome: having to give her back tonight. :(


And a little about what's coming up this month:

* Starting to set up the nursery (awesome)

* Paying for it all (not awesome)

* CJ's birthday (awesome)

* CJ being another year closer to over the hill (not awesome)

* Finishing our storage room and finally being able to organize and feel settled (awesome)

* Being out of excuses and having to think about and pay for food storage (not awesome)

* Getting closer and closer to welcoming our baby girl to our family (AWESOME!)

* Getting bigger and bigger and more and more uncomfortable (not so awesome)

All in all... our "awesomes" far outweigh our "not awesomes" and it's all worth it!

Birthdays, Vacations & Dads

I'm a bit behind on the events of the last few weeks... We've taken full advantage of a couple of great reasons to celebrate and made the most of it.

After getting nothing but great news at our ultrasound and then spending the day spreading the good news to family and friends, we barely slept a wink that night as we dreamed of pink and more pink. I awoke and realized that just like that, I was another year older and it was vacation day!!!

Being that we were traveling all day on my birthday, the mister went out of his way to make it a special day. He put together "Kim's Amazing Race" complete with challenges, roadblocks and presents for each leg throughout the day. After some planned and unplanned roadblocks, we finally made it to the resort where the most beautiful and yummy birthday treat was waiting. He's pretty much the best husband ever and I couldn't love him more! So far... 35 isn't so bad!

The hotel was amazing and just what we were looking for... quiet, small, peaceful, romantic, secluded and beautiful. We loved it! In fact, we loved it so much that in 9 days, we left only twice. This was indeed a true vacation, with no agenda.

The note left on our bed that first night pretty much summed up our vacation.

We did so much relaxing and enjoying time together. We went from lounge chairs at the beach to lounge beds at the pool to strolls collecting seashells and plenty of afternoon naps. We read books and magazines and slept in and ate delicious food and devoured yummy, refreshing drinks and enjoyed every minute of it. We golfed one day on a beautiful, amazing course (CJ mostly, I just drove the cart, drank refreshing beverages and cheered him on) and we spent another afternoon at the spa getting pampered (Me mostly, CJ spent the afternoon working out and working up a sweat... do you sense a pattern?). Our only real day excursion took us to Isla Mujeres, where we snorkeled, hiked and recreated. CJ did a cool zipline over the Caribbean (no pregnant ladies allowed) and we shopped and exerted lots of energy. It was a fun and interesting day, but needless to say, we were happy to return to our plush hotel and resume our position on lounge chairs for the remainder of the vacation. :)

One of my favorite pictures of the trip...

the C*K*J version of the Corona commercial...

with our icy cold diet cokes!

And another favorite...

The entire hotel staff was amazing and took great care of us throughout the week!!!

On our last night at dinner, they brought this to our table...

"please back soon"

(a few key words "lost in translation")

We got up early on our last morning there to watch to sunrise and contemplate just how blessed we are. That was pretty much what our entire week was all about!

It was the perfect ending to a perfect week with our little family...

Our little family that will soon be expanding...

CJ---I love you to the moon and back!

Thank you for being my mister, my babydaddy, my travel partner and most of all...

my best friend.

I'll miss the times of just you and me, but I can't wait for all that's in store for us!

Happy Father's Day!

She's so so lucky to get YOU!

XOXOXO

Happy Birthday To Me....

Easily the best (early) gift I could ever recieve...

the little peanut is a SHE-nut!

We're having a GIRL and everything looks perfect!

We are absolutely {over the moon} excited to get to be parents to this little miraculous baby girl. My heart is exploding with gratitude that I get to be a mother and I know that CJ is going to be the best daddy EVER!!

*******

To celebrate this good news... we're looking forward to taking her on her first family beach vacation to celebrate mama's big 35!

Adiós for now...

Friday Night Fortune Cookie

{the perfect cap on friday night take-out}

{yep... it's already starting to come true}

{May Highlights}

So far, May has not let me down...

A recap of some of the good stuff:

Our first picnic of the season. We spent all afternoon on Sunday in the park lounging on a blanket, soaking up some much needed vitamin D, eating yummy food and enjoying the company of friends. It was pure bliss.

The Perfect Sunday Afternoon, Indeed!

It's true...you can see for yourself: "OPEN" for business...MY business!

the {beetlejuice} was just as good as I remembered!

I got my first birthday package in the mail from one of my dearest friends and I couldn't be more excited about this soft snuggly body pillow. It's been on my list to buy and I just haven't got around to it. This is why! I love her!

I'm crossing my fingers that it might help sleep to come a little easier the bigger I get!

My surgery was successful and the Doc gave me the OK to resume normal activities and best of all, we got the go-ahead to travel one last time. We certainly didn't wait long to book a trip, just in case he changed his mind. :)

We'll be lounging here and celebrating my 35th birthday next weekend!
Just me, the mister and baby j.

I can't wait!

{the 18 week "belly" shot. There's definately no hiding it and I still have a LONG way to go!}

And last of all, the best news is that baby j is thriving and is tucked away nicely after my surgery. Everything went well and the little peanut handled it like a champ. I have had 2 doctor's appointments these last couple of weeks and although we did get another post-op ultrasound, we weren't lucky enough to get a sneak peek at baby's parts. Between still being the size of a twix bar and the position of the umbilical cord, there was no big reveal. We were, however, equally excited to see a strong beating heart and little wiggly limbs, so we still left sqealing with delight!

Our "big" ultrasound is scheduled for next week and we are praying that loads of good news will be revealed then.

Stay tuned....

i wish i MAY... i wish i might...

I can't believe that it's already May! (of 2010, no less)

Although the weather this week has not been an appropriate respresentation of the classic promise that:

"april showers bring may flowers"

(what the heck with all the snow?!?)

I still couldn't be more excited to welcome in a new month... one of my favorite months of the year, in fact.

***

Here's a quick run-down of a few of the things that have me giddy about this month...

sunshine and warmth (pretty please)

going back to work
(I've decided that I definately don't want to end up on bedrest. Choosing to be lazy and stay in bed is one thing. Being required to is entirely another. 4 days is enough for me, thanks!)

rumor has it the sno-shack will be opening any day.

sour grape please.

i have 2 huge pots begging to be planted and filled with

beautiful flowers to adorn my porch.

the big reveal of what kind of parts the little peanut is sporting!!!
(we're crossing our fingers that we are just days away,
rather than the 3 long weeks until our big anatomy u/s)

my birthday. 35 this year. gasp.

doctors clearance to take a summer vacation
(pretty please with sugar on top)

a much needed pedicure.

(i should've made time for one last week)

the birth of my niece Amy's first baby.

a sweet little baby boy.

mother's day.
i hated mother's day last year.
i cried all day, even though i have the best mom in the world.

completing the {last} of our basement remodeling projects. hooray.

(next comes the looming outdoor projects)

shaking the dust off of our golf clubs and hitting some balls.

(before my belly gets too giant)

just *being present* and enjoying every single minute of it.

life is good, indeed!

xoxo

5 little fingers

Yesterday, I had another doctors appointment getting me ready for Wednesday, the doctor wanted to do a quick scan just to make sure the baby was doing well and ready.

This is one of the first images we saw...

the little peanut in there waving to us as if to say:

"hi mom! I'm here and I'm fine. don't worry, everything is gonna be okay"

I seriously feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

(I must say, I was also slightly relieved to know that we do have atleast 5 fingers. hopefully there's another five fingers and some toes in there somewhere too!)

just stuff...

{a little of what we've been up to...}

can't get enough of these...

did you know that these little furry green things have more

vitamin c than an orange and more fiber than an apple.

really, they do. and they're yummy.

and i'm loving this.... perfectly, deliciously tart.

Reading this. still unsure if i like it.

LOVING, LOVING, LOVING THE SUNSHINE.

mid-seventies and sunshine is about as close to perfect as it gets in my book.

Stressing about...

Girls Camp.

It's times like this that I don't like being in charge.

Feeling a bit like this....

I can't seem to get enough sleep and I'm always tired.

Feverishly keeping my eyes peeled for a perfect deal on one final summer vacation before our two becomes three.

crossing our fingers and praying that dr. m will give us the go-ahead.

We are hard at work on the final push to finish all of our lingering projects from our 2+ year remodeling project.

And by "we", I mean CJ. I haven't done a thing.

He does good work and I really heart him.

We (and this time, by "we" I mean me!) are counting down the days until sno-cone season begins.

Without a doubt, one of the best parts of summer.

And mostly, I've been spending lots of time day-dreaming about

the little peanut.

We're crossing our fingers that we'll know if it's a she-nut or a he-nut in just a short week or two.

one of the "glass half fulls" of being "high-risk"...

extra appointments, extra procedures and extra ultra-sounds.

And lastly, I am anxiously anticipating the upcoming weekend of showers to celebrate the upcoming arrivals of both her and her.

I couldn't be more excited for either of my two Amy's!

{the little peanut and other good news}

Had another doctor's appointment today...

They did another ultrasound to make sure things are ok...

We listened to the lub~dub...

The cute little peanut is growing and has a strong heartbeat...

...AND...

the doc told me not to feel guilty for craving diet coke.

(haven't had it for nearly 3 months... and these last 2 weeks, I've never wanted it more!

Besides... isn't lent over anyways?)

He even told me (much to CJ's dismay) that I could drink diet coke every single day from here on out and everything would be fine.

It's not something worth feeling guilty about.

I probably won't go that far, but I really miss it... especially believing I couldn't have it.

Now, just because I can, I probably won't want it.

On second thought... that's just crazy talk.

I'll definately still want it.

(But don't worry CJ... just in moderation!)

I couldn't be happier about how things went today.

April Fool's Day Joke?

I think Mother Nature went a bit too far this year.

Don't you think?