a full day.

yesterday was a full day. so full that by the end of it, i felt seriously exhausted.

we started out early in the day at haley's hair school. brooklyn got her hair done, a pedicure, and the works. she was spoiled. her baby sister was a stinker. it took me putting her in her stroller and walking around the building for twenty minutes to get her to sleep. 

we said bye to haley and headed towards salt lake. i'd been really wanting to try the new swig copy cat in draper called the fix. so we drove out of the way to get a cookie and a drink. the cookie, i'm going to give a c+. not great. brooklyn loved it. i think mostly because it had pink sprinkles and was shaped like a bunny.

then we stopped by james' grandma's house to pick up some bows she was fixing for me, and brooklyn of course, had to play dress up. we headed for home after that and as luck would have it, my parents had just flown into slc and were coming over to say hi for a minute. that is like brooklyn's favorite thing: knowing a visitor is going to be at our house when she gets there. she's a social little thing and nothing makes her happier.

that evening, james took the girls and i got to meet up with some friends for a girls' night. it was awesome. just chatting, eating some desserts, and relaxing. it was awesome. we stayed so late that one of the workers brought out a tray of all their leftover desserts and let us have our pick for free. we'll definitely be going back.

sugar the horse.

besides getting to celebrate her birthday on two different days, brooklyn also got spoiled by her auntie hay with a trip to build a bear. she and ryan came to pick brooklyn up a couple days before her birthday and brooklyn kept reminding me that i wasn't invited to go. she wanted it to just be her, haley, and ryan. she got her wish.

we loaded up her car seat in haley's car, she told us 'peace out', and they were on their way. i laughed thinking about what animal and everything else she would choose. i was seriously picturing some ugly tie dyed cat or something. haley was going to let her choose whatever she wanted. risky.

luckily, the cat didn't happen.

(auntie hay did a great job of documenting the experience)

she chose a horse, and named her sugar.

haley said she was excited the whole time.

the outfit she chose isn't pictured, but she chose a pink tutu, a birthday princess shirt, and a nice pink leash. yep, a leash. she loves that horse. sugar hasn't had her clothes on since that day, but brooklyn makes sure to use the leash on her. 

thanks again auntie hay for making brooklyn feel so special. she loves you and wants to do everything you do. you're her example. 

she thinks the world of you and definitely thinks you're a lot cooler than her mom.

haley's graduation.

friday night, the last of the holmes kids graduated from high school. my parents can now consider themselves empty nesters. such a crazy thought!

but the graduation was nice. north summit does a great job of keeping their graduations to about an hour, and that was perfect for brooklyn. she was so good the whole time, and thankfully, made it through the whole thing. 

we had dinner at my parents' beforehand: cafe rio burritos and salads, and some brownies, cookies, and ice cream for dessert. it hit the spot!

haley had lots of support and it was fun to have everyone there. there is nothing quite like the support of family and friends.

and brooklyn was so excited to get to spend time with her aunts and uncles. 

^^^she adores these two.^^^

^^^the goofy brothers-in-law^^^

^^^the whole crew^^^

the whole weekend was great. it was super relaxing and we just enjoyed time spent at my parents' house. brooklyn loved all of the attention she had, and james and i enjoyed relaxing. 

and like i said, my parents are now empty nesters.

so, why not buy a motorcycle and plan a trip for the fall?

^^^the girls loved taking a little ride with grandma and grandpa on the 'hog'. obviously, they did not ride like this. it was just the easiest way to get everyone in the picture.^^^

as for baby girl and me. we're now at 35 weeks and we've grown to capacity. i'm really not sure how she can get any bigger. it's not possible. i can tell she's experiencing tight quarters with every one of her little movements. but we want to keep her in there until her scheduled c-section date. we really do. as uncomfortable as i am getting, i really want her to stay in there until she absolutely has to come out. and it's hard to say that with how anxious i am to meet her and have her here. because really. i am so anxious!

h a p p y  memorial  d a y

p.s. 2 months from today and that little girl ^^^ will be 3. THREE. i can't hardly stand it.  

crazy weather.

yesterday, we woke to rain pounding on our windows. it only let up for a little bit while we ate breakfast. then, there was sleet, hail, and more rain. i was worried brooklyn would be super sad about not being able to play outside two days in a row.

but she chose to paint.

she did that for quite awhile, totally content. then she wanted to color. she was good to entertain herself for most of the day. which i was super grateful for. all i wanted to do yesterday was cozy up and watch movies. i had absolutely no energy.

out of nowhere, the rain turned to snow and even more crazy, thunder started like mad. then it started raining again. the thunder went strong for a good ten minutes. i loved every second. brooklyn wasn't so sure. she stayed huddled under a blanket until she knew the thunder was gone for sure. then it was nap time. 

^like a lot of others, my bracket is horrible this year^ 

the rest of the day was uneventful. lots of laying around, cuddling, and movie watching. james came home and we started dinner. haley showed up a little bit after that and we all just hung out and visited together. we made a quick sonic run for shakes and upon returning home, it was obvious that brooklyn wasn't feeling well. she wanted to watch frozen, we obliged, and 3/4 of the way through it, she was acting like she felt miserable. her little eyes were red and watery, she felt a little warm, and she definitely had the chills. i can't hardly stand it when she's sick. it breaks my heart.

she fell asleep on the couch and her daddy tried as carefully as he could to take her up to her bed without waking her, but to no avail. she woke up and cried. she wanted me to sing her some songs. so i climbed in bed with her, snuggled up to her warm little body, and sang. she fell asleep quickly, but woke again quickly, only an hour and a half after falling asleep. she lucked out, both her parents were exhausted and i was not sleeping comfortably, so she got to come bunk up with us. poor little miserable thing. 

she was up bright and early this morning and asked for breakfast. i'm taking this as a good sign. i'm guessing she'll go down early for her nap and hopefully take a nice a long one. our friday could be an interesting one, and how sad that someone of us has to spend it sick. 

here's to hoping everyone's healthy on saturday... let's hope. 

we've been busy

tuesday night we were busy doing fun stuff like watching haley cheer (and be honored as a senior) at good ol' north summit high. it seriously blows my mind that she's a senior and that she'll be joining the adult world in just a few months. 

brooklyn and liv sat like this for maybe 15 seconds and for the rest of the game they were everywhere. glad to have documented the quiet moments like this.

she loves her auntie hay!

the other 'busy' has been potty training. ya know, the take the toddler to the potty every ten minutes for two days kind of busy. wow. i'm not working from home anymore so being able to give brooklyn my full attention AND check potty training off the list totally made sense. 

i strapped on my apron and stuffed the pockets full of dum dum suckers and starbursts (only the fave reds of course!) to be able to award a potty in the potty at any second. we also stocked up capri suns and clifford juice boxes, her choice.

after the first two hours and three accidents, i was ready to cry and give up. i didn't care if she was in diapers until high school, this was miserable. 

but slowly, it got better. by the end of the day she had the hang of it...for the most part. she loved running around in undies all day and getting to play with a little squirt bottle. she was in heaven.

day two was so much better. we still did the ten minutes increments and we had no accidents. she even did #2 three times! the first time was awarded a krispy kreme donut. 

when james got home we started trading shifts and moved it to every fifteen minutes. it felt like such a huge difference those five glorious minutes. brooklyn kept herself busy with markers, stickers, and decorating our front room wall for valentine's i'm guessing...

after feeling guilty for about two weeks while i was working from home, it's so nice to be able to wake up and know that brooklyn is my main priority during the day. with another baby coming into her world, i'm so happy to have these next few months to just focus on her. a huge shout out to those moms out there who work from home or outside the home. you are super woman and i honestly don't know how you do it. go get yourself some chocolate! me, taking care of a toddler, keeping up on my house, and making meals is about all i can handle during the day. and i'm not ashamed to say it. 

let's hope for an even better day tomorrow! (today/thursday)

...

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a new pool + that phase.

thursday morning i went in early for a d&c. it's only the best way for me to move on after a miscarriage. my body takes about two weeks by itself without any intervention. i was only about five days in, so a d&c was was a great option. i went into feeling pretty miserable. i was also really down. of course. i woke up after the procedure and i felt tired but my body was no longer in pain. it was a relief. my mom was there to take us home so that james could go back to work.

brooklyn and i crawled into my bed immediately and we fell asleep for a couple of hours. it felt good to sleep. when i woke up, it was time to move on.

my SIL brought us dinner and the rest of the weekend was spent with good distractions like that. friday night we went to a bbq with friends and saturday was pretty darn relaxing. i needed it.

i scored pool online for 50% off on tuesday and we got it thursday. brooklyn played in it all weekend, with a swimming suit on, and without anything on. but hey, it's her pool. she can skinny dip of she wants. 

 haley came back down saturday night. we were so glad. we missed her. james grilled up some hot dogs for dinner and then we went to burger bar for shakes. those delicious shakes. i'm already craving their seasonal pumpkin shake. can't wait. but i can.

the whole evening felt like summer should, so we topped it off with some little fireworks. not sure who loved them more... james or brooklyn.  

sunday was church, dinner on the patio, and then some relaxing. 

it was also a night full of visitors and treats. the first came from the cutest family in our ward. serious. model family. i want to be like them when i grow up. these cookies were delicious and they were so thoughtful to bring us a treat to help cheer us up. sugar will do the trick.

not even five minutes later, the doorbell rang again. this time, homemade bread. we have great people in our ward. we feel so blessed to be surrounded by such genuinely good people.

a milestone worth mentioning, i introduced brooklyn to sandlot sunday evening. she seriously sat through a good portion of it. her favorite part (i think) was the carnival/throwing up part. i'm sure it was the music. no way it was the puking. anyway, i feel like that's definitely a summer milestone that is one for the record books. it's a total classic and i spent every summer of my childhood watching that movie for hours and hours on any given day. i will always love that movie. for-e-ver.

overall, life is getting back to normal here at cream gables. my heart is slowly healing and i'm definitely in the just-broke-up phase of this miscarraige. ya know... when you just break up and you're sad/mad but you have this overwhelming feeling to improve yourself, do things you haven't for awhile, and just overall improve your life (maybe even cut your hair). stuff like that. i'm in that phase. i lifted weights on saturday and my arms are screaming at me for it. it's been way too long. but i'm ready to get this body into super duper shape so that it's healthy as can be for this next baby  that's going to join our family. hopefully it's sooner than later, but if not, i will press on and i will keep trying. i have to.