end of january + beginning of february

the end of january brought one of the most exciting things of my life...

i won justin timberlake tickets on the radio!

no joke! i called that station all day long and on my 50th try, i got in and was the winner... you guys, never give up! i seriously jumped around and screamed/cried. i had already planned on going to the concert but dang the tickets were expensive. so i put all my positive energy out into the world and a great thing happened!

the girls have started asking to be photographed. i definitely do what they tell me!

we hit up the zoo on a pretty mildly cold day and the girls loved it. kendall and adalyn hung out in the stroller and snacked and brooklyn just loved all of it.

kendall continues to go to a play school group once a week and we host it about once a month. she loves hanging out with these boys and learning her letters.

we love that kayla and her little crew come down to 'the city' once a week for their shopping so that we get to see them!

these two are looking more a like every day!

we almost missed out on one of the girls' favorite traditions this year (the daddy/daughter ball), but luckily we didn't and they had the best time! they got to wear their new dress-up dresses from christmas and they made the night even more fun.

poor adi wanted to go so bad. she hopped in as many pictures as she could. one more year she has to wait!

we had our annual super bowl party at my parents' beginning of febraury. there was so much good food and you know i loved halftime! 

fall break + the zoo

brooklyn had fall break last week and was not thrilled to wake up thursday and find out she didn't have school. that girl! but i told her that we were going to the zoo, her daddy included, and that helped. she loves when we do things altogether as a family. it was a great afternoon!

kendall scored her favorite animal on the carousel. 

we loved riding the train, seeing the lions up super close, and looking at all the fun halloween decorations.

the next morning, while james worked from home, we got out of the house and went to story time at the library. we lucked out with the topic for the day being ghosts. right up kendall's alley! both the older girls loved it, and adalyn hated being stuck in the stroller. i made it up to her by letting her have a sucker that was part of the ghost craft for the day.

that night was the ward trunk-or-treat and a great pre-halloween run on the girls' costumes. they were so excited to wear them and find out they got to do a little trick-or-treating. there were soups and bread galore, but the girls were excited about the candy. we have a great ward and the turnout was impressive.

we spent the rest of the weekend getting our house back in order and then enjoying the most beautiful sunday.

we ended the weekend visiting james' grandma at a rehab center. she just had her second knee replacement. she was thrilled to see the girls and they loved getting to have one on one time with her.

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we've gone to the zoo almost every week this month. my girls love it, i love that it wears them out, and the weather has been too good not to!

october has been so good to us, it's sad to see it go, but i can't help be so excited for thanksgiving and christmas!

the week before...

this last week, one week before baby comes, was a good one full of lots of family time. monday and tuesday i really tried to take it easy so as not to put myself into labor before wednesday because i really wanted to go with brooklyn on her field trip to the zoo. thankfully, that worked out. james came and met us at lunch time and was able to spend the rest of the day with us. 

the girls loved the zoo. more than i thought i they would. brooklyn was so good to take kendall up to the glass or fences to see the animals while i sat down in the background. i really didn't overdo it because she was such a huge help! their favorites were the elephants and the new playground/splash pad. 

on monday, i didn't finish up baby girl's laundry and i couldn't help but lay out her 'going home from the hospital' outfit my mom bought for her on my bed just to look at for the rest of the day. isn't it precious?!

the rest of the week was spent cleaning (on my part) and the playing (the girls' part) as much as they could with it being as rainy this past week as it was. they did a lot of imaginary play and brooklyn did a lot of art while kendall took her naps.

they have a blast together and i love watching them become such good little friends. kendall's favorite game to play is 'puppy' where brooklyn acts like her puppy and does everything she asks her too. brooklyn is a good sport!

i snuck into their room early sunday morning just to look at them sleep. it's really amazing to think that when they wake up on wednesday, it won't just be them anymore. james and i constantly laugh (nervously) when we imagine handling three little girls. it'll definitely be a transition, and one that i full heartedly admit to being nervous about. 

we're so excited that this baby will be coming at the beginning of summer, so that we have a whole summer of adjusting before brooklyn goes to school and kendall starts potty training. though i'm sure it's going to take longer than just a summer. 

i love being a mom to these girls. i honestly never imagined myself with three girls. obviously i wouldn't have it any other way. i love it! i love that they have each other as best friends, confidants, play mates, roommates, bed mates, and that they have a lifetime of clothes/shoes/hair bow/purse sharing ahead of them.

and just for fun, here are pictures of me pregnant with each girl, the farthest i got with each of them. the posts to their birth stories are also linked below them.

BROOKLYN

KENDALL

hopefully the birth story for baby #3 will be written before she turns one :)

only three more sleeps until we get to meet the newest little ruesch girl and we can hardly wait!

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how the 4th went this year.

our 4th of july started out with blueberry waffles topped with raspberry jam and whipped cream... a red, white, and blue breakfast. in order for this breakfast to be possible, i had to get up extra early, get myself ready, and then make it. totally worth it. blueberry waffles should be eaten on every holiday. truly. james and brooklyn were excited to wake up to the delicious aroma these bad boys put off. we didn't have much time to eat them however. we were in a hurry. we had to get to the zoo.

all decked out in patriotic colors. small flag included.

when we arrived at the zoo, my first thought was, this place is packed. maybe this wasn't the best idea. i was wrong. it was so fun. plenty of shade and lots of misters (not the men kind of a mister, the fans with water misting out of them. that kind) along the way. the animals weren't much for showing off because of the heat. but it was ok. brooklyn was more interested in the people, leaves, sticks, fence posts, trees, small birds flying around, than the actual animals. she's easy to please folks. easy to please.

(brookie with aunt tori - checking out the elephants) 

(she loves her grandpa) 

 (with grandma and daddy, oh and the huge elephant)

(ooh that face. both those faces actually. love.) 

(she has a thing for giraffes) 

('thanks for bringing me to the zoo daddy!') 

 (just adding to her giraffe collection. aint no thang. thanks grandma.)

(soul train...ride) 

after a nice day at the zoo, a lunch of yummy chicken salad sandwiches (on croissants - my fave), bottles of water, lots of walking, and even more heat...we retired to our home for a nice big family nap. heaven. james wins the award for shortest nap and i...well, i get the award for longest nap. but i seriously needed it. remember, i got up early to make waffles?

dinner was the limited time only bbq sandwiches at burger king (don't judge). those things are good. seriously. don't hate. i recommend the memphis. try it. you'll thank me later. then it was home to relax some more, mostly just basking in the ac, then a quick costume change (for brooklyn. she had a lot of zoo on her), and we were off to the airport.

welcome home elder holmzz (says his tag. he went to albania).

our patriotic 4th of july ended with shakes and fireworks. just some sparklers and flowers. nothing too crazy. the rest of the neighborhood provided the nice big pretty fireworks. we were content. content to sit back, relax, and just breathe. breathe in that firework smell. mmm.

the 4th was good to us. it was everything i had hoped and more. ya know how you kind of dream or plan how a certain day will go? please tell me do. well i do. and really, this day definitely did not disappoint. i loved the plans we made. the zoo with family. the family nap. the relaxing. the bbq. the airport. the shakes and fireworks. i mean really. i couldn't have asked for anything better. ok, maybe it could have been about ten degrees cooler. but other than that, it was splendid. i would do it over and over again.

but now that it's over, and my holiday can't be ruined by weather, i really really want the rains to come. like hard rain. rain that just dumps out of the sky. this poor utah desert. it's dying for a big drink of water. so come on clouds. i'm ordering 1 trillion route 44's to just pour down on us today. is that possible? 

pretty please with a cherry on top. 

and while you're at it, maybe rain some blueberry waffles too. thanks.

-what was your favorite thing/moment/activity of your 4th? reminisce with me now.

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