Dance, Love, Wings and Always Dream: August 2014

The main purpose of my going to Idaho was to see my little sister through the temple her first time. I would not be true to myself and the things that make me happy if I did not mention the joy that being able to attend the temple regularly has brought me the past few years. Sean and I are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, part of our worship is attending church on Sundays on attending the temple on separate occasions. It is a beautiful, sacred place where we can go to feel closer to Heavenly Father. I'm grateful I was able to travel this far into my pregnancy to be able to be a part of my sister's experience. I'm incredibly proud of the young lady she is, I think she is pretty neat.

"Each holy temple stands as a symbol of our membership in the Church, as a sign of our faith in life after death, and as a sacred step toward eternal glory for us and our families."

—Russell M. Nelson

A few days later I was able to go with my mother in law, sister in law, niece, and grandma to the Ogden Temple open house. Once a temple is dedicated, only those who hold recommends can enter the temple, but before it is dedicated, it is open for the public to see the inside. The work that had gone into building this temple was spectacular. I particularly loved the stained glass windows in this temple and the beautiful artwork. My niece Ember was especially sweet during this tour, she was singing "I Love to See the Temple" in the Celestial room, she made everyone smile.

While I was in Idaho I was also able to spend some time with my nieces. I really love being an Aunt. When I'm around these little girls I feel like it's the closest bit of insight to how it will be like to have one of my own in the near future. They are precious. I was able to see and hold baby Quinn who will only be a few months older than my daughter, I hope that even though we may live far away, that my daughter and Quinn will be able to know one another and be good little friends.

I also had the brilliant idea to try and get a picture with all four granddaughters, Ember, Auvryn, Quinn, and my belly. I thought it would be easy. I also thought brushing Ember's teeth would be easy, but that was kind of like bathing a cat. Instead of just posting the one (and only one) decent picture where the girls didn't look crazy, I thought I would post some of the process of getting there, which are quite amusing. We took some at the beginning of the day and towards the end to try and maximize the opportunity of getting "the one". I love how calm Quinn is throughout the whole process.

These two are pretty sweet, so we did get more than one good one!

This past week has been absolutely crazy and has gone by so fast! It has been go go go! I finished my last day at work, and then prepared my home to receive my mom, brother, and sister the following Saturday. We went to one of my favorite restaurants in Omaha, Big Mama's Kitchen. We also went to the Old Market, and to watch Guardians of the Galaxy in our new theater in Bellevue. My family thinks that theater is pretty cool because there are recliner seats and you can order dinner before the movie, my brother got the biggest mozzarella sticks I've ever seen! On Sunday Brooklyn went to church with Sean and me. During sacrament meeting Brookie got to see baby girl move a whole bunch in my tummy. She usually moves a whole bunch then, so much you can see it even with a shirt covering it. I think she likes all the singing and how still I am then. Brookie helped us with nursery as well.

I'm grateful she came with us even though it probably wasn't the most fun activity for her. After we went home Sean and I cooked our family dinner. This Sunday was delightfully uneventful. There was someone on the guitar or at the piano most of the day. My husband plays the piano and the guitar, my sister plays the piano, and my little brother plays the guitar and surprisingly some piano. There was a bunch of lounging and listening. Because we didn't know when would be the next time we would be able to see each other, we took some pictures in the park near our house. It was kind of fun, Rocco came with us, he thought it was pretty cool he was allowed off of the leash. Here are some of the pictures from our afternoon together.

I was a bit of a control freak while we were taking pictures, and of course the photos that turned out the funnest and the most genuine were the least controlled where everyone was being silly almost doing the opposite of what I was saying. None of us are professional photographers, nor are we trying to be, I just wanted some nice pictures of us together. My little brother Ryan took most of these, he is quite a natural at photography, he has an artistic touch to whatever he does and I'm quite happy with them.

On Monday, my mom, sister, brother and I got up really early to go to the zoo. We had a really fun time together, we went through the exhibits before noon. When we went home I was able to tell my husband goodbye, my flight out of Omaha was scheduled later for that evening. I took my family shopping in West Omaha where my mother and my sister both bought some adorable outfits from Janie and Jack for baby girl. That store has definitely become a favourite of mine for my daughter. On their way out of Omaha back to Wisconsin, my family dropped me off at the airport to start my looong trip from Omaha to Salt Lake. I was so sad to say goodbye to them. My siblings are my rock, not everyone gets along with their brother's and sisters and wants to be around them all the time, but I sure do.

Flying pregnant didn't mean I hated flying any more than I usually do, but it did make me even more nervous and stressed. I have had nightmares about this flight before I knew I wanted to take it. I really dislike flying. I'm sure I would enjoy it more if I could afford to fly first class, but maybe not even then. I was so scarred that it was bad for the baby even though I've been told it is perfectly safe. I even contemplated driving to Idaho 16 hours. That sounded much more appealing than flying, but being six months pregnant on the way out and nearly 7 months pregnant on the way back, that probably wouldn't have been the best idea driving alone in the middle of nowhere that long.

Frontier airlines is probably the worst. My flight was delayed 4 hours, the only thing that saved me was the USO that I found 3 hours into the delay. I didn't know about it until now, but the Denver USO is pretty awesome, if you are a military family look for it next time you have a layover! My family who was driving from Omaha to Wisconsin got to their destination before I got to mine flying! I arrived in Salt Lake around midnight, it took a long time to get our bags, my poor grandma and her friend Mary were waiting for me for so long, we got out of the airport at about 12:30 am and into Brigham city at about 1:30. At this point I was really really tired. I didn't get to sleep until about 2 am.

The following morning I was so excited to wake up and get to Idaho for my baby shower! It had been a long time since I saw several of my friends and family, that in itself was so much fun to look forward to!

My Aunt Janeil and little Cousin Sierra threw my shower. When I knew they were throwing it I was really excited because both of them are so creative and thoughtful when it comes to things like this. When I walked into the door of their home I was completely blown away with how beautiful everything was! It was my dream baby shower. They completely took into account what I liked and enjoyed, that even though I'm having a girl and usually the go to color for a girl is pink, the colors used for the shower were the colors we are using for baby's bedroom, grey and pool blue. They also had these precious woodland stuffed animals which was the theme of baby's nursery as decoration that I would be able to use in her nursery as well. I'm still hearing about how awesome that shower was. I am so grateful for all the planning and preparation that went into this beautiful party. When guests arrived they asked them to sign a card with a note of advice on it for Sean and me to put in an adorable baby book that J&S gave us. I went back and read them all, and thought the words were so helpful and insightful, I wish I had done that before I wrote out thank you's because those words of advice were a really wonderful gift in themselves. One of my favorites was from my Aunt Kristine, "Don't be afraid to rock and cuddle this baby (and any others that may come along) as much as you can get away with. Read and sing to her every day. Never feel guilty when you do this because these are some of the best things you can do for your little sweetheart." After several people had arrived we played a get to know you game so the party guests would mingle a little bit.

Following this game everyone was invited to get a bite to eat, the food was so good! The lemonade cups were completely adorable. It was nice to be able to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in a while, and being a pregnant girl, the food table feels like a part of my natural habitat right now. We played some more games, one was where we had to look at several baby items and guess the price of each item. The other game made me laugh so hard that I was brought to tears, everyone was asked to draw what the baby would look like, some were very good, and some were very funny.

Following the games, I opened the gifts for baby girl, and was completely overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family. We received so many beautiful gifts. All of the gifts were incredibly thoughtful. The picture of the little dress with the house on it below is vintage, and belonged to my best friend Liz when she was a baby. I tried not to cry when I realized what it was. We received so many hand made quilts, afghans, and blankets.

Along with a few other nostalgic items we received hand made items from both great grandma's, Sean's grandma made a beautiful quilt and my grandma made an adorable little crocheted dress and matching booties. My Aunt Joy gave me a picture of myself,my Aunt Joy, and Aunt Janeil from when I was a toddler. I was wearing a little denim pink skirt, inside the present was the same little skirt.

We also received so many adorable outfits, some fun toys, and shoes! I have many favourites. I know why people are constantly sharing numerous photos of their baby, because they are trying to get photos of all the cute outfits that they will only get to wear once.

My Aunt Janeil also had such an awesome idea when she sent out the invites, she requested that instead of a card, that guests bring a book. Inserted inside the baby shower invitation was this little request "Although cards are nice, they're read once or twice, a book is a treasure forever and ever! Instead of a card to be put aside, please give this sweet baby girl a book with a special message inside!" Isn't that an awesome idea? With each gift our little girl received a book with a message inside it. We received books for all stages of her life. I'm really excited to make her a little library and present her with the appropriate books for the age that she is.

I'm so grateful for everyone who came to the shower who showed and expressed their love for me and my daughter. My Aunt Janeil and Cousin Sierra definitely outdid themselves, along with the beautiful party they gave me so many amazing gifts. I loved everything that they did for us! My guests left the party with some amazing lemon cookie mixes and a few left with some fun prizes they won in the games. I had an amazing time, I feel so grateful and so loved. Thank you to everyone who came and made it such a wonderful experience! Thank you to my Aunt Janeil and Cousin Sierra for making it such a beautiful party!