backyard campout.

last night was our first annual {can we please make it annual?} backyard campout with my family. it was a blast :)

festivites:

set up camp.
the boys set up a golf game {chipping into the kiddy pool}.
dinner! {hot dogs, frog eye salad, baked beans, watermelon}
serena's first time on the tramp, with 4 spotters making sure she didn't run right off the edge.
lounging.
campfire.
sparklers.
dutch oven raspberry peach cobbler! yummmm!
movie with the projector.
lots of mosquito bites {i counted 8 on my left foot alone}.
sleeping in tents.
waking up sweaty when the sun hit the tents.
yummy breakfast.

well everyone except for my dad, serena and i slept in tents. i was totally ready and excited to do it, but halfway through the night i started having some serious sciatic nerve pain. so i went inside and got comfortable on a real bed.

basically we enjoyed all of the fun camping stuff, with the luxury of indoor plumbing, electical outlets, and the ability to step inside and cool off for a few minutes when the heat was too much :)

it was a good time. you should try it sometime.

indoor day.

serena's favorite, and one of two things she would eat today {the other was mac n cheese}.

toys. and laying on mama's belly.

my crochet hook came out of retirement {making a blanket for girly #2}. and a belly shot. which upon inspection doesn't really show off how big my belly really is. oh well.

today we have spent the entire day inside. serena has been sick with something {that the dr couldn't identify} and has been a huge grump. one moment i'll think she's for sure getting better, the next she will completely flip out/scream at the top of her lungs. maybe that's an improvement from yesterday, actually. yesterday she refused to eat or nap, and laid on me for most of the day, watching shows and acting very sad and pathetic. anywho... she's having plenty of ibuprofen and we'll pray that her fever comes down and she gets back to her spunky self soon.

{and that our backyard campout doesn't get rained out tomorrow!}

for your listening pleasure.

so i'm typically not a fan of lds pop music, or any christian rock/pop. it cheeses me out. but i'm a fan of mindy gledhill. and i especially love this arrangement of one of my favorite hymns: jesus once of humble birth. a few years ago i emailed her to see if sheet music of the arrangement was available, but unfortunately it's not. i love the piano accompaniment.

enjoy :) {or don't... but i will.}

she loves her books.

and she has a cute zebra striped bum today.

summer lovin.

what we've been up to:
{and why there's never a spare moment for blogging}

singing at the days of '47 sunrise service.
having a great big 24th of july breakfast with my parents.
catching up with kess & jamie {slurpees + fireworks... just like the old days ♥}.
napping.
church.
picnic + bocce ball with my family.
letting serena eat watermelon to her little heart's content.
chasing her around for 2.5 hours at the park in 98 degree weather.
bathing her immediately afterward.
sunday movie night with friends.
debating about names... again.
making a trip to ikea to get a backup kitty for serena. just in case we lose the original.
cleaning our house.
dinner with kess, alicia & truman {who is so grown up now!}.
eating cherry tomatoes from our backyard garden {2 potted plants...}.
reading a good book.
trying a good recipe.
planning a baby shower for my little sister.

and as soon as serena is up from her nap, we are going swimming.

looking forward to our big ultrasound tomorrow, a backyard campout, a wedding, a trip to d.c., and lots more summer fun. summer is flying by. and we are enjoying every minute.

mr & mrs pinhead.

one of the many random things we found while cleaning our house last week :)

from our trip to jackson hole, thanksgiving 2007.

awesome.

the payoff.

the best part of keeping an immaculately clean house at all times

{cleaning up every mess the second after you're done making it, never letting dishes pile up, scrubbing toilets twice a week, sweeping the floor after every meal, wiping counters all day long, vacuuming all the time, dusting every day, keeping up on the laundry, emptying all garbage cans daily, etc}

is that sometimes during naptime there is nothing left to do besides enjoy a peach fresca, a laffy taffy, and a good book. and maybe even nap for a few minutes.

plus there are basically no chores to do on saturday.

{and there is the benefit of living in a clean house all the time.}

and on an unrelated note, here is proof that i am growing a baby and that i care and love her as much as i loved serena when i was pregnant with her, even though i may not blog incessantly about it :)



these 40 weeks are flying by!

fat face.

i feel like i'm already getting fat pregnant face. and fat swollen hands.

how can that be?

is it happening way way sooner this time around? or is this pregnancy just flying by? or is it the heat? or all of the working i've been doing these past few days?

i don't know. but BLAH i feel gross.

three more months. three more months. three more months.

three more months until i have a sweet new baby girl {harper? maizy? still undecided.} and i can stop getting bigger.

in the meantime, i will try my darndest to avoid all cameras and all full body mirrors.

and try to settle on a first name for this little girl so we can figure out a middle name.

on the market.

you never realize what a slob/hoarder you are until you start getting your house ready to sell. i can't even tell you how much junk we have thrown away or donated this week. sean asked me yesterday if we have been living in filth. kinda seemed like it after multiple trips to D.I., the office dumpster {shh....} and the landfill! after 2 days of non-stop cleaning {9 a.m. to midnight}, our house is spotless and we are exhausted.

we met with our realtor today and our house is officially on the market. it was shocking to me how quickly it all happened. we knew we would be selling sometime soon, but we decided 6 days ago to start the process and here we are. i'm sad to think of leaving this house. it's our first and only home together. after four and a half years, you kind of get attached to a place! and now that it's so clean and organized, i kind of want to stay :)

but on to new things {and places}. we hope to have a house with a yard someday, and the sooner we leave here, the closer we are to a yard!

p.s. don't worry, wardies. we're not going far. and by that i mean we're not even leaving the ward. we'll be renting for a while {probably at least another year} in the neighborhood. how weird... the people who move into our house will be in our ward.

the living is easy.

back yard swimming.

juicy watermelon.

my first cup of mint tea this season.

i won't even let the huge pile of laundry waiting to be folded ruin this summer day.

serena visits the zoo.

her favorites:

monkeys. {she has recently learned to make monkey noises, so they were a hit}

the big red ball in the elephant habitat. not so much the actual elephants. not enough excitement for her taste, i guess.

the big kitty {cheetah} that paced in front of the window and looked like he wanted to eat her.

watching the carousel, which we didn't actually ride :)

the train ride.

it was a good time. thanks to mom & annette for the good company! {and help pushing the stroller up the hills...}

p.s. serena's hair is getting to that awkward mullet stage, so that's why she always looks like an orphan. i really do try to make it look pretty.

red, white & blue.

we didn't do much in the way of celebrating today, so i brought my camera along to my parents house and hunted for all things red, white & blue. this is what i found. sean didn't even mind pulling off the road a couple of times for me to snap a picture. it would have been a lot easier to find orange... with all of the road construction :)

hope you are all enjoying your weekend! we still have one full day of celebrating to go. it's not so bad when the 4th of july falls on a sunday after all!

five years ago.

five years ago today, sean proposed to me at this pretty bridge after fireworks. it was a very happy fourth of july. it's always been my favorite holiday, and i have another good reason to celebrate the day.

we've had lots of adventures since then. mostly good ones :)

love you, sean!

my favorite holiday.

started off the day with a 5k run {walk}.

and then a festive breakfast with my family. red, white & blue stuffed crepes.

took naps.

went to a movie.

had dinner.

went up to eaglewood for fireworks. oh my, it was crazy up there! it was our first time and it was a party for sure! i succumbed to carnival food, as usual, and had myself a tigers blood shaved ice. i would have had a churro too if i had brought enough cash :)

kids played with glow sticks and swords and whatnot.

serena did surprisingly well. we had to give her a nap at 6:00 to make sure she could stay up til 11:00. she was kind of all over the place and plowing through peoples food and games, but once the fireworks started, she sat still and watched on daddy's lap.

best part of the day.

{the blurry pictures always look like sea creatures.}