days one and two.

world's worst blogger.

that's what i've become.

chasing a toddler around + being pregnant + trying to sell our house + preparing for a 10 day trip + spending as much time with serena as possible before said trip = no time for blogging.

it's been a crazy couple of weeks.

but before i sign out for 10 days, i thought i'd leave you {heather} with a new picture and some random thoughts. {actually, i'll probably have more time for blogging on our trip. so who knows, maybe you'll hear from me sooner...}

01. can't wait for thursday to crack open mockingjay! i'm just going to wait until the stress of packing & the drama of leaving serena is over. then i can fully enjoy it. it's going to be a good flight from slc to dc!

02. seriously, it IS going to be drama leaving serena! i'm so worried about it! i know she will be well taken care of and loved and most likely spoiled rotten, but what about me?! i'm going to miss the little munchkin like crazy! and i swear she is not going to want anything to do with us when we get back. she is already crazy attached to my mom. eeeh. we will have to bribe her with lots of souvenirs or something. anyhow, i'm positive i will be a wreck and there will be plenty of tears.

03. we still can't decide on a name for this baby girl. i told sean he gets to decide, but then he starts saying it will be harper for sure and i want to take it back and fight for maizy :)

04. i bought my very first pairs of maternity pants last week. i kind of love them and i wonder why it took me so long to come to my senses and just buy some. i'm so comfortable these days!

05. arctic circle has the best onion rings on the planet.

06. serena is a banana addict. she would eat them all day long if i let her. i get nervous when she sees a picture of a banana on a tv show or in one of her books because she will beg for a "nana" and i'm afraid she's going to have a potassium overdose! i have to hide them in the closet and limit her to one a day. what a little monkey.

07. i hate packing.

08. can you believe i'm 30 weeks along now? craziness. i'm kind of stressed out about having a newborn baby in 10 weeks. please please please let us sell our house before then! i feel bad that i can't decorate a space for her until we get moved out. and even then, the poor thing will probably be sleeping in a pack n play until we feel ready to move serena to a big girl bed. i don't want to buy another crib.

09. oh and you know what stinks? we're having another girl, but we'll still have to buy a whole new girl wardrobe because serena was a spring baby and she'll be a fall baby.

10. wow. i've become not only the world's worst blogger, but also the world's biggest mommy blogger! oh well. it's my life.

11. over & out!

bear lake.

serena + grandma ♥ playing in the dirt

playing in the water

serena + mama {who is looking and feeling very pregnant these days...}

serena + dada ♥ floating

catching some waves

like a true mom, i made her put a t-shirt on near the end ♥ nakey bum

we spent a lovely day at bear lake yesterday. serena slept the whole ride there {hallelujah!} and we spent the afternoon with my mom {dad got the very same stomach virus that we've passed on to nearly every member of the family now}. it was totally worth the 2 1/2 hour drive to spend a few hours in the sun, letting serena run wild in the water and dirt. plus it was the perfect day. not too hot. not too windy. not too cloudy. not too crowded. we stopped for dinner in logan, and then serena slept for most of the ride home {she was on her very best behavior yesterday}. it was a goooood day.

september 23.

i have to hold onto the fact that summer doesn't really end until september 23rd.

because otherwise i might be going into a deep depression just thinking about all the time i've spent indoors during july & august.

just because school is starting for you students, doesn't mean that MY summer is over!

still to come:

bear lake.
cramming in as much cherry hill time as possible this week.
heading east for 10 days without serena {i'm so excited and stressed at the same time. leaving serena for ten days!? i hope i'm not an emotional wreck the whole time.}.
state fair.
backyard movie night.
cabin time.

see, summer can't be over yet. i won't even let labor day end my summer.

oh boy.

well. serena is still not over whatever virus she's had since the middle of last week. so far we have passed it on to sean, lincoln, aria, heather, annette & brad. i'm seriously hoping that everyone who came to annette's baby shower didn't catch it. somehow it has skipped over me {knocking on wood}. so basically our last 6 days have consisted of:

lots of throw up.
lots of laundry.
lots of trips to the store for gatorade, pedialyte, popsicles & saltines.
one trip to the e.r. with a very dehydrated little girl.
one trip to the pharmacy.
lots and lots of diapers {eeeh. tmi?}.
lots of baths.

we tried giving serena milk twice and seriously regretted the decision both times! no dairy for at least two {probably three} more days. which is really a shame because last week i bought milk, cheese sticks, cottage cheese, and a whole lotta yogurt... all of which are getting closer and closer to their expiration dates.

we are a little stir crazy around here. today i put a tutu on serena and that entertained for a while. but mostly we're watching lots of disney channel and praying for no more throw up.

hoping for some healthier days ahead.

{these pictures are proof that even under the worst of circumstances, serena will still bring out the cheese for the camera!}

you know you love someone when.

you'll catch their vomit in your bare hands.

and you aren't upset when they throw up all over the carpet.
and all of their bedding.
and your neck & shoulder.
and the 3rd outfit you've changed them into.
and every towel in the house.
and the 3rd outfit you've changed yourself into.

{the joys of being a parent.}

some moments that make it all worth it:

looking back at her in the car to find her hugging and kissing her kitty very passionately.

how she mimicks my phone when it goes off. "droid."

the way she sings along to "all the single ladies". just the "oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh oh" part :)

checking in.

as i was making my bed this morning, i was thinking how awesome i have been doing on my new years resolution to make my bed more often. i bet there have been maybe 10 days that it has gone unmade this whole year. that's pretty good, no? {for someone who used to leave her bed unmade 80% of the time.}

then i got to thinking...

i wonder how i've been doing on my other resolutions?

i couldn't even remember what they were, which is a bad sign. so i'm checking in. here is the list i made in january:

sew something. {yeah. still haven't broken out the sewing machine. i am going to plan a sewing date with my mom TODAY.}

read the entire book of mormon at least once {including 2 nephi}. {working on it. hoping to finish before our november stake conference, like the stake presidency has asked!}

read all {or most} of the ensign each month. {eeeh. i do skim through it every month, but i'd have to do some serious back tracking to get this done. and that's kind of missing the whole point.}

cut back on tv. {eeeh.}

take a road trip. {sean is planning this one. hopefully happening over labor day weekend!}

attempt to be more frugle. {well. i have attempted.}

finish reading daniel deronda. {seriously, i will do this one day. maybe i'll bring it with me on my trip to d.c. in a few weeks.}

make my bed more often. {wahoo! i can whole-heartedly say that i've done this!}

get an external hard drive to back up all of my photos. {we all know how i learned this lesson the hard way. i can put a great big check next to that one.}

read to serena more often. {definitely have been doing this. mostly because she actually enjoys it now!}

see some fireworks {my july 4th was incomplete in 2009!}. {check!}

drink more water. {i haven't been so good at this one.}

go to bear lake. {still planning on it.}

be less quick to judge. {i sure hope so. i'll keep working.}

be more kind. {ditto.}

sincerely express love and appreciation more often. {ditto.}

how about you? how have you been doing?

a few things.

1. i counted at least 45 mosquito bites on my body from our campout. i have come to the conclusion that mosquito bites are the worst thing ever. two nights in a row i couldn't sleep because i kept waking to scratch and try not to scratch. ah! miserable. i'm kicking myself for not spraying on the repellant sooner.

2. thank heavens! we did find a reason for serena's severe crankiness last week. some nice big teeth coming in on top. one has a blood blister and is almost cut, but she's been much better the past 2 days. welcome back, sweet, happy serena.

3. the bachelorette was soooooo boring last night. so boring. and after the final rose was even more boring. the only thing i was looking forward to was seeing frank {why was he even going to be on final rose in the first place??}, and he backed out. lame.

4. this morning i accidentally ate breakfast twice. after breakfast #2 i realized that i had already eaten. then i felt really gross.

fhe.

last night we headed downtown for fhe. we wanted to see the new temple replica in the visitors center and visit the new deseret book store {which i hear is awesome}. serena was in heaven running around the temple grounds. but wow she flipped out when we wanted to take a picture with her. i got a decent one with her and sean, but she was done after that. seriously, she needs to be running all the time. after an hour of chasing her, we decided we were too hot and sweaty and just wanted ice cream, so we didn't make it to deseret book. next monday, maybe.