laugh. out. loud.

During Christmas my family got family pictures and a few weeks ago my mom showed me a few of them and how they turned out.

I looked at this one and laughed out loud. Like, belly laughed with tears. 

Look closely, can you see what is so funny?...

Initially you might think that it is that I slightly resemble Quasi Moto (and that is a part of it) but the other part is the fact that I basically look like I have go-go-Gadget arms. 

Funny hilarious, right?

It is really Jenny's arm on the far left and Brooke's on the far right - but they both just look like mine - and far too long to be normal. 

It just struck me as so funny and now I can't look at this picture the same - makes me laugh every time.

On a side note, don't I have such beautiful sisters/sister-in-laws? 

These girls are my best (and only) friends and I don't know what I would do without them.

so this is love...

There were a lot of things that made me fall in love with Cameron right from the start:

his ability to listen (it still amazes me to this day the amount of my babble he will listen to - like really listen to)

his kind heart (that shone through like gold from the very start)

his affinity for school supplies (if you know me at all, you know this basically made me fall in love on the spot)

he is my "tall, dark, and handsome"

the fact that he turned my cold-as-stone-i'm-over-dating-heart to mush on our first date

his "up for anything" attitude (trust me, he has gone along with a lot of things for me)

but one of the biggest things that sealed the deal for me:

his equal love for Diet Coke

Granted this was a bit of a learned habit, but once he was on the bandwagon, he loved it like I did. 

I can't tell you how much use we got out of our coke cards on the ship on our honeymoon. It sounds stupid, but I love that our "treats" are often running to Maverick (which btw - is our favorite thing, we live by the best maverick) or McDonald's and getting fountain DC's. 

So when this past January Cameron took on a challenge with Jake and Candice to only drink milk or water for the whole month, I was more than a little sad. 

But let me tell you, when February 1st rolled around, this boy was so ready for that ice cold, bubbling, McDonald's Diet Coke (yes, McDonald's hands down has the best diet coke).

I decided to take a long lunch and surprise Cameron at work with his first one of the year.

The liquid gold didn't disappoint - can you tell?

side note: i know i joke a lot about my love for diet coke and while it may come across as an addition, i have everything firmly under control.

this post also in no way means to diminish the love I have for cameron when i state diet coke capped it all off - i'm not that crazy

Perfect Saturday

Do you know those days that come along that make you think "I wish I could just make time stand still"?

Today was one of those days.

The morning was filled with lounging around for hours in bed (I love these times that I get to have Cameron all to myself and we seem to have endless things to talk about - I don't know how it is possible to love him more every day), breakfast in bed (thanks to Cameron), oldies playing in the background, and a nap - all before noon. 

The afternoon was filled with some productivity. We got some grocery shopping done, stopped by the library (which we love), grabbed some McDonald's Diet Coke's, and picked up some needed items for our next baby project - the furniture.

We got a good start on it and got it all sanded and primed (this project is turning out to be so easy after doing our kitchen - that was a welcome surprise).

After dinner and the gym, the night was capped off with one of my favorite treats (Yogurt Stop) and lounging around together.

There was nothing overly special about the day - but it was one of those days that I got to spend all my time with Cameron, struck a balance of laziness and productivity, and thought to appreciate these days before we add our little one.

 

Life is good.

i wanna be your friday night

Is there anything better than getting to Friday?

There just seems to be something so refreshing about getting to the end of the work week and having this small sense of freedom for the next two days.

Friday night seems to be the highlight of it all.

Well tomorrow it is finally Friday again and I can't wait.

Cameron and I have been really trying to have a date night and done pretty well.

- Last week we went to The Pie and the U of U gymnastics meet.
- Tomorrow night we are off for a special couples massage (yep, 2 hours of a massage, soaking tub, and foot scrub - sounds like heaven right?). It's part of our Valentines from last year and combining this year - I'm pretty excited.
- Next week we have a bowling night planned with my family.

I guess I am having the "end is in sight" feeling and want to soak up every minute I get alone with Cameron - for I know those minutes are numbered.

It's like dating all over again - I just really like the guy and he's taken my Friday nights up a notch (and they were pretty good before).

Needless to say - I'm pretty excited for my Friday night tomorrow.

Nursery Projects

I had every intention of blogging about the wonderful weekend we had (including a date night on Friday) and not let my blog get sucked into constant baby babble - but I took one picture on our date on Friday and quickly realized that I probably won't post another picture of me on my blog for a while - this pregnancy is not doing me any favors...

So, needless to say, you are getting more baby updates (sorry). 

This weekend kind of marks the end in some ways - we have most everything bought that we need to bring Baby Clark home. Now just comes the putting everything together, a few projects, and actually getting the room to actually look like a nursery.

Saturday started out with inheriting 2 dressers from my mom's childhood. Her sister and her each had one of these growing up and my aunt was now getting rid of them - I was the lucky one who just happened to need a dresser and lucked out with two.

They have vintage charm for my vintage-meets-modern nursery and with a fresh coat of white paint, possibly some new pulls, and a little bit of trickery, they are going to look like one solid piece of furniture and perfect for a lamp, decor, and changing pad on top and storage of all things little and baby.

Can't you see the potential? (and the messy state of the room - it's a work in progress clearly - but don't you love that bird print that was donated oh-so-generously from my sister? I love a good cast-off)

Today I moved on to working on the crib sheets and car seat cover. We are going neutral (obviously) and found that it was going to be far better (both style-wise and financially) to make our own things. I bought 4 different gray pattern fabrics to make different sheets, and the most adorable colorful lining for the car seat cover. Now all I need is some more energy to finish all the bending over (which is surprisingly exhausting), cutting, and pinning and a trip to my mom's house to get it all sewn.

Our living room has now been transformed into the craft room...

(sorry for the crappy pictures - my actually camera is broken... boo)

Things are definitely underway, but as I am a little nervous for the actual arrival of this babe, the crib going up and the room getting pulled together is probably a ways down the road. I can't having it feeling too real too soon. I'm still working on wrapping my head around the fact that we are even having a baby.

it was love

... at first sight.

I found this lovely diaper bag and I can't get it out of my head - although the price tag does seem to keep bringing me back to reality. Does it really have to cost that much?

It's a beauty though, right?

0-5 for 48 Hours

It all started Friday night...

We picked up the Jensen kids (yes, all 5 of them) and headed to our little abode. The kids were so excited and the girls were thrilled that we happened to all be wearing essentially the same outfit. Cute, right?

Our weekend consisted of drawing (lots of drawing - Andrew probably spent hours drawing and loved having his own person tutor in Cameron)

The kids discovered the fun of Twister and played and played and played...

We also introduced them to checkers. It was a bit of a bittersweet thing to teach them - it kept them entertained but we were constantly refereeing and trying to help them understand the rules and strategies. 

Of course there was lots of movie/TV watching - and this was all just by Friday night - are you exhausted yet? We were.

The next morning after breakfast and clean-up - our cleanup turned into parachute with the blanket among whatever else we could do to entertain them for the morning.

With torrential rain outside, we were basically stuck inside. Since I happen to be well versed in the sneaky ways of moms, we took the group to McDonald's - it's amazing what endless diet coke and a play-place will do for the psyche. We wasted a good two hours there - which was heaven.

The rest of Saturday was spent with some quiet-time (in which some of the girls took naps), more twister, drawing, checkers, etc.

We killed some energy with tag while I made dinner - which proved to be a perfect time killer too, those kids have so much energy.

After dinner was making cookies, eating ice cream, and one more movie.

Sunday morning was probably the biggest reality check to what is in store. We had everyone up, fed, bathed, hair blown dry, dressed, and to church one time - at 9:00. Crazy right? It's probably easy to do once - but I don't know how any parents with kids get to 9:00 church on time. Cheers to you!

After feeding the kids, watching some more TV and packing up we returned these little darlings to their parents.

It was a fabulous weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute with these cute kids. They were so well behaved and I loved the little special moments I had with each one of them (including Morgan getting to feel the baby kick - second only after Cameron felt it for the first time right before - very exciting).

But when it was 3:00 and we came back home to a very quiet house I was ok that my days as a mom are still a few months away.

Because right now, this is how I can recuperate...

Thanks for letting us take your kids Trent and Amy - and for letting us return them.

The Belly

 I decided to finally take my first "belly" picture.

My belly is starting to look somewhat like a baby-belly (instead of just me getting chubbier - which I definitely am) so I thought I would share:

23 weeks

I still can't believe there is actually a baby in there - but I know the reality of that will come all too quickly so I'll enjoy my manageably small baby belly, overall comfort, and try to soak up these last few "normal" weeks of my life.

THE Beard

This is Cameron and how he looks about 99% of the time since I've even known him:

Now, if you haven't seen Cam for the last couple of months this next picture may shock you, but this is how Cameron now looks (disclaimer - Cam beard is a bit fluffed out here so it doesn't always look this crazy):

Quite a difference, right? Cameron got this great/crazy/fun idea to grow out his beard until Ragnar. This is where I tell you that Ragnar is still 3 months away - can you imagine what it is going to look like at that point?

Let me give you an idea:

I'm pretty sure this is a good indication of what my husband may look like - it's a good thing I find him adorable no matter what.

Our only agreement about this is that he shaves it to his more "normal" length before the baby comes. I think it is a fair agreement, right? He didn't argue with it and I think he will actually be ready to shave it far before Ragnar - but I think he'll stick it out...

What To Do...

During one of the times I got to see my sisters this weekend (I was lucky enough to see them all twice), I started hitting them up for baby advice. What to get, what not to get, what specifics I might like, etc.

We got on the topic of strollers - one thing I have been back and forth on quite a bit. I got lots of great information as well as a few suggestions. One being this:

The Phil and Ted's Explorer

Which I just happen to love - car seat adapter for clip in, a kit for a second child, jogging capabilities - basically all the bells and whistles. 

And a price tag like this: $$$

The hard thing is not only is the stroller expensive - we have to buy a car seat, the adapter, and then the double kit all on top of the price of the stroller. So that price tag is more like this: $$$$

Now I have stroller envy - my other cheaper option:

  has a price tags like $ and has little to now bells or whistles and just fits the car seat until the next to nothing option comes in (a $15 umbrella stroller) when the car seat isn't needed.

Not nearly as appealing, right? Which is reality.

So now I am embattled to make a big decision - make a (large) investment upfront and get a nice, multi-purpose stroller or make due with "a 1/3 of the price tag" option?

Suggestions? Advice? Direction? 

I'll take any of it...