Father's Day

Last year for Father's Day I gave Ben a set of BBQ utensils for the future BBQ we would get him when we moved to Chicago. Well this year, he finally got the BBQ to go with it! I actually let him get it on Memorial Day so we could get more use out of it, which I am glad because we have loved being able to grill! Now he feels like a real man :)

 On Friday we had an early Father's Day dinner/date night at, our favorite place to celebrate, Cheesecake Factory! Here's Ben enjoying his red velvet cheesecake we got to go.

 Sunday I made one of his usual dinner requests, chicken enchiladas, and another one of his favorites, trifle!

It would have been prettier if I didn't run out of strawberries for the top

Ben is a stud and is able to balance work, studying, being ward clerk, his new running routine, and putting up with his pregnant wife all so well. Yesterday I was sitting next to him and the baby kicked so hard he felt it on his side! I think it was her little way of telling him happy father's day :) We both adore him and can't wait to see his "daddy skills" in action...in less than 3 weeks!

37 weeks

Spring time update

We have been enjoying the past couple of months out here, so it's about time I blogged some of the pictures!
           -In May we had some friends, Ashton and Lydia and their little girl, come stay with us for the weekend. Ashton really wanted to see a Cubs game, and Ben and I still hadn't made it to one, so we ventured over to Wrigley Field. It was abnormally cold for May and pouring down rain the entire time, but we still had fun cheering on our Cubs!

      
           -The end of May my mom, grandma, and aunt Gayle came to visit us. My dad had made the baby a bookshelf and other cute things, and my sister gave us some baby equipment, so my mom and aunt drove all the way from WA to Chicago! (Thanks again ladies!!!) Luckily those two love a good road trip. While they were here we hit up down town (although traffic was horrible and we missed the boat tour, we still had fun doing our own little tour, and having our first taste of Garrett's Popcorn!), picked up my grandma who flew in, played games with Bryce and Camille, put up nursery decorations, organized baby clothes, and the highlight of the trip...went to X-FACTOR! The show was doing auditions and the Sears center and we ended up with amazing seats, with perfect view of Simon! The funniest part was that the show required the audience wear "club wear"....let's just say our version of club wear compared to other peoples was pretty humorous.

Ready for the club :)

       -The beginning of June some friends from my ward threw me a baby shower. It was so fun getting together with the ladies out here and I got some wonderful presents for the baby! I didn't get too many pictures, but it was a blast- thanks again Kristin, Janna, Amy, and Joy!

         -Our little town had it's "Community Days" last week and we loved it! I obviously couldn't do any rides, but we walked over to enjoy a funnel cake (Ben's favorite and my first time trying one) and to check out the happenings.

       
         -Baby update: I'm 36 weeks tomorrow and feeling ready for this little girl to be here! I'm really feeling the joys of pregnancy lately (still puke sometimes, heartburn, the occasional Braxton Hicks, waking up multiple times a night, and just feeling large and uncomfortable), and I ended up getting some bug that made me puke so much I became dehydrated which resulted in contractions about 2 minutes apart, and therefore a night in the hospital. We were very relieved that everything was just fine with the baby and it just gave us a tiny preview of our real trip to the hospital that is soon to come!

35 weeks

Baby Shower in WA

At the end of April I had the chance (thanks to my parents!) to fly to Washington for some fun family time and for a baby shower! Camille and her kids flew out with me, so between her, my sister, and mom, they planned an amazing shower.
The food was great and all of it was based around pink!

Becca planned a fun game that included a lot of candy (always a good thing)

So many sweet women showed up, including family from all over WA, Portland, and even Utah (thanks Leigh!), friends from church, where I first grew up, and best friends from high school.

We also used some of the adorable bird things my dad has made for my nursery as decorations.

Everyone was so sweet and generous, it was so much fun and made me even more excited for this little girl to get here.
I was having so much fun with my family that my sweet husband let me extend my trip a few extra days to get in more play time. It was my sister's birthday so we got in pedicures, shopping, eating out, and a lot of fun chatting. I love a fun trip home!