Grumblings

Why, hello there 2am. Nice to see you….AGAIN.

Itching, twitching, restless legs PLEASE relax!

It’s so hot in here!

I’m sooooo tired from waking up all night long last night, WHY can’t I fall asleep??

Can’t even count how MANY times I’ve had to go to the bathroom…must be a THOUSAND.

Shut off, brain. You’re shut off during the day, what’s wrong with staying off at night?

Dry throat…must…get…another drink of water.

Oh, PLEASE, don’t need to roll over. My separated muscles and taut skin can’t handle it even ONCE more.

Back pain, hip pain, pelvic pain. Why isn’t a memory foam mattress and three pillows enough?

I feel Rob breathing on me…argh…

Now I’m breathing on myself…argh…

Adjust arm positions. Adjust leg positions. Adjust head position. Repeat, repeat, and repeat.

 

Don’t mind me…only 28 more nights of this.

Pine Valley

While in St. George we ventured 40 minutes away to the Pine Valley Mountains to cool off (it was 106 degrees much of the time in St. George). It is a lovely little drive past a few volcanoes, through the tiny village of Pine Valley, and up into a small canyon.

Rob’s job was to get our supplies for the day and he somehow forgot most of what we needed. First, he realized he forgot to get cash to get us into the canyon, but the nice ranger let us in without having to pay the $2. Next, he forgot matches for the fire. We stopped at a little country store and the owner gave us some for free. Later, he realized he forgot ketchup for the hotdogs. I’ve never had a plain hotdog before and it surprisingly wasn’t bad, no doubt due to the fact that they were Nathan’s brand hot dogs. We didn’t have any skewers so we hunted for sticks. Just call us good, old-fashioned pioneery!!

The kids had a great time playing in the gentle stream among the trees, dirt, and Dale (a chipmunk). We cooked our hotdogs and had delectable fire-roasted marshmallows and then headed for home (but not before stopping for pie in Veyo).

This is how Nate’s first marshmallows came out.

After that, Rob showed him how to properly roast. This is Nate checking out the progress of his marshmallow.

  Awwwww. Perfection!

We had such a pleasant time that we headed up to the same area the next Saturday and had just as good of a time.

Does Anyone Else Miss Summer?

Simple Pleasures in St. George

Most of our trips are very planned. I love to make the most of whatever area we happen to be in.  But this time I just wanted to R-E-L-A-X. So we did!!

This was Rob’s office.

We went swimming.

 

We played at the park...

 

and in the backyard in our underwear. Well, some of us did…

      

 

We built spaceships for Abby the Cow...

 

Visited the temple…

And played in the red sand.

We spent some good, quality, unstressful family time together and we all agree it was great! Here’s to feeling refreshed.

Julie’s Maternity Portraits

Before our extended stay in St. George we went out to the Great Salt Lake Wetlands Preserve for some maternity portraits of our own Julianna! The kids were off running wild with some friends (thanks Penn and Kiersten) so we were able to focus, have fun, and get some great shots.  The light was excellent so we went natural light for these first 3 images.  I am awe struck with Julie’s beauty!  She is graceful, strong, and totally sexy. Am I a lucky guy or what?

For the rest of the images we turned around and used the sun as a backlight. We had a single SB-600 in a 45” umbrella on full power to rock these images.  We were going for a dreamy look. I’d say we nailed it.  :)

 

 

 

The Name Game

Deciding on a name for your new baby can be an arduous task. There are a million names that must be narrowed down to one. Girls grow up with a list of our favorites to name their future sons and daughters but when the time finally arrives, the list usually goes out the door and a start from scratch begins. It's hard enough for the mom, but she's got to convince the dad as well. This can be especially difficult if he's already got a name like, oh, I don't know, Theodore in his head. A big "no thanks" there.

It's been even more difficult this time around since we haven't found out the sex of the baby. So that's two names we've had to come up with. So far, this is what we have. I normally don't ask for opinions on naming since I don't really care what other people think. After all, I know I have good taste :) but I am a little curious and I know all of you are, too.

For a girl:

Olivia Maria

Olivia Julie

Rob and I are in love with the name Olivia but it happens to be the #1 girls name in Utah!! Wha??? I have only known one Olivia in my entire life and Rob doesn't know any. Do all of you know a lot of Olivia's?? I've also considered Jocelyn and Caroline.

As far as the middle name goes, I'm big into using family names. Both of our kids so far have middle names from the Snow side of the family so I want to use one from the Raines side this time. But there aren't that many to choose from. Maria is the one I really want to use and is after Grandma Maria, but does it sound good with Olivia even though they have the same "ia" at the end??

For a boy:

Caleb Brian

Caleb David

I've liked this name for a long time and I think it's the one, but every once in a while I question. I've also considered Jameson and Spencer. As for the middle name, it's after my brother, Brian David, who passed away a couple of years ago. But I can't decide which middle name I like better.

I'm open to suggestions, but seeing as I've been working on this for months I'm guessing most other names have been considered and tossed, so I'm mostly wondering which middle names we should go with and if Olivia is too common.

Opinions?

Our R&R Week

This last week has been so great. There has been a lot of rest and relaxation. We've enjoyed plenty of unstructured family time and far fewer distractions than we have at home. Here are some of the things that have made this last week cool.

• I haven't gotten out of my pjs until noon every day. YAY!
• Dish Network. This is a treat because we haven't had cable in about 4 years. We haven't even had a tv for almost 6 months!!! I've been catching up on HGTV and What Not to Wear. Rob has been enjoying all the 80s and 90s movies he grew up with. Nate has been enjoying watching a myriad of sports. Both kids love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Tom & Jerry.
• There is a great, very private backyard full of rocks that the kids enjoy every morning (it's too hot in the afternoon).
• Xbox. Nate's only played on a gaming system 2 or 3 times before so he loves practicing his racing. It makes me dizzy watching him, though. Too much swerving on the car's part and his!
• We have hardly any toys here so Madeleine has kept herself quite entertained with a shoelace and a box for the last 4 days. Oh, to be imaginative! It's great watching her.
• From the house we've seen a large lizard just as curious about us as we were him, a rabbit, two roadrunners, and two cockroaches.
• I've had time to actually work on our baby's denim rag quilt.
• We went to church yesterday and the kids did a fabulous job going to their new classes. One of the teachers told us that we have a very smart son. We agree :)
• We visited Pine Valley (pictures coming later) and the temple.
• Lots of napping!
• Good reading time.
• Taking baths in the deep tub.

So that's what life has been. Pretty nice, huh? We're really enjoying these simple times.

Photowalking with Nate

Near the end of June I took Nate out for a photowalk. We had a lot of fun walking around Layton Park checkout the wildlife. We started by playing at the park.

Then we started walking down the stream. When Nate was taking this image he thought we was shooting a goose up on a hill. He was very excited! When we got closer we discovered that it was a young couple kissing on the grass. LOL

Here is another one down by the river.

Here are some of Nate's pictures. :)

Settled in St. George

We are happily settled into our temporary home in St. George, Utah for the next 2-3 weeks. The house is wonderful, Rob will be done with work early every afternoon (after starting early in the morning), and I have a lot of plans. These plans are very detailed and intricate but include:

Absolutely nothing but RELAXING!!!!!!!!

I've been so stressed out due to...well...everything. I am now great with child and have been running around like a crazy person with a plethora of to-dos and various time commitments so now I am going to enjoy these weeks greatly by doing a WHOLE LOTTA' NOTHIN'.

'Cause when we get back, we'll have only 5 weeks 'til go time.

A Snowy July

July was busy. It always is, isn’t it? Here are just a few of the fun things we did.

 

Incredible 4th of July fireworks (smoke bombs, snaps, and flowers) at Grandma and Grandpa Williams’ home.

Running into the smoke.

 

Notice the ice down his shirt.

Rob snaps so many pictures I’ve started doing strange faces, just to make them a little more interesting.

 

 

Woodmansee Family Reunion up City Creek Canyon.

A few suspenseful rounds of speed. Bingo.

 

Hat-making.

Pinata.

 

The Bees game and fireworks with mom and dad Raines.

There are a lot more pictures and videos for family here.