happyhappyhappy!

Yesterday we went & got an ultrasound!

We had no idea they were going to make a 3d picture for us there, too!

Uh, wow.

Here's our little girl.

It's a little smudgled because her feet & ankles are up in front of  her face, making it difficult for the tech to get enough pictures of her face to form this one.

I couldn't believe it when I saw it. It is the sweetest little face I have ever seen. I cannot wait to kiss those chubby little cheeks & nose & eyes & lips. I just love her so much. I cannot believe that is my baby. I cannot believe that she is in my belly right now!

I'm so in LOVE!

Our baby's heartbeat was good & strong this morning! 140s is what we LOVE to hear!

I love this girl so much. We have an ultrasound this afternoon. I get giddy for these ultrasounds possibly more than Christmas.  I cannot wait to see her again. It's been too long!

Our doctor told us today that they'll start doing weekly ultrasounds at 32 weeks.

Our doctor also said he has no idea if we'll carry to term or not. I'm so anxious to know, trying to work out finances & plan ahead with my work is really hard with the unknowns.

He said, though, that he'd be thrilled if we make it to 32 weeks, that she'd be in the NICU for a while, but that she shouldn't have lifelong affects from it at that point. He also said anything over 32 weeks we will count as icing on the cake!

That was weird & exciting all at the same time...that is only a few weeks away.

Is time fast forwarding somehow. We're 5-6 weeks away from that. That is really soon. Ah.

He said she's growing great & she is snuggled inside just like a little burrito!

I love her! 

Look what finally came in the mail!

I have been looking everywhere for one of these puppies!

This is the baby bath my mom had for all of us kids & I remember giving my little brother's baths when they were babies on the sponge.  Stores did not have them, though & I thought they were a lost item.

Hello, Amazon!

$6

Are you looking for a cheap & small baby bath? You can get one HERE.

We have had awesome luck finding things on the cheap. We work with a really small budget, but still have been able to find baby items either really cheap or second-hand.

It has been awesome!

Pretty much all the clothes I have bought have been on clearance for next year's season. (not to mention the adorable baby clothes we've received as gifts from my mom/sister/grandmother/etc.) I've just bought the size of clothes she will be that season next year!  Let's hope she's not too big or small for them or she'll be wearing cute tank tops underneath her winter coat!

Saturday was our gut/clean/organize day. Nevermind that we spent ALL day in one room.

And that the power went out.

That's what headlamps are for.

We got the nursery room which was our junk collector/guest room before.

It is still the guest bedroom & Weston's study & the room w/ his closet in it, but it is now also our nursery.

I know that we will only have the baby just right before we move, but I still just really wanted to get things set up for her. It helped w/ my sanity to know that we're gearing up for it & ready for our special little lady this fall.

We started the evening at the mall foodcourt for dinner. Remember, the power had been out?

Then we went to home depot & got the hardware to fix our awesome second-hand cradle. 

It looks like a college dorm nursery. & I don't even care, I love every bit of it. We have to conserve space & our set-up is perfect.  I can't wait for her to come!

Sunday I'd felt like I'd been hit by 4 trains. And seriously, if you are wondering "How bad can one room be?" It can be really bad. It was Weston's junk room, plus the storage of everything we're afraid to store in our garage. It was a DISASTER! I gutted that room for a preliminary round on the fourth of July. The REAL deep cleaning & gutting would have to be saved for When he's home w/ me at the end of the summer & boy does it look amazing now. Ah, you should see his closet, too. I think I fell in love with him all over again. And you can see the floor. Ah, nothing says love like cleanliness :)

Now to gut/clean/organize our bedroom, that will only take about an hour, but still, I cannot wait till that is attacked sometime this week!

Proud Wife!

WESTON IS NOW OFFICIALLY A NATIONALLY CERTIFIED PARAMEDIC!

Lurve. Totally in lurve.

Yesterday we made an outing to SLC to do some baby errands.

Oh & for Weston to take his national certification exam.

Waiting for results is really hard.

I decided to finagle my work hours & we'd make it a date to celebrate his hard work & finally taking his exam!

We used a gift card my parents had given us for Valentine's Day to Cheesecake Factory! Thanks & yum!

(I love their Skinnilicious Ceasar Salad.)

We also stopped in Taylorsville to buy a Boppy from an ad on KSL.

(I am a germaphobe to make sure it's smoke/pet free home & then reassess that the person looks clean when I buy that stuff! Don't you worry.)

It was very successful.  

We couldn't be in SLC & not stop at the Traverse Mountain Outlets on our way back.

The baby stores there melt my heart.  Hello, Gap Outlet. I wish they had an entire Baby Gap there.

We got her "take home from the hospital outfit." It is the coziest thing you've ever seen. I want to snuggle with it already. I don't have a good picture of it right now, you just may have to see it on her when we actually take her home! I hope it fits her!

I have been dying to share this with you. My mom came into town last weekend for Weston's graduation & brought me a surprise! She had made me a maternity dress that will also be wearable post baby (once I get this tummy flat!) It is so cute & with the scraps of that dress she made a baby dress. OF COURSE! It's amazing. Seriously, it is so cute, & I feel bad, because I just might have given it a way bigger reaction than the dress, which I LOVE also. I just die over anything baby girl.

She also made a matching headband.

My mom makes quality stuff. It is SUCH an adorable dress & seriously I cannot wait to dress her in it. These hand made items from my mom are priceless to me & I know that our little one will treasure them, too.

I might have forced coerced Weston to go inside H&M with me while we were at Fashion Place Mall to just "look" at their baby section.

I've been earning some extra side money that we decided could be spent on baby items, I've just been wanting to get some warm cuddly outfits for our little girl when she comes, all the clothes we have so far are for next summer & so on.

This little onesie is so cute! It is lined with soft jersey knit fabric and the outside is fleece. We loved it!

If this little girl is anything like her mom, she's going to freeze to the bone in the Utah winter...so I'm getting stocked up with warm things to take her outside the house in!

 Again...warm and snuggly.

She owns 2 pairs of fuzzy shoes already.

The brown ones I got from Babies 'R Us a few years ago when we started trying to get pregnant.

The fuzzy white Ugg-like boots we got at H&M last night.

Our baby will not be cold!

Plus they're way too cute to pass up.

This up coming weekend has been on my calendar for months as our GUT THE HOUSE & clean it floor to sealing. Fall cleaning. I've been dying to do it, but really have not had the energy, time, or back pain-freeness.  But I decided, this Saturday is the one. THE cleaning day.

Last night Wes & I were talking about our plan of attack for Saturday & I started going through my craft supplies. I wanted to condense it to 2 plastic drawer sets instead of 3 so that we could use the 3rd one for baby supplies.

I was crocheting something last night & went to grab something out of my craft bins & if you give a moose a muffin....

A half hour later those drawers were all gutted, there was a ginormous trash bag next to my bins full of leftover craft supplies & Weston was 409-ing the heck out of those puppies.

Another half hour later they are our little girls' new dresser & her old one, which was smaller, is now holding random supplies that we've been given through samples & blankets etc.

It felt so good.

While we're on the topic, can I just give my awesome husband a shout-out?

When I haven't been working or on the run, I have been totally sprawled out on the couch. I have had sciatica so bad. Honestly, I think it's a lesson to me to chill out & relax, though. My mom tells me to do that every time we chat.

Anyway, with all of that going on, it's hard to keep a clean house when you're just living in it & not cleaning it as you go. That's where Weston steps up. He has been doing the dishes every night & making dinner every night. & then cleaning up from dinner every night. & making our bed. & vacuuming. And cleaning the bathroom. And hanging up my clothes. Honestly, could I have scored a better support than Weston?
I don't think so.

I tell him all the time how awesome he is. He doesn't believe me that what he does is extraordinary at all. One day, I hope he sees how truly awesome all of that is to me.

I also loves how excited he is in the process. The ultrasound techs, doctors & nurses love Weston. They always comment on how attentive & involved he is & how rare that is.

Featured

I have to give a shout out to an awesome blog.

You can find it at beausandblossoms.com

My friend Ashley launched it earlier this year & it is one of my favorite reads. Her & her friend started it together. It has different life events, DIYs & adventures.

They are both such cute girls & you should check out their site!

I was featured on it a few weeks ago here, but was swamped & did not have a chance to give it a shout out then. I promise you'll love it!

Our little bean!

This little babe is inside my belly!

I love her so much. I cannot believe how fast she is growing and how close we are to d-day! Ah! When did time start going twice as fast?

She is growing really rapidly and is now 2 lbs. 9 oz. I cannot get over it. She's measuring 2 wks ahead! Come on doctor! Move up our date! :) I'm getting anxious to meet our girl!

Life is so so sweet. If you need me sometime in the next couple months i'll probably just be sitting in a corner staring at this picture of my baby.

Friday night after the wedding we just wanted to unwind from an insane summer.

We needed some serious R&R Want to know what we did?

We made baby shoes & watched Annie!

Weston really enjoyed it actually!

We had such a fun & relaxing afternoon/evening.

 Our first pairs. They aren't the best, but I am excited to work on perfecting the art & making them wider...because let's be honest, this baby isn't going to have ski feet too long after birth!

I suspect she'll chub right up!

 I also dyed fabric for a baby blanket. Dying fail, my color turned out not a thing like I was attempting.
Babies love being swaddled in bright orange, right?

 This is probably Punjab inspired.

I also got these two new fabrics for a certain project that I'll post after I've finished. I had a couple hiccups working on it yesterday! I am so excited, though, & am so happy to have time to create again!

a trip to the hospital

The day before the wedding I was having some weird symptoms & issues.

I called the doctors office & they said to just take it easy. Later I had some other issues & the nurse told me to go home & if it happened again to go to L&D.

Weston was freaked out with the thought of being told to go to L&D. I told him, I was freaking out until I knew there was something that I needed to freak out about.

I always feel bad calling the office & so I try not to do it, thankfully they're always so nice & understanding when I call with a concern.  I always preface it with "I'm sorry, this may be a really dumb question, but this is the first time I've ever been pregnant & I have no idea what are 'red flags' & what's normal!"

I went home from work & took a good long nap. We're talking a 2 hour nap. I cannot remember the last time I had a 2 hour nap, but oh my gosh. Maybe it's because it was Shark Week, but seriously it was a REALLY GOOD NAP.

I woke up & had some more of those symptoms & so off we went to L&D. They hooked us up to the monitor & yet again we had another medical person freak out about how active our baby is & also how low she is. Don't you worry, I can feel just how low she is. Ow.

It was fun hearing her heartbeat & we also laughed about how low the heart monitor for the baby had to be to even get her heartbeat. & then the loud noises over the speakers when she'd flip.  Then we'd have to readjust it & find her heartbeat again.  Little stinker.

I love it so much when she moves. She seriously is flipping around all the time all day/night long. It is the best part of every day!

This was our view outside of our room. Uhm, can we please get this room again when the real deal comes in a few months??!

 The sunset was gorgeous, too! 

 I don't know what all that stuff means, but her heart rate was great!

Everything turned out to be OK which we were thrilled about! The alternative was being in the hospital on bed-rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. No thanks! 

We decided to take our 25 weeks picture! Our due date is the 23rd of November for our induction, hallelujah! If we make it that far. I just tell our baby 'Stay in there as long as you need to be to be healthy...then you're more than welcome to hop out!'

 Happy campers to get to go home!

 We had a fun time acquainting ourselves w/ where our little babe will be all wiped down & foot stamped, etc! Weston is a little bit excited!

This little bean loves giving us a run for our money!

Weston's sister got married on Friday & it was a great ceremony!

The sealer was hilarious & quick, which was awesome, because I swear this summer all the sealing rooms have not had A/C or maybe I'm pregnant during a record breaking heatwave in Utah. Hmm, either way, so not cool.

Kellie was a beautiful bride & Lane is a pretty cool cat. We're excited to have another boy join the Brinkerhoff clan!

Our side of the tracks has had a seriously busy summer!

My sister got married in June, then a best friend in July & then a sister in law this weekend.

Not to mention all my side commission photography jobs. On top of working full time.

I have to say, I've got a pretty rockin' self esteem from the amount of work I'm able to squeeze into a day.

but I am embracing the fall with fully open arms!

Good-bye record breaking hot summer & hello relaxing times with cooler fall weather & baby right on the horizon!

Our little bean is growing like a weed beanstalk.  She is healthy & so active.  When I'm laying on the couch at night I just watch my stomach do dances that before I'd only seen in cartoons.  I LOVE feeling her move. It is seriously the most miraculous and incredible feeling. Weston loves feeling her move & is always shocked when he feels a super-charged kick or punch. Our next ultrasound is in 2 weeks & I am so anxious to see her again. She measured 1.1 pounds about 3 or 4 weeks ago & in my pregnancy 24 week e-mail on Monday it said she should now be weighing 1.1 pounds.  I can't imagine how much she actually weighs right now since she's definitely not on that site's schedule.

I watch our ultrasound movie almost embarrassingly often & watch her sucking on her thumb & then her bottom lip. Oh my goodness, it just makes it so real seeing her doing very real baby things.

Ah, I love her.

Talking to my mom a few weeks ago,  we were talking about something from last year & I told her how it's hard to imagine ever not being pregnant.  I love it so much. I was nervous that my body would look weird pregnant or that I would not feel beautiful with this big balloon in front of me. 

I know she's going to continue to grow & more changes are to come. Sometimes I look down & feel like that 10 yr high school reunion man with a beer gut.  Despite that, though, I really feel beautiful. If only, in the confidence of knowing that my body is doing something completely miraculous. I cannot understand how a woman can be pregnant & not know that God lives.

Weston, EMT-P

 My mom & dad were supposed to roll into town Thursday night around midnight. We were just going to see them at Weston's graduation Friday morning. Then this beautiful face came strolling into my work Thursday around 2. It was amazing. My boss let me check out early & we busted out of town!

We went down to Salem & my mom helped me clean my entire apartment. She is incredible.  Weston & I were planning on doing it that evening! 

 I pop these babies like Pringles.

She treated us to dinner at Firehouse Subs. Btw, if you've never been there...GO!

 Friday morning on our way to Weston's paramedic program graduation ceremony.

 He's so handsome!

 There were great speakers at the ceremony!

I'm so proud of my paramedic!

 Rachel, EMT-P.

 Giving some credit to the little bean!

 Weston & the program director, Captain Allred.

 Returning his fire uniform.

 Weston's parents gave him a very nice engraved pen for his graduation.

 This building has been home to Weston for about a year throughout his EMT program & the entirety of his paramedic program.

 The graduate chose Cafe Rio for his lunch of choice & Brick Oven for dinner with his entire family & my parents! 

 After lunch we went to Cabela's per Weston's request & spent a few hours of fun looking around!
My parent's gave Weston a Cabela's gift card as a graduation gift & he was too excited about it!

 Hello deer Dad!

We definitely stopped at the baby stores in the outlet malls.

I am pretty sure, Weston, Dave & my dad enjoyed it just as much as my mom & me. For real, no sarcasm. 

 My parents are obviously very concerned that we don't have a name nailed down yet :)

No, I have a lot of favorite names, but am really having a tough time finalizing anything. My mom & dad got us this book & we all looked through it reading different names.

Let me say, any of the names Weston & I pick will be better than a third of the names in that book. People are a little loco sometimes.

 We played games in every spare second in the hotel lounge!

 I took her bridals in the morning & then that afternoon Weston's sister went through the Mt. Timpanogos temple on Saturday & afterwards we all met for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Hello 10 new pounds from this weekend...

(thank you mom & dad for treating us! You are so kind!) 

Weston's mom's birthday is in just a couple weeks! So she got the good Texas Roadhouse birthday song & saddle ride! She was such a good sport!

 Sharing a bed with Weston is like sharing a bed with someone who takes up the entire bed.

It was a great weekend! Weston is so happy to be done with his program & I am so proud of the hard work he has invested into his paramedic degree.  He is now preparing for applying to PA school & will hopefully be starting that in 2015. Whew, school is a wild ride.

Life is good & I am tired & my back hurts so bad all I can do is waddle around today!  

Our baby girl is growing quickly & really well. She is strong & active!

We are so excited to meet her!