A Staple to Remember

There are soo many things I am hoping to remember for when this next little girl comes along. After a lot of trial and error with the first one I do feel a lot more confident this upcoming time around. Then as soon as I focus on that confidence I feel like I will probably have double the prego brain and forget everything that worked so well with Brooklynn. Or this baby will be completely different and I'll be consumed with the stress that I'm just not doing it the same, or right or if anything I knew now will work!
The things I'm mainly focusing on are schedules, little tricks for the tough times, when and how to best introduce new things, etc.
One staple in particular that I wish I was more prompt on in the needed times is FROZEN PEAS. Sometimes and especially lately Brooklynn will have random pouty, fussy or even outbreaks of sadness or discomfort. I honestly believe teething is the root of it once they are this age. She has molars coming through and I can only imagine the pressure those ones create. I've often tried to distract her irritable state with books, t.v., sippy cup, toys, even attempted putting her down for an unscheduled nap which only increases her fury most of the time BUT there are moments where I take a step back and a light bulb flicks on and I remember those little treasures in the freezer door. They have worked 90% of the time and they sure worked this morning. You can still see the blotchiness in her face as she was only crying seconds before shoving handfuls in her mouth.

June & July Recaps

I really don't recommend myself or anyone else to wait this long without posting such important events. Realistically most springs and summers don't kick off and stay as crazy as this one has been for us. I was very generous in NOT slapping more photos than this in one post but I wanted to be able to post a few that were important to me or illustrated the important events that I can't let slip by without recording. Like I have said before, this is my journal for the most part and I want to be able to look back and know what we've been through together as a family, and for my children and other family and friends to know too.

We kicked off the spring with some very special events, one being that we were able to drive up to Edmonton and be there with Jenna as she received her endowments. It was so nice to see her take that step and it reminded me soo much of when I had my special experience of going through the temple. The Edmonton temple is pretty much the same as Montreal and therefore the session was pretty much the same as what my first experience was like. We were lucky to have found babysitters for the evening and being able to be in the temple with Jason is a very sweet thing indeed.

At the end of June we watched Jenna and Cam get sealed in the Cardston temple for time and eternity, another awesome thing to be a part of and witness as family members. This picture was taken at their reception in Magrath AB.
The following night they had a reception at Elbow Springs Golf Course. Leslie really jazzed things up in the banquet room where it was held and it looked fabulous.
Unfortunately our little Miss Brooklynn was cutting a few molars that weekend and was being a "chunk" all too often. However she looked pretty stinking cute in her dress and headband. Jenna chose some fun colours to work with, however it took my FOREVER to find a dress/ outfit to work at that time of year. None of my brown skirts fit me very well due to my pregnant belly.

Because Jenna got married at the end of June there was a TON of Jason's family visiting. One family in particular that I am always excited to see was his Aunt Christie and her family. They stuck around for the following week and captured all the Canada Day festivities (which are pretty weak in Alberta) and we just did some family bbq's and played at the wave pool. We also went to Butterfield Acres while they were here and it was our first time. It was GREAT! Brooklynn got a little feisty with the goats and sheep when they wanted to eat her food. She was whacking them in the face and shoving them away sometimes but they didn't care. She failed to understand that the pellets in the ice cream cone she was holding was for them to enjoy, not her. Above is a picture of her on her very first pony ride.



She was absolutely wasted by the end of the day, as was I.
In June we also had a fun birthday celebration for my friend Lindsay. We filled the church gym with friends, family, food and a GIANT bounce house. This thing was huge- a slide, an obstacle course, bball net and trampoline area. I don't really know who enjoyed it more, the kids or the parents? OH and did I mention we had the sweet hook-up of getting it for FREE!

We also rented a sumo mat and suits. This is Jason and my brother setting up for a pretty intense match.
After a minute of two you are just completely exhausted, I'm not sure if either took a win but it was very entertaining none the less.
Yes we had Steve her for a couple weeks while was really cool. Me having moved out when he was 14 has made the distance tough at times when we want to have a close relationship as siblings. I feel like we caught up, and he got to know Jason and Justin a whole lot more and Brooklynn. She loves him and it was so nice to have him around for the time.


Enjoying some pina colodas at Julios with Uncle Steve, Austin and Lisa. Brooklynn was in heaven and I don't think she's had that much sugar in one night since.




We had a zoo date with Lisa and Sadie. A zoo pass is something we will definitely have to invest in if we end up staying in Calgary next summer.
And last but not least I celebrated my 26th birthday.

A Little Sister!

We found out about 2 weeks ago, and it's not that I wasn't excited to post about it because I was. It's just that the last 2 weeks have been a blur and in the midst of that we wanted to find a fun and neat way to share the news with our families before going "public".
Our appointment was on July 21st. Initially we had made a card that we wanted to see if the tech would circle or write the gender inside of. This way we had the option of knowing, or just one of us knowing. I was really set on keeping it a surprise, even if at times I thought I couldn't last I still wanted to go for it. So needless to say the tech wouldn't go for our "card idea" Apparently EFW can't do that because as soon as they write anything down it becomes legal. Which I understand but was obviously disappointed.
She was really nice throughout the whole appointment, and apologetic for not being able to do what we hoped for but simply mentioned that most people who wanted it written down, do want to know. In our case Jason REALLY wanted to know.
We had made a deal beforehand that IF we couldn't use the card we would decide in there. When the tech was checking the gender for herself Jason felt over confident that he knew what it was. I couldn't make anything it out for the life of me because it was all so blurry and she didn't zoom in at all. I was leaning towards the thought that we were having a boy because I had a super intense dream that this was a boy only a few nights before which sort of shocked me because I kept thinking, "what do I do if this baby is a boy?" I don't know what it's like to have a son! Not that I didn't want a boy, it's just that I would've had to digest that one a little while, along with plenty of excitement. :)
The neat part was that Jason had a dream the night before the ultrasound and woke up telling me he thought it was a girl. He even dreamt she was called a certain "nickname" to the name that I had been fighting so hard to have for this little girl, he was never very excited about it... So not only was he right about the gender, he decided he really liked that name after it was what he knew her as in his dream -YEEAAH! When he shared this with me it made my heart melt and I don't think it was just a dream he had but maybe some divine revelation!
So there you have it, a family of 4 is in the works and I'm thrilled to have two little sisters that I call daughters. I have a great relationship with my sisters and the thought of me watching Brooklynn and this little girl grow and become best friends is a blessing and opportunity I feel so blessed to be a part of, and Jason too. He is such a wonderful daddy, and if this one if anything like Brooklynn she is SURE to be a daddy's girl also.