to end the busy week of birthday celebrations for Q (where we added a new member to the family. his name is Ryu & he’s a fighter fish), we celebrated our 4th anniversary.

whew! feels like a lot longer, but a lot shorter too. however, according to that picture, its been a REALLY long time because chase looks like he’s 12 and i’m tan. both of which haven’t happened for an eternity.

we started the weekend with our gender revealing appointment in draper. dropped Q off at the in-laws. checked into our hotel at city creek. shopped. ate at the best bakery ever (hagerman’s), shopped some more. ate some more. saw hunger games finally, slept in until 8:00 (is that sleeping in to normal people or just to us?), ate some more, picked up our kid & called it a weekend.

how blessed i feel to be married to my best friend. one of God’s tender mercies for sure.
i love you chase.

that picture is yuck. in fact, i spent 10 minutes searching on wordpress on how to make it itsy bitsy so you could barely see it. to no avail.

but, it’s good to remember the gross times i guess?

so, i’m 15 weeks-ish. we already found out the gender, because like i already mentioned, i’m an impatient woman. we headed to fetal fotos two days ago and got to see the little guy.

pregnancy #2 has been different for me so far. the biggest difference is that i’m forced to be more active since i have a 1 year old zooming all around. last time i just laid in bed watching greys anatomy and true blood all day (and i mean that literally, all day). so this time, even though i’m more sick, i have more energy.

i still haven’t actually been sick, i just feel carsick 100% of the time. sometimes i wish i could throw up so that i could feel better, but it never happens.

i’m still tired, oh so tired. but i don’t have the luxury of napping all day this time either, so i’m just powering through it all.

my stomach is already very big. i’ve compared photos and at 13 weeks this pregnancy i have the same size belly as i did at 21 weeks with Q. it’s a bummer, but my dr. warned me that would happen since i started this pregnancy 15 pounds lighter than i was last time. i have only gained 2.4 pounds, and i’m trying not to let my hopes get too high for a normal weight range of 25-35 pounds because i know i can’t avoid the massive swelling that occurs around week 31 and gives me an extra 10 pounds of water. oh joy, it’s going to be an awesome summer (insert sarcasm).

but really, it hasn’t been as terrible as i thought it would be to be pregnant with a toddler. it’s actually been more fun. Q already has had the baby kick her numerous times because of her position when i carry her. she thinks its funny and kicks back, which hurts, but it’s also a motherly joy for me.

husband has been really sweet & has helped out a lot. not that i didn’t think he would, but it’s always nice to be reminded that the man you marry will take care of you & your child when you are out of commission. and he does a great job of it.

so, for now, until the swelling commences, i’m deeming this pregnancy tolerable!

i don’t know about this! i thought that i didn’t have a preference of the gender of this new baby, but when i was told it was boy, i freaked out a little. or a lot.

i don’t know about boys. i don’t know about what boys like to do. or wear. or eat? or want to be loved.

i’m sure my insecurities stem from the belief that if it was a girl, i would already know exactly everything that i needed to do. and i would have everything i need. but when the logical lindsey replaces the hormonal lindsey (for a very few short moments), i remember that each child is different, even if they are both girls.

so, little benjamin, we will take this mother/son journey together.

(but maybe with a little help of my mommy friends who have boys. because i already need it!)

it has been a busy month at our house and even though i’m not huge into documenting every little detail of our lives on the blog, there were some noteworthy things to post about, i guess.

first would be easter. we stayed in logan this year because now that we are grown-ups in a grown-up ward, we are trying to be better about not travelling every weekend like we are used to. hubs got put in as the sunday school president & i am a sunday school teacher, so it’s pretty hard to be gone very often.

we did our little family easter that morning and Q loved the empty easter eggs. then, after church, we headed to my parents for a BBQ and more easter egg hunts (mostly for the teens in the family).

Q in her easter dress

Mom & Q on easter

then, in the middle of april things took a turn for the worse around here. one afternoon i tied baxter up outside because his barking was driving me crazy while i tried to nap, but i woke up to find he had chewed through the leash and was no where to be found. after a while of searching i found him at a neighbors house, brought him back, locked him up, and we left for baseball games for the night.

we got home late that night so i didn’t bother to check on him, but the next morning i found a very weak dog who had spent the night throwing up in his cage. he couldn’t even stand because he was so weak. we took him to the vet immediately and were told he was severely dehydrated & that it seems he had eaten something poisonous while he had been lost the day before. they hooked him to and IV and kept him there for the next 2 days. unfortunately he didn’t show any progress while he was there & his kidneys shut down because of the dehydration & poison.

hubs had to leave on a business trip, but he was able to visit Baxter at the vet hospital the night before he left. he got some good kisses from his best friend, and the next day while he was on a flight to Boston, I had to put Baxter to sleep. it was one of the hardest things i’ve had to do.

the last time we saw baxter conscious

then, about 1 week later, the stomach flu hit our house. Q got it while her dad was still in Boston, so i was on my own. she was so sad & just wanted to lay next to me in bed all day. she barely would eat or drink, so the next day when i saw how dry her mouth was, we took her into the hospital. they hooked her to an IV and she laid on her dad’s stomach for about 6 hours while she got some fluids. all the while, i was at home curled in a ball sick too. chase really came through for me that day, taking care of both of his girls, and amazingly he never caught it!

Q napping on my chest after her day of IV's

needless to say, dehydration is something we are very much more aware of around here. it was a hard 2 weeks.

BUT–we were back and healthy again pretty fast and just in time for my brother-in-law Judd’s graduation from BYU. i don’t remember my ceremony being quite so long, but then again i wasn’t as far along in my pregnancy as i am now, so maybe that has something to do with it. it was a fun day to watch my lil sis be the supportive wife, and kind of gave me a reality check that she is grown up and soon to be moving far away for medical school. that will be super hard for me, so hopefully it’s not too far.

here you can see my 13 week belly. it looks like i’m 25 weeks, but oh well. i’m trying not to care how huge i get this time around. we’ll see though.

i haven’t been so great at taking prego pictures like i had planned to be, but i’ll try to get a post up soon (just for you mare!).
and as i already posted about, we ended the month with a birthday party for Q, which turned out to be pretty cute despite how uncreative & uncrafty i am.

and i have to put this picture in because it is so dang cute. my cousin Katie & Bo came over last week and we had a baby play-date with Q, Isabel and Oliver (Katie’s). Isabel doesn’t like boys, apparently. right after this picture was taken, Ollie went crashing to the floor because Izzy had pulled him over by his ear. i love babies.

we celebrated Q’s birthday on saturday, even though her birthday isn’t until tuesday, so that husband’s family could make it from down south. she had a blast and it was so fun to watch her open presents and eat her cake.

i love this little girl more than anything.

this month has gotten away from me. we haven’t really done anything noteworthy except spending time together, and that is more important to me than something i can take a picture of.

we found out at that i am expecting baby #2 and that has been thrilling. i have been wanting to be pregnant since Q was 4 months old, so it took a while, but i think the timing is perfect. the rule i set for myself is that i will never get pregnant without first having gotten back down to my original weight and that happened within the first 4 months (thank you food allergies), so i feel like my body is ready for it again. at least i hope. also, i always wanted my children to be pretty close in age and Q and this baby will be exactly 18 months apart. it will be a bit hectic, but it’s a dream of mine and we are so happy to be growing our family.

this was me on the day we found out. i am going to try really hard to remember to take pictures this time around. and i’ll try not to do them in front of a tv haha.

i am due on october 28 which puts me at about 10.5 weeks today. we went to the doctor last friday and got to see the little spawn and hear the heartbeat and everything looks great so far. i am always very nervous about that first appointment but now that i’ve had 2 healthy first trimester babies, my fears about having another miscarriage are dwindling. however, i know i will never be completely worry free until i have this baby in my arms.

we also found out that my cousins andrew & katie are expecting at the end of september so we are about 1 month apart. it’s going to be a lot of fun to have kids so close. i loved growing up with a lot of 3rd cousins my age, and surprisingly we are all pretty close, so it’s fun that we are now having kids of our own to have play together.

Q has been moving like crazy. one day it was just 3 steps, the next it was across the room. she is still walking with her hands above her head to keep her balance and it looks like she’s drunk because she’s always leaning to one side and is still very wobbly, but it is the cutest thing i’ve ever seen. i can’t wait for the coming days to see how much progress she’ll make and how far she will be able to go.

she is climbing on top of anything she can…boxes, coffee tables, couches, toys….and she’s throwing fits like a queen. i am going to have to read some books on how to cure your toddler of yelling and hitting when they don’t get their way. it’s so embarrassing to take her to a store and have her freak out if she can’t stand up in the cart or touch the items on the shelves.

but for the most part she is still our pleasant little girl. she gives hugs out like candy, but not kisses. you have to really earn a kiss from her, so when you get one it makes your day. she loves to play with her stuffed animals, and recently got her first dolly and she loves to give it kisses too. she chose a ‘blankie’ and now we can’t go to sleep if it isn’t touching her cheeks. she loves watching cartoons (bad mom! i know!). she eats like a champ and loves to be chased by her uncles. she really is at such a fun stage. i miss her being a baby, but it is very rewarding to see her learn to do things and give loves.

the other day we had a play date with her friend, Luke, and she loved the baby swing. later that day we set up our trampoline and bought a baby swing to put on our playset and she has been loving it. it’s so nice to have those things in our backyard so i don’t have to pack everything up just to take her to the park. plus, it’s been chilly here so it makes getting back into the warmth pretty easy.

other than the updates on the babies, we have just been enjoying life as it turns to spring. i love the longer daylight hours, they keep me from getting too depressed and we get more time to be outside enjoying our new little neighborhood. chase has been on a couple of business trips and when he was gone, i took a little trip to bountiful to spend time with my wonderful grandparents and cousins. i stayed for 2 days and it was really fun to see them and spend some quality time with family.

we are coming up on our 4th anniversary in a month, which is crazy to both of us. we both think that it feels like we’ve been together much longer, but also much shorter. it’s a weird feeling. but i know the really crazy feeling will be when that number hits the double digits and we’ve been together for a decade! we’re getting old.

but before we celebrate that, we are celebrating Q’s first birthday on May Day. i’m not the type to throw a huge party for a baby that doesn’t even know what’s going on, so we are going to keep it low key with just some family. i know, i’m letting down every pinterest-girl out there, but really, what’s the point of going all out and inviting 80 people. i just don’t get it.

and to finish the week of birthday and anniversary celebrations, we will be finding out if this critter is a boy or girl (gut says girl again) on may 4th. i will only be 15 weeks, but i’m a big fan of paying some extra dough and going to fetal fotos in salt lake. i am the most impatient girl in the world.

april is going to be a fun month!

little 10-month old girl has been up to a whole lot. in the past 2 months she has learned to do a lot of things by herself and it is really bitter-sweet for me.

everyone who has seen her recently is telling me that she is only weeks away from walking and that scares me. she is standing really well and is able to balance for about 10 seconds before falling. it’s really cute to watch her hold on to her bookshelf to stand up, then let go and balance. it looks like she is on a surfboard the way her little body wiggles trying to keep balance. ah, i love her.

a couple of weeks ago i took her to st. george, just her & i, to spend some girl time together. it was really fun, but about half way through i came home because i was missing husband too much. then we turned around 2 days later and drove back for his bike race {which he rocked}.

i really have too many pictures to post of her and not enough patience to wait for them all to upload, so i’m just going to post a few of the cute things she has been doing lately.

i can’t believe it’s been almost 2 months since i updated our blog. i started to go through the pictures and things that i wanted to post about, but there is just too much. i am going to try to consolidate it into a couple of posts.

in the past two months we’ve:

-moved & settled in to our new home. i don’t really have any other pictures to post of it right now, because i’m waiting until i have it mostly finished. i think there is about 1 week left of painting and adding the finishing touches and then i will do a before/after post of the new digs.

one of my best friends, angie, got married in december. i’m not sure if i ever posted about it, but it was a beautiful wedding. Q wasn’t feeling great so i couldn’t make it to their reception in springville, but it was in a barn and i heard nothing but raving descriptions of it.

besides spending a lot of time unpacking and making some minor repairs on the house, we haven’t had a ton of free time. but we did manage to get away for the Superbowl weekend and spend some time with orem-ite friends and family that we miss a lot. utah county always feels so much like home, it is sometimes hard to leave and come back up north.

we managed to get to a jazz game. if you know me, you know i am no sports fan. in fact i dread if i have to sit through a game. i do NOT fit in with the brammer family in that regard. but i supported the husband’s desire and went. luckily for me, the jazz were playing Kris Humphreys so i at least got to stare at some good looks while i had to sit through it. we took my little bros and it was a pretty good time.

today was izzy’s first birthday! she was so cute and so happy…..right up until the part where the pictures started.

because of her syndrome, she gets startled very easily (something to do with her hearing), and when everyone started singing “happy birthday” and staring at her she kind of freaked out.

she was not a huge fan of the photos and cake, but i still think it was so cute.

she is such an amazing little sister and a blessing to our family. i don’t think any child could’ve brought our family closer than her, she is really just an angel sent here to remind us of what really matters–family. happy birthday Iz!

and then we fed Q some cake and put the birthday hat on her to practice for her big day which is less than 4 months away!