my inappropriate husband

I probably shouldn't share this story publicly, but whatever. Eric totally brought it on himself :)
Eric came with me to my 10 week appointment. We were so excited to finally be able to hear our baby's heartbeat, that's all we could think about! The nurse (I don't know what else to call her) came in and started asking me a mile long list about my pregnancy. Morning sickness? No. Bleeding? No. Head aches? Sometimes. Increased irritability? Eric decides to pipe in with an "Ooooooh yeah!" Thanks for that, babe. Tender breasts? "Mmmhmmm!" The nurse looks at him out of the corner of her eye and you could tell she didn't quite know how to react to that one. I just started laughing because I felt awkward for her! She asked him how he knows?... And he proudly tells her that he's "a married man, duh!" Honestly? How could he not know? I complained about it all the time before I found out I was pregnant :) As the questions continue they are supposed to ask if the baby is for sure Eric's, but instead of asking, they just stated that they knew the baby is Eric's. My brilliant husband thought it was super funny to say, "Well, I guess we'll find out when the baby's born, won't we?!" I was looking for the duct tape at this point. The man needed to be stopped :)
The next thing the nurse tells me is that I was going to have a pap smear... oh joy! She leaves the room so that I can get ready for the procedure and I told Eric how awful this procedure is. I told him that I expected seriously sympathy from him. He reassures me that he will be a loving, sympathetic husband! Right. The doctor comes in and they have me lay down on the table, and Eric sit in a chair that is facing my feet. So he has the same view as the doc, make sense? The doctor puts my feet in the stir ups and then tells me to relax my knees to the side. The same time I grimace and relax my knees, Eric pipes up with an "Oh yeeeeeeah babe. That's PERFECT!" I. wanted. to. die! The nurse had warmed up to Eric at this point and she lost it! She literally threw her head back from laughing so hard! I didn't even look at the doctor for his reaction because, you know, I was dying! Apparantely my inappropriate husband doesn't understand what sympathy means! His excuse? "I was just trying to lighten the mood for ya, babe!" :) I love that man... but next time he comes to a doctor's appointment, I'm definitely bringing the duct tape!

 He looks so innocent...

 The rest of the appointment was joke free and Eric even teared up when we saw baby swimming around during the ultrasound, and heard the heart beat for the first time! Such a good daddy, even though our child will be scarred for life when he/she learns about this story :)

life via instagram

I couldn't wait to get to the bubble gum scoop :) Yum!

Remember that time I got off my lazy bum and went hiking?

Because there always has to be a picture of the pee stick and the "barely there" positive sign! (I definitely tried to leave the pee part out of the picture, gross!)

Friends + baseball. You just can't ask for anything better :)

A weird day of bloating at 12 weeks. (Maybe I'll be able to start taking real baby bump pictures in a couple weeks?)

The view outside my home.

I don't really know what to say except... I love him :)

I love instagram! It's so fun to have a peek into everyone's daily lives :)

If we aren't already... let's be friends on instagram! 

My username is courtbrink.

let's talk about it...

And by it? I mean working out. I need some help, advice, ideas, work out buddies, anything, because my motivation is all GONE!
During my first trimester I tried so hard to keep up with my workouts! But my body was so exhausted that I just couldn't push myself. I really had to cut back to keep it safe. And there were some mornings where I had to skip the workout all together and just go back to sleep. I would be so disappointed but I knew that it was important to listen to my tired body.
Now that I'm in the second trimester I feel amazing! I have so much more energy throughout the day (most days) and I should be killing it in the exercise department. But guess what? I would rather sit on my butt and eat. And that's pretty much what I do, ha ha. It's frustrating to see how out of shape I've become and I have no motivation to slowly get back into shape. Obviously, I'm not working out for a killer body. Each day I wake up and my body has stretched a little more, and my tummy gets a tiny bit bigger :) But I still need to be healthy!
I'm going to try to illustrate just how far off course I've gone. This is how I used to feel about working out:

I just finished running my first race, a 10k! I'm smiling because I LOVED it. I felt so accomplished! I felt strong. Other than needing to eat a snack I couldn't have asked for anything else that morning! And I didn't even take a nap that day :)
Now?

This is just an amazing picture all around :) But if you take a peek at me... I have a water bottle wedged between the camera and my belly, because anything touching my belly was irritating. I'm sure my mouth is open because I'm about to start complaining, if I wasn't already :) And I just finished licking my fingers, because I'm always snacking! If you haven't noticed the pattern yet... I like to complain about anything when it comes to working out, and I like to eat :)

So help me! How do I get back into my workout groove? I need motivation!

some leftovers from Maui

 Night swimming! If I hadn't straightened my hair a couple hours before this, I totally would've joined Eric!

We went to the sugar cane factory where I had the most amazing cat nap! But Eric and my mom like it.... so that's what counts :)

Eric spelled my name wrong... I'm sure he was cutting out letters to try and beat the waves :) And I drew the hearts!

My dad forgot to smile! But we can give him a pass, the man is almost 50! *gasp* ;)

I LOVE this picture! Who knew body surfing could make this boy so happy :)

Okay, I think I'm done talking about Maui now!

But I just have one question.... when can I go back??

pregnancy journey {our scary beginning}

The day I found out I was pregnant I was super shocked to see two lines show up on my pregnancy test. Maybe everyone has that same reaction? But I had been seriously cramping for a couple weeks leading up to that special day. I called the doctor's office that morning and told them I had a positive pregnancy test but terrible cramping... I was sure those two weren't a good mix! They had me come in 2 days later because "it's better to be safe than sorry!"

I got so nervous while we waited to see the doctor because I was sure they were going to tell me something was not right with this pregnancy.... luckily Eric was with me and he was the rock I needed him to be for this appointment! First things first, the doctor confirmed that I was definitely pregnant. (Remember, I'm probably the only girl on this planet to only take one pregnancy test, instead of 10, ha ha.) Then he asked me multiple questions about my health and the cramping. He told me I could be miscarrying (which I assumed was the case), or I could have an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy. He took us into another room for an ultrasound, to make sure the baby was in the correct place (my uterus). I was extremely nervous at this point because A) I am not totally comfortable with exposing myself (but I guess I gotta get used to that super fast) and B) I have dreaded the idea of having an ectopic pregnancy. I was praying this wasn't the case! Once again, Eric was so great and so was our doctor! (We both really like the doctor!) 

5 1/2 weeks- Our baby was just a teeny, tiny spot (speck)! We may have nicknamed it spock.....

The ultra sound proved that I didn't have an ectopic pregnancy... the baby was in the correct spot! Our doctor told me I could come in every 2 days for testing or just wait it out until my next appointment. I knew that if I was miscarrying there was nothing anyone could do about that, so instead of adding to the stress by doing all the testing I decided to just wait until our next appointment. A miscarriage was in the back of our minds at all times for the next 4 1/2 weeks but Eric and I knew that whatever happened- was meant to happen.

My 10 week appointment was successful! We heard our baby's heartbeat loud and clear... such a strong baby :) And it was amazing to see how much "spock" (baby has already outgrown that nickname :) promise!) grew in a little over a month. A head, body, arms, fingers, legs.... our baby was even swimming for us during the ultra sound :) Already making mom and dad so proud! We were smiling stupidly at the screen and the love just exploded in our hearts!

 I know it's really hard to tell from these pictures... but we were able to see so much detail on the screen!

My 14 week appointment was about a week ago and again, we heard baby's heartbeat loud and clear! Our doctor is really happy with how strong it sounds! Baby's heartbeat is the best sound in the world! I could listen to it all day :) I'm planning on recording it at our next appointment so we don't have to wait a month to enjoy it!

Eric and I are just SO grateful that baby is growing stronger each day! We have not taken one step of this process for granted because we had so much fear in the beginning. We pray everyday that baby will continue to grow healthy and we can't WAIT to be parents to this little one :)

weekend review

Say hello to baby.... because baby is cuter than bloating :)

It's probably the baby talkin'.... but I want to dive right into this! So refreshing :)

Our work schedules have been super crazy so I feel like Eric and I haven't seen each other in forever! Luckily we finally had our "weekend" yesterday. Tuesday is the new Saturday :) It was such a great day, just what we needed! 

I slept in until 10:30- amazing!

We went shooting together and I finally tried out Eric's birthday gun. If you can't tell, he loves it :)

We treated ourselves to lime rickey's- the most refreshing drink on a hot summer day!

And Eric made me dinner- recipe found here.

It was a great day full of relaxing and reconnecting! 

It really is the little things that make us happiest!

first ever VLOG

Just a few things that you need to know about this vlog:

• Shay and Amy met through blog land and are best friends. Like the best of best friends. If you read their blogs... you totally understand what I'm talking about. I just happen to live by Shay (sorta) so we are friends. And since we are friends, I got to meet Amy and became friends with her! I love these girls but could never come between them!
• I don't know if it comes across on the blog, but I can be pretty sarcastic sometimes. And I'm pretty much being a sarcastic dork throughout the vlog, ha. I blame it all on Shay and Amy!
• I LOVE to talk about baby. I really talk about baby all. the. time. And I love it :)
• Baby has grown from the size of a lemon to a navel orange! So exciting, but so freakin' scary. That's going to have to come out of me at some point...
• We are FREAKS. And we were on a sugar high. But maybe that was just me...
• If I ever do a vlog again..... well I'm not sure what I'll do. But I'll try to be more serious, ha ha!

So, tell me! Does my voice sound like nails on a chalkboard to you? Because it definitely does to me :)

a hike that almost killed me... {Angels Landing}

Amy , Shay , Kristie , Me :)

One word: Pain.

 Boo!

 Switchbacks from you know where.....

And now we are getting to the part where people die... camera went in the back pack so I don't have any pictures to show you how crazy it got.

Made it!

I'm not quite sure how I survived this hike. It's 5 1/2 miles (probably round trip, but still!) and you basically go straight up the mountain! As you can see from the pictures, those switchbacks are super fun to tackle... Throw pregnancy into the mix and now you are wondering how I survived this hike, am I right? 

I was super shocked to find how quickly I'd lose my breath (I had to stop for a breather every 2 steps, ha) and just how out of shape I've become! Actually, I don't know if it's that I'm out of shape or if my body is just too busy growing my baby to care about anything else :) Either way, I was in pain the whole way down the mountain! I kept complaining and asking myself if it was worth it....

Well, it was worth it! I got to spend the whole day enjoying God's beautiful creation. The views were incredible! I need to take more time in my life to just pause, and enjoy the beauty I am surrounded with!

And have I mentioned the girls I hiked with? I met Amy and Kristie for the first time and my life has been bettered because of them! It can be so intimidating to meet bloggers in real life, but these girls are the sweetest!  I'm so lucky to call them friends. And of course we all know I love Shay!

Despite my complaining, spending the day with Shay, Amy, Kristie, nature, and God were all just what I needed! 

(But I'm definitely looking forward to hiking this next year, when I have my body back and the baby is strapped to Eric :) ha ha!)

little letters {to the dad's in my life}

Dear Dad, thank you for being the best dad a girl could ask for! I know everyone is saying that today, but you truly are the best! Despite what mom (and everyone else) says... you didn't spoil me ;) while growing up, but you did love me unconditionally! And I can't wait for our baby to meet Grandad... because I know that baby will be spoiled AND loved unconditionally by you :) I love how you are always up for an adventure and we will definitely hike Angel's Landing together, once baby is born! Happy Father's Day!, we love you :)

I think this is the sweetest picture!

Dear Dad B, you are the best father in law ever! I am so lucky to have you as my second dad. You are the sweetest and I always feel so much love in your home! (I'm just really lucky I got to marry into the Brinkerhoff's!) Eric adores you and can't wait to work on cars with you.... when we have $$ and you retire, ha ha! I appreciate everything you taught Eric! I feel so blessed each day to be married to an honest, hard working, loving man! You are the reason he is a good man! I know our baby is going to adore you as much as we do! Happy Father's Day, we love you!

This is our dear friends baby, but oh my heck.... won't we be the cutest with our own little baby?? :)

Dear Eric, baby isn't even born yet and you have definitely turned on daddy mode :) Each time I don't take my "mommy pills" (prenatals) you demand to know if "I hate baby?!" No, nope I don't! But I guess it's super sweet that you try to guilt me into taking those vitamins :) You are already wanting what is best for our baby and trying to take care of him/her the best way you know how! I am really grateful for that... I'm grateful that you care so much about our little family! You are the best husband, and you will be the best daddy! Happy Father's Day, baby and I love you :) And next year? We'll probably get you a gift to go along with the letter... ha ha! 

shopping dilemma

Eric and I finally got to see the infamous City Creek shopping center in SLC :)  We loved it (even though we can't afford to even walk into some of the shops, ha ha)! We both really miss living close to good shopping! So on our way home we stopped at 3 malls. THREE! And do you know what we bought? One package of socks for Eric. What the heck??
I was thinking it would be fun to buy my first item of maternity clothing, but I couldn't bring myself to pay full price for a shirt I can't even wear yet. I was really hoping to find some lose fitting shirts because... I'm in an awkward stage right now. I wake up skinny, but by the end of the day I am as bloated as I can get. It's not cute. I'm afraid I'm going to be a very large and in charge pregnant girl.... Anyway! I couldn't find anything worth buying! What is my problem?
Am I just in a funk because my body isn't really me anymore? In the back of my mind I am always thinking about the major expenses we have coming up, is that holding me back from shopping? I shouldn't be stressing about the fact that I didn't want to buy anything... but that is just so not like me! And the form fitting clothes I own just aren't very attractive right now, ha ha! I need my very own personal stylist/shopper! Volunteers? :)

Lagoon {a family staycation}

Ready to get inside and play!

Who doesn't love the carousel?

Like father, like son :)

This kid is such a dare devil. He LOVED the big kid rides, he was so bummed when he wasn't tall enough for the crazy rides!

Cousins = best friends!

Mom and Dad B.

Despite the fact that I couldn't ride most of the rides at Lagoon, we had the funnest time! 

The weather was perfect! Seriously, we couldn't have asked for better weather. The sun was warm enough that when we played in the water park, we weren't too cold and were able to dry off fast. And the rest of the day there was a cool breeze and it never got hot!

Kids are the funnest company to have at amusement parks. They make everything so much more exciting :)

The food- do I even have to say it? Sometimes that junk just hits the spot!

Eric got soooo many compliments on his shirt. He is one proud man :) I only got one compliment on my shirt, ha ha.

Thank you Mom and Dad B! We had the best day with family!!