just some randoms {31}

I always wonder if Mia really, truly understands that there IS a baby growing in my belly and that he WILL someday come out... this makes me think that maybe she understands a little more than I give her credit for, ha ha!

Grandma and Grandad had a new fishing game waiting for Mia at their house. Of course Mia thought the fish made the PERFECT "ginky!" and she was in heaven pretending that was a pacifier. She even cuddled up to whoever was holding her real close, trying to convince us that she was a baby who needs her binky's back, ha!

And she's back to sleeping under her pillow, ha ha!

When Mia goes on a date with daddy she gets all the spoils. Checking out the animals at Cabela's, pretending to ride their 4 wheelers, chocolate milk and other snacks, a new shirt because she spills said chocolate milk, and so much more. Mommy gets pictures like these and I can't help but roll my eyes while my heart literally feels like it's going to burst because I know they are having the BEST time together! :)

 Beach, pool, eat, sleep, repeat.

showering baby boy

Over the weekend my sweet friend, Courtney, threw a shower for me to celebrate baby boy! I don't even know where to begin when talking about how stinkin' cute and perfect all the details were! The food was delish and I loved indulging in some sparkling cider, ha ha! That's about as crazy as I get even when I'm not pregnant ;) It was such a small group of us (and of course I forgot to take a picture of everyone, dang!) but I'm so grateful to everyone who came to celebrate, as well as those who weren't able to make it but love our boy already!
Opening the gifts was so crazy, it just really made it REAL. We are having another baby, a tiny baby boy! The bouncer my cousin gifted us brought back alllll the memories from bringing Mia home from the hospital. It's one of the first things we used at home with her so we knew we needed one for baby boy as well (we just borrowed one when Mia was born)! Now I can't wait to see him snuggled into it- I can imagine how NOT peaceful it will be with big sister trying to get in his face, ha ha! But I can't wait to see that in my home! And the tiny little man clothes, melt my heart!! We also received our first pack of newborn diapers- SO TINY! And good grief, I need to start stocking up on diapers like yesterday, ha ha! Our family is in for some big changes and I. can't. wait.
Thank you, Court (the only person I got a picture with, oops!), for the most adorable shower!! We are so thankful for everyone in our lives who are as excited about our new addition to the family as we are!

g i v e a w a y !

Since Wednesday can be a little rough (at least it's all downhill from here to the weekend, right?!) I thought this would be the perfect day to share a giveaway with all of you! I know you've seen Firmoo glasses all over blogs/social media, and if you've ever been curious to try a pair yourself, then this is the giveaway for you! We have a pair of sunglasses (as I don't need prescription, although the next time Eric needs a pair of prescription glasses we will be ordering from Firmoo!) that I reviewed a few months ago! Do yourself a favor and enter below (easiest entry options ever!) for the chance to win a free pair of glasses for yourself! Happy Wednesday!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

weekend highlights

This past weekend was such a good one! One that was full of simple fun and relaxing time. One where it feels like there really isn't anything to blog about, even though it was so good, but I'm still blogging about it because you know... documenting ;)

• Friday night was a simple one (but it doesn't really count as part of the weekend anyway, does it? Between working that day and being exhausted from the whole week of work, not a lot really goes on anyway, ha!) Eric worked late so Mia and I enjoyed a movie night (or at least 30 minutes until bed time of that movie ;)) of Mulan. She is obsessed with swords so once she started talking about Mulan's sword, I knew why she chose that movie, ha ha! When Eric got home we enjoyed our own little date night in with ice cream and NCIS on Netflix :)
• Saturday was a special day! My friend threw me a baby shower to celebrate baby boy! I have more details coming later this week! During the shower Eric took Mia on a little date and they had the best time! They got snacks, went to Cabela's, went to the outlets (where Mia got a new shirt because she spilled chocolate milk on the one she was wearing, and they picked out an outfit for baby brother. SO cute!) Mia loved telling me about all the animals she saw, plus she got to "ride" in a boat and on a four wheeler. Dates with daddy are way funner than dates with mommy, ha!
• That night we ordered pizza and finished watching Mulan together. It was the perfect end to an amazing day, and so relaxing!
• Sunday was spent at church and relaxing at home. Mia ended up waking up at 6:30am but we brought her into our bed, turned on a show and Eric and I continued to sleep in until 9am. NINE AM!! I seriously don't remember the last time I've done that. It was so needed as I haven't been sleeping good at night! So that's definitely worth documenting, ha!
• Monday was another special day. Aside from the fact that we got another 3 day weekend with Eric (woo hoo!) we got to see baby brother again!! I didn't have another ultrasound after Mia's 20 week anatomy scan so this was super exciting to have one more with baby boy! We were able to see his features so much better (obviously, since he's developed so much more!) and it was so fun! Everything checked out normal which is always a relief to hear! I can't wait to see him next time, because next time we see him, he will be in my arms!

I'm so glad we were able to soak up one more 3 day weekend that was full of special little moments and lots of relaxing time because work is about to get super crazy for Eric again. Family time is just the best and we try to soak it all up, every chance we get!

30 weeks {babybrink#2}

Size of baby: a large cabbage. Keep growing, baby boy! (But it's okay if you come out on the smaller side like your sister. I don't mind giving birth to 7 pound babies, or a little less, HA!)

Movement: the kind of movement that moves my whole belly around :) This kid is all about the action moves, which will absolutely be the best news to Mia as he grows. She's all into swords and pretend fighting (I mean, seriousssssssssly) so having an active little brother is exactly what she'll need!

Cravings: Bruges waffles and frites... which you can only get in northern Utah, ha! Other than that, no specific cravings. Just lots of trigger cravings (dang you, social media!!)

Miss anything: sleep!! Oh man, the third trimester sleep regression has hit and it's the worst! I don't fall into a good sleep until just before it's time to get up. And poor Eric is suffering from my tossing and turning as well, ugh! It's not even that I'm uncomfortable this time around, I think it's just what happens in the third trimester... the worst kind of prep for having a newborn, ha!

Random: I am kind of worried that baby boy is not in position (head down). In fact, I still think he's horizontal in there and it's not really workin' for me, ha! It feels like he's trying to come out my sides when he moves around and it's actually quite uncomfortable. I don't know how to explain it... but it feels so different than with Mia. I always had the sorest ribs (he still get me in the ribs, don't get me wrong) as if she was always head down. But maybe this is totally normal and there is still plenty of time before he needs to be in position?

Best moment of the week: one night last week as I was falling asleep, Eric had his hand on my belly and baby boy was moving around like crazy. I couldn't help but smile and soak in the moment as Eric and I were able to soak in those sweet reminders of another little miracle babe that is about to change our world, for the better! These little moments are what life is all about!

I want it all {Arden Deals}

Mia's top and my Necklace c/o Arden Deals

You know how there are those shops that you fall in love with because they have something for everyone?! That's how I feel about Arden Deals, my friends! They are hittin' the spot with their goods and I quite literally can't get enough! They have beautiful clothes and accessories for adults (like my necklace that Mia totally wishes was hers) and the most adorable clothing for kids (like the top Mia is wearing that I wish was mine... oh and her skirt. Seriously, how do I get this stuff in my size?!) as well as the cutest accessories for littles! The funnest part is the free sheet of gold tattoos that come with every order. Mia is obsessed with our matching "steekers" and loves to show them off! 

So, if you're in need of retail therapy (or even if you're not) I highly recommend checking out Arden Deals! I promise you won't be disappointed with their goods or the prices! ;)

Skirt c/o Arden Deals

playing catch up

Between sharing our Utah recap a couple weeks late, and now our weekend highlights a few days late (but hey, at least tomorrow is Friday, yay!) I'm totally on top of getting these blog posts out on time, ha ha!

• Friday night ended on a good note when Eric came home from work a little bit early to take his girls to Dairy Queen! I'd been craving a blizzard for 2 weeks so that totally hit the spot! Great start to our weekend!
• We were supposed to have some major storming all weekend long so I thought Saturday morning would be the perfect time to go enjoy the "snow day" at the Phoenix zoo. I thought the storms would bring a nice cool down... I was wrong! The storms didn't roll in until that afternoon so it was 100 (million) degrees that morning with 80% humidity. Freakin' miserable! But Mia had a lot of fun (along with the rest of Phoenix... I still have the small town mindset and didn't realize that the whole city would know about this event and show up as well, ha!)
• We went to lunch at the Old Spaghetti factory and were lucky enough to sit up in their little train section. Mia kept looking out her "window" and getting so excited when we were still "eatin' in the TRAIN!" ha ha!
• After lunch we went home and enjoyed a family nap- the best! The heat really sucked the life out of us that morning, ha ha! My nap was cut short due to the fierce nature of a short monsoon storm that ripped through our neighborhood. How Mia and Eric slept through it, I'll never know! When Eric woke up he was staring out the window into our backyard when I told him, "you missed the craziest storm during your nap!" His reply? "I know, it knocked the tree down!" (pictured below) I was shocked! The storm was no longer than 20 minutes but it brought a lot of damage in that short time. Welcome to Arizona monsoon season, ha!
• Sunday was a relaxing day of church and taking it easy at home. 
• Monday was another fun day! We started out at the pool and soaked up spending that time together! Mia loved having both mommy and daddy to take her down the slides and swim with!
• After nap time we met up with friends to see the Minion movie! Call me old fashioned or lame, but I was not impressed! I totally didn't think this movie was very kid friendly. Thank goodness Mia is just young enough that most of the humor and gestures went over her head. It's not a movie we will be seeing again! (Seriously, why do they do that to kids movies?! Save it for the adults and quit advertising it for children!) We ended the night with dinner and Cold Stone. Bless that sweet husband of mine for indulging in my ice cream cravings and helping my back side to grow as big as my front side (baby bump) ha ha!

snapshots from Utah

At the beginning of the month Mia and I spent 8 days in Utah visiting family! I shared about our 4th of July but haven't talked about the rest of the trip yet. We had the best time visiting the Brinkerhoff and Crowley grandparents, we were spoiled rotten! I didn't take many pictures (I never do when we are visiting family, why is that?!) but I thought it would be fun to share a few more highlights from our trip through photos!

We had too much fun at the Brinkerhoff's! Mia played hard with her cousins, loved on the kittens, experienced fireworks at home for the first time and soaked up all the lovin' she could get!

Dress c/o Lularoe Laura 

Mia figured out how to ride the scooter by herself, and got that leg up as high as she could each time, ha ha!

She carried the kittens around as if they were an accessory, ha!

We took Mia boating with my parents and younger brother and Mia LOVED it! This is her 3rd summer out on the boat and each time is better than the last! It was a cloudy, cool morning (I don't even know if it was 80 degrees? And we are used to 100 degrees for swimming, ha!) but that didn't stop us from swimming in the perfect, glass like water (I was seriously SO tempted to wake board, ah!) Mia's lips were turning purple so I asked if she was ready to get out, "no, mom!" and go wrap up in a towel and cuddle, ".... yeah, mom! Let's go cuddle!" She's never said that to me before and it was the cutest! I'd go boating every day if I could just to get that response from her!

This picture cracks Eric and me up! Sweet, cuddle bug Mia is trying real hard to act like she's not enjoying these snuggles! :)

My dad plays the guitar in the orchestra at Tuacahn so we were super excited to have a girl's night with my mom and go watch the show that my dad is playing in, When You Wish. It's a collection of Disney acts (Little Mermaid, Mulan, Tarzan, etc) and it is the CUTEST! Mia sat on the edge of her seat the WHOLE time (aside from the few minutes on my mom's lap) and clapped enthusiastically at the end of each scene. I've been dying to take her to a show at Tuacahn ever since she was born, and this was the perfect one to take her to for the first time! She was absolutely perfect, especially considering this didn't even start until an hour past her bedtime. I'm so glad we had the opportunity to go!

Mia is obsessed with Ariel so we couldn't resist meeting her after the show! I didn't know how Mia would do considering it was HOURS past her bedtime, but she was adorable! She walked up and gave Ariel a hug then just stared at her while trying to pick at her outfit (the very next photo after this one is Mia reaching for the flower in Ariel's hair, ha ha) Ariel was adorable with Mia and I swear my heart was going to burst because I knew how much Mia was loving this! Makes me SO excited to take her to Disneyland!

So, not nearly enough pictures to show off the amazing time we had with our families, but we were so lucky to spend that time with them! Of course the very best part was coming home to daddy! We missed Eric like crazy and can't wait until we can all take a trip to Utah together!

2.7

One month older and wiser too.... I can't believe how quickly our Mia girl grows each month!! I wish the time didn't pass so quickly but this is the sweetest ride watching her grow and develop! Life with Mia is so good. SO good! We couldn't be more grateful that she is ours!

Skirt c/o Arden Deals

- Mia talks sooooo much and it is so fun! Her vocabulary is becoming more grown up which I love but kinda makes me sad at the same time! For example, "mramma" is now officially "grandma" and other things like that. I really need to be better about filming the cute ways she pronounces words before she starts saying them all correctly! And it STILL blows my minds that we have conversations with her- when did Mia get so big?!
- She can say her ABC's and can count to 14 (although she thinks she's counting to 20, ha ha. Once she gets to 14 she keeps repeating 14 a few times then hollers "TWENTY"!) So cute!
- Girlfriend is obsessed with gum (thanks to daddy for teaching her what that stuff is, ha!) She is definitely her mother's daughter!
- I don't know where Mia picked this up, but she "greets" other kids by growling at them... mainly stranger kids. When we are at the store, or anywhere public for that matter, and she makes eye contact with a kid she will growl at them... ha ha! What the heck, kid? The more she does this the more the mom's of those kids will tell me their kids do the same thing but I don't know if that makes me feel any less weird about it, ha!
- She got her third 2 year molar and now we get to enjoy the effects of teething until the last one cuts through. Oh how we loathe teething!
- Mia still wears size 2T clothing (as well as other sizes ranging from 12 month - 3T) and size 6 shoes.
- She still wears size 5 diapers (although I think I need to buy size 6 for the nights) but she does know that she gets to wear underwear when she's potty trained! We talk about potty training every single day, she pees in the potty every single day and I'm just waiting for the day that she is ready to take the plunge and potty train for real!  

29 weeks {babybrink#2}

I wish I was one of those pregnant girls that looks glamorous in a maxi dress, but I just feel larger than life when I wear them, ha!

Size of baby: a butternut squash. The average baby at 29 weeks is a tad over 15 inches from head to toe- that is crazy! He's almost full grown length wise!

Movement: baby boy is all over the place, literally! I feel simultaneous movement on all areas of my abdomen. He's gotten so big! And he's officially discovered my ribs. I now feel him in my ribs every day (and it will only go downhill from here, HA!)

Cravings: roast beef and mashed potatoes. Ice cream, oh my gosh the ice cream craving is out of this world! Gimme all the shakes!

Miss anything: I'm starting to miss being able to bend over comfortably (or at all, ha!) especially now that he is all the way up in my ribs! Sometimes I forget that I'm pregnant and get quite the shock when I can't move like I normally can, ha ha!

Random: oh this is the weirdest thing... I actually liked my glucose test drink this time around! I had the same orange flavored drink with Mia and while it reminded me of flat soda, I definitely didn't love it because I don't even like orange soda. The fake orange flavor just doesn't do it for me. This time around I must have been so hungry/thirsty, or just in pregnant crazy land because it totally hit the spot, ha ha! WEIRD!

Best moment of the week: walking into Mia's room Saturday morning and the first thing she said to me was, "baby brudder's in ma belly! Feel it, mom!" She has been trying to figure out how to get her belly to grow like mine and finally discovered stuffing her taggie in her shirt, ha ha. It was the cutest thing and she was so proud of her "bump"!

currently

Loving: reminiscing on all our adventures I've been able to share with my family the past month or so. I can't believe we fit in so much even with Eric basically working his life away. Eric and I went on our little babymoon cruise, we took Mia to the beach in Mexico for an amazing family vacation, Mia and I went to Utah to visit family (still have to recap that trip!) plus little stuff around home. I definitely have the wanderlust bug (and seem to have passed it on to Mia) so I'm grateful we've been able to do so much when I wasn't expecting to be able to do anything at all! I'm sure life will slow waaaaay down the closer we get to my due date and once baby boy arrives, so I'm loving giving Mia all of these adventures! Now if only we could figure out how to get paid to just travel and enjoy family vacations full time ;) Seems like that would be the life, ha ha!

Reading/Watching: I'm a Big Sister to Mia :) Someday I'll actually share something that I'm reading for myself! Until then, I'll be trying to prep Mia for the changes that are quickly coming her way!
I've been catching up on the Bachelorette on Hulu and guys, WHO ELSE HATES NICK?! Ugh, he literally disgusts me. I think he's such a creeper!
I can't even believe it but NCIS has finally been added to streaming on Netflix! Hallelujah! Eric and I are so behind on all of our shows, we go to bed after Mia does instead of catching up, ha ha. But we've actually been making the time to watch NCIS together a couple times a week and we are loving it :)

Trying to: gear up for transitioning Mia to a toddler bed! I have to admit that I'm not ready to kick her out of her crib, but I'm not buying another one for baby brother, so we have to transition! We actually won't do it until August as we have one more trip coming up, but I need to find her a bed! I always thought that I would skip the toddler bed and get a real bed when it was time for Mia to transition, but we've decided to have the kids (kids, weird!) share a room to keep a guest room available whenever friends/family want to visit. The bedroom is just too small to get the size of bed I wanted to get for Mia, so a toddler bed is the only choice for now. I would love any and all recommendations of where to shop for a toddler bed!

Wishing: that air conditioning didn't cost so much. It's NO fun paying $400 (a month) for AC, especially when ours is set at 79. Yuck! But I AM grateful that I live in this generation... I honestly wonder how people survived these Arizona summers before air conditioning! At least we won't have a heating bill in the winter. I'm willing to bet that we won't turn on the heat this whole winter (unless of course there is a crazy cold spell. We will be looking out for baby boy ;))

Excited for: how quickly time is flying! I'm ready to get past this summer heat AND have a baby in my arms instead of my belly ;) I am soaking up every second of this time of just me and Mia because I know I will miss it! We have had the best times together and I definitely don't want to wish that time away. But I also want to welcome the changes coming our way with open arms, hopefully that will help Mia adjust quickly? We will see! Either way, I'm excited to meet our baby boy but also taking advantage of living in the moment with my little bestie!

a mushy one

My dear blogging friend, Marli, emailed me a few weeks ago and told me about a link up she was wanting to start and I got so excited for her when I saw what it was! She just launched the link up a few days ago (I'm a slacker on getting this post put together!) and will hold it twice a month... it's a letters to my husband link up! For me, this is a really great opportunity to highlight Eric and the rock he is for our family, because we all know how I pretty much only talk about Mia on the blog ;) So here's a quick letter to my favorite husband- all eye rolls and gagging are welcome with this mushy love stuff ;)

Dear Eric,

In case I haven't told you lately how much I love you, I want you to know that you are the Red to my Sox, the Ken to my Barbie, the brownie to my batter (blizzard that is, since we know how ridiculous my craving is for that these days), the air to my lungs and the beat of my heart. The end.

Just kidding.

In all seriousness (except we all know I'm dead serious about everything I just said ;)) you truly are the best husband! Eternity just isn't long enough to spend with you (except on those days, yeah, you know what kinda days I'm talking about. Not that you ever experience them with me ;) ha ha!) I don't say it enough but I am so thankful for how hard you work for our family... and then you come home and still find the time and energy to help me out around the house. How did I get so lucky?!
Watching you be a dad makes me weak in the knees all over again for you! There is no doubt in my mind that Mia knows how much she is loved and adored by her daddy! From day one you dove into fatherhood with zero fear or hesitation... changing a million diapers, taking charge of bath time, singing at the top of your lungs because she loves it, teaching Mia how to play tea party, dressing up like princesses, dancing and the list goes on. How did we get so lucky?!
I know that baby boy will be just as loved when he arrives! You two will have your own special bond and I know you'll love doing all the "boy" things with him... then again, you really try not to be gender specific and if he wants to play tea party with you and Mia, you'll teach him that it's okay to play with sister's stuff as well! Oh the messes of dolls and cars that our home will be littered with, and you'll love every second of it! How did we get so lucky?!
Thank you for loving me the best way you know how, and trying to find new ways to show me your love when I say I need more. I should be the one giving you more on the daily! I truly am the luckiest! I hope you know just how much I love you!

Now, take me on a date gosh dang it, and all will be perfect in our world ;) Don't forget a stop at DQ for my blizzard!

XOXO, your wifey

Does anyone know where we can find a babysitter?! ha ha!

weekend highlights

I'm a little late on our weekend recap but maybe since I'm posting this mid-week, it will help the weekend come a little quicker? A girl can hope ;) I hardly took any photos of the weekend but I can assure you that even though I have little proof, it was one for the books!

• I kept thinking it was Monday, so imagine my excitement when I realized late afternoon that it was Friday- YAY! Eric was able to get away from work earlier than normal so we celebrated with a family movie night! Mia chose Kung Fu Panda... we only made it through the first half hour before bed time... but it was enough to inspire Mia to try karate chopping anyone that came in sight. Oops! Gotta hide that movie until she's a little older, ha ha!
• Saturday was one of the laziest days ever and Eric totally appreciated the recovery time! I did make it to spin and stopped at the grocery store... but the rest of the day was spent napping and watching shows!
• That night I was able to cross something off my 30 before 30 list, I went to a concert with my other (girl) half, Courtney! It was a little toasty since the venue was an outdoor pavilion in Phoenix but we still had the best time! Sam Hunt, Hunter Hayes and Lady A performed... and now I'm DYING to go to another concert. I have a loooooong list of people I want to see, ha ha! Side note: Eric and I actually saw Lady A in concert years ago in my hometown in southern Utah. It was literally just a few months before their career really took off- there's no way they'd waste their time with going back to perform there again :) Too bad Eric pulled the tired card and didn't want to go with me to this concert so that we could reminisce about our early marriage days and how far we've come ;) But it was so great having a girls night while Eric and Mia got their own time together!
• Sunday was yet again another lazy day. And this time I was the one who needed it since I kept my pregnant butt out until 1am the night before. Why yes, I'm STILL trying to recover from that... third trimester exhaustion is no joke! Other than going to church, we spent our day laying around and relaxing!
• Monday was a busy day! We fit in a lot of work and a lot of play! While I was out running errands with Mia, Eric cleaned the bathrooms and our vehicles- bless him!! Mia went down for an early nap while I worked on laundry/cleaning, it's amazing how much gets done around the house with an extra set of helping hands... that aren't toddler hands ;) 
• When Mia woke from her nap we ate lunch then headed out on an adventure! We stopped at Harley Davidson to pick up Eric's belated Father's Day gift... a wallet :) I'm not that good of a wife to get him a motorcycle, yet, ha ha! Although it's definitely coming and I can't say that I'm overly excited about the idea. We stopped at the mall for some window shopping then headed to the movies! We really wanted to take Mia to the minion movie but since it just came out, we decided to watch Inside Out instead, to avoid the crowds. Mia was SO excited to see a show and she did great in the theater! Of course when we told her we were going to get some popcorn she informed us that she wanted, "po-porn and a SODA!" We seriously couldn't believe our ears... that may be normal for another toddler to request soda, but we didn't realize she knew what that was! The past 2 weeks of traveling before this spoiled the crap out of Mia as she got soda in Mexico when we went out to eat (for obvious reasons we didn't drink the water) and then she was treated to more in Utah. We didn't indulge in soda but she didn't mind ;) We ended the night with dinner then headed home as quickly as we could since we were all exhausted!

 Not the best quality, but when your picture hating husband SUGGESTS taking this photo- you post it! (I know you're all as shocked as I am, ha ha!)

Three day weekends are the best and we could use a million more of those in our future, ha ha! We had the perfect amount of relaxing (and recouping) time, and LOVED the fun times! I'm so thankful I get to share these simple moments and adventures with Eric and Mia, my favorite people!!

the best teacher

You know that saying "sugar, spice and everything nice- that's what little girls are made of"? It could not be more true about our Mia girl! She is such a breath of fresh air and is constantly teaching me the sweetest little lessons!
Eric and I talked about taking Mia down to the beach our last evening in Mexico and making sand castles with her one last time, but Eric ended up not feeling well and decided it would be best if he stayed in the condo while Mia and I went and played. I was selfishly feeling sorry for myself because I was looking forward to that family time... as if Eric made himself sick so that he could miss out (can I blame this one on pregnancy hormones?) I was kind of in a rotten mood as we made our way down the beach and I picked a spot right next to the water. After dumping the bag of toys I quickly realized that the sand was far too wet to build anything, so we gathered everything up and moved further away from the ocean. I didn't want to be too far from the water knowing that I would have to make a million trips to rinse off all the toys before throwing them in the bag again, so again, I picked a spot that was too wet. After filling a bucket and having it crumble to a big lump after turning it over, I kindasorta pouted in the lamest way and told Mia that we needed daddy's help to find the good sand. She could totally sense my frustration as I told her we couldn't make sand castles because I messed up and picked the wrong spot. That sweet girl pointed at my lump of wet sand and said, "but YOU DID IT, momma!" with a huge smile on her face! I almost started crying right then. I was pointlessly mad about nothing which made for the worst companionship for Mia to be around... but that sweet, innocent and wise two year old lifted my spirits in the best way by letting me know how proud she was of me, even though my lump of sand was far from perfect! Then she asked me if I wanted to make pancakes with her instead... heck to the yes Mia girl! I nipped my rotten mood in the bud and put in my very best effort to be the play mate Mia deserved!
I'm not sure why I let a whole lotta nothing control my mood and almost ruin the evening, but thank heavens for my little girl who once again reminded me that it's the little things! Oh how I love her! I'm so thankful to be her mommy!

28 weeks {babybrink#2}

Size of baby: a large eggplant and should be weighing just over 2 pounds now, crazy!

Movement: his movements are SO powerful now! One day they went from sweet little reminders to what I would imagine the a bounce house feels like (you know... if a bounce house could feel, ha!) with kids pouncing on it constantly. It feels like he is partying in there, and partying hard! Soak it up while you can, little man! I won't allow movement like that much longer... you'll be much too big and out of room in there! :)

Cravings: a brownie batter blizzard with heath chunks from Dairy Queen! I finally indulged... with a mini size... what the crap was I thinking?! I should have gone with the large, ha ha!

Miss anything: the second trimester energy! Every time I sit down my eyes try to close and I'm instantly in the mood for a nap, ha!

Random: I take my glucose test this week! I'm really hoping that our last 2 weeks of traveling (and eating junk) don't affect my results, HA! I had no problems with Mia's pregnancy so I'm crossing my fingers that we have the same result this time around!

Best moment of the week: and also the scariest... realizing (thanks to all of your comments on last week's bumpdate post) that we are in the THIRD TRIMESTER! Seriously, this pregnancy is flying by so much quicker than Mia's! Definitely a blessing as we can't wait to meet our little man, but holy cow! I have SO much to do in so little time! Third trimester... crazy!!

insta-life

Bow c/o Beck and Belle
"My girly momma dreams came true this morning when I put this dress on Mia and watched as she twirled and told me it was a "'eautifuw dwess!" Then she literally threw herself in my arms and gave me a hug when I told her mommy and daddy picked out this dress on our trip last week Eric lived in Mexico for 2 years so it was his idea to pick out a couple little outfits for Mia. It's SO cute seeing a piece of Eric's past that means so much to him on our daughter!"

Family date night!

"It's like she thinks these appointments are for her :) When I told her we were going to the doctor today she yelled, "YAY!" while fist pumpin' the air I can't say I blame her for getting so excited... I love getting the chance to listen to baby brother's heart beat! Everything checked out and we seem to have a healthy, strong babe in the works!"

Because the babymoon trip that Eric and I got to enjoy together can't go unmentioned on the Instagram round up :) I love this man so much!

Dress c/o Lularoe Laura

When Mia dresses herself then smiles at me like that...  

Little moments I don't want to forget::  

The first time Mia put a towel on her head and walked around the house saying "mommy hair!" Then looking in a princess book and saying "It's 'angled!! That's my mommy!" (How will I ever chop my hair after that cuteness?!)  

The moments I hear her singing to herself after we put her to bed through the monitor. Such a sweet little voice! (I love that the songs we are teaching her bring her comfort!)  

The way everything comes to a halt and she lights UP when daddy gets home! He has the same effect on me too, girlfriend! 

 I spy with my little eye... a tiny little Mia who will change the world! Our last night in Mexico we experienced another incredible sunset complete with cotton candy skies- then woke up to a crazy little storm the next morning. Once the lightning/thunder passed I took her to the beach to run around. The clouds were tumultuous looking, the wind was still raging & we were showered with rain drops... Mia looked so tiny/fragile (on both occasions) for this big, crazy world but I quickly realized that her heart is as soft, big & beautiful as the cotton candy skies! She has a personality so fierce that will help her weather any storm that comes her way with more grace & love than I ever could manage myself! I have so much to learn from her!!

I finally subscribed to Chatbooks (use my code "RUKMQR4C" to get your first book free!) and I'm pretty sure that's the reason I've been on a grammin' spree! I love having the little things (as well as the big things) documented and, well? It's a good thing Mia is as obsessed with looking at herself as I am because I'll be filling up these books like no one's business, ha ha! If you want to follow along you can find us at courtbrink! 

way down in Mexico

June was such a crazy month of work for Eric so when he had a stretch of 5 days off, we decided this was the perfect opportunity to take our last vacation as a family of 3 and escaped down to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point) Mexico! (I would have recapped this trip sooner but we came home to a broken laptop- that is still in the process of being fixed. I can't wait to catch up on my blog stalking once it's done!) We absolutely fell in love with Puerto Penasco and I'm already dying to go back!
Where do I begin when describing why I loved Rocky Point so much? The first reason is the most obvious... I was on vacation with my favorite people! This was such a little slice of heaven though with our stay at a beautiful (incredibly nice for Mexico, it didn't even feel like we were in Mexico, if you know what I mean) resort, amazing beach and perfect ocean water! I've never been in ocean water that warm and it was so calm that Mia could run around and play in it as the tiny waves just lazily rolled in! Now we know why Arizonians vacation in Rocky Point instead of California... it's closer, cheaper, more laid back (relaxing) and warmer (air and water temps) We really couldn't have asked for anything more from our trip!
We really kept it simple with this vacation. Eat, sleep, swim, on repeat every day! We started our mornings at the beach, made our way to the pool, drank virgin pina coladas, floated around the lazy river (where Mia pretended to be Ariel riding her sea horse, which was actually a pool noodle :) I love her imagination!) then stopped for lunch and naps. Every time Mia woke up we'd ask her what she wanted to do and her answer was always, "SWIM!" So of course we went back to the pool/lazy river after naps, then we'd go out to dinner in town. The Mexican food and sea food totally hit the spot, yum! Mia's favorite part was getting a soda with every dinner, since we didn't trust the water (and water bottles were too boring, we were on vacation after all!) After dinner we took Mia down to the beach each night where she quite literally frolicked and ran around, played in the waves and burned off all the sugar energy from her sodas :) We also spotted whales from our balcony, ate tons of junk (Mia couldn't believe it!), enjoyed spectacular sunsets each night, did some touristy shopping and woke up to a storm the morning we were leaving. That was a real treat to watch the storm across the ocean from our room! Oh how I wish that was our every day life :)

Our first night in Mexico... could there be a more perfect "welcome"?!

view from our balcony

Our pretty little Mia fit right in in Mexico ;)

 This pool was our favorite with that gorgeous infinity edge overlooking the ocean. The lazy river is a close second, but I didn't get any pictures of that.

Mia's first time making sand castles! I was definitely not angled right for this photo, if you can tell by her little hand, her reaction was the BEST! She was SO excited about the castle!

She loves the beach!

Finding tiny crabs in the reef when the tide went out each evening!

Beach bumpin' {26 weeks}

How was that for a photo dump (oops!)? I could have posted a million more photos, but stopped myself with just these :) I love all the memories these photos hold from this perfect getaway with Eric and Mia. I'm already dreaming of the day that we get to go down again!