Liberating....

Since I came home I keep wanting to go crazy with how much CRAP I have. I seriously can't believe how much randomness I have shoved in all these different places throughout the house. I decided that I could handle taking one room at a time and completely cleaning it out and throwing away EVERYTHING I don't use. No more pack rat. I feel like after I do that I will feel better about decorating more and stuff like that. So I thought just for fun I would document my progress. Here is day 1: the kitchen. Please note that it was extremely messy ON TOP of all the clutter when I took the before pictures.

BEFORE:








AFTER:





AHHHHHHH I CAN BREATHE!

4th of July

Once again I am playing catch-up! We had a really fun fourth of July. I flew into Utah from Orlando on the 2nd and Zach was able to fly in late on the 4th so he could be there Sunday for Blake and Ali's baby blessing at church. Even though it was short, it was so nice to have a little time as a family! We spent the fourth at Zach's parents' house with a BBQ and some fireworks of our own out front. All the boy cousins were in heaven. It is so fun to see Andrew kind of start to run around with the other cousins and just want to be one of the kids. During the day on the 4th my sister-in-law Natalie invited us over to her parents house for a little pool time. Andrew was I-N-S-A-N-E at the pool. I have never seen him so crazy! He had NO FEAR. Just kept jumping in...even if no one was there. SCARY! We almost got him to jump off the diving board to Todd but that was a little too daring I guess. I love the fourth of July. There is something about a hot summer night, BBQs, and just being together that is wonderful:)

Andrew has recently named his uncle Todd "dot". Dyslexia????

We struggle for family pictures these days. The little man just will not stay still!

Andrew loves to jump on the tramp with his dada:)

He also likes to share....how thoughtful of him to offer great-grandma Lenore some of his wa-wa. HA!

Like I said earlier, he will not stay still.

Natalie and her little Samantha. I just love her!

Me and my other sister-in-law Ali. We got to meet her and Blake's new addition Baby Paige. She is adorable and quite edible....unfortunately I have no picture of her!

I actually was in town for the annual Hillstead ladies tradition this year. Manis, Pedis and yummy lunch! I love to be pampered!

My sister Jenna came out this last week to visit me and help me with Andrew so maybe I can get these contractions to die down a bit. It was so fun having her here and Andrew was in heaven because he really loves his "Enna". I am a lame-o as usual and did not take any pictures while she was here, but we kind of laid low anyways...so nothing too exciting to post. Anways....thank you Jenna for coming and helping me so much!!

And I just received this little gem in the mail from my parents for my birthday.....why do I want to be Martha so bad??? I am so excited to try some of these fun ideas in this book. Thanks Mom and Dad!

i am in depression thanks to jillian

is she serious? wow. i am in shock right now. i can't stop thinking about it. Reid has been my favorite from the very first episode. the poor guy just couldn't express his feelings but he was getting so close. i think she made a mistake. maybe he can make some dramatic comeback in the finale. i sure hope so!

Nesting Time!

I am struggling with crib bedding. I, OF COURSE, am in love with the Serena & Lily bedding I posted a while back...but I can't really rationalize in my mind paying that much for baby bedding. Anyways, I just found this and I think I love it! It is totally affordable too. I also love these lamps to incorporate in the room. I need some opinions! I know it is pretty girly...but I just want to make the room seem fresh and clean and this is doing it for me.

This morning I received an email from my dad with a link to this video and a message saying that he wants grandchildren like these. I thought this was hilarious!

a quick update...

Just writing to let everyone know what is going on with me right now...I came back to Utah to visit for a week and scheduled a doctor's appointment for while I am here. I have been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions (I never know if I am spelling that right) so I told my doctor so he checked everything out to be on the safe side. Basically he said I am not dialating but I need to be super careful because there is a lot of pressure down there. So after some thinking and talking Zach and I decided it would be best for me to just stay here in Utah for the rest of the summer and not go back to Orlando. It's just good to be in my own place where there is more space for Andrew to play inside and I can just kind of sit, or the neighborhood playground where I can just sit on the bench while he plays. We didn't have that in Orlando so I was like chasing him around all day long. Plus I just want to be close to my doctor just incase. So....everything is good! No need to be alarmed...but just playing it safe so nothing gets worse. As soon as my stuff gets here and I have my camera cord I will tell you all about our 4th!