|| Happy Halloween 2016 ||

This really shows how happy Becks was about taking a break from handing out candy and getting some pictures...

I can't believe Halloween has come and gone! We had such a great time this year! Last year I had a month old baby and could barely get dressed let alone plan 3 costumes... (we went as a deer, and two lumberjacks... no supplies were bought). This year however we planned ahead and got all our gear a few weeks before the big day. I love doing family costumes and hope it's a tradition but lets me real I'm sure the days of me getting to pick Beckett's costume are numbered, but until then I'm the boss! 

We started the night in Magrath. We tried to get some pictures but Beckett really wasn't having it. He was ticked that we took him from Grandpa and his candy handing out duties... and my camera battery was dead so we didn't get all the ones I really wanted. I wanted just one of him by himself but he didn't.  Oh well I will probably dress him up later this week and take some after he has had a good long nap! Better late than never! 

He didn't totally understand what was happening but he was excited about it! He held two tootsie roll packages in his hands and would squeeze them and freak out every time someone would come to the door! He loved helping Grandpa Greg hand out candy! We trick or treated to a few houses but it was pretty chilly for Becks even with a quilt wrapped around him so it was short lived. 

Then we headed to Raymond to make our stops there! First was Grandpa and Grandma Holt's house. You would have thought it was more like Christmas with all the goodies Becks got! You can be sure we will be stopping there every Halloween ;) After some pictures we headed to Gpa Bob and Gma Helen's and then to Dana's. We partied hard but when Beckett hit his wall he hit it hard and fast!

It was a great Halloween and I loved it! Can't wait till next year!

|| Bump Update: 15-36 Weeks ||

I know most people do this every week… well I obviously missed the boat on that one! So I am just going to do this little survey now! I'll be adding all my cravings, favourite moments, food aversions, and what not that I have experienced over the past almost 37 weeks! 

How far along are you: 36 weeks, 4 days

Baby is: The size of a large cantaloupe! Probably the biggest cantaloupe anyone has ever seen. Just saying, I'm getting very large.

Weight gain: Ugh… You don't need to know this and I wish I didn't.

Movement: He is a mover and shaker for sure! I have been able to feel him since about 17 weeks and other people have been able to since 18 weeks! The last week or so though I can tell he is getting more squished which makes moving a lot harder.

Maternity clothes: I love maternity clothes. Every pair of pants should have a total elastic waist band! I love it and will surely miss them a little. Also I have lived in dresses. Stretchy and comfy maternity dresses! Asos maternity is my BF.

Stretch marks: Unfortunately as of 35 weeks, despite my constant oiling, a few stretch marks started appearing on my hips :( Dang it.

Sleep: Thanks to my maternity pillow the first 30 weeks of sleeping weren't half bad! I mean I woke up a lot to pee but otherwise I slept good! The last 6 weeks though.. oh man so uncomfortable. My heartburn has been so bad! No matter what I take it just flares up! Tums can be found in every room in our house! I think my body is just prepping me for the sleepless nights I have ahead!

Belly Button Or Out: In still! I doubt it will go out just keep getting flatter.

Favorite moment of the week: My favourite things have been telling our families, ultrasounds, baby hiccups, Brett feeling the baby move, thinking about baby names, putting together his nursery, buying baby clothes, and more baby clothes!

Feeling: I have felt pretty good actually! I mean I was super sick for the first 13 weeks, but my second trimester was great! I worked out most days and felt really good! I was lucky. Every since about 32 weeks though, I feel tired and uncomfortable… but what can you do! It's all part of the process! Also like I mentioned before my heartburn is bad, so this baby better have lots of hair!

Labour Signs: I have been having some Braxton Hicks for the last 2 weeks but nothing more than that!

Wedding Ring: Still wearing it! Lucky for me my hands haven't gotten to swollen. Just after I work out mostly! I have to take it off before I do my daily walk but otherwise it's on.

Working on: Finishing his nursery! It is almost done just need a few more things. Lets just say I really miss living in the states when it comes to shopping! Finding a nice comfy glider/recliner chair has proved to be extremely difficult! 

Currently craving:  Since day one I have craved the same two things, black liquorice and anything grape flavoured, especially ice cream and sluprees! The last few weeks I have also been craving mnm blizzards and smartie mcfurries! I have to limit myself to 1 a week.

Wishing: I could know exactly when he was coming! The unknown is killing me. I mostly just keep wishing an hoping that he is healthy! I also can't wait to see if he is dark like me or a light like his dad! To see if he has my nose or his dad's skinny legs! So many things to look forward too :)

|| Bouncing Baby Boy ||

I figured that maybe I should do a blog post about our newest little addition to the family before he is already here! I can't believe he could be here anytime… Like I am almost 37 weeks. Talk about a blogging/journaling failure.

How We Found Out:
Okay before I write this out I have some stuff to say. I have debated how to say this all for a long time now. I am a pretty open person about some stuff but pretty closed off about other stuff and it's hard for me to get real personal when everyone and their dog can read it. Especially when it's not just my trial to share. So after much debate all I am going to say is that this baby is our little miracle. He is an answer to a lot of prayers and we feel so unbelievably blessed to get to be his parents!

Okay here we go then! So it's January and I had been trying not to count down the days until... well you know the "special womanly" day that month but lets be serious I knew exactly when it was and it was finally here. I didn't want to get my hopes up so I tried to pretend like it was just a normal day. I did this same routine for the next 4 days, almost having mild panic attacks every time I had to pee. Finally I told Brett as we went to bed that I was 5 days late. He said well did you take a test? I explained that no I hadn't and that I couldn't do it and see a negative sign again. So we made up a game plan, I would take the test in the morning and he would go check it and tell me the results. Is this how I had once planned on telling my husband I was pregnant? No, not even close but nothing had gone according to plan so far so why would this right? So the morning came and as soon as I woke up I had instant mammoth size butterflies in my stomach. We said a quick prayer together and I headed off to take the test. I hurried back into bed and we waited a few mins and then Brett went to see the results. I swear he took an hour in there. I thought for sure it was negative and he was too nervous and sad to come tell me. But soon he emerged with this little grin and said "Hey Honey, it says positive!" I obviously started bawling and smiling and laughing and all sorts of other things! I was so excited and couldn't believe it! I knew I wasn't out of the woods. The next weeks leading up to week 11 and our first ultrasound were the longest of my life. The relief we felt when we were told everything looked great and healthy was huge! He (we didn't know he was a he then) looked so cute already!

5 weeks late while my mom and Jocelyn were visiting us in AZ we decided to get a gender reveal ultrasound done! I wish they had these in Canada for our next babies. We might have to make trip to to the states just to get one ;) It took the ultrasound tech all on 10 seconds to be able to tell us the we were having a bouncing baby boy! We were all so excited! I wasn't shocked at all because that had been my guess from day one. So happy!

We got to see our little boy again at our 21 week ultrasound! Sam was our ultrasound tech and she did an amazing job! Unfortunately Brett couldn't be there, silly school, so Joc and my mom got to sit in again! She confirmed he was still a boy and that he was a healthy little fella!

Due to the fact that my husband was born with a head in the 97% and that my mom was induced 2 weeks early after Mitch was huge, my doctor thought it would be smart to get a size ultrasound done. Lucky for me it looks like he is at 50% across the board! So hopefully they are right… Only time will tell! Also check out his little lips! Blowing his mommy a little kiss and melting her hear!

So there you have it! A little update on our baby boy who we cannot wait to meet! Hopefully sooner rather than later :)

|| And A Happy New Year ||

The best holiday of the year has finally come to a close! We are sitting in Salt Lake passing time until our final flight back to Phoenix (I started this and just finished it now… so at the time I was at the airport but now I am home, at my house, in Arizona) and talking about how completely blessed we are and reminiscing about all the fun times we have had! We really did have the greatest time at home these past two weeks!

In my last post I talked all about the things we did up until Christmas, it was a really long post so I don't blame anyone that skipped the reading and just looked at the pics… we are all guilty of that! This one won't be as long but still feel free to skip through and just check out the photos!

Boxing day started off great with a good sleep in to catch up on our lack of sleep on Christmas day. At noon I headed to Magrath to play in an alumni basketball game! They started before schedule and I just got to play one half but it was fun! Joce and I have never played on the same team so that was new and pretty awesome! We ended up losing the game but it was fun all the same!

This has nothing to do with Alumni Basketball but he is the cutest so it doesn't really matter.

My nickname around Harley is "Grandma" cause I give the most treats and let him do whatever he wants...

We all headed over to Raymond after that to watch some Sugar Bowl games. Brett's cousin Mason plays for LCI so it was fun to watch him! We watched a lot of basketball that day and the next. Mason ended up in the final and it was a great game with a sad ending unfortunately! Still a good time being together with all his extended family. Next year will be the first year since Brett was in high school that there won't be a Gibb family member playing in Sugar Bowl, crazy!

Sugar Bowl tired Rylee and Stella right out! They were the cutest cuddle buddies!

After the games on the 26th the Holt clan decided to go to Oshos and then to the Hobbit! We crave Oshos when we are in AZ so we are always more than happy to go there to get chicken katsu and chicken teriyaki! We all liked the Hobbit but agreed it wasn't the best in the whole Lord of the Rings series.

A few days later we decided to all go bowling! I am not the greatest bowler but I still had a great time. Wilson ended up being the big winner bowling a 150!

This year for New Years we decided to spend it at the cabin with my parents, pax and his two friends, and Gregg and Cindy Hansen. This may have been my favourite days of the holiday! I love the feeling I get when I am there of complete relaxation yet we are so busy with adventurous things to do! We crossed country skied our hearts out! We had done it around the lake before but decided to try a trail this time. It was hard at first since it is pretty straight uphill but we got the hang of it and coming down made the hard work of getting up totally worth it! We also did some snow shoeing and that was great too. I think I'll just let the photos tell you how much fun we had!

*Disclaimer: There is an odd number of shots of my feet… I kinda like them though, the pictures not my feet, so I am going to keep them in. Sorry!*

Worst. Roads. Ever.

The boys playing a game to see who got the extra slice of pizza!

Women only snow shoe adventure!

We had a great holiday but are happy to be back in Arizona wearing our flip flops and shorts!