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Saturday 28 July 2012

4th of July

I have really started to hate blogging since moving into our new apartment. The internet connection here is painfully slow, and it takes ages for pictures to upload, and I don't like to blog without pictures. It's boring.

I decided to suffer the pain of slow uploads today so that I can post about our 4th of July before July is over. We didn't do much really because I had a sinus infection, but it was exciting all the same because it's the first 4th of July Mr. Mitchell and I have ever spent together since knowing each other. The 4th of July is also my favorite holiday outside of Christmas.

2008 - just friends and living in separate states
2009 - dating cross country (Mr. Mitchell in Alaska, me in North Carolina)
2010 - Mr. Mitchell was on a fire
2011 - I was in North Carolina nannying
2012 - our first 4th of July!!!

See? It was necessary to celebrate in some way!

We were invited to Luke and Liz's for BBQ and fireworks.

Their little boy liked the fireworks. 

Our first 4th of July.

Luke entertaining us.

I made a heart.

Scary 'M' for Mitchell.

Mr. Mitchell lost control of his sparklers.
I wish I hadn't been sick so I could've been a better participant, but all the same it was a pleasant night. Thanks Luke and Liz for having us over!

Monday 23 July 2012

Smaller Than a Watermelon

I must begin by saying that Mr. Mitchell got stung by a bee while he was riding home from work today, and he would like your sympathies.

It's been over a month since I last talked about my expanding belly and I figured it was time to talk about it again.

26 weeks
 At 26 weeks I was feeling pretty big, but now I can see that I was being silly.

I can no longer see my toes.

My belly button.
 I took the belly button picture because I was always rather proud of my innie. It seemed perfect in every way, and for somebody who has self-esteem issues it's something worth being proud about. It's not quite an outie yet. Mr. Mitchell says that it's more like a belly button with an overbite. It's truly weird.

30 weeks.
The above is my most recent belly picture (in other words, I took it an hour ago) and it scares me a little bit that I still have 10 more weeks, at least, to go. I was told just yesterday that I look small for how far along I am, but this is the biggest I have ever been and it's getting mighty uncomfortable right quick. On the bright side: my stomach is still smaller than the watermelon in our fridge.

The babe has settled into a routine of sorts: pilates in the morning, yoga throughout the day, and jazzercise at night. Every once in awhile he'll throw in a gymnastics floor routine just to make sure I remember he's there. I love it when he's doing yoga in my stomach and I can see and feel his little body parts pressing against my stomach as he stretches.

I read in my pregnancy bible that babies cry while they're in the uterus and that just about made me cry. How can I comfort my baby if I don't even know he's crying and I can't get to him? I've been trying to forget I read that...I haven't done so well.

I had a self-esteem crisis this morning. I discovered two rather large networks of varicose veins on my legs to go with the stretch marks and fat dimples. Apparently they're the varicose veins that are strictly pregnancy related and they may or may not fade after delivery. *sigh* Hopefully my innie comes back so that I can have something to like on my body.  I also plan on working out those fat dimples, so, pray that I have the energy to do so.

At least I'm getting a baby out of all of this! Overall, we're all doing well and Mr. Mitchell and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby boy.

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Chandler's Funeral

Thanks to my mom and brother I was able to make it out to Chandler's funeral. It was great to be with all of my siblings, and I'm so happy that we could all be there for Chris and Tiffany. All of Tiffany's siblings but one, who was out of the country, were also there. It was a very crowded, but very loving time.

To get out to North Carolina in the least expensive manner I had to take a red eye flight. I don't sleep very well when I'm next to a stranger so I was up for over 24 hours by the time I landed in North Carolina. Chris and Tiffany very kindly let me crash on their bed for a nap until it was time to go the family viewing of Chandler. It was a very tender time.

Chris and Tiffany and their oldest.
The rest of the day was spent driving to and from the airport to pick up family members and getting ready for the funeral. We also sang, a lot, and got a lot of comfort from that.

Garrison showing his nephew the cell phone ropes.

Singing primary songs.

Practicing the song they sang at the funeral.

They had a captive audience.
The next morning we had the viewing and the funeral. All of the brothers were pallbearers, I played the piano for Jayme and the kids to sing Give Said the Little Stream (Jayme and I were both in tears - I was glad I was at the piano and not trying to sing), Tiffany created a display, Chris and both grandpas talked about Chandler, Tiffany's sisters sang the closing hymn, and the grandmas gave the prayers. Every family member was able to be involved and it was so nice.

This little guy struggled with the funeral a little bit.

The viewing.

Tiffany's display table.

The darling video Tiffany and her sisters made.

Chandler's wagon.

Saying goodbye.
The cemetery that Chandler is buried in is located right behind the church. We were able to take a short, nice walk to the cemetery and give our final salute to Chandler via bubbles.

The pallbearers and Chandler.
  
Chris and Tiffany

Chandler's siblings.

The rest of the gang.

Pallbearers. (My brother is in jeans because the airline lost his luggage.)


Tess blowing her bubbles.


Bubbles at the cemetery.

After we took Chandler to the cemetery we had a very nice luncheon back at the church that was provided by the Relief Society. Something that helped us smile throughout the weekend, and especially at the luncheon, was playing one of Chandler's favorite games. He would randomly throw both of his arms up in the air and hold them there until everybody else put their arms up in the air.

Beautiful Tiffany.

Our food.

Some of the Holdaways.

The kids.

Some of the Murdocks.
We all went back and said goodbye to Chandler one more time for the day and then headed back to the house. We all needed some distraction so we did some historical site visits, a Krispy Kreme run, a rousing game of soccer, and more singing. For the first time in my pregnant life I got swollen this day. Not just gently swollen, but intensely swollen from my feet up to my knees. I also developed a sinus infection. I mostly did a lot of sitting with ice and tissues this day.

There was a little bit of dress-up.

Some trampoline time.

Holdaway siblings - oldest to youngest. 

My brother, Eric, and his 'apple juice.'

Soccer time - even Chris and Tiffany played.

My essentials - ice water and tissues.


The cause for the gathering was very sad, and we'll miss little Chandler and his big personality, but it was a love-filled time and I'm so grateful that I was able to be surrounded by my siblings and parents. Here are some other silly things we did while we were together.


We acted like us.

We took large group walks.
Yes. Chris is playing a banjo.

Chris and Tiffany made us breakfast.

We sat and watched them make breakfast.
In case you can't tell, I was feeling REALLY gross by this point.

We love you Chris and Tiffany! Thank you for letting all of this madness into your home.

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