Maternity Photo Shoot

 My good friend Shay took these awesome maternity pictures for us. I love the way they turned out. And I'm so glad I decided to them. Now I have documentation of this special time. I have not taken many pictures this time around. I just don't look as cute as I did when I was pregnant with Bella. :) Thanks again Shay!!

Side note: in exactly one week from today our sweet baby Lyla will be joining our family. I can't hardly stand myself. I'm so excited for this baby!!  We are all so excited but mostly me! I just can't wait to do it all again. I know it's a lot of work and I know I'll be so tired but I also know I'm going to love every minute of it!

Catching Up...

This is Katie, me, Mallory and Liz. I think the last time we were all together in the same place was just after High School. These girls were my best friends. It's sad to think that I only talk to them a few times a year now. I haven't seen them since Bella was born, almost 3 years ago. Sad. We all just live so far away and never make it back home at the same time. Katie is getting married in a couple months so this was at her Bridal Shower in Idaho. I love these girls! It was so fun to get together a couple times and catch up.

While in Idaho we took the girls to the river for a little duck feeding. I haven't been down to the "greenbelt" in so long. I don't know why, it's so pretty down there.

I was really surprised with Bella she wasn't afraid of the ducks at all and got right up close to them.

This was today. We've had a rough day. She came up stairs to get me to show me her mess. Awesome. She wouldn't clean it up so she had to sit on her bed. Since I had to clean it up and she wouldn't help me she didn't get to go to the library and to the park for a picnic with her friends. She said she'd rather sit on her bed all day. Of course I didn't make her sit on her bed all day but I stuck to my guns with no library and park.

Don't ya love that all the clothes have to come off when little kids go potty. Here she is washing her hands or brushing her teeth. But love her little buns. Speaking of buns, we were at the Dr. the other day and I was undressing and she said to me "I like your nice big bums Mom." Awesome! Ha ha.

And this is my very first sewing project ever! I'm pretty proud of myself. My friend form across the street walked me threw it. It was a pretty simple project but still... I did it! I just need to get embellishments for the straps and it will be complete.

Just a cute picture of my sweet girl letting me cuddle her.

Dress up. Love the witch tu tu with her princess wand!

Dancing around with her favorite stuffed animal as of late, Na Na. 


Bella is just getting so big. And she will tell you she is a "big girl" not a baby. Sad. But she really is getting so big. She has adjusted great to her big girl bed and as of Monday she is binky free. She was sick on Monday and never asked for it. She even slept all night with out it. So when she asked for it the next day I just told her the fairy's came and took them. She thought about that for a while then just said "oh". I was all prepared for a melt down in which case I would have just given her the binky. So luckily she was so good about it. She hasn't asked for one since.  I feel sad for her at times because in 2 weeks from today her world is going to change drastically. There will be a new little baby here 24/7. She loves baby's and is so excited for her little sister but she has had undivided attention for her whole little life and soon that will all change. So I've been making sure to give her lots of extra loves. Maybe even spoiling her a little more than normal. But I'm a softy and she knows how to work me. 


Yes, you read that right. 2 weeks from today I am being induced. We are so excited to welcome our sweet baby girl into this world.

Evening Away...

We started our Park City evening away by eating at Ruth's Chris Steak House. It was amazing! We had the most delicious meal. Every bite melted in your mouth! It was pricey, definitely a once in a lifetime meal for us. But was so fun and so worth it!

We then headed back to Main street and walked around. I haven't been there in years and it was fun to look at all the fun shops and cute boutique's they have. We stayed at The Marriott Summit Watch on Main street.

After walking around for a bit to let our food digest we retired back to our One bedroom Villa. It was so nice and such a fun relaxing night away.

We decided we needed to get a way one more time before we have this baby. Granted we've only ever been away from Bella for one night before this. Ha ha, I just don't like to leave her. I'm a worrier. Anyway, we decided this would be for our Anniversary also. So it worked out great. We left Bella with her Grandpa and Grandma Lewis. She did great! She had the best time. They made it really fun for her so she didn't miss us at all. Ok, maybe a little. She got to make cupcakes and have pizza. She was in heaven! She played and played and stayed up late. I don't know who enjoyed it more Bella or her Grandparents! Either way it was nice to get a way and know Bella was being well taken care off.

Dad Life...

Labor Day Fun!

She said she wanted to go off the diving board. I was a little nervous but she did it and then did it several times after.

Leaping in!

Good thing Daddy is there to keep her above water. She thought it was so fun. Brave little girl!

Putting Grandma's drawing skills to the test. She wanted her to draw a picture of everyone!

Hanging out reading a story/watching a football game with Grandpa.

Touch Down!! Or something awesome was happening here, they are both cheering!

Swimming and BBQ on a nice Summer/Fall Day. What else could we ask for.
This was a great way to say good bye to summer.
Hope everyone had a fun 3-day weekend!

the RED door....

They don't call it Labor Day for nothing... this past weekend was spent doing some household projects.

I think we are both doing a little "nesting". We want things looking really nice around here when we bring home our baby girl in exactly 30 days from today!!! Unless she decides to come sooner. Which would be great too!

A couple of the big things we did was paint our front door Red. It's growing on me. I think I really like it. It's just different. It turned into a bigger project than Eric thought it would be. He ended up needing to call his Dad down to give him a little help. Which we appreciate so much! His Dad is so handy and can do anything. Thank you Eric and Kent for all the hard work. The door turned out great!

Another thing we did was pull all the flowers/weeds we had in this front flower bed. We are getting it ready to plant some pretty bushes next spring. I plant new and different flowers every summer and I never like any of them. So our goal is to find some pretty and low maintenance bushes that we don't have to keep changing every year.

We also tackled the mess of weeds that were growing out of control behind and around the shed. We pulled all the weeds, sprayed some weed killer, laid some mesh weed blocker and then covered it with bark. Now this corner of our yard is much more pleasing to the eye.
(when I say we, I really mean Eric. I was there for moral support though)

In between projects we found time to play, notice her heels and the monkey riding on her baby's shoulders. She is seriously funny and so so cute!

I got Bella a step stool last week and we've been loving it. I like this much better than her being on the counter. She loves to "help" with the dishes and this makes it so much nicer. Still a lot of water spillage but she thinks it's fun and water wipes up!

Now cooking time is much easier also. Before she was on the counter or standing on one of our tall chairs, it just didn't work. Now with the aid of her stool she's the perfect height to "help".

Licking the spoon is always the best part!

We also spent Saturday afternoon swimming and BBQing with some family. I will have to post pics of that later. Those pictures are on a different camera. Bella loves the water and she even went off the diving board this time. She is not afraid at all!


Happy Fall people!

In Loving Memory

My Grandpa Zimmerman passed away yesterday afternoon. He had just turned 90 years old. He lived in Missouri and this past weekend all of his children including my Mom were able to travel back there to celebrate his 90th Birthday with him. I'm so glad my Mom was able to get back and see him and have those last few special moments with him.

I have nothing but good memories of my Grandpa Z. We didn't get to see him a ton because we always lived so far away. But the times that we did get to spend with him were always good times and I will cherish the memories I have of him. He was always so kind and loving and funny. He was so strong and was working in his yard, feeding animals and doing all the household repairs up to the day her died. Crazy old man!

Grandpa Z at his 90th Birthday party- 8/28/10

My Mom with her Dad, Grandpa Z - 8/28/10


These pictures below are from the last time I saw my Grandpa, 2 years ago:

I'm so glad he got a chance to meet Bella- June 2008

Four generations

Me and Grandpa Z- June 2008

Everyone loved Grandpa Z, he will be missed. But he lived a long and happy life.

August 28, 1920 - September 1, 2010

Observation

Bella talking to Aaliyah "You brown, I white, and you brown too Rachel" Ha ha ha, so smart and so funny! I asked her what color I was and she said "you brown" then I asked her what color daddy was and she said "he white like me". Ha ha ha!

She's a smart little one. I'll take that as a compliment because I know this summer tan won't last much longer!