Brelynn Off Her Feet

Soooooooo...it is June. JUNE. Wasn't it just Christmas last week? The calendar tells me no.
I'd like to reflect on February for a moment - indulge me.

Do YOU remember February?

I do. I REALLY do.

It was going something like this:

Can I just tell you that it is hard to make a pregnant lady feel special...appreciated...comfortable...pretty...
It must have been intimidating to Ammon to watch my birthday loom closer. Poor boy has set himself up for an entire week of celebrating every single year. Pregnant wife or not.

And yet - he pulled it off! He's learned a thing or two in his experience with a pregnant wife and declared this  year's Week of Love to be a week of "Brelynn Off Her Feet"

I petitioned to make it a daily theme year-round but it didn't fly. But it was glorious while it lasted.

As per usual, the week started on my birthday!

Sunday

Ammon and the girls woke me up with singing and gifts.
Check out my schnazzy new robe!

NOTHING says "stay off your feet" like a luxurious new robe.

But the best present in the world? TIME. Ammon got the girls ready and I had a leisurely morning all to myself to get ready for church. I tried out my new spiral curling iron from my dear sweet mother (who also wanted to order me that robe but the LAST one got swiped up by none other than my one and only husband! Either way it was Brelynn for the win!)

By the time we went to church I was feeling like the most beautiful, relaxed, pregnant birthday woman there ever was.

And that evening we had some of the most delicious brownies I have ever tasted. It was a definite diet splurge for this diabetic girl and my sugar levels were definitely high later but it was SO worth it. We all really enjoyed it.

P.S. - I was completely overwhelmed with birthday wishes and birthday loot! I'm so grateful for everything and especially everyone that made me feel loved and remembered!

Monday

When Ammon got home the next night we promptly put the girls to bed and I put my comfy new robe back on for an evening of pampering.

Ammon sat me down in the living room and turned on a show for me to watch. Then he filled a large bowl with warm water and let my feet soak.

Next thing I know he's pulled out the toolbox and is working on my feet.

Don't panic though. It was my toolbox. Not his.

And that pumice stone? Totally new addition he bought just for me. My feet felt smoother than a baby's bottom by the time he was done with them!

I got lotion and foot/leg massages.

He even painted my toenails...and added his own Week of Love heart to top it off!

I'm telling you - this is one heck of a gift during any phase of life. But while pregnant? Ummmm. Yeah. It was the epitome of heaven.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a game night/snack night combo - yet another difficult feat to achieve when your wife is diabetic. But we did some fancy Pinteresting and came up with some low-sugar snack options and got to work!

On the whole, we had a lot of great success! There were a LOT of goodies here and I didn't feel excluded one little bit from our evening of fun.

We played several rounds of games with the girls which just felt so good. You know how there are things you envision yourself doing with your kids as a parent? And then somehow you never do? Playing games is totally one of those things for me. It was a distraction-free, stress-free, family-only kind of night that filled my heart with all the right emotions.

Wednesday

Okay, so the snacks weren't a complete success. 

They tried to kill me. I was up all night feeling like death.

And then they tried to kill Ammon. And he had to stay home from work the next day in an effort to survive.

So any grand plans he may have had got tossed out the window as we laid around feeling sorry for ourselves and each other.

But even in the midst of our agony Ammon was able to slip outside and make me a beautiful bouquet of daisies from our garden. He's so thoughtful. And aren't they gorgeous? 

Thursday

Thursday was our big adventure day. We love to have adventures. But they are decidedly more difficult to have when you're in your third trimester. So instead of having me pack everyone and everything up and then hauling my large pregnant self miles and miles, Ammon created a local get-away adventure.

Mama and Daddy graciously agreed to watch our girls for the whole entire night. Yup, that's right! A sleepover at Grandma Baysinger's! My girls were in heaven. Nothing is better than a sleepover with your grandma.

Meanwhile, Ammon and I meandered down the lane to the fire pit next to Grandma and Grandpa Hatch's house. He was very manly and made fire and then cooked us a delicious dinner of hot dogs over the flames. It was a little slow going and inventive because we forgot our roasting sticks. But he made it work and we ate until we were full!

Then we spent a good long while just enjoying the fire. Alone. Do you know that kind of peace? Sure, maybe you do. But it is sure easy to forget when you are running after littles all day, every day. Not too often do you just get to be together. Just be. We didn't even talk that much. Just watched the flames sitting comfortably together. A perfect evening.

From there we wandered back down the lane and spent the night in our camper, just the two of us. It was actually surprisingly comfortable whilst being that pregnant. And we got to sleep until we didn't want to sleep any more. Wow. That's another beautiful, rare thing as a parent of littles. Just wow.

Friday

When we decided we were good and ready to up the next morning we wandered inside to Mama and Daddy's house. Our girls were already up AND dressed AND hair done AND having an incredible breakfast of pancakes and eggs. WOW. Grandparents are the best. I could say that a million times. Grandparents are the BEST.

We reluctantly left Mama and Daddy's house later that morning and headed off to "Nesting Day" - very appropriate for a third trimester lady.

The first portion of Nesting Day was spent looking at baby chicks. We really want to get chickens. A lot. So we went and learned a little more about them and fell in love with them and came away all the more determined to make chickens a reality in our backyard. Just look how cute they are! Not to mention how useful! 

For the remainder of "nesting" day, Ammon offered to knock out anything I wanted him to off of my nesting, "honey-do" list.

I'm telling you, he's the best. And I'm the luckiest.

Saturday

Saturday greeted me with the instructions that I need not worry about doing anything that day. Today was to be a day of accomplishing nothing but this:

Oooohhhh, yeeeaaaahhh. Binge watching Saturday was probably one of my favorites. Maybe because it spilled over into the following months. That's a lot of hours of viewing right there.

Sunday

Sunday was Valentine's Day. The last day of the Week of Love and the day that I like to take over in planning...you know, since this would technically be Day 8 of the "Week of Love" and Valentine's Day should be about him too!

Honestly, though, we didn't do much. Shame on me. I did some small, fun stuff for the girls in the morning and had a nice dinner planned (although we ended up eating at Grandma and Grandpa Lords - they had a much better dinner going on and we were very grateful to be included!). And then that evening, after the girls went to bed, Ammon and I just enjoyed our time together. I mean, it was Valentine's Day...I don't think I need to spell it out for you.

The End

Another year of incredible and thoughtful fun! Boy, I'm sure glad we have traditions that help keep us on our toes, that help keep us together, that help keep us in love. The Week of Love. It's a winner every time.