18Aug 2014

Babyland, BFFs, Baptisms, + Bear Lake

By K + Z 0 50 Days of SUMMER!, Activities, Family, Friends, Pregnancy Permalink 0

This week seemed like the busiest of the summer thus far. At the beginning of the week my high school friends [including Alison all the way from NY] met up with our significant others for dinner at Alamexo. After dinner we made our way over to Nostalgia for some treats and games – a puzzle, actually, which we made pretty good progress on. My favorite people and puzzles. What more could a girl want?

I went thrifting this week. I haven’t been for the longest time. I miss my college days up at the Logan thrift stores with my thrifting buddies. For some reason I have terrible luck at stores like TJ Maxx and Nordstrom Rack, but when it comes to Savers and the DI, I never leave empty handed. I found a handful of items, but my favorite was this little bitty scarf for baby girl…

Throughout the week I completed several items on my “to-do” list for the nursery. One of the first (and easiest) was spraying some IKEA brackets for some shelves.

I tested out several gold spray paints, trying to accomplish a brushed brass finish, and found Krylon’s Short Cuts to be my favorite.

The last Sunday we spent at my parents’ house for dinner I found an old shoe rack that I used in my dorm room up at Utah State. My mom practically loaded it in my car for us in an attempt to clean out her basement. I cleaned it all up one night – I plan to use it for little midget shoes…

Our master bedroom roman shades came months ago, but I’ve been so distracted with work and baby stuff that I haven’t had a chance to hang them. I finally got them all mounted and adjusted. Zach was completely surprised (and probably relieved) that I finished them myself and was impressed that I managed it with my growing belly in the way.

I also painted the giant marquee S lamp we purchased for baby girl’s room. I wore a mask, of course. I didn’t want to asphyxiate my child ..

I was going to paint it blue, then bright yellow, then citron. It went back and forth so many times that I was starting to think that I was just going to paint it white and call it good. I made a trip to Lowe’s to get the paint for the nursery and found this melon color. It wasn’t coral, not salmon, but melon – the swatch pretty much levitated off the rack into my hands. I guess it was meant to be…

It was not a professional job by any means, but nothing in this nursery really is. I was pleased how it ended up!

I also started organizing her stuff. Organizing her clothes and folding her blankets and such…

Thursday of this week Zach and I attended our nieces’ baptisms. All three of them turned eight within a couple of months, so my sister-in-laws decided to do a triple baptism. I imagine it was so special for them, something they will never forget. They all looked so adorable in their matching dresses…

We also got to attend the beautiful wedding of our friends Chet and Danielle. It was such a gorgeous reception. I also created their letterpress wedding invitations, complete with a pressed honeycomb pattern.

Immediately after their reception Zach and I had to make the drive to Bear Lake to meet up with my family (and our family friends) for our annual summer weekend. But first, Zach begged me to stop at Noodles and Co. for some macaroni and cheese. Turns out the mini glove box in his car makes a perfect tray table…

We spent all weekend up at the Fotheringham Cabin with the Caywoods, Swensons, and Websters. We had so much fun lounging, playing on the beach, and being out on the boat. Even Dax (two years old) did his share of wake boarding…

We stayed up late, ate tons of unhealthy food, and enjoyed the scenery amongst great company.

It was the perfect way to end my 26th week. Since I am technically now 27 weeks – I have one more week left until I am in my third trimester. Nothing new has happened this week other than she just continues to become more and more active. I feel like I am on repeat when I say that, but it is true! Every single morning she wakes me up around 6:30 – kicking and punching with all of her limbs. I can feel her move in all four corners of my abdomen. Sometimes it looks like a dog is shaking off inside of my belly. My Google search history reads: “Rapid fetus movement” “Can babies have seizures in the womb?” “Do fetuses spasm in the womb?” – all within days of each other. I know these next couple of months will fly by, so I am enjoying all this movement while I can. Soon she will be out and I will be able to see what she has been doing inside of my gut each morning.

11Aug 2014

T-Minus 99 Days

By K + Z 0 50 Days of SUMMER!, Activities, Family, Pregnancy Permalink 0

Monday we celebrated a really late Father’s Day at Mark and Jeanene’s house. Sean and Siri are still in town from Philidelphia and it was the perfect time to get everyone together to celebrate Mark. In true Henderson fashion, there was swimming, eating, and competition. Mark bought this WIPEOUT inspired rolling log that stretches over the pool and the older boys [or uncles, I guess] took advantage of a little brotherly challenge. Sean won…but technically he is the farthest from the water [tallest] so I don’t know if that counts?

It hit me this week that I have 99 days (at the most) until this child graces us with her presence. I feel like I still have a year’s worth of prepping to do, so I made myself a checklist week by week. One of the items on my list was to clean out her future closet. It was filled with Zach’s old mission stuff, Christmas decorations, and so forth. In a box of Zach’s old things I found a book entitled “SPORTS CLIPS” with football players all over it. Inside were a few baby photos of Zach – there are not many considering Zach was the 7th child and even his parents admit they were over documenting every detail of his childhood. But these were absolute gems…

The microwave photo is my favorite. What child can fit into a microwave?! Most likely my child, I guess…

I got a little extra family time on Wednesday when I went up to Lori and Travis’ house to help them layout their basement. The highlight was when Lola showed me her chicken, Carla Salad. Yes, she named the chicken herself. Carla. Salad. Carla Salad likes to swing, apparently…

Friday was my night to pick the movie for our date night. Zach picked Tepanyaki for dinner and then we went to the AMC in Layton with the reclining seats where we saw Ninja Turtles! It was totally cheesy, but I loved it. But I’ve had a love for the TMNT since childhood.

Saturday Zach had two bachelor parties to attend – my brother’s and his friend Chet’s. He was literally gone all day and night. This left my mom and I to attend my cousin’s shower out in Magna. I about died at the diaper cake…which was a diaper motorcycle, actually. It would make more sense if you knew that all my cousins from Magna rode hogs with giant ape hanger handle bars… I am related to the Sons of Anarchy, basically.

We ended our wicked awesome Saturday night with a crazy time at IKEA. I got all the items on my checklist for the nursery. We met up with my Aunt for dinner at Noodles and Co. where the majority of the meal went like this…

Who let these two have smart phones?!

We ran a few more errands, including a stop to the Nike Outlet Store, before returning home to assemble some Swedish nonsense.

Sunday after church we had dinner at the Fotheringham’s. After dinner my dad mentioned casually that he had a metal detector and Zach overheard. This resulted into digging said detector out of storage and having an expedition in the back yard. They were out there for over an hour. I ventured out after about 45 minutes to find them DIGGING in the grass. Zach couldn’t stop laughing.

Their spoils were 53 cents and a screw. An eventful Sunday, if you ask us.

25 weeks – 99 days to go!

04Aug 2014

6 Months

By K + Z 0 50 Days of SUMMER!, Family, Pregnancy Permalink 0

This week was jam-packed with family and friends. So much, in fact, that I totally failed at taking adequate pictures of all that went on.

I have been working on a lot of fun work projects lately. One that was released just this last week was a new supplement product I have been working on all the graphic design on. Along with all the other supplements that Warrior Fuel Supplements creates, we have been working on a new BCAA product. It is so fun to see the labels in some local gyms!

I think one of the questions I get the most whilst pregnant is “what are you craving”? Besides peanut butter Oreos, I can’t get through a whole day without a nectarine. It has become a daily treat for me. My mother-in-law picks them up by the crate for me at Costco. Zach caught this blissful moment one day on his way out to work…

Wednesday all the girls in the Hendo family met at Hearth on 25th Street in Ogden for dinner. Even our sister-in-law Siri is in town from Philly. It was fun to have all of us in one place. I wouldn’t recommend Hearth…it was my choice (I saw that they had won some dining awards in a food magazine) but we were all kind of bummed with our entrees. The truffle fries, though, were a hit!

Friday Zach and I went out with our friends Angie and Gordo. We went to dinner at Trio and then saw a movie at the Tower. Both Angie and Zach made friends. Angie, with Gary…

Zach, with a raptor in someone’s front yard…

Saturday we had my future sister-in-law’s shower at my house. It was thrown by our Fotheringham extended family. I totally failed by taking zero pictures of the decor. But at least we had a great group and Brittany got so me killer gifts! We are so excited for my brother. Our family is literally doubling this year!

Sunday we went to a sweet baby blessing of our friends and neighbors. Lindsey and Mike blessed Tagg and it was one of the sweetest blessing I have ever heard! It made me super excited for baby girl to get her wiggly self here.

Speaking of baby…this child is all out! This week my bump feels like it has doubled in size. I don’t know if she had a growth spurt or what, but she has grown significantly this week. Also, another milestone for me, was feeling her move. Not just jabs and kicks, but actual fluid movements. I can feel her rotating around or swinging her arms (or legs? I don’t know which?) across my belly. She also likes to bunch up all on one side of my abdomen!

24 weeks

We are working on some major baby stuff as well: planning a baby moon, scheduling maternity photos, and getting our last big items for her nursery. I know I have 3+ months left…but you never know when these bambinos decide to show up. We’ll be ready for her!

28Jul 2014

Blondes Have More Fun

By K + Z 0 50 Days of SUMMER!, Activities, Friends, Pregnancy Permalink 0

It was refreshing to be home for (almost) a week before setting off for the weekend to Zach’s cabin with my high school friends.

My brother bought his first home! I still can’t believe he is getting married in less than two months. Zach and I took him a house warming gift for Family Night: Little Caesar’s Pizza and Peanut Butter Oreos. The Oreos were my contribution, considering it is my newest addiction and pregnancy craving.

He hasn’t officially moved in yet. There are still a lot of things he is planning to work on before we haul his stuff all over there. My mom doesn’t mind, however. She is trying to convince his fiancé to move in first so that he can stay at home longer with my mom. She is having a hard time “cutting the cord” as my dad tells her…daily.

Also, I’m blonde. I’ve been wanting to do it for months, but it has taken some time and patience on my part. I still have my dark roots, but the majority of my hair is so light that when I look down most days I don’t even recognize myself!

Zach had to work on the 24th of July, so we didn’t do any holiday activities during the day. As soon as he got home, however, we set off for the rodeo! We went out for dinner and then drove to the Energy Solutions Arena for the event.

The Days of ’47 Rodeo is a lot different that our other two rodeo experiences: the Ogden Rodeo and the Jackson Hole Rodeo. These guys are serious business – ranked worldwide! We couldn’t think of a better way to spend this particular holiday.

Friday, after everyone got off work, a few of my high school friends all met at my house so we could drive up to the Hendo Cabin together. We had dinner in Bountiful and then made our way up to Causey.

As soon as the sun went down we were out making s’mores…

Whitney completely rocked my world with her jar of Nutella. I will never look at a s’more the same again! A little square of Hershey’s chocolate seems sad in comparison now. She has ruined me forever…

After a late night we all slept in. Once we were all up and going we decided to take a little adventure down to the reservoir. We found three old tubes in the garage of the cabin and planned to float in the water.

We also had a picnic on the shore of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bags of snacks.

It was a great weekend with beautiful weather. We were so glad my friends joined us!

This weekend also marks the end of my 23rd week. I am officially 6 months down, 3 (and some change) months to go!

I am growing used to all the movement that is going on inside me. This little lady is moving almost constantly now, most active around 8:00 in the morning, then again at lunchtime, and 10:00 at night. 6 months for me marks the last month I can go without maternity pants. My days of rigging my pre-pregnancy pants with rubber bands are over. This babe is still sitting really low – the majority of my bump is below my belly button. I can still fit in most of my tops, but my pants can’t take it much longer. Along with my pre-pregnancy pants…I might retire my bathroom scale. I haven’t hit double digits in terms of weight gain yet, but the rate at which I am growing I know it will be soon around the corner. Other than your typical pregnancy symptoms I have nothing unique to add. Other than I love being pregnant. I can’t wait to add this little one to our team…

22Jul 2014

The Happiest Place on Earth

By K + Z 0 50 Days of SUMMER!, Activities, Family, Pregnancy, Vacation Permalink 0

I have missed out on the Hendo Lake Powell trip for 3 years in a row. This year, with my work situation much different, I got to go! Since it was put on the family calendar months ago, I have been waiting for this week to come.

We left Wednesday after Zach could get off work and made the drive down to Page. It was the fastest drive to Powell I can ever remember. We only stopped twice. The second stop was in Kanab so Zach could get a giant snow cone.

After stopping at Walmart for some food and supplies we didn’t make it to Antelope Point Marina until around midnight. This year the Hendersons decided to sleep on the houseboats in the marina that night and leave early the next morning to our campsite. Since we have such a large crew, we rented two houseboats. Bright and early the next morning we filled up and pushed off to meet Zach’s parents at our home for the next five days.

We started our day off right with some paddle boarding. It was my first time, but became a daily activity for Zach and I.

The kids were so thrilled with the thought of swimming all day that they didn’t even notice when some of the adults ventured off to do some surfing and wakeboarding. Even though Zach was a little hesitant, he let me surf first and then wakeboard.

It was a different sensation trying to get up with a pillow under my swimsuit, but the captain was patient with me and I was really safe [no wake jumping allowed this trip].

Zach also tried his hand at surfing. It’s his favorite and he makes it look really easy…

We spent the rest of the night eating dinner, lounging on the houseboat, and playing games.

Day two we took the two boats to a drive down a canyon cove. It ended up being a little longer excursion than we planned and we got home just before dinner time. Right at Zach’s favorite time of day. He calls it the “Golden Hour” – when the sun goes down behind the red rocks and you can’t get sunburned, but it is still light enough to be out on the water. We did another paddle boarding session along with a little canoe ride while enjoying the sunset.

Zach spent the rest of the evening doing his version of “sun bathing”.

The next day we took everyone over to a nearby cliff for some cliff jumping. The kids would have stayed for hours, but we had to make a run to the marina for some supplies.

Mark and the boys also rigged a zip-line from one of the houseboats to the rocks. It wasn’t super professional, but it worked. It provided hours of entertainment for everyone, including Zach.

The evening was really relaxing. Papa got a full-body massage and Zach and Georgia had a dance-off.

Our last full day was Sunday. With the last full day usually comes lots of sunburn and tired kidlets. There were measures that had to be taken with certain pale-skinned nieces – layers upon layers, with an added stylistic choice of goggles.

Early Monday morning we made our way back to the marina with the houseboats and all our gear. We made the drive home from Page [along with four stow-aways]. Overall it was a successful trip – no injuries and no serious damage to any boats, jet skis, or other equipment. The only casualties were a few head colds and some sunburned cheeks. We can’t wait for next year already! Thank you Mark and Jeanene for a fantastic weekend in my favorite place on the planet!

This week also marked the end of my 22nd week. That 6 month mark is approaching!

07Jul 2014

Half Baked

By K + Z 0 50 Days of SUMMER!, Activities, Family, Food, Holidays Permalink 0

This week was more of an eye opener for me. Not only did I officially hit 20 weeks [5 months] but we celebrated the 4th of July.

Monday I met some old co-workers of mine for lunch at Tsunami (plus Tina’s little one). It was so great to catch up with these ladies. Life has changed a lot in three years.

Monday night for Family Night, Zach and I had a Barbacoa picnic in a park down town. It’s not the best location, but has plenty of shade from mature trees and is located right next to a skate park. Dinner and entertainment.

July 2nd was our big 20 week anatomy ultrasound. We both had been looking forward it for months, it seemed. Zach took the whole morning off to spend with me. He drove me to the University Hospital. The whole drive there all I could think about was how badly I wanted to see her…and how long the drive was. It made me a little anxious to think I would be making the same drive while in labor. We both were a little nervous, I think. We were pretty silent the whole drive until Zach said, completely out of the blue, “I can’t wait to see her toes!” It totally melted me.

Luckily, her toes were there. Along with all her limbs and major organs. People who say you can’t love someone until you know them are mistaken…

She had her hands in her face the majority of the time, but we did get a few shots of it. She has my chin, we think. That’s about the only facial feature we could distinguish.

We both were so relieved to see she had all her fingers and toes. She’s also measuring right on her due date – to the day.

We celebrated with “breakfast” afterwards at Banbury Cross. The gentlemen at the drive-up window must have sensed our excitement. He gave us the blueberry doughnuts for free. A blueberry doughnut is pretty exciting, but a FREE blueberry doughnut is even better.

The 4th finally came and we spent the whole day with family. We had a BBQ in Magna with the Fotheringhams for lunch and afterwards drove down to Sandy for the Hendo BBQ. After the food came the fireworks. We were lucky enough to find three little hitch hikers. Our niece Sammy said, “Just pretend we are your three kids. This is what life will be like when you have your first three kids.” I don’t know how many children she thinks we are having…

We found our spot on the lawn of the Salt Lake Country Club green and waiting for it to get dark enough for the fireworks to start. Sammy shared her glow necklaces with us.

This is our favorite firework show of the season. Not very long, but a beautiful location and not overly crowded. It was a great finale to our holiday.

The next morning we relaxed most of the day, until I declared to Zach that I was dying to go to Leatherby’s. Zach hates Leatherby’s. But he took one for the team and sacrificed his weekend meal so I could have some hot fudge and french fries.

5 months down – 4 to go!

← Older Entries

Category 50 Days of SUMMER!