one of my favorites

this past week, one of my favorite people was here to visit.  i'm a pretty lucky girl to have really great relationships with my cousins.  i grew up with them, even roomed with one of them in college.  but, my cousin sydney and i have always been really close.  she's more like a sister than a cousin.  since i graduated school and moved from utah, i haven't seen her nearly as much as i would like.  so, when she told me she was coming for a visit i was super excited.

to say that mae was enamored is putting it lightly.  she absolutely adored sydney, or "shyd".  and sydney is so amazing with kids.  she and mae had a blast.  which was awesome, because i got to sit back and watch!

this picture was taken maybe an hour after sydney got here and mae was already attached.

 of course we made the obligatory trip to downtown austin.  it's fun to have visitors and visit downtown.  i never go down there otherwise.

 mid-airplane ride.  this girl was in heaven with all of the attention that she got while sydney was here.  she was glued to sydney's side.  she even cried when sydney closed her door to change one morning.

 while sydney was here, we were able to make a trip to the san antonio temple.  i hadn't had the opportunity to go to this temple, so it was really wonderful to be able to go.  lucky for me i have an awesome husband who watched mae while sydney and i went to the temple.  i love the temple and the uplifting, happy, peaceful feeling i get as i make the effort to go.

 

another fun thing about having visitors is a break from the norm!  some days i feel like mae is just bored of our routine.  so it's nice to one have someone else to add variety, and two switch up the activities!  

of course we made some shopping trips.  which surprisingly, mae was a well behaved child during.

 and we made trips to the park, which are a must in this household.  although, i'm pretty sure mae won't want to swing by herself after this!

we had so much fun with sydney.  she is such an awesome person.  it was so fun  just to sit, watch movies, and catch up with her.  i've missed her so much.  and am so lucky that we have been able to keep our friendship going strong even though we are so far away from each other.  thanks for coming shyd.  we love you

hook 'em horns

since living so close to UT, it's hard to not jump on the longhorns fan wagon.  especially during football season.  seriously, UT stuff is everywhere you go.  it's a lot of fun  and boy do they love their football down here.
this past weekend BYU came and played UT.  so, of course my parents decided they wanted to come out so they could go to the game.  and they treated us to some good seats!  cody found the seats online, and when he was picking them out my dad said, "i dont want a view of the city from my seat", so we got some awesome seats.

 6th row!  

we were right in on all the action.  and if you saw the score, there was a lot of action on the BYU side of the scoreboard.

 cody and i decided to root for the longhorns.  they got worked bad, but, this is our new home and we want to embrace it! 

of course before the game my dad and cody had to pregame with some texas BBQ

mae had a blast while gram and gramps were here.  she was definitely spoiled.  i love to watch her with them, and to see how much she loves them.

we had to get a picture of mae supporting uncle reid in her utah state shirt!

we love when my parents come to visit!  it's hard to say bye to them, but it makes seeing them even more special. 

big news

we've got some big news in the baldwin home.  baby number 2 is on the way!  we are so excited, and feel very blessed to welcome this little baby into our crazy family.

i'm almost 15 weeks along, so i'm due the beginning of february.  we also found out last week that we're having another little girl! (cody's excited because that means less clothes/toys etc. that we'll need to buy this time.  i'm sure i'll find things that this little girl has to have).

this pregnancy has tested me more emotionally, physically, and spiritually than anything ever has.  with mae, i was pretty sick for about 18 weeks.  with this little one, i couldn't keep anything down.  i had lost so much weight, they almost had to put me in the hospital.  they put me on three different medications to stop the throwing up and the nausea.  i haven't thrown up in about 3 weeks (woohoo!), but the nausea is definitely still there.
 i was so bad in the beginning i couldn't get out of bed, or take care of mae.  it was the hardest thing i've ever experienced to not even be able to take care of my child.  i felt worthless.  i think i survived those first few weeks on priesthood blessings alone.  luckily cody's mom was in texas, and came to help us for a week before we went to virginia. it was a blessing to be home for a month after that so my family could help with mae.  i couldn't have done it without them. 

my mom even bought a ticket to fly back home with me, and help us get settled back in.  she is amazing.  i was so anxious about coming back and doing the day to day by myself, but she helped me realize that i could do it.  and that it's okay if mae watches a movie and i just lay on the couch (which honestly is sometimes the most i can handle in the afternoon). 

i still have some rough days, and times of day.  i still struggle each day to have faith in Heavenly Father's plan, and to know that there is a reason that i have this trial.  but, i'm trying to just take it a little bit at a time.

as far as cravings go, there haven't been as many as i had with mae.  i'm eating a lot more cheese than i normally do.  mostly, i'm just grateful that i'm eating and keeping it down.  i am definitely bigger this time around.  i'm still in my regular clothes, but i have a little baby bump already.  i didn't have one with mae until around 18 weeks.  and being pregnant while you have a toddler is a whole new experience.  between the two of us there are guaranteed to be a few meltdowns each day, but we're figuring out as we go.

i have to most supportive, amazing husband.  he has been so wonderful throughout this entire ordeal.  he is the most understanding, compassionate man.  and i am so blessed to be able to raise this family with him!

Virginia

the rest of our trip was pretty uneventful. we spent lots of time in gram and gramp's pool, and got to see lots of people that we love, and haven't seen in a while.

mae discovered her new favorite way to nap in the car...

 and of course there was lots of "shacking" by the pool. 

this lady is getting pretty brave.  by the end of the trip, she didn't need someone to hold her in the water, and she was starting to jump in.

 she is definitely our little fishy. 

 

she had so much fun with all of the attention she got.  she got very attached to everyone, and it was so special to see these relationships grow.

 my cousin and mae are 2 months apart in age, and it was so funny to see them interact.  they weren't sure what to think of each other, and were definitely sizing each other up!

it was so good to go home and spend time with family and friends.  it was hard to leave, and i still get a little teary when i think about it.  i miss virginia and all the special people there, but coming back to texas made me realize that we have a pretty great life here.  and even though part of my heart will always be in virginia, this is home.

the hiatus

okay, been a long time eh?  well, mae and i have been off gallivanting on the east coast for a month.  and then, i didn't want to take the time to upload all of the pictures.  but, enough is enough.  

cody flew out with us (thank goodness), because i was not ready to fly alone with this girl again.  flying with her is no cake walk.  but she did surprisingly well. we spent our first few days with his family.  it was so wonderful to be able to see them, and to see mae interact with them.

then it was off to our yearly trip to the beach.  this year, everyone from my mom's side of the family came, and there was no shortage of playmates for mae.  she loved the older girls, and they were so good with her!

 she is a beach baby for sure.  this girl loves the sand, and the water (only on the days when the water wasn't freezing cold).  i don't understand how she got so much sand everywhere.  i was seriously finding sand in her hair and ears days after we got home.

 

it was so fun to see her grow attached to my parents and my brothers.  they are all so sweet to her, and we are so lucky to be surrounded my so many people who love this little munchkin so much.

 making lots of friends

 she loved to have her legs buried.  she would sit so still while her legs were getting buried.  if i had known that's what it would take to get her to hold still, maybe i would have bought a sand box! 

 

as you can see, there was no shortage of snacks.  we created a monster.  the minute we got down to the beach she would ask "shack?" and with no shortage of people to ask for "shacks", she had quite a few.  we're still working on breaking the "shacking" habit. 

 she is a busy little girl.  always has to be doing something, just like her gramps.  many a hole were dug.  and that supplied endless amounts of busy time.

 if you can't tell, there is a science to how a hole is dug.  my dad has perfected that science.

 

even on a cloudy and rainy day, this girl managed to have a blast.  even though she can be pretty tough, she is one of the best things to ever happen to me.

more to come on our adventures in the VA!