I grew up playing a lot of games with my family. The Kendells are pretty big into their Sunday family board games-Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Sequence, Blokus, Perudo, Rook, SkipBo, Labyrinth, are just a few that I can think of off the top of my head. Brian's family was pretty into a game that I heard of but never really played much: Mad Gab. I remember the first time I met his family over General Conference weekend in October of 2010-we sat down to play Mad Gab and I was blown away because I had no idea what I was supposed to do or how the heck I was going to keep up with Brian's older and younger sisters Sarah and Mandy (they are wicked good at that game).
When we found out we were pregnant-I originally wanted to tell everyone in a way that was both fun and traditional. So I made this card below:
I changed the bottom saying from "Might Sit Hairs Praying Nut" to Might Ought Hers" and "Might Breast Ends" depending on who I sent it to.
Anyway.. Brian is busy studying for boards and I'm busy enjoying my last few weeks of work with my adorable kiddos. It's going to be hard to leave them-it always is! With all 3 families I have worked with since being out here in Chicago, I have really grown close to all of the kids and it is hard to leave. I do know that with the busy summer that I have ahead of me-and preparing for this baby.. It will be really nice to have some time off to visit family, connect with Brian, and do a bit of "nesting" as well.
Can you believe that we have reached the halfway mark until this little babe gets here? I will flat out admit that I was one of those girls that kept multiple lists of baby names that I liked in the back of my journal or church notebook. No shame here!
Now, looking through those names I am completely at a loss for what I would name this baby. It all seemed so simple back then, but this is for real now. No more Barbies or house games where favorite names changed by the season or even hour. This is serious business! I know I have plenty of time to figure it out and that finding out the gender will help in that category (I hope), but it doesn't change the fact that this is so much bigger of a decision than I had ever imagined! Here is the updated Baby Larson Pregnancy Journal!
It has FINALLY started to warm up here in Chicagoland.. but I really shouldn't complain because I know with being pregnant through the summer, I'll soon be complaining about the heat. But it does feel so nice to be outside without goosebumps! And not just go outside but to break out the bikes for a nice ride or go down to the beach (have I mentioned how much I love living by Lake Michigan? I know I have but let me say it again, I LOVE LIVING BY LAKE MICHIGAN!)
Oh ya-random side note-but not so random.. Trying to fit my new belly into clothes is the weirdest feeling. Thinking that only a few weeks ago I could button my pants blows my mind. Now I have to use an elastic through the hoop as I try to figure out this whole maternity pants thing. I mean seriously, they are awesome.. but they also take some time to figure out what I like and for me to get used to them. It will happen I am sure, I just thought it would be easier! Ha!
This video was going around on Facebook.. so I decided to watch it and was amazed at how much it hit home for me.
Let me take you back in time-back to September 9, 2010. This was my first date with Brian. I had a rule back then that I wouldn't bring my phone with me on dates because I didn't want the distraction. Brian and I were meeting his roommates for a night hike to the concrete playground and were driving up Logan Canyon. On the way we got lost and couldn't find our roommates. Brian's phone was dead, and he was driving an old beat up car that didn't display the time. We had no way to get a hold of anyone, and no way of knowing exactly what time it was. And so.. we drove on, half hoping to find his roommates, but the other half wanting to just continue talking together.
We ended up in Bear Lake. We stopped at a gas station and bought squirt guns, drove up on the beach and tried to have a water gun fight but the squirt guns wouldn't work.. so we turned up a CD of country songs and swung danced on the beach. And then? Because we still didn't know the time (though by this time it had to be almost midnight). We jumped in freezing Bear Lake for a midnight swim. And then it was back to Logan.. laughing and blasting the heater. I got home well past midnight, but I didn't know that. I wasn't being constrained by time or by a device itching to have me take a picture and show everyone what we were doing. It was soley for us.. him and me.
But Imagine if we had? If we had, had our phone we might have been able to call his roommates and find out exactly where they were. We might have been able to look at the clock and see 10:28 pm blinking back at us and knowing we should probably be turning around soon.
I'm not saying don't have a clock or a phone on a date.. This video just made me think about what I might have missed if we had both been distracted by our phones. It made me think about what we currently could be missing out on-even in our married lives. And it has made Brian and I both sit down and talk about what we need to do right now to look up.
