Joy in the journey

So on May 20, we finished packing up our stuff and drove off for Redmond, WA. We made a couple stops in Idaho to play at some AWESOME parks. The first was the Storybook Playground in Burley, ID. Unfortunately we didn't stay long because it was crazy windy and Abby had an potty accident, but it was perfect for getting Abby out of the car.

Burley, ID Storybook Playground
So I'm not the greatest picture-taker. I got more car than park. But you can still see it. That's why Jesse took over the camera from here.

Somewhere between Burley, ID and Meridian, ID.

Somewhere between Meridian, ID and Baker City, OR.

Abby thought the first day of driving was a breeze. Don't ask about the second day. I refuse to post about it (It was the day from hell. Yes mom, I just said that word.)

Meridian, ID Adventure Park/Pirate playground thing.

Beautiful, isn't she?

Spaz!

And here are a few pictures of our apartment in Redmond, WA:




I will post this from the second day:
After driving forever and being on the point of mental, emotional and physical exhaustion, we pulled up to our apartment in Redmond. ...only to find someone in our parking space. Whatever. We parked in another empty spot and I hauled out the two crying girls in the rain and walked to the apartment door. Through the window I saw a startling sight.
"Why is the tv on?" was my first thought. "And why can I see a dude in our apartment?" was my next.
I turned around to face Jesse coming from the car and he instantly knew something was wrong. He walked into the apartment to meet our two roommates: boy A and boy B. I didn't bother to find out their names. I took the girls into the only empty bedroom and proceeded to silently cry. I was tired and this was not good. Apparently there was a mix-up and the housing department didn't get the info that Jesse was bringing his family. The two boys were eagerly waiting to meet the third roommate and instead, they met me walking in with a two-week-old crying baby and a wound-up toddler. Oh my.
We hung out there for an hour while Jesse and the boys made emergency phone calls to get us relocated and we were CRAZY blessed that the housing folks found us a place. They said that at this late of notice NOTHING was available. Not even an emergency room. But a family had unexpectedly moved out of an apartment earlier that day and so a 3 bedroom apartment was the only thing left. The housing dudes got a cleaning company to go in and they said by 9:30 p.m. the apartment would be ready. We had no idea how to kill 2 1/2 hours waiting for an apartment. So we went to Olive Garden. The waiter took pity on my emotional wrecked state and gave us extra food to take home. We hung out in the car watching "Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs" while we waited. And then we finally got to go home.
It makes me exhausted just reliving this. But I can say I'm incredibly grateful to my Heavenly Father for watching over us and protecting us during that time. It was absolutely miraculous that an apartment was available and we are so grateful that it was. So thank you Heavenly Father! We'll post more pictures in the next few days... but in the meantime, I'm going to take a nap. :)

A bow the size of her head.

The poor Larsen clan in Alabama have been waiting to see pics of this babe for a week now. A week! Grief I'm brutal! Sorry fam. I really do love you. I think the pain meds just make me a little loopy... don't tell my doc. ;) So without further ado: Claire!

I just wanted you to see her legs. So skinny!

Abby's visit to the hospital. "Oh, look at the cute baby!"

I love my sisters. Seriously.

Claire's favorite place to sleep.

Hang loose. That's for Seth.

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night!

And five minutes after Grandma left with Abby for the weekend, Claire FINALLY woke up. It was only 7 p.m. What's up with that schedule?

Claire Larsen

Claire Larsen was born May 5 at 4:23 p.m. at 6 lbs 12 oz and 19 inches long! She was a wonderfully easy and quick delivery. So I had no reason to be terrified. Seriously. I pushed twice and the nurse made me stop so they could grab the doctor. I pushed maybe 1 1/2 more times and she was out. It was a wonderful contrast to the two hours of pushing I had with Abby.

So far she's been super happy and content--she sleeps all day. She's blonde and right now she has big blue eyes. She already nurses well. Abby's constant comment is, "Oh look how cute, the little baby." She seems excited to play with Claire. While Abby was in the hospital with my fam she said, "Mom! Now you can play silly games because Claire is out of your tummy!" Grief that girl has a memory. Gotta love her.

Anyway here's a pic. Obviously there will be many more to come. Thank you for all your spectacular comments and for keeping us in mind! Love you all!

Wednesday: Baby day

It's official. Wednesday is the day.

I'm going in to be started (induced) at Mountain View Hospital in Payson, UT, starting at 8:30 a.m. So hopefully she'll be here by that night.

I'm not going to lie: I'm terrified. Labor and delivery scares me. And the idea of having a newborn again scares me. Juggling two children scares me.

But it's going to be just fine, right? I know it will be. She'll be beautiful and I'll be so excited.

I just have to be brave. But I haven't hit that point yet.

I can do it!!

Whew. Here we go.

Oranges and penguins

It's a major disappointment when you spend forever peeling the perfect orange and it smells amazing and you're just so stoked to take that first sweet, juicy bite.... and it's nasty bland. You know what I mean.

But that's not the main point of this post. That was just my lunch experience.

Uh, main point is to post some pictures of life. Since Jesse doesn't work all that much right now before we leave, we get to play a whole lot more. Which is AWESOME. So we took advantage of his free Friday and went to the Aquarium.

The penguins were THIS big.

The penguins were Abby's fav. She could pretty much care less for the rest of the Aquarium. And we got there just as they were feeding them so she was thrilled to watch them dive and jump for fish.

Stingrays. Jesse and I thought they were sweet. But Abbs wasn't a fan. She was scared of them. One day she'll understand....

39 week belly pic. That's as good as it's going to get, folks. Don't look at my face. It's retarded.

Checking out fish.

And this is just Abbs sporting her Easter outfit from Grandma Jenkins. It's got cats on the sweater, skirt and socks. And when it's a weekday, it's a got a cat beanie.

So... I'm 39 weeks... still pregnant... and not showing any signs of stopping. Come Thursday, my doc is going to start me if she's not here by then. We'll post the after pics, yeah? Sweet. See ya then!