family pic

family pic

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

and our summer begins ...

I have been such a bad blogger. Its been hard to keep up with all the demands of my usual busy life and my growing changing prego body. But i haven't forgotten or lost the value of Holland rocks in my life. So here is a basic recap on how our summer is shaping up thus far ...


ill start with the boys. Stock turned 10 recently. it was quiet uneventful one might say. He spent the day at wrestling camp and because he needed to cut weight for western regionals he also couldn't really go out to eat or have cake and ice-cream! ahhh the life of an athlete! For the most part both nate and stock are consumed with the business of sports. Stock is on a provo city baseball league .. and i bet you cant guess who the coach is? {nate of course} they are doing quiet well this year. undefeated. They have secured themselves a sweet spot in the state tournament. Stock is doing even better pitching this year then last and has developed himself into the most darling and fantastic catcher my eyes have ever seen. unlike watching him wrestle i heart the baseball games! he is just so handsome in that uniform, looks like a hot mini version of his father. i adore it. and lets face it, more entertaining! People comment on a regular basis to us about his athleticism, what can i say ... its the one area with him i will gloat to no end! He is just as magical as his father. When not playing baseball they are at wrestling prepping for western regionals and nationals. and soon ... very soon football starts.

Nate has been super busy with house projects. I think he is nesting ... no kidding i really think he is. He hasnt had much spare time but when he does he works on the house. We moved out of our storage unit and got all the storage back into the house into the new and improved storage room. and he built me all new storage and shelves in the studio to house all my inventory. Now he is working on the storage outside of the house. Nesting i tell ya. He is also playing softball with all "the boys" as usual. but this year i have noticed a change, no offense boys but your getting a little old for this, one of you seems to either be injured or get injured at every game and you have sort of lost your domination, not so good of a team any longer! none the less ... fun to watch!

and for the littlest boy in our lives ...


Baby boy O'Brien is doing really well! We are about 24/25 weeks now. And he is right on track for growth. He is getting bigger and bigger each and every time i see him. I am so blessed to be able to see him often. He is still moving like crazy, an odd sensation for me considering my last experience. We are both are doing better then expected and hope to make it to our goal. {about 10 more weeks) My placenta is an odd unusual shape and may be intruding upon my incision, if that is the case it may or may not cause some delivery complications. But really other then that baby is well and so am I. This has definitely been a far different experience then any pregnancy preceding this, but for that even i am grateful. I am nearly at a stage of greater concern and so work will soon be winding down and so will i. in order to get us both through those last few weeks. But prior to now studio stems & utah bride blog have been in full swing wedding season busy!

Maternity clothes ... my biggest dilemma as of late. I hate to invest money into that for only 10 more weeks and i have only now begun to really need them. I am generating a quiet odd shape that is not exactly pleasing to the eye or suited well to even maternity clothes. My fetal surgery incisions definitively play a part in my shape. my odd shape. thank goodness for my maturity and appreciation for this experience, i dont think back in the old having baby days i would have been able to deal with my odd un-attractive shape coupled with the additional pain that accompanies this all wrong baby making body. So i have scrounged through DI racks and KSL listings. only to find a few doable items. I need a suit still so i can enjoy the pool with the kids... but again short term need, sometimes big expense. I really would love a trip to honey bump in ogden, what a brilliant idea!!! why hasnt anyone generated the idea here down in utah county, isnt this baby making capital of the world?

I have been reading still when i can, love the escape. Emma & Me, as well as Bitter in the Mouth have both come and gone from my nightstand. Emma & I is one of those seemingly simplistic novels, but hits you at the end and makes you suddenly see the intricacies of the simple writing. Its haunting to say the very least a 6th sense type of deal. And Bitter in the Mouth was an interesting novel about a woman and how she deals with her identity through her ability to taste words.

onto the girls ...


they are growing up so fast and turning into amazing beautiful young ladies. I can hardly stand it!

My miss storie went to camp big springs for a week. yes i let go and cut the rope just a little more. It was super hard for me but super fun for her! She had a great time and i did ok without her. She is still on the UVrays and swimming every day. We have been so busy that she hasnt been to many meets quiet yet just a few here and there. She has acquired to attention of several boys as of late and they have begun to call the house! YIKES! sHe is such a good kid that though she likes the attention she doesnt seem as enamored with them as they are with her! A big help to me, im not sure how i would be getting through with out her. She has even been working a little for studio stems. A master at stripping roses now! We re-did the girls room recently, storie was feeling neglected and jipped by stocks newly acquired room in the "man-cave" basement. So we gave her the blue with orange accents she was dying for, including this darling retro desk we got from the school. {want one? message me they are for sale at the school for cheap $5!}



Saylor has been busy with private swim lessons. Something she has begged for but that i was very concerned about doing. I wasnt sure what her physical capabilities and expectations would be. Naturally swimming and the water is a therapeutic place for her, but she really wants to swim swim, like storie. We havent even finished half our program and she is doing far better then i expected. I am so proud of her, when she wants something she goes for it and her physical abilities continue to beat the odds! In true saylor style she wanted her side of the room done in "byu" theme. She is so loyal! Her health {knock on wood} is stable at the moment and she is doing really well. Anxious to play with friends quiet a bit but still my little buddy, home with me the most. The other day she asked me who was the most funny in our family, sometimes its her! Like yesterday when she said this to me while we were in the car driving home ...

me "saylor dont fall asleep we are almost home!" saylor "mom im not, im just blinking {pause} slowly!

I get that kind of stuff from her almost everyday. saylor-isms. so good. part of my favorite things in life.

Im excited to blog, i can think of a million things i want to share. the craftiness and thriftiness behind babies room, more books i am reading, recent studio work. baseball/wrestling ... hopefully as i wind down with the usuals to keep baby cooking ill have more time to blog. for now, thats all i wrote ...