Baby Number 3!

When we found out we were pregnant with baby number 3 I had a lot of emotions and thoughts about our new adventure. First, I was so excited! This baby was planned. Really, you never know when it will happen but for Michael and I, we have been very blessed to have it work the first time every time so far. Second, I started worrying about what people would say or think; family, friends, strangers. Third, we just had a huge phone call that could potentially change our lives and we were going to have a baby!? Moving to California has been the biggest blessing and so much fun but now I have to switch doctors and I absolutely loved mine in Idaho! Will I find that friendship and relationship again? 

There were a lot of other emotions but these have been the biggest. I am so excited to be a mother again! Having Olivia was life changing. I learned a lot! Then I got pregnant with Walt and I became comfortable with being a mom of one. Then Walt came and things changed but I loved having two children! I am now comfortable with having 2 kids and how well they get along. Now things are about to change again and I am so excited! Being a mother is hard work! It's not for the lazy. I look at pictures of my babies on my wall and get excited to add more pictures. 

As I started thinking about sharing the news I started to worry. What will everyone say? I know they will ask how close Walt and this baby will be. They are going to say wow that's really close. But Michael and I spent hours talking about this decision and we feel good about our choice. Olivia and Walter are 20 months apart and Walter and this new baby will be 20 months apart. We will have 3 kids under 3 1/2. 

I often feel like I need to explain my decisions (I guess that's why I'm writing this post?) out of excitement about our growing family and to prevent people from judging me. Yes I am 26, yes I am young, yes I stay at home with my children, yes they are really close in age, yes I have my hands full, yes they keep me really busy. 

When we made the choice to move to California I started to worry more about what people were going to say and what my reaction would be. I thought of witty responses to rude, unkind, judgmental comments that I knew would come. I heard a lot of my friends tell stories about mean things people said to them about having kids so young. In Idaho it is common and maybe even expected but that is not how things are in California. I remember being teased growing up that my mom and dad were bunnies, baby making machines, 5 kids was too many. It bothered me but I always knew I wanted a big family. I loved always having lots of people around, always having something going on. 

After lots of thought about my response to what people will say to me about my family I realized why I am doing this is my response. I love being a mother! I love watching Michael play with OUR children! I love being busy! I love tight squeezes, wet kisses, sweaty sleeping babies, the funny things Olivia says, watching Olivia hug and kiss Walt all day, the way Walt wants to do everything Olivia does. They are the best of friends (and enemies but mostly friends). I love talking to Michael about the kids, taking walks as a family and singing twinkle twinkle little star 10 times. I love how Michael and I feel the same way about our family and our future. Yes, we want 5 kids, maybe we will only have 3 or 4, or maybe we will have 6 but that's the exciting part about being parents and working closely with The Lord to decide on children! We don't have to let anyone else help us decide!! Family is important to me! 

I feel blessed that we now live in California and I have only had positive encounters about my children. Every time I am out with the kids everyone who passes us has something to say about Olivia and how she looks like Sherly Temple and how Walt is so happy. They tell me I look busy and I tell them I am but I love it. Michael gets more of the judging than I do. His co-workers can't wrap their brain around the fact that I don't work and that we are so young and we are having our 3rd child!! But we are happy to share that family is important to us and that is why we have chosen to live this way.

Although I still get nervous telling people I am going to have another baby I rejoice in the blessing of being a mother and my knowledge of the importance of family! I try really hard not to judge others and their choices about their family and hope to be supported in mine. I'm blessed to have such supportive family and friends. They might not do it our way but they respect our decision and for that I am grateful!

My life is crazy and most days if people could watch us they would question my decision on being a mother again but that is why we have a Savior! He helps me change and be better! I am eternally grateful for him and I am a better mother because of him!

This post was long and personal but I wanted to express my feelings and explain why: 

BECAUSE FAMILY IS IMPORTANT TO ME!

Saturday beach day!

We went to the beach on Saturday and it was awesome! It was a warm 80* and the company was awesome! I have loved our little family adventures on Saturdays. I think we will do this one a lot more! Walt is the only one who isn't so sure about the whole thing but he will get use to it! It was also Uncle JD's birthday so we wrote him a happy birthday note in the sand! 

Wicked!

Michael texted me last week while he was at work and said "can you get a babysitter next Wednesday at 8? We are going to be culturally uplifted in LA." I knew it was Wicked right away but in true Michael fashion he never said where we were going until we got there. Wicked was in Salt Lake City when we lived in Idaho and I asked to go but it never happened so Michael surprised me with this. He is the best but such a tease! My mom came down to watch the kids since I don't know anyone yet and we would be gone from 4pm-12am and the kids needed to be fed and put to bed. And we want to see Oma as much as we can! 

We left at 4 and didn't get to LA until 6:30. It was awful rush hour traffic but we knew that would happen. We grabbed a bite to eat and headed to the show. It was AMAZING!!! I saw it 7 years ago and it was just as amazing as I remembered it. 

I love any time I get to spend with Michael! I'm so grateful we get to do so many fun things!

Our magical day!

We had a magical day! My mom came down to watch the kids while Michael and I went to see Wicked and the following day we played! I let my mom choose what she wanted to do and naturally she picked Disneyland! My mom is a Disneyland pro! 

It was so helpful having her there. It's a lot of work watching two kids at Disneyland. We got to the park and went straight to California adventure to get fast passes to see Elsa and Anna. We spent some time in the "snow room" and talked a lot with a nice Disney worker. After talking a while he said to Olivia " you are beautiful! Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Oh my!! You look just like Cinderella! Follow me!" and took us to see Olaf! We skipped the hour long line and spend a few minutes playing with Olaf! It was awesome! 

We only went on two rides, monsters inc. and Ariel. We spent most of our time with characters and that was perfect for Olivia. 

After meeting Olaf we went to Disneyland and as soon as we walked in we saw Cinderella! Cinderella is by far Olivia's favorite princess! She wears her Cinderella dress every day! Cinderella was about to leave but Olivia was able to give her a quick hug! My heart pounded and I got emotional seeing my little princess hug Cinderella! It was awesome!

We then spent time with Minne and Mickey Mouse! Olivia was so sweet with them. She danced with Mickey and told Minne that she loved her house. My favorite part was when I introduced Walt to Mickey Mouse. Mickey got really excited when I told him Walt's name! Walt wasn't so sure about Mickey though. 

We then went back to California Adventures to see Elsa and Anna. It was awesome! It was a 20 minute wait and we weren't rushed at all when we met the two. They were adorable with Olivia! They talked about her dress and how it matched Elsa's and they danced with her and when Olivia did something cute they reacted so sweet. They were so sweet and excited to be spending time with Olivia. It was so fun! I love living all of this Disney fantasy with Olivia! I am excited to be going a lot this year and experience new things every time!

Getting settled!

It has been a whirlwind the last month! I can't believe we have been here almost a month! All I can say about our new life is that I love it!! I see family all the time and we have been on a lot of family adventures! 

We got here on February 7th and went straight to my Grandma and Grandpa Hunts house to meet up with my dad and sister. We had a nice visit then we headed to my Grandpa Hansen's house and ate some yummy tacos and visited with my Uncle Eric's family. After we said our goodbyes with excitement that we would see everyone soon, we headed to our hotel. 

Sunday we drove around and explored our new home then decided to head to Balboa Island. This place is a huge part of my childhood memories! We would spend a week at Balboa every summer with all my aunts and uncles and cousins and my Grandma and Grandpa Hunt. It was so fun finally taking Michael, Olivia and Walter to Balboa. We enjoyed a Balboa bar and played on the beach until it was time to go to my Aunt Marsha's house for dinner. 

Monday Michael started work and the kids and I explored and found us an apartment.  We had to wait to move in because the movers told us it would take 2 weeks to get our stuff out of storage. By Wednesday the kids were tired of living in a hotel room so we headed to my parents house. We stayed there until Saturday then I came back to spend Valentines weekend with my love! 

I told Michael that if I was going to leave my babies for the first time he better prepare something fun for us to do! I got brave and left my babies for the first time but knew they were in good hands. Michael drove me down to Laguna Beach for dinner and a walk on the beach to watch the sun set. It was so fun spending time with him and having a really good conversation without any distractions! We ate dinner at BJ's and it was right on the beach! After we headed back home but stopped at Ferrel's for some ice cream. 

On Sunday we went to our new ward at church and met some awesome people. We are excited to be part of this new ward and make a lot more friends! After church we grabbed some in-n-out (for the third time in a week) and I headed back to my babies thinking we wouldn't be back for another week but I was wrong. 

Monday Michael called me and told me the movers would be at our house the next day with all our stuff. I packed the kids up in the car and my mom followed me down. We spend all of Tuesday watching the guys haul all our stuff into our apartment and I tried to unpack a little. The next two days I unpacked my best and we slowly settled in.

The day we moved into our apartment was a huge day! Our house sold! It was a huge blessing! It was on the market for 10 days and we got our asking price! It was another confirmation that this was all suppose to happen and we are where we need to be right now. Michael also told me that he was leaving for the weekend to go to a conference in Arizona! 

With the new distance of 2 hours and 45 minutes we headed straight to my mom and dad's house to play for the weekend! On the way home we stopped at my Grandpa Hunts house to wish him a Happy Birthday! It was fun spending time with my grandparents.

Last night we had dinner at the Mansfields house. They are like family! Allie had been my best friend since we were 3 and Kimmie is like a second mom. I'm so happy I can see them more often!

It has been so wonderful being here in California! I have a few things looking for places to go in our apartment and a couch and coffee table to sell but other than that we are all moved in. We have been to the beach twice in the last week and Olivia keeps asking to go back so we are going to go back this week! I am the newest owner of a Disneyland annual pass! We got to go with our friends last week to California Adventure for a few hours and this week we are going to Disneyland to show Rapunzel Olivia's Cinderella dress! Also! Michael is taking me to see WICKED on Wednesday!!!! We are 25-30 minutes away from everything! It's 75 degrees most of the time (it rained the last few days but it wasn't Idaho cold, so we enjoyed it and I got to wear my new Oakley sweatshirt!) and I see family all the time! I was happy in Idaho but now my happiness has been taken to a whole new level!! I'm excited for all our big adventures!