Introducing...

BROOKS MICHAEL :

And OH MY GOODNESS is he sweet. I'm not kidding you, this kid has been THE most angelic little thing for the past week and a half. I mean he has barely let out a cry since he has been home and I'm hardly exaggerating! Super super calm. It is a huge blessing! Someone must have known I couldn't handle a colicky baby right now ;) All of us are completely smitten with him, including Claire, who only asks us to 'put the baby down please' every once in a while haha. It's amazing how you can love someone so small so instantly.

 Officially a family of 4! what?! 

And yes... these are the best pics we got of the four of us. And yes... my foot is ridiculously swollen... I couldn't figure out how to crop that out, so there you go. 

first time holding baby bro

 This guy has been RIGHT in the middle of law finals studying his brains out and still manages to be the best dad. Great timing for a baby right? Also-- he gives some pretty good genes to our children if I do say so myself.

Don't worry, she actually didn't choke him. She has done surprisingly well with having a new baby to share the attention with and has been so helpful and sweet to him. Hearing her say 'hi bwooks how you doin' is my favorite. 

We were so lucky to have a lot of help from my mom and Blake's mom. We couldn't have done it without them! Thank goodness for moms. 

Anyway, if this kid keeps sleeping 85% of the day like he currently is this mother of two thing should be a piece of cake right? 

On another note... I absolutely HATE my header that I've got going on up there but really don't feel like trying to make another one... so don't judge me by that ugly thing k?

I have a blog?

Where have I been for the last year... I don't even know. But not in the blogging world! I've decided since I'm having another baby in like 3 WEEKS it would be a good time to start back up and so I can keep my life documented. I honestly don't care if no one reads it because I want it to be for me, so I have something to look back on and remember these crazy, fun, stressful, beautiful times in our life.

So let's do a little catch up shall we?
-Claire is 2 years old. My baby is 2! Oh she is a sweetie that girl. A 2 year old most definitely, and often tests my patience, but still the sweetest. How could you not love that face? She is in for a mighty big surprise when little bro gets here... I know it will be hard for her to share the attention at first, but it will be SO good for her and I know she will be so helpful. (once she gets over the jealousy I hope!)

-I'm having ANOTHER baby! what? I feel like my life is flashing before my eyes and before I know it I will be driving a mini van with 6 hooligans in the back.
But Seriously, I'm so excited to have a little BOY, I cannot wait to meet this little guy, not to mention I am SO DONE being pregnant. Part of me is terrified of being a mother of 2 and the other part of me is just so excited and ready to take the next step. Our family life is about to change drastically, and that's good and hard at the same time. There is something so special about having a newborn in your home and we are so blessed.
Anyways, It would be totally cool if he came any day now. I mean get a load of this picture... I'm HUGE. And I can hardly see my toes.

- Blake is almost HALF WAY done with law school! yeehaw! And he's killing it. He's pretty much the man.

- I died my hair dark-- It has been quite invigorating actually and I can check that off the bucket list now. Blake feels like he has a new girlfriend, so that's cool too. And it's kinda fun when people don't recognize you. It is so unlike me to up and dye my hair but it felt so good and I haven't even cried over yet. My hormones are obviously out of wack.

This was taken the day after I died my hair so it is SUPER dark, and I like it more now that it has faded a bit.

- Well that basically covers the main stuff happening right now... Recapping the whole last year just sounds impossible. Hopefully the next time I post I will have a new baby, wish me luck!

Firenze

Oh Florence,

 It might have been my favorite city we went to... tough call, I don't want to play favorites. But there was something special about Florence. We have sooo many pictures of Florence and so I tried not to bombard you too much. But... that didn't happen.

This is the HUGE famous Duomo in Florence. We couldn't get over how intricate and magnificent it was inside and out... it knocked my socks off... literally. Okay not literally, but close. So beautiful.

 

 

I can't even tell you how many of these pizzas I ate while we were there... So thin and fresh and perfectly delicious. Pizza really is different in Italy.

 

Beautiful bridge called Ponte Vecchio. I like to be cool and serious. This day could not have been more perfect weather wise, I mean look at those blue skies!

 

 

 

We hiked and hiked, and finally made it to the top of Piazzale Michelangelo.. for this spectacular view of the city. It was phenomenal. In case you're wondering, my fingers say 'wow'.... yeah I'm a tourist. We liked it so much we hiked up again in the evening to see it with the sunset.

 

 We may or may not have been a little bit immature around all the naked statues. I get that they are art and are beautiful... but still, I can't help it.

 

Vespas, castles christmas lights... what more could you want?

 

 

Blake started making fun of my posing the last few days... when you pose for so many pictures you run out of ideas of what to do with your arms... so 90% of the pictures we have I am doing this classic pose. cute right?

So glad he's mine:)

 

 



This was NO ordinary hot chocolate... basically pure melted chocolate with cream... amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

Being cool again...

 

 

It was so fun to be there during Christmas time, they go all out everywhere with the Christmas lights, and I loved it! Again with the pose...

 

Cloooose up. woah.

 

1 of the many gelatos I had... boy did I love the mint one!

 

Florence was so good to us.

 

 

On a different note: my dear sweet Grandma Mortensen passed away last week... it was bittersweet. After being apart from her husband for 23 years, they are finally reunited! We are so happy for her. I'm so grateful to know that this life isn't the end. Being at her funeral really helped to remind me of the big picture in life. I get so caught up in things that seem so important to me at the time, when in the grand scheme of things they DON'T MATTER. Can't wait to see her again. These pictures were displayed at her funeral and I hadn't seen them before.... look how glamorous she is!

 

 

 Next up: Roma!

Rimini, Italia

Rimini was a city that Blake lived in for 9 months on his mission. I had heard so much about it and so it was awesome to actually see it. This was definitely one of the highlights for Blake of the trip. Unfortunately it was rainy and cold all day! Which is why we have the fewest pictures in this city. And we walked so long that I thought my feet were going to fall off... all for nothing! Blake had a place picked out for lunch where he knew the owner and used to eat there often as a missionary so we planned to go there and walked for about an hour in the rain to find out that it was closed on Mondays... talk about a bummer! If Blake had a dime for every time I complained about my feet hurting on this trip he'd be a very wealthy man. Word to the wise: Don't worry so much about wearing your cute fashionable semi-comfortable boots... I was wishing everyday that I would have just brought the ugliest, comfiest tennis shoes I own.

 Rimini had such a nice Christmas-y feel to it, I loved how they decorated the streets and it was even more beautiful at night.

 

 

 

 Apparently they claim Jesus walked under this arch... who knows where they get that information, but I'll take it.

 

 

 

Guys, my feet were that cold. I had no other choice.

 

The Hotel we stayed at in Rimini was definitely the nicest place we stayed at. All of the other places were hostels, which were surprisingly all clean and decent and we always had a private room ( we did our research :)) but the hotel in Rimini was so luxurious and I had probably one of the best nights of sleep of my life to date... and not just because I'd hardly slept in 3 days... well maybe. But also we each had our own twin size bed... which is nice because as much as I love to cuddle with Blake, when I'm sleeping I NEED my space :) I change into a different person in the night... I'm really mean and I can't help it, something comes over me... I just really have to have my sleep. If Blake had a dollar for every time I'd pushed him over to his own side in the middle of the night he'd also be very well off. Poor guy. 

 

 



We were in invited over for dinner by Blake's friends Vincenzo and Alice. The sweetest, cutest Italian couple ever. They came and picked us up and took us over to their apartment for a wonderful evening.  They made us Piadas for dinner, which I guess Rimini is famous for. It was really good and different than anything I'd had before.
They didn't speak English so that is when I became the odd one out haha. But I actually really enjoyed listening and observing, and playing with their baby.. but man it made me miss my baby! I can understand a little bit of Italian when Blake speaks ( I took 2 years of Italian in high school) but when the natives speak I have no idea what's going on. I'd never been in a situation before where I was the only one who couldn't understand... it was quite comical at times.

After dinner we had dessert and then they wanted to play a game. Risk! Or Risiko in Italian (which sounds way cooler in my opinion). This is when not being able to understand really became a challenge... I knew how to play but they had a different way and I had to be able to read a card by myself or it would ruin the game. That's when I was handed an 'Italian to English' dictionary! So there I was, looking up each word on my card and trying to make some sense of it... I finally figured it out and we played. I really got a kick out of it. Blake would translate things for me when it was something funny or something I'd want to hear which was nice.

After the game we (they) continued to talk and then we had some herbal tea and pandoro ( a really light cake with powdered sugar). I just loved seeing the different culture, just in how they do dinner and how it's such a long process. We were there for over 4 hours :)  It was such a great memory and Blake was in absolute heaven.

Blake baptized Vincenzo the last day that he was in Rimini. And since then Vincenzo and his wife Alice have been sealed in the temple and are very active in the church. Vincenzo just kept saying over and over how Blake changed his life and it was such a neat, emotional thing for me to see. I could see and feel the love that they had in their family and the genuine appreciation they had for Blake. They will be forever friends.

 

It looks like I gained about 50 pounds in this picture from all the pasta and pizza and gelato I ate, but I promise my shirt is just baggy... that's the story anyways.

Next up: Florence!

Italia.... fills my soul with happiness

So, Italy happened. AH- MAZING. Beautiful country, beautiful people, beautiful language, and don't even get me started on the FOOD! We went for 10 days in December right before Christmas. It was truly the trip of a lifetime and to say that we had a great time is an understatement. I'm gonna break up my posts of Italy into cities. We have SOOO many pictures and it's hard to choose.

We'll start with Venice... oh Venice, I love you.

We arrived in Venice at about 10 am Italy time... and about 2 am our time. Our internal clocks were slightly messed up, and when I say slightly I mean ridiculously messed up of course.
But we didn't let that stop us... yet.

  We were like a couple of giddy school girls when we first arrived in Venice.... actually basically the whole trip. It really is an incredible city... I couldn't get over how crazy it was to have a city built entirely on water. I guess I'd always known/heard that Venice was built on the water and that you use boats to get around but I just didn't picture that there would be NO cars. I loved that about it. You just walk wherever you need to get.

Isn't he cute? Blake was a lifesaver to have on this trip, he was worried that he would have a hard time speaking and understanding the language because he just doesn't get oppportunities to speak it here but he didn't miss a beat! It was so fun watching him, and picturing him as a little missionary in Italy. It was so nice that he could ask the natives for directions and suggestions wherever we were.

 

 This hot nutella crepe... blew me away..

 

St. Mark's square. Such a beautiful cathedral. It was flooded the first day we were there but the second day it cleared up luckily!

 

 Fun fact for ya: Blake sent me this hat from Italy when he was on his mission. I wore it thinking maybe I'd fit in..... just maybe

Where is Waldo? I never realized how much I stuck out until I went through our pictures and noticed I am basically the only one not wearing black in every picture.  No wonder wherever we went they asked if I spoke English.

 

Courtesy of Blake's artistic eye.

 

Our internal clocks did catch up to us in a most unfortunate way. We took a 'brief' 3 hour nap at about 2 in the afternoon on the first day because we were starting to drag. But then we couldn't sleep AT ALL the first night, it was the weirdest feeling, and so unlike me to be wide awake in the wee hours of the night. We finally fell asleep at about 5 am and then Blake woke me up after what seemd to me to be a short rest. Blake asked me what time I thought it was and I said 10 am. Which was just slightly off, it was 3 pm. YIKES!! But don't worry we made the most of the day and stayed out late and walked until our legs burned. The worst part is it was a vicious cycle, we couldn't sleep the 2nd night either. But we made ourselves stay awake the whole next day to get back on track and we didn't let that happen again.

We loved Venezia and the pictures just don't do it justice, especially our blurry pictures.

 

Next up: Rimini!