Memorable Memorial Weekend

McKay and I had this planned for the past couple months.  We were going down to Capitol Reef National Park, go camping, hiking, and enjoy the scenery.  Our last getaway before the baby comes.  It was met with much excitement, but getting there was another story.  

McKay and I Thursday, I get off of work and have a 100 things on my list of things I need to do before McKay and I could leave for Orem to stay the night.  I ran to a few stores exchanging some things, as I'm walking out of Old Navy and rumbling for my keys, I realized I locked my keys in the ignition!  Are you kidding me!  The one time I needed a spare key, it wasn't in the spot I always have one.  Great, just what I need.  Thankfully I have a grandma who loves me and lives close by who can bail me out when I'm experiencing stupid pregnancy moments.  I had to explain in great detail to my grandma to drive to my house, go to the backyard and unlock the pad lock where she will find our house key. Go inside my house and look for the spare key to my car in this cabinet, then drive up to Layton and drop it off to me.  About 40 minutes later my wonderful and sweet grandma shows up.  I'm so thankful, thanking her a hundred times.  I think to myself, "I can still get what I need to get done: grocery shopping, pack Winston and I, get everything in the car, take the garbage out, water the plants, pick up the mail, pick up McKay and bike from work, and drive down to Orem before it gets too late." I'm driving home and realize the bag with all of items I exchanged at Old Navy, I left it on the back bumper of my car while I was waiting for my Grandma.  OH MY GOSH!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!  I drove all the way back up to Layton praying that I'll be able to find the bag with all of my stuff in it.  Right before I turn into Old Navy I see this bag and clothes all over the road.  That's my stuff!  I stopped the car in the middle lane, waited for the cars to pass, hurried and picked up all of my crap that was thrown all over the pavement.  Thank you Lord!  

By this time it's around 8:00 p.m.  No time to go grocery shopping for the trip.  I drive home again, feed and pack Winston, finish packing myself, take out the garbage, water the plants, get mail, tidy up the house, and put everything in the car for our camping trip.  It's 9:00 p.m. by now and McKay is getting irritated because he's been working for 14 hours, is hungry and tired, and has been waiting for me to pick him up from work for the past two hours.  I pick up McKay and drive down to Orem and get there around 10:00 p.m.  

As we're bringing things into McKay's parents house, I freeze and turn white as a ghost when I realize, I cannot find my bag.  My bag that has my hiking clothes, shoes, underwear, hoodie, socks, and toiletries.  I realized at that moment in my exhausted state, that yes, I, Courtney Craig Killpack had left my bag on the top of the stairs at home.  I felt like a huge wave had consumed me.  I had it.  I was done.  I wanted to start screaming some very unlady like words at the top of my lungs and sob.  I went into the house and fell onto the couch feeling so much frustration, anger, disappointment, and an overwhelming feeling of stupidity.  Thank heaven for a sweet and loving mother in-law who tries to make everything better.  I'm exhausted, stressed, overwhelmed, and haven't eaten since noon.  My mom is the person who would drop everything she's doing to help any of her kids out.  I'm so grateful she would do that for me at 11:00 p.m.  I told her about the pickle I was in.  She told me she would drive to my house, unlock the pad lock to get the spare key to the house, go inside, grab my bag, and meet me half way in Draper the next morning, so I could get my bag.  

The first two trimesters have been pretty easy, the first trimester sleepiness was kind of hard to get through, but I've felt really proud of myself because I haven't been moody, forgetful, or felt hormonal.  I started to see an immediate change as I entered my third trimester and has been a roller coaster since then.  I've felt like I've been failing or not doing very best in a lot of areas in my life.  Knowing that I'm not as efficient as I once was has been a tough pill to swallow.  My life is about to change dramatically for the better, but its still a little scary to think.  I hope I can make the transition, from being selfish to be completely selfless.  I'll be responsible for raising this precious daughter of God.  I hope I don't corrupt it with all of my imperfections and impurities.  

Friday morning after coming back from Draper, I was able to give myself a treat, thanks Lisa for making me feel beautiful.  Getting your eyebrows done is my mani pedi.  McKay and I  ran a couple errands I wasn't able to get to the night before and made a little pit stop and visited my grandpa and grandma who is living with my aunt in Mapleton.  Grandpa isn't progressing as well as the nurses thought, so every time were in the area of Utah County, we're making visits to him and grandma.  After a hour of visiting we were on our way to the little town of Torrey.  We stayed in this RV/Campground site that has bathroom and showers (my kind of camping).  We set up camp and grabbed a bit to eat.  Later that night our dear friends, Megan and Chad finally showed up. 

The next few days were filled with good camp food, hiking, site seeing, stopping at every plaque on the side of the road and reading about the history of Capitol Reef National Park.  On Sunday, we made the journey to the mars like area of Goblin Valley State Park.  It was chill mini vacation.          

Brimhall Natural Bridge

Way awkward pregnancy picture. I look like one of those pregnant teens posing for her prom picture.

  

Goosenecks Overlook

The boys had so much fun at Goblin Valley.  I told McKay they should shoot an episode of Star Gate here.

Chad and McKay climbed up the hoodoos, played hide and go seek, and pretended to sword fight each other.  

Goblin Valley State Park.

We went to this recommended restaurant in Torrey, called Cafe Diablo.  I used the restroom and when I walked in all of these masks stare at you while your going pee.  It made me feel weird, so I took a picture of it.  This cafe received so many great reviews, I was kind of disappointed with the bland $13 lunch salad I ordered.  Maybe their $30 an entree dinner menu is better.    

California Dreamin'

Last week McKay and I were able to go to California to visit my sister Melanie and brother in-law Andrew.   This was a special occasion because he was graduating from medical school.  It was a family affair because both sides of his families were there to celebrate.  Being 27 weeks pregnant, I told McKay I refused to drive the 10 hour drive, so we flew. I love the Long Beach Airport, I feel like I'm stepping back into 1930's with its art deco appearance.  

We went to this place called the Great Park in Irvine.  It used to be an old Military Base and now turned it into a very large park with gardens, soccer fields, venues, hot air balloon, and carousel.  We took a spin on the carousel and a lift on the hot air balloon.  This was my first time I've ever been on a hot air balloon and when we reached the 400 ft in the air, I got kind of nervous.  To help with my nervousness, I kept taking pictures.

We went to commencement and it was the longest one I've ever been too.  Three and a half hours.  

We had to hit up our favorite San Diego restaurant and the best BBQ in the world.  If you're in San Diego, make sure to go to Phil's BBQ, you won't regret it.  I ate every square inch of my meal.  Space is becoming a hot commodity in my body. That's why I look so big in the next picture.     

After a delicious dinner the Dobson's and the Craig's went to a Padres game.  I'm not a huge baseball fan, but this game was really fun.  I loved the architecture of the ballpark, the views of the bay were beautiful, and it was the perfect weather.   

I promise, I'm not a bloodsucking vampire, even though I do look like one.

On the way to our cars we all stopped at Ghiradelli and got some ice cream.  It was funny because I told McKay we were going to Ghiradelli and he had no idea what Ghiradelli was.  We made fun of him by saying it was a tattoo shop.  He was so confused as to why we would go there.  McKay learned something that night, what Ghiradelli really means.   

My parents drove back home the next day and Melanie and Andrew left on a much needed vacation.  McKay and I had a day to ourselves to do whatever we wanted.  We decided to spend the day at the San Diego Zoo!  We saw almost every animal and exhibit.  Waddling around a zoo for six hours and going on a tour did a number on me.  I was pretty impressed with all of the things to see.  

Tiger

Riding the sky tram.  God's gift to zoo goers and pregnant ladies.  

Giraffe 

Elephant

This is how big a polar bear can get up to.  I could be his second breakfast.

This picture is funny, looks like the bear is petting McKay on his head.

While we were in the exotic birds exhibit, I had one poop on me :(

On our way to the airport we stopped at Newport Beach and took the ocean in for a hour, before we headed back home.  

California was fun.  I'm going to miss not having a good reason to visit this place every year.  Melanie and Andrew are moving to Alabama for residency and I guess Alabama will be my next California. 

Busy Weekend

In the Craig family we like to poke fun at the car my mom drives.  We like to call it the Gold Stripper Car.  It's a Mini Cooper convertible in this obnoxious gold color.  It reminds us of Vegas.  Yesterday, my family and I went over to my Grandparents house to plant some flowers in their garden beds.  I told mom we needed to drive home topless.  So we did.  

Mother's Day was very nice.  I feel very grateful to have a mom who loves and cares for me.  I talk to my mom everyday and am grateful for the wonderful relationship I have with her.  McKay was so thoughtful and tidied up the house for me while I prepared for my YW lesson.  He also got the equipment to start taking down the ugly wallpaper in our living room.  Service and doing things on my honey do list is the way to my heart.  Thanks McKay.   

We had a busy weekend.  I had a long list of things to get done and this is what we felt Saturday night.  Pooped.  

McKay being the plant lover that he is we had to go to three different nurseries around town to see which place had the best flowers.  This took up most of our morning and afternoon.  We finally found some plants worthy of purchasing and got enough to fill our front garden bed.  It took us most of the late afternoon to prep the soil and to plant them.  

I've been in this get this done mood.  Today marks 100 days until the baby comes and I'm getting excited, nervous, and anxious.  Nine months seems so long, but it's gone by really fast, especially this second trimester.  I have a lot of things I want to get done before the baby arrives.  Normally I would have McKay do this, but I was so determined I moved a queen bed all by myself.  McKay helped me to put the crib up.  The nursery is starting to look like a nursery.      

I went to Michael's this last week and found a great find on clearance.  I'm throwing a bridal shower for my cousin Jessica and found this to make decorations for her shower.  Normally $20, I got it for $7.  

Friday night McKay was down in Utah County helping his younger brother install a sprinkler system.  So I had the night to myself.  I've been really bad these past couple weeks and haven't been very active.  I was determined to go on a hike with Winston.  We went up Adam's Canyon in Layton.  It was a beautiful day and there were a lot of hikers on the trail, so I didn't feel scared going by myself.  Winston was really whinny the entire time, it got kind of annoying.  As we passed people on the trail I could hear them laughing about how high pitched and funny his bark sounds.  You gotta love little Winston.  On the way back was the most fun.  I slowly jogged down the trail and you should have seen some of the faces of the oncoming hikers.  It looked like they were seeing something so frightening. I guess seeing a six month old pregnant woman with a screeching dog trying to jog down a hiking trail would be enough to scare anyone.  Oh well, they'll probably never see me again anyway.  Winston was so dirty when we got done, he's normally white but was brown.  On the way home I put him in the way back so he wouldn't get me and the car dirty.    

I'm excited. McKay, my family and I will be off to California this week to celebrate my brother in-law graduating from medical school.  I'm sad Melanie and Andrew are moving farther away to Alabama, but am so happy for the next stage in their lives.    

Second Week of May

We had a fun filled weekend.  Friday, I totally forgot it was Cinco De Mayo, but we met up with my parents and went to this little Mexican restaurant in Farmington called Francisco's.  I recommend it!   

We also took a hike up Baer Creek in Fruit Heights.  I used to be able to jog up this trail in the late fall, now I could only hike one mile and had to turn back around :(  I love this picture below.  Not because I look great, but because Winston's head is so large in it, and look at that little grin.  

Saturday, we went down to Orem to spend some quality time with the Killpack's.  We visited Grandma and Grandpa Killpack.  They have a very large garden and Grandma told McKay he could take some of their raspberry bushes.  He also dug up some iris's and some other plants.  You should have seen the back of our car.  There was no room for Winston because it was full of plants.  McKay and his plant obsession, that's why I love him.  

Yesterday, Tuesday May 8th, was my little brother's 16th birthday.  I can't believe he is 16.  This freaks people out when I tell them, but I witnessed Cameron being born.  All I remember that it was messy and kind of scary (much to look forward to in August).  Here's a little about my little brother Cameron.

What defines Cameron is two words, Asperger's Syndrome. If you're not familiar, it's a high functioning form of Autism.  He's very computer smart and has a very big imagination.  He enjoys playing PS3, drawing comic book style cartoons and making up crazy stories to go along with it, and he has about four things he will eat: pizza, cheese sandwiches, anything fried, and oreos.  I wish I had his long lean body, don't know where he got that from.  He keeps telling my parents he's not ready to drive yet because he doesn't want to kill anyone.  You got to give him kuddos for being honest.  

What I love most about my little brother is despite the trials and struggles he has, he is extremely brave, very spiritual, and has a very sweet and sensitive side.  He has a deep love for animals.  When we had to put our cat Marley to sleep four years ago; he would climb up my parents back yard (their backyard is a mountain) and go visit Marley's grave everyday.  To this day he still gets emotional when we talk about Marley.  He's very protective of animals, especially of the dumb dumbs (Molly and Maisie).  

When he was eight years old my parents decided to put him in a school that was especially for autistic children.  He attended this school and did really well.  When he turned 13 he told my parents he didn't want to go to that school anymore because the kids who attended school there weren't good influences and wanted to go to a normal school.  My parents were scared because of him being "socially awkward" they thought he would struggle with kids being rude and judgmental towards him.  There was a lot of change he had to experience by going to a new school, but he still was determined to be as normal as he could.  If you don't know, change in general is extremely hard for kids who have Asperger's.  He went to Centerville Junior High for ninth grade and excelled.  He had 3.9 GPA but still struggled to make friends.  Thank heaven for kids in my parents ward who reached out to him.  Now he's a sophomore at Viewmont High School and is still doing great.  He's been on the high honor roll every semester.  I ask him if there's any cute girls at school and he tells me there is and that is pretty much it.  In all of the pictures I have of him; he always looks like he's mad, but I've just come to accept that's how he is and I love him for it.           

My younger sister Caitlin left this morning to be an Au Pair for a family and their two kids in Germany for three months.  I'm going to miss her, but am mostly excited for her because she will be traveling with this family all over Europe for their summer vacation.  She will get back on August 23rd which is my due date.  I gave her a big hug last night and told her this might be the last time she'll see my baby bump.  I found this picture of my two sisters and I at the Turkey Leg 5K we did on Thanksgiving morning.  I heart my sistas.      

For kicks and giggles, I found this picture and thought I would post it for Mother's Day.  Mommy I love you!

One thing I did with Caitlin and my Mom this week was make freezer jam.  Yum.  

Tribute to Little Winston

I've been looking through my pictures of Winston on my phone and I feel sad because he's grown up so fast.    He's 7 months old now and in dog years that equates to around 12 years old in human years.  I always hear mom's say their babies grow up so fast.  I'm not a mother quite yet, but I can say I feel the same way with Winston.  Five months ago when we got Winston, I was kind of apprehensive about the whole idea.  McKay grew up with dogs and I was open to getting a dog, but was very opinionated as to what type of dog I wanted.  

McKay's family had Schnauzer's all growing up and absolutely loved them.  Their last dog, named Cooper, I was not a big fan of.  He was a nice dog, but didn't like his many accidents that involved poop, pee, and throw up.  Last summer the Killpack family decided they didn't want him to suffer anymore and put him to sleep.  This was devastating for their family, especially McKay.  I've never seen a grown man so sad in my life.  For the next couple months whenever we would visit his family he would look for Cooper and realize he was gone. 

Ever since McKay and I have been married I've wanted a cat.  I grew up with cats and missed having a fuzzy thing to love.  I was so excited when we moved into our house that finally, after five years of apartment living I could get a cat.  The first week we moved into our house, we adopted a cat by the name of Hercules.  He was a coon, which means he was as big as a raccoon and furry.  After a week, I knew it wasn't meant to be.  Hair balls, shedding fur, and a smelly litter box was enough to make me realize that I didn't want a cat anymore.  We took him back to the animal refuge, where he would have another opportunity to be adopted by another family.  After this failed attempt I felt really bad :(  

During the month of December McKay thought it would be a great time to get a dog.  I agreed so the search was on.  McKay and I were both being very stubborn because McKay wanted a  Schnauzer and I wanted something like a Labradoodle or a Goldendoodle.  When I thought of Schnauzer's all I could think of was Cooper pooping, peeing, and throwing up all over the place.  Then we saw the KSL listing.  

I made a deal with McKay, if I was to get a Schnauzer I wanted one that was unique.  I didn't want a pepper colored one because that reminded of Cooper and plus McKay's brother and his wife have a grey Schnauzer, and for some lame reason, I didn't want a black one.  I know, I was being really difficult.  When we went over to meet the family who had posted the KSL listing, I was instantly drawn to the white ones.  At this time, there were two white puppies left.  I asked the family, which of the white ones was the most outgoing.  They told me it was this puppy they named McCloud.  McKay who at times amazes me with his patience, love, and unselfishness, said to me, "Courtney, I'll let you pick which puppy you want."  Right then and there I knew it was that white one named McCloud.  We told the family we would think about it that night and get back to them that morning about whether or not we wanted the puppy.  A hour later, we called the family back and told them we wanted McCloud.  We didn't like the name McCloud, and with the help of McKay's younger sister she was one who thought of the name Winston.  It's probably the fastest thing McKay and I agreed on was his name.  A week later we welcomed Winston into our family.  The first two months were a lot of work, trying to potty train, getting up in the middle of the night, watching him every second, and coming home everyday for lunch so I could feed and let him out.  Winston did have a few accidents, but has done really well.  

I can't imagine our lives without this little dog.  The most exciting thing was a week after we got Winston, that's when I found out I was pregnant.  I'm glad baby Amelia will have a little friend to play with.  McKay and I have been able to enjoy the little things in life with him like: talking early evening walks, bath time, cuddling and nap fests.  He makes us happy, laugh, excited, sometimes frustrated (when he wakes us up in the middle of the night) or when he makes messes, but what I've learned is he's preparing us for the next stage of our lives.  Who would of thought Winston could soften my heart for Schnauzer's.

The things I love about Winston:

1. His extremely high pitched scream/bark, he sounds like a girl.

2. How excited he gets when you get home.  He cries, screams, and licks your face off.  This makes you smile after a long and hard day at work.

3. He loves to cuddle and loves to held like a baby.

4. He's 100% potty trained, thank the Lord!

5. He is extremely playful and has a lot of energy.

6. Pretty much the cutest Schnauzer around.  Thank you breeders for not clipping his ears!

7. Loves little children.

8. He's smart.

9. He snores (I don't like this in the middle of the night, when I can't go back to sleep).

10. He has a very sweet disposition.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Winston: