THE DAY MY CAMERA WAS STOLEN

Since my camera, AKA my other child, was stolen, I haven't been posting much. Is it terrible that I can't even post an iPhone photo now because it just looks blurry compared to photos taken with a DSLR camera? I loved my Nikon d3200, and may it forever rest in peace. And to the jerk who stole my camera, which was deep inside of a DIAPER BAG (what heartless demon steals a diaper bag?!), may karma get the best of you.

Here I am in Paris with my baby in action, snapping some shots of Notre Dame. We've had many a good time, little Nikon.

So, in honor of this camera that photographed some of the most beautiful memories in my life, here are some of my favorite photos that it captured:

PS, please keep in mind that my husband and I are NOVICE photographers so many of these photos may not seem pretty to you, but they are mine, a form of self expression for me, and I love them. Plus they always look blurry on this blog for some reason. If you click on them they look much better.

(road in Odaiba, Japan)

Fall in Tokyo

My husband the model

Paris.

The Eiffel Tower when it turns gold every hour at night.

Hallway outside of Le Louvre in Paris

Our first  baby announcement

The Palace of Versailles gardens

Big Ben in London

Hallway in the Palace of Versailles 

View from L'arc de Triomphe in Paris

Our favorite hangout spot in Tokyo, the Rainbow Bridge

Yokohama, Japan

A random Japanese kid feeding birds

Kai-belly

The best day of our lives :)

Our first official photo as a family of 3

Christmas lovins

Tibble Fork, Utah

Eyes eyes eyes

Silver Lake, Utah

Midway, Utah

My wedding ring

Me and bookworm

Beautiful boy

     Probably in my top 3 favorite photos taken with this camera. Me and my pretty-boy-one-year-old

Thanks for all the good times, Nikon d3200. You are forever missed.

DATES WITH MY LITTLE MISTER

What a crazy weekend! 

Kolby took off for a boys trip to LA for the BYU vs UCLA game and Disneyland. He was only gone 4 days but it sure felt like more! Mostly because Kai got sick twice...he had some peanut butter the other day and apparently does not handle that well yet. And then he got a cold, so our nights have been rough. But I'm proud to say I survived, and handled things quite well if I do say so myself. 

Since Kai was sick and fussy at home, I thought getting out would help distract him from his discomfort, and it worked. Friday we went to the animal shelter (Kai loves dogs more than anything). It was my first time going, and it made me pretty dang sad, to the point of tears. Emotional pregnant girl right here. I wanted to adopt all of them and feed them steaks. We will definitely take a trip back there, maybe for FHE, and play with some of the dogs and give them attention and love. 

After that we picked up a pizza (Kai's favorite food) and headed to the park. This time was so different since Kai can walk now! He walked around and kept putting the wood chips and dirt in his mouth, and would cry when I said "don't eat it!" He got so dirty but I loved watching him walk/crawl around and explore. He's so independent and just wants to leave me and get as far away as he can!  He doesn't even ever look back to see if I'm there. Funny lil guy! He did enjoy the swing for once though. 

On the way home, I needed to buy a few things at Target, so naturally I just had to buy a new toy for Kai, because he truly deserves all the toys in the world. We picked out a $7 car that drives on its own and has music and lights, and he giggles when he plays with it, so that makes for a happy mama. I also might have seen a jacket that I couldn't resist ...it was a 10, and I rarely rate clothes at a 10, so it had to be bought. Target is my best friend and worst enemy all in one. 

After that we came home and I let him play in the tub for a while. I can't even remember the last time I gave him a bath...that's Kolby's job due to my bad back. It was not as hard on my back as I thought it would be which is great news. He sure is the cutest little tubber and loves the water.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and I dressed as a pirate to get a free dozen donuts at Krispy Kreme. Who can say no to that? Not me, not ever. I threw a costume together last minute and I think it turned out pretty dang good, esp the yoga pants on my head. Kai refused to wear the eye patch (typical!) but he looked cute for the one second it was on. I gave him just a few small bites of donut, and of course he loved it. And, can I just brag for a second? I had an entire dozen of Krisy Kremes all to myself for the weekend, and I only ate 4 of them. Self control FOR THE WIN! 

After that we came home, Kai napped, and then we headed out for the library. He lovessss books, so I thought he would be in heaven, but he just wanted to crawl/walk around to places he shouldn't (up stairs, behind the librarian desk) and didn't seem to care about the books. We'll try another library trip again in December maybe :) It was still fun taking him to a new place, and I know he loves exploring new things. 

Next up was a quick stop at the duck pond and watched the ducks. It's so cute how he gets on his tippy toes to look over the fence and see the ducks. Everything about him just makes me love him more. He is too perfect. 

Last stop was "Chalk the Block," a fun event at the Riverwoods mall where artists come and do chalk art on the ground. They also have great live music, food, booths, shopping etc. It was a blast and the only thing missing was Kolby. We had fun just walking around and listening to the live band. I even gave Kai some chalk, and he was so cute trying to color. I could seriously sit and watch him all day long, everything he does is insanely adorable. Obsessed mom much? 

After that we came home worn out from a long day and watched the BYU game. That kid wears me out, but it's the best kind of tired. The tired that means we really lived and got out and experienced the world. 

And he even snuggled me a little bit, which is so rare. 

I've got to say, my one-on-one time with Kai this weekend was so special. I love making memories with him, even though I know he won't remember any of this. I need as much time as possible with him before our sweet little girl comes in February! My favorite thing ever was Friday when I said his name, he looked at me, and I told him "I love you!" He then came up and gave me a big open mouthed kiss. Oh my goshhhhh. This is what life is all about, I'm tellin you!  There is no greater joy. I had so many thoughts this weekend during our little dates, some of which included:

I'm so lucky to have such a healthy perfect boy

Even though taking him out is rough on my back and painful, I still have so much fun with him!  
He is all I need to be happy.

 Seeing him happy is all I want in life

I am so blessed and so lucky to have him

Can he stay this little forever?

I want to be his mom forever and ever.
This is my happiest  stage in life so far.

Little boy, you are my world and my best little friend. And you're the best date a mom could ask for. I love you more than you'll ever know! 

IT'S A GIRL!

We are having a GIRL!

A girl! Kolby and I are still in shock. We paid extra to find out a few weeks ago, because I'm a terribly impatient pregnant lady. I had a hunch it was a girl, but I didn't think much of it since I also thought Kai was definitely a girl. But this time around, I've been so much more tired and just not as energetic, and I've had a crazy crazy appetite, so I knew something was up. Something was just so different than last time. However, boys run in Kolby's family, so we've really been planning to have 5 boys. He's got 6 brothers and only 2 sisters, and his brother has 4 boys, and his sister has 2 boys...so we were very surprised when the ultrasound tech said "It's a girl!" I instantly thought I had heard her wrong and looked at the screen for confirmation, but sure enough it looked like a girl up there. We seriously walked out of the office saying "A girl? A girl? Did she really say girl?" 

When people had asked us before if we wanted a boy or girl, we said a boy because it would be fun for Kai to have a best little bud. I've honestly always been terrified of having a girl, since I grew up with brothers being an athletic tomboy, and I feel like I can't really relate to girls. I've kinda always been grossed out by bows and pink lace and fluff. But I've always said I want at least one girl to be my best little friend, so here she is! Yay! Plus Kolby will be the sweetest dad to our little princess. She'll grow up knowing how she should be loved and treated thanks to her daddy, so it will be fun watching that process. And she will also grow up playing sports with us :) We just might turn her into a little sporthead like me.

We are brainstorming some names right now and have a few in mind. Does anyone have any unique ones they like? We're all about unique names. Not weird ones, just rare. 

Here's all the photos we took to celebrate. Thanks Slice Photography! Best photographers in Utah. No joke.

Kai's first hug to his lil sis

NUBY ONE TOUCH ELECTRIC WARMER AND STERILIZER

Let's start this out with a mom confession:

Sometimes, as horrible as it is, I find an old bottle under a couch or under a seat in the car with a little bit of old milk/formula that's probably got billions of bacteria in it by now. Yuckkk. In these situations, the only way I can really feel good about using this same bottle to feed my baby again is by sterilizing the heck out of it. 

Cue the Nuby One Touch Electric Warmer and Sterilizer. I pop the bottle in there with a little bit of water, and voila, like magic it's sterilized. The entire process only takes 3 minutes. And you can get a little more sleep at night knowing that this device is BPA free. Score!

See the condensation on the lid from the heat? You can almost feel the cleanliness. 

Oh wait...this thing not only sterilizes, but it also safely warms up breastmilk, formula, and baby food. It also sterilizes pacifiers, which saves me oodles of time since I wash those about 10 times a day. You can buy it here.

The end result? A happy baby drinking a warm bottle of milk. 

You can score one of these for FREE by following me on instagram and entering. My username is brinley21

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