Santa Barbara Weekend

As a (very) early birthday present, Andrew got me tickets to see Jim Gaffigan in Santa Barbara. If you haven't heard of Jim Gaffigan, he's a clean comedian who is hilarious and talks a lot about food. He has a few specials on Netflix which I recommend checking out.

As we started planning our weekend trip to Santa Barbara, we invited our friends Brad and Haley, not really expecting for them to be able to come, but they were totally down. Technically Brad is my sister-in-law's lifelong friend so Andrew has always known Brad and I've known him since I married into the family. He was also the sole male on our girls trip to London/Paris. He recently got married to Haley who we love. They were in California a few months back and the kids and I helped them get into the Disneyland parking garage with our annual passes. We hung out with them the next day as well at the beach and at our house. The kids love them and it was fun to hang out with them as married couple friends (finding married couple friends is hard). So inviting to them to join us in Santa Barbara seemed like a great idea.

They flew in from Seattle and then we drove to our Airbnb in Santa Barbara. The Airbnb was way nicer than we expected and had a huge backyard for the kids to play in. That first night there we walked to the nearby beach. It was quite a longer trek than I expected and the beach wasn't the best, but there was no one else on it and Taylor still had fun digging in the sand. After spending the evening at the beach, we went out to eat at a delicious Mexican restaurant.

The next day we went to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. I always love natural museums and so do the kids. You can't go wrong with lots of animals. Our admission even included a butterfly exhibit which I was not expecting.

Once we finished at the museum, we headed to downtown Santa Barbara for lunch and a little wandering.

That night was the Jim Gaffigan show. Brad and Haley were kind enough to watch the kids for us at the Airbnb so we could go. The show was hilarious and it was in a really neat outside venue. This is what we came home to:

The next day, we watched the first session of Sunday General Conference than packed up and headed home. Brad and Haley hung out with us until it was time for their flight, and honestly, it was not enough time - I wish they were able to stay with us longer. Thanks Brad and Haley for joining us on our quick, weekend trip!

September GBOMB

Another short monthly summary, but here is the Good, the Bad, and what's been On My Brain for the month of September.

G O O D
+We found out that we're having a girl! I was honestly convinced that we were having a boy, but both Taylor and Olive said they wanted a little sister. I guess they won this round. We are so excited to have another baby girl. May she have as much fire and stubbornness as her sister before her.
+My mom and her husband came to see us. The kids loved having them here and we made a beach visit and went to a new park.
+I finally made it to Disneyland with the kids by myself. I used to take them about once a week when we first moved to California, but since I've been pregnant and nauseas, I haven't managed to make it solo with the kids. We also went together as a family once this month and stayed late enough for the light parade. People might think we're crazy for going so often, but it has been such a fun thing to do as a family. And this will probably be the only year we have annual passes so we're trying to make the most of them.
+I am s l o w l y working towards a degree (when I say slowly, I mean I only take one class a semester and will probably have a Bachelors in about 5-10 years). I was looking at some of the degrees offered and noticed that I had enough credits for a Web Media certificate. Can I do anything with a Web Media certificate? Not really. But it feels good to have something physical after attending school for so long.

B A D
+I went to the dentist and found out I needed a crown put in and a lot of fillings. Most of my life I've had great teeth, but the past few years that has changed and it is not fun. I got a temporary crown put in this month and have to go in a few days to get my permanent crown in as well as get a few fillings. I'll most likely have another visit on top of this one too.
+I spoke too soon when I talked about Olive potty training herself. She now refuses to go on the toilet. I'm hoping when this baby comes I won't still have three in diapers - two is plenty. So hopefully either Taylor or Olive (or both) decide to go along with this potty training thing soon.

O N  M Y  B R A I N
+I'm sure there were some reoccurring thoughts or concerns this month, but right now, I can't remember any of them. I guess this month's "On My Brain" section is going to be empty.

August GBOMB

I almost skipped this month's GBOMB because it's more of the same. Our lives have been boring as of late and the kids and I don't leave the house much. I also wrote this post up once already and it didn't save when I came back to it. But I decided to still go ahead with an August GBOMB for prosperity's sake.

G O O D
+We had a great day at Disneyland as a family. Before this pregnancy, I used to take the kids at least once a week, but it's just not possible to take them by myself currently. I'm glad we were able to get a fun and full day in at Disneyland at least once this month.
+I had a few good days when it came to pregnancy nausea. I'm crossing my fingers that means I may be nearing the end when it comes to this almost constant sickness.
+Taylor and Olive have been playing so well together and I love watching them come up with fun games. It doesn't always last long because Olive gets tired of being bossed around by Taylor, but while it is going, it's rather cute.
+We ended the month with the best surprise ever when the Steeds decided to come stay with us for a few days. We got two beach days in and the kids couldn't get enough of their cousins. Olive also decided that Stephanie is her favorite person ever and almost went home with them.
+Olive has decided to potty train herself. She poops on the potty twice a day now. At least one of my kids will be potty trained in the near future I guess.

B A D
+Sick. Sick. Sick. All I do is lay on the couch and try to think of food I can eat.
+My mental health has taken a dip. I'm sure that has to do with doing nothing most days and being cooped up inside. The kids and I hardly run errands or even go outside so that can't be helpful to my state of mind. Hopefully the nausea will ease up so we can do more than lay around and watch movies most days.

O N  M Y  B R A I N
+I haven't really put much thought into what gender this baby is going to be, but the last two weeks I've been shopping a few online sales and found some great deals on baby clothes. That's got me wondering a bit more if we'll be adding a little brother or sister to our mix. We find out next week so I'm starting to get excited for that.
+When will this pregnancy nausea cease? I'm getting tired of hearing myself talk about it so I can't imagine how everyone else feels.