.splashtown outing.

.i told andrew if i didnt go into labor on my own the weekend before my due date, i wanted to plan our weekend outing. 

.well we made it. (no surprise here).

.so of course i wanted to go out in the sun, and in order to do that without dying...meant water needed to be involved.

.and so it was.

.we made our way 15 minutes from our hotel to splashtown. we have never been there before, but it wasn't totally a total ridiculous amount of money...and had lots of free (free parking, free lifejackets, free tubes, AND you could leave the park and come back in too).  so i figured we could give it a try.

.we loved it. for a saturday it was not that crowded at all. it was budget friendly. 

.welcome to splashtown. (ignore how bad i look... NO MAKEUP PEOPLE..and ITS HOT.)

.we loved sea world, but was talking about how the waterpark of seaworld had a bit more smaller things that kept brooklynn's attention a bit more than splashtown did (but was SO CROWDED)...but splashtown had so many slides that brooklynn loved. she got more mad because she wanted to just turn around and go down the slide again, and didnt understand she had to climb the stairs to go back down the slide. so once we directed her to the stairs that led to a slide, she was totally content. 

.i have to say, brooklynn amazes me with how she holds her breath. not once did we have an episode where she was coughing ridiculously because she took in water. she knew that once her little feet hit the water, she better be holding her breath, and would go under water and than we would grab her. if she was walking and fell in the water, she held her breath. she also kicks her legs and moves her arms when we lay her on her belly in the water... this girl swims better than her mama.

.brooklynn at splashtown. (i combined a few different clips)

.well we got there, spent 2.5 hours before brooklynn was hungry....we took our way getting to the park, and got andrew's hair cut, than came home so we could rinse off, and than headed to the park. so when she started to get a bit fussy, i figured it was because she was hungry...it had been 5 hours since she ate. so we decided to go grab something small down the street, and take a bit of a break. so we grabbed lunch, and all headed back to the park with full bellies. 

(on our way to get some lunch)

.i told andrew if he wanted to do some of the big slides, i would watch b. brooklynn was fed, so of course it was nap time. she totally let me rock her to sleep. so i sat in a lawn chair in the shade, and told andrew to go down a few more slides. WHAT A NICE WIFE andrew has. lucky guy. so i videotaped andrew going down the slides.  i laughed so hard when andrew replied the first time he went down one slide (i videotaped him going down the second time), "holy cow, i just feel like i got spanked 50 times." i laughed so hard. i combined all the different slides he went down (except 1...we didnt have the camera)...but i made them all into one video.

.andrew going down the slides at splashtown.

.well brooklynn fell asleep for probably 40 minutes and than was up and ready to hit the water again. so we took some video, and some pictures, than put the cameras away and played and played and played. it was really fun.

.when we went to seaworld, i was so worried about getting pictures and video and capturing everything... which was good. but this weekend, i took some video, and we got some pictures, but really i just wanted to take in every moment and not be on the sidelines snapping pictures. i wanted to be in the action with brooklynn and andrew... and thats just what i did.

 .b and i going on the lazy river.

 .sorry in advance for showing a little chest...its hard being 39 weeks pregnant.

 .she would sit, or lay and just chill.

.and there you go everyone. me, b, and 39 week belly!

.we were there from 12-7:30. it was a long day. but really nice, and surprisingly relaxing. all was well until we went to go home. someone stole our flip flops. i wasn't so upset about mine, because they were old navy special $2.50 flip flops, but andrew's were from our honeymoon in maui hawaii and they were not cheap. .  we also got to walk out of the park barefoot, on hot hot cement. i was so mad when we left, and i aint gonna lie, i swore. many times. i was so mad. but there is nothing we can do about it at this point. what is done is done and something alot worse could of happened. we are moving in. we are not letting it ruin our night. we stopped at old navy on the way into the hotel to get some new flip flops. i went with the typical $2.50 special, and andrew picked out some nicer ones that were marked down for the day from $20 dollars to $8, plus i got another 20 percent off because i used my old navy card. see, it could of been worse. splashtown you treated us pretty stinking well, we will probably visit you many times if we end of moving here.

.and than today. our little family of 3 went to church for the last time as a family of 3. i told andrew i wanted to take pictures... and we did just that. the only way to get brooklynn to look at a camera is to use photobooth on the computer. so they are not the best quality, but they are still pictures. we LOVED our weekend. i really did exactly what i wanted and that was to ENJOY, be positive, be happy, and spend time with andrew and brooklynn. . . and i did just that.

 .dang paci... lets try again.

 .yea, thats the best its going to get.

.and of course one funny one...well funny for andrew and i...b looks adorable.

.thats it for us-the westensees.

.thoughts.

.this is more for me.

.since i use my blog as a journal, i thought i should write down my thoughts lately, so i can look back on them.

.in one week, i am gonna be a mama again. one week. phew!

. physically i am SO ready to be done being pregnant. i want to be able to take the 4-6 weeks off after having him. and work my butt off to get back into shape and feel good. i also plan to play basketball this fall semester with my sister, which always makes me feel so good when i get back from a game.

.mentally...i dont know if i am totally ready. i know i can do it. i know it will be hard, and you learn to adjust, but i dont have any doubt that i CANT do it, its that I dont know if i am READY to do it. 

.b has been especially hard this past week. she throws fits, she hits, she kicks, she screams, and she has been SO HARD to put down for bed in the evening lately. i know its a phase, but it stresses me out, thinking of her being like this with a newborn. at the same time, b can be the sweetest, loving, caring, helping little girl ever. i know she will love her little brother...i just need to make sure i balance her and him.

.i am excited/scared to have a boy. i dont know what to expect. i have to learn a whole new process for changing a diaper (you know what i am saying). this stresses me out a bit, but thinking that andrew gets the little boy he has always wanted... makes it all worth it.

.andrew and i are totally nameless. last night when i asked andrew, "if we had him tonight, what would you name him?" andrew's response was, "i wouldnt..i dont have a name i like, so i wouldnt name him until i knew." i know we will think of something...its just different from walking into the hospital last time, knowing our little girl's name would be brooklynn. 

.i am excited/sad that this weekend will be our last weekend as a family of 3. i have honestly laid with b in the morning and just took in every minute of us cuddling together and it being JUST US. of course on the weekend, we usually put brooklynn in the middle of andrew and i and play with her to start off our mornings...i LOVE this...and during the week, its just me and b cuddling and playing. i LOVE this.  this week i made a goal to take b to the pool everyday this week, so far i have missed ONE day...and i think that pretty good. I love the time i get to spend with her one on one, and see her smile and laugh. i know this wont go away, but you have to put your attention towards another now too, not just b girl.

.my goal this weekend is to just savor the time i have with andrew and b. just them. i planned this weekend to go to a waterpark, because brooklynn LOVES waterparks and i LOVE the sun and seeing her happy. i cannot wait. honestly. besides getting into a swimsuit makes me just want to hide, i cannot wait to have fun this weekend with andrew and b. 

.now off to play with b, get some lunch and head down to the pool in an hour or so.

.4th of july.

.i was really excited for 4th of july this year. it meant andrew had the day off, and it was going to be our last 4th of july as a family of 3.

.we know we have some expenses coming up with baby coming next week, so we wanted to stay pretty low-key and also knew it would be SO BUSY with people wherever we went.

.we started the day off at church, for the 4th of july breakfast. OH MY GOODNESS....this mama was IN HEAVEN. i am not complaining about breakfast here at the hotel, but they had SO MUCH FRUIT and i LOVE fruit, but CRAVE it when i am pregnant. YUM. they had pancakes, waffles, tortillas (for burritos), raspberries (MY FAVORITE), strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, pineapple (another favorite), cantaloupe, eggs, potatoes, bacon....can you say YUM. this mama loaded up her plate and ate it proudly (until i have to get on the scale today at the doctors). it was delicious.

.than we headed back home and let b take a short 45 minute nap (her new thing...annoying). than she got up and we headed out to the pool for an hour and a half. it was awesome. there was barely anyone in there, and we got her some fun new things for the pool that makes it easier for me when i take her by herself. grandma debbie also got her a little outfit that has built in floatation...she doesnt know what to do with it. with all toys, she lasts about 15-20 minutes before she is bored and wants it off. but it helps andrew and i teach her to kick her little feet and swim. it was 95 outside, so it felt great, little b got darker, mommy got darker, and daddy...well he burned...like normal.

 .little "lifejacket" from grandma debbie.

 .this boat was totally worth 5 bucks. it has little holes for her legs, and she just sits in there and loves it.

.b on her 4th of july swim.

 .we came up, got lunch,  took showers, b went down for another nap, andrew did homework while she slept, and i went and laid out by the pool for longer while i waited for laundry to be switched over and done. it felt SO good to just soak in the sun for a little bit, with no worries about b or andrew, and just enjoy before life gets really busy next week.

 .if we are out and about during happy hour, we always grab a slushie...hello a buck for all that drink, and we all share it?? heck yes.

 .b right out of her bath, taking over the slushie....

.we never did get to see the rest of it, that girl downed it.

.laundry done. laundry folded. dinner ate. headed out to watch fireworks. except.....it didnt happen. we went to the park where andrew's work was putting on the show, and the line to get INTO the park was so long, and stretched for miles and miles, and we could NOT find parking. b had fallen back to sleep, so we decided to head back to the hotel and just have family time before bed. 

.we played and played. and laughed and laughed. and took pictures, and just enjoyed one another....until 11:30 pm. yes my little miss didnt fall asleep until 11:30. i rocked her to sleep last night. i have not done this for a LONG time, because i dont want her to get use to me rocking her to sleep in order for her to go to bed. but let me tell you, every once in a while, i LOVE it. it was a little harder with a big belly, but i LOVED rocking her to sleep last night. it just finished off the day so well. 

 .so i am still experimenting with the whole pigtails, so bare with me. . . i think she looks like the statue of liberty...which is fine cause its the 4th of july right?

 .outfit from my sis kristina...yes kris, it should fit your little one perfect next year.

  .b and i having fun with the camera... she does the "mommy stare" pretty good.

 .and than we are great at being goofy too.

 .love this smile.

to end the night, b wanted to show everyone what she has been doing for over a month now...i guess she has watched mommy and daddy too much, because the ipod is no longer a "safe" toy for her to not be able to get into....at the very end of the clip, you will also see her attitude she is developing....it doesnt work for her, so she throws it...thats brooklynn.

.b showing her ipod trick.

.that was our 4th. not to conquer the next 2 days until the weekend, and than have our last weekend together before we embrace a "little brother" into our family. 

"we hope YOU had a good 4th of july too."

.lazy family weekend in texas.

.i LOVE how we have done something as a family every single weekend, and since it seems we have been going, going, going to big places, and spending a lot of money...we decided to have a low key weekend.

.thursday i had my doc apt, and she checked me and i had no progress (not a big surprise). well when i got home, i was bleeding. i didnt want to stress out, but was a bit worried. so i called my sister, and she just told me to take it easy, and watch it, if it gets worse, than i should call my doctor. anyways- i had cramping through the night, and started to stress about all the things i dont have done in case i were in labor.

.friday morning i took andrew to work, so i could have the car in case my doctor wanted me to come in. called the doctor, and she said it was probably from her checking me, totally normal and a mix of my body getting ready for labor. . . anyways so i am not TMI... things are good, we are good. no baby. it was normal, i had just never experienced that with brooklynn. different pregnancy.

.so saturday. we slept in until 9. than went down and had breakfast, and than headed to an indoor play area. some girls from the ward went there friday (but since i was taking it easy and not feeling too hot, i didnt get a chance to take b). so we took her. parents are free, and brooklynn was $3....LOVE THIS. ..AND...you can leave and come back the same day and not pay a re-entrance fee. so $3 for the entire day...DOUBLE love this.

.the play area is maybe 5 minutes from our place, and has AC. it was a cute little place that had lots to do. brooklynn was in love. there was an infant/toddler area, but brooklynn wanted nothing to do with it, she got bored. so andrew chased her around the big area, and she did everything like a champ. she LOVED the slides, and would climb to the top, sit down, and go down by herself. 

 .infant toddler area.

 .infant toddler area... last 5 minutes.

 .and than she moved on to the bigger and better.

 .they have a little movie area.

 .thats my girl.

 .baller baby.

 .daddy helping her shoot a basket.

 .she LOVED the slide.

 .she went alot faster than daddy thought..i caught the action of daddy flipping out trying to get to her, i laughed SO hard.

 .haha. she pressed her nose up against the window when she saw me taking a picture of her.

 .pirate ship playarea.

 .castle playarea.

.tractor play area.

.she also LOVED the basketball area (thats my girl). she spent probably 20-30 minutes, chasing the basketball, bouncing it, kicking it (yea...SOCCER TOO!...thats my girl)...and just loved it. i was such a proud mommy. loved seeing her loving basketball. awesome.

.well afterwards, we headed out, and brooklynn was worn out. we decided to head up to the temple, so i could get a few thing at the distribution center, and just check out the temple and the area around it. we looked at houses and it was fun to see what houses we could probably afford, and others there was no way we could. gave andrew and i an opportunity to talk about our future, what we liked, didnt like, and explore more area around us. 

.we went out to lunch. we NEVER do a sit down restaurant, and i told andrew i really wanted to today, to get out of the car. we tried a chinese restaurant and loved it. it was soo good, and we havent been to a good place in a long, long time. 

.we drove around to other places 15-20 minutes from USAA (in case we did move down here, we want a 15-20 minute commute for andrew).  we looked at more houses and just talked. it was so nice.

.it was a nice, low key weekend. we have 4th of july and our last saturday as a family of 3 this weekend, SAD. so i hope we have alot of fun this weekend. 

.brooklynn has been playing with toys this week...poor girl, this momma is worn out and so we have not got out to the pool all week, but we have a goal to try and change this, this upcoming week. 

.i got this car for 6 bucks at a secondhand store called kid to kid. LOVED this. she wanted it so bad, and she drives it around, it sings 2 songs, and she takes some of her animals for rides too. its adorable, and i love that...these pictures are from her "shopping"...i looked over and she had her purse up on her shoulder and driving her car....i asked her if she was going shopping and she smiled.

.she also has rediscovered her swing (well meant to be her bothers). look how big she is. she LOVES it. she will climb up in there by herself with her blanket and rock and rock. many times she fell asleep in there, its ridiculous how big she is in that swing... i see some fits being thrown when her brother is in there. thanks andrew, for showing her how cool her swing is.

.thats it for today. we will hopefully have some posts from our 4th and this weekend.

.our seaworld adventure.

.we talked about seaworld since we moved here. but looking at prices ($80 per adult), meant a lot of money. we put it off for a few weeks while we were here, but andrew kept insisting we go and experience it.

.so we did.

.and it was worth every penny.

.we ran errands until 10pm friday night, so by the time we got back, and i packed lunches for the following day, and we got b down, and go to bed, it was close to midnight. i figured we would get up around 8 or 9, and that was fine.

.i had everything set out for us, and everything ready to go for our adventure, just needed to stop at the ice machine in the hotel on the way out to fill the cooler (thanks to my friend Maren, from church, who let us use her cooler). anyways around 7:15am i woke up to run quickly to walmart to exchange some swim bottoms...well miss b was wide awake, so i took her with me and left andrew to sleep longer. we got back around 8am, and andrew was up jumping in the shower.

.we head downstairs. ate. came up. changed. and headed out. we arrived around 10:30am...and my goodness is was HOT and PACKED. it took an hour to get through the ticket line and inside the gates. brooklynn was grumpy because she went to bed so late the night before, and woke up so early. i thought, "great this is going to be the longest day ever, and not going to be any fun with such a grumpy child." good thing i was proved wrong.

 .b at the enterance of seaworld. it was really pretty.

 .under the towers.

.me and be about ready to head into the waterpark. it was so hot.

.we went to the waterpark immediately because we were hot and knew how much of a water baby brooklynn is. we walked around for a good 30 minutes trying to find where to purchase a locker....FINALLY we found it... sucky thing was out locker was RIGHT next to a smoking area. YUCK! But we survived for the day and tried to make any locker stops as quick as possible and not with brooklynn around if we could help it.

.brooklynn touches a sting ray at seaworld.

.the waterpark was great. obviously the park is more for older children and adults...but we still had such a great time. they had a few different kid areas, and brooklynn just loved every minute of it. we went to a first kid area, and brooklynn laughed and screamed and squealed while she played and her daddy chased her around and mommy took video. when andrew picked her up to take her to another kid area, she thought we were done and cried and cried.

.brooklynn throwing a fit to leave the waterpark.

.luckily she realize we were not done and taking her to another area of the waterpark. this area was kid friendly as well, but alot older kids too. it was pretty much a 2 story playplace that always had water dumping down somewhere. brooklynn LOVED it. every 5 minutes or so this HUGE HUGE HUGE bucket of water would fill up and dump down... andrew took her in it and i thought she is gonna drown in how much water force was behind it. . . but my gosh that girl just took it and clapped with excitement afterwards. she is SUCH a water baby and will just go right in (scary sometimes how much she has no fear). but she loved it.

.brooklynn and the big bucket of water.

.after about 2.5 hours at the waterpark we decided to head out to the seaworld park of the park and watch some shows. we realized we had about an 1 or so to kill before the next show of what we wanted to see was available so it was a perfect time to get lunch. poor brooklynn was WIPED after just the waterpark of it.

.well andrew and i realized we could drive out of the park, and come back... and there was a mcdonald's right outside the park, so we packed up brooklynn and headed down. we both got a dollar burger, and shared a cherry berry chiller...than came back to the park, and ate some of the food i packed as well. i throw the leftover food in the bag, and we headed back into the park.

.we went to "azul"...the dolphin show. brooklynn was memorized. she loved watching all dolphins, and  the girls, and the "jumpers" it was a great show. i loved it. the show was a lot smaller, so we were probably 3-4 rows back. it was great. brooklynn watched the entire thing. no fussing at all. it was wonderful. i loved all the different things they had going on. really kept our attention.

 .azul stage, it was really pretty.

 .dolphins doing their tricks.

 .this lady reminded me of Tammy Kirby because she was hanging in the air from practically nothing.

.more dolphin tricks.

.azul dolphin show.

.more azul dolphin show.

.than we went to a whale show. those animals are HUGE. my goodness. it was packed, so we were not as close, so brooklynn didnt pay AS MUCH attention... but she still did awesome watching. we then headed to an elmo show for brooklynn. at this point she was done...but we were right in front, and they told all the kids to come up front and dance with them (just below the stage). So we could let brooklynn  stand and dance and so it was not bad at all.

 .b's face the entire show. she was awesome.

 .see the spray from the whale's tail??...it SOAKED the audience.

.more soaking.

.seaworld whale show.

 .elmo rocks show.

 .b getting hydrated before the show.

.elmo show at seaworld.

.anyways, at this point we were DONE with shows, and ready to get back in the water. i was ready to get in the water too. (i didnt really get in the water the first time, because i was taking video). so we went to the locker, dropped our stuff and got in the water. it was COLD but felt good (if i had my feet in it). lol. i did chase around brooklynn for a bit, but i was SO tired from walking around 37 weeks pregnant, it didnt last too long. luckily andrew was awesome and chased her around for me. 

 .b and i after a long day.

 .andrew and i after our day at seaworld.

.thanks seaworld. it was alot of fun.

.we ended our day with dinner at carl's jr. yes. carl's jr. its one of my FAVORITE places to go when I am in the mood for a burger. i love love their teriyaki burger so much, and when this mama is pregnant, she LOVES herself a good pineapple burger. i was so thrilled when andrew said we could go. we got shakes too...we usually only get something off the dollar menu. it was just a great day.

.overall, our trip was AWESOME! it was a lot of money. it was alot of walking. it was alot of sweating (it was over 100 that day). it was a lot of patience. but overall brooklynn's squeals, and smiles, and face was priceless. she was SO tired by the end, we all slept so good. it was a great place to go. and another place to check off out to-do list before we leave and before our baby boy comes.

.thanks seaworld for the fun. i think we all decided it was our favorite thing we have done in texas.