Summer at last

It finally feels like summer. And it's glorious! It's been slowly starting to warm up, the trees are suddenly covered with bright green leaves, and my growing belly legitimately craves popsicles on a daily basis. I can go outside without a coat, and my boots are packed deep within my closet. Yay, summer! :)

Today felt like the first true day of summer to me because our whole family got together at Grandma Lehman's house. (I refer to her as "Grandma" as opposed to "my husband's grandma" because she's just...Grandma. It's just fitting, regardless of your direct relation to her.)

I'm not my sister-in-law Katie, so naturally I forgot my camera. Ha. But I wanted to write about the day just because I'm so full of gratitude. Sometimes I miss my immediate family a lot. Actually, lately I've been missing my immediate family constantly. But it's helped a lot to have all my in-laws around. But really, there just an addition to my family; they don't even feel like "in-laws" in the traditional sense.

And having delicious food - like brats, delicious bacon corn, snicker salad, fruit salad, chips, refrigerator pickles - the list goes on and on. And I can't forget dessert. Key lime pie, ice cream, and cookies. SO DIVINELY DELICIOUS. It was all the summer foods I've genuinely been craving lately, and it was just magical. (Hmm...rereading my description made me better understand why Alex says I'm dramatic..)

But more than the food, it was so great just sitting around with family, laughing, telling stories, and fishing. The fish weren't too active, but it was certainly entertaining to watch the little girls playing in the mud, swimming in their clothes, and most especially - watching Ethan save Owen's life after Owen fell in the water.   Funny thing was...it didn't make Owen timid of the water at all! He kept trying to get back in! Haha, love that kid; his retina-blinding white skin and all. :)

And I got to meet Maxine - my less-than-a-month old niece. Okay, okay, she's not really my niece; she's something like my second cousin-in-law, or something crazy like that. But I'm calling her my niece because our connection made me feel like her aunt.

...Okay, maybe not a connection, but I felt like a new person when I first held her. See, I kind of had a rough morning. ED (my eating disorder) was being sassy, telling me things that weren't true. And I was having a difficult time getting him to leave me alone. Then, on the way out the door, my shorts (and my only pair of shorts) ripped - right across the butt. That kind of sent me into an emotional whirlwind of feeling fat, fat, and fat - not pregnant.

But literally, the second I held Maxine in my arms, I felt completely better. I suddenly remembered what's really going on with my body - I'm growing a human being; I'm not fat. And all I could think about was that sweet, beautiful newborn in my arms and how much I already loved her. And from there, I just couldn't stop thinking about the sweet little baby growing inside of me and how much I already love him or her. And by that point, I just didn't feel fat anymore. I felt humbled to be carrying one of Heavenly Father's spirit children and grateful to have my own newborn in a few months from now.

Basically, it was a perfect summer day. The only thing that would make it any better at this point is a popsicle. And maybe to have my only pair of summer shorts not have a hole. But I've had them since I was 15. I suppose it's time to let them go. There's just...so many memories attached to those shorts! Oh geez...I'm so sentimental.