4th of July week!

Because Alex's boss didn't want little teeny-boppers driving in 4th-of-July traffic, Alex had most of the week off. Score! We decided that since his birthday is in a couple weeks and since he had time off, we'd take a little mini vacation. We thought it'd be a good idea to get away - just the two of us - before the baby comes.

So we headed to The Waters resort in Minocqua. We went there for our anniversary in December and loved it, so we went back for a couple days.

Guess what?! Snow in July! ...just kidding; I took this picture when we went in December

We had the exact same room this time that we did in December! 

Glorious piece of heaven. Alex and I have decided one of these is a priority in our future house when we're rich.

Can you see my baby belly?! ...Just kidding; we took this picture in December  too - so pre-baby  :) I just couldn't help resist adding this picture in. :)

Clearly, I was lazy on taking pictures this trip since I used ones from December! But Alex and I sure had a great trip! We went to The Brick Tuesday night for dinner, and it was HEAVENLY. I was straight up craving steak, so I got this fillet mignon with this garlic blue cheese stuffing. AND the whole thing was wrapped in bacon. I about died. And our son was using my belly as a punching bag through the whole meal. Clearly, our son is Alex's steak-loving son. It's adorable how proud Alex is of that. Oh, who am I kidding...I'm proud of it too. :) Alex kept joking that he found a way to get me to always love and want meat - just keep me pregnant all the time. ha. ha.

We enjoyed time in the swimming pool and hot tub. So relaxing! On Wednesday, we went to lunch at El Mez with Vijai, Macie, and their kids. Their food is so good! We also went to see Man of Steel with Macie and Vij that night.

Side note: the bed in the hotel was a king mattress, and it got us suuuuuuuper excited about getting our gloriously-comfortable Simmons king mattress. Eep, I can't wait!

Thursday afternoon was spent with family. And it was fantastic. Almost all of my in-laws were able to be there. We spent the day of the 4th down by the lake on Andy and Katie's property. It was SO relaxing. It was also super fun just watching all the kids play...

Zeekie is such a cutie. :)

All the kids piled on the paddle boat

Uncle Al and Zeekie ... melts my heart thinking about  Alex with our little boy not too long from now

The 4th of July also marks Deakon's first birthday! He's gotten so big and continues getting cuter and cuter.

I feel like he wasn't too excited here...

Isn't his smile adorable?!

I'm pretty sure that in the following pictures, Deakon's thinking: "Yummm...tasty smurfs."

Needless to say, it was a fantastic day. (Hmm...rhyming there was not my intention.) Even though I went to bed without having seen the fireworks. But hey, I'm pregnant and in dire need of lots of sleep!

The next day, my awesome sister-in-law Abby came with Alex and me to register for baby stuff. She kind of saved my sanity because I was extremely overwhelmed of the idea of doing it alone. I'm really glad she was there because she thought of things that never would have crossed my mind.

You know, I always thought baby registering was supposed to be fun and exciting.

... The experience was nothing short of awful. :( Despite a few things making me "Aww!", it just all hit me. I suddenly became extremely overwhelmed of taking care of this little boy, day-to-day. I even started questioning my ability to even keep this kid alive!! There's just so much to this being-a-mom thing, and I'm scared. I'm scared of messing this sweet little boy up. And I'm stressed about all the things we'll have to buy. Granted, we finished our registry at Wal-Mart, but there's only so much that people will purchase off our registry.

*big ginormous sigh* I'm scared of the expenses of having a baby. I'm scared of being on my own taking care of this little boy when Alex is at work. Basically, when it comes right down to it, I'm scared of the kind of mom I'll be.

But...thinking back to that dreadful baby registering day, I think a little worry and fear is good. I'm guessing there's never been a new-timer mom who wasn't nervous and scared. And yes, a baby costs money, and yes, we'll have to buy lots of stuff. But it'll still be okay. As it is, this kid is set on clothes for quite a while with all the clothes I've gotten from in-laws! One of the things I keep reminding myself of is something Jessica told me: "Don't get caught up in feeling like you have to get everything you might ever need before the baby comes. You use a lot less than you think you will, especially with a newborn."

So I take a deep breath, and keep breathing. It will be okay. It'll all be okay...

Good thing I had the festivities of Saturday to mellow me out! The whole family headed down to the lake again for a pig roast. That's right - a whole pig. Naturally, John was behind it all!

Something about the shape of the pig looks like the USA, doesn't it?!  At least on the left side!

It ended up being delicious! We had all sorts of tasty sides, and Alex even made a root beer bbq sauce and an orange bbq sauce. I was in a very happy state, let me tell you! My mom, my brother Dillon, and his wife Audrey even came for a couple hours. It was really nice seeing all of them. 

I spent a lot of time with my nieces and nephews in the water, and oh my goodness, do I ever love those kids! Jack and Ethan - and their intense love for pushing me off the raft. Meela and Lucy - showing me all their special water dives and tricks. Kamryn and Cassidy - staying in the water 'til their lips are purple and having me "launch" them out of the water. And all the others...they're just....the best kids ever. I swear, they act as the best source of therapy that I could ever ask for! They help me remember the simple joys in life, and they are constant reminders to me of what it means to be happy. They help me forget about my stresses, or maybe to put it better - they help me put my stress in perspective. I love those little kids so much, and I hope they have an idea of just how much their Aunt Breanne loves them. 

All in all, life is tough. Stuff is stressful, stuff causes crazy me to melt down. But in the end, I have a really great life. And I'm happy. Really, truly happy.