Ah, ultrasound pictures... sometimes beautiful and other times just freaky weird. I'll be honest, when people show me their ultrasounds, I have to pretend that I see a baby, so if you don't see one there, that's totally fine. If you're still trying to see a baby, the white blob you're looking at in the very middle of the picture is his lips and nose. His hands are covering his eyes, hence the weird distortion above. And that's about pretty much all there is to see.

I mentioned briefly in a post about this sweet little nugget and some of the challenges we have had with (a) making him and (b) growing him. As of yesterday, all of our concerns are resolved! He no longer has a cyst on his brain, he is back on track growth-wise, and he is kicking like crazy whenever I sit down. 

We have been so blessed this pregnancy. I honestly could not be more grateful with the results of the ultrasound. It was a very anxious month waiting to hear if my little baby boy would be born with severe complications and the possibilities of needing an emergency c-section or having a stillbirth. I have felt overwhelming comfort and peace the entire month, but there were times where the anxiety would come crashing in and become unbearable. Yesterday as the ultrasound started, I am pretty sure my heartbeat was thumping faster than if I had just ran a triathlon. 

I was super sweaty and restless lying down on the examining bed waiting for the ultrasound tech to show me the brain. She was very sweet and showed me his spine first and showed me his little feet and hands. The entire time all I could think about was: "Just show me the brain!"

When she did the scan of the brain, she took a lot of pictures and was incredibly quiet. I scanned that mass of black and grey blobs trying to find a large black bubble that had appeared last time and with every swipe of the brain that she did, nothing. I'm pretty sure my fingers and toes were curled in anticipation. Finally, I saw her type onto the computer "cyst - resolved" and I about burst into tears. 

Every time I think about it, I get weepy. I would blame the pregnancy and hormones, but I am also so overcome with gratitude and wonder at the many miracles we have experienced. I am incredibly thankful for those that have been thinking about me and those that have given me an extra squeeze this month without even thinking about it. One lady that I work with squeezed my shoulder one day at lunch and gave me the most sincere smile and it made me melt. 

I can't wait for this sweet little boy to come. I am so grateful for the peaceful month that I have had and for the love we've been shown. Only 106 more days until baby, but who's counting?

Zane is 21 months old (I've thought hard and long about this and I think it's about time I just start saying two for my own sanity!). He is crazy, reckless, and somehow the absolute sweetest. And by absolute sweetest I mean 60% percent of the time, every time. I think the best skill he has acquired this month would be using his ultra-sweet manipulation skills to make everyone love him even when he has taken the last treat  right out from under your nose. 

He loves to help put away dishes and sing, "Clean-up!" whenever putting away his toys. He also loves to stash all of his toys at the bottom of the stairs so you get a nice hotwheel to the heel at 6:00 am when you are zombie-walking around the house getting ready for work. Zane also loves getting into makeup. He has painted his entire face and a few walls with lipstick. The little stinker can accomplish so much in just minutes. If I was as productive as Zane is when he is being naughty, I honestly could be unstoppable. Like, that's all the evil villains are missing: the example of Zane and his default setting of "go-go-go (which he also loves to say)."

Right now, Zane is in love with the idea of a baby brother. He kisses my tummy, gives it hugs, and will occasionally come up and pat it before heading back to his extremely important task of ordering cars, which he also loves. He was excited for a baby brother until we went and bought fabric to make the new baby a blanket. Zman was incredibly jealous and didn't even want me to touch the fabric as we waited in line to pay. He so overly protective that when I told him it was 'brothers' he gave me the meanest look that has ever graced the earth. Then, he snuggled the fabric close, laid his head on it, and pretended to snore. I'm already dreading what is going to go down when a brand new, helpless, little baby is swaddled in such a hot commodity. 

ZZ loves playing catch, looking at tractors, blowing bubbles, and doing his darndest to sleep in our bed at night. He is so dang adorable, I've fallen for it three times in the last two weeks. I just can't help myself at the thought of giving him so many loves before a new baby comes. Zane also loves going to the bathroom on the "potty" and gets a starburst every time he uses the bathroom. He is practically potty-training himself and it is so magical and glorious. They told me to believe in miracles. This is definitely strengthening my testimony, people.

Zane is also acquiring some of my best loves; yesterday we went to the D.I and as I was picking out books for my classroom, he would grab the books, nestle them against himself in the little baby enclosure as I put them in the cart, and say, "More books, mommy. More books." And when a cute little 2-year-old is grabbing 50 cent books from you and encouraging you to grab more, anything is possible. $26 worth of possible, as a matter of fact. More if they had a bigger selection, I am sure of it. He also loves to have dance parties with me and is definitely getting into some sort of interpretive dance phase. I'm not quite sure what that is all about, but he is experimenting some serious thrusting of the head and hips to music. After a song ends, he will say, "MORE DANCE! MORE SONG!" It's like he's forcing my hand with such great taste in music. 

Lastly, Zane is seriously picking up language like he is personally going to keep the English language alive. He's willing to speak and that is what I think is most amazing. At nights, he will say the entire prayer as long as we tell him word for word what to say. It's been very sweet to hear him string together several words at a time and all of the little phrases he has picked up from us. The funniest part of this language acquisition is that sometimes he calls Mitchell "She-sho" and me "Alicks." He will give us quite the parently look and say, "Aliiiiicks. Night night." Now ask yourself, how can you argue with that? 

Steele yourself against the sweet little boy because he's only going up from here.

Can I just tell you, I can't wait for another one of these little Gollum-shaped things? I've been watching videos of when Zane was a little baby, and holy freaking cow I'm baby hungry and I'm already pregnant. 

This General Conference weekend was absolutely perfect because it was:

1. General Conference weekend

2. My spring break from school (hallelujah!)

3. Crazy warm

and 4. We got to spend it with my mama!

Ever since my entire family up and moved to Montana, life here has seemed like it is missing a critical piece of my instant well-being. There is something so magical about being able to see almost all of the people you love within 10 minutes of each other. So any weekend with my family is a good weekend, especially if it is conference weekend.

My mother has a habit of making us gain 10 pounds every conference. And if you look at the spread she makes for two measly days, you would be okay with some stretchy pants goodness too. She likes to take the "spiritually and physically fed" saying to an entirely new level. I am thinking General Conference weekend in the Sutton household was really the reason why gluttony is a sin. Our food comas probably interfere with our reception of holy things. 

I mean, Zane practically had a cup of food in his hand every other minute of the day. He normally doesn't cuddle, but in the midst of a food coma, anything is fair game, especially if your belly is too full to move. 

I loved General Conference and all of the talks that I heard. They were amazing. I would go into depth, but I'll take the time to do that at a later date when I have had time to ponder over them some more. 

Our weekend also included a camp fire, working in the yard, and hiking a butte! Mitch and I have hiked this butte several times. It is practically in my mom's backyard, so we end up going there after we realize we've gained 10 pounds and need to do something physical with our lives or become a part of my mom's couches forever. 

Hiking has easily become one of my favorite activities to do on a random day. It is so easy to just jump in the car and go on a hike. Even easier than getting Zane ready to do a Target run, and that's sayin' something. 

Someone created this maze on top of the butte. It has showers of bottle caps pressed into the ground and at the center are three empty beers. I'm assuming someone got there before us and had a good time. 

And last but not least, we celebrated Mitch's birthday a few weeks late. Because, you know, we really aren't good at doing things in a timely manner. Happy Birthday, handsome!

Also, one of Zane's favorite past-times is trying to blow out candles. I say trying because he literally blows out the smallest amount of air possible. He loves to try and blow out candle warmers too, the poor guy. 

I hope you had as amazing of a weekend as us, 10 pounds or not (;