We are having TWIN ........

BOYS!!!

We are SO excited. 

They will be the best of friends, and always have someone there to play with. 

They have the best dad to look up to; That will play sports with them, show them how to love their momma, give them the priesthood, & show how to live righteously to serve full time missions.

We can't wait to meet these 2 in September. 

Now to come up with 2 names...

Sister time!

Courtney came to Georgia this past week and we had so much fun! It was so fun to have her here and do things I wouldn't by myself! We showed her all the trees, waffle houses on every corner, and beautiful rivers & lakes. 

I picked her up in Atlanta and we spent some time exploring the city! We did some shopping, ate at California Pizza Kitchen (which I had been CRAVING & they don't have in Augusta), and then got a 'frosted orange' drink at the Varsity. 

She was a trooper and did some baby shopping with me. I usually just wind up in the rocking chair section for hours. We both almost fell asleep.

The Augusta Farmers Market is every Saturday. This is the first time I had been, and it was SO fun!

So many different food vendors, soaps, fruits & veges for sale, and music!

We found a crepe tent and they smelled SOOoooOOOO good. We had to try them. Can't beat fresh strawberries, bananas, and cinnamon whipped cream!

I had been wanting to kayak down the Savannah River ever since we heard about it! I never could during their hours because Cam is gone - and I'm not paddling alone! 

So I pulled Court along and we went kayaking! 

My kind of kayaking : Sit in the boat and lay down while the current pushes you along. It was great. We slowly went down the river and enjoyed all the beautiful trees around us! It took us about 2 hours.... and we forgot the sunscreen.

Another thing to check off my list with Court was to go to the Columbia, South Carolina Temple!

It is about 1.5 hours away from us and is such a small temple, but so beautiful of course. We got stuck in traffic on our way so we booked it in to catch the 5 PM session! We made it! 

It was so fun to be there with her. Can't believe she is going on a mission in 6 weeks!

We love this river walk trail that divides Georgia and South Carolina. It was so pretty the night we were there taking 'gender reveal' pics!

Thanks for coming to hang out with me Court! I love you! 

This week..

Where to begin with this last week! A lot of fun, interesting, and blah!

A lot of girls from the ward came over with all their kids to swim! 

 We had pizza, fruit, and drinks and a fun time. 

These girls have taken me in and made me feel like we have been friends forever. I love our get togethers and the new fun adventures we go on!

Georgia storms are awesome.

Last week we had a couple rainy days and I LOVE the storms here. Thunder and lightening, and RAIN! Sucks for the boys.. but I like watching it from my window :)

I started new reads for this week! I don't know if they are getting me more prepared, or more nervous! 2 babies = A LOT! Being away from home and not being able to prepare anything, buy baby things, or do anything is really hard. Because I am organized. I prepare like months in advance. Especially being a first time mom, I feel like everything is going to come so fast and that I won't have anything ready. But putting my freaking out aside - I am going to TRY to get as much as I can done. Surely, and slowly.

We had a fun trip to the ER on Saturday night.

My cousin Corey called us Saturday night saying he had this really itchy rash all over his body, and it was just getting worse. Of course the Urgent Care was closed. So we headed to the ER. Every seat was taken, and I knew we were in for a long night. 

Corey is allergic to every food, grass, plant, basically EVERYTHING.

But breaking out on his skin was something new. So of course, we stayed and tried to get it taken care of. After taking 2 hours to get "registered" at the hospital they pulled us back. 

People with chest pain = I will help you first, and get you taken care of and out of here in an hour.

People with a rash = You have to wait here till 5 am cuz you don't have chest pain. 

The Dr. peeked his head in for maybe 1 min and said he needed an IV with things to make the swelling reaction go down. IV= maybe 30 min, pull out, and leave? Nope. After waiting 2 more hours to get discharged, we left the ER at 5 AM. 

Wow. I'm tired. Long day. (After helping a friend with her puking child in the car after seeing the Lego movie -- thats another story).

And then I had the flu! Yay! What a week. So glad it was a 24 hour dumb bug, so today is laundry and cleaning. Getting ready for Courtney to come tomorrow!! Can't wait. 

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Can't believe I am already 18 weeks. 

We were suppose to find out the genders yesterday, BUT thanks to the lovely bug, we moved our appt to Thursday. 

I feel like by now I should be huge.. Right? Twins? 2 babies? 

We can't wait to find out what these babes are! 

Iphone updating

When I don't carry my huge camera around with me I whip out my phone to capture our Georgia adventure.

Just updating my last couple weeks through iPhone eyes :)

It has been SO HOT lately. I feel bad for the guys out in the heat all day, while I'm eaten my DQ and relaxin at the pool! But then I don't feel so bad, because I have 4 more months of relaxation. Everyday. All day. Our pool at our complex is so nice! I love it. You can find me on my raft for hours!

I have met so many new friends in our new ward. They are so awesome and have definitely been helping with the 'mommy tips' since they all have kids, and I need all the tips I can get!

 I have been hanging out with a girl in the ward who lives in this BEAUTIFUL neighborhood. Every time I go to her house which is in a gated golf course community, I find myself snapping pics of all the amazing houses. 

We went swimming before a YW fundraiser dinner to a neighbors house down the street. 

How amazing is this backyard! I can't get enough of the trees, smells, flowers, GREEN everywhere, and southern hospitality!

Ya know those movies that take place in the south? Plantation houses, beautiful landscaping, nice people everywhere that say 'yes ma'am', and little girls that say Ms. before your name?

It's ALL true!

My new little friend Mekynzie (who is 6), along with her friends when I am at her house always say, "Hi Ms. Alexa!" or "Do you want a popsicle Ms. Alexa?" 

It's the cutest thing ever. 

My list of things to do is-- slim. When I'm not doing paperwork once a week for the office I usually have one thing to do a day that gets me out of the house. 

I'm not use to this downtime when Cam and I had such a set schedule everyday back home.

It is nice though, I'm not complaining!

One day, my only thing to 'do' was try out this cupcake place 10 min down the road that was on Cupcake Wars on Food Network. 

Since there isn't a Sweet Tooth Fairy around here (Cakebites and cotton candy cupcakes were a monthly obsession), I had to find the next best thing.

Smallcakes Cupcakery did not disappoint. I went with the wedding cake, snickers, and peanut butter cakes. And I ate them. For lunch. Sorry babies! 

It was my mothers day treat. I did save some for Cam though.

Sorry I don't mean to explain every picture, but If I didn't, things would be confusing.

SO!

This is seriously a crazy, amazing story. I promise.

My brother Shawn was knocking in his assigned area last week. He knocked on the door, and a lady and her son answered. After making small talk of where they were each from, and what Shawn was selling, something crazy came from it. The lady said they were originally from Riverside CA, and they guessed Shawn was from Utah. He said he had grown up in California but only for a little bit when he was younger. Shawn said "Hey, my brother in law served his mission in Riverside!" They said well we probably won't know who he is, but whats his name?! "Cameron Pearson?" 

"NO WAY!" As tears came to her eyes, she said, "He brought us back into the church, he baptized my son!" Shawn was completely shocked and immediately got Cam on the phone. They got each others numbers and planned to sit by each other at church this last Sunday.

The morning before we left for church, Cam was SO excited. I think it was more like, "I can't believe something I did 8 years ago has still changed someones life," type feeling. 

We sat by Ricki that Sunday, and I have never seen Cam so happy.

In relief society after the Mothers Day lesson was given, they opened it up for a little testimony meeting. Ricki's mom got up and shared what crazy, amazing thing had happened.

"8 years ago, a missionary knocked on our door and forever changed my life and my sons. Brother Pearson - and his wife who is sitting over there, baptized my son, Ricki. If it wasn't for his testimony of the gospel, I would not be standing here today."

I still couldn't believe it. Cue the pregnancy tears! 

Something great happened that day. 

Not only was it my first 'real' mothers day. But for the first time I got a little glimpse of the joy of missionary work. I never served a mission, but sharing my life with someone who has and the joy that it has brought to him - I felt a little piece of that.

I always knew Cam was a great missionary. But that day, through him, I could really see what a great missionary he was. Especially when someone is standing bearing their testimony, of something your husband did 8 years ago, was really something special. 

Another reason why I know we are suppose to be here in Georgia, right now. 

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-How far along? 17 weeks.. 18 tomorrow!

-Total weight gain? Umm. haven't weighed myself yet. We don't have a scale, so it looks like the next time I'm by Bed bath & beyond I need to borrow a scale. haha

-Stretch marks? Nope.. Started using the Palmers Body butter a couple weeks ago.

-Sleep? It was great, until the past couple nights. Lower back pain is starting.

-Best moment of the week? Cams missionary story! <Read above:)>

-Movements: Yep! These 2 are lovin each other already. The left side moves all day, then at night is the right side.

-Food cravings: Not really. Still not that hungry all the time. Icecream and burgers still are up there on the list!

-Gender: We find out on this coming Monday!!! We can't wait!

-Looking forward to: My sister is coming next Wednesday for a week!!!!! YAY!!! Since I can't really do adventurous outdoorsy things by myself, I have it all planned out when Court comes. Leisurely kayak ride down the Savannah river, shopping in Atlanta, beach trip in Savannah, and temple trip to Columbia temple! 

Georgia On My Mind

As soon as you fly into Georgia all you notice is the TREES! Everywhere. I love it. It is SO different than Utah. I guess that's why it rains all the time, but the humidity= no lotion every 5 sec! It's great. 

About 10 min away from us is the Columbia county Library. Behind the library is a beautiful park with a splash pad, playground, picnic tables and BBQ's, this beautiful lake walk, and a farmers market every Thursday. Since I read now.. not really.. I went to go check out a book and saw a bunch of tents set up. It was the Thursday farmers market! I loose track of days out here. 

I decided to walk around. So many fresh fruits and vege's from local farmers, stained glass, tomato plants, & treats for sale. 

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Savannah Rapids River Walk

I love Sunday walks, bike rides, just being outside really. The Savannah River is about 15 min away from our house and it is SO pretty! There are kayaks to rent, tubes, bikes, and a long trail that goes around the river. For those that know me, I have a problem smelling. haha It comes and goes, but now my pregnancy nose is here and I can smell everything! I love the smells that are around the river. So fresh and outdoorsy. 

It was so nice to go on a Sunday walk with Cam & Shawn yesterday. 

The best day of the week.