Much needed update

Do you ever feel like you are upside down because life is so busy?

The last couple of months have flown by. Lincoln traveled a ton for work, I was working like crazy on the Love Campaign, and Eva turned into a very busy toddler. 

September 30th marked 6 months after my dad's death. I couldn't believe that it had gone by so fast. But at the same time, when I realized it had been 6 months I was sad that I had been without my dad on earth for 6 whole months. The rest of my life without him seems like forever. 

 Time is a precious gift. 

While the last couple of months have been crazy, things have finally started to calm down and I am really enjoying a calmer life with my little family in DC. 

Here is what I have missed blogging about: 

It's Fall!!

Eva loved going to a pumpkin patch. She enjoyed picking out her own pumpkins. It was adorable

For Halloween we were all pirates. Eva definitely was the cutest. 

Trick or Treating with Eva was SO much fun! It brought back so many memories of childhood and trick or treating with my dad. 

I think I was more excited to trick or treat than Eva was.

I love to decorate for Halloween

But now that Halloween is over, it looks more like Thanksgiving at our house.

Last month we went to Utah and California. We dropped off Eva in Utah and Lincoln and I went on our first trip without her. We went to a resort in Carlsbad, CA for Lincoln's firm retreat. And not having a toddler around made us really appreciate the little things... like working out at the same time, sleeping in, taking naps and actually relaxing by the pool. It was heavenly, but I couldn't think too much about Eva because then I would definitely miss her.

The Carnival night at the Firm Retreat:

 Great food, carnival games, photo booth, and good music. We danced all night.  It was so fun.

 Then the next day we went Go-Cart racing. Lincoln did really well. He won the Bronze medal.

They had a 50th year celebration of the firm and a formal dinner to celebrate

The weather was perfect

While it was incredibly enjoyable, I was really excited to see my baby girl again. 

Back in Utah both Lincoln and I had some work projects. 

I went to Utah to help campaign for Mia Love. I have been working as Mia's press secretary for almost a year. But the last couple of months leading up to the election had been incredibly busy. While I was able to work from home, I was often glued to the computer and phone for work. (Poor Eva. Good thing she loves Baby Signing Time dvds!) It was fun to be in Utah a couple of weeks leading up to the election as well as on election night. While we were all disappointed that Mia lost, I am glad I got to experience working on her campaign. 

Fundraiser with Speaker Boehner

Honk and Wave (with my friend Stephanie Sonksen Benton who also worked on the campaign) 

 The night of the election waiting for results with Mia, Sen. Hatch, Sen. Lee and others.

Lincoln was asked to speak at Utah State about Patent Law. He did an awesome job. Even I learned something new as I listened to him explain his job. 

While in Logan we visited the graves of Grandma and Grandpa Essig

And of course we went to Utah for some very important family events. 

Lacey's wedding to Shane. 

It was a long day of celebrating, and a very beautiful ceremony. 

And Lawson left on his mission to Puerto Rico. He did an incredible job on his farewell talk.

We visited with family

and Eva had some good cousin time

and Great Grandma Holder and Nonnie time

And we spent some time with friends on our trips

(DC friends Megan and Rachel who have moved to Utah)

(High School friend Marinda who lives in CA)

 We are back to life in DC now and since the campaign is over I actually have more time. It is really nice. I finally made bread again.

Eva was my little helper

And she totally kept sneaking pieces of the dough to eat. 

It was too cute to stop her. 

I had time to go back to my old office and have lunch with my old co-workers. 

Eva loved playing ball with the Congressman. 

And this little baby inside of me is really starting to grow. 

 I was so sick the first three months. Then one Tuesday in my 12th week I woke up and actually had energy.  It felt so good. I love the second trimester of pregnancy. 

12 weeks

15 weeks

20 weeks

This past week we had our sonogram and found out that we are having a BOY!

Lincoln and I both had a feeling that it was going to be a boy this time. On our way to the Dr. appointment Lincoln even said, "I would be surprised if this baby was a girl." 

No need to be surprised because just as the Dr. said he is 100% boy :)