Magic 20

Today is officially the halfway mark! 20 Weeks! Assuming we deliver on time...I'm really hoping I cook this little one more like my steak and not my garlic bread. So I'm going to do a halfway post...not because everyone wants to hear MORE about me and baby (I know everyone has to be exhausted with it by now) but because it will postpone attacking my to do list that includes dishes and laundry. Those types of chores are really bad for pregnant women right? I'm sure my doctor mentioned that. 20 Weeks feels great though...I'm only sick when I lack food or sleep and I actually have energy again. (Still working on finding ambition) I can still run quite a bit, although my speed is considerably slower and I go less often it still feels good. Kelly told me the other day, while pinching my latest growth of love handles, "I like your pregnancy hips" I'm thinking he was lucky to catch me in a stable mood. He informed me that he's allowed to say that. Ok love...as long as you found it in the rule book I'll let it slide. I'm convinced that I'm not like most women who carry their babies "high" or "low"...I'm carrying mine on my thighs. Definitely. That said, I'm graduating to maternity clothes....spandex waist never sounded so appealing. I've sworn I will never make fun of stretch pants again! I've also discovered that I have a tendency to buy clothes with horizontal stripes...as you can imagine...this isn't the greatest fashion statement for a person in this condition. So I drug Kelly to the maternity store and I wishlisted a nice variety of clothes to buy- Minus the stripes, plus the spandex.
I'm absolutely dying inside with my impatience to meet this little guy. Every day I just want to hold him and squeeze him. (Poor Ted's eyes are about the pop out! No wonder he can never wait for Kelly to get home.) I sat in the closet the other day and just looked at the things we've bought for him so far, carseat pads, burp rags, the cutest little stuffed elephant you ever saw, and I was about to cry, it's like I miss him not being able to hold him. So I just feel him move any chance I get. I never get sick of it. I'm sure I'll be redacting that statement once I can't get feet out of my ribs and a fist off my bladder, but for now it amazes me every time.

Going Blue

And its a noise with dirt on it!! We're having a boy!

He's a pretty shy guy, we couldn't get him to even peek at us long enough to get a good smile. So we went with the ab crunch. :) We can't wait to meet you little guy!

The Poll:

Ok, we are taking a poll. The other day one of those humane society commercials came on...you all know them. When the adorable teeny kitten showed up on the screen I said to Kelly. Do you realize that one day you will probably have a little girl that talks you into letting her have a kitten? He swears up and down that it will never happen. That he can "condition" our kids to hate cats so that they never ask for one. I say that when his little girl (who we know will have him wrapped right around her finger) looks up at him with her bambi eyes and asks if she can take home the little fuzzy, that probably will already have a name, he's going to cave and say yes. So here's our poll: will he have the kids "conditioned" or will they "condition" him? This is also my way of documenting this conversation as proof when someday I get to say "Told ya so" :) We all know he's a softy...afterall, we were NEVER going to have a dog and it took one cute picture to change that opinion. :)

The Bean Update

Our little bibs said hello yesterday in the form of a karate kick. :) We now litterally sit around waiting for playtime so we can feel. I would have to say we have a lot to learn as parents. At midnight I did some jumping jacks, ran up and down the stairs, and did some football dodging moves then lied down in bed to feel it move around...ya, we woke our baby up in the middle of the night to say hello. I doubt we'll be doing that in 6 months. :)
So now we wait...8 more days until we can FINALLY find out if we are having sugar and spice an everything nice or snips and snails and puppy dog tails. AHHHHHRRRRGGGGHHH....the suspense is KILLING ME! I have so much sewing decorating I want to get started on.

Fa La La La La

Its that time again! And I have Christmas on the brain, so here are the products of my last 24hours and we're just getting started. All homemade and cost me less than $30 to create ALL of it. :) Take a deep breath...that smell of fresh boughs is like the smell of magic!

Pumpkin Carving

We carved pumpkins last night. And more importantly, roasted up some pumpkin seeds! My favorite snack! I'm sick because I've been eating them like popcorn. Ted likes them quite a bit too. I hate to admit that Kelly out skilled me by far in the carving contest. I love his pumpkin! He's such a man, I just giggled as he broke out the jig saw to do his carving rather than doing it with a boring old knife. :)

BABY!

We had our 11 week ultra sound today and I have to say it is by far the neatest experience I've had in my entire life. The water works were in full motion! I went in for one at 7 weeks and it was neat, but that was for an emergency and I was so busy being relieved that my little blob in there was ok that I didn't experience the sense of wonder that this one was. I don't think anything could have prepared me for it. To see our little baby in there moving around, stretching out those arms and legs and that tiny little face.....there just aren't words. Of course all of you mom's know exactly what I'm talking about, its so amazing. I find myself anxious to go back in 4 weeks to check on my little baby bean again. This past month and a half of suffering suddenly feels entirely worth it. I can't believe how much my attachment has grown from this experience alone.
7 Weeks

11 Weeks 3 Days

Thanks Mom

I don't care how old or independent you are, sometimes in life you just need your mommy. The way you can be entirely ok with a situation and just one look at your mom's all understanding face or hearing that loving voice just makes you break down in tears. I need my mom. I've decided our moms are made for us, for these specific instances where you just need someone to cry unreasonably to and they will make you feel like its absolutely ok to cry. Thank you mom, for being made for me, and for drivng all the way from Blackfoot to take care of me. Puking in my purse seemed far less traumatic with you there. :) I love you.

A Quick Thank You Note:

Lately I have gained an appreciation for all of the strong and amazing women in my world. I'm blessed to have every single one of you a part of my life, to help me along and to encourage me. All of you mothers are nothing short of an incredible Greek Goddess in my eyes. How you can suffer so much and yet still be so entirely selfless is beyond me. Thank you to all of the mothers in my life I love and appreciate each and every one of you.

The Dirty Dash

Today was about bringing out your inner child. We, the Fighting Amish, summoned up as much energy as we could muster and found ourselves running around the ski hill at Soldiers Hollow wallowing mud, going over and and trough obsticles and wallowing in bogs and mud pits. We are proud to say that we are DIRTY DASHERS!

We hope you join us next year! Its worth every muddy minute of it!

A New Look

Take a good look at this blog and be impressed....it only took my technologically impaired self ages to get the font changed all cute. Thanks for the help Steph! I think I may have the urge to do some blogging again!
We've been crazy the past bit. With school mostly, wow has this semester worn me out! I've spent two weeks teaching 4th grade field trips and observing kindergarten classes. Its been a blast but I'm going to be glad to take a breather.
Kelly and I are about to become some seriously dirty dashers this weekend. I can't wait to post pictures for you. Its going to be a hog of a good time. If you are curious about what we've gotten ourselves into check out thedirtydash.com you'll be entirely jealous.
But I'm off for now to accomplish something worth blogging about!

Cache-Teton Epic Relay

Nothing desribes last weekend better than my blog description, "Enjoy when you can, Endure when you must" Twelve of us assembled into The Dirty Dozen for the 191 mile relay from Logan to Teton Villiage in Jackson Hole. 30 hours of Pain, Suffering, and a down right heck of a good time! We had an awesome crew and I'm proud of every one of them. This race is brutal and we tackled it.

Kelly and I each ran a 7, 3, and and 8 mile leg. Surprisingly, the 3 mile was the hardest. With very little recovery time you had to bail back out and push through a 25 minute, give it all you've got, run rather than an endurance pace. After finishing mine and enjoying the ability to breath again I bailed out and ran Kelly's last mile with him to help him forget about the suffering.

Our last legs were the dreaded 8 miles. I was fortunate to get to run the 8 miles in 40 degree weather, uphill in the Snake River Canyon, in a headwind on 1 1/2 hours of sleep. I thought for sure I would die. I suprised myself by turning it in at 75 minutes. I can officially say that I am currently in the best shape of my life. But wait untill next year...the work for 7 minute miles consistently starts NOW. (Ok...it starts Wednseday when I'm fully recovered.) I'm doing great today considering.... just a tad sore. But my toes are black from blistering and I may or may not lose a couple of toenails within the next day or two. Sounds Crazy? It is....and entirely worth it.

Kelly is impressive. He's probably gone running 3 times in the last 2 years and average about 3 miles on those runs. How any person can just bust out a relay with zero training effort....I'm pretty jealous. Talk about the potential to be a kick butt athlete! Hopefully we can talk him into it again next year. After leg two he climbed into the truck and said, "Next time I get to pick the family activity." :-) please please please pick the relay!

Tre' & Savannah: Est 8/6/10

Weddings are a happy day...beyond words. So I won't ruin it with my ramblings. We are so excited about these two...a match made in heaven for sure. Welcome to the wonderful life of marriage. We love you!

Olah Amigos

That's just about the extent of my Spanish. Aside from the "Donde esta el bano?" which is crucial to any trip to Mexico. We returned safely from our wonderful Mexican Vacation. It proved to be somewhat less eventful than our first go around but the mystery still remains the same, "Where the heck is Tulum?" The ruins still managed to evade us. The good news is this time we didn't get lost in not so tourist friendly areas trying to find them. The bad news is that we were in no health condition to even begin our quest.
We did however, manage to sneak our "weapon" through customs. Here's a little blurb of our conversation as we are hoping we don't get into trouble for it.
"Your backpack"
"Huh"
"You're still wearing your backpack"
"My what?"
"You didn't put your backpack through the xray thing"
"Uhh...OH! Should I..."
"Nope! Just keep on moving"
Yup...somehow we only got the half search at customs.

We did manage to venture over to Cozumel one day and enjoy the beaches. It was a nice cool off from the sticky humidity and heat and and that nasty helmet chin strap. Talk about the perfect ingredient to make a person irritable. We had a little too much fun in the sand and missed the ferry back that we were hoping for. On the way back we hit a nice rainstorm, Kelly enjoyed it a little more than the rest of the commuters, myself included. I got a tad sea sick with all of the rocking.

Just like always, we cut it close. We docked up at Playa Del Carmen at 4:45. Our bus waiting clear across town to take us back to Puerto Adventuras was scheduled to leave at 5:00 on the dot. We learned something in that exhausting 15 minute full force sprint in the rain. 1- you don't get heckled to buy junk if you run full speed ahead with a purpose. 2- running through crowded streets is as cool as it looks in the movies. 3- I'm a much better runner than Kelly. :) As we drug ourselves onto the bus just in the nick of time we collapsed into our seats. Me with a big grin on my face, Kelly saying "never make me run again".
And we never ran again. We stayed on the beach. Sunburned ourselves and swam. It was a gloriously relaxing, lazy and wonderfully gluttonous vacation. I'm ready for more!

We Found It!

Summer! It feels like its finally here. Of course we've had the heat for some time now. But I mean the summer feel. Its just not the same when you aren't in grade school anymore and you have all summer to swim and play. As grown ups its hard to find your break when you still work the 8-5 and have your spare time tied up in the rest of life. We finally got moved and LOVE our new place. This weekend we settled into some good old fashioned summer fun. I ran my first race on Saturday. A 15K, and totally surprised myself by coming in at 1:28:00. Later we went to the cruise in and the parade.

(Look! I'm even enjoying myself!......this is before the ridiculous hill waiting for me ahead.)

Monday we enjoyed the simple things in life and drove up to Willard Peak, rode our bikes around, roasted hot dogs, and kicked back and enjoyed the view. I love the mountains. There's something about taking a gorgeous drive that makes you so happy and content with life. It's good for your heart and soul.

Anticipation...

So far this summer (if you can call it that when it rains every day) has been a million things and nothing all at the same time. We have a million things to prepare for that make us feel busy...but mostly we are forced to wait around and be impatient. July...will be the month of chaos. And for June...we're just crazy trying to fit July in.

Its off to Las Vegas this weekend for Emma Jo's dance recital. I can't wait to see her dance. Its also Steph's Birthday tomorrow...HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPH! Thank you for being so good to me. You're a better sister than I could ever ask for!

And as for bittersweet July, we will be moving! not far, but to a place with more room. I can't imagine what it will be like to have our table out of the living room! And as if moving isn't enough, we've also got a 15k race, a 5k race, A wedding (That would be my dad. I'm so happy for him! And we all just adore Julie) the search to buy a new vehicle (Excruciating) and a week long vacation (Which I'm sure will be much needed by the time this month is over!) and then first of August one more wedding! Where does one find the time? Life is a medley of packing, running, more packing, running, unpacking...."Found it!"...repacking, and running.

I think once we've survived it we will have a photo montage of the good the bad and the ugly. :)

Nonsense, Mostly

I'm the worst blogger ever. And since my vacation isn't coming any faster I suppose I could ramble for a while. Although I really don't care about anything but those beaches of Mexico calling my name. :) I've been running A LOT (Thanks a million times over Steph for getting me into it) and I love it. And I think (knock on wood) that I've once again kicked the soda habit entirely. Now if I could kick a few more habits. Kelly has been working out of town for the past two weeks and I must say...anyone who thinks getting married makes you gain weight, you don't know what you're talking about. Being alone destroys any and every effort made to be "good". I litterally ate an entire plate of cookies for dinner one night while reading a book (ask Ted, he was totally miffed that I didn't share haha). Were the cookies totally worth it? Probably. =)
We are also playing the moving game again. Its never fun...but its also a wonderful excuse to dejunk my entire house. I LOVE to dejunk. I hope the DI is ready for the truckload I'm about to bring their way.

Paradise Awaits

Some beach
Somewhere
There's a big umbrella casting shade over an empty chair
Palm trees are growin' and a warm breeze is blowing
I picture myself right there
On Some beach, somewhere

I literally sing this song over and over in my head day in and day out. :)

Montage

Ok...catch up is going to be what little photo documentation I have in the form of a montage. Mostly crafting. I was obsessed for the 3 nice days of weather we had. Then things slowed back down. Until.....yes, thats where we came home to find that our house caught on fire. Luckily it wasn't serious. There was some damage to the power llines downt he street and the surge cause amost all of our electronics, TV, steros, the beloved massage chair, to all go out. Regardless of whether or not they were on a power surge. Luckily my candle warmer survived it! :) And because of how our luck rolls...it wasn't too much longer that we're driving down the road minding our own business and the wheel on our truck falls off. We both sat and stared as we watched it bounce down the hill and into the trees. Shortly thereafter all we could do was laugh. So we figured that lady luck has to be coming our way soon right? Well, we had a blast at the supercross and this summer we are heading off to re-explore mexico this summer. I practially have my bags packed two months early. So as a warning...don't expect to hear much from us until we return!