8.5 weeks and counting...

31 Weeks: Yeah I'm all belly :)

New Pregnancy Observations:

1. Heartburn: Sweet Mercy. Its brought me to tears at times. I'm carrying really high and so I guess that causes the heartburn to be worse and more frequent. The doctor suggested I use Zantac instead of Tums so we'll see how that goes

2. Them - "You're about ready to have that baby aren't you?"
Me - "Nope I still have about 2 months"
Them - "Oh wow...hang in there"
Enough said.

3. Belly Acrobatics: In the last few weeks he's gotten big enough that I can identify body parts as they roll across my belly. It's not so much short kicks any more but short spells of rolling, pushing, stretching, etc. Its been really fun to watch and feel. Sometimes it makes me laugh out loud to see a foot protrude as he stretches his legs or to watch him roll and then roll again trying to find a comfy position.

4. Swelling: My feet and legs get huge if I spend all day on them or wear tight shoes. Its kind of fun to press my fingers in and watch the dents stay. By fun I mean gross. :)

5. New Kind of Excitement: We're getting so close and that has brought on a new kind of excitement. We get to meet our sweet little boy in just 8.5 weeks. We get to become Mommy and Daddy. I cant wait to hold him and smell his sweet head and cover him in kisses and loves. This whole thing is so incredible!

mmm...Steak!

A year and a half ago while Dave and I were in San Diego we accidentally had dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House. I say accidentally because we had no idea what we were getting into when we walked into the restaurant to eat.

We were visiting some old battleship right on the pier when we got hungry. Across the street we saw Ruths Chris steak house. Dave said he had heard of it, and that it was supposed to be way good. We were thinking it would be something like Outback or Ruby River both in quality and cost. We were wrong.

As we were being seated at our table we looked around and realized we were quite under dressed in our t-shirts, flip flops and shorts. Hmmm...we thought, maybe this place is nicer than we realized. Then the waiter handed us the menus. Both of us were in shock as the price for just a steak was anywhere from $30-$80! That didn't include sides which were served family style. We thought very seriously about just getting up and leaving but we were too embarrassed. We ordered the two smallest steaks on the menu with two sides. I wasn't sure I had an appetite left after doing the math in my head of how much this single meal would cost.

But then they brought out the food and after I took my fist bite I didn't think a thing more about the cost. It was the most amazing steak I'd ever had in my life. They cook the steak in an 1800 degree oven and then bring them out to you on a 500 degree plate where they season it with butter, salt and pepper. Thats it! Steak sauce on this steak would be a tragedy. The sides were excellent too. To top it off they brought us a free creme brulee for dessert. This was one of the best meals I'd ever had, in fact I think I'd choose it for my last meal.

Ever since San Diego we'd been dying to go back so for Valentines day we decided not to get anything for each other but to save up for another incredible meal at Ruth's Chris. It was every bit as good as we remember it!











I also have to mention the beautiful flowers Dave got me. I'm so spoiled!!! Tulips are my favorite flower. He managed to get me an incredible bouquet of 30 red, pink, and white tulips!

Madelyn's Blessing

Some pictures from our trip last weekend to my sister's where they blessed their little girl Madelyn. We had a blast!

Frozen Hog

So Ben and I tackled the Frozen Hog bike race on February 2nd. I've wanted to do it for years and Ben needed to try out his new mountain bike, so what better way to do that than a 7 mile bike race in the snow?

This year was particularly tough, the website says, "This year the trail featured a longer loop, more twists and turns, and more climbing. Sport riders faced their longest and toughest Hog, in a year when conditions conspired to make things even tougher." You can read on the site that the first loop wasn't that bad, but the second one got all churned up from all the riders and most of us walked probably 75% of it. Last year's winner came in in 32 minutes with the slowest time being 1:23. This year the winner came in at 1:03, Ben and I came in at just over 2 hours.

For a sweet shot of Ben biting it hard face first into the snow, watch this video at 1:03.

Megan and Ella came and watched too. It was fun to have them there and Ella was excited to get out and play in the snow.


In the end it was ton of fun, not too bad of a race. I'm sure we'll do it again next year, but since I talked Ben into doing this one with me he's making me do the Bear Lake Classic road race (52 miles) with him in May. It shouldn't be too bad as long as I can fit into the tight clothes.