Biking to Jenny's Lake

The weekend before we moved (two weeks ago) my family came over to Eastern Idaho for Father's Day from….. well, everywhere. The whole family was almost there,we were just missing Melissa & Ernie (we missed you guys!). It's always an adventure when we all get together, luckily all the men us sisters have married seem to handle us all pretty well.

On Saturday morning we got up early and caravanned over to the Tetons to bike from Moose Junction over to Jenny's Lake. Those of us who there weren't enough bikes for hiked around Jenny's Lake while we waited (and lets be honest…biking before I got pregnant was uncomfortable and I am sure that wasn't going to change with a 8 month pregnant belly, I'll just stick to my 5 mile runs).

 Yeah, they are mother and son.

 I don't even know what Collette & Justin are doing….needless to say we didn't really get a good picture of the whole group, haha.

Farewell, Rexburg

Three years ago Robert and I packed a truck full of our things and headed up to the great land of Idaho. Neither of us really knew what to expect; Robert had never gone to school at BYU-Idaho, and we were going to be starting a new life as a married couple. There were definitely days that I got pretty nervous (and I may or may not have cried), especially since we didn't have any family around and none of our friends were married or up at school with us. We made a goal to be able to look back on these years with fondness, and so we hopped right in with both feet and made the best of it!

Three years later we both can agree that Rexburg was the perfect place for us during those first three years of our marriage. We can only look back on our time here with fond memories and pure joy.

 It offered so many things that we already miss:

Family

Although, I think these two are going to miss each other the most.  

Friends

BYU-Idaho (the greatest University, ever)

The Great Outdoors

Yellowstone

Ashton-Tenonia Trail

R-Mountain

The Tetons

(photo credit goes to Natalie Purcell….thanks Nat :)

Every morning when I would drive Robert to work I would see this incredible view of the Tetons. On the day we moved, I was driving Robert to work and the sun was rising up over the mountains and it was the most beautiful view of the Tetons I had seen in the previous 3 years. We liked to think of it as a special goodbye from Idaho. 

Leaving Rexburg was probably one of the most difficult things I have had to do, saying lots of good byes and realizing that we are really moving on to a new stage in our lives and leaving everything behind in Rexburg. I know lots of people sigh in relief when they leave Rexburg, but for us it will always hold a very dear place in our hearts, especially since we got to live with our dear friends and family, Natalie and Mark for two months (best two months, ever!).

Here is to moving to Reno, having a baby, and starting graduate school! I am sure it will be just as good to us as Rexburg has been and we are looking forward to the adventures we will have here in Reno.

Farewell, Rexburg. Its been real. It's been fun. It's been real fun. Until next time.

A Rexburg Shower

This past Thursday, two of my wonderful friends here in Idaho, Holly and Camilla, threw me and the baby in my belly a shower! They made it a "shower" theme, and did such a good job with the decorations. Holly has a 6 week old baby, and she made those rain drops one handed. Now that is what I call impressive. It was even complete with a waffle bar….mmmm delicious. 

I had so many of my friends show up. During the past 2 1/2 years I have made wonderful friends living here, and it was so nice to have one last hurrah/girls night with them before we move {in FIVE days}. It was pretty much the perfect evening with friends. 

Did I mention that I also have a lot of pregnant friends? (And quite a few that just had babies). Well, I do and we all decided to take a lovely baby bump picture together. I am pretty sad that I won't get to see any of their cute babies in person. 

Thanks Holly and Camilla! It was a wonderful shower, and I am blessed to have such incredible people in my life. You guys are the best, and I will miss you. 

34 Weeks

Now that I am getting closer and closer to this little babe coming, I feel like the time is just rushing by. Just 6 short weeks till he gets here (hopefully), and 3 more weeks until I am considered full term. Although, it does seem like moons ago that we actually found out that we were expecting. 40 weeks is a really long time.  Now for some pregnancy updates!

Cravings/Aversions: Lately I am feeling much like I did in the first trimester  (btw, I never threw up in my first trimester). Sort of nauseous,big heavy meals don't sounds great, and only cold things sound appetizing (popsicles, juice, water, smoothies, string cheese). I really don't have any complaints though, its really not that bad. Just different!  

Books: I am still in the que for Hypnobirthing at the local library, which means I probably won't have time to read it before we move to Reno. I've realized lately that natural childbirth must be "coming back" full swing here in Rexburg, because every book on it at the library has a HUGE waiting list. Now that I am feeling more prepared for the actual labor part of this whole thing, I realized labor will inevitably lead to Robert and I becoming parents. I've read quite a few books on parenting so far (everything from attachment parenting to strict scheduling), but I decided to pick up another one that I had heard great things about, The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. I am LOVING it so far. I feel like its a happy medium between Babywise and The Happiest Baby on the Block. It just fits both mine and Robert's personalities pretty well. 

Exercise: Our little boy completed his second race last saturday (the first was the Thanksgiving Day 5K when I was about 6 1/2 weeks) at the Temple 2 Temple Relay. It was a success and a lot of fun…mostly because our team got 2nd place overall. Races are always more fun when you win :). My exercise regimen has stayed the same, which really surprises me to be honest. I thought I would have had to decrease my mileage or something by now, but I still feel great running 20-25 miles a week. Lifting is still a lot of fun and something I look forward to! Surprisingly both my squat and my clean weight went up, which I wasn't trying to do. I was taking the weight off the bars and I realized it was more than my usual weight. Boom baby, boom. 

PS- my doctor is totally cool with my workout routine still and says everything looks wonderful for both my body and the baby's. (I've had quite a few overly concerned people confront me about this). 

Excitement/Concerns: Now that our move is getting closer I am a little bit concerned that this baby will come before we are ready for him to come. Once we move we only have a little under 4 weeks to set up the nursery (we luckily have a crib), get nursery furniture, get the strollers and carseat. I'd be okay with him coming like a week early, but if he comes any earlier I would probably have a panic attack while I was in labor. I also am having a baby shower this week with my wonderful friends here in Rexburg. 

Baby: Baby boy is just over 4 lbs and between 16-19 inches long. Most will grow about another inch before they are born-within the next week- and focus the rest of their energy gaining weight, roughly 3-4 more lbs before they are born!

Temple to Temple Relay + A coed Baby BBQ

Last Saturday was an eventful Saturday for Robert and I. We started off our morning with a race, hosted by BYU-Idaho. It was the Temple to Temple Relay, starting at the Rexburg temple and ending at the Idaho Falls temple (39 miles). My little sisters good friend Micah is an avid runner and asked Robert and I if we wanted to join his team. We were obviously very excited and jumped all over that. 

I was a little bit slower on my leg than I would have liked (8 min/mile), but I had to remind myself that I am 33 weeks pregnant. Robert totally ROCKED his 7 mile leg, averaging 6:20 min/mile. Considering when he runs it's usually with his much slower pregnant wife, and he didn't really train it was pretty impressive. My husband is awesome. 

Overall our team got 2nd place of the 78 teams! It was a lot of fun and I am glad that in baby boy's first race he placed. Whoot Whoot!!

Right after the race we hurried home so we could set up for the Baby BBQ Robert and I were hosting for our good friends, the Cowlings. They are expecting their little girl in September and decided to make their shower a casual BBQ so we could have one last big hurrah with all of our friends and help them celebrate this fun time in their lives. 

So it wasn't too girly, we decided to play one game of root beer chugging from a bottle. It was pretty hilarious.

It was a blast! We had delicious Italian Sodas and Robert was our grill master. Three cheers for wonderful friends and pregnancy. I am just sad that we will be gone when this little girl makes her presence. She is going to be pretty dang adorable.