That's What I'd Call a Successful Weekend

So, AJ and I decided to take a little vacation this past weekend. We had been talking about making a trip down to Salt Lake area to check out some of the baby stores we don't have around here, as well as Ikea.

AJ called and made reservations at Hotel Mathers (his sister's house) and we left Friday around 3ish. We hit up Ikea on our way down. They had some really decent cribs for good prices, but they weren't my dream crib, so we held off. Besides, we wanted to see what some of the other stores had. We did splurge on a lingionberry juice and a cinnamon roll though. We had to stop at Chadder's for a burger and fries for dinner too. We spent Friday night with AJ's sister Jewelia and her family. The first thing we had to do when we got there was go see their chickens. And the new chicken coop they were building; which, by the way, is finished now and looks just fabulous. We eventually made our way to American Fork and our hotel reservation. We watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy with Tavia and then went to bed.

We got up Saturday morning and went to breakfast at Chris and Jewelia's... it was delicious! They continued working on their new chicken coop while I... napped on the couch. I thought about going out and helping, and was even about to, but I started feeling kinda icky and that then led me to my little nap on the couch. I really am soo ready to not be pregnant anymore. Less than 100 days left! =]

After they finished what they could on the chicken coop (a run to Home Depot halted the progress) AJ and I went and hit the stores we had wanted to. Baby Depot inside Burlington Coat Factory had a gorgeous crib/changing table combo... but was waay out of our price range. We did find a cool portable crib that we wrote down in our memo pad for future reference. It was kinda cool and would definitely have been a space saver. We decided that we could probably get a full sized crib from Ikea for about the same price and we'd rather do that. It was still pretty neat though. We had lunch reservations at Tucano's.... oh my... soo delicious. And you just have to get some of the grilled pineapple every time it comes around. After we ate our guts to the incredibly full level, AJ and I went and found Babies R Us and we went and cashed in a raincheck we had at Shopko. We also went to Wal-Mart... the funny story here: when we walked in the store it was drizzling a little, but when we came back out it was raining fairly hard. Harder than I realized. We walked out the doors on the opposite end of the parking lot. I hadn't zipped up my jacket, just pulled it around me. By the time we got to the car, I had a big wet spot... all across my baby belly. And that was it! Apparently it stuck out more than everything else. It was kinda funny.

We went back to Chris and Jewelia's and the rain had stopped just long enough for them to finish the chicken coop. It turned out great. They moved the chickens from their box in the garage out to their new house. We hung out with them for a while and made our way back to Seth and Tavia's for the night.

We got up the next morning, and ate some scrumptious waffles for breakfast... Thanks Seth! Then we headed to church. I'd woken up with a super stiff back and Sacrament Meeting was about all I could handle. AJ took me back to Tavia and Seth's and I spent the next two hours with a hot rice bag on my back... and napping yet again. Seems like I do that a lot... We ate when Seth and Tavia got home and then hung out for a little while. Seth had to take a nap... he works nights. Tavia, AJ and I went over to Chris and Jewelia's for dinner. It was also very delicious... we ate fantasically this weekend. We played a few rounds of Rummikub (AJ and I even won one) and a couple rounds of Yahtzee (I also won one of those... not that I kept track or anything =] ). Seth came over for a while before he had to head into work. We all eventually left, Seth for work and AJ, Tavia and I for her house. AJ and I started a movie, but called it quits before we both fell asleep.

We got up Monday, finished some shopping, and AJ found a couple of Wii remotes he wanted to look at. We did that and then left and made our way back to home, sweet home.

So, what made this weekend so successful? Well, we came back with a crib, a walker, a swing, a pack 'n play (our Shopko raincheck purchase) and two more Wii remotes and nunchucks. Three of them were hand-me-downs, and the others we didn't pay full price for. We'd sure call that success. However, we did fail at one thing: we didn't take a single picture while we were down there. Sad face. Maybe I'll have to take some pictures of our fabulous finds...

Happy Birthday...

... to AJ! Yesterday my dear husband celebrated his 25th year of life. He got up early and saw his parents off (they spent the night on their way back home to Northern Idaho), went running and came home and showered. By then, I was ready to rejoin the land of the living. We ate breakfast and then played us some Wii. He kicked my tushie at golf, but then I got a little payback when we played tennis. We both did the fitness score rating: AJ is a fitness level of a 39 year old... and I'm 59! AJ consoled me with the idea that it really meant a pregnant 39 year old. But it was more a test of coordination... and neither one of us are real strong in that area (even when I'm not pregnant I'm pretty clumsy). It was still fun though. We had been talking about grilling some hamburgers for a few days and all the talk just made me want them even more. So, we finally decided to do that for dinner. We invited some friends over and had dinner together. It was pretty delicious. We hung out with our friends for a while, but Russ works nights... they left around 8pm so he could get a little sleep before he had to go to work. AJ and I had another Wii tournament. We took our fair share of wins and losses. And then drowned ourselves in fresh strawberries, vanilla ice cream and some amazing brownies. Thanks, Ashley, for the brownies! AJ didn't want me to make him a cake, he's trying to get his running time down and said we didn't need a whole cake sitting around... I had to agree there. We finally went to bed... and AJ said he had a great birthday.

AJ's "cake"... that I admittedly ate most of...

Sequence of AJ blowing out his candle...

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Baby Quilt

I finally finished the baby quilt I started last Friday night. The edges came out a little less than professional-looking, but it works and I'm ok with it. It doesn't look awful, but it's not as perfect as I might have hoped. In fact, AJ was going to rip the seam out until his dad talked him out of it. If it works, it's good enough. I need to wash it now, to make sure all the ties are in tight and to fluff the batting a little. It was quite the project (especially seeing as I had no idea what I was doing really, I just kinda made it up as I went), but I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Hopefully, the little bean will be too.

After I tied it, before I finished the edges.

All Done!

The Back.
We were a little worried that the back would be a weird color when
compared to the front, but it turned out alright.

We Did It...

It seems I've been slacking on keeping our blog updated. Usually our lives are so boring there isn't much to write about. Well, here goes:


So, we did it. We are now the proud, and somewhat sore, owners of a Nintendo Wii. AJ found one on Craigslist, complete with a few games, that was in our price range. So, for FHE on Monday we drove up to Idaho Falls and picked it up. We spent less in gas than we would've in a store on sales tax. The games weren't really ones we wanted, so we traded those in for store credit at at local game store. We've been playing the last few days and we both woke up a little sore today. But, it's been a lot of fun and we think it was worth it.

What a Weekend

Well, I guess our little story begins when Travis called and needed AJ's help to move a dishwasher. We went over there and did that. While AJ was in the midst of that, he got a phone call reminding him that he'd volunteered to help with security that night. The school district here has a night up at the university museum that kids 8-10(ish) can go and spend the night in the museum. This year they had a science theme. A physics professor did a demonstration of some cool science experiements and such. They then split into groups and went to different departments and learned about jobs and such. AJ was a little disappointed he got stuck in the Physician's Assistant group and not with the guys doing a laser presentation.

So, while AJ spent friday night at the museum guarding little kidlets, I was determined to get a good portion of my next project done: making a baby quilt. I found a quilt panel that I absolutely adore and some flannel to back it with. I ended up spending more on it than originally planned, but I am a lot happier with the way it's turning out than one that we found already prequilted at the store. I spent hours and hours bent over this quilt cutting the batting to fit, measuring out the ties and marking them and then actually tying it. All without quilting frames! Ahh. Needless to say, I was pretty sore the next day... and even more so the day after. So much I couldn't even get out of bed! Ah, but I convinced AJ he should rub my back to help with the soreness and stiffness. And it did. He's such a stud. There will be more to come on the quilt... but it's not finished yet.

So, it has finally started to warm up a little here (actually the last few days have been absolutely gorgeous, i'm just afraid to jinx it). We decided that the nice weather wasn't something we could pass up. We headed to the park, met some friends and played some disc golf. Well, they played and I walked the course with them. I'm awful at throwing a frisbee of any shape or size and with as sore as I was from being bent over that quilt the entire night before (it really was all night, I didn't go to bed til about 6am) I decided it would be better for all involved if I just observed. However, I was able to get some neat shots of AJ and his mad skills. =]

Here's to hoping the weather stays gorgeous!

Quick Update

So, yesterday we got 4 new fishies for our tank, an algae eater and 3 silver fish... i don't remember what they were called. They have black spots on them and these long, skinny "feeler" type things that come from their lower fins. The cool thing about these fish though, is that they breathe air. They have to surface every so often and suck in air. It's pretty wild.

We also went down to Grace for FHE. My dad was in Logan yesterday for work and we all met in Grace for dinner and FHE. It was good to see everyone again. The highlight of the night, besides seeing family of course: my aunt is visiting from Arizona... and she brought her Wii. We all took turns playing bowling after the FHE lesson. I'm not good at all in real life, and so wasn't expecting much. I didn't disappoint, but it was more enjoyable than real bowling. I didn't have to wear icky, smelly shoes... and the 8 oz Wii remote didn't tweak my wrist like a 10lb bowling ball does. =] AJ and I have been thinking about one... and last night I think they sold him on the idea. We'll have to see if we have money for one, but it would definitely be a lot of fun. And might be how I can lose all this baby weight after the wiggle worm is born. Sadly, I'll only have about a month of semi-decent weather after delivery and recovery to lose the excess weight and I be much more likely to do something like this as opposed to running outside or going to a gym. I'm not a graceful exerciser and so the 'privacy of my own home' has some appeal. We don't have a final word yet, but we'll keep you posted... hehehe.

We went to the doctor today... everything seems to be going well. I finally gained a little weight... about 5 lbs in the last two months. Which beats the weight loss I had last time. Little baby is getting bigger, as is the ever-expanding belly. I can't wait to be able to roll over in bed again. And stop bumping into things.

Anyways, that's a quick update.

Random Ramblings of the Bored

Welcome to my ramblings. This post doesn't really have any pertinent information in it. Mostly, I'm just bored and randomly mumbling whatever comes to mind. You have been warned, so don't feel bad if you actually do read all of this and then wonder what the point was... there really isn't one.

So, very little has happened lately. Other than the normal complaints of pregnancy, which is getting a little old and boring on some days, there's not much to be unhappy about. AJ has decided on a color for his bike... but I'm not gonna spill the beans just yet. In case he changes his mind... or it doesn't turn out like he hopes.

In order to stave off the baby boredom, I've come up with a few projects to entertain myself with. The only hang-up now is convincing myself to actually do them. Some of them I actually have started and a few I've actually completed. The curtains I made for the living room need a little tweaking. AJ isn't really excited about them... he thinks it makes our house feel like a dungeon. I like them because they make me feel like I can open the blinds and not have the entire neighborhood staring at me all day and night long. And if I want to watch a movie and not have a glare from the window on the TV screen, I just shut the curtains. They do what I wanted them to and I think they keep our lower level warmer than it used to be. We've got such awful drafts around our window and the back door. So, fixing those are my project this weekend during conference while AJ's at Drill. That and adjusting all of my clothes that don't fit. Hemming up my pants, mostly. Story of my life.

I've gone through my clothes and pulled out the ones that don't fit anymore... now I just have to find somewhere to store them until I can wear them again (hopefully... someday, maybe). I've also washed all of the baby's clothes that we have accumulated so far. I have to find somewhere to store them too until we actually start setting up his little domain. I think we've decided to keep him in our room for the first little while. It's just so convenient to have a guest room when people come visit. We're not quite ready to give that up and AJ has too much Army and computer stuff for us to move all that out of our other spare room. We'd have no where to put it. So, unless we put our baby in the hallway... or the bathroom? or worse yet, the linen closet?... looks like our room is it. For now anyway.

So, there you have it. I'm finally caught up on laundry. Most of it is folded and put away. There are a few things in the dryer still and a basket of little baby boy clothes that need attention, but all in all, not too bad. I made potato salad from scratch today. Not really hard, but I'd never done it before. It didn't turn out too bad, if I may say so myself. AJ ate it, so I guess I'm still earning my keep around here. There is a delicious strawberry dessert chilling in the fridge (at least I'm assuming it will be delicious). I'd call it a full day. =] Especially when you consider I slept funny on my neck so it's sore... and my back is killing me.

Oh, and I've planned a sunny vacation we'll probably never take. Complete with gas mileage calculations, hotel accommodations, and attractions. Like I said, it probably will never happen, but hey, it gave me something to focus on rather than wallowing in these pregnancy blues. It doesn't hurt to dream... as long as you can differentiate and accept reality. The sunshine sure would be nice though...