Conference Weekend

I always look forward to General Conference weekend. I am always in need of a good spiritual feeding, and conference always fills me with a lot of hope, gratitude, and a push to be better. I will admit that I only got to actually listen to 2 of the sessions without major disruptions (a.k.a. my little princess Reese). I will be downloading all the talks on to my ipod this week so I can catch up on what I missed. I'm excited to continue to be fed!

Micah and Rachel invited us up to their condo in Park City Friday night. We had such a good time hanging out with them and learning the difference between monkeys and apes (thanks animal planet). Between sessions on Saturday we went to Main Street where there was a Viper convention. The whole street was lined on both sides with Vipers. We got some pizza and enjoyed watching the cars heat up their tires as pedestrians would scramble 1/2 a block in front of them (probably not the smartest place guys).
On Saturday afternoon we headed to my family's cabin near Sundance. My parents and Camla were up there and they fed us a delicious meal of pork chops bbq'd over the fire pit, baked potatoes, squash, and sliced garden tomatoes. Yu-hum!

Sunday we got in some more undisturbed conference while Reese napped and then headed for a nice family bike ride on Antelope Island. Don't worry, it was Sunday appropriate (for the most part).

Yep those muscles are the real deal :) Nice flexing Dan!


It didn't take much convincing to get Reese all out excited about playing in the lake. She started out walking with Eric holding hands....



To stripped down to her diaper, throwing mud....

To rolling around....


And becoming thoroughly relaxed and content laying on her belly in the water for a LONG time.


After we'd had enough of the 3 girls and guy who had decided to strip down to their skivies and swim while awkwardly talking about the fact that they were only in their underwear and that their material had become sheer with wetness - no really?(this is why our outing was only MOSTLY Sunday appropriate) and once I had decided Reese's skin had handled enough salt water we rinsed off the sand and headed back to the bikes.

It was a fantastic day! I even got double the amount of pushes on hills on the way to the beach (thanks to 2 guys that switched off pushing the trailer behind me) and Eric was a gentleman and switched me bikes for the way back since it was pretty much all up hill. Thanks babe!

What's going on....beware this is probably boring but for my memory book

1) I have a freakin' vericose vein near my left shin. I'm probably doomed to get them (genetics) but I was hoping with running and trying not to cross my legs all my life I might avoid them. I'm just really hoping it will disappear after I lose the baby weight because they are downright annoying. It is sore at certain times of the day and itches. What the....

2) Though 10 lbs lighter than my heaviest ever weight with Reese, I swear my skin is having a harder time stretching. I'm lathering on the Palmer's stretch mark cream multiple times a day trying to ward of the possiblities, we'll see if I can prevent them.

3) My midwife showed me how to feel where the baby's head is and how his body is positioned. It is weird to feel the hard round head (head down thank goodness) and the lumps and bumps that make up his shoulders, back, bum... It is still quite a surreal thing to think that there is an actual miniature human in there.

4) When I was pregnant with Reese time went SO slow. At least one time every day during school and work I'd write down a countdown with every day left and circle which days were holidays, vacations, weekends, dr appointments, etc to try to make it seem like her due date would be here soon. I swear it seemed like I was pregnant for 3 years. This time it has gone by so fast. I'm sure having Reese is the biggest reason for that, someone to take my mind off of myself. Today I wrote down one of those countdowns. I kind of can't believe it is so soon. My body is thankful that it is, but my mind is having a hard time grasping the thought.

5) I'm training a friend right now, twice a week. Can you believe it, me, training someone in my condition? Luckily she can look past my unfit appearance (thanks!) and the training is actually working out well. I can show her what to do for the most part and I love using what I've learned and putting it all together into a progressive program. I'm excited to get back in shape myself. Then, as long as I can juggle it with 2 kids and Eric's schedule, I will find more clients, you know, the kind that won't trust me unless I look like a trainer :)

6) We just got Eric a cruiser bike, and it is really cool. We've gone on rides 2 of the 3 days he has owned it. Once around downtown SLC and once on Antelope Island (more on that in another post with the pics). I like going on rides with him because when I get to a hill he will come up behind me and push on the handle of the bike trailer to take a ton of the weight off. SUCH a relief. It is such a different experience when compared to the mountain biking we've done together. It is so layed back so you can just chat the whole time and in case you don't know, he is an extremely enjoyable person to chat with.

Need an idea for dinner?

This is one of our new favorite meals. Ever since Mexico I've been craving the delicious fish tacos we had there. Well, with a little tweaking of a recipe I found, we found a close runner up.


The fixins - which you can prepare well ahead of time and keep in the fridge
1) Make some homemade Pico. I take the seeds out of my tomatoes first so the end product isn't runny and then dice up tomatoes, yellow onion, cilantro, and a bit of jalapeno. Then toss that all together with some fresh lime juice, salt, and pepper until I like the flavor.
2) Make simple guacamole. Mine is simply smashed avocados, lime juice, salt and pepper. Delish!
3) Shred some cabbage
4) Cut a few limes into wedges (approx a wedge per taco)

The fish
1) Chose your fish. I use tillapia because it is fairly inexpensive, yet tasty. I buy the frozen stuff and thaw out one fillet of fish per person eating. Thaw it simply by leaving it in it's pre-packaged plastic and sticking it in your sink with hot water. They thaw quick.
2) Once fish is thawed, cut into pieces, I like mine cut into fairly small pieces so that they can fit in the corn tortillas easily.

The Batter
1) Mix together about 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 2 Tbsp baking powder, and 1 tsp salt. You can change the proportions of these ingredients quite a lot and it will still work out just fine.
2) In a separate bowl mix together 1 egg and 8 oz of beer, apple beer (it's all I had once and it turned out delicious), o'douls, or something else with sugar and carbonation if you want to be creative.
3) Combine the flour and beer mixtures. You may need to add more flour or more beer depending on thickness of batter. You want it to be like pancake batter.

Frying the fish
1) Heat about 4 inches of canola or veggie oil in a heavy pot on your stove top. Keep the heat around medium or a notch above, you don't want it to get too hot so that it burns your batter, but it does need to be quite hot.
2) Rinse fish, dip in a bowl of plain flour, and then put into batter.
3) Once oil is ready, put battered pieces of fish into oil (depending on size of pot and amount of fish, you may have to do more than one batch of cooking), turn them every once in a while and cook until the batter is nicely browned (about 7 or 8 minutes). Remove the pieces of cooked fish and place on a plate covered in a paper towel to soak up some of the grease.

The tortillas
1) Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan on stove top (you can use some of the oil you fried your fish in if you want)
2) Place corn tortilla(s) in the oil and cook until slightly browned on one side, flip and brown the other side.
3) Remove from oil, place on a plate covered in a paper towel, and bend in half to make a taco shell shape.

ENJOY!
Assemble the tacos how you want. I find that usually 2 or 3 pieces of fish fit in each taco shell. Of course pico and avocado are typical taco condiments, however do try the cabbage, it really does add a good texture and flavor to the taco. Squeeze a lime over your fillings. Eric likes to add some tarter sauce to the top of his, I think it takes over the flavor too much so I leave it off.

Memories not to be forgotten

At least a year ago my dad went to some sort of training for work and met a guy who is Big Kenny's (from Big and Rich - one of my all time favorite country bands) childhood friend and now works with him (maybe is his manager or something). Big Kenny's friend found out that my dad is a HUGE fan and has invited him multiple times to different concerts. My dad was finally able to take him up on an offer because the concert was in SLC. Big Kenny's friend got backstage and the full works passes for my dad, mom, aubrey, me, and Eric. It was so much fun! They fed us Rubio's, which is delicious by the way, and then we got to go back stage and meet Big Kenny to get autographs, pictures, etc. Next was the concert and it didn't disappoint. He is a GREAT entertainer! And I love his music :) Plus, the crowd was also entertaining - a.k.a. drunk 50 year olds who were dancing around like they were hyper 13 year olds.
A couple months ago me and Aubrey decided to take our kids to Papa's office to visit him. Well he made the trip so fun that the kids probably think Papa's work is the most magical place on earth. He took them over to get lunch at the cougareat, then to the candy store to pick out a bag of candy each, then he took them on a tour of the police station. Next we visited his friend Arnie who gave each of the kids a HUGE teddy bear. When I was little we'd go visit Arnie and he'd give us each a penny, nickel, or dime and then tell us that our dad would go take us to the ice cream shop to get ice cream with the money :) Good trick!
Let's just say Reese is s HUGE fan of her papa. She LOVES his closet and always drags him in there, sits on the big blue chair, and waits for him to bring canisters of candy for her to pick out what she wants. She always picks the little mints - this girl is a mint addict (toothpaste, mints, gum, mint ice cream....)She's now learned that she can take a lot of mints at a time and stick them in her pocket so she has a stash for the next hour or so. Eric went on a bike relay from SLC to St. George with his cousins. Their transportation for those not riding was cousin Micah's bus. I was so excited to go until I learned that the A/C didn't work, no one else was bringing kids, and the weather was looking hot. I decided to stay with my parents because I was pretty sure me + reese + Massive amounts of heat - sleep = no one wanting us to ever join them on a trip again :) It was probably a good idea, although I was sad I missed out on hanging out with such good company. It ended up being quite a rainy weekend and I loved every bit of it. It felt so nice to be cool in the midst of summer.

Causey, Wheeler Farm, and a Big Girl

We went camping with my family a couple weekends ago at Causey Reservoir. The night was freezing cold, I stayed warm, Reese seemed to stay warm, but Eric was cold. Reese decided that as soon as the sun was peaking up (around 6 am) it was time to be up for the morning. Pretty much we were all exhausted still and once out of our sleeping bags, freezing. Reese definitely looks cold and exhausted in this pic.
We spent the day at the reservoir. We kayaked, some of the guys fished, and Eric snorkled around. The ladies and kiddos played in the mud and ate snacks all day. It was a lot of fun just chatting and relaxing. Reese was so happy to be out and playing in mud/dirt, so she didn't complain the entire day, it was relaxing. We had heard that the salmon were spawning up the river so we headed up there before dinner, but we didn't see any. Guess we were looking in the wrong place.


My good friend Terra came up with her girls last week to hang out. I was so grateful. I crave hanging out with Terra and always feel socially fulfilled afterwards. We need to do this MUCH more often. We took the girls to Wheeler Farm where we saw the animals and got rained on. Then Terra treated us to ice cream, yum!

For some reason I love this picture, just the kids (some in womb, some out). Terra is having a boy and is due just a few weeks after me. I'm thinking we'll need to have our husbands take the girls on a campout and Terra and I can relax with our new baby boys for a day. But let's be honest, men providing for their families aren't usually the first ones to have a lot of extra time, so we'll see if we get the chance. I finally got the camera semi-lined up and it started pouring. So it isn't the best or most well centered photo, but it'll have to do.
Cute girls!
After hanging out with Terra I was inspired to move Reese into a big girl bed before the baby comes. I was planning on doing the 2 crib thing. For now we just put a twin mattress on the floor. Once she gets used to that we will bump it up on a box spring and eventually move it onto the bed frame. We started her in it on Saturday. Her first run was for naptime. She cried off and on by her door for an hour then finally fell asleep. Sadly, when I went in to check on her 1 1/2 hours later, she was sleeping on her rug by the bed. That night she slept on the floor as well but slept through the night. On Sunday Eric put her down for bed and layed in there until she fell asleep. Since then she has been sleeping well IN the bed, rather than on her rug. It is weird to see her in the bed because she takes up like 1/8th of it. I thought it would make her seem older to me, but somehow it just makes me realize how tiny she is. Especially when she wakes up and calls my name and I open her door to find her standing next to the door with her blanket and binkie. Just miniature I tell you. I sure am proud of her though!

Loving September

We've been spending quite a bit of time outside, especially on the days it isn't so blasted hot. I know I should be LOVING the extreme heat, but being as pregnant (aka running 30 degrees warmer than everyone else) as I am, I haven't been loving the heat as much as normal. Eric usually makes comments on our ice box (bedroom) at nights, to which I just rollover my large and in charge belly that is lying on top of the covers and contemplate whether I'll be able to fall asleep if the temperature doesn't continue to drop.

Anyway, back to hanging out outside on the nice days. Reese loves playing with the bike and trailer, and I love when she pulls off a crooked smile :) Reese is very into manipulating things open, whether that is screwing lids on and off, using her teeth to pry things open, or trying to figure out how to use a combination lock.
I seriously can't get enough of this cute little body! I am almost tempted to start potty training her simply so she can wear little girl underwear and her pants will form so cute to an undiapered and tiny bum.

Today Reese hit me while I was putting her in the car. I explained that I don't hit her because it isn't nice, so she shouldn't hit mommy either. She got a pouty lip and started crying (she is a sensitive soul when it comes to getting in "trouble"). After the 1 1/2 minute drive home I got the groceries out of the car and then opened the door by her carseat. I asked, "are you ready to be nice?". She nodded her head and said, "nice". I asked, "can you say sorry?" To which she adorably responded, "sorry". I said, "can you give mommy a kiss?" She puckered her lips, like you see below, and when I was about a half inch from her face she unpuckered and turned her face away. I just had to laugh, that is so Reese. Never giving out those kisses freely, except to the pictures of Jesus around the house. I hope she keeps that trait late into her teenage years!

Hannah

Aubrey and Jeremy invited us to hang out at Jer's family's cabin 2 weekends ago. We had a LOT of fun!

In the picture below, I told Reese to let me see her teeth while she smiled. This is what I got :) It is the same mouth formation she makes when saying "juice", "shoes", or "teeth".

I love how Reese and my dad are smiling at each other in this picture. They are GREAT friends!









Reese wanted to ride on the 4 wheelers over and over. So we pretty much did just that.

On our way back to SLC we stopped at a little reservoir. Dan decided he wanted to jump into the COLD water.

Thanks Aubs and Jer for the fun weekend. It was a BLAST!

Stickers

I found some stickers in the dollar section at JoAnn's the other day while I was waiting my turn to get fabric cut for the baby bedding I'm making. (This is a daring venture for me!) I thought, "I LOVED stickers as a kid, I wonder how Reese would like them." So I bought a couple packs and she is a fan! When putting them on paper she puts most of them right on top of each other making a stack of stickers. And if they stick to her fingers for longer than just a couple of seconds she kind of goes into panic mode and starts hitting it on the paper trying to get it off her finger...haha.

Lipids

I'm guessing our baby must be starting to build his fat stores. Because I sure have an appetite for:
-chocolate chips
-sugar cookies
-buttercream frosting
-buttered toast
-whipped cream
And don't worry, I'm good at listening to what my body needs. For lunch I had buttered toast with my eggs, I just ate a handful of chocolate chips, about 1/2 a handful of sugar cookie dough, and my oven is warming up so I can cook my dough and decorate the cookies. I think I have my glucose screening at this week's checkup, hope I'll pass ;)