BRRRR!!!!

3 things that are making life grand right now:
1. I need to shower.
2. I need to shave.
3. Our water heater has been broken for 2 days (hence the desperate need of a shower)...and they wont be replacing it until tomorrow.

Just wanted everyone to know the special treat I am in for. Wish me luck, I am on my way to the shower right now, and must brave the freezing temperatures as my personal contribution to making this Earth a cleaner place for mankind to dwell.

Quick update:

I put on my game face and mentally prepared myself for the subzero temperatures.

I tried.

I failed.

I washed my hair (kinda) in the sink.

Sorry humanity... the shaved legs and pleasantly clean aromas will have to wait for another day. Don't worry, I will wear extra body spray tomorrow.

My pioneer ancestors would be SO PROUD!!!!

Bon Voyage

Dear second trimester,
We need to talk. This is the hardest letter I have ever had to write. The past three months have been amazing, but today I met someone new. You may have heard of it, the third trimester, or the Final Stretch as I like to call it. While it is hard to leave something so familiar and wonderful as you, I feel the need to explore this new relationship with 3rd trimester.

There is no denying you and I have had some good times together. You have brought me back to many fond experiences of my youth I had thought I would never see again. Through us I have been able to relive the growing pains (literal pains of physical growth) of childhood, not to mention revisiting the joy that can only be felt when one wets one's pants!

Together we took a familiar sojourn through the mood swings I previously thought reserved for my adolescent years.

We also caught precious glimpses into my future, mainly my amnesiac loss of memory as well as my awkward loss of bladder control.

I will never forget the many firsts we experienced together. The first full week I was able to fully enjoy my pregnancy and forgo the chronic company of my toilet. The premiere heartbeat of my child that I was able to hear. The first time finding out the child growing in my belly was a GIRL! Buying clothes for MY DAUGHTER!!! The initial feeling of my daughter kicking, and also wondering if she was actually an alien taking over my body as I watched my stomach contort and squirm into seemingly unnatural shapes.

The debut weight gain of my pregnancy (though we probably didn't have to go quite that overboard and gain 7 lbs in 3 weeks). My maiden voyage into a world of stretchy pants and parachute tops. The pioneer stretch mark.

As glorious as our 3 months together has been, it is time for us to see other people. Its not you its me. I think we would be better off just being friends.

I will never forget you, but it is time for me to move on, so I have to say good bye.
Fondly,
Lindsey


(probably should not show this bare belly shot, but how FUNNY is that belly button!)

IDAHO!!!!

Jared and I got to go to Idaho a couple of weeks ago and it was SOOO much fun. We went for Derek's homecoming from Paraguay. It was mainly a very relaxing vacation for us, but it was so nice to be home for awhile. I never thought I would get homesick thinking about Idaho, but I think because it is where Jared and I started our life together, I kind of think of it as home. While we were there we got to visit old friends. (Sidenote: I look huge in this picture. I am at an awkward stage where my normal clothes don't fit, but maternity clothes make me look like I am wearing a parachute). We went to Texas Roadhouse, yum yum, with some of Jared's best friends and their wives.





We also got to meet the pups. My father in law's dog had 10 puppies, but by the time we made it out there, these 2 were the only ones left. How CUTE are they.... I wanted one so bad, but lets be honest- apartment living is not ideal for a black lab.

Here is the Rexburg Temple. We didn't get to go in, but it was amazing to see it finished.


Here are some of the pictures from Derek's homecoming. I think Derek coming home made it even harder for Jared to leave...they became such good friends the last year we were in Rexburg. His "mission war cry" was Git R Done, so Matt and Suz were holding this sign when they picked him up at the airport.

Uncle Bear was a huge hit with the nieces and nephews. We met a niece (almost 10 months) and nephew (4 months) for the first time- and fell in LOVE!!!! All the kids call Jared Uncle Bear, so they have all been calling our baby Bear Cub. Abby was so cute: every night she would give me a hug and then kiss Bear Cub goodnight.

We did tons of other stuff that I didn't have pictures of. My mother and sisters in law took me shopping for baby clothes and we got tons of cute stuff. While we were doing that the guys took the kids fishing. We also got family pictures taken, but we didn't buy any of them so I can't post them, not to mention the SERIOUS pregnant face I was sporting that day! All in all, it was a really great trip and was so hard to come back to Connecticut. We don't know when we will be able to make it back out there and we will miss the family for sure-but it was really great to spend time with them.