Race pics! And info you may or may not care about. : )

Here are a few pics of the Ragnar weekend. Enjoy!

Me and Melissa getting ready to leave my house. She is still finishing her oatmeal. :)

Fern (Melissa's SIL), Melissa and Me!

Van1!! Amy, Kasey, Mindi, Me, Fern, Melissa at the starting line.

Can you see me? Way back there? Me either. But I am back there somewhere. I think this is about 15 seconds to starting!

Oh yeah, look how fast I am running! Ha! Yeah right. I am barely moving. My doc told me to use a Camelback (sp?) to make sure I stayed hydrated. I drank lots of water but this in turn made me have to pee SO bad!! And it made me hot to have that on my back. Oh well. Priorities. And baby is number 1.

Don't we look bright and chipper for only having slept 3 hours? This is in Oakley I believe. Mindi started her last leg from here.

This one is out of order but here we are (minus Amy, she was running the nasty leg from Avon) halfway through Avon pass. Kasey was the lucky one who got to finish the downhill decent into Liberty. What tough women!

I think I was too tired to worry about taking pics after this point. I am kind of sad now but oh well. Maybe some of the other girls got some. Yeah for the memories of Ragnar!

On a different subject. I am 15 weeks tomorrow! I went to the doc today because my ears and sinuses have been buggin me. It was totally worth the appointment because they checked the heartrate again without me asking! (I have been a little worried since the race. But I am a worrier!) Everything was great. 4 1/2 weeks til we find out what it is. I can make it! So far so good. I really cannot complain at all about this pregnancy. When I went in at 14 weeks I had gained a little over 4 pounds and the docotor I saw (mine is on maternity leave. ha ha) said that was "a little excessive". Oops! Everything I read online said I was doing good so I don't really know. So I will have to be more careful I guess. But when I went in today, I think I was about a 1/2 pound less. I will take it! Who cares that it is probably because I hadn't eaten breakfast yet? Not me! :)

Quick Question!

Okay. Thanks for all of the help!! One more quick question, I found a great deal on Huggies Pure and Natural. Anyone know anything about these?? Let me know as soon as you can so I can decide if I should snag them while I can. Seriously thanks so much for your input so far!!

Diapers

I need some advice. We have slowly started buying diapers so we can have a good supply by the time December comes. I am needing your input on approximately how many of each size (mainly the smaller sizes) we should accumulate. I know I should not get too many newborn sizes. I know it depends on the size of the baby and how fast they gain weight but I just want a ball park idea. So if you could comment and tell me your thoughts on qtys I would sure appreciate it!! Mainly the smaller sizes (size newborn, 1 or 1-2, and 2). Also, feel free to tell me brands you loved, hated, etc. Or maybe you used cloth diapers? This seems to be the new thing but I am not sure if I (and especially Eric!!!) can handle it. Ha!! Thanks for your help!!

I did it!!!!!

Yup! I survived the Ragnar Relay. They should give out stickers that say THAT! Ha. It really was a lot of fun. Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of work, little sleep and sore muscles but worth it. I felt pretty proud of myself and our team! If you asked me on Saturday if I would do it again, I would have said that there was no way. But now I am thinking that I would like to do it again. Probably not next year since I want to actually train for quite a while and from what I hear, it is not too fun to pump along the way, but maybe the next year. I am definitely glad I did it this time. I have some pics but they will come later. Now I will show you the legs that I did.....

This was the 1st one I did. It was technically supposed to be Mindi's but she was nice enough to switch with me. This one was a little shorter and easier then my original 1st one. And it was in the morning so I didn't have to worry as much about getting dehydrated in the heat. Thanks Mindi!! I made the mistake of starting our fast like the other runners. This wore me out almost instantly! Ha! So I took it easy for the rest of the 5 miles and switched between jogging and speed walking. Most everyone was really nice as they passed but one jerk ran past and said "Maybe next year, right?" Oh that got me fired up. What a punk. Oh well! It went right past my house so when I got there, Eric cam out and finished it with me. :) I loved it and wished he could tag along on all of them!

This was my 2nd leg. I think I started at about 10ish pm. It went through a neighborhood and was pretty nice. I was pretty tired (mentally and physically) and my emotions were very close to the surface. :) As I went past this one house, there was a little boy at the end of his driveway sitting on his bike and as I past he encouraged me by saying "Come on, you can do it. You are almost there. Good job!" It was so cute and I seriously had to focus to not burst into tears right there. Ha! I felt like I took forever but at least I got done!

This was my last leg. Yes!!! It was pretty nice when I started out. It was mostly downhill (like WAY downhill!) which was good and bad. My shins were killing me and going downhill was harder on them. I just wanted to get done so I jogged the most on this one. It started to sprinkle, which felt nice, but then it started to get a little heavier. Still not too bad but once I hit my "One Mile to Go" it started raining harder and the wind was blowing and pelting me with the rain. I was so tired but kept pushing myself knowing when I finished this one, I was done. DONE!! And I can't complain because most all of us got rained on and some got rained on much worse!

It really was a great experience. I got to spend lots of time with one of my bestest buddies from high school that I hardly see anymore. We didn't sleep much (3 hours to be exact from 2:45 am-5:45 am), used WAY to many port-a-potties, ate too many bananas and carbs, took a few baby wipe "baths", had to get our car jumped along the way, (thank goodness it was only the battery!), met some nice furry friends while eating lunch, did something I have never done before and hope to never have to do it again, (what happens at Ragnar, stays at Ragnar. Ha!). Made a lot of great memories and got some good exercise.

Fun and Fitness. Oh yeah, and we always had the "Eye of the tiger!!!"

My New BFF

Now of course Eric is still number one but this baby is coming in at a very close 2nd.

Let me explain. I have had a headache, almost solid, for almost 4 weeks now. I am mostly used to it. You know, as long as it stays faint. But every couple days, it likes to make its presence more known. And since the days of Excedrin are long gone, and Tylenol doesn't quite cut it, this delicious drink has been a HUGE lifesaver. Now don't you worry, I limit myself to like 4-5 cans a week depending on the need, and I did get approval (actually it was recommended!) from my doctor. :)

For some reason, only Diet Coke can take the edge off. I used to love Dr. Pepper but it does not even touch these headaches. So, sorry Dr. Pepper. There is a new drink in town. There is just something about the chemicals in Diet Coke that do the trick. And I am okay with it.

So whether this never ending headache is due to being pregnant or just my body being dumb, I don't really know. One thing I do know, is it better behave itself this weekend for my race. But I will stash a couple cans in the cooler just in case. :)

Some exciting news, (I will probably jinx myself!) it looks like the weather MIGHT hold up for me to go and practice my 1st leg tonight. I even rounded up some company to tag along with me. Cross your fingers!!!

Eric Update

School is still going great. He loves it there and is learning so much. He has been studying his butt off too! Basically all he does is eat, sleep, study. ha ha. Even when he is home, he has so much he has to read and study. We have not seen much of our friends because of all his studying but is paying off so far!

Today he had to go in for his 6 week evaluation. Yes, I said 6 weeks!! Crazy how fast it has gone by so far! You had to go in this morning and sign up so it was first come first served. He made it in bright and early at 5 am so he could be first on the list. Any guess on what he did for 3 hours until it was time to start the evaluations? You are so smart! STUDY!!! Well that and looked for job opportunities.

Basically what happens for these evaluations is you go in and meet with your instructors and tell them why you deserve what ever score you feel you deserve. I am not sure what the scale is but they told them all that most will get 4's, some will get 5's and they are thinking of maybe giving out a few 6's. (I guess they rarely do). So Eric went in and was very nervous and explained to them why he felt he deserved at least a 5. Apparently his nervousness should because when he finished one instructor looked at the other and said, "Did that make sense to you, because it sure didn't to me." ha ha The other guy said, "He must just be nervous." Eric assured them he was. Then they told him he had nothing to worry about. That they thought he was doing a fabulous job and they were giving him a.......................................... SIX!!!!!!! Way to go babe!!!!!

He deserves it. I cannot tell you how hard he is working and it is nice to know that it shows and that it is paying off. I am not surprised in the least though because he is such a hard worker at whatever he does. Here are some pics one of the other students took of him climbing.

Does it look like he is clear the crap up there????!!! Any guess??


60 freakin feet!
Holy cow. I would be, well let's be honest, you could never get me up there. But he loves it!

I am still not sure if he is coming home this weekend or not. I have a feeling he is going to surprise me though. It is 3:45 and I have not heard from him since about 11:30. This is unusual for a Friday. Hmmm...... I better not get my hopes up though just in case.

Air Show!

This last Saturday, Eric wanted to go to Hill Air Force Base to the air show. We took Marty and Kaden and Kambree with us. We didn't leave until about 12:30 and got there about 1:30. Let me just say that I am glad we didn't get there any sooner! It was a fun day but oh my heck, there were a million people!! (Maybe only 300,000 but still!!) We had to park a ways away and as we finally made it to the gates, Kaden heard all the soldiers saying "No pocket knives or weapons" and guess what he had brought in his pocket? So Eric was sweet enough to walk CLEAR back to the car to put his knife away. The good thing about that is Eric was able to move the car lots closer.

Here we are waiting for the show to start:

This umbrella was a life saver!!

We were told the Thunderbirds would start their show at about 3 so we hurried and got situated, went and got some (expensive) burgers and sat patiently. It was a mad house of people. And some very strange people I might add. Ha ha. I normally like to "people watch" but I was just irritated by all the idiots. :) I think it finally started about 4. Luckily it was not too hot and I had brought a cooler of water and treats to snack on which turned out to be a life saver with the 2 kids. (And for myself. I am not going to lie:)

Here are some pics of the main show:

My camera decided it hated me and the batteries started to die pretty quick so I had to ration my picture taking. I missed a ton of good shots!! It really was pretty cool to watch. I know I complained a lot in this post but I am glad we went. Now, I don't need to necessarily go again anytime in the next few years, but I am glad we made it this time. ha ha

"First" Weekend

Grrr.....this happened to me a while ago. Stupid font! Oh well.
Anyways, this was my first weekend with out Eric, and guess what?! I survived!! But I am for sure glad he will be home this weekend! We have now officially been apart for the longest amount of time in the 7 1/2 years of knowing eachother. I can honestly say this experience so far has already brought us so much closer.

I managed to stay pretty busy though. I went for a walk on Saturday morning, went to lunch with my fam, then me and my mom ran a bunch of errands. After a nap, she helped me put together these lovely flower pots! They are not anything super fabulous but they add some MUCH needed color to my yard and I like them!

Also aiding in the adding color department is this beautiful hanging basket! Eric took me to get this the last weekend he was home. Hopefully I can keep it alive. :)

Too bad this is what the rest of my yard looks like. ha ha. Eric will spray and weed eat the weeds this weekend. Maybe if we are lucky we will start a yard this fall. I am planning on next Spring though.......

I also was lucky enough to get a calling in our ward. :) I will be teaching the CTR 7 (6-7 year olds) in our Primary. Our president tells me they are the best class. She probably says that to everyone. Just kidding. I am very sad to not be able to go to Relief Society but hopefully we can have some fun in Primary. I was called an Army Sargent by a kid in my last Sunday School class though so it could be interesting........ (In my defense, he was a very hard 12 year old who didn't listen to anything you told him. The other kids really did like me. ha!)

Church was awesome on Sunday. Since it was the 5th Sunday, our Bishop taught in combined Relief Society and Preisthood. I really wish Eric could have been there. We are a newly created ward and so he is a new Bishop. Let me just tell you I can already tell he is going to be fabulous!! He is an amazing man and I feel so lucky that we get him as our Bishop. Mindi, you are one lucky girl, but I am sure you already knew that! :) He shared some pretty awesome stories with us and I am so thankful I was there! Hopefully we get to stick around this ward for a while.