Just one more thing....

IF ANY OF YOU VOTE FOR A BOY ONE MORE TIME YOU'RE GONNA GET IT!

JK I'm not being serious. But I have been WAITING for that vote to even out!

Only a few more weeks. Hold out!

I have been feeling the bebe move quite a bit now. It feels like....popcorn popping. Best description I can give you.

Go popcorn, Go!

4 Day weekend

What a great weekend!!! We had so much fun doing nothing, sleeping in, doing homework here and there, and watching movies.

Our BFF's Ashley and Scott were out of town over the weekend so we had the opportunity to babysit their ferrets. We went over a few times and played with them. It was fun! No pics unfortunately but they are sweeties.

On Friday night we hung out with our other BFF's Christina and Josh. We played croquet and boccie ball. Hilarious! We had such a good time! It was a beautiful night and it was perfect for some night games. Afterwards, we went back to our place and played Ticket to Ride, the game. It is a game of strategery. I'm not too good at it yet but I love playing!

Saturday, Ryan and I ventured to Idaho Falls to sign up for a Sam's Club membership. And since we are college students it was only $25 for the year to have a membership! I was way excited. I'm definitely thinking this will be a good thing long term because of the many diapers and wipes and formula that we will be buying. So THANK YOU Sam's Club for your good deals and good hot dogs and churros. Growing up, my family always had a Costco membership and Sam's Club is just a mirror image of Costco. Even the hot dogs are as good there....yum!

Yesterday for Memorial Day, we slept in, worked on some homework and then started grilling up some burgers for a late lunch/early dinner. YUM I love burgers. We got a Weber Grill for the wedding and so we busted that baby out to do some grilling. Yummy burgers!!!

Yes they were THAT good!!

Hope you all had a fun day off from work/school and were able to spend time with family or friends! Memorial day is a great reminder of those in the Military who have served and died for our freedom and for those men and women who currently serve.

The Quilter

My mother is a VERY talented quilter (quiltess? I dunno). But she taught herself how to quilt years ago and she can't stop. Our house is a bit Amish-like because she quilts for every season, every holiday, and for every room. So. She is awesome. I wish I had her patience and time to create these beauties!

She made me this apron for Christmas and I finally busted it out the other night while making Spaghetti.

Thanks, Mom! And I can't wait for our baby quilt!!! Hooray!

Just a small reminder

"Hope ya know, we had a hard time"

An inspiring message from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

(if I knew how to make it the actual video I would....but take a second to watch it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz41YxNiHEg

o I love her

I have been running into my dear old friend Sarah Usher more than normal lately. She is so adorable and beautiful and her teeth are so pearly white. She must use Crest White Strips. We are both in the same situation on campus: ya we started school in 2004. Ya we aren't done yet. So what!??? So what if all our friends are graduated!!! We both do not have any friends (minus my hubby) on campus so seeing each other is like a glorious moment of gossip, laughing, and smiling.

She said this to me today:

Sarah: I can't believe you are almost 4 1/2 months prego.
Me: oh yes I can. I'm ready to be done.
Sarah: But you don't LOOK prego.
Me: Really? Do I just look chubby?
Sarah: (laughing) Noooo you just look like a normal girl.

So there you have it. I definitely am not confident to post belly pics because my "normal" girl tummy does not:
A. have shape
or
B. attractive by any means.

My bff Jessie, who is one month EXACTLY ahead of me (kind of weird how we worked that one out) but she said she is tired of not looking prego! I want people to look at me and know why I am still pale (sun and prego do not mesh), why I drink H2O 24/7, why I pee 8 times while at campus, why I may look like I'm about to puke, or that I want people to be extra nice to me because my emotional radar is high and I cry at just about anything. SO there you have it. I said it.

I want to LOOK like I can be excused from EVERYTHING. "Oh....she's pregnant."- with an understanding face and head nod. DUH!

Name Deciding

For Family Home Evening yesterday, Ryan and I decided we would do something fun. Since our FHE record is like...we've only held it a few times since we got married...I thought anything would be better than not doing anything at all! I heard of a good way to decide on baby names. Instead of battling it out and being like, "ew no way I hate that" or "ew no way I dated a guy named blah blah and no way". Each person writes down 10 boy names and 10 girl names and then you switch...Not saying anything. No word spoken when reading the other persons list. And then you rank your top 5 names of boys and girls.

Let me tell you. It was pretty hilarious. We were both on babynames.com and we both found some pretty interesting names.

Even though we are finding out the sex of the baby in a few weeks we are not disclosing any names. At least that will be the surprise, right? We are really excited for our number ONE boy name pick. We like the idea of using family names for middle names because my name has absolutely no significance except it sounds fluid and beautiful.....just kidding....so for our boy name we are using my maiden name, Steele, as his middle name. Pretty cool.

I will say that one of the boy names we didn't pick was Baker and one of the girls names was Keira. Curious now??

mi madre

I love my Mom. She is such a wonderful person. I am so grateful for her and the constant love she has shown me throughout my life. I am impressed by her strength and devotion to the gospel, to her family, and especially my Dad. The love I have for my Mom is hard to express by words because my heart is so full I cannot find the words that fit it perfectly. I love you, Mom.

Now, Ryan is the best husband ever. He decided, by himself, to get me something for Mother's Day seeing as though I am a soon to be mommy this year. So, he came home yesterday with a bouquet of flowers, a beautiful card, and a Willow Tree figurine entitled "Angel's Embrace."

I have the most wonderful husband.

something yummy

We made the most awesome dinner this week. All inspired by RYAN.

I'll just include the pics.

Portabello Mushroom Burgers

Ryan sauteed the portabello mushrooms while I chopped up:

avocado (duh)

tomato

red peppers

we melted swiss cheese and drizzled balsamic vinegar on the buns.

HOLY YUMMY.

My Favorite Things

Inspired by my bff, Kristine, to write down a few of my current favorite things, here is a list of just a few things that I think about daily.

Top Ramen. I know, disgusting right? But lately, it taste SO good. I can't even explain to you. I'm blaming it on the pregnancy appetite because usually I think Ramen is the grossest thing ever and the worst thing ever for your body! Hello SODIUM! Just give me 5 more months of Ramen and I'll quit!

Excedrin Migraine. I think calling it a "favorite" is an understatement. Excedrin Migraine has been the ONLY thing that has keep me alive during my bad headache days. It has saved my life.

My Mom gave me this when I was in NC. She said, "Obviously I don't need any tanning help," as I look at her brown body after she was in Myrtle Beach for a week. Hello beautiful skin and perfect sun glow. It applies beautifully and does not turn orange.

Too expensive now because they are new for summer, but how wonderful and comfy do these pants look!?? Gap Maternity is so wonderful. I can't get enough! I love the fresh white loungy pant look and I just want to slip those on and never take them off.

I am really feeling like this 5 inch baby inside me is a girl. You know that deep down feeling that you know you're absolutely 99% right? Well, I have that feeling. So I've been looking at all the cute girl things I could definitely NOT afford, but hey, it's fun to look right? I am definitely into the bright green/lime color and the pinks. How adorable and so beautiful!

Last but definitely not forgotten....POPSICLES. My fave, my savior, my gem. End of story.

What are your favorite things??

The new Mr and Mrs Briggs

Ryan and I flew home this past weekend to attend Stu and Julie's wedding in NC! Stu is Ryan's older brother and Julie is the most awesome girl ever. They have known each other for a long time. They dated a bit before Stu left on his mission and then when he got home the love was alive and they have been together ever since. We have been looking forward to this trip since they got engaged last year. We have lived through such a nasty cold winter here in Idaho so it was the best treat EVER to go to NC for a few days and soak in the humidity and sun rays. We were greeted by Ryan's parents and sister, Hayley in the Charlotte airport and they took us to my parents house where Ryan and I were staying. The night before we flew out we stayed over night at my old roomies, Miss Katie Denkers house. What a delight! It was so much fun to see her. It was so much fun, Katie and I stayed up until 3 am and Ryan and I have to leave at 5 am for the airport. hahaha so lets just say when we got to my parents house on Thursday I was ready for BED. Stu had his Bachelor party Thursday night and so Ryan left to meet Stu and Larry, their papa, my Father-in-law to eat sushi all night. I fell asleep at 8pm and didn't wake up until 9am the next morning. hahahaha o the Joys of Pregnancy! Inside the room we were staying in, my Mom had bought us a few gifts to celebrate the babe. She got me maternity shorts...how glorious. I slipped those babies on 5 seconds after I saw them and wore them every second of everyday while we were in NC. And she got me the CUTEST prego summer dress. It looks like a big blue tent right now, but in a couple months I will definitely fill it out and be super cute :-) AND she got both of us a baby bjorn!

Ryan said that it is ESSENTIAL for every dad to have a baby bjorn. He put it on and looked so proud. I can't wait to put our little bebe in it!

My parents were in Myrtle Beach all week and they were coming back home Saturday afternoon. We were dying to see Sophie. But on Friday we spent the morning doing some homework, lounging around, and then around lunch time we met up with Ryan's family at the Mall to go eat some lunch. I bought a few maternity tops because I am not fitting into anything comfortably. I found the CUTEST dress for $11.99 Trust me, I will post pics. No worries. Friday night, Julie's family was hosting a family Cook Out. It was a blast to meet the rest of her family and some of her friends. We just ate and laughed and told funny stories about Stu and Julie.

Then on Saturday, we had to drive down to the Columbia, SC temple and it took us exactly 90 minutes to get there. The Sealing was absolutely wonderful. Julie was glowing. So so so beautiful. It reminded Ryan and I of the covenants we had made almost a YEAR ago (can you believe it!?) and we rededicated ourselves to have a more Christ centered marriage. After the sealing we took some pictures and then headed back Charlotte.

Soooo happy!!!!

Out of the temple. Her dress....was GORGEOUS!

Mama Briggs and her girls!

Ryan and I

We got back to my parents house and had 30 minutes to take a ride on my parents new boat. We had the BEST greeting from Sophie. That girl cried and cried for like 15 minutes after seeing us walk through the door. I was so excited! So we jumped on the boat and took a cruise around the lake. It was HEAVEN. Absolutely Heavenly. I am such a poop and I didn't bring my camera....but just imagine my mom and I lounging on the front end of the boat with the wind in our faces. Got back into our reception clothes and raced to the place where the reception was held. It was in this beautiful old hotel. Good food and good company. Can't beat that. It was so fun to see some old friends and hang with Ryan's family.

The rest of the weekend we just hung out with my parents and relaxed! We flew out on Monday morning and got back to Rexburg Monday night. It was a long day traveling, but we are happy to be back.

I had a doctor's apt today! I finally got to hear the baby's heart beat! I was SOO excited. The doc said the heart beat sounded strong and that the baby was very active! I have my next ultrasound in 8 weeks where we will find out the sex of the baby. Ryan and I were not wanting to find out the sex of the baby, but after hearing the heart beat....I was like, I will definitely want to know when I see that baby on the ultrasound. SO there ya go. We wimped out. Maybe the next baby will be a secret. When I first told my mom we wanted it to be a secret she was like, "What about the baby quilt I'm sewing?" hahaha love her. But the baby is the size of an orange now and I should be feeling the "fluttering" baby moves in my belly! Exciting!