One Last Date.

I know, I know...just because we have a baby doesn't mean we will stop going on dates. Chris and I have had many conversations about how important is going to be to make time for us and we plan on taking full advantage of Nolan's many grandparents who can't wait to get some babysitting time in. That said, we decided to take a step out of our super-saving mode and splurge on a fun final date as a family of two over the weekend.

I came down with a really bad cold on Friday night, but we had both been looking forward to Saturday for weeks so I decided to suck it up. We spent Saturday morning at the grocery store, talking with the pharmacist to see what sort of medication I could buy that would take the edge off (I've been avoiding medication this entire pregnancy, but I literally felt like I was suffocating on phlegm.) We stocked up on drugs, tissues, and orange juice...then it was off to have some real fun!

We hopped in the car and headed to Salt Lake City. There are so many fun things to do down there, but for some reason we never venture further that direction than Layton. We had been wanting to try this Brazilian restaurant called Tucanos for months, but just never made the time to actually go. It is sort of on the pricey side ($14.00 a person for lunch, not including drinks) but I knew that if we waited until after Nolan was born, it just wouldn't happen. We decided to just go for it!

While we were walking around trying to find the restaurant, we saw a Build-A-Bear shop. I jokingly mentioned to Chris that we should make an animal for Nolan, and to my surprise he really wanted to! We picked out a fluffy brown and white puppy and went to have him stuffed. The "stuffer" had us each pick out a heart to put inside and kiss it, then make a "happy baby wish." I was fighting back tears the entire time. Chris and I both picked small red hearts that say "I Love You" on them so Nolan's puppy has one from Mommy and one from Daddy.

We picked out a little red hoodie that says "HUGS" on the front and completed the pup's birth certificate so Nolan will always have the date his toy was made. We named him Scruffy for now, but baby boy can pick out his own name for him when he is old enough. That doggie was made with some serious love, I tell ya.

After our Build-A-Bear adventure, we went to hunt down the restaurant. It was about a 6 hour wait (not really, it just felt like it) but it was so worth it! They brought you all of the meat you could eat and sliced it off at your table. Chris ate about 15 chicken hearts and I stuck with the more traditional meats like garlic steak and turkey wrapped in bacon. They also had an awesome salad bar with different pasta, fried bananas, fruit, vegetables, rolls...mmm...it was well worth the money. The waiter even talked me into this fancy pinapple drink that was to die for.

We were pretty exhausted when we finished eating, so we went home and ended up taking a four hour nap. When we got up, we finished our evening cuddling on the couch with ice cream and a little 48 Hours Mystery. It was the perfect ending to an absolutely perfect day! I love my husband and I'm thankful we got a little "us time" in before our world is rocked in a week or so.

Nolan's Scruffy