It's a BOY!

Our ultrasound from today revealed the gender of our little one:  A BOY!!! 

We are so excited to be adding another little Lyman to our happy home and are thrilled Marin will have a little brother to play with.  I had a pretty strong hunch that it was going to be a boy, but I'm glad we know for sure now.  Considering we have been telling Marin that the baby's name is a boy name (we are still debating, so you'll have to wait!), I'm glad we don't have to confuse her by switching genders!

Little Lyman is very strong little boy, he kicks mostly in the morning, and as mommy is trying to fall asleep, although today he was very active during the ultrasound, the tech had a hard time getting measurements. 

Here are some snapshots of our little boy:

This first one is looking up between the legs, his bottom is in the lower right corner, and there is his little boy package!

 This one is a bit tougher to decipher, it's a split screen, but both are showing baby boys' feet, side by side.

 Profile of the little one, he was sucking on his hands, so you may see some white blur by his face, it's his arm/hand.

 Another profile of the little boy.



We will be needing to stock up on some boy clothing over the course of the next 4 months, as we have nothing but girly pink clothes abounding from our stored boxes!  Of course, we are welcoming any donations in this area, and heck, doesn't everyone love to shop for baby clothes ;) 

My chart today had my due date as the 11th of February, 3 days sooner than previously anticipated, but nothing significant, I will try and update the pregnancy tickers, so my switch day each week will now be on Friday instead of Monday.

And tell me, did you guess right on the Gender Poll?

Indian Summer vs. Autumn

Yikes!  The last few days around here have been hot, hot, HOT!  I keep trying to ease myself into the cool and welcoming arms of autumn, but apparently, summer has not given up the fight just yet.  This past weekend, we were hoping to to really get a feel for Fall when we visited The Pumpkin Patch farm, but it was still super warm that day.  We did, however, take full advantage of the farm's enticing produce being offered in their market on site.  It was amazing to see a TRUE farmers market filled to the brim with food picked just a few yards away. 

We came home with 20 pounds of pears for canning, canning jars, sugar pumpkins for homemade pumpkin pie (can't WAIT!), acorn squash, butternut squash, yellow and green zucchini, cherry tomatoes, basil, corn on the cob, cucumbers for pickles (or relish, haven't decided...), rhubarb (oh yeah!), and apple cider to boot.  I made a delicious favorite meal (per Kris's request) that night for dinner with a few of the items, and let me tell you....sooooo yummy!  Farm produce truly is the best, and cheapest.  To see what I made, click HERE.

I canned quite a few of the pears that night, although, two of my jars broke while they were processing, and I was so sad about that.  It's the first this has happened to me, but Kris assured me it happens all the time.  I have some pears left over today that I think I will make into either pear jam or pear butter, still debating.

While we were at the farm, Kris took Marin on the cutest wagon/tractor ride.  All these little barrels had been converted and painted into cow wagons with a chair inside, and the tractor pulled them around the farm, so cute!  Marin rode in a cow named "Bessie", I think she had fun :)

Sunday we got together with some friends and had an international feast!  Our theme was Western Europe, and I snagged France (of course) and made a delicious Spinach in Puff Pastry, so good!  We had some wonderful dishes from Sweden, Germany, Spain, and....oh, I forget, but so fun to be with friends.  This weekend is Conference-Bowl.  We are meeting for the the 2 hour interlude between sessions for lunch and are watching the last half on a projector screen, nice!

Here are some pics from our The Pumpkin Patch visit:

Marin and daddy climbing into Bessie

Poor little girl was hot and tired from the campout!

Away they go!

And back again, I think they had fun.

Byyyyye Bessie!

Inside the animal barn.  Look at that piggy tail, it looks so....sprightly?

Say Cheese!

Checking out the pumpkin carving tools inside the market.

Look at how big this market is!  Crazy!  I was in Foodie Heaven, I really am a food nerd, I get excited over aisles of produce.

My finds of the day, and it wasn't too pricey either.

And...tomorrow is the big day!  We will know the gender of our growing little one!  I am very excited, and I am excited that Kris will see his baby as he is going to the appt.  This pregnancy I've been flying solo (well, with Marin) to my OB appts, and Kris has only seen the ultrasound print-out, but this time, he can see his little one in action for the first time.  Final count on the Gender Poll:  8 for BOY and 6 for GIRL...let's see who who was right!  Let me know if you guessed it!  And...weight gain:  arrgh, 18 pounds for 20 weeks.  Blah.  I blame the salty food I ate last night, every nurse knows:  a KG gained is a liter retained. I'm hoping my due date will be pushed up a week, that way, I'm only 6 pounds over my target instead of 7,  *gulp*.  But, I went for a nice 1.25 mile run this morning with a 0.6 mile warm up/cool down, and I am hoping to put pilates on the menu tonight.

And...my new job!  I worked for the first time in 3 months yesterday.  And, how did it go?  Very well, I can happily report.  I can also say that home care is NOT my thing, but, it is something that will suit me well for the next 4 months at least while I finish up this pregnancy.  I tossed and turned Sunday night and woke up exhausted at 5am.  My drive was 50 minutes to the home (temporary) and I spent 11 hours caring for a 4 year old boy, giving medications, GT feeds, suctioning his trach, hooking him up to his vent while he napped, bathing him and trying to entertain myself and him in his room.  The ventilator, which is still intimidating, is not ultra frightening anymore, with time I will become more experienced and comfortable.  I also need to bring things to keep myself entertained, I was so bored!  But, a paycheck is a paycheck sometimes, and I hope we are on our way!

Daddy Daughter Campout

Friday night to Saturday, Kris took his little girl to our Ward Daddy Daughter Campout.  Marin had been looking forward to this all week, and woke up daily shouting "Camping Daddy!!  Hot Dogs!!  Mallows!  Pancakes!  Chase the chickens, mommy!".  It was really quite cute to hear her talk about this.  Kris was also very excited, as was mama, for a night....alone!  And what did I do all by myself, you ask?  Papa John's Pizza for one, a girly movie, hung some pictures, did my nails, listened to....silence, it was great.  I will say that by the morning, I missed my family!

So, here are the pics that Kris took of their little campout, they both had a great time:

Mommy giving Marin a goodbye hug and kiss!

Ahhh, the poor, unsuspecting chickens!

So cute!  Marin insisted on bringing her stuffed animals, all three, luckily, that's all she sleeps with.

Wow, she looks so different in this pic!  I'm not sure who she resembles, I don't think it's me!

One chicken, on her way to find a quiet spot!

Marin going after those chickens...I don't think they laid eggs for DAYS after this campout, haha!

A pixie movie for the little girls, very fitting.

Marshmallow slime!

Morningtime! 

Is this not the funniest look ever?  I have no idea what she was doing or thinking, but it cracks me up!

Marin was the youngest girl there, but she did just fine, she plays the best with older kids.

One more go with those chickens before heading home.

So happy they had fun, it's great to see my hubby be an awesome dad, and he just relishes his time with Marin, I think she kind of likes him too ;)

The Making of a Marshmallow

*I've loaded some great new tunes onto the Playlist at the bottom of the page.  If you have your volume off, turn it on and check out some of the new music.  These songs make me smile and are just downright catchy, so turn it up and get happy!* 

In preparation for tomorrow night's Daddy Daughter Campout, Kristoffer made his homemade marshmallows.  They sat out to firm up through the night and all of today, and this evening, Marin helped daddy as he cut them up into bite-size marshmallows. 

She is the ultimate kitchen helper, as you can see.  Look at that sweet profile!

Licking her fingers, shhhh, don't tell!

Rolling the cut edges in the powder...

Marin called it a marshmallow 'snake'.  Silly girl :)



My hubby and my daughter are equally excited for this campout, and I love knowing they can have some time to spend together.  I'm hoping for no rain and mild temperatures!  Kris, of course, will be taking the camera and taking snapshots of our active 2 year old in action...so stay tuned for camping pics!

Being...OK.

I cannot tell you how many times over the past few months I have wondered to myself, "What is going on?!  This is crazy, how long will things be like this?!".  I am sure most of us have wondered this at MANY times during our lives, and we often want to know when things will just....settle down.  I have a great husband, if you didn't already know, and if I haven't told you this a thousand times before.  He rocks.  Kristoffer is truly an answer to many heartfelt prayers growing up and he lives up to his word...every time.  There are moments before we fall asleep when we lay there in bed and just talk about, well, everything and nothing!  It gives us a chance to reconnect and make sure we are on the same page, before we start another day.  I say this because often, over the last few months in the stresses life has presented to our family, Kristoffer has reluctantly shared some of his frustrations and fears with me....

I have learned something, however.  I have learned something from a warm and sweet Disney movie we watch frequently at the Lyman house (all together now!).  In the scene where Marlin and Dory are hanging from the whale's tongue (confused yet?) and Dory is insisting she speaks whale and that the whale is telling them to let go and fall into the dark abyss that appears to be the whale's belly (NOW are you confused?), the two fish have the following conversation:

Dory:  He say's, it's time to let GO!  Everything's gonna be alright!

Marlin: (panicked)  How do you know?!  How do you something bad isn't gonna happen?!

*Pause*

Dory:  I don't!

And in that moment, Marlin realizes his mistakes.  As he hangs precariously from a whale's tongue and contemplates letting go and falling into the unknown, he realizes....he has to let go.  He has to let everything go.  Life is uncontrollable and unpredictable and miserable if you try to bridle it.  It's just life.  And Dory, in her child-like wisdom, responds by telling him...she has no idea that nothing bad will happen, but there is just no other option.

I say all of this because I feel that I (and Kristoffer) have learned over the past few months to just...let go.  Do the best you can and hope for a good outcome.  There is only so much to life we can control and stressing over a lack of it makes us unhappy, miserable and downright depressed!  Kris and I will frequently quote this to each other, just as a reminder.  So although it may be a silly cartoon, we took a very valuable lesson from it.  Just thought I would share :)

To Finish Up...

Blogger has erased my post for the second time!  So, I will have to separate my pics from my updates until I figure out what is going on, sorry!

This weekend is our Ward Daddy/Daughter Campout and Kris is SO excited!  Not only does he love camping, but he can't wait to take his little girl and sleep in a tent and roast marshmallows with her.  What a great dad, he's really the best.  Of course, he will be making marshmallows to take, it's pretty much tradition now!  The campout is specifically for girls under the age of 12, so it's very much geared for the young one's.  They will have hot dogs and Cheeto's and chase some chickens and ducks, it will be so good for them, and I will have a Saturday to myself!  What will I do?! 

Little Lyman has had his/her ultrasoun appt. changed to next Wednesday, so it will be a bit longer until we know for sure!  We have 6 votes girl, 4 votes boy on our poll.  I am pretty excited to know also, it seems as though I bond better when I can refer to it as HE or SHE rather than....IT, you know?  At 19 weeks I am up 15 pounds, 5 pounds over the target weight, but not too shabby, and feeling pretty good!  I even ran a little over 1.25 miles the other morning, rock on!  Runnning takes a pretty tough toll on my pelvis, so I can't do it every day or even every other day.  Usually I will take Marin for a vigorous walk and do my awesome pilates video...it has kept me toned and still fitting into some jeans, nice! 

I will try and find my comppsure to give you more updates soon, oh, and check out my food blog, I've made some tasty things this past week, and I would hate for you to miss out!  The link is located on the sidebar to the right, if you are a newcomer.

Lessons From Dad: How to Dunk an Oreo

Dad's are awesome.  Everyone needs a great dad to teach them things mom's just don't think about.  Dad's are good for playing rough with kids and showing them how to collect worms and hammer in a nail, how to slurp spaghetti....and how to dunk an Oreo.  So, last night, Marin had her first lesson from Daddy on how to dunk an Oreo:

Twisting the cookie:

No one does it better than dad, and Marin is always ready to learn, especially when dad comes with a glass of milk and some Oreo's.

And, Blogger just erased the rest of my post, so, due to frustration purposes, you will have to wait...sorry!

The Ducks Have It

Looking for a distraction, and something to get us out of the house the other night, we all headed to the local library.  Marin, I have learned, is still a bit young to understand the concept of a library and although she loves to read, she also loves to talk loudly and pull books off the shelves, if only to see the cover and determine if it's worth reading.  So, our system works like this now:  Daddy reads to Marin while mommy races through the children's section finding age appropriate and fun books for Marin and loading them into our library bag.  Mommy then pops her head into the adult section to see if she can find a book that tickles her fancy and makes her feel like she isn't always reading parenting/kids/baby books all the time.  This time I was in a funk and came back empty handed....perhaps because I spent most of my time in the 'NON-FICTION' section?  Who am I kidding, when I read, I want to ESCAPE, not be slammed back into reality by someone else's literary and enlightened journey through transcendentalism (which, I wrote a paper on in college, by the way!).  So, after this, mommy rescues daddy while he searches for some finds of his own, and I sit and try to read to a very loud and starting-to-get-antsy Marin.  Marin has two volumes:  OFF and LOUD.  That's it.  There is no in between setting, no whisper, no soft talking, it's all about telling the world what she see's.  Believe it or not, I had the nursery leader from church pop her head into our aisle with her kids and say: "Hey Samantha, I thought that was you, I heard Marin's voice from the (get this) back of the children's section over by the DVD's!".  That's 30 feet down and around the corner!!  Oh dear. 

Anyway, after our short library escapade, we walked across the lawn to the beautiful Intel park.  Such a lovely place to visit!  They have long, paved jogging trails and ponds and fountains....and ducks!  Marin of course being two is into all things animal, so we took some old bread crusts and freezer-burned rolls to feed those lucky ducks.  They have got to be the best fed ducks in Oregon!  Marin LOVED feeding the ducks, and at first, we handed her the small bits to throw, but I showed her how to hold the whole piece of bread and break off little bits to throw to the ducks, she did great.  Those ducks are FAST!  And so are the fish!  If the ducks take more than 2 seconds to get to the bread, the fish are all over it, crazy!  And Trine, I thought of you the whole time we were there, I know you would love taking Marin here :)

Here is our big girl...I had a hard time getting some good shots, most of them are of the back of her head, or are blurry because she was racing to get more bread!

And BIG news.....Marin poo'd on the potty this morning, for the first time ever!  I was so shocked!  Of course, before she did this, she raced into the bathroom, slipped and tanked her poor little noggin right into the side of the toilet bowl.  Ouch!  Poor thing, she had quite the dent in her skull for about an hour!  But, some kisses and snuggling can cure all, so she sat on the potty and mommy talked about going poo poo and told her to push (knowing she hadn't had her morning poo yet), and she sat and practiced....and....results!  I am so amazed at how quickly she is catching on to this, and now that she has done it once, let's hope the next time is a little easier to recognize.

My latest kitchen adventure, I admit, I caved to some peer pressure!  I have been meaning to make bagels for quite some time, and I have had literally THREE friends beat me to the punch!  So, after I read their recipes and how cost-friendly it is, and seeing as how Little Lyman has a love affair with bagels, I gave it a shot.  Oh.......My.......Goodness!!!  SOOO GOOD!  You have not had a bagel until you have made your own, seriously!  And it is not that hard, I did the dough in my bread maker (THE way to go), and finished them off myself.  I can't stop eating them.  The batch made 9, and between Kris and I, I think there are 3 left....from when I made them yesterday afternoon!  So, to see how they came out, click here:  BAGEL-LICIOUS!

A Little Kick

Yesterday morning, Little Lyman surprised me with a good morning kick!  I woke up and was laying in bed and felt a very distinctive jab up near my belly button (as my uterus tends to shift upwards while I sleep), so I pushed back with my fingers, and so did baby!  I am telling you, this pregnancy has been just chock full of "early" experiences.  I keep expecting a few more weeks before these milestones, so either it's a very strong baby or my due date is in need of a change.  I have a feeling my midwife will move my due date up at our next appointment/ultrasound after they measure the baby.  Which, would be fine with me!  I am still at 13 pounds for 18 weeks (today), so that's good news, which is 4 pounds over, but that's ok in my book!  I can't help but feeling so hungry lately.  It's not so much in the quantity that I eat, it's more my desire to eat every 2 hours (at least!), and how fast I devour my food.  I literally INHALE my food when it's on the plate in front of me.  Last night we had pot roast for dinner and I totally beat Kris, he still had half a plate of food left!  My latest 'go-to' snack has been the Everything Bagel.  It has sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and onion bits on it, and I just LOVE those bagels, I eat at least one a day.  And apples, I have been eating at least one apple a day.  I'm not usually a huge apple fan (unless they are Cortland apples, and even then...), but they are really the only fruit I've really desired, although I do eat other fruit :)

Marin playing with her marble track, she insists on playing 'marble track' with daddy as soon as he gets home from work...I have a feeling she kind of likes her daddy ;)  And she has discovered a new favorite food:  Spaghettio's!  I had almost forgotten about this child-delicacy until the other day, and Marin thinks they are the best thing ever.  It's easy to mix in a veggie puree and she devours them, yay!  She has been forming the most amazing sentences lately, it just cracks me up to listen to her say these things.  And yesterday morning we were singing church songs before we left for sacrament meeting and she could sing just about the whole first verse of "I am a Child of God" on her own!  Such a big girl!  I am debating about what to dress her as for Halloween, it's between Blue (from Blue's Clue's, her new favorite) or Nemo.  I just can't decide which one to do!

This is the view from off of our back porch!  You can see we have two flat, terrace like beds which I haven't done much with yet, but I am hoping to soon.  Sadly, the water in the background is not running, it's more like....a little pond that's fed from an underground reservoir (from what I hear), so it can get pretty mucky if it hasn't rained in a while.  But, we can see ducks every day, and otters, and a blue heron and hear the birds, it's really wonderful.

It's morning everyone! The sun is shining, the tank is clean and we are getting out of.....*gasp*....THE TANK IS CLEAN?!?!?!?!

If you can name this movie, you have kids!  Haha, this happens to be a line from Marin's favorite movie, Finding Nemo, which we happen to be watching at the moment.  Today has been a bit of a challenge.  Last night was a late night for Kris and I for various reasons, and this morning I woke up at 6:45 with a headache, blah.  I tossed and turned until about 8:30 and started our day and sent Kris off to work at 11am.  Most of the day I've been feeling pretty icky, and although I napped when Marin went down for her nap, it was short-lived.  Marin woke up a little over an hour later crying and needing some snuggling, she had thrown up in her crib, from some bad apple juice I think.  Since we didn't have much food left, grocery shopping was a must, so I took cranky Marin and re-discovered why I don't bring her shopping with me anymore.  She became a screaming teary mess with curious onlookers in the middle of our trip.  We finished up and came home for some spaghettio's and Finding Nemo, a much needed treat for Marin (and mom).  Hopefully I can get to bed earlier tonight and rest! 

I have been trying to make sure I keep up with exercise and although last week we had some pretty busy mornings, this week we have been back on track.  I have been walking Marin to the park and running and doing strength training while we're there.  Last night I broke out my prenatal pilates DVD and had a nice 20 minute workout.  It really is a great DVD, it's called 10 minute solutions, and there are 5 workouts, each one 10 minutes, so if you are really pressed for time, you can just do one, or a few, or if you are ambitious you can do all 5!  I really enjoy it, I usually do two at at time.  So, while my weight gain is not on target (total gain: 13 pounds at 17 weeks), I am still fitting into my low cut jeans and I am not seeing new areas of fat deposits (i.e.: hips, butt, waist), so I feel confident!

Kristoffer last Friday went to his very first Toastmasters meeting!  He has always wanted to join this organization and he had his chance at 6:45 Friday morning (I know!).  This club helps you become one of the best public speakers out there and you have to speak just about every week to practice your skills.  He is pretty excited about this even if it is bright and early!  I'm not sure if I mentioned this, (pardon my pregnancy brain), but Kris's has a new calling as the assistant ward missionary leader!  He went to correlation meeting last night and got the low-down on what his responsibilities are.  This will be a great calling for him, it's pretty amazing how the bishopric is able to choose the right calling for him just a couple of weeks after we move in.

And I am pretty confident my interview went well the other day!  I took and passed three competencies while I was there and am scheduled for two days of ventilator training.  One class tomorrow and one on Tuesday and am hoping that after that I will be signing some paperwork to start a job!  I am very excited about this! 

So, here's to a good night's sleep tonight and a great day tomorrow! :)

Cast Your Vote!!

Boy or Girl?  I've added a gender poll just to the left at the very top.  We have a few short weeks before our ultrasound, so get your vote in and we will have the Grand Reveal shortly, heck, I may even post the ultrasound pic and make you all guess!  I've already loaded in my guess, so feel free to vote and if you're shy, no worries, it's anonymous ;)  Good luck!!

You Get a Line, I'll Get a Pole....

No worries my good readers, I have pictures a plenty for you all today!  This Labor Day Weekend was fabulous, we had such a great time, and Marin, although after missing out on naptime and a few late nights, was a happy little girl to have her daddy for 3 whole days!  Friday evening we headed into Portland by the river to listen to some fine tunes by delightful symphony orchestra, and as it was a free concert, extra incentive!  While we didn't stay long, the atmosphere and smells were intoxicating, Portland is a great place for culture. 

So here is Marin and daddy playing together before breakfast.  Marin loves putting puzzles together and daddy is a great teacher.  She claps her hands and say's "Yaaaay, did it!" when she fits two pieces together, so cute!

There's my sweet little one!  She had a little rash below her right nostril for a few days, in case you think she's bleeding!  And of course, her marble track from grandma and grandpa, she LOVES the marble track :)

Crepes for breakfast, yum....Marin liked spreading on the strawberry jam and rolling it up!  And, daddy opening the bag of worms for Marin to see.

Daddy showing Marin the bag of worms, and Marin having a very close look at that squirmy little worm!

Marin reeling in the fish, daddy is so good with her, he had a great time showing his little girl how to fish.

Marin is not quite sure what to think about that fish.....it looks a little different than Nemo!  And Kris holding up our catch of the day, 4 fish!  I did catch one myself, and Kris and I both cleaned them ourselves, do I sound like you're little Mormon housewife now? ;)

That night Kris took Marin to a baseball game, poor thing was tired anyway, but she wanted to go so badly!  They rode the Max (electric train) to the city and Marin came home telling mommy about the balls and popcorn and lollipop and screaming she did at the game.  She had a great time and went to bed exhausted, but very happy :)

Yesterday we went with some friends to the same lake to show them the fishing!  Look at the men....cleaning their catch, so....manly.  My hubby was already a pro, doesn't he look like such an outdoorsy man with his thermals and hat on (he had his leatherman strapped to his belt...meow!).  And our little Marin, veeeeery sleepy and having a hard time.  We left the pond soon after and she was asleep before we left the parking lot.

Sunday we had friends over for dinner and then had a huge dessert-fest with them and 3 other couples.  It was a great way to spend the weekend. I am just so grateful to have a wonderful husband that loves his family and wants to spend time us and make us happy.  He is so in love with his little girl and she thinks he is just the best gosh darn daddy out there! 

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and Kristoffer dragged himself off to work this morning.  I dragged myself out of bed too...I had an interview!!  Hooray!  It was with a home care company that handles many pediatric clients and although it wasn't my first choice, there is a silver lining!  I will be able to do some orientation to ventilators, something I have been meaning to do for a while.  This will give me a chance to get some great vent experience, not feel pressured, work, get out of the house, make some money (sweet!),  and take me through the rest of my pregnancy.  Things went very well today and I already passed 3 competencies, so after reference checks and background checks, I imagine I will be able to start my job soon!

Marin is growing so fast, I can hardly believe how much she is turning into a sweet little...child!  She knows all of her basic colors, she can sing the ABC's, she can (sometimes) count to 8, and is doing great with potty training.  I am learning she likes some new crafts, and I think I will be getting some pipe cleaners and beads for her to string.  She gives me kisses on both cheeks before she goes to bed and is getting better at putting her own clothes on, although, it's still cute to watch!  And do you know what's crazy?  This next baby will make two kids total for the Lyman house!!  I still can't believe I am living this life sometimes, it is going so fast :)

Kristoffer is still on the hunt for a different job, certainly no pressure right now as he's still with UOP, but hopefully he will find a change for his own sanity!  He deserves a change and he works so hard for us....I love my husband, have I mentioned that?

And Little Lyman is just weeks away from the gender ultrasound!  We have our ultrasound on the 24th and then we will know just what we are dealing with.  My vote is for a boy!  I will try and find a vote-ticker to put on the blog so you can all cast your ballots.