Tidbits from May

We celebrated Kristoffer's Norwegian Bestemor's (grandmother) birthday a couple weeks ago.  The birthday party was hosted by his Aunt Siri in her brand new home which is gorgeous.  The meal was specifically requested by Bestemor, and included a clean-it-yourself fresh shrimp buffet, very Scandinavian.  Once you get the hang of cleaning and peeling the shrimp, it's not big deal, and it's such a fun, lingering dinner activity.  The kind of meal that lasts for a while because everyone is busy cleaning shrimp!  This is how it's all put together after you clean the shrimp, crusty bread, lettuce, shrimp, Norwegian mayo, fresh dill and lemon, YUM!

 Soooo, my rockstar hubby, he's so cool.  He started sanding our back deck this spring in preparation to re-paint.  The original paint was chipping terribly, and Kris was concerned that if he didn't get to the deck this season, the wood would rot.  I told him it would be *his* project.  Well, he started with the bottomg of the stairs, and they just literally started falling apart.  So unsafe!  So after some debating, he ripped them out himself, researched, built new risers himself, and assembled a brand new set of very rock-solid stairs.  Yeah, he's so awesome.  I don't know what I would do without him.  We'll get off as much paint as possible, and since the wood isn't in great condition, we're going to use this product called Rustoleum Restore to pretty much seal and coat the wood.  We'll two-tone it, using gray on the bottom and white on the side rails.  Crossing our fingers!

 Marin and Daddy playing cards the other morning, I think they were playing high-card-wins, she loves playing that game.

 And that's my baby belly.  20 weeks, people!  I can't believe I'm halfway already, that's just crazy to me.  Belly is growing and baby is getting bigger!  I can feel her little kicks are for sure way stronger than they were just two weeks ago.  She's been pretty quiet during this growth spurt, but every so often I'll feel her in there moving around.

I've been pretty tired the last couple of weeks, with an increased appetite, so that's good.  And by increased appetite, I mean not craving meat.  I know, strange.  Since I don't really want meat, I've been trying to drink more milk, eat more yogurt and cottage cheese.  I've already started having pelvic pain, right in that symphisis pubis area, those hormones are already relaxing things, yikes, I still have a ways to go!

Camping With Daddy

The other week, Kris had planned to take Owen on the Father/Son campout, but the location changed at the last minute, from a super cool spot, to a lame football field.  So, instead, my super awesome hubby took both kids camping...in our backyard.  It actually worked out really well, although, we don't have a good spot for a tent since all of our yard is slightly hilly.

The kids helped daddy nail in the spikes.

 They did such a great job helping.  And my husband is such a patient man.

 This boy was loving every minute.

 Call us crazy, but since we don't have a spot for a fire pit, we used this huge, ceramic flower pot for our fire.  It worked out beautifully.  Just big enough to call it a campfire and toast marshmallows, and all contained in a big pot, perfect.  We had plenty of wood from some old, dead stumps we ripped out of the back landscaping a few weeks ago.

 Daddy is a bit of a pyro.  The kids found sticks for their marshmallows, Owen was pro at roasting, a quick 5 second dunk in the flames and to him, his marshmallow was perfect, haha!

I had the best stick for toasting marshmallows, nice and green on the inside, and my marshmallows came out perfect, every time.

Of course, no one got any sleep that night, except for me...enjoying my nice, king sized bed all by myself.  The kids were up late, up early and up in between for potty breaks.  Fortunately, our walkout to the backyard is directly through Owen's room and right by the bathroom, so that made things super easy for camping with little kids. 

Kristoffer told me later that morning that Owen had woken him up saying "Daddy, daddy....wake up daddy....stop snoring, it's stinky!".  That totally cracked me up.  #kidsarebrutallyhonest

Since we enjoyed our ceramic pot fire so much, we are going to try to make it permanent thing, so we're going to rearrange some decorative stone around the house to make a little patio-ish extension....We'll see ;)

Time With My Family

This past Saturday, I took my girl on a little mini-date.  She had the option to either go to lunch at Olive Garden (her fave) OR go have frozen yogurt at Menchies.  She chose Menchies, so off we went.  She likes to choose things herself, so Menchies is a great place for that.  She has her choice of fro-yo flavors, and her choice of seemingly endless toppings.

 This girl was on total topping overload.  She had the most cock-a-mamey mix of toppings, it sounded so gross to me, but she loved it!

 The many faces of my girl, she totally cracks me up.  As for me, I had my little delightful little concoction, and I paid dearly for it about 2 hours later.  Yuck, I felt so gross...this pregnancy has me on my toes, I have to be so careful with what I eat, or my intestines go on *lock-DOWN*.  Either way, so glad I got to sepnd some mono-et-mono time with my sweet girl.

Mother's Day morning, we were invited out for breakfast with Kris's mom and sister and family.  This is Marin with her cute cousin, Estelle.  Estelle is a very welcome addition to the family, when Kris's sister, Melodie married her husband, Justin 18 months ago, he brought this cutie girl with him from a previous marriage.  Estelle and Marin are like two peas in a pod, they get along SO well.  They both want to be veterinarians when they grow up, how's that for being alike?

 My handsome boys.  Seriously, it's ridiculous how cute they are.  That guy on the right...YUM. ; )

 Melodie and Trine (Kris's sister and mom) and me.

My first real belly shot, at 18 weeks!  And my handsome little photo-bomber.  Look at that face, I can't be mad.  Aaand just ignore the nasty toothpaste on the mirror...#factsoflifepeople

 There we go.  I feel like my belly has really just popped out over the last week, it's cute and I love it.  My hubby loves it and that makes me smile.  As hard as it must be to deal with having a pregnant wife, he loves having a pregnant wife...and I kinda benefit from that, haha!  And yes, we still have paint cans laying around.  Our master bedroom/bathroom are so not done yet.

 This morning was so perfect for a walk at the park, and I was feeling pretty good, so I packed up Owen and we headed up the street.  I've been realizing with this my third pregnancy, that I need to be kind to my body.  And I mean eating good foods (because I *really* pay for it if I don't), and realizing I can't over-do it on my exercise.  With Owen, I was jogging until 20 weeks, and I really almost hurt myself...and I *still* gained 60 pounds...not the way to do it, people.  I think that maybe, this time around, I've finally figured it out...just be kind to my body.  Eat good foods, exercise at a pace that my body can handle, and rest when I need to rest.  So far, so good.  At 18 weeks, I'm up almost 9 pounds, so that's good news for me!

 My brown haired boy, he's so great.

 This park is just half a block up from our house, and it has a half mile walking trail and a quarter mile walking trail, a playground, open fields, covered benches, we just love where we live.  This park has been so perfect, and I've been able to go walking pretty frequently.

 Such a great space.  We live close to the air force base, so we are able to see the jets taking off, especially when we're at the park.  Every time I see those jets, I can't help but think of my dad, who was an electrical engineer and worked on engine pieces for some jets.

Thankfully, I think we're starting to welcome warm weather and actually breeze into spring, although Mother's Day was ridiculously cold, but it feels nice to be outside again. 

It's a GIRL!!

We have the results of our ultrasound (at 17 weeks), and it's a little girl!  We are thrilled, especially our oldest daughter, Marin....who is totally psyched.  She was *really* hoping for a little sister, and we kept reinforcing that the gender of the baby was something mommy and daddy didn't have a choice about, and that Heavenly would be giving us the boy or girl baby that our family needed right now.  She understood, but was still reeeeally hoping for that girl.

Because Marin was at school when we went for the ultrasound, I told her I would bring home something for her that was either pink or blue so she would know if it was a girl or a boy.  After the ultrasound, we stopped at Zurcher's and picked up two pink balloons, one for Marin, and one for Kristoffer's mom.  When we came home and surprised Marin, she looked at the balloons very thoughtfully and scrunched her brow and said: "Two girls?".  Haha, no, no, my sweet child, just ONE!  

Owen is so used to having a sister, it's second all he knows, really.  I'm sure that someday he'll appreciate a brother, but he'll love his little sister, anyway.

I've been about 98% certain with this pregnancy that I was carrying a girl.  Not because of any physical symptoms, but because I've known for a long time.  Long before we were even pregnant, I knew.  Last June, the night I flew home to NY to be with my family...and the week my father passed away, my husband gave me a blessing.  My heart was absolutely wracked with torture and grief and my heart had been breaking for the many months my dad was so very, very ill, and I wasn't sure if I could pull through this final leg of the journey.  As Kristoffer blessed me to feel peace and comfort and love from my Heavenly Father, he finished his blessing and sat beside me.  In a moment when my mind couldn't have been further from thinking of having another child, and the thought of it was absolutely nauseating and distasteful to me, the thought that kept filling my mind...was of a child.  I told Kristoffer that our next child would be a girl, and she would help to heal me, to fix parts of me that I couldn't fix after my horrible journey with losing my dad.  It was an experience that was completely unexpected in the moment, but the day I found out we were expecting, I knew it had to be...the girl. 

Kristoffer was pretty convinced I was right, but since the ultrasound has now confirmed, he is now working on wrapping his head around being the father of two girls!  He is so great with girls, and he knows it, such a very patient man.

I'm excited to start prepping the house for our sweet little one, due October 19th.  I'll have the whole summer....which I'm sure will feel like it's dragging by when I'm big and pregnant!  Bring on the pink!!

This Baby

I'm 16 weeks, and little baby is starting to make itself known!  Look at that little baby belly right there!  It's nice to look a little pregnant finally, and not just thick around the middle.  Although, I keep reminding myself to be happy I'm not huge yet, that's coming soon enough...with all the uncomfortableness that goes along with it!

I will say, that thus far, this pregnancy is giving me a run for my money, phew!  I was hoping number 3 would maybe go easy on me, especially after having such a rough experience with my dad passing last year, but I don't think that's going to happen.  

My nausea this pregnancy, which is thankfully over now, was mostly plagued with ridiculous amounts of stomach cramping and pain.  So, SO much abdominal pain!  I hoped that it would go away with the nausea around 12/13 weeks; not so.  The nausea is gone, and the deathly cramping has subsided somewhat, but I have retained a really sensitive 'gut'.  I'm pretty sure it's here to stay.  I have to be so careful with what I eat, not because of my stomach, but my intestines will complain with lots of cramping if baby doesn't like what I ate.  Nothing rich, minimal amounts of gluten, no sweet stuff...I tried to eat some birthday cake that Marin made for me the other day, and I paid dearly for it that night, oh, so painful!

I've been trying hard to focus on just making healthy choices anyway, and letting my body get the rest it needs, especially with number 3.  So, I guess this irritable bowel stuff is a way to encourage me to do that.  I keep cottage cheese on hand, such a great protein source (best bang for your buck), string cheese, greek yogurt, hummus, carrots, milk, and I've found if I'm eating fruit throughout the day, that helps my tummy feel better.  I try to make a smoothie a few times a week and I like to sneak in some spinach to those. 

 But, some days are just rough, and I find myself needing to sit or lay down because it literally feels like I have a brick in my gut, ouch!  I'm worried this is a precursor to what kind of baby/child I'm having....one that's uh....going to give me a run for my money for lack of a better metaphor.

All in all, things are well.  I've already felt this little babe move, which is a wonderful thing!  And this next week will be the week when we find out...girl or boy?!?!?  I'll save my thoughts on that for another post!

And Now She's Thirty

It's true, friends.  I have crossed the threshold, and am now...thirty!  I've been enjoying my twenties for a full ten years, you know, the usual, but I've always kept a curious eye on that upcoming day, when 'thirty' would reach out it's hand, and pull me in to the next decade.  I was never quite sure how I would feel about turning thirty.  When I was working in NY as a nurse, I was best friends with a fellow nurse, JoAnn (I still love her, she is the best), and she is about 4 years my senior.  But I watched JoAnn, with literally the face of a teenager, kick and fight and cry when she turned thirty.  It absolutely consumed her!  She wanted to be forever young.  I can't blame her, youth in this day and age is everything, and if you ain't got it, you may as well crawl in a hole and die.  

To contrast this, I've watched my husband, also four years my senior turn thirty, and it was completely different.  Kristoffer just...shrugged it off!  He's always easy going anyway, but it didn't really phase him.  He took it with stride, and while getting older is always going to mean getting older, he just let it be and kept hi eyes open for the opportunities that only come to those in their thirties who are watching.  That's my husband.

So, I wanted to be like him.  I'm still a girl, and I still get sad leaving things behind, but I can at least have my little moment of nostalgia, take a deep breath and step forward.  My twenties have been great, truly.  My life is exactly what I've created it to be.  I've finished college, I have over ten years of experience as a nurse which puts me in a great position at work, I have a job I enjoy!  I'm married to my absolute best friend, for almost 8 years, he is still the person I'd rather spend time with than anyone else.  I have two absolutely beautiful children with him, children that are smart, capable, independent, learning, growing, respectful and kind, and we have a little bun in the oven coming our way this year.  We have lived in four different states and have made a myriad of friends all over.  Traveled to Europe, Scandinavia and the Bahamas.  I'm continuing to embrace a religion that gives me so much  peace and knowledge of life before earth, and life after.  My twenties...they've really been FULL of life, and I LOVE that.  

So now, I'm ready for my thirties.  I'm ready for what the next ten years brings.  And if it's half as wonderful as the last ten years, life will be great.  But I know that it will just be better...and why?  Because now, I have ten years of adult experience behind me.  I've got a little wind under my wings already.  I'm fully aware of what adult life can throw at me...aches, decreased metabolism (I could go without this one), mortgages, bills, little children to always put first, never any money, losing a parent, I could go on.  While I know there is always more to come, I've been through the first leg of it, and I know I can keep moving.  Heck, it's not so bad when your hubby is hot!

So let's talk about my actual birthday celebration!!  My hubby totally rocks, just so you know.  He's pretty awesome.  He wouldn't tell me at ALL, nothing, what he was planning.  I had requested the day off from work, and Kristoffer ended up not working either...which I think he planned anyway.  We started off the morning early with the kids.  We wanted to open presents with them before Marin went to school, and Marin had made me a birthday cake, so they sang me happy birthday that morning and I blew out candles...we did wait to eat the cake, though.

After Marin left, we made a quick trip to my new favorite Mexican joint to split a breakfast burrito for breakfast...a recent craving with this pregnancy, so GOOD!  After Marin came home from school, we tossed the kids in the car and drove them to GG's house (Kris's Grandmother).  THEN, we went for a flight lesson.  That's right, a thirty minute flight lesson.

 There is a place in Bountiful that does a great business of taking people up for thirty minutes in a little Cessna airplane and they let you steer the plane and do some tricks if you're up for it.

I was a little nervous, only because of my recent emergence from my first trimester, and while I was all for it, I was afraid my stomach was not going to be so chill.

 I did ok for the first half, then after a few strong wind gusts, I started feeling it.  Right at the end...my mouth was filling with saliva....you know what that means.  I kept telling myself to just keep swallowing, keep things moving in a downward direction!!!

 I was getting sweaty around my hairline and I kept repeating in my head "Don't be the first person to throw up in his plane!!!".  Luckily, we landed within minutes, sweet relief! 

 All in all, it was super fun, and I'm so grateful for a different experience!

Don't mind my Farrah Fawcett hair, this wind was giving it the up-and-away lift, making for totally 1970's pictures.

 That's the plane I flew!  Literally, a little tin can up in the air!

 After flying, we had a late lunch of Thai food, a walk around the park, and then went for a couples massage, which was fabulous.  My masseuse gave a prediction for the gender of the baby...we'll talk about that later.

THEN, we went for dinner at Brio with a few friends.  I love this place.  Way better than Cheesecake Factory, and way less crowded.  And then headed to Gourmandise for dessert with more friends.  It was a fabulous day with my hunny.  He spoiled me rotten, and we just had a blast being together.

My sweet girl made me a funfetti birthday cake with pink frosting and pink sprinkles.  She did a great job, such a sweetheart.

And as a final gift, Kristoffer gave me a pasta roller/cutter trio as an attachment for my Kitchen-Aid mixer.  I've wanted one for THE longest time, and now I have one!!

Today, I tried it out.  What a dream, seriously.  It was a thing of beauty.  So easy, so smooth, such perfect cuts.  There is *nothing* in the world like the taste/texture of fresh pasta noodles.  So happy!

So in short, it was a fabulous birthday, thanks to my fabulous husband!