Better Together (Part 3)

Kristoffer moved to NY in May of 2006 and we had so many fun day trips together that summer! 

These two pictures are actually some of the first pictures of Kristoffer and I together in February of 2006, when he first flew out to NY to meet me!  

We were so darn young!  I ended up framing this particular black and white photo for Kris and gave it to him, I'm such a girl ;)

Meet Kristoffer (Part 2)

And then there was an adventurous young fellow, steering clear of prolific and vain Utah girls (comprising of those he dated) and preferring to spend his winter days on the slopes and his summer days belaying on the rocks.  Wishing for another trip to Europe and an escape from ditzy and useless girls...

Here is my wonderful man, Kristoffer.  This picture was taken in...hmmm, 2004?  Kris is in...uhhhh, Africa?  His E-Harmony picture was one of his European trip pictures, and similar to this one, only he had this thumbs looped around his backpack straps, and at first glance, it looked as though he had no arms below the elbow.  I'm laughing now thinking of  the reaction my dad and I had to that picture:  "Where's his arms?!".  Oh dear, such funny memories.

 My Kristoffer out on the dock before we got married.  We had such a fun day!  I played called in "sick" and skipped work that day and we drove up the St. Lawrence river and just walked around and ate lunch together and talked and laughed, it was fantastic!

 I'm not sure where we were headed in this picture, somewhere to lay out in the sun I think, because somewhere I have a picture of Kris in this exact position on the same day, driving the car and he is completely red and sun-burnt. 

 Awww, Kristoffer when I took him for his birthday lunch cruise.  LOVE his sparkly ice blue Norwegian eyes ;)

 A little day trip to Palmyra.  We had a little photo-shoot on the temple grounds, so gorgeous!

 And, Kristoffer just wouldn't be complete without a nod to his best friend, BJ.  BJ is an awesome friend, we love him.  He was the best man in our wedding.  Here, they sit on our Futon in our little one bedroom apartment in Cortland, NY.  We had no AC so it would get a little toasty, fortunately, we were on the first floor.

 Shhh, don't tell Kris I put this picture in here!  Kristoffer is a TERRIBLE dancer, it's ok, he knows it, he claims it, he avoids ALL dancing and ALL costs.  So, being the wonderful best friend that he is, BJ walked Kris through a few dances foe me before our wedding.  Such a good friend ;)

 Kristoffer and BJ took an overnight trip up to Niagara Falls for their bachelor/night/party.

So, what did Kristoffer do before marriage, and kids?  Ski every day in the winter, rock climb during the summer, buy 50 dollars worth of 5 dollar movies at Wal Mart, eat Red Vines, install car audio systems, plan future business strategies, move to a new house every 6 months, eat spaghetti with red sauce at least 3 times a week, go see movies....lots of movies, dream of moving to Norway and marrying a Norwegian girl, roller blade, and garden...just kidding, Kris doesn't garden, bet that last one really threw you, eh?

Meet Samantha (Part 1)

In the beginning, there was a girl, and she was hopelessly frustrated with the lack of eligible men in sparsely populated upstate New York.  So she trustingly and quizzically took her fathers advice and logged on to E-Harmony.com....and thus...a story was born.

*This picture was taken by my dad outside of our home in Upstate New York, and was the first glimpse that Kristoffer had of his mystery girl after two weeks of communication.  I'm sure he was getting a bit nervous!  I will say, it was very strange having my father take a picture of me...for a guy.

And then he came...

 *Kristoffer took this picture of me when he came to NY to meet me for the first time in February 2006.  What a fresh faced 21 year old I was!

 *In a car then and now, if I only knew then where this car would take me in the future!  I sat in that seat as a newlywed in NY, and then as an adventurer in our new home in Las Vegas.  I sat in that seat in labor with Marin on the way to the hospital, and I sat in that seat on the was to the hospital to deliver Owen.  What a car trip!  

*Here, Kris and I had taken a day trip before we were married up to the St.Lawrence River.  Kris keeps a printed copy of this picture in his tool chest.

 *Water!  I took my then fiancee on a lunch cruise on the St. Lawrence River for his birthday (in July).  The portion on the boat with the lunch service and tables was enclosed in glass, almost a big screenhouse, and for over an hour, the AC was out of commission!  It was sooo hot while we ate, everyone was sweating!  What a great time!!

*Sigh*  A happy outing to the Palmyra temple!  I just had my hair done that day.  I LOVED those days!!  Doesn't everyone love to get their hair done?!  These days it's a pretty rare treat, in fact, I usually con my sister in law into coloring my hair when I see her...thanks Melodie!

One of the same trips to the St. Lawrence River, out on a dock.

Kristoffer asked me the other night after the kids were in bed what I did before we had children...before we got married.  Exfoliate.  I told him I used to exfoliate, and paint my toe nails pink, and exercise.  It was fabulous!  And looking at these pictures...I remember it all so clearly!  There are days now when I don't get a shower until, well, I don't get a shower, and I have sweatpants and a T-shirt stained with throw up on all day.  My hair is pulled into a messy bun and I have no make-up on.  I told Kristoffer this morning that I think parenthood must be like running a marathon, it's terribly exhausting and painful, with intermittent moments of awesome pleasure.  The true ecstasy must come at the "finish line", when it all really seems worth it, although, I'm not sure there is a finish line?  

I am so happy and blessed to be a mother, and I wouldn't want things any other way.  The throw up stains on my pajama T-shirt are merely badges of honor, but I sure do miss being able to exfoliate from time to time.

Up next?  Meet Kristoffer!

Presentation Posting Prep-Work

 I have been looking over photos to use in my special presentation post here shortly, and I am so excited, I am about to flip my lid!  These past 45 minutes have been sheer pleasure for me as I got to see the people Kristoffer and I 'used' to be.  One would think I would be super depressed...but I was able to see the pictures and remember the moments attached to them.  I know it won't be as exciting for you, but I will do my very best to describe the circumstances surrounding the picture I post and some other fun tidbits, so hold out a little longer!  I can't wait myself!!  Here is a little sneak peek:

Haha, I KNOW!!!  So, stay tuned my good readers, you will shortly be getting a look into who the people in these pictures are!

Thanks for being my grapes, mama.

Today we took a lovely drive to Tillamook (yes, the cheese!) and toured the cheese factory!  It was perfect for a rainy, blustery day and Marin was surprisingly content in the car and happy in the factory, Owen of course was perfectly happy...so long as he was fed.  As we were driving and Marin was eating her grapes, we had an interesting conversation:

Marin:  Thank you mama.

Me:  For what honey?

Kris:  Marin, say thank you for being my mama, mama!

Marin:  Thank you for being my grapes, mama....

Daddy had Marin all turned around, poor thing.  We had a laugh or two out of it though, she's so sweet.

And of course, I forgot the camera.  These days I am terrible at remembering that blasted camera!  So, I have one picture of each of our lovely children:

Marin last Saturday with daddy at the roller skating rink.  Doesn't she look like a little GIRL!  I mean, instead of a toddler?!  Growing up fast!

And sweet little Owen snuggling with daddy.  Oh my what a little snuggler he is, I just LOVE it!  He was 5 weeks old on Wednesday and weighed in this morning at 11 pounds on the money!  What a hungry hungry boy!  This past week he gained a total of about 9oz.  He is really filling out and has some DE-licious chubb on his thighs.  Marin really never had that, she always had...athletes legs, from the second she came out to now, she has always had toned, lovely legs.  

AND.....Stay tuned to our blog!  Coming soon I will be posting a 

Lyman Special Presentation:  Where It All Began.

*A short mini-series that takes you back to where it all started...BEFORE the children!  Before Kristoffer and Samantha Lyman were even married...yes, a rare photo glimpse into our thin and beautiful 'non-old-and-falling-over-from-sleep-deprivation' days.  

-A bittersweet fairy-tale-romance-drama with splashes of comedic interlude and brow-furrowing, lip-squishing mushy moments.

Aaaaa, Bbbbb, ........?

Marin and I have recently been working on recognizing letters, and while she has been able to sing her ABC's for over a year now, learning what the letters look like is a different story!  The other day I pointed to 'A' and said "Aaaa".  Then 'B'...and I said "beee".  Then I paused and looked at Marin expectantly and waited for her to say 'C'.  She paused and looked at the letter, and looked back at me and said: "Twelve.".  We have a ways to go.

Yesterday she was playing with some special play-dough Grandma and Grandpa gave her, it has impressions in each lid she can press the dough into and make shapes, she likes to make animal shapes and show mommy.

 Is this not the CUTEST little face?!  She is such a sweet girl.  We have to have her say 'happy' instead of 'cheese' when we take pictures, we more of a smile that way ;)

Last night in the car, she say's; "I'm a big sister, mama, thank you!".  What a sweetie, she loves her little brother.  And speaking of little brother, I did a weight check on him this morning, and he was 10pounds 3ounces!  That little bugger has put on 5 ounces in 2 days!!  What a little piggy!

One Month!

Did I really just say one month?!  My little guy is one month old today??!  My-oh-my where has the month gone?  We are just loving our little man, boy what a sweet baby he is.  Here are some of his highlites from the month:

*SUCH a snuggler, and I have to say, I am totally down with this.  I LOVE my snuggly boy.  Marin NEVER snuggled and I really missed out, but he likes nothing better than to be cuddled up on your chest for a snooze, so sweet!

*Nighttime is improving.  We have made him a super cushy bed and have learned that he likes his blue fuzzy blanket loosely wrapped around him, and under his head.  By the time he falls asleep around 11 or midnight, he'll sleep until 4am, but then it's hourly feeds after that until he's up at 7ish :/

*He's learning to enjoy bathtime.

*What a sweet little smile he has!  Awww, I love smiles from my little boy.

*Weight check!  Last night he weighed in at 9pounds 14ounces, just 2 ounces shy of 10 pounds.  Hungry much?

*He is a CHAMPION belcher/pooper/tooter.  Oh my goodness, this kid can put the best of the best to SHAME!  We aren't quite sure which side of the family this little gift came from...perhaps it's just a boy thing?

And here's our young man flopped over the side of the boppy for a nap. 

 Marin helping me vaccum the other night.

Nobody Does it Better....Than Dad

Dad's are just wired to play.  And I...think it's wonderful!  I am horrible at "playing".  My sweet girl often wants to play and pretend and do all the normal 2 year old things, and I'm stumped!  "What am I supposed to do?!", I often ask myself.  With babies it's fairly easy...you understand their basic needs and address it, end of story.  But playtime?  I'm hopelessly lost.  Lucky for me (more-so Marin), I have a great husband that LOVES to play and more importantly, knows HOW to play.  His idea on babies, however?  "What do you DO with it?".  I'm so glad we even out the playing field around here. 

This is a video of Marin and Daddy playing "Rocket Ships".  They cut some pieces of scrap wood and decorated them with screws, nails, etc, and then finished them off with a nice "marker" job.  Then..., well, you'll see:

I KNOW!  Here's Marin showing off one of her rocket ships.  Poor girl is a terrible poser for the camera, mommy will work on that with her ;)

And, last night before she went to bed.  She likes to make a "Big Marble Track" with daddy, consisting of blankets draped over the couch with little cups at the bottom she tries to hit with the marbles.

Marin just loves her daddy!