Tummy Time Mat

I made a tummy time mat for Merrick, and this post shows how I made it. :) Here is the final product. You'll need:

*Fabric for the front

*Fabric for the back

*Felt

*Spool of ribbon

*Sewing machine

*Thread (possibly two depending on your colors)

*Pins

*Scissors

*About a hour

The picture to the left shows the pieces you'll have after completing the first steps. First, I ironed the front and back fabrics. The forest theme fabric will be my front, and the orange will be my back. Each fabric has what I'm going to call a pretty side and an ugly side. Put your two fabrics together with the ugly sides touching. Do the corners line up? Some fabrics are wider than others. You want the two fabrics to be the same size, so if you have to trim one down, that's fine. I took one corner and folded it to the opposite corner, then cut the excess fabric off. This left me with two giant squares of fabric that were the same size. 

Next, measure the length and width of your fabric squares. Subtract 6"from each side, and cut your felt to those dimensions. For example, if your blanket is measuring 42" x 39", your felt piece should be 36" x 31". You're leaving a  3" border all the way around because the felt does not need to go to the edges. It's just there to add padding to the middle where baby would spend most of the time. 

Now you're going to work with your back fabric and the felt. In the picture, the ugly side of the back orange fabric is up. Position the felt in the middle so the border is as even as possible. Pin the felt in place. I used 4 pins per side, and placed them about 2-3" inside the felt. The picture on the right is now where you should be after these steps. 

Both my "top" and bobbin thread are the same color orange, and my mat didn't require me to have different colors. If yours does, just take note of switching them out if need be.

Sew the felt to the back fabric. I left about 1/2" to 3/4" seam.

The picture on the left is where you should be.

When you have sewn the felt to the back fabric, it will look like the picture on the left. 

Flip your back fabric over so the pretty side is up. You'll be able to see the outline of the felt from the opposite side. Now, take the pretty side of your front fabric, and place it on top of the pretty side of the back fabric. You want the pretty sides touching because eventually you're going to flip the blanket inside out; the felt will be on the inside.

Decide whether you want to have 4 or 5 ribbon loops on each side of your tummy time mat. I chose 5 loops for this particular mat, and alternated between sage green and white. I didn't measure the length of the ribbon pieces, but try 10". This gives you roughly a 4" loop. You don't want too small of a loop where baby's hand could get snagged. 

Next you want to make sure you have lots of pins. This part is tricky. Identify where you want your ribbons to go. Make a note to put your "end" ribbons no more than 3" from the corners. Take your first ribbon and fold it in half. Lift up the top fabric, and place your folded ribbon so the loop points towards the interior of the mat. The ends should be along the end of the fabric. After this step, you're at the picture on the right.

Fold the top fabric back down, and pin through the fabrics and ribbon. The picture on the right shows my thumb where the pin is and my index finger where the top of the ribbon is. Do this for all your ribbons.

Now you get to spend more time at your sewing machine. The next step is probably the most frustrating part, but only because the fabric often moves around on you. You'll see the top fabric overlap the bottom or vice versa. Once you've sewn that side, I recommend trimming the excess off. 

I like to keep a 3/4" to 1" border, and I sew over the ribbon area three times (forward, reverse, forward again) just make sure they are nice and secure. The picture on the right shows how I went over the pin, which is keeping the ribbon in place, three times. Read the step below before you start sewing.

Remember how I mentioned something about flipping the mat inside out? You'll need to leave a gap in your sewing in order to do this. I left a 4" gap on my fourth side. I sewed all the way around, then sewed over the last ribbon and stopped. I trimmed up the thread, removed the pins, then gently pulled the mat inside-out. Ok, now you can sew.

The picture to the left is where you should be. The mat has been turned inside-out, and the ribbons are on the outside! Notice how fluffy and air-y it looks. We are going to take care of that next.

 

The next step is to sew along the border again. Find the 4" gap that you used to flip the mat inside-out. Use 2 pins to secure the fabric together. Start in the top of the corner and sew along the edge. I lined up the right side of the foot guide to the edge of the mat, and kept the fabric taught. Use pins to keep the fabric tight if you need to. The picture on the left shows you the small seam created. 

Once you have sewn along the edges, I have one more step for you. Divide the mat into thirds, and sew down where a fold would be if you folded it. This will tame that billowy look from earlier. The picture on the right shows the seams on the back. The two vertical ones are at the 1/3 and 2/3 mark that run from top to bottom of the mat.

Now you're done. Here's the final product again!

Sarah's Trip to Jax

On October 10th, Marshall dropped me off at the Austin airport at 6:45am for my 8:30am flight to Dallas. I was flying American Airlines, the company that is having the labor disputes between management and pilots. I was concerned that my flight could be delayed or canceled unexpectedly. Fortunately we took off without any problems and right on time. Dallas though was very foggy and the air traffic controller told our pilots to not land and turn around to San Antonio to refuel. So we fly south, past Austin to San Antonio. We refuel for about 20 minutes then head back to Dallas. By this time I've missed my connecting flight to Jacksonville--great. 

American Airlines had rebooked me to leave on a 12:55pm flight to Miami followed by a connector to Jacksonville. The Miami flight didn't leave until 1:45, and I was thankful I had time to find lunch in the airport and walk around a bit. I arrived in Miami without any further issues, and made it to Jacksonville around 7pm. Grandma, Grandpa, my sister Sherri and her son Kyan were all there to greet me and take me to the house. 

Wednesday night was set aside to just relax. We had goulash for dinner and banana cake for dessert. Delicious! 

Thursday the 11th we headed out for the beach around 11:45am. It was so much fun. Here's a picture of Kyan being still for 2.2 seconds. I chased him around and we played tag. The water was the perfect temperature too. We were there for close to 3 hours. I'm very proud of myself for not getting sun burnt. 

 That night Grandma, Sherri and I played Dominoes. Sherri won by 43 points, just a few tiles, but she enjoyed celebrating how much she kicked our butts.

Here's a picture of Kyan acting like a zombie. Apparently his dad plays zombie shooter games, and someone had gotten Kyan a toy pistol so he could shoot at zombies too. Kyan, who runs at the speed of light, slows down and makes a puckered mouth expression and moves his arms up and down as he comes for you. Hilarious.

 I knew Kyan wouldn't remember me from when he was 15 months old in August 2011 when we were all in Oregon together at my parents' house. I planned ahead and brought with me a box of fruit snacks to help win him over. Success! I even got a few pictures of me holding him. We called the fruit snacks "Scooby Snacks" and he was quite attentive.

 Here's Kyan trying to mimic Grandma making a silly face. I was just so glad to hold him in my lap!

 The pregnant sisters. Sherri was almost 20 weeks and I had just turned 28 weeks. My bump looks kind of pointy, doesn't it? We're both having boys, which will bring the total count to 4 boys (Kyan, Christopher, Merrick and "Blank") and 0 girls. Sherri and Ryan haven't decided on Kyan's little brother's name yet.

 Here we are again. Wow, we are going to look so different next year with little babies in our arms!

On Friday, Sherri, Ryan, who had come down late on Wednesday night, and Kyan drove back to Charlotte. Kyan was crying in his carseat to stay at Nana's house. Awe! After they left I took Grandma to El Potro, a little Mexican buffet place close to the house that we use to frequent when I lived with them. Afterwards we went grocery shopping then back to the house.

That night my dear friend Heather picked me up for dinner. Heather was my first friend in Jacksonville. I met her at Shoney's, and she trained me on how to be a waitress. We've been close ever since. We were meeting her husband Scott at the Cheesecake Factory, but before we went there, we went to my school, the University of North Florida. I wanted to just take a quick zip around the school to see any changes and what it was like now 3.5 years after graduation. It's looking great, and the new buildings look remarkable. I'm so glad I went there. :) After UNF, Heather took me to Target and picked up a three pack of onesies that she had seen before but didn't get. The top one has a turtle on it, and reads "worth the wait." Merrick certainly is!

We arrived at the restaurant and Scott joined us. We had crab ragoon for an appetizer. Poor Heather wasn't feeling well. Her stressful job had been giving her serious headaches, so she was taking it easy, hoping it would go away. I had a hawaiian pizza for dinner. When it came to think about dessert, Scott slipped away and Heather and I looked over the cheesecake menu. Turns out they had made a selection for me! Scott came back to the table with a vanilla bean cheesecake (a whole one, not a slice) with three Bambi figurines on it. I burst into tears! It was so adorable to this pregnant lady. What's even more special is that as a child, I use to have a Bambi toy that was just like the Bambi on the cake, with the butterfly on the tail and everything. Just a few days prior I had been thinking about my favorite toys growing up and where they had gone too. I had specifically recalled my Bambi toy, and here was a replica on the cake. Cue more happy pregnancy tears! I did have a tiny slice of the cheesecake, and brought the rest home to share with my grandparents.

 Here are Heather, me, the flowers Scott brought me and our Bambi cheesecake! I felt so loved. I have my huge "I can't control this" smile on my face.

Heather and Scott, who are big Disney fans, also got Merrick a Bambi toy with moveable head and legs. Again, cue the happy tears. I love it so much! That night I was blubbering to Marshall how wonderful dinner had been and how sweet Heather and Scott were to me and baby. He wished he could have been there.

I don't have any pictures of Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, Grandma, Papa, and I drove to Cassadaga, Florida for psychic readings. I had a reading with Ginny, whose strength was astrology based. I already knew a lot about myself from my astrology chart, but it was a good affirmation and reminder about why I am the way I am. Grandma and Papa saw Ronnie, and were really pleased with their readings. I wanted one too, so I paid for a second one with Ronnie. During an opening prayer, he said that the room got very crowded; I had lots of spirits on the other side watching over me, but only two wanted to talk and come forward. One was my great-grandmother Kestine Marie Fischer Thiele, and the other was my great-aunt Patricia Blatchford, my grandmother's sister. I felt very honored that they wanted me to know that they were watching over me. There was more to the reading, which I took notes on and got to record on my phone, but I won't post about them here. All good stuff though. :)

That night I met up with Dan, who is Marshall's best friend from the Navy. I got a little lost getting to his condo. We went to Friday's for dinner, and got to catch up. We went back to his apartment, and goodness gracious, his cat Potter looks like a baby cougar--he was so big! Dan and I were talking, and I kept imagining Marshall there with us. He and Dan use to spend a lot to time together, just hanging out on the couch, watching movies, talking, playing video games, etc. I decided that I would work some magic in our budget and have Marshall come visit Dan for a weekend as soon as possible. Dan was all for the idea, and we have a tentative plan for him to come to Austin in March during Marshall's spring break. Marshall will be flying to Jax late on Thursday, November 29th and coming home on Sunday, December 2nd. He and Dan will have a great time together.

I had sort of talked to my friend John about picking me up on Sunday morning for breakfast and taking me to the airport, but he never responded to any of my texts while I was in Jax. Oh well, his loss. My grandparents took me to the airport, and I made it back to Austin on time without any issues. I had a fantastic trip with family and away from work. Everyone is so excited for us and our new baby. I feel incredibly blessed and loved.

Nursery

 Here's what our nursery looks like at the moment. This is our second living room. To the right of the Pack 'N Play is the dining table and then the kitchen. The two boxes to the left of the glider are baby's new swing and Rock 'N Play. Marshall wants to hold off putting them together until later so that they don't take up so much room and the cats don't cover them in hair. 

 Do you recall my last post about the Etsy pictures I made? Here are they are, all framed and adorable!

 Here is the forest poster I too picked up at Hobby Lobby. I really love it because the highlights in the water at the bottom match the backgrounds of the bear, owl, and deer pictures. 

 Our little forest corner! I love it so much. Marshall has to rehang the curtain over the window still, but we're in no big hurry yet. 

These little Bambi figurines were a gift from my friend Heather and her husband Scott. I think I might get a shelf or ledge of some kind for the wall and move them there so they won't get knocked over. For the time being, they look adorable on the dresser. 

Super cute DIY from Etsy

3 Etsy prints for $48 plus shipping from Australia.

 Super cute DIY pictures inspired by Etsy.

We are doing a forest theme for Merrick's nursery mainly because we wanted to keep the deer motif going. With under 3 months until show time, I really needed to dive into nursery decorations otherwise baby would probably be staring at a big yellow wall forever. I was browsing online and came across an Etsy page with the most adorable bear, owl, and deer pictures for a nursery. I was turned off my the price, but completely in love with the images. I decided to go to make a plan and head to Hobby Lobby.

I analyzed the patterns and colors of the animals and bought the corresponding paper. I chose the foam letters with a sticky backing, and they turned out great. The originals from Etsy are 11x14, and mine are 8x10, so I couldn't do the large and small fonts. Plus, I didn't find two patterns of letters that I liked together. 

I started Saturday afternoon and finished Sunday morning. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. On Monday Hobby Lobby's picture frames when on sale, so I bought three funky styled ones. I also found a beautiful forest poster that I had matted and framed, and the blue, green, and orange papers bring out the same colors in the poster. I'm so excited, but the only problem is how do I position everything on the big yellow wall? Wah-waw...

No More Texas Summer Heat?!

We may not have to spend another summer here in Texas!

The foundry in Spokane, Washington that we want Marshall to work for after graduation (May 2014) offered him a summer internship for 2013. In fact, they REALLY want him to do the internship. 

We met Ed, the General Manager of Spokane Industries, on April 30th, at a Foundry Education Foundation (FEF) banquet in San Marcos; he sat to Marshall's left at our table. After completing this summer's internship at Denison, Marshall wanted to contact Ed about employment in the future. He left some messages, and apparently Ed got them. He passed Marshall's name along to the Technical Director Rod along with our story of Marshall being in school and us genuinely wanting to move to the northern Idaho area upon graduation. He really liked that Marshall was "stable" and had a family. 

Well, on Tuesday (I think it was), Rod called Marshall but had to leave a voice message. He explained who he was, that Ed had given him Marshall's name, and overall a very inviting message about wanting to see what they could do for Marshall. He left his direct phone number (no more leaving messages with the secretary) too. They were finally able to speak on the phone Friday afternoon, and that conversation definitely set us on a trajectory to change our lives forever. 

The foundry has zero robots, and Rod was quite interested in Marshall's experience with them from his Denison internship plus the extra curricular involvement he's doing with them right now with Dr. Amari on campus. Rod offered him a summer internship for 2013, and Marshall explained that he'd be interested but did come with some baggage with having a wife and baby. Rod's reaction--"Bring them; we love families!" They would set us up with accommodations and wage, and baby and I could go up there too--spend the entire summer together in the area we eventually want to move to. How much more amazing could this get?! 

Marshall's going to send Rod his resume, which I'm sure will make him like Marshall even more considering his military and computing backgrounds. Rod wrapped up the conversation by saying that he definitely wants to keep in touch with Marshall and build a relationship with him through 2014. Wow!

We went out to dinner to celebrate and talk about how this will affect our future. We see nothing but positives here. After Denison, we decided that we would not move there or take any possible job offer from them upon Marshall's graduation. We discussed what to do about next summer, and decided that if Marshall had an opportunity to do an internship out of state, we would have to all go together because I didn't want to be left here alone in Austin to raise baby during a very critical time in his development. Not to mention how lonely Marshall and I were without each other even with visits every 2-3 weekends. The only way all of us could go together would be if we found someone we trusted to house-sit for us, and we couldn't think of any viable solutions. We decided that Marshall would stay here in Austin and hope that a local opportunity for an internship would arise probably in a non-foundry industry. In the very least, we could raise our son together and he would program full time for income. Now, by going to Spokane and getting our expenses paid for plus a wage comparable to what Denison paid him, going up there sounds like the best option. We're going to talk with cousin Mitchell, who is a year younger than me, and who just moved to Austin 3 weeks ago and has been staying with us, if he would consider staying at our house for next summer. 

I texted my Aunt Lorraine, who lives in CDA, that I had good news and wanted to call. Uncle Jet and Grandma Barbara were also on speaker phone when I shared with them the news of the day and that we might be up there for the entire summer next year. We had planned on going there for a week in early August. It's going to be so amazing living closer to them; my heart rejoices because I love them so much, and they will be such a positive influence on Merrick. They were all really excited! Uncle Jet asked how me coming up for the summer would affect my job, and I said that we plan for me to be a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) after baby is born. Then thinking about it more, this would be a really good reason why I couldn't come back to work for Pentagon. My FMLA leave will be from December 21st to mid-March, but then if I went back, it would only be for 2 months and then I would be gone for the summer. 

All this excitement is the reason I'm awake at 5am on a Saturday. Can you blame me? :)

Goodbye Summer 2012

With the last few hours of summer remaining, I'm thinking about how nice the weather has been here in Austin for the last week and am so grateful that fall is officially starting today. Hopefully we'll get more rain, but if I may make a request Mother Nature for it to be during the week so we can do weekend house projects, that would be splendid! 

This weekend we need to come up with a plan to tackle which house projects before baby comes and which ones to do afterwards. We also need to start thinking about more long term house projects in preparation of selling our house in just under 2 years, for example, replacing the bathroom sinks. Good thing I'm awake so early on a Saturday morning so I can get a head start on brainstorming, yes. #sarcasm

Dinner Party

Just a little blurb that we're hosting a little dinner party at our house next Saturday night. I want Marshall to meet some of the friends I made over the summer, and their significant others, so while we're having a vegetarian potluck, we'll play Apples to Apples and probably Cranium too. :)

This means my house will be clean by 5pm next Saturday, hehehehe. I think today I will put up my fall decorations too.

What's New in the World of Baby Prep?

So far Merrick's stash of essentials for his nursery is coming along nicely. I haven't worked on any "baby stuff" in about three weeks, but I will be taking some time today to do so. Since my first initial haul from Craigslist, we've also found these items. 

I went to pick up the teal Bumbo seat (I have the seat belt repair kit, but haven't installed it yet) from a Craigslist ad, and really hit it off with the mom and her 11-month daughter Chloe. She also gave me a really, really nice play mat with lots of dangling attachments and music box for free, answered a lot of my questions about cloth diapering, and sold me their glider for $20. Quite the find if I do say so myself. The Boppy (u-shaped pillow) and wedge came from another deal where I picked up 4 trash bags full of baby boy clothes for $60 (size 0-3 to 2T). I bought the boppy for an additional $3 and she just gave me the wedge, which will be great for baby to sleep on in the pack 'n play.

We have some clothes for baby now, but it's only about 30% of the stash I want to have. My friend Candice is meeting with a coworker who recently had a son to pick up all the clothes that he's already outgrown for me. Merrick also already has his first leather jacket thanks to Marshall's parents. :) My mom sent him a super soft panda blanket that he will love.

I was asked if we had decided on a color scheme or theme for Merrick's nursery. We've decided with a forest theme so we can stick with greens and cute little boyish animals like deer (a must), owls, bears, foxes, raccoons, moose, etc. One of my tasks for today is to brainstorm some ideas for wall decorations with this theme.

A little over a week ago Marshall and I went to a cloth diapering class at the birthing center because we are interested in cloth diapering for our children, but wanted to get some questions answered first before "diving right in." I think the most challenging aspect will be what seems to be a lengthy washing process. A cold rinse followed by a hot wash, another cold rinse then drying? Something like that... We'll have to buy special detergent too. All of this is very manageable, and well worth the extra time.

When I put my thoughts on paper, this is what they look like. I'm not sold on prefolds. I'm not convinced that the snappy (T-shaped tool to keep the diaper together instead of using pins) would do a good enough job keeping the diaper together on a very active baby. Plus, they look so ancient. I understand that economical benefit of using prefolds, but for some reason my mind is saying 'naye.'

I am interested in the Kissaluvs size 0 fitted diapers though. I'm optimistic with all the positive reviews I've read and seen about this brand. One thing that was mentioned at the CD class was that although the majority of one-size diapers, which are designed to go from newborn to potty-training (7-38 pounds), can fit on a newborn, they are often bulky and probably don't have all the specifically-designed features a cloth diaper made specifically for a newborn (5-15 pounds) do. This thought also has me thinking of pursuing a rental service I recently discovered. 24 newborn Kissaluv diapers for a 3 month period for $100 ($175 but you get $75 back when you return them). They will be used, but I'm confident in good shape and condition. 24 diapers is about a two day supply since I'm told to expect newborns go through  roughly 12 per day. Hopefully we will receive other diapers that we have on our registry, and we can try out those brands on Merrick at the same time as the Kissaluvs, perhaps when he's 10 pounds or so. I really want to avoid buying lots of diapers ahead of time, then finding out they don't fit him very well.

After the Kissaluvs, I want to have pocket diapers. They have a pocket for inserts and extra absorbency. They will dry faster than the All-In-Ones, which don't have a pocket but the inserts sewn into the diaper. I want to get as many fleece inserts as possible as they absorb more than the typically microfiber ones do. The bamboo and hemp ones are also very nice.

I'm also going to be spending time today updating our baby registry, which is not an official registry, but an Amazon Wish List. I like the Wish List because I can include items from different websites. Here it is if you'd like to take a look: Baby R's Wish List.

Our Son--Merrick Rainier

Most important post first, yes? We're having a son! It's been almost 4 weeks since we found out at the anatomy ultrasound. All of his measurements were slightly ahead or right on target. The report did not indicate that he was developing slowly. Although they aren't going to change my due date, if they did, it would be 12-31-12, which I wouldn't mind as my birthday is 12-13. :)

We did our gender reveal with the following pictures the following day.

It took me by complete surprise that we were having a boy instead of a girl. It took me a full week to adjust to the idea of having a little boy in our lives instead of the girl I had been envisioning. I know my family didn't appreciate me being silent on the day of the ultrasound when they were excited to find out the details, but I just wasn't emotionally in control of myself. We'll just leave it at that.

I am now in my 24th week of pregnancy, and by the first week of October I'll reach the third trimester and be 6 months pregnant. Baby will be perfectly healthy by arriving as early as my birthday to the middle of January. Obviously I'd like him sooner rather than later because I am not excited about expelling a 10 pound baby in mid-January, but it will be what it will be.

I'm feeling great, and find so much enjoyment watching my husband's face light up when he feels Merrick kick. My next appointment is on the 28th, and I will be taking the glucose test that morning. I have to drink a sugary drink in 5 minutes, then get my blood drawn one and two hours after. I learned that at the third trimester mark, the metabolism of pregnant women changes, and it is at that time when they would develop gestational diabetes, which is what they are testing for. If I fail the test, I have to be much stricter about my food choices and check my blood sugar regularly. If I pass, all is well.

Back to Team Blue!

I'll be doing some massive blog updates this morning since our internet is back up and working in the mornings. Since July, our internet connectivity has been lousy to say the least. I would wake up at 6am, and have no connection. I would come home at 5pm, and it would be working fine. I had a tech come out in early-August to investigate, and it slightly improved, but we quickly were experiencing the same frustrations as before. The router was would have a blinking orange light when it was not working, and a solid blue light meant we could go online. We did not like being on Team Orange. :(

Yesterday a tech came out and replaced the router with what appears to be an upgraded version, and we've had consistent internet ever since, including this morning! I'm so happy!

Now that I do not have to fear about the internet crashing while I'm posting, get ready for some updates!

Craigslist Booty

I was very successful this past week with obtaining three out of four big items needed for preparing for Baby R:  Pack 'n Play; stroller & carseat travel system; and dresser. I'm still trolling for a glider and ottoman. 

Pack 'n Play is by Graco and is $150 in the stores. The colors are leaf green, light blue, brown and teal. It comes with the diaper changer attachment and napper basket, which can play music and vibrate. Because of how the napper mounts, I don't think I'll be using it very much. My price -- $75!

The dresser has five drawers and is completely made of wood. Some of the knobs need to be tightened, but for $30, this is a major find. 

I really wanted a jogging stroller that has a matching carseat that can snap into it. My friend and I were at Lady Bird Lake one day and saw what I had been envisioning. I was so glad it existed, so then I started looking online. Turns out it is called a 'travel system' when the stroller and carseat come together. I bought a Baby Trend Expedition XLT that at Babies 'R Us is $240. I think Amazon lists it for $169, but I bought it for $155 from a couple whose daughter has outgrown it. The carseat expires in December 2016, so this will probably last us for Baby R1 and Baby R2. :)

Here's my view. Can't wait to see the little baby that will fit in there!

We find out the gender on August 21st, then we can start getting clothes. I already have a few craigslist ads bookmarked for oodles of girls clothes. Once Marshall's home, I want us to research together more about cloth diapering, then that will be the next big purchase. 

Daka, Daka, Daka

 This is the view of Fremont Lake from the cabin balcony. The cabin was started in 1958 and completed in 1965, and is about 10 miles north of Pinedale, Wyoming at 7500 feet. 

 This is a picture of the Windy Range Mountains, and was taken on a little looking point on our way to Elkhart Park where we did a little hiking. Absolutely gorgeous view. 

 This is the little creek we found on our hike in Elkhart Park. It wasn't hidden or anything, but it was just a nice little babbling companion along the trail. The water is amazingly clear and it was quite cold. I love that streams like this still exist, and it makes me want to do everything possible to preserve them so we can take our children to experience them too. 

 Capitan Marshall at the helm! We took the boat out on Fremont Lake, which is pretty big. I even got to steer for a little bit! 

 We stayed at the Dawson family cabin, which was built by Marshall's great-grandfather Elias Dawson and his family. One of the coolest features of the living room is the giant map of the western United States above the fireplace. To the left is a giant buffalo head; to the right is an elk head. 

My little buddy Clark wanted a picture of him and Cabin Moose. :)

We flew to Salt Lake City from Austin, and spent the night with Marshall's cousin Jacob's family in Clearfield, which is about 30 minutes north of the airport. Jake's wife Shelley is a stay-at-home-mom with their three children: Ava, Jackson, and Ethan. Another baby girl is due in November. Jake is a nurse in the oncology department of a nearby hospital. Jacob was one of Marshall's groomsmen in our wedding too. They have a trampoline in the back yard, and Ava and I jumped on it together. :) 

Monday we drove to Newton, Utah, which was 75 minutes from Clearfield. We visited with Bermuda, Marshall's grandmother, and the Anderson clan--Doug, DeeDee, Heather, Annie, and Bonnie. Heather lives in a nearby town and came over for dinner that night. Annie is going to college less than 2 hours away starting this fall. Bonnie is going to be sophomore in high school (I think). Bermuda loves to quilt, and showed me a box of quilts that are reserved just for family. Between quilts and baby afghan blankets, I think we took home nearly a dozen! It was so generous of her to give us so many. :D 

Tuesday we left for the cabin in Wyoming, and it was a 5 hour drive. We got to go through Idaho!

After being up in this area, we both looked at each other and truly committed ourselves to doing everything possible for us to move up this way immediately after Marshall graduates. We loved the weather and the beautiful countryside. Yes, yes, we want to move to Idaho!

Wednesday was Independence Day, and we went for a hike in Elkhart Park, found the boat dock, and watched the fire works in town. Oh yeah, our little rental car Fido, a Fiat 500, got stuck in the dirt. It took 5 locals and a truck to pull us out. Oi! All during our trips back on the dirt roads going up to the cabin, we would see these little chipmunk/prairie gopher guys scamper across the road. I told Marshall they reminded me of the creatures we call Dak Rats back in North Dakota. So, every time we saw one scurry across our path, we would call out, "Daka, daka, daka" at it. It was quite fun. 

Thursday we went out on the boat and kept on relaxing. Friday morning we packed up and headed back to Newton. Saturday around lunch time we left to go to the airport. The flight from SLC to Denver went well, but we had a rain delay in Denver, so we didn't get home to Austin until midnight, then back to our house until 1pm. Our neighbor Beverly watched our cats for us, and they were happy to check out all our luggage. 

We had a fabulous trip and are so enthused about moving to Idaho in 2 years!

*Baby R*

Everybody's wish came true! Marshall and I are going to be parents. Baby R is due the first week of January 2013! After a heartfelt talk in late February, we decided to try for a baby in March, but April ended up being our lucky month. We found out on April 24th, the three year anniversary of my college graduation and our engagement. It was quite a special day.

I told my boss at 6 weeks, which is very early, but I started having morning sickness and feeling emotional. I wanted her to know so she wouldn't be alarmed if all of a sudden I was calling out sick or coworkers came to her with concerns about my behavior. Thankfully I only came in to work late twice and only 30-60 minutes. We told the rest of the family around week 11.

I wasn't afraid of being sick because I knew it was a healthy, expected part of pregnancy, but I did want to understand what my body needed to help me not feel so icky. I learned that if I woke up in the middle of the night, but couldn't fall back asleep within 15 minutes, I needed to eat something or I would throw up. It was small understandings like this that helped make my morning sickness very mild. For about 2 weeks straight I would come home from work every day and take a nap. It was at almost 13 weeks when I started feeling better with my energy. Now I am 16 weeks, and I feel back to normal. :D

We are using a birthing center instead of a hospital for a few reasons. First, financially it is about 25% of a hospital birth. When we decided to try to get pregnant, my health insurance would not cover maternity care, and I didn't want to pay $12,000+ for a natural delivery at a hospital. Second, I was really interested and curious to learn about pregnancy and labor through a holistic approach. Third, the birthing rooms at the center are amazing! I want to use the Art room (below) if it is available when my time comes. The walls are the same color as our front living room, hehehe.

What will happen when I go into labor? I'm sure yet at what point I need to have Marshall drive me to the center. We'll check in, and I pick which room I want to use. I can move around the entire room and give birth anywhere I want to. I'm leaning towards doing a water birth in the big tub at this point. The midwives have some herbal remedies to help take the edge off pain, but there will be no actual medications. After delivery, a nurse will come in and teach Marshall and I how to do Baby Care 101. We'll get to rest and be discharged 8-12 hours after delivery.

What if something goes wrong? If something goes wrong during labor such as I stall out or more severe complications arise, the midwife, Marshall and I will go to a nearby hospital that the center has a close relationship with. The midwife will be with us in the room, but I'm not sure if she will be able to deliver the baby. In the very least, she will be more like a doula or birthing coach. We will still have to pay for the hospital bill, but the good news is that I have health insurance through my work that dramatically reduces the cost to us. I'm not sure how the discharge from the hospital would work, but probably not as quick as the birthing center.

At three days old, we'll get an at-home visit from a nurse/lactation consultant who will make sure baby is feeding probably, answer any questions, check on baby's health, etc. At 6 weeks, we'll go back into the birthing center for a general check-up. They will provide us with a list of pediatricians that their other parents have recommended over time, and then that's the last link to the birthing center.

Leading up to delivery though, the center offers birthing classes during month 7 of one's pregnancy as well as prenatal yoga in the evenings. I'll start doing the yoga in September probably.

I have a routine appointment with a midwife on July 26th. There won't be an ultrasound, probably just more questions, checking blood pressure, and listening to the baby's heartbeat. Then I will get to schedule the 20 week ultrasound! I want to get it on Tuesday, August 21st because Marshall and I already have an 8am dentist appointment together (so I'll be taking off some time from work anyways). If the ultrasound can be that day, I'll request the whole day off and we'll go to lunch and spend the day together. I can't wait to see Marshall's reaction to watching and hearing Baby R. We definitely want to find out the gender, and aren't buying anything until after this ultrasound. Please oh please, Baby R, show us the goods!!

So far I haven't felt any movement, but that's normally the exciting element of week 18. I do have a bump, but my clothes still hide it pretty well. I can't lie on my stomach anymore. I've been sleeping really well lately, which is a vast improvement from the first trimester. I'm itching to go to garage sales and find good deals on baby things, but instead, I'm using the next four weeks to research and brainstorm what really needs to be on our registry.

Let me know if you have any questions about Baby R and I'll be happy to answer them!!