A couple of laughs...made possible by Sam

Last week, as we were driving home from school, Sam (my 5 y/o nanny child) and I heard a Jack Johnson song on the radio. We talked about Jack and his friend Matt Costa who he's singing and playing guitar with. (Yes, we are on a first name basis with them.) Sam asks me to turn up the volume and then says:

"Jack and Matt are really good -- maybe they should try out for American Idol!!!"


Today, while walking through the halls of Children's Hospital on the way to Sam's swimming lesson, Sam starts patting my belly. "Tysha, you're getting a little bit fat" he says. "Well," I say, "the baby is growing bigger and when the baby grows bigger so does my belly." Sam stares at my stomach. "Oh. (pat, pat on my belly again) Sawyer, are you growing bigger and making Tysha's belly fat? Can you hear me? We're going to swimming lessons!"

It's a...

BOY!

The best part of my 31st birthday (today) was having the hour-long look at our little baby boy, Sawyer. Truth be told, he wasn't very cooperative, even though Jacob had a good talk with him last night and asked that he would be. The first 45 minutes he kept his legs together so we couldn't get any glimpse, and with luck, the last few minutes he let us have a tiny peek. So we're 85% sure he's a boy and just going with that! If we have another ultrasound and it says differently, or if he shows up in person as a girl, we'll address that then! Luckily for me, I've been a nanny for 11 years and spent many days with girls and boys and I know that both are tons of fun (though each has differences that are especially fun!) Maybe eventually, we'll have both. But for now we are getting geared up for our baby boy, and SUPER excited about it!




P.S. Check out the super-cute bedding we ordered for him tonight!

Chinese Gender Prediction

So, of course today I have been wondering...hmm...are we going to find out we have a baby boy or a baby girl tomorrow morning? Of course, we'll find out it's one of the two...but I found this funny old wives' tale sort of chart. It's based on the Chinese Lunar Calender for predicting a baby's gender. Apparently they really wanted boys back then (still do!) so they made up a chart to help people predict or plan what they would have. Apparently, it's something like 66% accurate. According to this ancient chart, we will be having a girl. I guess we'll find out how accurate it is for us tomorrow. What about you? If you have kids, would this chart have predicted correctly? I'm curious! You match up the mother's age at conception and the conception month to find the blue or pink symbol. Who knows? But it's kinda fun anyway!

Update: Well, now that we know we're having a BOY - at least for our first baby - the prediction chart was WRONG!!! But it was still kinda fun!!!

The Belly

Recently, I've had a few requests to see how big my belly is--so this post is for all of you who've inquired! So, this coming week will mark the half-way point of our pregnancy. That's 20 weeks of our little baby growing and stretching out my belly. I guess if you consider a baby like a "bun in the oven", then our baby is "half-baked" as of Wednesday! I'm really excited for the ultrasound and also a little nervous. I realize the real reason they're doing it isn't to figure out what color we should paint the nursery, but to make sure everything looks good and healthy and the baby has a complete set of fingers and toes, etc. So I'll keep praying that everything will look great!

Jacob hates it when I say "oh my, look how fat I'm getting!" He corrects me and says "you mean, pregnant -- and you're supposed to, and you look great!" Apparently my belly isn't that big for being almost 5 months pregnant, and a few people have asked where I'm hiding the baby...but I'm sure most of you can tell my belly is getting bigger and I'm pretty sure that any day now it is gonna pop right out there and I'll find myself waddling down the street. At least for now I'm not waddling, so I can't complain. I really shouldn't complain at all!

Anyway...We'll keep you posted on our growing baby in my growing belly!

Celebrating 1 Year on San Juan Island

Today is our 1st Anniversary! We just got back from a little surprise escape that Jacob planned for us on San Juan Island. I have such a wonderful husband - he even arranged with my employers for me to have a couple of days off while he swept me away on the ferry to our little island retreat! We decided to make the most of our one and only anniversary without a little one around. We stayed at a great little Inn at Friday Harbor and spent Thursday, Friday, and most of today exploring the island, resting, relaxing (do all of you love jacuzzi tubs as much as I do?) and doing some fine dining. We loved our little trek, exploring each corner of the island and finding many fun treasures along the way. I guess you could say that kind of sums up our first year together: we have had to trek through some challenging times (for example, my being sick for almost 5 months with mono, my deciding to quit graduate school, experiencing the heartbreak of a miscarriage, Jacob being called to serve in the Bishopric of the singles ward, and finally being anxious yet joyful about being pregnant again and all those hormones...) AND we've had a lot of fun and found many treasures along the way, such as many quiet moments together, Jacob serenading me on his guitar, enjoying the simple things like cooking and eating together, having some great times outdoors this summer on our visits to the Olympic Peninsula and Tofino, BC, enjoying many laughs together...and so much more. This has been an amazing first year and we are looking forward to many many more! Here's to us!!!

Here are a few of our favorite images from our stay on San Juan Island:

A cool sculpture park we found near Roche Harbor.

Mmm...eating out.

Dead Man's Cove - a wild beach.



Lighthouse at Lime Kiln State Park.

A truly pink tree!

Village of Roche Harbor.




Great view from Young Hill, English Camp.


And until our next anniversary...may this second year be as blessed and wonderful as the first!

Baby Kicks!

I found this picture on the internet. Apparently, this is about what a baby looks like at 18 weeks, which is now how far along we are. Getting pretty cute, eh? Well, I must admit that pregnancy is not as fun as I had always dreamed about. Insomnia, yet being incredibly fatigued, aversions to certain foods and smells (including my husband's Lucky cologne and certain brands of toothpaste!) etc. I haven't thrown up once, but I haven't felt myself, either. But now, I realize, I haven't gone to bed at 8 o'clock for the past two weeks. I stayed up all the way to ring in the new year and have had several late nights trying to organize and clear out our 2nd bedroom, which is becoming the nursery. I guess this pregnancy thing is getting better! I am also finally starting to get a little belly - not round yet, but certainly soon enough! The best part of all, is that last week I started feeling our baby kicking and moving around! A week or two before that I felt a few little flutters and wondered if it was the baby or just my imagination, but this week I have felt the little one moving around doing pilates or gymnastics, or whatever, every day! Now that is exciting! And I can hardly wait to see the little one two weeks from today on screen - for my birthday! Hopefully this little baby will cooperate so it's mommy can start calling him/her by his/her real name on my birthday! Yeah for babies in bellies!!!

PS- A big THANKS to Jacob for being so patient with me - even when I cried recently over spilled milkshakes! (now that's a story to be told!)

A Merry Christmas in Oregon

This Christmas, we drove to my parent's home in Bend, Oregon. Jacob and I had a wonderful time playing games, watching movies, visiting with family and with my grandparents, taking long walks in the snow+sunshine, and being festive at our annual Kemp Christmas Eve Party - they even got us to do a couple of duets for the program that evening. We were blessed with snow, and the wonderfully typical sunny skies of Central Oregon. We drove home through a winter wonderland on the Santiam Pass, and even got to stop and spend a little time visiting with some dear old friends. Who could ask for more? We had a wonderful and very blessed Christmas! And now we're ready for the New Year and busy getting ready for our little baby that will be coming in June! That will be the best gift of all this year!