Halfway, Baby!

I am officially halfway through this pregnancy, or 20 weeks. For sure this pregnancy is going much quicker than the first. We had our ultrasound appointment on Friday to determine the sex of the baby. Here is a poll of what people guessed, at least those I made guess:
myself- boy
Paul- girl
my sister Tarja- girl
my sister Sanni- girl
my brother Teem- boy
my mom- boy
Reina- girl
Paul's mom- girl
Paul's brother Matt- boy
Paul's brother Steve- boy
my dad- boy
my stepmom Connie Jo- boy

So to make it perfectly clear what we are having, here is the ultrasound picture:

 Okay, you can't tell from this picture, so maybe the next one.

I wouldn't have known, unless they specifically pointed out the "turtle" which is just to the right of the word "boy" in the middle of the page. Paul easily picked it out before we were supposed to know. But since he is used to looking at x-rays, he's been trained better to look at scans of the body.

Yep, so we're having a boy. Not quite sure what to think, frankly. I don't know much about boys. I have one brother and he played Barbie's with us. Although he chose the "poor" Barbie with ragged clothes and he'd swap heads with one of the baby heads, so his doll had the same size head as her chest! But we did get to use his Tonka trucks as the perfect size Barbie cars.
I'm not worried about the first few years as all babies and toddlers pretty much want the same things: mama's breast, lots of loves, and colorful toys. I learned a lot about boys when I married Paul. I had no clue how dirty and simple boys were. I'm not putting you males down at all since I enjoyed hanging out with boys much more than girls growing up, but sometimes I just don't want to know what you are thinking or doing. I'll have to put my learning britches on and saddle up for a wild ride! I am of course thrilled that we will be having a baby boy. I just don't know if I will keep up with the male brain and male body. I am even more excited for Paul to have a little man in the house. Now things can be even...almost.
Here's a few pregnancy pics for my journaling purposes:

17 weeks

19 weeks

My little Albert Einstein

So most of you know that I think my daughter is a genius...okay, not a genius but pretty dang smart. So I'm beginning to see the resemblence with none other than Albert Einstein...check out that hair! Probably the only good thing about not having a lot of hair is that it can do this!

Summer 2011

To keep up with our family blog, I'd better post a few pictures to reminisce about this summer's happenings. I won't go into detail as most families do fun things and thought I'd just show mostly pictures as they speak for themselves. Our summer didn't really start until July when we took our annual family trip to Loon Lake where we hang out with my brother and sisters and our kids, and Mummi and Papa Will. We always enjoy this time to relax, let the kids get dirty in the sand and take the majority of their baths in the lake.

Cousins starting top left: Miia, Reagan, Luukas, Kamryn, & Kaija
bottom left: Finn, Heleena, Brielle, Riley, Reina, Ethan, Ashton

2 cuties!

Richard, Eric, & Paul

NO big waves for me since I am preggers, but us little girls had fun!

Cousins Reagan, Kaija, & Kamryn

Cousins Ashton, Luukas, Riley, Ethan, & Finn

SSSSSS'mores!

This trip was great for "the guys" as they had great luck with fishing! I'm sure they could tell you exactly how many fish they got, what types, and how big they were, but all I know is there was plenty of fish to take home and it was probably some of the best fish I've ever had! I think some of the varieties were Walleye, Perch, and Kokanee Salmon. I'm amazed at how long they can fish and not get completely bored...although they probably can't imagine I could dance just as long.

Even the kids got in on the fishing

Reina was at a great age this year, just about 2 1/2. She was able to hang out with all of the girls since she can carry a decent conversation with anyone now. Reina still amazes me how well she can speak in clear and usually complete sentences. The weather was great so we got to spend lots of time outdoors! Our trip was over the week of the 4th of July so fireworks were big and grand. Uncle Teem and Uncle Eric outdid themselves with very fancy fireworks. The kids loved them, but I think Teem and Eric loved them a little more.
One of the highlights from our trip was a unique experience biking the Hiawatha Trail. This was original a route for the Hiawatha Train. It was nestled nicely between the beautiful, green hills in upper Idaho. This was a special trip since my dad grew up in Idaho and has an "O" scale of the Hiawatha train. Although the trail was 17 miles long, it was downhill so everyone got to enjoy the ride, even the little bikers.

This cave was 2 miles long! We needed lots of flashlights! P.S. Reina was NOT scared of the dark.

This is how Reina avoids accidents on trips!

Some new things this year for Loon Lake trip included:
Baby Finn Scarborough (born in March)

Baby Brielle Davies (Born in April)

Pregnant me (Due January 2012)
No diapers for me to change (except pull-up at night)
Us adult girls Zumba dancing on the porch (it's the "in thing" din'tchya know?)
We always look forward to this vacation!

Other doings this summer:
I have been working like a mad dog with my job. Summer is always busy for kids wanting to get their licenses. Usually I teach two classes and take most of August off, but since I didn't have plans I thought I could handle three classes. Still after 6 years I have not had a single car accident with a student (yes, I'm knocking on wood)! I recently was forced out of my classroom I've had the past few years since they are tearing down a wall. I will miss that classroom as I got accustomed to it's idiosyncrasies. Yet I really miss the classroom I had before that, so I'll adapt as usual. It's been hard to fit in all the other things I like to do every summer like berry picking, but I still managed to fill a shelf in the freezer of blueberries. A little disappointed I didn't have time for the other berries. Always next year! We do eat a ton of them though between the 3 of us.

Like mother like daughter...straight from the bucket!

My sister Tarja and her kids Reagan, Kamryn and Ethan are here for the summer taking care of the daycare while my mom is in Finland. This has been a real treat for Reina as she gets to know her cousins and vice verse. I am still trying to figure out a way for them to move here from California- we need them!

As Paul has just begun at Yoder Chiropractic he is bringing in some new patients as a vendor at the Clark County Fair. He barely moved back home, then we don't see him for 10 days, besides a body at night. We went out to visit him one day. Reina rode her first fair ride and of course the carousel. We also watched a juggler who did a lot more than juggling!

Paul's booth at the Clark County Fair

Both mommy and Reina stopped and stared for a long time...he decided to pose for me.

Cousins and friend got to go except Reina, too short. She cried the whole time they were on the ride.

First fair ride!

Another fun outing this summer was the Farmer's Market where we got kettle corn, some great produce in which I made homemade onion rings...probably so bad but so good!

Like it was picked out of the garden!

8 Years

I have been married to my best friend and favorite man in the world for 8 years! We started dating 12 years ago as seniors in high school. Yes, we were high school sweethearts, but we went our separate ways for a few years...Paul we had to grow up a little. Through all of the trials that we have had, we continue to laugh together and totally "get" each other's silly jokes and ideas. I seriously couldn't have asked for a better match. I remember a song Paul wrote me our senior year of high school asking me out to prom. I won't post the song, although I'd really love to, Paul would be terribly embarrassed. Anyway, in the song he said "we go together like pairs of shoes." It is true, you just feel lost without the other and can't get anywhere...comfortably, anyway. I do feel we make a great pair. Paul, you continue to be supportive of anything I want to do. You never say that I "nag" but rather care about your well-being. Thank you for that because I know the "n word" is evil in the husband book and I never want to be the "n word". You are patient with me and continue to love who I am. I love you very much babe and look forward to many more years we can be silly and laugh with each other!

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home?

One huge change in our family dynamics is that Paul is no longer commuting to Tacoma each week. We are so happy to have him home every evening now. It is taking me some getting used to. I was in my "single parent" routine for almost 1 1/2 years and got accustomed to the runnings of our day. Reina has adjusted very quickly...in fact too quickly. Now she is calling out for "Daddy, I need water." "Daddy, read me a book." Of course this has made it easier for me, but what happened to her favorite person in the world? Paul reminds me that I am still her #1, but am I really now? We feel like we are always on vacation now that daddy is home. We are so glad he's home! Since he moved back we have been busy organizing the attic, going through old college stuff that we thought we just had to save, getting rid of old furniture and other clutter. We thought about a garage sale, but realized we'd just rather give it away than try to make a few extra bucks. We turned Reina's room into a big girl room; big bed, pink decor, bedside table, etc., but still have to complete it. I didn't paint the walls because we hope to be moving within the next year, so the blue walls will have to do. But the walls do match the picture I found at Goodwill! We are turning Paul's hobby room (Warhammer room) into the baby's room. Still so much has to be cleared out, walls painted, carpet shampooed, but we feel so much better getting rid of all the clutter we've been holding onto. We're not buying anything so it's taken some refurbishing old furniture, reconstituting and "cheap finds" to put it all together. We don't want more stuff and more expenses to hassle with when we move again.

This process of cleaning and clearing is taking longer than we'd like because Paul has to do a lot of the heavy lifting and he hasn't been home much. He is now working at a new chiropractic office here in Vancouver, just 8 minutes from home! This has been such a blessing! He is an associate at Yoder Chiropractic. He is literally only 3 minutes from where I work so I can pop in after work and get a little pop! Already Paul has been busy at the Hawaiian festival and is out at the Clark County Fair for 10 days. We will see very little of him, but are rooting him on for some good work!
Here are a few pictures of Guinn Chiropractic in Tacoma: