Return of the Belly Shots

These, I have to admit were done rather hastily. Kevin was the photographer this time, and the top picture was one he took when I didn't know he was taking my picture. I was adjusting my wedding ring. But, of the six or so photos he took, I think it shows my belly size the best. And, you can tell how much whiter my tummy is than my arms -- we're coming off a really hot summer. I don't really tan much, but my tummy is whiter than the driven snow!

This second photo is one that I actually turned into a poster for Ginny's new room. There was a website having a special deal that expired tomorrow, so I had to take some pictures tonight and submit them to this website to get my screamin' deal. I ordered a 20"x13" poster for Ginny's room that has a pretty quote under this picture of my belly, saying something like, "Ah... Life grows lovely when you're around." I also got a cute, whimsical growth chart for Mikey's new room, which is personalized with a cute photo of him and his name. These two items would have cost me $43 at full price, but I got them for $3! Add $13.30 for shipping, and it still only averages out to just over $8 per item. I'm excited for them to arrive in the mail.

On a side note, yes I do have half an outie belly button. Kevin thinks it's funny. Just the top half sticks out. That is one difference with this pregnancy. My belly button is funny-looking! And, Ginny doesn't get the hiccups nearly as often as Mikey did. She has only had them three times that I can remember. Mikey would get them three times a day, it seemed. Ginny's head is also lower than Mikey's ever was before labor; I am having to pee way more often this last trimester than I did with Mikey. She is very active and can stretch out to strange places, like the under side of my ribs or the inner edges of my iliac crests (the curved upper portion of the hip bones). We are so excited to meet this sweet little girl! I keep telling people I have 6 weeks left; I think I'll keep saying that for the next two weeks so that I cover the chance of going past my due date. However, I will say that I have a lot more Braxton-Hicks (pre-labor "warm-up" contractions) with Ginny than I ever did with Mikey. I didn't get any with him until a week or so before he was born. I'm already having them with Ginny. Maybe she'll grace us with her presence a little sooner than we expect. Just in case, I'm going to start getting my birth supplies ready! Hooray for our baby girl! We LOVE YOU.

Nesting and Gardening

Hooray! I finished another project in Mikey's new bedroom. These are the wall-mounted fabric book slings I found online and wanted to copy. A big shout-out to my friend Carol for helping me measure, level, and mount the curtain rod brackets for these three shelves. Had I done that by myself, it would have taken weeks (because I would have kept putting it off). And thanks also to Kevin for hand-screwing the screws into the studs when they were too hard for our drill and my weak arms to finish off. Carol helped me pick out the three fabrics two Saturdays ago when she was staying with me. We got fabrics with colors that coordinated with the stripes on Mikey's drawers (see them on the white bookshelf?). The sewing was the easy part... the pinning and ironing in between was annoying. I've never liked doing that very much! I think they turned out adorable, don't you?

The top two pictures in the collage are close-ups of the brackets and dowels so you can see how they're made. In the bottom two pictures, I did my best to get the whole wall in the shot, but you can see that Mikey's toddler bed is on the floor, not far from the wall. Just on the other side of his toddler bed (outside the pictured area) is a giant queen-sized loft bed frame. I haven't rearranged the furniture since my mom left, and the queen mattress is still on the floor. So I didn't have much room to stand and take the photo. The plan is to slide Mikey's bed on the floor underneath the loft bed, and the queen mattress would of course go on top of the loft bed frame. We're trying to figure out a way to make it more guest-friendly and accessible for grandparents when they come to visit. So, until we get that done, I can't take a picture of the whole room finished.

Here is what we worked on this Sunday. We picked tons of fresh produce from our garden! All the tomatoes in the top left picture are from our garden. This is after they had their skins removed for salsa-making. We have dozens more tomatoes and oodles more peppers where those came from... Just waiting for them to ripen and we will be making a LOT of salsa this summer and fall! The strawberries in the top right were picked fresh. We get about that many ripe ones every other day. They are delicious, and SO sweet compared to store-bought. The bottom left picture is of all the peppers from our garden: one red, one green, and one ivory bell pepper, along with several fresno chilis and anaheim peppers. Kevin roasted the anaheims on the BBQ and skinned them before we chopped everything up in the food processor for the salsa. This batch of salsa had a lot more kick than our first batch. The fresno chilis really add spice! And the final picture is our beautiful dinner of fried catfish (and trout from a previous fishing excursion), steamed veggies, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. We were so proud of ourselves for having so many side dishes... we usually eat like college kids and just have a main dish with nothing on the side. And just so you know, this was my first time eating catfish and I REALLY enjoyed it! Kevin caught some yummy morsels for us from the Colorado River, and the flavor of the fish was so mild. The way he fried and seasoned them was perfect. I don't think I've enjoyed fish that much in a long time! Thanks, Hubby!

Here's Mikey looking at dinner before it got filleted and fried. Mikey normally eats fish really well, but we weren't able to interest him in the catfish last night. I think it was because he was still napping when it was hot and fresh. He took a long, late nap after church and wasn't too interested in eating when he woke up at 6 PM. He liked looking at the fish before they were cut up, and he kept pointing at them and talking in his cute jibberish language.

One more shot, just for fun. Sometimes when I tell Mikey that we are going outside, I say "Go find your shoes!" And more often than not, he finds some of mine or Kevin's and puts them on. Cute little guy. We love him. P.S. He turns 18 months in a few days, and he is now officially in nursery! What a happy time for Mom and Dad.

Summer Travels

It has been a busy month for the Lewis family! When I finally got around to downloading my pictures from my digital camera, there were 175. So, it took me a while to put these ones on the blog and I accidentally started uploading them backwards... and a bunch of others randomly shuffled after I loaded them, so pardon the skipping around. We're going to take a trip back through time, but only a few weeks.


Let's start with last week, when we finally got home after our long trip(s). Mikey was playing outside with his daddy and got in the mud. He had a really funny Hitler mustache, and Kevin caught this priceless photo:

We made our first batch of homemade salsa from the tomatoes and peppers from our garden! We grew all of these pictured below, and added some store-bought cilantro, lemon and lime juice, and one onion. We have a lot more tomatoes and peppers that will be getting ripe in the next weeks or months so we're hoping to make a huge batch of salsa and can it. The first batch tasted great, but was very mild since we didn't have any of our hottest peppers ripe yet.

Here is a belly shot, since I haven't done one for a while. This is Ginny at 31 weeks and a few days; she is a mover and a shaker! One of the biggest differences between this pregnancy and Mikey's is that I can feel my bones shifting a lot more. My hips/pelvis can be really sore when I first get up in the morning, but it usually doesn't bother me too much throughout the rest of the day. Another difference is that I don't think Ginny has had hiccups yet, but Mikey used to get them all the time in the womb, sometimes multiple times a day! I have been nesting big time to get ready for Ginny and I have most of her wardrobe (from newborn to 2 years) already organized, washed, and put in her drawers and hanging in her closet. I also am making some changes to the guest room which will become Mikey's room once the baby comes. I'll take pictures when I get them done.


Mikey dancing with Grandma Shawn at my cousin Annie's wedding reception. That's my cousin Kathryn picking her nose in the background... j/k Kathryn! ;)


Beautiful table centerpieces/decor by my cousins Krista and Lauren. You girls are so chic.


This was the floral arrangement and centerpiece on the food table. I didn't take any pictures until it had started to rain and they took all the food inside. Oops.


This was an awesome hand-built backdrop for the receiving line. It was made from some rustic looking thick tree branches, hand-dyed fabric, and hanging tea lights inside mason jars. Very creative and artsy, I say. Again, props to Krista and Lauren, and Justin (their brother) for the construction thereof. My picture doesn't really do it justice. I waited too long and it was getting dark.

This shows the big tent that the dance floor was built under, and the hanging lanterns inside. The reception was held in the bride's parents' back yard. My aunt Nicea and uncle Fred did a fabulous job with grooming their house and yard to get ready for the event. Then again, their house and yard are always beautiful, so it was nothing new. :)


Annie and Ben had a short ring ceremony in the back yard before the reception so people who weren't able to attend the temple marriage could take part. It was sweet. They are such a cute couple!


This was the dance floor before the music even got going... the kids loved to run around on it, and Mikey was no exception. We got a cute video of him navigating the dance floor and narrowly escaping collisions with the bigger, faster kids.

One of my personal favorite things about this reception: No wedding cake, and instead -- COLDSTONE ice cream! This is Annie and Ben feeding each other ice cream instead of cutting the cake.


Another favorite thing of mine: the a capella version of "For the Longest Time" that Ben (the groom) sang to his bride. Backup singers included Annie's dad, Fred, and a father-in-law of Ben's brother... not sure who the third backup singer was. I loved that Ben was so nervous to sing to her, but he did a great job and we could tell he meant what he was singing.



Some family shots outside the temple as we waited for the couple to come out. I didn't get any pictures of the married couple, though. Oops. Here are my brothers Duncan and Loren, my mom and myself.


This is my lovely grandma Sue with three of her daughters and one daughter-in-law. From left to right, Nicea, Shawn, Coy, and Teresa. I think Nicea had to pick something from her fingernail.


My grandma sitting with all the kids in the family that were there for the weekend. It was a mini family reunion, with some families coming from as far as Texas, California, and Pennsylvania! It was so fun to see all the kids playing together. This is in the back yard with the wedding tent still up, the day after the reception.


Another picture from outside the temple: Bill, Andrea, Loren, me and Kathryn. Andrea and Kathryn are my cousins from Sacramento that we got to see a lot growing up. They are freaking awesome and really great friends of mine -- and Bill is pretty cool too, since he married Andrea.


Me with my mama, Aunt Coy, and Grandma.

The cute fishing pond that my grandma organized for the kids. Kathryn and Grace (the eldest great grandchild of Sue, daughter of Justin and Kitti) were behind the curtain attaching prizes to the fishing pole for the kids.



Mikey also hit the kiddie pool while hanging out at Nicea's on a non-wedding day. Mikey and I were in Utah the whole week leading up to the wedding weekend, staying in West Jordan with Grandma and Grandpa Lewis. We would drive down to Orem for a few hours each day to hang out with whoever was spending time at Nicea's house.


More pictures of the fishing pond. This was one of my cousin Abby's kids (Abby is a younger sister to bride Annie) catching a prize. Her name is Perry. She is adorable!


More shots of the kids hanging out under the reception tent in the back yard. The one making the funny face is P.J., my cousin Lauren's step-son. He is a hoot. We really like his fun personality, and he knows more about sports than many adults do. In the bottom right corner is my cousin Brian's son Peter, who is just two weeks apart from Mikey in age. This was the first time they had met each other, and it was fun to see them together.


This picture shows little Autumn (my cousin Jana's daughter) fishing and Kathryn and Grace hooking a prize for her. You can even see Kevin in the white shirt and hat behind Autumn. It's proof that he was actually there! I didn't get hardly any pictures of him at the wedding festivities. :(


Mikey swimming in his clothes. I didn't have a swim diaper for him, so we were risking it with him naked under his shorts. He did pee once on the sidewalk. It was funny to watch. The hat he's wearing is getting too small, but I keep forgetting to get a bigger one for him! Sorry, Mikey.

The weekend before Annie's wedding, we spent some time at this beautiful place in Idaho. It's called Red Fish Lake. It is a Lewis family tradition, and we were able to go for the first time since Kevin and I have been married. We were camping, staying in a tent (but sleeping on an air mattress!) near this beautiful lake. It was Mikey's first time camping in a tent and he did awesome. He LOVES the outdoors. Isn't it awesome to see a beautiful shoreline like this, with a mountain backdrop???


Another shot of the shoreline at Red Fish Lake. It is in the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho, near Stanley and Sun Valley. We spent a very short two days here, and I didn't even get to see this beach until the morning we were leaving. I walked down here and snapped a few pictures before we took off back to Utah.


The weather was so nice when we were there! It didn't get too hot during the days 80s to low 90s I think, and not too cold at nights either, upper 20s to mid 30s? I mean, look at that clear blue sky!


Mikey loves to play in the front seats of our car whenever he gets the chance. I accidentally put this picture in with his eyes closed, but I didn't feel like changing it out, since this is a ridiculously long blog post. He loves to push the hazard lights button, and click the overhead reading lights on and off.


This is in Vern and Cheryl Lewis's back yard. I left Mikey outside for a minute while I went inside to get my camera, and when I came back, I found him on top of this patio table! This guy is getting a little bit too good at climbing.

One of my favorite pics from the camping trip: Kevin and I were packing up the car and getting ready to leave, both too busy to keep a close eye on Mikey. I didn't know where he ran off, and when I looked in the tent, I found him doing this! I guess he was hungry. He took that box of cereal into the tent, opened it by himself, and started chowing down. Good to know he can thrive on his own if anything ever happens to his parents!



This is a cute jacket I just found for Mikey at a garage sale. I bought it for $1.00. He was wearing this one morning when it was still chilly outside. He had just woken up, as you can see by the cute wrinkles under his eyes.


He loved just walking around the campsites and exploring. There is no end to this child's curiosity!

Another pretty view -- this was what we saw when we were driving to a trailhead to do a leisurely family hike.

Mikey, after the hike, passed out in the back seat. He was such a good boy, but had to skip his nap in order to go on the hike. He wouldn't sleep while we were carrying him outside and he was so tired!

It was a hot day that day, in the low 90s I think. At the end of the hike, there was a shallow streambed that I let Mikey play in while the last of the hikers straggled in. He LOVES the water, and it felt especially good for him since we had been hiking in the hot sun for a few hours.

I keep forgetting to buy him a bigger hat... This is Mikey examining one of the pebbles. He is so fun to watch, and I always wonder what's going on in that brain of his.

Here I am toward the end of the hike. As you can see, there was not much to look at while we were walking.

Mikey rode part of the way in a backpack carrier we borrowed from Scott's family (ours wouldn't fit in our car when we packed in GJ.) and part of the way on his daddy's shoulders.

These pictures from the hike are all backwards. Sorry. This is a little bit earlier on, just after we had stopped for a potty break. I liked the look of little Mikey from behind, riding on Kevin's shoulders. They make a cute pair, don't you think?

Here's a little family photo from the beginning of the hike. It was really a glorious day, and such pretty surroundings! I can't wait to go back, and hopefully spend more time there next time.

Kevypoo steals a kiss...

I just wanted to chronicle some of our driving time on this trip. The Redfish Lake trip involved a total of 24 hours of driving (for Kevin, since he had to come from GJ and go all the way back to GJ) and a little over 48 hours of camping/vacation time. Whew. We are hoping not to have to make the trip so short again. It was a bad ratio of driving to relaxing.

I don't think the rest of these pictures need captions. These were some pictures of what you see as you're driving up to the campground. The rest are just more pictures of the camping, on the first day we woke up in Red Fish. We arrived at 1 AM so we didn't get to see these beautiful mountains until the next morning. All in all, it was a fabulous two weeks, but we are glad to be home and settled in again. One thing I didn't get pictures of was the day Kevin and I got to go fly fishing together, as a date. We left Mikey with his grandparents, who watched him for probably 6 hours or so, and took him on his first boating trip! There are some really cute pictures of Mikey in his life jacket that Cheryl has on her camera. I'll have to see if I can get a hold of those.

"Bye, bye!" Says Mikey. Until the next blog post. "Hope all of you have had as much fun this summer as I have." :)