Salt Flats 2010

Here I am at 22 weeks pregnant.

She was not in a smiling mood that day. It took everything we had to get her to even look at the camera. Apparently miles of salt is pretty fascinating for a one year-old.

This one reminds me of a picture my parents have of me. I think she's finally starting to look like her Mommy!

These are just a few of my favorites from our recent family photo session at the salt flats. Daniel's sister took them, and we are so appreciative! I tried my hand at editing for the first time, and these are the ones I've gotten to so far. Not great, definitely no consistent, but not the worst either. The bottom one is my favorite, but I also love the one with me and Daniel in the distance and Lynny in the foreground. We're thinking Christmas cards.

What do you guys think?

We're looking for a bed to put in the kids' room when we finally move Baby George into the crib. (Understand, this is still several months away.) We think we'll just go ahead and get a regular-sized bed for Lynny, cus she's not getting any smaller.

We also understand that Daniel still has 4+ years of school left and we'll probably be in our two-bedroom apartment for awhile. This means we'll probably be having baby #3 here as well. So we're considering getting a bunkbed, for when the time comes. If we're going to make an investment it might as well be a long-term one, right?

With that said, this is what we're looking at: The Kura reversible bed from Ikea. It can start out with a bed on the bottom and even a place to put a canopy on the top (or a tent, like they had on display in the store.) Then, later, it can be flipped to have a bed on the top and a futon on the floor, on the bottom. Room for two kids, right?

We like the idea of this bed because it's not a typical bunk bed that goes up extremely high. When the bed is on top it only comes up to my chest. And for a mom who is extremely wary of heights, this is a comfort. It won't seem to take up as much space in the room, either.

We've also decided that if we do get this bed, we'll paint over the blue (it was actually white in the store) with some of that chalkboard paint and make it into a chalkboard for the kids to write on. Or maybe get some of that metal sheeting and make it into a magnet board. The jury's still out on that, but it will NOT be blue, that's for sure. And we'll stain the pine to match the changing table and crib/toddler bed already in the room.

So here's what I'm asking: what do you think? Should we just go ahead and get a cheaper bunkbed? Or should we just get a small twin bed and bag the whole bunkbed idea? Any of you out there ever had two, potentially three, kids in one bedroom?

Day One: Potty Training

Well, our first day of potty training didn't go quite like we planned. When planning to start yesterday, I had forgotten I also had my midwife appointment that day. That meant I would have to take Daniel to work (he actually ended up catching a ride with our neighbor--thanks Randy!), and then go back and pick him up and take him to class in Salt Lake. And then I would have to find a way to spend two and half hours while he was in class, so I could pick him up and take him to his other class in Taylorsville. All so I could have the car to take to my appoinment. None of this was really considered until the night before, obviously. So much for my plans to stay home for a few weeks until she's got a good foundation!
So Daniel suggested we do a "soft start" to potty training. We would have Lynny in undies while we were home, but put a diaper back on her for the out and about part. Sounded ok to me. And it worked. We only had one accident the whole day, but a large part of the day was spent in diapers, I'll admit.

Because we happened to be out and about yesterday, though, Daniel invited us to join him at the Utah Stat Fair, where he was driving a group of students for a field trip. I caved, and rather than run home after my appointment to work on potty training, we went. And I'm glad we did. Lynny had SO much fun. She loves animals, more than she loves Mommy and Daddy I think. The whole time she was waving and giggling, and saying "What's that?!" or "Hiiii." She was in heaven. It made me so happy to see her having so much fun.

My midwife appointment was pretty exciting too. I'm at the point where they can measure me with a tape measurer to see how far along I am. When my midwife measured me yesterday, we were both a little surprised. I'm measuring at 27 weeks! That's almost a month ahead of where my due date puts me. We double checked my weight to make sure I hadn't packed on some extra pounds during my vacation, which could influence the measurement a little, but I've only gained seven pounds during my entire pregnancy. The only other contributing factor could be that I'm carrying extra high, or something. But even with that detail, my midwife still said she wouldn't be surprised if I deliver sooner than we thought. We didn't adjust my due date--just in case--but we'll see. Maybe we'll make the tax cutoff date after all!

And one more tiny piece of news: I finally have a calling. I am the second counselor in the Young Women's Presidency. I am SO, SO, SO excited. This is honestly the calling I've wanted since I got married. I love working with young women, and being over the beehives is my favorite. I'm so pumped. I really hope I can contribute, and I really hope they like me. Honestly, though, I'll miss being in Relief Society.

Potty Training

Next week marks the beginning of Lynny's potty training. We're going to introduce her new potty seat, let her flush the toilet, practice going pee pee in the potty some more (she's already done it a few times), and then work into "big-girl" panties. I've done a lot of research on potty training, and starting early sounds like it will probably work for us. (Hopefully! If we can have Lynny out of diapers by the time Baby George comes along, the better for us!)
What I'm looking for is any advice from you potty training veteran moms and dads. Any tried-and-true methods or tricks you've found? How about supplies? How many pairs of panties should I get? What about potty training when you're out and about, with public restrooms and such? Share your knowledge!

A fun-filled week at the beach

We are currently visiting my family in Virginia, and we just returned from a week at the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I know a lot of my Utah friends are unfamiliar with how glorious the Outer Banks are, and there's frankly no describing it. The entire visit we were on an island, with no where special to be and no one in particular to see. We were on our own time, and it was amazing.
Although I've been a few times with my family before, we've never been without our Cowdery cousins, so this was a little different. It was just us Meppens--with our spouses and children, of course. My Grandma Lee also flew out from Boise to join us for the week. My parents got a beach house for the entire week and it was just a matter of walking 100 yards to get to the gorgeous, clear water and rolling waves. We stayed in an area called Corolla (pronounced by locals--all 500 of them--as "Crilla") where we've never stayed before. It wasn't crowded at all, and there are stretches of beach there are only accessible by 4x4 driving. It's also known for it's wild horses, who are supposedly descendants from the horses who swam ashore from several Spanish shipwrecks. Daniel and I went out into the uninhabited areas and actually found a small group of them! It was amazing!
One other great thing from the week was when my Dad took my Daniel, my brother, and one of my sisters to go crabbing. They caught a ton with just some string, a net, and chicken pieces! We bought some fresh shrimp, fingerling potatoes, and corn on the cob to go with them and made our own low-country boil for lunch! It was delicious, and so fun to sit around and shell our own crabs that were caught that same morning!
Of course we got TONS of pictures from the trip, which I've included below. I hope you enjoy them! (Warning, there will be the occasional unflattering shot of a very un-tanned, pregnant woman. Just ignore her and admire the adorable little girl with her!)

Me and my Grandma

Lynny loved playing in the sand with her cousin.

Our little family, on the steps of our house for the week.

Lynny and Cousin Olivia again, in matching swimming suit covers.

Lynny adores her aunt Maggie. She played with her the whole week long.

My sister, Maggie, and my brother, Doodie, pulling in some crab. There's a 50 crab limit (per person, per day) so there was no stopping them from going all-out.

The classic Meppen kids step shot. It's getting harder as we all get older...and in Doodie's case, taller.

The whole family. When did we get so big?

The wild horses we found on the island. How cool is that?!

An impromptu shot on the beach. I had completely burned myself at this point, and it's obvious.

Hanging out in the beach house, eating her favorite snack: goldfish crackers.

Playing in the water, right as the surf was coming in. Lynny loved it, and I had to hold tight or she would have just walked away from me.

Daniel, Lizzy, and Doodie building a sand castle...with a little help from Lynny.

We found a bright green tree frog one night, under the house. It was so cool.

This is on that stretch of beach that's only accessible with 4x4 drive. There was virtually no one around.

Lynny helping her aunt Maggie shuck corn for the low-country boil. She LOVES Maggie.

Here's just a few of us, post-boil. It was so good.

It's a....

BOY!

In case you haven't heard, we're having a boy. It's great. George Smith is on his way!

Camping, Birthdays, and a Big-girl bed

We just got back from our first camping trip with Lynny. We're sad that it's taken us this long to really get out with her, but when you don't have your own tent, or dutch oven, or other camping gear it's takes a little effort.

We had so much fun with Daniel's family this weekend, two days in the semi-wilderness. (It was hardly rough camping; we had picnic tables and designated cooking areas, and a pool to swim in during the day.) And with Daniel's teenage cousins around the first night to dote on Lynny, and her own younger cousins to play with the next day, she was literally a happy camper. And she only had a little bit of a hard time sleeping in the strange surroundings.

The weather was perfect, chilly in the mornings and evenings but sunny and warm during the day. We were right next to the river, too, so we had the sound of the rushing water to go to sleep to.

We're going camping again in a few weeks in Goblin Valley, so this was a fun crash-course in camping with a one-year old. We considered it pretty good preparation.

Here are a few pictures from the fun weekend.

Enjoying the sun on our last morning.

Daniel taking a few minutes to catch some z's in his awesome "zero gravity" camp chair. He loves that thing.

Lynny was very helpful in putting up the tent, as you can tell.



We took Lynny swimming when she was four months old and she wasn't a fan. This time, thought, she loved it. And she was so at ease, flapping her arms and kicking her legs.

Here's Lynny enjoying her first roasted marshmallow. (Okay, I was roasting my own and she kept lunging for it, so I gaver her a cold one. I don't think she minded though.)

When we got home from camping, we made a big change in the house. We took the rails off Lynny's crib and gave her a brand-new "big-girl" bed. She took a really good nap in it today, and we're hopeful that she'll do well tonight. We just thought she was ready for it, and I think she's a fan of the change.

Here she is on her big-girl bed, sporting her new hand-me-down hiking boots. We're excited to have them for our next camping trip in August.

This shows the beautiful "Olivia, the pig" quilt my mom made Lynny when she was born. It's just the right size for a toddler bed. We've tried introducing a pillow, but Lynny just chucked it over the side.


And a couple weeks ago we had Lynny's first birthday party with family and a few friends. We had quite the cake crisis (four cakes that didn't turn out...or even come out of the pan) and ended up buying giant cupcakes for everyone instead. I don't think Lynny minded too much.

The first bite.

And the end result.

Opening presents.

Daniel and I trying to figure out how to put together the push-scooter Lynny got from our friends Jason and Leslie, and their son Landon.

And here's Lynny the next morning enjoying her new toy. It took her a little while, but she's got the hang of it now. And she loves it. Thanks Hansens!

I thought I would post a few pictures to show what we've been up to lately. I've been trying to spend as much time with Lynny doing fun, quality activities before I'm too big/tired/busy to spend time with her. Bringin a new baby into the house is going to change a LOT!

We like to sit and count goldfish crackers before we eat them. Lynny's a big fan of goldfish. (This was taken on her birthday, so she's wearing her new birthday outfit. You can't tell, but it has a little cupcake on the shirt and pants.)

When she wakes up from her naps we'll sit and try to cuddle for a little bit (Lynny's never been much of a cuddler, but she's getting better). She usually just starts hamming it up and making us laugh. She scruntches up her nose and laughes.

Lynny has always loved going outside, so when we combined lunch time with outside time, she was sold. We usually go on one or two picnis a week--in the big grassy area of our complex--and Lynny adores it. We sit on a blanket and I pack sandwiches for both of us, and a big container of grapes for us to share. She's funny about tupperware containers though: she has to put the lid on the container between each bite. And she loves trying to switch the lids. I love watching her learn.

Our new apatment complex has a little play area with a few swings. I'm so glad they have one with a basket seat, because swinging is one of Lynny's favorite things to do.

And I've had a few requests for a belly shot, so here's me at eight weeks and again today at my inlaws at twelve weeks. I feel like I've suddenly popped. But I'm only going to get bigger.