A New Addition to Our Family

Nope....didn't have the baby yet (thank goodness).

But here's a look at Tyson's new "baby".

His name is Randall.

Yes, we thought it over and decided to get a treadmill. Tyson worked over Christmas break and so with our money we've been spending. There are a few things that we desperately needed (such as a dresser for the new baby and a printer) and then we bought the treadmill because we decided that we struggle getting out of the house to exercise and waiting 10-15 years when Tyson is out of school and out of debt isn't the best of options.

And where do you stash a "new addition" in such a small house? Randall lives in our bedroom.

As for our REAL baby....doing great. We have the "find out the gender" appointment tomorrow at 6:00...so expect a blog.

Here's me at 20 weeks and 5 days (I think).

By the looks of it...Eden might be farther along than I am...
As for an update on how I'm doing "revamping my life"....well, GENERALLY I've been doing pretty well...but let's not take a look at my kitchen's CURRENT status.

I'm obviously rebelling tonight....not only is my kitchen not so good and I haven't read my book today...I'm sitting on my bed next to a large stash of sweets such as marshmallows, red vines, and candy bars. I've been craving sweets like CRAZY the past few days...

Yep, Its January...

Fact: Even when I don't plan to sit down in January and make "New Years Resolutions"....I end up trying to revamp my life and basically make "New Years Resolutions".

Tyson and I sat down a few days ago and decided to change our lives for the better and we pulled out two sources to help us along our journey. (I honestly think we did a good job thinking this through.)

Source 1: Preach My Gospel
After consulting we decided to do a few things when making our goals....

1. Pray about it and pray for help.
2. Write them down and consult with our "companion".
3. Take accountability for our actions.
   

Source #2: The Power of Less

1. Simplify our lives to make room for our goals.
2. Work on one goal at a time.
3. Write three "most important tasks" to put my time and effort towards daily. One helping to achieve my one ultimate goal. After those are done, then work on others.
4. Expect setbacks and don't let them discourage you from your goal.
   

Let me define "Simply our lives" because I view this as important. Another way of putting this is "Getting rid of the unnecessary". In my life, this is what I'm ridding of:

• Only spend 10 minutes a day on the computer (email, blogging, facebook, twitter, etc.) except for the occasional "writing a blog post" AFTER my other "most important tasks" are finished.
• I'm only able to watch movies or TV when with my husband at night when baby's asleep.
• I'm only allowing myself 8 hours of sleep a night, no more.
  

My One Goal: Read and FINISH "The Infinite Atonement". This may not seem like it should be on my "Most important goal to be working on" list...but trust me, I believe it is. I haven't read it but started and it has already changed me spiritually. I have a HORRIBLE habit of starting books and never finishing them because I lack patience, lack concentration, and lack reading comprehension skills. I believe this goal will help me in all three areas.

Other Changes:
Other ways Tyson and I are changing our lives. These aren't really "goals" but they either are to help us out and be conscience of. Although, some may become goals after finishing my first.

Fact: A slight bit of OCD is good to have in one's life.

Disagree? I've been inspired by 2 people: My sister Becca and my best friend Rachel. Both openly admit that they have a problem with OCD...and both have a very clean house.

My Project: The Kitchen

My sister never uses her dishwasher because she can't stand to have dishes dirty for that length of time. I've seldom been to her house where I've seen a crumb on the counter, a dish uncleaned, and the floor swept. If I have seen these happen, I had promise by the end of my stay they will be gone.

I've decided to get rid of my fear of hand washing dishes.

I still use my dishwasher. Let's not be unrealistic here. But I have made a list of "rules" that seemed reasonable to follow. Such rules include "rinse and put any dirty dishes in dishwasher right after use", "if dishwasher is full, hand wash", "if dishwasher is clean, unload it asap", "if I eat anywhere besides the kitchen, take my dish back to the kitchen", "wipe counters and tables after preparation and meals", and "clean any unfortunately mishaps asap because they WILL become harder to clean later".

I've been doing this for a few weeks now and I've learned 2 things:

1. Becoming OCD has been quite a chore....but honestly has become much easier as time passes.
2. I've in turn become a much happier person because my husband will tell you that if my kitchen isn't clean then I am much more prone to be unhappy.

Fact: When you use cash and take away the little plastic cards, you can't spend more than your budget.

Tyson and I used to budget using "cash only", went astray, and are now back to "cash only". We never owned a credit card but our debit cards are being packed away. I can't spend what I don't have. Period.

Fact: I feel better when I look better.

This is a sensitive subject for me.

1st Pregnancy: I cried several times because I felt "fat"...I know, pregnancy is different than fat.
2nd Pregnancy: I've cried at least once because I've seen how fat and ugly I got the first time and don't want it to happen again.

1st Pregnancy: I didn't know how to use make up...not really.
2nd Pregnancy: I now wear make up and make sure I do it.

1st Pregnancy: I hardly owned any pregnancy clothes...those I wore were borrowed.
2nd Pregnancy: I asked for all new pregnancy clothes for Christmas. I wear them.

1st Pregnancy: I had a large family picture session while pregnant. While I was there someone hurt my feelings saying something like "Wow, talk about wearing something that makes you look big!"
2nd Pregnancy: I have an upcoming wedding to attend....meaning, pictures. I shall do my utmost to look good, be happy, and not take offense at others.

1st Pregnancy: I never exercised. I felt sick. I felt tired. I don't like exercise.
2nd Pregnancy: I'm exercising, not always consistently but I am exercising. When I exercise I don't feel as sick. I don't feel as tired. I feel better about myself. I start enjoying it.

1st Pregnancy: I avoided the camera like the plague.
2nd Pregnancy: I will not stuff my camera away for 9 months because I fear myself.

I've decided that I'm getting rid of my fear of the ugliness of pregnancy.

Well, there you have it. So let it be written, so let it be done. And for the few of you who actually read through this post, bless you.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

When girls are THIS cute.....who would want a boy?

P.S. This is the dress that I *cough my mother cough* made for Eden out of my mom's old sweater she was getting rid of. Its not the cutest picture...but the dress is adorable.

Correction...

Curious as it seems...there are SEVERAL different Chinese Birth Charts online. The picture I cut and pasted on my last post ACTUALLY says a BOY....unlike the original Chinese Birth Chart I originally found online.

So, if you go with this....looks like according to SUPERSTITION....almost all things are leading to a BOY.

My Thoughts
Tyson and I have always thought it was going to be a boy...just the feeling.

My Secret
I kind of wish I were getting a girl.

Guess we'll find out later...

Superstitious...

Tyson will mock me on occasion saying that I'm "superstitious".

OK, POSSIBLY true but not OVERLY true.

But I admit I do enjoy thinking about the superstitions of gender prediction....not that I believe them...at least not ALL of them...

So, let's play a game of:

"According to Superstition....".

Shall we begin?

1. "The Necklace Test"

Alright, the necklace test is a tale where you take a necklace (or some say your wedding ring on a chain) and you hold it still over the palm of your hand or over your belly (often have someone else do it to make the hand steadier).

The necklace, on its own, should then either move in a circular motion or in a line. A circle means girl and the line means boy.

Supposedly...over the belly will tell you the gender of the baby inside. Over the palm of your hand (you don't even have to be pregnant at the time) will tell you how many kids you will have, in what order, and what genders they will be.

Mine says "Girl, Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl" (So, this next one SHOULD be a BOY.)

2. "Morning Sickness"

This superstition is that you get much more morning sickness if you are having a girl and much less morning sickness if you are having a boy.

I was a lot more morning sick with Eden than with this one. Stating, once again that this one SHOULD be a BOY.

3. "How I'm Carrying the Baby"

Basically this says if I'm carrying HIGHER its a girl and if I'm carrying LOWER its a boy.

I would say I'm HIGHER than LOWER...but not positive. So, if I'm HIGHER then it would be a GIRL.

4. "The Chinese Birth Chart"

The Chinese Birth Chart apparently was created long, long ago and was dug up many years later. This takes the age you were at the time of conception and the month of conception. The blue means boy and the pink means girl.

Mine states GIRL.

5. "The Baby's Heartbeat"

This superstition is that when you listen to the baby's heartbeat in the womb then you can tell the gender. A slower heartbeat means boy and a faster heartbeat means girl.

1st pregnancy I CLEARLY remember Eden's heartbeat being SUPER fast. This time, not NEARLY as fast....rather slow in fact. So, I'm gonna say BOY for this one.

So, now with all that in mind....take my poll and vote BOY or GIRL.

Miss Me?

I KNOW you all missed me. Just admit it. Well, I'm back whether you like it or not!

Alright...after being back in Kansas City a few days, unpacking, going to doctor's appointments, and craziness....I'm finally caught up on the "trip to Utah blogging". HOORAY! So, I think there are 5 new posts below with several pictures.

A general update on life here in Kansas City:

• Eden is caught up on her immunizations.
• Eden is now in the 5th percentile for height. Which makes everyone all the more shocked when she talks and talks and talks.
  
• The unborn child is healthy and we get to find out the gender in 3 weeks.
• Tyson's back in school and has his mid-terms next week.
• I'm apparently not back to "non-vacation and can't spend money mode"...I bought a new shirt yesterday from Target....I felt justified, it was $2.50.

p.s. I put a poll up on the side to guess what the baby's gender is going to be.

Grandma and Papa Sakamoto's

These are some cute, random pictures of the time spent with my family over the holidays.

Eden is such a cheese-ball. This is what she does if you tell her to give a big smile.
Cousin Trey right before swimming at Becca's.
This is actually TREY'S toy he got for Christmas. You slide cars down it. Obviously you can also slide stuffed animals down it.
McKell. She's such a cutie.
Eden just being Eden.

'Tis the Season

Happy Holidays! Honestly with all the craziness...I'm not even sure when all the holiday stuff happened...even when events happened during which holiday (Christmas and New Years). So, here's a bunch of pictures of my holidays in Utah.

I wished I could get my video to work on my blog. That would have given me more motivation to try and get a video of Eden singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town or Jingle Bells or even saying "Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas." Pity.

My niece McKell had a Christmas program with her preschool. They all had parts to say and she did AMAZING. Everyone was very impressed because she had it completely memorized. Her part was "on Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, and Vixon. On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner, and Blitzen."
Eden's Christmas dress. It was so adorable. And a homemade hair clip from her Aunt Kylie.
Just as an explanation of the next picture....this beauty of a costume is with all the nativity costumes the Finlinson's have. They have no idea where it came from or even what its supposed to be. But I'm pretty sure it ends up the head of the donkey every year. p.s. I didn't end up playing the donkey.
Eden the Angel and Gabe as Baby Jesus.
Eden got PLENTY of Christmas gifts. She got this doll house that she LOVES. She was so excited when opening this gift. While unwrapping she would see the picture and point "BABY! DADDY! MOMMY!"

These are my side of the family's cousins (well, second cousins and such as well...but we're all family). There's Lucy, Link, Dakota, Eden, and Trey in this picture. Eden really loves Lucy, mutually gets along with Dakota (meaning they play without stealing each others toys for the most part), and is scared of Trey and TO THIS DAY tells me about the time "Trey push me."

Kangaroo Zoo

Kangaroo Zoo...for those who don't know...is basically a place for both kids and adults to play on lots of bounce house, air-filled playground equipment stuff. Hmm...hope that made sense.

Eden wasn't such a big fan. She was scared to death of most anything. There is a little area (not a bouncy area) that little kids could play...she enjoyed that. There was also a little crab that she would sit on and say "bouncy bouncy" (there's a picture below).

It took her a while to warm up to the place, but she did eventually and went through one of the mazes TWICE. I think she felt really bad after playing in the little kid area and when she asked where Eva was I said, "She's playing on the big stuff over there." You could tell she realized that Eva was where she was too scared to go. In the end, we all enjoyed it (except Kylie who hurt her neck and had to go to the doctor to get it check out...).




And here's Macie and I ready to battle through the maze. This picture is funny cause I'm trying to look tough and Macie looks more like a cheerleader. (p.s. I won the race)

Nana and Papa's

Eden calls her grandma and grandpa on Tyson's side "Nana" and "Papa". We were able to spend about half of our time over there this break. It was a lot of fun. Eden loves to play with Eva, loves the attention from the aunts and uncles, and there were plenty of toys to play with.

Lydia and Kylie put curlers in Eden and Eva's hair.


They had these goggles with TINY holes in the middle that Eden could barely see out of. Eden would put these things on and walk around with them. She thought they were funny.
We also took a day swimming to the Lehi rec center...which is an AWESOME pool for kids. Eden and all the kids LOVED it. My little water baby who was SUPER daring when in the water, doesn't want any help, dives right in head first, etc.

Branson

Before going to Utah...my mom, dad, grandma, and my grandma's good friend came to Missouri to check out Branson. Never heard of it? Here...let me sum it up for you.

Branson = Little Vegas for the old and retired

Yep, that about sums it up. I LOVED IT! I'm totally the type to love it though. Go see these little shows all the time, go shopping in the outlet malls, hang out with the older community....it was great.

Alright, now to the pictures.

My family realized that I wouldn't be able to pack ALL of our (or should we say "Eden's") Christmas presents that we got while in Utah. So, Eden got an early Christmas. My family gave Eden a whole bunch of her presents while in Missouri and wanted her to open and play with them since they wouldn't get to see her play with them in Utah with all the other grand kids.

This is her doll that comes with high chair, bassinet, and stroller. She'd play with that every morning and night.
This was from the Shanghai Chinese Acrobats show. It was AMAZING. I can't believe what they can do, how they can contort their bodies, etc.

And this picture was really awkward because none of the Chinese people spoke English but I wanted a picture with them. All the acrobats just stood in a line in the entry for picture taking. I just took the guy at the end of the line to slide besides and take a picture. He's definitely not much of a looker...his outfit doesn't help either.
At the outlet malls (which we spent plenty of time) there were these large deer that Eden LOVED to pet. Why? Not sure, but figured I'd get a picture. Plus, if you click on the picture to blow it up larger you can see the hat my dad bought Eden. I LOVE the hat. He got it at a sports store.
My sister, Laura, kept telling me through my trip to Utah how amazed she was at how much food Eden eats. Here's some proof...not to mention another one of those "this is why I strip my little girl down before meal time."