Peterson Post

Lately

2011-09-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

Things I’ve learned lately:

Even using a carabiner to attach my car keys to my purse cannot prevent me from losing them. In the store. Honestly, I am cursed.

Austin will eat just about anything when promised a treat afterward.

A vase of fresh flowers on the kitchen table works wonders for my mood, even when I’m already happy (and even when I bought the flowers).

Washing windows really isn’t that bad and makes me feel great when I’m done, despite the fact that an hour later they have fingerprints on them again.

Painting trim is harder than it looks.

The later I stay up, the harder it is for me to fall asleep. Early to bed, early to rise really is best.

When I think I have a sinus infection, I probably do. Taking my kids with me to the doctor and pharmacy is better than staying sick.

Staying calm and trying to be loving when I am unhappy with children’s behavior almost always makes the situation better. Getting angry almost certainly makes the situation worse.

Things I love lately:

Chuck (the T.V. series)

Temperatures in the 70s

Apples dipped in peanut butter

Sally buckling herself into her car seat

Austin’s ever increasing ability to talk clearly

My children sleeping until 8 just about every morning

My fenced-in backyard

My friends (especially when they rescue me from the store because my keys are gone)

Sally’s new-found good attitude at dinner time

Neal (how could I not include him?)

The Crazies

2011-09-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

A silly little video of my crazy little kids. For Neal.

Update Time

2011-09-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

Time for yet another family update (actually it is well past time, and this update was written more than a month ago. Why am I just now publishing it? Good question, I wish I knew the answer myself):

Neal:

Neal has been staying busy with work, but not as busy as he has in the past. He has actually hasn’t worked a weekend for quite a while, which has been AWESOME! The weekends are fun again!

He has been working in the pain clinic this month, and actually has enjoyed it (much to his surprise, as well as mine!). And when I say enjoyed it, I mean the actual work, not just the great hours. Does the future hold a pain fellowship for him after his 4 year stint with the Air Force? Perhaps…

He spent the spring and early summer training for and competing in the Topeka Tinman triathlon. He did really well, even in the open water swim portion, which he thought he would struggle with. The kids and I met him at the finish line, which was a lot of fun. We were so proud of him!

Last weekend he participated in an all night Frisbee tournament called “The Cool of the Night” (although the weather was anything but cool). He had a lot of fun and performed almost as well as he did in his glory days, although he paid for it later! Let’s just say that playing Ultimate Frisbee for 6 hours straight after doing almost no hard physical activity for 6 weeks is bound to cause some pain. In addition to having a great time, he got invited to play with the traveling KC Ultimate team. Too bad they practice on Wednesdays (during Scouts) and most of their tournaments are on Sundays.

Sally:

Sally loves learning and is excited about learning to read. I bought a preschool workbook for her that she loves working in. She often talks about doing things to help her prepare for school. She loves cutting with her scissors (although we are still working on cutting a straight line), loves coloring, and is starting to want to write letters. She loves tracing letters, but until recently has been hesitant to write them on her own--she is a bit of a perfectionist (where is the world did that come from?) and is afraid of messing up the letters.

She loves riding her bike. A few weeks ago I felt brave enough to let her try to ride to a friends’ house while I pushed Austin in the stroller. The house was one block over and two blocks down, and she made it the whole way by herself (although there were a few points along the way that I had to give her a bit of help with an incline or a decline). She was so proud of herself!

She has recently shown us quite how stubborn she can be when it comes to not eating things she “doesn’t like.” Lately, squash, zucchini, and tomatoes have cause quite the stir at dinner. Although I was terribly stubborn about food myself as a child, I think she has me beat. I won’t go into too much detail, but she is driving me nuts! Much to my surprise, last Monday night she stoically turned down her FHE treat of ice cream because she would not eat even one bite of zucchini, and then politely sat with Neal, Austin, and I as we ate our ice cream and asked us “are you enjoying your treat?” I couldn’t help but laugh to myself, although I was still annoyed that she had won.

She loves doing somersaults and dancing when I play the piano. If only Austin would let me play without pulling my hands off of the keys.

She has a talent for memorizing things. Every month for Primary she memorizes the scripture of the month. We only have to say it with her a few times before she has it down. At a Primary talent show a few months ago, she recited a poem for her talent. She had no fear going up on the stage all by herself, and she recited the poem very clearly and confidently into the microphone.

Austin:

Oh, where to begin with that little guy? Austin is in perpetual motion, always climbing, running, leaping, and throwing things. I daresay he will be an athlete someday.

While he has always loved books, only lately has he decided to let me read them to him. I love that for the past few months now he gets excited about sitting on my lap while I read his favorite books to him.

Austin is no longer bald! He has quite a thick head of hair, although it is so light that he sometimes looks bald. I’m of the opinion that his hair is blond, but others swear he is a strawberry.

He loves playing with balls, sticks, things that make noise, things with lids, play food, blocks, and baby dolls. Yes, baby dolls. He is quite the tenderhearted little guy. Oh, and he loves phones. Especially Neal’s phone.

His favorite person in the world is Sally. The first person that he wants in the morning is Sally, and he asks for her whenever she is out of his sight.

He loves his blanket with a passion. Unfortunately he usually wants his binky when he is snuggling with his blanket, and I am getting pretty strict at limiting the binky time to nap or bed time. Washing the blanket is a tricky business. Somehow he always sees me with it and throws a fit.

He is very skilled with a spoon and fork. I let him eat cereal and milk solo, and he doesn’t make too big of a mess.

He is getting quite good at talking. A few words from his vocab: spoon, bowl, milk, fork, bread, cheese, snack, cracker, cupcake, ball, binky, baby, bike, truck, airplane, up, down, outside, go, dog, cow, pig, meow, please, thank you, sorry. He usually will just say one word at a time, but lately has started putting a few words together (mostly “Please, mama!!!”, “Bye-bye dada!”). He likes to mimic what he hears us say, hence the additions of “shoot!” and “oh man!” to his vocabulary.

He recently decided that singing is not just for mommies and little girls. He loves singing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” “Happy Birthday,” and “I Am a Child of God”.

He hates getting the sun in his eyes, but refuses to wear sunglasses (he takes them off and breaks them). I only recently made the connection between the sun in his eyes and his dislike of being in the car. He even told me the other day when I asked him why he was crying, “Sun…eyes!”

He is now officially in nursery, and likes it (Neal took him illegally to nursery several times). Hallelujah!

He is a happy and light-hearted child that makes me incredibly happy. I feel so blessed to have him in my family.

Emily:

Not much new to report here. Life stays relatively the same for me with family, work (still plugging away with 5-10 hours a week from home, although July was a really slow month), piano lessons, Relief Society, and friends (although I haven’t been as social this summer as I usually am).

I absolutely love being a SAHM, and often want to quit my job so I can enjoy it even more and have less stress in my life. I love that I have freedom to wake up in the morning and decide where the day will take me and my little ones. I love that I can make each day unique and fun. I love being able to teach my children and watch them discover new things. Although it is hard to bear at times, I love knowing that two little people are counting on me to be my best. I'm a better person for it.

Funeral, Family, Fun

2011-09-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

My grandpa Dickson died on July 10, and Neal, the kids, and I all headed off to Utah for the funeral. My initial plan was to go alone, although I really wanted to bring my children. I didn’t think that Neal coming was even an option. But when he called me from work letting me know he’d arranged things so he could be there, I threw my frugality to the wind and bought some plane tickets. Neal’s grandma died two years ago, and Sally and I stayed home while Neal went to the funeral in Utah. Both Neal and I regretted the fact that I stayed home just because we didn’t want to spend the money. What is money for, anyway, but to be used on the things that matter most?

I am so grateful that we were all able to go. The trip was full of family and fun. We arrived in Utah on Friday afternoon and pizza at Spencer and Korrin’s house with all of my siblings (even Angie and Hyrum, who cut their vacation short and traveled around the world to be there) before attending the viewing for my grandpa. The viewing was a very relaxed environment, and I had a great time visiting with all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Sally and Austin wandered around and played with their cousins, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The only thing I didn’t enjoy about the viewing was, well, the viewing. I hardly recognized my grandpa and was sad to see how gaunt he had become in the last few weeks of his life.

The next morning was the funeral. While I shed quite a few tears, I really enjoyed the funeral. The talks were touching and at times humorous. My dad and all of his siblings but one spoke (my uncle Mark, who later dedicated the grave). I accompanied my sisters and female cousins in a song that my grandma wrote for my grandpa. I really felt the Spirit during the funeral and felt a lot of comfort in the knowledge that I will see my grandpa again, that he is happy, and that he had lived a righteous life and was ready to graduate to the next phase of his existence.

One of the best parts of the funeral was that there was a nursery for the children provided by some of the young women in my grandparents’ ward. What a huge relief for me and Neal (and the other parents with small children) to be able to sit and enjoy the service without trying to entertain our children. Sally and Austin seemed to have a good time, and got to spend time with their cousins. Bless those young women!

Another highlight of the funeral was visiting with several of my cousins that I hadn’t seen for years. It was fun taking with them, and touching to see the sacrifices they had made to travel so far to be at the funeral. I miss being able to spend time with my extended family. I am thankful that I am able to see them from afar by reading their blogs and emailing (and I’m sure that Facebook would be helpful if I were into that sort of thing!).

After the funeral was over, the rest of the trip was all fun and games. On Saturday night we all (parents, siblings and their families) got together at Al and Tyler’s house for a “Fantastic Mr. Fox” party. I didn’t see the entire movie, but I liked what I saw. Sally had a fantastic time watching the movie and playing with her cousins, as did Austin (although he didn’t actually watch much). Neal and I enjoyed being with the family and relaxing, as well.

Neal went home on Sunday right before the big family dinner at my parents’ house (the bimonthly family dinner). More talking and laughing and cousin play time for Sally and Austin. I think that Sally’s favorite thing in the world to do is to play with her cousins. She was on cloud 9 the entire time.

Monday was Ada and Kate’s birthday party—the highly anticipated event that was probably the highlight of Sally’s trip. Sally and I helped Alison with the cupcakes—5 color layered rainbow cupcakes. They were fun to make, and I’m glad I could help out. The party started at the Kangaroo Zoo, a play center with lots of inflatable slides and play areas for kids. Both kids loved it, and I would have had more fun if I hadn’t been going crazy trying to keep m y eye on both of the kids. After the Zoo we met at Al’s house for dinner and cupcakes. Alison set up a table with several jars of candy with scoops in them. It was decorated like Candy Land and was very cute. Austin, being the smart little guy that he is, quickly learned that if he hung out near that table, he could pick up the candies that fell to the ground whenever a little girl for boy scooped out some candy. I don’t know how much candy he ended up eating, but let’s just say that he was incredibly happy, and a sticky mess by the end of the evening. He also loaded up on ice cream and cupcakes. Between the Squire family and the Dickson family, there were lots of kids at the party, which meant lots of dessert plates left unattended, which led to Austin getting much more dessert than he needed.

On Tuesday Ella and Grace were at my parents’ house while Korrin went to work, and Sally had a fabulous time playing with them. Sally and Ella played “beach” in the backyard together for quite a while after running through the sprinklers. It was fun watching them play. Little children are so full of energy and imagination! That evening the kids and I went to 7 Peaks Salt Lake (formerly Raging Waters) with Abby, the Squires, and the Marstons. I wasn’t initially thrilled about going, but ended up having a great time. Hyrum watched my kids for a while so I could go on slides with Abby and Ang (Al , being pregnant, opted out of the slides). I was pushed into going on the super scary steep slide that you go down on a sled, and I’ll never do it again! It was fun, but too scary for me! The highlight of the night was going around and around the lazy river. Austin wore a puddle jumper and Sally wore a life jacket, and we all just floated lazily along.

On Wednesday my mom took the kids and I to the Living Planet Aquarium. Austin loved looking at the fish and the penguins, and Sally loved being with my mom and eating macaroni and cheese for lunch. I thought that the aquarium was very fun and well-done. It was fun seeing the penguins dive and flip in the water. They seemed so carefree.

Thursday we went home, but not until packing in a full day of activities. In the morning I went with my dad and the kids to visit my Grandma Dickson. It was the first time that I had seen her new house since it was finished. She had gifts and a little tea party waiting for me and the kids—she is very creative and thoughtful. Sally loved how “fancy” her house was, and composed a little song for the occasion. I spied on her as she played the piano and sang to herself. This is the gist of what she sang:

“My mommy’s grandpa is gone. He has gone to heaven, and now my grandma is all alone. But she will be alright because Jesus is here to watch over and comfort her. My grandma is so fancy and her house is so beautiful. Now that I’ve seen her beautiful decorations I love her even more!”

We finished up our visit just in time for me to drop the kids off at my parents’ house, put a dress on, and head with my mom to the Mt. Timanogos temple to see my best friend, Kim, sealed to her husband Christian. The date was July 21, her anniversary as well as mine. To make a long story short, Kim and Christian had several stumbling blocks along their road to getting sealed, and got the happy news that their request was approved just a few days before their anniversary. They called the temple and made the arrangement to be sealed July 21. When Kim told me the news, I extended my trip so I could be there (I was supposed to leave the previous day, and had I not purchased a ticket on a bereavement fare, I wouldn’t have been able to change my flight—I guess it was meant to be). I was so grateful I was able to attend the sealing. It was a beautiful ceremony, and while it was uncharacteristic of me to be so emotional, I cried through the whole thing. I was so happy for Kim and Christian, and I was also reminded of my own wedding day.
After the sealing, I flew like the wind to pick up my kids and head to the airport.

Our flight went from SLC to the O’Hare airport, then to Kansas City after a quick plane change. I was incredibly nervous about the flight, by it couldn’t have gone any better. Both kids were on their best behavior, the plane change was a breeze, and we arrived in Kansas City right on schedule. Neal and I were able to spend about 1.5 hours of our anniversary together, which is more than can be said of some of our anniversaries!

It was a great trip, and I feel so blessed to have had such a great experience.
Since this post isn’t quite long enough yet, here are a few of my memories of Grandpa Dickson:

Before his health and memory really began to decline, Grandpa was always cheerful, friendly, and talkative. He called me Emma Lee from over the sea. He loved telling jokes, and often had a hard time telling the punch line because he was laughing too hard. He loved telling stories about his family, his missions and his ancestors.

He was intelligent, quick, and witty. When my dad told him that I had won my elementary school spelling bee, he quickly began spouting off obscure words for me to spell. I didn’t know how to spell some of them and tried to change the subject, which worked for a time. At the end of the visit, he didn’t let me off the hook, and when I spelled a word incorrectly, he quickly set me straight.
He liked trying to stump his grandchildren. When I was 5 or 6, he and my grandma took me, Alison, and Abby to the zoo. He asked me what direction we were going, and asked if I knew all of the directions a car could go. After I answered north, south, east, and west, he said that I was missing two. I had no clue, and he finally told me: up and down.

He had a very strong testimony of Jesus Christ and the Church. He loved to read the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, and would often quote scripture. He always served faithfully in his church callings, and was kind and generous. He had a library full of books by apostles and prophets and could always be found reading one of them. I never doubted his testimony, his commitment to the Church, or his desire for all of his posterity to be faithful. When I told him that I was engaged to Neal, he questioned me to make sure that Neal was a faithful member of the Church, a returned missionary, and had a good family background. I knew that he wanted only the best for me.

He loved taking care of his yard, and had a beautiful lawn and productive garden. I especially remember his sweet corn, walnuts, cherries, and raspberries.
He loved sports, cold cereal, and chili. He would often make a huge pot of chili and invite all of the family over for a chili party.

He was happy, easygoing, hardworking, and loving. He left a great example and legacy for his posterity to follow.

Ah, the Holidays!

2011-07-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

Before another holiday comes and goes, here's a look at how we've been spending our holidays/birthdays since Thanksgiving. Just fair warning, this is a lengthy post!

Thanksgiving:

Angie and Hyrum came from Chicago to celebrate with us. Rather than doing the whole feast at my house again, we went to Cookie’s house and joined with the Petersons, Martins, and Gessels. It was a fine feast and fun sharing it with so many great people.

A few of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving holiday:

-Driving with just Neal and Austin (who slept the whole time) to the Martin’s house (Sally rode with her auntie and unc). It was fun to talk to Neal without any interruptions. We talked about what we were thankful for. I really felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for what I have in my life, including my children, my home, my education, Neal’s education, and our families.

-Making and eating pies. I love making pies, and I had fun making a new kind of pie—it was a free-form apple cranberry pie. I thought it was beautiful and was so proud of it, but I was certainly put in my place when my 10 year old nephew said to me, while pointing to my prized pie: “Hey Emily, I know which one is going to be everyone’s LEAST favorite! I mean…look at the form of it! And all those raisins!” I still get a good laugh when I think about it. The pie was delicious, by the way, and contained no raisins. I’ll be sure to make it again next year and save none for Dallas!

- Going to see the movie “Tangled” with Sally, Angie, and Hyrum. It was Sally’s first in a theater, and a very fun movie. I enjoyed having her snuggle up to me during the scary parts, and seeing her smile and laugh during the silly parts.

Christmas:

We did lots of fun things during the month of December, including ice skating (after an attempt at Crown Center failed due to an incredibly long line, we went to the Independence Events Center with Neal’s family), visiting the tree and train displays at Union Station, shopping at the Plaza (just me and Neal), getting a real Christmas tree, baking lots of stuff and delivering it, checking out some local Christmas lights, and reading lots of Christmas books.

We had a fun Christmas Eve party at our house with lots of our friends lacking family in the area to celebrate with. We had a dinner buffet and program. Every family was asked to either tell a story or perform a musical number. We had a good mix of both, including a reading of the Cajun Night Before Christmas and a violin solo of “O Holy Night”. Then the kids did the nativity play, which was very cute. I’m not sure how everyone felt about having a program (some perhaps thought it was a bit cheesy), but I personally loved it. I guess one benefit of hosting an event is getting to have things your way!

Christmas Day was so fun. I loved enjoying a low-key morning at home with my family and watching my kids open their presents.

A few of my favorite memories of the Christmas season:

-Reading “A Little House Christmas” (an anthology of all of the Christmas chapters from the Little House books) with Sally. I loved being reminded of a simpler time. I couldn’t hold back the tears when I read the chapter about the Christmas horses—a very sweet account of unselfishness and family love.

-Watching “It’s a wonderful Life” with Neal on Christmas Eve night, and crying together during the final scene.

-Rushing off to TJ Maxx at the Legends after calling and finding out that they had one more pair of the exact Marmot gloves that Neal wanted for Christmas, after failing to find them other places. And then seeing him open them up on Christmas morning.

-Learning that Neal had scoured the countryside (and the internet) to find the perfect black dress for my Christmas gift, which he eventually found. While I loved the dress, I even more loved the fact that Neal put so much time and effort into the gift.

-Receiving ANOHTER black dress from my mom. She couldn’t find one to buy me, so she decided to send me her own black dress, which she knew I would like, even though it was one that she herself really liked. I was very touched and felt very loved. Additionally, she sent me enough money to buy myself a black dress of my own choosing (if I didn’t feel like I already had enough black dresses, that is)!

New Year’s Eve/Day:

Neal and I went on a date during the day on New Year’s Eve. We were supposed to go to a movie, but missed the one we wanted and ended up playing arcade games instead. It was not what we expected, but we had a lot of fun. Later, Sally and Neal went to watch “Tangled” (since Neal was working the day after Thanksgiving and missed it) while I prepped our dinner and party food. The party included Neal’s parents, his sister Bonnie, and us. Small but fun. We had homemade pizza, spinach artichoke dip and veggies, and ice cream sundaes. After putting the kids to bed we played a fun word game called “Quiddler”. My new favorite game. The Petersons didn’t last until midnight. I barely lasted myself. After the party left, Neal and I attempted to watch a movie, but I couldn’t follow it and fell asleep.

I currently have no idea what we did on NYD. If I remember I’ll add to this.

Neal’s Birthday:

I tried to make the day very special for Neal, but I don’t know if it worked. Sally and I made cupcakes the day before for Neal to take to work, but it turned out that the department secretary had also brought treats (LOTS of treats), so the cupcakes were not hot items. And while I got him a gift, he didn’t love it—he liked it, but did not love it. Anyhow, Neal turned 31. I tried a new homemade pizza recipe and made a chocolate trifle, which was to die for in my own humble opinion (chocolate bundt cake cubes layered with homemade chocolate pudding and whipped cream). Austin thought so, too, when he grabbed a big handful when Neal got it too close to him. I think his first experience with dessert was a positive one. So I guess there was one bright shining spot in Neal’s day.

My Birthday:

Uneventful except that Neal got me an awesome gift—two North Face coats. He got an awesome price, too, which made me feel less guilty about the gift. One of the coats is a knee-length down parka with a fur-lined hood. I can’t wait to wear it next winter—it will keep me nice and warm. My friend Rosemary brought me some ice cream and a very cute FHE chart that she made for me. She is very thoughtful. Unfortunately Sally and Austin were in bad form. They were both incredibly grumpy after church and cried a good part of the day. The fact that I made cream of roasted carrot soup and spinach salad for dinner didn’t help their moods. I thought it was delicious, though. We ate chocolate Bundt cake leftover from Neal’s birthday that I kept in the freezer. It was just as good.

Valentine’s Day:

I had planned on making Indian food—butter chicken and naan, for dinner, but when Neal called me from work in the early afternoon and asked if I wanted him to bring home some dinner, I agreed and didn’t start on my meal. Things got busy at work for Neal, and he ended up not being able to pick up his takeout after all. Silly me decided to go ahead with my original dinner plan, much, much later than I should have. By the time dinner was actually ready, everyone was starving, the house was a complete mess, and I wasn’t feeling the love of the day (like I did earlier when two friends unexpectedly popped in with some Valentine treats). The meal was okay, but not awesome, so I felt a little down about that, and I also was feeling guilty for not making any Valentines for anyone like I have always done in the past—sugar cookies, truffles, homemade cards, etc. By the time the kids were in bed and the gargantuan mess I had made in the kitchen was cleaned up, the day got better. Neal gave me a gift that I’d had my eye on for a while—a dessert decorator (it does the job of a pastry bag, but is a tube with a plunger and different screw-on tips). He also surprised me with homemade Italian sodas. We watched our wedding slide show and looked over notes that we had written to each other when we were dating. It was a lot of fun and really got me laughing hard—something I don’t do as much as I used to. I’m not sure why that is.

Austin’s Birthday:

We invited some friends over for a low-key party for little Austin C. I had grand aspirations like I always do, but decided to keep things simple, especially because the party was planned kind of last-minute (my parents were supposed to be in town but ended up canceling their trip). Sometimes even really simple isn’t all that simple—I was in the kitchen a good portion of the day. I made a chocolate cake and yellow cupcakes, and had fun decorating them with my gift from the previous day. The chocolate cake was very tasty, but the cupcakes were just fair. Just FYI, I LOVE the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, but if you have it, don’t bother making their recipe for simple yellow cupcakes. It isn’t that great. Anyhow, I digress. I found inspiration in Austin’s favorite blanket for decorating the cake and cupcakes. The blanket is brown with green, blue, and tan polka dots. He loves it like Linus from Charlie Brown loves his blanky. We had a great turn-out at the party, and it was a lot of fun having our friends and their children celebrate with us. Sally and Austin both love being around other kids. Austin loved his cupcake. He put a death grip on it, and didn’t let go until it was all gone, which wasn’t long. Austin is such a fun, sweet, and delightful little guy. It is amazing how fast his infancy flew by! I hope he felt loved on his birthday—we sure love him!

Easter:

The day before Easter we attended an egg hunt followed by lunch at the Longmore’s house, and had a lot of fun. Sally knew the drill from the past two years of egg hunts in my backyard and collected more eggs than she knew what to do with, but Austin was content to fill his basket with leaves and dirt. I had fun socializing and not being the host (THANKS, Rosemary!). I really enjoyed Easter Sunday, as well. I taught the lesson in RS (I don’t remember why), and the lesson went well and I felt the Spirit. After church we enjoyed a quick family photo shoot and lunch with a little more style than usual. I brought out the white tablecloth and spring table runner, and we ate pb&js cut into flower shapes, leftover salad I had made for the party the day before, and fruit and yogurt parfaits garnished with fresh blackberries. I think Neal thought I was somewhat silly, but in my book, holidays should not feel like any other day, even when eating lunch after church.

My favorite part of the day was watching the Easter declaration video on LDS.org and “The Lamb of God” video with Sally while Austin napped. I think that Sally understands a lot about the gospel at her young age, and I love being able to have experiences with her that allow us both to feel the Spirit and learn about the Savior. In the evening we went to Blue Springs and enjoyed dinner with Neal’s parents, two youngest brothers, and his sister Cookie and her family. Sally and Austin had a great time playing with their cousins. It was fun watching Sally and Allyson play in the hammock while playing HORSE with Dallas with the Nerf basketball set. Dallas is a lot of fun. After returning home, Neal and I watched part of “The Ten Commandments”, an Easter tradition from my childhood. It was the perfect way to end a great holiday.

Portraits

2011-06-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I had a friend take some pictures of Sally and Austin. Since she put the highlights on her blog, I'll just send you there rather than do the work of posting the pictures myself.

I think she did a great job, and I got just what I wanted (except a shot of the two of them smiling at the camera, but that was probably asking too much).

On a side note, I'm thinking of giving up blogging, but I'm torn. Any thoughts?

What I Do

2011-06-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

I think it's time to dust off my blog. Here's a little something I wrote late at night several weeks ago.

When I was a student:
I went to class every day. I studied hard. I wrote papers. I took tests. I turned in my homework on time. I got A’s. I got to know my professors. I sat on the front row. I made friends with my classmates. I learned. I stayed in the library until it closed. I knew what was expected of me, I did it, I saw the results I wanted, and I felt good about what I had done.

What I was a full-time employee:
I went to work every day. I worked hard. I wrote programs. I learned. I got bonuses. I got raises. I sat in my cube all day. I went to meetings and helped make decisions about my projects. I met my deadlines. I followed the rules. I made friends with my coworkers. I stayed at work long after the janitors went home. I took my computer home with me and worked more. I knew what was expected of me, I did it, I was respected for it, and I felt good about what I was able to do.

Now that I’m a mother:
I take care of two children every day. I work hard. I make meals. I wipe bottoms. I play with toys. I sit on the floor. I wear out my jeans. I am tested. I make rules, which are sometimes broken. I stay up long after they have gone to bed. I teach, but mostly I learn. I get to know other moms. I make friends with baby dolls and teddy bears. I know what is expected of me (kind of), I try to do it (but sometimes fail), and I feel good about what I am doing. And I wouldn't trade my time with these little ones for the world.

Today

2011-04-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

Today is full of blessings.

I woke up this morning with my husband, a definite change from the usual routine, especially since he is on call today. A work-related symposium made his sleeping-in possible, and we both enjoyed resting together. It was warm rather than cold in the house when we got up.

I spent the morning reading to and playing with my children. They were happy and affectionate.

I baked a cake with my daughter. She was enthusiastic and helpful. She tried so hard to do things exactly how I asked her to. She was so excited when I let her lick some batter.

I watched General Conference and was thrilled that my husband came home during the brief time between the end of the symposium and the time he had to report for duty at the hospital. We watched and learned together, then ate lunch as a family.

My son looked cuter than ever in his “big boy” clothes today. He wore flip flops for the first time and reminded me of his daddy. My daughter’s hair was especially full and curly today, and she pranced around so happily in her spring dress I couldn’t help but feel happy every time I looked at her.

I made the hour drive to my sister-in-law’s house with my children this afternoon. Both children were calm and content. The hour felt like 20 minutes.

It was so warm and pleasant sitting on the deck visiting with my in-laws. Even though my husband was working and not with us, I was loved and welcomed like a true blooded member of the family. I always am. My children had great fun playing with their cousins. My three-year-old niece wanted to help me carry things from my car. My five-year-old niece went out of her way to find toys that my son would like to play with.

My sister-in-law gave me some dresses for my daughter which her daughter has outgrown. She also let me borrow her brand new DVD of “Tangled” just because she likes to do nice things that make people happy.

I drove home with my children and sang Primary songs to them for most of the way home. I’m not sure what they felt as I sang to them, but I felt love and joy and peace. The weather was turning nasty as we made our way home, but I felt safe and calm.

I put my kids to bed and then watched the parts of General Conference that I had missed. I felt such a great love and admiration for the leaders of the Church. I felt a desire to do better, but more importantly, to be better. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ’s true church. I want to help other people find the joy that I have.

I read some updates on a website for my uncle Dan who is battling cancer. I felt close to my family as I read their messages to my uncle and added my own. I sorrowed for my uncle, but felt peace as I recalled the healing power of Jesus Christ. I love my family and feel great joy in knowing that families are eternal.

Was today perfect? No. Did I do or say anything I shouldn’t have? Of course, I always do. But today is a good day, and full of blessings. Every day is full of blessings. Do I always see them? No. I wrote this to remind myself to look for them.

Best and Worst

2011-03-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

Every night for the past year or so Neal and I have been asking Sally two questions: "What was the best part of your day?", and "What was the worst part of your day?" Her answers are often predictable, many times sweet, and occasionally give us great insight into the workings of her little mind. I'll have to record some of her responses.

But for now, since Neal is on call, I'll make a quick post out of sharing the best and worst parts of my day:

Worst: shortly after breakfast, Sally and Austin were nicely playing by the back door when Sally exclaimed: "Yuck! Mommy, come see what Austin did!" I rushed over to discover that the contents of Austin's diaper (which I had very recently changed) were dribbling down his leg and onto the floor. He was quickly whisked away into the bathtub, and the floor was scrubbed. No fun for anyone involved (except for, perhaps, Sally, who liked drama), but really not that bad. I'll take that over vomit any day!

Best: I'm not sure I can choose--it's been a good day! Since I have to, though, I'll say that it was dinner with a new friend in my ward and her little girl who's a few months younger than Austin. I often invite someone over for dinner when Neal is away, and it is always fun. I think everyone had a good time tonight. Austin and Sally loved playing with their new friend, I enjoyed talking with my new friend, everyone enjoyed their meal, and no one cried, fought over toys, threw food on the floor, or acted unpleasantly in any way. I'm so thankful to have good kids and good friends to share warm springtime evenings with.

Two more thoughts for the evening:

I don't always or only post when Neal is on call. It is just the easiest time for me to post, and therefore the most common time for me to do so.

Totally unrelated to anything in this post: Sally has a pink teddy bear that she pretends is her husband Neal. The other day with said bear in hand she said: "Mommy, my husband's grandma is my mother." While I do read with Sally quite a bit, I've yet to read Oedipus to her, nor do I intend to. She came up with that one on her own!

Top 10 of 2010

2011-03-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

I started this post, oh, 6 weeks ago? Maybe longer, I'm not sure. Time to get it out there and move on with my life!

Neal is on call (hard to believe?) and I've already stayed up much later than I wanted to working, so what is a few more minutes? Every time Neal is on call I intend to blog, end up catching up on reading blogs instead, and then go to bed feeling grumpy with myself. Enough of that. Not tonight.

There should be pictures to accompany each section, but I don't want to stay up quite that late! I suppose that will have to wait for another post. It won't be long before Neal is on call again!

So, without further adieu, the Peterson top 10 of 2010:

Austin joining the family:

We are so blessed to have Austin in our family. He is so happy, smiley, easy-going, and energetic. I love his laugh, the ways he makes us laugh, his big happy grin, his curiosity, his big blue eyes, and his very kiss-able cheeks (I probably over-do the kisses, but I can hardly help myself). He is growing up so fast and getting so independent and capable. A little of what he is like these days:

He is fast becoming a walker. He can walk across a room if he feels like it, but is mostly content with walking 4-5 steps and then crawling to his destination. He’s been taking steps since he was a little more than 10 months.

He loves to climb up onto things and is quite good at it. He has lately learned how to safely climb down, as well, which is a big relief.

He likes to give kisses and hugs. He will give kisses on command most of the time.

He still has only two teeth, but knows well how to use them.

He likes to hide under blankets, be chased around the recliner, and share his binky and food. He thinks it is hilarious to shove his binky into Neal’s mouth.

He is very vocal and is becoming more so almost every day. I can tell that he really wants to communicate.

He loves to put lids on things. He can amuse himself for quite some time by simply putting a lid on a container, taking it off, and repeating over and over again.

*Changes since I wrote this--he's been a full-fledged walker for quite some time, and he has 2 more teeth. Also, the day after my post about Austin's illness, he bounced back. It only took a few days for him to be back to his old self. He must have really missed food while he was sick, because he's been eating double ever since!

A visit from my parents and sisters in the spring:

I had a wonderful time with my family when they came out for Austin’s blessing. It was a rare treat to have nearly my whole immediate family together (Spencer was sorely missed) without me having to make the trek out to Utah.

A Neal and Emily getaway:

In November Neal got to go to an anesthesia conference for work and decided the he wanted me to go along for the ride. He made arrangements with his sister Cookie to watch our children, bought me a plane ticket, and promised me a good time. I was excited but reluctant to go, especially when the week before the conference Austin got sick and wanted me to hold him almost every waking hour. Thanks to Austin recovering and Neal’s faith in everything working out, I decided to go.

I went and didn’t regret it. The conference was in Phoenix at a mountain resort with lots of pools and hiking opportunities. We had fun swimming, hiking, relaxing, and visiting our friends Travis and Cami Austin. We also visited the Mesa temple, went to a dinner and rodeo event (hosted by the conference), ate at a fun Greek restaurant, went to an art fair, and experienced a delightful treat knows as a “Bahama-rama-mamma” (a cross between a snow cone and an ice cream cone).
Neal was right that everything would work out fine. Austin and Sally both did very well while we were away, and we pickup up right where we left off when we got back.

Neal starting his anesthesia training:

In July Neal completed his intern year in internal medicine and entered the world of anesthesia. Quality of life instantly improved. I love that he is off on the weekends (unless he is on call, which unfortunately has happened quite a bit lately), doesn’t have to do discharge summaries every evening, gets home early on pre-call days, and likes his job…all of which leads to my next item:

More dates and family activities:

Neal and I have gotten out together on our own a lot more this year than we have since Sally was born. I think it is due to a combination of us being more comfortable with getting babysitters and Neal having more time. We have also been asked a few times by some friends to swap babysitting with them, and that has helped, as well. A few of my favorite dates: Beauty and the Beast at the Starlight Theater (even though it was the hottest night of the year, we had a great time and a memorable snow cone), dinner and shopping at the Country Club Plaza (thank you anesthesia department for your generous Christmas gift), hiking at the Overland Park Arboretum, and basketball, skee-ball, and air hockey at Power Play.

We have also been able to get out more as a family. I suppose in addition to Neal having more time, this is due to Sally being able to do more, and my purchase of a Happenings book to give us some good ideas and a little push to get out and try new things. We’ve enjoyed eating out here and there, but mostly we just enjoy taking walks, visiting parks, shopping, and doing errands together.

New friends:

Neal and I have made several new friends this year through both church and work. I won’t mention any names—hopefully you know who you are! We’ve had a lot of fun playing games, celebrating holidays, and just getting together to let our kids play together. While we will have to say good-bye to some of these friends in the near future, I’m sure (or at least I hope) that we’ll stay in touch for years to come. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends (both old and new) that share my values and care about me and my family.

House projects completed:

In January we got new carpet in our house, and I absolutely love it. Not only does it look 10 times better than our old carpet, it is softer, thicker, and more durable. This year we also got a new fence (a while picket one made from scratch by Neal), a new cabinet in our laundry room (stained and installed by Neal, of course), and new leather furniture (it was intended to go in the family room, but since it won’t fit through the door, it is in the living room).

Christmas at home:

For the first time in our marriage, Neal and I stayed home on Christmas morning. It was a lot of fun and may become a new tradition. We did things on our own schedule (rather, Sally’s schedule—she slept in late), didn’t have to haul gifts around, and just enjoyed being together. It was so much fun for Neal and me to set things up the night before, to see the excitement on Sally’s face when she came into the living room, and to see Austin enjoying the excitement in the comfort of his own home where he is at his best.

Street improvements:

Since we bought our house in 2006, the city of Overland Park had been promising improvements to our street, including sidewalks, storm drainage pipes (as opposed to the ditch), new streetlights, and new pavement. Well, in 2010 it finally happened. It was at times painfully annoying (at times workers worked round the clock with loud machinery, and more than once I was denied access to my house in the summer with sleeping kids and icecream in the car). But all that is behind us. The work is done, and the result was worth it. Kind of silly that this made the top 10 list, but I LOVE our sidewalk, and the absence of the ditch has made mowing so much nicer for Neal. I’m a huge fan of anything that will make it easier for us to sell our house later, and I think this will help a lot.

A beautiful friendship:

Sally and I have always had a good relationship, but in 2010 she matured and grew in so many ways that have made our relationship even better. Sally is such a sweetie, and I have so much fun with her. She is a great companion: helpful, talkative, thoughtful, polite, fun, and obedient (most of the time--she is 3, afterall). She often amazes me with how much she understands, how much she remembers, and how much she notices. Sally and I have a lot in common, which sometimes results in us butting heads, but also makes for a great friendship.

I Want my Baby Back!

2011-02-26T19:15:00.000-08:00

I’ve found that I have a knack for cursing myself. When Sally was small (older than one, but not yet two), I made an observation that I had never been up all night with a crying child. A few days later, it happened. When Sally was barely two, I was talking to a friend about how lucky I was that Sally had never thrown up (spit up not included). A few days later, she threw up 3 times on the airplane and in the airport on the way to Utah. Recently a friend of mine was stuck inside for about a week with sick children. I though to myself how lucky I was that such a thing had never happened to me. I should have just not thought about it at all.

Last Sunday Austin wasn’t himself at church. Instead of squirming and trying to run away and play in the curtains in Sunday School, he was content to sit on my lap. For Austin, that is just weird. The story was the same in RS, except that by the end of the meeting, he was moaning and feeling kind of hot. I wasn’t too worried, just thought he was coming down with a cold or starting to get some new teeth. The next afternoon when I took him into the doctor for his 12 month well-baby appointment the doctor said that it looked like he had an ear infection, and prescribed him amoxicillin. After he got his three standard shots, we were on our way. I thought that the problem was solved, but it was all downhill from there.

When Neal went in to check on the kids before going to bed on Monday night, he discovered that Austin was drowning in a pool of his own vomit. He was sleeping soundly, but drowning in vomit nonetheless. Thus began 5 days (and counting?) of endless vomiting and diarrhea for the poor child. On Tuesday he had quite a high fever (perhaps due to the shots) and wanted nothing but to be held by mommy. I called my doctor because I thought he might be reacting poorly to the amoxicillin, but was told to keep giving it to him, despite the fact that he threw it up every time he was given a dose. On Wednesday the fever was gone, but he otherwise showed no improvement. Early Thursday morning, Sally threw up, and then the bug hit me on Thursday afternoon just as we were about to leave to see the doctor. Other than being told that there is a bug going around and to continue pushing fluids, the visit to the doctor was less than helpful, which I suspected would be the case.

While Sally seems to have made a full recovery (as early as Friday morning), Austin is still not keeping much of anything down. While I think that he does have some kind of bug, I also firmly believe that the amoxicillin has something to do with his vomiting. Even though there is a shot that can be given in place of the amoxicillin, for some reason that I can’t understand, I’ve been encouraged not to go that route.

I just want my baby back! He hasn’t walked in days, he barely talks, he isn’t very interested in toys, and he feels so limp and weak in my arms. I know that this will pass, but this has certainly been a hard week with lots of worry.

The washing machine has been doing overtime. Between Sally and Austin throwing up, I’ve washed: pillows, sheets, mattress pads, coats, cars seat covers, countless pajamas and onesies, socks, pants, towels, and shoes.

While it has been a hard week, there are some bright spots that I should not overlook.

*I have gotten to hold and snuggle Austin more that I have since he was a tiny baby. I have really enjoyed rocking him and just being close to him.
*Austin’s regular night sleep routine of 8 to 8 has been unaltered. No one around here can complain about a lack of sleep (except for Neal, but it is his own fault. That man doesn’t know how to go to bed). Austin has also been napping longer during the day than usual.
*While it appears to me that Austin is throwing everything up, apparently has he kept in enough fluids not to be classified as a dehydrated baby (according to the nurse practitioner), which keeps him out of the hospital, which I was afraid would be his fate. My sweet baby niece is in the hospital right now, and I feel so blessed that Austin isn’t in her position. We are praying for you, Abby, Scott, and baby Alice!
*Sally has been incredibly sweet and helpful. She is always very helpful, but she has been especially so this week.
*I’ve had more one-on-one time with Sally to read and do “art projects” (a.k.a. I catch up on making and writing thank you cards, and she stamps and glues) while Austin has slept.

I am hearted that Austin perked up somewhat today and kept a little bit of food down (I’m keeping my fingers crossed, it was just a few hours ago that I gave it to him). I’m confident that Austin will make a full recovery soon, and I’ll just keep telling myself that “this, too, shall pass!”

Time to get over it!

2011-01-09T20:44:00.001-08:00

One of the curses of being a perfectionist that is far from perfect is having a hard time getting over things that went wrong, whether they matter much or not. Here's hoping that by blogging about my silly mistakes I can stop beating myself up about them.

I don't think I have ever done this before, and I certainly hope I don't do it again. I played the piano in RS today (not uncommon), and for three verses in a row, I played the same two measures incorrecly, all the time knowing that I was playing them incorrectly. It was one of those weird occurrences where I picked a song that I thought was fairly well-known (hymn 148), but when I started playing almost no one sang. It felt weird. And then I started playing wrong things and felt weird and embarrassed. And then I was in a rut and played the same part wrong over again. And then I thought about it all day. And now I'm over it.

Christmas Eve was delightful (more on that later) until I realized that the cheesecake I had made for all of my guests was weird. The texture was not what it should have been because the last block of cream cheese I added simply wouldn't incorporate. It just kind of cumbled into little specks of cream cheese. It had been out on the counter softening for just as long as the rest of the cream cheese had, but it wasn't as new as the others (I guess it was starting to dry out, but I don't think it was terribly old). I've never had such a thing happen in all of my years of baking cheesecakes. I don't think it was any big deal to anyone else, but, silly me, I had a hard time getting over it. But I'm over it now, because my husband still loves me, my friends still seem to like me, the last time I checked I was still capable of making edible food, and I now know never to use cream cheese that may be somewhat old when making a cheesecake.

So, perhaps I'm silly, but I think I'll sleep well tonight!

Saturday night reflections

2011-01-08T21:35:00.000-08:00

It’s Saturday night and Neal is on call. The ONLY thing that I wanted to do tonight after my kids were in bed was update my blog. It is now 10:36, 6 minutes past the time that I wanted to be in bed, and I am just now getting to the blog. Instead of blogging, I’ve been baking a chocolate cake and making ice cream base. Why? Because I’m crazy.

Tomorrow we are going to a family party for my brother-in-law Josh, so the cake is for him (I ALWAYS volunteer to make the cake for family birthdays, and most of the time wonder why I didn’t let someone else have a turn). I planned to make it while Austin was napping today, but instead folded two loads of laundry and made jewelry with Sally out of her pop beads (which was a ton of fun, by the way—thanks, Sarah!). I didn’t want to make the cake tomorrow after church because after reading the RS lesson for tomorrow, I’m going to try harder than I have been to avoid much cooking and baking on Sunday. So, after doing the nightly post-bed-time tidying up and odds and ends, I baked a cake.

The ice cream came into the mix because I had some heavy whipping that has been on the verge of going bad for the past few days. I’ve been meaning to turn it into ice cream for quite a while now, but never did (perhaps because I’ve been surrounded by so many desserts and sweets lately)—until the night I was supposed to blog. I figured since I was in the kitchen already, one extra recipe would be no big deal. And it wasn’t, until I burned my finger whisking hot cream into an egg yolk and realized how late it was getting.

So, what I meant to blog about will have to wait. What follows is something that I’ve been meaning to blog about for a long time. It is part 2 of “My life is good.” So, without further detail about my adventures in sweet-making, here it is:

A few months ago Neal and I were talking with some friends and were asked the question, “Are you sick of living like students yet?” I honestly didn’t know what to say. I was totally caught off-guard by the question. I never ever considered us to be living like students (what does that even mean, anyway?). I don’t remember exactly how I answered the question, but it was something to the effect that while there are things that we would like to have someday that we don’t have now, we are pretty comfortable with our lifestyle. When we got home, Neal and I shared a good laugh.

I’ve since thought a lot about the question, and the more I think about it, the more I feel that my life is good. Neal and I own a home and have lots of equity in it. The home may be small, but it is adequate, modern, and in good repair. Other than our mortgage, we have no loans of any kind. We have never had any trouble paying any of our bills (not even a large bill for an expensive ER visit during the short window of time that I had bad health insurance). We have two cars (albeit old cars) that work well (siblings, spare me your criticism of Reggie—he is a reliable machine!). We go on vacations, buy new clothes and shoes, buy the kind of food we want, eat out when we want to, buy new furniture, etc. Of course there are things that I would do differently if I had more money, but I don’t feel like I am suffering for the want of anything right now. I honestly feel like Neal and I have been incredibly blessed in our life together.

So, while some may disagree (even many who know us and know how we live), I submit that we do not live like students, but like middle-class Americans. And I’d like to think that even if we did live like students, we’d still be happy.

We’ll see what I have to say about this when we are making 10 times what we are now (which is hard for me to fathom)…

No, I haven't given up blogging

2010-11-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

The other day I was on the phone with Alison and told her that we had been busy. When she asked with what, I had a surprisingly hard time answering her. I have a lot going on, but I don’t always reflect on what I’m doing and have been doing, which I think is important. Life seems to be going fast lately, which is good and bad—I enjoy being up and doing and going and working, but my kids are growing up so fast and I don’t want to be so busy that I don’t fully enjoy, love, and nurture them.
So, since I’d like to pause and assess what is going on in my life right now, I may as well do it in the form of another family update. It’s been a while! So, starting with myself, here goes!

Me:

-I’m working about 7 hours a week for EMB, give and take a few hours depending on the week. I mostly work in the evenings and during Austin’s afternoon nap (I have Sally play quietly by herself for a while and then reward her with a T.V. show or library video if she keeps nicely to herself). I feel very fortunate to have such a great work opportunity, but despite what a good situation it is, I often toss around the idea of being done (or at least taking a while off). Before long Austin will stop napping in the morning, which will take away some of my one-on-one time with Sally, making it less appealing for me to work in the afternoon. I’m sure I can figure something out.

-I’m enjoying my calling as the 1st Counselor in the RS Presidency. It isn’t a terribly busy calling, but does take some of my time and energy each week. I always feel like I should be doing more, though.

-I’m teaching piano lessons. I have four students, three of which are siblings. I was approached by the mother of the three and asked if I would teach piano lessons in exchange for her watching my kids for a few hours each week. In the case of the one, I was also approached by her mother who offered to pay me more than I was willing to accept (and more than I am accepting). I don’t particularly enjoy teaching piano lessons because I don’t feel as qualified as I would like to be. While I feel like I’m a capable and competent pianist, I never learned a whole lot of music theory, and I don’t feel like I’ve been blessed with the gift of teaching. I do okay, but I have a hard time when people just don’t get something I’m trying to teach. Since the mothers of my students know my limitations and have as their objective having their children learn to play hymns, I feel okay about teaching.

-I’m trying to read more, do more to beautify my home, exercise more, and blog more--and failing miserably at all of the above. I did read a book in October, thanks to my friend Amanda recently organizing a book club, but because of being busy with work the past month, I didn’t get the book read in November. I have a list of projects I’d like to do in my home that has gone for some time without a single check-mark. Austin is now 9 months old, and I don’t know if “9 months on, 9 months off” applies to me. I haven’t been on a scale in months, but I’m pretty sure I’m a few pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight. And while I’m honestly not that worried about the number on the scale, I think I’ll have a permanent spare tire around my middle unless I can get enough motivation to really do something about it—and that does worry me. As for the blog, well, you all can see for yourselves how well I’m doing there!

-On a more positive note, I do feel like I spend a lot of quality time with my kids. I play with and read to them quite a lot, and enjoy it (most of the time). I think they can tell that I love being with them and doing activities with them—at least I hope so.

-I continue to love trying new recipes and ideas in the kitchen. I’m trying to cook simpler and more efficiently.

-I love getting together with my friends and their children. We have had a lot of fun get-togethers lately to celebrate birthdays and new babies, but usually it is just a low-key gathering over a simple lunch (sandwiches, left-overs, whatever!) with good conversation and toys for the kids.

Neal:

-Neal is busy with work (but not as busy as he was last year). After 5 months in the anesthesia program, let’s say that the honeymoon is over. During the first few months in the program, it wasn’t uncommon for him to come home around 4 (after leaving the house around 5 am). These days, it is a rare day that he is home before 6 (and then he has about half an hour of prep work to do at home for the next day). So, he works long days, but is learning a lot and getting good experience. He does get weekends off, though, unless he is on call (a 24 hour shift), which happens 3-4 times a month.

-He is also busy with church. He has had a lot of scouting activities and trainings lately. He enjoys them for the most part. I think his current calling as assistant scoutmaster/Deacon’s quorum advisor is a good fit for him.

-He has had a few projects going on recently (he loves projects and is almost always in some stage of a project): staining and installing an extra cabinet in our laundry room, building and paining a fence, and cutting down two dead trees in our yard. I was less than excited about the trees—not because I didn’t think they needed to be removed, but because the idea of Neal on a ladder near power-lines with a chain saw terrified me. It all worked out in the end, but I was admittedly ticked off at him for completely ignoring my safety concerns. I already feel like a widow a lot of the time, and that is bad enough.

Sally:

-Sally turned 3 years old on November 19. She knows enough about birthdays to be very excited about her own. I hope she wasn’t disappointed. We didn’t have a party with friends this year, but enjoyed celebrating with Neal’s family. She got a 2-wheeler with training wheels from us, and some other fun gifts from family and friends.

-She is a sweet and well-behaved young lady. She always has been, but lately her behavior has been top-notch. She has recently gotten over a phase where she didn’t like going to bed and would repeatedly come out of her room after she was put to bed, and now cooperates very nicely at bed-time. She says “please,” “thank-you,” “excuse-me,” and “I’m sorry” without having to be reminded most of the time. She is getting better at sharing with Austin and with her friends, and she often suggests kind acts to perform for people we know. I know that I’m strict with her, and I’m trying hard to lighten up.

-She loves to sing and dance, and most of the time makes up the songs she sings. She is also really into playing make-believe. She has a little people castle set that she loves, and she also loves playing “family” with her baby doll.

-She is a great eater (unless we are at someone else’s house and there are tempting toys around), and eats pretty much everything that I make (except for salad—she still isn’t a fan, but we’re trying). Her favorite food is still oatmeal, but she also loves pb&j, carrots and peas, blackberries, lasagna, homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese (what she requested for her birthday dinner), and, of course, sweets (cookies and ice cream in particular). She will eat sweets that most kids won’t touch (including me as a kid), such as dark chocolate and nuts.

-She is a lot of fun to have around and has an optimistic spirit. When I’m feeling badly about something, she’ll give me a hug and say something like “Don’t worry, Mommy!”, or “It will be alright.”

Austin:

-Poor Austin has had so little coverage on this blog! He continues to be a great baby. He is good natured and happy most of the time. Lately he has been very attached to me, which has been a challenge, because he wants me to hold him, yet still wants to be playing and moving (so he just can’t make up his mind about what he wants).

-He is a great night-time sleeper (sleeps about 12 straight hours), but is starting to grow out of his two-nap daily routine.
-He is still mostly bald on top, but has quite a bit of hair on the sides and in the back. No one is sure about what color it is. I think it is blond, but others think it is reddish.

-He has beautiful blue eyes and sweet chubby cheeks that are so fun to kiss.

-To back up a little (okay, a lot!), here are a few of his accomplishments: he rolled over at 3.5 months and started crawling at 5 months. He started pulling himself up and standing on his own at about 6 and 7 months, respectively. He is now 9.5 months and doesn’t yet walk, but is getting close. He cruises along furniture and has attempted a few steps. He likes to walk when someone is holding his hands.

-He is VERY active and into EVERYTHING. He definitely keeps me on my toes.

-He loves books, but not me reading them to him. He mostly just pulls them off of the shelf, shakes them, turns a few pages, and occasionally puts them in his mouth. There is one book that he will let me read to him all of the way through—a board book called “Where’s Nicky?”

-He babbles quite a lot and can say “Mama” and “Dada.” And I’m pretty sure he knows exactly what he is saying when he says them. He is quite loud when he wants to be and has a deep voice, which I find quite humorous (how deep it is, NOT how loud he can be).

-He is a good eater but is starting to be very picky. He has started throwing food on the floor, much to my dismay. His favorites at this point are bananas, bread, and tomato soup (oh, and a new favorite since Thanksgiving—homemade rolls).

Finally, here are some of my favorite recent pictures of the kids (in random order and largely without captions because I'm ready to be done with the computer):

So proud of himself!

I LOVE this dress, and love that fact that I got it for $10 at a consignment sale. Similar dresses I've seen run around $50 or more.
Sally has cute curly hair!

The cake was delish but didn't turn out as cute as I'd hoped. I was rushed and didn't have time for a second coat of icing. Sally loved it, though, and I guess that is what counts.

So I don't forget...

2010-10-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

Tonight I made a pumpkin pie for dessert. It was a bit more labor intensive than making your typical pumpkin pie because I used a pie pumpkin rather than canned pumpkin. While making my pie I was simultaneously making dinner, and it was getting a bit busy in the kitchen. To make a long story short, the pie crust wasn’t as lovely as I had envisioned, and I had a lot of pie filling left over (I think I was supposed to use a deep dish pie plate rather than a regular pie plate—just one of the details that I overlooked while multitasking). As I took the pie out of the oven, I commented to Neal: “This isn’t exactly the perfectly beautiful pumpkin pie that I had envisioned, but oh, well!” Sally then piped up: “Well,” (she commonly begins sentences that way), “I envisioned the pumpkin pie falling from the ceiling and landing in a plate of spaghetti!” What a silly girl. I don’t know where she comes up with things like this!

Family Trip

2010-09-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

As promised, more pictures from Utah (I'm sure you've all been on the edge of your seats!). I'm surprised and disappointed that I didn't take more pictures.

We enjoyed our recent trip to Utah. There wasn't any real occasion for our visit. We try to visit my family in Utah twice a year (occasionally over the past few years it has been more frequent due to special circumstances), and we were due for a visit. Neal was able to take some time off of work, and we got an awesome deal on plane tickets. My family was anxious to see Austin (especially those memebers of my family who had not yet met him), and I was anxious to see everyone, show off my sweet baby boy, and let Sally play with her cousins to her heart's content. All of my pestering Angie and Hyrum to go out there the same time as us paid off, and they made the trip out, as well. It was great to be together with the whole family. I'm not sure when that will happen again, since my clan will not be going to Utah during the Christmas season this year.

The trip got off to an interesting start. Sally fell asleep in the car on the way to the airport and amazingly stayed asleep all the way to the security checkpoint.

We got in to Salt Lake late Wednesday night and enjoyed a low-key day at my parent's house on Thursday. I did get away for a while to meet some friends for lunch. Amazingly I was able to get together with my the three awesome roommates that I spent 2+ years with at BYU (Lisa recently moved back to Utah, Kathryn happened to be visiting, and Sarah is living with her parents currently until she gets married in October). Anna joined us, too. It was a lot of fun.

Al and her girls came over in the afternoon so we could bake cakes and let the girls play. It was delightful to bake with my sister while Sally happily played with Ada and Kate.

Thursday night we headed down to Provo to take Neal's brother Grant out to dinner (and left the kids with my parents). It was fun to visit Provo and remember the good ol' days when I lived there. We wanted to eat at the Bombay house, but ended up at Gloria's Little Italy. I didn't regreat it. Let's just say it is a good thing that I very infrequently have the pleasure of ordering "all you care to eat" pasta, especially when one of the choices is pasta drenched in some sort of cream sauce! Despite my hearty dinner, I couldn't resist a $1 scoop of cougar creamery ice cream at Spoons and Spice on the way out of the BYU Bookstore, where cougar shirts were purchased for the entire family.

The next day we hiked Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon with my mom, Ella, Abby, and Angie and Hyrum. It was surprisingly chilly, (I was grateful that I had brought my kids' jackets), but a lot of fun. Because we had no baby carrier, I carried Austin in my arms for a good portion of the hike, with Angie and Neal taking occasional turns to give me a break. Sally was carried mostly by Neal, but enjoyed riding on Hyrum's shoulders for a good stretch. Sally loves her uncle Hyrum!

The family pictures at the top all turned out fuzzy and unfit for posting. This picture of Neal and kids is not much better. Sally had a great time on the hike, but must have been cold at this moment--she doesn't look very pleased.

That night we headed to Spencer and Korrin's house to celebrate Abby's birthday (and my Mom's birthday, which would be the next week). Al and I frosted and decorated our cake, which tasted a lot better than it looked. It was fun to make, though. Next time we'll do a crumb layer of frosting first.

It was so fun to be with the whole family. I love seeing the little girls play together, and it was fun seeing Austin interact with the family, as well.

On Saturday we went to the fair that my parents' stake put on, watched the Cougars lose to Air Force, and ate pizza and played with the family again.

Saturday night was a lot of fun--several of my best high school friends and I had dinner together at my friend Sarah's house. It was after my kids went to bed (quite a late dinner), but it was wonderful to catch up with all of my friends. Abby went along, too, and it was fun having her there. I think all of my friends like Abby better than they like me--and for good reason, she is a lot of fun! Talking with friends and a sister, eating great food, relaxing in a cozy house, not worrying a bit about what my kids are doing--for me, it doesn't get much better than that!

On Sunday before church, we enjoyed pacakes and the stories I loved as a child. It was so fun to watch Sally sit on her grandpa's lap and giggle happily at Micky and the Giant in the classic "The Brave Little Tailor." I love Sally's giggle, especially when she has a hard time stopping her giggles.

After church we enjoyed a family dinner at my grandparents' house. I love my grandparents' house and was so glad to have the chance to be there, as they are building a new home and have sold their house. It was fun to be there with them one last time. My grandma (Sally's namesake) is very sweet and make pink cupcakes with gumdrop decorations for the little girls, and her famous chocolate cake for the rest of us. Needless to say, Sally enjoyed her treat...

as did her cousins! Amazingly, the girls all stayed put for the picture and even attempted to look at the camera. I have the cupcakes to thank for keeping them glued to their seats.

Sweet little Austy had a lot of fun exploring and probably ate a fair amount of leaves while we enjoyed the evening on the deck. He also enjoyed his grandpa--almost as much as grandpa enjoyed him!

Monday came and we got ready to head home, but not before an afternoon at Alison's house. Neal had a get his Wii time in, and Sally was all excited to play with Ada and Kate's toys. Thankfully Ella and Grace joined us so the cousins could get in one last play time. Sally was in heaven in Ada's room, playing with baby dolls and dressing up as Minnie Mouse and Snow White. Here are the cute "big girls" coloring, while the "little girls" (Kate and Grace) napped. Thankfully Austin slept at Al's house, as well, so I could sneak off to lunch with Al and Angie.

All-in-all we had a great trip. I regret not making it to Al and Tyler's house for games with the rest of the siblings any of the evenings (we really missed out, but were pretty tired), and not spending more one-on-one time with Neal. At least we had our Provo trip. But I can't complain--we saw family and friends, enjoyed nice weather, and our kids were great.

Preview

2010-09-21T21:41:00.001-07:00

We recently returned from a fun trip to Utah to spend time with my family. We enjoyed a short hike, among other things. More info. and pictures will follow. This post is just to get a picture out there to make me feel better about my previous two posts containing no pictures.

Honestly, does Abby even look pregnant in this picture? I find it hard to believe she is halfway through!

The Lost Petersons

2010-09-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

Neal and I enjoy watching a good series together. During the Christmas season right after Sally was born we had a lot of free time and a little baby that slept a lot. With the help of Neal’s family, we discovered the “Horatio Hornblower” series (a BBC work) and dove in. It was at times cheesy and predictable, but fun just the same. We enjoyed the down time together, and would work together to get things done around the house and with Sally so we could start each next episode. The next Christmas season we got into season 1 of “24”, which I initially resisted but ended up getting hooked on. Over the past few years we have also taken on “The Lost Room” (a short series, something that Neal’s mom lent to us), “Crusoe” (an NBC mini-series), “The Winds of War” (an ABC miniseries from the 80s), “The Flame Trees of Thika” (a British miniseries) and “Love Comes Softly” (from Hallmark, and the only series we never finished).

Our most recent series of interest is “LOST”. I’m not sure why we started, but after just one episode of season 1, we both wanted to continue. While we didn’t watch every night, most evenings we’d watch at least one episode (and sometimes two or three). It was fun looking forward to that time together in the evenings, and fun to talk about the story and characters together. We were both motivated to take care of our responsibilities as quickly as possible in the evenings so we could have more time to watch together. After season 1 was over, we took a few months off and then tackled season 2. While we both really enjoyed seasons 1 and 2, we’ve decided not to continue with the rest of the seasons. In addition to feeling guilty about spending so much time in front of the tv night after night, I didn’t like turning a blind eye to the raciness that was starting to creep into the show just because I wanted to see what happened next.

So now, without watching “LOST” in the evenings, our evenings feel a bit, well, lost! They are certainly a lot less fun and a lot less predictable. It isn’t that we currently do nothing together in the evenings—we do. We enjoy crossword puzzles, working on our finances, playing games, or just talking, but we also commonly get pulled into our own responsibilities and interests and spend less time together than we’d like. I work quite a bit for my job in the evenings, and Neal always has things he can do for work—such as reading the millions of medical journals/anesthesia textbooks that the department would like him to read. I suppose we are just in a bit of a rut right now and the solution is just planning (or a good dose of fun spontaneity, which neither of us have ever been great at), but often lately while I’m sitting at my work computer realizing that the evening has slipped away without much spouse time, I long for the evenings with LOST on the tv, Neal and my side, and a bowl of ice cream in my lap.

While I could take the easy route, (cave in and go get season 3 from the library), I’m looking for ideas and suggestions about other series that are not quite so long (or addicting, or racy), but more especially about other ways for Neal and I to spend time together in the evenings that we’ll be as excited about as we were about “LOST.” Any ideas? (Ideas involving exercise are especially welcome. Goodness knows I need more of that!).

My Life is Good!

2010-08-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

I give credit to Nacho Libre for the title of this post. Did I ever mention that I love that movie?

It's 10:10, Neal is on-call at the hospital, I'm fighting the urge to go and get myself some icecream, and there are a million things I could blog about--or I could just go to bed. Going to bed sounds nice...but no, I told myself that I had to post SOMETHING today, so post I will.

A while ago some friends and I were talking about watching the clock when it is about time for the husband to come home from work. Someone mentioned (perhaps it was me) that it is hard to "kill time" with the children at the end of the day and everyone wants to eat dinner. Since that conversation I've thought a lot about "killing time." The more I think about it, the more I don't like the concept. I'm trying to focus more on living in the here-and-now and enjoying it.

I'm often guilty of wishing for "better days": days when I have a bigger house, days when I have more time with Neal, days when my children will respect my need for a little alone time, and so on and so forth. Although wishing and hoping for positive changes isn't necessarily a bad thing, I'm staring to fear that all of the mental energy I spend on wishing will take away from my ability to love, teach, and have fun with my children today.

Today was a day in which I could have easily had the "killing time" mentality, yet I tried hard to avoid it and had a great day with my kids. As I mentioned earlier, Neal was on-call today (meaning he went into work at 6 AM and will be off at 6 AM tomorrow morning), and it also happened to be stake conference Sunday. I was quite nervous about how things would go at stake conference without Neal there to help keep the children happy, especially since conference fell right in the middle of Austin's nap time. Both children behaved exceptionally well. Austin didn't sleep, but he was happy, pleasant, and quiet (aside from one minor melt-down which easily passed). Sally played make-believe with two crayons for a good portion of the conference (I have no idea what she was imagining, but she was happy, quiet, and stayed in her seat).

I was also worried about how things would go this afternoon (Austin's nap schedule would be messed up, Sally would get bored and ask to watch a movie which doesn't fly at my house on Sunday, etc.), but my worries were in vain. Austin had a great nap (after crying himself to sleep for 25 minutes), Sally played nicely by herself for quite a while, and we read from the Friend magazine for a good chunk of time. We had a nice dinner together (Sally loved her food and asked for more!), had fun at bath-time, and made "marshmallow sandwiches" for dessert (which are really just s'mores under the broiler. Sally out of the blue asked me if she could have a "marshmallow sandwich", and I'm not sure how she got that idea).

I was amazed at how the day flew by. Although I love having Neal at home, life doesn't fall apart when he's gone. I think my children are delightful, and I love being with them every day. I want to do a better job of enjoying the simple things that I do with my children and taking advantage of the time I have to teach them, praise them, love them, and laugh with them.

I'm still brianstorming about how to achieve this (some days I do quite well, other days I fail miserably). If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

This post will have to have a part 2, because I'd like to expound on the title of this post. Hopefully it won't take me a month! For now, that ice cream is sounding pretty good...

5 Years!

2010-08-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Neal and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. After many grand ideas and schemes we decided to have a quiet, simple celebration--we dropped the kids off at a babysitter's house and went out to dinner. We enjoyed a quiet and tasty meal and good uninterruped converstaion at Lidias, an Italian place downtown. I can't remember the last time I had freshly made pasta, but I'll sure remember this pasta (not to mention to Ceasar salad and gnocchi)!

Here's a look back at the last 5 years:

Year 0: Just married and ready to take on medical school and my first real job. We had no idea what we were getting into!

Year 1: Reunited in Utah (for Sarah and Greg's wedding) after Neal's journeyings to Alabama for 5 weeks for comissioned officer training and 10 days in El Salvador for a med school research trip. Ready to buy a house and tackle year 2 of medical school.

Year 2: Pleasingly pregnant with Sally and enjoying a family get-together with the Dicksons. Abby had just gone through the temple and was ready to head out on her mission.

Year 3: Happily together again after Neal's rotation in Philmont (New Mexico) and enjoying some KU action before sending Neal off to San Antonio for yet another rotation. Sally spent her first day with a non-family babysitter. It was big for us (me).

Year 4: After two more away rotations, Dr. Peterson (yes, he was done with medical school at last and in the midst of residency) joined me for 20 hours (5 of which were on our anniversary) in Utah for Abby and Scott's wedding. Austin was baking but not very big, and Sally was talking up a storm and conducting a self-guided tour of temple square.

And here we are (sorry, no picture--I had some taken by a friend but they aren't ready yet, and sadly all of our snapshots lately are of our children), with two mobile children, still in our same house (much improved, might I add), and in year 2 of residency. Life is good, and the future looks even better. Thanks, Neal for a great first 5. I can't want to see what another 5 will bring!

The Petersons Lately: A Survey

2010-07-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

Just a quick look at a few highlights of the last few months:

Back in April, during Neal's final vacation week of intern year, we took a spontaneous road trip down to Houston to visit Neal's sister Sarah, her husband Greg, and their adorable baby boy Luke. Neal's sister Bonnie was there, too. The car trip there was not fun (both kids were well-behaved but both were unable to sleep at night, so less than 2 hours from our destination we forked over $100 for a few hours of sleep and a big dose of sanity--totally worth it!), but the visit was. We enjoyed playing games, eating Sarah's good food, watching movies, talking, going to the temple (thanks, Bonnie, for babysitting!), and going to the park and beach.

Sally, Sarah, and I made glamorous jewelry out of some pop beads. I'm totally getting some when Sally is a little older (and if she doesn't play with them, I will!).

We loved the park and had fun feeding the ducks, playing Frisbee, and swinging.

Despite losing Sarah and following the wrong car (it was just like Sarah's!), we made it to the beach in Galveston. Sally loved it. Thanks, Sarah, for your patience!

Austin loved the beach a little less than Sally, but he didn't complain.

Back in KC, we checked out the free Clifford exhibit at Crown Center. Sally was so excited to meet Clifford! I thought she would be scared, but I guess she was expecting a big red dog, afterall.

The best family picture we could come up with.

Sally enjoyed dressing up as the mail carrier on Birdwell Island.

Austin outgrew his bassinet. After I took this picture, I couldn't in good conscience keep him in there at night. Unfortunately the crib in Sally's room is the only alternative. Having two kids in the same room has been a trial, but we are figuring it out, one night at a time. Things are getting better.

Sally decided to kick the pull-ups (more like I decided to be done with them). She loves her undies and has had very few accidents in the past few months. She also loves her dress-up shoes and pretend-talking on the phone.

Sally loves Austin, and Austin seems to like Sally, as well.

Both kids are looking at the camera!

While pre-heating the oven for these cupcakes:

I melted Sally's plate in the oven (I often use the oven as a drying rack, and I thought I had removed everything). Imagine my surprise when I opened up the oven to see flourescent green slime!

We had a fun time as a family swimming at the local swimming pool. We love it when Neal has a day off and can go out and about together. Austin napped in the shade while Neal and I took turns swimming with Sally in the big pool. We'll definitely go again.

Sally discovered that Austin can fit in her baby stroller (please pardon the purple crib bumper--it was temporary until the blue one arrived in the mail). And no, she didn't put him in there. I did at her request.

I discovered that Austin can fit in a baby swing (and LOVES IT!). Going to the park is so much nicer now!

Austin discovered his toes (quite a while ago, actually, but I couldn't resist including this picture).

We got to spend the 4th of July together (and the 3rd and the 5th, too!). We had a breakfast with friends on the 3rd, went to church and then to Jim and Cookie's house for a bbq on the 4th, and went to the Legends and had our own picnic bbq in our family room while watching Toy Story 2 on the 5th. I was so excited for Neal to have a 3 day weekend. It was so refreshing. Our post-church 4th pictures turned out okay.

A few happenings of the last few months that are also of note:

Neal and I both got new callings. Neal is the Deacon's Quorum advisor and assistant Scout master, and I am the 1st counselor in the RS presidency.

Neal completed his intern year in internal medicine and is now being trained as an anesthesiologist. It was worth the wait (at least from my perspective). He doesn't have to work on weekends unless he is on call (which he will be every 9 days), which means...WE CAN GO TO CHURCH TOGETHER AGAIN! Also, no more short call, night float, or discharge summaries after he gets home!

Austin can almost crawl. He gets up on his knees and rocks back and forth. He's been rolling around for over a month now and can move himself pretty well without crawling, but he's ready to move onto bigger and better things. I'm excited but scared.

Sally can jump. Sally is quite a smart and capable little girl, but for some reason she had a very hard time learning to jump. She can now get both feet off of the floor simultaneously.

Kind of random, but I guess that is my blogging style these days. Until next time!

P.S. In case you don't know where the title of the previous post came from, it is from Nacho Libre.

Down to the nitty gritties

2010-07-07T22:23:00.000-07:00

I haven’t blogged in quite a while, and this is not the type of post that I’ve been meaning to write. For the past month or so I feel like I’ve been in a rut. I don’t feel like I’m doing very well at any aspect in my life (especially motherhood), and I keep feeling the urge to be things that I’m not. So I decided to take a quick look at who I really am and what makes me tick. Without trying to hide anything or apologize for anything, here’s a peek into the real me.

I love baking and could easily bake all day long if I had the time (and if I didn’t have to do all of the dishes). When I see a new recipe that I want to try I look for any possible opportunity to make it. Oftentimes when I’m having a hard time sleeping at night I’m thinking about baking.

I love cooking—not as much as baking, but I love it nonetheless. Putting a good meal on the table brings me great satisfaction.

I love grocery shopping. I’m so excited each week when the ads come in the mail and I can plan what stores I’ll go to and what dishes I’ll be able to make. I get especially excited about sales on produce.

I love getting new things to wear, but rarely do. While not wanting to spend money is part of it, a large factor is that I don’t like shopping with my children and feel guilty getting a babysitter to go out shopping on my own. And I don’t enjoy online shopping for clothing. I get much more excited about grocery shopping than clothing shopping (and my children enjoy grocery shopping so much more), and thus my wardrobe suffers.

Guilt is a feeling I feel frequently. It is mostly related to my children in some way. I daily feel the need to be a more patient and accepting mother and to be more creative with my children.

I love to read, but don’t get to much these days. If I had the time I’d read many of the classics that I read in high school but that I didn’t fully appreciate at the time. “A Tale of Two Cities” is high on my list to re-read.

I am a dreamer. I love to dream about the house I will have someday, vacations that Neal and I will go on, meals that I’d like to make, desserts I’d like to bake, parties I’d like to have, things I’d like to own, etc. After we got married it took a while for Neal to get used to my love of dreaming and stop worrying that I was going to go out and spend a lot of money on things. I fear that at the end of my life I’ll find that I’ve done more dreaming than doing. I’m still trying to figure this out, but I think that for the most part fear of the unknown, feeling like I don’t deserve things, and my inborn thriftiness keep me from doing.

I love to play the piano and am so excited whenever I get a chance to play in church. I love accompanying, especially for choirs. I also enjoy playing the organ. I enjoyed being a ward organist (except for the part about it being hard for my children) and feel very badly that I didn’t do a better job in that calling while I had it (it wasn’t my primary calling, so I didn’t devote a lot of time to practice—to be quite honest, barely any time once Sally was born). Most of the time I didn’t play the pedals, and I did hardly any exploration with the stops to get different sounds for different hymns.

I am easily annoyed by sounds that people make unintentionally or without the intent to annoy—such as pen-clicking, lip-smacking, knuckle-cracking, humming, whistling, etc.

I love having parties with friends and family. I am always looking for any excuse to have a party or other get-together. I love planning, preparing food, and seeing people gather and interact, and, of course, eating. I’m still trying to figure out how to be more involved in socializing during my parties while being a good hostess and not ignoring my children. While I love having parties, I also get stressed out and worn out as a result, but these minor problems are far outweighed by the enjoyment I get from the overall experience.

I love serving people, especially if it involves preparing food.

I want to own a bed and breakfast, or a sandwich shop and bakery, someday.

I get great satisfaction out of having a clean house. For the most part I enjoy cleaning, but there are certain areas that I really struggle with. I hate washing windows (especially since Sally is always touching them and they never stay clean), I detest dusting blinds (I think 4 years of living in BYU student housing with cleaning checks every months requiring blind cleaning burned me out), and for some reason I have a really hard time getting around to vacuuming (I don’t have a ton of carpet at my house, and when there is not a sleeping child in the house there are toys on the floor being played with).

I am a confident person in that I have confidence in my ability to do most things I’d like to do, but I often feel insecure around other people and worry about what they think of me. This is in large part because I often put my foot in my mouth and tend to be too loud. It doesn’t help that I was an awkward child (or at least felt like one because I was always too tall, too serious, and had coke bottle glasses), I am naturally clumsy, and I have vivid memories about being teased for these reasons and more.

I struggle with disciplining my 2.5 year old daughter, and know that I need to lighten up. I have really high expectations for myself, which I tend to pass long to Sally, poor thing. I get easily annoyed about things that aren’t that big a deal. Sometimes I forget that she is only 2.5, and I fear that I’m not enjoying her childhood enough.

I have always had a fear of not being loved, and although I have a great marriage and two sweet kids, that fear remains. I know that I’m not great with teenagers, and I fear that Sally won’t like me in her teenage years. Silly fear, but it is there nonetheless.

I wish I were better at blogging, sending birthday cards on time (I don’t forget birthdays, I just struggle with sending things on time), taking pictures, planning activities to engage my daughter, staying in touch with my family and friends, and exercising.

I love to sing and want to be in the Motab someday.

I love being outside but don’t go outside much because 1) I get eaten alive every time I set foot outdoors, 2) I’m not quite sure what to do with Austin, 3) Sally has a way of getting filthy in a matter of seconds. I need to find away around these difficulties so I can take better care of my yard and garden and clean out my car (I have no garage, so this is an outside activity).

I’ve enjoyed living in Kansas City, but I long to live closer to the bulk of my family. I wish I lived closer to at least one of my sisters. Being close to some of Neal’s family partly fills the void, but the void remains and is particularly large around holidays.

I love to laugh and enjoy watching old comedies with Neal, especially movies with Doris Day and Rock Hudson or Cary Grant. I have kind of a silly sense of humor. I think the movie Nacho Libre is absolutely hilarious, and I often find myself laughing at it out of the blue. I don’t laugh as much as I used to and I’m not sure why. The burdens of being a wife and mother? Probably. I need to lighten up.

I need to go to bed. NOW.

All is Calm

2010-06-04T15:32:00.001-07:00

It is 5:30 in the afternoon and both of my children are sleeping. It is so strange I almost don't know what to do with myself. Poor Sally has been sick all week and fell asleep in the car on the way back from the grocery store. I was surprised when she kept right on sleeping when I moved her into the house. She really needs this nap, though. I don't know how that girl keeps on going without naps, especially when she is sick and since she plays in her room at night after she has been put to bed AND she wakes up early (not terribly early, but earlier than she used to).

Austin has broken the silence. I suppose all good things have to come to an end.

P.S. for my friend Michelle: I did it--a quick, spontaneous post about what is happening in the here and now.

New 'Do

2010-05-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

At the gentle suggestion (okay, maybe not so gentle) of my sisters when they visited, I decided to get a haircut that is a little different. Based on some recommendations, I found a good stylist that isn't too pricey. Here's what came of it:

I had kind of a hard time getting a good picture of the cut, and I don't think this photo really does it justice, but at least you get the idea. It really isn't too terribly different from cuts I've had in the past, but I like it and it is still low maintenance.

When my sisters and I get together we tend to start comparing ourselves--our hair, our clothes, our weight, our tans (or, more appropriately, lack thereof), etc. No matter what any of them may say, all of my sisters are beautiful, thin, talented, smart, and wonderful in just about every way. I don't care much for comparisons, but if we are going to compare, then I'll say that Angie will always be the biggest shopping enthusiast, Alison will always be the biggest sports fan, and Abby will always be the biggest movie buff. I, on the other hand, will always spend the least time and money on my hair, make-up, and clothing. I'm okay with being the frumpy one. I have a husband who loves me, and I do shower and put on make-up every day. :)

I'm not the only one with a new 'do. Sally's hair has grown quite a lot lately, and I'm finally able to do a few things with it. I've had fun experimenting, and she is getting more used to having her hair done and is much more cooperative than she used to be. That doesn't mean that she doesn't still pull out her pony tails or rub her head everywhere, ruining her curls (all natural, I might add), but it is an improvement. Too bad she is so hard to photograph. A few photos that were somewhat successful:

Austin C.

2010-05-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

I'm ashamed that I haven't posted more pictures of (or info. about) Austin C. (that's what I call him most of the time, and I'm not sure why). He deserves a post of his own.

-He is so patient with me and Sally, I almost feel guilty sometimes. Sally likes to climb on top of him and kiss him repeatedly, and he hardly complains. He seems to understand that he is child #2 and has an older sister that is very demanding of mommy's time (especially since potty training is still going on), and he patiently waits his turn for mommy's full attention (which he really likes once Sally has gone to bed).

-He is very smiley and has recently started laughing.

-He has a great zeal for kicking at batting at toys in his bouncy seat--he takes it very seriously (I need to get a video). He is getting really good at reaching out and grabbing things in front of him.

-He drools like crazy, although as far as I can tell he has no teeth coming in.

-He sleeps well, but not as well as Sally did when she was his age. This frustrates me, although I know that it shouldn't and I feel guilty when I get annoyed at his occasional 5 AM wakings. Sally simply was a championship sleeper and I was spoiled (although she is trying me now--she hasn't napped since last September, and she plays in her room for sometimes more than an hour after she has been put to bed, and there doesn't seem to be anything that I can do about it).

-He is happy and very easy-going. He doesn't mind being passed around (although this may be changing--yesterday and today he had unprecedented meltdowns when confronted by strangers).

-He has very strong legs and loves "standing". He isn't a snuggly baby (neither was Sally), and always wants to be looking around and flailing his long limbs.

I am so thankful that Austin is such a good baby. He has made the transition from one child to two a breeze. I can't imagine life without my sweet little blue-eyed boy.

There's more I'd like to say about my little guy, but this will do for now. I tend to skip out on posting things that I'd really like to because I have the problem of waiting for the perfect opportunity to really sit down and put my thoughts together and mulling things over in my mind for so long that I get way behind and have to move on. I'm obviously not a very consistent or exciting blogger, but I'm trying to do better at at least getting posts out there even if the quality is less than what I'd like it to be.

All for Austin

2010-04-29T21:33:00.000-07:00

A little over a month ago my sisters (all 3 of them!!!!), my brother-in-law Hyrum, and my parents came out to Kansas City for a visit. The event that prompted the visit was Austin's blessing. While Angie and Hyrum and my parents have visited many times, this was the first time that Alison and Abby have been to visit me. I absolutely loved having them all here. It was so much fun to spend time with everyone all together, and as an added bonus, Neal had time off while our visitors were here.

A few of my favorite pictures from the visit:

Grandma and Austin at the park:

Sally's first lesson in baseball:

Hyrum mowing our lawn:

On Sunday after the blessing the weather was absolutely beautiful and we all enjoyed lunch together and got some great pictures outside by my neighbors' beautiful flowering tree. Unfortunately, the star of the show, Austin, crashed after all of the excitement and missed the pictures.

The Dickson girls:

The Dickson family:

The Petersons and Martins:

We finally did get some pictures with Austin, although he wasn't as alert as I would have liked him to be:

It was so much fun to relax and talk with my sisters. I don't realize how much I miss them until I'm with them.

For Angie

2010-04-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

My sister Angie gave Sally this adorable outfit more than two years ago. It finally fits (actually, the top is still too big). I need to have some professional portraits taken of Sally in these clothes (after finding a suitable undershirt). Here is my best attempt at a photo shoot--not horrible for being completely unplanned.

Thanks, Angie! If Sally were your child she'd be a lot better dressed.

The Current State of Things

2010-03-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

Here's what's going on with the Petersons these days (I wrote this about a week ago and am just now posting it):

Austin:

-Sleeps for 5 hour stretches many nights, and almost never less than 4 hour stretches
-Loves to look at the blinds, the curtains in my bedroom, and pictures on the wall by the kitchen table, and the ceiling fans
-Does very well at holding up his head
-Pushes himself up a few inches when I put him on his tummy
-Is patient with Sally’s constant hugs and kisses, but protests when Sally wants to play “Got your nose!”
-Loves to straighten out his legs and “stand” when I hold him on my lap (just like Sally used to do)
-Is starting to be really smiley, although I’ve yet to catch a smile on camera
-Is so sweet and patient--he is almost too easy!

Sally:

-Is getting into the world of make-believe big time. Every day she is either Snow White, Cinderella, Dr. Nelson (her pediatrician), “Daddy’s little tiny baby”, Mama Bear, or Mrs. Bruin (from the Berenstain Bear books)
-Is getting over her dislike of Neal phase (thank goodness!!!!)
-Is starting to understand rhyming words
-Likes to play a silly word game with me that goes something like this, for example: “Mommy, do we drink tubby water? Do we wash our bodies with milk?”
-Often incorporates peril into her make-believe scenarios. A few examples: “My baby is gone—a mean guy took her!” “I cut myself with a sharp knife!” “I’m in my car and another car crashed into me. I was wearing my seatbelt.” “My baby touched the hot oven and burned her hand!” Where on earth would she get ideas like this?
-Likes to watch movies and will sit through most of a movie, much to my delight and dismay. It is nice to have the “down time”, but I don’t want her to get too hooked.

-Neal:

-Is not enjoying his current rotation—internal medicine at the KU hospital, which is full to the brim. Lots of paper work and 13 hour days don’t make for a happy Neal
-Is excited for March Madness
-Works a lot
-Loves his baby boy
-Does a great impersonation of Goofy, which may have helped him to win Sally back over

Emily:

-Can’t wait for warm weather
-Loves being at home with Sally and Austin, but wishes Neal were home earlier in the evening
-Has awesome friends from church that make motherhood even more fun
-Is tired, but not too tired
-Needs to find a way to get more into her days (such as reading, exercising, projects) rather than just playing with kids and taking care of the household. In short, wants some “ME” time.
-Felt empowered by a recent successful shopping trip to the mall with two kids (success = found some new jeans while both kids were well behaved and happy)
-Needs to learn how to take better pictures

The New Normal

2010-03-08T19:02:00.000-08:00

Life with two kids is not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, bad is not a word that should be used to describe it at all. Life with two children so far is great. I love spending every day with two delightful children. Sally is so fun and creative and entertains me every day, and Austin is as sweet as a baby can be. I feel so blessed that things so far have gone so well. Since Austin has been born:
*I have felt physically very well. I hardly needed pain medication in the hospital after the birth, and I didn’t need any once I got home. I’ve had the energy I’ve needed to get right back into the swing of things.
*Sally has been a VERY good girl. I was afraid that she would have lots of tantrums and demand a lot of extra attention the first few weeks after Austin was born, but that hasn’t been the case at all. She is the same fun, energetic, and sweet little girl. She loves Austin and can’t hug and kiss him enough.
*Austin has been a very good baby. He is calm most of the time, and is a great eater and sleeper. When he is upset, he is very easily calmed down.
*For the first week or so after coming home from the hospital, I would get up twice in the night to feed Austin, but since then I’ve only been getting up once in the night. I’d prefer to not get up at all, but that’s an unreasonable expectation at this point, and I’m sure it won’t be long before that’s the case.

Some days are hard and I’m sure that there will be hard times still to come, but I’m no longer nervous about the situation. I think we are all settling into the new normal, and life is good.

I have a lot more photos I want to post and a great deal more to say, but I'll conclude for now because my baby needs me.

Welcome, Little Big Guy!

2010-02-15T11:49:00.000-08:00

Much to my delight, Neal and I have a brand new baby boy:

Austin Cornelius Peterson
February 15, 2010, 4:55 AM
8 lb 12 oz
21 1/4 in
Strawberry blond hair

High points:

-Going into labor on my own--no inductions this time!
-Only having to push 4 times to get him out
-A very fun and sweet visit from Sally
-No trouble nursing so far
-My wonderful friend Rosemary taking Sally last night when things starting getting intense

Low points:

-Acid reflux disturbing my slumber last night before he was born
-Multiple nurses having trouble getting my IV started
-Having Neal all but laugh out loud at me during hard contractions (pre-epidural) and tell me that I have no pain tolerance
-The indignity of being helped to the bathroom (before my epidural wore off) by two nurses who commented to my face how difficult it is for them to help people who are so much bigger than them (I'm laughing about it now)

Some photo highlightgs:

The sweet little guy snoozing:

My favorite part of the day:

Father and son:

My sweet little kids meeting at last:

Our happy family:

While I'm totally surprised by his hair color and size, I love him so much and can't wait to get to know him better.

Portraits

2010-02-02T19:13:00.000-08:00

When we were in Utah, my sister-in-law Korrin took some pictures of Sally. Here are some of my favorites. They need a bit of help from photo shop (which Neal got for Christmas, but has a hard time using because our computer is bogged down with something and is terribly slow lately). Thanks, Korrin!

2010 Resolutions

2010-02-02T19:03:00.000-08:00

I wrote this post on January 8, but for some reason never posted it. Here are some of my resolutions for this year:

-Create an exercise plan and stick with it (I need to figure out what I can reasonably do. I can always do exercise videos at home, but I’d rather run. The problem is finding a time when Neal is home and it isn’t pitch black outside so I can leave…which really is a problem).

-Do more personal reading (I’m not sure how to accomplish this one…since I’ve been working again, I have very little spare time, so this will come at the expense of other things. I’m not sure what yet).

-Finish the denim quilt I started before I got married (the problem is a lack of a sewing machine, but I guess that is just an excuse because I have a few friends who are willing to let me borrow theirs. I finally have enough old jeans to finish, so I really have no excuse).

-Redecorate my bedroom and the kids’ room. I’m currently working on this one and hope to at least have the kids’ room done in the next 5 weeks. [Now 11 days...I've been working on both rooms and have made reasonable progress]

-Be more loving (which includes looking for the good in people, responding patiently both internally and externally to trying situations, overlooking faults, being quick to forget misdeeds against me or my family members, being a better listener, being better at staying in touch with family and friends):

A few thoughts on one area of my life in which I could be more loving:

Having a two-year-old has certainly tested my patience and helped me to realize that I have a lot of room for improvement. While I don’t have many regrets about how I’ve responded to frustrating situations with Sally, I do have regrets about how I’ve felt inside. I’ve found that while I can respond patiently most of the time, I often feel like I’m going to explode internally.

While I absolutely love Sally more than I can even describe, my feelings aren't always consistent with my attitude. I’ve had a few situations/conversations that have helped me to realize that my attitude toward Sally is less loving than it should be. I’ve realized that in some areas I have unreasonably high of expectations for her and that I get really annoyed when they are not met. I also could be a lot more positive in what I say to other people about Sally.

In truth (based on what people have told me and my own perception, of course), Sally is a very polite and well-behaved two-year old. She minds me most of the time, she tries to do things that please me, she is happy and bright, and she is progressing very well in just about every area that Neal and I would like to see her progress in. So what if potty training isn’t a piece of cake like I hoped it would be? So what if she is full of energy and has a hard time sitting still at church and a hard time not touching things at other people’s houses? So what if she has tantrums every once in a while? She is barely TWO, for goodness sake! Why can’t I just focus on all the things that she is great at when I talk to people about her instead of bringing up the bad situations? I guess part of it is not wanting to brag and annoy people, but I really ought to remember what Thumper’s father told him about not saying anything at all.

Just when you think you have it all figured out...

2010-02-02T18:54:00.000-08:00

Things change. I'm excited for my little baby boy to be born, but scared at the same time. Scared about how Sally will react to getting less attention, scared about being exhausted (and less patient as a result), and scared that my little family will outgrow my little house before our time here is up. At this point my excitement outweighs my fear, and I'm sure it will stay that way. If all goes according to the plan, baby brother will be here in 11 days, and the answers to all of my questions will begin to unfold...exciting!

Playing Catch-up

2009-12-31T20:58:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone! Sally is sleeping, Neal is at work (it would be too much to hope that he’d have Thanksgiving, Christmas, AND New Year’s Eve/Day off during his intern year), and I’m finally dusting the cobwebs off of my blog.

I’ve fallen WAY behind at blogging about what’s been going on lately, so although I’ve just created several posts (one each on Sally’s birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and post-Christmas), none of them is quite what I’d like it to be. At this point I’m just trying to play catch-up and get a few things out there. Hopefully they will be worth your read and your comments.

Just for the heck of it (and because I still have 1 hour and 7 minutes before I ring in the new year by myself), here are a few other updates:

Sally:

-Is learning to sleep in her twin bed, but often tells me that she is a baby (“I’m Sally baby”) and wants to sleep in her crib. Tonight I about spanked her after she got out of her bed 4 times asking for various things.

-Is getting better and better at talking all of the time. A few of my favorite things she has said lately (or at least the ones that I’ve written down):

After putting a knit Christmas bag on her head like a hat: “Cute my is!” (she now can use better grammar, this was a month ago).

Speaking about what she will do when her baby brother is born: “Share my toys with him and share my sippy with him and wash him in my sink and cook him in my microwave.”

After having a taste of eggnog: “More egg juice!”

After I told her that she is my little dear: “Mommy, Bambi is a dear!”

After waking up in the morning and noticing a few toys that didn’t get put away: “Mommy, my room is a mess. I’m worried about it!”

While driving with my Dad when he missed a freeway exit: “Silly Grandpa, went the wrong way!”

-Loves to wear hats (hence the putting a knit Christmas bag on her head).

-Is in a weird phase where she sometimes doesn’t like Neal and sometimes loves him. She has been really great around him the last few days, so I’m hopeful that she is coming out of it.

-Is very observant and remembers everything.

-Likes to invent words (her favorite is bubber) and people. She often tells me about a boy in Nursery named Hunter that does not exist. I don’t know where she even heard that name.

-Loves to be told stories. She’ll run up to me and say: “Mommy, I want a story about a daddy and a mommy and a brother and a sister and a baby and a daddy and a sister.”

Emily:

-Is getting tired of being pregnant, especially because of the increasing “episodes” (an increased heart rate, difficulty breathing, and dizziness).

-Is sad that the Mormon Chorale practices start up again right about the time that the baby will be born.

-Is excited about getting new carpet (a Christmas gift from Neal), but discouraged that Sally is having an attitude about potty training (it would be so nice to have the potty training out of the way before the new carpet comes in).

-Is getting excited for her son to be born, yet is nervous at the same time.

Neal:

-Enjoyed skiing in Utah and having time off to enjoy sports.

-Is now working nights for the next two weeks.

-Has a decent head of hair once more (see the Thanksgiving post below).

-Will have a lot busier schedule for the next 6 months than he did for the previous 6 months.

I think I've had enough blogging for the night. Enjoy the posts below, and have a wonderful new year!

Home Again

2009-12-31T20:41:00.001-08:00

We are all home now, and glad to be here. Neal got back to Kansas City the night after Christmas and was welcomed by 12 inches of snow (the most snow that has ever been on the ground at one time since I've lived here). He spent 2 hours the next day shoveling our extra-long driveway.

Sally and I arrived home the night of the 29th. Thankfully there were no airport incidents to report. Neal had a bouquet of flowers waiting for us, as well as a clean and orderly house (he really surpassed my expectations!).

The morning after we were all together again, we opened the presents that we didn't take with us and enjoyed a low-key day at home, and Neal took Sally out to enjoy the snow. The poor child doesn't own sufficient snow gear, but we got her bundled up quite well and she had a great time.

A few pictures of the day:

Neal's KU blanket from his mom.

Sally and her gifts. I promise she smiles a lot, I just don't know how to capture it on the camera.

Sally trying her hand at shoveling snow.

Snowmen--a daddy and a baby.

Two good-looking guys.

Teaching Sally the art of making snow angels.

Letting her give it a shot.

Christmas Time

2009-12-31T19:59:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed the Christmas season this year (probably more that I have in years past, and I always enjoy it). Here's a taste of Christmas 2009 for the Petersons:

One of my favorite parts about Christmas this year was participating in the Mormon Chorale and singing many beautiful songs about the Savior. I enjoyed playing the piano for two of the songs, as well. We had three concerts and did the same program every time (aside for the soloists—for the first concert Kenneth Cope was our soloist), and I loved every minute of performing (except during the last concert when I had to keep sitting down because I was dizzy and on the verge of fainting). During the second concert I had an especially wonderful experience. We were singing for a ward in my stake at their ward Christmas gathering, and somehow there was some scheduling confusion and we only had a very small audience. At first I was disappointed, but as we started the concert a very special feeling came over me, and I knew that there were people in the audience that needed the message of the music that we were singing. During “Redeemer of Israel” (I never would have thought until then that it was a Christmas song), the words of the song sunk in like they never had before, and I felt a great love for the Savior and an overwhelming desire to share the message of His life and mission with others. I couldn’t keep the tears out of my eyes (and anyone that knows me knows that it take a LOT to get me to cry), and that feeling stayed with me for the rest of the concert. I’m having a hard time capturing my feelings of that night into words, so I’ll just say that my testimony was strengthened and I felt a great deal of joy.

Other highlights of Christmas time: decorating the house with Sally, baking with Sally and delivering our baked goods, teaching Sally about the nativity story, FHEs around the Christmas tree telling stories about Jesus and service, playing Christmas songs on the piano for Sally to dance and sing to (and for my nieces on Christmas evening), spending time in Utah with my family, taking Sally to Temple Square, getting Neal a gift that I’ve wanted to give him for along time and having him like it, enjoying a quiet and relaxing Christmas morning with Neal, Sally, my parents, and Grandma B. (Sally slept in until 9:00!), spending time at Al’s house (playing the Wii with Al and Neal, watching the BYU bowl game with the family), seeing Neal enjoy playing basketball with the brother-in-laws, and seeing Sally interact with her cousins and have a great time and very few sharing conficts.

There were just a few low points: on the way to Utah (Sally and I were alone, Neal joined us later), Sally threw up about 6 times in the bathroom in Denver (only the last 3 were in the toilet), again in the airplane lavatory, and once more all over me during the final descent into SLC. Also, Sally started to get homesick during our long stay at Grandma’s house. On Christmas Eve on the way back from the family party, she said “Mommy, where’s my brown car?” (we drive a brown Nissan), and before she started crying, started singing “Oh where, oh where my brown car go? Oh where, oh where cab it be?” (I’m sure you know the tune). Over the next few days she asked me several times to take her to “my own home, my own bed!” It was hard to explain to her about the distance between our house and Grandma’s house.

Some pictures from the Utah trip:

Neal and Sally at Temple Square. I knew that Sally would like Temple Square, but when she fell asleep in the car as we were looking for a parking spot, I almost told Neal to just drive back to my parents' house instead. I'm glad that I didn't, because, much to my surprise, Sally enjoyed every minute and didn't complain a bit about being awakened from her sleep and removed from the warm car and carried out into the frosty night. She loved seeing the nativity scenes, the temple, and, of course, the lights.

Me and Sally enjoying our outing.

The cast of the yearly Christmas Eve pageant at my Grandma Dickson's house. Neal was a good sport and agreed to be a wise man. After the pageant we had a sing-along, and Sally made herself the center of attention by dancing around the room while everyone sang.

My attempt at getting Sally to smile for a picture.

Neal's somewhat more successful attempt at getting Sally to smile for a picture.

Sally discovering her choo-choo train from Santa.

Sally and Neal.

Our family on Christmas morning.

Playing dress-up with our gifts.

I hope everyone had as nice of a Christmas as I did. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful family to share the holidays wit. I'm also so thankful that Neal didn't have to work the week of Christmas--I never expected that he'd get assigned that week for vacation out of all of the other weeks in the year!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-31T19:18:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick synopsis of Thanksgiving this year:

As they did the past two years, Angie and Hyrum drove down from Chicago to join us. I am so glad that they came and hope that they had a good time. I still feel badly about their sleeping arrangments--they forgot the air bed that they had planned to bring with them, and although we offered many times to go and buy one, Angie ended up sleeping on Sally's new twin mattess, and Hyrum on the couch (except when he slept on the couch cushions on the floor).

The feast was a lot of work, but I had fun. I brined a turkey (which unfortunately wasn't as tender and juicy as the last two brined turkeys that I made), made cranberry-pear stuffing (and made the bread for the stuffing), and whipped up my Grandma Dickson's sweet potato casserole, some rolls, and two pies (apple and pumpkin with pecan topping). Most of these things were done in advance, so things in my little kitchen weren't too crazy on Thanksgiving Day itself. Neal stepped up and made our mashed potatoes, Hyrum made the gravy and some cranberry sauce and green beans (in addition to making two pies at home and bringing them along), and Angie made a delicious salad. It was truly a group effort. Too bad I don't have any good pictures of the spread.

As has been the tradition for Neal and me since our first Thanksgiving together, we ran the Sprint 5K in the morning. Unfortunately we didn't have the greatest experience, so this year may have been our last. The problem was the weather (it was FREEZING!) and the fact that we decided to bring Sally along (who let us all know that she didn't like the weather). Neal recruited his family to join us for the race, so we had a big group. Neal and Christian (little brother) ran together, Cookie and Randy (big sister and dad) stuck together while pushing Megan and Allyson (Cookie's daughters) in a double stoller, Hyrum ran with Christina (Cookie's oldest daugher) and Merilee (Neal's younger sister), and I walked with Sheralyn (Neal's mom) while pushing Sally in our jogging stroller. Midway between miles 2 and 3 Sally decided that she had had enough of sitting in the stoller, so I ended up carrying her until Neal showed up to help just before we finished the race. Thankfully I had a lot of energy that morning and didn't have too hard of a time. I was glad when we all got home and got warm.

Here are some highlights of the day and the day after:

Angie and Hyrum.

Sally and Aunt Ang.

Angie serving her spinach, apple, and walnut salad.

Neal carving my not-so-perfect turkey. Somehow I chose a tough old bird this year (not that it was really tough, just not as tender as I'd hoped).

Hyrum's lovely and yummy cranberry sauce.

Neal enjoying some sports before I recruited him to peel potatoes. You can thank me for the great haircut. Just FYI: dull clippers + chosing the wrong guard = one bad haircut. Neal is a great sport, though.

Sally enjoying a nap with her Auntie and Unc. Not that she slept...but what else is new?

Pie, guys! I told Sally to gather up the nappers so we could have pie, and she excitedly ran around yelling "pie, guys!" She did the same thing for days after any time pie was mentioned.

The day after Thanksgiving we all went to Union Station to see the exhibit on chocolate. Neal was a good sport (or just a cheapskate!) and forewent paying $9.50 to see the exhibit to hang out with Sally instead. They enjoyed looking at all of the Christmas trees up for auction and the model train exhibits. He didn't realize that his money savings would be cut by more than half when he promised Sally that she could ride the big train if she was a good girl until Mommy came back. Who knew that a 2 minute ride would cost $5? Sally's excitement was worth it, though. (Sorry, Neal, for questioning your motives--it was very sweet of you to spend time with Sally so my knowledge of my favorite food could increase).

Sally and Mommy after the ride.

I suppose that synopsis wasn't very quick. I guess I'll just have to stay up until midnight to say all I want to say. It's a good thing it is New Year's Eve!

Sally Turns Two!

2009-12-31T19:00:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that my little Sally is two years old. Before she was born, everyone told me how time would fly, but I didn't really get it. I'm starting to understand how true it is, and wanting more and more to make the most of every part of Sally's childhood.

I wanted Sally to have fun on her birthday while keeping things as low-key as possible. Sally enjoys simple things and didn't need anything spectacular to have a special day. Here are a few highlights:

Swinging at the park--Sally's absolute favorite activity. I had fun playing at the park with her and singing lots of songs.

Sally enjoyed being sung to, and enjoyed helping me to make these cupcakes (but not as much as she enjoyed eating them). She loved blowing out her candles and was very proud of herself.

We only handed out a few gifts, which was wise--after she opened this doctor kit, she didn't care about anything else. Earlier in the day I gave her a set of toy food to go with the toy kitchen that Grandma Peterson gave her a few months earlier. She also got a Little People castle set from Grandma Dickson.

She got right to work giving Daddy a check-up.

The day after her birthday we had a few friends over. Here's the cake that I made for it--an almond poppyseed icecream cake. It didn't turn out as cute as I had hoped. I should have gotten fondant to make the dots and bow, but I went the easy route and used fruit by the foot and some yogurt bites that Neal had gotten on one of his rare shopping sprees.

The cake after everyone had firsts. It looked much different after everyone had seconds.

The free-for-all in Sally's room after cake was served. A good time was had by all.

Sunday Evening Post

2009-11-15T19:41:00.000-08:00

I’m not really in the mood to write anything, but Neal is working all night (just like last Sunday!), Sally is soundly sleeping, it is 9:10 PM on a Sunday evening, and there isn’t a ton to do. I’m aiming to go to bed early tonight, and I’m afraid that I’ll start writing and not want to stop (which sometimes happens), and ruin my chances for extra sleep.

I just read a bunch of random thoughts from my sister, so I’ll think I’ll jot down some random thoughts of my own:

-Sally is so sweet and I’m so grateful to be a mom. She talks about her baby brother frequently and the things that she’ll do for him (give him blankies and binkies; share her sippy with him—I really hope not; hug him; share toys with him). The other day she kissed my stomach repeatedly, saying that she was kissing baby brother.

-Sally isn’t screaming much at bedtime anymore (thank goodness!), and has had a few naps lately. It’s been nice. I don’t expect that she’ll go back to napping every day for 2 hours like she was doing 6 weeks ago, but I think I can expect at least one good nap a week out of her.

-My friend Rosemary and I have started a babysitting swap. When it was her turn to watch Sally this week I had planned on getting some work done but ended up going shopping and buying some new picture frames—something I’ve been wanting for a long time. It was so nice to shop alone!

-Neal and I have done a lot with his family lately, which has been fun. We spent the last two Saturdays, at least in part, with his siblings that are still at home, and on Tuesday we all went ice skating as a family at Crown Center (I opted out: clumsy person + big belly + ice = a disaster waiting to happen). I had fun on the sidelines with Sally. Neal was the only member of the family who stayed on his feet the entire time.

-My pregnancy is going well for the most part, but I’ve had some unpleasant pregnancy symptoms lately, including heartburn, blurry vision, and heart palpitations accompanied by dizziness (the most common symptom, and becoming more and more common all of the time). All of these things happened when I was expecting Sally, but not until the very end of the pregnancy. The blurry vision especially scared me when it happened with Sally, but I looked it up in a pregnancy book, and apparently it is a common symptom. I’m sleeping well except that I don’t get enough. 99% of the time that is my own fault. Neal and I have a hard time getting to bed at a decent time. We are too fond of our “normal people” time to cut it short by an early bed time—no hospitals, no patients, no singing of silly songs, no one to pull our hands off of the computer, etc. At some point, though, we’ll have to balance the scales, since sleep can’t lose out forever.

-Sally is starting to say lots of funny things. One example: a few days ago she was pretending that she was a kitty. Neal joined in the game and said that he was a doggy. When he asked Sally what Mommy was, she said “Mommy piggy!” Neal and I couldn’t contain our laughter. A few days later she pointed at me and said “Mommy piggy!” and laughed and laughed at herself.

-I love being a stay at home mom, despite the hard days. I’m learning that I can make hard days fewer and farther between by how I respond to situations and how I plan my day. In most cases when Sally is upset or cranky, I can look back and see things that I could have done differently. I’m trying to find a good balance between doing the things that I want to do and doing the things that Sally wants to do. Of course I don’t want to put my priorities aside and let Sally run the show, but I also don’t want to be so set on getting the things done that I care about that I overlook Sally’s feelings and desires. I’m finding the joy in spending an afternoon (or even 20 minutes) in an unmade bed reading story after story with sweet, curious, bright, little Sally while the laundry sits unfolded, the dinner waits to be made, and voicemail answers the phone.

I messed this up

2009-11-10T20:59:00.000-08:00

This is Neal, and I am responsible for messing up this blog and posting the videos. That is all.

2009-11-10T20:54:00.000-08:00

It's Autumn Time: Halloween

2009-11-08T20:26:00.001-08:00

I don’t really get into Halloween, but I do end up dressing up every year. Neal is usually the mastermind behind our costumes, but I put myself in charge this year when I spied a toddler sized cow costume hanging in the window of the local Goodwill store. For a mere $2.50, Sally was a cow, and Neal and I were dairy farmers. Minimal effort, satisfactory results. I hadn’t planned on having Sally being a cow, but she liked the costume (which resembled jammies) and got excited to put it on. I couldn’t have been more excited myself.

We had a fun afternoon and evening trunk-or-treating at the church and having dinner and treats with the Petersons. A few photos:

High ho the dairy-oh! The farmers take the cow...

Me and little Sally Moo. My costume really was quite pathetic.

Sleeping on the way to Grandma's house (she really does still need to nap!)

Sally and her beloved Uncle Canute (about to leave on his mission). Sally will miss him (I guess Neal and I will, too :) ).

It's Autumn Time: The Louisberg Cider Mill

2009-11-08T19:55:00.001-08:00

Since I’ve lived in Kansas City I’ve heard about what a fun place the Louisberg Cider Mill is. We decided to give it a try. If Neal and I had just gone by ourselves, I probably would have been disappointed. But since Sally makes everything more fun, we had a good time. Sally loved the bales of hay, the pumpkins, and the other kids. I enjoyed the cider and donuts, but I wouldn’t have made the drive just for them. Of course the actual mill itself is one of the main attractions of the place, but unfortunately it was not operating when we were there, so we missed out in that respect. Overall we had a good time and got some cute pictures of the Sal gal.

"I want this one, Mommy!"

Sally's new friend. She had a great time throwing hay with him.

Neal and Sally. Thanks to Neal many families were saved from having Sally enter into their family photos. She was trying to run after more children when he caught her.

Me and Sally (with crazy eyes in this picture).

The mill and the Petersons.

It's Autumn Time: Deanna Rose Farmstead

2009-11-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

The city of Overland Park owns an awesome child-friendly farm/park that is free of admission and lots of fun. It's called the Deanna Rose Farmstead, and I'd recommend it to anyone, old or young. Sally and I first went with my parents in May when they were visiting for Neal's graduation, and I've since been back several times. A few weeks ago I went with my friend Rosemary and her cute twins, Lanny and Spencer.

Lanny, Spencer, and Sally enjoying a quick rest.

Sally trying out the rocking chick at the playground. Unfortunately the white unicorn with the purple horn was monopolized by a 3 year old who would not give it up for anything, even after 30 minutes! Sally got over it.

The Longmores. What would Sally and I do without them?

The kids enjoying one of the many tractors open for exploration.

Happy Sally on the tractor.

A fun day with fun friends. A great Fall outing.

On a Jet Plane

2009-11-08T18:59:00.001-08:00

In October Sally and I took yet another trip to Utah so I could attend my friend Anna’s wedding. Here are a few highlights of the trip:

Sally and I at Temple Square (with my dad, who took the picture). Sally loved the "big Jesus statue", and I enjoyed my first ever tour of the roof of the Conference Center.

Sally and I at Wheeler Farm. We went with my dad and the Squire girls, Ada and Kate. My dad is enjoying his retirement and is a good sport about taking his granddaughters on outings.

Grandpa and the girls (Kate was with me). It was a beautiful Fall day.

Anna, Kim, Cailey, and myself following Anna's bridal shower.

It was nice to see my friends and my family, but Sally and I missed Neal and I’m getting sick of traveling and being apart. In the past 20 months I’ve been on more airplanes than I hope I am on in any 20 month period in the future:

February 2008: Sally and I flew to Utah for my friend Cailey’s wedding.

June 2008: Sally and I flew to Utah to spend time with my family while Neal was doing a rotation in New Mexico.

September 2008: Sally and I flew to Utah for a visit while Neal was doing a rotation in San Antonio.

October 2008: we took a quick trip to Chicago so Neal could take a test/we could visit Angie and Hyrum. Neal, Sally, and I all traveled together (for the first time).

February 2009: Sally and I flew to Las Vegas to meet up with Neal, who was doing a rotation for school there.

March 2009: Sally and I flew to California to help the Cherry family (Neal’s cousin Caryn and her husband Brett and their four little boys, the youngest of which was hospitalized for leukemia)

June 2009: The three of us flew out to Utah so my parents could watch Sally while Neal and I went hiking in the Grand Canyon.

July 2009: Sally and I flew to Utah for Abby and Scott’s wedding.

October 2009: A trip to Utah for Anna’s wedding, just me and little Sal.

Nine different trips by plane, seven of which have been without Neal. And there are more upcoming: a flight this month to St. Louis (1-way for me, so I can qualify for a free flight from Southwest Rapids Reward; Sally may or may not be with me), and another flight to Utah in December for the Christmas holiday (just me and Sally will travel together—Neal has separate travel arrangements because of his work schedule).

I’m not thrilled about either of these upcoming trips. I’m sick of airports and airplanes and traveling without Neal. Although Sally has always behaved well when we have traveled together, the whole process is exhausting. I do feel lucky that I’ve been able to do so many things and go to so many different places, though. We’ve been on a lot of airplanes, yet we’ve also done a ton of driving, and I’ll take the plane over the car when it’s to a destination more than 200 miles away.

Since Sally is about to turn two (which means she’ll need her own ticket) and I’m about to have two children to travel with, our air travel will decrease significantly. Not a bad thing.

Updates

2009-11-01T19:34:00.000-08:00

A few updates on the Peterson family. Some cute pictures will follow (maybe in a day, maybe in a month, but I'll get to it eventually).

Sally:

Has stopped napping and hates going to bed at night. Every night she screams after we put her in bed until she is exhausted and can scream and cry no more (for about 10 minutes on average). She is getting good at trying to stall at bedtime and getting Mommy to go back in her room once she’s been put down.

Has four new canine teeth with which to chew, and is having a hard time adjusting to them (which we hope is part of the reason why she doesn’t want to go to bed at night). She chews on her fingers during the day, and pulled a vampire act on Neal tonight (which got her sent to the corner).

Loves to sing, and is really good at it. She can sing several songs by herself, including “I Am a Child of God”, “Do Re Me “ (from The Sound of Music), “Old MacDonald”, and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. She can carry a tune very well on her own. I sing to her a lot and often make up my own songs. She is starting to get creative herself and make up her own lyrics to songs.

Love to dance. I play Primary songs for her on the piano, and she twirls/runs around the rug while giggling and grinning from ear to ear.

Is obsessed with pajamas. She wants to wear only pajamas, and thankfully she has several outfits that resemble pajamas enough for her to want to wear them. Getting her dressed is becoming a struggle.

Is a great talker. I can have “normal” conversations with her (in which she responds appropriately to questions, offers unique ideas and suggestions, and asks appropriate questions).
Is into names. Whenever we see someone new, she asks me their name. She isn’t satisfied when she asks her friends’ parents’ names and I respond with “Brother ____” or “Sister ____”. She asks me the names of her friends’ houses. She knows the names of everyone in her Nursery class.

Is very sweet and caring. When I told her the other day tha I had a headache, she got me a pillow and blanket and told me to lie down. She then kissed my head, and said "Feel better, Mommy!"

Has tantrums, but none that are terrible. She will usually calm down after just a few short minutes and can somewhat be reasoned with.

Likes to talk about her baby brother and being a big sister.

Loves to play hide and seek with daddy.

Emily:

Is struggling to get work done during normal daytime hours due to Sally’s nap boycott. Hence, more work for the company is done after Sally has gone to sleep.

Is enjoying her Thursday evenings away from home with the Mormon Chorale (a local regional church choir). Is loving singing more often, getting to accompany the choir at times, and letting Neal have some daddy-daughter time.

Is getting bigger all of the time, and is often told how large she looks.

Is always hungry.

Enjoyed making (and eating AND sharing) festive Halloween treats with Sally: pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, pecan pie bars, pumpkin shaped sugar cookies, and caramel apples.

Misses Neal, and is just starting to realize how unpleasant the intern year of residency is for the whole family, but is trying to make the best of it.

Neal:

Works a lot and often gets the short end of the stick at work.

Is busy with church when not at work—EQ meetings (weekly), moving people in/out of the ward, home teaching (his own, and coordinating his district), etc.

Still makes time to run and play basketball.

Is a great daddy and has a special ability to get Sally to snap out of a bad mood.

Something Old, Something New

2009-10-18T19:59:00.001-07:00

Here’s a post I started about a month ago. Life has changed for me lately: Sally has stopped napping during the day. I now work whenever I can, which is often in the evening (when I used to have more free time). Thus, blogging has taken a back seat.

Sally is not even two yet, and I’m rather devastated that she won’t nap anymore. It all started when she chewed the tip off of her binky (the pink one—not the original green one). The green bink got lost at Grandma Peterson’s house, and I decided that that would be the end of the bink for Sally. After 30 minutes or so of screaming that night, I gave in and offered her a pink one as an alternative (one that she refused numerous times in the past). She took to it and used it for nap/bed time until the day she bit right through it. Thus ended both the era of the binky and the precious afternoon nap.

It isn’t like I don’t still try to give her a nap. I certainly do—every day! She just won’t go to sleep. I end up just letting her play in her room with her toys for about an hour or so so I can have some time to work. Not ideal, but at this point I’ll take what I can get.

Anyhow, here’s what I wrote on September 20. It doesn’t seem too important or exciting now, but at least it is something to post.

******************************************************************

Neal likes to tell people that we are boring, but I don’t necessarily agree. Despite the fact that Neal has started residency and has been quite busy lately, we’ve still managed to do quite a few fun things together as a family. Here’s some of what we have been up to (starting with the most recent):

Stake Preparedness Fair: a new stake center was just completed in our stake, and on Saturday they had a “grand opening” type of event—a preparedness fair. The events started with a 5K in the morning, which the whole family participated in—Neal pushed Sally in the stroller, and I ran by myself. Neal had a great run and finished in 27 minutes (and it should have been less, but he started late because he was waiting for me—getting a drink in the building—and had to stop a few times to attend to Sally). I surprised myself by running the entire time and finishing at 35 minutes. Being 4 months pregnant, I planned to run the first half and then walk, but I felt pretty good and really wanted to finish strong. I was proud of our performance. The rest of the morning was filled by a pancake breakfast and various workshops and displays. We had fun.

KU vs. Duke: we left the fair and went straight to Lawrence for the KU football game. It was Sally’s first football game, and she did quite well (until she saw the Jayhawk mascot and got really scared).
We only stayed until half time because we were all tired and ready to get out of the sun. KU won and we got to see some good plays, and it was fun for Sally to experience the excitement of a college football game.

Corporate Woods Pancake Breakfast: the company that I work for is located in a business park called Corporate Woods, which sponsored a breakfast for all of its tenants. Although I never actually go into the office, I thought it would be fun to go to the breakfast and take Neal and Sally. Neal had just finished his last night shift and wanted to try to stay awake, so we took off as soon as he got home for breakfast and shopping. After breakfast we headed to some outlet stores to take advantage of the last of the Labor Day sales on children’s clothes. We got a ton of cute baby boy clothes for great prices. It was great to shop with Neal, who attended to Sally so I could focus on shopping.

Price Chopper Neighborhood Block Party: a major grocery store in the area hosted a block party that was free to the public. I heard about it on the radio and thought it would be fun to check it out. Sally got to see the Trix bunny and Chester Cheetah (unfortunately she was deathly afraid of both of them, but got free stuff from them), and got lots of free stuff--a balloon, a stuffed cow, granola bites, and other food samples. We all got a free lunch and ice cream. The main reason I wanted to go was for the free pony rides, but unfortunately the line was too long—but at least Sally got to see the ponys!

Aristocrat Motors Carnival: Neal saw an advertisement in the paper about a free family fun carnival at the local Aristocrat Motors, so we decided to head over and see what it was all about. Sally loved looking at the animals in the petting zoo,
bouncing in the inflatable jumping tent,
and eating the free ice cream. We loved seeing her having so much fun and not having the make lunch. The free food was actually good—Hy-Vee catering provided it. All-in-all I was impressed.

Misc.: Numerous trips to parks and outdoor shopping malls (Zona Rosa, The Country Club Plaza, etc.). Sally absolutely loves going to the park, and I love being within a 5 minute walk of two great parks, and within a 5-10 minute drive of several others. Just one thing I love about living in Johnson County, Kansas.

So, we do a lot of free things, it is true, and maybe we are boring by some peoples’ standards. But I can’t say that I’m bored. Not with Sally around!

Terrible Twos?

2009-09-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

I consider myself a patient person in general. Being a mother has certainly tested my patience, but most of the time I’m pleased with myself at handling frustrating situations without losing my cool. If I have many more days (or even one more day) like this day, this current trend may come to an end.

First of all, this has been a long week. Neal is on the night float rotation, which means he works from 7 pm until 8 am, and then sleeps for most of the day. I didn’t think it would be such a bad deal, but it has been harder on me and Sally than I thought it would be. I’ve had trouble sleeping, and Sally is more reluctant to let daddy help her than ever before (since she barely sees him). It doesn’t help that Sally and I have both been sick (sick+tired=easily irritated and low on patience).

Things were going well today until about noon when Sally started to come unglued. She had issues with her lunch (meaning she is super picky), the had even worse issues with sharing her toys with her friends who we invited over, and she wouldn’t do anything I asked her to do. It was a continual round of tantrums. She finally got tantrums out of her system for the hour before naptime—thank goodness for one tear-free hour!

Post-nap and dinner time were even worse than afternoon. She was very upset when she woke up from her nap (probably because she hardly slept—she diddled around in her crib for over an hour before going to sleep) and finally calmed down only after much soothing from mommy. When daddy woke up and wanted some attention from her, she wouldn’t allow it and screamed and cried for about 15 minutes while I finished making dinner and kept myself from intervening (it wasn’t easy, but had to be done).

We had homemade pizza, pears, and spinach salad for dinner—none of which she would eat. I gave her an open faced cheese sandwich and some pears (all diced into tiny pieces—the “baby bites” which she insists on). She ate a few bites of sandwich and massacred the rest, and refused to touch the pears. After making a huge mess of her food and then throwing it on the floor, I had had it. I gave her hand a hard slap and whisked her away to her bed for time out.

I was instantly remorseful after slapping her hand. It was not the first time I had done it, but every other time it was pretty mild and she thought it was funny. This time I wasn’t in the mood to be laughed at, so I made sure she felt it. She sure did, and produced enough tears to let me know it. Seeing Sally cry because I caused her pain was not a pleasant experience.

Whether or not it was my hand slapping or the fact that her stomach was full of milk (the one thing I can count on to get her calories), she was much, much nicer after her brief time out. Thankfully the pizza pan needed a good scouring, which helped me relieve some of my frustration, and we both got along fine for the rest of the evening (not to say there weren’t any more tantrums—there were a few minor ones).

I hope that this is what the terrible twos are like. Because if her behavior gets much worse, I’m not sure what I’ll do. Sally is generally a well-behaved child (those of you who see her in the last 20 minutes of sacrament meeting may not agree), and that is probably why her recent behavior modifications are so devastating and frustrating to me. She usually minds very well, but lately she ignores me. For the past year she has been a very picky eater, but lately she is worse and makes my life miserable at meal times. She has always been determined and preferred things a certain way, but lately if she doesn’t get what she wants she throws a tantrum.

The most frustrating thing about Sally’s picky eating is that she is inconsistent. One day she will love a food, and the next day she’ll spit it out/refuse to eat it. This mostly applies to fruit. Several times lately I’ve served her pears and she refuses to touch them. After I force a bite into her mouth she realizes how good they are, eats her whole serving, and asks for more. Not tonight. The same is true for bananas—some days she loves them, other days she won’t touch them. She won’t even allow strawberries into her mouth. Last night I gave her some pineapple (fresh, delicious, sweet pineapple) and she loved it (after I shoved a piece in her mouth), but the sight of pineapple on her plate at lunch was the major cause of her lunchtime tantrums today.

I was a picky eater as a child, but at least I was consistent and would eat at least some foods from each food group. Each day with Sally is a test of my creativity—to see how I can get her to eat something other than dairy and carbs.

If anyone out there has any pointers for me, please pass them along. Bribes don’t work with Sally, so that one is out. I’ve recently tried bribing her, but she only hears the reward part and ignores the condition, and then throws a tantrum because she wants the reward. Just tonight I told her that if she ate some fruit (and I gave her the option of a banana when she refused her pears) then we would go and get an ice cream cone. What did she do? She knocked her pear on the floor, refused the banana, and continually demanded ice cream. Of course she didn’t get any, but I wished I hadn’t even mentioned it.

I’m sure I’ll live to see the end of this phase, and it probably seems worse to me at this moment than it really is (like I said, it is the end of a long week in which I’ve been sick and haven’t gotten much sleep). As long as the worst thing I do when I lose my patience it slap my child on the hand, I think we’ll both be okay.

I feel much better already.

Before I go, a quick note about my blogging philosophy: I realize that many of my posts may be boring, long, and uninteresting to many of you, but I’m blogging for me, not for you. Blogging is the way that I get myself to keep a journal, so while I try to not post anything that is not worthy of peoples’ time, I may occasionally publish something like this—a venting session that is long and full of detail that only I truly care about.

Oh Boy!

2009-09-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

Sonogram results are in: I'm having a boy, and he is expected to arrive February 12, 2010. Neal and I are both really excited, although I must admit I'm kind of intimidated by the thought of a boy in a family of so many girls (meaning the Dickson family).

The little guy was so excited for everyone to know his identity, he made determining his gender a breeze. Sounds like my kind of kid--cooperative and not too shy. I can't wait for him to arrive! I'm 16.5 weeks along at this point, so only 23.5 to go!

News Blurbs

2009-08-31T20:28:00.000-07:00

A few bits of what has been on my mind lately. As you would a newspaper, read all or just what catches your attention.

Pizza! Pizza!

If there is any one food I can pin down as something I’ve craved this pregnancy, I’d have to say pizza. A few weeks ago, after one of our last Frisbee games (in which Neal played really hard and I didn’t play at all), I wanted pizza, and nothing but pizza. At the mere mention of it, Neal took off to the nearest Little Caesar’s and got us a fresh hot ’n ready (pizza always sounds good to him). So at 10:00 at night the two of us consumed an entire large pizza while enjoying the DVD of Northanger Abbey I picked up at the library (we like to compromise in this marriage). I can't think of a more enjoyable evening in recent history.

Those Poor Uninsured

I recently read a sarcastic comment about “those poor uninsured.” Without getting far into politics or my opinion on healthcare reform (another time, perhaps), I have a few things to say about “those poor uninsured” myself. Don’t get me wrong—a few years, or even months, ago, I may have myself sarcastically called the uninsured “poor,” and I don’t think that taxes should be raised for the wealthy to make sure that everyone has health insurance. But I do believe that there are many uninsured people in this nation that do deserve some pity.

Currently my family and I fall into the category of the uninsured (until tomorrow when Neal’s insurance finally kicks in). As a resident at KUMC, Neal and his family are eligible for health insurance under one of the State of Kansas group insurance options (which are good plans). Unfortunately, coverage begins 60 days after the first day Neal works. The anesthesia department offered to pay for any private health insurance plan that we could find for ourselves during the waiting period. Great, we thought, until we were denied coverage by every company we applied to. The reason they gave us for being denied? I went to the doctor for a minor issue a few months ago. So, simply because I visited the doctor, my husband, myself, and my child were all denied health insurance. Never mind that we are healthy, young, and able to pay. Because I actually visited the doctor, I am too high risk for them to insure.

This period of no coverage has been very brief (only a few months—Neal was previously covered under student insurance until May, and Sally and I were on a private plan I found for us), but has opened my eyes to some major problems with health insurance in this nation.

FHE Success!

For all of you out there with small children, I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say that having a successful FHE (one in which the children learn something and actually pay attention/participate) can be a challenge. We have our ups and downs, but today the planets aligned (or something), and everything went right.

I played our opening song on the piano and Sally didn’t try to stop me—she sat by Neal and sang. Sally stayed reverent during the opening and closing prayers. For the lesson I presented a matching game (pictures of priesthood ordinances and the names of the ordinances). Not only did Sally really like it, she was able to correctly identify the pictures that went with about half of the ordinances (okay, most of them are easy—“Sally, find the picture of the baby being blessed by her daddy”, “Which picture shows boys blessing the sacrament water?,” but I’ll count it as a success anyway).

For our treat we went to the Russell Stover store (which I’ve been eyeing for months now) and enjoyed the $1 ice cream cone special (for a very limited time, and way better than any other $1 ice cream deal in town), and we checked out a toy store for our activity. Sally was an angel throughout. It’s experiences like this that make the hard times worth it.

It’s Autumn Time

Sally has discovered the Primary Children’s Songbook, and always wants me to play songs on the piano (while she pulls of my fingers and interferes, but still INSISTS that I play). If I just sing them, it is not enough—she calls “piano, piano!!!!” I must play. One of her favorites is “It’s Autumn Time.” Very appropriate, as it really is autumn time here in KC (or at least it feels like it). I am loving the days in the 70s and the nights in the 60s. I love having my windows open. I love baking anything I want without being afraid of heating up the house. I’m already formulating plans for fall outings, baked goods, and Halloween costumes.

Let’s Get Crafty

A few months ago I sewed a tote bag for a friend of mine who just had a baby. I really liked the design and fabric, and had quite a bit left over. Lately Sally has been interested in backpacks, so I decided to sew a little drawstring backpack for her. I think it turned out very nicely, and I’m proud of myself for whipping it out with no pattern whatsoever (although I got the idea from other backpacks I’ve seen in the past). Sally likes it, which makes me happy. I’ll have to make her more homemade toys. In fact, I’m planning on it.

The bag I made.
Wow, I used to be so much thinner. Seeing this picture depresses me.

Sally running off with her backpack before I could finish it.

The finished product.

This Really Bites!

I’ve gotten loads of mosquito and chigger bites every summer I’ve spent in Kansas City. I thought I could handle it by now. I was wrong—nothing could prepare me for this summer. Perhaps it is because I’m pregnant and there is more blood flowing through my body, perhaps there are simply more bloodsucking beasts out there, or perhaps there is some other explanation. Well, whatever the reason, I’ve lost battle after battle with the blood-suckers and ended up battered and bloody. Two weeks ago after pulling weeds in my yard for about 5 minutes I got hit hard. I joked to my friends that there were probably 30 chigger bites all over my body, but later when I counted them and counted just about 30 (some are hard to identify for sure—they get you in the worst places imaginable), I realized it was no joke. My legs, my back, my stomach, and other areas I will not mention are now covered with scabs and scars from all of my scratching. I wish I had more self control and could refrain from touching them, but the itching is enough to drive me crazy (especially when I’m trying to sleep at night). I try to follow all of the preventative advice out there, so I’m still trying to find a take home message from this experience.

I'll post again tomorrow about what I find out from my sonogram. I promise it will be a much shorter post.

Guilty Pleasure

2009-08-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

Sally is sleeping, my work for the day is done (work for my job, that is—my work is never done), and Sally will be asleep for at least another hour and a half (I hope). I think I’ll take a nap myself.

I must admit that I do feel somewhat guilty having a nap today. The reason why I’m not working now (I usually for 2 hours each day while Sally is napping) is because I hired one of my friends to watch Sally in the morning for 3 hours (which will now occur once a week). I decided that it wouldn’t be too horrible to get a sitter once in a while so I could once again enjoy a bit of down time each day, as I did when I wasn’t working. Despite what I just said, I still feel guilty about it, but I’m not sure why.

I think that 3 hours of playing away from mommy each week will be good for Sally’s social development and will help with the separation anxiety that seems to have gotten worse the last few months. I decided the other day that until I learn to mellow out, Sally probably won’t mellow out (meaning I need to do some mental “letting go” of Sally before she’ll stop freaking out every time I leave her with someone else). Thus came the decision to fork out some money and buy myself some away time.

Sally had a good time today. My friend has a little boy about 6 weeks younger than Sally, and they seem to get along well. She knows him from nursery, and she may remember going to this house once a week when I worked at my old job. Hard to say if she can really remember, but she seemed quite comfortable in the home. So far so good.

My nap is calling. I haven’t been sleeping well lately, and I’m not sure why. It seems that the more tired my body gets, the more active my mind gets. It also doesn’t help that Neal is commonly gone at night now. For all of his hogging of the bed and stealing of covers, I should be sleeping better without him there! Anyhow, I guess I’ll sleep when I can. Like now.

Pregnancy, Potty Training, Pretty Darn Busy

2009-08-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for yet another long post. Since I usually only blog once a week, I have a lot to say when I sit down and get going. Here's another update on the lives of Emily, Sally, and Neal.

Pregnancy:

As far as I know, I’m at the end of the first trimester. I get to go to the Dr. on September 1, and I'm excited to get the timing issue all straightened out. Currently I’m feeling about the same as I did the first time around:

-I’m nauseated 24 hours a day, but it is the least bothersome in the morning, and grows worse and worse as the day wares on. After dinner I never feel like doing much of anything, but I stay busy regardless.

-I get hungry about every 2 hours, and I get full very quickly once I start eating. Unfortunately I often feel sick when I’m done eating. I guess I’ve decided that the sick feeling isn’t as bad as being hungry, because I haven’t let it stop me from eating. I don’t remember it being quite like this before—I was certainly hungry all of the time, but I remember feeling much better.

-Whatever I eat sticks with me for hours. I always regret eating anything with a strong flavor, because I’ll taste it all day/night. Eating a burger off of a charcoal grill, for example, was a very fleeting pleasure. The charcoal taste in my mouth all night made me sick.

-I’m getting big, fast. I’ve yet to pull out any maternity things, and I probably won’t for a while (more because I’m stubborn rather than I don’t need to), but I’m amazed at how large my midsection is already. Sorry, I don’t have a picture to share.

-I’m working from home for 2 hours a day (during Sally’s nap), and it is going well except that it prevents me from napping, something I long to do.

-For the most part my lifestyle and behaviors have changed very little since I’ve been pregnant, as staying busy and keeping things in my same routine take my mind off of how I feel.

Potty Training (and other tidbits about Sally):

-Sally has started going on the potty 2-3 times a day, always at my request. I don’t exactly have a potty training method, but I think I’ll look into some soon so I can really get her out of diapers for good. I didn’t anticipate potty training her at this age (20 months), but she started showing interest and so far is willing to go to the potty almost every time I ask her to. Sometimes she says no, and I don’t push her when she does.

-Sally is SO BUSY. She almost never stops moving. She is more of a “bag lady” than ever (said in the most affectionate way possible). She fills gift bags, bins, boxes, essentially any container she can get her hands on, with toys, paper, crayons, random objects she acquires from various parts of the house, etc. She then rearranges, sorts, organizes, and empties the contents of her containers, which she finds very amusing. Keeping her toys organized is nearly impossible now, but at least she is happy and occupied.

-Her vocabulary continues to grow by the day. She now parrots me quite a bit, and remembers more and more of what I’ve taught her. She knows her colors and is starting to learn the ABCs.

-Her nursery leader told me today that she’s been having a problem with sharing (which I knew about) but that she is showing some signs of progress. I try so hard to get her to share, and I have to intervene quite a bit when she plays with others. I think that this is typical for her age and have to remember not to stress terribly about it. I really do think that she is doing better than she was a few months ago.

Swinging, one of her favorite amusements. You may notice that she's wearing a Christmas tree pajama shirt. She's been obsessed with pjs lately, and it's all I can do to get her into normal clothing each day. Some days we compromise.

Pretty Darn Busy:

-Neal’s second month of residency is much busier than the first. He’s on call (a 30 hour shift) every 4 days, and he has to be at the hospital by 6:00 every morning. He’s usually home at a decent time, so it could be worse. He’s learning a lot and working with nice people, which help the situation.

-Neal just led his (technically our, as I am on the team but didn’t play in the last half of the season) Ultimate Frisbee team to victory in the championship game (I say he led the team because he was voted the MVP). He played 4 tournament games yesterday in unbearable heat and humidity. He was gone from 9:30 in the morning until 5:00 in the evening. Sally and I watched part of the tournament but in the end couldn’t take the heat. He got several nice war wounds and a great sense of satisfaction out of the experience. He said it was very reminiscent of his BYUltimate days, which I know he misses. Neal's an awesome Frisbee player, and I'm so glad he had such a rewarding season. It's now time to find something new to occupy each Thursday night!

Just Neal's typical diving scrape.

A slighly worse-than-usual knee wound. The picture doesn't do it justice.

-His grandma died on Friday afternoon, and he spent the evening calling his parents and siblings making travel arrangements to be at the funeral. It will be next Saturday, and he’ll get another 24 hour trip to Utah out of it. He took charge and made sure that all of his siblings knew about it and had help, if needed, in getting travel arranged. The passing of Grandma Peterson brings a mixture of sorrow and joy. She has not been well for a long time, and has wanted to go for several years now. We all know that she is now with Grandpa Peterson and that she is no longer suffering, which is truly a blessing. She will be missed, but is in a better place. She left a great legacy of faith that her posterity won’t forget.

-On a final note about Neal, I want to clear up somewhat of a family misconception about his residency and how he got it. I told some of my family members about a project that Neal did in his 4th year of med school that was very favorably looked upon by the head of the KU anesthesia dept. (who by random circumstance happened to be Neal’s faculty advisor on the project). The project involved some statistics, and, as I’m a statistical programmer, I spent maybe 30 minutes helping Neal set up a program to get his statistical results. My contribution was minor at best. Although Neal did get an anesthesia residency at KU, it is NOT because I did his project for him, or even that he did a good job on the project at all. Good board scores (pretty good on Step I, awesome on Step II), good grades, and hard work in medical school are what landed Neal his residency. Had he not matched at KU, he most certainly would have matched at another of his top choices, as he got many follow up letters from these other programs telling him what a great candidate he was and how much they would like to have him in their program.

Neal will probably be upset with me for the previous paragraph, as he doesn’t care what people think. I realize that I have a tendency to embellish stories, and the misconception that I got Neal his residency spot is probably my fault, so I feel a responsibility to set things straight. Enough said.

The promised pictures

2009-08-02T14:04:00.001-07:00

Me and the cake I made for Abby's wedding shower, and Angie's lovely hand make decorations.

Opening gifts at the shower.

Ada enjoying her birthday cake, and Kate in the background ready to dig in.

Alison and Angie, my beautiful sisters, and the birthday cake that I helped make.

The five Dickson siblings, in age order, per my mother's request (more like demand).

My dad's birthday cake, and little fingers ready to swipe a sugar flower.

The boys (minus Tyler who came later and Neal who couldn't attend) at the birthday ball game. We rented a suite and had dinner catered. It was a lot of fun, and my dad loved it (and certainly was surprised!). The little white lies that had been swarming in order to keep the surprise payed off in the end.

Dad blowing out his 6 candles.

The group at the game.

Sally and mommy enjoying the night. Isn't Sally's "pony" cute? Too bad she pulls out her ponytail every time I give her one.

Tales from the trip

2009-08-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m exhausted, but my attempt at napping failed because I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d write about if I updated my blog. So, in attempt to get some rest, I’ll just go ahead and write whatever comes out.

Life has been busy lately. I recently returned home from yet another trip to Utah (the only place I ever go outside of the KC area). Here are the many high points and few low points:

High points:

*Getting to spend so much time with my family. There were a lot of family events while I was there, including: a wedding shower for Abby, a birthday party for my nieces Ada and Kate, a family dinner/FHE at my parents’ house, a surprise 60th birthday party for my dad, a dinner out with my sisters and mom, a visit to the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house, and Abby and Scott’s wedding.

*Surprising my family with a 24 hour visit from Neal the day of the wedding. No one, including me until a few weeks prior to the wedding, thought that Neal would be able to make it, so we had all resigned ourselves to the thought that the whole family would not be present for the wedding. Thanks to Neal’s willingness to pull some strings and work and fork out the big bucks, we were all there in the temple for the wedding, which was wonderful. It was so fun to see the look on my family members’ faces when they walked into the temple and saw Neal sitting there.

*Getting to spend my 4th anniversary with Neal. He got into town the night before the wedding, our anniversary. I put Sally to bed at my parents’ house and them picked him up from the airport. We checked into the hotel that I booked for us, watched a movie together and indulged in a large German chocolate shake from Iceberg. We had fun together, and then snuck back to get Sally (which was quite a feat since Sally was sleeping next to Abby’s room and Abby almost saw Neal in the garage).

*Seeing so many of my extended family members, including several who live outside of Utah that I don’t get to see very often. I feel a great desire to be close to my extended family, and I feel like I have a long way to go. It is hard for me to live so far away from the bulk of the family, so I’m so glad for any chance that I have to get together with them. It was great to see my cousin Rachel and her cute kids, my aunt Becky, my cousin Brooke, and the Bateman family (minus Jason), and every one else that was came to Abby’s wedding/shower.

Low points:

*Missing Neal. Due to the life we have chosen, there have been many and will yet be many times and Neal and I have been/will be apart for a week/month/possibly year here and there (hopefully the Air Force will be kind to us).

*Being seconds away from losing Sally in an empty elevator going down on the night of the reception.

*Losing my patience with Sally and leaving the reception early to put her to bed. If only I could have closed the doors to the reception room in the JSMB! Sally can run very, very fast, and is a very curious child. She had a blast at the reception running rampant around the whole 10th floor of the building, playing in the fountains, nearly running into the two restaurants, running into the food service area, etc. I was exhausted and feeling ill, and since I had no husband to help me (he had to leave for the airport right after family pictures) and everyone else was occupied, I got myself and my little whirlwind out before something dreadful happened. As a result, I missed the wedding cake, the bouquet toss, talking to lots of people I wanted to talk to, saying goodbye to the bride and groom, etc. At least I got myself and Sally out alive!

*Forgetting to download my pictures and thus running out of memory card space at the reception. Hopefully the rest of my family took some good pictures!

All-in-all, it was a great trip. If you’re wondering why I keep mentioning being ill/exhausted, it is because I am expecting baby #2. Neal and I are really excited. As for the gender and due date, you’ll have to wait, just like Neal and I are waiting (until his insurance kicks in, that is!). I hope/think that I’m about 10-12 weeks along right now. I’ll post more on this later.

Here are some shots of the wedding day. Pictures of other events aforementioned will follow.

Waiting for the bride and groom.

Poor Sally. She was pooped! It was probably because she was awakened in the middle of the night and transferred to a strange hotel room.

The bride and groom themselves. Unfortunately this is the only picture I have of them together on their big day. Luckily they had a great photographer.

Me and Neal at the wedding lunch.

Alison and Tyler at the wedding lunch.

Angie and Hyrum at the wedding lunch.

Spencer and Korrin at the wedding lunch.

The Petersons, minutes before Neal's departure. He looked great in his tux, and Sally looked so cute in her fancy dress.

Abby and her 5 nieces. Too bad that it was my child that ruined the picture. Perhaps the photographer can photo shop out my hand/arm.

Photo updates

2009-07-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

Just a few additions to my previous post--some photo updates of Sally.

Sally has really long legs, just like her parents.

She loves to help me on the kitchen. When we made an apple pie for the 4th of July, she "helped" me in the kitchen the whole time and enjoyed it. She mostly enjoyed sampling the pie crust dough. Ever since we made that apple pie, when she plays with her dishes, she tells me that she's making "pie", or "apples".

Just an outfit that I think is really cute. Don't you love the bracelets, too? She has me wear the largest two of her set of rings.

The flags that daddy helped to set up, and Sally's new (immodest) outfit. I think she's so cute in it, though. When it's sweltering hot in the summer, I think I'd rather have her wear something somewhat immodest than have her take off her clothing and go naked to get cool. When does modesty apply to babies/toddlers? Any opinions?

Sally after her first icecream sandwich (which I ate most of).

Sally with her favorite boots, and, more importantly, her "rat tail," which the mockers liked to call it. Thanks to said mockers, I trimmed her hair and it is of uniform length in the back now. I couldn't handle the teasings!

Sally likes to help me wash the dishes every day--she pushes up her trusty chair and plays in the water. She's actually washing her binky in this photo--one of the tricks that I use to get the binky out of her mouth. Once it's out, it isn't too hard for me to get it away from her. This was several weeks ago. These days you won't see her with the bink outside of her bed.

Updates All Around

2009-07-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

Here's an update on each member of the Peterson family. I'm not great at posting things like this little by little, so this is kind of a monster post.

Sally:

She likes to impersonate babies crying. Whenever she sees a baby, she makes a fake crying sound, and then acts like she’s cradling the baby in her arms and says “rock, rock”.

She is suffering from some severe separation anxiety issues. Although she goes to nursery without any problems, whenever I leave her at the house with a babysitter, or even with Neal, she starts screaming and apparently doesn’t stop until she’s asleep. This makes leaving the house very unpleasant for me, as the whole time I’m away I’m in a hurry to get back and I’m worried about how she is doing. While this is very annoying to me, it is also very troubling. It seems like Sally is not just having tantrums because she likes being with mommy—she seems seriously troubled and almost even traumatized.

She is learning to live without the binky. While she still gets it for nap time and at night, she never has it during the day anymore. There have even been several times in the last few weeks that she has handed me the binky and allowed me to hide it.

She is talking more and more all of the time. She can’t put two words together yet, but her vocabulary is quite large and she is getting better at pronouncing things. She has trouble saying the “s” sound (she calls herself “ally”) and the “r” sound, but other than that her words are quite clear.

She loves to push buttons and pull strings. I’ll hold her up high so she can pull the chain on her ceiling fan in her room, and she laughs and smiles—it makes her so happy. She’ll see a button somewhere and will run to it, saying “push, push!”

She identifies animals not by their names, but their sounds. While she used to say “bird”, “cow”, “dog”, etc., she now says “tweet tweet”, “moo”, and “arf arf” whenever she sees the respective animal. One exception is “horsey.” The other day at the grocery store she ran up to push the button on the mechanical horse, and, low and behold, the horse turned on without me inserting the required .25. She got a free ride, and now whenever I say we’re going somewhere fun, she says “horsey?!”

She loves to sing and recognizes many, many songs. She especially loves “Elmo’s Song” (i.e. “This is the song, la la la la, Elmo’s song…”). She likes for me to sing it through several times and she tells me whose name she wants me to insert (e.g. Abby, Big Bird, Ernie, Sally, Daddy, Grandpa, Sister Longmore, etc.). She sings “When We’re Helping We’re Happy” with me (mostly the “tra la la la” part), and runs and gets the broom out of the closet whenever I start to sing it. As a result, I don’t sing that song much anymore—she isn’t very careful with the broom and often bangs it into walls. She really does love to help, though. It indeed makes her happy.

She considers my friend Rosemary her second mom. I can her Sister Longmore when talking to Sally, so Sally always just calls her “Longmore”. Sally doesn’t cry when I leave her with Rosemary, and she likes for Rosemary to hold her on her lap (which she lets almost no one but me do). Rosemary has twin boys whom Sally loves to play with. She used to just call them “boys”, but now calls them both Lanny, the name of one of them. She can’t quite say Spencer yet.

Okay, that’s pretty long. On to the rest of the family:

Neal:

Neal is in his first month of residency, and things are going well so far. Luckily he got started out on a light rotation—renal consults. He’s home around 5:30 (sometimes sooner), and he hasn’t had to be on call yet.

He recently finished up a big shelf project in our house. He created a built in shelving/entertainment center unit from what was once a hollow section of wall. It looks really nice (I’m sure many of you have seen his photos on Facebook), and I think he’s proud of himself (which he should be)!

He signed us up for a co-ed Ultimate Frisbee team. We’ve been playing every Thursday for several weeks now. Neal is definitely one of the best on the team, and I’m just on the team. The fact that Sally goes ballistic every time I set food on the field makes it kind of hard for me, but mostly I’m just not on the same level as the rest of the players. It is fun for me to watch Neal, though, and I know that he’s glad to be playing Frisbee again.

Me:

I’m working once more, at the job I posted about a few months ago. Everything is going fine so far. I work during the afternoon while Sally is sleeping, and occasionally in the evening when I need to finish something up. I’m somewhat surprised and pleased about how easily everything is coming back to me. I was afraid that it would take me a while to get back into the programming mode, but it was like getting back onto a bike.

I’m enjoying being a mom, but realizing how challenging it is to entertain a toddler, especially a really smart toddler. My patience and my creativity are tested almost daily.

One of my daily triumphs is getting showered and ready to go for the day before Sally is awake. If I don’t take care of it before she’s up, it takes great stealth and creativity to get through my morning routine without stress.

I’m trying to read more, which is hard since I now work during Sally’s naps. I love reading and it is a great stress reliever for me. I’m almost done with “The Prince and the Pauper”, and I plan to start “The Count of Monte Cristo” once I’m finished. I’m trying to read classic books that are entertaining yet somewhat enlightening/educational. I hope to get a lot of reading done on my trip to Utah this coming Wednesday (my sister Abby is getting married—I’m really happy for her and excited for the trip).

I miss my family and sometimes get into depressed moods where I just want to spend time with them yet know that I can’t, but for the most part I’m really happy with where I am in life. I have wonderful friends here that I’ve gotten really close to. I’ll have a very hard time leaving them someday.

Why Neal is Awesome

2009-07-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

I’ve read quite a few posts lately about husbands, so I don’t want Neal to be left out. Here are just a few reasons why Neal is awesome:

Neal loves to be active and is a great athlete. He has run 3 marathons. He was a co-captain of the BYU Ultimate Frisbee club and continued to play Frisbee as much as possible during his busy med school years. He organized a med school basketball club and a ping-pong club. He played intramural basketball and volleyball in med school, and plays volleyball and basketball with people from church. He also plays tennis whenever he can find time and an opponent.

Neal is very faithful at his church callings and especially at his home teaching. In the time we’ve been married not a month has gone by that he hasn’t done his home teaching, or at least called to check up on his families.

Neal is a great daddy. He is very patient with Sally and is able to stay calm when he needs to discipline her or when she gets into a tight spot. He likes to sing songs with Sally and even wrote a special song just for her that he can play on the piano and guitar. He also takes time to figure out how to play songs on the guitar that Sally already knows and likes to sing.

Neal is a great husband. He tries hard to find things for us to do together that we can both enjoy. He tries to make me laugh when I’m having a hard day and asks what he can do to help. He picks up on my subtle hints every time a special occasion comes around (birthday, Mother’s Day, etc.) and gets me great gifts. He goes shopping with me when I feel ugly and need something cute to wear. He cleans the bathroom without being asked. He arranges his schedule so we can go to the temple together, even if it isn’t convenient.

Neal is always willing to help people who are in need. Whenever someone is moving, he there to load the truck, and sometimes even unload, as well (depending on how far they are going). He helps his parents and siblings with projects whenever he can. He loaned his sisters money to pay their tuition in college and helped them with their taxes, grant applications, and other not-so-fun paperwork.

Neal takes great care of our yard. He has created a beautiful lawn and garden out of what 3 years ago was a weed and dirt patch.

Neal is a doctor! He worked hard during medical school and got accepted into a competitive specialty.

Neal seizes opportunities to make sure his life is full and fun. He applied for a research grant after year 1 of med school so he could visit El Salvador, where he served his mission. He joined the Air Force before medical school so he didn’t have to take out loans to pay for school and so he and his family could have opportunities to see the world later in life. He took an option to do a med school rotation at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico so he could fulfill a rotation while being in the great outdoors enjoying great hiking adventures. He pounced on the chance to go to Havasu Falls so we could have a backpacking trip together.

Neal is a handsome guy.

So, Neal, if you ever read my blog, I hope you can tell how much I love you!

Havasu Falls

2009-06-25T13:29:00.001-07:00

I'm back, which I'm sure is a source of joy for all who missed me. I know that I have many faithful readers out there...

Life if getting back to normal after a vacation to Utah/Arizona in which Sally was left with my parents for part of the time. My parents did a great job with Sally--in fact, Sally liked my mom so well that she screamed and cried when I picked her up when I got back. I was crushed that my baby rejected me, but she soon warmed up to me again and thing are ALMOST back to normal. We've had a few struggles, though:

-Ever since Sally has been back in my care we've been having one continuous battle over the bink. My parents allowed her to have the binky whenever she wanted (I would have done the same if I had been watching someone else's child for 4.5 days), but that is not my style. I've been able to wheezle it away from her each day with much difficulty, but she is getting smarter and more careful about letting her guard down. I really want to be done with the darn thing for good. Any suggestions? After meeting with her pediatrician the other day, Neal and I tried taking it away from her cold turkey. That resulted in a very disturbed nap and 20+ minutes of screaming in her bed at night before I caved and gave it back. I'm weak, what can I say? She has great naps with the binky and I'm not ready to give up nap time!

-Sally seems to be starting into the terrible two's--tantrums (over the bink and many other things, half of which I'm not even aware of) have abounded lately, and whininess is almost becoming the norm. The slightest thing will set Sally off, and she'll flop the the ground and start crying to the point that she can't breath.

While the above behaviors are not acceptable (and time-out has been utilized many a time lately), I do think that they can in part be attributed to: the VERY hot, muggy, yucky weather in KC that we returned to, the shots that Sally got at the Dr., fatigue, and Sally's altered sense of security since she was left. Much of the time she's still my little sweetie!

Alright, the title of this post is Havasu Falls, so I guess I'd best get onto that...

Neal and I decided to try out a backpacking trip with our friends Mitch and Lexi and their family. I'd like to say that I had a great time, but I can't--I had a good time, and now that it's over, it's easier for me to remember the good times rather than the things I suffered.

Suffered? Indeed. I was sick with a pretty bad head cold for most of the trip, and I simply didn't feel well. Being sick isn't fun under normal circumstances, and when you add in inadequate restrooms (I won't even elaborate), heat, fatigue, and poor sleeping conditions, the effects are worsened. Enough of that.

We saw some pretty awesome sights and got to relax and spend time with our friends. Here's a quick synopsis of the trip:

Day 1: We hiked in starting at 5:00 A.M. The hike was 10 miles, and we carried everything we needed for the trip on our backs. My pack was about 35 lbs., Neal's was 65 lbs. We definitely learned our lesson for taking too much stuff: we were sore, stiff, and tired by the end of the hike! Later that day we went to one of the falls--getting there was quite an adventure. We climbed nearly straight down the mountainside (100 feet is my estimation) with the assistance of chains, ladders, and steps that have been added for safety. Everyone swam but me--I was afraid that the water would be too cold. I can be kind of a worry wart sometimes!

Day 2: We hiked all day to another of the falls. Unfortunately we didn't know the best route, and we had more adventures getting there (which included scaling a canyon wall and causing a small rock slide). It was pretty awesome when we did finally make it, though. I decided to swim that day and enjoyed it. The water was cold, but I got used to it quickly. Getting there and making our way back took the better part of the day.

Day 3: It was Sunday, so we had our own church meeting, and then Neal and I, along with a few others in our group, went to church. There was a church in the village, about 3 miles from our campsite. Unfortunately we underestimated the time we needed to get there, and we ended up pratically running all the way to get there by 10. When we did finally make it (we being me and Neal--the rest of the group was quicker, and Neal was kind and stayed with me) by 10:20, we found out that church didn't start until 11:00--a huge blessing to me since I REALLY wanted to go to church and I was praying all the way that I could make it. The church had a nice shady porch that we relaxed on before the meeting. After church we went to the final falls. Most people swam, but I opted out. It was nice to just relax after the mad dash to church in the heat of the day and enjoy the mist from the falls.

Day 4: We got up really early and hiked out. I wasn't feeling well enough to carry my pack out, so I, along with Lexi, hired the chopper to take it out for me for $20. It was well worth it, except that we had to wait around for quite a while after we made it out for our packs to arrive. The hike out wasn't too bad (thanks to the chopper!), and I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I was done.

There are a lot of other details I could have included--if you want to know more, just ask. Here are some of my favorite pics:

Hiking in

The first water fall we saw--after we passed through the village and before we got to our campsite (the most grueling part of the hike)

Me by my favorite of the falls we saw (Mooney, I think)

During the hike of Day 2 (we hiked up the river most of the way back)

The church in the village

All-in-all it was a good trip, and I'm glad for the experience. The scenery was beautiful and it was so neat to go to church and see the faithful members there. I wish I had been healthy so I could have enjoyed it more. I'll admit that I could have had a better outlook and worried less about Sally and my health--that would have helped. Next time we go on vacation, though, I get to choose the spot! :)

What's in It For Me?

2009-06-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

After posting my wish list yesterday, I started thinking what a silly thing I had done. It's chigger and mosquito season in Kansas, but I think that I've been bitten by a much more harmful bug--the greedy bug.

For some reason lately I've been thinking quite a bit about fairness--mostly in terms of thinking that life isn't being fair to me for one reason or another (as if life is supposed to be fair!). I have quite an imagination, and sometimes while I'm playing with Sally or doing some not-so-mind-stimulating household chore I'll let my imagination get away from me, thinking up all kinds of grand plans in my perfect world or, sadly enough, going over past experiences thinking of why I got the short end of the stick and how that could be changed. Last night as I was doing the dishes was such a time. I was thinking back to the time right after I got married and was whisked away to the strange land of the midwest away from family, friends, and all that was familiar to me. The question popped into my head: "What's in it for me?" (as a question I could have asked Neal at the time). That was a hard time for me. I was definitely happy being married to Neal, but I really didn't see that much of him as he was trying to keep his head above water as a first year medical student.

Thankfully that question popped into my head for a good reason--it is the title of an excellent talk given by Elder Faust in the Oct. 2002 General Conference. I read it today, and here are some of my favorite parts:

"Selfishness is one of the baser human traits, which must be subdued and overcome. We torture our souls when we focus on getting rather than giving."

"Elder William R. Bradford once said: “Of all influences that cause men to choose wrong, selfishness is undoubtedly the strongest. Where there is selfishness, the Spirit of the Lord is absent. Talents go unshared, the needs of the poor unfulfilled, the weak unstrengthened, the ignorant untaught, and the lost unrecovered.”"

"The Savior reminds us, “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” One of life’s paradoxes is that a person who approaches everything with a what’s-in-it-for-me attitude may acquire money, property, and land, but in the end will lose the fulfillment and the happiness that a person enjoys who shares his talents and gifts generously with others."

I have a great life and even if I never get any of the things on my wish list it will still be great. I'm so glad that the Spirit can help us remember things to help keep us on track. At the beginning of this year I was talking to one of my friends about resolutions for 2009, and I told her that I wanted to be more generous. Generosity is roughly synonymous with unselfishness, so I'm obviously still working on it!

Wish List Revised

2009-06-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I posted a short wish list, and looking back, many of my wishes were granted, so it's time for a new one.

-A sectional couch
-New carpet
-Crown molding throughout my house
-New bedding
-Cute clothes (someone PLEASE nominate me for "What Not to Wear")
-A truck (for Neal)
-World peace

Neal and I are known as being quite the thrifty couple, but during the last few months we've put our reluctance to spend on hold for a few good causes. In the past few months we've purchased:

-A new mattress (a MUCH needed item, as we had been sleeping on a $20 garage-sale find our entire marriage)
-Insulation for our previously uninsulated family room which once was a garage (any guest who has stayed at our house will tell you that this was greatly needed)
-A riding lawn mower (also much needed in my mind, since Neal is soon to be working 80 hours a week and I'd rather have him spend his free time with me and Sally rather than mowing our HUGE yard with a push mower)
-A plasma screen TV (not much needed in my mind, but Neal has wanted one for a long time and I think he deserves a nice graduation gift for all he's gone through over the past 4 years)
-A vacation to the Grand Canyon, which we are leaving for next week (which will provide some much needed time away for me and Neal--Sally will be with Grandma and Grandpa Dickson)
-A new:

Okay, just kidding on that last one, but Neal did take it for a test drive. He's enjoying the title of Dr. very much.

Food For Thought

2009-05-26T20:13:00.001-07:00

I love to cook. As far back as I can remember, I loved being in the kitchen. Now that I cook 3 meals a day, seven days a week, food is almost always on my mind. As I've been checking out a few food blogs lately, I thought I'd post about food. Here's a mini history of my cooking background:

As a baby, I burned my hand on the oven door while my dad was making granola. I can only assume that I was interested in his granola making technique and wanted to check it out.

My favorite toy as a child was my kitchen set. My sister Alison and I got it for Christmas when I was 6 or 7, and each successive birthday or Christmas for the next few years I got a new addition to the set—a hand mixer, a toaster oven, a dish drainer, etc.

As a rather small child, my sister Alison and I would cook together. Some of our most memorable attempts:

-The double batch of no-bake cookies in which we substituted frosted flakes for the oats (NOT a successful substitution. No one in the family would eat them, and we ended up giving them to Alison’s friend Missy).

-The dip in which we substituted Miracle Whip for mayo (again, not recommended).

-The fire jolly rancher drink—we dissolved our fire jolly ranchers in water to “cool them down” because they were too hot for our little mouths (this wasn’t really an attempt at cooking, we just wanted to quench the fire jolly ranchers; a memorable experience nonetheless).

By third grade I was making cookies, cakes, and brownies entirely on my own. I loved to bake, and I still do. My love of baking has spilled over into other areas of food preparation and my adult taste buds are a lot more willing to try new things than my little child buds were, so I love to try all kinds of recipes with new ingredients.

A few of my new favorites:

-Pecans: I absolutely love nuts, and pecans are some of my favorites. I love to have them toasted in salads, baked into baked goods, or sprinkled into rice dishes.

-Cilantro: where have you been all of my life? I don’t think I had ever even heard of cilantro until I was in high school, but I don’t know how I could live without it now. I use it in salads, Mexican dishes, salsas, chicken, etc.

-Feta cheese: a recent obsession, although I don’t buy it much or use it as much as I would like. I like it best in spinach salad and in a Greek tomato chickpea salad I’ve discovered.

-Asparagus: my new favorite vegetable (almost, actually—carrots are still my #1). I love it grilled, broiled, or steamed; plain or seasoned. It is a wonder how much I love green vegetables considering as a child my idea of eating my veggies was having a few bites of corn.

-Grape tomatoes: the only way I’ll eat just plain raw tomatoes. I love the huge boxes they sell at Sam’s Club—they don’t last long! If you haven’t tried them, you should. While I do love them plain, they are also awesome in salads and Mexican dishes.

-My hand blender: okay, this isn’t a food, but I use it almost every day for various tasks such as making soups, whipping cream, making smoothies, chopping nuts, and blending salad dressings. How did I ever survive in the kitchen without it?

Kind of an out of the blue post, but lets you know a little more about me. I don’t consider myself a great cook by any means, but I’m learning more all of the time, having fun in the kitchen, and keeping my family eating health stuff (although I really do need a break from the kitchen every so often, so if you are a certain someone reading this—you know who you are—a break in the form of eating out or you making dinner once in a while would be greatly appreciated!).

For those who are visual, a picture of one of my creations--a strawberry rhubarb pie I made for my father-in-law's birthday a few years ago. It was my first lattice-top pie, and although it wasn't beautiful, it was delish!

Graduation Part II

2009-05-20T20:54:00.001-07:00

More graduation pictures: A happy couple. I think Neal looks quite distinguished in his graduation regalia. Green is a good color for him.

Neal and Chris--our first and best friend in med school, right there with Neal to the very end. Chris, good luck in Boston, WE WILL MISS YOU!!!

In addition to the med school hooding ceremony, we went to the university wide graduation on Sunday. Here's Neal entering the stadium.

This could have been a much better picture had I not been wearing white and had Neal's head not been cut off.

It's hard to believe that med school is over. Neal has been a student our whole married life. Med school definitely has its ups and downs, but from my point of view it wasn't that bad. I'm actually much more nervous about residency than I was about med school. For my own sake, here's a quick review of the last four years:

Year 1: Neal studied A LOT and I was home alone at night (in our small apartment in a not-so-great part of town) very frequently. We had some fun times with med school friends and friends in our ward, but for the most part it was a VERY lonely time for me. There were weeks here and there that Neal didn't study too much and we spent more time together, but two weeks before a test block Neal would start studying hard and I wouldn't see much of him until the tests were over. The summer after year 1 was bad for me--Neal was gone for 6 weeks in Alabama for commisioned officers training for the Air Force, and then after a brief stop at home left for El Salvador for 10 days doing a research project that he got a grant for. I look back on those lonely days with a shudder. At least I was working the whole time so I wasn't alone all day and all night!

Year 2: About the same studying-wise for Neal, but we bought our house at the beginning of year 2 so I was in a better part of town where I felt safer and had more friends in a similar circumstance. Work was quite busy for me, which helped ease my loneliness, as well. By the end of year 2 we were very settled in our ward and new area and were enjoying it. Right after year 2 Neal started preparing for Step I, which meant more long hours of studying.

Year 3: Rotations provided a nice change for Neal from lectures all of the time, but also added a new set of frustrations. Being on the bottom of the totem pole at a hospital was not always fun for Neal. He kicked off the year with his surgery rotation, which was a lot of work and had long hours. I remember Neal being somewhat bitter during year 3, but he got over it as time went on. The birth of Sally added variety to life and Neal liked coming home and spending time with her. I think it was a good stress reliever (not that he really gets stressed compared to most people).

Year 4: The easiest and most enjoyable for Neal, the second worst year for me. Neal was away from home for 4 different rotations (actually one of them was officially a 3rd year rotation), and was at home all the time for other months. This was hard because I'm a schedule oriented person, and this year totally threw off my groove. We did have a lot of fun during the times that Neal was free, though (like now). It will be hard to give up all of this togetherness once residency starts.

Currently Neal is working at KU as a step I prep course instructor. It's a good chance for him to brush up before residency, and he's getting paid decently for it. To my cousin Matt: I'm sure you'll rock step I! After step I the light at the end of the med school tunnel becomes perceptible. You'll make it. Hang in there!

Graduation Part I

2009-05-20T20:35:00.001-07:00

Neal is officially a doctor now. The graduation festivities have all come and gone, and we had a great time celebrating this big accomplishment. Neal, I'm so proud of you! Here's a look at what we've been up to. Me and Neal before the Sr. banquet a few days before graduation. Thanks Rosemary for letting me wear your dress!

Me with the food for our graduation open house. It was supposed to be outside, but it poured all afternoon and evening. I was bummed, but it worked out okay inside--I think that the storm kept away some of our guests, so we were okay on space and we are still enjoying our leftovers... not that I need any more brownies OR cookies. I may have gotten somewhat carried away with my baking (the food pictured here is only what I laid out--there was more of everything).

Sally was SO excited when all of the graduates entered the auditorium for the hooding ceremony. She waved and waved while shouting "Daddy! Daddy!"

After the hooding ceremony. Sally is contemplating how she can snag another cookie from the big buffet tables.

My parents came into town for the occasion and we had a lot of fun. Thanks Mom and Dad! There were so many cameras we were all looking at different ones.

Match Day Results

2009-05-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

Neal's graduation is in two days, and I can't believe that med school will be a thing of the past. If only I could say the same for residency...

Match day was two months ago, and I didn't do a great job of letting people know the results. Neal matched at KU for both his preliminary year in internal medicine and for his 3 anesthesiology years, which means we are staying put right here in Kansas City. We are mostly happy about this , but there are some downsides which I will not elaborate on because I don't want to be a whiner. Never mind that KU pays its residents less than almost any other residency program and that the Kansas legislature is trying to decrease their pay...we don't have to sell our house! Never mind that our house is kind of small...we love our ward and the area where we live.

Alright, I wasn't supposed to elaborate, but at least I'm trying to be positive (anyone wanting to hear more of my complaints will have to contact me personally). All-in-all we are really glad to stay here and we are very grateful that Neal matched in a competitive specialty.

Just a quick update on my own job situation: I accepted the job and will be an independent contractor for 1 year, and then will have the option of becoming an employee of the company. I'm starting June 22, and I'm excited.

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

Today is Mother's Day and, as I am a mother, I received some extra special treatment. Neal made me pancakes for breakfast, Sally was rather better behaved than usual during sacrament meeting, I got a vase of fresh cut flowers from my front yard, and Neal got me a cool kitchen scale (something I had requested) and made me a card. Not exactly a day where I got everything I wanted without having a lift a finger (as my bro. in-law expressed the day should be in his sacrament meeting talk that he proudly shared), but a nice day nonetheless.

I love being a mom and I am so grateful that I get to raise Sally (and hopefully other children in the future). Being a mom has enlarged my capacity to love and serve and is teaching me lots of valuable lessons (such as how to be patient when I feel my patience has already been tried to the max, how to laugh when I feel like crying, how to cook one handedly). My attempts to describe how much I love being a mom sound really cheesey, so I'll just say that I'm so glad that I get to spend each day with Sally and watch her learn and grow.

I wanted Sally and I to match today, and I think that we looked cute.

Frustration

2009-05-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

Posting anything takes me FOREVER! Every time I upload an image, all of the formatting that I have done in the post is screwed up, and the picture comes in at the very top of the post, not in the place where I specified (oh, and on top of that, it takes SO LONG to upload the images). I am not able to copy and paste text. Moving around text or images is almost impossible. Does anyone know how to get around these problems? Posting anything but plain text gives me a huge headache. I consider myself a very computer literate person, so I hardly think this is my fault. I have cable internet that is pretty darn fast, so I doubt that the internet speed is the problem. If anyone has any advice, please, please, please pass it on, or I will end my brief experiement with blogging in order to preserve my sanity!

To Work or Not to Work

2009-04-23T12:47:00.001-07:00

That is the question...

I recently received a call from a former co-worker at Quintiles who left the company about a year after I had started there. He wanted me to apply for an opening at his new company, but I passed because it was a full-time position and I am not at all willing to work full-time. He then asked me if he could pass my name along to his brother who works at another company in the same line of work (the statistical programming aspect of clinical trials) but that offers a lot of flexibility. I gave my permission and his brother contacted me a few days later.

I met with the brother today for lunch and learned more about the company and my options for working there. It sounds like a dream come true. If I work there, I can:

choose my own schedule (and it doesn't have to be consistent from week to week)
choose how many hours I work each week
choose if I will work at all on any given day
work at home or in the office
turn down or accept projects that come along depending on my interests

Before I met with this guy he told me that they are looking for someone to work about 10 hours a week on a flexible schedule. That is exactly what I've been thinking that I'd like to do, but I didn't think it was possible.

Over the past several months I've thought a lot about my future job needs/desires/prospects. I worked 20-30 hours a week from home after Sally was born and had a mostly bad experience with it (I was only supposed to work 20, sometimes I did more than 30). It was stressful and not very flexible, and I was frustrated with my manager and co-workers much of the time. The management team had put me in a position that they admitted to me was really supposed to be held by a full-time office-based employee. They overloaded me and while they were apologetic about it, they didn't do much to ease my load. What I did like about it was that I was bringing in some income and keeping up/expanding my skills.

Keeping up my skills and having some avenue for my time and energy outside of what I do at home and church are the main motives for me to go back to work. Salary is somewhat of a factor, but much less so. When I talked to this guy briefly about salary, he asked me what I would ask and then told me that I would get at least quite a bit more than what I had requested.

So...where is the catch? It seems too good to be true. I'm going to have a trial period with this company to see if I want to become an employee, but so far I see nothing bad about it. Some of my former Quintiles peers now work at this company and love it. I'll let everyone know what comes of this opportunity.

A Few of My Favorite Things

2009-04-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

It's time that I posted something about my sweet little baby (toddler now, I guess). Sally is starting to develop quite a personality. Here are a few of her favorite things:

Books:

"One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish"

"Go Dog, Go"

Toys:

Strollers

Baby dolls

Songs:

Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree

The Wise Man and the Foolish Man

Foods:

Oatmeal

Cheese

Other dairy products

Clothing Item:

Shoes

Activities:

Playing outside, esp. in the dirt

Going on walks in her stroller

Climbing on mommy

Hiding from mom and dad

Words:

Shoes

Person:

Mommy

When I'm Not Blogging

2009-03-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

Several months ago I promised I'd explain why I'm a bad blogger. Since I've received several hints lately that I ought to do something with my blog, here is a token post about all of the things I do when I'm not blogging:

Looking through cookbooks
Looking for recipes on the internet
Cooking
Cleaning up after cooking
Cleaning up after Sally
Cleaning up after Neal
Laundry
Planning for Primary
Sleeping
Playing with Sally
Playing with Neal
Watching movies with Neal
Doing crossword puzzles with Neal
Reading
Organizing my house

It is probably quite clear from this list that I do a lot of cooking and cleaning. Am I neurotic about keeping my house clean? Maybe. Do I like having a clean house more than having a cool blog? Maybe...probably...yes.

The most honest explanation I can give as to why I don't blog much is that I am paranoid of spending too much time on the computer (like my husband does). I am about the only one of my family members or friends to not have a Facebook account for the same reason. Looks like this post has taken me about 10 minutes. That's way too much time I've wasted on the computer. See ya!

Tagged

2008-11-30T21:01:00.000-08:00

If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm a crummy blogger. I'll explain the reasons later. Anyway, I'm trying to get into the swing of blogging, and the game of tag is an easy place to start. So, here are my responses to two different games of tag (I'll admit, on the second one, I wasn't even tagged, I just did it because it looked fun and got me thinking).

Game 1: Lucky 8's

8 Shows I Watch (or used to watch, going back a long way):

-Crusoe (the only one on this list that is current)
-Jeopardy
-Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
-Wishbone
-Early Edition
-Who’s the Boss?
-Saved By the Bell
-20/20

8 Things I Did in the Last 24 Hours:

-Taught Sharing Time in Primary
-Sang “The Wheels on the Bus” in nursery
-Vacuumed
-Gave Sally a bath
-Ate apple pie (twice)
-Danced to Christmas music
-Wrote a note to a friend
-Went to ward choir practice

8 Places I Like to Eat:

-Panera
-Chipotle
-Korma Sutra
-Jack Stack
-Home
-Wheat State Pizza
-The Cheesecake Factory
-Macaroni Grill

8 Things on my Wishlist:

-Granite countertops
-New carpet
-A new mattress
-A long coat
-Privo shoes
-A cute purse
-A draft-free house that stays warm
-Neal getting a residency in San Antonio with the Air Force

Game 2:

I am: still figuring out how to handle my current phase in life.
I think: about food and cooking way too much.
I want: to make other people happy.
I have: a sweet baby girl and a great husband.
I dislike: rude people.
I miss: my family.
I fear: not being loved.
I feel: nostalgic.
I hear: the ticking of my clock.
I smell: nothing.
I crave: chocolate.
I cry: every time I watch Mr. Kreuger’s Christmas.
I usually: go to bed much later than I plan to.
I regret: many stupid things I say that embarrass myself.
I search: for Sally’s binky way too often.
I wonder: where Neal will do his residency.
I love: laughing.
I care: about what people think about me more than I should.
I always: make things more complicated than I need to.
I worry: way too much, mostly when I’m trying to sleep.
I am not: lazy.
I remember: more than I wish I did.
I believe: in the power of prayer.
I dance: with Sally.
I sing: in my ward choir.
I don’t always: remove the “hangies” from raw eggs when baking like I used to.
I write: an email to my little sister every Sunday.
I argue: with Neal when he wants me to be sassy.
I win: only about half of the time when playing games with Neal.
I lose: every time I have a thumb war.
I wish: that Sally would let me play the piano more often.
I listen: to NPR whenever I’m in the car.
I don’t understand: why anyone would smoke.
I can usually: do what I put my mind to.
I watch: Crusoe with Neal.
I need: a haricut.
I forget: to change my contacts every 2 weeks.
I am happy: most of the time.

One whole year!

2008-11-26T07:57:00.000-08:00

Sally is now 1 year old. I can hardly believe that I've been a mom for a whole year. At this time last year, I was wondering how I could possibly survive 1 year of nursing. Now that I'm done, I actually kind of miss it. Sally seems more like a toddler than a baby now. She is great at walking and running, crawling up (and down) stairs, and she is starting to climb things, such as overturned laundry baskets and the couch.

Although I had some misgivings about it, I gave Sally some cake for her birthday and for her birthday party (two days later). She loved it, and we now have a cute video of her stuffing her face. She still eats her veggies, so I suppose that we haven't spoiled her good eating habits. It's funny the things that I worry about that now seem so insignificant.

KC Marathon 2008

2008-10-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

Neal just completed his third marathon on Saturday. He ran the Top of Utah Marathon on two different occasions when he was in college, so this was his first stab and a new course. His finishing time was 3:14:50, about 4 minutes shy of qualifiying for the Boston marathon. He did a great job, despite not qualifying. I'm so glad it's over, and I didn't even run! Sally and I were able to spot him at a few points along the way and cheer him on. Thanks to our friend Chris, we have pictures.

Neal's commitment to training for this marathon has inspired me to run more. I doubt I'll ever run a marathon, but I may try to do a half marathon someday. I'll start small, though: the Sprint Thanksgiving Day 5K is coming up, and Neal and I are registered for it. It's become a tradition for us, and this will be the 4th year we've run in it (although I didn't run it, or even walk it, last year, since Sally was born just 3 days before). My goal is to finish in under 30 minutes. That sounds pretty pathetic given Neal just ran 26.2 miles in just over 3 hours, but everyone needs a starting point. I used to run quite a bit just to stay in shape, but since Sally was born, I've had a really hard time finding the time to run.

The beginning

2008-10-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

I suppose it's time that I jumped into the world of bloggers. Now that I'm an unemployed stay at home mom, life is a little slower and I have time to explore other activities. I enjoy reading the blogs of others, so maybe someone will enjoy reading about my life with Neal and little Sally. If not, at least I'll have a record for my own sake. I used to be a consistent journal writer, but I got out of the habit, and blogging just may help me get back on track.