Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
It's Autumn Time: Halloween
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 :) ).
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
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.
"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
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.
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
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.
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.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Updates
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.
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.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Something Old, Something New
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!
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!
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