The Bountiful Ridge's

Michael's New Favorite Place to Play

2011-11-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

One of Michael's favorite things to do is hide. There are two places Michael can typically be found when he hides. The first place is on our bed underneath our pillows. We usually see him try and sneak back to our room, but if he ever gets there without us knowing and we take too long to come look for him...he'll shout "Mommy (or Daddy), HIDING!!!!"

(I know I've posted that picture before, but I love it...)

The second and more recent favorite spot to hide is under or in these big buckets.

You can't even see him!

Check him out in action...

He's such a funny kid.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T20:28:00.000-07:00

When we were in Arizona for Kim's wedding at the beginning of October, Renae officially taught Michael the word pumpkin. Ever since then, he has been pointing out pumpkins all over the place and thanks to Lee (Renae's father, Jonathan's uncle, and my pseudo padre) Michael has also been calling people "pumpkin head." Every time we went to the grocery store, Michael would BEG for a pumpkin. Finally, on the 29th we went to Sam's Market and let Michael pick out a pumpkin. He was really more entertained by their decorations so we ended up leading him to one that weighed 26.34 pounds. (Which is just about 2 pounds more than him.) He was super excited about it. We carved it the next day after church.

Michael was a great helper, but was still extremely disgusted by the pumpkin innards. We finally convinced him to touch them a little bit, but he ended up just coloring on the outside of the pumpkin while we scraped the inside and cut the jack-o-lantern face on the other side.

This year for Halloween, we thought we'd try and dress as a family again. If you remember, last year Michael was a Zoo Keeper and Jonathan and I were elephants.

Halloween 2010:
We ran through several different ideas and finally decided on a Toy Story Theme. Jonathan and I were Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and Michael was our adopted Alien child. :) We were trying to go for the inexpensive costume route so I looked up some store bought and homemade costumes and decided I could totally do it by myself. I bought t-shirts for each of us, different colors of felt for the faces, yarn for Michael's hat, a visor to decorate for me, and a hat for Jonathan. All three costumes totaled just under $20 and took me just a couple hours to make.

I was a little worried Michael wouldn't want to keep his hat on, but boy was I wrong! I made Stephanie a hat for her Waldo outfit and after seeing her wear hers, he thought it was so cool!

Michael definitely enjoyed the concept of "trick or treating." We think he completely understood the fact that he was getting candy, but he didn't really want to eat any of it. He just wanted to keep getting more...and more...and more.

A friend of ours from the ward decided to go with the Toy Story theme as well and we did a little trick or treating with them at the end of the night. Their two boys were Buzz and Woody, and as I'm sure you can tell from the picture the father was Andy. :)

While they may not get along all the time, Michael really does love Emmett who is 2 months older than him. The two of them held hands as they walked...so darn cute.

Happy Halloween!

Jonathan's Graduation

2011-10-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

Catch-up Post #2.

Jonathan finished his Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice & Criminology through Portland State University on September 2, 2011. However, while his classes and final projects didn't wrap up until the beginning of September, the commencement ceremony was in August. I think it's a pretty big deal that he graduated from college, so I definitely encouraged him to walk in the ceremony. Lucky for us, Paul, Jennie, James, and Sarah live in Beaverton, Oregon which just so happens to be a hop, skip, and a jump from Portland State University. We took Jonathan's super exciting accomplishment as an excuse to visit them in their cute new home.

When we got to the airport in Long Beach, Michael was beyond excited about hearing and seeing all the airplanes.
He stared out the window by our gate with Jonathan for a while and then ran around the small terminal to every other window to search for more planes. And when he was done doing that he found entertainment in jumping off chairs and running up and down one particular ramp...I'm sure the employees absolutely loved us. I know many other passengers were entertained by his enthusiasm. :)

When it was finally time to board the plane I was too chicken to ask if Michael could get a picture with the pilot...but of course Michael could have cared less. ;) He just wanted to get on the plane!

Michael did great on the flight.

On the drive from the airport to their house, Michael was very observant... "Trees! Trees! Trees!" He must have noticed there are quite a few more trees in Oregon than there are in Southern California.

The time we spent in Oregon was really nice. It definitely made Jonathan and I want to move there even more than we did before. Unfortunately, Jonathan had lots of homework to get done while we were there, so much of our time was spent doing that...but at the same time it was nice to just relax and play at the house. I'm completely bummed that I didn't really take any pictures of the house itself. These two pictures were taken in their awesome playroom. (Not pictured is one of the walls that is entirely a chalkboard. So cool!)
One of the days we were there, we went to Paul's office to have a nice picnic lunch. Afterward, Jennie, James, Sarah, Jonathan, Michael, and I walked around temple grounds. There were a couple brides being pictured, so we didn't stay long. We were also creeping into nap time which probably sped things up a bit too. ;)

Silly cousins.

The Commencement ceremony was on Saturday. Everything was set up outside, and even though we got there pretty early, all the seats were either taken or being saved. We were able to find a spot off the the side next to a set of bleachers with a fairly good view of where Jonathan would be receiving his diploma (or at least the cover...). Michael got a kick out of playing under the bleachers. I kept having these nightmarish flashes of the bleachers collapsing on him...but alas that did not happen.
Instead, he nailed his head pretty hard on one of the metal beams...

I am amazed we haven't had to make a trip to the ER because of one of his head bumps...thankfully him bumping his head on things is happening less and less, but STILL!

The speeches were short and sweet, but there were lots of names read. I managed to squeeze through the crowd and get a couple shots of Jonathan though :)

It took him a few minutes to get to us after the ceremony finished, so as his adoring fans, we took those moments to prepare to shower him with leis! (A HUGE thanks to mom for making all but one of the fabulous leis! It took me just as long to make one double lei as it did for her to make two double leis plus a single lei! And then she made all of the candy leis too!)

I remember going to Paul and Jennie's graduation at BYU and seeing someone with a toddler in a cap and gown with their parents. I thought to myself..."If I have a child by the time Jonathan or I graduate, I am TOTALLY going to be one of those ridiculous moms that does that!" And I was...

The trip went by way too fast...at least for me! Paul, Jennie, James, and Sarah were very hospitable :) and hopefully we'll be able to go out again sometime soon!

2011 Peterson Family Reunion in San Francisco

2011-10-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

Catch-up Post #1 It'll be long, but I'll include lots of pictures to make it bearable. :) Here we go!

This year, the Peterson Family Reunion was planned around the Angels vs Athletics game on July 15th. We all made our way to San Francisco (except for Jonathan because he had to work) on the 11th and checked into our fun hotel. We stayed at the "Inn at the Opera." Michael was such a trooper during the car ride up and had lots of fun playing with Stephanie in the back seat. He especially enjoyed the spam musubi we ate for lunch...
...and being trained by Stephanie how to "smile like an asian."

That evening we went to a fun little pizza parlor and I found out that Diana was pregnant! :) She and Jeff are expecting a little boy this coming February. Woohoo!

The next couple of days we crammed in a bunch of fun touristy things. We went to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield and tasted some interesting flavors of Jelly Bellies.

We went to Ghirardelli Square and had some delicious sundaes, and of course went to the wharf to have some Boudin sourdough and clam chowder. You can't see our bread bowls...but that's what Diana and I are eating here. :)

Sisters!
...tired looking sisters! ;)

The Oakland Temple was closed, so we made the trip out to Sacramento to do our traditional session as a family.
Michael thinks it's super fun to jump off of things right now...

Jonathan joined us Wednesday night and the last few days we were there we took advantage of public transit...

as well as the cheapest form of transit...walking :)

...there were lots of hills ;)

We went to museums,

...and China Town,

"Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil, and DO no evil" :)

...and Muir Woods,
...and of course, finished off with the baseball game.

Overall, it was a great trip! We were just about always on the go and I know while I was sad to say goodbye to everyone, I was excited to get home and get Michael back to some semblance of a normal napping schedule. I think we were all pretty tuckered out by the end.

:)

Summer

2011-10-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

I've been avoiding posting because I feel like there is too much to catch up on.

This summer...

1. Michael turned 2 (which I did post on...gold star for me there)

2. I reached my goal of fitting into my wedding dress :) and have since lost 5 more pounds so I am officially smaller than when Jonathan and I got married. Woohoo!

3. We had our Peterson Family Reunion in San Francisco (this one will need a post of its own...)

4. Jonathan finished his Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice and Criminology through Portland State University and graduated Summa Cum Laude. He not only graduated in that top 3% of his class, but was number 1 in his program. :) We took this momentous occasion as an excuse to go to Oregon and visit Paul and Jennie. (This too needs a post of its own...)

5. We made the HUGE decision that Jonathan is officially going to join the Army. More details to come. (Again in its own post...)

6. Jonathan was promoted at Disneyland and is now a Plain Clothes Officer or "PCO." Fancy shmancy wording for security guard wearing street clothes so that you don't notice him watching you doing sketchy things.
(this picture is actually from when he first got hired 6 months ago)

7. AND Jonathan made the competition team at our Crossfit Gym. I don't have any good buff-man pictures of him, so I'll have to take one and post it soon. (And Kristina can do 11 pull-ups in a row...this is Jonathan. We'll have to take a buff-woman picture of her to post too. I thought I'd add my 2 bits.)

Lots to post! AH!

The Rest of the Family Pictures From March ;)

2011-08-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

I would put up a slideshow of the pictures...but I don't know how. I'll have to fiddle with blogger and figure it out someday. But since today is not someday and I've taken longer than a month to finally post these I'll put up a couple of my favorites right here and then put the link to our Picasa at the bottom of this post.

Daddy and Michael

Mommy and Michael

Family Shot
*these pictures were only taken 5 months ago and already I feel like Michael looks different! He's growing too fast!

Michael taking a break from the posed pictures

Since Jonathan dipped me...I thought I would try and dip him. I'm not going to lie--I'm pretty buff! ;)

*notice his hand ready to catch himself if I drop him...Ye of little faith! ;)
Picasa Family Pictures Album

Jumping Rope

2011-08-02T15:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I went for a little jog and then decided to jump some rope. I was jumping in the walkway just outside our front door to avoid the sun a little, and as I was finishing up a set of doubleunders, Michael came to the front door and started to watch. Apparently he thought the jump rope was pretty cool. ;)

This morning when Jonathan and I got home from Crossfit, I was carrying my jump rope and Michael begged and begged for it. I went and grabbed him a different one (so that he wouldn't lose mine) and he held the rope with both hands and started jumping! It was the cutest thing ever, so we immediately went outside so we could jump together.

So Cute! It's amazing the things kids mirror. Michael is definitely in that stage where he copies and repeats EVERYTHING! So funny. I'm glad we don't swear ;)

Sneak Peak to Family Pictures :)

2011-06-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

Growing!

2011-06-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

This past week Michael finally had his 2 year appointment and in the last 6 and a half months he put on almost 4 pounds pushing him up to the 10th percentile! Woohoo!

**Thank you Grandma Laura for the new birthday outfit!

His new favorite thing to do is to stick out his tongue to get a response out of people. He has this counting book he got for his first birthday and it starts: "One cheery sunflower, 2 pretty shoes, 3 chirpy chicks, 4 giggly girls, 5 sassy boys..." and 2 of the sassy boys are sticking out their tongues looking something like this:

He finds it rather hilarious. Silly boy.

WW: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

2011-06-22T16:50:00.000-07:00

June 20th Goal: Get more than 1 million. Check.

June 22nd Goal: Get in the top 10. Check. (He did it with such a low score because it was early in the day...)

:)

Happy Fathers Day!

2011-06-20T16:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning, Michael brought daddy his present in bed.

"Hands! Hands, Daddy! Hands"

Michael sure loves his Daddy! And his Buzz too. :)

**Note Michael was really excited to see the shirt opened and when Daddy put it on, but my, oh my, he was not a fan of having paint on his hands! He FREAKED out when we were making it the other day. Note-to-self: Hold off on the finger painting for a while...

Date Night :)

2011-06-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

We don't get to go out on actual dates very often. Tonight Steph watched Michael while we finally used one of the gift cards Jonathan got for his birthday from the Cox Family.

After dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, we decided to go to Disneyland for a friendly competition on Buzz's Astro Blasters. The wait was only 5 minutes because the fireworks were going. Jonathan kicked my butt both times we went on.

Michael will be jealous if he ever finds out we went on Buzz without him...SHH!

Happy Birthday, Michael!

2011-06-12T22:17:00.000-07:00

Yes...the Cheesy Grin is here.

If you can believe it, Michael turned 2 a little over a week ago. He was spoiled with toys from Toy Story from Grandma and Grandpa (hooray for daddy's Disney discount!)

...and he is now rarely seen without his Buzz Lightyear. For your enjoyment, a picture of Michael shooting me with Buzz's laser...

He does that a lot. He thinks it is hilarious. Strange child.

Jonathan had yesterday off, so we decided to throw him a little birthday get together and invited Kaelyn Stevens and Emmett & Logan Henson over for a couple hours. We had pizza, Michael's most favorite food, and we had star-cut melon (meant to be like sheriff woody's badge), and alien head cupcakes.

Of course he didn't eat the melon and refused to touch the cupcake. I guess I should have expected that. I need to be smarter next time and make a dessert I know he'll at least try--like cookies.

Our original intention was to play in the pool and then have lunch, but of course California's June gloom decided to make it cold and sprinkly yesterday morning and we 86ed the pool idea. Instead we stayed inside, did some coloring, and watched toy story while we ate and played. Grandma says I throw boring parties since we didn't have any games. Poor Michael has a lame mommy who doesn't know how to throw a proper party. Oh well...he seemed content with what we did and he knew the day was special and for him--that's all that matters, right? Right.

Michael has been diving right into the terrible 2's. He's mastered the tantrum and has become a little too familiar with time out. But all around he's a wonderful little boy. He continues to surprise me on a daily basis with the things he says and the phrases he is starting to put together. He also has quite the sense of humor. Just last night as we were getting ready for bed he pretended to snore and then said "grandpa" and pretended to snore some more.

Gotta say, I love this cute kid!

Happy Birthday, Michael!

WW: Monkey See, Monkey Do

2011-06-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

**Michael loves doing and copying EVERYTHING his Auntie Stephanie does...

The Big 3-0!

2011-04-03T23:09:00.001-07:00

Thirty years ago, Jonathan was born...(old man!)...and I for one am very glad that little bit of history took place. ;)

In order to celebrate this grand occasion, we decided to have a little surprise get together today between conference sessions. I was pretty proud of myself and of my family as we planned the whole thing because Jonathan was actually surprised! (What a novel concept!) Thank you to those who joined us for lunch and came to show your love and express your happy wishes.

As shown in the first picture, Jonathan was quite the trooper and even dressed up in all "The Big 3-0" birthday apparel we could find.

(As Claire called it) Jonathan's "sexy" pose:

Michael pretty much thought the party was for him...

...so he stole the coolio glasses from Jonathan...

But then I wanted to be cool too, so I stole them from Michael.

And this is where we get kind of lengthy, so you may stop reading here if you wish.

Since 30 is kind of a big deal for most, and since I usually blog about Michael, I decided today would be a lovely opportunity to brag about my hubby dubby. (I saw someone do this on their blog once, so here I go...)

30 reasons I love Jonathan:

1. His goofy--but very genuine--smile.
2. His very sexy, golden, honey-brown eyes.
3. His ability to make Michael and I genuinely and hysterically laugh without effort.
4. His happy and bright personality.
5. His humor/sarcasm.
6. The fact that he's not perfect (and he knows that), but he's always trying to be better.
7. He is a good listener.
8. He has very righteous desires and goals in his life.
9. His determination and diligence in everything he does.
10. He is very intelligent. I have to laugh at him a little because for as long as I've known him he has struggled with attending and doing well in school. However, this year he has taken 20-22 credits each quarter and has managed to get straight A's (one A-). Who does that? A crazy smart person...that's who. And he has a ridiculously large vocabulary. He uses words that I would never incorporate into my everyday speech.
11. He keeps me grounded. Whenever I start to stress out he reminds me to look at the whole picture.
12. His confidence.
13. He is a fun and loving father to Michael.
14. He is enthusiastic and spastic.
15. He is ambitious and positive about the future.
16. He introduced me to Crossfit and makes me feel like a rock star every time we work out together.
17. He is honest and doesn't just tell me (or others) what I (they) want to hear.
18. He snuggles with me when I'm cold even if it makes him hot.
19. When I don't understand something (especially scripturally) and I ask what I perceive as a silly question, he answers and doesn't make me feel like an idiot.
20. He holds my hand/pinky just because he knows I like to hold his hand/pinky even though it makes him claustrophobic.
21. He gives the BEST hugs.
22. His love for the Lord.
23. His ridiculously loud laugh.
24. He is much more conscious about his health than he was when we first got married and he strives to maintain healthy eating habits now so that he can play with our kids/grandkids in the future.
25. He hasn't once raised his voice at me in anger.
26. He tells me he loves me at least 50 times a day. Sometimes he'll send me a text when he's at work, across the house, or sitting right next to me just to remind me that he "loves me more no battle."
27. He encourages me, supports me in all I do, and he helps me want to be a better wife, mother, and person in general.
28. He makes sacrifices now so that he can provide for our family in the future.
29. He is a worthy Priesthood holder. He is my Nephi--spiritually and physically large in stature. :)
30. He chose me...and I get to spend the rest of time and eternity with him.

Happy Birthday, sweetheart. I love you!

WW: Pudding War Paint

2011-03-02T13:42:00.000-08:00

Our Basketball "Pod"

2011-02-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Jonathan and I gave Michael a basketball hoop. He was pretty excited Christmas day, but as time continues to pass he plays with it more and more. I really think that he would play with it for hours and hours at a time if we would let him. Sometimes when Jonathan or Grandpa are watching a basketball game he'll sit on the couch and watch with them. (As a matter of fact, sometimes he'll point at the TV and request that basketball be turned on!) Of course his attention span only allows him to watch a few minutes, so when he gets bored, he starts playing basketball himself. The other night we caught him standing on the couch and playing. He was so excited because he figured out that if he was higher up he could throw the ball in the hoop. (I know we shouldn't let him stand on the couch like that...bad mom...but I was pretty impressed!)

I think we definitely have a basketball pod on our hands :)

*** Quiz for the day: "Pod" comes from what movie? :)

I Think He Wanted Some Cheerios...

2010-12-17T09:45:00.001-08:00

18 months old!

2010-12-05T17:17:00.000-08:00

Our little boy is growing up!

Michael had his 18 month appointment this past Thursday and his pediatrician was very pleased with his weight gain this past month. He's been below the charts for weight for a long time and while he still is, he put on a whole pound in the last 30 days! (He also grew 2 inches...which could account for some of that weight gain...but he IS gaining weight! I am not malnourishing (I don't think that is a word) my child!) Here are the stats:

Height: 33 1/2 inches (82nd percentile)
Weight: 20 pounds 10 ounces (below the chart--but according to an online calculator I found that agreed with the above percentile, he's at about 1.9th percentile. The charts they give only show the markings for as low as the 5th percentile...which I guess puts him "below the charts")
Head: 18 3/4 inches (50th percentile)

Because he is finally above 20 pounds he is now legally allowed to be in a front-facing carseat. So...on Friday, he sat in one for the first time. :) He thought it was pretty cool.

It's only been a few days, but every time we get in the car he has a huge grin on his face just about the whole car ride.

He was also pretty excited about the box the carseat came in.

Along with being heavy enough to be in a front-facing carseat, today he went to nursery for the first time at church. Jonathan has especially been looking forward to this day because he typically spends much of church time chasing Michael around since I teach Sunday School. We took him together and the moment we opened the door he ran away from us and went right to the toys. The sister who is in charge of nursery needed to take one of the little girls to her parents because she was very, very upset and they couldn't get her to calm down. She asked if I would stay until she got back...so I did and just kind of observed Michael. He didn't even notice that I was there. At one point he started playing with a wooden puzzle, but a little girl immediately came up to him and said "No!" and took it away from him. I was sure a fight would ensue, but he just looked at her...and then picked up another toy. When the nursery leader returned, I left...and apparently he was happy as a clam the whole time. Way to go Michael!

I know I am biased, but I can't get over how darn cute our little boy is! He is so much fun. I love his cheesy little grin and how he likes to run every where he goes. Some days I wonder if he even knows how to walk. ;) I love his kisses and his hugs and how he roars and tries to scare me. I think it's hilarious that he shouts "AMEN!" if he thinks prayers are going too long and continues to say it until the prayer is over...(we're working on him being more reverent when he says amen...). It's so neat to be able to watch his vocabulary grow and to witness how much more conversational he has become in the last few months. It's also been fun to watch him figure new things out...sometimes things I wish he wouldn't figure out just yet ;) He officially knows how to open our bathroom doors...so family members who are coming to visit soon, if you don't want a visitor as you potty...you'd better lock the door!

Jonathan and I feel so blessed to have him in our lives...We love you Michael! Don't grow up too fast!

A Weekend of Visitors

2010-11-29T08:35:00.000-08:00

This year Jonathan, Michael, and I spent Thanksgiving by ourselves (Mom, Dad, Steven, and Stephanie spent the whole week on a cruise--jealous, yes I am). I think that any other week of being by ourselves would have been welcomed and even needed, but I was super, super sick AND it was a holiday week...and no holiday is meant to be spent without family. Our Thanksgiving dinner ended up being some homemade fried chicken compliments of Jonathan, mashed potatoes and of course green beans. Unfortunately Michael didn't want any of it...and I couldn't taste any of it...but I think Jonathan enjoyed it! =)

Anywho...we ended that uneventful Thanksgiving week with a weekend full of visitors. :)

On Saturday, the Andrews came by to visit for a few minutes. They were visiting their daughter's family in Fountain Valley. I don't think I personally have seen them since before Michael was born...so it was nice to visit with them for a bit.

Then...on Sunday, Uncle Hilton, Auntie Tammy, and Baba came by for a late dinner. They had driven from Arizona to San Diego to say goodbye and send off their son, Jacob, who is going to be gone for 6-8 months with the Navy. It was nice to catch up with them a little too. I hadn't seen Uncle Hilton and Auntie Tammy since Paul and Jennie's wedding and Jonathan had never met them. It was also nice to see Baba again. Of course, she didn't remember who I was, but she and Michael and fun playing together.

Happy Late Thanksgiving!

Take 2: "Stepping Up Storytime"

2010-11-16T13:27:00.000-08:00

We almost didn't go to the Library this morning because Michael has been fighting a cold the past few days...but he seemed to be in much higher spirits and was much less boogery, so we went.

We arrived a few minutes late, but when I sat down on the rug, to my surprise--Michael decided he wanted to sit with me. For the first 10 minutes we were there he either sat in my lap or stood right in front of me and was very attentive to the lady leading the group. Today she read "If You Give a Moose a Muffin." After those first 10 minutes he decided he had enough though and made his way to the back of the room like last week.

Instead of making his way to either of the tables or wooden toys, he went to the shelves.

He selected a book and proceeded to sit on one of the soft chairs to read it.

However, that is when the balls came out and he quickly changed his mind about being anti-social and went over to join the fun.

After they put the balls away and did a wiggle song, out came the toys. He was quite the terror this week. Several different kids were playing with blocks around the room. Each one was creating a tower of some sort and Michael decided that it was his job to knock every tower he saw down...often doing so by diving into them.

I suppose this is my fault considering we build towers and knock them down at home--and we clap and laugh after doing so...whoops. We should probably stop doing that...

Anyway...take 2 of Library Storytime felt like a success. We'll keep going. :)

"Stepping Up Storytime" at the Library

2010-11-09T21:52:00.001-08:00

I knew they had "Storytime" programs at the library, but I haven't really taken the initiative to actually go with Michael...shame on me. My mom brought home a flyer yesterday and I decided it was time for me to be a better mother and test this out. Michael loves books--particularly "The Nose Book" (thank you Auntie Diana)--and I figured this would be a good introductory experience to the library.

The storytime program they have for children 12-24 months is on Tuesdays at 11am. Michael is still adjusting to the time change and he almost fell asleep on the way over today, so I feared for the worst--a grumpy Michael who would be screaming and running around the library. When we walked in, he thought the fish tank was pretty cool. I think he would have stood and stared at that for a while had I not nudged him along to the next room. We took our seats on the rug and within a few minutes there were a good 25+ kids in there with their parents. Michael seemed to be immediately intimidated by the sudden rush of people and therefore DID NOT want to sit on the carpet or in my lap for that matter. So this is what we got...

Everyone else...

Michael...

I finally convinced him to come back to the rug (and when I say convinced, I mean I carried him back against his will) and he enjoyed himself for about 30 seconds and clapped along with the group as they sang a song.

But then...

...the cars going by on the street caught his attention.

And then...

He didn't even care if I was with him! He just wanted to sit on the cool little chairs and play by himself.

They later brought out a bucket of balls to play with and that's when he decided it was time to participate. He loves balls. And then for the last 15 minutes they played music and let the kids play with a bunch of toys. Michael kept going back to the bucket of balls of course.

So...the thing he enjoyed most about the library was playing with the balls. ;) I was a little surprised that in the 45 minutes we were there they only read 1 book to them. I guess it makes sense that they would spend more time with songs and rhymes considering it was geared towards 12-24 month old children, but I was surprised nonetheless.

In Michael's defense, being surrounded by all those kids and parents was quite intimidating--and chaotic once the toys came out. He's used to being around a much older and smaller crowd at the Peterson home. But being around other kids his age will be good for him...we're going to try it out again next Tuesday...wish us luck!

WW: Splish Splash...Takin' a Bath

2010-11-03T14:04:00.001-07:00

Halloween and the Irvine Pumpkin Patch

2010-11-01T19:34:00.001-07:00

At the beginning of the month of October, Claire told me about a nifty Pumpkin Patch they have at Irvine Park. I have been so jealous of Jennie and James these past few years... ;) Claire, Michael, and I originally planned to go on the 18th, but then the whole ovarian cyst rupturing incident occurred and we decided to postpone until the 25th. So...last Monday we ventured to Irvine Park. The Pumpkin Patch was just behind the little train station they have at the front of the park. We didn't see the entrance right away and we went all the way around the gated off Pumpkin Patch area before we ended up right where we started. Michael thought it was pretty cool that I let him walk without being restrained and rather than walk around he pretty much ran everywhere he went.

At first he had no interest whatsoever in the pumpkins. He did like the cardboard cut-outs and thought it was mighty fun to stand on a bale of hay and stick his head in the openings.

We finally found a little pumpkin that Michael could sort of lift and that we could afford. I assumed the pumpkins would be more expensive than the grocery store...but wow...a lot more expensive!

**Gotta love all my funny faces... ;)

We put the pumpkin in the car and then decided to go for a ride on the train. Michael didn't enjoy waiting for the train, but once we were on it, I think he thought we were at Disneyland because he sat in my lap and stayed fairly calm. He even pointed at tree and said "tee!". He's been doing that more and more often lately. ;)

After the train ride we went to the zoo. Michael wasn't quite ready to feed the goats...every time the goat's mouth came near his hand he pulled away very quickly. Maybe next time. Thank you Claire for suggesting going to Irvine Park and for taking so many fun pictures! I'm so bummed we didn't get any with you in them!

We didn't have time to carve the pumpkin until Halloween night...but we did it. I really thought Michael would be more interested in diving into the pumpkin guts, but like the birthday cake, he didn't really want anything to do with it. He finally stuck his hand in the bowl I was putting the seeds and such in and he quickly grabbed a seed and popped it in his mouth. I watched--anticipating the funny face he'd make as he spit the slimy thing out...but no...he ate it...and went in for more.

Gross...

The final product:

I know the post is getting long, but just a little more and I'll be done. ;) We had a ward Halloween Party on Saturday night and we decided to dress up as a family. Michael was a Zoo Keeper, and Jonathan and I were elephants at the zoo.

The funny thing is that Matt, Breanna, and Kaelyn Stevens had a similar getup...

Matt and Breanna were Aviary Keepers and Kaelyn was a parrot. :) Great minds think alike, right? ;)

Michael was still too little for most of the games they had for the Primary Children, but it didn't take him long to figure out how to trick or treat in the parking lot. He was so cute going from car to car with his cheesy grin!

Free candy...not that difficult to understand...

Happy late Halloween!

WW: CHEESE!

2010-10-13T21:05:00.003-07:00

**I know this is supposed to be wordless...but Jonathan wants me to explain why our little BOY has a flower in his hair. Michael sees his mommy and grandma wear flowers in their hair almost daily. Since moving here, one of his favorite things to do is to pick flowers off of the plumeria trees in the front and back yard. He says flower (which sounds more like "fthla")and he often holds a flower up to his ear and smiles. Yesterday he picked a flower and tried putting it by his ear but got upset when he couldn't get it to stay so I tucked it behind his ear and he was one happy little boy. I got the camera out and said "say cheese!" and these three shots are what he gave me. That second one is my favorite!

A New 'Do

2010-09-05T17:36:00.004-07:00

Yep-my head is 17 inches of hair lighter than it was a few days ago. I was planning on keeping my hair long until Christmas time so I could do the drastic cut with Diana and Stephanie, but I decided I couldn't last 4 more months with having a headache every day. It's incredible how much lighter short hair feels! (I'm sure that sounds like a silly statement, but it is very true.) I was a little worried about cutting it since the last time I cut it short right after Diana and Jeff's wedding 3 years ago, I hated it--mainly because I didn't know what to do with it. This time I went even shorter and I love it. I'm still not quite used to it, but I've already had fun trying a few different styles. I think I may even go a tad bit shorter before I let it grow out again...who knows.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Finally!

2010-08-01T15:25:00.003-07:00

He finally did it! We thought he was "super close" to walking forever ago...but apparently he wasn't. Michael was content with just crawling everywhere and then last Sunday he took a few steps. I tried convincing him to walk more than two or three steps all week, and even yesterday he wouldn't take more than a few steps unless he was holding someone's hand. However today...

It's amazing what can happen in one day!

:) GO MICHAEL!

Cruisin' with Grandma

2010-06-19T12:52:00.001-07:00

One of the perks of living with grandma and grandpa is that Michael gets to go on multiple walks around the block with grandma every single day. Sometimes it's for her when she is uncomfortable for sitting or laying, and sometimes it's for him because he's being grumpy in the house. Either way he is in complete bliss each time--especially when he gets to cruise in his awesome car!

WW: Michael's New Trick...

2010-06-16T00:03:00.003-07:00

Par-tay!

2010-06-12T23:00:00.005-07:00

From the moment he woke up, Michael knew yesterday was a special day for him. We didn't think we'd have such a turn-out of people for the party since the invitations were sent out a little late, but the house was definitely full! (I think people really came to see my mom, but who wouldn't want to come and see that crazy lady?) Regardless, Michael of course loved all of the attention.

Here's Michael in his birthday outfit from his mommy and daddy:

We had a lovely lunch...Thank you to grandma and grandpa for providing the food and Thank you to Jonathan for slaving over the grill...

We had teriyaki chicken, teriyaki beef strips, teriyaki meatballs, fumi salad, potato salad, fruit, veges, chips & dip, and cheese & crackers. All very yummy if I might say.

And then came the presents...We thought Michael would be a little more interested in tearing the paper--but not so much. Needless to say, I did all of the opening.

Whenever he got excited about a present everyone would clap...

And he would clap in return...

The last present he opened was from Jonathan and I.

He loves his new car--and now when he turns 16 and wants a car, we can say we already bought him one. =)

And then there was cake...

I tried posting the video but it keeps failing. =( He didn't want to eat it...He didn't even want to touch it. I tried to give him a little taste of the frosting but he just turned his head away. We finally took the cake away and gave him a bit of ice cream. THAT he liked...

Everyone else had cake and ice cream and then the party was over...

Later that evening Stephanie decided to show Michael how he was supposed to eat his birthday cake...

Thank you again Grandma and Grandpa for a wonderful party!

WW: Grandma's Wigs

2010-06-09T09:22:00.001-07:00

WW: Eating Duck

2010-06-02T22:10:00.002-07:00

O-N-E

2010-06-01T22:24:00.004-07:00

I know I've been a blogging slacker...and lots has happened since we've moved to Anaheim, but I couldn't not post on the day my baby turned ONE!

I can hardly believe that he's been with us a whole year, but at the same time I can no longer imagine life without his sweet spirit and goofy grin. While sleeping is still not one of his strong suits he continues to amaze me as he grows and develops each and every day. My favorite thing he has learned in the last month is going down stairs. Prior to living in this house he never had to deal with them, but my parents' room has three steps you must go down to enter the room. Several times a day, Michael sits at the top step and says hi to his grandma. She claps her hands from her bed and he gets up on his knees and claps back. One day he decided he wanted to go in the room and he tumbled face first down those stairs. He literally flipped over as he crashed down them. For the next day or two he didn't dare get close to the edge of the steps. Then one day I was in the room talking to my mom and he crawled to the edge of the top step, turned his body and very cautiously went down the steps backwards all on his own. =) It's kind of funny how excited we get over things like this, but we cheered and cheered...

His sixth tooth finally broke through last week and he's been eating more and more solid foods. He still doesn't eat a whole lot, but when all else fails we can usually convince him to eat a few small nibbles of bread. He LOVES bread. He's still rather petite and it makes me worry sometimes with how very skinny he looks, but we'll see at his one year appointment if I'm just being silly for worrying.

We had a mini celebration for his birthday tonight and Stephanie made him cupcakes. He didn't know what to do with it, but once he figured out that the frosting was gooey he enjoyed clapping his hands and spreading the sugary goodness.

He'll get his real birthday cake next week at his birthday party. =)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL! We love you!

WW: My Little Stud-Muffin

2010-04-21T19:01:00.002-07:00

Like Father, Like Son

2010-04-20T20:27:00.004-07:00

I've been trying hard every day to pack a few boxes as to make the whole packing experience a little less stressful than it usually is. On some days, Michael is very cooperative and either entertains himself with various toys or plays in a box like shown in last week's Wordless Wednesday. This afternoon, Michael was playing at my feet as I boxed a few things in our bedroom and I looked down and he was gone. Immediately I could hear him fiddling with something behind our glider chair. He had found Jonathan's basketball...

So we pulled it out from behind the chair and Michael had a ball! (haha...a ball...I crack myself up!)

Anyway, of course I took the opportunity to take a few pictures:

Who knows? Maybe he'll be into Basketball like his daddy :)

WW: Boxes...Boxes...Boxes

2010-04-14T16:49:00.004-07:00

Butterick Lies...

2010-04-11T21:09:00.006-07:00

For those of you reading that aren't members of the Ridge family and are unaware...my sister-in-law, Kendra is getting married this coming Tuesday. A bridal shower was thrown for her on Saturday. At first I planned on getting her some fun lingerie, but then changed my mind and decided to make her an apron because I've always wanted an apron and still don't have one. One day while out running errands, Michael and I went over to Jo-Ann Fabrics to search for the perfect pattern--an easy pattern. I went through several catalogs and found the cutest apron in the Butterick book. Luckily it was in the "See and Sew" section which is supposed to be the super easy patterns. I picked out some cute fabric and then set out to sew this EASY apron. Liars. The people who make these Butterick patterns clearly do not understand the definition of easy. I pulled the pattern out and started to read the directions and I didn't know what in the world they were talking about! Granted I haven't sewn in quite some time and my skills are rather rusty...but I figured it's like riding a bike, right? Anyway, I immediately called my grandma and she came to my rescue. We went to visit her several days later and I felt much better when she started reading the instructions and confirmed that it was indeed rather complicated. She walked me through the instructions and I managed to do the actual sewing all by myself :). I must say that while parts were tedious it did turn out rather cute. See for yourself:

Bryant (Kendra's fiance) wanted a turn to model too...

...it was a bit short on him. ;)

Hopefully someday in the near future I'll get around to making myself an apron too.

Anyway, on to Michael. He was a bit overwhelmed by all the people at the Bridal Shower, but he soon was certain that the party was for him. Kendra sat in the center of the room as she opened her presents and Michael made sure to sit next to her to help. He didn't really care so much for opening the presents--he really just wanted to play with all of the tissue paper.

You gotta love that crooked goofy grin of his. :)

WW: Prisoner

2010-04-07T20:02:00.003-07:00

You'd think it was December...

2010-04-06T09:02:00.004-07:00

Yesterday it rained (poured is more like it) the entire day. Michael and I were out running errands for a few hours and both of us got rather soaked just going to and from the car and different stores. After being home for about 45 minutes it was time to pick Jonathan up from work and when I opened the door I saw that the rain had turned into snow...and not just a little fluff like what we showed in the last Wordless Wednesday--It was a blizzard outside! It continued through the night and this is what we saw in the morning...

Michael hasn't really had the opportunity to play in the snow this past winter so we thought we'd bundle him up and see how he liked it. At first we decided to go to the park, but then we realized that we would have to get dressed and bundled for that too...We figured Michael would only want to touch and play with the cold white stuff for a few minutes so we settled on just letting him play on the car.

**Don't worry...Jonathan is standing just out of the picture ;)

I know you can't tell in the picture, but Michael has 2 more teeth coming in. His right "lateral incisor" (I looked up the name to sound smart)has come through the gum and his other front tooth (or central incisor) has started to peek through as well. Thankfully he is still not the devil child I was and hasn't bitten me while nursing.

WW: It's Snowing!

2010-03-31T17:28:00.003-07:00

Case of the Giggles...

2010-03-26T20:10:00.003-07:00

While Michael and I are enjoying sunny California, the past few days have been pretty rough on Michael with Jonathan not being around. He loves all the attention from his Auntie Stephanie, Uncle Steven, and Bum, but it's definitely not the same as Daddy time. However, there have been several occasions when he has suddenly caught the case of the giggles. Sometimes I have no idea why he is laughing and I just laugh along which makes him laugh more. Of course I can never get those instances on video, but I thought I'd share some of his giggly moments from the past few days with you.

WW: Incognito

2010-03-24T14:13:00.002-07:00

Disneyland!

2010-03-23T21:52:00.006-07:00

About a month and a half ago my parents called me and asked if I would be willing to come down to California to stay with Steven and Stephanie while they drove Baba (my grandma) to Arizona to live with my Uncle and Aunt there. I of course could not pass up the opportunity to leave ghetto Ogden to come to sunny Anaheim. Originally just Michael and I were going to come out, but we decided that Jonathan needed a vacation from Autozone. So the three of us drove out together on Wednesday night and were able to go to Stephanie's Cross Country Finals on Thursday.

We had no intention of going to Disneyland because we figured Michael was a little too young to really enjoy anything there, but my dad and mom thought otherwise. I guess Paul loved Disneyland even at that age...so my dad called Bruce and we were signed in on Friday. It's amazing that even after growing up in "Disneyheim" going to Disneyland is still a pretty exciting thing. And much to my surprise, Michael had a blast!

He thought the Monorail was pretty neat and wanted to look out the window the entire time...

He loved the Carousel...

and Buzz Lightyear with all the cool noises...

But the darkness in Peter Pan freaked him out. Because of that we decided it best not to take him on Mr. Toads or Snow White because they are rather dark and scary at parts too.

He was mesmerized on It's a Small World. (They've added quite a bit since the last time I went on it...the music of course is still the same)

We stayed for a few hours and then went home so Michael could take a nap. We went back in the afternoon and met up with Claire and Derek and then around 8 we went home to put Michael to bed. Jonathan and I went back for the last few hours by ourselves and made the mistake of trying to ride Space Mountain...We spent an hour and a half in that ridiculous line and unfortunately only got to ride 2 rides because of that! It was nice to be able to be together just the two of us though. :) Jonathan drove back to Utah yesterday...and I miss him already. Michael and I will fly back on Monday.

Yeah for Disneyland!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-17T18:05:00.002-07:00

A Pitiful Pie for Pi Day...

2010-03-16T09:57:00.003-07:00

As many of you know...Sunday was Pi Day (3.14...). I've been anticipating this day for weeks and have been contemplating what kind of pie I could make for such a special occasion...I thought about making my mom's divine Apple pie--but Jonathan doesn't like apples and consequently doesn't particularly care for Apple pie. Then I thought I'd go simple like Peach pie or Strawberry pie...and then I thought maybe I'd go fancy and do one of Jennie's pies like the French Fruit pie or the Black-bottom Peanut Butter Mousse pie because they look so very yummy... I finally decided to do one I knew Jonathan loves--Lemon Meringue. Assuming you are an observant reader and noticed the title of this post--the pie wasn't as successful as I would have hoped.

I should have called my mom for her recipe, but alas I did not and relied on Cooks.com which I have to admit I am usually quite pleased with. All basically went well until I got to the meringue part. I whipped and whipped and whipped and whipped but it didn't seem to be getting as fluffy as I thought it should. And I was right...After I put it on top of the filling it was not fluffy at all. No pretty peaks...nada. I couldn't very well dump it back in my bowl and mix it more so I just baked it as is.

I searched online to see potential causes of having flat meringue and found a girl who had blogged about a similar incident. She and her husband renamed their pie "Boo Meringue Pie." So we had a Boo Meringue Pie. It was still rather tasty I must admit...just not very pretty.

I talked to my mom later and found out that I did not use nearly as many egg whites as I should have for the meringue. I think she said she uses double what I did...so next time I'll use her recipe...and hopefully I won't get another Boo Meringue out of it.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-10T06:16:00.002-08:00

9 months :)

2010-03-04T13:17:00.000-08:00

Michael had his 9 month appointment yesterday. Every time one of these appointments comes up I can't believe how old Michael is getting!

Stats:
Weight: 16 pounds 12 ounces
Height: 28.5 inches
Head: 44.5 centimeters

So he's dropped from the 10th percentile in weight to the 3rd percentile...but our pediatrician still didn't seem to be concerned so I try not to be. Up until this last month we could hardly get Michael to eat anything and when he did he would only eat a couple bites. He's finally become more open to eating more than just rice cereal and pears. He's in the 50th percentile for height and the 25th percentile for head circumference. As for development Michael's right on track with everything except for the whole stranger anxiety thing--I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.

Here's a list of things Michael loves to do now that he's all growed up :) and 9 months old...

-crawl EVERYWHERE (he especially loves to follow me into the kitchen and bathroom)

-pull himself up on EVERYTHING and walk along whatever he's pulled himself up to

- turn the tv on and off

-watch Newsies (he laughs when the boys laugh and loves it when the nuns start singing in "Carrying the Banner")

-let mommy or daddy read books to him (he likes to turn the pages and close the books)

-playing "let's get mommy" with daddy

-look out the window and watch cars go by

-climb on mommy when she's doing yoga or stretching

-taking baths and playing with the water as it comes out of the faucet

-grandma time and talking on the phone (whenever we're on the phone Michael thinks it's for him...)

-brushing his teeth (chewing on his toothbrush) whenever he sees mommy or daddy brushing their teeth

-and my least favorite: rolling over on the changing table while I'm changing his diaper or getting him dressed so he can look at the diaper champ

I say this after every appointment but I can't believe he's 9 months old already!

Pull-up's come with a price...

2010-03-03T20:50:00.001-08:00

Jonathan started a new workout program in January in hopes of becoming healthier and to get into better shape for his future career. Along with this workout regime we've been really good about altering our diet so that we are eating healthier as well. I'm pretty proud of him because he gets up at 4:30 in the morning on Monday's, Tuesday's, and Wednesday's and at 6:30 on Friday's and Saturday's to exercise at our local athletic club. He does the program there called Crossfit and is loving it. He wants me to do it with him but I'm a pansy and I'm pretty sure I can't handle it--it seems INTENSE . Anyhoo, today he came home and told me that part of the workout was a series of pull-ups, push-ups and squats. Then he showed me his hands...

And a closer view...

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I guess it looked a lot worse (or cooler depending on your perspective) when there was blood pouring off of his hands...but ewwww and owy! He said it didn't even hurt as it was happening. His hands suddenly started to slip so he came down from the bar and saw all the blood. The trainer taped up his hands and then he continued with the workout. Again...I'm a pansy--no blisters and bloody hands for me thanks.

Do I miss it?

2010-02-25T11:25:00.000-08:00

This morning I had the opportunity to substitute teach half-day for a Math teacher at a Junior High School. One thing is for sure...substitute teaching isn't nearly as fun as having your own classroom. Of course it's much easier...there's no planning needed. You just show up and follow the directions left by the teacher.

This is the first time I've subbed since having Michael. (My good friend Kimmy has been asking me to sub for her for ages but I haven't been able to...hopefully someday soon I will) Anyway, I realized today that I do miss it. I miss being in front of a classroom and seeing the light go on as students figure things out...I miss helping students develop a love for learning and being a part of them gaining the necessary skills to become lifelong learners. The neatest thing about "missing" all of that is realizing that I have the opportunity to do all those things every single day with my son...I get to watch him figure things out for himself every day. I get to play with him, and read to him, and sing to him, and go on walks with him, and I get to teach him. So even though teaching a classroom of students is fun and rewarding, I wouldn't trade the opportunity I have to be home with Michael for anything in the world. He is such a joy in my life and I feel privileged that my Heavenly Father trusted me to nurture and care for him on this earth.

Michael continues to get more and more fun each and every day. This week he officially "graduated" from the army crawl and moved on to the full on hands and knees crawl. He finds it rather amusing when I get down on my hands and knees with him...He climbs on and walks along everything he possibly can-including me-and is tumbling and crashing less and less. He lets me read to him and will now sit still in my lap as I do. He gives me hugs, pats on the back, open mouth kisses and super huge smiles. I sure do love my Michael...

Buzzing Heads for Mom

2010-02-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

Jonathan and Michael decided to join in supporting my mom with buzzing her head today.

Before:

After:

Of course after Jonathan cut his hair we found out that mom decided to hold off on the buzzing action for a little while longer. However, even though she didn't go through with it today Steven and my dad did, so we went ahead and did Michael since we were planning on it anyway. I must say they are pretty cute bald...

Michael's New Jumper

2010-01-13T13:55:00.004-08:00

Depending on the day Michael has different toys that he may deem as his favorite. Today his favorite would be his new jumper...

Thank you Grandma Gracie and Grandpa John!

New sleeping position

2010-01-11T16:12:00.002-08:00

When Michael goes to sleep he always starts on his back. At some point during the night he rolls over to get into his newest favorite position to sleep in.

...and we need a sideways shot so you can get the cute view of his little butt in the air...

One thing that he continues to struggle with (and therefore we struggle with) is sleeping through the night. He never consistently slept through the night, but for a little while we could at least count on 3 or 4 nights a week. Unfortunately just as those numbers started to increase he got sick...and then we went out of town...and then he got sick again...and then we had company over...and now the poor little guy is just finally getting back into all of his routines. The number of times he gets up during the night is slowly decreasing...but we look forward to the day we can say "we slept 8 hours last night!" Someday...someday.... ;)

Finally...

2010-01-09T17:17:00.008-08:00

Up until now, Michael has been pretty content on rolling around the room to get what he wants. A couple of months ago he started scooting on our bed, but he refused to scoot when he was on the floor. I figured it was because our carpet isn't very soft...He made some progress while the Ridge side of the family was in town, but on Wednesday this week he suddenly started scooting when there were certain things just out of reach. Right now the only things worth scooting towards are cell phones, belts, books, and Jeff's remote control car. Apparently I'm not cool enough to scoot towards unless I have one of those items...

He can actually move a lot faster than this video shows, but the way he kicks his legs a bunch of times to move half an inch in this one makes me laugh...so I had to share.

And a few pictures for your viewing pleasure ;)

And lets zoom in on the teeth...

And I will admit...he bit me. He hasn't made a habit of it so I'm hoping he's gotten that out of his system :).

I love watching him learn and do new things everyday...and I love what a happy little boy he is. Jonathan and I feel so blessed to have him in our lives...

Yay!

2010-01-03T20:25:00.002-08:00

The New Camera Face

2009-12-21T21:58:00.004-08:00

The blank stare that used to surface when I busted out the camera has officially been replaced by a new and improved camera face...

Ta Da!!!! Get a load of that smile! And for your viewing pleasure I zoomed in on his mouth so that you could get a good look at the two teeth he has coming in through his bottom gum. One of the teeth has officially broken through and the other you can see starting to make its way up.

I must say...he is a cutie!

*please note the super handsome outfit Michael is in...Thanks Grandma Laura and Grandpa Perry!!

Turkeymas

2009-12-17T15:44:00.006-08:00

Every year we take turns celebrating certain holidays with each side of the family. This year is the Ridge Christmas, so we celebrated Christmas with the Peterson's at Thanksgiving. (Two years ago Steven decided to name this blessed celebration Turkeymas.) While it was a really short trip, it was nice to be all together as a family. We've been really blessed this year because my side of the family has been able to get together4 times since Michael's birth.

Michael didn't have very many toys prior to this get-together and he was definitely spoiled by his Grandma Gracie and Grandpa John.

Jonathan likes this one because it's in English and Spanish

The Playskool Ball Popper thingamajig is still a little advanced for him, but he likes to play with the balls and to tip the toy over so that the air blows in his face. :)

(I still don't know how to rotate videos...)

He also got a few toys from his Uncle Paul, Auntie Jennie, and Cousin James.

His favorite thing to do with these is to watch me stack the cups so he can knock them down...

At this point I think I have more fun with his toys than he does...but Michael gets a kick out of it when I play with them with him :)

I still can't believe how fast he grows and the new things he does each and every day. He's started to make new sounds and has moved from just saying "ma-ma-ma" for everything to including ba's da's and ga's in all sorts of combinations. I've been trying to get it on video...but have had no such luck yet. He also officially has two teeth coming in which makes him a bit grumpy at times, but all in all he really is such a sweet happy boy. Our pediatrician said that pretty soon he may start to have "stranger anxiety" and freak out when someone other than I am holding him...I'll really be surprised if that ever happens. I think he may have "grumpy-people anxiety" because if you are a happy stranger, he'll smile and go right to you. :) Such fun times!

I can sit!

2009-12-10T13:03:00.006-08:00

While crawling still hasn't been of any interest to Michael, sitting up finally is! Before Thanksgiving the best we could do independently was this:

...which would last all of 5 seconds before he plopped to his side. By the time we got back he had gotten much much better at balancing himself.

Unfortunately...mom needs to get better at moving things out of the way so that when he does topple he doesn't hit anything...I wasn't quite quick enough nor observant enough beforehand to move a box that was near him. Michael tried to grab a toy that was just out of reach and he fell to the side and bumped his head...you can see the line it made on the left side of his forehead...we had a very unhappy boy on our hands for all of 30 seconds and then he was ready to sit up and play some more.

Michael had his six month appointment on Monday. Here are the new measurements:

Weight: 14 pounds 8 ounces (still in the 10th percentile)
Height: 26.5 inches (dropped to the 75th percentile from 90th percentile)
Head Circumference (up to the 50th percentile from 25th percentile)

Sick, Sick, Sick...

2009-11-13T19:24:00.007-08:00

When I was 17, I babysat two little girls for a sister in our ward. One of the girls was less than a year old and about an hour after I had put both of the girls down to bed, she woke up hysterical. I remember being unable to calm her down for quite some time...I finally sat down in their rocking chair and I sang to her. Right away she stopped and fell back asleep in my arms. I remember thinking that I couldn't wait for the day that I would hold my own child and rock him or her as I sang them to sleep.

Singing is part of our bedtime routine with Michael, but he gets so excited when I sing to him that it's almost not productive because he thinks it's playtime when I do. Jonathan and I limit it to one or two songs and then continue with the routine of nursing him and such. I've been sick since Monday and Michael finally followed suit yesterday. He had a runny nose and a cough and seemed warm, but every time I took his temperature he didn't have a fever. (To make things worse he's been having tummy aches because he's constipated...) At four in the morning he wasn't doing too well and we took his temperature again and it was 100.0 degrees (which I found out today isn't technically considered a "fever" for him...) He was having trouble breathing because he was so plugged up and was coughing constantly. I held him upright and starting singing to him and he immediately put his head down on my shoulder and whimpered his way back to sleep in my arms. It's unfortunate that my dream of singing my child to sleep had to come about that way, but at least I now know that Michael does find my singing comforting...

Here's a picture of poor Michael from this morning...

We called the pediatrician's office this morning, and since our doctor is out of the office on Fridays, we saw the on-call pediatrician. They weighed him at 13 lb 15 ounces. His fever however was gone and the pediatrician was impressed with how active and smiley he was (HUGE contrast to what he was ALL last night...). She said it looked like he just had a cold that has been going around. I was sure he didn't have the swine flu...but in the back of my mind I was paranoid since several of my in-laws and some of the family members of Jonathan's co-workers were officially diagnosed with it recently and I know any kind of flu isn't a good thing for Michael to get...His ears were very clear, but he was extremely congested. We're supposed to keep an eye on him and if his fever comes back and is persistent this weekend we need to bring him back in on Monday. She said that for his age a low-grade fever would be 100.4.

The rest of the day Michael did really well and besides the huge bags under his eyes, his runny nose with snot that flies all over me when he sneezes, and his occasional cough...he seems to be getting back to his old happy self. I was even finally able to get his "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma" on video...

Right now saying "ma-ma-ma" is his way of talking. He sometimes grunts or squeaks too...but ma-ma-ma is used most often. Hopefully someday soon that mama will refer to me :)

Anyway...I better end this. We're praying Michael continues to get better and that he will sleep through the night tonight...I don't know how much longer my body will endure this lack of sleep while I'm sick!

4 months

2009-10-05T17:52:00.003-07:00

It's amazing how quickly these doctor's appointments sneak up on you...Michael has now been with us for 4 months and it's getting hard to even remember what it was like before he came into our lives.

4 month Stats:
Height: 26 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 12 lbs 7 oz (10th percentile)
Head Circumference: 40.9 centimeters (25th percentile)

So he's still a tall skinny little boy...I was starting to get worried that he wasn't getting enough to eat because it seems like I'm not producing quite enough to fill Michael up, and he always seems like he's hungry. We asked the pediatrician today if we could start giving Michael rice cereal and he gave us the thumbs up :). So tonight for dinner, Michael had his first rice cereal experience...and of course we recorded it so you could enjoy it with us :)

Michael and I were sitting on the bed afterward and I turned to see this...

if you were wondering...yes that is the leftover rice cereal that Michael did not finish...I feel bad feeding my child something that I won't eat, but if my husband will eat it, I guess it can't be that bad...right ;)

And since we are in video mode...Michael always gets super excited when his daddy comes home from work--he laughs and smiles more with him in the first 5 minutes he's back than he does all day with me. He's definitely a daddy's boy.

I have a cute son...

2009-09-27T19:07:00.006-07:00

I know I still need to finish the Oregon trip...but Michael's had a few milestones this past week that I can't pass up blogging about.

1. He has officially discovered his feet and is often found with one foot either in his hand or in his mouth...

2. He has fallen in love with the snoring monkey Grandma Peggy gave him and enjoys playing with him (aka eating him) while in his bumbo.

And the most exciting of all...

3. Yesterday morning MICHAEL ROLLED OVER! (from his tummy to his back) We thought that maybe it was a fluke, but then he did it 4 more times last night when we had company over. I'm going to try catching it on video sometime this week...

...and since I don't have a picture for #3, I'll share this one...

I have such a cute son!

PS. Jennie, I finished Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, and the Order of the Phoenix...and I just started Half-Blood Prince...

Trip to Oregon continued...

2009-09-08T12:08:00.018-07:00

It has taken me a little longer than expected to continue posting about the Oregon trip...but I blame Jennie. Sorcerer's Stone-done. Chamber of Secrets-page 164. Thankfully Michael doesn't mind me reading Harry Potter books to him instead of "The Little Engine that Could." Reading a novel aloud makes it a much longer read...but anyway, we now take a break from the Harry Potter World to post...

Day 2:

The Second day we were in Oregon, we decided to do a session at the Portland temple. The outside was covered in beautiful marble and it seemed to be hidden by the surrounding trees...completely gorgeous of course.

Steven and Stephanie were nice enough to watch James and Michael while we were inside...but as Steven put it "What else are we going to do?"

After we got home from the temple, sandwiches were made and eaten, and we made our way to the Japanese Gardens. We were a little late to catch the tour, but when we found the group we couldn't hear what the lady was saying--so we let Paul guide us through the gardens. I think he made up half of what he said ;) but regardless, he was very entertaining and informative. Unfortunately, all I really remember is the shi shi bucket...but everything was beautiful.

Day 3:

On Saturday, August 29th we all wore our matching shirts and hiked Multnomah Falls.

The whole group in our shnazy shirts.

Me and my boys

sista love :)

At the bottom it said it was 1.0 miles to Multnomah Falls--lies. When we hit the 1 mile marker we were not there. Once we started hiking it also said there were 11 switchbacks--more lies. They sometimes counted 2 or 3 switchbacks as 1--very rude if you ask me...giving first-timers a false hope making them believe they're almost there when really they're not! Luckily it was worth every extra step :)

in the wilderness

Proud Papas

hugs!

kisses!

At the top!

Mom made it to the top a little later. Baba managed to get to switchback #3 (which is pretty impressive had you seen the steep climb she was making with her cane) before she had to stop. Mom waited until Steven and Stephanie came back down to take her place and be with Baba so she could venture up too.

Jonathan decides to cool off in the freezing water...

James ventures in too...

The way down was much quicker of course but also much more taxing on the knees and hips. When we got home everyone was ready for a nap, but only Jonathan and Michael got one...

The fun of course couldn't stop there! Later that evening we decided to pick some blackberries and play some baseball. Jennie warned us all that the blackberry bushes are rather prickly, and so in order to prevent my accident prone self from losing my hand to a bush--I picked a total of 3... :)

notice Jonathan in the bushes behind my mom...I think he's eating as he's picking :) sneaky sneaky!

Instead of playing an actual game of baseball due to the lack of gloves, Paul pitched to each of us and we scored a number of points depending on where the ball was hit. Paul's team was getting massacred...and had it not been for James picking up the slack in the end, they would have lost...

Okay, I need a break (as I'm sure you do as well if you made it this far)--Back to Harry Potter...

Trip to Oregon

2009-09-05T12:36:00.005-07:00

The much awaited trip to Oregon has come and gone. It was tons of fun to have everyone on my side of the family together yet again this summer. Unfortunately it will be the last time for a while :(.

Day 1:
Jonathan, Michael, and I drove through the night last Wednesday and arrived in Beaverton, Oregon mid-morning on Thursday. Michael was such a trooper with the 11-hour car drive. We only had to stop twice to feed him, but each of those times he immediately fell back asleep. Had it not been for the sun coming out I think he would have slept the rest of the time. That evening, we watched Paul and Jonathan play softball. It's been quite a long time since Jonathan has played ball and he quickly learned that he's not as fast as he used to be. He got a nice lump on his shin to prove it. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it...but here are a few from that night:

I don't know what Paul is looking at...

Jonathan manages to hit the ball...

...and get on base. Please notice how dirty he manages to get...

The rest of us just watched and ate snow cones. James however made a new friend at the park:

And Grandma Gracie took great pleasure in getting in as much Michael time as she could...

Paul's team was pretty much masacred in the first game, but they managed to win the second one. I definitely miss watching Paul play ball!

Coming Next:
Day 2: Our visit to the Portland Temple and the Japanese Gardens
Day 3: Multnomah Falls, blackberry picking and a pick-up baseball game at the park
Day 4: The Oregon Coast, Tillamook Cheese Factory, and a visit with Adam
Day 5: Pool time at the hotel and Mariners vs. Angels at Safeco
Day 6: Being Tourists in Seattle and visiting the Whatcott Fun Center

Michael Laughs

2009-09-03T16:02:00.003-07:00

I know I just posted a few hours ago...but I couldn't pass up posting this cute video of Michael. He's been giggling more and more, but the first time he seriously laughed was the weekend of his blessing. Of course, the only person who heard it was Jonathan. When we were in Oregon, he put on a show for Paul and Jennie, but I wasn't able to catch it on camera. He's done it a few times since, but I found his weak spot today...

hehehe...too cute.

We're Back!

2009-09-03T12:20:00.006-07:00

We just got back from a wonderful Family Vacation in Oregon and Seattle. But...before I post any of those exciting adventures, I first need to catch up with the fun visit we had with Claire a few weeks ago...

You see...Claire had never been to Utah. I've lived here now for 5 years and she's never come to visit--sad day. It took having a baby to get her out here. Had I known that that is what it would take, I would have considered having a baby sooner! (JUST KIDDING) Actually Claire's been all sorts of busy with her most recent accomplishment being that of graduating with her bachelors and getting accepted into a masters program at Chapman University. So she decided to take one last adventure before selling her soul back to school.

I warned her that this adventure would be rather uneventful considering we are rather boring people...but we tried to keep her busy with some vicious games of Uno, Racko, and Monopoly.

We also went on a hike one evening with Diana and Jeff...
I think the trail was called Twin Falls, (Diana, you'll have to correct me if I'm wrong.) and it was absolutely gorgeous. On the way down we picked a flower for Derek since he was generous enough to let me steal his wife for 5 days.

We also discovered on Claire's visit that Michael does much better on long car rides when he has someone in the back seat to keep him company. (This knowledge definitely came in handy on our road trip to and from Oregon...)

On the Thursday she was in town we decided to be touristy and go to Temple Square. We watched the Joseph Smith film and walked around the grounds.

While we were there I also got my first parking ticket....grrr. I figured free parking was the best route to take so I parked behind the Conference Center. It was only 2 hour parking so after we watched the Joseph Smith film we moved it to the other side of the street which was also 2 hour parking. An hour later we went back to the car so that we could pick Diana up so we could all go swim and visit Grandma Peggy. As we approached the car though we saw a not so nice envelope under my windshield wipers...not a happy moment. About 10 minutes prior a ticket was written because it was first chalked and recorded on the other side of the street and then chalked and recorded on this side of the street more than 2 hours later. I was very frustrated and being the pansy I am I was just going to pay the $15 ticket (It was $55 if paid after 10 days). Anyway, Claire gave me the courage to drive the four blocks to the courthouse to dispute it. When we arrived we spoke to someone and found out there was no way to argue it because the person writing the ticket has no way of knowing we moved it to the other side of the road. We also learned that there are 2 ways parking enforcement does their job. One way is to chalk tires, and the other way is to record the car electronically. If it is chalked you have to drive enough for it to come off (or wipe it off) if you are going to park in the same vicinity. If it is recorded electronically, you shouldn't park in the same vicinity for at least 2 1/2 hours after you move it because if they record you at the end of the 2 hour period you were there and you go home or drive to the airport and come back in less than 2 hours you can technically get a ticket. The annoying thing is that you have no way of knowing which they are doing that day or in that area...RIDICULOUS... Anyway the lady we spoke to reduced the ticket to $5 since I had never had a parking violation in the area...Claire and I rationalized that had we parked in any of the lots in the area it would have been a minimum of $6, so the ticket was the better deal :(

Well after taking care of that we picked Diana up and went swimming in Riverton at Grandma Peggy's complex. The water was a little more pleasant this time for Michael, but it didn"t take long for him to start shivering...so we got out and had a nice visit with grandma.

The following day we had to drive Claire to the airport and say goodbye :( It was a really fun visit...and I hope it doesn't take me having another baby for her to come back! ;)

Michael's Blessing

2009-08-22T15:31:00.013-07:00

This past Sunday was Michael's Baby Blessing. It was wonderful to be able to have so many family members there to share in this special day. Michael must have had a nervous tummy because during the opening song he decided to load his diaper. Jonathan and I were praying that it wouldn't go through and onto his nice white outfit...thankfully it didn't...at least not that time. Right as church was ending, there was a repeat offense and it went through the diaper, his onsie, and his new outfit. But it gets better...after I managed to get those off of him, he decided to pee everywhere. You'd think that by now I'd be quick enough to get the diaper on him before such things could happen...but no.

After church we made our way to North Canyon Park for a picnic with the family. Here are a few pictures of those present at the park:

Peterson Family

Ridge Family

Whatcott Fun Center

Patti and Chad (Jamie was at the Blessing, but couldn't be there for the picnic)

Chevalier Family

Grandma and Grandpa Whatcott

Thank you to those who took the time to prepare different dishes for everyone to share. The food was great!

Since we had spent most of the week with the Ridge's with everyone being in town for Dustin and Amy's wedding, we decided to spend the rest of Sunday Evening with the Peterson's. We played a vicious game of Uno and ate yummy leftover Chocolate Birthday Cake.

Jonathan enjoyed hanging out with James and Michael:

And Grandma Gracie did some tummy time with Michael:

The weekend went by much too fast. We were bummed to see both sides of the family leave, but we're excited to see the Peterson's again in a few days!

Dustin and Amy's Wedding

2009-08-18T11:55:00.013-07:00

On Friday, Dustin and Amy were sealed together forever in the Salt Lake Temple...beautiful ceremony...beautiful bride...and most important...happy couple.

I don't think I've ever seen Dustin so happy... :)

The Ridge Clan...Gotta love Shaelynn's face!

After taking pictures, we made our way to The Lion House for a yummy luncheon and that night the reception was held at The Woods in Murray.

The Whole Gang...Minus Elder Brady Ridge

Two of the four beautiful bridesmaids

Standing in the line...

Michael and I were having a good old time hanging out while Jonathan was in the line, but then he decided it was time for bed...and he wanted daddy.

And finally...our little family :)

Congratulations Amy and Dustin! We're sooo excited to have Amy as a part of our family! :)

Coming soon:
* Michael's Blessing
* Claire comes for a visit!

Michael's First Swimming Pool Excursion

2009-08-12T10:49:00.014-07:00

Yesterday we made a trip down to Riverton to hang out with Stephanie, Grandma Peggy, Jeff, and Diana and to make our first attempt at introducing Michael to a swimming pool. Michael absolutely loves bath time and so we thought he would enjoy it, but we weren't sure how he would react to cooler water.

Dressed and ready to go...

His little swimming trunks are so cute!

***Thank you Grandma Laura for the awesome hat and Thank you Perry and Kristen for the rash guard!

And into the pool we go!

We decided to wait until later on in the evening to take him in so we could avoid as much sun as possible but still have it be warm. Michael didn't fuss at all and seemed to enjoy it, but I think we waited until it was a little too late because the water was a little too cold for all of us. We lasted all of ten minutes before Michael (and the rest of us) were shivering...so we got out...

We gave Michael a bath afterward to warm him up, and after he relieved himself in the tub...he fell asleep.

He definitely loves being in the water, but I think he likes the bath tub a bit more than the pool right now...

Michael's Crib

2009-08-11T09:44:00.008-07:00

Grandma Gracie and Grandpa John bought Michael a crib and we finally put it together yesterday. I think Jonathan kept putting it off because he knew it would be quite a time consuming task...what he must have forgotten is that I am a master putter-together-of-things :).

Making sure we have all the pieces:

Michael wanting to lend a hand:

Michael started to feel left out when he couldn't help a whole lot...so we needed to take a break and play...

Me demonstrating my master putter-together-of-things skills:

And the final product:

Michael still sleeps in his bassinet, but he seems to like his crib already...

Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa! We can't wait to see you this weekend!

Camera Shy...

2009-08-09T21:15:00.006-07:00

It seems that Michael has developed a shyness to the camera very early in life. He'll be smiling or babbling with us and I'll pull out the camera....and suddenly a blank stare replaces the smile. Watch for yourself...

On a rare occasion I'm lucky enough to catch him off guard...

I did a little experiment tonight and I've decided that while it's a bummer he responds to the camera this way, it can actually be a pretty nifty tool because it also works its magic when Michael is fussing. All I have to do is put the camera in front of his face as if I'm about to take a picture and this is what I get...

Tears stop...whimpering ends...mouth closes...stare begins. What a weirdo...

2 months

2009-08-03T15:38:00.003-07:00

Well it's hard to believe, but Michael has been with us for two months already! Today he had his doctors appointment to see how everything is progressing...and the pediatrician assured us that Michael is right on track. He's growing and developing just the way he should be :).

Here's the growth he's made so far...

Birth:
height: 20 inches
weight: 6 pounds 10 ounces
head circumference: 34.5 centimeters

2 weeks:
height: 21 inches (50th percentile)
weight: 7 pounds 5 ounces (25th percentile)
head circumference: 35.8 centimeters (25th percentile)

2 months:
height: 24 inches (75th percentile)--maybe he's not doomed to be a midget like his parents!
weight: 10 lb 10 ounces (25th percentile)
head circumference: 38.6 centimeters (25 percentile)

This afternoon has been a little rough dealing with the aftermath of immunizations...but he's definitely been a trooper.

Michael continues to babble and smile more and more (especially when he's around people he's familiar with), and I think he's finally figured out the difference between night and day. On Saturday night he slept for 7 1/2 hours...of course last night he only went 4...but there is hope that he'll continue to sleep in longer stretches of time.

...so cute!

Adventure in the Wilderness...

2009-07-30T22:31:00.009-07:00

Since it's the last night that Stephanie gets to spend with us, we decided that we would go on an adventure :) and that adventure led us to a trail that goes up Mount Ogden. Jamie and Patti gave us a carrier and this has been the first time that we've been able to really use it. Let me just say...Baby Bjorns are pretty darn awesome...

(I'm not exactly sure what Stephanie is doing...but she's sporting a very bright blue tongue from the Otter Pop she had in the car on the way up to the trail...)

Michael enjoyed himself for the first half of the trek up the mountain...

...but then he started to get upset, so Jonathan took him out of the carrier. Not even five minutes later he was sleeping in Jonathan's arms as we walked back down the trail.

The trail was beautiful and it will definitely be a repeat adventure in the near future.

A Visit from Auntie Stephanie

2009-07-29T11:52:00.009-07:00

Yesterday, Michael and I drove to Salt Lake to steal Stephanie from Grandma Peggy. Ever since then, Michael's been having all sorts of fun with his auntie...

They've been watching movies together...

yawning together...

passing gas together...(of course Stephanie's only comes out of one end while Michael's comes out of both...)

and relaxing together...

She's only been with us a day so far, but we've enjoyed her company! We get to have her until Friday...and let me tell you, by then she will be an expert diaper changer ;)

Michael Talks Back

2009-07-25T11:03:00.003-07:00

Every single day Michael is becoming more and more responsive to us when we talk to him. He's the most pleasant and "talkative" around 6:30 in the morning on the changing table. I've tried getting several videos of this cuteness and I actually got a good one this morning, but I got an even better one once I brought him back into our bedroom...

Sorry the video is sideways...I couldn't figure out how to rotate it...

Michael's Many Sleeping Positions

2009-07-24T18:39:00.029-07:00

Over the past 54 days, Michael has proven that he can sleep soundly in all sorts of different positions...

**notice that Michael has a firm grip on Jonathan's chest hair

At night he sleeps best in his bassinet (thank goodness...) but his favorite position as of late when he's dozing with his daddy is with his head burrowed in between Jonathan's chest and arm...

I know I'm biased...but he's pretty darn cute in his sleep :)

7 1/2 Weeks Later...

2009-07-22T19:39:00.014-07:00

I am grateful to say that our little bundle of joy is here...happy and healthy.

Michael Sekijiro was born at 11:22 am Monday, June 1st at the University of Utah Hospital. He was 6 pounds 10 ounces and 20 inches long. Since that day, things have been all sorts of hectic...or at least it feels that way with a newborn.

Here's a brief recap of the last 7 1/2 weeks...

We had a surprise visit from Paul, Jennie, and James the week Michael was born. (A much needed and appreciated surprise :-) )

(I didn't get any pictures of Jennie with Michael that week--sad day)

A few weeks after Michael was born, we moved to Ogden with the help of the Peterson clan, the Harris', Dustin, and Kane...and we still aren't completely unpacked...

Michael has started smiling and babbling ever so slightly.

(I've attempted on MANY occasions to get his babbling on video, but every time I try, he just blankly stares at the camera...)

Joe-Joe got married allowing yet another visit with the Peterson's from Anaheim as well as the Peterson's from Oregon. (And of course it gave us an excuse to have fun with the Harris' in Murray ;))

And that's about everything in a nutshell. I'll try posting more often now that we have a cute little boy to post about! We'll see how well I actually do...

I Am Alive...

2009-05-14T17:54:00.022-07:00

My excuse used to be that I was too busy with school (planning lessons and creating my portfolio) to blog...but I finished my Student Teaching over a month ago and finished my school projects the last week of April--so my new excuse is that I've been (and am) tired. :) A lot has happened over the past 3 months...You can read it all if you'd like...or just look at all the pictures :)

1. 3 Baby Showers (2 of which were surprises)
2. I finished my Student Teaching
3. I GRADUATED!!!!

Now I'm just waiting...waiting...waiting for this baby to make his debut!

Baby Shower #1:
Paul, Jennie, and James came out for a quick visit at the end of February and with their help distracting me in the morning, Diana managed to surprise me with a wonderful Baby Shower.

The funny thing is that I really was super surprised...I'm telling you pregnancy does funny things to your mind. When Paul, Jennie, James, and I pulled up to the Andrews' house I even mentioned to them that it was odd that there were so many cars there. Paul smoothly played it by saying that the Andrews may have family visiting...and I didn't think anything of it! When we walked in the door I should have realized something fishy was going on when Brother Andrews started acting so "surprised" to see us...anyway we started going downstairs to "look at a family photo" when the "SURPRISE" was shouted. The biggest surprise though was seeing my mom's big smile at the base of the stairs. :)

(Jonathan was in San Diego at a convention...we missed him--but still had lots of fun! Thanks everyone!)

Baby Shower #2:
As you know I student taught in the 6th grade and the students in my class wanted to do something special for me before I left. On my last day they gave me a wonderful scrapbook with a personalized page from each of them and they threw me a lovely party full of baby games and presents. While I'm glad to be done, it still is pretty weird not seeing their cute faces everyday...

My favorite part of those two showers was the dirty diaper guessing game--the following pictures will reveal why:

Baby Shower #3:

I flew out to California the week after I finished my Student Teaching and spent a week of leisure at the Peterson Home. I was able to take a bath in their new jetted tub and witness the completion of their other beautiful bathroom. The day of the shower we were beginning to worry that no one would come because so many people had stopped by in previous days to drop off gifts, but there was an amazing turnout! Had anyone else come there wouldn't have been much room for them to sit! It was a lot of fun. Mom and Dad threw me a wonderful shower and they surprised me with flying Diana out to help with the festivities.

(notice mom hiding...)

Stephanie was the one going around and taking all the pictures...so I unfortunately don't have any good ones to include of her! (Dad and Steven escaped to an Angels game of course...)

Student Teaching:
Again...glad to be done! My last week at the Elementary School we had two field trips...great way to end!

Graduation:
I graduated May 8th...pretty exciting day! Mom, Dad, and Baba drove out for the festivities and Diana, Jeff, and Grandma and Grandpa Whatcott took time out of their day to join us as well :). During the ceremony I was announced and asked to stand as ranking second in my class and for receiving the honor of Summa Cum Laude--pretty nifty stuff!

I tried my best not to waddle as I walked across the stage...while concentrating on not falling on my face! I'm happy to say that I did neither. I was tempted to stop in the middle of the stage and pretend my water broke...but decided against it. After the ceremony we made our way to Happy Sumo per mom's request (not that I complained! Yummy Sushi!). We were joined there by Gramma Peggy and Glen.

I'm sure you're tired of reading and if you've even gotten this far reading everything I'll be very impressed...but here's a picture of my cute pregnant lady graduation dress that was hidden by my gown the whole day...

So now we wait...and continue to prepare as much as we can for the baby! He's dropped and the contractions are coming more frequently...but not quite consistent enough to be too excited. It's hard to believe that it could be only a matter of days that he'll be here...

Popcorn and Poetry

2009-02-14T10:55:00.007-08:00

On Thursday night, we had a "Popcorn and Poetry" night to finish off our poetry unit. Students in my class memorized and recited poems by a famous author and then presented a poem they themselves had written and memorized. We had a great turn out of students and parents. We only had one student not show up.

Here are some of their personal poems that they chose to share:

Bananas
by Michael (Inspired by Brady)

Bananas are yellow,
What a friendly fellow!
Bananas that are yellow
go good with Jell-o.

Garden
by Andrea

I think about our garden
with it's pretty purple peppers
the bright crisp cabbages
and tall tomato vines.
I think about weeding.
How boring it is.
But I also think
about the salad
in the end.

Fish on a Hook
by Natalie

I am a fish,
Dangling on a hook
Struggling,
Struggling,
On a hook.
I can hear a voice in the distance,
Voices,
"I got one, reel it in!"
I am a fish,
Dangling,
Dangling,
Dangling,
Goodbye.

Food
by Camden

Food is yummy,
Food is good,
Food is like happiness
Filling.
Delicious.
Some foods however,
such as spinach, brussel sprouts, broccoli,
these foods you cannot eat.
For they will make your life bad.
Horrible.
Disgusting.
Nasty.
You must never ever, ever, ever, EVER
ever eat these foods.

The Emu
by Dallin

The emu runs across uneven ground,
as its feet quickly pound down.
Then it makes quite an odd sound,
as it sticks-it's-head-down-in-the-ground.

Kyle
by Nathan

Kyle is a tree,
always growing taller.
And he's not like me,
because I'm getting smaller.

***I liked this one because Nathan and Kyle are like me and Claire growing up... :) ***

Sixth graders are funny you know...often clever, but usually just weird.

I look super tired in this picture (which I am--I got to school that morning around 7am and got home just before 9pm), but I wore one of my new blouses that I got from my mom that night and so I figured it should be shown off :). I feel like I have an entirely new wardrobe! I definitely already have a few favorite tops that I've worn more than once... )

This top is loose, so you can't really see my belly, but apparently it is finally pregnant looking enough that people feel comfortable asking me when I am due. For the first time this past week I had someone I didn't know ask me that question. When I told the girls that I student teach with that this had happened, they informed me that I should be prepared next time and make the stranger feel a little awkward first by saying "What do you mean when am I due?" before actually saying the date. I haven't decided yet if I'm cruel enough to try that...but it would be pretty funny!

Pregnant Bellies

2009-01-21T17:42:00.011-08:00

I've been informed that I need to be like other pregnant women and broadcast the occasional belly shot. So here it is:

While this belly is getting more and more uncomfortable, the morning sickness has finally taken a turn for the better and I now only have an occasional yucky day. He's become more active and I CAN FEEL HIM MOVING!!!! His movement has been pretty random and sporadic, but I noticed the other day that he starts moving more when there is music playing. I was in the classroom and we had some song on to relate music to poetry and a few seconds after the song started, the baby started going crazy! When the song stopped, so did he. It was pretty funny. He's done it a couple times since then, and I have no idea if it's a coincidence or not--but I'd like to think that he already has a passion for music. :) (Maybe he'll follow in his cousin James' footsteps!)

Last night Jonathan and I were able to drive down to Provo and spend some time with Paul, Diana, and Jeff. (Unfortunately, Jennie and James did not heed my request of tagging along in Paul's suitcase...) Diana made a lovely pork chop dinner and we played Ticket to Ride (and I WON! The only reason I feel the need to state that is because I never win, and I probably never will win again, so let it be known that I won once...and for the record, I did play guitar hero or rock band or whichever game Diana and Jeff own.) :) We had a lot of fun and wished we could have spent more time down there, but we all had an early morning today...

(I am not flipping the camera off...I promise I am just pointing at Paul and Jonathan...)

Good Times... :)

Medieval Banquet

2009-01-18T15:15:00.010-08:00

Kingdom of the Lollipop Warriors...

(I promise that all the spelling was correct on their rough draft of this tapestry... ;-P)

For the past two months, the students in my class have been learning about the Middle Ages. We went through a variety of phases to learn about Feudalism, Manorialism, Knighthood, Life in a Monastery, The Crusades, and Guilds. We made tapestries of what we learned and finally had our culminating event this past Thursday--our Medieval Banquet. That morning, the boys made crowns and the girls each made a hennin and we were wooed by a variety of entertaining acts.

The parents served us a fabulous 6 course meal consisting of nuts, bread and cheese, baked apples, grapes, chicken, and cake. Here's a picture of the boys devouring the second course consisting of bread and cheese...

Fourth course: Grapes

The day felt longer than usual, but it was fun!

...and entertaining :).

It's a Baby!

2009-01-09T18:10:00.011-08:00

A baby boy to be exact... :)

I had an ultrasound today and it was quite the experience. I arrived with a full bladder and I was ready to pee in a cup when asked. However, they didn't need me to pee in a cup today...they needed the full bladder to help them see certain things better. Who knows... Anyhoo, after viewing that, the lady doing the ultrasound said that I could use the restroom before we continued, but I had already gotten a glimpse of the baby and I definitely didn't want to stop just to go to the bathroom--so I held it. :)

Here are a couple of the ultrasound pictures...

(Profile)

(Foot)
(Leg)
(Arm)
(Alien-face)
(Lips and Nose)
(It's a boy)
(Another Profile)
It was the most exciting thing to watch! I could not believe how active he is. He moved around so much that the lady doing the ultrasound had a difficult time getting a few of the measurements right away. She said he looked healthy and that's all I wanted to hear. I was able to watch his little heart beat and see his little hands and little feet move in every possible direction. She pointed out other important organs, but I had no idea what in the world I was looking at! I'm just glad she did. She told me how big he was, but I don't remember exactly what she said. She did however inform me that while a few days small, he was right on track developmentally. While this was all exciting, there were a couple of times I thought I was going to pee my pants because of how much pressure she was putting on my bladder! The moment the ultrasound was over I RAN to the bathroom. No need to worry...I made it!

WE'RE HAVING A BOY! :)

Field Trip Adventure...

2008-09-18T21:11:00.004-07:00

This past Tuesday, our 6th grade class went on a field trip. The purpose of this field trip was to utilize our public transportation system in Utah. It was quite the interesting experience to say the least. The first bus we got on was about a block and a half away from the school and it just so happened to be the commuter bus that comes all the way from Ogden. It was so full that it was standing room only when we got on. The 6th graders thought it was great! However, some of the people on the bus didn't think it was so great.... :) We got off up at the University of Utah and had a lovely tour of the Museum of Fine Arts. I was soooo bummed that we didn't get to go through the "Monet to Picasso" exhibit! Sad day...

After the museum, we hopped on another bus which took us a few blocks away from the Hogle Zoo. Once we got inside, we split up into our groups, and we went on a little scavenger hunt for a few animals that can be found in and around Egypt. (That was our excuse for how we tied it to the curriculum...) My group consisted of five of the cutest girls in the world. We managed to find a brass gorilla, and for whatever reason, they were completely amused.

***Annoying sidenote...the night before the field trip I charged the battery for my camera. That morning I was in a bit of a rush and I grabbed the camera...but not the battery. SAD DAY! What a loser! I missed out on so many wonderful pictures!***

Here's a picture I managed to get off of my cell phone...

Anyhoo...when our zoo extravaganza was over, we walked back to the bus stop and...we missed our bus. We were actually on the wrong side of the street. ;) (ps. it was not my fault) We immediately got on the phone with UTA to find another bus to get home. We had to walk a few blocks, but we managed to get on another bus that took us back to the stop near our school. We got back a few minutes after school got out...but WE MADE IT! Field trips are fun...but stressful! :)

Lonely...

2008-09-13T18:57:00.003-07:00

Kristina is lonely...Jonathan is in Detroit...

Day One...

2008-08-25T15:30:00.006-07:00

So...today was my first day of school as a student teacher. I felt like one of those Kindergarteners on their first day of school. You know...the ones that are crying and clinging to their mother's arm, hand, or leg--whatever they can grab onto for dear life...only I had to drive myself and I definitely had no hand to hold through the door...(Jonathan would have been there to do it, but by the time I got to school he had already been at work for two hours...)

**Paul please note our room number**

...and yes I decorated the door ;)

Anyway...I was sooo nervous! I spent the past week helping my host teacher, Mrs. Marchant, with last minute preparation and it was super hectic because almost our entire class roster changed. I had been told back in May that I would be student teaching in a fifth/sixth split class, but due to the high numbers enrolled in fifth and sixth grade this year, the District decided on August 15th that they would no longer have the split. They switched us to just sixth grade and they hired on a new fifth grade teacher (I am so glad I'm not her! She was hired on Thursday and had basically three days to set EVERYTHING up!) I was amazed at how much we had to do to accommodate this change!

In our class we have 29 students, and I have to admit that they are pretty cute. I worried that I was going to regret requesting not to be put in the lower grades, but after today I'm pretty content. Most of the girls remind me of Stephanie :), and the boys--while stinky--are quite a good group of guys. I assumed a lot of them would be taller than me but much to my surprise only one towers over me and several of the girls make me feel tall! (I didn't know that was possible ;P)

Overall, the day went fairly smoothly with no disasters ;) and I think they like me (so far). Now I just have to survive the rest of the year! I'll be at the Elementary School all of this week and then I jump down to just Monday's and Tuesdays until January when I take over all day every day. The program kind of eases you into it so I should be grateful for that!

Jonathan is itchy...

2008-08-14T21:13:00.006-07:00

After coming home from our fabulous trip, Jonathan started itching. We soon realized that he had somehow come in contact with poison ivy! (At first we thought that he may have gotten it from the Sacred Grove...or maybe from Niagara Falls when we hid behind that building during the rainstorm...who knows...?) Anyway...apparently he's crazy allergic to it and within a day or two of us returning it had spread all over his body. The other night Jonathan was about to put on another layer of calamine lotion...when I noticed that his leg was oozing...yes oozing!

We finally got him to the doctor and they gave him a nifty old shot and most of the outbreaks seemed to be drying out and going away...but of course this morning more decided to appear on other parts of his legs. He's so itchy...and all that I can really do is bring him his calamine and benadryl...

I feel extremely helpless...

NY Trip with the Peterson Clan :)

2008-08-11T16:13:00.037-07:00

(I apologize to those of you who read Jennie's blog because you'll get much of the same stories and pictures minus the elegant wording and details... :P)

So...I finished another time consuming semester just in time to take a wonderful family trip to New York! (Of course I had to stay up until 3:30am the day we left in order to finish everything...but I finished!!!!) We got to the airport a little early and had time to make all sorts of fun faces...

Our second flight was delayed a bit and we didn't arrive in New York until almost midnight. Even though we got there so late, we still managed to beat mom, dad, Steven, Stephanie, and Baba to the hotel by a good 4 and a half hours! Paul and Jennie arrived the next morning just in time to spend a fun-filled-crazy-hot-and-humid-day in New York City. We walked the streets dressed in our Angel gear and listened to all sorts of comments from the locals.
We walked around town...had NY pizza...found our way to the Central Park Zoo via taxi...and then made our way to the Yankee Stadium to see the Angels kick the Yankees butt! :) Go Angels! Thanks Uncle Jeff for the awesome tickets!

Side note: While we were at the Central Park Zoo there was this crazy polar bear who seemed to enjoy spending his ENTIRE day doing nothing but swimming back and forth in a single line. (Uncle Jeff said he's been doing this for years...) He'd push off the wall (which was a glass window for tourists to see him) and swim straight across to a big rock where he would come above water stick his nose straight in the air and then fall on his back. He'd push off like he was about to swim a length of back stroke and then would simply run straight into that glass window and repeat the process...over and over and over again. The sad thing is that I was one of those pathetic tourists who seemed extremely amused by this. I probably watched him go back and forth a good 20 times before I moved on. :)
The next day we began our long drive to up state New York. After 5 lovely hours in the car, we arrived at Cooperstown to see the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
I immediately called dibs on carrying my super cute nephew James. Of course it wasn't long before Grandma Peterson stole him from me...
We walked around for several hours and saw all sorts of amazing things. The whole time I was looking for the famous Barry Bonds ball. And I couldn't find it anywhere. After I gave up, Jennie was smart enough to actually ask someone...and they found it...Barry Bonds' 756th career home run ball. I guess the man who bought the ball decided to take a poll online as to what should be done with the ball. The three options were: 1. Brand it with an asterisk 2. Leave it alone or 3. Shoot it into outer space. Obviously the majority of the votes went with number 1. And with that asterisk, it rests in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
We continued on up to Rochester that night and slept a few short hours before heading to Palmyra the next morning. We participated in a wonderful session at the Palmyra Temple and were planning on going to all the historic church sites...but we were so exhausted (and the camera was out of film), so we decided to postpone the church sites for another day...
After a few hours of rest we decide to spend the evening at Niagara Falls. Jonathan enjoyed spending time with his favorite nephew James.
...but soon after we arrived we could see a storm coming our way...
We decided to stick around and minutes later we were in a downpour. We made it across the bridge and hid behind a small building of some sort in order to have some form of shelter. It didn't help a whole lot because we were already all drenched! After the storm passed we decided to take the Maid of the Mist tour down by the falls. I didn't think we could get anymore wet than we already were...but I was wrong...
We spent Sunday in Buffalo. We went to one of my mom's old wards from her mission and met some of my dad's converts. In between all of that we managed to stop at Letchworth State Park. It is said to be the Grand Canyon of the East Coast...and I so wish we could have have spent several days there instead of just an hour.
Monday was our designated Church Site day. We attempted to fit everything into a few hours in the morning before we had to take Paul, Jennie, and James to the airport. The first stop was the Sacred Grove...

We took a lovely tour of the Smith Farm and the framed house and after taking a stroll through the Sacred Grove, we sat as a family and we had a nice little program consisting of testimonies, a hymn, and family prayer. It was quite a neat experience to say the least. On our way back to the car we managed to lose Steven and Stephanie in the Sacred Grove...but we found them ;) soon after.

We made our way to the Grandin Publishing House where the Book of Mormon was published. We tried rushing through the tour, but our time was running short and we left in the middle of it to get a glimpse of the Hill Cumorah before taking Paul, Jennie, and James to the airport. We almost didn't get them there in time! Their plane was supposed to take off in 35 minutes when we arrived at the airport and we had to say a very quick goodbye to the Beaverton Peterson's.
After leaving the airport, the rest of us tried to make it to the Peter Whitmer Farm. Unfortunately we arrived at 6:59pm and they closed at 7pm. We didn't get a tour inside of any of the buildings...but did get to walk around the outside.

That night we set out on another long drive back to New York City. (Actually to Spring Valley...but close enough.) The next day Uncle Jeff joined us, and we attempted to do all the touristy stuff one should do in New York City...like go to the Empire State Building and Ground Zero...but lack of parking and excessive New York City traffic led us to taking a boat tour around the island instead. (Of course that decision was made after a treacherous 2 and a half hour drive through the city.) On the boat we were able to see just about everything including the Statue of Liberty...
The tour was actually rather interesting and I wish I could have understood more of what the tour guide was saying...

We spent the last night pretty much relaxing in the hotel. (Jonathan and Dad went somewhere with Uncle Jeff to watch the Angels game of course...but I relaxed in the hotel.) We got up the next morning around 3:15am and managed to leave by 3:45am to venture and find the rental car place and the airport. We managed to find everything and are now back in good old Utah...back to work...and preparing to go back to school. (YIKES!)

WE HAVE THE INTERNET!

2008-07-21T22:09:00.001-07:00

...so the reason we haven't posted since we've moved into our apartment is because we were lacking an internet connection. Last week we had the internet hooked up...and OF COURSE my computer decided it didn't want to connect to the internet using an ethernet cable. Paul geniusly suggested that we get a wireless adapter (or whatever it is called) and now my computer can connect! I'll have to update on everything tomorrow when I'm not so sleepy....GOODNIGHT!

:)