Monday, February 18, 2013

Wow! It's been a really really long time. Well, now's not the time for chit-chat, just wanted to post some pics to hold everyone over until I get my act together:) Obviously I also need to figure out this new blog format. Just some random pics, Lexa is such a good big sister and frequently involves Linc in her "pretending". Playing school in the first pic. Throwing the ball at Linc's head - which he thought was hilarious and would look down so he didn't catch another in the face. Linc's 4 or 5th hair cut. Sorry, that's all for now. Gotta go.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Lincoln Tyler! He's here!

Well He's finally here. It's been a week and 1 day, born on Sept. 28th at 10:04am. Weighing in at 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 21 in. He is a perfect and healthy baby. We've been so blessed. He eats and sleeps very well and, so far, rarely cries. When we left the hospital he had dropped to 6lbs. 7 oz. but at his 1 week checkup he was already up to 6 lbs. 13 oz.

Alexa was a little standoffish when she first saw him and she wouldn't touch him or come see me. But later that night she was very excited to hold him and give him kisses. She kept telling everyone "I'm a Big Sister". Bringing him home was another new experience she wasn't so sure about, but she's doing a lot better now. She'll get her little step stool and peek in his bassinet to check on him. She's still trying to remember his name (guess that was a downside to not picking one until after he was born). This morning she called him her little brother then asked, "what's his name?". Then after I told her what it was she said her little phrase again and inserted "Wincoln" for "little brother". (Her "L's" are all "W" sounds - which is really cute when she says Lincoln's name.) She is very observant and smart.

It's been so wonderful being able to bring our baby home from the hospital and experiencing all these "firsts" with our second. The Lord truly has blessed us with two beautiful and healthy children. And also will so much love and support from family and friends. What would we do without all of you I don't even know?:)

I created a Picasa album for Lincoln with a link to the right of this blog:) Enjoy. There are several pic's that are very similar. If you want to see pic's you can't be picky, but sorry for the duplicates anyway.:)

Sunday, July 24, 2011

30 Weeks and Counting!

 

I've yet to post any kind of pregnant pictures (well, not having a camera didn't help) so, here it is - me at 30 weeks. I think I'm bigger than this picture portrays, but you get the idea:)

This pregnancy is going very well so far. At this point with Alexa I had severe swelling and she was born about a week later. The doctors are positive and anticipate delivering around 39 weeks. I currently have weekly doctor visits to monitor things and will have another ultrasound in 2 weeks to check the baby's growth (no, he does not have a name yet).

I know we have continued prayers offered in our behalf and I am so thankful. Whatever the outcome I know it is the Lord's will and completely in His hands. Greatfully, so far, he has answered those prayers. There have been moments that the fear of what could happen takes over, but then I remember who's in control and a peace comes over me.

We are all excited for this new addition, especially Alexa. We keep the ultrasound pictures on the fridge and tonight she got them down and said, "This is my brother. I love him." This made me wonder if she remembers him. She's going to be a great big sister - she's definitely got the bossy part down to a "T" as we've all been experiencing lately.

Until next time (and who knows when that will be since I've exceeded your expectations this month already:).
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Thursday, July 21, 2011

Pilot Trevor

Another few months and a whole lot of stuff happening. The biggest, other than our 2nd child will be here in 10 weeks - yes that means everything is going great, but more on that another time, Trevor is on his way to getting a pilot's license - yes in a real airplane:) This is something he's had an interest in doing for some time now, but decided against pursuing it. Then at the ripe old age of 29 he decided it was time before his time ran out.

40 hrs of flight time is required to get a private pilot license and he's at about 17 now.
This last Monday he was able to fly solo for the first time and boy did he enjoy it. We were finally able to go watch for the first time tonight. It was pretty neat to see him fly all by himself.

A few pictures for the evening (yes we finally have a camera thanks to Dad Petersen).




More pictures in the web album. Check it out.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

One Month Later

Well, our camera has yet to be replaced, but here I am with another update exactly 1 month later. Trevor posted a new picture of Alexa on FB so that will have to do, again.

My due date has changed to Oct. 2 which I was completely thrilled to find out. We're pretty sure it's a boy from an ultrasound taken at 14 weeks, but will have our official ultrasound on May 26th. An ultrasound was done early due to some unexpected bleeding that started Apr. 2. After an exam and ultrasound it was determined that some blood vessels, that were close the cervix, may have ruptured. I was told to resume life as usual - which I was grateful for after having spent 2 days flat on my back. So thankful for a sweet husband and in-laws to take good care of me, and Alexa, and pretty much all my responsibilities while I couldn't. I have not had any complications since and everything seemed to be going well at my last appointment.

This experience helped us realize what a precious gift it is to be able to have another baby and how fragile life really is. What an amazing privilege our Heavenly Father has allowed us to experience. I also realized how attached a mother can be to a baby at such an early stage, something I didn't feel when I was pregnant with Alexa or relate to others who have experienced miscarriage. My heart goes out to them.

We tried potty training and it actually went better than expected. She still doesn't always tell us when she needs to go so we eventually went back to diapers. Perhaps another month and she just might get it. As smart as she is this seems to be a difficult thing for her to grasp - or maybe it's just a matter of caring.

Bedtime is now a much better experience. Most nights we can put her in bed and she stays - sometimes I'll hear her singing Primary songs to herself until she falls asleep. Something that puts a smile on my face no matter my mood.

Alexa is extremely observant of the little things and has helped me try to pay attention to those things.

I'm constantly reminded of the innocence and love of a child. Alexa is always very concerned with other people, she often recognizes when something is wrong and will ask, "what's wrong, mommy?" with the deepest of sincerity. What a special spirit we've been blessed with.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Yup, It's March 30th!

Since our Camera died and hasn't been replaced, Trevor is in charge of posting pictures (which means there probably won't be any:D) But here's a little update on the so very interesting life of the Trevor and Melissa Petersen Family...

I suppose our biggest news is our new little one on the way. Oct. 9th is the magic date (we'll see about that one:)) After a very long first appointment we learned that many precautions would be taken to monitor the pregnancy and growth of the baby. At 25 weeks more blood work will be done to get a baseline and then will be frequently monitored, including weekly appointments for the remainder of the pregnancy.
For those who are unaware of the complications that took place with Alexa, I ended up with preeclampsia, at some point, and it was caught approx. 24 hrs before Alexa was born b/c of a blood test. I also developed Uterine-growth restriction, at some point, which restricted Alexa's growth. In a typical preeclampsia case the blood pressure gradually increases over several visits and then the kidney's begin to shut-down. I did not have these signs and it was only detectable by blood tests which were ordered due to a sudden increase in blood pressure and signs of kidney failure. We were all blessed with miracle after miracle and thank the Lord every day for those miracles.
We are hopeful that this time will be better due to the increased monitoring and a few little things I can do to take care of myself.

Trevor has had yet another adventure in engine replacements when the engine in his truck had finally had enough. After a little negotiating, very little, he ended up with a few new garage toys, a couple of new scars, and a somewhat brand new engine (he learned his lesson the first time with having the old one rebuilt). (He posted a picture on his fb - we might have more to add later.)
I'm so glad he has embraced this hobby of being a mechanic. He has learned a lot and saved us a ton of money, since we seem to have so much luck with engines:D (It would probably help if we had a little more reliable vehicles, but at least we don't have any car payments and that feels good.)

We've almost lived in our new house for 1 year. It's still a work in progress, but we are enjoying it and still loving the neighborhood and location. I'll be glad when it warms up so we can start going for walks again.

And Alexa. Well, she is almost 3 and growing-up so fast. She talks really well and is constantly surprising us with something new. So far potty training has been a flop, but I'm hoping in a month or so we'll both have a little more ambition. She's at the ornery stage and seems to have quite a few tantrums that just abrupt out of nowhere. She seems to reason with Trevor more often than with me, but leaving her in her room until she calms down seems to do the trick and most of the time she's a new toddler when she emerges. Bedtime is usually a long drawn-out adventure, sometimes lasting 2 hours. It's a constant tuck-in bed, get out b/c she needs vitamins, tuck-in, get out b/c she needs water, tuck-in, get out b/c she wants milk instead of water, you get the picture. Here's a quote I stumbled on while reading a book by Cindy Sigler Dagnan, entitled "Who Got Peanut Butter on My Daily Planner?"

"Children never put off till tomorrow what will keep them from going to bed tonight" - Evan Esar

This made me laugh out loud and helped give me a different perspective, not that I always remember that perspective, but...

We don't have an official weight, but she's somewhere between 21 and 22 lbs. She eat's pretty good most of the time and is constantly moving so she pretty much burns everything she eats. She's usually pretty healthy so we're not really worried, and at her last dr. visit he didn't express any concern about her lack of weight.

Well, now that I've been working on this blog for 2 hours, I'm going to have to wrap this up before Trevor comes home for lunch and I'm still laying in bed in my pajamas. I only shared that b/c I know most of you can relate:D

Bye for now.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Our Little Sleeper

Over the last year or so we've compiled a few pictures of Alexa sleeping.  We think you'll find them quite entertaining, she can fall asleep pretty much anywhere.  These are a few of the places we've found her sleeping at various times of the night or morning.

Once I went to find her in the morning, it was almost 9 and she hadn't woken me up yet which is unheard of. She wasn't in her bed and I started to get a little frantic.  I looked all over the house, then finally went back in her room and found her asleep on top of the changing table.  I didn't even notice her the first time I looked around.  Needless to say the changing table was removed from her access.   See Pictures Here

Recently, I went shopping at Wal-mart during her nap time.  Knowing she was tired I took my coat off and put it in the seat area and laid her on top and let her feet hang over.  She immediately fell asleep and it was great until I needed my coat, luckily this old lady noticed my dilemma and helped me with Alexa so I could get my coat on.  The next time we went shopping Alexa said "coat off" and pointed to the cart.  Obviously I did as I was told, and she did not go to sleep, but had an enjoyable time looking at the ceiling and singing random things extremely loudly.  She tends to do thing like that when she's tired and trying to stay awake, so when I couldn't take it anymore, and my constant shushing stopped working for seconds at a time, I told her to close her eyes.  Aww, silence, and less than 2 min. later she was out.  Shopping is much more enjoyable and productive during these times - highly recommended.