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.

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.:)

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:).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ties, Ties, Ties...

I decided to do another sweep cleaning through our closet and tackle the pile of ties that had fallen on the floor due to inadequate space to hang them. As you can see this was no small task at a length of 5ft. long and a total of 53 ties and a toddler running around wanting to go "potty" all by herself. (She just likes to sit there by herself - I figure it's good practice.)

After this I don't want to hear anymore about how many pairs of shoes I have. :D

April & May - Busy, Busy, Busy!!

Well, as you might guess April and May were very busy months for us. April 15th we closed on our new house and signed a contract on our old house, which has since fallen through for the second time. We ended up needing to replace all the carpeting in our new house, so that delayed moving in a little longer, but we made it in by the 21st, not bad for painting every room, laying laminate flooring in my office, and having new carpet installed. We're still moving in, but things are getting to be a bit more settled. Alexa loves her new room and all the space - as do I.

May brought much more excitement - My sister Latea had her Senior prom and 2 weeks later graduated from high school. When I was gone helping her get ready for prom, Trevor's jeep broke - very badly broke! (See picture above). Needless to say, I've yet to park my car in the garage.

Trevor sold his Harley - which was a sad day for many. The contract on our old house fell through, and we took off to Osage Beach for graduation. In the mean time, we've been working on our house - Trevor built me a pantry in the coat closet - stained shelves and all - and we added a door in the bathroom - which was a little more work than I anticipated. That's still a work in progress.

Then on May 24th Trevor turned 28! It started at breakfast, when I actually made him a nice breakfast, and we had steak and shrimp for dinner - the best I've ever made. We had a little party with Trevor's family that night. Marcy, Kendi, & Natasha came over and helped me decorate and wrap presents while I made M&M cookies. (Trevor's not a big fan of cake and he loves M&M cookies so I decided to change it up a bit.) He got a tork wrench to use when putting his jeep back together and some much needed clothes. Then Dad (Kent) surprised us all and gave him a homemade gift certificate for 1/2 off a Harley rental so we can go on an overnight trip this summer - Kendi added her babysitting services to the card, but was unaware of the "overnight" part. It was fun and he said he had a good birthday - which made me feel good, since last year's wasn't one of my better years.

I'm not sure who was more excited about the gummy bears - Trevor or Alexa :D

And on May 28th we had our 5 year Anniversary! I can't believe it's been that long already. A lot has happened in the last 5 years, some wonderful and some trying, but all have strengthened us individually and as a couple. I'm so thankful for Trevor and the wonderful husband and father he is, and the way he helps me to always strive to be better than I was the day before. He gives me so much encouragement and support and lifts me through those rough days as a mother of a toddler. I'm so happy we found each other and things worked out the way they did, with a little help from the Lord. He's my best friend and I'll love him forever.

Alexa will be 2 two weeks from tomorrow, and is growing, healthy, strong, and very independent. She is talking better and better every day, and it's really fun to hear her try to say new things and repeat things others say. A couple of days ago she put her shoes on the right feet and secured the straps all by herself. We just told her to go put her shoes on so we could go, she ran in her room, and a little while later Trevor went to find her and she came out with her shoes on. I felt like a proud mother at that moment. Amazing how the little things can bring a mother so much joy. I could go on and on about Alexa and all the little things she does, but I don't have that much time. She's weighing in somewhere around 20 lbs., we have a 2 year doctor's visit coming up that will tell us more. She's still pretty little, the 9 month shorts I bought her keep falling down, she's in 12 month shirts and still wearing 9 month onesies. She's still having a hard time eating very much, but since her 4 teeth broke through about 2 weeks ago, she started to eat a little more - when she wants to and usually not without some coaxing. But we've made some definite progress in the last few months.

Thanks for reading. Love to all.

Miscellaneous Update for Aunt Rhonda

Alexa thinks she needs to sit on every one's lap - never mind that they are smaller (well, in height) or a year younger.

After a long afternoon of helping mom organize and clean - she loved it.

The two monkeys. Alexa climbs on everything and anything and it all happens in a matter of seconds (literally).


We've seen a lot of progress in Alexa the last couple of months. At her 19 month check-up she weighed 17 1/2 lbs. and was 30" tall. So, what this means is on the growth chart she is average for her height as a 19 month old, and not on the chart for her weight even at a corrected age of 16 months, but the doctor said he wasn't concerned and that he suspects that she will gain more when she hits a growth spurt between 2 and 3.

Words she says: What's that, I don't know, mommy, dada, mama, papa, owe, Thank you, grandma, more, baby, eye; and within the last few days: love you, fishes, ball, yes

Other developments: Eating really good, sleeping through the night more frequently, and today, when she was at the "Y", she climbed up on this little 3 year old boy and held his face in her hands and kissed him on the lips - twice.

Things Alexa likes: Hugs and kisses (she puckers up and makes the noise), carrot juice, almost every vegetable (including Kale we found out last night), playing outside (even when it's -13 degrees), playing Xbox with Daddy (she gets her own controller), going to Grandma's house (doesn't matter which one - she gets excited), climbing, stairs, socks and shoes, Nursery (mommy likes this too), making messes and getting into mommy's stuff.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Alexa loves Itsy Bitsy Spider - she touches her fingers together and that's how you know she wants you to sing. Trevor doesn't usually let me record him talking or singing to Alexa, but he was a good sport for this clip. (When she's flailing her arms around that's "washed out".)

New Hair-Do

This is our first attempt at any kind of hair-do. I don't know where she got her personality but it's very entertaining - whenever she poses for a picture she tilts her head to the side.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

By the time we got to Trevor's work to go trick-or-treating Alexa was out cold. We couldn't wake her up for a good 10 min.



After her nap she was rearing to go - our adorable little giraffe. In case you couldn't tell.

We had a hard time keeping her focused on getting the candy. She kept running wherever she could find to go in the opposite direction of mom and dad. She thought it was pretty funny as you can see from the photo below when we caught up to her.

We all had a good time watching her take on this new experience. By the end of Halloween night she was bound and determined to carry her own basket. Trevor tried to take from her, but she wouldn't have it.
Little more of an update: Earlier this week she identified on demand her eyes, nose, ears, and teeth. Instead of pointing to her teeth she runs her tongue over them. Last week she started saying "baby" - it took her just a few tries before she could say it very clearly. Her feisty little personality is really starting to shine and she shows us new things she's catching onto every day.
Children are so much work but oh so worth it. :D

Alexa's Newest Discovery

I was on my quest to find my very quiet child. When I called her name there was no response - which is usually bad. This is what I found. Since it was already ruined I just took more pictures as she proceeded to rip it to shreds.

It's been a while since I posted and I have much updating to do, but it's someones bedtime :D Umm, I mean :(

"HI"

Trevor was playing with Alexa tonight and I came over to watch. Trevor says "show mommy your new trick" and then he lifted her up by her knees, her head came up, she looked at me and ...

This was no fluke. She did it several times, the above video being about the 4th. Before now she would usually only wave at herself in the mirror. I think she finally figured out what it meant.

Along with this adorable new trick her first tooth finally broke the surface, she started crawling (about 3 weeks ago) and she pulls herself to a standing position anywhere she possibly can (about 1 week ago).

It's hard to believe her first birthday is only 1 month & 5 days away. She has continued to develop & grow normally (she weighs about 14.5 lbs), stay healthy, and make everyone who sees her smile. She has brought joy to our lives that we never knew existed. What a blessing it has been to have such a beautiful, happy, healthy baby despite her rough beginning. She truly is a special daughter of God.

Spring Break - St. George Island, FL

For Spring Break we went to St. George Island, FL with Trevor's family. We had a lot of fun and it was so nice to be out in the sun and on the beach for a week. Alexa didn't know what to think of it all, but she enjoyed jumping on the sand and eating it too (well, she didn't really like that). The water was a little cold so we mostly just put our feet in - a few brave souls jumped in, but after seeing a shark 3 feet from the shore on the first day, most of us enjoyed the ocean from the shore.

While there we: took nightly strolls along the beach, had a picnic on the beach with the seagulls, went on a bike ride through a swamp, did plenty of shell hunting, had fresh fish for dinner (that's another story), drove 1 1/2 hrs to Panama City to go shopping at this dinky mall, and of course spent much of our time relaxing in the sun.

Also during this time Alexa started teething, getting up on her hands and knees and bouncing, willingly eating solid foods, giving kisses when requested, and making fishy faces. So it was an eventful trip with just her.

Alexa did very well on our 16 hour drive there, stopping in Birmingham, AL along the way (we were hoping to hear some really thick southern accents at church, but no such luck). On our way home we took a detour through Destin, FL making it a 17 1/2 hr drive, which didn't go as smoothly, but we made it home in one piece.

I'm really glad we were able to go and spend time with Trevor's family. Lindy and Ryan were able to meet us there which was a lot of fun too.

I'll be posting pictures of our trip in a web album as soon as I figure out how to create one and not delete all the pictures out of it. Here are a few teasers to get you started.

Better Luck Next Year

Well, no one we know made the Top 10 on the Beautiful Baby Contest 2009. In my opinion all our babies were way cuter than the ones they ended up picking. Oh, well, what can a mother do - she's still absolutely adorable to me and everyone who see's her.

This is her newest sleeping spot - I guess all that jumping wore her out.

Alexa is now about 13 pounds and 2 feet tall. Saturday she finally rolled from her back to her tummy all by herself. Now she does it all the time - the only bad thing is she doesn't know she can turn back over when she wants. She's still not sleeping through the night, but I think my body is finally used to it. Solid foods haven't been very successful; however, the last couple of days I've been giving her a little of whatever we're eating and she seems to be liking that. I hope this isn't an indication that she's going to be a picky eater.

The Winner!

Here is the picture that won the blog contest. I submitted it to the GMA Beautiful Baby Contest, now we just have to wait and see. We're not really expecting anything to come of it, but thought it would be fun anyway. We think Alexa's the "Most beautiful baby" and that's what really counts.

Alexa is now at 12 lbs., 24 " tall, and is developing right on schedule. She had her 6 mth development appointment 2 weeks ago and everything went really well. She is a little small (5% at her corrected age of 5 1/2 mths), but the doctor said there's not much we can do about it and she's growing steadily and that is the important thing. We also had a hearing test and her ears are perfect. What a blessing this has all been, after all her little body has gone through since birth and she's turned out to be an extremely healthy and happy baby.

She is now sitting up with just a little help from the Boppy, she absolutely loves her activity jumper (see video posted on web album), eating food is still a hit or miss; which the doctor said he doesn't expect her to be really ready for much of that at this point, so that was a relief. All around she has become a very easy, happy, and fun baby.

Other going on's: I realized a while ago that we never give an update of what Trevor and I are up to (which isn't very exciting), but I thought I'd give just a little summary.

Trevor is staying very busy with his full time job at HE Williams performing his amazingly genius computer skills, which he sometimes gets to expand with a few programming projects, he also just began his final semester of college (Whoooooo!), so that means in May he will officially have a Bachelors degree in Computer Science w/an emphasis in Programming, obviously we are excited. Lately he's also been staying pretty busy with his new calling as Ward Building Coordinator -which is surprisingly more involved than you might think. Between all these responsibilities he does, somehow, find time to go jeepin' - then come home and fix his jeep, search the jeep forums for who knows what, and read his 4WD magazines. Most importantly he also manages to spend some time with me and Alexa. Alexa loves to sit with her daddy and look up jeep stuff.

As for me, obviously Alexa and I spend a lot of time together. We start our day with our morning workout at the Y (well, she watches and sleeps while I work my bum off), then we typically spend our day at home organizing, cleaning, or playing. I do a little bookkeeping from home too, which has helped me keep my sanity along with our occasional "Girls Nights". It doesn't seem like much, but for some reason there still isn't enough time in the day. I love being a "stay-at-home-mom". I have so much fun watching Alexa do new things and just be her adorable self - and of course taking tons of videos and pictures.

Well, I think that about covers the Trevor and Melissa update. Check out the web album for more pictures and videos.

More Voting Options

Okay, so I just had to take more. Now I really can't decide.



Picture 4

Picture 5

Picture 6

Cast Your Vote

We're going to enter Alexa in the Good Morning America Beautiful Baby Contest and need some help deciding on a picture to submit. Rules are that it must be a home photo (not professional) and taken within the last month.
Below you will find 3 pictures of our irresistibly adorable Alexa. Please vote on which one you think is the best - if any :D
Thank you for your time. The results will be posted at a later time. (obviously can't say when, b/c it probably won't happen then anyway.)


Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3