The secret code

I made eye contact with another pregnant girl on campus today.  There's a certain camaraderie that exists between pregnant women, especially third-trimester pregnant women on college campuses.  Like a secret code.  We communicated to each other with our brief eye contact and friendly little smile and half-nod.  It was like we both said, "You're having a baby a few weeks before finals too? That stinks. Good luck." Or maybe like, "Do you also have to pause to catch your breath every 30 steps?" or "So how do you enjoy being a classic BYU stereotype?"

I remember one of my first days of school my freshman year.  I had class in the SWKT, in one of those big auditorium classrooms.  The first thing I noticed was how many married people were in my class.  It was so weird! I thought, I can't possibly be old enough to go to school with married people. This is too weird.  I remember sitting in a seat and realizing the guy sitting next to me had a wedding ring on.  The whole class all I could think about was, am I not supposed to sit here? Is there some unwritten rule that you don't sit next to married people? Does he think it's weird that I sat next to him? It wasn't on purpose! It's the first seat I saw!  The other thing I noticed was how many pregnant women were waddling about on campus.  I distinctly remember thinking: that will not be me.  

Not that I wasn't excited about marriage and kids, but just watching some of those women shuffle to their classes with their heavy backpacks and largely protruding bellies didn't look ideal.  I almost feel bad telling this story because I think about how happy I am to have my own protruding belly, heavy backpack, and yes, very distinct waddle.  I definitely didn't think I would be here while I was still in college, but I feel so lucky that I am!

At 34 weeks I am:

-Sleeping about 1 1/2 hours at a time

-Going through Tums like they're sour cream and onion Pringles

-Always craving sour cream and onion Pringles

-Unable to eat anything citrus (it burns my throat too bad and makes my ever-present heartburn increase to an unbearable level)

-Reading about a page every couple days out the book "What To Expect When You're Expecting," and then getting too scared, having a little breakdown, and making Blake read the rest.....only to repeat this cycle every 3-4 days.

-Stressing out over not having a name yet.

-Using three very strategically placed pillows to sit comfortably at a chair and avoid the constant stabbing pain in the middle of my back.  (Middle of my back? That is the weirdest spot to have back pain.  How does that even happen?)

-Nesting like a crazy person (read: the inside of my fridge is seriously SO CLEAN!) 

-Getting a lot of funny stares from freshmen on campus
-Hoping that the non-maternity shirts and pants I've been wearing will shrink back to normal after this pregnancy.

And another picture, because every time someone pulls a camera out, I instinctively turn to the side to give them the classic pregnancy shot.  Sign #432 that pregnancies last too long. Six more weeks, come on baby!

Little Brother

I miss my brother.  My darling little younger brother Sean is serving in the Spain, Malaga mission.  I miss him so much! It's pretty cool he's in Malaga because Blake served in Barcelona, and the church has since changed the mission boundaries so Sean gets to serve in a few of Blake's old areas. 

Sean's emails are always so uplifting.  It is such a neat experience to hear his stories illustrating how the Spirit of God works through his servants to answer prayers and provide help to people who need it.  The gospel is just so amazing.  There are simply too many amazing "coincidences" that happen in our lives to not be attributed to Heavenly Father. 

In his last letter, he sent home some pictures of his most recent baptism.  A little 8 year old boy in his ward asked Sean to baptize him.  When I saw this picture, I could not stop laughing.  Sean is 6'6".  While his awesome height served him very well in his basketball career, and is not out of the ordinary for our very tall family, or even for America, it seems the people in Spain aren't used to it.  

This is a picture the father of the baptized boy took of the baptism:

Sean looks great, doesn't he? Really happy and healthy.  Love that haircut.

Oh poor Sean, but this is the world's best picture.  

He let us know that somebody else took this next picture:

Oh I miss my cute little brother.  Sean is a great missionary and he's working really hard.  I miss him to death but I'm so grateful for his decision to serve a mission.  His example of selfless service influences me every day.

Football, Basketball, Baseball...

I was organizing some of our baby clothes a few nights ago, (Oh my goodness! There are SO MANY adorable little boy clothes! I am so excited!) and it reminded me of something that happened after my baby shower a few weeks ago.

I was opening my present from my sweet friend Jennica, and she got me the cutest little sports outfits.  Most of the onesies had footballs on it, and Jennica said, 

"I bought all these outfits with Blake in mind.  I made sure they had footballs on them so they could be Blake-approved."

I told Blake about it when I brought all my cute presents home and was telling him what was from who.  When I told him what my friend said, Blake said,

"Well he doesn't have to have ALL football stuff..." just as I was wondering what happened to Blake, and when did he suffer a personality-altering head injury, he said "He can have baseball and basketball stuff too."

That's more like it.  I was worried there for a minute!

We are getting so excited! Our little guy squirms around all day long and every time I see my alien belly morph, I get even more excited to see him in about 8 1/2 weeks.  (8 1/2 weeks! How did this happen so fast?)

blondes vs. brunettes

A little story:

There are six girls in my family, including my mom, and five of us are blonde. Stephanie was born with beautiful dark brown hair, which, although stunning, also caused her to be mistaken for a neighbor child most of her life.

"Now who are you?"

"I'm Stephanie, I'm one of the Petersons."

"Oh no you're not, the Peterson girls are blonde!"

Or

"Now when did you dye your hair?"

Stephanie's hair is gorgeous, and she loves that it's one of the attributes that makes her look the most like our beautiful grandma; but I'm sure this conversation she has on repeat with every distant relative and former ward members gets old.

 

When Blake and I were engaged, Steph realized I would be the only blonde in a family of brunettes.  She thought it was so funny that someone else was finally going to experience a fraction of the case of mistaken identity she went through her whole life.

The Steeles took family pictures a few weeks ago... can you spot the blonde? I showed this to Steph at my baby shower. She felt vindicated.

In other news, I'm now 31 weeks pregnant. I can't believe I only have 9 weeks left.  We're getting so excited! It's really crazy to watch this active little boy distort my stomach all day long.  He doesn't stop moving for a minute, (and if he does, then he gets the hiccups) which makes my stomach look like something out of Alien.  We're having a blast getting his room ready.  Now if anyone has any name suggestions, go ahead and send them our way.  We are really struggling here!

Showers!

First of all, my new blog design is courtesy of the great Darrian Watts, one of my co-workers and web designer extraordinaire.  She designs blogs and websites as part of her business, so if you're in the market, look her up and see some of her work.  You can find her here.  She is amazing and extremely talented.  Also, since she's still a student, her rates are incredibly low. 

The last few weeks have been so much fun.  Blake and I have been focusing on getting ready for mini-Blake to arrive.  We've been painting, cleaning, organizing, and preparing and we're getting so excited! I, of course, am so nervous about the labor, (have you met me? I can't believe I've remained conscious the last few times I've had to get my blood drawn.) So thank heavens for epidurals, in fact, I think I'll go ahead and get one now if you don't mind--you know, just to be safe and make sure it kicks in in time... ten weeks early.

Part of our preparation included baby showers! One of my best friends Jennica threw me a really fun shower, and then my mom and sisters threw me another one a few days later. I have such great friends and family, I had the best time at my showers!












All the Peterson girls with Mom and Honey

I had a blast, thank you so much everyone!


And a blurry 30 week picture for your viewing pleasure.

One year later.

This is a hard post to write, but at the same time, it's the easiest thing in the world to talk about my grandpa.

I blogged about Papa's funeral last year.  I can't believe it's been a year.  He was sick, especially near the end, and I know he is so happy now.  That knowledge that he's happy and that he's where he deserves to be is the only bright beam when we lose a loved one.  That and the sweet peaceful knowledge that we'll see him again. 

When Papa passed away and we were preparing for the funeral, one thing that kept popping into all our minds was, "we loved him because he first loved us." 

Honey and Papa made it a priority to be a big part of our lives.  They loved spending time with their grandchildren.  Growing up, I always knew they loved us, not just because they told us so frequently, but by how they treated us.  Papa walked my little brother Sean and I to the bus stop almost every day in elementary school, and he was always there when we got home.  The bus would pull up and Papa would be standing there with our golden Labrador, Cougar, waving with his ever-present happy smile waiting for us.  We would get off the bus and run to give Papa a hug.  All our friends loved our grandparents, and many of my friends knew my grandparents better than they knew their own.  

Papa was Mr. Fix-it. He could fix anything! With 12 grandkids, it seems like every day Papa was fixing someone's bike chain, or pumping up someone else's tires.  He also loved cars. He taught Drivers' Ed at Orem for years, and had a passion for cars.  Most kids have to struggle to get all their roading hours in with their parents to qualify for their drivers' licenses, but Papa would call me and ask me if I wanted to go for a drive to practice.  He made sure I got plenty of hours driving in the dark and during rain storms too so I could be extra-prepared. (When I took my actual driving test, the woman who tested me said I was the only 100% she'd ever given.  Thanks, Papa!)

I could tell stories about him all day.  One of my favorite of Papa's qualities was his ability to be happy in any circumstance.  You'd never know it by his attitude, but he had a lot of hard times in his life.  People very close to him didn't treat him like they should.  But Papa was always happy, always smiling, and never held any grudges.  He was an amazing example of not being a victim of circumstance.  When he was dealt a difficult hand, he didn't dwell on it.  He chose happiness.  He made a conscious choice every day to be happy.  It wasn't always easy for him-- how could that ever be easy for anyone? But he did it.  Always smiling, usually whistling, and never dwelling on the negative.  He was a very forgiving man.  Yet another lesson Papa inadvertently taught me by the way he lived his life.  People who forgive live the happiest lives.  

There have been definite times since his passing when I've been able to feel Papa nearby.  I am so grateful for those peaceful moments when I can feel his presence.  Tears instantly spring to my eyes and I'm filled with so much warmth as I think about the wonderful lessons I learned from my amazing grandpa.  Little reminders about not being in such a rush.  Taking time to appreciate the little things, and choosing to be happy.  He was a wonderful man, and together with my equally wonderful grandma, succeeded in accomplishing much good in this world. 

It's hard, and we miss him, but I am forever grateful that I was able to know him.  My heart goes out to the people who never had the opportunity--or worse, had the opportunity but disregarded it-- to know their grandparents.  Especially with grandparents as wonderful as mine, there would be few greater tragedies.

July 31, 2011- One year later

If there's one thing to be known about the Peterson women, it's our uncanny and often hilarious ability to dress almost identical on a daily basis.  Inadvertently, of course. Repeating color patters, and even complete outfits, as demonstrated by my mom and Steph, more fully illustrate this point. We're just missing Tiff in this picture, but I'd bet my life she was wearing a pink shirt that totally matched Lisa's.

I looked over and noticed Blake was wearing Papa's socks.

Honey and Spencer watching the rest of the grandkids racing.

 

Telling our favorite Papa stories.

Yellow was Papa's favorite color.  So fitting for a man who lived such a happy and bright life.  We released yellow balloons into the air, just like we did at his funeral.  Here are my parents watching the balloons.

We love you, Papa! Thanks for all the trips to the creamery to get ice cream, all the times you loaded us in the back of your blue truck to go fishing, all the trips to rock canyon park to go sledding, all the jokes you told, all the love you shared, and all the lessons you taught.  You are one of a kind.

Steele Reunion

July was a month of family reunions for us.  We had a Peterson reunion in Lava Hot Springs where my grandma is from, and a Steele reunion with Blake's immediate family.  Next week we're going to a Taylor reunion in good old Wayne County, Utah.

The Steele reunion was a blast.  Blake's sister and brother-in-law came in from Virgina, and we hadn't seen them for a year. We had a "stay-cation" type of reunion where we did all sorts of fun things around Utah Valley.  There was a temple trip, a hike to Timp Cave (I couldn't go because being pregnant apparently for me means you can no longer participate in normal physical activities.  This little boy is draining all my energy already), a dutch oven cookout up the canyon, a game day,  family pictures, a trip to Lagoon, and golfing! It was quite the reunion.

Laurel and I were on baby patrol since we couldn't do most of the rides.  Clearly I'm doing a great job. No picture is complete with a Steele boy making a face in there somewhere! Thanks Tom.  Usually its Luke.

All the Steele boys. Blake, his two brothers and his two brothers-in-law.

Blake, Tom, and Luke

Here's Laurel and Steele.  Blake's sister named her little boy Steele, how cool is that?

Blake's nieces and nephews listening intently to Grammy's instructions for when we take them on the little kid rides

We had a blast. Thanks again Robert and Laurel!