Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Memorial Day Weekend

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted. Not to much happening, but let me tell you about our weekend.
Mark had taken Thursday & Friday off for a scout training thing, but realized afterwards that the training was a different weekend. We decided to take the opportunity and go camping. My grandparents have property up in Malad, ID which is where we always went camping growing up. Mark & I have gone up several times since we got married. Of course we went there, it beats paying lot fees etc for other camp grounds. It is a beautiful place! It's private, not to far from town if we need anything, there is electricity and a little creek runs through it. There are a few campers/trailers up there, however we slept in a tent. My brother and his girlfriend wanted to go up with us so we waited for them to get off work etc on Thursday then headed up. We got there around 7 pm. We set up our tents, started a fire, had some yummy smores and enjoyed the night. I had seen on pintrest someone made a smore with a Reeces cup instead of Hershey's candy bar. So I tried it. The peanut butter does over power it, it ok, but I think I will stick to the classic.
The boys rarely let Mark and I sleep in past 7, and this was no exception. So we got up and had breakfast. It drizzled till the afternoon, so we spent some time in one of the trailers and let the boys watch a movie on the portable dvd player. We played a few games after lunch and got my parents camper ready for them. They crashed our party. My sister-in-law, her fiancee, and my father-in-law also wanted to join us. My in-law arrived in-time for dinner. We roasted hot dogs over the fire, then had smores. Thanks to my uncle, we had a nice big and hot fire. My parents arrived late(after 9) and joined us by the fire. The boys wanted to go to bed shortly after so we did. Saturday amazingly the boys let us sleep till after 8. We had an amazing breakfast of Mountain Man breakfast. It rained all day basically. Lyla had several blowouts, and we ended up running to town to find a few extra onesies in case she continued to have blowouts. The boys loved throwing rocks into the creek and playing on the "troll bridge" as Emmett called it. A few people went shooting, and when they went the rain really came down and they all got soaked. I didn't go with them. We wanted to do a dutch oven dinner that night, but the rain prevented that and we had to go to a restaurant in town instead. We got back late, no smores cause the boys were exhausted. It continued to rain. Making breakfast on Sunday in the rain was fun! We were able to find some dry wood that one of my cousins had by his trailer to start a fire. It was cold and wet, so we were very thankful for the fire to warm us up and help dry some things off. The guys built a tarped shelter so we could still make our dutch oven meal.We did the classic bbq ribs, cowboy potatoes, rolls, and a cobbler. If my parents hadn't come up I still would have made the bbq ribs, they probably wouldn't have tasted as good though. We kept Lyla inside my parents camper basically all day on Sunday, to keep her warm. We took turns "babysitting". Emmett would come and go to warm his hands. After our big lunch we cleaned up then headed out. My parents stayed, but we had to get home. We got home after six, put most of everything away and washed the clothes that smelled of smoke.
Monday we laid out our sleeping bags and camp chairs to air out. The camp chairs smelt horrible of camp fire, I think mainly due to the fact that we had to dry them by the fire that really smoke due to half wet logs. We also continued work on our garden. We got all the grass pulled up in that area. It's only taken us 3 weeks. We will get the wood boarder down in the next couple days and possibly plant a few things. It's a little late for everything, but we will just try a few things to see how the soil does etc.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was extra special for us, as we blessed Lyla in our ward. Mark's mom and step-dad came up from Cedar on Friday and stayed with us till Monday. I had actually sort of dreaded having all 3 of his parents under my roof for 4 days, but it wasn't to bad. I was more stressed and focused on other things that they didn't really bother me. We went shopping for my sis-in-law's wedding dress on Friday. She found one and it is gorgeous! I really enjoyed being apart of the trip. Saturday we had a lovely time at the new City Creek Center. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory(our first time there) it was good!
We actually were visited by the Easter bunny on Saturday(to much headache for Sunday morning). The boys loved searching for their eggs and baskets. They each got a snazzy suit for Sunday, lots of candy, a stuffed Easter animal, and a sand toy. Lyla got some shoes, a beautiful dress, and her own Easter animal.
We have 9 am church(see what I mean about the headache... especially with 8 people to get ready). We were able to get to church in plenty of time to save a couple benches for the family. Lyla wore my blessing dress that my mom's mom made for me, extra special! She was gorgeous, a little angel! We had lots of family come. There was another blessing that day, we went second. Mark gave Lyla a beautiful blessing. I'm so thankful for him and his priesthood.
Right after church we had a luncheon at our house. Great company, great food, great time! After everyone left and dinner time rolled around we actually had a picnic out on the front lawn and then played some basketball. I didn't join(don't particularly like sports) and neither did Mark's mom or step-dad. It was nice watching Mark, his dad, Kiera, and her fiance Adam play Horse though. We really enjoyed the beautiful weather. To bad it had to leave so soon and turn into the rain that we have now.
We really enjoyed the weekend with all the family time. There isn't anything better than spending lots of time with the people you love.

Monday, March 19, 2012

A New Life

Hope you like the new layout etc... Can't really call the blog "me and my boys" when I now have a little girl! Lyla Rose Peterson joined our family on March 12, 2012.
My doctor was going to be out of town the week of my due date. He had been out of town when my water broke with Emmett, so I sort of guilted him into inducing me. The morning of the 12th I called the hospital and they wanted me there at 7:45. After getting everything set up and my doctor arriving,they decided to break my water and start me on pitocin to aid the contractions. I was at a 5. Mark and I watched a tv series we had brought. At 11 I got the epidural and had progressed to a 6 1/2. I basically fell asleep after that and at 12 she was crowning. The nurse called my doctor in. Within 3 sets of pushing Lyla was born. Mark cut the cord. She weighed 8 lbs 3 oz 18 1/2 inches long. She is my smallest, Chase 8 lbs 11oz & Emmett 9lbs 3 oz. She fits right in with her brothers. I think she looks a bit more like Emmett, but you can tell they are siblings. I bled quite a bit, they actually gave me three different meds to try and "stop" it. I bled almost to the worring point, but everything went fine. Neither of us had any difficulties. Unlike the boys I was able to give Lyla her first bath. With Chase, I'd had a c-section and actually they didn't even ask, Mark didn't even get to go. With Emmett, he was born at 1 am and I was so tired, I told Mark to go ahead without me.
Lyla has the girlest cry. After two boys you can't help but say "You're such a girl" but I love it! We stayed at the hospital till Wednesday just because my doctor said, "you have two young boys at home, stay here and rest." The boys love Lyla. They love to hold her. If you ask Chase what he is going to do with a baby sister, he says "I am going to protect her from the deamons and bad guys, I'll run to her crib and punch them in the stomach and kill them with my sword."
I am loving having a little girl, all the girly clothes and hair bows! We've adjusted well to our new life with three kids. Such a blessing, it's amazing how your heart grows with each child and how much love you feel for them.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Time Flies and gets away from you

Wow, I can't believe I haven't blogged since the beginning of January! And with my baby coming any day now, I noticed and figured I should probably get some quick highlights of what has been going on....

January 14th, Mark went to the Auto Show with my brothers and our dads. He took Chase with, and Chase got lost for bout 15 minutes. They were freaking out, it was a bit after they had arrived. He had just wondered off to look at a car and then turned around and couldn't see them. Chase was ok, relieved when he was found and held hands firmly the rest of the night.
January 18th, Chase woke up just before midnight(I guess that makes it January 19th) not being able to breath and coughing. I lost it, Mark stayed calm trying to calm Chase, got him some water, we gave him one of Emmett's nebulizer treatments, called the doctor and he said it was croup and to take him to the hospital. So we drove to Primary Childrens. He got better, they confirmed croup. Emmett's 2nd birthday was later that day. We told all we had invited Chase's story and gave them the option to skip the party. Several did, and it ended up just being family. It was a Cars 2 themed party. Everyone had a great time.
February 13th, Mark and I finally got with the times and got smartphones! Mark kept saying, "Im a techy why did it take me so long to get one of these?"
February 14th, Mark and I went out for Valentines. We went to TGI Friday's for dinner then to see This Means War. The ticket printer took forever to print and only printed one ticket, it was cold and Mark thought "oh maybe it is all on one now". We had a little time to chill before they started seating, so we hung out in the lobby then as we went to give them our ticket, realized that it was only one seat. Mark went back to the ticket printer to see if it was still there, of course not. We went to the employee and told her what happened and luckily whoever printed their tickets after us found our ticket and turned it in.
February 18th, we drove down in two cars with both of Mark's siblings and their families(Kiera's boyfriend and Robby's family) to Cedar City. Mark's mom was throwing a baby shower for me. We had lots of fun, stayed the night and the boys enjoyed having some Grandma Smith time.
March 3rd, Kiera threw me a baby shower. It was tons of fun and Lyla got a lot of adorable clothes!
March 6th, I registered Chase for kindergarten. I cannot believe that he will be starting school this fall!

And that about sums it up. :)

Sunday, January 8, 2012

a need to express

I feel the need to express some feelings I'm having lately sorry if this becomes negative, you know how hormones go....
I absolutely love being pregnant, it is an amazing thing......But at the same time and like everything else it has it's cons. Like the last half of extreme uncomfortable-ness. I can't even roll over at night without there being pain or it being difficult. I swear it takes me atleast 3 minutes to go from my left side to the right or visa-versa. Then add in my tailbone. I have my good days there, and others seem like the injury is fresh(it's been almost 20 days since I fell). Then there is the fatigue that comes and goes and I can't keep up with my boys or play with them when they want. Can't forget the high flow of emotions, that can really screw some things up. But I can handle all the cons and make due. But the one thing that really irratates me is when I feel abandoned. I love my husband and support him in everything he does. I'm excited about his calling and the chance he has to work with the youth in our church and that he gets to help make a difference in their life. There are just some days when I feel like he doesn't have time for me between work and doing stuff for his calling. I miss him during those times and just want him home with us. It's not right for me to complain when he has to leave, I just have to suck it up and deal with it/bury it/bottle it up. I just hate the feeling that it leaves me with.
And to look on the brighter side, the pros out weigh the cons by A TON!!!! The joy of creating life, feeling your child move, seeing them move, hearing their heartbeat atleast once a month at the doctors, building a very special bond, then of course holding and seeing the beautiful child when they are born and then getting to keep them and watch them grow and learn.
Pregnancy can be a trial, it can be easy, it can be hard, it can be in the middle. I'm grateful that I haven't had any serious problems during any of my pregnancies. Worst thing with Chase was my stretchmarks got inflamed, with Emmett I had several UTI's, and with Lyla so far it has been the migranes and overall there has been more pain and more difficulty then with the boys, but Pregnancy is a gift, and the child is an even greater gift. I am grateful for the oportunity to have this baby and the gift my Father in Heaven has given me.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Happy 2012!!!

After we had gotten back from Nephi we all went back to my house and hung out. Kiera left before dinner. We played some games and hung out. My parents joined us for pizza. More games and hanging out. The kids were all over the place. Robby's family left around 9. I changed the boys into pjs incase they crashed. Emmett was out after 10 and Chase made it to 11. We put them in bed and played the wii till 5 to so we could watch the ball drop. We pulled out the goblets and had some Martenills Sparkeling Cider to toast in the new year. We finished our game then my parents headed home and we went to bed.
We had an early morning New Years Day due to church being at 9 now. But we pulled it off and were ontime and not to tired. I think we all took naps in the afternoon though.

I'm looking forward to the new year. It shall be fun with Lyla coming and Chase starting school in the fall(oh that just hit me....wow! ok I'm going to stop thinking about that). I didn't completely keep my resolutions last year. I did them here or there but not full out. So I plan to continue to try with them as well as add one.
I want to be better at daily scripture study, holding family home evenings, regular temple attendance, and regular exercise. I want to add in trying to be a more caring/loving person.

Here's to a new year for new adventures. Happy Trails! :)

Christmas Time

The last half of December was pretty busy.
Mark's dad ended up in the hospital on the 9th, nothing serious but was scary. That weekend we talked with him and decided it would be best for him to move-in with us so we could help him out and keep an eye on him. He wasn't released from the hospital till the 16th, but we got all his stuff over on the 11th including his dog, Bubba. The boys were excited to have this little puppy around. It took him some time to get use to us and being in a new place, but he has adjusted well.
The 16th was my Family Christmas party. It was held at our house this year. It was a lot of fun. We started it out by doing a combined Birthday party for all the birthdays in December and January. Once dinner was ready we all sat down to a nice turkey dinner that my husband made. I'll admit I have never made a turkey, Mark has always done it. I've helped here or there, but he always takes over and does most of the work. After dinner was cleaned up we gathered the kids together and had my dad do the traditional reading of I Believe In Santa Claus. The kids all clapped for him and gave him a hug afterwards. We then exchanged Christmas gifts and hung out the rest of the night.
Mark's extended family is getting so big(over 100 people including kids, grandkids, and greatgrands) that they decided to stop having annual Christmas get-togethers. We did get to see a lot of the Peterson clan on the 18th at one of Mark's cousin's mission homecoming.
On the 20th I slipped while walking down the stairs, I hit the first step and bounced on my tailbone and landed on the last one. My tailbone is still sore12 days later. That's the one bad thing about tailbone injuries they take forever to heal. I was really worried about Lyla after the fall, but I felt her moving a bit afterwards and had no bleeding. I did call the doctor and he told me she would be fine. Chances for any damage to her after a fall like that were minimal. I did have my doctors appointment on the 23rd and her heartbeat was good and she is still measuring on time.
The 22nd was my extended family party. We had it at a church of course, my side is getting pretty big too. I had been sick for the past week and didn't have much of a voice so I didn't get to sing in the sing-a-long or during the "war". It was really hard on me to just sit there while everyone around me was singing. As my aunts & uncles got things ready for the pinata Emmett took a tumble. He had been playing with Chase and following him. The climbed up onto the stage and jumped off. Well Emmett only being 23 months didn't land right and hit his face somehow. His teeth cut the inside of his cheek a bit but enough for it to bleed. It took forever to calm him down. Mark ended up taking him out to the van to watch Scooby Doo, which helped. We had forgotten his bear at home, BIG MISTAKE. Chase did a great job with the pinata, when it finally broke open he went after the bouncy balls and passed up the candy, silly kid. Then my grandparents handed out cards for everyone. We didn't stay much later due to Emmett. He ended up with a sore jaw and a little bruise on his cheek.
Christmas Eve was great. We spent the afternoon at Mark's brother's place. We exchanged gifts with them, watched The Muppet Christmas Carol, and had snacks. Dave(Mark's dad) stayed there for the night and Mark's sister, Kiera, came home with us. We had dinner, opened up a new pair of jammies, changed into said jammies, watched The Year Without A Santa Claus, set out cookies and milk for Santa and got the boys to bed. My boys have this habit of coming into my room in the middle of the night and trying to sleep in our bed. Well Christmas eve was no different. They came up and we made them go back down a couple times. They never went into the living room though. Mark and I got up early to get the Sticky buns ready. While they were rising we went back to bed. The boys woke up at 7 and the sticky buns weren't quite ready. So we decided to open gifts while they finished rising. The boys loved their gifts and had tons of fun opening them and kept wanting more. While Chase opened one of his gifts he said, "What... the.... hell.... is.....this?" pauses in between each word but you could tell he couldn't stop himself. Don't know where he learned it. We all got mad at him, I actually tapped him on the head with the present I had been about to help Emmett open. Chase had some other problems with being good that day and was a little bit of a terror. We went to Church that afternoon. They only held sacrament meeting. The talks were wonderful! After lunch we picked Dave up from Robby's and went to visit his parents. My parents met us at the house afterwards so they could visit the boys for a bit. We didn't have a big turkey dinner we just had ham and church potatoes. It was delicious.
On the 31st we piled Mark's siblings and their kids into our van and Kiera's car and drove down to Nephi. We met his mom and step-dad there for lunch and to exchange gifts with them. The kids were all over the place. Luckily they had let us use their banquet room. They had a really cool train that ran all around the restaurant. It was really nice getting to see them for a few hours.

And that ends our Christmas adventures. We never got up to Temple Square to see the lights :( I was sick for half the month and Emmett was sick for a bit too.