Emmry's Story

Today is 11/2/12 and we have been home with our little Emmry for about 5 hours.  While I was at the hospital the last time I took the time to read back through Jackson's Story and it brought back a lot of memories that I had forgotten.  Oh how many wonderful memories I have with my son that I can no longer remember.  I thought that at the very least I wanted to write the hospital story of Emmry so I wouldn't forget.

If Jackson's story was a nightmare, then Emmry's was a dream.  Whereas everything went wrong the first time this delivery happened the way we wanted it to...almost.

10/30/12 - Amy went to the doctor to do her final check up and schedule an induction for 11/3/12.  We did not want to go to full term since Jackson was so big.  We figured 1 week early would be soon enough.  While Amy was being examined, Dr. Falk stripped her membrane.  Amy had not asked him to, and when he started she told him to stop because she didn't want to have a baby on Halloween, but what was done was done.  That night Amy began feeling contractions.

10/31/12 - Luckily this day Jackson had already been to 3 Halloween parties, because he was not going to make it to one on Halloween day this year.  When I woke up Amy told me she had been feeling contractions all night.  Luckily her mom was here to help out in the morning.  At around 9:00 Paula went home to get a bag ready for the hospital because it was becoming pretty apparent that Emmry would be coming sooner than we thought.

I was at work all day and kept checking in every hour or so.  Amy was having contractions about every 10 minutes all day.  She stayed off her feet and tried to relax.  If she had been up and moving around I think Emmry would have definitely been here on Halloween.  I came home and Amy was still in the same state.  I helped back bags for Amy, myself and Jackson and we tried to take it easy in case we did not end up going to the hospital.  However, by 9:30 PM we knew that we needed to go down.

We dropped a sleeping Jackson off at my mom's house and headed down.  For the next 90 minutes we had to fill out paper work and they examined Amy.  All the while she was having contractions every 3-5 minutes and they were getting intense.  About 11:30 we finally were in our room and they had the epidural administered.  Finally Amy was able to relax.

11/1/12 - Emmry's birthday.  Paula showed up about midnight and her an Amy chatted while I drifted off for a few hours.  At about 2:30 Amy's water broke...well, it didn't break, the sac actually came out.  The nurse told us that this was a sign of being 'born into greatness.'  she called it being born en-caul.  And apparently Julius Caesar was born under the same condition.  the head is actually delivered into the water sac.

The nurses took great care not to break the sac.  The started getting Amy ready for her delivery.  We did a few trial pushes and everything looked like it was going good.  At about 3:45 Dr. Hazelrigg came in, because again Dr. Falk ended up not delivering our child, and took charge.  He immediately popped the water sack that we were trying to preserve and told Amy to start pushing.  The head showed very quickly and I couldn't believe how fast everything was going.  I stood by to help, but didn't feel as needed as with Jackson's delivery when I was the coach during the whole event.

Amy said that she never really felt the urge to push.  The nurse just told her to push when the machine said she was having a contraction.  That was a much more pleasant experience for her than the first delivery.

Emmry's long hair is the first thing I remember seeing.  It was noticeably dark and long before I could see anything else.  Then the Dr. made two incisions in Amy which seemed unnecessary until we saw that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.  Amy pushed her the rest of the way out and they removed the cord on our healthy new baby girl, 9 lbs 6 oz and 21 3/4" long.

After she was born we took a few hours getting her cleaned up, fed and had to have some time holding and loving her.  The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.  We spent most of the day trying to figure out how we wanted to spell Emmry.  We had a whole dry-erase wall filled with different ways of spelling it, but finally ended up with Emmry Autumn Petersen.  Hopefully she likes it as much as we do.

My favorite visitor of the day was Jackson who came in and was so excited to see his baby sister.  He was so good with her and he was also good with my mom during the whole experience.

That night we sent Emmry to the nursery so Amy and I could try and get some sleep, which is not easy to do in a hospital.

11/2/12 - I was ready to leave by about 8:00, but with all the paperwork and check ups and everything else we ended up being at the hospital until 3:15...ridiculous.  They were somewhat concerned about her jaundice levels.  They said we could wait at the hospital another day or take a billy blanket home for her.  We opted for the blanket.  We have experience with it from Jackson and I was going stir crazy in the hospital.

So here we are about 8:30 at night, she is in her billy blanket and Jackson just fell asleep on the couch.  I am a lucky guy to have such a perfect little family.  It's amazing how quickly you can fall in love with a child.  After seeing her for only 30 seconds and realizing that I will be her daddy for the rest of my life I immediately fell in love with my new little princess.

Amy is still in a lot of pain, but it's not as bad as it was with Jackson, and Emmry  will be in her blanket at least until Monday, but things are going quite well overall.

Driving on the Playground

Andrew and I went shopping for a nice suit for Andrew for Easter.  We decided to check out Chandler Mall.  After walking around for a while checking out one of Jackson's favorites, a "Choo-Choo" that meanders throughout the mall, we strolled through the pet shop and then decided to let Jackson play at a play yard area near the book store.  We watched from the side lines as he darted into the area and disappeared into the excited crowd of kids sprawled throughout the toys. 

We found him first going straight for a stationary jeep complete with a steering wheel and a passenger seat.  Jackson and about 4 to 5 other toddlers meandered over to it.  A kid was in the drivers seat haphazardly spinning the steering wheel back and forth.  Jackson was too busy trying to get his foot over the rim of the jeep on the passenger side to notice the driver or the line of toddlers standing behind him eyeing the jeep.  The driver was at least 5 and very focused on driving, when he looked over to see Jackson attempting to join him.  A booming "No" came from the really annoyed driver directed at Jackson. 

All of the toddlers quickly scrambled into several different directions, tottering off as fast as their little feet would carry them, all that is, except for Jackson.  He had kept on trying to get into the jeep, completely oblivious of the drivers annoyance with him.  Once again the 5 year old, much louder this time, wailed out a loud "No" in Jacksons direction.  This time Jackson noticed, he paused and looked up and the kid driving.   Jackson's cheeks turned red, he stood up as tall as he could and at the top of his lungs Jackson half growled half roared "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" face full of anger, fists bawled.  It was obvious that Jackson wasn't going to take this, and that this kid was going to share this jeep if he had anything to do with it.

Andrew and I were baffled it hadn't been even 5 minutes since we sat down and we were clear across the play yard from him.  We had no idea what Jackson was like with other kids when we weren't there.  As soon as Jackson stood up to this kid, a little ponny-tailed girl raced in to rescue her big brother (she was 2 1/2 at the most).  She grabbed one of Jackson's arm and with all of her might was trying desperately to pull him away from the jeep and from her big brother.  Jackson however didn't budge.  He instead continued to try to climb into the jeep, dragging the girl along with him as he went.  Their mother must have looked up just then because she darted to her feet and shouted at the little girl to "let go," while racing us to the jeep.

By this time Andrew and I had finally managed to get through the maze of tots and busy kids to reach Jackson.  The mother profusely apologized for her children's behavior and openly scolded them.  We told her not to worry about it and that her son obviously had the jeep first.  Jackson during this time was kicking and screaming in mid-air, arms flailing, as we held him suspended over the coveted jeep and driver.  With each step, as we walked away, Jackson's yells grew louder and angrier as we took him out of the play yard and continued into the mall. 

Out of all of the tots in that playground that day, we learned that ours was by far the most fearless.  He couldn't care less who or how big the kid was in the driver seat of that jeep, all he knew was that this kid told him "No" and he wasn't going to take it from that kid, and it didn't seem to phase him that we were trying to interfere, he still wanted to finish this....Luckily he did get a turn with a steering wheel.  We ended up renting him a mall stroller that was a bright red fire truck with steering wheel and all (which he loved).  We had forgotten to pack his stroller that day. 

Never being very fearless myself, this play yard incident has me a little worried about what adventures Jackson may get himself into for the future and what may be ahead for him.   Life is funny that way I guess.  All I know right now is that we sure do love our little man and that is all that matters ...but perhaps, sewing some extra padding into his clothes wouldn't hurt for the time being.....just in case.

Jackson

Photo slideshow made with Smilebox

GOT TO LOVE SCIENCE: BALANCING GRAPES, THE LAW OF GRAVITY & OTHER THINGS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT FLOAT

1/14/11 Jackson (the littlest scientist) has taught me many things.   Today my lesson was all about a little bit of patience...and a lot of science.

A Balancing Act

 I watched in amazement as Jackson created a one-man-balancing show. He placed a single grape a-top of the thin straw-like rim of his sippy-cup and left it there, a true triumph! I stood there amazed, (What 15-month-old did that?), and to think that he came up with it all by himself too! His grape would stay perfectly in place until a gentle nudge would send it sprawling into the 20 or so all ready aligning the grape splattered floor. This pattern continued for several minutes, often accompanied by Jackson's small "yea!" he would give himself after the grape would stay in place.  I celebrated his little balancing science experiment with him, then removed him from his high chair and released him to wonder the room. I quickly began to attack the grape splattered all over the floor and high chair. I'd forgotten about all of the 'fun things' I'd left around the house.

Who knew? Floating Experiment Act I

After I'd conquered the high chair I began to notice how eerily quiet it had become. I quickly ran to the couch to find that Jackson was not only talented, but had been very observant as well. That's when I'd discovered 2 remotes to our T.V. bobbing in my once very full glass of water (just so you know they were floating - at least I'd like to assume he was going for some sort of scientific angle -right?) So the clean-up crew was at it again...

Apparently...This doesn't Float. Act II

A few minutes later (I was on a roll) I began to gather trash with my little helper by my side. We went from room to room. I'd just reached the bathroom, and had barely began to bend down to gather the trash, when I heard a loud "plop." I then turned to face a very somber and yet, innocent looking little face. My gaze drew me to his shadow which lead me strait to the bright red pen that laid sparkling in the bottom of the commode. So, I did what moms do, I carefully fished it out, washed and re-washed my hands and headed back to the main room..

Cause & Effect

Again my little helper had wondered off in the process and an alarming nothingness was filling the air..something else was definitely a-miss. Into the living room I went. Once there, I'd discovered an extremely soaked little boy. Every inch him was covered with water, an empty cup lay at his side and a big smile was spread across his face. He stood-up, (diaper swishing behind him) and tottered away. Oh, how I love my little scientist!  LOL What will tomorrow bring?

Oh Gravity!

P.S. In the 5 minutes it has taken me to write this, he has somehow managed to learn how to climb onto the couch all by himself (you know, the one he likes to stand on and throw himself back-first off of). Wish me luck!

Little Soccer Player

Jackson is 10 months old, he just started walking before his 10 month anniversary.  We keep trying work work with him, but more and more he wants to drop down and crawl...unless there's a soccer ball in front of him.

Jackson at 8 months

Jackson is growing so quickly and learning something new almost every day! He loves to roll, clap his hands, talk up a storm, and loves to stand holding onto the coutch and walk back and forth. He can sit and pull himself into sitting position too! We are glad it's summer, he loves to splash in his tub, pop bubbles, look at books, and listen to music. We are so proud of him!


We finally had new photo's taken of Jackson! Our dear friend Addie took these 8 month shots, she does a fabulous job!

                                 

Sorry, I know it's been a while but here is another recipe.  I really liked this, it was a lot richer than most Alfredo sauces.  Add salt in the last step to changed the flavor and make it sweet.  Delicious! 

Cuts the fat in half.  Before it's 75 g fat, after 10.4 g fat.

Cuts the calories drastically too:  1,220 down to 336

Try it!

Rocco DiSpirito's Lightened Fettuccine Alfredo

Makes 4 servings
Forget the cream: DiSpirito makes a rich but nutritious Alfredo sauce with Greek yogurt.



Ingredients

8 oz. whole wheat fettuccine

1 tbs. butter

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp. cornstarch

Pinch ground nutmeg

3/4 cup low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth

3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

3/4 cup 5% Greek yogurt

Salt and freshly ground black pepper



Directions

1. Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add fettuccine and cook according to package directions, 9 to 11 minutes; drain.



2. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in large sauté pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.



3. Meanwhile, combine cornstarch and nutmeg in small bowl. Whisk in chicken broth until smooth. Pour mixture into sauté pan, raise heat, and bring sauce to simmer, whisking occasionally. Whisk in ½ cup cheese until melted. Remove sauté pan from heat and whisk in yogurt until sauce is smooth.



4. In large bowl, toss fettuccine with Alfredo sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste if desired. Top pasta with remaining ¼ cup cheese and serve.

Rocco DiSpirito's Lightened Fettuccine Alfredo

What better time to start a change than now?

My parents got us a fruit and vegetable basket for Easter, with it I'm going to experiment with different recipes for dinner in order to become healthier. My goal is to post one meal a week and share with you my journey through cooking healthier more nutritious meals. Let me know if you try it and how it went over with your family.

Day 1

Dinner:
For those of you who don't know me, I have a major sweet tooth; if it wasn't for that I would most likely eat really healthy. So when I caught a glimpse of the show "The Doctors" showcasing Chef Rocco Dispirito's new cookbook "Now Eat This" and his famous low calorie FRIED CHICKEN, flourless healthy BROWNIES, AND 147 OTHER FAVORITE RECIPES UNDER 350 CALORIES each. I just had to experiment and try it. So I've decided that tonight's dinner would start with 3 of his recipes. 



Why I choose these recipes:  1) I haven't had fried chicken in forever, it's "fattening" so finally an excuse to eat it and it's not all that bad for me either!  2) I needed a recipe with cauliflower as it was one of the many items in the basket we recieved, plus who doesn't love mashed potatoes - I had to try it!  3) A brownie that's actually good for you....it's self explanitory.  Bon Appetit

Flash-Fried Finger-Lickin' Chicken

Ingredients:

• 3 cups low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth

• Salt

• 4 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs

• 2 quarts grapeseed oil

• 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika

• 1 ½ teaspoons celery salt

• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 2 cups low-fat buttermilk

Directions:

1. Heat the chicken broth in a medium saucepot over high heat, seasoning it generously with salt. Add the chicken thighs to the pan and bring the broth to a simmer. Cover, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer gently until the chicken is tender, about 40 minutes. Remove the thighs from the liquid, pat them dry, and set them aside on a platter; cover with foil to keep them warm.

2. While the chicken is cooking, pour the grapeseed oil into a large pot with high sides, and bring it to 400 degrees F over high heat. Set a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet or over several layers of paper towels (for draining the chicken). In a shallow dish, combine the flour with the paprika, celery salt, black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, and the cayenne. Use a whisk to thoroughly combine the ingredients.

3. Combine the warm chicken thighs with the buttermilk in a large bowl, coating them completely. Dredge the thighs in the seasoned flour. Then dip the thighs in the buttermilk and dredge them in the seasoned flour once more, to double-coat the chicken. Shake off any excess flour.

4. Fry the chicken, 2 pieces at a time, in the hot oil until deep golden brown, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Drain on the wire rack, and serve immediately.

Reviews:  Based on a 5 star rating system.
REVIEW: ***** Absolutely delicious!  I loved the chicken, it was very moist and crispy.  I had a few pieces that were darker than the golden pieces which ended up with a different texture but it was just as good!  We even did fried shrimp with the same batter, it too was wonderful!  I put in 1/2 of the paprika it called for because it said "sweet" paprika and I had just the regular spice.  We also didn't find grape seed oil at a regular grocery store, so we used carnola oil instead.  My only issue with it was that it was a little spicy, I believe the culprit was the cayenne pepper, next time I think I'll put in 1/2 of what the recipe calls for.  Over all it was fast and easy not to mension a new favorite of mine!

*** Drew's Review - The chicken was awsome.  Cooking it in broth makes the meat incredibly tender and juicy.  One of the reasons that fried chick is so great is because of how juicy it is, but this method doesn't loose any of that.  Now I need to find a way to make healthy gravy and waffles so I can have fried chicken and waffles...a dish I haven't had often, but it is delicious.  In fact I'm writing this review 2 days after we had this and we made it again tonight.

Better Than Mashed "Potatoes"

Ingredients:

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 2 ½ cups roughly chopped cauliflower

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• ½ cup Greek yogurt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray it with cooking spray.

2. Spread the cauliflower out on the prepared baking sheet. Season it with salt and pepper to taste. Top the cauliflower with another sheet of foil, and roll up the edges to form a sealed package.

3. Roast the cauliflower for 20 minutes. Remove the top foil, being careful of the steam, and continue roasting the cauliflower until it is tender, another 15 to 20 minutes.

4. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cauliflower with the yogurt. Puree until the mixture is smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste, if desired, and serve.

REVIEW: ***** w/out step 4, after step 4 **I sampled this early (after step 3) and loved the way it tasted roasted!  It too was super simple!  At the time we weren't sure we even had a food processor so I manually mashed them with the yogurt and wasn't too impressed with the outcome, I wonder if it would have been a lot better if it was creamed together?  Or just mashed the cauliflower without the yogurt.  However, I will make the roasted cauliflower again as it too was a favorite, so next time, I'll just skip step 4 as it's worth making.

***Drew's Review - I'm not a huge cauliflower fan to begin with, so I was a skeptic.  I tried one of the roasted bunches after it came out of the oven and I agree with Amy that it was really good.  Once it was mashed it just lost somthing.  If we try this again I hope it will be better if we use the food processor that we found.

Brownies

Ingredients:

• Nonstick cooking spray

• 1 ½ cups canned black beans, rinsed and drained

• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 tablespoon espresso powder

• ¾ cup egg substitute

• 2 tablespoons low-calorie sugar-free chocolate syrup, such as Walden Farms

• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream, such as Breakstone's
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 24 packets Truvia (84 g) or 8 tablespoons granulated Splenda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8x8-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Combine the beans, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and egg substitute in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl halfway through.

3. Add the chocolate syrup, sour cream, butter, Truvia, and vanilla. Process until all of the ingredients are combined, about 1 minute.

4. Pout the batter into the prepared baking dish, and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, turning the dish halfway through the baking time. A toothpick inserted in the center will come out with soft batter clinging to it.

5. Let the brownies cool completely in the baking dish on a wire rack. Then cut into 12 squares and serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.

REVIEW:  * (will re-do) I followed this recipe to a "T".  We did substitute  egg substitute for real eggs (3) and didn't use the expresso powder.  I wondered what I did wrong because they didn't really have any flavor and the doctors on the show went for 2nds.  This morning we discovered that we bought a certain kind of splenda that was equivilant to sugar so that messed up the conversion posted as we should have doubled the amount we used.  All in all though, I was impressed that the bean flavor wasn't really noticable unless you knew a head of time.  The reason I wanted to try this was because of all the health benifits and fiber that legumes have masked by the taste of chocolate, sounded too good to be true.  By the way...don't eat these warm, cool them in the fridge first, they're better this way.  I'll have to make them again, next time with the correct amount of sweetner as I'm sure they are much better than they turned out.

***Drew's Review - These brownies tasted an awfully lot like what I imagine a chocolate sponge with no sugar would taste like.  They were dry and and not sweet.  Not my favorite.  However, like Amy said, we did try to substitute some ingredients.  We will have to try this again because we are both in love with the idea of healthy brownies, even if we are not in love with how they taste...yet.

Jackson's Pictures & Christmas Memories

Jackson's First Christmas

Hot Chocolate, delicous treats, songs with sweet melodies, lights sparkling from roof top to roof top, and the smiles that mysteriously gleam on strangers faces, are just some of the warm,wonderful things I love about Christmas!  This year was a particularly wonderful Christmas!  Andrew and I had the house decorated early, we blared Christmas music throughout the house, had a cozy fire in the fireplace, and sipped hot cocoa on cold winter nights while Jackson nestled sleepily in his swing. 

This year I took on a few big projects.  I made a calendar, helped my V.T. partner do the 12 Days of Chirstmas kits for 3 families and made 3 more for Andrew to give to his H.T. families, burned copies of a beautiful Christ Centered D.V.D. for family and friends (thanks Valerie), made snowman suckers and even with all of the chaos that typically surrounds this season, we still managed to take Jackson our on a few Christmas outings.  We went to our Primary Christmas Party, we viewed the Temple Lights and lights around our neighborhood and dressed Jackson up in a Santa outfit for photo's, we even got family photo's taken (thanks Ashley).

During the days preceeding Christmas I'd atempt to wrap gifts during the day while Jackson happily grabbed at bright ribbons and bows that aligned the floor, but the most impressive and ineteresting item he wanted was the wrapping paper I was working with.  It was about around the 7th of December that Jackson's smiles began to apear and it was around Christmas time that he broke into all out grins and coos, melting our hearts and making the days and nights a little brighter!  Even with a cold he'd smile through his tears and curl up in your arms for a sweet baby nap.  He's truly a wonderful beautiful baby boy, and we are both amazed at the miracle that is our sweet son.  I think his Christmas cold has been harder on me than him, every sniffle and gasp makes me whince I hope he feels better soon, I never knew worrying would be so much a part of parenting...Overall this was a wonderful Christmas, Jackson was a very very good boy this year (all of 2 months) and so he had quite a bundle of toys, clothes and surprises!


4 Crazy Nights
Once December started Christmas never seemed to lasted long enough, it felt like all clocks lost a minute every hour and the sun sank halfway before the day even would begin, but now I find that I am fullfilled with my need for Christmas and even happy to begin a bright new year and end the old one.  It all started last year when Andrew and I decided to put ourselves through a fast paced Christmas to make sure we got everything in, and that included both families and a lot of driving.  This year we did it all again.  Andrew and I try to visit both families for Christmas and so we decided to have a Christmas Marathon or 4 days of Christmas!


December 23nd Day 1
Andrew and I got the finishing touches on our Christmas done, we then packed up Jackson and delivered some last minute gifts to friends.  We visited my friend who taught second grade with me, she just got a new home and her parents were out so we visted and she was able to meet Jackson for the first time!  We came home and fed Jackson, who drifted off to sleep.  Andrew and I took a breather and just enjoyed the time we had with one another.

December 24th  Day 2
This is the day we decided to have Christmas in Casa Grande with just the 3 of us.  It was Jackson's first experience with all of the wonderful mysteries that lay bundled under the tree and away in his stocking.  Andrew and I layed in bed realizing that Jackson was sound asleep and us, like two children awaiting santa, talked ourselves out of bed and into the main room before the sun was up.  We awakend the baby bright and early and began sorting the gifts under the tree.  Andrew grabbed the video camera and I recored him open his gifts as Jackson drifted off to sleep again in his swing. 

Andrew got many different things but amongst them was a video game he had wanted, a giant tool chest for the garage, a wood working bench, church clothes and golf putting kit and a separate gopher that made comments about how well you did or didn't do while golfing.  We switched and with Jackson now dozing in my lap, took turns opening all of his toys and items, my favorite was when I was trying to open a gift for him that had a soft bouncing frog that rang "Boing" every time I jostled the box, Jackson's eyes would fly open, and widen as he'd stare with amazement at the talking box.  We surrounded him with his new toys and he'd look at them and drift in and out of slumber. 

Andrew then video'd me, he had me open a blessed new vacume (much needed - our old one's wheel would fall off and it wouldn't suck up anything unless you used a hand tool), and then I opened a gift that had a poem in it, which sent me on a scavenger hunt of poems, each time gaining a small gift along the way.  I was up a ladder, on top of our fireplace, in the garage in bins, in the office in cupboards, under our bed and outside inside of the grill, when Andrew handed me a camera that he said was broken.  It looked nice to me, but I think was was going for the latter effect, when he handed me another clue that lead me to a beautiful Nikon Camera, one that I really wanted to have to capture memories and photo's of our family!  I have everything I need for it too, each gift was an additon to use for the camera, a stand, extra battery,8g memory card, card transfer, and many other gadgets to use!  I was soooo excited!  I cried!  I had no idea he had done something like that, it was the begining of a beautiful day indeed!

Stockings!  Santa loved to hide the stockings of our youth.  Each Christmas morning I'd awaken to the pitter patter of my brothers feet rummaging throughout the house for their stockings.  I'd always ask them for hints because even from my room I could hear their excited chatter shortly followed by the groan of finding someone elses stocking.  I knew they were aware of everyone's stocking location but their own.  Sometimes they would give me hints, at others I was left to my own devices.  Either way, I always loved the excitement that the stocking hunt brought to our home.  The year Andrew and I married, I did this for him as well.  It was a lot of fun.  So this year he was prepared and hid mine in a great location, it was a miracle I even found it.  He's too smart though, he found his pretty quickly.  We took turns opening our stockings and the baby's stocking.  Mine were full of wonderful things, I got two sets of play tickets, Guys & Dolls and Mary Poppins at Gammage!  I love plays and can't wait to see them!  Jackson got binkies and toys, a favorite being a mini stuffed animal, a polka-dotted puppy dog and Andrew got a polo tie and some of his favorite Rees'es Christmas candies and other things.  All of us had an orange in our stocking, it's another tradition that I believe is in both of our families.

That evening about 4 we drove to Andrew's parents house for their Christmas Eve festivities.  We had a beautiful dinner with family and both sets of Andrew's grandparents as well as some families from their ward and friends.  After delicous dinner the kids played a round of Christmas Bingo, while we gathered for a wonderful talent show where each child got to share something special with us.  Afterwards, Andrew, Jackson and I were able to play the parts of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, as others read and sang in the Nativity program.  The children had fun dressing up in the clothes to be the wise men, angel and shepards.  It was a sweet experience and is a great tradition focusing on the reason for the season.  Dessert was served with hot cocoa.  We are then all sent outside for a caroling, I mean kazooing!  Everyone goes Kazooing with kazoo's that look like trumpets and horns, to houses in their neighborhood, humming out Christmas songs and finishing with a grand "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" song.  When we return every guest leaves and it's just Julie, Dallas and the kids and grandkids.  Then we all gathered in the living room and opened a Christmas Eve gift.  We all recieved nice brand new pajamas for Christmas night.  After which we head down stairs for a Christmas Movie (The Muppet's Christmas Carol) and then said goodnight.

December 25th Day 3
Christmas morning is a lot of fun as well.  We all awaken and open gifts, lots of wonderful things, Jackson got his first John Deere Wagon!  Andrew and I got loaded up with many wonderful things as well and some items for our food storage which is nice to have and to collect!  Following gifts we headed for the kitchen, coffe cake, and a variety of wonderous goodies awaited.  Next to each plate was a popper wrapped in various bright Christmas colors.  We each took our seats and the popping persued!  Inside of each popper was a tiny toy, some got whistles, others got bells, or bowling kits, but in each little gift was a paper crown and a small piece of paper with a joke and a quiz.  Everyone from Great Grandparents, to children wore the crowns (myself included) and read their jokes and trivia pieces.  This was my first experience with the poppers and breakfast Christmas morning at the Petersen's home and I have to say that I really enjoyed it!

We ralaxed most of Christmas day with the movie 'Up' and a nap.  Jackson wasn't feeling well at all, so we tried to make him comfortable and calm.  That evening we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Petersen's home (Dallas' parents).  There was the ham sandwhich dinner, gift exchanges and a white elephant gift exchange game!  Everyone loved seeing the baby, he had even started to act as if he felt better at this point, we were relieved because he was really starting to worry us earlier.  We opend and recieved a lot more wonderful gifts!  Jackson got his first Suns outfit and even a cup with his name on it!  He recieve many other wonderful things as well as both of us!  The white elephant gift exchange was so much fun.  People each grabbed and exchanged the nice gifts for ones they'd prefer, it was a lot of fun to see what everyone got!

That night (9 ish) we drove to Buckeye to visit my Grandma Jean and wish her a Merry Chirstmas!  We arrived to see Landon & Heather, and our aunt Phyllis there as well.  It was nice to visit with her and all of them, she had lots of goodies left over and we snacked and visited for a while.  We went to my parents that night and unloaded and settled in for bed. 

December 26th Day 4
The next morning we ate mexican borito's and got ready for the day!  Everyone arrived and we had a really nice Turkey Lunchion, followed by sorting and opening piles and piles of wonderful gifts!  Jackson got a lot of wonderful toys including an animated Toy Story Buzz & Woody characters, lots of toys, a bunch of rattles and clothes!  Andrew got a rachet tool that multi tasks & the New Super Mario Wii game, as well as lots of other items.  We got lots of food storage, a quilt and blanket, a New Years kit, lots of movies and a silverware holder too!

Afterwards Andrew, Jackson and I went to see my Grandma Pat.  We visited for a while and exchanged gifts, Jackson got a really soft teddy bear that is about as big as he is!  Grandma got to hold him for a while and then we had to say our goodbyes and headed back to our faimlies home.  There, we walked in and a card game was insuit.  The men were glad to see Andrew, they kid-napped him for a game of Super Mario Bro Wii.  We all settled into the living room with the babies and had a nice visit with an occational "Yeah!" from the men downstairs while playing their games.  We stayed late and left tired but fullfilled.  Chirstmas was beautiful and fun, Jackson had a delightful time and got to see everyone, it was a wonderful firsts Christmas!       




Dec. 28th 2009
Today we broke out Jackson's bouncer and put him in it.  He loved it!  Every time he bounces it sings, he could barely touch the floor but when he stretches his legs he can touch and bounce up and down.  He grabs the book, carrot and corn.  It was fun to watch him play, he was so content and having so much fun that he wore himself out!  He fell asleep in it!  It was adorable!  We are so excited as he begins this new phase!

New pics of Jackson

My mom requested that we post more pictures of Jackson, so here they are.


Here's our little man looking like a stud

Most doctors agreed that he was the most perfect baby they had seen. He was awarded the Cutest Baby Born at Banner Gateway award and they said he scored higher on the APGAR than any child in over 2000 years.


Here he's showing off his gighnormous hands

Sometimes he'll fuss and fuss in the morning until he can lay on daddy's chest
Jackson's favorite show is O'Rielly Factor. It's a real pain, but we have to watch it every night.

He loves his car seat....so far


He hasn't smiled yet too much, but he does always look very ponderous





He was born with jaundice which shows real clear in the this pic. Look how yellow his eyes are.



We love this beanie my Grandma D made, but he loves to either pull it over his eyes or throw it off completely

Jackson and daddy
Jackson and mommy


Jackson's first enounter with his cousin Audrey. He was really good for their first meeting, but I love this picture of him doing his cod fish impersonation while Audrey kisses his forehead

Jackson playing it cool during his first meeting of his other cousin Peyton. Peton is 6 weeks older...Jackson is one big little man.
Daddy gave Jackson his first Mohawk

The mohawk is easier to appreciate from the side when you can see how much hair he has



First stroller ride, started off fussy
was asleep in about 30 seconds
First day of working in the yard with daddy...he really wasn't much of a help

Jackson's Story

Jackon Carver Petersen is finally here. And it has been a long long road. Today is 10/8/09, he was born 3 days ago on the 5th. Let's go through what happened.

10/3 - we were supposed to be induced the day before but I came down with the flu so we postponed. We called on the third to see when we could re-schedule and they told us to come down any time that day. So, down we went.

We drove to Mesa with the back of my truck full of all the boxes of trash from all the new baby stuff we have. On the drive down the highway boxes kept flying out and I had to keep stopping to get it picked up. We stopped by dad's office and threw all the boxes in the trash, then went over to my parents. We had a good moment together getting blessings. Mine for health to recover from the flu and Amy to have a good experience having Jackson. After that we left for the hospital. We arrived around 4:00-5:00.

They got us in pretty quickly and hooked Amy up to a drug called Pitocin to get her contractions started. Her contractions started up pretty quick, but weren't too bad. Amy mostly said she felt like she just had bad cramps. At 10:30 they came in and said the Pitocin wasn't working very well and they needed to soften up her cervex. They waited an hour then gave her something that I can't remember the name of. it has to sit next to the cervex for 12 hours.

Once the Pitocin was off she could eat and drink again, which was nice. I ran to MacDonalds and grabbed some food. They gave Amy a sleeping pill and I tried to sleep on the couch which turned into an uncomfortable bed.

10/4 - Amy slept OK and I didn't sleep too well at all (which isn't good because I get grumpy when I don't sleep.) Amy was able to eat breakfast and lunch and take a shower before they put her back on the Pitocin around 12:30.

By 2:00 she was only dialated to a 3, but was 80% effaced. Still she didn't feel anything more than just some cramping.

At 3:30 her water broke. She was laying in bed resting. We had tried to play some Wii games, but her mind wasn't on it. Finally she felt like she had to pee really badly and that she had already gone down her leg. She rushed to the bathroom and told me that she thought her water just broke.

About 3 minutes later the doctor walked in saying he was going to break her water. We told him that we think it just broke on it's own. Dr. Faulk checked and said the it did break, and he roughed it up a little to make sure it was good and broken. He also told us that he was coming down with something and unless the baby came within the next hour or so he would not deliver. We asked his estimate on how big Jackson would be and he said between 7-7.5 lbs...he was WRONG!

Within the next 30 minutes her contractions went from cramps to real contractions. The pitocin made them come strong and quick. By 4:00 they gave her the Epidural. Poor Amy was in so much pain as they had to sit her up, position her, get her prepped and get it in. She held my hand and was as strong as can be, but I know she was in a lot of pain. Within a little bit all pain went away.

We were exhausted at this point. I had a DVD player I set up to watch the Scarlett Pimpernel. We watched it, but Amy was just trying to sleep.

By 7:00 that night nothing really had changed. She was still only dialated to a 4. Paula and Johnny had stayed the night before in a hotel to be close, but tonight they would just sleep downstairs on couches. I brought them pillows and blankets so they wouldn't be too bad off.

Also, Amy hadn't been able to eat anything for around 8 hours at this point. I was enjoying the hospital food quite a lot.

At 9:00 she was 100% effacted, but still wasn't dialting too much. Logan and Ashley had called to see if they should come out, but I told them to wait, it looked like it was going to be a long night. Oh boy was it.

The night was not a good one. Amy's blood pressure was kind of low and every 15 minutes a machine would kick on, loudly, check her, then set off an alarm that she had low blood pressure. Then I would get up, turn it off, and Amy would call the nurse. This was a 15 minute tradition till about 1:30 when the nurse just turned off the alarm

10/5 (Jackson's Birthday) - Just before 3:30 in the morning the nurse came in the check Amy. She said she was dialated to a 5 but wanted a second opinion. A second nurse walked in and check Amy, who up to now had been tired, but not in any pain. Suddenly I saw Amy tense up and knew something had happened. As the nurse was taking off her gloves she informed us that she had just manually dialated Amy from a 5 to a 7. And Amy felt it.

They called in the anesthesiologist who came and gave Amy and extra dose of something. After a while the pain calmed down.

Around 4:00-5:00 Paula came up to check on things. The nurse said Amy was now dialated to a 9-10 and it was about time to start pushing. My mom called and Amy said she could come to the delivery room also.

At 6:00ish we began pushing. It was hard for Amy to get in the right position because she was so numb she couldn't feel much. The nurse advised her to turn the epidural off to push him out and it would help speed up the process. We listened to her....big mistake.

After 20 minutes Amy felt the contractions and knew when to push. After 10 minutes more Amy felt EVERYTHING. The pitocin was making the contractions unnaturally strong and fast and Amy could feel every one. Every time a conraction came I coached her to push and counted out to 10 before she could take a break. Amy was miserable at this point with both future grandmothers on either side helping her out.

The pain got way too intense for Amy. Three times they called in the anethesiologist to give her shots of stuff to take the pain away, but it couldn't catch up to how bad the pain was. All it did was numb some of the burning between contractions. Still Amy pushed on, between contractions she would close her eyes and tears would come down her face as she quietly tried to rest. Then it would be time to push again.

This went on hour after hour. The new doctor came in to see how things were. Amy said she was so tired she didn't think she could push any more. He said it looked good, but if it took too long and he wouldn't come by pushing she would need a C-section. That was the motivation Amy needed. She started pushing twice as hard. We asked him a good guess on how big the baby would be, and he said an 8 lbs plus baby....WRONG!

We continued pushing till 8:30 and his little head was right there at the end. The doctor came back in and we started getting ready for the last of it. But Jackson's head was too big and Amy had to get a 3rd degree epesiotomy. As soon as the doctor cut her it was only 1 or 2 more pushes and Jackson came into the world. The doctor was shocked and said, "The head alone must weigh 3 lbs." He said he thought it was a 9 lbs baby....close.

They started cleaning him off and announced he was 10 lbs 3 oz. 21.5 inches long.

Amy thought she could finally rest, but the doctor started sewing her up. She could still feel all the stiches as the doctor put her together. She again squeezed my hand and cried for him to stop the pain, but they said there was nothing they could do. Finally after what seemed like an eternity he was done.

Jackson was doing great. He looked huge, but cute. They told us that he needed to be fed, but Amy was curled up in a ball on her bed and said she didn't think she could start breast feeding yet. So I gave him his first bottle on the couch, which he drained.

The next 30 minutes or so was a bit of a mad rush. The two new grandpas came in to see the baby while he got all cleaned up. Then they helped Amy get cleaned up and medicated. They then moved us up to the 5th floor for our postpartum room.

That night friends and family came by. Jackson was good as gold letting everyone hold him and talk as he slept. He was such a cute baby, and everyone fell in love with him. Especially his grandmas.

Finally when everyone had left we were so tired. It was late and we sent the baby to the nursery telling the nurses to bring him back every couple of hours to feed. Then I slept for about 6 hours. Amy tried to sleep but had a hard time. She was so cut up and in so much pain. It still wasn't a great night for her.

10/6 - The next day was pretty uneventful The grandma's came by and nurses came in to run tests on Amy and Jackson. He slept and was still just the best baby in the world. His breast feeding was not going great, but he was eating.

That night they made Amy and I go to a lame discharge class at 8:30 when Amy was already so tired and worn out. They didn't tell us anything important and wasted 45 minutes of our time, but they said we had to do it.

They told us he had a little jaundice and that feeding on some formula might help him. So that night we let the nurses completly take care of him. They gave him formula and gave Amy a chance to really rest.

10/7 - I was so eager to leave the hospital at this point it was crazy. We had to get his hearing checked again because he didn't pass on both ears the day before, but they tested him and he was fine.

Once he was all checked up on and signed out we left. It still took a lot longer than we had hoped. We didn't make it home till about 3:00 in the afternoon and we were tired.


So, there is our experiences, no deep personal thoughts on this entry, I just wanted to lay down the facts for posterity's sake.

Heartburn & Hair - Who knew?

Yesterday our niece Peyton Ann Young was born weighing 7 lb 14 oz, and 19 inches long! She's a beautiful healthy baby girl! We are so excited for them!

Peyton came out with dark hair! It even was a bit curly!Now we are really curious what Jackson will look like. Will he have curly, strait, dark, blonde, brown, strawberry, or red hair or....will he be bald? We are hoping Jackson has hair when he's born, but we aren't so sure, so too keep up with his new cousin we have had to resort to a serious back-up plan and quick!

It all started when I was reading an article about newborns. I discovered that we did have hair options! Even though most newborns loose their hair in the first 3 to 4 months, (mainly due to the loss of their mothers hormone levels), that there were things parents could do to prevent a their baby from having a SERIOUS hair complex.

No matter how their hair is when they are born, they still can be the KING or QUEEN of the nursery and gather the most attention by simply being the only kid in there with the most AMAZING hair! The first thing you do is to visit this amazing website; babytoupee.com (yes, it's a real website). It offers babies all sorts of options! The second is to choose the right toupee for your child, choose carefully though, it has been known to change their personalities (I liked the Bob - see upper right)! I think it adds character! My second favorite is the Samuel and the Donald, the Samuel because it's perfectly adorable, perhaps a little too over the top and the Donald so he could practice being CEO of the nursery!

Seriously though, I just couldn't stop laughing, and thought it was too hysterical that there was ACTUALLY a baby toupee website and so I couldn't resist blogging about it!

I have high hopes that Jackson will have hair and lots of it too because the article I was reading also said that women who are pregnant and have heartburn (I have lots and lots of wonderful, blissful heartburn - got to love it!) typically have babies with above-average to average hair when they are born! The reason for this phenomenon is simply because the hormones which cause the the baby's hair to grow also causes their mothers to have heartburn! Once again a blissful bit of news that will hopefully pay off in the end so that we won't have to visit said above website! For more info. on the article I was reading see www.wondertime.go.com/learning/article


Just in case (LOL) which hair piece is YOUR fav?

Any guesses on what kind of hair, if any Jackson will have?

CHILD BIRTHING CLASS

Knowledge is Power ..or is it?

Andrew and I went to our first of three (three hour) classes last night. We opted to take the class in Casa Grande so that it would be closer to home. There were several people there with Sept. due dates and a few Oct. and Nov. ones.

The instructor had our coaches introduce us and tell our due dates, doctors and gender of the baby. There was a mother there who said she was there to make sure her daughter had a better experience than she did, because she was on bed rest for the last 3 months and it was such a terrible experience that she only had one child. The instructor also said that with her 3rd child that she too was on bedrest for 2 months and that was her last child as well. Very motivating! There was another mother with her daughter who was pregnant who said she had twins and was shipped out to a better facility to handle the delivery.

Then the teacher did a good job of explaining every part of the birth in great detail. We watched a movie of the 3-d inside-version of the birth and then an actual childbirth. It was very ....interesting. My favorite line in the movie was when the mother was going through lots and lots of pain, in active labor, during her delivery and said inbetween contractions, that she is going to quit! I had to laugh, is that an option! A girl from my old singles ward was there with her husband as well, aparently the Chandler classes were full and so they had to drive to Casa Grande for class. The movie ended and the instrutor asked asked a stone silent class if they had any questions, the girl I know piped up for humors sake and broke the deadly silence with something like "How can we undo this?" The class laughed. The instructor said "There's only one way out of this from here girls." Dads in the room made some comments that they were sure glad they weren't women, I think at that point every women in the room would have eagery chipped in for scientific research to have their husbands roll in the delivery and their roll in it irrevocably reversed!

Andrew was great through the whole thing, we even went through the drive-through and got some Sonic soda's before going. He joked that this would be the best 3 hours of our marriage as I'm sure he was just excited about going as I was, but we both thought it would be benifical and informative and he was really being positive about the whole thing. However, during the first half of class the room became very stuffy for me, I got really warm and felt claustrophobic, soon my random nausia set in and that combined with viewing an actual birth about did me in. I glanced over at my devoted birth coach to discover that Andrew was happily re-writing my delivery manual - adding what he later refered to as "his own expert advice" like "give father massages" and "bring _____ for father." He looked up at me expecting a chuckle, but all I could do not to loose it was stare stone-faced back and turn my head trying not to loose dinner... Poor guy, he was trying to make it all enjoyable and I was so out of it. Not to mension that the instructor had acronyms like T.A.C.O. and was nibbling on dinner during the movie which I could smell a mile away, all of which didn't help with the nausia. Finally we got a break and I made it to the restroom just in time...

Andrew was awesome, he did the breathing techniques better than everyone in the class and even reminded the instructor what she was doing a few times during class. I made another fun discovery during the exercise and relaxation portion of class, aparently I'm really out of shape. The relaxation exercises were uncomfortable for the most part and I kept thinking that if these uncomfortable exercisees were to make the pain easier to handle, that I must be having to go through a LOT of pain for it to actually help! Yikes! I did however really enjoy the hypnotic-like mental relaxation exercises. I was surprised how relaxed I became and actually had a hard time standing up, I was numb all over. Overall I'm glad I went, I got a text from Andrew this morning saying that it wasn't the best 3 hours of our marriage as afore hoped, LOL for but we are hoping the next class is more empowering! Overall I was hoping to leave this class with more confidence, and to feel more in control of what was going to happen as the saying goes, "knowledge is power," but I find that I left feeling more apprehensive than before I went. I'm leaning towards another saying, "ignorance is bliss!" The class got out 5 minutes after it was said to end, we sleepily got our things and prepared to leave. "Our next class" the instructor announced before we left, "is on c-sections!"