Milk Expiration and Due Dates

Seinfeld's thoughts on a gallon of milk's expiration date (although I reflects my feelings towards due dates as well)...



How do they know that that is the definite exact day? You know they don't say like it's in the vicinity, give or take, roughly, they brand it right in the side of the cart! That's your day right there! Oh don't screw with us, we know what day is the final day! and then it is sooo over. Maybe cows tip them off when they are milking them? "July third"...



What's a due date, really? And why was I so convinced that THE day would be THE day. What are the odds that a baby will come exactly when you think he will? Not good.



I went to the doctor today and had an AFI and an NST. Baby Boy is doing great. He's just too comfortable to move at the moment. We have our inducement appointment though. If he hasn't come by Monday (Labor Day, appropriately enough), then we go in Monday night to kick start labor, and then we'll deliver Tuesday morning! So we know that it'll be a week at the very most. I can't wait to meet this guy!



By the way... check out these pictures of the storm two nights ago. Our friend Josh took them, and they're awesome. It was by far the coolest storm I've ever seen.

The day is here... and we still have NO BABIES!



If barometric pressure does anything at all, then we would have definitely had a baby during that awesome lightening show last night. How cool was that? I was a little scared... I'll be honest.



Cross your fingers for us.

One Day More

Except I'm convinced he'll take his sweet time. I'm thinking Labor Day... sounds like a good day to go into labor?



Not much to say right now. I have a ton to say... but not much to say right now. Which is probably good since it's 2:30 in the morning. I shouldn't have too much to say right about now, right? I originally woke up to the amazing lightening and thunder show. Scott joined me... unable to sleep in the heat. So we decided to relocate to the main floor to see if it was any cooler. We brought our pillows and a fan, and then tried to get settled on the couch.



I walked around for a little bit feeling restless. "Scott, want to go on a walk around the block? Scott, want to watch a show? Scott, want me turn on that light? Scott, are you even sleepy? Oh. You are? Oh. Okay. Sorry."



So I did a load of laundry, wrote a thank you note or two, organized some things for meetings tomorrow, looked up some recipe blogs and a blog about punctuation errors (aren't I cool?), and then decided to organize my google contacts a little bit. What should i do next? Time contractions?



You know... now would be a fabulous time for little man to join our family. I'm already up and looking for something to do! Chances are he's going to pick the one night that I'm sleeping soundly, totally exhausted, to wake us up with the news that he's on his way.



And that would be just fine with me. Come any time you'd like, Little Man! (Maybe wait until my doctor gets back from her trip... Monday at 3pm sound good?)



Ben cracks me up. Every time I see him, the first thing he asks me (and this has been going on for months),

"Um... Windsy... What time is that baby coming out?"

I usually respond with, "I don't know, Ben... maybe two o'clock... or three."

"Maybe he's coming out in a hundred! I think he's coming in a hundred."

"Okay, Ben. If he comes out in a hundred, I'll buy you an ice cream."



We had a lot of fun today... even though it was a bit of a weird Saturday. We expected to have a baby by now, so it was the first Saturday in a while that we didn't already make a plan for. It's frustrating to have a free Saturday, but to not be able to climb, bike, kayak, or hike. Last Saturday we did the Farmer's Market thing, went swimming, went for walks, and thought it was our last Saturday as a family of two. Nope. We might even have another one next Saturday. Who knows?



So today we got up and helped with the ward clean-up assignment (not too exciting), got the truck washed, ate at Smashburger, and then made our way to my mom and dad's house for a swim. We hung with Johnny and my mom for a bit, and by the time we went to jump in the pool, we found out that it was heated to 99 degrees! Utah is SO HOT right now! So the water was hotter than the air, and we realized we needed a plan B. Scott attempted a bike ride on the Shoreline, but was turned around shortly after start since it was so blistering hot! I had a little downtime with my mom in her air-conditioned home. After about an hour, we all made our way to Grandma and Grandpa's: Kirsten, Nick, Andrew, Ben, SJ, Mom, Dad, Johnny, Scott, and me. Doug is waiting out a hurricane in NY... so he doesn't need to go swimming (By the way, Andrew's been paranoid all day that Doug is about to have a hurricane. He's been so worried about him). It was fun to have everyone gathered at my Grandma's pool... just like when we were little. The boys took turns learning how to dive, and SJ decided she's a competent swimmer on her own (uh oh). My mom and grandma sat by the pool and watched all the kids show off, while my grandpa moved stuff from one side of his yard to the other... and then back to where it came from again. Scott taught Andrew how to swim to the bottom of the deep end. And Johnny and Nick got into a wrestling match that really had no outcome and I'm thinking they need a rematch. The pool was nice and cool... and I am so appreciative of that whole weightless effect. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for letting us raise the volume at your house! We got Redbones for dinner, which was delicious, and ate it at Mom and Dad's. Root beer floats shortly after, and then we called it a night. What a fun day our Saturday became!



Last night was also fun. Salt Lake is just so fun in the summer. There's a concert on nearly ever corner on every night of the week, it seems. I think the whole city just gets really excited about the weather and wants to stay outside until the snow comes. We decided to catch the "Movie Under the Stars" at the Capitol lawn. It was kind of funny... because this week's movie was "Tangled," which probably wasn't Scott's first choice. But we met friends there, brought root beer and snacks, and spent such a pleasant night camped out on blankets in the avenues hills. It was the perfect temperature, and the perfect way to spend a Friday night.



Should I give sleep the second go-around? Before you answer... let's be realistic. Is it even possible to fall asleep when you have High School Musical songs mysteriously stuck in your head? (No. I'm not embarrassed that I know them... just a little peeved at the bad timing. It's like the small-world song. There's just never a good time to have that one stuck in your head).



I'll give it a shot and see if I can catch a little bit of a snooze. Tomorrow we have a lovely Sunday of church and meetings, followed by the blessing of Brad and Angie's little girl down in Provo. We're looking forward to seeing friends, as well as checking on the status of our favorite peach orchard. We usually buy a humongous box at the end of every summer (and devour them all). I wonder if they're ripe and ready yet!



Oh, look at that. I found some things to say. Shocking.

Honey Nut Cheerios (and NINE days to go!)

There's something about honey nut cheerios at 4:30am. I'm laying in bed restless, getting up to use the bathroom twenty times, unable to stay cool, my back hurts... so I get up, give Scott free reign over the bed, and stumble downstairs for a bowl of honey nut cheerios. After I've had my bowl of cereal, I crash on the couch and stay there until morning.



There's something about this time that I enjoy. I wish I could be sleeping... but I also don't mind my quiet time in the morning (or middle of the night). I'm glad it's not every night. But every once in a while isn't too bad.



I'm thinking about this last week of my life... of my life with Scott. We realized yesterday that tomorrow (today... I guess) could be our last Saturday before we have the baby. We really want to enjoy the day together and do something we love. I can't believe our countdown is in the single digits. 9 days. 9 days. I can't really conceptualize what that means. 9 days goes by so fast!



The weirdest part is that it could be 9 days. It could be 3 days. It could be 16 days. (I found out on Tuesday that LDS hospital won't let my doctor induce me until 41 weeks... so at the most I guess I could go over a week).



I have really enjoyed pregnancy. It is amazing to me that my body knows what to do to take care of itself, me, and the baby. I sit back and take the cues from something within me that seems to have all the answers. It's a privilege to be able to participate in such a beautiful part of God's plan. I'm so grateful I've had this opportunity, and I'm grateful it's been such a positive experience (I hope it continues to be 9 days from now!)



There are a few things that always make me laugh a little about being pregnant. It doesn't offend me... but why do people stare? It's confusing. I can never figure out what about a pregnant belly is so worth staring at? What's so interesting about it? How awkward to be face to face with someone, but to actually be looking face to belly. It cracks me up when I'm talking to someone and they keep doing double takes from my face to my belly. Or I also love the full-on double takes when i walk in a room and someone looks at me, looks away, and then circles back to my me as if I was wearing a chicken suit or riding a unicycle. Nope... just carrying a baby. People do it all the time. No need to stare. My face is up here, thanks!



I was at Smith's earlier this week and got a couple comments. The first guy was very nice. He was whistling the opening tune from the cartoon Robin Hood movie as he approached me, and he just started chatting away about my due date and everything. Nice guy. I appreciated the chat. Two aisles later I'm reaching for a jar of spices, and two older women walk past me. As they mosey on by, one of them turns to the other, making no obvious effort to muffle her voice, "Wow. They keep getting younger and younger don't they?" I'm 24 years old! Yes, I'm young... but I'm not a teenage pregnancy case like most the world assumes.



I don't get comments like, "Oh! You're about to pop aren't you?" or "Are you having twins?" But I've been asked if I've worked out my high school graduation requirements. And I get nosy old women at the grocery store speculating about my life choices. So glad everyone's concerned.



I'm so excited to start my new life. I feel like I'm in limbo between the old an the new. I'm emotionally ready to be a mom. I am so excited to take that step with Scott. You get to a point where your life stops being about you, and you just know there's something bigger and more important you could do with it. I'm ready to move on to a new constant challenge and adventure. I'm excited for the upcoming newness... which will become our new normal.



I'm going to go for round two and see if I can squeeze in another two hours of sleep. I hear I'm going to really need it soon!

38.5 Weeks

I saw my doctor today. I'm not progressed much more than I was last week... which was a little disappointing. My doctor went to measure my stomach, which is pretty small for being full term.



"Well, this isn't going to be the worlds biggest baby, is it?" She said.



I was a little worried about what she meant by that, but she assured me that I'm a little girl, so it makes sense that I'd have a little baby. I told her that the baby had dropped quite a bit since last week, so maybe that could be the reason for my small belly (it's funny that I'm actually referring to my belly as small). She was surprised that the baby had dropped because I don't look like I'm carrying that low, but I have carried extremely high for my entire pregnancy. I can fit my whole hand, sitting flat, on top of my belly. Before last week, I wouldn't have been able to fit a finger.



So my doctor arranged for an ultrasound fluid test to make sure that my little belly wasn't a result of a lack of fluid. In the meantime she went on with my exam to see how far I've progressed, and she could tell for herself that the baby had definitely dropped a ton and was settling in nice and low. Hopefully that pressure and his current position will help me progress a little further in the next week, because I'm getting so anxious to get our little man out of there... not because I don't enjoy pregnancy or because I'm uncomfortable... mostly just because I want to know that he's safe.



I went in for my ultrasound to double check my fluid level. I was told that we had a problem if the measurement was lower than an 8. After catching a quick glimpse of our little guy on the screen, I was thrilled to know that the measurement was 17... so way above an 8!



So, Little Man is doing well! He may be little, but nothing out of the ordinary. He's just sitting low in my belly, which makes for flatter measurements. Phew!



I love having appointments once a week, because it is so good to know that we're keeping a close eye on him. I can't wait till he's here safely!



In other news... I had made plans to get my braces off and surprise Scott with my shiny white teeth! Unfortunately on Monday I found out I have another month or so to go! So instead of having pearly whites for that uncomfortable hospital time and recovery, I actually have every kind of metal known to man in my mouth! Them's the breaks.

Superhero Song.

This picture is too funny. I had to post it, even though it's from Easter. This is one of the rare hard times. These kids are usually goofy, entertaining, and energetic.



After our class on Saturday, we rounded off the night with a little babysitting (you know... because we had babies on the brain). We watched Andrew, Ben, and SJ while Keek and Nick went to Keek's ten-year high school reunion.



Scott gets the ultimate babysitter award. He's never actually been up there with me when I've watched the kids... and things were so much easier when he was there. They love him! He kept them busy the entire time going on imaginary treasure hunts for imaginary clues that lead to an imaginary object. These kids didn't even know what they were looking for, but they loved finding it, whatever it was! SJ even walked around playing with them, holding Scott's finger the entire time. It was so fun to watch (and so relaxing to not have to be the entertainer for once).



So the kids were ideal the whole night. Honestly... ideal. And when it came down to bedtime, they were all going down easily. I was putting Ben down and asked if he wanted to say a prayer. He asked if we could say a prayer and then sing a song. I know his mom sings him some primary songs at night, so I said sure and asked him what song he wanted. He looks at me excitedly and also taking himself very seriously, "A SUPERHERO SONG!"



"A superhero song? Cool. Okay I bet your Uncle Scott will have an awesome superhero song. Let me go get him."



Scott was in with Andrew. We put Andrew down, thinking Ben would fall asleep and forget about the superhero song. Nope. Minutes later he reminded us, and we were kneeling by his bed, looking at each other, trying to think of a superhero song for Ben.



So I bust out the only thing I can think of, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... turtles in a half shell... TURTLE POWER!"



Scott joins in and offers some catchy improv about how they're green, live in the sewer, hang with April and Splinter, eat pizza, and we round the whole thing off with another round of of "turtles in a half shell... TURTLE POWER!" Ben is in heaven. I've never seen him smile so big. And when we finish, he just grins from ear to ear, lays down, and falls asleep smiling. Scott and I couldn't stop laughing. And I've laughed the last two mornings in the shower as I find myself singing about ninja turtles and practicing my improv skills to match Scott someday.



(Totally random tidbit. I'd like to get really good at reciting Cowboy poetry. it's my latest obsession. Don't know where it came from. Don't know why I'm mentioning it now. Just thought I'd throw it out there.)







The best part, is that he doesn't even know what Ninja Turtles are! But I can picture what's going on in his mind. "Ninjas? Turtles?" The genius that is the creation of Ninja Turtles begins to infiltrate the minds of the new generation.



The other best part is that Ben usually gets a bedtime song of Families Can be Together Forever, so I hope Kirsten's okay that we sent him into slumber land thinking about crime-fighting creatures.



The other best part is that Ben is obsessed with superheroes lately (he wants to be spider man when grows up... or an Indian), and he has already decided that his birthday party in October will e a superhero party. Unborn little man has already been invited. I feel so happy that he has a party invite before even entering the world. I can't wait to tell him. "Welcome to the world, my little guy. Guess what! You're going to a superhero birthday party!"



I love these kids. I can't wait to meet my own.

Loose Ends

I'm finally starting to feel like I could be ready to have this baby. All the YW camps are done for the summer, and for the most part I'm planned through September. I've wrapped things up at work. I've gotten the house ready to go. I've gotten everything I need for the baby. I've checked off almost every check-off list I could make... except for the list that actually prepares me for motherhood and the physical trial that lies ahead. I can't even conceptualize the tasks that lay before me... so I focus on the things I can control... the things I can put on a list and check off one by one.



All that's left to do is try to prepare, enjoy the time I have with Scott, and rest to conserve energy.



But Scott and I have still been having plenty of fun amid all the school, work, and baby prep. We've had a few weddings of close friends (Jeff and Karen Klackring, Parry and Chelsea, Steve and Monica). One of which was a sealing in Spanish, which was so cool to experience. It definitely made me pay attention in a whole new way. Two Saturdays ago we were able to sneak away to Bear Lake on Friday night and stay through Saturday. It was "Raspberry Days" up in Bear Lake. So we took advantage of the art festival, the raspberry shakes, the beach, and the sunshine. I loved having a day to relax and hang with Scott. A plus of being nine months pregnant and boiling hot all the time: being able to withstand and even enjoy the freezing Bear Lake water. I loved it.







We got a little too much sun though and are still peeling and applying the aloe. No more sun for us.



It's time for us to get our rear in gear in the picture world again. Especially with Little Man making his debut in just two short weeks (or any day now). We've just gotten lazy, I guess... because this is the only picture we took the whole time. We didn't even capture the raspberry goodness on film.



And then this last weekend was a blast as well. We went to the Twilight concert series on Thursday night downtown at Pioneer Park, and we were so excited to see and hear Bright Eyes entertain for the evening. We go there just in time for our favorite Bright Eyes song. We love Salt Lake in the summertime. There's so much going on all the time. It's like the whole city can't wait to be outside after a long winter, so they never go inside again until October. We didn't stay too long at the concert though. It's funny how we've outgrown that scene in the last few years. We love the music, but it was too crowded for us.



I'm loving our little staycation adventures since we can't go too far or be too crazy in our weekend activities these days. Scott could sense that I had been working all day Friday and needed to get out of the house (I seriously miss my job). So he arranged a date for us to go up to the Summit County Fair in Coalville. BEST RODEO WE'VE EVER BEEN TO! We loved walking around the fair, eating traditional fair food, chatting with the prize-winning pigs, chickens, sheep, cows, and bunnies... taking a look at the homemade craft stand, listening to some spot-on Johnny Cash impersonators, watching a rodeo that the entire town seemed to be invested in, and rounding the night out with a better firework show than we saw on July 4th. Best date ever. I loved it. We had so much fun just hanging together and soaking it all in. I was supremely happy to be married to a guy who'll get a kick out of a small town rodeo on a Friday night. You just have to be able to appreciate these things.



The rodeo was on Friday. I can't even remember what we did Saturday....



I seriously had to ask Scott cause I couldn't remember. But how could I forget? We spent the entire day in class learning about labor and delivery. Doesn't that sound fun?



I'm just going to blow right past that whole experience... though a highlight in our lives to be sure.

Victor

I can't express my love for this part of the world, and I am so grateful that Scott has developed a love for it as well. Sharing this part of my with him is one of the most fulfilling parts of our friendship for me. It is especially fun to watch him not only build off of my memories and roots, but to develop his own relationship with people and places so special to me. So much of who I am came from these mountains and this small town. And each time I'm there, I discover more pieces of who I want to be. I am so full of gratitude for the opportunity to serve and to be the recipient of so much knowledge, generosity, perspective, and beauty. I can never get enough of this place and people who visit.



We didn't take a ton of pictures. In fact, Scott took all of them. For some reason... I never really feel the need. How often to you take pictures of your own home?

Floating around... over the ground.

Remember how we tried to go hot air ballooning for my birthday? Well... it was delayed due to bad weather, and I'm so glad! Because we ended up going on the most gorgeous day in July. The weather and visibility was perfect. This is one of the coolest things I've ever done. I will never forget the feeling of unlikely comfort. Thanks to Scott for thinking of something truly unique and special. He's the best.

More Cabin Pictures (and Nephews of Course!)

My favorite is Ben and Andrew's homemade sea-saw.

Cabin Fever

We were lucky enough to get to spend some time at the cabin this summer. I love it up there. I definitely felt limited (not being able to hike a ton or get on the four-wheelers), but it was so relaxing and beautiful, that I found other ways to enjoy myself. And I was happy that Scott was able to have such a fun cabin experience. He went biking with Johnny and four-wheeling/dirt biking with Johnny and Nick. We all hung out in the yard, worked on the machines, and took some lovely walks in the mountains.



Oh! And something a little out of the ordinary (for Scott and me... not for the Petersen family, though!) was our round of golf at Wasatch. It is such a gorgeous course. Whoever said golf is a good walk spoiled was so completely wrong. What a beautiful way to enjoy the refreshing mountain air and scenery (especially this year. I love that there's so much snow in the mountains in the middle of the summer).

In the Meantime...

We've been pretty busy the last month or so, and I've neglected the good old bloggy. I stopped going into work a couple days ago, and it has been one of the hardest things! I love my job, and it's been weird to have that whole aspect of my life just vanish for a month or two. Even though I feel like I am so busy and have a ton to do, I still wake up in the morning perplexed as I try to think about how I'll fill my day. I manage to stay busy all day, but it's a different kind of busy than I'm used to. A few days ago I vacuumed the whole house, washed all the carpets with a carpet cleaner, scrubbed down the shower and all the walls, did dishes and laundry, organized the pantry, organized the laundry room, went for a walk up City Creek, and then spent an hour and a half at the Museum of Art... just because I felt like I needed some kind of social juxtaposition with the world.



Scott stays busy with school and work, and we have fun in the evenings spending time together. This time just the two of us is becoming more and more special. We're excited for little man to join us, but it's also nice to enjoy this time while we have it.



So I haven't posted pictures in a long time. I finally got a chance to find my camera/computer cord and load some pictures. I was surprised to see how long it's been since I loaded the camera to the computers.



We'll have our little guy with us within two weeks. But in the meantime... (posts to follow!)

Dear Pregnancy,

I have enjoyed almost every minute of you. I'm not necessarily in a hurry for you to end, although I'm excited to meet my little boy. You've been very good to me for the most part. I just wish you would ease the pressure on my brain a bit... just long enough for me to remember where I put the huge stack of thank you notes I worked hard to write over a month ago. I am getting to the point where I might just rewrite them all... but of course then I'll inevitably find them smack dab in front of my face.

Could you lift your cloud of confusion and show me where I put them? Please?

Sincerely,

Lindsey. 37 weeks along.