Standing

Somebody is getting closer to walking. . .He started to stand for a couple of seconds-7/8/09:

then several, then for a long time. By this time, in these next pictures, he had also taken 1 or 2 steps. (I'm writing this on September 16th, after he has been walking for 6 weeks, so I didn't realize at the time of these photos, he was ready to walk just a few days later, right around 10 months old--most of the coverage of that is on video on my phone)





Fall down

New Toys

We borrowed this toy from PrimeTime-it was pretty dirty but we cleaned it up and with fresh batteries, was awesome. It's so fun to gather around him as a family as he is doing new things. He loves the approval from everyone-cheering and smiling!




He is saying his first "word." "Ooof!" We are calling it a word because he says it when he hears the neighbors dog barking. He also says it when he is excited about anything.

Spelling Bees

Well, I'm not going to lie, I hate spelling bees. They are too scary. But, Mallory and Carter both had them this week, so I had to go. Michael also went to support me as much as the kids. There is just something about seeing your child up there, nervous to the point of passing out, trying their best and you are on pins and needles in your seat. You hope that your kid gets the word but tear up as other kids get out. There is no way to feel good in this event! I teared up both days for the kids that got out quickly or went far, then messed up their word, then cried once they reached their parents or as they reached their seat down in the audience with their class (the crying happened with Carter's group since they were younger.) I'm tearing up just writing this! Both Mallory and Carter did well--they both ended up on the front row by getting two or three words correctly. They both handled it well and were good sports when they got out. Of course I wanted to run up there and hug them as they left the stage and whisper in their ear that I know they are awesome and smart and they were brave. But, I didn't in order not to humiliate them further. Good job guys. But please don't try out next year, Thanks.

Mallory, in her field day clothes, spelling her first word:

Carter, before the spelling bee with the "deer in the headlights" nervous look.

Spelling his 2nd word:

Memorial Day

Even though it was Mallory's Birthday on Memorial Day this year, and we celebrated that, we still did a couple of Memorial Day things.

First, and on a more humorous note, was my dad hanging his flags. First, for those of you who don't know him very well, need to know that he is a retired Lt. Col. in the Marine Corps, so to say that he is patriotic is an understatement. He got a Marine Corps. flag earlier this year and has been looking forward to the first opportunity to hang it. He has two dormer windows on the front of his house and wanted to hang the American flag from one and the M.C. flag from the other. He needed help. He asked Michael to hold onto him, as he is completely outside the window standing on the roof, by the belt. So Michael literally was dangling my dad from the house as he's setting up the pole brackets. Whatever Dad!!!!!!! So dangerous. Anyway, he was happy. As we were leaving for the pool, Michael whispered to me: "Don't tell your dad, but the M.C flag is slightly higher than the American Flag. (We had already seen them from outside to notice this before my dad) If we tell him, he's going to want me to hang him from the house again." About a half hour later, my dad shows up at the pool, walking proud. I asked him if he happened to notice that the M.C. flag was higher? He announced that he had already fixed it! We are talking 1 inch at the most here people! I have to say that I'm proud to have a husband and a father that know the proper respect for flags! I would never have noticed. Here are his flags:


Later on, on our way home, we went to visit Michael's Father's grave in Orem. Michael is a little touchy about Memorial Day--he doesn't like to be told on a certain day that it's time to go feel sad by his Dad's grave. He likes to go there when it's quiet and when it's his idea. I talked him into it--I told him I wanted pictures of everyone, so he agreed. It was so beautiful! The sun shone on the cemetary and all the bright colors of flowers everywhere were stunning. The Orem Cemetary also has a large area of Veteran flags. I took photos of our baby, James Donl Peterson, on the grave of his wonderful grandfather, Harry Donl Peterson. He wanted to eat the flowers and slap the headstone with his hand, not understanding that he is touching his middle name. Maybe he does understand. . .Your grandfather would have loved to have known you Jamie!





All of our children missed out on the opportunity to know him on earth but understand they will see him someday. We love him and miss him so much!



As we were ready to leave, I turned to see Michael holding Jamie and whispering in his ear that he would have loved his grandpa and that we will see him again someday. I'm so glad we had the chance to go this year.

Mallory's Birthday

What a fun day this turned out to be! We were in the Utah Valley area for the weekend anyway for Nick's baseball tournament, so we decided to stay the whole time and celebrate Mallory's Birthday in Provo (it was on Memorial Day.)

My brother's little girl, Mila, was turning 5 on Sunday, so we decided to have a joint birthday/family party with the Christys on Sunday night. Mallory and Mila's great grandma, "Tutu" is what they call her, made a cake for each of them:



Of course it was fun to spend the evening with everyone and got some fun photos that I put on a slide show:

Everyone loved their food? We ordered strawberry pancakes, except Dad and Tutu--they ordered crepes. Papa and Grandma Lynne were just there for the party! Here is Jamie with a big piece of pancake in his mouth! (I think we can all assume that he likes it.)


Mallory got, (in order of unwrapping) softball wiffle balls, a Jazz t-shirt, an Aeropastale bag/shirt/flip flops.


Then, drum roll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a Cell phone! She almost passed out! She was shocked because we told her she had to wait until she was 12! I have never seen her love something so much. I don't regret it yet because here are some of her texts to me so far:

"Hi mom this is the best birthday ever"
"Yes im on the bus and thank u for giving the awesome treats everyone loved the gum that must have been expensive thanks i love u"
"Mom guess what I got soaked at feild day today i mean SOAKED it was so much fun!!!!!"
"Guess what i just about missed the bus i was 15 sec. away from missing it i think we walked a little more than 5 miles we could only stop for lunch and a little bit between for like 10 seconds though. IT WAS THE WORST FIELD TRIP EVER!!!!!!! i hated it so bad"
After asking if she hated it because it was hard, she answered:
"Heck yeah and it was so hot plus i got sunburned and cow poo got on my leg it was so disgusting"

Anyway, so I'm loving that she has a phone. I'm sure it will change and the fun will wear off, but for now, I have these photos to always remember the moment:





And finally, when we were finished with breakfast, we got back to grandmas and it was SUNNY! So we got about 2 1/2 hours of fun in the sun in the pool with a napping baby for mom to relax! Thanks Michael for entertaining everyone while I basked and talked. Jamie did get in and loved it before crashing for about an hour, snuggled in his towel.

FUN DAY! (We did also do some memorial day things, you'll have to read about them on the Memorial Day blog entry.)

Triathlons

I'm going to blog about Triathlons. I love them. A month ago, I wasn't sure I could do one this soon after the baby. I was feeling pretty down--having major hip soreness (so sore that I drove to Ogden to get a cortisone shot from a Orthopedic Dr. that is a friend that could get me in THAT DAY! Thanks, Dr. ________, whom I don't want to name in case it was illegal! Just kidding. Ouch by the way but it worked pretty well-got rid of the alarming pain-now just a dull ache but I've got to be very careful not to over do it with too many miles) I also have 5 more pounds to lose to pre-preg weight--just wasn't feeling competitive or worth much for the upcoming "Women of Steel" triathlon in AF. Wasn't really feeling like I was made of steel or any other tough material. Anyway, the night before the event when I drove the course, I starting feeling that little flicker of excitement--the Alpine Highway was nicely paved with a bike lane. Ok, at least this will be smooth--let's start with that. Well, even though the swimming was less than fun cuz the pool was about 90 degrees with hundreds of women in it, the rest was a surprize for me--I felt strong and motivated to do my best. I never know how I will feel about it until it gets started. My only hope is that my adrenaline will turn on and I will do my best. Well, I beat my training times by 10 minutes and got my best 5k time ever! That, for me, was all I needed to get excited again. Beating your best time is the best feeling in the world. I was excited for myself. Sometimes it's OK to be excited for yourself. Even though I won't probably do that event again--too many bikers at once and it was $100 for a short pool swim (LAME! Open lake swims are worth the $$ since it's something you can't really do on your own safely)--I'm at least grateful I did it cuz it got me jump started for more events this summer. Plus, getting a necklace instead of a medal was pretty cool, even though it was pretty cheap. . .and the shirts were sized too small--everyone was trying to upsize! Gosh, listen to me complain--but $100!!!! I must mention that the cans of ice cold Diet Coke at the finish line were AWESOME! Only at a Women's Tri. . .

Anyway, I want to blog about my "Friends," which is what my tri equipment has come to be. I'm kind of attached, appreciative really, to these little and big items that make all the difference. Plus, once I got started on my little project, I realized how useful it is to have them all photographed so when I get ready for the next tri, they are all there like a list. Handy. Man, there is a lot of stuff! I've added a few new things this year that have been great, although not essencial, to the collection. Now that I've used and loved them, they have become essential. Interesting how that works-kind of like cell phones.

Here we go:


1. Road Bike: I love you. You are awesome--the skinny tires that can hold 100 lbs. of air pressure and endless gears. You are so much faster than my mountain bike.
2. Helmet: I hate you. You are uncomfortable, but you are required. Maybe you will save my life someday, or from a traumatic brain injury, but for now, you take time to put on and bug my chin and mess up my hair. But you have pretty flowers.
3. Bike pump--this is necessary right before to make sure the tires are to their max.

4. Backpack--I use this to bike to the pool for training and also, for some venues, you have to bike from your car to the bike station. So everything has to fit!

5. Shoes (in order of use): Flip flops-necessary for some venues when getting to the transition area from the lake w/o hurting your feet on the gravel. (please don't make fun of my using the word "venue" but it's the only one that fits and they use that word in the event descriptions) Biking shoes (New this year!) Great investment--they snap into the pedals to allow better leg position and muscle effeciancy. Running shoes-just same old pals. . .
6. Special Towels: the "Megen" towel was given to me by my mom at Christmas when I was on the highschool swim team. Big, labeled, and treasured. The Barbie towel is thin, to eliminate bulk in the backpack, but usefull to wrap and dry my hair while I'm getting my bike stuff on.
7. Swim suit--Speedo type suits stay in place while swimming and are tight enough to sub as a jogging bra. Eventually, I will get a tri-suit but they are ugly so I'm putting that off for now.
8. Swim cap
9. Goggles
10. Biking shorts--New this year. Not flattering. I can't believe it took me this long to get these--they are so expensive! But worth it. It does feel like you are wearing a diaper. I didn't realize how much better your legs feel in these because the tight fabric holds your muscles closer to your bones and joints so they aren't flopping around.
11. GPS watch--New this year. I also put this little baby off for awhile--they have gone down in price a little. Michael surprized me with it for Christmas. Thanks Love of My Life! It helps you pace while biking and running. It does other stuff that I can't figure out or haven't tried. I'm kind of basic.
12. Water bottle: For water. A lot of bikers have two, but I stick with one so I'm not tempted to drink too much and want to hurl.
13. Food: Cliff energy "Blocks"--kind of like a big, square, soft fruit snack. These are new and I really like 'em. Hammer Gel--like gu and cliff shots. I hate it--it tastes and feels like swallowing thick, over sweetened caramel, but it was free.
14. Drugs: Generic Aleve. I love you. Sometimes I take Ibuprofin, but Aleve works better for my hip. Sport Legs is a supplement that the bike store owner let me try. It's suppossed to help the lactic acid build up. I think it's a bunch of crap but sometimes taking stuff like that gives you placebo confidence.
15. Driver's License. If you do not have this, you do not get your packet, which means you do not race. Tip: do not leave it in your backpack after the race and then lose your backpack. This makes getting ready for the airport 6 months later very stressful. Yes, I drove around for 6 months w/o my driver's lisence. Yes, we had to get a new one on the way to the airport. Yes, I found my backpack a week later after returning home.
16. Biking Gloves. Just nice and comfortable.
17. Wet Suit: (not pictured)--On it's way! I've borrowed them in the past; now I will own one. I will not look hot in it.
18. And finally, the bike rack. Thank you, Mr. Jeep seller that included this handy accessory with the transaction: (I'm so glad it fits our new vehicle also!)



There you have it--a giant list of equipment for the greatest sport on earth! Maybe this will help some of you prepare for your TRI!!!!! Any ideas from others would be appreciated by me.

Ok, one last piece of equipment and an entertaining story:

A couple of days ago, I was riding my bike home from swimming at the rec center, and was attacked by 3 big dogs. They didn't bite me but they surrounded my bike and knocked the front tire--thank goodness I had seen them and slowed down so I wouldn't hit them. My feet were clipped into the pedals so I felt completely helpless. I screamed and kept riding. Two hours later I called animal control who let me know the same 3 dogs had already been taken cuz they had attacked a runner an hour before. (I posted my dog attack on Facebook, and my friend, Lenise Mason, commented on my update that SHE was the RUNNER! They had attacked her twice, the second time running her into a barbed wire fence and cut her pretty bad!) These dogs have also attacked other runners, walkers and bikers. So they are gonners. So, the next day, Jen Rouska (I run and bike with her) and Liz Timothy show up on my door step with a present: Jogger Self Defense Spray!

The best part was the picture on the back to demonstrate: Kind of creepy.

Well, I took it a step further and did a little improvising and sent the following photo in a text to Jen:


Ok I'm done with this post now.

Jamie's New Stuff-7 months

Why haven't I been blogging? Because Jamie learned to crawl--pretty life changing for everyone. He's focused, he's calculating and he's fast! His favorite "hot spots" are our bedroom, trying to pull down the DVD player and TV by the cords and in the pantry he chews on the vacuum cord. He also loves the surge protector under the computer--all safe toys as you can see. But it's SO CUTE!!! I love his little body and face as he's on a quest. Here is a slide show of the crawling and the other 7 month happenings: (You just roll your cursor on the photo and the caption will pop up--that only took me 45 min. to figure out!)