Ben and Chels Go Hiking

This post is more for family than anything else, but I had to share this video Ben recently made for his little sister Chelsea. She's 9 years old and came to stay with us for a night during Christmas break. One morning I was asleep (having worked the night before) so Ben and Chelsea embarked on a hike to get out of the house.

This video melts my heart. Not only is Chelsea hilarious... but when I see what a good big brother Ben is, it makes me so excited to see what a good dad he'll be.

Enjoy it (cheesy music and all)!

Ben does it too...

When Ben and I first got married, I think he was surprised by how much I talk in my sleep. He even wrote a charming post about some things I said. However I recently found out that also has a sleep talking side.

The other morning I woke up at 4:30 am just starving (welcome to pregnancy). I told Ben I was going to grab something to eat and as I returned to bed after my snack he sleepily asked me,

"How was the tropical island honey? And did you find any lovely coconuts there?"

Why no honey I didn't :) And he has no memory of saying this. What I'd like to know is what kind of dreams spawn sleep-talking like that.

Pregnancy Chatter: 31 weeks

30 weeks- complete with facial swelling :)

Today I am at 31 weeks. We're moving toward the home stretch people. Mentally I think I'm pretty ready. Well... as ready as I can be to have my life completely change, forever. Physically we've still got a ways to go. Right now we're just working on how we're going to rearrange the den to fit a crib. If you've seen our den, you'd know that once we conquer that battle, having a baby wake us up every 2 hours will be no big deal.

It's been nice to cut down on work hours lately. Now I'm only part time, which means just two 12-hour shifts a week. It's much more manageable that way. And yesterday I tried on my first pair of TED hose (compression stockings) and loved them. I look like an old lady under my scrubs, but it is worth it to not finish a shift with the swollen legs I was getting before.

My sister Emily is also expecting and due in just a few weeks. You can click here to see all the ridiculous things people have been saying to her about how big she's getting. But on my end, people keep telling me how small I am. For example, "You're soooo tiny! Wow, you don't look that far along at all!" On days that I'm defensive I think, "Well I'm not starving myself lady. I average 3 milk shakes a week" (that is really true by the way). Or "I am only 5-feet tall. Do you think my body wants to push out a 9 pound baby?"

Truth is, you can't really say anything to a pregnant woman that won't offend. You're only safe with these three remarks (as taken from this blog):

You look great!

Would you like to sit down?

Can I get you a cookie?

There you have it. Three safe remarks that don't require you to stumble for words or back-track when the pregnant woman you've just offended begins to get teary-eyed.

In the meantime, I think I'll just get a shirt with one of these logos on it and save myself the confrontation (courtesy of www.cafepress.com).

I'm a Cougar

Turning 27 when your husband is still only 24 is a little disheartening. See, yesterday happened to be my 27th birthday and for 6 more months Ben is a young and vibrant 24. It's for this reason that he teasingly called me a "cougar" when we were dating (having just returned from my mission I had no idea what that word meant).

So for half the year we get to tell people that we're only two years apart- but until then it just appears that I used my age and wisdom to pull the wool over some poor 22-year-old's eyes. And if you're familiar with our story, I pretty much did.

However I'm willing to face the consequences. Because he's wonderful and my birthday yesterday was great.

Ben made me a crepe breakfast- and served me in bed.

For lunch I met my mom and Laura at Mimi's Cafe, then my mom came with me to Babies 'R' Us to look at cribs. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up the house and watching "House Hunters: Million Dollar Homes" on my computer (I'm in love with that show).

Once Ben got home from school we went to Communal for dinner. It's a new restaurant on University in downtown Provo. The food was absolutely delicious; it's a little pricey but all local and fresh. And you sit right next to strangers at a communal table. Luckily we got to sit by a nice old couple and they didn't come until half way through our dinner.

Sunday Ben's mom threw me a party. Landon and Liesl were even
here from Arizona. After dinner we hit a pink elephant pinata.

Landon broke it open.

And of course I had to put it on my head as a trophy.
It was full of candy and fun baby gifts. My mother-in-law thinks of everything.

Pregnant Husband's Support Group...

I thought this comic was so funny when Ben and I first got married. Doesn't it sum up the male/female relationship so well? What I've recently discovered is that when you add pregnancy, it takes this comic to a whole other level.

This comic describes the past 7 months of our life perfectly. With my pregnant emotions doubled, I've been prone to bursting into tears unexpectedly, getting heated over minute details and even completely changing my personality in 30 seconds flat. All I know is, in the Petersen household I'm caring enough hormones for all three of us.

As I shared this with my co-worker Shaun (whose wife is also pregnant for the first time), my experiences resonated with him. I mentioned he and Ben should chat, to which he replied, "We shouldn't just chat. We need a pregnant husband's support group". Apparently, I'm not such an anomaly.

But with my emotions the way they are, I haven't yet decided if that makes me feel better or not. Maybe I'll just think about it once I have the baby. Otherwise I may burst into tears while trying to decide.

Christmas Comes But Once a Year

Can you believe Christmas has already come and gone? Incredible. Every year gets better and better... and this year was no exception. I apologize that this post is sort of like a journal entry- but I just wanted to get it all down so I don't forget all the great things we did.

We started our celebrating on the 19th (Monday night) with a party at my parent's house. My mom always goes all out. There were presents EVERYWHERE and with 21 grandkids at the party it was quite the chaos. But we loved it. And unfortunately I forgot my camera.

Then after working during the week, Friday afternoon Ben and I drove up to Ogden to say hello to his dad and grandparents. We spent a few hours at their home talking, snacking, and enjoying their company, then drove to Morgan. Each year Ben's family does "Tea and Crumpets" with another family, The Wheelwright's. It's a musical showcase where everyone can perform a Christmas musical number. Since there are a few piano prodigies in both the Petersen and Wheelwright families, it was a really beautiful musical experience. We also performed the nativity- I had the honor of playing pregnant Mary this year :)

We slept Friday night at Ben's mom home then woke up Christmas Eve morning and talked to Ben's brother Sammy in Guatemala on his mission. He sounds like he's doing so great. It brought so many memories of my own mission. And then, since Ben's little sister is only 9, we had to open gifts before we ate or did anything else.

Chelsea got me a pair of Christmas earrings. I love how excited she is in this picture as I open her gift to me.

And of course Ben's mom got us some adorable clothes for the baby. A few days before Christmas I told Ben that we'd probably be getting some baby clothes for Christmas to which he half-jokingly responded, "Lame". Ha ha. But he loved getting the clothes just as much as I did.

After a wonderful Christmas breakfast provided by Jane we snuggled up on the couch and watched Christmas cartoons.

That afternoon Ben and I drove back to Provo so we could spend Christmas Eve together. My mom and dad stopped by momentarily but the rest of the night Ben and I snacked, watched "What's Up Doc?" and relaxed. It was a great Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning we woke up about 8 am. I was so excited for Ben to open his presents. He is so great- he made me a shelf for the freezer (since I didn't have one and everything fell out when you opened it) and also got me a Kindle touch. I got him a new winter coat and (since he asked for a toy last year) two Nurf guns. We also got a tripod for our camera as a family gift.

I had planned on making a delicious Christmas breakfast of buttermilk scones, but I forgot to proof my yeast and the dough I made decided not to rise. I may have cried (being pregnant I cry about just everything) but Ben lovingly took me in his arms and told me not to worry about it. He said, "We'll just have unleavened scones this Christmas!" Unfortunately the dough wasn't even good for that, but he made me laugh and I got over it. Good thing Ben's mom had sent us with leftovers from the day before.

Church was great- very spiritually uplifting with musical numbers and scriptures. And it only lasted 45 minutes. We left and Ben said, "That was like an advertisement for the Catholics!" After we had Kneader's french toast at the Pahl's, a family in our ward, then visited Laura and Gordon. Ben always loves going to Laura and Gordon's on Christmas because there are always fun toys to play with.

After a nap, the rest of the day was spent visiting a few families in our ward and then sitting by the Christmas tree talking. We realize that this is our last year without children at Christmas so we just spent time together, enjoying the quiet and each others company.

Christmas = marital compromise

What happens when a husband and wife can't agree on a picture for the Christmas card at the end of the year? If you're Ben and I, it may mean you end up using a picture of you both standing by a cannon at Gettysburg. Why? Really there's no good explanation, especially since said cannon is aimed directly at my head.


But when all is said and done, Christmas is about compromise isn't it? I'm proud to say we made this card together without a single disagreement. 'Tis the season to pick your battles (no pun intended).

Merry Christmas!