Meet the Petersens

We are closed

2009-01-04T23:18:00.002-07:00

Hey all. So the time has finally come to shut this sucker down and head for...uh... another pasture. For quite awhile we were pondering what to name the new blog, and you, our viewers, made yourselves heard loud and clear in our online poll. As you probably saw, thesneakypetes won by a clear and decisive majority.

So.

Please join me as we bid farewell to the center of Spencer's universe and move on to thesneakypetes.blogspot.com. If you have us bookmarked or there's a link to us on your blog or anything of that nature, probably you're going to want to update that. Don't be strangers!

Santa came to town

2008-12-31T21:25:00.015-07:00

And wouldn't you know it, he brought presents for two good little boys. Spencer was so excited, he woke up at 3 a.m. searching for his apple and insisting he needed daddy to wait for Santa with him. (This boy LOVES apples, apparently so much that he dreams about them.) When it was time to get up much later, Spencer tore right into all the loot he found under the tree.

Ironically, the present he saved to open last was the also the one he wanted the very most (or so we thought), and by then he insisted he was done opening presents and just wanted to play with his cars. We managed to coax him into tearing it open.... and of course he immediately remembered that oh yes, he DID ask Santa for a basketball hoop!

Jack did not get more fingers. Instead, Santa brought him a fun busy station for his crib. As you can see, he was enthralled.

We braved the impending storm and headed north to the Cache Valley for family visits and still more presents. Spencer had double-duty opening for himself and Jack, so by the time we reached the end, he was totally burned out. He just wanted to play with his cars. Man, if I'd known that was coming, I could have saved us a lot of money.

As promised by the weatherman, we got dumped on by snow, snow, and still more snow. So we made the proverbial lemonade and went sledding. The hill next to my parents' house is perfect for little boys about the size of a Spencer, so we started out there. Day 2 took us down the road to the big hills. Spencer insisted he wanted to go to the top; we did not let him. After several runs from about 1/4 of the way up the hill, we convinced him to stay at the bottom and make snow angels.

This picture was taken about 2 seconds before he realized that it was, um, COLD.

Jack stayed behind in the warm house to look at the Christmas tree lights and get loved on by sweet Mckenzie. Later he decided to take a snoozer with his daddy. You can see it took a lot of convincing on Jack's part to get Ryan to settle down.

We're looking forward to a great new year with a great new blog... stay tuned for the big reveal. And we send out a big CONGRATULATIONS to Ammon, Kristen, and Campbell on the arrival of their lovely little Isla Belle. We can't wait to meet her!

SANTA!! I know him!!!

2008-12-21T20:35:00.015-07:00

We had two (count 'em, TWO) opportunities to see Santa this week. Spencer was pretty much the luckiest kid ever, mostly because he was thisclose to not getting a darn thing for Christmas just before our first trip to visit Santa. But he managed to pull out his mighty 3-yr-old charm just in the nick of time.

Santa came to Ryan's office on Friday for their big holiday bash. After our visit with him a few days prior, where he was a total champ and climbed right up onto that knee, he surprised us the second time around by turning on the tears. He clung to daddy with all his might but we finally coaxed him onto Santa's lap. Then he rattled off the list.....

"I want a basketball hoop, and lots and lots of race cars,
and a monster truck, and a ROCKET!"

In return, he received a candy cane and a little gift bag full of chocolate candy, another candy cane, and .... wait for it.... a monster truck!! Wow, that Santa is one smart cookie.

I couldn't resist snapping a picture of how he organized his treats. Spencer is WAAAAY into sorting and organizing these days. Maybe I should put him in charge of our closets, hmmm.

Jack missed out on the first Santa opportunity, as he decided it was more important to sleep. Can't argue with that logic. But we managed to snap a photo with Santa #2. And he didn't even cry.... what a tough kid.

I expect if he could talk, he would have asked for more fingers to suck and chew on, since that seems to be his favorite thing to do these days. See for yourself:

Spencer's engaged....?

2008-12-21T20:30:00.002-07:00

I know what you're thinking.... "Isn't he a little young? Is this an arranged marriage?" Yes, it is an arranged marriage - orchestrated by Spencer and Lily.

Our dear friends, the Richardsons, were rolling through town yesterday so we met up with them for some dinner. They lived across from us in Tulsa, so Brooke and I were law school widows together and their daughter Lily was Spencer's first little friend. He was so, so excited to see her. At some point during our meal, Lily turned to Spencer and said "I'm going to get married in the temple. Do you want to marry me?" Spencer immediately responded "Okay!"

Spencer and his "fiancee", Miss Lily

Here you can see the adoration in his eyes.
Don't they make a lovely couple?

They even sealed the deal with a kiss! We caught them hugging, then they lined up their little faces to plant a wet one on each other. How sad was I that I didn't get the camera out in time. Spencer turned to us and said "we gived kisses!" Ah, the sweet innocence of youth.

Sweet baby smiles

2008-12-08T15:46:00.011-07:00

Jack started smiling a couple weeks ago and ever since, he's been sharing his sweet little toothless grin with everyone he meets.

This was my first attempt to capture his first little smiles on camera.... and yes, I'm fully aware there's a bat in the cave (that was especially for you, Ben).

Just add a little wink and he's sure to get all the ladies.

Then Spencer realized I had the camera out and insisted I take a picture of him dancing in his diaper. So here you go. I believe he's exhibiting his "rock star moves".

I'm ready for preschool!

2008-12-08T15:41:00.003-07:00

A subsequent inspection of his backpack revealed all the essentials:
his shoes and his precious blankie.

We are thankful

2008-11-30T21:22:00.009-07:00

After many years of absence, we were finally able to spend Thanksgiving with the Madsen/Reese crew again. The table was beautifully laid out with the traditional paper plates and cups, but Spencer's eye caught a little blue lawn chair hiding in the corner. Although it was decidedly too small for him to sit in it at the big table, he insisted that he needed it. So we set him up at his very own kid's table.And there he enjoyed his vegetarian Thanksgiving feast. I say vegetarian because although I loaded him up with ham and turkey, all he ate were the olives, celery, carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes. Oh, and more olives.

The real fun came when we broke out the games..... I'm telling you, you haven't lived until you've played Curses. I thought I was going to die laughing. By the way Ben, are you satisfied with your long distance service?

On Friday night we made our way to the Jazz game with my folks, Ben, Beth, and Beth's BFF Brittany. Jack stayed behind with Auntie Christy and boy were we glad, especially when the fireworks started. We were up in the bleeders but hey, we got free hot dogs and had a fantastic bird's eye view of the game. Thanks for a very fun time, Grandpa!

How can you possibly stop to smile for the camera when there is a game going on, not to mention popcorn.

Spencer was so, so excited for the game that we made a countdown calendar so he would know when it was time to go. Of course it backfired when he tore the rest of the chains down with 2 days to go.

We do actually take pictures of Jack too

2008-11-20T21:20:00.006-07:00

Poor Jack has been totally neglected on the blog. So, in an effort to rectify that situation, here are a bunch of pictures of our new little guy. He's already changed so much in the last 7 weeks, and his 2-month-old photo shoot is right around the corner. It goes way too fast, I tell you. I've tried to put the photos in chronological order, so you can see how much he's grown.

At the ready with his fists, just in case Spencer pulls a fast one.

Not much can compare with the bouncy chair and a mouth full of binky.

There seems to be a puppy on my head.

Brand new be-bo! And check out that bicep... "I will punch you in the face!"

Tummy time progress: on the left, he's almost 1 month old; the one on the right was taken 1 1/2 weeks later.

And just a few days after that, he's trying to roll over. Impressively, he's managed to shoot himself over to his back several times already, and he's not even screaming as he does it.

In our Petersen family tradition, I snapped Jack's one month old picture with his designated stuffed animal. I actually chose Pooh, but Spencer insisted he needed Wilbur. "Look pig, it's baby Jack!" (Props to Grandma Madsen for the quilt... the reverse side is zebra stripes, which Jack loooooves to stare at.)

Hanging out at Spencer's birthday party, baffled as to why his brother seems to have stolen the spotlight AGAIN.

We're pretty sure he sneaks outside to stuff his cheeks full of acorns for the winter, though we haven't yet caught him in the act.

Ah bathtime, when you can pee completely unrestrained. (At least until someone slaps a washcloth right over you.)

I do believe that is a hint of a smile. He must have been dreaming about puppies... or maybe barfing all over me again.

Brace yourself for shock: Spencer snapped this one. I know, not only is it in focus, but he somehow managed to actually get Jack IN the picture.

So there you have it. An ode to our sweet little baby who eats like a horse and sleeps like a dream! I was watching John McCain on Leno recently and he said he's sleeping like a baby.... he wakes up every 2 hours to cry. I can't even tell you how relieved and ecstatic I am that Jack has been consistently sleeping for 6-7 hours straight at night already - which, I guess, is one of the benefits to having a HUGE baby. The problem is that he goes down around 8, which means he's waking up at 3 am. Yes, we need to work on that.

Spencer vs. the hippity hop

2008-11-19T10:35:00.003-07:00

Spencer got a ton of fantastic presents for his birthday, one of which was a hippity hop ball from Uncle Heath, Auntie Teri, and Mckenzie. Once he figured out how to mount it, he was nearly unstoppable. The ball eventually got the better of him and bucked him right off. Forgive the grainy quality of this video....and the lack of sound. But if there was sound, you would be hearing Spencer say "hippity hop, hippity hop" as he bounces all over.

At first we overinflated the ball a bit, which caused a little difficulty for Spencer in mounting it. That hilarity is on the video camera and unfortunately, not post-able on the blog. :(

My thoughts on the election

2008-11-10T21:55:00.004-07:00

So it's been a crazy week at work (don't ask, it's a long and VERY depressing story), and I haven't really had time to sit down and put down my thoughts on the election yet. Rachel has rightly accused me of being the political junkie in the family and I wanted to put down my thoughts on the recent presidential election and politics in general these days. I'm afraid this might be long, so you can stop now and I won't be offended.

I know this is going to come as a HUGE shock to everyone who reads this, but my political leanings are definitely on the conservative side of the scale. Let me be clear, conservative does not necessarily mean Republican. Although I generally vote Republican when it comes election time, and this year was no different, I am learning more and more that the Republicans have forgotten what it means to be Conservative. I am not a fan of John McCain, but in this election, given my choices, I felt that his views lined up closer to my own political beliefs than those of President Elect Obama's. I will admit that I went into the voting booth this year and "plugged my nose" when I voted. Rachel hit it right on the head with her analysis of the two candidates. If you missed her sack vs. bag analogy you should scroll down and check it out. Pure genius.

First off, the Republican party deserved to lose this election, and I'm surprised they didn't lose by a bigger margin. I'm sorry, but if a 72 year old John McCain was the best and brightest that this party could come up with then it's no wonder that the Republican party got beat. For a number of years now the Republicans have gone to Washington and forgotten that they are the party of smaller government, cutting spending, and lower taxes. Over the last few years they began spending like trust fund babies who have never had to think about money before. Pork barrel spending, always a problem in Washington, has become an epidemic. Sure the Republicans press issues like national defense, and social issues like abortion, but the federal budget increased every year over the past eight years. The Democrats have only had control of Congress for two years. The nation decided that it was better to elect Democrats who acted like Republicans, the so-called "blue dog" Democrats, than it was to elect Republicans who acted like Democrats. Honestly, I really don't blame people for voting for the Democrats, especially given what the Republicans have been up to. The Republican party needs to do some serious soul searching and realize that for the party to succeed they have to not only talk the talk, but also walk the walk. They have no one to blame but themselves.

The Republican party has gotten away from everything that makes the Republicans appealing to the nation. They claim they are for lower taxes, which is great, but they still haven't figured out that you can't cut taxes and increase spending. They can't add earmarks to bills just to make their own district happy without having funds to pay for these projects. That is simply a recipe for disaster. For some reason the Republicans decided it was okay to spend money they didn't have, and were not guaranteed to receive. The other thing that the Republicans quit doing was providing a vision of where they wanted the nation to go. They got caught up in the attitude that it was better to complain about the other sides ideas than it was to come up with new ideas of their own.

This is why I think President Elect Obama's message was so appealing to so many people. The Democrats were able to provide someone who was young, intelligent, eloquent, and knew how to work the media and a crowd. He came preaching a message of change. I still believe that he is all form and no substance, but unfortunately that is the state of the nation these days. We're all form, and all about instant gratification. Nobody wants to seem to take the time to look past the form to realize that as of right now there is very little substance to the man we elected president. In a nation of instant opinions and sound bites the choice became one of new, young and hip, vs. old, out of touch, and Washington insider. Never mind the fact that the new young guy picked an insider to run with, and the insider picked someone who truly represented change, and had brought real change to the state she is running. I'm not going to blame McCain's loss of the election on "the media", but I will say that the cult of personality that surrounds President Elect Obama began very early on in his campaign and was fueled a great deal by the media coverage he got. I really do think the Republican's deserved to lose the election, but now they have to have the courage to look themselves in the mirror and own up to the fact that they put themselves in the position they are now in.

So now we have President Elect Obama. He is now my president. I will support him when I agree and I will oppose him when I do not, but I will always respect the office. I will not always agree, in fact it will probably be pretty rare, but I will always respect the office. I get very angry when I hear the president, no matter who it is, referred to by his last name, or some nickname like "dubya". I don't care how much you dislike the man, you should always respect the office.

It is our duty as Americans to participate in the process of politics. When we disagree with a proposal, or a specific policy, speak up. Make your voice heard, but at the same time, you need to realize that sometimes things don't go your way and you need to work within the framework that exists at the time. Just because you don't like a policy doesn't mean that you should ignore it, or violently protest. Work within the system, get involved, participate. I always say "if you don't vote you have no right to complain".

I want this nation to be successful. I want this president to have a successful four years in office, because it means that this nation will have had a successful four years. I really do believe, like President Regan, that America is the shining city on the hill. This nation represents the best that this world has to offer. We may not always agree on the issues, but we will always be Americans. I think my biggest frustration over the last few years is the lack of respect on both sides of the issues. The nation seems to have lost the ability to rationally discuss differences without sinking to the level of simply calling the other side stupid.

It is frustrating seeing people who disagree simply start personally attacking someone because they disagree. Those who oppose the President by degrading the office because they somehow feel justified only weaken their argument. The problem is that both sides have decided this is the best course of action. My biggest complaint about the Democratic party is that they seem to have absolutely no respect for those who disagree with them, and the amount of hypocrisy I see displayed when they encounter opposition blows my mind. For a party that proclaims that they are the party of tolerance and acceptance they sure don't seem to have much of it for those with opposing views. They are still complaining about the 2000 election, and refuse to accept the fact that President Bush was elected to that office twice. They are constantly coming up with excuses as to why they lost the elections, but they never think it was their fault. Both sides need to accept more responsibility for their actions, and stop trying to blame someone else for their problems, or the failure of a proposal.

For the next four years we will have President Obama leading this nation. I will be praying for his health and success. He needs our prayers, and this nation needs to be successful. In four years I will be praying that the person who runs against him will have a clear vision of conservative principles, and will be able to clearly articulate those principles and provide a clear vision for this country. I really hope the Republican party makes the changes that they need to make so that they can provide a strong, credible opponent, who can inspire the nation not only with flash, but also with substance.

So those are my initial thoughts on the election. Yes, I know it's a novel. I hope it wasn't too boring for you all, but I needed to get it off my chest. We all know the real reason you check out this blog, and it's not for politics. Rachel will soon be posting more stories and pictures of our wonderful children, but we're giving you a chance to participate in our little political process. Use the poll on the right side of the screen and vote for your favorite choice of what our new blog name should be. We have to change the address because we don't want Jack to feel left out.

Kids say the darndest things

2008-11-08T19:25:00.003-07:00

If you've ever watched Noggin with your little one, I'm sure you know Moose A. Moose and his silly songs. Our current favorite is "Everywhere I Go". Spencer sings little phrases from this one pretty much all day long. Today it went a little something like this:

"Cows are the moo-iest, gum is the chew-iest... I not the poo-iest"

Nothing like a little improvisation, although I believe the credit for that last part goes to Spencer's dad. Thanks a lot, Ryan.

Yet another virtual tag

2008-11-07T20:01:00.002-07:00

Apparently I was tagged again.... that'll teach me to read my friends' blogs. A pox on your head, Jen!

3 names I answer to: Rachel, Mommy, Auntie Rachel

3 restaurants I like: Mimi's, Ottavio's, Old Grist Mill

3 trips I have planned for the rest of the year: Logan, the grocery store, grandma's house. Suddenly I'm very sad. Except for going to grandma's house, because that's one of my favorite places to be.

3 things I really want: new non-carpet flooring in the dining room, a free lifetime pass to Disneyland, and double my income (but two times zero is still zero, so fat lot of good that would do).

3 pets I have/had: Malone the dog, Gloria the parakeet, and a bunch of cats when I was 6 and didn't know any better

3 things I did yesterday: laundry, cooked dinner, took Spencer to preschool

3 things I ate today: cereal, candy, and salad. I'm pretty sure the salad cancels out the candy.

3 fears I have: fish, spiders, and snakes

3 things I plan to do/did today: more laundry, take Spencer to the doctor, a nap

3 things I plan to do tomorrow: exercise, roast hot dogs at G&G's, buy diapers

3 holidays I love: 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and my kids' birthdays

3 beverages I like: water, chamomile tea, hot chocolate

3 people I tag: NONE! If you want to do it, be my guest. I'm a little gunshy about tagging after Catrina called me out for calling her out....

Whirlwind weekend of celebration!

2008-11-06T22:23:00.027-07:00

Holy cow, what a weekend we had. You can tell it pretty much sucked the life right out of me since here we are, nearly a week later, and I'm finally getting around to posting the pics. Just a warning... this is a long post. If you make it to the end, you are to be commended.

Ammon, Kristen, and Campbell flew in just in time for Halloween. We took the kiddos up to Cornbellys (yes, again) for some good old fall fun, complete with a trip through the corn maze, a very bumpy hay ride, and we even got a couple of pumpkins.
Spencer and Campbell made their way through the little maze of hay bales, and Grandma managed to find her way out of the corn maze, even without a helicopter.

The bumpiest hay ride ever.

Poor Kristen nearly went into labor and Jack may have shaken baby syndrome. Then the driver told us it was actually the least bumpy ride he'd had all day. Yikes.

Ammon tried to get the boys to do something a little Halloween-y by taking them over to the scary haunted creature. We witnessed this event from afar, and all we saw was the 3 boys headed to the dinosaur (or whatever the crap it is), a brief pause upon arrival, then Campbell and Spencer took off running. Turns out they were too sissy.

After dinner, we got our trick-or-treat on. Spencer and Campbell monkeyed it up together, and Miss Mckenzie was the cutest little lion you've ever seen. Kristen had the BEST pregnant lady costume ever - a skeleton with a baby skeleton on the belly.
After a little tutorial from Kristen, and Spencer and Campbell caught on to the "knock on the door and hold out your bucket" concept pretty quickly, although Spencer was also trying to just walk right into the house and make himself at home.

....and Jack stayed home to rock-a-bye with Grandma Reese.

On Saturday, birthday boy Spencer was the center of attention. In true independent 3-yr-old fashion, he bucked the spotlight in favor of riding the tricycle all around the driveway.

The rest of us sat around the fire,

jumped on the trampoline,

carved pumpkins,

and played in the leaves.

I managed to convince Spencer to join the festivities for about 15 seconds at a time. He finally decided frolicking in the leaves was an acceptably fun activity.

But probably his favorite parts of the evening were opening presents (of course) and his super special Lightning McQueen birthday cake!! Which, by the way, he did not eat. Again. (No, I did not make it... that's what the bakery at Target is for.)

Sunday was Jack's special day, though for him it seemed to be business as usual - eat, sleep, poop, and not necessarily in that order. But I'm sure he loved all the extra arms around to hold him and love him while I was chasing around like a headless chicken. He cried through pretty much the whole blessing. Ryan said it perfectly: the fussy kid, Spencer, was quiet and calm all through his blessing, and the quiet, calm, mellow baby, Jack, cried for his. Oh, the irony. We managed to snap a few family pictures while everyone was gathered - no small feat for this crew.

The Petersens, minus Auntie Erin and Spencer who insisted he did not need his picture taken

The Madsen crew, minus Uncle Pace who's in Russia. I think this is the first time we've had this many together for a picture in about...3 years? Maybe even longer. And of course, the group just keeps on growing!
Four generations!

All four cousins together AND most of them looking up, wow.And last but not least....
Our little family

Thanks to all our family and friends for coming down, up, and all around to support us and celebrate with us. We love you!

A belly of laughs and a barrell of fun at Cornbelly's!

2008-11-06T22:08:00.002-07:00

Nana, Papa, and Auntie Erin came down the weekend before Halloween to play with us at Cornbelly's. The weather was fantastic and the crowds were actually manageable, especially compared to the Scarecrow Festival madness of the week before.

Spencer actually consented to having a picture taken next to the pumpkin measuring stick. I believe Mickey's ears put him somewhere just above 3 feet tall, although it's hard to say where exactly he reaches since he's also standing on a pile of cords.

No trip to Cornbelly's is complete without a ride in the cow train.

Spencer wanted to spend most of his time playing in the "rocket", which was actually a giant playhouse with a slide (which he never did ride because of the ladder you had to climb to get on it). I finally managed to lure him over to the big slide and after a few tears and trepidation, he went down on his own. Then we couldn't get him away from it.

Papa taught Spencer the fine art of roping a pair of bullhorns. They even managed to catch that rascally bull once or twice.

Once again, Jack was a champ. He put up with being toted and carted around, making himself comfortable in everyone's arms while Ryan and I chased after Spencer. But hey, that's what grandmas and grandpas are for, right?

"We have lost one of our very, very best": Remembering Tim Russert

2008-11-04T10:30:00.006-07:00

Election day is finally here. Normally tonight we would have an election party where we invite all our friends over to sit around and watch as the results are predicted and posted. But this year, there just doesn't seem to be much to celebrate, no matter who wins. A sack of crap versus a bag of poop, because frankly... it's going to stink either way.

This election day, I mourn the loss of Tim Russert. Tonight I shall miss his sharp analysis and his white marker board. I'm not the political junkie that Ryan is, not by a long shot, but I still can't think of anyone who could fill his shoes (even though Tom Brokaw took over Meet the Press, it still isn't the same). In 2000, he declared "it all comes down to Florida" and boy, was he right. Although I think we all know that if Al Gore had carried his home state of Tennessee, it wouldn't have been the huge issue that it became... but that's another story entirely. In 2004, he showed us the trifecta of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, and predicted later in the evening that Ohio would determine the winner. Wouldn't you know it, he hit the nail right on the head. Earlier in this election season, before his untimely death, he predicted the battleground states would be New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada. We shall soon find out if he was right again.

They say the mark of a truly unbiased journalist is that you can't tell what their personal views are. So it was with Tim, although I understand he was in fact a liberal. It was impossible to tell though, because he never had an agenda... he just had the guts to ask everyone the hard questions. It seems I once heard him say that he believed his job was to find out where his interview subject stood on the issues, then take the opposite side. This he did with, I think, fantastic success.

I'm sure we'll keep an eye on the returns tonight anyhow. We'll watch and roll our eyes and yell at the TV and switch between five different channels to see what all the pundits are saying. Then we'll eventually resign ourselves to the inevitable, whatever it happens to be. I will go to bed and Ryan will stay up to see the final results, assuming we don't end up with another Florida fiasco. But there will be a gaping hole where Mr. Russert and his dry erase marker should be. And so it is with sadness and deep respect that I say...

Farewell, oh mighty Tim.

You'd think Thanksgiving Point is the only place we ever go. . .

2008-10-26T21:39:00.024-06:00

. . .and you'd probably be right. We hit the Scarecrow Festival there with Auntie Teri and Mckenzie last week.... it was a freakin' zoo. I totally forgot it was UEA that weekend, which, if you don't know, stands for Utahns Entering Anaheim. Apparently about a gazillion people didn't get that memo though, and they all went to Thanksgiving Point instead. A few highlights from the Festival:

We spent most of the day in the toddler play area, since most of the kiddos we were there with are just little. Every time I tried to get Spencer to go do something else, he would say "No! I just want to stay here and play with all the really fun toys!" As if we don't have a houseful of toys at home. To be fair though, we do not have cool ride-on toys or a little lawnmower.

I finally managed to tear him away for a train ride with Teri, Mckenzie, and all our other friends:

And a really fun game of "throw the ball into the can".
He actually did get the ball into one of the red cans, which was his color as designated by the "color wheel", and landed himself a very cool spider back-scratcher toy.

"I WON!"

It seems I underestimated the weather, which would normally mean it was colder than expected. No no, let the record show that on Friday, October 17, it was bordering on hot. Poor Spencer was roasting in his new favorite long-sleeved football shirt, hence the flushed little cheeks you see in pretty much every picture.

Poor Jack just had to watch it all from the sidelines. Better luck next year, pal. He didn't seem to mind though, with Auntie Teri and her sister Christy around to snuggle with him.

And wouldn't you know it, we didn't take a single picture with an actual scarecrow. I blame the toddler play area and, of course, my failing memory.

Spencer's first field trip!

2008-10-26T21:07:00.007-06:00

Spencer's preschool class went on their first field trip a couple weeks ago to Macey's! I know what you're thinking. "They went to the grocery store? Okay...." So allow me to explain. During that week, they had been learning about community helpers. What community is complete without a killer grocery store?? So we got a behind-the-scenes look. The kids were a little lost on the "wall of savings" and other technical points our tour guide touched on, but throw in a free cookie and BAM! Instant attention. Macey's is Spencer's fave grocery store anyway, because if you've been a good boy, you can get a sucker at the checkstand.

We learned all about the bakery, the different fruits and vegetables in the produce department, some weird and rather disgusting "meats" you can find at the butcher counter, and did you know some chickens make brown eggs?? Oh yes, it was fascinating.

We got to go into 2 refrigerators and the freezer, although Spencer declined to enter the freezer. Here in the dairy fridge, our guide showed the kids how they could look through the case to see people shopping, which they thought was pretty funny. Spencer got too cold and bolted.

In the produce fridge, they showed us how just like your fridge at home, when you close the door..... the light goes off! Oh man, if only you could have seen their panicked little faces. But not to worry, the door was only closed for about 1 second.

Besides the cookies, the other hit of the trip was when we went to the bank branch and they got to talk to the teller on the TV. Even better, she sent them stickers through the magical tube.

Out of the mouths of babes

2008-10-24T23:17:00.003-06:00

Last night we were eating some yummy pasta and vegetable soup my dad made. It was a little on the spicy side and getting Spencer to even take a bite was pretty difficult. When he finally did, this is what ensued:

Spencer, looking rather unsure about the contents of his mouth.

Ryan: Wow, is that yummy soup or what?

Spencer: Or what.

We didn't make him eat any more after that.

Finally, some new pictures

2008-10-20T21:22:00.000-06:00

You'd think that with a brand spankin' new baby, life would slow down a bit around here. Ah... I wish. Not so much when you have a Spencer. This week we went on a field trip to Macey's (yes, the grocery store) with Spencer's preschool class, we hit the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point, and over the weekend we headed to Cache Valley to celebrate Mckenzie's birthday/Heath & Teri's new house.

So today.... I'm just posting some pictures of the kiddos. More about our recent adventures later.

Uncle Ben and Auntie Christy came down last weekend to meet Jack. Of course Spencer got in on the action too.

Spencer "helped" us give Jack a bath... Jack wasn't so sure about the whole process, as you can tell by the dubious expression on his face.

Post-bath: Jack happy and Jack angry... guess which is which.

Check out the rolls on those arms!

Fast asleep in his favorite position, which is pretty much anything as long as he's being held.

Baby blessing and birthday weekend extravaganza

2008-10-16T13:51:00.003-06:00

Yes, I know I'm super delinquent in updating this here blog (and getting the new one running, for that matter). If you came for pictures today, I'm sorry to disappoint. Better luck tomorrow, or perhaps later tonight, depending on my sanity level.

To all those out there that are interested, here's the lowdown on Jack's upcoming baby blessing. We are planning to bless him on Sunday, November 2 at 11 am. The church is basically across the street from our house.... 1230 South 500 East (no, it's not the one on the corner of 800 South and 400 East that you pass on the way to our house).

We are also celebrating Spencer's 3rd birthday on Saturday, November 1. Details shall be forthcoming.... probably though it will be a family affair similar to last year with the pumpkin carving and the hot dog roasting, if the weather cooperates. And since Spencer won't even eat cake, but he loves ice cream, I'm thinking Baskin Robbins is my new favorite cake maker (sorry, Christy....).

You make the call

2008-10-08T16:27:00.005-06:00

Alright, I'm going to post two pictures, one of Jack, one of Spencer. I'm not saying which is which. We've been accused of cloning Spencer, so I thought I'd provide evidence and you can decide for yourself.

You be the judge! :)

Meeting the fam

2008-10-06T21:05:00.014-06:00

One of the perks we've been experiencing with Jack that we didn't get with Spencer is all the visitors! We love that our family and friends can just pop in. But if you do come visit, please ignore the tornado that is Spencer and the utter devastation of the living room that he leaves in his wake.

Jack getting loves from Great Grandma & Grandpa Reese (better known as G&G).....

.... Uncle Cam and Auntie Bethy.....

... Grandma and Grandpa Madsen (and Spencer)....

.... and Nana, Papa, and Auntie Erin.

(um... pay no attention to that time stamp.... clearly it is wrong)

This weekend we're looking forward to a visit from Uncle Ben and Auntie Christy! You're coming, right???

Introducing...Jack Thomas Petersen

2008-09-29T23:20:00.005-06:00

Alright, so I'm taking over the responsibility of posting this tonight so bear with me. You're not going to get the witty writing you've come to expect from Rachel, and I'm not nearly as funny.

After about a week of waiting, impatiently, Jack Thomas Petersen has made his grand entrance into the world. We went to the hospital this morning about six and Jack showed up at 3:54 p.m. Here is the kicker, he was 9 lbs. 4 oz. and 19" long. Talk about a chunk. To give you an idea of what Rachel went through, Spencer was 6 lbs 8 oz. and 19" long. Of course Spencer was a few days early, and Jack was 8 days overdue. Jack is very healthy, and has already impressed me with a couple of VERY full diapers. I'm afraid we're in for a lot more of those. Just think gooey, green pudding. Lots of gooey green pudding. There's a visual for you all. :)

Both mommy and baby are doing fine. Spencer got over his initial aprehension and has been great with the baby. When he holds him his voice gets very high pitched and he says stuff like "look at him, he's so tiny!" The quote of the night from Spencer came after we fed Jack a bottle. Spencer and I were in the hallway and Spencer said to me "Does baby Jack need to drink some more glue?" Umm....no. It does smell pretty nasty, and that bottle does look like a glue bottle, but no, we do not feed the baby glue....yet. :)

Alright, here's what you've been waiting for. Pictures...

Brand new baby. 9 lbs 4 oz. Future linebacker.

Why do you have to keep shining these bright lights on me. Seriously?

I'm already bored with playng with Spencer. Can I take a nap please?

Mommy and the baby

Don't you dare drop me. I'll sue you so fast your head will spin.

In other news, now that Jack is finally here we're going to be creating a new blog, with a new name so that he doesn't feel left out. Don't worry, Rachel will do most of the writing on that one as well, so it will be much more entertaining than anything I can do.

Mean kids and clueless moms

2008-09-26T15:18:00.003-06:00

I decided to take advantage of these last few days (hours, maybe? Hopefully?) I have to spend with Spencer before the baby comes, so this morning we went down to the park at the library. My first thought was to take him to the "purple park" that we always drive past on the way to and from preschool and is actually closer to our house. Oh... how I wish I'd gone with that instinct.

Spencer was happily playing on the slide and climbing all over everything he could pull himself up on. He even found a few other kiddos to run around with. Then he ventured over to the huge pine tree that is, unfortunately, the kid magnet of the park. They crawl under the branches into quite possibly the coolest fort ever. I hate it when he goes in there. I can't see him, I can't reach him if he gets hurt, and if he ventures out the other side, it pretty much leads right into the road. Today there were a couple of other little boys in there. Of course I didn't think much of it. And then I heard screaming, followed by "no, don't hit me, don't hit me!" I raced over to the tree and peeled the branches back to see Spencer backed into the proverbial corner, hugging his arms to himself, fear and tears all over his little face.

There was no other mother around, and I for one am not about to sit by and watch a bully get away with this sort of crap. It was obvious who the perpetrator was.... always the first one to point the finger away from himself (which he did when I asked what was going on and who was hitting). I told him to stop hitting Spencer and hitting is not okay. Of course it was at this point that his mommy showed up and chewed me out for telling her kid not to hit because, after all, "they're just kids". Yes, that is what she said. And that makes it okay, I asked? "No, but...." Yeah, no buts. I don't put up with Spencer hitting and I certainly won't put up with it from your kid.

Seriously. Why do people think that just because a 2- or 3-yr-old may have an instinct to hit or push or whatever, that it's okay? He's only 2, or 3, or 10, just let it go. Isn't it our job as parents to teach them otherwise?

I watched this boy go on to terrorize a few other kids on the playground while his mother stood by and did pretty much nothing. Warms your heart, doesn't it? At least Spencer had the guts to stick up for himself... way to go, buddy.

Still no baby.... BUT a light at the end of the tunnel

2008-09-22T17:35:00.002-06:00

So here's the deal. Obviously you can tell by the title of this post that I haven't had the baby yet, although the baby ticker is gone because frankly, it's just too darn depressing. I'm on the induction schedule for next Monday (yes, NEXT Monday, in a WEEK) in the event that this kid doesn't make his appearance before then. Cross your fingers. The doctor did remind me that my ultrasound indicated a due date of Sept 29, so that helped me feel a little better.

We keep asking Spencer if he's ready for his baby brother to come out and play. His response is always "no, he needs to stay in mommy's tummy!" I blame him for this late delivery. Oh well, at least I'm making a lot of progress on my latest knitting project as I sit around and wait... and wait... and wait.

Here's how we've been keeping busy in the meantime....

We headed to the farm at Thanksgiving Point with a long-lost friend of mine from high school. Fortunately for Spencer, Kate's baby boy is only 6 months old so that meant Spencer got an extra pony ride. When I told him we were going to the farm, he said "and I can hold the baby goat!" I had to explain that the baby goat he held back in April....well, not so much a baby anymore. His favorite parts of this excursion were the picnic tables and, of course, the pony rides.

G&G came over last week to help me bottle the peaches from our tree. We managed to pound out 21 quarts on Thursday afternoon, then they took the rest home to finish up (this done with the thought that I would soon be hospital-bound.... turns out we needn't have worried). Thanks to Martin & Joyce for the use of their canner, and a HUGE thanks to G&G for their help with the canning.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Spencer was in charge of the sound box at preschool for the letter B last week. Here he is with our little collection of B items. We included a baseball, bus, book, bear, bow, balloon, bubbles, blocks, Big Bird, bananas, and blue, black, and brown crayons. Then for show and tell on Thursday, he took his boat.

My little helper in the kitchen.... Spencer LOVES to put the silverware away when it's time to empty the dishwasher. Last time he was helping, though, he managed to fall off his chair into the dishwasher and scrape his tummy. He showed Ryan the damage later, saying "did you see my owie where I fell on the plates?" No broken dishes which, thank goodness, meant his injuries were pretty minor.

Baby Update

2008-09-15T17:40:00.002-06:00

The visit to the doctor's office this morning did not go as I had hoped. Basically I was told that I could go into labor tonight or he would see me at my regularly scheduled appointment next week, which was most unhelpful. And then the dreaded phrase "you could go past your due date" slipped out of his mouth. Devil man.

The only good news was that while the baby is still growing and gaining weight, as he should be, I appear to be losing weight. Can't complain about that. And I feel that gave me the green light to go ahead and get that huge Oreo sundae at Baskin Robbins that I've been craving.

Out of the mouths of babes

2008-09-15T17:35:00.001-06:00

You know that obnoxious guy who does the commercials for cleaning products like Oxiclean and Kaboom and Orange Glo? Spencer and I were watching TV recently when the Kaboom commercial came on. I've learned to tune the man out but Spencer sat and watched him. When it was over, Spencer's response was thus:

"He's loud."

Couldn't have said it better myself, buddy.

Preschool!

2008-09-11T19:45:00.000-06:00

The big event around our house right now (no, I did not have the baby.... more on that later) is that Spencer started preschool last week. Wahoo! He goes two days a week for 2 1/2 hours each day, which has meant blissful mommy "zen time" for me (you said it, Catrina). Today, for instance, I went for a pedicure. Gotta take advantage of it since hopefully baby boy will soon be here.

Spencer's teacher is Miss Melanie and already, he absolutely adores her. I can't blame him.... she really is very nice. I've learned he saves his best behavior for her and then morphs into a little monster for me when it's time to come home. From what I can gather by examining the contents of his backpack, so far he's learned all about the letter A, squares, and circles. Next week we're in charge of the "sound box", which we are supposed to fill with things that start with B.

And the backpack....oh, the backpack. This is Spencer's newest prized possesion. It is, of course, a Cars backpack, adorned with a gigantic Lightning McQueen. We picked it up just in time for a trip to Grandma & Grandpa Madsen's house for Labor Day weekend. Spencer wore it ALL day so he would be ready to go at a moment's notice. He was very sad when I made him take it off for naptime. I've learned recently that if anything seems to be missing, I can probably find it in the backpack.

Grandma even taught Spencer how to put his pack on all by himself:

TA DA!

Now about that baby. He gave us a little scare at the doctor's office last week with a super high heartrate, to the point that they almost sent me over to the hospital. I had a moment of panic but let me tell you, given how I've been feeling lately, a delivery at that point would have been sweet relief. With just over a week until the due date, I'm hoping either that this doctor of mine will give me some good news on Monday, or some serious contractions will get this process crack-a-lackin'.

Spencer's latest fashion statement

2008-08-27T23:19:00.002-06:00

Handy Manny pj shirt, a diaper, and daddy's gigantic wool socks. I really can't explain the water bottle on the head.

Spencer pulled the socks out of Ryan's drawer and was so, so sad when his daddy chose some different socks to wear. Not to worry though, because Spencer put them to use himself. Since they came clear up to his little thighs, I guess it was understandable why he declined to put his pants back on.

Apparently we need to discuss the concept of "wool" and why it doesn't belong with "August".

The cradle!

2008-08-27T23:10:00.003-06:00

Check out this gorgeous cradle my brother made for us.....

100% handcrafted by Uncle Heath

That's right, folks.... he made it with his bare hands. Impressive, eh? Thanks for sharing your talents with us! Spencer has had a lot of fun swinging it today. Good thing there's no baby in it... yet... He also says he's excited to share it with the baby. I think our little talk about sharing his room with the baby may have confused the poor boy. At least for now he's all into the sharing business. We'll see how long it lasts.

Llamafest

2008-08-21T17:44:00.011-06:00

Remember how we went to the Hare Krishna temple a couple weeks ago? Well, here are some photos of the fun part.... visiting the animals.

Did you know llamas blink their eyes one at a time, like they're winking at you? Now you've learned something new today.

Spencer fed the llamas by picking up straw from the ground and throwing it in the trough. They weren't too interested in it anyway, since he mostly managed to only choose old, dried up straw and apparently they prefer the fresh, green stuff.

He also made friends with an elephant:

And finally....the Hare Krishna temple... in all its splendid, Utah County glory:

The best part of going out for Chinese

2008-08-17T21:06:00.010-06:00

Yesterday we spent the day helping Ryan's sister Erin move into her new apartment in Salt Lake. As you can imagine, Spencer was loads of help.... and sadly, I didn't think to snap a picture of him "helping" haul in a couch (and by help, I mean he sat on it while Ryan and his dad moved it). We rewarded ourselves later with dinner at Pei Wei. Spencer hasn't had much exposure to Asian cuisine, so of course he refused to eat pretty much anything. The best part for him was playing with the "clapper sticks". Eventually, he decided he liked rice and managed to get a few grains into his mouth, though not his own rice that we ordered for him - no, no, apparently daddy's rice was much better. I tried to convince him that perhaps using a fork or even the giant serving spoon might work better, but he refused, saying "no, I can just use my clapper sticks". Alrighty then.

Nana did a little bargain shopping and totally scored on some new clothes for Spencer and the baby. Spencer was most excited about his new Handy Manny pajamas and wants to wear them all the time..... ALL the time. He was also pretty stoked about the clothes for baby brother, although he thought they were for him and didn't understand why they wouldn't fit. He's only about 15 inches and 25 lbs too big, so what's the problem?

The fruits of our labors!

2008-08-17T21:00:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday while I was watering the garden, I was delighted to see that we had some tomatoes that were RIPE and ready to EAT!! What you see here is a handful of cherry tomatoes and a lemon boy. Spencer thought the lemon boy was an orange and he didn't care for it as much as the cherry tomatoes, which meant more for me, hurray!

Tonight I picked a few more cherry tomatoes, which we promptly ate, after Spencer chased Ryan around trying to give him one. He hasn't quite figured out that daddy doesn't like tomatoes and how exactly that works to our advantage. Maybe Ryan will be more excited when the green peppers come on.

In other sad, sad news, we lost a branch off of our peach tree because of the ridiculously strong winds on Friday night. Spencer keeps asking me to fix it. Oh, if only we could just dab on a little super glue....

Motherhood under attack... and today, it hit me smack in the face

2008-08-11T22:39:00.001-06:00

Today my sister came by for a visit, and we ended up taking a little field trip to the Hare Krishna temple over in Salem. Totally spur of the moment, since we were pretty much just driving around the valley and it was suddenly right in front of us. Spencer had fallen asleep in the car (since he refused to take a nap earlier). We saw a sign that said they do tours, so we woke the boy up and dragged him inside.

We were greeted inside by a woman dressed pretty much in pajamas, and she invited us to look around the gift shop for a few minutes before taking us on the 10-minute tour. The gift shop itself was a little baffling, since the Hare Krishna religion hales from India and about half of their wares were from South America. Whatever, llamas are cool.

Then began the tour. Spencer, having been rudely awakened in a strange place, was none too thrilled with pretty much everything. Of course I understood why he was so fussy and apologized repeatedly to our tour guide. She responded by explaining some of the facets of their beliefs, which includes living in monastery-like conditions so that you don't have to deal with children, because they are a distraction to you becoming closer to God. But if you do choose to have kids, you teach them their place. Yep, I was ready to pretty much haul off and punch her in the face. Somehow I managed to refrain (oh man, it was tough) and politely disagreed, saying that I will keep my boy just the same. Fortunately she excused herself soon thereafter to prepare for their evening service.

We decided to take Spencer outside to see all the animals - llamas, miniature cows, peacocks, and exotic fish. It was truly amazing how much his demeanor changed when we left the building. He LOVED the llamas and was fascinated by the peacocks. Our tour guide happened by while we were visiting the llamas and made some weird comment about how "they're afraid of little birds but not the big animals" (they had an exotic bird of some sort inside the building that made loud noises and scared Spencer... and again, he was still rather disoriented and confused about where we were). Her tone and wording made me wonder if she's ever really been around kids, or if she really thinks they're just little aliens. Did she forget that she was once a child too? After she left, Bethany and I both commented that Spencer probably felt the weird vibe from this woman and that could be why he was so disagreeable during the tour. Kids are pretty perceptive.

Anyhow, there has been some discussion lately about motherhood as a career, and there are some very vocal people out there who basically thinks it's a joke.... that if you choose to stay home with your children, you have given up on yourself and are wasting your talents, not to mention brain matter. An address was given by a wise woman in my LDS faith, Sister Julie Beck, last October extolling the virtues, power, and great responsibility of motherhood. The aftermath and negative response from women all over was frightening, and it's still going on. Just last week there was an article in a Salt Lake City newspaper about how it's causing controversy nearly a year later. To me, Sister Beck's talk was not about whether it's right or wrong to work or have a career if you are also a mother. It was about our divine responsibility as mothers to teach, guide, and nurture our little ones, and be an influence for good in our families.

I never felt like I was personally being attacked, nor did I feel compelled to defend my own decision to be a mother, and a stay-at-home mom at that, until today. It was rather infuriating, particularly the part where Spencer was treated as though he were a waste of space. But the thing that struck a resonating chord with me was when this woman said that children are a distraction and that you basically cannot reach your full potential if you are a parent. I believe nothing to be further from the truth. I believe that being a mother, more than anything else, is helping me to become closer to God, and that it is challenging me and stretching me to reach my full potential in a way that nothing else could. It also made me so grateful to my own mom and her decision to stay at home with her children. Who cares if it's not the popular route. I was never known to run with the popular crowd anyway. Just ask my mom.

Tricky little devil

2008-08-10T21:38:00.005-06:00

Picture this, if you will: Spencer, with a big handful of peanuts in one hand, nothing in the other, both hands closed palm-down. He approaches Ryan.

Spencer: Guess which hand, daddy!

Ryan (pointing to the hand that clearly is full of peanuts): That one.

Spencer (shaking the other hand): No, this one.

Ryan (pointing to the peanut hand): No, I chose that one.

Spencer (again, shaking the empty hand): No daddy, it's this one!

After repeating the back-and-forth a few times, Ryan finally gives up and points to the empty hand: Okay, that one.

Spencer opens it up: Nope, you're wrong! It's this one!

A couple weeks ago, I walked into the kitchen to find this sequence of events:

I guess I can't really blame him.... after all, there was a microphone AND a huge piece of watermelon up there. That's just too much for this 2-yr-old to resist. But then I put the kibosh on climbing. And, as you probably guessed, he has tested me repeatedly on this new, fun-quashing rule.

Cousin time!

2008-07-27T22:57:00.007-06:00

Last weekend we went up to Grandma and Grandpa Madsen's house to see Auntie Kristen and Campbell who were in town for a few days. So yeah, I'm quite late posting pictures, but better late than never. Unfortunately Spencer came down with some yucky illness while we were there, and being the good cousin that he is, he shared it with Campbell. Despite feeling pretty crappy and tired, he played as hard as he could and tried to cram in every bit of cousin play time possible.

Since Campbell's birthday was just a couple weeks ago, we had a little b-day party for him....

Blowing out the candles

Spencer passing out the special "Bob the Builder" party hats. (Remember Ryan's birthday back in April? Yeah...it was a little something like that.)

And the highlight of any party, unwrapping presents

They also got to go to the park and 1st Dam to feed the ducks. I had to miss out on that trip since I was at BATMAN!! Which, by the way, is awesome. But you can see pictures of their adventures on Campbell's fan page. (Scroll down to the Over the River post.) I think the biggest hit of the trip was Spencer's train set that we brought up with us. Campbell was very excited to play with Spencer's train and thank goodness, Spencer somewhat willingly obliged.

We seem to be over the sickness at our house, but we send big get well wishes to Campbell! We hope you feel better soon!!

Ode to the Flobots

2008-07-23T23:21:00.003-06:00

Tonight we were sitting at the table eating dinner, in relative silence, when Spencer pops off this gem:

"I can ride my bike with no handlebars!"

After I managed to stop laughing and catch my breath, I asked him if he can also keep rhythm with no metronome. He said no.

I guess this is proof pudding that they play the Handlebars song on the radio a LOT. It definitely has this 2-yr-old's seal of approval.

(BTW, if you don't know the song... you can check out their myspace page.)

The BIG BOY BED

2008-07-17T14:45:00.001-06:00

Dum Dum Duuuuummmm!

We took the crib down last Wednesday and put up Spencer's new big boy bed, complete with super special Lightning McQueen sheets. We've been talking about the big boy bed and I promised Spencer he could have Cars bedding, so the whole concept was super exciting. Of course he had to have all his other blankets too. Then came the battle.... trying to get that kid to stay in his bed was like nailing jello to the wall. Long after I thought he had given up, Ryan (who was in the basement) heard a little voice say "Oh there you are, Daddy! I've been looking for you." And we started again. But after a doorknob cover, removing all toys and books from the room, and a little bribing with pennies in the piggybank, I am pleased to report that we have achieved SUCCESS!! Wahoo!!

Three hours (UGH) after putting him to bed, followed by tears and pleading to sleep in mommy's bed and "can you lay down with me?", he finally fell asleep:

At the risk of jinxing it, Spencer may possibly be on the road to potty training. He had his first pee-pee in the potty experience while we were at G&G's last Wednesday (turns out it was a BIG day), and several times this week, he's asked again to go pee-pee in the potty. At first I thought nothing of it since he loves to take all his clothes off and sit on the potty.... nothing constructive ever seemed to come of it though. But he actually did it! I guess he was inspired by his accomplishment last week and pulled out an encore. Fingers crossed.....

Out of the mouths of babes

2008-07-15T12:06:00.000-06:00

We took Spencer with us to the doctor's office yesterday for my 30-week visit. Listening to the baby's heartbeat is, of course, always the big highlight, and Spencer was dazzled by the experience. The baby was moving around quite a big so we also got an earful of kicks and squirms. We stopped by G&G's on our way home so he could tell them all about it.

Me: "Did we hear the baby today?"
Spencer: "Yep, it sounded like a puppy!"

That would certainly be one for the books, would it not?

Busiest boy in the universe

2008-07-15T09:45:00.000-06:00

Since I haven't updated in awhile, here's a little pictorial rundown of what we've been up to these days....

We headed over to G&G's for the traditional 4th of July picnic. Spencer ate a plateful of olives and not much else, jumped with Mckenzie, rode his new tricycle, and got his horseshoe game on.

The next-door neighbors invited us over later in the evening for a little fireworks show. Since darkness wasn't due to arrive for a few hours yet, it was mostly flowers and smoke bombs, which Spencer got a big kick out of.Then came the whistler.... and that boy was ready to head for the hills. I managed to snap this shot a second before he bolted:

We stayed up to watch the Stadium of Fire display from the backyard. G&G's used to be the BEST place to watch the fireworks... no crowds, no traffic, no smoke in your face, and a great view of the fireworks in front of the mountains. Then came the houses. The view is a little obstructed now and unfortunately, the best seat is in the middle of the road, but we manage to make do year after year. After the ole' whistler next door, Spencer was a little gun shy. He sat on my lap, wrapped in his blanket and trying to be so brave, but every minute or so he would say "Um.... Mommy, should we go inside?" Better luck next year, I suppose.

Spencer's new favorite toy
"I can ride my trike with... two handlebars" (Doesn't have quite have the same ring as the song, but imagine all the owies if there were no handlebars. OUCH.)

Playing "tennis racket" with cousins Joseph and Isaac. Shout-out to cousin Campbell's Grandma Mayer for introducing Spencer to this super fun sport!

Swimming

2008-07-03T09:24:00.013-06:00

We finished up swim class last Thursday. This picture pretty much sums up how it went most days:

Spencer actually did learn a new skill - jumping into the pool. He loved it so much that he had zero tolerance for any other activity. I believe his exact words most of the time were "NO! It's NOT hokey pokey time, it's JUMPING time!" He was definitely the most vocal of the group. His least favorite part were the noodles.

Auntie Bethy even joined us one day!

On the last day of class, they opened up the water slide for "play day". Spencer was very excited about the idea of the slide, until he was actually staring it in the face and then he refused to get on. I didn't hike up all those stairs for nothing though, so as soon as all the other moms went, we climbed on in. I don't think Spencer made a peep the whole ride down and apparently I didn't do my job when we got to the bottom because he ended up going under, but when I asked if he had fun, he said "Yes!" Next question, do you want to go again? "NO!" After my numerous attempts to talk him into it through the rest of class time, he finally turned on the tears and said it was too scary. Maybe he's not such a daredevil after all.

Last Saturday we went swimming at a friend's pool, where Spencer dazzled everyone with his new skills (namely, jumping). Ryan managed to get some water wings on him for a few moments by calling them "muscles". Then he let go of Spencer in the pool and he dog-paddled his way around, all the while saying "hold me, Daddy, hold me!"

At one point he got brave enough to try jumping off the diving board (as long as daddy was there to catch him).

And here's my personal favorite.... "look at me, I wearing gobbles!"

Fine. I got tagged. Here you go.

2008-06-27T16:08:00.004-06:00

3 Joys:
Rachel. Is this really even a question as whether this was going to be first? How she puts up with me at times I will never know. Despite being married to a lawyer, being the mother of one of the most energetic kids I have ever seen, and being six months pregnant, she still somehow manages to be supermom. Even if she doesn't believe me it's true.
Spencer and the baby. Nothing beats opening the door on the way home from work and hearing "Ohh. DADDY!!!!!" Then hearing Spencer come running in and giving me a giant hug and a kiss followed by "Oh hi daddy, I'm...." and then he fills me in on whatever he's doing. That's the highlight of the day. The baby that will arrive in September is just as exciting for me. It's hard to remember Spencer being a tiny baby, and I'm excited to see how Spencer will treat his new baby brother. I'm sure he'll be a great help. Well, maybe a little help. Alright, so he'll probably just want to hold the baby and be no help at all, but I'm excited for the new addition.
Family. It may sound cliche but it's true. I have been blessed with a wonderful family. Amazing wife, wonderful son, one on the way, great parents, cool siblings, and in-laws that treat me like one of their own. I couldn't ask for more from any of them. They really are the best and I know they'd do anything for me.

3 Fears:
Heights. Can't stand them. Hate being in high places. My knees get all tingly, and I just have images of falling through the air and then splattering on the ground below. There's really nothing more scary to me than heights.
Messing up my kids. I still think they need to come with an owner's manual. The longer I'm a parent the more I realize that I made things way too difficult for mine. So for all of you out there reading this who don't have kids, give your parents a break. They are doing the best they can.
Singing in Public. I would rather give a speech in a foreign language wearing women's clothing than have to sing in a public setting. I've got a terrible voice, no musical ability at all, and I really think I'm tone deaf. Nobody should have to be subjected to hearing me sing.

Goals:
Pass the bar exam. Wait, already did that. I still think that I'm going to be getting a call saying "Mr. Petersen, we screwed up. Send back your license and register for the next test.
Lose some weight. The bar exam made me fat. Being a lawyer made me fatter. Being lazy is going to be the death of me. I need to drop 15-20 lbs and exercise more. Maybe Rachel can whip my lazy butt into shape.
Pay off my student loans. Someday when I am able to put all the useless knowledge in my head to work for me winning a pile of money on some triva show, or Deal or No Deal, I want to get my stupid student loans paid off. I'm glad I went to law school (even if Rachel tells people it turned me into a jerk) but I'll be even more gald to pay off my loans.

Current Obsessions:
My gun. Yes I own a gun. It was my graduation present from G&G Reese and to myself. I have found that I really enjoy shooting targets, and if I can brag just a bit I am not terrible either. If I could do it more I would. It might sound strange, but it's kind of relaxing to go out and punch some holes in some paper because it requires you to focus on the task at hand and the slightest distraction can throw everything off.
Golf. I know, I haven't played in months, but I still love the game. I would like to get out more, but man it takes a long time and I really don't want a divorce because I'm gone so much. I don't mind that the golf game has been neglected lately, but I do love that game.
Fishing. Just got back from the yearly Viking Weekend and I realized again how much I enjoy getting out and catching a couple fish. It's always a rush feeling that jerk on the pole and catching a fish. I know they freak Rachel out, but I never keep any of them and it's more about getting out and relaxing than catching fish.

There, done. I'm not going to tag anyone, but if you want to do this then be my guest. I hope you enjoyed my brief moment of blogging. Now back to the good stuff from Rachel....

Forget children's music...bring on the good stuff

2008-06-25T16:30:00.002-06:00

Last week we were on our way to the hospital to visit Grandma Reese, and the song playing on the radio when we arrived was "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's. I shut the car off and sang the next line or so, then from the backseat I heard this little gem:

"Oh, it's what you do to meeeee..... oh, it's what you do to meeee...."

Who knew. He also specifically requests The Killers and Neil Diamond (but mostly The Killers), and most recently his favorite song seems to be "The Promise" by When In Rome.

Then as we were walking into the hospital, Spencer said "On Tuesday, I live in Utah." Yep, you live there all the other days of the week too. He was delighted to find out that I also live in Utah, as does daddy.

Tagged by Jen

2008-06-25T15:55:00.003-06:00

3 Joys:
My boys: Ryan, Spencer, and baby boy who won't have a name until he's born. They are the cream in my doughnut.
The rest of my family and friends (who are pretty much family): We are so fortunate to live close to our family again, after being 1200 miles away for a few years. Though my friends are spread far and wide, the magic of the internet makes the gap much smaller.
Cooking: I blame the Food Network, though I suppose I could have worse addictions. I love finding new recipes, searching through cookbooks, and trying everything out. Someday I hope to have the kitchen and equipment of my dreams (I'm thinking along the lines of Ina Garten's kitchen of Barefoot Contessa.... I LOVE her stove. I also pine for her herb garden.)

3 Fears:
Losing a child: I have nightmares about this on occasion. I hope they're never realized.
Snakes: "Snakes.... why did it have to be snakes..."
Fish: I know, what's not to like? They just swim around in their aquarium or the lake or whatever, but for some reason, fish just totally creep me out. I don't like to eat them either.

Goals:
Lose the baby weight: Still another 12 weeks-ish until he's born but I cannot wait to start working out again.
Get Spencer out of the crib: He's excited about the idea of the big boy bed, especially since I promised him a Lightning McQueen pillow and blanket. If only they would go on sale.
Home improvements: I have so many ideas for our house, mostly involving paint (and lots of it), to make it feel like a home and not just another rental.

Current Obsessions:
My tomato plants: This is my first real attempt at gardening. My dad gave me several tomato plants and I am determined to have real home-grown tomatoes this year (btw, they seem to be doing well). I'm also growing green peppers, jalapenos (I think), basil, and rosemary. I can't take all the credit though... everything came from my dad's greenhouse.
Cleaning out my house before the baby comes. Yeah, probably a pipe dream and it's not like we're lacking for space (thank goodness, since that's been an issue for basically the past 9 years) but I feel the need to purge.... and get rid of crap that we've been holding onto for who knows why.
Knitting: I'm a nerd, I'll admit it. My friend Brooke got me turned on to the needles and I love it. One of these days I'll knit something amazing and then you'll all be sorry that you laughed.

I tag: Catrina, Lolinda, and Ryan (HAHAHA!!! gotcha!)

Welcome home, Auntie Bethy!

2008-06-16T22:11:00.022-06:00

My baby sister (okay, she's my only sister) Bethany got home from her mission last Tuesday. She's been serving in the California Arcadia mission (Pasadena area) for the past 18 months. Spencer was so excited, he started asking a week early to go see Auntie Bethy. He had barely turned 1 when she left so I wondered how he'd react to seeing her in the flesh again, although we did look at lots of pictures. But oh man...when she finally came down the escalator, he could hardly contain himself. How I wish I'd snapped a photo of the look on his face when she hugged her mommy first. His arms were outstretched, ready to be swept up, but his face said "I totally just got the shaft...." When his turn came (about 5 seconds later), he smothered her with loves and kisses:Always so helpful, he then tried to haul her suitcase away. Clearly he didn't see the tag marking it "HEAVY", though he didn't seem to care even when we pointed that out to him. But then, a few minutes later, he said "it's too heavy" - oh, imagine that! So Grandpa took him for a ride on it instead.

We spent the weekend up at Grandma and Grandpa Madsen's house. Spencer found lots of opportunities to be silly and adventurous, not to mention plant a few more sloppy kisses on Auntie Bethy.
Playing catch... and Bethany even caught it once or twice!

Riding the bike down the long, steep driveway:

Talk about a daredevil. He did learn to use his feet to slow himself down until he got almost to the bottom, then up went the feet and he zoomed down the rest of the way. I'm told he nearly crashed into Uncle Heath's motorcycle once but fortunately, a seam in the driveway stopped him. Gotta say I'm glad I didn't see that one.

We also went to Summerfest with Grandma, Uncle Ben, Auntie Christy, Auntie Teri, and Mckenzie. Spencer rode a dinosaur, rang a bell, and tried to catch a flyaway balloon (he was not successful).

In other news, we started swimming lessons today. It's no Swim Nazi class by any means, but I'm hoping Spencer will learn a few skills just the same. How it's going after Day 1.... well, that depends on who you ask. Spencer claims he had fun, although he will also admit he cried a lot. Here's hoping things improve over the next couple weeks.

Scootering! and other randomness

2008-06-11T14:39:00.017-06:00

Spencer found our next door neighbor's scooter the other day. With cookie face and his cool, cool shades (which he later broke), he thought he was pretty hot stuff cruising around on that scooter. And, believe it or not, he was starting to get pretty good at it... until I ruined all his fun by telling him it was time to go inside.

Last Saturday we went to the Providence City Days celebration with Grandma Madsen, Auntie Teri, and Mckenzie. The rain and cold drove us away fairly quickly, but not before Spencer spotted the rides. He stood and watched the kids spinning around on this particular contraption and said "I want to ride on THAT!" I tried to warn him that it looked more for big kids but he was having none of it and before I knew it, I was strapping him in.

Here's how it works. The ride operator gives them a good push, then the kids have to pull the bar back and forth to make it continue to spin around (there are 2 more seats opposite Spencer and random other boy in the photo).

It kind of looks like Spencer is crying... no, no, don't be fooled. He was squealing with laughter.

And this is from the waiting area when we took my car in for an oil change last week:

"Why yes, Miss Prissy Pants, I would like another cup of tea."

All I really need to know I learned from Mickey Mouse

2008-05-30T15:22:00.004-06:00

Yesterday while Ryan and I were chatting online, Spencer climbed onto my lap and insisted he needed to type some letters too. Well, first he said "I will kiss on you" and smothered my face with little Spencer kisses. But back to the letters. First came a string of H's (they make railroad tracks, you know), then a few carefully chosen numbers, then he spotted the question mark and said this:

"I want to push the mystery mousketool!"

As Kristen said once, what else would it be, right?

DISNEYLAND!!!

2008-05-29T10:40:00.006-06:00

"No photos, please... my hair is a mess!"

I know what you're thinking... "didn't you just get back from California?" And the answer is yes. So here's the lowdown on what I like to call California, part 2.

We were able to visit our dear friends Colin and Brooke on our drive into the Golden State. Spencer, as usual, was so very excited to see his friend Lily and they had a great time playing together. On Sunday, we went to church with Ammon, Kristen, and Campbell, where Spencer and Campbell raised all kinds of ruckus in the nursery (as usual). Although for some reason they thought Spencer's name was Preston...hmm... and then the lady tried to tell me that his uncle Ammon must not know his name since that's what he told them. Turns out no, since I was standing right there at the time, but whatever.

Spencer, Campbell, and Kristen started their own band with Campbell's instruments. At one point Spencer ditched them and Campbell was so upset... "I need him to come play in the band!"

Auntie Kristen and Campbell were able to come visit us at the resort one morning. Campbell made himself right at home in the sandbox and Spencer headed straight to the putting green. Eventually they were both curious enough to go see what the other was doing.

(On a side note, can you believe these boys are less than 4 months apart?? Campbell totally towers over Spencer, it's crazy.)

SeaWorld was a blazing hot experience. I'm pretty sure every one of us came away with varying degrees of sunburn, except for Spencer since I slathered down every square inch of his little body with SPF 50. We saw Shamu, petted the bat rays, and Spencer fed fish to the sea otters - probably the highlight for him. He didn't seem too interested in the Shamu show, although he still does the Shamu slam and loves to drink out of his "special special Shamu cup".

Petting the bat ray (or rather, trying to)

"Holy crap, what was that?" Just a giant walrus... no worries...

Disneyland, on the other hand, was a drenched-in-the-pouring-rain experience. But on the bright side, the rain kept the crowds away and since I believe that Disneyland truly is the happiest place on earth, we refused to let a few (okay, a lot of) raindrops get in our way. First stop was the rocket ride, where Spencer had a little meltdown as he learned about "standing in lines". Besides that and a few scary rides (he didn't care much for the Astro Blasters or Pirates), and of course the aforementioned rain, it was pretty much smooth sailing. Somehow Spencer made it through the very long day with no nap, then he totally crashed in the stroller as we left the park at closing time. I know, I'm still in disbelief. We unfortunately had to skip all the roller coasters, since Spencer is too little and I am too pregnant. Obviously that means we'll have to go again, especially since Space Mountain was closed the last 2 or 3 times I was there. Talk about a bummer.

Favorite rides for Spencer were the train (obviously), Dumbo, and the carousel. At one point we were on the Alice in Wonderland side of Fantasyland and as we rounded the bend and the carousel came into view, he said "there's the horsies!" Apparently he'd been looking for them. Another big highlight was meeting Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore. I wasn't sure how Spencer was going to react to these gigantic characters come to life, given how well things went with Santa last Christmas. But he was totally thrilled. He ran up to Pooh and shook his hand, then bounced around with Tigger and gave Eeyore a hug. It was magical.

And of course no trip to SoCal is complete without a little beach time. We hit the tide pools in Little Corona Del Mar again, where Ryan held a hermit crab (Spencer was a little skittish this time around) and Spencer smashed every sand castle we made. He's totally turning into a little beach bum.

Nana made a beautiful sand castle...and I think it lasted about 2 minutes once Spencer found it.

I, for one, am glad to be back at home sweet home. Apparently Spencer didn't quite get enough because today he told me that he needs to go back to California and play with Campbell. Yeah.....

Spencer the narcissist

2008-05-14T14:28:00.003-06:00

We were over at G&G's a couple weeks ago and Spencer was looking through the photo albums. Of course he knows which one has pictures of him, so he generally chooses that one first. On this particular occasion, he said "this is my most favoritest book I've ever seen!"

I didn't think to get any pictures on Mother's Day, or the super exciting event the day before. On Saturday we went to G&G's for some steaks and dutch oven potatoes. Spencer insisted he didn't like potatoes, then after he finally consented to take a bite, he ate a huge plateful. After dinner, he headed outside where grandpa pushed him on the big tree swing. About 15 minutes into round 2 (he did insist on getting off the swing for a time) we heard him cough, then he started crying and wailing. Ryan ran over to see what happened.... and found Spencer covered in barf from his neck to his shoes. Lesson learned: no more swinging right after dinner.

IT'S.... A....

2008-05-07T09:44:00.003-06:00

BOY!!!

But really we're just glad to know that everything appears to be normal and healthy.

Unfortunately none of the ultrasound pics turned out very well.... thanks to a tech who was far too anxious to just go home. But here is a picture of his little alien-looking face:Thanks, Ammon, for all the great middle name suggestions.... we'll, uh, take them into consideration.

Out there having fun.... in the warm California sun

2008-05-01T21:02:00.005-06:00

We hit the road for Huntington Beach just in time for crap weather in Utah. I did my best to bring a little sunshine home but sadly, it didn't last long. Spencer and Campbell had lots of fun playing together at the beach, the zoo, the beach, the aquarium, the beach, the park, and did I mention the beach? I'm so pleased to report that Spencer seems to be over his aversion to sand and turned into a regular little beach baby. He still talks about building sand castles.

The first trip to the beach on the evening we arrived was pretty chilly. Spencer curled up in a chair with a blanket and hotdog, periodically saying "I'm cold.... I'm cold..."

By the end of the trip, well... see for yourself:

A couple days later we hit the tide pools at Little Corona Del Mar. Auntie Kristen found a few hermit crabs and even convinced Spencer to hold one, wow!

Spencer + a shovel full of sand = NO GOOD
At the park one morning, he dumped a huge load of sand on top of Grandma's head and down her back. Fortunately she was a good sport about it but we did have to put the shovel in time out.

Playing in the water with Grandma and Campbell:

The end result.... a very sandy, wet, and cold little boy. And he loved every minute of it (well, up until the cold part).

The LA Zoo was a big hit, as usual. Being a bit of a monkey himself, Spencer got a huge kick out of the chimp who came for a little up close and personal visit. The chimp gave us several huge, toothy grins but I wasn't lucky enough to snap a shot, dang. We also got to meet the gorilla family, some scary spiders, and a baby giraffe.

Of course no trip to the zoo is complete without a little goat brushing.

Our last day took us to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro. We saw giant lobsters, tons of starfish, and all sorts of marine life. Campbell and Spencer thought the whale sounds buttons and the touch tank were pretty cool.... Uncle Ammon somehow convinced Spencer to actually touch the starfish in the touch tank. His response was "it feels like a rock!"

Check out all those amazing colorful starfish! And yes, they do actually feel like rocks. The sea urchins (which you can't see in this picture) feel like little spikes, though Spencer could not be persuaded to touch one of those things.

And finally, a couple of cousin pictures since this was the very first time we got all 3 cousins together! Getting them to look at the camera at the same time, let alone smile, was basically impossible.Thanks to Ammon, Kristen, and Campbell for a very fun time!! See you again in a few weeks!

Finally, a little sunshine

2008-04-18T23:36:00.015-06:00

After five solid months of freezing my butt off, the sun finally blessed us with a little light and warmth this week. Of course we also had a couple days of frigid temps and even snow flurries (what the crap??). We took advantage of those few precious hours of sunshine to break out Spencer's baseball stuff and the tricycle. Ryan took Spencer out the other day to show him the finer points of baseball, such as how to hold the bat. Apparently a thing or two stuck because he was actually quite conscientious about his form and took several moments before each hit to adjust his grip.

"Watch this, mommy. I playing baseball!"

"I did it! Good job, Spencer."

Oh, what a time can do to a small boy. I was a little surprised to see that not only has Spencer figured out the art of peddling his little tricycle, his feet can actually reach the pedals through the entire motion. Last fall his legs were just a little too short to keep his feet on the pedals at their furthest point. What do you know, he really is growing.

Last October (left) and today (right):

This is his usual sequence of events:

Step 1: "I peddling! Peddle, peddle, peddle."

Step 2: "Oh no, I crash! Don't worry mommy, I okay."
(The crashing is 100% intentional and generally happens in about the same place every time.)

Today he added step 3: "I need to fix the tire. Where's my hammer?"

Next up: California, here we come! We're off to see Ammon, Kristen, and Campbell in (hopefully) warm and sunny Huntington Beach. Wheeee! Spencer is so excited.... all he can talk about lately is going to the beach and the zoo with Campbell. See you guys in a few days!

Little Artist

2008-04-18T23:25:00.005-06:00

The other night I discovered some of Spencer's latest artwork... all over the wall. Considering how much he loves crayons and coloring, I guess I'm a little surprised it took this long. Ryan's conversation with him about NOT drawing on the walls went a little something like this:

Ryan: Spencer, did you color on the wall?

Spencer: No.

Ryan: Are you sure? Because I didn't do it and mommy didn't do it. Who colored on the wall?

Spencer (somewhat hesitantly): Spencer.....

Ryan: Are you supposed to color on the wall?

Spencer: I use black!

Ryan: You need to get a better lawyer, kid.

Happy Birthday, Ryan!!

2008-04-12T21:29:00.018-06:00

I know he looks like he's 15, so I'm sure you won't
believe me when I tell you he's 31!!!

(The one on the left... the one on the right just thinks he's 15.)

Ryan's birthday was on Thursday and Spencer insisted we celebrate in style. For a 2-yr-old, that means lots and lots and lots of balloons and the always stylish cardboard party hats. I took mine off when the elastic became nearly unbearable and when Spencer realized what I did, he said "Mommy, put on a party hat on, please." If only he was this interested in the whole birthday scene at his own party..... there's always next year!
When it came time to blow out the candles, Spencer insisted he needed a turn too, and with just a little drool, he was successful. (Yes, there are only 13 candles on the cake, but backwards it's 31 so it all works out, right??)

Thanks to Uncle Heath, Spencer learned that if you turn your hat just right, you can be a duck. Quack, quack.

Today we met Nana, Papa, and Auntie Erin at Thanksgiving Point and went to Farm Country. As far as Spencer was concerned, it was just as much fun as the zoo (and closer and cheaper, I must add). There were cows, goats, sheep, horses, ducks, and chickens galore. I'd venture to say we even learned a thing or two.

Somebody gave us a sack full of pellets to feed the goats. Spencer caught on pretty quickly and had a grand time giving the goats "treats". Man, those little buggers are aggressive! They would totally buck each other out of the way but Spencer had no fear whatsoever. It was a little disconcerting, actually.

"I pump the cow!"

Spencer even got to hold a baby goat. The handler told us he was only 2 days old, wow.But probably the highlight of Spencer's whole day were the awesome pony rides. He announced to everyone as we went around and around, "I a cowboy!" He insisted he could do it all by himself and pushed my hand away anytime I tried to steady him. Sheesh.

Thanks to Nana and Papa for a very fun day!!

Life as he knows it is over

2008-04-04T20:45:00.003-06:00

Yep, the shirt is true....well, sort of. It would be more accurate as "I'm going to be a big brother" but you get the message. Baby Petersen #2 is scheduled to make his/her appearance sometime at the end of September. And hopefully in another month or so, we'll find out if it is a he or a she.

So far, Spencer's take on the situation depends on the day. Sometimes he's very excited to be a big brother and other days he says "No! I don't like a baby!" I've gotta say some days I have to agree... I think any woman who's ever been pregnant would understand. :) We're excited to welcome this new little one into our home, which, by the way, we now own. Yippee!!

Of course our new addition necessitates a new blog name, since it will be Spencer and parents no more.... much to Spencer's dismay, since he believes he's staked his claim on mommy and is quite unwilling to share. (Just ask Mckenzie, who unfortunately has experienced his jealous wrath.) If anyone has any non-lame and/or somewhat creative suggestions, we're all ears..... leave us a comment.

In other Petersen news, Ryan was elected to be a county delegate. I guess I wasn't too surprised by his announcement when he returned from the caucus meeting. He said all the other nominees were idiots so someone had to step up to the plate. Hopefully this is not the beginning of some grand political career. The dean of his law school actually said Ryan should consider politics (this coming from a former politician himself). Apparently the look on my face gave me away because he followed it up with "Oh c'mon Rachel, it's not like I suggested he sell used cars." Equally horrifying though, if you ask me.

Piggyback

2008-04-02T21:30:00.000-06:00

Spencer insisted on giving Mckenzie a piggyback. I don't think she cared much for it, as you can see by the expression on her face. Uncle Heath was a good sport and held her up while Spencer raced around the house. I guess Spencer thought that since he has so much fun getting a piggyback ride, that Mckenzie would love it as well. Turns out no.

The picture quality is pretty much awful, but trying to snap a photo of Spencer literally running with poor Mckenzie hanging on for dear life was next to impossible. (Or rather, with Heath hanging on to her, lest she end up a broken heap on the floor.)

Melanoma no more!

2008-03-26T17:06:00.004-06:00

The post-op visit was today and everything looks just fine and dandy. Spencer was sad to see my sticker go bye-bye. I was glad to see pretty much no scar... at least so far. That statement may change upon further inspection. The biopsy showed a tiny bit of mole tissue right next to the original site, but no melanoma cells. Yippee!!! And of course I got the reminder to keep checking moles, watch for changes, blah blah blah. Which is really good advice for everyone. So learn from me and go visit your dermatologist!

Hippity hoppity, Easter.... came and went

2008-03-24T11:30:00.015-06:00

Easter in March is just weird. We had fun anyhow and Easter'd it up at our house. Grandma came down to watch Spencer while I had surgery (more on that later) so while she was here, we colored eggs. Spencer was fascinated with the whole process, once he figured out what he was doing. As soon as he dumped one egg in the cup of dye (and I mean DUMP) he would say "I need another egg!!" He had no patience for the dye process and sadly, I didn't have enough eggs to satisfy him, so as soon as all the eggs were bathing in the dye, he was off like a shot.

On Saturday morning, we hit the egg hunt in Orem (because as far as I could tell, they were the only ones that had a separate hunt for the little ones, except for Thanksgiving Point but I refuse to pay to get in to an Easter egg hunt). There were about a gazillion people there, of course, so Spencer didn't actually get any eggs but he did manage to snag several pieces of saltwater taffy. And for him, that was success.

Turns out the Easter basket is more than just a mere basket. It also makes a fine hat.

And they're off! It was a frickin' madhouse.

Yesterday we went over to G&G Reese's to share our Easter dinner and do a little egg hunt just for Spencer. I asked Ryan to go outside and hide eggs. He said "what exactly to you mean by 'hide'...?" Yeah, for a 2 yr old, I guess that means put them in rather obvious places, no more than about 6 inches off the ground. Spencer ran around haphazardly, occasionally looking where he was going, and when he found about half of the eggs he announced, "We all done! Good job, Spencer!" So we had to point out that one over there on the chair, and that one on the grass, and those two over on the fire pit....

It was far too much work to haul the basket around while hunting for eggs.

As soon as we confirmed that he had, indeed, found every egg, he made a beeline for G&G to show them his basket of loot.
Last Thursday was the cut-a-piece-of-my-face-off surgery and I'm told it went well. I slept through the whole thing, which was so nice because I definitely needed a nap. When we got home, Spencer saw the tape over the incision area and said "ooh, Mommy got a sticker!" As long as it's not a bandaid, he's cool with it. You can just barely see it in the picture of us at the egg hunt. I also have a lovely giant bruise on my hand where the nurse had to stick me twice to get the IV needle to take. Today as Spencer was examining it, he said he saw red and purple on my hand, then declared them to be his favorite colors. (At least for today.... last week his favorite color was blue.) Wednesday is the post-op visit where I'm guessing we'll see just how big a scar I get. Nothing to rival Uncle Ammon's altercation with a barbed wire fence, but I'll wear it proudly nonetheless.

All I really need to know I learned from Mickey Mouse

2008-03-11T17:54:00.006-06:00

Last night we were over at G&G Reese's house for a little visiting and dinner. The neighbors have been so kind to bring some meals in while Grandma Reese is hard at work recovering from her knee surgery (which seems to be going quite well, btw). We were all eating some delicious chocolate cream pie (with a layer of raspberry on the crust, divine!) and Spencer said he "needed" some ice cream. I said "what's the magic word?" and without missing a beat, he said "meeska, mooska, Mickey Mouse!"

Hmm, not quite the magic word I was looking for but he did get a few points for creativity.

Rock 'n Roll!

2008-03-11T17:31:00.007-06:00

Spencer found the drums at Kip and Ginny's house. Fortunately since he's had a little practice playing Grandpa Madsen's drums, he knew exactly what to do. (Our deepest apologies to Jocelyn, owner of the drums who wasn't home at the time so Spencer didn't exactly ask permission.)

I asked Spencer if he could sing a song AND play the drums. "Sure!" he exclaimed and pounded away, singing everything he could think of from "If you're happy and you know it" to "Bare Necessities" and, my personal favorite, "I am a Child of God". Ryan said "I didn't know we were Pentecostal...." Well, when a 2 yr old is in charge, you never know what you'll get. It was yet another moment I was wishing I had the video camera.

In true drummer form, he even knows how to do the countdown (and throw the sticks in the air, how very rock 'n roll.... we may have to get him some goggles).In other news, I'm headed for outpatient surgery next week for a "deep excision" on the problem mole. It's really something they can do in the office but since they're booked so far out and this is a pressing matter, to the hospital I go. Hi ho, hi ho.

Also, it was my birthday last week. Spencer made sure it was an interesting day by creating his own slim-fast dirt pile in the kitchen. Sorry, no pictures.... I was too mad at the time to see the humor. Plus, the batteries in the camera were dead.

A little clarification.....

2008-02-27T13:20:00.002-07:00

Just to clear things up a bit on the mole situation.... It was a melanoma in situ, which (from what they told me) basically means there were a few cancer cells present within the mole itself. Most likely, it was all removed when they cut the mole off but just to be safe, they referred me to a plastics guy to have the rest of the tissue dug out (and I'm pretty sure that's the correct medical term). There's probably a 1 in a gazillion chance that they'll find more cells present in the remaining tissue, or in the skin itself, but better safe than sorry, right? The dermatologist was very positive.... he said it was a good thing I came in and he hopes not to see me again. I didn't take offense. :)~

Fun cousin weekend

2008-02-26T10:15:00.004-07:00

Spencer and Mckenzie got to spend some quality cousin time together while Uncle Heath and Auntie Teri were at our house for the weekend. Of course I didn't think to get the camera out so unfortunately, no new pictures.... but we do have a few good stories from the past few days.

Mckenzie is starting to smile a lot and laugh on occasion, so Spencer put his entertainer skills to work for her. While Mckenzie was in the bathtub, Spencer showed her how to make big splashes and dump water out of a cup, which she found utterly hilarious. Grandma whipped out the video camera to capture her first big belly laughs. Spencer topped off his performance by dumping water all over his fully-clothed self. Anything for a laugh, I guess...?

Spencer has been very aware of the sounds around him for quite some time, frequently asking "what's that noise? what's that noise?" or "sounds like a tractor/dog/horn/etc." So when Mckenzie was crying, he said "Baby Kenzie crying. Sound like a baby elephant? No. Sounds.... kinda like a rooster."

It was fun to watch these two little ones interact and see Spencer take an active interest in caring for and entertaining Mckenzie. He was very concerned that she ate lunch and played with her toys (as long as he wasn't playing with them first), and always had her blanket. You can probably guess what his own priorities are.

Here are a couple of older pictures... Spencer got out his "super letters puzzle" and played with my teddy bear. After he set everything up, he said "what a good friend!" He would pick up one letter at a time and say "what this letter? It's H (or B or M or whatever)."
This is proof that Spencer can actually pick up his toys by himself. I asked him to clean up his blocks and he finally (finally!) did it. Notice how he's wearing his cowboy shirt and "best". Remember the fight to get him into it for Halloween? It's now become one of his favorites and he insists on wearing it all the time. Sometimes he adds his favorite Hawaiian necktie, which I'm sad to say I don't have a picture of yet but I'm working on it.

Who needs a ball to play basketball?

In other news, Grandma Reese seems to be doing pretty well after her knee surgery last week. Spencer had fun visiting her in the "hosible". One of the nurses thought he was so cute, he insisted on bringing him a popsicle.

I had a few moles removed recently and turns out, one of them had some melanoma cells. Next step is to have a plastic surgeon dig out the rest of the mole tissue and they tell me that will take care of it. No doubt I should have had this particular one removed a few years ago but considering the situation could have been a lot worse, I feel lucky indeed.

And a few more train pictures....

2008-02-14T22:42:00.011-07:00

Don't be fooled by his serious expression. Spencer's train play is totally random. He cares not a whit about the order of the trains, whether they're facing forward, or even if the track makes a continuous loop. In fact, we were lucky he left the track alone for an entire evening instead of reconstructing it five times. But I did manage to snap some pics of the engine in the front and caboose in the back, just for Campbell! And of course playing trains is so much more fun when he's wearing his favorite Thomas the Tank Engine shirt.

Wheeee, down the hill!

This is what happens to people who stand on the railroad tracks. Better luck next time, Sir Topham Hatt...Lucky Spencer, he got a new car in the mail (the middle one with the green thing). Apparently China was trying to poison our child so as a "we're so sorry" gesture, they sent a complimentary car. Wahoo.

While Ryan was busily setting up the track, Spencer got his hands on the tape measure and "measured" me. I am 8 inches. He double checked. He also found a hairbrush and brushed mommy's hair so pretty, perhaps to match his own lovely "nap hair".

This one's for you, Campbell

2008-02-08T16:44:00.000-07:00

I received a very specific request from Campbell to post some pictures of Spencer playing with his train.... so here you go! He takes great pride in building his own tracks, which never seem to meet up at the end (although I've tried, believe me). But I guess that's half the fun, right?

The dialog usually goes a little something like this: "Choo choo, choo choo! All aboard! Choo choo!"

Followed by "oh no, they crash!"And here's an extra one of him "cooking dinner"..... his specialty is spaghetti.

Mommy get a pea out a my nose?

2008-01-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, the words every parent dreams of hearing. After I got after Spencer several times to quit sticking his finger in his nose, this is what he said. I got a little flashlight and sure enough, there was a little green pea right up his nostril. After a few failed attempts at retrieving it, we headed for the urgent care center (and by we, I mean me, Spencer, and Uncle Heath because daddy was at the Jazz game tonight - lucky duck). Of course the one just up the street had closed only 30 minutes before. AUGH!! So we had to drive clear across town to the other one. I asked Spencer to tell the receptionist what he did, and just like a trained monkey he said "I put a pea ina my nose." And that's pretty much exactly what they put on the chart.

The upside was that we got right in (and Spencer got to choose a couple new balls for his collection). The doctor came in to the exam room and made Spencer lay down on the table, covered in that noisy white tissue paper.... Spencer HATES the table, he HATES the paper, so of course he immediately FREAKED. I was thinking "oh no, when they get that alligator thing out and stick it up his nose... it's all over." But of course I took the time to snap a quick photo, because what else are you going to do?

And now, pay close attention to this description of how we removed it because it is very technical and complicated. The doctor closed the other nostril and had me blow in Spencer's mouth, and wouldn't you know it, the pea came shooting right out. So learn this lesson from me and save yourself a few bucks.

As we were getting ready to leave the exam room, Spencer stopped to put his new golf ball in one of the holes in the exam table. Apparently he has a little fettish for putting things in various accessible holes.

"I wonder what will happen if I.... hey, where did it go?"

The best part.... when I was talking to the receptionist and filling out the paperwork, she told me about a time one of her kids was getting the earwax cleaned out and the doctor found a corn kernel in her ear. HA!

Bob the Builder, can he fix it?

2008-01-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

Bob the Builder, YES HE CAN!!
We went to the Utah State Capitol building last Saturday with the Petersen crew. It's been under renovation for the past few years (apparently they jacked the whole building up and reinforced it to be more earthquake-proof, among other things) and now that it's finished (well, mostly), they opened it up for tours and all sorts of celebratory events. The day we were there, they had a construction safety certification booth set up, where you could learn all about safety, play with hammers and screwdrivers, and then get your very own hard hat and certificate at the end. We skipped the paper part but Spencer did walk away with a real live (flimsy plastic) hard hat, which he calls his Bob the Builder hat. It goes nicely with his Bob the Builder cup, as he calls it, which is really just a Playtex sippy cup with construction equipment on it.... no mention or endorsement of Bob himself, whatsoever.

He's so enamored with his new hat that he insists on wearing it whenever an even semi-relevant occasion calls for it, such as playing with his tool box or choo choo train. Hey, if you're going to be a train conductor, you gotta look the part... ?

It's SNOW Time!

2008-01-15T21:32:00.001-07:00

(the imprint to the right is his attempt at a snow angel)

Holy crap, have we had a lot of snow. While Spencer isn't fond of it blowing in his face, or walking around outside while it's coming down, he thinks it's great fun to play in... as I found out last week when we got dumped on. Now we can't go anywhere without Spencer stomping through great piles of snow. We also discovered that the slide we inherited is almost as fun as sledding.

As you can clearly see from his bright red cheeks, it was frigidly cold.... and he could not be swayed to go back inside, until I once again said the magic words, hot chocolate. But even then it was "one more time!" He appears to have gotten over his utter disdain of hats and especially loves the ones that Grandpa Reese made for him.

Here's a picture of his almost-most-recent owie.... a lovely purple stripe down his forehead. He was running down the hall and managed to trip, landing his head square on the corner of the bathroom doorway. Ryan's perspective from inside the bathroom was much more comical, as he heard "THUMP" and then the crayons that Spencer was holding went flying under the door.

It faded to a lovely (disgusting) shade of green, and now it appears to be gone. Yes, he has a runny nose. No, that's not blood around his mouth.... though I'm not quite sure what it is.

Last night he was finally successful in his attempts to climb out of his crib. Apparently he landed on his face, since his nose is a bit worse for the wear. Serves me right for booking a photo sitting. If you ask him how he got the owie on his nose, he'll tell you "I fall out of bed!"

Old Hang Sign

2008-01-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

The holidays flew right by and now here we are, full force into 2008. We hope everyone had as much fun as we did. Santa DID make a stop at our house and brought all sorts of goodies (mostly for Spencer with a little eye candy for me). Spencer wasn't as interested in present-opening as I thought he would be, given the practice round he had a couple months ago with his birthday. Here he is ripping into the paper and still not quite understanding why:

Santa left him a real Thomas the Tank Engine train set, but he strangely seemed more excited about the Thomas shirt, which is weird because he really is a boy, hmm... But then we opened up the box and wouldn't you know it, a train is, in fact, more fun than a shirt!

After we finished opening presents, we hit the road for Cache Valley where we found even more presents and LOTS of snow. Once again, Spencer was more interested in the toys that weren't wrapped up but he finally got into it when he figured out he could use the pliers to open presents. Papa was so proud.

And the best gift of all was the GIGANTIC Tonka truck from Baby Mckenzie! The only problem is now he thinks this is how you play with it, and he insists on someone (me) pushing him around the playroom.

Ryan headed back to work (sigh) after a couple days, and Spencer and I stayed at Grandma's house to play in the snow. Unfortunately, after a couple of shots, the camera was completely full and the best pictures are still on Grandma's camera. Here's Uncle Heath hauling a sled full of kids up the hill.... not an easy task. Poor Spencer got a face full of snow on his first run down the hill. So Uncle Heath and I took turns on the sled for awhile, until we finally convinced (forced) him to give it another try. And then between "I did it all by myself!" and "again?", we couldn't get him off of it. After only a half hour (no, really) outside, we managed to lure him back in the house with these magic words: hot chocolate.

We spent New Year's with our friends the Mautzes up in West Jordan. Spencer LOVES their house because they have soooo many toys... AND a dog. What more does a 2-yr-old need? After the kiddos went to bed, we broke out the wii and played on the big screen... I totally suck.

Santa's lap, take two

2007-12-14T16:42:00.001-07:00

We went to the mall again last night to visit Santa - this time so that daddy could be part of the festivities. I was hoping for a better picture.... one, perhaps, where Spencer was actually looking in the right direction, maybe even smiling. Spencer had other plans entirely. He absolutely refused to sit on Santa's lap or even look in his direction and chose instead to scream and cry and hang on oh so tightly to his daddy's neck. We did, however, convince him to give Santa a high 5.

So what do you do when the boy is so distraught? Send him on a train ride, of course! This time he went all by himself, big boy that he is, which made it a LOT easier to get a decent photo. It was just as much fun the second time around and boy, did he let us know it. Each time the train came around, we heard him saying "I riding the choo choo train! I ride it!"

And now, not to detract from the magic of Santa, but what the crap is up with the ridiculous prices they charge for a freaking photo?? Thank goodness we went somewhere where we were allowed to use our own camera. The cheapest price I saw on their list was $15 for a 5x7. FIFTEEN DOLLARS. Then you could pay an extra fee ($5 or $7, I forget, and only with portrait purchase) to get an electronic copy suitable only for emailing, not for reprints. Last year in Tulsa we found a very cute little Santa's house where we got a great picture for $5. It wasn't studio quality by any means but at least I didn't feel like I was totally getting ripped off. Am I the only one who thinks this is preposterous?

Santa, Santa, HO HO HO!

2007-12-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

Ah, Christmastime.... the hap-happiest season of all and Spencer is totally digging it. We learned the special Santa call watching Mickey Mouse (the blog title) so Spencer fills his days with calling Santa and singing Jingle Bells. He didn't have much interest in helping to decorate the tree, but he's on the lookout for snowmen and Santa and Christmas trees and Christmas lights everywhere we go. And wouldn't you know it, we just happened to run into a REAL LIVE Santa at the mall this week!
Santa smiled beautifully for the camera but Spencer was too distracted by the choo choo train.... we even practiced asking Santa to bring Spencer his very own choo choo train but he had no interest in actually talking to Santa. At least he didn't cry, which is what I was fully expecting.

Of course we had to go ride the train next. Spencer had a tough time choosing which car to ride in, since he had the whole train to himself, and then he insisted that mommy ride too. (Another surprise, since he's been known to go all by himself in the past.)

I was a little dizzy after a ride that only goes in a circle, but Spencer loved it and was immediately begging "again?" Fortunately we found another train nearby that turned out to be just as fun.

And maybe... just maybe... if Spencer is a very good boy, Santa will bring him a real train of his very own. In the meantime, he worked out this improvisation:He was so proud of himself... he came running to me in the kitchen saying "I build a choo choo train!!" I have to admit I wasn't sure whether to be proud of his imagination or sad that he had to resort to using his cars as a train.

We got elfed!

2007-12-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

Click here to check out Spencer's fancy holiday dance moves.... we even had a surprise guest join us!

"'Cause he knows that it's me they've been coming to see...

2007-11-30T11:06:00.000-07:00

....to forget about life for awhile."

Which is exactly what we did last night, and by we, I mean Ryan and me. Spencer hasn't quite learned to appreciate the musical genius of Billy Joel... he prefers Neil Diamond "in the sky". So we dropped him off at Kip & Ginny's (thank you again a million times over, by the way) and headed to Salt Lake to enjoy our Christmas present a few weeks early. Although we did miss Libery DeVito on drums, Billy is totally worth the outrageous ticket price, every time.

Busy busy busy

2007-11-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Today we wrote letters to Auntie Bethy and Uncle Pace. Actually, I wrote the letters and Spencer provided the illustrations. He knows that they're both on missions.... Uncle Pace is in Russia and Auntie Bethy is apparently at Disneyland. Here's a sample of Spencer's artwork:
This particular piece is an intricate detail of rainbows and Christmas lights, as described by the artist himself.

Spencer's latest favorite activities are anything involving sports. Uncle Heath came over last week to help him set up his baseball game. It's been nothing but golf, trampoline jumping, basketball, and most recently, baseball since his birthday. He doesn't actually have a basketball hoop, but don't you worry because he is the master of improvisation.
Yes, he's in the bathroom using the laundry hamper for basketball. Go ahead and laugh but he's actually getting pretty darn good at it, which kind of sucks for me because I have to go in every 2 minutes to get his balls out of the hamper.

We spent Thanksgiving with the Petersens this year, where Spencer declined to actually eat Thanksgiving dinner. But he did have fun playing with Papa's phonograph, until he got in trouble for slamming the cabinet door shut. Now he walks around wagging his finger and saying "I told you no no" to everything.... the couch, his golf clubs, me, the treadmill, you name it.

Our attempt to get his 2 yr old pictures taken was foiled again when he took a dive in nursery yesterday and ended up with rug burns all over his nose. Last week it was a head-on collision with the brick fireplace at Uncle Kip's house. Here's hoping we can avoid further facial injuries. I managed to snap a photo of his owies today while he was eating a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin. Spencer's response when he saw this picture was "oh... cookie on face!"

And we send big get well wishes to Grandpa Madsen who had surgery on his owie shoulder today!

Binky all gone

2007-11-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

Forgot to post that Spencer officially gave up the binky on Halloween night. I'd been snipping it bit by bit and telling him that binky was broken and needed to go in the garbage.... he, however, loudly disagreed. Then as we were getting ready for bed after trick or treating, Spencer said "oh no, binky broken. Throw in garbage." So we marched into the kitchen and he threw it in the trash can all by himself. Of course then he kept asking for it for the next several days. I think he's finally figured out that it really is gone... FOREVER.

Today we did a little outlet shopping in Park City. And boy do I mean little, since we had to go to the play area after just about every store which really limits the amount of actual shopping you can do. Spencer capped off the trip with a gigantic poop explosion, the likes of which I've not seen since he was perhaps a few months old (and even then, I don't remember ever having one this bad). All I can say is it's a good thing I bought some new clothes for him while we were there.

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!!

2007-11-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

We went to Arctic Circle the other night with G&G Reese, where Spencer swiped grandma's ice cream cone and thoroughly enjoyed every single bite, from the first lick of ice cream to the very last crunch of the cone. Unsure about how to eat it, at first he asked for a spoon.... then he figured out how to lick it.

Good thing grandpa had extra cash to get grandma a new cone (which, much to Spencer's dismay, she did not share).

Better late than never Halloween pics

2007-11-08T22:24:00.000-07:00

We actually did celebrate Halloween, and here are the photos to prove it. Spencer finally consented to wearing his cowboy costume. In fact, as we were getting geared up to hit the trick or treat trail, he asked to wear his "cowboy... coat?" We found candy at Ryan's office, Macey's, and the ward trunk or treat. Spencer got pretty good at saying "trick or treat" and even remembered to say thank you, unless there was a wig involved and then he just stared. Here he is getting his trick or treat on:

And sorting through his loot on our front porch:
After I managed to pry the bucket out of his hands and put him to bed, I found several wrapped pieces of candy that had bite marks in them. I gotta say that the trunk or treat instead of trick or treating around the neighborhood... a little disappointing and anticlimactic. We may have to kick it up a notch next year.

We hit the pumpkin patch at Thanksgiving Point a few weeks ago. Spencer rode on the cow train all by himself (he's the one in the middle that you can barely see) but what he REALLY wanted to do was just drive the tractor... and everything else with a steering wheel. At one point, he asked to drive the train. I'm pretty sure the kid driving it was about 7 so hey, why not? As Grandpa Reese said, he's gonna be hell on wheels in about 15 years.

I tried so hard to get him to stand still at the measuring pumpkin... this is the best I could do. Spencer could not understand why we would make him stand in front of a plywood picture when there were tractors EVERYWHERE and no one was guarding them.

After it started to get dark, we went on the jack-o-lantern hayride and it was soooo boring, Spencer was asking to go bye-bye home. But then he discovered the "park" and the giant slide.....
More than a few rounds later, we convinced him it was cold and time to go home. Next year we'll know to skip the middle slide because the piece of blue tape down the middle totally slows you down.

Birthday madness

2007-11-01T21:58:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday we threw a big birthday bash for our little 2 yr old. In true 2 yr old form, Spencer pitched a fit and refused to have any part of the festivities. He came around after awhile, when he saw marshmallows and the wheelbarrow. Here he is being antisocial:

The rest of us carved pumpkins and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Here we are, hard at work.... (my apologies for the butt shot, Teri and Kristi)

And our finished masterpieces:

Spencer went to town opening his presents (and there were many, thanks to a big family that loves him a lot!):

What could be better than ripping paper? I know, playing with all your new toys - FORE!!

Spencer didn't quite understand why he couldn't play with all his toys immediately. With each new box he would plead to whoever was closest "open it, please?" At least he was polite. We finally relented and broke open his new golf set. It's a little scary how good he is at it already. He's in good hands with a daddy and lots of uncles who are hopelessly addicted to golf. I'm relieved to say at this point that all our windows remain intact, though that may go straight to crap when he realizes he has a new baseball set too.

And finally, CAKE! This year we did Mickey Mouse:

He totally rose to the occasion when it was time to blow out the candles and after he blew them out (with a little help), he said "again?" So we lit them back up for round 2. Check out the video at http://benjandchristy.blogspot.com/

Eating the cake was another story altogether. Last year he just smeared frosting all over his face, and this year he ate only ice cream. Clearly we have some work to do before next year.

.... big thanks to G&G Reese who let us invade their house for this shindig!!

We spent Spencer's actual birthday on October 30 at the Salt Palace to see Ryan get sworn in to the Utah Bar Association. It's true, we have an official attorney in the family! Spencer was a very good boy and got to stay for the whole thing, unlike law school graduation. Turns out all we needed was Grandpa Madsen and his trusty pen to draw Mickey Mouse on Spencer's hand.

Life with an almost 2-yr-old

2007-10-23T10:08:00.000-06:00

So apparently it's been awhile since I posted. You're not missing much, as we have pretty boring lives around here. Spencer and I try to hit music time and story time at the library every week, then we go to the park if it's not freezing cold outside. He insists on watching Curious George and Mickey Mouse every day. I insist on him taking a nap every day. And that's about it.

Lately most everything that comes out of Spencer's mouth is "NO!" and "MINE!" It's been a lot of fun. He came down with a cold a couple days ago so he's not quite as rambunctious, but he still has energy coming out his ears. We've been talking a lot about Halloween and birthdays, since both are coming up soon. He seems to be not so sure about this dressing up business for Halloween.... he cried when I put his cowboy vest on him the other day, but he loves to wear Uncle Pace's Mickey Mouse cowboy hat. I told him he has to be a cowboy to get candy. Of course he fixated on the "candy" part and asks for it constantly. Sadly, the search for cowboy boots has proven unsuccessful... though at this point I doubt he would wear them anyway. Yesterday we went hunting at the DI and while we didn't find boots, Spencer scored a little carry-along piano keyboard for a buck (out of my pocket, not his). There's not an on/off switch but at least the volume is low, which I'm sure our next door neighbors will appreciate since the only volume he knows on our upright piano is fortissimo (that's LOUD to all you non-musicians).

This weekend.... big birthday party for our almost 2-yr-old!! Hard to say if Spencer understands the birthday concept. Probably not. But he does understand "toys" so there you go. Thanks to G&G for letting us invade their house. We promise to clean up the mess. :) Then next week is, of course, trick or treat time, which means I should probably find Spencer's pumpkin bucket, as well as Spencer's actual birthday and Ryan's swearing in - YAY!!!

Baby Mckenzie

2007-10-08T22:17:00.000-06:00

We met baby "Akenzie" this weekend (Spencer's pronunciation has evolved)! Spencer was so excited to see her and hold her and give her loves. He has this funny little giggle that generally only comes out when he's around animals... I think it's because he thinks they're stuffed toys and when they suddenly move about, it's simply hilarious. So it was with Mckenzie. He stared into her face with awe and reverence, and then she moved and the giggles erupted. She is so tiny and sweet and perfect and beautiful!

We tried to get Spencer to give her a kiss.... this is the closest we got. Then he said "catch!" and we had to explain that we don't throw the baby. Probably he was confused since Grandma and I played catch with him in the swimming pool. He also tried to feed her Cheerios. Hey, at least he was sharing....

In other sad news, Grandma Petersen passed away early this morning. We were able to see her and be with her Sunday afternoon, though she may not have known it. While it's always hard to say goodbye, we're grateful that she's released from the suffering she's endured for these last few years and reunited with Grandpa. Here's a 4-generation picture we snapped with her when Spencer was about 2 months old.

As you can probably tell, those Petersen genes are pretty strong. It's not too hard to tell who Spencer's dad and Papa are.

Fun in the California Sun

2007-10-05T15:43:00.000-06:00

Spencer and I took a little trip to sunny California last week with Grandma. Although the reason for the trip was sad (the funeral for Auntie Kristen's dad), we managed to have some fun as well and Spencer learned a few new skills from his cousin Campbell. We went to the beach, the LA Zoo, Campbell's class, and Knott's Berry Farm for dinner. We didn't make it inside of Mickey Mouse's house this time, but since we just happened to be sort of in the neighborhood, we drove down Harbor and then cried the rest of the way home. Spencer was unimpressed.

Poor Spencer did not care much for the beach. He made his peace with all the sand in his toes but the ocean was WAY too scary. He was fascinated with all the little hermit crabs we found in the tide pools and he liked splashing in the little ponds of water, but any time the surf came up where he was standing, he totally freaked out. Maybe next time we go he'll follow Campbell's lead and run away from it.

The petting zoo was the hit of the day. Spencer was thrilled with all the goats walking around. We managed to get the boys to brush the same goat at the same time for about 5 seconds. After we pried the brushes out of their hands and dragged them out kicking and screaming (well, Spencer at least), Spencer the monkey figured out how to swing on the bars and Campbell the fish played in the water.

While we were looking at the orangutans, one came right over to the glass to say hello. Spencer wasn't so sure about it and Campbell seemed rather unimpressed, but Grandma and I thought it was pretty cool.

One of the skills Spencer honed... jumping on the bed. It's so much more fun when you can get both feet in the air at the same time. Now the trampoline at Grandma Reese's house has a whole new element of fun. Spencer also learned from Campbell how to gallop like a horse and he wants to do it ALL the time.

This weekend we're headed to Logan to see brand new Baby McKenzie!! Or as Spencer calls her, Bee-bee Kinzie. Pretty close.

A successful jump through the flaming hoop

2007-09-16T11:30:00.000-06:00

Ryan passed the Bar!! Swearing in is on Spencer's birthday... October 30 at noon in Salt Lake. Our house is filled with relief and elation, and a few end-of-summer colds.

Everyone can stop taking the Bar in their sleep now, hurray!

Take two

2007-09-12T21:30:00.001-06:00

I know, I know.... go ahead and accuse me of being fickle. Turns out the "new" look didn't quite do it for me so here's another attempt. Don't be surprised if it's different again next week.

My little helper

2007-09-12T14:47:00.000-06:00

Spencer is totally into helping out these days:

As soon as he saw the sack with corn, he yelled "CONE!!", grabbed an ear and started husking. It took awhile, and not all of it made it to the garbage can on the first try, but he persisted with "Spencer helping!" Except in his dialect it's more like "pansta hepping!" Someday the poor boy may learn to say his own name.

Then the second he got all of the husk off, before I could grab it and peel away the silk, he took a huge bite. And another. So of course I just grabbed the camera and started snapping away.

Though he loves to help with, well, everything, emptying the dishwasher is, by far, one of his favorites:

If only we'd had the video camera on Saturday night at dinner with G&G Reese, Heath, and Teri. Spencer saw a plate of lemons on the table and insisted he wanted one. Grandpa even showed him how to eat it (thanks a lot, by the way). So Spencer opened up wide and took a big bite. Oh man, the look on his face... priceless! Even better was the "yum yum!" he kept saying, though his face clearly said otherwise, as he kept going back for more.

Uncle Heath taught Spencer how to roll down the hill at Grandma's house. At first he couldn't quite figure it out, but Heath gave him one good shove and off he went.... again, and again, and again....

Spencer's latest fashion accessory - Nana's reading glasses from the dollar store. He loves them and insists on wearing them pretty much everywhere. Besides the fact that they're magnified, obviously, they're usually totally covered in fingerprints so I don't know how he can even see out of them.

Riding the paddle boat and feeding the trout in the pond at our friend Micah's house. Spencer pitched a giant fit when we made him leave. The splashing you can see below is the fish going nuts for the food.

New look, same old nonsense

2007-09-06T20:45:00.001-06:00

Don't be confused.... you're probably on the right page. I got sick of the old blog layout. We'll see how long this one lasts. And the camera batteries died pretty much completely so no pictures this time. At least we don't have to send it out to be fixed, which reminds me.... Kristen, is yours back yet?

Spencer and I went to grandma's house last week to can peaches from our tree and grandma's tree. Spencer alternately called them apples and balls, then he emptied them out of the coolers we hauled them up in. He did a pretty good job keeping himself entertained with balls, books, and dancing while grandma and I were up to our elbows in peaches. We were listening to the Disney cds and when the song from the Main Street Electrical Parade came on, he kicked his dancing into high gear. A couple days later when Ryan joined us, I turned it on for him and he said "so what's this song?" At first I thought I was kidding and then I realized he really had no idea, which obviously means we need to take a little trip to Anaheim. After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I explained the history of the parade (how they retired it, sold the lightbulbs, and then revived it when they opened California Adventure) and he said he was scared that I knew that. Whatever. Spoken like a true non-enthusiast. ;)

Spencer's vocabularly and speaking ability has grown by leaps and bounds lately. There's still times when I have to ask him several times what in the world he's saying, then do a little translation in my head (sometimes g=d and k=t), and there are a few words that come out horribly wrong, like fox and flag. You can probably guess what they sound like. It was awfully shocking when I first heard him very enthusiastically pointing out a flag he saw. But overall, he's doing very well and he surprises me with his growing knowledge on a daily basis. Last night he pulled out his Snuggle Puppy book and sang "oooooh, puppy... ooooooh, puppy". He also (still) loves to count and now he can make it clear to 10, though he still leaves out 4 on occasion. I'm pretty sure he has no idea what the numbers mean, except he always wants 2 of everything - one for each hand. He LOVES shapes, colors, and animals too, always pointing out circles and "kiangle"s, and mostly everything is blue. Lately he sees a lot of purple cows (usually they are spotted horses, as I figured out the other day) and sometimes horses are "conkey"s or, as he had to clarify for me, hee haw.

We were supposed to start swimming lessons next week but with the bug/virus going around in the pools, that went straight to the crapper. Of course since I mentioned swimming last week, Spencer is obsessed with the idea and brings me his swim diapers several times a day. For now we'll just check out story time and the music and movement classes at the library, since they're free, and we're happy that it's finally park weather and we can go at times other than 9 am.

Spencer has willingly and enthusiastically gone to nursery 3 Sundays in a row - yay!!! Even this week at Nana's church with a different teacher and different kids, he marched into the room like he owned the place.

Best Sunday EVER

2007-08-20T15:32:00.000-06:00

. . . except for the fact that church is at 1 o'clock.

Yesterday Spencer went to nursery, all by himself, with no crying, screaming, protesting, or tears. We totally weren't expecting it, especially since on the walk to church when we asked him if he was going to nursery, he said "no". And shook his head. But then with daddy's scriptures in one hand and a car in the other, we walked down the hall towards his "class". . . he marched right into the room. . . found a chair. . . sat in the one next to it. . . and off I went. His teachers said it was the best he's ever done.

Now that I think about it, there was a little girl who came up to Spencer when he was trying to sit down. He seemed happy to see her and she was clearly glad to see him, given the very exuberant "HI!!" from both of them. Perhaps he has a new girlfriend...?

Climbing fool

2007-08-17T21:02:00.000-06:00

The kid has no fear. None whatsoever. I frequently find myself running across the park, hurdling playground equipment (well, running around it) to grab Spencer or stick a hand under him as he climbs up EVERYTHING. I managed to snap these pictures at our latest trip to the park yesterday.

I actually didn't intend to go anywhere yesterday but Spencer had other plans. "Pok? Pok? Pok?" At first I thought he was asking to go on a walk but he said "no, POK!!" At least now he can (and will) tell us what he wants. You just have to speak his dialect. Not at easy task sometimes but I've been listening to language tapes while I sleep and I think I'm starting to get it.

So determined to be a big boy, Spencer is no longer satisfied with the baby swings. He was tickled to pieces when I put him on the big tree swing at G&G's house, all by himself.

"one, two, five, six"

2007-08-10T21:18:00.000-06:00

We keep telling him three and four come after two. Spencer is totally and completely obsessed with numbers and colors lately. Mostly everything is blue or yellow, sometimes purple, and often when he counts he just skips right to "five, six", like today when he was counting my toes. He does pretty well though if we start him off with one and take turns counting in succession. But he always stops at nine.

So last Wednesday, we said "bye bye" to Uncle Pace at the MTC. Spencer was utterly enthralled by the "Called to Serve" video. Although he wasn't screaming, he was quite loud nonetheless with several strategically placed exclamations of "WOW" and "NEAT".

Yesterday we went to Aunt Joyce's house to pick apricots for Grandma Madsen. Spencer discovered the dogs' wading pool in the backyard and while I was initially successful in diverting his attention, he later found the watering can and headed back over to try filling it up. He immediately dropped it in the pool and while he was trying to get it back, he found it was much more fun to splash his hands in the water. Pretty soon, Joyce saw his rear end go up in the air and splash! Head over heels into the pool. Completely and utterly soaked, he came up sputtering and gasping. All I could do was laugh. Of all the times to leave the camera at home...

Hats, books, shoes, buttons, and corn on the cob: these are a few of Spencer's favorites this week.

He constantly brings me his shoes to put on, or else he just goes digging around in our closet and clomps about in whatever shoes he can find. And he LOVES daddy's hats, though he won't wear his own. We've been eating a lot of corn on the cob lately. Spencer cannot get enough of the stuff. I have to keep the controls on the dishwasher locked, since he's totally enthralled with buttons. He loves to push the buttons to start the dishwasher and close the garage door. As soon as we pull the car in, it's "button? button? button?" until someone lifts him up to push it.

21 months old on July 30. Two is right around the corner, although I'm pretty sure we're smack in the middle of the terrible two's. Our house is tantrum central these days.

Where did July go?

2007-08-02T21:34:00.000-06:00

Well, I'll tell you.... 4th of July totally thnuck up on me (just like the Thneekoman), then Uncle Ben got married, Ryan took the Bar, and Uncle Pace left for his mission, which means it's now August. Gone, just like that. If you were wondering if we've done anything exciting lately, please reread this paragraph.

We had a grand time at Uncle Ben and Auntie Christy's various wedding celebrations. Spencer thought the best parts were the river and the slide in Idaho Falls, and the hammock and macadamia nuts at the reception in Utah. He and I stayed at grandma's house for a couple weeks in between all the wedding-ness until after the Bar. We're glad it's over, and we'll find out in about 7 weeks if Ryan passed. And that's all I have to say about that.

A few pictures for your viewing pleasure....

Spencer started out going down the straight slide in the background, but then he discovered another set of stairs and an even better slide at the top. I was standing on the ground, just waiting for him to fall off, but as it turns out he knew exactly what he was doing.... and then he just kept heading back up the stairs for more.

Poor Campbell just wanted to play cars.... but Spencer can turn pretty much anything into a slide. They had loads of fun at grandma's house playing lacrosse, hockey, and basically anything else that involved a ball. Spencer's ride-on ladybug toy unfortunately suffered a casualty, but not to worry - a new set of wheels is en route.

Spencer's Nana helped entertain the boys with hammock rides at the very special Hawaiian reception. I'm not sure if this is before or after Campbell licked Ryan's pants.

Have you ever seen 2 cuter little boys? I'll help you out with this one... you haven't!! Grandma set up a photo shoot for the boys in their matching aloha outfits. It was a bit like herding cats... or chickens... or anything else equally unherdable, but with a little help from circles (smarties), honeybees (graham crackers), and anything else Kristen and I could find in the diaper bags, our lovely photographer managed to capture a few magical moments.

The Petersens and the newest Madsen couple. I have another picture where Spencer doesn't have his fingers in his nose, but where's the fun in that?

Good Uncle Heath and BAD Uncle Heath. I think it's self explanatory as to which is which.

At least we know Spencer is a true boy. He's all about the ball and the bike. In fact, he always lets me know when he sees a bike, motorcycle or otherwise. He pointed them all out to me the other day on our walk. The motorcycles say "rum rum rum". The other ones don't say anything. Just so you know. And cows finally say moo instead of boo. Spencer is beefing up his communication skills every day. Just today as I was walking around the house swatting at flies, he pointed to one on the dishwasher and said "bee, bee... see? see? SEE?" I tried to tell him it was a fly, not a bee, but the look on his face clearly said "blah blah blah blah BEE blah blah". Then later he screamed at me for no apparent reason and wouldn't give me a clue why. Easy come, easy go.

"...so then Ernie says to Bert, 'you told me not to eat cookies in my bed, so I'm eating them in your bed!' HA HA HA HA HA!"

Yes and No

2007-07-10T13:52:00.001-06:00

I'm very sad to announce that Spencer learned how to say no today. It came right smack after I told him no, but he did me one better. He wagged his finger at me as he said it. All morning in the car today, I heard "no, no, no, no, no, MINE!" coming from the backseat. So I taught him to say yes.

Just when you thought it was safe....

2007-07-09T15:07:00.000-06:00

After many years of diligent service, our vacuum cleaner recently gave up the ghost. Fortunately G&G Reese had a spare R2D2 canister-type vacuum, so we brought it home to live with us for awhile. Spencer does not care for it. Just when he finally got over his fear of the vacuum, in comes this new monster. He sat on his chair and cried while I cleaned, except for when I got too close and then he ran away crying.

But on the bright side, we got to play with Lily and Brooke yesterday! Spencer was so excited to see his friend. They had a grand time riding tricycles and toy cars, eating cupcakes, dancing, jumping off the fireplace, and taking turns sitting in Lizzie's bouncy chair (Lily's new baby sister). Spencer even learned a couple new words from Lily - cheese and mine. (Not cheese as in the kind you eat, but the "smile for the camera" cheese.) I'll just be glad he still doesn't know how to say no, although I'm sure it's just around the corner.

I'm telling you Spencer, it's easier to steer with your hands instead of your feet.

Cheese!

Mommy!

2007-07-06T13:36:00.000-06:00

Spencer FINALLY learned to say "mommy" - music to my ears!! It started out as just mom (last Friday 6/29), over and over again, then evolved from ninny or nanny or something like that to mommy. Slowly but surely, his vocabulary is expanding, although we still can't really get him to say anything that he does sounds for, like car, cow, doggy, etc. He recently started saying shoe, slide, hmm, and a few others that I can't remember right now. Spencer is also expanding his food preferences. Believe it or not, he will now eat broccoli. I know, I was as surprised as you are now. Here's the proof:

He even said "yum yum" as he crammed it into his mouth, piece after piece. Much to Ryan's dismay, he also loves to eat tomatoes though I haven't yet captured that one on film.

We had a fun 4th of July at G&G's house. It was super hot and Spencer slept through most of the party but when he finally woke up, he enjoyed his first fried chicken drumstick and ate it down to the bone. He had mixed feelings about the fireworks we set off. Most of them elicited a "cool" or "wow", but the whistling ones were scary. Then as each one died out, he said "uh oh". I guess we could have taught him to clap. Probably the snaps were the most fun. He figured out how to set them off by stepping on them or smashing them in his fingers. Thank goodness they weren't sparklers. Too bad the camera died before we could get a picture of him playing with the snaps.

Take yourself to college, I'm Picasso!

Spencer LOVES his new crayons and doggy coloring book. He hasn't yet tried to color the walls but he did manage to get his face and the table. Good thing they're washable.

Poor Ryan is still recovering from spending the morning of the 4th out on the boat with Grandpa Madsen, Heath, Ben and Christy (read more about it here). Maybe it would have been worth it had they been able to ski but unfortunately the trip consisted of launching the boat, driving out to the middle of the lake, and then getting towed back to the harbor. Between the sun and the nonstop studying, he pretty much ran into a brick wall. Only 18 days until the Bar.... pray for us....

Apparently Spencer is studying for the Bar too. He thinks it's much more fun than daddy does.

Mr. Personality

2007-06-25T20:42:00.000-06:00

In case you had any doubts as to Spencer's little personality, these pictures should clear them up:

You wanna know where the gun show is? Right here!!

I think the look on his face here says it all. Lately it's his favorite expression.

Our own little bucket-head. We're so proud.
He emptied it and put it on all by himself. Should we be worried?

At least he's not a cross-dresser. Check it out, it's even on the right foot.
Probably the days of running around in just a diaper are fast coming to an end. Yesterday he figured out how to take it off. In his words, uh oh!

There are a few more words in Spencer's growing vocabulary - egg, truck, cup, wow, yeah, sit, and go. He's getting better at trying to repeat what we say. He's also learned that the sheep says "bah" and the pig says "oink" (although it sounds more like "onk", but close enough). He figured out how to climb up into his booster chair all by himself, so anytime you mention something about eating, he heads straight for his chair and waits for the food. Yesterday at church, he finally (FINALLY) went to nursery all by himself. He wasn't too happy about it but since mommy and daddy have to teach a class now, he didn't have much of a choice. We're told the screaming didn't last too long... And boy, was he excited when mommy came to get him later.

Spencer had so much fun playing with his cousin Campbell a couple weekends ago. (Go here for pictures of their adventures.) They played grandpa's drums, went to the park, threw rocks in the dam, and played at Spencer's Nana's house. However, they did not get to have cousin sleepover in the same room after they woke each other up far too early in the morning. We're super excited to see them again in a few weeks for Uncle Ben's wedding. Hopefully our next reunion will be at the beach.... by Campbell's house... hmm...

He talks!

2007-06-09T20:39:00.001-06:00

Spencer is saying real, actual words. I know, we can hardly believe it ourselves. This is his current vocabulary: hi, happy, apple, up, see, daddy, book, cookie, uh-huh, uh oh, and hubba. And when he's crying, he might say mommy (although most of the time it still sounds more like mimi). Ryan is trying to teach him the alphabet. So far, we can distinguish a, c, e, i, and k. The rest are just high, squeaky, and mostly indistinguishable sounds. I guess it's appropriate since right now, one of his favorite books is Barney's Silly Alphabet Soup. I take comfort in the fact that when I ask him to point to Barney, he doesn't know who I'm talking about.

We (Rachel and Spencer) went to Cache Valley last weekend for a little let-Ryan-study time. Spencer, as usual, had a grand time playing with all his grandparents, aunts, and uncles. This time around he played in the swimming pool, rode the trike, ate lots of peppermint leaves, and discovered grandpa's drum set. Not only did he play the drums, he threw the sticks up in the air too. So rock and roll. He also logged plenty of time banging on the piano and plucking at the guitar strings. Maybe one day the guitar will actually be in tune. The piano is even more fun now because he can climb onto the piano bench all by himself. He loves music almost as much as he loves cookies. Grandma taught him how to smell his peppermint leaf and say "mmmm" before he eats it. Besides peas, they're the only green thing he will eat.

Notice the bench behind Spencer... he took a nose-dive off of it and had some lovely road rash on his face.

Spencer gets to go to grandma's house again next weekend while mommy and daddy go to a wedding in Fort Worth. Today we met some of our friends from our old ward in Tulsa at Temple Square. Spencer ran me all around the Plaza before we went up to the Garden Restaurant for lunch, where he learned how to throw pennies into the fountain (then pick it back out and throw it in again).

I chose this picture just for the expression on Pace's face.

Lounge Lizard

2007-05-28T20:44:00.000-06:00

Have I ever mentioned that Spencer LOVES to swim? Actually he loves to play in any water - a pool, the bathtub, a puddle... if there's a puddle, he has an uncanny ability to find it and fall in it. But on with the story. We had lots of fun in Park City this Memorial weekend with Nana and Papa. First stop: the pool. Spencer just about jumped out of daddy's arms when he saw the water. (Before that he was mad that we made him leave the exercise balls in the gym.)

Uncle Heath came down to visit so naturally we had to go to Cabela's. Ryan and Heath headed for the guns. Mommy chased Spencer around the store as he looked at the fish, pointed at the dead animals, and tried on hats. Possibly it was more fun than the zoo, but since we've not been to the zoo, I'll withhold judgment.

Spencer is working on his speaking vocabulary, slowly but surely. He's very good at "hi" and "see". At Cabela's, he started saying "wow" and lately he says "up" every time we go up stairs. Sometimes I'm pretty sure he says "cool". It's obvious that he can understand far more than he can speak. He generally follows directions and can answer yes/no questions... yes is "uh huh" and no is shaking head with screams. We're trying to eliminate the screaming part. So far he's not going for it.

18 months old on 4/30/07

Our surreal life

2007-05-08T15:09:00.000-06:00

Here's the count...
thumbs up: Graduation
thumbs down: Moving

Moving sucks. And we have a lot of stuff so it sucks even worse. On Thursday evening, our little relo-cubes (and by little, I mean tiny) arrived about 2 hours late. The guys from church that came to help were total troopers and managed to load most of our stuff in the dark. Then between our cars, Grandpa Reese's truck, and my dad's car, we fit in almost everything else. Graduation was on Saturday and we hit the road on Sunday morning. Unfortunately no matter how organized you are as you pack, it's still chaos.

I'd love to tell you that all the speakers at graduation were inspiring and thought-provoking, but most of the time I was busy with trying to keep Spencer quiet. He was mesmerized by the bagpipe players during the processional but that seemed to be the only thing that would hold his attention. He spotted daddy as he was heading to the podium for his hooding. Shortly after that, he was fired from graduation and promptly escorted out by Grandma. As they were leaving, he expressed his displeasure to everyone in attendance with an ear-piercing screech and thus will forever be known as the baby who screamed at graduation. I would have felt bad or been embarrassed, except that I have to hear it all the time so it's about time someone else got an earful. I'm sure Nana, Papa, and Erin were glad he traded in his monster persona and was a much nicer boy for them on the airplane ride back. That's right, we sent Spencer on the plane with his grandparents. Did you think we were going to drive halfway across the country with him in the backseat? No way.

The drive through Kansas and Colorado was long and uneventful, for the most part. We saw all sorts of interesting wildlife, including a coyote, a couple of turtles, a cat, some bighorn sheep, an armadillo, goats, antelope, a skunk, and I think some alpacas. The coyote darted across the highway as we were leaving Tulsa, probably not 10 minutes after we left. Eastern Kansas was flooded all over the place. There were lakes where I'm pretty sure lakes should not have been.

I'll post some pictures later. At this point, we're just glad to mostly be in our various separate and hopefully unbroken pieces. Although I'm quite giddy to be out of the humidity, I'm pretty sure my skin is going to shrivel right up in the dry Utah air.

Here comes Peter Cottontail

2007-04-08T20:26:00.000-06:00

Happy Easter, everyone! The Easter bunny came to visit Spencer, bringing him all sorts of lovely gifts. (Thanks to G&G Reese for the pig, G&G Madsen for the outfit and book, and N&P for the duck). On Saturday we took Spencer to a big Easter egg hunt, but apparently we were late (or they started 15 minutes early) so he only got a few eggs. But he got a new bouncy ball and who needs candy anyway? Spencer looked super sharp in his new Easter clothes:

Check me out... I'm gonna get all the ladies in this cherry outfit.

We just got back from a Utah tour. After many, many days of searching and dozens of phone calls, we found a new home in Springville. (Actually it's a twin home but it's all the same to us... at least it's not another apartment.) We had lots of fun staying at G&G's house. Spencer was pretty quick to warm up to everyone he met and, of course, basked in all the attention. He had fun playing on the trampoline and at the park with Heath and Teri, he got a special serenade at dinner with Nana and Papa (the accordion player played Bella Notte from Lady and the Tramp, just for Spencer), he went up and down the stairs and played on the rocking horse at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and he loved playing with the dogs at Martin and Joyce's house. A couple of new teeth - molars - broke through the surface, which brought an incessant runny nose and extra drooling. He also got another ear infection at the beginning of the trip, he broke out in hives at the end of the trip, and he broke one of Grandma Reese's pie plates. So all in all, it was a grand success. Spencer was especially happy to come home and see Daddy.

Just don't pull my arms out of the sockets

Spencer has added a couple of words to his vocabulary: hi and uh-huh. He says hi and waves to everyone (and everything), and he always begins his imaginary phone conversations with a very enthusiastic "hi!" or "hi der!" He just recently started to nod his head yes, and usually says "uh huh" with it. You can even ask him yes or no questions and he will respond appropriately (although for no, he just shakes his head). In fact, when we ask him if he's poopy, he will generally say "uh huh" and head to the changing table. He also occasionally says hubba hubba and pretty much everything else is daddy.

Graduation is less than a month away!! This week, Ryan won the Chandler Award for being the most inspirational student. He also recently received a shipment of the journal that his article about immigration policies and guest worker programs was published in. So give him a pat on the back and big wad of cash next time you see him (hey, we gotta pay off these student loans somehow).

Me like spaghetti! YUMMY IN MY TUMMY!!
(yum is also one of Spencer's new favorite words)

Leavin' on a jet plane

2007-03-20T09:26:00.000-06:00

Spencer and mommy are heading to Utah today to find us a new place to live. We'll be there for a couple of weeks so if you want to see us, come on down to Provo. Graduation is looming ever closer (thank goodness). Sadly, Ryan had to remove the ticker from his computer because it made everything run too slow. But we're looking at about 6 1/2 weeks left in Tulsa. The past few days have been humid and yucky... summertime in Utah becoming more and more appealing. Winter is another story entirely.

Meet miniature Ryan. The Petersen genes run strong and deep....

I'd like to buy a vowel

2007-03-13T20:32:00.000-06:00

Spencer loves Wheel of Fortune. LOVES it. He sits mesmerized, clapping at the appropriate times. Baby Einstein used to be the only thing that captivated his attention like this.... not anymore, apparently. Here's a photo of Spencer watching Wheel of Fortune just tonight.

Bankrupt, yay!! Oh, no clapping for that? Are you sure?

Notice that he's sitting on the rug. He developed a bad habit of sitting right next to the tv when he watched Baby Einstein (or Sesame Street, or Big Big World) so we made a rule that he has to sit on the rug or the couch. The problem is he's so focused on the show that he doesn't listen when you ask him to move, so we'd turn off the tv and say "Spencer, come sit on the rug". Now, anytime he's glued to the tv but sitting or standing too close, all we have to do is switch it off and he heads for the rug. Our very own little Pavlov's dog.

Spencer's big accomplishment lately is learning how to wield a spoon. He was surprisingly good at it on the first try. Sometimes he still needs help, and other times it's more fun to just bang on his plate or bowl and try to get it to flip up. Either way, he's certainly not starving to death, weighing in at about 25 lbs. Now if only he could grow another inch or two and climb the stairs all by himself.

Check out my mad hand-eye coordination skills.

We're working on some new animal noises and other tricks. On Sunday at church, he learned how to do elephant. Not really church appropriate, I know, but you try keeping him entertained and sitting still for an entire hour. He also knows shark, wind, and car, on top of all the other ones he can do, and if you're lucky, he'll sing you a song on command. You probably won't understand what he's saying. Neither do we. He talks all day long, tells stories, and appears to give commands or boss people around, but we have yet to decipher a single word. Although the other day he stood by the door and told mommy "I go!" over and over about 23 times. He didn't get to go until he let mommy help put his shoes on though. Daddy was watching Nascar the other day and Spencer sat for a few minutes watching the cars, making his car noise. Actually, he does it pretty much anytime he sees a car, which is a lot.

A self portrait of sorts.... Spencer is very interested in the camera so we take lots of pictures like this, with mommy holding the camera out. Then of course he wants to see how the photo turned out. Still a little narcissist, he is.

Utah State hey Aggies all the way!

2007-02-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

Spencer went to his first basketball game on Saturday night - USU vs. Oral Roberts. USU was getting creamed when we got there but apparently Spencer was the good luck charm they needed and the final score was 71-65. Even though we kept him out way past bedtime, he was a very good boy.... he actually watched the game and clapped occasionally. Probably it helped that there were treats.

What's with the camera? Don't you see there's a GAME down there?? With a BALL!!

We had a very fun Valentines Day last week. Mommy and daddy actually went to dinner and a movie, and Spencer got to play with his friend Lily next door. He also got fun presents from all the grandparents - a book and a doggy (and another doggy from mommy and daddy). He was so excited about the Mickey Mouse card from G&G Reese that he pointed to it and said "Micka!" We had to put the book away for now because Spencer has been on a book destruction spree lately. He still loves to look at his books but now he has to be closely supervised or they get bent and torn.

Spencer had his first ear infection this month. We went to swimming classes one day, he barfed all day the next day, and the day after that we were in the doctor's office. Then mommy got sick and by the end of the week, daddy joined in the fun too. Sadly, we haven't been back to swimming lessons but Spencer practices blowing bubbles in the tub.... and his cereal bowl.

We're finally down to one nap a day, hallelujah. Now we get to go to story time at the library and playtime at Jenks high school with our friends. Spencer is expanding his vocabulary day by day, though we generally can't understand a word of it. We're in big trouble when he starts forming coherent words and sentences because he already talks all day long. He also continues to charm us by blowing kisses and giving loves, just when you least expect it.

Countdown to graduation: 74 days

Spencer's lovies: his blanket and "Micka". Maybe we should have named him Linus....

Faster daddy, faster!!

C'mon doggy, we're off to find cookies... they've gotta be somewhere around here...

Spencer finally figured out that he can pull his wagon behind him and wouldn't you know it, you can put stuff in it too! He is always on the lookout for cookies. As the song goes on his new Philadelphia Chickens CD, "oh, chocolate chip cookies so high on the shelf, hiding inside of a jar, I'm not tall enough to reach you myself... so near and yet, so very far". Truer words were never spoken (am I right, Erin?).

Cheap Entertainment

2007-02-02T11:20:00.000-07:00

Spencer got ahold of the tissue box this morning and pulled out every last one:

(Apparently he was also trying to help mommy with the filing, as you can see by the empty folder behind him.)

Then he tried to put them back:

He didn't quite get them all in, because once he could see that they were in there, he pulled them out again. At least he was quiet and happy for a few minutes, right?

Spencer has also decided that balls are fun. He gets daddy's basketball out almost every day and carries it around the house. He also got some little tennis balls in the mail from Rachel & Dewain and he loves to watch them bounce all over when he throws them. So far he hasn't managed to break anything but we're taking bets on how long that will last. I give him another week.