The big day is coming...

The ultrasound is on Valentine's Day at 5 p.m. We're just a little bit excited to find out the gender! So if you want to take a guess at what we're having I thought I'd do a poll. Only 2 weeks and we'll know! Let's keep our fingers crossed that he or she won't choose Valentine's Day to be modest!

Ski Day

Nolan and Justin went skiing last Friday and had a great time! Nolan's first time skiing was just before he turned 4 years old and he mostly squatted between Justin's skis while Daddy held him up. So this was his first time REALLY skiing on his own. There were some frustrating moments at first when Nolan would yell, "This is the stupidest sport ever invented! Who would even want to go skiing!" That is SO like Nolan. But after a little more practice (and the purchase of the clip at the front that holds the skis in a "V" shape), he was zooming down the hill. Justin even did pretty good skiing backwards while taking this little video, until... well, you'll see! Afterward, Nolan called and left me a message saying, "I am even faster than Daddy!" 

Nolan and Daddy's "date night"

On Sunday last week (10 days ago), I was downstairs and heard a gigantic thud upstairs, immediately followed by cries from Nolan. I ran up and he was on the bathroom floor in serious pain. After finally calming down, he was able to tell me that he fell off the counter and onto his head. It looked pink abovr his temple, but I didn't feel a huge goose egg. Once the crying calmed, he started having a coughing fit. It went on and on. Poor guy. Finally, he appeared exhausted and I couldn't keep him awake. He slept for almost two hours, which isn't like him anymore. I had tried waking him here and there and he was responsive but didn't want to wake up. Finally Grandma K and Jon happened to come over and they couldn't even get him to feel better. He was awake by then, but still laying on the couch with his eyes closed most of the time. He didn't want to eat or carry on conversations. After Grandma left, we started worrying that he was acting strange. It's not like him to sleep and sleep and not want to eat dinner. It was especially weird that Grandma K couldn't cheer him up (she ALWAYS cheers everyone up!). We went through the symptoms of a concussion and Nolan had most of them, except for vomiting and seizures. At one point he'd said he couldn't walk and his leg was hurting (which was a symptom). We decided he needed a priesthood blessing, and then a few minutes later Justin drove him to the InstaCare at 8 p.m. They were very nice to listen to the story and then refer him to the hospital for CT scans without charging for their time. First they told Justin to go to Primary Children's, but then realized that our hospital does have a machine as well. They told Justin that they'd seen many parents think that everything is okay, only to find worsening symptoms the next day. Scary! 

Justin took him to the ER and they got him all checked in. The doctor talked it over with Justin and said that they treat head injuries differently now. CT scans are the equivalent of 1,000 chest x-rays of radiation (or something crazy like that), so they really try to avoid them with children. The doctor said that Nolan may have a minor brain bleed but that they wouldn't do anything for it except for watch him closely and probably have to do more scans. So they sent Justin home with instructions for us to wake him up twice in the night and make sure he is responsive. We had given Nolan some ibuprofen so by now his mood was improving. I think he'd had a bad headache when he woke up.  

When they got home, Nolan was excited to show me his hospital wristband and tell me about all the comfortable seats he got to use. He said, "It was so nice! I was just relaxing and enjoying myself." Justin and I decided that it was probably the most expensive little one-on-one time that the two of them had had! But it came at a good time because we're having a baby this year anyway. We know we'll make the deductible! 

Nolan did continue to act a little strange for a couple of days. He took naps, didn't eat as much, and seemed to be feeling a little down... just not as happy as his usual self. But he's all better now! Thank goodness! And we are seriously cracking down on him climbing up on the counter. We're keeping lots of stools out for his use. 

Potty time... again

Last summer I wrote that Ezra was doing great with potty training. Well, he did great for about a week and then I was pulling my hair out scrubbing poopy underwear two and sometimes three times a day. I kept trying for a good 8 or 9 days that way but then I couldn't handle it. My hands were raw and sore from all the scrubbing and I was mentally done.
Well now that we're expecting baby #3, we had to sit down with Ezra and explain that there can only be one baby in diapers at our house. He seemed to respond because he began using the potty over the Christmas holiday. I thought he might lose steam when we got home (because there were no grandparents to impress) but he's continued to potty train himself. It's been night and day different from potty training Nolan and Ezra's first time around. I told myself not to care if it doesn't work yet and I didn't expect it to be successful, but I've been pleasantly surprised. I don't even have to set timers and bug him about going. He just tells me he needs to go. It's been over a week that he's stayed dry, even at night. It will be wonderful not to get any more phone calls from his preschool teacher telling me that he has poopy pants!
But the funny thing is that Ez doesn't like a lot of fanfare. Sometimes he says, "Mom I need to go potty. But you don't need to get happy." He's telling me that I don't need to get excited or cheer and clap for him. So outwardly I'm calmly smiling, but inside I am totally excited! Go Ezra!

Sledding in Logan

After two nights at home after the Christmas trip, we heard that Grandma Petersen was having major computer problems and needed help installing a new one. Justin was the man for the job so we headed to Logan for a night. The computer install went smoothly and we managed to sneak in some fun. Grandma P. took us out to Firehouse Pizza and the next day we went sledding with Grandma K.! The boys were thrilled! I was even wishing I could get on that tube, but since I have a baby in tow I thought I'd be the photographer. What a perfect tubing place... just wish the air hadn't been so icky with the inversion. It was only 5 degrees that day, so we tried to gets lots of runs in really fast. What fun!

 We all had to laugh a little when Ezra started getting worn out and started rolling back and forth in the snow and whining, "I can't get up!" It was just like Randy from the scene in A Christmas Story.

 We managed to avoid any crashes, but this one could have ended badly. Nolan is such a dare devil! Even Ezra was so happy to go down by himself in the red sled (which is a little scarier than the tube).

9 years

On the 27th we celebrated 9 years of marriage. After all this time, we still really like each other! We had a nice dinner out together while in St. George and Justin even went shopping for a few minutes (I didn't want to push my luck... he can't stand shopping). I'm so glad we have each other... I can't imagine life without him!

This was Christmas morning... no shower, no makeup... you get the idea. But we're happy and that's what counts!

On to St. George

After spending 4 nights for Christmas at the cabin, we headed to St. George for another 5 nights of rest and relaxation. Justin was really looking forward to having all the time to de-stress from work. My Dad and Justin got busy on a puzzle (that really consumed their attention), went to see Life of Pi, and the boys went swimming a couple of times. We went to see Les Miserables while my Dad watched the boys. It was really an amazing movie. Worth all the hype! Although I think they could have made one or two different casting choices.
We were hoping to spend lots of time outside walking and hiking, but it was quite cold for St. George... around 35 to 40 on the warmer days, and dipping lower quite often. We kept saying that it felt just like our wedding day, years ago. Justin and Nolan took advantage of a nice day and did a hike in Washington and then the four of us went to Snow Canyon later in the week. It was really too chilly to be comfortable, but the kids were happy in all the sand. We tried a short hike. Justin parked at the end and was going to meet us halfway. Well, the boys and I lost our trail. I like to think it was poorly marked, but perhaps I just led us astray. Either way, I was a little cranky and cold about halfway through. But the scenery was still beautiful.

We'll really miss my Mom's smoothies every morning. She has a Vitamix and blends up all sorts of grains, vegetables, and fruit. I feel healthier just thinking about it!
For New Year's Eve, we spent a few hours at Keeley and Bryan's house enjoying all the hors d'oeuvres. Lots of Bryan's family joined us this year: Randon and Trisha's family, Chaleen's family, and Brenda. All the food was so tasty. We ate stuff like 7-layer dip, shrimp, hot wings, artichoke dip, and this year we had some little cheesy bacon potato rounds. I was so glad that food was sounding good. No more morning sickness! It was a fun party but we still headed back and to bed around 10 p.m. I guess we're just not the partying type. On New Year's Day it was time to head home. What a great Christmas vacation!

Christmas Joys

It was another magical Christmas morning. After drinking orange juice and getting the fire built, we were ready to see what Santa brought. The boys were excited to see the Polar Express train, but it wasn't until two hours later that they realized it was theirs to keep! They thought it was Blake's! Santa brought DreamLites, which was the only thing on each of their lists (not counting the crazy long list of random items they always come up with on the 23rd of December!). Nolan's big surprise was a Nintendo DS and I think Ezra's favorite gift was two new "David" books. He made me read them both right in the middle of opening presents. He's our little book worm. It was fun to set the new camera up on the tripod because it would take pictures automatically when someone would smile. So cool!

After the kids made it through their gifts, we had a delicious breakfast. At that point we exchanged the adult gifts. It's always fun to take it slow and see what everyone receives. The boys were so excited to give Justin and me our gifts. Ezra insisted on giving me a little back massage with the gift he picked out (with Dad's help). Nolan even used some of his chore chart points to get me the present. They're so sweet! Justin and I laughed after we opened our gifts to each other. We got each other the same thing... a bag of Dove dark chocolate!

 The rest of our time at the cabin was so relaxing. Blake, Bryan, and my Dad drove home on the evening of Christmas Day because they had work. It seemed so quiet with only a few of us left! Good thing we had lots of fun things to keep us occupied! Justin and I continued learning to use our new camera. I love that we can do action shots now! I'm so thankful for the wonderful time with my family. They mean the world to me. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve at the cabin

We made it to the cabin just before some major snow storms moved in. We couldn't leave until after church at 4 p.m. because Justin was singing in a quartet and in the ward choir. He did a great job and we got on the road straight from the church parking lot. We enjoyed snow for two days straight at the cabin... truly a white Christmas! I'm glad we didn't have to drive in it.
This year, we were joined by my parents and Keeley's family (minus Bryson, of course, who is serving in Mexico). It felt like Elder Lawrence was with us at times, however, because we were able to Skype with him on Christmas Eve and on Christmas afternoon. It was so fun to see him! He was actually struggling to come up with some English words because he is doing so well at speaking Spanish (after only 2 months in the field!).

We missed Grady (in Austin, TX), Darian (with her Mom in SLC), and Lacey's family this year (they spent Christmas at home because Rob had to work the day after Christmas).
I was so excited for Christmas Eve to arrive because I knew that Justin would finally let me open my big present. We've been needing a new camera for several months. It took forever for the flash on our old camera to charge and then it would send a whiff of smoke up every time it finally took a picture. We chose our new camera together (the Sony Nex-5R), but Justin liked to inflict the pain of making me wait and wait. But we're so pleased to see that it takes excellent pictures! And I love that it is so fast! Justin spent most of the time at the cabin learning how to use it and pestering everyone by taking WAY TOO MANY pictures. By the end of the trip, I think we all finally started to ignore his picture taking.

The day was so lovely. We made gingerbread houses, ate our traditional Chinese dinner (we even did the ultra traditional chop suey instead of orange chicken), and opened the new Christmas jammies from Grandma Sherri. When we tried to tell our boys that the p.j.'s are from Grandma and Grandpa, my Dad said, "I have nothing to do with it... they're from Grandma." I guess he doesn't want to take any credit! There was even hot wassail to drink before bed.

  

 Practicing with the new camera.

 Uncle Bryan loves to tease. Ezra was resisting the opportunity to snuggle and take a nap!

Snuggle/Tickle Time:

Finishing up the egg rolls and chop suey. Delicious!

 Christmas jammies! We seem few in number this year.

 Grandma read Twas the Night before Christmas because it seems that Grandpa John went to bed early! (I realize that I've still got some red-eye editing, but it'll have to wait!)

Our boys are at such a fun age for Christmas. Even Ezra really "gets it" now. They love talking about Santa and all the magic of the season. After tucking them into bed, I later walked by their room and listened to them whispering the following conversation:
Nolan said, "Ezra, did you hear the clatter of Santa's sleigh on the roof?"
Ez says, "Yeah, I heard the clatter, too!"
Nolan: "I hope Santa leaves me a bell from his sleigh just like on the Polar Express."
The boys have loved singing Christmas songs this year, too. Their favorites were Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, Feliz Navidad (which they sang for Bryson while skyping), and singing Dad's choir song called Shepherds Shake Off your Drowsy Sleep.

Christmas Party

On December 21, we had a Christmas party with Justin's family. Daren's family, our family, Jon's two girls Amanda, and Sarah, and Kathi and Jon all joined together at Jon's house in Salt Lake City for a wonderful dinner. I had still been feeling morning sickness in the evenings, so it was such a blessing to have a delicious dinner cooked for us! We also played some fun games (involving lots of excellent prizes!) and then exchanged presents. We all had a great time! I don't know if the boys had more fun with games, opening presents, or Jon's amazing electric train.