Baby Peterson

I'm sure everyone who reads this blog knows that we are expecting a wee one in early July!  I'm 19 1/2 weeks...which means I'm almost half way through my pregnancy. so weird. I'm sure the weeks will start crawling when I'm as big as a house and ready to get baby out, but right now time seems to be f-l-y-i-n-g by.

I thought it was better late than never to blog about this sweet, somewhat of a surprise (at least to me) baby! It's mostly for me to record my thoughts but I thought a few people might enjoy reading it.  So...here it is. :)  My posts are always long and wordy.  I'll break it up with some pictures. :)

November 4th was the day we found out about our little bundle. It wasn't just any ordinary day because it also happened to be Ryan's 31st birthday! The timing couldn't have been more perfect and it was the best birthday present! Without Ryan's knowledge, I purchased a pregnancy test the night before.  I like to be sneaky like that.  My plan was to take it the morning of his birthday and "surprise" him with the news if it was positive, even though he was already convinced I was pregnant.  I on the other hand was still in denial.  Ha!

excited mommy and daddy to be

I woke up waaaaaaay too early on November 4th and all I could think about was taking the test.  It took awhile, but I forced myself to go back to sleep until eight because I didn't want to wake the birthday boy too early on his birthday.  He does love his sleep, you know.  :)  Even eight is early for him, but I figured it was for good reason and he would forgive me.

When I saw that the test was positive, I took a few moments to sit there and let reality sink in. To be honest, some days it still doesn't feel like it's real!  I felt a wild gamut of emotions wash over me in those few moments: extreme joy, sadness, excitement, disbelief, thankfulness, shock, and a little bit of guilt all at the same time. I wavered between crying and laughing out loud.  I wasn't sure what to do.

  

I crawled back into bed next to Ryan and quietly said "Soooo....happy birthday!".  He could tell something was up by the tone of my voice because his response was "what? are you pregnant?"  I laughed and said "yep!" to which he replied "are you serious?"  hahaha.  And then we couldn't stop smiling and we thanked God for this blessing.  :)  We shared the news with our parents that day, but other than that we spent a quiet day at home celebrating Ryan's birthday and our growing family!

Ryan was very excited about his birthday meal and I like to think his grin was extra big because he found out he was going to be a daddy!

about to enjoy his homemade birthday cupcake

It was fun to share our news with everyone and a little heartbreaking at the same time because I knew that my joy could be someone else's sorrow.  Don't think for one second that I'm not thrilled and thankful to be carrying this precious life in my womb. I will admit however, that when I first found out I was pregnant I struggled with feeling terrified, unprepared and like it was wrong for me to be pregnant when others who are near and dear to me have been waiting much longer than I have. Why did God allow me to get pregnant?  I know that it's not my job to understand why, because I know that God has different plans with different timelines for all of us.  His ways are better than ours. That is hard to swallow sometimes...but true.  We can dream up the most "perfect" plan for ourselves with our human minds, but usually it's not at all what God has in mind. :) The comforting thing is that we can know He has our best interest in mind and the pain and limited understanding we experience now are the makings of something absolutely beautiful and wonderful... and better than anything we could ever dream up.  Although I may never personally struggle with infertility, it has touched my life and given me deeper appreciation and sensitivity for those who do.  I'm confidant there will be other trials in my life that will require a lot of trusting and waiting, but I'm glad to know that it's only for my benefit and His grace is sufficient. 

This week we were finally able to see our baby for the first time through sonogram. I have sat in on a lot of sonograms but, wow, was it crazy to lay there and realize that I was looking at my baby on the screen.  Baby was quite active which surprised me since I haven't felt a thing yet! I was beginning to think our baby loved to sleep all the time like baby's daddy! ;)  When I mentioned that I hadn't felt any movement yet the tech told me that my placenta is in the front which isn't bad, it just means I won't feel the baby move as soon because of the extra padding there.  I loved seeing Ryan's reaction to the sono.  He was fascinated and amazed that we got to see so much and so clearly.  It made it even more real for both of us. We did end up finding out the sex that day.  We just couldn't wait one more day. :) 

For the time being Gilbert will remain the "baby boy" of the household and be a great protector of baby girl Peterson! :) 

  

Baby girl Peterson could share her birthday with any number of special days in July.  My brother Chris and wife Erica's anniversary is the 3rd of July, then there's July 4th of course,  and then my parent's anniversary is July 5th.  July 7th is the actual due date, which is also my dear friend Bethany and her husband Pablo's anniversary! I'm guessing that she won't be early or on time, but what do I know?

 The last couple days I have been thinking about her a lot and wondering if she will have dimples and curly hair, and Ryan's sense of humor. :)  Tonight I was baking some muffins and Ryan asked me if I was excited to teach my daughter to bake someday.  Awww.  The thought just occurred to me that she might not like to bake!  She might like to play guitar with her dad! :)  It has been so sweet to hear Ryan refer to her by name and talk about her often in the last couple days.  A handful of people know, but we're trying to keep her name a secret until she is born.

Ryan has a few words he'd like to say. A lot of people that don't really know him think that he is just weird and crazy all the time....haha.  He is....most of the time. ;)  He does have a serious side to him but it is just barely reflected in the below paragraph.  He can't ruin his weird crazy image completely, you know. ;) Also..he does know how to spell.  Spelling errors bother him.  Why he spells things wrong on purpose I will never know.   I love him....even if I am one of the only people who see his most serious and tender moments. :)

Yo. This is Ryan now. I just wanna say that I love my wife and baby girl. Now I can get double the sweets. Fo rillz. I am so happy, you all don't even know how happy I am even though I'm telling you, you just can't know, well maybe if you have a baby girl then you know.  I'm so happy. I'm serious. Here's a smiley and I don't do those :) I can't wait to meet our baby girl. She even sticked up her hand like "yo, i'm number onez!" yeah, that's my girl! So I guess she might read this someday and I want her to know that I'm serious. I love you and your mommy. God is good.

the crazy man that I married...

I will give you fair warning and let you know that this post might be a little mushy and lovey dovey ....so don't read it if you're not into that kind of stuff. :)  I won't be offended if nobody reads it.  Since I have yet to finish my actual anniversary blog I thought I'd just share some of what's been on my heart regarding marriage.

I've been thinking a lot these last few days about what a blessing my husband is to me and how I develop a richer love and thankfulness for him everyday...and this is only the beginning!  He is just what I needed and so much more.  He was what I needed before I even knew he was what I needed!  God knew...and He was gracious to provide Ryan at just the right time and teach both of us some really cool things as he was preparing us for each other.  Things that made us cling to Him and grow in Him like never before. When I was younger I never really made a "list" of what I wanted in a husband.  I just knew he had to be saved, love the Lord, and if he had a good sense of humor that would be awesome.  :) 

Marriage isn't easy, don't get me wrong.  I'm still pretty new at this married stuff with just a year and three months under my belt, but I'm not naive and I know enough to know that it's not always sunshine, sweetness and rainbows.  You learn a lot about yourself....good and bad.  But, while difficult at times, loving each other despite imperfections and shortcomings is the most rewarding thing.  We will always fail each other, but the Lord won't.  I also know that in this life we will have trials and challenges.  I have no idea what the future holds (I don't want to know) for us as a couple whether it be tomorrow or ten years from now, but I can't imagine going through anything without Ryan by my side.  Sometimes I get a little teary eyed thinking about what I would do if I lost him.  It's even more intensified now that I'm carrying a little life around (oh, those pregnancy hormones). 

Lately I have been savoring the little moments with him and appreciating him even more.  From watching him impersonate Elvis, to playing Camp town Races on his ukulele over and over again, to finding him watching me and seeing the love in his eyes, to how he gets along with and loves my parents, to hearing him pray, to laughing together about everyday things.  I love that he is amazed that I still laugh at him so much.  And I am still amazed that even when I apologize to him for being too sensitive or cranky or having a bad attitude....he thinks nothing of it. This man is so patient and appreciative of my sensitivity even though I think it's annoying.  ;)  

The other day I fell in love with him a little bit more as I worked alongside him.  We went to visit his Grandma so I could do some cleaning and he could hang some pictures and things for her.  My husband is the cutest handy man and problem solver!  It was really fun watching him interact with Grandma and show such patience as she directed him where to hang things. While we were there she blasted her old gospel and polka music while dancing around, clapping, and doing her little polka dances in the living room.  Ryan and I would catch each others eye and share a smile.  

I'm going to have some serious laugh lines in my face from this guy.  His outrageous and quirky sense of humor is the best.  Don't be fooled by his goofiness.... he is also serious and tenderhearted. Trust me.  I am looking forward to seeing him in his role as a daddy, and I hope our kids are funny like him. :) 

Ok...since you're probably all gagging (if anyone is actually reading this) I'll stop now.   

I do know that Ryan will read this so....I love you, Ryan.  Thanks for loving me the way you do. :)


All photos are courtesy of Graeme Pitman http://www.pitmanphotography.com/

Christmas 2010! (yes....as in last Christmas)

Almost a year ago (Christmas Eve day) we woke up to a winter wonderland.  Ryan and I had plans to drive to my parent's house that day to spend Christmas with them and make a special stop along the way to pick up a very special Christmas gift.

Rewind a few weeks when someone in the family...(I think it was Melissa?) informed us that there were great pyrenees puppies for sale not too far away and suggested that we go "look" a them.  I knew before I married Ryan that we would own a great pyr some day.  It was only a matter of time.  :)  I also knew that there was no such thing as just "looking" at great pyr puppies.  No. way.  In my heart I knew that if we went to look at them we would have to bring one home with us.  So...off we went to a farm in rural Iowa where Ryan picked out the biggest puppy of the litter. :)  We couldn't take him home with us that day because he was only a few weeks old and had to have his deworming shots. Fast forward to Christmas Eve day which was the day we chose to pick him up since it was between where we live and where my parents live.  

We waited a little bit to see if the snow would let up Christmas Eve day and then decided just to head out because we were anxious to pick up the puppy and get to my parent's house!  It helps that Ryan loves the challenge of driving in the snow and we have a pretty reliable vehicle.  My smart husband was thinking ahead and tossed a recovery strap and a shovel in the jeep in case of an emergency.  It was a good thing he did that because we got to be a Christmas Eve blessing to a woman who had spun her car around on an exit ramp and got stuck in a snow bank.  Pretty exciting.  The roads weren't too terrible until we got out on the country gravel roads that hadn't been plowed yet!  I'm glad my mom wasn't with us. ;)  When we got there we discovered that the dog we had picked out a couple weeks before was given to someone else!  The lady confused which dog was ours.  So we picked a different dog.  Ryan picked him because of the spot on his back and a pink spot on his nose.  We're glad we got him!

it's really hard to tell by looking at this photo...but this is one of the country roads we traveled

Here's the photographic review of the past year....

on the way to meet my parents!

meeting the cousins for the first time.  little did they know he would soon be bigger than them!

oh the fun things you can do a dog while he's sleeping!

He really likes to be in the way.

Sorry for all the photos!  It was hard to chose just a few.  :) 

So we've had Gil for a year and I can't imagine our home without him.  I had never thought of myself as a dog person until we got him (don't worry dad...I still love cats too :).  He is a big sweetie and a gentle giant (most of the time) which makes it worth the endless amounts of the fur and drool. :)  There is nothing like snuggling a big, fluffy, great pyr.  Trust me.