Meet Kate Lila Petersen

Kate was born on March 31st, 2009 at 10:38 PM. We were all thinking that she was going to be and April Fools baby, but I guess she had other plans. When she was born she weighed 7lbs 7 oz and was about 21 inches long. When she was born she was perfect, no bruises or stork bites anywhere. She came out with a full head of dark hair that in the right light looks like it may be highlighted. We can't go anywhere without people commenting on her hair!! It's pretty crazy hair!! When it's wet it looks curly but when it drys it sticks straight up and to the left (I think). You can't do anything with it except put a headband on. She came out perfect but she sure hasn't been quite as perfect as Tess was when she first came home. She had her nights and days screwed up for the first few weeks so we didn't get much sleep at first. Now she is sleeping at least 6 to 8 hours a night. Kate is already almost 3 months old and loves to smile and talk. She also has quite the temper and lets you know when she doesn't like something. As for Tess and her new sister, Tess is still trying to figure out how to not get too excited when hugging, kissing, or simply just holding her. Kate usually starts to cry when Tess comes around because she knows a beating is coming. Of course Tess is just trying to love her little sister, but it usually ends up that she squeezes a little too tight or tries to pick her up by her head. We have had quite a few scary incidents where we find Tess with Kate in her arms. Luckily we haven't had any mishaps!! Tess is all over the place and rarely pauses for more then a few minutes. So you pretty much are constantly chasing her and trying to keep your cool. We nicknamed her "Search & Destroy" because that is all she does is make messes and destroy things. Lucky for us she recently started watching movies which allows for a little time without havoc, but not much. She may be crazy but we sure love her!!! I'm personally excited for Kate to get a little older so Kate and Tess can start to play together and be friends. Let's just hope that they end up being friends. We are so excited and grateful to have our little Kate here with us!!! Kate we love you!!--Brad

Thanks Brad!

Normally, I wouldn't do this because I've been known to make fun of those blog posts that go on and on about how great someone's husband is.  But, I just had to publicly tell Brad thanks, especially for the past 5 months of me being pregnant.  He works so hard, keeps up the yard and house, and works on the basement in his spare time. Not only does he do all the regular man duties, but he cleans, cooks, irons, helps with laundry, takes care of our dog and child, and he BLOGS. Aren't I supposed to be doing all that? Sometimes I feel like a pretty sorry excuse for a wife because I can't even do my share of the work, but I know it will always be a little of give and take.  Thanks Brad for all you do!  Love this picture of you and Tess!

We're Pretty Sure

Well Mel worked again and checked to see what the sex of the baby was again. She is 98% sure that it is a girl. I'm really hoping that it's a girl because if it's a boy then he must not have much down there, if you know what I mean. It won't be any good for his self esteem if he has to get made fun of by his family and friends for the rest of his life because we couldn't spot anything on the ultrasound after looking numerous times. Sounds like a good old Adam Sandler movie to me where the kid always gets made fun of for the size of his manhood.

This has nothing to do with this post but I had to put this picture up. Isn't my daughter FREAKING CUTE!!

Who Knows!!

Well, my wife is slacking once again so i guess I will step in and give the latest update on the baby. A few weeks ago Mel peeked at work and thought she saw that it was a boy. She even had one of the doctors check it out and he also thought that it definetily looked like it was a boy. Well last week we had the ultrasound and when the tech went to check to see what the sex was she told us that it looked like a girl, but she wasn't getting a very good shot. So she kept on trying and then from a different angle she decided that it looked like it may be a boy. After quite a while of trying to make sure she decided that it looked like a girl again. So at that point she decided to ask another one of the techs to come in and look as well. The other tech was also having a hard time seeing what it looked like but was leaning towards a girl. So after over an hour of ultrasound we still weren't sure whether it was a boy or a girl. A couple of nights ago Mel went into work and was able to try to look again to see what the sex of the baby is and once again the baby was being stubborn (The baby must take after Mom) and had its legs closed. So after multiple ultrasounds we still aren't for sure on whether the baby is a boy or a girl. I will keep you all posted.

Happy Fall

Sure, Tess will pose for a stranger at the Scarecrow Festival, but not for her own mom! I wanted to share this adorable picture of her. I could just pinch her! We are enjoying this warm fall. I love this time of year.. the chill in the air, colorful trees, pumpkins, warm comfort foods and soups, the smell in the air, etc. Tess asks everyday to go to the "punkin patch". I wish it could just stay this way longer.

It's not official, but....

...it sure looked like a lil' winky to me. We're having a boy! I peeked on the fuzzy ultrasound machine at work.  We are so excited and Tess is now saying that she has a boy in her tummy. We aren't buying anything "boy" until we know for sure in a week at my formal ultrasound. We let my parents know when we invited them over for dinner and had these little babies with the labels "boy" and Gus" placed in the mashed potatoes and meatloaf.  Thought I'd let you all know and also make this my first post on my road to blogging recovery. Yes, I'm back!

Lake Powell!!

We just got back from Lake Powell and it was amazing!!! The water temp was like 75 to 80 (which is still to cold for Mel) and the outside temp was any where from 85 to 90 all week long. There was no wind so we could water ski at any time of the day, which unfortunately is only about twice a day now because I'm getting old. It had been a good three years since the last ski trip so I was a little nervous to get back on the ski but after the first time out I felt pretty comfortable on my ski. Mel also got out behind the boat once to show us all she hadn't forgotten how to get up on the slalom ski, but couldn't do a ton because she wanted to be careful because of the baby. Right before she jumped in she said that she wouldn't recommend skiing when you are 12 weeks pregnant. Apparently she doesn't listen to her own advice. Like I said though she was very careful and only got out there once just to show off a little. I was impressed that she got up so easy because she has really only been skiing like once or twice other then this time at Powell. We decided to take all the kids and the dogs on the trip with us which ended up being a little hard at times but still fun. Lucky for us the girls had nothing to do with the water and would only some times wade in up to their knees. Other then that they would scream every time you even tried to put them in the water. I was expecting Tess to be all about the water because she is crazy at the pool and has no fear what so ever. The lake must scare little kids because it is dark and they can't see the bottom because she didn't ever want to get in. I took Tess down the slide on the house boat on the first day and I don't think that was a good idea because I'm pretty sure it freaked her out. I just figured that she should at least try it to see if she liked it or not. She defenitely didn't!! Here are a few pics of the trip