Alex is Smiling!

OK, OK, I know that new pictures are loooong over due! The truth is I lost my camera for about two weeks, so I couldn't download anything. I eventually found my camera exactly where I thought it was supposed to be. I blame some form of momnesia-induced selective blindness. Anyway, here's what we have. Alex started smiling at us about 2 weeks ago...the REAL smiles where he smiles at you after you smile at him first. In fact, the above pictures captured his very first responsive smiles...we happened to be outside at my cousin Jonathan's birthday party at the time and Shaun was smiling and cooing at him when he suddenly smiled back! I love this stage! Finally we can tell there is really someone in there!

He is such a great baby. Although he is not sleeping through the night yet, he falls asleep really easily...he often puts himself to sleep after grunting for about 5 minutes in his bed...no crying! He is possibly the mellowest baby ever! He only cries if he has a very good reason and even then he calms down after a few minutes. I can't believe it, honestly, it seems too good to be true, but I keep reminding myself that I must have earned it by surviving terrible colic with baby No. 1!

Here he is in his one Church outfit:

His big brothers can't get enough of him. Ben can't wait to start playing with him as soon as he gets home from school each day, and Erik is still declaring him to be "the cutest baby ever" all the time. (Today in fact, Erik said, "Aren't Alex's hands the cutest hands, Mom?")


Here he is doing his best E.T. impression (big blue eyes and wrinkly neck):


Hope you all like the pictures. We miss our Colorado friends so much and wish that you could meet him in person!

August Update . . .

Well, yet another very eventful month has gone by and very little posting has been done!

First of all, Shaun started work part-time 3 days a week on August 3rd. Since he is licensed, he can work in the clinic, but can't assist with surgeries on the other two days until his other paperwork gets processed by the bureaucracy. But still, it is a great to have even part-time income after the 3 month drought of being out of work. Also, having him go just three days a week means that I still have lots of help at home, which I still need! I don't know how anyone else does it with a newborn and other kids to take care of on their own during the day! You are all SuperMoms! We think Shaun will start full-time sometime in September. And the good news is that he is really thriving in his job and we feel so blessed to have gotten this great gig straight out of school.

August also began with swimming lessons for Ben and Erik. The announcement that they would be in swimming lessons nearly brought tears to their eyes, and I don't mean tears of joy! They love playing in the water and it was high time for them to develop some actual skills, but they did NOT want to go to swimming lessons. Shaun and I were shocked at their negative reaction. I tried to tell them it would be fun and they would get to go swimming every single day for two weeks, (they are always begging me to take them to the pool) but they most definitely did not believe me. They went grudgingly the first day, and of course loved it (Erik even complained because it was over so soon) and couldn't wait to go back the next day. They both seemed to think that their swim instructors were the funnest teenagers ever.

Here's Erik with Instructor Kevin:

Ben floating with Nate:
I was a bit nervous about the 3 kids : 1 parent ratio since it would be up to me to single-handedly get two wet, shivering kids dried off while juggling Alex on the sidelines, but he kindly obliged to nap in his stroller on most days. Phew! They can't wait 'til next summer to do it again!

And, since announcing swimming lessons went so well (ha!) I decided to get Ben into piano lessons this fall at USU. This idea, as you can guess, went over like a lead balloon at first, but I seem to have successfully talked him into it. He has gotten on this "I want to be a rock star" kick lately, so I used that as leverage. (I swear he has never seen Hannah Montana or the Jonas Brothers except on commercials.) We'll see how it goes...lessons start in September!

Yes, We're Still Here!

Hi everyone, sorry for the no show this last month. I'm sure you understand we've been a bit busy and naps are taking priority over blogging and returning emails. Thanks for all the nice comments, I'll get back to you all soon! We are doing well, however. Alex is still a good sleeper, days and nights a little mixed up, but not as bad as one of my other babies did (who will remain anonymous.) :) Ben and Erik are still absolutely enamored...sometimes we have to try to keep them away. They like to get up really close and we feel like we're swatting flies to get them to back up a bit! They are eagerly awaiting Alex's first smiles. Ben loves to dance for Alex (surprising, I know!) and Erik talks about how sweet and cute Alex is all day long ("Oh, Alex," he'll sigh "He's the cutest baby.").

Other news includes that Shaun passed his boards and his state license has finally been processed, so we are two steps closer to actual employment! Still about three more steps to go, but we are hopeful that August will be the month Shaun will finally begin work. I must admit I don't know what I'd have done if he had actually been working all this time since Alex was born. Having him unemployed has meant I've had help 24 hrs a day and I'm looking forward to having him here to help out for a few more weeks. He's a great Dad and great husband, and he's been great as Mr. Mom or the "manny" doing the VAST majority of the domestic tasks around here!

I'm going to get some updated pictures of Alex soon. We're waiting for his baby eczema to clear up a bit on his face. He's definitely getting bigger everyday! In the mean time, here are some funny pictures of Erik playing in the irrigation water and the rain in the front yard on Monday morning. You can tell by his outfit that we got behind on the laundry this week...all that was left in his drawer for pjs was too small Superman shorts (on a little sideways) and a too small wife-beater shirt. I think the boots really pull the look together, though, don't you think?! Oh well, time for another nap, laundry can wait again...unless I ask Shaun to do it!

Alex is One Week Old

Here's some cute pictures of our new little guy at One week old.

Big Brothers

Alex entertained Ben and Erik with his hiccups the other night! You can see by the way they look at him that they think he is the most wonderful thing in the world. We'll see how long that lasts!

June 21, 2008...Alex is here!

The First Day of Summer was very exciting for us! Ben, being very interested meteorology lately, was already looking forward to this day for weeks and weeks. Who knew it would also be the day that Alex would finally join our family!

I woke up at 3:30am feeling some contractions. I walked/sat/laid around the house trying to decide if they were the real thing or not until about 7am when I decided they were definitely not going away. I called my mom at 7:15 to ask them to make the 40 minute trip from Tremonton to pick up the kids. "Don't need to hurry too much," I said. Within ten minutes of talking to her, I changed my mind and we went to Plan B...taking the kids over to Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Russ who live just one block away to wait for Grandma and Grandpa. The contractions were intensifying very quickly and (with flashbacks of Erik nearly being born in the car) I decided we had better not wait any longer!

We arrived at the hospital just before 8am. I had enough time to get a very nice epidural and Alex William Petersen was born just half an hour after that at 9:37. Perfect timing in my opinion! He was 7 lbs and 19 1/2 inches long.

After months and months of anticipation, Ben and Erik are so excited to finally meet Alex. Erik, who can sometimes be shy in new situations, has surprised us with how eager he is to hold him while also being very gentle and protective at the same time. Ben can't wait until Alex is a tiny bit older and can appreciate how good Ben is at playing peek-a-boo. In the mean time, he is a great mommy's helper and loves to help keep track of Alex's feeding and diaper changes on a chart. What a scientist!

Here's some pictures...

We're Employed!!

We are so excited to announce that after 8 or so long years of school, Shaun has officially accepted a full-time job as a Physician Assistant with Dr Terry Finlayson at Alpine Orthopaedic Specialists in North Logan, Utah!

We are waiting for the results of his NCCPA exam, his state license and a bunch of hospital credentialing, so it will still be a while before he actually starts in the new job, but we are super excited anyway!