An Update

If you don't follow my baby blog, there may be some tidbits of information that you are not up-to-date about. So I decided to post a little bit here to make sure everyone knows the most recent happenings in the Peterson household. I'll post the links to the original posts, too, so that I don't have to re-type everything.


1) I'm more than halfway through my pregnancy now at 22 weeks. For those who don't know, we are having a baby boy! We found out on April 2nd and are naming him Josiah David Peterson. When Jesse and I were engaged, we were discussing what names we might like for our future children. Each of us listed about 5 names and Josiah was the only one on both lists. I know how rare it is for a couple to immediately agree on a name so we knew our first son would be named Josiah. As I dug deeper into the meanings behind the names, I found that I was drawn to names that end in "iah". These names are actually Hebrew and mean that the person who named the child is a worshiper of Jehovah (God). That resonated with me a lot! And, furthermore, each name means something like "Jehovah has heard" or "Jehevoh has given". Josiah, specifically, means "Jehovah has healed" which is a beautiful meaning for us considering the infertility we faced before receiving our miracle. It also means the "fire of God" which is pretty amazing too. David is after my brother (who is also Jesse's best friend) and my dad. David happens to be a Hebrew name too and it means "Beloved" or "Friend of God". I received an awesome email from an acquaintance yesterday about these names which REALLY touched me. If you want to read it, click here. At our ultrasound, we found that he is a big and healthy boy, measuring (at that time) 11 ounces and assumedly around 10 inches in length (it's hard to tell when he's all curled up and has no baby fat). He was very active and it was absolutely amazing to see our son up there in live action. In fact, we got a 3-D picture and I'm convinced he already resembles Jesse (especially in his nose). You can read in-depth about the ultrasound and see pictures by clicking here.


I have started to feel the baby move around too. In the past month, I have noticed that I get these really light tickles across my tummy. I can't wait until they get stronger and I can distinctly notice kicks. Meanwhile, each tickle serves as a reminder that he's there and doing well.


2) My grandma passed away April 4th. She had been on hospice for nearly 3 weeks after battling cancer for 5 years. You can read more about it if you click here and here. In short, though, our family is much at peace about it. It was difficult watching her deteriorate and, knowing where she is now, I wouldn't want her back here. In the latter post, you can read about our Easter weekend and in that last post, you can also read about our fabulous trip to the coast we took last weekend.


3)Jesse is still doing his drumming in the band. They have another gig coming up in 2 weeks. Things have slowed down since his last show, but Jesse's passion for playing remains steadfast.


4) We're finally moving forward on the landscaping of our house. I'll try to post pictures soon.


5) Michael is still living with us, but if things go according to plan, this will only be for 2 more days. While his apartment and schooling are not finalized yet, the plan is to move him to Idaho on Friday. We're hoping things are going to be more finalized before that day. He REALLY needs to be back with his kids. Not only is he missing them like crazy, but being away is causing more problems between him and Kaela, and this is the only thing she really has to hold against him (the fact that he left and is in a different state). Things have gotten really ugly in their divorce. Kaela came out with claims that Michael physically abused her during their marriage. Michael has been very honest with us as to what extent things are true or not, like saying that he did throw things on the ground, but never threw things at her. Or by saying that he did grab her arm if she tried to walk away from the argument, but always let go if she said he was hurting her (not intending to physically harm her). The truth is, though, that Kaela is very unstable in her mental state and varies between extreme degrees of moodiness. I, in 100% complete honesty, believe she has some kind of chemical inbalance, and maybe even is bi-polar. She's also been known to thrive on drama and exaggerate a bit. In her mind, though, she begins to tell herself that something happened and then believes it to be true, fabricating stories to back up her ideas. I say this, not just in witnessing her marriage to Michael, but also in my former friendship with her. So, she really believes this abuse occurred and has proceeded to openly tell everyone and say horrible things about Michael in public forums. She also wants Michael to sign over full custody of the kids to her. And, if he fights her, she says that she will bring all of the abuse stuff out in court, even calling him a wife-beater on the phone. In the midst of this, she does talk to him on (almost) a daily basis, and is frequently civil to him, but will all of the sudden explode about something random. She has changed her phone number preventing him from being able to call to talk to the kids, and instead, got a pre-paid phone (separate from her own phone) that Michael is allowed to call. This process did take about a week, though, so during that time Michael was unable to contact his kids. She refused to answer her own phone until the day she knew he was getting paid and would probably be sending her money. And, she has also asked Michael to take out a loan (in his name) to pay for the divorce so that when he moves there, they can finalize things quickly. However, this would require HIM going into debt to give her the divorce SHE wants, which will then give her the grants SHE wants for HER to go to school. Doesn't seem fair to me. So, Michael refused, which only made her mad, and that's when the threats to bring out the abuse in court arose. Before I go too far into it all, I'll stop and just say that he's in a VERY difficult situation, but going to Idaho to be with his kids is the best thing he can do. Please be praying for him as he faces court and the judge determines their futures.

6) Finally, yesterday was Administrative Professionals Day, formerly known as Secretary's Day. That's me!!! I walked into my office to find a bundle of flowers sitting on my desk. I had no clue about the holiday so I was astounded and wondered if I had a secret admirer or something. Soon after, I received a phone call from my friend who works at our sister hospital doing my counterpart position. It turns out that he and his wife had left the flowers for me to celebrate the day. (They both are administrative professionals, too.) Just as I was arranging them in a vase, my boss walked in and I pointed out with joy what I had gotten. She replied, "Well, I was going to wait until you went on your break, but here are some from me," and she presented me with another vase of flowers along with a card. The card included two gift cards as well- one for Cold Stone Creamery and one for Michael's craft store. (Pictures below...)

In the end, things are busy as ever, but we're enjoying life. We're working on accomplishing some big goals and working out all of the little stuff that occurs in the meantime. That's life!




(From my boss)


(From Camron & Melissa)