sunflowers and rambow

for our date night last night, randy and i decided to head out to see the (relatively) new sunflower market in town. it's a health food-ish store, but we were mostly looking forward to a nice selection of cheeses. we picked out a fancy brie and then walked around the rest of the store for a while to check out what else they had. they had some fun stuff and i will definitely be returning. they also had some screaming deals on produce, although some of it was a lot more expensive than my usual grocery store. it seems like one of those places where you just have to look for the good deals. i have to admit, it's no larry's market (but what is? apparently, larry's market is not even larry's market anymore), but it will have to do for now.

randy and i came home and had some brie and baguette, apples, and blackberries (delicious blackberries!) and watched "son of rambow."

fantastic movie. hilarious, and a little touching too. it was really right up our alley as far as the quirky humor goes. good date night.

ocular anxiety

i just got back from an appointment with the eye doctor.

"which is better, 1 or 2?"

(this always makes me anxious. maybe i'll screw up my whole prescription if i don't answer this right. and they're always so close.)

"um... 1. actually, can you do it one more time? yes, 1... i think."

"which is better, 3 or 4?"

(oh good, this is an obvious one)

"definitely 3."

"which is better, 1 or 2?"

"oh man... let's see... you'd better do it one more time... once more? i'd probably have to say 2."

(unless you think 1 should be better! because i really can't tell much of a difference.)

also, during the exam, they were testing me for color blindness and i had to cover one eye and then tell her what number i saw in the colored dots. i got to one of them and said "8" and the woman hesitated and there was an awkward silence. i quickly picked up on it and recovered,"oh, i mean 3." i know it wasn't a big deal and with how the dots were, it was hard to tell, but i felt like it was an i.q. test and i had somehow failed it.

"well, we got your results back from your i.q. test and your i.q. is an 8. oh, i'm sorry, that says 3."

madeleine's hat

madeleine has some of her own hats as well. sometimes we put a (clean) diaper on her head (mostly as a distraction when we are changing a dirty diaper) and exclaim, "oh! i love your hat." this was such an occasion.

randy's hat v.2.0

i finished randy's hat (again) yesterday and it turned out much better this time. for instance, it actually closes on top. and is fitted to his head.

i had madeleine model it too:

rachel diane petersen

well, beth and bruce tried to one-up us by having a baby on my mom's birthday and then giving her my mom's name for a middle name.

my younger sister had a beautiful baby girl yesterday. 8 lbs. 10 oz. we make them big in our family. i couldn't help myself and had to brave the inclement weather last night to go see her right away. they only stay tiny for so long. i was the first to arrive and told her i was going to be her favorite aunt. it helps to be first. we'll see how madeleine does when some of her attention is diverted to a new little baby in the family.

two birthday girls



the proud grandfather



the second favorite aunt

happy birthday mom!

today is my mom's birthday. what a fantastic day. not only did it eventually lead to my own existence, but it produced one of the most wonderful people in the world. thanks for being such a great example of what a mother should be and for being one of my best friends.

knitting randy's hat

it's been a couple days since i've posted because i've been busy knitting a hat for randy. we went and he picked out the yarn on monday and i've been knitting a lot since then.

i've learned a lot from this project. like the fact that gauge matters. and when you don't pay as close of attention to gauge as you should, the hat turns out too big (this is indicative of my general attitude towards crafts - power through them and everything will be just fine). i actually discovered this long before the hat was done, but randy said he didn't care that much, so i kept going. when i got to the end though, i ran out of yarn four rows from the top. i realize that i could have bought more yarn, but instead, i decided to start over. so... i unraveled the hat and started over. i actually don't mind too much. i had a few issues the first time around (besides the hat being too big), so it will be nice to fix those this time around. it's been a good learning project.

once again, my lovely model:

a vent?






starting over.

some madeleine pictures

here are a few pictures of madeleine being cute:

she loves to carry things around in this basket.



aunt beth reading to madeleine

madeleine has recently taken a liking to my apron and puts it on, so i decided that she was probably ready for the apron that her grammy made her. i put it on her while i was cooking and tried to take a picture, but she wouldn't hold still.

project scarf finished

well, i finally finished the scarf that i started back at thanksgiving. i thought i would be done long before now, but december seemed to slip away from me.

the finished product



up close

i decided to have madeleine model the scarf instead of me. she was quite a natural at striking a pose in front of the camera.

spotted

my absolute favorite ice cream is dreyer's* girl scouts samoas cookie ice cream. unfortunately (or perhaps, fortunately), it is seasonal and is only available between about january and april (curse you girl scouts and your exclusive cookie club!). well, yesterday i spotted it for the first time this season and i will probably be buying two cartons next time i go to the store. don't judge me until you've tried it.

*apparently dreyer's also goes by edy's in some parts of the world. i wasn't willing to do that much research though. is this an east coast/westcoast thing like hellman's and best foods? or is it their international label? update: i did a little research.

videos

here are a few videos of madeleine for those of you who haven't seen her in person lately. they're nothing thrilling, just her around the house. she is our constant entertainment.

and soundtrack.

one year appointment

madeleine just had her one year check up on tuesday. here are the stats for the grandmothers:

weight:
one year - 21.06 lbs, 53rd percentile
9 months - 20.02 lbs, 74th percentile

height:
one year - 30", 75th percentile
9 months - 28.75", 82nd percentile

head circumference:
one year - 18", 67th percentile
9 months - 18", 91st percentile

my chunky little baby has slimmed down.

calli's baptism

one of the best things about our trip to boise was that we were there for calli's baptism.

it was so wonderful to be there and celebrate calli's baptism with her. i love going to baptisms and feeling the spirit that is there as the person being baptized participates in such a sacred ordinance. it made me reflect on my own baptism and what a special day that was for me. calli looked beautiful.

i'm not sure if madeleine grasped what was going on, but she certainly enjoyed the cupcakes afterwards.

more boise pictures

madeleine learned a few new tricks while she was in boise. going up the stairs was one of them.

she also learned to go down them.

while we were in boise, we decided that we were going to get madeleine some shoes. when we tried a pair on her at the store, she wouldn't even take a step. she just got down on her hands and knees and cried. but when we put a pair of crocs on her, she didn't cry.

my mother-in-law is also a big fan of crocs. now madeleine and grammy have their crocs that they can wear together.



we also found another pair of shoes that she would put up with.


madeleine used to cry whenever i brushed my teeth because she wanted my toothbrush, so i finally bought her a toothbrush of her own. she likes to carry it around with her. could this be considered a genetic trait? if so, i'm pretty sure she gets this from my dad.

reading on the car ride home.

2009 resolutions

every year i make new year's resolutions and they're way too similar every year (a sad commentary on my success with said goals). here are some of my new new year's resolutions for 2009:

get more sleep
eat more healthy
go on a camping trip
learn to bake bread
read 2 books a month
make more effort to be social
take time to be still

we'll see how i do with my old and new resolutions. maybe this year i can finally cross some of those old ones off the list before 2010.