You say it's your birthday....

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Happy Birthday William Karl Petersen

34 weeks and counting

I just got home a little while ago from a double doctors appointment. My regular appointment with my ob (I am a spazz and showed up 1 hr. early...just a little eager perhaps?) and our monthly ultrasound.

Here's a quick rundown on the status of "Gary" from the doctor:

• At 34 weeks and 2 days I am measuring 36.5 weeks. That's still only two ahead.
• Baby's heart rate is stable at 140 beats per minute.
• Doctor predicts that the baby will make it to 38 weeks as long as my bp is stable (no toxemia) and my sugars stay "normal" (90-120 range).
• I only gained 1 lb. over the last two weeks...bringing us to a grand total of 28 lbs.
• Stretch marks are ugly...very ugly.

At the Ultrasound however, we got a little bit different story:

• No pictures of "Gary" today. Why? He's too big. They couldn't get a clear shot because: 1) he's dropped considerably and has "assumed the position" of getting the heck out of dodge and 2) He's huge.
• How big? Let's try 7 lbs. big. What should he weigh? At 34 weeks he should weigh at most, 5 lbs. and be about 19 inches long. We don't know if he's huge because of the diabetes or genetics. We won't know that until he's born, but it looks like naming him Henry and calling him Hank the Tank might not be such a bad idea.
• "Gary" is in the 80th percentile in size, his head is huge and his legs are long. That right there makes the decision for a c-section worth it.
• "Gary" has fat rolls, under his arms and very chubby cheeks. Through the ultrasound video we could see the layers of fat that are forming around his body.
• Right now, "Gary" is the size of a baby at 38 weeks gestation, not 34.

What does all this mean you may be asking? Ross and I have no idea. Basically, it means that the kid will be born soon and hopefully before the 10 lb mark. I told Ross the other day that "Gary" was starting to feel very heavy and I was right.

Since there are no pictures of "Gary" from today's photo session (Though we did bring a VHS tape and recorded the ultrasound if you are interested in watching a giant fat baby) I've posted the only picture I've taken of me throughout the entire process...to prove to certain peopel (Craig) that this whole baby thing isn't a figment of my imagination.

"Gary" is one lucky baby

Last night was the baby shower. It was hard for me to be the center of attention (no really, it was) and open all the tiny blue outfits (blue better than pink?), but throughout the entire shower, I just felt so lucky to have such a wonderful family and great friends who are so generous and kind to not only come and show their support, but give us such wonderful and much needed gifts. "Gary" made quite the haul, and has wonderful great-grandmothers, grandmothers, great aunties and a cool aunt.

Thank you to Cindy and her family for hosting and to everyone who came. I had a great night and am just so grateful and lucky.

Wedding Portrait Success

Haley, James, Willie and I went on a photographic adventure this afternoon to get pictures for the wedding announcements. I must say that, even though we didn't really have a plan, and we ended up at the Great Salt Lake on a road that really wasn't a road, we got some great shots. Haley even commented tonight when I showed her some proofs that I made them look better than they look in real life. Not true, but there is a lot to be said for taking pictures on an overcast day.

I liked a lot of the pictures, but the little postcard I Photoshopped was my favorite. Haley didn't like it too much. What do you think? (click on the picture to see it full size on my flickr account.)

A Year in Review

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This is the little movie I made to commemorate 2006

(The movie opens in a pop-up window so if you can't see it, turn off your blockers)

The Holidaze is over and we survived

Christmas is over and the goose got super fat....oh wait, we didn't eat goose, but I'm super fat! Today, the day after Christmas is a time of reflection. After all my whining, complaining, and overall scrooginess, we survived a very nice holiday with the family.

Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma Huber's house with a very nice dinner and program. This year Grandma asked me to bring my camera to document the plethora of presents under her tree, the coffee table, in the dining room..pretty much everywhere. When you buy gifts for like, 60 people, things can get a little crazy. After pictures and food, mom and the little chillins prepared a nice program reading from Luke:2, intertwined with some musical numbers with Haley as maestro on the piano. Perhaps the sing-along after, with all made up and improvised verses was a little more entertaining however.



By the time Christmas day was over, it felt like we had run a marathon. Ross and I got our sorry heads out of bed around 7:00, got ready, opened our presents and headed to my parentals house to greet Willie and his exuberance early in the morning. We opened gifts with my family then headed to aunt Karen's house for brunch and a gift exchange. By the time we got settled at Karen's, it was time to move on because Haley and James had places to be. We rushed back to the units house, watched James open his gifts, packed up and headed to Grandma Hubers for more food, fun, and gifts galore. We finally left as daylight was fading and headed to Ross mom and dad's house, even though they weren't there, to play with the dog. Well, for Ross to play with the dog and me have the animal jump on my lap and stick it's rank butt in my face. After Ross got his fill of puppy and gave the dog a bath, we finally headed home for the night to sit and stare at all the gifts we received and so Ross could watch Monday Night Football.

I went to bed at 8:30...Gary and I were exhausted, well I was exhausted. Gary was just gearing up for a night full of flips, summersaults, and vigorous attempts to escape his internal world and get a taste of the outside.


This morning when we awoke from our long winters nap, the house was still a disaster, with gifts floating all over the living room. We'll dig ourselves out eventually.

Ross and I received some very lovely and thoughtful gifts and even though I said no baby stuff, we got some of that, too and it was great! We even got a Gary for "Gary" (Pictures of that later). Ross gave me a gift I had been asking for for months...a new compact digital camera. Our hundred year old 2 mp broke and has been replaced. Yeah! I love cameras.

Photo Shoot

Next week I am going out with Haley and James to shoot their engagement/announcement photo. We had a dry run on Sunday that didn't turn out too well...it seems that there was a third party in the picture. The big kid, almost taller than Haley, with the cheesy smile. I think that he might think that he gets to be in the picture. Sorry kiddo....you can come, but just harass and embarrass from the sidelines.

Ketchup is her code word

Last night Ross was busy with church stuff and I headed out to the family compound in the WV to drop off some Sub-for-Santa gifts and do a little calligraphy for my mom's neighbor. As the evening started to wind down and we were wrapping up Willie's science homework (It was a group effort to define all his science terms...we even had two dictionaries going) thing started to get a little....crazy!

Mom beckoned dad from his Soduku induced hide-a-way in the office to come out to the kitchen. She needed him to run to the store, immediately!, and purchase two things: dish soap and ketchup. Why these two items you ask? We have no idea except that it made mom laugh when we started teasing her about whatever ketchup could be. We decided it was code for something....just not sure what. Hygiene products? A mysterious Christmas gift that could only be purchased at the local grocers? A secret mission involving tomatoes?

Regardless, it was a good laugh that sparked the start of a conversation, well, multiple conversations that I could barely keep track of. So, I decided to write as many key words down on a left over piece of wrapping paper, just in case I needed it later.

Interesting baby fact

This is from my baby e-mail of the week:

A Russian woman holds the record for having the most children. Between 1725 and 1765, she was pregnant 27 times and had 69 children.

Progressive Party

On Saturday, we had the 23rd annual Huber Family Progressive Party. As usual, there was good food (deep fried cajun turkey, sweet and savory crepes, shrip and shredded beef tacos and ice cream sundaes), fun (dancing, laughing, loud-ness), and creative entertainment. My favorite of the night may have been 2 year old Gracie at the end of the evening doing her Tai-Chi in the center of Jackie's family room to Christmas tunes.

If you are interested in my pics from the party, click on the link below. I had an idea that it might be fun to use Photo Booth to document the night and I was right. Even the grandparentals got in on the action.

Progressive Party 2006

Happy Chanukah!

Now, if anyone asks you what the difference is between Christmas and Chanukah you will know what and how to answer!

1. Christmas is one day, same day every year, December 25. Jews also love December 25th. It's another paid day off work. We go to the movies and out for Chinese food. Chanukah is 8 days. It starts the evening of the 24th of Kislev, whenever that falls. No one is ever sure. Jews never know until a non-Jewish friend asks when Chanukah starts, forcing us to consult a calendar so we don't look like idiots. We all have the same calendar, provided free with a donation from the World Jewish Congress, the kosher butcher, the local Sinai Memorial Chapel or a Jewish funeral home.

2. Christmas is a major holiday. Chanukah is a minor holiday with the same theme as most Jewish holidays. They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat.

3. Christians get wonderful presents such as jewelry, perfume, stereos, etc. Jews get practical presents such as underwear, socks or the collected works of the Rambam, which looks impressive on the bookshelf.

4. There is only one way to spell Christmas. No one can decide how to spell Chanukah, Chanukkah, Chanukka, Channukah, Hanukah, Hannukah, etc.

5. Christmas is a time of great pressure for husbands and boyfriends. Their partners expect special gifts. Jewish men are relieved of that burden. No one expects a diamond ring on Chanukah.

6. Christmas brings enormous electric bills. Candles are used for Chanukah. Not only are we spared enormous electric bills, but we get to feel good about not contributing to the energy crisis.

7. Christmas carols are beautiful...Silent Night, Come All Ye Faithful. Chanukah songs are about dreidels made from clay or having a party and dancing the hora. Of course, we are secretly pleased that many of the beautiful carols were composed and written by our tribal brethren. And don't Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond sing them beautifully?

8. A home preparing for Christmas smells wonderful. The sweet smell of cookies and cakes baking. Happy people are gathered around in festive moods. A home preparing for Chanukah smells of oil, potatoes and onions. The home, as always, is full of loud people all talking at once.

9. Christian women have fun baking Christmas cookies. Jewish women burn their eyes and cut their hands grating potatoes and onions for latkes on Chanukah. Another reminder of our suffering through the ages.

10. Parents deliver presents to their children during Christmas. Jewish parents have no qualms about withholding a gift on any of the eight nights.

11. The players in the Christmas story have easy to pronounce names such as Mary, Joseph and Jesus. The players in the Chanukah story are Antiochus, Judah Maccabee and Matta whatever. No one can spell it or pronounce it. On the plus side, we can tell our non-jewish friends anything and they believe we are wonderfully versed in our history.

12. In recent years, Christmas has become more and more commercialized. The same holds true for Chanukah, even though it is a minor holiday. It makes sense. How could we market a major holiday such as Yom Kippur? Forget about celebrating. Think observing. Come to synagogue, starve yourself for 27 hours, become one with your dehydrated soul, beat your chest, confess your sins, a guaranteed good time for you and your family. Tickets a mere $200 per person. Better stick with Chanukah!

How do you spell Oquirrh?

Yesterday, Ross and I attended (because he had to set up the stake center) the satellite broadcats of the "South Jordan, Utah Temple" groundbreaking. I had never been witness to such an event before and it was very interesting.

Perhaps the most interesting part was when President Hinkley spoke, announcing a new name for the Temple. He said that after much deliberation, the Temple would not be called the South Jordan, Utah Temple because that would be too confusing with the Jordan River Temple. So, the new name of the temple will be the Oquirrh Mountain, Utah Temple. Pretty cool and a great recognition for the West side of the valley that I have called home for my entire life. After the announcemnt, the Prophet cracked a joke saying that no one will be able to spell Oquirrh, but they can't spell Timpanogos either...and some people probablly can't even spell Salt Lake. But, he said, we don't go to the temple to spell.

The entire ground breaking was over in about 40 minutes and we had a couple hundred people at our stake center to watch. It would have been most excellent to witness the event first hand, in the big tent they set up on the bluff where the Temple will be located, but being able to watch it "live" via satellite was pretty cool, too. It's not every day that a temple is literally built in your neighborhood, just up the street.

Playing with Passion like the Beatles

Tonight, Haley has to play guitar in a band at the church party. She has been attending trainings with the Martinez family (the other half of the band) for weeks and weeks. Last weekend, Haley wasn't playing with enough "umpfh" and inspiration that Mr. Martinez made her sit down to watch a video of the Beatles so she could see what it is like to play with passion. The band originally set out to play 6 numbers, three Christmas songs and three "traditional" songs, one of which was Tequila. As of last week, if I remember correctly, they added at least one more song and it appears to be something by Black Sabbath. I am sure that will go over great at the Ward Party!

Ross and I are not going to the party to watch the band. I figured that the fam. and the grandparentals was enough to stare at her whilst playing some Ozzy. Instead, I think that we'll just crash out at home. It's been a long week for the both of us. Between work and other commitments and this whole "baby" thing, I've completely run out of steam. Yesterday, I had a doctor's appointment and it was very disappointing. "Gary" and I have been overachievers for the last 8 months in weight gain, size, measurements, health problems, etc. and it seems that we are evening out. My blood pressure was good, the blood sugars are under control and Gary seems to be "average" right now. I only gained two pounds and measured 34/5 centimeters which means that I haven't grown any (even though I feel 28.6 pounds heavier) in 2 weeks. To the doctor, that is a good sign...to me it means that January 15 might turn into the actual due date of February 7 and that stressed me out to no end. The doc had put the 15th as D-day into my head months ago and I've pretty much settled on it. Well, as everything progresses "normally"...it looks like early isn't as realistic as I thought. Suck! So, after the appointment I was a little disappointed. I'm better now, but I wasn't the nicest person for a while last night. Sorry Ross! Part of my problem could be these ankles. They hurt. The other night they were super swollen and as Ross and I were working on some projects in the office, I decided to document the swollen-osity. Ross' is the hairy ankle in the middle and represents what mine used to look like, w/o the hair.




To end the whiny post on a more positive note, I finally did some holiday decorating. After mucho harassment from Willie, Mom, and even Grandma, I bought a "tree" at target. It is small, silver and sparkle-y and I made a "shrine" for the holidays. So it's done, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future won't get me, and a blah humbug to all.

I'm not an idiot! Sweet!

About three years ago I started a process called National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification. At the time I thought I was hot stuff and the best teacher in the world. I selected a mentor to help me put a portfolio together, video tape myself teaching, and prepare for a pretty heinous exam. All in all, the first time around, I think I put in about 240 hours. And guess what - I failed! I actually failed quite miserably. Good thing there are retakes, right?

Well, the next year, I decided to get a new mentor (one that actually knew something about history, not art like Mentor #1) and I had her help. Unfortunately for me, I chose to cut corners and rely on my natural intelect and test taking ability. Big mistake because guess what...I failed a second time around. Idiot! Failed a second time.

After much deliberation I decided to try for a third and final time. I was nervous and had a bad track record to rely on. But, I got my scores today and I PASSED with flying colors. Yeah me! I am not as big of a moron as I thought I was and now I get to have the title of "master teacher" for the next 12 years...that's when my certification expires.

I just wanted to share.

The love of a good hairdresser

Romela does my hair. She loves me and I love her back. I waited years for her to be able to cut my hair and the wait was well worth it. She can work wonders with my boring look. I got the hairs cut today and am quite pleased with the results. I am definitely in a fashion/style rut and have resorted to mostly wearing jeans and men's rugby shirts for lack of anything better or more comfortable to wear over the basketball that has become my belly. The haircut today was the perfect therapy for my increasing waistline. If only other things in life were so easy.


The Pathetic News Anchor hair of this morning and afternoon



The shorter, sleeker, and a little less "late breaking news story" hair of this afternoon.

Saturday is for winners

Yesterday was the second jr. jazz game of the season. Willie's team won. They smoked the other team, as I am sure they will do to the three remaining teams in the small league they are in this season. Willie's team is also huge and, the actually run plays. Strange for a group of 11 year olds to run plays but it's cool.

The funny thing is...all the kids in the league are11-12 years old but Willie's team is so big. They just tower over all the other kids. Dad definately put together a winning bunch. Here are a few pictures to check out if you are interested. If you want, more, I can tell you where to get them.


Is this type of score fair? It is to the winning team.


He shoots and I think he scored. If not, he got all the offensive rebounds and somebody scored.


Giant amongst his age group. They really are ALL 11!

WaYs To MaInTaIn A hEaLtHy LeVeL oF iNsAnItY

• at lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point at a hair dryer at passing cars. see if they slow down.
• page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.
• every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.
• put your garbage can on your desk and label it "in".
• put decaf in the coffee Maker for 3 weeks and once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addicitons, switch to expresson.
• finish all your sentences with "in accordance with the prophecy"
• dont use any punctuation
• as often as possible, skip rather than walk
• order diet water with a serious face whenever you go out to work
• specifiy at the window that your drive in order is "to go"
• sing along at the opera
• five days in advance, tell you friends that you cannot attend their party because you are not in the mood.
• when leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling, "Run for your lives, they're loose."
• tell your children over dinner, "due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."
• speak a foreign language, even if you don't know what you are saying.

Someone to watch over me

Driving to work this morning I got a phone call. The caller ID on my cell said, "Family." I figured it was my mom calling to tell me that I had messed up on the family party invitation and even though the envelopes were sealed and stamped, I'd have to make changes.

It was my mom, but that wasn't the purpose of the phone call. She called because Willie had something important to tell me. However, after some major prompting to speak from my mom, he couldn't quite spit it out and there was quite the dramatic interchange between Mom and Willie ("tell her"..."no you tell her", etc.). Mom finally told Willie that it was his job to tell me what it was that was so important and Willie said, "I can't because I'll start to cry again"....at that point, I got a little concerned.

The boy that is the cutest little brother ever finally spit it out, very quickly (and then my mom had to clairfy because I wasn't quite sure I got what he said), but he told me.."If you don't get a Christmas tree then all the bad ghosts will get you and you might die" (Or something to that effect).

Obvoiusly, I was a little confused, until Mom told me that Willie is reading Charles Dickens, "A Christmas Carol" for school and they just got through the Ghost of Christmas Past last night and apparently it not only scared the crap out of him (probally because he realized there are still two ghosts to go) but, he came to the conclusion that if his scrooge of a sister doesn't get her act together and get a Christmas tree and some holiday spirit soon, then there may be trouble in river city.

Willie, thanks for caring and always looking out for me. I'll see what I can do about the tree.

Sartorial Sense

I realize that everyone has a 'uniform' of sorts - especially for work. For example, I work in a business casual environment and therefore stick to khakis and solid or plaid cotton shirts. I usually do not get too caught up in what people where, but there is a strange guy in my office that I must comment upon.

There is this guy who wears black every day. Black plants and black button down shirts / mock turtle necks / or polos. It is very odd.

Is he a goth?

Is he in mourning?

Is it a fashion statement?

I don't understand, but I did notice that his screen saver is is 'star trek' themed. Better all black than a 'one-sie' Captian Kirk.

Something to think about...

I was just catching up on a little blog reading and read something very interesting on Malcolm Gladwell's blog (which I think you should all go and read). Gladwell is the author of "Blink", a book I am currently reading and fascinated by. Just like the book, "Freakanomics" which I also recently read, Gladwell takes a hard look at reasons why people do what they do. His most recent blog post is about racism and, like his book, his comments are fascinating.

I think that racism is such an interesting topic to talk about in modern day society. It seems that we see it everyday and in light of recent situations involving, as Gladwell mentions, Mel Gibson, Michael Richards, etc. it seems like our society is starting to revisit the race issue in America...even if it is a little leary of the topic.

Issues of race have always fascinated me. Throughout history, it seems that race and religion are the intense human factors involved in all conflicts, celebrations, and other important and significant occassions we study, revel and revile. As a former history teacher, I always beleive the adage that we study history to learn from it's mistakes to prevent us from repeating them in the future. A quick look at the US government will show us that this isn't the case, but still...haven't we learned anything from the rough course of US and world history? We learned many times over that genocide is bad, but doesn't it still happen every day all over the world? Where is the lesson, compasion, emotion, and will to fight it? Do we really just not care as long as it isn't in our front yard?

Are we a racist nation? Does everyone harbor a deep rooted hatred for those not like them? Or, do we live in a world where everyone is so concerned about what they say and who they say it to that we don't know which direction to head in anymore and can't start the dialogue to solve the problem? Or at least be comfortable talking about it in the first place.

I'll be the first to admit that there have been situations in my life where I have, for whatever reason, felt like the minority, picked on a little, or even nervous in my surroundings. Isn't that a good thing? Shouldn't I learn from those experiences and become a better more accepting person? I think that I should and know that I have.

For me, the bigger issue is that it seems like we now have a culture that doesn't feel bad for doing wrong. In the news we see celebrities, politicians, actors, athletes, even the most common and lowly individual...none of them ever apologize for breaking the law, saying something inappropriate or cheating on their wife. They just "apologize" because they are sorry that they got caught...not that they did something wrong or broke the law. Honestly, I think that is a bigger issue. I watched Michael Richards "apologize" on David Letterman's show for his remarks at the Laugh Factory. It wasn't an apology....it was just a, "oh crap I screwed up and got caught on film and my career is over."

This is an interesting soapbox for me to get on in the realm of my little blog about nothing, but I guess these are things I really spend a lot of time thinking about. Maybe it is because I am weeks away from being a parent and I've been hit with the, "bringing a baby into the big bad world syndrome" or maybe it's just my nature to worry too much about all the kids in Africa dying of AIDS and there isn't anything anyone can do about it. Too much thinking about the world starts to make my head spin and my stomach ache, but, there has to be a way to make things better, right? Besides moving to the middle of no-where, creating my own fuel, living "green" and raising free range chickens?

Let basketball season begin

It seems that football just ended and now we are at the start of another Jr. Jazz season. Willie's team, cleverly named, the Wolverines (you can tell that it is a bunch of boys that all play football together) played their season opener this morning and smoked the competition 35-11. They held the team of much smaller 11-12 year olds scoreless for almost the entire first half. I tend to forget how big my widdle bwoder is until I see him stand next to average kids his own age. Willie is so big. On the football field, he looks the same size as everyone else, but today, on the court, he just looked like a giant.

The boy had a good game getting some nice rebounds, a couple buckets and 1 free throw. Willie, if you are reading this remember..."free throws win and loose games" and you had better start hitting yours or you'll be practicing outside in the snow.

If your interested in some pics from today's game, just click on the photo link.

Basketball 06