Three Years and Counting...

Here’s to three years of marital bliss.

Hard to believe?

Sound kind of cliché?

Welcome to my marriage.

My marriage is kind of like a fairytale (because of Peter, not me). Life is most definitely not always kind, but Peter makes up for that in every possible way.

Thank you for choosing me babe. I love you! Happy Anniversary!

A Great Phrase This Week!

It is so much better when you can actually see and hear Chloe talk, but I think some of you will find her phrase tonight pretty humorous:

"Peter, what are you doing?"

If she ever hears me call Peter by his first name she loves to mimic me. It was hilarious having her put his name in a sentence, though. My little girl is growing up (to be a terrible two year old. Sigh)

Our Journey

I said I would update some more about our move. The more I think about it the less I have to say. Anyone who has ever moved (which is most people probably) can relate to what it is like--Not fun, basically. Of course, the fact that we had moved just three months before made me dread it more. I didn't procrastinate until two days before departure day to pack this time, though, so overall the packing went smoothly.

We split our trip up into two seven hour day trips with Peter driving a big truck and towing a car, while me and Chloe followed behind in another car. Chloe did pretty well, except at the very end. Later we realized she had come down with a flu virus. The poor thing was sick the next few days while Peter and I worked on unpacking and getting settled. She pretty much lied on a chair and watched Barney the whole time, and needed cuddling here and there. She is back to her active little self again and we are so glad.

I'll admit I was very pregnant during that whole packing/moving/unpacking ordeal. By very pregnant I mean moody, irritable, emotional, etc... Poor Peter was probably wondering what happened to his happy go lucky wife and if he would ever get her back. Thank goodness he is the most patient person in the world. I feel back to my old self again, and since I spent so much time being negative, I wanted to list some of our many BLESSINGS during this whole journey.

First: We moved because Peter found another, BETTER, job offer in a more affordable place with about the same pay. Just having a job is a huge blessing in and of itself.

Second: The company he is working for covered all moving expenses (which really add up) and we had movers help us load and unload our truck.

Third: We made it to Arizona with zero complications to vehicles. When we moved from Idaho to California we got stuck in Elko overnight. I am glad that didn't happen again.

Fourth: We moved into a place we had never seen not knowing much about what to expect. It's GREAT. Not perfect, but it perfectly meets our needs just now and has passed our expectations. Plus, have you ever compared rent in the bay area to Arizona? We feel (sort of) rich.

Fifth: Peter has an awesome family and many of them live here. When we got in later than expected and found out the movers couldn't unload us, Aunt Pam offered us a home-cooked meal, and beds to sleep in until the next day. Then she graciously watched Chloe while we unloaded the next morning. Talk about RELIEF! She might not know it, but she is what kept me sane when I was nearly at a breaking point.

Sixth: We are all healthy, happy, have each other, the gospel and loads of friends and family who love and support us. We've learned quickly in our short time married that life happens, and we've had many curve balls thrown our way, but the blessings we have received have far outweighed any challenges. We are anticipating the new experiences we will have here, and know the Lord is taking care of us.

Thanks everyone for all your help, support and love!

(Peter started work two days ago... it's going well. Maybe I can get him to post about it. If not, I will later)

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! Our friends (Erica and Ryan Nielson) invited us over to their home for dinner. In case you didn't know, my friend Erica is an AMAZING cook (check out her food blog www.ericaspantry.blogspot.com for great recipes) so Peter and I were way excited to get an awesome meal. Which it was, and we barely helped at all... Peter did make a green bean casserole. I don't know what my favorite was, but it was my first time trying pumpkin cheesecake and I loved it. Thanks so much Erica!

Chloe played really well with their baby boy Trenton who is a few months younger than she is. They played extremely well actually, and both kids went down for a nap right when we sat down to eat. It was perfect and relaxing, and we couldn't ask for better company!

Here is a picture of the two pregnant Mommies (and mommies with kids). Erica is due with another boy less than a week after I am due with my second girl. It is so wonderful to have such great friends.





The day after Thanksgiving Peter Chloe and I did a little black Friday shopping. I did get up at 6:30 to try and get Peter something at Wal-Mart... it was gone of course. Later in the day we all went to the mall and just enjoyed the crowds and fun Christmas spirit.

Picture of Chloe and Mommy in their (sort of) matching hats on shopping day(and another belly pic I guess. I don't know what it is about people wanting to see my pregnant belly. It isn't all that fascinating. I am pretty sure it has grown two times as big since this pic though)

Pictures

It's about time I guess! These are from October. I still don't have pictures of Chloe in her bumblebee costume, but I will work on getting those from my mother-in-law very soon.


Pumpkin Patch pictures(and about 80 degrees outside that day if you couldn't tell. I love CA)







Chloe and Peter on the cow train. Apparently it was a bumpy ride but Chloe still had fun as long as Daddy was holding her.

We've Arrived!

We have successfully made the journey to our desert wonderland! At times I wondered if we would ever make it here in one piece, but we did, and we are so grateful to have a warm comfortable home and an income to support our family.

Stay tuned for Thanksgiving updates and more details about our move. Until then... I want to go decorate my new place for CHRISTMAS!

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

Click on the link below if you want to see a youtube video about gratitude. I found it amusing and uplifting :)

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

A Deed Worth Mentioning

I have to share my experience at Walmart today. We go often (I haven't had one close enough for most of our marriage...now I can't stay away!) and today was a pretty normal Chloe and Mommy run to Walmart for a few things day.

While I was looking at socks for Chloe she happened to grab an infant toy and of course she would not let me put it back without a big fight. So... I told her should could hold it until we got to the check out, but the toy "has to stay here."
"Okay Mommy..." was her adorable response although I don't know how much she understood me.

We finished our errands and went to check out. I vaguely recognized our cashier, an older black gentlemen who I was sure I'd seen (like I said, we go there a lot). I handed him the toy first thing to let him know we wouldn't be purchasing it. Other than looking disappointed, Chloe handled it really well. The man set it aside and kept looking at Chloe. He then picked the toy back up and went to scan it. I thought maybe he hadn't heard me so I repeated that we weren't planning to buy it.

The kind man looked at Chloe, then at the price tag and said, "Can I get it for her? For Christmas?"

His sincerity touched me deeply. I assume being a cashier at Walmart his income isn't substantial. This time of year most people are pinching to save every penny so they can provide an adequate Christmas for their own loved ones. Yet, here is this man who was so willing to give, even a little, to make a child happy.

Well, my response was an "absolutely not, I cannot let you do that. She will have plenty of toys to open on Christmas." I assured him she wasn't too upset and he said, "but look at her face..." he was so concerned about her. I thanked him as heartily as I could when we left, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about the situation since.

I believe even some of us with the best intentions are unable to generate the kind of sincerity this man showed to us today. I wish I knew more about him, his name, where he lives, if he has a lot of family. I would like him to know that his small act of kindness affected me in such a way that I feel a deep need to change--to serve more selflessly and be more in tune with the world around me. It is just too easy to get caught up in the chaos of my own life that I become blinded to the needs of those around me.

I hope our little experience today will touch others who read this. I hope I won't be too quick to forget and that somehow I can "pay it forward." It doesn't have to be anything big or extravagant. I hope everyone this Christmas season makes an effort to brighten someone's day. You never know how you can affect the way a person feels about life in general. The man we met today sure had an impact on me. I think I'll try and find a way to let him know it, too.

I'll keep you posted.

Amber

Details...

As I said in the post below, we are officially moving to Arizona the first week of December! (I won't be specifying names of places to be safe since my blog is not private but I'll gladly give that info via email if anyone is interested)

Now for the details... It came as a shock even to us because when Peter got a job here in CA we felt sure we would be around for a good few years at least. As it happens, the job just didn't work out for Peter as he had hoped. When it came down to it, he wasn't happy and we think it's important to enjoy what you're doing 40 hours a week. So, he contacted a "ma and pa" shop in AZ he had found previously and the rest is history!

Really though, it was like a little miracle. Things just fell into place bit by bit and we knew our prayers were being answered. Don't get me wrong, we've had plenty of bumps along the way--times of doubt and discouragement and lots of worrying (not that I would ever worry). When it came down to it, we were praying like crazy and just moving forward with as much faith as we could muster.

Is there a chance that we go and it just doesn't work out? Yes. That is exactly what happened to us here and we were really disappointed; but we trust that the Lord will get us to where we need to be eventually and we know we are learning a LOT along the way. We are really happy with the way things have turned out. We've already spent a day mourning over the loss of California. Peter was raised here and I've really grown to love it for many reasons, but we can see ourselves being really happy in Arizona too.

Like I said before if you want even more details feel free to email me--amberfjeldsted@gmail.com--I'll be sending an email to family with our address once we've moved and am happy to let most of my readers have it too.

I could go into significantly more detail, but I think that is enough for now :)

Happy Thanksgiving in case I don't get to posting for a while.

Also, Chloe was an ADORABLE bumblebee for Halloween. I don't have picture on my camera because she was with Grandma (Peter and I were in Arizona) but some day I will put them up. She's the cutest thing ever!

You Won't Believe it But...

We're moving.

Again.

To ARIZONA!

And we're very happy about it.



I'll post more details later. For now I have a sick two year old and dinner to get in the oven. Happy Monday!

Word of the week

I figured this was pretty fitting for Halloween...

"Scary!"

I'll do a Halloween update soon, but Chloe did think some of the costumes other people wore were "scary!"

Phrase of the Week

Try to imagine this in a cute sing song voice...

"Binki.... where are you?"


She doesn't always ask about her binki, but often. That is because we have a rule about the binki... you can only use it for night night and naps. Some days this goes over better than others, but I can usually sneak it away and hide it while she's eating :)

who stole the candy from the candy jar???

I bought these a few days ago to decorate my Halloween sugar cookies with. Notice the box has been opened and I haven't made the cookies yet. So who is the culprit? Most of you are probably thinking Chloe, right? Nope, it wasn't Chloe. Peter? Amber? No, No.

Well then WHO would have eaten a huge box of candy in two days? (although tempted to do it in one sitting)

It was the BABY in my TUMMY! :)

A couple months ago I would have (I mean the baby would have) gagged at the sight, but now chocolate has become a necessity. Welcome to the second trimester of pregnancy. Let the weight gain begin!

Thoughts on Giving Birth (or—should I try to go natural?)

As you can tell from the title this may be a post that some of you don’t want to read… so don’t! I am failing to be productive today and want so record some of my thoughts on this topic as I would do in my journal.

Before I had Chloe Peter and I would go to Barnes and Noble for many of our “date nights” (it’s free!) and just read. I researched a TON about pregnancy and child birth, nursing, postpartum, etc. It seemed that everything was pretty much pro natural, but I did find some good stuff that seemed unbiased. I don’t remember why I ultimately decided I would do an epidural (one of my sister’s with experience in this area probably told me I was crazy not to), but I did decide beforehand I wanted one.

My labor and delivery with Chloe went great! It was a total of eight hours from my first real contraction to when she was in my arms. After we arrived at the hospital and I was checked (and only at 2 cm) the midwife on call said, “You’re having really intense contractions so I think this will be fast. Do you want an epidural?” I wasn’t expecting this but I was like sure give it to me!

I was nervous about getting it, but it all went really smoothly and was less painful than I thought it would be. I made sure I held very still and I made a mental image of me Peter and our baby to be at the beach and focused on that. It worked great for me! With the epidural in place and working all we had to do was wait. My labor did slow when I got the epidural so they put me on pitocin which sped things up. When it did come time to push I had enough feeling that I could tell and I knew exactly when to push but felt no pain, so for me it was probably the best epidural experience you could have as far as that was concerned.

HOWEVER… I really didn’t like anything else about it. I hated feeling so numb from the waste down. I was cold and very shaky for much of the labor and had to use an oxygen mask while pushing. I hated not being able to use the bathroom after and having to have a catheter. When the numbness did wear off enough I could get up I came the closest to passing out I’ve ever been. The worst pain I felt my whole delivery was when a nurse ripped (literally riiipped) the tape off my back that was holding the epidural in place. I was SO glad to not be in pain for labor, but I really didn’t like the epidural.

So here I am halfway there with the second baby and the wheels in my head are churning “hmm… maybe I should try natural.” Then I’ll talk to someone who has gone natural and change my mind. Then I’ll read something online about how natural is the best and only way to go and then I change my mind again. I know I could do it, but I just don’t know if I want to do it. It’s kind of like having a migraine headache, and thinking “I could live through this excruciating pain or take some medicine to get rid of it.”

I will admit that I am frustrated with how biased everything is that I read in books and online. I think every single person who I’ve talked to in person that has done both recommends epidural any day. Then I go read stuff and get told all these negative things about any form of medication, and how your baby will nurse better if you have a natural birth and blah blah blah. At first it was motivating me towards going natural, but now I just want to roll my eyes. I hear arguments about how our bodies are meant to handle the pain, and of course millions of women in the past have done it natural because they didn’t have medicine offered. Well people we don’t live “back in the day” and granted we have technology to ease our pain and suffering let’s take advantage of it!

I hope I don’t sound too pessimistic with this whole natural thing. I believe there are some great pros to going natural. I admire and envy the women who choose beforehand to do it and go through with it. When you can afford all the classes and a couple doulas to help you cope with the pain, even better. But I guess, without even realizing it, in writing this post I’ve already come to the conclusion that going “all natural” just isn’t for me. I’ll probably change my mind ten more times before delivery day, but I bet when the contractions start I’ll be screaming “bring on the meds!”

Feel fee to share any thoughts/stories. Initially I was planning to write this specifically for that purpose to help me make up my mind. I would still like to know what people think!

Chloe Singing

Chloe can sing "twinkle twinkle little star" pretty much the whole way through. I just did a little clip of her singing because as you can tell she often gets distracted and it takes a long time to sing it all. It is her favorite song, although she loves all songs. We sing and dance a lot. It's fun to be girls!

Word of the Week

"CAREFUL!"

Chloe has been very intent lately on being "careful." That works for me! It's good to see her recognizing dangerous things and trying to be careful!

DRUMROLL PLEASE......

We






Are





Having a















For those of you who voted, I just looked at the results and it was split right in half! Ten for boy and ten for girl. That is about how we were feeling, not sure at all what it would be.

We were so happy to get the news today of another girl! Honestly... I am very excited for Chloe to have a sister close in age to her. They will be the same distance as me and my sister and she is one of my best friends :) Peter is only slightly disappointed it will be three to one in the house. But as his family will tell you he is great with girls (aka destined to be outnumbered by them). He will be able to handle all three of us perfectly fine. We feel very blessed. Thanks for everyone's support and friendship. We love you!

Tomorrow's the big day!

Everyone has one last day to vote... will we have a boy or a girl next? So far it looks like boy is in the lead!
(look to the right to vote)

My ultrasound is tomorrow and we're hoping the baby cooperates (unlike Chloe did the first time) so we can get a peak and see what we're in for!


Also, I posted my menu and you'll notice I've been in a soupy mood lately :) It is finally starting to feel like fall here and there's nothing I love more than a bowl of hot soup on a chilly day. I hope everyone has a great week!

Phrase this Week

Be right back!

Phrase of the WEEK

Okay, so the phrase of the day thing just isn't really practical for me to keep up. So I decided at the beginning of each week I'll just write a phrase or word of Chloe's. This week the phrase is.... "I DID IT!"

I'm trying to post my weekly menu's again. Currently we don't have a working oven so mostly I am doing crockpot meals, and I can use the stovetop.

ALSO... don't forget to vote (look at the right column) for what you think the baby two's gender will be. You only have nine days until we find out and I want to know what people think. Or in Becky's case... what she KNOWS... :)

Hope everyone has a great week!

Phrase of the Day

Saturday:

After accidentally hitting me with a shoe on the head Chloe said

"Sorry Ma Ma"


Sunday:

"My Turn!"

Chloe's Word(s) of the Day

So I decided to try and keep up with our little darling's talking as best as I can with a word or two (or phrase) of the day from Chloe.

Uncle Chomas (Thomas) the phrase today is just for you. I guess you did teach Chloe something of value this summer :)

"There you go!"

Goodbye Summer..... Hello Fall!

After so long it is hard to catch up… but we have all kinds of news to share so I better get with it! I’ll post some pics and talk a little bit about the rest of our summer adventures and try to keep it short and sweet.

After the Roberts reunion with my family in June we spent the fourth of July with Peter’s family, also in Utah. The best part (for me at least!) was getting to see Peter’s sister, Dakin and her family. They live in Boston so we don’t get to see them enough at all! Peter has such a great family and makes me realize just how lucky I am to have married him. There are some pictures of Chloe in her Fourth of July dress.




In August Chloe and I took a special trip to Idaho just because! We were there for almost a week and I was in heaven. We had food from Pacha’s (Grandpa) garden every day. It was such a relaxing and nice trip and Chloe got some great one on one with Mommo and Pacha. She loved the dog, swing set and little pool they had set up. I took a lot of pictures here (since I did horrible all summer I was trying to make up for it!)
I will forever be an Idaho girl at heart. The trip ended too fast. A great perk—most of my siblings live in Idaho so I got to see most of them while we were there. I love my family!















We had one last hurrah before August ended. We went on a water skiing trip with Peter’s parents and brother, Paul with his wife Courtney. We stayed in a cabin with a lake view and it was beautiful and fun! Thank you to John and Trudy who spoil us…. We are glad that we didn’t move too far from them.

So now to the rest of the news!

1) WE MOVED to the East Bay (If you want to know where email or call. This blog isn’t private so I try not to get too specific. I will give more moving details later) and Peter STARTED A NEW JOB this month. His office is brand new so he and his co-worker have been setting up shop while Chloe and I have been home setting up house. We are SO grateful that he has employment in this economy. So far, so good.

2) I got ACCEPTED TO CSUEB (California State University East Bay) and then I got REJECTED! Ha… it has been quite the process but I am working with them to accept a previous class to fulfill their requirement. I may or may not be taking classes this fall, but I will be okay with it either way. I’m taking a temporary break for a while anyways because….

3) BABY NUMBER TWO is on its way! I’m almost 17 weeks pregnant. Estimated due date is February 28, 2010. Estimated gender… well Peter thinks (hopes) it’s a boy and I have no preference at this point. We find out October 6 (hopefully) and will be thrilled either way. I felt him/her move for the first time last week and that makes it more exciting and real. It was a bit harder in the beginning than with Chloe, but I’m feeling much better now. My belly is popping out enough that my regular clothes don’t fit but neither do maternity… it’s so awkward! We are very grateful to have a new addition coming.

CHLOE:
I have to write a few things my adorable grown up baby girl is doing. She is talking like crazy, I can hardly keep up with the new words she says every day. One of our favorites are “Oh geez” (we have NO idea where she got that) and “where are you?” is one of her newest. She loves to sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” She can do actions to both and sings on tune (she gets that from Grandma Trudy). Along with her cuteness she can make a mean/pouty face like you wouldn’t believe and often acts like a three year old instead of a 1 ½ year old. Let’s just say, the pros outweigh the cons 100 to 1 and I wouldn’t trade motherhood for anything in the world.

There are a million more things I could go into detail about, but this is what happens when I procrastinate my blogging for too long. I will try to do better now that we are pretty much settled. By the way… it’s almost AUTUMN. Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year. It does something to my soul. Sounds corny, but it’s true! Maybe that means I’ll have some insightful things to say in the next few months… or maybe not. But you can bet I’ll probably have more to say whether or not it is insightful. Thanks for reading!

CHECK THIS OUT

So my sister-in-law Michelle and her sister's and Mom are all amazingly creative and talented. They have started selling some great stuff on Etsy and they are also doing free giveaways too! I copied and pasted what she sent in an email with the link so you can go check it out and possibly win a pair of adorable earrings! Pass the word on. These women deserve to be noticed!


This month our free giveaway is a pair of gorgeous sterling silver and American Turquoise earrings. All you need to do is email us at alaGG.design@gmail.com and tell us you want to be entered into the drawing, then tell all your friends and family to do the same! :)
To view the earrings and all our other fabulous items check out our blog at a-la-gg.blogspot.com
Remember this is a totally free giveaway....even the shipping is on us!

Whoa....whoa! Back up!

Okay so how long has it been? A couple months? It feels like it, even though I don’t think it’s been quite that long. Life has happened since I last blogged, that much is for sure. You know how the longer you put something off the more the thought of doing it becomes a chore? Well, that’s what has happened to me. So I will try to keep it short and sweet, but informative!

1. I FINISHED A SEMESTER OF SCHOOL….. And already started a new one.

-I got a B for my final grade in math… hooray! I was beyond relieved--overjoyed is more like it. Thanks Thomas for being my tutor and helping me pull through at the end.

- I did well in Creative Writing and couldn’t get enough of it. I registered for the 162 class this summer and it started already. It seems wrong to call it a class… it’s too much fun!

- Along with Creative Writing I will be taking Human Development (a Psych class) from July-August online! It will be intense, but fun and I’m up for the challenge!

2. PETER GOT A BETTER JOB OFFER (for real this time) and we’re MOVING!

-The offer Peter took in SF wasn’t looking so great for many reasons. So we said, “let’s decide where we think a good place would be to raise a family and settle for a while?” The Bay Area can’t help but grow on you, but what about the East Bay? Pleasanton, Livermore Walnut Creek or Concord… smaller family oriented communities with more LDS people and more aspects of country life (for Amber!)

So… Peter decided to look for a job somewhere in the East Bay, and if something came up in the few years he was working in SF he would take it if it was better. Well, something came up, and sooner than we thought. Peter got an AMAZING offer to work at a brand new Prosthetics/Orthotics office in Pleasanton, CA. Great pay, benefits, people, etc… basically the opposite of what he had before. Peter will be hired on as the Prosthetist with this new company (called Pac Medical) beginning September 1st. We are super excited and feel deeply blessed. We’ve come to discover the Lord does work in mysterious ways.

3. REUNIONS REUNIONS REUNIONS! We can’t get enough of ’em!

-We spent Father’s Day weekend in Cedar City, UT at an extended family reunion on my side of the family. It was great to see so much family (but especially my parents and siblings), and we got to enjoy a couple nights in St. George with my Aunt while we were there. I’ll post some pictures of Chloe with her cousin Emma at the reunion. I didn’t do a great job of picture taking, but these ones are cute!


-We are headed to another reunion in Highland, UT this week with Peter‘s extended family. I’ll update on that after it happens, but we are excited to go (most especially to see Dakin and her family :-) They live too far away!)

4. CHLOE… CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THE CUTIE. WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT HER!


-I haven’t done a good ol Chloe update in a LONG time. You won’t believe how grown up she’s becoming. I'm going to post a bunch of random pictures. There is one with her shoes and two balls in them... she did that one day, and I just got a kick out of it. Also, there is a picture of a project we did last month. We moved all of Chloe's toys out of my living room and into her bedroom! We got the dresser thing (I don't know what you call it) and Target. It's the Closet Maid brand and I have LOVED it! All her toys are organized and now she goes into her room to play and seems like such a big girl. The There is one of her standing in the window of her room. She can look down and see when her Dad drives up from work. She LOVES her Dad and is such a Daddy's girl through and through. I love to watch Peter and Chloe together. I about burst with pride and love for the two of them.

So here is a list of some words Chloe has been saying lately. She can mimic a TON of what we say, and she is a little smarty pants.

CHLOE:
-yes, no, please, thank you
-hi, bye
-book
-Banana
-Bath
-Mommo and pacha for Grandma and Grandpa Warner
-Grandpa (ampa) for Grandma and Grandpa Fjeldsted
-All done
-All gone
-Uh oh
-Up
-Help
-Me me (more)
-Dog
-Cracker
-Cookie
-rice
-Elmo
-Toys
-Baby
-Night night
-shoe
-Slide
-Side (outside)
-Bubbles
-soft
-nice
-one, two, FIBE! and gives high five
-nose, eyes, teeth, mouth, ears, chin, cheek, head
-toes

ETC... That gives you an idea. She is such a JOY and so happy and full of life. We love you darling Chloe!

I hope you enjoy the pictures and post. Things are really busy this summer with school and trips, etc... but hopefully I will keep up better. Happy Independence Day!

A Final Poem... for now

In honor of my Creative Writing class basically being over (I will really miss this class) I wanted to post one final poem (for now... meaning I probably will again I just don't know when). I am VERY excited about this poem for a few reasons. 1) It is about Chloe, and I love writing about Chloe. 2) The form on this poem was non-rhyming which made it fun and different for me. 3) My teacher gave this poem FIVE stars! She grades based on one plus to four pluses, and every once in a while if she really likes a poem she gives it five stars. So I was really happy about that. It was a great way to end the semester. Enjoy!


Chloe Sliding Down

Wisps of golden locks
sweep over eyes of
ocean blue. Pink lips

purse, contemplating
the climb. Tiny feet
take one step at a

time. Curious as
a cat, braver still,
she sits, and laughing

slides fearlessly down.
Landing tangled in
the sand, she giggles,

and toddles quickly
back to climb, so she
can slide down again.

Our Update Today… It Could Change Tomorrow!

I realized on my Mother’ day post I put Mother’s Day… and More. So here’s the MORE part.

We want to let everyone know that Peter accepted a job offer in San Francisco. It is with the same company he has been doing his residency with, just a different office. We feel VERY blessed he has had the options available to him that he has had. Just so everyone also knows, the situation at that office is not the best (I won’t go into details. He can tell you if you want to ask), so basically, Peter is keeping his eyes opened all the time in case something better comes along that would be good for our family at this time. So for now the news is….. We are staying put right here! Same apartment and ward, which I am very happy about. As I said, it could change at any time, but I will do my best to keep everyone updated. For now, we feel very happy and blessed and we trust that things will work out best for our family as they should. Thank goodness for prayers, faith and a loving family!

One side note: I will officially be done with this semester of school in two weeks! That means after two weeks, I don’t ever have to take another math class again! Yea! I love learning, but it’s much more enjoyable when I actually understand what’s going on. I will be taking at least one class in the summer, and right now I am thinking of heading in the Sociology direction as far as a BA. Well… there you have it. Our update today that could change tomorrow. Have a good week everyone!

Happy Mother's Day and More...

Happy belated Mother's day to all the wonderful women in the world who have children, or who have had a mother-like influence on them!

Mother's day was beautiful, and my dear husband offered to make me breakfast (I requested cereal... boring huh?), and got me some kitchen items I asked for along with the Twilight movie. I didn't like the movie, by the way. But I am one of those fans who can't help it... I still wanted it.

I have especially thank my Mother for all that she has done for me. Now that I have ONE child I have a greater appreciation for my Mother raising EIGHT. EIGHT... can you believe it? I hardly can. And I turned out okay being the youngest (at least I think I did)... I love you very much Mom and am so grateful you decided to have all eight of us and love us and cook for us and set an example to us. You're the best.

My Hot Mama!

DISNEYLAND!

Disneyland… what can I say more? Wait, I can say more… Disneyland WITHOUT CHLOE! I love my sweet little girl more than anything in the world, but boy was it nice to have a little vacation without her. Luckily, she was in great hands and had much more fun with Grandma and Grandpa then she would have had with us anyways. After we got back John and Trudy let us know she didn’t miss us at all! And I was happy to hear it. She had a great time and so did we. Thank you SO much John and Trudy for taking such good care of her.

Peter and I drove down to Orange County last week (April 15) and picked up my sister Amy and her husband Austin in LA. We stayed the first night with Grandma and Grandpa Fjeldsted (Thank you so much!) who were wonderful hosts as usual. We got up early Thursday and started to play! We went to the main Disneyland Park the first day and it was great. I haven’t been since I was nine so I forgot most of it. My favorite rides there were Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean and Thunder Mountain. Amy and I went on Thunder Mountain by ourselves while the boys did Space Mountain and it was hilarious. We felt all brave, and it really isn’t that scary, but you should have heard us screaming; and I was laughing so hard at Amy screaming I was crying. It was fun, and on our last day there (Friday) we decided to do it for our last ride and it broke down while we were on it. We were bummed because the delay caused us to miss the fireworks show, but we just laughed about it and figured it would make our last night there more memorable.

We went to California Adventure during the day Friday and it was really fun! I had never been there, and I loved how they themed almost everything around California. I had two favorites there. The first was the Aladdin show they put on. It was spectacular! I didn’t know what to expect, but I gladly compared it to a Broadway. The acting, costumes, directing…. It was fabulous! I didn’t get any really good pictures of it, but it couldn’t capture it anyways. I love live theater and I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time. I loved it! My other favorite ride was Soaring Over California. I knew absolutely nothing about this ride except it wasn’t scary and it was Grandma Sue’s favorite. It was amazing! You really feel like you’re flying over California and I love California :) I don’t really know how to describe it. I suggest for everyone to go on it! It was great. The whole trip was so amazing. My sister found us a great hotel just a 5- 7 minute walk from the park with breakfast and a pool and hot tub. The weather was beautiful (of course), and we went out to eat, slept in, and played and played and played!

Saturday as our last day and we decided to go visit the Newport Beach Temple and beach. Peter’s brother Paul and his wife Courtney met us at the beach and we had a blast. We brought wetsuits and a boogie board, and Paul brought some surf boards. We had a good laugh watching Amy trying to get a wetsuit on and then it was three times her size, but she had a blast in the water with Austin and since they don’t live by the ocean it was fun to see them enjoying it so much. We all went out to dinner at BJ’s that night and had ice cream cookie sandwiches at a great place called Diddy Reiss (is that right, Courtney?) They were cheap and delicious! Paul and Courtney were nice enough to let us all stay overnight in there one bedroom apartment and even rounded up an extra air mattress for us. It was so fun to stay with them and see where they live. Thanks again you guys!

Sunday we dropped Amy and Austin off at the airport and then we headed back to the Bay Area. We really enjoyed just being together talking, and we listened to some talks on my ipod. It was sad to leave, but we were so happy to see Chloe again! Of course, without her we wouldn’t have been able to go to Disneyland… I didn’t realize you get such a generous tax return when you have a baby. We feel very blessed we could go on this trip. The pictures aren’t loading correctly on my computer… if they look normal to you let me know and I will work more on the pics later. Hope you enjoyed reading!

Disneyland Pictures

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter day here in the bay area. The weather was gorgeous and church seemed to have an extra special spirit about it as we commemorated the resurrection on Jesus Christ. We went to John and Trudy’s for dinner along with Peter’s cousin Kendra and her boyfriend Stephen, and our neighbor and manager across the hall Dave whose wife and kids were gone. Guess what I had for the first time in my life? Lamb! I was pleasantly surprised by the taste (better than I thought), but I’ll admit it will take some getting used to for me! It was a special treat, though, especially for Easter.

The highlight of my day was watching Chloe go on her own little Easter egg hunt. Grandma and Chloe dyed some eggs the day before, and then on Easter Chloe got to collect them all from the backyard. I wasn’t sure if she would catch on to what she was supposed to do, but she got the hang of it quickly and LOVED it. She had quite the audience to watch her and only her (she loves that), and Peter and I made her a special basket with bubbles, an Elmo kite, a bunny and a book. It was a great day and we hope everyone had as great of an Easter as we did.

 

Good Ol' Idaho

Last weekend Chloe and I took a quick trip to Idaho and got A LOT done while we were there! We got to see family (parents and all siblings except two), along with some old roommates from college. My good friend and old roomie Holly is leaving on a mission this week to Pennsylvania and so some of us old friends got together to have dinner and hang out with her one night. It was great to be out in the country for a weekend and I have a special love for all things Idaho including potatoes and the boonies. Chloe loved playing on Mommo and Pacha’s new swings set with her cousins and playing with dog. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family and such great friends. We had a great time, and were as excited to come home to Peter as we were to go on our little trip. Enjoy the pictures and video!

Chloe and her cousin Emma on the new swing set


Chloe and Maggie



A video clip of Chloe on the slide. She's a fearless little thing. She got all banged up on the swing set and trampoline and just giggled the whole time. That's our girl!

Me, Holly and Amy. Oh Holly Lamont... We'll miss you!


Amy, Natalie, Becky and Holly. Go project "we used to be funny!" (No one will understand this except the above named persons. That's the point)

Carly'e

The day Chloe and I got back from Idaho was an exceptionally great day because I got to see one of my long time best friends, Carly’e. She was traveling with her boyfriend Justin and two adorable dogs back to Oregon after a visit in Arizona. Carly’e and I have been best friends since second grade and hadn’t seen each other since Peter and I got married. It was wonderful to catch up (by the way to my family… Carly’e says hi to everyone. She always remembers and asks about all of you.). Once again I am so grateful for the amazing people in my life. It was a fun eventful weekend. Now time to get back to reality (darn).

The Birthday Month!

This month Peter turned 28 and I turned 22. Happy birthday to Peter’s sister Dakin and brother Paul this month, too! March is a big bday month and a great month to have a birthday if I do say so myself. For Peter’s birthday we celebrated all weekend long beginning with cake and ice-cream with some friends, indoor skydiving, and then a great Sunday dinner with his family including yummy pie and ice cream for dessert. It was a great weekend, and as you’ll see from the pictures, the indoor skydiving was pretty neat. If you want to know more about it go to www.iflysfbay.com. Happy birthday to my dear husband and best friend.



I suggest letting the video buffer before watching!



We celebrated my birthday pretty much all weekend too. First, Peter helped me get some deep cleaning done around here Saturday morning. We went out that night to sushi while our good friends Erica and Ryan watched Chloe for us. We hit the mall for a little bit so Peter could get my “gift” and I ended up finding a great pair of jeans that he let me get for my bday as well. I was already feeling spoiled! Then Sunday we had a nice relaxing day ending with a fantastic meal/party by Peter’s parents. They decorated for me, made one of my favorite meals and a great cake too! Then later we played pin the tail on the donkey, and that was hilarious. Chloe beat us all by a long shot and she was having the time of her life. We both had such nice birthday’s, and were sent cards, gifts, and received lots of phone calls and messages from our loved ones. Thanks everyone for making our birthdays so much fun!




I’m not done yet, though. Peter went over the top this year to surprise and spoil me. I have to type part of his card in here because it was so funny. He got me perfume, and the jeans for gifts and then part of the card said: “So I decided to get you this pair of jeans and pretty smelling perfume not because you need them but because the jeans will keep your hide from getting chapped and the perfume will help with the animal smell as we take to the sunrise view on horseback this Tuesday morning.”
I was obviously confused at first and laughing at this crazy card. Then I finished reading it and was like, “What?!” He proceeded to tell me we were going to ride horses on the beach and I about died with happiness. I love horses, love the beach, and thought riding them on the beach was only something that happened in movies :) Peter’s generosity and hard work to make me feel so loved brought tears to my eyes. What a lucky girl I am! We are going to ride horses in a few weeks (this one proved to be too busy) and I can’t wait.I'll be sure to post pictures. Happy birthday to all you March bdays!

A break, a poem, a love for blogging

So I need a break from studying math, and I desperately need to update our blog, so that is exactly what I am going to do. Blogging has become sort of therapeutic for me (except when everything goes wrong), and I am grateful for a fun way to journal about our family. I am going to post two recent poems I wrote for Creative Writing class, and then I will get to all the good stuff (above). Spring finally feels like it is just about here, and we have a lot of fun things to look forward to this Spring, Summer… year! Here’s the newest poem:

As a Child

Oh, to be again as a child!
Pausing to touch and taste the rain;
running carelessly, free and wild.

To love so simply, as a child,
with heart sincerely meek and mild;
to be naïve of grief and pain.

Oh, to be forever a child!
As a child I’d gladly remain.


Amber Fjeldsted
English 161
Form: Triolet
3/03/09

Every poem has a "speaker," or character, I guess. Sometimes (oftentimes, really) I feel like I am the speaker of my poem. There are other times, though, when I use someone else as a voice. Usually just a made up character in my head. The above poem is me as the speaker. I love childhood, and have always hated growing up. I was meant to live in neverland with Peter Pan. I guess I got my Peter, just not in neverland. That's okay... I'll take Peter :)

The below poem is a great example of when I am not the speaker. My teacher actually gave me a lot of praise for this poem, which surprised me. It has as sort of sad tone to it, but then again, life isn't always hunky dory. Sorry about the "booze" line. I had to find things that rhymed and that isn't always easy. I hope you enjoy both poems!

Growing Old

There is no shame in growing old,
in getting lost and losing shoes.
At least, that is what I am told.

Body weary, mind losing hold
of memories I hate to lose.
There is no shame in growing old.

As to a babe they boldly scold,
saying I am too old for booze!
At least, that is what I am told.

This aged body is getting cold.
They call it a case of the blues.
There is no shame in growing old.

My death is worth its weight in gold;
an inheritor I soon must choose.
At least, that is what I am told.

I watch my ending life unfold
as, sadly, I sit here and muse.
There is no shame in growing old.
At least, that is what I am told.



Amber Fjeldsted
English 161
2/24/09
Form: Villanelle

Sharing Poems

So I was debating about sharing my poetry on here. I've posted a poem before, but now that I am in a class where we basically write a poem every week and then read it out loud and critique each others work in front of the class... well, it is sort of intimidating. I see so much weakness in my work that I didn't notice or care about before. It is a great class, though. I was terrified the first time I had to read my poems in front of all these talented people, but everyone is so nice and gives great advice. I am learning a lot, and I get to write a lot, which I love.

Anyways, after debating I decided to share some of the things I write. Not everyone understands, or really cares much for poetry, but I think either way it can't hurt to share. So tonight I will share my first poem. It is in a form called "triplet" with only 3 lines and the rhyme scheme of aaa (meaning the end of each line rhymes the same). It was one of my hardest poems (it's hard for me to only have three lines to write about something dear to me). I wrote this poem in memory of a cherry tree on the farm where I grew up. Here it goes!


CHERRY TREE

I bid farewell to my dear cherry tree;

seeing what only a child can see,

as she wistfully waves adieu to me.

What a Week...

So we had an eventful week last week. It started out with the stomach flu (or food poisoning, we're not sure which) late Monday night for all three of us. Chloe recovered very quickly (I am so grateful for that).

I was supposed to be babysitting pretty much all week for a family in Menlo Park we know, but had to cancel the first couple of days due to being sick. Then as soon as I was better Chloe and I spent the rest of the week babysitting two girls (ages 4 and 3). Chloe LOVED the change in scenery and new toys to play with. I was thinking 2 kids max was sounding pretty nice for my future family. :)

Everything really went smoothly and they are good girls. I just found myself behind in housework, school work, etc... since I spent the first part of the week sick and the other part babysitting. Luckily I have a very helpful and understanding husband, and the weekends are like a breath of fresh air. I am sad to see the the weekend end, but some great news is that March is here! I love March. It makes me think of green and spring and many warm months to come. Have a great week everyone!

All About Chloe

So it is time to let everyone know just what Chloe has been up to lately! Those of you who have children know just how much they change from day to day. I keep thinking, "Where did my baby go?"

Chloe is now 13 months old and walking EVERYWHERE, attempting to climb although she hasn't quite mastered that yet. She is all about doing everything Mom and Dad do. She is very observant and if I go to throw something away, she will go find something and put it in the garbage (I usually have to take it out after :). She wants to put the lids on everything and take them off, sweep the floor, brush her teeth, help with the laundry, etc. I feel like I have a two year old on my hands. She is, as Peter always says, "Such a little person." A tiny little thing with her belly popping out walking around happy as can be just exploring the world around her!

I am afraid, however, that she is getting quite bored with our apartment. She complains more than usual lately, and after trying to figure out what it is all about (hungry, sleepy, teething? WHAT?) I have finally decided it might just be boredom. Anytime we go to Grandma's or anywhere else she is very content. She can be at home if she finds something fun to play with (anything that isn't a toy, of course).For example, look at the picture above. Chloe's new thing is to get in the cupboard under the bathroom sink-- and I mean literally get into it. She makes a disaster of everything, but there is nothing under there that can harm her, and she loves it. So I let her do it. It keeps us both happy :)

She has four teeth on top now and two on the bottom. She is a GREAT eater and loves fruit especially. She has never been very cuddly, but she will give the most adorable kisses often when you ask her too. One day I was on the floor playing with her and said, "I love you Chloe." Right after I said it she just came up and kissed me. I was pleasantly surprised! It was one of those tender moments that every Mom lives for and it is what makes all the hard work worth it.

She isn't a huge talker, but understands a LOT of what we tell her. Some of her favorite words are, "uh-oh, bath, ball, cheese (for the camera)," and her newest is "Dank dou (thank you.)" She loves to bring random things to me while saying "dank dou" over and over until I take it and say it back. She always gets the biggest smile and walks away very proud of her accomplishment.

She is full of life and personality. I can see signs that she will probably be a challenging toddler, and maybe even a more challenging teenager (thank goodness that's a while down the road!). I'll admit, sometimes I get really scared. What Mother doesn't? There is a lot of responsibility when you bring a person into the world who you have to take care of and teach.

This is just me writing my thoughts, but I think I know what gives a Mother confidence to do it. I think it is simply love. The path to raise a family isn't an easy one, but it is rewarding in that you experience joy incomparable to anything else in the world.You feel love that seems past your hearts capacity. I can't imagine our lives without Chloe. No family or life is perfect, but love is, and love is what will keep this family together.

Thanks for reading. Have a great week everyone!

I Will Update Someday

So I finally made a menu (sorry it's been a while), and I am planning to do some more updates soon. Things have been pretty busy... I have my first math quiz coming up this week (yea!) so wish me luck and I will post some more things soon. Hope everyone has had a great Valentine's day and a long weekend! We sure have!

Sister Time!

Last week Peter had to go out of town for work and 2 of my 3 sisters came to stay with me and Chloe. By the end of the trip we decided that all odds were against us most of their time here (my sisters baby had to go to the ER, it was cold and rainy the whole time they were here, etc…), but despite the odds, we had a GREAT time and we were just happy to be together! We mostly did what Warner’s do best--talk, eat and play games. Of course there was shopping and eating out and such, and my sister Emily and I did go to Golden Gate Park her last (and only sunny) day here.There is nothing quite like a sister, and I am so glad I have 3 older and wiser ones that I can look up to! Thank you Emily and Amy for coming to visit me!

Me and Emily and Golden Gate Park

Eating at BJ's! Yum yum... yes that is a pazookie in front of us. If you've never had one, go try it.

Getting the babies ready for bed... where's the husband when you need him!

Cousins Chloe and Leah only 7 months apart. They are great friends. :)

Back to School

My classes officially started last week and I am now a part time student! Peter took the above picture of me before my first night class last week. I have a creative writing class in the evening (I have LOVED this one so far), and I am doing statistics online (ughh). I am taking a total of 7 credits and finding out quickly that it is a lot of work on top of my everyday housewife duties; but I am loving every second of it, and I feel very blessed that I get this opportunity. Right now my goal is to work towards my bachelor's (I currently have an AA degree), and then from there the sky's the limit! I ultimately want to get my master's, but I am in no hurry. My family comes first in everything, so I will just take my time and trust the Lord will provide. For now, I better go get studying!