Vickey’s 39 Week Check-Up

Today Vickey saw doctor Herrero for her weekly check-up. She’s at 39 weeks today. The ultrasound technician said everything looks good, the baby looks fully developed and perhaps the doctor would induce Vickey in the next day or two.

Then the doctor took a look and found Vickey still dilated to a one; same story as two weeks ago. Unfortunately, that means no inducing labor at this point because we wouldn’t want to risk having to take the baby by cesarean if she didn’t dilate completely.

When Eliana came she was dilated to a one when her water broke. Because of that, the doctor put her on petosin and began the labor.

So, perhaps Baby Italiano will kick a hole in the sack and a similar approach to delivery will ensue.

Or, perhaps Vickey will just have to stick it out a few more days, even a week or more, to wait until she’s dilated to at least a four.

The doctor told her if she was at a four she’d induce tomorrow…but alas.

All these hopeful statements aren’t really what a 39 week pregnant woman needs to hear. Poor Vickey’s been on an emotional rollercoaster this morning.

However, the good news is the baby looks healthy and everything checks out okay. The ultrasound did uncover swelling in his scrotum, a rather common occurrence where extra fluid enlarges the scrotum. We’ll have to watch that after he’s born.

If he’s like other Codella men, he could end up with a congenital hernia. But so far, it doesn’t look like that’s the case.

At any rate, it doesn’t look like he’s joining us immediately...probably sometime next week.

Eliana's Dance Recital

This is going back a month, but for such a cute get-up, surely it’s okay.

On May 23 we attended Eliana’s first big dance recital at the Henderson Pavilion. She had a recital last December as well, but this was the big kahuna. Grandma and Grandpa Snow were terrific sports and made the trip from Salt Lake City to Henderson to be part of the action.

Ellie donned her pink-spangled outfit, tap and ballet shoes for two dances to the absolute pleasure of mom, dad, grandma and grandpa.

I was especially pleased to see the common sense gene had been passed on when she requested we leave after two-and-a-half hours of sitting in an outside amphitheater in high Vegas temperatures watching ages 3 to who-knows-what dance their little hearts out.

Eliana’s performances were sprinkled in between the other age groups. She was slated to ‘appear’ in the grand finale, but when she asked in her tired way if we could leave, dad and pregnant mom couldn’t have agreed more. Getting grandma away from the theater’s weatherproof folding plastic chair was another issue—who are we to deprive her granddaughter of one last dance—but we managed.

I especially enjoyed the experience of changing Eliana’s shoes (from ballet slippers to tap shoes) between numbers. It was me and a whole bunch of doting moms. Seriously, I was the only testosterone backstage (as long as you don’t count the post-menopausal women who shave nearly as much as I do). Although I was raised in the performing arts, I felt just a little out of place.

At least I had my darling daughter and all her first performance anxiety to keep me occupied. She was excited and just a bit apprehensive all rolled up in one cute little package.

By the time we made it home it was close to 10 p.m. (we left around 6:45 to ‘get a good seat’). I was happy to relax in the family room…but not nearly as relieved as was Vickey.

All in all, it was a fun experience. I even recorded most of it on video tape for posterity’s sake. Speaking of which, I requested and got the new Backstreet Boys album for Father’s Day this year and last night recorded Eliana rocking out to one of their songs. That’ll be a good one to play at her wedding!

Puns for Fun

To celebrate our sixth anniversary on June 26, Vickey and I went out to dinner and a movie on Saturday night (6/25). It’s difficult to believe six years have come and gone. We feel fortunate to have a good marriage and a forever family.

While we were waiting for our table at Claim Jumper, Vickey found a newspaper publication with stories about all the good Claim Jumper and its employees are doing (a good PR tactic). One of the articles was a short quiz for parents that contained some fun puns. Vickey thought my mom would especially get a kick out of them. So, here they are:

Q: Why are 1990 dollar bills worth more than 1989 dollar bills?
A: $1,990.00 is one more dollar than $1,989.00.

Q: Even when the Arctic natives are starving, why won’t they eat penguin eggs?
A: Penguins live in the Antarctic, not the Arctic.

Q: Why can’t you take a picture of a man with a wooden leg?
A: You need a camera to take a picture of a man, not a wooden leg.

Q: A man rides into a town on Sunday, three days later, he leaves on Sunday, how can this be?
A: The horse was named Sunday.

Q: How many times can you subtract 5 from 25?
A: Once you subtract 5 from 25, you no longer have 25.

Q: Clara Clatter was born on December 27, on a hot summer day. How is that possible?
A: The southern hemisphere has its summer during our winter.

Q: Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the biggest mountain in the world?
A: Mt. Everest has always been the largest mountain, even before being discovered.

Q: Which weight more, a pound of pennies or a pound of dimes?
A: A pound is a pound, the world around, 16 oz.

Q: How is it possible for two fathers and two sons to pay only for three buffets, when the buffet costs per person?
A: They were son, father and grandfather.

Q: Why can a dog only run into the woods?
A: Once the dog gets to the center of the woods, the dog is running out of the woods.

Remembering Syd Riggs

Last Wednesday I attended the funeral service for a dear friend, Sydney Ann Samuelson Riggs. She was basically my mom away from home while I attended college. While it was a bitter-sweet day, I left the service with a feeling of gratitude for this life and the experience we’re all going through together. It was a happy occasion for so many good friends from years past to be gathered together in celebration of an honorable life lived.

This is what I wrote for her family’s book of remembrance:

My first experience with Syd was when, as a returned missionary, I was cast in the 1991 Promised Valley Playhouse production of The Gift of Christmas. I enjoyed the van ride to and from Salt Lake City because Syd and I often had the chance to talk about life. I especially remember her advice to stay in the theater as long as the theater didn’t influence me to compromise my covenants. I have and always will enjoy the theater and I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and all it has made possible for me to receive and benefit from even more.

Today I’m the father of a beautiful and sometimes challenging 3-and-a-half year old daughter, and my wife Vickey and I expect our first son to arrive in the next couple of weeks. Being a parent helps you better understand what our Heavenly Father must feel as He watches down upon His children.

There’s no doubt Syd lived her life to the fullest. I don’t know of many people who are more involved in so many different activities.

As a BYU student a group of my cohorts and I would spend just about every Sunday afternoon at the Riggs’ home enjoying awesome home cooked meals prepared by Syd. We ate, played games and had a terrific time with the entire Riggs family. Syd was a wonderful host and surrogate mother.

I enjoyed Syd’s friendship and support throughout my days in Young Ambassadors, various Promised Valley Playhouse productions and finally in the 2000 Thanksgiving Point production of Forever Plaid. It was after that show that my wife and I moved to Las Vegas. We’ve seen Syd a few times since then and enjoyed the opportunity to reminisce about the good ‘ole days.

Syd was a supportive mother and wife. She maintained an awesome sense of humor and was always a friend to those around her. I can only imagine the good she must have done as Orem High School’s drama teacher.

Her friendship, kind smile and hearty laugh will be missed by all who knew her.

Our warmest condolences and heartfelt wishes for strength at this time of separation are with the entire Riggs family.

I’m confident people are in our lives for a reason. We all grow and learn together.

Several comments made at the funeral were very poignant and reminiscent of the life of Syd Riggs. A comment her brother, Scott Samuelson made really struck me. He said something like: Why do we believe in things we can’t completely understand? Because we choose to believe.

And isn’t that the crux of it? Thankfully we live in an environment that is created largely by our choices. And thankfully we can decide our own attitude, direct our own thoughts and work each day toward worthy goals. Certainly our lives are impacted by the actions of others and still we have the opportunity to determine our reaction.

As mentioned in Batman Begins (yes, a blatant reference to pop culture), we fall down so we can learn to get back up again.

I’ll be eternally grateful for the influence of Syd Riggs in my life.

~Pete

Getting Started

I’ve heard about blogs for well over a year now and decided it was time to join the bandwagon.

So here I am with my first blog.

I think I'll focus my comments on fatherhood. This topic, you see, is especially timely since my wife and I are expecting the arrival of our second child, and first boy, any day now. Her due date is July 6 but when our daughter was born in September of 2001, she came 10 days before the due date.

Note the photo of my daughter, Eliana Marie, with two of her Snow cousins, Emma and Tessa (from left to right).

Some people say women are typically consistent when it comes to delivering a baby: if you delivered early, you’ll probably be early; if you delivered after your due date, you’ll probably deliver after the due date again.

For my wife’s sake, I’m sure it would be nice to bring that baby boy into the world in the next few days as opposed to two weeks from now.

Either way though, we’re as ready as we’ll ever be and looking forward to being parents again.

That’s all for now.

~Pete