Pete Rolls Over

Pete rolled over by himself for the first time today! At 14 weeks our baby boy is rolling over, and over and over. He loves his new skill and wants nothing to do with just laying on his back anymore. He wants to roll over, and over......

I was washing dishes while Pete was laying under his "entertainment system" when I saw him starting to flip over onto his side. But that wasn't it, he kept trying to go further and further and I thought, I better go get the camera, I think he is going to roll over. And he did. And I got pictures of it! His first roll. No one saw it but me, but soon I called Katie in from playing outside and her and her friend Allison saw it. Then we were dropping Allison off by the Coash's house and I had to stop in and show them. Then daddy got home from work and we showed him. It's amazing. It's like he has done it all his life. And he does it every time now, but then doesn't know what he is going to do now that he is on his tummy. But tonight, for dad, he rolled back onto his back, another first, and dad was so proud.

Here are my pictures. Another milestone for Pete. Our baby boy is growing up so fast.
Big congrats from sissy.

Splash Universe, Dundee, MI

Sweet little water baby. His new thing is holding his hands together, looking at them or resting them on his tummy.
This past weekend we went to the other side of MI for our aunt's surprise 70th birthday party. It was about a 3 hr drive for both us and my in-laws so we all decided to stay the night together at a hotel/water park called Splash Universe. (Thanks Omi and Opa!) The whole weekend was a ton of fun. The party was a nice time and we got to see lots of family that we don't see very often. It was the first time for all of them to meet Pete and once again he was on his best behavior. Everyone commented on what a good baby he was and how laid back he is. I was so proud. He happily went from person to person, slept a little and of course gave lots and lots of smiles. The only time I really saw or held him was to feed him. It was kind of a nice little break although I always had one eye on him to make sure he was doing ok and not missing me too much. :)

The water park was really a lot of fun. I have always been a little nervous about water slides but after getting over my fear the first time down I was all over it. I never did end up going by myself though. We took Pete into the kiddie pool and he loved it. Well, he didn't have a problem with it though I could tell he was trying hard to figure the whole thing out. The cool water made him gasp and hold his breath right at first (see picture) but he settled down and just sat with dad looking around. We didn't keep him in it for long because it was his first time plus we wanted to get to the big kids stuff ourselves. We had a very yummy pizza dinner that night then spent the rest of the evening at the arcade and playing cards. Pete slept really well that night, his first time in a hotel. I think all the partying and swimming wore him out. Wore us out too. Sunday we spent another few hours in the water, at the arcade and eating of course. We do that well as a family. :) Pete slept most of the way home then his sissy entertained him the rest of the way. Not a single fuss out of him. We couldn't have asked for more from him this weekend. I love our little boy so much. He is such a joy, such a sweet little blessing from God. Here are some more pictures from the weekend and others. Enjoy and have a great week.

Pete doing what he does best, smiling. Check out his new cute fish swim shorts from our friends the Coashs who bought them for him the week he was born. I put them on him for the first time and he approved hence the giant smile. Thanks Coashs for his first pair of swim shorts. Now he is ready to get in the water...
Katelyn, Katie, P. and Pete at the water park.
Pete and dad in the lazy river.
Pete passed out on the table after a long day at the water park. See the hands folded on his tummy. So cute.
Katie and her little brother showered and ready to head home.
This is Pete, Katie and her friend Natalie last week relaxing on the hammock. Pete loves laying on it and staring at the trees up above.
Pete after his bath today.

Pete's First Baseball Game

We went to a Whitecaps baseball game last night and like usual I was a little worried about how Pete was going to do. It was another complete waste of energy because he did perfectly. He did better than I expected and better than I could have hoped for. He watched the game, slept a little, sat with his sissy and never once cried or fussed. He was such a little angel and it was a great first ball game with our son. It was an exciting game that the Whitecaps came back and won in the 8th inning. We didn't get to stay for the fireworks because I wanted to get home and get Pete fed and to bed. Katie brought her friend Natalie and they had corn on the cob and cotton candy while P. and I shared some nachos and a Pepsi. The weather was comfortable and we were surprised to not have to deal with mosquitos which usually comes with the package when you do anything outside. Here are some pictures from the game and one of Katie and Pete a couple of days ago.

Happy 4th of July

We had a nice 4th this year spending time at a friends house, playing volleyball, eating good bbq and watching fireworks downtown. Katie brought her friend Allison along for the day and they had a blast showing off their awesome volleyball skills and lighting sparklers off while waiting for the firework show to start. Pete did great. He took a long nap in P.'s arms while I played volleyball for the first time really since my neck surgery. I fed him and he hung out with different friends until we left for the show downtown. While there he watched his sister dance around with sparklers, ate again, and hung out with his dad in the baby bjorn. He loves that thing. Pete fell asleep right before the show started but woke up due to the loud noise. Overall Pete did really well. I am not sure why I don't have more faith in him by now. He usually does pretty great and I don't normally have a reason to stress. It was a late night though so by the time we went home he was done and I mean done. He had a large melt down in the car while waiting in stopped traffic trying to get out of the parking lot downtown. Pete is a great boy. I feel very spoiled and so blessed to have such a sweet little guy. He is full of smiles and I am so in love with his personality. I can't imagine life without our Pete.

Our time with Katie has been going well. She is quite a happy kid considering what she has been through in her life with her parents divorced, moving around the country and all the people that come and go from her life. She is a good helper when it comes to Pete. She is my built in entertainer and always wants to change his diaper. She is disappointed when I don't let her do it if we are in a hurry or something. She has been having a great time with her friends, doing her summer workbook every day and reading a half hour each night. She does a few chores a week and that helps us out although nothing gets cleaned as thoroughly or completely as I would prefer. I am ok with that. I have better things to concern myself with.

We had a terrible storm here this week. Wednesday we lost power around 3pm in the afternoon and didn't get it back until sometime Friday evening/night while we were out celebrating the 4th. It was rough. We didn't have electricity or water. Thank goodness it wasn't that warm so we didn't need our air conditioning. But we had to shower at a friends house, pour water in the toilet we got from a friends house just to flush it, or leave it sit, wash our face and brush our teeth from water in water bottles and use a lantern and candles for light at night. We moved all our food from our fridge into a cooler Thursday but still lost quite a bit of our stuff. It was heartbreaking to throw so much away and have to start over again now. Not only did this storm make life quite hard but it cost us quite a bit financially. Let's just say I was thrilled to arrive home Friday night and flip on the light switch and be able to see. P. has spent days cleaning up the branches in the yard and soaking up all the water in our basement. We still have to go through everything that got wet downstairs and decide if it is worth salvaging or not. This has been an extremely wet spring and summer so far making for excessive amounts of mosquitos. They make it hard to do much outside and put that together with the rain and this summer has not quite been the one I was hoping for. If I was at all considering a move back out west this recent weather has brought on a new sense of urgency to make a decision.

Well, I think that is it for now. I need to shower and get my son fed again. Hope you have had a wonderful holiday weekend. Enjoy our recent pictures. All our love, A.M, P., Katie, and Pete

First Camping Trip

Pete did wonderfully on his first camping trip. Camping for us has forever changed but in a good way. We spent less time on the beach soaking up the sun and more time laying on a blanket making weird sounds and funny faces. It was a great time as a family and I am glad we took the chance and got out and did it. I won't say it was easy because it wasn't, but all in all it was a truly enjoyable time. And soon, when Pete takes up more space than his body surface area, we are going to need a bigger camper. :) Here are some pictures of our trip. Enjoy.

Pictures From This Week

Us

11 Weeks

Our baby boy turned 11 weeks old yesterday. How fast time flies! He is getting so big and so grown up already. You can literally sit and have a cooing conversation with him. And he isn't shy about telling you how he feels. When he gets sleepy and is fighting a nap he starts to cry slowly and whimper. You should hear it. It is the sweetest most precious thing I have ever heard. It makes me smile and tear up every time he does it. He is really the sweetest baby boy ever and I love him so very, very much.

Each night P. and I pray with Pete. We first thank God for things like our beautiful family, our health, our home and our dogs. We thank God for taking care of us and for bringing us Pete. We ask His guidance with our parenting in hopes that we can be the best examples for our son. I pray nightly that God will keep Pete a healthy boy all his life and that He will ease my "mommy worries" about his future. Then we pray for small things like bringing Pete a good poop since it has been a long time since the last one. I love this time of night when we can sit quietly in the dark and spend this time together.

Pete slept for almost 9 hours last night. Now when he wakes up we can hear him but he doesn't cry. He just starts talking and sucking on his fists in his crib until we go get him. He is such a good boy. He still only takes naps if you are holding him or if you nap with him but like I said before, I take this time to enjoy being close to him or getting a little more sleep myself. I never complain about holding him. I want to hold him every chance I get because one, I know he wants it and it makes him feel safe, but also because someday he won't want me to hold him and I will miss these days. Let's just say I have strong arms.

Pete's half sister comes Tuesday. We are looking forward to her visit but I am a little anxious about it also. I am going to go from having one baby who takes up all my time and energy to two very different children to take care of. Katie is very independent but she will still need to be fed, entertained, driven places, disciplined and of course, made to do her summer workbooks to keep her mind sharp during the summer. That's always fun doing math, science, reading, etc with a child over the summer. Can you say distracted, lazy, uncooperative. I know I was. So it will be a big change for us, well for me. But it will be fun too. We will do fun things and go fun places. Maybe it will be better. I will have someone to talk to and I am sure the days will go faster. I have to admit I was getting a little bored there for a while. There are only so many times you can read the same books, sing the same songs and look at the same plants and flowers in the yard. It's time to rotate out the books and learn new songs... :)

P. went fishing and camping on Lake Huron this week with his uncle and cousins. The fishing wasn't great because of a storm that had moved in but he had a great time with his family. I am glad he got to go but I was really glad when he came home. Here is a picture. Have a great week. Keep our family in your prayers with the adjustment this week of Katie coming home and of course for our first camping trip next weekend. Should be interesting but I am sure Pete will do just fine. How will mom do?

Happy Father's Day

P., Pete and I had a wonderful Father's Day today at the lake. We took a blanket, packed a lunch and went on a long walk on the beach at P.J. Hoffmaster State Park. It was a beautiful day and we had such a good time laying around talking, getting some sun and walking along the beach in the water. Here are some pictures from our picture perfect day.....

My Little "Man in the Making"

Here is my sweet boy smiling at me this morning. His shirt says Man in the making.... and is from my childhood friend Julie. Isn't he so cute?
Pete slept for 8 hours again last night. He takes a long nap with me each morning and we spend the rest of the day together reading, singing and sitting in the backyard. Pete loves to look at his black and white baby animals book and enjoys waiting for dad to come home from work on the swing in our front yard. He is such a good boy in his bouncer when I want to fix something to eat or get on the computer. He kicks his legs all over and talks to the hanging animals in front of his face. His cradle cap and baby acne have improved drastically. He looks so handsome now. I can't get enough of his big smile. It is so amazing to see his face light up when you have been gone for a few minutes. Just like the dogs, always happy to see you. I heard it isn't always like this when they get older so I am going to enjoy every minute of it while I can.

Better go. Love to all. A.M. and baby Pete

Pete Sleeping

Here are some pictures of Pete sleeping today. First he napped with dad in the big bed then in my arms. He did his little smiling while he sleeps thing again and I got another picture. He is so sweet. We call him our "professional sleeper" now.