Good Times

Here are some recent pictures. This first one is of Pete and our friend Kari. She came over Friday, the day Pete figured out how to nap on his own. We had lunch plans but Pete slept so long we ended up having lunch around 2:30pm. I like this picture of Pete because his bottom lip is tucked under all cute like. This is us at O' Charleys for lunch.The dogs and Pete in his Bumpo chair. We went to a wedding in Davison, MI Saturday. P.'s cousin got married to a sweet girl named Jessica. Here is a picture of our family at the wedding.Pete over Omi's shoulder at the wedding. Pete and the bride Jessica.Me, Pete and the wedding cake. Pete hanging out on mom. P., Pete and Katie hanging out at the wedding.

Bumpo

I tried out Pete's Bumpo chair for the first time today. He liked it....for about 5 minutes. The thing is pretty incredible. I told P. that I was going to try it today and he said he thought it was too early. It sat Pete upright with no problems and Pete's head was actually really stable. He was so cute sitting there looking around figuring out this new sitting sensation. We looked at some toys and took some pictures before he was ready to get down and move. He is a mover. I can see I am going to have my hands full once he starts crawling. He just wants to go. His legs and arms are always moving and he is always trying to get out of his bouncer, Boppy or anything he is strapped into that restricts full movement. I hope he will enjoy the Bumpo at some point. I think it is pretty neat and could be a lot of fun for us. Here are some pictures.And here is Pete happier on the floor......
Oh, and my week long efforts of trying to get Pete to nap have worked. Well, I guess I better not get ahead of myself because yesterday I was in tears because I felt nothing was working. My friend Rachel gave Pete this Pooh thing that you hang in the crib and it plays music and shines pictures on the ceiling. I tried it for the first time this morning and it worked! It ran for 15 minutes and at the end of the first round I could see he was getting sleep, heavy eyes, rubbing his head, etc. It automatically shut off and it startled Pete. He was like, uh, what happened? So I quickly turned it back on and he went back to watching the lights and listening to the music. His eyes got heavy, he started whimpering a little then rolled over onto his tummy and fell asleep all before the second round finished. It was a very exciting thing to watch for a tired, discouraged mom who thought it would never happen. But it did. He put himself to sleep. No rocking, walking, singing. No putting him down and him waking up half way to the mattress. No tip-toeing away and hoping the wood floors wouldn't creak and wake him up. It was amazing. And now, 40 minutes later he is still asleep. What a wonderful day. What a wonderful turn of events. This will change my life. Totally. I will keep you updated. Off to try to get something done. I was so excited about the new milestone that I had to blog about it and call my husband, best friend and Rachel since it was her gift that made this all possible. Oh, Pete is waking up.......

Camping

We went camping again this weekend. Usually we go to the lake but this time we went north to Cadillac, MI. It is about half way between us and my in-laws so it worked out great for both parties. We stayed at a nice campground with a pool, petting zoo, fishing, nice grass and trees and close enough to town for us to check out the local Goodwill and arcade when it was raining Sat. P. caught a nice 18" Pike in the small fishing pond they had there. It was exciting for everyone to see that thing bite. See picture.

It rained again. I think it rains about 3-4 days a week. It wasn't a huge deal but it still puts a damper on things. And it brings out the mosquitoes, more than they already are. But we still had another great weekend. My in-laws cook wonderful meals while camping. I don't have to do a thing, it is really nice. I am not just talking hot dogs and hamburgers but Flat Iron steak, spareribs, pot roast and potatoes, pork roast. We eat well. Thanks again Omi and Opa for taking us camping and feeding us so well. Here are my pictures from the weekend. Katie is up at Omi and Opa's this week. There are lots of great things for her to do up there like driving the golf cart, spending the day at her uncle's lake, fishing, riding on the pontoon boat, etc. I think they are going to a water park up north this week too. I will work on getting Pete to nap longer than a half hour. I have some new ideas including blacking out his windows in his room, putting him down after only an hour of being awake and using a fan for background noise. We will see what happens. Pray for me. Wish me luck. Have a great week.

Hello

Now whenever I lay Pete down on his back he rolls over to his tummy. Here is a picture of him this morning hanging out in his new favorite position. It's a continuous cycle now of laying him down on his back, he rolls over, hangs out until he gets tired, gets fussy and I roll him back over. He rolls over, hangs out, gets tired, gets fussy, I roll him back over. I can feel his desire to move more. He is stronger and more squirmy like he wants to get down and walk. I don't think I am ready for this change. I like the content little boy who just wants to lay in mommy's arms all day. But I like this too. I am proud of him and can't wait to see what he does next. Today I was showing him an emery board and laid it in his hands. He tried to put it in his mouth. He hasn't actually grabbed something or tried to grab for something on his own yet but I am thinking that is the next thing he will do. Well, better try to get something done while he is down for his half hour nap. Pete never naps longer than 30 minutes, unless I am holding him. Not sure what it is but he wakes up after a half hour every time I put him down. I have tried everything to get him to nap longer. No noise, more noise, cooler, warmer, swaddle, no swaddle, couch, floor, crib, our bed, after feeding, before feeding, when he is awake, when he is tired, music, pacifier, no pacifier, everything. No matter what I do I get a half hour. Gotta go. Much love!

Check It Out!

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.