Watch out! Pete is on the move!

It took Pete about a week to go completely mobile. He is officially into everything. We have a step into our kitchen and he figured out how to get up it in about 3 minutes on Thanksgiving night. He loves to crawl around and find the dog's toys and put them in his mouth. He crawls right past his own toys. The Christmas decorations on the floor or near to the ground are in danger of being destroyed by the end of this year. Some have scared him quite a bit when they fall over next to or onto him. We have had a lot of falls and bumps on the head lately. He will forget to hold himself up as he reaches for something and topple over, usually face first. He cries, mama picks him up and we get a little cuddling time in before he wants to get down and move again.

Here are funny pictures of him getting into the Christmas stuff. Good thing our tree is high enough off the ground that he can't quite reach it. Not that he didn't try.Checking out the baby bottle tree my dad made from hand years ago. Check out this hilarious face he made after the Santa fall over. Chewing on an electrical cord. And a couple pics of our recent snowfall. Here is P. out snow blowing our driveway. Our backyard.

Thankful

What a wonderful holiday. Wed. night we went out and got a tree so that when Omi and Opa were here they could decorate it with us. It was freezing outside but it was so fun to pick a tree for the first time with Pete with us. Here is a picture of us and our tree. It's smaller than what we normally get but perfectly shaped and easier to handle.Here are a couple pictures of Thanksgiving day. One of Opa, P., Serra and Pete hanging out watching the Detroit Lions get killed and one of our decorated tree.Friday we went to the mall and there was no line to take pictures with Santa so we asked if we could use our camera and take a few. They were happy to let us and Mrs. Claus even took one of all of us. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is enjoying the weekend with family and friends. Thanks for sharing in these special times with us. All our love and holiday wishes.....

Pete Crawls

Pete crawled forward tonight! As you can hear in the video, I was very excited for him because he has been trying so hard lately to figure out how to move forward. The tears were tears of joy and sadness, another milestone reached for Pete, our baby is growing up and there is no turning back. But how fun it was to see him put one hand in front of the other, move his back legs, and crawl. Wow.

Pete Tries Cheerios

So this lady at P.'s work has been feeding her 9 month old finger foods for months now. After speaking with her last Friday we decided to throw a few Cheerios in front of Pete and see what happened. Funny how everything you don't want Pete to put in his mouth he puts in and the things you want him to try such as a bottle, sippy cup and finger foods, he wants nothing to do with. So, I put a Cheerio in Pete's mouth for him. After a bunch of hilarious faces, some coughing and gagging, a red face and a look of "help me" in his eyes, it finally went down and we put the Cheerios away. I never thought it would be so funny to see your child struggle with something. We put the finger foods away for now but got a few really great pictures out of the whole adventure.

Colorado

It was so good to finally get back to CO after 3 years away. We saw so many friends and enjoyed our time with all of them. Time did not allow for us to see everyone so I am already praying for another chance to get back there soon. P. and I were able to visit the Navigators, where we originally met 6 years ago. It was fun to take Pete up there and see all our friends and former co-workers and tell him this is where our story began. Look how far we have come. Colorado was beautiful. Not the green lush beautiful MI is but a different beauty. I had forgotten how awesome the mountains are and how stunning the sunsets are behind them. Everywhere we drove I found myself looking up towards the mountains like I used to do when I lived there. They are truly amazing and I felt like I couldn't get enough of them. We spent the 5 days with our closest friends, checking and working on our rental homes and of course, trying to make sure Pete got in a nap here and there. Words cannot even begin to explain how great Pete was on our trip. He spent all day traveling out there and back and never once fussed or cried about anything. He was happy, content and well behaved. When we got off the plane about 5 different people stopped us and complimented us on our good baby boy. I was so proud. At the end of every day there I thanked God for blessing us with such a sweet baby. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful child who brings us so much joy. Everyone loved him and couldn't get enough of him out there. And of course I was so proud of him and my husband, I felt like I was smiling for 5 days straight. Well, Pete is awake from his nap and I am writing this as fast as I can while he is being patient with me waiting in his room all alone. Here are some pictures from our trip. Again, it was so hard to pick my favorites. Here are just a few of the two hundred great pictures we have from our trip to CO. Maybe the Lord will allow for us to move back there someday. Maybe that's His plan. Maybe not. Enjoy and thanks to everyone in the Springs who made time to see us, feed us, spend time with us and who after all these years are still our friends no matter the distance between us.

P. and Pete at a rest stop in Indiana. Pete's first time in IN. It was cold and rainy.Pete and I at Glen Eyrie Castle on the Navigators property, one of my favorite places in the world to take in the beauty of God's creation, and spend time with my friend Erin. The Navigators, our former place of employment and where we met. Garden of the Gods.Our friends the Bradleys at their home.Me, Pete, my friend Beth and her daughter Hazel.Me and Erin in her new home.

Pete's First Snow

Lot's of Stuff

Lot's going on lately for us. Too much to catch you up in much detail so I will post pictures that will tell the story.

Facebook brought my high school friend Jamie and I back together again recently. Gotta love Facebook! Jamie made Pete a tag blanket and sent it to him this week. He loves it, can you tell? Those tags are so yummy to eat! Thanks Jamie and it is so great to have you a part of my life again! Saturday P. and I went to see Reba and Kelly Clarkson here in Grand Rapids. I can't even explain how much fun we had. We went to dinner first, then got there in time to hang out and take some pictures in our awesome seats. We were in the 6th row up, 1st level. I have never been that close to Reba in my life and I was thrilled. The concert was amazing. Seriously, no words right now can effectively explain how great our night was. Thanks babe for taking me out on the best date ever! That's Reba, right behind me! Our sitter/friend Kari took this picture of Pete while we were gone at the concert. Doesn't look like he is missing his parents too much does it? Glad we have a babysitter that Pete loves so much. He is giving these hilarious eyes closed smiles now when we take pictures of him. And last but not least, Katie came home this weekend. She has spent two days with us and is leaving to go home tonight. It has been a busy, fun filled visit with her. She loves her little brother and Pete adores her because she is silly and fun to watch. Here's Katie feeding Pete oatmeal.P., Katie, Natalie and Kiwi at a dog show we went to Sunday. This dog was so sweet. Kinda like a Boxer but a more manageable size. Pete at the dog show.The kids and Pete in his new cute dog outfit from Omi.
Well, better go. More to come. Love to all and hope everyone has a great week. Oh, one more thing, we had had our first official snow yesterday. Not exciting for me, but exciting because it was another first for Pete. And as long as we live here in MI it is his first of many, many more.

Obama!

I took this picture of Pete with his Future Voter sticker on and his funny face makes him look like he is saying Obama! Or as P. would say, No-bama! I don't like to talk politics so I won't. Neither candidate excited me and when I voted I went with my gut not my faith or party affiliation. I still feel I voted for the lesser of two evils, not that they are evil people, but I think that is the way the saying goes. I hope Obama can make the changes this nation says they need. I hope he can protect us as well as Bush has these past 7 years. I am encouraged to see the excitement and optimism this election has stirred up in the American people. I just hope they are not disappointed.

We joke, Pete, our future voter, first Asian President of the United States.

Weekend With the Family

Here are some pics from this past weekend. Pete and I spent a few days with family while P. went hunting with his buddies. It was fun to spend time with my in-laws, niece, nephew and brother-in-law. There isn't a whole bunch to do in West Branch, MI but we spent the time playing cards, eating, playing on the computer and even did a little shopping for Pete. Thanks to Omi and Opa for having us and taking care of us while P. was away.And here is a short video of Pete trying to crawl while we were at Omi and Opa's. His cousins were very encouraging and helpful in his attempts to get the cell phone.

Halloween

I could post a thousand pictures from this week. It was hard enough to pick 30 or so to post on my Facebook page but I did it. This week Pete started popping up on all fours like a pro. See pic. One more step closer to mobility. It's neat to see but for a mom who wishes her son would never grow up it's a little sad. And we did some fun Halloween stuff this week that mom probably enjoyed way more than Pete did but that's ok. He was the cutest green dinosaur ever. If one bright green dinosaur costume wasn't enough I had to get another one that showed just how precious he is, hence the Baby Bugs outfit. Don't worry, they were both purchased at garage sales this summer for $3/each so I had to splurge on both. P. would have preferred I passed on the Bugs Bunny outfit but it was in such great shape and I knew he would be such a doll in it I had to bring it home.

Wed. we went to the church for "trunk or treating". What a fun concept. It's like a giant tailgater where they decorate each trunk the same theme as their costume. Then you trick or treat to each trunk and get all your candy that way. One, you walk a whole lot less and two, if you don't live in a neighborhood like us this is a great way to get your candy. So, Pete got his candy. :) Friday night we went over to our friend's house in a neighborhood close by. We had some great food, fun times and got to show off Pete to a few of our close friends who share most of Pete's firsts and exciting events. All in all it was a great first Halloween. How fun are all these firsts? For me, they are what I live for now. What is next? Pete's first Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's. Pete crawls, Pete gets a tooth, Pete walks, Pete gets a sibling.....Ha, got ya. Nope, not yet. But boy will that be a fun blog to post for me, God willing, God providing.

Ok, time for bed. Here are my top 5 pics from this week. Or 7. Maybe 8.
Ok, 9 pictures.

Cute Boys

Is this not the most irresistible smile you have ever seen? We were blessed with an incredibly happy baby who brings us unimaginable joy every day. And he is just getting better and better. I love this age, love it. Pete is 6 months, almost 7 and every day is new and exciting. What is he going to learn today, what is he going to do to surprise me, how many more hundreds of smiles is he going to give me? Why can't he just stay this way forever?
Pete is doing great! He is a good eater and loves all the foods we have tried so far. His sleep patterns vary widely from 10 hours a day to 14 (that's including night sleep) so I never know from day to day what he is going to give me. (14 hours is rare.) He is not crawling yet but is up on all fours rocking back and forth so apparently he is getting close. (Noooooo!) He has a list of favorite things and not one of them has cost us any money to provide for him. He loves the tv remote, pens, water bottles with water in them, tags on clothing items, blankets, toys, etc, flashlights, electrical cords (we unplug them), and spoons. Well, we did have to buy the spoons when he started eating solids but they were just a couple bucks. Yes, electrical cords, dangerous, I know but he finds them so interesting to touch, hold, fling around and carry that we let him. That should get interesting once he goes mobile huh? Pete finds Peek-A-Boo hilarious and thinks his dad is the funniest man alive. He enjoys going to the mall, grocery store or Walmart now in his stroller and looking at all the cool stuff and people. I stay home with Pete every day and wouldn't have it any other way.

Here are a couple pictures of the two loves of my life hanging out together last night while I watched Jon and Kate Plus Eight.

Pete Sitting (And Falling) All By Himself

So this week our baby boy has figured out how to sit and balance all by himself. You can see in his face how hard he is concentrating on staying upright. And he is getting up all all fours and scooting forward inch by inch. Basically if he wants to get somewhere or get something he can. They grow up too fast. Abby wanted in on the fun.

Pete's Favorite Thing

Pete loves the t.v. remote.