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.

Cell Phone Videos of Pete (old and new)

I was making room on my cell phone today and decided to share a few cute videos of Pete. The first two are from this week and the others are pretty old. But they were too fun to not include.

This first video is of Pete in his Jumperoo today. He's a dancing machine....
This one is just of some cute smiles I caught while playing "This Little Piggy" with him. He likes the "this one went weeweeweewee all the way home" part.

Pete sitting in his Bumbo seat for the first time. He wasn't sure what to think of the new position.

Here are a couple of him talking to me.

And last but not least an old one of him learning to use his hands. He used to touch everything with both hands clasped together. Now he can pick up anything, with either hand and even switch hands, throw things in the air, catch them, round the back....no not really.

Six

Pete is 6 months old and Serra turned 6 years old yesterday. Pete had his 6 month check-up on Monday and is doing great! He weighs 15 lbs 10 oz and is 26 inches in length. His weight is in the 25th percentile and his height is in the 50th. I never thought I would have a baby that was on the low end of the weight scale. They think his weight is a little lower because of the 3 weeks of diarrhea where he either lost weight or didn't gain any. They will check his weight again in another month and see how he is doing. It's not like he looks skinny or anything. Can you believe 75% of kids his age are heavier than him? Pete received 3 shots and was pretty uncomfortable for about a day with a slight temperature. He didn't sleep well for about 24 hours after. I gave him a day to recover and since then we have been trying the "Cry It Out" method to get him to fall asleep on his own. We used to rock him to sleep, lay him down gently and tip-toe away. The new method has worked like a charm and so far I am thrilled with the results. The first day, Tuesday, was pretty much torture but yesterday the crying was slim to none and today he let out a few whimpers and was out. He has been sleeping for an hour and 45 minutes now and counting. Go Pete!

Pete is changing every day. He is such a silly boy who makes me laugh out loud at least a couple times a day. He likes to show off for girls, my little ladies man. We went to a volleyball game yesterday and he spent the whole time flirting with the girls behind us. He does funny things to get my attention then giggles about it. He finds that spitting his food is a lot of fun for him but not for mom. P. says he is going to be a daredevil someday because he loves to bounce, fly in the air and be "dropped". The higher and faster the better. It's really funny. He loves to hang out in his johnny jumpers and has started to "jump" pretty high. Again, showing off. I will try to get video of it sometime, he's pretty energetic about it and it's pretty funny. The eating is going pretty well except for the spitting I mentioned. We are introducing peas right now and so far he likes them. I don't know why because they smell terrible! Next we might try his first fruit, bananas.

P. and I are going on a date tonight to the Macaroni Grill. Our neighbors offered to watch Pete for us so we could go on a date and P. took them up on it. They have been offering to help out since he was born but it is hard to call someone up and actually ask for it. So, we are excited about our night out and I pray Pete does well for his new sitters.

My middle child, Serra, turned 6 years old yesterday. She still acts like a toddler but that's what we love about her....most of the time. I almost forgot to celebrate last night like we do every year. I would have been so sad had I forgotten. Here are some pics of us. She had a hot dog, well, 4 pieces of a hot dog and Abby had the other 2.

Pumpkins

The night before Erin left we carved these pumpkins. I did the mom one and P. did the dad one, obviously, and Erin did the Baby Boo one for Pete. We didn't fully carve them, just kind of scraped them due to not wanting to dig into them and make a big mess. They turned out pretty cute. Check them out.

So Much To Tell....

Wow, there is so much to tell you! What a fun week we have had! I obviously can't share everything we have been up to but I will touch on the highlights.

Last Thursday P. and I went to the Annual Wedgwood Celebration Dinner downtown at DeVos Hall. We went last year and had such a good time we made sure to go again. They serve you a wonderful dinner while you chat with other Wedgwood employees and supporters and you watch some really neat presentations on what Wedgwood does for the children of this community. It feels a little like church summer camp all over again. I came home with this spiritual fire blazing inside me after seeing how God is working through just one small Christian company. Wedgwood is a pretty amazing organization that gives so freely and unselfishly to the abused kids of Grand Rapids. You have to be a truly patient, loving and faithful person to work with these kids and Wedgwood employs a lot of these people, including my husband. Anyway, it was another great night celebrating and supporting God's work through Wedgwood. Thank you to our wonderful friends Jim, Karen and Kari who watched Pete for us while we went out on the town. We feel truly blessed to have them in our lives and part of our extended family. Here are a few pictures. Can you believe it, some pictures without Pete? I didn't think it would ever happen......On Friday one of my best friends in the whole world came to visit me from CO. Her job brings her out this way a few times a year and I am SO thankful for that. We had such an amazing three days together catching up on old times and laughing histerically over nothing really. Erin and I were instant friends from the minute we met and to this day have stayed close no matter the distance between us. Every few months I need my Erin fix to feel like myself again. We have so much fun together as you will see in the pics. She left early this morning and I miss her already.

Us at Robinette's Apple Orchard in front of the big pumpkins for sale. Pete wouldn't hold still for a picture so we smashed his face between ours to keep him looking at the camera. So funny. We made our own scarecrow at the Rockford Fall Festival. Isn't she stylish?At the Rockford Dam with the fall colors behind us. Making tacky do-it-yourself Christmas ornamets for each other. Tacky-er the better! And yesterday evening Erin took pictures of our family in front of the changing fall leaves in our neighborhood. For anyone not in MI I wish you could see the leaves changing colors. It is so beautiful.
Have a great week family and friends! Thanks for reading my blog and traveling down the road of life with me. Love, AM

Pete Turns 6 Months

I can't believe 6 months ago our beautiful baby boy came into this world. Time has flown! I can say with all my heart that this has been the best 6 months of my life. And my life was really good already. P. and I have a wonderful, loving, fun marriage. We get along like two best friends and work together like a well oiled machine. We live comfortably and happily and though there are things we want we are not in desperate need of anything. I used to think I could take or leave having kids. Now that I have Pete I know I would have missed out on the best thing life on this earth has to offer. And it is especially great with such a good partner by my side. So today I thank God for blessing me beyond what I deserve. Thank you Pete for filling my heart with so much joy it is overflowing. Thank you to my husband for being my everything.

We had some friends over today to celebrate our little boy. Here is a picture of their sons singing happy birthday to Pete with us. We made sure to eat a few extra pieces of cake for Pete since he wasn't able to have any.