happy valentine's day

I can't remember the last time that Valentine's Day was on a Sunday. Rob and I went to the temple last night and then out to eat with some friends. It was the first time we've had a babysitter put Liv to bed. I expected her to wake up at some point during the night to eat (since she went to bed sans nursing), but she slept until 8:15 this morning. Happy Valentines to me!

The biggest event of the week was that my dad had a triple bypass on Friday! He is doing and sounding great and I am so grateful that all went well. Otherwise, it was fairly "normal" around here. Rob's songwriting partner was here visiting and spent the night on Monday, and Rob's cousin Venn was in town on Friday evening. We had dinner and watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics. I can't say that I thought that the show itself was very entertaining, but watching it with Rob and Venn was.

I've written a lot about Liv already this week, but she is changing so much right now. On top of looking like she is doing Yoga moves all the time, she is starting to "ham it up" and laugh a lot to get our attention. She loves to be tickled and is using her voice more and more. Just now I saw her waving (backwards wave) to herself and she totally started laughing at her hand. Rob held her up for me to get a photo of her as we were walking out the door for church today. She thinks her Dad is pretty funny.

Rob and I are very entertained by watching Liv figure out how to crawl. She sticks her bum up in the air and then digs her toes in to launch forward. So funny and cute (and I LOVE those thighs)!

Before reading the Book of Mormon one night, Rob asked Burke to summarize what we had read the night before (from Alma chapter 43). Burke gave a great recap which included, "Captain Moroni sent spies to see what the Lamanites were doing and then they left to go to Miami..." We told him that it was "Manti" and not "Miami" although I thought that was pretty clever. We think (hope) our reading/family study is sinking in, at least a little.

When I told Hewitt that his Grandpa would be having heart surgery, he said, "Why is Grandpa going surfing?" I guess he heard me wrong.

On Wednesday Tosh asked, "Is it Sunday or Friday?" When I told him what day it was he exclaimed, "Oh. I LOVE Wednesday!"

Tonight at dinner we went around and around the table taking turns naming things that we love. We sure all love our family and friends! Happy Valentine's Day from us. We love and miss you!

nine months

Liv is nine months old today! As of today, she is officially too long for her infant car seat. I had to move Burke to a convertible rear facing car seat at five months, so she is still pretty "bitty" compared to her brothers (she weighed 17 pounds at the doctor last week).

Her first tooth is very visible now and she is moving like crazy and so close (too close) to crawling!

See Liv get from here...

...to here!

We love our sweet Liv!

the good, the bad, and the are you kidding me?

Per the title of this post, this week was a mixed bag. Definitely a few "out of the ordinary" things. There's sort of lots to say, so I'll get started.

I got an idea while looking at this cute cross-stitch that my SIL made me, for a new "theme" for our Family Home Evenings:


These virtues are exactly what I want our family to be working on. We are going to focus on one per week, and I chose to start with "Be Positive." I spent a couple of hours on Monday afternoon preparing for our "Bee" kick-off. Tosh and I printed and cut out a bee representing each virtue and the older boys helped create our beehive:

I also made a "last-minute" cake because as everyone knows, the treat is always the favorite part of Family Night.

In addition to our lesson plans, we thought we'd try to get in a little family activity before dinner. Since Burke, Hewitt and I are taking tennis lessons, we went over to the Jr. High to use the tennis courts there. We had parked between the courts and the baseball field (where there was a boys' baseball game going on). As we were loading up to return home, I was focused on keeping Tosh from running out into the street and got hit by a foul baseball! I was sandwiched between our van and another car and it caught me completely off guard. The ball hit me on my left shoulder and I fell to the ground. A few people ran over to see if I was okay (including a woman in nursing school that I visit teach) and it was quite embarrassing, really. I was so grateful that it did not hit Hewitt or Tosh (standing on either side if me) and that I wasn't hit in the face/head. My arm went numb after the initial contact, but I got very sore that evening and I could hardly move my shoulder or arm on Tuesday. It's only bothering me a little now; I'm glad it was my non-dominant arm.

Hewitt, Tosh and Liv have all been sick this week with colds and coughs. Nothing too terrible, but we've had to do some nebulizer (Albuterol) treatments for Hewitt. He has been taking medicine (an inhaler treatment) daily for his Asthma since August and he has been so much healthier this winter. His cough doesn't sound that great, but it hasn't slowed him down at all. He is constantly doing somersaults (forward and backward) and flips on the tramp. I am looking into tumbling classes as I think it would be perfect for him!

I have felt a wave of "Spring Fever" this week. I can feel the weather getting warmer and it's been in the 70's during the day and I love it. The kids have been playing outside a lot and Tosh and Hewitt love exploring in our "jungle" as they call it.

We have some friends (Susan and Dennis) in our ward that love our kids and save the bench in front of them every Sunday for us to sit in. They are so nice to our kids and love Tosh especially. In fact, they brought us some homemade hot fudge sauce for Christmas and also a book set for our kids! Anyway, the other day in the car Tosh asked, "Where does Grandpa live?" When I asked which Grandpa he said, "Grandpa Moustache!" He was talking about Dennis and it really made me laugh.

Tosh was watching his brothers play soccer in the backyard and said, "The name of my soccer team is Jack in the Box!"

Liv has been a trooper this week. She is cutting her first tooth (bottom left) and is still so happy even with her constant runny nose, cough and an ear infection. I was so glad that I followed my instinct to take her to the doctor on Friday as I had no idea that her ear was hurting (I was worried about her lungs). That night she went to bed at 6pm, and woke up crying about a half hour later. I just rocked her for a few minutes and then she went back to sleep and slept (without waking) until 7:30am! I was anticipating a really bad night.

Liv is rolling all over the place and fast. She gets up on her knees like she is going to crawl, but just rocks back and forth before dropping back to her stomach. I am on constant "Lego patrol" making sure that the floor is clear.

Her hair is really coming in in the back and the top is getting a little longer. After her bath last night I amused the boys by attaching this Ziplock-type bow to her hair that was sticking up.

Hewitt really likes there to be something in Liv's hair and will tell me, "now people will know she's a girl!"

Burke still hasn't lost his other front tooth, although it is ready to go. He thought it was cool when I told him he could drink his smoothie through the hole in his teeth.

The most "eventful" part of our week happened on Thursday. Rob came home a little early to work from home so he could be here to talk to our pool guy (we have to replace the filter pump and motor--$$$ ouch!). I took Tosh to run some errands since Rob was here and the baby was asleep. I've been letting Burke walk home from the bus stop the last few weeks with some neighbors in our ward (a boy in Burke's Primary class, and his older brother and 11 yr-old sister). When I returned home, I learned that while Burke was walking home, his friend told him to throw a rock at a truck going by. Burke did it (gasp) and it shattered the driver's side window! Burke ran in the door crying and started to tell Rob what happened just as the doorbell rang. It was our neighbor, of course. Luckily the glass did not fall in on him and he wasn't hurt. He was so cool about the whole thing (THANK HEAVEN!). I can not tell you how shocked and disappointed Rob and I were about this incident. Burke is such a good kid. A little moody lately, yes, but an excellent student, never in trouble at school, etc. The window cost $200 to replace. On top of losing several privileges for a month, Burke will be doing extra work to earn the money to pay us back. Now that a few days have passed since this incident, I am still very sad and upset about what happened, but am able to see that maybe it will be good for Burke to learn this expensive lesson while really young. Maybe he will think twice when faced with peer pressure in the future. The other positive outcome is that Burke could stand to learn to work a little harder than he's used to. Yesterday, he cleaned out and vacuumed both of our cars on top of some other housework. We couldn't help but notice that he was in a much better mood after completing all of his work and was kinder to the entire family. I should mention that when we were discusssing how Burke was going to earn the $200, he told me, "I think you should give me $11 an hour!" Tough luck. I think it will be more like $1 per hour. I will also be picking Burke up from the bus stop again (and am feeling guilty about the fact that if I had picked him up on Thursday, this entire thing would not have happened... What is parenthood without some guilt, right?). This week for Family Home Evening, our focus will be, "Be SMART!"

I love this cute hoodlum:

Other notes from the week: After complaining for years about how uncomfortable our bed is, we finally upgraded (to a king) and I love it.

We also got a new large sectional for our family room and I told Rob's sister that I would post some photos so here they are (they helped us decide on both items while they were here visiting for Christmas). We moved our old couches upstairs into our loft and it is great to have some furniture up there in addition to our exercise equipment (It's a perfect place for me to fold laundry now).

it's that time again

It's the end of January which means it was time to take the annual Peterson family photo for our Valentine cards. I dread getting family pictures taken. It's challenging for me to find the right balance between getting a natural looking snapshot where everyone is somewhat coordinated in color, yet not looking too "matchy" or formal. Even more challenging is getting all the kids to cooperate, look at the camera, smile, etc. Even though it only takes about 15 minutes of time to take the photos (that's about all we can handle at this point), it can be an exhausting endeavor.

Our friend Tony stopped by to take these photos on Saturday and the timing was perfect as the sun went behind a cloud for just enough time to get some photos in our backyard. Here are a few cute "extras" of the kids that won't be featured on our card (you'll just have to wait to see the family shot):

So yes, Liv pretty much sucked on her two fingers the entire time (she was tired). The finger sucking is actually getting in the way of her nursing now (she constantly tries to get those fingers in her mouth and prefers it to anything else!). Not sure what I can do about that right now.

Tosh was laughing in nearly every single photo. That's Tosh!

Other highlights of the week:

You may have noticed in one of the photos above that Burke lost one of his front teeth (and the other is almost ready to go)! That photo is the ONLY photo in the entire bunch where you can see that a tooth is missing (unfortunately). I think he looks so cute and he would be really upset if he read that I just said that.

Liv has just enough hair to put a tiny little clip in (thanks Stephanie, I can FINALLY use these!).

Other than that, it was a pretty normal week. My Mia Maids did a "cake decorating" class for our activity this week and we did really cute sunflower cupcakes where we put an Oreo cookie on the top and did yellow petals around it. The girls had a lot of fun with it.

We were reading in Alma, chapter 40 of the Book of Mormon tonight, and Burke was really getting into a great discussion with us about the resurrection. Hewitt (who listens more than talks) became really concerned when we were discussing "outer darkness" and the spirits that will go there. He got pretty concerned/emotional/upset about it. He was asking questions and almost crying because he was so worried about the people who wouldn't "get to live with their families" as he put it. He is such a sensitive kid. It made me teary talking to him about it. We assured him that everything will be fine and that he will be able to be with us in heaven.

Rob is almost finished training the woman that will be taking over his (old) job. I am certainly hoping things will slow down and that he will be around a little more to give me the break that I DESPERATELY NEED! January has been a crazy month. I'm looking forward to February.

so happy together

Well we all survived and Rob is home! I think I must be tougher than I talk because things really went a lot better than I was thinking they would...or maybe it was just that my many prayers were answered. :-)

We had rain, rain, wind, and more rain in Arizona this week. There was even a huge dust storm and tornado warning on Thursday night. The rain was hitting the front of our house so hard that water came in through our front door and started to soak our rug! I put several towels down and also put towels in two of our upstairs windows where water was collecting in the tracks. In the morning, all of the towels were soaked and our neighbors lost a very large tree that is now leaning over the fence and into our yard. I am so grateful that the power did not go out and that there weren't any trees that fell on top of our house.

Tennis was cancelled because of rain (a blessing really because it was a bit stressful last week). I got a few projects finished up this week and stayed up way too late every night (why do I do this?). I finished framing photos for a wall collage in our downstairs hallway. A few of you might recognize some of your photography! Rob's sister designed the layout while they were here for Christmas--thanks Sue! Having some stuff up (finally) really makes it feel more like our home. There is a glare in this photo, but you get the idea...

Here are some yummy (and sorta fuzzy) pics that I took of Liv the other day. I bought a couple of cute hats from a friend, but they are enormous on her tiny little head. She kept yanking the hat off the second I put it on so I was actually holding her hands down to her sides with my legs in these photos. What a funny girl!

Well, I have a date with hubby tonight, so that's it for now.

we're on day 6 of 10

So "Day 6" of Rob's 10-day work trip to Costa Rica is coming to a close. If I've never mentioned how thankful I am that I am not doing this "parenthood thing" by myself, then let me do so now. I can't imagine being a single parent. The kids and I miss Rob so much!

Things are going pretty well, I'm just really tired by the end of every day (and in the morning and the afternoon...).

A couple of highlights from the last few days:

• Burke, Hewitt and I started tennis lessons on Saturday. I had hired two babysitters (one to stay with younger kids at home and one to hang out with older kids at the park during my lesson), but one of them got sick. The boys did fine at the park (sans helper) watching my lesson although it was a little stressful and distracting for me. Burke was bothered that he wasn't able to play a "real game" but they enjoyed the lesson and we were going to go practice today but it was rainy... I woke up on Sunday morning very sore even though I've been running 3-4 times a week and doing some weights. I've missed that "good sore" feeling. It makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere.
• We were a few minutes late for 9:00AM church even though I spent HOURS in preparation and planning to get us there on time. There just isn't much you can do about a five year old that REFUSES to put on church socks and shoes... Anyway the rest of Sunday went fairly well. As usual, Liv was so cooperative and played on the floor right next to me while I taught my lesson (although I did forget to give the girls the handouts I had spent an hour making on Saturday. Oh well).
• Our home teachers (a father and son) had us over for dinner tonight and to share FHE with their family. Also, my friend Brooke (our new R.S. pres.) called from the store today to see if I needed anything and then delivered two gallons of milk to my door. Rob and I are so fortunate to find such great people everywhere we live. What a blessing!
• There have been a couple of nights when Rob has been able to tell the kids stories at bedtime (the adventures of Kirk, Truit, Josh and Biv...) by using our speaker phone. I literally put the phone in the boys' room and then go downstairs and clean up the dishes, etc. while he talks to the boys for about 15 minutes and it's almost like he is there with them. So nice and it feels like a mini-break!
• Tosh is getting more "flowery" with his speech and it cracks me up. For example he'll say, "Throw the ball to me, me, me! I am the best player in the world!" Or tonight he said, "I just love that dog so, so much." (talking about our home teacher's dog).
• I'm staring to rate my night's sleep (whether it is good or bad) by whether I wake up alone in bed rather than how many times I am up. There have been a couple of times when I wake up at 5:00AM with someone (Hewitt or Tosh) in bed next to me (one time they were both there) and I don't remember them coming in my room. Then they keep me awake with their tossing, by sticking their legs in my back, and Tosh asking for milk over and over. I have trained myself only to hear Liv during the night and I miss Rob getting up to put the boys back in bed...

Speaking of bed, I want to go to there.

eight months

"Livvy Lou" is 8 months old this week! She is mastering the pincher grasp to be able to feed herself Cheerios and seems to love them. She is clapping a lot, saying "mamama" and is starting to dance (bounce her head up and down) to music. She's got a bit of a runny nose this week, but she's still happy and sweet as ever. Here are some pics: