sweet petes

February was busy and had some exciting things in store.

Truman learned how to open doors at 10 months! He was so proud of himself. Cutest little troublemaker...

We have a tradition of eating Chinese food to celebrate my parents on their wedding anniversary (on February 5th). Liv created this sweet centerpiece for our table:

Liv has such a great and unique style! I loved her ensemble for Tosh's soccer game one Saturday morning:

February 7th marked four years since my mom's passing. Here is what I wrote on that day:
"Holding the hand of someone you love as they take their last breath is life changing! It's been four years today, yet I'm still a little girl who wants her mama. Her genuine interest in my day-to-day struggles and triumphs, her ability to love me when I'm at my worst but inspire me to be my best, and her simple goodness will never me matched."
I sure love and miss this great woman--every day.

Truman is obsessed with being outside and wants to do everything the older kids are doing. He loves to sit on Tosh's lap on the rip rider:

We got a postcard in the mail advertising "Sleeping Beauty" by the Phoenix Ballet. Grandma Peterson asked if it was something Liv would be interested in and I thought it would be a great idea!
She picked out her fanciest, favorite outfit and we went with Grandma and Aunt Sue.
In the lobby prior to the show:

While Sleeping Beauty and the Prince were dancing I whispered something to Liv about how incredibly strong they were.
Liv: "Dad can do that."
Me: "No he can't!"
Liv: "He can hold me upside down by one foot--beat that!"
(She's hilarious!)

Rob entered a video contest at work for a chance to win tickets to the Grammy Awards. When he first told me about the contest, I was excited for him (the show was even going to be on a Monday instead of the usual Sunday this year), but had no interest in going myself. Rob only had a few days to do the video and it was a good/funny idea. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1xw7IdvB5k
Rob got this email on the 9th of February:

I was so excited for Rob! There were over 100 videos submitted and only two winners chosen. I told Rob to take Burke with him since I was nursing Truman and didn't see how I would be able to go with him. Intel got back to us saying that Burke would be able to attend the show, but not the after parties because he is a minor. My amazing sister-in-law Tracey texted me and told me that I "had to go with Rob" and she offered to drive to LA from Fresno to watch Truman during the show!!! I couldn't believe she was serious. Intel had offered us two hotel rooms so we had a place for Tracey to stay. With Patti in Arizona, she was kind enough to come to our place for the weekend and stay with the older kids while we were gone. Thanks to our awesome family for allowing Rob and I to go on a pretty amazing and unique date! We left Sunday evening and were home on Tuesday afternoon, so it was a really quick trip.

Before take-off on Sunday:

Looking out the window from our modern loft-style hotel room in downtown Los Angeles:

Tickets to the show!

We were asked to be ready to be picked up at the hotel by 2:00pm (which seemed really early to us!). Tracey got there a couple of hours before we had to leave and so we were able to visit briefly before getting ready to go. I was a little anxious about leaving Truman that long (not surprising to anyone that knows me). We were kind of in a rush to get out, but Tracey took this photo in our hotel room (I had borrowed a dress from my friend, Jami). I convinced Rob to get a new suit (good excuse!) and he looked great:

They always anticipate a ton a traffic in LA, but it didn't take long at all to get to the venue. It was really fun to arrive at the red carpet.

Rob would love to go back as an entertainer!

Someone from Intel got this sunny photo of us before walking into the tent:

Rob and the other Intel winner (Johnas) on the red carpet:

Because we were there very early, we didn't see the bigger stars. We were trying to take our time walking down the carpet, but the security guards were under strict orders to keep everyone moving along. It was interesting to see all of the cameras on the opposite side. There were a ton of different shows/channels: E!. Ellen, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, and others. It was really interesting to see what's behind the scenes.

Selfie on the red carpet:

After making our way down the long red carpet, we were able to see about a quarter of the "pre-show" in a theater where the vast majority of the Grammy's are actually awarded. It was open seating and Rob walked right down toward the front. Looking at all of the categories makes you realize how big the music industry is. It certainly seemed like the bigger stars thought they were too good to attend this event. Barry Manilow was up for something and I was really hoping to see him, but didn't. A highlight of this show was seeing Ed Sheeran win and stand up just a few rows ahead of us. He gave a very humble acceptance speech. Also, Tony Bennett won his 19th Grammy and was there to accept! I thought that was pretty cool.

When this show was over, we headed across to the Staples Center for the televised Grammy's. Our seats were pretty high, but I loved that because we had a great view of the stage and were able to see them changing sets for various performances. They had the main stage divided in two so they could work on one half at a time. There was also a smaller round stage down in front. The floor where the audience sat was incredible to watch! It was orchestrated to move celebrities in and out (as well as their families) during each commercial break so they could be seated and televised for their specific awards. At the beginning of the show there were a couple hundred seat fillers behind the sound/camera platform and by end of the show they were all being used to fill seats. It seemed that most of the stars stay backstage and are there long enough just to perform and then take off! Taylor Swift, for example, started the show off with her new single and then took a front seat in the audience just long enough to be seen on camera for a few clips. She then left to go backstage and then returned to the front row at the very end of the night just before winning Album of the Year. It was really interesting.

A shot from the very beginning of the show:

You can see the different stages here:

There were several parts of the show that I really enjoyed and a few parts that I didn't like at all. The highlights for me were seeing Bonnie Raitt sing/play live (!) and the incredible duet by Tori Kelly and James Bay.

We went the main after party across from the Staples Center. They had tons of entertainment and lots of really good food and desserts.

From there we went to a smaller after party where I walked right by Wynonna Judd and did a lot of people watching. Rob had a nice conversation with a writer that won a Grammy that night. We enjoyed visiting with the other Intel people. We were feeling tired by midnight and very ready to get back to our hotel, which by the way is where the big Universal Music Group party was and where Taylor Swift ended up (there was quite a bit of paparazzi at our hotel).

Truman did great for Tracey (thank you again, so, so much!). On Tuesday morning, we walked around downtown for a bit, found this cool park, and grabbed some breakfast.

We walked back to the hotel and said goodbye to Tracey. We watched E! to see the Grammy footage from the night before and found out who some of the people were that we had seen, but had no idea who they were :) We took a taxi back to the airport and got home on Tuesday just after school got out and in time to make dinner.

Liv really enjoyed taking dance this year. Parents usually can just watch from the lobby (via video) but we were invited in at the end of practice one day and I got a couple of photos:

Rob, Hewitt and I attended Science Night at his school. The fifth graders visited a mini golf course, took notes and photos, and then created their own mini golf course! Pretty cool.

Grandma joined us for some games:

Tosh is so fun to watch at any sport. He is loving soccer and improving each season. He scored FIVE goals at his game (2/20) and was crushing it on defense too. He would usually play goalie for one quarter every game, which he doesn't like, but he does a good job. Great job, T!

Rob coached Burke's team for winter season. Here's a shot of them watching together (classic Rob pose to have the hat high on his head and arms folded) during a break for Burke:

Truman turned 11 months on February 20th! Getting so big.

At 11 months, Truman was walking more than crawling!

I love this shot of him sleeping. I think this is from one of those days when I had to wake him up from a nap to pick the kids up from school (poor 5th baby):

Sweetest cheeks and lips:

It was a very sad day when Bunny's head popped off. Liv has two bunnies that are about as equally loved. They are in pretty rough shape, but we keep putting them back together.

The kids had a Dr. Suess picnic at school. Liv is so happy to see her family at school and was thrilled that I brought her a Subway sandwich for lunch (her favorite--bread with cheese only). She loved pushing Truman around in his stroller and introducing him to her friends.

Tosh's class came out shortly after (it worked out great that 1st and 3rd grade eat at the same time!) and we were able to eat lunch with Tosh's teacher, Mrs. Harder.

Hewitt and his science fair partner, Arnav, did really well this year and were selected to take their board to HISEF (Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair).

There were all sorts of interesting things at the fair besides projects...yikes!

This is a cute shot of Tosh (in a fort he made in our living room) that I found on my phone. Not sure who took this, but thanks for the photo, kids.

This is from the farewell dinner at the end of February we had with Patti before she left town.

Tosh pondering life from a favorite spot:

Grandma with all of her Arizona grands:

The next night we had dinner together at the Andelins (Tosh and Burke were at soccer at the park next door). Liv made this sweet sign for Grandma and had everyone sign it:

The year is half over and I'm finally getting to writing about 2016! Truman was so close to walking at the beginning January and was getting braver at letting go and balancing on his own.

I was very fortunate that Liv let me record her singing one afternoon, just after the holidays were over. These videos are precious to me. I can't watch them enough! Love her so much. This first video is an original that she made up on the spot about "Star Wars" and all the hype over the new movie (This first video really reminds me of myself as a kid):

The next ones are Christmas songs! Love this girl!

I attended the "Celebrations of Learning" for Tosh and Liv at the beginning of the new semester. I loved what Tosh's teacher (Mrs. Harder) wrote on his certificate, "Always putting forth 110% effort." Way to go, Tosh!

Tosh and his good buddy, Tripp:

Looks like Liv did Tru's hair again:

I found this little gem that Liv wrote in a journal:

A cute series of Truman playing in a laundry hamper one night:

Liv received the writing award!

Liv with her teacher, Mrs. Bartelt.

Truman was a busy boy in January, cruising around holding onto things. I ADORE his little bum crack through his onesie, his cute curls, and that sweet smile.

Liv ended up with two of the same dresses in the same size (we bought one and then she got a hand-me-down from a friend of the same dress!). She gave one to her bestie, Natalie--they thought it was the coolest to be twins!

A gorgeous January sunset!

Truman turned 10 months on the 20th of January and was sick with a cold--boo! I can't get over how blue and beautiful his eyes are. All of our kids started out with blue eyes, but none THIS blue. I sure hope they stay this color.

We are so happy when Grandma comes for a visit. She was in Arizona for several weeks this winter and came to watch (and feed) Truman one day so I could run to an appointment.

Our kids are really into playing games. It's such a fun stage. Liv and Tosh in particular are always up for a game of "Scum," "Club Seven," "Sorry," or "Life."