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:

the nutshell

I'm certain I'm not the only one feeling like there is too much to do and too little time to do it this week. I'm a little late in posting this week as I usually do this on Sundays but here goes.

Rob had another busy week, but not quite as bad as last week. He is in the process of training a woman, named Carolina, to take over his current job. She is visiting from Costa Rica and we invited her over for dinner on Thursday evening. (Rob goes to Costa Rica in January for 10 days to continue the training... I'm trying not to stress about this already, but am. You may remember how horrible things were for me the last time Rob left the country. At least I'm not pregnant this year, right?). So anyway, Carolina is lovely. She speaks near perfect English (very slight accent), is very sweet, and gorgeous to boot. Well, Mr. Charming (aka Tosh) was right by her side the entire evening. He sang her songs, kissed her arm at random, smiled and laughed at everything said, and basically tried to get her attention by showing off all night. I just had to take a photo of them together because it was really quite funny.

Tosh is becoming more independent as well as self-reliant. Rob and I walked in the family room yesterday after church to find that Tosh had gotten a yogurt out of the fridge, grabbed a spoon, opened the yogurt, turned on the TV, and ate the entire thing without so much as a drop on his clothes or any mess to speak of. We were lucky to grab the camera just in time:

I gave Tosh a little trim today. I only cut an inch or so off his hair so it is still plenty curly. He is quite reasonable and cooperative about this sort of thing which is so nice (unlike his older brothers who aren't so reasonable when it comes to haircuts and nail trimming...). After Tosh saw the first short curls fall to the ground he said, "Not my CURLS!" For those of you that have seen "Shrek," it reminded me of the Gingerbread Man saying, "Not my BUTTONS!" And no, Tosh has never seen that movie...

I didn't take one photo of Liv this week. Isn't that a shock! My camera battery is near dead and I've been so busy. She looked all fancy for church yesterday as she wore tulle for the first time (baby shower gift). Her new trick of the week is saying, "ma ma ma ma..." All of my boys made the "da da" sound first. She also eats green beans which none of boys liked. She is once again back to sleeping through the night and we're on a very nice daily nap/feeding schedule. She is awesome. Can't say it enough. Love that girl!

Hewitt is doing great. I've decided that 5 is an awesome age. He has been so mellow and there are many times when I think he is going to get upset about something and he just doesn't. It's been so nice. He is becoming a great defender. If he feels that anyone in the family is being mistreated or is upset for some reason, he comes to the rescue and sticks up for them.

Tonight for Family night we talked about gratitude. I told the true story about how my Dad's house burned down when he was away at scout camp as a boy and how my grandparents were basically left with nothing. I also told the story that I heard many, many times growing up about how my Grandma Dunning owned two dresses. One that she wore to church, and one for every other day of the week. The point of the lesson was to help our kids (especially our oldest child) realize HOW MUCH we have and to show more gratitude for our many blessings. Hewitt was quite concerned as I told the story (asking lots of questions about what started the fire, etc.) and was having a hard time understanding that I was talking about my Dad as a child. At one point he said, "So Grandpa's house burned down and that's why they moved to Texas?" He was so sweet and concerned and I'm glad he didn't get upset or embarrassed when Burke and I couldn't help but laugh at his comment. Hewitt is such a tenderhearted sweetie.

Burke is out of school and it is throwing me off of my schedule a bit. He was really helpful trying to get the boys to do some chores with him today and loved my challenge tonight of only "expressing thanks" in our prayers instead of asking for things. He is looking forward to seeing Aunt Sue and Uncle Zach this week for Christmas and all of his "Dunning" cousins next week for New Years!

I am busy trying to get everything pulled together for Christmas. It is finally "Fall" here as the leaves are just now changing color and falling....into our pool! (the pretty trees that I like so much in my backyard are creating quite a mess) Besides leaves, our yard is full of weeds and I'm sort of missing the break from yard work that "winter" brings. We also discovered several dirt piles in our yard: gophers! That's a new one for us.

That about sums up the week. Have a Merry Christmas! We love and miss you!

special edition

I got Tosh singing on video today and thought you would enjoy it too. The very end really cracks me up. I think he was thinking of "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" and that's why he got confused/frustrated...



Cutie pie!

new tricks and treats

Liv is seven months old! She actually sat up for the first time on the 10th (see photo in green jammies). She was so happy and proud of herself! At the beginning of the week she was still sitting pretty slanted, but has already straightened out a ton and can sit for several minutes without falling over now. She is also moving around the floor like crazy and is tucking her legs up under herself like she is going to crawl soon. I'm hoping to at least have another month or two of her NOT crawling. Tosh was crawling by 8-9 months and walking by 10, so we'll see how Liv develops. Liv has suddenly been waking more at night too. Is it growing pains? Teeth? "Where is my Mom" anxiety? Who knows. I'm just hoping the long stretches return and counting my blessing that she's been such a great sleeper up to this point.

This week seemed so busy and I feel exhausted so I might not write as much as I would normally. Rob has been busier than I ever remember with work. He worked past 1 AM on Wednesday, did not come from work until midnight on Thursday (we were supposed to have the missionaries over for dinner on Thursday so I gave them "take out" chili and cornbread since Rob wasn't here). He also worked Friday night, Saturday night, was at a Stake choir thing tonight and has a work thing tomorrow evening that he still has tons of work to do to get ready for... His boss told Rob to take me out to dinner (up to $150) to make up for the long hours. Most of you know how frugal Rob and I are. I just can't imagine spending $150 on dinner for the two of us. Rob and I were thinking of going somewhere nice and then when leaving get a bunch of take-out to eat at home to maximize the money (the bill is going to be expensed, not cash). Our new thought today was to go somewhere where we can buy a gift card first thing so that we can get a few dinners out of it at different times. Are we pathetic or what?

This week's funnies:

Tosh has two Bears. We keep one hidden in case the other goes missing. The other day he found his "other" Bear, got so excited and said, "Two Bears!?! That never happens!"

Tosh likes speaking loudly and doesn't really appreciate when I try to get him to whisper or when I whisper to him. Even if he senses that I'm trying to talk quietly he will say, "No Mom, Say it loud!"

The Primary children sang "Away in a Manger" in Sacrament meeting today. My boys love this song and we have sung it at home a lot this month. Tosh, watched the children singing, "Asleep, asleep..." and yelled, "Wake up!!!" The people behind us and I were laughing so hard I actually cried.

This sweet boy, loud?




Hewitt returned to our bench after singing with the Primary kids and said, "I don't like choir practice." (Hmmm, not sure where he's heard that before...).


Hewitt was holding Liv yesterday and said, "I love real zero-olds!"


More photos of our favorite "zero-old" (and real) baby doll: