Backyard Sprinklers

Remember when running through the backyard sprinklers was this much fun?

Keeping busy

Guess what Kara is doing here?  Needless to say that Jacob no longer wanted to hold her.

Kara is happy to be in the jumper.  She is 4 months old in this picture

I love this picture of Jacob and Lila with Garrick and Marley at the zoo.  They are checking out the giraffes and having a great time.

Introducing

Kara Elizabeth Peterson

2.2.2012

1:11 pm

7 lbs 7 oz

22 inches long

The Best

Sometimes the best things in life come in the form of friends and sometimes those friends come in the form of really amazing dogs. This is true for our dog Max. We said goodbye to Max yesterday when we let him go. Tony and I were both with him and it was wonderful and heartwrenching at the same time to see. He had been in so much pain and unable to do things he loved like going on walks and being with us. There has to be a dog heaven for good dogs like Max.

This picture is how I will always remember him: happy, full of energy, and enjoying being in the mountains with us. We love you Max.

Don't try to change her

This is a conversation I had with Jacob yesterday after catching Lila standing on his nightstand.

Me: Jacob, why does your sister have to climb on everything?

Jacob: Mom, that is just how Jesus made her, so don't try to change her.

I guess he is right.

Here is a picture of one of the less dangerous places I found her climbing.

It is never too early

Who says that a 14-month old shouldn't help around the house? Yes, that is a functioning vacuum (no rollers, so it can't damage the carpet). Completely worth the $19.99 I paid for it when Jacob was 2. Jacob likes to help vacuum, too. He will vacuum his room and vacuum up the piles I sweep up in the kitchen and bathroom.

Birthday Girl

Our little Lila is now 1!. She is an energetic, focused, happy, acrobatic, and determined little girl. Although we never quite know what kind of trouble she is going to get into next, she always makes us smile. She is definitely a daddy's girl and can't decide whether to laugh or cry for joy when she sees him. She tries to do everything Jacob does and follows him around all the time. What a blessing she has been. Just check out those big blue eyes!

Just Life

Life seems to go by so quickly lately. Here are some recent pictures of Jacob and Lila. Lila is almost 7 months now and is really starting to show more of her spunky personality. She is such a wiggly and happy baby.

Big blue eyes!

Lila is very close to crawling. For now she just rolls everywhere.

Here is our big cheese. He loves having his picture taken and does all kinds of cheesey grins when we point the camera at him.

The other day I asked Jacob to straighten the shoes by the front door. After a little while he came and told me that he had made all the matches. This is what I found. Take a good look at the ordering of the shoes. Perfect. He is definitely Tony's son.

Lila still loves being swaddled when she sleeps. She cries to get our attention when she wakes up, but she is all smiles once we go in her room.

Our Kids

Just a few pictures of our kids over the last month or so.

Jacob on the train for his birthday

Hanging out in the crib in their hoodies

Photo shoot by Jacob

Tummy time

Three!

Time Flies

Our little Lila is growing so fast! She is now two months old. She is smiling and cooing and keeping us busy. Jacob loves his little sister and always asks to hold her. Here are some recent pictures of our kids.

New Addition

Our baby girl was born 8.18.2010 at 12:19 pm

7lbs 5oz

21.5 inches long

We named her Lila Dawn Peterson

Here are a couple of her "birth" day pictures

Beating the Heat

I think these pictures speak for themselves.

I Pledge Allegiance

Although I would rather be at home with Jacob than at work, I am glad I have him in a place where he learns things.  Here is an example of some things that I would probably have never thought to teach a two-year old.

Where did you come from?

Jacob is always making us laugh and doing the funniest/weirdest/craziest things like running around in circles for no obvious reason.  Often times, Tony and I will ask him, "Where did you come from?" when he is doing one of his funny/weird/crazy things.  Now he has started asking us (and others) just out of the blue, "Where did you come from?"  It is funny to hear that out of a two-year old's mouth.  What is even more funny is that he expects a legitimate answer.  He cracks me up.

Happy News

For those of you who don't know, Jacob will be getting a baby sister in August.  We are very excited!  I am 18 weeks along and my official due date is August 18, but all the measurements we have had so far show the baby is a little big so I am telling everyone my due date is mid August.  For those of you who already knew about this, well, we finally have definitive ultrasound pictures to prove there are no boy parts in the area where you would expect them leading us to continue to believe that we are having a girl.  Jacob told us very early on that he wanted a sister but now he has decided he wants a sister, but he wants her to be a boy.  He cracks me up.

Here is the ultrasound of our little bambina.  Please excuse the bum view, but it is the only one we could get that showed her lack of boy parts.  She was really wiggly this morning when we had our friend do the ultrasound and we couldn't get any pictures of her face.

The Dentist

Yesterday Tony had a dentist appointment and we took Jacob along so he could see what you do while you are at the dentist's office.  Jacob watched as the dentist checked Tony's teeth and then was easily bribed by a car and a sugar free sucker into letting the dentist look at his teeth.  The dentist and hygienist were very nice to Jacob and let him explore the office and even gave him a new toothbrush and some kid-friendly floss.  The only thing Jacob did not like was getting in the chair by himself.  It really freaked him out for some reason.  Hopefully Jacob will do as well next time when he really has to get his teeth checked.
I wish I would have thought to take a picture while we were there because I assume it will be a rarity to have Jacob happy at the dentist.

Presidents' Day weekend...only a week late

Over Presidents' Day weekend we took a trip down to Las Vegas to visit the Boyacks.  I am so glad that they were willing to let us come and visit.  We had a great time and enjoyed wonderful 70 degree weather.  On Saturday, we took the kids to the park where they had a blast going down slides, swinging, and just enjoying being outside. 

Owen going down the big red slide.

Jacob down the big green(ish) slide

Jacob riding the frog.

After lunch and naps, we headed out to Red Rock for some hiking.  Well, as much hiking as you can do just before the sun sets and trying to get a toddler (Jacob) to keep walking past rocks and sand without stopping to throw them or collect them.   I think we made it a total of a quarter mile in but we had a great time.

Tony and Owen climbing up the big rocks.  They disappeared up these rocks for about 20 minutes and came back with only a few scrapes.

Jacob and Brooklyn playing in the sand while we were waiting for Tony and Owen.  I just missed the moment where Jacob, in true boy fashion, dumped a handful of sand on Brooklyn's head.  Brooklyn was a good sport about the whole thing and just kept playing.

Thanks again Lisa and Nate for having us.  We look forward to seeing you soon!

Some Favorites of 2009

Here are some of my favorite picture memories from 2009.  There are too many to post all at once so I will do this over a few posts.

Jacob meeting his new cousin, Colby

Jacob and Tony exploring the rocky beach and tide pools in California

Rub a dub dub three cousins in the tub.

Brooklyn "helping" Jacob with his juicebox