28 Days of LOVE

Since this is the month where love is in the air the Peterson's are kicking off February with "A Daily Dose of LOVE." As a family we are going to document daily at least one thing that we love. I originally came up with the idea as something for us to discuss at night over dinner but then I thought it would be fun to incorporate it into the blog. I probably wont post daily, but I will try to as often as I can, to at least put some pictures of the things we love the most. From Glade down to Bentley we are all going to do it. McCoy is even going to take his own pictures of the things he loves on his DSI and I am going to download them for him. Can't wait to see what he comes up with. Should be interesting. I would love to see glimpses of the things you love on your blogs too. Join the fun and track your Daily Dose of Love!

We HEART Big Brother...

My baby boy has such a BIG heart when it comes to his baby sissy. He takes such good care of her and plays with her so well. Every now and then they have their stubborn sibling moments, but for the most part I lucked out with how well they interact with each other and how fond of each other they are. These are just a few moments I want to always remember...

Last night in the car Bentley was crying loudly. I felt bad and told McCoy he could buckle up in the front seat to get away from the noise. He sighed and said, "Well then poor sissy will be back here all by herself, I'll just stay." Even though there was nothing he could do to get her to stop crying, he endured the noise to keep her company because he didn't want her to be alone. I just sat in the front seat, my heart a melted mushy mess, and just smiled as Bentley cried her eyes out. I hope he always treats her good, and hope she knows someday that she is lucky girl to have a brother who stands by her.

The past few days we have had such wonderful weather so we have been playing outside a lot. We play basketball, and ride bikes and mostly the kids want to play with the power wheels. Bentley LOVES going for rides with McCoy. And usually he drives like a maniac and is always trying to come up with new ways to push those little vehicles to their limit. But when Bentz gets in the passenger side with him he shifts into protector mode. Even though I am walking right beside them with my hand on the baby, he wont go full speed (even though I'm sure she would prefer it), and he puts his hand in front of her when he has to stop so she wont fall forward. It is the cutest thing. She laughs and smiles and he looks at her with such adoration and he can't help but smile and do whatever makes her happy. Its the same with just about anything. As soon as she laughs at something he does, he will do it over and over again just to make her happy. I know it won't always be so peachy and I won't always have such positive things to post, but for now I'm going to enjoy my warm fuzzy stories and remember these good times.

Baby Girls in a Big Girl room...

We finally moved Bentley into her own room. We originally said we would move her out between 4 and 6 months. Well, she is 10 1/2 months now so I guess its time. I have just not been ready to let go. I LOVED having her so close to me. We had her all set up in a little nook just off our master bedroom. I was so comforted having her there where I could watch her sleep and hear her every breath. I'm sure she liked the convenience of our closeness too. Actually I'm absolutely positive she liked it because she would wake me up once or twice a night to let me know. I did not mind though because I enjoyed our midnight snuggles. There is something so special and bonding about the utter silence and total awareness of the tiny little warm bundle in your arms as you rock. With McCoy I did not work and he was my only child so he and I got a lot of quiet together time, but sometimes I feel like Bentley gets cheated because I am always being pulled in so many different directions. That is why I treasured our night time snuggles in our comfy rocking recliner so so much. I know she won't ever remember them but I always will.

She LOVES her new room! We moved her last Sunday and this first week has been great! She was a little nervous when she saw us moving her bed. When we were carrying it through the door she quickly crawled over, growled at us, and then tried to climb on it as it was being moved. But as soon as she saw it all assembled again in her new room she was Happy as a clam. She LOVES her comfy bed and sleeps so good in it. She even weaned herself off nigh time feedings and sleeps through the night in her new room since night two. Honestly there is a tiny piece of me that is a little sad she no longer needs my snuggles at night, but I am so happy she adapted so fast and so well. She is such a wonderful baby.

Come one come all....

Can't believe it's fair time again already. We gathered up the kiddos and headed down to the good ol' county fair for a family fun day. The South Florida county fair is pretty big. We did LOTS of walking, but all in all it has the same basic stuff as most fairs I suppose. We saw horses and cows, tractors, fast cars, old cars, a comedy show, a laser light show, a science exhibit, a 4H tent where the kids played in a corn box NOT sand box. And then we left eating a funnel cake and cotton candy. Good times.

12 on the 12th

Here is a super fun little documenting idea i grabbed off the blog of Miranda Walker's: Narrating Life. If you are a crafty person this blog is a must read! Ok, so the basic idea is to take 12 pictures of 12 things you do on the 12th day of the month. (I missed the 12th yesterday so I am posting a day late. Will do better next month hopefully). So here is my 12 on 12.

"Morning Mom, Wanna play Legos?" We are still building Star Wars Lego sets we got for Christmas...will we ever finish?

Pinkalicous! The culprit? A pink frosted animal cracker.

Time to get organized. EVERYTHING must be written down or it is forgotten.

Cleaned the McRocKsTaR's room today. Boy Loves his guitars!

Finally put away the Christmas trees. Oh sad day.

Selling the Shape-Ups on craigslist. Loved them but they didn't love me. My back was having none of it. Old back problems acting up again and ruining my fun.

Finishing up the laundry. Does anyone else wash a RED only load?

Cheaper than a personal trainer! I HEART the XBox Kinect! It is so fun!

Before he hits the land of nod, we hit GEO Land. I busted these out yesterday and he hasn't stopped playing with them since. Love it when old toys are like new again!

The last of the soda stash! I have resolved to limit my soda intake, which means I will not be stocking up on Dr. Pepper or slipping the occasional Dews in my grocery cart anymore. (Ok, honestly this is still in the experimental stage. I'm no dummy I know my weaknesses. I'll keep you posted on my progress... ...or... ...lack there of.)

Night time snack any one? No bake cookies and Gooey Chocolate Chip! Good thing I already worked out.

Kids are asleep, time to catch up on Grey's.

P.S. I could not figure out how to do the grid grouping on flicker of all the pictures. If someone knows how could you please please leave me a How-To comment? Thanks bunches You Da Best!)

Sleep deprived? Not these two

My night...Put Bentley to bed and then an hour later put McCoy to bed and then an hour later go to bed myself. Sometime around three I wake up to feed and put Bentley back to bed, then before I go back to bed, I pick up McCoy who has snuck in my bed and take him back to his own bed where he wakes up and insist I snuggle him so I do and I end up falling asleep in his room for an hour and then I am awakened by Bentley's cries so I go and sooth her back to sleep and finally get back into my own bed and fall asleep. I do this song and dance one more time and at some point finally fall asleep in my own bed. And yet after all that...this is what I find in my bed when I awake! At some point I will sleep through the night and wake up well rested, but when I wake up to these two cuties in my bed and they are so peaceful I just can't help but smile and feel content. When my babies are happy I am happy. Sometimes life is just so simple :)

There's No Place Like Home, There's No Place Like Home, There's No Place Like Home

Back at Last....and so happy to be home! We had a good time on our Christmas Vacation, but it it was not all fun and games. It was wonderful to be able to spend the holidays with family. So nice to see everybody and laugh and just sit inside by the fireplace and talk. We realize now that we have really become true Floridians. The cold is not for us. We spent the majority of the trip freezing and taking turns being sick. Bentley spent the 1st week getting two new teeth. McCoy got a nasty ear infection and temperature of 106 that landed us in the ER. And Glade and I each got the flu. Good times LOL. I must say though that if I had to be sick, Idaho was the place to be. I got taken care of so well. I have honestly not been that sick EVER. My mommy made me chicken noodle soup and gave me a Vick's rub down to help me sweat out the sickness, and my wonderful mother in law made sure my hubby and kiddos were always fed while I was laid up in bed (and by bed I mean passed out on the floor or wherever I happen to be at that moment) I just couldn't stay awake. And Poor Glade got sick right at the tail end of our trip and had to fly home all sick. Happy to report that we are all germ free now!
We started off the Holiday's with a Christmas Eve Eve party at the Angilau's with all the Peterson clan. It was so much fun and so wonderful to see McCoy having so much fun playing with all his cousins. Santa even came and brought all the kids new Christmas Jammies. Then the kids dressed up and did a live navity scene.

In Idaho we celebrated with two Christmas Eve Parties, one at the Stokes and one at the Nana and Pop's House. Both were a blast. There was so much yummy treats and good times. Games and caroling, and good company. We woke up Christmas morning at Nana and Pop's house. Pops read us the Christmas story and I believe Uncle Jordan won the best Uncle award. His gifts for the kids were spot on. McCoy LOVES his AC/DC paper jams guitar and Bentz LOVES her snuggly glowing bear. Good job Unlce J. The kids and even Glade and I got spoiled. Thanks again everybody. And extra Thanks to Nana and Pops for my beautiful Jewelery! So glad you know a good jewelery man. (wink) I think my favorite gifts were my new robe, blue track suit and fuzzy socks beings as that is all I wore the week I was sick hee hee. And true to traditions, Nana made her special My 1st Christmas Tree just for Bentley's first Christmas. (McCoy had a blue and white one his first Christmas) Everything on the tree was for baby Bentley. She sure got spoiled. One of my favorite things in the tree was the baby dolly at the bottem of the tree. That was actually my first baby doll. So awesome that my mom saved it and now Bentley can play with it too. She LOVES baby dolly's. :)

(My amazing cousin Charisse made the girl's bibs. She is so crafty and her baby Hadyn is so cute!)

And the main reason for the trip, Little Bro's Wedding! It was so special to be able to able to be there to witness Jordan and Tiffini's wedding and watch my baby bro express his love for Tiffini. I also loved that my baby boy took part in the wedding line. He got to be a "pick boy". Kind of like a flower girl I guess, but for boys. Him and Tiffini's little brother wore tux's and had top hats filled with guitar picks that had the wedding date on them and they threw the picks into the crowed. It was was so cute. And my little man looked so handsome in his little tux! The wedding was beautiful and Jordan and Tiffini looked wonderful together. It was also nice to visit with family that I don't get to see very often. I still didn't feel like I got to see everybody, but thats how the story usually goes. Never enough time. We are looking forward to going back to Idaho/Utah but honestly can't say when that will be. We do know it won't be in the winter time again hee hee.