Pawelek Place

Fall Fun!

2011-12-06T13:54:00.000-08:00

We got to go to Ruidoso, New Mexico for a week at the end of October. It was so good to spend time together with nothing else going on. We traveled around the towns close to Ruidoso and spent time just wandering around Ruidoso as well. Peter's favorite was the Nasa Space Museum in Alamogordo and he has asked to go back there every few days in the last two months. He keeps asking "Mom, how do you become an astronaut again?" It was warm and sunny all week and then we actually got to see snow on the last day we were there! We came back to Texas just in time for Fall Festival. Peter was a knight, Hadley was a watermelon, and Pete and I were a pilot and flight attendant...lol. The kids had so much fun and ate way too much candy!

4 months later...

2011-12-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

I have been a super slacker when it comes to blogging lately...eeek. Let's see if anyone is still reading this. Well since Hadley turned one (my last post) here is what we've been up to:

Hadley: She just turned 16 months last week! Wow time is flying with these kiddos. At her 15month appointment she weighed a whopping 20lbs and was 30 inches long (about the 25th percentile for both) She is itty bitty but so fiesty and tough. I will credit that to her brother. We said goodbye to her beloved pacifier and she has learned so many words since losing that "plug". I am not sure how many words she is saying but there are new ones each day. If any of you know Hadley, you also know she had one in her mouth and then one in her hand ALL of the time.

Here are the words I can think of just so she can read this later.
Mom, Daddy, Peter (peto), Lucy, Mimi, Gaga, Pa, MurrMurr, Otis ( mimi and murr murr's dog) Aimee, Angie, Manda, Holden (Holdy), more, bite, milk, juice, ball, baby, tree, eyes, nose, mouth, hair, bow, toes, pretty, cheese, beans, cookie, grape (gapes), thank you (tain too), drive, jump, bath, puppy, cows, cat, meow, bird (bod), horsey, hello (he-wo), up, down, out, pants, TV, glasses (gasses), no, yes, ni-night, bye, kiss, hold you, bebe (that's her blanky), boots, shoes, dress, diaper (diapa), tee tee, poo poo (thank you Peter once again, he thinks this is hilarious btw), and several others that are a lot harder to understand (or spell).

She tells me almost everytime she is going to the bathroom and I am really hoping this means early potty training sometime next spring. Hadley eats everything in sight but I know it won't last forever so I am giving her all the veggies I can before she turns three and then eats nothing. At this age she is still pretty clingy to me but has been letting Pete put her to bed a few times a week which I am so thankful for. She is pretty easy right now but I am starting to see some independence moments which will soon lead us into the "terrific two's!" :)

Peter: He is three and a half! What a handful too! Peter keeps us on our toes for sure. He keeps us laughing as well. I HEAR that he is just like me when I was little but I am not sure I fully believe that..lol. He loves to learn new things and his curiosity has been getting him into some trouble lately...among some other things...lol. Here is the yogurt bottle that he flushed "to see if it would sink or float". Pete had to take the toilet off of the wax ring to get this little thing out of the 's' bend of our overflowing toilet. Awesome...

This Christmas season has already been so fun with Peter! He is so excited about the tree, the lights, the advent calendar, the stories, etc. We had our FIRST paid babysitter to the house this week and Peter waited at the door for 20 minutes until she walked up. As soon as he saw her he started in with "KYLEE! Want to see how fast I am? Do you want to see my superhero shoes? Come look at my room! Look how high I can jump! Did you know that I am three and a HALF!!?" I said "Sorry Kylee, he might be a tiny bit excited that they get to have a babysitter tonight." :) And I am pretty soon he never stopped for the two hours I was gone.
Peter also found a red power wheels jeep in a catalog and has been asking for it for Christmas. Conveniently enough my sister had a red power wheels jeep in her garage that her kids were wanting to give to Peter. SO guess what is waiting for him in the shed? He is going to be super excited and I am going to have to give him some driving lessons in the meantime. Thankfully I can still outrun a power wheels motor. :)

Hadley 1 year pictures

2011-08-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

I shot a few 1 year pictures of Hadley in our yard on her birthday..enjoy!

Hadley turns 1!!

2011-08-22T19:31:00.000-07:00

This year has flown by much faster it seems than Peter's first year! Guess that's what happens when you have 2! We were at the beach with all of my family the week before Hadley's birthday so we had a little party for her there and then another little party back home with Pete's family. At age 1 here is what Hadley is up to:
-She has 6 teeth.
-Still scooting around on her bottom, never has crawled on her hands and knees, but standing up by herself.
-Eats anything and everything. Sits at the table before everyone else and stays much longer than everyone, usually double fisting it still an hour into dinner.
-Stopped nursing a week after her birthday and drinks from sippy cups or straws. Never really liked the bottles, but LOVES the paci.
-Says Mama, Dada, bird (bod), bye bye, hello (huddo), hi, more (mo), up, no no (na na), puppy (bubby), baby, ball, uh oh, juice (any drink is juice), yum, boo, and sometimes even Gaga and Pa! -She is very dramatic and temper mental and often screams and throws herself on the floor "blaming" things on her big brother, but so silly and funny most of the time.
-She loves baby dolls, water, dancing and peek-a-boo.
-We have her one year well visit in the morning so I am not sure of her stats but I am guessing 20th percentile or so...we'll see.
Here are all of the pics from the birthday parties!

Summer Pictures!

2011-08-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

Since Equador we have spent time resting, going to my sister's wedding (which was awesome), going to the beach and spending lots of time trying to stay cool. Here are random pictures from this summer!

Haddie and Emmi Lou

Sea Monsters William and Peter

The Grocery store in Peter's room...the bbq is the cash register by the way..

Took the paci away during the day and she always finds a substitute....rubber duck anyone?

Causing trouble as usual..

No hands!

My beautiful sister...doesn't this look like a magazine?

Seesters! (Aimee, Me, Angie)
Fun at Port A!

Equador!

2011-08-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

We had felt God leading us for almost a year to go to Quito, Ecuador for our first experience with family missions. We prayed about it with much questioning from others on why we would take our young kids with us. We finally got to go June 7th through 17th and had such a great time! Our friends Larry and Amanda Castro live there and we had such a great trip and experienced so much of God's perfect timing and planning throughout the whole trip. We were blessed with a great team and such great friends. Can't wait to go back. Here are my favorite pictures...

Don't know what we would have done without Dominica!

Pete and Larry's wall.

Who knows....lol.

Our awesome team!

Dance party! Happy to be together!

Finished classroom...

She got really good at this!

Normal Afternoon Happenings

2011-05-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Peter!

2011-05-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

We invited some of Peter's friends from Mother's Day Out over to our house for Peter's 3rd birthday. Peter had asked for a Thomas the train cake and a pinata so that's what we did! Easy enough! Peter got all kinds of fun stuff and then we ended the night by bringing out his new bicycle. It was a good time and we are thankful to those who were able to come!

Peter had his 3 year well visit at the same time Hadley had her 9 month.
He is 30 lbs - (25th-30th percentile) and 37 inches tall (50th percentile).

Hadley 9 months

2011-05-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

Here's what Hadley was up to at 9 months!

-Almost 17 lbs - 25th percentile

She has one tooth so far and I am expecting another one soon. She still doesn't crawl on her hands and knees much although I have seen her trying it more lately. She scoots on her bottom or one hand, one foot, and one knee. She is always dragging some toy around in her free hand. She has completely stopped eating any baby food unless it is the kind that she can hold in the little pouch and squeeze into her mouth, and rarely takes anything from a spoon. She eats about anything she can pick up by herself. Her favorite thing to do is hide behind the living room curtains or the couch and play peek a boo with us. She thinks she is hilarious, really she is. Especially when we can see her smiling behind the sheer curtains...lol. She still doesn't sleep through the night but is only waking up usually one time (only in the last month or so!). Which also means I have still not had a single full nights rest in over 9 months. It is really starting to wear on me! She is a pretty happy girl though and LOVES her big brother!

Time flies when you are crazy. :)

2011-03-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to take some pictures of the kids lately because I have been so bad about it since Hadley was born. I was just looking back at some of the old pictures and it all seems like such a blur! Peter will be three in May and Hadley already 8 months old tomorrow. Peter says the funniest things and I really need to start writing them on here so I can remember them...so we will start with today. Earlier today I put him in time out and the whole time he was yelling from the other room, "MOM! I'M PRETTY SURE I WILL LISTEN THIS TIME! MOM, I'M PRETTY SUURRRRE!" lol. Peter I love you, but "pretty sure" will never get you out of time out early. Oh and I have to write this down too. I picked Peter up from Mother's Day Out last week and the teacher asked me to talk to him when we got home because he peed in the front yard of the Methodist Church on Main Street! Good gravy..I have been trying to explain to him that he can do that at Gaga and Pa's house in the country, out at the farm, or even in our back yard I don't care. But nowhere else. I keep getting "BUT Mooooom." No buts or butts...lol.

Hadley has learned to army crawl for a few weeks now but never very far. Today Peter and I were making Jello in the kitchen and I found Hadley by the front door eating leaves. Guess my days of leaving her on the area rug are gone. Want to know what we did after we made jello? Yep..Swept up all the leaves and mopped. :)

Enjoy the pics!

February Fun

2011-02-22T12:04:00.000-08:00

I started this last month and never got around to publishing it until now.....sigh..

It seems like since I have started staying home with the kids that I rarely know the day of the week, the date or the time. It is hard to believe February is about over and that this week Hadley will be 7 months old. This month started off trying to get her to eat some solids. She has finally decided that she likes them and regularly eats sweet potatoes, avocados, banana, carrots, and most of the other normals so far. She loves the mum mum rice rusks or anything she can do by herself.

We were able to take the kids to the rodeo a few times thanks to some sweet friends who gave us tickets and of course I took no pictures. Peter loves the horses and bulls and probably the popcorn just about as much. Our good friend Hesbon came from Kenya to stay with us for about 5 days and the kids loved him. It was his first trip to the states and not at all what he expected he said. He had a good time and it is always an honor for us to spend time with him. Here are some pictures from the week! Here is Hesbon on the fake bull at the rodeo...lol.

My sweet Valentine balloon from Pete. I kept this balloon as long as I possibly could. It just made me laugh every time I saw it.

Hadley pooped out from eating her weight in carrots.

Hadley and Hesbon at the rodeo.

Videos!

2011-02-12T14:56:00.000-08:00

I think I finally got my video uploading from the Flip camera figured out. Here's a few..more to come!

January Wrap Up

2011-02-02T11:09:00.000-08:00

Here's what went on with us in January: We celebrated the New Year at home, built a fire in the fire pit and rang in the new year with a few firecrackers and sparklers, actually I don't think we made it to midnight but watched the ball drop in New York at 11.

We have been using our zoo membership lots this month. It is an easy place to take both kids by myself and since we have had such pretty days this month, we just pack up a lunch and spend the day there. Peter is loving it. He is also in Mother's Day out two times and week and learning so much this year! We love his new teachers and he looks forward to going every week. Lately we have been working on recognizing letters. He knows most of them, sometimes getting mixed up with his k's and x's and can recognize his name. He is so smart but also pretty challenging! Who taught this kid how to argue? Any ideas Mom? Sheesh...he acts just like me when I was young, so I've heard from my sisters and mom....soooo sorry you guys. He is a good big brother though and tries his best to entertain Hadley. He was singing to her yesterday and I heard him saying "Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man, put the pancakes in the microwave and throw them in the pan!" Apparently that's the 2011 version. :)

Hadley is working on sitting up, she is still pretty wobbly but getting there. She is "talking" a lot and just starting to eat some solid foods. She has refused just about any baby food that we have tried and I am still trying them everyday. She won't even eat applesauce! What baby doesn't like applesauce? She loves mashed potatoes and smashed avocado. She loves bananas but only in the little net thingy that you suck them out of...kind of nasty but we are glad to have it.

I took Hadley for her 6 month well visit on the 27th and she weighs 14.8 pounds and is 25.5 inches long and head is 16.25. She is on the smaller side but I am not surprised. Dr. said she looks awesome besides the little bit of eczema that I am trying to fix. She is rolling around to get where she needs to go for now and no teeth just yet.

I finally got the Flip video camera out but I am having trouble uploading videos. I will keep trying and get them up soon!

December Catch Up!

2010-12-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

Wow time flies when you are having fun! OR when you have a 2 year old and a 5 month old and lots of Christmas festivities going on. I have sat down to blog at least 5 times and didn't know where to start so...well I just didn't. Here we go!

First Pete took his vacation at the beginning of December as usual but we had some work to do on the house so we decided on a "stay-cation" this year instead. We enrolled Peter in Mother's Day Out two days a week to get him around some other kids and to give me some time with Hadley. He has been enjoying it a lot. We went to Fiesta Texas one day while Pete was off and watched the Nativity show with all of the live animals. They had a lot of little rides open that Peter could ride and believe me we rode every single one. Peter loved the train and rode it by himself at least three times. We also went to SeaWorld one day and saw their Christmas shows. After we watched the Sesame Street show, Peter kept telling us that he really needed to talk to Elmo and he needed to give him a hug so we waited around afterwards. You have to sign up before the show to take pictures with the cast but a family didn't show up and we got to take their spot. Peter could not take his eyes off of Elmo. Cookie Monster and Big Bird were hanging their heads because Peter didn't look at them once...lol. Guess I didn't realize how much he liked Elmo!
Hadley has really changed over the last month. She is finally not crying all of the time and is really a pretty happy baby. She will play by herself on the floor or in her exersaucer for 20 minutes several times a day which is so nice when I am getting meals ready or getting Peter and I dressed. She is figuring out how to spin all of her toys or pull the ones that play music. She jibber jabbers much of the day and has me wondering if she will be the talker her brother is. Her favorite place to nap is in the swing. Now if we could only get her to sleep at night! She turned 5 months old yesterday! We also got her ears pierced this month, which if you saw the picture on facebook, you know stirred up some controversy...lol...to be expected I guess. Oh well.

Hadley wearing my baby dress.

Loving the exersaucer!

We got all of our decorations up pretty early this year and Peter loved helping to decorate the tree and play with his nativity scene. We have the Fisher Price one and Peter figured out that baby Jesus fit just right for a ride in the donkey cart.

We found this little guy in our Christmas tree box.

One of the million shots for Christmas cards. :)

Went for a trip with Gaga and Holden to see Santa.
Pete's mom gave us tickets for "A Tuna Christmas" at the Majestic theatre this year. It was really funny and we had a great and much needed date night!

Eating dinner at Rita's on the River. Pete gave me my Christmas present there, a Pandora charm bracelet. I cried.

Getting ready for a birthday party for Jesus!

Christmas Day!

HAPPY 2010!

October Fun!

2010-10-26T12:32:00.000-07:00

We have had lots of fun this month so far! We were able to get away for a week earlier this month to our friends lake house at Lake Corpus Christi near Mathis, Tx. It was so nice to just relax and to be together as a family for 5 straight days! We fished a little and mostly just hung out. Here is Peter's first catfish catch!

While we we there we went to Corpus Christi one day and visited the Aquarium and ate some seafood. Peter really liked getting to touch the animals and "train" the dolphins. :)

Our first Professional Portrait as a family of four...lol.This Sunday we had baby dedications and got to dedicate Hadley. One of our elders Bob dedicated her since usually Pete does the dedications. She fell right to sleep when he started praying. There were 11 families doing dedications this weekend!

My friend Becca told me after church that she had put some left over baby food, that she had from her little boy, in Pete's truck for when Hadley starts eating it. I didn't expect 75 jars! Your awesome Becca! Had to do a little rearranging in my cabinets!

My mom was here for a few days and helped me get so many things off my to do list! It is so nice having good company all day to talk to. We hate when she has to leave!! Today we had playgroup costume party. Peter requested to be a brown dog so I made his costume this week and H was a ballerina.

Speaking of dogs...Lucy has been so naughty since we brought Had home and has spent most of her free time pouting, spilling the kitchen trash can, and soiling the carpet about 10 feet from her doggy door. Want her? Maybe she can't SEE her doggy door since i haven't taken her the groomer in SO long. Good news is we have new tile for the house..bad news is we still don't know who will install it. I can' wait! We have Fall Festival on Sunday night so stay tune for more pictures!

Lots of Catching Up to Do!

2010-10-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

My mom reminded me yesterday that I hadn't updated this since August! Thanks mom! You are probably the only one who reads this anymore. :) So we have been doing some major adjusting to having two kids and I am not sure that any of us have adjusted too smoothly. We have spent the first two months trying to figure out if Hadley has reflux or a food allergy or both. Right now it seems like probably both. I have completely cut out all dairy from my diet and it seems like she is sleeping better and screaming much less after nursing..so exhausting. Pete forgot that I couldn't have dairy and was trying to be sweet after I had a really long day with the kids and bought me a pint of chocolate ice cream. I want to eat it SO. BAD. Torture! So here are some pictures of what we've been up to lately:

Hadley has been working on cooing..so fun.

Baking cookies.

Camping in the backyard.

Napping.

Baling hay.

Laughing at Peter.

Spreading germs...lol...Peter had croup. Hadley and I got a cold. Peter's croup turned into bronchitis and then he had a huge swollen lymph node in his groin, dr. said from a scrape on his knee that got infected. We have been stuck in the house for over a week!! AHHHH!

On a happier note, Pete finally got his bible study books finished, published, and printed. Yay! He's worked so hard on these and I am proud of him for getting them done. Go HERE.

That's all for now! Hopefully I will be back before Christmas! :)

Baby Shower

2010-08-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

Some sweet friends of ours and Pete's mom were throwing a small shower for my friend Lori and I together since we had the same due date. Hadley surprised us and came a month early so she was already a week old when the shower came. I was ready to get out of the house for the first time so Pete watched Hadley for an hour while I ran over to the shower. It was wonderful and pink! Everything was so cute and Hadley got so many cute outfits! Thanks to everyone who helped and sorry I had to eat and run!!

Hadley is here!

2010-08-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

So I am only a month late on posting this but I thought I should go ahead and write it all down before I forget. Hadley was born 4 weeks ago and weighed 6 lbs 1 oz. and 19 inches long. I didn't feel very good that Sunday before and told Pete I thought I might have her soon. I went in the next morning for my 36 week check-up and the doctor said I was already dilated to a 4! My mom came in that evening because we all knew it would be soon and fast since Peter was born so fast. I had some irregular contractions on Tuesday but no pain and nothing I could even time. I started feeling really nauseous that afternoon and called Pete to see if he could come home by 5. We chose to use our local hospital because with Peter I almost didn't make it to the hospital in San Antonio and we were afraid to chance it this time. I decided to go ahead and go up to the hospital even though my water hadn't broken and I still thought my contractions were pretty irregular. They were not painful, just uncomfortable and felt more like Braxton Hicks contractions, but I just felt like it was getting close. The three minute drive to the hospital was so nice! Also my mom was already here so I didn't have to worry about Peter being taken care of if they admitted me. I got checked in around 6:30 pm and was dilated to a 6 and having contractions 2 to 4 minutes apart. Still just feeling uncomfortable and crampy and was having to watch the monitor to see if I was having regular contractions. Nurses came in and got blood work done and papers signed and dr came in to check progress. I was at an 8 and starting to really have to breath through the contractions and focus on relaxing my muscles through the pain. I got up to go to the bathroom as many times as they would let me so I wouldn't have to sit in the bed. The contractions were starting to be as hard and close as they could be so they checked again and I was a 9.5. The dr said i could push as soon as he broke my water so I finally let him...lol. I pushed twice and Hadley was born at 9:30! I had a natural birth with Peter and was able to do it again with Hadley. I am so thankful that it was relaxed and much less chaotic than the first one. Being born at 36 weeks, we thought she may have some lung issues but after some oxygen and iv fluids, her lung problem resolved itself and was clear by the second day.

At a 6 and having contractions every 2 to 4 minutes. Still no pain. Crazy!

At an 8, forcing a smile between hard contractions. :)

She's here!

No more tubes!

First family of four picture.

Meeting big brother.

Home at last!

Projects, Projects, Projects

2010-07-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

So I have been on a blogging hiatus for a month but we are still here! I have been trying to finish an array of projects that I started as a result of my insane nesting phase and have about got it all finished. Thank goodness...because I know they will not get done anytime soon after the baby is born. Here is everything I've been working on! First finishing up the baby room and making some of Peter's hand me downs a little more girly...

Then Peter and I found this Noah's Ark at the thrift store and fixed it up for his room, complete with velcro animals. :)

Then I decided that I would make upholstered headboards for our beds. I used our old window screens that were in garage for ours and an ugly canvas for Peter's.

Besides finishing incomplete projects we have just been hanging out around here mostly. Katie, one of my college roomies, came to visit Texas from Kentucky. It has been so long since Jana, Katie and I all hung out and it was so nice! Here's our three little munchkins together!

Addison, Peter, and Davis

I go back to the dr. tomorrow for my 36 week check up. Hoping for good news ! Have a good week!

Here's a very professional mirror belly shot to end the post!

New Sono Pics and Nursery Pics

2010-06-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

We've made it to 31 weeks! Here is some nursery progress and the sono pics from today.

Sono Pics

2010-05-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

I got to have a 3D ultrasound today. My doctor sent me to the hospital checking for placenta problems but the sonographer did not find anything. We got a good report over all! I will go back Thursday for another appointment and the fun glucose test. It was so fun to see her profile and her face! She would not move her hands from in front of her face and kept putting them in her mouth but we got a few good shots. We could even see her hair! If you are on Facebook you have already seen these...Enjoy.

Catch up post!

2010-05-22T14:23:00.000-07:00

I have needed to update for a while and just kept putting it off. Since last time I posted, Peter turned 2 and we seemed to celebrate for about 2 weeks between having a little party with my family at my mom's, his real birthday day, a little party with Pete's family, then more family coming down, and a present here or there from friends. I am pretty sure he didn't mind a bit with all of the cake, cupcakes, and opening presents. To my sweet Peter, here are some things I love about you being TWO:

1) The funny things you say each day - we are always surprised at the new things you are learning and things you pick up from what you are hearing.
2) You are too smart! (I am a little biased.) You impress me that you know all of your colors, memorized your first Scripture this last week (Phil. 4:4) , and know the difference between all of the construction and emergency vehicles out there..lol. You told me this week on the swing, "Mom, I am going back and forth!" You are making so many connections now and you really do have good listening ears, whether I think so or not. :)
3)You really do feel bad when you hurt someone...even if you meant to do it at the time. Thanks for the sweet kisses.
4)The way you get so excited and always want Daddy to chase you as soon as he gets home.
5)The way you could spend eternity outside swinging, running, finding bugs and sticks, and walking the dog.
6)The basketball "moves" you learned from watching daddy play and from your friend William. (Video to come on this one.)

You challenge me quite a bit but I guess it wouldn't be toddlerhood without the challenges!

Sucking the icing off of the cake.

Everyone having lunch at Rock House after church.

Posing with Daddy.

In other news, we got to eat our first garden produce from our garden this week! Its all been experimental so I was glad something grew and was edible..lol. The tomato plants are doing good..still waiting on squash, green beans, and corn.

I am about 27 weeks pregnant now! I am thankful for every week that passes. I am very ready for August to get here because this pregnancy has been so crazy. My dr. found a small tear in my placenta two weeks ago and after a good two weeks I started having some more issues this week while Pete was in Costa Rica. Thankfully my mom came the whole week to help me out with Peter and was here already. I am on "modified best rest" and am supposed to sit or lay down a good bit during the day, and not lift anything over 10 pounds, not do much housework...etc. etc....sooo tough with a toddler. I am just taking it one day at a time and trying not to let it overwhelm me! While my mom was here she cleaned my house, helped me get SIX dinners made and in the freezer, helped clean up all the nesting messes I had drug out of the closets and get a few things done in Hadley's room. (We actually settled on a name already!) I had bought a bedspread for the bed in there, finished sewing curtains, and painted some ladybug frames and we got those up and the closet organized. I still need to figure out what to put on the walls but at least it is functional so far. Some day I will take some preggo pictures and post them maybe!

Growing, Stretching, and Changing (In more ways than one :) )

2010-04-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

Well after three sonograms we are pretty sure we are having a little GIRL! I am not sure what to think because I fully expected another boy this time but we are excited either way. I had some complications early on and am just so thankful to be seeing a healthy baby each time we have gone to the doctor. Things seem to be leveling out this last week and I feel like things are getting back to normal. I will go back to the doctor next week for another appointment. I have been having to rest a lot more than normal these past few weeks which has given me lots of time to think and pray. Our associate pastors wife and I also went to a Minister's Wives retreat weekend before last for some much needed girl time. I feel like God is showing me so much about myself that needs to be turned over to Him in these last few weeks. Here are a few of them:

1) I do not like to give God control of scary situations for fear that he might choose an outcome that I do not like.
2) I do not know how to rest and feel a huge load of guilt if I am being still.
3) I miss God speaking to me often because I won't be still and rest.

I feel like I have been able to see things more clearly as a parent, as a wife, and in my quiet times now that I am sitting and trusting God. As a parent we love our children so much and want them to just trust that we are going to make the best decisions for them. I am constantly telling Peter as I am rinsing the soap out of his hair in the bath tub, "Lean back, trust me, lean on my arm and I won't get the soap in your eyes." I realized at the retreat that God was telling me the same thing. "Lean back on my arms, Abby, and trust that I will make the best decision for your life." Spiritually it has opened my heart again to what I should be focusing on each day.

Physically I am definitely growing and stretching too...lol. If people missed the pregnancy announcement early on they are sure asking me about it now. I have passed the point of looking like I have gained a few pounds in the tummy area and am looking well...round.

I have been having more nesting urges this week and have managed to drag everything out of every closet and not put anything back yet. I am taking it slow and having to rely on Pete to move heavy stuff so this project might take a while.

In other news, Peter is almost 2! I can't believe it! We got his pictures taken not too long ago so I will share a few at the bottom. We don't have a big party planned this year but will get to celebrate with my family this weekend and then here next week. Peter is still tossing around the "Big brother" phrase often but I am not sure he quite gets it yet (although he did get to feel the baby move today for his first time.) He was talking to our dog Lucy this week as she was terrified of him chasing her and in his highest pitched voice said " It's ok Hucy, I yuv you. Hucy tum here, it's ok, I your BIG BRUDDER." lol...did you catch all of that?

Can't believe April is about over! Enjoy the pics!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend this year! On Friday night Pete and I were invited over to some friends house from Pete's discipleship class to watch the Passion. I had still never seen it. The whole movie was so hard to watch but I was so glad I got to see it because it was such a great reminder of what Christ went through for our salvation. The movie was pretty bloody and I know Christ's crucifixion was even worse than they could portray. I cried through the whole thing. One thing that I didn't expect was just feeling so much for Mary as she watched her child be beaten beyond belief. She was so faithful to submit to the Lord's purpose and I guess being a mom now brought new meaning to that part of the story for me.

Peter and his cousin Holden

Saturday morning we had the Cowboy Fellowship egg hunt. It is community wide and we had a pretty good turnout.

On Saturday afternoon my sisters and their families and my mom and step dad came to our house! I was so happy to be able to host Easter this year! We went to the Saturday night service. Pete's brother Zack and his wife Amanda got baptized, the message that Pete preached was so good, and we had the Lord's Supper. Such a great service. Sunday we cooked most of the morning and then had a egg hunt after lunch before everyone packed up and went home. Of course it went by way too fast, but it always does.

My mom and Bobby showed up being funny in their matching Easter shirts. ( And I actually liked them.)

Chandler searching in the tree.
Gracie focused on the hunt.
Bowyn in action.
Forced smile. Yes that was his Easter outfit.
Digging in the loot.

Sunday night, Pete's parents and brother Jake came over to eat leftovers with us. Pete had Monday off and we decided to take Peter to the zoo since he keeps asking about it. It was so nice to spend a little time together as a family. We don't do it as often as we should! This Thursday is my next dr. appointment so I am looking forward to it!

Everything from the hippos, the lions, and the elephant..Peter would say, "I wanna pet it." Or "I wanna ride it."

Brushing the goat. :)Feeding the lori's.
As I was putting him to bed last night he was going through the whole day and all the animals. And he kept saying "I yike monkeys." Me: "I know Peter, no more talking." Peter: "I yike monkeys. El-phants eating the grass. Dinosaur BIG." (For some reason he keeps thinking the rhino is a dinosaur.) Me: Okay Peter, time to be quiet now, close your eyes, it is bedtime." Peter whispering: "Mom......" Me: "Yes?" Peter still whispering: "Mom, I YIKE monkeys."

I think he likes monkeys.

Yard Sale, cloth diapers, and high heels! :)

2010-03-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the LONG time between updates! Since I wrote last we went on our cruise (and didn't take one single picture), have been working lots, and have been loving the weather lately! We had a yard sale a few weekends ago but it rained most of the day and after the big surge of early bird customers not many people wanted to get out. We will probably have another one to make another attempt at getting everything out of the garage weekend after next. (Hopefully I will keep adding to the garage sale pile in the mean time.)

I have been nesting a little bit but haven't had time for too much yet. I just reminded Pete that at this time in my pregnancy we had painted the nursery and installed new floors...lol..not so much this time. The crib is in the room but only because we moved Peter out of it into a twin bed in December and had no where else to stick the crib. We still have plenty of time I guess. I have an appointment next week to get a sonogram! We are having a gender reveal party on the 8th so I am planning revealing BLUE to everyone. Pete is thinking pink...but I think he is wrong. :) On another baby note, we decided to get some cloth diapers for this next baby. We went ahead and ordered them and I have been "practicing" with them on Peter. They are adjustable so you can use them from about 8 or 10 lbs up through potty training. Peter thinks they are so funny but prefers them over his other diapers. They have been super easy to adjust to and no problems so far. I never thought I would even want to try them but we have been pleasantly surprised and hope to use them through a majority of the next ones diaper days. Just think..if we use them full time with the next one I will have already purchased all the diapers I will need for the next several years for baby number 2! I do think we will be using disposables at first when it is so tiny or when we are out and about (like at the church nursery, etc.)

Pete decided that we should plant a little garden this year so Peter and I worked on planting seeds in little cups yesterday. Hopefully by next week we will have some little plants sprouting and get to plant them in the ground! My family is all coming to our house for Easter so hopefully I will get some new pictures this weekend! Here is a little one that I am saving for Peter's Senior slide show/yearbook...lol.

New Year...New Family Member??

2010-02-15T12:59:00.000-08:00

Well we FINALLY announced it at church yesterday morning (and on Facebook :) ), so I can post it on the blog now. We are expecting baby number two in August! My due date is actually August 23rd so I guess I am already 13 weeks this week. That was a long time to keep a secret! We are excited and a little nervous too...well I am nervous...probably not Pete. He has been ready since we had Peter...lol. I don't go back to the Dr. until the second week of March and then the next sonogram will be at 20 weeks to find out what we are having. I am just too curious to wait although I am fully expecting another boy. Lots of people were saying "I thought you might be pregnant but didn't want to ask." lol Why not? Don't I always look tired, nauseated, and a little thicker around the middle? I have had a little tougher time hiding it this pregnancy because I am already showing some and have had all day morning sickness. I feel like it is getting a little better but am ready for some energy. Seven people told me last week at church/work/town before they knew anything how they had been noticing how tired I looked....lovely right? Oh well they were right. Anyway it made for an exciting Valentine's Day! We also got to go eat a nice lunch with some friends and one of the team ropers that was roping at the San Antonio rodeo and his wife and then some other friends invited us back to the rodeo with them last night. We took Peter this time and he had a good time watching everything. We even slept in a little this morning. Well need to get back to work before naptime is over! Have a good day!

21 Months!

2010-02-09T09:49:00.000-08:00

Peter turned 21 months this last week! It is hard to believe that he is almost 2 already! He is still pretty skinny but is for sure getting taller because most of his jeans are recently above the tennis shoes. He is a little chatter box and really loves to read and play anything outside. If we could do those two things and eat yogurt all day he would be one happy boy....lol. This week he has really been impressing us with knowing most of his colors just the last few days. Yesterday Pa (Pete's dad) called and was going to pick up the new tractor from John Deere and drive it out to the farm and was wondering if Peter could go with him. I drove him over to John Deere and loaded him in the tractor and he was so ready to go. The new tractor has a little instructor's seat with little seat belt next to the drivers seat. I figured since the tractor is HUGE and would be going about 25 miles and hour he would be fine. They were so cute sitting next to each other driving away. Peter had a good 45 minutre ride and bounced himself to sleep before they got out to the farm. So funny how boys just intuitively love tractors and big machines..lol. I took a few pictures of him "driving" it once I picked him up at the farm. He cried the whole way into town because he didn't want to leave.

We have tickets for the San Antonio Rodeo that a friend gave us for this week. I always enjoy going and it will be good for us to have a night out without the munchkin!

For those of you who know Lucy (our poodle) she has been super depressed since we moved into the new house because we have a nice backyard full of squirrels, birds, and occasionally the neighborhood cat, BUT she can't go outside and chase them because we usually aren't here most of the day. She had a doggy door at our old house and loved the freedom. We needed to replace our back doors because of wood rot since we moved in but just did it yesterday and Pete installed a new doggy door. She has been so hyper and running in and out whenever she sees anything. She is once again QUEEN of the backyard and so happy about it. She doesn't do too bad for a 13 year old poodle.

Here are a few pictures from the week! Enjoy!

NOT potty trained or anywhere close, just wants to try every once in a while...this particular day he tried for about 20 minutes so I thought I might as well take some pictures. :)

Happy New Year! A little bit late...:)

2010-01-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

Haven't blogged in a while but have lots to catch up on and Christmas pics to post. First I just want to tell you guys who commented so sweetly on my last post "Thank you!". Every little word means so much when you are getting through a rough time.

Since we moved into our new house this last summer and had some more space, we volunteered to have the Pawelek Christmas at our house. We had a great time and so much good food and lots of people. I think we had somewhere around 40+ this year. Each year since my husband and all of his cousins were little, their parents made them sing Christmas carols before getting the presents and even though all cousins are in their 20's and 30's, they and their spouses :) still must sing before getting the gifts. Love it. Peter was really confused about it all but decided he loved it after a while. Christmas morning it was just us three. We gave Peter a Little Tikes car and he wouldn't get out of for two hours..not even to open presents.

Real estate seems to picking up after a very slow Fall. I am working on several houses right now. One is closing today that was supposed to close December 18th! I went to Sonic and got a strawberry lime slush for a pre-celebration...lol..you never really celebrate until you get your check!

Peter is 20 months now! It is hard to believe he will be 2 in May. He has kept us laughing lately. He just talks all day long. Although I am grateful for all of his words I do enjoy those very few minutes a day when there is NO noise...which is nap time or when his mouth is full of food...but not really even then. He has now graduated from his crib to a twin bed and is doing great. We put a baby gate on the door to his room so if/when he gets out he can't leave his room since he is downstairs from us. He has been in his crib since he was 5 weeks old and has NEVER not once wanted to get into it. He actually likes his "big boy bed" with his airplane sheets and climbs into it at night ready to read a book.

I start a new discipleship class tonight at church called the Freedom of Forgiveness. I hear from the classes above me that it is challenging but good and so I am looking forward to the refining process that will happen this semester.

Other than that I am ready for some sun! I feel like my bones are cold. There is nothing like real sunshine to warm you up and we need to play outside! My house is looking very...well...lived in. I think a trip to the zoo is in line once we get a nice day.

Hope you have had a good start to the year!

Really Long Post

2009-12-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

I have so many things to post about I am not sure where to start. The week before Thanksgiving, my stepmom had called the family in to the hospital early Wednesday morning when my dad had taken a pretty drastic turn. My two sisters, my two step-sisters, and step-mom stayed there through the end of the week so we could all be there together. Peter was staying with grandparents and I got report that he was sick and also Pete was out of state that week. (He ended up flying back Friday night.) My dad passed away after a hard fight with leukemia on Saturday morning.
It was such a helpless and awful feeling to just sit there and watch him and then on top of that have a sick kiddo at home. It was so bittersweet to see him gone but then to see him at rest as well. So many mixed emotions and lots of ups and downs. We stayed at home Saturday afternoon and ended up taking Peter to the ER with bloody diarrhea (sorry if that is too much info) after the doctor on call recommended we go. They ran some tests and gave him IV fluids. We came home Sunday to try and get some rest before going to Junction. Peter seemed to be doing a tiny bit better by Monday morning and we took him in to his pediatrician on our way to Junction. They said the tests hadn't shown anything yet and it was probably a virus.
We got to Junction just in time for me to go to the viewing while Pete and my mom stayed with Peter. Tuesday was the funeral and Peter was not doing well at all. I really thought I might have a nervous breakdown at that point. Pete's parents were so sweet to come all the way down for the funeral and then ended up driving around with Peter the whole time, so I could just process everything that was going on. We were blessed to have Pete and a friend of my Dad's do the funeral. They did such a great job sharing stories and sharing the gospel.
Peter woke up screaming and rolling around like he was in intense pain Tuesday night, then would just collapse in a ball on the floor. The Dr. on call again recommended he be seen in the ER. We drove to San Antonio and the Dr. who pulled up his chart said "So he has Salmonella?" We were clueless and found out one of the cultures had finally tested positive that morning. He started IV medication, gave us a prescription and sent us back home. We went to our house that night and tried to sleep most of Wednesday until the first ER doctor we had seen called our house and said to stop the medication immediately, come back to see her in the ER before 6 and we would probably be admitted! At this point in the week I had no tears left to cry and all I could do was laugh. We packed our bags and went back to San Antonio. We spent Thanksgiving there and they let us come home on Friday afternoon. I felt like it was almost a blessing because I was so tired emotionally and felt like my judgement was so clouded that I didn't even know what to do anymore. They took good care of Peter and for me, even though I was there holding him the whole time, it was restful. Whew! I know you are tired of reading..we were tired too.

Pete and I had decided back in August to take the first two weeks of December as our vacation. It could not have come at a better time. We went back to Junction for the first week and I am writing this now from Galveston. I have desperately needed this time to process everything and just be quiet.

I am so thankful for so many things during this awful time so I am making a list...mostly for me.
-I am thankful for my precious family and my husband's family
-my sweet sweet husband
-the amazingly geniune nurses on the oncology floor at Methodist Hospital who treated all of us as their patients
-For everyone who just took over all of our work at our offices
-I am so thankful for all of the stories that we didn't know that were shared about our dad. They made us really proud of him
-Thankful for all of the flowers, cards, and sweet comments in honor of him
-For the Thanksgiving dinner that we ate in the hospital cafeteria.
-Glad Pete and I like each other enough to spend so many days together. :)
-For vacation time spent with family and friends and used for some healing and rest.
-For HIM who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to HIS power that is at work in us.

Lots of Updates

2009-11-12T08:59:00.000-08:00

November is halfway over already! Since the Fall Festival we have been pretty busy. Last Thursday I went to the Healthy Woman Gala that our hospital puts on every year. We had a great speaker this year, Lisa Smartt, good food and just a nice evening out.

Our Table

The Office Girls

Sunday evening Pete and I had a date night! YAY! He is so sweet and bought me tickets to the Broadway Riverdance show at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio and tickets for the Nutcracker Ballet at the end of the month! We went to visit my Dad in the hospital for a few hours (more on that below), went to eat, went to Goodwill...lol my idea, and then found a little bakery across from the theatre and stopped in for some apple pie and coffee. The show was great and surprisingly we BOTH enjoyed it. :)

My dad is having a rough week. He spent several days in ICU fighting an infection and is back on the oncology floor now. He is very confused and doesn't know where he is and what is going on. There was no change as of yesterday when my sister was there. Continue to pray for him and his wife Connie who has been there everyday/night since this started!

I just started a new discipleship class about Spiritual Gifts. It has been really good so far and our instructor asked me to fill in to teach the class this Monday. It was nice to teach again but I am really enjoying just sitting and learning the last few semesters. I know I will facilitate a class again once I go through the program so I am just soaking it all up.

Peter went for his 18 month well visit on Monday also. He is 23 lbs and 33 inches tall...i'm thinking more like 32.5 in. He is saying more words than we can count these days and repeating everything. He is starting to put a few words together here and there. And seems to be wanting to spend a large amount of time in...time out. Yes something has clicked in his brain the last two weeks that makes me wonder if it is possible to start the terrible two's at 18 months. Maybe he will get it over with sooner and we will have the terrific twos! :) Peter had a daycare injury on Tuesday. Another kid bit him on his face and he has a pretty good bruise in the shape of some top and bottom teeth still. I am going to go check everyone's mouth to see who did it....not really..haha. Hopefully it doesn't happen again! We have never had a problem with Peter biting and when he came home, I was asking him about his face and he gave me a hug and bit me on the shoulder. Not going to start this. I took a few pictures last week in the yard....

My nephews are in the high school football playoffs for Junction starting this weekend! Way to go Eagles!! Hopefully we will get to cheer them on in Hondo on Saturday!

"The Hair" came out of the closet again

2009-11-02T20:06:00.000-08:00

Lol...so my title is a little scary. Its just that my nappy hairpiece has been to one too many events I think. I think I will replace it and move on to a new personality. Here are some pics of it (and us :) ) at the Cowboy Fellowship Fall Festival at the Jourdanton City Park.

A 50's girl and a football player...

Like the poodle?

Pre-dunking booth.

This picture makes me cold.
They counted over 5000 people this year! Great job everyone who helped put it on this year! We had lots of great game booths this year, good fajitas, a juggler, and a great band called the Wrecking. These guys love Jesus, are super genuine, and so easy to hang out with. We enjoyed having them down for the weekend! They are from Maine but are all over the place so check them out if you get a chance.

Happy November!

Flipping for Friday!

2009-10-23T08:54:00.002-07:00

I haven't recorded any videos in way too long so here is a quick one before we head out for the weekend!

Welcome to the world, Holden James!

2009-10-22T19:30:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, the 14th, Pete's brother Zack and his sweet wife Amanda, welcomed their first baby! Holden James is just perfect. Peter is excited to have a new cousin! Here are a few sweet new baby pictures that I got to take just a little while after he was born.

Peter stayed with his Gran and Grandpa at the end of last week because we were interviewing a staff position for the church. He brought home some pumpkins that they had worked on over the weekend. He is so proud of them and I am too! :) Funny side note...yesterday I let Peter taste a strawberry Sour Belt that we had bought at the football game. He kept saying "YUM!" as he was licking all of the sour stuff off. We got out of the car and he ran over to that little pumpkin on our porch and was licking the glitter saying "YUM!" It kind of looks the same. I am pretty sure it doesn't taste the same.....then again maybe I should lick it too.

After another haircut on Friday.

This weekend Pete is speaking at T Bar M for an event that the Texas State BSM is doing there. As of today I heard that Peter and I are getting to go too so I am really looking forward to a short getaway from the house!

Thank you everyone who left such sweet comments on my last post! I appreciate it and will try to do better about commenting on yours because I do read and enjoy them! Have a good week!

Helloooooo out there!

2009-10-04T20:06:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone, I have been keeping up with everyone else's blogs but have been kind of through a drought here on my own. I have been going back and forth on just stopping it all together because I have been so bad at it lately but it's a good way to keep up with my own pictures and I know my mom reads it :)....so I am going to keep it up. First...Happy Birthday Mom! I hope your day was as wonderful as you always make ours! Sorry I wasn't around to celebrate. Second...Happy 17 months to Peter! Our wild little guy is growing up quickly. Besides the days full of temper tantrums you make me laugh so much! Peter has not ceased to impress me with all of the new words he is spouting out each day. He is such a happy kid most of the time, always humming a song lately. This week was not so fun because we were all stuck in the house sick. My husband had the flu so he was quarantined from Tuesday to Friday in our room upstairs. I was running this place like a hospital. You have never smelled so much Lysol or Germex. Peter and I both had a cold or something less severe than the flu but enough to stay away from everyone else anyway. My company brought us four bags of food from a local cafe one of the days we were locked up here at the house and it was such a huge blessing! Salads, watermelon, grapes, oranges, bananas, cantaloupe, taco soup, King Ranch casserole, and bread sticks....there was so much that I ended up freezing two of the casseroles for later. My dad is still in Methodist Hospital in San Antonio. I haven't been able to go visit this week since we were sick and I am going to stay out until we are all completely well. He has zero white blood cells and anything could turn into something big. Initially when he went into the hospital they were going to start a 24 hr chemo that patients who get it often do not make it through the week. When he went into the hospital though his Dr. decided to try a new type of chemo drug for 5 days that was much less severe. The leukemia responded to it and now he will get that every month as long as he can or until his body can handle a bone marrow transplant. The Dr. told him this week if he doesn't start trying to walk more around the hallway at the hospital he will not get to go home and he will end up in a nursing home instead. I am really grateful for the time I have gotten to spend with him in the hospital. I have had conversations that would have never happened and have never happened my whole life. I know he is going crazy in that hospital room and hoping to get a few days at home eventually. Well if anyone is still out there let me know! Happy Fall!

Dad Update

2009-09-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

To all my sweet friends who are praying for my dad and our family, I just wanted to give you an update. My dad found out yesterday that the dysplasia has progressed into leukemia. So much that the doctor was not able to get any liquid bone marrow to test on Tuesday and just ended up taking a piece of bone. My dad has difficult decisions to make in the coming week and none of the options are very favorable. Pray that he has the real and true peace of our gracious Lord and Savior as he decides what is best.

Some of the AFTERS!

2009-08-31T18:51:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys! I am finally posting some "after" pictures! I just realized tomorrow was going to be September and I have not blogged in too too long! If you didn't see the "befores" they are just a couple of posts down.

Living room - no more bars! Still have to paint the red.

Living Room

Living room and dining room

Dining Room

Master bath

Master bedroom - still have to paint the red and orange beast of a window seat

Family Room

Peter's Room - The pink is gone!
I still have lots to do before we have the (HUGE) Pawelek family Christmas here this year! I am so excited to actually get to host a holiday at our house! It is definitely keeping me motivated to finish all of my projects by December..not that I will ever get finished but maybe with the big ones at least.

A friend who has a grass farm called this weekend and had an extra pallet of carpet grass that he gave us for FREE! We can probably finish off the back yard with 1 or 2 more pallets. It looks so good with grass back there! We have hauled off about 2 or 3 truck loads of junk, tires, brush, old wood, leaves, and lattice. It is coming together finally but we still have at least a whole truck load left to haul! It has been fun working on it in the evenings this month. Can't wait for some cool air!

There was a blood drive in Junction today for my dad. I can't donate but Pete did and so many others! Thanks for all the awesome donors! There was a good turn out. He is getting large transfusions each week and so far the chemo has not helped increase the blood count. His doctor has moved the next marrow test up to this week so he can determine if this has progressed into full blown leukemia. My dad seems discouraged and doesn't know how much more chemo he can take. Please keep praying for him.

Sorry for the sparse updates lately! Have a good week! -abby

I left you hanging!

2009-07-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry about not posting after pictures of the house yet! We left for Washington DC on Wednesday morning so Pete could do a funeral at Arlington National Cemetary. We got to stay until Sunday and got back late last night. I will update soon!

Finally moved!

2009-07-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Well I can't even remember what all has happened since I last posted but we have been working on the house that we bought for about a month now, plus packing, and finding someone to rent our old house, and have finally gotten moved this week! We still have a long way to go but I am just glad to have everything in one spot finally. My mom came this Tuesday through Thursday and helped with everything. I don't know what I would have done without her! Thank you so much Mom!! In the middle of all the home renovations we had the annual trip to Port Aransas with my family. I would have liked to stay for a few months! BUT moving was calling and back to the chaos we came. We were able to get DSL internet in our new neighborhood and it has been so nice. We bought two desks from a used furniture warehouse today and I am hoping to have a functioning home office by next week.

My Dad has recently been diagnosed with MDS, which is otherwise known as pre-leukemia. He has had one week of chemo and 3 blood transfusions so far. He is getting chemo one week a month for four months and they will evaluate everything at the end of four months. There are a lot of risks involved especially with the amount of transfusions he is recieving in such a short time. Be praying for him if you think about it. His name is Clifton Moss. I have been trying to get this post posted for 3 days now so I am going to post a picture overload now!

Zack and Amanda's Wedding

BEFORE PICS!
Guest Bath

Guest Room

Office

Hall Bath

Peter's Room :)

Master Bedroom
Master Bath

Family Room

Living Room

Kitchen

Dining Area
After pictures to come tomorrow!

Mom, Aimee, Angie, and I at the Beach

Annual Talent Show...rahahaha

Peter and Gracie floating in the pool.

Me and tha sisters

Peter running around at Krazy Kids at church. Lost a shoe in the blow up thingy...

Oh my...this makes me laugh. lol

June Ramblings

2009-06-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't been too motivated to blog lately but feel like I should give an update before the whole month passes by. The last few weeks have been pretty eventful! Friday we finally closed on our new (new to us) house! We haven't moved a single thing over yet because we have LOTS of work to do. We have slowly been taking off switch plates and taking down old ceiling fans and light fixtures. A friend is coming over tomorrow to put some recessed lighting in and wire in some smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, and then we are getting some drywall/retexturing done, then lots of painting, scrubbing, steamcleaning, ect. I am so ready to just start moving.If you know anyone that needs a rent house in Pleasanton that is a 3/1, send them our way! We would like to have renter's in our house by August. Also Pete's brother Zack got married this weekend. We are super excited for him and Amanda and so glad they live close!! The wedding was beautiful! Pete performed the wedding ceremony and Peter was the ring bearer. I was planning on posting pictures today but I ended up coming to Junction at the last minute this afternoon because my Dad is in the hospital. Not sure of a diagnosis just yet, he is getting blood transfusions all night, and I may know more tomorrow. Thats all for now, hope to post pics soon.

We are still here!

2009-06-06T15:39:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted anything in so long but we are still here! Since the last post Pete and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary and had a great night out at one of our favs, a San Antonio Missions game. I am uploading a lot of videos for this post because some are from May and some from this week. Pete was gone at a conference all week so we are glad he is home! He brought me a watch as a surprise! I have been talking about buying a new watch since Christmas. Nothing fancy..just not digital and plastic. :) He did a good job picking one out! I had a pretty productive work week even though Pete was away because we finally got Peter in daycare for two days a week. We are just on a drop-off basis for Tues/Thurs. just for the summer while some of the teacher's kids are out of daycare. He already has a runny nose but other than that it is great for both of us! He took his first steps on Tuesday at daycare! I just caught a quick couple of steps on video this morning. I am still trying to convince him that it is fun! Today has been a pretty lazy day. I bought Peter a little plastic pool from Wal-Mart and made some popsicles out of juice and we have been outside in the shade most of the afternoon. I finally made Peter get out of the pool so he could take a short nap. I think we are going to try to go to church tonight instead of in the morning and I don't want him to be a grouch. Here are the videos!

Peter does not like me to help him eat anymore with a spoon. Here's his first try on his own.

I have been trying to show him how to sing in the microphone. He does it ALL of the time now.

Taking a few steps.

Birthday Party and One Year stats

2009-05-13T18:33:00.000-07:00

Chandler and PeterSweet Jayme
Gracie and Peter

Peter auctioning off the last bite of his cupcake.

Uncle Jake
Uncle Clayton, Jay, Jayme, Amy, Nana, and Pete
Moms!
Sorry Bobby..I couldn't resist the picture.
Enjoying some lunch, Grandpa and Aunt Angie in the back
Nana, Edna, and Lizzi
Uncle Trent's fabulous beach cupcakes!
Cousins! Peter, Gracie, and Bowyn

Here is a quick video of Peter enjoying his chocolate cupcake at his birthday party and one of his climbing skills on the swingset. We had a great time with everyone and Peter got lots of neat stuff! Thanks to our families for coming and celebrating with us!

I took Peter for his one year well visit today. He got four shots and took them like a champ, so we will see how he is feeling tomorrow. I am going to guess sore at the least. Here is what he is doing at a year:

He weighs 21.5 lbs

He is 30.25 inches long

His head is 18 1/2 inches

Eating anything and everything - ex. Breakfast- half a bowl of regular oatmeal and a banana, today for lunch he ate a whole grilled cheese, whole thing of applesauce, almost whole carton of milk, dinner-broccoli, watermelon, black beans, corn, chicken)

No more "babas", just sippy cups or straws now.

Not walking yet- just cruising, crawling, and climbing mostly

Babbles constantly, says mama, dada, baba, bye bye, Lucy "oose", up, uh oh, ball "ba", dog "dah-y", and lots of others that I think are words but too early to tell...lol

Loves playing on his swingset

Loves music

Loves feeding the cows with Grandpa

Fascinated by anything mechanical - light switches, tools, buttons, wheels...

Average sleep time is from 8:30 pm to 7:30 am, with one or two naps during the day, depending on what we are doing.

Anyway he keeps me on my toes. I am looking for a daycare or in home daycare for a day or two a week because of work. If anyone knows of one in Pleasanton/Jourdanton that has an opening for a one year old let me know!! Other things this week...Pete and I are looking at a another house. It is exciting for me to think about but I will have to admit I get a little sad when I think about moving from here too. We have put so much into this house and really made it ours but I know if we do move once I started fixing up the other house and making memories there, I would feel the same. We will see what happens...

Birthday Boy!

2009-05-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

Peter turned 1 on Monday! I can't believe how quickly a year passes by and everyone tells me that they seem to go faster as your children get older. I have also gotten this comment, "Now that he's one, don't you think it's time for more," more than once. Well to answer that, it depends on what day it is. Today my answer is...nope. lol...it was one of those days. We would love to have more kids. I have a been a bit nostalgic the last few days and can't help but post the newborn pics again. Here we are a year ago!

I was blessed with a natural and quick labor and delivery at 37 1/2 weeks. My water broke at 2:30 am and we skidded into the hospital in San Antonio just in time to have him at 4:09 am. No time for medicine or an IV or the doctor..lol..I had to "not push" until a lady dr. who was sleeping in the hospital ran down the hall. I think I should just have the next one in the bath tub...

This week has been crazy with work, planning for Peter's party this Saturday, and church stuff but in the midst of it all Pete has decided to celebrate Mother's day everyday this week. Monday: Georgeous flowers, Tuesday: A new pillow for me (I was excited...don't worry..i needed it) Wednesday: A one hour massage! Nice!On a side note..the swing set is done! I finished it up on Friday and Peter is enjoying it a lot. He can climb up the slide alone and then slide down on his belly.

Pete and the guys usually play basketball on Sunday evenings at our house so lately the wives and kiddos have been coming over to our house too. I love having everyone over. The kids are going to love these kind of pictures when they are older. That's all for now! I will post pictures of the birthday party after the weekend is up! -abby

Catching up a little..

2009-04-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

Beware this is a long and random post!! We have had a busy few weeks but they have been good! We have been finishing up the last of our laminate wood flooring in the office so now its time to get everything back into the house and clean out that garage! Just sold the table saw on Craigslist today. Woohoo!

Pete celebrated his birthday on the 19th and Steve and Scotty decorated Pete's office! Doesn't it look awesome?! He was SO surprised. We finally went out for his birthday dinner on Friday to Cheesecake Factory in San Antonio. YUM!
This week Peter and I also went to the zoo with the play group from church. We don't get to go to play group too often because I usually have meetings or showings scheduled and Peter is still pretty young for field trips but I majorly needed a day outdoors in the sunshine, and Peter could stay outside for weeks without fussing so we went for it.

Jana, we tried to get a picture by the elephants for you but as soon as we got to them, Peter crashed out in Codi's stroller. Next time you can go with us and ride on the elephants yourself! hehe..love ya!
He had no morning nap and was full from lunch so he couldn't hold his eyes open any longer! I carried him all of the way out of the zoo and put him in his carseat and he never budged. :)

Peter is getting a swing set for his birthday present. Mimi had it shipped here on Friday and I have been working on it a little at a time. I want to have it together by May 9th because we are having family over for Peter's first birthday party and I want my niece and nephews to be able to play on it. So far I am on Phase 8 of 27. I will post pictures of my progress soon. lol...so far you can't tell much has been done except I have put the slide together, the ladder, the rock wall, and the glider. I am working on the frame now, so we will see how many days it takes me. Peter loves to be in the yard and especially play in the water that sprays out of the hose where it is connected to the faucet.
My computer's hard drive crashed last Sunday. I totally had that sick feeling all day wondering what I had lost that could never be retrieved because of my lack of backing up the hard drive. I was glad to see all of the pictures from Peter being born are still on the memory card in the camera. I HAVE to print those off this week! Ok sorry for all the randomness..I haven't taken any video of Peter in a while and so I thought I would post a few mostly for family. Nothing exciting, just our everyday life. Have a good week! -abby

Peter trying to perform one of his many death-defying acts of the day:

Hanging out in the kitchen:

I have never seen Simon so happy!

2009-04-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness...if you haven't heard about this lady Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent, you have to watch this clip. She came out and everyone was making fun of her and thought she was a joke and they were so wrong! I got tears in my eyes when I watched this! lol...seriously....it melts my heart! Ok I am a dork..just watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-KiGva9dV4

South Beach!

2009-04-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long time between posts! Real estate has kept me busy the past few weeks and Peter has been a handful. I am really needing to find a daycare or someone to keep him consistently one or two days a week for a full day. It is getting harder and harder to work from home with him and by the end of most days I am so exhausted from juggling a full day of work with him that I am not sure it is good for either of us. I feel like I am not doing a good job at home, at work, or as a mom. In the midst of all of this...we got to go to Miami for a couple of days! Pete's friend Chris got married and Pete did the wedding. It was a much needed getaway and we got to spend lots of time together the few days before the wedding. We stayed right on South Beach. I loved every minute of it. We could walk anywhere we needed to go and put lots of miles on the jogging stroller. Here are a few pictures from our adventures! Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

This is how the first 3 hour leg on the plane went...lol...I wanted to crawl in a hole so bad. Not sure what was going on. I think his ears were hurting, he has never done this on the plane. I am pretty sure I swore to Pete that we would never be flying anywhere again.
Not too sure about the sand...

What do you think about Pete's tattoo sleeve? Lol..you crack me up babe.
Us in front of a huge crazy tree

Pete, Peter, Andrew, and LaettnerHappier to be on the beach this time
Peter and I

Peter and Daddy
My little beach baby
Eating lots of sand
Much better flight home

Peter's Eye Update

2009-03-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update to say that Peter's eye procedure went well. Dr. Zwaan said he believed that the tear duct would function like it should but we really won't be able to tell fully for a week or two. Peter woke up quickly after surgery and drank some glucose water and then a full bottle right away. He slept on the way home an then another 2 1/2 hours after we got home. He has been a little grumpy but his eye looks pretty good besides a little swelling. Thanks to those who were praying for him (and me :) ) We made it through! Pete is staying home with him tonight so I don't have to miss discipleship class again!

Spring is here!

2009-03-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the long gap between posts. I have been very uninspired to sit and write anything the last few weeks and Peter has been boycotting at least one of his two naps the last 3 days so that hasn't helped. We went to church last night for the Saturday service so I am getting to write a little this Sunday morning. This last week was my sister Aimee's spring break and so we met her, Gracie, and Bowyn in San Antonio on Wednesday at Hemisfair Park. The first stop at the playground was crazy. There were hundreds of first graders on a field trip and you can hear the roar in one of the videos. The weather was perfect and the kids got to play and we walked to the River Walk to get some lunch. It was good to spend some time with you guys! Here are a few random videos of the day.

Peter's first time on the swings.

Waiting on our food at Rio Rio.

On a different note Pete has still been working out and eating healthy and is about half way to his goal. I am so proud of him for sticking with it! We are heading to Miami weekend after next because Pete is doing a wedding for our friends Chris and Jessie. We get to stay right on South Beach so I am ready for that! Anyone know of a good self tanner? lol.

Tomorrow morning Peter will be having surgery to open his tear duct that has never functioned since he was born. We have to be there between 6:00 and 6:30 in the morning and Peter is first in surgery since he is the youngest patient tomorrow. Please pray that everything goes as planned. I am not too nervous about the surgery itself, just the anesthesia. We are very excited for his poor eye to function correctly and I have no doubt that he will be greatful that I will not attack him with a wet rag 35 times a day to clean his eye up. :) He went for his pre-op this week and at 10 1/2 months is 21.5 lbs, and 30 inches tall. He has thinned out so much recently and looks like a little boy. He is eating just about anything now, making lots of new sounds, and getting into everything. He is started to climb on things which makes him able to reach a whole new level of stuff he isn't supposed to get into. He is not even trying to walk alone yet though, just hangs on to the wall, chairs, etc.

Well remember us tomorrow when some of you are snug in your beds and you others are on your way to work! I will give an update tomorrow when we get home!

Catching Up

2009-03-06T08:25:00.000-08:00

Since I last wrote I...

Got my gum stuck on the back of Peter's head...at church...in front of a bunch of people...LOL. Yes I know what you are thinking. Go ahead and say it..."You are pretty much Super MOM, Abby." Thanks...Here's how it happened: I was at the church the Saturday of the Cowboy Church conference and Peter was super tired of me lugging him around. During the break of one of the sessions I put him down on the floor to let him crawl around. He started over to a big group of men talking in the corner and so I ran over to catch him. When I bent over, I said "Stop" and my gum flew out right into the little swirly part of his hair. I thought if I grabbed it quickly it wouldn't stick but it was too late. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't talk. Phyllis..God Bless you Phyllis, you are a good woman....came over and was like "What happened?!" I couldn't say anything so I am just pointing at his head. She's like, "What is that? Is that your gum?" Oh my goodness so while the men were all busting out their pocket knives, the ladies were spraying Pam on his head, along with the ice cubes. We were able to get it out without ruining his brand new haircut.

On a completely different note, the church sent me to a minister's wives retreat last weekend. I will be the first to say I did not want to go and have avoided it for the last 3 years. I had a terrible attitude the morning of it and had a 4 and 1/2 hour drive alone to talk to God about it all. By the time I got there I was slightly ready. I was the first one at the Riverbend Retreat Center in Glen Rose and the day was gorgeous so I unpacked and went for a good walk. I will tell you that I loved every minute of the retreat. God convicted me, encouraged me, refreshed me and let me make a few new friends as well. Whitney, Becca, Patience, and Kelly..I wish you were all much closer. I was so blessed through our conversation, through the laughing, and the square dancing too..lol. Can't wait to get together again.

Lastly I took Peter to the pediatric opthalmalogist yesterday. He has had a suspected blocked tear duct since he was born and is scheduled for surgery on March 23rd. I was a nervous wreck yesterday but am trusting God with the whole thing. I am afraid to make a bad decision as a parent because the condition is certainly not life threatening but the surgery is highly recommended. They have to put him under anesthesia which is the only part I am worried about. Anyone else had their little ones put to sleep for anything? They will probe the tear duct and hopefully fix the problem. If they found out that he doesn't have a tear duct or something we would have to see an ocular plastic surgeon. My prayer is that if it is God's will he will clear it up before surgery time. Anyway say a prayer for Peter and his eye!

That is enough for you to read for now! Until next time..Have a great day!

Thanks Ladies!

2009-02-21T06:40:00.000-08:00

Thank you ladies for your mommy advice on the last post! Lots of good ideas. And Heather of course I remember you! So glad to hear from you!

This week has been busy but lots of fun going on. Pete and I have gotten to go to the San Antonio Rodeo a few times which I always love, and then Friday Pete got to go for a ride in a C - 5 airplane at Lackland Airforce Base to practice a refueling mission. He LOVES anything having to do with airplanes, flying and space. He has his private pilots license and wanted to be a military pilot before being called to the ministry. I will post those pictures when I get them.

Our church is hosting a Cowboy Church conference all weekend and with tonight's service and tomorrow's Pete won't be around much. I need to figure out something to get Peter and I out of the house today if it is nice. Here are a couple of pictures pre-haircut and post-haircut of Peter.

This is how his hair was when he woke up.

We also got to go to our church playgroup last week. They had it at a gymnastics center so the kids could just run/crawl around and on everything. I posted a few videos.

Quick note...

2009-02-18T11:35:00.000-08:00

Need some advice from any moms out there. Peter is almost 10 months old and eating table food and some baby food still. I feel like I am in a feeding rut and don't what new things to try. What do/did your little ones like? Thanks!

Grandparents...i will have new pictures up later today..Peter took a visit to the barber shop this morning for haircut number two...

New Pics

2009-02-09T13:25:00.001-08:00

Well there has not been too much going on lately but here are some pictures from Sunday. We were eating lunch after church and Betsy who goes to our church was sitting at the table behind us snapping some pictures of Peter and Brennan..too cute! Thanks Betsy!

A few pictures and videos from the week

2009-01-24T18:32:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from this week. We got to hang out with Carolyn and Emmet for a morning! So glad we got to see you guys! Can't wait to see you again! The boys were so funny together. They were not very sure about each other at first. Emmet starting singing and Peter started bawling and then Peter cracked Emmet in the forehead with a tambourine and of course he started bawling..sorry buddy! I think all things were smoothed out when Emmet shared his cheese puffs with Peter.

Right before the tambourine attack....
Today Peter got to see his girlfriend Presley. They practiced playing the piano...they are pretty much musical geniuses. You'll see what I mean when you watch the video.

To end the post I will leave you with a funny little clip of Peter falling asleep while sitting in his bed. He has been boycotting naps and bedtime all week long and will sit up until he just falls over :)

The fun has begun....

2009-01-10T16:26:00.000-08:00

Peter is crawling everywhere! Today has been wild especially. It is like his brain just clicked and he realized that he could go anywhere in the house. He found the bathroom, the dog food, Lucy's water bowl, Pete's shoes, and the doggy door all since he woke up from his first nap today. Things have definitely changed in our house the last few days. We have since broken in the safety gate.

Other than that the new year has brought lots of real estate calls, showings, and meetings. I have been dragging Peter all over town and Pete and I have been juggling him back and forth. I have also been going to the gym to a Zumba class this week! It is so much fun! I am enjoying every minute of it even though I look completely ridiculous. I missed going so much and haven't been since my first trimester when I was pregnant with Peter. They have childcare there which has been really nice. Pete has only 2 weeks left in his third semester of Hebrew (Good job babe!) and we are all looking forward to that part of seminary being over. Here is a video from this week. Enjoy!

Lots of updates and a Happy New Year!

2009-01-03T19:58:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long time between blogs! Lots has happened since last time. We went to my home town for Christmas but ended up spending Christmas Eve and Christmas in Methodist Children's Hospital in San Antonio because Peter had RSV. It was terrible but after my initial emotional meltdown everything turned out ok. It was better that we were there and we still got to spend Christmas night with my family. He bounced back so quickly and is doing great now. We got a Flip Video Camera for Christmas which is amazing by the way and so I posted a few videos. At the hospital we were not in a private room so we shared the room with another little girl who had RSV and both of her parents. So there were six of us sleeping in that room! lol...i ended up sleeping IN THE CRIB with Peter. oh man that makes me laugh..it was terrible..i have never slept in the same bed with Peter but it was either there or on the floor under the crib. I had the worst leg cramps ever that night. I almost killed Pete for getting the video camera out. This was a few hours before we got released to go home and Peter's breathing had improved so much.

This video is from the emergency room after I had held Peter down for a whole hour long breathing treatment and he finally went to sleep after he could breath a little. :( so sad..

In the hospital Peter learned how to pull up and stand in his crib. And since then he has learned to sit up from laying down, started crawling, and got a tooth! Here is his first tries at crawling. I will post more as soon as I get good video.

New Pictures

2008-12-17T19:28:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple of pictures from the last couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Peter and Grandpa in the milo.
Peter and Tom at my office.
Century 21 Christmas Party.

At church.

Colorado Report #3

2008-12-05T18:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we spent all day here at the house waiting for the snow storm that never arrived. The weather people said we would have 3-8 inches, we got about 1/8 of an inch. But it was cold and icy all day. I think the high here at the house yesterday was about 8 degrees. Last night we got down to zero. So we just stayed inside and spent the day celebrating Peter's 7 month birthday. It's hard to believe it has already been 7 months.
Today we planned to just go into town to get some formula, then visit a few more shops in Westcliffe. But the local grocery store was out of baby formula. So we headed into Florence about an hour or so away to get it. After that we went to the Royal Gorge Bridge. You can click here to see a great picture of it and read more about it. Our little camera just could not handle this thing. After that we found some snow near by and stopped to play in it. Peter had a blast. These are some of my (Pete) favorite pictures from today.

Tomorrow is our last full day here in Colorado. We plan to leave in the morning to head into Colorado Springs for the day. We don't have any set plans, so who knows what we will get ourselves into. We will stay there tomorrow night and then head back Sunday morning. It has been a great trip, but we are all ready to get back to South Texas. Can't wait to see you all.

Colorado Report #2

2008-12-03T19:50:00.000-08:00

Ok this is Pete again and I know I am a bit picture happy today but this stuff is just too hard to explain without the pictures. So here is what we did today:

We woke up to a beautiful, brisk, cold, frosty morning here in the mountains. These are some of the mountains that are right out behind our cabin. It is truly a view that will take your breath away. We then drove to a small town called Rye and on into Colorado City for lunch at Ol'Zan's Place (?). The local bridge club happened to be meeting today so that was an experience as all the ladies played with Peter and gossiped at the bridge gathering.

After that we backtracked to a place called Bishop's Castle. This man has been building this real castle out in the middle of the forest since the 60's. It is huge! He has done it all himself and is proud of his work. This was a bit strange because there was no one else in the castle or anywhere close really. Just the three of us walking through it's huge rooms. It was about 15 degrees inside this rock fortress. You can click here to read more about this place and see some better pictures.

Peter and I looking through one of the small windows inside the spiral stair case.

This is inside what I think is the dining room.

This is the large room on the second floor. Maybe the master bed room, it has a great view.

Abby and Peter in the snow.

These are some more mountains near the town of Westcliffe. We took these on our way back to town. We went back to the house to rest for about an hour and a half then went back in to eat at a place called Pizza Madness. Best pizza I have ever had... and I have eaten some pizza, people.

I just thought this picture was funny. I don't know if Peter is trying to tell me how to drive, or what but he is really enjoying himself.

This is tonight right before bed as we practiced crawling. He is so tired. Peter still can't crawl but he rocks back and forth a lot, and can stay up on all fours much longer. I bet he will be on the move before long, that should be fun.

So that's it for Wednesday. Tomorrow we have another short road trip planned, then more relaxing. Just a few days left and we will be heading back to Texas. Can't wait to see you all.

Colorado Report #1

2008-12-02T18:06:00.000-08:00

This is my (Pete's) attempt to blog:

Well we arrived in Colorado yesterday and got all settled in here at our cabin near Westcliffe. Today we went into town and ate lunch at a little place called "Chile Bear's" it was a nice little place with a huge variety on the menu. We meet several very nice people while we ate, the people here are so nice. During one of the conversations we found out that a new Cowboy Church was being built outside of town. So after lunch we ran by to say hi and take a look at what the Cowboy Church movement is like here in Colorado. Then we spent some time downtown going through the litttle shops. After a quick re-supply stop at the grocery store, it was back out to the cabin. Peter took a nap, then we rode out close to the mountains to enjoy the scenery. The pictures below are the mountains that are right by our cabin. The view is amazing!! At night you can see all the stars and the moon light coming off the snow capped mountains. They are breath taking. We don't really know what tomorrow holds, we are trying not to plan too much or stay too busy. We have decided to truly have a relaxing, restful, vacation. More reports in the coming days.

Enter....Christmas!

2008-11-27T07:28:00.000-08:00

lol...i just posted yesterday but I always feel like Christmas officially begins at Thanksgiving. I forgot that I hadn't posted this picture. Last week we went to a seminar for Edward Jones and they had free pictures with Santa. Peter was enjoying hanging out, he kept laying back in his furry suit. That's all for now! Have a good day!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-26T18:18:00.001-08:00

Haven't posted in a couple of weeks...I haven't taken any pictures lately and didn't have much new to say but here's whats been going on lately...Melchizedeck, our employee from Kenya for Operation H2o (www.operationh2o.org) is here for a couple of weeks. He is getting some training on a drilling rig we are hoping to buy and send to Kenya soon so we can drill a well in ONE day! It would be an incredible step for our organization.

Pete has been preaching a series on "I am Thankful.." He had challenged everyone to make a list of things we are thankful for and focus on one thing each day. He left me a note this morning that said that he had set aside this day a couple of weeks ago to just be thankful for Peter and I, and a whole bunch of sweet things that made me cry, and that he was taking the day off of work and going to make me breakfast. I have had a rough couple weeks and needed that so bad, especially to be reminded how blessed I am.

This year we are spending Thanksgiving in Pleasanton with Pete's family and will spend Christmas with mine. I am looking forward to hanging out at Pete's mom and dad's house tomorrow. I did not have to cook one single thing..pretty pathetic...just show up and eat. It will be so nice though.

Next week we will be taking Peter on his first airplane ride. Hope it goes well. He is sooo busy all of the time..never stops moving. I think it will be good. We are flying to Colorado. It can't be too bad. We DID just take a 15 hour road trip to Missouri and survived. We have some incredible friends who have a house in Colorado and are letting us stay there for a week. I hope my cell phone gets NO service..lol...jk..anyone is welcome to call.

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

6 months!

2008-11-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

Peter turned 6 months old a week ago. Just in this last week it seems like he has learned so much. At his well visit our pediatrician told us to go ahead and start baby proofing the house because Peter will be on the move before long. I have a lot to baby proof...low shelves, cords, outlets, cabinets...I am so not ready for this. It is fascinating though to see how fast he changes. He is sitting alone now, still a little wobbly but for the most part he can catch himself. He is also getting up on his hands and knees.
This week is pretty busy with work but Wednesday we are going to my mom's. I made an appointment there to get my hair cut and highlighted which is always nice..I need it pretty bad. We are thinking about another road trip in December. Pete has some more vacation days that he can use before the end of the year and our friends have a house in Colorado that they are willing to let us use. We haven't really decided yet and are still tossing around the idea of buying plane tickets. I am not sure I can handle two 15 hour road trips in a month..lol.
Have a great day!

Fall Festival Pics

2008-11-03T14:18:00.001-08:00

Our church fall festival was great this year. It is our second year to do it and it is crazy busy but so fun. We had between 3200-3500 people there this year at the park. Peter only was there for a little while but then stayed with Gran the rest of the night so I could work the gate. He was supposed to be a frog but it was about 85 degrees and the costume was like a snow suit. He just wore his "mummy loves me" outfit instead. Pete was in the dunking booth for half the night. :) We had Progeny and Ornan's Floor playing all night. They did great! Always good to see you guys! Here are a couple of pictures before the night got started.

Playing in the dunking booth...

Peter and "Cher"....lol

Can you have Dementia at 26?

2008-10-29T17:03:00.000-07:00

Hello out there to all of our blog readers! I am sure you are thinking that I have not posted in far too long and you are right. Sorry! I have taken new pictures but haven't uploaded them just yet. As many of you know we started putting in new floors in all of our bedrooms by ourselves. So far we have done Peter's room and just finished with our room. If you feel like you need a test of patience..try a do it yourself home improvement project together! Its lots of fun. :) I will say the second room was easier, but I think I am going nuts. I found the jelly in the pantry first, instead of the fridge. And then last night I ate ice cream and Pete found it in the refrigerator this morning. Today if you could look at my kitchen table you could see, all at one time, the many things that I need to do. File bills, pay bills, laundry, grocery store, real estate phone calls, wash dishes, put the base boards back on, move the furniture back, Tisha's baby shower, memorize my Bible verse for discipleship class...ok you get the hint. As I was standing in my kitchen, staring at the table with my mouth open deciding which one to tackle first I became completely overwhelmed and noticed my little Bible underneath one of the piles. I was reminded that that was the one I needed to start the day with, not just today but every morning. I like to get everything done and then sit down and relax and spend some time with God. But lately the "to do" list doesn't have an end and probably won't as long as I am working and have kids in the house. I praise Jesus for his refreshment in times of thirst if we'd just come to Him for a drink. I read Ephesians 1:18 and 19 , " I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength." God is so big and the pile on the table seemed not so large as He reminded me of the eternal salvation that he has given me. Praise Him for being all sufficient for our needs.

I promise I will have pictures of Peter on the next post for you aunts, uncles, Grans, and Mimis out there..lol.

A visit from Mimi

2008-10-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

My mom came down to visit us this weekend, which was so nice. We also get into project mode when she is here and end up cleaning out closets, the garage, you name it. So it was a very productive weekend besides just getting to visit and hang out. She just came back from New York and brought us all kinds of surprises. Here are a picture of some of the chocolates they had for them in their hotel. She saved them in her luggage and brought them to me! Thanks Mom! I would have eaten them all on the first day. :) She also brought me an amazing scarf from H&M, my most favorite store in NY which they don't have here in Texas and you can't even order online.
As on a previous post I had mentioned that on the way home from vacation Pete and I bought laminate wood flooring and stuffed it in the back of the explorer with all of our luggage and baby stuff. This was not a planned purchase, but we had been talking about getting it and then heard that there was this one day sale at IKEA for 49 cents a sq/ft. After battling through mass chaos and crazy mad people acting like the flooring was the last loaf of bread during a famine, we managed to leave with enough flooring for two of our bedrooms. We decided to do Peter's room first. I will post the after pictures soon. Here it is after ripping all the carpet and baseboards out. I can't remember how to rotate it.

And the last project of the week...I decided since Peter is almost 6 months old, I would try to make some homemade baby food. I bought some sweet potatoes and steamed and pureed them and then put them in these ice trays in the freezer. I read that once they are frozen, you just pop them out into a freezer bag and defrost the cubes as you need them for up to 2 months. Looks good huh? :)
A few from this week..

Have a good one!

Vacation Part II

2008-10-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pics from the last few days of vacation. As you can tell it has taken a few days for me to get things together to get this posted! It is always a lot of work to come home from vacation. :) The top picture is from a show called Broadway. It is a mix of all the famous songs and dancing from tons of popular Broadway shows. Wednesday we also went to "Island Fire". And of course I got called up on the stage to try and learn some Samoan dance...lol...how embarrassing. We had the chance to get the live DVD of the show...I passed.

Thursday was our last full day in Missouri and we saw this group called "Six". Six brothers out of a family of 10 boys! This was by far the best show I thought. They do all of the music with no instruments, just their voices, it is nuts.
We had so much fun just being together for a whole week. Pete and I rarely spend a whole day together much less a few consecutive hours and I was really not ready to come back to the everyday routine. Peter did awesome the entire trip until we got to San Antonio and got stuck in a traffic jam for an hour an a half. lol..I thought we were home free, only 45 minutes from home and then we go 3/4 of a mile in 90 minutes. It was lovely. Peter had a super wet diaper, then pooped in his pants, then got so mad after a good hour that he was making himself gag because he was crying so loud. To top it off, we had no where to pull over and I couldn't get in the backseat because we stopped on the way home to buy laminate wood flooring which we squeezed into the car with 40 tons of baby stuff and luggage. Oh memories! Once we made it to an exit we stopped, cleaned everything up and he was as happy as can be. I would definitely take another road trip with Peter or maybe even fly somewhere next time. Before we got home we stopped at the farm for some pictures of the cotton before it got shipped away. Here is Grandpa Pete with Peter.

Until next time..have a great week!

Vacation Part I

2008-10-08T08:14:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures from the first half of our vacation. At our first stop in Fort Worth we stayed with our friends Dean and Heather. They have a son, Nate, who is only 2 weeks younger than Peter. They seemed to enjoyed each other's company. We had a great visit, good food (thank you Heather) and sore arms from playing the Wii after the boys went to bed..lol. That was a first for me. We wish you guys were not so far away. See you at Pete and Dean's 10 year reunion!

Our second stop was Fayetteville, AR...home of the Razorbacks. We got to stay with our friend Scott. Scott, great job being a tour guide. It was a short visit but nice. We saw the university, the downtown square, ate some good food, and just spent time catching up.

Day 3 we drove into to Branson, Missouri. Stocked up on groceries, got settled in, and went to eat at the Shogun. We needed a major break from the car and Peter enjoyed being free from his carseat. Day 4, we saw two great shows. The first was Kirby and Bambi Van Burch, a husband and wife, who are illusionists. For those of you who know Pete, this one was for him. I enjoyed it though and we had backstage passes to see the set and the huge tigers which I might add was very afraid of. The big one was like 800 pounds or something. Scary...
In front of the Kirby Theatre.

Bambi Van Burch and Peter and I. She was awesome. So down to earth. I talked to her for awhile afterward. Her and Kirby are Christians and did a good gospel presentation at the end of the show. That night we saw Shoji Tabuchi. He is a violin player with one of the most popular shows in Branson. They had a cry room with rocking chairs and a crib in this theatre which I appreciated so much because Peter was in bed by regular time all while I got to watch the fabulous show..so nice.Here are the drum girls from the Shanghai Circus on Day 5. They just got here because they have been performing for the Olympics in Beijing.

One of the acrobats, she didn't speak English but stole Peter away from us. I think he was in love. She was too cute.

That evening we went to the Titanic Museum. It looks like a huge boat parked downtown. I am all about museums so I was excited. It has hundreds of artifacts from the wreck, showed what all of the staterooms looked like, and was really interactive. Here we are getting ready to go in.
Second half to come in a couple of days....sorry so long!

Road trip!

2008-10-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

As of tomorrow, we are officially on vacation! Yay! We have a major road trip planned which will take us first to some friends in the Ft. Worth/Dallas area, then on to stay with a friend in Fayetteville, Arkansas then to Branson, Missouri. I am so ready..well not really..not even close to having all of our stuff packed. It is our first time to travel a long way with Peter so we will see how it goes. I will have tons of pictures for next weeks post! Maybe I will do one while we are in Missouri. Until then here is a video and a couple of Peter pictures from the week! And a Happy Birthday to both Mimi and Gran this week! Love you!

He wore himself out jumping...

Had to try on this costume that Faith gave us today...

Barber Shop

2008-09-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a new trick this week. :)

His hair before.....

Pete and I decided that Peter's comb over had gone a little too far and that a trip to Ramon was due. Ramon is the barber that gave Pete and all his brothers their first haircut and is still cutting today. It was too funny. It was right in the middle of nap time so he got a little grouchy near the end. He didn't like us holding his head still. Here are a few shots...

We had to put a towel over the cape because Peter kept slobbering on everything.

Ramon and Peter with his new haircut...

More updates to come..Have a great week! abby

Loving the weather!

2008-09-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well my posts seem to be getting further apart but I just didn't take many pictures this last week and wasn't sure what to write about. The change in weather has been sooo refreshing though. I am loving spending more time outside. Except for the allergies the cooler days bring, it is perfect here. Peter was supposed to get his pictures taken Thursday by the same ladies who took my pictures when I was pregnant. (This was in APRIL..no I am NOT pregnant again..lol)
But one of them called and said she forgot about a Dr.'s appointment she had and we'd have to reschedule. I was kind of glad because the day before Peter made a huge scratch on his face and had a stuffy nose so he was a little grouchy. The ladies are awesome though they just bring everything to the church and set it up there and do it all for free. It is just their passion and a huge blessing to us. Other things this week.....we have recently started trying cereals with Peter. Here is a few pictures of a typical mealtime. So much more complicated than milk..lol..but fun.

This week I started looking for an exersaucer because they have one in our church nursery and Peter really likes it. I finally found one on Craig's list that was in good used shape but cheap and had farm animals too...(Peter is going to think that the only animals in the world are cows, horses, pigs and dogs. :) It was a good buy.

Other than that Pete and I went to the Poteet Homecoming game last night. I got to see quite a few of my old students and introduce the baby to them. They beat Pleasanton which was a surprise for everyone..I was so proud. Everyone was ragging on us for sitting on the Poteet side...I will always be a Poteet Aggie fan.

Have a great week! abby

Yee Haw!

2008-09-09T06:08:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! This week has been a little busy so I haven't posted as much as I would like. But here's a quick run through. Peter got his second round of shots on Friday, which always throws him off a little. He is up to a whopping 17 lbs now. :) He had been sleeping through the night until a couple of weeks ago and then he started waking up to eat in the middle of the night again. Dr. Purnell said he was probably ready for cereal. It hasn't seemed to help because the last two nights he has woken up three or four times! :( Ugh...I haven't dealt with that since he was two weeks old. Anyway hopefully we will get it figured out quickly.

We were over at some friends house Saturday and the lady we were visiting asked me if I had a jumper for Peter. I said oh yes, we got it for a shower gift but it is still in the garage in the box. She said "You need to get that thing out. He is ready for it!" I guess I still think of him as being so little. I hadn't even thought twice about him being ready for it. It is huge and taking up a valuable 9 sq. feet of our tiny living room but he loves it so much. He wore himself out this morning so much that when I put him in his bed for a nap he didn't make a peep. Just closed his eyes and gave in. Here is a quick video of him in action.

Other good news is that I have a real estate closing this week. Always exciting...and we also started our discipleship classes up again yesterday. I really missed my group and am so glad to be back. We are studying the names of God this semester and I am just looking forward to knowing more of His character through this study. Until next time...have a good day!

Friends, Friends, and More Friends

2008-09-02T19:22:00.001-07:00

We had a busy week this week but so nice. We got to see so many of our friends! The earlier part of the week we got to have dinner at our friends Codi and Brian's house. They have two sweet girls. Here is a picture of Peter and Presley. :) I think Peter has a crush on her already. I will go ahead and apologize Codi...lol. He's playing it cool here.
Then on Thursday, Zach and Michaela and Deacon came down to visit for Labor Day weekend. The boys are only about a month and a half apart and they were pretty funny around each other. It is so nice being around other moms. I never realized how much I would need their fellowship.
Here are some pictures of the adventures of Peter and Deacon. We wish they were still here!

And I thought I would throw in a few more of my favorites from this week......Peter and Nana..

Peter and his Gran

Have a great day!

Laughing out loud!

2008-08-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

Monday, Peter and I met my mom and sister in San Antonio for some shopping. It was so nice to hang out! Peter laughed out loud for the first time, for my mom and I while we were in Ross. It was so funny. He did it two more times in the checkout line and hasn't laughed again since then! It is torture. Pete and I make fools of ourselves trying to get him to laugh. It is driving Pete crazy that he hasn't heard it yet. :) My mom bought Peter a high chair which he has been enjoying while I cook dinner. Here are a few pictures of Peter this week.

Also I had mentioned before that I was painting our bedroom so I thought I should post a before and after.
Until next time...Have a great day!

Sleep is sooooo good.

2008-08-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

Well its been forever since my last post but here are some new pictures. I also posted an experimental video of Peter playing in his bumbo chair. He is so funny lately. He is really figuring out his hands and grabbing everything. Especially my hair and my big earrings. Last night he slept from 9:30 to 8:00 this morning...so wonderful. I really needed that. He had a cold a few weeks ago and sleep was almost non-existent for the both of us. In fact, I felt so recharged today that I took on the much needed task of painting our bedroom. Pete took Peter to Stockdale to pick up some cedar posts for our back patio that we should have by next weekend! I seriously cannot wait. So excited. Until next time...have a lovely day!

Booooo for shots

2008-07-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

This is the picture I finally put in the newspaper for his birth announcement 2 1/2 months later....a little slow I know. Peter is 11 weeks old this week and we had to take him to the doctor for his 2 month well visit. He had 6 vaccinations to get! So sad. I know it is better than getting what you are being vaccinated for but it is so much at one time. He has been asleep all afternoon and his fat little legs are so red. Here are pictures from today and then some more resent happy pictures.

First Blog!

2008-07-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

Well I have a lot to catch everyone up on since this is our first post and Peter is already 11 weeks old so here we go! He was born on May 4th, 6 lbs, 10 oz. and 19 inches long. I was so blessed with a quick and easy delivery. I was in labor for less than 2 hours and barely made it to the hospital. I didn't even have time for an IV. Guess he was ready to get here and of course we were so ready too. Here are a few hospital pictures.

I will catch you up on the rest soon!