Monday, May 12, 2008

Andrew loves his Grandparents!





Andrew and I spent the last week in Wisconsin with family. Ryan came for 2 days...I guess someone has to work in this family. :) We had a wonderful time. Quanities and quality time spent.

He loves his Grandparents so much and here are some pictures to prove it!

Saturday, May 03, 2008

9 month Doctor Appointment





Andrew was in a great mood when we went to see Dr. Bayer for his 9 month appointment. This was the first appointment that Dad could not make it to, but I filled him in. Here is how he is growing.

Weight: 22 pounds...80%
Length: 28 1/2 inches...70%
Head Circumference: 45.9cm....70%

He is just perfect in our eyes!

Monday, April 28, 2008

9 Months old and Growing!






Andrew is so active now. It is so fun to interact with him, but to also sit back and watch him discover and explore. We have to laugh when he wants a toy in his basket and all you can see is his little butt sticking up in the air. Yes, he has fallen in, but only a few tears were shed.

His personality:
Determined--there was a cheerio at the bottom of the car seat which was sitting on the ground and he would not play with anything else until he had that cheerio in his hand and his mouth! He will climb over medium size containers/boxes/legs or go around objects when he has his mind set on something. You can see his little brain working when he is stying to solve something.
Daring---
Obeying--Well of course, he is a first child. When we say "No, Na'Na', or stop," he will stop what he is doing and look at us. Sometimes he will do it again (pull open a drawer for example) and so we will have to say NO again or remove him from the situation. Other times he will find interest in something new.

He crawls everywhere and loves when we are on our hands and knees too. We race him, or go head to head towards him and he laughs so hard. If we go into another room he will find you (For example from the living room he will find you in the bathroom)---he is a very smart boy. This is brilliant we think! He can crawl with one toy in one hand.

Andrew can pull himself into a standing position when using another object (box, couch, our legs). He cannot do it from a sitting position yet. He cruises along the furniture but only a couple steps and can go around his little frog table. While standing he can bend his knees and pick up objects on the floor. And he tends to bounce (maybe we can call it the start of dancing) while standing...it is so cute. He just started squatting (maybe once or twice so far). If he position him behind his toys with wheels he can push it! (this is new). Ryan and I have been a little apprehensive to hold his hands and encourage him to walk. But whenever anyone else is with him they do it, so we feel like we are missing out, so now we do it too.

He loves his leap frog table that makes music, the little pink lady from the castle, his blue ball, and construction rider (he is starting to push it). His favorite books are the ones that have "touch and feels" and he helps open/close the book or turn the pages. He will not always sit and read a book, he would rather be climbing/crawling/standing. But right when he wakes up is his best reading time.

When you say "High five" he will slap your hand. We are learning how to wave hello and goodbye (he has done it just a couple of times). Sign Language:


Well, I am not done writing, but I want to post it. We love our little boy as you can tell! We give thanks for the blessing that Andrew has been to us and for the way that he has grown so strong.

I Can't resist more pictures of this last month!






It's hard as a Mom to only pick a couple pictures to share. So, here are some more of our handsome little man!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

2 Teeth!


Yeah for Andrew! Nana has been asking if you have teeth since you were 5 months. Now, 4 months later you finally got them. We thought he was teething for the last 3 months because he was always chewing on everything, but now it is the real deal.

He really wasn't that crabby. As I look back I remember thinking that Andrew felt warm and he has been getting up in the middle of the night periodically. But now that he has the teeth (or when they were breaking through) motrin has been our friend.

Monday, April 21, 2008

I miss you!



Do you remember Nana and Papa when you came to visit me between Thanksgiving and Christmas? That was so fun. I look so little on all of these pictures. You should see me now and how big I am. I just wanted to share with the world these cute pictures because I love you so much!

I love my Nana and Papa!






This is me and my Nana and Papa! They are the best. They came to visit me at my house many times. As you can see in the pictures, they loved to hold me and smile at me. They are so cool. Recently they were on their way to Mexico (I don't even know where that is), for a missions trip and my Daddy drove me to see them in IL while they were taking a break from the long drive. We got to spend some quality time together. I showed off a little by standing for them and they sure did think I was cute. I love them so much and guess what....I am going to go visit them in Wisconsin in the beginning of May...Yippy, I can't wait! Nana always gives me a lot of kisses and then I give her wet ones back. Then she giggles. Now Papa, he is funny too...he likes to tickle me and rough-house me, because I am a boy. Gosh, I miss them. Nana and Papa, I will see you soon! I love you!

Friday, April 18, 2008

I felt the EARTHQUAKE!

Here is how the story goes...

3:37am: The house is shaking and swaying and awakes me from my sleep.

Kristy (I say): "Honey!.........(pause)" I open my eyes and yep the house is swaying back and forth "Honey........" "Ryan!"

Ryan: "What?"
Kristy: "The house is shaking."
Ryan: (no response)
Kristy: "I am serious....I think it is an earthquake." (House is still shaking)
Ryan: "Huh. What do you want me to do about it?"(He is half awake) (House stops shaking).
Kristy: "Protect me!"

I think Ryan fell asleep then...He really protected me hey!

I laid there thinking...Am I crazy? Did I just imagine that the house was moving or am I going crazy.

Then Ryan awakes again and looks at the clock.
Ryan: "It's 4:40 am. Hey, we have the window open, maybe it was just the wind."
Kristy: "I don't think so."
----------------
6:00am
Ryan came into the room and said "You are right there was an earthquake."
Kristy: "I told you so."
Ryan: "I know, I felt it. Andrew survived his first earthquake."

Yeah right he felt the earthquake, he was sleeping. I guess I am not surprised... Ryan is pretty helpless in the middle of the night. But, I have to give him a little credit: the other night when Andrew was crying I was holding off on nursing him and he kept on crying, and Ryan got up to help. I guess I am used to the middle of the night "stuff" becuase of being on-call for work and in the past working night shift.

I guess the quake was pretty long...90 seconds and messured as a 5.2. If you haven't heard about it it happened on the border of IL and IN. I am shocked me felt it here in St. Louis. Later this morning we had a little after shock too (I didn't feel though).

Needless to say we survived the earthquake!! Did anyone else feel it?

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Crazy, fun week with my cousins




We are still recovering from all the fun and craziness from last week. I will tell you all more about it when I recover. Hee, Hee!

The picture here is just one example of how crazy we are were!

I love you Babka and Grandpa!







Babka and Grandpa came to visit for 6 days and we had so much fun! I waited until they arrived to show how I can stand without holding onto anything. They all clapped and I had the biggest grin on my face. I even give high-fives, clap and do sign language ("more").

I am a pretty quick crawler now, but Babka is still faster. She made me giggle a lot while we played with my toys. She made this really funny sound like Donald Duck and now when I am excited I make it too. It was so nice of her to play with me while Mommy organized the basement. Babka read me stories, took me swimming, and showed me pictures/movies of my mommy when she was my age. I love you Babka!

Grandpa is way cool too! His head feels like a doggy and I loved to rub it. Grandpa threw me in the air, fed me all of my food and loved to cuddle with me. He helped Daddy around the house...oh man, our house would be falling apart if it weren't for Grandpa. The best thing ever is that he hand made a gate to match the railing in our living room. Now I am safe and won't fall down the stairs. It looks awesome and I am so thankful for this hard work. I can't wait to see you again Grandpa...you are so much fun!

In between all of Grandpa's hard work, we went out to eat a couple times, worked out at the YMCA, played board games, watched old videos, and played, played and played some more. I am going to miss you Grandpa and Babka. I am so glad you came to visit.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Aunt Amy and kids came to visit

The start of "Hotel Peterson" began when Ryan's sister Amy and family came to visit. Then his Uncle Rick and family, then my parents for a week, then a weekend free, then my sister and 3 kids and then my other sister and husband. We love them all

Andrew was so excited to have his big cousins Derrick, Marissa, and Bryan come to visit and play with him. They went to The City Musem and the Arch. Also played lots of games and Marissa was such a big cousin that she slept on the floor in Andrew's room, while Andrew slept in the crib. Aunt Amy is Andrew's God Mother so it was so nice for them to hang out too. Thanks guys for a great 3 days.




Tuesday, March 25, 2008

HE has Risen!






He has risen. He has risen indeed!

The drama at church really talked to me. I know that Easter is all about Christ's resurrection from the dead. I have known that for years. Yet, society can put so much focus on Easter baskets, cute outfits, chocolate candy and the Easter Bunny. I found myself drifting from the true meaning especially now that I have a baby. The drama emphasized that Easter is SO different from any other day of the year and can't even be compared to any other holiday. Sure, we participated in the egg hunt, egg dying and Easter Bunny, but our hearts and minds were filled with the joy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Alleluia!


Ryan preached at the sunrise service where it was snowing...yes, I said snowing! Andrew and I were there with the other crazy people at the cemetery. I can't believe that he is a pastor (I know it has almost been a year, it just seems like yesterday). We are so proud of His talents.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

He's a crawler and a stander!



Yes, our baby boy started to crawl and pulls himself up on furniture. He is resilient and when he falls he gets right back up. Ryan and I continue to look at each other with wide eyes knowing that now that Andrew is on the move that life is going to be different. We also are in disbelief that our baby boy isn't a "baby" so much anymore now that he is on the move. He is such a ham and if he could talk I bet he would say "Look at me. Look how cute I am. Aren't I awesome that I can stand now." He grins his crocked grin and we can't help but love him. Congratulations Andrew!

Friday, March 21, 2008

On higher ground

It's crazy here in St. Louis. Major road and possibly highways are being closed down because of flooding. We took a drive to see it and we can't believe it. Our house is on high ground so we are not worried, but many people have been effected. Then, we talked to my parents who said that they had 12-14 inches of snow in WI. Gosh, it was 70 degrees today.

Give Thanks...for GEORGE AUSTIN, is Kevin and Aldeberan's new baby boy. He was a big baby weighing 9+ lbs. We heard he is a handsome little man. Congratulations also to Hannah who is now a big sister! We can't wait to meet you George.

On this Good Friday, we spent time reflecting on the Crucifixion of Jesus and the power of the cross. We await the celebrating of HIS resurrection. Blessings to all of our pastor friends during this Easter weekend.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Aunt Erica and Uncle Mike to visit






What a surprise! They called us Saturday morning and were here the same day. We had to rearrange a couple plans, but that is ok because this was the first time they have visited us since we live in St. Louis. It was so great to see them and Andrew really enjoyed hanging out with them. They picked a beautiful weekend-almost 80degrees on Sunday. We had lunch out on the landing, went up the arch, drove around St. Louis and grilled out. Thanks for coming to visit!

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Universal Studios

We loved this place. Ryan and I went alone the first day (my aunt and Uncle babysat Andrew). We really enjoyed our time together...it was like we just started to dating. I told him that I wanted to wear a shirt that said "I have a baby." I don't know why...maybe it is because I am so proud of my 2 boys.

The first day was only in the 40's and then in the 50's. The next day it was in the 60's which was perfect. Good thing we weren't at the beach either one of those days.

The highlights were the Mummy ride, Shrek movie and then Ryan was one of the participants in FEAR FACTOR LIVE (Universal style). He was against 5 other people. The first challenge was to hang 50 ft in the air and hold on for as long as you could with air being blasted at your face. (He was the 2nd last). Then he was paired with the one and only girl. She was suspended 2 stories high and he had to stick his hand in a tank of eals that bite and grab the beanbags and have her catch them. The next challenge was the girl throwing octopus at him while she was swinging and he was connected to a bungy cord. He ended up slipping and two of the octupus' fell out of the bucket. It was awesome and even though he did not win. Andrew and I were cherring really loud. We are proud of you Daddy. He won for being the cutest.

We flew home that night. What an awesome vacation altogether!

Monday, March 03, 2008

Resort and pool enjoyment!

We stayed at the Fountains Resort on I-Drive in Orlando. Gosh, the room was bigger than our condo that we used to live in. It had a full kitchen, 2 baths, two rooms (one with a jacuzzi in it), a deck, etc.

The weather was awesome...in the 80's so we spent 2 whole days at the pool. We packed a picnic lunch and brought down the pack-n-play so when Andrew needed to take a nap he slept in there. Seriously, we were there for 9 hours a day....I loved it. We relaxed, played ping pong (Ryan won the tournament they had), played Royal Rummy (Ryan beat me), swam, read etc. Andrew loved the water; we threw him in the air, he sat in his little boat and kicked his feet, he loved when his legs dragged in the water as we went in circles. My big boy Ryan really took to swimming and I was his instructor. We are now going to inquire a mini triathlon.

Ryan and I used the hot tub, steam room and sauna while he slept...it worked out great. Taking Andrew on the trip was no sweat. He was flexible with his sleeping and naps and really didn't stop us from doing anything we wanted to do. He definitely brought smiles to our faces and everyone else at the resort.