The Petersen Clan : January 2015

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Our blossoming buds . . .

Besides our amazing vacation, there have been a lot of new things happening in our family. I'm PREGNANT!!!!!

Just kidding. All kidding aside, I feel like the kids have grown up so much in the last few months. Austyn was told that she needed to stop sucking her fingers at night to help her teeth. So at 4 years old she has enough will power to cold turkey the finger sucking all by herself. She has amazing will power. Especially at her age. She use to have her blanket in one hand and suck her fingers with the other. Now her blanket just stays in the same place all night. So sad. But I'm totally blown away at how she just did it with not another word. And we also took her to a private Kindergarten where she tested and got in for next year!!! I'm so excited for her. And she can hardly wait to start her new school next year. The reason this is a big deal (for us anyways) is that she will be a complete year behind the rest of the students, and she did well enough to be accepted. She has that strange Birthday that is so close to the cut off line. I'm so excited for her. Also Austyn is now in just a booster car seat. Man, can we stop this growing streak? It's been too much all at one time for this Mama.

And new changes for Quade as well. We started potty training. It is 6 months later than when we started with Austyn, but that might be the key to easy peasy potty training. It's been two days now and he has been dry every nap and bed time. I've been impressed. And he has only had 3 accidents. We still have a long ways to go, but it's such a great start. No more diapers for us!!! Can't hardly believe it. Our kids are growing up. Tear!!!! He has just totally been blowing me away at how well he talks now. He is putting sentences together and is totally understandable to most people. I love his little voice and his version of saying things. I guess the next big step (besides completing potty training) is a big boy bed. I'm not thinking this will happen too soon? Who knows though. We usually just decide one day to do whatever needs to be done next.

Here is Quade riding his tractor in his big boy undies and socks. He loves his underwear.

Jordan and I started our fitness challenge at the beginning of the month and have done great. He has had amazing results and I haven't been to shabby myself. It's so much easier doing it together. My mom is also joining in too. I love it. We are doing the challenge until March but plan to ultimately make it a lifestyle change. My Aunt Diane lost 50lbs. last year and she is now a motivation for all of us. I'm so proud of her.

Nothing is planned for us in the foreseeable future. But we all know how fast that can change😉 Looking forward to either some major snow or summer. Either one would be fine with me. Hope everyone is doing well.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

The tale of Disneyland . . .

We were blessed with the most amazing and unbeatable Christmas present ever!!!!!!!!! A trip to Disneyland!!!!!!!! My parents, my brother, and us 😊 We got to go for a WHOLE week! And we got to stay at THE DISNEYLAND HOTEL!!!!!! Nothing could top this trip. We were all so excited to go and to only be delayed at the airport for 6 hours😪 We were devastated to say the least. But we finally made it there and the kids were amazing. They had so much fun on the plane rides. It was an adventure the whole way for them. Since we had so much time to spend down there we decided to split the days up between the parks. We went to Disneyland the first day after we had the most amazing and fun breakfast with the characters. It was soooo fun. The kids enjoyed it so much. Since we went during the off season we were able to just walk on all the rides and ride everything we wanted to. It was so much fun to watch the kids experience everything. The next day we went to California Adventure. It was a new experience for all of us, since it wasn't built the last time we were all there. Austyn had a dress up day at the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique. She chose to dress up as Elsa from Frozen and she got her hair, make-up, and nails done. It was the most adorable thing I've ever seen. And she thought she was hot stuff. On Thursday we went to Knotts Berry Farms. Where there was literally no one there. We rode every single thing numerous times. And we also ate our best meal ever there. So the next two days we went back to Disneyland and California Adventure to re-ride the rides we liked and just play around. By Friday the parks got a bit busier. So we were glad we were able to get the majority of the parks done during the week when it was slower. We got really really good at using the Fastpasses and the rider switches (the rides that Quade was too small for we were able to get extra passes for the people that waited. That way we could walk right back onto the ride). Our hotel was absolutely amazing! We got a joining room with my parents. The headboards lite up with the Disneyland castle and fireworks and played Disney music. And Mickey Mouse gave Austyn a wake up call every morning. It was so magical. We were within a 10-15 minute walk to both parks. The weather was perfect. It was about 75 the whole time. It did get a little chilly at night though. The kids were able to wear shorts and t-shirts the whole time. We were steps away from downtown Disney where the theme was Frozen. They had an ice skating rink there and we all got to skate. It was perfect because Austyn had been asking to ice skate for a long time. We had a blast. We also got to watch the coolest show called Fantasmic. It was all about Mickey Mouse defeating all the Disney Villans with fireworks and water features and it had a paddle wheeler sail by with all the characters. Absolutely amazing. I could go on and on and on about our trip. It was so fun. Of course I wanted one more day, and the kids were heart broken to leave. But I guess that means it was a great trip when you don't want to leave. We were able to barely make it home with no delays and again the kids did amazing on the flights home. We all can't wait to go back.