Family Pictures . . .

  We finally got our family pictures back! Can't wait to hang them up. I want to do a cluster of pictures on one wall. Hope it turns out well.

These two are my favorite

The Days of Glitter . . .

  I made Austyn's Halloween costume this year and it turned out amazing. Best costume I saw out this year! But in the process of making it our house has been coated with a heavy dusting of glitter. It's everywhere. It's going to take months to get rid of it all. And my car now is also very sparkly :) Oh, the days of glitter. Austyn has so many shirts with glitter on them too. I'm just getting used to looking at a sparkly floor. I know I will miss this sparkly stage, but I guess she needs to wear something that matches her disposition. I was going to make Quades costume too, but ran across one at the store that was about the same as I could have made it for. So I took the easy way out. He looked absolutely adorable. This was the best Halloween ever. The kids are so cute at this age and so excited about everything. I love it.

Austyn was a scarecrow 

Quade was a gnome 

Howdy

We made it through Lone Pine and now for a week of Elk Hunting. I'm so use to Jordan being gone that I honestly wasn't dreading him leaving at all. Not to sound cold or mean or anything. It's just such a norm anymore that he's gone, that 5 or 6 days wont be too bad. Of course we already miss him, but I'm glad to be able to start hanging out with my Mom again. Austyn can't wait to be able to spend the night with her. She's been patiently waiting for months and months. We still have nothing planned after Jordan gets back from his hunting trip. So we might actually get to slow down a bit. I'm really excited about that. 

   Our house is officially cleared of disease. My hands are totally back to normal. That was one long stent of sickness :( Very miserable. So hopefully the readings are true and we won't get Hand, Foot, Mouth, and Butt again! I have to hand it to my kids for being the biggest troopers ever. Being drug around all month long making daily trips to Lone Pine (sometimes multiple trips a day), while being sick sometimes, and tired other times. They never complained once. It helps that they love going there and love everyone there too. While being out in the public more than I usually am I have come to appreciate my kids even more than I did before. Austyn has the best manners for her age. And is so friendly and smiley to everyone. Even strangers (as long as I'm close). She talks to adults clearly and looks them in the eye when she does. And she minds so well for her age. She minds me so much better when we are away from home, so that helps out a lot. And Quade is just an angle baby. The only time he fusses is when he hungry, tired, or poopy (or if anyone besides me does anything with him or even makes him think they might. MOTHER!!!) And I usually don't let any of that happen so he is so easy. Unless we are getting family pictures, then he will decide to be a fuss bucket that day only :( I'm pretty sure I've never seen him be that cranky. What are the odds. He is the sweetest baby, I'm trying so hard to enjoy every stage he's at and not ever want him to go on to the next stage. I know it's my last and I don't want to rush through it like we did with Austyn. It was just so exciting with her, because we wanted the next stage to come and see what that brought with it. The second kid is sooooo different. I love my kids so much. I was thinking today as I was rocking Quade to sleep, that the love you have for your son is so different than the love you have for your daughter. And maybe it has something to do with the last baby thing too. But Austyn is like my sister/best friend. We are total buddies. I miss her so much when I go to town without her (which is practically never), I'm lonely without her. And I just feel like Quade is a part of me. We are just connected in a really deep way. We know each other so well, that we work great together. The amount I love both of them is them is the same, but it's just a different type/way. I didn't believe people when they told me that, but I guess it is true. My kids definitely complete me.

Quade finally learned to love the jumper. 

Here is Ausytn a month younger than Quade is.

Austyn and Quade at the same age

Recovery . . .

  So I ended up going to Urgent Care the next morning after my middle of the night blog post. And I did indeed have the adult version of Hand, Foot, and Mouth (and Butt). Not fun!  My hands were so painful that I was crying just trying to make a bottle for Quade. My poor sister-in-law, had to deal with me and help me do everything with the kids. Including changing poopy diapers. She's a saint. The only thing the doctor could do was give me some really strong pain pills for comfort measures. I was just amazing at the horrible symptoms that came along with that disease and especially knowing the kids went through it and acted like nothing was going on. I asked the doctor about that and he said that when adults get it the symptoms are extremely escalated compared to the child version. Of course it is. Lucky me! So now, my finger tips are all peeling and cracking because of the rash I had. It is almost as painful as the Hand, Foot, and Mouth. I'm thinking by the weekend my hands will be back to normal. And in the mean time, I got a bladder infection. I swear when it rains, it pours with me. I'm just waiting for my third strike. But the kids are all better, besides the typical seasonal runny nose here and there. Needless to say, I'm ready to start using my hands without it being painful.
  This is the last weekend for Lone Pine. Austyn and I will miss it, but I know my family will be glad it's done. They are all so exhausted. Time for a few months of down time! I'm not sure what we will do with all of our time now. I'm sure we won't have an troubles finding something to do.
  Jordan is getting ramped up for Elk Hunting. He is leaving after we go Trick-or-Treating and driving all night with a buddy. I guess it takes 10 hours to get where they are going. It's a new spot, so hopefully everything goes good. I think he will be gone for 5-7 days. Not too bad. He is also off work until the 15th of November. So it's been amazing having him home everyday. I'm loving it so much. Wish it didn't have to end.
  Nothing new with me. Kids are great. Quade has started to roll now. And he is thinking about crawling and pulling up on things. Won't be too long. He has become such a Mama's boy it's pathetic. It's me or nothing. He will only eat a bottle for my Mom and Jordan. But he won't let anyone feed him food, or give him a bath without crying the whole time. I know it's irritating to people and me too sometimes, but what can you expect when it's been him and I his whole little life. Since he was born Jordan and my parents have been so busy with working and Jordan building our house that they haven't been able to spend the time they did with Austyn when she was that age. But I'm not saying at all I don't like it :) Austyn is doing great in school, she loves it. We got to go on her first field trip to guess where... Lone Pine! We rode the bus and everything. She had a blast with all her buddies. She was the tour guide through the whole thing.
  We took our first ever family pictures the other day. I'm soooooo excited to see them. I can't wait to hang them up on our blank walls (that are driving Jordan nuts).
  Hope everyone is happy and healthy as we start heading into the Holidays. My favorite time of year. I'll keep the posts coming.

This is of Austyn at her school's Jog-A-Thon.

Each kid ran laps for 30 minutes and gets pledges for

each lap they did. Austyn did 13 laps. Way to go!!!

Please donate if you want to. Funds go straight to her

class for field trips and supplies.

Brother cheering sister on as she ran

Lone Pine Buddies

Love this one!

Sick Days at the Petersen Compound...

  It seems as if both kids have been sick in some way for the last month. Austyn started it off with a weird outer ear infection. Then Quade had this weird fussy spell. We all got a small little cold. And last but certainly not least, we ALL (with the exception of Jordan of course) got a good does of Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease! All the reading I did on it said that usually adults have already come into contact with it so they usually don't get it. So of course I thought I was in the clear. WRONG!!!!! I have to feel even more sorry for the kids now, because I know how miserable it is. So far I've had the worst sore throat imaginable. And my palms are so sensitive and sore it's unbearable. And to top it off my hands are so itchy. I can't itch them because it hurts too bad. I can barely do anything with my hands. Literally driving or making a bottle or anything that touches my hands. It sucks. I can't sleep at all (even after two benadryls) so I'm up at 1:30am writing this blog. I'm deciding weather or not to go into the ER or try and tough it out. I'm thinking it's only going to get worse for the next couple of days and it would be a really convenient time to go in the middle of the night when the kids are sleeping and they don't have to come with me. I just don't want to get there and pay for an ER visit and essentially have them laugh at me and tell me there's nothing they can do for me. And having the husband I do an ER visit means you must be literally dying. I know he would frown upon me even thinking of going. We'll will see what the next couple hours bring.
  Kids are doing fine, besides the sick spell we are under. Austyn is still really enjoying Preschool. She got her first fat lip. She was walking with her hands in her pockets and looking at me coming across the parking lot at school and tripped and landed right on her mouth and chin. It was awful, blood everywhere and an instant fat, black lip. Poor girl had rocks in her mouth and everything. But she powered right through it. And she's rocking her fat lip now. I wonder how many people will think I beat her? Quade has started to roll all over now. He has also started to attempt to pull up on his bumpers in his crib and think about crawling. But it's still a ways off still. So exciting to see him start moving around a bit. Still no teeth at 8 months. So it should be really fun when they all hit at once :)
  Jordan is hot and heavy into Lone Pine these days. He works every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday over there from about 10 am to 11:30 pm. Then he has to go back to the fire station once or twice during the week. He is exhausted. Poor guy. So we are pretty much living at Lone Pine so we can see him and my parents a little bit. When he is home, he has been organizing and building shelves for the garage. He almost has everything in it's place. It looks so nice. He's so handy, he amazes me.
  We have had Jordan's brother and his family from Utah staying with us for the last month. His brother got a job here and they are staying with us until they can buy a house. It's been so fun watching the kids play together everyday. They have three kids, so it's like a built in play date all the time. It has also been nice having my sister-in-law Jackie around while Jordan has been so busy. It's so nice to talk and hang out with her. And having the extra help around the house is priceless. When I come home from my parents they come out and help me unload all my stuff. Because with kids, no matter where you go and it doesn't matter how long you've been gone, you always have at least two arm fulls of stuff. Not counting the kids. Then they take Quade and feed him while I get Austyn to bed. It's amazing!!
  I have been doing a little bit of crafting. I made Austyn's Halloween costume. And a few fall decorations for the house. My new favorite thing about the house is being able to have a craft space and being able to leave it all out. It's awesome.
  Things I'm looking forward to:
After Elk hunting-this is the time that Jordan will finally have NOTHING planned. We will see if it lasts.
Holidays in the new house
A little vacation to Sun River with our best buddies the Bishops
Slowing down and enjoying our new house
Did I mention slowing down and enjoying our house
One more time, slowing down and enjoying our new house

I hope everyone is happy and most importantly HEALTHY. It's now 2:00 am and it's gotten worse as I've sat here. Might be a visit to the ER in my future. I'll keep ya posted.

Quade's Photo Shoot

  I did just post, but I wanted to share some photos of Quade and didn't want to rain in on Austyn's Birthday Blog. I was kindly informed that no one has any pictures of Quade. So with that brought to my attention I had to do a photo shoot of him. I think these are the best pictures I've taken so far. He is the best picture taker. We couldn't get him to stop smiling to get a serious picture. Total difference between him and Austyn. We had a 5 to 10 minute time frame to get the photo shoot done with her. And on top of her short attention span and patients we had to work our butts off to get her to smile. I could take pictures of Quade all day. He's a dream!

  Austyn had a random outer ear infection pop up that we've been dealing with. It was so painful to her that she couldn't eat solid foods. It was so miserable. I felt terrible for the poor girl. But she powered right through it. Still no clue as to how she got it. Weird. Quade is doing great too. Still growing like crazy.He's 7 months now and is over 20 pounds. I keep wishing he would crawl or scoot or walk while holding my hands just for my poor backs sake. I keep thinking about how much weight he's going to gain before he starts walking. :( So he pretty much lives in the stroller if we are out and about anywhere.

  Jordan is hot and heavy into the Corn Maze stuff now. Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from here on out (until November) he is working over at Lone Pine. He's very busy. He is still working one Overtime shift per weeks, so with that Lone Pine and his regular working days we don't see too much of him. But we try to go to Lone Pine for lunch time and dinner time to see him if we can. Good thing we like going to Lone Pine too, or it would be a long two months. He's started to organize his side of the garage. It's his temporary shop, so he's built shelves and hung up peg board for his tools. It's looking really nice.
 
  As for me, same ol same ol. I'm getting the hang of our new schedule with Austyn's preschool. I think with her gone, it's made me think more about how fast Quade is growing up. :( So sad. I keep going back and forth about having another baby. But I think that with our life style, two kids is just perfect for us. I feel like I might be too busy to enjoy the little things if we had any more. But I don't think we will be certain in either direction for awhile.

 

Happy Birthday to Austyn . . .

  I can't believe my baby girl is THREE years old. It doesn't seem possible. Makes me feel old too. I don't even know where to begin with this blog. She is the most incredible three year old you'll ever meet. One recent happening that blew my mind was when we were leaving my Grandmas (GG's) house from getting ice cream one night. We were all loaded up in the Bronco and she was sitting on Jordan's lap "driving", when she actually was steering the Bronco all by herself. We backed up and with no guidance turned the wheel the right way and when we started going forward drove all the way home. I couldn't believe that at three years old she could get the concept of turning the wrong way when backing up and let alone steering a rig correctly (with a river on one side). I have to thank my dad for this, because he will just take her and go get in his pick-up and practice with her. The kind of patience this mother just doesn't have. I'm amazed at the concepts she can get at this age. If she is interested or in the mood to listen, she really can understand and catch on to almost anything. And she never forgets a thing. She has started to notice the Corn Maze ramp back up and randomly started to talk about everything that happened last year at the Corn Maze. She is so excited for all the fun at Lone Pine in October.
  She started Preschool this year and she is actually loving it. The first day when I was walking up to her school, I was anticipating a melt down when I left her, but she looked up at me and said "It's o.k. Mommy, you can yeave (she has a hard time pronouncing her "L's") me. I won't cry." I about busted down crying right there. And she was right. She didn't blink and eye when I left. I about lost it walking back to my car, but at least she was fine. I didn't realize how bad I would miss my buddy for just 3 1/2 hours a day. It's still the saddest part of my day when I eat lunch by myself. Even though Quade is there, it's not the same. She definitely puts a spark in our lives. I do get a lot done when she's at school though ;) I can now appreciate how maddening it was for my parents when they would ask me what I learned or did in school that day, and I would say "Nothing". I get so frustrated with Austyn when she won't talk about school at all. I want to know so badly what she's doing in school, who her friends are, who she sat by at lunch, etc. But she won't elaborate what so ever. Oh it pisses me off! At least I'm good friends with the assistant in her class so I can get my information that way. She's so stubborn. Must get it from Jordan. :)
  She loves to sing. She will sing all the time. I especially love it when she's singing what she is doing at the time. Or when she sings through a conversation with me. I used to do that all the time to her when she was little. I guess they do soak everything up! She loves to dance, and is now into rough housing. Holy cow, she can get rough. I have to remind myself that I'm wrestling with a three year old. She also still gets a kick out of getting dirty which warms Jordan and my hearts. I don't know why, but I love watching her get dirty. And she does a good job at it. She leaves a ring around the tub most nights. Her excitement level right now is so impressive. Anything new is so much fun to watch her light up when she's introduced to it. Just the other day, we went to a furniture store and it had stuffed animals (real animals), cars, old house fronts, it was kind of like a town inside a building, she ran around there amazed at everything new she was seeing. I can't wait to take her to Disney Land if she gets that excited about a furniture store.
  At the moment she is exploring the level of attitude and sassyness she can get away with. And let me tell you, she would be a handful in a hurry if I gave her an inch. It's so hard right now to know what to let her get away with and what to shut down. I know she is just testing the waters and growing up, but sometimes I feel like such a bad mom because it seems like all I do is give her spankens or am getting her in trouble. I just wish I had one more notch of respect/control over her. It makes me so mad when Jordan comes home and all he has to do is look at her or just say her name and she straightens up. She use to mind me like that, but I don't know if I've gotten easier or she's gotten harder. I think a little of both. Trial and error I guess. She keeps me on my toes all the time. But I think I'm getting a little of what I deserve by the way I was when I was little. My family tells me she is the spitting image of me when I was her age. So I should stop worrying I guess. If that's the case, she'll end up perfect :)
  Her Birthday party at Lone Pine Farms was another hit.She had so much fun with all her buddies. And it was a huge turn out. The weather held perfectly. It was a success. On her actual Birthday, Jordan and I went to her school and ate lunch with her. It was so cute. Then we took my parents to town, and the girls got a pedicure and the boys went to Cabela's. Austyn was so stinking cute when she was getting her pedicure. She sat the whole time and did a better job understanding the ladies than my mom and I did. She talked to them the whole time. After that we went to Chuck-E-Cheese and spent a couples hours of straight game playing to end up with a slinky, a straw, a box of Nerds and a car. But we all had an amazing time.

All of Austyn's Buddies. I think I counted 22 including babies. 

Austyn is in to everything Hello Kitty. So she got

a Hello Kitty Birthday cake.

Best Buddies

Just when I thought that my little girl was growing up,

I find her like this in the morning. How cute.

  To sum it all up, she is my best little buddy and I couldn't imagine my life without her. I hope and pray that we have the kind of relationship that my mom and I do. I have watched our lives go by so fast and I just try and treasure every day with her. She won't want to sleep with me, or have me rock her, or read her books for long. And that breaks my heart. But hopefully when she stops wanting me to do those things, she'll start needing me in new ways to help me feel needed and close to her. I'm so happy that she is enjoying school, but I can't help but to watch the clock the whole time she's gone. She truly is my heart and sole. I've said it before, but I feel like the luckiest person in the world to get to stay at home with the kids. I couldn't imagine my life any other way.

We're still alive . . .

  Wow, it's been awhile. My apologizes to my dedicated followers (we didn't have internet for 3 weeks). Since my last post in July we have moved into the house, had a bridal shower, had a wedding, and had our first house guests. I seriously thought we were going to slow down once we moved in. Not the case at all. I'm beginning to think we are incapable of slowing down or relaxing for any length of time.

THE HOUSE- 
  The house is amazing. It is everything we have been imagining and more. Every time I come down the driveway it still hasn't sunk in that it's our new house. I hope that feeling never goes away, and I can be in love with our new house forever. Some of my favorite things about the house is the shower, pantry, and our new (to us) filing cabinet. And of course all the extra space. I have to pat myself on the back for being a creative and organized packer in the old house. Almost all our cupboards and drawers are full. I don't know how I fit everything we have into the little amount of space we had and still was able to function. We still have a lot on our to do lists for the house, but we are both really excited to start on the projects one by one. We are for the most part settled in (to the house portion) and have gotten into a flow with the new house. It takes awhile to learn light switches (I still just flip everyone until I get the one I want), what drawer works good for certain things, etc. We haven't ran across anything that we are unhappy with so far. I'm really looking forward to watching the seasons change out our beautiful windows throughout the year. And we can get one giant Christmas tree this year!!

These pictures were about 3 weeks ago. It's amazing

how much Quade has changed in that amount of time.

Three weeks ago

Now

Our amazing kitchen. Notice the light fixture over

the table. My brother and sister-in-law made

this for us. It's great. Matches everything perfectly. 

Here is our shower. We get mixed opinions

on it. Mostly are dislike. But we love it, and 

that's all that counts.

The floor is a pebble river rock style

Austyn's room

Quade's room

Bathtime

This is in our front field/yard. We get visitors every now 

and again from the neighbor cows. I liked the look of

our yard with cattle so I took a picture:) Austyn gets so 

excited when the cows get out on our property.

THE KIDS-
  The kiddos are wonderful. Growing like weeds (beautiful weeds). Austyn had two weeks of swim lessons and two weeks of summer camp this summer. Very busy! She did ok in both and I think I can say she enjoyed them mostly. We have decided to put her in preschool this year. She has a tendency to not socialize with other kids. So we thought that it would be good for her to be in that environment and have the direction from someone besides us. We're putting her in Territorial Preschool which is right up the road from us. It's started, morning routines for school. I think I'm most excited about getting her a backpack and school supplies! That was my favorite part of school (until we got to school and had to share all of them). She still is the funniest two almost three year old I've come across. She blows my mind sometimes. We have become quite the buddies lately. Something I'm hoping will stick for the rest of our lives.
  Quade is getting so big now. He is a little over 6 months and is sitting up and eating food now. He is starting to roll and rock a little bit. He has started putting two syllables together. Super cute!! Still so sweet and happy. I'm hoping he will be a crawler. Austyn didn't do too much crawling and I think it's so adorable. His hair has gotten so thick lately. I can spike a mohawk now. He has become an even bigger Mama's boy. I love it!! This boy loves food. The only time he throws a fit is if I'm eating something and not sharing it with him. Especially ice cream. Yes, he has joined Austyn and I on the ice cream wagon.
  I'm still feeling so blessed with the world's easiest baby. I'm not quite sure how we pulled off getting two amazing kids. I don't know where these thoughts come from, but they just pop up out of the blue. I've been thinking how fortunate we are and all our friends and family to have such healthy kids. I know so many people with kids and that are pregnant and each one is healthy. There are so many diseases out there and disorders that I think we all forget how fortunate we are to have these wonderful healthy children. It would be so hard to deal with a life long health problem.

JORDAN-
  Jordan is doing great. I think a huge load is off his shoulders with the house being done and his promotion stuff being over. I can tell he has relaxed a bit. He still has a list a mile long for things around the house though. But that's Jordan! He broke down and finally got some glasses. Poor guy could barely see out of his left eye. Now he is a new man. He told me to just call him Clark Kent! He looks pretty handsome in his spectacles.

ME-
  Things with me are the same. Chasing two kids and running after Jordan. It's my crazy wonderful life and I wouldn't have it any other way. I feel so fortunate to be able to stay at home and have the time I do with the kids and Jordan. I'm the luckiest girl in the world. My back got a little bent out of shape from moving and Quade getting SO HEAVY! It's slowly healing. I had to make a homemade sling to just carry Quade around normally. He is so big, it's ridiculous. It looks a little thrown together, but I literally can't even carry him on my hip for more than 20 minutes and he's too big for the front pack now. It's so funny how things change with the second kid. I would have never thought to do that with Austyn. But I am so much more laid back with Quade than I was with Austyn. I have slowed down (or stopped completely ) with working out. I'm 5 pounds away from my goal weight, which I'm pretty happy with. I know if I would just start back up I'd get there in no time.

  We are looking forward to our annual Crap Trip with Jordan's fire department over Labor Day. It is always super fun for everyone. I'm sitting here thinking what else we have coming up and have decided we are pretty much booked up for the rest of the year. BBQ next weekend, camping Labor Day, Austyn's Birthday Party two weeks after that, then the corn maze starts (every weekend from mid September to November and most of Jordan's days off during the week) which ends in November, Elk hunting for a week, Holidays, and whola the end of the year. I predict nothing but the same for us in 2014 :)

  Hope everyone is doing wonderful. And I will try to not let so much time go by before my next post.