Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Thankful

I just read a friend's blog, and on it she had a list of 10 things she was thankful for. I thought it would be a refreshing exercise for me to do today.

I am thankful for:

1. The Giver of Life, who sustains me everyday, even when I often I think it is I who sustains myself.

2. Asha Rose...a beautiful, expressive gift from the Giver of Life.

3. A two year old daughter who exclaimed yesterday, "Yeah Mommy! You woke up too!" I am not sure what I am more thankful for in that statement, the fact that she actually spoke that sentence, or that she was so excited to see me.

4. Camp Roger

5. A very flexible profession.

6. My encouraging husband, who still tells me at least every day that I am beautiful.

7. Our freedoms in America.

8. A bathtub at home and at camp.

9. Facebook...I think is is fun!

10. Sleep.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Just a few more Hawaii Pictures





More Hawaii Pictures





Hawaii






We had an awesome time in Hawaii visiting Jenn, Darrick, Micah, Jacob and Naomi! We were most concerned about flying with Lydia and having her adjust to the different time zones. Hawaii is 6 hours behind Michigan. However, Lydia did great and we all adjusted pretty well. We did a little sight seeing, a lot of relaxing and enjoyed the time spent with the Hays family and in the sun. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

What we have been up to



Here is a sample of what we have been up to. Enjoy!



Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Funny Things are Happening at the Peterson House

There are so many funny things to post that are going on at our house, most of them have to do with Lydia. She is at such a fun stage, her personality is really starting to shine. As I posted previously, she has come to believe that her stuffed animals are real, or at least she treats them as if they are. She puts them to bed on the couch and covers them before she takes a nap. She also then has to kiss each one and then the other day she patted each one on the head. Now wait, I don't think we pat her on the head before a nap?! She has put them in time-out, tried to feed them, change their diapers and I even caught her washing the bears mouth and paws with the washcloth we use to wash her mouth and hands after she eats. Here she is washing the bear up and here is the bear in time-out.

The Green Bear Needed a Timeout

The Green Bear Get His Face Washed After Lunch

Lydia also has become a little bit of a clean freak. Yesterday she noticed crumbs on her foot rest of the highchair. She got my attention and then pointed at them and pulled up her nose. Then she went and got a wash cloth and washed off the foot rest. After that, she proceeded to get down on her knees and scrub the floor under the table! I hope this phase lasts!

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The last funny thing I don't have pictures of, but I think it is still funny. Yesterday Lydia and I went to a thrift store (along with a few other errands). When we got home I sent an e-mail to Jim telling him about our morning and I mentioned that I had gotten him black tea at the thrift store and asked him, "you needed black, right?" Well I got 2 e-mails from him back. The first one said, "You bought tea at a thrift store?" and the second one said, "Is it used?" I guess I didn't think how funny it would sound that I bought the tea at the thrift store. And no, it is not used.


Monday, January 26, 2009

A Flop

Well, I did it...I created a flop. I have been gradually trying to do projects around the house. I have been generally very happy with them. Take my blankie in the previous post or Lydia's bedroom. (I will post pictures of that later.) However, this project was disappointing. We purchased a bench for our breezeway(entry-way) about 2 years ago. I really like how it has worked out. However, I have been wanting a cushion for it since we have purchased it, but I could not find one that I liked or that fit. So I thought I could make one---you really only need straight lines for a cushion. Well, I did some measuring and it seemed like a bed pillow was just about the right size for the bench. I was really excited about that because then all I would need to do is make a pillow case type thing and put a pillow in it. Walla, the finished project----it looks like we are storing a bed pillow on the bench! I have not decided yet if I am going to leave it as it is, or try to find an actual cushion and redo the cover.

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And now a fun picture of Lydia. She has suddenly started pretending that her stuffed animals are real. She will read to them, want us to read to them, feed them, pretend to change their diaper, put them in time-out. Here she is pretending to take a nap with her friend the bear.

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Friday, January 16, 2009

An Adoption Project

Quite a while ago I had an idea of something I wanted to make for our next child (who hopefully will be adopted). I was reading the book, "Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew." It had a very beautiful poem/parable in it that I copied so that I could put it in a scrap book that I would be making for my child. Here it is:

Long, long ago, in eternity past, God determined that there would be a beautiful braid made of shinning ribbons--a braid woven in the secret places, a braid called "adoption."

Each ribbon was a different color. One of the deepest of purples, another the richest of greens, and the third the most vibrant of reds.

Each ribbon had a purpose, each a vital contribution, and each a unique position with the other two ribbons.

The green ribbon represents the birth family and their deep yet often-forgotten contribution to your life.

The purple ribbon represents our family, chosen to nurture that God-given gift of life passed on from the birth family.

The red ribbon represents you--a unique weaving together of nature and nurture into one marvelous human being, with awesome potential.

--Sherrie Eldridge


What I really liked was the depiction of the different colors and what they represent. I decided to make a "blankie" with those colors to give to my child when we took them home. Now, this will really only work with a child under one or two, but I am fine if it doesn't end up working.

You see, Lydia has a "blankie" that my parent's gave her when she was born. At first we just let her play with it. But then at about 5 months old we put it in her crib for her to sleep with. That was really the only thing she slept with besides her pacifier until she was about 16 months old when we added blankets in her crib. She loves her blankie and it is becoming well worn. We hope to do the same thing for our next child because we feel like it is important to have a comfort object. The blankie is a perfect comfort object: it is small, portable, washable and fun to play with (the tags). We ended up having to hide this new blankie, because Lydia wanted to play and cuddle with it. Here is the picture of the new blankie. Now remember, I am not the best sewer, but I try.
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Here is Lydia sleeping with her blankie at about 5 months old.
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Monday, January 12, 2009

Christmas In Pictures

Merry Christmas! I know this is very late, but I thought I would summarize our Christmas season in pictures. We spent Christmas Eve with Jim's family. We enjoyed some time together and the traditional Christmas Eve JB's pizza. Lydia learned, that night, that there were actually fun things in those wrapped boxes.





On Christmas day, my parents and brother Devin, came to spend a few days with us. We also enjoyed having them around and even shared a few sick germs with them. (oops!) Lydia enjoyed all the attention.






Then, two days after Christmas we were blessed with the healthy birth of our new niece. She was named Willa Kathryn. We are excited to get to know her as she grows over the years. As you can see, she is really cute.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

My Mom



Tonight I was looking through my pictures to post some Christmas pictures on the blog. However, I came across two pictures of my mom that just made my night. My mom makes me smile, laugh-out-loud and sometimes even cry because I am laughing so hard. Here are her pictures.