Eternal Naptime

Charlotte takes longer naps than Peter... so we are embracing the downtime, and I am getting caught up on some blogging business. We made an impromptu visit to Grandpa Dave and Grandma Teri's house on Friday which resulted in meeting Scott at a new taco place for dinner (Scott thought we said "nude" taco place at first and was more than a little hesitant). 

Anyway, I love stopping by to see my parents or when they stop by our house. Peter loves them so much and has so much fun with them always. I am always so grateful for the way they drop everything and make their grandkids their number one priority. They are so interested and involved in every little detail of his life, and I know that they always will be. 

Looking at the pictures, I am beginning to see that I need to be brave and maybe finally cut Peter's shaggy hair. It will be his third big haircut. Despite that fact, it kills me every time!

Charlotte

Peter has a new friend!

Andy and Jen are in town this week for a ski trip, and they are staying with us! It is so fun having them here, and we are so grateful that they are willing to crash on a blow-up mattress in our icy basement because we are having so much fun catching up with them. We haven't seen each other since our trip to Mexico when Jen and I were both pregnant! I had braces! It was a while back.

Peter and I are especially lucky because we get to spend the days with Charlotte while her mom and dad have some fun up in the mountains. Peter is loving having a new friend. Charlotte is so sweet, and we love having her around! Peter woke up from his nap today saying, "Sha" over and over, pointing downstairs where she was still sleeping. It was very cute. We will be sad when she goes home at the end of the week! Good thing we are planning a visit to San Diego soon! Hopefully Charlotte will be able to show us around at the zoo or Sea World!

I love this picture above! I told each of them to smile, and these are the faces I got! Apparently this is a new development for Charlotte having been at our house. Between her wide, open mouth and Peter's cheesy grin, these kids just crack me up! We are having fun with puzzles, books, dress-up hats, singing songs, cars, legos, trains, walks, and snow! After Charlotte's nap we are going to the library or the museum. Having fun!

This picture below (left) is funny because Peter gets stuck like this at least once a day! He loves to watch a show straddling the table and couch with his skinny little body. then he sinks down bit-by-bit until he has to yelp for help, "Mama! Mama!" I love it!

St. George... Again

I love St. George. It is the perfect vacation for kids. I always had fun visiting St. George with my friends. I love the red rock. I love the biking/hiking/climbing/camping. It is a such a beautiful part of the world. But now that Peter is in our lives, it is the most perfect getaway. The drive is do-able, it is warmer than Salt Lake, and we can ride bikes, swim, and hike to our hearts' content. 

After this most recent trip, in fact, Peter's newest word is "hike."

And he means "hike," not "walk." He would get very frustrated if we tried to walk on gravel or sidewalk. He wanted dirt or rocks. If he couldn't hike on dirt or rocks, he was pretty bummed.

We had a lot of fun swimming. We always do. This boy is a fish and loves the water. We borrowed SJ's cool life-jacket/floatie, and he had a whole new sense of independence in the water. It is going to be such a fun summer filled with a ton of time at Grandma's pool!

We were so happy that Peter's Grandma and Grandpa Hannay were able to join us for our quick weekend in St. George. They had to drive a long way from Santa Barbara to meet us, and we were so happy they did! Peter loved spending time with them and reading the new books they brought. We all stayed at my parent's house in St. George. Thank you mom and dad!

Peter had a lot of fun with our cool new bubble machine. Watching him play in the bubbles was way too much fun for me!

My handsome boys in the beautiful red rock desert.

My parent's place is in the perfect location, right at the base of Snow Canyon. We went up there every day and explored to hikes and trails. It is one of the most beautiful canyons ever, with the beautiful sandstone layers. Peter was a tough little guy, building some strong hiking legs on this trip. 

Some more bubbles... you can never have too many.

I love this little boy blue. Those big blue eyes!

Grandpa Rick and Grandma Lynne rode the tandem bike around the neighborhood a bit. It was so nice to be outside in the warm weather. Scott, Peter, and I had to wear sunscreen for the first time in months! I almost felt like it was too warm! I am a winter girl... and, while I love the summer, I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to winter snow storms yet. 

Peter exerted some superhuman strength lifting his dad in the air like this. You can see the strain in his face. Tough little guy.

Monkey Style

Motherhood suits me.

I think everything Peter does is amazing. I believe he is a miracle. I love spending my days with him, watching him learn, and exploring new things together. I am so grateful to be part of as many of his "first" as I can. I love this little boy with the warmest, fullest, most energetic love. 

I sat down to clear my camera card of all the pictures we took last weekend in St. George. But I saw a few "around the house" pictures I wanted to make sure to remember. 

I want to remember Peter's request to eat a banana "monkey style" in the tub. We found out last weekend that he has an allergy to coconut. He had some granola with coconut in St. George and had a terrible rash for several days after. My mom, sister, and I all stay away from coconut... so chances were good that he'd be allergic. We had lots of daytime tubbies last week to help his raw little bum feel better. Sometimes this included eating our meals in the tub. 

Peter loves his grandma ("O-ma"), his dog ("Woof woof"), and smiling like a goof.

I mentioned to my mom and sister that Peter was loving puzzles lately. We only had one wooded farm puzzle, and Peter and I would sit and assemble it at least twenty times a day. This boy is very VERY loved, because the next day we were given two new puzzles from Grandma and four or five from his Aunt Kirsten and cousins. He loves to line them up and work on them one-by-one in a circle. 

After spending a few days with his cousin Ben, Peter was very impressed by his cool big boy basketball hoop in his room. So we got one for Peter for Valentine's Day. He loves it! He has a little basket of balls he likes to shoot through the hoop. He's not quite up to the standard of this basketball baby, but.... close.

Nothing is quite as entertaining as a box...

...except for playing with Daddy AND a box!

Love them.

An Afternoon with Emmy

We are loving Peter's new little cousin, Baby Emmy! 

We still can't believe how tiny she is, even after two weeks! Scott keeps asking if Peter was ever this small! It's hard to remember those blurry weeks in the ICU. I am completely in love with this little babe. So is Scott. So is Peter. She is pretty amazing.

We spent a fun afternoon up at the cousins house, messing up their playroom (sorry Kirst!) and eating a delicious dinner that Scott brought up after work (thank you, Scotty!). Peter discovered marbles (uh oh), and we spent plenty of time snuggling with adorable Baby Emmy. Peter was so soft with her and gave her a very sweet kiss on her head. I think they are pretty good buddies who have definitely met before! 

After we got the kids down and Scott took Peter home for bed, Mom, Kirsten, Emmy, and I had a girls night with a girly movie and lots of treats. We learned that Mom loves skull bone sweethearts... go figure. It was such a fun night out... in! We need to hang out post-bedtime more often! I am so grateful for my mom and my sister and their wonderful friendship!

A few cell phone pics of our afternoon: 

Around the House

What Peter's been up to around the house:

Drinking milk from this awesome football cup. 

Eating "nanas" monkey-style.

"Helping" around the house.

Trying on last year's Halloween costume and growling like a dinosaur just for fun (I can't believe it's already too small).

Reading every book in our book shelf... ten times each.

Hiding all of his shoes in his hood. Explain that one.

Playing cars and trains.

(Sometimes multi-tasking by doing both.)

We've Entered the Cheesy Smile Stage

I think this kid has been well-photographed. Between our camera, phones, and video camera, nearly every instant of this boy's life has been caught on film. We used to sneakily get him to smile for pictures by telling him to stick out his tongue, which would always end in a smile. 

Now we tell him to smile for the camera, and we get this face (or some variation). Isn't it attractive?

Baby Emmy!

She's here!

Scott and I spent three days up at Kirsten and Nick's watching these awesome kids while baby Emmy was born. It was so much fun, and it was probably the highlight of Peter's whole year. He loves his cousins! Baby Emmy is darling and teeny tiny. I love her so much already! 

We got some great pictures of Baby Emmy's welcome party, as well as our wild and adventurous stay with the cousins. We'll have to get all those organized, but here are some of the best: Emmy's brothers and sister meeting her for the first time! They were so excited!

I love these kids (and their parents) so much I can hardly stand it!

If All the Snow Flakes...

...were candy bars and milkshakes, oh what a snow it would be.

Standing outside with my mouth open wide, oh "Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah."

We are LOVING the snow this year. Scott has mastered the art of the snow shovel clearing our massive driveway over and over... and over. Peter has mastered the art of holding still while we try to navigate his tiny fingers into the individual finger slots in his gloves. Lindsey has mastered the art of balancing a snow ball on her head. We are having such a fun winter! 

Quack

You can tell by the lack of ice and snow on the ground (and by the sun-shiny fro on Peter's head) that this picture was taken back before the smog, inversion, blizzards, and home-hibernation. But Scott and I were cleaning our phone camera cards, and we discovered months of pictures we haven't every really seen. This little series made me so happy, and I wanted to be sure to remember every little part about this beautiful December day when we randomly decided to feed the ducks at Liberty Park. I love my boys. And I love loving them! 

Oh, remember that really unfortunate haircut? Just scroll down and pretend you don't see it. Wiggly boy.

I Felt Like Me

After a one-year recovery-induced hiatus from snowy peaks, Scott and I had our first ski day. We had so much fun skiing with Johnny and Alyssa, and we were so excited to be up in the crisp, cool air again doing what we love. Peter had a fun time being spoiled by his grandparents while we spent the day at Park City. It was beautiful. I love when it is sunny and snowing at the same time. I'm not sure how that's even possible. The snow was ideal, Johnny had a lot of treats (of course), and Scotty and I had so much fun together! It was by far the biggest step I've taken since the world of heart failure and respiratory failure, and I didn't know what to expect of my body. Would I get tired? Would the altitude affect me? Would my lungs get tight or sore? Would I have a hard time breathing? Would my muscles remember what to do?

The most amazing thing happened... I felt like me! 

Scott and I can't wait to teach Peter! There's nothing better than skiing as a family. I'm grateful to have been raised in a family that skis together, and I can't wait to create one!