Daddy's Helper

Bubs, Bryant, loves to help Daddy with whatever job needs to be done. On Saturday John was hauling wood out of the forest by our house and stacking it for firewood for us. (I love the one of my husband's favorite hobbies is also something that provides warmth for our family.)

Bryant went out to help Daddy and a short while later John came in and motioned for me to go outside. This is what I found.

The little feet sticking out from under John's coat belong to Bryant boy. He passed out (fell asleep) in John's arms out in the woods, John wrapped him up in his coat and put him on the wheelbarrow to bring him back home.

Because It's Fun...

I don't think we'll ever confuse baby pictures of our kids but I do see similarities between all three. Can you?
Aubrey, right around 6 weeks:

Bryant, right around 6 weeks:

Stuart, 6 weeks:


Crazy kids!

"Aubrey, can I take your picture?" "Sure! Cheese!!" (and pose)

Journaling to Remember...

Aubrey:

-It is very important to this girl that she say things correctly. She is curious about how everything works...seriously. She does not just ask why because she's at that age. She seriously wants to know and she will seriously remember what you tell her. For the record, her mother was never like that.

-Because she is growing up so fast I want to document a couple of words she says that I love, mostly because they are a little mixed up:
Restaurant="Astraunt"
Asparagus="Spagarius"
Lunch="Mwunch"
Excited="Inscited"

Bryant:

-I just finished having a conversation with my mom about how I would never have stayed in a crib or pack n play. (legend has it I climbed out of my crib at 7 months old). I said, "Yeah, I know, I am so thankful that I don't have a child who knows how to climb out of things yet. Seriously the very next day I put Bryant in his pack n play to give him (and Mommy) a time-out for a little bit. Less than a minute after I put him in it and shut the door I heard a knock. I went to the front door to see who was there but there wasn't anyone. Then I heard it again. And went to his bedroom door and there he was.

-So, because of his new-found ability to climb out of his "cage," we are now transitioning to a big boy bed permanently. No easing into this one. Recently John & I have been putting Bryant down in his pack n play and then moving him to his big boy bed after he is asleep. (this was for ease of not battling bed time). There can be no more of that and I guess that's a good thing. Last night we didn't have any problems with him going to bed but then sometime in the middle of the night he woke up screaming. He would not be consoled and finally John & I figured out it's because we had lost his last binky. My wonderful husband went out to the garage and found his headlamp, came inside and went on a massive treasure hunt for said binky. At last, about 30 minutes later he found one behind our headboard (no idea how it would ever have gotten there) and Bryant went straight to bed.

-This morning I quickly grabbed the binky and placed it in a safe spot to avoid another bedtime disaster. About 2 minutes later out comes Bryant with another binky that he must have found somewhere in his room. I have no idea where because last night we scoured every inch of his bedroom, bed, etc. So now we have 2.

Stuart:

-Consistently sleeps for 3 hour stretches at night and last night we had our first 4 hour stretch. Of course in between that 4 hour stretch was when we were on the binky hunt with Bryant but I'm still counting it. :)

-Whenever we are out people say, "He is big!" Yes, he is. And we love it. We'll see in a few weeks just how big but the kid is very long at least. And he feels heavy to me. Today Bryant asked to hold him and it was wierd because it seemed that Stuart was almost the same size as Bryant. (He's not, but it was very strange that there wasn't a drastic difference anymore in their sizes.)

Victory

1 1/2 hours of screaming, discipline, more screaming, discipline, more screaming, sitting down, then being made to stand up, sitting down, standing up...1 1/2 hours later you finally gave in and picked up the plastic pink turtle that Mommy asked you to pick up and you put it away in the bathroom like Mommy asked you to do. I do believe the angels rejoiced, son, as did Daddy & I, over this seemingly small victory in the "learning to obey" department. And we're exhausted.

Good job, strong little man of ours. That stubborn streak, I'm sure, will bode well for your future, but as Daddy & I told you repeatedly tonight: good leaders must first learn how to follow directions well. We're crazy about you, Bryant boy, and we pray we don't go crazy in our attempt to raise you to be a God-fearing (which first means Daddy-fearing and Mommy-fearing at times) man. You almost had us in the loony bin tonight.

We. Love. You. I'm going to bed. I have a headache. :)

A Blur and A Flurry

We just got back from time in Gresham where we celebrated Christmas a bit late with the Petersen side of the family. What a whirlwind! The chaos you see in the pictures is only half of it, but what a beautiful, wonderful chaos it was.

Grandpa Will is so patient with all of the little ones...and he is a great story teller!

Stuart enjoyed being held by everyone. He can't wait for his next cousins to arrive. The big kids are too much to try to keep up with right now!

These next two shots are Noah & Jack's CD cover options. Which do you vote for?


And, every shot I have of Noah is slightly blurry. He is on the move constantly! And so cute of course.


My pretty girl. In a SEA of boys. :) Soon to be 5 boys on the Petersen side...we are putting our bets in that Noah will have a baby sister come the fall! The odds are just so against 6 boys in a row, don't you think?



Aubs holding Stu. She is getting much more involved with him lately. This morning she wanted to hold him and when I kept going back to see if she was finished she would say, "No, I just really love my baby brother. And he likes me. I want to hold him some more."

My best attempt at a cousins Christmas jammies shot. Hopefully someone else got a good one.
Left to Right: Noah, Aubrey, Stuart, Bryant, Jack

Bryant, Jack & Beckham figured out they liked jumping off of this stool. Such big boys.

Aubrey loved getting to play with Bethany. (my cousins' daughter)

Handsome dude, Stuart.

Bryant & Jack rough-housing a bit. (Noah had gone to bed already)

Me, "Say cheese, Bryant!" Bryant, This:

Jack, doing this. Me, "Jack, say cheese!"

Jack, spit out binky, and this:

Papa is a Papa of many talents. One that he used when we were growing up was making up songs on a 3-stringed guitar to sing to us at bed time. So, we found a 3 stringed guitar and that was Papa's gift from us all. One of these days we might take things a little more serious. Well, probably not.

Aubrey is into big girl dolls now. Crazy crazy crazy. Where is the time going?

Bryant hefting his big dump truck from Jack.

Bryant wrestling Daddy.

I so look forward to the next gathering with our crazy bunch of wonderful kids.


Stuart met his namesake, Stu.

My tough boy. Growing up. Again, how and when did this happen?

Stuart with Daddy.

Thank you, Lord, for family.

Laughter in the Walls

LAUGHTER IN THE WALLS
by Bob Benson

I pass a lot of houses
on my way home.
Some pretty,
some expensive,
some inviting.

But my heart always skips a beat
when I turn down the road
and see my house
nestled against the hill.

I guess I'm especially proud
of the house
and the way it looks
because I drew the plans myself.
It started out large enough for us--
I even had a study;
two teenage boys
now reside in there.
And it had a guest room;
my girl and nine dolls
are permanent guests.
It had a small room
Peg had hoped
would be her sewing room,
the two boys swinging
on the Dutch door
have claimed this room as their own.
So it really doesn't look right now
as if I'm much of an architect.
But it will get larger again.

One by one they will go away--
to work, to college,
to service,
to their own houses.
And then there will be room--
a guest room, a study,
and a sewing room--
just for the two of us.

But it won't be empty.
Every corner, every room,
every nick in the coffee table
will be crowded
with memories.
Memories of picnics,
parties, Christmases,
bedside vigils, summers,
fires, winters, going barefoot,
leaving for vacation, cats,
conversations, black eyes,
graduations, first dates,
ball games, arguments,
washing dishes, bicycles,
dogs, boat rides,
getting home from vacation,
meals, rabbits,
and a thousand other things
that fill the lives
of those who would raise five.

And Peg and I
will sit quietly by the fire
and listen to the
laughter in the walls.

What kind of laughter will John & I listen to in our walls years from now? Bryant following Aubrey down the hall yelling (because he has no other volume), "Aubey! Aubey!"


Aubrey tap dancing to whatever music is on in the house. She's actually pretty good without ever having taken any dance lessons.


Stu, mouth open wide, ready to sneeze, and instead letting out a huge, "AHHH..."



Bryant nestling up against either one of us, whoever is holding his baby brother, to sit and "talk" about whatever is on his mind.

Aubrey on the step ladder helping me make dinner, talking my ear off. The girl definitely has her million words to use a day and does not waste time getting them out.

John & I looking at each other as it feels (and sometimes sounds) like bombs are exploding all around us, smiling, and realizing how blessed we are to have this crazy life to live together.