Its Update Time :D

One of the great advantages to neglecting our family blog for the last month and a half, is now I have lots of awesome blogging material to get caught up on :) He He He...

For starters,

We are expecting little Peterson #3, and we couldn't be more excited about it!! :)

It was a funny story how we found out. Dan and I went to the doctor's for routine physicals. The nurse attending suggested I take a pregnancy test to cover all our bases. I agreed to, but suspected nothing. Later, the doctor asked Dan and I if we thought we were expecting and we both said no, no at all. We really had no suspicions whatsoever. After our check-ups were done, and our labs were ordered, we left and that was that.

A few days later, I got online to check my lab reports for my blood work, and found I had a question about something so I emailed the doctor. At the end of the email I asked, in passing about the pregnancy test. Again, not because I suspected anything, but because I hadn't heard back yet either way. The doctor called me just a few hours later and said that he was in the course of answering my lab work question when he noticed the note from the nurse explaining a positive pregnancy test. He said he wanted to call and share the news himself which meant a lot to Dan and I. We were soooooo surprised and thrilled!!!!!!

I'm 11 weeks along and am due April 21. I've been super tired the last week or so and have had some morning sickness but overall I feel healthy.

In other wonderful news, Dan got a new job :) We are so happy about it because it will cut his 45 minute commute to work to about 5 minutes, so it will be a huge relief to have him closer. Not to mention, its a great opportunity for him and he's really looking forward to the work he'll be doing. Maybe I can convince him to come home for lunch every now and then too.

The boys are as cute as ever!! They are so excited about having a new baby coming. Andrew says almost everyday, "Mommy, the baby is growing." and then a few seconds later, "Mommy, Santa is coming." Somehow he's made the connection between the baby and Santa. Its pretty funny and makes me laugh every time. They already like to guess if its a boy or girl. Drew is convinced its a boy and Forrest thinks its a girl. We still have a while before we find out, but it will be fun to see who is right.

Sadly, last month, Dan's parents moved to Utah. We are super excited for the opportunities there for them, but miss them terribly. Whenever we drive somewhere new, the boys always think we are going to Grandma Peterson's house to visit. We wish we could spend the coming holidays with them, but are happy that there are so many Petersons in Utah now and they are having a blast there together!! Here's Forrest saying goodbye to Grandma Peterson. That was hard for us all.

My Dad is still working in Portland and my mom commutes back and forth between Utah and Oregon to visit. We love it when we can spend time with them too!! My mom loves to take the boys and I out on long scenic adventures in our area, and I've seen more of the beautiful Oregon countryside with her than I ever would of otherwise. Its been wonderful to have my parents so close. I know I'm really lucky.

My mom even took the boys and I up to Seattle recently to visit my sister and her adorable family a couple weeks ago. The boys had sooo much fun there, it was all they could talk about for days afterword. The boys loved helping Shelley take care of her yard and tomato plants. She is the coolest sister ever.



Before the Petersons moved, Grandma Peterson and Amy took the boys to the Portland Children's museum. And to say they had the time of their life, would be an understatement. Here are just a few of the things they had for the littles to do there. I've been getting requests for pictures of the boys from several family members. With the pregnancy just starting, I haven't been as good about getting the camera out for the day to day things. So, I'm grateful that I have these pictures to share or I would really be in trouble. ;) I put the explanations of the pictures below.

Forrest, my little artist, could not get enough of the face "painting." He insisted that I help him become a tiger. *(One of the boys' latest kicks right now is pretending to be a tigers/animals. If you are looking for a great book for boys about pretending to be animals, there's a real cute one called, I'm a Tiger Too by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, the boys have that book memorized.)

Its not a far cry to imagine that Andrew's favorite part of the museum was the dinosaur exhibit. Most particularly, these plastic dinosaurs. It was almost a cruel trick when we looked for these in the gift shop and they didn't sell them. Luckily, Grandma Peterson is amazing and went out of her way the next day to buy the boys some huge dinosaurs like these. They adore them.

The Children's Museum had a giant stage and amphitheater for the kids to freely use. There was a giant box of costumes and an open mic where kids could talk and sing. Boy, we we surprised to see Forrest, with all the confidence in the world, march up to that mic and start singing his little heart out. It was a priceless moment.

This little exhibit led to weeks of fascination with Bob the Builder. They insisted on checking out some books and dvds from the library and now they know the entire theme song and all the names of the tractors and characters. These little "kicks" keep life interesting for me :)

So, that's the latest with us :) I sure appreciate your patience with me as I've been a major blog slacker lately. Hopefully, the approaching second trimester will bring tons less nausea, more energy and MUCH better blogging!!! I sure love you all and enjoy keeping up with everyone!!!