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We are the proud parents of two boys now!  It’s amazing how different life is.  It’s a lot harder but it’s a lot of fun too.  If only we could get them both to sleep when it’s night, we will be golden.

Thomas ended up coming out via c-section.  I made it all the way dilated and then his heart rate started doing funny things.  They decided to just get him out.  That was a scary and exciting ride to the other room for surgery.  It was a little nerve racking to hear the doctors and nurses talking about how they had all just woken up to come though, being that it was in the middle of the night.  He came out completely healthy.  I was worn out but couldn’t be more proud and happy to finally see my baby.

Peter came with the grandparents to meet his new brother.  The first visit, he was more excited by the buttons on my bed.  We called the nurse a few times.  He did like seeing Thomas though and was very excited to see his mom and dad.

It was wonderful to be home and be able to sleep in our own beds but I did miss that nurse call button.  That would be the ultimate gift to have one installed in our house 🙂

Peter decided that he likes to “have it,” meaning hold his brother.  He’s really good until he’s done and then just gets up.  Poor Thomas will have to learn to fend for himself at a very young age.  Peter also likes to read to him and share cars with him.  Thomas doesn’t always appreciate as much as Peter would believe.  I think it may have something to do with the shared items ending up on his head.

Peter got a big bucket of letters as one of his first Christmas gifts.  He was so excited.  As he took them out, one by one, he would proudly say a letter name.  Of course it had no correlation with what letter he actually had, except for S.  He not only knows which one is S, but what sound it makes.  Also, X means stop.

Thomas got to have his first official bath just before 3 weeks.  The icky stump finally fell off so I filled up the little tub.  He actually didn’t hate it.  I don’t know that it’s his favorite activity but he at least didn’t hate it.  The getting out part wasn’t as fun but that’s cold for anyone.  He loved the big warm towel and smelled like clean baby.

I actually don’t have two sons.  I have one baby and one rabbit.  Peter has decided to be a slightly picky eater.  He goes in phases as to whether or not he’ll eat anything.  Vegetables are almost always on the not so much side.  Randomly, he’ll eat carrots if you give it to him whole.  He needs to hop while chewing but if it works, we’ll rock it!

We visited Santa at the Masonic Day with Santa this year.  Thomas didn’t care where he was but Peter had other thoughts.  He was very interested in that Santa guy but didn’t want to get anywhere close.  Finally when I held him, he would go by him.  He proudly told Santa he wanted an awesome airplane though.  He wasn’t too shy to put in a request.

Donna held her annual Christmas party.  The house was very full of kids and their families.  Santa visited that party too.  That Santa sang songs and even handed out flashlights.  Peter decided that he was maybe ok and got all the way to sitting on his lap.  He’ll do anything for a flashlight!

Dustin and Thomas had to rest up to get ready for all of the Christmas fun.

Peter had a Christmas party at daycare.  He got a neat foam bowling set from one of the other kids.  He likes to bowl but hasn’t quite got setting the pins back up by himself yet.  He also got a Buzz Lighyear from Sheila.  We happened to watch Toy Story on tv just before that so he came home so proud.  We heard “Buzzlightyear!” too many times to count.  Peter would make him fly and even say “to immmenty and yond!”

Christmas means getting together with lots of family.  It’s great to be able to spend time with everyone and catch up on their lives.

Christmas Eve is spent with Dustin’s family.  We go to mass in the afternoon.  Both boys did awesome this year.  I was nervous about either of them having issues but Peter had gummi worms, cars, and lots of laps to go back and forth.  Dustin took Peter with him to go for communion.  Peter decided it was his chance to escape and took off running the other way.  He happily came back and made it through the rest of the service.  Thomas only squawked once.  It happened to be right when the priest told us to give everyone peace.  I guess it was his way of giving peace.  After mass we went to Dee and Mel’s house for lots of good food and conversations.  My parents came after their church service too.  It was fun night but much shorter than in past years.  With lots more gatherings to come, Peter had to get to bed.

Christmas morning Santa had come!  We told Peter to go look under the tree.  He ran out and looked out the window.  When he finally figured out what tree, he was so excited.  Santa accidentally bought foil paper and it didn’t tear at all.  He won’t do that next year… oops.  Peter was so proud of his awesome airplane that he got.  Zoey got a gift too.  She liked it but maybe not the hood part.

Then we went to my parents house to have breakfast and open gifts from the immediate family.  Peter got little airplanes that were fun but the best was a little trampoline.  He loved jumping!  Thomas didn’t get to jump quite yet.

That afternoon was off to spend time with the Bjostad side.  It was a small crew this year but still good.  Jan has two of the cutest little dogs and I ate way too much.  Peter got a set of 20 cars!  I don’t think his eyes could have gotten any bigger when he opened that paper.

Sunday was the Sackett side.  That family has the tradition of opening gifts starting with the youngest and then going in age order.  This was the first and only year Thomas got to go first.  Next year his cousin will get the honor.  He didn’t even realize how sweet he had it.

We’ll get together with Dustin’s immediate family this next weekend.  We just couldn’t fit it all in one weekend like we used to before babies.  That just means there is more to look forward to.

With all of these occasions that we looked nice and were together as a family.  I thought a family photo would be nice since we are four now.  Well it didn’t go as smoothly as I thought it would.  Here are just some of the takes.

After the big weekend of family, we are trying to enjoy a little down time together.  Thomas discovered the joys of his vibrating bouncy chair.  His eyes got huge and he couldn’t look away.  Peter thought he should play too but we have been working on the concept that not everything is for him.  I think that is going to be a life long battle.

Not surprisingly, after everything that has gone on, we got the dreaded phone call from daycare this morning.  Peter came home with a fever.  His one request when he came home was the race car channel.  He and Dustin sat in the chair and played Mario Kart until Peter crashed.

And if you’ve made it this far, you are a dedicated fan of our family!  Thank you.  We couldn’t be more happy to go into 2011 with our wonderful family and friends.

We haven’t taken many pictures this month.  We really haven’t done much this month.  It’s been hot and I’m feeling kind of huge.

Peter has really been into books this summer.  He would read them over and over and over if he could.  Normally just looking at the pictures isn’t enough though.  He wants you to read to him but he isn’t always patient enough to actually listen to the story.  He has a big book full of different trucks.  He gets excited to read the “giant truck story.”  There’s really not much of a story but we get to point out each vehicle.  The other day he actually took the book to the floor to “read” it on his own.  It was too cute.

Because I’m feeling slightly huge, everything takes a little longer than usual.  The laundry has become my enemy.  I don’t mind actually washing it but then you have to do something with it and that’s the part that gets me.  I was really trying to be good and had a pile of shirts on the back of the couch that just needed to be put in the closet.  Unfortunately, even the dog has picked up on my slowness and made herself right at home on the top of the back of the couch right in with the shirts.  We had a mountain goat for a long while.

This has been a hard pregnancy.  There hasn’t been anything major but all the little stuff adds up.  I laugh that it’s a good thing this is round two or Peter would never have gotten a sibling.  The good part is that we officially know that this little baby is a boy!  He didn’t cooperate when we did the ultrasound at 20 weeks with the doctor.  All we found out was that it was a healthy baby.  Well that wasn’t good enough for me so we went to a private place and he saw right away!  I had to go in and drink the icky orange drink and with everything else, I kind of just assumed I would fail the 1 hour test.  Amazingly I passed.  Maybe things are looking up.

So now I have it in my head that I should get working on Christmas stockings.  I started Peter’s last summer and never finished.  It has become my goal to have a completed stocking for both boys by this Christmas.  I can do it!  I cross stitched Peter’s name for the top and a snowman to put in the middle.  The big goal now is to find a nice picture that has a similar feel for the second but isn’t just a repeat of the first.  I at least started mapping out the name to go on top.  I think it matches pretty good and looks mostly even.  I guess we’ll see once I actually get going.  Here’s the paper version with Peter’s name how I already stitched it and Thomas on top with how I think I’ll stitch.

We go to the cabin most weekends in the summer.  Peter has made himself at home up there and pretty much runs the whole time.  On the rare occasion that he’s not running, he finds himself either in the dirt or the water.  He usually has a partner in crime (a.k.a Donna).  Bethy came up with us one weekend and she ended up in the dirt too.

We celebrated the 4th of July at the cabin.  We went to the Pederson cabin for some awesome fireworks.  I didn’t get to light the warning shot like usual but it was still a good time.  The show was amazing as usual, even the mosquitoes enjoyed the show.

We had some other visitors at the cabin.  A big mama bear and her four little cubs decided to wander through.  They enjoyed the fry grease and then climbed a tree to take a nap.  They stayed up there for the morning and then wandered down and went on to someone else’s neck of the woods.  Peter was very impressed and still talks about the 5 bears.

One of Peter’s birthday gifts was swimming lessons.  We took a parent and child class.  At first he didn’t want to take off his shoes, much less get in the water and participate.  With each class he got better and better until he couldn’t get his shoes off fast enough and waiting for the teacher to come seemed to last forever.  He still didn’t always participate quite like he should but he gained a lot of confidence in the water and can kick and scoop.  The last class he got to play at the end.  He finally went down the little slide not only once but twice.  He thought it was so much fun that he wanted Dustin to take him to the other end of the pool.  We figured out that he conquered that little kid slide so he was going to try the big slide.  We’ll have to wait a few years for that one though.

Finally, we were festive and participated in Hastings Rivertown Days.  It was a fun weekend of shopping, family, going out on the town, and a parade.  The thing was that it was really hot that weekend.  Between activities, we decided to try and cool off with some water fun and bubbles.  We pulled out the rainbow sprinkler but Peter wasn’t having that.  Then I remembered Peter had gotten a huge blow up octopus sprinkler so I made Dustin blow it up and start it.  I guess we weren’t quite ready for that though as it made Peter run the other way and cry.  Finally Dustin pulled out the winning sprinkler and lots of fun ensued.

We had a couple weekends of cabin adventures in May.

Paul got a new rider lawn mower for up at the cabin.  It has a trailer that is just Peter sized.  He loves to tell Paul to sit on the seat and ask for rides.

Peter discovered the joys of a sprinkler.  At first he just got his toes wet and that was really fun.  Then he moved closer and got his belly wet.  That was really fun.  After moving a little closer, the water went over his head.  That was awesome.  One more step and the water went right in his face.  That was not as fun.  He managed to put his suit on and play in the water more and realized that the sprinkler is still a fun thing.

Peter got a sweet new camo hat.  I know he’s hard to see in the picture but that is in fact Peter 🙂

The next weekend Zoey got a little brave in the morning so the rope got pulled out.  It’s kind of funny though because most of the time you don’t even need to tie the rope to anything.  She just knows she’s in trouble and behaves.  Peter thought it was a toy for him though.

Peter was a very busy boy that weekend.  It was extra special because not only were Donna and Pop Pop there but Grandma and YaYa too.  Oh, and Unkie and Uncle Drew too.  There were so many people to play with that he forgot to sleep!  He had a little bit of a crash on the boat but then the lure of water was too strong, for a little while.

The other guest at the cabin that weekend was a momma turtle.  She worked her way up the driveway and picked right in the middle to lay her eggs in the sand.  It took her a long while to lay them and then bury them.  She wasn’t a fan of everyone watching but she kept working hard to finish her task.  Then she quickly walked to the lake.  I was amazed at how big she was and how long her legs were.  Zoey was brave and even sniffed her butt once she was almost to the lake.  The one time Zoey actually acts like a dog and it’s with a turtle.  Go figure.

Very soon I will post some pictures from the big birthday party for my big 2 year old boy.  I can’t believe Peter is already 2!

So I’ve basically slept through April and well on my way through May.  It doesn’t bode well for posts and pictures, unfortunately.  I’ll try to do better.

Dustin and I went up to the cabin in early April.  It was COLD.  There was most certainly still giant ice flows on the lake but we got the boat launched and in the water.

Peter and I hung out one afternoon and had some fun.  He is such a ham and says cheese for the camera.  I did manage to get one picture that wasn’t so cheesy.  That day Zoey got her haircut.  She looked and smelled so nice.  She wasn’t as big of a fan of the bows though.  Dustin didn’t like them either.  I did and that’s what matters.

Bethy was an awesome friend and brought Peter and I to Under Water World at the Mall of America.  It was really cool to walk through the tube and see all of the giant things swimming all around us.  Of course, Peter was very serious for the whole trip.  He talked about sharks for a long time afterwards though so he must have liked it.  We made a stop to Lego Land afterwards.  On the way over we happened to pass Diego.  From afar Peter couldn’t be more excited.  He yelled Diego and was saying hello.  Once we got close it was a different story.  I guess this Diego was a little big.  Overall, it was a great day though.

This year we spent Easter with the Bjostad family.  It was a really nice afternoon spent with the family.  Peter got a new big truck and drove it all day.  He even tried to drive it in the tree.

Peter got to go to the cabin too.  He and Dustin went up, along with Zoey of course.  From the stories and the pictures, it was still cold but Peter doesn’t ever seem to mind.  His first weekend he seem to remember everything right away from last year, including playing on the boat.  He now has figured out the joys of the throttle and going fast.  Oh, and if you’ll notice he’s wearing his sweet new life jacket in the second picture.  Grandma Sherry picked that out for him so he doesn’t have to be squashed into the other one.  He hasn’t quite figured out the new balance though and was a little top heavy.  He’ll get it.

I’m actually updating the blog with pictures!

We have a few from Thanksgiving.  We went to Mark and Lori’s for Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving Day.  Everyone had a good time till it was time for the big meal.  Then a certain short person decided he was not ready to be awake and went back to bed.  Once he really woke up it went much better.

With playing hard, comes falling hard.  Usually Peter is pretty graceful at falling but this time he crashed right on his face.  He got a nice fat lip.  While sitting with dad, he held his ice and for some reason felt the glasses would help.

The family celebrated Thanksgiving part two with the Sackett side.  Peter was up, down, and everywhere the entire time.  I don’t think he even stopped to really eat.  He did stop to play a little dice with Leslie though.

And just for good measure, he decided to model his boots.

That brought us to December.  We went to visit Santa at the lodge.  Peter was good with him from afar but when it came time to actually sit on his lap, he wanted nothing to do with him.  He was too busy trying to get free rather than take a picture.  He did like the cookies though.

We tried to take some photos of the kid and the dog for our Christmas cards.  The plan went a lot smoother in my head but we managed to take a few fun shots.  Most of them were of one or both of them running away.

A separate day we had another photo shoot.  This one was for a calendar we made.  Each month Peter got a new outfit and new props appropriate to the month.  It took all day and three adults to get it done but it was fun.  One of the side shots was Peter and Dustin together.

After all that hard work, some people like to relax with a nice beverage.

With December came snow.  The whole family went out to shovel/play.

Christmas season came.  Along with it came parties.  We went to Paul and Donna’s for Christmas Eve, Santa came to our house in the morning, and we spent Christmas Day at Jim and Sherry’s house.  We also got to celebrate with the Sackett side.  He had a really good time with the new tee ball set and pointing.  We rounded out the festivities back and Paul and Donna’s house.

Finally, Peter spent some quality time New Year’s Eve with Jim.  As a result, he is now an avid piano player and came home with a keyboard.

Now we’re into January already!  Today Bethy, Peter, and I are going to go celebrate Martin Luther King Jr and my birthday by going to the children’s museum.  There might just be some pictures of that soon 🙂

Towards the end of September Donna, Paul, Drew, Dustin, and I were up at the cabin.  It was the Gandy’s big celebration.  The day ended up being a mini-tour.  We finished out the day at the Gandy and then came home tired and done.

Peter is a really good eater.  He’ll eat everything but a few green items.  Well that is until he discovered frozen peas.  He couldn’t eat them fast enough.  I guess I know how to get some green in him.

We got snow!

Dustin celebrated his birthday so I made him a cake.  He got to pick whatever flavor he wanted.  He picked german chocolate.  I did have for him and put regular chocolate frosting on my half.

It was a sad, sad day when the boat came out of the lake.  Dustin, Donna, Scoop and I took the last ride to the landing and it was cold.  Paul met us with the truck and trailer and out it went.  Dustin and Zoey rode on the boat back to the cabin.  It’s now hibernating for the winter under the roof.

After the boat came out, we were able to start our annual tavern tour.  This year we started at Hillside.  We then went to a lovely bridge to have lunch on the side of the road.  Next we went to Rosenthals.  Tami was celebrating her 40th birthday.  We played with the trivia cards at Roamers (even though it’s not really called Roamers anymore.)  The Shop had tasty appetizers.  Just ask Donna about the mushrooms.  Finally, we rounded the day out at the Crow Bar.  Once we got back to the cabin, there was suppose to be a post party but the other people never made it.  Overall, it was a great day.

Peter got a bunch of fun Halloween gifts from a Halloween gift exchange.  He got a sweet hat and gloves, some really cute outfits, and a big green pumpkin bucket.  His favorite was to put the fruit snack packets he got in and out of the bucket.  He didn’t realize until later that there was goodness in the packets.  We also put the fun pumpkin and spider window clings on our front window.

Zoey got a haircut.  She looks and smells awesome now!  She even got pretty pink bows.

And to round out the post, here are some fun pictures of Peter hammering.

It was that time once again.  221A re-united for some cabin fun.  Elliott, Lindsay, Kart, Kristen, Jon, Nicole, Lon, Jessica, Dan, Alicia, and Brayden all joined Dustin, Peter, Paul, Donna, and I for the weekend (and a passle of dogs).  There was lots of knowledge shared, with a few beverages too.  We spent lots of time around the campfire and on the boat.  I think the paddle boat got the most use it has yet.  Brayden even caught a fish.  Overall, it was a fun weekend!

Once everyone departed, we got to enjoy a little quiet time with just the three of us, and one visit from the dear old deer.

We actually didn’t get that many pictures of the weekend so if anyone else has some good ones to share, that would be great.

Dustin helped Paul (Pop pop) with some antenna work at the cabin a few weekends ago.  I’m not sure what the ultimate goal was but they lifted it and moved it.  Paul did something to it on the roof and then they put it back.  I guess it was a success.

Paul (Wenzel) and Sarah were able to come to the cabin for a sort of weekend (Sunday through Tuesday).  They brought Sophie with them and we all had a good time.  Tanner (the local deer) came to visit again.  He must have left the little lady back at home.  He bonded with Peter for a little while after showing some interest in his breakfast.  We also made it to the sand bar for some fun in the sun and water.  Everyone, including the dogs, had a good time splashing around.

Peter went in for his 13 month appointment with the doctor.  He’s doing great and everything is right on track.  He’s 22.5 pounds of fury.  Poor thing got two shots, one in each leg, though and wasn’t a fan of either.  Then he had to go to the lab and have his finger pricked for a blood draw.  That wasn’t much fun either.  Afterwards Peter got some quality time hanging out with mom, even though the lure of Sesame street is a big one.

We had a very nice weekend up at the cabin.  Peter had lots of fun playing in the dirt and with Zoey, although they don’t always share the best.  We went into town to watch the parade.  It was a beautiful and hot day.  The parade was a little special but it was fun none the less.  We did see some awesome fireworks too but I’ll let Dustin pick what pictures he wants to put up of those.