Winter 2009

Posing for Christmas card photos...Anna, Nate, and Karly.

Anna, after her first professional haircut, dressed up for Mike and Shannon's reception

Karly, after her first professional haircut, dressed up for Mike and Shannon's reception, with a tootsie roll in her mouth.

The girls before they got their hair cut with their babies...of course!

The fam at our friends in Bloomington.

Nate with Jen's motorcycle...look at that grin!

The kids with their pumpkins. They were so proud of those this year and had a great time painting them and themselves, with daddy's help.

The kids at Halloween, dressed up as the same as last year, but the girls switched outfits.

The girls today with their "piggytails".

The kids with the new Christmas tree. Now if we can only keep our hands off of it! :)

Nate on his big boy bed.

Karly with mommy's glasses on doing my homework.

It's been almost 8 months since our last post. We've been using Facebook to post photos but have several requests from people who aren't on Facebook to update our blog. Plus, this is a bit more personal.

We continue to stay busy with the kids but it's getting easier in many areas. The kiddos are potty trained during the day and go by themselves. Still wearing diapers during nap and bed time. It's been easier than we thought so far! Nate's in a big boy bed and the girls are in toddler beds...no more cribs...thank goodness! Anna will get up 2-3 times a night but will go back to bed with little redirection.

Karly continues to be Miss Independent and our challenge at times. She gets very frustrated with tasks she can't complete by herself and doesn't like to ask for help. She is definitely are best "talker". Always making us laugh with her quirkiness.

Nathan is such a little boy. He's learned how to pester his sisters and make them scream. Continues to be our best sleeper and is quite the little cuddle bug. Nate likes his trucks and balls but will be right there with the girls playing babies.

Anna is still our littlest. She is such a sweety and plays well with the other two. She LOVES her babies and any other babies she can get her hands on.

So far we've all been healthy this flu season. Trying to keep the kiddos out of public areas as much as possible. However they occassionaly go to daycare so mommy can pick up some extra hours at work.

Travis finished his bachelor's degree and has started his master's online. He continues to work full-time and enjoys what he does. He gets out of the house on Wednesdays for bowling night...his only salvation! :)

I am still working in the ER but work part-time every Saturday and Sunday which is nice to have the whole week off with the kids. I am so lucky to have this opportunity to be with the kids. It's hard not to have more time with Travis, but we know this is a temporary sacrifice.

It's hard to believe the kids are 2 1/2. I look at them some times and wonder how they got to be so big. The days of them being tiny are slowly leaving my mind. But our minds are being filled with new memories every day with smiles, hug, kisses and laughter.

We hope everyone has a great Holiday Season and a Happy 2010! Thank you for all the support and prayers over the past 3 years.

We're 2

Nate trying on Daddy's shorts.

The kids "acting" like they're sleeping...looks like Nate actually might be!

The BIGGEST gift of the day...big wheels and a trike!

Happy Birthday Buddie, don't you look handsome! (they love to put their hands in their pockets)

Happy Birthday sweet Anna!

Happy Birthday Karly, you are so beautiful and funny!

Happy Easter! The kiddos did great at the egg hunt.

Auntie Michelle and Aunt Jen...gosh we miss you guys!

Peters' family photo...a rare occasion!

Karly all packed up to go. Every once in awhile she'll do this...whether it's on the bed, the chair or in her wagon, she'll pile everything in sight in that spot (notice the two bears on her back).

Anna in the recycling bin. Don't ask me what possessed her to do this. Thank goodness we had just received it and it was clean!

Karly and her goofy self, she was probably jabbering in this photo.

Nate and his pockets again! :)

Anna loves this shirt...it has a hat, buttons, and pockets!

Cuties!

Anna being silly outside.

Karly...can you just hear her giggle?

"Mommy, I don't know how I got these marks on me!" This would be a result of me being on facebook and not watching the kids close enough....darn Facebook!

Karly's cheesy grin!

Another rare occasion....

Can you believe the kiddos are 2? Some days we think the time has flown, other days we feel like they should be turning 16! :) We had a wonderful day with great family and friends to spend it with. The weather cooperated so we could eat and play outside...we've been lucky to have had beautiful weather the past 3 years, I'm sure one of these years we'll have a snow storm on their birthday. The kids received a ton of gifts and ended up playing with the balloon bouquets the most! (of course) hahaha

Not much has changed since the last post. Anna and Nathan have since had their first ear infections. It's so weird neither one of them were pulling at their ears...just fevers we couldn't break and not acting like themselves. We are all better now, thank God!

Karly talks up a storm and if we can't understand her she gets pretty frustrated, so to prevent a meltdown, we "act" like we understand her most of the time. Anna had her first day of potty training today (thanks to Julie, Cindy, Ron, and Al for the potty chairs) and she did pretty good. We went through ~13 pairs of underwear and made it to the potty in time on 3 different occasions which resulted in 1 Reese's peanut butter piece each time. Nate is still Nate. I often think he gets overshadowed by the girls, he just kind of hangs back and chills. Not to say at times he can get a little wild! :)

We'll be walking Saturday in our local March of Dimes walk. If you're interested in sponsoring our family go to http://www.marchforbabies.org/ and our team name is JPETERS5. We hope that you can contribute in your community to help make all babies that are born healthier.

Hope this post finds you well. Enjoy spring and look forward to summer! FINALLY!

Almost 2

Karly and her "adult" reading material.

Nathan looking for trouble.

Anna holding on to her baby for dear life.

Best buds!

Anna pushing her baby in the stroller.

Kids looking at the "no" (snow).

Snack time. Notice Nathan ditched his pants...a daily occurrence!

Best friends forever!

Okay, okay, okay...I get the message...I need to get another post on here before the kids turn 2. Sorry it's been awhile, doesn't seem that I can find the time anymore.

Everyone is doing great. We are sick free...for now. We've had the flu go through the house 3 times and countless days with non-stop runny noses. We're trying to keep the kids out of daycare as much as possible with the help of Aunt Angela. I've stopped the weekender plan at work and am per diem now...so basically I make my own hours. It works well for us so I can have some time off on the weekends to spend with Travis and the kids and I can work as little or as much as I want.

I'm sure everyone living in the Midwest is ready for spring. We have terrible cabin fever. Today was 64 and we were outside for most of the day. Temps are supposed to drop over the weekend and then be back to "normal" next week. I'm anxiously awaiting a girls trip to FL in May. A much needed trip for my mommy friends! :)

The kiddos continue to make us smile and laugh on a daily basis. They amaze us with their ability to learn...they're like sponges...taking in EVERYTHING and putting it to work. Each day brings new discoveries and their vocabularies continue to grow. We laugh at their little voices and can't wait for the day of full sentences and ability to understand at least 90% of what they are saying.

Anna is very "motherly". She has a baby at all times in her hand and no one is able to take it away without a fight. She's always putting a blanket on her baby and giving it rides in her stroller. Anna still has a bit of stranger anxiety...mostly towards men...not sure why b/c she's a major daddy's girl. Maybe that's why b/c she only wants her daddy. To date she is finally big enough to be face forward in the vehicle at a whopping 22 pounds.

Karly is a character. From her facial expressions to her movements she is a ham. We bet she'll be the class clown and the athletic one. She is still our best sleeper so far but at times has night terrors...waking up screaming and throwing a fit in the middle of the night. Karly and Nathan are pals, they are almost always together and can be caught picking on Anna. Karly loves to read and will be the one to bring a book and want to "weed". She weighs in at 25 pounds and is tall and skinny.

Nathan...what do I say? :) He's a bruiser...he's a BOY! Loves to wrestle with daddy and pick on the girls. Anything they have he wants. He's a great sleeper and needs to be held for a bit and loved after he wakes (which I definitely don't mind cuddling). Apollo (our dog) is his best bud...Nathan can be found walking the house calling for "Pollo". Nathan weighs 30 "big, sturdy" pounds. He's built...if that's possible at 22 months.

The kids' new thing is to drag their folding chairs around the house to help us wash dishes ("bubbles") or cook to watching Apollo or the neighbor's dogs outside. Silence is not a good thing when the kids are awake. Usually means their in the lazy susan getting out "nacks" or playing with something they are not supposed to have (phone, remote, monitor, the list goes on).

Hope you enjoy the photos, the next post will be after their 2nd birthday, April 16th!