Austin C.

I'm ashamed that I haven't posted more pictures of (or info. about) Austin C. (that's what I call him most of the time, and I'm not sure why). He deserves a post of his own.

-He is so patient with me and Sally, I almost feel guilty sometimes. Sally likes to climb on top of him and kiss him repeatedly, and he hardly complains. He seems to understand that he is child #2 and has an older sister that is very demanding of mommy's time (especially since potty training is still going on), and he patiently waits his turn for mommy's full attention (which he really likes once Sally has gone to bed).

-He is very smiley and has recently started laughing.





-He has a great zeal for kicking at batting at toys in his bouncy seat--he takes it very seriously (I need to get a video). He is getting really good at reaching out and grabbing things in front of him.

-He drools like crazy, although as far as I can tell he has no teeth coming in.

-He sleeps well, but not as well as Sally did when she was his age. This frustrates me, although I know that it shouldn't and I feel guilty when I get annoyed at his occasional 5 AM wakings. Sally simply was a championship sleeper and I was spoiled (although she is trying me now--she hasn't napped since last September, and she plays in her room for sometimes more than an hour after she has been put to bed, and there doesn't seem to be anything that I can do about it).

-He is happy and very easy-going. He doesn't mind being passed around (although this may be changing--yesterday and today he had unprecedented meltdowns when confronted by strangers).

-He has very strong legs and loves "standing". He isn't a snuggly baby (neither was Sally), and always wants to be looking around and flailing his long limbs.

I am so thankful that Austin is such a good baby. He has made the transition from one child to two a breeze. I can't imagine life without my sweet little blue-eyed boy.



There's more I'd like to say about my little guy, but this will do for now. I tend to skip out on posting things that I'd really like to because I have the problem of waiting for the perfect opportunity to really sit down and put my thoughts together and mulling things over in my mind for so long that I get way behind and have to move on. I'm obviously not a very consistent or exciting blogger, but I'm trying to do better at at least getting posts out there even if the quality is less than what I'd like it to be.

All for Austin

A little over a month ago my sisters (all 3 of them!!!!), my brother-in-law Hyrum, and my parents came out to Kansas City for a visit. The event that prompted the visit was Austin's blessing. While Angie and Hyrum and my parents have visited many times, this was the first time that Alison and Abby have been to visit me. I absolutely loved having them all here. It was so much fun to spend time with everyone all together, and as an added bonus, Neal had time off while our visitors were here.

A few of my favorite pictures from the visit:

Grandma and Austin at the park:


Sally's first lesson in baseball:


Hyrum mowing our lawn:


On Sunday after the blessing the weather was absolutely beautiful and we all enjoyed lunch together and got some great pictures outside by my neighbors' beautiful flowering tree. Unfortunately, the star of the show, Austin, crashed after all of the excitement and missed the pictures.

The Dickson girls:


The Dickson family:


The Petersons and Martins:


We finally did get some pictures with Austin, although he wasn't as alert as I would have liked him to be:





It was so much fun to relax and talk with my sisters. I don't realize how much I miss them until I'm with them.

For Angie

My sister Angie gave Sally this adorable outfit more than two years ago. It finally fits (actually, the top is still too big). I need to have some professional portraits taken of Sally in these clothes (after finding a suitable undershirt). Here is my best attempt at a photo shoot--not horrible for being completely unplanned.

Thanks, Angie! If Sally were your child she'd be a lot better dressed.

The Current State of Things

Here's what's going on with the Petersons these days (I wrote this about a week ago and am just now posting it):

Austin:

-Sleeps for 5 hour stretches many nights, and almost never less than 4 hour stretches
-Loves to look at the blinds, the curtains in my bedroom, and pictures on the wall by the kitchen table, and the ceiling fans
-Does very well at holding up his head
-Pushes himself up a few inches when I put him on his tummy
-Is patient with Sally’s constant hugs and kisses, but protests when Sally wants to play “Got your nose!”
-Loves to straighten out his legs and “stand” when I hold him on my lap (just like Sally used to do)
-Is starting to be really smiley, although I’ve yet to catch a smile on camera
-Is so sweet and patient--he is almost too easy!

Sally:



-Is getting into the world of make-believe big time. Every day she is either Snow White, Cinderella, Dr. Nelson (her pediatrician), “Daddy’s little tiny baby”, Mama Bear, or Mrs. Bruin (from the Berenstain Bear books)
-Is getting over her dislike of Neal phase (thank goodness!!!!)
-Is starting to understand rhyming words
-Likes to play a silly word game with me that goes something like this, for example: “Mommy, do we drink tubby water? Do we wash our bodies with milk?”
-Often incorporates peril into her make-believe scenarios. A few examples: “My baby is gone—a mean guy took her!” “I cut myself with a sharp knife!” “I’m in my car and another car crashed into me. I was wearing my seatbelt.” “My baby touched the hot oven and burned her hand!” Where on earth would she get ideas like this?
-Likes to watch movies and will sit through most of a movie, much to my delight and dismay. It is nice to have the “down time”, but I don’t want her to get too hooked.

-Neal:

-Is not enjoying his current rotation—internal medicine at the KU hospital, which is full to the brim. Lots of paper work and 13 hour days don’t make for a happy Neal
-Is excited for March Madness
-Works a lot
-Loves his baby boy
-Does a great impersonation of Goofy, which may have helped him to win Sally back over

Emily:

-Can’t wait for warm weather
-Loves being at home with Sally and Austin, but wishes Neal were home earlier in the evening
-Has awesome friends from church that make motherhood even more fun
-Is tired, but not too tired
-Needs to find a way to get more into her days (such as reading, exercising, projects) rather than just playing with kids and taking care of the household. In short, wants some “ME” time.
-Felt empowered by a recent successful shopping trip to the mall with two kids (success = found some new jeans while both kids were well behaved and happy)
-Needs to learn how to take better pictures

The New Normal

Life with two kids is not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, bad is not a word that should be used to describe it at all. Life with two children so far is great. I love spending every day with two delightful children. Sally is so fun and creative and entertains me every day, and Austin is as sweet as a baby can be. I feel so blessed that things so far have gone so well. Since Austin has been born:
*I have felt physically very well. I hardly needed pain medication in the hospital after the birth, and I didn’t need any once I got home. I’ve had the energy I’ve needed to get right back into the swing of things.
*Sally has been a VERY good girl. I was afraid that she would have lots of tantrums and demand a lot of extra attention the first few weeks after Austin was born, but that hasn’t been the case at all. She is the same fun, energetic, and sweet little girl. She loves Austin and can’t hug and kiss him enough.
*Austin has been a very good baby. He is calm most of the time, and is a great eater and sleeper. When he is upset, he is very easily calmed down.
*For the first week or so after coming home from the hospital, I would get up twice in the night to feed Austin, but since then I’ve only been getting up once in the night. I’d prefer to not get up at all, but that’s an unreasonable expectation at this point, and I’m sure it won’t be long before that’s the case.

Some days are hard and I’m sure that there will be hard times still to come, but I’m no longer nervous about the situation. I think we are all settling into the new normal, and life is good.

I have a lot more photos I want to post and a great deal more to say, but I'll conclude for now because my baby needs me.

Welcome, Little Big Guy!

Much to my delight, Neal and I have a brand new baby boy:

Austin Cornelius Peterson
February 15, 2010, 4:55 AM
8 lb 12 oz
21 1/4 in
Strawberry blond hair

High points:

-Going into labor on my own--no inductions this time!
-Only having to push 4 times to get him out
-A very fun and sweet visit from Sally
-No trouble nursing so far
-My wonderful friend Rosemary taking Sally last night when things starting getting intense

Low points:

-Acid reflux disturbing my slumber last night before he was born
-Multiple nurses having trouble getting my IV started
-Having Neal all but laugh out loud at me during hard contractions (pre-epidural) and tell me that I have no pain tolerance
-The indignity of being helped to the bathroom (before my epidural wore off) by two nurses who commented to my face how difficult it is for them to help people who are so much bigger than them (I'm laughing about it now)

Some photo highlightgs:

The sweet little guy snoozing:



My favorite part of the day:


Father and son:


My sweet little kids meeting at last:


Our happy family:


While I'm totally surprised by his hair color and size, I love him so much and can't wait to get to know him better.

Portraits

When we were in Utah, my sister-in-law Korrin took some pictures of Sally. Here are some of my favorites. They need a bit of help from photo shop (which Neal got for Christmas, but has a hard time using because our computer is bogged down with something and is terribly slow lately). Thanks, Korrin!