5 Years

Today marks five years since Brian and I went on our first date and four years since we got engaged. 

I found a card that says the things I wanted to say more eloquently than I could say them myself:

I love you.  Not just for everything you do as a husband and a father, but for the way you do it...your humor and patience, your commitment to our home and family show such caring and love...I can't imagine sharing my life and raising a family with anyone else but you.  

Thank you, Hallmark!  Er (actually) Carlton Cards.  Tonight, we get to celebrate with monkey bread dessert and Saturday is date night!  Woot! 

Baby P #2

We had our first glimpse of this little one, today.

Isn't he or she just so beautiful?  Even though we knew he/she existed, there is something so awesome about seeing the images, listening to the heartbeat and watching all the little wiggles that are going on inside my belly.

After measuring the babe, they bumped my due date up by a few days.  The new official due date is March 13, 2013.  Since he or she will arrive by C-section, the actual arrival date will probably be about a week before that...only about two weeks after Sam's 2nd birthday.

We are so excited to have a new little person in our family - a new little person to love and snuggle and get to know.  It is hard to imagine a baby that isn't Sam, but I remember how hard it was to imagine him before he got here and then he arrived and he was just fabulous.  I'm expecting that this whole experience will be similar and now we will have the added pleasure of watching Sam grow into being a big brother.

We love you Baby P! 

18 Months!

Somehow, Sam is 18 months old today.  I'm not sure how that happened.

 At 18 months, Sam:

•  loves spending time outside.  We walk circles around the house each day and Sam spends a lot of time exploring Mabel's doggy door and wishing that his parents would let him crawl through.  He still likes going for walks in his stroller, but also likes to walk around on his own and go visit/pet the dog statue that lives up the street in our neighbor's driveway.  
• loves animals of all kinds.  We have made LOTS of trips to the zoo this summer and he is proficient at making all of the various animal sounds.  He still calls Mabel "good girl" a lot of the time, but also calls her "Beeee" sometimes, too.  I'm not really sure where that came from, but he says it in the same tone of voice that we say "Mabe." 
• is very affectionate.  Sammer is a snuggler and hugger and has started to give kisses, too.  
• loves his books and spends lots of time each day reading with Mama and Dad and also flipping through books on his own.  
• can say about 20 words, although some of them require interpretation. 
• goes through phases of laughing at strange things.  For example, a couple weeks ago, he would laugh every time we would say, "A baby cow is called a calf."  
• is working on giving up his binky.  We've just recently started using it for nap and bed times only.  
• is a  healthy boy.  He's only been slightly sick a few times and has yet to need any antibiotics. 
• loves to brush his teeth.  
• loves his cousins. 
• likes to spend time rearranging the refrigerator and cupboards.  
• eats really well and almost anything. 
• is a big boy.  He is 35" tall (98th percentile), 27 pounds (80th-85th percentile) and his head is 20" around (>98th percentile).   
• usually sleeps about 10 hours each night and two to three hours each afternoon.  
• really loves his stuffed monkey.  
• is so, so loved!  

Sunken Gardens

Who Needs a Step Stool?

Mabe

Love this pup!  And so does Sam, who calls her "good girl," although it sounds more like "guh gull."  Hmmm.  Maybe he is actually trying to say "google" and we've just been misinterpreting him. 

Sam The Man

Thought it was about time to share a few photos of our little man.  Isn't he a handsome devil? 

My "Pretty" Blog

 

I realize that I have been bad (okay, terrible) about keeping this blog up to date.  You may think that I'm a big ol' blog slacker.  When it comes to this blog, you'd be right.  

In contrast, I have been working hard on making my pretty blog pretty and posting good, new content every single weekday. 

I know that many of you have already found my other blog, but for those of you that haven't, I thought I'd share the link.  It is www.graceandlight.typepad.com.  Or, you can just click on the photo above and it will take you there.  

I am not abandoning this site.  I like to put more of our personal/family photos here and smaller stories that maybe don't feel blog-worthy at "grace and light."   But, it seems to be true that I am more dedicated to that one, just now.  So, if you are just dying to know more about what's going on in the Petermann world (or at least the brooke world), you can get regular updates there. 

Sam the Political Activist

Sam participated in his first political campaign, on Saturday.  I had to work all weekend, so Brian loaded Sam and the stroller into the car and went to walk a neighborhood in support of Trent Fellers, who is running for Lincoln City Council.

Brian campaigned for Trent, in a different part of the same neighborhood, a few weeks ago while I stayed home with Sam.  He said that his reception was much improved with a kid in tow.  They even stopped by a nursing home that was in the neighborhood and the ladies there were big fans of our Sam-Sam.  

Hopefully, all the walking, knocking and talking will garner Trent some extra votes and get a few more people to the polls on Tuesday. 

In related news, our yard currently looks like this:

Easter - Part Two

Easter Pics

Home Is Where Sam Is

I took these photos of Sam, this morning and I am in love with them.  With him, too, of course.  He's pretty great with that tongue and all.

Dad and Connie Visit

Dad and Connie visited a couple weekends ago.  I didn't do so well at getting photos, but these two were from my Instagram feed, that weekend.  Top photo: Dad and Brian enjoying green beers (made green by chlorophyll not food coloring) at Whole Foods.  Bottom photo: Sam enjoying bubble time with Grandma C.

13 Months

Somehow, another month has flown right by us and our Sam is now 13 months old. 

Right now, Sam:

• is very unpredictable about what he will eat.  The only things that he will "for sure" eat, every time that they are offered, are veggie straws and Cheerios.  For everything else, it's a big guessing game.  Something he enjoyed for lunch may or may not be spit out at dinnertime.
• knows how to give five, clap, raise his arms in the air to show that he is "so big" and wave.
• likes bubbles.
• tries to say "quack" and "meow" and can successfully growl like a lion.  
• likes to read books.
• likes bath time.  
• hates having his diaper/clothes changed and squirms around like a crazy person.
• still likes to play peek-a-boo and patty-cake.
• still puts everything into his mouth. 
• drops half of his food onto the floor around his highchair.
• smiles every time that he sees Mabel.
• likes to "help" with the dishes and explore the inside of the refrigerator.
• really likes his nursery rhyme book.  
• is loved. 

Fun In Ravenna Sun

Birthday Time

Happy Birthday, Samuel P!

 

This handsome boy is one year old, today!

At one year, Samuel:

* is a fast crawler, likes to stand up anywhere he can get a hold of something and has started taking his first steps around the furniture. 
*is wearing 18 month pants and jammies and shirts that vary from 12-24 months, depending on the brand.
*likes to shake his head "no" and sometimes really means it.
*eats really, really well.  He occasionally decides he doesn't want something and spits it out, but in general he will eat most anything.
*still likes his binky - especially when he is tired.
*can wave and give five.
*loves his cousins and is always in a good mood when they are around.
*started sleeping past 6am.  Yay!
*figured out that he can pull up on the window ledges, stand up and take a peek at the world.
*loves Mabel.
*started to really enjoy our nursery rhyme book.
*thinks peekaboo is the cat's meow.
*is loved, loved, loved!