Spring Break

Mom and Dad Peterson flew out and joined us for Spring Break! It was WONDERFUL!!! We had so much fun having them here and it was a great and much needed break for everyone.

We hung out here in Norfolk for a few days, went to Jamestown and Yorktown for a day, and toured around DC for a few days. Braden LOVED having Grandma and Grandpa here and it was so sad to have them leave. We love it out here, but sure miss our families!

JAMESTOWN

Preggo and proud! Haha!

So serious. Looks like he could have just fit into the role!

YORKTOWN

Braden sure loved having his daddy around all the time to play with!

Showing Braden the techniques of skipping rocks. :)

Are they just so cute!! :)

This turkey was hissing again and again at us, and although the people working there said it wouldn't attack, none of us were so sure. The thing kept coming towards us and making this scary noise. I've never really been close up to a turkey before, and never thought imagined it would be this scary. Braden and I were both pretty jumpy around the thing!

WASHINGTON DC

Marine's Museum

I was all excited about these little stands...Braden not so much.

Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

And this was the best! Every time they found a hill and had the chance Justin would run up it with Braden and teach him how to roll down. Braden never quite mastered it, but he sure thought it was a ton of fun! He doesn't get much practice around here. It's flat as can be in Norfolk, and the only hills of any kind around here are the ones built up for freeway exits/entrances!

Downtown DC

Braden got to hold a caterpillar, millipede and a few other fun bugs at the Natural History museum. It was one of the highlights of the trip for him. :)

Nap time on the go.

NORFOLK

Botanical Gardens

Mom and Son! How sweet!

It ended up being freezing cold (well, not literally freezing, more like 50 degrees kind of freezing - I know, I know, we're totally wimps out here!) the whole time they were here, so sadly it wasn't a very warm Spring Break. But we had so much fun in spite of the bad weather!

Love you guys!

Can't wait to see you again!

38 weeks

Not my favorite picture of me, but it does the job of showing my belly...plus I'm just too lazy right now to take another one more to my liking. :)

So here we are, two weeks away!! So crazy! Lucky for me and Justin, no signs of anything yet. The contractions I was having randomly have stopped and the baby seems to be sitting content to stay in there for now. We'll see if he'll by chance just be the most patient and obedient little boy ever and stay that way until May 6th! Haha! I'm not counting on it, but there's always a chance, right?

I'm feeling really good - not swollen yet (which is WAY different than I was with Braden) and, although its hard to get up or bend over, not feeling overly huge and uncomfortable yet. I'm not sure why - with Braden I was so swollen by now and just so ready to have this baby. I'm taking it as a huge tender mercy from above!

I felt especially good about life today - started off with a 2 mile walk with Braden (in the stroller), we stopped to play at the park, I mowed the lawn (I know many of you are sitting in snow and thinking "mowed the lawn?!!", but spring comes nice and early here and this is the second time we've mowed our lawn this season), Braden and I had a picnic, and to top it all off it got up to 85 degrees with 50% humidity and I got a little (tiny) bit of color on my arms and face! Yay!

Justin was very unhappy with me when he got home and saw that I had mowed the lawn (He came in and immediately said, "Please tell me that our neighbor was extremely nice and came over and mowed our lawn today. Please tell me you didn't do that." I just smiled and told him that a lawn fairy had come. He just shook his head at me!)

In other things, Braden is very excited to have this baby come. He talks about all the things he's going to help do (change diapers, help give the baby a bath, give the baby blankets, show him toys, etc.). He loves going to the doctor's office with me and hearing the baby's heartbeat. It is so fun and cute. He'll randomly bring out his dr kit and get out the stethoscope and 'listen' to the baby's heartbeat on his own. I'm really excited to see him as an older brother!

Here he is "practicing" holding the baby and enjoying the baby's bouncy seat. He really had a good time in there!

We finally got serious about things and put up the baby's crib, put the room together, etc.
Nothing fancy or cute, but it still made me excited. :)

And in other happenings, Braden got to go to his third concert! He is so great and really loves music and we have really enjoyed taking him to events like this. Our friends/"family away from family" were so sweet and got tickets for us to come to their son, Juston's, concert. He plays the viola in an amazing youth orchestra, which gets the chance every year to perform with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. It was an amazing concert with lots of John Williams and other familiar music. Absolutely fantastic and Braden really got into some of the exciting pieces! He was literally bouncing up and down during the William Tell Overature (Lone Ranger Theme). It was great! I love making these little memories!

Thank you Goldades for keeping us a little bit cultured on our small student budget!

Braden and Coulton Goldade after the concert

And some random fun time at the Zoo! :) Two little monkeys together...

32 weeks and other happenings...

I have been terrible at updating our blog lately, so I apologize, this is going to be a long one!

I had a realization this week that I am 32 weeks along!!! Ahhh!! So crazy! It just goes by so fast! I got online the other day to figure out how far along I am (things are just so crazy I don't even keep track anymore!) and it said that in two weeks the baby will be turning head down to prepare for labor. I immediately started freaking out and thought, "Wow, wow, wait a minute here! Who's getting ready for labor. There should be no getting ready for labor here. It's way too soon for that!"

I am really hoping that this little boy just wants to hang out in the womb as long as possible because on April 28th (my due date) Justin has a SHELF exam (a national exam that he can't miss or reschedule), then finals week continues until May 5th, on which day he has another SHELF exam. All in all it would be wonderful if this little guy could just hang out in there until May 6th! :) We'll see what he thinks of that plan.

So...update on me:

I am getting very big and pregnant, but feeling good. My hips are miserable and Justin laughs at me as I hobble around almost every night like a 75 yr-old woman with arthritis in her hips! It is pretty funny looking, even I have to admit that. :) Baby is very healthy and movin' and groovin' in there like crazy!

At the beginning of the year I got called as the YW president in our ward. It has been crazy busy, and more than a little overwhelming at times, but it is going well. I am learning a lot and the Lord is most definitely stretching me and trying to make me into more than I am. Poor Justin has to deal with me constantly in tears, but I am on my knees a lot and I know I am growing and Justin is always there to support me and give me a shoulder to cry on and I have been given a lot of help and a lot of wonderful blessings.

Update on Justin:

He is doing great in school! It is crazy and overwhelming - he is so busy and has so much on his plate but he is amazing and manages it all so well! I am really amazed as I watch him be so dedicated and balance life. He works so hard for us and I'm so grateful that I get to be by his side in all this!

Braden:

Brado is growing more and more independent and has most definitely hit his "two's". He is still my sweet little boy, just has a little added attitude and a very strong will of his own! :) He is so excited about this little baby and I can't wait to see him as an older brother! He loves to "listen to the baby's heartbeat" with his little pretend stethoscope and feel the baby move. He is so smart and funny and he has the most hilarious things to say! I need to be better about writing them down, but here is one that I remember:

Me: "The baby is moving"

Braden: "He's playing."

Me: "Yep, he's playing in there."

Braden: "He playing with his basketball!"

Me: "Oh! He has a basketball?"

Braden: "Yeah! He has balls! Basketball and soccer ball and football! Yeah, he likes balls!"

Braden has also started praying, which is just the sweetest thing ever to hear. Nothing more precious than hearing your child pray! I love it!

Some pictures of the last few months:

A fun afternoon at the zoo together!

Just snuggling with Daddy before bedtime.

Spring is here! Things are warming up and we have our first flowers!!! I love them!

Taking Braden and his little buddy Ainsley grocery shopping! It was so fun to see them interact in the cart! They are hilarious sometimes together and act like two peas in a pod. Other times they are more like brother and sister fighting over who gets what, but all in all they are pretty fun together!

Today we went to the park by our house and they had so much fun throwing the crunchy leaves that didn't get raked up in the fall. It was so cute and I love the expressions I was able to catch!

Braden has this fetish with "blankets" - washcloths, towels, dishtowels, place mats, blankets, etc. He loves to take them and lay them all out together! He is so serious about it, too!

Our little snowman! We got some snow last month and Braden and I both thought it would be fun to make a snowman! Apparently the idea was more fun than the actual task because after about 5 min he wanted to go inside because he was cold! He is just as much of a wimp as his parents when it comes to the cold weather I guess! Braden did love the snowman's "carrot nose" though. :)

And how funny is this?!!!! Braden wanted to hold this book while going to bed. I let him, and then poked my head in about 10 min later to see if he was asleep yet and I found him asleep with the book over his face! It was hilarious!!!!

Another Boy!

Well, it is official that we are having another boy! And luckily there is only one! (the dr. had us scared for a week because she heard multiple heartbeats and wasn't sure what to think, but at our ultrasound there was only one baby. Whew! Good thing because I don't know that we could have handled twins!)

This sweet little boy was just posing for these pictures. I love looking at them. He just looks so sweet sitting there. I'm excited to meet this little guy in a few months.

He looks so much like Braden already to us. It will be fun to see if that is true when he comes out! He is certainly just as active in the womb as Braden was. So I'm guessing we'll have two little balls of energy running around together! :) I'm sure Braden will teach him everything he knows and before I know it they will be getting into all sorts of mischief together!
I'm really actually looking forward to it! Haha!

I just can't get over how detailed you can see his face in these 3D pictures! It melts my heart!

And this little foot is just so precious!!!