Those are the smallest feet I have EVER seen....

So, I guess Audrey has really tiny feet like her Mommy. Mom & I went to Stride Rite (a children's shoe store) to get Audrey & Jackson summer sandals. I got both of them measured for their size sandals. First up was Audrey and the manager of the store was in shock at how tiny her feet were. I guess I wasn't all that shocked because I have such tiny feet (I wear a 5.5-6 size shoe) and I figured her feet were quite tiny, seeing as she's supposed to be wearing a size 1 and they are no wear close to fitting her currently. The manager measures her foot and lo & behold, Audrey's feet arn't even a size 0 yet. She promptly says, "Those are the tiniest feet I have EVER seen." And, of course, she is the manager of a children's shoe store.... I laughed and asked what size she thinks we should buy for the summer for Audrey. I was thinking a size 2 until we held up the size 2's to her feet and WOWSERS, HUGE. We went with a size 1 and the manager still feels like those are going to be too wide. She needs a narrow shoe and I'm not even sure if a children's shoe store even makes those. So, Audrey has tiny feet. At least she has SOMETHING of mine, right?

Her tiny feet in Dan's hand:


Dad's radiation commenced on Tuesday. He will have 5 weeks of radiation treatments. Dad is staying with his 2nd cousin, Judy, and her husband, Frank. Judy and Frank have been wonderful and are taking such great care of him. He still is feeling some nausea from withdrawal due to the narcotic (Fentanyl patch). He removed his last patch on Tuesday (9 days ago) but still is feeling withdrawal muscle twitches and nausea. Hopefully that stuff will be out of his system soon and he will start feeling better. The radiation has gone well and hopefully will continue to go well. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Dad has already lost 30 pounds (eek!) and we really hope he doesn't lose anymore.

Jackson is still learning and picking up new word after new word. There has been a vocabulary explosion lately. I can't even remember all the new words that he has said. He's definitely been using, "NO!" a lot more. He told Mrs. Risha the other day that he went "poopy" thereby letting her know that he needed to be changed. He also loves Daddy's cell phone. Well, who am I kidding? He loves ANYONE'S cell phone.

Exhibit A:


Exhibit B -- "Who is Jackson talking to?:"


Exhibit C -- "Enamoured by the phone:"


Exhibit D -- "Still enamoured....:"


Exhibit E -- "All MINE...."


Exhibit F -- "Time for chewing...."


Exhibit G -- "Back to talking on the phone..."


Exhibit H -- "Cheese for the camera...:"


Last weekend I figured out how to put bow's in Audrey's hair. Well, I figured out how to do them a while ago but this past weekend, I figured out how to do it so that it looked really cute on her. I just take an alfalfa sprout of hair and use the bow to make it stand straight up. I guess it may be a mix between "Alfalfa" and "Pebbles." Anyway, I thought it was cute and since anything goes on babies, why not?



We also took a bath-time picture of Audrey, just as we did with Jackson at this exact age. They look so similar at times, I just can't get over it. Here is Jackson at her age:

And Audrey:



And one last picture of Audrey & I from yesterday. Dan wanted a picture of Audrey, Jackson and I for his phone (hence the reason Jackson had Dan's phone in the above pictures) so we all posed for the picture. Jackson decided he couldn't stay still long enough for another photo with my camera, so it was just Audrey & I.


Dan's been doing well. He's been running alot lately to prepare for the Navy's Physical Readiness Test (PRT). He gets skinny so quick from running. He's been waking up early before work to go running. He had a teeth cleaning the other day on base. Well, you all know I had to inspect the work and I was rather disappointed. He informed me that the hygienist didn't use any of her instruments on him (never "scrapped" anything off) but instead used the Cavitron, which is the waterpik type thing. So, I definitely inspected because even when a hygienist uses the Cavitron, you ALWAYS use your instruments after b/c the Cavitron doesn't get every piece of build-up off. To my annoyance, Dan still had coffee stains and tartar build-up still on his lower anterior teeth. Not just a little bit, ALOT! I can clearly see it just by looking into his mouth. ERRR! How can someone say they cleaned his teeth and do such a cruddy job? I'd like to call and complain....but I'll just have to bring some instruments home and give him a proper cleaning. What is even more scary is that this is occuring with other unsuspecting people on base; hopefully she does a better job on other people! And the worst part is that Dan even informed her that his wife was a hygienist...you'd think she'd do better knowing that I'd want to make to look inside his mouth, to make sure all was well. Okay, off my soapbox!

That's about it!! Enjoy all the pictures!

Happy Easter....a little late....

We got some pictures of Jackson on Easter but none of Audrey. She was only in her little dress for an hour. I hate that I didn't get a picture of both of them together on Sunday but when we got home from church, Audrey was hungry and Jackson was exhausted. I promptly fed her and Jackson went down for a nap.

Little man, right before going to bed (with the love his life, his paci)


He chews more on his paci than anything else


Tired stare


Mom & Dad kept Jackson last Saturday so that we could paint Jackson's room blue. It was green when we moved in. We wanted to do it last year but we got pregnant with Audrey, fatigue set in and we never accomplished it until now.

After I got done painting, I started snapping some quick pix of Audrey smiling. She's such a smiling thang....let me tell you. Jackson was never like this so Dan and I are enjoying every minute of it. Here are just a few of the pictures:






Finally got a serious picture from her...


The weather is starting to get warm again around here. Subsequently, Jackson and I have been playing outside alot. Audrey mainly just sleeps outside in her carseat while I read a book in the sun (and Jackson plays) or she sleeps inside and I keep the monitor outside with us. Jackson has been playing on his little 4-wheeler that we got him for Christmas. He loves it. Can't figure out how to steer it so he hits the fence, trees, bricks....generally everything. We tried showing him how to steer it but he hasn't grasped that concept yet. So, we just have to constantly keep running after him to turn him around. I took a video the other day of him and will post it later on. He loves to drive in Daddy's garden, over all the bumpy dirt piles and such. You'd think a little toy 4-wheeler wouldn't be able to go over top of it but it sure does!

Dan has been flying and trying to get our lawn looking a lot better. He had Friday and Monday off. He spent the entire day Monday trying to get it fertilized and such. I would elaborate more on it but I have no idea what I am talking about...

Work is going well for me. It's been busy, which I like because it makes the day pass by much quicker. I was pumping at work to provide milk for Audrey at the daycare provider's but it's been way too stressful so I decided to let those pumping sessions go. I've still been able to nurse her at 4AM, 8AM, and as soon as I get home until she goes to bed. It was a tough decision but it makes my life a little less stressful at work (trying to find 10 minutes 3-5 times a day was getting very difficult). I'm all about less stress nowadays too!

We had a fox in our neighborhood yesterday. I was coming back from the pharmacy and to my surprise, there is a fox running along the sidewalk. There were multiple people outside, trying to keep it confined to an area. My guess (and Dad's too) is that it was rabid because foxes usually don't come into a populated area in the daytime. I tried to call Chesapeake Animal Control, to no avail. I called 911 and prefaced my call with the fact that it was no emergency but I couldn't contact animal control. Someone had already called it in and she thanked me for calling. I guess someone came and picked it up because all the people had cleared out from the area where they had him confined. I'd like to find out if he was rabid or not. It scares me, as we leave our garage door open in the evenings and an animal definitely could get in there. This taught me a lesson to keep that door closed.

Will post the video of Jackson soon....

Hope everyone is doing well and had a wonderful Easter!

Audrey's 2 month check up

Audrey had her 2 month check up today and she is 10lbs, 10oz. She is 22 inches long. She is in the 50th percentile for weight and height. She's in the 90th percentile for weight for height = she's chubby for her height, which is good at this age. She was due to receive 4 vaccinations but silly Mommy scheduled professional pictures for this afternoon. I declined the vaccinations until next week. I figured the pictures wouldn't be very good if Miss Priss received 4 shots today.

Jackson came down with a GI bug on Wednesday morning. I spent the entire day doing multiple loads of laundry due to vomitting and diarrhea. He developed HORRIBLE diaper rashes and chaffing of his bottom due to all the irritation. We thought he was over it Wednesday evening but when I picked him up out of his crib to hold him, vomit he did! It was all on the carpet, all on the bed linens, etc. More laundry! So, Dan brought out the carpet steamer, Jax went into the bathtub, Mommy watched Jax in the tub and also fixed up Audrey's crib for Jax to sleep in. Thankfully Audrey was sleeping through all of this. Jackson was better by Thursday morning but still not feeling all that great.

Guess who catches it next....ME! I had came down with it at 5PM yesterday and had it until 4AM this morning. It lasted about 12 hours but it was a very intense virus, let me tell you. Those 12 hours were non-stop gastro-intestinal issues. Poor Dan had to watch after me, empty my puke buckets, get me water, etc. My milk supply decreased because I was so dehydrated but it's coming back up now that I am holding down fluids.

Now guess who has it....DAN! He's not nauseous but he has diarrhea. Right now, he is sleeping on the couch, which is about all you can do. Sleep it out of you....

Hopefully this will be the end of our illnesses. I think we are all very tired of being sick. Between Dan and Jackson bringing home illnesses, I can't seem to stay well. And yes, I promise I wash my hands but these darn viruses appear to be transferred in the air. The chest cold that we all had was definitely inhaled because Dan's entire squadron has had it, along with all the families. We started calling it the 211 chest cold.

Dan's sister, Bern, is in labor as I type. We got a phone call from Champie to let us know she went into labor. YAY!!! Baby Anne will be here soon. Bern was 43 weeks pregnant when she finally went into labor. Can you imagine? I was miserable at 29 weeks with Jackson. Audrey was much nicer to her Mommy and didn't make her all that miserable. Must be something about being pregnant with girls....

Return of the Bumbo seat -- guess who also loves to fall asleep in it?




Jackson in his Bumbo, asleep....a couple weeks older than Audrey...


2 months old




Jackson playing outside

Audrey smiling-away

Audrey's been smiling for weeks now but I just don't have the shutter quickness on my camera to get the smile on camera, until now..... She's smiling for a really long time so I've been getting a few smiles on camera.


We are seeing more of her personality and she is really starting to find her voice. She's "cooing" a bit and really talking to me. Of course, only a Mommy knows what she is saying. Funny how a Mom can determine what their child is saying with only a "coo" or two.

Her cries are more discernible now. She only cries when she is tired or hungry. It's actually more "fussy" when she is tired and a full out wail when she is hungry. She will start to fuss when she is ready for a nap. I place her in her swing, turn the music on (she LOVES music) and she goes night-night in a couple minutes or two. Audrey will sometimes fuss for a couple minutes off and on before she gives in to going to sleep. At night, she may fuss for 5 minutes off and on....especially if we give her a bath (every other night). I think giving her a bath over-stimulates her. Otherwise, it's just crying when she is hungry and a couple minutes of fussing before going to bed. We are blessed with another wonderful baby -- how did we get so lucky?

Jackson is still learning more and more words. He is comprehending so much these days. We can ask him questions and he can point and answer them. He's been doing a lot of these things for a while but I just now have time to write and brag about it. We can ask if he is hungry and he'll run to his highchair. We can ask if he is tired and ready to go night-night and he'll run and hang on the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs (the crib/room is upstairs). He can point to his ears, eyes, nose, tongue and teeth when we ask where each one of those is on his face. I ask him where his sippy cup of milk is and he'll run around the house trying to find it. I can also ask if he wants to go play outside and he'll run straight for the back door and try to open it. When we say we are going for a "car-ride," he runs to get his shoes and stands by the garage door. He gives us kisses and hugs when we ask, waves bye-bye and "hi" on que, etc. We ask where the plane and bird are and he points to the sky. Whenever he hears a plane, helicopter or jet fly above the house, he stops and points up to the sky. Such a smart fellow!

We have now started to implement "time-out" and he's figured out quite quickly what it is. He doesn't like it either. I must say a thousand times a day, "If you do that Jackson, you are going to time-out." It definitely is effective. He only has to go one time and he learns his lesson. Unless he is overly-tired and in need of a nap, his behavior is pretty good. Whenever we threaten time-out now, he whines and shakes his head to indicate that he definitely doesn't want to go there. How glorious!

Dan's sister, Bern, is ready to pop anyday. She's actually over-due so we're still on pins and needles waiting for Baby Ann to make her arrival. She must be super-duper comfy in there.

Bern said that Audrey looks a lot like her own baby pictures. Go figure, the Peters' strong genes strike again! I need to see some pictures of Bern as a baby though. I'd love to compare the two! My daughter will probably look more like her Aunt Bern than her own Mommy....:>) Isn't it weird how genetics work?

Dan & Audrey sleeping at the beach this weekend:


A picture of Jackson at Audrey's age:


Audrey:

More pictures....

Audrey sleeper-peepers (a mini-Jackson)


Not liking the close-up


She's a chubaroo


Jackson in the swing


Dan & Jackson at the park


Up HIGH!


And HIGHER (Ohhh, this is fun!)


And even HIGHER (Jackson isn't so sure about it now!!)


Jackson peeking through the bubble


Going down the slide -- Jackson wouldn't look at camera for the world...


Playing in our backyard


Loves sticks and any piece of lumber, wood, bark, etc.....Why, I don't know...:>)



Everyone is recovering from our lovely colds. Audrey is the only one that still has a remaining cough. Poor thing, she has these horrible coughing spells and they always seem to occur at 2AM. Last night, it lasted an entire hour. I can't give her anything to help with the congestion or coughing so I just nurse her to help comfort her. She handles it like a champ. Definitely gets frustrated and aggravated but can you blame her? 7 weeks old and this is a doozy of a first cold to have. Nice introduction to the world eh? :>)

We all went down to my uncle's cottage on the Outer Banks for the weekend. We joined my parents. Sunday (today) was absolutely gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky. It rained the whole day on Friday and 1/2 the day on Sunday. On Saturday, the wind blew about 35-45 mph. They actually had to close the road north of where we were staying due to 3 feet of sand on the road (and water, as well). It was all clear today as we drove through but you could definitely pin-point where the road closure was.

I go back to work a week from tomorrow. I'm kind of sad; I hate to leave my little ones but for my sanity, I really need to go back. I guess I'll always be a person that has to work 1-2 days a week. I just need to get out of the house and have some adult interaction. I love my children but I am definitely a better Mommy when I get out of the house. Work is actually a break, a nice reprieve from motherhood. I know all of you working Mommies know what I am talking about!

Take care!!

Jackson saying some of his many "words...."

Lost the camera....

For the time-being, we've lost our camera. I'm sure Mr. Jackson has misplaced it somewhere. I promise I soon as we find it, I'll snap a bunch of pictures of the kiddos and put the pics up.

Right now, the entire Peters clan is sick. We've all got colds with MAJOR congestion & coughing. Honestly, the nasal congestion isn't all that bad. It's the coughing.....and even Miss Audrey has it. She seems to be okay, probably because she's getting my antibodies as well. Jackson is nearing the end of this horrible virus but he's had it for a week. None of us have fevers (thank goodness) but I'm taking both Jackson and Audrey to Dr. De Triquet tomorrow, just to be on the safe side. I don't want to give Audrey any meds yet, she's so young, thus I'm getting her checked out to make sure she's a-okay. Oh, and Dan's the first one to come down with this wretched virus. He had it for 2 days and was much better. But, the rest of us -- a week or more, unfortunately.

Audrey is growing like a weed. She's HUGE now. 10.5 lbs and at least 22-23 inches. She's going to be tall, I think. Jackson wasn't this tall at her age. She went through some screaming spells the past 2 days due to her reflux medication (we mix it with Mylanta, as per the instructions). The Mylanta contains Magnesium, which apparently was giving her horrible gas. So, we switched to something else and now she's back to wonderful ol' self. I felt so badly for her with that gas....

Jackson has picked up a ton of new words: "Easy," "Pop, "Toe," "Dog-gie," "Dirty," "No, No." He has also learned "OWW" for when something hurts. He'll look at us and say, "OWWW!" We didn't teach him that one so that's the first worst that he's "picked up" from us. OH BOY! He also says "Hoooo, Hooo" when you ask him what an owl says. He's said "ball" for a while but now it's "BAAWWHHLL" with a huge country accent. No one has that much of a southern accent in our family so I'm not sure where he picked that up. When you ask him if he went poopy, he grabs his diaper and pulls on it. If we are changing a poopy diaper, I'll say "EWWW" and he'll say, "DIRT-EE." Those are just a few of the new words. I can't remember all of the new ones. He's experienced a vocabulary explosion. Needless to say, I'm thrilled and am taking full advantage of this opportunity. I'm introducing as many words right now as possible. The above video shows just some of his vocabulary. My camera only allows for a minute and 20 seconds worth of video so I'll try to shoot a couple more videos of his other words and show you all his knowledge (he knows where his nose and eyes are, points to the sky when you ask where the plane is or when he hears a plane, points to Mommy in a picture and points to Daddy in a picture, etc.)

Dan's sister, Bern, is due anyday, literally. Her due date was a week ago so we are all on pins and needles waiting for Baby Anne to arrive. We keep calling to see if she's had any signs of impending labor but nada yet. Praying for a safe delivery for Bern, Champie and Baby Anne. I can't wait to see who she looks like, as the Peters' tend to have very strong genes (ex: Audrey and Jackson). I think she's going to be absolutely gorgeous!!

Will update with pix as soon as we find that darn camera.....:>)