Ryan

Our little bundle of joy has arrived! Ryan Alexander Petersen made his arrival at 8:36pm on Monday, September 27, 2010. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 5 oz. and was 21 inches long. We are already so in love with him!

Leaving the hospital- the first time in real clothes.
The welcome home crew. Heather had the kids make some signs to welcome Ryan home. The older kids were so excited to finally have mom and brother home.Ryan at 3 days old.

Wide awake for a few minutes.

Mom and baby are doing well. Ryan is well loved and gets lots of cuddle time with everyone. More details and pictures to come soon!

Tooth-less

Erin lost her fifth tooth yesterday. The first of the top ones to leave. She was very excited. She carefully packaged her tooth for the tooth fairy. Apparently the fairy was very busy last night and forgot to come and get it. Oops! I told Erin to give her another try. I'm SURE that she will be by tonight. Erin is okay to give the tooth fairy one more chance, but that's it.

Erin isn't sure what to think of her new tooth-less look. She is still trying to wiggle the tooth with her tongue, but it is gone. She doesn't think she looks quite like herself anymore. Luckily, she had her school pictures taken over a week ago with the old smile. She is still adorable, but something definitely changes when the baby teeth go. Erin is growing up!

Family Fun FHE

Since the baby is due in a week, we decided to have a last fun FHE hurrah, since it might not happen again for a while. We all went to Trafalga to play some miniature golf. The older kids remembered going there, but for K it was an all new experience. Katelyn insisted on wearing her fireman hat from her field trip earlier that day. Jeff managed to get a hole in one. Ethan's favorite hole was the windmill, but he was bummed when he couldn't get the ball to make it inside the moving trap door. After he finished the hole he ended up taking his ball and coaxing it in by hand- just to see what happened. Erin made some good shots and got fairly good at aiming the ball toward the hole. Katelyn preferred the "drag the ball with the club" method, and managed to get her ball in the hole every time. I took a few turns for Erin after K wouldn't let me help her anymore. At the end we celebrated a successful night by eating some Dippin' Dots. It was a fun night and I'm glad that we had the chance to make some memories.

Fire Station Fun

For preschool the kids took a trip to the Fire Station. Katelyn liked driving the truck and getting in the back of the ambulance. She was to shy to try on the fireman's coat and hat. She found out that she is exactly as tall as the tire on the truck. The kids got tons of freebies including hats, sticker badges, pencils, a stencil, and a bracelet. As we were leaving the firefighters got a call and left with the ambulance and fire truck with lights and sirens blaring. On the way home K asked me if girls could be firefighters too. I assured her that yes, they could.

Hairs cut

Katelyn was so excited to have Wendy cut her hair. I think this was her third haircut ever. The sides are still short and are taking a long time to grow, but the back definitely needed a trim. It turned out really cute and now Katelyn asks for me to do her hair "like Wendy with a flip" just about every day.

Preschool K

Katelyn's first day of preschool (last Tuesday) required the same tradition as the big kids. Picture in front of the door, but with her new pencil box and supplies. She was so excited!

I am doing a preschool co-op with some other moms in the neighborhood. There are 7 kids in the group. (2 boys, 5 girls) Since I am due really soon I asked if I could teach for the first two weeks, and then have a few months off. It has been really fun so far. My only complaint is that there is not enough time to get to all the fun things I plan! I know that Katelyn is loving it too. I think it will be really good for her to branch out and make new friends. Hopefully she will love it just as much when it is not at our house.

Strawberry Crawfish

For Labor Day we were invited to go to Strawberry Reservoir with some friends. Despite the cold temperatures the kids and adults had fun catching craw fish for lunch. Ethan was really into it- and "accidentally" got wet more than once. From shoes and socks, jeans and shirt. Oh well- that's a boy for you! He had fun drying out in the cold wind later since I had neglected to foresee this problem and bring him a change of clothes. Ethan became quite the fisherman and loved picking up the craw fish with his bare hands. Erin became Jeff's right hand girl and collected all his catch into the net and then dumped it in the bucket. Katelyn was at the water's edge for a few minutes, but then decided to come sit by me on a little higher ground. I didn't trust myself climbing over rocks (great balance at 36 weeks pregnant) and became the official photographer.

After catching for a while it was time to boil the catch. Ethan ate one, said it was delicious, but decided that was enough. There was also fruit, corn, potatoes, salads, and hot dogs for the less adventurous of us. (Myself included.) It was our first time to Strawberry Reservoir and craw fishing. We will have to try both again sometime. Thanks to the Beagley's for the invitation!!

Cast Off!

After four short (but sometimes rather long) weeks it was time to get Erin's cast off. She was a pro because after only 10 days she had already gotten her cast replaced due to some padding coming out. This time was much less scary and more exciting.


Erin 's last cast picture.

The saw.

Peeling back the cast.

Yea! Erin's new arm. The x-rays came back clear and she just has to wear a brace for two weeks while doing anything "dangerous". Much better than a full time cast.