busy busy busy

Brothers 

My Baby is getting SO BIG

I told James to pretend daddy was tickling him, and I finally got him to smile normally!

Oh, Mr Sam, STOP GROWING!

Trying to sign "more"

On the move

Where Sam's hearing aids are most of the time 

So Life has been crazy busy lately.  Nate is well into his 3rd year of teaching, and it's going well.  He is coaching girls volleyball, and his team is currently undefeated! They are actually a pretty good team.  They boys and I have attended a few games, and I was quite impressed!  Nate has also decided to take some masters level classes at the college.  He's taking a deaf education class right now.  He started the class a few weeks late, so he working on catching up right now. 

I finished my statistics class a few weeks ago, and I'm now getting everything ready to send in my application to Frontier.  I'm so nervous excited.  I'm feel more and more ready to begin this new adventure!  I know that in 2 years when I'm done, it will feel like it just flew by.  

They boys are getting so big!  James has been doing AWANA on Wednesday nights, and he LOVES it.  He cries whenever he sees us at the door to come get him, and begs to stay "just one more minute."  He loves church and the interaction with other kids.  He is officially completely potty trained! PTL!!!  We've had a few accidents, but for the most part, he's been diaper free for a month.  James has also been OBSESSED with motorcycles lately. He can hear one coming from a mile away.  Every time he hears/sees one he says Grandpa Steve is going to take him on a motorcycle ride.  

Sam turned 9 months old last week, and I'm in such denial that he is almost 1!  I really don't know where the time has gone.  He started army crawling last week, and has been scooting around the house like crazy.  He still hasn't figured out how to use his knees, but I think it wont' be too long.  We had his audiology appointment this week, and they tested his hearing without his aids, and he tested very similarly as he did with his ABR that we did a 2 months.  We've been having difficulty keeping his aids in lately, because all he wants to do is eat them. I even made him a super cute hate to help keep them on, but he just rips that off too.  Hopefully we will be out of this phase soon.  

Photo Friday

Brothers 

Sam telling James  Story

Food Faced Smiles

Showing off his new haircut

Showing mom how he can clap now 

Almost on the move.  Sam army crawls if he REALLY wants something, otherwise he just continues to roll

CHEESE

You may notice he is not wearing his hearing aids.  It's because the kid won't stop EATING them.  Unless I'm watching them like a Hawk, they are in his mouth. 

Perfection

Playing soccer with dad 

Here Sam, let me help you with that

Sometimes the "perfect" pictures aren't always perfect.  These 3 boys are my world, and I think any picture they are in are perfect.  Somedays I just feel really blessed. 

too big

Can you believe how big these kids are getting??  I know I can't.  James has become such a wonderful 3 year old. He has finally mastered potty training (YEAH) and now only wears diapers at bedtime.  He got his very first fish yesterday and it lasted 24 hours before he tried to kill it (he dumped the entire container of fish food into his bowl)  When asked the fish's name, he replies "fish"

James has been sleeping on his floor lately.  I'm not really sure why, but he insists upon sleeping on the floor cuddling with about a million blankets (including Nate's blanket that James commandeered when he was sick a few weeks back and has refused to return it, yet he still calls it "dad's big white comfy blanket")  He is terrified of EVERYTHING, and insists we check and double check his room for monsters every nap and night time.  James also has special monster spray he sprays daily (aka febreze)  

James loves the Vikings and is really excited for football season to start!

Notice all the bruises?  My child is a wee bit clumsy (not sure who he got that from :)

Brotherly Love

One of my favorites! I imagine Sam saying, "No James Stop talking"

Peterson Jerseys!  

Oh Samuel Steven (or Sammy Steve as we like to call you)  You are getting so big I can't stand it.  You are our little rage monster.  You want what you want, and you want it NOW.  You eat anything we put in front of you.  You pound your hand on the table to signify you want more food.  We've tried to teach you sign language, but you just keep pounding your fist

You do pretty well keeping your hearing aids in, but if you notice them you'll start to chew on them.  We had a incident a few days back where a piece was missing, and I though I was gonna have to dig through diapers to find it.  Thankfully I discovered it under the couch :) Nicole and Kristy still come weekly to check up on you and make sure you are progressing as you should (which you are by the way, sailing right along the average line) We will be testing your hearing again in October to see what your hearing abilities are without your hearing aids.  I'm quite interested to see how it goes.  

You are very loved by your big brother.  James' favorite part of the day is waking you up from sleep.  If he even hears you stir a little, he runs into your room turns the light on and yells "SAM, you're awake, MOM, Sam's AWAKE!"  You then look at him like he's crazy, realize it's your brother and give him a big smile. James is also very careful to make sure you don't choke on anything.  However this usually means you are sitting in the room with nothing around you because James has confiscated anything he deems "dangerous" and has placed it out of your reach.  Since you refuse to learn to crawl, your mobility is limited to where you can roll to, so you aren't getting into too much mischief yet.  

These toes need to stay little FOREVER!

Nate started school.  It's going well.  He's coaching volleyball right now, and then he'll do girls basketball and then boys basketball, so he'll be busy this fall/winter.  Nothing too exciting in the adult's lives :)  I'm just about done with my statistics class.  It wasn't as painful as I anticipated, but I'm glad it will be over soon.  I'll be applying to midwifery school soon, so prayers are much appreciated.  

Playing at the Park