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.