Ruby - Six Months

Really? Six months? Half a year? My baby is that big?
Believe it or not, it's true! She had her 6 month checkup yesterday, and was as healthy as ever. Her ear infection is all cleared up. She was 27 3/4 inches long and 17 pounds, the same percentages she was at her 4 month checkup (97% and 75%, respectively).
Ruby is so happy and sweet. She is learning how to bounce in her jumper, can *almost* sit up by herself, chews on everything (although she hasn't cut any teeth yet), and chatters constantly. She loves watching Rae and laughs at almost everything she does. Rae loves holding Ruby's hand, and Ruby is ok with it until she gets tired. Then she cries a distinct "Rae's about to get me" cry when Rae even approaches her.
Thank you Jesus for our healthy baby, Ruby!

Sneak Peek!!!

We had family photos taken a couple weeks ago, and today we got a sneak peek of how they turned out!
Click here for the sneak peek (2 posts)!
I will post another link when our photographer has the full album posted.

Grandma Dellas' 90'th Birthday

On Friday, JP's grandma Dellas Bowar (his mom's mom) turned 90 years old. We celebrated on Saturday with a huge celebration with the whole family, including out-of-town family and friends. Grandma Dellas is the sweetest woman in the world, and although she'd disagree, we all know that if anybody deserved such a celebration, it's her. She continues to remain cheerful and positive even through difficult phases, and we applaud her strength and resiliance.
We love you, Grandma! We hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Rae's Recital

Last night, Israel participated in her very first music recital! As I mentioned before, she has been taking little "musikgarten" classes. This was the grand finale for the winter/spring session. We plan to sign her back up for the spring/summer session because she did so well and had so much fun.
I've managed to get one video posted of the first song they did, "Wake Me, Shake Me." Rae is front and center, the smallest one (the class is for ages 2-5). They also did one other song and a poem. If I have time later I'll post the other song, but its not as cute as this one.
Sorry for the video quality. We recently sold our video camera because we hardly every used it (go figure), so this was recorded on our digital camera. JP was struggling to video one-handed while holding Ruby and dodging the head of the gentleman in front of him. I'm up front as one of the parent helpers.
Enjoy!

Box Elder Infestation

As spring approaches, we are learning that our new place has a serious box elder bug problem. It started with just a few in the basement...then it was more downstairs and on the main level...then small groups on the outside of the house and workshop. But on Sunday it culminated in the grossest display of box elder madness I've ever seen. SWARMS of box elder bugs covered the East side of our house in massive clusters. DISGUSTING! It will give you the heeby-geebies just to look at these pictures. '
After doing some research, we heard of a couple different methods of getting rid of them. We are experimenting. On our house we sprayed a highly toxic pesticide called "Buggslayer" (that's what JP is doing in the picture below). So far it seems to be working, but its hard to tell since it has been chilly out since we sprayed and the bugs usually come out when its warm. On the workshop we sprayed a simple mix of laundry detergent and water. We've heard from a few people that this works, so we'll give it a shot as a safer alternative to the pesticides. Any other tips are accepted!

Slumber Party

Tonight Rae and JP had a slumber party in her room. She got to stay up an hour past her bed time as they listened to music, ate popcorn and watched The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything in bed. Things that make this picture even sweeter are the fact that she's wearing her favorite Dora pajamas and her head is resting on a pillow that belonged to JP when he was a young boy.

Deggorating

JP came home with an egg decorating kit the other night. So who cares how far away Easter is? We're deggorating!
The first night we all did our own eggs with our names on them (well, I helped with Ruby's). I think they turned out pretty cute. (Sorry for the poor quality photos -- they were taken on my phone)
The next day, we did a couple more eggs, but one in particular stood out from the rest. I made a smiley face on one of Rae's eggs, and we put green glitter on his head for hair. Rae loved it, but seemed to quickly lose interest and left the table. Moments later, however, she returned to the table with my hairbrush and started to brush the egg's glitter hair!

Next she left the table again and came back with a spray bottle...

Then a detangling spray (not pictured), and finally some scissors to give it a hair cut.

The end result:

Cute little fellow, if you ask me...

Ruthie

We have a name

Ruth Kaye Peterson.
A.K.A. "Ruthie"
:)

New Niece!

As of yesterday, I have a new niece! And as of today...she still doesn't have a name. But she will soon, I'm sure.
Baby girl Peterson was born around 9:45 last night. She's small -- only 6 lb, 2 oz. Amber sounds happy, but tired.
Here is a picture my dad took on his phone. She looks just like Elijah and Naomi.
Welcome to the world, sweetie!

"I'm doing kids."

We all have those days, right? Maybe those weeks? When you just feel tired and at the end of your fuse all the time. Poor JP takes the brunt of it.
Lately I've been stressed out about a number of things, but mostly selfish things. I get angry when my days have been so busy that I realize I haven't showered in three days, and rarely get dressed up or do my makeup. I get mad that I have to get up with the kids in the morning whether or not I feel rested. I feel victimized when I don't get to have "me" time. I get frustrated that I can sweep and mop the kitchen floor and then a half hour later you can't even tell. (holla for me, moms)
The other night after the kids went to bed, JP and I sat down and watched the show Kids by the Dozen on TLC. We love watching that show and 18 Kids and Counting. Believe it or not, I would LOVE to be one of those families. Call me crazy, but it just looks like so much fun! Even on the crazy days, nothing is better than family, and lots of it.
Now, on 18 Kids and Counting, the Duggar family household seems to be ALWAYS put together and organized. Their HUGE house and its industrial-sized kitchen are never messy. The kids are all dressed nicely with their hair neatly combed. It's great and something I applaud, but not something I could picture in my future as being realistic.
This night, however, we watched the Jeub Family on Kids by the Dozen. They have 13 kids, 11 of which live at home -- a 3 bed / 2 bath house in the country (That's what we live in right now!). The kids looked normal...dressed in play clothes with grass stains on the knees, boys with tossled hair or ballcaps. Their house was cluttered (hard not to be, I would imagine) and they always seemed to be bumping into someone or something. But they were HAPPY, and more importantly, the mom was happy. A cluttered house, a messy yard, grocery store nightmares, laundry nightmares, and kids needing something every time you turn around didn't seem to phase her. "How does she not just freak out," I thought.

Then Wendy Jeub said something to the effect of this:

"I'll probably never have a beautiful yard, but I'm not doing beautiful yards. I'm doing kids."

Her quote hit me like a ton of bricks, because I knew that was the big difference and the change I will need in my life if we want to see our dream of a big family come true. If I can't be stylish, if I can't have a huge, pristine house, if I don't get the princess sleep I want, I hope I can look at life as Wendy does and realize that those things aren't what I'm doing in life. Even when it's just JP, Rae, and Ruby. I'm not doing fashion. I'm not doing perfect. I'm not doing "me" time. I'm doing family.
Thanks for the reminder, Wendy.

Speaking of family --
Enough with the chatter. Here's what you really want. Pictures. :)

Scraping the snow off of Daddy's truck.

My little helper

Ruby is all smiles

Could those curls be any sweeter?