Baby #3 at 14 weeks

These are a month old now! I had an ultrasound done around 14 weeks to determine how far along the pregnancy really was. We were right...14 weeks.

Everything was looking good at that point. I'm now 18 weeks. Last week at my OB appt the Dr. had a hard time finding the baby's heart beat, but after poking my belly a few times he finally got this little one to cooperate. The heartbeat was 149 beats/min. I have felt the baby move, but I don't notice it very often. I'm sure that will start to change in the coming weeks and months.

December Details

Needless to say, life is flying by! So much seems to happen so quickly. We were sick a lot in December. Brad and Cora got the dreaded stomach flu, Peter and I got a nasty cold. Other than that we had a lot of fun!

This is my friend Sara. She and her husband lived in the building next to us and we came to be good friends this semester. Cora and Peter adore them both, too. Sadly, we had to say good-bye to them already. They only had to be here for one semester, so when exams finished they had to pack up and go home.

We celebrated Christmas with my parents and Deb and Eric. The grandkids/cousins get along well and it's been so fun to see them having a good time together.

Peter is very into his hard hat and dump truck!

Cora got glasses! A vision screening at preschool determined that she needed to se an eye doctor, who then confirmed that she needed glasses. So far the adjustment has been a little rocky. (I'll get a better closer picture)

We have settled on a new home church: Lee Street CRC in Wyoming. Cora joined in the Christmas Program, even though she only had a couple weeks to practice what the rest of the kids had been practicing for months. It has been a challenging time to be new to a church, joining at the cusp of the holiday season, but we've been very warmly received. (Cora is in the front row, 5 kids to the left of the director, NOT wearing a Christmas dress. She had a growth spurt and didn't fit in the dress I had for her!)

Enjoying a model train display

A small nearby mall (Breton Village) had a model train display for the holidays. We enjoyed watching the trains and noticing the interesting details of the miniature village. Afterwards we drove around some neighborhoods to marvel at Christmas lights. Peter was especially excited, shouting "Na-na Mas-mas tee" each time he saw more lights. (Translation: Another Christmas Tree") Cora enjoyed it, too, but fell asleep in the car!

Since Cora's preschool is a public school they stated early on that they would not be "celebrating" any holidays. But they did invite parents to join for a special Gingerbread House decorating day. Brad couldn't miss class that day so Grandma Schippers joined us.

I can't believe I forgot to include this in the November post: Cora learned how to ride a two-wheel bike! It was quite astonishing how quickly she caught on. This video is only about the third time she even tried and she looks as steady as if she's been riding for weeks. She had been asking Brad and I all fall to take her training wheels off, but we didn't think she was ready. So Brad adjusted the trainers to be quite high off the ground and we challenged her to practice balancing on just the two wheels. She did really well going straigh but as soon as she needed to turn a little she relied on the training wheels. Well, over Thanksgiving she asked Grandpa S. (or maybe he asked her) to try to ride a 2 wheel bike at his house. I think he was prepared for a lot of work, but she surprised us all and told grandpa after only a couple minute to "let go of the bike"! And she was off. You would think she sprouted wings. She rides faster and farther without the training wheels than she did with them. It's been so much fun watching her soar!

A few other highlights from December:

• Brad finished his first semester with strong grades. I'm so proud of him. He misses working in the church, but we keep reminding each other of why we are here and we're glad we are.
• Christmas break for both Cora and Brad means that we have two and a half weeks with all 4 of us home every day, all day. It has been wonderful, truly. I'm a little sad that the new semesters are starting up again this week; I'm really going to miss having them having around. We've had a lot of fun. We took advantage of our Grand Rapids Public Library card holder privileges. There are circulating memberships available for free to 7 local musems/attractions and also free tickets to certain special events that around town. We were able to go to the GR Children's Museum, the GR Public Museum and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, all for free! Plus we have 4 tickets (free) to a GR Griffins game in a few weeks (that's a minor league hockey team). Pretty cool, huh?

How to describe a 2 year old boy...

I've been meaning to write about Peter as a two year old since his birthday. After thinking for months of what words to use to describe his complex personality, this is what I've come up with...
Enthusiastic
Adorable
Adoring
Hilarious
Charming
Antagonistic
Intense
Varied
Determined

These are things that he gets really excited about:
Trucks, Trains, Airplanes, Tools, Motorcycles, Friends and Family (basically people that love him), Bob the Builder, Thomas the Train, Construction vehicles, Tractors, Paci and Teddy

Lately he's been wanting to have a turn to pray at each meal. This is his typical prayer: (in a hushed voice) "Uncle Eric, Leyton, Baby, Auntie Deb, Uncle Eric, Leyton, Baby, Auntie Deb, (in a loud voice) AMEN!" He actually calls Eric "Uncle Brad" and can't pronounc Leyton very well, but the God knows what he means! One time a few days ago he added on to his prayer with: dump truck, teddy, choo choo track, apple pie, AMEN! It was pretty hilarious!

Many days we feel like our Two Year Old Peter has enough enthusiasm for the whole family. He keeps us on our toes, he keeps us laughing, and he keeps us praying for more patience and wisdom.

He still is a consistently early riser: 5:30 am every day. Occassionally we won't hear him till 6, but anything after that is a dream! For a long time we had him taking a nap after lunch, but deep down I knew that wasn't the best for him, since he is up so early. But it was too hard to change with the schedules we had going until this fall. Finally I decided to try it and it's been so much better. Now he naps from around 11 am till 1 or 2 pm. He can wait till after lunch if we go out in the morning, but he usually is too tired to eat lunch and will ask to go to bed by then! After he gets up we have plenty of time to run errands or go play before having to come home and make dinner. After dinner it's often bathtime or a little more time to play, we read a book and to bed at 7:30 or 8. He doesn't sing himself to sleep very often anymore like he did when he was younger. BUT, he does sleep all the way through the night. We rarely hear a peep from him till morning. That is, if you think that 5:30 am is morning...

Peter, Smile!

Show me a happy face!

Show me a mad face.

Show me a sad face.

Peter loves sharing a room with Cora and is very excited for his turn to sleep in the bottom portion of the bunk bed that is waiting for him. We made it past Christmas, which is what I was hoping for, with out him climbing out of the crib. So in about a week we're going to attempt the big switch to the big boy bed! So much for not hearing a peep till morning...We'll see how he handles being a big brother in June.

We love him so much and we're so proud of him. He's been exploding with words lately and impresses us with how well he knows his truck and tracker terminology. Two year old little boys really are a lot of fun!