January

During my years working as a tax accountant, I would never have thought about saying this, but this year January has just really flown by. I think it is because the weather has been amazingly nice. 70s almost every day, and we have spent a good part of our January days outside. The beach, the park, the backyard, this month has been good.

These two crazy girls are starting to play together and I'm starting to see why people might have more than two children. The first year was absolute craziness, but things are settling down. I just pray that I never have to potty train a toddler, nurse a baby, and have a husband with a broken leg again.

I asked Aubrey what she wanted to be when she grew up and she told me "a mommy. Just like you." That melted my heart, and she does a great job of being a mommy. She loves to strap one baby in her ergo, another in her stroller, feed them snacks, and then talk on her phone while she goes on a walk. I wonder where she gets that from?

 Aubrey is also crazy on her little balance bike. She is getting pretty close to being able to skip training wheels and go straight to a bike. There is a park across the street that has basketball and tennis courts. We like to ride over and let her roam free, which is easier than chasing her down the street.

Cora is now officially a full-time walker. She started walking right after her birthday, but she was quite tentative for a while. She has taken off now, but I love her little wide toddler gait. Aubrey went straight to running, so it has been fun to watch Cora think about and figure out the whole walking thing.

Cora is also very observant and surprises Steven and I on a daily basis. She is already saying quite a few words, my favorite being, "aubey." She has the cutest little wave and just seems to "get" what is going on. A few days ago we were playing "duck, duck, goose" as a family. After playing for a few minutes, Cora got a big smile on her face, walked right over to Steven, tapped him on the head and shouted, "duck!" then tried to run away. 

Oh yeah... and Steven and I have been doing quite a bit in January. I'm back down to pre-baby weight and enjoying some time working out at the gym. I finally got a gym membership after three years and I am LOVING feeling a little bit like pre-baby Paige.

Steven has much bigger news, but his mornings are spent getting up at 5 am to write a book. Yup, life with Steven is never dull. He is writing a book with a real publisher and all. I'll write a post about that in a few days, but for now, even though all the pictures are of the girls, I want to remember that Steven and I exist too :)

Christmas Day and More

Christmas Day is so much more fun with kids. I realized on Christmas morning, that I didn't ask for, think about, or care about anything I was getting for Christmas. I was just excited to see the magic in my girls eyes. And, they were spoiled....

Here is the look on Aubrey's face when she ran up the stairs and saw the tree and all the presents. I could barely keep up. Both my girls were up by 6 am (I wish this was just Christmas excitement, but that is normal), but we had to keep them downstairs and entertained for about an hour until Zach woke up. Aubrey had time for her excitement to build.

 Between two birthdays and Christmas, these girls do not need any more toys! I have been secretly donating their old toys, and seem to have managed to keep things under control. January is cleaning out the house month. I'm on a roll (or rampage if you ask Steven.)

The rest of Christmas day was perfect. Playing with toys, sledding (so fun), naps, going out for Chinese Food, and then visiting my grandparents house with my extended family. 

We then spent the few days after Christmas continuing to have one of the best trips to Canada ever. Very successful Boxing Day shopping trip, hot tubbing, swimming at the Leisure Center, visits with old friends. It was all great.

Until the last two days when ALL ten(yes every single person) got really sick. That was miserable. The kids were coughing and gross. I spent all day in bed with a high fever and chills. Super yucky. 

The last day was the worst. Steven and I were both so sick, and just barely managed to throw our stuff into our bags for the plane ride home. We flew home on New Year's Eve and were supposed to have a quick, direct flight and be home by 4 pm. Ha!

Our plane was delayed 5 hours. We spent plenty of time entertaining the girls in the airport, all the food I packed ran out, Cora SCREAMED bloody murder for the first half hour of the flight, etc. I do not have a good history flying with kids :)

We finally arrived home at 9 pm on New Years Eve. We had a classy New Year's dinner of McDonalds (only place open), and sickly managed to get the girls to bed. Happy New Year! At least Steven thought ahead and ordered sparkling cider with Google Shopping Express. 

We are now feeling better and back in the swing of things, but those few days were rough. It was almost a fitting end to 2013 because 2013 was such a hard year for our family health-wise. Here's to a healthier new year! I love getting organized, setting goals, and cleaning up life after the craziness of the holidays.

Christmas Eve

We had a great Christmas Eve with my family. Steven took this picture showing the view out my parents window on Christmas Eve. I love my home, and I really love the snow at Christmastime.

The long-standing Peterson family tradition has always been to go ice skating around the lake on Christmas Eve. I have been excited to take my girls, and we were lucky that it wasn't too cold for Christmas. Trent and my dad made Aubrey's day by "going fast." She thought it was so much fun. 

Trent is such a good uncle to my girls. He played with Aubrey, took her skating and sledding, and would get Cora up from her afternoon nap every day. Cora doesn't like everybody, but she loved Trent. It was really sweet.

Steven and Cora were troopers during skating, since they weren't able to do much. Steven walked around pushing Cora in the stroller on the ice. She didn't cry and he didn't fall, so we will call it a success. 

And, this is actually the only picture we took with my whole family.  

The rest of Christmas Eve was spent going to the Nativity pageant, opening Christmas pajamas, family dinner, games, and a big video chat with Steven's family. 

That video chat was quite the feat. Steven's family is all over the world right now. We did the video chat at 8:30 pm Calgary time, which was 7:30 pm in Las Vegas(Tyler's family) and Portland(Jeremy's family). That was 4:30 am on Christmas day in Germany (Jason, Lisa, and Steven's parents), and 10:30 am in the Philppines (Kimmy). We are grateful for technology that allows family to be together, even when far apart.