My mom had this hanging up at her house:

Whatever you give a woman will multiply.

If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.

If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.

If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.

She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.

So, fair warning...don't give her any crap!

I thought this was pretty funny, and since mostly woman look at my blog, you all might appreciate it.

Little Boys

In and out of weeds and dirt.

squealing, laughing, getting hurt.

Arms held out for loves and hugs.

Tiny fingers finding bugs.

Rough and tumble, sweet and shy.

Snuggling for a lullaby.

Who could name the countless joys

That come from raising little boys."

Author: Lorayne Stevenson

Well, as you might have guessed we are having another little boy! I had an ultra sound today and my doctor said that he is 90% sure (the ultra sound was a little fuzzy). I have a 3D ultra sound scheduled for January 7th so I'll be able to post pictures then. The whole family came with me today and while we were waiting I asked the boys what they were hoping for. Jamesy had been consistant in the past with hoping for a little sister and still responded the same today. Alex has switched back and forth so I was curious to see what he would say today. He said that he was hoping for a rock star or a Sith Lord, but definently a boy! What a funny kid! Well he got the boy part right, hopefully this baby doesn't end up a Sith Lord though. I really need to get Alex interested in something else besides Star Wars. We are all very excited and glad that this baby finally has an identity. We plan to name him Rand Bradley Peterson. We came up with the name Rand from a character in a book that James lent me on our first date. The name Bradley is for James's older brother that he really admires.

More Good News!!!

James finally escaped from the Black Hole of Guam!!! It took almost a month, but he was able to finally get that broken down B-1 (that has been there since March) off of the island and back here in South Dakota. Its great to be all together as a family again!

Good News!

Some of you have been asking for updates on me. Well, I got some good news today. I have been seeing several doctors for this pregnancy and for the whole Lupus issue. That has meant a lot of visits to the doctor for tests. I got back a positive result for a rare genetic mutation of DNA that puts me at risk for blood clots and the baby at risk for birth defects a few weeks ago. Interesting because this is totally unrelated to Lupus. Thanks to some great advice from Tera Lynn I got a blessing and felt at peace about it. I had to go in for follow up tests and I got results back today that the baby shows no signs for birth defects and I show no signs for blood clots. That has taken a lot of stress off my mind! I'm so thankful that the baby is healthy and developing normally. I have also reached a point where I'm not feeling as tired as I have been. I'm not sure if I'm out of a Lupus flare for now or if I'm just past that first trimester yuck. Either way I'll take it! I'm still having issues with joint pain, but I think its getting easier to deal with because I'm getting used to it.
I also wanted to thank Tera Lynn for having a link on her blog for Babystrology. I hope you don't mind, but I copied your idea so that everyone can track how the baby might look and how far along I am. Just look on the side bar.

Happy Veteran's Day!

Well, I'm a little late in posting this but I just wanted to thank all of the Veterans out there for their service. I'm proud to be an American and live in this great country! I know that my freedom came with a price and I'm thankful for those who have fought in the past and do fight for it today. I don't want to even imagine what life would be like without their sacrifices.

This picture is really old, but I couldn't find a better picture of my favorite Veteran! When James finally gets home from Guam I'll have to take a picture of him in his uniform.

Hopefully he'll make it home on Monday!

I've been rescued!

Thanks to some friendly neighbors I have been rescued. I can now open my front door, garage door, and when we get the okay from the base I will be able to get my car out of the drive way!

Here is one of my heroic neighbors working on my drive way. He said that when he started the drift was as high as the roof! He had been working for about an hour and a half when this first picture was taken.

Several other neighbors joined in and after a few hours the drive way was cleared. I am just amazed at the amount of snow!
The boys have had a blast sledding down the huge drifts in the backyard. I have to admit, I got on the sled a couple of times too! I was a good girl though and didn't help with any of the shoveling. Happy snow day!

BRRRRRR!

What a cold couple of days! South Dakota had a huge blizzard starting Wednesday night. Thankfully we were prepared for it. I had recently stocked up with food at the commissary so we didn't go without anything. Our heat and power stayed on the whole time too. When we woke up this morning the blizzard had stopped but we couldn't get out of our house to see the effects. Here are some pictures I was able to take from the inside.

This first picture is a view from the back door in our garage. Our big garage door wouldn't even open. I was able to open it on Thursday morning and I couldn't see over the snow drift. Some of the snow fell into the garage and I had to shovel it away from the laser censor so the door would close again. I wanted to get a picture of the huge snow drift today, but I guess I'll have to try again tomorrow.
This is a view from my second story front room window. I'm guessing we have a similiar view of the front of our house. As you can see, at least the roads are some what clear.

Here is my poor dog Aella. This is her first winter and she hates the snow. She is about 3 pounds so she doesn't sink in the snow drifts. I had to dig out a little area for the dogs to go out for potty breaks. The drift at the back sliding door is up to my waist so I had to throw her outside. She doesn't like the cold so I had to shut the door so she would "go" outside. I felt bad for her, but at least I didn't have to clean up inside.

Blade was a better sport. He has been through six winters with us though. He did need a little help getting outside, but he had no problem jumping back in.