Update

Well, it has been a hectic month. Here is an update on the lives of the Petersen 4:

Nikki: I went back to work full time at the end of January. I am spending Monday, Tuesday, half day Thursday, and all of Friday between Pea Ridge lower elementary, upper elementary and Junior High. I am really enjoying the new group of clients, and the fantastic office that is located on the campus, but in it's own building. I even have my own bathroom in my office (which, sometimes isn't a plus when stinky little 6 year olds come in and do their business). I am readjusting to life as a full time therapist, full time mommy, full time wife, and full time home maker. The latter part is definitely suffering, but I am thankful to my sweet husband for picking up the slack.

Nick: Nick has been super busy with carpet cleaning. Unfortunately, we have been having some malfunctions with his machine. 3 trips to the shop, $500.00, 2 belts, a new pump, and a super tune up and the machine is running fantastic. Due to the issues, we had to reschedule many of his jobs at the beginning of the week (sorry Valerie), but were still able to squeeze in THIRTEEN jobs in 4 days!!!! Woohoo!!! (I'm saying woohoo...Nick is saying..."Holy cow, when can I rest?!") He submitted his application to the U of A for the fall, so we will see what will happen with that. He has been so intrigued with my stories from work that he thinks he would like to go into the mental health field as well and get his MSW.

Brody: Brody is currently working on sleep training right now. Which means that instead of him staying up as late as he would like, watching Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck with Dad at night, and sleeping wherever he would like, he now gets a 7:30 bedtime. New bed time rules also: #1: We stay in our bed. #2: We keep our eyes closed. #3: We get a sticker on our bed time chart if we sleep all night in our big boy bed. Sticker= Treat. Brody is also working on potty training...slowly but surely. We are applying for him to attend mom's day out at the Bentonville Church of Christ 1 day a week. He is really looking forward to school!

Peyton: On Monday, I took Peyton to get her ears pierced. She looks so cute, and did so well. The ear piercer lady (I don't know what else to call her) said that she was the best baby she has ever pierced. Peyton is crawling like crazy! She has brought us into a whole new world that we never experienced with Brody. Brody was always good about keeping things out of his mouth and not getting into things he wasn't supposed to. With Peyton, it's the opposite. She keeps me running! She is babbling a lot, saying dadadadada, and babababababa....still no mamamamama...but we are working on it. She is also sleep training which means crying it out in her crib til she falls alseep. Last night was 2 hours, tonight it was an hour and 25 minutes. Hopefully tomorrow it will be dramatically less crying. I hate to hear my babies crying, but this will be the best thing for us all if they can get on a good schedule.

Finally, the entire Petersen family will be heading out on Saturday, March 7 for 10 beautiful days in Hawaii! Thanks Dad, June, Grandma and Grandpa for making that possible! We are so excited to be able to stay at our family beach house (www.gillinbeachhouse.com) and spend time with our extended family that we don't get to see very often! We are especially looking forward to my grandmother and great aunt's 80th birthday!!