Miss Mia at 6 months old...

6 months old and still in size 1 diapers.

Well Mia certainly hasn't broken Peterson tradition. Long and Skinny. She is 20% for weight and 96% for height and 17% for head circumference. At a booming 14.5 pounds she has almost doubled her birth weight and has grown about an inch a month. If I did that over the last 6 months, I'd be 6 feet tall and 280 pounds right now, yeah not so good. She still a sweetheart. Since about 2 weeks old she has never, seriously I'm not exaggerating, NEVER gotten up in the night. Who is she? She averages 10-12 hours of sleep at night straight. Who is this girl? Is she saving it all up for when she turns 2? I keep waiting for her to act her age! Right now she acts more like a teenager who can't get enough sleep. She also takes 2 (very regular) 2 hour naps a day. I would say I "paid my dues" with my first 2 kids which is why sweet Mia has now come, but I'm still not completely buying it. I think there will be much more in store. So when those tougher days come, I will need to go back and read this to remind myself about her flawless first 6 months.Mia also started army crawling a month ago, at 5 months. I thought "oh, that's cute"... but now it has turned into full on belly-up crawling. Seriously?! She needs to just stop growing and learning and stay little and stay where I put her!

We started rice cereal with her this week. She grabs the spoon and is very excited about having something in her mouth. As soon as a bite goes in, she sticks her little index finger back into her mouth and it's a fight to get it out again for another bite. I think she'll be left handed like Abby and potentially Parker. It's been a messy fun party! She still won't take a bottle for the life of me though. What can I say, she just loves her mommy and nothing else!

Mia is the most patient baby. When she wakes up in the mornings between 6:30 and 7 am, and when she wakes from her naps, she just plays in her crib. She rolls around and plays with the crib bumper, sucks on her left index finger and mumbles "mamamamamamamm" until I come in to get her. (That's right, "mama" is her first word! i knew she loved me!) I didn't know babies could be like this. It's a breath of fresh air that she hardly ever ever cries. What an angel. I am absolutely in love with her and can't get enough of her. I actually miss her sometimes when she's just upstairs in her crib because she makes me happy to be around =)

Man! She sure loves that finger!

Back to School...

It's that time of year everyone to go back to school. This year we have a few different schools at different times. Abby is doing another year of preschool with one of our friends in the neighborhood 3 days a week. With all the pre kindergarten testing and results we think it is better to hold off another year. As for Parker, this is his first opportunity to get out of Jill's hair for a little bit and go to preschool as well. He is going to the same place Abby did last year for two days each week. We have them at separate places figuring it is better for them to learn without their sibling in the same room. Jill is not going to school but is still providing an atmosphere of learning for her piano students. It is something she enjoys so it's a good break from the kids occasionally. Finally, I've started school again this year, I'm going to ASU to get my MBA. It's a 2 year program and it will only get harder down the road so now is the time to get it done. I'm still a Cougar at heart but with a side of Sun Devil these days. So our house is running in multiple learning directions but somehow we all cross to still have some family time, even if it's limited these days.

Lost Generation

This video was created for the AARP U@50 video contest and placed second. It is based on the Argentinian Political Advertisement "The Truth" by RECREAR

And She's Off!

Mia decided that she is going to be more resourceful at 5 months and start moving to the things that she wants. She has been good at rolling over and turning around and now she is getting the army crawl started. This is obviously not something we want since she is only 5 months. Its been really nice to put her on a blanket and know she won't going anywhere. Well... I guess that's changing.

KNIGHT family reunion Pictures

Here are some pictures... finally!

The baby dance.

75

My trip to Utah last exactly 75 blissful hours. 75 hours of only 1 perfect baby who gets eeew's and aaah's out of strangers and friends alike. 75 hours of food that I did not have to prepare which meant it tasted better and I got to sit down to eat, and I could enjoy every last single bite on my plate. 75 hours of uninterrupted restful, FULL nights of sleep. 75 hours of NOT picking up toys or doing dishes. 75 hours of actually getting showered, dressed, hair done, makeup on without leaving the bathroom. 75 hours of peace and calm without screaming wildness. 75 hours of laughing, smiling and laughing some more with my beautiful sisters. 75 hours of ME TIME. I got to do a little shopping, go to the temple, eat smores by a camp fire, watch an entire 2 hour Documentary without interruptions, etc. It was blissful.

Little Update

So these last couple of months have been some interesting times for our family. Since I lost my job in April I have been doing what ever I can to fill my time and make sure that we have everything that we need. We have been fortunate enough to have opportunities come our way. During this whole transition we have really seen that when one door closes another opens.

I started my own little consulting company for construction management needs. I have been working for a few different people doing project management, quality assurance, and site maintenance, with an occasion side job for people that need something done. I have been filling my time and there are days that it feels like I work more now than when I had a full time job. At least we are managing thus far, you just never know when things will dry up.

I remember when Jill and I got married people would ask what I was in school for and when I told them construction management they would assume that meant I was going to school to be a construction worker... I guess that is half true since now I am able to oversee construction activity but more importantly on the business side I save people money on their projects.

To try and be a little more well rounded I am starting an MBA program at ASU in a few weeks and I am working on getting my general contractor's license. I know that Jill is really excited to have me go back to school and spend even more time away from the house but for our long term goals, more education is needed. People always ask how I'm going to have the time to do it and I don't but more time isn't going to just show up. We've found that in this kind of economy there are opportunities that are more unique.

There are some advantages to our job change like I can where shorts for work, Jill doesn't have to cook dinner as much since I take care of it, I get to see the kids more often, and other little things that are just different these days.

Jill was also able to take a little break from reality this last week and go up to Utah with Mia for a Knight Family Reunion. Abby, Parker and I have enjoyed the time together. Fortunately we have some good friends in the area that we're able to trade some babysitting with so I can still get some work done. Jill will be able to give a better update on it when she gets back.

Things are moving along for us. We'll see where life takes us but so far we've been taken care of and that's all we can ask for.

Baptism Day

On Saturday we took our kids to their first baptism so that they could see what it's like. I told them to go get ready in nice church clothes because it was at the church. After a while Abby was still in her room so I went in to help. She was just standing in her underwear staring at her dresses. "What's the matter Abby, why aren't you dressed?" "Well I can't wear white or else someone will see me and put me in the water."