Drive Downtown

This morning I was feeling like getting out with Caed and wasn't sure what to do. My sister's and others have been asking me about the Cherry Blossoms here in DC. I have been thinking that although the "officials" have been saying it's peak time, that it wasn't really. But I didn't know for sure since I haven't been downtown in a long time. My neighbor has a cherry tree, and his isn't at peak yet, so I did have a hunch. So this morning as I was talking to my oldest sister, Kristen, I decided to hop in the car with Caed and check out the trees before the weekend set in and all the tourists were swarming.

I didn't pack a lunch and just grabbed the diaper bag, camera bag and stroller. I was driving towards the FDR memorial, and then drove too far west and got directed to Arlington National Cemetery. My dad is buried there, and it's been awhile since I went and decided to take a side trip with Caed to see where Popop was buried. We had a nice time actually and it was nice to do that unexpectedly. Caed loved seeing all the planes fly over and there was a helicopter that was flying low too. I was working with him to identify my dad's name- and since Caed's middle name is my maiden name, I was happy to teach him about that too. After our side trip there, we headed back to the Mall area.

As I got closer to the monuments, the cherry blossoms didn't seem at peak to me. And they weren't really at peak. We ended up parking at Haines Point and walking around there. Today's warm weather might make them better for tomorrow, but I think it's going to be more like Sunday or Monday- hopefully it doesn't rain or get too windy. So we'll go check them out next week too and I'll tell you my unprofessional opinion. There were some nice blooms, but just not peak quite yet.

Long Walk

The flowers are in bloom around here and it's just the thing to get us out and about. Today was nearly 70, and that's such a nice thing for us too. We really felt cooped up for too long when we were sick. I took the following pictures on our walk and trip to the playground yesterday morning..

Only Easter Photo

While we were in Ohio for my cousins wedding we stayed the night with a college roomate of Jon's. Jeff and Pandora Cunningham were such nice hosts- and they were heading on their Spring Break vacation the morning after we were there! This is the only photo of my family on Easter this year. Thank you to the Kouveras family for Caed's fun Easter shirt!

Sinus Infection

I went to the doctor yesterday. Turns out I have a Sinus infection. (you were right Kenady!) Glad to be on the mend today though! This illness was no easy thing for us Peterson's! Our trip this past weekend we were at my cousin's wedding in Ohio. It was darn cold. We were happy to be with family and friends, and especially Caed and I who have been holed up here at home. We are happy to be back though as the flowers blooming and lime green colors of the new growth are very cheery. It had even snowed when we were in OH.

We are back to more of a normal schedule this week and I was even in the mood to clean the dishes yesterday and clean out the refrigerator! (it was much needed since being sick!) We plan to go see the Cherry Blossoms this next week and this weekend there is a kite festival we want to go to down on the Mall. Hundreds of kites should be fun to watch for a nearly 2 year old, right?

Back with some pictures soon.

Ear Infection

It's been a rough week. We still aren't 100 percent- and today I took Caed to the doctor before we make our trip tomorrow night. Turns out it was a good thing because he has a massive ear infection! I am thankful I made the appointment today. He should be feeling better soon, although today he was a little more himself then he has been all week.

My sinuses are all still really full and it's making my teeth hurt and keeping me in a general haze. I tried sudafed (without pseudoephedrine) today for the first time and it didn't seem to help. I'll go back to DayQuil as soon as I can.

Just hoping to feel normal again soon- and if you come visit me, you'll be disinfected over every inch! I don't want anything like this again.

I also can't help wanting to curl with with Khaki! So if you're looking for bright and cheery, it's not in the Peterson household this week. :) But we are working on it. There are glimpses of light from between the blinds, and I'm sure those daffodils outside that I desperately want to be in the mood to take a picture of, will be knocking on our door soon too.

Happy St. Pat's Day!

Every year that I've been married to Jon I've made corned beef and cabbage for St. Patricks Day. This year we will not be carrying on that tradition.

I came down with a severe form of the flu last week. It was pretty horrible. There were sleepless nights, crying, and calling my mother at 2 am in South Carolina. At times i thought it would be better to be dead then to be feeling the way I did. I am still recovering and only here at the computer now because I've taken some Dayquil and feel a little normal. Caed came down with it too, so right now Jon's sleeping in our bed with him, while I slept on the couch. (our guest room bed isn't comfortable enough for my achy body this week) I've got Jon home one more day, and then he goes back to work. I need to start feeling better so I can take care of us this week and then prepare to travel this weekend.

On those days that feel really bad, I need to be reminded that I've been through this. This was REALLY bad.

sick!

Well it seems I am suffering from Jon's sickness now. Just hoping to be better for our trip up to Connecticut this weekend. Luckily Caed is doing really well for me. And what I thought was going to be a day in front of the TV hasn't been, so that's good.

We have a busy couple of weeks. Trip up to CT this weekend for the memorial service for Jon's grandfather, and then next weekend a trip to snowy OH for my cousin's wedding. Then in the middle of April I make another trip up north to visit CT to see family and friends for the week. Jon will fly up and meet me at some point in that trip and I am excited about that. (although, shouldn't I be travelling south this time of year? I've got my trips switched around!)

A little Caed tidbit: Sometimes when he's saying 'no' these days he says 'NO WAY!'. This is because I used to say 'No Way' when he was doing something I thought he either knew he shouldn't be doing or when it was especially egregious. So if 'No' wasn't rude enough, it's now been topped. Good thing his mother taught him that.

By all accounts this is one of the saddest weekends.

I will choose to look at three good things from this weekend rather then the sad and cling to those thoughts.

1. I got a nice long walk with Khaki by myself on Saturday morning. It wasn't the best weather, but since I don't get to do that all that often I find that to be really enjoyable. I could have kept walking and walking with her. I am happy that despite the busy morning I was able to do that with her.

2. We saw a rainbow yesterday! Even though I am not sure Caed could understand what he was looking for, it was our first attempt to show him one. We read Noah's Ark all the time and I think it's such a cool and tangible way for a toddler to understand a Bible story more. (and it's a nice reminder that although Saturday's events were very sad, that the Lord will comfort our hearts)

3. I had a little time to myself this morning. Jon has been sick, and we were working the nursery this morning, so I had him keep Caed and I went by myself. I actually found myself recharged even though I wasn't a part of the service at all today. Sometimes a little time to myself gives me the boost I need to get through the day.

Amen!

We have a book for Caed called Give Me Grace, it's a book full of bright colors and daily prayers for a week. It's pretty short, and we read all of it when we read it. At the very end, the last page says Amen. So we usually say Amen and close the book. That was one of the first books I started to realize he could say a word from a book that we read repeatedly without saying it first. Then when we would do stories at nap time and bedtime and he would always say Amen at the end of every book. It was funny, but we knew what was prompting him to say that...

This past week he started to say Amen no matter where we are and what book he/ we are reading. And we don't read the Prayers book as often anymore. I am not even sure the last time I read it was (Jon could have chose it in the past week). This morning in the car Caed was looking at this picture book, lots of images on a page labeled with what they were and he was pointing out the things he knew- then he shut the book said "Amen!" and threw it aside to the seat next to him. These things make me laugh because I can imagine him at the library "reading" and saying that and people wondering what he's saying....

Missing Pictures

So yesterday I gave the green light to Jonathan to erase the pictures on our Camera memory card so that he could use the camera to take pictures for work. He asked me in the morning, and I reviewed a few of the pictures and I thought I got most of them onto my computer but I couldn't be bothered with coming downstairs to my computer and double checking, so I was okay with the couple I thought I was going to loose. Turns out that I saved less of the pictures to my computer then I thought. I am so bummed because I had like three good posts with some of those pictures. Including the fire up the street with all the fire trucks out right before nap time a few weeks ago. Turns out that the woman who lives there left her basement with her dryer running (who doesn't?) and came back to a fire. They broke every single window in the home (every one!) even though the fire was in the basement and she let the firemen into the home when they arrived! Anyway, I also had an after shot of the home. It's very sad and scary!

I took some pictures of the flowers that are in bloom around here now too- the sprouts of the tulips, the daffodils and the crocuses are blooming now....and one of my favorite flowers, the snow drop which always starts blooming in winter- and has now faded. I am so bummed at missing these shots, because I worked really hard to get a different shot then other years.

And then I had some funny ones of Caed too.

There are lots of things like that with me, I'd rather not be bothered or take the time to double check. I can't stand that actually because it means that I forget things and run myself ragged all the time. How do I make myself take the extra step and just double check things in situations like that?

A new subject...

I've been thinking about our trip last year to St. John. It seems like such a distant memory with the busyness that Jon's been in with this new job. We hope one day to go back and bring our kid(s) with us. It was affordable and beautiful, and not built up at all. So here are some warm beachy thoughts instead of all the planned home-y thoughts....

Cutie pie

Caed received this Kitty as a present when he was born. My sister April's friend Meredith gave it to him, and he's bonded with her. She has only the unimaginative name of 'kitty' and the smaller kitty she holds between her arms is 'mini kitty'. Caed loves his kitty, and would take her everywhere, but since she happens to be the only white colored stuffed animal he owns, and it's his favorite, we try to keep her as close to the home as possible. Right now she's a ting pink since washing her with a red tablecloth. (I know I actually thought it would be okay. I haven't been a mom long enough!) I'm not sure I've gotten a a great photo of him with kitty before now, but I can't help think this is a good shot. I think it shows his strong affection of her. Tight hug with probably a little nibble on the ear.

He was actually happy in this picture below, and I happened to get this shot at lunch time last week. What a munchkin!