February resolutions

Hi, my name is Nicole, and I hate New Year resolutions.

Instead, I do February resolutions!

This February I have 2.

#1 - Take care of myself. My diabetes, specifically. (Lecturers, be gone.) I need to do it for my husband, for my baby, for any future babies, and for myself. I spent $215 at the pharmacy on insulin and strips today, so I'd better use it well!!

#2 - Cloth diapers. I'm going to do another blog next week on how our first week goes, but it has begun! I'm so overwhelmed at the choices and decisions and trial and error, but I'm so excited to a.I) never buy diapers again, a.II) save money, b) make a better, healthier choice for I) Jack, and II) the world Jack is going to grow up in!

Just to give you a money saving example? After 30 months (or 7, 354 diaper changes), disposable diapers add up to about $2,349, with no resale value; cloth diapers add up to $775, with a resale value of $550. That right there is enough for me.

Turning the page..

It's time for a new page in the Peterson book!

Carter has been jumping back and forth between applying for either the Edmonton or Lethbridge City Police Force and going to school for a couple of months - actually since before Jack was born! - and finally decided he wants to go to school to up his chances of success in a police force. He (we, the whole family is going to school really) applied for the Criminal Justice - Policing program at the Lethbridge College (which is one of the best Criminal Justice programs like, ever!) just about 2 weeks ago, and this morning at about 5:30 he came into our room and announced that we had mail. Great. Leave it on the couch, I'm sleeping. "No, we got GOOD mail!" Sure enough, he's been accepted to begin in September 2014!

What does this mean?

It means we'll be moving "home" (since I've always referred to Southern Alberta as home, even after living in Edmonton for 2+ years) in August! Give or take a couple of weeks, depending on where we move to.

It means I may end up going back to work part time, and Jack may end up in some kind of daycare!

It means that I really REALLY need to stop shopping and start saving money.

It means that if I want to invest in cloth diapers, which I do, I need to do it NOW so when we're in school, living on a meager student's budget, we won't have to buy diapers!

It means we get to stay home for Christmas and not feel bad about not seeing any family!

It means no more 6+ hour trips to stay for 2 days, then turn around and come back home.

Southern Alberta to me is home. It's family. I could not be more excited about that aspect of it.

Cons? Lethbridge closes down at like 6pm! There's only one movie theater. I have mom friends up here. I love the ward we live in. I love my calling.

All in all, I think we're ready for a change. And this is a big change!

{10 months}

Jack is turning 1 in two months!! WHAT!? I can't believe a year ago we had just found out what we were having! Bah.

Anyways, Jack had a big month. He mastered the army crawl, sitting up, and now he's starting to stand. Scary business. He is learning how to clap and wave, and he gets 2 solid meals a day, a mix of purees and table food.

He's had scrambled eggs with cheese and peppers, taco bake, muffins, toast, chicken, cucumber, rice, PB&J sandwich, basically anything we eat we cut into small pieces for him.

It's a messy world we live in now.

The big news is that yesterday we went to the Glenrose Neonatal and Infant Follow-Up Clinic, which is a 2-hour clinic all babies who spend time in the NICU go to when they're around 6 months from their due date. Because he was 6 months adjusted at Christmas we postponed a little bit. They evaluated him from 7 months.

He is 18 lb 11 oz, 26" long. He is in the 50%ile for weight, 10%ile for height, and 85%ile in his overall ratios. Aka, he's short and fat.

 For his actual age (10 months) he is in the 10%ile for weight, and not even on the chart for height lol.

They also graded his overall gross motor skills. For 7 months he is above the 90%ile. For 10 months he is the 15%ile, so even if he was a term baby they wouldn't be worried about him!

This boy loves his mama, daddy, and Grandma Martin. And Uncle Max. And Tyler. He wasn't a fan of Grandpa Martin's beard.

He also loves his shape sorting box blocks, and the stacking rings. We blew bubbles yesterday and he was all "Meh".

He likes taking his socks off.

He doesn't like getting in his car seat.

Hopefully we have a walker in the next month!!

"This is my house, I swear!"

Jack and I are down at my mom's house in Raymond because Carter is going out of town to work. But yesterday Carter texted me after work and said he was having the worst day ever, and that he locked his car and house keys in the car. Oops. He had called the landlord, but he was going to be another 2 hours and I didn't want Carter to be sitting out in the cold (although, luckily, it was only like -9) for that long, so I told him to try the windows (since we don't lock them. Well, now we do). The windows in our basement are tiny. Seriously, tiny. But my logic was that to be a legal suite the windows have to be big enough for someone to crawl out of. The reverse of that would be big enough to crawl into! He tracked through the (literally) 3 feet of snow to our kitchen window, and crouched down beside the window to cut the screen when he heard a helicopter overhead. The adrenaline pumping through his system convinced him that they were the police out to find him! He said he stood flat as a board and "hid" against the house. Once he pulled himself together, he knelt back down and cut the screen. Our kitchen window faces our neighbor's gate, by the way. He said he got all the way to his hips into the window when the neighbor's teenage daughter came out the gate, screamed, then ran to the front of the house. Great. The mom popped her head around the corner, then they ran to the car. Carter jumped out of the window and ran after the screaming pair, told them that this was his house, he locked himself out, and luckily the teenager recognized him from the many times she's come into the backyard to get their balls. The mom had 9-1-1 dialed and was about to push send! lol. When he got into the house he called me and said, "I basically peed my pants like 6 times. I thought the police were going to come arrest me for sure!" Poor Carter. Let's just say he won't do that again! lol