Christmas just days away

and The Peddy parents do not have any presents wrapped.
Sounds about right.

Today is the first day of McKenna's Christmas break (well and Spencer's) for two whole weeks. So far so lazy. Its 11:24 and the kids are still in their PJs. Well Spencer is naked but Spencer is ALWAYS naked so nothing new there. Its freezing and wet outside and somewhat warm and toasty inside. Howls Moving Castle is on the TV and we are about to make lunch.

We only have 2 days left until Clayton is home for a whole week and a half. We are so excited. We hope to plan 1 or 2 day trips but as long as we together that's what counts. I wanted to take the kids to see a lighthouse along the coast as I have never seen one up close. I think it would be very interseting and fun for them. As long as it doesn't rain or isn't really freezing then I think it will be a blast :)

Last week brought new and exciting adventures for McKenna and I. We both ice skated for the very first time. McKenna's school went for their holiday field trip and it was soooo much fun. McKenna made me so proud. She went right out on the ice having zero idea of what to do and took it upon herself to get onto the ice and skate. Not scared, not timid, not at all. She actually skated, though fell alot, but she skated and had a blast doing it. I didn't fall once which I was totally amazed at. I wasn't even really wobbly. I didn't skate fast but then you know I'm scared of going fast on skates or ski's. So we skated for an hour and a half had so much fun.

Saturday, Clayton and I had a blast with our good friends, Jon and Kelly. We headed down to San Jose for our double date night. We decided to stay over and come home in the morning which worked out wonderfully. We checked out a restaurant that was featured on the show, Man v. Food called Iguanas because it was home to the Burrittozilla. A 5 pound, 18 inch, burrito!! We had to try it. So we split it four way even though Clayton wanted to eat half of it. He was banking on my remaining 1/4 of the burrito to make him full but I ended up polishing it all off. Yes I'm a pig but it was soooo good. We chose the al pastor meat and boy was it tasty. Their beans are to die for...

Yesterday McKenna and I made our annual trek to the El Campanil Theatre in Downtown Antioch to see a showing of The Nutcracker with Grandma Susan and our friends. We made it a girls afternoon and got dressed up to attend this holiday must see. The show was beautiful and made even more beautiful seeing little girls and boys doing a majority of the show. Wonderful dancers. McKenna, of course my little me, was more interested in socializing than actually watching the show. Had to nip that in the bud but overall she did enjoy the show. Her favorite part were the little girls dressed like gingerbread cookies. And the little gingerbread cookie who shakes her butt. Of course.

Well I'm off. I'm off to make lunch, mop the floor, Facebook of course and at some point during nap time, wrap presents. Now I just need to find the energy.

Until next time all.

Christmas already? Really?

Okay so yes, its that time again. I have been reminded numerous times that I have failed to update this blog that I promised I would keep updated. This is just too damn hard people! Justin how do you remember to update your blog so frequently?

The realization that Christmas time is quickly approaching came slowly to the Peddy household. We started out great for Halloween decorations and then Thanksgiving came and went and nothing was decorated. We did head down to Grandpa Bob and Uncle Eric's for yummy Thanksgiving grub. We had Turkey, mashed potatos, green beans, rolls and pies..all the stuff you would want on a Thanksgiving table. Except that Mom wasn't there to celebrate with us.

I did get to visit with her though before I left. Dad took me to visit her and this time it was a bit harder than usual. Had a few tears. I have been missing her a lot more lately and really could have used her wisdom and her hugs. Mostly I would just love to hear her voice again. January 18th she will be gone 4 very very long years and its unimaginable how long that is. My grieving comes in waves though. Sometimes I'm doing great and then other times I just miss her so much it hurts. Thankfully I have my wonderful Clayton there to comfort me and to tell me its alright.

We all got to see the cousins and we got to see my sister, brother Sean and my brother and sister in law, Joe and Karen. The Friday after Thanksgiving was so much fun. All the cousins got together and played and went to the park and just had a great time running around. I got some great shots of McKenna, Spencer, Sophia and Kara together which is extremely rare. Will post at the end.

The Peddy's did finally decide this year to enjoy to a fresh Christmas tree. We do have our beautiful artificial spinning Christmas tree, however, this year we all needed to experience the beauty of nature and the wonderful smell of a freshly cut Christmas Tree. And we are thoroughly enjoying it.

Since my last post, we have added a new member to our family, a nephew to be specific. Ashton Kristopher Marshall was born on November 11th. We get to spend Christmas with him and get to really know the little guy. Can't wait. Apparently big brother Aidan is more than protective of his little brother and has already picked out which toys he is allowed to play with and which ones he is off limits from :)

McKenna participated in her first school musical. It was called Aesop's Fable and she absolutely loved it!! I was so proud of her. She knew the lyrics to each and every song and sung along so enthusiastically, it was so adorable. She even had a part at the microphone to sing a song with 3 other students. Exciting!

On an exciting Clayton and Stephanie front, we have decided to renew our vows. Come this March 7th, Clayton and I will be married 7 years and together 13 years. During the Thanksgiving weekend, Clayton asked me to marry him once again. And I couldn't be happier. These 13 years have been wonderful. We have honestly watched each other grow up, become college graduates, supported each other during tragedies, become husband and wife, become a father and become a mother. We have known each other since I was 19 and Clayton was 21. Have known each other a good portion of each others lives. What is so wonderful is this is a time to pause and reflect on where we have been and where Clayton and I are going. We feel it is also a wonderful example to set for McKenna, Spencer and Mason. Can you imagine a more beautiful scene than the kids watching Clayton and I joining hand and hearts as we affirm the strength of our enduring love? We can't either. We do not plan to have anything fancy just something very simple and small for us.

Hugs and Love to everyone. So the pictures are not uploading...dagnammit!! Those will come soon :)

Hugs to all

Update..

Okay so Kelly reminded me that I had not updated the blog in a while and realized, ya know...I haven't so I thought I would take this short minute I have while the kids are shoving food down their gullet to write these few lines.

Lets see....the Peddys ARE FEELING MUCH BETTER. No sickies for the past 3 weeks or so...now that I said that though we will be getting awful sick tomorrow but tomorrow is another day.

Let's see since the last time we spoke what has happened in the life of The Peddys?
4th of July brought fun and excitement as we spent it with our friends at Freedom High School watching the fireworks. Our first real outing with the whole family to watch fireworks and it was so much fun!! We got to go with 3 other families and have so much just hanging out as a family and with great friends. All 3 kids were so on their best behavior, we napped early so they could all stay up till past 10 and it was great fun. Definetely do it again next year.

Then on July 9th for my friend, Sara's birthday, Kelly, Sara and I went to THE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK CONCERT!!!! It was so much fun!! All 5 were there and they looked even better then when they originally were out. wheww...

Clayton has been working really hard to get his built in bbq ready for Mason's party on the 18th and for the most part he has succeeded. He got the bbq tiled, stuccoed, and got the bbq put in. We have to do some final cosmetic touches to it like painting, putting the doors on, the electrical switches and so forth but overall it looks great. Great Job Clayton!!

Something quite cool happened, we found a FREE Power Wheels for the kids through Freecycle Antioch!! Full on 12V Power Wheels. It is old and dusty, a bit faded and says BARBIE Cruisin Tunes Jeep but the price was too good to pass up. The kids, LOVE IT.. Well, Spencer really, he is kinda a Power Wheels hog.

Mason quickly turned 1 on July 17th and he just keeps getting older and older. Will someone please tell him to stop growing? He's not quite walking yet but both other kids didn't walk until they were 13 months so we figure thats going to be the same with him. We had a great party for him. Good friends and family came to help him celebrate and we rented a huge waterslide for everyone to slide down it and boy can we say was it FUN!! Clayton and I went down it and the kids went down it, and went down it, and went down it, and went down it, until finally....they went down it again...we had this thing from 9-9pm on Saturday, all day long and the kids got great use of it. We have our famed 1st birthday cake pictures of Mason, he ate like 1/4 of that cake. I think he actually enjoyed it.

On Sunday, July 19th, Clayton, myself, my friend Sara and her husband Ray and sister Kari decided to walk the AIDS Walk San Francisco 2009. We had so much fun. We all accomplished the 6 mile walk and it felt great. Clayton and I got to spend some quality time together as husband and wife and not daddy and mommy and it was great. We got to drive the "fun car" into the City which is always a blast and just had a great time. Grandma, Grandpa Bob, Auntie Monica and Uncle Eric pitched in to help watch the kids that day so a million thank yous to you guys for helping us out.

Now its back to the daily grind of mommydom. We scored a free little outdoor playhouse for McKenna through Freecycle! Yes another great find! You have to look up your local freecycle because we have gotten some awesome things from them.

Bless be all and have a great week.
Stephanie and the fam

Peddy Update

Well...sick times are still present in the Peddy household. We cannot shake the sickies here and I am at a lost as to why they keep coming up each and every week. I can't remember the last time we have been healthy for at least one week.

The entire month of June the kids have been sick. There hasn't been one week in June where all the children at once have been well. I am exhausted, out of money, lonely and bored because of the constant doctor visits and the lack of social outings we have been had because everyone is always sick.

This weekend was a total wash. Spencer woke up early Friday morning with a 104 degree fever and was sick all Friday and Saturday with fevers up to 104.6 degrees!! Amazing. His behavior was 100% percent normal today, except when he went to bed his temp was 99.8...I just assumed he was better and let him play with McKenna all day and now I am worried I might have gotten McKenan reainfected....its never ending :(

Clayton was very sick all weekend as well. He has had a fever above 100 all weekend long and is still sick. Mason has been even sicker with fevers well above 102. Poor little guy we are hoping gets better starting Monday since they don't seem to stay sick very long with this lateset round of illness.

Today Mason waved at us for the very first time. I was hoping to get video of him doing it. He was too adorable. He would only wave to Clayton and had a smile on his face the whole time. Although he had a temp of 101, he still was so very proud of himself.

The bbq island is coming along very well. Clayton lost a whole weekend this weekend for being sick and we just hope it doesn't put us too far behind since Mason's 1st bday party is only 3 weeks away which puts us at only 2 weeks to finish the tile, stucco and put the actual bbq in..please pray for us. I have confidence in Clayton but worried so much about the daytime heat delaying us.

McKenna is still in her cast. She should be getting it off this Friday which she couldn't be happier for. She hates that thing. She is so incredibly embarrased of it that she hides behind me constantly whenever someone asks her what happened. We have to explain to her that just because someone asks her what happened, they are NOT making fun of her.

Okay, must go take care of Clayton and his fever and cough. Got to get some rest since I haven't had in any in a very long time. The boys have been waking up all night long the last 2 nights and hoping tonight will be better for me.

Hope all is well and we will talk soon.

Mason Finally Pulls himself up by himself!!

Okay so our little Mason, now 11 months old, has finally pulled himself up to standing in his Pack n Play..so yea for Mason !!

Here is a little blip of it.

June!

Wow, just checked and realized my last post was May 5th. Well I failed the test of keeping this thing updated. Oh well!!

Well lets see, what has happened in a months time with the Peddys? Lets go through the month in an abridged fashion.

First and foremost, McKenna is now an official Kindergarten student at the Antioch Charter School for the 2009-2010 school year. Wippee. She starts her first day at Kindergarten on August 19th. Both mom and dad will be there to welcome her and to drop her off... then the parents get to have a welcome breakfast which I think will be rather cool.

Lets see both Mom and McKenna came down with Strep Throat in the month of May. Oh such fun times to be had by all. But because of my stealth mom techniques only McKenna and me got it. Yet sickless times were not yet to be had....

Sad news was I found out that I will not be able to participate in the 2009 Team in Training Walk in SF in October. The trainings would be held every Saturday starting next week at 930 and McKenna starts Tiaras and Tutus next week which I would like to view at least a few times as well as soccer come August. Combined with training and McKennas team and classes, it wasn't worth missing all their stuff, as we never get those days back. So quickly how she'll turn 6 and then after that is 16 and she'll hate me forever. :)

We started attending Barnes and Nobles storytime which are held on either Mondays or Wednesdays. McKenna loves them, Spencer dislikes them. Well.. you can't win. Spencer likes the crafts afterwards if it entails some sort of food, which amazingly enough, 2 of the crafts did!! They read all type of books directed towards 5 and under. McKenna as usually the oldest, as well as a couple of other 4 and 5 years olds, but she still loved it nonetheless. Then last week we went and they had a Kindergarten graduation of sorts. For those kids going on to Kindergarten the storyteller gave each child a certficate and a full on book! McKenna got a Backyardigans book which was awesome. The only caveat was when she learned to read, she could come back and read it to the storytime group. Which I thought was not a bad idea.

McKenna is still going strong with Tiny Tigers, however, her current session is coming to a close next week with pictures and so forth. She learned a lot of great things in this class. I think she honestly enjoys the structure and the discipline she receives. She gets a kick out of "YES MA'AM". A new session should be starting soon, however, they are conducting them out of their new facility over off Contra Loma here in Antioch which is now an even further drive for us in the middle of the commute hour which I am really not looking forward to. So we will see how that goes about.

Then our biggest excitement of all happened in May.... Eric, my brother, graduated from CSU Channel Islands with his Bachelors Degree!! We couldn't be more proud of the guy. He has worked so hard and put so many hours towards getting this degree, how could you not be the most proud of him. I had a smile on my face that entire day, especially seeing him walking up the aisle in his cap and gown. Mom would be so darn proud of Eric, I just wish she was sitting next to Dad and I while we watched him..

On a health note for me, I decided to join Weight Watchers for a few months to get me started down to my goal weight. Woo Hoo!! I have about 20 pounds to loose from all my baby making days and now, since baby making is done, (WOO HOO), its time to take care of me and loose the weight I have been so trying to loose. So far it has worked out terrifically! In two weeks I have lost 5 pounds, and I feel great. I fit in all my old clothes again and I am just getting smaller. I have 20 pounds to loose. What I love about Weight Watchers is that its not a diet. It really a way of life. It teaches you how to eat correctly and in the real world. I have no pre packaged foods, except maybe snacks, but everything I eat I make myself as usual, I just learn what the portions are for everything which is my number problem. Its great! So I will keep you updated on that part.

The kids and I went to visit Buchanan Field Airport a couple of weeks ago with friends and they had THE best time you can imagine. We got play and run around in a viewing area and watch planes take off and land all around us. It was so spectacular. The pilots would wave at us as they taxi to the runway. The kids just lapped it up.

Since then the kids have gotten very sick with colds and flus. McKenna amazingly enough has stayed healthy and we are so grateful, but the boys were not so lucky. Mason and Spencer have had to have breathing treatments with Albeuterol and are using QVAR to help open airways. But for the first time in a while Mason is starting to feel better. His fever has broke I think after taking antibioctics which is a relief. He was getting 103 fevers and not even IB would break em. So we are slowly on the mend and we'll hope that everyone gets better and stays better.

Well its off to Costco at the moment to pick up some staples, but keep checking back for some updates to the crazy Peddy Baby Farm...have a blessed day.

Mason turns 9 months among other things

WOW how time has flown by.. geesh. It still feels like the day when we brought Mason home and look.. he's 9 months old.

Yesterday he had his 9 month appointment and his stats amazed us.

Mason ended up being 31.5", and 20 lbs. As with all our children, tall and slim. He ended up ranking in the 99th percentile for height which again, given their fathers height, is not unusual. But still amazing.

To put into perspective how tall Mason really is, take a look at some comparisons Clayton and I did last night:

1. Mason measured 31.5" at 9 months. Spencer is currently measuring just under 40" at 3 years old.

2. Mason measured 2 feet 7.5 inches at 9 months, while Spencer, at 15 months measured 2 feet 7 inches!! Mason is a monster!!

We think Mason will be a tad tall, however, hopefully Spencer will still be able to make 6 feet when he gets older. :)

On another note, Clayton has been really enjoying finishing up his built in BBQ. Poor guy just wants to finish it but every weekend is always taken up with some activity planned. So I decided to dedicate as many weekends as possible to Clayton working and finishing his darn BBQ. He is so close. The last two weekends were quite productive. He built a drawer for the utensils in easy reach of the bbq and is going to be finishing those types of things and then hopefully in the next few weeks he can start the tiling of the slate. He will definetely need for that, that unfortunetely I just can't help him with running around with 3 kids. So we will have to look around for some help. Maybe some friends and we can pay with Pizza and beer..

His goal is to get this bbq done by Mason's July 18th 1st birthday party so we can cook our delectable food on the grill. I do not see why not as long as we keep our weekends relatively open.

I'm really looking forward to a fun girls night out...in. I'm heading over to a friends house for desserts and a showing of Bride Wars. Its our early Mothers Day present to ourselves :) We loved this idea as opposed to going out to dinner and spending more money, especially in these tough times, and even better we can be at home and hang with everyone while watching a fun movie.

Anyways must go and clean the house, as that work is never done. We are counting down the days when we head down to LA to my dads house for Eric's College Graduation!! WOO HOO!! A couple of days of downtime, to visit with family and friends :)

Catch you all soon.