It's all a bit of silliness, really.

The goings on of DETROIT!

2012-02-07T18:59:00.000-08:00

First things first, Peter has a new calling. He is .. wait for it .. wait for it . . .

Young Men's President!

We are excited for this new opportunity and I am sure he will be so awesome at it.

The only downside to this was that because he would now be required at mutual every week, I was released from my calling so I could be home with Lottie. I will miss my darling beehives!

In some funny news, Charlotte's feet are finally starting to grow and she needed some new shoes. She is OBSESSed with these shoes and typically wears them from sun up to sun down.

Further proof:

I think my favorite part is her saying, "Stop stop" as Peter is taking off her shoes.

And some pictures!

Snow day! We haven't had too many of these this winter . . . knock on wood.

Not quite sure what to do with those mittens.

Another favorite of mine: The Lottster hanging out eating popcorn on the coach watching a movie with her daddy. So cute!

And by request, a pregger shot. 5 1/2 months and growing daily!

As usual, we miss you all so much! Love and kisses from the Andrew family.

Our favorite girl . . and soon to be our favorite two girls!

2012-01-14T17:49:00.001-08:00

Christmas was amazing! Peter got over a week off from work and Charlotte and I got so spoiled with all the time with him. Every morning she woke up and would immediately call for Dada.

Also, Caitlin and her husband Jason were here for two weeks and she love love loved playing with them. We had the best time with them.

We also got to all go to the ultrasound to tell the baby's sex! And most of us were wrong in our guesses, but Peter was right again! Another sweet little girl. I am so excited that Charlotte gets to have a sister because anybody that knows me knows how much I love my sister and I love that C will have an Amanda of her own. (we do of course want a boy eventually, but we can try for one later!)

Here she is!

Just a funny video of sis (what we like to call Charlotte) going to town on her toys.

Also, some pics from Christmas!

Guess who wasn't a huge fan of Santa?

Consolation lunch after.

Christmas morning at our house complete with a goofy smile.

And Christmas at the grandparent's house. She spent most of the day pouncing on this bear.

Yes, it's been forever!

2011-12-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

Due to pregnancy and sleeping a lot, I haven't updated you all on the awesomeness of Charlotte! So here are some cute pictures from the past few months . .

We got invited to go to an awesome pumpkin patch and they had the best baby goats in their petting zoo!

Our Halloween party--Peter is the whomping willow, I am Harry Potter, and Charlotte is an owl. Our friend made the amazing backdrop out of a sheet!

Lottie happy with her trick or treating loot--this is after we let her eat a pack of her M & Ms.

My two faves ready for church. (Thanks to Dustin and Lisa for the darling coat--it still fits from last year!)

One of our absolute favorite families came to visit for Thanksgiving. It was so fun and we love love love their new baby Chase.

The cousins had fun being buddies all weekend.

And someone is not too fond of Santa. Hopefully we will get a better picture soon . .

In some current news . .

Our little Lottster went to her 15 month check up today. Some funny facts--she has grown 3 inches in the last 3 months which would explain her eating more than her body weight every day, she is still in the 20th percentile for her weight, and is in the 95th percentile for head circumference. How she manages to walk without falling forward on that huge noggin, I do not know.

The doctor and I also talked about any accomplishments she has made or any worries I have.

First the accomplishments:

She can do the sounds for a cat, dog, lion, dinosaur, elephant, cow, snake (kind of, out of her nose mostly), monkey, and we find out more everyday.

She says mama, dada, papa, squirrel, and snack.

She plays peekaboo and head shoulders knees and toes.

She will give us a goofy smile on demand! (we will try and post video of this soon!)

Worries:

She likes to bang her head against the wall (I was assured this was pretty normal)

She is hungry 24/7--explained by how much she has grown!

All in all she is a healthy happy toddler and we are so lucky to have her.

Lottie and the Horse

2011-11-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

Plus lots of other things we finally caught her on camera doing!

She got going on it so fast this afternoon she almost tipped it forward!

Random Pics/ Art Prize/General Conference

2011-10-10T16:44:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite pictures from when we were working on the house:

She would find whatever we were working on and try to help. So she helped us paint!

General Conference. In a word, awesome. It was such a great weekend and our sweet Charlotte was so good and played with toys almost the entire time. She also wanted to join me and Peter in our cuddlefest.
She really likes to carry purses around lately and if she can't find a purse, she will find a grocery bag. Right over her shoulder it goes!
Her favorite activity--Baby Signing Time. That kid is obsessed! Not sure if that is a good thing or not . . We have even had to set a time limit.
Art Prize! We went up the weekend before conference with Ben and Kim and Dawn and Adam.

So Art Prize takes place in Grand Rapids, MI and thousands of artists submit their artwork and it is on display all over the city. Almost any type of art is accepted and there were such neat things to see! There is a huge monetary prize at the end for the winner (not quite sure how huge, but enough to make it worth it).

Kim carrying Lottie around. So cute of both of them! She was such a sweetie to cart our baby around.

I think this was all made out of driftwood? Not sure. Only picture I got but it was really neat.
How Charlotte spent most of the day.

So kind of sad, Charlotte was really good all day and didn't complain about being out and about. On the way home however, with a full mini van of people who don't have kids, she screamed nonstop. And I mean, nonstop. We felt so bad for everybody and for her! But she is always an angel and just must have hit the end of her rope. Hopefully our friends will want to see us again!

Charlotte went for her 12 month doctors appt and about an hour after, I noticed she was running really hot. I took her temp and it was over 103! So after freaking out and calling Peter and the doctor, we went back and lo and behold, she had her very first ear infection.

It was so sad, all day and evening she would just hold her baby doll and lay her head down on you. The only way we could get her to sleep that night was to keep her in our bed with us. (I'm not going to lie, it was kind of reassuring to have her little sick self in our bed!)

Birthday Party!

2011-10-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

Some updates on our little tot and the fun things she has been doing lately:

-she can do a cat, dog, duck, and owl noise

-she carries a purse everywhere over her shoulder

-she can fold her arms, point to our noises, and knows where its tongue is

-she can do sign language for more, milk, and all done (sort of)

So because of everything that was going on with the house, Charlotte's birthday party was a little late.

Here are some pics from the days events:

Charlotte's first birthday present of the day. A super cute dog balloon that she can take for walks!

My horrid first attempt at fondant:

Getting sung to:

Cake time!

She did a good number on the cake!

And finally, bath time with her little buddy Jaxon.

It was such a fun day and I can't believe that she is already one!

Charlotte turned 1!

2011-09-13T14:40:00.001-07:00

More pictures and fun to come later, but for now here is the absolute cutest video we have of her to date:

Love it!

Our House!

2011-09-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

It is official! After many months of waiting, Peter and I are proud homeowners! We had put our offer in back in February or January and that is also one of the last times we had been inside the house before closing . . . so I was a little nervous. But other than massive greenery in the front everything was as we remembered it.

Here is the side view where we have enough trees to block any sort of neighbor:

The front of the house--so beautiful! We are excited to see what it looks like when we cut some of the bushes back and take a couple of the trees out.
A front view from the street:
Our back yard! By far the selling point of the house. Right where those trees start there is land owned by the city that includes a fun trail and an open field where we always see tons of deer.
The day we closed on the house!
Now the before pictures of the inside of the house. This is our family room/dining room. Don't you just love the oak trim everywhere? Haha.
Kitchen--some sweet linoleum and wall paper border.
Our front entrance. Again, don't you love all the oak?? And some more awesome wallpaper.
Another view of the kitchen . .
Our living room,
Guest bedroom
Guest bath and my helpers
Master bedroom--still can't figure out their placement of the fan? But it is humangous! I still feel like I will get lost in there.
Master bathroom. Super sweet wallpaper. Still haven't figured out what to do in here . .
Charlotte's room
Upstairs playroom
View from upstairs hallway
Stay tuned for some of the pictures of the after . . .

Let the wild rumpus start!

2011-08-14T16:29:00.000-07:00

It's official. Charlotte is a walking, soon to be running, fiend. I left to go up to girls camp for then night and while I was away, Grammy and daddy gave Charlotte a graham cracker in each hand. Not wanting to drop either cracker, she decided to walk! Of course, she couldn't have decided to do this during the 12 hours a day I am usually with her :).

The proof:

I think our world will be changing mighty quickly. Currently, she just looks like a zombie walking everywhere with both arms out.

Charlotte and the cat

2011-08-14T16:24:00.001-07:00

The cat apparently has been going through some womanly changes and it has made her super chill with the baby. Which is great for us--not so great for the cat. As you can see in this video, Lottie thinks she has found a new pillow.

Harry Potter!

2011-08-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

In case you were wondering, yes, that is Hagrid.

And yes, I am married, with a child, and still dressed up to go to the midnight premiere of Harry Potter. Meridith, Trish and I all decided to go and we had so much fun! I love love loved the newest movie and pretty much cried through the whole thing.

Amanda and I had to celebrate the event while we were together in Vegas and this is the closest we got. I wish so much we could have gone together to the last one!

Is oatmeal a finger food?

2011-08-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

Anyone that knows Amanda (my sis) knows her penchant for eating most food with her fingers. I think that Charlotte may have inherited this trait. We have had the hardest time lately getting little Lottie to eat anything other than yogurt or cheerios. The other day I was trying to feed her some oatmeal for dinner and she managed to get ahold of the bowl and was just grabbing handfuls and shoving it in her mouth and on her face. But hey, at least she is eating something, right?

She went straight in the bath! She clapped a lot of the way up the stairs and sprayed oatmeal with every clap.
Also, she had oatmeal sneezes for about the next hour. It was an interesting evening trying to keep her clean!

Teeth, Walking, and all sorts of big girl achievements

2011-07-23T18:58:00.000-07:00

I think I will still always call our little Lottie a baby, although I fear she is encroaching upon toddler territory. In the last 2 weeks, our sweet baby has gotten four teeth, has taken her first few steps, and has gotten quite a bit of hair. She is like a whole new person!

For further proof, here is a video of some of her activities:

We are having so much fun every day with her and amazed at the little person she is becoming.

The one thing I would like her to learn--to say mama. She just says dada all day long :)

The Wedding San Francisco

2011-07-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

Earlier in June, the whole Andrew family made the trek to San Francisco for a beautiful wedding. Peter's sister, Meridith, married an awesome guy (Kevin) from there and it was a perfect day. It was so much fun to have so much family there and to have an excuse to party it up. We are also lucky enough that they came to Michigan for an internship and we get to hang out with them all the time!

Here is Meridith and two of the little flower girls . .

The bride's side of the family:
I LOVE this face. Okay, both of these faces.
Overlooking the city from the Oakland temple.
That night there was a fun dinner at an amazing golf course and the photographer took these beautiful shots of Lottie.

So pretty much we owe her big time.

We spent a few more days enjoying the city and here we are at the bay. We went to Alcatraz (which I kept calling Azkaban, whoops!), road the trolley, ate some delicious mexican food, and Charlotte even had fun by somehow ending up in the hotel bed with us every night.

Crawling!

2011-04-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

It's official! Lottie is a crawling fiend. She is moving pretty quickly these days and loves to get into everything. She is also pulling herself up on everything (including in her crib, the little rascal) and we have had a fair amount of head bonks this week. She will just stand there in her crib during nap time and hold onto the bars. Such a funny!

For your viewing pleasure:

And the only place she seems to not like to crawl--the grass!

Piston's game and moaning and grumbling.

2011-04-12T18:29:00.000-07:00

First, to address the moaning and grumbling . . .

As much as I try to be accepting of the cold in Michigan, dear Peter hears lots of whining.

Peter and I have recently restarted the Book of Mormon in our family study. We were reading in 1 Nephi Ch. 5 one night before bed and I noticed he started changing the words .

Vs. 2--For she had supposed that it would never be warm again, and she had also complained against her husband, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying; Behold thou hast led us forth from Texas, and the warmth is no more, and we perish in the snow.

This continued for the rest of the chapter and I think we woke up Charlotte from laughing so hard.

The other day the Mia Maids in my ward got to go to the Pistons game with an awesome member of the bishopric who has suite seats. They are sweet too. Due to one of their leaders having a baby and the other moving, Peter and I got to be chaperones! It was the best.

Probably one of my favorite pics of my two favorite people.

The other Sunday when I was getting Charlotte dressed for church, I walked back into our room and Peter asks me, "Is this too much gray?" I told him he looked like a seal. Here is said outfit:

Hap-hap-happy Birfday, 6 month checkup, and Yes, it is still freezing

2011-03-23T06:52:00.000-07:00

To address the last part of the title:

This was out my back window last night, and it looks about the same right now.

Enough said.

This was Peter watching some Top Gear one evening after work. So cute he fell asleep!

My favorite Easter bunny!

Her glamour shot.

She had her 6 month checkup the other day and she is getting ready to crawl! The doctor also thinks she is cutting a tooth, so I am a little worried of what the next few days will bring.

Birthday! Me and my favorite girl with my awesome awesome birthday present. It was also a nice birthday present that it was warm enough that day for me to take it for a spin!

Probably one of the best birthday cakes. Yum bananas and hot fudge. And of course, we had cheetos and grape soda. Peter made it such a great day!

Charlotte is eating food!

2011-03-08T17:15:00.000-08:00

Our sweet Charlotte turned 6 months today. She ate some rice cereal last Sunday and has since tried peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Nothing was as big of a hit as her cereal.

Here she is eating her cereal for the first time!

This is her reaction on the first trial of peas.

Her reaction after the next bite:

And finally:

This was one morning when I went back to sleep and she was having some daddy time. Not quite sure why she has a burp rag on her head, but it makes a nice cover until she gets some hair.

Enjoying her fake wig some more.

Here she is dressed up for our ward's Chili Cook Off. We all dressed up because I had heard everyone did, but we were pretty much the only ones. It was awesome.

Dancing with daddy

She is getting more and more fun each day.

And for the icing on the cake--a video of some more giggles:

A bajillion pictures of Charlotte and some sad news

2011-02-22T18:28:00.000-08:00

Everyday we see Charlotte she seems to be catching on to more and more things. She now reaches for people (so far just me and Peter), she suffers from Stranger Danger, and is attempted to get around on her tummy. She also loves to hear herself whine!

On to the sad news. Charlotte is loving on our little kitty in this picture, and she loved to grab a fistful of his fur whenever she was close to him. The sad news is that Cosmo went to the Human Society today, after over a year of accidents and puking. I cried the whole way home.

Good news is--our baby has a nice clean house. And she won't get smothered in her sleep by the cat! Here she is startled by the camera.

Loving on her exersaucer.

Loving on her Sophie and barely fitting in her 3-6 month dress.

Playtime with daddy.

We are suckers for her smile.

Getting mad at the camera.

The only way we can tempt her with tummy time--letting her go for a phone.

Finally, a cute video of some late night giggles.

Feels like--1 Degree

2011-02-05T17:23:00.000-08:00

I don't know how the weather has been in your neck of the woods lately, but if you are any of the 30 states near us it has probably been not so fun.

On the days when Charlotte and I are feeling brave enough to venture outside, I check the weather to see how we should dress. The message that usually shows up, no matter what the temperature? Feels like--1 degree. It has also snowed approximately every day this winter. (okay, not really, but it seems like it).

There are some things that make the cold tolerable--My sweet husband who loves his job here lets me keep the thermostat at a nice warm 70 degrees, I can snuggle with my warm little baby without getting hot, we currently live in an apartment complex that shovels and salts the sidewalks for us, and my great mother-in-law picks me up to take me places when I don't want to drive on the icy roads.

Another fun thing: the Fire and Ice fest in downtown Rochester, complete with fireworks.

Have you ever seen fireworks in the snow? It is a beautiful thing. It am secretly obsessed with fireworks and it was worth standing in the snow--especially since Peter took me for amazing hazelnut hot chocolate afterwards.

Just a cute pic of Lottie that I wanted to throw in--she is chewing on her fun play mat (thanks dad!). Like these toys, she's been trying to gum everything, including the cat.

Christmas and 4 months!

2011-01-19T11:41:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas this year in Las Vegas, with a detour up to good ol' Utah for Caitlin's wedding. She was absolutely gorgeous, he was handsome, and the wedding was beautiful. It was really fun to see family and introduce them to our little Charlotte. She also got to meet her Uncle Jason! Unfortunately, my camera was out of sorts so we don't really have any pictures. I will try to snag some of Caitlin to post if she doesn't mind. :)

Here's a video of Charlotte in her Christmas present from her mama and daddy:

And here are some of my favorite pics from Christmas:

The beautiful Haymore family and Taylor hiding on the side.

Sweet Charlotte taking a snooze after church.

Lincoln thoroughly enjoying some Christmas toast.

And Charlotte so happy to be at lunch with her papa, mama, and daddy.

So both of our husbys were gone for New Year's Eve. Of course we would do something silly like sponge curlers in our hair. Not a good look the next day.

Charlotte and her favorite Bamba!

It was a wonderful visit and I really miss the weather--especially on the single digit days up here. It was so fun to hang out with everyone and I can't wait until we all get together again.

Charlotte Blessing Pictures

2010-12-05T15:29:00.000-08:00

So this is a little late--but I just got the pics of Charlotte on her blessing day and I wanted to share! She wore the same dress I wore when I was blessed (thanks for taking such good care of it, Mom!)

Apparently I was a lot fatter than she is, because she was swimming in this dress.

Big stretch!
You gotta love a good crying face!

Some fun things . . .

2010-11-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

Charlotte slept through the night last night! Hurray! She slept from 10:30 pm to 6:45 am and I was so proud of her.

Also fun--at the gym I saw my first live raccoon. He meandered in front of the window when I was on the treadmill and I got so excited. Nobody else there thought it was very special though.

Since we moved in, Peter has often says when he has walked in that the apartment smells like curry. We finally checked our mail at the new place and these are the names of people that used to live here:

Yegna Ramasubramania

Nemali Balakrishnan

Yashodhan Joshi

Kamakshi Balakrishnan

Yegna Balasubrananian

Curry indeed!

Charlotte can use her bumbo now! She does not always love it but she is so cute in it.

More bumboness . . .

I love the bit of chub she gets under her eyes when she smiles!

I don't know why I couldn't get this picture the right way, but here she is just hanging out with her daddy.

Charlotte and her smiles!

2010-11-07T17:49:00.000-08:00

We blessed our sweetie Charlotte today and it was an awesome experience. We have been the luckiest parents to get such a darling baby and I will post some pics from that soon.

Here is a video of her hanging out with her Uncle Kevin (it is kind of noisy in the background but that is the best we have for now). She was really smiley and talkative today . . .

And here she is just hanging out on the ground.

Our Apartment

2010-11-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

Here is a virtual tour of our apartment almost all unpacked . .

Our move to Michigan . . . take 2

2010-11-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

Within a week, we received a job offer, packed up our apartment in Texas, and moved to Michigan where Peter has already started his new job. It was too amazing of a job offer to pass up as Peter will get to work on the Viper team.

While we went from a high of 80 degrees to a high of 40 degrees with a chance of snow tonight, moving to Michigan definitely has its perks.
Peter's family lives here and it is a blast being by them.
It is beautiful here right now and I got to see some leaves in their fall splendor.

And one of my favorite perks . .
I get to buy Charlotte lots of new clothes! Here she is nice and toasty warm. She also has a sweet bear suit and some fun tights so she can be stylish in the cold.

Charlotte is starting to smile lots each day and here is the tail end of one. Anytime we get our camera out she gets shy and so we haven't got a full on smile in a picture yet.

There are tons of things that we will miss about Texas (the warmth, the tex mex, the community events) but most of all we will miss our friends. We had the best friends there and will miss them the most.

Baby Lottie

2010-10-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Charlotte is 6 weeks today and we have had so much fun with her. We are all starting to understand each other better now and she is such a joy. She has also finally learned that the binky is her friend (Hallelujah for binkies!). Lottie is finally in the 9 lb range but these pictures are from a couple weeks ago.

This is her favorite way to sleep--arms straight up! Also, her umbilical cord is now finally gone, but you can see it here (blech).

We took a bunch of pictures here trying to show how cute her face is but this is the best we got. She got kind of fed up by the end.

Her second favorite way of sleeping. And who better to nap with than Grandma?

I'll post some more recent ones shortly!

Charlotte Rose Andrew

2010-09-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

Our precious baby girl was born Wednesday at 11:48 am, and was 7 lbs 7 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. We are so happy and slightly tired, but she is a great sleeper (when she's not on an eating marathon) and a ravenous eater (when she's not so passed out that we can't wake her).

Tuesday night I woke Peter up at 12:00 and told him he needed to get up and get ready because I was having contractions to which he replied, "Come get me when you have another one." To which I promptly pulled down his covers and told him it was time to go.
So we had the best experience at the hospital where they treated us wonderfully and our good friend Dave Digi saved my life by giving me an awesome epidural. My doctor also did a wonderful job and Peter cut the cord. (apparently he is okay with blood as long as it is not his own.)
The second our sweet girl was out she let out a huge wail and has been super snuggly from that day on.

10 Days Left! (okay, probably more like 17 left, but a girl can wish, right?)

2010-08-30T17:15:00.001-07:00

This pregnancy has been quite a ride and I am oh-so looking forward to the prize of a darling baby at the end.
The comments people have given me vary quite a bit and often leave me wondering if they have not had any exposure to a pregnant lady

Some of the best (worst) ones:
When are you due--yesterday? You look like you are ready to pop!

Your belly is so huge! (To which i thought, well, yes, seeing as I am over 8 months pregnant i would imagine it would be on the large side. Thanks so much for pointing that out)

You must be having a boy, you are carrying really low! (I get this one surprisingly often, and typically from older women. When I tell them I am having a girl a few have asked if I am sure and that I should have my doctor check again.)

What are you going to do if you have your baby right now? Like, right now? I have my permit--I could drive you to the hospital! (from a well-meaning 15-year-old that is friends with the girls I nanny)

What were you thinking being pregnant in Texas in August? Have you heard that this is one of the hottest summers on record?

But for all of those, I get the kind comments from other mothers/my sweet husband that I look great. So thanks to all of you! Hopefully she will come join us soon but I am not holding my breath.

On a funny note, Peter had to get his blood drawn at our apartment this evening for insurance purposes. And as we know, Peter does not do well with needles. I snuck this picture of him right after he got his blood drawn with his head between his knees to keep from passing out.

and here is me and the cat laughing at him

Yet another attempt at a second car . . .

2010-07-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

We haven't had the best luck in the transportation department, what with the scooter being stolen and the miata being totaled, but we thought we'd give it another go.
Rather than get another two seater, Peter found me the best mom car ever! We feel like we are on our way to being grown ups now, purchasing something like this. But it is such a cute car and we both love it.

It is a 2006 Ford Escape in just about perfect condition. I think baby Andrew will appreciate it.

The miata has gone the way of all the earth

2010-07-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

Tragedy has struck our family, in that Peter's baby is totaled. He went on a ride with a friend after church and next thing he knew, the car was upside down next to a park. It started with catching some air on a dip in the road, which then sent the car wild. It got sideways and hit a pole, and then a fire hydrant, which eventually flipped them. While both the driver and Peter survived with hardly a scratch (we are counting our blessings), our little miata did not. Peter called me to come pick him up and this is the sight I saw when I arrived.

As you can see, the car is now a pancake. In the next picture you can see how far the fire hydrant was dragged. Kind of surprising that no water gushed out! Also, the city was nice enough to send a bill to our insurance to fix it.

Here you can see how the windshield just completed bent but provided just enough of a cushion for the boys to get out. Peter was able to get out by himself but the driver had a hard time getting his seatbelt undone and was cut out by the fire department.

And finally, the car after the tow guy flipped it.

It is really sad to see this car go but we are so grateful Peter was safe and watched over!

Hawaii: Take 1--Things Peter Caught

2010-06-17T19:40:00.000-07:00

So my spry, handsome husband and I went to Hawaii for a babymoon/anniversary trip. And while I managed to lose many things, he managed to catch many more. So we just about evened out.
In this picture he is "catching" a miniature horse with one of my many snacks that I brought with us. Hopefully he likes fiber one bars! It was super random to see this horse on the Road to Hana and we also bought some amazing banana bread on this stop. (this was not shared with the horse)

On our last day, we went to the beautiful island of Lanai where we saw the funniest crabs that could only run sideways. Probably the funniest thing ever was watching Peter and these crabs dance around while he tried to catch them. As you can see in the picture, this guy isn't too happy and about 5 seconds after this picture gave Peter a good pinch.

During some snorkeling (after I lost my snorkel set for the 2nd time in a wave, only to have Peter recover it shortly thereafter) he found a rock with a few sea urchins in it. I think we both also lost our sunglasses on this beach in a wave, but found those as well.

By far the scariest thing that Peter caught was Herpies in the eye. Yup, herpies. So after some pain, an eyepatch, and an emergency room visit, his infection started to get better and he is now 100%.

Near where we were staying was Iao Valley, which had a need lava needle that was previously used by warriors to watch for enemies. Just as cool as the lava needle was the dozens of chickens running all over. Which, of course, we chased like crazy.

Also on the Road to Hana we caught some delicious bananas covered with spiders. Yummy!

More to come on our trip later, but it was such a blast.

You Spin Me Right Round Baby Right Round

2010-05-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

Today was Peter's inaugural Autocross event. Auto crossing is a race against the clock to see who can get the best time around a course that's set up with cones. There are different classes for different engine sizes, type of tires, etc.

Here's my 6th of 8 runs:

Wow, what happened and how did I end up facing the wrong way!? This next one was my last and final one. Time around the course was 65:457, which I was thrilled with. Even managed to keep it pointed the right way!

Unfortunately for Emily, I have a new found love (third love, I guess, behind Emily and baby). This is only the first of many auto crosses that she'll likely be dragged out to. Maybe after the baby comes, we'll put Em behind the wheel!

It's a girl! At least, we are 75% sure it is . . .

2010-04-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

Our doctor appointment was a little over 2 weeks ago, and since our little baby decided to be modest (or just is really really comfortable sitting Indian style) the doctor had quite the time trying to get a peek at the goods. We kept jiggling her around and doing everything possible--he even left for 20 min and let me walk around for a while, but in the end, we are left with a 75% answer. Here is a pic of how big she (okay, really me) has gotten:

And apparently I am carrying super super low and my belly button doesn't quite seem to agree. I think Peter carries the pregnant look off much better:
Even though we aren't positive she's a girl (even as I call her a she), I could not resist a stop at baby Gap. Some of the darling clothes I got her:
More cute clothes she can wear for a week:
Girl or boy, we are so excited! My next appointment is in about 10 days and we should have the final verdict then.

Austin, TX

2010-03-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

So Peter and I were feeling spontaneous the other weekend, and it was nice weather, so we took a road trip in the miata (yes, with the top down) to Austin. Since we have been Texans for almost a year now, I guess it was time to visit the capital.

This is us in front of some of the beautiful buildings at University of Texas. It is a really cool and huge campus--stretched out a lot further than BYU but with a lot less stairs.
We actually had to take this picture quite a few times because Peter kept saying I was doing a "fake smile". (probably true, i am no good at pictures) I'm sure all the college kids thought we were nuts.

Peter has recently cut his hair, so it is good we have this shot to remember it! We went to a restaurant called the Oasis that sits over Lake Travis and in the evenings there is the most gorgeous view of the sunset.
Another at the same place . . .
Our Kayak adventure (not sure which river/lake) where Peter did almost entirely all the paddling. (pregnant ladies shouldn't exert themselves too much, haha)
Some turtles that we scared while kayaking
This statue was funny, because Peter goes, "That is a fierce looking lady." I look at the name plate and it is a statue of Stephen Austin. Whoops! You can't help but admire his curls, though.
A shot of the inside of the capitol building. I have never seen so many Texas stars in my life! And did you know that Texas is the only state where they are allowed to fly the state flag as high as the nation's flag?
An outside shot of the capitol on the beautiful spring day that it was.

BABY!!

2010-03-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

Most of you probably already know, but I am with child. And we are so excited! So excited in fact, that when we went out and bought a bedroom set for said child (we got a killer deal), we stayed up until 1 putting it together that night.

Or more correctly, I attempted to help and made a mess while Peter put the furniture together. But it is great! It is the first official thing we have bought for the baby and now I can't wait to put little clothes in the drawers and little diapers on the shelves.
Our crib, currently bedding-less.
Hooray for babies!

Birthday/Silliness

2010-03-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

Peter is possibly the best husband ever and he decided to throw me a birthday party and go to the karaoke in korea town. He also decided to sport a sweet middle part with some of our friends. So hot right? The man in the middle, Hugh, looks a lot like mugatu from Zoolander!

The part Peter let me help with was the frosting for the cupcakes. (He made the cake part). It was a delicious strawberry and yes, those are mustache toppers. Those were so the people who didn't come dressed up (it was 80s themed) could at least have a sweet 80s 'stache.
Here is Peter, looking very nonchalant and at ease with blonde hair.
This is Caitlin (Hugh's wife) and McKenna. They win at life with costumes.
This color top goes especially well with facial hair, don't you think?

After desserts, we karaoked and it was one of the funniest things ever. I think even the fetus enjoyed him/herself.

The newest member of the Andrew Family!

2009-12-15T12:01:00.000-08:00

And no it is not a baby. But isn't this one cute?? Amanda, Steven, and Lincoln came to visit us for Thanksgiving and I just could not get enough of the little guy. Look at that smile!

Here's the real new member. We recently lost the scooter, and by lost I mean it was stolen out of our parking spot. That's why I am so grateful Peter wrote his own policy for it and we were covered. Rather than replace it with something else to get stolen, we got this baby:
A 1994 Mazda Miata. We came to a compromise that Peter could get this car as long as I get to drive it during the week and he can race it on the weekends. Isn't it cute?

Thanks to the 70 degree weather we had yesterday, we can still drive with the top down some.

October activities. And yes I realize it is December.

2009-11-20T07:42:00.000-08:00

So I have sucked keeping our blog up to date, but I just got a new job so will blame it on that. And with that introduction, here is . . . The Halloween Armadillo!!!

Still not sure why he was in downtown. Also, the little girl randomly came up and took the picture with us, so no, she is not my illegitimate child.

Next up was the cutest thing ever, and Peter and I decided taking a picture from the back would be best rather than creep his mother out.
He was Nemo, and with every step he took, his little fins and tail wiggled. To die for!

Next is our adventure in caramel apple making, which was messy but delicious. Here is my attempt:
And Peter's:
And this is my "i am trying to be sweet but hurry up" face.
And one last look at Halloween, at our good friend the Tanner's house. I was Lady Gaga, and Peter was a bumblebee. The next night we went out to the club The Glass Cactus and they had Spinderella (a sweet DJ) there. It was awesome!

Updating of our apartment

2009-10-29T17:56:00.000-07:00

Peter and I have the same stuff that we came to our marriage with 2 years ago, but in worse condition. They are wonderful pieces of furniture, mind you, they just needed some updates. :) Also, I think Peter and I have a phobia of clutter and stuff. So our walls were fairly empty, and that also needed to change.

Recently Grapevine had a citywide garage sale. At said sale, I got these awesome antique paintings of these birds. After some painting and windex, we got . . .

These! The pictures pp a lot more with the new paint and I am obsessed with them.

We bought some stain (meaning I did, the person who knows absolutely nothing about home improvement) and stained the bookshelf that was passed from mom (thanks mom!) to amanda to us. It looks pretty dang good if I do say so myself, although you can't really tell much from the picture.
We also redid the hutch that Uncle Mike gave us (thanks Uncle Mike!) and you can't tell from the picture either but it is a dark gray/dark brown. We spray painted the hinges and handles, and it looks great.
We are still thinking about staining our table, but I think that project will have to wait for when we have more time, because our table is massive!

I love Texas! or at least, the general area we live in. Not so much the dry parts . .

2009-10-25T15:30:00.000-07:00

I decided to take some pictures of the beautifulness I see on my way to work. It has been brisk fall weather lately with rain pouring at least a few days a week. On the day I took these the clouds were looming, and we had an awesome lightning storm that night.

Here is the most Texas property/house I have yet seen, and I don't know if you can read the sign but it says "The Bear Creek Plantation." This property has beautiful trees down the walkway to a gigantic house (that if you look hard enough you can see between the gates) and loads of grass and some cows in-between. So awesome.

Next is some property nearby that is part of a huge acreage with a house and barn and these fantastic trees all over the property. It also looks like it has a little creek running through too. I told Peter that we need to have another reception because this is my dream location for one. I will save my pennies to buy it one day . . .
In this next picture you can barely see the water tower of Grapevine, which saves my life. Whenever I get lost around here, which is often, I just look around for the nearest water tower because I know that will tell me what city I am in. Also, look how green it is here!
This farm is one of my favorites because the cows sit by the fence and eat the flowers most of the day. They weren't there when I took the picture, but the field has such a dreamy quality.
And this is the stoplight Peter and I sit at for at least a few minutes a day. At it, we face train tracks and a huge open field which we saw a coyote in.
Hope you guys come visit soon!

Texas State Fair!

2009-10-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

Peter and I as well as the Dutchers and some other friends from work all went to the Texas State Fair on Saturday. Biggest in the country, and also known as the Fried Food Capital. Unfortunately, the weather didn't match the event and it was kinda chilly, but still so fun.

As soon as we walked in, they had a Chevy test-driving station and since Peter forgot his wallet at home, I got to drive us around in their fun cars! I tried to gun it, but since the course was pretty small, I didn't really get anywhere. :)

Our first stop with the good old south was the animal section where we met the 1100 lb pig. Sick! The poor thing couldn't even stand up when it was eating, it just laid there stuffing it's face. Next to the fat pig was a feeding area with emus, a baby giraffe and zebra, lots of big and little goats, a kangaroo and some other weird animals. I guess the smell of gross animal pens made us hungry, so we stopped by to get some food and saw this sign:
Not only were there these fried foods, but there was also fried snickers, fried lattes, fried s'mores, cheesecake, and pretty much anything else you could want deep fried. Peter and I shared a corn dog (or corny dog, as they call them here) and that was about all the grease that I could handle. But it smelled so good everywhere!

After eating we hit up the auto show where a sweet old man started telling us about a car crash he got in when two corvettes were racing and the one in his lane didn't manage to get over in time. He said that he saw the corvette blow up and melt on the pavement. Another interesting thing about Texas, everybody talks to everybody and especially old people as they love to tell stories.

We raced to get over to the pig races in time and that was probably the highlight of the night. They had three rounds of races and I was so surprised how much Peter got into cheering for our little pig to win.

Also at the fair were the show animals (goats, horses, and cows) and they were the cleanest animals I had ever seen. Clean enough, I guess, for this guy to take a nap with them!
And I guess, clean enough to wear a hat?

But really they were just like puppies, and just wanted to be scratched.

14 to 13. Enough said.

2009-09-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

Time to do some re-ranking!

Peter got a new toy! and other happenings of our lives

2009-09-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

Check out that smile!

So technically, this is not a toy, more another form of transportation. But it is so fun! It is a KYMCO People S-200 (i think? if you want to know more about it ask him). We even drove it to church the other day and had awesome hair when we arrived.
As you can see from this picture, it is sweet blue color and has a nice spot in the back for yours truly to sit. (or i guess other people, but it looks pretty funny when he has his buddy's on the back)

In other news, Peter is doing great at work with the insurance stuff and got 110% of his goal last month. What a stud. All while I work my 12 hrs a week -- still looking for a job that is in my field.

Other new changes to our family include Cosmo having to go to the vet, where they told me he weighs 13.6 lbs! What a cow. We thought he had a urinary tract infection (something any girl can sympathize with) and I got to collect a urine sample, but for all that, he is fine.
I dyed my hair back to its "natural" color, meaning it is really dark but will probably fade, and as you can see by the pic, we are getting reading for the football game today. BYU is playing Oklahoma University and while they will probably get stomped, we will still go and support. It is the first game in the new cowboy stadium and it will be fun to root on our alma mater.

You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.

2009-07-20T18:03:00.000-07:00

Or so says Davy Crockett.

Other amusing things from Texas so far:

There are hooters, twin peaks (same thing as hooters) and bone daddy's (worse than hooters) every block. And they are considered family friendly restaurants.

Evangelical christians make up approximately 1/3 of the radio stations here, and 1/6 of the TV stations.

Cattle drives still take place in the middle of the street. (okay, just downtown Fort Worth at the stockyards, which are pretty awesome.)

Ribs = amazing!!

Drivers seem fairly laid back and so it takes a while for people to go when the light turns green.

They sell key limes at the grocery store. Maybe since we share the gulf they are easy to get?

There are like, 5 million power companies here and you can pick and choose what you want.

Ed hardy is apparently the state sponsor of clothes. I have literally seen their stuff in just about every single store. Also, the girl in front of us in church (by girl i mean 12-14 year old) was doodling his name on a notepad during sacrament meeting. I guess i just don't get it.

The lower the lakes get, the more our water starts to taste like fish.

Grapevine Texas!

2009-07-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

After a 20-ish hour trip down from Michigan (with the cat sitting in his litter box the entire time--it was clean :) ) Peter and I are finally here! With a temperature of somewhere in the 100s, we unpacked our entire apartment with the assistant of one of Peter's friends from home, a couple from the ward, and the local elders. And as you can see, Peter is enjoying taking it easy in our air-conditioned apartment.

Our trash days are Monday and Thursday, and we accidentally slept in past trash pick up. So thank goodness we have 2 bedrooms! And much to the dismay of the cat, they are gone as of this morning.

This is where he spends much of his time, under the bed, being a stink.

Here is our lovely dining room/nook, and I am a little nervous at the prospect of it being over carpet in that, according to Peter and the hospital records, if it is breakable or spillable I will be the one to do it.

Our kitchen! So wonderful, lots of cabinet space.
Drumroll please . . . . and a DISHWASHER!!! Hallelujah! I think we have been using extra dishes just because we know we don't have to wash them. Also in this corner are three of my other favorite things. 1) My kitchenaid. Enough said. 2) The greek owl tile from Peter's grandparents house. Trish told me that her mother always told her that it is considered lucky to have an owl in the kitchen, and there he will stay. 3) The garden gnome. He mostly lives here because Peter does not really want him anywhere else, but I adore him!
Here is our bathroom, pre-curtain rod. (They brought it today) And as hot as it is here, we don't get much cold water from the tap. But the shower is huge and so it is great.
Our beautiful bedroom, complete with new mattress. bed frame, and duvet cover. I love it! We got a memory foam and it really is like the most comfy thing in the world. Also some rad things in this room include a framed picture of Peter as a baby and his little teddy bear that his mom let me take with me. The picture is killer and he has the fattest cutest cheeks ever.
For the most part, that is our apartment. No big Texas bugs yet, or any other crazy things. I hope you guys can come visit! (we will even let you try out the memory foam)

Chicago is one of our favorite places

2009-06-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

About two weekends ago we took a trip down to Chicago. Several tolls later in which we did not have cash (whoops) we landed in Carey, Illinois, which is where Peter's uncle Jared and his wife Matia live. (so Jared is really Peter's uncle's brother, but. . . same thing.) They were sweet enough to let us stay the weekend there with them and their so-cute two little girls. And their pet snake, who is currently receiving antibiotics via injection by Jared. Random, but kinda awesome to watch.

So Saturday morning we get up early to go catch the train into town, and once we get there we realize the station in closed. Thinking we could just buy tickets on the train, we hop on and wait for the ticket man to come around. Once he gets to us, I pull out my credit card and he says they only take cash. We do not have any cash (as evidenced by the toll booth situation) and the guy tells us we will have to get off, get cash, and wait for the next train (at least an hour). Thankfully, the amazing guy and his daughter behind us offered to pay our fare and we could reimburse them when we got off. So nice of him!

We got into town and hopped on the bus, and the first place we got to was Navy Pier. It smelled of delicious roasted nuts and lots of other fried foods. As you can tell, Peter decided to make a photo op without my knowledge:

Also located on Navy Pier is the National Public Radio station where they air and record "This American Life." We buzzed the intercom and tried to get in, but I guess they only do tours and visits during the week. I guess that means I will have to wait until my next trip to meet Ira Glass.
After that we hopped on a bus that took us to the Miracle mile to check out all the shops and fun fancy places. And what did we find?? Steve Urkel's car from Family Matters!!

So funny. The people in the store probably thought we were silly, but that is okay. Peter was sweet and let me go into all the shops and spend as much time as I wanted. When we got too pooped we stopped at the Ghiradelli store and ordered an amazing banana split. There were lots of really neat buildings, like the Wrigley building, and a lot of them were pretty historic. It makes me want to move to a huge city!

If you walk further down on Michigan Ave you run into the beach (lake beach is still a beach!) It was such a beautiful warm day that we took off our shoes and waded in the water for awhile. It was so funny to be in the midwest and see a beach.

Towards the end of the day we both were starving, so we stopped at Gino's East to get some real Chicago-style pizza. Everyone writes on the walls and benches there, so we were sure to make our mark as well. (It is the reddish pinkish writing on the right-hand side)

We took the train back that night and heard all of Jared's great stories from his medical rotations and all in all had a blast. I could definitely live in Chicago, should the right job take us there.

Pictures from Canada and Ben's wedding

2009-06-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

Wonderful Peter figured out how to get the pictures off his camera for us without the cord so now I don't feel so dumb explaining our adventures. It helps to have something to show for our trips! So here are our pictures we took our first visit to Canada. This picture of me is looking at the Renaissance Center (GM's headquarters) from the other side of the Detroit River. There was a really pretty boardwalk area to walk up and down.

Here is Peter, being awesome. I think he is pointing to the "People Mover" which is the actual name of the elevated monorail that goes around downtown Detroit.

No idea why Canadians are dressed up as Scots, but I am sure if we were native we might have understood why. It was their Memorial Day when we visited so there were celebrations going on.

We took the tunnel on the way to Canada (it took like 3 minutes) and took the Ambassador Bridge on the way back.

While there isn't a whole lot to do for us kids in Windsor, the next weekend Jason and Emeri came to town for Ben's wedding so we decided they needed to go see Canada too. (Peter and Jason have been best buddies with Ben since high school) Don't they look good? We had so much fun with them that weekend, and we went all over downtown Detroit, including a special trip to Pizzapapalis in Greektown. We all had a slumber party complete with Cosmo waking everyone up, and then got ready for the wedding. Ben and his awesome now-wife, Kim, got married in the Detroit temple. We stayed for some pictures and went to a ring ceremony, and dinner reception. Peter and I are lonely again with them gone, but maybe they can visit us in Texas on their way out to VA! (hint hint, nudge nudge).

Okay, so Peter just explained to me that Texas is not technically "on the way" to Virginia but a girl can hope right?

Oh, Canada

2009-06-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

Peter and I went to Canada this weekend! We got on the tunnel to go, and I think we will be there for about 20 minutes or so but before I even know we are under the Detroit River we are already on our way out.

Each agent at the stop grilled us about random things before letting us in or out, like where Peter was working and why we were coming to visit. After parking down by the river, we walked into a Memorial Day celebration for them and there were lots of army-looking men in kilts and sweet white boots. (As soon as we get the cord for our camera I will post the pictures, we both packed ours up for Texas). Why on earth they wear kilts in Canada, I will never know. We walked around for a while and then went to get some delicious Chinese for lunch, since we heard it was great there. (it was, and we gorged ourselves)

Some other good news--we got a mac! And as you can tell by the picture below, we have been having great fun with the photo booth option.

The cat does not look as thrilled as I would think he would. Anyway, we have skype and iChat and now we can all see each other when we move far away. Another reason we got the mac is so Peter can use it to do great things with pictures and videos for his website:

scootergy.com

Here he is hard at work:

The glare isn't great, but you can see Peter hard at work on the website! In the background is the "Company white board" that has all the things that he and his dad want to do with the site.

We miss you all and love you! Can't wait to see you guys in Vegas soon!

Who knew the state of Michigan was like a wild animal park??

2009-05-22T12:14:00.001-07:00

So far in the two weeks I have been here, it has felt somewhat like a zoo in that I am seeing animals that I have only seen in pictures in real life. I guess that happens when you grow up in the desert.

I have seen these three:

Unfortunately for me and them, they all seem to be "playing possum" on the side or middle of the road.
I have seen a few live animals though, like a snake, a chipmunk, and a big fat rat. The rat was huge and disgusting and I have never seen anything like it! Insects also do not seem to be in short supply here, and when Peter and I went on a bike ride yesterday a big fat bee ran right into my head. And these bees aren't normal sized, they are like the size of June bugs but with huge ol stingers.

Hopefully I will see more animals as the months go by, and less of them hanging out by the road.

Ever since i can remember i been poppin' my collar

2009-05-15T12:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, we all have popped collars. And yes, it is awesome.

I have finally created this blog thanks to the enormous amounts of free time i have thanks to my joblessness, homelessness, and yes, childlessness. My secret plan was to wait until we had a child to start a blog so it didn't seem like Peter and I were self-absorbed, but, I needed something to do for the next two months.

Also, it is Peter's birthday today! Hooray for being 24. And his present from me and many parents (thanks for the checks, you guys are awesome!!) is the gift of life. In the form of a sweet helmet for when he gets a scooter one day. Tonight we will have a delicious dinner of steak (Having never bought steak before, i had to ask the butcher what kind to get and felt like a doofus) and potatoes and veggies. Then Peter's monstrous dessert of whoppers and brownies.

If i say too much more i will feel silly, as the only thing that is rather funny is the cat, and i don't want to turn into one of THOSE people. Hahaha oh wait i already am.