November sum-up

Time to play a little catch-up on November. I feel like my life and I are in a footrace. My life is smugly always three laps ahead of me, waiving victoriously. Meanwhile I'm three feet from the starting line already wheezing and frantically trying to catch my second wind. I say, wait up old bean!
Early this month my brave sister Kirsten and her equally brave husband Steve welcomed their 5th son into their beautiful family. Matthew John Gorski boldly made his debut 3 weeks early and is just a bitty little guy. That makes him the 21st grandchild in the Peterson family (did I count that right Mom?). His proud big brothers are thrilled and are already teaching him the ropes.
Isn't he gorgeous?!
Thanksgiving break was won-der-ful! Just the break I needed. We almost stayed in town as we were still battling with passing the sickies around. The two mini-est (c'mon, it's a word, right?) monkies were still a snottin' and a coughin' all over. The night before we were to jet off to Tulsa to see the extendeds, Zoe had a lava-hot fever. Mike Ogden, our ever faithful friend and Home Teacher, took time from his adorable new little man Zachary (also born in November--fabulous month for birthdays isn't it Leisha?) to help with giving her a blessing. We'd decided that night not to make the trip and subject the cousins to The Gamboo. But morning came with a miraculously happy, healthy Zoe. The local doc declared her healthy, the family approved (including the parents of the cousins), so we frantically threw all our stuff in the van and trekked it on out to Tulsa.

It was just what the doctor ordered! For me at least. Mimi and Pop graciously welcomed us. Turkey day we gathered with much of Chris's fam (minus Ian, his sweetie Brandee, and son Brysen--we missed you guys). We ate, we schmoozed, we ate, we played, we ate, we giggled, we ate some more. It was so nice! Here are a few pics of the said event. (I would have more, but that would mean I would have to hook up the camera, download the pics, clean them up, load them on the slide, and post them. I'm feeling entirely too lazy for that. Bronwyn, my awesome and talented SIL, took some fabulous ones that were readily available, so check em' out)

Poor, poor Chris had to spend the whole break holed-up studying for his Nasty Clinic Entrance exams. He did take a break, however to take me out for a fabulous lunch on my birthday (sans mini-monkies, thank you Mimi and Pop!). I got an amazing surprise present--a sewing machine! I'd been coveting my friends' machines for a while now and Denise (Chris's mom) decided to save me from all that sinnin'. She gave me her gently used one and I'm so excited! Woo hoo! No more beggin' and borrowin', I can make my little projects whenever I get the hankering! On top of that, Pop and the kiddos made me the fudgiest batch of brownies ever for my b-day treat! I couldn't think of another thing to ask for. What a blessed girl I am!

Towards the end of the trip I'm sure Chris's parents were ready to tell us not to let the door hit us in the nether-regions on the way out. Zoe was so over tired (she blatantly refused to associate with the letters N. A. or P.) she was a little ball of rage the whole time. Like a mini Krakatoa, she blew her top regularly in spectacular displays of molten magma and flying debris! By the grace of God, she crashed hard on the way home and took a beautiful 2 hour nap, then was absorbed into shows (bless you little dvd player!) until about 20 minutes from home. Whew! Since catching up on her sleep she has become a tame little volcano. But over the break, she learned the fine art the ever popular 2 year old tantrum! Complete with the throwing of herself on the floor, balls of raging fists, feet stomping, eyes squidged up tight (c'mon, it's my blog, I can make up ridiculous words if I want to!), and lungs just bursting with the melodious sound of glass-shattering scream. It's a sight to behold I tell ya! Only time will tell if she actually survives until 2.
We were beginning to worry a little bit about Zoe's language development. It was a bit on the slow side and we were considering getting her tested. It didn't help that we spent Thanksgiving withBronwyn's boy Bennett, who is only 2 months older than Zoe but quite the smart little chatterbox. Well, she had a language explosion this last week and a half. She's suddenly saying a lot more things. I've suspected she was saying things for a while now, but like a stranger in a strange land, I just wasn't catching on to her foreign language. But now she's saying things more clearly. It's a nice little *whew* moment. It's fun to hear her talk too. Maybe now she won't scream at me so much. Hah!
Chris took his Clinic Entrance Exams last week. These are a series of ultra-important performance tests (the fun, fun kind where two professors lean over your shoulder and wait anxiously for you to screw up so they can dock points. Oh yeah, and if you don't pass, you can't move on with the rest of your schooling! No pressure eh?) What a pain in the patootie! He studied until he felt like his brain was on frappe. And then he studied some more! That boy studied more than I'd ever seen anyone study! It paid off though. We know he passed most of them and we're waiting until Friday to find out the results of 1 more before he can breathe. I'll keep you posted.
There. I did it! All in all, it's been a crazy but fun month. Maybe some day I'll catch up to that ever fast-paced life of mine. *Meep! Meep!* Then again, maybe not!