Nieces and Nephews

 
  

 
 
 
I was looking through all of the pictures that I have of all of my nieces and nephews and just felt so blessed. I am so pround to be their aunt and love them so much. I can't wait for them to teach our child so many things! They each have such different personalities, yet they are each equally as special to Sean and I. I decided to write them each individually...

Brigg,
You have the most kind heart of any child I have ever met and you always know just the right words to say to make someone feel loved! This, from a 4 year old, is incredible! The day you were born and I held you in my arms, I was forever changed! You taught me how to love in a way I never knew possible and prepared me for all of the future nieces and nephews that would enter my life. You are the most amazing boy, and you could not be a better example to your sister and cousins! I hope you influence our child to be as sweet and honest as you are!

Nalani,
Your smile warms my heart and your carefree spirit makes everyone want to be around you! In just a few short weeks of life, you taught me and everyone in our family, that we were stronger than we ever knew. You taught us that we are not in control, and that we just have to have faith and pray that we can get through tough times. Also, you taught me that a little infant could be stronger than I ever have been. You are such a strong and determined girl, and I hope you can teach our child to have half as much strength as determination as you do!

Bode,
Your happy nature and curiousness are refreshing! I knew from the moment I heard you would be arriving that you would hold a very special place in my heart. Your smile and excitement are contagious! You taught me a different way to love! To see you smile is one of the best feelings that I can have and to hear you laugh brings me more joy than I ever knew possible from such a simple action! I can't wait to see the wonderful man you will become. You have an undeniable gift of being able to make everyone around you happy. I cannot wait for you to teach our children that life is fun and to enjoy every minute of it!

Leah,
You are such a sweet girl! Your smile is beautiful and your eyes are full of life! Your relaxed nature is soothing and holding you in my arms, I never want to let you go! You make everyones' hearts melt just by laying in their arms. You have taught me that no matter how many neices or nephews enter my life, I will be able to somehow produce just as much love for this one as I did the one before. I cannot wait to see you grow and learn and experience life! I hope you can influence our child to have that same relaxed nature and warm heart that you have!

Tyler,
Before I met you, I had never seen such a little being in my life. I never knew that I could hold such a precious life in my arms and barely feel it laying there! It's amazing how something so small can have such a huge impact on one's life. Your sweet little smile is contagious to all who see it! You are growing quickly and have shown already that you're up for any challenge! You have a bright future ahead of you and I cannot wait to watch it all unfold! I can tell already that you are a determined boy...if you want something, you won't give up! I hope you will teach our child to have determination and to never give up!

Sean and I feel so honored to be able to say that you are all our nieces and nephews! Sean and I feel so blessed to have such precious children in our lives that we love so much. We never knew that a child could teach us so much, but each of you have taught us more than we could have imagined! We cannot wait to see each of you grow and enjoy life. Thank you for teaching us how to love in a way we never knew possible! We feel as though our child will be so blessed to have so many wonderful cousins that can teach it many important things! We love each of you more than words could express! 

Baby Shopping!

 
Well, no new and exciting updates on the adoption process at this point. Although, Mom was in Des Moines the last couple of days and we did some serious shopping!!! Big surprise, huh! Ha. :) It's definitely our favorite past time. It was exciting shopping...we got fabric for baby bedding! I am soooo excited for everyone to see what our baby bedding is going to look like! I know most of you won't be as excited about it as Mom and I are because we are pretty excited about it! It was so much fun to go to the fabric stores and come up with all different kinds of ideas. Since we don't know if we'll be getting a boy or a girl, we had to do something unisex. The main colors for the nursery will be aqua and kind of a lime/apple green color with a little bit of yellow in the mix! We got some really fun fabric and Mom is having someone in Muscatine make all of the bedding for me. Also, we bought a few items of clothing for the future Peakin. Again, we had to get unisex items, but due to some fantastic sales, we got a few gender specific items "just in case" we get a boy or girl. It was so much fun! Each new thing we purchase makes the reality that we will be parents a bit more real. Sean got really excited this evening and said, "the clothes get me more excited...I can't wait to see our baby in them!" He's so cute! It's so much fun doing all of this. I had purchased a few items here and there, but now there are a lot more signs of a baby laying around the house! :) We were told that it could be a matter of just a few weeks before we get a baby, so we should begin to purchase some things...so that's the go ahead for me! I hope I don't get too out of control! :) ha... More than likely it will be at least of few months before we get a baby. We'd love to have a little one at Christmas! So as long as it's by then, we'll feel that we got one pretty quickly. We will remain patient regardless of whether we have one by then or not. We know that it will happen in God's timing, not ours. We just hope that's sooner rather than later! :) Thanks, Mom for a great last 2 days! I appreciate all you do sooo much! Hope all is well with everyone and I'll keep you posted on any news! 

Easter Pictures...

 
 
 
  

Easter Pictures...

 
 
 
  

Easter Weekend

 
 
 
 
We had a great weekend! Here are a few pictures of the celebration. The kids had so much fun dying eggs and seeing the Easter bunny...it was as good as Christmas for them! Hope all had as wonderful of an Easter as we did! 

Peakin Easter

 
 
  
We celebrated Easter with the Peakin side on Sunday. It was so much fun to all be together and get to spend time with Tyler and Leah. We had a great, relaxing day and a great meal! The first picture (for those of you who don't know) is Sean's brother, sister-in-law and our niece, Leah. Leah and Tyler were born only 1 day apart and look how much bigger Leah is! Tyler's catching up!

A Few Weekends Ago...

 
 
 
 

Here are some pictures from a few weekends ago in Muscatine. Bode had his first experience with a ball and he loved it! Sorry about the delay in posting these! Enjoy!