Happy Birthday, Grandma Jude ♥

Just wanted to wish my wonderful Mother-In-Law a very Happy Birthday!

Grandma holding Ethan the day he was born. The day she became a Grandma :)
Christmas 2008
Jude and Gracelyn when she was just 2 months :)

We love you and the kids are blessed to have such a wonderful Grandma. Thanks for being you!

Jeremy, Keri, Ethan, Gracelyn & ...

5 Weeks Prego

I'm 5 weeks along and the baby is now the size of an apple seed :) The baby is starting to form major organs (heart, kidney, liver, stomach) and systems (nervous, circulatory, digestive). How amazing :)

Well, yesterday was our Petke reunion and it was a lot of fun! All of my dads brothers and sisters were able to make it so it was the first time since my Grandma's funeral that all 9 siblings were together! This of course meant we had to take a big photo shoot :)

The Petke's are truly the most fun family and I just love being a part of a family that loves God and loves each other. It's a beautiful thing. I had the garage set up for the party so we spent most of the day outside which was nice. We also took a long walk downtown which was fun. It looked funny as I was at the front of the walk and looked back and you just see this huge herd of people walking downtown. Ha. We ordered a 6 foot sub from VG's for lunch and got a big cake and then pizza and breadsticks from Fenton House for dinner. It was a fun day!

Ethan is completely better and was by Friday afternoon. Sadly, Gracelyn started to not feel well yesterday and had a fever :( She sat on my lap a lot of the day and wouldn't go to anyone - it was obvious she wasn't feeling well. She woke this morning with a fever also but not as high as Ethan's was so I'm thankful. She doesn't seem to be interested in eating breakfast (another real sign she isn't feeling well seeing as she normally loves to eat!) so no church for us this morning. Ethan's seemed to last just a couple days so I think she'll be feeling better by tomorrow. Daddy just gave her some Pedialyte in her sippy cup and she likes it so that's good! Ethan didn't.

Today will definitely be a lazy Sunday for us...cleaning, playing with the kids, watching tv and maybe grillin' up something yummy for lunch or dinner. Will post pictures from the reunion soon.

Oh and one last thing. My first appt. for the new baby is set up! Yay! I'll have my first visit with my midwife on September 1st. I'll be close to 12 weeks by then and we should be able to hear the heart beat then - can't wait :)

Much Love,
Momma Keri

Ethan Update

Thanks for all who have been praying - he is doing better.

He is eating, drinking, playing and even dancing a little bit. Prayer + Popsicles = a much happier little boy! He is still weak and not totally himself and still has a fever but he is doing much better than he was last night.

I'm sure he will be fine by Saturday so we should be ok with the family festivities at our place.

Thanks again for those who prayed. We feel God answered and a couple popsicles didn't hurt either ;)

Gracelyn seems to be just fine and we are continuing to pray she won't get the bug.

Momma Keri

My Sweet Ethan

Our sweet boy is sick.

Jeremy and I left the kids for the first time tonight with a sitter. He was totally himself when we left and was having fun playing outside. We were only gone for 2 hours and when we came home the sitter told us he had fallen asleep on the couch while she was reading a book to him. I immediately knew something wasn't right because he never falls asleep on the couch at 7:30!

We thanked the sitter (she is great I must add!) paid her and she was on her way. Jer was sitting on the couch with Ethan and he was burning up. I thought to myself, "What are the chances the first night we leave them with a sitter he is sick?!" I took his temp and sure enough he had a fever. 101.7. Not a scary temp but high enough for Ethan - he rarely gets fever. We gave him some tylenol at 9 and then he laid with us in bed for awhile while mommy cooled him off with a washcloth and he was watching the movie Cars. He just isn't himself - extremely quiet, doesn't want to move....just wants to lay down. Jeremy even offered him some frozen m&m's (we don't have any popsicles but plan to get some in the morning) and normally he would be all about it as they are a special treat and he actually threw them when Jer offered him some! Wow!

He laid with us for a good hour and fell asleep and Jer moved him up in his crib. I woke up and checked on him at 1am and he was burning up again. I took his temp and it was now 102.5 :( The highest it's ever been - poor baby! We brought him down and he was watching tv on the couch. Gave him tylenol again, got the cold cloth out (which really seemed to help - his whole body is burning up) and been giving him little sips of water despite the fact that he's not interested. Need to keep fluids in him.

I went to put him back to bed at 1:30 and as soon as I laid him down he threw up. Ugh. That is a first for him. He's never thrown up before. So, he definitely has some type of bug - poor baby!! I cleaned it up and daddy put new sheets on and sprayed lysol. It's now 2:15 and I laid him back down. Haven't heard a sound - hoping he can get some rest and doesn't throw up again.

We've been praying over him, over us and also over Gracelyn. We don't want Gracelyn to get whatever bug he has - please be praying for the same.

We will go out in the am to get some popsicles and Pedialyte for him....looks like daddy may be staying home from work tomorrow, we'll see how Ethan is feeling in the morning.

This Saturday is the big Petke reunion at our house on Saturday. Praying he is better by then. If not, everything will just have to be at my parents (which isn't a problem) and we will be staying home. I sure hope he is feeling better though - it's been awhile since the family has seen the kids and us and it sure would be great to catch up and see everyone.

Praying for health for our sweet boy.

Momma Keri

4 Weeks Prego

I'm 4 weeks, 2 days and that means the baby is just the size of a poppyseed right now. Itty bitty huh? I am always so in awe of the miracle of life! There is nothing quite like creating a little person that is half you and half the one you love - it's just an amazing experience!

I'm pretty sure I've decided that I want to wait to find out the gender until birth and let it be a surprise. I love surprises and cannot imagine a better surprise! We have names already picked out for both genders and seeing as we already have one of each I have clothes for both. The only thing you really need in the beginning is diapers, wipes, some receiving blankets and clothes so I should be all set! Of course I will still buy some new special things for this baby as I did with the other two but I really want to wait and be surprised. Jeremy doesn't think I can do it. He says he will pay me $100 if I can :) He doesn't care either way, he says it's up to me. I don't know if I can do it either but I'm determined to try! Plus, seeing as my labors are dreadfully long (and don't tell me this one will be shorter....everyone told me that with Gracelyn's and it was longer!) not knowing the gender will only give me that excitement and more motivation to bring that baby into this world.

Will it be a boy or girl? What is your guess? Jeremy and I both felt strong it would be a boy but now we both aren't as confident. He still leans towards boy but says he's not as sure as he was with the last two. Both my parents say girl. I would be completely thrilled to have either so it doesn't matter to me. It doesn't matter to Jeremy either. A healthy baby is all we pray for! I used to always feel that Ethan would be my only boy - so we'll see if that's true. It will be so fun not to know :)

So far I'm feeling pretty tired and getting naps in when I can. My sciatic nerve was really acting up last night. I thought to myself, "Oh Lord! Already? I'm only 4 weeks." It bothered me really bad when I was pregnant with Ethan but not as much with Gracelyn. It comes and goes.

I did this little chinese calendar thing (I did it with the last two also) where you plug in your age when you conceived and the month you conceived and it spits out if it's a boy or girl. It says girl. Well, it was wrong about both Ethan and Gracelyn. Haha. Maybe it will be right this time? Looks like we won't know until March or April :)

Well, that's all for now. Just thought I'd post a baby update. It still hasn't hit me that I'm pregnant again - eeeekk!

A blessed momma of three,
Keri

From Four to Five....

I'm sure the title tells it all but yes, we are pregnant with baby # 3! Ahhhh!

We found out early this week and had fun telling our friends and family these past couple days. I'm 4 weeks along and my due date from my online calculations is March 27th. Maybe the baby will be born on the 24th - my brother's birthday :)

I am excited and nervous all at the same time. Excited for one more miracle to add to our family but nervous about the big change....going from two to three! Two is a lot of work and can be tricky but three....well, it's going to be challenging to say the least! Challenging but wonderful!

We are excited though. Ethan and Gracelyn are such precious kids (even as they are BOTH going through their temper tantrum stage right now) and so we know this little one will be just as precious.

I've always said the first few years will be the hardest....when they are in diapers, not sleeping through the night, you know, dependent on you completely. I know each season has it's challenges with kids but I'm sure when the kids are a bit older we will be able to breathe a little easier, be able to eat at restaurants without anyone screaming...all of those things that are tricky with little ones.

Jeremy and I both feel it's a boy. We have a definite name picked out for a boy and a possible name for a girl. I am undecided if we will find out the gender. It would be so fun to let it be a surprise until he/she is born seeing as we already have one of each and we would be overjoyed with either....but knowing me and my need to plan I'm not quite sure I can wait!

Well, this will be the last baby for us so I'm gonna enjoy every minute of my pregnancy and this beautiful season in my life that God has blessed us with.

3 kids.....wow - a real adventure :)

Love,
Momma Keri and Little Peanut

Beware! Cuteness Overload!

Fresh off the press are these adorable pictures of our babies! Ethan's newest thing is to open the freezer and grab a frozen blueberry waffle and start chowing away. How nice of him to give one to Gracelyn also! Ha.


They melt me.

Momma Keri♥