Training at the Park

Time for a little Gentle Leader training. Marley's not a fan of the gentle leader at all, but she's learning not to pull during walks. But she's learning and has made a bunch of progress, even just since Christmas.

Marley and Jonathan taking a break...but let's be honest, they were really just waiting up for me since I walk a bit slower these days.

We were practicing "Come" between me and Jonathan. Marley is a fan of getting to run free a bit, but she's an even bigger fan of hot dogs! Watch her come to me, then race off when Jonathan calls her.

Prince William National Park

We have had a great time taking Marley for walks on the trails of the Prince William County National Park which is only 5 miles from our house. She loves getting to run around, navigate over branches, around rocks and logs, and of course, playing in the leaves.

She's been practicing "sit". She's doing such a good job. What a good girl!
This is Marley's "What Mom?" look.

Dad and Marley having fun on the rocks in the creek. With my pour balance now that I'm pregnant, I don't dare venture out on bolders near the water - I'd be sure to fall in.

The Saturday after Christmas, we went down to Colonial Williamsburg for the afternoon and evening. Mom and dad had never been, and it had been 6 years since Jonathan and I had been down during Christmas time. We walked around the town, then watched as they lit small fires in front of homes on the Palace Green. As you may know, I'm a fan of fire, so really enjoyed that part!

We then ate dinner at one of the taverns. We went with Will and Stacey, Stacey's parents, and Stacey's brother and sister-in-law. It was great to spend some time with them and share this experience with them.

The next day, I had caught the cold Jonathan had at Christmas, so I was down for the count. However, mom and dad were hard at work, clearing out, organizing and painting the baby's room, getting it ready so all I needed to do was decorate.

As you can see, Sampson was BIG help.

Christmas was a crazy day. Christmas Eve we noticed that Marley had cut herself, so we needed to take her to the Vet ER. They cleaned her up, gave her tons of meds and an E-collar. She didn't sleep well that night - so neither did Jonathan nor I. However, at the same time, Jonathan ended up getting really sick, first getting flushed at the ER, then in full on fever and cold sweats when we woke up Christmas morning. So, I ended up doing the best I could to take care of Marley, Jonathan, and get Christmas dinner off and running.

In the end, we had a very nice time. The turkey didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, but no one got sick and we were all full at the end of the meal. :) Jonathan even felt well enough to join us. My mom was a big help getting everything put together for Christmas dinner.

We had our dear friends Tri, Michelle, and their kids Zachary and Emily over for Christmas as well. They were very patient as we waited for dinner and we had a great time spending Christmas with family, and friends that are like family.

After dinner, we thought it was time to document the baby bump and how large I was getting. It's impossible to hide the fact that I'm pregnant now!

At the end of the evening, Jonathan was feeling well enough for us to open up Christmas presents. Mom and Dad Peterson got us this "2nd in Command After Dad" shirt. I'll let Jonathan and Baby Bear think that. ;o)

For Christmas, mom got both of us matching pajamas. Don't we look cute!

Mom got my sister-in-law Anne a set of the same PJs. Anne, you were with us in spirit, dressed in the same PJs - wish you were here!

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, we went to Will and Stacey Kyler's home and had a DELICIOUS Thanksgiving meal and a lot of fun with friends and puppies. After dinner, it was time to burn off some calaries, so played with Marley in a field near their home and Stacey took some amazing photos of us playing with our girl.

Stacey is an amazing photographer and ended up both photographing and designing out Christmas pictures this year. Thank you Stacey for making us all look a lot better that we actually did!