Happy belated birthday Great Grandpa!

Pumpkin Patch

Boden got to take a field trip to the pumpkin patch with good pals Wyatt and Atley...we are thinking he might think its more fun next year, but it made for a good photo op. You'll see in one of these photos that although Boden is not eating solids, he was almost willing to chew his way through a pumpkin to get away from Wyatt when we tried to pose them together. Wyatt was pretty chill about the whole thing. Isn't Atley the cutest little pumpkin!

Four Generations

Hi folks-

I thought that I would share a picture with you that has become an instant classic and favorite.  While my grandparents have 

great grandchildren out the wazoo... They've only had two Petersburg great grandchildren- Soren and Boden.  This past fall we were able to load up, fly to Minneapolis, jump in a car and drive down to Iowa to visit great grandma and grandpa.  Of course- Boden's grandma and grandpa Petersburg were also in attendance- and we were able to get a four generation picture of the Petersburg boys.

Of course, great grandma was well into the action as well- they decided little Mr. B. was alright- even if he didn't fully appreciate the corn.  And check this out- there is proof that Boden's momma did phenomenal with the trip- She's a pretty darn good momma.

At any rate- I hope you all enjoy...

Winter has Arrived!

We went super quick from fall to winter this year- who knows- maybe it'll go back.  But we're not holding our breath.  Mr. B. here has been thrown right into this cold stuff.  We thought we'd ease him into it with a trip to the ole pumpkin patch (more on that later)- but it went from corn stalks to snow piles in no time.

Boden's first day to school in stinkin' cold weather was in the 6 degree range- right out of the blue.  We thought it was just a passing thing... you know, half a foot of snow, see your breath, stick the tongue to the flag pole- but here two days later we're in the middle of getting some feet of snow.  Not sure how much yet- but we're at about two feet with a day to go in the storm.

He really didn't mind it at all when we launched him off the deck into a pile of snow.  Stephanie was a little uncomfortable with it- but we sent the dog in right after to fish him out...  Just kidding.  We're only allowed to look and not touch at this point.  But it would be fun.  Maybe next winter.

Anyway- that is all from the home front.  Since we're all stuck inside with the snow (oh yeah, except for the guy shoveling- several times), you're bound to get a few more blog updates in rapid succession.  Stay warm!

So We've Been a Little Slow...

Okay, Okay- we've heard from the peanut gallery that we need to get on it a little bit.  Please forgive us- a lot has been going on in the last month.

Mr. B. is in the throws of teething.  Combine that with a serious slobber-knocking, snot-bubble blowing, huck-a-lugi cold... and the beginnings of an attitude- and it's been a bit of a ride with this little feller.

As of today, Boden is about 5 and a half months.  He's starting to really expand his personality beyond his super genius, chick-magnet capabilities.  He's really a happy little bugger- and he's become fairly infatuated with trying to get everything in sight and in reach- directly into his mouth.  He did have his first roll-over extravaganza on October 1st, went to his fourth wedding of the season (go Bedstafar!) and has become the happiest man at the local daycare.  Mr. B. has also taken his first airplane flight (wooing the flight attendants of course... anything to get bumped up) and took a stroll on the family tractor and golf cart back in Iowa.  AND- he's figured out how to have laughing fits- at least occasionally.  He's been busy.  So much to accomplish.

Anyway- we thought we would throw you out a new video a couple of pictures.  The Bo-Hawk lives on!

New Tricks Daily

For one day- we experienced a truly unique phenomenon. It would seem that Boden decided to try and play the air Mouth-Harp. There's yet to be a video game to come out that could exploit this particular niche (like guitar hero), but perhaps we're on to something. The only dilemma is that Mr. B. seems to have a bit of laziness about him, and will only perform with the use of someone else's finger. I don't quite understand him. I've raised the boy to be more motivated than that.

The Ladies Man Strikes Again!

Recently- Boden was dedicated at our church and as part of the festivities, he invited all of his phat friends over to hang. It turned out to be quite the shindig until things got a little out of hand...

As you can see- Mr. B. is having a few words with Courtney. He's not looking for anything serious- just a good time with a hot little lady. Courtney's sister Samantha is going out with Soren (at least that's what we believe, if such a thing happens in heaven). Seeing what was happening from across the room, Atley abruptly butts in trying to snag the attention of this hot hunk of man. Thankfully, there were adults near by to keep things tame- but you can get the idea of what could have happened here. Could of been ugly... I'm telling you- this guy has more moves at four months old than I could have ever hoped for...

My Toes, My toes!

Mr. B's world is rapidly expanding. It would seem that he's seeing much farther beyond his crib, mommy's shoulder and the pacifier that's coming his way. In the last couple of weeks, Boden has discovered two major things; his toes and his lungs. Thankfully, his little dunlap has yet to prevent him from seeing down the length of his legs- and the decibels have increased substantially.

There's really no better way to demonstrate these to immense discoveries than to let you see a little bit for yourself. Admittedly, there does happen to be "daddy-assist" documented here- but don't hold it against me. Enjoy...

SOREN'S DAY

September 21, 2007, our first son, Mr. Soren James Petersburg, joined us down at St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver. Stephanie and I had been waiting so long to meet the little guy, and had endured months of anxiety and wondering and what-ifs for Soren to arrive. At 11:39, Dr. McDuffey (yes- like the duck) delivered the little guy and we were all, quite frankly, ecstatic...

We had found out months before that Soren would face some problems. Without going into too much detail, Soren had been diagnosed with

something called hydrocephalus, in utero. It was later re-diagnosed to include something called Dandy-Walker syndrome. The good doctors did their best to re-assure us, and let us know that most often babies that are diagnosed early can be fairly well treated. We all spent months watching and praying, and realizing that Soren's condition inside Stephanie was not improving, but remained hopeful and prayerful that God would work us a miracle. When Mr. Soren joined us, he hit the ground doing amazingly well and with seemingly no difficulties whatsoever. For a few hours, we thought that God had answered our prayer.

Just before mom and dad and new son were ready to go back to the room, Soren stopped breathing and we all made the trip to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit- the NICU. We hoped that Soren just needed a little regulating and some early help, and all things would return to normal.

For several days, the little fella went through all kinds of testing- you name it... blood tests, x-rays, CTScans, eye exams- whatever the good doctors could think of. On the 24th, the docs believed they could see in the images that Soren didn't have hydrocephalus or Dandy-Walker, but something incredibly rare called Lissencephaly. The problem was that all of the the hundreds of blood tests that should have confirmed the diagnosis from his brain images came back negative. We were told that we were in "uncharted waters." That's not a great feeling.

After about six weeks in the NICU, we were able to get in touch with the expert on lissencephaly out of the University of Chicago. After he took a look at everything, we were informed that little Soren was very likely the 20th child, internationally, to be diagnosed with a freakishly rare thing called "lissencephaly with cortical changes- group C." The reason no body knew about it was obvious- and in all of the scientific literature out there- exactly one paragraph had been written about it... mostly as a side note. Almost a year and a half after that news, we received additional information from the University of Chica

go that Mr. Soren was in even rarer company- He was one of three children ever found to have the specific genetic "misspelling" in his DNA to cause the darn thing.

Stephanie and I spent about seven weeks in the NICU with Soren. We saw truly amazing things happen in there. What we realized is that God did give us a miracle- and that he had different and better plans- even if we didn't agree with them. He did answer our prayers- they just weren't always the ones that we really hoped he'd answer. God sustained us, he blessed us, and he gave us 51 of the most incredible days with our little boy. We were able to spend more hours than any parent ever has with their newborn in 51 days. We saw God's army organize, we saw His power through prayer and through the goodness of others. We literally had God answer our very specific prayers within an hour at times. We received His grace and could see God glorified through all that had happened- and we both can say that we have been so incredibly blessed through it all.

Soren had little question mark ears, and macaroni pinkies.

He had sandy brown hair the color of Stephanie's and had perfected the open-mouth breathing technique. We got the most fun out of bath time with the little guy. He'd wake up and scream, and smile just a little. Stephanie and I would go back to the Ronald McDonald house la

te at night and struggle to even want to wash our shirts because we were so excited about the drool marks from our son across our shoulders. Soren is truly amazing to us- and perfect in every sense of the word for his mom and dad. We have felt so fortunate that we were chosen to be his parents.

Soren's care-givers were amazing. They made him their own son. Becky and Patty and Terri sang to him and rocked him and held him for all they were worth. His other nurses did the same, and Dr. DeMarie treated him better than any other baby in the place. His care was phenomenal-

We were able to bring Soren home on November 8th, and had him at home for a little over 36 hours. We are so thankful that he was able to leave his impression on our home and our lives. Mr. Soren is dancing now- and better than he ever could have here. He left a few hand-me-downs for his little brother and taught his parents all kinds of things. God has been good to us-

Soren would be two years old today. We hope and plan to make September 21- Soren's Day- special every year. Last year we were able to share the news with our friends and family that Soren was going to have a little brother. This year, Stephanie and I spent the day making memory boxes to take back down to the NICU- for families in circumstances similar to ours. We hope that Soren's day can be a day to serve, to remember our little guy, and a day to be thankful and to glorify our God. We hope it can be for you too.

Experiencing the water

While in Vail, we decided Boden needed to see if he liked the feel of the water on his toes...apparently it was a little to cold to feel good. But he sure did like to watch the creek flow over the rocks- We think he was watching for fish, but who knows.