Family Pics and More

I've been avoiding this place.  It's not that I don't have wonderful pictures to share, funny moments to relate, or beautiful children who are doing new things, it's that I am scared to come here.  As some of you may or may not know, I struggle with severe anxiety and depression.  While I enjoy coming to this place and sharing pictures with all of you, I can't come here without feeling intense pressure in my chest because of unfounded guilt in everything: From being behind in uploading photos to not taking enough pictures of the kids.

But here I am.  Facing my fear.  I can do this now because of the help I've received from my doctor and therapist.  I no longer will set high expectations for myself, given the amount of pressure already on my shoulders because of Ben's work schedules, and I won't let guilt overwhelm my usual happiness.

As for an update, let's see what I can do.

With the exception of Ben, we are all sick.  Emily was up for a majority of the night last night screaming because of pain in her ears and cheeks.  While she seems much better this morning, I have a feeling it will get worse tonight.  Looks like another doctor appointment for us.

In other news, Emily is looking more and more grown-up every day.  Every once in a while I'll read another person's account of their 2 1/2 year old and think, "Wow! That is so old!" Until I remember that I have a 2 1/2 year old.   She says the cutest things from, "I want [to] pour milk [my]self" to "Oops! I fall down" (intentionally, I might add).  She can now read a few books completely from memory.  She especially adores Whose Mouse Are You and Click, Clack, Moo.

Andrew is walking more and more!  I would say his walking and crawling are evenly split now.  He also "talks!"  Sometimes he'll say things like, "E-I-E-I-O" and "cracker" very clearly but mostly it's still jabbering.

Ben has been able to take a few weekends off lately by using his PTO (paid time off).  This has been marvelous.  It still means only a couple days off a month, but any day off is welcome!

We are busy preparing for our up-coming move by planning where we will live, how we will find housing, etc, etc.  The closer we get the more excited we are!

A couple weekends ago my grandmother passed away.  While at the funeral, my sister took some lovely photos of our family!  Here is a sampling of the beautiful pictures.

I am tired of the cold but am doing my best to get out of the house by walking to the library, the grocery store, and friend's houses.  Obviously this week has been harder because of sickness and being forced to stay inside.  I hope this ends soon!

Until next time.