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.

What we've been up to (i.e family update).

So I started working on this on January 6.  January 6. I think that should tell you just how our lives have been.

Let's start with the most interesting news first.

Ben



To begin with, he doesn't have an ulcer.  His symptoms are stress-related.  Heh.

In better news, he is currently hanging out with us for a rare weekend.  A 4-day weekend.  Woot! We were able to go on a date Thursday.  It was amazing.

In even better news, we have changed our plans for medical school.  Sorry Arizona, we love ya but we received an acceptance call from our first choice of medical schools.

Missouri.

I guess that means we will be leaving the west for (at least) 4 years.

In random news, we went to the dentist a couple weeks ago.  Besides a couple cavities, his teeth were great!

Amber




I also don't have an ulcer.  My nurse practitioner (np) is very frustrated by her lack of answers.  After a very long appointment yesterday, she decided to refer me to a neurologist.  I have an appointment set in February and am crossing my fingers for some answers. Seriously, not being able to sleep BECAUSE OF NAUSEA for 4 out of 7 days really sucks.  Especially when it's not pregnancy related.

As for dental work, I only had one cavity.  I know, awesome.  But, I have to get my wisdom teeth removed.  Oh,well.  I would have to do it someday and right now is the best time!

I am super excited for medical school.  That is all.


Emily

I am surprised by how grown-up she seems now!  Her list of words and sentences is far too extensive to post but here is a short list of my favorites.

"Ank u" (Thank you)
"Mommy! I wanna twick oh tweet" (trick or treat, aka candy and said with a beautiful smile)
"Mommy! Stop it!" (When I'm doing something she doesn't like.)
"No! Mines, mines, mines" (mine, used for anything she is currently playing with)
"gippopotomus" (hippopotamus)
"Sebra" (Zebra)
"I'm naked!"

She talks all the time.  And pretty much everything she says is cute.

She labels everything with colors.  Like "blue binky" or "yellow cereal" or "pink blankie."

She counts all the time.  She runs around the house screaming "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10!"  She also counts objects.  Pretty cool!

She knows "E" is for "Emily" and "A" is for "Andrew."  Though she does mix these two up sometimes.

She dances ballet to The Wiggles.  We love this.  She also knows where her hips are and how to shake them.  She takes after me and it's awesome.

Her potty training is going well.  She did poop in the toilet on day number two, but now is scared to do it again. That's okay.  We figure she'll come around to that when she's ready.  As part of her potty training, she runs around the house naked. Hence why I don't have many videos.

She has started climbing out of her crib (remember, she resides in a pack'n'play which is much harder to escape from) this week.  I'm thinking of trying the big girl bed again.

She now cuddles with us.  She'll climb into my lap, or Ben's, and hug us.  It's so sweet!  I love that she lets me hold her and comfort her.

She is waking up less than she used to, but still wakes up more than I'd like. (Ha!)

Andrew

My little buddy.  If I don't hold him first thing in the morning, I must make it up the rest of the day.  (I'm kind of kidding.)  (And I love it.)

He has started walking so much more!!  I even caught it on video (which I will post later).  He stands up in the middle of the room and takes off, usually with a big grin and squeal of laughter.  It is so cute!

He loves to jump on our bed.  And so does Emily.

He has two more teeth coming through on top.  It's been painful but he's been handling it pretty well.

He loves to play with sunglasses.

He says a few more words.
"Dum" (Jump)
"Uhuhuh" (bark for a dog)
"arrr" (lion and tiger roaring)

He gives open mouth kisses (with an accompanying "ahhh") to all of us.  It is so sweet!

When we run out of his jammies, we dress him in his sister's jammies.  He does look good in pink!

He loves to stand up and dance.  He'll just shake his thang.  He also bangs his head on items as a form of dance expression.  It's pretty awesome.

That's it for our family this week!

Love,