Tuesdays With the Family

Let's just pretend this is Tuesday....

So this past week was eventful.  I managed to lose 5 lbs!  The thing is, I didn't need to lose the weight.  I contracted a few illnesses that left my entire body drained.  I'm talking ear and sinus infections along with a stomach and the influenza viruses.  Like at the same time.  Yeah it was pretty miserable.  There were a few days where I just wanted to push my face into a pile of snow and sleep all day long.  Unfortunately, having two babies and a husband working 70 hours did not allow me any breaks.  I'm just glad the kids are still alive after last week.

After starting my new meds, I feel so much more like the person I used to be.  It's wonderful to look at my kids and actually feel the love I have for them.  Now every day I wake up I feel absolutely blessed to have these babies in my life.  I can't kiss, hold, or hug them enough.  I feel so blessed that my little Emily likes to take naps with me and that Andrew enjoys sitting in my lap and slathering my face with his sweet kisses.

I've also fallen in love with Ben all over again.  He is such an incredible person; I believe God blessed me greatly by bringing us together.  

Big news! Ben put his two week's notice in for one of his jobs.  This means we will see him for more than a few hours a week AND have weekends together.  What are we going to do with all that extra time?  

Ben is becoming quite the activist.  He reported the facility he works for to DCFS and our state's representative because they are depriving the boys with a very basic right: religious services.  Seriously? How did I snag this guy?  He is absolutely incredible.  

Last Friday, while I was writhing in pain and fighting dizziness on the couch, Emily came out of our room (where she had been sleeping) and decided to feed herself.  If I hadn't been delirious, the accident that followed might have been avoided.  She climbed on top of the stove, grabbed a rice krispie treat package from the cupboard, picked up a knife, and proceeded to cut open the package.  I woke up to her screaming, "Mommy!"  and found her on the counter top with blood poring out of a wound.  As I wasn't sure where the wound was, I picked her up and called for Ben.  Thank goodness he knows how to fix up wounds!  He found the source--her middle finger had a big gash in it--and quickly wrapped her finger up to stop the bleeding.

She has picked up a few...phrases lately.

"That sucks!" (Really? Where did she learn this?)

"Oh my gosh!" 

I'm just waiting for her to curse.  (Not that I ever do that.) 

This girl is beautiful.  BEAUTIFUL.  She had her first professional haircut on Monday.  The hairstylist didn't change much, just cleaned up Em's bangs and hair.  This girl has the curliest, cutest hair!  

This boy walks all over the place!  It is so adorable!  Watching him walk into the bathroom, the kitchen, our bedrooms, and the living room never fails to elicit a smile.  He has also started talking so much more!  

He now says

"Fituck!" (firetruck)

"Joos!" (juice)

"Do!" (dog)

and knows the sounds of these animals

elephant

dog

lion and tiger (same sound)

and even says the occasional sentence

"I want that!"  

One of his favorite things to do is dance to the Wiggles.  He does the silliest bounce dance.  That's the only way to describe it.  All I know is he makes me laugh every day!

I am sure there are a few things that I've missed today; I blame the lingering sickness.  

Until next week...

Love,

Tuesdays With the Family

Valentine's was this week, huh?  Don't worry, we celebrated in an awesome manner: Ben worked for 16 hours and I went to bed, early, sick with the flu.  

As all parents must know, being sick is usually accompanied by children waking up all night long.  It's like an unwritten rule.   (Yeah, that happened to me.)

Speaking of children, mine are pretty cute.

Andrew is walking.  A lot.  He is so cute walking on his chubby legs!  He especially enjoys putting stuff in his mouth while he cruises.

He is also busy.  BUSY.  I know, so atypical for a one-year-old.

Just last week, he started talking so much more!  

In addition to his other words, he now says

"dahn!" (down)

"Mommy!" (Very different from mama)

"Daddy!" (Again, different from dada)

"towul" (towel)

and "Hi!" 

In connection with saying "daddy" he has also really bonded to him.  When Ben comes home, Andrew starts spinning circles (literally) because he is so thrilled.  Or he'll walk over to him and sit in his lap.  I am so glad.

As for Emily...

she is as mischievous as usual. Lately her plots include climbing onto the kitchen counters and quickly finding whatever she wants from the cupboards before I catch her.  She also has a new resting place.

We are out of hiding places.

She makes me laugh by showing me her "fish face."

And by singing a variety of songs throughout the day.  I especially enjoy her renditions of "Go To Sleep Little Baby" and "Man of Constant Sorrow" from O Brother, Where Art Thou?   And her awesome version of the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah. 

Some of my favorite words and phrases she says lately are 

"seppup" (ketchup)

"What does [insert animal] say?" (While pointing to the animal in one of her books.)

"[Insert object/person/imaginary friend] go time out!"

She has this imaginary friend--a dinosaur, aptly named "Dinosaur"--with whom she re-enacts important events from the day.  For example, she will tell me "Dinosaur really hungry" when she is/was hungry; she sends Dinosaur into time-out when he bites/hits her and is also called "mean" after these assaults; and she will read Dinosaur books and feed him/her her snacks.  I must say, it makes me smile everyday.

Along with that, she has learned the exhilarating game of hide-and-seek.  Her version is quite entertaining.  While I count to ten, she runs around in circles in front of me and waits for me to reach "10." After that, she counts to ten (very clearly I might add) and "finds" me (I'm usually hiding behind a pillow or something).  

As for potty training...well it is in moratorium.  She will still pee on the potty but will often request diapers.  I am learning to let her go at her own pace rather than at my pace.

She has started smiling for the camera!  Of course I have 2 seconds to capture this, but at least it's a start!

She misses her dad tremendously while he is at work.

Speaking of Ben....

he is busy with work.  He loves his second job (where he works as a paraeducator in an Autistic classroom) and is frustrated with his first job.  But, as always, I am so grateful for how much he sacrifices for our family.

He is also losing weight.  Considering I think he is still as sexy as the day we met, this change is something he is working toward not something I am encouraging.  Still, I am proud of the changes he is making!  It really shows.  

He is getting more and more excited about starting medical school.  Heck, we all are!

Speaking of which, we found a place to live there!  We have filled out the paperwork and mailed our deposit check!  Woot! It is such a relief to know where we will be living for the next 2 years.  Did I mention this place has three bedrooms, a washer/dryer area, and an extra 1/2 bathroom all for the same price we are paying right now for our place?  And that it is within walking distance of the school? Yeah, it is a smoking deal.

And, lastly, me.

  

Not much to report from my end.  I love my kids and am taking care of the household.  Donations of chocolate are always greatly appreciated.

P.S. I even posted this before midnight!  A-mazing.

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,

In which I provide an update and receive many accolades for doing so. At least I should.

Missed us much?  I was getting irritated with the interim site's photo uploading capabilities and decided to not test my patience; however, we used our Christmas money this year to add more storage to this blog!  I am more forgiving with Blogger.

So, since you're all here, why not give you an update?  Like good old times.

Andrew

 Will someone please tell this kid not to grow anymore?  Nah, just kidding.  We are enjoying every new stage he reaches even if it does mean my baby is getting more and more independent.  

He presented us with a lovely Christmas Eve present: He took his first steps!! (This is not a picture of that event.  Unfortunately, I have yet to capture his steps.  He's a quick little guy!)

Our silly Andrew was not going to let Mom and Dad dictate when he would walk; he wanted to do it on his own terms.  So when he was climbing on his daddy, he decided once and for all to show us he did have the skills.  He took off from Ben and walked to the couch.  Afterward, he endured our wild applause (and even joined in).  

He still prefers crawling at this point, but he is becoming more brave in walking--he's even going from a sitting position to a standing position without any supportive help!  The funny thing is, he will only walk while holding an object--like a toy or book.  Silly boy.

He is talking up a storm!  He now says a few words.

-Daddy (used for his daddy and for the male population in general)

-Mommy (just for mommy)

-Tynol (Tylenol, I have no idea why this is in his vocabulary but we sure find it entertaining)

-Tpl (Temple)

-Mo (More)

-Papa (For all the grandparents out there!)

We love listening to his cute, little voice. 

I am in the middle of transitioning him from bottle to sippy cup.  He's handling it pretty well, despite his many misgivings (only because he likes to drink from a regular cups over a sippy cup).  

He and Ben have become good buddies.  Andrew will actually cry when his dad leaves the room.  Hooray!

He does not like to be held by other people.  He prefers me or Ben and that's it--though I do appreciate it when people offer at church.  Especially on the Sundays that Ben works during church and I'm soloing it.

He has 4 teeth now!  His two top teeth finally broke through and are a welcome, and cute, addition to his bottom two.

Emily

There is so much to say about this girl, so many changes!  

First, we finally replaced her crib with a toddler bed (meaning mattress).  She and Andrew love to jump on it. As for sleeping...well, that's a little bit tricky.  More on that later.

Second, she is potty training!  I know I've said many times that I will not do this unless she instigates it.  Well, she did.  After showing us many signs that she is ready, I finally decided to try it--when Ben had a rare, but welcome, two-week break from one of his jobs.  I am pleased to report that it is going fabulously!  She loves to wear her underwear and does a great job of telling me when she has to go pee.  She has yet to poo on the toilet, but we are going to let her tell us when she is ready for that huge step.  Right now, she wears underwear during the day and a diaper at nap times and at night.  We have had no accidents since we started (unless you count forgetting to pull her underwear down while she was on the potty, which I don't).  

This girl is sneaky.  She can now climb on top of everything, with the use of her, I mean our, handy chair. 

Just yesterday she climbed on top of Ben and my dresser, without using the drawers.  So not cool.  (At least for us.)

She loves dresses.  LOVES them.  So I have to be pretty clever when it comes to dressing her warmly during this very frigid winter weather.  I've learned to accessorize with leggings and boots.

Jammies are more tricky.  But, I even have a solution for that.

At least I did.  She now refuses to wear footies.  Thankfully, she likes two-piece pajama outfits and I have a few of those lying around.

I can't talk about her language enough (ha!).  Sometimes we listen to her talk and turn to each other in surprise at how big she is getting.

A sampling of her words and sentences.

-cone fwakes (corn flakes; used for both the cereal and to describe snow flakes)

-titcsh (Titch, a favorite story of hers)

-pullow (marshmallow)

-fower (flower)

-foower (fire)

-tyinol (tylenol)

-trahcwrate (chocolate)

-twee (tree)

"Mommy! [We] are singing a song!"

"ey are swimmin in da water" (they are swimming in the water)

-What's that? (She asks this question a lot.)

Letters

She knows A, (for Andrew), B, D, E (for Emily), M, O, Y, and U.   She points and names these letters whenever she sees them.

Numbers

She can count to ten all by herself and is learning 11, 12, 13, and 14 (still no 15).   She also recognizes 1, 2, 6, and 8 in books and signs.  

Songs

She sings and dances to all types of songs; her favorites remain anything from The Wiggles.  She can also repeat many nursery rhymes by herself--Baa Baa Black Sheep, Little Bird, Wee Willie Winkie, and many others.

Colors

She knows green, blue, purple, pink, orange, white, and black.  Her favorites are pink and orange.  She now labels things by color.  For example, "I want the green binky (pacifier)", or "I want the pink bole (bowl)."  She does this in her sentences and while she reads books.

Books

She loves Mercer Mayer books.  We go to the library frequently so we can have new Little Critter and Little Monster books to read.   She also loves all the new books she received for Christmas.  

Is there any doubt that she's a genius, yet?  

And to end, she loves to scream.  SCREAM.  She does it to be funny and when she doesn't get what she wants.  I think my ears  are forever broken.  

Both Kids

Whether it was Ben picking up the second job or something else, neither kid has been sleeping well.  For a while there both were waking up an hour after going to bed and staying awake until Ben came home from work.   I even have photographic evidence.

That in addition to waking up once or twice a night has kept both Ben and me very tired.  Sometimes I just want to yell, "Come on kids, give us a break!"

This finally calmed down a little bit a few weeks ago but now that Emily has switched to her new bed, we are experiencing it again.  To the extreme.  Take last night, for instance, she woke up at 3 am and refused to go to bed until 6 am when I locked her in my room with me.  

I sure hope she gets used to this new arrangement soon.

Amber

Well, I think we've gotten to the bottom of all the weird health issues I've been having.  The pain is from cysts.   Originally, Ben and I assumed the nausea, vomiting, exhaustion, bloating, and everything else came from the cysts as well, because Wikipedia explained these are common side effects to them.   Apparently,  I was wrong.  While at the doctor's yesterday for a different reason, the doctor asked about my cysts and I told her about the symptoms I was having.  She put me on birth control to try and stop the pain and I figured that if the nausea and vomiting didn't go away after three months from using these I would talk to her about it.   Well, I'm glad I didn't wait because there is most likely a different reason: An ulcer.  I took a blood test and will find out on Monday if that is the culprit.  

Guys, these health issues have kicked my trash.   The constant fatigue (and kids sleeping poorly), nausea, and pain have left me  drained of energy.  I can barely take pictures and play with the kids.  This is made even more difficult because Ben is working all the time which means I am responsible for more things that we would normally share if he were home.   I am just glad I wash the dishes(which takes me  1.5 hours average, by the way) and pick up the house nightly and manage to keep up on laundry, even if it takes forever for me to fold it.  

Hey, if most of my problems come from an ulcer than maybe after it's treated I will have my energy back, right?   

Don't answer that.

(P.S. None of this has affected my fertility.  Still, I am not even thinking about having another baby for a while.  Two miscarriages in 6 months was enough to undo me emotionally.  I can't take the stress of another pregnancy, just so you know.)

Ben

He celebrated his big birthday last week!  We had lots of fun and I will soon post pictures from the events.

He is enjoying his welcome two-week break.  He had his first day off last Wednesday since Thanksgiving (remember, he works 7 days a week).   I am so glad one of  his days off coincided with his birthday.  What a blessing.

Want to know an awesome irony?  I brought Ben to the doctor's office with me yesterday for his own appointment.  He's had awful heart burn for a while and it is keeping him up at night, so I scheduled an appointment with me so we could see what the deal is.  Well, it just so happens that he probably has an ulcer too.  I think I'm still laughing about this strange twist of events.  

For the months of November and December, he decided to grow out his beard.  He looked sexy, if I say so myself.

Medical School News


Yes, we've finally made our decision.  And, I want to make a game out of it.  So, I'll describe the place and you guess!

-The summers are unbearably hot.

-The winters are extremely pleasant.
-No more dealing with snow.

-Palm trees replace the pine trees of Utah.

-The housing market is perfect for buyers, but not for sellers.

-It's in the west.

Did you guess yet??

Well, I'll tell you.

We are heading to....

ARIZONA!!

Love,