The Lonely December Post

I'm calling it this, because, let's face it, these postings are getting to be few and far between! So, in this one post I'll try to sum up anything that may be of interest, and that'll just have to do for now.

NOVEMBER

November was a fun month. The boys are SO active now. It's unbelievable to look at those old pictures of them lying around. I think to myself, "Why on earth did I feel so busy? What was I DOING all that time?" (Maybe I just have a terrible memory, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what made it seem like such hard work!) NOW, though... this is WORK! It's a great stage in development. The boys are enjoying being able to explore, and that actually gives me an opportunity to attempt to get a few things done around the house. Not that I truly accomplish much of anything, but I'd say my productivity level increased from about 20% to, oh, maybe 40% in November? At this rate, we should again have a somewhat clean home by the year 2012. No, I'm not taking into account that I will have three kids running wild. I refuse to even try to imagine what it will be like around here at that point in time. My head is stuck in the sand-- no, make that snow-- and I'm perfectly happy leaving it there for awhile.

STILL NOVEMBER

We had a great Thanksgiving! For the first time in many, many years, but we decided to head down to see the Missouri crowd this year. We figured it'll probably be much harder with three kids, so this was the one year that seemed like a great opportunity to visit Janice's side (my stepmom), as well as get in a short visit with Todd's Dad and grandmothers. Days before leaving, I was cursing the decision, fearing a difficult car ride (with toddlers that HATE carseats), worrying that we'd be chasing them nonstop at the Mercantile (my aunt is a dollmaker, which means we would be tempting the boys with about a thousand breakable dolls within easy reach), and finishing that with a visit with Grandpa's dog (the cutest, but shyest thing I've ever seen. I imagined her having a heart attack while being preyed upon by the boys!)

I worried for nothing. The car ride went great. We broke the trip up into three parts, staying with Mamaw (Todd's grandma) for one night, then a few nights in MO, then the trip home. The Mercantile visit was fun, and the boys enjoyed exploring but didn't get into trouble (hurray!) And at Grandpa's house (Grandma Linda had a jewelry show, so was out of town), the boys happily chased Musashi (the dog), and she ended up enjoying being around them. Plus, we had steak for dinner while we were there, which automatically deems the visit a success in my book. (I've been craving steak all throughout this pregnancy, so it was nice to finally get to enjoy it!)

DECEMBER

December has not been so kind to us. I guess we were enjoying November a bit too much, and needed to be knocked down a bit. Nothing major, but just enough to remind me that I really, really hate winter, so I'm not a fan of this month in general.

A few days after returning home from Missouri, I made the mistake of giving Joel an itty bitty teeny tiny miniscule bite of my peanut butter toast. Oops. Turns out what we already thought may be allergy is now absolutely, most definitely, an allergy. After a few hours in the ER and multiple medications, he was fine, but not until after I had nearly had a heart attack from guilt and worry. (Have you ever seen an EYEBALL swell? Not the lid, not the skin, but the actual eyeball? That was the first sign that things were wrong. When a swollen eyeball is the initial sign of "something is wrong", you know it is not a good thing.) Everything turned out fine, though, and I'm actually glad we now have confirmation that peanuts are completely off limits. (FYI- He's allergic to tomatoes as well. Just in case we ever come over, please don't serve tomato salad and pizza with spaghettios on the side!)

So, after our little ER escapade, life went back to normal. For a day. Then we all developed a lovely stomach virus. It lasted for days. Four very sick people in a house does not make for a pretty site. Today was the first day we all pretty much felt normal again.

That brings me to current day. See how easy that was? Oh, if you are wondering "how's the pregnancy, Sarah?", the answer is, so far, so good! It has been so easy compared to last time that I nearly forget all about it half the time. Hopefully we'll have gender news sometime next month. Names are completely at a loss so far. I'm thinking I'll post a naming contest, and you all can do the work for us!

And where might the pictures be?

Well, pictures are getting much harder to come by these days. The boys now think the camera is a toy. They know that it has a screen on the back to see the pictures. So, this is pretty much all I get nowadays:

Here's one that I think is pretty fun, though. The boys were enjoying chocolate pudding. They don't get it very often (if you've ever changed a kid's diaper after eating pudding, you know why.)

"MORE, PLEASE!"

I've been taking a lot of video, though, so just as soon as I can remember how to actually load it onto the computer, you'll get some real viewing pleasure.

Oh, and before I forget, we've got an official first word! (Besides Mama and Da-ee)

The first word is...

BUMP

They both said it the same day, nearly at the same time. We were out in the wagon, and went over a bump. I guess they felt the need to inform me about it.

Haven't had much beyond baby babble since, but they say "bump" regularly and with gusto!