18 months old!

It's so hard to believe but our little man turned 18 months old on the 28th. He rang in his 1 1/2 year birthday with a double ear infection. :( Because we had to make a trip to the pediatrician on Monday for the ear infections, his 18 month checkup had to be moved to a later date. I realized I never posted his 17 month milestones, so we'll do a combo post.

At 17 months, he..

• wears 18 months clothes, wears size 5 shoes
• obsessed with bananas. He has always liked them but he has an abnormal obsession with them these last 2 weeks. I think he's really a monkey.
• teething again (Finally!). I think he's getting quite a few on the bottom. This has made him clingy and whiny, which is not typical for him. This is also causing him to bite, which we discussed in the previous post.
• really likes the l sound lately. We've been singing a lalalala song together.
• discovered Poptarts thanks to his daddy. He loves them!
• got another haircut
• likes to pretend he is talking on the phone. Everything becomes a phone that he puts up to his ear. When someone actually tries to talk to him on the phone, he freezes though. (Do you think his mom talks on the phone too much? :) )
• is still not walking on his own but will walk holding onto your finger.
• loves to pull everything out of a cabinet and sit in it.
  
• says: book, done, mama, dada, hey

at 18 months, he ...

• weighs: 26.9 lbs. (I don't have the other measurements; will post after appointment)
• is wearing 18 to 24 month clothes depending on the brand
• walks with one adult's finger. He has taken a few steps on his own but is still timid about letting go and walking on his own full-time.
• follows directions well.
  
• has learned how to feed himself with a fork and spoon, that is if the food stays on it.
• loves to dip his food in all kind of condiments. Yesterday he dipped his cheese stick in his ketchup.
  
• can point to multiple body parts. His favorite are belly, feet, and mouth.
  
• can somewhat throw a ball. It's not far but he can palm it and throw it in the air.
• has become more aware of the tv. We now have to make sure we are intentional about turning it off or making sure the show is appropriate. He loves PBS, esp. Curious George and Dinosaur Train. (We try not to let him watch a lot of tv though).
  
• has become a daddy's boy. He wants to be with Jeremy all the time. While sometimes this is a little disheartening for me, it is really sweet to see them together.
  
• scribbles with a crayon (also likes to taste it before he colors with it)
• continues to love books and has great print concepts..meaning he knows how to hold a book correctly, he can locate the front, and turns the pages in the correct direction.)
  

I still have concerns that he is missing some milestones, like walking and talking, that we will discuss with the pediatrician at his next appointment. No matter what, we love the little guy and feel very blessed to have him in our lives.

We Miss These Faces..

I love these little faces. I saw them almost every day of their life until Sept of '08 when we moved away. I miss them terribly and it was so fun to see them this past Friday. I made a random trip up to Wake Forest to visit because they have a new little addition to their family.

This is their new little brother, Graham. He is precious and reminds me of his older brother Gabriel at that age.
They are getting so big. Gabriel is 4 now and Phoebe is 2!
Gabriel took this picture of Alyson and I. He didn't do bad for a 4 year old.
After my visit with them, I had lunch with the Georges. Kim and I used to teach together at Forest Pines. Her girls are getting so big too!

Taylor (now in 9th grade!) and I
Sydney (6th grade) and Owen. She loved feeding Owen and Owen loved her potato soup.
We miss WF and all of our friends. Thank you ladies for continuing our friendship; it means more than you know!

Where is God?

It seems like more than ever these days, there is so much pain and suffering. From natural disasters to deaths, many people, including Christians, are beginning to question where is God in all this?

Dr. John Townsend attempts to answer this question and more in his new book Where is God?. Thomas Nelson Publishers sent me a free copy of this book in return for my review. Normally, I don’t read a lot of non-fiction, but I was surprised just how much I enjoyed this book. While I personally am not questioning God, I felt very encouraged by the spiritual truths Townsend presents in this book. He shows us through illustrations, real world examples, and Scripture how God is at work despite what we think. He accurately portrays God as a loving, caring God who works all things in order to bring us or others closer to Him. I felt reassured that while I may never know why God is taking me through a certain circumstance, He does. He may be using it if nothing else to use you as a vessel for someone else who is suffering. I also liked his point that God is empathetic and sympathetic to our trials and it suffers with us. I would recommend this book to believers and non-believers; it will encourage you and help shed light into your current circumstances.

Jen and Adrian's Wedding

This weekend we celebrated the union of Jeremy's middle brother Adrian and his lovely bride Jen. Jeremy was honored to be a groom's man for his brother.

Because Jeremy was in the wedding, I had to juggle a 17 month old and a camera. Please forgive me for the lack of quality pictures.

Friday night's rehearsal
The mothers looking onSaturday..my 2 handsome men. Check out Owen's seersucker suit! :)
Madison, our niece, and Owen playing before the ceremony
Our first picture of just the two of us in 17 months (I think). I was an honorary bridesmaid.
Our family of 3
Brother and sister in laws, Nathan, Erin, Jesse, Emily

The happy couple

Cutting the cake
Leaving amidst the bubbles
(There were many other great pictures but in respect to others, I promised not to post their picture. )

It was a great weekend and we are so excited to add Jen as a member of our family.

Recapping The Last Few Weeks

I have been bad about updating the blog lately. So here's what you've missed.

The stomach bug finally left our house but not without trying to rare it's ugly head again. I thought I had it last Monday but luckily it was just a really bad stomach ache, which lasted only about 12 hours.

I've been working A LOT at Sylvan...almost every night unless Jeremy has had to work. It's hard not spending time together as a family. Hopefully this is only a phase in life and it won't be something I need to do forever.

Last weekend my brother came home and we got to meet his new girlfriend. She seems like a great fit for him and we really liked her so we're all happy.

Jeremy and I spent the day together in Raleigh. Well almost..I worked at a consignment sale for a few hours while he ran errands. We then shopped together for Owen's summer wardrobe. I felt like we came home with some great stuff though I really wanted some outside toys, which were off course gone.

Next weekend Jeremy's brother Adrian gets married! We'll spend the weekend in Charlotte celebrating.

I've been playing with Photoshop again and made a new blog header. If you're reading this through an rss reader..you should click on the blog and check it out.

Well that's it folks. I hopefully will be better about updating here in the future.

Frustration

Disclaimer: This post is more of a rant so if you don't feel like hearing me complain, you should just move on.

First, our house was hit pretty hard with the yucky stomach virus. Owen started Thursday night by throwing up for 3 straight hours. After that he struggled with diarrhea for the next two days. Saturday morning Jeremy woke up with a stomach ache and by lunch time, he was full blown into the stomach bug. Because I was at work, my mom took care of Owen. Sadly, this caused her to contract the bug as well. She was out of commission all of Sunday. This virus is no joke. Jeremy has lost close to 8 lbs. While I want to lose weight, I do not want this bug. Luckily I have managed to stay healthy. Thank you preschool for helping to build my immune system up.

We thought we were finally over it, then Owen wakes up at 5 this morning throwing up again. He has had two runny diapers again. I called the doctor, and the nurse said you can get it again. I hope this is just a random incident and he is not getting it again. GRRRRRRR!

Second, Owen has gotten in trouble at preschool now for biting. Yesterday he bit all 3 of his friends in his MMO class. The teacher said he is not doing it out of meaness; he isn't trying to take a toy or no one has done anything to him. The teacher said he is happy the whole time, but now his friends are scared of him. I'm frustrated because I don't know what to do. He doesn't bite us at home and I'm not in there when he bites. Tomorrow I am going to be the room with him to see if I can figure out a solution. If we don't get this under control, he'll be asked to leave, therefore I lose my job. Please pray that we can solve this quickly.

Last the on-going frustration is Owen's development. He still is not walking on his own and he is only saying about 3 words. He will walk while holding onto your hand, but he has to be in the right mood. He is very stubborn and if he doesn't want to do it, he'll sit down and refuse to move. I'm frustrated because I don't know how to make him do it. I have used everyone's suggestions and it doesn't seem to help.

Ok thanks for listening......I just needed to vent.

New Job

Monday I started my new job at Sylvan Learning Center. I am working at nights from 5:30-7:30 after Jeremy gets home and some Saturdays. While my schedule is never the same, this week I am working M-Th and Sat. Nothing like jumping right in! :)

So far it's been going really well. I didn't realize how much I missed teaching. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss the school setting...the discipline, paperwork, meetings, etc. I miss the actual teaching aspect so this is an ideal way to fill that void.

Sadly the hard thing about the job is that we lose our family time together. Because of the time schedule, Owen and I meet Jeremy at work, where we switch cars and he takes him home. They cook dinner, play, and do the bedtime routine. I get home after Owen is already in bed. :( Jeremy and I still get time together but we don't get the time as a family. I'm trying to look at it optimistically.....at least Owen doesn't have to go to daycare. Another weird thing is that we get paid every two months because of a contract we are working on with the state. Kind of hard to plan and budget don't you think?

I am very grateful for the job and the added income it brings in. Hopefully this will help us bring down and keep down some of our debt.