Thursday, September 30, 2010

Family Update





We have been staying pretty busy around here and I have been informed that my blog is more exciting when I post... so I thought I would post something.

Eric has been very busy with school this semester. He took a big test (2 days of written testing followed by a few hour oral exam). There was lots of studying and stress involved with the test- but he passed! We were both very excited about this. He has also turned in a big paper that he had been working on. Now that these steps are done, he is able to fill out paperwork for his master's degree and will be able to get that. The test made it so he can be an official PhD candidate and not get kicked out of the department- which is a good thing :)

I have been working on things around the house and enjoying my last few months of only having 1 child to take care of. I have been feeling quite a bit better. I have had a few issues with low blood pressure, but there are more good days than bad so that is good. I think I have figured out if I drown myself drinking water and don't go more than 2 hours without eating something, it seems to be better. I've started getting a few things ready for the new baby- nothing too exciting, but we got a second mattress so Oliver's bed and the crib both have mattresses now and I emptied out some drawers in the dresser to start making room for clothes for the new baby. I will be 27 weeks tomorrow, so I think that is roughly the start of the third trimester.

Oliver has been staying very busy. He plays with lots of toys. Some of his current favorites are play food, a monkey puppet, trains, stacking cups, mega blocks, and legos. He builds lots of towers and yells out tower every time he adds a block. He likes to paint, especially water colors because he gets to dip his brush in the water. This is also how he spends a good share of his "toothbrushing" time- rewetting his toothbrush. He still likes books and songs. He is a letter junkie and points to and says most letters he sees. He is saying lots of words and starting to put a few together. He isn't the most understandable yet, but if you can see what he is doing, you can get more of his "language." He is pretty much a busy, happy little boy.

The new baby is just about 3 months from due date. At my appointments, they tell me everything is on track. This baby is very active compared to what Oliver was. Eric and I keep talking about how quickly this baby is going to be here. Oliver seems somewhat aware of the baby, he points to my stomach if you ask where the baby is and he knows the crib is for the baby and his bed is for him.

So there is an update on our whole family. We are looking forward to going to New York next weekend for Timothy's (Randy & Kara's new baby) baptism. I will try to get better about posting a little more often, I'm not promising everyday, but I'll shoot for a few times a week :)

Happy Friday Eve to Everyone!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Time with Daddy

Oliver has started swim lessons. He loves them. This picture was at his first swim lesson. He blows bubbles in the water, sticks his face in the water, dunks his head (with a little help), jumps off the edge into the water, makes "big arm circles," is getting better at kicking, and holds onto the edge of the pool. I'm not sure how much he will actually take away from the lessons, but as soon as we say it is time for swim lessons, he gets super excited. We actually don't let him see his swim trunks until we are ready to go because he gets upset if he doesn't get to go swimming right away :)

Eric & Oliver fed the fish together tonight. Oliver is finally big enough to stand on the step stool while feeding the fish so Eric doesn't have to hold him the whole time now.

One of the drawers in a dresser in Oliver's room broke a little so Eric and Oliver fixed it for us. Oliver was very happy to help- that little boy loves tools.


This picture was taken in Iowa a few weeks ago. Eric's great-grandma passed away and we went back for the funeral. We are sad to see her go, but know she is in a better place now.

*On a side note, I meant to mention the picture at the top of the blog was taken by my niece Heidi. She took a bunch of pictures of Oliver a few weeks ago. Eric has the oral part to a big exam he has been working on this Wednesday so after that we are hoping to go through the pictures and get some printed and some posted on here. They turned out great!