I decided that it's time for a new post. Today was the first day Jerry went back to work since before Ariel was born. I was a little scared because I didn't really know how it would go. Paul has been a whiny buckets for a while now(4 teeth coming in at the same time). And Ariel is still so little. Well, today went very well. Paul was very crabby, and little El slept most of the time.
Kris came to visit us this morning and brought us lunch. Yum! She helped me get laundry done... still need to fold it and put it away... :)
(Currently watching Hot Tub Time Machine for the first time... it's okay.)
What else... I weighed El today, she's put on almost a pound and a half! Woot! Good work girlie!
Let's see, what else... no idea. Got the munchies. :)

Ariel Elizabeth is here!
Born on 9/22/2011, at 6:47PM, weighing 6lbs 7oz, measuring at 20.5in.
In about 12 hours, she will be one week old. The time has flown by and I've loved it all so much. It's been a little difficult at times, but totally worth it. Paul loves his sister so much and gets a bit jealous of her at times too. He tries to take her from me to hold her and to sit in my lap while I'm holding her. Silly boy. She is doing so great with everything. She's sleeping well, eating well, but not quite burping the best :( which equals more spit-up than I ever had to deal with with Paul. I'm feeling great, hardly like someone who had a baby only a week ago!

Baby, oh baby...

Alright... so, I feel I should blog a bit before Miss Elli decides to show up and I don't have the hands free to do so.
Things have been going very well. She's growing at the rate she should and her heartbeat has been great. My blood pressure and weight have been good... What else...? Doc said of her a couple months ago that she has been consistent. And it's stayed true. Poor Paulie is still teething. His eye teeth have finally poked through, but I have a feeling that the bottom two are close behind. Poor kid can't catch a break from workin out those teeth!
With the weather being nicer, it's killing me that I haven't had the energy to take Paul out and play more. It's also frustrating that we don't have our own yard to play in with our own stuff. ... Anyway... I really don't know what else to talk about. It really feels like Elli is just going to stay inside forever and that I'm just going to be big and tired and sore forever and ever!!! It just feels that way. I know it's not true. So, I keep telling myself. I also keep telling myself that she may just arrive this week and I go through the lists of things that I could do or should do to make myself our home more ready for her. It seems that I don't have much to do... just practice relaxing. And maybe finding someone to take care of Paul while we're in the hospital. Which we do have people, it's just going to be a matter of coordinating and timing... Since we don't know what time she'll be popping... oh... well... you know... I can't really plan much!!! Maybe tonight will be the night that everything starts. Hope so. Jerry could come home early tomorrow and/or not go to work and have a nice little vacation with me.
blah blah blah
I am getting tired... this often happens... and then I think of even less interesting things to talk about.
In summary, we are doing well and I am becoming impatient.
Oh yeah! We picked up a free couch off the street that is in pretty decent condition, smells great and looks great too! It's longer and more comfortable than the couch we did have, so i'm pretty excited... it's been so nice to sleep on.
Did I mention we also got a rocker/recliner? Yeah, that was free too. Needs to be covered, in my opinion, but otherwise a great chair. *sigh* Good furniture makes me happy.
Thanks for reading... sorry it was so.... chaotic.

9/8/2011 - Teeth and Mosquitos

Yes, Paul is still teething. It seems as though 4 are coming in all at once. Ugh. This makes for a very crabby little boy most of the time. Can't blame him though. I'd be crabby too if I had that many teeth coming in all at once. It's been great that the days have been nicer out. We've been to the park a lot in the last couple of weeks. A few days ago we spent a few hours at the park with friends disc golfing. It was a really great time. I didn't do too bad myself and we only got bit by a few hundred mosquitoes. Okay, so a few hundred is a bit of an exaggeration, but we still got bit up. Paul got quite a few on his face, poor lad, and his face puffed up pretty good. Looked like someone gave him a good sock in the eye. After the long walk in the park and tossing a disc around, the next day I started feeling some regular Braxton-Hicks. It felt like real labor had begun and it lasted a few hours. We had a couple of people on call in case we needed to go into the hospital,but no one was called and we slept through the night. I was slightly disappointed that nothing came of it, but it was clear to both Jerry and I that we were not quite ready for little Ariel to come home yet. We still needed to preregister with the hospital, which I did this afternoon, and get an idea of how much clothing we actually had for her. I also didn't have anything set up for her clothes to go in, but I do now. Last night our neighbor was kind enough to give us her rocker/recliner. I'd been searching for one that I liked for quite some time and noticed one sitting in our basement. I figured with where it sat that it might be hers so I left her a note and about an hour later she popped over to say we could just have it! PTL! We've gotten a lot of things done since our little "scare" and I'm grateful. I'll soon have my bags packed and a list of the things I want with when the time does come.

Other great news is that Jerry was finally told when he'll end his weekend shift and begin the "night" shift. The 19th is his last day for weekends, and the 27th is his first day on nights, 3pm-1am. It would be great timing if Elli came in-between those days so that Jerry could have some extra time off. Or maybe even the week before would be better.

Not sure what else to include. Getting to be my nap time. Thanks for reading!

Aug 11th, 2011

It's been a while, I know. We've been so busy and so here's what we've been busy with.

Paul is now only a few days away from being 17 months old, he's taller and smarter and gets into more things than before. We've been trying our best to adjust to this and are continually Paul-proofing our apartment to keep him from any real danger.

It's been a struggle to find things to do outside with the terrible heat AND high humidity, but with this nice break we've been having, we've been outside quite a bit. Today has been the first day, it seems, that we've had time to just relax in our home and enjoy the nice weather.

I've also been finding it more difficult to get around. I get so tired so quick, but this too shall pass. :) With approximately 6 weeks left before Elli shows her beautiful face, I've been nesting, hardcore, in order to really feel and be ready for her. Only a few more minor things to do and I think we'll be set. That's just getting things where I want them, next we'll be working on paperwork. Our birthplan and getting preregistered at the hospital.

Another thing is that Jerry will soon be transferring to a new shift starting sometime September! It will be Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 3pm - 1am. Yay! We are both really excited about the change and can't wait.

Wow. I am at a loss for words. I guess I can't think of much more to add at the moment. Things are going well and I guess I just need a nap now. :)

Oh man. What a terrible sleep. This sucks. I'm always so tired. I dreamt many terrible things too, like i was on a plane that flew a billion miles an hour and my seat started flying and then fell into the floor. Then the next plane i was supposed to get on i couldn't because there was an issue with me having dirty tennis shoes outside my bag. Next, some fight broke out some glass was broken and i had gum in my mouth which resulted in me almost getting shot, glass stuck in my feet and all of my teeth falling out and apart. On top of that ariel has been super active while i sleep so if i wake up at all, i can feel her moving and then that keeps me awake. Ugh. Just thought i'd share.

And these are...

Hello family and friends,
It's been a while, and once again I cannot sleep. These days have been busy, fun, frustrating, interesting, scary and well.... I suppose a little of everything.
I'm not sure where to begin. My mind brings me first to the fact that Jerry hit a deer with our car while on his way to work,@ 4:30AM on June 4th. He was fine, but the car was not and the deer was worse off still. We were able to get it in and because we have had full coverage on our car the insurance company is paying for the damages but the $500 deductible. Of which is going to be covered by another program we have, so the damage is really going to cost us nothing. Praise the LORD!!! We took it in on the 6th and we just got it back this last Friday. Hurray! It's been so great having our car back. I didn't realize that I could miss such a thing, but I really did.
Next, Paul has been teething for a while now and I'd say about 3 - 4 weeks ago he cut his first set of molars. Talk about a miserable kid. The night they finally broke through, thanks to mommy, he wasn't really sleeping well and I hadn't gone to bed yet by 2 AM so when I went in to check on him, he woke up right away and then just started screaming and crying. I couldn't figure out what could be so bad so I tried everything. Food, drink, rocking him... he didn't want any of it. So while in my lap, crying and screaming I happened to see the two white spots on his upper gum in the back and then I knew. I got my thumb in there and rubbed so hard til I could feel his teeth and then things started getting better. That was the last time he woke up in the middle night over those teeth. Right after I got his teeth to finally cut through, I gave him some medicine, a carrot and carried him around in my sling for about a half hour. Going to bed this time was soooo much easier than it had been earlier that night.
As of today, the 19th, I am 26 weeks and two days along, and I'm really feelin... a lot. Little Miss Ariel has been pretty active as of this last week and just the other night I couldn't really sleep much because of all this activity. Now tonight, she's been busy, but I've also been a lot less comfortable no matter which way I lay or what pillows I use. It stinks. Tonight I have resolved to sleeping on the couch to see if that helps at all.
If you didn't already know, Paul is no longer walking, but running. Yup. That didn't take long. He takes off like a shot. The cutest thing is when he falls and gets back up and then pats his leg a bunch of times. It's like he's telling his leg not to do that again or to work better next time. I wonder if he does it though because if we are outside I will brush off his knees to get the actual dirt and grass off.
Paul also loves to be outside and if we mention going outside he runs to the door and does his best to say outside and nods his head as he says it. Occasionally, he will ride his trike to the door and say outside or push the stroller to the door. He also knows what the word bath means, and so now when we ask him if he wants to take a bath or if he's ready to take a bath, he will start running for the bathroom and keep looking behind him to make sure you are following him there. Not only that, he pretty much expects the bath to be ready and gets a little upset if we tell him he needs to wait to get in. As well as he's been trying to climb in while fully clothed. Yeah, he's not excited for bath time or anything like that. ;)
Today is also Father's Day, so Happy Father's Day, Daddy! I sent you a card and I hoped you would get it by Saturday, but I won't know til later because I never heard from you or mom as to whether or not you got it.
I'm super excited for Jerry this time around because he's not just getting one card from me, he's also getting a card from Paul. I helped Paul sign it and let him scribble in it too. Just to add a little bit more... love to it. :) Unfortunately, Jerry still has to work today, but I have a few things planned to do for him to make it more special.
 I suppose I should also mention that Paul and I just had a check up, and we are both, well, all three of us are doing great. I put on a pound since last month. Paul now weighs nearly 22 pounds, which is really good! Elli is where she should be at and with a great heart rate too. I just have to go in this Friday to do the glucose testing to see if I am at risk for gestational diabetes. Yuck. Oh well. It will be great when it's done and we know.
Oh yeah, the only other thing is... Our computer kind of ...died. But we've been fortunate enough to be in contact with wonderful people who have offered to help see if they can fix it for little to nothing. Yay! I think that if this happens again, we'll just start looking into getting a new computer. This isn't the first time it's happened and there hasn't been any real clear reason why it does keep happening.
Something else I am excited about... that only a person who doesn't have their own washer and dryer could be excited about, I found out a way to save time and money on doing laundry! Yes, it's super exciting to me to save on both of those things and it's all just by taking my laundry to a laundromat. It's one that is about 2 minutes from our house, super clean and has a deal on double load washers every Tuesday for a buck! Ya! I know it! And then the dryers are super huge so they dry twice as much for the same price as a regular dryer. (I just did laundry at this place tonight, and that's when I put all this together) So it's looking like Tuesday is going to be laundry day from now on and I don't really care who knows it. :)

I think that finally, I would like to touch on how God has just simply been taking care of us and how grateful I am for it all. He certainly protected Jerry in the deer accident(the deer could have rolled into the windshield and broke the glass...etc), He led us into getting this other program almost a year ago(it's good for another 2 years) that is now going to cover our deductible(we would not have had the $500 otherwise), He's kept us all safe in the midst of all the terrible storms and tornadoes that have been breaking out across the Midwest. He's also brought a wonderful family of friends into our lives that we could never produce, replace, or duplicate by any of our own means. As well as, simply, family.
Thank you for reading, it's been a pleasure to share with you our lives.

So, i'm trying to blog and i can't seem to stay on the computer long enough to remember so my solution is to set up mobile posting from my phone. It's going to be easier to post more often, just more of a hassle if i've got a lot to say. I guess we'll see how it goes. Life is good, and this is a test run to see how this texting to my blog works. Uh, yeah, that's all for now. :)

Good days

These last several days have been brighter, even though the skies have been darker. I know the weather will warm up, but I guess it's not always certain when I'll warm up on the inside. Being cooped up inside has been challenging. What do we do? We finally got out the warm weather things and now we can't enjoy them.
I don't sleep well at night, nothing looks good to eat (to me), so I'm more tired from not enough calories on top of being prego. So frustrating. I think I might have an aversion to dairy as well. Still trying to figure that one out.
I got an early birthday present from my parents, THANK YOU!!! It was a total body pillow that I've had my eye on for some time now. I actually don't hurt anymore when I lay down! SO amazing!
This last Tuesday was a blast, I got to visit with my sister Kris for a little bit and then I got to visit with my friend Amber and her new baby for a little while. After that I was able to visit with my other friend Brooke for a few minutes and about a half hour after I got home, another friend stopped by to visit with me as well!
It was a very busy and blessed day for me. Tonight I was able to see more friends that I haven't seen in a very long time, and it was so much fun. I love being around my friends!! And I miss them too.
I had the opportunity to go to my favorite restaurant tonight too, and I passed that up just to see my friends. Good for me! But sad that I didn't get to visit with another friend or eat food that doesn't make me feel yuck.
Let's see... I'm 17 weeks and 1 day along and I'm still experiencing morning sickness. Will it end? I need to eat more but I don't know what to eat or I'm too picky and don't want to eat what's available to me.
Ugh.
Am I only complaining here? No... I'm grateful for what I have, and what I will have. It's just so.... I just feel so... alone sometimes. I forget about the other moms that have had a more difficult time with being pregnant than me. Shame on me. I want to connect with you, moms who aren't doing well either. We need to support each other! I want to support you and encourage you!
I have 2 weeks left before I find out if we're having a girl or boy. Well... 1 week and 6 days. We find out April 28th. Did I mention that already? Oh well. I'm just on a rant now.
Thank you for reading this. I think that I'm going to bring back the option to comment on my posts and I'd really appreciate it if you'd share your thoughts! Or if you have any questions, let me know those... I don't think of everything to write or share... ;)
Thanks again.

Hormones.

Need I say more?
Okay, maybe I will.
They suck.
Okay, no they don't. If it weren't for them, the human population would cease to exist.
I think you get what I'm saying though.
This bountiful amount of hormones I now have are driving me crazy!
I'm super moody, I cry over silly things, and things that I used to be able to handle... I just can't seem to handle like I used to!!
So, my apologies to those that I love. It's not me... I'm really trying to keep myself under control, but I slip.
I'm so drained from all the things going on that I should do, need to do, and manage to do that it seems I just can't keep up with everything and I need your grace. I thank you for it.

something from the other week.

Rough week. Finally had a break, but kept feeling like a got ran over by a truck every time I'd wake up in the morning. We are otherwise doing well. Where did all this snow come from?! We were finally able to enjoy the grass that was beginning to turn green, and now it's buried again! Although it is nice that the neighbor's dog's feces are finally "gone." We just got super dumped on with snow. Not that I should complain about all the moisture it will condense to. Making beautiful flowers and grass once winter finally decides it's had its last laugh. I even saw a robin a couple of days ago! (my childhood sign that SPRING IS HERE) And it is... we're just having a few kinks in the weather system. It should be warm enough, and long enough, this week that most of this snow that we go will be at least half gone, if not almost gone by the end of the week. If the temps hold steady at what they are projected to be. Then off to the parks! This would be a good time for me to own RAIN boots. My snow boots have holes in the soles already. It's so silly. They are so warm and cozy, but as soon as I step in melting snow or any tiny amount of puddle, my feet end up soaking wet, and no longer warm and cozy. Very sad.

Videogames.

So... a while back now, I started playing Fallout 3. It was fun, but not enough to keep me playing. Fallout: New Vegas on the other hand.. Well let's just say that yesterday I played it for several hours in the afternoon. Let Jerry play some games for a while til he went to bed, then after Paul went to bed I started playing some more. I thought, there's no way I'll be playing all night. I'll get tired. I'll listen to my body and go to bed. I know what signs to watch for. I'll start to have slightly blurred vision(from holding my eyes open too long), I'll feel slightly sick(from being so tired), and I'll get slightly dizzy(from watching the screen move around so much). Did I notice these things while playing? Yes. Did I listen to those signs and stop playing and go to bed? No. What did I do? I looked at the clock at around 9:30pm. I thought, okay, I haven't been playing that long, I'll play for a little while longer and then go to bed. So I played for a while longer and then I thought, "huh... I wonder what time it is?" 12:45AM. YUP. I played for 3 hours straight and it felt like 10 minutes. I felt like I had literally "lost time". It was gone. No getting back. How did this happen?? How was this game soo good that I didn't even notice 3 hours had gone by?? Now I was way past tired, and still needed to wind down. Sudoko has been my favorite wind down game. Even though it's all numbers, I focus on just the numbers and start to forget about everything else. So nice.

This is completely off subject, but I'm going to interject again that Jerry and I believe that I am brewing a girl this time. I'd say he bases it off of the fact that I've been stricken with morning sickness for what seems to be much longer of a period than I had with Paul. I am also basing it off of the fact that I've been more tired, more crabby and irritable and even moody with this one! Maybe It's just because I've still had such a hard time getting great nutrition, but still. We have our vote in. We'll be okay with being surprised, but for now, I've been looking for girl clothes and things like that. We also already have a name picked out!
Blessings

Homesick for the home that doesn't exsist

You ever find yourself feeling homesick for a place that doesn't exsist?? I do... all the time. I dream about the place I grew up in often, and like I'm still living there. *Sigh* I miss it. The house is still there, but it's not the same. So, now I'm trying to figure out why I miss it so much and how do I let it go?
wow. I got nothing else.

Success!

This week was seemingly especially difficult to get through. So many things to do with so little time. Our party was a success. I mean, how could it not have been? It really was a lot of fun and really great for me because Paulie got wore out from all the attention and went to bed without a peep! Woot! I know he'll sleep really well tonight. Thanks to everyone who was able to come and that pitched in. It was wonderful to have your help and to be able to see you! Sad for those who couldn't come!
Another bright side is that it was a quick and easy clean up and my house still looks great!
We weren't the only ones taking pictures, but we really didn't take that many because we really didn't do much but sit around and play with Paul. I wanted more video than anything because that is where you get to see and hear the things that are going on. You really get to experience it then. I'm sad at the moment because I can't preview the video that was taken on our computer. Something happened and our computer won't read the file. That's never happened before, but Jerry did just delete a bunch of things off the computer tonight, so maybe that has something to do with it.
I'm still going to add video though. I'm uploading one right now. I can always watch it on my camera which I think I'm going to do in a bit just to see if I want all of them online or not.
I'm uploading the one video to FB, but I should have at least one or two up on here soon.
There was something else I was going to add... not about the party. I just can't think of it. This has been happening quite a bit lately. Maybe something will jog my memory and I'll add it later, but for now... I think this is it. XD

I am not a good party planner. I'll admit to that.

I love parties, I do. I love to go to them and hang out, and help out too! I just cannot plan them. This week on wednesday was Paul's first birthday and I decided that we would have a party for him... tomorrow. It is going to be a small party since we have a small house, but I've been so busy with things this week I haven't been able to properly clean our house up. YIKES! So, yes, I'll be up tonight... cleaning, and shopping for all those last minute things that I was supposed to do today. Is this typical for you too? I want to have some sort of a game or games available but I just literally can't think of what to do. Paul is only 1 and he won't remember this anyway. Not only that, he won't know how to play any of the games. I figure, it will just be an open house to see Paul, hang out and have some food and cake while we're at it. Check. I can do that.
Now to make the place presentable. hahaha... ugh. Don't get me wrong, I really love having people over because sometimes it's the only way I'll ever really give my house a good deep cleaning. Dust out the corners and deal with junk I've been putting off for a while. Good work, me.
I'm sure that everything will go fine tomorrow and everyone will have fun. I just wonder sometimes...

Paulie turned one. My thoughts...

He's one now. A whole year old! I guess it doesn't really impress me much. Not that it ever had to, but I suppose for some unfortunate mothers, they don't get to see their precious babies make it to that age. Somber note.
My delight today was finding out that Paul had not only stabilized in weight, he actually went up! By that I mean, he gained the weight that he should have plus some in reference to his previous measurements and his age.
We are all doing quite well these days. Paul has been introduced to so many new foods and always wants more. Even when he's finished his food and some of ours, he still gets angry when we tell him it's all gone, or we say all done. He's picking up on more words like...

• hot
• no
• what
• that
• mama
• mom
• dad
• dada
• and lots of jibberish that sometimes sounds like dabba dabba

He still isn't walking solo, but he has taken up to six steps on his own at one time! Yay for Paul! He even did that while holding a bottle in his mouth! Talented, he is.
I would say that his favorite things are wheels, cars, books and food. Sometimes he even thinks his books are food. He has already taken a chunk out of two cardboard books. We've removed them from his reach until we think he's ready to be alone with them again.
Did I mention that SPRING IS HERE?!?! Yes, it WILL snow again. I'm sure of that, but spring is definitely here and here to stay. With all this wonderful weather I haven't been able to help myself but to open windows and doors. This morning, after Paul and I had been up for a while, we both laid down to nap and rest, he in his bed and I on the couch. With it so nice out by that time already, I opened the door all the way and just relaxed with the fresh air washing over me. Cool, it was, yes, but lovely, it was as well.
I think that with a dishwasher being in our home, and all the lovely fresh air coming in, Jerry and I have been having so much more fun together. It may also be that my morning sickness is easing up, but I'd say the stress from the dishes being gone and the stale air being cut have a huge part to do with that.
I apologize for any rambling I may do. It is late and I've had such a busy day/week that I was so excited to blog. And now that I am, I'm tired, and losing interest. Sad. Anyway, hope you enjoyed what I've included in tonights blog. More soon! Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Birthday to Paul and blessings to you all!
~Rachael

Dishwasher!

There was a knock on the door and who could it be?? A lovely friend with a lovely gift! It's not really ours, we're just storing it, but we're going to be able to use it too! Hurray! Bad news... I was messing with the sink faucet thingy and took it apart to clean it... and I didn't put it in my memory to memorize how to put it back together. UGH... and then I took the bathroom faucet apart and lost a piece down the drain. NOT a good night. Guess I'll be going to fleet farm later this week, see what they can tell me and if I'll need to just get a new piece.
Aside from that... welll... still not feeling well. Can't sleep at night.

12 weeks

I really have trouble starting blogs. I think of so many ways to start them, but all of the introductory lines seem so lame. Oh well. This one is pretty bad already. Regardless of how lame the beginnings may be, I still love to blog and wonder how I forget that I even have one... Oh yeah, it's because I'm so busy doing things off the computer. By the time I get back on it, all my energy and mind powers have been sucked up into the vortex of my home by way of cleaning and keeping up with all the needs of my little one. Who happens to be not so little anymore! I come to learn that if I don't take care of myself, there really isn't any way I'm going to take care of anyone else well. So... I've been trying to live that, and it's very difficult.
I had/have been taking a medicine that would ease my nausea, which by the way has been easing up on its own now! Thank the Lord! Anyway, I noticed a couple of weeks ago while I was taking it regularly, it would give me this sense of... anxiousness. Not a lot, but it's been enough to completely screw up my sleeping schedule. Just yesterday I had to take some medicine because I was feeling really yuck, and by the time I took it, it was still going to be in my system by bedtime. Double yuck. So I was told I could take Tylenol PM, which I did, and it did help me fall asleep. For three measly hours. After that, I was up watching Dirty Jobs and eating sunflower seeds. The other trouble is, I start feeling tired enough to sleep so I go to bed and then I just lay there, tired, but not sleeping, for hours. I can shut my eyes and try not to think of anything, but I will still just lay there awake, for hours.
Yesterday was terrible. I spent most of the day sleeping, or trying to sleep, and puking. I was fortunate that Jerry was also home at the time so I was allowed the luxury of staying in bed, but today... not so much. After only a few hours of sleep, and then maybe another one or two non restful hours of sleep after Jerry left for work this morning... Paul woke up and needed the usual things: a diaper change, love, food, love and some play time. I had energy for.... none of it. But I still did it. I didn't realize how much help I actually needed until I almost passed out while making us breakfast. That was scary. I had him in his highchair at the time so he could watch me make food, so it was like I had a temporary babysitter once I had to put my head between my knees and lay down on my bed just a few feet away from his chair. Jerry got done with work a little early today, so I had a little help after he got home. Jerry was worked very hard and could barely move after he got home and finally sat down, poor man :(
Fun facts: Paul loves cereal and has shared most of it with the floor.
The cat hates Paul and runs away when he gets close to her or he shrieks at her.
Paul is walking more and more on his own! Even while drinking from a bottle!!
Sometimes I think I can feel my tiny baby bounce around inside :)

I would like to add more to this post. I actually had high hopes to have so much more in it, but... Ugh. I'm starting to feel tired and sick. AGAIN... so I'm going to go lay down and maybe add more in the wee morning hours.
~love~

The New Year and all that it brings...

So as it turns out, it was about the time that I wrote that last post that I became pregnant for the second time!
Thank you to everyone for all your wonderful support. We are due September 23, 2011, and we are still waiting to find out if it is a girl or boy. Any guesses?!?! We are still living in our little two bedroom apartment and will continue to until next year when we will hopefully be able to purchase a home to really spread out and settle down in. We plan on staying in the Menomonie area.
It's so surreal to me that Paul will be turning 1 this month, in one week! And I will be turning 25 in about a month and a half! Not to mention again... that Jerry and I will be the parents of two little ones by the end of this year!

The update on Jerry - He's got nothin.

Rachael Update - Okay, I already said it, I'll be turning 25 next month and I'll have two children by the end of this year. I've also been sick for the last month and a half. I'm very excited for that to end soon. It has been getting better and I've been doing pretty well off the medicine that my doc prescribed to help with the nausea. I've been really enjoying getting to know my friends better that live around here, including the ones that also have their own children! It's been great watching Paul interact with other little kids. He's just so cute! I started watching a new show to me, Bones, about a month ago, and I at first didn't like it very much, but it has since, grown on me. I've also been watching a little girl mostly on the weekends. That's been fun. She is very energetic though, and I have had very little energy. Makes for very interesting days.

Paul- He's been cruisin' around real good. Taking more steps by himself, but still weary of walking alone for long distances. He's very fast at crawling and loves our kitty. He gets so excited sometimes just when he sees her that he does a very loud squeal/screech. OUCH to the ears, but otherwise very cute. He's also moved up to eating... everything! Well, not really. He will try though. Even with his cardboard books. Yuck! He loves looking at his books, and putting toys and things in other things and taking them back out again. One night a week or two ago, I went to my sister Kris's house and I had left a cup n straw sitting out. Paul got it, it was empty, and he played with it for nearly an hour just sitting there on the floor taking the straw out and putting it back in. It also had a cap on it and I think he liked the challenge of trying to put the straw in the little hole. Paul is already up to 6 teeth. Four on top, two on the bottom. Very cute, and the top two even have a gap between them!

So I'm sure there is more I could write, but at this time, I can't think of anything. Miss and love you all!