I'm still alive!

Yikes... if anybody still checks here every now and then, I apologize for falling off the face of the earth these last few months. :)

Life is crazy, but in a good way. Sweet Pea is growing up way too fast - she's 8.5 months old already. Here's a semi-recent picture for you:

She is crawling everywhere, and pulling up on everything. She babbles nonstop, and loves to giggle. She's still bald, except for some cute peach fuzz. She has no teeth yet. Her ears are pierced. :) I think she weighs around 20 pounds - she was 18 at her 6 month checkup and has gotten more rolls since then. LOL. She really likes to eat food, and she's still breastfeeding too. And, she sleeps through the night (because she loves her mommy!).

She ADORES her big brother Monster. She lights up when she sees him, and he loves to give her hugs & kisses. She's also a total Daddy's girl, and he can get a laugh out of her no matter what. Even something as simple as a bedtime kiss is giggle-worthy. But when I kiss her goodnight? She just turns her head the other way. *sigh* I have to remind myself I always wanted a little girl who would love her Daddy like this.... <3

slightly old photo, but you can see how happy she is

And now, moving on to Monster! (Forgive me in advance, I'm about to go all mommy-bragging on you. I just can't help it. I love this kid.) He's almost 2.5, and I might be biased, but he's one amazing 2 year old! There has been no sign of the terrible two's yet... I mean, he has tantrums every now and then when he's tired, but on the most part? He's fantastic and well-behaved. And? This kid is SMART. He knows all of his letters, numbers, colors & shapes. He loves to spell out words he sees written anywhere. He'll walk up and start pointing to each letter and naming them. He also counts things. Usually if it's under 4, he does OK. But when he gets to higher numbers, he'll lose that one-to-one correspondence, and keep counting to something like 8 when there are only 6 objects, etc. But that's OK, he's 2. And he's got 2 down. "1.... 2.... two cars!" He never messes that one up. :) 

He also loves to do puzzles, and watch train videos on YouTube. He's a master of using the computer mouse - navigating around the screen, and clicking on the video he wants to watch next. He plays some games on Daddy's iPad, and is a pro at that as well. And his vocabulary... OMGoodness! At his 2nd birthday, he still wasn't saying very many words. But in these past few months, he's exploded. He will repeat anything you say, and is getting very good at enunciating and pronouncing things correctly. He is using 4 or 5 words in a sentence, and putting them in the right order. 

I suppose you might want to see a picture of him? This one's recent:

Which brings us to.... he is opinionated. And stubborn. See that awesome outfit he's wearing? A heavy sweatshirt, plus swim trunks? I can assure you that wasn't my doing! He has to choose his own clothes, or we would never leave the house in the mornings. He also has to choose what color diaper to wear (at each change) and which shoes, and his pajamas each night.

He loves all things transportation - but trains & airplanes are his favorites. And "hepetoters" (helicopters, in Monster speak)! His favorite food is PB&J, and any type of berry. He loves his lawnmower, and he loves the vacuum. He has this push-toy that he calls his vacuum, and pushes it around when I'm vacuuming the house. He is OCD about putting things where they belong, and not making messes. He says "Oh Nooooo!!!" if something falls or spills, etc. So cute! He loves to help around the house- sweeping, laundry, etc.

We're not actively potty training yet. He will go potty on the toilet occasionally, but we're not pushing it. Life is too hectic right now to deal with full-on potty training! We did buy him some big boy underwear, though! Batman & Thomas the Train. :) He wears a pair every now and then, and does pretty good at staying dry for the first hour he wears them, but then he has an accident and we go back to diapers for a while again. It'll happen in time, I'm in no rush!

That's about it for the kids. Nothing much new with me - just working, like always. At the job M-F, and being a wife and mommy the rest of the time. :) But I'm good. Here's Ben & me on my 25th birthday.

Ben is... alright. He's been out of work since the last week of April due to his undiagnosed medical condition that makes him sleepy all the time. He drives forklifts at work - but was falling asleep. Which is not OK. So he's been on short term disability. We've ruled out LOTS of possibilities, and seen LOTS of specialists. He does have sleep apnea, but has been on a CPAP for the last 2 years. But he still can fall asleep right after waking up, and never feels rested. We're currently seen a neurologist who specializes in sleep medicine, and he just had a sleep study re-done to see if maybe his apnea hasn't been properly controlled this whole time. It could be that the answer is really that simple. He's taken so many drugs trying to combat this, and nothing worked. So if it's really as simple as the problem just being his sleep apnea was never properly controlled - he would be getting a new machine (a BiPAP, instead of a CPAP) that is better for some people's condition. His appointment is later this week to see what the results of the sleep study show. Hopefully we are close to an answer. It sucks having him off work, but we still have to have childcare, because he can't be alone with the kids (he'll fall asleep) or drive a vehicle with the kids in the car (he falls asleep driving, too). 

I'll end this post on a good note - cute pics of the kids! Enjoy!

Rawr!

Taken on his 2nd birthday. Cheese!

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little diva!

Rockstar!

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