Update!

Okay everyone, we sure have been busy around here. Most of you know that we have made the decision to move back to the East Coast. Primarily to be closer to family ( i.e. Timmy and Benny closer to grandparents). We have still not heard anything regarding the three job opportunities to which Brad has applied. We have taken the initiative and put our house back on the market to sell. So far it has been on the market for about 2 weeks and no one has come by to even look at it. Truthfully, I would be surprised if it sold by the end of the year. Anyway, with all that going on, we have re-joined the our local YMCA. In order for Brad to be release by his chiropractor, he needed to join a gym. This summer is going to be very busy as the boys will be involved in swim classes and possibly gym classes at the YMCA.

On a sadder note, one of my former co-workers at Sylvan passed away suddenly on May 17th. Her name was Carol Parke. She was 10 years younger than my mom, but she was like a surrogate mom to me. Her daughter Jesse had a little girl (Emily) 2 months before Benny was born and Jesse's third child (Emmett) was born just 7 months after Timmy. I have always been invited to Carol's grandkids' birthday parties and we have always invited her and Jesse and the kids to our kids' birthday parties. I miss her now and I know that celebrating Benny's and Timmy's birthdays won't be the same without her. But the good news is that I will see her again one day. I know she is in a better place. A place without pain and sorrow.

So, as each day passes, I am trying to make the most of them. I hug my kids a little tighter and tell my husband that I love him more often. You don't know just how long you have, so I hope we all make the most of it.

Baby Update/Benny Update

Hello everybody,

l know it has been a while since I updated this blog. A lot has been going on. The baby is doing fine. We had another ultrasound a few weeks ago and I have a doctor's appointment on Friday the 25th. According to the ultrasound measurements, my due date is anywhere between Feb 17th and Feb 20th. The earlier the better for me but not to early.

Benny has been making great strides over the past month. Just recently we had to get him new shoes for two reasons. The first reason was because his other shoes were actually worn out. The second reason was because he had almost grown out of this size 6 shoes. He is now in 6 1/2 size shoes. He has had a vocabulary explosion over the last few weeks. Words you wouldn't think he knows just rolls of his tongue. He is also pronouncing words a little more clearly. Just the other day, he was riding his bike in the street in front of our house. He looked at me as said "car come" and proceeded to "ride" his bike over to our yard. He can say "please", "thank you", and "you are welcome" correctly on a somewhat more regular basis. "Sorry" is a new word to his vocabulary since he is more involved with other children (at the YMCA).

Not only has his vocabulary increased, but his appetite has as well. The past few days he has been surprising us by the amount of food he eats. At first I wasn't sure if it was just a growth spurt (which I think he had) but his appetite has been increasing a little more every week. Yeah! Hopefully he will get a little more meat on his bones before our cold rainy season starts.

I had mentioned the YMCA. Benny has gym class on Monday and Wednesdays and swim class on Tuesday and Thursday for the next two weeks (until Oct. 2nd). He is very excited about going. Once this session is over, I think I will limit him to just swim class. He favorite thing is jumping into the pool which for him is actually falling into the pool. I want to keep going as long as he is interested.

Update

Hi there! I just wanted to give everyone an update on what is going on out here on the West Coast! From all the posts, you can see that we have been very busy. Not only was there Easter and the Puyallup Spring Fair, but we also visited the zoo again. We are trying to take advantage of any sunny days we can get.

Even though there have been cases of the swine flu in the state of Washington, it has not affected us in any way. I caught a common cold last week and I think Brad brought it home from his work because he was sick before me. I think Benny is finally getting it but I am not sure since he is still dealing with teething issues. I am feeling much better but not a hundred percent yet.

We joined our local YMCA last week. Benny really enjoys playing in the nursery there. I started a Twelve Week Class. In this class I meet with a trainer and we discuss my exercise goals and we map out a program tailored to meet those goals. Every time I go in to exercise, I have to log in and put in what I did that day (ex, treadmill , bike etc). I will then meet with the trainer every 3 weeks to see how the program is working and make any adjustments. The great part about it is that I can count working out at home as part of the program. My immediate goal is to do a cardio activity three times a week at least 30 minutes each time. Brad has gone once so far and really liked the variety of equipment and programs. We signed Benny up for swim lessons. These are parent/child lessons, so one of us will be in the water with him. If we get in, he will be starting May 18th and go until the 2nd week of June. We will keep you posted on that.