A Little Mega Update

Because I've been a major blog slacker lately, here is a quick rundown of what we're all up to these days.

Jon- Work, work, scouts, work, scouts, and work. He stays busy so we really enjoy the little bits of time in the evening and on the weekends that we do get to see him. He is working on Madagascar 3, which comes out next summer.

Sarah- Busy keeping up with the family, the house, and the never ending papers....seriously, why do schools feel the need to send home so many papers? And what am I supposed to do with all of Emma's assignments/art projects/homework that she just loves and can't part with???

I've also been going to Weight Watchers for the last 7 weeks to get rid of the last of my baby weight. I am PROUD to say for the first time in my life I have lost all of my pregnancy weight AND have gotten back to my pre-pregnancy size. And it feels really, really good. It feels good to be eating healthy, to have energy again, and to know that I reached the goal I set out to reach.

Emma is LOVING school. She has a really great teacher and is learning so much. She loves practicing reading and writing, loves p.e. and recess, and still loves art. Every inch of our fridge is covered with her paintings, pictures, and other art projects. She suddenly has a super busy social life, and honestly I am struggling to keep up with it! This girl has SO many play dates! Some of her best friends from school are Julian, Steven, Eric, and Kaden...yes, all boys! That's just who she plays best with. She also likes Hope, Lola, and Mayra. She and Matthew's best friend though is our neighbor, Brady. They LOVE playing with him and because they are so close and convenient they often end up playing together 3-4 times a week.

I go help out in Emma's class every other week for an hour. It has been a lot of fun so far. Last week we cleaned out a pumpkin, separating the seeds from the rest of the insides so they could count the seeds. The week before I helped them paint owls for a project they were making. Next week I am going to drive for her class field trip to a local children's museum/zoo. The kids usually come along with me, and she loves having us all there.

Matthew....oh where do I even begin with this boy??? He is on a mission to prove that he is completely independent and can and will do everything by himself. He is also out to prove that he will only do what he wants to do when he wants to do it. Jon is really good at making things fun and getting him to do what we need him to do. He has gotten him to eat ALL of his dinner 2 nights in a row now. The doctors are really concerned with his weight (he's 3 1/2 and still at 25 lbs), so we need him to gain so they'll let him be. They really want to put him on an appetite stimulant, but I told them I really wasn't comfortable with that. They're going to re-evaluate in February, so hopefully he's made some good progress by then. He also did allergy testing yesterday and it turns out he's only allergic to dust mites and grass. After talking to the immunologist yesterday at his appointment, his health issues all make sense now. This little boy has been tested for everything under the sun and everything has come back normal, except for his liver enzyme levels and his T-cell levels (but those could be abnormal from being sick). They do think he has asthma (I'm not convinced) and we know he has the allergies. The peak allergy times for grass are March-June and August-September. He ended up in the hospital in June and August....both high allergy times. So, he's just super sensitive. To avoid a repeat of this last year, they have given him a prescription for some allergy meds that he'll take during allergy season.

Other than that, he is also LOVING school still. He's making progress and will actually leave preschool without me having to go in and carry him out. Halleluiah! He loves show and tell at school, and he LOVES anything that has to do with Emma's school. She makes a lot of books at school and has learned several really fun songs. He could sit and listen to her read her stories and sing her songs all day.

And we can't forget Miss Ellie. She has started going to bed earlier....between 6 and 6:30, which is great. Some nights she'll sleep 12 hours, some nights she wakes up once to eat, and some nights she's up 4 or 5 times just needing her binky put back in. Those are really rough nights! She loves to come snuggle in our bed when she wakes up in the morning, and will usually go back to sleep for awhile after she joins us. Ellie is also a talker. I love listening to her babble.

On Sunday we went to visit Jon's family...and Ellie wouldn't let any of them hold her. Talk about a sudden and major case of stranger anxiety! She has never done this before. It was really sad, especially for Grandma! Hopefully this is just a phase and it passes really quickly!

And that is life in a nutshell for now.  :)