Once a month blogger.

I'm such a slacker. Here are some updates:

Will: He has his good days and bad. He is a typical toddler. Sometimes he will eat, sometimes he refuses. Sometimes he goes to bed without a crying fit, other times he doesn't ("no mommy, no mommy.. lay down mommy.") Sometimes he let's Michael near him and other times it's "NO DADDY LEAVE!" Lately with his sicknesses (croup turned into pneumonia which turned into an ear infection.. #winning), we have had to shove antibiotics down his throat and there are days where he takes it like a champ and days when we have to literally force it down his throat and pray that he doesn't throw it back up on us. He is a talker, non-stop. Some of the new things he will say are.. "watch out!", "ew dats gross!", "where my ___", and my personal favorite, "i love you, forever, and ever, and ever!" We are introducing Santa and this year he gets it. I know there are people who say you shouldn't lie to your kids and and blah blah blah, but whatever. I turned out fine. I just won't make the same mistake my mom did when I asked how Santa gets in when we didn't have a chimney -- it gave me a complex regarding burglers for years.. He likes lights on houses and on the streets because that's how Santa will find out house. When we go outside to turn the lights on, he walks to the sidewalk - stops - turns towards the house - and puts his hands on his hips to check them out. SO friggin' cute. Love this kid, and he is an awesome helper, which makes me less nervous about a 2nd.

Jackson: Oh yea, have we mentioned that? We (I) decided on Jackson Cole as a name. We (I) also decided that his nursery will have a monkey theme. So far this pregnancy has been uneventful, which I am NOT complaining about. I haven't really had sickness or too bad of pain. I've had the occasional upset stomach or heartburn but nothing crazy. I've gained less than 10 pounds thus far, and the belly is straight out (belly button and all). It is very surreal to be rocking one baby/big boy before bed and feel the other one kicking at the same time. I am excited to get the nursery set up and start REALLY planning for his arrival!

Weekend Life: Now that football season is over and we don't have a game to go to almost every weekend, things can finally slow down. I have felt in fast forward for a few months now, and all I really want to do is be lazy. I got all my Christmas shopping done in record time and ordered a lot on line through sales or with coupon codes.. most places offer free shipping so to me, I'd rather do that then go to the store and deal with people and lines. I also ordered a lot of things through Etsy this year because I love personalized/homemade gifts. I think they say so much more than just any old thing you could buy. I did scale down my holiday decorations this year -- just 1 tree thus far. But, I did buy Michael icicle lights to put on the house.. again, Santa needs to be able to find us!

Work: Schmerk. Every day I feel like it's a new annoyance with either coworkers, students, or administration. I'm counting down the days until maternity leave..

Other: I feel so incredibly blessed to have the family that I have. I didn't post a Thanksgiving post because honestly we were too dern busy.. but I really am thankful for my life. I am thankful that my husband has a job that he is good at and keeps us in a lifestyle where we don't work paycheck to paycheck.. I am also incredibly thankful our marriage is strong enough to go through the bumps and still come out on top. I think that has to do with the fact that we've known each other for so long. It's not always roses and daisies but we make it work. A coworker received the worst news possible over Thanksgiving break - after having so many issues trying to get pregnant, she finally had in August with twins.. well, she lost one early on, but the other one stuck.. But, then she found out that she had lost that 16 wk old baby in-utero. She went for an ultrasound and there was no heartbeat. A few days later she had to deliver that baby after 12 hours of labor. I just can't imagine what she is going through.. It makes me look at my life and wonder how I got so lucky. And, it makes me wonder what is God's plan in that instance? She is the absolute sweetest person, and something so tragic happened to her. I just don't get it sometimes..

ANYWHO. I guess I will update again around Christmas :) We scheduled our 3D ultrasound a few days before the holiday, so I will post some pics. Until then.. buhbye!