End of October Update

An update on us these days....

Brad is working an insane amount of hours between clinic and the medicine floor at the hospital, plus being on call quite often when he is home. He's been averaging over 90 hrs a week. So we haven't seen too much of him lately, but are hoping he can get someone to cover his call for the maternity group so we can make it to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving. We have been trying to take advantage of every moment he IS home with us, but it is hard for the kids and for me to have him gone as much as he is. Hopefully things will lighten up a bit in the coming months.

Riley is so imaginative, always pretending he is something, finding creative ways to express himself. He has been asking for a belt for awhile now, so Brad gave him an old belt of his to play with. He wears it everywhere, even when we go for walks or run to the store, usually along with a fireman hat or pirate hat and with all kinds of "swords" and things tucked inside it. (He gets all kinds of smiles from people when we go out, haha). The other night I was tucking him into bed and noticed he was going to sleep with it over his PJ's. :) He is doing great at memorizing his verses for Cubbies. His teacher comments how he could lead the review each week cause he knows them all so well - he must get his memory fom his daddy! He's been talking a lot about birthdays ever since his party and always wants to know whose birthday is next. In the car yesterday we were talking about how Poppy's birthday is Friday and mommy's birthday is Sunday. He wanted to know how old I was going to be, so I told him twenty eight....he said, " Mommy, how many fingers IS that!?"

The infamous belt

Playing airplane

Riley had another episode with sickness. After about a week of seeming back to normal, he woke up early Saturday throwing up and continued to do so for 7 hours, about 4 times an hour. Brad was at work all day, but my mom thankfully came over for part of the morning. I don't know if it was a fluke thing or if there is something more serious going on. Since Sunday he has been pretty much back to normal. We are keeping a close eye on him and if he has another incident we will need to start looking into food allergies or seeing a specialist about an infection.

Naomi is a little firecracker! She is almost 20 months old now. She imitates EVERYTHING Riley says and does which keeps us laughing all the time. She absolutely loves to talk on the phone, so much so you have to practically fight her to get it back, or at least be very quick, cause she will up and run away with it once she gets a chance. And when she isn't talking to someone, she will get her play phone out and walk around the house saying, "Hello Papa." (She has been talking to Papa quite a bit lately, hehe). She has put together 5-6 word sentences now, and loves to sing - she can do Twinkle Twinkle and Jesus Loves Me. She uses the potty several times a day which is promising. She spends a lot of time coloring with Riley and doing puzzles. Some funny things she says - instead of saying "no" to things she always says, "not" (kind of in a British accent, hahaha - it almost sounds like "note"). I think that came from asking her questions like, do you want this or not, and she says not. She recently formed an attachment to a little stuffed animal we have that is a kitty colored like a tiger....she calls it kitty tiger and has been carrying it around with her blankie. She has also started helping out in the kitchen. The other day I made a dessert and both kids were up on the chairs helping add ingredients to the bowl. Fun to have TWO good helpers now! :)

Loves to color

I'm so tired, but I'll try to smile mommy!

Now we're getting silly - peek a boo!

A favorite past time

I have been trying to keep up with things around the house amongst all the sickness around here. Been throwing stuff away left and right...amazing how much "stuff" piles up when you aren't looking. Also been keeping busy with MOPS and small group, both of which are going well, and my business has been steady. Orders seem to come in clusters and that gives me time in between for designing when I am not dealing with life as it comes. I am hoping to have a good amount come in for the upcoming holiday with all the extra medical and car bills we've had lately, but know God always provides one way or another for things like that. I am also in the middle of a ladies study at church on Daniel, which has been really great - I loved OT survey in college and Daniel was always one of my favorite books, so it has been cool to spend time studying it in so much depth. I almost feel like a student again in this class! Hard to believe October is coming to an end and winter is on it's way!