"Quick" Update

Brace yourself...this one is long and no pictures :)

It has been a crazy couple weeks for a lot of reasons...first of all, Titus has been getting his molars in (hence the reason for no pictures - we didn't take any when he was screaming, which was most of the time lately)...for those of you that have been through this with your kids, I am sure you can relate! All I have to say is that I am glad he is going through this now and not when the baby comes. He screamed all night last week Monday until 4:30 AM and slept until 6:30 AM (Caleb can attest to this, because he was down visiting - sorry you had to go through this Caleb!). We called the doctor at 3 AM because we didn't know what else to do...gas medicine, Tylenol, new diaper, milk, etc...nothing was working. She said to bring him to ER if he didn't quit, but even if he did calm down to bring him in the next day to the office. So, that's what we did last week Tuesday. Nothing really wrong, but his right ear looked a little red, so she put him on antibiotics just in case it was the start of an ear infection. He has been screaming and very grumpy on and off all week, and I think I was at my emotional and physical end - I was getting cranky, work was stressful, and not getting sleep and coming home from work to a screaming baby, plus being pregnant - I really was not a fun person to be around (OK, no one in our family really was). The last two nights he slept very well, and was in a good mood the last 3 days, so hopefully this "fun" is over for now. Whew.

On a good note, Titus continues to learn new words - his latest being "owl" and making the animal noise. He only says about 5 animals by name, but probably knows at least a dozen animals by making their sounds. It is too cute. He also is FINALLY able to feed himself with a spoon (still doesn't get the fork concept, but hopefully soon!).

Work has been crazy for both Stephen and I. Spring semester is super busy here at IWU, so it will stay pretty steady until probably at least the end of February for me. Stephen is taking a class this semester for fun since he can go for free - it is a WWII class - which is a HUGE hobby of his. He loves it so far. As for exercising, it is getting harder and harder for me to run...not because my lungs can't take it or because it is too awkward (although I am sure it looks funny to see a pregnant person running) - but because my legs are SO TIRED carrying around this extra weight. I told Stephen now is the time to "feel the burn" and really build my leg muscles :) Hopefully I can continue running because I don't have time to walk, and it feels good to run.

In other news, Stephen and I are going on a little weekend getaway in a week and a half. We were going to go with friends of ours, but that unfortunately fell through and now we are just going the two of us...my last chance to get away before I can't travel anymore. We are really looking forward to having time away from our teething child :) and to just relax and have fun. We really have not done anything like this since our honeymoon 4 1/2 years ago, so even though it will be short, it will be nice to focus on just the two of us for a change.

We are still planning on closing on our house on the 29th of this month...at least we haven't heard differently so we are assuming things are going smoothly for the buyer. It will be SO nice to have this off our head, as it has been a huge financial burden paying for a house and a car when we really could only afford one of the two...but God has provided the money every month, so we are thankful!

Two exciting things - it FINALLY snowed yesterday after 30 inches of rain...our first real snow of the winter (never thought I would say that in the middle of January). It is barely covering the ground today because of all the beautiful sunshine, but it was pretty to see the big snowflakes yesterday instead of the gloomy, cold rain. The other exciting thing...I filled up our gas tank for only $1.98 a gallon!!! I never thought I would see gas for under $2/gallon again. Nice.

That's all...I will try to post pictures next time :)