Playing Around

Nicole and Michael are at a fun stage of playing together! Each day we have so much fun- Nicole has to help out a lot the more tired I am and she has really grown up a lot. She pushes his stroller, locks the bathroom door so he can't get in, and will always hunt for his sippy cup. They splash a ton in the tub so we keep the shower curtain up, love to brush their teeth, watch Sesame Street together, wrestle all the time, and beg for food whenever I walk into the kitchen. Michael sits and watches as we do preschool and even joins in coloring now.

Nicole always insists of giving Michael a kiss before bed (and it's always on the top of his head) and she'll take his head and put it down just like on Snow White when she kisses Dopey. It's so precious!

Yesterday morning I woke up to the sound of Nicole growling- so that was her reenactment for you. Apparently the library book on bears really got through to her.

Michael makes the funniest faces trying to say cheese.

Pirate Michael. Arrrr!

Michael had his 18 month checkup last week. I lost the paper with the details, but I remember he's 25 lbs, over the 80th percentile for height, and in the 10th percentile for head size. Fairly similar to Nicole (except she is beyond just tall- her shoe size is now size 12!!) Our concerns about Michael's walking have lessened, even though the doctor definitely agreed he has some toe-in/bowleggedness. I had Jim come with me to make sure we could come to the best conclusion-if Michael needed anything it would be Jim making it. But they decided to just wait it out because it has become better than before and the doctor even said that the fastest sprinters actually have some of the same slight turning in. Nicole likes to pull Michael around on the boogie board. It's a really fun toy! They call it a magic carpet ride!

Michael loves putting hats and shoes on. We had taken his white Sunday shirt off for lunch but left the sweater on and the hat was the perfect touch for his "look."

Life Lessons

This past week an amazing and sweet friend died from cancer. Catie was only 30 and has three children ages 6, 4, 2. Little Mary is Nicole's friend and Catie's husband Steve works at UNC and he and Jim go out to lunch a lot. Catie taught me SO much and I wanted to share a little. She was always smiling this radiant, hundred watt smile- even through the toughest of times. She had been diagnosed with cancer while pregnant with her youngest, and chose to keep the baby and the risks that came with that. I remember sitting in a class with her a year later and seeing her hold that baby while a teacher mentioned what a blessing her baby is-then while the teacher moved on in the lesson, she just held her sweet baby a little closer with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. She absoutely treasured her children. When the first battle with cancer had passed, she invited our family over and made us a delicious dinner and dessert. She loved serving others instead of constantly living over past trials. Even as she faced cancer a second time not too much later, I always saw her with a smile on her face that radiated the faith and testimony she had of the gospel. As her conditioned worsened with eventually less and less successful treatments, she continued to place her trust in the Lord. Her biggest concerns were for her dear husband and children- she never whined or complained about her trials that were beyond what I can imagine.

Her husband Steve described it so well "I couldn't even begin to describe all the physical pains, discomforts, and annoyances she faced, nor the emotional weight she felt as she saw what was coming and worried about her kids, family, and friends she would leave behind. But despite all of this, though she had every reason to be angry or depressed, she remained positive--publicly and privately. She loved her family and friends, kept her faith in God, and never stopped smiling. A couple weeks ago I was looking through pictures I have of Catie and something struck me. Even as she was facing cancer and death and everything that entails, I could always see happiness in her eyes and in her smile. all of the pictures of her while she was suffering tremendously. I am striving to be more like that as well. She was so happy for each day and moment that she was to spend with her children."

I want to always remember the beauty of the legacy she left for all of us and treasure life and each precious moment with our family.

Prego fun, Snow, and Vday

5 women in our church are due within a month of each other, so we all (minus the one who had hers this last week) went and got pedicures. I've never had one before and absolutely LOVED every minute of it! Especially being pregnant and not being able to reach my toes to paint or clip without serious issues...I felt like this was heaven (not to mention the massage and foot soak and massage chair....) I told Jim I am totally sold on pedicures now! We had some fun comments on all of us pregnant women sitting in a row- it was such a great time!

I had a baby shower last week and got a good start on diapers and wipes for our boy on the way!

After dealing with kids coughing through the night, runny noses, whining, Michael developing a red eye, and interesting diapers from Michael, I took both kids in to the doctor. Both Michael and Nicole have ear infections (their first ones!) and so they got prescription medicine for the first time. Guess it had to happen sometime.

Friday was our Valentine's Day celebration since Sunday we're so busy, so Jim gave me these beautiful roses and the sweetest cards to me, Nicole and Michael. The cards were perfectly chosen, it was as if the cards were written for each of us with the exact words Jim would say. Jim is absolutely the perfect husband for me :-)

Grandma Ostler sent some cute sunglasses that Nicole wears everywhere! We also had our second snow of the year (pretty weak sauce snow that never accumulated on the roads since the temperature went above freezing pretty quickly) and we let Nicole out for a bit to play around.

Overall, I'm ready for this baby! The doctor says he's about four pounds and head down and nice and low. I don't have any crazy pains this pregnancy (yet) but I do wonder if one of these days my spine will just break from all the pressure :-) 5 weeks to go!!!