One year gone...

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've posted anything on here! I've meant to update on more than one occasion, but haven't had the time to actually sit down and do it. So here is what's been going on with us...

Israel: The economic downturn hit the Bloomington Country Club after Israel had been there 3 years and he was let go in May 2010. Since then, he has worked multiple jobs in multiple places. Most recently, he has hired on as a prep cook at Farm restaurant here in Bloomington. The restaurant uses mainly locally grown foods, which is different from what he usually does and hopefully will be a good position for him. He also had a huge scare in December with higher cholesterol levels than I have ever seen. Normally triglycerides are supposed to be below 200 and his were 1475!

After working out some and watching his intake as well as switching up his diet to lots of soy products and tofu, he was able to get it to 537, which isn't great, but certainly better than it was!

Audrey: I finished school last May and was able to find a position working independently with a woman who is a ventilator dependent quadriplegic. It turned out that her mother (and MY boss) is an undiagnosed manic depressive person who really needs to get on meds before having a conversation with any living person. I worked there for almost 8 months and that was 7 1/2 months too long! It WAS good experience, though. I do have to say that. During the last 3 months I've also been working as a recovery nurse in a local surgery center, which was also great experience, but not something that was ever going to be long term.

I just hired on at Monroe Hospital as a medical-surgical nurse on an as needed basis, so I'm excited to see where this position will take me:) I start orientation next week. In the meantime, I've been exploring my creative side with painting, crocheting and baking. It has been exhilarating to tap into that side of myself that has been drowned by school for the last 4 years.

Jonathan: Turning 14 next month, Jonathan is definitely in his pre-teen rebelliousness, choosing to check his boundaries wherever he can and the like. It's only to be expected, but comes as a bit of a shock to Israel. They are working to re-define their relationship and, so far, succeeding beautifully:) I know that everything will work out the way it's supposed to and I know Jonathan is a great young man who will turn into a great man one day, just like his dad!

Last spring break, Jonathan was planning to come and live with us and ended up having to go back home due to health issues with Israel's mom, who was also coming to live with us for a little while. Unfortunately, I don't think he will have another opportunity to get up here until he is old enough to travel on his own. That was a hard blow, but we're taking it one day at a time....Israel hasn't seen either of them in 10 years...

Nathan: Now in a new school building and loving it! He is in 1st grade now and has FINALLY gotten his 2 front teeth after knocking them out when he was 3! He has been learning to play the violin at school and even got one of his own from santa this Christmas. He is so intelligent and loving and amazes me every day.

Julian: Being a 3-year-old is apparently very hard and it has taken some adjusting for him. Especially going from being the baby to having a baby brother and having to share everyone's attention. He has grown both emotionally AND physically this last year, gaining 2-3 inches in the last 6 months or so alone! He is also, finally, adjusting to having a baby brother and is becoming a great big brother, showing Sebastian how to do things and helping with his care. He amazes me, also, with his intelligence and whit! He'll be a force to be reckoned with when he gets older:) I can only wait....

Sebastian: Was born on September 9, 2010 and was 7lbs 7oz and was 20.5in long. He is now 5 months old and has 2 teeth already with another on the way. He is a healthy 18lbs at least the last time I weighed him with me on the scales and is learning every day. He can't wait until he can run with his brothers. He almost jumps out of my arms every time the boys are playing around him:)

So, that's the short and sweet of the last year for us!

The results are in!

So, it's official. It's another boy!

We're happy and excited to know what the baby is, but a little disappointed it's not girl. More Israel than me...I'm just happy to know the baby's moving and healthy...but Israel has embraced the fact that he's well on his way to making a basketball team and he's ok with it.

Nathan and Julian were also a little disappointed that it's a boy, but their reaction was more like:

Nathan:"Oh. Ok. What are you going to name him?...Juli! We're having a baby brother!!!"

Julian:"Ok? Nathan! Mama's having a baby boy and I'm having a baby boy!"

I told each of the boys separately, so they both had to go run and tell the other. Juli was first.
He's convinced that he has a baby in his tummy just like mommy!! It's so funny and no matter how many times we explain it to him, he still says the same thing:) When we first found out we were pregnant we were also entertaining the idea that it might be a little sister in mommy's tummy and, of course, Julian from then on said that he had a little sister in his tummy (until now)!! He's just so funny and very much a two-year-old right now!

Big News

So, some of you may already know, but it's not been announced yet, but we will be expecting a new arrival to our family this September! We don't know what it is yet, but we really hope it's a girl this time. I go to the doctor this monday for a checkup and hope to hear the heartbeat via doppler this visit:) It will be my 13 week visit. Next visit should be when we find out the sex of the baby.

Blue or Pink?? I'll keep you all updated:)

Coming up for air

I have to apologize for being a hermit the last few months. This is the last semester of the program and there are so many loose ends that need to be tied up and so much stress that was finally released yesterday when I hit the midway point in the semester.

There is a big math exam that we have to take in the nursing program that is a pretty big deal and I had to take that yesterday as well as get my evaluation for the first 8 week clinical after the exam. There isn't a math class or anything, but the class we're in right now--Advanced Med-Surg--is attached to this math exam. Meaning that we have 3 chances to pass the math test and if we don't, we have to re-take the class even if we get an A in the class! Ok, so no stress there, right?? Wrong!! I guess I didn't really realize how much stress I was putting on myself until I was done with the math test and felt pretty confident about how I did with it and got through my evaluation. As soon as I saw that I had a 90% for my evaluation grade, I literally felt that a brick house was lifted off of my chest.

So....yesterday, after I finished my evaluation, I checked in with my instructor to find out how I did on the math exam and was astonished to find out that I had gotten a 100% on it!!!! I kept asking if they were sure they had the right person and if that was really my grade. It definitely was and I was on cloud nine!! I'm very confident about the rest of this semester, so now all I have to worry about is passing the NCLEX (licensing exam) after I graduate.

Whew!! I have done nothing but take long, deep breaths since yesterday afternoon.

Christmas 2009

Hmmm....What could this be?? Did Grampie get what I was really wanting for Christmas?

HOW DID HE KNOW I WANTED SORRY SLIDERS????

I am in present heaven!!!

Shock and disbelief

Needless to say, Nathan had a pretty great Christmas. Juli, Israel and I did too. We all had at least one present that we felt like Nathan did when we opened it, but his was the best recorded reaction of all.

Oooo!!! Pretty paper

I can rip it!? Awesome!!!

Cool! Let's Go Fishin'. That'll be fun.

The difference in ages is really great!

Juli's Christmas Program

Julian's preschool class got up on the stage at the middle school to sing "I'm Getting Nothing for Christmas" for all the parents just before Christmas and it was so sweet! None of them remembered to do the hand gestures until the end of the song. Juli just kept waving and rocking his hips back and forth, dancing. It was the cutest thing ever! We had no idea what they were going to be doing, so we didn't invite anyone. We were informed, however, that people better be notified of said program next year.
Happy brothers after the program

Puppy Update

All the puppies found their way to their new homes last week. YAY!!!! We hated to see them go, but we were ready for them to leave. I think Sasha thought she was their mommy though! As you can see in the picture, she couldn't get enough of sniffing and licking them. We didn't allow her to do it very often because Gracie wouldn't have it AT ALL, but we let them play together a few times and Sasha would just run around in circles rounding them up and keeping them off of the carpet for us. She has turned out to be a really great dog for us. She's even getting along with Gracie more now that she's not pregnant and the babies are gone.