One whole year!

Happy Birthday, Jeremiah!! So crazy how fast a year can go.
He is getting pretty good at walking...he can make it about 5 or 6 steps. He definitley prefers crawling right now...he just wants to get where he is going!
Today was his first day with no morning nap...he did great! It has taken him about 45 minutes to fall asleep for his nap in the mornings, and he didn't sleep all that well in the afternoon so I figured it was time for a change!
Also, he has two molars coming in (that I can tell so far). I can't believe he gets so many teeth in at once. The six at one time had to have been painful.


And today Olivia is half way to FOUR!! She is such an amazing girl. We are working a lot on reading. She knows quite a few sight words and is getting good at trying to sound out other words. She can also write her name pretty well...I'm super impressed.

We have some new hope in the helicopter training for Joel. The school that is in Spokane doesn't take financial aid, which makes the $55,000 price tag even more overwhelming. But he found out a few days ago they just recently teamed up with a college in Moses Lake for the program and that school takes financial aid! Now we just have to figure out how were are going to get him there for classes when it is two hours away. But this is a step in the right direction!

Nannying is going well. I'm really thankful for the job, I'm glad I'm home by 9 and can spend my days with Olivia and Jeremiah. I am belieiving for a child that I can take care of at home too.
I was so sad, hurt, and blindsided so I didn't really have time to think about how everything would change. I miss getting to make breakfast with Olivia; I actually just miss our whole morning routine. But, God is providing and we'll eventually figure something else out!

Random Things I want to remember

Jeremiah took four steps by himself on Friday, Nov 18. He doesn't seem very interested in walking.

Olivia is becoming quite the gamer...she is always wanting to play Guess Who, Go Fish, Uno, or War. I LOVE getting to play with her.

Crawler

Jeremiah is crawling. Kind of. He isn't up on his hands and knees...but he has a pretty impressive army craw going on. He either rolls to where he wants to be or squirms his way there on his tummy.
He is 7 1/2 months old... about the same age that Olivia started crawling! I can't believe how fast he is growing!
At his six month check up he was 17 lbs and I think like 26 inches. With how much he eats I was expecting him to be in like the 90th percentile for weight, but he was only in the 30th.

I wish I knew where our camera was so I could record him crawling and take pictures of him and Olivia playing together.

Happy Father's Day

Joel is an amazing dad. This year we got him a dry box from Cabelas for his ammo and stuff. Olivia did such a good just keeping it a secret all week.
Jeremiah started saying da da again just in time for Father's day. He started a few weeks ago, but then completely stopped for awhile. On Sunday it sounded a lot like he was saying "hey da da." So cute.

Teeth!

On of his bottom front teeth broke through the gum a few days ago! He is taking teething GREAT!! He hasn't been fussy, he is still sleeping through the night and all of his naps. He is taking it like a man!! ha ha
I couldn't get a good picture of his tooth, but these are just too cute. I love that little guy.

Pin It!

I just started using Pinterest and I absolutely LOVE it. My bookmark folders are neverending, and this site is pretty much a bookmarking site but with pictures and you can see what your friends are looking at, too!
I could seriously spend hours and hours looking at all the stuff on there.

Sisters

I finally got to meet my half sister Rachel on Saturday. We went to Wild Sage Bistro in Spokane...it was amazing. Pricilla's sister and husband were there and so were Pricilla's step-daughters Brittany and Ashley.
I wish I was better at small talk and had more to say.
Rachel is graduating on Wednesday and they invited us to her graduation BBQ, so I think that will be nice to get to talk to all of them more. I was sitting at the end of the table so I didn't really get to talk to Brittany or Ash very much and just a little with Rachel. Although I think that was mainly because we were both a little nervous (or at least I was).

The Weekend...

I'm mapping out my garage sales today...trying to see how many I can fit in before I have to be home to feed Jeremiah. I'm hoping to find some cutie stuff for Olivia's birthday, summer clothes for the kids (KIDS...still gets me), and maybe some stuff for the house or some crafty things.

ALSO...Joel and I are going to dinner tomorrow night with Pricilla and her family. I finally get to meet Rachel, my half sister and some others. So excited...we are going to the Wild Sage Bistro in downtown Spokane. Jeremiah and Olivia get to hang out with Grammy and Papa while we are gone.
That reminds me...
I've only had to leave Jeremiah one other time and I had pumped some milk for Joel to feed him. When Joel when to feed him Jeremiah just screamed and screamed and wouldn't eat anything. He would just stare at Joel and cry. So I told Joel (jokingly) to use my nursing cover and feed him with that. So Joel went and put on some of my lotion, scooped JJ up under the cover before he could see Joel...and he immediately started eating! I will definitely be leaving the cover for Grammy and Papa just in case!

FAIL!

Okay, not completely failing, but I'm not doing so great at this whole keeping up with the blog thing. I so want to be able to keep track of our lives, but I can't seem to find the time to just sit down on a regular basis and write about it. Maybe I will just have to have a set time at least every week to sit down and type.

Jeremiah is going to be 6 months old and Olivia will be 3 years old in less than two weeks!!!
Crazy.

Also, I go back and forth about doing the nursing program or not doing the nursing program...on a daily basis...multiple times a day. I can't decide.

XBox: GONE

It's gone. I never thought the day would come.
Joel decided while back that he was just spending too much time and could be doing many other productive things with his life. He finally could admit that it was like an addiction for him. Anytime he needed to get away from school, life, or anything he would just go play instead of hmmmm..maybe seeking Jesus? :)
We realized that he has had some sort of gaming system for almost TWENTY YEARS!! He got his first one when he broke his leg when he was four.

I know I have things that I escape with and we are just working on all that stuff together. Instead of watching TV or playing XBox in the evenings we sit and read the Bible together. I have more time to prepare for the next day and even work on some fun stuff too like sewing and jewelry stuff and other crafty things. Oh I miss being crafty. My bookmarks on the computer for all the things I want to make is getting out of control.
Now that I think of it...my mental bookmarks for all the things I want to do is getting out of control. My mind is contantly reeling with stuff all day long. Seriously, if I just had the money, I would have so many business out there. They might not be the most sucessful...but I would be loving it!!
Who wouldn't want to go to a commerical-type kitchen completely equipped for canning and can your own food!! And if I had a huge garden on site you could pick the food, bring it inside and start canning!

During nap time, Olivia came into my room like this....

Easter

Easter was great. The "Candy Hunt" at CDA Assembly was awesome, I'm so glad Marta told us about it. Three bouncy castles, free hot dogs, free carmel corn, CDA fire department, face paintings, and awesome weather!
Afterwards we went to grammy and papa's house to decorate and stuff eggs with Luke, Rachel, and Teresa.
On Easter Joel and Bryan hid a whole bunch of eggs at the camp for the kids. We did one section for Rachel and Olivia and another section for the older kids.
Then we had a potluck dinner with the Majors, Reeses, Janzens, and Batchelders. Definitely a great tradition to keep going.

Food!!!

Jeremiah loves food!!!

I have to cut him off though...I don't know exactly how much he can eat but he doesn't ever seem to want to stop eating. He hasn't thrown up anything...but I feel like 1/2 avocado plus a little apple is more than plenty.



We got Jeremiah's booster today...its weird to look at our kitchen table and see two little booster seats...because we have TWO kids. Weird, but awesome.

2nd Round

I'm losing my hair...again. It's gross, yes, but it is devastating. It happened after Olivia was born, and it's happening again now.
My hair is everywhere...in Jeremiah's diapers, on my clothes, on Joel's clothes, in our food, all over...every time I touch my hair at least 2 or three strands fall out. Little balding/thinning spots are returning on the sides of my head.
I went to Super Supplements and got a hair supplement thing so hopefully that will help. I took it last time but stopped after the first 30 day supply because I didn't notice any difference. I found out I'm supposed to give it 3 months to start showing it effects (or affects...I never know).

The thing that helped all my hair grow back was getting pregnant again... :)

4 Months!! Well...make that 4 1/2...

He is getting so big. He weighs 14 1/2 lbs and is 26 inches long.
I finally dragged myself to go shopping for bigger clothes for him...already in the 6 month clothes! I have been putting it off until I realized he was wearing more "capris" than he was pants.
I think he is going to LOVE eating. Anytime I get a drink or eat anything while I am holding him, he starts grunting and lunging toward whatever I'm holding.
I gave him just three little bites of my banana today and he seemed to really like it. He opened his mouth right when I put the spoon up to it and swallowed it all.
He has rolled over twice now.
He isn't quite sitting up on his own yet, but he loves his Bumbo! Olivia was sitting up by herself by the time she was 4 months...I told Jeremiah he needs to pick it up a bit! Ha ha :)
Just like his big sister, he is an awesome sleeper.
Since he was born I would read my bible while I was nursing in the morning. For his first feeding in the morning, we are the only two awake so that's when read now...if I forget or don't start reading right away he will stop eating and just stare at me...like he is waiting for me to start talking. As soon as I am reading he goes right back to eating.
He has the cutest laugh. Tickling under the chin, on the tummy, and in the armpits seem to get the best giggle.

SUCCESS!!

It has been about a week since Olivia has gone without pullups at night time. She has been potty trained since her 2nd birthday...but the nighttime stuff just wasn't working out.
The first three nights we changed sheets at least once during the night. Then there were two nights she didn't pee in bed at all! Then the last two nights she has peed somewhere around 3 or 4 in the morning. We have been getting her out of bed right before we go to bed to have to try go go potty one last time.
And then...finally...last night she made it through the night AND actually got out of bed around three to go to the bathroom. She still cried from the bathroom and I had to go help her, BUT I didn't have to change any sheets!!

Let's see how tonight goes...

Day One-ish

We did our first day of "official" preschool today. All we did was an assesment thing to see where the girls are with stuff. We did letters, numbers, counting, patterns, colors, tracing, and cutting. I think that's it..maybe some other things too. My school supplies are coming tomorrow from Amazon so on Monday we are starting the actual "curriculum." Olivia and Rachel aren't really in the same place, so I'm probably going to end up two things every week.
I don't know if Rachel had fun...but Olivia definitely loved it. When we were done she asked me, "When do we get to do more school stuff, mama?" :)

"Mom, these shoes look sooo awesome!!"

"New" shoes from her friend Rachel :)

The Reeses have arrived

About two weeks ago, Tim and Harriet moved to Post Falls with their three kids, Kathryn, Luke, and Rachel. I met them when Joel and I got married and have just fallen in love with their family. Harriet is now the cook at Ross Point and they live in the house at the camp so we get to see them all the time now!!
Their youngest, Rachel Rose, is Olivia's new friend. Everytime we go to the camp Olivia is asking me if we can go to Rachel's house. They play so well together. The first night they were in Post Falls we had dinner at John and Fay's house.
When Rachel walked in the door Olivia ran over to say hi...after kind of staring at each other not knowing what to say Olivia ran back over to me and said, "Look how beautiful Rachel looks in her pink shirt!!"
They quickly became comfortable with each other and spent most of their time taking turn bouncing on the horsie.
A few days ago we drove up to the camp and Rachel came running out into the parking lot yelling, "Olivia!!! Olivia!!!" SO CUTE!! Olivia got out of the car and told Rachel, "Oh I have missed you so much!" and they gave each other hugs.
I am so so thankful that Olivia has a good little friend to play with that is close by and who has awesome parents.








I am starting preschool homeschooling stuff with Olivia, and Tim and Harriet are so graciously letting Rachel come over and do school with us too!! It's kind of a weird time to start, but especially with their age I don't think it really matters. I figure it is better to start now than wait until the typical time to start school with having wasted several months of good learning time!!

Goodnight, Sweet Boy

Popcorn

I lOVE popcorn.
I normally just buy the movie theater butter microwave popcorn. Never again.
Not after making popcorn on the stovetop. It was AMAZING. And it was so easy! It took maybe just a little bit longer than the microwave stuff. And it was so much healthier.

2 Tbs coconut oil
1 Tbs butter
1/2 cup corn kernels

Heat. Shake. Giggle with excitement. Lightly Salt. Scarf down like its your last meal.


1/2 cuip of corn kernels for a big, overfilling bowl of yummy popcorn. Yes please.

Dream Realized

I met my birthmom. On my birthday. I was born on Friday, March 4, 1988 at 6:00pm. We met at my house on March 4, 2011 at 6:00pm.

I don't remember when my parents told me I was adopted. I was probably really young, and it has always been something I've just known. I've always wanted to meet my birthmom. I was around 10 years old when I found my hospital baby bracelet, saw her name, looked her up in the phone book and called her. Since then, the desire to meet has been even stronger.
I found her on facebook sometime in college, and when I was pregnant I e-mailed her about family health history. We started e-mailing back and forth some more and started making plans to meet. As the weekend that we had planned to meet got closer and closer, I hadn't heard anything from her so I called her and heard nothing. Fast forward almost 2 years to January. It had been on my mind for a long time to try to reestablish communication. Fay frequently talked to me about it and it was so encouraging. I e-mailed her...apologizing for anything I might have done. She e-mailed me back a couple of weeks later and we made plans to meet.

She lives in Mexico part time, and in Spokane the other half.
Our time together was great. It was easy, not awkward, and was so amazing. It was kind of surreal...I didn't really know what to do or what to talk about...but it somehow happened.
I made chicken tortilla soup and put out some chips and salsa. Before she came over, I realized that she lives in MEXICO part of the time...why would she want Mexican food??? On top of that, I have some pretty high standards to compete with!
I kinda joked as I told her those things when I was serving up dinner. She laughed and told us that when her husband is living there by himself, he normally eats all the street food so by the time she gets there he is tired of Mexican food and wants some American cooking! So she only has maybe one "Mexican meal" every time she goes. And she did say that my chicken tortilla soup was just like they make it there.

She told me about her time being pregnant and after. All she wanted to do was talk to someone about it...anyone, but no one would listen. Her parents avoided the topic. They only recognized the fact that she was pregnant twice: once to beg her to let them raise me (which she declined based on how they raised her :) ), and then again when her mom drove her to the hospital when she was in labor. Andy even lived with them for awhile when she was pregnant, and her mom referred to him as "that boy." Apparently in that time is was very taboo to give a child up for adoption. When she was in the hospital she didn't even get to stay on the labor and delivery floor. She was sent to a regular surgical unit. No one talked to her, no one even touched her.
While pregnant, she and Andy had decided not to see me after I was born. But after I cam out they both changed their minds. They went to a room with me and counted all of my fingers and toes and just spent some time with me.
Since then, she was always wanted to talk about having given up a child for adoption. She said that she always used that as her ice breaker in those large group games people play.
There is a business in Post Falls that is run by some friends of hers. They had a son in the same grade, so they would always send her a photo copy of the yearbook page I was one. When it came time for graduation they wanted to surprise her with a ticket. They asked all of their customers that came through if they happened to have an extra ticket. She was at my graduation!! So crazy.

I am so excited to get to meet her family and for her to meet mine.
So surreal.

3 Months!!

Jeremiah turned 3 months yesterday. So crazy. I think he is going to like dinosaurs or something. Whenever we growl or make any other noises like that he makes the biggest smile and even sometimes giggles! It is so different from Olivia...when she was that age she like singing and high voices. Jeremiah likes those....but he likes growls so much more!


Olivia is going skiing tomorrow with Papa. Just the two of them. We got her a harness with leashes and a handle. She wore it every second she could. Joel and I have been talking to her about things like wearing goggles and a helmet, riding the gondola, and wearing skis (kinda hard to explain). I'm kind of nervous. I know she will be fine and John will be awesome...I'm just nervous. He is picking her up at 8:30, and they are just going for a few hours. John read an article awhile ago about how to get your kids to love skiing...and it talks about taking it slow and not making them do anything they don't want to on the mountain. It even suggests the first time might be a "play in the snow" day. So however it goes, I hope she has fun.

Hiding Books

I love to read to Olivia. And she loves to have books read to her.
But, she seem to get stuck on just a few books and only wants you to read those over and over and over again. She has TONS of books. So many to choose from...but she will go pick out her select three or four and only want to read those. And we have read them so much that if I "accidentaly" skip a page she quickly turn back the pages telling me that I forgot some pages. Some of her books she can actually go page by page and say the words on the page from memory. Yes, we have read them that much.
Any time I am feedng Jeremiah, "Mommy, can you read these books?"
Any time I am sitting on the couch, "Mommy, can you read this book?"
Any time I am trying to get some dinner or lunch ready, "Mommy, can you hold me and read this book?"
Any time doing something on the computer, "Mommy, can I sit on you and you read these books?"

These are her current four books that she insists on reading:


And these ones are still in hiding in our room...

health

Olivia is sick. It is so sad...I hate it when she is sick. She has had a runny nose for about a week and yesterday it got worse. She is really congested and doesn't know how to clear her throat so her voice is sooo raspy. Even when she tries, she can't quite clear it up. And...she is definitely not a fan of saline drops followed by a nasal aspirator....that is until Daddy made it a game. He got her to blow out when the aspirator was sucking out. She tried to get out as much as possible. She told us that it just tickles when it comes out. On a side note....I HATE using that thing. SO GROSS.

Olivia praying before bedtime is the cutest thing ever. Joel usually prays first, and then she say, "I'll pray in a little bit." Then she'll close her eyes like she's sleeping, open them back up and say, "Okay, now I will pray." She thanks Jesus for whatever fun thing she got to do that day, usually repeats whatever we prayed for (with her own interpretation), and then ends with, "and help all the pain go away. In Jesus' name, Amen." When we pray and we don't end our prayer that way, she is always sure to point out that "we forgot about the pain," or didn't say Jesus' name.
Joel and I are pretty sure that she says the pain thing every time because whenever she gets hurts we'll say a quick little prayer for whatever she hurt. It's cute...instead of asking for a kiss on her boo boo, she will ask us to pray for her.


I'm overwhelmed at the idea of homeschooling. I'm scared to have to teach my kids pretty much everything they need to know for life. I'm also excited that Joel and I will get to dedicate our lives to shaping their character and investing in their lives. Honestly, I'm hestitant to tell people because of what they will think of us. Until just recently, my view of homeschoolers were kids who had absolutley no social skills, dressed weirdly, and were just weird in general. I have been proven wrong time and time again, but I know that some people still view homeschooling as an outdated concept for weird and scared people. There is no way that what other people think of us is going to get in the way we raise our kids, but it's still in the back of my mind.
I registered for the conference put on by the Valley Homeschooling group. It looks like there are a lot of good workshops. I'm going to have to bring a lot of paper to take notes! Hopefully Jamie decides to go so maybe we can split up and go to different workshops and then share notes.


Also...totally random, but Joel spent the entire evening yesterday doing his Computer Science homework. Before, if he ever spent that much consecutive time on homework, he would be so annoyed and mad. But last night, he would come out of our room SO excited about the program he was writing and wanting me to try it.
I am SO excited that he is excited. It was so draining for me to listen to him be so depressed about his school stuff. At least three or four times a week he mentions how much he is loving computer science. Such a blessing! Now we are praying in quick schooling and the perfect job when he is done!

Projects

I finally got around to making some more earrings last night. It didn't take long, but I got through two pairs (all while nursing Jeremiah)! Next thing is a necklace...

Saturday

We went out to La Cabana this afternoon with Andy, Corin, and the boys...SO yummy!! I love their chicken fajitas!
And this morning after Jeremiah went down for his first morning nap...Joel played with Olivia and I got to take an hour and a half nap!! It felt so good. It has been awhile...when 10 o'clock rolled around I was wishing for 3 or 4 more hours.

After lunch Joel went to Casey's house...so it has been a nice relaxing afternoon at home with the kids (oh how I LOVE saying "kids").

Current happenings:



Baking potatoes to make a whole bunch of frozen hashbrowns. I got a 10lb bag of potatoes for $0.75 so...the logical thing to do is make a ton of frozen hashbrowns, right??




My precious girl is eating some dinner...it's leftover night since Daddy is gone. :)



And he's taking a nap...like always.

Nutramil!!!

I want one of these sooo bad! Lets hope I can win this giveaway!!

I have tried bread made with fresh fglour and it is so amazing...and so much better for you!

pumkin spice is everything nice...

In my attempt to increase the size of my cookbook, each week I make it a point to try at least one new recipe. This morning I made pumpkin spice waffles.

 Oh my goodness they were SOOO good! I had two.  And they aren't small waffles either.  But...I'm breastfeeding so it all works out calorie-wise, right?
The recipe called for 4 Tbs of butter, so I tried out my coconut oil and did half butter half coconut oil.  The recipe said to use melted butter, so after I melted the butter I put in the 2 tbs of coconut oil.  It is solid at room temperature and melts at about 78 degress. So it melted in the butter, but then I added it to the milk/egg/pumpkin mixture and I soon had hard chunks of coconut oil in the bowl and sticking to the side and spoon.  I put some warm water in the sink and put the bowl in that and that seemed to help a little bit. There was still chunks of the coconut oil floating on top, but everything on the sides melted back in. 

So...I guess I won't be substituting coconut oil in where I need melted butter because it just goes to a solid too quickly!
The good news is that there wasn't any coconut flavor in the waffles! And I made my honey whole wheat bread last night and used half butter half coconut oil, and the bread turned out great just like it always does!! Now if only the coconut oil wasn't so expensive...


Yesterday was Valentines Day.  It was my goal all day to have Olivia sit down and color Joel a heart or something.  But that never happened.  When I finally did get the chance to do it, Joel walked in! How sweet he is...flowers and card in hand. And we have been looking for a shelf to put over the computer so we went to Lowes to find a shelf.
I didn't really have anything planned for dinner, so I had started thawing some chili in the sink. Despite double bagging it, somehow the water got into the bag of chili.  So...we stopped by Costco for their chicken alfredo dinner thing. I also figured it would be a good chance to get Joelie a new bluray player since he dropped his on Christmas and broke it.  There was one there that was only $100 after $30 off! Sweet!!
So came home, had some dinner, made brownies, and got the kiddos off to bed.  Great Valentines Day. 

Can I just mention how much I LOVE to be able to say KIDS...plural...more than one...!
And can I also mention how great a sleeper Jeremiah is? 7-8 hours each night at 2 months!! And...when we put him in his crib all swaddled up, he hardly ever cries!! Sometimes we even get smile before he drifts off to sleep. 

As for Olivia....oh how I wish I had a picture from Sunday. I was getting ready for church and she was sitting on the counter playing with my earrings and watching me get ready.  I turned to talk to Joel for seriously A FEW SECONDS, and when I turned around she was holding my open mascara with it streaked all down her cheek.  She had managed to get  a little bit on her eye lashes.  It was so hard not to laugh...and Joel actually had to tell her to stop and explain to her why because I was laughing too hard.  I wanted to take a picture so bad...but I figured that would have totally encouraged her to do it again. 

good food

Getting pregnant with Olivia and especially making her baby food has totally changed my perspective on food.  I have changed how I eat so much, and I am still changing.  There is just so much I don't know and there is SO much junk out there!!
Reading about the whole Taco Bell meat thing is disgusting (http://www.milehimama.com/2011/01/26/is-taco-bell-meat-actually-beef/)... pretty sure Joel and I are totally cutting back (if not eliminating) fast food places like that.  Caruso's all the way baby!

I have spent hours reading and researching online. My most recent addition to my kitchen is coconut oil.

I had always heard that coconut oil has a huge amount of saturated fat, so you shouldn't eat it.  YES, it does have a huge amount of saturated fat, but they are medium length chains, not the long chains found in animal fats.  So our bodies digest these totoally differently and coconut oil is hugely beneficial. 

I'm kinda nervous to use it! Hopefully our food won't taste like coconut! 

oh coffee...

I broke out my coffee pot again this morning.  I'm just waiting for it to finish its cleaning cycle. Opening up that bag of coffee beans was amazing...that smell is amazing.  Hearing the grinder, smelling the grinds...oh how I love coffee.  I SO wish I could work as a a barista! You know..with all that free time I have. I bought decaf coffee, and I'm kinda scared that I'm going to be disappointed.  But...I have a lot of it so if I'm disappointed, I'm going to be disappointed for about 2 lbs worth of decaf.  T-10 months until caffiene. 

Jeremiah is doing great...8 weeks old yesterday.  He is smiling now...although his grumpy face does seem to be this everday look!

Olivia had a shirt pocket full of marbles the other day, leaned over the toilet after pooping and one fell out. I of course called for Joel. I had no idea what to do with a marble in the bottom of a toilet that had poop in it!! He went and got one of my long handled slotted spoons and scooped it right out. My hero. Hopefully he threw away that marble and spoon...

Whenever I tell Olivia "no" for something she has asked for she says, "Please mom, haven't you ever been in love before?"  Cute...until you've heard it a million times. 

So much time has gone by...

I don't know what happened! Everything went so fast!
Jeremiah John Batchelder was born December 9th, 2010.  Everything was amazing...the whole experience was great. I will be writing up his birth story soon..hopefully really soon so I don't forget any details!
He was dedicted to the Lord on January 16th at our church, Victory Faith.
He is such an awesome baby. Lots of grunting, not much crying!

Olivia is adjusting pretty well. She doesn't play on her own very much anymore, and she definitely has her whiny moments.  But things are getting better.  I try so hard to pay extra attention to her when Jeremiah is sleeping, but it seems like her neediest moments are when I am feeding Jeremiah! Go figure!!

Joel and I both started school again.  He started computer science at NIC and is LOVING it.  He even WANTS to do his homework!! The only frustrating thing is that lately, he really doesn't have any time to do it. And what makes this especially frustrating is that with all of his other school work in the past, he had plenty of time do it, but spent his time elsewhere (cough, cough...xbox...cough). 

My oringial plan for the nursing program was to apply for this fall. But my amazing friend Janessa is going to be starting in spring, and I would so so love to do the nursing program with her.  I am hesitant because I would be having to put it off even farther, but honestly, I don't see myself getting a job right after being done anyway.  If I do start in the spring with her, Jeremiah will be 3 and Olivia will be 5 1/2!! So crazy!! And at that point, we will be wanting to have another baby (hopefully) so that won't be a good time to start a job anyway.  I just don't know...I will be doing lots of praying.