In looking at my blog, it looks like it’s been about 6 months since I posted. Wowzers. There is good reason for that, though. In July, we spent most of the month finding a new place because we’d outgrown our old one and then getting ready to move. At the end of July, we started to move our stuff over. The new apartment is across the street from the old one, which in some ways is weird but also nice because we already are familiar with the neighborhood and are in the same ward. Our new apartment is great and spacious. Of course, I always feel that way when I first move to a place since we’ve always moved into something bigger and then after two to four years, it’s become too small, so we’ll see. But the living room has vaulted ceilings which helps with the spaciousness, and there are lots of areas that are not “filled” (except maybe by messiness, but at least not by furniture and other things).
In August I got pregnant. Yay! I was really hoping because I wanted to be due in May, before it gets too hot, but after Aaron will be done with his semester so unless the baby is born early, it shouldn’t interfere with finals. Plus I think May is a nice time for a birthday. I was surprised it actually worked out though. It’s one reason we wanted a bigger place so that there would be another bedroom for the baby. At the first ultrasound in October, we found out the baby is due a little earlier than expected. From the first day of last menstrual cycle, the baby should have been due May 14, but according to the ultrasound, the doctor moved the date up to May 5. The same thing happened with Alex (was supposed to be due March 9, but was moved up to March 2 after the first ultrasound). Interesting. Then in December we had the second ultrasound and found out we’ll be having boy #2. And no, we don’t know what we’re naming him yet.
September to December was really busy for us. Aaron started his first semester of the elementary education major and it was hectic. He took 7 classes (as required. All the students are required to take specific classes each semester of the major with their cohort). It was a lot of work, mostly busy work, and a lot of major assignments. I tried to help where I could (whether it was keeping Alex occupied so Aaron could concentrate or helping him on assignments). In November, they had field work, which meant they were all assigned to local elementary schools to help in the classroom and teach some lessons. I think this was a good experience for Aaron and he really enjoyed the teacher he worked with. Most of the members in the cohort worked with partners, but for some reason he was assigned to be alone. This was good and bad. One bad thing was having to prepare all the lessons on his own and teach them all. He didn’t have a partner to help with classroom management while he was teaching and he didn’t have someone to work with on the assignments associated with fieldwork. Still, it worked out okay in the end. Finally the semester came to an end and surprisingly, Aaron was able to get all of his assignments completed (except maybe a couple small ones). He did really well and got a 3.9 for the semester. I was so proud of him. Today begins the second semester, and I admit, I’m not looking forward to it, but I can’t wait till it’s over!
November brought an unexpected trial for us. Now that it’s over, it almost feels trivial, but at the time when we didn’t know what was going on, it was really worrisome. It all started with Alex having loose stools for a couple weeks. Then Alex began to throw up every day and have diarrhea (but only at nights for the most part). Right when it started, I wondered if it was a food allergy but the pediatrician said that allergies don’t typically present themselves with those symptoms. I looked online for symptoms of an egg allergy (which is what I suspected it was since Alex has always refused to eat eggs and anything with lots of eggs in it, including kid-friendly foods like pancakes, waffles, and French toast), and the symptoms included diarrhea and vomiting, but I let the doctor convince me it was stomach bug and that it would heal. Well, after a couple more weeks, Alex was still vomiting and having diarrhea. They did a stool test and found nothing. The doctor then thought it was a parasite (very uncommon here in the U.S., esp. since we haven’t traveled).
So I decided enough was enough and I got a referral to an allergist (with the pediatrician saying, “I’ll give the referral but I really don’t think it’s allergies.”). So Aaron and I took him to the allergist and found out that the symptoms could be allergies and we scheduled a skin test for a couple days later (Medicaid doesn’t allow a skin test on the same day as an office visit). For the skin test, they marked Alex’s back and then pricked him with common food allergens–corn, wheat, egg whites, egg yolks, milk, soy, and peanuts. We had told them he was allergic to peanuts, but they probably wanted to see how allergic. Alex was so good. He just kind of smiled while they were pricking him, which was surprising. Most kids cry. Then I held him in my lap while we watched The Lion King and waited for the skin to react. The test found that he was indeed allergic to eggs–both the whites and the yolks–and peanuts, of course. Luckily, Alex should grow out of it within a few years. We’ll have him retested in two years to see. Since then we’ve been avoided all products with eggs and finally Alex stopped having diarrhea and vomiting. It was a rough month between feeling helpless about why he was sick and having to get up in the night to change his sheets and clean him off. It’s amazing how grateful I am now to be able to sleep through the night and not wake up in the morning to messed up sheets and blankets. And the whole thing started because we bought pizza Hot Pockets and had started letting Alex have a few each week. They have both egg whites and egg yolks in the ingredients. Before then, Alex had had plenty of things with eggs (cake, mayo, ranch dressing, etc.), but not consistently enough to make him sick. There were times when he’d have loose stools, but only every once in awhile, so I didn’t think much about it.
While Aaron’s been concentrating on school, I’ve continued to do freelance work and have been very lucky to find a few good clients (esp. BlueGlass) that have helped keep us afloat. Still, we’ve had a couple rough months and I can’t wait till we have more income coming than just my freelance. It can be a lot of pressure when how much I make a month can vary so widely. Luckily, BG really likes me and gives me as much work as possible. In December, they had a contest for the best writers and editors and I was lucky enough to win first for editors. With it came a $500 gift card to Target. This really helped us with Christmas gifts and I’m saving some for when the baby is born.
Christmas was good for us. Because of the gift card to Target, along with gift cards and checks from other family members, we were able to get a few gifts for us and some for Alex. Generous family members also sent gifts as well. My sister Krissa sent some homemade things that I was really wanting (though she didn’t know) including a nursing cover and a crayon holder. She also made the new baby a blanket and a tag blankie, which is good because I don’t think Alex will be willing to give up any of his blankets for the new baby. He’s pretty attached (and he even tried to claim the new ones as his). I just wish my sister lived nearby so I could have her show me how to make a quilt. I’d love to make both Alex and the new baby quilts, but really don’t know where to start. My in-laws sent Alex a monkey from Build-a-Bear. I thought this was perfect because they put into the monkey recordings of them telling Alex that they love him. Alex loves to press the buttons and hear Grandma and Grandpa saying “I love you, Alex.” What a great thing!
We got Alex a basketball hoop. It’s great because you can adjust the height from 4′ to 6′. Alex has enjoyed that and frequently asks me to play “baseball” with him (he can’t seem to pronounce “basket” yet). Mostly this means watching him try to shoot the ball and encouraging him when he makes it. He does let me have turns and gives me the ball to shoot. Then he’ll say “Alex turn” and try himself. He’s definitely improving. Another present was a Buzz Lightyear action figure we got from the Disney Store along with a plush Woody doll. Alex loves Toy Story 3, so it was an obvious choice.
So overall, things are good with us. Alex has told me I’m his best friend, so I don’t know how things could be better 
. I’m really looking forward to adding another little person to our family and dealing with that challenge as well. It will be exciting! Only 4 more months!
