Hello? Where have you been?

I am so bad at blogging. I have been putting it off for months (literally seeing as my last post was November 1st) I just haven't had the itch to post lately. I still don't really, so bear with me as I hastily catch up.

We had a great holiday season this year. We spent Thanksgiving in Elkhart with my family, and Christmas we split between Sealy and Elkhart. It was fun, except poor Bruce has decided to get a double ear infection for every holiday. His first onset right after Halloween, then one over Thanksgiving and came down with #3 Christmas Eve. Poor, poor boy did not have a very happy Christmas Break. (Which is probably why I am drawing a blank for any details from either holiday - I semi-blocked them out perhaps)

January has been busy, busy busy so far, and it is only the 10th. I feel like the month should be almost over already. I have been babysitting kids from 2 different families the past two weeks, as the normal babysitters were still on vacation. I had 2 extra kids 4 days last week and 5 this week. Three kids running around makes for a much more tiring day than one, that is for sure! Makes me re-think the number and spacing of babies to have! jk. They re-organized our YW presidency, replacing everyone except me, so we have been having meetings to catch everyone up on the girls and upcoming activities.

I made a list of things about Bruce lately, but can't find it anymore (surprise surprise) so I will write down what little I can recall right now. (I really am in a brain funk and probably shouldn't be attempting a post at the moment)

-Bruce has taken to climbing on EVERYTHING - I often find him standing on the kitchen table.
-He likes to move large objects around the house by pushing them from place to place - kitchen chairs, boxes, laundry baskets, trash cans, ect he does the same thing at church and any office/waiting room
-He just went in for his 15 month check up Tuesday, he is 32 in tall and 25.4 lbs. 75th% for height, 50% for weight. Poor child had to get three shots and a blood draw that day. It broke my heart :(
-His favorite thing to eat right now is citrus. Grapefruits, tangerines and clementines. He cannot get enough of them! His breakfast all week has been a whole grapefruit and 2 scrambled eggs.
-He is in a dipping phase. Katchup is one of his favorite things to eat. He will dip anything on his plate into the katchup, lick it off and re-dip it a couple of times before actually eating the food. He does the same thing with carrot sticks and Ranch dressing which leads me to another thing
-lately he goes to the fridge and wants a carrot stick. Two actually, one for each hand. He doesn't have the teeth/jaw strength to actually eat them, but nibbles at them for long periods of time. I find half eaten carrot sticks all over the house. Looks like a mouse has been working at them.
-He used to wake up in the morning and run strait to the fridge  for breakfast, but since Christmas he wakes up and heads strait for the TV. It freaks me out a little. I do NOT want my children to be TV dependent, and my 15 month old is already showing signs of addiction! yikes! (my fault, right before Christmas I was so busy sewing and making gifts that I would put on a movie to entertain while I worked, and after Christmas I have had so many kids crammed in the apartment with cruddy weather outside - movies have been a survival tool for us) He is tall enough now to turn it off and on himself, and does it all.day.long. It drives David batty. I have to unplug it unless I want it on.
-Bruce loves remotes. Wii remotes to be specific. He even swings it around like daddy does when he plays Wii.
-Everything is a sword. At least I think that is what he is doing, although I don't know how he learned it. He loves to pick up sticks, paper towel rolls, silverware or anything else long and thin and swing it around like he is sword fighting.
-Still jabbers a ton, but it is hard to tell if he is using the same 'word' for an object over and over again. Mama and dada are the only two words I can think of right now that actually mean what they are suppose to. He does a great job mimicking our words, but seems to forget it again. For example, if he is holding a stick or rock (which he almost always is) he will say 'ick' or 'ock' when I repeat it several times, but not unless I prompt him by saying it first. I hope to work hard on our communication skills over the next few months though.
-Follows simple directions well. He understands 'find your shoes', 'give that to mommy/daddy', 'sit in your chair to eat', 'go get a book to read' things like that.
-is still our sweet, sweet boy. Likes to snuggle/wrestle, give kisses (open mouth, sloppy ones :) sit on your lap while reading books, and comes up to us to give hugs randomly throughout the day
-His favorite movie is Winnie the Pooh. Probably because it is my #1 choice. It is only one hour long, and as I said before, I cringe at letting him watch TV at all, but can't seem to help myself... It is nice to be able to get things done while he is distracted. He always laughs when Eyeore sighs for some reason he thinks it is funny.
-Is in an anti-carseat phase again. He screams bloody-murder when we try to put him in the car. It becomes a wrestling match as he arches his back and squirms to make strapping him in impossible.
-Loves being outside. He doesn't really take any interest in the playground playsets anymore, he just wants to find sticks or rocks and dig int he dirt. All boy.
-He loves music and really enjoys it when someone dances with him. Last week we had Mary Poppins on and he went crazy dancing on his own during the 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' song. Bobbing his head, swinging arms, bouncing up and down. It was hilarious. We caught the tail end of it on camera.

David and I are constantly amazed by how big Bruce is getting. He is such a joy in our lives.

We had some photographer friends take pictures of Bruce in early December, they turned out so good! We are very blessed to have friends who can take beautiful pictures!

 We have been talking with a Realtor about buying a home here. Our lease is up in early March, so not much time to look and close if we find something. We have 8 homes to look at this weekend, and 4 or 5 more to see some other time if none of these are what we want. It is a big commitment, so we are hoping to get a clear yes or no answer from the Lord if this is the time to buy. Rent is outrageous here though, almost twice what we payed in College Station... and it would be nice to own our own home with a yard. We will see...

Finally, I should add that we are pregnant with #2. I am 17 weeks today. Last night the baby kicked hard enough for David to feel it. It was actually one of the few kicks I have even felt. This baby is not really a mover I guess. I kept waiting and waiting to feel it, most people say with #2 you will feel it earlier, but I have only had 3 or 4 times I have maybe felt it move before yesterday. And those were iffy - not clear baby movements, could have been gas bubbles or something. Of course, maybe it doesn't move as much because it is always getting beat up by Bruce climbing on my belly or accidentally kneeing me in the gut. ;) Bruce and this baby will be right at 21 months apart. I am glad the gap wont be too big! I am hoping Bruce can talk more before this baby is born, it will be much easier for all of us if we can communicate with each other! I already know he will be a great big brother!

Whew long post. That about sums up happenings of late though.
I will have to try and be better about updating more frequently!