It's been a challenge trying to find time to update the blog. I'm hoping to get things caught up once Colin finishes exams. In the meantime here is what has been happening in our lives:
We moved to Elizabethton, TN and bought a house.
Colin started school.
I started a job - waiting tables. (Not the greatest, but they'll work around our schedules so no daycare costs.)
And the big news that most of you probably know already... we're having another baby in September!
Due to the insurance situation (none, due to pre-existing conditions, blah, blah, blah) we are seeing a midwife and will have a home birth. This is actually what I would prefer. The only thing we keep wondering about is what if something goes wrong and we need to go to the hospital anyway? So, please keep us in your prayers! I'm at 21 weeks (just over halfway) and everything has been fine so far. We are trying to arrange an ultrasound but that has been a challenge in itself. None of the health clinics do OBGYN care and both doctors we've talked to have refused to see me because I'm not their patient. The are scared of being sued if something goes wrong later with the pregnancy! On the plus side, my morning sickness was much less severe this time around - I only threw up when Colin was driving! I've been feeling movement for about 3 weeks now and Colin was able to feel the baby move last week.
We're not sure if Ben understands the situation or not. He knows the words baby and belly - he likes to present his belly for us to blow bubbles on - so we have told him that there is a baby in Mommy's belly. He looks at us very seriously and pats my belly and kisses it.
Ben is learning new words every day. I take him in the wagon to the library on Tuesdays for a children's program. He was shy at first but now he feels right at home. He also likes helping in the garden (we've only planted the peas so far) and walking to the park. We put his yo (Korean sleeping pad) inside a tent in his bedroom and he loves to sleep in there.
In the not-too-distant future I hope to have some time to post some pictures of our new house - before and after our families came to visit and work!
We decided it was time to get Ben a potty, so we all took a little trip to Babies 'R Us in Johnson City. Ben was awed by all the baby products and kept shouting "Oh, oh!" as we passed each aisle. Fortunately he was equally excited about the wide variety of potty options. We passed up a model that had a toilet paper holder and played songs and instead opted for a sturdy model that can be used as a potty, that fits onto the toilet seat, and that can be used as a step stool when Ben is no longer in danger of falling into the toilet bowl. Ben was quite excited about our new purchase and once we got home immediately went about disassembling it and carrying the various parts around the house. For about a week he did this but would adamantly refuse to sit (or be seated) on the potty. Finally I came up with a solution... show him how it's done! After that Ben was happy to try it for himself. He's gone several times (mostly by accident while he just happens to be sitting there) and we cheer for him and act very excited. (Okay, we actually are excited, because it means there might be an end to diapers sometime in the future.) The funny part is that Ben hasn't figured out how to say potty yet, so if he wants to sit on it he cheers for himself and claps his hands!
