Updates

Let's see if I can catch up a little here...
Mark
Mark is now the big boy. He's really starting to hit some big milestones. I was starting to wonder if he was ever going to go mobile.He wouldn't stand on his legs, and he would get angry when you put him on his knees. He would roll around a bit, and I was impressed with how quickly he could get around by spinning around on his behind.  But for the most part, he was perfectly content to be carted around. However, it has been getting harder and harder for mommy to carry him. Then about a month ago, he started getting frustrated that he couldn't get around and go where he wanted to. And then about two weeks ago, he just decided to crawl. He didn't really practice a lot; he just started to crawl one afternoon. Now he is all over the place. I am constantly trying to childproof the house, but then I've got the anti-childproofer, Sam, who is constantly leaving little things like pennies where Mark can get them (despite our many discussions on the matter). I'm not sure how well the house is going to hold up. I couldn't keep up with Hurricane Sam, and now I have Tornado Mark as well. Mark is just as talented as his brother at destroying a clean room. I am outnumbered, so if you should come by my house don't worry if it takes me a minute to get to the door...I just have to unbury myself from the chaos!

I don't know if I ever mentioned that Mark ended up getting a shunt last December. It was something that we were trying to avoid, but the swelling on his brain kept increasing, so it had to be done. And I have to say, that it has made all the difference. Basically the shunt is a tube that runs from the ventricles between his brain halves down into his stomach cavity and drains extra fluid from the head into the stomach where it's just absorbed by the body. While he may not need it for his entire life, it's something that he will probably have for the rest of his life. It's just easier to leave it in, and there's extra coils of tube in his stomach that should supposedly unroll as he grows. Isn't medical technology incredible!? Mark has a little bump on top of his head, but for the most part, you would never know he has the shunt. It was night and day when he got the shunt. He immediately became more interactive and he started putting on weight and looking so much more healthy.

Now he only has to do his regular pediatrician visits and see his neuro-surgeon once a year. His neurologist was so impressed that she said we don't have to come back unless there are any problems. We also have an early intervention specialist, Melinda, who comes to the house once a month to work with Mark. She helps us monitor his progress and helps us to set goals for him. For example, last month our goal was to work on getting Mark used to being on his knees. She was so impressed when she came this past week to see him crawling all around. Mark loves to show off for her too! The doctors told us that the brain is a complicated thing, and we may never see any issues from Mark's early struggles or something may pop up one day. You just never know. But for now, Mark is perfectly normal. He's a smart kid, full of personality, and very interactive. In fact, I think he's going to really give us a run for our money! He's cute, and he knows it.

Mark doesn't talk much yet. He says "dadda" (he's a total daddy's boy) and "uh-oh" and just this week he's started doing the sign for more. But he loves to make sounds and interact with people. He loves to make silly sounds. And he's always watching his big brother and trying to copy him. That could be trouble! =)

Sam
Sam is almost three and such a smart cookie. He knows his alphabet and can count to twenty. He is a mini-Nic in so many ways. Not only does he look like daddy, but he seems to be mechanically inclined and loves numbers just like his dad. He loves to take things apart to see how they work and is so curious about everything which sometimes/often gets him in trouble. But it's fun to discover the wonder of the world with him.

Sam is a very verbal child. You have to watch what you say around him. Luckily, he hasn't picked up some of daddy's vocab, but does say things like, "heck yeah!" and "time out! Two minutes!" from mom. We have a list of 'yucky' words like "stupid", "hate", "go away", and "oh my gosh". Sam has tasted soap once for continually using yucky words despite warnings. Now he lectures others when they use yucky words. He's gotten after Grandma M and Aunt Holly for saying "oh my gosh" and has threatened them with time out and soap.

He's also a technology junky. He knows how to work the iPhone better than most adults. He can get on the iPhone and on the TV, find Netflix, find the show he wants to watch, and then watch it. He has a bunch of educational games on the iPhone that he likes to play, and if you aren't careful, he knows how to get more games. I just learned that he got on my sister's phone and bought $6.00 worth of apps. My iPhone used to have a picture of Mark on the sleep screen and a picture of Sam on the home screen. Well, Sam got on there and changed it so there's now two pictures of him.

A funny story, over labor day weekend, my parents went on a vacation with my aunt and uncle to Mt. Rushmore. Well, early Sunday morning, a little before 7 a.m., I was taking a shower when Sam came into the bathroom and told me that he called grandma and grandpa. Sure enough, he had my cellphone and was talking to grandpa. He called my parents all on his own and woke them up. He told them I was in the shower and even let them talk to Mark who was still in his crib, supposedly sleeping. It was their favorite wake up call ever!

One of my favorite things is to spy on Sam when he's playing or during what I call his "bath confessional". Sometimes when he's taking a bath, he'll act out the entire day with his toys. I get to find out things I didn't know he did that day and I get to hear what I sound like all day. It's quite interesting some days! Sam is very imaginative and likes to come up with stories. He'll take characters and story ideas from his favorite TV shows and combine these things with his life. He loves role play. He'll tell me, "I'm mom. You're Sam." And then proceed to act the part. It's super cute.

Sam can be a real stinker with his trouble making and tantrums, but he's also such a sweet kid. He gives plenty of hugs and kisses, and my favorite thing is that he tells us that he loves us now. The other day, I wasn't feeling well and was lying in bed crying. Sam crawled up onto my bed and hugged me. He kept patting my head and saying, "Don't cry, mommy. It's okay. I'm right here. I love you." He's such a tender heart!

The rest of us
Nic is doing well, though he's extremely busy. From work to church to trying to take care of us,I don't think the poor guy gets much sleep. We're still trying to find that perfect balance with everything. I think Nic feels guilty about the time he spends away from the family, but he works really hard to be with us as much as he can. He's been coming home at lunch time lately whenever he can get away to help me with the boys and spend some time with us. I love that Nic is a dad that interacts with his boys. He plays with them, reads stories with them, talks with them. As his dad said the other day, "For all the time he spent saying he didn't want kids, he sure loves those kids. He's a good dad." 

I have about four more weeks left of this pregnancy, and, honestly, I'm just in survival mode. I haven't really been sick or anything, but this pregnancy has kicked my tooshy. A big factor, is that my body wasn't fully recovered from my last pregnancy (Mark and the baby will be barely 14 months apart). I am constantly exhausted. I can't really stand for much longer than 10-15 minutes without getting dizzy and sick. I'm also a lot bigger with this one than my other two pregnancies. I've gained twenty pounds so far which I know isn't much, but is double what I gained with my other pregnancies, and I'm about 3 centimeters bigger. It's not a huge difference, but it feels like a lot on an already tired body. I feel bad that I'm not as active with the boys right now, but I keep telling myself that it's just a short moment in the scheme of things and that the boys are doing okay. I'm lucky to have two boys that can play on their own and keep themselves entertained while mommy rests. I also feel bad because I feel like I'm more whiny these days, and I don't mean to be. I am truly blessed to have this new miracle coming into my life. Some one pointed out the other day that we're getting our invitro paid back now because we're having our third baby and we did three rounds of invitro. Maybe. All I know is that in the past three years, I've gone from wondering if I could ever have children to being the mother of three little ones (soon). And I know that there are so many out there struggling to have babies. It's all in the Lord's timing. We just have to trust in Him, whether it's infertility or surviving three boys under three or whatever it might be. And I'm slowly learning to leave the hard stuff to Him, and to just enjoy what life gives me.

So that's about it. We've had a fun summer filled with adventures. There are so many stories to tell, but it's so hard to find the time and energy to record it all. As usual, I will try to do better! It very likely, however, that the next time you hear from me will be to report the arrival of little Pumpkin.