Life as of February

Well, it's been awhile, so I better write just for my own sake, even though not much is going on!

We've all been sick for awhile; Mitch got a bad cold 2 weeks ago and it lasted him about 10 days; Nathan and I got the same cold a week ago; he's better, I'm not quite better yet. But, we're glad to be over the worst of it, and that it was just a bad cold, not influenza!

Nathan's jamming out to his Pandora station on tv...this kid is so uptight that he NEVER dances. I love the rare times it happens, and I love that he recognizes so many songs from his little toddler lab class!

I love watching him in toddler lab through the observation booth one-way windows. It is SO FUN to see him and how he acts when we're not there! He is loving it and having so much fun! He doesn't cry when he goes anymore, but is still clingy for awhile after Mitch or I pick him up. We turned in his application for next semester already; if he gets in, he gets in. I told the teacher we'd be having a baby in the middle of the semester and that it could either be a good constant in his little life amidst everything else changing, or it'd be too much and we'd have to pull him out. She said to go ahead and try it. I just really think his timid little personality that's so afraid to try new things (THAT part he got from me...) will benefit from more than one semester of socialization and play time with things we don't have or do at home. So far he loves painting; I haven't braved that mess yet at home!

Mitch is doing well in his classes and studies very hard. He ended up dropping a class because it was requiring too much combined with his other classes, but we'd both rather he keep his GPA in mind than try to cram in credits while he's also working a lot and is feeling the impact of responsibilities at home. I don't have much patience for my classes; I'm SO glad this is my last semester! I'm so DONE!

I went back to counseling today. It was awesome. Not much to say about it in detail, mostly just planning out goals for the time span that I'm going, but it was so nice to be back with that resource. My counselor is awesome, and it was great that I didn't have to explain everything, all over again, to someone new! The one different thing about this counseling center (on our school's campus) is that, because they're offering the services to any student, FREE of charge, they ask you to stop coming as soon as you can; not to draw out the process unnecessarily because there are so many students on their wait list that may desperately need someone to talk to. Of course, everyone's needs are met, they just try to help as many students as possible.

On a random note, I got a very sweet, sincere compliment from a woman working in the store that Nathan and I were shopping in. It made my day! So, give compliments...it means a lot more than you think!

Miss Eliza is doing very well! I realized some funny things about this pregnancy: (Not really funny, just interesting)

- I feel so much more AWARE of everything that's happening. I think having done it before really helps.

- Feeling her move all over, at SUCH an earlier point in my pregnancy than Nathan, is really fun!

- She totally has a pattern and schedule already; luckily her movements aren't strong enough yet to wake me up at night, but they work themselves into my dreams :o)

- My coughing fits scare her sometimes, poor girl!

- Nathan points to everything pink he can see and says, "for baby sister!" It's really cute!

- I haven't been as diligent at figuring out how many weeks I am exactly, like I did with Nathan. I think the novelty has worn off a bit. I didn't even take a belly picture until THIS week, at 23 weeks! (I labeled the picture 22.5 weeks on Facebook until I realized that I was, in fact, 23 weeks as of TODAY. Thank goodness for the Kindle app that tells me or I'd never know!) 

Here is the said belly picture and some other random pictures of what's been going on lately:

This is a comparison of my baby bump at 23 weeks with Nathan and with Eliza!

We had a crazy weird snowstorm a few weeks ago and the snowflakes all stayed perfectly separated and complete! I was kicking myself that I sent that macro lens back so I couldn't get a perfectly sharp shot, but I did the best I could with what I had!

Nathan looking cute in the snowy weather :o)

 Nathan was hammin' it up in the bath the other night, and I love taking bath pictures of him, so here ya go!

Brushing his hair :o)

Haha I love this face, eating his duck :o)

Bathwater never hurt anyone, right? lol

He's pretty OCD these days and was mad that the shampoo bottles weren't lined up just right.

 My favorite cute little boy :o)

I asked him, "where's cute Nathan?" and this is what I got :o)

I will never get over my love of little feet :o)