I can hardly believe it.  Arianna turned 3 yesterday!  She's growing up so fast.  It's been 3 years since I taught in a classroom and a little less than that since I decided to become a stay-at-home mom indefinitely.  So many things have happened since that time.  Arianna is growing into an intelligent, out-going, happy girl.  She loves talking and pretending and helping.  She's so much fun to have around ... most of the time.    My little toddler is officially a preschooler and she'll be starting Sunday School is September.  Wow!

Happy Birthday, my favourite girl.

The son of my mom's cousin passed away this week.  He was 20 days shy of his 33rd birthday.  He had a wife and a son who is just a few months younger than Arianna.  I didn't know him too well, but I went with my brother and parents to the funeral anyway.  Jeff was the kind of guy who lived his faith with a servant attitude.  He was a big kid and loved to laugh.  He loved the outdoors and I remember being teased by him when I was younger and we were camping together with our families.  He had testicular cancer, but it wasn't the cancer that claimed his life.  He had a very rare reaction to the chemo drug he was receiving.  It attacked his lungs, scarring them so badly he would never breathe on his own again.  This is what took his life.  It seems so unfair.  We will never know why, but as his brother said at the memorial service yesterday, we trust that this kind of death is not God's will, but the affect of a sinful, fallen world.  And to God be the glory.  Maybe when we look back in 10 or 15 years we will see all the good that has come from Jeff's leaving us too soon.

I can't imagine what his wife is going through, his son, who will never really remember his dad.  It makes me grateful for my husband and children.

There was a fire in downtown Bowmanville this past week.  A number of businesses and apartments were destroyed.  It makes me grateful for my house and the things we have.

Another shift at GM (local automotive plant) was cut.  1,000 people lost their jobs and the trickle-down effect will cause 100s more in job losses.  It makes me grateful for my husband's job, where there is a shortage of pharmacists.  He could probably pick where he wanted to work.

I am so richly blessed.  Thank you, Lord, for showering me with your blessings.  May I never take them for granted!

It's been a crazy two weeks!  Nathaniel is sitting on his own for extended periods of time.  He started crawling.  He's pulling up to a stand on anything.  He's cut two teeth.  All this in two weeks!  He's crawling 3 months earlier than his sister did and she didn't start pulling up on things until she was almost 11 months old.  He's just 7 months old!  It's craziness, I tell you.    She must be some serious motivation for him.  Slow down, buddy!

Well we finally got to see the pediatrician for Nathaniel's rice allergy. She said that since he hasn't reacted to any other pre-mixed cereal, it isn't an allergy to dairy or some obscure additive. It's simply a very strange allergy to rice, which is supposed to be hypo-allergenic. We were told, no mixed cereals, which all have rice in them, until he is 10 months old. Then we can try a little bit and see if he still reacts. If not, then we can give him some mushy rice when he's a year old, again just a little and see if he reacts. Thankfully we are able to go back to her if he reacts to anything else or there are other concerns about allergies; we don't have to get a referral first. Other than that, he's doing wonderfully. He's sitting on his own, although he doesn't stay there very long; and he's almost crawling. I thought he would be by now, but he seems to love the soldier crawl (on his belly, dragging his legs). He's all over the place now and Arianna loves playing with him.

Anyway, there's a quick update.

Oh and I'm so excited, our tulips are blooming!! Spring is here!

I can't believe it's been exactly a month since I wrote a blog.  That's terrible.  Things here are so crazy, though.

Arianna is now almost 3 years old.  We started potty training her in November and we're not any closer than we were back then.  It's taking forever!  She has also decided that it's time for tantrums and boy is that fun.  It isn't all bad, though.  She's starting to have imaginary friends and it's so funny watching and listening to her play with them.  She has such an imagination, always pretending to be all sorts of things and, of course, Mommy has to play along.

Nathaniel is growing like a weed.  At his 6-month (Yup, he's 6 months old already!) check-up he weighed in at 16lbs and he's 27" long.  He's nursing really well, no more problems there.  Yay!  But we do have problems elsewhere.  He has an allergy to rice cereal, of all things.  His face gets all red and blotchy, with little white bumps like hives.  The worst reaction even went down his neck.  Right now we are waiting to see a pediatrician and we watch him like crazy after every meal.  This allergy didn't surface until at least a week on the rice cereal.  So far, he hasn't reacted to oatmeal cereal, which is the only other thing he's eaten at this point.  We'll have to see what the pediatrician says.  He's rolling all over the place and can get himself where he wants to go in a combination roll/pull forward motion.  It's fun to watch him; although now we have to work extra hard to keep Arianna's small toys away from him.

I'm keeping busy with these two and church activities as well as my Close To My Heart business.  Our house is buzzing!  It's great even though it can be tiring sometimes.  I do miss everyone here and I wish I had more time to spend on Minti.  I still think about all my friends here, even if I'm not on to leave you notes in your lounges.

Sending hugs to everyone!

It was a busy, tiring week, for both of us.  The kids missed him and of course, so did I.  I spend some time at my parents' house, which was very nice and a huge help.  I'm so grateful he's home.  Next time, I'm going with him and I'm very excited about that prospect!  Better go, I've got lots to do.

My dear hubby left early this morning for Guatemala.  He's on a medical mission for 9 days.  This is the same thing he did last year at this time.  As I write this he's in the air.  I already miss him.    At least my sister is coming to stay with me, although she won't be here until tomorrow.  I'd love your thoughts and prayers for his safety and the success of his trip as well as for my sanity.    It's been a rough couple weeks.

Everyone has said that Arianna and Nathaniel look so much like their daddy.

What do you think?

I've been tagged by kathrynr1402

This is fun, thanks for the tag!

Here are the rules for this tag.

1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

6 things, hmmm...

1. I can type one-handed as I am right now, with baby in my lap.  Sorta slow with lots of mistakes, but I'm getting better.
2. My camp counsellor nickname: Rusty for my red hair.  When I became program director I also became Polkaroo because I'd just pop up unannounced at different activities.  In fact there are still kids who don't know my real name.
3. I have a twin brother and a younger sister, both of whom I get along with really well, always have.
4. I watch way too much TV, usually while I'm doing something else.
5. I've been known to pretend I'm fishing off the step into our living room, with Arianna of course.
6. I'm addicted to Parking Wars on Facebook!

I'm tagging: marlena, exquisite-flower, libby24, leisha, tinker79, allyp