Update long overdue!!!

Hello everyone!

I am so sorry that I have neglected this site for so long! I am at work, so will have to post pictures later (which I'm sure is what you mostly want to see anyway), but will update you on our family now.

Nathan: My little boy is growing up so fast!! He is walking, running, climbing on everything, and is a little chatter-bug!! He is 15 months now and can say between 20 and 30 words and can actually communicate fairly well what he is wanting. He is finally venturing into trying new foods and will eat table food better. He has been hard to transition away from baby food...I think it is a texture issue. He loves to chase the cat and enjoys watching little clips of certain characters including Elmo, Wubbzy, and Blues Clues. He is the friendliest little guy and says "hi" to everyone we see in the store! At his 15 month check up he weighed 26 pounds and was almost 32 inches tall. He is down to the 75th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference and is perfectly proportional! He is definitely still Mommy's boy and it is sooo cute how he comes to check in with me periodically to give me a hug or just make sure I am paying attention to him!! We still enjoy our snuggles at bedtime and I love looking at his sweet face as he falls asleep! I know he will soon be too old to snuggle much, so am taking in each moment while he lets me! It will be interesting to see how things change in a few months when.....

I deliver our second baby. So, onto an update about Mommy. Yes, if there is anyone left who doesn't know, Justin and I are expecting our second baby August 31st. I am 19 weeks now and we have our ultrasound on Friday to make sure everything looks good with the baby and find out if it is a boy or a girl. Nathan is so sweet as he pats my belly, says "baby" and lays his head on my stomach. I don't know what he is going to do when I actually get a large belly that may kick him when he's being so sweet! I am doing okay...definitely much worse than with Nathan. More nausea for longer, lots and lots of headaches, and just generally not feeling well. I am exhausted beyond belief which I think is compounded by the fact that I work 64 hours a week and then have clinicals and school work and still have a 15 month old to chase around. I have about 4.5 weeks left until graduation...Yea!!!!!! I thought that day would never arrive, but the end is finally in sight! I have my countdown going...6 clinical days, 2 assignments, and 1 class left until I am officially finished with Grad School!!! All I can say is Thank God for my husband!! I can truly say there is no way that I would be finishing this if it weren't for his endless support, encouragement and unconditional love (even when I am so sleep deprived and cranky from staying up late to finish papers)!!! He has kept me going when I wanted to quit, and has taken over practically all of the house chores to help ease my stress!! I keep saying I need a vacation after graduation to celebrate, but I think he needs it just as much!!! :)

Justin: So he is doing well and taking this all in stride. I have to say that I think he is the best father in the world and it just makes my heart smile when I see him and Nathan playing. And it is too cute to see Nathan attack Justin and tickle his belly button...it makes them both laugh hysterically. He is well...healthy and like I said above pretty much running our house at this moment! He took the news of Baby #2 on the way better than I did and has been so supportive during my very rough days in the beginning. I feel like I am still having more bad days than good right now, but that is slowly changing and he has been there holding my hand and doing anything he could to help the whole way.

Sad news: Back on February 12th Justin and I had to make the hardest decision and we had to put my beloved kitty Socks to sleep. This just about killed my heart to do and I still miss her each day. We found out in early January that she had some sort of Cancer...she was so sick we didn't want to pursue further testing to find out specifically what kind it was...either way she was too weak to do Chemo and there wasn't anything we could do by that time. We tried steroids and antibiotics to help her body, but she just kept losing weight. She had gone from being my plump kitty to a measly 7-8 pounds. She refused to eat practically anything and had started doing some behavior out of the ordinary for her. Although she would still come up to us and purr when we petted her, her quality of life had diminished. She didn't seem happy and we felt like she was suffering. Nathan kissed her goodbye that morning before daycare and Justin and I took her in to discuss with the vet. When we took her there, the vet noticed she had redness all over her skin and looked like she was probably bleeding into her tissue with any pressure...even from us petting her. The vet agreed that although it is hard, she looked to be deteriorating. We could take her home and let her die naturally over the next several days...weeks...or could put her to sleep. I felt at peace after she was gone because I knew instantly her pain and suffering had ended, but nothing can take away the guilt you feel doing it. Thank God Nathan is too young to really notice too much. He looked for her a few times, but then seems to have forgotten. I will always have pictures of them together though so I can show him. :) Gray-gray has adapted to being an only cat okay...he now sleeps with us in our bed at night and seems lonely, but is healthy and doing okay. Nathan now chases him around the house and I think Gray-gray secretly likes the attention and activity. :)

Well, I'm not sure what else has happened that I may have missed. I will try to get pictures uploaded one night this week or maybe this weekend. Sorry again for taking so long getting any sort of update on here! Life is just hectic at this time and unfortunately this was what got left neglected!!

I hope everyone is doing well!! Take care!!

Amber, Justin & Nathaniel :)