Day at the Beach

Yesterday we spent a couple hours at the beach. It was a bit windy, but still a lot of fun. Andrew loved playing in the sand and water. He was getting a little too brave for my comfort towards the end. He doesn't quite get how powerful water can be. We had to keep a close eye on him. Nic is in the middle of finals, but he came with us and brought some study material with him. It was a nice day at the beach together.

.

iPod Fun

This is what happens when Andrew gets ahold of my iPod and I'm in the other room:

Caution Readers

CAUTION: THIS POST CONTAINS IMAGES THAT MAY BE DISTURBING TO VIEWERS.

I'm such a proud mommy. This is what Andrew did tonight.

I haven't been pushing too hard to potty train Andrew. I was waiting until he showed some interest so I wouldn't overly stress out about the whole thing. We caught him sitting on the toilet in our hotel room a couple weeks ago while in San Diego and he's been tugging on his diapers like they irritate his skin. Tonight I noticed that Andrew was squatting in the living room, so I took him into the bathroom and let him sit on the toilet for a little while. He didn't really do anything, but I decided to put underwear on him and watch him closely in the living room. He started squatting again so I said "Andrew, why don't you sit on the toilet" and I brought his little toddler toilet in the living room. He sat on it while watching the Backyardigans. I didn't really think he was going to do anything and got on the computer and started reading blogs. I kind of forgot that he was sitting on the toilet and suddenly noticed a very strong smell. He had success!!! Oh, some of the joys that come to a mommy of a 2 1/2 year old are embarrassing. Haha! I'm still a little nervous about having him wear underwear, but I guess we'll have to try it a little each day now (and maybe invest in a carpet cleaner)

Pool and Zoo

It has been pretty warm the last few days and we've been hanging out here:

Nic has been so busy with final presentations, papers, clinicals, but he even took a break and went to the pool with us the other day. It was a lot of fun. Andrew loves the water so much! I just wish the pool was heated a little bit warmer. I kept trying to get Andrew to go into the hot tub with me.

We also had a lot of fun meeting my sister Gena and her girls at the Santa Barbara Zoo today. Andrew is so funny. This morning when he woke up I asked him "Andrew, do you want to go to the zoo today?" His face lit up he said "hat" and "shoes". He knew exactly what he needed to get ready for the zoo.

Thankful

This is going to be a thankful post. Today I am so thankful for

#1 My husband

Isn't he handsome? Nic is such a sweet guy.

He loves the outdoors! We had so many fun bike rides when we were living in Utah.

He loves hiking. This picture is from his last hike up in the high sierras last summer.

He proposed to me outdoors at Sundance. So pretty.

Nic is such a good example to me. He spent two years serving the people of

Costa Rica as a missionary.

He works so hard in school so that he can provide for our family.

Look at all of those books for this semester.

He is doing so well in his classes. His knowledge and critical thinking skills amaze me.

He is silly with me!

I love him!

#2 This little man.

Andrew is such a sweet little guy. I can't believe that he is 2 1/2! He loves to be a big boy and help out. He had fun helping mommy put carrots and apples into bags at the grocery store yesterday. I have to remember to let him help more often. I always dread going to the store because it seems like such a big task, but it went so well when I simply remembered to let him help. Some of his favorite things right now are popcorn, ice cream hot dogs, string cheese, crackers, Thomas, Barney, playing outside, and anything to do with water (drinking water [he is probably one of the few kids that won't drink juice], playing in the pool/tub, pouring his water on the carpet and jumping on it)

#3 My health

I am so, so thankful for my health. My ulcerative colitis has been in remission for almost 4 years now! Yippeeee! (I better not jinx it, now) My memory is kind of bad on exact dates, but I remember my last year of college being rough. I had to be put on prednisone at some point and my colonoscopy had shown that my colitis had worsened. When on high doses of prednisone, my symptoms would improve, which was great. But being on prednisone has many yucky side effects and shouldn't be used for a long time. It can raise your blood sugar, cause osteoporosis, increased swelling, and the list goes on... It can weaken your immune system and I think the combination of that with the added stress of nursing school was what landed me with shingles in Nov 2005.

One of the other side effects I got was this:

Puffy face.

This was actually after I had graduated from college. This pic was taken Oct 2007.

My GI did not want me getting pregnant unless my colitis was doing well. He scared us when he said I could lose my colon and my baby if I got pregnant while in a flare up. Thankfully, I was eventually able to get my colitis in control enough and got pregnant with Andrew. I was told that about 50% of women with UC get worse during pregnancy and 50% of women get better. I was blessed and my colitis got 100% better during pregnancy. It has stayed that way ever since!!! Nic said something really sweet the other day. He said for me to think of this remission as Andrew's gift to me. So sweet. I know that Ulcerative Colitis is a lifelong illness, but I am sooooo grateful for this long stretch of remission!!!

No more facebook, more blogging

I decided to delete my facebook account and start blogging our family happenings instead. I found that I was wasting too much time checking facebook and comparing myself to others (stupid, I know..but that's what it did for me) instead of focusing on all of the blessings I have. I think that blogging will be a much better way to keep friends and family up on our little family.

Here are some pictures from our family reunion with Nic's family a few days ago. We spent a day at Legoland, a day at Legoland Waterpark, and had a lot of fun eating out and swimming in the hotel pool. I sure wish I would have taken more pictures. Andrew loved going down the little toddler waterslides at the waterpark, but I didn't take one picture :(

-Tam