One month of pregnancy left.

Lately, when people ask me what I've been doing, I have to actually stop really hard and think. What HAVE I been doing? Well, for starters: 

Tommie Boy is walking...everywhere! :) He was a little wobbly at first, of course, and now he follows me everywhere, backing up, turning around, etc. He can't stand up without pulling up on something yet, but he is close. I remember Jackson being a lot quicker at learning to walk. I remember him trying to run from the very beginning. Tommie is much more slow, cautious, and rarely tries running. But, it still gets me when i see him walking into the room, smiling that he has found me. 

The other day I was mopping the kitchen floor and kept trying to carry him out so he wouldn't slip. Eventually I gave up and let him just keep slipping and bumping his head over and over. He was crying and getting so mad that he laid down on his back just screaming. In a hurry to just finish mopping, i went around him and he discovered that he could push off with his feet and scoot around on his back on the wet floor. He started laughing so hard and kept going in circles. Jackson and I kept the floor wet so he could keep it up. He still tries it and gets frustrated it doesn't work, because the floor isnt wet. 

Of course, every cupboard can now be emptied in 3 seconds, and I pick up the same items so many times everyday. I think this is the majority of what I do. Seriously. 

Spencer started at Westwood this past week. I am not very good about getting up in the morning to make breakfast, see him off, etc... and he doesn't even leave until 7:45! Shows how lazy I am getting! But, I don't get up till  Tommie gets up... and that's usually at 8.  Spence has been late a couple of days but i'm impressed at all he does in the morning. He's even convinced James to lift weights in the garage a few times. It is weird to be "in charge" of a teenager, help him get to church on time, try and answer homework questions, talk about girls, etc.  But, he seriously is so patient with US. I sure hope he doesn't miss home too much! 

Jackson has come a long way in his reading. He knows 9 sight words and several letter sounds, and can read and understand quite a few sentences. It is finally not such a battle to get him to focus because he is excited about how fast he is learning. He still isn't sleeping the best because the nights are just so long. But, I refuse to get out of bed with him at nights, so he does a good job of walking back to his room and laying there till morning. But, without a nap, he is ready for bed by 6:45 every night because he gets so tired. I can't imagine feeling bored at night. 

We still swim just about every day at my moms. Tommie just crawls around the deck and I just sit on the pool steps, but Jackson gets several good laps in a day and has pretty much mastered swimming. Assuming he doesn't forget everything over winter, I'll definitely sign him up for swim team next summer.  I think I need a good soak in the water every day. It sure helps the swelling in my feet and my varicose veins have gotten real bad. 

Thanks to James' new work challenge, we signed up for a half-marathon March 1. Our first! I don't know what I was thinking...probably just done being pregnant and ready to feel like exercising again. Ha! I am now 33 weeks and my last doctors appointment was fine. I actually have too low of blood pressure which causes a lot of my fatigue and dizziness, but not too much I can do at this point. We still can't decide on a name for this new baby. I ask people for suggestions all the time and then just don't like any of them! 

Our mortgage still isn't finalized. We are waiting on another appraisal, but a lot of the paperwork is finally complete. It's amazing how much time and energy that took. We did decide to cut down one of the trees in the front...that sure informed the neighbors that wilford and kathleen must've sold the house.   Honestly, it hung way too much over the roof and I hated all the bird poop everywhere. Not too mention the berries and leaves that needed swept several times a day sometimes. After the last monsoon storm we had, James and I watched all the branches swinging against the roof and said, lets just chop it down. We paid a company to "drop" the top down so we wouldn't hit the house. Then, Jared came over with his big trucks and helped us chop down the rest, chip it up, and haul it off. It was an all day project for the boys and SOOOOO nice of Jared to spend his saturday. I don't have a picture of the messed cleaned up yet. We need to grind the stump down still and replant grass. But, it looks a lot better and I haven't swept once since Saturday night. Not too mention sweeping inside the house from people tracking it in. AND, there is no additional bird poop on the truck which is parked in the driveway....and seriously, that's a miracle! :)