Catching up

I've been a bit lax about keeping you up to speed on what's going on with us. It's so much easier just to post a few pictures!

In no particular order...

Yesterday Jamey hung up baby swings in our backyard. He fashioned a little swingset by putting a beam between two of our giant trees. It's set up so that we can easily put big-kid swings on there when they are older. Ben & Maddie were thrilled when they had their first "ride."

We were going to go to the cabin this past weekend, but nixed our plans largely because of illnesses. Maddie was diagnosed last Thursday with a bladder infection and Jamey was diagnosed a little over a week ago with gout (and no, this is not an "old man's" disease).

Gout is when you have too much uric acid in your system. Uric acid is a byproduct of your body's digestion of purines, which are mainly found in proteins such as red meat. Usually this is an inherited disease and your body just doesn't have the capabilities of getting rid of all the uric acid -- but it can be exacerbated by your diet and lack of exercise. So, Jamey has some changes to make in his lifestyle!

Maddie is going back to the doctor tomorrow to talk about whether or not to do further testing to make sure she doesn't have a condition referred to as bladder "reflux" (when the urine goes back up the urethra, rather than going down). Apparently doctors are starting to test kids for this after the first infection rather than waiting to see if it's a recurring problem.

I've been sidelined from my usual workouts at the gym due to a strained muscle -- either groin or hip flexor, I'm not sure. I'm trying to see if rest does the trick first. If I'm not better by next week, I'll see about medical treatment of some sort. Unfortunately I ignored it for the better part of two months, so I'm sure the healing time will be longer as a result.

Jamey is getting close to finishing the second unit on our rental property and we have somebody lined up to move in. So he'll be busy doing that this coming week.

My class at the U of M ended on May 6th and I've been enjoying the "extra" time, especially in the evenings after work. I'm filling that time catching up on things (some sewing, cleaning, etc) and watching a little more TV.

Ben & Maddie have gotten both more fun and more exasperating lately. They are walking full-time and are able to boost themselves up from the floor without holding on to anything. They are talking a lot and using a few words, and they've started pointing at things they want (especially if it's one of the prohibited items we've stashed on cabinets or shelves out of their reach!).

We're also battling some temper tantrums and whining --- clearly they are testing their boundaries. Just in the last couple of days Maddie has developed this quiet and pitiful whine that she pairs with a particular look on her face -- the two things together are awfully hard to resist. She's just so darn cute!

We've been transitioning to one nap a day for the past month or so and I think we've passed the worst period. They go down for their nap around 11 or noon and sleep for 2.5 to 3 hours. We've been putting them to bed earlier at night (6:30) and they seem to be sleeping longer as a result (11.5 to 12 hours!). Eventually we'll move that nap later in the day, so at some point it's back to 1 pm start time.