Life With the Norman's: February 2015

Technically, today was not Curtis' first snow day. He had a few as a newborn, but he was so small, we didn't take him out at all and it did snow in Colorado where we got to take him out, but today was the first time he got to play in the snow. I wasn't sure how he would do because he woke up from his way too short nap screaming and then screamed for the next half hour so I figured I'd just get to take him out for a few minutes. But once we got out and he sat in the snow for a few minutes, he was ready to crawl and play around. He crawled to the little hill in our yard and since it was icy, he slid right down it and then proceeded to crawl right across the street. He had so much fun! Then our neighbor brought her sled out, put Curtis on it and pulled him around for a little while, and he just loved that as well!

I'm 26 weeks pregnant, almost to my 3rd trimester. I'm pretty excited about this because I am looking forward to meeting this new Little One. Judah has begun to kick and move, much like Curtis did. Last week was the first time I could look down at my stomach and see all the movement, like he was trying to get out. I know eventually it will get uncomfortable, but usually it's pretty entertaining to me.

For the most part, pregnancy is going well, not really any changes. I'm still feeling pretty good, although I am starting to feel that 3rd trimester loss of energy and am having to really discipline myself not to drink too much coffee to wake up some. It is getting harder to move around, especially with taking care of a very active toddler. Luckily, Curtis has learned to walk in the last few weeks. He's becoming a champ at it, which I love because it means I'm not carrying him quite as much. He almost always does the stairs since a few weeks ago, I carried him up and then was in pain for the next hour or so. At church, he holds my hand and walks from the car to the stairs and then takes forever climbing them, but I think he thinks its a fun adventure. He is also doing well at playing by himself, and playing some in his pack and play or crib, which is awesome because it gives me just a little break when I need to sit and catch my breath, or shut my eyes for a minute or just need to stop moving for a minute. All these things have been such evidences of God's grace. I remember when I first found out I was pregnant and was really wondering how in the world I would ever be able to chase Curtis around and be huge in my last trimester, but God is showing me I should never have been worried, He's taking care of it, which I am so thankful for.

Curtis is just growing up so much and it's been really fun to see these past few weeks. Like I said, he is walking, which I love, although he's pretty fast and can get in to things much quicker now. He enjoys playing with Baxter now that he can be more on Baxter's level standing up. He climbs on to everything he can. Pretty soon, we're gonna have to make sure nothing is on the kitchen table or the counters because I know it won't be long before he's tall enough to climb onto a chair and then on the table or counters. He's eating more, enjoying more and different foods, although I guess like a normal toddler, what he likes one day, he very well may not eat it the next day. So meal time can be very frustrating and challenging, but I'm learning that if he's hungry he'll eat, but I'm not going to force him to eat, and for the most part, I'm not going to fix him anything special, unless he just eats absolutely nothing, then he may get yogurt.

The other big change lately with us is Isaac's work schedule. He began shift work last month, rotating 1st, 2nd and 3rd shift every week with a day or 2 off in between to change his body to the next time. It has been a huge challenge, getting adjusted to this new schedule. Most of the time he's working or sleeping while we are awake and up while we are asleep which was not been easy for Curtis and I but we are learning to enjoying every minute we can with him while he's up and with us. And Isaac has been wonderful to take Curtis on outings with him, or just upstairs to play so I can get a break or do some housework without Curtis down here. I have been very thankful for those times. I'm also very thankful that, for the most part, Curtis still goes to bed pretty early, so Isaac and I get some time together at night. It has been a challenge, but God is showing me to be thankful for little things, to praise Him even when life is hard and to cherish every minute he gives us with Isaac.

Here's a few pictures from the last month.