1 year

2012 started off with the absolute high of our sweet Lincoln joining the family.  A few weeks into being a family of four it seemed that we were hit with continual sickness and ailments for 2 months.  It was really really hard to adjust to two kids, nursing a non-stop eating machine, and being indefinitely sick.  If Lincoln was not the angel/happy-go-lucky/easy baby that he was I think I might have given up on life for a while there.  But we made it through, and now I can't believe it is a year later.  Watching my second baby grow has flown by.  Newborns are so precious and fun to cuddle, but I absolutely love the 1-2 year age.  A little about our one year old! (come Sunday):

He does not have quite as many words down as brother did at this time, but some of his other motor skills seem to be ahead of big brother...he can drink from a straw, climbs/dives off things like a champ, and loves to see how things work/fit together.

Anytime his big brother is playing with him or hugging him, he is in absolute heaven.

He makes himself laugh in his rear-facing carseat at random.

He can walk, a little, when he wants to...but he still chooses speed crawling over walking.

He says da-da, ma-ma, ba-ba, ball (bah!), num-num, Beckett (kett-kett), and light (iiight).

He LOVES food.  Eating is his absolute favorite activity.  If he could eat 24-7 he would!

He is a bruiser...not much fases this kid.  It takes a lot for him to cry about being hurt.


We love you so much Lincoln Odell, and are so blessed to have received such a sweet spirit into our family.  It is such a joy being your mommy.  Happy 1st birthday sweet boy!

Adventures in Insurance-hood

For the first time in our married lives we have insurance from an employer.  It took me getting a UTI this week for us to realize just how blessed we have been in the past.  Jeremy had very limited health coverage from his school while he was a student.  The kids have always had Medi-Cal.  Me...well I only ever had maternity coverage through Medi-Cal while I was pregnant (so, 18 months of the five years we've been married).  What a miracle it has been that I never needed medical treatment for anything like this in the past because we wouldn't have had the coverage (or likely the cash) for this kind of care.  I am so grateful for my body making it through those years without the remotest need to see a doctor other than my ObGyn.  All of this makes me so grateful now for the excellent and instant coverage that this job has afforded us.

And can we just talk about how wonderful it is to just drive 2 miles away to an amazing Kaiser facility. I was given an urgent care appointment for the evening (ideal because Jeremy would be home so I wouldn't be dragging the kids there with me).  I was sitting down for not even 60 seconds in the waiting room before being called back.  They took my vitals, got a sample, and tested it in a few short minutes.  I waited in a room for the doctor to come give me the results.  She sent me straight downstairs to the pharmacy.  My prescription was ready in about 3 minutes, and that was that.  That place is dialed in!  Wow!


**as a side note: since I wrote this post last week I have also been sick with a virus I got from Lincoln, and Jeremy thinks he re-tore his meniscus last night playing soccer.  I pray that he didn't, but either way we are so blessed that this stuff didn't happen 3 months ago.