Life has been a bit crazy. Jake and I have been sick for two weeks and that doesn't help at all. Bronchitis, sinusitis, aches, fevers, tiredness, crankiness, breathing treatments, coughing, coughing, coughing, and that is mostly me. Jake has a cough too but he is mostly better. We just can't get his little sinuses to clear up. We finally went to the doctor yesterday and I got steroids, my own nebulizer suppliers, and antibiotics. I thought I was getting better but the coughing at night got a ton worse. It was taking two hours to get the coughing settled down. So that meant I kept waking myself and Mike up. Jake has been doing a little better with his sleeping. He is staying in bed longer before needing to come in our room. I just don't know if it is because he is sick or because he is doing better.

Jake is just changing by leaps and bounds. He is so busy and he is so much fun. Most of the time. I love how I will see him do something for the first time but it is totally his mimicking what we do. He stole my comb and was combing his hair. He likes to play with all our phones, but yesterday he picked up the phone on the fax and just jabbered away. He made different sounds than you usually hear and it was just so cute! He likes to eat rice crispies because he likes to pick up each individual piece and eat it. At least that keeps him occupied for awhile. He is so independent on his eating now! He really likes to feed himself. With his right hand he uses the spoon. With his left hand he shovels it in with his fingers. He loves to throw his hands up and say "all done" when he is done eating. He just walks and walks and walks. He still likes to crawl or bend over with his FP train car. It is the one that has the bar for the monkey to hang. He has used that bar as his walker for ever. It is sooo cute and funny to see him. Last weekend he was pushing it around the house and filling it up with what ever - little people, pens (his favorite thing ever) cars, animals - and he would take it into the kitchen and go to his baby gate and chuck everything out across the landing and down into the laundry room. You come in from the garage into the laundry room and there are two steps up into the house. There is a landing there that has a pantry for the kitchen and then the steps that go to the basement. Then there is another doorway into the kitchen and that is where the baby gate is. So he tosses the stuff pretty far. He just loves it. If you leave the door open to the laundry room you better watch your step because there is no telling what he has thrown in there. He pushed a laundry basket across the kitchen floor about fifteen feet and took it to the doorway/top of the steps into the laundry room. I took the first clothes out and put them into the washer. As soon as he saw me taking things out he started throwing them down for me. It was so funny.

He still hates riding around town. I haven't turned his seat around in my car yet. I went to and discovered that it says 22 pounds and 34 inches before front facing. I thought it was 20 pounds and I didn't remember there was a length minimum. Our other two seats don't have length minimums on them and they both say 20 pounds. He was 22lbs 4oz at our appointment yesterday with his clothes and shoes on. I'm not sure if he is 30 inches long yet. I don't know if I can wait until he is 34 inches. He is just so miserable in my car and perfectly content in Daddy's. That seat is only a front facing. He has no problems at all with it. Of course he hardly ever rides in the pickup with Daddy.

We got his Halloween costume and it is so cute. I can't believe I spent so much on a baby's costume but it is so cute. It is a monkey and he is adorable. We are going to have to practice wearing it some because he doesn't like the hat. It has just been too hot to wear it much yet. I have to get him used to it quick though because he is getting his picture taken in it next Sunday. I am driving all the way to our photographer because is having a Halloween special. He will get like 10 minutes and we pay fifteen dollars for one 5x7 and she is donating it all to the park where she takes her outdoor pictures. If we order anything additional she donates her profits to the park too. Jake's pictures didn't do the park justice. It is really a beautiful park. It has lots of different planting areas, separate gardens. Jake wouldn't cooperate so you could see all the beautiful flowers. He would only sit on the ground under them and pick at dirt. I am hoping there are some beautiful fall colors to go along with the costumes.

I love fall. I wish we weren't having a heat wave right now because this is my favorite time of year. I love the crisp air. I love changing leaves. I love the break from the heat. Fall always seems to have a different energy. Kids are back in school and life seems like it is underway. Football is back. I love going to football games. I sure hope Jake likes football. There is only one thing that is a little hard for me. This is the time for Homecomings. Last week was one town five miles away. This weekend is the town where we now live and next weekend is the town where we used to live. It just makes me sad because I don't feel like I have a place that I am from or home base. I know I need to stop whining about it and I just need to set down my own roots. I don't know. I just wish I had a "home town."

Work has been crappy. Things have really been changing. "They" are telling us it is for the better, but I'm just not so sure. We have been really busy again for awhile and now we are not. We are having to cut hours because our department needs to cut costs and yet we are seeing how the hospital is spending a huge amount of money on marketing. They have put up a new giant sign. It cost more than I make in a year. And then they have replaced all the smaller signs, like the one that says "pharmacy" and "emergency." I mean these are still large individual letters that light up on the out sides of the hospital and there are probably ten of them. I would say the letters are at least 2 feet tall. They have completely changed the letterhead and all the marketing literature. We are talking a lot of money. And I am having to go home early. We have a lot of other big problems and very few answers right now. I am afraid for some of our jobs. I think I will be okay, but I don't know what will happen. How will they decided if they do need to cut?? Not the best feeling. Especially when I have a, gulp, toddler I keeping wanting to get photographed.

I have started thinking about the when and the if and the what if we can't of another baby. All the people pestering me finally has me starting to think. I'm not ready to start trying yet but it does have me thinking. I just found out another coworker is pregnant and I most certainly got the pang of envy. I know I really do want another child. I am still having hard time thinking of having to make Jake share the limited time I have. I also am thinking about how little help my husband is in taking care of Jake. I am still a little gun shy of being pregnant, but I am starting to think of it as something sooner than later. I still don't know when we should start trying. I wish I had a crystal ball. I don't know what made things finally work last time. I suspect it was the progesterone, but I don't know for sure. I just know daycare for two at our current daycare would be a problem, but not quite enough of a problem for me to quit. Daycare for two, at our current daycare, would take 85% of one of my two week checks. That is more than we can afford for sure. Our next step would definitely be private daycare, but that has its problems. Mike thinks we ought to consider paying his mom, but I don't want to do that. First she would have to come to our house not hers and she won't do that. I'm not going to pay to completely furnish her house with everything Jake needs and then have his stuff at home. But I don't think there is anyway she could take care of two kids full time. I don't think she could handle it. Mike and his dad have talked about it, but I just don't think she can do it. Besides, Jake really likes being around people, even he got sent home with a "very mean" description of his behavior this week.