Due for an update

It's been a while since I've updated the blog. Here's the low-down on what's shaking:

1. We're moving! Hooray! Currently we rent a 3 bedroom townhouse from some church friends who relocated to CA. The home is new and beautiful--but with no yard for Herschl, no yard for the kids to play in, steep stairs for a baby-gate-busting 2 year old, no bedroom for soon-to-be-Helen, and no room in general for our ball and chain of clutter....we realized we had to move! So when we made up our minds to "get serious" finding a new rental and sent out the prayer requests using all but Morse code, we found a great place!! And not only that (Not only that!), but it is cheaper per month than what we pay now! Hooray! So come March 7 we will move our travelling circus due south (and a little bit east) near Apache Elementary School. (Jackson will remain at Zuni Hills until we have a more permanent situation to base decisions on.) The new rental is one story (no broken necks!), 4 bedrooms (Mom's sanity!), has a huge grassy yard with mature fruit trees (dog & child exercise fun!), and other fun perks. We would greatly appreciate any packing and moving and unpacking help you may be able to provide. We also appreciate prayers! Moving sucks!

2. Elaine has been trying out her potty chair for a couple months now, earning high-fives for trying but not receiving the coveted M&M reward for the real production. That is....until tonight! This evening after her usual request to "Pee-pee? Potty?," she unusually came back to show me what she did after reading a few books. To her delight, it was her favorite color. She looked in and said, "Yellow!" (And she got her first M&M reward.)

3. Jackson is reading very well. We started our own reading list on the fridge in addition to the teacher's, and so long as he's reading to Elaine we never even have to ask. This morning when I woke up I was able to peek on the two of them in her room without their knowledge. Both were laying on the floor on their stomachs, chins resting on palms, feet dangling in the air like teenagers reading magazines--and Jackson was reading to Elaine from a giant alphabet picture book. It was so cute!!

4. I (Denise) am officially in my 3rd trimester now. To usher in this final countdown have been a slew of expected symptoms when one is carrying a living basketball in their abdomen at all times: internal organs being jostled by kicking limbs, back pain, being awoken in the middle of the night for various reasons, sciatica, and renewed fatigue. I was feeling pretty low about all of this when the doctor called to say I failed the first diabetes screen. FYI: Gestational Diabetes is just diabetes that occurs during pregnancy and goes away after labor. It does not always require insulin treatments and the first screening for it--the one I failed--is not foolproof. I go in next week for the more accurate screening which takes 3 hours of sitting in the lobby. After my list of symptoms above and then the potential diabetes scare it would sound as if I'm going off the deep end! But after an afternoon of feeling even more discouraged, I'm now quite glad. Even if I don't end up with diabetes, this has caused me to record what I'm eating and force myself back into exercise--albeit "mild" exercise. That is not only encouraging to me, but will likely help with some of the discomforts listed above. Sometimes I need a kick in the pants to get me doing what I know I should be doing! (The 3rd trimester has also brought in a real excitement to meet little Helen, too!)

5. Mike is fine. (In fact I don't know what I'd do without him!!!)