Owen's 2nd Birthday

I know it's about a month and a half overdue, but here are some pictures from Owen's 2nd birthday. For the second year in a row, we had very nice, warm weather. We weren't outside this year (hopefully by next year we'll have a deck!), but the new house proved to be big enough to hold everyone.

Owen had a blast opening gifts, although he didn't understand the concept of opening one after the other. He wanted to play with each one in between!

Owen's newest obsession is trains. We accidentally discovered this around Christmas when, on a whim, I found a little Thomas train to throw in his stocking. Well, some of his first words were "Choo, Choo!"

Grandma and Grandpa Koons made the trip up from North Carolina, and the kids loved that they stayed with us. Every night, Emily would ask if grandma and grandpa were going to sleep at our house. Now that the kids are older, it doesn't matter that they don't see these grandparents all the time...they know who they are! Although, since I do know that a certain grandpa reads this, I should stress that the kids would be even more excited if they lived in PA :)

I'm Back!

This week was my first week back in the guidance office, and I'm loving it! While I had good kids this semester, there is no describing the weight that has lifted off my shoulders now that I don't have to spend my weekends doing lesson plans and grading. I work hard during the day, but when I leave, I'm finished with work until the next day. And I love the people I work with each and every day. I can't wait for this to someday become my permanent gig...until then, I'll just enjoy the respite from the classroom.

The family that inks together...

Dan was completely tattoo free until about a month ago. He never had much of an interest in them. But...I'm pretty sure he was jealous of my ink with the kids' initials. So...he decided to get the kids' names put on him. The result:

And I just wanted to add to my collection...so last night I had this put on the back of my neck. Means "family". Not sure I'm done for good, but I guess I will be done for awhile now.

Healthy Days Ahead?

Many of you know the struggle Dan has had with his health. Two years ago, he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease (after having an ulcerative colitis diagnosis for almost a decade). He has been through so many tests, he's tried several different medicines, and in November he had surgery to remove part of his colon and intestine. Still, nothing seemed to help.

Cut to today - a new doctor suggested he see a specialist at UMMC. After enduring rush-hour traffic into Baltimore and several hours with several different doctors and a dietician, I am extremely hopeful that we will finally find the right therapies to help Dan live a "normal" life. We go back next Thursday so Dan can have yet another colonoscopy, but this time, it seems like the doctor is ready to be aggressive with different treatments and options. Also, Dan is, for the first time since I've known him, not taking any oral meds. He will continue on his infusions, but the medicine that cost us so much each month out-of-pocket (but didn't really help him) is a thing of the past, at least for now.

While this disease is Dan's, I can't help but be excited because it affects all of us as well. I'm excited to see (let's be honest...meet) the Dan who is not tired or worn out from dealing with this daily. Keep your fingers crossed for him that his tests go well, and he is on the road to recovery!

So...what is that little speck to the left? Why, none other than a kidney stone. I had the pleasure of dealing with this issue again this weekend. Almost five years ago I went to the ER sure I had something very wrong. I couldn't stand up I was in so much pain, and I wasn't sure what was happening. This time around, I knew. The back pain, the cramps that got consistently worse, and the overwhelming urge to pee...it brought it all back. So, I procured some pain meds (I refuse to tell how...apparently it's a federal law not to give them out to those they're not prescribed to) and began peeing into a strainer. Sometime late last night, I saw what I thought was sand...turns out, those little granules were responsible for all my pain. I'm hoping I can go at least another 5 years until dealing with these annoying stones again.

Snow Fun

With all the snow we've gotten recently, it seemed like a good time to let the kids go out and burn off some energy. This was really Owen's first time, since last year he was too small to go out in the blizzards we got (I think the snow was taller than he was!)

Sledding is now one of Emily's favorite activities. We have a hill in the backyard they went down, although once the deck is on the house, the hill will be gone.

Emily's other favorite snow activity? Making snow angels! I'm not sure where she learned about this...probably school...but she just threw herself down and said, "Mommy, I'm making an angel!" Too cute.

Snow Day!

At the beginning of the week, they predicted we MIGHT get an inch or so from this storm. I'd say they were very wrong :)