Morning sickness...yeah right.

Try ALL DAY SICKNESS. Most days I'm doing well if I can just make sure Brenden is fed, changed when he's dirty, and doesn't throw anything at the TV. Getting on the computer? HA! That would require sitting up straight and actually moving muscles. I do get to read my emails and other things on my cell phone but that's about as much as I can do with the energy I have.

I've also been dealing with a corpus luteum cyst, which was VERY painful. I actually ended up going to the ER on Labor Day, which was not fun. I was there for 7 hours, from 10:30 pm to 5:30 am, and was surrounded by people who thought they had the swine flu. The doctor that released me had no clue what was going on but the ultrasound technician was AWESOME. She showed me the baby, the heartbeat (166 bpm...fabulous!), and even printed out pictures for me. It was just a fuzzy little peanut but it was there! She also showed me the cyst, which was about the size of a marble (bigger than the baby!) and she said it looked like it had ruptured. It's felt better since then, but I'm still sore. Not sure if it's still from the cyst or if it's from lifting my 34 lb toddler and pulling muscles.

So much else has gone on! I still need to blog about our fabulous time in Chicago. We'll be moving soon...to a cul de sac!!!! :) Brenden has been changing like crazy. He's grown. He's learned new things. His personality changes daily.

Just a quick bragging session. Tim posted a video (that I took with my phone, while driving...shhh don't tell!) of Brenden counting. He will randomly start counting throughout the day, sometimes even counting backwards. We love it! He also recognizes the numbers when he sees them on TV or in a book, which I think is super cool. We're working on his alphabet, both being able to recognize letters and saying them. We've tried using flashcards, which is how we taught him his numbers, but for some reason it wasn't working with letters. I found a mat that I had bought a few months back with the entire alphabet on it that is supposed to be for coloring. Somehow that was the trick. In 2 days he went from looking at us like we were crazy when we asked what "A" was to knowing more than half of the letters. His favorites being "F," "L," "M," and "W."

Like most kids his age, he is picking up new words every day. Some are extremely clear, like "apple" and "juice." Others sound so similar that we have to ask him to point to what he wants, like "poptart" and "football," which somehow sound exactly alike. :)

My most favorite thing that he can do is point to where the baby is and say "Hi baby!" I'm really looking forward to when the baby starts kicking really well to see if he'll feel it. I bet he freaks out just like my friends Anne-Marie and Andi did when Brenden kicked them! :)

Hopefully I'll be feeling a little more like myself in the next few weeks. We have a lot going on...like Brenden turning 2!!! Where did the last 2 years go?!?