Well, sitting here on the night of our birthday (mine and Eric's) and it's been almost 3 years since either of us have written any posts for this blog, but a good friend, Melissa Bates, inspired me to get back into it, so here goes...
A lot has changed in the last 3 years - most, if not all, of you know what's been going on in our lives, but for the sake of posterity, I'm going to re-cap...
I left my job at USAA to stay at home with Little E, in May of 2009, when she was not quite 1 year old. My department was requiring me to return back to work full-time, and there weren't acceptable transfer options for me to stay part-time, so after praying and thinking about it, E and I decided maybe it was time for me to stay home, and that maybe this was God's way of pushing me out the door (otherwise, I probably wouldn't have left without being fired or forced to... lol)!
It's been a struggle, financially/emotionally/physically/etc, but we're surviving and figuring things out. I work VERY part-time from home, grading Medical Certification tests for E's employer. I also started my own Mary Kay business a few months back, so I'm excited about the possibilities there! While there are some drawbacks and certain things I miss about working for USAA (the income, benefits, and time away), being home has allowed me/us to do a lot of things that I/we wouldn't have been able to if I were still working.
Eric changed jobs in December of 2008, which has been a good opportunity and experience, for the most part. They seem to really appreciate him and have been very flexible and accommodating with him, especially after baby #2 was born.
As indicated by the previous statement, we've added a new member to our family - Christopher was born January 4th, 2011! He was born big, and 7 months later he's STILL big - lol! I'll write a separate post about him and his arrival another time, but he is such a happy baby and so cute and so fun. Lately, he's all over the place - he recently figured out the crawling, then went right into pulling himself up and standing, and now starting "cruising" (taking steps while hold on to furniture, etc). I can't hold him much anymore because not only is he so big and heavy, but he reaches for and grabs and wants to get into EVERYTHING! My mother-in-law said it best - "he's all boy"!
Erica turned 3 in June, and she is just growing up so much! It's exciting, yet sad... She is potty-trained now, and does really well, even at night (but we're still using Pull-ups at bedtime for now, just in case)! Her imagination has started to blossom, and her personality is becoming more and more evident. We are thinking about and working on some pre-school concepts, because she is getting closer to school age, so that's been interesting. I call her "my little actress" because she is so dramatic and says the darndest things and has the funniest impressions/mannerisms!
In June/July of 2009, we were able to go back to AZ for a Merkley Sibling/Family Reunion (another benefit of me not working), and now we are looking forward to another one next June! I created a photobook of it, which I'll share on here sometime.
Last year was not such a good year for my side of the family, but it was also a year of miracles... My eldest brother John(ny) passed away end of June, after losing his battle with prostate cancer that had metastasized into his bones and organs. He had just turned 52 the month before. But, in his death, miracles in our family took place - my siblings reconnected with our brother Russ(ell) after years of misunderstandings and anger and whatever, and we are becoming "whole" as a family again (at least we remaining siblings). I went out to AZ for the funeral (taking Erica with me) and stayed there for a month. That was the first time all of my family were together since my wedding in 2004!
Around that same time, my niece, Cami (my eldest sister's daughter), was diagnosed with spinal cancer and brain tumors (which was metastasization of the breast cancer previously had several years earlier). This time around, we women in the family decided to support her by putting "pink" in our hair! That caught on, and quite a few people that knew Cami, or her family, did the same thing! The power of prayer and pink was evident when in October, she was surprisingly cleared of the spinal cancer, then in March (I may have the timeframes and info wrong), the brain tumors were "virtually gone"! Unfortunately, she is having some concerning issues, which we are waiting to find out more on, so we just keep praying...
My pregnancy last year was stressful - we didn't have maternity coverage on our over-priced healthcare plan, so we didn't know how we would pay for the OB visits and delivery, and I spent a lot of time applying for aid or whatever, but God provided, as He continually does... After my return from AZ, I had the triple-screen pregnancy blood test done, and it came back "positive" for possible Down Syndrome. Initially, it was a shock, but thanks to the love and support of our family and friends, we were okay with whatever the outcome would be. Once again, God had a plan, and we were blessed with a healthy baby boy! (Although, we would've been blessed either way).
We are down to 1 dog - Cooper (our JRT). Zip (our Blue Heeler) passed away in March of 2009, at 12 years old. He was a unique dog, and will always be missed. We had already lost my dog, Pepper, at approximately 17 years of age, just before/around when I got pregnant with Erica. Cooper will be 10 years old in November - hard to believe! That crazy dog sure has come a loooooooooong way - lol! He is surprisingly good with Erica now - they are "best friends" - and also with Christopher - not at all like he used to be!
I guess that's the important stuff in a nutshell - all in all, we've been challenged and blessed! I hope to keep up on this blog, and look forward to it... I know this post is long, but it was 3 years worth of stuff, so cut me some slack... lol!
