Stories of Our Happenings (With Pictures!)

Christmas is in full swing around here. Two weekends ago we had our Ertman family get together. It was kind of loud and chaotic, with four kids present. Hard to believe that come next year there will be SIX! And I am not talking about a large family. It is my family (Dave, Sylvia and me; Stepher and Joe, Rosco, and my folks) and my cousin and his wife and three sons and then my other cousin (who is single). And Great Aunt Selma, who is 93. That's it, but with kids present it suddenly seems like such a large event! We had a great time and I really look forward to this gathering every year.
And this is Sylvia with Hailey, her newest baby. I wish you all could have seen her when she opened this gift from my cousin and his wife. She ripped the packaging above her face first and began to giggle. Then Daddy couldn't get the doll out of her packaging soon enough! I thought Sylvia was going to attack him she wanted that baby so badly! For the first several days after arriving home Hailey totally usurped Babydoll, but now Babydoll seems to be the favorite again.

That same weekend we had friends over an evening. They have an eight month old son, Ryan. Ryan was seated in this bouncy seat (which has been mentioned here before). Sylvia was totally not okay with Ryan using this seat and took matters into her own hands! See that triumphant gleam in her eye (and the somewhat bedazed look in Ryans)?

And last night we had our Christmas gathering with our dear friends and neighbors, Phil and Keeley (and their son, Jack). Jack will be six months on Christmas day. Sylvia is a little over fourteen months. They are nearly the same size and most certainly the same weight. Jack is a very big boy! But he is also about as happy as babies come. He handled Sylvia stealing his toys very well; although, all her squealing did concern him a bit.

And I succumbed and took a pregnancy shot this afternoon while Sylvia ate lunch. She found this photo shoot rather amusing and laughed when I posed for my shot. (Looking at the picture, I would have laughed too, I suppose.) I am about 31.5 weeks and I really think I am considerably larger than I was last year . . . But this is probably not true. Last year I had so much water retention; the swelling was horrendous (thanks to the preeclampsia). This year I have virtually no swelling and I have actually only gained about seven pounds.

I began physical therapy today. I think it will be good. The therapist did say she is confident she can help relieve some of the pain, but not all of it. Only childbirth will give me real relief. The worst part is that my lifestyle is not at all conducive to pain management (meaning, I have a toddler). I did learn that pretty much anything that could be wrong with my hips/pelvic region is. Our focus is going to be on relaxation of the area more than anything, as almost all stretches and exercises will actually aggravate my conditions. So, my sessions will include heat wrap, my one or two stretches (which I also do at home), then some manual adjustment (OUCH!) and then heat wraps again.

Well, I need to get back to my knitting. I still have a few gifts to get done before Christmas!