I see I'm running a little bit behind on my postings. Finally got some late April pics posted, including a picture of pumpkin baby. As of today, I am officially in my 2nd trimester. Woohoo! I am allowed to start exercising again, taking it easy. We went for a 1/2 hr walk in the beautiful weather last night.

The sickness of the week is... wanna guess?.. the strep. Joshua was fussy at school on Monday, so I picked him up mid-morning. He wasn't running a fever, and once he got home he seemed fine. Fussed a bit at lunch and at his usual naptime (he sleeps on the bus ride home from school). So we sent him back on Tuesday - yes, Tuesday, April 25th, aka JACOB'S BIRTHDAY!! Got an email from Joshua's teacher in the a.m., saying he had a rash on his neck, back, and stomach that he was scratching, but he wasn't running a temp and they thought maybe contact dermatitis. By the time he got home the rash was all over his body. I took all the kids with me to the pediatrician. Joshua's temp was 97.1, but he had a bad strep infection - rash included. The other kids tested negative. Joshua got a shot at the office. Jacob got.. well, we'll see what he ends up with... Mr Jacob is a wild man at dr's offices. He particularly likes the wooden tongue depressors (am I getting the word right?). He dives into trash cans after them, got some other 'fresh' ones, but was dipping them into the water at the bottom of the sink in the exam room and licking them. Then he took a cup marked for the dirty caps on the ear gadget thingy, filled it with water, and took a swig.

..and here I was thinking we might make it through the week without at trip to the doctor, because Deren's health insurance doesn't start until May 1st.

We got home from the dr's office and had hamburgers that Deren picked up. Jacob was happy with his birthday meal.

..that's all for now. For some reason Joshua has become obessessed with waking up Abby every time she goes down for a nap. Seeing her door closed apparently offends his sensibilities. So I have a crying Abby to tend to for now.