A long overdue update...

I know it has been FOREVER since I updated the blog. I apologize about that. Things have been a little crazy around here lately. For those of you who aren't on Facebook, here's an update about what has been going on the past few months. For those who are on Facebook, you probably already know a bunch of this....

As most of you know, I started internship in mid-August and it keeps me VERY busy. I'm required to be in the building for 45 hrs per week. Add the half hour drive to work, the half hour drive home, in addition to dropping off and picking up the kids from daycare, and my days get kind of long. The cool thing is that I absolutely LOVE internship! I am doing all kinds of things and am learning so much. I do individual therapy (I have about 22 clients, all ages), group therapy, and assessment (testing for things like ADHD, learning disabilities, Asperger's and Autism, etc). The organization I work for is amazing and I really like all the people I work with. The only crappy thing is that I think the stress of it all has affected my immune system. I have been sick more the past 2 months than I have been in the past 4 years. The biggest thing was that I got mono. Crazy! I also had (at various times), an ear infection, infected lymph nodes, severe sore throats, high fever with a rash (which may have been Roseola). It has been insane, but I think I am finally on the mend.

Matt is doing really well too. He is still enjoying his job and it keeps him pretty busy as well. I finally convinced him to join Facebook and he has been having fun reconnecting with friends from college.

The kids are doing great! Christopher is 4 years old now. He still talks non-stop and is trying to learn how to get along with a little sister who loves to follow him around. Although he definitely gets frustrated with her at times (I heard him say the other day "Jessica! I am getting sick of you!!"), he is a great big brother to her. He plays really well with her and tries to protect her. It's so cute to see them together.

Jessica is almost 18 months old (she'll be 18 mo. old on Jan 16th). She is walking all over the place and loves to chase Christopher around. She LOVES books and wants us to read them to her over and over. She says about 30 words now, which is cool. It's cute to watch her play with her stuffed animals and dolls--she covers them with blankets, pats them on the back, rocks them, puts them in the high chair (and swings at daycare). It's adorable. :)

Here are some pictures from December....

Here are the two of them together. Jessica isn't smiling that much, but it was the best I could do. They wouldn't sit still for very long in order to get a picture with both of them. :)

She actually let me pull her hair back this day. She usually pulls out clips or hair bands immediately after I put them in.

She loves to play peek-a-boo. She covers her eyes and then takes her hands away and says "Boo!"

Christopher is talking to Grandma and Grandpa on the phone. He is suddenly very into talking on the phone.

Christopher's new Transformer that he got for Christmas. Matt put the hat on him.

I think Jessica was a little overwhelmed by Christmas morning. She wasn't sure what to think.

Christopher was VERY excited about Christmas. So excited, in fact, that he got us up at 5:15am. Crazy!

Seng's Wedding

Matt, the kids, and I went to Portland at the beginning of September for my friend Seng's wedding. Seng is one of my best friends, we have been friends for 14 years. The trip to Portland for the wedding was a whirlwind trip, but we had a great time.

Here is Seng getting ready for the big day....

Here is a picture of Seng and I at the reception

Amy and I at the reception

The happy couple, Seng and David

I love these pictures of Seng and David....

After the wedding and reception, there was a Chinese banquet. It was quite the experience! We had a great time and I ate some things I never thought I would (like abalone and octopus!)

Camping fun!

We went camping back in August and I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures. It was Christopher and Jessica's first camping trip and they both had a great time. We went hiking and hung out by the reservoir. It was a blast!! Here are a bunch of pictures.....

Busy, busy, busy

I have been so incredibly busy since I started internship! It's crazy, but I'm totally loving my internship so that makes it easier to deal with. I work about 45 hours a week and it has been quite an adjustment. I think the kids are doing ok at the new daycare....Christopher LOVES it there and is always excited to go each day. I think Jessica is slowly getting used to it, but she is still annoyed that she has to be in daycare all day. I feel guilty about that, but I'm managing ok.

My internship totally rocks! I love my supervisors and the people I work with. I'm getting fantastic training and I've already learned so much. I have about 10 clients so far, but will need to carry about 16 or so. It takes a while to get our schedules filled up. I get to work with a range of ages, from preschool age up to adults. I haven't started running groups yet, but will start in the next month or so. I have also been doing assessments, which is cool.

Anyway, I just thought I would update the blog since I hadn't done it in a while. I have been horrible about keeping up with it and e-mails and everything since I started work. I will post some new pictures soon, though.

I started internship!

This is my first week of internship and so far it's going great! I really like the other interns (there are 4 others). Our supervisors and the other counselors seem really cool too. I think it's going to be a great year!!

It's just orientation so far this week. I will see my first clients starting next week. My schedule is slowly filling up with clients...7 so far. I also have my first assessment client scheduled. If you don't hear from me much in the next week or so it's probably because I'm tying to get used to working full time. The kids are doing well in daycare all day, so that is good.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted about how it's going!

Kids and dogs

My babies Christopher and Jessica.

Jessica just adores Christopher

Jessica has been pulling up on everything. Here she is standing at the gate we have up to keep her from getting to the stairs and front door. She really wanted to get through.

Let me out!

Cute!

She was pretty happy about playing on the couch.

A random picture of Cassie. She is about 10 years old now and her face is getting all white.

A blurry picture of Toby. He and Christopher are still really good friends.

Fun in McCall

We went up to my parent's cabin in McCall this past weekend. We had a lot of fun!

We went for a hike up to Duck Lake. I had Jessica in the pack and Christopher walked some and was carried by Matt some. There had been a forest fire at one time and you can see the bare trees.

Here is a picture of me with Jessica in the pack.

This is Duck Lake.

Matt sitting by the lake.

A couple of pictures of the trail.

These pictures are of Christopher hanging out at the cabin. He kept putting on my brother's helmet, which made him look kind of like a bobble-head toy. It was pretty funny!