Restless Legs Syndrome

Okay so some of you are wondering why I put a link on here for "Restless Legs Syndrome". Well, I have it, that's why. I was diagnosed with this awful condition about 5 years ago and now it all makes sense. For those of you who have never experienced RLS, I'm so glad that you haven't, but for those who do have this condition, it stinks with a capital "S"! It started when I was very young, young enough not to remember how young I really was. When I would be up past my bedtime, my legs (and sometimes arms) would get twitchy, like I had to move them. It felt like spiders or ants crawling up my legs and I couldn't fix it unless I moved or flexed my legs. There's not a large percentage of people with this condition (last I heard, it was less than 8% of Americans ranging from mild to severe), but scientists and doctors are just beginning to understand this syndrome and just in the past 1-2 years, the American public has seen commercials and advertisements for it. There's no cure (as of yet) and the medication you can take can't be taken by pregnant/nursing women (so I'm out for awhile!).

I was talking with my grandmother months ago and I asked her if she knew of anyone in our family with this. She said she has been experiencing these symptoms since she was a little girl. So, clearly it can be genetic. I just hope and pray that I don't pass this on to my children and maybe someday, someone will find a cure.

February Around the House

Those of you that have kids know what I'm talking about. You blink your eyes one day and they're walking and talking back to you and you wonder, when did they grow up!! Well, Avonlea has been talking a mile a minute lately and I've lost track of how many words she says now. I lost count after around 50 and that doesn't include her sign language (it's awesome if you've never tried it; we started Avonlea at 6 months and she learned about 10 signs that she's fading out of using since she can use speech now). We got her a "big girl" table and chairs set this week from Babies R Us http://babiesrus.com and she really enjoys coloring at it and I let her eat snacks there as well as play playdough, etc. Her hair is growing really fast now and we occationally put it up in pigtails when she'll sit still and let me (my current film I'm using up has those pics on it-I'll post later). She looks so grown up. She climbs on things and I'm scared for the day she climbs out of her crib!! We've been talking about starting to look for a toddler bed (they're awesome b/c they still use the crib mattress and you don't have to buy a seperate mattress) and she's also been reading books about going potty. We're going to start potty-training her in a month or so after she turns 18 months. If anyone has any great tips that worked for you and you want to share, PLEASE send me your tip in a "comment". I'd love to hear!!

Avonlea loves helping me cook/bake. She mostly stirrs things for me and one day, we baked a cake together and I let her ice it by herself (with a little help of coarse). She loves licking the beaters and spoons.

The three of us are taking a small family vacation in a few weeks (just an Orlando trip) but we're planning on doing Sea World (we're saving the first Disney trip for when she's older) and just hanging out by the pool (yes, me and my belly still want to attain some type of color).

Here's a tip my awesome pastor once gave...Don't just say to someone, "Have a good day".
Remind them to "Be good in the day God gives you"! How true is that?!

See our other family website at:

http://babyjellybeans.com

and type in "Avonlea Bates".

At the zoo

Lowry Park Zoo
Tampa, Florida

Rob and I recently took Avonlea to the zoo. It wasn't her first time, but her second. It was so cold that day and guess who forgot to check the weather (me)!! I assumed it would be another somewhat typical warm Florida day, but oops...we had a coldfront and I dressed Avonlea in shorts and a t-shirt (as well as myself). Luckily, I had a sweatshirt in the car for her and Rob, being the sensitive guy he is, bought me a smashingly cool Lowry Park Zoo sweatshirt for $30.00. I wore it with pride the rest of the day, but needless to say, I'll check the weather next time. Silly me!

We had so much fun and it was more special this time around because Avonlea is learning how to say the animals' names and their sounds. So far she knows: elephant, zebra, bear, lion, tiger, snake, doggie, cat, bird, bunny, turtle, duck, frog, fish, whale, penguin and I'm sure a few more although my brain can't remember right now. The weirdest thing though is that when we were at the zoo, her favorite feature were the waterfalls and any other water features! She wouldn't leave the fishtank where all the koi were and she loved the manatee exhibit. There's something mezmorizing about the water that just puts her in this relaxed daze. She also loves feeding our fish at home. So here are the zoo pictures...

Grandma (Ni-Ni) in China...

As some of you know, Rob's mom (Judy) has been in China teaching music for the past few months. She felt the calling when the school she was teaching at (where Rob and I met in elementary school) unfortunately had to close. She lives in Tianjin (I think I spelled that right) and plans to teach there until she feels the Lord calling her back to Florida. Here are just a few pictures of her travels in China...

Drum Tower

Street singer in China

A fashion show at the mall

We miss you Judy and we're teaching Avonlea to say "Ne-how Ni-Ni" (Hello Grandma). :)

Okay, so it seems like MANY friends of ours have blogs and we thought we'd try it...

Just a lazy Sunday afternoon for us today. Rob and I have been busy putting in a sprinkler system as well as new sod for the front and back yards. It's been a task, but boy are we glad we did it! We're getting ready to sell our house so the upkeep is definately necessary.

Avonlea (just about 17 months) just keeps growing and growing everyday. I've stopped counting the words she says because there's a new one every hour it seems. She loves the zoo, animals, the outdoors, plants and flowers, taking walks, helping Mama cook and adores her Daddy. We're just gone from two naps a day down to one so I have to get creative as to how I get things done during the day! It's weird that I have to "plan out" when I'm going to do the dishes, but I love being home with my kiddo and wouldn't trade it for the world.

Here's Avonlea helping me cook a casserole. She loves stirring and taste-testing!

Avonlea at 16 months playing out front.

Lincoln Cole (5 3/4 months in utero) is kicking like crazy this week. I've been having pretty bad back pains (that I didn't have until 9 mos. prego with Avonlea) and am scared that this is going to be one big boy! I'm having a repeat C-section though (Avonlea had an emergency C-section when she was born) so in a way, I'm glad, especially if he's big.

Ultrasound where we found out he was a boy. I thought for sure we were having another girl due to the technician saying "she" the whole time. She had us fooled!

It never ceases to amaze me how much I cherish the "little things" in life. I was sitting down playing playdough with Avonlea yesterday thinking about how when she's 17 years old, I'm going to miss these times. It almost brought tears to my eyes! Okay, maybe it's a pregnant thing, but take time today to cherish at least one "little thing" in life.