December

This year has absolutely flown by! Last year at this time we knew we were pregnant, and I was feeling horrible! Levi is almost 4 months old. He is such a good little baby, we are so blessed. He sleeps all night and is happy during the day! Having two children is 100 times more hectic than just one, but it has been fun. Ethan is in the full blown terrible two's, which makes everyday an adventure. He can go from perfectly happy to throwing an all out fit in a matter of seconds. I am looking forward to the day when is out of this stage. We are still working on potty training. It is so frustrating, but I know eventually he will get it. Here are a few pictures from this month...

Photoshop

So I splurged today and bought myself an early Christmas present. I bought some photoshop actions from Florabella. I LOVE her actions! They are so easy to use and make your pictures look lovely. I have been playing around with them all day. Here are a few examples.

Sunflare

I added clouds! Haha

lens flare and sunflare

my child refuses to smile...

Social Anxiety---Yes I have it

I suppose blogs are partly for being honest. I have read on other people's blogs about affairs, family struggles, infertility troubles, and the list goes on. So here is a little bit about me and my struggles...
I have social anxiety disorder. I guess most people who know me at all know that I am shy, but it is so much more than that.

"Social anxiety is anxiety (emotional discomfort, fear, apprehension, or worry) about social situations, interactions with others, and being evaluated or scrutinized by other people. The difference between Social Anxiety and normal apprehension of social situations is that social anxiety involves an intense feeling of fear in social situations and especially situations that are unfamiliar or in which you will be watched or evaluated by others. The feeling of fear is so strong that in these types of situations one may be so worried that they feel anxious just thinking about them and will go to great lengths to avoid them."

I think most people who have social anxiety know that most of our fears are irrational, but somehow can't help it. I absolutely hate it, and everyday is struggle to overcome some sense of fear of any number of social interactions. For instance: I hate going to the grocery store and checking out because I know I am going to have to have some sort of conversation with the lady who checks me out. I have actually put stuff down and walked out of the store b/c the self-check out line was closed. I hate ordering at restaurants, and rarely look the waiter in the eye. I seriously almost have a panic attack every time my phone rings, and most of the time if it is not my husband or my mom I won't answer. Text messaging has saved my life. =) Why can't I be like everyone else and just pick up the freakin' phone?!

My Dr. once told me that people with social anxiety have the same amount of anxiety (heart pounding, sweating, etc.) about being a room with 10 people that they don't know all that well as a normal person would have about giving a speech in front of 200 people. I always knew something was not right with me...(Why can't I just be normal and act like normal people in social situations?)

My problem is that I avoid. Going to church is scary for me...sad right? I am scared of talking to people. So sometimes I just don't go. Any kind of party or get together is a struggle for me. The anxiety I feel all day before a party or social gathering is almost worse than actually going.

"While many people with social phobia realize that their fears about being with people are excessive or unreasonable, they are unable to overcome them. Even if they manage to confront their fears and be around others, they are usually very anxious beforehand, are intensely uncomfortable throughout the encounter, and worry about how they were judged for hours afterward."

I think my biggest fear is that my disorder is going to affect my boys negatively. It has already had a massive impact on my life; I don't want it to disrupt their lives at all. I have gotten better with time, and hopefully I will keep getting better. Thankfully I have a husband who loves me and supports me, and a family who loves me also.

People with social anxiety are many times seen by others as being shy, quiet, backward, withdrawn, inhibited, unfriendly, nervous, aloof, and disinterested. People with social anxiety want to be "normal" socially, they want to make friends and they want to be involved and engaged in social interactions.

I hope people don't think that of me!
~Hannah

Levi 2 Months

Poor little Levi doesn't have any recent pics to post! I think I had taken about 9,000 pictures of Ethan by this time! I took Levi to his two month check up, and he weighed 12 lbs and was 23 inches, both of which are 50th percentile. I looked back and Ethan was 13 and half pounds and 24 inches! Maybe Levi will catch up, but Ethan has always been big =)

He finally started sleeping through the night last week! Woohoo! He will usually sleep b/w 7 and 10 hours at night, which is such a relief! I do not function properly on no sleep. Ethan is doing so well with his little brother. He is always concerned when he cries, and tells me to pick him up so he'll stop crying. He is always telling people that "baby Lebi is a good baby!" and that "baby Lebi cries loud!" We are so blessed to have two sweet little boys.

Levi 2 Weeks

At Levi's two week appointment he was:
8lbs 5 oz (50% percentile)
21 inches (90% percentile)

He is growing like crazy! He still wakes up every three hours to eat, hungry little hippo! Here's to hoping he starts sleeping more!

Little Levi is here!

Levi Mercer Archer was born on Tuesday, August 16th at 1:15 pm. He weighed 7lb 9oz and was 20.5 inches long! He is such a joy to our family already! Ethan is adjusting far better than I thought he would, which is another blessing! Now if we can just make it through the first few months of no sleep....I do NOT do well without sleep. So far, so good though.

Levi Mercer Archer

Well It looks like little Levi will be making his debut on Tuesday the 16th, if he doesn't decide to come on his own before then! I will be 39 weeks, which is about the same as when I had Ethan. It will be interesting to see how big/little he is compared to what Ethan was (8lb!). We can't wait to meet the little guy, even though I am petrified of having two little ones to take care of...sometimes just one is quite difficult! We are excited to see how Ethan will react. I know he will make a great big brother, it just may take him some time to get used to everything being different.

I have been following this family's story since the beginning. I cannot even imagine going through what they went through in one short month. On Saturday, July 16, they lost their precious 8 month old little boy to cancer. Please keep them in your prayers.

http://jamescamdensikes.blogspot.com/

Balloon

Ok, i'm really going to start updating again!!

This is what happens when we bring a balloon into our house. Ethan is scared of it, and the dogs want to eat it!