Summer has officially started in the Birnbaum house, and now life is very different than it was last week. Being able to "sleep in" until 7:30 is a luxury for me, but I'll take waking up to Andrew's voice instead of an alarm clock any day. Brian is working the night shift this month, which further changes things. We have breakfast together, and then an early dinner before he goes to work. Luckily Brian is a sound sleeper, so we don't have to be terribly quiet during the day at home. Our house has pretty much been turned into a play place, with a basketball goal in the living room, ball pit and toy car in the downstairs room, and water table on the deck. It's time to have some fun!

Andrew has seemed to have found his voice, and I am going give a bit of credit to a DVD he absolutely loves. Until recently he had no interest in the TV, but he finally starting watching "Baby Signing Times" and now asks for it to be played. He is signing and saying more, food, water, please, mom, dad, horse, dog, cat, fish, and of course will wave bye. I have ordered another that teaches colors and am looking forward to seeing what he picks up. He has started repeating words that we say to him, so Brian and I are having to start watching what we're saying. :)

I have been having issues with my back since January, and at times it has impaired me from functioning in my daily life, especially being able to carry Andrew. I have been going to a physical therapist for the past two months, and even though she works me to death, I'm still having some problems. I think it is nerve related, as I have recently been having pains going down my left leg. After talking with my doctor, I am going to have an MRI done next week to see if we can find the source of the problems. I'm a bit nervous about being in the MRI machine, and hope I can stay calm during the scan.

Next Wednesday is the big day. It's driving me crazy, and I'm ready to find out what's next in our lives.