Thanksgiving friends

In a last minute change of plans, we stayed at home for Thanksgiving day instead of traveling to Florida. We were fortunate to be invited to not one, but two dinners-- one on Thursday and one on Friday. Both were with good friends of ours. On Friday, Evan got to spend the afternoon playing with his friend Tai. They both had a great time and we had so much fun watching the two boys goof off.



Later in the weekend, Evan and I visited Heather and her family. Evan and Bella played non-stop. Heather, Sophia and I just sat back and enjoyed watching the two of them. Evan loved Bella's kitchen.

Preggo update

I'm at almost 19 weeks and apart from [yet another] sinus infection/cold, I'm feeling pretty good. The baby (boy!) is moving around a ton and has been for a few weeks now. According to the ultrasound, he weighs 8 oz. No telling yet though, if that will yield another 8 pounder (or, dare I suggest it, even larger!). At the request of some loyal readers, I'm posting a belly pic. If you can get past the fact that this is a bad picture and that at the time, I was feeling miserable from sinus pain, it does show a growing belly.

Well, It's a....

We had the "big ultrasound" this afternoon and found out that we're having







a little








baby








BOY!

Yep, another boy! I was really surprised because I had such a gut feeling that it was a girl. So much for a woman's intuition! Now Evan will have a little brother to play with (or fight with). Other good news is that the ultrasound revealed a healthy little baby with all organs in place, etc., and I'm right on schedule at 18 weeks 2 days. The baby was moving around during the ultrasound, but it was very hard to get a good shot. So no cute profile or feet pics this time around to post. Oh well, you'll have to wait until April!

What's been going on...

Nearly 2 weeks since Ironman and there are lots of reasons for my lack of posting, none of which are too thrilling. Evan has been back and forth to the Dr. for the past couple of weeks with a horrible cough (going on for weeks now), wheezing and then spiking 103+ fevers. After seeing a pediatric pulmonologist on Friday, we finally got the official diagnosis of asthma, which we had figured. The fevers were being caused by an ear infection. The asthma symptoms were brought on (and made worse) by the colds he keeps catching from daycare. And, the colds he keeps getting, I keep getting. Right now, I'm fighting some sort of sinus infection that has really dug its heels in. Miserable. So, after a slough of medications (amoxicillin, albuterol, pulmicort and singulair), Evan is feeling so much better and his asthma symptoms are improving ten-fold. He's learned to enjoy sitting and using the nebulizer. Unfortunately, until/unless he outgrows the asthma (most children do), he'll be on most of the medications daily, although in smaller doses as he gets better. And so, in addition to his good looks, Evan can also thank his daddy for good health genes. Jason had childhood asthma (exercise induced), but now only occasionally has symptoms that are brought on by allergies.

Adding to this fun, Jason had his first major paper due for his Master's class last weekend. What he thought would have taken him a full day or so to write (after having done all the research), took three full days and nights to finish. It was a fun weekend for all of us!

Evan has started a new phase lately where he gets attached to a toy and will play with it over and over, and gets really frustrated (read: fit) if you try and take it away or ask him to do something, like take a bath. Here he stands his ground, buck naked, after being told to go and get in the tub.

The other thing that's been keeping us busy was preparing for Jason's birthday/post-Ironman party that we had last night. In addition to the typical pre-party preparations, we had to finish remodeling the guest bathroom. Every night for the past week, Jason came straight home from work and started work on the bathroom. At about 3 hours before the party yesterday, it was finished. Apart from crown moulding and some paint touch ups, it's finally done. No more wallpaper in the bathroom! I'll have pictures of the bathroom (for anyone interested) a little later. For now, I'll leave you with some party pics. We had a chili bar and hot spiked cider, both of which were gone before the end of the night.

Jason cutting the cowboy hat cake, provided by our culinary artiste, Yuki.

Some pics of the party-goers. I was told I had to take pictures of someone other than Jason, or people would think that no one came to his party.

Rockstar Ironman

This past weekend, Jason completed his second Ironman triathlon in Panama City, Florida. At a finish time of 13:02, he shaved more than two hours off his race time from last year! Thankfully, Jason had no nutrition issues this time and so the race went as smooth as possible. In fact, when I saw him between the bike and run and asked him how he felt, he said just one thing: "Rockstar!" That seemed to sum up the race. Evan and I were very proud of his accomplishment and so happy that his hard work paid off for such a great finish. His final stats were:

Swim (2.4 miles): 1:05
Bike (112 miles): 6:15
Run (26.2 miles): 5:37

















An aerial view of the swim start-- it was a mass start into the ocean. Very cool to see.


Meanwhile, during the race, Evan and I enjoyed the beautiful beach and weather in Panama City. The sun was hot, but the water and breeze was very cool, making for a perfect Florida weather. Evan was a great Ironman spectator. Technically speaking, this is his second race as a spectator, so he has had some practice.











Evan's first swim cap.... awww.
























One afternoon we opened a window in our little beach bungalow to let in some fresh air and along with it came a friendly cat. Evan was so intrigued.




The Ironman was a tough day for everyone!

More Halloween pics

As promised, here are more pictures from trick or treating last Saturday. As you can see, Tai makes a great Tiger Woods!

Trick or treat

Last year, Evan was so little that I didn't bother with a costume for Halloween. This year, I went full steam and made the costume, bought a candy sack and took him to a trick or treating party at a local outdoor shopping plaza in our area. And even though he is older this year, let's face it, the festivities are really self-serving. I'm the one who gets a kick out of dressing him up; I'm the one who's going to eat the candy (and maybe Jason if there's any left); and I get to show off the pictures. Even so, I think Evan still had a good time. We met up with his friend Tai, who dressed up as a younger version of Tiger Woods. The two boys got comments from nearly every passer-by. Evan, as you can see, was Bamm Bamm from the Flintstones. I wanted a no-fuss costume, but it didn't really turn out that way. The hat kept coming off-- who knew that barrettes won't stay in a little boy's hair? And his shoe covers were not very well attached. Oh well, it was great for the photo op. And really, that's what it's all about. ;)

PS-- the picture above is taken at our house before we went out. I wanted at least one picture au naturel, but put a shirt on him before we went outside-- it's only in the 60s here and I am a responsible mommy. Tai's mom Yuki took more pictures of the event, so I'll post those later.

Spinning

Evan has developed quite a few fascinations/obsessions lately, one of which is spinning. For the past month or so, at least 1/4 of his day is spent spinning. How he hasn't thrown up yet, I have no idea. He thinks it is the most fun thing to do. At first he just stood in one spot and spun in circles, quickly got dizzy and then fell over. Then it developed into spinning for several minutes and at the same time, he turns his eyes to the corner of his head while he's spinning. It's hard to describe and I haven't caught it on film, but it is the funniest thing to watch. In the last couple of weeks, he's started using his toys to spur his spinning habit. He sits on his bounce & spin zebra and will seriously spin for 5 minutes straight. In the last few days, he learned to use his sit 'n spin (below)-- yet another tool to feed his addiction. I have no idea why he has only one sock on in the picture.

"Showing"

Some of you have asked if I was showing yet. I can definitely say that I'm showing much sooner with this baby than I did with Evan, which I hear is pretty common.

I promise not to bombard the blog with belly pics like I did last time. But, just to satisfy some curiosity, here are pics of me at 13-ish weeks the first time around and then now.

Same glasses, same maternity jeans, same half smile-- different belly!

Road trip

Last week, we took a road trip to Florida-- first to Melbourne, then to Sarasota. Every year, Jason goes to Melbourne for his alumni weekend. Evan and I tagged along and spent part of the week in Sarasota visiting my mom, brother and sister. It was a busy but fun weekend and it was great to see everyone.


Misty (Jason's college friend Chris' wife) and Evan. We met Chris & Misty's new little boy Cole. He's a sweet little boy. He's 6 months and doing really well.





Evan's Aunt Rachel.

Evan takes a close look in the fridge.









Uncle Nathan read books to Evan, again and again and again.






"Grammy" and Evan.

Hmm...

Uncle Bob's and more

It was a busy weekend for Evan and I. As I write this, I'm only half conscious. Jason worked this weekend, so Evan and I went on a few field trips together. Saturday was Uncle Bob's Pumpkin Patch, where Evan met up with farm animals, saw newly hatched chicks, pet a pig's nose and took his first hay ride. It was a great little place for kids. It is located on wide open farmland, so Evan ran out his energy... and mine!












Today, we went to the Great Georgia Air Show, which is held yearly at the Peachtree City airport. Jason and I have been once before and loved it. I wasn't sure how Evan would react to the loud planes (especially the F-16s), or if he would even be interested. To my surprise the noise didn't phase him and he was actually quite intrigued by the airplanes. He really liked watching the aerobatic stunts. Despite blinding sun and no shade in sight, we had a good time. (no pics, sorry)

And one more = 4!

Yep, you read it right, we're adding one more to the brood! I'm pregnant and expecting #2 around April 29th of next year. Evan is such a great kid, we figured we'd try our luck with another one! I'm about 12 weeks along and so far, so good. Apart from some morning sickness earlier on and two awful colds, I'm feeling good. It's a whole new experience being pregnant and chasing around a 16 month old. Nothing like the first time-- no more naps-on-demand, "taking it easy," etc.

And as most people have already asked, YES, we are finding out the sex of this baby! In fact, the big ultrasound is scheduled for November 26 (and I'm counting the days!). Jason was a little disappointed and I think he's still secretly hoping I'll change my mind about finding out.

Evan is, well, clueless about the whole thing of course. I imagine as I get bigger and he gets older, we may be able to explain it some more. But I'm sure the real shock won't come until the baby is here. I'm sure he'll be a good big brother.

The pic above shows how we told Jason's parents about the pregnancy. We had phoned nearly all of our immediate family once we found out, but we knew that Hugh & Barbara were coming to visit in a couple of weeks, so we thought it would be fun to tell them in person. Evan was taking a nap when they showed up. When he woke up, I put his t-shirt on and he walked into the kitchen. The grandparents were so charmed by Evan that they didn't notice his shirt! Hugh finally asked, "What does his shirt say?" And Barbara chimed in-- "Are you trying to tell us something?!" It was a fun way to break the news.

Evan Gogh

A couple of samples of Evan's first attempts at art.