Monkey business

Mikey is taking a 3 week gymnastics class. It's basically the only class I could find for a 3 year old in the area. I heard from a few other Moms that it's a lot of fun for the kids so I figured, why not! Anyhow, this is his first day. He had a ton of fun as you can probably see. Unfortunately, he will miss next week but I think he's going to have even more fun playing on the beach with 3 of his second cousins. Yeah!!! Maybe he can teach them some monkey moves....

last weekend...

Happy Belated 234th Birthday to my country....

land of the free, home of the brave!

A little fun in the sun!

Yup, I think the shovel pointing out the belly is not necessary.

I highly doubt anyone would miss it these days. ; )

At least he wore his hat for a few minutes.

Time for a little lunch break... that would be raspberry jelly on his face.

He's pretty darn cute no matter what.

Say cheese shovel man.

Playing with some friends from my Moms Club

Good times... this is what childhood is all about folks.

Daddy was playing with all the kids the entire time. The usual.... Daddy is a big

kid at heart. A fantastic trait if I do say so myself.

24 weeks!

I'm so excited there are no words to explain it! I'm 6 months pregnant and before we know we are going to have a daughter and Mikey is going to have a sister. Life as we know it will never be the same. In the meantime, we are all growing excited as fast as my belly is growing.

Here is our baby girl!


Amazing! She is already this perfect little baby in my belly at only 6 months.

Thank you technology for allowing us to get this miraculous glimpse at this beautiful little creature. Now that I've been thoroughly teased I must wait 16 more weeks until we meet her. Although I don't want to rush this time, it's hard not to. For now I'm going to cherish all the wonderful moments I have feeling her roll, stretch and kick in my belly.

Lovely isn't she?

I'm so smitten with my hubby, son and her it's just plain lovely.

Survival

You've got to love those lovely summer flu bugs, right? Not so much. Unfortunately, over the course of the last two weeks Mikey and I have been sick, sick, sick. First of us was Mikey. Just as Grandpa was leaving town, Mikey started developing mild fevers on and off. The poor kid was congested and it looked as though he had a flu.... no big deal. About a week later he looked like he was doing better so we decided to join Daddy for a few days in Chicago. We drove down Thurs afternoon and had a good day. Mike had a work dinner to go to so Mikey and I strolled up and down the Magnificent mile and went to dinner together. It was a nice evening. We went back to the hotel and we played trains and watched Thomas together. I was happy as I even had Mikey sound asleep by 8:15 which left me some quiet time. However, I was exhausted. So I decided to take advantage and go to bed early. I was asleep by 9:00. It was lovely. By 10:30 I received a text from my hubby saying he was going to have another beer with the guys. In this hour and a half, I woke feeling not so lovely. I could feel the congestion in my head and man was my body ever aching. Crap! I was getting sick. So I closed my eyes in hope that a bit more sleep might leave me waking next time feeling better. Not so much. Long story short I woke the next day sick. I tried my best to suck it up and packed Mikey up in the stroller and went out for some breakfast and shopping. I quickly realized that I was in no shape to keep up with my 3 year old in Chicago. By the second store and the 10th time losing Mikey in a game of hide and seek I did NOT want to play, I strapped him back in the stroller and called it quits. We went to the hotel where I took some tylenol and dozed on and off for the next few hours waiting for Daddy to come and provide some much needed help with our kid. By the time Daddy got back I'd had a bit of rest and decided that I was up to venturing out with him again. We went shopping and out to dinner. I must say that even though I was under the weather it was a lovely evening. Little did I know what was in store for us.... Mikey woke around 11:30 screaming bloody murder. I had a fever and I had a kid who desperately needed his Mommy. I sat in bed holding him and trying my best to console my inconsolable boy. He keep saying over and over, "my ear, my ear hurts Mommy!" The poor kid had a nasty ear infection. Chicago was not proving to be good to either of us. We made it through the night and first thing in the morning I looked at Mike and said let's get outta here. I want to go home! We made the 5 hour drive back with Mikey and myself sleeping most of the way. Luckily, with the help of some antibiotics Mikey was feeling more like himself by the following evening. I, however, am just now starting to feel better. 10 days later.

So that is my survival story... at least part of it. I figured no one cares to hear about the boring week we had while Mommy laid on the couch only to get up to feed Mikey and take him to the potty. I was pathetic. Mikey was wonderful though. He would come over to me every hour or so and ask if I was still not feeling well. I would confirm, "No honey, Mommy is still not feeling well." He would then say "Mommy needs to sleep" and I would agree and close my eyes. He would go back to playing trains so nicely by himself. Poor kid... he was a trooper and I will never forget what a good boy he was for me so I could get better.

Once feeling human again I must admit I've been trying to make up for lost time. I took Mikey to a strawberry patch and we picked berries. We've played trains together for many, many hours. We've gone on walks and are starting to get back to a normal life.

So here are some pics from the last month.

Let's catch up with photos... my favorite way!

We did a 2 mile walk for the Cheese Chase. A local charity to help kids. Yup, we were the last ones to cross the finish line. We were enjoying the scenery. The walk wrapped around the zoo... it was pretty cool.

After there was a fair and did Mikey ever have fun. Mikey kept sneaking in all the bouncy houses. We had tickets but he refused to wait in line. Anytime we would look away he would kick his shoes off and sneak in the bouncy house. Crazy kid.

Pop balloon!


His favorite in the whole world... vanilla ice cream!

We found a good buddy of his while strolling around. They were so happy to see each other.

Happy guys!

The next day there was the Marshfield parade.

Of course there has to be a cow... we are in dairy land right?

Father and son

My patriots

My American boy...

Ok so he just loves flags

Yea! Grandpa Mike is here!!!

Mikey had a great time playing with his Grandpa

Good times around the kitchen table.

Mikey's first time fishing....

First, Grandpa showed him how to find his own worms.

Mikey at the fishing site.

They caught at least 10 fish... no joke!

Mikey discovered that fish are slimey and sharp... those are his words.

A big one.

Mikey showing me his worms that came with the fishing pole.

Helping Grandpa

Pretty amazing, huh?

Mikey was sooo proud of himself.

A little sun fish.

The strawberry patch

Mikey did not like how muddy it was

I think he had fun but he just could not get over the fact that he was so dirty.

First thing we did was shower up when we got home. Then he got down to eating lots and lots of strawberries.

Not too bad...

Delicious!

We went to our friends b-day party Friday night. Mikey and their son are good friends so Mikey was more excited about the party than we were. This is him as we were leaving the house.

Mikey and Henry attacking Daddy.

Get him boys!

That night there was a pretty bad storm. No big deal...

This is what we woke up to.

At least Mike had a good sense of humor about it.

Muscle man!

Half way!

Can you hardly believe it? We are already half way through the year and today I'm half way through my pregnancy. I'm growing more and more excited with the thought of meeting my daughter. This is probably also due to the fact that two of my nearest and dearest friends both had baby girls this past week. Becca welcomed her daughter, Lola, to her family on May 29th. Colleen welcomed her daughter, Coco, to her family on May 24th. All of them are healthy and just a beautiful as can be.

How can I not be excited at the prospect of meeting my little girl for the first time? Of course, I want to meet my baby girl. Just in 17-20 weeks from now. No sooner. I think that would not need to be said but maybe if I say it (write it) that is how it will happen. So far this pregnancy is going well. I'm only getting big in the proper places. I feel very pregnant as of the last few weeks. I've also started getting braxton hicks contractions in the past few days. This concerns Mike, however there is nothing concerning about them. The contractions are mild, in the front of my belly and not frequent. All text book, nothing to be alarmed about. However, with Mikey making his debut 8 weeks early it seems we are all very nervous about this pregnancy. Luckily, I love my doctor and trust her completely. I have complete faith that if there is some sign that we missed during my pregnancy with Mikey it would be discovered this time around. I'm currently on week 4 of 20 for my shots to help keep baby girl inside my belly. It is no fun at all. I would be lying if I said it doesn't hurt like hell. It's worth it though so I'm not complaining. Every time she kicks me and I can feel her rolling around is what I remember when Mike is administering my weekly dose. I love feeling her wiggle and kick. It's probably my favorite part of pregnancy. Anyhow, that is my baby girl update.

20 weeks

this pregnancy

20 weeks while pregnant with Mikey.

(My belly is bigger with her than I was with him)

Peanut playing inside for a bit, escaping the summer heat.

The happiest hard hat wearing boy around.

Don't forget your safety goggles!

Last weekend we all went to Mikey's friends 4th b-day party.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HENRY!!!!

These kids loved, loved , loved trying to hit that pinata.

The hit of the day was the bouncy house they rented. The kids played all day. When the people came to pick it up at 8:00 poor Henry was so sad they were taking his bouncy house. The children just sat in the grass and watched the fun house deflate. I guess we know what to get for the next b-day party or any party for that matter.