So I guess I don't win any blogger of the year award. Sorry I have been away so long. I am just so tired! Being pregnant while keeping up with a 2 year old is some hard work. Everything feels so different this time around. When I was pregnant with Elliott, I loved it. I was in such a good mood, that Mike threatened to keep me pregnant all the time! This time around, I am moody, achy, and always feel like I am moments away from hurling. Good times! I did have my first ultrasound a few days ago, and I got to see my little gummy bear. I am due at the beginning of July, which is when I suspected. Elliott is being extra sweet to me. He will ask me if my belly aches and then proceed to give me kisses and tell me that I'm all better. And he also likes to talk about the baby in his belly...so cute. Anyway...I will update more later.

Soon to be Big Brother...

That's right...I'm pregnant.  The newest member of our family is expected to arrive on 07.08.09.

Smarty Pants

E and I were just playing with blocks. When it was time to clean up, I told him to count the blocks as he put them away. With no hesitation, he counted to 50! Maybe this is totally normal for a 2.5 year old. But to me, it was pretty amazing.

My LIttle Tree

So I am way behind in posts. And I have lots of fun things to share. But I will start with posting some pictures from Halloween. I thought it would be fun to make E's costume this year. Not really sure what made me decide on a tree. The top was so heavy, it took several attempts to find a way to balance it on his head!

Squash

The other day was what we refer to around here as "Happy Nancy Day." Nancy was coming over to give M and I massages. While I was mid-rub down, I here E upstairs say to Mike "I'll be right back. I'm just going to go check on Mommy real quick." He comes downstairs, parks himself in a chair, and patiently waits for me to be finished. Then he looks at Nancy and says: "It my turn for a squash." He climbs up on the table, looks at Nancy and says: "so, you want me to start face down?" It's official...we have created a monster.

Halloween's Past

Two years ago. E was 6 months old...

A Few More...

E: Mommy I am so excited I almost get to do it!

Me: Do What?

E: Play soccer! I have to get to 3 first. Right now I'm only 2.5!

When he asked for ice skating lessons, I did some research and found out he had to be 3. I guess he figures that's how old he has to be before he can play on a soccer team. I think we may have a little sports fanatic on our hands. He has been asking for a basketball hoop every day for the past 2 weeks. It's so funny, because M and I are not "sports people" at all.

E and I were sitting at a very high iron and slate table working on an art project. When we were finished, I told him he had to get down, because if he fell, he would hit his mouth and bust out his teeth. Five minutes later he walks over to me...

E: Mommy, I got down like you asked. But a little bit later I'm going to bust out my teeth, O.K.?

I guess he thought it was like me telling him he can't paint now, but maybe later...he's so silly!

Conversations With My 2 Year old...

E: Mommy, today at school I saw a bunch of colorful leaves falling from a tree. You should see it.

Me: Was it pretty?

E: Yes.

Me: When trees lose their leaves, what is that a sign of?

E: Fall Momma!

So smart...

M was out of town for 2 weeks on a big job. It was during that time that my Dad passed away. Needless to say, it was a crazy 2 weeks. Leading up to his departure, M would tell E that he had to go out of town for awhile, and Mommy was going to be sad. He had to be the man of the house and take care of me. E took this very seriously, gibing out lots of kisses, being on his best behavior, and doing everything he could to help out around the house. One day, I was a little stressed out and I was trying to get E dressed for school.

E: Mommy, you look sad. Are you sad that Daddy's gone?

Me: Yes. I miss your Daddy. And Mommy is just really tired. Daddy is working really hard, and he will be back soon.

E: Don't worry Mommy. Daddy isn't at work. He just ran out to get a cup of coffee. He'll be right back. I think you need a kiss.

Fun Fact

M and I have been trying to have another baby for awhile now. When I say "trying," I mean we have ceased all preventative measures. We decided we were ready and we would just see what happened. Nothing has happened. I am tossing around the idea of taking Clomid again. When trying to conceive the first time, I took the lowest dose for one week and got pregnant. Thirty eight weeks and four days later I gave birth to a healthy 8.1 ounce boy.
E was born 0n 4.5.06 at 7 p.m. and weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce. He was 20 and 3/4 inches long.
Get it? 4.5.6.7.8.1.2.3.4 ( if you drop the zero.) Seriously, what are the chances?

Well, if I got pregnant with baby number 2 on my current cycle, the baby would be born on 7.8.09. The due date would be a couple days later, but since I had a c-section for my first pregnancy, I would be able to pick the day to be induced. And of course I would pick that date, because come on...how fun would it be to say your kids were born on 4.5.06 and 7.8.09? Yes, I am a dork.

After meeting E for the first time, I was convinced that we get the babies we are supposed to have. And they join our lives when they are supposed to. It will be interesting to see if I conceive this month!

And a few updated pictures of my man...



And yes...that is a bottle in that picture. It is the only way he will drink milk. And he only has it before bed. And he is asleep within 5 minutes. We aren't ready to mess with a good thing.

The Day My Dad Died

Partick Clark
December 24, 1949-October 2, 2008

A few new pictures...

Here are a few updated pictures. We are finally finished with all of the home remodeling. Whew! And we had my nephew, Dylan, spend the night with us on Saturday. Poor guy wasn't feeling too well. But it still was fun to have a little baby around. I forgot what it was like to have a little one around (he is 3.5 months old.) I am also posting a picture of E's monkey with the mini-quilt I made with left over pieces from the larger quilt I made a while back. I will update more soon.

Pictures

Three posts in one day! Things have been busy around here. Just trying to catch up. He are some random pictures. We have been going on lots of fun adventures and enjoying this beautiful weather. The only reason I am posting the picture of me, is because I have finally lost 50 out of my 60 pounds I put on while I was pregnant! Only a few more pounds and I will be back in a size 4. While none of you probably care, it was not easy and I am proud of myself!

My Dad...

I went and saw my Dad today. As many of you know, we have never been very close. Before his diagnosis, he had maybe seen E a total of three times over a 2 year period. And each visit was never more than 10 minutes. He would make sure and bring a gift over for E on his birthday, but he never stuck around for the party. But since we got the horrible news, none of that seems to matter much anymore. I did what I had to do to make my peace with the situation, and now I am just trying to spend as much time with him as I can before he dies. I really want E to have some memory of him...he is my father...but I know he probably won't.

It is a very hard thing to deal with when you are forced to think about the mortality of your parents. Especially when they aren't old. And when there hasn't been much of a relationship over the past 33 years, it adds a whole other dimension to the grieving process. Part of me believed that with him being sick, I would somehow come to learn that his lack of presence in my life has been a big misunderstanding. That I somehow dreamed it all. But when I am visiting and a friend of his from the past 20 years stops by and asks me how I know Pat, reality hits me in the face. Here is one of his close friends who has no clue that he has a daughter.

I gave up on trying to figure out why he did the things he did. Why he didn't feel the importance of being a part of my life. The past is the past. And the present is my 58 year old Dad laying on a bed, unable to sit up, feed himself, speak clearly or use the bathroom unassisted, and it just makes me sad. Sad that he has to suffer. Sad that things weren't different between us. Sad that he never really understood what it meant to be a father. Sad that with the exception of one of his sisters (he is one of 10,) no one in his family has ever kept in contact with us. When he dies, I am losing an entire half of my family. That is a whole part of my heritage that my child will never learn to know.

Although it still continues to be very difficult, I feel like I have made my peace and I have said my good-byes. After seeing him today, I know he doesn't have much longer. I will never forget him. We share a birthday. And I forgive him. I know he loved me the best we he knew how.

My Other Children...

Do you remember back on E's birthday (5 months ago,) when Daddy brought home a new addition to the family? A sweet, adorable little puppy. She was less than 2 months old at the time. E fell in love with her immediately, but I was a little skeptical. Did we really need ANOTHER dog? I was assured that she wouldn't get any bigger than Beatrice (our 75 pound lab.) Well, here she is, our 6.5 month old "puppy..."









So they are in no particular order. Blogger doesn't upload my pictures in the order I add the,. Anyway...Lola has officially surpassed Beatrice in size, and she is nowhere near finished growing. Thank goodness we had a fence installed in our backyard. I guess the only upside, is that for E's 3rd birthday, we won't have to rent a pony for the kids, we can just throw a saddle on Lola!

School...

E had a great first day of school. It was so fun to watch him with his friends. When I went to pick him up he asked if he could stay at school longer. And when I asked him about his day, he had so many stories about his adventures. It was hard to get some good pictures this morning because he was so excited and just wanted to get to school!



And what does every two year old need after a stressful first day of school? A massage of course! E lucked out...Mommy and Daddy had Nancy come for a massage, and she was nice enough to give E a mini one. He was a little skeptical at first, but quickly became a fan. I guess he is going to take after his Mom and Dad!

Because I'm crazy...

A while back I was going through some of E's old clothes that I had set aside and I was trying to think of something I could do with them. He has had so many clothes, which will come in handy if we have another little one some day, but there are some things that just remind me of him and his baby years. So I decided to try and make a quilt using his old baby clothes as the center of each square. The kicker...I don't have a sewing machine, so I ended up doing the whole thing by hand. 90 hours later and...







Now, I have never made a quilt before. And I am not much of a sewer. But I am so proud of myself that this turned out. E loves to look at it. Every square has a story...first day of school last year, first haircut, what he wore home from the hospital, first trip to Europe, first Easter, first pair of jeans...etc. I had a hard time getting good pictures because it is pretty big. I think it looks better in person!

Back to School

Dear E,

Summer is quickly coming to an end. We have had so much fun filling our days with adventures, but all good things must come to an end. You have been asking to go back to school for the past two weeks. I just love how much you are into school. I can't believe that you will be going 3 mornings a week this year. Mommy is going to miss you.

I have been very busy looking for a school to send you to for the 2009/2010 school year. We absolutely love the school you are in now, but unfortunately, once you turn 3, tuition goes up to $12,000 a year. Crazy. We are visiting a few montessori schools to see if we fall in love with any of those, but most logically you are going to end up in a Catholic school. Your Daddy and I are all for the public schools, but because we live in the city, that isn't an option for us. There are no public schools in our district that we feel good about.

You are such a smart little guy. We spend our days having full on conversations. You have started reading. You can count to 30. And you are just all around clever. The other day you were taking your nap, and I decided to lay down for some cuddles. You woke up and decided you didn't want to go back to bed, but Mommy was exhausted. I told you that you could go practice your vocabulary on your computer or look at books. You smiled and said..."MMM, how about I do neither?" Than you said "I think Mommy needs some kisses."

On the sleep front, you are getting up earlier which I am not thrilled about, but you are a great sleeper. You have been in your twin bed since you were 22 months old, and you love it. The transition was seamless. You stay in bed all night, and you look forward to nap time.

You are constantly asking to go places, your favorites being to the Zoo to ride the train and to the Art Museum. You always ask to go see the paintings, and when you are home you are always wanting to paint. My little artist.

Every day I love you more and more. You are growing up so fast and I cherish all the moments we have together. Can you promise me something? When you are a teenager, will you still be my best friend?

I love you.
Mommy

Proud Mamma

It has been a long time since I have posted, but things have been crazy around here. I will update what has been going on with us later. But here are a few pictures of my not-so-little man. He came across Daddy's 1969 Gold top, and it was love at first sight. Similar to what happened 14 years ago when I saw his Daddy playing that guitar...

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

Sorry I haven't updated lately. Things with my Dad are declining fast. I will update more later.

On a brighter note...we went to Chicago a week ago and had a great time. I love my friend and her family so much. I just wish we were able to spend more time together. Our kids have so much fun together. E would wake up in the morning with a smile on his face, and say "We're in Chicago and my friends are here!" And then he would open our bedroom door and see his three adorable friends waiting patiently for him to come play.