The Holiday Season's Upon Us.

Well, December is here and we're all getting hyped up for the holidays.
Michael is beyond excited about Santa coming.
We decided to decorate our tree a little earlier than normal this year.
This was the first year that Michael was a huge help in decorating.
He put more than half of the ornaments on the tree himself!



I was amazed that they managed to get the angel on top of the tree this year.
In years past, Michael weighed alot less.
But Kevin managed to get him up to the top of the tree.


Grampapa sent this really cool train for Christmas last year.
The boys got the train put together around the tree and then set up the Christmas town that was Kevins Grandmothers.
Another first... in years past, we couldn't exactly trust Michael to play with the town without destroying it.
It amazes me every day how mature Michael has gotten in the past year.


As for me... the pregnancy's progressing well.
If you hadn't heard... we've been blessed with another boy.
I'm much bigger than I'd like to be at this point but I'm doing my best not to dwell on it.
I've passed the half way point.
A relief to say the least.
The approaching holidays are making time go by fairly quickly for me which is nice.
(We'll see if I'm saying that around February.)
;o)

Michael Jackson Mania Continues

We brought everything inside tonight to put up the tree and the Christmas decorations.
In the beginning, the plan was to listen to some sort of Christmas music.
That... quickly turned into a full blown Michael Jackson concert complete with dancing, moon walking and crotch grabbing.
Oh the things that happen when we give Michael control of Itunes.
Oh yes... I'm in the holiday spirit now.

Here's a small tidbit of what we got to watch this evening.
Notice in the video that Kevin's working on the tree and Michael just goes right on dancing as though Kevin's not even there.
Such focus when it comes to dancing like Michael Jackson.

U2!!!

Halloween week was a busy one. We had Michael's Halloween Howl at school. We had Kevin's birthday. We had pumpkins and trick or treating and the flu.

On Friday the 23rd... I was feeling bad. My asthma was flaring up due to the deep cough that Michael had so kindly given to me. I left work early and headed over to Urgent Care. It turns out that being pregnant is like a line pass at Urgent Care. I was taken right back. They gave me a breathing treatment and prescribed lots of rest and lots of fluids.

So I did what any pregnant, sick girl leaving Urgent Care would do... I headed over to Sam Boyd Stadium to see U2!!!

My super awesome boss got us tickets at the last minute and there was just no way that I was going to miss this show. First, I've never seen U2 live and second, it's not very often that they come to town. It was an outdoor show on a beautiful night. So I took my sick ass to the concert. Was it my brightest move? Probably not. Was it worth it? Hell yes!

The stage was incredible. It was designed as a 360 degree stage (although I did feel bad for the people behind the stage because I didn't really think they utilized the back that much...) The video screens in the center of the stage did all kinds of crazy stuff and moved all over.

Here's us before U2 came on. You can see that the breathing treatment did wonders for me.

Here's me and my friend Shannon.

Due to my pregnancy, beer at a concert is out for me. So I supplemented with food. This was a sausage sandwich. I think I also ate hot pretzels and possibly a hot dog. Hey... food is all I have.

The highlight for me was when they played "One"! It's an inside joke between myself, Kevin, my favorite person in L.A. and my favorite person in the Virgin Islands.

Overall, the show was killer. Bono is a true rockstar. He is larger than life. The band played nearly everything I wanted to hear. Was it my brightest moment, heading to a concert straight from Urgent Care? No. But I wouldn't change a thing!

Halloween - A Little Late!

Michael's flu lasted for a total of 4 days. That's total. From start to absolute healthy finish. He promptly passed it on to me and I managed to feel awful for 3 full weeks. I'm still not completely better. Halloween came and went with me feeling awful. But I got lots of pictures and am finally feeling nearly well enough to post them.



Michael's been obsessed with all things Michael Jackson for years. His unexpected passing only assisted in causing Michael to be totally over the top in his fanatacism. Of course for Halloween he had to be Michael Jackson from Thriller. I have to say this... locating a red and black leather jacket prior to the year 1988 would have been no problem. Any time since then... not so easy. We made due. It's not perfect. But it did the trick.





The silver sequined glove really did the trick. As soon as he put that sucker on... everyone knew who he was.




This is Michael and his best friend Jake. They cause mass trouble between the two of them for their teacher but I am beyond grateful that Michael has Jake. They are absolutely two peas in a pod.




Kevin's birthday is the 29th so we made sure to fit a cake and some singing in for his bday. It probably wasn't the perfect birthday for him but I tried. I'm pregnant. And sick. I did what I could. Enough said.





We carved pumpkins. This was the first year that we gave Michael free reign.
He drew the face he wanted and cut it out himself. I think his results were pretty great considering he'd never actually completed this unassisted.


Michael's creation is on the far right. Kev's is on the far left. My masterpiece is in the center. I spend way too much time carving pumpkins every Halloween. One of these years I'm going to quit with the time consuming patterns and just carve some triangle eyes.





The kids experimented with the fog machine Kevin had set up prior to trick or treating. Then they decided to decorate the driveway with lots of scary chalk.





See??? Scary!!!




Kevin had the house good and spooky as the sun went down. There was fog and a strobe light too.




When you're Michael Jackson, crotch grabbing is the norm. He took advantage and did that and the moonwalk nearly all night.




The annual Halloween party on our street. The kids have a blast! Michael won the wrap yourself like a mummy contest!




And the aftermath. Frankenstein is still hanging out in the living room.

Overall, a great week.
(Now that the crotch grabbing has ended!)

Swine Flu???

Michael was notoriously sick as an infant/toddler.
He had more ear infections than I could count, RSV, walking pneumonia, you name it... he probably had it.
I credit most of it to very early child care situations.
Day care facilities are breeding grounds for sickness.
And it's actually been wonderful since about kindergarten because he so rarely gets sick now.
It's like his immune system basically says "been there, done that" to every infection that comes his way.


Last night, he was feeling great. It was a nice night and we took him to the pumpkin patch. He had a blast.

Here he is... looking healthy and happy.


We came home and about an hour later, I started to get him ready for bed.
It was really so nonchalant that I barely noticed his complaint.
"Mom, my throat hurts."
That was it... nothing more.


Off to bed he went.
Throughout the night I noticed a nasty cough coming from his room. By the time I went in to get him up for school this morning, things had taken an absolute turn for the worse.


He looked terrible.
He sounded worse.
And the fever.
Oh the fever.


I kept him home from school and gave him the day off of his medicine.
Now typically, when Michael doesn't take his medicine, we're in for some non-stop activity.


Not today.
It was sleep or laying on the couch.
Nothing more.
By noon, his fever had jumped to over 103.
I couldn't believe how fast this had come on.
I started him on Motrin and eventually Tylenol (every four hours - not at the same time! Don't worry.)
The fever broke but he was still completely miserable.


Of course, I googled swine flu symptoms.


-fever, which is usually high, but unlike seasonal flu, is sometimes absent (yep... we've got that.)
-cough (yep... we've got that too)
-runny nose or stuffy nose (um... yes to this one.)
-sore throat (that was my first clue.)
-body aches (yep...)
-headache (don't think so but he may have just not mentioned this.)
-chills (well I didn't notice it but he told my brother on the phone that he was sweating but he was so cold he was shaking... so... yep)
-fatigue or tiredness, which can be extreme (he slept half the day - unheard of for Michael)
-diarrhea and vomiting, sometimes, but more commonly seen than with seasonal flu (okay! We don't have this one!)


So I'd say we have 7 out of 8 symptoms.


Then I decided to google just the regular flu.
(I'm guilty btw... I haven't gotten Michael his regular flu shot yet.)


-high fever
-muscle aches and pains
-weakness and tiredness
-headache
-dry cough
-sore throat
-stuffy or runny nose
-nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea (least common flu symptoms)


Um... is it just me or do these seem strikingly similar?
How the hell am I supposed to know if he has a potentially life threatening h1n1 flu or a normal seasonal flu?

And nevermind the fact that I'm pregnant and really can not get the swine flu!


Ugh...
Here's where I'm at at this point.
I feel like I need to sit in his room all night and watch him breathe.
It reminds me of when he was an infant.
I also feel like it would probably be in my (and his) best interest if I take him in to get tested tomorrow no matter what.
(The worst they can tell me is that he doesn't have it right?)


UGHHHH... damn swine flu outbreaks.

There Was a Moment When I Was Sure That My Announcement at 11 Weeks and 5 Days May Have Been a Huge Mistake.

There is a possibility that I may have forgotten to mention that my announcement at 12 weeks was actually 11 weeks and 5 days along.

Sure... I could've waited 2 more days.

But no... not me. I just had to tell the world at 11 weeks and 5 days.

Which was great.

Until I noticed that I was spotting the next evening.

Which caused absolute and complete terror.

This never happened with Michael!

And sadly what is my first thought?

"I made the announcement too early."

"I've clearly done this to myself."

So I ignored my husbands pleas to go directly to the Emergency Room and called my Doctor.

Who told me that:

1. Everything was going to be fine.

2. Unless I'm in appendicitis type pain I'm probably okay.

3. Take it easy.

Which was great. Except for the fact that I spent the next 6 days completely losing my mind.

Mind you, that one tiny spot was all I'd seen... I was still paranoid beyond belief.

I had to make it to my appointment the following Tuesday.

So after what seemed like an eternity 5 days, we arrive at the Doctor.

All is well until she pulls out the doppler thing to listen to the heartbeat

and can't find it!!!

Seriously, as if I hadn't been panic striken to start with.

It was like all of my worst fears were coming true.

So my Doctor did what all Doctor's should do in this situation.

She cheated and sent me across the hall for an ultrasound.

And there it was.

A baby.

Moving around and kicking and with a lovely beating heart.

(She also informed me that my placenta is in the front which would make it harder to hear the heart right now due to an extra layer of padding essentially.)

And for the second time of what will probably be many... I calmed down... slightly.

Oh... here's a lovely photo of how much quicker I am showing the second time around. This was taken last night... at almost 14 weeks.

Not my best photo but hey... it was windy and I was tired.

Bun In The Oven

I haven't blogged in forever.

It's been driving me crazy.

But there's a good, quality reason for my absence.

In August, we found out that we were expecting.

This was highly unexpected.

See... it's not that we weren't trying.

We were.

But in the midst of flying to Tampa, the stress of a week in a hospital waiting room, jet lag, and knowing that 2 friends were nearing their last days on earth, I just assumed that the missed period, extreme exhaustion and excessive emotions were all factors of the stress and the cross country travel.

I really don't know what finally prompted me to buy the tests.

But man did that positive sign pop up fast.

When Kevin got home, we took a second... yep, just as fast.

And there it was.

Life had just changed.

And I wanted to tell everyone.

And we did tell a lot more people than we'd planned.

But for some reason, I felt like I needed to make it to 3 months before I announced it on the world wide web.

I felt like I needed to hear the heart beating before I could make it "official".

I was paranoid, convinced that something would go wrong if I said anything too early.

I tried to blog... but the problem was that the only thing on my mind was this incredible life forming inside of me.

I could think of nothing to write about if it didn't have to do with my pregnancy.

So I went on hiatus.

And last Wednesday, we had our first ultra sound.

And our baby was moving and measuring perfectly, with the most incredible beating heart.

And the paranoia calmed (a bit).

The baby is due April 22nd, 2010.

4/22/10.

I like the way it looks.

And an April baby is great in Las Vegas.

I've totally skipped the 112 degree days.

So far, I'm feeling good.

No morning sickness to speak of.

I'm just starting to get a little energy back which is nice.

(I might actually do a load of laundry today. ;o) Seriously, it's been months.)

I'm showing much sooner than I'd like, but it's my second baby and I'm desperately trying to enjoy it, with Michael I was extremely unhappy with my pregnant body.

Kevin's been incredible... picking up the slack for me.

His patience with me is worthy of a saint.

Our next OB appointment is next Tuesday.

Can't wait!!!