Hurricane Irene

We ended up evacuating to my parents house.  And ironically they got hit harder than we did.  But they had no trees to worry about and all the flashlights/lanterns needed when the power went out. 

 We celebrated Brents birthday early with my parents.  Right before we left we got Joels birthday present from Japan (thanks!) so he was convinced it was his birthday again.  You can see he was so excited and thought people were singing to him.

 We made it most of Saturday without losing power.  Joel kept complaining that the "wain too woud" and Colin kept asking when the hurricane was going to get here since all it was doing was raining outside.  We played legos, colored pictures, brent played on his iphone, and more legos all afternoon.  I took a great nap in the afternoon. 
The power went out right as we were finishing making dinner. 
Colin was introduced to Jenga.  And loved it. Ma-ma-maa and Grandpa played endless rounds with him. we found out Colin is a great storyteller.  He would take the glow-stick and wave it around and give us sound effects and everything. 

We came home to power but my parents just now got it back. We have a little bit to clean up but overall it wasn't too bad.  Colin still isn't convinced the hurricane got here but thats ok with me. 

Bart and Linda Visit

 Yesterday we had Uncle Bart and his girlfriend Linda come visit us all the way from Wisconsin.  We haven't seen them since Brent's mom's funeral 6 years ago - so it was well overdue.

 We went on a Naval Base Boat tour - only thing is when there is a major hurricane coming instead of the 35 boats parked at the pier there was only 4.  But it was still fun.  We got to see a bunch of boats going up river to ride out the storm and some big container ships moving past us hoping to beat the storm.  The kids loved it.  Colin and Brent saw a few dolphins.

 Then we went to Nauticus.  I had no idea how hands on the museum was and there was a ton of stuff for the kids to do.  We stayed all day. 

 It was a welcome change for the boys since the afternoons are when I feel the worst and we end up playing games on the couch or watching tv. 

 This water part where they built the paths was a huge hit.

 Then we went on the USS Wisconsin. 

 One worn out boy and momma.  I am tired but it was a great day.  And my belly is already huge.

It was a really fun day. Bart and Linda loved playing with the kids and they adored Bart and Linda.  With the hurricane coming they are leaving in the morning.  Hopefully we wont go another 6 years before we see them again. 

To stay or go

Should we stay and ride out the hurricane - which might be a cat 4 or do we go?

Our neighbor spent the summer building his new shed and isn't taking any chances. There are a few more ropes around it now.  Makes me a little nervous about staying...

We already survived an earthquake this week  Joel was napping, Colin was watching tv, I was on the couch (this baby is trying to out-due its brothers in making mommy extremely sick) Colin never noticed.  I felt the couch move but thought it was my medication I've been taking for the nausea. 

Home made Ravioli

 "We're Making da Ravioli"  is what Colin and Brent sang out Saturday night (in what they thought was Italian accents).  We haven't made it in a long time and Colin kept asking this week so Brent got all the stuff together and they got to work. 

It takes a long time - at least it seems to take a long time. You make the dough and then have to let it sit. And then you roll out the sheets of pasta. Let those sit. And then stuff the pasta and make the ravioli.  Brent and Colin made spinach and cheese which was really very good. I keep asking them to stuff the ravioli with chocolate but so far they haven't thought that was a good idea.

Joel liked to eat the pasta before it could be rolled out. 

Bubba told him he couldn't eat any more pasta dough. 

Joel didn't think too much about that. 

 Colin was very proud of his pasta.  He counted each and every one. 

We made enough for two meals. Its so good. There's nothing like it.  Hopefully the pasta making will continue on a more regular basis. 

Boys

Colin has decided he wants this baby to be a boy.  So he'll sneak up to my stomach and whisper "please be a boy" throughout the day.  He's also very sweet and will talk to the baby and say "I love you baby." He loves the fact that the baby can hear his voice and will come out recognizing him.  So he's taking it on himself to make sure the baby also becomes a boy :) Joel at first looked at Bubba like he was crazy but yesterday came up and asked the baby if the baby "heard dat motorcycle?"

I was praying with the boys last night and I think I said something like "Jesus thank you for my 2 sweet boys" and out of the corner of my eye I saw Colin start shaking his head and muttering "3 sweet boys Lord Jesus.  Thank you for 3 sweet boys."  haha so we'll see in about 10 weeks if Colin  is right. Good thing we will have another 20 weeks to get him excited if this baby is a girl. 

Ears

Joel has always rubbed his ear when he's tired, upset, overwhelmed. Which was cute and also always attached to his body so we've never had to go looking for a blankie or a pacifier.   Lately (in the past few months) he has decided mommy's ear works better.  I've had to stop wearing earrings because he would go to rub my ear and get frustrated.  At night he'll sometimes come crying into our room and climb into bed and frantically search for my ear and then once he's found my ear he goes right to sleep.  He likes to rub his friends ears which they don't really like too well.  And he'll try to rub Bubba's ears throughout the day :) 

Baby Due Date

We officially have a date - March 20th.  Happy Birthday to my dad.  Guess I get the favorite daughter award this year :)  haha

But I'm farther along than I thought - a little over 8 weeks which is so much better than being less.(and gives me a reason why I am outgrowing most of my clothes already)  So now I just have 7 more months.  Makes the extreme nausea worth it - and hopefully means I only have a few more weeks of being sick.  Hopefully this baby wont be like my pregnancy with Joel with over 20 weeks of awful morning sickness. (its that feeling you get right before you throw up - only I can't throw up and I have it basically all day)

Colin is disappointed there isn't two babies in my tummy but the one I have is super cute already.  It never gets old seeing the ultrasound.  Can't wait until we find out if its a she or a he. 

Baby's First Race

 This weekend we headed off to Richmond so Sarah and I could run the Henricus Dauber Dash.  We ran it last year and had so much fun we signed up again this year.  I had been back up to running 6 miles every other day or so this summer so figured it wouldn't be too bad if I just skipped some of the obstacles. Its a 5 mile run though the woods/along a lake and they have maybe 10 obstacles to do through out the race.  This year they had 2 mud pits and actually made you wade almost neck deep in some parts  through the water twice.  I didn't do half the obstacles.  And when I went around some of the the workers (all male) would yell at me to come back and do it but then when I would reply (I can't I'm pregnant) they would be very apologetic and then made a big deal about the baby as I went past. Then everyone who heard them would start sprinting past me - I guess they didn't want to get beat by a pregnant woman. So that part was embarrassing but it was a good race overall.  I ran/walked it. The first race I've ever walked - my goal usually is to do it without walking but I didn't want to push myself this time.

 The kids were entertained by the mud pit. Colin can't wait until he's old enough to do the kids mud run. Its also the first race that Brent has been to.  But I don't think he caught the running bug watching all of us run.... maybe next time :)

 My friend Jess now lives in Richmond and has become great friends with Sarah.  Which was great because she came to watch the race and hung out with us the whole day. I don't think we've seen her since Colin was a baby so it was fun to catch up. 

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging around Ant Ants apt and swimming in her pool.  We finally got a few videos of Joel in the water. He was even more fearless in the water and would stay under so long.  He's so proud of himself each time.

Training

Thanks everyone.  We're pretty excited. I go to the doctor Friday and will get an official date then and hopefully I'm farther along than I think because all of a sudden this weekend I'm thinking I might need to get some maternity shorts. You take a test one week and the next you pop out.  Hopefully thats normal :)  Or at least I'll keep telling myself that.  I'm feeling pretty yucky which is good I guess - it means a healthy baby just makes for very very long days.  My neighbor just had a baby and wasn't sick a day the whole time.  Not sure how people get so lucky but for now I'm just trying to make it through the next few weeks. 

Colin has decided to take on the role of training Joel to be a big brother.  This is a conversations I overheard the other night. 

Colin:  Joel I'm going to train you how to be a big brother now.  Ok?"

Joel: "otay"

Colin: The first thing to be a big brother is not whining or complaining a lot -


Joel :"otay"

Colin: To be a big brother you can't cry or complain.  You just do it when you're sad about something.

Joel:  "otay"

Colin: You have to be strong.  You have to be strong. Ok joel?

Joel: "otay"

Colin: Ok Joel another training is big brothers have to be gentle.


Joel: "otay"

Colin: And there's one more thing I'm going to teach you today - ok?  The last thing to play angry birds you have to ask dada.  Ok?

Joel: "otay"

Colin: I'm going to teach him a lot more things tomorrow. teaching him before the baby is good right?  Then he knows.

Coming in Spring...