It's That Time of Year Again

Sad to say that it is that time of year again and Jack has been visited by the sickness fairy. I noticed Friday morning that he had a somewhat croupy cough, but it seemed to get better by the time I dropped him off at Linda's.  When I picked him up at noon (we were done with conferences at 12:00) she said his nose was really runny, but he was in good spirits, so between allergies and possibly teething, I really didn't think that it would end up being anything too bad.  He took a good nap and played with his toys at home and acted like his normal self.  So I thought we would take a quick run to Target for some goodies (toilet paper, laundry detergent, all of that exciting stuff). 

I knew something wasn't quite right when he kept laying his head down in the cart and hugging his puppy.  This is the kid that loves going to Target and HyVee because he loves randomly striking up conversations with random strangers.  So it was a quick shopping trip, which is good because I actually only purchased the necessities for once.  By the time we got home, his eyes were glassy and watery and he was rather clingy.  I was rather surprised when I took his temp and it was 102.0! Poor little guy. So I gave him some motrin and we spent the rest of the night cuddling and drinking water in my bed.  

Saturday morning he was in good spirits, but still had a low grade fever.  So I rescheduled our family pictures that were scheduled for 9:00am and we didn't make it to the Ladd Halloween parade. Even though he had a fever I didn't give him anything because my Dr. says to let it run until it reaches 100.0.  By nap time it was 101.0, so we gave him a little Motrin and a little Benadryl to help dry up his nose and eyes.  He took a marathon nap from 1:00-5:00 and when he woke up his temp was low grade, so I thought maybe he was on the mends.  Then last night it went back up and this morning it was 101.0.  So we took a little family trip to the Wal-Mart Fast Care clinic.  To my surprise Jack has a double ear infection.  I was completely shocked because he never once even tugged on his ears and I was even touching the outside of his ears to see if he would squirm and pull away an he never did.  I can never tell when he is really sick and maybe needs to see the Dr. because he is not one of those kids that screams and cries because he is in pain, he just acts a little sluggish and is a little more clingy than usual.  So I will be that paranoid mom that always has him at the Dr. or the clinic because every time I think he isn't that bad, it turns out to be pretty bad.  

So we started the antibiotics and I am hoping that he is on his way to a speedy recovery. 

IT's A GIRL!!!!

At our 20 week sonogram on Tuesday it was confirmed that Baby #2 is a GIRL. And best of all, everything looked great, we have a healthy little girl on the way. The heartbeat was 158 and she was measuring around 20 weeks, 4 days, so she is right on track.  Since Nick is out of town with work, my mom and Grandma were able to go to the appointment and share in the excitement.  I think this little girl is already taking after me because her arms were constantly moving around, and as I have had many people tell me, I talk with my hands a bit much. Her hands and arms were waving around her face, it almost looked as though she was trying to suck on her hands. It was also pretty cool because when they zoomed in you could see that she was opening and closing her mouth and it also looked like she is going to have some nice lips. It also looked like she is going to have Jack's little round nose.  

The bottom of her two feet

Showing us that she is a girl

I definitely think that it is safe to say that Nick is absolutely TERRIFIED of having a girl. With time he will get used to the idea.  As soon as I left the doctor's office my grandma and I took a ride to Kohl's to spend our Kohl's cash on some adorable pink outfits.  This little girl definitely has a good jump start on her wardrobe.  We shared the news with the rest of our family by baking some confetti cupcakes and topping them off with some pink frosting.  I also took two dozen mini pink cupcakes to work to share the news with my co-workers. It didn't seem that any of my family or co-workers were surprised at the gender because most of them were predicting a girl.  Especially since my symptom were so different than they were with Jack. 

So now it is onto picking out new bedding for Jack and our new little princess.  She will be moving into the room that Jack is currently in and Jack will be moving into one of the bigger bedrooms down the hallway.  I already found some girl bedding at Pottery Barn that I really like, and for some reason Nick is against painting her room pink.  He said we can paint it yellow, purple, or any other color, but not pink.  He thinks it will be too much pink in the house.  Little does he know that I have already made my mind up and it is going to be PINK! Sorry Daddy :-(  So now it is onto choosing a name.  So far some of the names that I have suggested Nick has actually liked, so I don't think it will be too hard. 

I've Been Slacking on My Blogging

I have REALLY been slacking on my blogging the past couple of weeks.  Nick has been out of town working for the past two weeks, so I am literally in survival mode with trying to keep Jack entertained and happy while also trying not to over do it myself. So this morning I thought it would be the perfect time to kick back with a cup of coffee while Jack was playing with his choo choos and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to once again enter the world of blogging. Happy Saturday! 

A Fun Filled Weekend

Two weekends ago,  we had a jam packed agenda.  Nick did not have to work on Friday, and I had teacher institute meetings until 12:00, so we thought we would take a little road trip with Jack.  But I was actually able to sneak out around 10:45 so we left a little earlier than we originally anticipated (ssssshhhhh,don't tell). We spent Friday afternoon at Monkey Joe's in Peoria.  It's a big place that is filled with jumpy houses, slides, etc... for kids to play on.  And best of all, they have a separate area for kids under 3, so you don't have to worry about your little one getting trampled by a bigger kid.  Jack absolutely loved it.  He enjoyed the jumping so much that when he would get out of the jumpy house he would try to jump on the regular hard floor.  

After we had our fill of running and jumping, we went to Olive Garden for a little bite to eat.  Jack was an absolute angel the entire time (thanks to the ipad), and I was a little nervous because he was way past his nap time. 

Since the weather forecast was calling for an absolutely gorgeous Saturday, we thought we better head out to Boggio's bright and early to try and beat the crowds.  It was a rather cheap little outing because Jack was mostly interested in the playground equipment.  He just kept running circles around it and then running up and down the steps to go down the slide.  

He also enjoyed the jumping pillow and the bouncy house.  It seems as though the weekend was filled with a lot of jumping for Jack, that might be why he has been jumping on an off our furniture a bit more lately.  We also picked up some yummy apple cider donuts and some fudge while we were there. 

My attempt at getting my picture taken with Jack, obviously he wasn't too interested in it

After Boggio's we headed to our nephew's flag football game.  So after all of that fresh air from our fun filled morning, Jack and I were both more than ready for a nap when we got home.  

10 Year High School Reunion

Well ten years have passed, so that means it was time for my 10 year high school reunion.  Friday night was kicked off with the football game.  Since I was the homecoming queen (not quite Kate Middleton, but royalty in my own way), I had the duty of handing off the flowers to the current homecoming queen. There is a funny story with the football game and my job of presenting the flowers.  I was told by the school to arrive at 6:45.  So I thought that I would go around that time, and my parents, Nick and Jack would show up a little later, so that Jack wouldn't have to sit through the entire game.  I was also informed that the presentation of the flowers took place at halftime of the varsity game.  Well, as soon as I got there around 6:45, I was informed that it takes place before the beginning of the varsity game.  So therefore, Nick, my parents and Jack missed it.  But besides that, the weekend was pretty fun.  I really couldn't get too crazy considering I am pregnant, but it was really nice to catch up with some of my classmates.  We celebrated after the football game with a get together at Waterstreet and Saturday night we were at the Super Bowl where some comedians performed for us.  They were pretty good.  And I was also proud of myself because I actually stayed out until midnight both nights!!!! 

A Mickey Mouse Birthday Party to Celebrate Jack Turning 2

Jack's birthday party was exciting and eventful to say the least.  We decided to go with a Mickey Mouse theme since that seems to be Jack's favorite thing right now.  We invited some family and friends over for some Rip's chicken, BBQ, birthday cake and plenty of other goodies.  The party started around 4:30, and by 5:15ish, the entire town of Ladd was out of power!!!! A complete black out.  Since our basement is recently finished and it is the perfect set up for a party, we thought it would be the idea location for the festivities to take place.  But a basement is not a good place to be when your house is completely black. We continued the party as best we could, and about an hour and a half later, right after we finished singing Happy Birthday, the lights came back on.  Once the lights were back on the kids were able to play a little more freely and the adults were able to have more conversations without having to look for their missing children in the dark.  So thank you to all of our family and friends who stuck around through the power outage and helped us celebrate Jack's birthday.  I might have become a bit frazzled at times while the power was out.  I guess that's what happens when you have about 50 people in your dark house and the party must go on.  

Here are a few pictures that I was actually able to take before or after the power went out.  

I love Finley's face in this picture, like she is wondering what the heck Jack is doing

Even some of the adults enjoyed wearing Mickey Mouse ears during the power outage

My Aunt Carol and my Cousin Rachel

Not quite sure what to think about everyone singing to him

Angie and Tula, I just can't get enough of Tula's cheekers

The Birthday Boy playing with one of his many new toys

Ready for some more cuddle time with Grandma Boo after his fun filled day