After a time lapse...

... I would love to write everything that has been going on these past few months, but it would never get finished. Sigh.

Highlights: I'm pregnant! (4.5 months now, so this is not news...) We went to Cape May for vacation (morning sickness proved challenging), Jack started school in September, trick-or-treating in October, family trip to Miami in November. Panic about the swine flu and getting vaccinated (which culminated in a 2.5 hour wait at a clinic, and the boys catching a mild version of some sort of flu anyway.) Music classes. Birthday parties.

It's a rainy Sunday, and we are recovering from yet another sickness. Jack and I both had a stomach bug - it was our first experience with projectile vomiting in the middle of the night. Thursday night - after a birthday party at school (cupcakes) and a day with Nana (pizza for lunch, pumpkin cake for dessert, lemonade in between, a lolly pop post-Santa, Chicken Holiday for dinner) - Jack threw up about 10pm all over his crib. So we comfort him, strip him, Javier cleans and re-pjs him, I strip the bed and throw everything in the wash, shower myself, and we all climb into our bed - and Jack gets sick again. I comfort and clean Jack, Javier strips our bed, remakes our bed, Jack's crib, and pulls out a mattress and makes that up so we can sleep on Jack's floor and be close by. Then Jack proceeded to throw up 3 more times, but we were able to catch it early enough to prevent bed stripping, just minor clean up, comforting, and sitting in the chair holding him upright for awhile. And then somewhere along the line I got sick too. Sigh.

So now we're all feeling mostly better (with a minor setback for Jack last night after dinner) and we've had quite a productive weekend. Accomplishments:
(1) We got our Christmas Tree and it's set up
(2) We moved Declan's crib into Jack's room - the boys are officially sharing a room!
(3) Shelves hung in the bathroom
(4) Jack pooped in the potty for the first time today!!! I can't believe it. Major breakthrough, I'm so proud of him! (I do not think we are close to full time underwear yet, but I think we're on our way!)

In the past few months Jack has progressed leaps and bounds in talking and listening. (He just asked me for water - "water please!" and told me that "screwdrivers are for grownups" - Javier leaving his tools out. Sigh.) He's so cute because he usually says "No thank you" instead of just "no" - like when I ask him if he's done eating "no thank you", does he want to go to bed - "no thank you". Some of the talking is challenging because now he thinks because he can say/ask it, it should happen automatically. "Come to the kitchen with me." "More syrup please." and then he's not too happy if/when we say no.

Declan is a charmer when he chooses to be, with his big smiles that take up his whole face. He's going through a super-clingy stage, which is sweet sometimes and challenging at others. But he's become a champion sleeper and eater, and when he's well-rested and well-fed, he's just as sweet as can be. Right now I'm trying to work with him on some vocabulary - he says "Up", and has shown interest in animals. He also says "Imma map" (I'm the map), "Bah-pah" (backpack), and "Paaa" (Paci).

AND! Baby Three Update! We found out earlier this week that Baby Three is a girl - oh my! I'm thrilled, but I really mean it that I would have been equally thrilled with a boy. It was nice though to tell the people who were hoping for a girl - primarily the grandmothers who told me at Thanksgiving that they wanted a girl. It will be great, I was feeling slightly overwhelmed at something "new" but I think whether girl/boy, kids are pretty much the same for the first few years. So we'll see. But very exciting!

OK - off to do more Christmas preparations - decorating, shopping, making albums, creating cards, etc.