when it rains, it pours

It is always hard when you hit a patch of bad luck right before the holidays. We are there, and it feels like we are stuck. The car is broken down, again, so another repair bill. Hobbes is sick and needs blood work and possibly x-rays and no doubt, expensive dog medicine. I have been sick for over a week and I am exhausted. The house that was fairly neat and clean two weeks ago looks like a bomb went off. We are in survival mode and hopefully will get a break soon. Unfortunately, we will probably be too exhausted or broke to enjoy it....

On the lighter side of things:



HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!

reflux

So, Evan's reflux has gotten worse. We were at the doctor today for a flu shot and to talk about the reflux. When he was weighed, he had only gained 7 ounces in the past month (16lbs 14 ounces today). Normal weight gain would have been 1 pound or more. Dr. S seemed to think it was primarily from excessive spitting up, but I have also been having milk volume issues lately. So we have a plan for increasing Evan's food intake, medication to help curb the spitting up, and increasing my milk production. We will be busier than ever! We go back in 6 weeks to check on his progress. According to Dr. S, I also need to be eliminating the middle of the night feeding. She doesn't know Evan very well. :) Hopefully the increased feedings during the day and boosting my milk production will help.

Evan is a great little guy and took his flu shot without crying - a little wimper and then he was fine!

An Anna tidbit: she is learning to call Evan "Ev" but struggles with the /v/ sound, so it sounds like she is calling him Eff, Baby Eff!

HAPPY ELECTION DAY - I am going to watch the news and then off to bed! I am not sure what I am going to do with myself when I am not glued to political news from 8-10pm anymore.... Maybe I will get to bed earlier!

the daily grind

So we have been trudging through the weeks with our very hectic schedule. Besides caring for the kids, very little gets done Monday thru Friday, which means that our weekends are just as busy as the weekdays. Not to mention that we want to spend as much time as possible with the kids (while secretly praying for them to take a long nap so we can get some down time too). John and I are both sleep deprived, Evan is still struggling to sleep 3-4 hours at a time. But as the daily grind goes on, the kids are growing and growing. At any given moment, I would like to stop time and stay there for a few days, weeks, months. Anna continues to talk up a storm and has "mastered" running (she doesn't cry when she falls most of the time). Evan is rolling, rolling, rolling, and sitting up, and still spitting up. He has also found his voice, which sounds amazingly like Anna's ear piercing scream. He is also starting "buh" and thinks it's funny to roll over on the changing table. And he hates having his clothes changed.

John's cousin Bill and his wife Melissa welcomed their second son into the world recently. Isaac joined the Perkins team weighing in around 8 1/2 lbs. We are also expectantly waiting for the arrivals of a Baby Peterson, a Baby Trovini, and off in the spring - a Baby Trost.

So here are some pictures from the past few weeks:

Smiley, Happy Baby_______Rudolph the Red Nosed Anna

Anna in the pumpkin patch_______Evan picks one too.

Red-headed Evan???

Anna's first trick-or-treat!_____ Always more interested in nature.

Evan gets a Baby Ruth.

Two more days until Election Day! Twenty days until John's birthday. Seventeen SCHOOL days until Thanksgiving Break. Fifteen more school days until Christmas break. Seven months until a vacation on the beach.... But who's counting?!