Some cute pics...more to come later this weekend

Here's some pics, finally, of us over this past week. It was a bit busy and I had a flu of sorts so any spare time I had was spent sleeping, or being sick. So the first few pics are from our visit to the new Please Touch Museum. So cool and so big and so much fun! Lot's more stuff for the 4-6 year old crowd...did I mention that it was so much fun! They had a "sneak preview" for members that we attended but the museum doesn't officially open till 10/18. The ONLY thing I didn't like, of course Charlie loved it, was this real car that they had as permanent exhibit that's really a real car. And the trunk is open and the kids are encouraged to just climb and roam around the car. A little dangerous and kind of a weird thing to encourage. The doors are fixed open so they can't slam on anyone, but ever since, Charlie keeps begging me to climb around our car...um, NO! SO that's my only beef with the new place, otherwise, I love it. So the first pic is him "driving" the car. Again, he loved it!Here he is in the baby hospital taking care of a little baby...takes after his mommy!
Shopping for juice...he had fun in the grocery store although it's smaller than the old one.

Riding on a vespa scooter...he called it a motorcycle...who am I to argue!

Here's my favorite pic of the week...Alex doing dishes wearing Charlie's Bob the Builder hat...what a dad!

Charlie wearing his "Fireman hat". It's really a basket that goes to his new kitchen...whatever!

All dressed up the break the fast...

Trying to get Bode to sit still at "Break the Fast". We are watching Bode till tonight...It's been so much fun! For anyone who forgets or doesn't know, he's my sister's little boy...he's seven months and so close to walking it's ridiculous!

Having fun this morning...

Cute Bode Baby

Trying to wink at the camera...

Crazy, busy week

So we've had some excitement around here that has kept us busy. Our little growing peanut "Grover" is causing us some stress. Alex and I celebrated our anniversary (which is actually today, 10/3) on Wednesday. We came home from dinner (thanks Zayda for babysitting!) and I had some bleeding. Never fun to see when you are pregnant. Long story short, we spent all day Thursday in the PETU (pregnancy evaluation and treatment unit) where we learned that Grover is fine but I had a bleed between the uterus and the placenta. It's been stressful, my activities are severely limited at home in an attempt to let me stay in work as long as possible rather than moving right to bed rest. No lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk. Charlie weighs 35 pounds. So we're working on changing the way we do things around the house. Luckily most of my patients at work weigh far less than five pounds so I'm good with that. I just want it all to be okay and for the bleeding to stop! It's very scary because I can't feel the baby yet to reassure me that all is well! So here's pictures of the little baby. It is growing ahead of schedule now so the placenta is working and nourishing "it".Now onto pictures of Charlie. He's been an active little guy lately, more so than usual. Talking up a storm and singing lots too! We made some macaroni jewelry (he painted the noodles and then strung it onto ribbon when it was dry). The "earrings" were intended to be bracelets but he decided to hang them on his ears. Very cute!


Here he is intently watching the "Ms. Spider show". It's a cute show and he loves it...it is about bugs though so I tend not to pay too much attention!


And here he is playing with his new Tow Mater truck. Christy's sister in law Jamie gave this to him. Her son had outgrown it and she knows how much Charlie loves Tow Mater. He woke up this morning and immediately wanted his "mamer". It talks and says all kinds of funny things. Thanks Jamie!


That's all. We'll try and keep the baby drama to a minimum, and post some more pictures later this week!

More Grover pictures

We had our first trimester screen today which was fun. My mom happened to be in the city so she got to check it out which was a nice treat! The first picture is a profile shot of the face and body. Its hands are up over the face...The next shot is an aerial view of the head and body. The head is to the left and you can see a brain with two halves, the eye sockets, and the nose/mouth area. The right hand is up over its head and the body is the blob on the right...

And this is a cool shot but a little hard to see. The legs are "hanging" down in the upper right corner and are crossed and the knees. You can see the little feet waving around...


Everything looked good, measurements are right on track and we'll see how the bloodwork looks. The heartbeat was nice and strong and it moved all over and made the tech's job quite difficult!

here's the pictures that I somehow deleted from my last post of the three boys (Ethan, Charlie and Quinn) cheering as the Eagles "flew" to victory! Go Birds!

More fun pictures...

Not much new to report really. We had a fun weekend (Chuck E Cheese on friday, Linvilla on Saturday, Playground and Eagles game on sunday) so I thought I'd post some of the pictures. Below is Charlie "playing" some crazy video game at Chuck E Cheese. After we played for a while we went to Bahama Breezes for dinner...yummy!

This is a picture of my belly at 11 weeks. It gets alot bigger at night although to most people I just look "bloated". It is definitely baby though and I cannot wait to actually look pregnant to the rest of the world! I always loved my belly with Charlie. He actually kissed and hugged my belly the same morning I had Alex take these pictures. He looked curiously at me as I had my shirt up and I told him that daddy was taking pictures of the baby in my belly. He gave my belly a hug and kiss and said "hi baby"! So sweet! I am feeling better now, less tired and less nauseous. Yeah!

We had a great day on sunday. We walked to a park in the city and I ran the trail while Charlie and Alex played and then Alex went for a run while I played with Charlie. I was a bit jealous as the Philadelphia distance run was just finishing and I was jogging my three miles. I miss running long and hard but it's worth it to have another little one! It is tough though to run a route that I ran so often and have it take me twice the time! Everyone (family) is pretty shocked that I am running and that I am allowed to. If my doctor said no, I wouldn't do it, but he says it's fine, I'm doing everything I need to do to be safe, and I will stop as soon as my body tells me to, so don't worry!

We also hosted an Eagles party sunday evening. Here's a picture of the kids having a "picnic" on our back deck. They thought it was cool to eat on a blanket on the ground and it kept my dining room that much cleaner!

Here's Quinn stuck in our ball basket. I love his hair!

I had another cute picture but managed to delete it just now. I'll have to put it up when I am home on my computer...darn!

Fun fall day

We went to Linvilla Orchards today and we had so much fun! We didn't think it would be terrible crowded since it's early in the season but we were wrong! Today was the apple festival so the place was PACKED! We had a great time though. There is a really cool playground with lots of cool structures shaped like boats, and cars, and trucks, and trains (sound like something Charlie would like?!) that the kids can climb in and on and slide off of. He spent a lot of time there. Below is Charlie and Ethan in a rare sitting next to each other, both smiling, both cooperating picture. We also saw Diego and Dora and danced with them. We had a yummy lunch and then went on a hay ride. Below he's "patiently" waiting in line for the next tractor:
And, drum roll please.....he had his first pony ride! I love horses and love to ride them and am so happy to get him on one. We tried last year and he freaked at the last minute. But this year, he was being a cowboy and he really thought it was cool!
Before we left, we hit the market and got some fresh apples, apple cider donuts, and a pie. What a great day!

Please Help Support the FFB!

The Visionwalk is fast approaching! This is the second walk being held in Philadelphia, and we are hoping to surpass last year's total! The proceeds go towards funding vital research that will hopefully stop the progression of Alex's blindness. They are close to a cure, but without funding could still be decades away. You can visit this site and click on the Philadelphia walk. We are under the team name "The World According to RP". We have a few walkers so far but would love some more! Thank you to everyone who has contributed monetarily thus far, even the smallest contributions add up! I look forward to seeing some fresh faces out there this year, and maybe sooner than later, Alex will be seeing better than ever!

You can visit my original post about the Visionwalk here