Playing at the Children's Museum

I laughed so hard when I took this video. It's just my two kids, but Elena moved around a lot.

We went to the museum on September 30th because that was the day that my year-long pass expired (we originally bought it to use at the museum in NC). I wonder how long we can go without buying another one. :)

Soccer

Elena is playing soccer this fall, and she is enjoying herself. I actually tried to talk her out of it because it costs twice as much here as it did where we lived before, but she really wanted to do it. It's working out well because the season is twice as long and everything is more organized plus she's meeting some new friends. One of the girls from her dance class is on the team with her, so that was a happy coincidence.Kevin loves to come to her practices and games: "Go, Elena, go!" It is very sweet. I found some free cleats for Elena, but they didn't quite fit, so Kevin wears them. :) He is very eager to wear his "soccer shoes" whenever we are doing something outside.
You can see his skills in this video right before he falls. He is so cute I can't stand it (Dan too).

Elena had her first game two weeks ago and she had fun. They play 3 on 3 and don't keep score. The game was rained out last Saturday, so her second game will be this weekend. Here she is hanging out during half time.
She is not the most aggressive player as you can all imagine, but she did score a goal. You can see her casual playing style in the video below. At one point her coach holds her hand and helps her to get where she needs to be. She finally got her foot on the ball when one of her teammates fell down, and my baby girl capitalized on the other players' confusion. :)
There is a lot of yelling in the background because there is another field right behind me, and of course I yell once she scores, so prepare yourselves for that. :) The magic happens right around the 30 second mark.

Dan's week off

Dan had a vacation week at the end of August. We had a great date for our 9th anniversary on the 22nd (P.F. Chang's, shopping, and a movie with free babysitting). As a family we spent the rest of the week at the beach, Busch Gardens, bowling, and at home during two very rainy/hurricane-y days. Below are the best pictures from the week, but first: Awww, all 3 kids together.

At Busch Gardens:

After her last dance class (watch the video in my last post), I took her to the ice cream store next door. I let her get the chocolate dipped cone in sprinkles and everything. I don't think I've ever had one of those.

Chocolate on the face of one happy girl:

I figured that you guys have seen enough beach pictures of us, but this one was so random. Elena wondered what it was like to lay face down in the sand.

And then Kevin wanted to try it too, but he didn't quite figure it out.
We walked right by some free brochures and the kids each wanted one. They loved the maps in the back and "directed" us on our way back to the car and as we drove home.

At the bowling alley:

Evidently, this how Kevin bowls:

We paid $4.50 each for this shoe rental, but at least they were cute. I think we need sport matching footwear more often.

We loved having Dan around so much and look forward to his next week off (5 days for Christmas). Right now he's working a full 80 hours each week. He comes home with just enough energy to run around and play with the kids for a bit before we do the bedtime routine. He's working so hard and enjoying his job. We could not be more proud of him!

Elena's Dance Class

I signed Elena up for a summer dance class via Groupon. She had one 1 hour of dance a week for 6 weeks. She loved it. It was only $35, so I loved it too. They did half an hour of ballet and half an hour of tap. Since it was just a little summer course, there was no recital, but they did do a dance for the moms on the last day of class. ADORABLE.
Here's the beginning:

And the last part of the song with tapping:

#3

We are so excited to tell you all that we are having another baby!!! I'm due March 6, but I might get induced a week early. It depends on the baby's size. Apparently Kevin had shoulder dystocia (his shoulder was stuck for a minute) and that seems to make my new OB nervous. She actually mentioned that I might need to have a C-section depending on the projected weight of the baby. The whole thing didn't seem to bother my old OB much, but whatever. All's well that ends well. Can you tell that I miss my North Carolina OB? The whole practice was amazing.

We had an ultrasound at 9 weeks and another at 12. Baby Dison 3 looks perfect and very active.

I'm 14 weeks now and I've started to feel better this week (almost normal so far today). I've been so grateful for my mama's help the last couple of months! The next step is to find all the maternity clothes that are hidden in storage. I have 1 pair of shorts, 1 pair of jeans and some skirts that still fit.

Here are some pictures of the cutest fetus you've ever seen. I'm not sure how to flip them. I thought I had, but they keep showing up sideways when I upload them. The last 2 are 3D.




It was amazing to have an ultrasound at 12 weeks, we could see all the fingers and toes. We could tell that the brain was splitting into 2 hemispheres and that there was liquid in the digestive tract and 4 chambers in the heart. Amazing. Our baby is already swallowing and sucking his thumb. Or her thumb. We'll find out the sex in less than 2 months! :)

Hurricane Irene

Well, the hurricane came and went. We were bummed that it ruined the last 2 days of Dan's week-long vacation (no extra days at the beach for us), but were happy that we were all safe inside. We lost power for about 24 hours. The worst part of that was worrying that it would be much longer. After Hurricane Isabel in 2003, my parent's had some neighbors without power for 11 days. Thinking about that stressed me out way more than a day without AC. Our neighbors let us plug into their generator, so that was wonderful. The only thing we plugged in was the fridge, so all the food was safe. :)

Here are our pictures of the clean-up: On Saturday morning, Dan and my dad moved a big branch that fell during the night (before it got really windy).
A really unflattering picture of me along with my dad as we made our piles of fallen branches and leaves for the city to come pick up.
The kids were such big helpers. I love how enthusiastic kids in general are about certain chores. Kevin was telling us all, "Good job, guys."
Wheeling from the back yard to the front over and over. :)
The finished piles. We probably could have made them taller, but my dad didn't want to inconvenience the collectors. Only 4 of these piles are from branches that fell, the other 2 are from some extra trimming we did.

The Perks of Our Move

The pictures in this post are not in order and do not directly correspond with the 6 points below. That was the original plan, but since I first began this entry a month ago, I think I'll just click to post it without making it all fancy or adding more photos.
1. Dan loves his job, the people he works with, and the extras (free lunch EVERYday, free gym membership, plus the resident group is invited to the occasional free movie/dinner/activity).
2. We get to live by family. We wish there was a way to live by everyone in BOTH of our families, but since Dan and I are from different coasts, that's just not possible. We feel very lucky to spend the next three years living so close to my sister and my parents. Although hopefully we won't live WITH my parents for much longer (love you guys!).
3. There's a lot to do here: First and foremost - the beach!!!
4. There's also a newly renovated children's museum that is great,
5. An aquarium, a zoo, a great public library system, parks all over the place,
6. And we joined the city rec center for super cheap, so we'll be able to swim year round and I can work out there (when my mom's willing to watch the kids).

Here are some pictures of us on a big sailboat one of out first nights in town. All the residents (who weren't working) and the new interns went on a 3 hour cruise. We really like everyone associated with the peds program here. Most of the pictures that I have of that night are with Elena because I put Dan in complete charge of Kevin. He's such an impulsive kid, and I was so worried that he would jump right off the side. I just ended up playing with Elena and trusting Dan to take care of Kevin.
At a park with an anonymous little girl:
We went to dinner with all the new interns (and the residency program director) just a couple nights before July 1st when work began. This is a shot of our table, but the program here is so big that the interns and their dates ended up filling the entire backroom of the restaurant. It was delicious by the way. I was happy to get to finally eat at a place that I had heard was great since high school but had never been to before: Steinhilber's.
Our fourth of July fun at home with glow sticks. The local fireworks were rained out and are rescheduled for sometime in September.
This is how my dad dressed to go blackberry picking. Isn't he the coolest? :)
At the aquarium with Granny and Aunt BB
That's right, ladies and gentleman, she touched the horseshoe crab! I was so proud that I had to get a picture. Whenever we go somewhere with a touch tank, I always beg her to try and she has always chickened out in the past.