Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! We sure did.
Alex was so excited this year. He left cookies and milk for Santa. (well he drank the milk and then had to leave a second glass... but still!)

He woke up early and was yelling for us to come get him so he could see Santa. Then he ran into the kitchen to see if the cookies were gone. And he had a blast opening gifts! The only problem was convincing him not to open everyone's gifts.

It was a fun day for all of us!

We're still here!

Sorry we haven't updated in over a month. We're still here, though!
Everything is going great!
Alex is growing so much and is talking even more. It is unreal.
The pregnancy is going great and in just about 6.5 weeks we will be bringing our little guy home! It is hard to believe how fast time is flying by.

Alex has been sleeping in his big boy room since we got back from Arkansas. (Thanks Grandma and PopPop for the awesome ceiling fan!) We are getting everything ready for the baby, and it makes it so much easier to have the nursery empty for him.

Oh, and Alex will only refer to himself as Big Boy now. He still answers to Alex, though! :-)

Arkansas!

We had a great time in Arkansas visiting with Grammo and PopPop! So many adventures.... Alex rode on a boat for the first time, climbed on a real train, saw Smokey the Bear, and even rode an airplane. And he loved every minute of it.

On our last day there we find an old jail built in 1928.

It was sad to say goodbye and come home, but we are definitely looking forward to visiting again soon!

Just Some Fun Pics!

Here is Alex as a scary dinosaur! The second picture is his "scary face!"

And here he is braving the big boy bike!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Tigger! Tigger and Scooby did some serious trick-or-treating!
He was pretty wiped out by the end of the night!

Pumpkins for our little pumpkin...

We went to a fall festival over the weekend and Alex loved the pumpkin patch!

He also got to sit in a firetruck! What a big boy.

So Long, Old Friend!

Alex finally said goodbye to his old friend, Binky (aka Bink Bink). It wasn't by choice, but it was time.

Tonight is night #4 without it and we couldn't be more proud. He has not cried or thrown a fit. He has asked for it several times, but each time we tell him it's gone, he says "ok." Such a big boy!

R.I.P. Old Friend

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 4th anniversary to us!

Alex and Daddy

Alex loves playing outside with his daddy. So they spent the afternoon sitting outside, looking through the telescope, and talking about who knows what. Alex loved every minute of it!

Why We Can't Get a Babysitter...

We asked Steve to keep an eye of him for a few minutes and this is what happened. Now that I think about it, we really haven't seen much of Steve since then. I hope he's ok!

We're ok!

So I fell down. While pregnant. And holding Alex. Not my finest moment by a long shot. But we are all ok.
I have a skinned knee and some bruises on my leg and Alex was terrified, but other than that we are fine.
The dr. wanted to do an ultrasound just to make sure we didn't rattle Owen too much in the fall. Everything looks great, though. He weighs about 1.5 pounds and is just as cute as can be! It is amazing how much he has grown in 4 weeks. (And me, too! I gained 7 pounds in 4 weeks. Yikes!)

Falling while pregnant is never a good plan, but at least we got more pictures of Owen. So enjoy this one, it didn't come easy.

Now, if only I could get Alex to quit telling people that Mommy dropped him...

A Birthday Party and a Big Boy Room! What a Weekend!

Alex went to a gymnastics party for his little friend Ellarie's 2nd birthday! He had a great time jumping on the trampolines and playing with everyone. I think his favorite part was the cupcake, though.

We also started on the big boy room this weekend! The painting is almost all finished, then we move on to putting the furniture together and decorating. Alex is very excited about this new room. Pictures to come soon...

We Survived Ike!

As most of you already know we made it through Ike with no damage to our home or family! We were without power for about 2 days, though. That was rough. We have never been so happy to hear our a/c kick on.
The worst part of having no power was just the heat and trying to keep Alex cool. The kid wouldn't slow down at all and spent both days just dripping with sweat.

Selim's club was untouched! That is a miracle. We were really worried that it would have flooded, or that the bubbles that cover half of the tennis courts would have blown away!
So he is back to work, but it is pretty slow. Most of his clients are busy repairing their homes or they have left the city until they get their power back.

We never worried once about my office, so of course it is in shambles. The roof was torn off of the entire office building. Our actual offices were flooded and have pieces of the ceiling everywhere. They are estimating at least 2 weeks before we can get back in.
The firm has not made a decision on what our next step is. We might relocate, we might find temporary space, we might live in a trailer in the parking lot?
The courts are all up and running again, though. So I am back to business as usual, just without an office to go to.

All in all, we were very lucky!

Hurricane Preparation

We spent the day getting ready for our visit from Ike. I think we have everything covered.

The highlight of Alex's day was helping his daddy take everything from the backyard and place it safely in the garage. (No flying lawnchairs on our watch!)

He even parked his toy lawnmower proudly next to his daddy's lawnmower and repeatedly informed our neighbors that he was helping his daddy clean the garage.

He was so hot and sweaty after he finished that he had to go straight into the bath! No argument from him, of course...

The boy loves his bath!

Who is the bravest boy ever?!

Alex, of course!

Today he had his 2 year check up with the doctor. I was so nervous about this visit because I knew he needed to get a shot or two. He is just so aware of what is going on these days and I didn't think he would react well to someone trying to stick him in the leg with a needle.

Selim and I also had to get our flu shots today. It was an ordeal just getting Selim to the doctor's office. He won't admit it, but he is terrified of needles. So you can imagine his excitement when he found out they now offer a nasal mist vaccine instead of a shot. That happiness was short-lived, though, as we soon realized you cannot get the mist if you have asthma. Poor Selim.

Alex watched Selim and I get our shots and was very impressed by our "stickers" (aka Tweety Bird band-aids)

He told the nurse he wanted one, please!

When she gave him the shot he looked angry for a brief second, like he was thinking "that isn't a sticker!" but before he could react, she popped a band-aid on his leg.

My brave boy responded to his shot with a "Yea! Thank you!"
Yes, he actually thanked the nurse for his shot.

Oh, and it turned out, out of the 3 of us, Alex was the only one eligible for the nasal mist. You can't get it if you have asthma or are pregnant.

And even though Selim wasn't the bravest boy today and he certainly didn't thank the nurse for his shot, he did put on a brave face for Alex and he didn't yell at the nice lady. And for that, Selim gets his very own picture on the blog tonight!

Check out that Tweety Bird band-aid!

Big Boy Room

So cute! If you ask Alex what his baby brother's name is he will proudly tell you it's Owen! I love it.
Today he kissed my belly and said "Hi, Owen! Bye! Call me!"

We have started the process of getting Alex's big boy room ready for him. It is surprisingly a much more emotional task than I had anticipated. For some reason I am starting to get a little sad/freaked out about moving him out of his nursery! (But I am also having a hard time dealing with him turning 2!)
It will still be a while before the room is ready, so I have time to adjust, but I think I might cry before it is all said and done.

We decided to move his room way before Owen's arrival. We don't want him to have too much change at once or to feel like his little brother is taking over and booting him out of his own room! So we are going to pick out paint colors and start getting his new space ready for him. Hopefully he will be all settled in and adjusted long before Owen is born.

As soon as we figure out what direction we are going with the room I will post pictures. We are thinking of doing a car and/or airplane theme!

Oh, I forgot....

It looks like Alex's baby brother just might have a name! Surprisingly, Selim and I both love the name Owen and Alex seems to like it, too!
So for now it looks like Owen is the name...

I can't believe he's 2!

He even looks like a big boy now!

Alex had a wonderful birthday! Selim and I took him to the zoo to celebrate. He loved looking at all of the "aminals." His favorites were the sea lions, the monkeys, and the giraffes!

He was disappointed that the elephants weren't out, though. He was so looking forward to seeing them.

The look on his face in this picture is in response to a friendly giraffe that

got a little too close to us!

We also had a party to celebrate his big day! Lots of friends and family showed up to celebrate with us. He was so spoiled with all the gifts, and he loved every minute of it! It looked like a toy store exploded in our living room! (Not to worry, he did get some clothes and even some Spiderman underwear, too!)
He had a blast and partied hard until the wee hours of 7:30 p.m.

And, he finally got his tigger cake! Words cannot describe how happy he was when his daddy walked in with it. I think it made his whole year!

Birthday Presents!

Alex got a birthday present in the mail today! His first one to honor his 2nd birthday.

Thank you Uncle Omar, Aunt Karin, Bella, Brady, and Tyler! He loves it.

A baby brother for Alex....

It's official... We are having a boy! We are so excited!

Our ultrasound went well, everything looked great and the baby is very healthy and active.

Now the name hunt begins. Does he look like a Benjamin to you?

Stunt Man

Well here is one more toy added to the list of things Alex can't play with anymore....

It looks innocent enough, right?

Selim has told me repeatedly that he gets nervous when Alex plays on his rocking horse. He is convinced Alex will rock too hard and flip it over. I assured him he would be just fine. It's a toddler toy! Right?

Fast forward to today. Alex was happily rocking on his horse. He was laughing and yelling for me to watch him. Soon he was rocking so hard that I started to get nervous. But before I could grab him, the whole horse flipped over! Alex flew off, landed on his head and did a flip. The horse landed on top of him.

I think my heart actually stopped beating.

I ran over to get him and he looked shocked and terrified. He stared at me for about 3 seconds before he busted out laughing and saying "Again, Mommy!!! Please!?!?"

So, against much protest and whining, I put the horse away for now.

Our little stunt man is going to give me a heart attack!

Alex is almost 2!

It is so hard to believe that our little baby is almost 2 years old. Where did the time go?

Selim and I are working on planning a birthday party for him and Alex has been all too happy to help.


He is so excited about the Tigger cake he requested. He talks about it everyday. Sometimes talking about it gets him a little too excited and he runs into the kitchen looking for his cake. (We haven't even ordered it yet!) We have to remind him that he doesn't get the cake until his birthday and he always says "Tigger cake? Maybe later?" (Except later sounds like "lay lay" - even cuter!)


I will be sure to post pictures of Alex enjoying his Tigger cake! But for now, here is a blast from the past.

Alex devouring his first birthday cake!

Alex's Pool

Alex loves to play in his pool. He splashes around and pour buckets of water over his head. Unfortunately, it is so miserably hot here that we don't play outside nearly as often as he would like.

Yesterday, though, he was so good while Selim and I shopped at Home Depot that we had to reward him with some pool time! He was so patient while his daddy shopped for the perfect lawn food and sprinklers. (And for those of you who don't know, Selim can spend hours in the garden center looking a fertilizers and pesticides)

He was so excited when we got home and filled up his pool. He couldn't wait to get in. He even did his little happy dance when I got his swimming trunks out!

Alex had a playdate!

Alex's friend Travis came over to play the other day. They had an awesome time and were total boys!

They chased each other and raced through the house....

They played in the little house...

They even figured out how to drive a truck!