Fightin Phils

Ben waving his rally towel.

Ben and J.R. at a Phillies game.

So the Phillies made it to the World Series!  It's very exciting around here.  I've only lived in Philly for 4 years (10 in PA) but I'm already a fan.  The Red Sox will always be number one in my heart, but it's OK to cheer for a team in the AL and NL, right?  So, my favorite team in the NL is the Philadelphia Phillies!  

Like I said, it's been exciting around here.  It's been 15 years since the Phils have made it this far.  The city is taking a break from it's normal green (Philly is totally a football city) and going red. I'm seeing more and more Phillies t-shirts and jerseys.  Even Ben and I are wearing Phillies gear now.  When the team clinched the NL title last week, J.R. was a little teary eyed.  He's been a fan all his life.  I actually got a little teary eyed when I watched the team disembark their plane from LA.  Yesterday, J.R. and I were dropping my mom off at the airport from a weekend visit, and we decided to take a ride.  We drove around to the side of the airport and saw lots of TV crews.  Come to find out, the team was boarding a plane to Tampa Bay.  So, we parked the car, and joined the 4 or 5 women from Citizens Bank and 1 or 2 other fans and watched.  Three TV stations interviewed us and the Phillies website interviewed J.R. Unfortunately, we watched the 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 news, and looked on all the stations' websites and found nothing.  J.R. did make it onto the Phillies website though, so that's cool.  It was a fun experience.  I feel like I had a small part in the celebration, other than cheering in my living room.  

I'm upset the Sox didn't make the Series, but at least its easier now for me to want one team to win over the other. Go Phils!  Beat Tampa Bay!

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First OB Visit

Yesterday I had my first OB visit. All is well, but the visit was actually pretty sad. I really like this doctor that I'm seeing, and was looking forward to going through my pregnancy with her. It's a shame that 72 midwives, doctors, nurses and staff are going to lose their jobs in an area where we truly need them. I may have to have my baby at a hospital where the doctor delivering won't remember my name even after having looked at my chart 5 times. The nurses won't know what room I'm in or remember who my baby is. I'm disappointed. And I'm sad not just for my family, but I'm sad for those losing their jobs 3 weeks before Thanksgiving. It's just rough. Stupid high-cost insurance! Anyway, I've been getting some advice on new hospitals, so now I have to look into finding a new doctor affiliation.

My appointment did go well though, like I said. She didn't confirm a due date, but did say I was just barely 11 weeks. My uterus is where it should be and she tried to find a heartbeat, but couldn't "get it to stay". I was nervous that we wouldn't be able to hear it. I really need to hear it to assure myself that everything is OK. I did hear half a "whirl", and the doctor didn't say she couldn't find it at all, so I do feel a little better. I'm anxious for my next appointment though.

Ben has no idea what is going on, but he's begun to kiss my belly. It's ridiculously cute!

Ben is 15 months old!

We took Ben to the Dr's this week for his 15 month well visit. He is 31 inches, and 21 pounds. He's 50th percentile for height, I think she said. He's a little bit of a lightweight, so she told us to fatten him up (my words, not hers). She said to use butter on toast and give him snacks every couple of hours. I think we do that anyway, but we'll see what we can do. She also referred us to an allergist. Day care says he gets itchy after eating oranges and drinking orange juice or pineapple juice. He is also still not drinking real milk. With Ben's history of rashy, eczema-type skin, the Dr. didn't want to guess at anything, so we have an appointment in a couple of weeks. We tried to get Ben to do his little "tricks" for the Dr., but of course, he wouldn't perform on demand. So there was no nose touching, no head touching, no lizard imitation or doggie noises. He ran around the office and climbed a stepstoool, but that was about it. He had three shots, including his flu shot. He ended up getting a fever on Thursday from them. I picked him up early from day care because he just didn't feel well, and he stayed home with J.R. on Friday.

As for baby #2... he/she has elbows now...AND it's either a boy or a girl (I know, I know...I mean the baby's girl/boy parts have formed so it's either one or the other now and not just a blob). My Dr.'s appt. is in just over a week. Newest challenge...finding a new doctor and a new hospital to deliver at. The entire OB dept. is being cut from our hospital so I'm back to the drawing board. I have a suggestion from Ben's Dr. and I'll get another from my Dr. (I can keep this first appt. with her). I also have lots of suggestions from friends, but most of those hospitals are too far away. Anyway, I'm just thankful I'm not ready to deliver in the next two months! The little morning sickness I had hasn't been around for a few days, but I'm really tired. Just kind of worn out really. That'll be done in a few weeks though, I'm sure. Till then...I'm keeping my pillow fluffed up.

Happy Grandparents Day!

J.R. and I said when Ben turned one we'd try for another baby. We waited just a short time, then I became totally baby obsessed. A friend in the neighborhood had a baby right after Ben's birthday, and two friends at work had summer babies. So, I checked out the pregnancy calendars on the Internet and figured out when I was ovulating, when the baby, if conceived, would be due, (if I'd have enough vacation time to take for maternity leave) and if pregnant, when I could get a pregnancy test. It was crazy, but so funny. Anyway, according to the Internet, I could get a pregnancy test done August 12, so I made an appointment for August 15. Not pregnant. I almost told the doctor she was wrong. I was sure I was pregnant. I was even getting tired easily and felt different, well, let's just say I felt different, and of course, I was late. She said I could come back the next week and try again. I waited two weeks. J.R. stayed home with Ben that day because daycare was closed, so they both came with me to my 8:00 AM appointment. By now, morning sickness was entering the picture (which stinks by the way - didn't have it with Ben, and I'm telling you, I just don't care for it). The doctor scared me at first because she came into the office saying "What are you here for today" which was exactly what she said the first time. This time, she hadn't checked my sample. So, she checked it, came back, and said I was pregnant! YAY! J.R. and I kissed immediately. We are very excited.

I started telling everyone immediately. Everyone that is, except our parents. We wanted a fun way to tell them. J.R. made Grandparents Day cards and we mailed them out earlier this week. All three of them received their cards on Friday which was great. AND Friday was my birthday so it was a really fun day to celebrate.

I look at Ben everyday and think about how much of a blessing he is. We are all thrilled to have God bless us again with another child. I'm looking forward to the pregnancy as well - I absolutely loved being pregnant with Ben. I just pray this pregnancy goes as well and this new baby is just as healthy. Please pray for us as well!

Me at 7 weeks.

The Learning Tree

Watching Ben learn has really been fascinating lately. First of all, I can tell that he is learning in school (which translates into - I love the new day care!). I was singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to him the other night, something I haven't done in a long time. When I sang "went up the water spout" and "went up the spout again" he threw his hands up into the air. His teacher said they sing that, and that I should see him when they sing "Where is Thumbkin". I've tried singing that to him but he doesn't have any reaction for me. He does really watch my fingers though. At home, I read to him all the time and he's really picking things up. I've always read to him each night, but his new thing now is to bring me books. He'll sit for a little and read books on his own, so I'm trying to encourage that as much as I can. Last night I was reading "The Very Busy Spider" to him and I read "'Woof, woof' barked the dog" and Ben was making an "F" sound - so cute. Then after I meowed like the cat, he said "ow". Ah! Love it! He also knows where his nose is, where his head is, and now we are moving on to his ears. A fun game for us (ok, well, for me) when we get home at night is, "Free the Feet". I get excited and ask if he wants to 'free the feet, free the feet' and I take his shoes/socks off. Then I say "Ahhhh" and he wiggles his toes. Once in a while he'll grunt "ah". He can also imitate a lizard. See the video! I laugh every time.

The greatest athlete?

Michael Phelps just won eight gold medals in the 2008 Olympic games. Not only did he win gold medals in every race he swam, but 7 of the 8 races were world records (2 races were completed as part of a team). Unbelievable! He is an incredible swimmer -no doubt. He has won more gold medals in one Olympics than anyone else, ever. But is he the greatest Olympic athlete? Or the greatest athlete in general?

I don't want to take anything away from him, he is absolutely an amazing swimmer. I've enjoyed watching him and have been a fan since I first saw him in 2000. I just don't know what the greatest Olympic athlete is made of. He swam in 8 events so he had the chance at 8 medals. The "redeemed" US men's basketball team (my feelings on that we'll save for another post) have already won 6 of 6 games, and will play another two. If they win both games, they'll have played 8 games, but only won one gold medal. Couldn't they be considered the Olympics' greatest athletes? Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won 6 beach volleyball matches, each having 2 games for a total of 12 games played and won. They'll play one more time, and if they win, they'll win just one gold medal. But couldn't they be considered the Olympics' greatest athletes? I just want to know what the definition of the greatest athlete is. If it's the most gold medals, then yes, Phelps is the greatest. Who is a better athlete, a gold medal swimmer, or a gold medal runner? In his longest race, Phelps swam 400 meters. The longest running race is the marathon, where a Romanian woman (Constantina Tomescu Dita) didn't stop running for 26.2 miles! Amazing! Not only that, but she pulled away from the pack only half way into it, and for a good part of the later part of the race, she was over 1 minute ahead of everyone else. She ended up winning by 22 seconds! I would think she would qualify as a great Olympic athlete.

Should the greatest athlete be the fastest, most flexible, strongest? I don't know. I do know Phelps is phenomenal, as well as May-Treanor, Walsh, Tomescu Dita, Usain Bolt from Jamaica, and so many more.

My favorite athlete though is one that is so multi faceted. He can speed walk his way to any goal, run with the biggest bounce in his step , climb steps in the blink of an eye, shove more spaghetti in his mouth with his bare hands than I can with a spoon, gives a smile brighter than any Hollywood movie star and fills my heart with the most unbelievable love I've ever felt. My Ben is the most talented athlete I know. And that, in my opinion, deserves a gold medal.

The Nose knows no

At Ben's last well visit, the doctor told me he should start identifying body parts, so we've been teaching him where his nose is. Last night, for the first time, he pointed to his nose! It's really cute, we ask him where his nose is, and his puts his finger on the side of his nose. He smiles really big like he's so proud of what he's done. We get excited so then he starts clapping! We asked him where his head was after he had shown us his nose a couple of times. I put my hands on my head, then he did it. At school today I wanted him to show his teacher his nose, then she started asking him where his eyes were, so I'm thinking she might be teaching him that stuff at school too, which is great.

Then today, the little brat (kidding of course), refused to give me a kiss! He's giving kisses quite well now, and if you ask him for a kiss, he'll lean into you and you may get an open mouth kiss, but he's really giving many more closed mouth kisses now. He's even starting to pucker his lips. Well today, I put him in his car seat and asked for a kiss. He shook his head at me! I said "No? No?" He continued to shake his head then put a big smile on his face. He did this several times to me, in fact, he practically did it all night. I'm not sure if I should be offended or enter him in a crazy baby contest!