Joshman!

This is our friend Josh (his daddy and our daddy were roommates at Notre Dame). Josh hasn't been feeling very well and the doctors found that Josh has a Wilms' Tumor in his kidney that has spread to his lungs. He is having surgery today to take out his kidney and the big mean tumor and install a port for chemo (to treat the lung tumors). Josh is a very strong, brave boy! We are praying lots that his surgery is successful and that he'll be back to distroying things very soon!

"Cool people only need one kidney!" - Josh

You can get further updates here.

Cousins!

This is my cousin Jack (Uncle Paul and Aunt Susan's boy - he's 3). I like Jack - he is a lot of fun. He came down to visit because Grandma and Grandpa had a BIG party for Uncle Jim. Uncle Jim was leaving to spend the next 5 years studying Theology in Rome (like Uncle John did WAY before I was born). We won't see Uncle Jim for 2 years...we will miss him a lot...especially Jack...it is no secret that Jack LOVES Uncle Jim.

Climbing Abby

This is from May but Mommy thought you'd like it anyways. This is the climbing gym at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I like it a lot...except when there are bugs...I super don't like bugs.

Warners or bust!

At the end of July we loaded up the minivan at 3am and started heading south...to Warner's Hot Springs, California for our annual family reunion. We took two days to get there. The kids did great...we had a portable DVD player but never needed to use it. The kids kept themselves entertained and were model passengers. We did learn that Michael gets carsick - at the end of the Sisqu's he said his mouth felt funny and then threw up on himself. He only got himself and his car seat so we got him cleaned up and laid towels all over his booster and continued on our way. Fortunately our hotel had a laundry room where I could wash everything that night. We had the same cabin at Warners that we had last year and this year cousin Rachel stayed with us. Great Uncle Bob has all the pool pictures...for some reason I didn't take any. He does have a very funny one of all the nieces and nephew playing tug o' war with Ben in the pool - if I can get a hold of it I'll post it. The kids did great in the pool and loved playing with their cousins. I did not get into the pool. My eczema was flaring up and I can't take my medicine when I'm pregnant so it was too painful for me to get in the water. The kids got to go on pony rides...they LOVED that. There was also a barn cat that would chase pine cones...that was actually more fun for the kids than the pony rides. My cousin, Julie and her family came as well and she brought a bunch of craft stuff for the kids to do. We LOVE our time at Warners and look forward to going back next year.

and ZaBaby is...

We are very excited to announce that we are going to have another boy!

Michael is beside himself that he is going to have a little brother...Abby is just excited to have a baby to take care of. The baby looked wonderful and I'll post a couple ultrasound pictures this week (the tech was REALLY stingy with what she'd take a picture of).

I'm feeling much better and can really feel the baby move now. That is my favorite part of pregnancy - I love feeling the all movement and kicks!