UT vs. BU

One of the benefits that we have with Todd's job is going to sporting events for free. :-) Here is Todd and Jack at the UT vs. BU ladies basketball game. Todd and I both went to UT but we both have ties to BU. I mean BU does pay the bills and I will have 2 degrees from the institution. But we both love UT. When walking into these games we never know who we are going to cheer for until the game gets going. We always wear neutral colors. However, on this occasion we chose to cheer for the Lady Bears. We were sitting on the BU side. Because the game was televised, we got free BU shirts and one of my students was cheering in front of us and one of Todd's colleagues was leading the band. It just felt right this time to cheer for BU. BU lost this one. Totally due to not making their free throws if you ask me. Jack does not care much for these events. He liked watching the mascot dance around but the loud clapping and the buzzer are too loud for him. He basically ate his way through the game. Here he is munching on popcorn and he later pounded some nachos.  

On the baby front, things are going well. I am showing now and for the most part have felt much better. I still have a relapse of morning sickness here and there. It is usually provoked by a long day and/or not eating right. I have evening classes and that has been difficult for me. I am tired all of the time and I am constantly hungry. I am looking forward to warmer weather. I really don't enjoy maternity pants and well with cold weather, there are no other choices. With the warm weather, I can wear dresses and skirts that are not so uncomfortable. :-) I am seriously thinking about wearing a maternity swim suit this time around. I want to sit in a pool of water and float a bit. Watch out Peach Meadow folks... you may be in for a pregnant Jessica swimming in your pool!

I hope to document this pregnancy a little better than the last. I will have Todd take some belly pics soon and post them. (mostly for you Mom and Dad) 

More New York Pictures

Here is another set of NY pictures. While there we visited family on Long Island. They are a blast! They host the best weddings and when we lived in Connecticut they took care of Todd and myself during the holidays. It snowed and Jack had the chance to play around in it. He and Todd played outside and got sloppy wet. We had to throw Jack's clothes in the dryer so that he would have warm, dry clothes to wear for the rest of our visit. Jack made himself at home and was comfortable running around without us watching his every move. Jack got a chance to meet and play with his cousins. They got along well and did a good job sharing their cars with each other. We hope the Long Island clan can come and visit all of us in Texas next. 

Jack's first real snow experience. He loved it.

Daddy and Jack having a snowball fight.

Jack and his NY cousins. They played cars and ran around. The stopped for a quick photo.

Half of the NY clan. The other half was in another room watching TV. 

A Conversation with Jack

Yes there are more NY pictures but a lack of time an energy have prevented me from posting them. Sorry. There are more to come. I had to post a conversation Jack and I had the other evening before I forget it. Jack had an outbreak of hives. Something he ate (unidentified) caused him to have this reaction for about 24 hours. Hives are familiar to us now so we didn't freak out just pondered what on earth did he eat to cause this particular hive episode. Anyhow, our discussion started because of the hives and this is how the conversation went...

Mommy: Jack, I wonder why you have those hives? 

Jack: I don't know Mommy. 

Mommy: Hmm. I guess God just made you different huh. You are special. 

Jack: Yea, God can make me better too. 

Mommy: You are right. He can make you better.

Jack (smiling with a silly face): God always makes funny noises on the patio.

Mommy (interested and wondering if my son is having special private moments with God): What do you mean God makes funny noises on the patio? Like what kind of noises? 

Jack: With his tail.

Mommy (realizing that Jack is talking about our neighbor's DOG that sleeps outside of his bedroom window and wags his tail on their deck): With his tail? Jack that is Rob-Rob's DOG, not GOD! 

Now I wonder that when we are tucking Jack in and praying with him, does he think we are praying to the dog outside?? We have a lot of work ahead of us! 

New York Trip

Here are the first of the New York Pics. Todd's concert at Carnegie Hall went well. He and Doug had a great performance. Jack attended and fell asleep on my lap. It was pretty unbelievable because it was a PERCUSSION concert. Those do not tend to be very quiet. Once the concert was over, we were able to enjoy the city and hit the streets. It was pretty cold the whole time but it was fun to have a little change in the weather and wardrobe routine. Get this, for the first 2 days Todd did NOT wear a jacket while in NYC because he forgot it at home! It was literally FREEZING temperatures..like below 20 degrees! The bellman at the hotel asked Todd where his jacket was and sent us to an interesting department store to buy one. Here are a few pics to get you started. There are more to come. :-)

Mimi and Gramps at Rockefeller Center

One of the few pictures of all three of us together or shall I say 4? Funny thing is that I was pregnant with Jack while on a trip to NYC and now pregnant with baby #2 while on a trip to NYC. (Daddy after the jacket purchase.)

Daddy before the jacket purchase at the Disney Store. All Jack wanted was Cars stuff. Could have gotten the same item at Toys R Us for about half the price but it came in handy while in the hotel and restaurants. 

Jack preparing himself for the cold weather. He didn't like having his cap fastened under his chin because it tickled. He resisted the mittens but by the end of the trip was totally fine with them. 

Back to Normal?

Not quite but almost there. We are trying to get things back to normal over here but I guess that won't happen until a year or two after we have this second baby. So we have a long way to go! Todd and I are back to school today. We both have a much longer vacation time than most and we appreciate our schedules but boy would both of us like some additional time. :-) I am not feeling as sick as I was over Christmas. Things are getting better, however I still have no desire to eat certain/LOTS of foods nor do I desire to cook. Jack is doing well. Since I have not been too attentive he is a Daddy's boy right now. He always wants Todd and says he "misses Daddy" when Todd is not around. I am not hurt at all. I appreciate the distance right now. I had a good 2 year run with Jack. No pictures today just an update. 

Random Photo Day #1

In an effort to keep you guys interested and reading the blog. I will be posting some random photos that you haven't already seen via blog or kodak gallery. We hope to get our camera back next week when we see Mimi and Gramps.  This is a photo Todd took outside when he and Jack were hanging out doing yard work. Jack loves for Todd to make piles of leaves for him. He likes jumping in the pile and hiding his toys and then searching for them. 

Christmas

I know this is not a picture of Jack opening his gifts on Christmas morning or a picture of any other Christmas activity and yet it is... On Christmas day we found out the hard way that Jack is indeed allergic to peanuts. We suspected that he might be but never had it confirmed until Christmas Day when we went over to visit family friends. Right before leaving, our sweet son looked up at us with his big brown eyes asked if he could have a cookie. We said yes and got him in the car to leave. We realized it was a peanut butter cookie and allowed him to continue to eat it, crossing our fingers that he would not have any allergic reaction. BIGGEST MISTAKE we have made as parents as of yet. Jack started to say that his tongue felt funny and that he felt sick. He started rubbing his eyes and got really snotty. When we got out of the car, Todd gave him some Benadryl while I ran to the bathroom to puke. (morning sickness) Before we knew it- Jack was red, swollen and covered in hives! Todd rushed Jack to the emergency room while I stayed behind being sick and praying. The hospital gave Jack a shot of epinephrine in his thigh and said we needed to get him to an allergist ASAP to find out specifics about his allergies. :-( The worst experience in the world. We are so sad that he has food allergies but we are so grateful that he is okay and that we know that we need to be careful. Poor Jack rejects even conversations about peanuts or peanut butter. He really did not enjoy his experience and won't let us take his shot bandaid off. He says it makes him feel better. I think he thinks if we take it off, he will have another reaction or something. 

On another note-I think we forgot our camera in Houston! Kind of hard to keep a blog without pictures. I may post some "flashback" pics until we get our camera back.