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  • Reoccuring Cast
    ~Mr.E: the hubby
    ~Bean/Peanut: the baby
    ~GI Baby/Baby-Zilla: the nephew
    ~The 'rents
    ~Sister: Ali
    ~Brother: Erik
    ~BW: Kat
    ~FIL: father-in-law
    ~MIL: mother-in-law
    ~SIL: sister-in-law
    Our Happenings

    Oct 24: Pumpkin Patch
    Oct 30-Nov 1: Grammy & Grampy visit
    Oct 31: ZooBoo at Norfolk Zoo
    Nov 15-20: Grammy here to help while Mr.E is gone
    Nov 27: Turkey Day in VA
    Nov 30: Ladybug's expected arrival
    Nov 28 - Dec 4: Nana & Gpa in town
    Dec 7-11: Grammy here to help while MrE is gone?
    Dec 24/25: Christmas in VA!
    Jan: Home to MA for visit & someone's bridal shower

    Coming soon to the E family, our little ladybug!!! Lilypie Pregnancy tickers

    And Bean is growing so quickly! Lilypie Second Birthday tickers


    Thursday, November 05, 2009
    Already defying her mama!
    Pay no attention to the Ladybug's birth counter above. She is supposed to be here in 25 days, or I should say was... But here we are waiting, patiently, through the pitocin and contractions... So how did we get here?

    My new Doc in VA was watching me extra closely since I had preeclampsia with Bean. The weekly checkups had been going well, but yesterday's appointment changed all of that. My blood pressure was slightly elevated (normal 110/70 to 140/107). That with ankle swelling, and some other stuff my doctor said, "Well you are not going home, you are going to have a baby." The shock finally wore off around 8pm and then sadness of missing my Bean set in. Due to the H1N1 virus here in VA, those under 18years are not allowed at hospitals or doctors offices unless they are patiends. So I had dropped him off at our friend's house around 12:30 with 4 diapers, a bottle, sippy cup, snacks, 2 fruits & lunch... I thought I'd be there around 3p. Then when I was sent to the hospital for further testing (just like had been done with Bean) I called our friend M, called MrE and let them know I'd be a couple of hours behind. No need to come see me, I sent MrE to go play with Bean. Then 30 minutes later I retracted all previous statements and enacted a husband - grandparent recall! Everyone was shocked and thought I was joking. But here we are, in the middle of another contraction. Excuse me one minute - *yoga breathing*

    Where was I, oh yeah... MrE, who is a rooky b/c he was deployed when bean arrived, has been nervously pacing and videoing the process, Grampy & Grammy arrived at about 12am this morning (Thurs 11/5) and Nana & GPa drove in about 8:30a from MA. Grammy and MrE are sitting by waiting for developments. Grampy is on Bean duty. Nana is getting refreshed since she & GPa drove through the night and Gpa, well he sleeping b/c of said drive.

    And that is the state of things. Contractions are little more frequent, but not overly intense. I'd love to eat. I'd love to drink. But ice chips it is until Miss Maggie Grace makes her appearance. As soon as our little one arrives call and pictures will go out to family.

    Love to all,

    The Ewings!!!


    Monday, November 02, 2009
    Halloween 2009!
    We had a great Halloween here in VA. Grammy & Grampy E made the trip to see their little Bean all dressed up & partake in the festivities. It is probably one of the few quiet Halloweens that we'll have. Up until this year we, the grown-ups, would get all dressed up and hit the town. Now we dress up our little ones to oogle at! In our house, Bean is still too young for candy. So getting dressed up is purely for a fun and his torture.

    I was a good mum with a plan. I bought Bean's first costume about 2 months ago only to find out at the picture session that 12-18 mos was too small for my 15 mo old. He is usually in the smaller side of clothes. Hmmm, who knew? So, I went and bought another monkey costumer for our little climber a few weeks ago. However, the day before Halloween I saw that it was going to be 80 degrees. 80 degrees on Halloween... Insanity! That was just a little too warm for a stuffed fleece costume!!! After trying 4 Party Citys, 2 Targets, 3 Halloween Expresses, Old Navy, Marshalls, Babies R' Us, and even the grocery store I ended up back at Target only to buy a big kids Cowboy costume. I took the vest, sherrif badge, bandana, & hat and paired it with his shorts and white shirt. Et voila, that is how my little monkey became a sherrif! Also fitting since he thinks he is boss.

    We went to Zoo Boo here in Hampton Roads. There were lots of other kiddies all dressed up. Carved pumpkins and candy stations lined the walking paths. It was a good day, which we ended with a stop at the park. Then it was off to home and wait for trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood. And wait. And wait. Absotlutely no trick-or-treaters made it to the end of our cul-de-sac. So if anybody is feeling candy deprived, we have kit-kats, pb cups, twix bars & 100 grand bars. Plus the best in laws ever brought me a few pounds of chocolate covered gummy bears left over from the candy bar. I might share those with visitors, but they will not all be leaving this house unless in my belly! Sorry. They are my favorite!!! Well we hope you all enjoy the pictures from our little Bean's Halloween trip to the Zoo! We certainly did...

    Hugs,

    JR, Azzy & Bean



    The Orange Ball Patch!
    Hi All,

    We recently made a trip to Hunt Club Farm so Bean could see all the pumpkins. To say our little Bean is energetic and curious is an understatement. So not only was getting a posed picture impossible, but so was convincing Bean that pumpkins are in fact pumpkins... He kept picking up the little pumpkins and throwing them while yelling "ball!!!" If you went there after us, we may or may not have been responsible for some of the stems laying around the patch. At least he knows that balls are round and spherical. Now we just have to work on the fact that there are other things with the same shape. I think his next favorite part of the day was riding on the carnival kids' helicopter ride. I think JR & I enjoyed the funnel cake. But who doesn't enjoy a good funnel cake.

    We hope everyone is enjoying fall as much as we are!

    XOXO

    JR, Azzy & Bean





    Tuesday, October 13, 2009
    Bad, bad blogger
    My mom's hint that I hadn't posted in a while wasn't very suttle. I think her exact words were, "I check all the blogs every day and only Liz updates regularly..." I knew it had been a while, but when I actually checked and found my last post was 2.5 months ago I was even shocked. So family, my apologies for not updating pictures because we have had some fun pictures & events to post about. In fact, there are several slide shows in the post below that have our outings and such from the end of the summer to early fall.

    Now for a short recap... We've celebrated Bean's birthday 4 times. That is right 4 times. The luck of a Navy brat, that is all I can say. We drove to NC for Aunty Aimee's wedding shower. We drove to MA to visit with family, celebrate Bean's birthday (4th time). We had visitors here (Erik & dad in July, Mom & Aunty D in Aug, Mom & Dad in Oct). We had family outings when JR had time off. There is only more to come with the grandparents visiting before and after our little LadyBug's arrival, LadyBug's big arrival, Halloween & fall activities, holidays, and just like that it will be 2010!

    Our daily activities are no different than many other families. Bean is growing & growing. He keeps us on our toes. He keeps us laughing. He keeps going and going and going... And so does our love for him. He is just our bestest little boy! He has quite the personality too. A few weeks ago he actually kissed our waitress. She bent over to high five him and he leaned forward to kiss her. I just shook my head. I think it is fair to say we will have our hands full with that little flirt. He also has taken to lifting my shirt up at home to see my belly. He kisses the bump and says hi to the baby. While this is cute while we're at home, I had to stop him from doing it at Target the other day. Although the other couple baby shopping got a giggle out of his grabbing my shirt and saying baby louder & louder.

    With in 7 weeks we'll see how he really is with the LadyBug. I'm not to sure he'll be as friendly to the little one who has mommy & daddys attention. We'll do our best to make sure he knows he is just as important. Wish us luck!

    Well family, this is all the updating I have in me for the day. It is late and one little Bean will be up early and ready to go. If I could only bottle his energy. I could probably make a small fortune selling it, but right now I'd keep it all for my need to keep up with him. Hope all are well!

    xoxo, Azzy


    Picture Updates
    In July our friends were reunited when Ava's daddy came back from his deployment. We were lucky enough to go to the airport and take pictures of the reunion. We also went to a friend's birthday, where Connor started to eat the cake on his own. Such a little character. GPa & Uncle Erik also came down for a family ship ride on the USS Truman. I don't have pictures of the ship ride since I was home with Connor, but I do have some of GPa, Erik & Bean...



    Our first round of travels were actually travelors visiting us in VA. Nana & Aunty D came to visit!


    After Nana & Aunty D left, we were off to Grammy & Grampy E's to celebrate Aunty Aimee's upcoming wedding & have round 3 of my birthday. I don't have any pictures of the fun had at Aunty Aimee's wedding shower, but we do have lots of pictures of her as a beautiful bride!!!


    After our trip to NC in August, we drove up to MA to celebrate Connor's birthday with the J family. We got to have some beach days, see family, go on outings with Nana & Landon...


    In September we finally made our way back to VA with the help of Nana as copilot. We went to the zoo, the aquarium, the play center at the mall - all of the touristy things in our area. Then JR, Bean & I drove down to NC to take care of some wedding stuff for Aunty Aimee. We took the opportunity to walk along the river after we were done.


    The first weekend in October we drove down to Greenville, NC for Aunty Aimee's wedding to Uncle Grant.


    Nana & GPa also came up the first week of October. They spent a few days with us in VA Beach and went to Aunty Aimee's wedding in NC. While they were here we went to Jamestown & Yorktown and enjoyed some quality time since Bean doesn't get to see them enough.


    And that is all for the pictorial update...





    Monday, August 03, 2009
    Updates of This & That
    First I want to link to a post written by a very dear friend: Janet's Story. It amplifies the importance of getting regular colonoscopies once you reach the required age, even if that type of cancer is not in your family history.

    Second, we've been enjoying the weather! We've been relaxing by the pool, at the beach, at the water park, with friends... We've had playdates, birthday parties, and other outings. This Wed. Nana & Aunty D will be visiting from MA for a week. The following weekend we'll be in NC to visit the inlaws for my SIL's bridal shower. Then the following weekend we'll be in MA for 3 weeks. We had to wait until warmer weather was sure to show it's face before our visit because who wants to wear sweatshirts in June??? Sorry peeps, that is just the truth of it. :)

    Third, Bean is starting to sign more, so the class is paying off!!! He does a couple of things but we're just over 3 weeks in. The most frequent sign he does is "all done". It is not always to signal that he is all done with his meal though. Sometimes he lets us know he is all done with us, with us telling him to eat, to not throw his food, to not rip the DVDs off the shelf, to get out of his carseat, etc... He looks at us with such determination, does the sign & ends with a pointing finger at me or MrE. So he is pretty much saying, "Mommy, you are done telling me no, feeding me, etc." or "Daddy, I'm done with this car seat." It is comical. At least he is communicating.

    Last, Maggie is starting to move more and more. We're just over halfway to her expected arrival! So far, so good. We do have to get better about our countdown or tracking the growth. As most first time parents, we were very good about tracking everything. I knew what week I was and how much longer. However, if you ask me now I know the approximate week, give or take a couple of weeks. Other than family pictures, there has been no tracking of my developing belly. Sorry Maggie, as a second child you will already have proof that you were neglected compared to Bean. This argument will happen one day... We do have to get some shots, some time soon too. Nov 30th will be here before we know it.

    Well I'm afraid that is all I can remember for now and all I have time for. Time for one little Bean to go to bed.


    Thursday, July 23, 2009
    Rainbows of Color
    Here are the mixed colors I see around me...


    This is from a couple of years ago... I just love the small gingerbread houses on MV!



    We are a boardgame loving family!!!




    Bean's toys have officially taken over the living room. These are the same areas and toys that I clean up during nap times, at bed, and sometimes behind him as he moves on in his path of destruction. :) Maybe one day we'll have a playroom...

    Now I'm off to get the monster ready for bed. He has already hit cranky mode.


    Purple
    A day late... I had the pictures but yesterday was a day that I wasn't able to juggle motherhood, house stuff & blogging. *hmmm* So here is the purple around casa de E.


    I have to reuse this picture from green day because it is just too cute that my son is stuck in his purple drum! Well, I think so anyway.



    This is from a family wedding a few years ago that my sister & I were in. The dresses were lavendar... And it was a nice snapshot of the J siblings!


    A tulip at the botanical gardens, which is just miles from our house. It is so beautiful & peaceful there. I probably could have done the whole project there...


    My lilac candle, which I love. It reminds me of my mom. She always had fresh lilacs on the kitchen table when I was a youngen.


    Our lavendar bathroom, which is where I relax after those long days... Like yesterday. I *heart* my bathtub!!!