The Littlest Red Sox

Although he is not much shorter than Dustin Pedroia, Ethan has become quite the little baseball player. He often begs either Bryan or I to take him outside to play baseball whenever we can. In just a few short days, he has gotten the hang of it and can really hit the ball, something that we think is pretty darn good for a 2 1/2 year old! He mimics the professional players by slamming the bat onto the street saying "let's go", and dropping the bat after each hit to run the bases. He even attempts to spit on the ground which in his words is "like Big Papi". Boys will be boys I guess. I have attached a short video to show off our little baseball player since it is pretty hard to imagine a little toddler hitting the ball with just a wiffle ball bat!

What a week, whew!

Whew, it has been quite a week in the Phillips household. It all began last Saturday when Ethan woke up from his nap with a low grade fever. We thought nothing of it, gave him some Tylenol and went about our day. We had been planning a "bye-bye diaper" party for him now that he is potty trained and should have known something was wrong when he did not eat any of his cake. This is not a kid who has ever passed up a piece of cake in his life. We had promised him that we would go to the LA Angels game that night and decided to go ahead with the game. He absolutely loved it, his eyes were as wide as saucers as he watched the game, though once again he did not eat anything, even throwing away his ice cream! He made it through 7 innings and then we came home only to find that he had a temperature of 103.5 and was extremely lethargic. That was only the tip of the iceberg. For the next 4 days his fever stayed extremely high, at one point getting over 104. Each time it would respond to medication, only to spike by the time the medication wore off. The doctor checked him out, even did a chest x-ray but felt that it was viral and it had to run its course. So, needless to say, it was a long 4 days for us, no one got much sleep as Ethan was so uncomfortable at night he was up every 2 hours (back to the newborn stage!!). His fever finally broke today and he is pretty much back to normal, except his appetite. He still really has not eaten at all since getting sick but I have no doubt that his appetite will return with a vengeance.
Here are a few pictures from the game, we got a share in season tickets to the Angels so I am sure Ethan will go to his share of games this year. Even in these pictures, Ethan looks miserable, guess we had no clue how sick he really was.


The other part of this week is that I had my 20w ultrasound and all looked good. They were able to confirm that we are indeed having another boy and we are thrilled. There will be lots of soccer, baseball and sports in the Phillips household and I think Ethan is going to love having a little brother. I am anxious for them to be at the age where they can play together as ever since we went to the baseball game, Ethan is obsessed with me pitching the ball to him while he hits. I swear I think we did it for about 2 1/2 hours today and it was tiring, definitely something brothers can do together! So, all in all, things continue to move along, I am finally starting to look pregnant and feeling good.

Remembering Hannah Rose and Mikayla Anne

Today is the one year anniversary that we lost our precious daughters, Hannah Rose and Mikayla Anne. It is amazing to me how fast a year flies and was surprised when I woke up with such an empty feeling. I thought that I had dealt with everything and was past the grief, but I guess as a parent, you will never really get over the loss of your children, even if the loss was during your pregnancy. Even though we never got to experience the joys of parenting Hannah and Mikayla, we miss the girls they would have become and the ways in which they would have added to our family. Once again, I will be looking to Ethan today to put a smile on my face with his silliness and innocence. Knowing that I am carrying another baby is of some comfort as this child would not have existed if the events of our life had not occurred. I guess it is bitter sweet in a way but all in life happens for a reason and we are so excited to meet our newest addition. We are continuing to pray for a healthy and uneventful pregnancy. So far so good and we are still awaiting the big gender confirmation, we'll keep you updated.

Multiple Milestones

Today is a special day for two reasons. Firstly it is our 5 year wedding anniversary. It is amazing to think of all that we have been through, the ups and downs of life in only 5 short years. It has been a fabulous 5 years and I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful husband and look forward to many more years to come. We spent the day as a family, went to the beach in the moning and then the pool in the afternoon as it was 95 degrees. Bryan and I are going to do a delayed weekend away (place to be determined) to celebrate when my mother comes out in June so she can stay with Ethan.
Also, today marks the 1 year anniversary of our move to California. The year flew by and although at times it felt like it was crawling by, I look back and can't believe everything that happened in just one short year. We have truly enjoyed being out here and feel very lucky to have found wonderful friends not only for Ethan but for us as well! Below are a few pictures from our day together.

Oh, and at my most recent ultrasound, the baby's legs were crossed so we'll be in suspense for the confirmation for another 2 weeks!

Updates....

I have been slacking off a bit on the posts, not on purpose but just one thing leads to another every time I sit down to post. Nothing too exciting going on in the Phillips household. We are knee-deep in potty training with Ethan and I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We had been giving him mini marshmallows whenever he went on the potty which seemed to be working until he realized that he could get M&Ms at school when he used the potty.Well, that changed everything so we too had to start giving him M&Ms at home. I was very reluctant at first but I have to say in the past 3 days that we have been doing it, he has seemed to grasp the concept so much more and will ask to use the bathroom all the time. We're down to using only 1 or 2 pull-ups all day! He is so funny, he is very clear that he need "privacy" when he goes to the bathroom and will walk in there all by himself, turn on the light, close the door and do his business. He is such a little man...where does the time go? We are crossing our fingers that he gets the hang of things in the next few weeks, he is so close.
Other than that, I am doing well with Baby #2, feeling good and trying to keep busy. I have another ultrasound on Tuesday which is always fun to see the baby and hopefully they will be able to give us a 100% on the gender. Right now they are 70% sure it is a boy but haven't had a *money shot* to see the goods.
What else....baseball season is underway and the Phillips family couldn't be happier. We are still die-hard Red Sox fans but since going to Fenway Park is out of the question, we have decided to get a share in season tickets to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (crazy name huh, they just changed it from the Anaheim Angels). We have 4 tickets to about 20 or so games this season and plan to take Ethan to a bunch. I used to go to Red Sox games all the time with my dad and I have such great memories of that and can't wait to start that tradition with Ethan.
I plan to get my act together soon and post some recent pics.