Pack it up!

The packers arrived Monday morning and the movers came to start labeling everything on Tuesday. They also decided to start loading some of our stuff. By the time all was said and done, our stuff filled almost the entire tractor trailer! Holy Cow!Joe's room is now filled to the brim with boxes!
It takes talent to back a tractor trailer into a cul-de-sac without doing any damage!

While Ken and I spent the day with the moving crew, Joe hung out with Mamama at the park and rode the carousel and the train. Thomas spent the day with his friends at daycare.

Joe LOVED going on the truck!

Getting back on track

Ok, I know that all you fans out there must be QUITE disappointed with my lack of updates for the past,oohhhhh six months, but what can I tell you? I have been REALLY busy. I will slowly back track and put pix up from those months but in a nutshell, here is what happened:

January - started having stronger "Braxton-Hicks" contractions and was feeling lousy so I stopped working 2 weeks ahead of schedule then went to a routine prenatal appointment on January 28 and then ......SURPRISE! Thomas Gustavo Nelson was born Jan 29!

February - mostly a blur but consisted of lots of feedings, changing diapers, not sleeping and family staying with me to help out

March - YEAH! Ken came home from Iraq albeit a week late due to an unfair command decision but better late than never! Also had a whirlwind of trips to Disney, Charlotte and Cumberland

April - back to work (BOO!) and Thomas started day care, Joe starting to become a little parrot with all his new words

May - boys growing at break neck speed and us trying to get into some sort of new routine, Thomas baptized over Memorial Day weekend

June - a brutal month for me as I worked like a maniac while the boys and Ken tried to live with the crazy woman I became

and now......July! Just came back from a fun trip to Deep Creek Lake for 4th of July and now in the midst of packing operations! We managed to squeeze in a photo shoot for Thomas too! Here are his 5 month shots!

Don't worry! Lots of pix to come!!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it is already 2009! On the other hand, the last several months seemed to have crawled along so I am HAPPY it is the new year. That means it is less than 2 months until Ken comes home!!!!!!! YEAH!!!! Five months so far....whew! This past week was nice since I did not work but the next few promise to be quite busy. I am starting to slow down a bit at work, but not much since it is hard to try to cram in surgeries, office hours, etc. in the next few weeks before Baby Nelson #2 arrives! I have also reached the Ok, I am tired of being pregnant" stage so that is not helping matters. Joe is as busy and rambunctious as usual. He had lots of really nice presents for Christmas and is enjoying his extra time with "Mimi" as he now calls me. I think it is a cross between Mommy and Mami (Spanish version).

Joe opening presents with cousin Branden

We spent Christmas Day at my brother Gus' house with Mamama, Pop, Branden, and Aunt Mabel (Gus' mom).

32 weeks!

Happy Turkey Day!

. . .a bit late, but better late than never. Here are some shots from Thanksgiving. We went to Ken's Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Ed's house in Bel Air, MD and had a nice dinner there with Ken's family!

Joe and Mommy!

Trying to get a Christmas shot of the cousins, Keller, Joe and Ryan, and this is the best we got!

Groundhog Day

The days are going by very slowly for both of us and one of the things Ken says about being over in Iraq is that it is like that movie "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray. Same thing over and over. He recently had an increase in patients which kept him fairly busy, but now that is winding down, although I hear the general surgeon he rooms with is getting busier. No new pictures lately, although I keep bugging him to send me some. He has been playing soccer with the hospital team too which is a nice distraction for him. The countdown continues......we have almost reached the number of days to go that we started with when he went to Korea (the first long stretch that we were apart).

Showing off my art project

Joe recently moved into a new class at daycare, the Sunfish room. It is basically the toddlers that can walk but are still under two years. He is the youngest in the class by quite a bit but he seems to be holding his own. Getting a few more bumps and scrapes but doing well overall. One of the new things he does is eat snacks and lunch at the table with the other kids, sleep on a cot, and create fun art projects. This particular day, the class had gone to a pumpkin patch (out on the playground!) to pick a pumpkin then came inside and painted them.

A pumpkin masterpiece!

Horses and Nature centers

It was a beautiful fall day so Joe and I played outside in our cul-de-sac and later went down to Wheaton Stables to visit some horses. Since the pony ride, Joe gets very excited when he sees a horse picture so we thought we would check them out up close. Then it was off to the Brookside Nature Center to check out some cool turtles and snakes and play in their activity center.

I'm the coolest kid on the block!

Checking out the horsies

Mommy, don't we have turtles too???

I found a wheel to play with!