Earthquakes and Hurricanes and Power Outages, Oh My!

It has been an exciting week here in Richmond!  Evan got to experience some for firsts, but not firsts we were looking forward too.  It started on Tuesday at 1:51pm.  A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck in nearby Louisa County.  The epicenter was right around 40 miles from our house.  It lasted about 45 seconds.  The best part….Evan and I missed it. We were driving to the post office and apparently it was easily missed if you were moving in the car.  I did, however feel 2 of the 3 aftershocks that shook Richmond in the day or two following.  One was around 8:00 the same night while I was putting Evan to bed.  I didn’t like that feeling much and it only measured a 4.2.  Then the next night at 1:00 in the morning I woke up to a 4.9.  I think I heard it before I felt it, but either way Evan slept right though it, so no biggie!

Fast forward to yesterday and Evan met Irene.  Hurricane Irene made landfall as a category 1 hurricane.  We got rained on all Saturday morning and afternoon. We didn’t think it was a big deal, so we decided to clean out our attic.  By early afternoon the winds picked up and we decided it was better to be on the ground level, not in the attic.  As we were watching the wind blow, Scott managed to catch a 15 foot section of a dead tree snap off, bounce off the ground and right into out fence.  So that section of fence will need to be repaired and the tree will need to be cleaned up. 

About 5:30 that evening, I took dinner out of the oven and boom….goodbye power.  Today was miserable.  No power means no AC and it was 93 degrees out today.  Evan was hot and tired, but couldn’t sleep in the heat, so we did a little shopping (ended up with a new fridge) to beat the heat.  Then a very generous relative had us over to their power-filled home for dinner.  And wouldn’t you know it the second we walked in the door our power was restored!!  After 2.5 hours of AC the house is finally getting cool. 

Like I said quite the week, but on the plus side, school is closed tomorrow!  I get one more day at home with my Mr. Man!

7 months old

Mr.Man is 7 months old!  This month went fast…as you can probably tell from my lack of blogging.  Let’s see what’s new in his world.  He has two new teeth and a third on the way (explains the lack of sleep in my last post).  He is getting ready to crawl.  He lunges forward all the time…he just can’t get his arms and legs moving together.  We went on a huge road trip and got home last week.  More on that later though!

Here are my cutie’s stats this month.

Weight:  20 pounds, 3 ounces

Length:  28 inches

Tired

Yes, I’m tired!  It gets to be around this time of the week that I need some “me” time.  I love spending everyday with Mr. Man, but it sure is exhausting.  It doesn’t help that he seems to be having a minor sleep regression here this week.  Little guy just can’t get settled it seems.  He goes down well, then he’s up at 11, 1, 4, 6, and 7 for good.  Sometimes he needs rocked back to sleep, other times he just needs the paci.  Let’s hope this doesn’t last too long, because I’m fading.  At least the weekend is almost here and Scott will be here for reinforcement.  And even as tired as I am…who can resist this little cutie, even if it is 4 in the morning.

But besides less sleep, let’s see what’s new with Mr. Man.  He is sitting up on his own really well.  He can reach forward and sit back up.  He can reach to each side and not fall over.  At times he leans forward, somehow gets his feet under him and launches himself forward.  A sign that crawling is coming…then I’m really doomed!

He has started really eating solids.  He has oatmeal and fruit for breakfast every day.  So far he’s has bananas and pears.  He LOVED the pears…so so on the bananas.  Then he has some oatmeal for dinner.  He is getting better and better at getting the food into his mouth and making less of a mess.  Once we’re done introducing fruits we’ll add veggies in for dinner. 

He got his playroom.  We sold our dining room furniture.  It was bittersweet.  I loved that dining room set, but we barely used it and it will be used so much more by the little guy.  So we moved the office stuff downstairs, along with some of his toys, books, and now a train table (he won’t really use that for a while).  This new room will be great once he’s crawling.  I can kind of contain him in there (with gates) while I’m cooking or doing other things.  So far we all like it! 

So that’s what’s new in the sleepy Gerke house!

6 months old

Yep, Mr. Man is half a year old, 182.5 days old (I think really it is 183 days), and at the time I’m writing, closer to a year old than his birth (just by a few hours).  We had a little celebratory song at 1:15 today because that was when he woke up from his nap. Little stinker couldn’t have woken up 4 minutes early so I could sing to him on his EXACT 6 month birthday.  It’s all good though, I suppose sleep is better than Mommy’s singing!

He had his 6 month well check up today and the doc said he looks great.  Growing like a weed and developing right on schedule.  It is hard to believe that we won’t go back to the doc until the end of October…3 whole months!  Lots to get done in these 3 months:  start eating some food, start crawling, consolidate naps (already working on that…down to 3 from 4 a couple of weeks ago), and keep growing!

Here are his 6 month stats and his monthly pic with Amos! And yes,I know my toes made it in the picture too!

Weight:  18 pounds, 7 ounces (68%tile)

Length:  27.5 inches (85%tile)

Beach Bums

Last week, we spent the week in beautiful, family friendly Duck, North Carolina.  It was Mr. Man’s first time at the beach, first time in the ocean, first time in the pool, first time at and aquarium, first time….oh you get the point. 

Let’s see if I can sum up the highlights.

Evan enjoyed playing with his cousins.    

He also enjoyed MANY naps on the beach.

We took a trip to the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island.

He also loved sitting on the deck enjoying the breeze!

And we went to see some live Music at the Town of Duck Park. 

Oh and he enjoyed splashing in the pool!

Overall, it was a great beach vacation for our new family of 3!

My Best Friend’s Wedding

Last weekend, my best friend, Crystal, got married.  Crystal and I met in college and didn’t really get to know each other until our last semester there.  We were in sorority together, but ran in different circles even with in our sorority.  Then after graduation, she moved back home to Richmond and Scott and I relocated to Richmond.  I knew no one here, but Scott and I needed some friends, so I reached out to my sorority sister.  That was 8 years ago and she has become my best friend…no doubt about it. 

She was the first person I told that Scott and I were trying to get pregnant.  She was the first person I told that we were adopting.  She was one of the first people we called when the adoption fell through.  She was at my house the day we came home and was the most amazing friend anyone could ask for, helping me to grieve for what had happened.  She stood by my side as Scott and I started fertility treatments and was always sensitive to my feelings.  Then at 8:00am on May 13th, 2010 she got a text message that said she was going to be an aunt.

She threw my baby shower and is now Evan’s godmother.  I can’t imagine my life without her in it..she is just the best…no other way to describe her, just the best. 

So Evan and I were honored to help her celebrate her special day by being in her wedding.  I was a bridesmaid and Evan was the ring bearer.  We had a great time and I am so happy for her.  She was the the most beautiful bride and she was so happy that day.  I always told her if she was happy, I was happy and she just glowed with happiness last Saturday. 

So here are some pictures of my Best Friend’s Wedding.

Evan in his ring bearer outfit…so cute.

My handsome Mr. Man

 

 

 

 

 

The Gerke Family

Me, Crystal, Lisa, Kelly (The Girls)

5  months old

Amazing….Mr. Man is 5 months old!!

Here are his stats the best we could figure them since he didn’t have a well check this month.  We’ll get a better idea next month when he has his 6 month visit!

Weight:  15-16 pounds…the scale wasn’t cooperating.

Length:  26-27 inches….the baby wasn’t cooperating.

And here’s his latest pic with Amos.