...And So On...: Summer Fun!

Well, I suppose it's been long enough since my last post that I must acknowledge the elephant in the room...that's right, Katie's pregnant! (Let me clarify that there is no correlation between the chosen animal and my pregnant wife, it's a common phrase and nothing more). She's about 14 weeks along. We're pretty sure it's a girl, just based on how brutal she was during the first trimester (whereas Daniel was not). She has actually been doing quite well of late. She experienced some pretty intense sickiness and tiredness in the first trimester, but we are moving past that at this point.

Baby #2 is about, again, about 14 weeks along. According to our weekly updates, it is kicking around a bunch already, although it's hard to feel at this point, BUT, Katie said she already felt it move once. What a good baby. This'll be quite the journey. Lots of people say that going from none to 1 is tough, but 1 to 2 is much harder. I say..."challenge accepted". Mainly because we don't have a choice now. Daniel has really grown up quite a bit (literally...he can actually reach light switches now without a step stool) in that he is a super helpful little dude. He helps do the dishes, clean up, put things away, and when he plays with other kids (some of the time) he's getting better at being a sweet lil' guy. Kate's due date is about mid-December, so he'll be quite a bit older by then. We're hoping he'll have his license so he can help with driving duty, but stupid Nebraska state laws will probably hold him back...

Strong opinions for a toddler.

Other happenings in the last month? I finished my 10K. If I died, then I'm living the exact same afterlife as my previous life, I'm going to assume I survived. It was tough, but I wasn't passed in the last mile and had my personal best. That was a big deal for me. I also completed the Warrior Dash with my bro-in-law, Queño. That was ridiculous as the rain left the course barely runable, but it's one of those things we'll look on as old men as a fond memory of mud-caking and falling. School has finished and Katie is preparing for her new year in a new school district. Again, she'll be working in Papillion now and teaching at Trumble Park. She's very excited to have her own building and to teach more levels. I'm in marching band mode and writing drill to make my band look like eagles, flowers, and such (actually, they look more like fallen necklaces and occasional parallelograms).

Last leg of the Papio 10k. It was raining.

This was following the Warrior Dash. I found mud in my ears two days later. AFTER showering twice.

We've also welcomed two new folks into the Elsasser family. Kate's brother, Brian and his wife, Danielle, had their awesome little boy, Brycen and her other brother, Rick and HIS wife Jackie had Eden about a month later. The plan is to have enough kids to make yard-work unnecessary in our own generation. I know Daniel has to work on operating the weed-whacker though, but we'll get there (Disclaimer: I do NOT let Daniel use any yard tools except maybe an empty bucket).

Babysitting Baby Brycen. Daniel was being quite helpful.

This is at the hospital where Eden was delivered...so...I don't have any pics of Eden yet.

We've done some zoo fun, I traveled to Chicago with my band, saw some baseball games, played outside, went camping, had some family get togethers and many, many other happenings, but most of you have probably stopped reading by now, so here's some pictures!