Well, despite my best intentions this blog has been much neglected the past few months. The goal for 2008 is to update twice a month. Please, help me be accountable for that!!! I'm going to play "catch-up" by starting with the most recent news & photos, then I'll put together some highlights from the end of 2007.
Current news you may or may not have heard:
We are expecting Baby Beer #2 sometime around June 26! No, we don't know if it's a boy or a girl. Yes, we are planning on finding out before birth. I am feeling great - so far this has been another easy pregnancy. The main difference is instead of being busy with school, job hunting & learning how to be a nurse like when we were expecting Patrick now I'm mostly just busy with Patrick!
Bill has been accepted to "flight school" to learn how to be a doctor for the pilots & related personnel for the Navy/Marine Corps. It will be a lot of occupational health related work. o, he won't get his pilot's license, but he will get some flight time in some of the helicopters and fighter jets. (He's pretty excited. I'm excited that he's excited, but I'm also a little nervous about the flying. I told him he better pay really close attention to any and all safety instructions.) We will be moving to Pensacola, FL for the 6 months of training, we are waiting to find out when (July, Sept or Nov 2008).
January has been a relaxing month. Bill has had relatively easy rotations with "clinic/office hours" - which means we get to see him in the evenings and on the weekends, and he's awake! Patrick has enjoyed having dad around regularly to play with. Should I mention the January weather? It's beautiful! Whenever we're outside with the sun shining, blue sky and lightweight jackets on I have to remind myself that this is really January - no snow, no freezing temperatures. I can't say that I'm missing the snow this year, it's a nice break from shoveling. We have had more rain lately than is typical for San Diego, but afterwards the sun starts shining and the sky is blue again. Southern Californians are totally spoiled!
Bill's dad and sister visited last weekend & we got to catch up and bum around San Diego. We spent a beautiful morning at the beach on Coronado Island. Christina got to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time and even found a live sand dollar that we were all fascinated watching!
Chris, Bill, Patrick & Christina at the beach.
Patrick & Bill had fun splashing in the surf - until Patrick tripped and got completely drenched! 
We enjoyed a day at the world famous San Diego Zoo.
Christina helped Patrick practice riding his tricycle outside our apartment.
On Sunday, after Chris & Christina left, Patrick escaped from his crib! We put him in his crib for an afternoon nap he did not want to take and a few minutes later we heard his box of wooden
building blocks being dumped onto the floor. So, in an effort to avoid potential emergency room visits from crash landings, we took one side off of his crib, lined the floor with pillows and are working on the transition to his "toddler bed." Bedtime definitely takes longer now, but the transition is going relatively well (depends on which day you ask me.) He goes to bed more easily for Dad than Mom, it will be interesting for me when Bill is not around at bedtime next week! The bigger dilemma at the moment is naptime - he will not stay in his bed unless he falls asleep in the car on our way home from a busy morning at the park, etc. So I'm also trying to figure out what our new "naptime" routine will be. I'm leaning towards quiet playtime in his room whether or not he falls asleep. Time will tell!
The more time I spend at home with Patrick, the more I am learning to appreciate the role of "mom" and how constant & exhausting it can be. So here's a big thumbs up to all the hardworking parents I know, especially my own!
