All sorts of updates!

So much going on and I need to update my blog.

First and foremost:

Yep, as the picture indicates, we're expecting baby number 2!! It's a boy and due January 11th, the 6 year anniversary of our first date. Being in the higher risk group for pregnancies, insurance covers a blood test which determines the chromosomal normality of a baby and, if desired, the sex. So we know we are having a healthy baby boy!!

I'm not sure about my grandfather's family, but my dad had THREE older sisters and he was the last sibling. I have TWO older sisters and am the last sibling. Our little boy will have ONE older sibling and, most likely, will be the youngest sibling. Trends!!!

Marissa continues to do awesomely, learning things, repeating words, trying different types of foods. She's just a dear! Here are some pics from one of her favorite parks down at Roscoe and the lake.

And here she is at her first Gay Pride parade at Cornelia and Halsted. We didn't stay long, it was a little warm and we had grocery shopping to do, but she got an idea of the crowd and people marching.  

Monday night, just as we started to head to bed, the skies opened up and 2.6" of rain fell in about 45 minutes. Unfortunately, the city drains were not yet prepared for that amount of rain and in came the water. It started a little slowly and then came rushing in as all the sewers backed up the drains into the house. I was doing everything I could to keep the water out of the condo, but there was little I could actually do.  The sheer amount of water was overwhelming. Fortunately, the rain slowed just before the rain breached our "levees" installed by Manual Labor Mike and we escaped without only wet boots and one wet towel.  I used the shopvac on the boiler room in one low graded corner, but was able to sweep out the rest of the water or sweep it to the nearest drain. Before going to bed, it was sort of a nice feeling to know that we took Mother Nature's best shot in some time and won.  Whew, it was close though.

 And a video of our boy's heartbeat, not the first time we've heard it, but only the second. Good stuff!