Where have I been?

It all started back in September... I'm now 15 weeks, due June 6.
Then there was Spoon River in October...

Picking out gourds...

On the way home...

A day at the zoo with Ali and James - Clark's playgroup buddies!

He's got a bit of a crush on Ali. Always has. This was her first advance toward him - she held out her hand for him to hold. He was beside himself.

At the pumpkin patch - Clark picked out a 37 lb. pumpkin. I thought the 8 lb pumpkins looked good, but he tends to think like his dad.

Jason got to pick out the costume this year for Clark. Of course he chose He-Man. Doesn't he realize what a mess it is to sew faux fur - of course not. I have to admit that Clark was one cute He-Man though!

He loved the whole experience of trick or treating too! Who wouldn't?

I love this picture of James, Ali and Clark at McDonald's!

Clark playing in the leaves - he doesn't like them. I couldn't get him to smile for the life of me. So we'll pretend this action shot is actually him having a great time.

The New Zoo aka: Lincoln Park Zoo. Clark loves to talk about the bear sleeping in the log and the chimpanzees. You know, the old zoo doesn't have those things.

Ali and James have a membership to the Shedd Aquarium and took us for a fun day! Clark loved dressing up in the penguin costume, climbing up the penguin rocks, and sliding down the icy slopes!

Merry Christmas Chicago style! Kristkindlmarket - yummy potato pancakes!

Lunch at the Walnut Room at Macy's on State St. (it will always be Marshall Field's though). Here's Josh getting a wish granted by the Snow Princess.

Dinner at Lawry's with the carolers - Dave even gave an impromptu performance singing part of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

And there are no pictures for the main reason I've been MIA. Jason would kill me if I took any pictures of him in the hospital. It all started 11.10. Jason started feeling really sick on the way home from Michigan. We thought it was the flu, so he rested for the weekend. Monday came and he still felt horrible, so I took him to Immediate Care. They sent him home telling him he had the stomach flu. Tuesday morning he woke up at 2 AM and said we had to go to the hospital. We went to the ER, and after 9 hours of tests and waiting, a possible gall bladder surgery, and more waiting, he was sent home with some antibiotics to treat pneumonia. He wasn't getting any better, so on Friday, we decided he needed to see the doctor again. The doctor sent him for a chest x-ray. The x-ray came back worse than the one he had on Tuesday, so they admitted him to the hospital. By the next day, the pulmonologist decided to move him to the ICU. He stayed there for a couple of days - not improving. Finally, on Monday, they decided that surgery would be necessary to get rid of the infection around his lung. Fluid had developed inbetween his lung and the lining of the lung. This fluid then turned to gel. During the surgery, they would spread his ribs and scoop out all the gel from around his lung and give his lung a nice wash. Surgery was scheduled for Tuesday...all went well, and the pneumonia started improving almost instantly. He was in pain from the surgery, but breathing was not quite as labored. He spent Thanksgiving in the hospital and ate Cheerios for dinner. His mom brought him some Thanksgiving dinner, but he just didn't have much of an appetite. Friday night he was sent home to recover for the next 6-8 weeks. He's been home 2 weeks now and is doing much better. He's up and walking around and managing his pain pretty well. I'm kind of excited that we'll all be home for the holidays together. Surely this will be a holiday season we'll never forget (and never want to repeat)!!
The best part of all of this was the outpouring of love that I felt from family and friends all over the world. I was lifted up by all of the well wishes and prayers that were said on behalf of Jason and our family. All of the emails, facebook messages, blog comments, phone calls and visits comforted and strengthened me. Thank you so much!!