Sorry to be SO laboriously slow in getting around to referencing our existence for the month of October. (At least I've only overshot by a few days!) We've been somewhat swamped with life- Andy and I are both busily working and studying at our respective graduate endeavors and Drew has settled well into the routine of spending time each week with Grams (aka Carla) and Grandma & Peppa Owl (aka Rudi and Al). We're certainly keeping busy though which makes the time fly- before we know it we'll have a family of four, and then Andy will graduate, and then I'll probably still be writing my dissertation for years

We've also had a couple of early bouts of illness but are hoping that means that we'll all be healthy all winter long! Drew and I waited last week in the crazy line at the county vaccination clinic held by the CDC to get our H1N1 vaccines, so we are now protected (after he gets his second dose, at least). That was a CRAZY experience- reminded me of all of the out there sci-fi scenarios one could imagine depicting people in an epidemic trying to save themselves and their children (minus the screaming and tears and throwing of one's baby into the arms of strangers, etc). I think maybe this was just my imagination running wild- it was all quite orderly and friendly, but the sight of thousands of people standing in a line that wrapped around a county park, committed to a minimum 5 hour wait, was quite intense and made me almost feel guilty for getting to go to the front of the line for being pregnant and getting out of there in a mere two and a half hours! (Almost guilty... but not really.)

I am also THRILLED to report that I'm about 1 week into my second trimester with pregnancy numero dos and the nausea seems to have almost completely abated in the past week or so, making me a much happier and more pleasant person to be around. I'm still exhausted, what with trying to grow a human, chase after the little one I've already got, attend school full-time, commute to Irvine each week, etc etc etc, but feeling awesome that things have at least thus far proven to be much less sickening than they were with Drew, and quite encouraged at this recent change for the better. (Now I'm just crossing my fingers for no hormone-induced migraines this time around!)

I've uploaded photos from October (other than Halloween weekend, which will be added soon as a separate folder since there are a bunch) including our trip to the LA county fair, Sukkot, and lots of playing around at home- click here to check them out. One of my favorites from a bout of "playing ghost" in preparation for Halloween: