So Proud

Today Katy and I had a dentist appointment, so she stayed home with me while Caleb went to school. We spent some time doing some cleaning and laundry, and Katy was excited to be my helper. (I know, I know. Enjoy while it lasts!) The best moment of the day was after I told her how glad I was to have such a good helper. She walked up to me and said, "What can I do next?" I was so impressed I stopped what I was doing and gave her a big hug. Such a wonderful moment, and I want to record it here.

Also, while I'm actually blogging for once, I'd best take a crack at the Random Dozen.



1. Are you pleasant when you're ill, or are you a grumpy, fussy patient?
While I would not say pleasant, fussy doesn't fit either. If I'm really sick, I just want to be withdrawn and free of responsibility.

2. When you find out that school is canceled (due to inclement weather) what is your gut reaction?
"Sweet mother of pearl! Another day off!"

3. What is one domestic skill you wish you could improve?
Desire and ability to cook.

4. Do you decorate your home for Valentine's Day?
No, because it would clash with the Christmas decorations. Yeah, that's right. I said Christmas decorations. Don't judge. :)

5. What song is on your mind today?
The Wonderpets theme song. Very sad.

6. Do you prefer contemporary movies or classic?
I like movies. Pretty much all of them if the content is clean.

7. How well do you "compartmentalize" your feelings? For example, how well can you put aside a really trying moment to deal with the immediate situation which is not related to the trying moment, e.g., putting aside a tiff with your spouse in order to finish wallpapering a room.
Well, I don't know exactly. I'd rather deal with the feelings right away, I suppose. Mine tend to get more intense if they're ignored.

8. What is the first thing that attracted you to your spouse? (Or if you're single, to your best friend.)
Frequent smiling, which happened to show off his dimples. Sigh.

9. When was the last time your heart raced?
It always starts pounding away as my doctor searches for the baby's heartbeat at each appointment. This will, I'm sure, lessen as I'm feeling him move more and more, but it always makes me catch my breath.

Oh yeah. We're having a baby boy. :)



10. What are your memories of Valentine's Day at school?
I liked addressing all the cards and envelopes, delivering them... Candy was also appreciated.

11. If you were going to receive candy for Valentine's Day, which would you prefer?
Heart-shaped Peppermint Patties

12. Red or pink?
Red all the way.

Blink

Katy and I have a joke that makes her laugh. I once told her that every time I blink, she grows a little more. Now she tries to get me to blink, then stretches out a little so she's "taller."

It's heart-breaking.

The other day I blinked again -- dagnabbit -- and she hit another milestone: her first haircut.

Winding Down

The school year is winding down. I always look forward to the last few weeks of school, mostly for the same reason kids do -- summer break is on its way! Here are some things we've been up to, using bullets out of necessity for my brain.

• Girls Only Trip to Cleveland. My brother Nate had surgery on May 1st at The Cleveland Clinic. Katy and I left the boys at home and took off to give Mamaw and Poppy and Nate some support. The day of surgery was the longest, so Katy took some pictures to document the day. You'll see a pic of her rolling her new "fun bag," a present from Mamaw and Poppy to help pass the time. There's also a pic of her riding the shuttle bus with Poppy and loving every minute.

• LCS Carnival. Our school had a carnival on Friday night, which is usually Cole Family Dinner night, but they were gracious and let us skip. :) We came home with full tummies, two balloons, five bracelets, two plastic snakes, and one not-so-plastic goldfish. Bummer on that last one, by the way. It's nice to have such a great place to work AND send my kids to school. Great job, PTO.
• 
  
• 

• Caleb's noggin is doing just fine. He had a follow-up scan the week after his fall, and things look great. I would swear that he is constantly on a quest to see how many times he can end up in the ER before he is off our insurance, but so far his post-fractured-skull efforts have been in vain. THANK YOU, JESUS!

• Katy has been very keen on being all done up, so tonight after her bath we had pedi time. Here are the lover-ly results. The second pic is what I got when I asked her not to have "scrunchy eyes" when I take a picture. Hmmm... On second thought, maybe scrunchy is better...
  

• 

Where We've Been...

My gracious, it's been a while since I could sit down and write, what with the meteor crashing through our roof and all.

Nope. Lemme try again.

My goodness, it's been a while since I could sit down and write, what with solving the global economic crisis and all.

That's not it either.

Shoot! I'm spending WAY too much time on facebook. Ah. That smacks of the truth.

Here are some update snippets from the last 6 weeks.
Caleb had another dr check up. Things look great. One more appt in June to check and make sure his leg is actually growing. In other news, he had his speech evaluated because he seems to be behind in that area. He's almost two and is still using monosyllabic speech. It was so neat to see the ladies who were evaluating him play all sorts of purposeful games to check him. They agreed that he is behind and gave us some tips to help him out. He was at-level or advanced in every other area of development. I'll let you know an update after a meeting we have about him on Thursday.

Stephen is doing well. He's getting excited about planning our trip to Ireland in June. It's vastly different than the Mediterranean trip we had in mind, but it will still be great.

Deven is figuring things out. With the change in job hours, I'm not feeling much like a teacher any more. I've been dragging my feet on getting the coffee shop in order because I feel like I'm giving up on teaching by doing something else. I really think I was experiencing a mild depression over it, but it's been better since I talked about it with Stephen. So, as I tell my students, onward and forward.

Katy is enjoying school, as always. She's learning how to write her name and several numbers. She's absolutely adorable with her best friend, Elise, and she brings home lots of papers for us to put on the fridge.

Family News - We have had a couple of interesting family experiences. We were so glad to be able to visit with our friends, the Fannins, in Ohio. Bekah is a year older than Katy, and Sarah is the same age as Caleb. They have another girl, Leah, on the way, but we don't have one to match yet. :) We were passing on some baby items and took in the Armstrong Air and Space museum while we were there. During lunch, Katy went to the bathroom about 47 times. At the museum, she only went once, but she chose the moment when we were at the farthest point from the bathroom to announce her need. UGH. :) It was great to see them for a bit, and hopefully we'll get to meet Leah soon.

In other family news, I single-handedly thwarted any bit of happiness for my parent's 30th anniversary dinner. Oh yeah, I'm THAT good.

It all started when Dad invited us to join them for dinner on Monday night to celebrate, possibly forgetting that I lead a Bible study on Monday nights. As he was explaining the details to me, I let him know that there was a lot of background noise and that I couldn't hear him all that well, but I got that dinner was at Texas Roadhouse at 6:15. I spent Monday afternoon calling around to the church ladies canceling Bible study, hoping that I got in touch with everyone who had planned on attending. We left just on time to head for Muncie and Roadhouse. About halfway there, I realized that we had forgotten Caleb's diaper bag. UGH! But no worries. There were stores in Muncie if we needed them. We got into the parking lot, woke up the kiddos, and were delighted to discover that not only were we there on KIDS' NIGHT, but that we were on time, having beaten Mom and Dad. HA.

Once in the waiting area, Katy was a little grouchy about having anything cool done to her, like having her face painted. My dad called just as she needed to go to the bathroom (shocking, I know), so Stephen took her, leaving me with a crying Caleb ("Daaaaaaaaaaaddy!"). Dad just wanted to check where we were and, I thought, probably have us put our names in since we arrived first. I told him we were there, and he told me that they were in the waiting area. "WHAT!?! We're in the waiting area, and I don't see you." As it would turn out, part of the conversation I missed was that instead of our usual eating in Muncie, we were going to eat in Kokomo, which is more of a halfway between our two cities. This was one of those moments where I had a combination feeling of "Earth, please open and swallow me" with a healthy side of "sinking heart." Seeing as how it was already 6:15 and the two locations are 1 hr and 19 min apart according to Google, we decided to eat where we were and meet for dessert. Oh my.

For a month's investment in pictures, see below!

Toofers

I went to the dentist today. Usually no cause for fanfare, it was special today. I took Katy with me so she could see what the dentist was all about. Last night, I let her know about the planned "field trip," and she was excited. I picked her up from school, and we were off! She was so excited in the waiting room. Our imaginative play was entertaining for the rest of the people who DIDN'T bring a 3 yr old to keep things interesting. She watched my cleaning very carefully, definitely expecting to have her turn in the chair no matter how I tried to convince her that she might not get in on the action this time. I should have known that no one, not even Jennifer the Hygienist, could resist ol' Blue Eyes.

Sinatra? No.

Swan.

Katy Swan.

It's finally HER turn!


Open wide!


Scrub-a dub dub


Mr. Slurpee, her favorite part

Kiddos

Today was a great day. It was an ordinary, great day. I believe tonight was the first time Caleb has had the chance to paint. I have to say that there are some things I don't want him to do because he's crazy. I was trying to teach him to use scissors, and when I wasn't looking, he nearly cut his finger.

Yikes.

Let me say that again. YIKES!!

So when Katy wanted to paint after supper tonight, I said yes, hoping Caleb wouldn't be interested. Or perhaps he WOULD enjoy painting. (Drat, said the mom.) I walked into the other room to take care of a simple task, and this is what I found upon returning:


So far, so good....





Uh oh.




Oh deary dear. That'll need a bath.

Looks like he had a GREAT time. :)

Recent Pics

Sometimes I don't get around to sharing our family pics because they sit on the camera for a while. Here are some of the recent happenings.


Barb in Peds @ MGH, one of Caleb's nurses


The kids and I just hanging out. I think it was one of those super-cold days, so we were in hibernation mode.


Nate finally got to come stay with us. He was supposed to on the night that Caleb went in for emergency surgery, so this had been in the works for a while. Nate was taking a catnap on the couch, and Caleb saw fit to share his naptime essentials.


Her royal highness, the Princess Cinderella-Katy, dressing up for LCS Homecoming Week on Disney Character Day.

Looking Forward to Christmas

I LOVE having kids this time of year. I am looking forward to helping my kiddos learn why we celebrate Christmas. We have a large tree up in the front room, and a tabletop tree in the kids room. (LORD -- please protect my ornaments!!) It was quite the treat to decorate the tree with Katy because each ornament was new again, and it was as if each one was a present for her. We let them put up ornaments that are theirs, like the "Baby's First Christmas" etc. Each time I handed one to her, I got this huge response: "Thaaaaaaank you, Mommy! This is goooooooooooorgeous!" (Yeah -- she's only three.) So it's been super fun.

Caleb-boy has been adjusting well to life outside the crib. He usually wakes up with 10 books in his bed, body out from under the covers. He is normally a very light sleeper, but every once in a while he just doesn't wake up when I open the door. Here's a picture of how I found him the other day.

What a cutie!

Good Grief

So many funny things have happened, and I'm pretty sure I won't remember but a fraction to share with you. However, in my opinion it is much better to share one or two funny things than none at all, so here you are.

#1 - Aggravation
Last week, I was working hard to get a handle on my family's laundry emergency. Being gone for a week and then the start of school had put me behind my oh-so-efficient summer schedule of one load per day. Lots of the washing time was spent on the kiddos. Katy was having trouble staying dry at preschool (ARGH!), so she was going through at least two sets of clothes per day. Other washing time was spent on the overflowing towel hamper from the bathroom. That left precious little time for the overly-stuffed Deven/Stephen hamper, particularly the "darks" one. I did manage to get all the ones off the floor as well as make a tiny dent in the top of the official hamper load. After working so hard, I didn't want the little progress I had created into the authentic hampered laundry to be thwarted, so instead of putting the night's dirty clothes in the hamper, I made a small pile outside the closet door. No, you're not hallucinating. I said I didn't want to make it seem like I had done nothing, so I made a pile of clothes OUTSIDE of the hamper.

--Sighs and shakes head at self--

All was going well with my delusional world until Stephen came to bed. I debated whether or not to ask him to follow suit and join the pile. !!! What!?! How can I ask my husband NOT to put his clothes in the hamper, something that would normally make my heart leap out of my chest with joy? (Am I right, house-cleaners?) So I said nothing. He filled in my divoted laundry hamper. I was secretly crushed/aggravated, and I fumed for a little bit, but it was just so funny I couldn't keep it to myself and told him the whole story. We laughed together at my illogical quirks. :)

#2 - I STINK
I was helping Katy get ready for school one morning, leaning in close to help her put on her pants. She looked up at me with her sweet blue eyes and said, "Mommy, you stink."

!!!

I replied, "Katy, it hurts Mommy's feelings that you said that."

"OK," she replied, and in attempt to smooth over past wrongs told me, "Mommy, you smell not-nice. Would you please take a shower?"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Thanks," I said. "That was very polite." :)

I figured out later that I hadn't brushed my teeth yet, so after I took care of that, I leaned in close and asked, "Do I smell good now?" She took a long sniff and pronounced her judgement: "Yep!"

Oh, dear girl. How long will it be before she begins hide her thoughts? I'll miss moments like this one.

Silly Girl

My mom has been waiting for me to blog about this one...

Mom and Nate were here visiting on the way up to Wabash after a doctor's appointment. The other day, Katy was doing something that required a little discipline. I don't remember what it was, but I gave her a spanking. As she walked away from me, not crying, she turned around and said, "Good spanking, Momma."

I said, "Thank you."

My momma was shaking with silent laughter, bent over double in an effort not to let Katy see her laughing. :) It was a great family moment. Of course, Nathan (who has a little trouble keeping pace with some conversations) missed the whole thing.

Ch-ch-ch-CHANGES

I've been writing this since Feb. 17th. Sad, isn't it, how I can't even finish posting before I have to move on to something else? Anyway, you need to read a few things as they were written a couple of weeks ago...

It's been a big week here en la Casa Swan.

#1 - Last Saturday, I took Katy and Caleb to Muncie. While we were away, Stephen moved Caleb's crib into Katy's room, making the New and Improved KID ROOM! We were very excited not to have to roll Caleb out into the den/office every night, but our excitement may not have spread to the entire family. When we got home, I showed Katy the new setup, and she said nothing. She played around for a while, both in the room and out. Later, as I was working in the living room, I heard some thuds and thumps coming from Katy's room -- whoops! I should say, "the KIDS' room." Anyway, the thuds were the sounds of the crib hitting the door posts as Katy said, "Caleb, look what I've got for you!" I told her that Caleb was going to sleep in her room now. She wasn't fond of the idea at first, but she loves it now.

#2 - I attempted my first haircut on Caleb. I am pleased at how it looks, even though I would like to trim some more, and I am pleased that he didn't lose an ear or finger in the process. He tried to turn and grab the scissors a couple of time, but he didn't get them.

.........................................................................
Ok. Back to real time.
The sleep thing is still going well, and Caleb's hair looks fab. :)

#3 - I have finally hit the "10 Pounds Lost" mark, and I would not like to find those pounds again. :) I definitely am feeling healthier, but I hope to be able to do a little more walking etc. when the weather turns nicer. I have also lost about 4 inches according to the measurements that Curves takes. Unfortunately,

#4 - This is a big one. I am about 10 days away from being finished with the required courses for my master's degree. Originally, I had planned to be completely done at this point, electives included, but originally I didn't plan on having Caleb, so those electives will wait till this summer. I should be graduating in August. Hooray! On the downside, I'm having trouble justifying the expense of getting my degree while only working part-time. It's something I'll have to be thinking about as I consider job opportunities for the fall.

#5 - We have officially entered the cool group known as PTPs, or "Potty Training Parents." If you've been through it, please pray for us. If you haven't, count yourself lucky. :) Actually, Katy's doing pretty well. After changing two years of diapers, having her go in the toilet is a grand and glorious thing.

Well, it's time to pay some bills, so off I go.

Deja Vu All Over Again and Birthday Girl

My dad just sent me this comparison picture of my Caleb-boy on the left and Daddy on the right at about the same age. Talk about resemblance!


Katy's birthday party is tomorrow, so I'll have to post some pictures and such after it's over. I'll tell you a secret if you promise not to say anything. Promise? Ok. She's getting a little tricycle from Mommy and Daddy. And clothes, but those aren't as fun. :P

A Visit with Mamaw

School starts very soon. My mother, wise woman that she is, wanted to take Katy on a special outing since getting out will be much more difficult this year with Katy AND Caleb. She graciously allowed me to accompany them with Caleb on a trip to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. After some delays (including a hungry baby), we made it to the museum at about 12. Mom decided to get a Grandparent + 2 membership for the year, so we could come back as often as we wanted without having to feel like we "got our money's worth" out of each visit. We started in the lower level with the Chihuly art glass exhibit. They have a reclining, revolving seat for viewing the glass in the ceiling. Katy didn't seem too fond of that idea. :)

We also saw the train exhibit, an aquarium display, and a dinosaur area. Katy was a bit confused, thinking that if we left the lower level, we were leaving the museum. Additionally, we were running into naptime, so resistance was high. We took her up to Level 2 for the Passport to the World section. She hugged an elephant and saw what she would look like if she was dressed in traditional Norwegian clothes. I think she makes a cute little Norwegian.

After Level 2, we hit the Playscape, an area designed for kids 5 and under. Katy loved the kid-sized world, spending time in the water area, the sand pit, the playhouse, and mowing the fake grass.

Last highlight of the day was the carousel ride. We had to stand in line through two cycles till it was our turn. To keep Katy occupied, I put her up on my shoulders and danced as the music played. She pulled my hair out of the ponytail and swirled her hands in it. I looked awful, but it kept her entertained. I am ashamed to admit that I purposefully ignored the rules and tried to get Katy on a jumping horse instead of the stationary animals. She is supposed to be 3 to ride the jumpers. So we got busted by the carousel 5-0 and got stuck on a giraffe. When the ride started, Katy noticed that the horse in front of her was starting to move up and down. Her eyes slowly looked to her own animal's pole and traveled upward......not moving. She looked at me with slightly sad eyes but didn't say anything. She really enjoyed the rest of the ride and wanted to ride again. Here she is on her giraffe, a lesser mount.
Caleb spent the day alternating between crying and sleeping in the stroller, never for very long. Here he is enjoying some time with Mamaw while Katy plays in the sand.



----------------
Now playing: Walt Whitman & the Soul Children Of Chicago - Allelujah, Praise Jehovah
via FoxyTunes

Holiday World

Our Sunday School class takes an annual trip to Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN. This was our first year to go. After leaving Caleb with Grandma and Grandpa Swan, we left Sunday afternoon. Stephen and I had both heard that it would take about three hours to get there, so we didn't pack a whole lot as far as car activities for Katy....a few books, a couple snacks, and her ubiquitous milk. As it would happen, it's more like 5 or 6 hours away. She was READY to be done in the car.

We stayed at the Jasper Inn, which is great for kids. Stephen spent most of his evening in the big pool while I played with Katy in the kiddie pool. She loved it, but again, we had planned poorly and didn't have toys for her. (I didn't realize that pool time was like bath time and required cups, etc.) Anyway... After swimming, Katy went to bed. We socialized for a little while (ADULT TIME!!), but we turned in earlier than most, excited for the shot at a full night's sleep. Around 3:30, Stephen turned over to face the bed where Katy was sleeping, just in time to see her fall out. Thud. I went over and held her for a bit till she went back to sleep. (Honestly, I don't think she'd have a problem with falling out if we brought her own pillow. She feels the need to wiggle off of the hotel pillows. Too poofy.) So I was awake for about an hour, afflicted with a slight case of Mommy-panic. I didn't want her to fall out again. But she didn't, so I went back to sleep. Oh well on the full night's sleep. Maybe next year. :)

Day two started with a trip to the hotel's breakfast buffet. Katy had a bit of a meltdown because she had to wait for her milk to be served. She drinks more fluids than most adults I know, so hydration is very important to her. It was all better after SuperDaddy found some grapes for her, though. We ate, then drove the last little bit to Holiday World.

We were a little disconcerted when we saw all the forward-thinking parents who had brought strollers with them. "That would have been a good idea," we said to ourselves. But never fear! Family-friendly Holiday World is equipped to rent strollers and wagons to those who come without. We got a wagon for our girl and headed off to Rudolph's Reindeer Ranch, the section for little kids. Katy loved riding the merry-go-rounds and other rides. The only part she did NOT like at all was the ball pit. She asked to go in, so I put her in. Then she cried, so I took her out. Then she wanted back in, so I put her in. She cried again. Yikes. Time to move on.

After a bit, Stephen saw a ride that he wanted to try. It was the kind where you spin really fast in a circle so that you're stuck to the sides, and then it tilts up. Since I knew Katy wouldn't stay in one place for very long, I told Stephen I'd meet him at the exit and I took her around while he waited for his ride. She wandered around, climbing on and off the curbs and fences. When I thought Stephen might be getting done, I slowly steered her back toward him. However, before we got there, she saw a kiddie ride. I took her around a couple times, but then we kept going to meet up with Daddy. As we walked past, I noticed he wasn't in line anymore, so we planted ourselves at the exit to see him when he came off. The ride started, and Katy was very concerned for her Daddy's safety, especially when the ride started tilting. "No, Daddy, no, Daddy, nooooo!!" When it came to a stop, we waited for Stephen, but he didn't come. I told Katy that he must be on the next one. Nope. Maybe the next one... Nope. After five groups of people had come and gone, I knew something wasn't going according to plan. So I let Katy fall asleep on me, put her down in the wagon, and waited some more. My parents always told me that when you are lost, you should stay in one place. Technically I think Stephen was lost, but I couldn't very well go traipsing around carrying two bags and pulling a sleeping girl. So after my backside fell asleep sitting on the concrete block, I moved to a nearby bench at a crossroads, thinking I'd have a better chance at seeing Stephen there. I waited some more while Katy slept. After almost two hours, I borrowed someone's cell phone to try and call him. I left a message detailing my whereabouts and waited some more.

During this whole waiting process, my inner thoughts were very....negative. Things along the lines of "How hard is it just to WAIT at the EXIT?!?" and "Boy, when he finds us, he's gonna pay!" were swarming in my head. However, when I saw Stephen finally coming up the hill toward us, I was more relieved than anything. I can only imagine what it must be like to lose a child in a place like that. As it turned out, Stephen had gotten through with his ride, and we still weren't back. So he noticed that a nearby ride had a short line and went on it. When we still weren't back, he figured we had gone on to the water park. After looking EVERYWHERE, checking everyone's wagon to see if it was ours, he got my phone message. Unfortunately, the part that told him WHERE we were waiting got garbled. So he kept looking and eventually found us. He never heard the part about us waiting by the exit. (Argh.)

After a few minutes of reunited bliss, Katy woke up, so we went to the water park. We got changed and sunscreened, prepared for hours of cool water. Stephen and I rode the lazy river, and Katy rode on me. :) She somehow missed the memo that she might get wet on a water ride, but she was used to a little splashing by the 5th time around. There was an area just for little kiddos where we spent the rest of the afternoon. All in all, a great day. Enjoy some pictures....

Katelyn Grace

Well, we finally have had the ultrasound. We introduce to you Katelyn Grace. Hopefully, I can get a short video uploaded as well.

Baby's Heartbeat

We had another doctor's appt for Deven. We have been able to see the heartbeat before, but this is the first time we could hear it as well!! For your listening pleasure, I present: Baby Swan's heartbeat

Baby Room

It is amazing what guests can do to a person's house. About a month ago or so we had a house with a ugly guest room and a couple of very small closets. Now we have the beginnings of a beautiful baby room that is slightly smaller with a wood floor and a walk-in closet for our bedroom. We haven't quite started all the decorating but I'll post pictures when I'm all done.

Jaxnoth

A little late but better than never... new blob pictures!! You can actually see little arms and legs now.