Enjoying the Cold Weather!

December is zooming by so I thought I had better get a post out before the new year starts. We've been having a great holiday season so far. We started out with a trip to visit Santa and pick out our Christmas tree the first weekend of December. The girls ate a ton of cookies, sat on Santa's lap and we got a gorgeous frazier fir. We were supposed to go to a Christmas party that night but I was too bushed after decorating all day and Scott still wanted to get all his outdoor lights up. He's becoming more and more like Clark Griswald every year!

The next weekend we made a trip downtown to see the holidazzle parade and Macy's 8th floor display of The Nutcracker. We only saw 10 minutes of the parade due to Scott's insistence on taking light rail. But we couldn't find a place to park the car anywhere on Hiawatha so we ended up driving all over and eventually right into downtown and one of the parking ramps there. Fiasco. Then we rushed downstairs of Macy's to grab a bite to eat. I then proceeded to flip the remaining pieces of pizza on the floor that Scott was hoping to finish. We rushed back upstairs in time to see the last 3 floats of the parade. The girls still thought it was pretty cool. Then we saw the nutcracker display which the girls also thought was really cool. After that we did a quick sit on another Santa's lap (I wonder when they'll figure out why all these Santas look so different).

The following weekend we attended our neice McKenna's 3rd b-day party, and went to the Swayne's holiday open house. The result was ingesting a lot of food and feeling stuffed all weekend! But they were both really fun events. Scott's folks came to our house on Sunday afternoon to spend a few days. The girls always love having Grandma and Grandpa over.

The next Monday (just a few days ago) both Scott and I were able to attend Cate's preschool with her to celebrate Jesus b-day. It was really fun to see her in a new environment with all the kids. Those preschool teachers should be paid a million bucks! They really have a knack for keeping these little 3 year olds occupied and in order. Scott took the remainder of the day off (yes, he's FINALLY done with his big project at work) and we just had a really nice family day. Tuesday night (last night) was Cate's preschool Christmas concert. Both sets of Grandparents were here to watch. We served pizza beforehand and managed to completely burn over half of one of the pizzas causing all the smoke detectors to go off and leaving an awful stench in the house. But we still managed to get out the door on time. The concert was so darn cute. There's always the one kid who is belting out the words completely out of time. No, it wasn't Cate, she was dutifully doing all the correct gestures and singing on cue. We all had a great time.

And that brings us to today. Cate and Clare are both on Christmas break from their schools until January. This is the first Wed in months that we didn't have to rush out the door for school. Grandma and Grandpa left this morning and it's just me and the girls. We've been vegging all morning which has been really nice. Christmas is a week away. I have pretty much all my shopping done but have one or two more things to get which I can do this weekend. I feel good about this season. I've managed to keep the stress level low while still doing all the fun Christmas things I've wanted to do.

Baby is doing fine. I'm feeling much better than I did even a month ago which is making a big difference in my attitude towards being pregnant. I know once Christmas is past us, this little one will be knocking on the door, wanting to get out. I guess I should start to get organized for that! But it can wait for now. I've got about a month.

I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas/holiday season. More to come in 2008!

Happy Thanksoween

I was going to title this Happy Hallowgiving but that didn't sound very good. I just wanted to get both the holidays in there since it's been that long. The girls had a great time on Halloween. Cate dressed up as a princess and Clare was a chicken (Cate's leftover outfit from last year). They got loads of candy and had a ball. Scott took them out while I gave out candy. We've done this arrangement every year since Cate was old enough to go out. I wanted to go with them this year but was having too many back troubles so I was forced to stay home yet again. But I had a lot of fun carving and decorating pumpkins with them and getting them all ready to go. Plus I managed to hork down a bunch of candy after they went to bed. : )


On into November we trotted. I had to take a trip to Louisville KY for work - thankfully it will be my last. I've never loved going there and was bummed when I learned that I would have to take one more trip there. But I survived. I counted it out the other day and I have less than 20 days left to work and that's only if I go until my due date. As the day of not working approaches I find myself being less and less worried about staying home and more and more excited. I guess it helps that I'm so sick and tired of the stuff that I've been doing at work that any end in sight is welcome. Thankfully this end is going to be a fabulous new beginning!

Scott's parents came for a visit and were able to attend Cate's preschool with her. Scott and I were finally able to get out on our Anniversary date and I got the baby's room painted an awful shade of green. Seriously, it looked like Kermit the Frog exploded in the room. When I was picking out the color I must have been having a serious pregnant moment. Anyway, it was so nice to have them visit. This is exactly why we were almost as excited as they were to have them retire!

Another bonus of their visit was that was the week Scott started working a ton to prepare for a deadline. He's been working late every night and weekends for 3 weeks now, taking off for Thanksgiving only. It's Sunday today and he went to work right after church today and will likely be working quite late tonight since the final draft is due tomorrow. Then he will probably work late all week to get the final final deadline done by Friday. But hopefully that will be the last of it! I know I should feel bad for him (and I really do) but I feel bad for me too. This single mom thing really sucks! I'm not sure if being pregnant has made me more tired than I normally would be but these nights alone has really taken it out of me. I've never vegged out in front of the TV more in my life. Thankfully, mom came by today so that I could repaint the baby's bedroom a nice light green shade that doesn't make me want to puke.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We spent the day at my mom and dad's. It was great not having to drive far, not having to cook anything and getting to eat all I wanted, which was amazingly a lot given the fact that a human is taking up all my abdominal space. But I couldn't help it with all that good food and PIE! Mmmmmm. Thanks mom!

Next weekend we're getting our tree thanks to Sharla. She so generously has us on her list of "clients" that she gives free trees to. I guess it's not a huge stretch considering she will probably have our business when we actually get around to selling our house. But it's so nice to get a free beautiful tree each year from her (and Coldwell Banker Burnett). Thanks friend!! We'll probably get the lights out on the house and all the decorations out next weekend as well. Saturday night we have our first Christmas party to attend. I'm also in the middle of getting all of our Christmas letters out (but I need to get more ink for my printer first.) So the season is really upon us.

I'll be very lucky to get out another post before the new year is upon us but I will try. Because if I don't get it out then, the next post may be about our newest little family member. It's all gonna go by so fast!

Enjoy the Christmas season. It means so much to me and if it doesn't to you, then what are you celebrating for??!

Refreshed

I just got back from our annual girls' trip to Chicago yesterday. We had a great time shopping and eating and.....no that's pretty much it. It was great! It was so nice to go at our own pace and not be dictated by naps or cranky toddlers or anything. And to make it extra special, our friend Gwen joined us this year. She's always a breath of fresh air and so fun to have around. And you know it was a good trip and just long enough when you are happy to be back home with your family, which I was.

September and October just whizzed by for me. I can't believe it is almost halloween, which means it is almost my anniversary. I can't believe we've been married 5 years. Its gone by super fast. And I can honestly say, I've loved pretty much every minute of it. Don't get me wrong, we have our times when we're kinda sick of each other and get easily annoyed. But having been in a bad marriage before, there is a night and day difference between that one and this one. For instance, I have never once thought, "I hate him" with Scott and, unfortunately I thought that a lot in my first marriage. I'm always excited to see him when I've been away for any length of time. I usually want to include him in everything I do. He really is my best friend. And when I look to the future, it is never with dread as it was with my ex, and instead is filled with joy at having the chance to go through it with this man. And if that weren't enough, he makes such cute kids!!

Okay, enough of the sap. A couple of weeks ago we went through the stomach flu with Cate and Clare. They were sick out both ends for 5 days. I have never done so much laundry in my life! But I guess I should count my blessings. That was our first ever bout of it which is unheard of with an almost 4 year old and 2 year old! But I'm not lining up for more. And I'm so thankful that Scott and I weren't grappling with it as well. That would truly have been a nightmare. Anyway, Grandma and Grandpa Schwake were scheduled to visit during that time and had to reschedule. We had then planned to have them come this week but then Cheryl and Ken's very close friend Judy was found to have brain tumor so this week is out as well as they are awaiting her surgery. We've rescheduled for the middle of November and hopefully it will actually happen. The girls love having them here and I think the feeling is mutual.

The pregnancy is going well. I am definitely going to be on the ginormous side. I already look like I'm due next week. But I'm used to it. The last 3 months of my other two pregnancies I received constant comments from folks asking if I were due in the next couple weeks or the classic, "Are you sure you don't have twins in there?" It doesn't even bother me anymore. I am looking forward to seeing this little bugger. My first two are so different that I'm just really curious to see what this one will be like.

The girls are doing good. Clare had her first trip to urgent care in early October with a split open forehead. Poor thing. She was getting ready for bed, bringing a book back to Daddy to read when she tripped and hit her head on the bedside table. Split it right open. But it stopped bleeding pretty quickly and she stopped crying pretty quickly too. Then she was pretty excited to be leaving the house at bedtime in her PJs while her big sister had to go to bed.
Clare: "We're not going to Target - we're going to the doctor."
Mom: "That's right."
Clare: "We're not going to preschool - we're going to the doctor."
Mom: "Mmm hmm."
And on and on this went all the way to urgent care. She did really well while we were there with minimal crying. They actually glued it instead of stitches. It's healing really nicely too. Then the very next day, she fell off her stool at the island and chipped her front tooth on the granite counter top. Thankfully, it was just the very tip and it's her baby tooth. We were on pins and needles all week waiting for her to have some other major disaster. Thankfully, nothing big since then.

Cate's been loving preschool and Miss Joyce, her teacher. She's super excited to be learning all her letters and how to write them and sign them. She's becoming such a big girl, it's almost scarey! She also seems to be coming down from her drama queen summer. I think she's finally adjusted to the change in schedule, sharing the bedroom with her sister and starting preschool. Hopefully everything will settle into a good routine with both girls by the time the baby comes so that it won't be a huge change on top of a bunch of other huge changes.

We all had some fun a couple of weeks ago when we visited the Carver fire station for their open house and chili feed. They let the kids ride in a truck with the siren on, play with the fire hose and tour the station. It was a fun family day.

My sanity is being slightly restored with the addition of a play area for the girls in the basement. It's been so nice not having toys strewn all over our main floor!! They still need someone to go down with them to get them started but I can usually come back up and they'll play down there by themselves for a while. It's really nice when Scott's down there working and/or I'm down there doing a project - then they are happy as clams the entire time.

That's about it from Schwakeland. Next issue, Halloween '07 - The Princess and the Chicken - at least that's the plan.

Layin low

This baby has some disco fever tonight. Holy cow! But I love it. I love feeling our newest little one moving around in there. In fact, after I had both Cate and Clare, I missed feeling them inside of me. They are so safe and close inside and you feel so out of control when they are outside. We're pretty sure this is our last one so I'm trying to savor every moment. I was having a little trouble doing that a couple weeks ago. I've had sciatica pain my entire pregnancy. For those who don't know what that is, trust me, it sucks. It's a searing back pain that hits you every time your rise from a bent over position. Which, if you're a mom of toddlers, is about every 2 seconds. Well, as I said I've had this pain until a couple of weeks ago. What changed? I stopped taking my nightly walk. I've been trying to walk to keep my weight down on this pregnancy. For the past couple of weeks it's been raining and we've had things going on so I wasn't able to walk. Lo and behold, my back got better. Not completely but significantly. So I've decided to take the next couple of weeks off to hopefully completely heal it. I'm hoping that I can start walking again after that. Although, I may get addicted to every TV program on every night at this rate. I feel like such a slug. But hopefully it's helping.

Scott and I planted a nice Black Hills Spruce this weekend to complete our evergreen screen on the side of our back yard. It looks really great and the best part is how cheaply we got it. I had a 75% off coupon at a local nursery so we got a 7' tree, normally priced at $342 for only $81! It's awesome! Next weekend (or at least one of these weekends) Scott's going to construct some steps down the steep part of our back yard. Should look great when he's all done. Other than that, I think our outside projects will be done for a while. Then I'll sick him on some inside stuff.

Well, I know this is a little short, but I've got a show to watch. See. It's happening already.

Summer's Over

Hi again,
Well, summer is pretty much over. The darkness is coming on earlier and earlier which means there are fewer things that you can do outside after 8:00. Thus, I am ready to get back to blogging. I've actually thought about my little blog many times this summer but just couldn't get myself to come inside before dark to sit down at my computer and post something. There was always plants to water, neighbors to chat with, walks to take and once I did get inside, I'd watch the news and go to bed.

I love fall. I do enjoy the hunkering down feeling that sets in. It makes me want to knit or crochet or something. Which, I've actually taken up (sort of). I got two books from the library on learning to crochet and I've actually accomplished a couple of rows of it. I'm hoping to be able to be good enough to actually make a baby blanket or something since I'll be ginormous in December.

The pregnancy is going really well. I'm currently at 22 weeks. We had our ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and while we didn't find out the sex of the baby, we both came out of it convinced we are having a girl. Because of my age I had a Level II scan which is just more detailed. And they spend more time looking around. So, even though technically I didn't want to know, I thought that if I happened to find out by accident, so be it. Given this was my 3rd child I felt that I knew my way around the ultrasound pictures and this was my best bet at catching a glimpse. I paid extra close attention when they were looking at the bladder area and I didn't see any extra appendages in the area. For Scott's part, he swears he heard the technician say, "Her little toes" at one point. I'm not going off of that too much though because those techs do this all the time and are very unlikely to slip up. But maybe she did. Anyway, I've also had two very distinct girl dreams now so I'm preparing for another female Schwake and trying to come up with a good name. I suppose I should at least ponder a few boy names but I just don't think it's a boy.

We had a great time going up to Hackensack a few times this summer to enjoy Webb Lake with Scott's parents. They have a great gig going up there and we all love hanging out for a weekend of boating, bonfires and playing. The girls love it up there and are always asking to go back. We did send them up there for a long weekend while we stayed at home to get some projects done. I was able to get our master bath painted and also got Clare's room repainted and got all of Cate's stuff moved in there (with TONS of help from Scott).

The girls are now sharing a room and doing pretty well. At first we had them going to bed together at the same time and that was very hard on me. Although they did very well, only chatting for about a half hour or so before going to sleep. But around this time, Cate also decided to stop napping altogether. So we've had her going to bed in our bed and then transferring her when we go up. I just feel like she really needs good nighttime sleep now. We'll switch back to putting her to bed in her own bed in a couple of weeks after she's adjusted to the no nap gig.

Now that it's fall, the girls are in school...preschool for Cate and ECFE for Clare. As a result, I've switched my work days to Tuesday/Thursday/Friday. I don't really mind it during the week but really notice by Monday how much I didn't get done now that I only have 3 days instead of 4, with one of those days taken up with school and gymnastics. We've just completed the 2nd week of it so I'm sure I'll get the hang of it. I actually get a lot done on Wednesdays because I only have one child for 2 hours in the morning (while CAte's at school) and one for 3 hours in the afternoon (while Clare naps). Can't complain.


We were able to make progress on our projects this summer. Scott has finally finished all the structural work for the porch and deck. It is completely functional. Now he only has to put up some trim and it will be finito! We also were able to get the bed of bushes in our back yard to separate the lawn from the wildflower/grass hill. It turned out pretty nice. We just went out today and bought a really nice black hills spruce for our side yard screen at 75% off! Gotta love that. However, it's a huge tree and Scott will need to do some begging of the neighbor guys to help him with it. He calculated that the entire tree and rootball weighed about half a ton! Crimeny!


Well, this post is getting long enough. I guess I'll call it quits tonight. I have lots of long dark nights ahead of me to post anything I missed. But first, I'll leave you with a few very cute sayings/pronunciations from Clare who turned 2 on August 26th. See if you can decipher what she's actually trying to say.

shmarmenos (hint - you roast them)
jagwater (hint - friend of Diego)
glum (hint - chewy)

Adios

Long Time No See

Holy cow! It's been a really long time since I last posted. Warm weather hits and I just don't like to stay inside anymore. We've been having a really good early summer so far. First and foremost, we have some very happy news to share with everyone. We're expecting little Schwake number 3 in January. Scott and I are really happy about it and so was Cate when we told her about it. However, she got a concerned look on her face after a bit and said, "So we won't need Clare anymore?" I assured her that we'd be keeping Clare and that we would now have 3 kids in our family. She seemed pretty happy with that and promptly named the new baby Ducky.

With my last two pregnancies I was fortunate in that I didn't really get sick at all in the first trimester. With this one, I have definitely experienced some queasy days. But over all, it's very controllable and not very bad considering I could be puking 24/7. The other thing I've noticed that's different is that I popped out right away. I already am in some maternity clothes and I'm only 9 weeks along! Quite depressing, considering I have to wear these same clothes for 7 more months.

Other than being tired and queasy, I've been trying to keep pretty busy. We put in some edgers for some new planting beds around the house on Memorial day weekend. They aren't done yet but we should be able to till in the grass and get planting soon. It will look really nice when all is said and done.

We were able to spend a long weekend up at Scott's folks' cabin a couple weekends ago. We all had a great time swimming, boating, fishing and sitting around the fire. And I didn't even freak out very much that the girls got to bed past 10:00 almost every night. We'll be going back up there the week of July 4th. Should be fun.

Some other great news...Dustin and Josie had their baby girl, Kallie Ann (not sure I spelled it right) on June 5th. She came in at over 10 lbs. Poor Josie!! But the positive thing about having a big baby is that they sleep really well! Cate and Clare were excited to have a new cousin and McKenna (Kallie's sister) promptly named her cupcake. And, as with all cute nicknames, they usually stick. That little girl will be called cupcake for years to come, I'm sure.

And for even more great news, we took Attley in for his 3-month post-chemo checkup and they gave him a clean bill of health. Chest X-rays were completely clear of cancer and he's getting around well and processing his pain meds just fine. We're looking forward to a fun summer with him.

That's about it from Schwakeland. Peace out!

Stickerchart Wonderland

Okay, at least one of my strategies for dealing with my "chillins" worked...for one night. I devised a sticker chart for Cate. From what I read, sticker charts are like magic vodoo juice for 3 year olds - they can get them to do anything. So the deal is, if Cate stays in her room all night and doesn't come hover over mommy's drooling dreaming countenance only to have mommy open her eyes to a little face inches from her own which sends her whole body one foot off the bed in 0.2 seconds, then she earns a sticker on her chart. After she gets 5 stickers, she gets to pick out an item from the dollar shelves at Target. I love that 3 year olds can be so easily pacified with cheap foreign-made toys. As we were going to bed, she was very excited about the chart and earning her sticker but I was fairly dubious that she would actually remember. But she did! Either that, or she was so overtired from her previous 2-hr plus awakening the night before that she slept right through. Either way, she earned her sticker. Mommy woke alert and happy and so did she.

Things are going a little better with the Bear as well. I'm giving her more choices which helps her feel a little more power in a house where she's surrounded by very big people and dog. And I've been trying to listen harder to her one-word garbled sentences to try to make out if she's hungry, tired or just plain frustrated. One word I can consistently make out plainly is Candy. She knows what's really important to convey. That's my girl.

Now we head out to Waterloo tomorrow morning. The sleeping thing will be shot as will the power I hold with Candy since grandma and grandpa will give them anything their little hearts desire. But we'll manage somehow.

Plus I get my sewing machine this weekend! Move over Martha!!

Did I Really Say That??

I was just re-reading what I posted a week or so ago and it all sounds so rosy and picture perfect. The last couple of days...not so much. My girls have been giving me a run for my money. Clare has been in a particularly annoying Jekyl and Hyde mode. She's been on a vengence to hit and pull the hair of her sister. She squeals with laughter when I try to be stern with her about it. She broke my brand new $400+ reading glasses while in Target the other day. Yesterday she was particularly touchy - any very slight admonishment I would give her would send her into tears. And randomly she comes up to me and gives me a bunch of sweet kisses. I'm having a tough time figuring her out. But I've got a strategy in place to deal with all these prickly practices of hers.


My eldest dear daughter is still waking up at night. And I foolishly have been taking her back to bed and laying down with her until she goes back to sleep. The original intent was that she would nod back off within 10 minutes or so and I could head back to my own bed. But, for some unknown reason, that doesn't always happen. Last night, for instance, the little minx didn't settle down for about 2 hours. I've devised another strategy to deal with her.

And really, these strategies are to train me to react differently and to actually be a parent rather than going on robot-mom mode. This morning as I struggled to awake and open my eyes on my way to the bathroom after being up with Cate in the night, I pulled out an ovulation predictor test as I sat down to pee. Scott looked at me and jokingly said, "Are you sure you want to do that?" For a minute, I did actually think, "What the heck am I doing?! I can barely handle these two." But the thought passed. My test didn't (maybe God is telling me something here??!!).

On a brighter note, I had a great birthday week. It started off with a fab trip to Arrowwood resort for the Westwood Women's retreat with my friend Paige. We gabbed the entire time up and back and a lot while we were there as well (her more than me - she's way more social than I am). We also met up with a couple of other friends and made it into a fun girls' weekend. Plus, I was totally inspired by the speaker to really set aside time to read my bible and pray. I've been meaning to do it for, oh, 3 years or so. But that was the gentle push I needed to make it a real priority. We got back home late on Saturday night. Sunday was a gorgeous day and I met up with my friends Amy, Sarah and Karyn for a walk and some munchies. Since we've all started co-habitating and 3 of us have had kids, we just don't get together nearly as much as we used to but we are always able to pick right up where we left off and have really good conversations. Tuesday night I went to a happy hour with Teri and Marti which was fun. Wed, we went to dinner at Fuddruckers with the girls. It was so cute. Scott had taken the girls shopping on Tuesday for my birthday. Cate came into the bathroom as I was getting ready on Wed. (my b-day) lugging a huge pair of loppers (gardening implement) that were almost as big as she was. Scott let me know that he did get me the sewing machine. We'll pick it up this weekend when we go to Waterloo. Thursday night was my MOPs night. And on Friday night my parents came over for pizza as we all sat on our deck and enjoyed the beautiful evening. It was a very good birthday week and I barely noticed that I turned 39. Until Sunday, when Sharla reminded me of it repeatedly. I had a great time with her and Nan when we went out for dinner on Sunday night. Action packed week. I think Scott is a little sick of carrying the load so it's good that I don't have anything planned for an entire week now.

As I mentioned earlier, we're heading down to Waterloo on Friday morning to help Scott's parents celebrate their last days at work. Cheryl is done on Friday and Ken is done on Monday. They are very excited and a little nervous about how it will all go. But I think Scott and I may be just a bit more excited than they are. We're looking forward to having them up for extended stays when they can watch the girls and don't have to rush back home to work. We're selfishly hoping to get in some more time together now that we have some willing and free babysitters at our beck and call.

That's all for now, folks. My theme for the next week...Wag more, bark less.

Welcome to Schwakeland

It's official. I'm am a Schwake. Not that I wasn't really before, but now my name has been officially, before a judge, paid for with good cash, changed from Michelle Teresa Guillemette to Michelle Teresa Schwake. I stood in front of the judge this morning, with Scott and my sister-in-law Marie there as my witnesses, to swear that I wasn't changing my name to get out of any bad debt, run from the law or to defraud anything or anyone. Thankfully, he bought it. : )

I see that I haven't updated my blog since March 6th so I will work backwards from this morning on my update. Tuesday night, the 10th, the Guillemettes got together to celebrate my mom, Terry's, 62nd birthday. We went to Lion's Tap for their yummy burgers. Although I guess my mom should fire me as her top (only) daughter because I didn't find out beforehand whether or not they had wine (they didn't). Mom, although technically not a whino, really likes her wine, especially with dinner, preferably boxed. So she had to make do with some pop. I'll have to be sure to check into that little detail next time. Anyway, we had a good time catching up and chowing. Mom is looking forward to her retirement at the end of May. So we were talking about trips we're going to take this summer and finding a way to get her and dad to move up to the cities.

This weekend we traveled down to Waterloo, IA to spend time with Scott's folks, Ken and Cheryl. We spent most of Saturday at a farm just outside of town that had pony rides, baby farm animals, hayrides, an easter egg hunt, and warm cinnamon buns and carmeled apples. The girls had a great time with all the animals and finding the eggs. They were a little leary of the easter bunny but pretty much took him/her in stride. Cate is on a little of the fearful side. I'm hoping its just a stage because I don't want her to always be afraid of things. She wasn't too keen on petting the animals, didn't like the tire swing in the loft of the barn and didn't want to ride the pony (but she did get on it for a little bit). Clare was gung-ho on everything.

Later that day, when the girls (and grandpa) were napping, Scott, Cheryl and I went to look as sewing machines. Yes the excitement never ends for the Schwakes. I had told Scott that I might be interested in a new machine since so many of the clothes that kids wear - espcially the summer ones - would be really cheap and easy to make. And if I had a machine that could do some fancy stitching, I could make them really cute. Well we did find a place that sold them and at a discount too. From the look of the guy selling them, you'd think the store had a side business of selling weed - who knows, maybe they did! The machine's nowadays have little computers in them, thread the needle for you and probably could wipe your butt too! Its crazy. And they aren't cheap. But I have a feeling that Scott will get one for me for my birthday and mother's day. Mostly because then he doesn't have to sprain his brain thinking of what to get me. That evening, grandma and grandpa watched the girls while Scott and I went to an underwhelming and overpriced steak place.

Sunday was Easter with church, a delicious ham dinner and another (more fun) Easter egg hunt for the girls as well as Easter baskets for the both of them. Now we can't get them to stop begging for jelly beans - I guess I'll just have to eat them all...and the chocolate bunnies too.


The week before we went down to Waterloo, Scott went on an ice fishing trip up north with his friend Brad and a bunch of other guys. He needs his times to thump his chest, kill something and scratch. I think he had a great time but he did get lonely for his girls. He was gone a total of 6 days and he called home every other day.

Two weeks before he went fishing we did a bit of puppysitting. We watched John and Val McCain's new 12 week old American Water Spaniel, Kona. She was super cute but very much a puppy. Attley definitely put her in her place a couple of times but toward the end of the week, he was becoming a softy and letting her share his spot on the couch. She was a loveable, sweet puppy, but she definitely reminded me how much work a puppy can be. We won't be getting a new one anytime soon.

Well, I think that pretty much catches us up on what we, the Schwakes, have been up to. Everyone has been doing really well. Cate's been figuring out some sleep issues. She woke up almost every night Scott was gone and came to sleep with me in my bed. After he got back I started taking her back to her bed to sleep, laying with her for a little bit. Thankfully, she's finally getting the hang of getting herself back to sleep quickly (except for last night). Clare is starting to talk up a storm. She can do small 2-word sentences and can understand so much more. She is definitely one who likes to get a laugh. She'll do almost anything to keep us laughing. Attley is on a new "diet" dog food and we're seeing really good results. He's lost almost 5 lbs since he's been on it. Which actually is a little too much too fast. So we need to up his food a bit to slow down his weight loss. But I really think its helping his foot to feel better. He's back to running upstairs to join us for bedtime and has more spunk overall. Scott is starting to work more hours in preparation for the busy summer. Hopefully he won't have to work any all-nighters.

And I am just hangin' in there. I've been thinking a lot about babies and getting pregnant, mostly because we started trying for Schwake number 3 last month. It didn't happen this time which is fine. I am getting older...I turn 39 next week. So it may not happen at all. And that will be fine too. I am absolutely in love with my two little girls so I will never ever feel cheated or that I missed something if we're not able to have another. And this weekend I'm going with my friend, Paige, to the Westwood Women's retreat which will be a nice little getaway. And then next week, it's my birthday week which is always a fun time for me because I usually get to spend time with all of my wide variety of friends and family.

That's all for this month's post. Schwake out!

Highs and Lows

Another month has gone by. I'm getting a bit behind on my blogging. But this fast paced part-time-mom suburban lifestyle is just crazy!! I can hardly keep up! Actually, I'm just lazy. Let's see, what has happened since the last post...

Scott and I took in a very fun Timberwolves game on Valentine's day. They trailed the entire way until the last couple of minutes when they pulled ahead for the win. Very fun. The only thing that would have made that night better was if Clare hadn't gone psycho on the poor 15-yr old sitter. She (Clare) started crying the minute we left and didn't stop until she was put to bed at 7:00 - wouldn't eat dinner, wouldn't let the sitter change her diaper or get near her in any way. Poor Katie (the sitter). And poor Clare. That had to be a little traumatic for her being in the throes of her stranger anxiety stage. She was happy as a clam when we got home and put her in her PJs after giving her a substantial midnight snack. Went right back to sleep too.

A few days after that, Scott and I took a marriage seminar. We (I) try to sign us up for one of these every year or two just to make sure we're on the same page and have a venue for venting any unsaid frustrations. Turns out the seminar was kinda lame. But we came to the conclusion that we don't have any major issues. The only thing we could come up to talk over was our ongoing dispute over the TV and I think we got that one pretty much figured out.

We had a scare with Attley in late February. I was sitting next to him on the couch and noticed that he was really licking his back foot on what is supposed to be his bionic leg. He had licked all the hair off of this one spot and when I went to touch it he licked me a lot which is his way of saying, "Ouch, please don't touch that spot." I thought I felt a lump there but the whole foot/ankle of a dog is very lumpy so I wasn't sure. We tried to get him up and it was obvious he was highly favoring that leg. I was instantly depressed assuming that the cancer was back in a new spot. And since dogs aren't meant to be bimodal, I was convinced that we'd be putting him down towards the end of the week. We took him to the vet the next morning where they took x-rays of his foot and of his lungs. Lungs were still clear but there was definitely some mass near his foot but it didn't look like it was bone swelling. They advised us to bring him in the next day to have a biopsy of the area. I felt so bad for him. If this was going to be his last week on earth, should we really be putting him through the pain and the anxiety of a biopsy?? But, we had to know. So in we went the next morning. The doc who was going to do the biopsy gave him a thorough exam and determined that it wasn't a mass at all. It was just swollen tissue from either a strain/sprain or, more likely, he had plantar fasciatis which is an overuse injury. Relief flooded through me as I realized that he did not have a life threatening cancer on his foot. The doc said a biopsy wasn't needed and recommended that we put Attley on a diet to alleviate the amount of weight that his legs had to bear. Since then, Attley spent a few more days laid up on the couch but then started walking fairly normally. He's pretty much back to normal, has lost maybe a pound (which is like 5 lbs for us) but is still favoring the foot a bit. Hopefully we can get him down another 5-6 lbs which would help out all his joints.

And that brings us to this last weekend. Scott was on top of his game and did all the booking for our ski trip out west. We were all set to fly out on Frontier on Thursday March 1st at 7:45 pm. Yep, that was the big snowstorm day. We were pretty apprehensive as the week started knowing that this big storm was coming. Not only were we worried about not getting a flight out, we weren't sure that Scott's parents would even make it up to watch the girls even if we did get a flight out. Knowing that the weather was going to get started on Wed afternoon, Scott decided to drive down to Waterloo on Tuesday night to get his mom. They drove back up here on Wed morning. So now we had childcare, we set our sights on getting outta dodge! We were fairly certain our late flight would be cancelled so we headed to the airport at 11:00 am in hopes of flying standby on the 2:00 flight. Cancelled. Then our late flight was cancelled. Then they started cancelling Northwest and Continental flights. Over 400 flights were cancelled that day. But miraculously, Sun Country was still flying. We got a refund on our Fronteir flight and bought two tickets for the 5:00 pm flight on Sun Country. We made it out without any problems. Sun Country just gained two new loyal customers!

We made it! We went skiing (Scott boarded) at Loveland on Friday in blizzard-like conditions. The biting wind, zero temperature and extremely low visibility was making us second guess our decision to ski. We prayed for warmer weather the next day and God was good. We skied at Copper mountain under sunny skies, light breezes and beautiful temps. That was about it for me though. My legs were like stumps the next day so I did some shopping while Scott went riding under even more beautiful conditions. It was about 50 degrees at the base of the hill. Gorgeous. We drove back to Denver on Sunday night and were able to meet up with some friends of Scott's from high school, Joe and Robin Hockey and their two kids, Nicholas and Jessica. They took us to this really great Italian buffet, Cinzetti's, where we gorged on all kinds of scrumptious pasta and italian fare. The Hockeys were great company, I felt like I had known them for a long time. Monday we caught our flight back home. Just in time, because we were both missing our little punks. They were a sight for sore eyes. They had just as much fun being spoiled by grandma and grandpa (who showed up on Saturday) as we did playing and eating like grown-ups do.

And that brings us to today. Back at work. Back at cooking and cleaning and blogging. My next big adventure? Painting the bathrooms. Yee Hawww!

Site Seeing

I know, I know. It takes me almost a month to get a new posting on here and then WHAM I post 2 days in a row. I'm crazy like that. But I just came across two mildly interesting sites that can waste a few minutes of time for you. These were sites listed in the Star Tribune today.

http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/namesearch.html

This site allows you to type in your name and see where it ranks in the US (based on 1990 census data).

For another (and cooler) take on the name game check out this site that my dad sent me. Very cool. Just type in a name and click boy/girl/both. It shows the frequency of that name at different times in history.

http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html



http://www.wheredidthetimego.com/

This site is actually for a broadband company in Britain but it asks you to plug in a few stats on yourself and then it tells you how much of your life you've spent doing certain things. Mildly interesting.

Enjoy.

Happy Birthday Cate!!!

I’ve been at this parenting gig for 3 years now. It seems like just yesterday and years ago all at once. Cate was born on groundhog’s day in 2004. I was in labor during Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” at the superbowl. I can remember in vivid detail every moment of that night and morning, all the emotions and thoughts, all the physical sensations. She came into this world by cesarean after 2 hours of pushing couldn’t get her out. Her noggin was too big. The poor girl, to this day, never fits into the cute hats that come with all the outfits. Big head aside, we loved her beyond reason and still do. She is everything I could ever ask for in a little girl. But then so is her sister and they are both completely different. I’m just smitten with my kids. I saw a mom and dad talking today about cell phones and their son, maybe 7 or 8, was playing nearby. The boy came up to mom saying (as all kids do), “Mom. Mom. Mom. Hey mom. Mom. Mom, watch this. Mom.” After about a minute of this from him, his mom finally snaps, “WHAT!? You are being so rude. Mom is talking.” Yeah, that life and death cell phone conversation ranks right up there with the peace talks. I felt so bad for that kid. He just wanted his mom to watch him make a jump, to pay 2 seconds of attention to him, and she had the gall to tell him HE was being rude. Pay attention lady. He’ll be all “growed up” in the blink of an eye. How can you not pay attention to these little people – especially your own little people (because frankly there are some other people’s little people that I wouldn’t mind forgetting). For example, Cate told me her first ever knock-knock joke the other day:

Cate: Mommy, knock, knock.
Me: Who’s there.
Cate: ChuggaChugga
Me: ChuggaChugga Who?
Cate: Loppyslop.

The kid is brilliant, I tell ya! Yes, it made no sense, but it was still brilliant. I loved it. She’s cracking up Scott and me on a daily basis. She’s getting more and more expressive in the things she says and does. She’s becoming more loving too. Out of the blue I-Love-You’s that melt your heart. She’s top of her class in swimming (but that probably has more to do with the fact that she’s in a class with a lot of 20-month-olds.) She’s always stating the obvious. “Mommy, you’re big and I’m little. And Clarebear is little, too. But daddy is big.” And when she’s not stating the obvious, she’s asking about it. At the gym today “Mommy what is she doing?” “Well, honey, she’s getting dressed and I’ll bet she would like some privacy so why don’t you stop looking at her.” “ Yes, she wants privacy because she’s getting dressed. I’m all dressed. You have your swimsuit on mommy. Are you going to get dressed? Do you need some privacy mommy?”….all while still staring at the poor woman getting dressed. At least she didn’t start comparing our breast sizes which is a favorite at home for some reason. Even Attley’s boobies get assessed.

Anyway, we threw her a nice family party. All the grandmas and grandpas and relatives were over. I figured that this was the last year in which she wouldn’t care if other kids were there or not. Next year she’ll have friends that she’ll want to invite to her party. I think she had a great time this year though. It was the first year that she really understood that the party was for her and she would get presents all because she was born one day. And she did get lots of presents – many Dora-themed one’s. I made her a “Barbie” cake. I made it a little to shallow though so I had to pull off Barbie’s legs so she would look right in her skirt. I didn’t want to have to explain why her skirt only came up to her thighs. Anyway, we had a good time catching up with everyone. And in the aftermath I can’t stop thinking about how big Cate is getting and how fast its all going. I want more than anything for her to grow up healthy and happy, but just not quite so fast!! I need to enjoy all my time with her and Clare. Stay in the moment and don’t get caught up in the stupid stuff - like cell phones.

In other news, Attley had his last chemo appointment two weeks ago. He’s been laying kind of low since then but I think he’s starting to come back to his normal self. Apparently some dogs can lose some hair during chemo. We noticed that he had lost a lot of the long hair on his tail that always made it so swishy. Now it looks like a lab’s tail. He as a couple other bald spots too. I’m so happy to put the chemo behind us. His lungs still looked all clear too. We take him in for more lung x-rays in March and then every 6 months after that. Hopefully we get to spend a lot more on x-rays for him over his whole life span.

Clarebear is discovering the joys of speech. She’s starting to say a lot of words if you prompt her. She only has a few words that she uses all the time unprompted: No. Mine. Owie. Uhoh. Mama. Dad-deee. And of course, a plethora of unintelligible one’s that sound just like the cadence of regular speech. She’s just so darn cute. And so different from her older sister. Cate had a ton of patience and could keep trying something until she got it or gave up and gave it to me to do. Clare has a toy piggy bank with extra big coins. If she can’t get those suckers in within two tries, those coins are chucked across the room. No patience.

Well that’s about it from the Schwake household. Its about time for me to head off to bed – gotta work tomorrow. Until next time….

Swiper, No Swiping!!

Can that Dora chick be any more "exuberant"?! The girl who does her voice must be a real pistol because Dora is always shouting. I say all this because we are on our 4th episode of Dora right now. Cate is glued to the TV. Generally I try not to let her watch that many in a row, but Scott's gone winter camping right now and, frankly, its easier when she's fully occupied. I just pop that in, and I can get the dishes done, take Clare up to bed, get Attley fed and catch up on my e-mails and blogging. I tell my self that its okay, because she's leaning so much... counting, spanish words, how to read a map, but really I'm just teaching her how to be a couch potatoe. Oh well, one night won't kill her.

So, yeah, Scott's off being crazy again. He drove up to Grand Marais yesterday and they hiked in this morning. He called me before they went in and it was -6 F up there. Toasty. I always get a little worried about him when he's up there. They hike in pretty far and have no means of communication with anyone "on the outside". I envision him breaking his leg and not being able to get back out, dying of hypothermia. That would suck. So, I'm saying lots of prayers for him. I know he'll be fine. One year, one of the guys actually did get a pretty bad injury and they got him out just fine.

Speaking of my crazy husband, I just have to brag a little bit. He was just named Vice President of Engineering and a Principal in McCain and Associates! I couldn't be more proud of him. He really works hard for John and his company and this is well deserved. Way to go Scotty!!!

Last weekend we were in Waterloo to celebrate Christmas with Scott's side of the family. It was a fun time and the girls just love being doted on by Grandma and Grandpa. Other than me being stressed by the lack of sleep my girls were getting (a common theme with me), everyone had a good time.

I'm having trouble getting back in the swing of things at work. I try to buckle down and get some work done but I keep getting distracted. It seems like there are a ton of personal things that I need to do... sign kids up for classes, make doctor's appointments, get ready for Cate's b-day, etc. Now, if I would just be diligent and do some of those things in the evenings, I wouldn't feel so compelled to do them during business hours. But I suppose then I would just find something else to distract me. I'm finding myself being less and less invested in work as the years go by. Work is just work - in fact, its more just a social outlet for me than anything else. I don't love what I do but I have a lot of friends there. Next week. I will buckle down next week!

Tomorrow night is my company's annual holiday party. I bought a new black dress and shoes for the occasion. I think it will be fun. And, in anticipation of being in that dress, I've been dedicated to losing some of this holiday weight. I lost 2 pounds last week which is great. I'm hoping to get some exercising in tonight and tomorrow and maybe I can shed one more pound. Every little bit helps. Anyway, the party got me thinking back to last year at this time. It made me realize that I've lost about 25 lbs this past year! Even though I've been feeling bad about not losing any weight the past couple of months (okay, okay, I mean gaining weight), I shouldn't be so hard on myself seeing all that I accomplished since last year at this time. But I am still pushing to lose another 20 pounds by this spring. We've decided to go for kid number 3 this spring and I don't want to start out at this weight because as soon as I pop this kid out, I'll be rounding the corner to menopause. The big downhill slide!!!

Alright. Enough about that. I'd better go. Cate's getting that glazed look in her eye. Time for bed and time to shut of Dora. Thank you, Jesus!! Then its time for me to workout and veg after that. I've taken up crocheting and its worse than reading a good book. I find myself crocheting well past my intended bedtime everynight. Why in the world is it so addicting?? Every time I get to the end of a row I always say, "Oh, just one more row" and on and on it goes. Its crazy. Anyway, I vow to put it down tonight at a reasonable time. I've been way too tired lately.

Adios Amigos!