Monday, October 29, 2007

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.