Hello?

Anyone there? I know it's been 3 months since my last post. I'm sorry. I do have some legitimate excuses, however. A) I just had a baby (I can milk that one for about a year, right?) B) My computer totally crashed in March. It just clicked when I turned it on. The computer guys at Barr said, "Yeah we just threw the hard drive in the garbage." Nice. and 3) it's been too dang nice outside to want to be inside blogging - plus, I've been out of the groove of it.

So A) was my excuse for the first month and a half, and B was my excuse until earlier this week and 3) was my excuse just this week I guess. So, yeah, we got a new computer!!! Praise the Lord! I will admit that I wasn't computer-less this entire time. We were using Scott's old work laptop. I don't want to say it was slow, but you just had to remember to feed the hampster. I have never been so frustrated with a computer. I would try to type e-mails and it would take a few seconds for the words to appear after I typed them. I tried downloading some pictures once. It took 15 minutes to get 3 pictures onto the computer. It was not fun. Stabbing hot pokers into your eyes was more fun than that was. So we got a refurbished 17" Dell. Saaaweeet! I have been in heaven since it arrived. It probably seems all the sweeter given the torture I had been in previously.

I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat wondering what I've been up to all this time. I would be. Let's see. March was pure hell. Scott had a ginormous deadline at work that month. He was working from 7:00 am until 10:00 pm most days of the month. He even worked the weekends. And then, immediately after his meeting to present his final project, he went on a 5-day fishing trip. Being at home every day with 3 children, one of them a newborn who was up a couple times a night, the other two going stir crazy....was not fun. No, I didn't dismember him upon his return. I had agreed to it long before we knew of the deadline thing. But I was never so glad to have him home! And I've been so grateful ever since then that I have a husband who is present and engaged in his family. April was good. It was my birthday month. I turned 40 this year and had a great time hanging out with all my friends. Then May was upon us so quickly and has gone so quickly. It has been bliss soaking up all the warm sun.

Cate has really been growing up. She has taken on another chore which is setting the table at night. She is still completely in love with Cooper. He lights up when he sees her smiling face. We went to the Horton Hears a Who movie together and had a fun time. She will be done with preschool on Wednesday and has done so well this year. She tells me that she is shy when she is at preschool and her teacher has confirmed this. But I try to always point out to her when I notice that she is not being shy. I don't want her to assume that shyness is her destiny. In some ways, it's a choice. She is a delight to me even during her drama queen moments when she does her combo cry/scream. Love it.

Clare just finished her last day of ECFE school today. She has been making some subtle changes these last couple of months. I just re-read my last blog where I said she only had one minor hitting-the-baby incident. Yeah, that changed. She went on a hitting spree after that. She seemed to delight in whacking Cooper. I even caught her sitting on him one time after I heard him making some odd grunting noises. And Coop wasn't her only target. She was going after Cate quite a bit too and occasionally me when she was really ticked off. So we started a no hitting/hurting rule in our house (Cate was getting in on it too as retaliation). Any hurting resulted in an immediate time out. Even if I didn't see it. Since then, she's been very good. I can tell she still wants to do it, but at least she thinks about it now and chooses not to. She has also been trying on the underwear and using the potty. But then she regressed again and wanted to do the diapers. I'm not pushing it. Basically, she's changed in response to my increased/better parenting efforts. I've been reading a ton of parenting books and realizing that I was not following through on many of my threats. That's changed. I'm being way more consistent and working hard to control my own anger - and it's really been making a difference. Parenting...who knew. But beyond the discipline issues, Clare is so cute, very funny, extremely articulate, and the sweetest little thing. I'm so in love with her.

Cooper is completely different. Well, most babies change a ton from 6 weeks to 4 months. He started sleeping through the night at the end of March (halleluia!!). He is still a very good baby in that he rarely fusses - only when he needs something. I feel like I can read him really well. He is a super smiley guy and has the cutest giggle! He loves watching the girls and loves it when they smile at him. He then rewards them with his gummy drooley dimply crooked grin. He is almost rolling over (back to front). He's in love with his hands. When he isn't staring at them, he's trying to get them entirely in his mouth. He is following in the tradition of his sisters and is a champion spitter-upper. He talks a lot, constantly goo-ing and ooh-ing. Today he did a ma-ma-ma-ma. So smart. We are so happy he is part of our family. I can't imagine life without him.

Big T is just taking it all in stride. He turned 8 on May 5th (cinco de mayo). He's doing great but I think he's starting to show his age. I don't think he can hear as well as he used to. He's taken to going down to the basement whenever we leave the house and many times it will take several minutes before he hears us and starts barking and rushing upstairs. We haven't taken him in for any more x-rays. What's the point? If cancer shows up in his lungs, it's going to happen really fast. He seems totally healthy right now. The doctor's office just stresses him out. Plus, it's super expensive. We'll probably take him in one more time in October which will be his 2-year anniversary of his amputation. I figure if he's clear on that visit then he's most likely one of the 5% that beat the odds.

Scotty is doing well too. Although he claims he's getting man-boobs and is worried that he's gaining to much weight. He looks the same to me. Plus, he'll be able to just "watch it" for a couple weeks and lose about 2o pounds. He is on a steady non-busy time at work which is nice. He's been getting back into the garage which he loves. I have no idea what he can do in a garage all day long but he manages to do it every weekend.

Well folks, I had better sign off before you all start snoring. Hopefully with my shiney new computer I'll be able to keep up a little better with the blogging. Chat with y'all soon.

Schwake out.

Almost There

The Schwake clan is almost back to normal...our new normal that is. Cooper has fit in very nicely to our family. The girls really love him...and I'm not just saying that. Cate can't get enough of him. She came down with the flu (after being vaccinated, grrr) AND strep throat this week. We told her she couldn't kiss or play with Cooper until she was better. She started crying. And Clare has amazingly been great with him too and is always kissing him and 'helping'. In fact, we had only one minor book banging on head (lightly) incident which seemed more of a test (what will happen if I bonk this baby on the head) than anything. After being swiftly reprimanded and told never to do that again, that baby's aren't as strong as bigger kids, yada, yada, yada, and a bit of crying, she hasn't ever done it again. Attley has taken it all in stride with an occasional walk-by licking. And other than not sleeping, being sick for 2 of the five weeks he's been here, and being on my emotional rollercoaster, I'm doing pretty darn good as well. I think once he makes this developmental leap that happens right around 6 weeks (he's 5 1/2 weeks old as of this posting) everything should be smooth sailing.



What is this new guy like, you're wondering? Cooper is a super good baby which is helping with the getting back to normal part. He's a great nurser, rarely fusses, and already is doing a 5 hour sleep stretch at night. He's got a good case of the baby acne right now - that always seems to happen right when you get your poop enough in a group to want to get the announcement pictures out, doesn't it! He is a champ at staring at black and white patterns. He does a great karate kid imitation (the crane). He can sleep right through very loud little girl screaming. And he gave me his first real smile the other day. Just one but it was so dang cute that I can't wait to see more.


So, other than adjusting to our new life, not much has changed. We're all getting a bit of cabin fever and can't wait for warm weather. I'm chomping at the bit to get out walking again - actually just to move in general would be good. Most of my pregnancy weight is off, I just have 10 lbs to get to pre-pregnancy weight. And then I was hoping to lose even more after that. Hopefully Coop-dog (Scott's nickname for him) can help me with that - he can get fatter while I get skinnier!

Cate turned 4 on Feb 2 and has gained some new responsibilities like wiping herself after pooping and feeding Attley all by herself. We'll add more as time goes on but those tasks are going well. Our little family went to Chucky Cheese for dinner on her b-day and then celebrated with her extended family the next day.


She came away with numerous barbies, some cute clothes and misc. other toys...all of which she has loved playing with. She had her 4 year doctor's visit the other day and is right on track with everything. She's still taller than 97% of the girls her age but she's slimming down quite a bit and is average in that department.

Okay, time for a nap. Everyone in the house is sleeping but me. There's just something wrong with that!!

The Arrival

Please welcome the newest member of our family...Cooper Scott Schwake.

He came into the world on Thursday, January 17, 2008 weighing in at 8 lbs 13 oz and measuring 21 inches long.

Mom was definitely ready to have this baby!

Labor was a bit longer than we were expecting...this is a not so happy moment during a hard contraction. Thanks for capturing that on film, Scott.

Ahhh, the pain is erased and only happiness takes its place.

Our first family pictures.

Everyone is doing great and adjusting to life at home. More to come when we get more settled.

Thanks to all who wished us well and were praying for us...it worked.

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!