Two Eventflul Weeks

We've had two very eventful weeks. It all started when I took DS to the doctor for his 18 month check-up on Monday, March 16.

Growth Chart measures are as follows:
Length: 35 in, 95th percentile
Weight: 29 lbs 7 oz., 85th percentile
Head Circumference: 18 1/2 in, 40th percentile

He got a few shots, then threw up that night. Naturally, I assumed the shots were what did it and we went about our merry business. Two nights later, I changed my mind when all three of us were up sick most of the night. It wasn't pretty. A few days later, we started getting our appetites back and were looking forward to our Spring Break trip to Vancouver, BC.

Last Saturday, we took a break and headed over to DH's work where fans were rallying in support of the women's basketball team who was playing in the National Championship. The game was about 2000 miles away, but it was just as exciting to watch it on TV with a room full of fans. It was a good game and they won!! They flew home the next day and we went out to the main street as they rode in limousines and were escorted by the fire department and police department into town. Now DS claps every time he sees a police car or fire truck with lights flashing and sirens on.

On Monday, March 23, we headed up to Vancouver with some friends who have a son about 1 month older than DS. It was about a 6 hour drive, not counting stops to eat, get gas, and wait in line to cross the border into Canada. DS didn't sleep much, so he was pretty restless when we got there. Hoping to not spend too much on our little trip, we had made reservations to stay at a hostel. Hostels are different from hotels. They are much less expensive and they encourage interaction amongst the guests. This, in itself, would have been fine. However, there was a pub downstairs and we called them when we made reservations to see if the noise would be a problem for our children trying to sleep. They instructed us to email them and request a top floor room so we would be the furthest away from the noise and it wouldn't be a problem. When we got there, our assigned room, despite the no smoking policy, stank of smoke. DH seems to be extra sensitive to that as he has been known to end up sick in such circumstances. So, after requesting another room and being informed that the hostel was completely booked for that night but they could get us a different room for the second night, our dear friends suggested that we switch rooms. We also came to find that this room also shared the same wall as the pub downstairs, so despite being on the fourth floor, our friends could hear the music from the pub loud and clear until 3:00 am. They had barely slept. So, Tuesday morning we headed out to the park for some fresh air. It was cold and wet, though, and it didn't last long. After some lunch and some really great naps, we were all feeling a little better and ready for an adventure. We met up with a friend of our friends, who lives in Vancouver and he showed us around a little. We went for a ride on a small ferry boat, which DS and his buddy enjoyed. Then, we explored some of the local markets and finished the evening with dinner at a really good Indian Restaurant. Our second night was a little better as our friends had been able to move into a room that was further from the music and we all got a decent night of sleep. Wednesday morning was sunny so we went back to the park for some photo ops before heading south. On the way home, our friends' son decided to get sick and he emptied his stomach a few times, which meant we had to make a few "clean-up" stops. It was a bit of an exhausting trip and we were glad to be home, but I have to say that I would do it all over again. I suppose what makes adventures real adventures is both the good and the bad.

We spent a couple days to recover and awoke this morning, Sunday morning, ready to head to church. Today, DS is 19 months old! And to celebrate, DS decided to stick a soy nut up his nose during breakfast. I turned around and he had his finger up his nose. Shining a flashlight where I shouldn't have to shine it revealed that he indeed had been exploring with small objects in small places. Off to Urgent Care we went where the doctor did wonders with a pair of forceps. Naturally, DS was not amused. I held his head and his arms while DH held his feet. Note to self: Don't take my eyes off of my son while he is eating soy nuts.... Then the doctor was nice and gave him a pop-sickle, which made things all better.

PS. Most of these pics are from our Vancouver Trip. I figured you didn't want to see pictures of our doctor visit this morning....

God Answers Prayer

I had an important interview a couple weeks ago. It was for graduate school--for a Doctorate of Psychology (PsyD) program to start this fall. The interview lasted all day and I had the opportunity to meet other PsyD candidates. We toured the campus and the health clinic, sat in on some classes, had breakfast and lunch, had a coffee hour with current students, and had individual interviews--not in that order. I was pretty nervous and when I get nervous, I talk fast and don't feel like I think straight. So, there were definitely questions in my individual interview that I didn't think I answered very well. The rest of the day was fun, though. At the end of the day, one of the professors led a short devotional and his ultimate message was this, "Pray for the admissions committee. We are praying for you and trusting that God will bring together the right group of students for next year's group. You are all qualified to come. If it is God's will that you are here, you will be here." At that moment, all of my worries of not performing well enough in my interview faded.

The next day, I left to go to the coast for a weekend retreat with a friend's church. It was well-timed for me, not that they had specifically planned it that way. It was the perfect time to get away from my busy life. On Sunday morning, I walked out to the beach since I had only seen it in the dark up to that point in the weekend...we had some sessions scheduled at different times, but we had been able to take walks on the beach after dark--the beach is quite mysterious after dark! Anyway, on Sunday morning, it was raining a little, but it wasn't far and I love the ocean. When I got there, God gave me a rainbow. It was the brightest rainbow I had ever seen and I do believe it is only the second time I have ever seen a complete one--where both ends stretch to the ground. I had my camera so I took pictures, but they just don't do it justice.

DS stayed home with DH for the weekend. It was the longest I have been away since he was born. It was a little hard. But, when I called home on Saturday morning, DH put me on speakerphone and this is what I heard:

"Noah, who's on the phone?"
"Daddy!"
"No, I'm Daddy. Who's on the phone?"
"Daddy!"
"No, I'm Daddy! Who's on the phone?
"Mommy! Hi!"
"That's right. That's Mommy."
"Bye!"

Apparently, they were doing just fine without me. :)

The next couple weeks I waited...for the ultimate phone call, the one that would offer me a spot in the program for the fall. I prayed a lot. And, I would be lying if I didn't say that with each day that passed and I didn't receive the call I got a little more discouraged. "Maybe it isn't God's will for me this year after all," I began to wonder. About three days ago, I had a heart-to-heart chat with God, once again, asking for an answer and I heard, "YES!" then silence. "Um, God, was that you?" I questioned. Thankfully, he is so patient and puts up with my incessant ridiculousness. First I ask for an answer, then I get an answer, then I question the answer....

Well, today I got the call!! Mike had come home for lunch and was sitting at the table when my phone rang. Not a minute before, I had been thinking, "Will today be the day?" And when the phone rang, I thought, "Well, it can't be Mike calling me this time because he is sitting at the table eating lunch." Sure enough, it was the admissions office. First, she asked me about my phone number that she had in the system. Apparently, my Pennsylvania number that I haven't had for over a year was still listed as my preferred number. She did a great job at making me think that was the only reason she was calling. I think she was enjoying keeping me in suspense. Then, she said, "Well, I also was calling to let you know that the admissions committee has reviewed your application and they would like to offer you a position in the program to begin this fall..." And the sun is shining brightly today...what a beautiful day this is!!!

Now, all I have to do is send them a letter to accept the offer and pay a $500 deposit to confirm my acceptance. I suppose that will be one of my easier assignments that I will have in the next five years... :)

How kids learn

Noah was helping me to unload the dishwasher today. This is an activity he likes to help with OFTEN, and he does very well with the silverware. Today, as we were finishing up, he started getting a little rough with the racks, so I scolded him by saying, "Noah, be gentle!"...to which he responded by giving the dishwasher lots of kisses. He usually has lots of kisses to give, but they are most often offered to pets, stuffed animals, dolls, babies, and mom and dad.

I am attaching a bunch of pics...especially since it has been WAY TOO LONG since I last posted!! Please accept my apologies for my neglect! The first is an example of Noah's kisses--he loves his pet puppy from his great grandma from Christmas! The rest are all from our family vacation to Canada over New Years. We have taken more recent pictures, but they are all still in the camera!

Festivities

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. DS's friend Finn's family adopted us for the day. We had a great day of turkey, talking, and tummy-stuffing. Then, on Friday, we spent the evening with our neighbors who have a tradition of doing gingerbread houses on that day. I have to say that this was the most elaborate gingerbread house I have ever made. DS enjoyed eating the candy.

We also had haircuts that weekend. DH was first, then it was DS's turn. This would be DS's 4th haircut. DH was excited about the difference in their hair color, but I'm sure DS's hair will get darker as it is already darker than it once was. In any case, it was worthy of documentation.

Now look closely at the next picture. Does anyone recognize that book? That's right! It's Richard Scarry's classic, "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go." My grandparents had a copy of this book when I was little and my favorite task was to find Goldbug...he's hidden on each page, you know. DS has began noticing trucks. He rides along in the car or on the bike, announcing every truck we pass, "guck!" Of course, it still sounds a lot like "duck" and "quack"...I'm only assuming he's not point out ducks along the way.

Speaking of DS's new words, one of our favorites is, "cookie". This one didn't take long to learn. One Saturday afternnon, DH announced that he was going to make some cookies. DS whirled around and repeated, "cah-kie, cah-kie!" Then it was nap time, so he took a nap, and when he got up, DH was finished making them. DS ran into the kitchen announcing, "cah-kie, cah-kie!" Apparently that particular nap time was full of sweet dreams of anticipation!

DS is becoming quite the climber. He seems proud of anything that makes him even slightly taller. They already grow too fast...let's not rush it.

Last weekend we headed out to DH's place of work for their annual Christmas Celebration. Some of you may remember the pics from last year's event. This year DS was old enough to enjoy it. First, we stopped by the live nativity. The most exciting part for DS was the goats and the rooster. Then, we stood in line for quite a while for the exciting horse-drawn carriage. DS naturally was pretty intrigued by the horses dressed with sleigh bells. Then we headed over to visit Santa, who, not surprisingly, was cause for some alarm. DS was not about to sit on his lap, but he did let Mama hold him next to Santa for a quick pic. How did parents ever torture their kids before Santa was invented?

And, our last stop was to make some antlers, which DS refused to wear. DH convinced him the next afternoon to keep them on long enough for a picture...before he pulled them off and ripped them in two.







We also put our tree up last weekend so we are now feeling festive!









And one more picture worthy of mention: DS has grown fond of DH's slippers. I think this is a phase that all children go through...






Merry Christmas to all!!

Bathtime Fun

I do believe DS will be a pitcher one day, but perhaps he will need to work on his aim and technique...


On a more solemn note, we said goodbye to Herman, our faithful beta fish, this afternoon. He has now passed through the porcelain passageway into fishy heaven where he is free from pain and suffering. He had quite a life for a fishy. Highlights included three weeks without food (NOT the most recent three weeks!) and a brush with death by dogs as he shared a back seat in the car for a week as we journeyed west to our "promised land." He was blessed to have entered and experienced the land flowing with milk and honey...Farewell, dear Herman. (Can you tell I've been reading about Moses lately?)

Long Overdue

Well, I wrote the following almost a month ago and didn't get around to adding pics and posting until now. So, keep that in mind as you read. I know, I've been slacking in my updating efforts...

I realized it has been over a month since I wrote. I suppose an update is long overdue. I have been studying...and loving it. Even if I'm not accepted into the Doctor of Clinical Psychology program, I have learned quite a bit. My perspectives have been challenged and I am only a better person for it. It is funny how being out of school for six years gives you time to fall into certain thinking patterns that aren't so beneficial. I have sat in class many times now feeling a little offended by the subject matter, only to realize that the reason I am offended is because these cognitive shortcuts and assumptions that people make have indeed become habitual for me, as well. These types of cognitive shortcuts are the basis of stereotypes and prejudices that cause serious hurt amongst the human race. The popular and yet despised psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud is quite famous for a lot of things, much of which I do not find worthy to be mentioned here. However, one aspect I appreciate is his emphasis on balance. Something that triggers a forceful emotional response may actually suggest an area where one struggles unconsciously, thus eliciting the response. Why do I get so offended or angered over certain ideas and topics? Maybe because I've got problems, too. ;)

About 3/4 of the way through the term, I welcomed a break! DH's parents were here to visit for a few days. What a wonderful time of relaxing and spending time together it was! And, we finally got to the portrait studio to get DS's one year pictures taken! I meant to do that when he actually turned one--2 1/2 months ago. I realized that if you don't do it when it is time, you miss your chance!! Of course, Grandma and Grandpa were excited to give DS one Christmas gift a little early so they would be able to enjoy watching him have fun with it. DS loves his new tunnel to crawl through. Of course, I am proud to say that I was actually the first one through the tunnel. (I even took it to Friend Finn's house today and they had a blast playing with it together!) Then, the weekend came to an end and they headed back east again. I love having family and friends come visit. I hate when they leave. I suppose you can't have one without the other. We are looking forward to our next break for Thanksgiving. Which is in about two weeks, believe it or not!

DS is living large and loving life! He is communicating, not necessarily speaking clearly, but communicating nonetheless. He loves to point to something so I can tell him what it is. A few of his favorites: ball, clock, light, dog, fish, Mamma's nose, blanket. And he still loves books. When he gets a little upset, I can tell him to go get a book and he will usually go sort through the shelf, pick out a book, bring it to me, crawl up on my lap, and listen intently as I read to him...and he usually wants to turn the pages himself. He has started trying to feed himself lately with a spoon. He tries so hard and does pretty well. I am thankful for my LARGE bib with a pocket at the bottom to catch everything that misses his mouth. Let's just say it saves me a LOT of work!

It poured all day today. It is supposed to be worse tomorrow. DH said we are getting the affects of a tropical storm. Who knew?!? I suppose when you don't get any TV channels and don't read the newspaper, or even check the news online, you miss a lot--but I suspect that if there is something important enough for me to know, people will talk and I will hear it from someone. Perhaps it is not always a most accurate version, but how is that any different from the actual media?

Busy

I guess you could say we've been staying busy. It all started a couple weeks ago when I was looking to make applesauce to can. We happened upon a lovely little ranch with a really sweet man named "Farmer Stan". He had several apple trees loaded with apples. He said, in essence, "Please come pick my apples because my horses are getting fat on them." So, my friend and I headed over one morning to do some apple picking and about three hours later, we had about 200 pounds of apples...each. Farmer Stan was so nice! He had a tractor with a big bucket that he let us climb into, then he would raise it up so we were in the tree. Sure beats trying to use a ladder!

So, I spent two full days making and canning applesauce and another full day making and canning apple butter. This was the first time I did all of that myself, so I was quite proud of myself by the end. Only problem is that I now have about 60 quarts of applesauce and I'm not sure that I want to see anything that has to do with apples for a while. I'm sure I will be glad for it during the winter.

At the end of the applesauce week, I headed into Portland to take the GRE--that big standardized test to get into grad school--kinda like the SAT's, only much harder. There are three sections. I did pretty well on some of it. Let's just say that I will be taking them again and in the meantime I am studying lots of vocabulary words. Vocab has never been a strong point of mine, so I am seizing this opportunity to learn and grow. Of course, sometimes it takes a painful reality check to motivate certain learning and growing. Did I mention I'm going to be taking them again? :)

We had a branch on the tree that looked a bit gnarled. That and it was kinda laying on the wires. So DH took it upon himself to cut it down. He borrowed a ladder and pole saw and had great success. It looks nice now. I would like to draw your attention to his "safety helmet" in the picture...that is indeed a bike helmet. Better safe than sorry, I guess! :)

DH is back in full swing for his second year of teaching. It is going much more smoothly than last year. That was to be expected. He has a whole new batch of students and a lot of gained wisdom from last year's growing pains. He's even finding time to play volleyball a couple times per week!

And of course, everyone wants to know about DS! What would my blog posts be without DS pics!?! He's doing quite well, now running around the house. It is hard to keep up with him. I'm glad I don't have a bigger house! He's had a few cranky days lately. I suspect there are more teeth on the way to add to the 8 that he has now. He LOVES the phone. It is not typically an approved toy since he has called people in the past. But, every time he catches a glimpse of it, we have quite a meltdown. He loves to chase the dogs. Beau usually now runs from him and hides. Ollie, on the other hand, likes to give him kisses, which DS usually thinks is hysterical.

We have a new clock. Well, it's a bit of an old new clock. DH finished his HS wood shop project! It is quite impressive sitting in our little living room with it's elegant chimes and bongs. It's been admired by everyone that comes to visit...and their even more impressed when we tell them it is home-made--from scratch.

Classes are back into session for me, as well. I have two new classes this term: Personality Theory and Abnormal Psychology. The first is interesting as it focuses on why people do what they do. The second is fascinating as it focuses on the various mental illnesses. Last evening we had a guest speaker that came to talk about schizophrenia. She, at age 30 and after a long history of psychotic issues, was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now, being on a series of medications and with intensive cognitive therapy, she is able to have a relatively normal life and deal somewhat rationally with the irrational behaviors and experiences that come along with the condition. Talk about captivating! As I left class, I knew my world view had changed a bit and I will never be the same because of it. I suspect I will have many such experiences with this type of subject matter.

The weather has cooled and the rains have started. The first few weeks are more sporadic with some hot days and some rainy days. In a few weeks, the sunny days will be considered rare and the soggy ground will be the norm. I have to say that I am ready for the cooler, rainy weather, and by spring, I will be ready for sun again. I love the changing seasons.