Saturday, October 31, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Much Needed Update
Alright, I haven't been very good at keeping up on this blog lately. So here's what turned out to be a long update on what's been happening in our lives lately.
1. School has been very busy for me this fall. Due to cuts in our district, all of us have taken on more in order to make things work. The load just keeps getting heavier. One one hand, I'm excited to have plenty of challenges to keep me busy. I love each part of my job, and I love the variety. On the other hand, things are quite stressful most of the time! I've been to many workshops this fall and that brings me to my next update.
2. A tree fell on our house during a particularly windy day, which happened to be one of the days I was in Rochester for an overnight workshop. So Joel comes home to this and gets right to work contacting insurance agents, tree removal, and construction workers who can fix our roof. Fortunately there was only one hole about six inches in diameter. That whole peak of the roof is totaled and our chimney is damaged enough that it needs to be taken down. In order to do that, we must redo the duct work inside the house to connect to the other chimney.
3. My dad turned 50! We did a few things to celebrate since he didn't want a big party. First, we sent my mom and dad to the Monday night Vikings vs. Packers game! They had a blast (and we had a blast watching that exciting game at home)!
Next, we had a quiet evening celebrating together by taking some fun pictures out at Father Hennepin State Park and then eating out at a nice restaurant on the lake.
Finally, we joined the Camp Evergreen hayride in Pine City. It was a very cold day, but we had fun anyway, and Caleb thought the tractors were awesome!
4. We had a great MEA weekend! Thursday morning Joel dropped Caleb off at his parents' house. Joel had his final step to finish his Driver's Ed instructor license and had to travel to St. Paul for that. I (unfortunately) had a dentist appointment that morning. Then Joel and I spent several hours in the afternoon organizing and moving stuff from our office into the basement so that we can make the office into Caleb's room! Then we joined Caleb at Joel's parents for a couple of days to spend time with the family. On Friday morning (as most of you already know) we got to have our ultrasound and found out we're having another boy! We are so excited for Caleb to have a brother! I am personally excited to reuse all the many totes of clothes we have stored in our basement! On Saturday afternoon we traveled to Duluth to have our first little family vacation. Joel won a free night's stay at the Hampton Inn in Canal Park. It was a beautiful suite with a separate bedroom and a whirlpool. We spent the evening walking around Canal Park, toured the Aquarium, and had supper at Old Chicago. Then Caleb had some fun "swimming" in the whirlpool before bed.
The next morning we did some shopping and then got to see a 1000-ft ship leave the pier. Caleb loved watching the boat! Unfortunately we are having a little problem with our photo card reader, so we lost all the pictures of us at the pier watching the boat. But the memories will always be there! I'm so excited that we took our first family vacation to Duluth - it has been a special place for Joel and I, and we want to make it a tradition for our family.
5. Finally to this past weekend, on Friday night Caleb's cold seemed to come to a head. We had been giving him his two medications through his nebulizer that he always gets when a cold starts to get to his respiratory system, but then on Friday night his breathing was just getting worse. Even with the albuterol, his breathing would only stay good for about 2 hours. So we brought him into the emergency room at about 9pm. We actually packed a bag because Joel and I were pretty confident that they would admit him - it looked just like when he had RSV when he was 2 months old. The good news at the ER was that his oxygen levels were normal, which means no RSV. The doctor determined that it was just a cold gone bad. So they prescribed prednizone to keep his airways open and sent us home around midnight. And of course, Caleb insisted on being awake that whole time! He was actually quite a trooper through it all.
Saturday morning I woke up feeling awful, so we spent most of the weekend trying to rest. Unfortunately it's a longer lasting thing than just a couple days. Caleb is doing well, but I stayed home from school on Monday, went on Tuesday, and then had a fever Tuesday night, so I'm home again today. I'm just ready for this to all be over. It feels like I haven't been actually healthy in a month.
6. And lastly, Caleb is finally starting to snuggle with us! I have always been a snuggler, but Caleb is so busy that sitting down with someone for more than 15 seconds is too boring! But lately he has actually enjoyed snuggling with us while watching a football game. (And he LOVES watching football - he asks for football every night!)
My favorite is when Caleb asks me to come snuggle with him on the couch to read a book. He calls it "nigh-night". I soak up every minute of those cuddles!!!
1. School has been very busy for me this fall. Due to cuts in our district, all of us have taken on more in order to make things work. The load just keeps getting heavier. One one hand, I'm excited to have plenty of challenges to keep me busy. I love each part of my job, and I love the variety. On the other hand, things are quite stressful most of the time! I've been to many workshops this fall and that brings me to my next update.
2. A tree fell on our house during a particularly windy day, which happened to be one of the days I was in Rochester for an overnight workshop. So Joel comes home to this and gets right to work contacting insurance agents, tree removal, and construction workers who can fix our roof. Fortunately there was only one hole about six inches in diameter. That whole peak of the roof is totaled and our chimney is damaged enough that it needs to be taken down. In order to do that, we must redo the duct work inside the house to connect to the other chimney.
3. My dad turned 50! We did a few things to celebrate since he didn't want a big party. First, we sent my mom and dad to the Monday night Vikings vs. Packers game! They had a blast (and we had a blast watching that exciting game at home)!
Next, we had a quiet evening celebrating together by taking some fun pictures out at Father Hennepin State Park and then eating out at a nice restaurant on the lake.
Finally, we joined the Camp Evergreen hayride in Pine City. It was a very cold day, but we had fun anyway, and Caleb thought the tractors were awesome!
4. We had a great MEA weekend! Thursday morning Joel dropped Caleb off at his parents' house. Joel had his final step to finish his Driver's Ed instructor license and had to travel to St. Paul for that. I (unfortunately) had a dentist appointment that morning. Then Joel and I spent several hours in the afternoon organizing and moving stuff from our office into the basement so that we can make the office into Caleb's room! Then we joined Caleb at Joel's parents for a couple of days to spend time with the family. On Friday morning (as most of you already know) we got to have our ultrasound and found out we're having another boy! We are so excited for Caleb to have a brother! I am personally excited to reuse all the many totes of clothes we have stored in our basement! On Saturday afternoon we traveled to Duluth to have our first little family vacation. Joel won a free night's stay at the Hampton Inn in Canal Park. It was a beautiful suite with a separate bedroom and a whirlpool. We spent the evening walking around Canal Park, toured the Aquarium, and had supper at Old Chicago. Then Caleb had some fun "swimming" in the whirlpool before bed.
The next morning we did some shopping and then got to see a 1000-ft ship leave the pier. Caleb loved watching the boat! Unfortunately we are having a little problem with our photo card reader, so we lost all the pictures of us at the pier watching the boat. But the memories will always be there! I'm so excited that we took our first family vacation to Duluth - it has been a special place for Joel and I, and we want to make it a tradition for our family.5. Finally to this past weekend, on Friday night Caleb's cold seemed to come to a head. We had been giving him his two medications through his nebulizer that he always gets when a cold starts to get to his respiratory system, but then on Friday night his breathing was just getting worse. Even with the albuterol, his breathing would only stay good for about 2 hours. So we brought him into the emergency room at about 9pm. We actually packed a bag because Joel and I were pretty confident that they would admit him - it looked just like when he had RSV when he was 2 months old. The good news at the ER was that his oxygen levels were normal, which means no RSV. The doctor determined that it was just a cold gone bad. So they prescribed prednizone to keep his airways open and sent us home around midnight. And of course, Caleb insisted on being awake that whole time! He was actually quite a trooper through it all.
Saturday morning I woke up feeling awful, so we spent most of the weekend trying to rest. Unfortunately it's a longer lasting thing than just a couple days. Caleb is doing well, but I stayed home from school on Monday, went on Tuesday, and then had a fever Tuesday night, so I'm home again today. I'm just ready for this to all be over. It feels like I haven't been actually healthy in a month.
6. And lastly, Caleb is finally starting to snuggle with us! I have always been a snuggler, but Caleb is so busy that sitting down with someone for more than 15 seconds is too boring! But lately he has actually enjoyed snuggling with us while watching a football game. (And he LOVES watching football - he asks for football every night!)
My favorite is when Caleb asks me to come snuggle with him on the couch to read a book. He calls it "nigh-night". I soak up every minute of those cuddles!!!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Singing/Counting
Skip to about 50 seconds in to see where Caleb actually starts singing - unless you really want to hear me sing! You really won't hurt my feelings if you skip that part! Promise!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Labor Day Weekend
Over Labor Day I had the privilege of spending the weekend with my college roommates and friends. We got together to have a baby shower for Hannah, who's expecting in October, and just had a blast catching up, being lazy, and enjoying girl time!
Happy Birthday/Baby Shower Ice Cream Cake!
We had fun setting up multiple cameras on timers at once, and ended up getting some decent pictures!
Roommates '04-'05
Roommates '03-'04
Happy Birthday/Baby Shower Ice Cream Cake!
We had fun setting up multiple cameras on timers at once, and ended up getting some decent pictures!
Roommates '04-'05
Roommates '03-'04
State Fair
The Sunday before workshops started, our friend Kim went with us to the MN State Fair. I didn't take many pictures, but we had a fun time finding free stuff and eating greasy food!
Caleb tasting his first pronto pup!
He enjoyed the Miracle of Life building!
This Sweet Martha's Cookie is messy!
This was a great idea mom! I like chocolate!Week with Christopher and Tyler
We had the privilege of spending almost a week with twin boys (who I nannied during college) while their parents were on vacation in August. We made lots of fun plans to take all three kids places, so it was busy, but a blast! We got to visit the church we attended during college, have supper with Joel's aunt, visit with Joel's former roommate and wife (Hi Cindy!), and go to some really fun places:
This ostrich got pretty close!
Monday morning we headed to Como Zoo. Caleb had never been to a zoo before, so it was precious watching his amazement! He loved all the animals, and could've watched the monkeys for hours!
This ostrich got pretty close!
Watching the giraffes.Unfortunately we lost several zoo pictures, so these are the only animal ones we have.
We walked through the butterfly garden. It's kinda hard to see, but there is a butterfly on Caleb's hat!
It's almost impossible to get three kids under the age of six to all look at the camera at once!
They wanted to hold a butterfly, and tried to be patient, but sadly no success.
Aww...
We had a little time for some rides before we went home for nap time. Christopher was nice enough to accompany Caleb on this Magic Carpet Ride! Caleb loved it!
Christopher and Tyler driving their cars at the driving school at Como Park.
After nap time we packed a picnic and headed to the Shoreview Community Center for some pool time!
This is a great center!On Tuesday morning we went to the Children's Museum, which was awesome! All three kids just loved all the different areas to explore!
We got to meet Clifford!
Caleb just loved these water tables - he spent lots of time there!
Christopher and Tyler loved this "factory" where they could pretend to be workers.
The grocery store was also a big hit.
Tyler delivering the mail!
Caleb put on a concert for us.On Wednesday we drove a few hours with the kids to meet their parents at Boyd's Lodge. We spent the night with them in a beautiful cabin and enjoy some boating and swimming!
Caleb just loved "driving" the boat!
We even fit in a little fishing!
The lakes were gorgeous!Thursday we finally headed home after a packed fun week!
Visit with Friends
We had an opportunity in early August to visit our friends Matt and Becky. It was so fun to get the kids together and see them play. Their daughter Miriam is just four months older than Caleb. Unfortunately Caleb was teething pretty bad while we were there, so he was pretty crabby at times, but we still had lots of fun.
Heading out for a walk!
Duet?!
Cute family! Thanks for the fun visit!
Heading out for a walk!
Duet?!
Cute family! Thanks for the fun visit!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
