holy moly that didn't go as planned

NonaJane is nearing 4 months old now, and she is out of control.  She has learned how to roll! She has mastered rolling back to tummy, and has a pretty good hang of rolling from her tummy to her back. The other day I even saw her make some forward progress to grab at her brother! Jack was such a passive baby, that I am not used to this wild child.  In fact, I used to always tuck baby Jack in with a blanket ( I know you're not supposed to do that but he looked so sweet just like a miniature little person. Plus he always slept so still that the blanket never moved.) Well not little miss! She won't leave her blanket alone! Twice I found her with it pulled over her head. So no more blanket! Plus she scoots, turns and twists in bed so you never know how you will find her!

Mastering the trumpet at an early age

But someone else has an even bigger milestone coming around the corner. Jack is turning 3 in less than a week.  I believe it, because I have loved every day of the 3 years he has been here, but I also can't believe it.  Didn't we just sing happy birthday to him yesterday when he turned 2? Well the little man has matured in his taste, he wants an i-Pad for his birthday.  Yea... that's not going to happen. But we are going to have a Pirate Birthday Party! His very first real birthday party.  Except mom was a little busy and didn't get real invitations out so everyone got the word thru texting.  Tacky? Maybe, but everyone got the message so that's all that matters :) Jack is quite excited, and we really look forward to celebrating with him.

Jack wanted to learn to draw a 'real' picture so I showed him how to draw a stick person...

Mine is on the right, his is on the left!!! Pretty good for a 2 year old! (I can say that for another week :))

Now I can't leave out Adam.  He too is getting old. On Wednesday he will be 34, so we made plans to celebrate his birthday with his family over labor day weekend. The plan was to go camping at Marion lake in Hillsboro Kansas.  On Friday night Jack spiked a fever and was clearly not feeling well. When we woke up Saturday AM he did as all children do and acted fine. So Adam was determined to go camping. We called and warned everyone that Jack could potentially have a life threatening illness which may or may not be contagious (mild exaggeration) and all were cool with us still coming. So we headed down, and I complained that I too thought I was getting a cold.  I spent the first day griping that I didn't feel well, that Nona was out of sorts, and so on etc...  Then Sunday morning I woke up with a stomach ache :( Adam, Ryan and his Dad headed out for a birthday round of golf... and I started puking in the trees.  After a bit I had had enough and summoned Adam home from the golf course. We packed up and headed the heck home.  To make his birthday even BETTER, I passed the stomach bug to him and he spent the whole night puking too.  Unfortunately his brother and niece caught it too :(  Sooooo... maybe we will plan a birthday re-do some other time this year. Sorry Adam!

Consignment sale junky

My name is Kelly. I am a consignment sale, Craig's list, and garage sale junky.

 I LOVE deals, I find deep joy when I buy something at a fraction of it's original cost. It's hard to describe how GOOD it really makes me feel!!! A dollar saved is a dollar earned :)  Adam says sometimes he feels bad for Jack that he has never owned anything new in his life.  But we don't feel that bad because the kid is spoiled rotten! It makes no difference to him if some other kid played with it first, and our basement 'toy room' is proof. Plus he is pretty good at getting deals himself. At the last garage sale he bought himself a bicycle that hooks up to the TV and works like a video game. The lady was asking $10, but he got it for $8... I don't know what they are new... probably $50?

Nona enjoying her new 'sassy' jumper ($10 thank you very much!)

 Anyhow, last week was the first round of fall consignment sales.  I was excited for weeks, I lined my mom up to babysit the kids (much better to shop without the distraction of children), marked the date on the calender, and had Adam up and ready to go by 8a.m.  On the way there I literally felt like I was having an anxiety attack with each red light.  "The crap will all still be there Kelly" said Adam calmly.  Once there I felt like a kid in a candy store unsure of which way to go first: clothes, games, toys, shoes, ahhhh!!! But no fear... we went and we conquered.  I spent nearly $200... BUT I imagine the original ticket cost of all I purchased was probably closer to $600-700 or likely even more.  Now sweet NonaJane has more than enough GIRL clothes to last up to size 18 months!

What a sweet face of excitement over her new exersaucer! What, only 15 dollars??? hehe

Jack showing her how to work all the toys "oh, thank you BIG brother!"

We purchased Jack some safety scissors.  He likes to ask if he can do some "scissoring" instead of cutting.

An outdoor/indoor playmat with toys ($3) and new pajamas ($2) 

This is a Pottery Barn nursery rug, which we purchased for $30.  It goes perfect in her room!

Baby Nona is 3 months old!

Tummy time on our camping trip

blurry, but she was laughing up a storm with Papa

A few weeks ago we were at the park. Jack was running around playing, and Nona was on her playmate enjoying the weather. I saw some little girls running around and  I looked at Nona and thought "I can't imagine who you are going to be.  A little NonaJane running around... what will that be like?"  Isn't it odd that even with her here, I still long to know her better...to know the future.  Why do I long for the future, but at the same time long for everything to stay exactly the same? Time always seems to be my enemy.  NonaJane is already over 3 months old, and I can't believe how much she is changing.  But to be honest I'm a little glad to have seen some time go by... I feel lucky to have survived the second month of life her life.  It was a rough one.  She was fussy, and demanding, and a little opinionated at times.  Not that it is her fault,  she is a baby after all.  I am pretty sure her stomach was the root of her problem.  She always seemed uncomfortable and gassy.  I took dairy out of my diet which I really believe helped her.  Now she is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY! I am loving every bit of it! She smiles all the time, she laughs at everything, she has the CUTEST dimples and loves to show them.  She is rolling up on her sides... rolls over occasionally, grabbing anything that comes near her hands, and bringing stuff to her mouth.  She hasn't really figured out how to let go of things yet... and she has taken out quite a bit of my hair with her death grip.  When nursing she will stop and smile or laugh at me, which is a nice little thank you :)  She has definitely found her voice too. She coos up a storm, and throws a squeal in every now and then for good measure.   It seems like she is nearly twice her original size, and getting cuter everyday.

Starting to have good head control!

 

Jellystone

Last weekend the forecast was finally appealing enough that we decided to take out our camper! Since we don't live next door to Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon, or any other spectacular national park, we just decided to camp somewhere local. Adam found a campground in Lawrence called "Jelly Stone" with a Yogi Bear and BooBoo theme.  We headed out Saturday morning, got the camper all set up and enjoyed the pool for the afternoon.  Michael, Julie, Ethan, Henry and Luella joined us for a campfire dinner (which consisted of hot dogs.. made with 'real' beef, a special treat ). Julie was super sweet and also brought some brownies to celebrate Henry and I's birthdays! Henry impressed us all by rolling his piece of brownie into a giant ball, and then consuming it all at once.  Impressive eating Henry... Impressive.  The kids really loved the jumping pillow, even when their crazy uncle started jumping like a mad man. We're lucky no one got double bounced off the campground. Overall it made for a fun weekend, and it really did feel like a mini-vacation.

pretending we own one of these nice campers...

Adam, Julie, Luella, Henry, Ethan and Jack on the jumping pillow

Notice the pillow clearing off when Adam started imitating an Olympic trampolinist

Birthday brownies (they aren't really on fire like the picture portrays)

Like our Christmas lights?  Adds a special touch I think!

Pedal carts. A deal at only $5 for a half hour :(

the TRUCK

It has finally happened.  Adam has purchased his dream truck (or at least one of the hundreds of dream trucks).  It's a beauty, and we all love it. Jack seems extra proud of the truck and played a pretty big roll in the purchase of it.  He nagged me almost as much as Adam. Telling me how he Loooooved the BIG truck. And asking when we would BUY the truck.  Of course I loved having no car payments... but what fun is life without a car payment? That's neither here nor there.  (not sure that saying fits here, but it seemed like a fun thing to say).
So now when we travel we travel in comfort, and style.  The cab of the truck is EXTRA roomy (so roomy I can sit between the car seats when needed). We can easily tow our fancy camper, or our wave runner, or any other item which Adam might feel like dragging behind us.  Surprisingly we are getting BETTER gas mileage than we were in our trailblazer, and the insurance barely went up at all!

We have big dreams for this truck.  We hope it will take us and our camper on great adventures. Up the mountains, thru the national parks, and maybe even the Grand Canyon.  Our kids will grow up, move out of their car seats, learn to drive in it... okay maybe that is pushing it. But Adam swore he loved it and would happily keep it for at least 7 years.  I need a lawyer to write this up in an official contract for me...

It's purrrrty :)

 

Jack enjoying the ride, and a take-n-bake pizza to top it all off.

The day my husband cut off his finger... and other bad things happened.

A year ago we had a bad day. It turned into a bad week, and the bad seemed to manifest and creep into everything.  When you feel like you are being beaten from every angle. But then a year goes by. You look back and think, was it really that bad? Did time heal the wound, or was it all played out exactly how it was supposed to? Perhaps I am more grateful now for the good days, and the fingers my husband still has. Or am I just now more fearful every time he walks out the door to go to work.  I think he is tired of me hollering "don't cut any fingers off".  It's kind of like "break a leg" or "drive safe".  Just a saying that we have around our house now.  Life really does play out like a roller coaster. There are ups, and downs, but in the end your left smiling and breathless.  Undoubtedly God has purpose in this. Last July, July 11th to be exact, the same day that Adam's finger was lost (tragic pause).. we also miscarried, and I felt like I was losing part of my destiny. A child that was supposed to be. I felt hopeless, and terrified that we would not have any more children.  That seems silly now as I watch NonaJane sleeping on the floor beside me.  But it is how I felt.  Sitting in the emergency room, watching the ER nurse temporarily sew Adam's finger back on and at the same time losing the dreams and hopes for the baby that was supposed to be safe inside me.  It was a bad time.  Then I think our oven broke and and I probably stubbed my toe or something stupid but everything felt monumental at the moment.  It took awhile, but Adam's finger healed and looks pretty normal, besides being stubby.  He received a settlement from work which helped towards the purchase of his new truck ( I think he loves the truck enough that the finger was worth it).  On September 9th 2011, Jack's 2nd birthday, we discovered that we were expecting again.  Now I sit here a year later, a healthy baby girl, a working oven, a mildly mangled husband.... and life is good.  Thank you God for loving us, thank you for having a plan, and thank you for the gift of life, the gift of love, and the gift of every day.

Schwatken's Branson Vacation

I think the Griswold's have some competition with their family vacations!  Last week Adam, Jack, NonaJane and I headed out for a fun filled family vacation! The whole Schwatken clan including Ron, Sue, Ryan, Emma, Nicole, Madison and Molly all met up at Table Rock Lake to stay in Ron and Sue's new time share.  The resort is called "Stormy Point". The village is adorable! The brightly painted homes and manicured landscaping reminded me of a Dr. Seuss story. 

The view from the entrance of Stormy Point

Adam and I on the wave runner

Of course this fun filled family vacation happened to fall during the hottest damn week ever. Literally, I think it might have been the hottest week ever. I am pretty sure heat records were being broke all over the United States.  The temperatures were over a 100 from sun up to sun down, each and every day that we were gone.  I think a few random rain drops fell on Monday, but other than that it was much like being in an oven.  Of course the entirety of our vacation plans revolved around being outside, and since the Schwatken's were out to have 'a FUN FILLED family vacation' we couldn't let a little HEAT scare us off. We braved the outdoors like complete idiots, and we had a blast. No worries, we do realize that sweet baby Nona is about the size of a Thanksgiving turkey, so we were extra cautious to make sure she didn't bake.  Thus we kept her on ice for the majority of the week. LITERALLY. My sister-in-law had the ingenious idea to freeze water bottles, and then lay Nona on top of them in her stroller (with a towel between them to protect her skin).  It worked great! Nona managed to stay pretty cool and comfortable! We also purchased one of those silly fans that also mist water. I no longer think they are silly. They are AMAZING. Everyone loved it, except NonaJane.  She wimpered and fussed anytime someone misted her.  Which of course Jack seemed to get a kick out of, and was quick to look innocent "I was just fanning her Mom :) "  He could have misted me all day long, but I guess that was not as entertaining.

Me, NonaJane and Jack lounging at the pool

 So anyhoo,  we traveled down on Monday (in Adam's NEW truck! Post to come on this).  We spent the afternoon settling in, checking out the pool and getting our wave runner into the dock slip.  Nicole and I went out for a quick spin... I screamed like a maniac and was acting crazy till I realized that everyone could probably hear us clear as day.  Our silly charades meant that I woke up on Tuesday morning sore all over. Officially aware that my post pregnancy body is out of shape.

Riding the train at Silver Dollar City

Adam and Jack on his first roller coaster

Me and Jack on the flying Caterpillars

Adam, Molly and Jack in the bouncing frogs

Jack and Nona passed out in the stroller at the end of the day :)

 Tuesday morning we headed to Silver Dollar City. I LOVE that place! It is so clean and very shaded. They have great rides, fun shops, entertainment, and nursing stations! Yes, air conditioned private buildings to nurse your wee little ones.  I remembered this with Jack, so I knew it would work great having an infant with us.  Jack and I rode the flying caterpillars just like we did when he was 10 months old.  Adam and he rode some flying elephants, and jumping frogs. Jack did NOT like the frogs, he was crying and saying "I don't want to bounce."  Surprisingly though he loved the roller coaster "Fire in the Hole!" and enjoys recounting his experience of being splashed at the end.  Mid-day we took a heat break and went in to enjoy one of their shows.  It started off with an extremely weird looking weirdo.  He had on purple knickers, with rhinestones, and long hair.  If the air conditioning hadn't felt so good I might have tried to escape. BUT then an amazing 14 year old juggler came out.  Jack informed us he too would juggle on stage when he gets bigger.  He now  likes to show us how to juggle. We hope his aspirations will go a bit higher than that but didn't want to shoot his dreams in the foot. After the juggler there were some tight rope walkers which were pretty cool too.  After the show, Ron and Sue spent some time with all the little ones while Adam, Nicole and I went on some roller coasters.  We also found time to enjoy the water classics including the log ride, and river raft. I was spared on the log ride, but came out of the river ride looking like a wet poodle.  We learned that heading to a them park with two little ones is definitely exhausting and a lot of work. But we could not have done it without the help of Ron, Sue, and Nicole. We are so thankful for them!!!

Adam, Jack and Madison enjoying the fireworks

Sue and NonaJane

Wednesday was the 4th of July. We spent the day at the pool, then cleaned up and headed out for the fireworks show.  I am an official 4th of July party pooper cause I don't really like fireworks.  This is most likely do to the brainwashing of my parents :)  They always talked about how dangerous they are (TRUE) and how you have to fight the crowds, stay up late, etc. etc.  I also can't help but think of all the poor birds and animals?? aren't they scared?! " Surely we can just stay home and watch some fireworks on TV?  But in the end I am glad we went to see the fireworks, they were big and loud and the kids loved them. Now I can find joy in fireworks by simply watching Jack enjoy them!  I think they even caught NonaJane's eye.

Our rented pontoon boat...and a naked sleeping baby :)

still sleeping...

proof that my daughter pooped on me

Thursday morning we were up bright and early and headed down to the dock. We rented a pontoon boat for the day so that we could get out and enjoy the lake.  Adam was disappointed to find that we only had a 50 horsepower motor. Pretty weak.  He opened it full-throttle to find that we would only be puttering around the lake all day. But with a newborn and four other children under age 8 aboard...the slower the better.  Luckily we had our wave runner with us, so we could be as wild as we wanted on it.  Jack and his cousins loved anchoring off and swimming.  We carefully suited Nona up in a lifejacket and quickly dipped her in the water to cool her off.  She retaliated by pooping on me.  Actually I think she liked the water, but we were way too nervous to let her stay in the water more than a second.  We managed to use all 8 hours of the rental, and thanks to a massive amount of sunscreen no one was burnt like a lobster. Success!

Jack's first spin on a go kart

                                                                        On Friday we were planning to take a hike thru Dogwood Canyon, like we did 5 years ago with Adam's parents.  Sue looked at me Thursday night and said "I think we have probably pushed it enough this week having Nona and Jack out in the heat." I agreed, and we decided against it.  But because Adam and I are incapable of sitting around and relaxing like normal people, we decided to head into Branson, just the 4 of us.

  Adam and Jack rode some go-karts, and then the 4 of us went mini-golfing. We discovered that mini-golf courses are NOT meant for strollers. Especially double strollers.  We had to do some pretty crazy maneuvers to get NonaJane from hole 1 to hole 18.  By the 18th hole Adam and I were sweated out, and decided mini-golf was too much work to be fun. Especially in the damn heat!  That afternoon Adam's sister, Nicole, volunteered to watch NonaJane while we took Jack to see the "New Shanghi Circus".  We could have taken Nona with us, but thought it seemed like a good opportunity to give Jack some special undivided attention.  He responded by saying "but baby Nona would like the show!"  Sure, as soon as we try to do something for just YOU now you want your sister around. The show was VERY impressive, we do recommend it! We spoiled Jack rotten by sharing both M&M's and skittles during the show.

Poor Nona slept thru our vacation..

and slept some more

Jack was handsome as ever

Mini Golf in eXtreme heat

Friday night I had to deal with the sudden onset of Adam's depression.  I call it "pre-end-of-vacation-depression".  I don't know why it catches me off guard because it happens EVERY time we go on vacation.  He begins to panic on the last day, tries to cram in twice as much FUN in 24 hours, and then begins to sulk and gripe. (I imagine this is much like Clark Griswald.)  Watch out, because he expects all others to squeeze every last drop of vacation fun out of the trip as well, and if you hold him back... I just wouldn't do that if I were you :)
Saturday morning we all packed up to head home. On the way we stopped in Springfield to try out Lambert's Cafe, the 'home of thrown rolls'.  It is a pretty famous restaurant so we thought it would be neat to check it out.  Jack was not a fan, because he had a hankering for some chocolate milk.  When he placed his order the waitress informed him that they did NOT have chocolate milk.  He retaliated with "Yes you DO. Restaurants DO have chocolate Milk!"  This pretty much ruined his dining experience. He did enjoy a 'thrown roll' and turns out their plain milk was pretty good because he downed a large quantity of it as well.

Cousins Madison and Molly enjoying the pool :)

It was sad to see the week end, but we will cherish the memories of this vacation forever.  I really do love opportunities to spend time with family, and appreciated SO MUCH all the help that Adam's family gave us with Jack and Nona.  We look forward to making this an annual trip, it will be fun to see the kids grow and the attachment and memories they will have with heading to "Stormy Point" each year.  Thank you Ron and Sue for sharing your time share and vacation with us!