Grandma Time

Grandma (Craig's mom) came and stayed for ten days, though things were still a little crazy it was a lot of help!!!  We are so thankful she was willing to come, stay, and put up with us.  Lucas loved it!!!  He wanted Grandma to do everything!  He wouldn't let me get him off of the bus, he wanted grandma to do it.  Grandma had to help him pray, read him a story, put him to bed.  It was all about Grandma!  I know Lucas had fun with Grandma!  Thanks Grandma!  (Also, thanks for the awesome shirts!)

First Day alone with two!

A couple of days ago I was left all day with two kids......alone, and I have to admit I was a little nervous, wondering if we would manage.  The last couple of weeks I feel like we have just been surviving and that was with Craig around and grandma!  Good news is both kids are still alive and I managed to maintain my sanity!  It was a successful day!  Though it didn't come without some stress and drama.  I slept in, storing up my energy for the day.  We weren't ready for the day until eleven, but we were ready before lunch time!  At one point I found Jaxson half undressed, shivering and was soaking wet, he had leaked through his diaper and Lucas had attempted to undress him, poor little man!   Lucas played at the playground and had lunch with his friends.  Then came nap which started out well, until I was talking to my mother, while feeding Jaxson and heard the upstairs toilet flush.  Several minutes later, here comes Lucas in distress and covered in poo (diarrhea).  I quickly hung up with my mother, put Jaxson down, took several deep breaths and took care of the problem.  Which involved changing clothes and a bath for Lucas.  Cleaning up poo in the bathroom, and off the rugs.  Meanwhile Jaxson is screaming.  I try to calm him down while getting Lucas back down for a nap, but in the process Jaxson spits up all down the front of me, but he manages to stay dry.  Several minutes later Jaxson and Lucas are asleep!  Success!!!

Surviving with two!

The last week and a half I feel like I have been running a marathon.  We are off our routine and taking it one day at a time.  Lucas was really good with the baby the first week, he was just irritable and whiny with us.  This week however, he has been attempting to pick up the child, hitting him on the head with a wooden toy hammer, grabbing at him, etc.  I keep having to tell myself that Jaxson is more resilient then you would think.  He is just so tiny, it has been an adjustment.  When I am picking him up I am not quite sure how to hold him, it feels awkward because he is tiny.  He is also a 'grunter', he stretches and grunts.  He has been sleeping really well, in fact, we have to wake him to feed him.  Lately I feel like I am feeding him all the time, because he will eat for five minutes and fall asleep for thirty then realize he is still hungry eat a little more than sleep for thirty minutes, it is just a cycle.  Lucas is having a hard time adjusting and luckily reinforcements has arrived (Grandma).  Thank goodness for grandmas!  My mom is coming out, but due to Jaxson unexpected early arrival, it will be a month after Jaxson's arrival.  So Craig's mother was willing to come and provide some needed support.  Lucas loves having grandma here, and wants grandma to do everything with him.  For example:  I went to get Lucas off of the bus this afternoon, he started to whine at me and wanted grandma to get him off of the bus.  Hopefully with time we will be able to find a routine, Lucas can re-adjust and hopefully I can maintain my sanity in the process!

First outing as a family.

Two weeks ago we took Jaxson to first doctor's appointment.  What an event.  The doctor was running behind so it took longer than usual.  Since we were out and about we thought we would run a couple "quick" errands.  On our way to Home Depot we could hear that the car was making a noise, so after Craig ran into Home Depot (Lucas whined the whole time, because he wanted to go with daddy) we drove around the Home Depot trying to figure out where the sound was coming from.  Then Jaxson started crying because he was hungry.

So Jaxson is crying while we are driving to Walmart, we are hurrying to get there so I can feed him, and suddenly Lucas says "Mommy, I make a mess."  I turn around and my child has picked his nose and is now covered in blood, and he is hiding his hands because he is ashamed, poor little guy.  Craig runs into Walmart with Lucas to get him cleaned up.  I am in the car feeding Jaxson.  It takes Craig longer in Walmart because he has to clean up Lucas and then the cashier was being difficult.

Our last stop is Comcast, so Craig can pick up the HD box (very important, apparently).  We arrive and low-and-behold Comcast is no longer at that location.  We call to see where they move to, but the location doesn't sound familiar to us, so we end up downtown at the other location, only to find that it is packed with college kids.  We spend the next several minutes in the car while Craig is trying to figure out where Comcast has moved to.  Craig figures it out, but it is back by where we originally thought they were, so we head back find the Comcast place pick up the box.  Three and half hours later we are heading back home.  Wow!  That was an event, and I had backup, because Craig was with me.  So needless to say I will not be venturing out on my own with two kids for awhile.

First day of preschool!

The day has finally arrived!  We have prepped Lucas for this day for the last several months.  This morning we woke up, got Lucas dressed, fed him some breakfast, gave him his backpack, took his picture by the bus, buckled him in, and watched as my baby boy headed to preschool.  I would be lying if I said I didn't shed at least one tear.  That morning our home seemed a little empty and quiet without our Lucas.

However, Lucas had a blast!  When grandma asked him what he did at preschool, Lucas said, "had lunch".  I am glad it was a productive day at preschool!  Asked him if he wanted to do it again tomorrow and he said, "yes."

The baby has arrived

Sunday, August 26th at 8:56am, Jaxson Boyd Swenson was born.  He weighed 5lbs 14oz and was 19 inches long.  Jaxson arrived just over two weeks early, which was an unexpected surprise.  Unfortunately, Jaxson arrived at about the time Craig was on a plane, landing in Denver (oops!).  Labor and delivery went well.  Craig arrived later that evening.  Jaxson looks like a Swenson, there are times when I think I am looking at Lucas when he was a baby.  He's a beautiful little boy with dark hair, no dimples (surprising), and we love him.

Craig and the Elderly Lady

Lucas and I take our daily walk around the town, and when I can convince him, Craig comes with us, usually on Sundays.  Towards the end of our walk, when were heading home, we walk through a retirement community, (they don't call it that, it is an "active adult living area", but whatever).  On this particular Sunday, Craig is with us and we are walking up this steep incline in the retirement community.  This elderly lady stops her car rolls down her window and in a somewhat joking, but mostly serious manner, chastises Craig for making me push the stroller up this incline.  I start to chuckle  because she doesn't know that I push a stroller up this hill on a daily basis, and that Craig has bad knees and due that to the height difference between him and the stroller it hurts his back to push.  Just then I straighten up and turn towards her and she notices that I am pregnant, the elderly lady looks surprised and responses, "and she's pregnant!"  Poor Craig!  I thought it was hilarious and pretty much laughed all the way home.

Funny things Lucas has said!

Craig was sitting on the couch hanging out with Lucas, Lucas lifts up one leg and says, "Look Dad I'm a Flamingo."  We still have no idea where that came from!

We were having dinner, and Lucas looks out the window and says, "Look! Pogo stick". I have no idea what he is talking about.  Look out the window and sure enough there is a kid on a Pogo stick.  I don't know where Lucas learned what a Pogo stick was.  Maybe Sesame Street.  (Update:  apparently Telly monster has occasionally used a Pogo stick.  Way to go Sesame Street.)

I was talking on the phone with Craig's mom, Lucas decides that he would like a little chat with grandma.  After a couple of seconds he decides he is done and says, "Bye, I'll talk to you later."

Lucas and I are cleaning up the toys, Lucas look at me and says, "Don't worry mom I'll take care of this."

Updating!

Due to an eventful week, with a surprise arrival, I was unable to post several blogs, that I was planning on doing on a Sunday afternoon 4 weeks ago, but spent the day in the hospital having a baby instead.  So here are several blog posts for the past couple of weeks.  Enjoy!

4 Weeks and Counting!

I am down to less than one hand and counting, and boy am I feeling it.  He is head down and I can feel the pressure, as evidenced by the numerous times I have to visit the ladies room.  It is getting closer!  I can't believe we are having a baby!  We continue to prepare, and my house is clean (at least for the time being).

Ultrasound number four and counting!

This child has already one-upped Lucas and isn't even born yet, at least when it comes to the number of Ultrasounds he has had.  I know that typically you have one, but my children must love the attention and think they deserve more than that.  Last Monday when we went to our scheduled doctor's appointment the doctor was concerned with how I was growing, or rather with the lack thereof.  We did inform her that this occurred with the previous pregnancy.  With Lucas I stopped growing and we had an extra ultrasound at 37 weeks which showed that he was growing and doing great.  Lucas ended up weighing 7lbs and 9 oz.  She was not convinced, however, and wanted an ultra sound.  I too would rather be safe than sorry so we went back on the next Wednesday to have the ultrasound.

I am happy to report that he is doing great.  Her guess was about 5lbs and his measurements are right on schedule, with the exception of his head, which is ahead of schedule, but are we surprised?  No!  Lucas's head is still off the charts, and has never been on the charts.  I am a little disappointed because I have some really cute beanies that I was looking forward to having him wear, but that might not happen.  I am also very aware of the fact that I am going to have to push that head out, our poor child is probably going to have to be vacuumed suction out, and is going to be a cone head for a couple days.  Oh well!

Who ever coined the phrase, "terrible twos"

Who ever came up with that phrase, "the terrible twos" has never experienced having a three year old.  With Lucas being three, things have been a little rough.  I am not sure if it is because he is starting to sense that change is upon him with a new sibling, or if it is because of summer and the heat, or his friends leaving, I just don't know, but I hope it gets better.  He regularly wanders off, and being very defiant.  At times I wonder where the manual is on how to deal with it.  I will honestly admit that there days I want to take off my parenting hat and throw in the towel, like the day that Lucas was not listening and throwing bags of M&M's around Dollar Tree while I was attempting to check out.  Good times, Good times!

The inevitable has occurred!

It finally happened.  Lucas has overcome his fear and will get out of his crib (why he is still in his crib is another story all together, but it will change shortly).  Luckily we have been proactive and put a childproof lock on the inside of his door.  So if we shut the door, he can't get out.  The first time he ended falling asleep against the door for nap time.  We still crack his door at night, but tell him that if he gets out of bed we're going to shut the door, which he knows all too well, because he will tell you that it is what we are going to do, before we even say it!  Unforunately that does not always stop him from getting out of bed, but he does quickly learn that if he gets out we shut the door, which he doesn't appreciate.  In the morning he is at his door letting us know he is up and wants out.

Lucas moments

After getting home from our morning walk Craig asked, "Lucas what have you been up to?"  Lucas, "We took a little jaunt."

Lucas, "Dad I be good like you!"

While trying to get Lucas to bed:

Craig, "Goodnight, Lucas"

Lucas, "Dad don't say goodnight, I have a question!" Pause. "Can I get out of bed?"

Craig seeing Lucas in distress, "Lucas, do you need to go potty?"
Lucas, "Yes."
Craig, "Then why don't you go?"
Lucas, "It's too dark."
Craig, "Then you should turn on the light."
Lucas, "I can't Dad! I'm holding my crotch."

Lucas loves his dad and when dad comes home Lucas is eager to see him and ask him questions!

Sibling Class

The other day I was reminded of a class that is given at the hospital to help prepare sibling for the new arrival of their brother or sister.  Unfortunately I was reminded of the class the night before the class and you had to preregister for the class.  Oops!  Luckily we were able to make it in class and I am so glad we made the effort.  I really hesitated, not thinking it would be worth it, but Lucas is still talking about what he learned from the class.  The teacher talked about how to wash the baby, while the kids washed and dressed their babies dolls, and talked about what babies can play with and what they can't.  They gave Lucas this little cup and explained that if you can fit a toy inside the cup then it is too small for the baby.  Lucas understands this and spent the next day fitting some of his toys in the cup.  They also took them upstairs to the maternity ward, were it was really busy that day.  They saw a newborn baby, which Lucas thought this was pretty neat!  He really enjoyed this class and seemed to understand more than I thought he would!

Getting Baby Ready!

We are finally coming to the realization that we will soon have a little person in our mist, we have come to the conclusion that we are not prepared and should probably start to get ready!  We have been clearing out the house of extra clutter, organizing, cleaning, and getting baby ready!  It has been exhausting and overwhelming at times, but I think we are starting to make some head way!

Craig survives Scout Camp

While Lucas and I were having a week of fun!  Craig was experiencing the outdoors at Scout Camp.   He did get to come home for one night during the week and then a night earlier than planned at the end.  Besides getting rained out on one of the nights, starting out with 13 scouts and ending the week a night early with only 2 scouts it was a successful week, in that Craig survived.

Rain, Rain, Rain and Humidity?

Though we have had several good thunderstorms and rain showers you can still feel the humidity hanging in the air  with temperatures in the mid eighties.  What is up with that!?  It figures we would have a heat wave and abnormal temperatures this summer when I am carrying around a watermelon sized mound under my shirt.

Making the most of our Summer!

We have been having lots of fun this summer!  Though we live in a small community (accentuated even more when the students are gone) , there is still a lot going on with various festivals and events!  The library has their big reading program going on.  There are free movies on a weekly basis at the theater downtown.  We have done it all and continue to play and play.

This is just a portion of the activities we have participated in this week:  We went to an activity hosted by the local professional baseball team, the State College Spikes.  Lucas talked with the players, played with water balloons, and colored a picture.

We made our weekly trek to the library and attended storytime.  Went to the theater and saw, "How to Train your Dragon" (Yes we own the movie, but Lucas loves going to the movie theater!), and then back to the library the next day to see a puppet show, which was so entertaining and fun!

Went to the 47th annual peanut festival, where you buy a bag of peanuts and use them either as payment to play a game or as the part of the games themselves and toss them through loops or what not to get treats!  Though Lucas is small he does have quite an arm on him and we were impressed with his throws.  He did struggle to get it through the actual holes, but he could toss it pretty far.

The pigs are pretty scary looking.  More like they're attacking you than inviting you to play a game.

We ended the week by dragging Lucas to the dreaded mall, where I had him try on a variety of clothes for next summer, but he was rewarded with a hamburger and ice cream, and then got to attend a birthday party!  What a week!

Goodbye James Family!!!

Our really good friends have abandoned us.  We have lived across the street from them for the past six years!  Two years in Utah and four years in Pennsylvania.  Lucas has known them his entire life.  Their two kids, Cooper and Sadie are his best friends, and are more like siblings then friends.  We have been everywhere and done everything with them!  Lucas would go anywhere with them in a heartbeat.  He has been known to get in the car and want to ride home with them rather than his own parents.

I have been prepping Lucas for their departure for the past week, trying to explain to him that they are moving to a new house far away, but in a few months we will get on a plane and go see them and their new house.  When they were packing I took him over there so he could see the boxes and the moving truck.  When their apartment was completely cleared out we went over there and I explained it to him again.   At one point I told him that he will get to go to preschool in the fall and meet new friends. Lucas responded by asking me if Cooper and Sadie were going to preschool, and I said that were going to a different preschool, far away.  He said, "I don't want to make new friends."  How do you answer that when you are feeling the same way you don't want to make new friends either.  I have had the nursery leaders at our church telling me how they don't know what Lucas is going to do without Sadie in nursery, they walk to nursery together and then they are pretty much inseperable during nursery.  Though it was tough and is still tough, a day doesn't go by without Lucas mentioning them.  "Where is Sadie and Cooper?", "Will Sadie and Cooper be there?"  "Is Sadie and Cooper eating dinner?"  Sadie and Cooper wear underwear and go potty."  "I went potty like Cooper."  We have been making a great effort to continue to take him to different activities in the community and with church members and he is doing great, though we think of and miss our friends, dearly!

People's Choice Festival

The same week of the Arts Fest, Boalsburg holds their annual People's Choice Festival.  They also have some fun things for kids to do and we don't have to mess with parking because it is within walking distance.  We fed the baby animals, which was a little traumatizing for Lucas since the animals literally maul you.  Lucas was unfortunately bit by the pony, but he managed to enjoy the experience, though he preferred petting the big horses over being bit.

They had a tent set up with different hands-on things kids could do, Lucas seemed to enjoy that!  To help him have a memorable experience, despite the animal attack, I let him ride the train.  I couldn't bring myself to let him ride the horses, it was too expensive and not worth it, especially when he has had opportunities in the past to ride a horse for free!  He loved the train, and rode it all by himself, without any hesitation.

Hill Cumorah Pagent

We throughly enjoyed the first time at the pageant and really wanted to see it one last time, but weren't sure when to go.  We thought that Lucas would enjoy the costumes and pyrotechnics, so when our really good friends were heading up for the last time, before they moved away the very next day, we decided to go with them.  It was all somewhat last minute.  We drove up the day of pageant, watched the pageant, and then headed home.  Yes, that is right, we made drove the four hours homes that same night arriving home at about three in the morning.  Was it worth it yes?  Lucas seemed to enjoy himself and the time he was able to spend with his friends.  So I would say yes.

This pageant is amazing and there is such an incredible feeling present during the production!  We also have some ward members in the pageant which adds to the excitement and fun!  Would we ever attempt to do it all in one day?  Probably not.  That was exhausting and I have to admit being seven and half months pregnant did not make it easy to sit in a car that long.  The ride up is quite beautiful, and we drove along lake Seneca for about 40 miles.  There are several vineyards along the way, and little tourists towns.  Very picturesque!

Arts Fest Children's Day

Arts Fest is a huge festival where thousands of people visit downtown State College.  They have music and hundreds of booths set up with crafts and art for sale. The first day of Arts Fest is kids day. They have booths set of with kids selling items that they have created. The University, along with businesses and organizations in the community, have booths with different activities for kids to do and see. We have attended this annually and this year was no different. In the past we have just stayed in the city and not made it up to campus, but this year we headed up there and it was lots of fun.  They had several booths set up with educational activities from several of the departments on campus. One of my favorites was headed by a lady in our church. It was entitled "Lava Lamps". They took a tube, filled it with canola oil added a few drops of water and a tablet that is similar to Alka Seltzer, but with color, the end result is similar to a lava lamp, and she also said it looks cool in the dark. It was pretty neat.

They also had booths were you could hammer holes into paper and make a constellation, use balloons to make a carbon molecule, make your own torch for the Summer Olympic Games and get a gold medal in kicking a soccer ball, and making ice cream with nitroglycerin.  They also an area set up with these buckets hanging up, filling with water and then dumping onto the kids.  Lucas really liked the this, and didn't seem intimidated by the crowd of children, though I kept holding my breath, as he scurried in and out and around the area.  It was hot and a long day, but I think Lucas had lots of fun!

Why?

Lucas has been a very inquisitive little guy lately.  I have been getting the, "why?" questions non-stop for days!  I usually have an answer for the first question, but after several "why's" I quickly run out.  Instead of saying 'I don't know'.  I say, "Why do you think Lucas?", or "What do you think?"  That seems to be working, but it doesn't completely stop him from asking, "why?" to another question.

Fireworks!

For those of you who are unaware State College has the 3rd largest fireworks show in the US.  The fireworks are the culmination to the 4th of July celebration.  In the past we have watched them in a neighborhood cudi-sac, with a clear shot looking towards the football stadium.  You can see everything pretty well, except for the VIP ground fire-works (you have to pay money to sit in the VIP viewing area).  My really good friend decided that she wanted to see them up close, and to feel the boom!  I have hesitated doing this in the past, because I have heard it is a real mess trying to get out after the fireworks, and also because we would need to go several hours in advance to get a good spot.  I love my friend and she is one of my closest and dearest friends so, though I thought she was a little crazy, I decided she was worth any extra hassle.

As usual when we want to do something I tell Craig what I want to do, and he comes up with the plan.  So Craig disappeared into his cave (office) and emerged later with a plan and we went for it.  I must note they also have a carnival, kids stuff, live music, races and several other things going on before the fireworks, so it is quite an event with thousands of people.  Things went well, and we even found free parking!!!  Craig found a prime spot, though I doubted him, because three hours before the fireworks, nobody was over there or had blankets set up.  Lets be honest, if you were in Utah you would have had your blanket set up early that morning, and showed up hours before the event, but fortunately we are not in Utah and State College doesn't run that way.  They are much more relaxed and ho-hum.  After Craig reassured me numerous times, literally pointing to the fireworks sitting in on the ground a mere 100 yards from where we were set up, and showing me the VIP sitting area, that was not far from us, I was convinced.

Our spot was in the back corner of the baseball field, but to get into the field you could not bring in food or water.  They were inspecting bags, but our friend said if you told them it was for your kids they would let you in.  My friend and I had three of the kids, while the husbands were in staking out our spot.  She sat with them while they finished up their hot dogs and I went to relieve the boys.  I told the guy that I knew he had to inspect my bag, but the food was for the kids, and I pointed at the kids, he looked me up and down, noting that I was obviously pregnant and said, "I am not going to mess with that, I will let it slide, you go right a head....and congratulations!"  I couldn't help but laugh, if I was in Utah there would be no way he would have let me in, pregnant or not, because he would have had to do the same thing for all the other pregnant women.  This town does have it perks, it is just not common to be pregnant.

The fireworks we amazing!!!!  You could definitely hear them!!!!  It was the best I have every seen, and seeing them that close definitely makes a difference!!!  Lucas was scared at the beginning, he hid behind our friend because she was sitting the farthest back.  He had a look of pure fear on his face, but slowly warmed up and soon he was next to Craig commenting on how pretty and cool they were.  He is still talking about them and all the colors we saw.

To round out our 4th of July celebration, we had also gone to Greenwood Furnace for swimming that morning and hung out.  It was way fun!  A long and hot, but fun day!!!

Wow it is a hot one!

So here was are at the beginning of July, I am almost thirty-one weeks pregnant and let me tell you it is hot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We are on our second day in a row of serious heat.  Last week we had some hot, hot, hot days of upper eighties-ninety degree weather, but now add humidity in there and you get a very sweaty, miserable summer day!  Lucas comes in from outside or from a ride in the car, drenching of sweat with a pink face.  I think we have all suffered from dehydration, though I have been trying to keep a lot of water on hand.  This is definitely at the top of the list of things I am not going to miss when we leave!

Palmyra

Thanks to our wonderful friends we had the opportunity to do a session in the Palmyra temple (which is one the things that was on my list to get done before leaving next year).  Granted we had to leave at 4:30 in the morning, and our wonderful, amazing friend had to drive up to Palmyra by herself with four kids all under the age of four!  Friend, you are amazing!!!!!  We went and saw the church sites, the sacred grove, visitor center, and the Hill Cumorah.  We also ate at this burger joint the Chill and Grill.  They had good burgers and yummy ice-cream!  I have been craving twist cones, with chocolate and vanilla, but they are impossible to find!!!  When we visited Palmyra three years ago, we briefly talked to a lady who was there with her family, who said they ate at the burger place that is known for their big portions, and that it is the place to go to.  Every since then I have wanted to try this place, but that was all the info we had to go on.  Thanks to a wonderful husband and asking the sister missionaries at the Sacred Grove, we found the place and my dream was fulfilled!  As for the big portions, the ice cream Lucas is eating in the picture (both in the cone and bowl, plus what he already had eaten) is HALF of a kiddie-cone.

Amish Man!

Last week I decided to get up early on a Saturday and go to some garage sales, I was looking for a little sand box and bike for Lucas.  Needless to say I didn't find what I wanted and I was frustrated, annoyed, and upset while I was driving home.  At least until I passed Ollies (a store) and saw the most beautiful site, the Amish farmer's market!  (Basically an Amish man and his family who sell a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, and pastries on certain days).  I couldn't resist, so I pulled in and bought some delicious blueberries, rhubarb (Craig loves this stuff, and I figured if I showed up with rhubarb he would be okay with the fact that I didn't come back with what I initially went out for).  I also purchased some zucchini which was calling my name, telling me that would go wonderfully with mini chocolate chips.  I have been craving zucchini bread (I am not sure if it is a pregnancy craving or just me)!  Way to go Amish man for turning my frown upside down!

Kiss

Lucas is talking constantly and you can understand him pretty much 90% of the time.  Though pronunciation is still difficult for him.  I can't remember what we were doing or how it came about, but I think Craig gave me a kiss, and Lucas decided he wanted a kiss too, so he said, "I want a kiss, kiss", unfortunately it said more like, "I want a piss, piss".  This is not nearly as bad as when we were driving and Lucas was pointing out the trucks, and saying truck, but it didn't sound like truck, just replace the T with an F and that is what it sounds like.

Del Grosso's!

A few weeks ago we went to Del Grosso (an amusement park, about 35 minutes from us).  We go once a year when we can get a good deal.  This year Lucas was tall enough to go on several of the rides, but  unfortunately on some of them he had to have an adult, and I am incapacitated and unable to go.  Lucky one of our friends was willing to make the sacrifice (especially on the spinning rides) and go with him.  Thank-you, Friend!!!  It took Lucas one ride to understand the concept.  He got on the ride, but it took awhile for the ride to start, because they were allowing more kids on etc.  Lucas decides he doesn't want to ride, I tried to explain it to him, but he is insist that he didn't want to stay on.  So knowing all to well that he was not going to be happy once the ride started, I took him off, and sure enough he was upset once the ride started to go!  "Stop", "Stop", "Stop", the entire time.  After that he went on all the rides, some of them numerous times!

Yeah! It finally happened!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love my little man (Lucas) more than words can say!  Every day I am learning more and more about him and how to approach things, so life is more pleasant for the both of us.  One of the biggest things I have learned is Lucas not only marches to the beat of his own drum, but he is the drummer!  He does things on his own time.  There have been times, when I am getting frustrated with the little tyke, I have to step back and say to myself, "Katie, calm down, this is not life threatening, he is not going be at a disadvantage if he doesn't hit this milestone right now, relax! When he is ready he will do it, just back off."  When I do this we eventually have success!

So you maybe asking why does this matter?  What is going on?  Drum roll!........Lucas has decided to use the potty!  He has just gone a full 24 hours without a wet pull up/underwear, this is including naptime and bedtime!  Amazing!  It all started a couple of weeks ago when we ran out of diapers, and we had not made it to the store yet.  I asked Lucas, "What do you think we should do?  We are all out of diapers.", Lucas response, "go to the store and get some."  My response, "Daddy has the car, so we can't go get diapers."  I continued to explain to him that we have pull-ups if he would like to wear those, and then asked him what he needed to do if he wore pull-ups, and he said go pee in the potty.  (Craig came home later that day with diapers, and I quickly motioned to him to hide them!)  He would still have accidents in his pull ups the first couple of days, and he found find a random diaper here and there, little stinker ("Look mom, I don't have to go pee in the potty, I found a diaper!").  It got to the point where he would become distraught if he wet his pull-up, poor little guy.  We have now officially transitioned into underwear, which he loves, especially the underwear Grandma sent.  Quote from Lucas, "We don't pee in grandma Buzz Lightyear underwear."  Lucas is very good at telling me when he needs to go.  He will suddenly look at you and shout, "potty, potty!!!" and may I add he will shout this anywhere, anytime, even if it is right in the middle of sacrament meeting!  No complaints here!  He goes poo and pee, anywhere, anytime! (He loves the port-a-potties, if there is one around he will instantly "have" to go, just so he can use it!) He is also great at holding it in, if needed (and when I say holding it, he literally holds his crotch).  On our way home from Palmyra we were pushing it, but he did a good job holding it, we finally decided it wasn't worth it and pulled over and let him pee on the side of the road.  He thought this was awesome and still talks about peeing on the rocks!  The morning after we put him in underwear, he woke up and said, "I get to go to preschool."  I had to explain to him, yes now you can go to preschool, but not until the leaves change colors and the baby comes.

Touch a Truck!

We have been living here for four years now and every year we miss "Touch a Truck", where they have a bunch of trucks:  a semi-truck, a fire-truck, a bus, a cement truck, etc. and the kids can get inside them and honk the horn, etc.  Lucas was finally able to go to "Touch a Truck" this year, and it was a tons of fun.  I hope we're around to go next year!  After signing a waiver,  Lucas was able to sit in every one of the trucks!  They had treats which totally won Lucas over, (this more or less became the priority and seeing the trucks was just an afterthought) as well as Craig (who took advantage of the treats himself on more than one occasion).

Dead fish swimming

Over the past several months we have been 'fish-sitting' more often than not as we've had various friends traveling for extended periods of time.  This has worked out really well for us because Lucas likes having a fish around, but we don't actually have to buy a fish.  However, we always have a shadow looming over us, haunting us with the question of "what if we kill the fish?".  Truth be told, the families to whom the fish belong probably wouldn't care since a replacement can be purchased for 25 cents, but we would feel terrible that we weren't able to keep the fish alive.  On top of that, we'd have to explain to Lucas why we were flushing Nemo down the toilet.

With that in mind, think how we must have felt when we came downstairs the other day to see this (warning, the following pictures may be too graphic for those with weak stomachs):

After a little grumbling and complaining, I go grab a plastic cup to scoop out the fish preparing myself for the inevitable questions when Lucas comes downstairs wanting to feed the fish.  When I return, the fish is right-side-up and swimming around like he doesn't have a care in the world.  This same scene repeated itself multiple times throughout the day.  At first Katie didn't believe me, until I heard her say "Oh, look Craig, the fish died" later that evening.  I just gave her a knowing glance, wandered over to the tank and quickly swiped my hand over the top.  Sure enough the fish turned right over and went on his merry way.

Now that I'm more conscientiousness about paying attention to the fish, I've noticed that he actually spends more time upside-down than right-side-up.  Weird fish.  He must have a couple synapses miss firing.

Memorial Day

I really need to get better about posting these like the day after the event, but whatever....better late than never.

As I've mentioned several times before, you town has a big Memorial Day celebration with all sorts of activities including war re-enactments, booths, music, a car show, and about 20,000 additional residents for the day.

One of the local churches hosted a kids carnival, which Lucas participated in and thought was fun.

Lucas wasn't a big fan of the war re-enactment, however.  I wanted to try and get an action shot, so we stayed for the first few minutes when they were firing the canon, but hightailed it out of there as soon as I got my picture (Lucas was very appreciative).

Overall, we had a fun day.  Lucas just enjoyed the fact that he got to spend the entire morning outside, running around and playing.  That was good enough for him.

Memorial Day Parade

The Boalsburg Memorial Day Parade (which actual takes place 2 day before Memorial Day) was last night, and as per our annual tradition, we were in attendance.  You must understand that our town is only 6.5 square miles in size and has a population of less than 4,000 people, so you can't really go with high expectations for the parade.  In fact we can't even afford full size horses for our parade:

Actually, the selling point for the parade and the reason why so many people attend is because ~90% of the parade entrants throw candy.  In terms of amount of candy received, this 30 minute parade ranks somewhere just below Halloween, but above Easter, and he doesn't have to move more than ~5 feet because people literally throw candy directly at him.  All he has to do is wait, bucket in hand:

Since it is a small parade, there isn't really much in the way of floats.....actually there are no floats at all. More like lots of fire trucks....

...and MORE fire trucks....

Other than the token politicians riding in the back of various models of sports care, the only other main contributor to the parade (other than the fire departments of the 25 nearest towns) are the local girls twirling classes, of which I didn't take any pictures, but there were at least 5 different twirler groups in the parade (3 of which were playing the same song while twirling.  Can't we at least have some originality?).  One of our friends made the comment after the parade, that "if an alien race were to come to earth and observe only this parade, the only logical conclusion that they would be able to come to is that small twirling girls must be the number one cause of fires on Earth".  I just hope that there isn't a fire anywhere in the surrounding 25 miles because for those 30 minutes on a Saturday evening in May, every available truck is cruising our little Main St. throwing handfuls of candy to waiting kids and would be hard pressed to get anywhere in a hurry.

Birthday Time!

Lucas turned three just over a week ago!  Since Lucas is obsessed with animals (side note: for those that have received cards from use recently, have you noticed they have animals on them?  Lucas has been picking out the cards!), particularly crocodiles, we decided to go with an animals theme for his birthday, go figure.  The night before, despite Craig's lack of enthusiasm, we decorated the kitchen area, with balloons, crate paper hanging from the ceiling and I have to admit a pretty cool animal themed Happy Birthday sign.  The next morning was french toast, with whipped cream (can't forget the cream), and strawberries.  Lucas almost didn't notice the decorations (too groggy), but once he spotted it he was thrilled,  he liked the toy animals (table decoration)!  Lunch was suppose to be outside since Lucas loves to be outside, but the weather didn't cooperate, so we headed to Chick-fil-A.  He loved playing in their play place (it is the nicest one in town)!  He was also allowed to get an ice cream cone, which he is usually pretty good about eating it, but it was hot and melted too quickly, so we are walking through Walmart (to quickly grab these cute animal plates that I had to have) with a dripping, falling apart ice-cream cone, Lucas holding onto a balloon, and me needing to make a run to the little girls room.  I couldn't help but laugh, I am sure it was an amusing sight to see!  That night we had Lucas' favorite food:  Pasta with broccoli!  Since I wasn't quite ready for a just friends party (maybe next year, when he is a little older), we had a bunch of his friends and their families over for cake and ice cream, Lucas picked rainbow chip cake and caramel ice-cream.  He had a crocodile cake and some animal themed cupcakes!  Lucas seemed to have a great time.

Just some notes, for posterity, about 3 year old Lucas:  He loves being outside, especially if his friends are there, and he loves grapes along with strawberries and blackberries.  He is a thinker and it gets him into mischief on a regular basis.  He is a good, but very active kid!!!  He is into animals, swords (don't ask me where this came from, but lately everything is a sword), and his most recent favorite color is pink (ugh!).

Boalsburg Celebration of Military Service

In anticipation of Memorial Day, the Pennsylvania Military Museum, which is located in our small town, hold an annual Celebration of Service.  There is a lot of pomp and circumstance, including military parades and various speakers, but the big draw for the kids is the military vehicles, including 5 helicopters, that are on display.  We have the privilege of nearly having our windows shatter when the helicopters fly directly over our townhouse at an altitude of no more than a couple hundred feet as they approach the museum lawn for landing.  Absolute worst is when the 2 Chinooks fly overhead.

Lucas had a great time (and I admit that I did, too) climbing in and out of the helicopters and armored vehicles.  Katie spent the time talking with friends (boring!) instead of examining the Apache Attack Helicopter machine gun (like me), or jumping up and hanging from the tail fins (like Lucas).  Thankfully nobody saw Lucas performing his acrobatics, or the fact that the piece he was hanging was clearly label "Not A Step:  Do Not Apply Force".