Michelle's Graduation Day!

I can't believe the day has come when my baby sister graduates from college! I'm so proud of her and all that she's done with the four years she's been at Biola. She was a peer academic advisor, an SOS leader (Student Orientation Service), studied abroad for a semester, worked on and off campus, was named the Department of Communications Studies "Outstanding Student of the Year" and earned the honor of Summa Cum Laude for a 3.9+ GPA. Wow! That's my girl! :)

We recreated a pose from her past two graduations. Comparing this shot and the one we originally took at her junior high graduation make me all the more aware of how quickly my little girl grew up. Aw!!

Auntie Michelle with the Dink!

Our family's best friends. They graciously come to everything that's important to us.

Our family!

Happy Graduation, Michelle!!!

Lately

I've been kind of MIA in the blog world because I got my hands on the Twilight Saga and couldn't put the books down for a week. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it - reading teen books and all, but I wanted to see what all the hype was. I have to say that I'm a fan and read every minute Kyle was sleeping. Nap time just wasn't long enough! I'm never not reading, but this was the second piece of fiction I'd picked up in a long, long time and I was in heaven!! I'm so sad to be done with all four books and back to other, less important things like job hunting. :) I just had a deal for a sweet summer gig fall through and I'm really bummed. So it's back to square one, I guess.

Now that Ru's out of school we are enjoying nights and weekends with him, again!! He finished last week and did well on all his exams. We're all glad another semester is behind us. He just finished the first week of his clinical internship - 5 more weeks to go. It's right across the street from the library Shmu and I go to, so just 5 minutes from home!! Woohoo! He gets to sleep in later, see his family during lunch and comes home way earlier than ever before, so it's a good situation all around. Not only does he like the PT instructor, but he really enjoys the facility, patients and other staff members. Really glad that it will be a good, positive learning experience for him. Speaking of which, in this first week he's already learned a ton and is growing in both experience and confidence. I can really see, especially after this school year, that he is ready to work with patients as their PT. I'm so proud. It's taken a lot of work and a lot of memorization, but he's really there! :)

In spite of some rough weeks and lack of sleep, Shmu continues to be the light of our lives. We were just commenting on how silly we are for thinking that Shmu's sidewalk chalk is "cute." Anything that's related to him is simply adorable to us. I'm just glad we both got the bug and are reacting to parenthood in the same way. It makes it a lot of fun, even if a bit ridiculous. Shmu got his first little cold last week and was keeping us (me) up every hour during the night. Last night was his first "good" night and I'm hoping we'll get back to better than good, soon. On the other hand, we may not get that far... it seems Kyle is in a hurry to get a full set of teeth and is working on 3 more coming in soon. We've had busy, fun and tiring days. Here are lots of random things we've been up to.

K enjoying his mini pool in his back yard.

His 1st time in the big pool with us!! He loved the water so much and didn't want to get out.

K loved playing with Dad. We can already tell the pool will be a favorite this summer. And check out that farmer's tan!
Shmu graduated from taking baths in his baby tub to the real thing. He stands up and cruises back and forth, smiling at me the whole time, making sure I'm noticing his amazing new skills, looking so proud of himself. He delights in knocking down anything that is on the ledges and thinks his new playground is so big and so cool. Now it is harder than ever to keep him still to get him soaped up before he's racing to the other end with a big grin on his face. Here he is, pondering all the bubbles.
Shmu still loves this tunnel his grandparents brought over a while back. We chase each other and play peek-a-boo. Of course, Dad takes it to another level. See Shmu in the background? He's like, "Yeah, Dad's playing with my toys again."

During a bike ride, we discovered a fun nature center in our Back Bay. The kids' section is so cool. Can't wait to take him to their events and learning times. There were animals, puzzles, books, puppets, learning centers, games and anything and everything related to the outdoors.
Shmu checking out the snakes!!
Daddy giving Shmu a puppet show.
Daddy got both his skateboards stolen from him! :( He recently found this longer than long board on Craig's List for $5. He built it back up from just the board and Shmu couldn't keep his hands off of it while it was in the house. It was used as a slide (before the grip tape was added) and Kyle even skated across our front room by himself, pushing with one knee on the board and the other on the floor. Unfortunately, we got our cameras out too late and don't have any proof. Then, for it's maiden voyage... Shmu wanted on, too. I was taking these pictures while filming video, so we're covered at least on this one. I tried not to cringe as I thought of my 10 month old riding above asphalt. I can really wait a few years before the serious injuries... please!!!


Kyle has been making friends. We went for a walk around a lake both K and I like. Here he is with Lukas. They both reached out for each other over and over again, holding hands during our walk. It was so sweet.
I love how peaceful and beautiful this place is. Shmu likes looking at all the ducks.
Kyle sharing his jeep with Miles, our neighbor friend.
And that about ends our photo album for the week! :)

Happy 10 Months, Kyle!

Double digits. Only one more "birthday" post before Kyle turns ONE. We can't believe it! Already, Kyle's almost saying good-bye to crawling and instead, prefers to get around upright. Seeing him cruising around hot-dogging it with one hand barely touching any type of surface, I get the sad feeling that this baby period of his is fast in closing. Daily, I get to witness my son grow more and more confident about his "walking" as he gains a greater sense of balance and self-awareness. It seems like every day is filled with more and more learning and growing. It has us both proud and a bit nostalgic (for me, anyway)!

Kyle's Favorites:

• Mr. Fish
• Dad's truck
• Shakers or anything that makes noise when he shakes it
• His toothbrush
• Camera, phones or remotes
• Turning off light switches
• Yogurt
• Playing with water
• Books (yeah!!!)
• Outside
• Bikes, trikes, jeep and wagon
• Car walker
• Wrestling, Cruising
• Grammie's weekly visits with her bag of toys

Kyle's Latest:

• Playing with friends, especially Alexander.
• Cruising around on everything one-handed.
• "Talking" non-stop
• Fascination with light switches and turning them off
• Fascination with the smoke detectors in every room
• Going in the pool and loving it!
• Enjoying bike rides and every other kind of ride!

K's favorite cruising mobile...

And the jeep... oh, the jeep!! :)

K and all his wheels!!

Happy 10 Months, Kyle!!

When Daddy comes home...

Growing up, one of my favorite memories was sitting by the living room window watching car after car turn up our street, just waiting for my dad to come home. Sometimes, if I was at the window, I'd have enough time to run outside, swing his door open and jump in his lap before he even got the chance to get out of the car. Other times, when I wasn't as vigilant, I'd hear his keys opening our front door and no matter what I was doing, bolt for the door and be swept up into my daddy's arms. The words, "Daddy's home!!," were my most favorite. Sorry Mom! :) And although I'm all grown up, it's still one of the best things about going back home.

For as long as I can remember, I've been telling Rudy that I can't wait for the day our kids can shout, "Daddy's home," too. And although I know without a shred of doubt that K won't need any of my encouragement to want to welcome his dad home, I still enjoy building it up as much as possible. So even though Shmu can't yet say the words, we can tell he knows what I'm talking about when I tell him who's coming!! His little face lights up and he starts looking around. The minute he recognizes Ru, he's all smiles and practically leaps out of my arms. This, of course, makes Ru super happy!! Well, just simply welcoming Ru home isn't quite enough... we usually try to "surprise" or meet Dad outside by anticipating how long it will take for him and which route he will be taking. A lot of times I integrate a wagon ride, just to keep the little guy content while we wait. Actually, it's just my arms that sometimes need the break.

The other day, Shmu recognized Dad as he pulled up to park and immediately stood up and tried to get out of the wagon. He was totally straining to reach his Papa and even started crying because it was taking too long! Our new routine involves slipping K through the window so he can play with Dad inside the truck. He's fascinated with steering the wheel and looking out around him. We've taken lots of pictures on our cell phones but we keep saying we need to get a real picture. This last time, I finally remembered to bring our camera out with us just in case... :)

K's favorite new thing was learning how to turn on the windshield wipers and make water come out! Ru says he'll gladly keep filling more and more water just so Shmu can play. I'd say that this is definitely one of Shmu's favorite moments in his day. As a matter of fact, it's hard to get him out of the car.

Rudy's little study partner!

While Ru's been having an intense couple of weeks, Kyle has been as cheerful as ever and seemingly unaware of the work or stress going on around him! His roseola was so mild (other than the crankiness and loss of appetite that lasted forever!!) and he had just a slight rash for a day. During that time he was also working on his 5th tooth. Now that it has broken through and the roseola is gone, he's as happy as can be. Yesterday, K and I spent the entire day laughing and playing. It was so much fun and definitely our best day together, ever!!! His sleep has been getting better, too, and I think that's contributing to his overall joyful mood.

Still not so joyful, is his early morning wake-up time. The past couple of mornings, he's been ready to go just before 6am. So after a quick diaper change, we're out the door and down the hall to find DADDY! No matter where I put him down, he'll always crawl as quick as can be to to get to his daddy's side. He's even found a way to get to dad without having to crawl and will cruise the whole way from the coffee table, to the couch, to the activity center, to the bookcase, along the sliding glass door, to the chair, to the desk, and finally to daddy's legs! :) If dad's home, that's where you'll find Kyle. Unfortunately, if dad's home, he needs to be studying, too.

Here are some pictures of R&K's early morning study time together:

K with both of his fish!

The only way to keep K still is to curl him up in a ball like this. Then, Ru can get a few minutes in.
Ru punched a hole through an old gift card and attached it to a string thing that rolls back in automatically. K loves to "row" his boat back and forth. (Hard to explain, I guess.)
Only 3 more days!

One week down, one more to go...

Ru's done with his first week of finals, presentations, projects and practicums. Next week, he will have a major test every day of the week. By Friday, we will be celebrating another semester done!! :)

Here are some pictures of Daddy's little helper/distraction. Although these were taken quite a while ago (as evidenced by the lack of K's 2 front teeth), they represent our daily life quite accurately.

Shmu has Roseola

Nothing serious. A viral infection that can't be treated with anything and goes away on its own. This is what our doctor's notes said:

Roseola is a mild illness caused by a virus. It is generally harmless and is most common in children 6 months to 2 years of age. It is rare after age 4.
Roseola often starts with a sudden high fever that lasts 2 to 3 days, although it can last up to 8 days. The fever ends suddenly, and then a rosy pink rash may appear over your child's whole body. It often starts on the chest and spreads to the face, neck, and arms. The rash is not itchy, and it may last 2 to 4 days. A child with roseola may be fussy and may not want to eat anything.

I'm surprised we didn't know anything about it, being that it is pretty common. We're glad that it's nothing serious and that we finally have a reason for what has been pretty miserable for all of us. Aside from the 24 hour fever last week, we hadn't noticed anything visibly wrong and we were at a loss for what was bothering him. He flat out refused to eat solids for about 7 days and would only nurse. He was also unbelievably cranky, hard to console and had to be held pretty much all day long. This was SO unlike him and totally exhausting (not to mention frustrating) to both Rudy and me. Fortunately, he still slept pretty well and even took his first 2 hour nap today!!! Hooray! Today, I finally saw another symptom, a faint rash on his abdomen, and called our doctor. Both Ru and I were immediately patient, loving and sympathetic once we knew what it was. Poor Shmu... he has roseola! You'd be smiling and shaking your head if you could hear us right now. First time parents for sure. That, and Kyle has us wrapped around his little finger! :)

My 1st Mother's Day!

Shmu says, "Good Morning, Mom! Happy Mom's Day!"

During K's nap, we ate a yummy bagel breakfast sandwich Ru went out and got us. It was so nice to not have to cook or wash dishes! Then, when the little guy woke up (29.5 minutes later!), he and I went on a wagon ride with Ru pulling us. Then, we opened cards and presents. Little Shmu got me one stem of daises, too! So cute. What is so remarkable about this picture, is that Kyle is actually laying down on me and not moving. These are very rare seconds I really love! :)
Kyle gave me another carnation at church. Of course, he was more interested in trying to eat the thing. Ru gave me this new dress and a top that I love! Good job, Ru!
Then, after a nap for Kyle and some down time for us, we went to eat at Strawberry Farms with my family. We love this place for the food, the fact that you can't see any civilization for miles and because Shmu has tons of grass, sticks, and sand traps to explore. We sat out on the patio and enjoyed a beautiful view. (Thanks Dad and Mom!)

Grandpa and Shmu

We had found this tricycle at a huge garage sale a couple of weeks ago. Kyle loves it. And yes, he's strapped in! He either holds on to the handle bars or claps the whole time.

Auntie Michelle
Grandpa love.
Didn't take long for Ru and Shmu to find the sand trap.
"Yay! I got to the top," Shmu says.
I was pretty proud of Ru for giving me a great 1st Mother's Day. Although, I did have to remind him that I was a mother, too, and therefore being celebrated with our mothers and grandmothers this year. :) He made up for the little slip, big time!

We ended the day watching about 2 hours of video we'd taken of us preparing for Shmu by painting, setting up the crib and some conversations we'd had with the babe and then clips from the hospital and Kyle's birth. When the birthing part was all through, Ru said, "Whew, and we have to do that all over again??" Before I could comment on the dozen things I was thinking about his use of "we" in that statement, I stopped to remember that it had truly been a team effort and I couldn't have done it without him. I think he was unusually involved compared to what I've heard from others and I'm grateful for his participation and constant back and foot rubs that lasted about 11 hours without much of a break at all. Yeah, I guess it was hard on him, too. We both were just so physically and emotionally drained... but oh, so happy. And watching it wore us out in both ways, too. However, it was a good way to end the day.