Touch a Truck!

The kids didn't attend the library's story time on Wednesday morning because of swim lessons or the musical rehearsal on Wednesday night because of VBS at our church, but we did go to the Touch a Truck program at our local library this morning. The kids got to climb up on several tractors. There also was a flatbed tow truck, digger, etc. A librarian also had the kids make edible tractors out of Oreo cookies (tires), pretzels (steering wheel), Rice Krispie treats (body), etc. They each received a yellow hat.

 

 

 

 

 

Thankful Thursday

1. We haven't had any grapes for quite awhile because the price has been too high, but they finally are on sale this week (starting today) at our local grocery store. YAHOO! I bought a LOT of grapes today and plan to return again next Wednesday before the sale ends. I also got some yummy strawberries. I love fresh fruit, and having it on hand helps with dieting! Nadia had her first strawberry shortcake tonight, and she liked it! Yummy!

2. I am very thankful Paul was able to interview in Indiana this week and has two more interviews lined up over the next four days. Maybe next week I will be thanking God for a job offer???

3. I love watching Nadia or Ian push Oliver on the swing at the playground. When he sees one of them coming his way, he starts vigorously kicking his legs and then he smiles and laughs while they push him on the swing. Priceless.

4. Last night the Bible lesson was on prayer from the book of Nehemiah. I tell the Bible story four times over the course of two hours to four different groups of children. Nadia is in one of the groups. She is by far one of the youngest kids in the group as they range in age from Kindergarten to fifth grade. Technically she was supposed to be in the preschool class because she hasn't completed Kindergarten yet (just turned 5 a couple of weeks ago), but due to her maturity they put her with the elementary aged kids.

I am not sure if she is always like this or if it's because I am her teacher, but she is itching to be the first to answer ALL of the questions I ask. I have to purposefully NOT look her way and call on some other kids to spread things out a bit. At the beginning of the lesson I was asking questions about Nehemiah, and it turned out in that group she was the only one who knew about him. I ended up letting her answer several questions in a row because (after waiting quite awhile) no one else had raised a hand. She first told me that he worked for the king, and then when I followed up that question she told me he was a cupbearer. I think I turned red because I thought the other leaders in the room were going to think I had prepped her on the topic, but actually I hadn't discussed it with her at all. She later told me she remembered reading about it in one of the books we use for devotions before bed. Even though I was a tad embarassed, I was also really pleased. Way to go, Nadia! In the picture above, she told me she was Queen Esther. :)

5. Paul was supposed to come home last night, but all of the flights to were cancelled in the afternoon and evening due to a storm in Philly. He spent the night at a hotel. We are glad he arrived home safely at 4:45 today! Having Paul away from home the last 2 nights made me all the more grateful that normally he's here to help put the kids to bed. VBS plus putting the three kids down by myself meant that the last child wasn't in bed until 9pm whereas normally we aim to have them all in bed by 8pm. Tonight they were all in bed by 8:30pm.

6. I brought up the sippy cups from the basement. The first one I tried with Oliver was the one that was Ian's favorite (that he used until he went to the feeding clinic last year). Oliver could drink out of it, but the flow was too fast and he was gagging. The next one I tried was the winner! He wouldn't hold it himself, but he could drink out of it just fine. Way to go, Oliver! Nadia didn't master the sippy cup until she was 13 months old, and she did it sooner than Ian. Oliver wins the prize for that feat in our family!

Indiana

Paul is in Indiana today, and he has my laptop so I can't post any photos today although I did take some yesterday morning at the playground and swimming pool. He almost missed his connecting flight in Philadelphia. The chair of the department picked him up at the airport in Indianapolis, and he found it very easy to chat with him during the car ride, dinner, and such yesterday afternoon and evening. They have his schedule pretty filled up between 8am and 2pm today and then someone is driving him back to the airport. It will be after 11pm until he arrives home. I'll be asleep in bed because Oliver gets me up before 6am every morning. Actually Oliver woke up at 4am this morning, but I let him cry for 15 minutes until he went back to sleep because that is just TOO early, especially as he didn't get to bed until 9pm due to VBS. Normally I find Oliver's short naps to be very frustrating (the two naps put together generally last a total of 75 minutes), but this week and next week it's actually a good thing he takes such a short morning nap because he wouldn't have been able to take a long one due to swimming lessons unless he slept in my arms the whole time we were at the pool (9:45-11:00).

Paul found out yesterday that the search committee purposefully only selected candidates who had just earned their Ph.D.s what a pleasant surprise! For once he'll be on a level playing field, and his lack of experience won't be held against him! Eric also told him that in the spring they'll be conducting a search for an instructor, and that contract will be for 3 years. So if the temp they hire for one year likes it there, and they like that person, it could turn into a 4 year job rather than a 1 year job. He also said that they will pay $1,000 for moving expenses. The 3 schools he interviewed at in NY all said they wouldn't pay anything towards moving expenses, and those were for tenure track jobs so we didn't expect a school would pay moving expenses for a temporary job. Also, Eric said that the person hired can request to teach an upper level course in the spring, if desired (in other words Paul could teach a physical chemistry class). They have the resources and would encourage Paul to continue his research, and they would be happy to have folks conduct observations early in the fall semester so they could write him letters of recommendation so that as he continues to apply for jobs he won't need to keep using his PSU references. That would be most helpful! Here's to hoping and praying that next week one of these three schools offers Paul a job. I would need to keep submitting applications for jobs that start in 2014, but I would be able to stop applying for jobs that start next month, and we could start making plans for the fall -whether that's signing the kids up for things around here or packing for a move to Indiana. I realize it's not a definite that any of the schools will pick him, but it's really hard not to get my hopes up as I would really love for the suspense to be over!

First, Second, and Third

First - Yesterday Ian spotted a rainbow in the sky above our church as we arrived there for VBS. Nadia, Ian, and I enjoyed looking at it for a little bit. I believe it was the first time they saw a rainbow in the sky!

At VBS they put Nadia in a mixed age group that had kids from K-5th grade. It was her first time not being in a preschool class.

Yesterday Ian had his very first swimming lesson. He was in the preschool class that Nadia was in two years ago. There were five kids with two teachers yesterday. For some reason he started crying and acting very shy right when the class was supposed to begin, but thankfully he got past that and once he was in the water he had a blast (was laughing his head off a few times in fact). They wanted the kids to put their faces in the water and asked them first to put their chins in the water. Ian immediately submerged his entire head in the water, which was a pleasant surprise for his teacher. Way to go, Ian! They worked with the kids on blowing bubbles, floating on their backs, and kicking while on their stomach.

Today Paul will have his first experience of flying to a job interview. In a few hours he'll be flying from Williamsport to Indianapolis. Over the next seven days he'll be interviewing at three schools. He is one of three candidates at Indiana State, and at Bloomsburg he is one of three candidates for two positions. We don't know how many people Kutztown is interviewing.

Second - Ian started his second week of VBS last night. We had 92 children attend, which is great since our average attendance on Sunday mornings is less than 200. I taught the Bible story four times. It was the second time the kids did Kingdom Rock. It bothered Nadia more than I thought it would that everything was the same. In the past when she did more than one VBS the churches used a different curriculum. Paul picked Oliver up at 7:15 last night, but tonight and tomorrow Oliver will need to stay until we leave since Paul will be in Indiana.

Yesterday Nadia started her second swimming class. She is in Level One with six other kids, and her teacher is Bob. She's hoping she learns to swim well enough that she can ditch the arm floats at our swimming pool. She took preschool swimming lessons two years ago. We got there a little early so the kids could play on the playground first. That was a hit! Today I want to bring a little bread so they can feed the ducks since they don't remember doing that before.

Third - Oliver said his third word yesterday! It was "Nana" and is his way of saying Nadia's name. That's also how Ian pronounced Nadia's name when he was a baby. When Ian was little it bugged Nadia that he wasn't saying her name correctly. It didn't mean anything to her back then that her name was one of Ian's first words, but now that she's a little older and more mature, she isn't upset with Oliver for mispronouncing her name. She is pleased that he's trying to say her name. Way to go, Oliver!

11 Months Old!

I almost wrote a post two weeks ago titled 10 1/2 months old because Oliver changed so much in those two weeks, but it seemed a little odd so I waited. I felt a bit blue when I pulled out Oliver's 11 month sticker this morning, as there is only one sticker left. Technically, Oliver will be a toddler, no longer a baby, in just one month, but since I doubt he'll be walking by his first birthday, I think it will still feel like I have a baby, which is fine by me.

Oliver definitely can express his preferences even though he only has a two word vocabulary (dada and mama). He's gotten better about wearing a bib and sitting in the carseat, although there are still trips where he cries up to 30 minutes straight. He really, really wants to feed himself so I always put some fingerfood on his tray (pieces of cereal, Cheez-it crackers, blueberries, lima beans, etc.) while I am feeding him something with a spoon or fork. He usually has oatmeal, rice cereal, or cream of wheat for breakfast and a yogurt for lunch. He usually has whatever we're having for dinner. He particularly likes macaroni and cheese, baked beans, stuffed shells, pancakes, french fries, lasagna, and pizza. On June 19th I had no idea that would be the last day he nursed. He fought me some on June 18, but I finally got him to nurse after I gave him some bottle. Usually he nursed first and then had a bottle. On June 19th he didn't fight me at all, and he nursed longer than usual (15 minutes). On June 20 he absolutely refused (before or after his bottle). It was a hearbreaking experience for me. He made it almost 10.5 months, which was 4 months longer than Nadia and 4 months shorter than Ian. Ian's was the smoothest ending of the three (easiest for me to handle emotionally). Next month he can switch to cow's milk, which will mean an end to the massive guilt trip I feel every time I have to buy more formula at Walmart.

Over the past month he began to frequently get in a lying down on his belly position from a seated position. He hasn't yet gone from lying down to sitting up on his own.  He gets up in the crawling position and rocks MANY times a day, but he hasn't actually started crawling yet. A few weeks ago I felt confident he'd be crawling by the time he turned 11 months old, but I was wrong.

Shortly after turning 10 months old he started using the arms up sign as to when he wanted to be picked up, and he added the word "mama" to his expressive vocabulary on June 29.

He loves to play in the swimming pool. He splashes like crazy!

He weighs 17 pounds 11 ounces (2.3 percentile) and wears some size 6 month clothing but mostly wears size 9 month or 12 month. He still is wearing size 3 diapers and still only has 2 teeth. I think his swimsuit is the only thing he's still wearing of size 3-6 month.

His naps have never come close to returning to what they were until we went to Florida. At this point a short nap is 30 minutes, an average nap is 45 minutes, and a long nap is 60 minutes (whereas short used to be 60 minutes and long used to be 3 hours). Sometimes he takes a third nap, but most of the time I just wake him up because he tries to take a third nap too late in the day (ex. 6pm). He goes to bed between 7:30-8:30 and gets up between 5:35-5:55. Putting him to bed later does not cause him to wake up any later. He's getting an average of 11 hours of total sleep a day compared to 14+ hours total prior to vacation. I never would have guessed that a less than 2 week vacation would permanently change his sleeping habits that had been in place for more than 6 months, but that's what happened. He's a sweetheart, and we are SOOO grateful he joined our family 11 months ago!

More Photos

Foto Friday

Nadia and Grandpa played Candyland, dominoes, a Curious George game, Trouble, and the Ladybug Game.

After the parade, we took advantage of free pony rides for Nadia and Ian. There also was a free small petting zoo.

As always, Nadia's favorite part of the parade was picking up lots of candy!

Ian was looking forward to seeing the fire engines, and his favorite part was a float with a person wearing a bear costume.

Oliver's favorite part of the parade were the bands. He was waving his arms like a conductor!

 

After the kids woke up from their naps, my parents went with the kids and me to the swimming pool!

 

 

Nadia and Ian enjoyed their first fireworks! I learned how to use the manual mode to take many pics of the fireworks.

P.S. I took a lot more pictures! More to come in the next few days. :)

Thankful Thursday

1. Since today is July 4th, I have to start by saying I am very thankful for my country. Although I disagree with almost everything most politicians say or do, I am grateful for the freedoms that we still have here in our country.

2. The kids are REALLY looking forward to the parade, petting zoo, pony rides, and fireworks today! I love fireworks, but aside from the ones I saw from my hospital room last summer, I haven't seen any the past 8 years. When Nadia was really young I didn't take her because I thought the loud noises would be too scary. Last summer I planned to take them, but then my bed rest interfered with that plan. Just like the amusement park and circus, taking my kids to the fireworks was something I looked forward to doing long before I actually became a mom. Hopefully they will really enjoy it tonight because I'll be keeping them up way past their bed time!

3. Paul has three interviews scheduled to take place between July 10-15. PTL! Praying one of these will offer him a job! We had hoped for at least a two year position so we could have a break from applications and interviews, but at this point we are not picky. Right now I'm hoping he'll be a FT adjunct for one year and then hopefully land a permanent job elsewhere that would start in August 2014. He wouldn't be eligible for a tenure track position at any of these three schools since he hasn't done a post doctorate. Aside from an application for a part-time job teaching online courses, I haven't done any applications for Paul over the past week, but a physical chemistry tenure track job in Georgia was posted yesterday. That one will be number 87.

4. At dinner on Sunday night Nadia ate corn on the cob, fresh blueberries, and half a peach without any difficulties. Be still my soul. Yay!

5. The past two weekends I went to a few yard sales. Two weeks ago they were right in our development, and last weekend a development about 1/2 mile from our house had their annual yard sales. I spent a little over $100 between the two weekends, which means I got a lot of things as the most expensive item was $5 and many were less than a dollar. I mostly got clothes for Nadia although I did buy a few things for Ian and Oliver. The most recent purchase Ian loves the most is the 25 cent (new with tags) Papa Smurf stuffed animal I got him. I didn't  never have stuffed animals on my shopping list when I'm shopping at yard sales, but he REALLY wanted it, and he's been playing with it ALL the time. The most recent purchase Nadia was the most excited about were four new cartridges for her Leapster ($1 each). The non-clothing purchases that excited me the most were the three boxes of BOB books (sets 3-5) for $1 each. If someone had told me 10 years ago that some day I'd enjoy shopping at yard sales, I would have laughed. I only go to shop for the kids - puzzles, books, clothing, toys, and shoes, but two weeks ago I actually bought myself two pairs of sandals (in like new condition) at one of our neighbor's yard sales. The kids two most favorite purchases from the yard sale two weeks ago would be the Noah's ark set (for Ian) and the Little People princess carriage (for Nadia). She used her own money to make that purchase.

6. Oliver has begun to say my name!!!!!!!!!

7. My parents are coming up today for an overnight visit! Yay!!!!!!!!

8. We received our new (basic) cell phones on Tuesday. Ours were three years old, and Paul's was no longer functioning. We wanted to stay with the plan we've had the past 5 years (that Verizon no longer offers), and they agreed to give us free phones and let us stay with that plan for 2 more years.

9. My ringworm has finally gone away. Thank goodness. I have no idea how I got it the end of April, and when I found out what it was I had no idea it usually takes 8 weeks for it to go away. Not fun.

10. We had our first showing of our house on Tuesday (it's been on the market since May 22). The realtor who showed the house said the wife liked it and wants to bring her husband to see it this weekend.

11. I knew our toaster oven was on its last legs, but I was hoping to wait until August to replace it. It totally died earlier this week; so I went to Walmart and bought a new one yesterday. I love it! It's much smaller and is a regular toaster on top and a small oven on the bottom (called a Toastation). I think it's much better than the last one we had!

12. I lost one pound over the past four days!

Little People Parade

The kids are looking forward to the 4th of July parade tomorrow; so they decided to have a Little People parade this morning. It does my heart good when I see them playing together nicely, and I look forward to the day when Oliver can join in on the fun! We are really looking forward to all the festivities planned for tomorrow - parade, pony rides, petting zoo, fireworks, etc. (all for free!), especially as my parents will be driving up to join us for most of it!

Locked Out!

Yesterday the weather wasn't suitable for a trip to the park or the pool, but we did spend some time outside in between the periods of rain. The second time we were in the back yard. After awhile Nadia went inside while her brothers and I stayed out a bit longer. When Oliver started to get fussy, I went to the sliding glass patio door and discovered Nadia had locked it when she went inside. I didn't have a phone with me or a house key or a garage door opener. I only had the shed key because I had been trimming a bush. I went around to the front door and rang the doorbell and knocked on the door to no avail. After doing that for about 15 minutes, I went across the street and used our neighbor's phone to call Paul at work. I thought he might have to come home early to let us in the house. I rang the doorbell some more, and this time thankfully she heard it and came down from her bedroom and let us in the front door. I was able to call Paul back and let him know before he left the plant. Whew.

Yesterday Paul's interview at Kutztown was set for July 12th. It will be a busy week for him as he's flying to Indiana on July 9th for his interview there on July 10th. Bloomsburg has invited him for an interview, but the date hasn't been finalized yet. Hopefully one of these three interviews will result in a job offer! The realtor's office called yesterday to set up our first showing for this evening at 6:30pm. Our house has been on the market since May 22. I did a lot of cleaning yesterday and today in preparation for the showing. If Paul ends up at Bloomsburg we don't want to move. If we're going to Indiana then we want to sell the house asap and will lower the price of the house if we don't get an offer on the house before Paul accepts a job offer. If he's going to teach at Kutztown, we will keep the house on the market but probably will wait a little to lower the price because at least for the fall semester the schedule would be feasible from our house as he'd only need to be on campus Monday night, all day Tuesday, and Friday afternoon. If he got that job and we didn't move right away, he could spend Monday night at his parents house (they live much closer to Kutztown). The fall semester starts at Indiana State on August 20 and on August 26 at the other two schools. Hopefully we'll know within the next two weeks where Paul will be teaching next month.