The suit again

Paul and I have been married for almost 12 years, and during that time span there were times he went more than a year without ever wearing a suit jacket. He typically only got that dressed up for a wedding or funeral. Three years ago I bought him a new suit for his trip to Poland. At first he just wore the suit at conference presentations, and he also wore it for his dissertation defense in January. He's interviewed with 13 schools over the past few months. Four of those he didn't make it past the phone interview stage. Today is the seventh time he's worn his suit for an in-person interview. He didn't get as dressed up for the interview at Susquehanna (he turned that job offer down) or the Skype interview with the school in Kansas. He's interviewing at Bloomsburg today. Indiana State and Kutztown said he should find out this week if they picked him or not, and Bloomsburg told him today he should know within a week. I have taken a break from doing applications until we hear from these three schools. I cannot wait for the suspense to be over.

Since Paul got home around 4pm today, we ate an early dinner and then headed to the swimming pool. It was Paul's second time swimming at our pool. His first time was on Nadia's birthday. I enjoyed that all five of us were swimming together. I didn't wear a bathing suit to their swimming lessons this morning, but I'm going to do so the rest of the week as the temps are supposed to continue to stay in the 90's. I'll hang out in the baby pool with Oliver during their lessons.

Rode a Camel!

Two years ago we discovered the Lycoming County Fair, which takes place for 9 days each July about 20 minutes from our house. The Bloomsburg Fair is bigger, but at that fair you have to pay (a fortune!) to ride a ride. At this fair, ALL the rides are free (after you pay $6 to enter the fair). We would have gone last summer if I hadn't been in the hospital. Paul was busy preparing for his interview at Bloomsburg tomorrow, but Paul's parents joined the kids and I at the fair. The kids rode lots of rides. They could ride most of the rides on their own, but Pop Pop and I had to join them on the big slide and the ferris wheel. I also took the kids through buildings containing lots of 4H animals. One of the highlights of our afternoon was a petting zoo where the kids fed goats, sheep, horses, cows, and alpacas some carrots. They also petted a capybara and a large turtle. Ian laughed his head off when the road a camel. The petting zoo was free, but I asked if both kids could ride together on the camel (and thus only paid $5 total). Ian laughed his head off during the camel ride.

We stayed for three hours. We would have stayed longer if it hadn't been 95 degrees out (literally). I am not sure if it was the heat or because it was a different flavor, but Ian ate ice cream for the first time. He made a face with each bite, but he kept asking Pop Pop for another bite of his black raspberry ice cream from Brewster's. I feel like I sound like a broken record (I guess that expression is rather outdated, haha), but I took too many pictures to share them all today. More to come later this week! On a completely unrelated note, I highly recommend the movie "The Impossible," which is about a family on vacation when the tsunami hit in 2004. You probably won't watch the movie at the time of day I did (prior to 6am with Oliver), but it was the best movie I've seen in awhile!

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. :)