It has been well over a month since I’ve posted anything on this blog. I have over 1,000 photos to mull over and so many great memories and stories of summer. I’m sure I will never get to all of them. Maybe I shouldn’t even try. My mom keeps calling the past few months, “the summer to remember.” My youngest brother, Jonathan, graduated from college. My sister, Sarah, graduated from divinity school. My brother, Seth, got married in New York to his lovely wife, Nichole. And two weeks later, we were all reunited for a Wisconsin reception at my parents’ home. Due to D.R. needing attend a month-long seminar in Washington D.C., the kiddos and I packed up and spent four weeks with my parents. I haven’t spent four weeks with my parents in 12 years! It was a truly special time (though, we missed D.R. tremendously) and I’m grateful for the chance I had to share my children with their extended family.
The boys turned four in August and Shea celebrated her first birthday. They are growing up so fast! Shea is literally running everywhere. She bounces as she runs and it’s about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. A favorite game at our house involves the boys running up to Shea and begging her to chase them. All three of them get so silly and the boys gently let Shea chase them everywhere. She does a fantastic job of keeping up with them and they do a great job of protecting her from tripping down stairs and bumping into walls (for the most part). She is also as much of a climber as the boys were. She’s adding new words to her little vocabulary and it’s so fun for me to see how she uses these few words. The other day, after putting on a batmask, she pranced around squealing, “Bat-baby! Bat-baby!” In addition to “Mama” and “Daddy,” she’s finally putting some sounds together for Dexter and Jaxon. I’m not quite sure if she thinks they have the same name, or if Dexter is just easier, but most of the time, she calls them both Dexter (though, it sounds something like “Daz-dah”). I think my all-time favorite word of hers, however, is “hello.” It’s so funny to see her pick up a little cell phone and walk around the room having very serious conversations that merely involve repeating “Hello. Hello” over and OVER AGAIN!
The boys finally decided it was acceptable to pedal their little bikes. For the past year, they’ve tried their best to stick to the argument that bikes go faster when your feet are on the ground, rather than on the pedals. Naturally, any attempt my Mom or Dad to show them how fast one can go once pedaling is mastered was met with stubborn refusal. All that changed when their Mimi and Granddad gave them Batman big wheels. Their “batmobiles” are prized above all possessions and are pedaled non-stop. Yahoo! Though I often lament the fact that our babies are growing up, I am celebrating this new chapter of our family life…. The Family Bike Ride. What fun! With the boys on their little bikes and Shea in the wagon, the exploration possibilities seem endless (even if it’s really just riding around the block a few times).
With a short week-end visit from D.R., we took the boys to their first waterpark. It was FREEZING, but we had a blast. The boys would have stayed all day, which means we will definitely have to do it again. I have to admit, waterslides are a little more fun when you get to hold a slippery, cuddly, giggling little boy in your lap while you go down. Next time, we’ll just have to pick a warmer day.
Of course, returning home after four months of living in an actual house involved a bit of shock for us all at how little our apartment actually is!! As the week is progressing, I’m once again getting used to the lack of space and the reality of living with so much STUFF packed so tightly. But that first time home really took some adjustment! J We are, of course, loving the fact that there are children everywhere and a great community of young parents to visit with. We’re starting our eighth year in student housing and while I’m grateful for the sense of community and security, I’m growing anxious for the day when we have a place of our own. A garage would be fantastic… and laundry… and a yard… aaaah…
Shea was diagnosed with craniosynostosis before we left in July. This is a condition in which there is premature closure of one or more of the cranial sutures before brain growth is complete. In Shea’s case, it appears to just be a single suture, and not very severe, but we will be meeting with a cranio-facial surgeon and a neuro surgeon in two weeks to see if the problem is going to be anything other than cosmetic. Though I went through a fair amount of shock/fear at the diagnosis, I have since mellowed and am fairly certain we’ll be reassured at our appointment in September. In the meantime, my brother Jonathan, has affectionately begun calling Shea our little Kling-On (she has a ridge at the top of her forehead)… a nick-name that will most likely have to disappear by the time she understands what it means!
So, once again, we get a life lesson. It can be hard to love these children so much!! We want so deeply for their lives and bodies to be perfect. I want to know that their future is secure, that their health is intact, that they’ll never be teased or left-out… but that’s something I just don’t have control of. What I CAN do, is try to raise them to be confident and secure, kind and loving, curious and joyful… D.R. and I have been parents for four years and already we’ve learned more about speech delays, autism and spectrum disorders, lop ear, plagiocephaly, torticollis, selective Immunoglobulin A deficiency and all that can accompany an immunodeficiency (chronic ear and respiratory infections, chronic diarrhea, food allergies and intolerances), special diets and now, craniosynostosis, than I ever would have dreamed (or wanted). Despite all of this, our children are still basically healthy, happy, bright and busy kids…who have faced a few challenges along the way.
Anyway, I’m celebrating this morning. I’m celebrating a memorable summer, funny children, a husband who is home at last, generous parents (who put up with sticky fingerprints, trampled-on flower beds, bare tomato plants, noisy boys and TOYS EVERYPLACE), time with my sister and her little boys (always treasured and never enough) and two fantastic brothers and a new sister-in-law (who play with the boys like no one else. Thank you!). To top it all off, my dear husband sent me away with the laptop this morning so I could complete this monster post without my three little and adorable interruptions.
SO… that’s my summary. As complete as it’s going to get… and as rambling as ever. I will post my photos as I get through them. How will I ever get through them?! J
Shea arrived in Madison filled with stranger anxiety... and left with hardly any at all!! All thanks to full house of family that loved her constantly! Here, Shea shares a cell phone with Granddad.
Mimi could be found most mornings in her beautiful garden. I wish I had taken more photos of all those gorgeous flowers.
The boys got such a kick out of playing under the deck. Usually, it was some sort of jail or prison and, naturally, they were prisoners trying to escape. Here, Jax is calling for reinforcements.
I still can't get over how great it was for the boys to be around my brothers. They CLUNG to them. I phrase I heard over and OVER AGAIN was, "You're my favorite, Uncle ______. I love you. I love you SO MUCH!!!" I think it was so great for the boys to be around guys. They loved the physical play and Jonathan, especially, was fantastic at being playful but firm with the boys. Must be all the great camp experience! My dream come true would be for Jonathan to come and be our manny. Of course, he'd have to accept next to nothing as pay and share a room with the kids... so... I guess I should probably just stop dreaming!!!!! :)
An afternoon at the park with Jonathan. Jax-left, Dex-right.
The shirts the boys are wearing are from the first annual Schroeder family reunion, which took place the week-end D.R. and Shea and I went to Seth's wedding. The boys got the pleasure of staying with D.R.'s folks and representing our family unit at the reunion. They had such a great time climbing on tractors and chasing the dog... and we were grateful for the opportunity to enjoy the wedding without worrying about entertaining two three-year-olds (though, I'm sure the boys would have loved Nichole's parents' farm, as well).
The boys give Jonathan a push.
Jax and Jonathan
All that playing is such hard work! The boys got used to an afternoon popsicle on Mimi and Granddad's front sitting space. It was pretty cute to see them sitting up there together. Jaxon, especially, was really drawn to the space. I'd frequently find him sitting up there playing school. Of course, the teacher was frequently doing a lesson on spiders and he almost always got bit by a spider. This meant he was no longer Jaxon, but Spiderman... I hope he's not disappointed when he starts preschool next week and there are no spiders!!
...a little more normal. :)
