Vacation in Iowa

Brian returned from his trips to Hawaii and Florida tan and relaxed. Hmmm...where's my vacation?! Yes, he's typically the worldly traveler while Caden and I wait back home, but we've swapped roles for the month. We arrived in Iowa last Thursday and left a sad Brian behind. More time apart...but we should have the remainder of the summer together after this trip. He's got a lot on his plate this month anyway with catching up on work, fixing his bike, and training for the All Armed Forces Race on May 30th.

For good reason, I get a tad anxious for travel days. Flying solo across the country with a toddler can be a 3-ring circus. He's a good traveler, but there's still tedious planning and a constant need for entertainment. Also, after losing our luggage for a week at Christmas, I was prepared for Armageddon.

To my relief, everything went smoothly. Caden normally won't sleep with other people around but he zonked out for an hour and a half on the plane. I was bewildered and practically held my breath for fear I'd wake him. Post-nap, we scarfed down gooey Midwest Airlines chocolate chip cookies and watched the movie Bolt on my work laptop. He wore his seat belt almost the entire flight without objection. The nonstop turbulence was annoying but I'll take that over an antsy toddler. The only downer was I somehow managed to leave his pack of DVDs in the terminal. DUMB. But that wasn't the end of the world. I mean, they brought us our luggage...that in itself was a miracle.

Is this my kid...sleeping on the plane?!


We had a hectic, but nice, Mother's Day weekend. Jen flew in the same day so my Mom was thrilled to have all her kids present for the holiday. We joined G&G Klindt up at Cuppy's Grove for church followed with a BBQ at her house, and then steaks that night with G&G Goettsch. Brian had some beautiful flowers sent to the house, Jen gave me a card, and Mom spoiled us with ridiculously good food.

4 Generations

Swing me, Gramma!


Hanging with the big boys


A flower bed, literally (and GG Klindt didn't even mind)


Caden didn't seem to have gotten the memo that it was Mother's Day though. He was periodically cranky throughout the day and screamed as I tried to take him into church. Turns out, he was running a fever and had caught a bug. After a couple sleepless nights, he's back to his normal, happy-go-lucky self, aside from the fact he's scared to get in the car or leave his car seat. Apparently, he's overwhelmed and the car seat is his safe-zone. He begs for me to re-buckle his seat belt and wants us to go without him. Poor Caden...we're always shaking up his world.

At least he's sleeping beautifully. My Mom created a John Deere bedroom just for him. She also digs out new "old" toys for him every day. He likes to explore the farm and would sit on my brother's tractor all day if we'd let him. My Aunt Marj brought over Dylan's old motorized ride-on motorcycle and that has been a hit as well.

He's understanding more about farm life. He already did a little planting with my Dad and I'm sure there will be more. Every tractor he sees, he thinks Papa is inside. He keeps asking about the combine so he has his seasons swapped. Planting, Cade...harvest is later! Mom and Dad are shocked at how much he talks, most of which they can understand. He learned "windmill" on the way to Atlantic last night.



A ride on the 720 with Uncle Jeff


Ruining Grandma's walls


Chasing rabbits on Grandma Goettsch's golf cart

Yesterday, Caden witnessed something special for the first time. Dad needed to check the cows and I jumped at the chance to go with. We had been cooped up inside due to rain, and I was ready to get out. Caden disagreed, but I'm glad we went anyway. As soon as we arrived, his tears subsided and he wanted out of the truck to see the cows and run after the kitties.

And then, WE WATCHED DAD PULL A CALF!!! She was a big one and the cow was too exhausted to do much. They're both fine and Caden got a taste of REAL farm life. He didn't understand that he should probably be quiet though...he just kept jabbering away about Papa, fences, cows, and kitties. I haven't seen a calf being born in probably 15 years. It was pretty cool, and also a reminder of the labor I will endure in 2 months. Alarming. At least my baby won't be 50+ pounds and sporting hooves.

We plan to spend Memorial Day weekend in Cedar Rapids with the Geraghty's. Marcus Andrew Hasley joined the family on May 7th! He weighed in at 7 lb 6 oz and is doing awesome. Our nieces Gabrielle and Allie argue over who gets to hold him and are still in awe that he's really "there's." Heather is healing as well as can be expected following a C-section. She pushes herself too much, but luckily our saintly Aunt Diana is spending the week to help and will FORCE her to rest.

Caden's 5th cousin, Marcus Andrew Hasley


Regarding Junior G, all is well! I have to go to appointments more frequently now, which I JUST LOVE (not). This kid appears to be doing a triathlon 24-7 and is still sitting low. Now that I'm getting bigger, my back is killing me. I had back pain with Caden so this is no surprise. Brian and I are still tossing around ideas for names but nothing even remotely nailed down. Maybe we'll just let Caden name the baby. (And in that case, it would probably be "tiny oranges," "combine," or "froggy.")

Me & cousin Angie...we feel huge.

Grandma Klindt has another round of chemo this week. She feels great but tires easily. As you can see, her appearance doesn't show any indication that she has cancer. I stayed with her and Grandpa during one of her treatments yesterday. She has a comfy recliner to sit in and the hospital looks new. We're trying to fatten her up and I coerced her into a peanut butter cup on the ride home! They will re-evaluate her in 6 weeks, after she has 2 more rounds of treatments. They upped the chemo this week because she is taking it so well. Please keep praying, and also for the many people out there that have been diagnosed with cancer. Seems like it's popping up frequently with family and friends.

Keeping Busy

Brian is back on the road again so we are in activity mode. I try to plan something every day to keep our minds off our missing counterpart.

Unfortunately, it doesn't necessarily work. Lately, Caden sleeps restlessly, wakes up with bad dreams, and is up for the day before 7. Yikes! Then when Brian returns, he sleeps like a rock. I hope it's just a phase or deployments will truly be miserable. I typically don't sleep well when Brian is gone either, so we'll just be sleep-deprived together.

My latest and greatest activity was the March for Babies 5K walk last weekend. We walked for all babies of course, but in special recognition of Brandee and her daughter Sarah.

Take careful note of Angel's t-shirt

The event resembled a race, but without the jitters and long lines at the Port-A-Potties. I could get used to that...especially the part where you aren't drained at the end. However, I will sadly admit that I was tired by the end of the walk. A trip to Dunkin Donuts afterwards restored my energy. Thanks for a great day, Angel and Brandee. It was truly an honor. AND THANKS TO ALL OF YOU for your fantastic support. The three of us combined had about $1300 in donations.

Speaking of babies, our baby is growing. I'm at 26 weeks and am feeling huge (see above photo). I am beginning to realize we're having another kid soon and I might want to start preparing. So I tackled the new furniture refinishing project, a tall dresser for Caden. Same deal as last time; I sand and Brian stains. I will expect him to have it completed by our return from Iowa at the end of May...okay, Brian?!

Rain has been abundant, so spring is alive in Virginia and I suddenly don't mind living here again. In between storms, we enjoyed several play dates outside this past week. I'm acquiring a farmer's tan. (Great...that will make me look even BETTER in my maternity swimsuit. It's official...I'm wearing a parka to the pool.) He loves mud puddles. He races through them and watches the water splash as he goes. Then he pulls the wagon through and watches the tires. This is extremely reflective of Uncle Jeff behavior.

Always running


Tour de Caden


He decided to just sit in it


Ahhh Mom, my eyes!


He's such an outdoorsy kid that I waited for nice weather to take his 2-year photos outside. My friend Nicole Benitez has a business called Perfectly Posh Photography and was thrilled when I asked her to shoot Caden. We took him Lunga Park and just basically let him play and run around. I cannot believe some of the neat moments she caught. You can check out more of her work at her sites:

http://www.perfectlyposhphotography.blogspot.com/ and http://www.perfectlyposhphotography.com/.

She might be the most patient photographer I've ever met and although she claims she doesn't like getting dirty, she is certainly willing to make that sacrafice if it means a good shot. I love them all and I think I'll be purchasing A LOT of photos. It's nice to know that photo shoots don't have to be stressful...thanks Nicole! Here's a few of the shots.













When we're inside, lately he's drawn to the "TB" and specifically requests Curious George. I try to limit it since there's better things to do, not to mention he zones me out just like his Dad (BIG PET PEEVE). Landen gave Caden his old kitchen so that's been the recent highlight. For whatever reason, he took our can of coins and filled every nook and cranny with money yesterday, which was a pain to clean up!

Curious George


He recently started offering his own prayers at bedtime. He prays mostly for the baby, his friends, and grandparents...but also his toys, trucks, frog, and pacifier. Tonite, he wanted to pray for "tiny oranges." (He loves mandarin oranges, and I figured "tiny" would be easier to say, so that's what we call them. SO cute.) Anyway, I told him I'm not sure we should be praying for tiny oranges...but it's hard to discourage him when he's just starting to get it. So I guess we'll add tiny oranges to the list.

Did he just eat a tiny orange?!


While we're discussing oranges, any time I mention Jeff's girlfriend Tina, he pipes up, tiny oranges! So I hope we kick that before our trip to Iowa in 2 weeks. Otherwise Tina will be puzzled as to why she's being referred to as tropical fruit.

Speaking of tropical, Brian was in Hawaii last week and Florida this week. He relished in being on his old stomping grounds in Hawaii and brought back a Hawaiian shirt for Caden and chocolates for me. He was not thrilled with his race performance, and that's an understatement. Placing 7th out of 350 is awesome in my book, but he was focused on his terrible swim and bike times. It was just a practice race anyway.

Today, he competed in the St. Anthony's Triathlon, a HUGE event that attracts thousands of triathletes, including pros from the US and abroad. Almost the entire Marine Corps Tri Team flew in and competed. The swim was cancelled due to rough waters, so they were disappointed. Brian placed 22nd in the elite amateur category. He never fails to amaze me. He finished first on the team and felt good about his performance, which was a refreshing (and somewhat rare) positive response.

Some of the 2009 Marine triathletes


Now he's bumming for the week with his pal Ethan Copping until Ethan's graduation commissioning ceremony on Saturday. He deployed with Brian in 2003 and asked Brian to be his first salute as Naval officer. Brian will still have to do some work while he's there, but I know Brian...he'll get bored. He doesn't like being too busy, nor does he like too much down-time. Luckily, Ethan has planned some long bike rides and movie outings, so I'm sure they'll have a good time.

Have a GREAT week!!!

Happy Easter!

Brian was gone most of this past week but returned in time to celebrate Easter with us. We went to 8:30 mass this morning and joined some neighbors for a fancy meal afterwards. I made 3 desserts (the Goettsch's will be glad to hear that Gobble Gobble was a hit). We spent the remainder of the day outside, watching the kids hunt eggs and playing some competitive games of bags.

Mad dash for eggs, and Caden jumped the gun

Who thought it was a good idea to hide Cade's big egg in the mud? Thanks Brian.


This was Caden's first Easter coloring and hunting eggs. We colored the eggs in the kitchen and he only gave us a heart attack a couple times. He had an incessant need to recklessly plop the eggs in the cups and then swap them in and out. Messy. But fun.

I want that one. No that one. And that one. That one?


He got a kick out of finding eggs too, but mostly only because of the candy. He's an M&M fanatic and he asks for them frequently. The Easter Bunny brought him a Nascar M&M semi truck. We let him take it to church this morning, which was good and bad. Good because he was well occupied...bad because he screamed "no" if we tried to move it. An elderly lady across the aisle kept giving me the eye. He's 2...give us a break! He looked handsome in his new Easter attire (which acquired a grass stain immediately following mass). The Easter Bunny brought Brian a hat. Apparently the Easter Bunny forgot my gift.

Nice hat, Kenny Chesney.

Leave no soldiers behind


Yet another truck for the collection


Looking sharp (and anxious to eat more M&Ms)

New purpose for the nasty Easter grass


I filled in as a confirmation sponsor at Easter Vigil...congrats Killian!


In other random news, my first ever yard sale had mixed results. We held it at my friend Angie's house. The wind blew our stuff all over the yard and we lacked signs for a while (don't ask). But I did sell some stuff and plan to try again. I seriously thrive off selling things we don't want...it's an addiction. Money for crap? That's my kind of gig.

At the end of March, the Simms from Denver went on a family vacation in DC and Caden and I joined them for touring the American History Museum. I wish they lived closer...Lauren would be a perfect babysitter for Caden. Seeing the Star Spangled Banner was inspirational...and Caden loved looking at all the trains and vehicles.



Brian's race season kicks off next weekend with the Lanikai Triathlon in Hawaii and then the St. Anthony's Triathlon in Florida. I'm just wondering why the heck I'm stuck in Virginia while he's "vacationing" on sunny beaches? While he's gone, Caden and I will do the March for Babies. I haven't been very active since I got pregnant so I hope I can survive 5 miles.

Regarding the pregnancy, I recently traded my headaches for a nasty cold. Eh. People predict that we're having a girl, but I'm on the fence. When I tell Caden that the baby is kicking, he tries to kick the baby back. This baby is sentenced to a rough and tough big bro. Yesterday, Brian was on the phone and out of nowhere, Caden ran from the other room and pounced on him, asking to wrestle. Brian was so proud...his toddler is now a full-blown boy.

And on that note, he sleeps like a champ in his big boy room. No fear, and he actually requests for us to leave. After his story before we even do prayers, he practically pushes us out of the bed, waving and saying "see ya, bye bye." The first night it happened, Brian looked like someone had taken his puppy.

Cade in his QUEEN size bed, covered with trucks


Monkey in a window


Getting his dance on at the library (blue shirt)

Future journalist (that's a Chicago Manual of Style)

Serious sweet tooth


Grandma Klindt has started chemo and will go every other week. After her first round, she was fatigued but not nauseous and her white blood cell counts were stable. Much of the family joined them for Easter and there's nothing they love more than having family around. My Grandma and Grandpa Goettsch are back from Texas again for the summer, so I'm excited to see everyone when we return next month.

Once again, we hope you had a very blessed and happy Easter.

5 Years

Five years ago this month, Brian and I walked down the aisle and said "I do." We've come a long way since then, literally. Honestly, if someone had told me years ago that I would marry a Marine and live in Virginia, I probably would have laughed. But here we are! Five happy years, and things just seem to get better. I guess that's a good thing!



Both of us tried to show our love in unique ways. Brian strategically placed roses throughout the house with special quotes attached. He also asked my Mom for the name of our wedding flowers and gave me a bouquet that would rival the ones we had by the alter. His letter was the best gift...it made me cry.

I wanted to give Brian a meaningful gift too. After wandering the aisles of Michaels, I purchased a wooden crate, stained it, and painted it. Here's why...when I attended the retreat a few weeks ago, the speaker talked about your heart as a keeping place for all the things dear to you. She also specified how we need to protect our keeping place and make sure outside distractions don't interfere. So, this sparked an idea of giving Brian a "Keeping Box" to hold special letters, cards, and photos. Yeah, I suppose this is a "girly" gift, but I tried to make it look masculine, and I sent him on a photo treasure hunt to find it, including one photo from every year we've been together. What a walk through time, and boy did we look young 9 years ago?! We finished the day with a dinner date in Fredericksburg (thanks again for watching Cade, Brandee).

Caden's gift (thanks to Angel)


About the retreat...wow...what a vacation. Of course I missed my boys, but would it be terrible to say I could have stayed a week? We stayed in an old lodge from the 1800's, went hiking, had home-cooked meals prepared for us (including dessert), and listened to one of the most inspiring women I've ever encountered.

Angel, Susan, Me, and Brandee


I think one highlight was randomly hiding ham in Angel's bag and calling her Hambone for the remainder of the weekend. Brandee and I laughed so hard our faces hurt.

Thumbs up to Hambone


It was my longest time away from Cade, and he did just fine with Brian. In fact, I was disappointed that he wasn't overly enthused to see me when I returned! Brian took him to Prince William Park for a 2-hour hike. Brian excitedly described to me how they waded out to an island and Cade was actually in the creek, WAIST DEEP, and he did really well even with the currents. My eyebrows shot up but what can I expect from my two mountain men.

Pat and Pam graced us with a 5-day visit this week. Brian took some time off and we enjoyed shopping and sight-seeing in Fredericksburg and DC. We toured the Museum of the American Indian and the National Cathedral.



Breathtaking


It rained but Cade loves being outside regardless and it wasn't terribly cold. The navigation and parking was flawless and Caden was an absolute angel. Perhaps it helped that (a.) we had a GPS, and (b.) I fed Cade snacks like they were going out of style. We had some pretty impressive meals too...I think Brian was trying to show off his cooking skills to his "chef" Mom.

The Capitol


Ew


Caden is talking in sentences constantly. Recently, after we finished supper, I said, "Now, what do you need to say to Daddy?" He walked over to Brian and said, "Nice meal." I expected the normal thanks, but nice meal? That's creative. He attempts 3-syllable words (important ones, like chocolate) and counts to ten, skipping five and eight. He's quite a lover and hugs and kisses constantly. He'll see birds fly by in the sky and spread his arms and gaze upward and say, "Hug." He sure loves his grandparents too. He was glued to Grandma and Grandpa the whole visit and needed to know where they were at all times.

Hug to the ducks

Boys and their toys


He adores his Dad


Dad taught him this


Supastar

Mom and Dad proud of their Marine

Neighborhood lawnmower races (Good strategy, Thomas)


Junior G's arrival is fast approaching, so we're moving Caden into his big boy room tonite. We started another dresser sanding project and bought a double stroller 2 weeks ago. My 20-week ultrasound was uneventful, aside from the fact that they were unable to see everything because the baby was hiding. The nurse tried to push the baby to adjust to a better spot, but the only response was a sharp kick and zero sign of cooperation. The nurse joked and said, "No offense, but I think your baby has an attitude."

Brian competed in 10K here on base yesterday morning, his first race for the year. He's been battling low energy the past couple weeks but felt great yesterday and held 5:30 pace most of the way (until they had to run 2 miles on slick muddy trails!). He stayed with his running buddy Tyler the entire race. It's a strange dynamic as they're friends but also prime competition. They tend to trade off as to who wins the races, but Brian edged him this time by 1 second.

My Grandma Klindt had surgery on her colon 2 weeks ago. They removed 14 inches and a sizable polyp. Post-op, she told them her pain was at a zero and she didn't want to take pain meds. Her reasoning was, "Well, farm wives have to be tough." She was at home recovering but hasn't been feeling well the past few days and couldn't keep food down. So she's back in the hospital. They will begin therapy for the cancer as soon as she has healed enough. Thank you for your numerous emails and prayers. Your support is appreciated more than you know.