Florida: The Family

This pregnancy is totally kicking my butt! I've never been so tired in all my life. . . even after having 3 days to recover from our week-long trip to Florida, I've only gotten around to editing a handful of the hundreds of pictures I took. So I'll share what I've gotten through and promise you'll see more soon!

We had a busy itinerary in the Sunshine State, but the main reason for our visit was to see family. And just having that on the docket kept us pretty busy! First things first, though, Hayden had to get reacquainted with some of his Mom's old toys. Grandma and Grandpa have kept quite a collection of 1970's era Fisher Price toys. His favorite, of course, was the train!

We had a long journey to get to Florida, flying first through Salt Lake City then through Cincinnati and finally onto Orlando. When I realized our itinerary took us through Cincinnati I thought it would be a good opportunity for Hayden to see his Uncle Doug and Aunt Janet. Doug is a pilot, so he was able to actually meet us at our gate. Janet was also able to get through security to be at the gate as well. We expected to have about an hour to visit before catching our connecting flight, but we were delayed leaving Salt Lake and only had about 10 minutes to run to next gate. We visited as we ran, but that short visit just wasn't enough for Uncle Doug! The perk of being a pilot is that he can just hop on a flight when he's off duty. So he hopped on down to Orlando to visit on Sunday and Monday. Hayden was thrilled to have his uncle to play with!

Hayden also spent some quality time with his Aunt Laura, who drove up from Naples to visit for the weekend. When she, Grandma, and Hayden sat down to read some books they were all surprised when Hayden decided to do the reading.

He loves this book, laughing in delight at the pictures of the dogs whenever we read it.

I'm always the one doing the reading, however. But when Grandma opened the book he looked at the first page and said, "A for arf, arf!" continuing with each letter and it's accompanying word all the way to the end of the book, laughing hysterically as usual.

Once Hayden went to bed, the adults started a friendly little game of Mexican Train dominoes. Okay, it's mostly friendly, but sometimes got a little animated!

And finally, no trip to Florida is complete without a trip to visit Hayden's great-grandparents (Rich's paternal grandparents), who live 2 hours south of Orlando. It didn't take him long to warm up to his octogenarian relatives!

As I said, we had a busy trip and this was just the beginning. Still to come: our trip to The Swamp, a day at Disney World, some time at the local park, and our day-early Thanksgiving feast. . .

Happy Thanksgiving

We are thankful today for many things. . . mostly our family, friends, and our health.

Thankful that we just got to spend a week visiting family that we don't often get to see.

Thankful that we made it safely back to our home today, after starting our day at 6:30 a.m. EST, traveling on three different flights and eventually walking through our door at 5:15 p.m. MST.

And finally, thankful that (despite being on airplanes for the majority of the day) we were able to enjoy a home-cooked meal on this special day. The pasta was from a box, the sauce from a jar, the chicken and green beans from the freezer, but it was none-the-less a meal assembled with love, for those I love, in our very own house!

We had to make sure there was a little bit of turkey somewhere in the meal, though. . .

Oh, don't worry, we didn't miss out on Thanksgiving. We celebrated a day early with the complete spread, stuffing our bellies at a table set for 14 of our friends and family. I'll share that (and lots more from our busy trip to Florida) in the next few days!

Whether your day was traditional or nontraditional, we hope you got to spend it with people you love!

Crazy Shertzer, Part II

Rich has found yet another interesting way to spend his time: cyclocross. Within a week of starting school, he came home telling me that a fellow grad student was into bike racing and was recruiting him to give it a try. We're already road bikers (well, before I had Hayden I was. . . I think I've been on my road bike a half dozen times since he was born) and we also like mountain biking, but I hadn't ever really heard of cyclocross. As the name implies, it's sort of a cross between the two--road and mountain biking.

Rich was intrigued and went to a few practices this fall. This past weekend he had the opportunity to do his first cyclocross race. And Hayden and I went to cheer him on!

The race works like this: a large loop (close to a mile in distance) is set up in a local park. It covers grass, dirt, mud, and pavement, winding through man-made obstacles and natural obstacles, up steep hills and through narrow gates. The clock is set for an hour and whoever completes the most loops in that time is the winner.

Most riders use a road bike frame but add slightly beefier tires (with tread more like a mountain bike). The road frame is lighter than a mountain bike frame, which is important when you have to carry it over a barrier!

. . . or push it up a steep hill!

Hayden found the playground, but was sure to go cheer every 8-9 minutes when Rich was finishing another lap.

He'd say, "Go Daddy!" and then quickly head back over to the slide. . .

After 6 grueling laps, Rich crossed the finish line!

Hayden came over to give a congratulatory hug. . .

Then we headed home to enjoy the rest of our Saturday.

While I wouldn't say Rich is "hooked" on cyclocross (he has too many other hobbies that he enjoys, too), I'm sure this won't be his last race.

Ten on Tuesday

1. A lot of people complain that Bozeman is getting too big. To me, it's a small town. I was convinced of this when we took Maggie to the Vet this morning for her annual vaccinations. In the waiting room, they have a large TV which displayed a slide show with photos of clients. As we watched it roll by for about 2 minutes (and not too closely, since I was trying to watch a busy toddler and a nervous dog) I saw 2 separate people that we know. One is a lady that works at the Occupational Therapy office that Hayden goes to. . . he was looking at the screen and started saying "Rosie". I looked up and, sure enough, saw the face of the lady that greets us every time we go, smiling there with her dog. Then, we saw a little boy with his dog from one of Hayden's classes. We've only lived here 3 months!

2. Another example. . . Rich did a bicycle race this weekend (more on that in an upcoming post). It was a small race, but one of the spectators was a little girl that Hayden knows from Rosie's as well.

3. My final example is that within just 6 weeks of living here, we'd run into 2 different people we know at Costco. On my first trip there, the day we drove into town, I must have heard at least 4 mid-aisle "reunions". People rounding the corner of an aisle and recognizing a familiar face and passing on a friendly greeting. I thought, well that won't be happening to me. And then it did. Twice. Within 6 weeks of living here.

4. We've been going to a Sunday School class at our new church for the last 2 months. This past Sunday we realized that we went to the same church as another couple in the class back when we lived in Lancaster, California. We moved from there in 2004! They just moved from there to Bozeman this summer, but were there during the time we were. It wasn't a mega-church, either, just a few hundred members. Once we made the connection, we both had a "yeah, you looked kinda familiar" feeling. And, the wife was member of the choir and Rich played accompaniment for the choir on numerous occasions. Pretty small world.

5. I'm convinced that the 2nd trimester has officially begun. . . I've been nesting since the weekend. Mostly in the form of cleaning. For the last few months I lacked the energy to do anything, or really even care about, all the grime that has been building up around the house. This weekend I got my juice back and was quite frankly rather disgusted at the filth we were living in. Now, we have a clean house!

6. We had a big promotion party for Rich last weekend. We had 35 people at the house! I was shocked that we know so many people here already.

7. I'm a bad wife and neglected to take a single picture during the entire party. Didn't even snap a picture of the food spread before the guests arrived. And I didn't even realize my neglect until the next day. Okay, maybe I'm not that bad, since I did make all of the food for the party. Just wish I had some documentation of the event!

8. We're getting set to go to Florida for Thanksgiving. I booked the tickets back in June and decided I should check to make sure there were no changes to our itinerary since then. Surprise, surprise. . . there are. We were scheduled to depart Orlando on our return at 4 p.m. We're now scheduled on a 9 a.m. departing flight. We practically lose a whole day at our destination! Stupid airlines.

9. Hayden's memory is scary good. Seriously, the child shocks me everyday with something new. The latest was when I picked up a book at the library for him. It's the Animal Alphabet, and a different animal watercolor is on each page, to represent all 26 letters of the alphabet. Some are "standard" animals: ant, bear, dog, frog, giraffe. Some are more "obscure": nuthatch (a type of bird), yellowtail (a fish), ox, lobster, koala bear, panda bear, vole. In our first reading, he knew about half of the animals before I said their names (from the pictures). The second time we read it, he knew about 75% of them. Rich read it to him again that night, and by then, he knew all of the animals in the book.

10. A photo from the weekend--with eye contact!! A victory for mom!

The Happy Dance

I have a feeling that Christmas is going to be quite a hoot around our house. Hayden has recently really gotten the idea of presents. I first noticed when a box from amazon was on our doorstep a few weeks ago. I had ordered some books, a few for me and a few for Hayden, and I told him that when I carried the box inside. He was intent on getting into that box immediately! And when he actually saw some Dr Seuss books inside he was beyond excited.

About a week later, he got a package in the mail from his grandparents for Halloween. When he saw the box and I told him it was from his Grammy and Grandpa, he knew exactly what to expect. And he wasn't disappointed! Some Thomas the Train bath toys, a few books, some candy, family pictures, and stones for skipping. He commenced to do his "happy dance" as I got the box open and he pulled out all the great stuff.

A few days after that, his other grandparents sent him a Halloween package. This time, I knew what to expect and I pulled out the video camera before I tore the box open for him. Once again, his grandparents proved to know him well. . . more Thomas stuff, a book, and candy. And from Hayden, more of his "happy dance".

It's not only packages that have perked his interest lately. . . the numerous toy catalogs that have been arriving in the mail are pretty cool, too.

I'm starting to get as excited for Christmas as I think he'll be when he sees everything under the tree on Christmas morning!

Mr Giggles

Guaranteed to make you smile!

Pop. . . goes the belly

About 2 days ago I started to notice that my pants were getting a little snug. This afternoon I could really see why!

I don't really think I look pregnant, just like I ate too much Halloween candy! (For the record, I'm sure that's not baby popping out, the baby is just displacing everything else in my belly, leaving it nowhere to go but out. . .) Just when the nausea and fatigue start winding down, you start looking like a slob. Pregnancy is just wonderful. . . it's worth it, though, for what you get at the end!

Speaking of ultrasounds. . .

I'm always amazed by ultrasound pictures. Actually getting to see a glimpse of the tiny baby growing deep inside is just magical. And that you can look at a grainy black-and-white photo and actually see what your baby will look like. . .

After seeing Hayden's cowboy pictures last week, his Grandma commented that in his silhouette picture, he looks just like he did in his 20-week ultrasound picture.

I think she's right. And that's so cool!

My little man is now 21 months old, and two months have now passed with no bear photo or update on his world. I think I'll let Mr Bear hang out with Hayden's other stuffed friends until he hits the 24-month mark, but here's a brief update on the highlights of his day:

-He loves his trains and trucks. He knows almost all of Thomas's friends by sight just from the few Thomas books he has, which get read daily, sometimes even hourly.

-He still loves his books. He knows almost all of the titles of his books, too. When he grabs one from the shelf for me to read him, he says the title when he hands it to me.

-His vocabulary has grown exponentially. He's says mostly 3-4 word sentences, but he'll sing entire children's songs and nursery rhymes. He knows Twinkle, Twinkle, Baa Baa Black Sheep, 5 Little Monkeys, the Alphabet song, London Bridge, and many more. He just breaks into song at certain times throughout the day.

-He knows almost all of his letters now, too. And thanks to the Leapfrog Fridge Phonics, he's even saying "B says bah, V says vah," etc. He says, "H for Hayden," "D for Daddy," "M for Mommy," etc.

-He's started to master the use of verbs. A few of his recent phrases: "Mommy read to you" (meaning read to me), "Mommy has soup" (when we were eating lunch), "we are home" (when we pull into the garage), "go downstairs," "get down," and he's still frequently saying "Mommy carry you" at the top of the stairs.

-If I ask him where Mommy's baby is, he points to my belly. That's not quite specific enough for him, though, he has to actually see my belly so he'll lift up my shirt to expose the bare skin.


Looking back at his ultrasound picture makes me smile. I already loved him so much, yet I had no idea what he'd actually be like or what motherhood would be like. Both have exceeded my wildest imagination and expectation. And although I feel like my love for him couldn't possibly get any bigger (because it's already so immense), I know it will, just like it has every single day since the day he was born!

Happy Day!

We had a special little photo shoot today. . .

We're excited to announce that Hayden is going to be a big brother! My due date is May 21st and I'm 11 1/2 weeks along. Which is actually 3 1/2 weeks further along than I thought was before we saw the doctor today. Which makes it an even happier day--I just got to fast forward through part of the first trimester of pregnancy. Hopefully my nausea and fatigue will be gone sooner than I thought, which certainly makes for a happy pregnant lady!

No Tricks, all Treats

Our halloween was filled with treats! We had a busy day, starting out with sweet caramel rolls at a neighbor's house before heading off to one of Hayden's weekly classes. We're home just in time for lunch and a nap. Hayden needed to rest up for the afternoon and evening activities!

Downtown Bozeman hosted trick-or-treating on Main Street from 3-6 p.m. One of Hayden's new friends, Henry, invited us to go along with him. Henry is exactly 2 weeks older than Hayden and they get along great.

Main Street was the place to be! Henry, I mean the Meerkat, ran into one of his friends. They made brief introductions before getting back to the business of filling up their treat buckets.

After covering about 2 blocks, we sauntered back to the car. I think both boys weren't quite sure what to think of this Halloween thing yet.

Once we got home, though, Hayden realized there was some good stuff in his pumpkin bucket!

After polishing off a mini bag of M&M's (he could actually "read" the label, which was cute, looking at it and saying "M! M!"), he wanted to see what else was in there.

Ooooo, this looks interesting. . .

The balloon was almost as popular as the candy, and with a chocolate-covered mouth he was running around the house "bonking" his balloon on things.

After dinner we took him out for some door-to-door trick-or-treating.

After the second house, he had the hang of it. He'd walk up to the door, knock, say "trih-treat" (even before the door was open), and happily accept his candy, saying "thank you" when I prompted him. I was only going to stop at the houses of people we knew, but he wouldn't let me pass by a house!

He even did well with the bucket of candy, picking his favorite and adding it to his stash!

We stopped at the neighborhood bon fire for a few minutes. . .

Then headed home to see Daddy.

. . . and check out his loot.

He helped pass out a little more candy, then headed to bed. It was so much fun to experience Halloween like a kid again. Especially a kid experiencing it for the first time (in his memory). Hope you all had a fun day, too!

We're lucky enough to have a great big treat extend to today, the day after Halloween. Rich officially "pins-on" Major today! We're so proud of all he does and all he's done. Way to go! We love you!