Busy, busy, busy...

Phew! This past couple of weeks have been a killer. Home, work, school...it's a bit overwhelming to say the least. Both Scott and I have been a little stressed. He is trying to finish his masters and I had what could possibly be the worst Accounting class in the history of accounting classes! But, now that class is OVER! And, I'm on to Managerial Accounting, which this is week one and I didn't struggle with anything so far, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue on like that for the 8 remaining weeks of my class. And, Scott is getting ready to finish his portfolio for his master's program and then he will be done with that.

BUT...now it's baseball. Ick! I love baseball season and then hate it at the same time. It just stinks because I feel like I become a single parent for the season. I think I will finally see Scott in June maybe! It's going to be a lot different this year without Rowe, (for those of you who don't know, Bob Rowe was the head coach and he is now the principle at Covington Catholic) so, it's going to be a bit of a "test" season for Scott, but I think it will work out just fine *hopefully* I think that it is going to be hard for Scott a bit, because him and Rowe have been pretty close, and Rowe is the reason Scott coached at Brossart at all....but I think that it will all end up working out!

Beckett has his 4 month well-check last week and he is growing like a weed! He weighed in at 16.6lbs and 24 3/4 inches! Getting to be a big boy! I cannot believe that he is already 4 months old (and now closer to 5 months) and soon we will be hitting that 1/2 year mark....it's going too fast. I think with Parker I was so excited for him to grow up, but with Beckett, I guess i know that this is it and there are going to be no more babies in our house, so I'm trying to savor every single moment of being able to hold a baby in my arms. Parker all of the sudden just seems like he is such a big boy, and right now is on a total daddy kick and doesn't want a whole lot to do with me.

So, nothing exciting happening in the Schweitzer house, just lots of work and craziness! And, we are going to finally take a family vacation this year, but we are trying to figure out a good place to go...any suggestions? Only places with a beach please! It's been too long since I've been in the sand and I cannot wait to see the ocean!

Update on Abbie

For those of you who are wondering about Abbie...here is the latest update from her Aunt Katie!

Todays final update Abbie is continuing to do well. She is sitting up in a chair and eating chicken noodle soup. She is still very weak and tired, but this is from the medicine they give her when she needs it. She got up and went to the bathroom twice when my parents were there. She was also playing hand-held games and watching movies. She found the Ruth Lyons movie channel that just shows kids movies non stop. She was watching Kung Fu Panda today. Her eyes are doing good and her feet work perfectly. The nurses are saying she is doing remarkably well. Today they were getting her to move her hands, and do more on her own. Getting her drink, washing her hands, etc. Everything is working beautifully. Tomorrow they are going to try and get her walking the halls. Keep your fingers crossed. They said that the tumor is the size of a golf ball. I thought it was bigger, but a golf ball is big to be in your brain. We may not find the results until Friday. Since they got it out later in the day, it might take an extra day. Abbie said visitors can start coming tomorrow. She will still be weak, but she misses everyone. THanks again so much for all of the prayers. Words can't express what everyone praying means to us. All of the kind words people have been emailing me have helped a lot. Thanks again. I will send out another update tomorrow.

Katie

Also, if you would like to check out Abbie's CarePage http://www.carepages.com/carepages/AbigailGebauerCarePage where you can sign up and keep updated on her journey through this horrible ordeal and also leave her messages of inspiration or just let her know that you are thinking of her!

Thanks everyone for letting me know that you read the blog and that you were thinking of Abbie and her family and keeping them in your prayers. Sometimes, you would be amazed at what the power of prayer can do!

God works in mysterious ways

I know that they say that God has a plan for everyone and everything that happens in your life is no mistake, God planned it to happen that way, good or bad. And, being a believer in the big man, I believe that too. But, some things you just sit back and ask yourself and The Lord, "What is your plan for this?"

I have some pretty great neighbors, that I think we have become pretty good friends with over the past year and a half that we have lived in our house. They are a great family, and they have great families that surround them and they are all very close to each other. And, unfortunately, this family just cannot seem to catch a break.

Katie, my neighbor has an older sister with 4 kids. One week before Christmas, while they were at a basketball game, their house burnt down. Thankfully, no one was home, but, they also didn't get those few precious moments to grab things that are irreplaceable and you cannot replace with insurance money. And, it was a week before Christmas and with 4 kids, that becomes pretty hard to deal with. Thankfully everyone was safe and healthy and they would have a roof over their heads whether it be with their parents, or a rented home.

Just as it seemed that things were coming back together, I believe her husband (Katie's brother in-law) was hospitalized....another kick to the gut of the family.

This past Friday they had a benefit to raise money for the family. What is so special about Alexandria, or, Campbell Co. for that matter, is that although we are a growing community, we take care of our own and we support each other in times of need. We make sure each family is taken care of. It was the end of a long week, the kids had all been off of school because of a big snow storm that dropped a good amount of snow and ice on us and during that week, Abbie, Katie's 12 year old niece started having some pretty bad headaches and seeing spots. She also became sick, her balance getting more and more off and her face showing signs of what many stroke victims go through. They took her to Children's Hospital on Friday and they had a CT Scan done.....only to find out that Abbie had a brain tumor.

It's times like this when you ask God, "What in the world could your plan for this family possibly be?" and "Why would you subject these people to such hard times? Haven't they had enough?"

Abbie had surgery yesterday to remove a part of the tumor so the doctors can see what they are working with and to find out if it is cancer or not. Thankfully, if there is anything to be happy about during this horrible deal, is that the tumor is not touching her brain but is kind of sitting right on top of it. Which, makes it easier (as if it is easy to remove a foreign being from inside your head) to remove.

Katie has been sending out many updates on Abbie, keeping us all in the loop, which keeps the community in the loop as we are ALL worried about Abbie, even if we might not know her, or her family. And, each one of us is praying that she get's through this with flying colors and continues to go back to the normal 12 year old life that she should be living. Not worrying about her house being gone, along with all of her belongings, and most important, not having a tumor....

So, for everyone who might read this blog, please keep Abbie and her entire family in your thoughts and prayers. They've been through enough for a lifetime, and they need all the prayers and support that they can get. As of right now while writing this, Katie has sent out another update letting everyone know that Abbie is out of ICU and going to a regular hospital room. They have her sitting in a chair and eating and drinking a little, but, she is still fragile as I'm sure everyone would expect.

Keep her in your prayers, and keep praying that God does have a plan and that he knows what he is doing.....he knows that Abbie has more time on his earth and that there are more things that she needs to do in her life, that this is just a bump in the road for her......

Snow Dayz!

So, this week it came...the big snow storm of 2009! All weekend long they talked of some serious snow coming out way and we actually got it this time around!

Monday night it started snowing late in the evening and when we woke up there were about 5 inches on the ground and it kept on snowing! Parker was excited as was I and I decided that I was going to take the day off of work. I work pretty far away, it's about a 45 minute drive and Cincinnati in the snow and traffic is no fun...especially since I have to be on the busiest highway in the area. So, Scott convinced me to stay at home and enjoy the snow day with him and the boys.

This is what we woke up to on Tuesday morning.

So, Dylan came over for the day and him, Parker and Scott played outside in the snow all day long and had a blast! Getting ready of course was a challenge, as it always is trying to layer on a million pounds of clothes just to keep warm!

And, when they finally made it out in the snow, the fun began!

As soon as he walked into the snow he went straight to his knees...I don't think he was expecting the snow to be so deep and so hard for his little legs to move in!!!

But, Dylan is always there to lend a helping hand!

On the way down the hill!

Now the hard part....back UP the hill!
Daddy pulling Parker back up the hill...little legs in a 1/2 foot of snow just don't cut it!

After a couple of hours outside playing it was time to come in and rest, get warm and watch a movie! They were so pooped at this point, but I guess you would be if you just walked up and down that hill for the past couple of hours! Scott built a fire for them too so they could warm up fast!

Then we decided it was time for Beckett to try out his exersaucer. He's not really big enough to play with it, or even reach the bottom of it for that matter, but we thought that it would be something good for him to sit in and check things out...and it get's him out of the swing and we can bring him anywhere we are and not have to worry about big brother trying to do something to him! We got some REALLY great pictures.

We also tried out his high chair because we want him to be able to sit at the table with us and eat when it's breakfast/lunch/ dinner time...and he get's to start eating cereal in the next couple of weeks....I cannot believe how big he is getting! He is such a happy baby and was so excited about his new "toy". And, I think he was pretty pumped that his mommy and daddy got to spend the day with him as well.

That night Dylan spent the night and turns out that Mother Nature was not done with us! She dropped another 1-2 inches of ice on us and then once the morning hit added another 5 inches of snow! Needless to say, I stayed home from work and enjoyed another snow day with the boys and we had a blast. Did a lot of baking, playing Wii and got caught up on my Accounting homework (which I hate!).

I love days like that, where you are forced to just take it easy and stay at home. It's so nice to get a couple of days like that every now and again and it was nice to spend the day with my boys. I was sad to have to come back to work today, and to have to go out on the roads which are still not all that great. All day I wished I was cozied up in my nice warm house in comfy clothes with all of my guys......

Gotta love them snow days!

Not much time!

It's been a while since I posted...I don't seem to catch a whole lot of time to myself to get it done, and would do it at work, but I don't have access to my pictures so it becomes a little hard! We are here though and things are going well. Back to work and getting into the swing of things, which is starting to get a little easier as the weeks go on. Before we know it, it will be a couple of years from now and my babies will be even bigger than they are now! I start back up with school this week, so life is going to get WAY more hectic! I'm praying and keeping my fingers crossed that things go smoothly and I will be able to get some school work done!

Promise to get on here soon and update when I get the chance!

Being a working mom

When I grew up...my mom worked. I moved in with my dad, he married Letty, my step-mom and she worked. I knew no other way, I thought that every mom worked, I really didn't know that there was any such thing as a mom who stayed home with her kids all day. All of my friends moms worked. It was the norm to me. Did it ever bother me that my mom(s) worked...nope. Did I think they loved me any less? Nope. Did I think it made them a bad mom? Nope.

So, why is that now that I'm a mom and I have to work, that I feel like such an awful mother?!?! I've only been back to work from maternity leave for 1 week 1 day and it's gotten a little bit easier, but not much. Today, I heard from my mother in law that Beckett laughs....not just a little, like, a full on belly laugh. Have I heard it? Nope. Has she..sure has. Am I jealous? You bet ya. Does it make me mad? A little. I don't think it's fair that she get's to see these moments all day long and see both of my kids do all of their "firsts" and I get to hear about them while I'm sitting at my desk here at work, wishing I was home with my boys. Things like this make me sad...make me mad and make me wish that I could stay at home with them. Instead, I get to spend about 3 hours a day with them, which is filled with cooking dinner, cleaning up dinner, giving them baths and getting them ready for bed (which that alone is an hour ordeal) and then they go to bed. Not much time for a lot of other things, like playing a bunch (although we do play quite a bit during the summer outside all night since it's light out a little longer.) or to me, not enough time to let them know how much I love them and how much I miss them while we're apart. Not enough time to see every smile, every laugh and every frown.

It's just not enough time.

I think that ALL mothers should be able to stay at home with their children for at least the first 5 years of their lives. The governement should pay us to take care of our kids, not pawn them off onto someone else every day so this person can be the one to whitness all of those awesome moments while you go to work everyday and just think all day of what they could be doing.

It's not fair.

It's just not fair..........................................................................

At work

This.Sucks.Ass