Holy Halloween, Batman!

I can't decide if the combination of Halloween Night and Daylight Saving's Time is the greatest thing known to man or unbelievably cruel. Because you definitely need the extra hour of sleep after parading a toddler about to beg for candy, but being woken up by said toddler at 5:30am because they have no concept of "Falling Back" makes it all seem like a sick joke. So, I got an extra hour of being awake today. Joy!

Stepping off of my Negative Nancy soapbox: Halloween ROCKED! And in a completely different way from being a kid. Kathryn and Jeff were here this weekend and they brought with them a hefty supply of Halloween spirit. I decided to dress Audrey up as a black kitty because it's really the last year before I have to start bending over backwards to make some ridiculously requested Halloween costume. Audrey was adorable as a little kitty and it cost way less than $25 to throw together, which seems to be the going rate for pre-made kids costumes made out of polyester, tool and poor stitching. Something tells me I might want to buck up my sewing skills before next year.

Anyway, we spent the day carving pumpkins and decorating the house before getting ready to go out. Audrey was very interested in the whole pumpkin carving process, but she did not like the idea of getting her hands yucky. Anytime we tried to get her to touch the pumpkin guts, she would pull her hand away and say "Pleh!". Add to that the fact John, Kathryn and I kept yelling "Bleehhhh!" at every possible moment, I'm pretty sure we drove everyone else in the house crazy. I carved Audrey's little pumpkin from the neighbor into a cute, innocent Jack-O-Lantern and John, Kathryn and Jeff turned the gigantic one into a puking pumpkin, which is currently stationed directly outside our front door. We felt it fit the overall maturity level of the house's occupants. BLEEHHHH!!!

We ended up hitting up the mall for Trick-or-Treating and Audrey had a great time. She mostly loved seeing all the other kids in their costumes and was easily swept up in the hub-bub. Somehow, we lost her kitty ears before we even got to the mall, but she still looked darn cute in her costume. After that excitement, we stopped for ice cream at my favorite place in town. They've added a corner for little kids' ice cream tea parties since we were last in and Audrey went bonkers over the Lil A-sized accommodations. We were all pretty well worn out by this point and returned home to de-kitty and change into fuzzy monkey pajamas. It was a good day.

...Turns out we might have overdone things a bit though; Audrey woke up sick this morning and has been miserable all day. She's been getting plenty of fluids and lots of loving and I really hope she starts feeling better soon. It's hard to see her so unhappy when she can't really tell us what she needs. In the mean time, feel free to check out our Halloween Album! I added a few pictures to the end of the last album as well. Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween and took full advantage of their extra hour to recover from the festivities.

Can Life Get Any More Interesting?

Why do I even ask the question? The answer is: Yes it could, but I don't want to find out about it. The Dragon and I have both officially caught a 24 hour stomach bug. Luckily, I got it first and had a day or two to recover before being showered in vomit myself. Nothing says motherhood quite like willingly allowing someone to throw up on you. And if you don't believe me, just think of how much harder it is to clean carpet with a sick kid than to just throw your own clothes in the wash. 'Nuff said.

Things around the house have been nuts. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in the opening scene of Home Alone where all 56 relatives are stepping over each other trying to get to the pizza and someone's mother is yelling about drinking the milk so it won't go bad. Then Audrey throws up on me. It's a nice reality check. But seriously, I started this post for a reason other than complaining.

Audrey had her 15 month check up today and I knew I wouldn't remember to post the stats if I didn't do it immediately...immediately after being thrown up on approximately 20 times and then putting the kid to bed. (Have I garnered enough sympathy yet?) ANYWAY. Lil A has had a pretty big growth spurt since her one year appointment. I gathered from the Doc that most kids' exponential growth starts to taper off around their first birthday, but not Audrey...she just continues to go higher off the charts. (What are freakishly tall parents for!) She is now 34 inches long and weighs 25 lbs. That's 3 inches longer and 2.5 lbs bigger than she was in July. This has to stop at some point, right? All I know is there are several 2-year olds that Audrey now dwarfs.

Mess with the best...

I feel like the blog is starting to run away from me, mostly because there are a lot of dumb everyday things going on I would like to share, but they all pale in comparison to the passing of a great man.

John's Grandpa Bob passed away yesterday morning after battling long and hard with a myriad of health issues. I don't feel like I can do his memory justice, as I knew him for such a relatively short time, but it's amazing to hear how many great memories are pouring out of people he touched in his lifetime.

I don't really have anything poignant to say at the moment, but I wanted to let you all know what was going on. This is one of my favorite pictures of Bob; he's wearing the hat I knitted for him for Christmas and striking his best boxing pose. Even though you can't see it, he's also rocking some seriously awesome bell bottoms. We posted this picture on the wall after it was taken and John entitled it: "Mess with the best, die like the rest"

So, cheers to one hell of a guy--he sure is with the best of 'em now.

Pumpkin-palooza

Fall is in full swing 'round these here parts and we have pumpkins out the yin yang! Our neighbor, Christopher, planted some pumpkins on his hill, forgot about them and then realized one day they had grown to the size of boulders! We asked if we could have one and he agreed as long as we could roll it up the hill, we could take it. Now Audrey is the proud owner of Jumbo pumpkin #1. Chris also brought over a few smaller ones especially for lil A and Grandma S. cooked one up yesterday to make a homemade pumpkin pie. YUM!


As if that wasn't enough pumpkiny fun, Audrey and I joined the MOPS group at the Country Mercantile pumpkin patch this morning to pick out yet another addition to our expanding gourd family. We got to traverse a hay-bale maze, play on a hay pyramid, pet a bunch of animals in their barn and then we took a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect Audrey-sized pumpkin. They had snickerdoodle cookies waiting when we got back and Audrey even let me have a bite. It was a heck of a morning! Of course, I couldn't resist a trip to Country Mercantile without buying a jug of their yummy apple cider and now I'm paying for it because Bailey L-O-V-E-S cider...and snickerdoodles...and I might have eaten a brownie too. My belly is tired just thinking about it.

Speaking of Bailey, she's getting bigger and I've been trying to keep her out of my ribcage for the past few weeks. It's only a matter of time before she wins that battle. In the mean time, I'm craving sweets constantly and indulging in them just means another opportunity for lil B to beat my innards to death. Most nights I go to sleep feeling like my belly has been the ring for a wrestling match. And I'm only 26 weeks. Oh, Lord!

Our weekend was pretty productive. The menfolk pulled out the carpet in Marlene and Bob's room and put in a laminate floor. The Dragon got some quailty time with her cousins and we've been eating Italian for most family meals, as Grandpa Bob has been craving marinara sauce like nobody's business.

Speaking of Grandpa, he's not feeling too hot. He's been at home, but it seems like he had a pretty rough night last night and is worried about being able to travel to Spokane for his heart surgery this Thursday. He has two doctor's appointments today and is hoping to hear whether they'll let him travel up and admit him to the hospital early. Either way, I'll keep you posted.

Also, just wanted to let you know that Karen will be having minor surgery on her gallbladder this Thursday as well. It's kind of a crazy coincidence that these two have surgery on the same day, but please keep them both in your prayers.

I almost forgot!

Check out our newest pictures on Picasa!

...And We're back!

That was fast! I don't think I ever want to take a weekend trip home again--a week-long visit is my new minimum. We left Thursday morning at 5am to head out to the Midwest. Three flights and a 4 hour drive later, we were in Mtn. Home! It's amazing how a place can change so much, yet remain the same. I always love coming home. It usually means days focused around eating, no TV and no agendas. Of course, this time we were busy getting ready for Matt and Jessica's wedding, but it can't be anything other than fun when you're around so many old friends. Uncle Joe, Steve, Julie and Isaac were all in town for the weekend too. It was hilarious watching the two kids interact with each other (or not). Isaac initially tried to deny Audrey's existence, but I think he finally warmed up to her after a day or two. We got some good video of them on their first lunch date at El Charro's. Grandma & Grandpa G. actually ended up watching Audrey most of the time we were in town. John and I got to have a night out on the town for the rehearsal dinner and I was busy flitting around town with the girls on Saturday.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful. It's not every day you get to see two people, so devoted to each other, pledge their love to one another. ...I have to stop being schmoopy, because now I'm starting to get teary. (I blame Bailey!) The reception was tons of fun and the food was incredible--I think I ate my body weight in shrimp, at least three cupcakes and a piece of the groom's super-duper chocolate cake. I got to introduce Audrey to a bunch of my old friends and coworkers too. All in all, an amazing night!

For some crazy reason, we chose to fly back to the Tri-Cities on Sunday instead of taking it easy for another day (or four). We made it back to Kennewick around 10pm and immediately had to face the fact that life in the Tri-Cities had not stopped while we were gone. Grandpa Bob is doing very well and it looks like he'll be coming home this Thursday. This is great news, but it also means a LOT of work for the family. Marlene and Gary especially have been working their butts off trying to get everything arranged for him when he gets home. The physical therapist visited the house with Grandpa yesterday morning to take a look at things and make suggestions of ways to accommodate him better. It looks like he'll be mostly restricted to the downstairs for obvious reasons, but there's a lot of hard work being done to make sure he's taken care of. Grandpa's local doctor is also in the process of working out his heart surgery in Spokane, which he seems to be pushing hard for. I'll keep you updated as we find out more about that.

Now I'm back to the crazy! It seems Fall is quickly passing us by to make way for cold, wintery weather. I'm actually embracing the cold and the overcast skies. Maybe it's just because there's a pellet stove on in the living room and the house smells like spiced cider, but thoughts of Thanksgiving and Christmas are running through my head. I'm starting to see that life is just going to be a continuation of crazy moments and for now, that's fine with me!

Yowza

Is it getting redundant to say things are crazy 'round these here parts? It's coo coo banana crackers crazy.

We had a fun-filled weekend; Kathryn and Jeff came over from Seattle to visit and we actually managed to get in some quality time with that duo and (finally) take our day trip to Leavenworth. Not the one with the prison...the other one...with quaint Bavarian stores and restaurants. It was great to get out of the house to have a little adventure with just the three of us. The trip is a little under three hours (conveniently, just about the same amount of time Audrey can stay in a car seat without going bonkers) We took our time getting there and made it in time to see the Oktoberfest parade. Lil A looooved seeing the horses and she really got a kick out of the bands that were playing. We shopped around, ate a delicious Bavarian meal, bought John a super sweet stein and I got my pickle ornament for the Christmas tree. Did I mention that I also bought a bunch of the crumbliest, most delicious pastries from a Dutch bakery? No? Well, I guess it's better that way since I didn't share them.

Having the last name Schweighardt, I think there's an obligation to appreciate all things German. I feel a special attachment to Bavaria, since that's where I spent the majority of my time while I was abroad and it was very comforting to get even just a little feel of what it was like to be there again. I would definitely recommend Leavenworth to anyone who has the opportunity to go. It's designed for tourists yet still manages to retain its incredible beauty and charm. We were glad we got to see it in all it's Oktoberfest glory, but I think next time we'll go out of season since I have a tendency to want to kill people when they're in great numbers.

Anyway, eventually we had to return to reality. It was great to see Kap and Jeff and I'm glad they got to spend so much time with Grandpa Bob too. He's been moved from the rehabilitation unit of the hospital to ICU since his heart has been having trouble keeping up with the rehab exercises. The man is incredible: it's been an emotional roller coaster ride for the entire family. He's been oscillating between being alert, peaceful and able to have conversations with people and then he'll take a turn for the worst, which involves administering morphine to help him relax so he can breath. Overall, it doesn't seem good, but the man has literally come back from death before, so please keep him and the entire family in your thoughts and prayers.

John and I are headed to the Midwest for Jess and Matt's wedding this Thursday and I'm taking a break from packing to get this uploaded. It's been a while since I had to pack for all three of us and I'm a little rusty. Let's hope I'm not forgetting anything of vital importance in my pregnant-brain stupor. I'll try to update again when I get back, but Lord only knows how that will pan out! In the mean time, I've created a new Gmail account for Picasa pictures--check 'em out!