FIN.

(my test is over that is)

Thanks to everyone that prayed, fasted, helped me study, watched Caleb, taught me chemistry over the phone. I'm glad it's over. I think I did fine.

Ohio 2

These next two posts really should be one...but somehow I couldn't figure out how to get all the pictures onto one post.

So, this might be an overload of pictures and fun, but here's the run down: The previous post is the drive to Kentucky with the beginnings of Gwen, Caleb and COSI.

This post is the rest of COSI, the zoo, and an awesome video!

We'll start with this picture: At COSI, they had this special section for kids under 5: just perfect my little 9 month old! He LOVES water and got a kick out of this water station where he could bang things together and see the water fly all around him. They even had a rain coat he could wear (it didn't help much). Aunt Elisa is also pictured helping him enjoy the cool water.

So, here's the zoo. It's a really good zoo in Columbus, like in the top 2 in the country. Very cool. And to add to the fun, it was raining! yay! It really wasn't that bad, and overall we had a lot of fun! Caleb decided he wanted to eat like a horse that day, so we were stopping all the time to eat. He ate ALL the snacks I had brought him! I even bought him a hot dog...and he ate that too! This is all after eating the leftovers of rice, chicken, and broccoli...and before eating half of my pizza slice at dinner!

As you can see, he made a friend while at the zoo. Oh, this also show how excited he gets about fish (this is important). If you look at the top left picture, he's looking the aquarium at Elisa's apartment. Then the top right is him smiling because he's so excited by them.

Will he be a swimmer? I don't know...


And this is why it's important that Caleb likes fish: while at the zoo, we went to the aquarium. A warm, dark place. Perfect. He went crazy!! He wanted to get as close to the fish as he could: that's why his face disappears in some of the pictures: because of how dark it was, the flash made him become part of the glass. It was really neat.

And I loved hearing him jabber, so I took a video of it. Enjoy!

Ohio 1: Picture Overload!

On our way to Ohio, we drove through Pennsylvania and stayed at a hotel: our first one, as I mentioned before. And the drive was VERY pretty.

Gwen and Caleb sure had fun together. Gwen was a bit faster and more advanced than Caleb, but he sure had fun chasing after her.

Okay, so this is the first bit of COSI (Center of Science and Industry). It was AWESOME! so cool. Here we've got a picture of this drum, that when you hold the handle it bangs the drum in beat to your own heart beat. Caleb's was really fast and it got faster when it started going. And this was even before we paid and got INTO the actual building. way cool!

Also, the DO-RE-MI thing is a musical pad (again, with the music) that plays the tones when you jump on them. Caleb wasn't heavy enough, so I held him and danced and he got a kick out of that.
Then, there's this water spitting thing that he had fun with. He kept trying to catch the water (again, he likes water).

And this is a collection of more of the KidSpace in COSI. Caleb had fun with the mirror, and these purple balls that balanced over blowing air thoroughly entertained him. You can see it blowing his hair. He would have stayed here all day, but I wanted him to try out some of the other things...so we found a color wheel, and then he didn't care for the color blocks at all.

And that was the first part of our trip (second half is the post above this).

Playing at the Park

Before we went to Kentucky/Ohio, Caleb and I took a trip to the park. It's a short walk and so much for him to explore and play with. Plus, it's a nice little break out of the house with a destination...and it's free!


He loves to play the piano at home, and he loves music in general. We sing to him every night and when ever he's helping me clean in my room, I always put on a CD for us to listen to. We even dance sometimes! So, these musically inclined pipes at the park were a sure hit with him! He loved to clang them and hear them vibrate. And then I went to the other side and he got a kick out of seeing me over there! haha

It was his first time in a swing (sorry I did it without you, Justin.). He enjoyed swinging out and swinging towards me..I think seeing my face get huge like that would be entertaining to anybody! He looks really funny in this picture...

"I'm from Kentucky...and You ain't!"

Okay, so neither one of us is from Kentucky, but it's a song someone sang at a Christmas talent show years ago when we were single. And it stuck.

This post is to catch ya up on what we've been doing, with particular high lights about dental school visits.

Last Thursday we started our drive out to Ohio/Kentucky. We stayed in a hotel Thursday night because we wanted to ease Caleb into the driving...plus it was fun! It was Caleb's first hotel night...first night away from home, really. And he was GREAT! He slept nearly all day (he'd been sleep-deprived) and then slept all night. It was so wonderful to sleep in! Friday we resumed driving and got to Elisa and Eric's around 7p.m. It's only a 12 hour drive, but with lots of stop for the baby, it makes for a very long day.

So. Saturday and Sunday were recoup days (Elisa, Gwen, Caleb and I went to COSI on Saturday and the zoo on Tuesday...but those'll be another post).

On Monday, we got up super early and drove down to Louisville, KY (3 1/2 hours). We didn't count on a) traffic in Cincinnati and b) car accident, so we were really stressed for time. Luckily, after verbal and non-verbal prayers, we accomplished an almost 2 hour leg of the journey in 45 minutes. Yeah. Go Justin! haha...and we found the school with no problem, accomplished diaper changes and potty trips without any hassle, made it to the room only to find---- we weren't the last ones! We were only about 10 minutes late and the Louisville school was so welcoming, understanding, and just overall inviting. They loved Caleb and we think we scored points with them by bringing him (and me?).

So, Louisville.
It's our top choice. We just feel so good about the school, the people, the area is beautiful...and being there made me feel so hopeful and confident about what we'll be presenting in our application. I feel so giddy when I think about going here for 4 years! (or more?)

Next. We had to book it out of Louisville because 1 1/2 hours away we had another meeting at University of Kentucky in Lexington. The drive was also stressful...and we ended up being about 30 minutes late but they TOO were very understanding. We got a tour of the school and relaxed and ate lunch.

We drove around a bit to get a feel for the city, then headed back to Columbus. I think we got in about 8:30. Again, a long day of driving.

Wednesday we drove home. All day. 15 hours in the car, including stops. It was long, but it was so good to be home. And Caleb slept so well. Overall, it was a very successful, if not hurried, trip.

Now, what, you ask? Well, Justin takes the DAT this Saturday. Pray for him. We are nervous, but excited. Justin's been studying VERY hard and has improved on his scores. So, we hope things go well this weekend.

Pictures and FUN stuff with Caleb and Gwen to come!

Mother's Day Reprise

No Mother's Day would be complete without the timeless wisdom of Mr. T.

Mother's Day

This is a busy week for posting.
I wanted to let everyone know just how awesome and amazing my husband is for making Mother's Day super special for me!
First, I had a rough night because Caleb decided he didn't want to sleep anymore. I was up bright and early at 5:30a.m. and was very bitter about it. I kept sarcastically saying to myself, "Happy Mother's Day!" Needless to say, I had a bit of a pity party to be up so early on MY day.

Then, I decided to pray for patience. and energy. and love. Of course, I felt the love for my baby return and even though I was tired, I was no longer angry at him---I felt so bad for being angry at my almost-9-month-old! He doesn't do it on purpose! Justin made me feel better too by saying that Caleb just wanted to spend more time with me on Mother's Day....to make me feel special. :-D

So, after the morning was normally underway, Justin made an AWESOME breakfast! I'm sorry we didn't take pictures of breakfast or dinner: bacon quiche tarts, with puff pancakes, strawberries, orange juice...AH, it was delicious!

Dinner didn't happen until after church, but it too was very good: Sun-dried tomato chicken with bow tie pasta, freschetta bread with bruschetta, yummy salad, and a deletable raspberry bar superb dessert.
I was so stuffed! But it was delicious!
Aside from all the food Justin made, he and Caleb gave me some AWESOME gifts:
1) Beautiful flowers that Caleb selected because they looked tasty. haha, complete with two-toned roses!
2) M-Cups!

We found these on a random site a while ago, and I LOVED them! They're nesting dolls that function as measuring cups. yeah, if you know me, and you know me and Russia, you know why I was so excited by them! I've been missing Russia a bit lately, just with pictures and such, so these were a wonderful thought! Now I just need a kitchen...

3) Rubber stamps! I'm also quite into carding, so a set of rubber stamps made my imagination go crazy! I just wanna send cards for fun (don't be surprised...) This isn't the exact picture of the ones I got, but they're close.

In addition to these material gifts, I received a wonderful reminder how blessed I am to be a mother. Caleb is a doll and even when I'm not the best mother or the most patient with him, he still LOVES me. And that is a gift.

Having a wonderful husband who supports me so much in motherhood: he makes me feel like I'm the best thing ever created! haha He gives me confidence to keep trying. And he loves me, too!

Happy belated Mother's Day everyone!

The Squshed Spider

Sorry it's so dark...but we wanted everyone to see how hilarious Caleb first looked when he started crawling. It was 2 weeks ago yesterday (wow, time flies, right?) and he's gotten better at it: He does more of the two-knees style now.

He still LOVES the binky motivation and will crawl for food. haha, he's started following me around the house and I LOVE it! It makes me smile!! I love my baby!

Do I see more of me in him?

Here are a few pictures of Caleb over the past month.


8 Months here: he looks like such a little toddler boy, right? I'm told that he has my eyes...does this picture witness to that?

He learned to stand up before he learned to crawl. And he loves bouncing.

I love this face! hahaha....it looks like he's making the elephant noise. ya know that noise, right? haha

Caleb wants to be a big boy!

Aunt Becky came to visit a little while ago and made it her goal to get Caleb to like her--a lofty goal since he's been a major Mama's boy lately. Well, it took her a total of TWO days!



As part of her tactics, Aunt Beck sat with Caleb on the table and just talked to him. Well, he found the fruit bowl behind him and really wanted an apple, but he couldn't turn himself around. He kept trying to pick up the apple with one hand...and then he did it! Then he did it again! I didn't know his hands were that big and strong and coordinated!

I just love how he tries to shove the entire apple into his mouth. We finally cut some up and he tried to put ALL of them into his mouth. He's just growing so big so fast! I love it!

We have a garden!

I just wanted to inform everybody that we have proudly planted our first garden together. :-) It's a fairly small one (I told Justin I didn't want to have to weed more). They are raised beds---so as not to leave too big a mark on the yard that has to sell--- and one is 4' x 8 ' and the other is 4' x 4'. In the smaller box we planted corn, green beans, and zucchini. It's an old Iriquois Indian trick. It's called the Three Sisters Garden.

Basically, you plant your corn and beans together, so that the beans (they have to be pole beans) will climb the corn, adding nitrogen to the entire plot; then the squash (we're using zucchini) covers the ground and acts as a natural small animal deterrent (because of the prickly leaves). We're not actually sure how well it'll work, but we're excited to work on it and see what happens!

We also planted peas, swiss chard, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, normal tomatoes (and we did these in one of those hanging planters....Topsy Turvy), green bell peppers, then we've got some rainbow sweet peppers that have to start indoors...I think that's it! Once (positive thinking) we have some green in the planters, I'll take some pictures so you can see. :-)

Wish us luck...!

By the way, anybody ever tried a homemade insect repellent for your garden? It's like soap and water, basically, but it's supposed to keep pests away while being safe to eat.

Do you have any experiences or suggestions for gardening?