Dave's Take

So, it has definitely been a while since we last posted. Quick run down.

Haefan: Cute baby. Sleeping more than our other babies. Not quite as fat. Still really cute. Starting to smile when stimulated. More for me than for Griselda.

JJ: Thug. Bruiser. Definitely a two year old. Always says no, even if he is doing what you asked. Really loves kissing Haefan. Sometimes a little too much.

Kaelan: He is our whiner. Not all the time, but a lot of the time. So much, in fact, that sometimes I forget what his real voice sounds like.

Lathan: Reader. He can really start to put things together now. Maybe the college tuition payment for his kindergarten really was worth it.

Mama: Finished participating in her fourth triathlon. Starting training for the run. Then two weeks ago, switched to the swim. And the night before due to team member injuries, switched to the bike. Hadn't ridden the bike in a while. Still not quite right sitting down since the race. Hates her clip pedals. Although they seem to love her and never seem to want to let her go. (fell 4-5 times due to really strong clip pedals). Her team ended up taking second place behind a really tough all male 1st place team.

Me: Also competed in a triathlon relay this weekend. I stuck with the swimming only portion. Swam about 2/3 of a mile in 69 degree water. No wetsuit. Frickin cold people. Nothing like running up out of the water with a bunch of elite triathletes when you are out of shape and about 20 pounds over weight. Probably looked like a tall Chris Farely running out of the water in a speedo jammer suit. I am sure that Griselda will end up posting pics. The only comfort that I can take is the first place plaque that we won behind a fierce all women relay......with the cutest little hispanic biker. Couldn't keep my eyes off her. Like a Eva Mendez / Jennifer Lopez in US snowboard top with capri bottoms. No wonder we have SO many kids.

Status: We are all set to move to California now in under 4 weeks. We finally took care of the housing arrangement, cars being transported, health insurance, etc... We are all really excited to be closer to family and friends that we left behind in California and Utah. And of course will miss all those that we are leaving behind in Michigan. Stay tuned for pics from Griselda.

Dave

Tee-Ball

Can you tell that Dave has the weekend off??? I've done 3 separate posts IN ONE DAY. I won't be repeating that anytime soon, I'll have you know. I just am simply taking advantage of a good thing and trying to pass on the goodness to y'all.

Tee-ball was a lot of fun, but I had a hard time catching all the good stuff on camera because I was busy trying to get the boys to be comfortable and focus on the game throughout the process, while also trying to show them how proud I was of them that they were out there. That left me with a few cute shots, along with missing some pretty awesome ones, too.

Here are the highlights:

pre-game catch while we were waiting for our turn for pictures.






Lathan was very good about being quick to get the ball.


Apparently I missed his AWESOME hit earlier that made it to the outfield when I was nursing in the car. But this one's still good.


I also missed his AWESOME hit earlier while in the car. These next two are the same sequence that I thought was too funny. Poor Kaelan has too big a head for some of the helmets. Some do fit, though, just not this one. If you can't tell, he's way to preoccupied with the helmet to concentrate too much on the hitting/running. He really is a natural and can nail the ball. Just not with the helmet distraction.



This was toward the end of the game when the boys were getting too cold and bored.


How funny that only my boys are totally confused by this process? Dave said that it's my responsibility to teach them these things. What??? That's Dad's job. Dave was embarrassed by this one. Still, too funny.


We hope to post more awesomeness from t-ball this week!

April Showers Bring May Flowers...and Smiles.

So growing up in California, I never experienced the old adage (title above) until I moved here to Michigan. And still every year (seven years later!) it doesn't cease to surprise me how late Spring comes. Only this last week have the flowers blossomed on the trees and tulips and daffodils made their grand appearance. Really. And here this last week I was reading how our Aunt Mimi broke out the backyard pool because it reached triple digits there in AZ. I can't believe we live on the same planet, seriously.

I held it together enough to make it through another week. I decided to start exercising seriously this week and went for a fabulous run on Monday only to come down with an odd and VERY painful calf injury that kept me from going back out for the rest of the week. Then, while we were all happy and plugging along, I came down with a serious case of the flu. Just upper-respiratory stuff with the always-pleasant sinus infection, but no vomiting. So I can't REALLY complain. But I was thrown for a real doozy with this one. I couldn't function for about 24 hours. As much as I tried to avoid it, I had Lathan become the parent for that time. Dave was "busy"doing his work stuff and away from us for most of the time (I say that sarcastically because he is doing his mustache growing contest along with other odd activities to make work more interesting - but can't seem to pull off coming home early for even ONE day). He did help out the best he could once he was around, but my frustration and his lack of presence gave him little clout among all of us here at home. It was almost mutiny. But being a Skeehan, he survived and came out not phased too much by it all :)

Thank goodness that Dave had this weekend off of work because today was opening day for tee-ball and it was CHAOS. We had pictures of the team, then the individual pictures, followed by their first game. Remember that the boys only had one practice, so I was curious to see the outcome. The bonus that really created mayhem for me was that this whole past week it's been raining and so the fields were SOPPING wet. On our way to and from pictures we soaked our socks and shoes with muddy water and the boys were forced to sit down in the mud for their pictures adding a nice touch to their uniforms. Also, JJ wanted to take part in all of it so he was running around finding ways to get to them and stomping through the mud to get to them. At least it wasn't raining during the game, but it sure was chilly. The boys came in a few times from their field positions to tell me they were cold out there in their short sleeves. Sorry boys, I'll be better prepared next time with sweaters; but I do have to say that Dave did an AWESOME job preparing the game bag - he had lots of snacks, plenty of water, stuff for Haefan and brought the camera. What a stud. AND we got there on time.

May brings many hopeful things, but also busy stuff. Dave has the pressure of submitting all his paperwork to various California bureaus and associations so that he is licensed, insured, and prepared to make a living once out there in Auburn. He also has his yearly paper due sometime this month. As for me, I finally have to suck it up and clean house. Throw all junk away, prepare for my leg of the triathlon at the end of the month, and venture out to California to find a house to buy or rent. Dave finally does have his week of vacation this month and I look forward to having some helping hands in the midst of the imminent chaos.

The goals I have for the upcoming week include venturing down the exercise route once again, if even doing so in pain. I also am going to attempt to eliminate all unnecessary sugar from my diet since being on such a feast or famine schedule, I tend to crave quick and easy sweet stuff. Not a good habit.

Below is a sequence of the mustache-madness and its undoing...


Before...


Curious Kaelan watching side-show Dad...


Middle...


And shortly thereafter...

Some early practice for the boys, I suppose.


I'll post more on tee-ball when I get another minute. Until then, happy May!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA!

We miss you SOOOOOO much and want you to know that although you are a day ahead of us there in Sydney, we are thinking of you all day today on your special day. We hope that you are able to celebrate the wonderful life that you are and all things wonderful that your life has brought forth (namely, Daddy Dave!) and we are doing what we can to get a chance to see you guys down under. I hope you have a lovely day/weekend/month, etc. We love the postcards and always look forward to mail from our Nana and Pop! One of these days we'll do likewise, but until that happens, the stuff below will just have to do.

WE LOVE YOU!!!!