my baby sister graduates from college

We were proud to spend two full weekends celebrating the college graduation of my baby sister, Tasha. First, we headed out to her school, Lock Haven University, with my cousin Kara acting as stand in spouse (hi, Kara!) since Brandon had accidentally scheduled a golf weekend in Virginia with his uncle the same weekend.  We spent Friday evening celebrating with Aunt Uch and her roommate Paige (who has since moved to Montana with her fiance, Hi Peach!)

We also took a little hike around the dike..and I became a poet and emo photographer all at once.  

And then I let Booboo walk around in the freezing cold water because I'm the best-worst mom ever.

After a lot of walking, Pizza Hut disturbing, and chasing around Tasha's apartment - Kara and I packed the kids up and headed to the hotel.  Oh, and I had to sing Somewhere over the Rainbow 34 times in a row because that's the only way to get Gem to stop crying in the car.  Dear Kara, you are a saint.  Also, thanks for pretending like you enjoyed my singing even though I don't sound anything like Judy Garland or Ingrid Michaelson.  Love, Tabidaba

After a cozy night's sleep at the hotel and seeing these two snuggle bugs, we were ready for a long day of watching our girl get her diploma.

We made our way over to graduation, and luckily for us (or for every other person in attendance), we had seats saved in the auxiliary viewing area - ie. an auditorium with a projection of the graduation.

I say luckily because we made it through the opening comments until our little bandits started to unravel.  When they started calling graduates on stage, Kara and I made our way to the back of the auditorium (as I hauled both children on a hip) and anxiously awaited to hear Aunt Uch's name.  Thanks to my grandpap (rest in peace, pap:), my maiden name starts with an A - so we hardly had to wait at all, which was a good thing considering I was carrying about 40 pounds of child at once.

And then they called my baby sister and we all cheered, even though she couldn't hear us from the auxiliary viewing area.  And then I got a little choked up when I told Booboo, "Look up there, that's Uch.  She tried her best."

And then right after that we skipped out of there to play in the grass and the fountains and wait to meet up with Aunt Uch and my parents. 

Tasha is the third daughter to graduate from college for my parents (neither of whom got the chance to go to college), so the pride in their faces almost brings me to tears today.  (thanks mum&dad for giving us the chance).

After taking advantage of some serious photo opportunities...

We all worked to get Tash moved out of her college apartment and was on the road headed back home.  But wait!  The celebrating didn't end there.  A few weeks later, we celebrated with a joint graduation party with her two long time friends, Katelyn & Josh.

So, here's the whole long story in a nutshell.  My parents are part of an awesome group of friends that many years ago decided to make a pact.  Every year at the same time, they would all get together and go on a "ski trip" (the term "ski trip" is used lightly here because there no longer is skiing involved.  it's mostly a weekend of drinking, laughing, musical chairs, and questionable karaoke, but let's not get hung up on the linguistics of it right now).  So anyway, they were all young and non-parents when this thing started.  So then they all started having babies and the ski club took on this morphing phase to include fun stuff for us ski club children-with annual "kid's day!" (where they set up games and face paint and double-dare-style obstacle courses), and we all went on vacations together, and had cookouts and sleepovers.  And then fast forward to today, and most of us ski club kids are grown ups - having our own babies.  We like to call our babies 'the next generation,' which is why I have another 24 versions of this photo below of my Gemma holding Bruce's Layne's hand (aka both 'next generation' babies).

...and also why I couldn't stop grinning when Greyson and Indi held hands and danced (both 'next generation' kids).

Besides being nostalgic during basically the entire day, there was a lot of celebrating and having fun of course.  This was a ski club event, after all:)

We partied and celebrated through the extreme heat, followed by the extreme thunderstorms, all of which was secondary to Grey's extreme fever (it was the beginning of his Gianotti-Crosti /second molar coming in weekend from hell)

naptime

naptime #2

happy, sweaty family

We are so proud of you Aunt Uch and so excited to see what happens next in your life.  

Congratulations to Tash, Josh, & Katelyn.  We love you.

Problems of monster proportions

We've been suffering through a bit of a monster phase the last few months.  What that essentially boils down to is that Greyson is waking up 3-4 times a night and finding his way to our room and asking us to come back to his room to sleep with him.  We've usually been able to sleepwalk back to his room, lay down in his bed with him until he falls back to sleep and then go back to our own bed for the first two times.  And then any time after that, say oh, anything after 3am, one of us just throws up our white flag and either spends the rest of the night in his bed, or we toss him up in our bed to sleep with us out of sheer exhaustion.  

We decided that we would not be co-sleeping parents right from the start.  Not that we think anything's wrong with co-sleeping, but we just knew it wasn't our thing.  Maybe its from our high school dating history and then our extended long distance period apart, but we still feel like its important and sacred to be able to sleep in the same bed with just each other every night.  Plus, Greyson is what you would call a sleep puncher.

And to make matters even more silly, our Gemmi girl has been sleeping through the night (On Becoming Baby Wise) since a sweet 10 weeks...so even though we have an infant in the house - she's not the one keeping us up.  Almost everyday for the past two months, we've ended up looking like this in the morning after Gemma's breakfast.  And although it makes for cute pictures (what is with that smirk, Gemma!), it does not make for well-rested, level headed parents.

The problem originally started because of our own doing...well, my own doing.  When I was 9 months pregnant and putting Grey down to sleep, I was so tired and huge that I would end up laying down with him in his bed and just falling asleep myself.  So Grey started to become accustomed to having someone lay with him until he fell asleep.  Problem #1.  

Then a few weeks ago he suddenly started freaking himself out thinking there were monsters in his room (or any dark space).  The mystery is that we aren't totally clear about where he learned about monsters (day care?). So if he heard a noise nearby (ie. dog's tail hitting the wall, wind against the house) he says, "What's that?!" with a pitiful look of terror in his eyes.  He also says multiple times a day, "no monsters in der, mumma?"  So what'd we do?  Google it of course.

Based off of the expertise of yahoo answers, babycenter, and random moms who've been through the same thing - we tried:  a)doing a monster check before going to bed  b)watching Monsters Inc and talking about 'nice' monsters c)giving Grey a flashlight  d)putting monsters in a garbage bag  e)making friends with monsters ("Mumma loves monsters, she gives them kissas")...all not in one day obviously but over the course of two months.  The main theme being that attempting to tell him that the monsters aren't real is pointless.  The monsters are real to him, so after all that, you know what happened?  He was still waking up in our bed.

Only now, he wasn't coming in crying, he was just coming in our room and getting in our bed.  So we were waking up in the morning realizing he was sleeping in between us. Um, danger town.  When I woke up with him literally straddling my skull (legs draped over my face and his head on my back), we knew we had made it to the breaking point.  

At the suggestion of Brandon's mom, we moved one of the dog crates to Grey's room, to see if that would make him feel more secure from the monsters.  We told Grey that Bully & Trixie scare monsters away and that monsters were especially afraid of dog barks.  And despite the dog's valiant effort (and eagerness to help)...

We still had a kid in our bed every night.  So, we used our last weapon of defense.  The only thing sweet enough that could make Grey brave to stand up to the monsters.  He would need to find the courage to defend and stand guard against those blasted monster tyrants.  The only one that could make Booboo a superhero was his baby sister.

After an ikea shopping spree, we got him a toddler bed, re-arranged Gemma's room and currently have the two sharing a pale pink bedroom since early this week.  Grey was excited about his new bed (and his cool new blankets and moon nightlight), and about sleeping with his baby sister.  We were excited about the prospect of fixing our monster problem.  Disclaimer:  we have been lucky that the two of them don't wake each other up.  They've been in our bed together before and Gemma's whining or crying doesn't startle Greyson.  And Greyson wakes up whining and crying sometimes with Gemma feet away and she sleeps right through it.  So we were not concerned about room sharing backfiring and doubling our nighttime awake baby count.

So the proof is in the pudding, as they say. The first night, Grey woke up 3 times and all 3 times, we took him back to his bed - and since his new bed is too small for us to lay down in, we came back to our room every time.  Night 2, he woke up once.  Night 3, he woke up twice,  yet still progress. And then, night 4, he slept through.  That was last night.  When I woke up this morning I asked B if he had gone into Grey's room during the night.  He hadn't, and I hadn't and then we high five'd.  Was it the smaller bed?  Was it another person in the room with him while he slept?  Was it the new belief that he's 'protecting his baby sister?'  Whatever it is, we are grateful to not have our little man afraid anymore and getting the uninterrupted sleep he needs.

Next project:  turning Greyson's room into a playroom/guestbedroom/office.  

May 2012 Kindness: Studer scholarship

We awarded a high school scholarship in our name for the fourth year in a row for our May kindness.  In doing so, we got a chance to peek into the lives and accomplishments of high school seniors and attend the annual senior banquet.  As I say every year in my little speech, Brandon and I still feel connected to our high school because its part of our shared history.  Without our days holding hands down the halls and passing love notes before practices - we wouldn't have this crazy, messy life that we love so much today.

One way we stay connected is by offering a scholarship each May to a graduating senior.  Our criteria for the participants is to complete an essay about how they feel they positively contributed to the school, their classmates, or the community during their high school career.  It is inspiring every year to read about students who are organizing new opportunities at the school, volunteering with youth leagues in the community, and standing by their friends during hard times.  As scholarship donors, we feel like we get to be part of some kind of magic that happens each year.  Its really something to stand in front of a group of people, alongside so many other alumni, knowing we are all connected; that we all call the same place our home.  The scholarships are gestures from those that have gone before to show our belief in successes to come.  Sometimes there's just something about a small town.

This year, it was especially difficult to pick one winner, so difficult in fact, that we picked two!  We selected Eric for his dedication to a new technology group that won multiple titles locally and statewide and Morgan for her dedication to standing up to bullies in school and her positive influence on alumni while volunteering at the annual alumni turkey bowl.

Congratulations to all graduating seniors (from high school to higher education) from the class of 2012!


If you are interested in setting up a scholarship in your name (or in the name of a loved one), it takes only a few steps and some decisions.  Talk to the high school guidance counselor for help (and in-school promotion).  S/He will be able to provide information on how to get it set up or what type of information you might want to see before making a decision.  Scholarships are eligible for your tax return too:)