Wedding Weekend

This last weekend we headed up to Ohio for my brother Stephen's wedding. It was wonderful to be with family- both families for us, as Nick's parents joined us to help out with Kathryn. (Thank you, Dennis and Marilyn!) So here are some pictures from the events...

Emily and Stephen
The Happy Bride and Groom

Welcoming Emily into the "Sisters" picture:
Emily, Margaret, Kristen, Nancy, Me

The Rogers Clan (my mom's side of the family).
All of the women (including my cousin Katie, who flew in from China!)
except the little girls, who were back at the hotel.
"Nana" and Kathryn
Girls in White Dresses with Blue Satin Sashes
Alison, Meredith, Bethany (my nieces)Meredith "Mer-Mer"

Alison "A-Bomb"
The best of the many attempts to get a cousins shot...with three one-year-olds,
this posed quite a challenge!
L to R on top: Bethany, Meredith, Alison.
Bottom: Kathryn, Bradford, Hayden

What a Stud- Putting at the reception, which was on a golf course
Kathryn was so hyper the entire weekend, so we're getting back on our routine now until our next vacation in a week.
We were so thankful that Nick's parents could join us for the weekend. Not only was it wonderful to see them, but they were a HUGE help with Kathryn.
On the way home, we stayed the night at Nick's brother Pat's house to see their baby Tyler, whom we hadn't met yet.
Proud "Mamaw"

Kathryn was quite taken with Tyler, as you can see.

The night we stayed at Pat and Sarah's was interesting...Kathryn woke up when we went in the room to go to bed ourselves at about 11:00, and she got completely wired...Normally we would just let her cry and she'd settle right down, but when she was four feet from our ears, that did not sound fun, and we didn't want to wake up the whole household. So after trying everything we could think of to get her to settle down to sleep, we finally decided to pack the car and head for home at 4am. Nick had gotten about an hour of sleep (if that) and I was able to sleep for a few hours in the car. Of course, as soon as we got in the car, Kathryn fell right asleep. So we're catching up on sleep now and getting back into our routine.

Announcing...

No April Fools this time! We are delighted to anticipate Cygnet #2 to the Swan clan in early March. I went in for an early ultrasound this last week and saw the baby's little heart flashing on the screen...amazing! Please pray for the safety of this little one...we certainly don't take this pregnancy for granted. I have watched most of my close friends walk through miscarriages, and I know that I am still early in the pregnancy. Pray that I would also be able to trust the Lord, that even if He chooses to take this wee one before he or she is born, that we can trust in His goodness. I guess motherhood is all about trusting the Lord, right? There's often a temptation to worry, and always an opportunity to trust God.

English Muffin Recipe

For those of you interested in making English muffins, here is a link to the recipe I used.

I have made these once with bread flour and once with half bread flour and half whole wheat flour. Both were good. Also, I used an ungreased electric skillet to cook the muffins (surprisingly they don't bake!) set at about 200 degrees, flipping every 5 minutes (total cooking time 20 minutes).

We've Been....

Giving our Dining Room chairs a facelift,

Blowing Bubbles,

Cleaning our house,

Grocery Shopping
("I found what I want!")

Making English Muffins (Yummy!),

Being Silly,
Watching Nick play baseball,
With a little craziness thrown in for good measure.

Nursing Covers

One more post for the day: I am making and selling nursing covers. Here's a link to the website, if you are interested. www.rebafashion.blogspot.com

Let me know if you would like one!

Sick Girly

Well, as you can tell, today is my day to update our life on the blog...thus the multiple posts on one day. Anyway, yesterday Kathryn wasn't feeling well (stomach and fever), and this is how she looked all afternoon when she got up from her nap. She literally just laid on me for almost an hour and a half, sleeping for about 45 minutes of that (after her 3 hour nap!) She looked so pitiful, and it was strange to see her so lethargic. Even though it was sweet snuggle time for me, it made me VERY grateful that we have a healthy little girl 99% of the time. I can't imagine what heartache it must be to see your child suffering day in and day out. Thankfully, Kathryn is back to herself today, as evidenced by a total "squirm bug" when I asked if she wanted to snuggle with Mommy . :)

"Helping"

Well, I've been trying to figure out what it looks like to accomplish things while Kathryn is awake...it's funny, I don't think I understood that challenge until recently. While not wanting her to get the sense that she owns and commands all of my attention all of the time, I'm wanting to make sure I'm not exasperating her by doing other things when she needs my attention. I would welcome any thoughts on this. In the meantime, I've been trying to have her come alongside of what I'm doing and "help." Of course it's taken longer to accomplish just about anything with my little "helper" in tow, but it's been fun, too.

Helping me make a cake...Yummy frosting!

"Mmm, I see some water down here, and I'm so thirsty. The logistics may be a little challenging, but I think I got some!" ("helping" me plant and water flowers)

My new blooms...I just love flowers!

Personality

Here are some recent videos of Nick and Kathryn...gives a little window into her budding personality these days. The top is kind of hard to tell, but they were blowing on each other...it was so funny. The second video shows a glimpse of how our house is not quiet anymore- I love it!

Company

My apologies that it has been so long since I last posted. So here's what we've been up to. A few weeks ago, we had a busy week of visitors, starting with a wonderful visit with Scott and Katie Faris (from Pastors College). The time seemed too short, but we enjoyed lunch with the Seavers and the Farises on Sunday afternoon. It was great to be able to dive right in where life had left off since we saw them last (including Scott and Katie's new baby-not pictured-, whom we hadn't met yet). Below: Scott, Elijah, and Katie Faris, Kristin, Sarah Evelyn, Mike, Emma Seaver, and Nick. Yours truly behind the lens.


Then on Wednesday of that week we enjoyed a visit with our friends Jim and Jeanette Maxim, parents of Nick's best friend from college. We had spent two Thanksgivings with the Maxims when we were in NY. They were able to stay the night, and then our friend Chris Gaudi (friend from Juilliard) stayed with us the rest of the week. Below: Nick, me, Jeanette, Kathryn, Jim. Kathryn warmed right up to Jim and Jeanette...I think she could tell that they were "kid people." Jim taught her how to "bear hug," and they brought some sweet books for Kathryn that she has loved.

4 Years!

Last week we celebrated our 4 year anniversary! Nick and I had a wonderful overnight getaway to the VanLandingham Estate, a fancy bed-and-breakfast downtown. It was such a treat to have the time alone (thanks to the Lechners for adding Kathryn to their crowd for 2 days!) We enjoyed a wonderful steak dinner at Sullivan's (a REAL treat!) including being called by our names and being wished a happy anniversary by the manager. It was very fun. In the morning we found a treasure- a used book store right down the street from the hotel...we spent over an hour looking at different books and of course walked away with 2 bag-fulls. I know, call us nerds, but we both really enjoyed that!

These last four years have been wonderful, seriously the best 4 years of my life. I can't imagine life without being married to Nick. I think the Lord has brought us closer together each year with the new experiences we share. There has been mutual sanctification as well, as we both have been stretched to grow more like Christ in the midst of our marriage. That is our goal, anyway. I appreciate how Nick both leads me well and challenges me in areas I am weak. I admire his relationship with the Lord, and appreciate that he meets with the Lord daily, without exception. He also is very wise in handling our finances...I am grateful for that. Of course, Kathryn adores him, and I have loved watching Nick fill his new role of Dad this year. Only makes me love him more! The Lord really knew what he was doing when He brought Nick into my life as my husband. Nick, I love you so much, and I am so thankful to God for the blessing of our marriage. Happy Anniversary!

Outside the Vanlandingham Estate...you can see a little bit of the beautiful grounds behind us. There was a big garden and a beautiful pond with a waterfall....definitely didn't feel like we were in the middle of the city!

Nick is sitting on a bench on the right...this gives you an idea of the landscape.

Off to our date for some delicious dinner

The Vanlandingham Estate

Here's one of the aisles of the used book store...it was two whole rooms filled with rows like these. I got a cookbook, a mystery novel, and several books for Kathryn. Nick got a complete book of Sherlock Holmes Mysteries and a few other things that I can't remember at the moment. :)

The Adventures of the Day

Yesterday our playgroup went to a friend's farm for a little adventure. It was great for the kids. Cheryl treated us to a wonderful lunch in their beautiful 100-year-old farm house. And her daughters were great with showing the kiddos all the animals. Kathryn was happy to see her buddies, but I think she more likes the *idea* of animals rather than actually getting close to live ones. She had no interest in petting any of the animals, even the cat. She liked looking at everything from safely in someone's arms. :)

One of Cheryl's daughters showing Kathryn how to feed the goats...she was not interested in getting that close!

"I'll just watch them from here, how 'bout that?"

With the horse- couldn't get her to touch it. She was very interested in it, though.

Up close with a chicken

The little kids were a little more interested in the big beach ball than they were with the animals.

Watching a baby hedgehog

Kathryn was very taken with this bunny

And the part of the adventure that was not planned...getting a flat tire on the highway on the way to the farm. I didn't have a cell phone with me, and I had only watched Nick change a tire once years ago, so I didn't know what to do. Jeanie and Eileen were about 10 minutes behind me, so I knew they would see me eventually, which is probably the only reason I wasn't totally losing it as I was trying to figure out what to do. I decided to stand outside the car and wave someone down, praying that whoever stopped would be helpful. Thankfully, the Lord brought two very helpful gentlemen, who I think were Christians, to change my tire. Thankfully there was a spare in the trunk.

Bradford Store...De Ja Vu?

Jeanie and I went back to the Bradford Store yesterday to get some new pictures of our girls. My camera battery died about half way through, so I don't have the second half of the day's pictures. I took way too many pictures, but with toddlers, you have to take a lot to get a few good ones. Fun to see how much 9 months makes...here's the post from the last time we went last August.

Alathea and Kathryn

"Hey, this chair is just my size!"

Playing with the bowl of discarded peanut shells