Update

Well, things are moving along. Fall is in the air and though the leaves are not yet changed, there is a sense of change that is tangible. Things with our family are wonderful and I am looking forward to a Holiday season that is not far off. I only wish that we had more family and friends to enjoy that with. Right about now is when I miss Mom Shumway's spiced candle that reminds me of when Rick and I were dating. It is one of the favorite things of fall for me. My moms turkey dinner and oyster stuffing is the other favorite of fall. The leaves here will be my favorite Fall Pittsburgh thing. Okay, what are we up to?

Rick is still hard at work as the Director of the GI labs at UPMC, working on callings and enjoying his family every spare moment. The start of the Football season is like a breath of life for Rick so I am supporting that. I enjoy sports (mostly in person as I love the outing side of things), so it is not hard to support, but Rick is slightly fanatic about football so I have to temper that at times (Much like he has to do for my decorating,photography, books, etc.) He is generally well after a terribly difficult year though missing dad as we all are. Ricky's arrival has helped to bring joy to an otherwise difficult situation and I know that has meant a lot to Rick.

I am doing great as well. I am still so in love with being home with the kids. I am so grateful that they can be my "job" as they are my favorite thing to do all day! I love taking Jakie to play, love seeing him succeed at things that he just learned, love making lunch and sitting down to it with him. I love playing with Ricky and cooing at him while he nurses and love it even more when he sleeps in my arms. It has been great to be here, to finally do laundry, to make cookies for the kids after lunch, to vacuum and dust and not have it all be on Saturdays along with everything else. I spend my free time (not much) shooting pictures of the kids and anything else that is interesting, reading and hopefully soon, exercising! I am still Primary President and love that too. Kids seem to be the theme of the day in my life. Luckily I love them and seem to get them! I guess I am just happy and well! Lots to work on, but content to be where I am and grateful for the chance to be here.

Jakie just started school on Wednesday! Thanks so much to Grandma Shumway for sending him. He loves it! He goes MWF for a few hours each day and just absorbs. His teacher is a sweet lady that thinks he is a sweetie. Jakie is signed up for soccer this year and gets to start on Wednesday. YAY! He can run off some of that energy and hopefully really love the game. Anything that combines running, playing and winning is right up his alley so I am looking forward to seeing how he will do. Jakie is growing like a weed and looks like most of the 6 year olds in his primary. He is so handsome and sweet and has truly been a joy. His big brother love for Ricky makes us smile and though he is a man handler with him at times, he is so pure in his love for his little brother. We would not change at thing about the way Jakie loves and treats Ricky. We will keep him!

That leaves little Ricky. What can I say, but that he has been a model baby. He is so squishy, so soft and so sweet. He loves to look mommy in the eyes each morning and smile, squeal, laugh at times and just play. You can see the joy that the family loving him brings. He coos and follows our eyes with his and just wants to be looked at all day. He is a little chubber and is probably in the 15lb range by now. He loves to nap, and nurse and is such a happy, beautiful boy. I knew I would love our second child, I just never could have dreamed how much. He is truly as much a joy in my life as his big brother and it feels like he has always been here. He has brought a profound happiness to his mommy and daddy's life.

Well there you go! We are just the same old Shumways. Still moving a long, still loving the family and still doing all that we can do to make it work. We miss you all and hope that you are doing wonderfully. Enjoy Fall because if you are like us here in PA, it wont last long and winter is really cold and long. Fun, but long!

Lazy Labor Day!

Sorry it has been a while since I posted last. There has not been a log to blog about, but I thought I would take some pics for the family that misses the little guys. Rick and I took the kids to a rainy BBQ yesterday and hung out with friends and ward members under a pavilion while the kids ran amok and got soaked. Oh well, they had a ball and we got to get out for a bit. We finished the day with Dad, Ricky and Jacob taking naps while I went to get a few minutes of shopping time in. We finished the evening with a little quite time reading or playing on the computer until our impromptu FHE and ended the evening by getting the kiddies in bed early to re coop for another week of work. It was a dreary day for a holiday, but nice to get a break. Here are the pics of our day: Keep in mind that the outside pictures are in pouring rain. They are pretty self explanatory!

Happy Birthday Rick!!

It is September 3rd, so as of 5:25am Ricky's the big: !

Happy birthday love! I spent the day thinking of things that I could say about you that is new and exciting, but as I reminisced about you I just kept thinking of you in this picture.

This was taken just months before getting married and I knew then that you were wonderful, but 7 years and 2 children later I now know that you are more than wonderful! You are perfect for me and your children and we adore you. I apreciate and love you now so much more than I did at that moment (which was a lot)! You are wonderful. Thank you for being so amazing each day and choosing to be with us. We love you! -Love, Ricky, Jakie, and of course me!

We still laugh this way and make each other happy each day. Okay, not when I am on a war path, but every other day. Thanks Mom Shumway (I know you will see this) for bringing him into the world and teaching him how to love, how to lead and how to compromise. He is so often why we work so well. I am sure he learned it all by l by example, but thank you none the less. He makes our lives so happy. Happy Birthday Babe!

Weekend Retreat

On Friday I got to attend one of the first Relief Society Events since being in the ward. I was called to the Primary immediately after arriving in the ward. I see many of the sisters each week but have not really gotten to know most of them. Until Friday that is. One of the sisters has a family cabin about 2 hours North of Pittsburgh and invited everyone up to enjoy her lake view and good company. We left on Friday morning and returned Saturday evening. I took Ricky since he is still nursing and Jacob stayed with Rick (thanks Kate and Gene for watching him for a few hours on Friday so I could go). We stopped on our way in a great little Amish town called Volant and shopped and had lunch. We got up to the cabin mid afternoon and spend the rest of the day unpacking, talking, walking the shoreline and all evening laughing by the bonfire right outside her house. I had such a good time and really enjoyed getting to know people. Sister Row was particularly interesting since she is a Psychologist. Yep, access to a brilliant mind for 36 hours left me picking her brain about marriage, kids, life, etc. She was so interesting and that fact coupled with all of the funny personalities, lots of Grandmas wanting to hold Ricky (since he was being such a good boy-as usual), and a day away left me feeling grateful for the opportunity to enjoy a weekend away. Here are pics of the setting and just some good fun. Thanks Sisters for a great time and Thanks Rick for taking Jakie and letting me slip away for a night! Click on the picture to see photos better.

AFV Or Bust!

AFV (Americas Funniest Videos): Anyone else a fan? For years we have said that we were going to send in funny video of Jacob and today we finally did. Here are a few clips that went in. We sent in a total of 9 but these were the ones that I could upload together. There were a few other funny ones with Jakie a little older, but this will give you the idea. Which one do you think has a shot at getting on the show? Any 10,000 winners or 100,000 winner clips in there?? I doubt any of them will go that far, but it would be fun to get one or a few them on the show. Jakie would be so thrilled to see himself on "The Funny Show!"

Mr. Brave Stuff!

Jacob had his one year physical this last Monday and to our surprise he had to get shots. Should it have been to our surprise??? Well, no. If I had done my homework I would have realized that he needed his boosters at 4 years old. He is almost 5 in December, but with no school requiring it and the fact that we got here last summer at 3 & 1/2 and they said come back in a year..I never thought anything more about it. We took Ricky in for his 2 month appointment 3 weeks ago and he got his first shots. He took 3 right to the thighs:( Sad huh! Well, Jacob came with me to that appointment and was traumatized by Ricky crying (I had to take him in with us). He said that he did not want to get any shots anymore. I unwittingly assured him that he did not need anymore shots until he had to got to kindergarten. Why did I do this?? That is what I thought was true. Flash forward to Monday when I took Jakie in promising that he did not have to have any shots. They did a full exam (He is super healthy) and then asked me about his shot records. I gave them to them last year when I arrived, but they could not find them. So, the nurse promptly suggested that we just do all of the required 4 year shots plus a hep A that is now being offered to kids. My jaw hit the floor and I wish I had a picture of Jakie's face when he heard that. He looked at the nurse with wide eyes and his body turned toward the door (to run I think) and said, "HUH"??? He immediately looked at me and said with accusation, "you promised mommy"!! He squatted into a corner and started rocking himself so of course I went over to help him and told him that he would need them sooner or later. He was having none of it. He quoted me and my tone when I told him that he did not have to have shots today and begged me to honor that. Well, that was it. I could not force him that day. How could I? I did not want him to think that I was a liar, even if it was by accident. I asked the nurse to please let us re-schedule a walk in apt for shots and they agreed. So, after weeks of verbal preparation and warning that the shots were coming, I took Jakie in for all 4 that he needed. I was amazed at Jakie's willingness to go when I had warned him before hand and prepared him by explanation. The nurses were awesome (thank goodness) and they had all 4 done in like 5 seconds! Thanks ladies! Jakie cried for a second but stayed brave and exclaimed"hey, that wasn't that bad", when it was all over. He loved his band aids (because he was sure without them he would bleed to death) and wore them with pride. He called them his war wounds. Jake told me on the way home that he was glad that I was there. He said that I made him feel safe and he is not afraid with me by his side. Such a cutie I guess it was all just another reminder to be open with the kids and even if it is out of my way (and the second apt definitely was), it is worth it to keep your kids trust.
P.S. Stats for Jakie were 90th % for height 45 & 1/2 inches tall and 44 lbs. (90th for weight)

Stats for Ricky were 95th for weight (13lbs, 15oz ) and 26 inches long. (90th for height)

Memmory Lane

My mom and dad finally released pictures of my family to me to copy last May. I spent days uploading slides into a scanner so that I could finally see what my childhood looked like. There were thousands and thousands of images, but I could only get about 500 copied to bring home. I spend today editing many of them and here were a few of my favorites. The adults in the pics are my mother and father (if you don't know them) and I am in every other photo in the tiles. Sorry they aren't super big you should be able to see better if you click on the photo. It made me see family resemblances. Do you see any of my kids in me?

The trip down memory lane made me miss the good old days and made me sad I cant see my brothers and sisters very easily. There are tons of them in my library here so I guess I will have to send them to everyone as time goes on. Anyway, enjoy!