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Archive for September, 2007

Now that school is back in session for all the school-aged kids, it is also school time for Anya! Since she is now in the older 2’s room (even though she is barely 2), she has officially started preschool at our daycare. Her day at daycare has always been pretty structured, but now they have a lesson plan for each day, a theme for each week and they will be focusing on skills such as cooperative play, sharing, small & large motor skills, language, music, art, shapes and colors. She will be a busy girl! In a world where daycares and similar facilities get such a bad name, we are constantly amazed at the positive things our daycare provides and we feel so lucky to have found it. I will keep you posted on everything she is learning in preschool!

This weekend G’ma Barb came to visit us while Papa Jim was busy at home working in the field. As usual, we got alot accomplished with G’ma Barb was here and even some rest and relaxation also. She came Thursday night after work and I had Friday off, so we did some work on Anya’s new bedroom. We have been trying to get Anya sleeping in a big girl bed, but it hadn’t went so well on the first try, so we decided to try again. So, mom & I took the crib apart, hauled it downstairs and it was big girl bed or nothing from there on out. And, I am happy to report that Anya has slept all night long both nights in her new bed and is in there right now cashed out for night #3! She looks so small in the big bed, but I think she likes the extra room to roll and shuffle around. It is a full size bed, so she should have lots of room….I am just hoping she doesn’t roll out!

Last night we had Brad, Steph & Jaxson and Chad & Jodi over for supper and to watch the Hawkeye vs Wisconsin game and we had a lot of fun. Too bad the Hawks didn’t win, but they did play a good game, so there wasn’t too much to be disappointed about. Today we went to church with mom, had Subway sandwiches for lunch, said goodbye to Grandma Barb and then Miss Anya and I took a nap while daddy watched the Cubs win….he is so happy they are 3.5 games ahead in their division. He is definitely hoping for some playoff action this year from the Cubs! Tonight we headed off to our church small group and got home from that not too long ago. So, we had a pretty busy day and I am definitely looking forward to being in bed very soon!

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Here are a couple recent pictures of whats been going on around here.

As some of you know, Anya got glasses last week. Shortly after her 2nd birthday, she was diagnosed with strabismus which is a condition that causes her eyes to misalign when trying to focus on things close up. Click here to read more about strabismus.

Anyways, with corrective treatment, her eyes should develop normally and without any major vision problems. We go back to her ophthalmologist in a month or so to see if we need to start patching her left eye to help strengthen her right eye, but for right now we are focusing on getting her use to her glasses and she is doing a GREAT job. She is such a big girl and she has taken this change in her life all in stride, so we are very thankful for that. Here are a few more pictures of her posing with her new glasses!

While Jason & I were off having a great time in Chicago last weekend, Anya was having her own fun with G’ma Jeryl, Papa Ronnie, Aunt Joni and Great G’ma Bertie. She had so much fun staying with them on the farm….she can’t stop talking about Gypsy (one of their horses), the puppies and of course the piggies….she had her own personal petting zoo. Her second-cousin, Allie, also came over Saturday afternoon to play with Anya and I am sure they had a great time together. From what Grandma & Papa report, Anya did just fine away from Mommy & Daddy-o which was good to hear. She was so sad when she had to leave and come home with us….good thing we are heading back down to see them again this weekend and go to another Iowa game!

Here are a few pictures G’ma Jeryl sent to us of her fun weekend.

Well, we are back from our whirlwind trip to Chicago with Brad & Steph. We had a great time and are very tired and glad to be home. Thursday morning we hit the road around 9:30am and after a brief stop in Iowa City (to drop Anya off with G’pa & G’ma McArtor and Aunt Joni and to eat lunch) we hit the Windy City around 4:30pm! We stayed at the Sheraton downtown and we had a fabulous view of the Chicago River. We got checked into the hotel and then hit the streets of downtown Chicago to eat supper at Giardano’s. Once in Chicago, we met up with 2 other couples, Brad & Sarah and Rob & Steph, so we had quite the group! Friday we went to the Cubs vs. Astro game at Wrigley–we won’t even talk about that game as the score wasn’t too pretty. We also had our first experience with the “L” train in Chicago on the way to the game and it wasn’t very pretty either…. so we took a cab home. Even though the Cubs didn’t win, we had a lot of fun being a Wrigley and with all the Hawk fans that were at the Cubs game, I think we did more Iowa cheers than Cub cheers! After the Cubs game, we went to Navy Pier to go to the Hawkeye Huddle. The whole pier was filled with people in black and gold…it was quite the sight! I think local Chicagoans think their city had been taken over by Hawkeye fans for the weekend! After we checked out the Huddle, we ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. on the pier and it was delicious. Saturday we got up and did a boat tour on the Chicago River to learn the history of all the buildings…it was alot of fun and a great way to start the day. After that, we headed to Soldier Field for the Hawk game. My brother and Zachary also made the trip to Soldier Field, so we met up with them before the game for an hour or so to walk around the stadium and check out all the stuff they had going on. It was quite an experience being at a NFL stadium and the Hawk fans were pretty riled up. The Hawks had a pretty easy win, so the boys were happy! On the way home from the game, we walked by Buckingham Fountain which is the fountain featured at the beginning of “Married with Children”–Jason was SO excited! Sunday we got up and hit the road back to Iowa. We had a lot of fun, but we were all ready to get home to our kids! Anya was pretty excited to see us when we pulled in and has been attached to my hip most of today, although I know she had a great time at G’ma Jeryl’s and Papa Ronnie’s house!

So, here are a few pictures of our fun weekend.

You can also check out The Cathcart website to see more pictures of our trip.