Cold...

Aren't you all happy that Winter is FINALLY here?! BTW, that's all Fahrenheit (0F= -18C)... wahoo!

8 months old!

Jacen now weighs a bit over 24 lbs and is 29 inches long. Over the last month, he began developing an uncontrollable urge to scream at the top of his lungs. He must love listening to his own scream because he does it all the time. I'm not really sure how to get him to stop, especially during Sacrament Meeting. It's so embarrassing! But I let him scream all he wants at home and he loves it. He also started to scoot himself around our house just a couple of days ago. It's not really crawling, but it's a "backwards sliding movement". I don't know how he learned that, but hey, at least he's moving around! And he takes his toys with him wherever he goes, it's quite funny to watch! Another thing is that he finally began to grow some hair, enough for me to gel it and put it in a mohawk. Cute, eh?

I can't believe my baby is that old already. I miss the old days when he slept all the time. It's getting harder and harder every week to keep him down for his naps so I can sleep when I get home from work in the mornings. I really have no idea how people can do this more than once- and I mean "do this" as in have more than just one child. They're so cute, but they're hard work!

Annual Christmas Newsletter 2008

This year has been filled with many trials, but with huge blessings as well. We are so grateful for all of it, because not only have we learned from everything, but because we have grown stronger!
In January of this year, we began looking for a house to buy, which we did find and bought in February. We love our little place. It's just the right size for the three of us and it's a great investment for our future. We were nervous about the move because I couldn't lift a single box, but many of our friends and family came to help us with the move. Thank you for all those who helped us back during that stressful time!
Then on my due date, April 10th, we had our handsome baby boy! Despite contracting since 33 weeks of pregnancy, he showed up when we told him to. He is such a huge blessing in our lives. His presence has taught us how to be patient and selfless. Those were the greatest lessons we could've learned.
With the delivery, more trials came our way. We're not really sure how we got through those first three weeks postpartum, but we made it! My dad came all the way from Brazil and stayed with us for two of those three weeks, and we enjoyed his company quite a bit, even though it was full of daily visits back to the hospital, and me going through finals and dealing with high fevers from medical complications at the same time. It was a very challenging time for all of us. We had to humble ourselves enough to care a little less about our own well-being, and start focusing more on our newborn baby. We learned a lot from it!
Elijah then started school in the summer. He is going to Florida Tech for a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice, which is a degree no schools in Utah offer. What a great experience this has been for him! It's so exciting to see him studying, and doing it because he wants to, not because he needs to keep his grades barely above the required to play soccer. He's doing so well, and is ahead on his timeline, which means he'll be done in about 2 1/2 years. Then he's hoping to work as a cop for a few years until he can start working for the FBI, or some other federal law enforcement agency.
I, on the other hand, went back to work full-time when Jacen was four weeks old, and decided to put school on hold until the Spring. It's been such a fun experience to stay with Jacen during the day while Elijah's at work. Doing nights has been great and works awesome with taking care of Jacen. I transferred from Intermountain Medical Center Maternity and Labor & Delivery to LDS Hospital W4 and Special Care Nursery in July. I love my work!
Jacen has grown from a 8lb 12oz baby to an astounding 23 lb baby! He loves food. He's never been picky about how it comes out, as long as there's food in there! He also loves to sit up and pull all his toys out of the toy box and chew on them for a couple minutes before reaching for the next one. He's a great bouncer and loves to bounce all the time. I think we got ourselves a Tigger! He's slept through the night since he was eight weeks old, and has been ever since. He's such a happy baby, we got spoiled!
Heavenly Father has blessed us so much this year. I'm also grateful for everything our friends and family have done for us. I don't think we could've made it this far if it wasn't for everyone's help and generosity. Thank you so much!
We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!
Love,
The Caswells

Shrek baby

Tonight we watched Shrek the Halls, and we actually hadn't seen the Shrek movies since Jacen was born... well, as we were watching it, Elijah blurrs our "Jacen looks just like the Shrek babies". I burst out laughing because it's true! Jacen's cheeks and head shape is just like the Shrek babies! And his ears stick out too (just a little). Don't you think?!

Suspension of 401(k) matching by IHC

So on Facebook I was looking at this group of "IHC & the missing 401k funds". IHC decided to suspend all of the 401(k) matching for next year. I know that in my department people are furious. I love my work because of the people that I work with, and the kind of work that I do, but, I'll throw this out on the table and say (and not be ashamed of it): IHC is not a great company to work for. We get the worst pay of all the hospital chains around the state. I honestly believe we give the greatest care to our patients, compared to other hospitals, but upper management does not treat their employees well enough. They got rid of our summer gifts. When I first started with them, we got gift cards for a night at the movies and $25 for Olive Garden. Our Christmas bonus was $400- now it's going to be $250. We probably won't get much of a raise either. What's up with that?! Someone on that group on Facebook couldn't have put it better:
Get rid of the fancy, multi-colored benefits brochure designed to convince me that my mediocre benefits are really, really, cool. Get rid of the fancy, multi-colored year-end State of IHC mailing. Get rid of the television & radio ads. (If a 14 story, new and shiny building on State St ain't enough then just forget it. Get rid of all the bells and whistles that make upper management feel like they're doing a marvelous job. $$$ is where the rubber meets the road. Give me back my 401K match. Give me more that "a modest" raise. Give me cheaper, better insurance. Give me a break.
IHC's insurance program is a joke. I pay more than one of my friends that has the exact same benefits from Select Health, and she gets the benefits from her husband's work. Are you kidding me?!?!?! Next year I'll be paying $220/month on insurance. This is insane!!!! we should be getting a discount on their insurance because we work for them, not the other way around! I know a lot of people are quitting, and I don't blame them. Instead of focusing so much on advertising and doing all this fancy crap, they need to focus on keeping their employees happy.
I'm sorry that was a bit of a venting blog, but seriously, I'm not happy!!!!

Successful meal!

So Thanksgiving was held at our place this year. It was really fun to prepare for it, and since I was doing the cooking, I began preparations one month ago (literally!). I was so nervous... but as soon as I faced the naked turkey (without the wrapping, I mean), I got REAL scared. Then it was time to stuff the thing... because washing it wasn't enough. Oh yuck. I thought I was going to puke. It was so sick!

Grandpa Beach came over, along with Susan and Roy (Elijah's mom and step-dad), and my mom. My brother James came over for a little while but he left before we ate. It was great to have the family together to enjoy a good meal!
Everything turned out great, but it wouldn't be a "made by Silvia" meal if there wasn't something burned. So I managed to burn the marshmallows on top of the home made sweet potatoes. I was bummed. But oh well, it gave a nice crispiness to the dish. And somehow I didn't like the stuffing I made either; it was too salty, but everyone else said it tasted just fine. Maybe I got a portion that wasn't mixed well?! Who knows.

All in all it was a successful Thanksgiving. I hope you all had a great day with your families, and that you stuffed yourselves full!

-Silvia

Mormon synchronized swimming

I just about peed my pants from laughing so hard... all these muscular guys doing the cute little feminine synchronized swimming. It's priceless. Hope you all get a good laugh!

Tagged again!

Thanks Shauna!

1. Did you date someone from your school? Well, I went out on one date with someone from my school. I didn't actually date him. Does that count?
2. What kind of car did you drive?A 1986 Toyota truck, rusty thing until it died during my senior year, then I got a 1996 Suzuki X-90. My pregnant roller skate!
3. Did you pass your driver's license test your first try? Heck yeah!
4. Were you a party animal? No way... I was such a dork. I made my own curfew, can you believe that?!
5. Were you considered a flirt?No, I couldn't even look guys in the eyes!
6. Were you in band, orchestra or choir?I was in mixed choir in 9th grade (some schools that's still in Jr. High, some are in High School)
7. Were you a nerd? Oh yeah. The biggest one there was.
8. Were you on any varsity teams? No, I wasn't gifted in sports.
9. Did you ever get suspended/expelled? No, that thought sent chills down my spine.
10. Can you still sing the fight song?I didn't know what the fight song was!
11. Who were your favorite teachers? Mr. Wagstaff- "It's the rise *clap clap*, over the run *clap clap*" Most awesome teacher EVER!!!!!!!
12. Where did you sit for lunch?I can't remember? It varied from year to year. Mainly in the cafeteria area.
13. What is your school's full name? Cottonwood High School
14. What is your school's mascot and colors? Go COLTS! Black, white, and gold. Yeah baby!!!!
15. Did you go to Homecoming and with who? Maybe, I'm not sure.
16. If you could go back and do it again, would you? I actually would not re-do my sophomore year, but definitely junior and senior.
17. What do you remember most about graduation? I spoke at graduation!!! To over 3000 people! I was a nervous wreck, but it was so awesome!
18. Where did you go Senior Skip Day? I dont remember ever having that, I know we'd have days where we didn't have to go until late, and about 75% of the time I'd forget and go to school early. I know, dorkiness!
19. Were you in any clubs? NHS and something else...
20. Have you gained some weight since then? Yes, but just recently lost it all, baby!
21. Who was your prom date? I didn't go, because a certain husband decided not to ask me....
22. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion?You better believe it, I'm already there!
23. Did you have a job in high school?I worked as a CNA at Wasatch Valley Rehab, and before that I spent 4 miserable shifts at KFC on State and I-80, I quit real quick... hated it!
24. Were you an Honor Student? Yes, sir! 3.8 GPA- still is, I seem to not let go of those two numbers for some reason....
25. Did you take seminary? You bet I did! It was fun, met lots of fun people! And Sis. Harline was my favorite seminary teacher EVER! I wonder what she's up to these days...
26. What would you consider your most fun times in High school? Dunno, probably the social life I guess!
27. Were you considered shy or outgoing? I was shy around people I didn't know, but way outgoing around my friends... it was more so as the years went by. I thinkas a Senior I was just outgoing period.
28. Any last memories you'd like to share? I got an allergic reaction to a medicine I had begun taking one morning while I was sitting in Seminary and Sis. Harline had to come look for me because I was sitting in the secretary's office while she was calling my mom to come get me... eventually I did go into the ER. But I was so embarrassed I disrupted class, and it was just a bad day!!!!

Now, I want everyone else to complete this! :)

Hubby tag

What's your husband’s name? Elijah Paul Caswell

How long have you guys been married? 3 yrs, 8 months

How long did you date? 2 years, 10 months (with a 2 month break somewhere in between)
How old is he? 23
Who eats more sweets? I do. I love chocolate, but he does have a bad habit of eating Pixi sticks and shoving the wrappers underneath the matress hahaha (that was when he was little ehehe)
Who is the better singer? I am, he does have a good voice, but not good enough to do a solo I guess!
Who is smarter? We both have our subjects that we're good at; he's good at writing and keeping up with every single stat for every college football team and player.

Who does the laundry? I do! I attempted to write directions to how to do laundry and they still managed to not get done the way they should've, so I do them now (I even had to do laundry the day I got home from the hospital from having Jacen... I'd have to be on my death bed before I let him do laundry again. Sorry honey!)
Who pays the bills? I do, he's not good with numbers.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? depends- do you mean looking at the bed? or looking from the bed?! looking at the bed, I sleep on the right side.
Who mows the lawn? we both can't mow the lawn- we're both allergic to grass. He's allergic by smell, and I'm allergic by touch. Weird, huh?
Who cooks dinner? Unfortunately, I've been having to do it the majority of the time. I HATE cooking. Elijah, on the other hand, is an amazing cook!

Who drives? Whoever drives the car. If he's in my car, I drive it, if I'm in his car, he drives it.

Who is the first to say they are wrong? Elijah, he's really good at it. I refuse to say I'm wrong!

Who kissed who first? We thought of it at the same time, so both!

Who asked who out first? Elijah did.

Who wears the pants? I do. (at least I think I do!)

I TAG: Christine, Julie, Heidi, Meggan, Rachel, Lisa C., Lisa H., Lisa B., Jenn H., Jenn L., Sadie, Elsha, Karly, Ashley, Natalie

7 month update

He's growing so fast. He's now 7 months old and lots of things have happened in the last month. We took him in for his 6 month appointment with the Pediatrician, and he weighed 20 lbs 7 oz, and measured 28 inches. He told us we needed to get him a new carseat, since he was about to outgrow his infant carseat. Those darn things are so expensive! So we switched him to a convertible carseat, which then required us to carry him in our arms from then on. Thank goodness it was around the same time he began sitting pretty good, so now when I have to go to the grocery store, I just put him on the seat in the shopping cart. He still sort of leans to the side a little, but I'm sure he'll be able to strengthen his back muscles soon, so he can sit in the cart and not fall over.
He also started to eat table foods and little cereal puffs. He loves table food, especially mashed potatoes! As far as the puffs, he still can't pick them up with his index finger and thumb, so I still have to put them in his mouth for him, but it's something the doctor said he'll be able to do pretty soon.
I'm getting anxious for him to start crawling (I know I shouldn't be, but I can't help but looking forward to him achieving another milestone!). He's not anywhere near achieving it, however . He hates being on his tummy, but loves to sit and look around, and play with his toys. The doctor said he wouldn't worry if he did skip the whole crawling thing and went straight to walking, but I'd love to see him crawling around! I am worried, however, that because of our hardwood floors, he may not crawl like he should, and use his feet instead of his knees. But we'll see how he does.
He's still sleeping real good through the night, which is amazing. He sleeps a whole 12 hours, and gets about 3 hours of sleep during the day. I live for his naps, because that's how I sleep when I get home from work in the mornings...
Today I'm taking him to the Pediatrician again to get his 2nd round of the flu shot, so I'm guessing he weighs around 21 lbs, and we measured him yesterday and he's 28.5 inches long! He's a heavy little dude!
-Silvia

Prop.8- It's hitting Utah...

This is ridiculous. This is truly a sign of the last days. I'm reading the third book of a series on the last days, and what's happening right now in California is the beginning of the Church being harrassed for years, according to the book. They're written by Jessica Draper, and they're called, in order, "The Seventh Seal", "Rising Storm", and "The Final Hour". (I'm on the last one right now, and they're so good!).
Along with the harrassment, the books also mention how the police doesn't do much about the vandalism in churches and Temples. There are violent threats popping up on blogs all across the country, along with violence and harrassment, and the police is not doing a whole lot to prevent any of it. I just read on a news article saying if the harrassment and the threats were happening to Jews, people would be getting arrested. There are people that were asked to sleep in stake houses in California to protect the churches from being burned to the ground. That's what happens in the books as well. The devil is out there having a hayday!
The gay community just needs to get over it. Prop 8 has passed. End of story. DEAL WITH IT!
I just hope and pray that I can raise Jacen in a decent world... if there is one.

-Silvia

The Art of Splashing

Jacen just found out how fun it is to splash in the water. We were only able to capture just a little bit of what he was doing; right before we pulled out the camera, he was just going to town, splashing away! But of course, like any other kid, will stop what they are doing as soon as the camera comes out. It was frustrating, but really funny!
And how in the world do you get ducks to sit up? His ducks look like they're dead!!!! Floating around the water....
-Silvia

Look at all the candy I got for my parents!

Halloween was fun this year. We took Jacen out Trick or Treating around Elijah's moms neighborhood, and everyone commented on how cute Jacen was. We had to keep it short because it was sort of raining, but he got us a lot of candy, that's for sure! We even had a lady that took a picture of us, she thought he was so adorable!!! LOL

I hope everyone had a great day! Happy Halloween!

-Silvia

PS: It's my dad's b-day and I wasnt able to call him :( Dad, I miss you! Happy birthday!

Vote, everyone!

On January 14th of this year, I became a citizen of this beautiful country. What a great blessing it was. Not only it is a blessing to just be a citizen, but it's a blessing to have all the great "attachments" that come with being a citizen: not have to worry about Green Cards anymore, have an American Passport and be able to leave the country with no problem, vote, and so forth. Today was a very exciting day for me because I was able to exercise one of the rights I received once I took the oath. For the first time in my life, I was able to vote as a citizen of the United States of America. This has been a goal in my life for the past 8 years, and I finally was able to accomplish that goal today. I took Jacen with me and went to the Murray City Hall, where I stood in line while Jacen chewed on my sunglasses- he was way bored- and listened to the older people talk about how the country is really messed up and how whatever President gets chosen, will still keep the country in the toilet... How pessimistic!
But I went into the polls, not knowing a lick of what to do, but managed to push "Yes" or "No" on the screen. It was a great feeling to know that 1 vote probably doesn't matter much, I still was able to pitch into the voting thing.
In Brazil, if I'm not mistaken, it's mandatory that you vote, and I still remember my parents going to the school nearby to do so for every election. I feel like it's a freedom that some people take for granted, since some countries have don't really give you the choice; it's chosen for them, by people who don't give a crap about the citizens and only want money for themselves. What a joke.
All in all, I'm hoping that whatever President gets chosen will make the best decisions for this country, which, I might say, is in a bit of trouble right now. Did I say a bit? Oh I'm sorry, we're in A LOT of trouble right now. Both McCain and Obama aren't, in my humble opinion, suited for becoming President, but you gotta vote for the lesser of two evils, right?...
-Silvia

GO UTES!!!

Ok, ok, so some people (the Caswell side of the family) won't like this post because it's all about the Utes and how great they are. Yes, they are still undefeated... unlike some team from Provo eheheh Anyway.

Elijah got tickets from Brian and we went to the game. It was way fun because we kicked Colorado State's butt big time (49-16). However, there was this girl sitting behind us that was cheering really loud through the whole game (more like screaming) and she scared Jacen so much. I was getting so annoyed with her, I was so close to just turning around and saying, "Would you please shut the h*** up?!" She totally ruined the experience. But overall, it was fun. We had a good time! Jacen was really good, and if we had known that we were going to sit on bleachers, we would've brought fold out chairs because our backs were killing from holding Jacen the whole time.

I pretty much just filmed some of it because I wanted to show my family in Brazil what a football game is like, since the sport doesn't exist down there, they have no idea what it's like to go to one!

-Silvia

Hi everyone! I'm 6 months old!

Hello!
I will be 6 months old tomorrow. Mommy can't believe I'm that old already! I can now sit mostly on my own, but I need occasional spotting so I don't go "TIMBEEERRRR!". Rolling is still one of my favorite kinds of transportation. Lately mommy and daddy have been calling me "Wiggle Butt" because I lay on my back and wiggle my butt, like I'm dancing. That is a premature form of crawling. Hopefully in a few months I'll be crawling around! Then I'll really drive my parents crazy!

The teddy bear in the picture with me is called Baba Bear. Uncle James won a Spelling Bee last year and for the prize he got a $25 gift card to Build-a-Bear. Since he's too old for those things, he gave the card to mommy, so her and I went to the store to build me a bear. It was so fun! And for daddy's sake, we bought a BYU shirt for Baba. And Baba is a special bear. It has a heart that has a heartbeat sound to it, and vibrates like a real heart. It is really cool!

Anyway. Love you all!

-Jacen

Having fun!

We got a video of him with Elijah's new cell phone, and so we wanted to share with you- especially those who dont see him often.

No TP when you PP

So I wanted to share Elijah's latest essay he submitted for his English class this past week. I just about died laughing. His teacher said it was hilarious!
-Silvia


People everywhere have suffered a terrible tragedy. It’s that feeling of total loss, or an incomprehensible let down. Imagine speeding through traffic, trying to get home as soon as possible. That early lunch at Taco Bell caught up with you as you finished your day at work. You figured you could wait until you got home to take care of business in a more secluded environment. Something I like to call, “Home Field Advantage”. However, it’s a Friday and traffic is slow, so you start to squirm in your seat and fidget nervously. Perhaps you even turn the radio up, anything to keep your mind off the impending catastrophe that is no longer dormant in your bowels. At last, you arrive home. You rush in, throw your things on the floor and sprint to the toilet. As you sit down, you feel a wave of relief and victory. It is then that you look over, and with a sinking feeling in your heart, realize you are out of toilet paper! This is a little crisis I like to call, “No TP when you PP”

“No TP when you PP” is defined as that situation where nature calls, and you find yourself without the necessary means to freshen up. There are several stages to this crisis; the Search, the Contingency, and finally Future Prevention. To fully understand this crisis you must become familiar with each stage.

After recognizing the fact that the roll is indeed empty, it is time to begin the search. This consists of crawling around the bathroom on your hands and knees, underwear around your ankles, opening every cupboard and drawer, praying to and subsequently cursing the Porcelain God after coming up empty handed.

The next stage is locating a suitable replacement. If you are lucky, and/or smart enough to keep wet wipes on hand, problem solved! Unfortunately for most, this is not the case. It is at this point one is inclined to take a longing look at their bath towel. While this might seem like a comfortable alternative, it is best to ignore the impulse, especially if you’re not living alone. If you are in an empty house you can easily waddle to the next bathroom, or if you have a single bathroom living arrangement you’re sure to have a box of Kleenex, or worst case scenario, paper towels, just ignore the sand paper like feeling. Those that are unfortunate enough to not be alone in this situation are forced to humble themselves, swallow their pride and call for help. People at this stage are prone to feeling embarrassed and helpless. Those that ask politely for assistance and calmly explain the situation are far more likely to receive a workable replacement. Note: It is not uncommon to hear snickering and jokes about your predicament from your assistant. This is a normal and an expected consequence of the crisis.

The final stage is to immediately replace the empty roll. If you are out, go to the nearest convenience store and pick up a few rolls to hold you over until your next visit to the supermarket. This is a critical step, otherwise you will find yourself in a repeat performance of the “No TP when you PP” crisis.

The “No TP when you PP” scenario can be easily avoided by always having a sufficient supply of Charmin on hand. Keep a running inventory on all bathroom tissue. This crisis has affected a countless number of people, and must be taken seriously. However should you run into this problem in a public restroom, you are on your own.

I'm 5 months old!

Hello everyone! I'm 5 months old today. I can now roll onto my tummy and back, and I'm almost sitting upstraight (I lean forward and hold myself up with my hands). My friend Devin's mommy, Jennifer, let me borrow Devin's Exer-saucer and I love it! At first I just sat in it and didn't do a whole lot, but now I play with all the toys on it and it's so much fun!

I've learned to giggle more often now, and mommy and daddy try so hard to make me laugh! They say I'm very cute!

-Jacen

RSL game

We went to the RSL game vs. Colorado Rapids last friday. It was fun! My mom got us in for free because she works for the University of Utah, and as long as she works there and RSL is playing there (until their new stadium is done), we can get in for free! It's really nice. Jacen was surprisingly good for us, the only times he got cranky was when he was tired and wanted to nap, and he got startled and cried a couple of times when the fans would cheer all of the sudden. But overall it was great!
-Silvia

Last friday...

Last friday Elijah went to the finals for his soccer team and they won 4-0. They got Gold! Here's the picture of his soccer team (and work colleagues). I wasnt able to go because I had to work.

Jacen is doing really well with his solids. He's now moved on from rice cereal, and added some pureed carrots to his diet. He really likes them! The only issue is trying to pry his thumb out of his mouth in between spoonfuls- he's quite inpatient, and wants his food fast! I had to take him to the doctors today for a rash he's got, and they weighed him. Here's the shocker: 18 lbs 11oz. Isnt that crazy?!?! He's getting so heavy, Elijah almost refuses to carry him in his carseat out to the car, and wants him to start walking ASAP.

-Silvia

I'm eating solids!

Hello everyone! I'm eating solids now. This morning my mommy introduced me to Rice Cereal, which makes me very gassy and very grumpy so we may have to stop that. But I really enjoyed it. I couldn't get enough of it! I'm still trying to figure out how to eat from a spoon (I blow bubbles into my food), but I'm sure that with a little bit more practice I'll be able to become a pro at it! Daddy took pictures and recorded it on the video camera, all while he was under an allergic reaction to Codeine that's in his medicine for his sore throat from coughing. Mommy said that daddy was doing and saying crazy things, such as thinking he had bees coming after him (last time daddy said he saw dragons while the missionaries were over for dinner when he was younger, it really freaked the missionaries out). Anyway, daddy was playing nice with me, I didn't notice a difference.

Aren't I so cute?
Love,
Jacen

Victor has a blog...

Alright so I made a blog for Victor's emails that we get every week, and here's the link to it: www.eldermouraoinjapan.blogspot.com . I'm posting his emails in English (the originals) and in Portuguese for everyone to read. I'll also scan his pictures and add them on so you can see the pictures he's been sending us!
Love,
Silvia
PS: Victor actually does not have access to it so it's pretty pointless to leave comments unless you really feel like doing it, you're more than welcome to it. When he comes back in 2 years he'll have 2 years worth of material to go through on this blog, so it'll be fun for him!

Soccer!

On thursday we had the privilege of going to watch Elijah play soccer in the Salt Lake City Olympics... ok, so it's really an Olympics that have 16 different companies competing (among them would be Ebay and Marriott Hotels). Elijah played goalie for Franklin Templeton, and the game went into penalty shootout. Elijah saved the winning kick, and his team won 2-1. It was awesome to see him play because he had always talked about playing, but never actually done it in real life for me.

-Silvia

I'm 4 months!

Hello!
I'm 4 months today! Isn't that exciting? Things I enjoy the most now are drooling on my parents and playing with my toys, as my parents wave them in front of my face. I can laugh too, and smile real big for the camera. Soon enough I'll be eating rice cereal and some other baby food... my parents are so excited because my poopie diapers will get REAL stinky!
Love you all!
-Jacen

His first TOOTH!!!

Ok, so Jacen has his first tooth.... yup! He's 3 1/2 months old!!! Can you believe it!?!?! In fact, it's not coming out in the usual place- bottom front - it's come out behind the upper left canine. It's weird because he's got 2-3 sharp little cuspids that are out for that tooth, and it's the same tooth that Elijah's got... you know, his weird tooth that looks like a flower because it's got 5-6 cuspids instead of the usual 4... yeah. So we'll wait and see what it'll look like once it's all the way out. And then on the opposite side, his gums got a red bump, so he's gonna have another one come out any day now, and it's the same place as the other one. He's sure been grumpy! Today he stuffed my finger, his thumb, and his burp cloth all in his mouth trying to chew it up!!! So funny...
Anyway, gotta go!
Toodles!

Victor is GONE!!!

Victor left today to the MTC. It was so hard to let him go!
We all went out to lunch at Chuck-A-Rama (missionaries eat for free on wednesdays if they're going to the MTC), and then we had to be at the MTC at 12:30pm. Natasha (mom's friend), mom, Victor, James, Bobby (Victor's friend), me, Elijah, and Jacen were all there.
Then we went to the MTC to drop Victor off. He went in to get his name tag, and it looked really cool in Japanese. We took some pictures and I'll post them as soon as I can get them on here. Then we went into the chapel with all the other missionaries and their families to have a little devotional before we had to say goodbye. I broke down and BAWLED while we sang "Called to Serve". Then a couple of the branch presidency people spoke a few words, then we watched a movie on missionaries being called on missions and the MTC experiences, and then we had to say goodbye. I was a wreck. On the other hand, my mom was all smiles and laughing, excited for Victor to go- go figure. Then we said goodbye, and Victor went out one door while we went out the other. It was so hard! I didnt think I'd be that upset, but I guess it came too fast for me!
Elijah wasn't going to be able to go, but turned out he woke up late this morning to go to work, and when he thought that sending Victor to the MTC would only take a few minutes, it turned into hours and so he ended up not going to work at all. It was good to have him there with us.
Jacen has been very cranky lately. I bet his tooth will come through his gums any day now....
Toodles!

Starting this thing...

So Silvia decided to start blogging because our families are so far apart, that it's hard to keep up with everyone and their lives!
Here's a little of what's been going on in our lives:
Elijah: he works for Franklin Templeton Investments in the Collections department. He really likes to work for them, especially now that he was transferred from one team to another. So far it's been going well. No signs of layoffs or firings ahead! He's also keeping himself busy with school. He has just started to work on his Bachelor's of Criminal Justice degree through Florida Tech. He has been very excited to go to school and get it over and done with! It's been a few years since he last studied for classes so this is quite different for all of us.
Silvia: she just got transferred from Intermountain Medical Center Maternity to LDS Hospital Maternity doing secretarial stuff. She now works at LDS and IMC Labor and Delivery. It's quite the excitement for her as she gets adjusted to new work, but that's just how life is. She is trying to go to school in the fall and finish her last semester of pre-req's for Nursing School. It may not happen due to financial distress, so we'll see.
Jacen: he has been quite the happy baby! He is trying so hard to start laughing, but he's not quite there yet. He is a big boy, and gets cuter every day! He just barely started to sleep 11 hrs/night and that has been a relief for his parents. They can finally get a good night's rest! He is a good baby. Sometimes he has his fussy days if he doesnt get his naps, but overall he's fantastic!
His next doctor's appt is not until mid-August so we'll keep you up on his growth.

This week we're very busy with Victor and his departure to the MTC. We're excited for him but at the same time we're sad that he'll be gone for two years. Elijah is quite the upset one because he's losing his video game playing partner. Eventually he'll get over it. LOL :D Silvia is sad too because she knows it'll be difficult for her mom. We're sure our call volume from her house will increase significantly over the next few days!

Please leave us messages so we know what's going on in your lives!
Toodles!
-Elijah, Silvia and Jacen Caswell