Time doesn't fly at regular speed...

... it flies at the speed of SOUND.
I look at Jacen then...
... and I look at him now and I ask myself, "What happened?!" I had this critically jaundiced baby, who slept 22 hrs/day, and ate every 2 hours at night just 17 months ago, and he grew to a kid who is now holding his own popsicles, sleeps 13 hrs/night, and pinches me when he's angry. Can anyone tell me what happened?! Three years ago I could've sworn I was never gonna get pregnant until I was at least 30, now I've got a toddler...
Life throws you curve balls, and they hit ya in the head (most of the time). I don't catch any of them.
Last night when I was tucking Jacen in bed (AKA crib), I was trying to figure out what I'll be doing when he's 5, 10, and 20 years old.
-When he's 5 years old I'll be no where to be found, except in a library somewhere studying.
-When he's 10 years old, I'll still be no where to be found, except in a hospital somewhere, working 100+ hrs/week.
-When he's 20 years old, I'll be home most of the time... but he'll be gone.
After that thought process, it dawned on me: I need to enjoy the time I have with him now, because in just a short few years, I'll be gone, and I won't get to enjoy him being little anymore. But I hope that I can still make the best of the little time I'll have with him as he's growing.
The guilt I feel for going to school is incredibly intense and hovers over me all day, every day. However, I pray that he'll understand that he can do anything he sets his mind to. I pray that he becomes a strong boy who is smart and helpful to everyone around him.

While we try to teach our children all about life, Our children teach us what life is all about.~Angela Schwindt

And with football season....

... comes a wide variety of feelings in our household. These would include, but are not limited to:
-hate
-excitement
-anger
-anxiousness
-happiness
-annoyance
Can you tell which ones belong to whom?
Why, oh why!!!!

AWESOME video!

Someone at work pointed out this video out to me, and I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT!!!! I don't like Taylor Swift's "Love Story" (or Taylor Swift at all), but it's a good mix with Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" which I love.
I thought of my dad when I saw this video. I know he'll love it!
Enjoy!

Update on the Caswell world :)

This will probably be the last post for a while, so I wanted to get everyone updated on what's going on with all of us, since who knows how long until I update this thing again. I may volunteer Elijah for the assignment now, so we'll see :)

ELIJAH'S WORLD: He's working away like always. He sure does have some awesome co-workers. They took the time on wednesday evening after he had left for the day to decorate his cubicle with balloons and confetti for his birthday yesterday. So cute! He's also started playing soccer for an indoor soccer league (Jason Haslam's league), and he's LOVING every minute of it. The downside to it all? Stupid injuries. Sprained thumb, skinned knees and elbows (this is ongoing), and the latest: a sprained ankle. I told him he needed to sit out this next game on Monday but who knows if he will listen *sigh* Also, his CFC website is about to take off, so everyone please make sure to check it out during football season if you're a NCAA College Football fan! (http://www.collegefootballconnection.net/)

SILVIA'S WORLD: My work schedule has finally been adjusted to accommodate my beasty school schedule. I don't think I'll ever work with a better scheduler than Debbie! She is so awesome at the scheduling thing, sometimes I feel guilty asking for days off... Now I work every weekend, which leaves me 5 days of school to do. And yes, I do have school every day, Monday-Friday. I will not have days off until the end of the semester, but it's bitter sweet: at least I don't have to manage being sleep deprived for classes. I haven't found a good routine yet (which I'm desperately looking for!), and I'm sure that as soon as I do, I'll be able to be a little less stressed out. It's hard to manage 15 credits and work full-time. I think that's why I ended up going into the ER last saturday with pain, not to mention all the nausea. All this stress is definitely making me sick.

JACEN'S WORLD: That little stinker is into EVERYTHING. And I mean, EVERYTHING. I tell him not to touch one thing, and he goes to the next forbidden thing. *sigh* He's definitely keeping me busy. He's so stinkin' cute though. It's hard to be mad at him for too long. Some of his latest achievements:

A) Putting himself into timeout.

B) Saying "Coo" for "Cool"

C) Saying "Ook" for "Look"

D) Chasing daddy around the house

E) Calling people on the phone and actually talking to them (in his own baby gibberish, of course)

F) Eats with a spoon- still a little messy, but overall gets the job done.

G) More cuddly than ever.

So there. He's doing a good job. His separation anxiety has toned down considerably in the last month. He went from crying for hours while I was gone to only 2 minutes tops. That is a HUGE deal. I'm glad I don't have to leave feeling bad for whoever is babysitting anymore. YOWZA!

All in all, we're busy, but it's okay. I'm blessed with the opportunity to go to school and not have to pay a single dime for it (including my books, and some leftover money!), and to be able to have a supportive family. That does make a world of difference :) Thanks for everyone who has been sending us positive thoughts. We need every single one of them!

Happy birthday to Elijah!

This year I decided to throw Elijah a surprise birthday party. I don't think he's had one in AGES! Although his birthday isn't until the 27th, I decided to do it yesterday because of school starting. I didn't want him to think I wasn't going to do anything for it!
Our crazy day started at 5:30am, when we decided it was time for me to go to the ER. I had been having pain on my right side of the abdomen for 2 nights, and finally it got severe enough that we thought it may be appendicitis.
After having a CT scan and a pelvic exam (the latter I thought was unnecessary), we considered it to be a mysterious pain and I got discharged around 10am. Even though my blood pressure plummetted (went from 135/71 at arrival to 90/50 at discharge) and nearly passed out a few times, I decided we still needed to do the birthday party, despite the fact I was nauseated. So I got out of bed at 11am and started cleaning the house.... smart, huh? Eventually I went to Baskin Robbins to pick up his A*W*E*S*O*M*E ice cream cake (white cake and cookie dough ice cream). By the time I made it home to send him out of the house, I couldn't even lift a finger... I wanted to go to bed so bad, but bigger plans were in the horizon, and I couldn't cancel the party then since it would start in 15 minutes!
Once all our guests arrived and we waited for Elijah, he finally showed back home at the appointed time. He was so excited to see everyone!

Here are all our guests :)

We had to quickly sing Happy Birthday (which, by the way, I found out that you're not supposed to sing it in public unless you have rights from whoever wrote the song) before the cake would melt. It was soooo yummy! Oh, and you can't really see it in the picture, but Elijah just turned 24 :)

It was a great birthday party and thanks to everyone that showed up! Sorry I was a terrible host.... I was so pooped by the end of the day, but it was worth getting out of bed for it!

Happy 24th Birthday, Elijah!