Saturday, October 24, 2009

Catching up ...

This morning Olive waited patiently (and wiggled mightily) while I brushed my teeth and prepared for the day. Compare this photo to our bath tub photo posted a while back to see how she has grown.



To be frank, this will probably be composed in several sittings, but NOW I am sitting at our table enjoying my morning coffee while Olive is telling Misters Snail and Turtle about her week. What a busy few weeks it has been!

I'll rewind.

After Jen, Ben, Sophia, and my Dad left, we had a weekend here in St. Louis by ourselves. We enjoyed temperate fall weather and caught up on errands and housework. Mundane chores to be sure, but necessary and oddly comforting.

Then we boarded another rollercoaster!

We left St. Louis on Wednesday, October 14 and made our way to Kansas City. This was our first road trip with Miss Olive, and she behaved wonderfully! (OK, by Saturday evening she was over-stimulated and ready to go home, but it was a very busy weekend, especially for a 12-week old.) Kyle and I packed our car to the gills. I naturally over pack (I come by it honestly), but Kyle was pretty easy to convince that just one more thing might become necessary on our journey.

We arrived in Kansas City mid-afternoon and spent the day with Liz, her mom, Charlie and Will. That evening, Liz and Char took care of Olive so that Kyle and I could enjoy our first meal out without baby. The food was great (fancy burgers, beer and fries!), and we had a lovely time. It was not nearly as traumatic as I'd anticipated.

Thursday morning we enjoyed a yummy pancake breakfast (thank you, Liz!) before heading out for central Kansas. We visited Kyle's Uncle Mart and Grandma Thiel. Olive's Great-Grandma Thiel will be 103 this January!!



We left Gypsum and headed south for Wichita, where we spent the night at Kyle's parents house. Friday morning we pointed the car back to Kansas City. There, we enjoyed a chilly pumpkin patch and a great visit with Olive's Great-Grandparents Swenson.





Later Friday, we had some fan.tab.u.lous barbeque. I love that good BBQ reminds both Kyle and I of home, despite our different hometowns!

Saturday we hung out with the fam. We accidentally missed Will's soccer game (uh, we did get out of the car once to investigate a similarly attired yellow team only to watch the game break up and find none of our family or friends). Also, we celebrated my birthday, introduced our friends Andy and Krista to Olive, and enjoyed a great spaghetti dinner.

Sunday we celebrated Charlie's baptism and headed back to St. Louis to prepare for my first week back at work! Yup, this past Monday was my first day back in the office. Preparing to go back was stressful and emotional, but my tears diminished over the week. Olive seems happy at day care. Her caregivers are wonderful, which makes us very comfortable. Also, my desk is full enough to keep me mentally engaged, which feels good and makes the days fly by. (Um, I didn't call to check on Olive at all, not one single time ... right)

We are getting the hang of daycare and work. The first five days weren't too painful, and I hear that it gets better with time. I sure hope so!

Today Olive and I are doing chores and running errands, while Kyle is swinging a hammer at Habitat for Humanity. Its a chilly but sunny day, and I know he was looking forward to lending a hand.

That is about it!

1 comment:

  1. You guys are amazing! So many trips, visits, and changes!!! May they go smoothly, and may you all find deep rest amidst it all. We love you! Oh -- and Olive is growing soooo fast!!!

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