"Honey, whats new." -Best in Show

As previously mentioned, the Cain's have undergone many changes in the past few months... Let me tell you about it.

Did I mention that we moved?



We live, happily, in a sweet little suburb of Cleveland called Shaker Heights in the great state of Ohio. We love it here. It is wonderful and beautiful and there is so much to do. I plan to blog about all of our great adventures.

David can relax. (And so can I.)




I am proud to say that after 12+ hours of studying per day, Dave has finished his first two years of med school and has taken both the USMLE and the COMLEX board exams- both of which are fancy terms for great, big, fat, 8 hour long tests. He is now doing rounds, working on patients at the hospital, and looking all doctorish. He is a handsome fellow (or MSIII, I should say (That was really bad med school humor)).

And now he can actually spend time with us! It's so awesome! I seriously can't express how great it is to be with him. He has worked so hard and continues to work hard, but now he can work hard and play. It's superb. I love my husband.

What else?

-Miles started reading. I seriously can't tell you how proud I am of this kid. One day he sounded out and read a word. The next day, a small sentence. The next day, he read a book. Borderline genius.

-Faye started walking. Finally. We though Miles took a long time @ 15 months to walk, but Faye was well into her 16th month before she could take more than two steps on her own. Now she struts her stuff all over the place.

-Faye signs. She is starting to master the art of Baby Sign. She gets so excited to show off her awesome skills and to learn as many new ones as she can. I will try and get it on film for you later.

Miles graduated. Each day he gets a little bigger. He isn't my little toddler anymore- it is bittersweet. Here he is with his best friends at the graduation of his first year of preschool (he will have three of those- I didn't think things through very well...)



Faye is growing some hairs. Sort of. She was starting to look like Doc Brown- we had to do something. Now, she mostly just has a skullet.

I am happy. I really am. Miles took this picture.



Life is wonderful.

Camera Recap

Catching up-ish on the past few months...


St. Patty's Day with Erie friends!




Zeeum. (Formerly known as "Cheesum" and adultly know as "The Children's Museum.)










Zoo time!






The Beach is back in a super awesome way.




Random photos worthy of posting.

Summer lovin, had me a fall.

Neglect. It's a problem.

Lets get back on track with a quick recap of The Cain's Adventures Sum/Fall 2009.


Last Beach Hurrah.
Oh how we love the Erie beaches. It has already snowed here and it felt like summer here for literally about one week. Lame. We may head down there again in our gloves and snow boots just to feel the total relaxating affect that Presque Isle has.







The Raviiiiinnnneeee Flyeeer- at Waldameer- you're gonna love it here!
-ps. That was Miles' version of he jingle. You should hear his Activia! commercial. It's awesome.

So we only went to the water park at Waldameer, but it was still super fun. We are so tan. ...oh, wait.







Mama Suite, my sister Sabrena and baby Holden came to visit! Super fun breast pumping extravaganza! More to come on my creamy sister later.




Port Farms is the key to happiness.
It's hard to know who has more fun at PFs- the kids or the adults. I'd say it's about even.














Probably the cutest picture ever taken. ever.


Move over Martha.

I am not a crafty person. I think the stuff people make is adorable, but I just don't think I have the patience to successfully finish a project. Also, I don't have the skill. So, you can imagine how proud of myself I was when I finished two projects in one day! I think Mod Podge is my new best friend. Also, I tried my hand (and debatably succeeded) at my first sewing attempt since I was about 10.

Wanna see? These are some mock growth chart examples I made for my ward's Super Saturday next month. What do you think? (You can click on the picture to see the image a little bigger and clearer.







Miles is Ffree!!
This one deserves it's own post, but I will post some quick pics of the happy occasion.


Can you guess what we are?









Not only did I craft, but I also attempted a Dinosaur Train cake for Miles. These are huge milestones for me. Good thing he is only three and he doesn't have a huge grasp on cake splendor yet. wink wink.

Move over, butter.

Oh, one more thing- David will be doing his 3rd and 4th year rotations in Cleveland, Ohio! It is about 2 hours away and although we will be very sad to leave Erie and the awesome people and fun here- we are excited for our new adventure!


That is all for now. Loves.

Public Announcement.

Dear members of Erie, PA-

I would love it if you could stop using the city as your personal ash tray. Especially when you are waiting to turn left onto Kearsarge from Wegmans where you have left a carpet of cigarette butts. It's sad and disgusting.

Lets be a little nicer to our lovely city, please.

-A concerned citizen

Frog Blog.

Check it out. Click Here.

Know of any more? Let us know.

Drip drip Drop, Dreary Erie Showers

It rained. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. Here is a video of me outside our house in my rain boots. Although it looks like I am about to do some business, I am really crouched over in amazement of the river that once was my street.



Our neighbor's backyard. You see where those railroad ties are? Well about 6 more are covered with water.



Check out this car down the street.



Once the flooding stopped Miles went out for some fun.



Due to the floods, my friend got trapped inside her car which was completely overtaken by rushing water. Click here to read all about it.

The Easter Bunny Lives.

The Easter Bunny lives... in my backyard. Well, I'm not actually sure if it is the real Easter Bunny or not, but a bunny is living in my backyard- infact, I think a whoel family of bunnies is living in my backyard.

Also, I saw a squirrel running across my driveway this morning. Oh, and about 50 chipmunks climb in and out of holes that they have dug in our backyard. I think if I go out and start singing- they will bring their other woodland friends out and we could dance and play together.

Or, maybe they just want the trash that we stash next to the garage before garbage day.

I guess we'll never know.

Rain!

Today it is raining in Erie, PA and I couldn't be happier. Rain means that the temp is above freezing and above freezing means snow melting and snow melting means spring is on it's way!

We have had quite a winter here in Erie. Here are a few pictures of David trying to shovel our driveway...





Here is Miles taking a sleigh ride with Bill the Neighbor.



I think with the wind chill it was -15 this night. Miles didn't seem to mind.

Anyway, I'm happy with the rain.

Prego Log #11: My Hospital Woes.

Alright. I have been avoiding blogging about this because there is so much to say and I don't want to write it all. So, I've decided to make it as painless as possible and give the easiest and quickest report that I can...

Craziness #1:

Tuesday night: Miles plays and is normal, but has had no interest in food for a while. I start having some serious contractions.

Tuesday bedtime: Miles cries and it worries me. I bring him down to lay with me and BAM! puke city. Again and again. More contractions for me.

Tuesday late til Wednesday morning: Miles wakes up every half hour to dry heave. He is the sickest I have ever seen him.

Wednesday mid morning: I try giving him a tablespoon of water and he can't keep that down. We are off to the doctor.

Wednesday noon: Doctor's orders- we are off to the hospital. I'm having contractions galore.

We stay at the hospital for two days. Miles has Rotavirus. You can't cure it- just wait it out. It was the saddest thing I have ever seen. He has a few bags of IV fluids slowly dripping into his body and seems like he is in some sort of coma. I've never seen anything like it. Nothing compares to watching your child suffer. I am just not strong enough to handle stuff like that. My poor baby.

Thursday morning: Dave comes to the hospital to be with Miles so I can make my pregs appointment. I promise to be back in no more than 1 hour.

Craziness #2:

Doctors appointment- 45 minutes later: I call Dave literally hyperventilating. The doctor tells me I am dilated to a 6 and that there is a lot of stress on the baby. She sends me to the hospital to possibly start labor. Of course, it is not the same hospital that Miles is at. I realize that I haven't slept in three days and I am more than falling apart emotionally.

I have never been as stressed out.

I have never been such a wreck.

Thursday afternoon: David meets me at the hospital after Miles finally gets discharged. I start to de-stress. No labor. Less contractions.

Thursday night: I'm going home. The doctor at the hospital says I'm only at a 4 (So dilation is pretty subjective then?) and that I could go anytime. Most likely over the weekend... I get to go home.

Friday: Nothing. Maybe 2 contractions.

Saturday: Nothing. In fact, besides feeling like a bowling ball is about to drop into my pants, I feel like my pregnancy is going backwards in time. No contractions. What the nuts is going on?

Craziness #3:

Sunday: My water breaks. I call the doctor. Off to the hospital again.

Sunday afternoon: My water didn't break. I'm an idiot and I have just wasted one more full day of study time for David. Worst wife ever.

And now it is Wednesday at 9:30 in the pm. I'm fat as can be. I can barely put on my socks. And my body believes I am in my second trimester again. I'm pretty sure when I go to the doctor tomorrow- she will tell me that I am only dilated to a 1 and that she expects the baby will come sometime in February. I can see it happening.

Anyway, that is my story. Miles was sick. And I was in false labor and then thought I was in labor, but I was false.

If my husband were here he would say: "Cool story Hansel."

It is a cool story. Oh, wait... "cool" probably isn't the word I'm looking for. I think it's probably something more like "crappy."

***************************

Here is a list of people I would like to thank for helping me out during this crazy time:

-David. Who had absolutely no time to do any of this and who managed to put his family first- even during finals week. I love you more than you can possibly imagine.

-Momma Suite. Who was literally on a plane within minutes of me calling her to come out here and help. She made 4 connecting flights and traveled all day when she should've been at home taking care of so many other things. I'm so grateful for her love and selflessness. She is the most amazing woman that I know.

-The Hursts. For dropping all of their going-ons to come give Miles a blessing at 7:30 in the morning and for driving David, me and the car all around town to get us safely where we needed to be. Not to mention watching sick Miles while Dave and I were at the hospital. We are so grateful to have such good friends.

-Everyone else. I can't even begin to tell you how many people called, emailed, or stopped by to see if there was anything they could do for us- be it here or in Utah.

I am overwhelmed with the generosity of our friends here in Erie. I didn't even know that people knew what was going on and everyone was so amazing. The ward is truly our family and I am so grateful that I have so many people I can trust and lean on in any crisis. I really love you guys.

I was even getting calls from Utah, Ohio and West Virgina. (Does someone have a phone tree I don't know about?) I am so blessed to have such good friends and family all over.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Live from my porch: Barack O'Lantern MIA

Yes. It's happened. David's pumpkin was sadly taken from us on Halloween night.

When we went to bed- it was there, but when we woke up- only the headless horsemen remained. I would like to think that it is in a better place.

Maybe someone used it for a carving contest they pretended to enter. Or maybe it left to do some last minute campaigning in PA. I would much rather like to pretend that good things are happening to it- rather than what I'm sure has really happened... It got it's face smashed in. It was only a matter of time.

Here is to you- Barack O'Lantern.

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

I haven't blogged in a while and I thought that I might play a little catch-up...

Zoo Boo with Anders and Em




The creepest thing I've ever seen...



Thirty Weeks and Growing

I can't believe how big I am. I can't keep growing. There is no more room. And I think the lack of space is causing my baby to have seizures. It's a problem.


Pittsburg Problems

So, long story short, David's parents came to Erie this past week. David had a church meeting in Pittsburg so we decided to make a day of it and go to the Zoo, outlet shopping and to Costco. It was going to be a dream come true. Only here is what really happened...

We got separated. Emily (David's sister) and Laraine (David's Mom) left their only phone at the outlets and instead of meeting at Costco like we had planned, we decided that our time was running out and we needed to get to the zoo. So we went and it was super fun. We tried to get everyone together, but it never worked. After many hours and a rendevous at a random Wendy's- we found our lost family and everything worked out. Of course, we did miss David's meeting which was the reason for the trip in the first place, but we did our best. Oh, and our car kept turning off while we were driving. It was terrifying to say the least, but it seems to be fine now.

Here are some photos of the zoo...






Like I said, the Cains were here and they did Some Major Work on the House. We got the kitchen all painted among other things! Here are some before and after pictures.
Before.


After.



And Last but not Least

David and I have made carving pumpkins a tradition of ours since high school. He is really good. He likes to pick the craziest pattern he can find and make it look easy.
Here is mine.

His is a little more intense.

He made a Barack O'Lantern. Well done, my love. I wonder how long it will be before it gets smashed. Lets make bets.