He's Here!!!

Calvin Jeffrey Havenar joined us on July 28th, 2011. I am still amazed that he and Reed share the exact same birth "stats"...7lbs, 7.9oz and 21.5 inches long. And Calvin was 8 days early, and Reed 9. I think this is because their long legs and big feet no longer fit in the womb! :) He arrived quickly and easily, and I am very thankful for such a wonderful labor experience. Also thankful for the sweet love that Reed has showered Calvin with, and the very good baby Calvin has been in his first week of life! Eating and sleeping like a charm, nothing more we could ask for!
I love my boys!!!

Another boy on the way, hip hip hooray!

Spring Break San Diego

I put much emphasis on this spring break, I think. This is in part because I think I have felt a little "trapped" in this growing pregnant body of mine :), as well as I can't help but think that this is our last family-o'-three vaca...a thought that makes me sad (resistance to change, here I go again...:)), though happy for our "complete" family that will make up the memories of our next family getaway.

Hmm, where to begin? Let's start by saying that I hope to relive this very vacation again and hopefully again and again...maybe make it a "tradition" of sorts. We LOVED our hotel, The Catamaran, and found it to be perfect for us. Reed exclaimed, "Our hotel is a RAIN FOREST!" upon our arrival, and the amazement, impressiveness, and good times kept rolling thereafter.

Our hotel had a "bay side" complete with sand toys for the kids, cabanas and food and drink for the 'rents, and nightly cruises for the whole family. Two blocks away was the non-bay, 'real' beach, "the wave beach" as Steve and Reed called it, Mission Bay. Plenty of shops and restaurants and easy rinse off and whatnot for built-in fun plus convenience...a family's "must". Within our hotel we had lush palms, talking parrots that greeted/repeated the guests, refreshing pool and plush cabanas, and...Steve's favorite...a large room with built in full-but-mini kitchen :).

SEA WORLD was a highlight of our stay, Reed rocked the place and we stayed until almost 5:00, skipping his usual 2-5pm nap altogether (he slept for the night, 12 hours, from 6:30pm-6:30am after we left :). We rode rides, hit three shows, lunched and snacked, played on the play structures and (literally) soaked up the mini water park. Reed feeding the dolphin was picture-perfect and he's talked about it several times since. Luckily, we were the very last people to be able to do so before they cut the line off!

Steve surfed, I had some pool time, and we enjoyed the perfect weather and beach as much as we could fit in. We were also thankful to spend time with Reed's former nanny (2nd mom, actually!) and best bud (like a sister, actually!) who live there. Eric, Jessica, and Bella were kind enough to host us for an evening and Reed and Bell had a BLAST (to say the least) slipping right back into their old days of both reckless fun (contributed by wild Reed) and structured play (thanks to Bella :)). Bella cried when it was time for us to say goodbye and Reed has mentioned moving to San Diego, staying at Bella's, Bella visiting here, and talking about the fun had ever since. Peas in a pod!

The only flaw of our time had was that was it was too too short (aren't getaways always that way? :)). We didn't spend time with all the peeps we wanted to, but that just makes for another excuse to head back again...hopefully, as I said, a Havenar family tradition!

"Choo, Choo, Choo...Reed Havenar's no longer TWO!"

My "baby" is THREE!
This is the first birthday that Reed "owned". It was all about him and his good time with friends, only a handful of his nearest-and-dearest as opposed to the bigger groups we have had in the past (which often included OUR friends with kids). It was priceless to see him interact with his "buddies" and also a bit embarrassing for me, too, when he played favorites with a few instead of including all...natural, I know, but not in my adult, "social etiquette" comfort-zone :).

Reed has been having on-and-off behavior at school and it often includes his interactions with his buddy/girlfriend-of-sorts :), partner-in-crime, Annie. She was his side-kick at his party, too, and the only one "picked" to sit by him on the train, for pictures, etc.. Other guest included friends Emerson and Brady, Annie's twin Ben, usual BFF Bella and her mom Jess, the three grandparents, and cousin Cooper.

We celebrated at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, and it was wonderful! Balloons, pizza, and cake on the "party car" all to ourselves and train rides for the kids. Roamed the grounds a bit, too, and Reed could have cared less if we were there, I think, he was in his "element" :) and a happy, social butterfly to say the least. He's growing so fast and, though it makes me sad that all of our family can't be a part of these experiences and changes, we treasure every day of them and honor each year of memories with a day of reflection and BIRTHDAY FUN. We love you, dear dear REED! :)

Reed Starts Pre-school (boo-hoo, sniff-sniff) ;)

Last February, I got teary when Steve and I visited some pre-schools because I just couldn't believe we were turning that "big boy" corner...I am sentimental and over-emotional about such things (I already know to prepare myself with much kleenex for real "milestones" in my children's' future). So, when his 1st day came, I should have known that it was a parent issue just as much as Reed's when the separation was difficult. As rough-and-tumble as he is, our firstborn is an attached, sensitive little thing!

We took pictures and did the long goodbye on Day 1, and Steve even got watery, too...who wouldn't when your son is clinging to your leg pleading, "Daddy, I don't want you to GO!!!!". Day two was the worst, he sputtered out through sobs, "Mommy, I want you to stay one and two and three and four more times" (which I took to mean "a long time" in 2-year old language). He also told me he "needed to suck his fingers again", which killed me as he never has done this, so I wondered if that was a self-soothe thing he'd discovered? (Pretty introspective and so sad, I thought!). I picked him up that day to find him in a change of pants and his teacher handed me a bag with his wet ones, along with his lunchbox with untouched food as he didn't want to eat, either. She explained that he'd cried on and off all day. On the way home he told me, "Dereck pushed me. He is BAD. The teacher said 'Dereck, we don't push our friends!'. Mommy, that's BAD". Sigh...
...and that night was back-to-school night. I felt that the teachers were only talking directly to us (though I realistically know that they weren't) when we all signed "potty contracts" which basically said that if our kids were still having a hard time with their training at school, it was legitimate for them to ask us to find another school with week's notice. Um, great. So, I cried again that night...this time out of despair as the "mama bear" came out in me, my poor baby :)!

Day three was much better...one of his best...and I chalked up my tears from the night before to my own back-to-school exhaustion. Note to self, I reminded my thoughts: this new experience is indeed NEW to us all, of course it's not going to be "butterflies and rainbows" from the get-go, though that's all I'd pictured when I'd happily read pre-school books to him all summer and when we'd merrily shopped for and packed up new classroom supplies, taken pictures of his cuteness (lunchbox in hand and all) in the yard, etc.! The teacher in me, I guess ;)

Despite the center's director mentioning to me that Reed "has lasted the longest" of all the 'criers', and also the morning that a parent said to me upon drop-off, "oh, he's so cute. I felt so sorry for him the other day when I peeked in their room to see it was him that was crying so hard", each day his tears have lessened from the previous and we have even had two NO TEAR days. I actually almost shed happy ones the day he looked super nervous but instead of crying seemed to think things through to get his act/courage together and exclaimed, "after a while, crocodile!" as I was leaving.

I still have some Kinders in my room who cry for their parents when saying goodbye in the morning and we are one more week into school than my Reed, so I am proud of his gradual-though-definite bravery during this big adjustment (and, may I say, of mine too ;)).

Thank You, UPark!

A year under my belt at University Park, woot-woot!!! I can not tell you how much happier I am on a daily basis going to work, and what an overall life change that meant for me. Loving one's job is HUGE and I feel blessed to say that I thoroughly enjoy my mornings of teaching and interactions with colleagues and, when I return home, my positive energy goes a long way. I didn't realize how much a 'professional' environment could carry over to personal, "non-work" time and relationships until I really reflected on this the last two years. Having experienced both extremes during that time, I know how very fortunate I am to have changed my course. Life is short and challenging enough, so, at the very least, seek and demand for yourself zen in what you can control- you are worth it!

Rockin' Ring Bearer

Steve and I had reservations about bringing Reed to one of our good friend's weddings in Boston over the 4th of July weekend. How much more relaxing and fun it would be sans the wild child, cost, who would watch him back home, ya know...cons. But the 4th is probably my favorite holiday and I was sad at the thought of not spending it with my boo. Icing on the cake was when the wedding couple asked for Reed to be the ring bearer, I just couldn't refuse passing up the opportunity to let his cuteness walk down the aisle...even if it did mean a different "vacation" for us than previously imagined.

Mere days before leaving, while looking over the upcoming weekend events, I panicked and looked into booking my sister a flight to Boston so she could help us out. Several friends of ours would be there and we wanted to enjoy long nights out as well as daytime wedding events that were scheduled to interfere with his nap. I am not too crazed about a schedule for him, especially in summer months, but with his very important RING BEARER debut (not to mention wanting to not only stay sane but have FUN myself), I wanted to avoid creating a cranky terror if at all possible. But, no such luck, flying Brooke out didn't work out. HOWEVER, bringing Reed along more than did!...

Reed couldn't have been any better and more enjoyable and made our weekend more entertaining and wonderful than had we gone ourselves (and, frankly, though I love him, I would not say this about all trips we've gone on or will go on in our future!). He was sweet and inquisitive on the plane, smiled and chatted with the pilots in the cockpit upon boarding and found the take-off and landing to be "AMAZING"! And that was only the flight there...

In Boston, Reed hammed it up with Steve's friends, got in a solid nap with no protest every day despite the varying times we put him down, and loved every minute of the social scene. I will say that after a too-long bus ride from our hotel to the wedding site (2hrs.), he did throw a fit as we hurriedly dressed him in his "duds" and made him go potty PRONTO while several well-meaning (too many) people tried to "help" in the panic of crunched time, but really just crowded him. Despite this, he pulled his professional self together! Pillow in hand, he "found Daddy" at the end of the aisle and rocked his role. Though the rocking didn't truly start until the reception where he definitely owned the dance floor for a good part of the night and definitely wanted to be on it ALL of the night! Assuming beforehand that I'd take the early shuttle home with him, I was proven wrong as he wanted to party on with the big boys :). His highlight, I believe, came at the end of the night when the two buses loaded up the guests, one 'party bus' and the other mellow. The bride and groom said a few words, started a few songs, on the mic up front and then Reed asked for his turn. He proceeded to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to all the guests, as well as "Happy Birthday" to the bride. Sweet hilarious thing! The 'spirited' guests found the kareoking pretty funny, but so did this sober mom because it indisputably was! So proud of my Rockin' Ring Bearer!

Will soon be posting a slideshow of the weekend highlights, including my great day at the Boston Children's Museum with him, his first baseball game (fun Boston Red Sox night!), and a few from our fireworks flop! Reed's greatness proved itself that night, too, as he waited with us (among a squeezed-together crowd of 200,000+!!!) for four hours before the lakeside firework show began. And I'm not talking picnic-blanket style, more like squished standing sardines in a can! Poor patient thing!
Anyhow...hope your Independence Day weekend also was a blast, happy very belated 4th!

Basketball Boy

Reed proudly calls himself a "basketball boy". At the ripe age of not-even 2 and a half, he insists on wearing jersys and/or "jersy shorts" only. If you see any pictures of him without these clothing staples, know that it was most likely quite a battle, bribe, or persuasive act to get him into something else. I will say one (of many!) things that we all enjoy in our household, though, is college basketball. Though we also represent a "house divided" in who we root for at times, we do enjoy the season of rooting the game on. And so, we were eager to take our "basketball boy" to his first games this year (Steve, myself, and my parents- a.k.a. "Grandpa and G.G." attended both).

His first game ever, naturally, was to see his Jayhawks in action (at CU in February), and shortly after- also naturally- we took him to see the Fighting Falcons at AFA. Though the Falcons have had more fight in them in years past, the beauty of it was that Reed could've cared less about that minor detail. He loved being a ticket holder (slept with his KU ticket and proudly held onto his AFA one during the game) and really loved seeing the mascots "live". He chased the Falcon around Clune Arena and "gave him a squeeze" which he still talks about...many squeezes that is.

Will be many o' years, I believe, of this basketball obsession, but we not only welcome it but share in the joy!

Mommy, Hold My Hand...

Reed is a hand-holder and how this sweet little-something is so important to me. Important and cherished as I know my days are numbered of "hand-holding" with my sweet boy.

In November, I had Veteran's Day off and so took Reed to the park (was super warm though November 11th!). A boy pushed him because he was about to pick up the kid's shovel or something, and Reed got that crumpled up, "wounded" face, burst into tears and shouted "MOMMY! Hold my hand!!!". I had to kinda love it, though his feelings were hurt, because I thought to myself...tomorrow he will be two and oh-how-fast these birthdays sneak up!...how many more until he won't want to hold my hand?

Come December, on Santa's lap, he kept calling over to me- in a timid little voice: "Mom. hold. my. hand.", (repeated numerous times). Would only stay on Santa's lap when I was holding his hand, though I eventually got a photo without my arm in it by bribing my child with fruit snacks...didn't think of it until now, but kinda wish I'd just had it taken with my hand as his comfort instead ;)

Over break, Steve cut Reed's hair. This took waaaaay to long and we have since learned from this experience :). Anyhow, because it was taking so darn long Reed understandably got restless in his high chair/"barber's chair" and Steve called to me, "will you come hold his hands?", meaning of course: hold his hands down, so he doesn't swat at the scissors anymore. As I was walking over there, Reed said, "yeah, Mommy, come hold my hand"...and that was enough to keep him perfectly content and still for the rest of the grooming! Poor thing...had to feel a little guilty that we'd thought of pinning 'em down and he, unknowingly, shed light and new perspective on our words....made the too-long experience much more pleasant for all involved!

Ah, do you think he will let me hold his hand when I walk him to school...high school even? :)