2009 Winding Up . . . ?

So it's the end of January. To date, Patrick has received his LSAT scores and he was in the 99th percentile, which I think is pretty impressive. He's definitely one smart guy. He also completed most of his applications for law school. He applied to a bunch of places that we don't really intend to go to because they waived his fee for the application, so he figured why not apply. He still has two more schools he needs to apply to, and then, as he pointed out the other day, his next chore is working on financial aid. He'll be working on taxes and filling out a FAFSA and scouring the Internet for reliable possibilities.

Right now, our lives are consumed in basketball. This isn't weird for Patrick at all. After all, his last semester of school he took two basketball classes (Beginner's and Intermediate). It is weird for me. When I say that our lives are consumed by basketball, this is because Patrick is playing with another ward during the week, he's also coaching the Teacher's (14- and 15-year-old boys) and Deacon's (12- and 13-year-old boys) basketball team, and I'm "coaching" the girls' team at church. I'm also considering playing with the adult women at church because I went to the girls' practice and realized, "Hey, this is a really fun sport." After all, you get a lot of exercise without it feeling too much like exercise. I put "coaching" in quotes above because all I knew about basketball until Monday evening was that you try to get the ball in the right hoop. Fortunately, they've asked another woman in the ward to coach and she knows a lot more than I do, so I delegated myself to be her assistant.

Besides all this basketball-playing and application-submitting, we have also hosted my dad on a weekend visit and we'll be hosting Patrick's parents when they arrive this Saturday and Sunday and stay for two weeks. My mom said maybe she'd come in June, so it will be like the appetizer, the main dish, and then the dessert. We love having all the grandparents come. We are planning to make a trip out to Wisconsin in June. Hopefully, the rest of the family is on speaking terms with us by then, as they were anxious for us to have made the trip already so they could see Caleb. I admit that the idea of flying across the country with a five-month-old was as much or more of a deterrent as the money. When a kid is fussy for the first hour-long meeting at church, the idea of trying to keep him calm for six hours is less than appealing. Also the change in schedule is none too thrilling as well. It's a bit selfish I suppose, but just give me a little more time and we'll be on our way.

And besides all that, Patrick has been working at UPS like normal, we've played a lot with Daniel and Michelle, I've started attending a mother's group in the ward, and I have plans to go walking at the track with Libby and "the Frog," though that hasn't happened a lot yet. And Caleb is doing just great. He's stopped sleeping through the night the last few nights, but that seems to come and go, so hopefully he'll get back on schedule soon. He rolls from his back to his side a lot; he put his toe in his mouth for the first time yesterday which was pretty funny; he takes two or three naps a day; he seems to be ticklish in his armpits and his neck; he loves to look in the mirror and watch Daddy shave or brush his teeth; and he responds with handsome smiles to cooing and overt admiration of any kind.

I am heading out for a walk, but I have pictures that I'll post soon.