Season's Greetings !

 

 

 

From Photo Project

From Photo Project

My Guiding Light

Happy Birthday to our Sunshine!!!!

It has already been a year since the light in our lives Benjamin Michael was born. He has turned a year old officially today. With every day he has brought so much love, laughter and great memories to us. We are so proud of him each and every passing moment. We are celebrating his year at Peter Pipers Pizza tonight and will post new pictures soon. We love you Benny.

A Composition by my sister Sarah

Sarah Swarts
Mr. Majerus
Sr. Comp-4
3 September 2009

Simplicity on One Hand, Much More on the Other

With a quick glance, it looks like a simple little house on top of a hill. But when you pull up the driveway, it is clear that it is much more. The cobwebs in the corners show that it isn't a permanent residence, but more of a getaway; the place where everyone goes to escape the real world. When I'm there, I feel as if all my problems vanish and I am left with only fun and happiness.
To the blank eye, it seems like a normal house. It takes the matchless experiences and irreplaceable memories to reveal the actuality of it. The smell is unique in itself: a mixture of bonfire, candles, and pine needles. Every day as the morning slowly dawns and the sun begins to beam through the picture windows, the sunlight uncovers the unfamiliar awaiting shadows. One corner holds a number of old rusted fishing poles, that can be assumed rarely used due to the number of knots in the fishing lines. Another has an arrangement of swimming accessories ranging from partially deflated air rafts to beach balls. Like a beach house, just without the ocean.
A walk outside exhibits a nature wonderland. The golden and red leaves whistling in the wind like the sound of a child’s toy, the trees towering high above my head, the bluffs overlooking a lake, and the animals, untouched by humans, roaming through the tall grassy meadows pull me from the real world into one that is almost indescribable. The scent of valley flowers and crisp grass envelopes me as if I were a letter. The smell of the campfire cooked smores and hotdogs linger and I can almost taste them in my mouth. The campfire blazes, warming the chilled morning air. I can feel the heat touching my face and the campfire smoke soaks into my clothes, almost as if it were perfume. Looking through the campfire piled high with freshly split logs, past the rolling hills of the meadow, and around the dusty bend I can see the glassy lake. The sun casts the shadow of the trees across the deep blue water. The wind begins to pick up again and the leaves lying across the ground begin to come to life twisting, turning, and dancing about the lawn. They are sporting their new fall colors of orange, red, brown, and yellow. It is as if they were having a party of their own. The party moves out of sight while the wind continues to blow. As a acorn falls into the lake, the ripples distort the trees’ shadows into shapes that make my eyes wander. Wandering eyes bring my attention to the rising sun against the water. The once blue sky is changing shades of oranges, pinks, and purples coming close to those colors of a painting.
Somewhere in the distance a coyote gives one last howl and brings a close to the final thoughts of night. The sun is up and the birds are chirping their little hymns. People begin to come from their campers and tents to gather around the fire. The silence that accompanies them makes the crackling of the fire seem even louder. With family surrounding me, I feel more at home then I do in my own house. At my house, there’s unfamiliar faces walking down the street everyday, the uneasiness of urbanization in a community the yields to grow, and constant construction covering the beauties of nature. Here, I have those I love and nature at its best.



Found this paper Sarah wrote for school today. thought you might enjoy it.

Love,
Marty

I was very impressed with my sister's writing skills and after getting her permission, we decided to post it on here so people who are not aware of what the "Great Galena" is can feel a bit of it with reading this. Jamie

My birthday present...a painting of my son

TITLE: "Benjamin"

ARTIST: Jamie Swarts-Pacetes

MEDIUM: Acrylic

DATE: 9/1/09

Happy Birthday Richard!!

Happy Birthday to a loving, caring and spectacular husband and dad. Richard's special day is today. We are planning to go to the park and maybe the River Walk downtown. Everyday we thank God for the great person he sent to this earth and today is another celebration of the years that have been given to everyone to enjoy Richard in all that he is. We are so happy for Daddy and hope all his wishes come true today and every day. He is so deserving of all that comes his way as a reward for his love, hard work and beautiful personality. Happy Birthday again and we love you with all of our hearts. Richard got a grandfather clock and a picture that Mommy painted for him of Benny. Have a great day Daddy.
Jamie, Benny and your ever growing family and friends

Daddy Time

 

Richard the new American Citizen!!!!

Richard became an official American Citizen on Thursday, August 27th 2009. Benny and I are so proud of him. It was a day of celebration that began with the oath taking ceremony at the Texas Cultural Arts building and ended in a mouth watering great experience at Chama Gaucha, our favorite restaurant. Gina gave him his first present, an American flag to show off in our front yard, and he was able to wear his first suit and tie ever. He is so handsome, something our son got from daddy. Congratulations to Richard. We are so happy and impressed with all that he does. Love, Mommy and Benny.

Mommy's Love

 

 

Mr. and Mrs Pacetes

 

The Pacetes Family

 

And another chomper added!!

Grandma Marty's and Aunt Sarah's visit has been great so far. Benny even got his third tooth that broke through with the assistance of chewing on Grandma's finger...ouch. He is showing off so much while they are here and nap time is not a cool thing for him while they are here. He is walking even when he is rubbing his eyes to go to sleep. Aunt Sarah filled up the baby pool and took him swimming which he also loved. And great news that we got is that ASHLEY HAS FINALLY GOT A JOB AS A KINDERGARTEN SCHOOL TEACHER IN DALLAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!YEE HA!!!!! We are so happy for her. Tyler also got the job he was looking for and started today...Good luck Tyler with the new job. Oh yeah, I need to say again WELCOME AUNT ASHLEY/UNCLE TYLER TO TEXAS. We are so happy you are here.

He is walking!!!!

Quick updates...
Ben has 2 bottom teeth now, with some more getting ready to come through on top.
He has been walking short distances now for about 2 weeks.
He will not let you hold him long anymore because he is determined to continually show off his new walking skills.
He loves to be around other kids.
He says mama, dadda, and ba ba.
He eats anything you will give him.
He is 22 pounds and 31 inches tall....tall and thin.
He loves Izzy the kitty and is interested in our dogs but still a little shy with
deuce and jack.
Probably more that I cant think of right now, but my goodness he is growing so fast. He is going to be a year old so soon already. Amazing.

He was creeping and now...

Ben can finally crawl....yipee! We are so excited. Ben has been creeping around for about 2 weeks now. We were at kohls and found a cool ball with a monkey on top of it that makes noise when rolled. This was just the motivation Ben needed to crawl. Props to the music monkey. Ben has a huge smile everytime he makes it across the room. We will put a video on soon. It may take a few days due to a virus on the computer that Richard uses to load pictures and videos. Alright, gotta go to bed now, we just wanted to share our newfound hobby of watching Ben get more mobile....Next to come...walking??? How fun.

Now thats a toothy smile!

Ben finally got his first tooth on june 1st, and now another tooth is breaking through. I thought he would be grumpy, but he is nothing but a happy little man. He also is able to crawl about 2 feet then he goes down. He is also working on a bear walk now. Wouldn't it be funny if he skips crawling and decides to bear walk only? We also got a new kitten. Her name is Izzy and she is so cute. she looks like a siamese mix. We were told she was a Himalayan/Persian mix, but honestly I think the people we got her from were telling a white lie. Either way it doesn't matter because she is adorable and Ben thinks she is just the coolest. If anyone is wondering why the name Izzy, I love Greys Anatomy and used to watch it quiet religiously, but they killed off Izzy my favorite character so I was disapointed and now the name goes to the kitten. Lastly, I broke my arm last month. Actually the radial head aka elbow of my left arm. Lets just say, never climb on a wobbly step stool, especially if you are home alone. Yeah it sucks, but it could be worse. I was allowed to return back to work On April 2 on light duty and now am going to physical therapy 3 times a week starting Monday...how fun. Anyways Ben has been such a great boy that it hasn't been to difficult. He actually found it funny when I do the 1 arm diaper changes...challenging but doable. Richard is also a great help. Everyday he does things that remind me of how great he is. Again, we hope all is well with everyone and I will try to update this again, more frequently than last time.

Jamie

Man, he really can laugh!!!

Benny is constantly laughing now, from a funny look from mom and dad to a weird noise, he thinks everything is funny. He loves his bouncer thank you Great-Aunt Joan and he just enjoyed a really fun visit with Aunt Ashley and Aunt Sarah. He is starting to keep himself more occupied during the day and not demanding constant attention. Here are the milestones he has reach since I last posted....I know, I know...it has been awhile. He can now eat gerber fruits and vegetables although he absolutely despises peas. I keep trying to sneak peas in with other foods and no matter what the combination, he growls and gags on it. Guess that may be a constant struggle. Bannanas are his favorite...that and anything with prunes in it. Benny has already established the fact that he loves to play with his food. No matter how clean we try to be, there could even be no sign of food at all but a mouthfull in his mouth and he never fails to try to stick his entire hand in his mouth at this time or suck on the surface of his bumbo seat...oh the mess! This next milestone makes mommy very happy....he is sleeping through the night!! Finally. He goes to bed around 9 or 9:30 and wakes up around 5-5:30 in his own crib. All we have to do now is lay him in his crib at night and he entertains himself now until he falls asleep. The bags under mommy and daddy's eyes are getting less and less by the day. He is fond of his hats and likes his sunglasses now. He is also starting to try and push his butt up in the air while laying on his belly and kicking his legs around like crazy. He still is weighing a little more that 15 pounds and I believe the last height measurement was 24 inches....tall and thin just like cousin Isaiah!! How funny.

We are back to work now and enjoying the fact that we can still have 2 days off together. Richard is doing full time still and I am at part time status. We hope to not have to do daycare. So far it has paid off...no daycare bills and no sick kid bills. Hoorah!! As for getting back to "normal married life"...We actually have a hot date tonight...here are the plans...Papa Murpheys Pizza, watching the movie the Ultimate gift, bottle feeding, gerber food and play time with Benny. He He.

We are hoping to get to go visit Illinois again soon, but only time will tell. (Mom, we are keeping an eye out for good ticket prices, along with schedule compatability, I promise). We are also getting excited because we are hoping Grandma Monina from the Philippines will be able to come stay with us this summer or next for awhile so she can see and play with Benny. We are excited for that time so she will be able to go back to Richards hometown and tell everyone her experiences with Benny and here in the United States.

Our Aunt Joan is having Surgery this week and we are keeping her in our prayers that everything turns out well for her. We love her very much and are looking forward to seeing her at Galena again this summer. Joan, we know this time is scary and we are keeping you in our hearts to carry you through all these ill times.

Hope the weather is looking better in Illinois, and that everything is as it should be at home.

It's been too long ....

Sorry everyone, we are now back to work and not having as much time for the blogsite. Richard is going to post some videos/pics later. So Richard is back to work full time and I am doing part time. Great thing about this is that we still get 2 days a week off together and that we don't have to put Benny in a daycare. At least for now, we want to be the only people watching Benny. I guess we feel that at this point he wouldn't be able to tell us if anything bad happened and we would feel guilty not knowing what was going on with him every day. We also feel this is part of the reason why Benny has not gotten any colds/flu's/or illness yet thank God. Yes, we are now on a tighter budget, but in hine sight it is all worth it. We are having so much fun that we are already thinking about trying to give Benny a brother or sister in the future. Maybe when he is a year old we will try again. Grandma Marty is coming to visit this weekend and we are so excited. She called this week with a total welcomed surprise of " I think I am going to come and visit this weekend." We are so psyched! Grandma will get to see Benny eating mashed beans/mashed rice/and mashed carrots soon....oh the fun fun mess of this eating experience, one not easy to forget.

On a different note, we have had different family illnesses lately and are keeping Aunt Joan and Uncle Dale in our prayers....Joan is close to the end of her Chemo treatments now and needs strength from all our prayers, as well as Grandma Monina who has been in the hospital alot lately. She seems to be on the mends now from respiratory problems after a small surgery she had. We also are keeping Grandpa Benjamin in our prayers for his continued health while helping take care of Grandma Monina. Aunt Sarah has been battleing an infection in her toe, and it finally looks like things are on the mends with her also. There have been some difficulties for our families and friends in these past few weeks and we are keeping everyone in our prayers during these trying times.

On the lighter side, It looks like Aunt Ashley and Uncle Tyler are really thinking about moving to Dallas in the future. This would be so nice because we will get to see her more often. We are also looking forward to Richard's Nephew Benji passing his nursing boards and possibly moving to San Antonio. This is all so exciting.

Wendy, Richards cousin who lives in California came to visit recently and we had a really good time. We took her to some local tourist spots, went shopping and she got to hang out with Benny. Her smile brought smiles to Benny's face instantly. It was really nice having a family member from Richards side of the family finally get to hold and interact with Benny. We loved her visit and hope to get to see her again soon.

We miss everyone very much and get excited thinking of the day that we will get to see everyone again.

Many updates...

Sorry it has been so long, we have recently gone back to work and finding the time to update our blog was put on the back burner. Anyways, alot of new developments for Benny occurred in the last few weeks. First of all he is smiling all of the time now. All you have to do is look at him or give him kisses and he gives a big gummy smile. He is so adorable with the smile. Next, Benny learned to roll over from his tummy to his back on January 7th. I was shocked. I layed him down for belly time (not his favorite time at all) and after showing me for a few seconds that he can lift his head, he flipped himself over. Much to my humor, he was cross eyed and shocked the first time he did this. I thought in was an accident so I put him back on his belly. He proved me wrong instantly by flipping to his back again. I continued this about 3 more times, and at this point he made it very apparent to me that he did not want to be on his belly. He turned bright red, screamed and flipped himself over again. Wow, I was amazed. Then the next day we were doing belly time again and he flipped over for Ricard to see and also started to laugh when we shook his hands...His first laugh. All in two days, a first laugh and rolling over, wow!!!
On another note, Isaiah, Benny's cousin is now eating solid foods! Amazing! Apparently he has his dad Mark's appetite because bottles just weren't enough for little Isaiah. This is so neat. If you recall, Isaiah is only one month older, so I always am amazed at what he can do, because that means that Benny will be quick to follow. How cool.
On a sad note, our dog Bull passed away about a week ago. He had been bleeding from his mouth when he ate for about 2 days and I assumed it was a lost tooth or he had bit his tongue. But I was checking his gums and keeping an eye on him to make sure he wasn't getting pale because I wasn't sure how much blood he was loosing. One day, I noticed he was looking kinda wobbly in the back yard so I decided to take him to the vet to get him checked out. Low and behold it was New Years Eve, so my vet was closed and I had a hell of a time even finding someone who would look at him. Thank god Ingram Veterinary Clinic agreed to see him. So we brought him there. About 1 hour after I noticed he was weaker, we arrived at the vet only to find that Bull was so weak, that he almost couldn't get out of the car. He finally was coherced inside the vet and layed down on the floor. We couldn't get him back up so they had to put him on a stretcher to weigh him. He lost 10 pounds in 6 months. I thought he was looking thin, but also knew he was 9 years old, and assumed he was loosing weight from old age. We couldn't believe he was deteriorating so quickly before our eyes. The vet checked him out and explained that Bull didn't lose a tooth or bite his tongue but that he had a malignant tumor in his mouth that based upon listening to his lungs had already spread to his lungs. He was also able to palpate a large mass in his abdomen. We all decided it would be best to put him out of his misery then, because he looked like he was begging to have rest at this time. The Vet explained that this cancer moves fast and that he would only give him a day or two to live and that even if we found it 1 month ago, there was nothing that they could have done for him because he was too old for surgery and chemotherapy. So we said goodbye to our beloved dog Bull. Thank God Gina, my old roommate from college and Benny's Godmother was here to visit because she helped us by watching Benny during all of this. Needless to say this New Year was a little bleak, but we did have a great time with Gina.
Gina came to visit us on December 27th until January 3rd. She took the train from Chicago all the way to San Antonio...Poor woman...32 hours later she was here. We had a great time visiting the Alamo, the Riverwalk, the Missions, Cowboys Dancehall, Medina lake and the Bingo hall. No we didn't win at bingo but it was fun anyways. We went and looked at model homes for her parents to get info and hopefully to convince Gina how great it would be for her to mover to San Antonio herself. Thanks Gina for visiting and we can't wait to see you again. Benny keeps looking for you.
Hope all is well with everyone and God bless your new year to come.