Shopping!

I've run a little low on clothes to wear. I haven't had time to get out and go shopping, but I have been able to browse online stores for a few things. I saw a shirt and thought about getting it, but I need opinions.

What do you think?

BLESSED

We are so blessed. In too many ways to count. I've been feeling so down lately with the transition to normalcy. Let's just say that when having my husband back in town didn't immediately fix the stresses of life, I realized that some stresses just come with having four kids and living back in the U.S. Who knew?

This morning we were BLESSED with the news that Kyle passed Step 2 CK. He got a score that he can be proud of and we will happily put that sucker behind us. Now here's hoping for interviews at the residency programs that he wants. I keep reminding him, though, that the very WORST thing that can happen is we end up at a program that we never knew we always wanted and we embark on yet another fabulous adventure somewhere in the U.S.

laugheline

(Female doggie is getting a little freaky with male kitty).

Me: Stop it, you horn dog.

Adeline: Yeah, stop it corndog!!

The End.

(Yes, I said "horn dog".)

Any ol' Wednesday

It is the last Wednesday before Kyle comes home. Now whenever I do something, I think to myself that it is the last time I will do ___ before he comes home. I did my last load of white laundry before he comes home today. Today was our last early out Wednesday before he comes home. Tomorrow is my last day of work before he comes home. And so on, and so forth.

Sullivan thinks the coffee table is a pretty fine resting place. I usually find him there right after he wakes up in the morning, and right before he falls asleep at night. That's how I know he's tired. He's going through a grumpy phase. I lucked out to have him be so sweet and loving for three+ years. This just goes back to reinforce that the twos are tricky - but the threes really can be terrible. Its so hard seeing your happy, bubbly baby turn into a whiny little stinker for entire weeks at a time. I know it will pass, though, and thankfully he still has a few sweet moments - like when he's sleeping.

Little dude has mastered the art of sitting up. He can stay up for as long as he wants to now. He has also learned the grand art of the army crawl. He went from relatively immobile (except for some strategic rolling) to full-blown mischievous in just a few days. I never know where he'll be if I go away and come back into a room. I can hardly believe I have to baby proof again! Its been quite a while (in my warped sense of time) since we've had a teeny tiny trouble maker around.

She's just cute. :)


Guthrie did his first big project this week. He had to write a 1-page report on Pennsylvania and then make a poster with some of the highlights. He worked harder than I have ever seen him work before and I was thrilled to see him finding that happy sense of accomplishment.

They're just cute.

Okay Kyle - you can come home now.

P.S. If you click on the picture of G you can see his poster pretty well. Its kind of funny - check it out.

P.P.S. Guthrie has a hard time giving me a normal smile for pictures. He actually managed a pretty decent smile in these pictures with NO coaching at all.

The last time for a long time.

I was going to say that today is the last time for a long time that I will wake up in my bed alone on a Sunday morning. . .but then I realized I wasn't actually alone this morning. Tru in his crib right next to the bed, Sully sleeping basically on top of my head, Adeline bouncing around when she comes in to say good morning, and Guthrie rounding it out by climbing up to turn on cartoons and lounge for a while. I pretended I was still sleeping for as long as possible, but it didn't actually fly. The real point is that this is the last Sunday that I will take four kids to church myself (though I have admittedly missed a lot in the last 6 weeks - sick, vacation, sick of vacation, sick of no husband, and sick respectively) and the last time I will take on the get-ready-for-Monday hysteria in the evening by myself. I cannot wait to share the bed (and burden) again. :p

Kyle has a burden of his own this week. He is spending his last week in New York finishing up his board exam study (Step 2 CK). I know he's stressed to the max, but I also know he is going to do great on the exam. He'll do the test on Thursday and get on a plane on Saturday morning, which will be the last time he ever lives in New York by himself! :P

He'll be doing an elective at Phoenix Baptist, followed by a 4-week study elective (Step 2 CS) during which we'll take two separate trips to Tijuana to get our little illegal immigrant legalized at the consulate there, followed by a 4-week pediatrics rotation that we're still working on getting set up. If you know of a pediatrician who would love to have one polite, spanish-speaking, hard-working, father of four, medical student shadow him for a month in his private clinic, be sure to let us know. :)

On an entirely different note -

I'm still mumbling, but no longer from Mexico. So until I move to Minnesota or Montana or Memphis or the mall - I need a new name, and therefore a new blogspot address. I'll probably change it soon - but will give adequate warning for anyone who cares to change their link to my blog (not that I'm self-absorbed enough to think people REALLY care - but just in case it would bug anyone to have a dead link on their page. ) :)

Hair drama.

I'm not one of those organized bloggers who will conveniently link you to the previous entries relating to the current one - but if I were, you would find at least two in the last three years relating the tale of the lack of tail (pony, that is) in Addie's hair. Little girls having trouble growing their hair out is not something new or entirely isolated to our little family - this I know. Lots of little girls love their cute, little bobs and detest the time and effort it takes to keep long manes under control. Not *my* little girl, however. She dreams of having long, flowing locks of yellow (aka blond) hair to toss out the window to prince charming and to tumble romantically down her back.

So, what's the problem, right?

Genetics, for one. She was born to a mother who was follicularly challenged as an infant. She also has several cousins on her father's side (so I have been told) who had a hard time filling in those bald spots as children. In my (and my nieces') defense - things got better with age.

Summer 2006. Sullivan was born this summer and during my fabulous frumpy postpartum lay-in, the kids enjoyed day after day of swimming in Grandma's perfectly chlorinated pool. Its basically all we did for a solid two months. Addie's hair periodically had a little green tinge to it, but overall I thought we came through the other end of swim season relatively unscathed. We returned back to Mexico. I pulled her 'almost through the wispy stage of babyhood' hair into a pathetic excuse for a ponytail one day for preschool. Later that afternoon, I found the entire ponytail (detached from head) lying on the sofa cushion. She didn't cut her hair (this time). The thing seriously broke off. Chin-length bob #1 - with the fun addition of a few areas of inch-long fringe at the crown of her head. Whatchagonnado?

Fast forward through 2 years of really slow-growing progress and lots of repeated chin-length bobs as we tried to even out the hair.

Summer 2008. Her cute little yellow-haired head is finally starting to look like the average 2-year-old's head (she was almost 5). Its filling in, getting thicker, etc. Apparently Dora was looking a little shaggy and safety scissors were just what the doctor ordered. Unfortunately, it wasn't only Dora's brown, nylon hair I found lying in clumps all over the carpet in the playroom at my mom's house. It also happened to be mixed with bunches of golden, shiny, yell - OH MY GOSH, SHE DID NOT! Unfortunately, the hack job led to a shorter than chin-length style. (Refer to family pictures from 2008).

So, we spent the last year letting her hair do its thing. I was so surprised to find that it was growing quickly, and thickening up nicely, and actually starting to look like hair that could maybe, potentially, possibly, theoretically turn into hair that actually looked cute and long and a squint-your-eyes resemblance of something that other little 5-year-olds enjoyed.

I can totally see why it happened. The bottle has been sitting on the counter next to the refrigerator since school started. I actually hate the stuff and the way it makes my skin feel. But its handy enough to a quick fix. Plus, it was on the lists for school supplies that the kids needed and relatively cheap, so I bought a few extra. This is why it was really no surprise to come home on Saturday to a funny smell in the family room. I only noticed Addie's head peek out from behind the arm chair because I paused in the room long enough to ponder the scent. Even after I spotted her behind there, I almost walked away. It was only this sudden 'aha' thought that washed over me that made me turn back around to investigate. Even then, I didn't think it was all that big of a deal. I mean - how much damage can a head doused in hand sanitizer really inflict? Nothing was stained. The carpet was clear. Even her clothes seemed to be free of it. Basically, it was just her hair.

My mom took the kids to her house for the night and assures me she put her right into the bath for a shampoo and condition and that her hair was in great shape the last time she checked.

Sunday morning, Ashley took Addie to her house to get ready for church. (I'm not lazy, I swear. I was so sick in bed.) Rumor has it that she used the flat iron on her ends just enough to curl them up. I saw Adeline Sunday after church and she looked completely normal.

Monday morning when the kids woke up to get dressed, her hair was packed into strange dreadlock-type clumps. What the world? As I tried to pull the clumps apart, the hair was literally breaking off in my hands (more on one side than the other - mostly just the bottom 3 inches or so of her hair but some of it was breaking off much higher.) On a Monday morning, 15 minutes before they have to leave for school, there was really nothing to be done. I combed as little as possible and pulled it into a little knot at the back of her head and sent her on her way. After school Mallory cut it all off for me. Even with the cut, it is still all thin and awkward under her right ear.

I realize this has been a super long post to basically say "Addie ruined her hair again and has once again received the chin-length bob."

Good thing she rocks it.

A New Routine

The weeks are sure going by quickly. We have all kept busy with school, gymnastics, chores, homework, and just spending time with all our family. It's funny how natural it seems to wander over to my mom's house with the kids and waste away hours and hours of time with her. I can hardly believe that only a few months ago we were still in Mexico and could only dream of it. :)

The kids really seem to be liking their school. Guthrie has a minor case of sour grapes and likes to complain - but he does great in class and I know he has fun once he gets there every day. Adeline wouldn't dream of missing school for anything. She walks out the door with a smile on her face and comes home with a (slightly tired and sweaty) smile on her face. She is just too bubbly for words.

Sullivan has been doing well in his little preschool and even learned to sing his ABCs in exchange for a sucker. :p

Truman is at a great age. He is almost 6 months now. He tries really hard to sit up and can balance for a moment before he topples over. He learned how to get up on his hands and knees and seems to have a compulsion to do it anytime he feels his stomach on the floor. This makes nap times a challenge because he sleeps on his tummy and he has to get VERY tired before he can resist the urge to practice his new skill and actually settle into sleep. We have also given him his first solid foods and he is CRAZY in love with it. Now I just have to deal with one more thing to do each day. Luckily, he doesn't mind too much if I substitute more nursing for the solid food at this point during a busy day. I know that not too far in the future that will probably change.

Kyle is in Pittsburgh getting ready to take his next board exam. He is scheduled for two weeks from today and then he'll fly home to Arizona the following Saturday. I can hardly believe that we have made it nearly 3 full months without him home. Funny that I originally thought I could handle a whole year on my own. Consider me SCHOOLED and we will definitely be dragging the whole family to New York for the last part of this sub-internship (nifty word meaning year to work like an intern only pay tuition to make it happen).

As for me - I won't sugar coat it - I've been pretty psycho. It has just kicked my trash to be the caregive of kids, tender of household duties, cleaner of car (okay I didn't do that, but I still had to feel guilty about not doing it, so it added to the burden), payer of bills, taker outer of trash, DVRer of kids cartoon (I broke a sweat with that one), etc. and so forth. Not to mention the working on top of it - but I am so thankful to have a job that let's me make the money without daycare, and driving, and clocking in, etc. On calm days, it just makes me happy to get it all done. On PMSy days, I go on survival mode. You can tell which day it is by looking at the house. Apparently, I've been on survival mode for a while. ("Why is she typing this instead of doing her dishes?")

We had a great labor day weekend in Pinedale with Kyle's family. It was a last minute decision to head up there and I don't really regret it. THEY might regret letting us come - but really the kids had a great, dirt-filled weekend and I did as little as possible, which was actually very little (Sorry guys).

And then there were 33. . .

days until its really over. No really, this time I mean it. NEVER AGAIN. Seriously.

Yeah, I don't exactly believe me either.

Off to the airport to send him on back. I swear when he comes back next month that I will permanently kiss my license-to-single-parent goodbye! I am, however, going to plan something big. Something expensive. Something completely unattainable and far off in the future and big - did I already say that? Well, it will be big. And it will completely erase the pain, depression, stress, heart ache, and stress - did I already say that? Well, it will. It will erase them from my overworked, frazzled, single-parented brain. and heart.

:) The Bahamas?

Photography class.

We (Ash, me, mom) are taking a little weekend photography class. We all have decent cameras, but none of us knew how to use them properly. It has been amazingly enlightening to learn how to manually manipulate our settings - and it has also given us all a new respect for photographers. After only one 4-hour lesson, we are all able to take a test shot and based on the result, change our settings to get a great picture. We still have more to learn about lighting, staging, composition, etc. - but I love that now we can take a picture and keep the focus only on our subject with the background out of focus. Supposedly our last class will show us some photoshop techniques to help us round out our skills.

School Rules!

We are so excited to be back in school this year. Adeline started Kindergarten. If you ask her what grade she is in, she says, "No grade, just Kindergarten." :) She loves the whole school concept - can't wait to wake up, make her bed, get dressed, run away from me at the door, etc. I just envy her enthusiasm to start the day.

Grandma Hunter has a tradition to take the new Kindergartener for a shopping trip. They picked up a few school clothes after a yummy breakfast together.


Mrs. Pierce is Addie's teacher for the first month while her real teacher, Mrs. Iraci, is out on maternity leave. Both teachers are very sweet.

Guthrie is moving up to the second grade. He is so excited to get into school again after missing the last month of the previous school year. His teacher, Ms. Palmer, is very sweet. We're hoping he can learn not to talk in class - but if that doesn't work, maybe she'll love him for his brains.We had fun at "Meet the Teacher Night."

Their first morning. I totally dig having uniforms -makes the getting dressed part a snap.

We signed all the kids up for gymnastics for the three-month stint that we'll be here. Sullivan and Caelan had their first class on Monday morning. It was a total hit! (Pictures were taken through the observation window - not the best.)

We all LOVE having Mallory take care of our hair needs. :) She trimmed, colored and cut more than her fair share of heads this week. We LOVE you, Mallory, and we all think you're the best beauty school girl, ever. :)

Guthrie decided to read for 30 minutes instead of the required 20 - He definitely doesn't get that from my genes. Well, maybe the love of reading - but definitely NOT the whole 'above and beyond' thing.

Never to be left out - Sullivan is "reading" too.

Aunt Ashley told me that he stunk. I swear he smelled like roses - but if making him stinky gets her to bathe him then stinky he will be.

My kids are seriously doomed when it comes to soda. I pray that Sonic's $0.99 drink deal never ends. We even left a comment for the manager at Sonic here in town. "We will come here for corndogs for the kids as long as you keep the dollar drinks. Otherwise, your food kind of stinks and we'll have to go elsewhere." Think it will make a difference?

Look at his face in this one - it looks like its made of moldable clay or something. hahaSullivan cried when I dropped the kids off this morning (day 2). I told him that was the "big kids' school" and I would take him to the "little kid school." His response was a crying, "I'm not little!!!"

Thankfully he forgot all about it when we pulled up to his "school." We are so excited for him to be in preschool this year. :)

Someone techy

Will someone PLEASE tell me how to fix my pictures? They're all cut-off with weird white borders. Poo

. . .

I have put a lot of thought into how exactly to start this. . .which words to use. . .how to convey what I'm really feeling. . .
The words just fail me. This is SO hard. I don't want to whine - so that's the extent of my essay on life without Kyle.

We escaped the heat last weekend, which thrilled the kids. They spent a lot of time outdoors and seemed to enjoy it.

Aunt Ashley is a pretty rockin' baby soother. She's training him to chill on the couch.

My beyond cute cousin, Kassie.

Me and Tru.

That's not scary at all. Not even a little bit. Okay, its REALLY scary. G went with Gma and Gpa to shoot guns, something he does often, but somehow always when I'm not around. Probably better that way.

S'mores around the firepit.

Addie and her head tilt.

Just funny. All those chins are courtesy of 4+ months of breast milk so far. I'm pretty proud of that considering that I've wanted to stop nursing him every day since Kyle left. We're still hangin' in there - probably because he won't take a bottle. Someday I'll thank him for that.

Next FHE lesson: Chivalry

My cute mom.

Checkin' the tonsils. Yep, lookin' good.

Addie G and her cousins, Ainsley and Caelan.