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Kid Stuff

2011-04-18T11:58:00.002-06:00

#1 At some point in Penelope's first few months of life, her nickname was shortened/modified from Pepper to Peppy and finally to Pepsi. Then it became a joke to call her "Diet Cherry Pepsi," 'cause I love that almost as much as I love her. Now she can be called any one of a dozen nicknames.

This morning I asked Kyle to ask Guthrie to bring me a Pepsi (at 6:30 in the morning, in case you were wondering). Guthrie came downstairs holding a can of Diet Pepsi with a really confused look on his face (it was realllly early). He put the can on my desk and then looked at me and waited for some kind of response. I stopped working, took hold of the can, and told him "Thank You!!" He looked relieved and said, "Oh good! I thought dad meant I should bring you the baby."

#2 Sullivan has had a world of ear trouble. We noticed he seemed hard of hearing over the last year or so, but it wasn't until the pediatrician noticed that he always seemed to have fluid in his ears and finally sent us to an ENT that we realized there might actually be a problem. We spent several months trying to get the fluid to resolve naturally and get his hearing up to par, but finally resorted to having tubes put in. We have noticed a world of difference!

The other day Guthrie and Sullivan were trying to have a conversation while in two separate rooms with Mario playing loudly in the background. Guthrie called something out to Sullivan several times. Each time Sullivan would yell back, "What?!" Finally Guthrie was fed up and walked into the room saying, "You got those tubes in your ears, but you're still deaf!" Sullivan looked at Kyle with a concerned expression and said, "You're right. Daddy, I got these tubes and I'm still deaf. What a rip off!?"

My 4-year-old is so eloquent.

#3 Adeline brought home a short essay titled "If I were queen for a day. . ." Hers said, "If I were queen for a day, I would tell people what to do and RULE THE WORLD and ask my mom to get me whatever I want!"

She would RULE the world, but she would still have to ask her mom for things. We're raising her right! :)

Lessons from Dax.

2011-03-29T06:19:00.003-06:00

So my baby brother, Dax, is on a mission in Germany. Apparently something in my last letter came across as judgmental.

An excerpt from his reply: Don't worry. Everyone is a little.... Judgmental... We could probably all afford a little inward glance.... if you know what I mean... Except me. I only have a mote in my eye. I could help you with that beam though.... bible jokes! Get 'em while they're hot!

That boy!!

Really, though, I'll take that kind of chastisement. :)

September/October 2010

2011-03-10T21:25:00.004-06:00

We went on a little jaunt to Green Bay. We stopped by a little zoo and. . .ummmm what else? Well shoot - that's what I get for not writing it down sooner. I remember having fun.

Adeline and Ella checkin' out the animals.

Read that sign. . .get it. They're spitting (raspberry style).

Two months old! Why didn't I hold you more? And stare at you more? Good thing you're still a baby right now - or I would be totally mad at you. Instead, I'll hold your fevered self in my arms (now at 7.5 months).

The Gasall Family has become one of our favorite go-to families for fun. They invited us to a family scavenger hunt. Adeline wanted to play in the eat-the-apple game. Hard when you're missing your two front teeth. She rocked it. But didn't win.

Thanks for holding our crap, Pepper.

Done yet?

Victory??

Halloween 2010

2011-03-10T21:17:00.002-06:00

These don't need much explanation. Harry Potter, Tiger, Spiderman, Cat, Butterfly. LOVE.

deja vu

2011-03-10T21:10:00.002-06:00

I guess Truman takes a lot of naps. . .and that's the only time I feel relaxed enough to think of taking pictures. I sure wish I could prove that there are more kids in this house.

End of October 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-03-10T20:50:00.003-06:00

Keara and Alan drove from Davenport, Iowa to spend Thanksgiving with us! I am lame-O and have uploaded the ONLY 5 pictures that were on my camera! What on earth is wrong with me?

We had 8 kids in the house with only cold, dreary weather outside - so we had to get pretty creative. Homemade play dough was a big hit. . .for about half as long as we wanted it to be. :)

I've got two babies. Caleb is about Pepper's age. Isn't a cutie patootie?

Me again! 'cause when there are only 5 pictures, you don't get to edit.

Probably my favorite picture. I can totally hear his voice in this one. He sounds just like Goob from Meet the Robinson's. Cuteness.

Keara and Alan were SO fun to have. Kyle ended up having to work on Thanksgiving (call - so overnight at the hospital). Thankfully (get it, THANKSgiving?), Keara and Alan were willing to celebrate with us one day late so he could join us. It ended up snowing on Thursday night, so Friday morning Alan got up and shoveled a few inches of snow out of the driveway before Kyle got home. Sweet, ain't he? We had fun listening to kids chatter, talking about life, eating and eating and experimenting with our very own Thanksgiving food. The verdict is that it was a LOT of fun - and I'm already wondering what we'll do next year for Thanksgiving if they aren't around to do it with us!!! AHHHH!

I should also note that I tried to talk Keara into going with me and a couple friends to the after T-day sales. She totally denied me. . .which was maybe good considering I left at midnight and didn't get home until after 7:00 a.m. No sleep for me!! I came in the house, showered, and then got to work making our Thanksgiving meal. I'm thinking it was maybe not worth it monetarily - but fun nonetheless. I ended up taking back almost everything I bought that day. Again, what is wrong with me?

When Tru's sleeping. . .

2011-03-10T20:42:00.003-06:00

We have to find some way to kill the quiet time and I have cute models, a nice camera, and a picture window. I love me some chubs - of the 5-month-old variety and the 4-year-old variety.

December 2010

Winter 2010

2011-03-10T20:07:00.005-06:00

Adeline turned 7 years old this winter. She was so happy to move on up. She had a GREAT year being 6. In summary: This was the year that she finished Kindergarten (half the year in Arizona, the other half in New York). She learned to read and then REALLY learned to read. She finally learned to ride a two-wheeler and enjoyed racing up and down the street in our new neighborhood on her new bike. She was thrilled to gain a baby sister and is the most loving, tender, big sister that any girl could ask for. She decided she would like to grow her hair long, so we spent the year trying to get it healthy enough to do just that. She has had various bob-length haircuts this year, but we're finally getting it to nearly shoulder length (shorter in these pictures). She absolutely blossomed at school here in Wisconsin. Just a few weeks into school, her teacher requested that she be tested for their "Challenge" program and her math scores were off the charts. I never even realized we had a little brainiac in our Adeline, but her education has definitely become a priority in her young life. She still doesn't enjoy tackling things that don't come easily (like reading), but she's very disciplined for a 7-year-old and will do what she has been assigned. She is slowly losing her dress up imagination - but still loves to drag any impressionable child into her wild world of princesses, drama, and make-believe. I'm not sure she'll leave that behind any time soon. I always knew I loved babies and I was thrilled when I had my GIRL baby 7 years ago - but I had no clue way back then how amazing it would be to have her grow into a sweet, sensitive, athletic, feminine ally in this household. I cannot imagine life without her. Love you, Adeline!

Birthday Breakfast! Pancakes with buttermilk syrup, chocolate chips and whipped cream! When you're 7, you can get away with that.

Someone forgot to buy a pack of candles for her delicious little mini cupcakes we shared with friends. The nativity pewter decoration with the candlestick served as an adequate substitute. It lent a certain spiritual charm to the otherwise NOT spiritual affair. :)

Guthrie is showing off the fingerless gloves I crocheted for him. For like 45 minutes this year I was having fun crocheting. Then I remembered I have 5 kids, a part-time job, and only half a husband (though he is a REALLY awesome half-husband and I am not in any way complaining - just looking forward to the end of residency when being "on call" means more of a phone situation and less of a 30+ hours at a time in a hospital while the world at home goes on without him situation). I plan on crocheting again sometime in the future. When the kids are old. And I am too.

Truman enjoyed putting on coats, hats and scarves this winter. Until it was really cold outside and he actually needed them. Then he pulled the hat off every time.

Sullivan is attending a sweet little Lutheran preschool. They did a GREAT Christ-centered Christmas program. Sullivan sang these songs all day every day at home for months. On the actual day of the performance, I don't think he sang a single word. But he looked cute staring off into the distance.

I think this was Christmas Sunday. We looked so awesome. All of us. I promise. I only have proof that they did, though.

We helped out with the Christmas program at church. Someone wrote a cute little script with kids and parents sitting around talking about Christ's life. We didn't dare have all of our kids up there. So we were really like a fake family sitting up there having a sweet discussion. And halfway through, Penelope started crying. One of the Young Women was sweet enough to come up and take her out for me. So then our fake family's image was totally shattered - no more perfect baby claims. After the program she slept perfectly in my arms. And then perfectly pooped all over this awesome SILK baby dress that is white and actually was completely ruined and is now in the garbage. Awwww, tender.

Christmas 2010

2011-03-10T18:55:00.006-06:00

Our Christmas was a strange one this year - but also great in a new way. When we spend Christmas with family, we tend to be busy, busy, busy through the whole season - so this was a new adventure. Kyle saved his vacation time to take a week off while the kids were out of school. We were so thankful to have him on a Surgery rotation, which meant he had Christmas day off completely - and the entire following week. HEAVEN - let me tell you. :) We really kept it low key - lots of baking, sleeping, getting together with friends, and movies, movies, movies with the kids. Of course I didn't get too many pictures, but the memories will live on in my mind and heart forever. . .or at least for a little while. Actually, they're already fading. Why don't I take more pictures?!

I didn't get a great "before" shot. This one pretty much sums up the aftermath. We epitomized the "commercial Christmas" thing. I swear next year we're going with a spiritual Christmas in December. (Followed up by a New Year gift giving event - I really scored in the after Christmas sales. . .Truman's birthday is coming up and I think I have a closet full of toys that were all $2 or less. fun fun!)

I really wanted to find one that wasn't pink. Why don't they make camo strollers?? Little boys like to be cute with dollies too!

The cursed Dragonoid Collosus. Guthrie and Sullivan both raved about this toy for months before Christmas. After some drama involving spying on Christmas presents and all the empty threats that go along with that fun, the boys were thrilled to get their toys. They played with them for about five minutes and now I'm constantly tripping over any one of the 76 pieces involved. YAY.

My gift from Kyle. . .or ummm Santa. A generic Snuggie. Sheesh, Santa's cheap!

She had no clue what was going on. Someday when she sees this, she'll know that we didn't get her a single present for her first Christmas. We promise to make it up to her at a later date. . .when she'll actually care. Plus, she was spoiled by grandmas and grandpas. And Santa might have brought her a second-hand plastic monkey without batteries. (Hey look! The monkey is in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture.)

The kids all got a little ornament picture frame with their 2010 picture in it. We thought it might be fun to do that every year. But talk to me next year and we'll see if we kept it up. I originally wanted to get them all an ornament (a la Hallmark), but it turns out that is out of the budget for a first-year medical resident and his family of 7. Maybe in a few years. Thanks to Target for the $1-spot ornament frames.
Yes, he still used his binky in December. Actually, he still uses it now. And he went to the dentist today (March 2011) and the dentist didn't say a single word about it. . .even though I mentioned it. So I take that as permission to let him keep his binks for a little while longer.

This about sums up how we all felt at the end of the day. I love this little boo. She was so teeny weeny!!! Awwww, I can't believe I'm saying this, but. . .I totally miss that! I blinked!

Do I have to catch up?

2011-01-28T12:03:00.004-06:00

There is a blank of unimaginable proportions here that probably will never get filled in. I blogged about Pepper's birth. . .and now she's six months old. Choo choo will be TWO in 7 weeks. Sully has completed a whole half a year of Pre-K (hahah, a whole half. I really talk/think like this, people.) Guthrie and Addie started and love their school and are excelling and blossoming in a way that would make any mother sappy and proud to have any part of them. Kyle started and completed his first half-year of residency. We've even been part of the round of interviews to fill the positions for the NEXT year of residency (by "we", I mean that I got to go to some free dinners and smile and talk about the education system in Wisconsin). The majority of our conversations now center around a)home improvements, b)future job opportunities, and c)attempts to remember the last time we had a full night's sleep. I am still figuring out the juggling of 5 little mini-us's, working part-time (at night or in the wee hours of the morning - usually the morning, 'cause I love my lazy evenings), and settling into Wisconsin life. Snow is cool.

I am *so* grateful January came around and love the chance to whip up a new batch of self-improvement goals. I can't say them out loud, though, 'cause that is definitely jinxing it. The short version is a more positive, less judgmental, more nurturing Hanna. The long version would just bore you.

Project: Blog/Journal 2011 has begun.

Penelope Jean Hunter

2010-08-12T17:13:00.003-06:00

*warning: talk of blood and placenta*

This entire pregnancy seemed surreal - from the very beginning when I saw the two pink lines until the end when I realized that no amount of denial or lack of preparation was going to stop this thing from happening and I better wrap my brain around it. While we were living in New York, we talked a lot about where the baby would be born. I must have bounced back and forth from midwife-attended homebirth to OB-attended hospital birth a MILLION times. It wasn't until I was approaching 7 and a half months pregnant that I dared to seriously mention the possibility of a home-cooked birth (aka unassisted childbirth, do-it-yourself birth, or crazy - whatever you want to call it). Kyle was extremely reluctant to say the least. I never pushed it (at least I don't think I did - but I guess you can ask him). I did, however, have a lot of anxiety over moving to Wisconsin at 34 weeks pregnant and not having insurance for a hospital birth until over 38 weeks pregnant. I tried to put it out of my mind and just focus on how I was going to take care of 5 kids with a husband starting residency. Thankfully, my mom made arrangements to work from Wisconsin for an entire month - so I didn't have to stress about the first few weeks at least.

Finally at 38 weeks pregnant, after a lot of discussion, textbook reading, fear-releasing and reassurance, Kyle and I felt okay about planning for the birth at home on our own. We went over our list of possible complications that would lead us to transfer to the hospital (a few minutes away) and then tried to focus our energy on having a normal, easy delivery.

Amazingly, I felt pretty good at the end of the pregnancy. I had been suffering from some pretty intense pelvic pain for the majority of the pregnancy, but once we finished moving into the house and I was able to take it easy, I found that even the pelvic pain lessened.

My parents arrived on Sunday, July 11th. When I saw their car pull up to the curb, I felt physically uplifted and the stress just melted away. I hoped that their arrival would be the magical trigger to put me into labor, but instead we waited a grueling 4 more days. Each day brought with it more contractions, some rhythmic and some even slightly intense. I would question each contraction, "Is this it?" Then my mom would chuckle at me and remind me that if I have to ask, then it probably isn't, which I already knew but somehow the game continued.

We walked as much as our schedules and my energy would allow, and I was pretty discouraged each morning when I woke up pregnant. On Wednesday night, the contractions seemed to gain a new peak of intensity, but stayed spaced so widely apart and so sporadic that I still questioned labor or not. I woke often that night with each contraction - not sure how far apart they were. On Thursday morning, the contractions were still there. When we finally started timing them, they seemed to be consistently around 20 minutes apart. Just far enough apart that I doubted this was baby day - yet just consistent enough that I couldn't help but question it. Throughout the morning they did seem to come at closer intervals, but still not so regular or intense that I knew for sure this was it. I do remember at some point around the middle of the day experiencing such a pull in my back that the dreaded "back labor" thought entered my mind. It was around then that I told someone (mom? dad?), "I don't feel like I'm in labor, but if this goes on much longer I'm going to go to the hospital." I told them right then and there that this labor would be much more like Sullivan's (pain all in my back) than Truman's (very little pain in back until the end). It was right at the point that I told my mom I didn't know if I should go take a nap because I was feeling so tired - or if I should go for a walk and try to get the show on the road. I decided to ponder this a little while I changed my clothes and went to the bathroom. I had a few decent contractions while I did this - decent enough that I questioned whether I would be able to sleep at all - and decided to dedicate ONE hour to the mall and see where we were at after that. I had my choice of walking partners, Kyle or my mom, and chose my mom. I hope Kyle didn't feel slighted, but my logic was really sensible in that I knew Kyle had the equipment and experience to set up the birth pool and supplies - and I didn't want to ask my dad to do it and have to explain everything. We left for the mall and Kyle got to work setting things up for the birth. At this point I felt confident that a baby would be born on this calendar day, though I predicted some time before midnight.

I think we got to the mall around noon. We did a quick jaunt to one end and back up the other side. The Gap was having an excellent T-shirt sale, which meant that Mom wanted to browse the racks and stock up. I had a contraction so intense that it took a lot of willpower to not cry out and cause a scene. I put my arms up on top of the rack and attempted to look normal in that position until the contraction ended. Another contraction hit as we were paying at the counter - and another before we could even get out the door and into the mall again. My mom didn't seem quite aware of my exact headspace at this point and asked if I wanted to stop at Bath and Body Works. I tried to keep my head from rolling and asked to go home. I *still* thought birth would come some time before midnight - and the thought did enter my mind that if I wanted pain relief, we needed to get to the hospital soon. We got into the car and I asked my mom to call home and tell Kyle to fill the pool. I wanted to get into it as soon as we got home. I looked at the time and it was 1:07 p.m.

I walked into the house with a feeling of relief. Upstairs to change, pee, mentally gather courage, and then downstairs to the pool, which was NOT ready for me. Tears are falling inside my head, yet outwardly I had no choice but to focus on each contraction - the peak in my back was an intensity that I cannot even describe. I had been managing without pressure on my sacrum, but no more. I climbed into a birth pool that was only a few inches deep and now no longer actively filling because we were out of hot water. My mom put a few pots on the stove to boil. Kyle brought our supplies downstairs and laid out the plastic sheets, towels, and baby stuff. I'm sure it had to be about 15 minutes later when I cried (like tears cried) that I needed more water. The relief wasn't there and I was feeling extremely tense - nothing at all like I had envisioned for this birth. I knew from a little self-examination that I was advanced in dilation (8+ cm) and the birth was going to happen soon. Visions of the hospital and an epidural and nurses taking care of my every need - these slipped away from me as a possibility. It was the first time that I realized I was getting exactly what I asked for - a home delivery with only my husband and family for support. I had a little built up fear that started to leak out right then.

Kyle turned on the hot water from the shower at almost the exact time my mom brought some water from the stove. The sudden rush of warm water was very relaxing and helped me ease through another few contractions. I did request that Kyle change and get into the pool with me (something we hadn't really decided on at any point). I wanted his counterpressure on my back, and I think I also wanted the familiarity of delivering the baby in a position and circumstance that I already knew (same way Truman was born). I stayed kneeling in the pool with my head rested on the edge. I kept my eyes closed and forehead on the rim. When I finally lifted my head and saw my mom standing there, I started to sputter and tear up. She gave me a hug and it was as though my held back emotions exploded. I told her I was scared, that it hurt, that I didn't want to do it, that I couldn't do it. I felt a lot of comfort as she hugged me back and fed me strength. When she pulled away I felt a new resolve - and I also knew the baby would be born within a few contractions.

I experienced that semi-peaceful feeling that comes when the contractions have ended their dilation work and are getting ready to push the baby out. I could feel the complete relaxation of my uterus. I asked her to get the kids. She and Kyle both questioned my timing - they didn't want the kids to in the room too long or to see me in pain through contractions. I yelled out to them that the baby *was* coming and with the next contraction I would be pushing. I still doubted they believed me, but sure enough with the next contraction I felt the baby move past my dilated cervix and I swear I even heard a *thud* sound and felt her head drop down. I tried everything in my power to NOT push and managed to get through the next contraction without adding too much extra pressure. I told my mom the baby was crowning and she brought the kids down quickly. They lined up, leaning over the back of the couch to await their little sister - all except Truman who wandered over to the side of the pool. He had the most confused and intense expression on his face. When I see the way he looks in the pictures it pulls on my heart a little to know that was the exact moment he lost his place as the "baby" - at only 16 months old. It just didn't seem right.

The kids were lined up to avoid seeing too much of the graphic stuff - and just enough of the baby. When the next contraction peaked, I delivered her head. I expected a pause at that point - but there was no real pause. She turned on her own to line up her shoulders and then her whole body slipped out without much help from me. Without even looking at her, I knew she was smaller than my last 2 babies. The actual delivery was so much easier - no pushing for the body at all.

Kyle caught her under the water and lifted her right out. I turned over as gracefully as one can without abdominal muscles and rested against the side of the pool with my new baby in my arms. I can honestly say I have never seen a newborn baby so pink and vigorous immediately after birth. It was as though she wanted to make sure we knew she was healthy and strong and that her portion of the delivery went well - a reassurance that we didn't take for granted. She cried out a little and calmed quickly. She breathed easily and calmly. We thought to look at the clock and decided that she was born at 2:18 p.m., barely an hour from the time we left the mall - and only a few hours from the time that I finally believed I was in labor.

I held her and examined her every wrinkle. She had virtually no vernix on her body and her feet and hands had dry, scaly skin - identical to Sullivan's skin at birth. Of course I thought she was the smallest baby I had every held - but I also admitted that I am a terrible guesser at that point - all of my babies felt like the smallest baby I had ever held, even the 9+ pounders. It took only a glance to see that her feet and hands were a direct gift from my genes. I have kind of always hated my ginormous hands - but I absolutely love them on her. She also seems to have my feet, though hers are so long and bony that I sure hope she gets some fat on her calves to balance things out down there. Her arms are endless and long, also like mine - and frankly I just think her whole body, face, and internal organs take after me exactly. Hehe.

After adoring her for about 20 minutes I felt the oh-so-unwelcome contractions begin again. Her cord was so short (seems to be a trend in my babies) that I could barely hold her to my breast to nurse - I checked to see if it had lengthened at all (sign that the placenta had detached and was ready to be expelled), but it hadn't seemed to gain any length. I decided to move to the bathroom at that point and with some tricky handling of a still-attached baby, I stood up and carried her into the bathroom where I sat on the toilet hoping to keep things as clean as possible. I felt the urge to pee at that point, hesitated, wondering if I had any tears, but went ahead. Surprisingly I felt no stinging and hoped that meant things were intact. After a few more minutes of holding the baby wrapped in a towel in the bathroom, I asked Kyle to clamp the cord. I've never had such an up close view of the process and it was not what I expected at all - so firm and rubbery looking. We used a hemostat to clamp the placental side and a cord ring for baby's side. I started to feel impatient for the placenta and was feeling chilly sitting naked and wet in the bathroom, so I asked Kyle to hold a bowl (so unromantic, right?) and I bore down slightly. To my relief, the placenta slid right out. Overall, I bled very little. Whether this was just luck or because I took a birth prep formula, I guess I'll never know. I rinsed off and my mom helped me into pajamas. Kyle was so attentive and helpful, though I do wonder if his medical mind was having a hard time coping with everything that was going on. He asked me multiple times about my bleeding - and each time I reminded him that if I felt fine and looked fine, I was most likely fine. He did check my pulse at one point (it was great) - and after a few more reassurances he seemed to relax about it.

I just loved the hour or so that passed next. Food in my stomach, baby wrapped in soft blanket, kids admiring and wanting their turn to hold her and cuddle (all except Tru who still seemed a little confused), more food in my stomach, nursing baby, calling family and friends, and finally the time to nap and rest with my sweet newborn.

As I reflected on the birth, I felt so much peace. I know most people won't understand why we decided to have our baby this way, but I felt so protected during the process, so close to my family. I feel blessed to have been able to offer my baby an entrance into this life completely void of pain, strangers, procedures, disturbances - I could go on and on. She has the most peaceful half-smile expression on her face almost all the time, even now a month later. I find it hard to believe that she isn't already smiling at us - giving us love. She has been absolutely spoiled in her first month of life - passed from my arms to her dad's arm to her grandmother's arm to her grandfather's arms and to any and all of her siblings' arms - over and over again.

Welcome Home, Penelope Jean Hunter.

8 lb. 2 oz.

19.5 inches

07/15/10

2:18 p.m.

Perfect.

Happy Birthday, Sully! and more

2010-06-12T11:53:00.005-06:00

Sully man had his birthday our first Saturday here in town. I was a little worried he would be disappointed in the festivities, so I actually planned a little harder than I normally do for his festivities. Guthrie and Addie went with me to the store the day before and they picked out a Cars bicycle with training wheels for him. They also picked Crayola 3D chalk, a little fishing game, and a green flute/recorder thingamabob (Addie's pick, of course). We stopped by the dollar store on our way home for some wrapping essentials and picked up a little "grow dinosaur", as my kids call it. You put it in water and it "grows". It actually creeps me out a little, reminding me of what a human body would look like if it was left to rot at the bottom of a river and get all bloaty and slimey. . .but they seem to love it. Blech.

Sullivan was so excited the night before that he could hardly sleep. Finally he dozed off - but then wandered into our room around 4 or 5 in the morning. I let him climb into bed with us and when I thought he was asleep I got up to use the bathroom (joy of pregnancy, right?). When I returned, he was lying in our bed staring at the ceiling. I think he just could not WAIT for the fun to start.

I snuck out of bed early and started to get breakfast ready with Guthrie and Addie's help. They wanted to take Sullivan breakfast in bed, which I thought was adorably cute and sweet of them. Unfortunately, Sullivan heard the commotion and couldn't contain himself any longer, so it ended up being breakfast at the table. . .but we tried.

Next came the presents. When Kyle was putting the bike together the night before, I suddenly had this realization that a bike was NOT was Sullivan would want and I told Kyle I was pretty sure he was going to be disappointed. Sadly, I was right. It turns out that the dollar store "grow dinosaur" was the toy that he raved about to my mom on the phone when she called to wish him a happy birthday. I should have known better than to try to deviate from his standard dinosaur obsessed present wish list.

At first he was REALLY not too sure about the whole bike thing, but we made it a family affair and we all gathered around to help and watch him. By the next day he was going "so fast" and actually seems to enjoy it. Unfortunately it has rained nearly every day since then so we have only been out a few more times, but hopefully the chance to ride is right around the corner.

Not sure what he's doing there. . .but it kind of looks like what a certain mother might do to a certain little boy's cheeks when she's trying to get him to make eye contact in a certain difficult moment. Not that we ever have that happen over here at our house or anything. ;) I'm guessing it really just had to do with the sun and him trying to force himself to look at the camera at my request.

We weren't sure what to do in the evening, but our dilemma was solved when we had surprise visitors stop over. Our new friends, the Gasall Family, remembered it was Sullivan's birthday and came over with a cute little dinosaur movie and *another* grow dinosaur. How did the new friends get the birthday present request better than his own mom did?? Of course he was THRILLED with the present, though I think he did say, "I hate Wubzy, but I love dinosaurs!" (It was a Wubzy dinosaur movie.) He requests it often now, so I think *hate* was a strong word.

(I did take a snapshot of the Gasall's singing happy birthday with us, but I decided not to post it because Charity's eyes were half-closed and she was in the middle of saying something. . .and well, I think unflattering pictures on my blog would be a really quick way to kill the friendship, so we'll try again next time they come over :p )

The rest of these are not birthday related. . .just funny.

Kyle is a sucker for a massage, so he's been teaching the kids how to rub his back and then trading massages with them. One evening we were sitting around our furniture-less living room and Guthrie decided to give Truman a back massage. It was too funny that Tru just laid there and let him massage for a while.

Cupcakes on the deck.

Mom's vibrating toothbrush on the deck.

The kids enjoying the sprinkler on the new trampoline. Kyle just finished mowing the back and had moved onto the front. They couldn't wait to get out there.

We were pretty sad when we pulled up to our house to see that the once green, lush lawn was now pretty straggly, weedy, and dry. We bought a lawn mower a few days ago and a sprinkler and we're trying to get it back into shape. I use the term "we" loosely, of course. Thanks, Kyle.

The move . . and stuff.

2010-06-11T13:23:00.002-06:00

When we first found out we were headed to Wausau for residency, we immediately began the internal debate of buy versus rent a house. In the end, we went with the mentality that our move to Wisconsin is semi-permanent and we would ALL be happier in a house, even if that means three years from now Kyle take a local job and we stay for a few years beyond residency - or forever, or whatever. I guess we were/are feeling a little sick and tired of all these moves over the years.

We found our cute, little house on a weekend trip and started mentally preparing for a whole new life! We've lived in a 750 square foot condo, our parents' basements multiple times, an 1100 square foot house, a single-wide trailer, the guest bedroom at our parent's house, and then three different rentals in Mexico (while large, they were still lacking in comforts of home i.e. dishwashers, carpet, insulation, air conditioning, garages, etc. I could go on and on). The apartment in New York left a LOT to be desired (not to mention an extra bathroom for those emergency moments). This house just gets us giddy with the excitement of a new normal.

The financing was not without its drama (worst loan officer in the universe, I swear) and I honestly didn't believe it was really going to happen until we signed on the (multiple) dotted line(s) and walked out of the title office with keys in our hands. This was of course after spending a few days in hotels waiting for the lender to make good on their promises to get our loan done in a timely fashion - or in any fashion, because timely it definitely was NOT.

Looking at these pictures from New York taken during our packing/cleaning/stressing days just bring even more happiness because I am SO glad we are done with that and SO happy to be spread out in our not-that-big-but-feels-so-huge-after-what-we've-been-living-in home!!!

The kids did a lot of fending for themselves while we organized, packed and cleaned. I am sure I was less than a stellar mom for the majority of that process. How cute is it that Addie plopped Tru on her knees to watch a movie while we neglected them?? Adorable and totally unprompted. Its a heart warmer for sure.

NYC

2010-06-11T13:03:00.004-06:00

We promised the kids back in January when we first drove

by New York City that we would take them to visit at some point. Time just slipped away from us and before we knew it, it was time to leave and they'd never been. It was a pretty low-key

trip involving a simple drive to Battery Park to see the statue from the rail, a drive-by viewing of the Empire State Building, and a solid 90-minute play session in a great little area of Central Park.

This little guy just wanted to run away from us and explore on his own. I had to keep reminding him that New York City is definitely no Wausau, Wisconsin (*wink wink*) and he better stay close to us if he knew what was good for him.

On our way out of Central Park the kids talked us into an ice cream treat from the guy on the corner (a la Mexico-style. . .or maybe Mexico style really originated in New York. What do I know?) Sullivan is the SLOWEST ice cream eater and I should have known it would be a mess on this hot day. We made him wait outside the car until he was finished and he savored every. last. drippity. drop of that Spider-man Popsicle with gum-balls for eyes.

Sorry, Kyle. I know you look kind of awkward in this picture, but at least they all let you take one.

This is what I got when I tried for the same picture.

Young Authors

2010-06-11T12:54:00.002-06:00

Guthrie and Adeline were both selected to be part of an after school program at Sophie Finn Elementary in Kingston, NY. This program was an accelerated reading program where the kids partnered with older/younger students and wrote and illustrated their own books. We had a little party at the end of the six-week program where the kids read us all their stories and we got to see what they had been up to for those few hours after school. Both kids were so creative in their stories. We didn't get a copy of the books yet, but the school is having them printed and bound and promises to send us copies when they're ready.

This was some kind of animal hand motion that he desperately wanted to have captured on camera. mmmmm, kay.

Dr. Hunter

2010-06-11T12:36:00.004-06:00

One of our last New York outings was to Valhalla to the New York Medical College campus to honor Kyle and the rest of his class in their completion of all the requirements for medical school, ECFMG certification, and residency entrance (aka "graduation".) I was worried about taking all the kids, but of course I wanted to be there - so they had to tag along. Luckily, it was an outdoor, relaxed affair. The speakers kept it short and sweet and the kids snuck out of the tent often to play. . semi-quietly.

Kyle taking the Hippocratic Oath.

I guess NYMC has some Catholic affiliation because they had a "hand anointing ceremony." Kind of sweet.

I'm a little sad that I didn't get better pictures, but it definitely wasn't easy to put myself in the right place at the right time for a photo opportunity while holding Truman and making sure the other kids didn't go absolutely crazy.

Last visit with Taggs and Sanders

2010-06-10T14:21:00.004-06:00

We took the time one Sunday after church (the only day that worked with Will's schedule) and met up with the Tagg Family and Sanders Family in Valhalla, NY. The weather turned out to be just right (at least it felt just right after the sun went down). It was so fun seeing all of our kids together again after a long absence from their playing days in Mexico. Its hard to believe that it has been 5 years since we all met in Guadalajara. Will and Jacqueline were already two years into their journey at that point and now he is finishing his second year of Radiology residency in Bridgeport, CT. Kirk pre-matched in the Internal Medicine program in Tucson, AZ. It has been a LONG road - with so much more ahead of us - but great friends definitely make it all seem easier.

Love these guys!

Last days in NY

2010-06-10T14:07:00.002-06:00

Our last weeks in New York really drug on. Thankfully, the weather was warm, warm, warm (one day it was hot, hot, hot and I was practically in tears from swelling feet and general discomfort without air conditioning). We found a cute little park near the house and tried to kill some time one Saturday morning with the kids. I know Addie is absent from these pictures and Truman is disproportionately represented. In my defense, Addie is happiest burning off her energy running around and definitely not too happy about pausing for photo-ops. :)

Baby Carrier for sale!

2010-05-18T15:55:00.002-06:00

Ash spoiled me with a new ERGO, so I am going to sell my other one. Its about 3 years old, but seriously in perfect condition. I bought it brand new. Current selling for $105 at most retailers. I am asking $70 OBO plus shipping (or I'll be in AZ and you can pick it up).

Anyone interested?

Black ERGO with camel lining.

http://www.diapers.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?productId=8078

Things that really, really, really suck. A list - by Hanna

2010-05-14T13:54:00.002-06:00

So I have this mental list of things that just suck.

It used to look like this:

Hanna's list of things that suck.

1) Being pregnant and uncomfortable.

2) Moving.

3) Worrying about money.

4) Stress.

5) Paperwork.

Now it looks like this:

Hanna's list of things that suck.

1) Stressing about paperwork (home loan financing) when you're getting ready to move while 8 months pregnant and uncomfortable and are worried about money.

2) Being pregnant and uncomfortable.

3) Moving.

4) Worrying about money.

5) Stress.

6) Paperwork.

We're trying to remain ZEN-like and focus on a better list.

Hanna's list of things that rock.

1) Freedom Fridays at the YMCA - G and A go play on their own for 3.5 hours while we hang with littles.

2) squirmy, wiggly, growing babies - inside and outside of my stomach. love them all (5).

3) Finishing with New York Medical College and moooooooving on in 8 days!!!

4) Upcoming trip to visit family in Phoenix - yay FAMILY!!!

5) Kyle having lots of time to help me pack and keep me motivated through another move.

6) Sister's having ultrasounds that show a healthy, growing heartbeat and a perfectly sized fetus.

So much has happened. . .

2010-04-15T09:39:00.004-06:00

First of all - in all the madness of matching and finding out where we'll be living, I forgot to publicly wish Truman a SUPER amazing HAPPY birthday! This year really snuck by for me. I still think he is a teeny tiny baby and treat him like one - but he turned a whole year old anyway. Good thing he isn't too unmanageably heavy because he still loves to be held. He is learning some new communication forms, including nodding his head yes and shaking it no. It just completely cracks me up - along with anyone else who sees him do it. He makes the funniest faces and is an honest-to-goodness bundle of fun. He is running and starting to climb. He almost never cries, and when he does it is easily remedied with food, hugs, or a nap. For the first time this week I noticed he has really started to eat a lot more solid foods. He also learned how to drink from a straw. The first day that he learned this trick, he insisted on doing it over and over again and proceeded to completely soak two diapers in a row. I love that he thinks it is the coolest thing ever to guzzle his liquids that way. He loves to wave "hi" and "bye bye", sometimes even at the appropriate times. He is our first baby to really show a love for soft, snuggly blankies and toys. Guthrie has this little panda that he got from build-a-bear a while back and Truman finds it and carries it around with him, stopping to give it hugs right up against his face every so often. If I sit on the floor, he will almost always come plop his booty on my lap and he will stay with me down there and play with a toy or just keep me company for a while. He has been sleeping through the night pretty consistently for a while now. He goes back and forth between two naps and one nap, all depending on what time he wakes up in the morning and how long his first nap ends up being. He is adorable and happy during the day, but really lights up at 3:00 each day when the big kids get home from school. Overall, we are all SO in love with him still. I love how protective all of the kids are over him and the way everyone talks to him in baby voices still, even Sullivan.

Happy 1st birthday, choo choo!

During Tru's birthday weekend, we took the kids to Staten Island where our friends, The Sanders, live. They were generous enough to let all 6 of us sleep at their house for the night. We were able to leave the kids with a sitter (the first time since we moved to NY!!!) and go with Kirk and Brooke into the city to have dinner with friends to celebrate matching and moving onto residency. We had a great time.

The next day we took the kids to a children's museum and then to the park to eat pizza and birthday cake for Tru.

This past week we had Kyle's parents come visit us in New York. We wished we had more time to spend with them, but it ended up being all business. Kyle and I flew to Wisconsin (we took Tru) to look for a new home while Grandma and Grandpa took care of the kids. They were amazing and handled the chaos of our crazies with total grace. We are SO thankful for our families and all the help they give us. We did find a house, but only barely. The realtor scared us when we first met with her on Friday. She informed us that over 40% of their home inventory in the area had sold over the past 2 weeks because of the expiring tax credits. I'll admit that I was not too thrilled with the first batch of homes we saw. When I initially walked into our house, my first thought wasn't "oh I love this home." It was more like "I don't hate this one!" Our realtor was very patient and obliged us with a second run-through the home an hour or two after the first time and I knew then that we would be VERY happy there. We put in our offer and found out the next morning it was accepted outright. Now comes the hurtle of getting the financing put together and planning for a big move.

The house is in a large subdivision full of similar home (think cookie-cutter). We knew it was the right place for us, though, because of the sheer number of kids running and playing in the neighborhood. I wanted a place where kids would be welcomed and drivers would be careful for balls and bikes in the roads. This place fits that description perfectly. The house is on 1/3 acre, which gives us plenty of room for a trampoline and swing set. Its 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, with a nice big family room on the lower level. The kitchen has a great island with room for 4 bar stools for kids to hang out while we make dinner or whatever else we'll do in the kitchen. The previous owners must have had a dog because they installed this little iron fence at the bottom of the deck stairs. I am sure they used it as a dog run, but I'll probably really enjoy it as a Truman-run. It is a little strange to us that none of the yards are really fenced in, and the kids just use the connecting backyards as one big play place. So different than our Arizona lifestyle that we were expecting, but nice in its own way.

I don't have any pictures of this next part, but will share anyway. We found the house on Friday, thankfully, because Saturday ended up being an emotional and crazy day. Kyle and I took our time waking up and getting ready in the morning. At one point, Kyle saw Truman pick up a penny from the floor near the bed in the hotel room. He took it away, but apparently Tru had another penny tucked into his mouth already. A moment later, Kyle looks behind me and says "he's choking." *PANIC*. I was closer to Tru, so I picked him up and immediately put his belly over my arm and started back blows. It was probably only a few seconds, but when the penny didn't come out immediately REAL panic set in. I knew he couldn't breathe! I should have handed him over to Kyle (who tells me he was trying to get me to move out of the way and let him have the baby. . .but in my panic I honestly don't remember any of that). I put my finger way back in Tru's mouth to feel for the object. At the VERY back of his throat I felt the penny. I actually thought I could get it out, so I tried to use my finger as a hook (he's still not able to breathe at this point), and only succeeded in moving it slightly to the side. At that exact moment, Tru swallowed and down the penny went. I felt completely relieved because now he was able to breathe and aside from crying and a little sputtering, he seemed fine. I did have a thought that maybe the penny could be stuck, but figured we would most likely just need to watch for it to come out the other end.

Kyle didn't agree with me. He made a phone call to our realtor (whose husband is a pediatric internist) and asked his opinion. Together they agreed that we needed to at least have an x-ray to be sure the penny made it all the way to his stomach and wasn't caught on the way down. I thought it was probably unnecessary, but went along with it.

A few hours and an x-ray later, we were wheeled from the walk-in clinic at the hospital to the E.R. to wait for the pediatric GI doc to let us know what to do next. The x-ray showed the penny lodged in his esophagus at the level of his clavicles - clearly NOT in his stomach. They ended up putting him under general anesthesia and intubating him (to prevent the penny from falling into his trachea when they removed it) and using an endoscope to view and ultimately remove the penny. What an experience. I was heartbroken and worried for Truman, but honestly nothing could be worse than watching a baby choking and thinking he was going to die - so I think we dealt this the endoscope part pretty well. He had a tough time calming down after the anesthesia. He cried in my arms for about 30 minutes. I think he wanted the IV out, but they wouldn't take it out until they saw him take liquids by mouth. His throat must have been sore from the intubation and it took quite a while for us to convince him to drink some apple juice. We did eventually get some down and they unhooked him and let us take him home. It took a FULL day before the loopy, wobbly effects of the anesthesia seemed to wear off and he is obviously 100% okay. I, however, am changed forever.

I completely freak out now at the sight of anything small enough to go in his mouth. Who knew I would become a completely paranoid mother after 8 years of relatively easy-going parenting?

I am SO thankful Heavenly Father kept him safe and thankful for the sweet docs and nurses who took care of us. They were wonderful and a great introduction to the hospital in the town we'll be living in for the next three years.

Wow Wow, Wausau!

2010-03-18T13:44:00.002-06:00

We're moving to Wausau, Wisconsin this summer so Kyle can start his Family Practice residency!

2 days 'til MATCH day! AHHHHHH!

2010-03-13T09:36:00.005-06:00

Found random pictures from mom's visit :

Isn't she loverly.
Family skating time. (Tru was asleep and Sully was NOT interested.)

Gma and the kids.

Addie was the happy recipient of these hand-me-down roller skates. I have tried to throw them away multiple times because she rolls around the house and right on top of babies, fingers, and valuables. This picture was taken on the day of the biggest snow storm we had here in New York. She volunteered to shovel. in skates.

Last weekend we woke up with the dread of a Saturday stuck at home with four cooped up kids looming in front of us. Kyle made it his mission to get us out of the house. Hence - an impromptu trip to Cooperstown, USA. We ate yummy GIANT pizza slices and enjoyed a tour through the Baseball Hall of Fame. Now we can say we've been there, done that, spent $40 on crappy toys in the souveneir shop, and lived to tell about it.

Sully just makes me laugh in this picture.

On Thursday this week Adeline woke up feeling not-so-well. She ended up vomiting on the couch - twice - and sleeping the rest of the time. When I told her that morning that she wouldn't be going to school, she responded, "I hope I'm not sick tomorrow. Tomorrow is a SPECIAL day at school." I was too busy spraying cleaner on the couch and wishing I had a steam cleaner to ask her what "Special" meant.

On Friday, when she woke up healthy and happy, she announced it was "PINK DAY" at school. She picked out her own outfit.

Obviously Guthrie's class did not participate in PINK day. But I appreciate that he can get himself dressed, teeth brushed, etc. He does still want me to do his hair, though. Its nice to be needed. :p

I've been meaning to throw these pictures up here for a while - but that looming match day is just killing me. I am so busy worrying about it all in my head that I can't make my body cooperate when I need to get things done. Monday we find out *if* we matched and Thursday we find out *where*. So really Monday is the SUPER CRAZY KILL-ME-NOW important day. . .Thursday is kind of like Christmas.

And. . .only a few days unti Tru's birthday. Sad! but happy.

Jinxing Pink

2010-02-19T19:26:00.003-06:00

Ashley told me that if I bought this I would jinx my chances of having a girl. But I went ahead and did it anyway, fully knowing how lame I am at returning things I have no intention of using.

I should preface with the fact that I was totally happy to have a boy also. I love my little boys muchisimo, and it does seem like Tru would enjoy a little blue playmate.

Well - too bad for Tru, cuz this fetalicious baby is ALL GIRL!

I'm thrilled to have the little baby girl experience again - and even more thrilled that I don't have to return the pink lovey.

Why we actually WANT #5.

2010-02-18T19:29:00.003-06:00

Brotherly love!

Take 2
Random Saturday in January 2010. I suddenly realized it was quiet in the house and all 4 kids were nowhere to be seen. I peeked around the corner into the boys' room and found all of them quietly playing. I realized that its very rare to catch them all in a single photograph without it being staged, so I grabbed the camera to remember the moment.

And this is what happens when my kids see me with the camera.

Cute little bum in the sunlight.

Courtesy of Guthrie. He said we were "cute" and he needed to take our picture. I didn't crop it or anything - he's kind of a pro.

That's Addie. What else can I say? ;)

Our little Tru spent the last month progressing from standing alone to toddling to full-blown walking. He took his first steps about a week or so before my mom and Ashley and Mallory and Cessa came to visit. I think he wanted to show off his skills a little more, but it was hard to walk when our living room was a jungle of blow-up mattresses and suitcases. They'll just have to take my word for it - he's amazing. He quickly learned how to stand himself up in the middle of the room and now he does more of a popcorn motion. He almost jumps himself to his feet. It is pretty hard to believe that in a few more weeks we'll probably be so used to seeing him walking around that we won't stop to ogle and applaud anymore (its already less). For a while there, he would take a few steps and then finish his course clapping his own hands in celebration.

Things in New York are going pretty quickly. I thought I would love to have a change of seasons - but it turns out that I like it warm, hot even. I hope Arizona will forgive me and someday take me back. New York is cold and slushy - and they cancel school for every little snowflake, which makes our little apartment seem even smaller because it spends too much time filled up with restless kids who need a park or a parking lot or a dog kennel to run in. My couch has become the makeshift trampoline and it's definitely showing the effects of this use.

The kids still seem happy as clams in their school. Sullivan is going through an. . .ahem. . .adjustment phase. He basically does the exact opposite of anything I need/want him to do. Who knew my perfect little guy would turn out to be the most difficult 3-year-old I have ever encountered? I guess he's a late bloomer with the whole attitude and obstinance thing. His brother and sister picked it up earlier and milder.

In four weeks we find out if/where we matched for residency. Crazy anxiety going on. Pray for us and we'll pray for you too ;)

The mom visit was GREAT! I have zero pictures, though, because um . . .I don't know what I did with them. Need to find them. We hung with kids, then slipped away to the city for a day and a half, saw Wicked, shopped at a few stores, ate some food, then hung with kids more, took them ice skating, which was adorable, went on a date (while mom and aunts babysat), and then sadly kissed them goodby at the airport. It was one of my favorite family visits ever!

Clickin' my heels. . .

2010-02-18T18:45:00.004-06:00

'cause Dorothy knew what she was talking about. I wanna go home, too.

I went to my first OB appointment with the east coast version of a doctor's office.

I won't go into the whole story, but for several reasons I kept putting off the first appointment. When I finally did call the office, they had to take my name and call me back after they got permission from the doctor to see me because "you are already almost 5 months pregnant and have not had prenatal care." This, despite the fact that I told her three times I *did* see my OB in Phoenix for 2 visits prior to moving to New York. Apparently Arizona OBs aren't up to snuff and visits with them just don't count. I eventually get the call that the doctor has "agreed to see you, even though you didn't have prenatal care. But could you call your old OB and get the records transferred." Oh, you mean the records for the prenatal care I received with their office? Sure thing. (And where did she get the "almost 5 months pregnant" thing? Pregnancy must be 11 months long because I sure had a whole heckofalot left when I initially talked to her.)

So today was the appointment. At 8:30 in the morning, I might add. I asked repeatedly for an appointment that might accommodate my husband's schedule a little better to avoid taking my two youngest kids with me, but that would have pushed my initial visit back another week or two and they obviously didn't want to do that since I'm already 24 months pregnant and have not received prenatal care. My older 2 leave for school at 8:25 on the bus. I had the littles in car seats, car started, and big kids waiting with us at the curb for the bus. They were off and then I was off.

Front desk staff was nice enough, if a little slow. Normally slow is no big deal - but with 2 littles its feeling kind of chaotic. Then weight and height (I'm magically 2 inches shorter than I have been my whole life. Surely I can't be the first to tell them their measuring methods are inaccurate.) Then pee sample in small bathroom with large stroller and crying baby. I only had the teeniest, tiniest bit of pee in me (forgot to hold it for this part) and I missed the cup with half of it. Ooops. The nurse apologizes because she has to do a pregnancy test . . . "not that I don't believe you, but. . .you know." No, actually, I don't, but be my guest. Seriously, I'm fine. Test my pee. I'm pretty sure you're going to get two lines. And no cocaine or other street drugs. (Betcha a MILLION dollars they tested for those too.) Good luck with that 0.003 oz of pee I gave you. I did promise to do better next time.

We get settled in the room where I divvy up crackers, juice boxes and toys to the two kids and start praying for a speedy visit and semi-conscious kids. I got neither.

It took ONE HOUR from start to finish for the doctor (resident. . .but I should be okay with that considering our circumstances, right?) to fill out his medical records software. He only interacted with me when he tabbed to a blank on his screen that required my participation. Kyle finished his pediatric rounds and stopped by the office to try to help with kids. He held Tru for me and witnessed the best part of the whole appointment.

Dr. Resident whips out his trusty ol' Doppler. He proceeds to listen to the baby's heart beat. At first it was the baby. . .but then baby moved. He adjusted the Doppler and I SWEAR he was hearing MY heart beat. . .you know the one that is WAY slower than the baby's just was. But instead of searching around for the actual baby's heart beat he left it there and continued with his counting for the minute with my heart beat thumping through the Doppler's speaker. ummmm. . .what was that all about. Kyle is looking at me with giant saucer eyes like "we are SO going to be talking about this encounter as soon as we're safely in the car." ( I should add that I don't think Dr. Resident was actually counting anything with the thumpin' Doppler. . .I think he was just pausing long enough to make Kyle/me think he was counting because if he had actually been counting, he would have freaked out and rushed us in for an emergency ultrasound to try to figure out why my baby had a heart rate in the 80s, rather than the mid-100s like he was supposed to. I'm just sayin'. Not to mention, why don't they have Dopplers with the digital display that does the counting for you. Maybe only the special doctors get those. You know the special doctors. . .the ones who have to use them countless times a day to check on babies. Wonder what kind of doctor I had, though I do think there are Obs/Midwives who are just so used to it that they know a proper rate vs. an irregular baby rate and don't need to count or have a digital display. . .I'm just thinkin' he was NOT one of those for the reason stated above.)

Dr. Resident then decides to measure my fundus. While he is doing this I say, "So sorry about the kids (even though they're being good). I wasn't sure how to get an appointment that would let me leave them home." His response : "Well at some point we're going to have to talk about birth control to take care of that situation." Now, I understand that OBs do generally have a conversation with a pregnant woman about her birth control plans for after the birth. But am I wrong to find it offensive for him to bring that up in response to my comment about my children? I informed him we wouldn't be delivering with his practice, as we will be moving shortly before I am due. I'll discuss that with someone who is NOT you.

The appointment concluded with him telling me to come back in 4 weeks and "we generally encourage women to see the same provider at each visit to help with continuity of care, so try to make your appointment with me." Ummmm, right. I promptly scheduled my next appointment with the midwife. I hear she may not be much better, but I'm crossing my fingers for more speedy. I'd like my prenatal visits to be like ripping off a Band-Aid from now on.

It all feels so pointless since I won't be delivering with them, but in my quest for a midwife to actually birth with, the potentials have mentioned that my having prenatal care (those words AGAIN) would make them more comfortable with my last minute transfer when we move. I already told Kyle I want to just stay home again and do it on our own. I'm thinking he's not convinced.

. . .wishing I could fly Joni and Dr. Grefnes to Arizona (or Iowa, or Wisconsin, or Indiana, or wherever we end up for residency) to give me the birth that I'm terrified of not having.

Real update with pictures and kid updates and mommy visit summary is actually coming. . .but this was obviously the first thing on my mind.

Too much to ask. . .

2010-01-16T10:57:00.002-06:00

to have everyone all looking and the camera and un-goofy at the same time. :) We took some pictures thinking we could throw them in some thank you cards for our residency interviews. Our only option was a tripod and the self-timer. In the end, I think we picked the one with Truman's face looking kind of drugged. We figured people can understand a baby not cooperating. Surprisingly (or not) the majority of pictures were thrown out because of Guthrie. LOL He swears my mom told him to smile by "putting my top teeth in front of my bottom lip." Ummmm, thanks a lot, Mom.

Live from New York. . .

2010-01-16T09:57:00.003-06:00

I guess I left my blog hanging there. Morning sickness tends to do that to me, though I really fooled myself into thinking it wouldn't happen this time. I read back through my blog from pregnancy with the other kids and saw that the nausea started right around 5 weeks. Kyle and I travelled to California for his Step 2 - CS exam right at my six-week mark. We unpacked in our hotel room and I distinctly remember commenting to him that I wondered if I would skip morning sickness this time. We rested for a while and I realized a short time later that I was pretty hungry. By the time we got to the restaurant for dinner, I was feeling completely sick. I ate some breadsticks and a little soup and recognized that awful 'I'm so hungry but don't want anything to eat and this soup tastes like poop' feeling. For the next 7 weeks the nausea was my constant companion. No one said anything specific, but I'm pretty sure I cried and whined a lot during this time. We took a short trip up to Taylor to see my uncle get married. On the way home a combination of morning sickness and motion sickness kept me throwing up the entire ride home. I would gag, then cry, and repeat for 3 hours. My poor husband and my poor kids. . .

Anyway, the sun seems to be shining lately because that feeling is nearly 100% gone! I actually really do love the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. I like being just a little round in the middle and feeling happy and energetic again. I like that I can pick up the house a little bit, instead of staring at it and wishing it would clean itself. I LOVE that I can finally cook again. Keeping everyone fed when you can't stand the smell of food is SO hard and only seems to get harder as the kids get older. Cheerios for dinner doesn't go over as well now as it did when they were toddlers. :p

I guess life still had to go on while I was whining on the couch. Our only girl turned 6 years old! She was in birthday heaven. For some reason she completely underestimates us and didn't believe that the Nintendo DS she opened for her present was REALLY for her. I think she was waiting for us to tell her she had to share it with someone or had to give it back after a week. "It's mine? I get to keep it?" Ummm, yes dear. It *is* your birthday! Really, though, that is one of my favorite things about her. She has no expectations and really appreciates every gift she gets. . .wait, I just remembered she was kind of a brat when she opened Grandma and Grandpa Hunter's presents on Christmas. I guess we do have some work to do. ;) I totally love her buns!

Then of course there was Christmas. Santa was very generous this year and gave us all what we really wanted. What a man! Adeline got her beautiful Barbie princess collection. Guthrie got his Hot Wheels track. Sullivan's gift is actually a funny story. He's spotted this dinosaur back in JULY when we took him to Walmart to run errands. We told him "maybe next time." For the next five months, he would periodically ask us if we could go to "Woll-mart" and get the "shooting dinosaur." Normally I would buy my kid the silly toy, but I kept putting him off. When November rolled around, we started the "maybe for Christmas" talk. He saw Santa a few times during the season and asked for "Creeeetcher" for Christmas. When he saw it on Christmas morning, he cuddled it like it was the softest, snuggliest teddy bear ever.

Perhaps the biggest change during my hiatus involves our move across the country. Sunday after Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa Hunter loaded Guthrie, Adeline and Sullivan into our Expedition (plus trailer) and started the incredibly long, whine-filled drive to Iowa. Kyle and I flew to Chicago the next day. We rented a car and spent the next 2.5 days driving, interviewing, having dinners and lunches with residency programs and sleeping in hotels. The kids and Kyle's parents met us on Wednesday night just outside of Chicago. We ate some GREAT deep dish pizza and slept in another hotel. I learned that the Hampton Inn is a pretty dependable, affordable hotel option if you have choices. We stayed in 3 different Hampton Inns that week and they all had comfortable beds, decent breakfast, and free hot chocolate, which the kids deemed fabulous. As a matter of fact, in a mini-breakdown moment the night we arrived at our apartment here in Kingston, I almost insisted we leave the house for the first night and go stay at the Hampton Inn I spotted as we drove into town. Kyle let me cry it out and helped pull the house enough together to allow us to sleep here that night.

Our first week here was not only snowy, but also absolutely freezing! I know now that I can handle anything 35 degrees or above. For every degree we fall below that, I have to add another layer of wool. :p At one point my feet were so cold, we went to a sporting goods store and I bought the hiking socks meant for 40-below temperatures. My feet still got cold in those a few times. :p

This week has been SO great. Yesterday was nearly 50! I think we're supposed to get rain this week too! I'm thinking I'll make it after all.

Kyle's schedule at the hospital has been great. We've spent a lot of time together. The kids LOVE their school. I love the fact that by sheer coincidence we rented the house (apt?) right on the corner of the bus stop. How lucky are we? Since the kids are happy, I know we're going to be just fine here for our short stay. Really, we only have a little over 4 months until we move again. (Who knows where?)

Kyle bought this car for $750 when he was here last fall. We had a generous friend willing to drive and store it while we were gone. It has amazingly not had a single problem since we purchased it and actually seems to be a pretty decent car.

These last few pictures are completely out of order, but deserve to be posted - Kyle took the 3 older kids to the cabin a few days before Christmas. I tried to pretend like it was mean of him to leave me home with Truman to finish Christmas all by myself, but I don't think anyone believed that I wasn't doing a secret dance inside.

They played in the snow, built their first snowman and went Christmas carrolling with Grandpa Hunter.

The kids had their "Winter Concert." My pictures are extremely lame - so this is basically what you get. Addie is the little blonde on the top row (always the top row for my tall kids).

Hmmmmm, no picture of his performance. Love the water bottles, though.

The pregnancy has hit a nice comfortable point. I actually don't feel all that pregnant at all - other than the super mushy midsection and the round bump down low on my stomach. I did see an OB for just a moment in Arizona. I haven't been to a doctor here in NY yet, but I'm working on finding one. Its a little strange, as we will be moved before I actually deliver - but I talked to a midwife in one of our potential towns and she said she would attend a homebirth as long as I have prenatal care, which I guess is reasonable, as she would want to know I was low risk for any complications. I think if we end up back in Phoenix, I would just deliver at Phoenix Baptist. They're one of the hospitals that will let you bring in a birth pool and the same midwives who delivered Sully at the birth center work there. A part of me would really mourn not being able to stay home :( but a homebirth would almost certainly cost money, where a hospital birth would be nearly free (to me, with insurance). Maybe I'll change my mind as the actual time draws near. We'll see.

Shopping!

2009-11-11T12:15:00.002-06:00

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

2009-10-14T16:23:00.005-06:00

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

2009-10-02T19:08:00.002-06:00

(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

2009-09-23T14:05:00.003-06:00

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.

2009-09-20T09:54:00.002-06:00

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 -

2009-09-16T13:33:00.003-06:00

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.

2009-09-16T12:30:00.007-06:00

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

2009-09-10T22:03:00.004-06:00

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. . .

2009-08-24T10:49:00.002-06:00

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.

2009-08-16T10:29:00.003-06:00

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!

2009-08-11T11:26:00.006-06:00

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

2009-08-06T13:08:00.000-06:00

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

. . .

2009-08-06T12:44:00.003-06:00

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.

Sometimes. . .

2009-07-20T11:33:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I think that if Addie drops one more breakable item I am going to scream.

But then she does, and I don't. or maybe sometimes I do.

Go figure.

I keep not blogging because there is just too much to catch up on. I'm working on that. :)

MWAH!

Going Private

2009-06-04T22:11:00.002-06:00

Just 'cause.

If I don't already have your email address, leave it in comments and I'll add you. Heck, even if you think I have it, leave it in comments or email me because I'm WAY not organized like that.

The Update - Part 2 (photos)

2009-05-26T09:59:00.003-06:00

The Update :)

2009-05-26T09:33:00.002-06:00

I have a whole new respect for single parents. Especially those who don't get to live next to their all-too-helpful sisters and mothers. :) I have been thinking about updating my blog, but whenever I had time, I was lacking brain power and vice versa.

THE LATEST:

* Kyle drove with us back to ARizona. (Who am I kidding? - he actually DROVE the entire way because his wife is slightly stay-awake-at-the-wheel impaired and his 6-week-old son was stay-in-the-carseat-without-crying-for-food impaired. It was a LONG 25 hours). We landed at my parents' house and it only took about four hours for us to realize that staying with them was definitely NOT going to be a long-term solution to our ARizona time. We started a hunt for homes. We looked at exactly one house before we rented it. I guess we're not really bargain hunters. Also, the house was fine, the price was as low as they get, and it was only 2 blocks from my mom and about 6 blocks from my sister. Closer is better when I'm on my own. Kyle left back to Mexico, driving with our friend Jimmy, about 36 hours later. Bummer.

He arrived in Mexico on Sunday night. School started back for him on Wednesday, then was pushed to Thursday, finally pushed to Friday. He showed up at school long enough for him to take the two finals that completed his 8th semester classes - and also long enough for the governor of Jalisco to hold a press conference closing all of the states schools and universities due to three swine flu deaths in the last 24 hours. I love facebook because I saw the news in someone's status, checked the Guadalajara Reporter to confirm it was true, and had already checked plane tickets before Kyle even called me. He was on the plane the next morning at 7:00 am, and in Arizona by 8:00 our time. We had an entire week together - even more peaceful because my father-in-law took the three older kids to his cabin with him. It was a STRANGE week, for sure.

He returned to MX on Sunday the 17th, just in time to find out that the school had cancelled his final rotations at the hospital due to the swine flu. He just had to turn in his paperwork and he was officially done with medical school. WOOHOO! He could have come right home except for the fact that the school has to have a valid visa on file prior to graduation and this is a little something we'd been putting off. So, he is still in Mexico trying to get the visa sorted out just in time to cancel it and come back home - but whatever.

* Guthrie never did get registered in school. The elementary school right here in the neighborhood was adamant that they get his records from the school in Mexico prior to letting him start. The whole swine flue closing of the school made that a nightmare, so it just never happened. The charter school would have let him start, but their first grade classes were completely full. The poor kid has just been stuck at home the last few weeks - but whatchagonna do?

* Adeline started (And will be finishing this week) Pre-K at a cute little home preschool run by a gal in our ward. She loves it. It's only two days a week for three hours, a drastic difference from her school in MExico, but she's probably learning more in those three hours that she did in the whole week down there, so we'll take the little bit we can get. I registered both kids for school at the charter school in town. I am greatly looking forward to a five-minute drive to/from school versus last year's 30-minute drive each way.

* Sullivan is just chillin' with me and Truman. He likes to tell everyone his nicknames (Trumanski, Tapatio, Tru Tru Train, etc.) He also likes to punch him; "I punch him soft, mommy," followed by a slow-mo punch. Kinda funny.

* Truman is super sweet, fat, and smiley. He actually LIKES HIS PACIFIER!!! YAY! I think it took a lot of work to make it happen, but now my mom, Ash, and I can all get him to sleep with the paci instead of nursing.

* I had been working my two different jobs for the first few weeks we were here. After semi-coming unglued last week, I had to give notice to the one job. Since I was only doing overflow for the other, my stress level has been reduced significantly. I'll be picking up more work now in the near future, but am hoping that with Kyle here for the next month it won't be so bad.

Arizona is HOT, as always, but I really like being back in the states. I miss my Don Miguelon Tacos :( and my husband (not in that order), but someday we'll go back to visit. Maybe. If I'm ready.

Quit yer SWINE-ing.

2009-04-27T23:47:00.002-06:00

Welp, the city has changed a lot in the last few days. Everything is closed and cancelled including kids and kyle's school.

We tried to get Tru's passport, but it looks like it won't happen. Thankfully, we called the border and they say that they'll let us back into the US - so driving is our only choice.

We had to pack the house because this is our only chance to get the trailer out - so we spent a few hours getting that done.

We'll leave tomorrow afternoon and be home by Wednesday.

Good bye, Mexico. :)

Back to Work!

2009-04-20T13:20:00.003-06:00

I remember several months ago (seems like a lifetime) commenting to Kyle that I would probably only need a few days off from work. I mean, I sit on my butt and type for a living - how much postpartum recovery does a person really need to get that done? It turns out that I was physically ready to work long before I was mentally or emotionally ready - and it only took me a few days postpartum to figure that out.

Today is the day that I promised to return - and as I just told Ashley - I'm not dead yet. :p The True-ster has napped quietly for the last few hours, Sully is playing with (allegedly) sick Adeline, and I've already done enough work that if I don't get anything else done for the rest of the day, I can call it good.

I realize today that this picture, taken a week ago, is already outdated. All that hair on top has fallen out and he has baby zits galore. I still think he's adorable. ;)

Truman was a month old yesterday! It was the longest shortest month of my life. I wish I could have it back, but I'm REALLY glad its gone. If you've had a baby any time in the last millenium, I'm sure you can relate.

He is just a DOLL. The kids all love him. *I* mega-love him. Kyle is searching for the perfect nickname for him. . .so far he is kicking around "Trumagotchi". I told him it won't stick, but I said that about Sullivan's nickname too - and now I call him "Boulevard" all the time. Don't ask me how Kyle came up with Boulevard for my little Sullimander. :p

I'm too far behind on real blogging to actually catch up. The short version: Easter was fun. Easter breakfast with friends. Missed a bunch of church. Kids have been sick WAY more than is fair for their mommy with a new baby. Spring Break was a lot of fun. I'm glad its over.

Picture from the Easter breakfast. Adeline woke up SICK. Kyle stayed home with her while I took the boys. I still haven't decided who got the better end of the deal. I think it was possibly me. I had three kids - but HE had to clean up throwup.

Only 39 days until we leave. WHATTT?? Yup - 39 more days and we leave our ex-pat life behind. I'm worried we have a serious adjustment phase ahead of us. I mean, we haven't used real cell phones in like. . . 4years. Will the preschoolers make fun of us for not knowing how to text?? The horror.

56 days

2009-04-03T14:14:00.002-06:00

Until Kyle graduates and we can get the frijole outta here!! :o

Best Day Ever - or just a decent day.

2009-04-02T18:37:00.003-06:00

If you had asked me last night what kind of day it was going to be, I would have guessed it would be awful. Rewind to last night when Sullivan presented with a high fever, an achy body, a sad disposition and an unwillingness to take any kind of medicine. I even tried hiding it in juice - he figured me out. Around 8:30 I laid with him in my bed and he fell quickly (back) to sleep. Our night moved along normally (as normally as a night with a newborn can move along, i.e. sleep, feed, change, repeat) until 1:00, when Tru decided that sleep was for the birds and fussing and farting was more his style. (Note to self: keep Mylicon close to bed tonight.) Tru fussing + Sullivan in our bed = 3 out of 4 master bed inhabitants awake and alert for 1.5 hours in the middle of MY night. Grrrr, frustration, weep (me). For the record, the fourth inhabitant did wake up and try to bounce the smallest inhabitant for a few minutes while the mom inhabitant whimpered and whined in frustration. Then the aforementioned inhabitant went back to snoring. . .errr, um - I mean sleeping. Somewhere around 2:45 a.m., I realized that everyone was asleep except for me, and after one last nudge in the ribs to the dad inhabitant, I dozed off myself.

The alarm went off at 6:30 and I got up to get the kids ready for school. No, this is NOT the beginning of the GOOD day. They dressed, they groomed, they ate, they packed, and I sent them out the door with Kyle. I tiptoed back up to my bed and after a diaper change and a sleepy feed, we all went back to sleep. (Cue the beginning of the good day). We slept, soundly, and peacefully until 10:30 a.m. WHAT? Yes - 10:30. I don't think I've done that since I was a teenager - or maybe it was before I had kids. (Holding my breath for Ashley's pregnant teenager joke here). I was SO asleep that I didn't even hear Joana knock on the door, but because this was a GOOD day - she came in and started picking up the house for me.

Like any child would do on a good day, Sullivan woke up without a fever and with only a little bit of residual stuffiness.

I spent the majority of my day bouncing from the couch to the bed to the shower to the chair to any other place that qualifies as a flat surface fit for nursing a baby. It was good.

Kyle and the kids came home. Guff went to Tae Kwon Do. Addie and Sullivan fought less than usual. Good.

Dinner time rolled around and instead of panicking because our week worth of meals from the very best friends a girl could ask for have come to an end, I put the world's sweetest baby in the sling (surely not because he cries if I put him anywhere else), walked into my clean kitchen (surely not because *I* cleaned it), put together makeshift pizzas from pita bread, leftover spaghetti sauce and a few random fixings, made a scrumptious dessert (or maybe I just defrosted a cheese cake). . .all while wearing a pair of non-maternity jeans that fit (sort of - maybe they're the biggest jeans I own and now have that coveted painted-on look that you're so envious of - but I like the jeans/girdle combo). See - its the best day ever!!

I should note that the title of "best day ever" at our house is bestowed rather liberally for such occurrences as Happy Meals, late bedtimes, and the occasional fruit roll-up.

I guess the moral to the story is that four kids will NOT kill me and we're going to pull through in the end. :)

On a Truman note: We went to the pediatrician on Tuesday (12 days old) night for a checkup and the newborn screen. Our little guy was up to 9 pounds 4 ounces (up 5 ounces from birth weight) and he was almost 21 inches long. I had the pediatrician clip the little membrane under his tongue and I am SO glad I had him do it. His latch is officially perfect now and my nipple pain has completely disappeared. YAY!! We also had the newborn screen done and $180 later, we can officially say that we miss insurance. We'll have the results in a couple of weeks, just in time for his next checkup at one month. After that, I think I'll hold off on the checkups until we're back in the states and can share the cost with an insurance company.

No Words. . .

2009-03-27T10:56:00.003-06:00

because I only have one hand to type with. ;)

Birth Story

2009-03-25T17:04:00.005-06:00

(This is the slightly edited version, believe it or not.)

From the very beginning of this pregnancy, I anticipated (or wished really hard for) an earlier than 40 weeks delivery date. I wasn't too picky about *how* early our baby would come, just hoped for early. Sullivan was born one day before his due date and I figured baby #4 should follow a similar path. Fast forward to 39 and a half weeks - I hadn't had any real signs of impending labor other than increasingly strong Braxton Hicks contractions. I convinced myself that my worry over labor logistics must be impeding real labor from coming and invited Ashley and my mom to hop on a plane to come encourage labor with me (or keep me sane, either would work). On Sunday March 15th, they arrived in Guadalajara. With them in town and me NOT in labor, I suddenly felt more crazy than before and even slightly guilty for pulling them away from their lives for nothing.

We tried to have fun on Monday and Tuesday. We did all the walking my hips could handle. We ate at a few of our favorite restaurants. I managed to get some pretty decent contractions coming from all of that, but still woke up pregnant on Tuesday and was discouraged, to say the least. We bummed around town on Tuesday and again, I had some good contractions coming. By Tuesday afternoon, we decided that we better hit the VIP movie theatre right then or we would miss our chance. We left the kids home with Kyle and Mom, Ash, and I went to see Last Chance Harvey (I think that is the English title). The theatre was amazing. Big, leather recliners, trays pull-out in front of you to hold your plate of crepes or your sandwich. We ordered a few drinks, a big popcorn and a crepe for each of us. YUM! The movie was cute, but I think all the walking wore me out because I actually dozed off in the middle of it, something I never do at the movies. By the time the movie was over, all of my contractions had come to an end. I hoped that maybe after the kids went to bed they would pick up again.

We sat down on Tuesday night to watch the show I love to hate, Deliver Me on Discovery Health. I was keenly aware that I was having NO contractions whatsoever.

Kyle's snoring woke me up that night around 1:30 or 2:00 a.m. and I moved myself downstairs to the couch. Soon after, I woke up to use the bathroom a few times in a row and realized I was having strong consistent contractions. I didn't want to get too excited so I tried to sleep at first. The ache in my back would wake me up and I would mentally note the time. They were in a definite pattern about 5 minutes apart, but sometimes shorter. By 5:30 a.m., I was sure this was it! When I heard Kyle's alarm go off at 6:30, I told him I was pretty sure I was in labor and we debated on sending the kids or leaving them home. We decided to let them stay home since Joana was coming over anyway. Kyle got ready and left for school with his cell phone in hand in case we needed him to come home. I *really* thought we would be laboring hard by the time he finished classes at 1:00 p.m.

The contractions kept their pattern and occasionally seemed strong enough to command my attention. By 12:30, I was feeling tired and decided to retreat to my room and watch some TV while I bounced on my ball. I'm sure it wasn't the ball's fault, but I wanted to pop it when shortly thereafter the contractions once again seemed to slow and then stop completely. Frustration! I can't remember exactly, but I'm sure at some point in here I cried. A lot. I tried to keep reminding myself that at least I was getting the early work out of the way.

I went to bed on Wednesday night fully expecting to wake up in real labor at some point. Almost as soon as I laid down and drifted off, I started experiencing contractions spaced widely. Sometimes I would consciously read the time and try to do the math, but most of the time the contraction would wake me and I would be too groggy to remember what time it was the last time they woke me. The few that I managed to remember seemed to be spaced around 20 minutes apart. This continued all night. I did manage to get some sleep and woke up feeling slightly refreshed despite this.

At no point on Thursday morning did I have any kind of "this is it!" feeling. The contractions stayed widely spaced and we went about our morning. We sent the kids to school, but Kyle took the day off to be with us. We tried to go to the Tianguis market for the second time since my mom and Ash arrived, but we realized they must have closed it permanently because once again the lot was empty. We took a detour to Costco and bought a few things that we probably didn't really need, including these giant marshmallows that were a big hit with my kids that day and with Ashley's kids when she took them home. We sat at Costco for a while and let Sully eat lunch while we were visiting. During this time (about 1:00 p.m.) we noted that my contractions were 8 to 10 minutes apart. I was starting to feel encouraged that this was real labor and it wouldn't stop, but wasn't letting myself get too excited. During each contraction I tried to close my eyes, relax my pelvic floor, loosen my jaw, and visualize my cervix opening. I figured it couldn't hurt anything and mostly just made me look like a crazy American women praying over her Costco food.

We picked the kids up at 2:00 and then headed home. The kids had a snack and did their homework and then we took them to the park to play. During homework time, I was slightly discouraged to realize my contractions had spaced out a little bit. I decided to walk around the park, telling my mom that I would be happy if I could get them to come closer to 5 minutes apart. While we were walking, they did come more frequently - but seemed to space back to 8 minutes apart when we got home. We fed the kids dinner and killed time until bedtime. I took a moment to relax by myself in the birth pool through a few contractions. At first they came at the same frequency, but then I had a long (15 minutes?) break without any, so I climbed back out.

Kyle laid with Sully in the other bedroom just in case it was baby night. Guthrie and Addie drifted off to sleep while watching Madagascar on a blowup mattress in Kyle's office.

A little after 8:00, we decided to put a movie on for distraction. It took forever to get through the previews and by the time the movie actually got started I was feeling slightly undistractable. I watched a bit of it.

About 9:20, I decided I wanted to set up my birth space. I lit all the candles and burned the incense. It was SO peaceful and amazing. I timed a few contractions to see where we were at. They were coming about six minutes apart. My mom checked on me a little while later and asked if I wanted Kyle. I did. He came up to our room and asked me if I wanted him to put some music on. He started a CD that he had made just for our birth and turned the volume down really low. At one point, the song was something Christmas-y by Il Divo. They were singing "and tonight a child is born." I also really enjoyed the few songs from Wicked that he put on there.

Kyle changed into his swim shorts and sat on the outside of the tub just holding my hand or stroking my arm during contractions. It had to be around 9:45 at this point. We did this for a little while until I had a couple of contractions come three minutes apart. Kyle asked if I thought we should call Joni and Dr. Grefnes. I told him I wanted to time a few more and if they continued to come three minutes apart, we would call. I had two more that were 3 minutes apart, and he left to go call. While he was gone, my mom stayed with me. The very next contraction was spaced more like 4 minutes apart and I asked my mom to go tell Kyle to have them wait a bit before coming. He was already off the phone and she passed on my message. He pretty much made an executive decision that whether I liked it or not, they were coming NOW.

Joni arrived around 10:20 p.m., I believe.

At this point, time gets a little loopy in my memory. It felt like Joni was only there for 5 minutes before the baby was born, but really she was there for about 40 minutes, which means she must have been there for about 25 minutes or so before I started pushing. At first my pushes were just at the tail end of each contraction. It felt good to give in to the pushing urge, even though Joni kept reminding me that if I didn't want to tear, I should let my body do all the pushing. I SOOOO did not want to tear, but I don't think I was entirely convinced it was possible after having a previous episiotomy and tearing with the two subsequent births.

I remember Dr. Grefnes arriving right about the beginning of the pushing stage. I saw him step away at one point with his cell phone and knew he was calling the pediatrician. I knew that the baby would be born before the pediatrician could arrive, but it didn't worry me. I could feel him wiggling and squirming inside of me the whole time - AMAZING.

The contractions changed into full-blown pushing contractions at this point. The urge to push was uncontrollable and I tried so hard to slow it down - only adding the bare minimum force it took to feel a little relief. I had my hand down at my vaginal opening and I could feel what I thought was the head descending and then slipping back with each push. Finally I pushed a little beyond that point and felt a few little pops or clicks further up in my vaginal canal. I thought maybe it was his head coming around the bone finally, but at that exact moment the "head" I thought I was touching burst and I felt the fluid rush past my hand. I never knew the bag of water would feel so firm!

The next contractions brought his head down into my vaginal canal and to crowning. The contraction never seemed to end and I tried so hard to not push and let my body stretch around him. Finally, I realized that the contraction wasn't going to let up and I just had to go with it. I think I even apologized to Joni as she tried to slow my pushing. I pushed hard and his head emerged completely. Once his head was out, it was amazing that I didn't feel pain. I kept my hand down there rubbing his head while I waited for the next contraction. Kyle was sitting behind me as I knelt with my free hand up on the side of the pool. He had a perfect view and felt the baby's head. Right when he touched the head, I felt baby kick up inside me and it kind of freaked me out. I didn't know who had done it, but I knew someone had touched him and asked them to stop. (If I had known it was Kyle, I probably would have encouraged him to keep touching his baby - hopefully he'll forgive me.)

I continued to feel his little head and then put my hand lower and thought I felt a cord around his neck. I said so out loud and Dr. Grefnes reached in to check. As soon as his hands touched the baby, I felt another kicking reaction. Dr. Grefnes assured me he didn't have a cord around his neck and I relaxed. After that, I vocalized my desire that no one touch us (me or baby). On the video you can see Dr. Grefnes raise both hands in the air like, "See, I'm not touching!" LOL.

The baby's head had been out for a while and I still hadn't experienced another contraction. I gave a little test push and that seemed to trigger my uterus to help me out. I had to push hard for his shoulders and felt that slithery feeling as he slipped most of the way out. I felt another little slither as his legs slipped out and then it was done.

Kyle caught our slippery baby and he and Dr. Grefnes brought him out of the water. I had to do a tricky ballet move to lift my leg up over the cord so I could turn around to see him. I was delirious with joy and immediately thought he was the most beautiful thing in the world. It was overwhelming and delicious and miraculous.

My mom or Ashley woke Guthrie and Adeline right then and they came in to see their new brother. They were both in awe and so sweet about it. They stood around the pool and admired and asked questions about it all. Truman was pretty content to just lie next to my breast and didn't really try to latch on much. I did get him to latch a couple of times and he felt like a pro. After what seemed like forever, the cord stopped pulsating and I asked Dr. Grefnes to help me push the placenta out. The after pains had started and I was NOT happy about the interruption in baby time. Kyle held little Truman and I tried to support myself in a squat. I had to actually push really hard - or maybe I wasn't pushing hard and I was just pushing as hard as I wanted to, which was not at all. :p It seemed to take effort though. The cord was SO short. There wasn't enough length for it to have been around his neck.

Dr. Grefnes took the placenta in a bowl to the bathroom and invited Guthrie and Addie to inspect it with him. Ashley got one of my big sheets of paper and they even did a placenta print. I think the kids were hoping they would get a chance to hold the baby, but the placenta process was taking so long that they were both drooping before we got a chance. My mom helped tuck them back into bed and they went right to sleep.

I stood up (with help of course) and stepped onto a drop cloth outside of the pool. Dr. Grefnes did a quick vaginal inspection. He declared me completely intact without a single tear. I didn't believe him, so he had Kyle come and confirm. I could not (and still cannot) believe that I kept my perineum intact.

I scooted up higher in bed and someone covered me in some towels so I could stay warm while the pediatrician did his exam. He checked out all the important stuff, but I'll admit I just wanted to know how much he weighed and how long he was. Baby Truman passed meconium and urinated during the exam and the doctor took forever gently cleaning his little diaper region. It was crazy to watch a physician handle my baby as gently as *I* would. Dr. Franky took every one's bets on weight. I said 8lb 3 oz. I think everyone else's guesses were around 8 and a half pounds. The doctor told us we were all wrong and he guessed 9 pounds. His official weight was 4050 grams (8 lb 15 oz converted). I was shocked - but I should have known from Sullivan that I am a terrible weight guesser. :p

After that, I was selfish and took the baby back. I laid him on my chest and covered him in a towel.

Around 2:00 in the morning, we slipped a little diaper on Truman (no cover) and we all went to bed.

I failed to mention that somewhere in there Sullivan woke up . He came into our room, climbed up near me in the bed and said, "Mommy, dah baby come out of your tummy!" He tried to look at my tummy to see if it looked different. Next was, "He wants to play with my dinosaurs," and off he ran to find toys and a book to share with the baby. It was a tender moment for sure. Unfortunately, when we were all ready for bed, Sullivan was still a little wired. I'm not sure who or how, but eventually he fell asleep too.

The entire thing went better than I could have hoped for. I originally wished for a fast labor as soon as my mom and Ashley arrived, but I wouldn't trade what I got for anything. I was a whiny tour guide, but I enjoyed spending time in Mexico with my mom and sister. I was frustrated with my slow labor, but I wouldn't trade it for a fast, furious painful labor. My husband was AWESOME during the process. He was this calm, rational presence through it all. He was more than willing to climb into the birth pool with me and catch our baby. Even when the waters were murky with blood and other debris, he stayed with me and admired our baby while we waited for the placenta. I just love that he shared this experience with me. I feel so complete.

Better late than never!

2009-03-21T12:02:00.003-06:00

Joseph Truman Hunter was born on March 19, 2009 at 11:02 p.m. He weighed in at a hefty 8 pounds 15 ounces, but he had already passed meconium and urinated, so I think I should get credit for that last ounce, don't you? :p He was 20 inches long with a 14 inch head.

I only have one free hand for the moment, but I'll share more later. :)

Still no baby!

2009-03-18T05:22:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was my official due date. My mom and Ash made it in safely - so now we're just puttering around trying to stay busy and active to see if it will help baby come. :)

Almost there!

2009-03-12T18:23:00.002-06:00

With only a few more days until the baby is due, I'm getting a little antsy. I finally decided that my body must be waiting for my mom and Ash to come - so they are planning to fly in this weekend. YAY! It will be more motivating to walk the mall or the zoo or the museum with them in tow.

I've been having a hard time sleeping at night. I wish I could say it was due to all the hard, labor contractions I've been having - but really its because my husband has a new found ability to snore in ANY position. Usually, I can ask him to turn onto his side and that solves it. Lately though, it seems that even on his side he is a bear. I've taken to sleeping on the couch some nights, which is probably as comfortably as the bed at this point. Kyle says I should wake him up and make him sleep down there but I think he is underestimating the amount of energy it would take to wake him all the way up from a dead sleep. First on the agenda when we get insurance: SNORE SURGERY FOR KYLE!

Monday March 13th is a holiday here in MX (not sure which), so we're kind of hoping for a weekend baby. Kyle and the kids would have Monday off to relax and get to know baby. Wish us luck!

21 days!

2009-02-24T17:54:00.002-06:00

Until my due date, that is. I'm still kind of holding out hope that I'll be one of those lucky brats (yeah, I'll use that word instead of the OTHER word I substitute every time I find out that someone due AFTER me has delivered their baby BEFORE me) who gets to skip a week or two of pregnancy by going into labor early.

I *should* take a moment instead to thank Heavenly Father:

* for giving me a body capable of holding a growing baby in safely until the optimal time to be born, even though he doesn't let me pick that day.
* for living in a day when knowledge about nutrition and availability of nutritious foods help my baby grow to his healthiest self.
* for an amniotic sack of STEEL! Labor hurts way less with that water bag intact.
* for the ability to make fun of myself every time I get antsy for the baby to make his appearance.
* for a husband who will make fun of me in case I temporarily forget to laugh.

I admittedly have baby on the brain. We still have so many things we need to get in place before the baby really comes, which should help to keep me patient. I mean, my mom hasn't even sent my Wii in for repair yet and that could take up to two weeks (kidding, mom). Or maybe the more important things like what to do if I go into labor while my kids are at school and things are moving so quickly that I need someone to pick them up and bring them home. Or where to borrow or buy cheaply a tripod for the video camera so I can find the perfect angle for a semi-modest recording of baby's birth (let's be honest, who am I going to show it to other than my mom, my neighbor, the mailman, etc?) Or how about. . .breast pads. I don't have any breast pads. I haven't bought hoses to fill or drain the birth pool. If I were one of those lucky ducks (again, a word substitute) to go into labor at 37 weeks (today), I would have to do it without the birth pool! (gasp - the horror)

On a different baby-related front : Sullivan has taken a new interest in "da baby in yo tummy," as he likes to call it. He can tell you where the baby's bum is (up by mommy's ribs - yay!), where the baby's head is, where the baby's back is, etc. Its super cute. When I lie down with him at night to help him fall asleep, he nearly always puts his closest hand on my stomach. The baby had a seriously strong case of hiccups the other night and I thought Sullivan would die laughing at each little jerk of the baby's body. I didn't think he was old enough to "get" it, but he seems to have put the pieces together. When he sees a picture of a baby now, he'll say, "Dat da baby in yo tummy!" (Okay. . .not ALL the pieces are put together.)

We are still mostly nameless. I think *maybe* I'm settling on one name that I don't hate and I know Kyle loves, and even though I don't love it, I think I love the nickname. I wonder how the name-changing process goes if your baby is born in a foreign country??? :p

We pretty much decided that we'll have Guff and Addie there when the baby is born. I'm still debating on Sullivan, but leaning toward letting him come just for the last few minutes when baby is crowning. I know the older two will be fine. My only worry about Sullivan is that he'll want to climb in the pool with me. Maybe we'll just let him. I have to think about this some more.

I'm still kind of holding onto some hope that I can call Ash and my mom in REALLY early labor and they can hop on a plane and magically get here in time for the baby to arrive. I'm just not sure that I'll know that *really early labor* really is early labor and not just a false alarm. Another "play it by ear" situation, I guess. In the likely scenario that they don't make it in time for the birth, I have Joana on standby to come take care of the kids for me.

Slow and Steady

2009-02-20T12:24:00.003-06:00

I just took Sully on a little walk. It ended up being about two miles, but you would never know that by the ETERNITY it took me to get back home.

Its official folks - I'm pregnant - and slow.

Now I feel a little achey and whiney (obviously).

I kind of have to laugh at myself because in the beginning of my pregnancy (before morning sickness and weight gain), I had these great goals that I made the mistake of voicing aloud. One of these goals was to continue jogging 3 miles every day until the last trimester, at which point I would continue to WALK 3 miles every day. My cousin asked me not too long ago how that was going. It took a lot not to break down in laughter.

Last Week in Review

2009-02-16T12:27:00.003-06:00

It was one of *those* weeks. Not a bad week, just a seriously busy week. I'm a sweater when I'm rushed (a perspirer? - not a knitted, long-sleeved shirt), and I sure did change my shirt a lot.

It all started with Adeline's "Child of the Week" status. Awwww, tender, cute idea - but it should really be called "Week of extra chores for mommy." I was given a very specific list outlining each day's special activity. Monday wasn't too bad - it was "toy day." Adeline was instructed to bring all of her favorite toys to share with her class during play time. Of course, this is Adeline who has no favorites because EVERYTHING is spectacular to her. Our morning was slightly delayed as we struggled to fit all toys possible into her quite large, and thankfully ROLLING, backpack. In the end, she had to carry her lunch and her puzzle tin outside of the backpack. They just couldn't squeeze in.

Tuesday I was COMMANDED (okay seriously, it was just on the list, but it seemed like a biggie to spring on me like that) to provide lunch for Adeline's entire class. It was supposed to be her favorite food, but (this time thankfully) Adeline loves every food, so I just picked a food that was portable and shareable. Pizza. The funny thing about doing "lunch" for her class in Mexico is that their "lunch" break is at 10:00. Have you ever tried to order pizza at 9:00 a.m.?? in Mexico? Where they don't eat lunch foods until 2:00 p.m.?? The Costco restaurant doesn't even open until 10:00. I had to improvise and I went to Costco the day before and bought the take-n-bake pizza from the deli inside. I grabbed some Sprite, paper goods, and some Rice Krispy treats and figured I was as prepared as I could get. Tuesday morning went a little like this:

6:30 wake kids, dress, hair, shoes, teeth, etc.
7:15 in car
7:45 school drop off
8:15 home again, shower, dress, teeth, hair for me.
9:00 first pizza in oven, makeup for me
9:20 second pizza in oven, shoes for me, clothes and hair for Sully
9:40 Back to the car with pizza, sprite, treats, paper goods, sully and stroller.
10:00 on the dot - walk into the school to find Adeline's class.

I found her class alright - they were seated in the lunch area with every child, except for Adeline, eating their lunch. WHHHAAAAAT? You told me to bring lunch. I told you I was bringing lunch. Why are they all eating lunch without me?? This was a lot of work. Do you see these sweat marks on my shirt?? So now I have two pizzas all cut into 4 and 5-year-old-sized slices, and only about 10 kids even wanted any. I went home with an ENTIRE pizza. I couldn't even pawn it off on the parking guy. He looked at me like, "Why would I want pizza at 10:30 in the morning?" Yeah, I don't know either.

Wednesday Adeline was supposed to bring her favorite movie and book. So, we had to go through the process of picking only ONE movie and only ONE book (everything is fab, remember?) Turns out, they didn't watch the movie and didn't read the book. Why are they doing this to me???

Thursday was simply the worst - but not the "child of the week"'s fault on this one. Addie took her favorite music. Luckily, Grandma Hunter gave her a "Girlz Rock" CD for Christmas and this was easily and unceremoniously deemed the favorite. I dropped the kids at school and then swung wide on my return trip and went grocery shopping. After gathering all of the supplies for Valentine's Day cookies (okay and a few donuts for me and Sully), we returned home. I was already sweaty by now - so I took a break for a shower, clothes, hair, makeup, etc. I then went to pull out all of the Bunco supplies to make sure I had everything for our group that night. I couldn't find the d#$% score cards. I started sweating profusely. Finally, I made up my mind to make new ones by hand. How hard could that be?? Pen, paper, scissors, GO. Sweating, writing, sweating, *jingle tune from MSN messenger*. I checked my email and found that there was some work for the taking if I wanted it. I thought, "Definitely no - too busy." But then this part of me somewhere in the STUPID part of my brain was like, "You need the money, so just take it. You can always stay up late/get up early to do it." Done. Sweat. sweat. sweat. I looked at the clock and realized that if I didn't make cookie dough NOW, it wouldn't be chilled in time to cook it this evening. I went down the stairs, sweating of course, to make cookie dough. I debated one batch or two and after seeing the first batch chilling, decided that I definitely needed two. So, I made another. Sweat sweat. Now I was late to pick up kids. Traffic was a bear - I got there late. Kids in car, I ran to a friend's house because the store didn't have any heart-shaped cookie cutters and you can't make Valentine's cookies in any other shape, ya know. Quick stop and heading back home. The rest of the afternoon was spent alternating between kitchen, computer for work, and cleaning the house for Bunco. Sweat sweat sweat. Finally, around 6:00, the cookies were done, the kitchen was clean, the kids were fed, I was mostly cleaned up, and things calmed down a bit. I sent kids upstairs to hopefully entertain themselves away from the clean part of the house. I finished setting up tables, prizes and food, and then found some time to work a little more before friends started showing up. We had a REALLY fun time at Bunco, but I won't lie - I kind of rushed things because I knew I had to work when it was all done. Immediately after the last round, I divided up prizes and wrapped up the food. I worked for about an hour to finish it all after everyone left and then FELL into bed.

Friday was better. We all slept in a little. I was COMMANDED via the "Child of the Week" information sheet to be present at Adeline's class for a "parent activity" from 9:00 to 9:30. There was no way on EARTH I was going to drive the kids to school and then drive BACK at 9:00, so I just took them with me at 9:00. I remembered to wrap up cookies for each of their classes, but somehow forgot the presents for their teachers. I had no CLUE what the "parent activity" was supposed to entail - so I just printed a coloring picture off the Internet and called it good. Maybe boring, but I was feeling a little picked on after the crazy week we just had, so I called it good 'nuff. I did give them each a GIANT sugar cookie at 9:00 in the morning and who can complain about that? ;)

Once the kids were home from school, it all felt a little more calm. Our amazing babysitter/housekeeper/wife showed up at 3:00. She picked up the house while we took the boys to get their hair cut. It could have waited, but they were looking scraggly and Kyle was willing to go with me, so I jumped on it. We left the kids with Joanna (babysitter/housekeeper/wife) and Kyle and I went to meet with Joni to talk about our birth wishes and other baby related things. It was relaxed and quiet and definitely felt good. Plus, I always have fun talking about birthing and babies, and even Kyle had a good time. He pretty much rocks to not rolling his eyes at me every time I want to discuss my ideal birth or the way I want things to go or not go, etc. love him.

We had heart pancakes on Saturday and I gave the kids their little treat/present from mommy and daddy. They got a kick out of it and somewhere in there, I got a nap out of it. ;) yummm.

Joanna came BACK over that night around 6:00 so Kyle and I could go to dinner for Valentine's Day. We ate at Cocina 88, which we've been wanting to try for a long time. We had an amazing dinner that included a few bites of things that are on the general pregnancy no-no list (sword fish and bleu cheese - mmmmmmmm). I was reminded about how pregnant I really am because I wanted to eat everything and ALL of it. But, I was full after having salsa with a bread stick. *sigh* We'll have to go back when my stomach has room to expand.

I have already vowed to make this week more mellow than last. This morning I took a LOOOONG nap and I am not scheduling anything crazy or demanding or unrelaxing if I can help it. I keep meaning to schedule a massage, but I can't decide if I should wait until I get more uncomfortable and desperate for labor - or if I'll end up waiting too long that way and not even get to enjoy it??

Happy Birthday ASH!

2009-02-04T14:45:00.002-06:00

Today is my older and wiser sister's birthday. She's having her "last birthday," the big 2-9. Rumor has it that Ashley and I got along really well as little girls, playing Barbies at all hours of the day, dressing up, jumping on the trampoline, etc. We went through a few not-so-chipper years during our hormonal teenage years, but I'm happy to say that we mostly came out the other end with an intact relationship. Of course, there are times that we take the liberty of family a little too far and have to beg for forgiveness, but that's to be expected, right?

She's a fabulous sister and pretty much the best aunt that a kid could ask for. I mean, who wouldn't want a generous, shopaholic for a relative? On any given day Ashley will call me from Target, Gymboree, Children's Place, or any other stop on her shopping route and ask for my kids' sizes, needs, or wants. My mom met me in Puerto Vallarta this past weekend and bestowed upon me an entire suitcase worth of clothes in newborn to 3 months sizes for our new baby - most of them compliments of Aunt Ashley.

I wish I could be there to whisk you away to a Paradise Bakery lunch and an afternoon of pedicures and shopping - but since I can't, a great, big, "YOU ROCK" will have to suffice until March when you come visit me. I promise you some fabulous Mexican shopping, great tacos, a VIP movie experience, and a steak dinner you'll never forget. MWAH!

Vacay?!

2009-01-26T10:52:00.002-06:00

My parents are going to Puerto Vallarta this weekend. I was willing to drive five hours to meet them just to kill the day on Saturday. I kinda wanted to be home on Sunday for the Super Bowl. Kyle realized yesterday that he has next Monday off of school - as do the kids. (Thanks random MExican Holiday!) So - now I'm bargain hunting for PV hotel deals. I can't think of any better way to kill some time than to do it on the beach, drinking daiquiris (non-alcoholic of course), building sand castles and chilling in the sun. I guess we'll be watching the game from our hotel room (hopefully with English commentators, but maybe not).

Only 50 days 'til due date now. I guess time is passing after all. ;)

55 days!!

2009-01-21T16:01:00.003-06:00

I keep thinking that because I'm a grownup and have a realistic sense of the passing of time and patience and discipline and responsibilities and so on and so forth that the last months of this pregnancy should be a blur as they whiz by me in all my maternal labors. Ummm - its not happening.

Seriously? 55 whole days? And that is just until my due date. What if I go overdue? *gasp* The horror. Its too much. Time has slowed down just to spite me.

And Mr. 55-days away STILL does not have a name.

I think the situation is compounded by the last-semesteritis that I am currently suffering from. The symptoms of this condition include an awareness that the end of four years of foreign living and 8 semesters of foreign medical education are winding down. It also includes an intense need to DO something to hasten the end and an inability to think of anything to do - or anything to distract you from your lack of ability to do.

I keep thinking that if the baby would just come, then time will speed up because, well. . .have you ever paid attention to how quickly your baby is one, then two, then three months old? Seriously, they're like backtalking before you know it. This brings me back to my original problem. . .55 DAYS?!

Dontcha hate it. . .

2009-01-20T15:10:00.004-06:00

When bloggy moms post just to tell you how wonderful/perfect/intelligent/polite/spiritual their offspring are???

Okay yeah, me neither. *cough, cough*

ANYWAY. . .I'm being the laziest mother in the world today (and yesterday and the day before. . .) and poor Sullivan just isn't sure what to do with himself. For Christmas, Santa brought each of the kids a puzzle. Santa was great and even made sure they were age-appropriate in their total # of pieces. Sully's was 24 pieces, Adeline's 50, and Guthrie's 100. I would find Sully's puzzle completed in its entirety on random surfaces in the house, yet never actually see him doing it. I honestly wasn't sure if HE was doing it or if the other kids were helping him.

Sullivan proved to be as bored as his mom today and a minute ago I looked down to find him doing this:

Awwww, he's so talented (that's Guthrie's 100-piece puzzle). And then he picked his nose and whined for juice.

The Name Game

2009-01-10T17:50:00.003-06:00

There is only 1 drawback to finding out this baby is a boy. I cannot for the life of me come up with a name that makes me happy. I had a mile-long list of girl names, which should have alerted me to the fact that this would be a boy. While we were in New York, Kyle and I picked up a book with 100,001 baby names. I have been through it multiple times, each time coming up with an entirely different list of potential names, and each time crossing them all off one by one.

There are so few boys' names outside of the traditional John's, William's and Michael's. (Not that those names aren't great. . .) I guess I am just looking for something different - something that will take hold of my heart and bring to mind pictures of the perfect little boy that is about to enter our lives.

I actually had this same struggle with Sullivan. For the most part I was set on naming him Lincoln. At the last minute I panicked and changed my mind, finally settling on Sullivan when I was a few days from delivery. I'm pretty sure most people hated it at first, but I like to think that our little Sully has the perfect name now. I did have a brief moment of panick when he was about 10 months old. Somewhere I found a little blurb alerting me to the fact that I had until 12 months of age to change my son's name without the hassle of a legal proceding. I came *this close* to changing his name to Lincoln - and only the tediousness of paperwork stopped me (and even that might not have stopped me if we had been in the states at the time - mailing from Mexcio is less than simple.)

I hate to even bring this up in conversations because it usually starts a cascade of name ideas flowing my way - and as much as I hate to have my favorite names criticized, I DREAD telling other people that their ideas aren't appealing to me.

I got a few emails with some decent name ideas - both included one name that is still rolling around my list from last time (can ya guess?? ;). The process made me wonder if maybe the ol' blog could help me out slightly. Will you guys give me some ideas? And promise not to be offended if I don't love them??

Come on - this bump needs a name!

(Self-portrait - explaining the lack of smile and bad lighting. Unfortunately it can't explain away the bed head and no makeup - work with me here.)

Guthrie

2009-01-09T08:46:00.003-06:00

Guthrie has been taking Tae Kwon Do (I actually had to google the spelling for that) since the beginning of last semester. (Isn't it fascinating that I'm in my late 20s, my husband will be 30 next year, and we still live our life in semester-long increments?) He received his gi (I also had to google that spelling - it means Tae Kwon Do uniform ;) for Christmas this year - black so it is easy to keep clean. Yesterday he had his test to receive his gold belt. He was so excited and did GREAT! Kyle was blown away at all he had to know and how Guthrie has really absorbed it all. I never thought I would have a kid interested in any kind of martial arts, as it wasn't something that I was into and neither was Kyle. We have a great neighbor and fellow medical student who has participated and taught for years and he was generous enough to offer to teach Guthrie. It has been so great for our little guy to have something special that only he was able to do and I think it may be something he wants to stick with for a long time.

Sullivan

2009-01-09T08:34:00.003-06:00

When Sullivan was a few weeks old (I think 3?), we planned a party to celebrate Guthrie's 4th birthday and to bless Sullivan and his little cousin Caelan (Ashley's daughter). We ended up doing it the first Saturday in July (again, I think) because Kyle had to finish the semester and was traveling back from Mexico. I still think its weird that he didn't even meet his son until three weeks had past, but that is a whole different story. The real point is that for Guthrie's birthday he received a fabulous present from me and Kyle (again, I think). We bought him a Fisher Price dinosaur, a T-rex to be exact. This dinosaur had a button on the tail that activated his glowing red eyes and made him roar and throw his head around in a threatening manner. We debated buying the toy for a few reasons: a) I was worried it would scare either Guthrie or Adeline. b) We wanted to get him a toy he would actually play with and were worried that an animated dinosaur might just sit in the corner. AND c) We're professional students and its a rule that you always debate any purchase, big or small. So - we bought the dinosaur and it was a big hit (yay for us!!) After a year or so, it really did start to sit in the corner more and more often and we may have even discussed sending it on its way to the ol' DI pile. . . then SUDDENLY Sullivan turned 1. About the time he could walk, babble, and manipulate small cheerio-like objects, he learned to push that button on the back of T-rex's tail. From that moment, his love of dinosaurs has increased at an alarming rate. He now has quite the collection and has his own special way of referring to each of them. (Triceratops, baby triceratops, blue triceratops, spike tail, baby spike tail, yellow spike tail, green raptor, T-rex, etc. ) Every holiday rolls around and I wonder if by the next holiday he will have outgrown his obsession - but no, it goes on and on.

The End

Our Christmas Vacation

2009-01-01T23:05:00.013-06:00

Hanging out in the car shortly after arriving at Grandma and Grandpa Guthrie's side of town.

If only they were always so loving. :)

The first character we found after getting to Disneyland. I was happy Sullivan wanted to play.

Riding the train back to Toon Town.

The family with Mickey Mouse. This started Sullivan singing, "Mickey Mouse clubhouse. Come inside. . .come inside." Close enough, right?

Minnie was right outside and we were able to catch her for a picture.

Sullivan was really saying, "You got shoes!" It looks more like he's checking out her underpants.

Grandma Guthrie and the kids with Minnie.

This was right after the Roger Rabbit ride in Toon Town.

The tea cups were Addie's favorite. She made us go back for another round the next day. Sullivan and Caelan had the biggest smiles for the entire ride.

We didn't realize that Star Wars had a height restriction. This picture was taken after we broke the news to Sullivan that he had to stay behind with Mommy. It was REALLY sad and involved giant alligator tears.

We left Kyle and Guthrie at the park and took Adeline and Sullivan home for a mid-day break. Lucky for Addie, we found Princess Aurora near the entrance and stopped for a picture. Adeline had sleeping beauty on her sweatshirt and loved showing it off.

Yeah. . .it was cold!

On Day 2 we let the girls wear their princess dresses.

Tea Cups -Take 2

At our rental house - showing off their ears.

Grandma and Sullivan

Family picture outside of Ariel's Grotto - the restaurant we went to for dinner on day 2.

Meeting Belle.

Meeting Cinderella.

Sullivan was in love with the princesses and seemed to have charmed them. First he trapped Snow White and took her to the window to point at the water and the lights. Soon enough, he had Snow White, Princess Aurora and Cinderella all hovered around him. We thought it was hilarious and he was in heaven.

Meeting Aurora.

Sullivan's alone time with the princesses.

On Christmas Eve we had our traditional progressive dinner. This year we basically progressed from Ashley's house to my parents. Ashley dressed the kids up and read the Christmas Story. Guthrie was Joseph and Caelan was Mary. Ainsley was a cow. Adeline was an angel. Sullivan played the shepherd.

It was a difficult labor, as you can see. Jesus was breach and stuck in her waistband. You can see the obligatory cow present for the birth.

Per a forever-tradition, we all received a present of fresh, new pj's on Christmas Eve. They didn't have much stretch for the belly - but they are cute nonetheless.

The girls' jammies.

The boys'.

All our glory. :) It was so cool to have everyone there for Christmas Eve.

Right before we snuggled kids into bed. We were all pretty tired and I think it shows.

Yup, tired - but not as weary as that pajama top is feeling right about now.

Wait - aren't they supposed to be winding down?

Christmas morning came a teeny bit too soon for Kyle.

Adeline squealed with delight at EVERYTHING. Seriously, everything (toothbrush, crayons, puzzle, etc.)

This kid loves his dinosaurs and his reaction over the knitted stegosaurus and triceratops was adorable. I love to hear him ask for them by name.

Trevor wanted a turn in the pop-up tent.

Sully LOVES his Thomas the Train. For some reason, Thomas comes out more like 'dumb a#$' when Sully says it.

The day after Christmas we drove up to Show Low to visit Kyle's sister and the rest of his family for our Christmas party. I realize now that I was pretty lame and didn't get many pictures. We had so much fun with our cousins and playing in the snow was definitely a highlight for the kids. I was a wimp and stayed tucked safely and warmly inside the motor home for most of this little excursion.

Sully and Grandpa Hunter needed a refreshing nap one night last week. Grandpa woke up and went out to dinner with us and my sister-in-law, Kizzy, and her husband, Jeremy. Sullivan enjoyed a few more hours of sleep before waking up to play with his cousins.

I am SUPER excited about this!! I wanted to get a silk sling but couldn't quite justify the $100+ cost. Ashley found a great deal on the perfect fabric and I already had the rings. Today my mom sewed this up and I tried it out on Sullivan. It is AWESOME. I love how supportive the fabric is without being overly heavy. Plus, I think the color and shine are awesome.

2009!!

2008-12-31T13:04:00.004-06:00

The following excerpt is from my New Year 2008 blog post.

I look forward to what 2008 has to offer.

*Kyle will finish his 3rd year of medical school and half of his 4th!
*I will finally get the perfect job that lets me work from home and take care of the kiddos.
*Guthrie will turn 6 years old which sounds WAY older than 5 for some reason. He will start his 3rd year of school in Mexico. He will become fluent in Spanish. He will improve his reading and writing skills.
*Adeline will turn 5(!!!) at the end of this year. She will start learning to read and will continue to do well in school. She'll learn even more Spanish. She'll learn to ride a bike.
*Both kids will learn to keep their rooms clean. MWAHAHAHA.
*Sullivan will turn 2 years old. He'll talk more and more and I'm sure at one point I'll wish he would go back to being a baby. He'll get interested in the potty and maybe he'll decide that its fun to watch 30 minutes of Sesame Street so Mommy can take a shower alone.
*I will keep up the jogging and finally run the 10k race that my friends and I keep talking about.

It is so crazy to look back at the last year and see all that we have accomplished and how we have all changed.

Kyle really did finish his third year of medical school and half of his fourth. He also passed his board exam and has started studying for the next exam that he will take this semester. He has learned so much and yet feels that he has so far to go. We went to New York and interviewed for the Fifth Pathway program.

I really did get the perfect job. It was a crazy experience as the first woman to hire me actually turned out to be pulling a little bit of a con job and was hiring newish transcriptionists on an independent contractor status and getting a couple of months of work out of them before they (meaning me) realized she was never actually going to send that check that got "lost in the mail." I looked at it as a blessing as the training was actually quite valuable and enabled me to get my next job working from home for a company based in Chandler, Arizona. I absolutely love that I can bring in a little money to help out, keep myself feeling productive, and still be home and able to take care of the house, kids and hubby. It pretty much rocks.

Guthrie turned six in June. He went to half the school year in Mexico and then finished up the year in Arizona at the Chandler Traditional Academy near my parents' home. He absolutely flourished in both English and Spanish this past year. He is fluent in Spanish and often teaches me some pretty complicated playground phrases. He not only learned to read, but learned to read well. He is also a champion speller and his handwriting has improved so much. He has quite the reputation for being a nonstop chatterbox. His Grandpa Hunter comments that his previously quiet, peaceful drives up to the cabin gained some pretty complicated conversation when he was accompanied by Guthrie. Usually the Guthrie Inquisition results in both parties feeling frustrated because the questions require an Encyclopedia Britannica and "I don't know" definitely does not cut it with this kid. He grew out of all of his jeans and shoes this year. For a few months he was wearing some serious high-waters. Of course he didn't care, but his dad and I were feeling a little embarrassed. We now have to find him pants in a size or two bigger with adjustable waists because he's so small around but has his mommy's impossible inseam. He thinks it is hilarious when his Grandpa Guthrie calls him "punk" in an endearing way. He also thinks his Uncle Dax is the funniest thing alive and likes to try to mimic his dry sense of humor. While playing video games with his dad recently, Guthrie came up with the phrase, "That was faster than a jackrabbit in August headed for December." We're still not sure exactly how fast that is. . .but it illustrates pretty well the kind of things he finds amusing.

I realize now that Addie may have been jipped this year. She did, in fact, turn five this December. Her mom and dad never got around to helping her learn to read all that much and she pretty much didn't even attempt to ride her bike. We're going to have to remedy that this year. She did continue to be the feminine source of childhood delight in our family. She is so sweet, gentle, and GIRLY. She can be found playing quietly with her toys at all hours of the day. She has an amazing imagination and doesn't require much assistance to stay entertained. She still loves to dress up, but her ability has been hindered by the weak seams of most of her play clothes. She has picked up a lot more Spanish this year and we love to hear her high, squeaky voice ramble in both languages. She loves to dance, though we haven't had the opportunity to sign her up for formal dance lessons. She has a natural grace that is fun to watch, nonetheless. Her Grandparents all get a kick out of her labels for them. They are affectionately known as "The grandma with brown hair," "The grandpa with white hair," "The grandma with yellow hair," and "The grandpa with black hair." I think it helped things out when my mom went back to blond after a short stint as a brunette. We like to keep things simple for Adeline.

Sullivan turned two in June. He is a constant source of amusement and fun in our house. He has thankfully stayed away from too much "terrible" in this two-year-old phase. He did decide that the potty was great and has been officially toilet trained for several months now. He learned to take his clothes off in the process and I think we're now the neighborhood joke because of the naked little "gringo" climbing the gate out front. He loves to talk and has acquired several phrases that make us chuckle. He did learn to appreciate the occasional children's show and is quite the fan of Sponge Bob now. We love to hear him sing the theme song while we're driving down the road. He is still our affectionate little baby and we haven't tried too hard to help him grow up.

I pretty much slacked on my jogging goal, but I feel like my pregnancy gave me a good excuse to find low impact exercise to replace it. :p

We found out we were expecting again while we were in Arizona for summer break this year. We are excited to meet our new son due in March. We are quite certain we will never find a name that makes us both happy but we enjoy finding creative reasons to veto each other's suggestions.

In 2009 I anticipate that. . .

*Kyle will finish with school the end of May. We will once again sell most of our worldly possessions and load the car and trailer with what is left to transport it back across the border. This time should be a little extra exciting as we will continue to the northeastern corner of our country and settle in Kingston, New York for the year ranging from June 2009 to June 2010. Kyle will take his next board exam this year and will apply for residencies and hopefully interview for a few as well.
*Guthrie will turn 7 years old. He will complete his first grade year of school and start his second grade. He will leave behind his school in Mexico and hopefully find new friends, fun, and learning in New York.
*Adeline really will learn to read this year. She will turn 6 years old. She will start Kindergarten in the fall. She will hopefully find lots of little GIRL friends to play with and will continue to be sweet to her brothers. She could possibly lose her first tooth.
*Sullivan will turn 3 and at some point will probably do some seriously "terrible" things, but we will continue to love him anyway. ;)
*Our new baby will be born in March and will have the pleasure of having dual citizenship. He will leave his birth country after only a couple short months and will travel with us to New York where he will drool, eat, sleep, and poop just the same.
*I will have a baby, probably try to lose a few pounds and then stop trying and just play with the kids instead. I will probably get frustrated with moving and packing again, but will also be excited for moving onto the next step in our journey.

Baby Blue

2008-12-31T10:31:00.003-06:00

We had an ultrasound yesterday and found out that we are having our third boy! It was my first time having a 3D ultrasound and WOW. It was amazing and adorable at the same time. He was adorably using my(or is it his?) placenta as a pillow, which somewhat obstructed our view of one side of his face and his arm was shielding the other. A few times we got him to wiggle out of that position and we were able to see that he looks like Sullivan! He has Sullivan's (and therefore Kyle's) nose and chin and mouth. I can't wait to see the rest of him in person and see if the baby at least inherited my hands or feet or legs or ears or something. He already looked so rounded out - so I'm sure he'll be another 9-pounder+. (Plus I'm eating enough for quadruplets ;) Darn holidays.)

We head home on Friday and I'm crossing my fingers that two sick kids and one sick husband recover from their ummmmmm, glamorous illness in time to make the drive uneventful. I'm also praying that Sullivan and I are somehow spared from the horror at least until we get home and can throw up (and down) in comfort. Heeeeeeeere's hoping!

Several firsts

2008-12-13T16:50:00.002-06:00

For the first time ever I. . .

* had a flight cancelled due to bad weather at our destination (Albany)
* rented a car and drove from Philadelphia through New Jersey to Poughkeepsie, NY
* experienced the cold of the northeast without a coat thanks to lost luggage
* spent three days in a row away from Sullivan
* travelled to the east coast
* saw the world post-ice storm in person
* ate at a Red Robin restaurant in Poughkeepsie while 6+ months pregnant :)

It was a good trip.

Kyle interviewed for the Fifth Pathway program and we selected the hospital in Kingston, New York. We spent today exploring the town and I think we can both handle it. There was a (very busy) mall, a crazy cool historic district, and really neat old houses. It seems to have most of the amenities I would hope for (minus Costco) and I am sure the year we spend there will pass quickly. We are so excited to move onto this next step.

Worst Blogger Alert!

2008-12-05T12:26:00.002-06:00

I know a few people who did the post-a-day in November. I guess I went for the opposite approach and didn't post at all.

The Highlights:

* We had a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner with our friends, the Sanders. Our kids + their kids = a lot of fighting on this particular day, but the food was wonderful and it definitely felt like a festive day.

* Guthrie lost another tooth (or two, I can't remember which tooth was the last one.) He now has a giant gap where three teeth used to occupy his top row. Its pretty darn funny to look at. Too bad he didn't wait a little longer to lose them because he would have really been toothless at Christmas. As it is, I think they'll grow in before the actual Christmas day arrives.

* We celebrated Addie's birthday with a few friends at Peter Piper. She is SOO happy to finally be 5, although she just told her Grandpa last night that now she can't wait to be 6 like Guthrie. Slow down, little missy!

* I'm an 80-year-old and have a newfound nerve pain problem in my left wrist. I made an appointment to have it checked out next week and hope they can help. Its getting seriously hard to work with this crazy pain in my wrist, not to mention that it causes some hot/cold sensations to come up at any moment.

* We had an impromtu garage sale that encouraged us to clean and organize our whole house. We ended up filling the back of the expedition and the entire second seat with random items for sale. Kyle drove it to the sale location and realized we were the only ones there. No problem - he couldn't even unload it fast enough and we made a nice chunk of change - not to mention the bonus of not having any of that junk in our house anymore. We feel pure.

* We're packing up and heading out to Arizona today!! We usually try to leave in the afternoon and make it as far as Mazatlan before stopping for the night (5-6 hours), but Kyle is feeling saucy and wants to push for Culiacan instead (8ish hours?) If we make it that far, tomorrow's drive will go a little faster and we will get to my mom's house in time to say hi and visit before crashing. We are SO excited to be going home to see everyone.

* Kyle and I are flying to NY next Thursday to interview for his pre-internship. We will be staying in a little town about 1.5 hours north of NYC, which also happens to be near the town that we're hoping to live in. It turns out that they opened a new hospital and the cost of living willl be so much more manageable. (Kingston, NY). I hope the town turns out to be a decent little place and somewhere we can be happy for one little year.

* The following week we are taking our kids to Disneyland for the first time ever. They are so excited, but I don't think they can be nearly as excited as Kyle and I are to see their cute little faces light up. Thankfully, we had my mom and sister snag us a new digital camera on Black Friday, so we can actually capture the moment to share with the world.

I just realized in typing this that I didn't pack swimsuits for any of us - MUST RUN!

Next post will be from American soil!

Murphy's Law

2008-11-10T19:47:00.004-06:00

You all know the law, so I'll just share the most recent evidence of it in my life. The end of the semester immediately preceding Christmas when loans are running out, presents need to be bought, Disneyland needs to be saved for, and somehow we still need to keep gas in the car and groceries on the shelves and. . .my camera goes kaput! Luckily, I still have my webcam on the laptop. I'm trying to figure out how to use a baby sling to strap the computer to my chest for Disneyland. What do you think???

Example of fantastic camera quality:

One kid is missing but its because another child, who shall remain nameless, told said kid that he wished she had never been born. Most kids would respond with some type of "I'm rubber, you're glue. . ." comeback, but THIS kid has a soft shell and melted into heartbroken distress and was unable to recover prior to this picture. Maybe next time.

I discovered the broken camera earlier after Sully dressed himself. It was pretty much the cutest Sully moment in that hour. He brought me a shirt with tigger on it and asked for help putting it on the right way. Then he disappeared and put his own spongebob underwear on (I told you we are spongebob fans over here), a pair of airplane pajama shorts that actually belong to Guthrie, and his green Walmart knockoff crocks (on the correct feet, thankewverymuch). I wanted nothing more than to snap a photo of this endearing moment to preserve it for all time. Now I guess I just have to settle for the sure-to-fade but no less endearing mental image. In other Sully news, the potty training is over and he's a big boy now. Throughout the day I hear random calls from one of the three bathrooms scattered around, "Mooooooomm, I go pooooop." This is my signal to go help clean up, but I am NOT allowed to flush. Apparently that is his reward for a job well done. He even sleeps all night with his big boy underwear and has not peed in his (or my) bed yet. YAY for the first break from diapers in six and a half years!!! I'm quite enjoying it.

We leave for Arizona three weeks from Friday. I'm super psyched to get on the road and spend Christmas break without too much studying (though Kyle swears he is still going to have to keep up on Step 2 material), some Arizona winter weather, family, food, friends, fun, and Christmas. *Sigh* It just sounds heavenly!

Edited to add: I am also looking forward to Kizzy's jacuzzi - so move over and make room. :p

Halloween 2008

2008-11-03T08:25:00.003-06:00

We had a pretty fun Halloween this year. The kids were super excited to get dressed up for school on Friday. For a split second when I dropped them off I found myself wondering if maybe I had assumed they would dress up and they were in fact supposed to be in uniforms. I was relieved to see a ghost climb out of the car in front of us and sent my little fairy and batman off to party at school for the day. (Couldn't find my camera that morning.) I spent the day getting things ready for our Trunk-or-Treat party that night.

We headed over to the party early so we could help set up and then settled in for the night. The kids had SO much fun and were completely overloaded on candy, of course. We hired a taquiza (kind of like a taco buffet) to come feed all of us and we rented a bounce house for the kids. We learned that we have too many kids between us all now and that next time we definitely need TWO bounce houses to accomodate them all.

This is just a random picture of Guthrie and Sully upside down - at the request of G.
Guthrie in his batman costume (sans mask) in the bounce house. There were so many little kids that we kept having to kick the big kids out and he eventually gave up and played Indiana Jones with his little friend.

Addie and her "bestest friend" Halle.

My friend told her husband that he absolutely could NOT wear a beer shirt to the Halloween party because it was a "Mormon church!" He layered over it. She had me ROLLING on the ground when she told me that because my VERY MORMON husband was wearing a Gallo Beer shirt.

This was right after Sullivan woke up from his late nap in the car. He was a little disoriented for a while. It took a couple of pieces of candy to get him in the mood to party.

I can't believe our last Mexican Halloween has come and gone! Our first year the kids and I went home for a little visit and enjoyed trick-or-treating American style. The next year Brooke hosted a great Halloween party for all of our friends here. The third year WE hosted a Halloween party. Rumor has it that it was enjoyable, but I'll admit I was just stressed. This year we learned from past mistakes and picked a neutral location so everyone could have fun. The LDS church worked out great because it actually has a parking lot (rare here) for trunk-or-treating and we had plenty of room to roam, visit and play.

On a different note, I think we finally settled on which hospital in New York we are going to be requesting. Its definitely one of the more expensive areas, but they're all expensive and the difference is minimal. The schools seem to be the best near one hospital and we hope we can talk a few of our LDS friends into joining us so we can maybe have some people we know in our ward. We'll see how that plays out. :)

Drama? What drama?

2008-10-29T14:46:00.002-06:00

You may remember (or maybe not, I have no expectations of you) my posting about the AMA withdrawing their support from the oh-so-crucial Fifth Pathway program that helps students from UAG transition to practicing medicine in the states. This was a teeeeeeeeeny little hitch in our plans, as we were ALREADY two and a half years into this medical school journey and we DO ultimately plan to live in the US. I can admit that our first thought was to panic and jump ship (aka transfer as fast as our legs and our passports could carry us), but when that didn't work out we took the "wait and see and hold your breath and think positively while still trying to be realistic and plan for the worst" approach. That's basically our life motto, so this was nothing new to us.

Well, this past week, after a looooooong breath-holding phase, we found out that the ACGME (the people who make the rules regarding eligibility for US medical residency positions) decided that the AMA could take their "recommendation" and put it where the sun don't shine. This was really good news, in that it simplifies our pathway for us. But this is also the final, fork-sticking word on whether or not we will be moving to New York City in June 2009 (with that final word being "yes, pack your bags, NY is essential").

So, this is me getting PUMPED UP for NYC.

My top 10 reasons why living in New York will rock!
1. I hear there is a lot of garbage on the street, so it won't be much different than Mexico.
2. I hear people are really rude, so it won't be much different than Mexico.
3. I hear people scoff at young couples with lots of kids, so it won't be much different than dinner with the in-laws. (Love ya Kizzy)
4. I hear we can pay thousands of dollars a month for a small apartment with no washer and dryer - so we can buy lots of new clothes because we all know that I will be CRAP with a basement communal laundry room.
5. I hear my husband will be working 16-hour days, so we will never fight!
6. Ummm, I'm still thinking.
7. Nope, coming up blank.
8. Help me out here people.
9. I've got nothing.
10. It is ONLY for one year and its an adventure, right? Right?!

:)

Teeth and Tushies

2008-10-23T10:57:00.003-06:00

Guthrie had his denstist appointment yesterday. Thankfully she was able to clean out the cavity and fill it. There was some talk of it being too deep to fill and possibly needing a crown. :O I was super happy they were able to fix it and G is pretty much the best dentist goer ever. I'm pretty glad it was him (brave) and not Addie (wuss). :p While she was doing the exam, one of Guthrie's OTHER loose teeth was knocked out (it was so loose that it couldn't have taken much to free it), and he was super excited to come home and show me. I love that Addie and G both had a lecture from the dentist about teeth and they were MORE than willing to swish and brush last night and this morning. We also used it as a good chance to limit junk food and have a one treat a day, followed by a brush session attempt going on in our house.

On the tushy front, Sully is doing really great with potty training. He has the pee thing down pat and will even climb himself up to the toilet, do his business, and climb back down alone. :) He is deathy terrified of pooping though. I try to say stupid things like, "That is a good poop. Poop is GREAT!" lol - but I really just sound retarded and he isn't buying it. I remember a time when I was independent, smart and hardworking - and now I am telling a two-year-old that poop is fun! Getting him toilet trained is better than any paycheck I've ever received, so don't think I'm complaining. Its just amazing to ponder the way life has morphed.

Six weeks from tomorrow until the end of the semester. I hear there are some drug wars going on in MExico near the ARizona border. That could make driving slightly scarier than normal, but it would take more than a drug war to keep me from heading north. Nevertheless, I'll be praying for some serious peaceful resolution between then and now.

Weekend Update

2008-10-19T14:42:00.002-06:00

Guthrie had a mega wiggler last week and we figured it would be falling out soon. He came home from school with a "surprise" to show me. This was his first top tooth to come out (his fourth tooth altogether). I gave him an unofficial dental exam and found three more teeth that are pretty loose - one that will probably fall out any day (the fourth on the bottom). He couldn't wait to put his tooth under his pillow.

G: Does the tooth fairy come check under everyone's pillows every night for teeth?

Me: Ummm, yep.

G: *pause* Immmmmmm-possible. (walks away)

Uhhhh - okay. He's a smart little booger.

On Friday we REstarted potty training with Sullivan. We have done this two or three times now and each time he does GREAT, no accidents for a few days, and then regresses and I get sick of pee on the floor and put him back in diapers. I hadn't actually planned to start again but I ran out of diapers and just seized the opportunity. He has done really well and only had a few oops moments. He doesn't like any of his own underwear and insists on wearing "spiderman un-wear" that belong to Guthrie. Good thing Guff is pretty thin and his underwear aren't too giant on Sully's mini-tush.

We had a few yummy dinners this past week while I tried out some new recipes. We were in a dinner rut and it was nice to change it up for a while. First of all we tried out this recipe that Ash posted on our family blog. I definitely recommend it, although when I remake it I need to remember that Mexican chili powder is a LOT spicier than what we buy in the states. Also, I will leave out the beer next time as the smell of beer simmering in a pot of chili made my house smell like a keg for about 12 hours and I was totally gagged. I went back and forth on whether or not to add it, and figured since the alcohol is all supposed to cook out, and the original recipe writer obviously seemed to think that the beer served a purpose, I would take a chance. It tasted great (albeit spicy) and we will make it again.

I also tried out some homemade tomato soup.

Boil the following veggies for about 15 minutes:

5 large tomatoes

1 zucchini

1 large carrot

1 onion

1 jalapeno (I seeded mine so it wouldn't be too spicy)

Drain the veggies and blend them in the blender until completely pureed. Bring 2 cups of chicken broth to a boil and add the pureed veggies. Salt and pepper to taste. I served it with some slices of crusty bread, but Kyle enjoyed his with grilled cheese. We also sprinkled some grated cheese on top. I only made this for me and Kyle, but I think if I had left the jalapeno out the kids would have liked it. It would be REALLY yummy with some shaped pasta noodles mixed in.

Today I remembered that I had bought the ingredients to try this recipe. I really liked it but even more impressive was how well the kids ate it. I doubled the sauce for the recipe and ended up with a pretty big portion for leftovers, but no worries because I know the kids will eat it and I am a big fan of leftovers. :P While we were eating Adeline told Kyle that "mommy makes the best food." Uhhhh - any recipe that gets me those kudos from my kids can stick around. (I should note that she also makes similar comments when we are eating macaroni and cheese with chicken nuggets - just so you don't get the wrong impression of me).

I've been feeling kind of blah, which isn't unusual for this time of the semester. We're kind of at that point where it feels like we haven't seen our families forever and we miss them and so many other people and things from the U.S. Not to mention that we feel like our Mexico time is winding down and ya'all know how time slows down when you're looking forward to something. I need some mini milestones to look forward to until we go home for Christmas break (Dec. 6thish). I also think it will be a little refreshing to see my mom this weekend. I'm excited to take her out to a yummy dinner on Friday night and spend the day with her and the kids on Saturday. Hurry up and get here, Tam!

Did you ever wonder what would happen. . .

2008-10-13T12:45:00.003-06:00

if Spiderman refused to nap???

At 8 o'clock his mom and dad would come downstairs to find this:

I tried to find my old pictures of Guthrie in the same outfit but can't figure out where I hid the darn thing.

Good news and Bad news

2008-10-08T16:30:00.003-06:00

I'm not giving up on Mexico (yet), but I do kind of feel like she's kicking me when I'm down.

I picked the kids up from school, spent 30 minutes waiting in gridlock traffic, received a call from Kyle inviting me to McDonald's to wait out the gridlock, and RUSHED at the chance to get us all out of the car.

We had a fun impromptu family lunch. When it looked like traffic was clearing up, we decided we better head out. Guthrie decided to ride with Kyle, so I buckled Adeline and Sullivan into my car. I put my seat belt on, put the keys in the ignition and glanced at the passenger seat. Hmmm. . .something seems different. What could it be???

OHHHHH, I remember. My purse was there - right underneath Guthrie's backpack. The empty seat was really confusing me, even though I knew right away what had happened. I tried to remember if I locked the car. YES, I am positive I locked it. I got out and looked at the outside of the passenger door. It looked perfect and my Expedition doesn't even have a lock on that side anyway. The only external locks are on the back door and the driver's side door. I checked the backdoor on my way around and it was perfect. As I walked up the driver's side, I could see the little black hole that used to be our keyhole. (Insert swear words).

Kyle was ticked - and I was too. But mostly I was just SUPER, swimming, flying high on a kite that I had JUST spent my last $100 pesos about an hour earlier and there was NO cash in my purse at all. I didn't have any passports in there, no social security cards, no visas (the traveling kind), etc. I did have 8 (eight) different credit/debit cards and one of my copies of my driver's license. . .but I purposely have three copies of the license so that one is also no big deal. I am sure the stinky thieves took one glance in my purse, realized they only got plastic, and tossed it in the nearest bushes. '

I checked around the rest of the inside of the car and other than Guthrie's backpack with his school sweater, nothing else was missing. (I'm a teeny bit ticked about the sweater.) I even found my old wallet in the console, along with our passports and visas :o, untouched!

We got home and I started calling each and every company to cancel the cards and get new issued. Suddenly I remembered that wallet in the car and wondered which credit cards were in there, thinking it might reduce the phone calls I had to make. I ran to the car and brought the wallet in, where I promptly found $3000 pesos in cash (more than $300 USD). JACKPOT! I had no clue I left that there.

I now feel like I got paid $150 an hour to make some phone calls. Take that, you stinkin' thieves.

The End.

Viva Mexico!

2008-10-08T08:51:00.002-06:00

Did you know that in Mexico they don't have a city supply of natural gas to run to your homes, yet every home uses gas for water heaters, dryers, and cooking? What a conundrum, right?

The solution is that when you are building your house, you have to purchase and install underground (with adequate above-ground access) a large (if you're lucky) gas tank that is then run into the house after the fact by a hopefully proficient plumber. My plumber was not proficient and after we moved in we realized that the pipes were working just fine into the laundry room (dryer worked) and into the kitchen (stove/oven worked), but somewhere between the kitchen and the hot water heater three feet away (off the back of the house outside the kitchen), the flow of gas abruptly stopped. I'm not a big fan of cold showers or cold dish water, so we had to request the plumber come back and fix it. He couldn't figure out what happened, so he capped off the pipe after the stove and ran an entirely NEW pipe from the tank around the outside of the house to the water heater. We still have problems with our hot water because having the heater outside seems to pose some problems. When it rains hard (as it does daily for four months out of the year), the water often stream right on top of our un-roofed heater and puts out the pilot light. Or another time, we couldn't figure out why the pilot went out and wouldn't relight. The super awesome plumber came back and showed us where a spider had climbed in that little tube and laid an egg sack for us. Wasn't that sweet??

Well, overall the system seems to work and I usually don't even think about our gas or water heater or anything to do with it. Until days like today. I DESPERATELY need a shower. I mean, we're going on third day hair, 2 mm thick layer of oil and junk on my face, my feet are black from walking around barefoot yesterday, and frankly - I just stink.

This brings me to the fatal flaw of the system. When the gas tank is empty - it is empty. There is no backup. There is no warning that it is about to be empty. Its just empty and you're out of luck until you get someone to come fill it. No cooking, no showering, no hot water for laundry or cleaning. Nada.

I would rant a little more - but I have to go take a cold shower now.

TAGGED

2008-10-06T16:48:00.003-06:00

I guess the point is to answer each question with a one-word answer. This almost killed me. I don't do well with limiting my speech.

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Where is your significant other? Baking (see. . .doesn't that need an explanation?)
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? beeeautiful
5. Your father? manly
6. Your favorite thing? children (my own. . .sorry back to one word)
7. Your dream last night? realistic
8. Your dream/goal? persist
9. The room you're in? loft
10. Your hobby? napping
11. Your fear? death (really I wanted to say "terminally ill child", but that's not one word, is it?)
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? shopping
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? male
15. One of your wish list items? spa
16. Where you grew up? Idaho/Arizona (seriously. . .define "grew up")
17. The last thing you did? napped
18. What are you wearing? deodorant
19. Your TV? broken
20. Your pet? noway
21. Your computer? busy
22. Your mood? hungry
23. Missing someone? yes
24. Your car? dirty
25. Something you're not wearing? 2-carats
26. Favorite Store? Costc0
27. Your summer? sweating
28. Love someone? Yes
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Tuesday

I tag: Serin, Ashley, Shanda, Mimi, and Keara.

Procrastinator!

2008-10-05T20:36:00.003-06:00

Why does that word have a "pro" in it? Isn't that prefix usually reserved for GOOD things?? Protons have *positive* energy. The protagonist is the *good* guys in the story. Probiotics are *good* bacteria.

I have known since Friday at 11 a.m. my time that I had x amount of work to accomplish before Monday morning at 9 am. Well, here it is SUNDAY night at 9:30 pm and I can't find the motivation to finish it.

I think we had a pretty good weekend and I guess I'm not ready to admit that Monday is so near.

My mom didn't make it into town on Friday. We have rescheduled for the 24th. I told the kids she was coming and now she will be guilted into it. :p Not that she needs to be because she knows how incredibly awesome we are and she just can't wait to come spend 48 hours with us.

We decided we all needed some fun (which I realize is defined very differently depending on your status in our family, i.e. parent or child). We compromised on Carl's Jr, which just happens to be the most expensive and best tasting America fast food chain in Guadalajara, so don't think we're too cheap, mmmmmkay. It turned out to be a very good choice. The success of a family's evening out is directly proportional to the amount of time that mommy and daddy get to spend talking over a quiet table while the kids play happily (an equation that is helped out a lot by the presence of play places in nearly ALL restaurants, fast and slow food alike). We ended up staying at Carl's Jr for a ridiculous amount of time (bordering on three hours). Believe it or not, only ONE family that arrived before us had actually left at that point. Who knew it was such a hang out? Kyle and I enjoyed our conversation and repeated refills of Carl's Jr.'s giant cups (for $3 a drink, I definitely appreciate the size).

Saturday wasn't too bad either (if you can forget that I spent half my week's earning on a hair color and cut that left my hair the same color it was when I went in, regrowth and all, and a haircut that required ME to spend an hour of my time in the bathroom with my haircutting scissors and a mirror trying to straighten it out). Yeah, I couldn't forget that part either. Nonetheless, after THAT disaster was put to the back burner for a minute, we went to a baby shower/family bbq that ended up being a lot of fun. The kids played for almost four hours straight and Kyle and I again enjoyed good food and good conversation.

Somehow I realize this is sounding like Kyle didn't get anything done this weekend - but it should be noted that every OTHER minute. . .the ones that I am NOT blogging about. . .those were spent with me and the kids twiddling our thumbs waiting patiently for Kyle to geniusify behind closed doors. Okay, really we don't wait like that - but he always studies so that doesn't seem blogworthy. Work with me here.

We didn't really watch conference on Saturday (bad, bad, I know), but we were all set for Sunday. We had an easy breakfast and I made a cinnamon cake (that turned out so so) while we waited for the first session to start. Our friends, the Stilsons, ended up without internet this morning, so they joined us for both sessions (with a little break in between allowing naps for all). Overall, it was a pretty relaxed day. My mom was slightly disappointed that I didn't prepare our family's traditional conference breakfast. My reason was, "Its a lot of work when it is just our family," which I later realized sounds like I don't think MY little family is worth all that work. But really, I DO think they worth it. I was just lazy and its way more fun when my mom, dad, siblings and nieces and nephews are there to make and partake. Next conference I SWEAR I'll invite some people over and we'll keep up the tradition. Besides, I really like Honey Nut Cheerios. No really, I DO.

Shhhh!

2008-10-01T16:29:00.003-06:00

This is the blog post that never happened. . .as I am "working" so hard that I actually just asked Kyle to run to the store for me (don't worry, he has been home alone all day getting in good study time). Maybe he isn't the only one who gets sidetracked. I vow to not make fun of him for ESPN.com.

For 24 hours.

So, the main motivator for this blog post is that I had thoughts on the brain and want to get them down before I forget, and nothing makes you forget about your own life faster than transcribing for hours on end, typing about other people's lives.

Yesterday started like any ol' average day. As Kyle's schedule wasn't so helpful, I drove the kids to school, came home, ate my second breakfast with Sullivan, worked for a few hours, yadi yadi yada. Sully started a little fussing (okay a lot) around noon, so I fed him quick lunch and dozed next to him for a few minutes to get him to sleep. Kyle came home for lunch, so we left the napper home with Joanna and grabbed a torta ahogada for lunch. Afterwards, I woke Sully, buckled him in the car and left to go get the kids.

Fast forward five minutes and ta-dah!!! Car crash + me = OH S#$%. I actually think I did say that. And I also hit the steering wheel really hard 'cause I was TICKED. I called Kyle and said, "I just hit someone right outside the community - come FAST!" I tried to call the insurance company but all of the phone numbers were saying "no existe". This was just a teeny fender bender, but I kind of had a clue that we were going to be sticking around for a while as I have heard rumors before about how much fun this could be. (I'm a sucker for first-hand experience).

The short version:
Kyle showed up quickly.
He called insurance company. They estimate 30-40 minutes until the adjuster arrives.
All occupants move to the side of the road (including the three small children who were riding unbuckled in the passenger seat of a two-seater nissan pickup).
We wait.
Police officer shows up and uses a can of spray paint to mark the lines on the road where each of our cars was located, thereby allowing us to all move them to the side of the road to clear the road for the miles of traffic that are jammed up behind us now.
We wait some more.
Insurance adjusters for other two cars show up after about 20 minutes. They start talking and trying to figure out who was at fault. Is anyone missing here?? Oh yeah - MY insurance adjuster.
We wait some more.
My insurance adjuster shows up after 50 minutes. . .meaning we have all been sitting out on the side of the road for an hour now. And my kids are still at school. And Sully will NOT stop crying. :(
Adjusters read all the written statements about who is at fault. My car is the only car undamaged, which means that if it IS my fault, I would be the only person who did not have to pay any $. I know it is not my fault - but tell the guy that I will take the blame if it means we can all go. He says I can't take the blame now because I already handed over my written statement and I cannot change it now.
Adjusters cannot agree on whose fault it is. They have to call the "Peritos". I have no clue what the American equivalent of this would be, but he is baiscally a mediator who has the final say as far as who is at fault in an accident. He comes down, looks at the position of the cars, assesses the location and degree of damage and makes his ruling.
We wait some more.
I call Brooke and ask her to PLEASE pick up my poor kids from school and take them to her house.
After 30-45 more minutes, the Perito arrives. He begins his assessment.
We wait some more.
He finally decides that it is my fault. His reasoning basically sounds like it is because I have the biggest car of the three. Whatever - can we go now??? (3 hours at the scene and counting.)
Paperwork must be signed. Show me where to sign! Paperwork cannot be signed until they fill it all out, by hand, on the hood of the car.
We wait some more.
3 hours and 45 minutes later we are signing the paperwork and told we can leave.
I climb into the car, turn the key and . . . NOTHING. Did you know that if you leave your hazard lights on it will drain your battery??? Yeah, me neither.
It takes Kyle and the police officer 10 minutes to hold up traffic enough for him to bring the truck around, facing oncoming traffic to help me jumpstart the car.
And we go.

That was SUPER fun. Kyle and I both felt like we had been assaulted (emotionally) by the time it was all over. I really appreciate the system in the USA. In the end I got the blame anyway. . .at least in the USA it would have been quick (if not painless).

AND - our old cell phone broke a few months ago and we recently replaced it. I forgot to give the school our new number. Poor G was sick at school all day and they had no way to call me. He laid down in the classroom for seven hours. Do I win an award for that kind of parenting?? I hope so because I pretty much felt like the biggest loser (and not in the 'I'm skinny and I used to be fat' kind of way). Is it Friday yet??? :p

It didn't work!

2008-09-30T08:44:00.002-06:00

Apparently I can cross my fingers all I want, but its not doing much for Kyle's schedule at the hospital. They want him daily from 7 -3, which means he can neither drop off nor pick up, which also means we have 2 cars basically driving to the same location of the city multiple times a day. Its a good thing I love these kids so much, and that husband, and school, and driving, and spending money on gas. :) Kyle did have a longer shift yesterday (and Thursday), so he didn't get home unti 8:00. It was a good reminder to me that life is easier when he's home, even if he IS locked in the office. At least then we get to see him for dinner and bathroom breaks. The kids were in bed when he got home, and of course all three of them HAD to say goodnight, which extended bedtime to almost 9:00 p.m. (Okay Sully had two naps yesterday and really didn't go to sleep until nearly 11:00).

I also realized that either our two-year-old was ending up in our bed too often, or my husband got tired of being locked in the dungeon that we call "office," because a little suggestion of *maybe* moving the twin bed into our room for Sullivan and putting his desk in that bedroom turned into ACTUALLY moving the twin bed into our room and converting that bedroom into a study space. I actually like having Sully in his own bed in there . . . and he's still close enough to oooh and ahhh over how cute he is while he is sleeping. Kyle appreciates having an "office" that actually gets some natural light and has room to scoot the chair back from the desk. We've committed ourselves at least until after his big exam, which means that we'll give it a month before we decide if we want to re-kick Sully back to his own room. The other plus-side is that now his old "office" is empty and freed up lots of room for me to sort laundry. . . and pile laundry. . .and now store dirty laundry that previously had no place to be stored therefore forcing it to get done. I love to be enabled in my lazy ways.

I also love how all the comments on that last post were to claim that butt as their own. Even my mom called me to say that she tried to leave a comment but couldn't remember her login and password. Her comment basically consisted of, "You all know that is really MY butt, so quit claiming it and get back to the gym." You people crack me up.

My butt really used to look like that. Once upon a time. I don't have any proof, of course, because who takes a picture of their butt like that. ;)

swimming and spankies

2008-09-23T14:26:00.004-06:00

Wow, I think this has to be a new record for my least bloggy month. Things have just been busy busy busy with working, kids' school, mischievious two-year-olds and husbands who lock themselves in offices for hours/days/months at a time "studying". He thinks I don't know that he spends 25% of his time on ESPN.com and Foxnews.com, but I do. I know everything.

A few weeks ago, our group here arranged a day to go to a local waterpark. I hemmed and hawed over whether or not I would go. It sounded fun but it also sounded like a lot of work (three kids + water + one adult = more work than fun?).

Well, I am happy to say it was cheap, safe, super fun, and Kyle went with me so I would have nothing to worry about. I'll apologize in advance to anyone hoping to catch a glimpse of super hot me in a super hot swimsuit. I was the one behind the camera. You're welcome.

They had this slide with four tracks so everyone could race. G was frustrated that he never won. The poor thing was too light to get any speed going down the hill.

Sully up at the top of the hill watching the race. This super safe railing with 2-foot gaps was all that separated his body from a 50-foot drop. I heart MExico.
She chickened out and wouldn't race and then proceeded to pout for 20 minutes.

That's G about to crash into the unsuspecting child below.

We have a little over two months left in the semester. Kyle will finish up nutrition and endocrine this week and then moved onto internal medicine next week. He managed to get assigned to a hospital right by the kids' school, so here's me crossing my fingers that his schedule matches up nicely with the kids and he can take them at least one way each day:

Woah, that is a REALLY big picture of my butt and it is completely cellulite-free and totally cute in my hot little spankies. It is also probably going to be blocked soon since I snagged it from some random website and left it hosted there. You're welcome.

Since my butt is looking so good, I'm not really sure what else to say. I figure it is always best to leave things on a high note.

Tam and Sam (my parents) are coming to visit next Friday, so let's go ahead and use the comments section to remind me of items that will fit in a suitcase that she can bring with her that I cannot live without that are NOT liquids greater than three ounces and could possibly help me have a happy Americanized Thanksgiving in Mexico.

Catch up:)

2008-09-04T20:52:00.002-06:00

I kept waiting for some cute pictures to magically appear on my memory card so I could accompany a blog post with some distraction. . .but apparently you have to USE the camera to get cute pictures on there. I wonder if I can get a refund.

The kids are adjusting so well to school this year. It is amazing how quickly we transitioned from sleeping in until 9:00 am every day and watching more SpongeBob than can possibly be healthy (side note: Its so cute to hear Sully say 'spong bob squay panz'. *sigh*) to waking up at 6:45, doing our morning routine as fast as possible and getting on the road by 7:25 - before the sun has risen. The week just flies away from me now and I'll admit that with only a little over nine months left here in Mexico, it is scary to see time slipping by. I knew this would happen, but just when I actually appreciate what we have going on here, it seems like the end is nearing too soon. When else in my life will I have a maid at my beck and call? A husband home every night for dinner and at church every Sunday (I'm imagining what his schedule will be like for next year's internship or first year rotations - gulp)? Two little kids in a private school learning a foreign language and making memories that will last a lifetime? My little "baby" Sullivan home with me to keep me from taking too many naps or having too clean a house?? Hmmm, sorry if I got a little euphoric there. Just a minute ago I was firmly returning Sullivan to his crib for the upteenth time tonight and wondering when life would get easier. Buckle your seatbelts folks.

That actually reminds me of last night. I called my mom to check in and see what I was missing in her life. I bragged that my biggies were tucked into bed and the short one was playing quietly. Not 30 seconds later, Guthrie comes walking down the stairs (I use the term "walking" loosely here) and thud-thud-thud. . .he somehow misses the last three steps and is rescued by his left jaw and chin coming into contact with the extremely sharp corner of the shelf at the bottom of the stairs. "Uhhhh. . .I'll call you right back." It was immediately purple and bleeding and the poor kid was traumatized. I felt SO SORRY for him on one hand and SUPER annoyed with him on the other. Didn't I ALREADY tuck you into bed once tonight? Ice for the face and water for his mouth, which was apparently what prompted the trip (pun) down the stairs in the first place.

My days have been spent working, hanging with friends, working, cleaning a little bit, enjoying friends who come rescue me and help me clean, eating, napping, working, and I'll admit we still watch a little SpongeBob in all of this.

Our previous maid, who was incidentally the best cleaner I have ever known, up and quit on us when we cut back her schedule a bit. That meant that for the last two weeks I haven't had to pay a maid (and I also haven't had a clean house, but that is another story), we haven't had a date night, and I have actually been cooking our meals each night. I figured that deserved a treat and let Kyle know that Chili's would be served promptly at 6:00. ;) I enjoyed my chips 'n salsa and Buffalo chicken salad and the kids enjoyed a few bites of food and a LOT of playing on the slide/jungle gym. Genius. . .every Chili's should have a play area. Why don't they do that in the states?

Don't worry, we found a new cleaning girl who is happy with the reduced schedule. . .and she's not really a girl - she's 42- but who's keeping track. I am hoping she is just automatically a good cleaner because I'm not picturing myelf as capable of correcting anything or pointing out any flaws in her work. We'll just go with it. She's cheap and I'm pretty much the worst housekeeper this side of the border.

Kyle's rotations are going well. They're doing Endocrine and Nutrition right now. Not too exciting, but probably pretty useful. He starts Internal Medicine in a couple of weeks.

I'm thinking that catches things up for us. . .did I leave Addie out? Um, she's cute, her hair is growing, and she loves to inform us of all the things that 4 and a half year olds can do. Today Guthrie was noticing a billboard advertising for a gym with a picture of an oily, sculpted woman flexing and posing. Adeline said my legs looked like hers. Guthrie disagreed and said that the lady had really small knees and really big thighs and that my legs did NOT looks like hers (compliment???). He laughed his head off and said, "Mom, why does she look like that." I could not even answer before Addie said, "She got her dream body from exercising." Yes - she said dream. I think there must be a SpongeBob episode about that.

Day 1 of School 08/09

2008-08-20T07:48:00.003-06:00

I swore I was going to wake up to the alarm at 6:30, shower and be one of those beautiful moms dropping her kids off at school on their first day. . .but it just seemed so early to get out of bed. At 6:45 I finally pulled on my stretched out jeans from yesterday and a t-shirt and washed the mascara out from under my eyes - voila! Beautiful, right?

I dressed Guff and Addie, got them started on breakfast, loaded backpacks, filled out paperwork, laid out lunchboxes, cleaned out the backseat of the car, loaded Sullivan+banana into his carseat and away we went - at the extremely early, still-dark-outside hour of 7:25. I don't want to admit it, but it felt a *Teeny* bit good to be awake before 9:00, which has been my usual wake-up hour for the last little while.

Here they are on their first day :p Don't they look super-psyched?

Because he feels left out if I don't act like he's a big deal too. :)

The school had someone dressed up as a giant Tigger to welcome the kids on their first day. Last year Tigger handed out giant chocolate covered marshmallow suckers. This year he was a little more appropriately handing out yoghurt drinks. I wonder who the brave sole was that mentioned that little nugget to the PTA. :p

Sully and I are rolling around the house, trying to remember how we kept it real all last year with just the two of us. Something tells me that we'll fill the void just fine. It sure is peaceful here.

Aiming at my foot.

2008-08-19T08:23:00.003-06:00

Sometimes I think I am my own worst enemy when it comes to simplifying my life. We went to all this trouble to find and hire someone to help with kids - one of the main reasons being that without family here, I don't have that quick help you need when you have an appointment or errand that really can't handle kids. Well, yesterday the kids' school supply lists were looming over my head all morning. I convinced myself that I really needed to use the morning wisely and get some work done instead of heading out to tackle the list. Lunch rolled around and if I had decided to start the shopping then, I probably would have had time to get it done before Joanna needed to leave. But nope - I decided to keep working, thinking I could leave the kids with Kyle later in the afternoon and go shop. Kyle comes home and I am still working. He mentions he needs to run to the campus to get our financial aid check (yay for another anchor around our necks!). I have this bright idea that he can study first, and then we can *all* go at the same time. He can run in and get his check and afterwards we can stop by Walmart and try to look like we made an effort on the list. (I have no intention of getting everything on the list - it is RIDICULOUS the things they ask us to buy and I start to get the feeling that they are using us to stock their supply room. Why am I paying thousands of dollars a year for this??? And other parents are paying twice that. Nu-uh - ain't gonna happen.)

So, Kyle studies for a few hours. I finish working and get kids shoed and cleaned up. Around 5:00, we take off. The older two start fighting in the car right away - and the baby gets mysteriously quiet. *glance back* "SULLIVAN! Stay awake! Do NOT go to sleep. Guthrie, play with him, tickle him, anything - don't let him sleep." We get to listen to crabby Sullivan squeal every time someone tickles him or talks to him obediently. I knew it was a bad idea to skip nap-time.

Kyle manages to be fast at the school and we drive away with half of our student loan proceeds in our pocket. We drive 15 minutes to Walmart, circle the parking lot for another 15 minutes, remember that 6:00 on ANY day is pretty much the craziest, zooiest time to attempt shopping in Mexico, but we park anyway. One hour, lots of Addie whining and drooping (man, she is looking tired now), a little Guthrie complaining ("Why does *she* get a puzzle?"), and a surprisingly pleasant Sullivan later, we are done checking out and just waiting for the world's slowest bag boy to finish his job. I can't help but wonder what possessed me to think I didn't need to do this earlier when I could have left all THREE (four if you count the husband who HATES this stuff) at home. *Sigh* Read it on my forehead people - S.t.u.p.i.d.

Now, it is 7:00 and tummies are rumbling, babies are fading, and mommy's blood sugar has dropped like nobody's business. Our lifeline appears to be Costco right across the street. One cheese pizza sounds like just what the doctor (or fourth year med student) ordered. Kids + husband = stay in the car. I run to the counter, order our pizza, get myself a pina colada smoothie (instant happy) and a couple of drinks for kids and husband. And I wait. and wait. and wait. I crane my neck to see if the pizza could be nearing the end of the pizza oven. Nope. So, I stupidly wait some more. and a little more. Finally, Kyle is exasperated and tells me to talk to the employee. "Is my pizza coming?" "Of course." "Are you sure because I'm watching the oven and there are no pizzas coming." "Oh its coming, I assure you." "Uh, okay thanks," I say as I sneakily follow her with my eyes to see her go check and realize no pizza is actually coming and watch as she slips a cheese pizza onto the back of the pizza oven. *sigh again*. She must have read my forehead when I ordered. Must get thicker bangs.

30 minutes after arriving for that- "they always have one waiting," says Kyle in response to my "we need something fast" comment - pizza, we are back on the road. Kids drank half my smoothie instead of their own Sprite, but the half I did guzzle has made me feel temporarily peppy and I enjoy the time to chat and relax with husband while kids play. And then the quiet. *glance back* "SULLIVAN - wake up baby! You have to eat dinner. Do you want some cheese???" (Burn my fingers as I pull off a chunk of melty cheese and hold it in front of the A/C vent to cool it off.) "Here's some cheeeeeeese, Sully!!" Older kids: "Hey, why don't *we* get cheese?" Sully takes the cheese, puts it in his mouth and promptly falls back to sleep - only this time with the added bonus of a choking hazard lolling about his tongue. *sigh again* I hate when he goes to bed without dinner. He always wakes up hungry in the middle of the night.

We get home, baby in bed, kids eating pizza, fun. After dinner and a super healthy dessert of a donut, we lay kids in bed, Kyle is off to finish studying and I sit down to wrap up work (yes, after ALL of that, I still hadn't finished the work part of things).

Fast forward to 2:30 in the morning. Little hand is patting my arm, "Mommy, mommy, I ann eat betfast." Crap - he's hungry. One sippy with milk, pull him up in bed and pray he sleeps (he does). Wait, I'm hungry too. (no joke.) Try to ignore it, surely I am stronger than this. 20 minuets later, no go. Must eat something. This is a joke, right? Stomach is now convulsing in anger and lack of food. Raisin Bran. Ahhh, NOW sleep is good. Back upstairs. Addie is curled up on the end of the bed under Kyle's feet. That cannot be comfortable. Carry her to her bed (man, she's huge.) Now sleep. Here comes Guthrie. "No G-man - you have got to sleep in your own bed. I'll talk to you in the morning." Back to his bed. NOW sleep. *beep beep beep beep beep* Elbow Kyle before alarm wakes up Sullivan who is the ONLY one getting sleep at this point. After three snoozes, Kyle gets out of bed, just in time for Adeline to come wandering in. I threaten her with her life, "Sleep - don't talk." She sleeps on Kyle's side - although still curled up at the bottom of the bed.

Now sleep - its starting to get light outside. Ignore. Just sleep.

Back to School

2008-08-14T14:14:00.002-06:00

Whenever I say or think "Back to School," I can't get Adam Sandler's voice out of my head - and I am suddenly in the mood to watch Billy Madison. But the *real* point of this post is the official school update!

We checked out the most amazing school the other day. For a mere ten thousand a year, we could enroll our kids in an eco-friendly, adorable, super chic school close to the house. Since that is more than we spend on groceries and clothing for our whole family combined in an average year, we figured we better pass it up and see what we could do about getting a discount at their old school.

Really I got a lot of comfort from the thought of sending them to the same school this year. We all kind of have a crazy life and it certainly can't hurt them to have a little stability in this one facet, right? (On a side note, we have officially lived in this house for almost 15 months - three months longer than we have ever lived anywhere - cool, eh?)

We drove to the school this morning around 10:45, waited until close to noon for the administrator to have a chance to talk with us, and were able to negotiate a deal that *hopefully* has us all feeling satisfied. While the discount this year ended up being significantly more than last year percentage-wise, we will still be paying close to the same amount because of the increase in tuition cost that comes with advancing a grade and the annual inflation rate. Aren't you all feeling a little smug with your kids in their academically advanced, publically funded charter schools?? Anyway, our original intention was to try to really get a good deal and play a little hardball - but when we realized how much costs had increased, we started to panic that maybe we were going to end up paying MORE than last year and that is just a *no go*. Kyle and I both feel pretty good about the situation and we're super excited for the kids, who are ready to bounce off the ceiling at the thought of starting school. On Tuesday we go to buy their supplies and meet the teachers, and school starts on Wednesday. The school really did take advantage of Addie's cute little mug. In the conference room (where they meet potential new students and their parents every year), there is a poster-sized picture of Addie, framed and mounted on the wall. The administrator even made a joke when we were trying to negotiate a price - He said, "Well, since I exploited your daughter, we should give you a good discount." HA! I was thinking it, but I didn't say it. He did alude that they *really* want the kids back and of course our kids can't wait to go back - so win/win. Between now and Tuesday I just need to pull out last year's uniforms, see what still fits and what can be handed down, and go buy the new items (the stinker-school changed their polo on us, so we definitely have to get all new shirts :( I was thinking I lucked out and wouldn't have to buy much of anything for Adeline.)

Our new maid/nanny is really working out well (if you forget that she has missed two out of six days of work. . .and I did forget, I promise.) Its a whole new feeling to be able to actually run an errand and not drag three kids with you to un-kid-friendly places. I totally love her affect on Sullivan too. Hearing him tell her "gracias" and "adios" is pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Dinner is in the oven (roast for French Dip - drool) the kids are happy, and its time to work - but blogging was more important.

Its almost Friday -sigh of relief-!