So much has happened. . .

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!

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

2 days 'til MATCH day! AHHHHHH!

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

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.

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. . .

'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. . .

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. . .

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.