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.

Shopping!

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

What do you think?

BLESSED

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

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

laugheline

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

Me: Stop it, you horn dog.

Adeline: Yeah, stop it corndog!!

The End.

(Yes, I said "horn dog".)

Any ol' Wednesday

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

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

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

She's just cute. :)


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

They're just cute.

Okay Kyle - you can come home now.

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

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

The last time for a long time.

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

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

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

On an entirely different note -

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

Hair drama.

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

So, what's the problem, right?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good thing she rocks it.

A New Routine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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