Spoiled...

Sometimes I forget. I forget what life was like with a husband first starting out in medical school. I forget those first few days of school that made Christopher want to pack everything up and just go back home...he thought there was no way he could get through four years of this! I forget about the professors that each assign incredulous amounts of information for students to not only study but be able to recite forwards, backwards, up and down. I forget about the many nights alone so Christopher could study at the school, the finals weeks when I NEVER saw him, and all the stress that came with it. I forget about the anxiety wondering where we'll spend the last two years of medical school, of not seeing my husband for two weeks during his preceptorship after just having a baby. True, there's still lots of scary unknowns ahead, even more nerve-wracking and stress-inducing than these, but for now, I'll just enjoy being spoiled while having a husband at home!

After starting out with some "tougher" rotations, Christopher is now on a string of light rotations. This one in particular has him home by 10 or ll o'clock in the afternoon. Yesterday, he came home announcing that we should go to the Imagination Station in Toledo (basically a children's museum with some pretty cool things for even us big kids). He'd yet to go and the kids loved it when we went with friends, so off we went.

And there has been lots of time for the kids to have fun with dad in the snow.

And as for me, hubby's been here so I can grocery shop by myself, have someone to beat me at games other than Candyland and go for nighttime runs to Krispy Kreme to satisfy a pregnant woman's sugary cravings. It's great to have you home, hon!

Oh, baby...

√ Get sitter to ensure quick and quiet appointment (Thanks, Jen!)
√ Don't die in a fiery crash traveling in the snow
√ Like new OB
√ Hear baby's heartbeat
   Actually have gained weight/not lost
√ Don't faint during blood draw

First prenatal appointment = DONE

AND....because I didn't get in to see the dr. until much later than I usually do, it'll already be time for THE ultrasound at my next appointment!!! So, next Wednesday I go in for a quick ultrasound to confirm due date (which at the moment is July 16, but I think it will end up later), then in February I'm back in for prenatal #2 and the chance to see our third little munchkin!

So this is Christmas...

Yep, I too have dropped the ball and now have some catching up to do. I don't have some of the best visual aids to accompany the handful of Yuletide events I figured I'd post so I apologize now. I really didn't document this Christmas as much as I would have liked. Still, we really enjoyed the holidays and the start of a new decade.

Since Kira is definitely at the perfect age to really build up Christmas and make it seem super fun and magical, I tried to incorporate more crafty activities for her and Alexis and to enjoy. Of course, we don't claim to be master craftsmen (craftswomen?), but we still had our own fun, especially since some of these were a first for the kids AND me.

The perpetual hair-in-the-face look, think it will catch on?

I didn't get any pictures of the tree or decorations. But in my defense, we weren't home most of the holiday. We packed our suitcases, tuned up the Yukon, prayed for no snow, and headed out to Oklahoma to spend Christmas with both families. We haven't been "home" for Christmas since we moved from OK. We spent all of Christopher's Christmas vacay (minus driving time) with our parents and siblings. It was so great! The girls were spoiled, we were spoiled and it meant so much to be able to catch up with loved ones we hadn't seen in over a year. In fact, ALL of Christopher's siblings made it home this Christmas with their families! Here they are in all their mad-pyramid-skills glory!

We hopped back and forth between my parent's home and Christopher's to make sure that we got to see everyone. We spent Christmas Eve at his parent's and Christmas Day at mine. We were all showered with fun gifts and just enjoyed the opportunity to be away from work and responsibilities for a little while.

We were a little worried that our trip home would be a little more eventful than the trip down as snow began falling AGAIN the night before we left, threatening to follow us all the way to Michigan. And it didn't help that the littlest girl in the family got a yucky head cold, putting her in an uncooperative mood, not that we could blame her. Would you want to be strapped into a seat for two days dripping, sneezing, and coughing? But the Lord blessed us and we were able to travel in moderate safety (there was an incident that involved a clueless blue pick-up, ice and an emergency off-ramp, but my man has mad driving skills, thank goodness!). In fact, we can now say we've been through Miami (OK), Paris (IL), Brazil (IN), and Lima (OH)...all in one trip, lucky us!

We got home in time for Christopher's birthday (Jan 1st). We celebrated by putting him to work taking down Christmas decorations and going grocery shopping, an essential part of a perfect birthday! But he was able to relax in his own home and sleep in his own bed and the girls gave him some fun presents. We had homemade pizza for dinner, popcorn cake for dessert, compliments of my mother-in-law, and he ended the night with football...not too shabby, right?

Still with me? Almost done, I promise!

The last few days have been spent lazing around, watching the gentle snowfalls and playing in it when possible. Christopher is on Radiology right now, so we've been able to see him alot and it's made the transition from seeing him everyday on vacation to going back to work much easier for us here at the house.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and if you haven't had our good fortune of being coated in that white cold stuff like we have, Kira has something to send your way!