may wrap-up

Still backlogging my blog trying to remember the main events over the past few months. We had stayed in UT the entire month of April, then flew to CO the first of May (and sadly my mom's birthday. really should have timed that differently!). We stayed with R's family for almost a week, and then had a huge graduation celebration in Hawaii while R's parents watched the kids. That deserves its own post though, so more details to come. A lot happened in May, and here are just a few snapshots to help us remember!

 Witnessing a few signs of Spring. UT was still getting snow, then CO was just starting to turn green. By the time we got home to OH Spring had already happened! We would have missed it completely had it not been for these gorgeous and yummy-smelling flowers in front of my in-law's home. I could drink in their deliciousness. It felt so good to be outside without a coat on!

 Playing a lot with kids, and trying to capture a photo of LE's little hands. I love how little she still is, and wanted to remember it. Ever try to snap a photo, and nothing can quite do it justice? While I do agree with the saying that a picture says a thousand words, I just could not find a good enough way to freeze time in a photograph to help me remember these little baby hands. Oh how I love them. 

Our visit overlapped with one of C's sisters and her two daughters from CA, and it was fabulous! So fun to see family that we hadn't seen in a while, and we spent a good portion of the day at the Zoo which is always a favorite. Feeding giraffes is the first exhibit you see and the kids loved it. I'm sure the giraffes did too.

 Cousins and more cousins. And a hungry giraffe. 

 Some other fun Zoo pictures. Such an awesome Zoo. We love feeding the birds as well, and seeing bears, eagles, tigers, and lots of other animals!

R took photos of me with L feeding the birds and it got me all sentimental about the last pictures I have of him doing that! Oh how time flies and babies change {and my hair style doesn't! haha}.

L loved playing with his cousins and G & C - such a treat! We ate lots of pretend food, read lots of books, played outside, got some ballon animals, and continues teething. It was a very productive stay! :)

After coming back from HI we celebrated G's birthday, and then loaded up and said goodbye. We started the drive home to OH, and just had to stop in Kansas to visit our other favorite cousins {we have a lot of favorites in this family!}. 

 We only stayed with the L-family one night, but we tried to make that night last as long as possible and kept the kids up until almost midnight! Oh man it was so fun. 

 We ate yummy food, and roasted mallows outside. Then we read books together and laughed and talked for hours. L loved being with these cousins again, and it just reminded us of how much we miss them living close to us! The next morning went slowly, and we got a late start to the drive but it was worth it to spend just a little bit more time together. 

 By the time we pulled into our parking spot in OH it was around 2am, and we walked in to find we had been ambushed! Our entire house was plastered in fellow med-student business cards. A huge message written with them on the floor read "welcome home" with our last name intentionally spelled incorrectly. And these cards stuck in every nook and cranny possible. They would literally drop from out of nowhere all week long. We later came to learn that it was a contest among these three friends who pulled the prank to be the person with the last card still not found. As we've unpacked in our new house I am still finding these cards and am amazed at their creativity. R and I see pranks with these in the future ...

 {sorry for the date stamp - used it for a different purpose and saved it that way. whoops}

The kids had a lot of self-entertainment time while R and I continued to pack our house up and get ready for graduation celebrations and moving. This is L throwing the frisbee around the back patio and LE laughing as she watched safely behind our screen door. 

 And L joining in on Lady-LE's fun. 

 Saying goodbye to a favorite park during a ward breakfast there. Such amazing friends and beautiful places. We will miss them all!

 I feel like we should be going to some horse races or something, don't you? :)

We tried packing and getting as ready as possible to move by the end of this month. We had family in town for graduation and did not want the focus of those few days to be us moving. Surprisingly I only went through a few stress-induced moments, but overall felt really calm and ready with all of the changes happening and closing in on us. We did manage to take a new favorite photo of mine during the last week we lived in OH though:

We copied some dear friends of ours and created our own O-H-I-O picture. Four years of medical school at OSU and two buckeye babies -- definitely converted to the great state of O-H-I-O. 

april wrap up

Um, it's been a while. I was starting to look back through my pictures and realized the last everyday-moment I blogged about was L's birthday back in April! Holy schmoly a lot has happened since then. So in an effort to catch up, here is a quick {or not so quick} recap of the month of April.

R did an away rotation this month, called Wilderness Medicine. Although it was in SLC, the kids and I chose to come out and stay with my parents who live in Logan - a good hour and a half away. 1.5 hours is a heck of a lot closer than 36 or whatever it would have been staying in Ohio, so we figured it was worth it! We crammed a lot into one month. Here are a lot of pictures to show just what I mean.

Enjoyed a fun double date with my little brother - barely home from his mission. We went rock climbing, and it ended up being completely free. Love it. And love my brother - it was SO good to be with him again! 

Took a quick family trip to SLC to see some friends from undergrad. I am completely in love with this little boy! Thanks D & S for having us!

Celebrated my little sister's 16th birthday by taking her and her friends out to lunch at Cafe Rio. So yummy. And fun to feel like I was in high school again with her. She is way cooler than I was at 16, that's for sure! :)

 LOVED having all of my siblings together for the first time in six years! Oh man it felt good, and we had a lot of fun together. We drove down to visit with some family on my dad's side and see some cousins we don't get to very often. It was great to catch up!

 Then we stayed in a hotel and let the kids be wild. L & B loved jumping back and forth between beds - so cute!

The next morning we all went skiing together while Mom and Dad watched the grandkids. WOW! Such a fun day. We laughed and cried and make some awesome memories.  Thank you Mom & Dad!

This picture will forever be one of my favorites: my brother D set up a ski-pod to hold the camera to get a big group shot. The wind starting picking up and the ski was swaying back and forth. All of us were freaking out about the camera falling, and the timer finally went off right when D was running to grab it before it faceplanted in the snow. Perfect timing. 

Then a nice girl volunteered to take a picture for us, and we still got a group shot. Sweet.

Then we crashed a cousin's baby shower and basically took over. She now has a sweet baby girl and we are excited for her! 

{I was battling a sinus infection, hence the tired look. I really did love the pyramid-crash-turn-into-sisters-together scenario though, promise!}

And of course we had to take a gazillion family pictures the last night we were all together. Love it!

My dad is building the shop of his dreams, and it's so fun to go out there and watch him work or have him describe all that is still in the process of being built. This guy is amazing. And these hands have a thousand stories to tell.

And to top it off, he's cute with kids too. :) Both my parents are wonderful with them, and we counted our blessings every day we were with them. 

Had fun taking quasi-senior pictures for both my younger siblings. They are the best of friends and I LOVE them for it. This is their "smolder" look. Pretty good, eh?

{of course a picture of my darling Lady-L while walking outside}

My brother and R working on roofing the shop. There always seems to be a project around for these guys and it's awesome to watch them get to work. Love that about my family!

Trips to the park to ride scooters. B & L are best buds - couldn't ask for anything better! I hope they remember the fun times they have together. And I hope that I can remember how gorgeous these mountains are. Seriously?! I miss them. {and of course the adorable cousins to play with}

My two brothers and R took a little alpine touring trip up Logan Canyon together. R was in heaven. Have I mentioned before how he is like best friends with my brothers? It makes me so happy and I love it. Honestly.

And of course I had to document my little sister's first date. Her date was a little embarrassed, but I had to! :) Thanks K - love ya! 

Easter Weekend was busy! We had more cousins come up to stay with us and the kids had a great time together. We did an egg hunt that was crazy packed and lasted for .5 seconds {literally!}.

L & cousin SC.

Then we had fun playing outside and coloring with sidewalk chalk. 

We took Easter pictures in front of my parent's house. They turned out great! What beautiful people, right?

After lunch we had our own Easter egg hunt and played around all day outside. R's brother and family drove all the way up to have dinner with us, and it was great getting even more cousins together! Fabulous, I tell you. Fabulous.

R and his brother with the boys in matching pajamas. I promise we did not plan this! 

Later we enjoyed our own trip down to Lehi to visit R's brother and family again! We spent the night with them and had a blast playing Dominion {if you haven't played it, then you should. It's awesome}. There was a moment the next morning when L and I were the only ones awake, so we decided to take a little walk outside to the neighborhood park. It was beautiful with the flowers and sunshine. I love this guy. He makes every day special.

We visited an awesome pool together and the kids loved the water. And us adults loved it even more. It was such a fun treat being able to spend time with R's brother and fam - so glad we got to see them! 

We kept trying to get Lady-L to crawl. No such luck. 

My mom and I went to one day of BYU Women's Conference and I LOVED being on campus again. That place is amazing and one of the most special places to me. The building in the bottom right is what has taken the place of my first college home. Sure looks better than DT, but I sure was sad to see it replaced nonetheless. Life just keeps moving, and I guess that's a good thing. :)

Our last night in UT was spent packing and kicking tennis balls around the cul-de-sac. Doesn't sound too crazy, right? Well. try soaking the tennis balls in gasoline and lighting them on fire. Then kick it around like a soccer ball and tell me what you think. It was awesome. :) 

We had such a great month being with family, and it was a blessing to be able to be there for so long. Thank you Mom and Dad for giving us a roof over our heads and food in our bellies, thank you S for giving us your room for the entire month, and thank you K for playing with me every day. There are a thousand more things to say thank you for - it was definitely a month to remember. 

husband, m.d.

It amazes me how four years ago we were just starting this journey. We have since both graduated with our bachelor degrees, doubled the size of our family by having two kids, moved across the country from most of our family, fell in love with football and buckeyes, and learn to appreciate the beauty of the midwest. 

We were so excited to move on to the next phase. I truly believe that we were ready for a change. But I can't help but look back on those four years, and with a greater perspective learn to see beauty in the challenges we experienced and the ease of life we had even through the craziness. Life was unbelievably hard at times; to the point where I felt like I could not continue. But they were good years. Years of learning, growth, progression, love, trials, blessings, and more love. 

We now have a new phase to pass through: the phase of being a resident physician and all the joys {and challenges} that accompany that. Isn't that what life really is? Just one more lesson to learn; one more hurdle to overcome; one more step toward our goals; one more blessing to count; one more journal entry to record? 

My emotions have been close to the surface this past month as we said goodbye to dear friends and hello to new ones. My heart is very sensitive to countless memories that we made in Columbus, and the people we grew to love there. And most of all, I am beyond proud for R and this major accomplishment of graduating medical school. All of our family who came out to support us for graduation made multiple, sweet, genuine comments of how it is a team effort and it is both of us who deserve recognition. I definitely understand that and agree with it. But I'm not the one who studied countless days, took exam after exam, practiced for hours on procedures, and was under the direct stress and pressure of directors and attendings who demanded excellence. We both played roles in these past four years that were important, but I am positive that my line of work is vastly different and much more enjoyable than going through what he has gone through. I would choose my job over his any day. :)

Congrats babe - we did it! Here's to three {+} years of residency: a time of learning, progression, improving, challenges, blessings, and most of all love. 

happy father's day

We love you Daddy! 

eleven months

Lady-L is eleven months old!!

Life has been a whirlwind lately, but yet Lady-LE has changed SO much I really need to document it. No new stats to report, but my baby girl is 11 months old and almost a toddler (kind of).

Ways she has changed:

-loves to be on her belly now

-rolls over a lot

-uses her hands and arms while on her belly to move around; although it is always either side to side or backwards. no forward moving yet

-hair finally growing in the back

-filled out quite a bit in the past month or two

-hates to have her diaper changed

-says "Hi" and waves her arms frantically at everyone

-says "ma-ma" and "da-da" although she thinks it's funny to say "da-da" when I am specifically trying to get her to repeat "ma-ma" - just like my little neice. too cute for words!

-I signed the word "more" for her once, and she picked it up the first try! She signs it all the time now, and I've slowly been trying to introduce more signs but I kind of forget to make it a priority

-learned how to scream to get our attention, and uses that tactic frequently when big brother takes away a toy

-absolutely loves music and dancing every time she hears it

-she's had her first introduction to Baby Signing Time {which I love, I know. Other parents get annoyed, but it makes me happy} and absolutely adores it. She goes crazy dancing and moving to the music.

Ways she has stayed the same:

-still very sweet and content if she is fed, rested, and entertained {the combinations actually happened at really good times during the crazy graduation week. Thank you Lady-L!}

-completely adores big brother

-loves fruit and some-what tolerates vegetables

-goes completely crazy whenever we go outside. whole body convulses with too much excitement to keep contained

-loves to imitate sounds and do what you are doing

-loves chaos. seriously? yes. she is completely entertained when there are a lot of people around and she loves to have a crowd.

-still takes at least two naps a day - sometimes three. The third is getting more and more rare, but every once in a while we throw it into the mix again. She's almost a year old and she's still on two naps. I'm loving this!

Other tidbits:

-she did amazingly well in transitioning to our new house. She cried the first day or so whenever it was naptime or bedtime, but that only lasted a little while and by day two she was totally fine. Man alive this girl is awesome.

-she has such a crazy personality. Sometimes she's content to simply sit and play for over an hour. Other times she screams until I hold her in standing position and she will scream any time I try to sit down. She does this especially in the pool. She LOVES to stand up in the pool, and it's actually helping her learn to move her legs while standing. Maybe she actually will skip the crawling stage?

things that matter most

There are a MILLION things to post about. Ryan graduating medical school, lots of wonderful family visiting us, vacation to Hawaii without kids, visiting Colorado, L & LE growing and changing every day, saying goodbye to Columbus and lots of dear sweet friends, moving to North Carolina, buying our first house, getting settled in our new city, meeting other residents in Ryan's program, and the list goes on and on.

But I saw this today and it completely resonates with me and I have to share it. Yes life is crazy right now, but there are specific things in life that make it truly meaningful and beautiful:  the gospel and our family. Life is wonderful.

ten months

{we are in Colorado during her official 10 month birthday, so no elephant picture. this girl's life has been one trip after another!}

Recent favorites:

-waving "hi" to everyone, especially mamma when she first sees me

-laughing hysterically at dropping food on her high chair tray table

-loves to stand up, almost to the point where she cried until I hold her hands and pull her up

-no crawling movement whatsoever. or rolling over.

-teething horribly, but seems to be getting better

three years old

We celebrated L's birthday out here in Utah with my family and it was a wonderful day!

 We had a very loose "Toy Story" theme with a Rex dinosaur cake. 

The weather was perfect too - and we took advantage of it riding around on L's new scooter! L loves this thing, and wants to ride it all day long. He's super fast, and loves to cover big distances. He rides goofy, as in right foot forward. I guess from the pictures R does too? Hmm ... never noticed that before. 

We loved talking to lots of family on the phone, and perhaps L's best friends in the world on the computer. Thank you ALL for calling and for showing lots of love for this little boy!

 We played all day, and pretty soon it was time to open gifts! Lady-LE loved the ribbon.

 We even got to sneak in some time outside to play with the new ball and bat. This kid is a natural!

I love this big guy. He is full of life and energy, and loves to play.

Happy Birthday L! 

nine months

Sweet girl is getting bigger! She is a doll and so darling. Since we're away from home again I don't have the traditional elephant for photos, but here's a wannabe substitute:

Recent Favs:

-laughs all day long at big brother. They both do this reciprocal fake-laugh with one another and it cracks me up

-content to simply sit.all.day.long. Shows little-to-no sign of rolling over, crawling, or pulling herself up. Wants to, definitely. But obviously not bad enough.

-filling out in chub more since being on straight formula

-focuses on our lips as we babble to her, and loves to mimic what we do/say

-waves back to us

-laughs when we clap

-getting her top middle teeth and going on a diet in the process (all by her choice. I guess she saw my previous comment about filling out?)

-takes two naps a day regularly, sometimes still three

-sleeps roughly 11 hours at night straight

-absolutely loves getting tossed in the air and hanging upside down

-loves grandma & grandpa. absolutely adores them.

{photos were taken on 4.6.2011 - L's birthday}