Motor City, here we come!

So, Josh has been rotating in Detroit, MI for the past two weeks in a urology program into which he was hoping to be accepted. He has really enjoyed the program and it has been a good experience for him. Josh was offered the spot in the program today and will be starting on July 1. We are very excited because it is a specialty he actually really enjoys. Urology allows Josh to do surgery as well as office and he really likes the patient population. The hours will be significantly more family-friendly than general surgery, which is a huge benefit to switching specialties. They are talking about bringing Josh in as 3rd year, which means we would only have 3 more years to go of residency. (No longer than general surgery) There is a slight chance he will have to come in as a second year if the program director can't get a 3rd year spot approved. But either way, it will be great and we feel good about it and how this change will improve our quality of life as a family both now and in the future. He will also be able to do quite a bit more moonlighting, which will be huge for us financially. But now we have to get busy selling our house and packing and all that miserable stuff that goes along with moving. And I will admit the whole move will be very bittersweet as we will sincerely miss our friends in Columbus. My heart is already starting to ache at the thought of saying goodbye in a few months. As difficult as residency is... this has been a cherished time for me as I have really enjoyed making the journey and facing the challenges alongside other incredible women who are going through the same thing. The support has been priceless to me and I recognize the rarity of having a group of friends like I have in Columbus. My typical, cynical way of thinking doubts that I will find such a gem (the Doctors support group for spouses) in Detroit. I might have to come back every once in a while for a playgroup now and then. =)

The kids are starting to really miss Josh as they have not seen him in two weeks. Last night Seth came downstairs at like 1am. I sent him back to bed and then went up to check on him in a few minutes. He was crying, so I asked him why he was upset. He said "I miss daddy." I said, "I know, I miss daddy too. But daddy will be home in a couple days. Daddy went to Michigan a couple hours away to get a new job that will let him be home more. So, in a few months, we'll move and daddy will still go to work every day, but he will get to come home earlier every night and play with you and read books. Won't that be fun?" Seth said yes. So I tucked him back into bed and got ready to leave the room and Seth stopped me and said, "mommy, tell me that story again. The one where daddy gets to come home early and play with me." Isn't it sad that the idea of daddy being home in time to play at night seems like a fairy tale to my children? lol

Glorious Prevacid

We started Isaac on Prevacid for his reflux 2 nights ago. He slept 3-6 hours straight the last 2 nights and then goes back to sleep for 2-3 hour chunks after he eats. It has been glorious getting to sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time. We are just praying that this trend continues and that our baby can become a happy, comfortable baby. yay for sleep!!!!

holidays

Well, the holiday madness is finally almost over (I say "almost" because I still have to put away all of my Christmas decorations and take down the tree). I love Christmas and always wish the holiday season lasted longer. Everything about Christmas feels so comfy and warm. I find that I feel the need to burn a holiday scented candle during the months of November and December just to complete the utopic feeling of "cozy." We had a good Christmas this year. It was obviously special since we got to welcome our newest addition to the family, Isaac, just before Thanksgiving and enjoy our new family of five for the Christmas season. We also had a great family Christmas with the Newman side of the family at mom and dad's house. It was important because we had to say goodbye to my brother, Dan, and his wife, Lauren, for a while as they have now moved to Virginia beach to finish school. We will miss having them around and the kids will really miss them. Josh had to work the week of Christmas but he did have Christmas day off, so that was wonderful. Josh's sister, Vanessa, is in town this week from Tulsa, which has been great because the kids don't get to play with cousin Tori very much. Christmas was really fun this year because it was the first year that the kids were really old enough to understand everything about Christmas. They set out cookies for Santa and were really enchanted by the "magic" of Christmas and Santa Claus and all that goes with it. I think I found this especially amusing because I did not grow up doing the Santa thing and really don't know what I missed. But I'm glad my kids are enjoying it. Christmas morning was a lot of fun. We are also trying to teach the kids about the meaning of Christmas, which is that it is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and that we celebrate because Jesus was born to bring salvation to us. Seth thought it was awesome that whole world has a giant birthday party for Jesus. He thought it was especially awesome that Santa brings presents in honor of Jesus' birth and that WE get to open them. We even had a birthday cake and sang happy birthday. We managed to get out and do some fun holiday stuff, even with the new baby. We saw Santa at the mall and the kids sat on his lap and asked for coloring stuff and Lilah wanted a sucker. (yay for easy gift requests!) We went to the Wildlights at the Zoo with grandma, Vanessa and Tori and then again with my brother, Ben and the Newman cousins. It was so much fun, although very cold! We are very thankful for all of God's blessings this past year. And as we head into the new year, we are looking forward to all that God has for us for 2009.

it's been a while

I have not posted in quite a while. I have been busy with having the new baby and all that goes along with that. Plus, I don't really feel like I have much to say because all of our friends know we had a baby. And there isn't a whole lot to add to that since our days are spent primarily at home feeding, cleaning, changing diapers, and just trying to keep up with the every day stuff. Not very exciting I'm afraid. But we are very excited about our new addition, Isaac Jase, and are getting adjusted to life with 3 children ages 3 and under. Isaac had a doctor appointment today and seems to have reflux. So they gave us some medication for that and I am very hopeful that it helps, which might allow me to sleep a little more. I'm hoping it will also make him more comfortable and generally less fussy. Seth and Lilah love Isaac and really get excited to "help" with him. They are actually very good at keeping him company and talking to him when I have to get things done and he's being kind of fussy. I guess the one nice thing about having kids so close in age is that they never really get used to having all of mom's attention, so they don't seem to care when you have even less time for them because of a new baby. They just kind of adjust and entertain each other. =)

overwhelming pride

I caught Seth doing something yesterday that made my heart swell with pride. I was checking on him after he had gone to the bathroom and found him standing in front of the toilet, meticulously wiping up his little dribbles with a piece of toilet paper. Then he washed his hands and came out to play. I had wondered why I could never find any potty training accidents the past few days whenever I would check the bathroom after he used it. Now I know, my precious, 3 year old with OCD tendencies has been cleaning up after himself the way he sees mommy do it. Now, I realize that for some of you reading this, the whole thing might not seem like that big of a deal. But let me preface this milestone moment by reminding you all that I grew up with 3 little brothers. I spent my entire childhood with bathroom duty because my brothers were too incompetant to effectively clean the bathroom that we all shared. This should not have surprised me because they were also too incompetant to pee successfully into the toilet bowl. My saturday mornings (super cleaning day in my house) were spent scrubbing urine from the toilet rim, the toilet base, the bathroom floor, and any part of the bathroom wall that was unlucky enough to be positioned near the toilet. I have groggily fallen into more open, peed on toilet bowls at 3am than I care to remember. Let me tell you, having your rear end soaked with toilet water as you try to pry yourself out of the bowl is an incredibly unpleasant way to wake up in the middle of the night. And as of very recently, I have learned from my unsuspecting sister-in-law that I probably spent my whole youth living at home showering with a loofah that had been peed on. (Yes girls, apparently if you hang your loofah on the faucet down low, it will most likely get peed on by any boys attempting to pee into the drain while in the shower) My sister-in-law was lucky enough that my brothers cared enough to tell her that they accidentally peed on her loofah. I doubt they gave me the same courtesy when we were 10. Anyways, all this to say that my greatest fear of having sons was that I would spend the rest of my life cleaning up urine and falling into toilets. (I now know better about the loofah and hang mine up high in shower) I have trained my wonderful, cooperative husband to keep our bathroom clean and sanitary. And I sincerely appreciate his willingness to honor my bathroom hangups. (He does know my brothers after all and seems to feel sorry for me) But I have to say, I NEVER expected my three year old boy to be so willing to spare mommy from urine puddles and disgusting bathroom incidences. I am too proud and only hope that Seth continues with his considerate, bathroom behavior. And I just have to say to Lilah (the sister) and Seth's future wife right now... you're welcome.

I Lilah Ann!

Lilah learned her name this week. She's been quite passionate about her newly understood identification. I can no longer call her any of the pet names that I have so affectionately bestowed on her during her short little life. The other day I said, "Lilah, are you my precious baby girl?" Her brows furrowed and she responded in her passionate, low growl of a voice by saying, "No! I Lilah Ann!" We get the same intense response when we call her by Lilly Lou, sugar pie, baby doll, or any other term of endearment that we tend to use. And if we laugh at her insistance on who she is, she melts down into a frenzied, high pitch squeal of repetitve pleas (all the while pointing to her chest to emphasize the point) "I Lilah Ann! I Lilah Ann!" At least she has a strong sense of identity. =) Seth, by the way, thinks the whole thing is hilarious and has taken full advantage of the opportunity to call her any name that is not actually hers, simply to get a reaction. But if I remember my own childhood with three brothers correctly... that's what brothers are for.

I'm done!

Put a fork in me... I'm done being pregnant! I'm not really. I have two weeks to go. But I want to be done. I'm big and uncomfortable and tired and everything hurts. I'm getting crankier by the minute. (And the election results didn't exactly help cheer me up today). I think I've just hit my limit of what I feel up to doing. I pretty much just want to sit like the beached whale that I am and wait to go into labor. Unfortunately, I have two toddlers who don't seem to understand that mommy has started a boycot on moving... at all. And this annoys me too. Because as irrational as it is, I feel that my children should understand that I need them to be perfect and calm and obedient and to clean up all their own messes so that I don't actually have to engage in active parenting for the next couple of weeks. lol... Today during naptime, Seth climbed on top of his dresser and somehow toppled the entire dresser and 20" TV over. He was not hurt, but the TV broke. And I'm pretty sure that I pulled every last muscle that wasn't already hurting just trying pick up the furniture and television. I called Josh and he said that it makes sense that Seth would climb on furniture and potentially destroy everything in his wake (because he's three). I find that to be an absolutely ridiculous argument and am no longer interested in Josh's opinion about parenting. Seth should have forseen all the potential consequences of his actions and how much they would irritate me. (I'm just kidding) But it was kind of a rough afternoon. =) I'm just worn out and wish I had a husband who was home more to help me out a little more often. I can't even vacuum without going into a serious episode of contractions. Sometimes I watch the Baby Story on TV and see the dads cleaning the house and giving back rubs and doing all this stuff so the huge pregnant women don't have to move and I feel incredibly jealous. Don't get me wrong, Josh is fantastic when he can be. But he works too much and usually has so much to do when he gets home that I feel bad even asking for help. Although, he did give me a pedicure over the weekend because my feet were too gross (even for him) and I can no longer reach them. That was great. Anyways, enough complaining for now. I just want to have the baby and be done with this stage. =)

On a brighter note: It was a good week overall. Halloween was fun. I took the kids to my parents' because Josh was on call. We had a candy scavenger hunt in our costumes with some friends. The kids enjoyed it and it sufficed for trick-or-treating this year. Seth was Eeyore and Lilah was Piglet, but refused to wear her Piglet face. So I did. then we enjoyed Sunday with Josh as he had the day off and just kind of relaxed. On Monday, Seth had his preschool evaluation for the Hilliard City School District preschool. They just have the kids play at different stations and look for signs that they are on target for normal development for their age. (It's a peer model program where Seth would be a peer model in a classroom with 8 children who have IEPs, that's why the peer models have to be evaluated) Anyways, Seth was accepted into the preschool, which was exciting because it seems like a really great program. He'll start next August and I think he'll really enjoy it. He's already talking about school and how he loves it. He kept saying "Thanks so much mom for taking me to school." Hopefully, it works out well for him. That's about it for us lately.