mobile

uh oh... I just watched Isaac scoot himself forward across the living room to get to the computer chord. He is congratulating himself by flailing and spitting gleefully. And now I have 3 to chase around.

Bedtime Story

I was tucking the kids into bed tonight and was telling them a bedtime story about moving to Michigan. I was talking about how the 2 birdies named Seth and Lilah who were moving to Michigan because they loved it so much were packing all of their toys in the big moving truck. The kids were each piping in throughout the story naming all the items they wanted to be sure to pack. It went something like this...
Me: "And they packed up all their toys..."
Seth: "like Buzz lightyear! And superhero toys!"
Lilah: "And dress up clothes and my Pinkie Pie pony!"
Me: "Yes, all of their toys and clothes and everything that they loved."
Seth: "Yeah! And Brenna too!"
Me: "no, Brenna has to stay here with her mommy and daddy. She can't be packed onto the moving truck.
Seth: (with a disappointed look and furrowed eyebrows) "awww... why?"

The Big Push Starts Today!

Me and Lisa, both sad about leaving



Friends from the Spouse Group


Seth and Lilah with friends, Brenna and Ava

So we are in the final days of being in Ohio as we get ready for the move to Michigan. I have procrastinated on packing as much as possible as I have chosen to live in a state of denial about the move for quite a while now. That time is over. I really have to face reality and get things ready for the move now because it's happening on Saturday, whether I'm ready or not. when I was in jr. high I had a teacher (Mr. Hunsucker) who used to announce every day when we got to school that "The big push starts today!" He was talking about Math and I never completely understood what "big push" he was talking about since every day was pretty much the same and I certainly never FELT like I had to work any harder at school on any given day (those of you who went to Christian Academy might understand what I'm talking about). But nonetheless, the phrase stuck in my head and I am now using it to psyche myself up to start REALLY packing and cleaning and doing everything that needs to be done to get ready for Saturday. So, tonight after the kids go to bed I am going to pour myself a drink, turn on girly dance music, and start packing my laundry/storage area and the rest of my basement. And then I am planning to get a significant amount of packing and cleaning done every day for the rest of the week. I tried to start packing hardcore on Friday night and started on a couple boxes. Then I got depressed and overwhelmed so I watched a movie instead. We are excited about the move to Michigan for professional reasons and are looking forward to more time together as a family (hopefully). But we are really going to miss Columbus and are especially going to miss our friends here. The Significant Others Support Group did a going away party for us and Lisa (who is also moving) yesterday. It was so wonderful to enjoy one last picnic with so many of the wonderful families who have made us feel so at home here in Columbus and who we have genuinely enjoyed sharing this part of our journey with. I'm so thankful for a group of women to learn from and laugh with as I continue to take on the challenges of motherhood. It's so nice to go somewhere with friends and know that if my child hits another child and I miss it, that another mother will handle it (and usually more gracefully than I would) who I can trust and who won't spend the rest of the day talking about how awful my children are. =) lol ...What a blessing it was to start our residency in Columbus. I sincerely hope that the friendships we made here will be maintained in the years to come and I know I will always look back at this time of life with great joy and many happy memories. We have a busy week ahead of packing and moving and saying goodbyes. And then we will be off to Michigan to start the next part of the journey! Thanks for all the memories, laughs, sometimes tears, and abundance of support and help all of our wonderful friends and family have provided us these past few years.

Big weekend

This last weekend was a busy and fun weekend. Two of my brothers graduated on Friday night. Ben graduated medical school from Wright State University and David graduated high school. The crappy part was that they both graduated on Friday night at 6:30 and 7pm in different cities. The family had to split and we all missed one of the graduations. I went to David's while Josh attended Ben's. The we had a joint graduation party for both of the boys on Saturday. But it was still a fun weekend and I am very happy and proud of each of the boys. We know quite well the accomplishment and hard work that medical school is and are wishing Ben and Sarah all the best during his ER residency in NY. David was his normal self by recommending a Dr. Suess quote as the senior class motto ("If you have brains in your head and feet your shoes, you can steer yourself any way you choose.") and listing his future goal post graduation as being a "rock star." Yes, we're very proud. Just this weekend David did finally settle on his next steps which are to attend a Discipleship Training School with Youth With a Mission in Kona, Hawaii. We are actually very happy about this because I think he will really enjoy and benefit from the experience. We're praying God uses the time to really direct Dave in the next phase of life. After all the graduation activities, we stayed around at my parents' house and hung out with family and friends. Our close friends, Adam and Kim were int town from California visiting family, so we hooked up with them on Sunday night and Monday. It was fun letting the kids all play together for the first time really since Violet's been old enough to play. That was fun and then Josh headed home to Columbus for a call shift while I stayed with family so that I didn't have to spend Tuesday and Wednesday morning alone. It was a fun and exhausting week. The kids had a blast playing with cousins and we enjoyed a little more quality time with Ben and Sarah before the move. Now I need to get my house cleaned and start packing for our own move. It's time to come out of the denial about moving stage and start getting some stuff done. =)

8 years and counting

Today is mine and Josh's 8 year wedding anniversary. I can't believe we've been married 8 years already. I have to say that time really does fly. And something about being married 8 years makes me feel old. And when I think about where we are in life right now and reflect on where we were when we got married, I realize how young and immature we really were. Josh and I got married when were 19 and 20. We were pretty young. I almost can't believe our parents let us get married when we did. We had so much growing up to do. At the same time, sometimes I think that is part of what has made our marriage successful thus far. We kind of grew up together. Josh and I never really had the opportunity to develop our own independant way of doing things. We sort of developed our style together and avoided a lot of the conflict sometimes associated with merging two different lives. We've certainly had our adjustments and some rough patches. However, I find that the longer we are married, the more I enjoy learning all the intricacies that make up Josh and the easier the compromises are. I respect him more and more every day and admire the man he is becoming. I genuinely enjoy his friendship and find myself falling more in love with him every day. He is a wonderful, loving husband and I cherish our time together. (God knows we don't get much of it!) lol ... And since we got married so young, we actually have a shot at hitting 50 years together and maybe even 75 if we take really good care of ourselves! =) Here's hoping... Love you Josh!

Mother's Day

This weekend is Mother's Day weekend. I'm not expecting a whole lot because Josh is working all weekend. My mom is in Virginia visiting my brother and Josh's mom is in Tulsa visiting his sister. So it will just be me and the kids this weekend and that will be fine. I took the kids outside today to play for a bit and eat lunch. Lilah spent most of the time collecting flowers. She carefully gathered them in a little bunde and presented them to me with a big smile and an "I love you mommy, you're my princess!" We put them in water and admired them on the kitchen counter. I think it's one of the most beautiful bouquets I've ever received. So there won't be much in the way of big outings or pampering this weekend... but I am constantly reminded of the beauty and love that God has poured out on me with my 3 precious children. They are always full of laughs and cuddles and they never go a day without proclaiming their love for me and that I am their mommy (although I'm not sure I would brag about that). I am also thankful for my own mom this Mother's Day. She has spent my entire life teaching me how to be the kind of mom I can only hope to be to my own children. So even though I will really be "working" all weekend for Mother's Day since I'm on my own, it will still be nice cherishing my 3 precious kids who make every day challenging and special all at the same time. =) And here are a couple pics of my babies. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!


Lilah wanted to wear a dress and then I found her later with her tutu underneath her dress so that it was extra fancy. She's my beautiful princess!

scatter brain

So, I locked my keys into my house this morning. again. I actually locked my keys into my car at spanich class a couple weeks ago. And then today I was leaving to go play at a friend's house with the kids. I had all the kids loaded up and ready to go and realized I'd forgotten my friend's house address. So I ran back into the house to get the address and ran right back out to the car with my address and no keys. I, of course, locked the door behind me. I called Josh to see if he had any suggestions because we do not have a spare key hidden anywhere and the one person who does have a spare key to our house (Josh's mom) was in Tulsa today. Josh suggested that I just hang out outside until he could come home at the end of the day because he was scrubbing into a laproscopic nephrectomy. I did not consider that a viable option because I had no car keys, no food, no drinks, and not enough diapers to last me 10 hours outside with 3 children in my backyard. I then got angry because I get tired of laproscopic neprhrectomys and other "big" cases taking precedent over my needs. "people are sick, I'm a resident, blah, blah, blah...." Can you tell I'm bitter? So I called my friend Laura (whose house I was supposed to be going to) and told her that I would probably not make it over as I was locked out of my house and couldn't drive my car. She graciously offered to load up her 4 kids and drive to Grant hospital to get the house key from Josh and bring it to me. This is not a quick drive because Grant is all the way downtown. So Laura brought me my house key and then hung out at my house with another friend, Lisa, so that we could all still enjoy some playtime and adult conversation. I very much appreciate Laura for sparing me a day in the sun with the kids and no food or drinks and having to pee in the backyard for lack of toilets. Thank you Jesus for friends in Columbus who are willing to help you out and be paid in McDonalds chicken nuggets!