Spoke too soon

Of course as soon as I posted my last post, I started feeing awful and have spent the last three days as sick as I have been. Uggg...

Coming back to life

I am twelve weeks today, and I am actually starting to feel better! I don't feel great, but I also feel like I can actually get out of bed. And shower. And maybe even pluck my really scary eyebrows. This is a really pleasant surprise because with Bailey and Avery, I was sick until almost twenty weeks. When I thought about how long I might be sick, it was really discouraging. It it miserable to sick. My house was really really scary. I mean it. Even Mike, who never even notices if the house is clean or dirty was starting to feel like it was unlivable. Our whole family was eating terribly. I thought that vegetables were the most disgusting food on the planet, besides garlic, so nobody ate any. It's nice to kind of be returning to normal. I was reminded that we really take our health for granted- we don't know how good it is until you feel like dying. Here's hoping the worst is behind me!

What I've been up to...

So, we got a new computer, and I was all excited about keeping up with the blog. But instead, I've been spending a lot of time looking at this:

Why? Because of this:

We are having another baby! Baby #3 is due this June, and we are super excited about it. I just have to survive the next few months...

Haunted House

Last night, I was home alone. This isn't unusual, Mike spends at least one night a week at the hospital. There have been weeks when he spends an entire week of nights there. I remember the first few nights when Mike was away- I was a little scared. I would check the locks one, two, or three times before heading to bed. I would peak in at the girls over and over to make sure they were okay. And every sound would creep me out. I would lie in bed awake, for hours, listening and worrying and about every unknown creak.  I know it was silly, but that's how it was. I have long since gotten over that. Mostly. There have been a few times when I had read a scary book, or watched a scary movie that I repeated those first all alone nights.

So, back to last night. I have been watching the series, "Drop Dead Diva" on netflix. On the episode last night, a couple was trying to get the bank to release them from their mortgage because they thought they had been sold a haunted house. Now, in all fairness, the show was not that scary. Okay, it wasn't scary at all. But as I sat there watching, I saw something move from the corner of my eye. Something outside the glass window. (I'm not a huge fan of sliding doors. Remember this?)

I glanced over, and continued to see a something moving around outside. I was definately startled, and feeling a little creeped out.

Soon, the moving thing revealed itself- it was a....

cat. Nothing but a stray gray cat. It was still a little weird though. The cat stared at me with it's green eyes through the window for a few long minutes. I don't know if it wanted in, or was just attracted to the light in an otherwise dark outside. But it totally startled me.

Tim's Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday, some of Avery's joy school friends headed to Tim's pumpkin patch. It is forty five minutes away, but worth the drive.

Instead of a sand box, they have a wheat box. (Last year it was a corn box, also a lot of fun). They have cats and dogs wondering around, a petting zoo which included some pretty cute pigs, a maze, and of course, a pumpkin patch.

Unfortunately, I guess we waited a little long to head over there this year. There were only rotten pumpkins left in the actual field. However, this did give Avery the chance to pick out a very unique pumpkin from the pre-picked pumpkins.

She chose a small, very bumpy pumpkin. She absolutely loves it!

Afterwards, Avery went to McDonald's went her joy school friends. It was a fantastic morning. On the way home, Avery said the cutest thing I think she's ever said:

"Mom, I have a lot of happy's today."

Joy school at Beaver Lake

This week was a busy week at Joy School. On Thursday, because they are learning about the joys of nature, we headed to Beaver Lake Nature center. It is a beautiful place to be in the fall.

As usual, despite the cold weather, Avery refused to wear her jacket. Or give me a normal looking smile.

I love fall here on the East coast. Unfortunately, our backyard actually looks a lot like this picture... and I don't feel like raking...

Once again, I'm not quite sure why Avery thinks that face is a smiling face, but it's the best I got. (: She was supposed to be doing a leaf rub, but didn't like that idea. She wanted to glue the leaves to her paper instead. That silly stubborn girl refused to do the craft because it wasn't how she wanted to do it.

So far, I think Avery is loving preschool. And I have to admit, it's nice to have a few hours to myself each week too.

Friends at the zoo

Last week, my friend Lindsey came up from Ithaca for a trip to the zoo with her daughter, Norah, and another friend. Lindsey was one of my room mates from BYU and I love having her so close! We didn't tell Bailey about our trip to the zoo- she is starting to realize that she misses out on a lot things being in school all day. Last time we went to the zoo with Norah, Bailey was devastated.

We got to see the new tiger triplets- they were really cute.

We always love the penguins. It seems like they like showing off to all the little kids.

While at the zoo, we sent Mike a picture of all the fun we were having, so he sent us a picture of all the fun he was having at work. It totally made us laugh. 

We love the zoo- and have to get as many trips in as we can before it gets too cold.

A little calmer

So, I'm feeling just a tiny bit calmer today. Well, I should say, just right now. I'm still really mad at some of the residents for dumping their night of call on Mike's year, while taking the better night. Even though they had the better night last year and are taking it again... Yeah. I'm still mad. And wondering why they think that is okay. Anyway, on to a related subject.

My friend pointed me to this blog about doctor wives, but nobody is really posting on it anymore. She had a link to an interesting article: http://www.humanehealthcare.com/Article.asp?art_id=138

It's all about the struggle for intimacy is doctor's marriages. As it turns out, they have a higher rate of divorce than average, and have all sorts of issues.

I'm not surprised.

This last month Mike was home a lot more than he was during the months of July and August. I am sorry to admit, that when he was home during those months, I was really mad at him. I picked fights and was basically just miserable. And it was totally subconscious. I didn't even realize I was doing it. Then, I was thinking about September compared to July and August, and realized how happy I was. This last month has been wonderful. I'm happy, he's happy, we're not fighting and it's just been a pretty great month.

October-December is not looking so great. So how do you stay happy when he's gone all the time? Any ideas?  

Even more joys of residency

Today at work, the more senior residents presented a plan to turn a nice rotation for the second years to yet another crappy one. All in the name of following the law. What a load of garbage. The truth is, it's to make their lives better, and ours even worse than it already is. What part of the law involves making Mike work all day, all night, and all the following day? That is most definitely illegal. And it's happened twice. Nobody cares if the twos work ninety hours a week, never get the required 24 hours off a week and work more than 24 hours straight. All of that is against the law, and all of that happened countless times over the last three months. I don't think Mike had twenty fours hours off in the last three months more than two or three times.

I am so angry and frustrated right now. I was really looking forward to that rotation. Now I have nothing but never ending work hours and no weekends to look forward too.

Avery's first day of joy school

This last Tuesday, Avery went to her very first day of joy school (a co-op style preschool class where the moms take turns teaching). She has been waiting for this day for what she thinks is a long time. After watching Bailey leave her behind all last year, not she has her turn.

She was so excited, and had her Hello Kitty backpack full of her very own school supplies. That little girl is adorable- doesn't she look so much like Mike? She too, was not sad to leave her mom behind. However, she did tell me that I could play with her toys while she was gone. What a sweetheart!

Later that day, she got to go to her first Ballet and Acro classes. She was in love. She had such a great time, she asked me this morning if today she had ballet again.

Bailey's first day of Kindergarten

Last week Bailey started a new adventure- Kindergarten. She was so excited to go- she has been waiting to ride a school bus from the time she first saw one.

That little stinker saw the bus, and got on without even looking back. I'm guess that's better than her getting on with tears, but I would have liked to feel like she would miss me at least a little bit.

When she got home, she was definitely a little bit grouchy. Or more than a little bit. When we asked her what she did that day, she replied acidly, "Why do you keep asking me all of these questions!" She fought with Avery, refused to talk to us, and went to bed early. As Mike was putting her down, she finally opened up and talked about her first day away from mom and Avery.

After the second day of school, Bailey told me there was a girl in her class whose name was Show-and-Tell. I was confused, and asked her if a girl had brought something for show and tell. She replied with her new I'm-in-kindergarten attitude, "No! I think her name is Show-and-Tell." I know there are some crazy names out there, but surely this girls name was not Show-and-Tell. I thought for a moment. "Do you mean Chantel?" I asked her. A light went on. "Yes! I think that's it!"

Bailey also has had a little trouble eating her lunch. I'm not surprised. She eats her blueberries by peeling off the skin with her fingers carefully, eating the skin, and then, only then, eating the berry. It drives me absolutely crazy. It can take her an hour to eat a bowl of cereal. I tried telling her that she needs to eat faster to prepare for school, but it just went in one ear and out the other. Needless to say, she hasn't finished her lunch yet.

And I must admit, I miss Bailey. She is gone for seven hours every day, and I miss having her around. Avery misses her too, probably even more. She is having a hard time without her big sister. She has been throwing enormous fits, crying about everything, and asking me all day if it's time to get Bailey from the bus stop. Poor girl. I am trying to keep her busy, but I am no replacement for Bailey.

We are only five days in, and I'm betting that things will get better. Bailey does really like school, and I'm sure we will all adjust to our new schedules.

Avery turned three!

Last week our little girl turned three. I can't believe it. She is finally old enough to do all the things she watched her sister do- preschool, dance, swimming lessons. I'm not sure I'm ready for her to be that independent!

This year, she wanted an "A" cake. If you can't tell, she is really into learning her letter right now, especially if they are in her name:

She had also requested cotton candy ice cream- so her cake and her ice cream looked exactly the same.

Avery was lucky enough for Mike to be off work, and to have her Grandpa Scott visiting. At lunch time, she decided she could wait no longer. She was ready for birthday presents. She had been waiting and waiting, pretty much since Bailey's birthday, to open her presents. However, because we still haven't got her sleeping past six thirty, she was not a happy present-opener. The wrapping paper frustrated her, and we got a lot of grouchy faces from the birthday girl:

Poor thing. She didn't really enjoy opening her presents, and was sent for a nap as soon as she ate some cake and ice cream.

Yes, more band aids. (:

 

 

She got lots of stuff for her bike- a helmet, a basket, a bell. She has become my little bike rider. Her grandparents spoiled her big time this year!

After our little sleeping beauty got up from her nap, we took her to a bounce house where she had a phenomenal time. We bought the girls balloons on the way out, and we went happily home. However, when we got there, Bailey ran into the grass and promptly popped her balloon. This proved to be too much to her over tired self (she had started school this week) and proceeded to scream like we had chopped off her arm. This, in turn, caused Avery to scream. A few minutes later, Bailey was pacified by a generous Avery offering to share her balloon. Unfortunately, Avery's balloon soon met a similar fate. This caused serious tears by both girls and an early bedtime. Luckily, Grandpa Scott saved the day by heading out to the local Wegman's and returning with two harder-to-pop and smiling mylar balloons.

Right now:

• Avery is getting more and more independent- she gets herself dressed and puts on her shoes everyday
• She is a very hands-on little girl. She loves puzzles, legos, and really anything that she can sit and down and play with
• She loves reading- especially the Llama Llama books
• She is finally getting old enough to have little friends of her own
• She loves dancing, somersaulting and playing with Bailey
• She is a little ham who loves to make her family laugh
• Avery tries really hard to be a good little girl. She gets very sad if anyone corrects her who is not mom or dad
• She loves music
• One word to describe her: love

Happy birthday Avery! We love you!

Soccer Star- Sort of...

This summer, Bailey took a break from dancing, and did soccer. I thought that she would love it. She has so much energy. If you know Bailey, you know how she runs every where instead of walking, and is bouncing off the walls all day. Soccer seemed like a great sport for her- lots of running, lots of playing. But she really surprised me.

She was so shy. That little girl would not kick the ball for anything. The first game she had, she just stood in the field and cried until I pulled her off. The next week, she was a tiny bit braver and decided to play goalie. It was the perfect position for someone who just wanted to stand there. She did great. She even stopped a goal.

The next week, she decided she wanted to try a new position, so the coach put her on defense. And she just stood there. Game after game she played in the spot. Never moving. Never kicking the ball. So much for getting all of her crazy energy out. A few times the ball even rolled into her foot. Did she kick it? Nope. She just stood there.

The last game was kids against parents, so I was out in the field with her. With me out there, she was finally brave enough. She ran after the ball. Then, she actually kicked it. And then, she scored a goal! Who knew that she needed me out there on the field to give her the confidence she needed. Just in time for soccer season to be over.

So tired...

Dear Avery,

Please stop waking up a six (or earlier) every morning! And then not taking a nap! You are exhausted and grouchy every day, and that is making me exhausted and grouchy. I am tired of you fighting with Bailey all day. You need more sleep. I do too. We are both used to getting up at seven thirty- and you would still take a nap. Our days have become incredibly long. How on earth do I fill an additional three hours where you should be sleeping? I am started to dread them. I've tried putting you to bed later, but you still get up just as early. Only you are even more miserable. Sometimes it's not even light when you get, so I don't know what is getting you up so early. Now it's a really bad habit and I don't know how to break it. Please please please stop getting us both up to early!

Dear Pager,

Stop going off every five minutes all night long. Do you really need to be paging about a discharge in the middle of the night? Really? Who sends patients home at two in the morning? And how about all those needless updates? And aspirin requests. Are you serious? Isn't there an open note for that? Sometimes I think you call just out of spite. Just because you are awake, you have to wake up the doctor on call. But come on. He's even more exhausted than me. He falls asleep every time he sits down. Between working ninety hours a week, being on call twice a week, studying for tests and preparing for presentations, he is not getting near enough sleep. He slept a mere seven hours in two nights. Yes, he did not get even a full nights sleep in two combined nights! Please only go off if it's absolutely necessary.

Our entire house needs more sleep...

Pajama Ballerinas

Bailey and Avery have turned into some serious ballerinas. Even Avery has ballet shoes. And they always have to have an audience. Always. One day I was playing the piano for them while they danced around the room. Bailey got very upset because Avery wouldn't sit down and watch her dance. I am trying to teach her that sometimes you just dance because you like to, and it makes you happy. We are not there yet. I do love to watch them dance though. I'm sure I'm going to miss their impromptu dance sessions when they are teenagers. And I'm beginning to think they will be teenagers before I know it.

Mike is thirty... one!

Mike is really getting old now! Last month, he turned thirty one. Mike thinks it's worse than turning thirty. (: Luckily for him, he had the night off so we headed to his favorite mexican restaurant. Unluckily for him, they had closed down. It's really too bad. We weren't entirely surprised, every time we went there they were almost empty. I guess Syracuse is just to far away from Mexico.

However, he did get what he always wanted: an ice cream cake:

I went ahead and skipped the whole 31 candle thing and did a cluster of three candles, then a one by itself. It just keeps getting trickier to keep up with his candles.

We had a nice little family birthday party. He got t-shirts he really needed, BBQ tools and the 7th Harry Potter movie. He wouldn't tell me what he wanted, so that's what we came up. (Bailey wanted to get him socks.)

His birthday also marked the end of the first month of the horrible horrible second year. Yeah. He survived. And so did we. I admit, our yard is looking worse and worse, but it's just not on my top things to get done list, and Mike works Mon-Sat, Sat night, and then sleeps on Sunday. We are counting down the days until the year is over...

April NYC half marathon

This last winter, I trained for a half marathon with my friends, Summer and Rebecca. Yes, we ran in the snowy freezing winter of Syracuse. I ran outside pretty much no matter what the weather was. After months of running, we ran the NYC half marathon. We had a great time driving out there with another friend, Jamie. I am glad that I did not do the driving. It's true what they say about NYC drivers!

The night before, we made the mistake of eating NYC pizza. It was delicious, but we definitely paid for it during the race. The pizza place itself was a crazy experience. You went down the line, picking out what kind of pizza you wanted and then they gave it to you. Then, you were supposed to go down to the end and pay. However, there was no line. It was just a bunch of people shoving their way forward to pay for their food in who-ever-can-shove-everyone-else-out-of-the-way order. It took me a while to figure that out- so I stood there for a while.

I am sorry to say that the four of us ate almost all of that!!

The night before the race was less than restful. Let's just say one of us couldn't get comfortable and kept the rest of us up. It was like a real sleep over. (:

The day arrived cold, and we had to wait a while before the race. Needless to say, conditions were not exactly great. Between the pizza, the lack of sleep, and the cold pre-wait, I was not feeling up to par. However, I was determined to finish in my goal time. I almost did- I was 45 sec. over. And I was beat by a guy in our ward who had trained for three weeks, and have never ran that far before. Oh well.

I had a great time. It was really fun to get away with just the girls for a weekend. The ride home, however, was painful. First of all, we had to check out of our hotel before the race, so our post race clean up involved a bathroom and baby wipes. Then, after pushing myself so hard, I was soooooo sick. I made everyone stop about a million times from NYC to Syracuse.

Maybe next year I'll actually go for the marathon! Anyone want to run it with me? Anyone?

Family Photos

Last month my friend Summer took our family pictures. She did a FANTASTIC job. I loved them all, and couldn't decide which ones to post, so I made a slideshow.

Bailey is five!!

This past June, my baby turned five! It's hard to believe that so much time has flown by. Luckily for Bailey, her birthday landed on a day when Mike was home.

After lunch, we opened her presents, and had unicorn cake. Unfortunately, our camera died mid birthday celebration:

Our friends gave us a great idea- band-aids for birthday presents! In our house, if there is a box of band-aids, every fall, every ouchie means a huge tantrum because I won't give a band-aid for an injury without blood. So, both Bailey and Avery got band-aids for Bailey's birthday and they can do whatever they want with them.

Bailey got soccer stuff too- she started playing soccer right after, but I'll have to do a separate post about that.

Bailey had a great birthday, and had a serious stack of presents- thanks grandmas and grandpas! Unfortunately for Avery, it did not go so well. Poor Avery was very jealous, and despite getting band-aids from us and a new pair of sandals from Grandma Cindy, she spent a lot of the party bawling, poor thing. It's hard to be two.

We were able to surprise Bailey- she had wanted a bike, but obviously, there were no bicycle shaped presents wrapped. After she finished opening her gifts, and thought she was done, we pulled down her new bike. She loved it, and of course had to go out and give it a spin immediately.

Here are the things I want to remember about my five year Bailey:

• She is a great help around the house and with her sister- she even cleans her room and vacuums
• She is getting really good and cartwheels and flips
• She loves playing outside- her favorite things to do right now are riding her bike, roller skating, jumping on the trampoline and swimming
• Avery is her best friend-they will play together for hours
• She loves listening to music and books on tape
• She loves learning to play the piano
• I am always amazed by how excited she is about life- she wants to try everything and gets excited about every day.
• One word to describe her: sunshine

I love you Bailey!