This is our Life!

Okay, so I am not going to make excuses as to why I delay so much when it comes to blogging. The truth of the matter is that I am still working on getting into it. I love reading other peoples blogs but when it comes to keeping mine updated I hate it. I would much rather spend some time with H.B. and the girls. Having said that, I recognize that documenting our lives, even if it means in a blog is important for our posterity and so that is what keeps me motivated.

October 2009 - This past October after a couple of really busy and stressful weeks H.B., I , Jenny, and the kids went to State College to visit GG & Hubie. We love going to visit GG and Hubie in the fall when all the foliage is changing colors. This tradition started a few years a go when H.B. and I went to visit Hubie and we loved it. Now that GG and Hubie both live in State College we have an even greater reason to visit. It was fun visiting with GG and she was kind enough to let us stay at her apartment. We went on all kinds of adventures including going to a Penn State game, which has also become a tradition in it of its self. GG stayed with Mae so that I could go to the game too.

November 2009 - After coming home from PA we headed off to Utah for a month. H.B. did an Emergency Medicine rotation at the U of U. I thought it would be fun to spend a month there and spend some time with the family. I really enjoyed our stay. I loved having Karen and Newel to hang out with after the kids went to bed. Mae was still not sleeping through the night which made my days and nights really long. We also discovered that she was allergic to a lot of things but Karen quickly showed me how to make my own baby food so that I could give Mae things that didn't flare up her eczema. Mae also got her first two bottom teeth and learned to sit up on her own while in Utah. On the days H.B. had off we would go on adventures. We spent a lot of time with the Walters and that was a lot of fun.
We also spent Halloween in Utah which turned out to be a lot of fun with a party at Wayne's Bar hosted by the Sullivan clan. Mia loved having Arden and Maya to play with pretty much all the time. She also loved going over to aunt Kristen's house to play with her cousins. It was a nice change for her since we really don't have very many cousin's in FL.Everyone was very kind to us and it made our stay there a very pleasant one. The only negative thing I have to say about our stay was the cold weather. I missed being able to put on a pair of shorts and my flip flops and running out the door. I can't imagine having to deal with frozen vehicle doors and snow every morning just to go somewhere. Just thinking about it makes me grateful for our warm weather here in FL.
December 2009 & January 2010 - After being away from home for about 2 months we were really glad to finally be back home but it wasn't all about relaxing. On the contrary we had a lot of things to do. More importantly it was finally time for H.B. to go on the rest of his residency interviews. He had already interviewed in EL Paso, TX and the U of U but now he had to interview in Jacksonville, Gainsville, Orlando, South Carolina, Georgia, and USF not to mention some required clinical exam which would take all day long. The day we arrived from Utah we dropped the kids off with Jenny and drove that same day to Jacksonville where H.B. would be interviewed the following day. Luckily for us Jacksonville is only three ours north of us. We arrived in Jacksonville at 9 p.m. Just to give you an idea of how long that day was we left Utah at 7 a.m. that morning. I did not like Jacksonville at all. When we came home one of the things we did was attend Mia's school's Christmas pagent. Mia was a shepard. It was nice but not as nice as the Night in Bethlemen that our Stake puts together every year. It is a live nativity but it also lets you spend an evening in Bethlehem before viewing the nativity. It is really nice. So after spending a nice Christmas in Bradenton with my family and an even nicer New Years Eve at home with our kids, we headed off to GA for the exam immediately following we drove to drove to South Carolina.
It turns out that I really liked it there and H.B. liked the program too. On our way back from South Carolina H.B. and I stopped by Savannah, GA. He thought it would be nice to go there for a night. I really enjoyed it there. It is a historical town and I'm into that. I only wished we could have stayed longer. I ate dinner Paula Dean's restaurant. The food was good but too greasy for my liking. I guess that that's what makes it soo good to most. A week or so after coming home from GA and SC H.B. had his interview's in Orlando, Gainsville, and USF. I really liked Gainsville. It reminded me of State College. It's pretty much a college town. It was nice. I really liked down town Orlando as well. In January Grandma, Paka, & GG also came to visit with us. It was nice to have them here with us. They were often in and out because they would take trips in the RV but never the less it was nice to know they were so close. The girls loved having grandma around to play with. At the beginning of January Mae stared to really crawl so that she could keep up with her sister. She was even preferring to walk so long as you held her hand. It was nice to see GG again. Something fun that we did with GG while she was here was to go see Avitar. She was in a lot of pain from an injury she sustained before coming to FL so I am sure she did not enjoy it as much as we did but none the less she was a trooper and sat through the whole thing. Paka and Grandma watched the girls after being blindsided or rather (tricked) by H.B. into doing it. It would have been okay I think except for Mae screamed at Grandma for who knows how long so Paka took over until we got home. I felt soo bad for them. I know what it's like when Mae gets really mad. So thank you Grandma and Paka for doing that for us. We really are grateful for all that you do for our family.


February 2010 - Helen, Casey and the girls came to FL for a visit. It was really nice having them in our home for a week. We had a full house. Grandma, Paka, GG, Helen, Casey, Sophie, Halie not to mention our entire family plus one more at times Angie Jenny's friend who has been living with us on and off since October of 09 was also here. It was crazy at times but we really loved having them here. Something that I have to say about Angie is that she is the nicest person I have ever met. She is sweet and kind and is great with my kids. They love her and I just wanted to put this in here because she will forever be apart of our family. She is a wonderful friend to Jenny and to our entire family. The week Helen was here was also a really busy week. We did a long of things. I still don't know how we got it all in. My favorite thing we did together though was when she showed me how to make home made pizza's. We did it for dinner one night and it was a blast.GG went home in the middle of February and Grandma and Paka left the same day.

March 2010 - We celebrated H.B.'s birthday at home with the girls at the end of February. Craig and Tania came for a visit us that same week. They came to FL to check out some Nurse Anesthetist programs. From what I gathered he wasn't too impressed with USF,or Naples, but he really liked Ft. Myers. They were really fun to have around. We spent most of the time in Bradenton. I mainly stayed with Mae at my sisters while H.B. and Mia stayed at JP's with them going on all kinds of adventures.I am sure they had a lot of fun. We did have dinner at Vilma and Joseluis's house one night. JP and Jane came too. It was a nice rib dinner. Thanks for being such a great cook Jose.March is going to be a big month for us. After some many years H.B. is finally going to get a Job. Yesterday we found out that he matched into a residency program yay! Emergency Medicine is what he chose. Two days from today we are going to find out where of the nine places he interviewed we are going to move to. All of his hard work is finally paying off. His top three choices where USF, Orlando, and Augusta, GA. Though we are really looking forward to this change in our lives, we also recognize that it will be even harder then medical school.




Update on the Girls - They are doing well. Mia is still in a preschool that she has been attending since last August. The teacher told me on Friday that she has really come a long way. She was worried that being gone for almost two months in October and November Mia would have a set back but when we got back she told me that Mia didn't even skip a beat. She is more focused then when she stared. She follows direction better and has a longer attention span. I am really happy with the progress she has made. I really think that school has done wonders for Mia plus her teachers are really nice and really care about the kids in their care. Mia is attending a Catholic preschool. It was recommended to me by a member of the church and I am happy that I listened. As for little miss Mae who is 11 months old now is doing really well. I can hardly believe it has been a year. I have to admit that Mae has been more of a challenge than Mia was with her allergies and her hating bedtime. Over all Mae is a happy baby but don't make her mad. She can really scream. Just ask GG who said she cried for a long time when she watched her so we could all go to the Penn State game. We were gone for three hours so I am sure that was really hard for GG. Thanks for watching her GG. You really are an angel. In fact anyone who has watched her and had to put her to bed has my deepest gratitude. When she is not mad she is really happy. What still has me stunned is why she does not like going to bed. In January I finally decided that I would just put her down when she decided it was time to go to bed. Right before Helen came she was going to bed at 10 p.m. every night and I kept that bed time mainly because I could put her to bed and she would not cry for hours which was the case if I tried to put her to bed 1 minute sooner. With everyone visiting I did not want them to suffer. When everyone left I did let her cry but every now and then I do feel bad and will try rocking her to bed. It mainly depends on how I am feeling. Some days she cries herself to sleep which was the case tonight but then there are nights that I feel bad and I will just lay in the bed in her room with her until she falls asleep and then I put her in her crib and that is the end of that. Mia was really easy to put to bed so this has really thrown me for a loop but I will manage. At least she is sleeping through the night. Her allergies have also seem to subside a bit and so I don't worry about it too much. I have given her thing that I know will cause a reaction but they are significantly milder now a days. I am really grateful for this. In February she got her two top teeth. She can be really clingy or really independent just depends on how she is feeling that day. She loves to be walked around. About a week ago she took a few steps but still prefers to grab you by the hand pull it in the direction she wants to go. If it were up to her she would have me walking her all day long. I can only imagine how much happier she will be when she can walk on her own. It's what happened when she learned to crawl. She no longer has to sit where you leave her. She can follow your voice and find you anywhere in the house if she really wants to. She is a sweet baby and I don't want her to get any older. Mae is my thumb sucker she likes her pacifier but if she can't find it and if she is tired or hungry she will just pop her thumb in. It's really cute. Mae loves music and will dance to any tune any time. Jenny thought it was funny when she watched her one day and she was watching an animal video and every time the music for it would start she started to dance and when it stopped she stopped. So here we are March 16, 2010. Many changes await our family. Only time will tell what life has in stored for us.