What we're up to (long, not for the faint of heart)

I know I post a lot about sweet baby Abs but thought the world might like to know a little about what the rest of us are up to lately.

Lewis is halfway ( a little more than halfway to be exact) through his 5th year of residency.  His residency is 6 years long so we are having to decide what to do next.  Lewis has always wanted to get involved with cleft lip and palate repair so he is looking into a fellowship for that which would be one year long after residency.  "Another year?!?!?" you might say, or "are you crazy!??!", but how can I tell him no when he only wants to be able to help people and do good in the world.  That is his goal and I'm so proud of him for keeping after it even after all of these hard, long years.  We'll see how it works  out , we'll keep the world wide web posted on the progress.  Other than that he is still working really hard.  Lewis is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery resident.  This doesn't mean that he is a dentist.  Well, he is a dentist because he went to dental school, but he does not work exclusively in the mouth.  He does facial trauma (from the neck up), surgery to fix people's jaws and facial bones, some facial plastic surgery, etc. as well as pulling wisdom teeth and other rotten teeth that can't be restored.  His residency has consisted of:
Year 1: Intern year.  Taking in house call every 3rd night (at least), not sleeping very much, working between 80 and 120 hours a week, being a slave to everyone above him which was everyone on service, not a fun year for any of us.

Year 2 and 3: Medical School.  Rotating on various services, some busy and some very laid back.  Overall good for more medical training and more time for family.

Year 4: General Surgery Intern.  See year 1 except worse some months and better others.  One month Lewis was the doctor on call overnight for the oncology (cancer) and transplant floors.  He said his pager went off almost constantly that month.  He learned a lot and slept not a lot that year.  It was a tough year for us all but he gained so much knowledge and got better at patient management.

Year 5:OMFS. His program decided to take only 2 interns this year (AWESOME DUDE!!) so Lewis gets to take call even though typically 5th years don't have to.  I have complained to everyone about this and I know you probably don't want to hear it but too bad it's my blog, I can do what I want.  And it sucks to think you are done with that and then have your husband still on call still missing school things and games and having to drag your kids to mutual every week (except lately my awesome friend has been keeping them for me). He goes to work before 6 every day and gets home between 6 (on a really good day) and 9 at night.

Year 6: OMFS should be awesome, but we'll see........

Does that make things clearer? TMI?  More questions I can answer about it?

Lewis is busy but he loves the work so it will all be worth it in the end. At least that's what we keep telling ourselves so don't burst my bubble!

 
Me! I am busy with running my kids around, keeping up with Cate (cleaning up after her all day long) and Abs, and trying to stay sane.  After my mom passed away I felt so bad that none of my friends here really ever got to meet her.  When we were in Charleston, WV I took my kids to see the Lion King in the theater and there is that part where Rafiki tells Simba that he KNOWS his father and then it is his own reflection.  He says something like "He lives in you" and it got me thinking about my own mom.  I decided that even though some of my friends never got to meet my mom they could get to know her through me and the way I act.  For a goal this year, I chose one thing about my mom that I love which is her complete devotion to service. I have been praying for opportunities to serve.  I am working on having a better attitude, and I am trying to honor my mom and her memory on this earth by finding opportunities to lose myself in service.  Young Women's also keeps me busy, there are just so many "things" to be at, weekly activities, temple trips, firesides, BYC meetings, ward council meetings, training meetings, youth conference, girls camp, etc. but it has only blessed my life and stretched me in good ways. Also, last week both my 2nd counselor and secretary had babies on the same day! I have realized that somewhere along the way (in the last couple of years) I have changed my attitude about being a mom.  I used to resent being only a "stay at home mom" and had to have a job to stay sane.  Since moving here and having more kids I have allowed myself to be totally consumed with being a mom and I have so much more peace and love in my heart because of it.  This is getting wayyyyy too cheesey but I've had to force myself to embrace my life as it is now and love being a mom slash taxi driver slash nurse slash therapist slash accountant slash gardener slash cook slash teacher slash maintenance worker(what am I forgetting?!?!).  My friend Jen posted a link to this article on facebook and I wanted to share it here because it says this all better than I can.  I hope you'll read it. Mostly I am just trying to keep it all together, I feel like if I make a wrong step the whole thing will fall apart.  Do you read me on that one? Can I get a what what?


A-- Doing great in school, 3rd grade is the first year of enrichment which is our school's gifted and talented program.  She is being challenged for the first time academically and has had lots of fun in there.  She won the Patriot Award for her class the first quarter and also got to be in the spelling bee.  She is taking piano lessons and I think she is already better than me (after 4 months and I took for years). She still loves soccer and decided to give up ballet this year because soccer is 3 days a week now and doing both was just too much.  She is loving being able to go to activity days at church twice a month and has made a few really good new friends at school this year as well as at church. There are lots of times she helps me with the baby at the crazy time in the evening when everyone needs me, the baby is cranky and I am trying to get dinner made.  Lewis has been reading Harry Potter books to the kids and she is loving them.  She reads so much, I love that she loves books. I am so thankful for her willingness to help out.  If she is tired she gets super emotional which I hope doesn't mean life will be full of drama for us in a few years. Fingers crossed!

B-- Still a lover but so physical. The other day in the car he asked his friend "what is it like to have a brother?" and it just about ripped my heart out.  He's such a sweet, cuddly little guy. He is the youngest and the smallest in his grade, but attracts friends because of his personality. He laughs at everyone's jokes and most always has a smile on his face.  If plans change or if he feels rushed he just breaks down and sometimes cries, but it's easy to get him back on track. B is doing great in school, reading is coming along great. We have noticed at night when we read scriptures he is really getting it down and not struggling as much even though the words are different.  He is a math wiz and just "gets" numbers.  He is somewhat of a perfectionist and will erase a letter 10 times until the paper is ripping just to get it right.  When he was working recently on a coloring packet of the human body he kept having to call Lewis to make sure he was coloring every organ the right color. It was so cute.  He loves Lewis' anatomy books and bloody head pictures that he brings home from work on his camera.  He is also loving Harry Potter and is getting into comic books and graphic novels too. He also won the Patriot Award for his class, but for the second quarter.  Everyone loves him and I always hear stories about what a sweet guy he is.

C--This kid is giving me a run for my money!  She has Lewis wrapped around her little finger and she knows it.  Anything she wants, he does.  He can't say no to her.  I hope he will learn how!  She is a feisty little thing always telling me "no no no never ever" but it's more like "neva eva" and it's so cute I mostly laugh when she says it.  Except for when I yell.  Or tell her to say "yes ma'am".  She is doing preschool with a few of our little friends, just one morning a week.  She doesn't care about drawing or writing her name and I don't want to push it and make her hate it.  She loves to read books and we usually go to at least one story time a week.  She is taking ballet and I hope she will actually do the performance at the end of the year.  Whenever they invite us in to watch she mostly just stands there staring at the teacher.  This would have bugged me with A but I have mellowed significantly and come to realize that kids just do things when they are ready.  Some need a gentle nudge but forcing C only makes her push back more.  She makes more messes than the rest of us combined and if we don't stay right on her about it the whole place can be a wreck in no time flat.  I have to add something nice since she really is a great kid.  C is a snuggler too and loves to be climbing on or cuddling with someone all the time.  She also will spontaneously tell you that she loves you which is so sweet and makes me forget the messes.  She got into the preschool at the kids' school so she will be going there next year 5 days a week (even though she tells me no no neva eva). She WILL be going! 

D-- I think you mostly know about the baby because she seems to be my main blogging subject, but she has been crawling like crazy and pulling up on everything and even starting to cruise! Where did my baby go?  I haven't ever had a baby moving this early.  It's breaking my little heart.  But I will take courage and go on, don't worry.

That's our little update.  Thanks for reading!
And if you have a couple more minutes can I convince to you read this little article?  A great reminder that I needed and wanted to share.