South Africa

Matt spent a month with three friends in Polokwane, South Africa doing a rotation for medical school. After many delays, flight cancellations, and luggage problems he arrived back last Sunday night. Skylie had been saying, "Daddy, airplane. Daddy, airplane." almost nonstop for two days straight and was ecstatic to see her favorite guy. (She's still saying "Daddy airplane" when he's not around. Go figure.)

During the four weeks Matt worked in an AIDS clinic, an emergency room, and a family health clinic. He saw a lot of cool stuff but found it a little frustrating. The health care facilities have all the needed resources, but it's not run well and therefore lacks in the medical care it provides.

But don't be fooled that this trip was all work and no play. The boys took advantage of their weekends and had a well-deserved vacation.

First weekend:
Stayed at Shakwura Lodge
Went on a game drive, to church, and to a soccer match

At the soccer match

At the soccer match
The stadium filled to capacity, and the four guys and Lisa were the only white people there.

Video at soccer game

Second Weekend: Graskop and Krugar National Park

Caleb, Matt, Nate, and Jacob about to go on the Big Swing, a swing that drops 224 feet

Matt and Jacob on the swing

Matt and Jacob on the swing

Video of Matt and Jacob on the swing
One of the fifty million pictures they took of all the wildlife. They explored Krugar National Park in their car and "conquered the park". They saw tons of animals and narrowly avoided having their car trampled by elephants.

These boys ate a few great meals while in South Africa. The hospital food, however, left a lot to be desired. Matt came home a little thinner because he "just didn't have an appetite for the hospital food." (If you know Matt, that means the food must have been really bad.)

What happens when four guys are left without female supervision for a month

Yes, that is my husband sitting on Nate's lap. Pictures like that make a girl proud of her man! ;)

On their drive back from Krugar National Park to Polokwane they got not one, but two flat tires.

Third Weekend:
Capetown
Visiting Robbin's Island where Nelson Mandella was imprisoned
Hiking Table Mountain
Playing with penguins
Swimming in both the shark filled Atlantic and Indian Oceans
Visiting the Cape of Good Hope

Hiking Table Mountain

Hiking Table Mountain

At the Cape Point

Also at the Cape of Good Hope

Nate touching the penguin

Matt and the penguins

Another delicious seafood meal

After swimming in the oceans

Matt burying Nate in the sand

Nelson Mandella's cell at Robbin's Island

Robbin's Island

In Polokwane the boys made friends with a local who invited them to dinner a few times. The food, Matt said, was some of the best he's had in his life.



South Africa was great, Matt says, but we're all glad to have him home.

27 Week Pregnancy Picture

The third trimester has arrived! I'm anticipating that with all the changes coming for our family, these last three months are going to fly by. :) I have felt great so far and am crossing my fingers that it stays that way. This week I saw my friend's new baby, and I couldn't help but get super excited to hold my own newborn baby girl.

Countdown

Here's our house. The inside is still a work in progress.

This week we've finally made headway into setting a closing date; June 15. What a relief! All my spare time the past few days has been spent working on paperwork, arranging moving plans, etc.

Handling all the negotiations with Matt halfway across the world has not been as difficult as I'd anticipated. Knock on wood. (It definitely would have been smarter for me to get power of attorney to sign for him, though.) Today I had to make a phone call regarding his student loans--and the person totally bought that I was Matt Pitcher. Seriously, do I really sound like a man?!

The next six weeks are going to be a whirlwind, that's for sure! Here's the rundown.

• May 15: Matt gets back from South Africa
• May 16-25: Matt completes his last rotation in Des Moines
• May 26-28: Graduation festivities; move stuff into storage; check out of apartment
• May 29: Drive to Utah to leave Skylie with grandparents
• May 31-June 8: Take our long awaited vacation to Hawaii
• June 8-13: Spend time with families in Utah
• June 14: Drive to Des Moines; load stuff from storage into moving truck
• June 15: Drive to Indy; close on house
• June 16-21: We have less than a week to unpack, buy a second car, and handle all the crazy stuff that needs to be done when moving. Awesome (not).
  
• June 22-25: Matt's residency retreat
• June 27: Matt's residency begins
  

Month 20

Dear Skylie,

How quickly this past month has flown! You are still the same fun-loving, curious, and spirited little girl you've always been.

You still love books. They are the first thing you ask for every morning, the last thing you're begging to do every night, and the most commonly requested activity ALL DAY LONG. You're getting opinionated about which books you want to read, too. The shorter, quick reads lose often to the longer, wordier toddler books. It is actually quite cozy. You snuggle next to me on the glider in your bedroom, pull your blanket over us, and bark out orders regarding which book to read. You've always been interactive as we've read books, but you're getting even more so--as you now point and call out letters that you see. Before you were born I read an entire book about reading to babies in hopes that I could help foster your love for books. Boy, did I get more than I bargained for!

You've mastered your letters thanks to the Leap Frog: Letter Factory movie. Y is undoubtedly your favorite letter! Anytime you see one you mimic the movie by putting your arms above your head (forming your body into a Y), making Jazz hands, and repeating "Y, Y, Y". So cute!

As of late you've become fascinated with stuffed animals. Grandma Gloria gifted you a hideous half kitty/half baby stuffed animal that you (quite surprisingly) adore, and your "ducky" is also a new must have. The other day you laid Ducky on your diaper changing mat and proceeded to "change his diaper", using a wipe and all. You also managed to get your duck into a puddle, and you then proceeded to lean down and would have lapped up the muddy water had I not snatched you away in the nick of time.

Your growth spurt is officially over, and you are now in detox mode from all the Easter candy while I try to get you to eat healthy food. You love milk; probably too much.

Speaking of Easter--you loved it. Though initially you didn't want to get too close to the Easter Bunny, you loved waving from a distance and eventually you mustered up the courage to "pet" Bunny's fur. Once you learned that candy was inside each egg on the egg hunts, eating the candy become top priority. Finding eggs, however, fell to a distant second.

Your are a little organizer. Your new favorite thing to disorganize is the top desk drawer. You pull everything out then put it all back in again. That task entertains your for hours, it seems.

You visited the zoo this month, and I'm quite positive it was the best day of your life! You love animals. The only way the day could possibly have gotten better for you would have been if you'd actually gotten to touch and play with the animals.

Daddy has been out of town for the past two weeks. You miss him. The other day while babysitting your friends, Logan and Taylor, I told them that their mommy and daddy were back. You lit up, ran to the door, and called out, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!". I can only imagine your disappointment when it wasn't your daddy.


I love you, Princess! You really are my favorite person to hang out with while Daddy's gone.

Love,
Mom