Headed West Again

So, we got the news we've been anxiously waiting for: where we will move for residency. I've spent the last few days seriously wishing I could send it back.

We are headed to El Paso in June. The idea is growing on me a little more, but to tell the truth, there were tears. Why? I HATE the desert. I hate extreme heat, I hate brown, I NEED green. Now, I have since discovered that El Paso is not get nearly as hot as Arizona and people keep telling me that it's actually a "fun" place. I'll make that judgment myself. I think some of them are just trying to get my emotions to back down off the window ledge.

So, here's how we found out. It's Wednesday morning at 6:15 am. I had made J.T. get up and check because we knew the results would be posted at 6:00. I barely slept the night before and when I did my dreams all centered around residency location. I had now been awake since 5:00 and just couldn't take the waiting anymore. He pulls everything up and all I see is the name of the hospital. So I keep asking "Where is it?" "Ellll Paaasssooo" (At least that's how I remember it: in slow motion and in a deep distorted voice.) He just blankly stared at the screen while I stomped and said "no, no, no, no." Part of the frustration being location and part that he didn't get a derm spot. I know pathetic, right? My husband's sitting in a daze while I act like it's the end of the world for ME.

The first thing he says when he finally speaks again is that maybe he should just see where there are family practice openings and switch to that. At first that doesn't sound half bad to me: shorter residency, we'd be secure in a program. But I couldn't let him do it. Dermatology is what he loves. J.T. has never loved a job in his life. It makes him so happy, so there was no way I could let him make a decision to do something else he'll be miserable in. I swallow the words that want to come blurting out and tell him he can't just jump and do that, it's a really big decision and, just a reminder, but you hate family practice. He nods his head.

About this point my mom calls. I'm already fighting back tears. I go downstairs to talk and totally lost it. "I love it here and having to go somewhere crappy makes it even harder to leave, etc, etc." Thanks for listening Mom. When I get off and go back upstairs it turns out that he had heard me and was reading about how to change our location. Once again, in my head I'm screaming "YES, YES, YES!! This is my way out!" But, here's what it came down to. We have prayed for months, maybe years, that the Lord would send us where he would have us to go, where he needs us. We were at peace and had total faith in His plan for us. The Lord was now telling us to go to El Paso, and I was acting like Ava when I tell her she can't have anymore marshmallows. If we change this we're saying that we want the Lord's help when it's convenient for us, but when it's not we're gonna bale out and do what we want.

So, we've decided to go on to El Paso. We know there's a reason for all things and trust that our feeble minds can't know better than Heavenly Father's what we need. I'm more accepting now.

Here are the pluses. Yes, there are a few, and I'm finally ready to admit them. It's only a year. J.T. can re-apply for derm and still has a chance to do what he loves. (It's hard work being a med school wife. I haven't sacrificed for nothing. He better love what he does.) The residency director is a dermatologist, so it will be good for J.T. to work with him. We did find out later that morning that we have some friends that are going to be going to the same program as us. Apparently, his wife had the same reaction I did, so at least we'll have each other when our husband's are working 80 hour weeks.

So, stay tuned for this time next year when I announce where we're going, again, and can tell you what a great year it's been and how silly I was for freaking out so bad.

Alright, I'm back

Yes, I know it's been forever. I've heard it from several of you. This is my way of getting started blogging again: by just writing about nothing in particular.
So, let's see. Last time I blogged, J.T. was still gone. We were still basking in the sun spending lazy summer days at the pool. I really miss that. The part about being lazy, not having my husband gone.
Here's the run down of what we've been up to:

Lesley had a fun and not-as-successful-as-I-would-have-hoped run in the tutu business. It was fun, though, and I'll still dabble in it here and there. I still love my photography and I'm trying to focus my "extra" (ha,ha) time on it again.
J.T. made it home from San Antonio and re-adjusted nicely to family life after 2 months of rotating med student single life. In October he did a rotation at a dermatology office that he LOVED, and it turned out to be a major blessing as well. One of the doctors discovered some melanoma on his right ear lobe. Luckily, it hadn't spread too far. He had it removed (as well as a chunk of lobe) and then a plastic surgeon grafted a slice of the healthy ear lobe onto the not so healthy side. He is recovering nicely.
Kassy started 4th grade and is doing wonderful. She played soccer this fall and is currently working on re-gaining her 6 pack that has shifted to a 4 pack since she stopped doing gymnastics.
Bella is in 1st grade and also played soccer this fall. J.T. was her coach, which she was pretty excited about. She's taken off in reading and is working hard to get through as many "Junie B. Jones" books as she can.
Trista played soccer as well and was pretty cute out there. She caught on nicely after she got over the "Ooh look at the butterfly" phase. She has mastered her alphabet sounds this fall and is beginning to read simple words. She loves to draw (as evident on my walls, furniture, doors, and other children.) We have to pry the crayons out of her hands most nights at bedtime.
Ava, oh my Ava. Ava turned 3 last week. She is my fashion queen, modeling no less than 4 outfits a day. But only dresses, mind you. Pants aren't "pretty." We do occasionally manage to get pants on her on the really cold days, but most days it's not worth the fight. Ava still loves her books and being the boss of everyone else. It would be harder to deal with if she wasn't so dang cute.
Aria is a very healthy baby. In case you didn't catch what I meant by "healthy", she weighed 21 lbs 8 oz a month ago at her 9 month appointment. She's so happy and crawls and climbs everything. She's either very smiley or showcases a serious scowl with a knit brow while she is figuring someone out.

So, there's what would have been a brief re-cap if I didn't have such a large family. New pictures are downloading as we speak, so my first "real post" should follow shortly. I may even feel creative and insert a few pics into this post later.

My Girls

I took this cute picture of the girls Sunday after church. I can't believe that I actually got them to all look in the same general direction. Well, kind of. I had to bribe Ava with candy in order to keep her in the shot. The scary part came when I had to go inside and frantically search for candy in order to avoid that little girl's wrath. I managed to dig up some small candy canes. Yes, they were from last Christmas. To the best of my knowledge candy canes don't go bad that quickly. I hope.

10 Years! Whoohoo!

Today J.T. and I celebrate our 10th anniversary! It's been an amazing decade full of challenges, adventures, tears, and laughter. We feel like we've grown up together in so many ways and know that the fun is just beginning! We've had 5 amazing daughters, made it through military TDY's, and we've almost survived medical school. I couldn't imagine having taken this journey with anyone else. And even now,as he sits in San Antonio, TX on a telephone interview for residency and I sit in Buford, GA watching our little baby act as a human vacuum cleaner, I feel closer to him than ever. Here's to the next 10!

Aria Update

Aria just turned 6 months old. She's still a very happy, very mellow baby. She sleeps through the night and eats well. About 3 weeks ago she started sitting on her own. She now weghs 18 lbs 1 oz and is 26 3/4in long. I know! What a chunk. She's wearing 12 month clothes already! She's very good at sounding like she's saying mama and even will mimic an occasional bye bye. Her sisters love taking care of her. (They all love to play Mommy.) She's wonderful, of course!

Where has Summer Gone?

Well, it's been quite a summer. We haven't done anything significant, but we have enjoyed our time basking in the sun at the pool at least 3 times a week, bowling, and visiting other various local attractions. It's been the typical "lazy summer." The only down side was J.T.'s absence. As of today he's been gone for 42 days. I guess it's really only been 41 considering we got to spend a whole 28 hours with him when he stopped through on his way from Washington, D.C. to San Antonio. Absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder and a tad desperate.
For those of you who don't know what's been going on this summer, J.T. has been doing clinical rotations at the 2 hospitals where he is hoping to land a residency after he graduates next May. He has found his passion, and it is dermatology. I know, it baffled me at first too, but it turns out that derm is not quite as boring as I had originally supposed. Plus, the thought of being a dermatologist's wife has some foreseeable perks: $$$$ and botox.
Anywhoo, for the month of July he was working in the derm clinic at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C. He liked the clinic, but the high cost of living and the fast pace of life our nation's capital has to offer were a little bit of a downer for him.
This month he's been working in San Antonio at Lackland Air Force Base. (The Army's derm clinic relocated to the AFB recently.) He likes the clinic, likes the area, loves the cost of living, and now prays this is where we can end up. I have 2 specific things pulling me to San Antonio: a great housing market and Sea World. Need I say more? Now it's up to the Army. He's schmoozed, kissed up to, and impressed everyone he could. Now we pray hard and wait for our orders to arrive around the end of December.
The girls and I are making it. We've done a lot better than I thought we would have. I do have to give it to my girls for dealing with a sometimes over the top, irritable, nagging, moody mother. There have been no suffocation attempts while I slept, so I have to guess that they don't think I'm as bad as I see myself. No, really we've been blessed by all of the prayers that have been offered on our behalf. I told J.T. once that I could tell he'd been praying for me because things were going way too smooth.
So, now we eagerly await our prince's return home in 13 days. I'm glad he was able to do what he needed to do and I have faired very well, but I'm ready to have my husband back. I've missed him more than I realized I would. I cried when he left and, contrary to what he thought, it wasn't at the prospect of being a single mother to 5 girls, it was because I was having to give up my best friend for 2 months. We've almost made it! But, even though we're almost there, don't stop praying for us yet. We need as much of that as we can get.

Ava and Papa

My dad was in town last week. Ava was particularly cuddly that night, and I got a lot of cute pictures. Not being able to pick my favorite, I decided to post them all!

Babyland General Hospital

Here are some of our pics from Babyland. I would've freaked out if I had come here as a kid. I do have to admit that the first time I came I got a little giddy.

It brought, rushing back, memories of being 6 years old, sitting outside a store at 6am waiting in line for the doors to open and as soon as they did being drug through the store by my mom desperatley trying not to be trampled by the other mother daughter duos wanting to get their hands on the new rage. I'll never forget approaching the tower of yellow boxes that each contained every little girl's coveted treasure: a Cabbage Patch Kid. Now, I'm sure that that tower was not actually as big as my six year old eyes took in, but it seemed HUGE! Oh, fun memories. That memory always make me realize, again, how much my mom was willing to go through to make her kids happy. Thanks, Mom. I still have that first doll, by the way.

Anyway, here are my kiddos enjoying Babyland.

Anna Ruby Falls

J.T. is doing a rural medicine rotation in Cleveland, GA: home of Cabbage Patch Babyland General Hospital. (Exciting, right?) The school has an apartment they provide to students rotating there. Cleveland's only about an hour away, so J.T. usually just makes the drive. On Thursdays he only works a half day, so we decided to go up and spend a Thursday visiting Babyland General and one of the several waterfall sites in the area. Our friends, the Holtons, came along. That night we spent the night in the apartment, which the kids viewed as a lot more fun than it actually was.

We chose Anna Ruby Falls. It was a half mile hike on a paved path that led up to the falls. It was so gorgeous! We hiked through thick woods on a trail that went along a small river. The girls were a little freaked out by a sign at the trail head that warned of rattle snakes. Ava just heard the word snake and became jumpy. It didn't help that Trista walked along behind her absent-mindedly hissing. They all seemed to relax a little after Michelle assured them that the snakes wouldn't hurt them if they left them alone. (As Bella said later, "Michelle knows. She's a TEACHER.") Aria rode along in hiking pack on J.T.'s back. She was amazing, as usual. She was so content and only took about a 10 minute nap along the way.

The falls were so nice. I took a million pictures, a thousand of which you will see below!

How about those for hiking shoes?

My only comment: "Do whatever you want. Just not with my baby."

Happy Father's Day, J.T.

For Father's Day I asked the kids a few questions about J.T. I only got answers out of the oldest 3. Ava had just gotten up from a nap and wasn't open to questioning and Aria, well that should be obvious. Here are their answers.

1. My dad is good at...

Kassy: helping me and encouraging me.

Bella: being a good doctor.

Trista: work, Primary, and at the store.

2. I love my dad because...

Kassy: he's nice and loving.

Bella: he's funny.

Trista: he hugs me and kisses me.

3. I love to _______ with my dad.

Kassy: watch T.V.

Bella: play

Trista: play Strawberry Shortcake puzzle

4. My dad is funny when....

Kassy: he gives Bella wedgies and tells jokes.

Bella: he tricks us.

Trista: he tickles me.

5. My dad likes to...

Kassy: spend time with me.

Bella: laugh.

Trista: work and play with me.

My answers would be way too long and take too much time to type. But, I will say that J.T. is everything I ever hoped I would find in a husband and father to my children. His whole life is dedicated to making our's easier. I don't think I can ever express to him how happy he makes us every day. He's my best friend, he makes me laugh, he helps me be a better person. We've been married for almost 10 years and I feel like we've grown up together. Life's ups and downs have made us stronger as a couple and a family. He's a beautiful person and or "beautiful girls," as he calls them, are lucky to have him for a dad. They may not think so when he runs off every boy who even thinks of asking them out, but one day they'll appreciate even that.

I love you, baby!

Happy Father's Day, Dad

Today I spent a lot of time thinking about what a blessed life I live. I was raised by a wonderful, caring, spiritual man. If I could describe him in one word that word would be "rock." No, it has nothing to do with his size. (I know that's the first thing he'll bring up after he reads this!) My dad is the most spiritual person I know. His faith is amazing and his influence brightens my life and straightens my perspective when I, at times, need it. I don't think he ever gives himself enough credit for what a wonderful man he is. His wisdom far surpasses anything taught in a classroom. It's the type that makes an eternal difference in people's lives, not just a passing impression.

Dad, I hope you know how much I love you!

My sleeping baby

So, one night I was heading to bed and stopped by Aria's crib to do the customary night time check-in, and I had one of those "you're so beautiful I can't stop staring at you" moments. She was so peaceful and so perfect. I was totally absorbed in what a miracle she was. We really can't imagine our lives without her in it. J.T. and I still find ourselves just staring at her and telling her how much we love her. When J.T. blessed her one of the things he said was, "Your Heavenly Father wants you to know that you were meant to be a part of this family." I feel that was as much for me as it was for her: yet another confirmation of how much she was always meant to be in our lives.

As I watched her that night, I had to attempt to capture the moment. They go so fast.

Aria's first taste of solids

Aria had her first taste of solid foods a few weeks ago. Her first experience was with pureed pears. She was okay with that. She wasn't so sure at first, then she caught on and started enjoying herself, then she got so excited that she was choking. We decided to call it quits from there. She's since enjoyed a simple diet of rice cereal.

J.T. was so excited to feed her solids. I would say "feed her solids for the first time," but that would be a lie. "Feed her for the first time with my permission and not on the sly" is a little more accurate. I have caught him feeding her biscuits and ice cream, among other things. Who knows what else I haven't seen, but I've decided that ignorance is bliss sometimes. It is pretty cute, though, how much he loves to be a part of feeding time.

"What are you doing to me, Dad?"

"You're getting pretty worked up about this, aren't you, Dad?"

"I'm not so sure about this..."

"Hey, I like it. I really like it!"

"Okay, too much of a good thing can be bad."

Fun in the Fountain

My girls love playing in the fountain at Suwanee Town Center. It was one of our first start-of -summer activities. Ava was a little reluctant to go near the water at first, but Big Sisiter Kassy helped ease her closer. It didn't take long for her to relax and have a blast. Trista and Bella took off right away. It was a fun day for the kids and a HOT day for me. It's a good thing I enjoy seeing them have so much fun. :)

This is Trista with her other half, Sydney. As you can see, they like doing everything together.