Allison

One of my best friends here in Iowa moved today. I watched her drive away in her car and it made me terribly sad - and happy for her - at the same time. Her hubby, Justin, is one year ahead of Wade in school so they are off on their fourth year rotation adventure.

Little side note explanation: 4th Year Podiatry students at DMU do a series of externships all over the country preparing you for residency. You do month long stays each place you are interested in doing your residency and you don't stay longer than one month except for your "core" which lasts 4 months. If we were all single or without kids I think this would be a great adventure. But for those of us with families, it's a pretty difficult year. Some wives and kids stay in Des Monies, some move home to their parents, some BRAVE spouses pack everything up and travel around with their husbands.

Allison opted for the family route. So while Justin is traveling to start rotation #1 in Colorado she is going to Texas for a short visit, then up to Colorado for 4 months with his family and then back to Texas to live with her family for the rest of the year. All with her two little kids. She is ONE BRAVE COOKIE! They don't even get to take their own things - since they are keeping them here in a storage unit until graduation!

After we hugged and I told her I wasn't going to cry, I watched her drive away and I got my kids in the car to run some errands. Then reality hit me and I was wiping tears frantically so I could actually drive and find my way to the grocery store.

Allison is a great mom and wife. She is very supportive of her husband and his dream to become a Doctor. She has been supportive to me during these crazy years as well. She is a great mom and very patient and understanding. We had our second babies 2 days apart and were in the hospital together! She has a strong belief in her faith and is very kind and Christlike to all that she comes in contact with.

It's totally cheesy sounding, but I wish her luck and really do hope that we stay friends for the rest of our lives.

Clinic

Our favorite daddy and husband started clinic today. We are very proud of him for making it this far. We think he is great - and looks hot in his new clothes too!

Now that Wade is thoroughly embarrassed I will try not to post about this again. :)

Fishing

Today we took Gage and Noah fishing at our Bishop's house. We love their family and want to someday own a piece of land like they have! They have a pond with a dock, paddle boat, tree-houses, swing sets, gardens, trampoline, and tractors (Gage's favorite part!). Gage caught four little fish and had a great time casting with his little fishing pole. Noah enjoyed some time with me on the shore and hung out inside with their two teenage daughters while I paddled around on the boat with Wade and Gage. It was a great way to spend the afternoon, we will defiantly be doing this again sometime soon!

Temple

Just so we don't seem like the lamest couple to ever celebrate their anniversary (see previous post) I wanted to share some pictures of what we did Friday night this past weekend. We were able to go over to Omaha, NE and spend some time at the LDS Winter Quarter's Temple. We were able to swap baby sitting with another couple and had a very good visit.

If you don't know much about LDS Temples, you can click here

7 Years

Today we celebrate our seven year anniversary! I am married to someone who makes me laugh, loves me and is my best friend. Since it's a holiday weekend we had a hard time finding a babysitter, so we attempted to go out as a family for a romantic dinner. I think Gage and Wade might have had a romantic dinner while Noah and I had a romantic walk outside the restaurant! You have to love kids, right? I believe the first thing I will do at church today is hire one of the young women for next weekend!

At dinner last night we tried to think of some highlights from each year.

2000 - Honeymoon. We had our first apartment in American Fork. It was an interesting place. We both graduated from UVSC.
2001 - We moved to 707 University Village. We (I) cried because we hated the apartment and now that is one of our favorite places ever! We made some of the best friends we will ever have there and spent 4 great years in that little place!
2002 - We lived in the middle of the 2002 Winter Olympics. The U of U gave us a month long spring break so we could enjoy the festivities. We went to a medal ceremony, spent time downtown and enjoyed all the hype. Truly a once in a lifetime experience. I also graduated from the U of U in 2002 and got our first "real paying" job. It's always nice to have a little money.
2003 - We both couldn't think of anything interesting this year at all - we even broke open my scrapbooks to try to remember. All we could think of was this year was the "calm before the storm" (see 2004).
2004 - Little-man Gage was born on March 1. He really was a challenge that first year, but we were glad to finally start our family. Wade graduated from the U of U this year!
2005 - This year was full of highs and lows. We struggled to find a job. In June we got accepted to DMU and we moved to Iowa in July. Wade started medical school!
2006 - Wade kept trucking through school and at the end of the year baby Noah joined our family. We traveled to Illinois, Minnesota, Washington DC, Delaware, Utah, Missouri and Kansas.
2007 - Wade's still working hard and we are now half way done! We are planning on going to Utah this summer after Wade takes (and passes!) boards!

Summer

When I lived in Arkansas we started each June out with the Pink Tomato Festival.


It always feels like officially summer when I can make my first grilled tomato sandwich. My Dad and I would meet at home almost every day for lunch and eat these. Today, despite the rain, I had the perfect tomato, so I started the summer off right. With a tomato sandwich.



I was busy trying to capture the perfect picture of my sandwich and Wade kept making fun of me for blogging about a sandwich. When I went to download the pictures, these were also on the camera. This is what Wade gets for making fun of me. I do admit it was a pretty tasty looking corn dog that he made. He tried to get out of this picture by telling me that his Dad and him always ate corn dogs together. Nice Wade, NICE!

More Pages

So I know my family is ready to have their kitchen table back, but I am on a roll! (Besides, picnic dinners in the living room ARE fun!) I was able to finish these pages today. Don't be too impressed most of them just needed the journaling.

I am the biggest dork because all this time I have been thinking that the pictures I take are really dark - then Wade told me that it was just little fingers have adjusted my monitor. DUH! I feel silly. I have been corrected, seen the light, and now I can see on my monitor!




Yes, I scrapbooked a page about my blog. I had this polka dot paper I've been hording forever and a page about blogspot was just the right fit. So no pictures, but oh well. One of my goals is to scrapbook pages ordinary life, not just events. Here is my first attempt.

Chair

Today we got Noah a new Anywhere Chair from Pottery Barn Kids. Doesn't he look thrilled? Maybe if they had a slip cover made from his blankie.....HAHA!

Scrapbook Pages

As part of my Mother's Day weekend Wade watched the boys for me so I could go scrapbook with a group of women from my church. It was fun to get away and work on some pages that I had been neglecting. I finished the journaling for them this morning. I wish I could scan in12x12 pages, because the pictures of them are not that great. The Halloween one is especially dark - sorry!

The one with Noah was the first page I've finished for him. I have a pregnancy book that I worked on and have, but I haven't started his baby album yet. I'm saving it for the big "scrapbook-extravaganza nights" with my sister-in-laws when I'm in Utah. With Gage's baby book I was able to stay up to date, so I'm nervous I will have forgotten about him by then or how to compile a baby book in a short amount of time. I've thought about just one spread for each month, but is that enough? Any suggestions?

Sticks

The other day I was cooking dinner and Wade was finishing some working on the computer. We had the back door open so Gage could play. The next thing I knew turned around and saw Gage trying to sneak this stick into the house. I'm fine with him bringing sticks and rocks inside, and at least it wasn't a snake or bug, but seriously, I think he could have found a more "reasonable" size stick.

Half Doctor

Wade is now half way done with his medical school! WOO HOO! He finished his last test this morning and he has a week break before he starts clinic rotations.

It seems like yesterday that we got the call that we were accepted and had to move to Iowa - with only 5 weeks until school starts! Time sure flies when you are busy! Way to go Wade, I'm proud of your hard work and dedication.

A boy, his blankie, and the microwave

Gage received this blankie from my sister in law when he was born. He has really been attached to it since about 6 months old. We aren't sure why he named it, but the blankies name is "C" or the Spanish version "Si". The blankie is also a he. He has carried it every where with him, it is truly his companion. Sickness and health, food stains, boogies, clean or dirty. You get the idea.

During the winter months, or when he was feeling sick I would often warm it up for him. Sometimes in the dryer, but sometimes for a quick 30 seconds in the microwave. This past winter when Gage was playing outside I tried the microwave trick and apparently it was one to many times. It came out with holes - burnt holes. Gage yelled at me saying "Mommy burnt up his Si" and I wanted to cry too. Then he quickly got over it and decided that the holes allowed him to wear Si like a cape. The holes became cool and also became larger over time.

I have now been prepping Gage for this day for a while. Today I cut Si and made a smaller version. One without holes. He loves his new baby Si and thought it was SOO cool that I used the sewing machine to make him. I have learned my lesson and don't put blankets in the microwave any more. Let's hope this baby Si has a long and prosperous life.

Noah

So I had great plans for today. We headed to the library, I got the sequel to the book I finished this weekend. We did some shopping at Target and came home to have lunch. Then I dropped Noah in the parking lot.

Yes, you read right. I was holding Noah on my hip and grabbing my bag out of the car when Noah jerked backwards and I wasn't able to catch him. He landed on his head...on the cement. He screamed, I screamed, Gage screamed. We ran inside and I got Wade to come home. It seemed like FOREVER until he got here. I had a good cry. I called the Dr. and they told me just to take him to the ER. Gage went to a friends house to play. Wade sped to the hospital while I sat in the back and tried to keep him awake the best I could -pretty hard when the hospital is a 15 ride in a warm car.

He checked out ok. He has some bad scratches on his forehead and his cheek, and I'm sure tomorrow he will have a nice bruise. For now he is "under observation" but at home. So much for a good day, but it could have been much, much worse - our little Noah is a trooper and we were very blessed.

Twilight

Ok, have you ever had the desire for the library to open at 7 am? I finished Twilight today and I cannot wait until 10:30 tomorrow morning to get the sequel. I never thought I would enjoy this book, but it really was that good. Like I said in my previous post, I owe this to one of my old roommates, Kelly. If you want to see what she said about it, click. here.

Hope everyone had a great mother's day. I have two great mom's in my life - Mom B (Bullard) and Mom C (Christiansen)....just to clarify :) They are great mothers and examples to me. I learn from them all the time and am so grateful to have the relationship that I have with them!

Power Tools

It's not every day that a man can buy power tools for his medical profession. Wade and Gage have been playing with his new Dremel and all it's gadgets for the past half our and are not letting up. I guess they are pretty excited - it must be equivalent to me in a scrapbook store!

It's been about a week since I finished the Work and the Glory series, and can I just tell you how much the boys nap time is seriously lacking a good book? I went to the library this morning with hopes to find something interesting. I had in mind that I would read the Anne of Green Gables series, but I checked out this book as well.

I first heard of Twilight,by Stephenie Meyer from an old roommate who read it and couldn't put it down. After reading her blog about it I though, "Sounds interesting, but not for me." Then one of my friends here in Iowa started to read it too. So when I came across it at the library I thought I would check it out. I am intrigued. I can't seem to put it down and I never thought this would be a book I would enjoy. I suppose Anne of Green Gables will have to wait.

Kite

Chicago might be the windy city, but I believe that Iowa is the windiest state....the only rival in this might be Wyoming. It is always perfect weather to fly a kite. Gage has been dressing himself a lot more lately, due to being potty trained. It didn't show up very well in the picture but his pants are on backwards. He wore them all afternoon this way and wouldn't let me fix them.

Gage is at the stage where he wants to make a face at the camera every time I bring it out. Itsn't it lovely?

Potty

5 Days, 2 accidents, a handful of jelly beans, Thomas, McQueen, and Diego undies = one potty trained boy.

I haven't wanted to potty train Gage because I didn't want to fight it but Monday he wanted to wear his undies all day, so I suppose he was ready. Here is the lowdown:

Monday: When he woke up I asked him to get me a diaper or underwear, he returned with underwear. He received one jelly-belly each time he went potty. He had one accident.
Tuesday: He wore undies again, but I sent him to a play date in a diaper. He told the mom he needed to go potty, ran upstairs and went. No accidents! He didn't want anymore jelly-bellies.
Wednesday: The big test day because we go to a playgroup at the mall. He told me he didn't want a diaper, so he wore his big boy pants. He had to go 4 times while there (I think he was more fascinated with the mini toilets in the family bathroom then anything else.) We came home and he had a dry day!
Thursday: Trip to Walmart and Costco while staying dry. He had an accident later that day because he was in time out for another crime and was screaming so hard he forgot.
Friday: Dry all day. He gets mad when we ask, so we leave him alone - and he tells us.

I suppose we are done. At least for day time training....nighttime is an avenue we aren't ready to cross yet.

6 Months

Little Noah is six months old today! He is feeling a little under the weather but still gave me a cute little grin for his picture. Here are a few things about him.


- He can sit on his own, but can't roll over. He prefers to have someone help him stand.
- He is over 17 pounds
- He's a smiley little guys - at least for his mama
- He likes to be turned upside down or thrown in the air
- He loves his blankie (Thanks Grandma C.)
- He is either a thumb sucker or a hand eater, we can't really tell. He has never taken well to a binky.
- He doesn't really like to eat food yet, but likes to grab at my plate each night when we are eating dinner.
- He can wear clothes that Gage was wearing at 18 months
- He still doesn't sleep through the night
- He loves to grab things - toys, hair, shirts, grass, plates, food, anything he can get his little hands on
- He has been on an airplane and been to these states: Iowa (given), Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Washington
- He's too big for his infant car seat and so for his half birthday he is getting a new one!
- He loves to watch his brother
- He's pretty laid back
- He doesn't have any teeth yet, but drools like crazy so who knows when they are coming
- Shrieks with laughter when you scare him

Response

So what is my response to the PBS Documentary "The Mormons"? My response is, if you are really seeking the truth - about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, about if what was said in the show is true or not, about God and Jesus Christ, about any religion - then actively seek the truth. Study the question you have. Find out as much information as you can from all sources of information. Decide what you believe to be true. Then pray about it. Ask your Heavenly Father if what you believe to be true is true and He will answer your prayers.

I have done this numerous time in my life about numerous issues. From what college to attend, who to marry, if my church is true, what profession to choose, how to solve a problems with my kids, the list goes on and on.

I know this works. If you are wondering...about anything...then give this a try.

1. Study out the question
2. Make a decision
3. Pray