tidbits

Pratt truly has no inhibitions.  This is also true of his attitude toward rules.  He seems to think that even though he knows he is doing wrong, and will be punished, it will probably be less displeasure than the pleasure he will receive from following his own whim.  In this case it was scaling the wall and climbing along it's ledge to get to something that I purposely put out of his reach.  He wears me out!

Walking to the school bus each morning is a highlight of the our day.  Aimee and Porter like to run to the corner.  Pratt likes to experiment with his options.  This day he decided that he needed to ride in the stroller and hold May.  Most days he prefers to ride in the bottom of the stroller, curled up in a blanket in the basket that isn't exactly intended for little boys.  Who knew that my stroller could be converted to a double.

A couple of weeks ago we all went to a Saturday Primary program practice.  Afterward we decided to stop at Kroger to stock up on a sale item.  My kids love the kid carts here, and all have to push one when we go.  It was hilarious to try to herd all three kids with carts (plus May who was being pushed by my best cart driver, Aimee) to the back of the store where our item was located.  Lots of people got cut off and/or run into.  As we were leaving, Chad asked me if I always let them each have a cart when I come alone.  I told him I did.  He was blown away on many levels.  I just smiled and kept herding.

Yeah, we have a dog with personality.

I decided to make a quick stop at the grocery store to grab a few items.  We lucked out and showed up at the same time the Wienermobile was there!  The gave us coupons, key chains and wienie whistles!  I thought it was a lot cooler then the boys did.

 

This is the boys eating donuts, trying out their wienie whistles and waiting for Aimee to come home on the bus.

Funnest dad ever right here!  Nothing like a little bed time wrestling to get them to go to bed...

Porter and Pratt "shaving" with dad.  Did I mention Chad is the greatest dad ever?

shows

Aimee loves to perform.  It doesn't matter that most of the time there is no rhyme or reason to it, she just wants our attention.  The boys want to be just like Aimee, and although they are more self conscious, seeing Aimee do things often gives them the courage they need.  And so it was one evening, just before bed time.  Chad had brought a few boxes up from the basement that were converted into a "stage."  Aimee sang her "a little of this and that" song for a good 8 or 9 minutes before we had to make her stop and give her brothers a turn.  The funniest part was that she was that earlier she had been pretending that Pratt was a wolf in a cave, and as he continued to play during her song, she just sang about whatever it was he was doing, pretend or real.

Porter and Pratts songs were much shorter, and they weren't quite as good at keeping their stage in upright position.  We had a great time watching the impromptu production.  It was the perfect end to our day!

girls night

When we found out about the father/son ward camp-out, Chad was excited to take the boys out.  This would be their first activity of this kind.  That also meant that Aimee and I would have an entire evening all to ourselves.  It was too long in the making, I know, but our first girls night was highly anticipated.

As it turned out, it didn't go quite as we planned.  That Friday it poured!  I think some die-hard campers may have still gone, but I didn't think Porter and Pratt (or Chad) were that set on camping that a backyard cookout substitute wouldn't suffice. The bad part is that this interfered with the girls night Aimee had planned for us.  We escaped for a little over an hour before joining the boys for the cook out.  Aimee had requested that we go out for ice cream, and go to the mall.  We skipped the ice cream and went straight to the mall.  I hate the mall.  I hate shopping, and therefore I hate the mall.  I guess that is because I forget to enjoy it the way a five year old girl does.  We went to Fetch to pet puppies, and then to the make-up counters to get our nails painted and try on lip gloss.  The ladies at the counters thought it was the cutest thing they had ever seen.  They were right!  Then with the time we had left we rode the escalators and tried on about 20 pairs of sun glasses, bracelets and scarves.  All this while pretending that we were just getting to know each other (she was much better at pretending this than I was). 

One of my favorite comments of the night was Aimee telling me that she couldn't wait until May was born so that all three of us could do this together!  Win!

memorial day

Growing up, Memorial Day meant camping for the weekend.  For us this year, we lucked out.  We just thought it was cool that Chad actually didn't have to work that day.  It was also good timing because for our ward here, it means a big ward breakfast.  The High Priests are in charge of this particular ward event, and since Chad is in the leadership, he was able to be helpful.  It turned out to be a chilly and wet morning, so rolled everyone out of bed early, bundled up, and went help set up, and get food cooking.

 

As the youngest guy in the quorum, Chad was the only one there with small children.  It was fun to watch him cook eggs with his mini men assisting him.  Plus, it gave Chad an easy excuse if he messed up the eggs!  Chad cooked all morning, and my very pregnant self manned the troops.  I think people get a kick out of watching me go through a buffet line with four plates.  Personally, if it means that I can get Porter to eat as heartily as he did, I would do it every day!

That evening we kept things pretty simple.  We made pizza and ice cream picnic style.  Of course Chad did a great job talking about the reason we celebrate this holiday, and then we (and by we I mean Chad and the kids) had a few fence races and a round or two of tag.  We were just so happy to have Chad home, that the only thing that mattered was that he was with us.

practice

Chad is pretty particular about his hair cuts.  He got a bad one from a companion as greenie serving an LDS mission.  Since then he took cutting his hair into his own hands.  Just before Taylee got married we found out that her future husband is also very picky, but pays for his cuts.  We save tons of money doing all of our own hair cuts (except mine) and she wanted to be able to do the same.  Chad very sweetly allowed Taylee to practice on him before her nuptials.  This was a big deal, because he won't even let his licenced beautician sister-in-law do it.  

 

It was a very long lesson.  He made sure she was going very slow so that chances for messing up would be minimal and made me help check her work.  In the end, Tubbs got Chads seal of approval.  However, I hear Sloth (my now brother-in-law) still doesn't let her sheer him.

torn tendon

When I found out that I was pregnant this time, I bit the bullet, and joined a gym.  I recovered so much quicker by doing this while pregnant with Pratt.  I admit I had a love/hate relationship with working out.  I hated how much of my day it ate up to go, and all of the pregnancy comments I got each time I went.  I did love the way it made me feel, and "me time" it gave me each day.  I was there on average days a week, doing everything from kickboxing to zumba to strength training.  It was a pretty crushing blow to tear a tendon in my foot at 31 weeks. 

My orthopedic hubby insisted that I go to the doctor to get an official diagnosis.  While that was annoying, I did get fitted with a boot that made it easier to get around and heal faster.  Some awesome friends of mine even sent me a care package with to foot pampering supplies!

By 35 weeks I was able to get back to the gym.  It was amazing how much ground I lost in that time, but I was glad to be able to gut it out to the end, because once again, it paid off.

graduation

Better late than never, right?   The truth is that I got a new phone a week ago, and finally figured out how to get all of the photos off of the old one.  "Tech: just doesn't flow in my veins.

No matter how long it has been (a year and a half), it doesn't change how proud I am of my sweetheart!  Medical school was really just the first big step in getting to where we want to go, but it was a big, life-changing one.  It was four years that we loved!  There were long hours, frustrating classmates and teachers, firsthand heartbreaking stories, and once in a life-time opportunities that have changed our lives.  In a lot of ways it was our first taste of the real world.

During those four years it was humbling to watch my husband.  He got up everyday, and did everything that was required of him and more.  He never settled for just doing enough to get by.  He graduated near the top of his class, after having matched into a competitive orthopedic surgery residency.  Even more impressive, I think, our marriage was happy, our babies loved and happy, and every church and community responsibility filled to the best of his ability.  He was able to achieve a balance that most of his class couldn't even begin to understand.  Basically, he is amazing, and I am the lucky girl that gets to see it all!

His hooding was the best part.  It was the ceremony that was just the med school where he received his doctor of medicine hood.  It was very personal and very gratifying.  Most of the other graduates had several family members who hooted and hollered as they crossed the stage.  I know our families would have loved to be there, but Chad just had a very proud wife beaming for him.

I don't claim to be a great writer or speaker.  Sometimes I wish I could lay claim to that talent just long enough to accurately express my feelings.  I guess I will just have to end by saying that, MD aside, I feel so blessed to get to hang on the arm of the most amazing person I have ever known!