Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Kids

What have we been up to?

Riding her new bike.  Eliana hasn't quite figured out the pedals yet.

I brought William's exersaucer outside to play
I'm glad I got a big wheel instead of a tricycle.  She rode it all over the yard!


Eliana read Pat the Bunny to William.  Word for word, she has it memorized.  He was listening intently!

She helped him do the activities, just like I would do with her.  I love it!

Eliana thought William would look pretty with her purple headband.

She thought it was pretty funny.

Monday, March 30, 2015

Charleston, SC

In February, we took a family vacation to Charleston, SC.  Every February during residency, David and I have taken a vacation to somewhere a little warmer.  Two years ago it was to Sedona, AZ; and last year it was to Tulum, Mexico.  Both years we left Eliana with her grandparents for our vacation.  This year we attempted a FAMILY vacation with both kids along for the trip.  Vacation with little ones makes for a not very relaxing vacation.  Eliana and William both got sick a few days before the trip with a cough.  William ended up with a double ear infection and was on an antibiotic which gave him diarrhea and a diaper rash.  Neither child slept very well.  We decided to drive the 10.5 hrs to Charleston, and Eliana is notoriously bad at long car rides.  As I mentioned in a previous post, on the day we left for vacation, we got our nanny's two week notice.  Needless to say after two days of "vacation" I was ready to go home and never leave the house again.  However, we stuck it out (mostly because to return home meant another 10 hr drive - otherwise I seriously might have just turned around and gone home).  I'm so glad we did because we ended up having a really nice trip.  We visited my cousin Amy and her husband Neil in Charleston.  They were such great hosts!  Not only were they willing to open up their home to us and the craziness it is to have two little ones running around; but they also cooked us some amazing meals and traveled around Charleston with us, showing us the sights and sharing the history of this beautiful city.  The first day in Charleston we went to the Children's Museum.  Eliana had a great time!  We spent most of the day there which really tired her out.  She ended up falling asleep in the stroller in the early afternoon, which was perfect, because then David and I could walk around a little and explore places such as the City Market.  The next day we went back to downtown Charleston along with my cousin Amy for a horse and carriage tour of the historic parts of the city.  Eliana was really excited about the horse, but quickly lost interest in the tour.  Luckily we had enough food packed with us to keep her occupied for the hour long tour.  It was a really nice time and we got to see some beautiful old buildings!  There is so much history in that old city that we could have easily spent two weeks there and not seen everything.  The carriage ride was a nice way to get a little overview of the city.  After that we went to the beach.  Our trip was during that time in February when the Arctic air stream was coming down from Canada and setting record lows all across the country.  So our attempt at a warm vacation was not so successful.  Despite the cold, I insisted on treating this trip like a warm weather vacation.  I didn't pack a winter coat, I wore crop pants and sandals, and gosh darn it, I was going to the beach!  That Saturday was the warmest day at 50 some degrees, but the wind on the beach was brutal.  We didn't last there very long.  But Eliana loved it!! She was running all over the place laughing and having fun.  William really did not like the beach.  I think sand was blowing in his eyes and he was really cold.
It was really pretty out and sunny, but cold!

Eliana really wanted to build a sand castle, but it was way too windy.  Plus, we didn't want to go down to the wet sand by the water.





Family vacation 2015!
  While the kids and I went back to Amy and Neil's to relax, David went on some long runs.  He said the 40-50 degree weather is just right for running because you don't get so hot. 

The next day we went to mass with Amy, and then went to Charleston Aquarium with both Amy and Neil.  This was a real highlight of the trip!  Both kids really enjoyed the Aquarium.  William loved looking at the fish swim around and around.  There were lots of things for Eliana to do like a play place, a toy boat, and a touch tank. 

The aquarium had a great view of the harbor and bridge.  Eliana is with Amy.

Not excited about being outside.

I'm still refusing to wear a coat.

Neil and his buddy

The first fish tank we saw.  Eliana was captivated!

William with Neil.  He loved it!

Whoa, check out that eel!

Checking William's wing span

The kids in an eagle's nest.
 Overall, I would say this was a very successful vacation.  Not quite as warm and as relaxing as Mexico, but at least we were together as a family.  Our trip home went a little better than the trip out, mostly because we changed Eliana's carseat to forward facing and let her watch DVDs in the van.  We were hoping to make the drive back in one day, driving into the night while the kids slept, but we get hit with a winter storm and 17in of snow in the mountains of Virginia.  After one more night in a hotel, we made it home safe and sound.  My biggest thanks go out to Amy and Neil for being great hosts and for making our vacation such a success! 

Saturday, March 28, 2015

First Word

William's first word is ... [drum roll please!] ... Mama!

Woohoo!  He started saying it yesterday.  David said, "Don't most kids say 'Dada' first?"  I replied, "Not when I have been working on him saying 'Mama' since he was six months old."  Hehe, I'm so sneaky.  :)

Check it out - six teeth!

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Family Update

Lots of exciting things have been going on at our house lately.  David is finishing up his third and final year of residency.  Next year he will still be at OSU as Chief Resident, then it is off to fellowship.  We should find out this December where that will be.  David has been working so hard and his efforts are really paying off.  He is now officially published!  The research paper that he presented at a conference with the American Society of Clinical Oncology in 2013 has been accepted by some journal.  I'm sorry, I can't recall the name of the journal right now.  He was so excited about that!  Getting published is really important for getting into a good fellowship, so this is huge!  David is currently working on another research project, so hopefully he will get published again sometime in the next year.  Right now, however, his big project is his Grand Rounds presentation.  Grand Rounds is a presentation every Thursday morning for the education and advancement of attendings (doctors done with their training) in the hospital.  Usually the presenter is an expert in their field and is often brought in from other hospitals and universities.  This is not something that residents really ever present.  So this is very important for David and quite cool that he gets to do it.  David is going to present on Survivorship in Young Cancer Patients, a topic that is quite important to him.  He has been doing lots of research and consulting with experts such as cardiologists about follow-up for cancer survivors.  I love seeing how animated he gets when talking about this project.  You can really tell that he has a passion for his work and a desire to help those patients he will be taking care of.  His presentation is coming up in a couple of weeks, so say a little prayer for him that all goes well.

Speaking of cancer survivorship - David is now a five year survivor of lymphoma!  Five years is a big deal because after five years, you are considered cured!  David has a follow up appointment with his oncologist next month.  I'm not sure what happens after this.  I would guess that he would probably continue to follow up with the oncologist at least every once in a while because even though his lymphoma will be considered cured, he is still at a higher risk of developing a secondary cancer or other complications from his treatment like heart disease or thyroid disease.  Oh how my heart rejoices with this anniversary!  I love this man so much, and can't believe how lucky I am to get to spend my life with him and raise our children together.  I pray every day for his continued health and a long long life with us.  All things are possible through God who gives us strength!

As for the rest of us, I am still working in the NICU at Mount Carmel.  My job is going really well and I feel like we are settling into a nice  routine.  It was really stressful to switch jobs after William was born, but I am so glad that I did and that David supported me in this change.  I love my job.  It is the perfect mix of challenge and critical thinking with the sick babies that I care for, with sweet snuggles and joy when they are doing well or getting to go home.  In February, the nanny that we had since I started my new job gave us her two weeks notice.  She recently got pregnant and could not handle the long hours or stress of working with Eliana and potty training (sometimes I wish I could quit this potty training job too!).  That was really stressful for us, especially since she gave us her notice on the first day of our weeklong vacation.  Not a good way to start vacation, let me tell you!  Basically that meant we had a week to find a new nanny once we got home.  Luckily, we had lots of support from our family and friends during the search for someone new.  Poor Eliana couldn't keep track of all the names of the sitters she had for a couple of weeks.  Eventually she gave up and just started calling them "Nanny."  However, we found someone who I think is great who started in mid March.  She is actually from Bolivia so her main language is Spanish.  I think that is really cool.  Although I do not speak much Spanish at all, we have not had an issue communicating since she does know some English.  I think this is a great chance for David to practice his Spanish, which has gotten a little rusty, and for Eliana and William to maybe learn a little Spanish.  However, Eliana has been refusing to speak Spanish with the nanny.  That girl is so stubborn!  She loves Dora and will speak speak Spanish along with the TV show or when we read Dora books.  But she tells the nanny she doesn't know Spanish, and says William doesn't know it either when the nanny speaks with him.  I even got several Spanish picture books from the library because Eliana loves to read so much.  However, I don't think she is letting the nanny read them to her.  Hopefully once she gets used to the new nanny, she starts to enjoy this opportunity.  So far, everything has been going well with the nanny, who seems to enjoy spending time with the kids.  Her other part time job is nannying SIX boys, so this job is like a piece of cake to her.  Perhaps the stress of loosing our old nanny was a blessing in disguise. 

That's my long update.  David had some really busy rotations earlier in the year, but now everything is calming down.  I'm really looking forward to the next few months and getting to spend some great family time together.  "The days may be long, but the years are short."  I don't want to miss a moment of this beautiful time in our lives!

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Snow Day

In honor of the snow we got yesterday (we have been watching too much Frozen - it has caused Columbus to be in an Eternal Winter.  Spring, where are you??), I will share some of our snow pictures from January and February.

Last winter Eliana hated the snow and sledding.  She would cry if it got on her gloves or shoes.  This winter, however, she has learned the joy of playing in the snow, making snowmen, and sledding.  Which is really good since this winter is neverending! 

We brought some snow inside to play with when it was too cold to go outside.  I filled up William's little bathtub and let Eliana have fun with some of her sandbox toys.

She thought it was pretty cool to have snow (which belongs outside) in our kitchen!

On slightly warmer days, we actually went outside.  I knew that little hill in our backyard would be a hit this winter!



So excited!  We built a little snowman named Olaf.  He likes warm hugs.

If you look closely, you can see the tail Eliana added.

Sledding down the little hill in the backyard.  One time Eliana asked if I wanted to go sledding.  I tried, but for some reason I couldn't make it down the tiny hill in the tiny purple sled. :)
It was like mountain climbing for Eliana to make it up the hill.  She was dressed in very thick snow pant and boots, which impaired her movement in the first place.  Then add 7 inches of snow, and Eliana would often need help or have to crawl up on her hands and knees.

One of her favorite activities: eating "ice cream"
I had sooo much fun playing with Eliana in the snow.  I love seeing her discover new things.  Her eyes would be shining with excitement and her cheeks pink from the cold while she squealed with joy.  She came up with lots of creative things to do like sliding down the hill on her belly, throwing snow in the air and shouting "Make Believe!", and making tons of snow angels.  After playing outside, we would come in and drink hot chocolate.  Sometimes being a mom is the absolute best job in the world!!  I wonder if she will remember these moments?  I know I will always treasure them.

And where was William while we were playing in our winter wonderland?

my sweet little baby taking a nap
I also love looking at my sleeping babies (my little one and my big girl).  Am I the only mom who sneaks into her children's rooms at night to watch them sleep?  They are so precious. 

Thursday, March 19, 2015

8 months old

I can hardly believe William is 8 months old!  Wasn't he just born??  My bathroom scale said he was 20lbs.  He is an eating machine!  I have not found a food he doesn't like.  I thought for a minute that he didn't like broccoli, but that was a very short phase.  By the second time he tried it, he was gobbling it up like everything else.  Back at the beginning of the month, William had 2 teeth on the bottom but was working on four more on the top.  We went through a bad sleep strike for about two weeks while he was working on those.  Last week all four came through in a matter of days!  I would probably be cranky too if I had to cut four teeth through my sensitive gums.  The nice thing about the second baby is that your realize that "this too shall pass."  I remember with Eliana, I felt like every time she went through a rough patch with sleeping was the end of the world.  I could never figure out why she wasn't sleeping and would be pulling my hair out with stress and fatigue.  When William wasn't sleeping, I was definitely cranky and tired, but I also probably correctly guessed from the beginning that it was from his teeth.  So I didn't stress out about it so much because I knew that he would get better once he got those four teeth through.  He is doing much better now.  In fact, he has slept through the night two out of the last three nights! 
William is not mobile yet.  He can spin in circles, roll all over the place, and manages to get into every corner of his crib, but he isn't crawling yet.  He is getting close though!  A couple of times I have seen him trying to get on his knees.  He can't push himself all the way up quite yet, but I know it won't be long.  I am not looking forward to babyproofing again.  What am I going to do about the stairs to the basement?!  Or all of Eliana's small toys?  Maybe William can just slow down and stop growing up into this little boy that I see every day now instead of my tiny baby. 

He cracks me up!


Two teeth!

My mom gave William a cookie to celebrate being 8 months old.  She claimed it was just like a teething biscuit.

I think he liked it.

TBT: William's baptism

Throw Back Thursday:  Remember way back in October when our sweet little William was baptized and became a new little member of the Catholic Church?  I know, long time ago.  But I thought you would enjoy these pictures.  William was baptized at St. Brendan's Catholic Church by Deacon Doug along with two other babies.  My brother Michael and sister Abby are his Godparents.  William was awake but pretty calm for the sacrament.   One thing I did notice was that the chrism oil St. B uses is not nearly as fragrant as the oil used at St. John's.  I missed the long lasting smell that Eliana had when she was baptized.  No matter though.  What a blessing to have God's grace poured upon our son, and have him initiated into the Church.  It was a great day for our family!

He looks excited.  I forgot how little he was back then!

David's mom gave me David's baptismal outfit but our big guy was a little too big.  So he got a fancy new outfit to wear.  I thought the hat was really cute, but it might be just a little over the top. 


He didn't even cry!  Just surprised.

Eliana was very curious about baptism.  She asked a lot of questions like why William needed to be baptized.  She also asked who else had been baptized ("Mom, will you be baptized?  Will Dad?...").  She also had a hard time at first knowing that she had been baptized, but once she accepted that fact, then she told me that she remembered it (she was 6 weeks old).

William with his Godmother Abby.

So photogenic



Welcome to the Church!

We had a small party at our house after the baptism.  Eliana and William with David's side of the family.

William saying a prayer with Grandmama
My mom and William.

He looks so tiny in my dad's arms.