Fingerpainting

Life with two kiddos can be so crazy sometimes all the time.  Sometimes I feel bad for William because I don't feel like I give him as much attention as I did Eliana at his age.  When Eliana was little, I spent all my time entertaining her, reading to her, and playing with her.  Now my sweet William is so easy going, I just plop him down in from of a toy and say "Have fun!" and try to make lunch/fold laundry/clean something.  He is usually pretty content playing right up until Eliana comes and squishes him or steals his toy.  So I am attempting to do a few more focused activities with William like finger painting and playing with play dough together.  Here is our first attempt at painting.

Eliana is painting a rainbow with a paintbrush.  William is smearing his paint around by hand.

I would say this activity was a hit!  Painting was going well until...

William started playing "peek-a-boo" (instead of covering his eyes, he always just puts his hands on his head and then throws them up in the air).

Good look

Then he started eating the paint, which he discovered he didn't like.  At this point, I decided craft time was over and bath time needed to commence.

We have painted a few times since this.  William has not eaten any more paint, but paint in the hair is always a likely end.  Loving this activity so much, William actually cries when I stop putting paint on his tray.

Big Machine Week at Cosi

COSI, the children's science museum in town, has an awesome week each summer called Big Machine's week where they have construction trucks outside the museum for kids to explore.  Tons of different trucks/pieces of equipment are there and all are open for kids to check out.  They even have a couple of diggers in huge sandboxes that they allow kids to operate and actually scoop sand!  William was a little young to really explore the machinery, but I bet he would be amazed by it all in just a few years.  As it was, William definitely enjoyed the little bit he could climb on.  We also had Eliana's friend Adele for the morning, so the girls ran around pretending they were on their way to work at the construction site.  After a little bit of climbing in and on the big machines, we went inside for our usual fun at COSI.

They were also giving out construction hats.  The museum was a sea of yellow that day.

William getting to steer too!

In the Little Kids Space, William sat on the cowboy saddle.

He liked his cowboy hat.

Water area for babies - a huge hit.  William was soaked!

Water area for big kids.

Family Update

Now that we are well into Chief Year, I though I would give a little update about how that is going for David and the rest of us.  Today the kids and I actually stopped by David's office at the hospital for a picnic lunch.  We also brought him his diploma and helped him hang it on the wall.  The kids had a great time visiting Daddy at work, especially William when he got to check out the view from the 4th story window.  I think we were quite distracting for the residents trying to work, but we had fun.

So far, David has been tolerating being Chief.  (He would probably be upset that I am saying that, but luckily he never reads the blog so he won't know...).  I don't think it is shaping up to be exactly as he expected.  David's particular role as chief centers around the outpatient clinic and involves A LOT of paperwork.  He was looking forward to the teaching aspect of being chief, but that is mostly in the form of lectures to the residents.  Not naturally inclined to public speaking, David prefers teaching more one on one, like he did during his inpatient rotations as senior resident.  However, I am sure this is a good stretch for him, especially since he wants to go work in academics and will probably be giving lots of lectures down the road.  All of the meetings and scheduling fun can wear on him a little, but I think overall he is enjoying this year.  If nothing else, it has been nice getting to see him at home a little more!  David works very few weekends now and is usually home around 6pm, so it is almost a normal schedule!  We will have to enjoy this year while we can because next year, the first year of fellowship, David tells me will be really crazy.

Speaking of fellowship, David had put in his applications for Hematology/Oncology fellowship, and has been hearing back from lots of places.  Right now he has 11 interviews scheduled, located all over the country!  I'm so proud of him - his hard work has definitely paid off.  David has some excellent programs interested in him including Standford, Duke, MD Anderson in Houston, and Vanderbilt in Nashville to name a few.  The next few months he will be traveling like crazy, sometimes going from one school to the next before coming home.  I try not to think about it too much because there is so much uncertainty about next year.  Fellowship match occurs in December, so once I know where we will be, then I will start worrying about the details.

As far as how my job is going, we have been extremely busy in the NICU.  Almost every day I get a text message from work asking if I want to pick up extra.  I did work three extra shifts the last two weeks, and that has worn me out.  It makes me so grateful that I am able to work part time.  It is a lot of work to raise two children, maintain a house, and work 40 hours a week!  We really are blessed that I don't do that on a normal basis.

I have also been reading a book called Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis which has given me a lot to think about lately.  It is the story of her missionary work in Uganda working with children in poverty.  She is a Christian following Jesus' commandments to love your neighbor and to care for the poor and orphaned.  The book is very eye opening to the extreme poverty that exists in the world, and Katie constantly questions why some people like those of us in America are so blessed while others can suffer so much.  This book has made me look at my own life and ask myself how is Jesus calling me to serve the poor and needy?  I began to look around me and see what luxuries I have, and start to think  - what is it that I can give up so that others can have more?  As I talked this over with David, he made a very thoughtful point.  He said, one of the best things I can do right now is to support him in his work to become a doctor.  While we can continue to support charities like we do now and give of ourselves and our time/resources, what he truly believes God is calling him to do is be a doctor.  (We can't all move to Uganda to be a missionary right out of high school...).  Then by using those gifts once he is a doctor, he will be so much better equipped to make a bigger impact on the world.  David just amazes me so much by how he looks at the world.  His every step is thoughtful, leading him to something greater, following ever closer to Jesus Christ.  I pray that we can use this time of preparation to truly find God's purpose for our lives.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Matthew 16:24-25

From our 5th wedding anniversary back in June.

Hat Day

The other day I put William's hat on before we went to the park, and Eliana requested a hat for herself.  I thought she looked super cute in the little hat that she wore.

Mulch, always a favorite.

Our little monkey.

Ohio State Fair

 Today we had a great time at the Ohio State Fair.  The weather was perfect, the kids were in a great mood, and we went with Eliana's friend Adele, so basically it was the best.  And unlike last year, there was no throwing up or peeping pants, so I would consider that a success!  We started out the day in the Boy Scout area making Lego race cars and playing with balls.  Adele made multiple cars from scratch, while Eliana picked up a completed car that someone else had made and left, and claimed it for her own.  She removed a few Legos and then added a "little girl" that we built together (that mostly acted as a large wind catcher to slow her car down).  She kept going back to race the car over and over again.

 We ate lots of fair food, rode the carousel, listened to several bands, saw 20,000lbs of butter carved into cows and Urban Myer, and even milked a cow.  The top thing we did at the fair, though, was probably the petting zoo.  William especially loved this.  He was squealing with excitement every time he touched an animal.  He delighted in feeding the goats, coming back to me over and over again for more carrots.

See that smile?

Petting the baby goat.

The only bummer of the day was that I came home exhausted from pushing a double stroller all over the fair in the sun, while Eliana came home rested and ready to play after riding around all day getting pumped full of sugar.  Oh well, still worth it!

More Hocking Hills Vacation

I love nature and thought Hocking Hills looked especially beautiful in July when we went because of all the rain we had had lately, so the pictures are never ending. 

On Friday afternoon, we had a "sibling walk" to Rock House.  Eliana and my mom actually came along with us, but Eliana feel asleep in the van on the drive to the park.  My mom offered to stay in the van with her (luckily it was drizzling lightly and not very hot) while she napped, and the four of us continued on.  I could not believe how green everything was!  The rock cliffs were so covered in ferns that they looked like a green waterfall.  Amazing!

Rock House is a large cave on the side of the cliff.  This picture is from inside the cave with Rebecca standing on the edge.  After I took this picture, I made Rebecca come back into the cave because she was making my overactive mom fears go crazy.

Rebecca, Michael, Abby, and me

I have never seen Hocking Hills like this before!

The fun we had at dinner on the porch.

This was the more boring table.

We celebrated William's birthday for the third time with some delicious brownies made by my mom.

William was even willing to put down his corn on the cob to eat a brownie.

Love my big boy!

The next day everyone came out for an "early" morning hike - early meaning those without children had to get up before lunch (but still late enough for William to have already had his morning nap -it's like children are their own time zone).  We went to Ash Cave, a very easy walk to a great big sandy bottomed cave.  I didn't get a picture of us all at the cave, but I did take a few of the walk back.  Some of the group continued hiking out above the cave, but the kids, my parents, Abby, and I all headed back to the cabin. 

Dad carried William.  They had a great time together.

Eliana didn't want to walk on the paved path.  She preferred the wandering creek next to the trail instead.

 William's birthday was split in two parts due to his early bedtime.  Earlier in June, Eliana said that William needed a pinata for his birthday (probably from watching Dora the Explorer).  My mom and sister were happy to oblige.  They got a really cute lion pinata that said 1st birthday. 

It had two ways to break it open - by pulling the stings, one of which opened the trap door at the bottom...

or by hitting it with a broom!

William showing off his prizes!

Last picture - I insisted on this one before anyone could leave at the end of vacation: