Our Family News: September 2008

Well, let's see - we'll start with Curtis. He found out this past weekend that he passed the Physical Exam portion of his Step 2 Board test - so he is officially done with boards until after Graduation!!! That was a huge load off and we can now focus on Residency interviews. He has applied to 12 different Family Practice programs in several different states - PA, OH, GA, TN & MS and has already heard from 2 of these places requesting interviews with him. One of those places is here in Erie and we are hoping and praying that this is where he will match. I know that many people are thinking - WHAT, you want to stay way up there so far away from all of your family! (Mainly b/c we've heard that several times already!!!) And the answer is - it's not that we WANT to stay far away from family, but we feel settled where we are, we know that after Curtis' residency is over we will be moving back to Mississippi where his family lives (and there is no residency program in that area) and we don't want to have to make 2 BIG moves in just a matter of a few years. So, for our family we feel that the best place right now is here in Erie. However, we do know that God may have different plans for us so we are not closing our minds and hearts to other places - but we are praying very strongly for Erie (and have lots of folks up here doing the same thing! :) We will find out where Curtis matches in February or March - depending on the program that he matches with. So, as soon as we find out we will be letting everyone know!

Now, on to Aubrey, who is now a little over 3 years old and acting as if she's 18!!! I'm really not looking forward to those teenage years - we are so much alike and already butt heads, so it will be VERY interesting as she grows up even more! However, she is so much fun to be around and always keep us on our toes. She's now in pre-school 2 days a week with Miss Denita and absolutely LOVES it and of course she's just a perfect angel and such a delight whenever she's at school - which I guess I would be pretty upset if she wasn't! :) She loves to sing, dance, play with her friends - both real and imaginary. Curtis has started reading a chapter book to her at night before bedtime and she gets so excited about it - it's pretty cute to watch her when the chapter ends trying to figure out what's going to happen next. She's such a big helper for us to and she LOVES playing with Rylan and helping him figure things out.

Next, our sweet boy Rylan, who turned 14 months old today. He is into EVERYTHING now that he is walking/running. He loves trying to keep up with Aubrey. He's such a serious studier of things - it is just so much fun to watch him with new things - trying to figure out how they open, what they do, if they make a noise. He gives the BEST hugs, he'll just run to you and throw himself at you. He is also learning how to throw fits - he will lay on the floor and kick his feet and cry, then look at you to see if it's working. So far they've only lasted a few minutes then he gets up and moves on realizing it's not going to get him what he wants. He LOVES his blankies and will carry them around the house all day - we've lost one so far and I've had to incorporate new ones into the routine, he isn't to fond of them at first, but after a couple of days realizes they aren't going away. He is currently teething, and has been very fussy the past several days on top of having a fever - he won't let us check his mouth, so I have no idea how many teeth are coming - but there are either a lot of them or it's his molars b/c this is the worst he's been so far with teething. He had an appointment with a pediatric ophthalmologist yesterday because our family doctor thought that he might have a lazy eye. As it turns out the lazy eye was a false alarm, the dr said that with children this young the bridge of their noses are so wide that it sometimes gives the appearance of a lazy eye. We were very thankful for that, but this dr also checks vision on all new patients and after having his eyes dilated, they did the vision tests on Rylan. It seems that he is already near-sighted and has astigmatism . He said most children don't need to be seen for 2-3 years, but he wants to see Rylan back in a year to see how his vision is doing. He will probably need glasses at some point, but we don't know how early it will be.

I guess that leaves me. Hmmm. Let's see. I am so blessed to have an amazing group of mommy friends who just happen to have kids that are friends with Aubrey and Rylan. We love getting the kids together for playdates - big or small, but we really look forward to our times together as grown ups - we try to have Girls Night Out (GNO) once a month and we get together one Saturday a month to scrapbook (or any other hobby you want to work on). We've also just started a Bible Study, two nights a month and we're using the book Feminine Appeal - 7 Godly virtues of a wife and mother - taken from Titus 2. I was blessed to be able to do this study with an amazing friend at the beginning of the year and I look forward to another study of it to help me work on those areas of my life that need it!!! I am still "constructing" the bulletin for our church every week as well.

The weather here seemed to turn over night from the wonderful 80s to now barely making it to the 70s during the day and 40-50s at night. I'm trying very hard to enjoy the nice sunny days while they are still here, but can't help thinking about the very cold days that will be here soon. Aubrey was very sad when she got up from her quiet time today b/c the flowers are all gone in the backyard and she told me that she misses the flowers. I told her that it won't be long before the snow comes, then when it all melts there will be more flowers. Well, once I said snow she forgot all about the flowers and couldn't stop talking about snow! That is one of the things she is really going to miss when we move away from this area. As much as I hate it and don't look forward to it at all, I know she loves playing in it and gets so excited when she gets to put her boots and snowsuit on. I have a feeling that Rylan is going to be the same way. So, here's to fun days playing in the snow, building snowmen, sledding and then getting to come inside and warm up with HOT CHOCOLATE!!! It's not that far away!!! Hope you all have a wonderful Fall! :)

I can't believe that August is already over! It was a pretty busy month for us and I didn't get much blogging done. But below are some pictures of all our adventures during August.

At Julia and Paige's house - all the kids on the trampoline - Paige was playing a game that they apparently all listened to very well!!!

At Lauren's house - getting to see a Lunar Moth Catterpillar.

Aubrey leading Rylan around with her George back-pack

Looking for the caterpillar

Rylan LOVES his sippy cup!

A picture of Curtis that Aubrey took.

A picture of me that Aubrey took.

PINK SPONGE ROLLERS!!!!!!!! Aubrey was so proud that she got to wear them to bed!!!

Pretty girl!

The next morning - unfortunately - she has hair just like Curtis and me - it is super fine and doesn't stay how you style it for long!

Rylan & Miss Tammy at the City Mission Sunday Softball game

Curtis up to bat - I think this was his home run!!!

A bunch of our friends at the zoo - Rylan, Jake (was the newest member of our little group), Jake, Aubrey, Maddie, Grace, Alec & Aidan - aren't they toooo cute in their tie-dye!!!