Showing posts with label Physical Therapy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Physical Therapy. Show all posts
11 August 2008
"Big Old" Man
Well, we have had a fun week. Michael’s rheumatology rotation has been wonderful – allowing us to spend a lot of time together as a family these last few weeks. Last weekend we went down to Lehi and had dinner with Mel and Christian and Annette. That was really fun. Then on Thursday morning I took Isaac for his 9-month check up. I quite like the new pediatrician we have – she seems young and knowledgeable, and willing to take time to explain things if needed but not too long-winded when we are going over the basics. Isaac was 19 pounds and 31 inches long – tall and skinny just like his brothers. He is healthy, and everything was pretty routine, except we did express some concern that at 9 months old he had just barely started to sit up. She asked some questions, had some blood drawn (which came back totally normal), and gave us the number to call for a state agency that does physical therapy for babies. The doctor didn’t seem too concerned, just thought we should have him seen and maybe do some work with him to get him all caught up. I had a long phone call today with the person at the therapy agency (who I think is really nice), and she is coming to our house with a nurse and an educator to evaluate Isaac on September 9th. So that is good. (And, of course, over the last week since Isaac had his doctor’s appointment, he has become even more mobile – scooting and rolling all over, and even pulling himself up on little things like the bottom step of the basement stairs or the toy boxes – so I think it will be good to work on some exercises with him to get him crawling and walking when he should be, but I’m not concerned that he will have any long-lasting problems because of this. Kolby and Eli had swim lessons last week, and had a lot of fun, as always. I signed them up to do one more session of lessons before school starts, and Camden will be starting too, which I am really excited about since he would love to be in the water each time we go to watch his brothers swim. We have thought a lot about it, and I think we are going to have to take a break from swim lessons once school starts, unless we can come up with any other ideas. I am pretty frustrated with the fact that I can’t find AYNONE in the area at all who offers swim lessons year-round just once a week. In Milwaukee we took the boys one evening a week, all year round, to the pool at the YMCA and we really enjoyed that. But here I can’t find anything like that. Right now their lessons are on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but once they start preschool they won’t be able to go swimming during the day anymore, so the only option the rec. center offers is Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday mornings. I just think that doing preschool several days a week, plus we were hoping to get Kolby into piano lessons this year, and adding 3 days a week of swimming on top of that sounds like a lot for such little kids. I really don’t want to over-schedule our 3- and 4-year-old. But I have spent a lot of time searching on the internet and calling all the rec. centers, public pools, gyms, and several high schools with pools within a half hour drive of us, and have found none at all that offer swim lessons once a week. I would love to have my boys swim year round – they love it, it is fun for them, it is good exercise, it gets me to get out and swim with them more often than I otherwise would, and it’s a good skill for them to have for safety around water. We’ll see, but right now we just can’t figure out any way to make it work without making their lives way too busy. Well, on to something else: we drove up to Boise this weekend. It was Michael’s 10-year high school reunion and his 28th birthday on Saturday (I asked Kolby if 28 was old or young, and he said “Old.” I asked, “How old is it?” And he said “Big Old.” Way to go, Michael – you have finally attained the status of Big Old Man. :) We hit traffic on the drive up to Idaho Friday night, and got there late. It is a long drive through a lot of nothing to get from Salt Lake to Boise. But once we got there we had a lot of fun. Michael’s reunion was really fun – it was just a BBQ at a park, but we both enjoyed talking to his old friends for several hours. Then we went home and got to go out to dinner for Michael’s birthday with Dick, Debbie, and Grandma Bradshaw (thanks, Mindy, Dalin, and Jennie for watching the boys for us so we could do that). It was a really nice dinner at a restaurant called McGraths. Then on Sunday, after going to church, we enjoyed a lunch of taco salad (Michael’s favorite), with dutch oven peach cobbler for his birthday “cake.” The drive home was long again, especially since Michael had pulled a muscle in his back just before we left Boise, but luckily he said that the pain wasn’t as bad at the end of the drive as it had been at first. So, we got home safely and everything has gone well today. And we will have to enjoy this week, because next Monday Michael starts his internal medicine rotation, which will mean a lot more hours at the hospital and a lot less time off with the family. Hopefully that 4 weeks goes by quickly. Oh, and last week we did a couple other things too that I forgot to mention – I cut Kolby and Eli’s hair again. Eli’s needed a trim to make it short enough to spike again, and when I asked Kolby how he wanted his cut he said he wanted it “up straight” so he got spikes too. And the boys and I made a fun t-shirt for Michael for his birthday with the words “No 1 Dad” and each of the boys’ handprints on it. It turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. I’ll have to post photos of that later too. Oh, and I hit 14 weeks today with the pregnancy. Just a quick update -- I am mostly over the morning sickness, as long as I get enough sleep and eat at certain times, and I have started taking a couple Flintstones children's vitamins a day as an alternative to prenatal vitamins, which has been working a lot better for me. So, things are going pretty well now.
19 August 2007
A Good Week
So, overall we have had a nice week. Last Sunday we had a new family in the ward, Dustin and Jandee Anderson and their kids, Isaac and Emma, over for dinner. Jandee invited me to bring our kids over to play at their house the next day, so we went and did that after our WIC appointment Monday morning. Camden fell asleep in the car on the way over there, and he ended up sleeping in a playpen the entire time we were there. Kolby and Eli had so much fun playing with Isaac. The boys went outside to play with squirt guns in the yard, and ended up having fun watering the plants (and each other) with the hose. And that night, after Michael got home, we went to the Kearl’s house for Nathan’s 2nd birthday party. Tyce and Michael swam in their blow-up pool with all the boys, and Amy Hymas came with her girls a little while later. After cake and ice cream, we put our boys to bed over there and played a game of “Killer Bunnies” (a card game) with Faith and Tyce. It was fun, but I’m afraid I was kind of a party pooper because I was getting a cold, so I was tired and just wasn’t feeling very good.
Tuesday was pretty uneventful. Our friend, Kendra, came by that evening and dropped off our life insurance policy. It was interesting to see – there is a “preferred” category that saves you a couple dollars a month if you are in good health, and you have to be within a certain weight range for your height to qualify. There are no exceptions for pregnancy, so I was automatically disqualified until I get back to a normal weight at a later time. Michael had a nurse come for a short physical a few weeks ago, and he qualified for the preferred status. But he was right on the lower border of the weight range for his height. So, when Kendra came this time, she said that they had just created a “preferred plus” status that could save people a couple more dollars if they were even more healthy, but we knew right away that Michael didn’t qualify for that one, because he would have had to be around 10 pounds heavier. Oh well.
On Wednesday I went to Amanda Hansen’s baby shower in the morning. There were lots of people (with lots of kids) there. And I watched Chelsey there for a little bit while Amy had to run to an appointment with Emily. That went well, although it gave me an idea of how it will be once I have one more kid to watch – I am always counting heads when we are with a big group of people to make sure I can see all of my kids. Michael got home early that afternoon and watched the boys while I went to my physical therapy appointment. I talked to my therapist and told her that my knee has improved since I started going, and though the pain hasn’t entirely gone away, most of the time it doesn’t bother me a lot, so I was thinking about stopping the physical therapy. She actually agreed, since it seems like I have hit a plateau for the last few weeks – she just said to continue with my stretches and exercises and to let her know if the pain gets worse or if I have any other problems. So that will be nice to have one less appointment to go to each week now. That night I took Kolby for his swim lessons, and then we went for a late dinner out. Michael had some more birthday money from family members, plus he had a coupon for a free meal at a Mexican restaurant we like, so we went and did that. (I wonder how old our kids will get before they will no longer tolerate us taking peanut butter sandwiches for them to eat at restaurants while Michael and I use a buy 1, get 1 free coupon and have a really cheep meal out?) That dinner was fun, and the boys were very well behaved at the restaurant.
Then on the drive home we were looking at the YMCA fall program, and we noticed that they are now going to be charging a fee for their preschool program that was originally no extra cost besides our membership fees. (If you want the details, you can see the post down below this one). Anyways, we have been kind of frustrated since we found out about that, and trying to decide what to do for preschool for Kolby now and for Eli this winter after he turns three. We were talking today, and I think our plan at this point is to wait a little while and see if the YMCA happens to get enough complaints that they might lower the fee (although we are not holding our breath for this to happen). But I think what we decided is to probably continue using the YMCA’s preschool program, even with these new fees, and just not sign Kolby up for as many classes as we had originally planned. Plus, we figured that we will be in Boise for the month of December and in San Diego for the month of January, so we won’t sign Kolby up for the second fall session of preschool at the YMCA, and we won’t be signing either of the boys up for the first winter session because we won’t be back in time, so I guess that will be less money we will have to pay. I know that lots of the area preschools that our friends are using are much more expensive than this one, even with the YMCA’s new fees, but it is still a lot more than we had planned on. But hopefully by sending him to fewer classes and not signing them up for every session this year, we will be able to make it work. We’ll see.
Thursday was a pretty relaxing day for me. Michael got done at the clinic and got home early, so I didn’t have to take the kids along for my doctor’s appointment, which was nice just to take some magazines and just read for fun while I waited. I had my glucose test, which is where they make you drink a bottle of this glucose drink that tastes kind of like semi-flat orange soda, and then you wait until exactly an hour later and have your blood drawn. So, my appointment was short and everything is going well with the baby. And they scheduled my appointments through the end of the pregnancy – so I am now scheduled to go every other week for the remainder of August and September, then to go in once a week through the end of October. So, after that I just waited until the hour was up for my glucose test, and then the nurse called me back to draw my blood. Apparently that nurse wasn’t an expert at drawing blood. I told her that people often had trouble when drawing my blood, and after she tried once in each of my hands, she got another nurse to come in, and then my midwife walked by and said that she would do it. She got it on her first try in my arm, but still had to wiggle the needle around a little to get it all, and I now have this huge purple bruise on my arm that everyone keeps asking me about. One of my hands and my arm hurt the rest of that day, but luckily that didn’t last. But my midwife told me that next time I should tell them that I need to be sent down to the lab to have blood drawn.
That night Michael took all the boys to the YMCA. He dropped Kolby and Camden off at the Kid Care and went to Eli’s swimming lesson with him, so that I could go to an enrichment group. It was a fun activity for cooking group where everyone brought salsa and recipes to share. And then Friday was Debbie’s birthday. Happy Birthday! We called and sang Happy Birthday to her, and Eli was so cute – he knew all the words and was singing along with us for the entire song.
On Friday night Michael went with Tyce Kearl, Jason Maas, and Ryan Bagley for a fishing trip. They slept that night on the boat that belongs to Tyce’s uncle down on Lake Michigan at the border of Wisconsin and Illinois. The next morning there was a bit of a storm and it was very windy with large swells, and Michael and Jason both ended up getting sick, but Michael said it was fun other than that part. They ended up catching a couple of trout and a large salmon that everyone ended up splitting up – and Michael is in the kitchen right now trying to de-bone the fish so it will be ready to prepare for dinner sometime soon. They got home Saturday evening.
Saturday morning Faith and I met at the zoo and the kids had lunch there and then we mostly stuck to two of the indoor areas – the family farm and the big cats exhibit – since it was a rainy day. On our way out, Kolby asked when daddy was going to be home. He knew that Michael was salmon fishing, so he asked if we could have salmon for dinner that night. I told him that we probably wouldn’t have it that night, because it would take too long to prepare. He asked why, and I explained to him that you can get sick if you eat the fish without cooking it first. And he said, “Yeah, if I didn’t cook it, the salmon might bite my tongue when I try to eat it.” I thought that was pretty cute!
That evening, after Michael got home, one of his school friends, Xandie Gold, came over for a little while and brought her 4-year-old niece, Star, who was visiting her for the weekend to play with our boys. They played well together and then the Kearls and the Wellses came over a little later and we all had some cake I had made with fresh apples in it (I was very proud of myself – I made cake from scratch for the first time ever, and it turned out pretty yummy, if I do say so myself). After Star and Xandie went home and we put our kids down to sleep, we played Apples to Apples and Scatergories. Then they went home after a few hours, because Michael and Tyce were still pretty worn out from their fishing trip.
And today church went pretty well. Camden was so tired – we have 9am church and he has gotten into the habit recently of taking a nap around 9:30am on days when we are at home. I got him to sleep a couple of times, but he is so used to napping in a crib that he woke up each time I got him to fall asleep in my arms. But then he did pretty well later on – I didn’t have to leave my Relief Society class until the last minute or two of class – which is the longest he has lasted that third hour of church in the last several weeks. The boys are all down for their naps now, and Michael has been working on dishes while I have been writing this. Now he is fixing a picture that my parents gave us for our wedding – it is a large framed painting of Christ, and a while ago we noticed that the picture had slipped down behind the mat so it was hanging funny in the frame. It has been that way a while, so that will be nice once he gets it straightened. He is leaving for his home teaching appointments in a few minutes.
This week should be good. Michael’s rotation this month has been a really nice schedule for us. And some time in the next couple of days my former BYU Family History Professor, Brother Minert, and his wife are going to be in Milwaukee, so they said they will give us a call and stop by and that should be nice to see them. And Matthew’s birthday is Wednesday, Happy Birthday Matthy!!!
Tuesday was pretty uneventful. Our friend, Kendra, came by that evening and dropped off our life insurance policy. It was interesting to see – there is a “preferred” category that saves you a couple dollars a month if you are in good health, and you have to be within a certain weight range for your height to qualify. There are no exceptions for pregnancy, so I was automatically disqualified until I get back to a normal weight at a later time. Michael had a nurse come for a short physical a few weeks ago, and he qualified for the preferred status. But he was right on the lower border of the weight range for his height. So, when Kendra came this time, she said that they had just created a “preferred plus” status that could save people a couple more dollars if they were even more healthy, but we knew right away that Michael didn’t qualify for that one, because he would have had to be around 10 pounds heavier. Oh well.
On Wednesday I went to Amanda Hansen’s baby shower in the morning. There were lots of people (with lots of kids) there. And I watched Chelsey there for a little bit while Amy had to run to an appointment with Emily. That went well, although it gave me an idea of how it will be once I have one more kid to watch – I am always counting heads when we are with a big group of people to make sure I can see all of my kids. Michael got home early that afternoon and watched the boys while I went to my physical therapy appointment. I talked to my therapist and told her that my knee has improved since I started going, and though the pain hasn’t entirely gone away, most of the time it doesn’t bother me a lot, so I was thinking about stopping the physical therapy. She actually agreed, since it seems like I have hit a plateau for the last few weeks – she just said to continue with my stretches and exercises and to let her know if the pain gets worse or if I have any other problems. So that will be nice to have one less appointment to go to each week now. That night I took Kolby for his swim lessons, and then we went for a late dinner out. Michael had some more birthday money from family members, plus he had a coupon for a free meal at a Mexican restaurant we like, so we went and did that. (I wonder how old our kids will get before they will no longer tolerate us taking peanut butter sandwiches for them to eat at restaurants while Michael and I use a buy 1, get 1 free coupon and have a really cheep meal out?) That dinner was fun, and the boys were very well behaved at the restaurant.
Then on the drive home we were looking at the YMCA fall program, and we noticed that they are now going to be charging a fee for their preschool program that was originally no extra cost besides our membership fees. (If you want the details, you can see the post down below this one). Anyways, we have been kind of frustrated since we found out about that, and trying to decide what to do for preschool for Kolby now and for Eli this winter after he turns three. We were talking today, and I think our plan at this point is to wait a little while and see if the YMCA happens to get enough complaints that they might lower the fee (although we are not holding our breath for this to happen). But I think what we decided is to probably continue using the YMCA’s preschool program, even with these new fees, and just not sign Kolby up for as many classes as we had originally planned. Plus, we figured that we will be in Boise for the month of December and in San Diego for the month of January, so we won’t sign Kolby up for the second fall session of preschool at the YMCA, and we won’t be signing either of the boys up for the first winter session because we won’t be back in time, so I guess that will be less money we will have to pay. I know that lots of the area preschools that our friends are using are much more expensive than this one, even with the YMCA’s new fees, but it is still a lot more than we had planned on. But hopefully by sending him to fewer classes and not signing them up for every session this year, we will be able to make it work. We’ll see.
Thursday was a pretty relaxing day for me. Michael got done at the clinic and got home early, so I didn’t have to take the kids along for my doctor’s appointment, which was nice just to take some magazines and just read for fun while I waited. I had my glucose test, which is where they make you drink a bottle of this glucose drink that tastes kind of like semi-flat orange soda, and then you wait until exactly an hour later and have your blood drawn. So, my appointment was short and everything is going well with the baby. And they scheduled my appointments through the end of the pregnancy – so I am now scheduled to go every other week for the remainder of August and September, then to go in once a week through the end of October. So, after that I just waited until the hour was up for my glucose test, and then the nurse called me back to draw my blood. Apparently that nurse wasn’t an expert at drawing blood. I told her that people often had trouble when drawing my blood, and after she tried once in each of my hands, she got another nurse to come in, and then my midwife walked by and said that she would do it. She got it on her first try in my arm, but still had to wiggle the needle around a little to get it all, and I now have this huge purple bruise on my arm that everyone keeps asking me about. One of my hands and my arm hurt the rest of that day, but luckily that didn’t last. But my midwife told me that next time I should tell them that I need to be sent down to the lab to have blood drawn.
That night Michael took all the boys to the YMCA. He dropped Kolby and Camden off at the Kid Care and went to Eli’s swimming lesson with him, so that I could go to an enrichment group. It was a fun activity for cooking group where everyone brought salsa and recipes to share. And then Friday was Debbie’s birthday. Happy Birthday! We called and sang Happy Birthday to her, and Eli was so cute – he knew all the words and was singing along with us for the entire song.
On Friday night Michael went with Tyce Kearl, Jason Maas, and Ryan Bagley for a fishing trip. They slept that night on the boat that belongs to Tyce’s uncle down on Lake Michigan at the border of Wisconsin and Illinois. The next morning there was a bit of a storm and it was very windy with large swells, and Michael and Jason both ended up getting sick, but Michael said it was fun other than that part. They ended up catching a couple of trout and a large salmon that everyone ended up splitting up – and Michael is in the kitchen right now trying to de-bone the fish so it will be ready to prepare for dinner sometime soon. They got home Saturday evening.
Saturday morning Faith and I met at the zoo and the kids had lunch there and then we mostly stuck to two of the indoor areas – the family farm and the big cats exhibit – since it was a rainy day. On our way out, Kolby asked when daddy was going to be home. He knew that Michael was salmon fishing, so he asked if we could have salmon for dinner that night. I told him that we probably wouldn’t have it that night, because it would take too long to prepare. He asked why, and I explained to him that you can get sick if you eat the fish without cooking it first. And he said, “Yeah, if I didn’t cook it, the salmon might bite my tongue when I try to eat it.” I thought that was pretty cute!
That evening, after Michael got home, one of his school friends, Xandie Gold, came over for a little while and brought her 4-year-old niece, Star, who was visiting her for the weekend to play with our boys. They played well together and then the Kearls and the Wellses came over a little later and we all had some cake I had made with fresh apples in it (I was very proud of myself – I made cake from scratch for the first time ever, and it turned out pretty yummy, if I do say so myself). After Star and Xandie went home and we put our kids down to sleep, we played Apples to Apples and Scatergories. Then they went home after a few hours, because Michael and Tyce were still pretty worn out from their fishing trip.
And today church went pretty well. Camden was so tired – we have 9am church and he has gotten into the habit recently of taking a nap around 9:30am on days when we are at home. I got him to sleep a couple of times, but he is so used to napping in a crib that he woke up each time I got him to fall asleep in my arms. But then he did pretty well later on – I didn’t have to leave my Relief Society class until the last minute or two of class – which is the longest he has lasted that third hour of church in the last several weeks. The boys are all down for their naps now, and Michael has been working on dishes while I have been writing this. Now he is fixing a picture that my parents gave us for our wedding – it is a large framed painting of Christ, and a while ago we noticed that the picture had slipped down behind the mat so it was hanging funny in the frame. It has been that way a while, so that will be nice once he gets it straightened. He is leaving for his home teaching appointments in a few minutes.
This week should be good. Michael’s rotation this month has been a really nice schedule for us. And some time in the next couple of days my former BYU Family History Professor, Brother Minert, and his wife are going to be in Milwaukee, so they said they will give us a call and stop by and that should be nice to see them. And Matthew’s birthday is Wednesday, Happy Birthday Matthy!!!
15 July 2007
Derm Decisions
With Michael’s dermatology rotation this month he is working at a different hospital each week, and this week he was at Children’s Hospital. Children’s is supposed to be the busiest, and they have an evening clinic a couple nights a week, so Michael was going to have to stay a few hours later this week, but it ended up that lots of the doctors and residents were going to a derm conference in Chicago, so the evening clinics were cancelled and he had an especially light schedule this week (but the time that he spent at the hospital was very busy). He continues to like dermatology. I am very excited that he likes this specialty, because I definitely want him to go into something that he really enjoys, but it is nice that what he really enjoys also happens to be a specialty where eventually he could end up having a schedule that is really nice for our family.
When Michael first listed dermatology as one of the specialties he was interested in, I didn’t think it sounded too great, but it actually sounds kind of interesting, now that I know a little more about it. Michael said that one thing that he liked about it was that the problems on the skin often relate to other internal problems, so you have to know about a lot of different things. And you deal with a range from minor problems to all sorts of cancer. Michael also likes that he will get to deal with patients (and continue to build relationships with patients over time), but that there will also be opportunities to do procedures. And lots of people comment to him that they wouldn’t want to deal with the acne, but Michael has actually been alright with that part of it so far – he really likes that it is something that effects the self esteem of a lot of young people, but that there are several things that he can do to make it totally better (and in some of the other specialties you run into a lot of problems that you can’t fix).
I think this will be a good specialty for him to go into. Now it’s time to get ready to apply for residency programs. One thing that Michael has considered is having a different specialty (internal medicine) as a back-up in case derm doesn’t work out right away (because derm is a competitive program to get into, and we know several students who have not been accepted when trying for derm residencies). But since this month has started and we have seen how much more Michael likes derm than any other specialty, I think we are not going to do another program as a back-up. The thing we are trying to decide on right now is how to work out the applications for transition years. Dermatology is a 4-year residency program, but different programs work differently: some are 4-year programs, and others have it broken up into 1 transitional year and 3 more years of derm. So, the best thing for us would be to either do a 4-year program, or if we end up doing a transitional year, then we want to have the transitional year either be in the same location as the 3-year program or have the transitional year be here in Milwaukee and then move for the next 3 years, so we can avoid moving twice in such a short time. But since we are planning on applying for quite a few derm programs, we only want to get interviews for transitional years at the same places that we get interviews for 3-year derm programs, and so we will have to figure out the best way to work that all out. Anyways, we have lots of new things coming up that we will need to figure out before we are all set for the next step in our lives, but it already feels like we are almost to the end of medical school now. Pretty exciting!
Anyways, the rest of our week went pretty well. On Monday I had a WIC appointment, and the people there were really nice and it went well. Then on Tuesday evening we met with Kendra McMullin, a friend from church, who is a financial advisor and we ended up setting up a little life insurance plan with her. It was nice to sit down with her and get an idea of what we need to do in the next few years to start to plan for retirement too. On Wednesday morning we had a family history enrichment group that met at church so the moms could use the family history center and rotate babysitting the kids. I was able to get a lot of names prepared for temple work. That afternoon I had a doctor’s appointment, and everything is going well with the baby. And then Kolby had swimming lessons that evening, and he listened to his teacher very well. On Thursday I had physical therapy and Michael happened to get off work early, so the boys went over and played with him at the medical school while I went for my appointment, and then Michael went with Eli to his swim lessons that evening. On Friday Michael got up real early to go with some others to Chicago for the derm conference, and he said there were several interesting lectures there. That night after the boys were in bed, I went back over to the family history center and got quite a few more names prepared for temple work.
Then yesterday we went with Peter and Cynthia down to Chicago for our temple trip. It has worked out really well to go with them once a month and switch off babysitting so we can each go in together as a couple. Michael and I took all the kids to Costco while they went to the temple, and we got lots of comments and funny looks from people who thought we had 5 kids under the age of 4. We were able to stock up on lots of things like shampoo, computer paper, and baby wipes, and the kids were very excited for all the free samples they got to try (Kolby really likes going to the “treat store” by the temple). And we got a good scare at one point when Eli started choking on a piece of fruit, and nothing helped for about 15 or 20 seconds until Michael did a the full-on Heimlich maneuver several times. We were glad that Eli seemed just fine after that was over. Then we went back to the temple and Michael and I did baptisms. There were a few other people in there helping, and we got almost all of them done that we took with us – we ended up doing 86 names, I think. And today went pretty well too. The boys did well in church (except for Kolby needing a bribe of a treat to make him go into his sunbeams class), and I substituted in nursery while Michael substituted as a teacher in his priesthood class. Then Michael practiced after church for a men’s choir performance. I have been making bread since we came home, and my visiting teacher just left. All three boys are down for a nap right now, and in a couple of hours we are going over to Sonia and Devon Cole’s house for dinner, so that should be fun. Hope you have all had a good week too!
When Michael first listed dermatology as one of the specialties he was interested in, I didn’t think it sounded too great, but it actually sounds kind of interesting, now that I know a little more about it. Michael said that one thing that he liked about it was that the problems on the skin often relate to other internal problems, so you have to know about a lot of different things. And you deal with a range from minor problems to all sorts of cancer. Michael also likes that he will get to deal with patients (and continue to build relationships with patients over time), but that there will also be opportunities to do procedures. And lots of people comment to him that they wouldn’t want to deal with the acne, but Michael has actually been alright with that part of it so far – he really likes that it is something that effects the self esteem of a lot of young people, but that there are several things that he can do to make it totally better (and in some of the other specialties you run into a lot of problems that you can’t fix).
I think this will be a good specialty for him to go into. Now it’s time to get ready to apply for residency programs. One thing that Michael has considered is having a different specialty (internal medicine) as a back-up in case derm doesn’t work out right away (because derm is a competitive program to get into, and we know several students who have not been accepted when trying for derm residencies). But since this month has started and we have seen how much more Michael likes derm than any other specialty, I think we are not going to do another program as a back-up. The thing we are trying to decide on right now is how to work out the applications for transition years. Dermatology is a 4-year residency program, but different programs work differently: some are 4-year programs, and others have it broken up into 1 transitional year and 3 more years of derm. So, the best thing for us would be to either do a 4-year program, or if we end up doing a transitional year, then we want to have the transitional year either be in the same location as the 3-year program or have the transitional year be here in Milwaukee and then move for the next 3 years, so we can avoid moving twice in such a short time. But since we are planning on applying for quite a few derm programs, we only want to get interviews for transitional years at the same places that we get interviews for 3-year derm programs, and so we will have to figure out the best way to work that all out. Anyways, we have lots of new things coming up that we will need to figure out before we are all set for the next step in our lives, but it already feels like we are almost to the end of medical school now. Pretty exciting!
Anyways, the rest of our week went pretty well. On Monday I had a WIC appointment, and the people there were really nice and it went well. Then on Tuesday evening we met with Kendra McMullin, a friend from church, who is a financial advisor and we ended up setting up a little life insurance plan with her. It was nice to sit down with her and get an idea of what we need to do in the next few years to start to plan for retirement too. On Wednesday morning we had a family history enrichment group that met at church so the moms could use the family history center and rotate babysitting the kids. I was able to get a lot of names prepared for temple work. That afternoon I had a doctor’s appointment, and everything is going well with the baby. And then Kolby had swimming lessons that evening, and he listened to his teacher very well. On Thursday I had physical therapy and Michael happened to get off work early, so the boys went over and played with him at the medical school while I went for my appointment, and then Michael went with Eli to his swim lessons that evening. On Friday Michael got up real early to go with some others to Chicago for the derm conference, and he said there were several interesting lectures there. That night after the boys were in bed, I went back over to the family history center and got quite a few more names prepared for temple work.
Then yesterday we went with Peter and Cynthia down to Chicago for our temple trip. It has worked out really well to go with them once a month and switch off babysitting so we can each go in together as a couple. Michael and I took all the kids to Costco while they went to the temple, and we got lots of comments and funny looks from people who thought we had 5 kids under the age of 4. We were able to stock up on lots of things like shampoo, computer paper, and baby wipes, and the kids were very excited for all the free samples they got to try (Kolby really likes going to the “treat store” by the temple). And we got a good scare at one point when Eli started choking on a piece of fruit, and nothing helped for about 15 or 20 seconds until Michael did a the full-on Heimlich maneuver several times. We were glad that Eli seemed just fine after that was over. Then we went back to the temple and Michael and I did baptisms. There were a few other people in there helping, and we got almost all of them done that we took with us – we ended up doing 86 names, I think. And today went pretty well too. The boys did well in church (except for Kolby needing a bribe of a treat to make him go into his sunbeams class), and I substituted in nursery while Michael substituted as a teacher in his priesthood class. Then Michael practiced after church for a men’s choir performance. I have been making bread since we came home, and my visiting teacher just left. All three boys are down for a nap right now, and in a couple of hours we are going over to Sonia and Devon Cole’s house for dinner, so that should be fun. Hope you have all had a good week too!
01 July 2007
A Long Weekend
This week has been wonderful! Michael finished his trauma surgery rotation and had his test on Thursday, which he felt good about after he took it. We are both so relieved to be done with this rotation – and on to better things. (Wow – Michael’s now a 4th year – one more year of medical school to go!)
Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, we all went over to the church and Camden and I went to an enrichment activity about family history. Most of the evening was an introduction to genealogy, so I just went to help out, but they also scheduled a time once a month when a group of us will be going to the family history center during the day and we can trade off babysitting so we can have some time to work on our research. I am excited because this should allow me to find the time to get some more names ready for temple work. While I was in doing that, Michael and the older boys went outside and helped as a group of church members pulled weeds around the church grounds. Michael said that they will still need to get together again because it didn’t all get done, but about ten families showed up to help so that is a pretty decent turn-out, I think.
Wednesday was a busy day. Camden had his 9-month-old doctor’s check-up in the morning, and he looks healthy and right on track with his growth. He now weighs 20 pounds 4 ounces and is just over 29 inches tall. A few hours later I dropped the boys off with Rachel Roberts and went for my first physical therapy appointment. I liked the physical therapist and she gave me some good information. Since then I have been doing several different stretches for about half an hour two times a day, and the pain that I had in my hip for the last week has gone away. My knee pain is still there, but hopefully it will go away soon too. Then that evening I took Kolby and watched while he had his swimming lesson. He has done so well this session with listening and doing just what the teacher asks. He did an especially good job of floating on his back this week.
On Thursday morning I took the boys to their art class, which they always enjoy. After Michael got home from taking his test and the boys took their nap, we went and got some fireworks. We found a good deal on a big pack of fireworks that was buy 1, get 2 free. When we got home, we took Eli to his swim lesson. Michael got to swim with him while I watched. And afterwards we went to a BBQ for the students who were all on the same track with Michael to celebrate the end of 3rd year. I only knew two couples there – the Cortezes and the Jays – but it was nice to meet some of the people Michael has been working with and have some time to socialize and play at the park.
On Friday we were thinking about going camping overnight because Michael had the day off, but then decided that it would be less expensive to just take a day trip. We ended up going to swim at the Lake Pewaukee beach, and it was a lot of fun (although I still find it a little difficult to call anything that is not on an ocean a “beach.”) But we all enjoyed ourselves there.
On Saturday evening we had our annual pre-4th of July BBQ and fireworks. There was a very good turn-out – there were over 20 adults there and tons of little kids. I love the summer time when you can do stuff like this and you don’t have to worry about how many people you can fit into your apartment. After eating, we gave sparklers to all the kids and they had a blast. Some of the little girls kept running around waving the sparklers like magic wands and saying, “Bibbity bobbity boo!” Afterwards Michael and Matt Vernon put on a fun fireworks show. Lots of the people ended up heading home before the fireworks were done, just because their kids were tired because we had to wait so long to start the fireworks because it doesn’t get dark until after 9:00pm in the summer. But it was a fun show – especially since the boys enjoyed it so much. Kolby kept naming all the different colors of sparks he saw, Camden watched with a smile from his stroller for the first little while until he got tired, and at one point Eli was so excited that he was jumping up and down and shaking Camden’s stroller. It was pretty cute.
This morning Kolby was kind of grumpy when he got up and he said that he didn’t want to go to church. I was telling him the fun things that we would get to do, like going to his sunbeam class and taking the bread and water for the Sacrament. When I told him about the Sacrament, he seemed to be happy to go to church. So, this morning we went early to set up chairs at church, but someone had already done it before we got there, so Michael played a few hymns on the piano until it was time to start. Everything was going pretty well until the young men went up to the front of the chapel to help pass the Sacrament, and then Kolby wouldn’t calm down. He said that he needed to go help, and when Michael told him he needed to stay in his seat, he said that Mommy told him he could. So, when I told him about taking the Sacrament in church, he thought that I meant he could be one of the young men who got to go help pass out the bread and the water to everyone in the congregation. He finally calmed down some when we told him that he could pass the bread and water to us after it was passed to our row. But he still wanted to go up to the front and help. The rest of the meetings went like normal. This is the fourth week in a row that Camden has been happy right up until the third hour of church, when he acts so tired and fussy that we have to take him out in the hall. Michael took him for me the last few weeks when he did this, so this week I said I could stay out with him. I did get to meet another new family in the ward while I was out there, so that was nice. After church Kolby’s sunbeam teacher told me that during primary there was a family visiting who’s son had recently been baptized. The boy was baptized in the Susquehanna River, which happens to be a significant location in the history of our church, so the primary leader was asking the children to guess where the boy had been baptized. So, his teacher told me that Kolby raised his hand right away and answered, “At a garage sale.” She said that he was very proud of his answer.
This afternoon we came home and water was leaking from the light fixture and wood work above our kitchen sink. We finally got a hold of the apartment maintenance worker, and he came and said that he will have a plumber come tomorrow, since it seems that it leaks more in our apartment every time our upstairs neighbors use their sink or dishwasher. Luckily, the majority of the water is dripping into our sink, so it shouldn’t be too bad.
This next week should be a lot of fun too. Tomorrow Michael has the day off because in his dermatology rotation they are training new interns tomorrow, so they aren’t going to have the students start until Tuesday. So we are planning on taking the boys to the zoo in the morning. And then Michael gets Wednesday off for the 4th of July, so we will take the boys to the parade in the morning, then to the annual ward party at the Twelmyer’s house, and then to see the fireworks in the evening. Hopefully the nice weather holds out. Well, we hope you all have a happy 4th of July!
Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, we all went over to the church and Camden and I went to an enrichment activity about family history. Most of the evening was an introduction to genealogy, so I just went to help out, but they also scheduled a time once a month when a group of us will be going to the family history center during the day and we can trade off babysitting so we can have some time to work on our research. I am excited because this should allow me to find the time to get some more names ready for temple work. While I was in doing that, Michael and the older boys went outside and helped as a group of church members pulled weeds around the church grounds. Michael said that they will still need to get together again because it didn’t all get done, but about ten families showed up to help so that is a pretty decent turn-out, I think.
Wednesday was a busy day. Camden had his 9-month-old doctor’s check-up in the morning, and he looks healthy and right on track with his growth. He now weighs 20 pounds 4 ounces and is just over 29 inches tall. A few hours later I dropped the boys off with Rachel Roberts and went for my first physical therapy appointment. I liked the physical therapist and she gave me some good information. Since then I have been doing several different stretches for about half an hour two times a day, and the pain that I had in my hip for the last week has gone away. My knee pain is still there, but hopefully it will go away soon too. Then that evening I took Kolby and watched while he had his swimming lesson. He has done so well this session with listening and doing just what the teacher asks. He did an especially good job of floating on his back this week.
On Thursday morning I took the boys to their art class, which they always enjoy. After Michael got home from taking his test and the boys took their nap, we went and got some fireworks. We found a good deal on a big pack of fireworks that was buy 1, get 2 free. When we got home, we took Eli to his swim lesson. Michael got to swim with him while I watched. And afterwards we went to a BBQ for the students who were all on the same track with Michael to celebrate the end of 3rd year. I only knew two couples there – the Cortezes and the Jays – but it was nice to meet some of the people Michael has been working with and have some time to socialize and play at the park.
On Friday we were thinking about going camping overnight because Michael had the day off, but then decided that it would be less expensive to just take a day trip. We ended up going to swim at the Lake Pewaukee beach, and it was a lot of fun (although I still find it a little difficult to call anything that is not on an ocean a “beach.”) But we all enjoyed ourselves there.
On Saturday evening we had our annual pre-4th of July BBQ and fireworks. There was a very good turn-out – there were over 20 adults there and tons of little kids. I love the summer time when you can do stuff like this and you don’t have to worry about how many people you can fit into your apartment. After eating, we gave sparklers to all the kids and they had a blast. Some of the little girls kept running around waving the sparklers like magic wands and saying, “Bibbity bobbity boo!” Afterwards Michael and Matt Vernon put on a fun fireworks show. Lots of the people ended up heading home before the fireworks were done, just because their kids were tired because we had to wait so long to start the fireworks because it doesn’t get dark until after 9:00pm in the summer. But it was a fun show – especially since the boys enjoyed it so much. Kolby kept naming all the different colors of sparks he saw, Camden watched with a smile from his stroller for the first little while until he got tired, and at one point Eli was so excited that he was jumping up and down and shaking Camden’s stroller. It was pretty cute.
This morning Kolby was kind of grumpy when he got up and he said that he didn’t want to go to church. I was telling him the fun things that we would get to do, like going to his sunbeam class and taking the bread and water for the Sacrament. When I told him about the Sacrament, he seemed to be happy to go to church. So, this morning we went early to set up chairs at church, but someone had already done it before we got there, so Michael played a few hymns on the piano until it was time to start. Everything was going pretty well until the young men went up to the front of the chapel to help pass the Sacrament, and then Kolby wouldn’t calm down. He said that he needed to go help, and when Michael told him he needed to stay in his seat, he said that Mommy told him he could. So, when I told him about taking the Sacrament in church, he thought that I meant he could be one of the young men who got to go help pass out the bread and the water to everyone in the congregation. He finally calmed down some when we told him that he could pass the bread and water to us after it was passed to our row. But he still wanted to go up to the front and help. The rest of the meetings went like normal. This is the fourth week in a row that Camden has been happy right up until the third hour of church, when he acts so tired and fussy that we have to take him out in the hall. Michael took him for me the last few weeks when he did this, so this week I said I could stay out with him. I did get to meet another new family in the ward while I was out there, so that was nice. After church Kolby’s sunbeam teacher told me that during primary there was a family visiting who’s son had recently been baptized. The boy was baptized in the Susquehanna River, which happens to be a significant location in the history of our church, so the primary leader was asking the children to guess where the boy had been baptized. So, his teacher told me that Kolby raised his hand right away and answered, “At a garage sale.” She said that he was very proud of his answer.
This afternoon we came home and water was leaking from the light fixture and wood work above our kitchen sink. We finally got a hold of the apartment maintenance worker, and he came and said that he will have a plumber come tomorrow, since it seems that it leaks more in our apartment every time our upstairs neighbors use their sink or dishwasher. Luckily, the majority of the water is dripping into our sink, so it shouldn’t be too bad.
This next week should be a lot of fun too. Tomorrow Michael has the day off because in his dermatology rotation they are training new interns tomorrow, so they aren’t going to have the students start until Tuesday. So we are planning on taking the boys to the zoo in the morning. And then Michael gets Wednesday off for the 4th of July, so we will take the boys to the parade in the morning, then to the annual ward party at the Twelmyer’s house, and then to see the fireworks in the evening. Hopefully the nice weather holds out. Well, we hope you all have a happy 4th of July!
27 June 2007
Physical Therapy
This afternoon I went for my first physical therapy appointment for my knee. She said that my knee pain probably has something to do with the fact that I’ve had so many kids really close together – I have had all the extra movement, getting up and down from the ground a lot, and lifting kids that comes with having a baby – but since the kids are all so close together I haven’t really had time in between for my body really rest and get back to “normal.” And she also pointed out that I was sitting with my knees kind of bent inwards while I was talking to her, and she said that it should make a big difference if I pay attention to that and make sure that I always have my knees directly above my feet while I am sitting or standing. And when I told her that I often pick up Camden and hold him in my right arm, she said that may be one reason that my right leg is stronger and I am only having problems with my left knee and leg.
So, she showed me four different stretching and strengthening exercises that I need to do twice a day. I am scheduled to meet with her once a week for the next 7 weeks, but she said that if the exercises help improve the pain, then I won’t need to continue going for the whole time. So, hopefully this will be something that can be fixed quickly and I can get back to normal soon.
So, she showed me four different stretching and strengthening exercises that I need to do twice a day. I am scheduled to meet with her once a week for the next 7 weeks, but she said that if the exercises help improve the pain, then I won’t need to continue going for the whole time. So, hopefully this will be something that can be fixed quickly and I can get back to normal soon.
19 June 2007
More Boys in the Family and 'Runner's Knee'
Well, we were excited to find out today that Michael's sister, Mel, is going to be having a baby boy too. She is due just a couple of days before I am. So far this family is really good at boys – we will have four boys and Mel and Christian will have two boys. No female cousins for our boys yet.
Also, I have been having some knee pain with this pregnancy, and I finally went in and had it checked out this morning. The doctor said that I have patellofemoral syndrome, or runner’s knee, even though I’m not a runner. I knew that when you are pregnant your muscles and joints can relax in preparation for the baby to come, and the doctor said that this is likely contributing to the problem. She told me that runner’s knee is the most common knee problem among women. I guess it is when the knee cap is misaligned. I am scheduled to start physical therapy next week. So, hopefully it will end up being something that can be resolved relatively quickly.
Also, I have been having some knee pain with this pregnancy, and I finally went in and had it checked out this morning. The doctor said that I have patellofemoral syndrome, or runner’s knee, even though I’m not a runner. I knew that when you are pregnant your muscles and joints can relax in preparation for the baby to come, and the doctor said that this is likely contributing to the problem. She told me that runner’s knee is the most common knee problem among women. I guess it is when the knee cap is misaligned. I am scheduled to start physical therapy next week. So, hopefully it will end up being something that can be resolved relatively quickly.
17 June 2007
Happy Father's Day!
This week has been quite busy for us. On Sunday night the Kearls came over for dinner and we had fun playing a few games after we got all the kids down to bed. Josh Hunter’s wife and kids were out of town while he was studying for the Boards, so he came over and played for a while too.
Tyce offered to come back the next day and bring some wood and tools to fix our entertainment center door that had fallen off. We decided to do a group family home evening activity and go to play volleyball at a park and let the kids play at the playground after we got the entertainment center fixed Monday. After Michael got home that night, Tyce and Faith came and they worked on fixing the door, but the kids were being pretty wild. We finally ended up taking the kids to a nearby playground because they couldn’t stay inside any longer. I ended up finishing the entertainment center a few days later – and it is nice to have it all fixed (especially since we don’t have to continually worry about keeping Camden out of all the things we store inside the door that was broken before. We had fun at the playground with the kids, but didn’t stay too long because it was late and the kids were all rather grumpy.
On Tuesday the kids got lots of chores done and we got the house all cleaned up, then we went and ran some errands and when we got home I made dinner for us and for some friends who just had a baby. Michael got home that evening, and after we got the boys to bed I went to a Ladies Night Out activity.
On Wednesday morning we went to a playgroup at the Tot Lot playground. The boys had lots of fun at that. Then we ran some errands. I had a doctor’s appointment, but it wasn’t for a couple of hours, so I called Michael and he met the boys and I for a little while and then went to the doctor’s appointment with us. The appointment went well. Everything seems to be good with the baby. And I told the doctor about the knee pain I’ve been having with this pregnancy, because it’s been getting worse lately, so I now have an appointment set up at an orthopedic clinic in a couple days – I am really hoping that I go in and they make a few quick suggestions and whatever the problem is with my knee will be an easy fix. We’ll see.
Wednesday evening was Kolby’s first swim lesson of the new summer session – and we decided to let him try being in the class without the parents in the water again this session. Several months ago we tried that class, and he had a pretty hard time at first, but then he got used to the teacher and seemed to be improving a lot. Then we were pretty surprised a few weeks into the class that the teacher suggested that Kolby shouldn’t be in that class anymore. The teacher had made a lot of comments about having too many kids in her class and how the kids were all so different in their ages, swimming skills, and how well they followed instructions. Anyways, they suggested that we put Kolby in a private lesson, but we ended up doing another session of the parent-child classes with him. This time we let him choose which class he wanted to try – and he said that he wanted to be in the class where Mommy and Daddy watched him from the side of the pool. I told him that would be fine, but that he would need to listen and do everything that his teacher told him to do. So, we went to his new class on Wednesday and he did so well. He was probably the best-behaved child there – he did everything the teacher asked right away. I was so proud of him. He will have fun in this new class, I think.
On Thursday Michael had one of his long call days at the hospital again – from early Thursday morning until Friday around noon. This time I suggested that he just stay after his shift ended and catch several good hours of sleep at the hospital, rather than coming home and just getting a few hours of sleep here and there with lots of interruptions from the kids. I think that it worked out better for him – he was still very tired, but able to do stuff with the family the next day. Thursday the boys had their art class in the morning. Later on, after naps, we went over to the Kearl’s house to play. They got a little blow-up pool for Nathan with a basketball hoop on one side of it, and the boys had lots of fun playing. Afterwards they rode bikes around the driveway. It was fun to just sit and watch them play. Then we went straight to Eli’s swim lesson at the YMCA. His class seems good, although I think that he is old enough to have more work on actual swimming skills and less time spent on the parents holding the children and singing songs. But I guess really that a big part of the swimming lessons when they are so small is getting them comfortable in the water. He enjoyed it, though.
On Friday morning I took the boys to the library. After Michael got home, we got a few things done around the house and then dropped the boys off at the Taylor’s house. We went and saw the musical, The King and I, which was put on by members of our church at a building south of here. Our friend, Cassidy, was the lead role of Anna. I had seen the movie Anna and The King a few years ago, but had never seen the musical or the movie of the musical before. I was a little surprised by the ending (because it was quite different from what I remember happening in the movie I saw), but we liked the performance and had fun spending time out together.
On Saturday morning we got up early and got everyone ready to go to the temple. When we got there, it was pretty hot out and the cicadas were flying around in the trees and making a really loud buzzing noise. Michael and I went in first and we ended up doing a few initiatories. Peter and Cynthia went in next and we took all the kids to Costco while they did initiatories also. We were planning on stocking up on a bunch of stuff at Costco, but then we remembered that they only accept American Express credit cards, and we decided to wait until our temple trip next month to go stock up at Costco instead, once our next set of student loans has come in and we have some more funds in our account. We ended up doing a circle around Costco and letting the boys try each of the free samples for part of their lunches. After eating lunch and dropping Jordan and Carter back off with Peter and Cynthia when they got done at the temple, we drove home and got the boys all down for a nap. I cut Michael’s hair, Michael got the laundry done, and I made dinner. Then the Taylors brought their kids over so they could go see The King and I. They were really good and after watching the movie Curious George that the boys had checked out at the library, and eating some chicken for dinner, the kids all went to bed. We had six kids here, and got them all to bed in the three bedrooms, with one extra bed to spare – we decided that we could easily fit six kids into a little apartment (as long as Michael and I didn’t need a bed to sleep in).
So, Michael is on call again today. He will be home sometime tomorrow afternoon. Luckily he only has one more long call day this month – next Friday/Saturday – and then he is done for a while. After June ends, Michael will officially start fourth year. That is exciting – especially since he only has two months of rotations fourth year that he is scheduled to be on-call again. That will be a big change to have him home most weekends (and, for most rotations, probably most weeknight evenings too). Today is Father’s Day, and we knew that Michael would be at the hospital today, so we gave him his gifts yesterday after we got home from the temple. I got him the sheet music book of Jon Schmidt’s Hymns. He started playing them on the piano for a little while yesterday, and they sounded great. We also made a cute card for him with a picture of a house. The house had three windows that were cut out with photos of the boys in the windows. The boys and I also made a card like this for my Dad and one for Michael’s Dad. Then, in their art class, the boys made Father’s Day cards and decorated bags of cookies for Daddy. So, I think Michael enjoyed those gifts. Today at church the boys did pretty well. We ended up out in the hall after the Sacrament, but they went to their classes well, and Camden played with the other kids during the Sunday school class, then he fell asleep on my shoulder so I was able to go for most of my relief society class. That was nice. Now that we are home and the boys are up from their naps, I think we’re going to play a game or something before dinner – they are getting a little worked up and have started playing a game where they stand on each other’s stomachs – and that can only lead to trouble. Better run.
Oh yeah – Camden started standing up holding on to furniture the other day. And this morning he was trying to play with my foot while I was on the couch, and I slowly moved my foot along the edge of the couch and he moved along after it – he took a few steps and moved along the front of the couch. And, this afternoon, he started clapping his hands for the first time too. So that was pretty cool. Here are some photos of Camden the first time he pulled himself standing up:
Tyce offered to come back the next day and bring some wood and tools to fix our entertainment center door that had fallen off. We decided to do a group family home evening activity and go to play volleyball at a park and let the kids play at the playground after we got the entertainment center fixed Monday. After Michael got home that night, Tyce and Faith came and they worked on fixing the door, but the kids were being pretty wild. We finally ended up taking the kids to a nearby playground because they couldn’t stay inside any longer. I ended up finishing the entertainment center a few days later – and it is nice to have it all fixed (especially since we don’t have to continually worry about keeping Camden out of all the things we store inside the door that was broken before. We had fun at the playground with the kids, but didn’t stay too long because it was late and the kids were all rather grumpy.
On Tuesday the kids got lots of chores done and we got the house all cleaned up, then we went and ran some errands and when we got home I made dinner for us and for some friends who just had a baby. Michael got home that evening, and after we got the boys to bed I went to a Ladies Night Out activity.
On Wednesday morning we went to a playgroup at the Tot Lot playground. The boys had lots of fun at that. Then we ran some errands. I had a doctor’s appointment, but it wasn’t for a couple of hours, so I called Michael and he met the boys and I for a little while and then went to the doctor’s appointment with us. The appointment went well. Everything seems to be good with the baby. And I told the doctor about the knee pain I’ve been having with this pregnancy, because it’s been getting worse lately, so I now have an appointment set up at an orthopedic clinic in a couple days – I am really hoping that I go in and they make a few quick suggestions and whatever the problem is with my knee will be an easy fix. We’ll see.
Wednesday evening was Kolby’s first swim lesson of the new summer session – and we decided to let him try being in the class without the parents in the water again this session. Several months ago we tried that class, and he had a pretty hard time at first, but then he got used to the teacher and seemed to be improving a lot. Then we were pretty surprised a few weeks into the class that the teacher suggested that Kolby shouldn’t be in that class anymore. The teacher had made a lot of comments about having too many kids in her class and how the kids were all so different in their ages, swimming skills, and how well they followed instructions. Anyways, they suggested that we put Kolby in a private lesson, but we ended up doing another session of the parent-child classes with him. This time we let him choose which class he wanted to try – and he said that he wanted to be in the class where Mommy and Daddy watched him from the side of the pool. I told him that would be fine, but that he would need to listen and do everything that his teacher told him to do. So, we went to his new class on Wednesday and he did so well. He was probably the best-behaved child there – he did everything the teacher asked right away. I was so proud of him. He will have fun in this new class, I think.
On Thursday Michael had one of his long call days at the hospital again – from early Thursday morning until Friday around noon. This time I suggested that he just stay after his shift ended and catch several good hours of sleep at the hospital, rather than coming home and just getting a few hours of sleep here and there with lots of interruptions from the kids. I think that it worked out better for him – he was still very tired, but able to do stuff with the family the next day. Thursday the boys had their art class in the morning. Later on, after naps, we went over to the Kearl’s house to play. They got a little blow-up pool for Nathan with a basketball hoop on one side of it, and the boys had lots of fun playing. Afterwards they rode bikes around the driveway. It was fun to just sit and watch them play. Then we went straight to Eli’s swim lesson at the YMCA. His class seems good, although I think that he is old enough to have more work on actual swimming skills and less time spent on the parents holding the children and singing songs. But I guess really that a big part of the swimming lessons when they are so small is getting them comfortable in the water. He enjoyed it, though.
On Friday morning I took the boys to the library. After Michael got home, we got a few things done around the house and then dropped the boys off at the Taylor’s house. We went and saw the musical, The King and I, which was put on by members of our church at a building south of here. Our friend, Cassidy, was the lead role of Anna. I had seen the movie Anna and The King a few years ago, but had never seen the musical or the movie of the musical before. I was a little surprised by the ending (because it was quite different from what I remember happening in the movie I saw), but we liked the performance and had fun spending time out together.
On Saturday morning we got up early and got everyone ready to go to the temple. When we got there, it was pretty hot out and the cicadas were flying around in the trees and making a really loud buzzing noise. Michael and I went in first and we ended up doing a few initiatories. Peter and Cynthia went in next and we took all the kids to Costco while they did initiatories also. We were planning on stocking up on a bunch of stuff at Costco, but then we remembered that they only accept American Express credit cards, and we decided to wait until our temple trip next month to go stock up at Costco instead, once our next set of student loans has come in and we have some more funds in our account. We ended up doing a circle around Costco and letting the boys try each of the free samples for part of their lunches. After eating lunch and dropping Jordan and Carter back off with Peter and Cynthia when they got done at the temple, we drove home and got the boys all down for a nap. I cut Michael’s hair, Michael got the laundry done, and I made dinner. Then the Taylors brought their kids over so they could go see The King and I. They were really good and after watching the movie Curious George that the boys had checked out at the library, and eating some chicken for dinner, the kids all went to bed. We had six kids here, and got them all to bed in the three bedrooms, with one extra bed to spare – we decided that we could easily fit six kids into a little apartment (as long as Michael and I didn’t need a bed to sleep in).
So, Michael is on call again today. He will be home sometime tomorrow afternoon. Luckily he only has one more long call day this month – next Friday/Saturday – and then he is done for a while. After June ends, Michael will officially start fourth year. That is exciting – especially since he only has two months of rotations fourth year that he is scheduled to be on-call again. That will be a big change to have him home most weekends (and, for most rotations, probably most weeknight evenings too). Today is Father’s Day, and we knew that Michael would be at the hospital today, so we gave him his gifts yesterday after we got home from the temple. I got him the sheet music book of Jon Schmidt’s Hymns. He started playing them on the piano for a little while yesterday, and they sounded great. We also made a cute card for him with a picture of a house. The house had three windows that were cut out with photos of the boys in the windows. The boys and I also made a card like this for my Dad and one for Michael’s Dad. Then, in their art class, the boys made Father’s Day cards and decorated bags of cookies for Daddy. So, I think Michael enjoyed those gifts. Today at church the boys did pretty well. We ended up out in the hall after the Sacrament, but they went to their classes well, and Camden played with the other kids during the Sunday school class, then he fell asleep on my shoulder so I was able to go for most of my relief society class. That was nice. Now that we are home and the boys are up from their naps, I think we’re going to play a game or something before dinner – they are getting a little worked up and have started playing a game where they stand on each other’s stomachs – and that can only lead to trouble. Better run.
Oh yeah – Camden started standing up holding on to furniture the other day. And this morning he was trying to play with my foot while I was on the couch, and I slowly moved my foot along the edge of the couch and he moved along after it – he took a few steps and moved along the front of the couch. And, this afternoon, he started clapping his hands for the first time too. So that was pretty cool. Here are some photos of Camden the first time he pulled himself standing up:
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