Genesys, here we come!

Genesys Hospital, Grand Blanc, MI

Since there is a lack of opportunity for medical experience in the 'ville, we have decided to complete Adam's 3rd and 4th years at a different hospital. Most of the medical students here opt to move out of Kirksville for their rotations unlike many medical schools that are located in bigger cities, like where John and Justin went. There are a lot of hospitals in Ohio and Michigan that are affiliated with KCOM, so we thought that there would be plenty of opportunity there to get a foot or two in the door for residency.

So, dun, dun, dun... We got matched to go to Genesys hospital in Grand Blanc, MI! Genesys was our first choice and we got it! It was a very competitive spot, so we feel very lucky that we get to go there. So next summer, about the time of the reunion we will be moving. We are excited for something new and also very excited to finally be in a place where we will most likely stay for more than 2 years. Grand Blanc is about 1 1/2 hours, or less, from my family, which is an very nice perk. Genesys is a very good hospital and offers a plethora of residency programs. We would really like to not move again, so we researched carefully what residencies each hospital offered so that there would be a good chance that we could stay in the area for residency after Adam graduates. The specialties that he is currently interested in are: general surgery, family practice, ENT (ear, nose and throat), emergency medicine and orthopedic surgery. So wahoo for us! Of course, we still have about 9 months until we move, but it will give us something to think about.

Pull to Michigan

There are few people in my life that really mean the world to me, or more. Kaileen is one of them.
We have known each other since middle school. Kaileen's little brother, Kyle, died of Rhabdomyosarcoma, a very vigorous form of cancer just 2 months ago. How difficult would it be to loose a sibling, especially your only one at age 23? Kyle was only 2 years younger. What a short life, so incomplete. I don't know how Kaileen got through those first days after Kyle died. I don't know what I would have done, if I could have handled it.
Kaileen's father died just this past Friday.
It is just too early in our lives to be losing parents, siblings. These things aren't supposed to happen for another 30, 50 years, or more.
I feel so bad for Kaileen. I don't know how she is coping, or if she really is. I wish that I was closer so that I could be there for her. I have been gone ever since the fall after high school graduation. Its been too long. I feel like my family needs me, like my friends need me. They are so far away. I just can't be the friend, sister, daughter, niece that I should be if I am this far away.
Any words of encouragement for Kaileen?
I am so grateful for my knowledge that there is life after this. I know that we will see our loved ones again someday. I know with all my heart that our trials "shall give [us] experience, and shall be for [our] good" and that they will seem but a moment in time someday. But still, this is tough stuff. Some things in life just don't seem fair. We won't ever be given more than Heavenly Father knows we can handle, but my goodness, how hard will it get for her? She must be strong.
I love you Kaileen. I would do anything for you girl. Hang in there.

Rain, Relaxation and Oreos

I have pulled out of my week-long angry/down/feeling sorry for myself period and am back in gear. I am sorry to those who read my last post and thought, "Whoa, she needs...something!"
I enjoyed the rainy day that we have had here. I took a nap and enjoyed the smell of rain that was in my house. It was a day to sit around and read a good book and drink hot cocoa. When the heat of the summer was beginning to tire me out I wished for cooler weather and I have been thankful for the change. I love wearing sweatshirts and jeans and socks and being cozy. I love sleeping under our down comforter when, outside the sheets and blankets, its cold in our room. I was a lifeguard for a long time and was outside in the blazing sun for at least 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. I loved that, and still love the warm summer sun and all the fun activities that accompany it. I love the cool air too, though. I love listening to the thunder roll as I lay in my bed or sit on my porch to watch the storm.
I tried to not be in a hurry today. I am so impatient when I am in a rush, trying to get Adalin to move as quick as she can, which isn't very fast. I am always telling her to hurry and I just get frustrated b/c she must not know how to move fast. I don't think that she understands the concept. I have realized that being rushed isn't worth the stress. Being tired stresses me out too but lack of sleep is not even close to being as bad as rushing here and there, constantly in a hurry without time to think, be patient or be nice and thoughtful to anyone.
The ink pretty much all came out. There are still some light spots on it, but if I didn't point them out, you wouldn't see them. Yukon's stunt for today: he pulled a half eaten pkg. of Oreos off my counter and ate them all outside. He has diarrhea (luckily he is taking care of that outside too)... This, I have convinced myself, is a wonderful thing. Then they aren't there for me to eat (yes, I ate the first half of the pkg.). I don't know why I bought them in the first place. I really try not to buy junk at all. I have been binge-eating though... I bought them on Saturday, which is when the pen got chewed on my couch. I eat when under a lot of stress, I guess. Not good.
I ran at the TCC this morning. After I had Kira I tried to run to get back in shape and loose some weight, but it was too discouraging b/c I could only run just over a mile and I got sooooo tired. So I took up Tiffin's classes, which are very awesome. Participating in the classes there (spinning, kickboxing and quad-step) has proven very to be successful at whipping me back into shape. I ran 2 1/2 miles this morning and didn't feel that tired. I think I am ready for a 5K. I was happy that I went that far b/c I haven't ran for a few months. I contribute some of the recognition to my new iPod too, it got me pumped and gave me more energy.
Kira sat on her own for over 20 minutes yesterday morning. So I guess I can say that she is officially sitting on her own. I am so grateful for this. It makes my life easier since I can just plop her down on the floor to get something done. When I put her in position, she can hang out on her hands and knees for about 10 seconds too. I am trying to prep her to crawl. I am really excited for her to be mobile and be able to get around by herself. This means playing with Adalin and hopefully a little less of me holding her and carrying her around. I love her with all my heart, but do run out of hands often.
See, life is great, even though I don't always see light at the end of my tunnel. It is there, we just need to remember to look!

At the end of my rope

That's where I have been today. It all started today when, as I was getting the girls dressed upstairs to go to The Red Barn Festival, Yukon found an ink pen. I come downstairs and found him ON MY NEW COUCH chewing it to pieces. I spent the next hour cleaning the ink off my couch cushion. First I used soap and water, a joke. The furniture people said to always start with soap and water on microfiber... Ok, so then I did the aerosol hairspray thing. Some came out. Because of this stunt, I now have a crunchy couch cushion. Then I got out the denatured alcohol. (This is supposed to be the best stuff to get junk out of microfiber.) Well, most of the ink came out. But most isn't good enough. You can still see spots where the ink was really concentrated. I am not a violent person but I really wanted to hurt that dog. So I go to Red Barn, walk around the square twice because I don't want to come home to my ruined couch... I bought a few things to calm my anger. That felt good. I come home to a shredded blanket and batting all over the living room rug. OK, calmness is the key here. So it was just my old comforter from high school, but I DON"T CARE! Unless its a dog toy, don't chew it you idiots! I get Kira's pringle-looking can of baby cereal out of my purse and the lid had fallen off and they spill all over the place. I go through the trouble of making fresh tomatillo salsa for dinner and it's too spicy. I guess I added a few too many peppers. It's still edible over things, I guess. I go to Walmart to get a few food items and A LOT of dog bones, come home and the inner seal on the gallon of OJ that I bought is broken. Now I have to take that back. Who wants to take back orange juice to the store? I did try it anyway thinking maybe I won't have to return it... it tastes funny. I probably would have decided not to take it back if it didn't taste weird. Waiting in their customer service line will be fun. It has just been an Alexander day, I guess. Now the things I have learned from today... Some days are just terrible, horrible, no good, very bad. Every once and a while days like these are OK. Days like these teach me patience. I have analyzed myself multiple times today and have realized that I have progressed from being very angry to quite humbled. At first, I was just livid. My blood was close to boiling temperature. I wanted to get rid of Yukon. I kept thinking that he is just more trouble than he's worth. Then I was just mad. I was mad at him more than anything and no longer angry at everything around me. Then I went into quiet mode. The anger departed and I felt like just being alone. This finally led to a self-realization that I handled things very poorly. I wasn't patient at all. I didn't act like Christ would have acted. I was rude to Adam and Adalin as I was sponging off the cpuch cushion. I almost didn't want all of it to come out just so that I would be justified for being so angry, ornery and rude. By the end of the day I felt very humbled and realized that I have a lot of work to do. I think of how Adam's mom (who I really admire for her sweet tone of voice and patience) would have handled it. She would have just sternly told Yukon that that was bad, and would have gotten to work without the anger. She would have just realized that some things are just out of her control and that she needs to just take what has been handed to her. Why, in the heat of the moment, can't I be level-headed? Sometimes I do wonderfully. Most of the time I don't. This is something that I have been really trying to work on. I have plenty of opportunities to do so too. I was almost brought to tears many times throughout the day. This series incidents were really just the icing on the cake. The past two weeks have been a nightmare. I have hardly seen Adam at all. We both rush in and out of the house so quickly that we don't even know what to do with ourselves. I am failing at my calling in Young Women's. I am in charge of our ward's portion of the stake relief society enrichment thing this Saturday and have tons to do with that (on gardening). I don't prepare as much as I should for my primary calling. I have 2 positions in SAA, two dogs, a cat, a medical student as a husband, two kids, weight to loose, muddy floors, a backyard FULL of acorns and leaves, dirty dishes in my sink, ink on my couch cushion, laundry to fold... I could go on and on. But is it really all that bad? I need to just make it through the next week and it will be much better.

Since I am trying to look on the bright side of things, at least they have learned to share the purple chair.

Adalin's life goal

We bring dinner to Adam every Tuesday night at work, the TCC. As we were leaving the TCC tonight she says, "When I grew up I want to work at the TCC." I guess she wants to do everything her daddy does. I don't know if that should be her goal in life, hopefully her dreams branch out a little.

Wait, how old is Kira?

So, as always, my mom brought a laundry basket full of the cutest girl clothes for the girls. I told her a few weeks ago to buy 12 month outfits for Kira, please take note, who is 6 months old. They don't fit her. Her waist is way too big for these 12 month pants! They really aren't all that too long for her either. So all day today, I had her in these cute khaki pants from Target, unsnapped. Should I take them back? I am thinking no because hopefully she will thin out once she starts crawling, which may be never b/c she is so fat, and the 12 monthers will fit her then. Hmmm... what to do. I wonder how large 18 month pants would be on her.

Pictures from Mom's visit

Mom is here!

My wonderful mom arrived today from Michigan! We are always so happy to have her. We have a lot of fun things planned... A trip to Nauvoo, Columbia, trips to the park, walks with the new Phil & Teds stroller, the list goes on. Adalin loves to have gramma here! It should be a fun week! I was going to put a cute pic of my parents with the two girlies on here, but blogger is being stupid. Picture pending.

Milk Varieties

Adalin asked for something to drink today. She has learned how to open the fridge on her own, so she did so and I heard her mutter under her breath "breast milk." So, jokingly, I said, "Adalin you want some breast milk?" She said, "No, I don't like breast milk." (Not that she really remembers what it tastes like.) I said, "Do you want some cow milk then?" She looked at me with utter amazement and asked, "We have a cow?"

I went on to explain to her that the milk she loves so dearly comes from a cow and that Walmart has cows, kind of.

6 months of pure joy

Kira is 6 months old today. The time has flown by so fast, I don't even know where it went! Kira has been the most amazing baby. She is always full of smiles. She sleeps well, eats well and loves everyone. She brightens up my life in ways I never thought possible. I heard a kind of cheesy little thought in church a few weeks ago... a father of only one child felt that he didn't want his next child to feel less love than his first had always felt. He compared his love to a pie. When his next child was about to arrive he didn't want his first child to get less pie or love than he/she was used to. But, to his surprise, when baby #2 came, he had a new pie to give to the new child and the first child got no less. OK, so what does this have to do with me? Well, this is true. I love my children immensely. I loved Adalin when she was my one and only, and now that Kira is here, I love her just as much. My heart has grown along with my love. My children are such a joy in my life. They are what my life is all about. I am thankful for baby Kira, what would I do w/o her?

Here we are just a few hours after Kira was born. What a sweet day it was!