Holiday Toes

I have been anticipating a much needed pedicure for a few weeks now. I try and go on a day Maryn is at school but with tons of errands, cleaning, packing, etc. I haven't felt it should be on my list of priorities lately. Today, since Greg wasn't working and after the Primary practice we had, I had Greg and the girls drop me off for a much needed hour of me time. Our weather has been anything but December-like (mid 80's) the last few days and the way my toes looked flip flops were not an option. My feet are becoming harder and harder to reach so changing out my polish wasn't an option.
I asked my girls and Greg to choose what to get on my toes today. It was either a french pedicure with a little bling or do Christmas red with a little bling. They all immediately chose red and all three girls wanted to join in and get theirs done. It had crossed my mind to take them along, but being a Saturday, it was too crowded for all four of us to get our toes done at the same time. I promised them another day.

Following Jenny's example I decided to post my festive toes. They aren't exactly what I had in mind, or what I explained to the guy doing my toes. The language bearier is always a factor at the nail salons so you get what you get. I think they turned out pretty cute anyway.

Do you enjoy a pedicure? If so, do you get bling-bling on your toes?

I'm Officially...

Excited, Confused, Stressed, Overwhelmed, Nervous, A Run-Down Mom, Scared, Exhausted, Sad, Happy, A Seller, A Buyer, A Builder, Feeling Very Pregnant & Back to Blogging.

Before you all say it, I'll beat you to the punch-It has been way too long since I've updated my blog. I realize I have missed out on a few months of documenting happenings with our family, vacations, new job experiences, birthdays, our anniversary, our home building process, and my ever growing tummy. My number one reason for not posting and commenting on blogs has been time and priorities. I always struggle with cute, creative titles and admit my typing speed isn't what it used to be. I found myself sitting down in the morning to start a post, and having to stop several times throughout the day to finish it and sometimes not publishing my post until night. This wasn't a big deal when Greg wasn't around, but when he began private practice back in August he has spent most evenings home. Before that, he was gone several nights a weeks late and a few nights each week were spent sleeping at the hospital. This gave me more "me time" and this is when I would catch up blogging. After our long journey through school, residency, and a fellowship I've realized when he is around I would rather be chatting with him or watching one of our favorite shows, than spending our evenings home together, but seperated.

I hope all of you will bare with me as I try and catch my blog up on the happenings of us and not get bored with me and my life.

The sign out front of our house.

*We have Officially put our house on the market, and have had quite a few showings given the time of year. This has made it somewhat difficult for me. I have never been a clean or clutter freak. My home usually appears clean, but after living in our 1500 square foot house for six years, our girls continuing to grow at faster than wanted pace, we have accumulated our fair share of STUFF. I have spent the last few months decluttering, packing up clothes and toys that we probably should donate, but have chosen to keep for Maryn and our soon to be other "M". We never realized how much stuff we had until we started unloading our attic, closets, and filling a storage unit and our garage almost to their capacity.

Our front door.

Since putting our for sale sign outside, I have become somewhat neuortic about the house staying clean. I've found myself up earlier in the morning and later at night doing laundry so that we never have dirty or clean clothes out for others to see or smell. I think I've forgotten how to cook. I've cooked very few meals at home, fearing I would be in the middle of preparing something and the phone ring and have to leave in a matter of minutes so a stranger can come look at our home. I get up each morning exercise, straighten the house, turn on all of the lights, gather anything I may need for the day and hop into the car and head out. This sometimes means I leave around 8:00 am and not return until after school, and a few times not until after dance, swim , and or dinner. I have felt somewhat like a prisoner, but a bit backwards. I've always been the type to get cabin fever and need to leave home every day or I get stir crazy. This past week I found myself driving around in tears because I wanted to just go home, and plop my pregnant self on the couch and not move. We have heard back from two interested buyers so hopefully living out of my car will come to and end soon.


*We signed the contract to build our new home the 1st of February. When we did this we were told we should expect to move in, in August. With many delays, some from weather, some from foundation issues, and others from who knows what, it is now December and we still don't have an offical closing date. I knew building a home took time and patience, but I'm beginning to wonder if I should just wait until after I have the baby in January to move in. But, I may be kidding myself thinking that is even my choice. It may take them until mid-January to finish the house.

Several people, including Jenny, have been asking for photos of our home. I've been a bit shy about revealing our home, for fear of judgement and fear of strangers(not you blogger strangers, but the freaks out there) knowing where I'm building and where I will someday live. The home we chose to build has nearly three times the square footage we do now, but it didn't look GINORMOUS from the street, At least to us anyway. After choosing the floorplan and lot we then were told they had to redraw the blueprints to make the house work for the lot. Needless to say, it doesn't camoflouge how many square feet we have, and it actually looks bigger than it really is. This was the thing I didn't want to happen. I'm posting a picture of the model home we chose so when I finally get the nerve to post OUR home you can compare it.

The model home we chose. We chose different brick and stone than this one,

but the floor plan is the is essientially the same. The front elevation is a bit different on ours.

The model home kitchen.

*I'm officially 32 weeks and a few days pregnant. I wish it were true, what Jenny said about me being 8 1/2 months along. I have 7 1/2 weeks to go, unless I get induced early, or our fourth little girl follows after her sisters and arrives anywhere from 10 days to 26 days early. I wouldn't mind either of these options. Unlike what everyone tells me, I'm feeling very big. I've never shown early, but when I do start showing my tummy grows considerably every day. I'm feeling good other than being uncomfortable especially after eating and while sleeping. I still have worries about our sweet baby being healthy. I've cried many tears and said many prayers asking for peace to know that everything is fine. We are getting excited to meet her and feeling the pressure to finalize our name choice. We've decided to not break tradition and name her something that starts with the letter M, like her sisters. We think we have narrowed it down to either Megan( and call her Meg) or Mallory. I wanted to name Maryn, Meg but opted to let Greg choose her name. Now that he has told me it is my decision, I'm thinking I need to see her first. What do you think?

My 32 week tummy

Here is to a new month hopefully full of better and more frequent updates from me.

SPT~Fall

It hasn't reached Fall weather status here in Texas, just yet. Actually it usually stays quite warm through October and sometimes November, and then you just wake up one morning and it is cold out. Okay, maybe not cold to some of you that live out West or up North, but for a native Texan, the 40's are down right frigid.

I had no plans on doing this SPT, because I wasn't sure how to go about getting a fall-like picture when it is 90 degrees out. I also knew that I couldn't take a picture of my home decorated for Fall, because it isn't decorated. Last year after Halloween and Christmas I packed all of our holiday stuff away and moved it to a rented storage unit, thinking I wouldn't need it until after we moved. Well, since they told us our house would be done in August and it is now October, and they haven't even started the inside work yet I just may be celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas without OUR decorations. Today when I took Maryn to school I saw they had put out all of their pumpkins for their pumpkin patch. I thought of taking the picture then, but thought I would spare you my workout attire and my natural beauty, and decided to snap a picture this afternoon when I picked her up. I got a few stares and tried to be as descreet as possible, taking my own picture in the pumpkins, while everyone else was sanpping cute photos of their littles.

notice my fall shoes aka flip flops

Even though Spring and Summer are my favorite seasons, I do get giddy when it's time to pull out the holiday decorations. I just may need to go and buy a few necessities so I feel like fall and the holidays are fast approaching.

Five For Friday

I'm taking Jenny's and a few others' lead and compiling some of our week's happenings together for a Friday post. Jenny tagged me awhile back to do a "5 post" but I had a few pictures documenting other things so I decided to just have a random post of five things.


1. My sweet little 3 year old starting taking ballet and tap. I didn't put Maci in dance until she was 5 and have wished I would have started her earlier. Another reason I let Maryn test out the dance world is because if she hears music, a switch flips on inside her and she starts getting groovy. Watching her the last few weeks in her 45 minute class I think she has natural preschool dancer talent, even with her booda belly.

Maryn & Miss Katie

2. This is my friend Ellice that just so happens to be our Ward's Primary President. I have to brag about her a little. She is an awesome friend and has a way with the kids in primary that is truly a gift. I guess that is why her career choice before kids was an elementary teacher. She starts talking and all of the kids are drawn to her. Two weeks ago at the Mother/ Daughter she was more than gung ho about the trip. I love camping, but will often find things to complain about even if I enjoy doing them. She was more than well prepared and brought out the perfect things that made everyone's daughters ooh and aah. She brought craft beads to make necklaces, we had a water balloon toss contest, and the best hit of all was her blow up raft that she got for 7 bucks at Target. Not only did she pump the thing up by hand she loaded all of the girls into it over and over and over again and took them down the river. It was like she gave me a mini vacation while I should have been playing and swimming with my girls. Thanks Ellice for your great example. We should all be a little more like you.

Ella, Maryn, Abby, Maci, Alcott, & Ellice

3. Jenny posted about Weston being stung by a wasp twice at my house the other day. She investigated the backyard and told me their was a big nest in the top of the swingset. I waited until Greg was home, not to mention we were out of wasp spray and told him to go and tackle the beasts. Not only did he find the one at the top of the swingset(the smaller one in the pictuer) but this massivc one had found a home underneath the slide. What???? I can't believe someone else hasn't been hurt by all of the wasps that were living in this. Thank goodness for husbands that get to the real problem.

Massive wasp nests that were on our swingset

4. As most of you know from my condition post we will be bringing home our 4th baby girl in January. After having three already you would think we had enough clothes and girly things to be sufficient. NOPE! Two of the three were born in June and the other in October (still warm in Texas) so I don't have alot of winter baby things. And not just this, like any expectant mom, I have been lurking at all of the new baby things that have come out over the past three years. I am on the lookout for the latest and best double jogger stroller out there, but in the mean time I have come across quite the sales on summer items. I have picked up a few sun dresses that should fit the baby unless she is either smaller than normal or bigger than normal. I also found this cutest velour sweatsuit for her to wear, hopefully in February. I'm revealing all of this secretly. so please don't inform Greg I have been out buying MORE girl things. He thinks we have WAY too many girls' clothes already!!!

Cute baby gear I've picked up lately.

5. On the subject of our new baby, I had another doctor's appointment this past Monday. First, I'm not a fan of getting on the scale on a Monday. We tend to eat out all weekend and the worst things. Plus, Sundays are a terrible day for me. I start the day out good and I don't eat very much. We go to church from 11 to 2 and by that time I am ready and willing to eat eating thing that gets in my way. I have a hard time controlling my snacking and grazing on Sundays. There just isn't a lot more to do after I have napped, than just eat. I perched myself on the scale knowing I had gained more weight. I know I should be gaining but, with all of the others I didn't start gaining until about 24 weeks, which is still 2 weeks away. I have gained five pounds already and that makes me nervous. I put myself on a 20 pound limit and I am already a quarter of the way there and usually do most of my gaining and growing now. Some of you are probably gasping at my five pounds and think I'm crazy, but seeing how I've gained 18, 13, & 23 pounds respectively with my other pregnancies and I am afraid I may be on my way to the 30 pound range. I can't do that!! I also will confess that I have been excersizing like a mad woman, twice a day six days a week and I'm still gaining. I'm not doing full on running workouts, but just walking around 6 miles each day and then lifting a few weights. I just love junk food and veer away from veggies. Okay off of my weight saga... I was able to have another ultrasound done to get a better look at a few things they couldn't see last time. They had spotted a few things that were of some concern and they wanted to reevaluate the baby and see how she was doing. Yes, she still is a she, and to Greg's worry the "apple didn't grow a stem" over the past three weeks. Her heart looks great, kidneys look great, spine was perfect, and she was measuring just one day off from my due date and was a whopping 14 ounces. I'm excited to see our new baby grow and continue to feel her every tweak, punch, kick, and hiccup she blesses me with. She seems to be quite the acrobat, and is very limber. In this picture she has her foot up beside her head. Five cute little toesies!!

Foot next to head at 21 weeks and a few days.

My Tuesday/Thursday Shoes

Loving wear cuter shoes. I tend to wear my flip flops EVERDAY since it that makes it easier carrying someone around your hip.

When school started a few weeks ago I didn't realize that tow days of the week I would feel as if I were walking around in someone else's shoes. I haven't experienced the mom days that I am experiencing since I started having children. I've always had at least one of the girls with me all of the time, that is unless I have a sitter or great friend to ease my errand pain and keep them for me.

I am taking advantage of the next four months that I have Tuesday and Thursdays kid free. We all love our children, right? But, there is just something about the errands you can accomplish in half the time when you aren't lugging a toddler in and out of every store. It is rejuvinating to look back at my day and see things I've accomplished or maybe just fun I was able to have while I was free from Mommy duties.

Me leaving Maryn on her first day of school.

I meant to document about this after the first week of having my much needed break, but of course, lack of motivation and exhaustion because of pregnancy, kept me away from the computer for any length of time. So here I am almost four weeks later posting about the"new shoes" I'm sporting.

Here are some of the things that I have been doing on my Tuesdays and Thursdays...

* a pedicure

* numerous stops to HEB, Target, Sam's Club, & Costco

* chats with friends uninterupted

* lunch dates with my hubby to where else? Chuy's

* getting my hair highlighted & cut

* workouts without the guilt of leaving a crying child in the kid's room

* a couple of outings to the mall

* furniture shopping

* reading a good book

* stopping to get my car washed more than once

* finding myeslf dressing not only shoes, but clothes & jewelry I don't normally run errands in

Me all alone in my CLEAN minivan.

Even though I love my free run around time, I think I should take just one of my two days each week to stay home and get more organized. I need to still dejunk things before we can put our house up for sale. I need to go through our never ending pink girls' clothes stash and decide what to keep for the next one and what to just bid farewell to. I should allow one of my days to cleaning and laundry that might get neglected on other days. All of these sound like good things to do on my days off but, it is hard for me to think about doing them when I have been having so much fun out and about doing girl things.

My Personality

I'm not so sure this totally describes me, but some of it is true. I feel a strong need to belong, but ironically I never go out of my way to make myself more likeable. I too feel I'm a good listener, but lack good advice on most occassions. so if you need someone to vent to or just a shoulder to lean on I'm your girl. I would have loved to become an interior designer. Funny thing though, I'm having a hard time deciding the style I love while shopping for new furniture, art, etc. for our new home.

I'm not so sure about being structured and completing tasks well and on time. I have a closet full of unfinished stuff! I hope no one that knows me or doesn't get me sees me as boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut.

You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal. A good listener, you excel at helping others in practical ways. In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. In love, you express your emotions through actions. Taking care of someone is how you love them. And you do it well! At work, you do well in a structured environment. You complete tasks well and on time. You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist. How you see yourself: Competent, dependable, and detail oriented When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut

What's Your Personality Type?

My Conditon

As most of you have probably noticed on more than one occassion, I have been a not-so dedicated blogger over the past little while. I was looking back at my archives and since the beginning of this summer I have only posted 14 times. Having my blog as my way to journal my daily activities, my girls' achievements and sometimes struggles, my thoughts on issues, and my family's happenings and doings, these few random posts have made me sad. Not sad because of the things that I have shared about these days, but the things that we have done as a family, my thoughts and struggles I have experienced over the past couple of months, our family's vacation, and even the few date nights and girls' lunches that have gone undocumented.

I have struggled with blogging since day one. I rack my brain for hours upon hours trying to come up with interesting titles and topics and when I finally come up with them, the creative writing I lack, haunts me as I sit at the computer for hours typing and then backspacing over and over again. I always wanted my blog to be our family's history and never thought about impressing other bloggers but I have found it difficult to blog about my daily thoughts and happenings when so many others have such interesting, creative posts I wish I could conjour up in my mind.

Not only has my lack of creativeness steered me away from blogging but I must confess that I have a condition that has also gotten in the way of me blogging the past four months. I have been keeping my condition a secret to most everyone, including my parents and family. I have always been the type to not tell much about myself to those around me including family. No matter how big or small "things" may be, I tend to want to just hold them close to me. It is also hard to find time to blog when Greg is home. The past month, since starting his practice he has been home every night. I feel guilty to plop myself in front of the computer for any length of time. Having him around now is such a blessing. Having him gone so much over the past six years and now him being here, I can honestly say there is nothing better.

Since my birthday, back in May I have held my condition close to me, only telling Greg. We were a bit taken back by this news and even brought many tears along with it, from me more so than Greg. It was hard to comprehend at first and then once the shock and fear subsided we were more than excited. My condition has caused me great tiredness, many days of feeling under the weather, less and less energy, shorter running distances, more frequent bathroom visits, etc. This condition left me frightened on a few occassions when I had to quickly find places for my girls to go so I could drive myself to the ER. Then and only then did I reveal this condition to Jenny, so she could care for my kids.

I know most of you are on the edge of your seat and maybe even reading ahead, to find out just what may be wrong with me. I am happy to announce my condition is a happy condition. It is that not only is baby #4 on it's way, BUT baby GIRL #4 is on her way, AND I'm half way to my due date. YEP, that's right I am twenty weeks along and she will be joining our family in January. I know this may catch some of you by surprise. It may sound strange that I kept this a secret not only from all of you but also our family. I always like to spread news like this in a creative way, and thought I would wait until we were on our Disney Cruise with my entire family and then I would spill the beans. Well, I hadn't gotten up the nerve,yes the nerve, to tell my girls before we left on vacation. My oldest daughter had a hard time dealing with the news she would be getting a third baby three years ago. I was even more scared that this time she would not only cry but maybe want to divorce me as her mother. I'm not sure why she or I had feelings like this but they were there. So when my girls didn't know about another baby joining our family, and the fear of them reacting in an UNexciting way, I thought if I could hide it while we were on the cruise then I would just wait awhile longer. I was 14 weeks along, not really having morning sickness any longer, but I was beginning to show signs of carrying something extra around. I have always been on the smaller side when I am first pregnant, thanks to a uterus that is tilted back and a deeper pelvis. My boobs on the other hand are not so easy to disguise. They are the first sign, even before a postive pregnancy test that I am expecting. By the end of the first trimester they have grown at least one cup size, so shirts that hide my news are few and far between. I could find shirts that fit better up top, but then I would look suspicious because I usually don't wear shirts that are baggy. I'm sure that would have been an obvious give away. My sister in law even almost spoiled my surprise while we were on the cruise. She asked if my swimsuit had extra padding in it, and of course I lied and said yes and opted not to wear that suit the rest of the trip. Every time I ate I had to go on and on about how I was eating too much and exercising to little because I was getting a pooch. At that point of my pregnancy my stomach would look pretty normal and then the moment I ate(even the smallest of meal) I would get a pooch. I have had many backaches for the past three months trying to suck my tummy in so no one would suspect anything. I would find myself so tense and trying so hard to hide my condition that I would come home and fall on the bed in compete relaxation.

Our baby at 12 weeks

We succeeded in keeping our secret while we were on the cruise. I was then fifteen weeks along. My family was five hours away, I thought surely I could hold out another month and find out what I was having, and then have a bigger and better surprise to reveal. My sister and my parents decided to come visit us the weekend when I was seventeen weeks along. I was stressed again that my secret would be found out, in a noncreative way. I prepared myself for 48 hours of eating small amounts and standing with great posture, sucking in my tummy, and wearing black shirts to camaflouge my growing chest. My family came and went and didn't notice a thing. I had pulled it off once again, but started getting nervous that everyone wouldn't be as excited as I thought, about our surprise. I almost dreaded telling everyone.


I was scheduled for my ultrasound when I was eighteen weeks and a few days along, but a few days before, I began having Braxton Hicks contractions. I would have a normal stomach and then in a matter of seconds I would look like I was six months along. I couldn't eat a normal meal without pain, I had to unbutton my pants, and lay the passenger seat back while riding in the car to lessen my pain. I didn't sleep for a few nights and Greg convinced me to go into the hospital to get checked. I spent the entire day on a Saturday in the OB triage having ultrasounds, ct scans, IVs, a cathetar, and telling my problems to med students, residents, nurses, and attending physicians. Finally, after eight hours I was sent home with a diagnosis of renal cholic. Not exactly sure what that entails, but I understood it as being dehydrated to the point that my kidneys were developing kidney stones and this was causing my contractions. I was ordered to stop working out so much, and if I did, to do things that didn't cause me to sweat to the point where I get dehydrated. I have almost drank myself sick of water, and found myself craving diet cokes often. I have had will power to limit my diet coke intake to about one a day and replaced it with lots and lots of water.
Rewind to half way through my hospital stay, I sent Greg home to be with the girls. We decided it would be a great time to tell them they would be sisters again and maybe I would get a little bit of sympathy. He told them the news and surprisingly they were excited. He then took them to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate the beginning of school and the new baby. After they ate and played to their hearts content, they stopped and boguht me flowers and then picked me up at the hospital. They were all smiles in the car and were obviously excited to see me and talk about the new baby.

We decided to make the girls more excited about me being pregnant, by taking them to the ultrasound. Greg met us there and of course we waited for a while. Finally, we were told we were not expecting the boy Greg always dreamed of but adding more pink to our family. I have always loved girls and was nervous at the possibility of having to learn about boys. It would have been fun to experience a boy, to finally use our family name we picked out ten years ago when I was pregnant the first time, and for the Gordon name to go on(Greg was the only son of an only Gordon son).

We told our girls they couldn't tell anyone until we were ready to start spreading the news. The two older ones understood this but found it difficult to not tell their friends. I was a bit concerned about our youngest understanding the "do not tell" that everytime she talked to my mom or anyone in our family I coached her on what to say. I had to tell little fibs, like Grammy's working, several times so she wouldn't call a family member. We finally came up with our creative reveal and sent a baby girl flower arrangement to my mom and Greg's mom. I came up with the idea, since our baby will be the eighth grandchild on both sides, for them to place eight roses in the arrangement along with other flowers. I also had the florist write this cheesy poem on the card:

We hope our news will
make you shout GREAT!
In a few short months you will
be Grammy/Nana to #8!!

Love, MAG(our girls' initials)

Well everything was good until the initials were turned into NAG. My mom was starting an IV when someone called her to the nurses station to see her flowers. She couldn't figure out why she would be getting flowers and immediately started reading into everything in and around the flowers. She called me and I was out of the car getting my girls' from school. She then called my sister and she obviously had no idea what my mom was talking about, so my mom knew they my sister wasn't the one expecting. Then she called my sister in law who was not available to answer the phone. She was stressed out to say the least. She then decided to call Greg, who also couldn't answer his phone. Finally Greg called her back and she was excited and nervous at the same time. Meanwhile Greg's mom received her flowers and did the call around, just like my Mom did. No one knew what was going on and finally when Greg talked to her and told her it was true, our fourth girl was well on her way to our family, she was beyond excited.

Today -20 weeks &2 days

So here I am twenty weeks along in my pregnancy announcing this to all of blogger land. I'm sure my phone will start ringing from friends that haven't heard our exciting news. We feel so blessed to add another sweet spirit to our family. Our girls all have a unique look, one not looking alot like another. I can't wait to see who she resembles and shower her with hugs, kisses, and much love. We look forward to meeting her in just twenty more weeks.

Back To The Basics

Well another summer has come and gone, with many great memories of time spent with friends, swim team competitions, a visit to see family and a cousin's baptism, trips to Fiesta Texas, and a family vacation on a Disney Cruise. It seems like our summer lasted lots longer this year, but in reality it was only a week longer. Playing in the sun is one of my favorite past times and now there isn't a lot of free time for playing in the water and sun.

Our two older girls began school on Monday. Since we are in the processing of building a new home, that was suppose to be completed in August, we registered our kids in a new school. Of course, the house isn't complete and I would say it is pushing it to say we will be in by Christmas. The builders say November but I will believe it when I see it. So this leaves me with the fun task of getting out of bed thirty minutes earlier to shuttle my kids the twenty minutes to school. I know twenty minutes doesn't seem far, but after the last six years of living five minutes from their school, twenty minutes there and twenty minutes back is FAR! twice a day. Not to mention this trip runs into my morning walk time. I've had to walk alone several times this week because I hate to have Jenny waiting around for me when she could be done walking, showering, and beginning her day before I get back home. I'm not complaining too much though. This new school is fantastic. You can feel it when you walk in the front doors. The staff and teachers are super friendly and you can tell they LOVE what they do. The parents ALL are anxious to volunteer and be involved with their childrens' education. Our school before was good, we always had good teachers (except one), the girls liked it, but there is something about going to a school where most of the people are established and this will be the school their children will start and finish. It is so good to feel like we have really found our home and a place where our girls can continue on their successful ways.



We took pictures of the girls with their teachers on welcome night since I knew the first day of class would be crazy. They both got great teachers (by no surprise). They have both made new friends and come home everyday asking if they can go to so and so's house.

**I can't get the pictures to upload of the girls and their teachers!! I give up!!**

Our youngest also started preschool this week and goes two days a week. She lucked out and got another one of our daughter's 3 year old teacher. I was a bit nervous sending my baby off to school, but her teacher is fabulous. She knew just the things to say and do to convince my little one she is a pro at going to school. She also met her teacher earlier this week and we decided to get a snapshot then instead of waiting until the first day when the teachers are swamped and tears are flowing from some of the kids.

This week has been nice, even though the driving back and forth to school in the morning and afternoon, running errands, and Parent Night TWO separate nights at the school, has left my car with only a 1/4 of a tank of gas left and 269 miles on the odometer, and me feeling that the basics are not so BASIC.

Next week will be a little different. Not only will have the to and from school routine, we will add dance for all three girls, on two different days, and swim for one of them, three or four nights a week. I realize things may get a little hectic but I'm trying to not get to worked up about it, just yet.

Now that I have updated keep checking back I may just post again soon!!

The Real World

I'm back from vacation and will have to update on all of our doings, outings, and going-ons later, but thought I needed to do this post today instead.

real world
Noun
1.
real world - the practical world as opposed to the academic world; "a good consultant must have a lot of experience in the real world"

Dr. Tolin, Dr. DeLee, Russell, Greg, Dr. Jacobs, & Dr. Casillas

A couple of weeks ago we were able to go to the Fellows dinner at the Argyle(a little too fancy for my liking) where they honored Greg and Russell, the other fellow. We had a good time as stories were shared of the two of them. They described them at the beginning of the year, told stories about their successes and mistakes and what the staff thought of them after spending the year with them, which by the way was all good.

Me & Greg

This extra year of training was a bit grueling in itself. Long hours during the day, call weekends, and moonlighting(so we could survive our bills) took up most of Greg's time. Lots of extra high school physicals and sporting events, with a few of our local colleges and universities thrown in the mix, filled evenings and weekends with only a couple of hours(if that) left each day to see him. The last few days of the fellowship were spent at Dallas Cowboy Camp. He loves this part of his job and it is so him. He took every opportunity to find extra sports events to help volunteer for. He covered several of the San Antonio Spurs games, Rampage hockey games, and the Stock Show and Rodeo. I think he was a bit disappointed about taking the last two days of the fellowship for vacation since this caused him to miss out on more interaction with the Cowboys.

Well, Greg has officially joined the Real World. After fourteen years of post high school education and training he headed off to private practice this morning. We often joke how it was like he started Kindergarten over and went all the way through High School graduation, before finishing his upper level education and training. After graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Chemistry he then completed four years of Medical School. He completed his five year residency in Orthopedic Surgery and then did a one year fellowship that specialized him in sports injuries.

Dr. Greg off to work.

On to the Real World...

Greg joined a sports practice with two other doctors and had his first clinic with his very own patients this morning. Being the new guy, and the others not retiring or leaving, his patient level will most likely be low until he gets his foot, neck, and head in the door and people find out about him.

Office door

The office had already put advertisements in our local paper, sent them to general practicitoners offices, placed his name on the office building directory, and he will have an ad in the new phone directories come November. All of this is exciting, but a little unnerving too. He has been training the past six years for this but has always had someone looking over his shoulder, or just a phone call away if he had questions or wasn't sure someting was going the way it should. I asked him this morning if he was was nervous (which he rarely is) and he said no not really. He then said, my first surgery alone, now that's another story. Over the weekend we took his office chair to the office along with a slough of his books. We still need to have all of his diplomas and certificates framed alike to hang there, as well as a few other minor things. It was so surreal to actually walk into an office where his name is hanging on the wall and door. It is so exciting but is hard to imagine we are finally here.

Greg's office

I am so proud of Greg and the extremely long journey he undertook and successfully finished. He is great at what he does and I feel he has done everything possible and gone above and beyond to prepare for his career. He has been well liked by his peers and most of the staff. The patients he has cared for thus far have been very gracious for the understanding and care he has shown them. He has great bed side manner and will sit and talk to patients much longer than expected if he feels they need a little more of his time. He has often joked about having to have "Bishops' talks" while taking care of teenagers that aren't doing the things they should. He not only has concerns for his family, but for total strangers. I am amazed at this quality in him.


Congratulations honey for a job well done. I hope your first day was everything you expected and hoped it would be. I love you HUGE and I'm so proud of you!!!

Birthday Girl

Happy 32nd Birthday Jen

Today I wanted to wish Jenny a very happy day. I couldn't ask for a better friend and could list way more than 32 things I love or know about her, but I'll keep with blogger tradition and post just 32 of them.

1. Our morning walks are a must.

2. She loves being a mom and is great at it.

3. She doesn't mind being a bit silly with me.

4. Her love for Chuy's is almost as great as mine.

5. She gives way more than is ever expected or asked of her.

6. She is my "where are we going today" friend.

7. She is super outgoing and has forced me to push a little of my shyness aside and has made me more outgoing.

8. I finally got her to switch to Diet Coke and she loves it ALMOST as much as me.

9. She never runs errands without calling to see if I have had my Diet Coke fix and brings me one if I haven't.

10. She was my Room Mom partner and did way more than I did.

11. Is NOT a procrastinator.

12. She loves to clean and organize things. She might just have a job when we are packing and unpacking after we move.

14. She loves to go to the Temple.

15. She rarely misses her Visiting Teaching.

16. Our girlfriend getaway weekend will be a yearly tradition.

17. We like most of the same things. You can look at our wardrobes, shoes, cars, etc. and see that.

18. She always is willing to share a meal with me.

19. We are often mistaken for each other and referred to as sisters, twins, and even mother and daughter once. Even people at church get us confused, as well as Greg and Doug.

20. She loves and supports Doug completely.

21. She loves to get pedicures with me.

22. Jenny and I have the same middle name, just different spelling. Ann & Anne

23. She always knows when I need a little pick me up, phone call, break from the kids and is willing to help me out always.

24. She watches or has my kids over to play at her house more than she should.

25. She NEVER forgets to write and send thank you cards. Me on the other hand not so good at keeping up.

26. She loves to shop.

27. We both got makeovers for the first time from MAC. Why we waited so long, I have no idea.

28. She convinced me to dress up for Halloween, something I haven't done in years!

29. She is a convert to our church and has a strong testimony.

30. She eats Chips Ahoy cookies and milk every night and stays skinny!

31. We connected as soon as we met and I'm sure I will be lost without her next year.

32. She is a special friend that will remain that way always.

I hope you have a fabulous day full of love, laughter, smiles, and great memories. Love Ya Tons!

I'll see you in a week. I'll miss you.

Wish Jenny a happy birthday here.

07/07/07

Some may call this day a lucky one. Since seven is supposedly a lucky number, and seeing how the month, day, and year were all sevens, I heard much talk about today being a lucky day. There were a more than normal number of weddings planned for this day. Not to mention the very publicized(maybe this was only in San Antonio) Eva and Tony's wedding that took place in Paris. I'm not real sure why so many people were relying on a lucky number to determine their wedding day, the amount of love they shared or didn't share, to make getting married on any other day just as good or special of a day as another. Hopefully these couples are enough in love and have their priorities in order that their love, marriages, and lives together will last forever.

Even though as a younger individual, I claimed the number seven as my very own lucky number, I don't really consider myself to think about having luck, or not having it. I do find myself a person who is extremely blessed. Others may categorize some of my blessings as luck, but I like to label them blessings. So today, on this "blessed" day I thought I would list seven things I call my greatest blessings.

1~The knowledge that I am a daughter of God. My belief in Him and my Savior Jesus Christ. My simple, but strong testimony of the Gospel. The knowledge of The Atonement of Jesus Christ and the opportunity I have to right my wrong choices and be more like Him. The blessing and knowledge of giving service to others. The opportunities I am given to share the things I have been blessed with, with others. The Gospel is a most cherished blessing.

2~Parents and family that helped me learn right from wrong and helped me become the person I am today. They taught me the Gospel and the importance of a Temple marriage. They taught me to be caring and to give service to others. They taught me how to build relationships and how to play and have fun. They taught me about love and how to love. My parents and family are surely a blessing in my life.

3~Faith and Joy. I have sometimes struggled with having faith and finding joy in things that I, or someone I love, is faced with. I am realizing more and more that to truly find joy in all things I must gain stonger faith. I have to know that things happen or don't happen for reasons beyond my control. At sometimes things are the way they are so that we can become a stronger and better person. I feel blessed to have faith in all things. I feel blessed to know I can find joy and happiness in all things as well.

4~I feel blessed to have shelter, food, clothing, and other needs. I feel blessed, that all of those needs are met without too much difficulty. I feel blessed that not only are my needs met, but a lot of my wants and desires are made possible, too. I feel blessed that my husband has a job that brings home a paycheck so we can sustain our family's needs and wants.

5~Health. I, as well as my family, are blessed with good health. Other than the common colds, coughs, and aches we all face, we are a pretty much a healthy bunch. We are able to run, jump, and play. We all have the stenghth and ability to sustain us each day during our various activities. I consider mine and my family's health to be a great blessing.

6~Three beautiful girls that are all unique in their own way. One being super sensitive, shy, but finding she has an outgoing side. She is a helper, and loves when I give her things to do. Another being, funny, adventurous, and a talker. She laughs, wants learn, and loves chores. And another trying to still be our baby while growing oh too fast. She still enjoys snuggles, sippy cups, and does her fair share of whining, all the while competing for talk time, riding her bike and having us all in giggles every day. How different they each are but how beautiful and special they are in my eyes. I am truly blessed to call myself a mother. No greater job or calling is there than that of a Mom.


7~A wonderful man that has blessed my life more than I ever thought possible. He is dedicated to his family and is our provider. He loves the Gospel and honors his Priesthood. He loves the scriptures and quotes them on a daily basis. He loves his career and can't wait to start caring for his own patients and seeing the blessings in their lives. He is caring, honest, loving, and giving. He is understanding, positive, thoughtful, and intelligent. He's hardworking, selfless, funny, optimistic, and a friend to everyone. He is determined, has great integrity, and renders service to others constantly. He is truly an example of the person I hope to be. I am truly blessed to have him as my partner, friend, and husband, forever. Greg, my special blessing.


I'm not sure how lucky I am, but after doing this post I again realized what a blessed person I am.

Our 4th of July

Since it has been raining daily here in SA for the month, I wasn't surprised that as I lay in bed on the eve of the 4th, that it was thunderstorming. Our ward pancake breakfast and fun run was scheduled for 730 am and I admit I wasn't thrilled about rising early to go. I knew I wanted to get my exercise in early but after my sweet, precious, little three year old woke me several times between 1230 (the time I headed to bed) and 630 when my alarm went off I found myself hoping to here the sounds of thunder, sprinkles, downpours, or something that would allow me to stay in bed. I drug myself out of bed, and peered through our bedroom blinds to find it already had rained and didn't look like it would rain in the next hour or so. We headed out to do the 5K run/walk. Greg ran with some of the guys in the ward, while I pushed Maryn in the jogger trying to jog at least half of the course. Mackenzi and Maci even joined in on the fun and ran half of the race with me. We had breakfast, well I didn't, pancakes aren't my favorite so I mostly socialized.

Me & Maryn finishing our 3 miles

After the breakfast Greg went to study and the girls and I came home. Not long after we were home it started to rain. My girls are so bored as it is, seeing how the Clouse kids are miles away enjoying sunshine, swimming, and scorching temperatures, and we have been enjoying alot of indoor activites. They asked what we were doing the rest of the day and I had no plans or even options for them. So I loaded them up and we went to the gym. I could workout again and they could play with other kids and be occupied for awhile. It was a win/win situation.

The girls & I waiting for the fireworks and what later would be rain.

The gang doing sparklers.

Since we hadn't made big plans for a bbq at home we did the next best thing(or in my eyes a better thing) and went to Rudy's for dinner. We met up with two other families from our ward there. After dinner we drove to Boerne, a small town about 15 miles away, and watched fireworks and let the kids do some sparklers and a few other minor "fireworks". It then decided to rain on our fun once again. We got out the umbrellas, and continued to enjoy the fireworks (through a big tree) until they were done. We had a fun time even though Maci and Maryn opted to sit inside the truck because it was too loud for them. Iy turned out to be an okay holiday even without much planning and with the weather issues we encountered.

John & Greg trying to stay dry

Me & Ellice watching mostly rain and not many fireworks

Brad, Tilane, and some of the kids taking shelter in their van from the rain.