El-Yo's World

2009-03-28T11:08:00.000-07:00

I promise promise to post more soon, but in the meantime please welcome Simon's new half brother Baker who was born two days ago! We're very excited to meet this little guy and his big brother Just Jack in a few short weeks.

Some Fall time pics

2008-09-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

Studly

2008-09-12T10:11:00.001-07:00

This picture totally makes me laugh, do you think I should sign him up for one of those crazy baby modeling things? I could very easily fulill the role of neurotic mother, oh wait, I already do...

Simon and Ian

Grumpa trying to convince Simon that canoeing really is fun.

These pics were from a fun day at the lake about a month ago with friends and family. An annual event that is so much fun, especially watching a new generation emerge and grow. We had such a fun summer and are sad to see it go, but with a passing summer comes early fall and apple picking and hay rides and Halloween and Wiggly concerts in Massachusetts, likely to be the highlight of our fall season this year. Simon is well of course, growing like a weed, talking up a storm and getting ready for football season, he's been practicing being "big Ben". Unfortunetly his being big Ben the other day ended him up in the toilet and crying for help, don't ask, I'm not even sure what happened :)

Simon is potty trained too! A big accomplishment that he and we are very proud of. No more diapers! It was a little (just a little) sad to put away all those cute cloth diaper covers and replace them with Handy Manny and Thomas the Train underwear, but I love not have all the laundry and it certainly make outings that much easier. Our boy certainly is growing up. Too fast.

I'm enjoying my new job, with all its newfound responsibility, although I still have to squelch that urge in the middle of the night when I get paged with, "Mr. X has a fever, his blood pressure is in the toilet and he can't breathe," to say, "Shouldn't you call a doctor?" I suppose everything in it's own time. However, I am on vacation this week and loving being home and spending time with people other than my coworkers, who I do love, don't get me wrong! It's just nice to have time to do other things like finally file Simon's second parent adoption paperwork. It has always irked me a little (okay a lot) that his birth certificate only has my name on it and says that I was "unmarried" at the time of his birth.

I'll try not to make it another two months without updates pics of the boy, but time is precious right now. Too precious. Blessings to those who put the cap on 80 hour work weeks though, it could have been much much worse.

I love my new job!!!

2008-07-06T06:11:00.000-07:00

Hooray! I started my real job last Monday. It was a difficult week with the transition, although not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I am so excited about getting started for real and I love love love the team I am working with. We have had a really fun week in spite of the numerous hours of computer training and team meetings and CPR training. Yuck. I feel so fortunate, not only do I think the other residents are great, but the faculty are wonderful too. I did the call schedule for the year with another intern and it turns out that we only have 25 days on call for the year. That turns out to be about once every two weeks. A far cry from the every fourth night call that most interns have! I feel so lucky and glad to have such a well established program that we are able to do that. And I thin quite possibly the best things about my job is FREE FOOD! That's right doctors eat for free.

Things at home are great. Simon has had a ton of fun this fourth of July weekend, he got to spend the night at Grammie and Grumpa's house on Friday night after a fun day celebrating Merma's 81st birthday. She's doing well, it's sad when she has some insight that she isdemented like the comment, "I just don't understand why I can't remember that my mom and dad died already." Although she is just so funny when she says things like, "That Garth never was too bright!" After my brother (Eric) made some bonehead comment. Oh well.

Yesterday we went to a seafood place in Portland which was so yummy and then we went off to a baseball game. Today maybe the beach and then the first birthday party of the Barstow babies (Lion's Den). I can't believe they are a year old already! Congratulations and a shout out to Chris and Becca for making it through the first year. I was so blessed to be a part of the birth of these two wonderful kids (even though Liz won't let me near her right now). It's so amazing to be present at a birth and even more special when they're friends! Oh boy, getting a little sappy...I just love watching kids grow!

We have some friend staying with us this weekend too which has been fun. Xavier and I built a train city last night for Simon to play trains with that takes up most of the living room. Tomorrow, back to work! I think this may be one of the last times back to work ends in an exclamation point.

2008-06-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

As promised, pics from graduation! It went off without a hitch, diploma received and I did not trip! Simon had lots of fun after eating the cookies, making new friends and playing with old friend we hadn't seen in a long while!

Simon and Mommy after the ceremony.

Simon feeding me the cookie he stole from a classmate of mine, I think he felt he deserved it more! Simon in his "graduyation hat!"

Simon and me and our friends Andrea and Iris, Iris was born our first year of med school in May and Andy took some time off with her baby too, so we were able to graduate together! With da besties...

A couple impromptu family shots outside of City Hall

And finally some time at home to relax with our favorite family of six... From left, Megan, Taryn, Shaelyn, Simon and Sean in the front...

Early AM conversation

2008-06-28T05:37:00.000-07:00

Simon: I don't like juice.
Me: Really? What do you like?
Simon: Peaches and not the pit, bananas and Mommy!

June

2008-06-10T10:38:00.001-07:00

...has turned out to se a very fun month for us so far. Yes, I made it to graduation day, I have lots of pics of the ceremony and the party, but have yet to find the camera cord in the moving madness but will certainly blog about graduation at a later date.

I do have some pics, however, of our very fun and special playdate with Simon's donor sister Ally and her mom Elizabeth and best pal Nancy. We were so excited to meet their little family and watch our children play together. The kids had a great time, a for two two year olds with missed naps were just wonderful. We played at the playgroup, took lots of pictures, got to know each other a little bit and had a yummy lunch complete with brownies for Ally and ice cream for Simon. It was just so cool to see the kids together, and I hope for Simon and Ally that this is just the beginning of a relationship they would like to continue. A wonderful day, two beautiful kids, a very special connection, we are so lucky. Here are some pics of our day!

Simon and Ally eat crayons (must be a donor trait!)

Hey where's that ticker go?

2008-05-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

you know the one on graduation countdown...two weeks from today.

Back in action....

2008-05-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

My oh my this whole month has been such a whirlwind and now it's Memorial Day weekend?? Where has the month gone? We had a really good time in Niagara Falls until Simon started puking the morning of Marks' Wedding. He didn't stop until well into the evening and we both missed the wedding. We were so so disappointed, I was looking forward to seeing Mark and his wife and meeting his family we've heard so much about. Impecable timing. Oh well, I suppose things happen, but what a bummer!

Simon was a trooper through his illness. He even made the comment after he threw up for the first time, "ewww that was dross (gross)". Poor little guy. He had a great time with his cousin Nicholas though, they were sooo cute together. Nicky is 10 months old and such a sweet little guy. Simon just loved to make him laugh, and cry apparently as one time I heard him yell for Kim from the living room, "Mama! I'm sitting on baby Nicky!" I don't know if he knew that sitting on your cousin earns you a time out. Life's big lessons learned on vacation in New York.

Simon also enjoyed the "big water" (the falls) and the Hard Rock Cafe. We tried to make a baseball game, but ended the trip a day early since everyone was feeling a little under the weather at that point. Oh and the trick to keeping a toddler entertained for 10 (!) hours in the car...borrow his big sister's portable DVD player. If I have to watch Wiggle Bay one more time...

Simon, baby Nick and cousin Tony

Heading out of town!

2008-05-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

We are finally starting to feel settled in the new house. Simon has become more of his normal self, it is very very nice! We did some planting (flowerboxes) around the house and I dug up the garden for planting soon! We're heading out of town tomorrow to Niagara Falls to see family and go to our friend Mark's wedding! We always thought Mark would be the eternal bachelor, but he's marrying a wonderful woman this Saturday in Toronto. We'll probably be gone until the following Monday or Tuesday and we will update them with pictures of our trip. Think of us tomorrow, 10 hours in the car with a very active two year old...GROAN. And when we return, let the graduation fun begin!

Sweet little guy

2008-05-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

Heard from Simon on Monday morning, "Mommy, when we go home to our regular house?" Despite this he is doing remarkably well with the transition.

We've moved!

2008-05-04T16:56:00.001-07:00

After tons of anticpating and packing craziness we've finally arrived safe and sound at our new house! Simon has been very relieved to see that all his toys made it and spent his first half hour or so here walking around saying, "Look Mommy, my movies made it! Look Mommy, my people made it! Look Mama my trains made it!" I think he was just in awe of the whole transition and has handled the whole thing absolutley beautifully. He was a little edgy those first few days that he spent at Grammie and Grump's house but did very well overall there. Last night was his first night in the new house and we had set up both his crib and his bed in his new (purple!) room. He chose the big boy bed for both bed last night and nap and bed tonight. He's taken to the new bed and hasn't looked back. What a big boy. He did ask me today when we were going home...still I don't think he quite gets it...must be so confusing for the little guy, it's just amazing how well he's done.

We've been busy unpacking, which has also gone very smoothly, most of the rooms are either done or waiting on something to be done, like hanging a medicine cabinet to put stuff into it. The office/Molly's room is waiting on shelving being custom made for the room so that room is full of boxes of books, the kitchen is waiting for our china hutch which hopefully is coming tomorrow. So there's things to do, but seems we're waiting on other things to happen first. In any event, the house is lovely, almost feels like home, I'm sure it will more so when ALL the boxes are gone. The neighborhood is great, aside from the (very nice) neighbors with the cars in the backyard (hello fence). I visited the local movie store tonight since we don't have TV to zone out to yet and it was just so nice to have something like that (and ice cream, the library a candy store and a yummy pizza place) all within a couple blocks of us. It's just so different from living in OOB. Everything is just so...close.

I'll post pics of the house soon, but right now I have no idea where the camera is and not a whole lot of energy to look for it!

Springtime!

2008-04-18T17:38:00.000-07:00

Finally!

Weekend in review...

2008-04-14T04:17:00.000-07:00

We had a very nice weekend at home. I had to work most of the day on Saturday, but Simon and Kim went to his very first movie at the theater! They saw Horton Hears a Who and ate a big bag of popcorn and M&M's. I guess Simon got a belly ache about halfway through, but he was a trooper. He got to wear earplugs just like Grumpa, which was VERY COOL. He's been talking about his movie, "who hears a who" ever since.

The other eventful incident of the weekend happened last night at dinner. I had finished and was trying (unsuccessfully) to replace the lock on the sliding glass door in the dining room. I heard Simon talking with mama about a "big booger". She laughed and said the would worry about it after dinner. Simon proceeded to shove his entire finger up his nose and start to cry about his "bog booger". Which led to a flashlight, which led to a set of tweezers, which led to a plump raisin being plucked from the depths of my sons right nostril. Poor guy. Poor moms, it was very traumatic. Although he got over it quickly and was excited to tell everyone that he shoved a raisin up his nose at dinner! I doubt he'll do that again.

One track mind....

2008-04-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

We've been home for a few hours now, had dinner, settling in for the night. I would love to spend some QT with the little guy, but all he seems to want to do tonight is play hockey, serious hockey, like throw your entire body into the door to make the bang noise kind of hockey. Mommy just doesn't have it in her tonight for full contact sports, where's Grumpa when you need him? So I went through my list of things we could do instead, build a block tower, read some books, snuggle on the couch with a TV show...no no no....finally as a last resort I turned to, "I could bring your giraffe down from upstairs and you could ride it for a little while." His reply, "YEAH!!! Mommy, then I can be the Zamboni". Boy oh boy.

Just Jack

2008-04-08T11:04:00.000-07:00

I just found out from Simon's donor brother Jack's mom that Jack has a blog too written by his grandpa! You can just click on the link to the side to check out this little cutie! Simon has two (wonderful, adorable) donor siblings that we are in contact with. Jack is 18 months and he and his family live in a nice toasty warm southern state...lucky Jack! Simon loves to carry Jack's valentine's day picture around the house and give him kisses he calls him, "donor bruddah Zack"...close enough for a two year old.

REWARD!!!

2008-04-04T16:10:00.000-07:00

Homemade waffles with apple pie jam for anyone who returns my sweet boy and takes this little crab apple away! Simon has been so...OFF this week. I don't know what it is exactly, but he has just goes from being this fun loving little guy into a holy terror. He's not sleeping well, maybe 8-10 hours at night, but not in any predictable order and usually not entirely in his own bed. His naps last anywhere from 0 to 45 minutes, a far cry from his 2 hour naps normally. Just not sure what's up with him. My friend Kate says that his brain or his body must be in transition. I sure hope it ends soon, I hate transition!

2008-03-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

I took little Elyo to the mall on Thursday, I was thinking it was maybe (hopefully maybe) time for some Crocs that will last through the spring and summer. We had a great time, except that I forgot the stroller so I had to coax my two and a half year old from one end of the mall to the other, no small feat. He picked out a pair of ruby colored crocs for this year "Murray colored" for all you Wiggles fans out there and this very exciting firefighter hat. He was so excited! We came home and Grump came over and helped him get this baseball stuff from the very packed basement. Since this day my days have been filled with tantrums about wanting to play baseball. It seems in my boys head he is already in the major leagues, but his body just won't cooperate. It must be hard being two. He can't get his glove on by himself, he wants to pitch, bat and field all at the same time, he doesn't understand why his damn glove won't stay open.... We actually got out the video camera to record the meltdown at 7:45 this morning about baseball and its inadequacies. I figure he'll get a kick out of it when he really is in the major leagues.

On another note, Si had his first gymnastics class this morning. He was a little nervy about the parallel bars, but loved the trampoline and the ball pit. He also loved his coach Paul, who was also Mommy's coach years ago, we've really come full circle. Sounds like he had a blast and is looking forward to going back next week. In blogland, a shout out to Uterusx2, partner and big brother on the arrival of their two new additions.

Easter Bunny comin'...

2008-03-21T05:02:00.000-07:00

Simon has been so excited about Easter. For the past two weeks he has been waking up every morning saying, "KNOW WHAT? EASTAH BUNNY COMIN' IN TWO WEEKS!" He doesn't quite understand that with the passage of time it's not two weeks for ever. His daycare really pumps up the Easter bunny thing, I thought that talking about it three weeks before the day was a little far in advance for a little guy. Last night I picked him up from daycare and he was listing all the family member he's going to see very soon, of note this year, Uncle Donut (apparently Simon does understand that Donut it not actually his uncles's name, he told daycare that he's Uncle Scott, "BUT I CALL HIM UNCLE DONUT!"), Windy, Megan, Taryn, Someone (poor Shaelyn) and Sean. "I SO SITED TO SEE MY COUSINS!" See you soon Donovans!

Maple Sugar Weekend

2008-03-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

This is one of our favorite weekends of the year. For me it's always signified the beginning of Spring. Not this year, of course it was still one of my favorite things to do but there was something lost this year. Instead of clumping around the farm in out rain boots to keep out the mud, jackets open and eating maple sugar candy outside, we were all bundled up because it was only 25 degrees outside in snowsuits, freezings our butts off as we tried to take Simon to see the cows in the barn.

We go to Harris Farm every year on Maple Sugar Weekend, they do a delicious pancake breakfast and open their sugar house for everyone to see them boil down the sap they collect from the trees on the farm and everything is so yummy and smells delicious. This year was still really fun, just also really cold. Simon was scared of the cows, we couldn't get him within 30 feet of a live cow, so we just watched from a distance. He loved the sugar house and the steamy smell of maple syrup. We came home with full bellies and a very tired kiddo, but what a fun morning. I don't know that spring is right around the corner in our neck of the woods, but winter holds some pretty fun things too!

Pancake Breakfast! YUMMY!

Checking out the maple trees with Mom.

And one picture from last weekend's hockey game. My boy takes his sports VERY seriously.

Our New House

2008-03-13T06:39:00.000-07:00

I finally feel okay talking about the house we have under contract since it looks like it actually might go through. We are so excited! We have had such a hard time getting financing with my astronomical student loans and very pathetic salary for next year. We finally were able to go through a loan program with the National Association of Doctors and Wells Fargo which *theoretically* was allowing them to overlook my student loan debt. Four committment letters later, my student loans are finally off the committment letter and we are mostly clear to close. My goodness this process took forever, and of course the most intense time (yesterday) I was home with the flu. I got a call from the loan man and he said "the underwriter has decided that we have to count your student loan debt", goodbye house we love. He told me that he was going to his supervisor and would call me back. No call back, but an approved committment letter at 5:00 PM. It was a long afternoon.

So here's a pic of our new house. We close May 2nd. We're probably going to keep this house too and rent it out, the market is really slow right now, so this seems like a good plan for now. Our new house is lovely, big backyard, tons of character, bright and sunny, no carpetting, lots or storage and in amazing shape. We just can't wait. We're pretty packed and ready to go!

And in health news, I'm back to (almost) normal. I have lysoled the bedroom, working on washing all the bedding, vacuumed the floors...hopefully to ward of influenza B from ever returning.

Positive...

2008-03-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

for Influenza B. Crap, that means I'm out of work for another week. How come this didn't happen when I still in school and paying to be at the hospital rather than now when I get paid for going to work every day and have no paid time off? Still feeling totally junky, but starting to miss being around people and food looks a little better, these are good signs I hope.

The flu found us...

2008-03-08T16:48:00.000-08:00

At this point on lovely home could very well be referred to as biohazard and placed in a big red bin. I had a great overnight shift on the hotline Thursday night and work up Friday morning feeling kind of crummy. I drove home and spent the morning with my boy, my wife, and our friend Jess who came for a visit. Kim took Simon to school and I took a nap after my overnight shift, during which I really got plenty of sleep, I think I only had 2 phone calls. I woke up feeling crummier and have since plumetted from there. Yuck. Fever, chills, hacking cough, achy, just overall horrible. Simon started coughing this afternoon and had a fever of 102.6. We laid in bed together and watched Barney, I was too sick to care that it was Barney and he loved every minute of it. It's nice to get to snuggle with my little guy even if we're both feeling yucky.

Tagged!

2008-03-06T08:08:00.000-08:00

I've never been tagged before, thanks Ente. Sometimes blogwork feels like a big popularity contest, not sure if I'm popular yet. I'm supposed to tag other people, but really, I don't know many other bloggers who read my blog, so here's your chance to de-lurk, and maybe make my list longer if I'm ever tagged again...my assignment was to turn the book I'm reading currently to page 123 and record the first five sentances. I hope that this turns into just a list of goodbooks to read now that I'm done with school. I'm reading Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald, which was recommended to me by my friend Kate. True to Kate's word, it's a very light and fun yet culturally interesting read.

page 123, "Screw finding a husband!" I laugh. Eva wears a short skirt and thigh-high boots and clops along with a sexual confidence I know I can never match. Nor would I want to. Nor do I want to swear like her, but I love it when she does.
What is everyone else reading these days? Those of you that have time to read that is...
Med School Mama, you're tagged, you reading these days? And littlestpea...you too. The rest of you, de-lurk and start blogging so I can tag you.

Mama Atkinson, if you're reading, you're probably busy with the new little guy! A big congrats to my friend Kelly, husband Mark and big sis Kayla, on the birth of their new addition Ian Carter, born on Leap Year day in the evening after a drug-free labor and delivery. Check him out, he's really cute.

Things in El-Yo's world are great, except for the two nights of interrupted sleep in a row which consist of Simon coming into bed with us and then trying to carry on conversations in the middle of the night. He tosses, he turns, he never sleeps, I bring him back to his room, he cries, "I want to sleep in Mommy-Mama's bed!" I go back to sleep in my own bed, Simon in his own bed, repeat three hours later. Poor little guy, he's been battling a cold for the last few days, not bad enough for him to stay home, although we did yesterday, but bad enough to keep him up at night coughing. He sounds pretty tight, but his lungs are clear and he doesn't have a fever. Damn winter. But in spite of that he's cute, really cute, and so fun right now. He spent yesterday with his friend Alexa and her brother and sister, "Baby Jake and Yiz (Liz)". He had tons of fun, the kids ran around like crazy and it made from a nice icy Wednesday. I just love being home with him more now that I'm done with school. I'm sure it would be more fun if he were healthy, but it's so much more fun that going to work anyway. I've been working quite a bit in the evenings at a crisis hotline here in Portland. Very interesting and a nice low key job. I wonder what's wrong with me that I think crisis work is low key? But really, I only take a few calls in a shift and if I'm lucky get some face to face time, and the rest of the time I get to read or watch TV on the computer, not a bad job at all!

Countdown continues....

2008-02-29T09:46:00.000-08:00

a little over two hours, one hundred and thirty four minutes to be exact...no love lost here....goodbye UNE.

EDITED TO ADD: done. ahhhhh... now if only we could be sure that the sale of our new house will go through I could really relax....

Move over picasso...

2008-02-22T15:57:00.001-08:00

One very tired monkey....

2008-02-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

Who spent his naptime at school talking to himself and trying to cajole his teachers into getting him out of his crib, "Hey Bobbie, be Simon's friend, get Simon out." Of course all said in his sweetest most innocent voice, what are we going to do with him? And what day is complete without a 7:00 trip to Grumpa's house to see the "hish" he got on his ice fishing trip this weekend and a cookie from Grammie loaded with sugar, which led to this fun episode...I hope he's finally asleep. Enjoy.

Match Day 2008

2008-02-11T07:41:00.000-08:00

done. phew. I'm not going to reveal here in blogland where I am going to be to do my residency training, but to my dear friends med school mama and med student (now doc) who knits, I made a (very) hard choice and I will miss you both next year, it was just going to be too far for me everyday. And really, our two towns of employment aren't that far apart! So, hooray for getting my number one choice, glad it's over. 14.5 more working days, 18 more days total...the light gets brighter.

Picture day...

2008-02-10T17:47:00.000-08:00

Actually quite tiring. Everyone was a good sport though. One hundred dollars in professional pics, kind of expensive on the med student budget. Keeping your mother quiet, because now she has new pics of the kids...priceless! For your viewing pleasure...

And one of Simon's snowman he made today with his mama, he named him Snowpants. He's so witty.

Blog for Choice Day 2008

2008-02-02T09:48:00.000-08:00

...one of the things I love most about my friend Andrea (med school mama) is that she keeps me in the loop of things like blog for choice day. Appropriately timed for me as I have been making my way (tearfully) through an amazing collection of essays on issues of reproductive choice including adoption, abortion, parenthood, pregnancy, childbirth and infertility. Kim asked me last night if I had ever thought about writing my story of reproductive choice, and then here today is...blogging for choice. And don't all women have a story to tell, choicing to have children, choosing not to, choosing to continue with or terminate pregnancies....I think these stories are fasinating. They bring me to tears, they make me smile and giggle, they make me envious and thankful.

My own struggle with reproductive choice long and trying and heartbreaking and in the end miraculous. I made a choice to continue trying despite the best efforts and pursuasion otherwise of many well meaning friends, providers and family members. I was tested again and again on my ability to continue seeking fertility treatments, after my first miscarriage, after my second, after the discovery of a "maternal thrombophilia" (maternal I thought, hah, doesn't that imply the ability to conceive in the first place?), after a stay in the hospital with ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome following my first (cancelled) IVF cycle, after fight after fight with my insurance company to keep paying, after the first FET which left me in tears on the way to Boston thankful that one of my two embroys had survived the thaw, only to be disappointed yet again two weeks later. I chose to continue. Infertility ruled my life, it encompassed my thoughts, it was my driving force, it was heartache and hurt and more tears than I ever thought possible, it became me, it overwhelmed me.

When I found out I was pregnant in March of 2005, after my second IVF cycle, I cried and cried. Not because I was happy, oh I had been told I was pregnant before, I was scared, so scared. The fear never left. The fear that something would go wrong, the fear that at my next visit with my OB my baby would be dead. The fear that my "maternal thrombophilia" would terminate my pregnancy prematurely. And when I ended up in the hospital at 31 weeks with a severely low amniotic fluid level, I wasn't the least bit surprised. Here was the other shoe, it was too good to be true. The only thing that surprised me the entire 36 5/7 weeks was the birth of my beautiful, healthy son. Because my body had felt to me like so much of a failure, I didn't really expect that it was capable of doing someting so incredibly right. He was here, and perfect, and a miracle.

I still carry infertility with me. It doesn't rule my life anymore, now my two year old does that, but it's always there and I suspect it always will be. It changed me forever. And as we stand on the brink of beginning this arduous journey yet again I am fearful of course and I wonder if I have the strength to do it again, but I know the happy ending, and I hope lightning will strike twice in the same place.

There was a slideshow someone sent me during my struggle trying to conceive Simon and I share it with you because it's so important. It still makes me cry, it still brings me back to a place I never want to return to again, but in the end it makes me so thankful that I had a choice.
http://www.tearsandhope.com/emptyarms_video.html

Some new Simon pics...

2008-01-31T12:04:00.000-08:00

I was laughing with a woman at work the other day about how we have folders with about 50 pictures in each of Simon's first 12 weeks of life, one for each week of course. Then it became a folder for each month and it has very quickly become a folder for the entire year. Sorry I'm a camera slacker.

The newest addition to Simon's wardrobe, his "Grump shirt", which he insists on wearing every waking moment and saying very loudly, "YOOK MOMMY! I YOOK YIK RUM-PA!"

Contracted...

2008-01-20T05:09:00.000-08:00

...finally. We found a house, we made an offer, we got a great deal and we're under contract. Of course a lot is dependant on the sale of our house, but it's a step in the right direction. We love love love the house. It's in South Portland, 0.3 miles from our best pals, a house with lots of potential, but not in the way that realtors talk about houses with lots of potential. I learned in realtor speak a house with lots of potential = a dump that with thousands could be not so bad. We're plan to put in a new kitchen and maybe an expanded, but certainly new bathroom. Otherwise it really only needs refinished floors and paint. It has a great backyard (I think, looks nice anyway with two feet of snow covering it) and a garage. It's very cute, and we're really psyched.

Otherwise things are normal. My grandmother is improving every day. I had a dream last night they discharged her from rehab, I think it was more like a nightmare. I love having her close and would be very concerned if she went home, so concerned I might spend every night driving to her place to check in on her. We're going to take her to breakfast this morning, which will be nice for her to get out of the nursing home for a bit.

Kim and I signed up for a race in March. It's a 7 mile relay with 4.5 miles of bike, 2 miles of run and then a sled to the bottom of the hill around Back Bay. Should be fun, and cold...

COMLEX-PE scores were released Friday. I passed. It's unfortunate that I spent $1000 on this exam and all they tell me is, I passed. No feedback, no constructive criticism, no "here's what you do well." Just, you passed. But still a relief. Boards done, urology halfway over and now not nearly as bad as it was that first week, one more rotation to schedule and six more weeks of school...the countdown continues. And if we don't have enough going on we have an appointment with our RE in a few weeks, round two mayhaps? We'll see.

There's something satisfying....

2008-01-11T16:18:00.000-08:00

...about seeing your pomous ass (very rich) attending driving to work in....his MINIVAN!

Uncharted territory

2008-01-11T06:27:00.000-08:00

....urology. Not my area of expertise, for obvious reasons, but I guess that's why I'm here. Be it known that I would much rather be spending my days attending deliveries and catching babies. It's been a long week, to say the least. The new rotation is okay although I miss the quiet peacefulness of my abandoned family practice rotation. The attending leaves much to be desired, but I don't hate it too much.

I spent the better part of this week and last weekend in the hospital with my grandmother. I got a call from Kim on Saturday while I was at work that (demented) grandmother was standing naked from the waist down in the kitchen and was quite confused when Kim showed up for her Saturday morning visit. She called rescue on my recommendation and they brought her to the ER where she proceeded to go downhill from that moment on. Kim took the kids home and I stayed with Merma in the ER trying to encourage her not to rip her IV out of her arm for the second time. I called family to notify them of this unexpected turn of events. My parents were vacationing in Myrtle Beach, my uncle at work, and my aunt very quickly on the road to Maine from Massachusetts. She was admitted on Saturday night with pneumonia and has since been recovering beautifully. She was transferred yesterday to rehab and is in surprisingly good spirits, she keeps telling me she's going home tomorrow. Okay, fine, whatever gets her through the days. I don't know at this point that she'll go home at all. Getting old must suck.

Simon has enjoyed visiting Merma at the hospital. He asks to go everyday and expects that the visit will include ice cream and "cow milk". He's in heaven. Last night he wheeled the walker around the nursing home saying, "I DRIVING!" The residents got a kick out of him. We'll probably head back tonight after I grocery shop. Did I mention in addition to all that fun and excitement our furnace died and we have spent the last three days at my parents house? What a week.

Match rank order list submitted, seven more weeks of school, still waiting on PE exam score...nearly there....

Another one bites the dust....

2008-01-03T17:44:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow markes the end of a super fabulous rotation that I have been on for the past two plus months. Sometimes being a med student is so hard. I just feel so transient all the time, and when I finally find a place where I really connect with providers and office staff it's off to something else. In this case it's off to urology, which makes this goodbye even more difficult. I have spent the last two months with an exam room OF MY OWN, a luxury unheard of for a student, the priviledge to see nearly all of the providers patients, ON MY OWN, to precept with him a plan or care I developed ON MY OWN, and this will all end tomorrow at 5:00. I will head to the hospital where I will have the priviledge of following around some pompous ass attending, and getting asked to do exciting tasks like photocopying and vital sign taking. I will have next to none of the autonomy I have become accustomed to and I will once again be put in my place. YOU ARE JUST A STUDENT...yeah, but only for eight more weeks you pompous ass. And this my friends is what I am paying $40,000 a year for, and no, this doesn't include room and board. The final countdown begins...57 more days. Deep breath.

And if this doesn't just melt your heart....

2007-12-30T10:22:00.001-08:00

So, so sweet.

Boards...

2007-12-26T07:05:00.000-08:00

PASSED!!! Two down, one to go. I should know about the PE component in the next couple weeks or so, but the written is done (successfully). Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I'll update on ours soon, for now will relish in my most recent Christmas gift! I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Worth a thousand words....

2007-12-22T17:14:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, love Simon

MMR and more....

2007-12-19T12:13:00.000-08:00

...so we took the plunge again. Each time I give Simon an immunization I hold my breath waiting for something weird to happen to him and when nothing happens I am always incredibly relieved and shocked at the same time. The other day Simon had his first MMR, yes the one scheduled for 18 months, yes the one many have tried to link to the development of autism in children, yes the one loaded with preservatives and horrible chemicals that do not need to be coarsing through the bloodstream of my little boy. But I did it anyway, along in the past year with three DTaP and one Hib, which resulted in one boy with a mom in NH on rotation at the ER with a fever of 105.5, but that's a story for another day.

I wrestle with this. Obviously. I feel like I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. If anything happened to my son because of an immunization I had willingly given to him I would never forgive myself. Likewise if he ever was infertile from contracting the mumps or hospitalized with whooping cough I would also never forgive myself. Sometimes being a mom is so hard. Fortunetly I think we have the worlds best family doc (well...except for those of you I am training with!) and she has been incredibly supportive of our very delayed and very selective immunization schedule. I just could not stomach pumping my very small, premature son full of nasty things when he was fresh out. No way.

When I was eight months pregnant I went to this incredible scary talk about the dangers of immunizations and why we should not be vaccinating our children. The next day I sat through a lecture on the dangers of NOT immunizing our children on my pediatrics core rotation. Which left my very pregnant brain swimming and seeking out more information and occasionally in tears due to not being able to predict the future and know what was best for my son.

So we struggle, we did MMR the other day due to an outbreak of mumps in our community. Simon handled it so well, he is still a little crabby, but no tears during the shot itself. He has carried on with his everyday life while I analyze his expanding vocabulary every day watching for any new defecits or delays, and check on him in the middle of the night to make sure he's not an inferno....see this is what happens when anxiety goes untreated for too long...

In other news, the house went under contract with another buyer. Sad for us. We got a call today from a friend who has a lovely home we have coveted for years who is going to sell! Horray for us, sad for her. We'll put in an offer hopefully before the weekend! I don't think this one can be jinxed (famous last words) so I'm letting myself get a little excited!

Mama no teeth....

2007-12-12T10:17:00.000-08:00

It has been a while, I apologize. The holidays tend to be a crazy, busy fun time of year for us and this year has been no exception. The most exciting news at our house this week...Kim (finally) got her braces off!!! She was trying to explain this to Simon the night before and he kept looking at her with a very puzzled expression saying, "Mama no TEEF?" And once they were off, well he couldn't get enough, he just kept trying to stick his fingers in her mouth and touch her new TEEF. I'll post pics of Mama Kim and her new teeth soon.

Simon is his usual wacko self. He came home from daycare the other day and told Kim that he bit his friend at school, "SI-MIN BITE NO-NAH". To which Kim replied, "you bit Noah?" with a shocked expression. Simon's response was a cheerful and proud, "YEAH!" They proceeded to talk about biting and how its not okay to bite or hit and then Kim did some play therapy with Simon about biting and hiting and friends with his little people....I swear this kid is going to be the most in touch with his emotions little boy...every night is play therapy night at our house. So in I go to daycare yesterday to drop off Simon and talk to daycare about what happened when Simon bit Noah, turns out it never happened. Our boy has a very vivid imagination. Oh well, maybe we've perhaps prevented Noah from getting bit in the future by Simon and his very sharp teeth.

Med school progresses...one day at a time. I'm struggling right now with a dinner I was invited to attend on Thursday with my attending in Kennebunkport and some fancy schmancy restaurant. Turns out this meeting and dinner are sponsored by a drug company. Here I go selling my soul to the devil. I guess I will eat with guilt knowing that my hundred dollar dinner is taking medications away from people who can't afford to pay for them and I am listening to incredibly biased research conducted by the company buying dinner. Good thing I have a filter...my first choice residency program doesn't allow drug reps to come in at all. I really hope I get in!

Birthday fun continued....

2007-12-01T11:17:00.000-08:00

Today was the day of Simon's party. It was lots of fun with Grammie, Grumpa, Uncle Eric and Merma. He loved opening his presents and playing with each one before moving on to the next. He even spent some QT with his new nightlight that mommy and mama got for him. On, off, on, off...

Happy second birthday big boy!

And so the breastfeeding ticker...

2007-11-28T10:24:00.000-08:00

...starts all over again! YAHOO! I wonder how far into this year we will get? Happy birthday big guy!

Simon's birthday, thus far, has been uneventful, as I think it should be for a very easily overwhelmed two year old. We spent the morning looking at houses, which surpisingly Simon likes quite a bit. He begins every stop with, "I SEE NEW HOUSE YEAH?" I think he like the exploration of these older homes we're looking at. One that is very very promising. I'm not going to say too much so as not to jinx it, but I'm keep blogland posted.

Following this trip to house hunt was a trip to the doctor, for Simon's never ending upper respiratory infection. He's fine, just a virus, just as I suspected. There's something satisfying about taking your child to the doctor and having them confirm what you already know, but at the same time what a huge pain in the butt. So that's been our day so far. A sick Simon, a beautiful home, and a nice long nap for both of us!

More on Simon's birthday later!

Blog slacker...

2007-11-23T11:17:00.000-08:00

I recognize my failures as a blogger and I embrace them wholeheartedly. Boards both Step 2 and COMLEX-PE are complete (hopefully successfully), Thanksgiving madness over, one more rotation down, 98 more days (including weekends) of med school left, and a fast approaching second birthday for our little guy.

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. Our was just great. Thanksgiving really is my favorite holiday. No presents not a whole lot of commotion, just lots of family time, which happened to include this year and overnight with Ninny, Uncle Donut and the Donovans four, a trip to LL Bean where I completed most of my Christmas shopping, a delicious meal (catered to avoid the craziness), and many funny funny comments from a grandmother who tends to imbibe a little too much on holiday including referring to my aunt, who is merely 15 years older than me as a, "dear old thing..." Many laughs were had and food lots and lots of food.

Simon enjoyed the holiday tremendously. He is finally old enough to run around with his cousins. This was certainly new to me too, and I enjoyed the peace and quiet of the adult living room while he stayed with the kids doing whatever it is kids do on holidays! He slept through the beginning of dinner, but of course was awake for dessert. I don't think my son has ever had so much sugar in one day, for review, Simon ate yesterday:

1. Two cinnamon rolls, fresh out of the package with the gooey icing to top 'em off.

2. Three blueberry things from my grandmothers house, I think they were supposed to be tarts, but they also were topped with plenty of sugar.

3. A banana (perhaps the only healthy thing all day)

and here's where it gets good...

4. For dinner, three peppermint patties, thank you Grump.

5. More dinner, iced sugar cookies, thank you Aunt Kim.

6. A piece of chocolate cream pie with plenty of whipped cream, thank you Grammie.

I made a feable effort to encourage the intake of the delicious turkey and beans and squash, but all a got was, "ALL DONE, SI-MIN PAY WITH KIDS!" Oh well, he's on his sugar crash today.

We're heading our for thai food tonight with the Meadows family and Merma. It should be fun, I'm debating whether or not to take the kids to the tree lighting at monument square, we'll see, I think we all could use an earlier night! And tomorrow we're going house hunting, just one, one that looks very promising...we'll see!

I'm going to post some pics of the babe, some from Halloween, some from the car, and some from his first leaf pile. My boy is growing up. Five more days until he turns two...and I'm still left wondering, what will happen to the breastfeeding ticker in five days? Stay tuned!

Halloween

The first Haircut...

Sleepy boy.

The leaf pile with my mom..

Time warp...

2007-11-11T18:47:00.001-08:00

I can't believe it's been since October since I posted and what is it now, nearly Christmas right? I think I got lost in a time warp somtime between before Halloween and now. Somewhere between the beautiful mid-fall days with family in Mass and the freezing cold Maine mornings when I have to leave the warmness of my bed and my snuggly family and nursing toddler and join the working world in Raymond, where by the way, I am rotating with a wonderful, compassionate family doc who makes learning interesting and gives me the autonomy I think I deserve as someone who is going to graduate in only 3.5 months (!). But oh wait, this is a blog about my son, not me...

So I seem to have a hard time getting the pictures I take from the camera to the computer to the blog, but I will try hard and soon to get them up. After I get back from a 36 hour trip to Philidelphia tomorrow for boards, literally 36 hours down and back. Ugh. Simon had a wonderful Halloween, he has been parading around in his chicken costume ever since. He really liked trick or treating of course and by the end of the night way saying "Si-MIN want CANNY!" when the lovely neighborhood folks opened their front door. Fortunetly he got the understanding pretty early on, by about the fifth house, that we don't actually go INSIDE peoples homes. No matter how exciting they look, or what eager pets meet us at the door, we merely take their candy, say thank you and move on. A hard lesson for a curious almost two year old.

Let's see what else? Simon had his first hair cut yesterday. He was a good little guy and sat still for the most part. He had to have it cut since he insists on twirling it into little knots that he calls "PONIES" and we have to cut them out. This has not stopped the creation of Si's ponies, but at least for 24 hours he had a decent hair cut that was nice and even. He enjoyed jumping in his first ever leaf pile today with Mama and Molly. He thought it was a riot. I watched these fun happenings from the window of the office as I sat with my nose in a book trying not to notice the fun that was happening around me, wallowing in my own misery. Don't worry you'll stop hearing about it on November 21, last round of boards for now. Well, maybe not until February 29, the real end of the road. We'll see.

I'll try and post more pics from the last couple weeks when I get back on Tuesday, or when I really have a free minute on Wednesday. G'night.

Adventures with Cookie Monster...

2007-10-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

Simon experienced his first baking project with Mommy this rainy Saturday afternoon. He was very excited that we were going to make cookies. Much to his dismay, homemade cookies do not come instantly out of the box in the cupboard, but require a lot of patience and A LOT of waiting. He did great, I think the pictures are worth a thousand words.

You're kidding me, all I get out of this deal are a bunch of raisins?

Very patiently waiting

And then maybe starting to get a little irritated...

Finally, what I have been waiting so long for...

Our own little Cookie Monster!

And a little video of Simon and the cookie conundrum for your viewing pleasure!

We're back!

2007-10-21T16:12:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry, but I forgot the camera. Friday I had my second residency interview so I was a little scattered when I came home to pack in the afternoon. We had a blast at our family's house this weekend. Simon ran around like a nut with all his cousins and was totally hyped up on sugar (thank you Uncle Donut) and didn't sleep very much, but it was fun and well worth it!

His cousin Sean was very excited that Simon got to sleep in his room. I think the first night they kept each other awake talking until 9:30 or so. Boy did 7:15 come awfully early. We watched his cousin Shaelyn learn to ride her bike on two wheels, and enjoyed the beautiful sunshiney weather while we were at it. Merma and Grump came on Saturday for lunch and dinner, Simon was thrilled to see his Grump at Aunt "Ninny's". Another highlight, Uncle Scott's new "MOMOCYCLE!", which was talked about incessantly (by Simon) the whole weekend. What a gorgeous weekend, fun to play outside and the added bonus of the ice cream man on Saturday to end the season.

Thanks Ninny and Uncle Donut for a great weekend! We can't wait to see you all at Thanksgiving!

And we're off...

2007-10-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

for a fun filled and a little crazy Mommy and Simon weekend at Aunt Mindy and Uncle Scott's (aka Uncle Donut) house. Min and Scott have four kiddos under the age of 12 and we always joke that Simon would secretly love to be the fifth Donovan kid. He just loves all the commotion and activity and they love playing with him too so he gets lots and lots of attention. For me, it's a much needed trip out of the great state of Maine and a lot of distraction with all my cousins around. I'll update on our trip when we're home on Sunday! Bon Voyage!

Random rant...

2007-10-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

I don't quite understand why the breastfeeding ticker looks like it's nearing the end. I certainly don't think it's an omen as my boy is still a nursing fiend with both moms, but it is a little weird. I wonder if it'll stop after his birthday? Did you know that the AVERAGE age of weaning worldwide is 4.5 years? I think that it's only that low because the majority of women in the US only breastfeed for a few months if at all before switching to formula. It's pretty incredible if you think about it, I don't know that I want to breastfeed for 4.5 years, but I also don't live in a society where breastmilk is where my child gets all his nutrition. A big hurray to us and our lovely son for keeping it going thus far.

Probably for the best...

2007-10-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

that Simon wears his bike helmet while riding his giraffe around the house. Maybe we should just have him wear his bike helmet all the time. Sometimes I wonder, do you think the kids would tease him if I had him wear it to school too?

He's a cute one....

2007-10-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

Kim asked me today whether I was going to blog every day about Simon. I said, "no, only when he does something cute, so I guess, yes, pretty much every day!" He's pretty cute I guess. Simon had a good day at school today. Wish it was just a boring mundane day at daycare, but with Simon things are never dull. The day started with me waking him up at 8 AM to get reading for school. He sat bolt upright and said "DADA (simon) WEAR SSSSS (steelers)?" And would settle for nothing less than his two piece Steelers ensemble, thank you Grammie.

Kim picked him up from school where she head all about how "Simon didn't nap well today, he spent most of nap time trying to jump out of his crib." I guess it'll be an early night. Right now, in his infinite cuteness is playing with his people and school bus, opening the door, singing the wheels on the bus and then taking the people out the top of the bus, lining them up, and putting them back in. He's been at it for at least half an hour. Should be a quiet (early) night.

You know daycare is going well when....

2007-10-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

You hear a song from the backseat that goes something like this "LORI, I YUV YOU! BOBBIE, I YUV YOU!" Lori and Bobbie are two of Simon's primary daycare providers, he goes twice a week right now and seems to love it....obviously. Could have been prompted because we were travelling the same road we take to daycare and it was in the morning. Either way, I love hearing this, makes me feel a little less guilty about having to work during the day, knowing he loves his school and they love him too!

Teeny Tiny Baby

2007-10-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

In an effort to keep up with requests for new pics of Simon I have decided to start blogging. It seems like a good opportunity also to keep track of all the silly and outrageously wonderful things he does each day.

I spent the day studying for boards (I promise we'll get to Simon....). Ugh. Four or five more weeks, still far enough away so I don't know exactly how long, but close enough that I should start doing something about it and not wait until the last minute (rewind to October 2005). I came home to an very enthusiastic "HI MOMMY!" and a big grin from the top of the stairs. I run up to him and ask for a kiss. He starts to walk into his room, turns around and comes at me, full force, mouth open for a welcome home kiss. I wipe the drool off my face (he's teething) and follow him into his room to "PAY COWS?" Well cows only last so long before Simon's on to the next activity. He jumps up into his rocking chair, lays across it sideway with his little legs hanging over the arm rest and exclaims, "TEENY TINY BABY!" I looked at my very big boy, who not too long ago was indeed a teeny tiny baby and felt an overwhelming sense of both pride in my beautiful wonderful son, and sadness at how fast he's growing into an independant little guy. My baby is not a baby anymore. He runs around the house like a nut, he rides his giraffe at the speed of light in the living room, he throws and hits baseballs, he watches the Red Sox games yelling at the top of his lungs, "GO MAMMY, GO BIG PAPI, HIT BALL!" He is truly a toddler now. It's a difficult thing, to embrace the people they are becoming and still to feel a sense of sadness at the two years that have flown by. Our days of nursing nonstop, snuggles in bed in the morning and having him fall back to sleep, and all of the wonderful things about babies are gone. They have been replaced by all the wonderful things about toddlers. His unrelenting curiosity about the world around him, his ability to ask for and receive what he wants, as long as it comes with a "PEESE MOMMY!", he runs and jumps and plays and is so much fun to be around. So while I miss my little baby, I probably always will, I love love love this wonderful toddler who makes me laugh (and cry sometimes) and always has something to say no matter what's going on, who loves being the peanut butter in the mommy-mama sandwich and who makes every day exciting.

One of my favorite summertime pics, Simon and the sand attack!

Simon and his Grump at a Portland Sea Dogs game in early September.

Like Mommy, like son...

Simon and Mama and a quick preview of the chicken costume...

Beautiful boy.