I'm Relishing

I love the word RELISH. Isn't it a great word? According to Mr. Webster it means to have enjoyment of or delight in something that satisfies one's tastes, inclinations, or desires. I've found great joy in being a mom these last few weeks because of an interesting point that Elder Ballard brought up last Conference:

"If a child lives with parents for 18 or 19 years, that span is only
one-fourth of a parent’s life. And the most formative time of all, the early
years in a child’s life, represents less than one-tenth of a parent’s normal
life."

My children are growing at an exponential rate. And although I think it's incredibly unfair, I'm relishing the love that my super-cuddler Josh gives me, watching Andrew get lost in his imaginary play, and sneaking into the boys' room several times each evening just to watch them snore.

Randy and I agree that Josh is at his peak cuteness. He's walking all over the place, just jibber-jabbing along in his own Ewok-like language. He's easy to smile and he can turn me into absolute mush when he giggles. He's really good at banging his head on something or falling down-my heart has stopped more times in the past 6 months with Josh than it ever did in the last 4 years with Andrew. He's added "car" to his repertoire, and he seems more interested in looking at the pictures when I read to him. He loves his Grandma-when she comes around, he wants nothing to do with me. He has this fake laugh/giggle that he does when he gets really excited about something or when he's getting into something he shouldn't be.


Andrew tells me that he doesn't want to grow up, that he just wants to stay little; but wakes up at night several times a week complaining that his feet hurt from growing pains. He's already in 5T pants-he's got his dad's monkey arms and legs. I love the way he smiles for the camera:

Here he is proudly displaying his farm animals that he colored from preschool. He loves coloring. His one red crayon has been wittled away into a tiny stub. If only they made red-only boxes of crayons. He can write his name all by himself and I think he's going to take after his dad's freakish number-crunching abilities.

The Kid Loves His Brother

I had a cute conversation with Andrew this morning. It went something like this:

Andrew: I want a baby to come.

Me: Oh? Do you want a brother or a sister?

Andrew: A brother.

Me: You want another brother? You don't want a sister?

Andrew: No, I don't like sisters.

Me: Oh. Okay.

Andrew: But we can't take Joshy back.

Me: Nope. We get to keep Joshy forever.

Flashback Friday: Joshua Bryant, Birth Day

The fertility gods were smiling upon us when we had Joshua. My due date landed smack-dab in between Randy's Pediatrics & Surgery rotations (both very busy). Randy had two weeks of Christmas break; there were no if's, and's, or but's about it-Josh needed to come then, and only then. My body was cooperating nicely and I tested positive for Group B Strep so an induction date was set for the first day of Randy's break (5 days early).

It was fun to telling people the exact date our child would come into the world. I felt like I was cheating somehow. We went to church on Sunday and then dropped Andrew off with Randy's parents that night. We got a good night's sleep and went to the hospital first thing the next morning. When we arrived at the hospital, a room was waiting for us and I was promptly started on Pitocin. What a difference from my first induction!! I was already dilated to 4 cm, and my labor was progressing a little too quickly for my nurse's comfort, so the Pitocin was turned off. We had to wait at least 4 hours for the antibiotics for the Group B Strep to do its thing. Then we had to wait for another 2 hours, I can't remember why now. I think my doctor was in surgery. Then my doctor came in to break my water and Joshers was born 3 hours later.

We still hadn't decided on a name when we came to the hospital. When I first found out I was pregnant, I wanted to name the baby Natalie if it was a girl and Matthew if it was a boy. Matthew was thrown out the window early on because it souned too much like Andrew and we didn't want to name our 3rd boy (if we had one) Bartholomew. Joshua came to me during the end of the pregnancy. Jared & Alexander came to Randy. So we took Joshua, Jared & Alexander with us to the hospital. My step-sister was pregnant with twin boys at the time and they were playing with the idea of naming one of their sons Alexander. I just couldn't do that to her-naming one boy was hard enough, I couldn't imagine trying to come up with two at the same time! (By the way, they ended up naming them Benjamin & Jackson) So, I really wanted Joshua and Randy really wanted Jared. We were dead-locked. We had to make a deal: We could name him Joshua, but if we have a 3rd son, we have to name him Alexander. I know, not a ton of logic with this one, but that was the deal and I got my way.

I was completely numb once again-that must be my lot in life when it comes to epidurals. But it took only 3 pushes and he was out! It was such an easy labor, and this was the result....

Doesn't he look like a Joshua?

His middle name is Bryant-named after Uncle Lewis Bryant

He had a perfectly round head. My doctor said he looked like a C-Section baby. I protected that perfectly round head at all costs (that statement will make more sense later).

Aparently, Randy likes to take pictures of our newly born children when they're screaming. And cold. Here he is in all his 8 lb. 3 oz & 21 inch glory. I grow them big. His cry was small and sweet-just like his brother.

Andrew looked like he was 18 compared to Josh. It was the strangest feeling for me. When he walked into my hospital room and saw me in bed, his eyes widened and he looked pretty freaked out. I'll never forget that look on his face. He ignored the baby and just played with us. Then he went back to Grandma's house for another day.

Here's Josh on his way home. I don't think they get any cuter than that.

Joshua was born 5 days before Christmas. The best Christmas present I could have ever asked for!

Help a Brother (or Sister) Out!

Where is my flashback friday, you ask? Well, I got sidetracked with the financial debacle we've gotten ourselves into over the past four years. You see, I know it sounds great that Randy is graduating with an M.D. degree, $$$Cha-ching$$$. Right?

WRONG!

He still has 4-6 years of specialty training where he will be paid meagerly. We were okay with that and we were comforted in the fact that we would thus qualify for a deferment on our monstrous student loans until after Randy's training. Deferment means that the subsidized portion of our loans will not incur interest during residency (for the average medical student, this is about $30,000 of interest during the residency period. Hefty stuff we're talking about here).

Well, thanks to the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (HR2669) that was signed into law effective October 2007, we will no longer qualify to defer our loans during residency. Under this new act, we make too much money and should be able to repay our loans during residency. For the average medical student, this means a payment of $1800/month! We still qualify for forbearance, which means the interest on our subsidized loans will not be suspended. Very generous of them, I know.

In the Fall of 2008, the Burr/Isakson Bill S.2303 will be voted on. This bill will reinstate the Economic Hardship "20/220 pathway" and will help out our fellow medical & dental residents.

The AMA has a web site to make it easy to send a message to your Senators and Representatives and voice your concern.

This affects all current & future medical & dental residents. Please tell your friends and family about this and please write to your representatives. Thank you!

For more info, go here: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/18025.html

April 2008 Conference Packet

My friend Ruth sent me this awesome Conference packet for our kiddos to do this weekend. Click here to view it on the FHE Lesson Swap blog.

Thanks Ruth!

Field Trip: Fire Station Tour

Our preschool class went to the fire station yesterday. The firemen were awesome and we had lots of fun!