Bunny Sightings 2008

Yep folks, on this sunshiney yet chilly day, the Easter Bunny once again made his appearance. If you see him hopping around your neighborhood, don't be alarmed. His intentions are only to spread cheer and tooth decay....


Good thing he had his Bunny helpers with him. I'm not sure he would've made it without them.

He's like black jelly beans. Either you love him or hate him.

We love him.

Drumroll Please.......

Rice Eccles Stadium, Scholarship Room

Thursday, March 20, 2008, 10 a.m. (sharp)

Congratulations Class of 2008!!

(We're happy, relieved, ecstatic, and grateful. And yes, we'll still live in student housing and be glad about it.)

He WILL Be a Pathologist

We received word via email (as did all 4th year medical students across the nation) that Randy has indeed matched into a residency program. I'm not a very patient person so the suspense is killing me. We find out our fate on Thursday. Here is a conversation Randy had with a patient's daughter today:

Patient's Daughter: So, what field did you choose to go into?

Randy: Pathology.

Patient: That explains what kind of person you are.

Randy: (No comment)

Patient's Daughter: Oh, too bad you won't be working at the clinic. You're so good with people.

Randy: (No comment)

How I wish I could see Randy at work. I know his flagrant comments about detesting patient care are half-truths, but still, I'd like to see him in action.

Sidekick

Josh wants to do everything that big brother does. Here he is watching Andrew playing a computer game:

He just learned how to drink from his cup without help, he doesn't use his hands.

We attempted to sleep the boys in the same room. Andrew was all for it. We set up the Pack 'N Play, which was probably my mistake-Josh has never really liked sleeping in it. We did the whole bedtime routine with extra stories and songs. I then put Josh in his bed, turned out the lights, and ran out of the room. Josh, of course, put up a stink.

Then, something magical happened. Andrew started singing to him. He started with the Itsy Bitsy Spider, then I Am a Child of God, then Silent Night. Josh went silent. Josh soon discovered that it was pretty fun to have a bedtime companion and began squawking and squealing to get big brother's attention. An hour and one very wide awake baby later (Andrew actually fell asleep), I separated them and Josh went back to the storage room. He fell asleep almost instantly. Andrew awoke early the next morning and started crying and asked where brother went.

I think they'll do fine...once I'm brave enough to try it again...

Snow Day

Finding entertainment for two children on a cold, snowy day, in an 800 sq. ft. apartment; not a simple task. We've recently discovered read-along audio books from the library-sure beats the hours of TV watching and Computer Game playing that usually occur on such days...

The Cure for the Wintertime Blues

Swim lessons, three days a week for 5 weeks. A fun diversion during this exceptionally snowy winter. It got us out of the house and we made some new friends...

Jake was his first instructor

They're playing 5 Little Monkeys. The little girl in the pink looks like she has to pee. She probably did, she had to go every 5 minutes. I'm pretty sure Andrew just went in the pool.

His 2nd instructor, James.

Andrew LOVED swimming lessons.

Joshers was good to watch brother from his stroller

Or on Dad's lap. Oh, what a sweet little guy.

Stop with the pictures already!!

My Two Cents

This time last year, I became an American Idol addict. I was already glued to our La-Z-Boy chair anyway with a hungry/grumpy/colicky/adorable baby in my arms. I watched every bit of it and I loved it! I thought Blake Lewis was the best.

Fast forward one year: I'm not much of a TV watcher these days. Rather, I find myself wasting time on the computer or mp3 player. Then, we bought this:

I've been gently coaxing (read:begging) Randy into buying an elliptical machine. We even went shopping for one, but in the end, we decided they were too big and too expensive for us right now. I found this bike on craigslist.com-we got the deal of the century.

So now I have an excuse to become and Idol addict once again.

Here's what I thought of last night's performances. It was the first complete show I've seen this season, and I must say, I was very impressed. I also agreed with the judges 100%.

*Note: I have no musical expertise whatsoever. I base my opinions on whether or not I'd like to listen to them on the radio:

Syesha Mercado - Eh. She has tons of talent, but I thought her performance was cheesy.

Chikezie - Awesome. He did a great job and he was adorable after hearing what the judges had to say.

Ramiele Malubay - I tuned her out.

Jason Castro - I'm not a fan. He looks & acts like he's smoked one too many you-know-whats.

Carly Smithson - I really like her, she's one of my favorites.

David Cook - My favorite performance last night.

Brooke White - Beautiful and so sweet. She's going to be a star.

David Hernandez - Yikes.

Amanda Overmyer - She's got talent, but not my style. She looks way older than 23.

Michael Johns - I want to see more of his performances before I make a decision.

Kristy Cook - Double Yikes. What was she thinking with that song? And I like country music.

David Archuletta - Okay, he forgot the words. He was still adorable. And dang talented.

Flashback Friday: Round Two

After surviving Andrew's first year, I just didn't think I had it in me to have any more kids. It's something that I fretted about since the time we brought Andrew home from the hospital. How can I handle two?!? Really, truly, I worried. Then all of the sudden, when Andrew turned 18 months or so, I was ready. That Spring, Randy and I did the calculations, and we decided if we got pregnant the next month, the baby would be due during Randy's Christmas break; and somehow, magically, we got pregnant that month.

No pregnancy tests in the Albertson's bathroom this time. Actually, knowing that I'd spent a small fortune on tests while trying to conceive Andrew, I ordered a package of tests from the internet at a much lower cost. As I was walking back up the hill from picking up the tests from the mailroom, I thought to myself, "I'm pregnant." That hill just about killed me.

I took the test, and what do you know, it was positive. It was the faintest of faint lines, but there was a line. I then proceeded to take the four other tests that were in the package. When Randy came home that evening, I gave him the good news. He said something like, "Well, that was quick." I went to the MSA cooking club that evening, and kept my sweet little secret to myself. It didn't take me long to blab the good news, though, I'm horrible at keeping happy things like that to myself.

Having a winter baby suits me very well. I had very little swelling this time. I was able to exercise up until my 37th week. I felt so good the whole time. It almost felt like I was cheating somehow because I never got too uncomfortable. I relished the somersaults and cartwheels that made my belly lopsided and bumpy.

I was sure we were having a girl, even though, deep down inside, I wanted a boy. Randy was sure it was a boy. When we found out we were indeed having another boy, I was giddy for weeks.

This pregnancy went quickly. Taking care of a toddler will do that to you. Maybe that's the reason why I only took the time to take two pictures...

31 weeks

34 weeks

Flashback Friday: Andrew the Artist

It's been a busy week around here, so for this week, I'm going to post one of my favorite pictures of Andrew:
I love this picture because it shows Andrew's obsession for the color red. Also, this was taken during potty training last summer. He spent his days either in the buck or in his character-clad undies. So cute.

This picture was taken yesterday. The love for red is still going strong, but as you can see, he will occasionally venture out. He designed, printed, colored, and hung these pictures with absolutely no assistance from me. I was busy neglecting him while finishing up a last minute project. I was pretty impressed that he made such good use of his time while being ignored.

How to Get Through the Day with a Fussy Baby

#1

Visit the pediatrician for the 2nd time in 10 days, get a prescription for antibiotics (ear infection).

#2

Go out to lunch.

#3

Go window shopping and try on shoes (even better if you have the funds to buy a new pair, but not necessary)

#4

Go home and take a nap.

To Our Future...

The decision to pursue Pathology was so tough for us that I just didn't have enough worry left in me when it came time for us to rank our residency programs. I think I was in denial about the fact that Randy changed his rank list about 5 times a day. I know I was in denial because when Randy came home from school earlier than usual today and started off with an, "Ok........," he threw me for yet another loop. We had less than three hours to finalize our decision--talk about last minute! Well, at least it was only three hours of agony. As of 7 pm, our rank list is finalized; and it is out of our hands. Believe you me, March 20th won't come fast enough for us.

If you're interested, here is how the residency match works. And don't worry, we're just as confused as you are...

How the Matching Algorithm Works

The NRMP matching algorithm uses the preferences expressed in the rank order lists submitted by applicants and programs to place individuals into positions. The process begins with an attempt to place an applicant into the program indicated as most preferred on that applicant's list. If the applicant cannot be matched to this first choice program, an attempt is then made to place the applicant into the second choice program, and so on, until the applicant obtains a tentative match, or all the applicant's choices have been exhausted.

An applicant can be tentatively matched to a program in this process if the program also ranks the applicant on its rank order list, and either:

• the program has an unfilled position. In this case, there is room in the program to make a tentative match between the applicant and program.
• the program does not have an unfilled position, but the applicant is more attractive to the program than another applicant who is already tentatively matched to the program. In this case, the applicant who is the least preferred current match in the program is removed from the program, to make room for a tentative match with the more preferred applicant.

Matches are "tentative" because an applicant who is matched to a program at one point in the matching process may be removed from the program at some later point, to make room for an applicant more preferred by the program, as described in the second case above. When an applicant is removed from a previously made tentative match, an attempt is made to re-match that applicant, starting from the top of his/her list. This process is carried out for all applicants, until each applicant has either been tentatively matched to the most preferred choice possible, or all choices submitted by the applicant have been exhausted.

When all applicants have been considered, the match is complete and all tentative matches become final.

Baby For Sale

$1 o.b.o.

Andrew's First Scripture

Andrew was assigned to give a scripture in Primary for the first time. We picked a verse that would be easy enough for him to memorize and then practiced all week. Here's what Andrew learned:

John 14:15 - "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Field Trip: Utah Museum of Fine Arts

Our preschool class went on their first field trip last week. We went to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. We took the shuttle:



Miss Kathy gave us a worksheet. We had to find works of art that were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, brown, and white. Then we had to find something that started with the letters J & G. We had to find 16 of something and something in the shape of a hexagon:

It was a lot of fun.

Joshua Bryant, 14 months

Hi, I'm Joshua (Joshers, Josherrific, J-dog, Stink, The Sweetness).

I'm 14 months old.

I like hot dogs & peas. And scrambled eggs. Actually, if you catch me in the right mood, I'll eat just about anything. I have 9 teeth (including 3 molars).

I love hanging out with Big Brother and Dad on the big bed. It's my favorite thing to do. When dad comes home from work, I crawl to him, get up to my knees and put my arms up and say, "Hi! Da!". Other words I know are "uh-oh!" and "boo!" And when brother is tormenting me, I know to yell "Mamamamama!" when I need to be rescued. I also know where my nose is.

That's us playing on the big bed.

I can crawl like no other. I can stand unassisted. Mom tries to get me to use my walker to practice walking, but I don't like it very much. I also don't like to wear shoes. I also like to take my right sock off. Not my left one, just my right.

I follow brother around wherever he goes. When I wake up in the morning, I go straight to brother's room to wake him up. I refuse to take a bath without him.

I spend my days crawling around and making messes. I really like putting things into boxes and drawers. Mom is always finding little surprises in the kitchen drawers. I like to "help" Dad with the dinner dishes

I take one nap a day, two when I'm super tired, and I sleep 12 hours at night. At bedtime, I like to be read to. My favorite books are Goodnight Moon and The Very Busy Spider.

And did I mention that I'm really cute?

Flashback Friday: Andrew James, Birth Day

Randy, me, and my ginormous belly went to our last prenatal checkup at 39 weeks. Dr. Judd said I was maybe dilated to 1 cm. While he was telling me this, he spent an inordinate amount of time feeling my huge belly and then said, "Did you know you're going to have a big baby?"

Um, is this a rhetorical question? Do I really need to answer that? I've never seen anyone this pregnant. Ever.

He then said, "Do you want to have the baby tomorrow?" With zero hesitation, I said, "Yeah." He left the room to call down to the hospital. He said that they would call that evening to see if they could fit me in the next day for an induction. Randy and I went home, made the arrangements for our hospital stay and waited for the call. They called and told us to call at 6 am the next day. We went to bed early and actually got a good night's sleep. We called the next day, and they said to call back at 8 am, then 11 am, then 12 pm. Randy and I went to RC Willey to walk around and pass the time. The waiting was tortuous. Deflated, we went back home to wait some more. By this time, I paged the doctor to find out if he knew anything. He said he'd call right back. He did call right back, he said to get some lunch and then wait for the hospital to call us while sitting in the parking lot. He said that once they called us, we needed to hightail it in there before another mommy in actual labor showed up.

So Randy and I waited in the hospital parking lot to have our baby. Every time I saw a couple walk into the hospital, I would get increasingly anxious, knowing they were taking my spot. I needed to go inside to use the bathroom. I didn't know exactly where to go, but before I had a chance to ask, a nurse came up to me and asked if I needed help. I told her I was waiting in the parking lot to be called in and I was looking for a bathroom. Later, every nurse knew me as the girl waiting in the parking lot to have a baby. Apparently, this was funny to them.

By 3:30 pm, we were called in. By 4 pm, the induction process began. They asked me to tell them on a scale from 1 to 10 (in pain) when I wanted the epidural. I said, um, zero? My first nurse told me to hold off on the epidural because it could slow down the process. My second nurse, my angel in disguise, scoffed and said to get the epidural now! The epidural worked great until the labor went to my back. The anesthetist, my other angel in disguise, reinserted the epidural and life was good again. The only problem was that I was completely and utterly numb. Not good for birthing a baby. There were signs of distress in both me and the baby, and the doctor gave us two choices: C-section or Forceps. Forceps, please.

At 7:32 am the next day, Andrew James was born into the world. He weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces, he was 21 inches long, and he was born 3 days early. He had dark brown hair, which was a shocker to us. When he was born, I just kept saying, "He's so cute. He's so cute." The image of the first time I saw him will always be etched into my mind.

I got to hold him for a few seconds and then they took him away for about 45 minutes. They gave him oxygen and helped to get him warm.

He had a very small, quiet cry and made lots of squeaking noises. He sounded more like a guinea pig than a baby. The pediatrician later told us Andrew had tracheal malasia. We're not sure what caused it. Our theories are that it was due to the forceps or the cord that was wrapped 3 times around his neck. Or maybe both. Noone seemed concerned about it, and 4 weeks later, it went away and Andrew was ready to scream his cute little lungs out.

Grandma Deborah
Aunt Maranda

Grandma Mary

Daddy

Do you remember the first Bachelor show? Well, Andrew Firestone was the bachelor, and I fell in love with his name. Andrew means manly or masculine. I figured it was a safe name that wouldn't later turn into a girl's name. Randy didn't like it at first, but I just kept calling the baby "Baby Andrew" and it just stuck. James is my grandpa's name and every grandchild has named their firstborn son James. I also liked that Andrew could be called A.J. if he wanted to.

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