Where to begin...

    I've written this post in my head a million times over but wrapping up three years and some odd months is proving to be pretty daunting! I want to have documentation of some things so I'm hoping it's not too boring. So, that being said...here we go. When I last stopped blogging I made the trek from Connecticut with my mom and the two boys back to Washington for my baby brothers wedding. We ultimately decided it'd be better to stay for a few months because Ryan had a few more electives in two or three different states and I wasn't up for the challenge of moving that many times in that small amount of time. So instead we spent a really fun summer with my parents  and Ryan was able to focus on work. After that we moved to Spokane, Ryan graduated from Medical School (ahem, with highest honors!), and thus began the application and interview process for residency. During our time in Spokane Ryan worked at Deaconess for a bit and then began lots of travels to and from hospitals for residency interviews. He applied to 60 different hospitals and got 42 interviews. Obviously it would be impossible to go to 42 interviews and it's not exactly cheap, so he settled on 16 and went from there. It was a pretty tough period of time. Ryan was gone so much and it was just me, Emmet, and Wes. They missed their dad, it was winter, we lived in a not so nice area...you get the picture. I refer to those months as the dark times.
    

                                                Reuniting after being away for interviews

    A few months after interviews he was offered a pre-match at Drexel University in PA. We milled it over for a while but we just didn't feel like it was the right fit for us so we decided to wait for match day. The wait killed us but I was 100 percent confident we'd get his first choice. A month later match day came and he did indeed get his first choice! Canton, Ohio! It might not sound like the most amazing place but it had everything we were looking for as far as cost of living, schools, family, etc.
    A little after that we found out I was pregnant with baby #3. So the adventure began! New state, home, job, school, and now baby! We really like to take the easy route ;)

 

3rd trimester with baby Bryce

   

    After our big move we enjoyed a whole month together filled with baseball games, zoos, swimming lessons, and lots of sun. Shortly after the boys started preschool and Ryan started residency as an OB-Gyn. Two monumental things! I officially felt "old" having kids big enough to go to school and I cried like a baby after dropping them off. They loved school and didn't miss me a bit :) Just like I'd hoped!

    Come late fall we added baby Bryce to the family via a scheduled c-section. Which is the first baby we've ever had come when they were supposed to. Ryan opted out of delivering me since I was a c-section (nothing like slicing open your own wife!) but he was there and was a great comfort to me. It ended up being pretty amazing because he got to hand select the doctors that did the section and it was a breeze. He was pretty much the sweetest thing we'd ever layed eyes on.

 

                                                  Baby's first pictures in the OR 7lbs 11oz 

    

 It was also a huge help and lots of fun that my mom, my mother in law, and sister in law Stephanie (also Kritt and sweet Mason) could be there to meet the baby and help while I recovered. Family is the best!

                                 The boys were so excited to meet baby in the recovery room.

                                              First official picture of our family of five

    Life after starting residency and having a 3rd baby has sped up tremendously. We've been blessed with lots of love and fun times. The past two years (especially) have gone by in a flash and we have gotten more busy as time has gone on. 

    We've spent tons of time chewing on this guy and he's grown up so so fast. Too fast. They all have and it's both fun and sad at the same time.

 

    Emmet and Weston have been the best big brothers and have loved having a baby around. He's clearly a fan of them as well :)

 

                                                 Emmet's first day as a Kindergartener

                         First broken arm (courtesy of Weston pushing him off the the trampoline)

 2nd year of Preschool

Preschool graduation

    There's only so much I can convey from these few pictures (I'm not quite done recapping). There's been a lot of summation. These years in residency have been extremely trying. There's been a lot of tears (by me), lots of sleepless nights (by both Ryan and I), stress, exhaustion, and breaking points. But so far in this adventure is been worth the blood, sweat, and tears!

To be continued...

   

Get Excited!

 

I'm going to start blogging again after a 3 year hiatus! Wipe the shock off your face and get excited! For now I'll leave you with this updated photo (yep we had another baby and he's now almost 2, AND this is the first time he's been documented on the family blog *sigh*).

Quick Update 2010 Of Our Little Buddies :-)

Beating boredom...

When I get bored I bake. It's just what I do. It's fun, creative, and it gets you off your bum when you're feeling blah. I think I've passed this down to my two boys. We bake/cook everyday together now. They love to feel like they're helping and it beats these boring ugly days when you can't go outside and play in the fresh air! I just wish I had bigger kitchen!

Wes is my little taste tester and LOVES to ham it up for the camera! (ignore the 'catch-all' shelf in the background...we're getting ready to move!) If he even hears me in the kitchen he'll run to Ryan's desk, get his chair, and roll it into the kitchen as fast as he can to climb up and help out!

Emmet likes to pass out ingredients and oversee the project :) He especially loves to help and loves to brag to his dad afterwards how big of a helper he was to his mama.

Chopping up the veggies for the boys to decorate the pizza.

The finished pizza! They did a really great job of getting all the ingredients spread out...I was pretty impressed! Not that I would've changed anything, though!

My proud little bakers!!!

"Babies, all gone!"

Well, we finally bit the bullet and threw all the "babies" away! I am proud to say we are pacifier free and it is so nice! We bribed the boys by telling them that if they threw their pacifiers away (literally, they had to throw them away themselves!) they could pick out any truck they wanted from Toys R Us! I know it's bad to bribe, but after having had these things for this long (and they LOVE and are borderline obsessed with them) we had to make it worth their while! The first night was a little tough (hope you're catching the sarcasm)...Emmet asked for it a few times, whined, and cried at night but did way better than expected... Wes...*gasp*...good grief that boy is a diehard!!!! I was up ALOT with that one! He throws fits like I've never seen OR heard! I know our neighbors must've thought we were beating him! It was horrible!

The next day Emmet was over it! Wes would ask for his 'baby' and Emmet would tell him sympathetically: "Wes, babies all gone!" SUCH a good big brother! 

It's now been 3 weeks since we've thrown them away. Emmet is doing awesome, naps aren't an everyday thing anymore...I miss them but it's not the end of the world...he's usually pretty happy anyway!

Weston...is STILL having a tough time! He's slowly gotten better but he's taking his sweet time...

A few days ago this is how I found Weston. Fast asleep in mid-play...what a turkey! This is without a doubt the most stubborn kid I have ever seen! He fights his sleep SO bad! Ugh! So, the struggle goes on...
Cute little stinker!!!

More "feesh"

Emmet and Weston LOVE the aquarium! I honestly can't count how many times we've been there! Thank goodness for indoor places like these to beat those boring winter days!

I love the hands on tanks they have. It's so fun for the kids to be able to touch the animals!

Emmet's expressions are hilarious! He kept saying: "Check it out, Mama! Check it out!" and " Follow me!"

And of course he had to help me take pictures of all the animals he saw...and then make sure it was a good picture afterwards! Little nut!

Emmet's impersonation of a blowfish :)

Wes and dad getting a closer look at all the pretty "feesh!"

The turtles exhibit is one of our faves!

Telling us all about the turtles :)

These are the petting tanks...you're not really supposed to pick them up...haha. The workers were so nice though and just let Emmet go at them! They were laughing hysterically at Emmet's facial expressions!

We visited this spot multiple times! Couldn't get enough of those starfish!

I promise I was there! Haha! Checking out the big tanks with Weston.

Looking at the baby turtles. They were SO cute.

My handsome boys posing with the crocodile.

Emmet was telling Wes all about the sharks!

We knew it was time to go when they started playing in the photo booth! A quick trip to Mcdonald's and then it was nap time! LOVE family days!