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...