a Baby no more.

April 5th, 2012. Meeting big brother at one hour old.

 Our fierce, loud, sensitive, musical, crazy, snaggle-toothed builderfixerguy is TWO. No babies in this house anymore...the week before his birthday we started potty training and the week after he lost his plug-and that was it. Bam. Big kid city. This particular two-year-old has brought us challenges that we've not experienced before; but it's still just such a super-fun stage of life. I have two good friends who also have three and we all agree:  third baby=game changer. He's crazy :) New words, new phrases..getting in between the two bigs when they're arguing and shouting out "Pax! Stop! Now! One...teww..." and then "spanking" his brother (that's a hard one. Defending his sister vs. hitting. See? the kid is a conundrum!) Getting put in his crib for a timeout (for hitting said big brother) and subsequently pulling his pants off and peeing all over his bed to show his displeasure. The kid is smart and very, very aware of EVERYTHING. Pax has nicknamed our good friends "the Behs" because littlest calls all of them (including the dad) "Beh". He can say Loren and Cora and I've even heard him say Charissa. But, no, they are all "Beh!" After their mama Beth, whom he loves. A lot. 

He knows he's funny and frequently plays the ham to make people laugh-especially his big brother and sister; something he's done from a very young age. And he's still the biggest sweetheart, running to the freezer for a "col pool" (cold pack) if his sister or brother (or anyone else) hurts themselves. (Beth is pretty sure he's gonna be an athletic trainer based off of that one!) He gives the biggest and sweetest hugs, frequently sprinkles French words and phrases in among the English, and wants to do exactly what Pax is doing. I cannot believe how much I love him or how much joy he brings to our family-we are so thankful for this silly little blessing!   

April 5th, 2013-first birthday!

We had a small family party at home this year, just my folks and I-Adam had a clinic he had to work in the morning, so we spent the morning getting donuts and shopping for new boots for the birthday boy (one of my folks' gifts. Blaise looooves his boots and was so sad when he outgrew the last pair!). After naps, we had a little party with balloons, presents, and-of course-cake! By far the biggest hit of the day was putting all of the balloons on the trampoline. The kids jumped and bounced for at LEAST and hour and had a fantastic time! Seriously... this might be an every-year occurrence!

 

                         Pure. Joy. This prettymuch sums up little Adam Blaise's personality perfectly!
                                                                   April 5th, 2014.
                                                                 and now, he is Two.

Diary of a P.A. student('s wife)

Clinicals.
If you haven't been living in this house for the past 10 months-which is 99.9% of the population-you probably have very little idea, if any, what a big deal that word has been.
Clinicals. Always like that. Actually, in even bigger letters...Clinicals. There. That's better.

Clinicals meant...well, it means a lot of things. The start of a new year; the second year of P.A. school.
An end to the classwork, and some of the crazy fire-hydrant-book-learning. And the start of all things hands-on and people related. In other words, my husband's forte.
For quite awhile, it meant the possibility of being separated for six weeks or more; or relocating for part of the year.
Basically, clinicals has been a big, giant, much-talked-about question mark in this house. But now...
Let me back up a minute. First, this year. This crazy, crazy fast year of book-learning. Didactic year has been...well, interesting. Not easy, but not horrible either; thanks to a wonderful husband who gets it and does his best to keep first things. And, of course, we've had a lot of Divine help.
    It's been challenging for both of us and has required even greater discipline-from both of us.  You wouldn't think I'd necessarily need to be more disciplined, seeing as I'm not the one in school; but I absolutely did. I've found that living a bit more disciplined life in some areas has actually led to more flexibility, more calm in our days, and simply everything running smoother in general. Which I'm sure is no brain wave to most people; but let's face it, I'm NOT the type-A one in this family and there's definitely an element of fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants in my blood. I've been working on it. So, now, I get up voluntarily between 5:15 and 5:30 (Adam is up by 4:30, to get a little more studying in...but he's always been better at super-early mornings than late nights. Baker's son and all that.). This early rising is perhaps shocking to my mother. I've found, though, it's been vital to smooth (and slower) mornings, which I do much better with. This way I have time for things like quite times and exercise and getting a load of laundry done and the dishes unloaded before the kids wake up. You know, all those things that help you not to be a crazy person (or at least, a little less crazy). Plus, when you have a husband who is up so early that he brings you your morning tea nice and hot before you've even sat up in bed most days...well, that helps a lot. A LOT. Really, I don't know what I'm gonna do when he's not a student anymore and gets up at a more normal hour-or when he works nights and isn't around to make my tea. I'm thoroughly spoiled. I know this.
    And yet...somehow, even with all the newly-added organization/discipline in my life, there's been a serious lack of time. Time for things like blogging, anyhow. Also, that whole homeschooling-during-the-smallest-son's-naptime might have something to do with it. Either way, it means that somehow I've let a WHOLE MONTH go by between the time we found out about Adam's clinical placements and the blogging of it. In fact, I didn't even think about it until I started getting questions from aunts and good friends and cousins about where he'd be doing clinicals...oops. So, to answer the question-we're staying in the Valley! Adam had requested a couple of rotations up in Colorado, but between the school's requirements and the doctors' available time, it simply didn't work out. And while it would've been fun to have a 6-week adventure in Colorado with family, there's no denying it's much, much easier not to pack up a family of 5 with three young kiddos for six weeks. Believe me, I've done it before. Doable, but not easy! 
    We're also incredibly thankful that Adam will be able to come home at some point every day. This is truly an incredible blessing. Several students, including some with families, have clinicals in places that are over an hour commute each day-which means they'll most likely be finding a place to stay for the week and home only on weekends. Going into this clinical process, I prayed for two things: that we'd be able to stay together as a family, and that Adam would get the preceptors and clinical sites he needs to learn what he needs to learn. I knew I'd be able to handle anything else that came our way.  I'm so incredibly thankful to see how the Lord has answered the first part of that prayer-and I can't wait to see how he answers the second part! 
    Neither of us can believe how quickly this first year has gone. We're down to the last 7 weeks...it'll be 7 weeks of craziness, but STILL! It's only 7 weeks. Then a few weeks off to breathe, and then....the fun begins! 
 

Adventures of the Cupboard Dweller: Indecent Exposure.

     My folks came into town for Blaise's birthday at the beginning of April. We had a great visit; and toward the end of their trip, my dad, Adam and I took the kids to a nearby train park to spend a Saturday morning. (note:Saturday=busy) We had tickets to the train and carousel, thanks to my aunt's generosity when they'd come up a week or so before with my cousin's kids; so we got in line for the train first thing. Great! The kids were all thrilled. The train pulled in...and Pax suddenly realized he needed to go to the bathroom. could it wait till after the ride? No. Ok.
     Being that he's six and a half, Adam walked him down the ramp and  then told him to hurry to the bathroom, since the train would be loading very soon and the bathroom was maybe 300 yards away. Pax raced across the small yard towards the bathroom, saw a tree halfway there...and panicked.
    I watched in shocked horror as my not-so-small son ducked behind the tree (in the middle of the park, filled with people all around) and DROPPED HIS PANTS. AND his unders. To his ANKLES.
 Somehow, as I watched the undressing unfold (in what seemed like slow motion, of course)  I  desperately yelled, "ADAM!!", while Adam himself charged across the 200 yards or so to quickly ask Pax to pull his pants back up. And then ushered him to the bathroom door. The poor kid...apparently he just knew his need, saw a tree, didn't want to miss the train, and decided it was his quickest option. Adam and I were all at once horrified, slightly embarrassed-and couldn't help but laugh.
We may need to work on reacting under stress. Especially  in public. But, to the boy who ripped off his clothes, peed on a palm tree, and jumped into the pool in celebration only last year...well, you can see the logic.I had been expecting potty issues that day...only with the potty-training two-year-old. Not my oldest.
Only Pax, people. I love him. He keeps me on my toes constantly. He's one-of-a-kind, that kid!

April in Arizona.

Spring in Arizona. It's why people live here! So that's what we've been doing...

 

snuggling. eating waffles. seeing beauty. painting. waffles...yummm....bringing joy to little hearts. playing with cousins..and friends. hiking.walking in Grandaddy's boots. PA-racing on climbing walls. imagining. baking cakes. celebrating little boy birthdays. group homeschooling. playing princess. seeing beauty. swimming (well...some of us!). falling asleep while listening in to Mama & Megs. accidental science experiments. seeing beauty. ripping off fingernails in playground (third kids...I tell ya!!)."reading". celebrating. fighting croup.

living life. seeing beauty. everywhere.