Happy Mother's Day to all the women out there who strive to have a positive influence on those around them...not just their immediate families.
Time continues to slip by. We are getting so close to ending our time in Houston. We've done a lot of reminiscing about when we first got to Houston. We thought we were mature and knew a lot, but man we have sure grown in four years. Not to mentioned adding wrinkles and gray hair. We feel we are better for it...wrinkles and all!
Both Tim and I were released today. It was a great feeling, but both of us still have work to do in training and getting the next person settled in. At least I have one less bag to carry. Hopefully, by the end of next week we will really be done and then we won't have any responsibilities until we get to North Carolina.
Tim is heading into his last week of his rotation. We are hoping the resident/attending in charge will have mercy and just tell him he can be done on Wednesday. Technically, his rotation is finished on Friday...graduation day. If they are sticklers, then he will finish on Friday afternoon, come home and change for graduation in the evening. He has found time to help with some of the start up things for North Carolina.
Speaking of start up things. We made great progress this week in setting up insurances, electricity and everything else. We are in the process of reading through our lease in preparation for signing. There is always one more thing that pops up, but at least we are getting one thing checked off before we add another. I did feel very accomplished, which is saying something because for the last month it's been spinning my wheels more than anything. We even drove to a Buc-ee's (a chain gas station in Texas with really clean bathrooms). It was one of the things that I have wanted to do, but I was disappointed by the bathrooms weren't that clean! At least I won't have any regrets leaving Houston. We ended up going to a Starbucks to use a gift card that I have had for two years. Hyrum got a cake pop and Tim and I shared their lemon pound cake.
Hyrum has been a 'three'nager for about two weeks. I'm not sure if it's just my imagination, but I feel like we have seen progress with tantrums and general maturity. Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of tantrums, but he seems to be able to come out of it having learned how he can fix it for next time. We have also had some really great gospel conversations about prayer, the priesthood and other things like kindness where he has applied it later. The Friend magazine has been a great help in teaching some of these principles. Generally, he is a goofball. Case and point eating a kiwi pop. Tim may have helped with this, but Hyrum still jumped on the wagon.
His imagination is still amazing to me. He and Tim built this contraption this week. He has also been on a machine kick. He brings all of his blocks and says, "Mom, will you build a hay baler?" It always starts as something simple, but quickly moves to me having to come up with something unique. And then there is the, "What else can you make?" After ten of those, I am ready for a new game. It has rained a lot this week and one day he was playing with a little girl outside fishing. They had sticks as fishing poles and he ran to find leave to throw in as fish. We just shake our heads.
Lila turned 8 months. She is into everything and doesn't hold still. It always takes 15 pictures to get a good one. Here is a sequence. I set her down and she immediately reached back. I sat her back again and she was very wiggly, until I hold her down. We managed a good smile and sitting still long enough for a non blurry picture. Just be sure to add in four or five more pictures in between.
She is very curious about everything. She has always been one to go after what she wants. She just reaches and wiggles until she gets it. We noticed this week that her drumming skills have taken off. She has a tambourine that she can hit well. She also goes after the number 10 cans. She also surprised me by emptying out her toy bucket and then putting a few toys back in. Tim and I are taking bets on how long it will take her to walk.
Here is a fun picture of the two of them taking a ride in the grocery shopping cart.
Time continues to slip by. We are getting so close to ending our time in Houston. We've done a lot of reminiscing about when we first got to Houston. We thought we were mature and knew a lot, but man we have sure grown in four years. Not to mentioned adding wrinkles and gray hair. We feel we are better for it...wrinkles and all!
Both Tim and I were released today. It was a great feeling, but both of us still have work to do in training and getting the next person settled in. At least I have one less bag to carry. Hopefully, by the end of next week we will really be done and then we won't have any responsibilities until we get to North Carolina.
Tim is heading into his last week of his rotation. We are hoping the resident/attending in charge will have mercy and just tell him he can be done on Wednesday. Technically, his rotation is finished on Friday...graduation day. If they are sticklers, then he will finish on Friday afternoon, come home and change for graduation in the evening. He has found time to help with some of the start up things for North Carolina.
Speaking of start up things. We made great progress this week in setting up insurances, electricity and everything else. We are in the process of reading through our lease in preparation for signing. There is always one more thing that pops up, but at least we are getting one thing checked off before we add another. I did feel very accomplished, which is saying something because for the last month it's been spinning my wheels more than anything. We even drove to a Buc-ee's (a chain gas station in Texas with really clean bathrooms). It was one of the things that I have wanted to do, but I was disappointed by the bathrooms weren't that clean! At least I won't have any regrets leaving Houston. We ended up going to a Starbucks to use a gift card that I have had for two years. Hyrum got a cake pop and Tim and I shared their lemon pound cake.
Hyrum has been a 'three'nager for about two weeks. I'm not sure if it's just my imagination, but I feel like we have seen progress with tantrums and general maturity. Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of tantrums, but he seems to be able to come out of it having learned how he can fix it for next time. We have also had some really great gospel conversations about prayer, the priesthood and other things like kindness where he has applied it later. The Friend magazine has been a great help in teaching some of these principles. Generally, he is a goofball. Case and point eating a kiwi pop. Tim may have helped with this, but Hyrum still jumped on the wagon.
His imagination is still amazing to me. He and Tim built this contraption this week. He has also been on a machine kick. He brings all of his blocks and says, "Mom, will you build a hay baler?" It always starts as something simple, but quickly moves to me having to come up with something unique. And then there is the, "What else can you make?" After ten of those, I am ready for a new game. It has rained a lot this week and one day he was playing with a little girl outside fishing. They had sticks as fishing poles and he ran to find leave to throw in as fish. We just shake our heads.
Lila turned 8 months. She is into everything and doesn't hold still. It always takes 15 pictures to get a good one. Here is a sequence. I set her down and she immediately reached back. I sat her back again and she was very wiggly, until I hold her down. We managed a good smile and sitting still long enough for a non blurry picture. Just be sure to add in four or five more pictures in between.
She is very curious about everything. She has always been one to go after what she wants. She just reaches and wiggles until she gets it. We noticed this week that her drumming skills have taken off. She has a tambourine that she can hit well. She also goes after the number 10 cans. She also surprised me by emptying out her toy bucket and then putting a few toys back in. Tim and I are taking bets on how long it will take her to walk.
Here is a fun picture of the two of them taking a ride in the grocery shopping cart.
Next week is graduation! I am very excited...best birthday present ever!
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