7 years

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband! I remember our wedding like it was yesterday! The lights, the Christmas tree, our famly and friends, but most of all the love we had for each other that day! Our loves has continued to grow over the last 7 years! Even though we haven't really spent an anniversary together, we still know how much we love each other. This past year has brought us many more ups than downs and our lives are only getting better! What has happened this year:
1. You were granted an EM residency at Bostford
2. You graduated medical school from LMU-DCOM
3. Our condo has entered forclosure
4. We moved to Michigan
5. We welcomed our 2nd child, Nicholas Peter

These are just a few highlights from this year and it was a good year! I love you to the moon and back and can't wait to spend the next 70 years with you! I love you!!

One month

Nicholas Peter, you have been with our family for one month already and I feel like you have been here always. You fit in just right with us. You are such a good baby so far. You are a good sleeper and eater. You are eating around 4 oz every 4 hours. You have set your schedule and it works out great. Your big sister loves you so much. She loves to help get your diapers, wipes, put your paci back in and kiss you. She calls you her little buddy all the time. Lately she loves feeding you and always wants to hold you. She is in total awe of you and you couldn't ask for a better big sister! This month you already had your first road trip to Chicago for Thanksgiving. You did very well in the car and slept the whole way there and back :) So far you are a good traveler just like Samantha! You also have had your first trip to the ER. You came down with a bad case of thrush, but its under control now and it looks so much better!
You had your one month doctors appointment and you did so well, despite us being there for almost 2 hours. You have gained weight and grew a lot! No wonder why some of your pj's don't fit you anymore :)
Weight: 11 lbs 10 oz 90%
Height: 22.75 inches 90%

You are such a handsome little dude as your dad and I like to call you. Can't wait to see what new things you learn this next month.

Love you

Thankful

This year just like any year, we have so much to be thankful for. God has truly blessed us again this year. Even though we have tough times, God uses those tough times to show us what is really important to us. Here are a few things I am thankful for this year.

1. God's Promise
2. Family
3. Friends - new and old, near and far
4. job
5. a warm house
6. food on the table


When asking Samantha what she was thankful for this year she told me mommy, daddy, Nicholas and ice cream. So much fun to see what is important to everyone at every age.

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving. I know I did.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv2e-OTb4eQ

...and now we are 4

Nicholas Peter Kowalczyk arrived on 11/1/11 at 10:35 am. Our little linebacker weighed in at 10lbs 14 oz 21.5 inches. It was a pretty uneventful day, which was very good :) Jim and I arrived at the hospital around 8am and started from there. Put in IV's, took blood pressure, monitor on baby, ultrasound of baby. Everything went very smooth and I wouldn't have changed anything. My mom, dad, Jim's mom and Samantha were anxiously awaiting in the waiting room. I did get to see my parents and Debby before they brought me back for the c-section. I was not able to see Samantha, but I guess it was probably a good thing because I think I would have just cried when she left the room. As I walked out of the room and walked into the OR, i had so many mixed emotions. I was scared, nervous, excited, anxious. As I sat on the table waiting for Anesteia to come in I just couldn't wait to see what God was giving us. Once they were ready to start the section, Jim walked in and I instantly calmed down.

I didn't even know they had started the section. I looked at Jim and asked what they were waiting for. He said they were already in the process of doing the section. At one point i looked up at the light in the OR and I could them doing the section. Totally freaked me out, but I knew in just a few mintues I would have another little child to love. A few mintues went by and all of a sudden I heard that cry. I looked at Jim and he had this big smile on his face. He said, "its a boy"! I could tell he was so happy he got his boy!

After the c-section was done I was brought to recovery and was able to see my parents again along with Debby. Samantha was still not allowed back into the room where I was at. Jim, Samantha, my parents and Debby all went to see Nicholas through the nursery window as they were getting him cleaned up. Samantha just stared in amazement and was very quiet. Jim said all of a sudden she had a huge smile on her face and said, "daddy, that's my baby!" She was so excited!

When I was brought into my room, everyone was allowed to come in. Jim and Samantha came in first with Nicholas. Samantha was such a proud big sister. She hopped on the bed with me gave me a big hug and said, "isn't he just the cutest thing mom?" I just started crying. She was so cute with him and so gentle. All in all it was a great day. I wouldn't have changed anything! I can't wait to see what God has in store for this little guy.
"For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord"

Another Conversation with Samantha

While getting ready to go for my weekly visit to my OB this morning this is the conversation Samantha and I had
S: Mommy I'm going to hold your had while at the doctors
I: Why Samantha?
S: I'll hold your hand whent eh doctor checks your front butt. This way it won't hurt.
I just smile give her a hug & kiss and tell her thank you for taking care of mommy :)
She really is caring :)

Crazy Conversations with Samantha

I have a bunch of things Samantha has said lately that I don't want to forget because one day she will be able to read these and laugh!

Conversation between Samantha (S), my mom (O) and I at Max & Erma's for her birthday dinner
S: Mommy I have to poop
I: Really Samantha? Can you wait until we get home?
S: No, I REALLY have to go poop
I: You promise you have to go.
S: Yes, mommy I REALLY have to go
Usually when she says that in a restaurant she just wants to wash her hands. This time we go into the bathroom. She hops on the toliet and proceeds to start pooping. All of a sudden she starts wiggling on the toliet.
I: Samantha why are you dancing on the toliet?
S: Mommy, I'm wiggling my poop out...it's stuck.
I: Well you just wiggle it out then
S: I'm wiggling again...its all out...I'm done!





Conversation in the car with Samantha while driving to her 3 yr wellness checkup

S: Mommy the doctor can't touch me today
I: Why not? He has to check your heart, back, arms, legs
S: Well the doctor can't check my front butt.
I: Your front butt?
S: My front butt...that would be wierd
I guess she has gone with me to too many of my OB visits.

Conversation with Samantha about Auntie JuJu and Samantha's visit to the Palos Park Fest

S: Mommy , Auntie JuJu took me to see mascots. I don't like Mascots...they scare me. Auntie JuJu you need to say your sorry.

I: Samantha I'm sure Auntie JuJu didn't mean to scare you

S: she did

So now everytime she see a mascot, she tells me that Auntie JuJu scared her and that she didn't like the mascost and they scare her and she doesn't want to go back.

Happy 3rd Birthday to my little princess!

Happy Birthday to my little princess Samantha!

I can't believe you are 3 already! It's seems like yesterday you were a little baby and now you are going to be a big sister in just a couple of weeks! You are still a little love bug and love when everyone is around. You have your daddy and I wrapped around your little finger.

You had a great birthday this year! Oma, Papa, Auntie JuJu, Uncle Matt, Mimi, Bob and Unkie drove to Michigan for your birthday weekend. Everyone came on Saturday for your party. We had some Mostoccoli, salad, and rolls for dinner and you picked out your Minnie Mouse cake for your birthday this year! You loved opening presents this year! You still open them nice and slow and appreciate everything that was there. You recieved a some Hello Kitty clothes & PJ's from mimi and bob. A big stuff animal from Unkie. some games, like Hungry Hungry Hippo, Gator Golf and ABC game from Auntie JuJu & Uncle Matt and a Bowling game from Uncle Awesome (uncle Jeff). Oma and Papa got you some sticker books, Overalls & shirt, and pink rain boots! You got some awesome gifts!

Year 3 fun facts:
Weight: 35.25 lbs
Height: 39 inches

Vocabulary

You will talk to anyone that will listen to you once you warm up to them. You know all of your letters and we are starting on reading 3 letters words. We have all the letters on the refrigorator and will start with those this week.
You also know your basic shapes and can draw circle, triangle, square and rectangle. We are working on writing your letters too. You can do the Q and A right now.
You can count up to 15 consistently and most of the time up to 20.

Eating:
You are still a picky eater. Breakfast is by far your best meal of the day. You will eat almost any fruit. You love smoothies too. Dinner we are trying new things and you are getting a little bit better.

Other Misc.:

You still love playing with your babies. You are know pretending you are the mommy and doing more role playing. It's so much fun to watch you play with your babies, take them for walks, and put them to sleep.
You love going to the park and swinging and going on the BIG slides :)
You are potty trained, which makes for one happy mommy :)
You can ride your tricycle
You HATE ants..everytime you see one you freak out!

Again I'm sure I'm missing some stuff, but you are truly an amazing little girl! We love you so much!

3rd Trimester

I have welcomed the 3rd trimester with open arms! I feel like this pregnancy has lasted forever! I know that it is much longer than Samantha's, but I just feel like it should be November already and the baby should be here. Only 6 more weeks to go! I have so many emotions lately. I can't wait to find out boy or girl! I wonder how much love I can give this baby. I have devoted that last 3 years 100% to Samantha. Now I have to split my time between the 2 of them. I just don't want Samantha to get resentful of me or Jim or the baby. I just hope this will be a smooth transition. What I do know is that I will love my children unconditionally.

Another Month Down

I can't believe August came and went and another month is residency is done! August just flew by! I spent about 2 weeks in Chicago. My oma and papa were in from Florida so Samantha and I spent some time with them. It was great to see Samantha interact and have such a great time with them.


Jim finished up with his EM rotation for the month. He really enjoyed it even though he had some crazy hours. It really made him realize that this is really what he wants to do! It's so nice to always get that confirmation when doing something that you know you love! Now he is onto Pulmonolgy and the hours are pretty decent too.

Mickey Mouse and Church

This past Sunday in church, Samantha was reading the Bible during the sermon. She is always good in church and NEVER wants to go to nursery. So as she was reading she was talking very quiet, but I could understand her a little bit. She started out in the beginning saying that Mickey Mouse and Minnie opened their garden to all the people. As she was going through all the pages, she was telling her story. At one point I heard her talking about Jake and the Pirates, and Barney. As she was getting to the end of the Bible and she was in Revelations, she said that they all lived happily ever after in Heaven.
I guess she does pay attention to me reading her, her Bible and pays attention in church. The other thing that makes me laugh in church is that when our Pastor starts talking, she usually stops talking right away because she says that it's God talking. A few weeks ago when we were there, our Pastor had told a joke during the sermon and Samantha told my mom and I that God was funny, and a few people around us heard her and all started laughing too. Let me tell you that girl has a sense of humor!

1 down 47 to go!

Jim is finishing up his first month of residency! We got through it! He started off with IM, so his schedule was pretty set. He got to the hospital around 6am M-F and was home anywhere from 5pm-7pm unless he was House Officer or was on call that day. He only worked one weekend and it just so happened we were in Chicago that weekend so it worked out great! He really enjoyed this month getting into the swing of things. It sounded like he had a great group of residents and doctors to work with. I hope this enthusiasm keeps continuing! At least I know this next month it will as its EM. He has a pretty nice schedule this month too, although a lot of afternoon/night shifts are coming, but I think we can handle it :)
Samantha and I are getting into our own routine again as well. Usually starts out with breakfast and a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, we then either go out in the backyard to play or walk down to the park and play there for an hour or so. We come home eat lunch and then Samantha goes down for a nap, occasionally I will lay down with her too. Usually last around 2 hours :) After she wakes up we either go down in the basement and play or go outside. Once I know Jim is on his way home, I usually start dinner unless I know its going to be a late night and then Samantha and I eat once I know she is getting hungry. After dinner is usually bath time and then she plays either in her room and she colors and reads books. Bedtime some days can't come soon enough. We have packed days, but it keeps the days moving fast! I can't believe one month is down. Only 47 more to go until residency is over :)

Samantha's Happenings

I haven't updated on Samantha in a while, and I want to remember this stage very well! She is so much fun right now.

Vocabulary

This girl can talk. She talks from the time she wakes up until the time she goes to bed. I wonder where she gets that from? She is definetaly my daughter :)
She holds conversations on the phone with family members and its so cute. She walks around the house talking to them and showing them things as if the person on the other side of the phone can see what she is showing them.

Her favorite phrases right now
Are you kidding me?
Let's go outside!
Let's go to the park!
I'm hungry!

She knows her alphabet and has for quite some time now. She also can reconginze all of her letters. She can also reconginze basic shapes - circle, square, triangle, star.

The girl loves to sing too! When driving in the car she always ask to have her music on. She loves her Bible songs and sings them so cute and even does action with them. If I start singing with her, she tells me not to sing :(

Eating

It's getting better slowly. Breakfast is usually cereal, waffles, bagel, or pancakes usually one of the paired with a yogurt or a banana. Lunch is very sparatic. She usually doesn't eat lunch and if she does its generally peanut butter and jelly. Dinner is where we are trying new things. For the last year she never really ate dinner with us because we always ate so late and she was usually ready for bed at that time. She usually eats chicken, mac n cheese, quesidilla, and sometimes pasta. She loves applesauce - homemade of course. She loves yogurt, and ice cream. She also loves her chocolate...she really is my daughter :)

Miscellanous

She loves to play. She has tea parties with her babies. She loves feeding her babies, changing their diapers and talking them shopping and on walks. She plays with her kitchen and cooks many different things. She colors, but is not one of her favorites. She loves reading and making up her own stories and loves when we read to her.
When outside, she loves to play on her slide, with her water table, and sand table. We love to go to the park and she plays very well with the other kids! She also LOVES the water...loves the pool!!
She is completely potty trained...thank you Jesus!!!
I'm sure there is plenty I'm missing, but at least this is a start for me to remember this stage.

Ready for the next phase

Well in just a few days we will be moved into our new home in Michigan! I can't believe we are finally at this point! I have so many mixed feelings. I'm feeling stressed about leaving family again. Samantha and I have had so much fun over this last year seeing everyone on a daily basis, that it will be wierd not seeing everyone every day. I'm feeling stressed about not knowing what is coming next. How is intern year going to go? Will I be able to do everything on my own? Will I get to see Jim? Will I be able to be home with family for Holidays? I know everything will work out, but I just can't seem to stop thinking about it.

I'm excited we FINALLY got a house in Michigan...better late than never right? I can't believe the rental market up there and how hard it was to find a house that we at least could deal with, but happy that we found one that we LOVE! God has such a sense of humor sometimes. Good things come to those who wait right?

As we are packing up, I keep breaking down and crying. I'm so excited to get our own place, but sad we are leaving family and friends. I have so many mixed emotions and being pregnant is not helping the hormonal cries either. Luckily Jim is understanding and he just keeps telling me he understands and tell me what I want to hear :)

Is there a doctor in the house??

There is now!!! Dr. James Ronald Kowalczyk!!! I'm so proud of you Jim!

What a crazy busy graduation week we had! On Wednesday, my mom, dad, Samantha and myself drove down to TN. This was probably the worst drive Samantha has had driving. She cried for the first 4 HOURS!!! It was horrible. She sure was happy when she saw daddy though! Wednesday night we checked into the hotel went out to dinner and went swimming in the pool! Samantha LOVED the pool! I knew she would, but was a little afraid because she is used to sitting in the kiddie pool. Luckily there were steps that she sat on and played with her Mermaid Barbie.

Thursday, I got up with Jim and drove with him to school and listened to the options we are going to have to repay his $1,000,000 in student loans. It's crazy how much medical school is and yes I'm kidding with the $1,000,000, but it sure feels like that much! It was very informative and I think we know what to do now! After that, it was the awards ceremony. It was a great ceremony. Jim recieved the Emergency Medicine award! So proud of him! After the awards ceremony we drove back to Morristown to get ready for the dance that the school sponsered in LaFollette. We had almost a 2 hour drive to get there. It was at a Barn...it was like Tennessee meets Vegas! It was really nice inside. Other than it being a little warm in there, we had a great time! All day, my parents had Samantha and boy did she get the attention from them all day. They spent about 3 hours at a park, went to lunch, took a nap, went swimming, went to dinner and back swimming.

Friday, Jim headed to school again for graduation practice and BBQ. While he was there, my parents, Samantha and I went to the park, Chick-Fil-A for lunch and took a nice nap. Once Jim got back, my sister and brother were almost there and so were Jim's parents and brother! Everyone got there and we went to dinner! It's so nice that all of our families get along so well! After dinner we all got in our bathing suits again and went swimming for a couple hours! Samantha got a little more daring and decided to start jumping off the stairs and go under water! I was a little nervous about it, but I was there to catch her for every jump!

Saturday was FINALLY graduation!!!! What an awesome experience that was! It's so hard to put into words the feelings you feel when you watch your husband walk in and then walk across stage and hear...Dr. James Ronald Kowalczyk for the first time and get hooded! I just know how hard Jim has worked to get to where he is today! Samantha was so good during the graduations. She sat on Auntie JuJu's lap and read through the program many times and had some yummy snacks to eat along the way! Saturday night we drove out to Knoxville and went to Calhouns for dinner! It was so yummy! When we got back to the hotel we went back in the pool for a couple hours again!

What a great weekend we had! I'm so proud of my husband! Now on to the next step! Residency! Here we go again!

Hello 2nd Trimester!

I have welcomed the 2nd trimester with open arms. No more nausea all day! I am feeling great and getting really exicted for the little sprout to come! It's amazing how much the little sprout grew from one month to another. It's so crazy because I didn't have this comparison with Samantha. I'm so excited for this little one to come!

Ladycation!!!

It was our 2nd annual "ladycation"! It was great! Candice, Dana, Katie, Lisa and myself drove to Panama City and spend 3 glorious days in the sun and kid free! We left on Wednesday night drove 14 hours. We arrived in Panama City around 830am went the to grocery store grabbed some food for the week and went to our condo. My friend Candice, her in-laws own a condo at Edgewater Beach Resort. We unpacked our stuff put our food away changed into our bathing suits and plopped in a chair by the pool and relaxed there all day long! That night we got cleaned up and went to Sharky's for dinner! We had a great dinner and then went shopping to Pier Park. On Friday we did the same thing...sun all day long! It was so nice just to sit back relax, read, talk and not be interrupted. Friday night we ordered in Chinese and laughed all night long. Saturday there was a huge Cheerleading compitition on the beach at the hotel so we watched that from our seats by the pool! That night we went out for a nice dinner to Bonefish Grill. We came back and laughed a lot again! It's crazy the stuff we come up with! We had so much fun hanging out while our husbands were home with the kids. Although we had a blast together and relaxing and getting refreshed, we all missed our kids terriblely. We drove home on Sunday and had a very uneventful ride home compared to last year. Remember the Nashville floods last year? Yep, we got stuck in those last year. So this year it was nice to drive home and put our kids to bed.
Another successful ladycation and can't wait to do it again next year!

First Trimester

This is such a different pregnancy already from Samantha's. At this point I had no clue I was pregnant with Samantha. If I had any of these symptoms with Samantha I would have for sure know I was pregnant. I have had major nauesa, extremely tired, and bloating...Lord have mercy on me. This has just been crazy. I have been very lucky though. This rotation Jim is doing, which is his Community Health 2 month rotation has been great. He is back in Chicago every other week. He has helped me a lot with Samantha during this time. Other than the above, I feel great. The sickness comes and goes. If I look at certain foods, I just want to throw up. (i.e. salads, raw chicken, red sauce, eggs, and bananas) So of these are my favorites too! Oh well, I know I will get over it and it will be all good in the end! On a different note, I can't believe graduation week is in just ONE short month! It's crazy to see how far everyone has come over these last 4 years and that it is coming to end and ready to start residency of their choice! We are getting very excited about the move to Michigan! I'm going back in a couple of weeks to look at some more homes.

The Little Sprout

Wow, so far this has been such a different pregnancy from Samantha. Most of you know that I didn't find out I was pregnant with Samantha until 20 weeks. This pregnancy I have know since the very beginning. I have been extremely nauseous, tired and achy. I was talking to my sister on a Thursday and telling her of the symptoms that I had and that I was going to take a pregnancy test. I got home took the test and it came back negative. Boy was I disappointed. I did recognize how fast it came back negative and then I remembered when I was pregnant with Samantha and didn't know I had a couple of test come back negative as well. It just so happened the next day I was going to my FP for an appointment and asked them to give me a test as well. Sure enough it came back positive. Then i got really nervous...how far along was I? So i called my OB/GYN and got an appointment right away. I went in with my mom for the appointment and another positive pregnancy test...go figure! My doctor did an ultrasound and figured I was around one month and told me to come back in 2 weeks for another ultrasound. We went back this past Thursday with my mom and Jim and saw the little sprout and his/her heartbeat again. What a wonderful thing to see :) God is Good!

Surgery

So Samantha had her first surgery this past Tuesday. She had a thyroidglossal duct cyst removed from her neck. Our doctor, Dr. Lyon was wonderful. She was so througho in her explaination of everything from beginning to end. We got to Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, IL at 630am and checked in. Samantha was in her princess monkey pj with a cute little bow in her hair holding her blanket and little rabbit my sister gave her. We got all checked in and she was brought to her room where we changed her into her little gown and socks. She looked so cute in them. My mom and dad met us at the hospital so they could see her before they brought her into surgery. As we were waiting, the nurses brought over a wagon for Samantha to go for a ride in. They put a bunch of warm blankets in there. Samantha was the little princess of the floor. My mom took her around the floor and she was propped up in the wagon with her pillow pet and her book just looking around and saying hi to everyone who passed her way. Around 715 am, the anestisalogist came in to ask questions. At that point they asked about Samantha's seperation anxiety and it has been pretty strong again so they gave Samantha some Versad. It took about 5 mintues for it to kick in and when it did it was pretty funny. Her head started moving back and forth and she was laughing so hard it. We put her little cap on put her in the crib and they took her off to surgery.

Surgery we were told was going to last about 2 hours. Much to our surprise after an hour, it was done. Dr. Lyon came in with the cyst in a jar to show up what it looked like. It was the size of about 2 marbles and had fistulas all over it. Dr. Lyon told us it was a textbook surgery and that there were no complications and everything went great! Thank you Jesus! I was then called to go into recovery and wait for Samantha to wake up. Only one person was allowed in there and I just sat next to her crib and rubbed her back. She slept for an hour in recovery and the moved her back into her room. As we brought her back into her room she woke up and was very confused. Once she figured out where she was at she was good. She sat on my lap and had 2 cups of apple juice and a sucker (it was the first thing she said to my mom, Oma, when she saw her). "Oma can I have a sucker please." How can you say no? We weren't sure how long we were going to be there, so my mom and dad left around 1130 and we got released around noon.
We got home from the doctor and went and laid right in bed and watched cartoons. She was very hungry she told us. She ate 3 pieces of toast with just a little butter. I didn't want her to get sick from the medicine that was in that little body of hers. She took a little bit of pain medicine and then we took a 3 hour nap together. She did so good all day. That was the last time she took pain medicine. This girl must have a high tolerance for pain because she only took Motrin the day of surgery. Wednesday morning we went for day 1 post op and the doctor said that everything went great and everything looked good. We just had to keep the incision dry and keep her calm all week.
I can't believe how well she did before, during and after the surgery. Today we went and had the bandage taken off and the stiches taken out. You can see that it was really bruised around the area and its getting better. The incision looks great and I couldn't be happier with the way everything turn out!

Match Day

Match day has arrived and boy were we SHOCKED!!! About 830am Jim had received an email and he opened it up not knowing what it was going to say. We were told that we had to log on to the ERAS website around noon and it would be posted on there as to where we matched. So Jim opened up the email and to our surprise, Jim matched in EM at Botsford Hospital...WHAT??? Jim thought for sure he matched at St. James in Olympia Fields, IL...15 mintues from the condo we still haven't sold. Jim was like what happened? Did I screw up the rank list? Did I get confused with someone else? What happened? So Jim emailed the program director and found out that it was an extrememly competive year and we just didn't make it. Jim had great board scores and great GPA the only thing he had against his was that he wasn't a CCOM student. So after much crying and wondering why, we are going to Farmington Hills, MI. This was always a hospital Jim LOVED. After doing an EM rotation there in October, Jim had said had Botsford been in Chicago, he would have a very hard time choosing which hospital to choose. He loves the program director and the residents that are there. So for the next 4 years, we will be living in Farmington Hills, MI. I'm so proud of Jim for matching at a great program in the field that he wants to be in. So if we have to be in Michigan for 4 years and then move back to Chicago, I'm ok with it. It will go by so fast! So off to Michigan we go in June!

R.I.P. Great Oma 3/13/1913 - 2/5/2011

My great grandmother who was 97 years old passed away this past Saturday. She was such an energtic, fun and loving women. She was born in Amstelveen, Holland and immigrated to America with my Oma during World War II. She loved knitting, playing the harmonica, and playing bingo. A couple of summers ago, my mom and Samantha flew down to Florida so she would be able to meet Samantha because we knew that she would never make it up to Chicago to see here. I'm so thankful we were able to make it down there so she could meet her only great great granddaughter. Great Oma has knitted many dresses for my sister and I as we grew up, doll clothes, and she has knitted hats, scarves, booties, sweaters and mittens for Samantha. I will forever cherish those items. Rest in peace great oma...we love you!

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth

Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are His;

we are His people, the sheep of His pasture

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

and His courts with praise;

give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the Lord is good, and His love endures forever

His faithfulness continues on through all generations.

Snowmageddon 2011

Last week we had one of the biggest snow storms in a LONG time! We had about 20 inches of snow! It was great! We were snowed in at my parents for a few days. Schools, malls, grocery stores, and streets were closed. We had so much fun at my parents, we cooked, we played grocery store, dress up, watched movies, played house and even had some time to make some yummy brownies.

ready, set, go!
I didn't even have her all the way down

Samantha & Papa
stir, stir, stir

a good baker is a good test taster

Samantha says the craziest things

Last week when it was a full moon out we were looking out the kitchen window while she was eating dinner and she was so impressed with how big and bright the moon was. She looked at me and said, "Mommy, God made the moon" and I responded "Yes peanut, God did make the moon. She then comes back with "Mommy, Baby Jesus needs a coat"...guess next year we need to put a coat or blanket in the manager scene :)
I guess she really is paying attention when we read her Bible at night :)

Final Stretch

This time when Jim left was the hardest by far! As he was packing his car on Saturday night, Samantha was having a total melt down saying, "Daddy, I coming too" and would climb into the front seat of his car. Saturday night, Jim wouldn't put Samantha down. She even slept with us the whole night because he wanted her right now to him. She loves her daddy so much.
On Sunday morning as he was getting ready she was getting nervous that Jim was leaving. We decided that Samantha and I would leave and go to church like we normally do on Sunday mornings, just Jim wouldn't be going with us. I think it worked out for the best. Samantha didn't have a total melt down, just Jim and I did. I hate saying good-bye, or see you soon.
I'm ready for school to be done and for us to be our little family of 3 again...full-time. It's been so good over the last 8 months all being together everyday. I just hate the fact that he needs to be back in TN to do these rotations. I just don't understand why these couldn't have been done up here, but they couldn't. I know we will get through these next 4 months and so much is going to happen over these next few months. I just wish we were all together, but I know we will all be ok. Samantha will talk on the phone with Jim everynight before she goes to sleep and hopefully we will be able to skype. We will see Jim in a couple of weeks when Samantha and I go and meet up with the girls in Gatlinburg and then we will see him in February when we find out where we will be for residency! We are in final stretch!

Happy New Year!!

What a great year this is going to be! We find out in a month where we will be at for residency! I can't wait to see what God has in store for us. I'm hoping very much for St. James in Olympia Fields, IL, but we shall see! In May, Jim graduates from medical school. It's going to be very exciting for all of us! I can't believe he is going to be a doctor in just a few short months. So many wonderful things are going to be happening!

Goals for the year
1. continue to lose weight (down 15lbs already - hoping to be down another 30 by graduation)
2. find a better job
3. move back into the condo, if we get St. James or sell it if we have to move out of state
4. hopefully have a baby brother or sister for Samantha

I know more things will change during the year, but this is a good start. Can't wait to see what God has in store for us this year!