August 23, 2007

Happy Birthday to ME! Birthdays are definitely different as you grow up, but today was still a fun day. I had originally wanted to just celebrate it another time since we had so much going on, but Jeff was super sweet & made it a great and memorable birthday.
When I got up that morning, Jeff had put together a special little gift basket for me filled with all sorts of nice new nail polish, makeup and other cosmetics/fun things. I love it when he picks things out because he gets the nice things whereas I usually get the cheap ones. He also had a sweet card with such a thoughtful message-as always. My big present came a few weeks early when he got me a nice digital piano, so I was feeling pretty spoiled.
One thing I love about having a birthday is feeling like I can do whatever I want and not feel guilty about it. I needed to get the dishwasher loaded & some things cleaned up, but decided it would be much more fun to get out the coloring book & crayons, and just color with Jacob and Caleb instead...so we did! We made a fun lunch together & even watched a movie together with some treats. I think Jacob & Caleb were wishing we could have a birthday celebration every day.
I figured that we would probably go out that night & just take the kids with us, but Jeff even arranged for a babysitter for the boys! There is another 2nd year resident that Jeff works with that we've become pretty good friends with. They also have two children & we've done a babysitting swap with them. So they watched Jacob & Caleb while we went out. That night Jeff had made reservations for us at a new restaurant downtown called Alma De Cuba. It was such a fun place. Of course just the atmosphere in downtown Philadelphia is exciting & full of energy. This restaurant featured fun little candlelit tables, great authentic Cuban food & music, and all together a carefree enjoyable atmosphere to enjoy your time in. We had so much fun & really enjoyed the evening together.
All in all it was a great birthday, and the best part is being able to spend the time with my sweet husband and boys. They really made today a special day!

Elder Tanner & More

Well today was the day that my brother entered the MTC. I still can't believe that he's finally going. We were (obviously) not able to be there with everyone, but at least able to talk with him on the phone before he entered officially. I'm so excited for him and know he'll do a wonderful job. Sometimes we kind of joke that we'll both be on missions at the same time, Houston in Chile and us here in Philadelphia. He'll just be done 9 months sooner. I'm sure my Mom is missing her son already; this is a first for her. But we're all excited for Elder Tanner & looking forward to hearing about his mission experiences.

This week has been a pretty regular one. We're trying to get things organized to move. We actually found out that the tenants in the home we've been subletting will be arriving home a week sooner than expected. Which means, we'll be moving to a hotel for a week, and then into our new apartment after that. Makes things a bit interesting, but hopefully it will all work out smoothly! I was able to find a good deal on a storage place not too far from our new apartment, so we've been moving some things there & will just do the rest once we're officially moved in.

I was able to go to my first doctor's appointment here (yes, it's been a while) and met my new doctor. He's a great guy that Jeff actually worked with as a medical student. I was very impressed, he seems great & I enjoy his personality. Jacob and Caleb were born here as well but I went to a doctor at a hospital just outside the city. I had originally planned on going back to Dr Bailey & Monzo at Lankenau Hospital, but when Jeff got his insurance information we found that they'll cover the labor & delivery completely if you're at Hahnemann (Jeff's hospital) but anywhere else is $1,000. It was still a tough decision; but I decided that if I can take half of that for a shopping spree after baby it'll be worth it. (Jk) Anyway, meeting my new doctor was great and I'm happy with him.

Last of all, this week has been extremely rainy! It's actually started to feel a lot more like fall. There's a chill in the air & it's been really wet. I don't know if I'm completely ready for the cold weather just yet, but I love having a few days of rain. There's a cozy feeling about the day being overcast and hearing the rain come down; especially when I'm going to sleep or waking up in the morning. I love it. There's just an exciting feeling with fall in the air.

A couple random things from the past week.

Jeff had another call week last week, which meant long days. Saturday we were hoping to have some time to do things, but he ended up having to be in at the hospital at 6 in the morning and still wasn’t home at 6:30 that night. He called me on his way home and suggested going out to eat somewhere with the boys. I was all for it! So we took the boys to Baja Fresh. It was good to be out doing something together. The food was good and it’s nice to have a restaurant with a more casual atmosphere for kids! It was just nice to do something fun with Jeff. He’s been busy and we miss him when he’s gone.

Small But Mighty

We went grocery shopping a couple days ago. When we got home, we moved all the groceries from the car to the porch and were just starting to carry them into the house. Caleb was so funny. He’s not quite 2 yet, but in his mind he’s pretty big and tough. Well, he insisted on carrying the milk into the house. It was so funny because he would try with all his might just to pick up the gallon, then he’d kind of stagger with it carrying it into the kitchen. I was amazed how tough he is; he did it a couple of times. He’s a stubborn little guy and when he sets his mind to doing something, he’s going to do it! He wanted to do it by himself and didn’t want any help. Jeff and I just laughed watching him, he’s sure a fun little boy with a lot of personality.

Last of all, I’ve been having fun with the new Cricut machine that Jeff got me for mother’s day. I went to a baby shower a couple weeks ago and had a lot of fun putting together a little gift basket with cut-outs from the machine. It’s great! I’m just hoping that sometime in the future I’ll actually have a place to put the Cricut. Right now it’s stored in it’s original box with all the packing supplies and I get it out when I need it, but it’s a bit of a hassle and I don’t use it as much as I’d like because of that. Anyway, it’s been fun and I have a few new cartridges that I can’t wait to try out! The Paper Dolls Dress Up one is amazing, you can make tons of different little dolls with tons and tons of extra accessories !

Pregnancy Shots

I’ve had some friends & family members who live away request some pregnancy shots. If you live nearby anyway and see me often, please ignore, you’ve seen enough already I’m sure! For those of you who don’t, here are some pictures to entertain & amuse.

Ang at approx. 30 Weeks

Early Birthday Gift

So even though my birthday isn’t for another couple weeks, Jeff decided to get me an early birthday present. He had had the idea for a while, so when he found a good deal, he couldn’t pass it up. He got me a new digital piano! It’s the Yamaha Clavinova digital piano. This is one of the better digitals that actually sounds and plays like a real piano and has the full 88 keys. Plus it’s got some awesome extra features as well, like the ability to transpose music, a built-in metronome, and headphone options which allows you to play at midnight without waking anyone up and many other extras. The other nice thing is that it isn’t nearly as heavy and doesn’t take up the space like a real piano. I haven’t played much over the past few years, you don’t when your only opportunity is at church. I’m really excited about the piano and hope that I’ll get some great use out of it. If anything, Jacob and Caleb sure are excited about it and already love to play on it with me. Thanks Jeff, once again you remind me that I have one of the most thoughtful husbands ever!

5 Years Ago Today

Today is our 5 year anniversary and I still can’t believe it. I remember thinking that couples who had been married for five years had been married for a long time! Now, five years and almost 3 children later, here we are. Some might say that the first few years of marriage are some of the hardest and require the most adjusting, but I can honestly say they’ve been some of the best years of my life. Jeff is truly my best friend and I can’t imagine life without him. It’s amazing to see how our relationship has grown even over these few short years. When you’re newly married you can’t imagine how you could ever love your spouse more than you do at that time, but it’s amazing how your love grows and develops into something even deeper.

These past five years have been busy; filled with schooling, jobs, church responsibilities, medical school, residency and of course children. I love to look back and see how each of these things have influenced our marriage; especially our children-our greatest joy. They have truly added a wonderful dimension to our relationship that couldn’t be filled by anything else.

This anniversary might not be your ideal celebration day-once again Jeff is on call and has to be ready to report to the hospital at any time; but more than anything I’m grateful for a day to really reflect upon the past years and be reminded of what a wonderful man I married. I feel so grateful and blessed. Happy Anniversary Jeff, I love you!