The plane ride

Gage and I made our first trip without Peter and Koen this last weekend.  I had to make a quick trip to Dallas for a wedding shower and Gage is still little enough to fly for free, so he got to come along.  This gave Koen some alone time with Daddy - consisted of Baseball games, fastfood and staying up way too late. 

 Gage flew on an airplane when he was a few months old, but never since.  He was so excited to go!  But, before we even got on the plane I embarrassed myself nicely in the Lubbock airport.  We had about ten minutes to wait before we got on the plane so I was trying to entertain him and keep him in the stroller.  I was sitting in front of him and holding his legs that were hanging out of the stroller.  Every once in a while I would rolled the stroller back by using his legs then pull him back to me by the same means.  He laughed and laughed and the old ladies sitting around us thought we were so cute!  Then it took a turned for the worse.....I had failed to buckle the straps after making it through the security checks because I didn't think he would be in the stroller much longer as we should have been getting on the plane quickly.  As I pulled him in ( by his legs) he started to slip down in the stroller until his chest was just above the tray.  He started to panic and cry as he thought he was falling.  I tried to push him up but all that did was push the stroller away from me.  What was previously part of the great game I had invented ten seconds earlier now made him start screaming and crying louder!  I could hear the old ladies gasping and saw them reaching to try and help.  I tried to stay calm and laugh it off, but really did kinda panic as I tried my new strategy of pulling him all the way out through the bottom of the stroller.  This would have worked if Gage would have let go and come through.  Now he is screaming bloody murder while I try to pry his hands free and yank him out.  Finally he came free and scurried up into my lap.  Not the way I wanted to start a one hour plane trip.  Luckily things went smoothly the rest of the way, well mostly.  

We did have a small accident when he took a drink of milk and then coughed, spraying milk all over me, the lady next to me and her sleeping 2 month old's face!  I again was SO embarrassed!  I apologized profusely and hoped her child didn't come down with some horrible illness transferred via sprayed milk.

Over all we had a great time.  Grandparents loved getting to spend time with just Gage --my dad got to introduce him to the Garage.  The place where he and Koen hang out and work on "things" with tools, rig up "stuff" with rope, and ride anything with wheels that a toddler can ride on while an old guy pushes him.  Its kind of a right of passage for grandsons.

Thankfully we both slept the entire plane ride back home!  Its much difficult to show the weak links in your armor of motherhood when you have a precious sleeping angel lying on your chest...... well at least the risk of flying milk is lower!

Back from Paradise

So we have made it back from Hawaii - tanned, tired and although I missed the boys ( we had never left them for so long) it sure doesn't take long to get back into the swing of parenting.  An endless supplies of "no", "get down", "be quite" and our newest "stop pulling your brother's peepee!"  Yes, Gage has discovered not only his love for his own penis, but during bath time thinks Koen's is just another bath toy to play with.

Gage, at 2o months is also having a little identity crisis.  This was our conversation yesterday:

me - No Gage you cant stand on the chair, sorry charlie.

Gage  - Me not charlie

me - who are you

Gage - Me Koen (pronounce "Toe-in")

Okay, back to the Hawaii trip.  It was a blast once we got over the shock of not seeing what we expected.  Until you

 get to the beach, Honolulu is 

just another big city.  Dirty streets, scary bums and tons of traffic.  Apparently, if you are tired in Hawaii you just lay down anywhere and take a little nap.  And I am not talking about bums, just anyone!  As expected, there was also plenty of old men in speedos - this one I just couldn't resist taking a picture of! 

Yes, that is a man and yes, that is his crack hanging out!!!!

Peter and our friend Eric were like little kids at the beach with their high quality snorkel gear.

  I personally did not need to hear about what all the fish looked like.  I was trying to be in denial that there was anything but other people swimming around me.  I sometimes have to look twice when I see a shadow in a swimming pool, because you never know when a women eating shark has swam a shore and waddled over to the pool for a salt - less swim.  Yes - I think if sharks could get out of the water they would '"waddle"

Pearl Harbor was a moving experience that I would recommend everyone go to once.  

We also drove around the island to the famous North Shore where the 30 foot waves and known to happen and all the surfing contests are held.  It wasn't until we had spent three hours diving in the jeep with the top down did I fin

d out that the waves only occur in the winter and in the summer it is actually very calm waters!  And let me tell you that even in 90 degree weather it is very cold riding in the back of a topless jeep in your swimsuit!  The occasional rain did not help either.  Not the highlight of the trip for sure, but overall we had a great time!

The Introductory Blog

Okay, so I am finally getting on the blog wagon.  After the many nights up reading friends' blogs, and enjoying being able to stay in touch and see what is going on with their lives, I decided to start my own.  Anyone who has children knows that getting some free time to catch up with friends or even a few moments for a quiet conversation on the phone will understand how attractive the idea of being able to blog in the middle of the night or in the wee hours of the morning are.  Case in point, it is currently 5am, and all is quiet. 

 I will post this disclaimer up front:  spelling, along with geography and fixing cars is not considered my strong point.  We all have strengths and weaknesses, one of mine just happens to not be totally supportive of blogging.  I am great at knowing any gossip ( I like to call it "sharing the truth" ) that might be floating around-- people just seem to like to tell me stuff, and being in the right place at the right time doesn't hurt either!  I make a great gourmet meal for my kids that centers on macaroni and cheese and, I am the master of the house when it comes to how much I can carry to or from the car in one trip ( the last included two kids, three bags, three blankets, a gallon of milk and a diet coke!) .

So you should probably know a few things about me.  I have been married to my wonderful husband, Peter for almost 7 years.  So far, no 7-year itches have hit us too hard.  He is one of those husbands that is all boy (i.e. hunts, watches/plays sports, loves a good beer), yet he does something that most men and some women (including myself) could never do.....He stays home with our kids.  Let me just say this has been a saving grace for us.  We were the couple that decided I would finish my career journey first and then he would follow.  So he worked a few different jobs after college before finishing all his education and starting his career of teaching, while I finished up med school and residency.  He supported us very well, but when our second child came, the bills (namely childcare) started to sneak up on us.  We knew quickly something had to give.  Peter quit his job and now stays home with the kids three days a week (parents day out the other two) and also has been able to go back to school to get his masters in education.  Let me just say this has changed our lives so much.  Everyone is so happy, the stress level is down and our family time together has greatly increased.  I think it just goes to show you that God really does have his own plan for you.

Okay, number two.  In case you couldn't tell from the name, I have two boys.  Yes, it is me, the poor lonely female with three males romping thru my home.  Okay, maybe it is not so desperate, and really I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love refereeing the wrestling fights and being catcher for the backyard baseball games.  Koen is our oldest at three years old  and has found a new love of baseball, as well as old loves of dinosaurs, animals and George Strait.  Gage is my "baby" at  18 months and his current loves are books of automobiles, balls and of course his mommy.  So, I am a little proud of my youngest's continued attachment of his mother only because Koen seems to already prefer his father and have no current need for a mother other than for food and drink ( of which he would prefer his father get him if possible.)

The last thing to state is that I am finishing up my pediatric residency and am about to start a fellowship in neonatology.  This means I am about to pick up my entire household and move it 1200 miles across the country to Indianapolis.  I will be working at Riley Children's Hospital for the next three years.  I have never really moved anywhere and for sure have never lived outside of Texas.  Peter, being an Air force kid, is of course taking it all in stride; and we have yet to really tell the boys.  They have no sense of time, and telling them that we will be moving in a few months only sets me up for the daily question of " Are we going to our new house today?"  

So this is us, take us or leave us.  I would not change the craziness of my life for anything.  Okay, maybe that is a little easy to say right now, as I am writing this from Hawaii.  We have taken one last trip without the kids to this great state, (second to Texas of course) to  relax before the tornado of our lives starts turning again.  Before we go to the unknown land of Indiana and I start a job that I am not quite sure I am ready for.  Before our sweet little one's wake up one day and inform me they are not so little.  

There is not a better place to reflect upon your life, than from this balcony in Hawaii.  You can revel in God's glory and majesty as you watch the clouds brush the tops of mountains and the waves lap the white beaches, and know that He has created your life as beautiful as the scenery around you. 

When I return I promise to post the pics of our trip.  Hope this blog helps us to stay in touch or at least gives you a peak into our lives.  Aloha!!