Year In Review

For the new year, I thought it would be fun to do a quick glimpse at 2007. For a quick glimpse, it is kind of long!

JAN-MARCH:
Fernando started out the second half of his 3rd year of medical school doing a Surgery Rotation at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio Texas. The kids and I were able to join him for the last two months. Most of our time was spent at the San Antonio Zoo. We also biked around the nearby park, rode horses, saw Sea World, and took the kids bowling for the first time. While we were away, temperatures plummeted in Maryland and a good portion of our pipes broke in our house. Thanks to some very kind neighbors and friends we came back to only stories of how bad it looked.

We came home for the last two weeks of March in which time my dad came out to visit. There was a miraculous snow storm at the end of March that made it possible for Mia to build a much desired snowman. It turned out to be a stylish Snow Woman named Gertrude.
APRIL-MAY
Fernando's next rotation took us to heaven. Ok, it was only Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, but it was fantastic. Family Practice wasn't as time consuming as Surgery so everyday around 4pm we geared up for family fun at the beach. Aside from the pristine sand and amazingly blue water of the beaches, we visited several kid oriented libraries, the Gulfarium (mini Sea World), went miniature golfing, and saw a few dolphins in the gulf. I even got my boating license in hopes of renting a boat to cruise the Gulf for the day. The closest we came was canoing in the bay. Mia turned four and decided she would get her ears pierced. Big Girl. (Fernando turned 27, but decided that he still would not have pierced ears.)

MAY-JUNE
All good things must come to an end, but luckily Spring time is one of the best times of the year to be in Maryland. The kids and I hopped on the plane for a quick jaunt to Utah to attend my Brother Kevin's wedding. The rest of the time was spent at the park, picking fresh strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries at local farms, and cooling off in the pool or sprinklers.

JULY-SEPTEMBER

July and August brought a short break for Fernando in school so we decided to make a quick trip up to Niagara Falls and Palmyra. My sister Amy drove from Michigan to meet us there. We saw the fireworks over the falls and enjoyed an up close and personal look at the falls themselves on one of the tours. We then hopped once more on a plane to visit family in California for a week. Fernando's family took us to see the majestic Sequoias and let the kids play with their many various pets. Mia's favorites were a baby rooster that would peep uncontrollably in her hands and the new kittens they had. She also enjoyed taking their dog for walks in the desert. We also had the chance to visit my sister for a few days. They took us to the beach and a magic show.

SEPT-OCT We found out when we came home that we were expecting child number three and Tiago turned two. (I turned 27, but Tiago's birthday was far more fun.) And although I was more than nauseated, fourth year rotations called again, taking Fernando back to Texas; this time to interview for a residency program for Anesthesiology. What do you do when your husband has to leave town and you're overwhelmed with motherhood and morning/all day sickness? Have several visitors come and head out of town yourself. The first friendly face was Fernando's sister Tirsa. She came out with some friends and kindly stayed at our home for a few days. We decided that a day trip to Hershey PA was in order and found a cute bear store on the way home. Next to visit was my sister Angela with her husband Josh and son Liam. They were sucked into seeing the sites in DC, but accompanied the kids and I to Michigan. The Michigan trip was due to my sister Amy going through the Temple. It was fun being together as a family and meeting my sister's dog Texas for the first time.

OCT-DEC Wow, you made it. You must really have a lot of love for our family. Fernando returned just in time for Halloween. We dressed up as people going on a lion hunt. To spice up Thanksgiving, we made some turkey feathers and took advantage of the nice weather outside with an improvised game. We taped the feathers on our backs and had to cluck around like turkey's all the while trying to rip them off the backs of everyone else. December brought hoards of good news. We found out that the very active baby inside me is a girl; due April 9. Then it snowed! (Both events equally fantastic to Mia). To top it all off, Fernando was accepted into the Anesthesiology Residency that we were hoping for in San Antonio, Texas. To celebrate, we decided to go on another mini trip. Well, actually we realized that now would be the best time to visit my brother Kevin and sister-in-law Lauren in New York City before we move. (NY pictures to come) Christmastime is different this year with both kids appreciating it with older eyes. Mia has filled out house with Christmas pictures. Her topics of choice are trees with ornaments and presents, ice skaters, Mia Elves, Santa Claus, and the nativity complete with angels above the manger with the star of Bethlehem, wise men, camels, shepherds, sheep, Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus. Tiago squeals with joy at the site of lights. He explosively exclaims "Christmas tree lights, christmas tree lights!" and then will direct our attention to where he saw them in relation to the nearest family member. In other words, if Tiago saw lights closest to Mia, he would blurt out, "Christmas tree lights (x2), Mia's side." followed by a squeal.


END THOUGHTS-
We cannot believe how blessed our family has been. Better than all the wonderful places we were able to see were the little miracles everyday. Mia and Tiago never fail to remind me why the Savior asks us to become like little children. Their love and desires to obey are inspiring. We hope your year was at least as fun as it was for our family and hope for just as much to talk about next year.

A "Perfect" Match

I think there are many valuable lessons one can gleam from the movie "Fiddler on the Roof". It's clever use of words and double meanings makes most of the movie very applicable to many daily experiences. Take for example the song matchmaker. (It is the clip above. . .watch it for laughs as well as a reference point.) Fernando has spent many hours contemplating what residency and therefor career would be a perfect match for him. Opthalmology seemed ideal until he spent a few days in the clinic. The next option seemed to be surgery. Fortunately, for us, he found a better choice in Anesthesiology. Once one chooses their ideal match, they must vie for it's attention. Wooing a board of doctors is not a desirable or easy task. For months, we have waited an contemplated the what ifs attached to the final decision this "board" makes. And as the song says, "Playing with matches a girl can get burned". So we decided to accept whatever comes our way. This morning we found our match. ANESTHESIOLOGY PG1 GENERAL SURGERY SAUSHEC FROM 01 July 2008 to 30 June 2012. In human terms. . .Fernando will do an intern year at Lackland AFB and Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio Texas focused on General Surgery and then begin residency in Anesthesiology.

The burn comes in the form of a year of General Surgery. Though it might be quite a blessing in disguise. So not having a husband for a year is stinky, but at least we will be in the same city. Plus, it might weed out any lingering thoughts/desires to be a Surgeon based on the hours he will be pulling. So in the years ahead when his job becomes same old same old (like all jobs do) he can remember intern year and re-fall in love with Anesthesiology. Plus, if he is really lucky, he will have many an opportunity to jump in on some action here and there. Meanwhile, I will be enjoying all the fun San Antonio offers and all the good food.

Yes I know Heavenly Father loves Mia!

One of our favorite primary songs is My Heavenly Father Loves Me. Since Mia was little, I would sing that song to her with the additional bonus of putting Mia in at the end. Like many times in her life, the words of the song rang true. Mia has been hoping quite openly to have a baby sister. As mentioned in a prior post, it isn't because she doesn't like baby brothers. . .it's just that she already has one of those. The morning of the ultrasound was filled with talk of what the baby would be. Mia even told me about a dream she had where she saw a baby girl. She near exploded when her hopes were confirmed. Then, as if life could not get any better, we woke up to snow the very next morning. One of Mia's very first comments were, "It's snowing because Heavenly Father loves me." Amen.



I might also mention that all these events were a somewhat new concept for Tiago. Baby is an interesting idea. So much so that Tiago often hugs my tummy and talks to the baby and then points to his tummy for me to do the same. The snow was fun to walk in, look at, but not to touch or EAT! He tried to warn Mia several times not to eat the "yucky snow". Mia tried to explain its deliciousness. Neither would budge.

"Because I am an AMAZING Artist"

This was the reason Mia gave when asked about her chalk drawings for Christmas. She did it with quite an artistic flare. The tone was dramatic but the hand swishing that accompanied the "Because I am an amazing artist" declaration was the clincher. It's just too bad that it happened on the chalkboard. That is always how it is. We have a huge roll of blank art paper on the other side of that easel and yet the 'keepers' always end up on some church handout, old envelopes, or as in this case erasable surface. Thank heaven for cameras, blogs, and videos.

Turkey Daze

As a family, we have been trying our hand at several different options for family holiday traditions. You know those activities you remember doing every year and love to recall all the funnier moments. Well, we have come up with some vary unique ones and we'll see if they stick. For the week of Thanksgiving, the kids and I have been having daily school fun to help them understand the why for shoving our face full of food every third Thursday in November. We found a few authentic sites on the internet and lots more silly songs and crafts. (see above photo of a Lightening McQueen inspired turkey and a Mia creation both crafted from their own hands, literally.) The night before Thanksgiving happened to be quite pleasant in regards to weather so we made up a little game to play outside. We each made some feathers to tape to our backs. Then ran around in a sort of squaty position gobbling like turkeys. The objective was to get as many feathers from the other "turkeys". Mia and Fernando both proved to be skilled turkey feather grabbers. I was less then proficient and Tiago was just plain confused and slightly scared at the behavior he was witnessing.


Thanksgiving day was kicked off with our ward's turkey bowl. Fernando was geared up with reciever gloves and appropriate BYU attire. (I am actually shocked that he hasn't purchase an authentic helmet and pads because he likes to do things all the way.) Mia was a trooper and came even though she said many times "I don't like football, but it's ok." Tiago on the other hand was a little disappointed that they were not in need of his skills on the field. Every football was "Daddy's football" and he would tenderly hold each one. There were many failed attempts at multiple footballs in his arms. The funniest thing he would say is "Cougar football" then do the famous cougar roar.
Nap time afforded everyone with the necessary second wind to make it to the end destination. . .food. This year's meal came with some old fashion techniques. Since our microwave had dreams of Disney's Light Show, we are now microwave less. I had to melt butter on the stove several different times for various recipes and had to think ahead of time what needed defrosting. Now I know what the Pilgrims must have felt. . .well except for the inadequate housing, lack of food, and living in a strange land. We mixed a little of the "old fashion" techniques with new age ideas including a turkey tenderloin and Costco apple pie.

Moral Rights Movement

The other day we watched the movie Amazing Grace that focuses on one man's quest to destroy the slave trade in Britain. Although the movie could have been a whole lot better considering the topic and the true story, it did leave me hankering for a good passionate debate. Fernando was a little more then tired from work that week and we share the same opinion on almost all important matters making a debate impossible. All night I kept thinking about how wonderful it would be if everyone who stood for any moral decency would voice their opposition to the tide of evil that is flooding our country and world. If the collective whole could stand up for the moral rights we have cherished, but taken for granted. This voice could at least match the loud lobbyists from "special interest" groups that get laws passed that seem crazy. For example, Maryland just unanimously passed a bill that would allow people of any physical make up to use facilities that are for the gender they feel more attached to. Translation: men or women can choose what locker room or restroom or any other gender assigned and separated area that would like to enter if they felt more female then you would suppose by their genetic make up. I am sure that there were several people who thought that slavery was wrong, but didn't think they could stop such an economically and politically sound institution. Luckily, it did to some extent. So, it's my turn. I need to find some way to let my voice be heard whether or not it makes a noticeable difference. At least I can try.

Best Friends

Tiago and Mia are best friends. That includes the occasional tiffs that come with that territory, but on the whole, they think the world of each other. I love to here Mia call for Tiago using her nickname for him. . .Boy. And love to hear Tiago yell at the top of his lungs, Meekies, in order to find his sister. Mia's job seems to be explaining the mysteries of the universe. For example, Tiago was informed that after he was married, he would be able to kiss a girl on the lips. (You better believe it!) Tiago's job is that of endless adoration and encouragement to try new things. It's always more fun to have a partner in crime. I often learn great lessons of love from watching them interact. Mia tenderly speaking to Tiago when he is throwing a fit or sharing her favorite things with him. Tonight, Tiago wanted to cuddle and comfort Mia since she seemed to be in a little bit of pain. He would give her hugs and kisses and wanted to sleep in her bed with her. He even said a little prayer in order to help out. Someday, I hope to love as they love and care as they care.

235 pound paper weight

After searching high and low for a gym that had decent daycare and coming up empty handed, Fernando surprised me with an elliptical. I have been keeping my eyes on getting a Life Fitness wonder for a few years, but the price tag of $7000+ new and $3000+ used kept me from buying it. Fernando looked around ebay and found a used and refurbished elliptical for a pretty good price. With shipping and set up in the home, it came to $1850. I'll give you the clips from the humorous set-up since it took almost 5 hours! First, the man drove the machine for 3 hours in the back of an open pick up truck, uncovered in the rain. Then with the dripping machine inside they attempted to disassemble the machine in order to take it up to our third floor bedroom. Even though they insisted that they knew what they were doing, it was more then obvious that they didn't. An hour passed before they realized that it would be better to just try to go up all in one piece (or at least all the pieces that they put back together). Five minutes was all it took to get up the stairs. The next several hours were spent reassembling and realizing that water and batteries do not mix. The whole unit didn't become functioning until a few days later. Sadly, I have only used it a few times since then. I hope that I find a better use for my machine than a giant paper weight and carpet holder.

Invincible

Here is a little amazing look at the inside of Tiago. I had to look at the picture several times to make sure one of the doctors didn't just give us some skeleton drawing that they had left over from Halloween. Fortunately for Tiago, little kids bones seem to magically float under their skin. This is how he managed to still have a functioning pinkie finger after being completely shut mid pinkie into the hinge part of the door (meaning the door was able to be locked with his finger wedged into the narrow crack of the inner part of the door). I was on the phone with Fernando while he was making his long drive home from Texas when it happened. Thanks to Kristi and Josh, I was able to make the trip down to NNMC with only Tiago to entertain for the many hours we would wait to be seen. Tiago was a trooper and love the radiology part. They gave him a sporty little apron to wear around his waist and there was a lot of moving, noisy parts to poke. All in all, I am glad we left with only the x-ray and a few token stickers.

We're Going on a Lion Hunt!

Mia was quite insistent on being a lion for Halloween and so I tried to brainstorm several cute options that could tie us together as a group. Upon looking for the obvious Wizard of Oz collection, I found several cheap looking giddie ups (literally and euphemistically speaking). My ideas never really transformed into actual costumes. I think that the main problem came from my overall dislike of the holiday itself. I really couldn't bring myself to buy any of the costumes because they cost too much in relation to my desire. Not wanting to ruin it for everyone, we thought of a working option. We luckily have a wide assortment of Hawaiian shirts for Fernando and even one for Tiago. Slap on some black socks and sandals and you have yourself a perfect tourist outfit at no additional cost. I dawned some earthy colored clothes and a funky cowgirl hat and called myself a tour guide. Not terrific, but fun enough for the kids.

To mask my dislike of the holiday, we thought of some fun activities that would get us in the mood. We went to a pumpkin patch and splurged on a pumpkin carving kit (way worth the $5). Tiago and Mia each got a real Red Flyer wagon to bring back their pumpkin finds. Tiago took matters into his own hands when we all stopped to admire the funny looking turkey that lived near the pumpkin patch. Focused on the goal, Tiago took his wagon to the place of pumpkins. We were pretty impressed and well as grateful for the fact that he could lift the pumpkins without breaking them.


The food all followed a Halloween theme--Halloween shaped pancakes and orange juice for breakfast and even pumpkin shaped pizzas with a skeleton shaped veggie tray for dinner. Now that it is done, I can openly focus on my favorite holiday-Thanksgiving.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

What is better than Christmas morning? I'll tell you. It is the morning you come upstairs and see your daddy laying in bed where he belongs after a month in far off Texas. Nothing could match the excitement and somewhat disbelief of the kids as the clung on to any body part they could. Fernando, exhausted from the 14 plus hour drive he just finished the day before lovingly cuddled with his children giving them a gift that was worth more to them then I think either of us could imagine. Mia kept smelling him and Tiago couldn't stop kissing him. A little view of heaven.

A Bug's Life

Because I have an innate fear of bugs and especially spiders, I have worked really hard on not passing on that fear to my kids. So much so that I will constantly be pointing out strange bugs and spiders. Once we watched a spider catch a bug and wrap it up. It was actually quiet interesting. Now that it is fall, we have a plethora of grasshoppers in our front yard. Grasshoppers have to be the best of all bug worlds: they are big enough to see body parts, the jump and fly, and don't bite. Mia dumped all the chalk out of the container in order to catch the grasshopper and let Tiago get a closer look.

It's Autumn Time?

One of our favorite Autumn songs in the Children's Song books goes as follows:

It's Autumn Time, the leaves are falling down. It's Autumn Time, it's all around the town. It's Autumn Time, it's Yellow, Red, and Brown. It's Autumn Time, fresh colors can be found.

Well so far no go on the promises of the song. In fact, the leaves are more wilted then vibrant colors that accompany the fall and we have been left rosy cheeked by the heat and not the wind. Here we are enjoying a terrific "fall" day in our swimsuits while we run around in the sprinklers!



I know this is very common place for all our San Antonio and Hawaii friends, but this is the Maryland!

Reverent Awe

This past week seemed to be a perfect time to visit a local farm to get in the autumn mood. I mean what could be more charming than a bunch of farm animals? Tractors! Yes, tractors are really far more amazing than any hairy creature. Sheep, piglets, pigs, rosters cock-a-doodle-dooing, and a cow calf are nothing compared to the giant man made metal machines scattered across the farm. I even tried to lure him away with goats walking across a precarious set of timbers high above the ground, but no luck. Oh well, the animals were a little stinky anyway.


After ogling several models of tractors, we found a "pumpkin" patch (also man made) to run around in. Poor skinny bummed Tiago was running faster than his pants could keep up. More than once we had to pull up the pants to prevent indecency and tripping.

Today is Your Birthday. . .or is it Your Birthday?

So the great thing about little kids is that dates are kind of irrelevant. This proved to be advantageous this year with Tiago and my birthday. It just so happened that my birthday, Sept 22, fell on a Saturday and Tiago's, Sept 23, was you guessed on Sunday. Seeing as how my birthday wishes could all be filled while keeping the Sabbath Day holy, we decided to switch birthdays. We didn't really do anything too out of the ordinary. We played at the park, ate macaroni and cheese with octopus shaped hot dogs, and followed Mia's suggestion to stop by the pet store to see all the animals. Tiago loved it. After the pet store we stopped off at the nearby grocery store to pick out Tiago's birthday cake mix for the train cake he selected me to make. I was helping him lean towards getting the triple chocolate cake, but he seemed intent on getting the Chocolate Cake butter recipe. We couldn't find any difference with the boxes appearance except for the written words and figured we could pull a fast bait and switch. Both times we tried, he pushed the triple chocolate out of the way to find the other chocolate cake. Go to the store and look at both boxes and you tell me what made him capable of selecting the "right" cake.
Back at the house we worked together to build his choo-choo cake. It didn't look exactly like the illustration from the internet, but it was enjoyed by all.





PS Yes we are all geared up and fully committed for the Game that played later that day. Go Cougars!

Can You Feel The Love Tonight?

Mia has suddenly become infatuated with the Disney movie The Lion King. She has even convinced Tiago to be a fellow lion to tromps about the house roaring. It really is cute. This morning, while I was trying to catch a few more moments of sleep, Mia was busily scribbling on a paper. When I finally did wake up, she showed me this.

The picture is an illustration of "Simba, his uncle--Scar, and two hyenas" (from right to left according to Mia). I was pretty impressed, but I am the mom. Whatever, it's genius.

Cleatus

As standard with prior such events, our family waits to announce any baby news until we hear the heart beat and, in this instance, see the little peanut via utlra sound. Everything looks good even though it is difficult to see in the picture. We will be expecting to see the final result of Cleatus the Fetus April 10. Mia is hoping for a baby girl, but said she would be satisfied as long as there was one baby girl and one baby boy in mommy's tummy now. The second option has already been ruled out and we will keep you posted on whether Mia gets her wish or not.

Part Man, Part Sherpa

Our family seems to have many a made for tv moments in our lives. I think part of the reason is that I am a bit on the lazy side of things and that always gets me in trouble. Just the other day, Fernando decided to study at home. He set up all the necessary equipment in our room up on our third floor. I, like usual, was still loafing about the house in bedtime attire, no contacts, and hair/armpits in desperate need of a shower. Tiago tried earnestly to distract Fernando. I eventually made my way upstairs to take Tiago away to a better play place. I found him frustrated outside of our bedroom door. I figured Fernando couldn't wait for me to get Tiago out so he took matters into his own hands. No biggie, I would just quickly shower and be on our way to some adventure. About the third knock and jiggle of the locked door handle, Fernando appears at the bottom of the stairwell. Now if this were a sitcom, there would be a dramatic pause as the camera jumps from my eyes to Fernando's and the canned noise of choice would help move the plot along. Unfortunately, this was our life quite literally since the test Fernando needed to study for was Step 2 of his medical board exams. Even with all our MacGyvering, we could not break the lock. I made a few untimely jokes about clever mice, but Mia was the only one who got excited about that idea. Finally, thirty minutes later, Fernando concocted a intricate plan involving a stolen church ladder. This was like the fourth time that week I had wished we owned a truck. Truckless and braless, we walked as a family the three blocks to the church. Tiago and Mia were loving the family frolic and meandered their way pushing a stroller full of toys and a rumbling lawn mower. Eventually we had the massive ladder and made the reverse trip even more interesting for the passerby. Fernando insisting that I shouldn't try to help, hoisted the ladder over his head. At the half block mark, he asked Mia for a Care Bear to ease the pressure of the ladder. It proved slightly better except for the infernal plastic hearts on the nose and bottom. Once home we extended the ladder to maximum capacity since our room is three stories up.



After several unsuccessful tries to break in, we said a prayer. Inspiration struck and Fernando made his next attempt with a pair of patent leather military dress shoes and our snow scrapper from the car. Miracle. Strange how you always hear those stories of people praying for really "silly" things as compared to world hunger and yet Heavenly Father loves us enough to answer all faithful prayers.