Blue Ridge

One more rotation finished and it's hard to believe it but Stephen only has two more core rotations until he's a 4th year medical student! He continues to work so hard and I am one very proud wife! This school year has pushed us the most and forced me to grow so much. It has been the toughest of the 3 but in so many ways we have still had some really fun times. And during the bad times we have clung to the "its good now" mindset and gotten through them. It is easy to get caught up in thinking years down the road and how it will be "good" then. But the only way to survive this medical school journey happily is to always remember it will be good later, but its still good now! The last 3 years have been such a wonderful crazy adventure. We started this medical school journey 4 months after we got married when we moved to the tiny island of Dominica for 16 months. Then we spent 4 months in Utah before heading to Georgia. Atlanta is now our home and it's where we became parents and it will forever hold a special place in our hearts. This next school year is going to be the craziest of them all but we are preparing and feel ready!

Surgery rotation was 3 months long and it was exhausting for us all. Once it was over we desperately needed a family getaway to relax and destress. We rented a cabin in Blue Ridge GA. Our cabin was the Southern Comfort and it was beautiful. The mountains were so peaceful and quiet, exactly what we needed. Once we checked in to the cabin we didn't leave until checkout. It was such a wonderful escape from busy city life and we were even blessed with our own winter snow storm. We had the fire going almost the entire two days and relaxed in the jacuzzi every nap time Everett had. We played candy land and battleship, grilled ribs for dinner one night, played in the snow, and enjoyed our much needed family time.
Everett saw snow for the first time, made his first snow angel, licked his first ice cycle, got his first cut lip and bled all over the place and cried off and on for almost 2 hours the first night before falling asleep for good.

Everett: 8 Months

Everett you have become such a busy boy. Always busy playing, throwing, and talking.

It has been a roller coaster month as far as naps and mornings are concerned. 

Between a cold, teething pains, and rolling over in your crib, day time sleeping went from on average 4 hours a day to 2 hours a day if we were lucky.

We figured out why you were only rolling over in your crib and on our bed. You don't like the carpet.

With lots of crib and our bed practice you are now rolling over from your tummy to your back.

My favorite thing that happened this month was you starting to reach out your arms to be held.

First haircut! We took about an inch off and it is still long.

This month you started grinding your teeth and it is the most awful sound.

Teething pains also started this month and your 5th tooth came in. Number 6 will be any day now.

You have developed quite the set of lungs and love using your voice at a very high pitch sometimes.

At the grocery store you make everyone around you so happy. You just love smiling at everyone.

We got a bird feeder and you love watching the birds.

Watching the cars drive by our apartment is by far your favorite activity. That smile and excitement you get is the most wonderful thing I see all day.

You like to pat your knee and sometimes you will do it during a hand clapping song.

You sneeze in the sun.

New foods this month was peanut butter, rice crackers, yogurt bites, cucumbers, marinara sauce, balsamic vinaigrette, and lemons. The cucumbers have been a favorite for soothing your gums and surprisingly you loved the lemon. 

Some days you like oatmeal and other days you won't have anything to do with it.

Pacifiers finally served a purpose this month by putting them in the freezer and letting you chew on them.

After our walks you help mom bring the mail in by holding it in your stroller.

There is never a time when you have a dry top on. (from all the drool)

You love taking selfies, especially with dad.

You can drink from a sippy cup and an open cup as long as we hold them for you.

You like to play with your hair especially while falling asleep.

Humidity and bath time makes your hair curly.

Everett you are becoming quite the character. You are spunky and sometimes a little cranky. You aren't very patient and get frustrated easily. At the same time you are happy and so curious about everything. The outdoors continue to amaze you. You have a kindness and gentle love that melts your mommy's heart. Every day your smile, curiosity, and obvious love for all those around you continues to grow. It won't be long before you are crawling and then walking. You so badly want to crawl and pull yourself up. Don't rush into it to quickly. Stay my little baby for as long as you want.

Tybee Island GA

I could easily spend the rest of my life in Georgia. It is such a magical place. The day after Christmas we drove 5 and a half hours to Tybee Island. I have missed the ocean so badly and desperately needed an ocean fix. Our first stop was the Tybee lighthouse. It was such a foggy day that we could hardly even see it. After going to the top of the lighthouse we walked to the pier and couldn't see the ocean until we were about 50 feet from it. Even still it was the ocean and that was all that mattered. It was a breezy 75 degrees and the water felt icy. Had it been the middle of summer I think Everett would have loved the ocean. His first experience with it was a little scary and cold for him. After getting our feet wet we went and sat on a swing in the sand for a while watching the sun melt off some of the fog over the water. It was just perfect.

For dinner we went to the best seafood restaurant around, the crab shack. This place is amazing. Not only the food but the atmosphere. We had an amazing view from our table looking over the water and got the biggest platter of seafood I've ever seen. Before we ate we watched the alligators in their pond. Then after dinner we took a look at the exotic birds they have. To end the day we tried to find an ice cream shop in Savannah before heading home. But all of the lines were probably 45 minutes long so we unfortunately didn't get our ice cream and drove 4 and a half hours back home. 10 hours of the day was spent in the car driving and only a few hours were actually spent at Tybee but it was a lot of fun and hopefully not the last time we go there.

Merry Christmas

Christmas was once again a magical one.
Christmas Eve and Day were wonderful. On Christmas Eve we spent the day together at home baking cookies and relaxing. The cookie recipe came from one of our Christmas books and the ingredients were in ounces instead of cups. My attempt at making them failed miserably but it was still fun. For our early dinner that day we cooked a 12 pound ham for just the two of us. We had so much food we tried inviting the Elders over to join us but they already had plans. It was a great meal with lots of leftovers, especially since only Stephen likes ham. Later we drove around looking for Christmas lights but found hardly any. Before putting Everett to bed we read jolly old Santa Clause and the Christmas story in the Bible. After he was in bed Stephen and I watched a movie together in front of the tree with the fireplace on. Then filled each others stockings before heading to bed. It was a perfect day.
When Christmas morning came Everett had decided to sleep in until almost 8:00 giving us our own little Christmas gift. He enjoyed playing with all of our stocking gifts and it was fun opening Christmas presents as a family. For Christmas breakfast we had a biscuit casserole, sausage, muffins, and hot chocolate even though it was hot enough outside that we had the air conditioner on all day. We had a fun afternoon full of playing with our new toys and going for a long walk in the 75 degree weather. For dinner we went to our friends house along with another couple in our ward. We had a huge turkey dinner and had such a great time with some of our Atlanta family.