Someone is 4!

Abby turned 4 yesterday.

 Per tradition, Garrett took her out to get balloons for her birthday.  Four this year!

 Her "4" shirt.

 She was so excited about each gift. "Wow, I love it!!"  So cute.  I think I could have wrapped up rocks and she would have gasped and said she loved them.

 I made her a little tote for Church, and there is a Book of Mormon inside.

"Painted toenails!!" (that's what she calls nail polish)

(not as funny as what my cousin Elza used to call it.... "Pol nailish") 

Ellie relaxing 

My parents gave her a vintage CareBear lunch box.  It even has the thermos inside!  Abby just loves it and insisted that I pack her lunch in it today so that we could have a picnic on the living room floor. 

The cake.  Man, I had such high hopes for her cake this year but it just turned out "okay".  First of all, I made it a 4-layer cake (and I colored the alternating layers pink and purple).  I thought it would end up being a little taller than it was, but oh well.  Then, I ran out of frosting so the sides looked horrible, and I couldn't make more because I didn't have the stuff.  Oh well - it still tasted just great!

What is that face?? 

 Four years old!

With her gifts.

That "kitty clock" (as she calls it) was her big "want" this year.  I waffled back and forth because I have been meaning to buy them a digital clock for their room, but I couldn't find a Hello Kitty digital clock for under $10, even on eBay.  And she just kept talking about this clock -- for weeks she'd been talking about it, ever since we saw it at Target.  So, I gave in.  She loves it.

Abby is such a sweet little girl.  She is so helpful and considerate.  She is great at sharing - she'll even give her last animal cracker to Ellie if she thinks Ellie wants it.

Abby loves playing with the ipad.  Garrett has found a ton of cute little games and puzzles that she loves to do and show off to us when she completes them.  She's even good at some of Garrett's games (Cut the Rope.... and I can't think of any others right now but there are a couple).  Anyway, I have to seriously limit her time with the ipad because she would probably play all day if I let her.  Thankfully she's usually very good at putting it away "so that it can take a rest".

She loves to go to the library and rent books and movies.  Her favorite books right now are Berenstain Bears and Curious George.  I enjoy those books too so it's fun to read together.

She just started Primary at Church a couple weeks ago.  She acts pretty hesitant each week when I drop her off, but she's always fine about 5 minutes into it.

She loves dressing up in her "princess ballerina dress" and pink plastic shoes, with her crown and purse.  She runs around the house pushing her doll stroller and being a "mommy".

She loves doing the Ab Ripper with me (it's the ab workout from P90x).  She especially loves doing the last move, called "Mason Twist".  Every time I'm about to do that move, she runs and sits next to me and does all 100 twists with me (although, she likes to "race" me and she thinks she wins every time, because she is counting them out faster than I am).

She likes dressing herself each day but usually puts on a skirt and a short-sleeved shirt, so I have to send her back to her room to put on pants and long sleeves (it's cold here!).

Whenever Abby does or says something that we don't recognize, we say, "Just like.....?" and usually she will tell us.  For example, a few weeks ago she was making cards and writing on them, "To: Ellie, Love from: Abby." (and by "writing" I mean, making squiggly lines and saying out loud what it said).  I have never heard the "Love from" term so I asked her, "Just like...?" and she said, "Kipper!" (one of her favorite shows on Netflix).

Favorite foods: yogurt, hot dogs, turkey sandwiches, quesadillas, chocolate milk, hot cocoa, pizza, apples, and of course anything with sugar.  She loves animal crackers, too, and dumdums.

Advice?

I would love some advice from all you parents out there. (And, parent-to-be, you may want to read too because you'll be dealing with all this someday!)

Abby is turning 4 this Wednesday (we are pretty excited around here).  For a couple months, Garrett and I have been talking about getting her a new car seat for her birthday - one of those booster seats for kids 3+ (or 4+, depending on what state you are in).  For people unfamiliar with car seats, a booster seat is just a booster that helps the kids sit up higher in the seat, and they use the regular car's seat belt (they are now out of the 5-point harness).

But here's the problem: I just realized that Abby is not yet 40 lbs (the current minimum for most boosters) - she's about 5 lbs shy.  But... Ellie needs Abby's current car seat (yes, Ellie's still in her infant seat and ready to move up).

We could just buy Ellie a new toddler seat just like Abby's but it just feels redundant because Abby's probably going to need a booster within a year.

I found a Graco car seat ("Nautilus") that is a toddler seat and transitions into a booster seat.  It has excellent reviews on Walmart.com and Amazon (and is actually the "best buy" on Consumer Reports, which you probably know by now is my bible when it comes to buying stuff).  It sounds like it would be ideal because Abby would stay in the 5-point harness for now (which is the safest option), and then someday when she is ready to move into the booster, we'd already have it.  But, this new seat is $140. (Her toddler seat was about $60-70, and a booster is about $50, so when you break it down it makes sense I guess).  Is that worth it?  Does anyone have this seat?  Is it massive?  I don't want anything massive... we'll definitely have to check it out at Walmart before making the purchase but I thought I'd ask first.

I guess my real question is, how far is "too far" when it comes to your kids' safety?  Obviously as parents, we all do everything we can to keep our kids safe, but at what cost?  How much is too much to spend on peace of mind?  Because the reality is, every car seat on the market has to pass certain safety standards and they are all fine to use, I am sure.  But ever since I read online that's it's safest to keep your kid in a 5-point harness as long as possible, I want to keep Abby in one forever! (What, you don't think she'll be as compliant at age 13? haha). But at what point are we going too far?  Do we ignore those last couple of pounds and just put her in a booster seat now, or do we buy an entire new car seat (for $90 more)?  (And while we're at it, do we buy this nice car seat for Ellie too while it's on sale, because eventually they will BOTH be in boosters at the same time?  Because as a side note, we really don't like Abby's current chair because it gives her bruises on her back when we drive long distances.).  How much is too much? Or, is there no such thing as too much when it comes to car safety?  How much do you pay for peace of mind?

Teamwork

Abby found one of my necklaces and decided that it was the perfect length to be her "reins" on her "sleigh".  Unfortunately, she couldn't convince Ellie to come be her reindeer, so she decided to let Ellie sit in the sleigh, and Abby would be the reindeer.

Ellie didn't quite catch the vision, I guess........

"C'mon, Mom.... save me!"

Ellie Claus, and Abby the reindeer.

Clearly, they have no concept of timelines (or, time in general), since they were playing "Christmastime".  Just today Abby was asking me when we could go trick or treating again, and I had to tell her (about 10x) that it wouldn't be for a very long time.

It's been a reaaaallly long day.

Remembering 2010

I know I already did a "end of 2010" post, and 2010 is already 2.5 weeks behind us, but I saw this post on someone else's blog and thought it might be fun to do.  You should do it, too!

(I'm definitely a sucker for all these Q&A-type posts.  I think they're fun and I really love when other people do them, too.)


1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
-Garrett got his first real paycheck since we've been married
-I ran in two 5k races

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions?  Do you have new ones?
I had a resolution to go to bed earlier... that didn't turn out too well.  I still stay up reaallly late, especially when Garrett is on call.  Another resolution was to get some water storage in our house.  I totally slacked on that one because I keep telling myself that I'll do it after we move to Florida (I will!!).

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes!  My good friends Haley and Abbie each had a baby in December.  My sister-in-law Jackie had her first baby in September, and my sister Emma had her third baby in July.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit?
Didn't visit any other countries, but we did do some traveling.  Went to Washington D.C., Utah, California, and Savannah (all in April!).  Also went to Pennsylvania in September.

6. What dates from 2010 remain etched in your memory, and why?
June 9 is a date I remember.  It's the day that we moved from Georgia to Virginia, but I mostly remember it as a day that I got some very sad/difficult news.

March 18 stands out as well, because it was Match Day!

7. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
I would like to have more order and scheduling in my household.  That's actually my big new year's resolution for 2011, and I'll be writing a post about that later on this week.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Garrett graduating from medical school was a huge achievement.  I consider that a joint achievement.  I'm not saying that I worked as hard as he did, or that I know even a fraction of what he knows, but medical school was a joint effort and I consider it to be our achievement.  Also, considering what I've read about relationships during medical school, I consider it an achievement that we are still married! :) (Divorce rate is pretty high for couples who have a spouse in med school).  Garrett matching into radiology was also a big achievement.

Running in my first 5k race was an achievement.

I also drove from Georgia to Virginia by myself with two kids in the car.  I hate driving long distances, so I consider that an achievement as well.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Well, I didn't grow as much spiritually as I had hoped.  I also didn't reach my goal weight (but I am getting closer).  That's what 2011 is for, I guess.

10.  Did you suffer illness or injury?
No, thankfully.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My double stroller, definitely!  I had been wanting it for over a year, but it was too big a gift to ask anyone for, so I saved up my own money and bought it for myself!  I've mostly been using the "single mode" lately because Abby likes to walk, but we still get a lot of use out of the double mode (a long time at the mall, or when we go running).

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Age 3 was a difficult age for Abby, but now that she is almost 4, I can already tell a difference.  She isn't as sassy to me, and she's seemed to have mellowed out a bit.  She's also easier to discipline (goes to time out when I tell her to, etc)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Hmm... nothing I'm going to blog about.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Well the biggest thing it went towards is medical school, obviously.  But the smaller "big things" it went towards include: the down payment for our car, moving to Virginia (that was pretty pricey but we got reimbursed so it probably doesn't count).  Our trip to Utah/California was also really expensive, between the plane tickets, rental car, my "sister" dress for the wedding, and the gas money for all the driving we did in California (ouch!).  Oh, and Garrett's interviews were expensive too.  

15. What did you get really, really excited about?
Match day was definitely the most exciting (and fun) day of the year, hands down!

16.  What song (s) will always remind you of 2010?
Hmm... to be honest I can't think of any particular song for 2010.

17.  Compared to last year, are you:

  a) happier or sadder?  Probably the same.

  b) thinner or bigger?  22 lbs thinner

  c) richer or poorer?  Hard to say.  We have more debt (since we paid that last semester of medical school), but Garrett's also getting a paycheck now (although, the debt interest is growing!).

 18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Service for others

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Yelling/getting annoyed at Abby

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Went to Savannah

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
I fell in love with "24" (and Netflix in general).  Does that count?

22. What was your favorite TV show?
See above.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Nope!

24. What was the best book you read?
The first book in the Hunger Games series, probably.

25. What did you want and get?
My stroller

26. What did you want and not get?
Lots of new stuff for my house (some matching bedside tables, curtain, new shower curtains, etc).  But, I didn't actually ask for any of those items so does that count?  Anyway I got some gift cards for Christmas but I'm trying to wait until we move into our new place before buying any new furniture/home decor.

27. What was your favorite film of this year?
Hmm... I don't watch many movies, and certainly not new release movies.  And if I do see a new release, it's usually pretty lame!  We did watch Inception over Christmas break though, and that was pretty good. I still want to see Social Network.

28. What did you do on your birthday?
We were in Utah for my 26th birthday and it was great!  I got to spend it with Garrett, Emma & John and Molly (and Brandon), and we got takeout sushi for dinner.

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I would have liked to see my family more.  I would have loved for us all to be together at once.  Hopefully that will happen in 2011?  We'll see. 

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Uhhh... I don't think I have a "personal fashion concept".  I really like cardigans though.  And belts.

31. What kept you sane?
Well, Garrett's interview season was a rough time and it was really stressful.  Having a close group of friends going through the same experience with us was helpful.  I think we kept each other sane and supported each other a lot during that time.

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Since getting rid of our cable, I haven't paid any attention to celebrities.  It's been pretty nice!

33. What political issue stirred you the most?
Well I think that health care was the big issue of the year, especially at the beginning of last year.  Unfortunately, I don't think any of the biggest problems were solved with the bill that was passed.  Instead of focusing on "who should pay" for it, I think they should have focused on things like harsher punishments for insurance fraud, and making health care more affordable in general (not insurance necessarily, but health care in general).  The way that the bill was passed bothers me a lot to.  President Obama promised that all discussions would be out in the open but that never happened.

Unemployment is also really scary right now.  I am so thankful that I have not been personally affected by this, but so many people are hurting now and that's hard to see.

34. Who did you miss?
I miss my family!  I still haven't met my new little nephew John, which I'm sad about.

35. Who was the best person you met?
We've met some fun people here in Virginia but I can't really think of anyone in particular that stands out over the last year.

36. Share a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
I learned not to take good health for granted.  I learned that life can be fleeting and that we should make the most of our relationships and our experiences.  We should express our love often.  And, when we think our life is going perfectly... that's usually when the figurative bomb drops.

I also learned that I am very blessed.  I guess I have known that for a long time, but I was more aware of it this year.

*******

I usually don't "tag" people to do posts but I'd really love to have my sisters do this one!  And, of course, anyone else who might be in a blogging rut!

My dream house

So last week I wrote a post about the kind of house I hope to buy when we move to Florida this summer. Now, let's talk about the kind of house I want to live in someday.  My dream house. (Doesn't everyone have a dream house?  If you are a girl you probably do.)

I don't ever want to live in a huge house - too hard to keep clean.  But I'd love something open and bright and full of natural light.

Something with great architecture (love the color of the floors, too):

Lots of windows for natural light:

With great organization space:

Something classy (oops, didn't I say I didn't want something too big? ;) ):

Or this:

(I love stone walls, but I especially love the ones that look handmade. The one above is a little too "perfect")

Or a house like this:

(I love shingled houses.  LOVE them.  And if you have a house like this, you also need to live within a mile of the beach.  I think I could handle that.)

With a view like this (if you don't have a beach view, that is):

With outdoor living space like this:

And this:

And this:

And a mudroom like this:

The boys' room (or a kids guest room) could look like this:

(I am obsessed with built-in beds in a kids room, and I love the red/white/blue color scheme for a boys' room)

More red/white/blue (okay, I really hope I have two boys next, because I want them to have this room):

More built-in beds:

Crazy built-in beds (crazy as in, I love them.  But how are they practical?  I guess it would be perfect for grandkids or something...):

A coffee table like this must be included somewhere in the house.  I love it:

I'm also currently loving sliding barn doors like this.  I like a touch of "rustic-ness":

And wouldn't laundry be fun in a room like this?:

(Ok, maybe not fun, but definitely bearable!)

And, I swear, if I had a bathroom like this, I wouldn't mind cleaning it:

I am also crazy about built-in breakfast nooks, and I'm loving the blue and orange color scheme here:

This image actually inspired the blue & orange pillows in my living room).

Isn't this playroom just perfect?:

And finally, the moment I know you are all waiting for, the kitchen.


It's a good one:

Oh, you want another view? Okay:

The only thing I don't like is the cabinet-looking fridge (I like a stainless steel fridge) and the bar stools (I'd put in some metal ones, maybe antique).  But I'm crazy about white cabinets and I love the white marble counter tops, too, and all the beautiful windows.


::Sigh::


A girl can dream, right?


I think I'll be interested to come back to this post in a few years and see how my tastes have changed.  I'm pretty sure I will always love the kitchen, but who knows.


Now excuse me while I wipe all this drool off the computer........

Today...

....the house is a mess, I desperately need to go grocery shopping, and Ellie has one pigtail that has stayed in from yesterday.

Garrett's on call tonight so I think we are safe with having such a messy house for now.  Now excuse me while I go get Ellie... she's taking stuff out of the trash (which needs to be taken out!).

A couple things...

-Ellie is on an eating strike.  She hasn't eaten a full meal in about a week.  She's also been waking up and crying about 5 times a night.  At first it was because she was teething, so I would go in there and give her some medicine and a drink and that would calm her right down.  However, now I am pretty sure she's just waking up out of habit.  I would ignore her, but I feel so bad for Abby having to share a room with her!  Thankfully it's getting better though... last night she only woke up twice.  And now she's mostly just waking up before midnight, which is nice because usually I haven't gone to bed yet.  Either way though, it's pretty annoying.  She's NOT a newborn, she shouldn't be acting like one by getting up multiple times a night.

-I am no longer working in the Primary at Church.  I was sad to be done with singing time but they needed me somewhere else... Young Womens to be exact.  I am the first counselor, which means I'll be mostly working with the 14-15 year old girls.  I don't know any of the girls so I'm a bit anxious and I feel very overwhelmed.  I will also have to take the kids with me to many activities and youth nights which I am not looking forward to.  But we are only here for 5 more months and I suppose I can do anything for that long.

-I gained 1.5 lbs over Christmas break.  Thankfully most of it is gone.  It took me about a week after being home to get back into my healthy eating/exercise groove but it's finally back.  Now if only Haley will stop making yummy treats...

-I just got a property tax bill for our cars.  Maybe I'm naive but I had no idea that property taxes on cars were so expensive... we owe $300!  I am NOT happy.  They charged me for the entire 2010 year, so I need to call them and tell them to adjust the bill for when I actually moved here.  I don't remember ever paying property taxes for our cars in Georgia.... either they don't charge it, or I am on a "Wanted" sign down there somewhere.

-I made this black bean & salsa soup for dinner a few nights ago and it was really good.  I don't think Garrett enjoyed it as much as I did (too spicy) but I loved it.  It was fast, easy, filling, and low on calories.  I'll definitely be making it again.

-Abby has watched "Toy Story 2" every day for about a week now.  I love those movies (and clearly she does, too!)... we still have to see the third one though.  It's on our Netflix queue.

-We are almost done with season 6 of "24".  It is intense!  I love it.

-I called the pediatrician's office last month and scheduled checkups for the girls.  They were supposed to be last week, but I called the day before their appointments to ask a question about Abby's shots (when I took Abby to get her flu shot in Dec, they told me she also needed to re-do her Hep B shot because it was originally given a few weeks too early (when she was 4 months old instead of 6 months).  I am very angry at the Augusta pediatrician's office, if this is true.  I need to call them and ask if they are messing up on all their patients.  Plus, this happened 3.5 years ago.... and it's just now getting noticed?)

Anyway, I asked about that shot, and as I was about to hang up I said, "Well okay, we can re-do Abby's Hep B tomorrow when she gets her other shots at her 4 year appointment, right?"  They said, "no problem."  But then I asked, "So, this is all okay, even though she won't be 4 for another couple of weeks?"

"Oh, no," they said, "She has to be 4 to get her 4-year-old shots.  If you come tomorrow and have them done, your insurance won't cover them, AND she will have to have them re-done after she turns four."

So of course, we rescheduled their appointments and we'll be going in after she turns 4.  But I'm just SO ANNOYED at them because THEY scheduled her appointment! THEY gave me the date to bring in the girls, I didn't ask for that particular date.  I am so glad that I cleared that up before dragging them all the way down there at 8 in the morning.  And for the life of me I can't figure out why I didn't get angry at them on the phone and say, "Um, you scheduled this appointment.  I would NOT have paid for those shots, just so you know.  And I would have been very annoyed if my 4-year-old little girl had to get shots twice because you screwed up." But of course, all I said was "thank you very much for rescheduling" and hung up the phone. (I hate myself for that)

I guess the moral of this long-winded story is that *I* am in charge of my health care.  No one is going to look out for me (or my kids) better than I am.  I am in charge of knowing when my kids need shots, what shots they need, when their appointments should be, etc.  I guess I just need to be more informed and more involved.  Let this be a lesson to everyone!

And, I need to quit being such a pushover sometimes.  Should I bring this to their attention when we go in for shots in a few weeks, or is it too late?

Maybe I can practice my aggression when I call their old pediatrician's office and ask why the heck Abby's Hep B was 2 months too early.

-And finally.... my dad + facebook = hilarious.  But he doesn't have his own account so he does everything under my mom's name.  It's pretty funny.

House Hunting: Must-haves, vs Want-to-haves

Well, I've officially gotten the ball rolling as far as house hunting in Florida.  Yes, I'm probably crazy but I am just so excited!  I contacted one of the guys who Garrett met during his interview a year ago, and his wife and I have been emailing back and forth with house hunting stuff.  She is going to get me a list of all the other residents who are going to be selling their homes this Spring.  Ideally, we'll be able to buy a home from a graduating resident but we'll see.  It's still a bit early to really start looking, but I want the graduating residents to know about us and contact us before they list their houses with a realtor.

We still haven't talked much about what our budget will be.  It's hard because that all depends on what interest rate we get, what kind of down payment we have, etc.  We know how much we are comfortable spending per month, but we don't know what kind of "big number" that will give us.  We also need to hunt around for physician loans - special mortgages available to physicians.  They usually have very good interest rates even without a down payment. (Don't be jealous... it has cost us almost $200k to earn that physician loan!)

Like most people who are house hunting, I have a lot of ideas for what kind of house I want to buy and what I want it to look like.  I have compiled a list of "must-haves" and "wishes".... let me know what you think.

And let me note that Garrett has not seen this list because he's on call right now, so... it may change dramatically once we actually sit down and discuss things (although, I do think we are in agreement about most of it):

Must have:
At least 3 bedrooms
A garage or shed (preferably a garage!)
No pool (I am not interested in owning a pool! I know, I'm crazy)
A dishwasher
Laundry hookups
More than 1 bathroom

Wish list:
Fenced-in backyard (with a nice fence)
A large-ish backyard (half an acre?)
Community pool
Community gym
Stainless steel appliances
A laundry ROOM (rather than a closet)
4 bedrooms!
Big closets and storage areas
Wood (or laminate) floors
White kitchen cabinets
Nice counter tops
A sunroom (these are pretty popular in FL so it shouldn't be too hard to find)
2 car garage (preferably one that DOESN'T stick out way into the front of the house, but I'd rather have a garage that sticks out over not having one at all)
front porch
NOT tile floors everywhere (tile seems to be popular in FL but I don't really like it in the living room)
A big pantry (walk-in a plus)
On a cul-de-sac
A citrus tree or two or three (how neat would that be??? Growing up in New England, I was always so fascinated by citrus trees... probably because I'd never seen one in real life!  Same with palm trees... I think I was 20 before I saw either)
Avocado tree
Not an all-brick house (I really love siding)
10 years old or less
In one of the neighborhoods where most of the other resident  families live

So clearly I have a lot more things on my wish list than my must-have list.  I obviously need to have all the things on my "must have" list, and I would like to have at least 6 or 7 things from my wish list, but it doesn't matter which ones.  Wouldn't it be great if we could find a place with most of our wish list items??  Crossing my fingers... :)  Sometimes I feel like my wish list is way too long, but the reality is that I've seen lots of houses for sale in Florida that have many of these characteristics, and some of them are even in our budget (I think?). So I don't think I'm too off base... I just doubt we'll get them all in one house.  We probably won't even get half.  That's okay though.

What do you think?  Anything I'm missing?

Hat tricks

If there is one thing Ellie loves, it's putting things on her head.  Here's a little collection of pictures I've gotten over the last several weeks: