Chris on OB/GYN and Playing Basketball, Random February Events
Chris finishing up Family Practice
Chris is doing his last 2 weeks of Family Practice back here in Maryland. It’s mostly classes so it’s a pretty light schedule. His exam will be on Friday and then on Monday he starts his OB rotation. He’ll get to deliver BABIES! He’s excited but not ready for the long hours.
Apple on the Tree
I pasteled and laminated a picture of a tree and then some little apples. It's on the fridge and Ryan LOVES to 'put an apple on the tree'. I let him put one on when he is being a good boy and make a huge deal about it. Now he uses it as a bargaining tool with me. I say "Ryan, let's put away your puzzle." and he says "ok, and apple on the tree." Hey, it works.
Chris’ Moles Removed
Chris had two 'suspicious looking' moles removed today. They'll do a biopsy on them to make sure they are not cancerous. The dermatologist said they are probably normal but these are the kind they take off just to make sure.
Sick Kids and Sick Mom
Ryan and Katie have had a bad week. They have both been very sick. Bad coughs, noses, runny eyes, fevers. We finally took them into the hospital to get some medication and make sure Katie's urine wasn't cloudy (because of her kidneys we have to watch her closely whenever she gets a fever). Now they are getting a lot better but I'm getting worse! I have no voice. My throat is sore and hoarse. It's awful. It's hard to not have a voice with a little kid! I wanted him to come over so I could change his pants but he kept running away. I couldn't even whisper so my usual 'persuasion tactics' went out the window and I had to think of something else. I started putting a diaper on his toy 'Buzz Lightyear'. Ryan got a real kick out of that, came over and said, "No, Mommy... change Ryan's pants." and laid down for me. Yea!
Katie at 7 Months
Katie is a real mover these days. She stays sitting up for a long time if she wants to, but then sees a toy outside of her grasp and does a nosedive for it. Then she rolls around and every time I look she's facing a different direction. Her favorite thing is paper. She loves to grab paper... (Obviously very dangerous since she takes big bites out of it and gags herself.) We have started to feed her rice cereal and she absolutely hates it. It is quite a trial... opposite from Ryan. We get a kick out of watching her eat it though. She shivers and pulls all kinds of funny faces.
Spring Cleaning
Marilee emailed us this morning and they are going to buy a new house this year. Their first. They are very excited. I'm in the mood for spring-cleaning today. I've been going through random drawers and just throwing away old junk I know I'll not want to pack and move etc. I know it's a long time away but why not at least be organized.
Chris Grocery Shopping
Chris is grocery shopping for me this afternoon. Hallelujah. I wrote up a list for him. It's such an 'all-day' excursion for me cuz since I'm down there I always stop at the Church bookstore or Old Navy or the big mall or something too!
Beehives
I sure enjoy being the Beehive Leader. They are such fun girls. On Tuesday we are having our big New Beginnings and its theme is "PATTERNing your life after Christ" and we're using cute sewing stuff as our decorations. One of the YW leaders even made nine patchwork squares for a quilt... seven for each of the different colored values, and then one in the middle for the YW torch and then the bottom corner for all the girls to sign. It's going to be SO cute. Different girls will bring up each piece, tell about that VALUE, and then form the quilt.
Chris doing OB/Gyn
Chris starts OB/GYN today. He'll do pregnancy checkups and have gynecological appointments too. He is doing it downtown Washington DC at the 'Washington Hospital Center'. It's not a military hospital so he gets to wear civilian clothes and is very excited. It will be interesting to hear what his schedule is. Rumor has it that working at a Hospital in the center of the city has quite a few unusual cases... crack babies etc. I wonder what he'll deal with.
Chris left this morning at 5:15am. He had to be there by 6:00 so he could do his ‘rounds’ on patients before lectures at 7:00am. He felt miserable when he came home last night so we ate, had a quick FHE and then he was in bed by 8:00pm. He will have rounds every morning (all the moms who gave birth, or are giving birth or who they don’t want to give birth). Then he sees clinic all day and then rounds again before going home. Then next week he will do GYN-Oncology, treating cervical cancer patients etc. with a bunch of surgeries and a bunch of days on call.
Katie’s Early Morning
Katie was being So DARN cute this morning at 5:00AM. I fed her and she just didn't want to go back to sleep. She kept cooing and 'bablahba'ing. So she sat and played with toys while Daddy showered, shaved dressed and when he left at 5:50 she sat there for another 20 minutes and played by herself until she finally decided she was tired again. I brought her in bed with me and she went right to sleep again and now is still sleeping at 9:30 am.
Ryan’s Imagination
Ryan is playing FIREMAN. He is wearing his plastic fire hat that he got from the Fire Station (when he went with his little playgroup friends). He is searching the house for fires. When he sees a pretend fire he says, "Mommy, oh no, a fire." and then he sprays pretend water on it and says "fire all gone." It is really fun to see him begin to use his imagination. Another favorite game is "Oh no, There's ZURG!" and then Woody and Buzz go get him. He loves his Woody and Buzz. He has a red cowboy hat from his Halloween costume a year ago. He came down wearing it the other day and said "Mommy, Ryan is Woody." He was so excited.
Mommy’s Socks
As I was getting dressed this morning I sat down to play with the kids. I said "Ryan, where's Mommy's socks?" I hadn't put them on yet. He said, "I don't know? Maybe their downstairs?" That’s funny because Ryan has been going through a 'pull-off-his-socks' phase and it's always downstairs where he leaves them. I said, "No, they are in the drawer." As I left he turned to Katie and said, "Katie, Mommy's socks fell off."
Young Mens Party
Chris thinks the Young Men are having a fireside tonight but little does he know that they are throwing a big party for him and the other 'outgoing presidency'. Rumor has it that they are going to be released, although it hasn't happened yet. The new ones are called, we just don't know who they are.
Chris is Sick
Chris has been so sick this week. A bad flu. Chills and hot sweats... a sinus infection, sore throat, congested, stuffed up nose... everything. He went to bed as soon as he got home to try and get better. Then by Wednesday and Thursday he played in some basketball games (I advised against it) and he says that’s what really helped him get better. "It's like medicine" he says.
Valentines Day
For Valentines Day Chris gave me some yummy smelling soaps and a heart cookie cutter. I have given him a present every day this week. Just little presents... his own bag of red licorice, a cute scrapbook page all about how I love him, some candy, a new tie and today I'm giving him his last present... a new Eddie Bauer shirt. Very cute. Yes, I'm spoiling him but he never gets clothes and needs them very bad. Plus I keep giving him random Valentines cards in his lunch and car. It has been a fun week.
Baja Fresh
Tonight we went to BAJA Fresh to eat (SO YUMMY) and then went to see the movie Sweet November. It was ok but mostly it was just fun to be alone with my husband. I love him so much. Ryan was so excited for the babysitter. Rachel Lovejoy. She’s the best. I don’t think we trust anyone else. It’s expensive to go on a date like that ($45) but sometimes it’s worth it!
February Snowstorm
It's beautiful outside. Everything is white. We had a huge snowstorm yesterday and probably have 5 inches of snow outside. My stake Enrichment meeting was cancelled and Chris' stake championship basketball game was cancelled too. They cancel everything out here. Chris was sad for awhile but then Brian invited him over to watch the Jazz game so he was happy again.
Chris on Call
Chris was on call on Wednesday night and got 3 hours sleep. And that was after his 5 hour hysterectomy surgery. He said it was long and tiring to just stand hunched over the surgery table for five straight hours. I don't know how the surgeons do it. He said it was interesting but nothing he hasn't seen before
Chris Deciding on his Medical Specialty
Chris has been wavering this last week again. (Between Radiology and Pediatrics) His friend mentioned to him that he can understand why he'd want to go into Radiology but it sure is a loss for Pediatrics. It made Chris start to think about Peds again. Everyone who knows him says he'd be the best pediatrician and they've said that his whole life so its hard to shake. If he did decide to do Pediatrics, it would mess up the whole schedule... so we'll see. We really need to go to the temple. We haven't been forever. Now that Katie's older I can probably leave her for 4 hours. ...it would help if she took a bottle but she still doesn't see the point in that. And I've tried Oatmeal cereal now a couple times but she's not too impressed... yet. Silly girl.
Chris’ OB/GYN Rotation
Chris is working long hours in the OB clinic this week. This is the third week of his OB/GYN rotation which is downtown in the inner city Washington DC Medical Center. He has seen so many 18 year old black women on their third pregnancy. Yesterday he took care of two 13 year olds and one 14 year old during his afternoon clinic. As you can imagine, the dynamics of a Washington DC inner city hospital aren't quite as happy as an OB clinic in Utah! Next week he will be doing a night shift on the Labor and Delivery Ward. Midnight - 12:00PM every day next week. Yuck. I'm sure his body will feel completely mixed up.
Ryan and Katie
The kids are doing well. Ryan’s new thing is to say “Mommy, what are you doing?” Anytime he approaches me, he says that. And then after I tell him what I’m doing, he says ““Oh ya”. Like he forgot or something. It’s very funny.
Katie started coughing and crying in the middle of the night and then Chris could hear Ryan pitter-pattering over into Katie’s room. When Chris went upstairs Ryan said, “Daddy, Katie’s sad”. Then Chris put him back to bed. He is very protective of his little sister. Actually I didn’t hear any of this. Chris is the one who hears the kids and he goes to get Katie. Then I feed her and take her back to bed. It’s a good system.
Chris’ Stake Basketball Tournament
Last Friday night Chris, and our ward basketball team, won the stake championship game and are going on to Regionals. It was a very intense game and fun to watch... although Missy, Terri, Stefani, Kristen, and Staci were there so we talked and watched at the same time, which sometimes isn't the most effective. Chris had to work until 7:30pm on Friday so wasn't sure if he'd even be able to make it to the game. I was there with his basketball clothes and he ended up running in a minute before they started. Everyone was relieved since they think he's the star of the team. He sure loves to play. He's on a competitive school team as well so he has at least two games a week. He says these basketball teams are the highlight of his basketball playing years.
Ryan’s Preschool
Ryan loves his preschool. He is always so excited to go. It was at Jace's house today and this morning he kept saying, "Get your coat on Mommy. We go to Jace's house" trying to get me to hurry up.
Ryan and Katie
Ryan's LOVES it when Katie wakes up from a nap. He is so excited to go get her out of her bed. Often times he goes up there by himself and gets in bed with her and they play and giggle together. Other times he pushes me up the stairs to get her. "Mommy, Katie's sad. C'mon." It is fun to watch them interact together. Ryan constantly gets the giggles from something that Katie does, and she just stares at him wondering what is so funny.
Family Home Evening
It is so fun to do Family Home Evening with Ryan these days. Although most of the FHE packets are way above Ryan's head, we simplify them and use the pictures etc. to talk about certain things. Ryan LOVES the 'packets'. They are in a brown manilla envelope and as soon as he spots them he jumps up and down and says 'Famy Home Ening'!!! We are trying to teach him that Family Home Evening is also the prayers and songs too. We try to sing a bunch of songs before the lesson and after every one Ryan says, "ok, famy home ening now." and I keep saying, "This IS family home evening." We talked about Joseph Smith last night and how he prayed. Ryan recognized him in the picture and then showed us how he could kneel, fold his arms and close his eyes just like Joseph Smith. It was so cute. Then we showed him a picture of a family praying and he said, "Look, famy home evening prayer."
Ryan Questions
Chris and Ryan made cookies for our FHE snack and while they were cooking we reviewed with Ryan an important question. "Ryan, what is your name?" Immediately he says "2 an half". "Nope, your name is RYAN JOHNSON." Then he looks at us and says "Ya, that's right." Then we do it again. "Ok Ryan, what's your name?" "2 an half". ...We worked for 15 minutes straight and I still don't think he's got it, but he sure had fun asking us... "Mommy, what's your name?" I'd say "Mommy" and then he'd say "Ya, that's right". It was so cute.
Katie’s Toys
Katie loves it when I put a full container of toys in front of her. She immediately sticks her hand in and violently thrashes it around until most of the toys are out and laying all over the place. Then she can try and eat the toys one by one.
YM/YW Combined Activity
Well last night I was in charge of the YM/YW combined activity. I HATE being in charge of those. It's so hard to organize something. My Beehives Advisor came up with the idea and it looked good on paper. Glow in the Dark Volleyball. She had a huge glowing beach ball and we had glow in the dark string to put across the net. We had to open some doors enough to let a little light in. It was a nightmare. Kids screaming, no one playing by the rules I had outlined and I couldn't yell over them. Then we tried another game... ( I had planned to play about 4 different games) Chaotic as well. The third game we opted to play in the light first and then decided we weren't going to turn off the lights anymore. We played some more relays with our glow in the dark balloons and then let the kids play volleyball in the light. Volleyball with 20 people on each side at once. LOTS of the kids brought non-member friends which is good but I wasn't expecting so many people. I guess everyone thought it was going to be a fun activity. Then, IN THE LIGHT, Scott Lovejoy smashed heads with another guy accidentally and cut his eye and had to go get stitches. AHHHHH! Then we had Brother Sorressi (member of the bishopric) talk to the kids about Light and Dark. He made comparisons about the activity. Darkness = confusion. You don't know where your friends are, you can't see clearly, you don't know who to listen to etc. Much easier in the light when you can see what's going on and who to follow. Christ is the light. Satan wants us to be in the dark. etc. Well, we definitely demonstrated the darkness = confusion part. Yikes. Then we had ice cream and oreos (Light and Dark!) Anyway... I'm so glad it is over. I'm not in charge for another six months and I think we'll be gone by then!!!!! But Chris assures me I'll have plenty of other opportunities to be in charge of future YM/YW combined activities.
I Am Tired
I have been SO exhausted these last couple days. Ryan is waking up at 6:15 lately. He comes down from his room crying and then when he gets to my bed says in a cheerful voice, "Movie, Mommy?" What a rascal. Yesterday he took a three hour nap though and that was nice.