The Christmas Season

December was another busy, fun month. But before I get into that I have to put a few pictures of Taylor's new haircut. I have debated cutting her hair for a while since she fits me on a daily basis about brushing it and it was getting so long that the curls were weighed down. But I will have to admit I almost cried when I saw how short it was. The babysitter took her to the mall the other day and had it straightened at one of the booths that the mall. But Taylor loved the way it moved when it was short and smooth. She was asking for a haircut like Ethan's but this is as short as I will go.

We started off December with a short visit from Abe's parents and then a trip to Dallas for Abe's brother's graduation. Ethan was not excited about heading back to a graduation (he was still scarred from the hours we spent at Abe's graduation) but it was very short and to the point and it was wonderful to visit with family. While Cali and Stephen were in town we were able to take a talk around the Alamo and the Riverwalk. On a side note Ethan recently was telling me about a scary dream that he had that woke him up that night. I asked him what it was about and here is what he said "It was really scary mom. You took us to H.E.B (the local grocery store) and you left us in the car alone (I will have to admit I have done this a time or two when going in for one item and I really didn't think it constituted a nightmare but he continued). You see mom, two bad guys came and stole us from H.E.B. and then....they took us to an awful place (still with a look of fear on his face and in all seriousness he says...) They took us to a graduation. It was SOOO boring." I laughed so hard that he got mad at me. He has truly been scarred.

Abe had a great schedule this month so we felt so blessed to be able to do a lot of fun things with him around. We decided to use some free tickets that we get for being in the military to visit Sea World for our first time. There is nothing like the great weather in Texas in December to do things like this. The kids had an absolute blast with the rides and the shows. It was a day well spent together.

Here they are feeding the dolphins.

We all had fun watching the Polar Express in 3D.

Ethan wasn't a huge fan of the Shamu show but it was a little slow in between the action. But it was pretty amazing to watch what all the animals can do.

The rides weren't all that exciting for the adults but the kids loved it.

Ethan's preschool took a trip to a nursing home to sing to the residents and it was so cute to watch. I was interested to see how he handled the nursing home environment but he did great. One gentleman wanted to give the kids high fives as they walked by and it was interesting to see the kids reactions. Ethan didn't shy away from him. He did tell me on the way out that he thought the placed smelled funny.

The kids both had a Christmas program at the preschool that Abe and I got to watch. We had been hearing alot about it from Ethan for the last month so it was fun to see it all come together. Ethan's class put on a short play about the littlest Christmas tree. Ethan had been annoyed because the teacher had moved him from the group made up of cute girls and put him in a different group. According to him he was going to be the dad and he was supposed to cut down the Christmas tree and carry it off stage. The "tree" was to be played by another child who was just as big as Ethan and he was a little worried about this part of the play. He was sure that the teacher expected him to lift the boy over his head and carry him away. This was the part I was waiting for the whole play. When that part came you could see Ethan trying to decide how he was going to lift the boy. Everyone laughed. He did finally admit that maybe he had misunderstood the teacher and he wasn't supposed to carry the boy off the stage. I think he just liked his version better. Taylor in her adorable rudolph costume.

After the rounds of Christmas events at the school we moved on to celebrating Ethan's birthday. A lot of Ethan's classmates had parties that we attended this year so it was the first year where the topic of what kind of party Ethan would have started coming up. Luckily he is a pretty easy going kid and was thrilled with inviting a few of his friends to Chuck E. Cheese on a slow afternoon to play a few games and eat some cupcakes. It was so easy and he had a blast. I'm sure I will have to eventually give in and plan him a true party one of these days but it is hard having a Christmas birthday.

Christmas was low key and wonderful. Abe was lucky enough to have Christmas day off so we got to enjoy the day together. The kids were wonderfully thankful for the things they got. Abe decided to surprise us all by getting them a Power Wheels and the kids went crazy about that. They sat it in for most of Christmas day just hoping for it to charge faster so they could play with it. We told Ethan that the time it would be ready was around the time we were having friends over for Christmas dinner so he would have to wait until they left to drive it. Knowing Ethan so well, we also warned him that if he tried to run our friends off then he wouldn't get to drive it today. But he couldn't help himself. The minute we were done eating he was trying to push everyone to eat dessert and the minute dessert was over he started making comments like "well desserts over, probably time to get going" along with making yawning noises. He can be such a stinker. Abe and I were both pretty annoyed for him to lose that chance to play because we both wanted to see them enjoy it. But we had to wait until the next day. It was hilarious to watch them drive it. Taylor decided she needed to get her helmet because Ethan's terrible driving kept making her hit her head. Ethan was even willing to admit that Taylor was a better driver than him.

Taylor showing off all her girlie dressup stuff.

The look on the kids face when they found the Power Wheels.

Out for our first drive.

A Busy Fall!

Halloween was fun since the kids are both big enough to really get into it. Ethan kept trying to convince Taylor of what she wanted to be and it never worked. She wanted to be something very girlie and Ethan kept trying to talk her into being a vampire or something scary. We finally settled on a princess after a lot of debate.

Ethan really got into acting the part and Taylor was not a fan.

We had a nice fall with lots of fun things at the kids school. We have been spoiled in the past having some really nice pumpkin patches to visit where they actually grow the pumpkins there. I was surprised when the trip to the pumpkin patch was a church parking lot with already cut pumpkins. It just doesn't feel as authentic but the kids enjoyed it.

Taylor and her favorite person to talk about in her class. I love hearing the kids stories from preschool. Usually Taylor talks about how the other kids behaved during the day. It's no wonder Taylor's teacher referred to her as the sheriff of the class.

Taylor going through the hay maze.

Taylor's class trying to pose for a picture. Taylor and the other girl seem so old compared to the little boys in the class. Ethan and Taylor went to the pumpkin patch on two different days and unfortunately the camera battery died on the day Ethan went.

Ethan and Taylor's preschool had a little Thanksgiving party and they made Indian costumes for the kids. They looked so cute.

Also while enjoying some time off we decided to take a day trip to Enchanted Rock National Park. Several people had mentioned that it was a nice hike so we made a day of it and checked out that side of San Antonio.

Here we are as we started our hike. Taylor got the easy ride.

Here is a picture of the rock from the bottom. It is just a huge, granite mound but since they really don't have mountains here it is the best they can do.

Enjoying the windy view from the top. We couldn't have picked a more beautiful day to go hiking. There was a cool breeze that felt great after walking all that way. I can't believe we get to enjoy this kind of weather in November.

Here is Abe and the kids as they descended down the hill.

Ethan loved leading us down the hill through the rocks. Since there is no real "path" that you have to stay on he kept wondering if we would get lost. But we assured him that we would be okay and we were.

We had such a nice Thanksgiving this year. It was so fun to be close enough to stay with family and enjoy some time together. We were pleasantly surprised when we found out Abe had 4 days off in a row and we enjoyed every minute of it. Of course Abe and I both were having too much fun to pull out the camera and actually take pictures so you will have to check with Carol for those. Thanks ladies for the wonderful food and the great company. We can't wait to do it again next year!

Thank You Craigs List

I really wanted to get the kids a playset for Christmas but I started thinking that we really needed one now while the weather is so great. So Santa just came early! We started searching on craigs list and found this great set. I really love finding great deals. Abe was thrilled to spend his day off disassembling and reassembling this bad boy. We carried in it big chunks so it also involved taking down some of the fence to get it into the backyard. We were thankful for good friends to lend a hand and we had it up in time to play with it on Saturday. The kids have enjoyed it so much. If only Taylor could learn to swing by herself it would be perfect. It has been great to be able to send them outside to play with the great weather we are having.

The other day we were putting up dishes and Ethan thought some music would make it more fun. When I asked him what he wanted to listen to he suggested we find some "Red Hot Chile Peppers". I guess he was riding in the car with Abe the other day and he decided he liked Red Hot Chile Peppers. He is all about rock music. He used some strange phrase the other night at dinner and when I questioned him about what he meant he said "Well its rock 'n roll talk for 'that was good'". He just says it so matter of factly. So Taylor and Ethan started dancing to the music. I couldn't help but laugh at both their moves. Just watching these videos really make my day. I hope they make you smile too.

Life

I'm not usually the one to blog, even though I did start the blog, I think that Meredith uses it as a good way to keep things written down like a journal or diary. She is pretty amazing. She works part time from home while the kids are in school. She maintains the house, is able to keep groceries in the fridge, make meals, take care of the kids and her calling at church. All of this is done with little or no help from me. It isn't so much that I don't want to help it is more of a I'm at work all the time. All that being said she is a pretty amazing woman. I'm lucky to have her for wife and a friend.
I just wanted to also say a little about residency. What a growing experience. Our program has a tradition that as the first year it is your opportunity to take care of the really sick people that come to the Emergency Department. Now I'm not talking about the bad trauma people I'm talking about the ninety year that has pneumonia and is septic, or the four year that is struggling to breath because of asthma. It is a humbling experience to have someones life in your hands. I have had two experiences in the last couple of month's that really stand out that I wanted to share.
First I had a man that came to the department. They got him in a bed about 30 minutes before shift change, which is always a tough time because the workup takes about 2 hours for the average person, so I was debating about leaving it for the oncoming resident. I picked it up anyway. Turns out that the guy had a story that sounded very much like acute coronary syndrome, which is his heart arteries are blocked to the point that he gets pain in his chest if his heart has to work to hard, so I got him admitted to our chest pain unit. The next day I find out he had an aortic dissection that went from his heart all the way down into his abdomen. This is very very bad. The aorta has three layers to it and one of the layers had sheared off and became a flap inside the vessel. People die quickly from this. I wasn't the one that diagnosed this but I could have sent him home for an outpatient heart workup and he probably would have died.
Second the other day a older lady came in with difficulty breathing. In most older patients like this it comes down to if the have congestive heart failure or pneumonia. During the process of her stay we ended up intubating her, or putting a breathing tube in her and admitting her to the ICU. What a very scary decision that was.
It is experiences like these that make my job so fulfilling and so very humbling. Someone is willing to put their life in my hands and trusts me to make the right decision for them. I love being in the emergency department. Ok I think I have ranted long enough. Life is good.

Crushes

Ethan is really into girls lately. I'm hoping that he moves through this stage before he becomes that creepy kid on the playground that is always trying to kiss the girls. Recently I was getting ready for Young Women's and I was explaining to the kids a game we were going to play and I mentioned that I was going to put Ethan and Taylor on a team with the girls (mainly so I didn't have to entertain them for the whole time). Ethan gets a look in his eye and says "Can I be on the team with that girl that babysat me?" I reminded him of her name and asked him why he wanted to be on her team. There was a long pause and a little grin. I gave him an out and said "oh because you know her and you aren't shy when you know someone?" He agreed and then added "and because I think she is cute." He does have good taste because she is a very sweet girl.


So the day after that he was pretty chipper when I picked him up from preschool. He was telling me about his day, which usually involves what game they played at recess. He told me how he had played with the girls again and talking about playing super heroes with one girl in particular. He smiled and said "I told her that I was going to date her when I get older." And what was her response, I asked. "She just laughed." I questioned him about what he would do on a date and he said matter of factly "You go out to eat." I guess I will be happy that he plans on waiting until he is older to take this girl out to eat. Unfortunately things have not continued to go well with this little girl in his class. He was pretty bummed the other day when he came home. I asked him about the playground and he said "K said that she only likes cute boys and that I'm not cute." How do 5 year old girls already know how to be mean to boys? Taylor was oh so helpful and kept saying "All my friends say I'm cute!". I tried to explain to her that we were talking about Ethan's feelings right now and she responded "Well it hurts my feelings when we don't talk about my feelings." I have tried to convince Ethan that he should move on and try to play with some other girls but he is still convinced that K is a very nice girl and he still likes her. That boy is going to have his heart broke a lot if he keeps this up.

The other day you could tell he had something on his mind as we walked into the preschool. I asked him what he was thinking and he said "Boys are very serious..... and its because girls are so difficult. They really distract us." All this wisdom from such a young boy. Then he tells Taylor, "You don't understand big school. When you get to be 4 you are going to hurt boys feelings too." The same day he tells me that although he fell in love with K his love for her is getting smaller every day. Thank goodness. But then she goes and plays with him once and he lights up and says "maybe my love is getting bigger now."

Oh how I love our deep conversations. I'm sure one day they will end and I will no longer get insight into what he thinks about girls around him. So I will just continue to enjoy it for now.

Belton Lake

Abe had a weekend off before he starts a month out of town north of Austin at Fort Hood so we decided to meet some of the Fish gang there. Since it is about half way between San Antonio and Dallas it was a pretty easy trek for both of us. We had such a great time hanging out. We rented a cabin at a lake on the military base and it turned out to be a pretty nice cabin for the price. With 2 bedrooms, kitchen and living room we could cook and have enough space to not be on top of each other all the time. The kids enjoyed the nice playground that was near the cabin and it was perfect weather to hang out at the lake and swim. Friday night Abe and the kids and I stayed at Abe's hotel so we didn't crowd everybody but the campground failed to mention that the road into the park would be closed on Saturday morning because of a triatholon at the lake. It took us forever but we finally made it after taking a dirt road and getting a person security escort.

Taylor and Emmett look so sweet. You wouldn't know that Taylor had just been fighting with him about not wanting to share "her" swing.

The swing beside our cabin.

Maren is such a sweetie. She always wanted to carry Taylor around and "help" her. She did drop Taylor on her head once and Taylor kept saying "Mom, please tell Maren not to drop me on my head again."

Okay, I may have not gotten the sand castle in this picture but they all looked so cute!

Waiting for church to start.

They had such a great time playing together. We can't wait for the next Fish gathering. Carol, your turn to plan the next visit!

Let the Preschool Adventure Begin

Ethan and Taylor have been so excited to start preschool. I feel like we had a countdown going all summer for when school began. Ethan wanted to know exactly what he would be learning and admitted that he was a little nervous that he wouldn't remember all the rules. They were troopers from day one and neither one of them gave me a second thought when I dropped them off. Taylor only goes two days a week and Ethan goes 5 days a week. Taylor was pretty upset about the days she didn't get to go to school but she soon figured out that life was kind of nice with just us girls. She now likes to torment Ethan by suggesting, in front of him, that we go to the park every day Ethan is gone since that is his favorite activity. I will have to say that it is kind of nice to just have my quiet child at home for a couple of mornings. They have such different personalities and Ethan can really get her riled up.

Ethan was a little frustrated the first week with just having to learn his letters again. After the second day when I asked him what he had learned he said "Nothing, she hasn't even taught me to read yet!" Needless to say he was a little disappointed with just learning a few letters but week two picked up and he is thrilled to be getting pretty good at reading his words each week. Taylor has gotten on board with the disappointment in our educational system and when asked what she learned I get a similar "Nothing, and I don't know how to read."

Ethan's teacher has a system where you get blue slips of paper for doing good deeds and once you get 5 you get to pick something out of her treasure box. Ethan always gives me an update on how many he has and how many he needs until his next prize. He is getting good at any math involving the answer of 5. The other day he was reminding the teacher that she had not given him all the papers he earned. She better not try and pull a fast one on Ethan, he has the memory of an elephant. He also enjoys reporting on who is on yellow (green means you had a good day, yellow means you had a hard time following some directions, and red is pretty bad). Ethan prides himself on allows being green but keeps tabs on the yellow kids and what got them there. I love to hear his stories when he comes home. Taylor tries to compete with Ethan's stories and always tells us how Presley didn't know how to sit on her tape (which happened on the first day of school but we have relived it for 2 weeks now.)

This being Baptist preschool has also brought with it a little confusion that I hadn't thought of. After the first day of school Ethan asked if it was possible for there to be two different ways to say prayers. I guess they had a prayer at snack time that was not what he was expecting. Being a child who attended many different Christian churches and preschools I'm quite familiar with "God is good, God is great, let us thank him for our food. Amen." But Ethan thought it was interesting. He has yet to try and bless the food at our house that way. They have also been learning some new songs that they want me to help them learn but are new to me. Ethan was trying to sing me one at dinner and according to him it went something like "and when I'm at the gates with cheese at my side...." I asked him if he thought that it could be "Jesus at my side" and he pondered it for a while and said "yeah, you're probably right. I didn't think cheese made any sense anyway." I love that kid.

Yesterday Abe didn't have to work until the afternoon so we decided to enjoy our first weekend with him in a while and do something fun. Ethan has been begging to go to the children's museum that someone had told us about. We are pretty excited to go from no children's museums to having 2 within 30 minutes. The kids had a great time playing. I love to hear their vivid imaginations as they play and try, unsuccessfully, to boss each other around. Taylor takes make believe very seriously.

The kids loved playing in the ambulance, especially with Abe driving.

Taylor's favorite activity was taking care of the babies in the "hospital". She can't get enough of babies.

Taylor bossing her daddy around with her hands on her hips. We get this look a lot.

Taylor calling Ethan in his ambulance to tell him to come to the emergency room.