It's Go Time!

So we are officially one week away from heading to Muskegon! I'm so excited and cannot wait to look at homes! There is one house we really love and I'm trying not to get too excited about the possibility of it not being what we think it is now. I always do this, I tell myself not to get too set on something and get my hopes up, but that never works. Doesn't everyone want to live in a pink house?



I've made lists for weeks of what I need to pack, but have forced myself not to put one thing into the suitcase before next Tuesday, because "ALL WE NEED TO TAKE IS NECESSITIES, AND IF YOU CAN PACK IT A WEEK OUT, THEN YOU MUST NOT REALLY NEED IT TO SURVIVE!!" Some mantra! I always over pack, so this time, I'm going to try to surprise Tom by not packing then entire house into our Trailblazer.

I've tried to get everything done ahead of time, but my lists keep growing. We took the SUV to be serviced so it would be ready for the 20 million trips back and forth from Michigan, so that was over $1000! We've stocked up on some snacks for the car ride and burned some new DVD's to keep the Who-poo entertained for the 14 hour trip. The Evites for the next two SAA play dates are ready to go and I'm almost finished with the SAA Newsletter for April- hooray! We have family pictures this weekend, so we will have pictures of Grant around his second b-day and pictures without me looking like a bloated fish! Oh those days are approaching soon! All I have left to do is go to two Dr's appointments, take all of Tom's dry cleaning, go sign up for my epidural, pay some bills, go to a laser tag party(hubby needs some fun), clean the car out, then pack and load it back full of junk! What a work out!

I'm so excited, I hope next Thursday gets here quickly because I can't wait to see the town that we will be living in for the next 4 years. Now I may not be this excited once I actually see it, but that's another post!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

I cannot believe that my little man turned 2 today! It just seems like yesterday that you were just a little bundle of fluff all wrapped up in a little blanket. I remember the day we brought you home, it was beautiful outside, like 75 degrees, and you were so cute and happy! You looked so tiny in that huge car seat and I was so worried about letting you ride in the back alone. You looked so helpless and I couldn't stop staring at your adorable face.



You've grown so fast and have learned so much. You are my little cuddle bug and I hope that you always have time for Mommy. I love the way you climb up on the bed and we watch cartoons together, the way you say please "pweash", the way you love anything with wheels, and love to cuddle with the dogs. We joke that you might be a doggy doctor or dentist when you grow up because you are always inspecting them and checking their teeth. You are the cutest giggler and amaze me how quickly you can pick up on new things. Like the morning of your party, you learned how to use the scissors for the first time, (totally by accident) and have never looked back.



I know your future is bright and that you can achieve anything you put your mind to. You are a beautiful little soul and have the sweetest spirit, just like your Daddy. I pray that God gives us the wisdom to help you become the great, godly man that you are meant to be and that with every year we remember how blessed we are to have you in our lives! We love you so much, Happy Birthday!

The Bizarro World!

For those of you who watch Seinfeld, you know what I'm talking about. I woke up this morning to some frightfully cold weather, shocking! Wasn't it just last week when it was 80 degrees outside? I remember getting a sunburn after laying outside during Grant's nap time (I thought the sun might help me feel better) and going for a fun scooter ride with the hubby while Nana was watching the Who-poo! But, now it's like I've been transported to the "Frozen Tundra" 2 1/2 weeks early. It's snowing here in Jenks, strange, I guess that's Oklahoma for you. Oh, well, maybe God is helping me transition. I've been trying to find a winter coat on clearance, thinking I would need it for next year's frosty season in Muskegon, who knew I would need it this week!

Thrifty and Nifty!

So I have to thank Dion for having cool blogs listed on her blog. I have always used coupons but I'm really enjoying using them to the fullest these days. Because of some great sites, today I bought 3 bars of soap and a bag of cat food for $0.38 total!!! (I could have gotten up to 11 bars of soap today and the cat food for that price, but Wal-Mart was running low on my purchases, so I'll head to the other Wally World later) Hooray, and as soon as they get CVS built or I move to Muskegon, whichever comes first, I will be racking in the deals there. It's hard not to find a deal and just go get it, I really have to focus on, "do I need this"or "is it a deal if we've never used it before, but it's only 9 cents today?" There are some really great deals out there but I need to be careful not to go to extremes.

I also thought today, "what a great way to help others!!!" There are many items that I could get for free with coupons and other savings and could donate those to the shelter, I know there are many out there right now that are in much worse shape than we will ever be and it's nice to help out. Last Sunday the sermon was about living within your means and living a Godly life. The message was to share! What a basic concept, something we teach our little ones, but how often is that the last thing on our minds?

Being in nesting mode anyway and having all our things in storage, so I can't go through, organize or clean anything for the new peanut, I have been looking for a project. My husband rolls his eyes at this because he knows he will soon be included in my fun! Aren't things more fun when you do them together? hehe I decided-I WANT TO SHARE- so I open the closets and drawers in our rooms and started purging. I have many clothes that I will never fit again, never have a place to wear, or sadly won't be needing again(unless I get to go back to my dorm days) and I start pitching. Poor Tom is always the reaper of my crazy ideas, so I hate to say more of his stuff left the closet than mine......I love getting rid of other people's stuff!

Then, a few days later it was a "great time" to box up any extras that we don't NEED for the next month before we leave to head north. 10 boxes later, poor Tom has helped me pack and wrap and carry the too full boxes out the garage.....come on moving truck! I think about all the stuff in storage, ahhhhhhhh, oh my. All that stuff that we have lived without for more than a year and have felt almost a freedom from. Don't get me wrong, I love my furniture and cooking things, but I think about some of the things I put into those boxes last February and am almost ashamed that I had all that in my townhouse and then spent time boxing, transporting and storing it. Yuck, what a burden....I can't wait to get to Muskegon, open those boxes, and SHARE!!! As I read about the economy and people losing their jobs and children dying because their family couldn't afford to keep the heat on, I think about how truly blessed we've been, all the stuff we don't need, and how I can help others! I urge you to find a way this week to pass on the blessing.

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35
He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.Luke 3:11

The Stepford Wife

So here is something super important that has been on my mind for a while. I want to know, when am I going to feel and look like a grown up? hehe Ok, so it's not really important at all!

I always ask Tommy, "Do I look like an adult?", "Does this outfit look like something a doctor's wife would wear?", "Are you really going to wear that? You're going to be a DOCTOR!". Maybe my problem is that I have this stereotypical picture in my head (that I've had since I started dating Tom). I'm an old movie buff and when I see living as a doctor's wife I see Doris Day and James Garner in the "Thrill of it All" - perfect hair, make-up, outfit. Husband in his spare time wearing his suit or smoking jacket around the house. Nanny taking care of the children and maid cleaning and cooking for our family! Me being involved in the community with different organizations, balls, and social functions and those around me in awe of how I keep it all together and of Tom's career. (Truly, this is my dream!)
Ok, someone slap me back into reality.

But really, I feel it is important to be professional looking and be involved in the career that my husband has chosen. I've lived in the "fishbowl" for quite a while now, I was very involved with leadership in college, and was constantly lectured in group meetings about how important everything I did was. Obviously, most people weren't listening and I was one of the only RA's that didn't get in trouble for drinking or doing drugs with students living on our floors. Anyway......I still believe it is important, not to be materialistic, but to look and act, more importantly, appropriately for the job, life, and respect that you want.

This weekend we ran into a 3rd year resident that I had never met before and I was shocked when Tom said that he was a doctor. He looked like a 17 year old, hoodlum, that had just rolled out of bed in his jammies, and thrown a hat on, backwards, might I add. But, I just thought, as a patient, if I saw my doctor out in public looking like that, would I still have faith in his abilities? Would I question his judgement on medical advice since his judgement on looking and acting professional was very lacking? I don't know, hopefully, I won't ever see my doctor looking like that and have to find out and certainly I won't be letting my hubby dress like that so any of his patients have to struggle with that dilemma.

So, I guess what I really want to know is, what should a cute soon-to-be doctor wear in his spare time? My husband wears jeans and Old Navy solid tees most of his time off, but cleans up super nice when we have a event that calls for a more dressed up look, and more importantly can put together an outfit on his own that makes himself look dashing. I certainly know that I could spruce up my wardrobe, some income will be nice in July, but try to look as nice as I can for different occasions and even to run to Wal-Mart.

Hopefully, we are doing our part to keep the "Doctor Stigma" alive and in a fashionable place. I'm going to get my pearls now to put on before I head to the bedroom for naptime. Hopefully Doris and James would be proud!