Gratitude

For the past couple of month several months we have been touring potential rotation sites. Tonight was the final site selection sign up. The school provided dinner for us and our spouses picked out their chosen sites. Our site ended up going to lottery, thankfully Derek’s name was the second paper pulled out of the hat (we are so blessed!). We will be relocating to Clarksburg, WV in June 2011!! We’re excited, I’m ready for a bigger city with sidewalks and Derek is ready to start practicing what he’s learned for the past two years.

These were taken during Hospital Day at the Greenbrier Hotel. The Hospitals gather together and try to recruit students to rotate at their hospital. Acalias was very impressed by the Christmas tree.



We had a great Thanksgiving break. We decided to stay home because we have been traveling so much during the past couple of months. Last year I had plans to prepare our first thanksgiving dinner but my morning sickness was at its peak and I didn’t have enough energy. This year, Derek and I watched the Food Network Channel and found a lot of great ideas.

I’ve been dying to use the China and crystal glasses I had received as a wedding gift. Check out our spread! We were especially proud of our Turkey. Thank goodness for the Food Network Channel, otherwise we would have tried to cook a partially thawed turkey.




The stuffing recipe called for Chestnuts, Derek and I had never tasted Chestnuts before and they are so delicious! We’ve added a new tradition of roasting chestnuts as part of our Thanksgiving traditions. Last year we started a thankful box, we write things that we are thankful for throughout the month and read them after dinner on Thanksgiving Day. This year we are most thankful for our son Acalias, he has been such a blessing to have in our home.

Acalias turned 5 months on the 25th. He still eat so much and we’ve tried to introduce solids as our Doctor has suggested but he would much rather eat mommas milk.



Thunder thighs!

He loves the lights on the Christmas tree, we're excited to take him to Temple square to see the lights there.

He loves to pull on his little toes

Close up shot of his rash, he's been miserably itchy lately but it's getting better.

Half-Marathon

After a couple of months of training, I felt sufficiently prepared to run my first post pregnancy race. I trained with 3 other girls, it was nice because with out them my Saturday long runs would have been dreadfully lonely. Not to mention the Greenbrier river trail got eerie with the cold and the fog that rolled in from the river, people started claiming they had seen bears. We were accountable to each other and we'd often check in with one another during the week regarding our runs.

On Friday, we made our journey to Richmond,VA which is 3.5 hours away. We drove directly to the Expo to pick up my race packet. I like to walk around to find the latest items for runners. Each race I discover and purchase something new. I found both my Hydration belt (which I can not live with out) and running socks at pre-race Expos.

This year I found this:


Uh huh...I sure did spend money on these gloves (only $3.00) because I really do dream of being as fast as a Kenyan! How nice would it be to just glide through the finish after 26.2 miles and look like it was the simplest task ever?

After the expo we picked up some Greek food and went to our Hotel. Acalias for once looks tiny on this huge bed...actually, no he still looks like the very big boy that he is. A woman asked Derek if he fed Acalias bacon and eggs during breakfast. When he told her that he was only 4 months she gasped and said Acalias looked very healthy. We're used to that response. People want to tell us that our son is big in the nicest way possible as if we don't already know.


We were so giddy to take him swimming because he loves taking baths so much.



Our trip to the pool didn't last too long because the water was too cold.

I had a sleepless night as I typically have a night before the race. I get paranoid of sleeping through my alarm and missing the race. The morning of Derek dropped me off at the starting point and he went back to the hotel.

There were over 16,000 runners including the Marathon and 8K! We were all crammed on this street and it was impossible not to nudge or push others as you walked through the crowds. I imagine China and other heavily populated countries are similar to the crowd we were in, no room for personal space.

I ran with my friend Amy the entire time. It was nice to talk to someone. Along the route there were live bands, cheerleaders, choirs and radio stations blaring music and shouting inspirational things to keep us runners going. As the miles increased, my talking decreased. I had to put on my headphones to avoid hearing the pounding of my feet. Mile 12 seemed to last an eternity until we saw the finish line at the bottom of the hill. My last words to Amy was "Labor is much worst than this". I guess it inspired me because I was hurting at the time, not sure if it inspired her. Amy and I seemed to instinctively know that it was time to push harder the last mile towards the finish line. We did and it was so nice to hear the husbands cheering for us on the sidelines. Then we were done! It felt so good to be done. We were awarded our medals and offered pizza. I couldn't eat right away so I walked around and stretched.


All of us after the race.

We stayed to cheer on the first place winners of the Marathon... and yes, they were Kenyan.

Derek and I. Acalias was asleep in his stroller.


We had to take a picture of Acalias and I. Notice my bib, it says "New Momma!". I was so proud of it as you can see. Training for the Half-marathon helped me shed my baby weight.

I told Derek to zoom up on my bib, hence the reason my head got cut off a bit.


Love this little, big boy.

Just received my race results in my email, here they are:


There were 644 finishers in your age group and 5548 total finishers. Your overall finish place was 3962, your age group finish place was 441 and your gender finish place was 2084. Your chip time was 02:01:08 and your pace was 10:37.2 per mile.

Here are more photos from the Half-Marathon:
brightroom event photography

Quick weight loss update:

I received my 25 lb circle charm today.


My overall weight loss since having Acalias is 46 lbs, since joining Weight Watchers 26 lbs. I lost 5.5 lbs in October, this month my goal is 6 lbs. Monthly goals help me stay focused. I'd rather not get overwhelmed with how much more weight I need to lose.

4 Month Mark

We went to our 4 month scheduled Dr. Visit earlier last week. Acalias weighs a whopping 19 lbs 14 oz and 27 inches long! He is in the 97% for both height and weight and 99% for head circumference. I was concerned but the Doctor said that Acalias is perfectly healthy.
I've already had to pack away some of his smaller clothes, now I'm having to pack even more. He is currently wearing 9 months to 24 month clothes. I'm hoping his weight gain will slow down, just 3 more lbs and we'll have to buy him a new car seat. I never thought I'd have to buy a bigger car seat at just 4 months.


He is so smiley and is as happy as can be. He loves it when we sing to him, his little giggles are so fun to hear.


This picture is for all of you who think our son looks like me and only me. I think he and his dad share a lot of features. They look so much a like in this picture. Look at those cheeks:)


Tummy torture time isn't so torturous when he's having a conversation with dad.


We've discovered that if the TV is on he is glued, I think he likes the colors. I put on Dora the Explorer and he seemed to enjoy it.


He likes to play with anything that makes a sound.


Acalias likes when I play with his little toes. In this picture, I'm telling him that he has stinky feet and he thinks its so hillarious to see mom make a face at his smelly feet.



He learning so much, he learns quickly. He mimicks just about anything Dad does with his mouth. He sticks his little tounge out, tries to blow and can babble "Da dah dah dah".

This past Sunday, I had to take him out of class because he was laughing so hard he was a distraction to the class. We have some video footage of him laughing, I'll include it in the next post.

Halloween

Grandma Cindy found the cutest costume for Acalias while we were in San Fransisco visiting. Isn't he so cute?



We took him treak-or-treating at the school so that he can meet several of Derek's professors.

I thought this guys costume was neat so we took a picture with him.


Here he is with the President of WVSOM, President Adelmen.

We also went to our Ward's Trunk-or-treat.

My friend Becky had her little baby girl earlier this month and named her Sophie. She is so small, Acalias was never that small. Babies grow up way too fast.


This is Acalias' ward Grandma, Sister Watkins loves to snuggle with our little boy. Acalias enjoys anyone who is willing to give him attention.

Acalias' first trip to California

SURPRISE!! This video speaks for itself.



Acalias and I spent 9 days in San Francisco with my mom. I had to keep the secret for three long months but it was so worth seeing her reaction. It was as if she had won a million dollars. I love seeing how my mom interacts with Acalias, she loves him so much.

From the time I arrived, until the time I departed Acalias spent the majority of the time in Grandmas arms. Good thing we have a swing and other bouncy toys for him at home, otherwise we would go crazy feeling like we need to hold him all the time.
When I visit Mom, I typically visit my mission but this time I spent the majority of the time with mom. We visited the Golden Gate Park and Bakers Beach (both of which I had never visited before). Acalias is easily entertained anywhere, as long as bright colors or people are involved.

Grandma and Acalias at the Golden Gate Park & Bakers Beach


I met up with a couple of my close college friends as well. It’s crazy to think back to my college days. I made great friends, and I’m glad that we have kept in contact with each other; I have so many great memories with them.

Jolynn and I shared two classes together at the U of U. We studied for tests together and became great friends. I can’t believe that we are both mothers now:)



Umu and I were in the Pacific Islander Student Association. We traveled to San Diego to support our basketball team and Tonga to present our research together.

It was great to catch up with both of these ladies, they inspire me.

Mom received a second surprise on Friday morning. Mom would typically take me to the San Mateo shoreline trail to run while she walked with Acalias. On Friday I told her that I preferred to walk around the neighborhood. I had planned with my siblings for them to be at the door once she opened it. Surprise! I was so jittery that I missed the bulk of it when I tried to record it. Then when I finally got my camera on, I was so excited to see everyone that the footage is of the wall and floor as I made my rounds hugging everyone.

Watching my nephews interact with Acalias was priceless, Audric was happy to sing Acalias a song in this next video.


Unfortunately, it rained the entire weekend that my siblings were in town. Derek flew in on Saturday and presented at the AOA Conference on Sunday morning. We thought it would be nice to support him until we found out that it would cost $150 dollars just to get into the conference. We made due by playing card games, puzzles and coloring. We had fun catching up, I hadn’t seen my siblings since last November and Derek hadn’t seen them since last July. I’m super excited to go home and spend more time with my siblings in December.









Proud Grandma!



The weather cleared up the last few days that we were there, just on time for the AOA 5k on Tuesday morning. It was cold so we left Acalias with Grandma.


I also had my mom take family pictures of us at the beach. These are a couple of our favorites along with the new header picture we have up above.



We had a wonderful time with mom, it was hard to say goodbye.

Our flight was scheduled late, our total travel time would be 12 hours. Acalias slept the majority of the time, thank goodness. When I realized our layover in Atlanta,Georgia would be 4 hours, I called my sisters and invited them to come and meet their nephew. It was so good to see them, I hadn't seen them since their graduation in May 2009.




I have over 200 pictures of the trip. I will post the remaining pictures on Facebook for you all to see.

Site Tours

The past couple of weeks we have traveled to several site locations. Ashland, KY, Princeton & Huntington, WV.

Derek really liked Ashland because he would get to rotate with 3 PM&R (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) doctors, a specialty that he is really interested in. The head resident gave us a great tour of the hospital. It was the first tour where we were actually taken into departments rather than showed the hallway leading to ER or the door leading to Pediatrics. We were able to see the equipment Derek would be learning on. The town seemed family friendly; I even spotted a mall…a real mall with shops that are open inside! Another added bonus is that I’d have another one of my roommates 3 hours away in Louisville, KY.

Princeton seemed nice as well it was a lot bigger than Lewisburg. While Derek toured the hospital, I visited with the Watsons who just moved there for their rotation in June. Acalias played with the kids while I got the scoop about where to eat, fun places for kids to play and pricing for homes and rentals.

Huntington is home to one of the biggest party schools in the East, Marshall University. The hospital seemed old and run down. It was located in the city, it felt constricting as if they had run out of space to build. I bypassed the tour due to the repulsive smells I encountered even before the tour began. The plus side about Huntington is their great selection of restaurants. We ate at an amazing Indian restaurant, every bite was heavenly! On our way home I counted 6 Gentlemen’s clubs on one street. Derek and I agreed that (aside from the great food) the town didn’t seem to fit what we’re looking for.


Where am I? Why am I still in my car seat mommy?

Acalias did well during our travels as long as his basic needs were met. After our tour in Ashland, KY we sat in a meeting room so that the students can ask questions. Acalias was farting so loud it was hard to believe they had come from a 3 month old little boy! I had to change him three times during that tour; thank goodness the restrooms had a changing table (a rare commodity on this side of the country).

Lately Acalias has been rejecting bottles and binkies. Hopefully he learns to accept a bottle before we travel in December; I can’t always breastfeed on demand in public. He has opted to suck his thumb. I’m constantly replacing his thumb with his binky to avoid a habit that might not ever end.

First Laugh

Words are insufficient when it comes to trying to describe hearing our son laugh. I finally learned how to upload a video successfully.

We love to hear this little boy laugh, he is such a blessing in our life.