white coat ceremony

Friday was Dave's white coat ceremony. I was a very proud wife-y seeing him wear a real white coat for the first time. Its a ceremony celebrating the transition into clinical studies. The speaker gave a really good address summarizing all the things they would see and experience in their white coats.

Interestingly enough, the ceremony was on the 6th anniversary of our engagement. I'll tell you I never thought then that I would be here in Vermont supporting Dave in his medical studies, but I am so glad we are here and am grateful for all the experiences that brought us here.

(UVM College of Medicine class of 2014)

For the local news coverage click here. (You can see me and my good friend Sara cheering from the balcony around 0:38. I'm in black; she's in red.)

boston, mass.

Every time Dave has a free weekend, we talk about going somewhere. We've had days where we debated for an hour on where we should go (Boston? Montreal? Lake Placid?) and end up not going anywhere. Time, money and/or weather usually stop us. (When we first moved here we thought "this is awesome, we'll be so close to stuff!", but in actuality, we're not.) But this weekend we were determined. Dave felt caught up on studying and he has Monday off anyway, so we decided it was time to go someplace fun.

I remember attending the National Museum of Natural History as a kid, as well as going on family trips to historical sites and I must say I'm a sucker for museums. So when Dave and I decided a trip to Boston sounded fun for the weekend, we wanted to include the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the USS Constitution museum. Friday night we loaded up the car and headed to Massachusetts.

Of course, Ana was most excited about swimming in the hotel swimming pool, and was up super early on Saturday morning begging to go down the pool. Then we headed over to Harvard University. The museum was awesome and our kids loved it!

Ana's favorite part:
The dinosaur exhibit. This one was a Kronosaurus - the most complete set of this type of underwater dinosaur. Ana, however insisted that she is a "dinosaur expert" and that this one is called a "T-rex fish."

Jack's favorite part:

The meteorite exhibit. He wanted to watch the video about craters and asteroids and meteorites. He calls them "the rocks that come from the air."

The USS Constitution was also very cool. We went to the museum and then got to board the ship at the dock.
Ana liked laying in the hammocks on the boat. Jack didn't.


Some fun facts about the USS Constitution:

*it is the oldest (213 years) commissioned (still owned by the navy) warship still afloat.
*it was involved in 33 battles, the most famous of which was during the war of 1812.
*its nickname was "Old Ironsides" because, even though she was made of oak, the enemy's cannonballs either got stuck in the hull, or simply bounced off.

After that we drove around downtown Boston, which was crazy, and we decided we'd go back some other time when the weather wasn't quite so windy and we could walk. We did manage to drive by Old North Church, and I'm looking forward to going back and walking the Freedom Trail with my sister in April!

At the museum, there was this short little video with quotes from actual sailors on the Constitution. One sailor said, "I do not fear the day of battle. We are too busy fighting to be afraid. But the day after, with the fatigue and caring for the dead and the wounded, that is the day I dread."

The days after a vacation are always the hardest too. :)

nothing special, and yet it was

Six years ago Valentine's Day was on a Monday. Dave and I were only days away from engagement, so knowing that a special date was around the corner, and being poor college students, we kept it simple and got Blizzards from DQ and ate them in his Buick.

Six years, 2.4 children, and still being poor college students, we still go out for Blizzards on Valentine's Day (in the same Buick).

But V-day also includes:

heart/blob shaped pancakes (a must every year),




a trip to the kiddie open gym,







and frosting cookies with our neighbors for FHE.




And, since there is no DQ around and Ben and Jerry's really is the best ice cream, we decided to buy a pint (of ice cream) instead.

That is a happy Valentine's Day.

puppy love

Ana wants a puppy.

Okay, in all honesty we all kinda want one. She (we) want a beagle. Now, just in case you non-dog-breed-knowing peeps out there are thinking basset hound, let me make it known that we want a beagle. They look like this:




Awww.... So stinkin' cute. Small enough to be inside, but its not a little, yippy dog.

Anyway, Ana is really the puppy advocate around here. She asks for one every day. EVERY DAY. Conversations go something like this.

"Mom, can we go buy a puppy today?"

"Not today, Ana."

"But I'll be so happy if you buy one. Please, please, please can we buy one."


or this:


"Mom, what's 8 + 8?"

"16"

"What's 16 + 16?"

"32."

"What's 32 + 32?"

"64."

"What's 64 + 64?"

"128."

"So, it costs 128 dollars to buy a puppy?"


or this:


Grandma: "What will happen if your puppy has an accident on the floor?"

"Oh, I'll clean it up. But if it poops on the floor, then I'll ask Dad to help."


You get the idea. She really wants a puppy. I am usually the sole voice of reason in this matter. I wouldn't mind a puppy either, but I am not interested in potty-training a dog with 20 inches of snow outside and besides, I'm having a baby in August and we decided that we needed to get pay off our credit cards before we get a puppy (which will be done by the end of the month, thank-you-very-much-tax-returns).

While we were out shopping on Saturday, Dave decided on a whim that we should go into a pet store and see what info they have on puppy buying/owning. Little did we know that it also happened to be the weekend that the Animal Rescue center brought actual puppies into the store.

I think Ana might have died in there. And I admit the little beagle/boxer puppy mix was so stinkin' adorable I almost caved. But I held strong, even with Dave and Ana giving me pleading looks, and we left puppy-less.

We walked out of the store with me trailing behind Dave and Ana. There conversation went as follows:

"Dad, I really want to buy that puppy."

"I know, Ana. I do too. What do you think we should do?"

"Well, we could take Mom home and then buy one when she isn't here."

She really latched onto this idea too. All the way home she talked about going to our house, getting some money and then she and Dad would go back and buy the puppy. She begged and pleaded and plotted for 20 straight minutes for a puppy. I wish I had a picture of the look on her face. It was classic.

It didn't happen. We still don't have a puppy. But don't be surprised if we end up with one when the weather warms up. I don't know how much longer I can hold those two back.

So, any tips for a future dog owner?

Happy V-day.

erin 1 & 2

I have issues with myself. Or maybe I should say "myselves."

You see, I have two selfs inside of me that are constantly bickering. Last night as I was laying in bed, unable to sleep, they were really having it out. Let's introduce the characters shall we?

Erin 1 is opinionated, educated and fiery. She is intense and emotional. She is also enthusiastic and energetic and social.

Erin 2 is gentle and thought-full. She just wants everyone to get along and wants to be everything to everybody. She is very self-conscious.

These two do not get along. Usually, E1 (we'll call her that for short) gets E2 into trouble. E1 talks too much and inevitably says the wrong thing and then E2 has to come along and back pedal and apologize and try to smooth things over. And when its all over and I'm lying in bed, they start arguing.

"Its okay for me to have an opinion," E1 states emphatically.

"Sure, but that doesn't mean you have to announce it to the world all the time," E2 retorts.

"But I have a lot of basis in my opinions. A lot of good reasons to think like I do. I try to be an educated person."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you need to go pouring your 'education' on innocent bystanders. Most people don't want to hear it. And keeping it to yourself has its benefits."

And so it goes until late in the night when fatigue shuts them up and sleep finally claims me.

I do not know how to rectify these two selves. Both want to be heard. Both want to be part of my identity. Neither is all right and all wrong, and many times I am afraid if I give voice to one, it will be the end of the other. Really, I just want all the good qualities from each and none of the bad.

But I'd be satisfied if they'd just get along.

Need some inspiration today? I've probably read this a dozen times and it never gets old:

The Joy of Womanhood

once there was a snowman

After last nights "thundersnow" storm, we had perfect snowman snow to work with today.



This is really how tall our snowman is. It is taller than Dave. He can't even reach the top. It is awesome.

pb & j & cc & b

Ana has been on one lately. I suppose its the cold weather and she's feeling a little cooped up. I don't really blame her, but her disobedience and resort to baby talk is a bit frustrating. I don't know exactly what mood I am in today, but it seems I must be tired of feeling frustrated. The kids wanted to play in flour and even though I knew it would end up all over the dining room, I let them anyway. And it was only a few minutes of extra cleanup when it all ended up on the floor and they "flour skated" in it.

After baths and flour cleanup, Ana decided she wanted to make her own lunch. And I said, "okay."



Peanut Butter & jelly & chocolate chips & banana sandwich. She ate most of it, so whatever. I don't know if its helping her obedience issues at all, but sometimes it feels good as a mother to just say yes.

snowed in

It snowed all day today. We have about 10 inches (at least) of new snow on top of the 10+ inches we had before. So, what did we do all day during the eastern storm?

We jumped:



We danced:

We cleaned.

We shoveled.
And we loved it!

this time around

I'm feeling pretty good. Yesterday was my 13 week mark.

Here is a summary of my first trimester with baby #3:

*I'm craving: steak, pizza (although it never tastes as good as it sounds), citrus fruits (clementines, grapefruit and pineapple, specifically) and once I had a donut craving that hit so suddenly and so forcefully that Dave ran to the nearest 24 hour Dunkin' Donuts at 10 pm just for me.

*I have an aversion to: chocolate, and most "sweets."

*Though my tummy hasn't shrunk at all, all my pants feel looser. Maybe its the aversion to sweets?

*Every day I eat Frosted Mini Wheats first thing in the morning, a popeye egg for second breakfast, and for lunch a pb and honey half-sandwich, chips, some sort of fruit and a glass of milk. After that, I feel pretty good the rest of the day. Especially if I get a nap!

*Ana is super excited about having another baby. She talks about it a lot and mentions it to everyone.

I think I was sicker with Jack than I am now, but its hard to remember for sure. Maybe the two kiddos are distracting me a bit, but I'm pretty sure I remember throwing up once or twice every day with him, if not more. With the exception of the week before Christmas when I felt miserable, I've been feeling much better. Maybe it helps that I'm not changing any stinky diapers. Or maybe it means we're having another girl.