Great B-day!

My sweetheart husband wanted to surprise me for my b-day. He had told me he was going to get his vacations for the end of October and beginning of November to be able to spend Nicky's and my b-day together. One of my friends just told me how lucky I am for having him and I couldn't agree more with her. BABE YOU ARE THE BEST!

Glenn bought tickets to take me to the Dallas Opera. He wanted to take me to a very nice and expensive dinner, but I wanted to listen to the lecture before the opera started. He took me to see Othello. It was a dark, interesting show to watch. We both dressed up very fancy to go. A young couple who was there wanted to chit-chat with us. Glenn and I talked to them for a bit and then said good bye. We wanted it to be just the two of us. We weren't interested in meeting anybody there. The opera was great. Glenn and I enjoyed screaming "BRAVO!" and "BRAVA!" at the end of every singer's special dramatic acts. Don't worry, everybody did it. When we were about to go to the car we noticed that it was pouring rain outside. Glenn was so nice and handed me his jacket to not ruin my nice dress. On the way back we were both so happy and talking about the show. I'm looking forward for my next one.

Today I woke up as usual at 9:00 a.m. However, to my surprise I found a note on Hanna's crib giving me instructions to start my day. The instructions asked me take off my nail polish, take a shower, dress casual, and to not put on make up. I came to the kitchen and a nice breakfast was ready for me. Then more instructions that guided me to my Glenn's car and then to a SPA! I received 1 hr of Swedish massage, a facial, and I was going to get a pedicure and manicure but couldn't due to the electricity going out with a thunderstorm. I told them if I could come back tomorrow, and they were fine with that.

I came back and thanked my awesome, thoughtful husband for such a great gift. I went and picked up Nicky. Then we went together to give her b-day's invitations away. When we came back Glenn took us all to my favorite Chinese restaurant.

Today has been very relaxing and a great day. Yesterday also was awesome. Tomorrow we'll see what my b-day brings. I hope it brings more good surprises.

I'M OLDER THAN LAST YEAR! My b-day was awesome. I went to the SPA again and they did pedicure and manicure. While I was being spoil Glenn cleaned up all the apartment and took care of the kids. He made dinner for everybody. The Spa's owner felt so bad for the day before that she told me I could come back whenever I wanted for another facial FOR FREE. I'm planning to use it sometime next week. My sister came to visit and got me a new wallet. During the week I received presents for my b-day. I won't give names to avoid jealousy but I felt very pampered from friends and family. My awesome husband also bought me some stuff that I needed for my kitchen. I love getting things for my kitchen. He also bought a movie for me:) He is the best!! We also went to trunk and treat at church. We were very late but the kids had time to collect some candy. Poor of my niece. She was SO scare with the decorations haha. We ended up the night by playing Wii with my sister and my brother in-law. It was very fun.

Halloween Day!

We started the day with a good breakfasts. Then we all got ready and went to the Zoo. We came back and of course the kids got dress for Halloween. Nicky was a princess (of corse) Ian spider man (again) and Hanna from mini mouse (when we went to the zoo) to lady bug. Merary my niece, again made her HOLLYWOOD SCREAM every time that Ian would put on his spider man mask or when a house was very well decorated or if a dog was on the way to the next house. Hilarious haha.

We came back and played more Wii. It is fun to play with family because we can ruin each other game haha.

We had fun until the night came. Merary kept having nightmares about Halloween night and Ian was overtired. Hanna still theeding which it doesn't make it easier with her sleep either. The four of us had horrible headache. Anyway at night next day we did decorate the house for Nicky's b-day and made her princess cake. I had lots of help from my hubby and my brother in-law and of course my sister too.

I'm tired. I still need to post about Nicky's princess party.

Thank you all for remembering my b-day. I had a great time. I love all my gifts, cards and facebook good wishes. Even Heater's happy b-day song was great. I love you all and I thank my Heavenly Father for having you'll in my life.

I'm out for now...

I'm loving this month:)

So far October has been very generous. I'm SO tired, but I have been having SO MUCH FUN!

Nicky had an early present for her b-day, and so did I. My friends Cass and Linds came to visit. We had a weekend reunion. Nicky had so much fun with Carter, Meg, Hanna, Ian, Grant, and of course Jay.

Seeing Cass and Linds was awsome! We were able to visit and stay up until late (kind of...on Friday the three of us were out for the day at 10:30 p.m. ...can you tell I'm getting old?)

We started by going to a small pumpkin patch that we have close to our home. It was cold but nice to go and spend some time with friends. Glenn had his day off so he got the chance to come with us. We had fun. I made taquitos for everybody and we ate pizza for dinner. After dinner we sent the kids to sleep and the girls and I went to the hot tub. When we came back we had hot fudge (made by Linds) with ice cream. We had the chance to visit without the constant yelling of the kids.

Next day Glenn was on call so the rest of us went to Dallas Zoo to see the rest of the zoo. Last time we just were able to see the African Jungle area.

We all had fun but were SO tired. I had made
brisket, rolls, caviar beens, and corn bread beforehand. I knew that we were going to be so busy that I wasn't going to have the time to cook. We came back and the kids watched a movie while the girls took a nap. I made vegetables and mashed potatoes to join the rest of the dinner.

We sent the kids to sleep and had to be strong and talk more and more, but by 10:30 p.m. we all were OUT! That's right, we are indeed getting old. The next day we had breakfast and Cass had to leave. She needed to be back to her duties and she needed to drive longer than Linds. Linds, the kids, and I played some Wii and then we went to the hottub. We came back, had lunch, and visited a little bit more. The kids played while we visited. We didn't want the weekend to be over, but Linds had to go back to her husband who was also anxious to have them back. My hubby is sleeping and I'm fixing dinner. I had so much fun this weekend. Here are some more pics from my awesome weekend. Thanks girls for coming, and thanks to my awesome husband too for baby sitting so we could enjoy the hottub kidless.

Some things that I forgot to write about last month. However I'll add them right now Being an adventurous woman as I am, I decided to join the group of sewing moms. Wait that group doesn't exist! However, my friend Laura is helping me develop a skill that I still haven't found. :) Perhaps with time, right? Here are my first creations. My girls' Halloween skirts. Laura is so patient with me and thanks to that I haven't given up to this. :)

Laura was also very generous and nice to invite us to the children's museum at Forth Wort. Unfortunately they were in contruction so half of the museum was closed. However that didn't stop us to have fun!

On another subject: I also forgot to mention that I enrolled Nicky in a small gymnastic class about 2 months ago. She liked it, but she kept begging me to put her in ballet. I told her she needed to try at least one month, which by the way she did. She told me she wanted to keep doing gymnastics, but if she could choose, she'd prefer ballet, so I had to switch her. Now she is taking ballet and tap lessons. She is loving them. She told me she misses Breanna, her gymnastics teacher. Too bad that with the budget of a resident we can't afford both classes, right? Anyway I guess it's a good thing that she sees Breanna every Sunday at church. However she already had a good friend in her ballet class. Nicky goes once per week for 1.1/2 hours. I can stay there and see her progress through a big window that the school has. Last time the three of us (Hanna, Ian and I) were watching Nicky's progress. I love how she feels so professional and confident about ballet. They had a water fountain which was a big temptation for Ian not to play with. In no time he of course had a puddle of water on the floor to play with. Then he started to move crazy like he was going to fall or something. I asked him to be careful and then he told me, "MOM, I'M FINE. DON'T YOU SEE I'M WATER SKATING?" lol. He can be very funny sometimes:) October is going fast. We are getting ready for Halloween and the rest of the holidays.

Until next time:)

early b-day present!

Besides the great weather, visitng my baby sister two times, having a great husband and wonderful kids, this month has been great for other reasons, too. I'm not going to write much. The next e-mail was sent today from my husband to the family to let everybody know about this importants news:

Dear Family, We have some great news/big announcement to share with the family. As a recap: I had been pretty focused/ blinders on about getting into plastic surgery, whether it was directly or after a general surgery residency. I matched into general surgery, but was at that time re-evaluating what I really wanted to do in medicine while also increasing time at home and for Church, etc. I had liked anesthesiology, but had to sign my general surgery contract for the year as stipulated by the match process. Anesthesia residencies allow you to do your first year in surgery or medicine and not lose that time and go directly into a second year position, but those positions are few and hard to come by. I made contacts with my home program's department, got letters of recommendation, and started applying early on for second year positions. My efforts at finding spots were unfruitful, but I did get interview offers for first year positions, which would require me to repeat this first year. As I was planning these interviews during my few days off and vacation days, and getting approval from my general surgery program coordinator (who was surprisingly supportive), I did get a surprise offer to interview for a 2nd year position at a great program in San Antonio. They made an exception and interviewed me on my next day off, paid for my hotel, and interviewed me that morning. They were excited to have me, and the interviews went very well. My lunch with a few of the residents was very positive, too, and they helped me in making my decision. The program director sat down with me after lunch, and they offered me a position right there after the interview. They said that they'd be ecstatic to have me, and though I was a fantastic applicant. He told me that the department chairman, his boss, couldn't interview me that day due to his giving oral board examinations to residency graduates, but had told them to make sure they signed me before I left because he wanted me in their program. I told them I was almost 100% sure I'd sign, but wanted to discuss it with my wife (who had already told me to take it if I felt like it was the best option, which she told me beforehand it already was). :) Oh, did I mention that the program director and 10 of the 45 or so residents are LDS and San Antonio has a temple and they like LDS residents? Big selling point. They also have a family friendly schedule, an almost 100% pass rate on board exams, are located in a great city, and well, it felt like the answer to our (and your) many, many prayers during the last 6+ months. Why didn't I say yes? Well, I had to take advantage of the opportunity to put my wife through just a little more stress...well, I didn't have to but thought she's appreciate the drama. :) By the time I got back (almost 3 hour drive thanks to Austin traffic), I had it all rehearsed. Claudia had wanted the San Antonio option to be the right one the moment they offered me a position. I went in the house with my tie and suit coat off and shirt unbuttoned, to look a little dejected. She was so great and supportive, and I told her things went so-so, but not great. She just hugged me and started talking about other options. I told her I needed to check my email to make a phone call, which I did, calling the program director and telling him I had accepted the position...Claudia was confused and turned around and asked me what I was doing. When I told her she was so happy that she...punched me repeatedly in the shoulders! :) I deserved it, but then she gave me a big hug and we both celebrated the great news. Taking the spot also means that I won't have to use up my days off or vacation for the rest of the year. We're very excited and know that the Lord has been once again so merciful and kind to us. All the pieces of the puzzle have once again come together. More news of getting there, but I will be starting my position, without losing time, July 1st, 2010. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts and support. We're very excited and happy. Love,Glenn and the family

September tibits!

Where should I start? I know Glenn finally finish his first month at Baylor's hospital. They really bit my poor guy. We are all excited that he is starting another month at the clinic in Forth Wort. I loved his first month that he did there. The shcedule is way more relaxing than in the hospital. For example today he was home by 12:30 a.m. I like having him home. Not just because he helps around the apartment. But because we can do family things together:) Nicky doesn't have to wake up at the middle of the night to be able to talk to him for a bit.
Talking about my drama queen. She is doing great. She loves school. She is making so many friends. I like to see that everybody loves her in her class. Every time I drop her off everybody say hello to her. She is very social. Not wonder why Ian thinks Nicky is a great girl and best oldest sister ever!
Ian is definitely in his terrible twos. He is very sweet. He found a best friend besides Nicky. Her name is Ali and just like him she does like getting in trouble too. He loves playing swords, pretending animals, making Hanna laugh and making Nicky mad. He thinks he is very funny every time that Nicky tells me MOMMA IAN IS BOTHERING ME! He decided the apartment needed another kind of decorations so he grabbed the crayons and colored the walls of the hall, and also the one on his bedroom. He finally can chew on gum for more than 1 hour and sometimes gives me the gum when he is done with it. Other times he would eat it and tells me "I'M FINE MOM I'M FINE" He hates nursery. He keeps telling me "MOM WHEN WE GO TO CHURCH I'M GOING TO CRY. I DON'T LIKE NURSERY" I hope this is just while he gets used to it.
Hanna is sweet peach LEARN TO CRAWL. That is right September I decided to let her progress and in no time she started crawling and stand up everywhere she can. It is very cute to see her standing up in her crib. She also can sit by herself ...sniff sniff...my baby is growing so fast. She already has some teeth and other are coming too. She still a loud baby. Giggles a lot. The other day she was crying because she wanted to be held. I was busy so I just let her cry. I remembered she always smiles when she sees the light of the camera so I gave the camera to Nicky and let her take some pictures of her sister. PROBLEM SOLVED! My sweet peach with all her tears in her eyes started posing for the camera and starting smile.
We went to the Zoo last Saturday. We had fun. The kids had some scravehunter and won prizes at the end.
We are looking costumes for Halloween. We don't know what to dress up like. We'll see.
Last Sunday I gave a talk on Sacrament meetings. I won't talk much about it. I was WAY TO NERVOUS to even remember. I survived at least. I felt better after seeing other talkers as nervous as I was.
I haven't exercises for a while. I should start doing it again. The holidays are here and the food is always great.
I need to take a break. I'm tired. Since Hanna is teething my sleep time is not the best:S
Let see what October brings:)