Four Years

It has been four years. Four glorious years filled with a lot of wonderful and difficult times. We have been through a lot together. So much so that four years doesn't sound right. 

When I said to Brendon, "Name the highlight of the past four years," he quickly responded with, "Camping in the rain." We did that last weekend. And it was not a highlight of the past four years. 

Then he said, "Driving into Kirksville." I asked why. He didn't say, other than it was one of the most memorable moments. He is right: it was very memorable.

"Seeing Henry's head during birth." Now we're on the same track, although my highlight was when the head was completely out and I was holding my baby with my husband by my side. Definitely a highlight. Definitely the biggest highlight.

We have enjoyed each other so much over the past four years. As time goes on and life gets busier, hopefully we will be able to look back and say we enjoy each other more and more. Our marriage is full of never-ending love and support and we sure do make a good team, if I do say so myself. I love our relationship and couldn't ask for anything better.

Our 18-Month-Old Henry

I'm a little late, as Henry was been 18-months-old for two weeks now. Henry's nap time--my free time--consists of sleeping (usually) and cleaning (sometimes). I love this stage. Love it. Fell in love with it when Brendon and I were nursery leaders. Now, as a parent, it is even more fun. Hard and demanding, but fun and rewarding.

Thoughts from his mother:

I always feel sad when I think of how little time I have left with just me and my buddy, but Henry always reassures me when he hugs the babies and the girls his age at the park that he will be a great brother. He is such a sweet, sweet boy. I love his tender heart. I have always had high expectations for my oldest child and am so pleased with Henry and absolutely thrilled that he is the oldest sibling.

Henry continues to be the happiest boy I've met and has recently started to increase his number of tantrums (complete with throwing himself down on the floor) each day. And we are all learning together. Poor guinea pig child. My dad always told me that those who are not mild in nature generally experience "high highs" and "low lows." Henry isn't any exception.

After all my time the past year making animal noises while playing together on the carpet, Henry can now tell us a number of animals sounds, including dog, fish, duck, chicken, cow, bird, cat, goat, sheep, owl, and snake. He typically tells me what the animals say when I quiz him, but he has surprised us a few times: while eating dinner one night, I asked if he wanted some chicken, to which he responded, "Bawk! Bawk! Bawk!" When we went to the beach last month, Henry chased after the seagulls, yelling, "Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!" And just yesterday we were playing with play dough and we practiced snake. When I asked, "What does a snake say?" He put his tongue against his teeth for the "sssss" sound. Every day he picks up on a new animal.

Henry absolutely loves the beach. I, myself, wouldn't really care for it, but my boys love it. Henry's first time on the beach was in June. He wasn't so sure about walking in the sand at first: he picked up his foot right after it touched the sand, wondering if he could step on it. Now Henry could run in the sand, throw it, play in it, chase the seagulls in it and then go stand in the waves for hours on end. Seeing how happy he is in the sand makes me enjoy the beach.

Someday I just might have a running buddy. Henry can run and run and run and run....and he does, every day. We have always chased him around our couch, but now he will run laps by himself. And lately, if someone is chasing him, he will run for ten solid minutes around the couch. Huffing and puffing, he runs. He runs around the couch. He runs in the grass. He runs when he's eating something he knows he shouldn't. He runs...and runs...and runs...and runs. He even has good form, making sure to pump his arms.

A new discovery this month was spinning. One night Henry was spinning so much he fell over, stood up, fell over, stood up, and fell over. He has yet to repeat the same episode, making sure to control his speed and frequency. He has always loved being spun in the swing set and now he will spin anytime we say, "Spin, spin, spin!" He loves getting dizzy.

Henry was blessed with the Holmes dancing gene. He loves to dance, but I especially love it when he dances to the washing machine. He can be so entertaining!

All in all, Henry is happy, sweet, kind, and is all boy. He loves trucks, dirt, cars, building and crashing things, and animals. He usually says "momma" when we wants something but has picked up on cracker ("cacka"), yogurt, please and thank you (both of which he uses sparingly), movie, ball, baby, hot, milk ("meme"), and dog. He loves to show off his belly button and knows where his eyes, ears, nose and tongue are located. He understands so much now and is truly a joy to have around our home.

Sick, Sad; Healthy, Happy

For one week of our stay in California, Henry was sick. 

It was his first real sickness (were are so lucky to make it this far, I know), 

the visit-the-doctor kind of sick. 

It was awful. Henry was not himself.

Crying. Taking short naps. Hardly eating. Waking in the night. 

Lots and lots of movie watching was had by all.

No smiles. No laughs. I missed the smiles and the laughs.

Lots of cuddling. Loved the cuddles, but not worth having a sick child.

Fever. Hot body. Sleep deprivation. 

One sad boy.

After waiting to make sure it wasn't anything viral, we took him into the doctor.

Medicine and time.

It was great. Henry was back to himself.

Smiling. Taking long naps. Eating like a champ. Sleeping through the night.

Lots and lots of playing was had by all.

Lots of smiles. Lots of laughs.

Some cuddling: mostly sporadic hugs and kisses, which I love.

No fever. Normal body temperature. Back to sleeping normally.

One happy boy.

Who knew an ear infection could be so bad? I certainly didn't.

Loma Linda Rotation--A Family Affair

(Pictures added to this blog post)

We've spent the month of August in California living with Brendon's parents while Brendon worked his tails off at Loma Linda Hospital for a pediatric surgery rotation. And when I say "worked his tail off" I mean waking up at 3:15 am (I didn't even know that time existed) to get to the hospital by 4:30 am, working, working, working, and driving home at 6:30 pm to be home by 7:00 pm which gave him just enough time to eat, play with Henry for a little while, work on residency applications, and get a measly five to six hours of sleep by going to bed by 9:30 pm...just to repeat the process the next day. That's 14 hours of work. Each day. For at least five days a week. Over the 28 day rotation, he had six days off. Yuck! Let's just leave it at this: the poor guy was tired exhausted and I am not looking forward to residency. We are going to soak in these last months of our fourth year of medical school with a lot of time together as a family.

During our rotations, we have been grateful for the opportunity to live with several family members. In the process, we have been able to get to know our families better. This month I learned just how much Brendon is like his dad, which is a good thing. There were a few times when my father-in-law said or did something when I thought, "that's just the way Brendon would have said that" or "that is something Brendon would do." When my FIL asked his wife in an undemanding way if his white shirts had been washed, it reminded me of Brendon. When my FIL came in one morning to give his wife an extra hug because she was leaving for the week, it reminded me of Brendon.  I am grateful for the good example Brendon had growing up of both his dad and mom and for the relationship they have which has helped us set a pattern for our own marriage.

Even though Brendon worked long hours every day, I honestly didn't notice just how much he is working most of the time. Maybe it's because I was asleep for the first 3-4 hours of his work day, but really I owe a huge "thank you" to Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Randi. Grandma coming home from work provided me relief so I wasn't the only source of entertainment for my busy buddy. Henry loves Grandma, always giving big smiles and laughs when she was around. She was among the best of playmates for the month.

After a couple weeks, Henry warmed up to Grandpa and was often found walking around him and keeping Grandpa awake while the tv was on. Grandpa was always so quick to help with Henry while dinner was being made, taking him outside (his favorite place to be) and playing with him and was another of Henry's buddies this month. Randi was always there to greet Henry with a "good morning" at breakfast time and was a great babysitter for my quick errands. We (especially me) loved having so many adults around.





Not only were we been able to spend a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa, but also all the siblings (living in CA). We had a lot of fun swimming, playing, talking, eating, and simply being together. We tried to pack in as much fun as possible this trip and I'm glad Henry was able to spend lots of time with his cousins. Whenever one cousin was outside, the rest followed (which usually ended with tears and Henry asking to go inside, but it seemed like they were always together in the same area while we were together). We love having so many cousins!

To top off time with family, Brendon organized a get together with the "Norco Boyz." I couldn't believe some of the stories they were reminiscing about. They are silly, crazy, adventure-seeking boys. We had fun hanging out with "the boys" and their wives. Everyone had a good laugh and Brendon left saying, "I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard."

All in all, August was a good month. We were all excited to finish this busy rotation and return home, but we really enjoyed our time with family and friends.