Weekly wrap up

I'm two weeks behind! I'd like to say it's because we've been out doing awesome things and having a ton of fun before Daniel officially starts residency next week, but I've just been lazy. And my phone won't sync to my computer so I just have the Instagram photos I shared on Facebook to share. I guess I need to take my phone in and have it looked at. It just keeps trying to connect to iTunes over and over and iTunes can't recognize it. I've only had it for a few months, I hope I don't need a new one already!

Anyway...

On Memorial Day we went to Fred's for a cookout. We had a lot of fun (as always, Fred's is great!), Matthew enjoyed swimming a lot more than he did at my parent's house a few weeks ago.

Just for fun, here's Memorial Day at Fred's last year...

True story: shortly after this picture was taken, Daniel slipped on the edge of the slope to the deep end and came thisclose to dropping Matthew. Daniel tossed Matthew to me (I was sitting on the edge of the pool with my legs in the water) and went under and I scooped Matthew up and he didn't even realize he almost went for an unsupervised swim.

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For some reason, I'm obsessed with this pug shirt from The Children's Place! I bought it a size up so it would fit all summer!

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I've rediscovered Pinterest lately. I'm starting to gather ideas for when (if) we decide to buy a house when we move to NC. I go back and forth between being SO excited and SO terrified. Luckily there are a lot of communities to choose from, I know something will work out!

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Okay, this was a super scary experience - Matthew's first trip to the ER. I've been trying to limit his paci use to naps and bedtime, so he's started putting random things in his mouth. The day before he got sick I took him to work with me and he spent a good chunk of time trying to eat the toys. I did the best I could to keep things out of his mouth, but it wasn't enough. On Friday he started vomiting and had a rising fever, even after we gave him some medicine. The thermometer read 104* at one point, so Daniel called Dr. Barkimer's office and talked to a nurse while I held Matthew and a mixing bowl/throw up bowl. She suggested we go to Children's in case he needed an IV (their office and most surrounding clinics weren't able administer IVs), so we loaded up and headed over. They took us back right away to get Matthew's stats and we noticed his temperature had come down some. Instead of admitting us right away, they took us to an observation room where we monitored fluid intake and temperature for a couple hours. They also gave Matthew some Zofran to help with the nausea. We were able to leave with a happier baby and relieved parents!

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We've been talking about going to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum for a few weeks and finally decided to on Tuesday. We went a little later in the afternoon and basically had the place to ourselves. We didn't want to sit in traffic on the way home, so we went to dinner at Pizza Shuttle. We took surface streets home and still had time to play in the park when we got back. We all slept well that night!

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We went to Target (as we do twice a week) and Matthew found this ball and would not let us put it away. We decided to buy it (Daniel and I are quickly becoming those parents who buy their kid stuff they don't really need) and Matthew gets so excited to play with it! We keep it out in the hall by our shoes and he points to it every time he sees it.

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Matthew slept for about 20 minutes in the car on the way home from church and then refused to take a nap this afternoon. He was such a sleeping champ this week - 2-3 hour naps and 12 hours at night (maybe that's normal for others but it's new for us and it's amazing!) so it was kind of frustrating. Daniel took him on a walk outside to try and tire him out and Matthew sat down in a puddle and got nice and dirty, so he spent the rest of the afternoon in a diaper. He struck this pose while watching the Women's World Cup.

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Something I love right now: Daniel

I ALWAYS love Daniel, but this last month at home with him has been so great! I love staying up late binge watching Friends and looking at houses and eating ice cream with him. It's going to be a hard adjustment for all of us once he goes back to work, but I'm so glad we have this time together now!

-Jenn

Weekly wrap up: Graduation

Daniel is officially a doctor! We had so much fun celebrating the end of the medical school chapter of our lives!

My Mother's Day gift was a pedicure with Daniel. Yes, with Daniel. We went during Matthew's naptime and I had fun! Daniel probably won't do it again, but at least I got him to do it once.

Daniel is incredibly ticklish. I was impressed at how much restraint he had!

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My favorite graduation event was the senior gala! We got dressed up and had a fun night out! I wore heels for the first time in ages and loved seeing everyone excited for graduation.

I LOVE this picture

The art museum is behind us, but you can't really tell

Photo booth fun with Zack and Emily!

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One of the optional graduation events was the hooding ceremony. If you get your doctorate, you get a hood. The point of the hooding ceremony is to recognize and thank someone you feel significantly helped and/or mentored you during your time at MCW. Daniel asked our friend (Ryan) Bagley to hood him, which I think was a nice gesture. Bagley introduced Daniel to rad onc, helped get him a few research projects in the department, gave him advice about interviewing and ranking, and was just a great resource in general. Bagley's finishing up his residency and moving to Colorado at the end of June. I'm so grateful Daniel had someone to turn to when he had questions about the specialty!

Here are a few more pictures from the hooding...

The stage. Just testing the light with my mom's fancy camera

Daniel in the crowd

Blurry-ish action shot, Bagley is on Daniel's right

Right before going to his row

My mom spent the ceremony out in the hall with Matthew. I'm so glad she was able to keep an eye on him for me

We went back to the school to take some pictures there...

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The evening of the hooding ceremony was the senior dinner. Daniel and I did not have a very good time. We didn't know anyone at our table, our food was late, and we had to pay for our drinks. BUT Daniel won a microbiology award and $100, so it wasn't a total bust.

Daniel about to get his award

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And suddenly it was graduation!

Stephen and Meliah and their kids were able to come down, they were all so well-behaved! Mom and Matthew spent more time out in the foyer, but I went out with Matthew so she could come in and watch the recessional.

We went to dinner at Pizza Shuttle for dinner...

 And that was the end of graduation week!

I'm SO proud of Daniel and all the hard work and effort he put into these last 4 years. I know we've still got a long way to go before it's all over, but it's going to be our greatest adventure yet!
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Highlights from our trip to DC coming soon!

-Jenn

Weekly wrap up

On Monday we celebrated Star Wars Day and also Cinco de Sushi (a day early). I have a Star Wars shirt that I got in high school and it doesn't fit the way it used to, but I couldn't NOT wear a Star Wars shirt on Star Wars day! We got sushi from Ginza, our go-to place here that has Groupons occasionally. The weather was great for a picnic, so we all had dinner on the front lawn!

Also on Monday I went and got a real bra fitting. Yes, I am 25 and had never been properly fitted. It wasn't too awkward/weird and I'm now wearing the right size and it's an amazing difference!
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On Tuesday I spent the morning at the WAC, then ran a few errands in the afternoon while Matthew napped. Daniel had a meeting at school in the evening, so Matthew and I went to a great Cinco de Mayo party at the home of some dental school friends. We had homemade tamales, fantastic guacamole, and lots of dessert! Daniel was able to come for a bit, he had just enough time to have a bite to eat before I handed off Matthew and went out with some girlfriends to see a movie. We were going to see Age of Adaline, but it sold out right before we got to the ticket counter. We weren't going to let a girl's night go to waste, so we decided to go bowling instead! I'm not a very good bowler, but no one seemed to care about the score too much!

Cassi, Emily C, me, Nina, Emily P

(Cassi's photo)

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On Wednesday we spent a good chunk of the day being lazy at home. Then we put on our Brewers gear and went to Miller Park! MCW sponsored a tailgate prior to the game, I had never done that before and it was so fun!

A few of the famous Klement's Racing Sausages

The arch on the east side of the stadium

A good chunk of the LDS M4s - Alex, Britlyn, Jessica, Zack, Daniel

The Polish Sausage won the race...

...and our section won key chains!

The Brewers beat the Dodgers 6-3 and there were fireworks and it was a fun night!

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Thursday was a gorgeous day! I took Matthew to my shift at the WAC and there were friends outside on the front lawn when we got home. Matthew has been into moving quickly and climbing everything lately. I should've kept a better eye on him, but he totally rolled down the hill on the lawn and fell face-first onto the cement sidewalk. He was so sad! Poor kid scraped up his face pretty good.

After naptime, we went back outside to play in the sprinklers. The kids would play in the water for a few minutes, then go run off and do something else, then come back again. I was turning the water back on and all of a sudden Janey scooped Matthew up and ran him over to me - he had fallen down the cement steps to their building and already had a swollen bump on the side of his head. I was ready to go in and call it a day at that point, luckily Daniel got home from the gym shortly after and helped give Matthew a bath and calm him down. We had dinner and were winding down for the day when Daniel sat Matthew on the edge of the couch and reached over to get a drink. I was across the room and watched Matthew fall off the couch onto his back. I couldn't react fast enough to catch him! So Matthew hit his head on all 4 sides. Just in time for graduation pictures next week. He's okay (no concussion or lasting issues), I'm just embarrassed/heartbroken I let my little man get so beat up in one day!

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On Friday I went to yoga for the first time in ages. It was a great class though, definitely my favorite of all the ones I've been to! I made a Target run afterwards, then took Matthew inside right away so we wouldn't be tempted to stay out and play and injure ourselves. Daniel spent the morning on campus and came home at lunch time with Firehouse! I went down to the lakefront to pick up mine and Cassi's packets for the Color Vibe 5K. It was so hot in the afternoon, we left all the windows in the living room and kitchen open to try and get some air circulating!

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I woke up at 5:45am on Saturday and I was freezing! It cooled off a lot overnight and the cold air came right in our open windows. I went back to sleep for a little bit and got up at 7:15am to get ready for the run. Cassi and I left at 8am and made our way to the starting line/Zumba party as soon as we got to Veterans Park. The race was split up into several heats and Cassi and I were in the second one, which ended up being perfect for us!

Before (so clean!)

People everywhere!

After!

Cassi and I ran together the whole time and finished right around 30 minutes! I hardly trained and it felt pretty good to keep a steady pace, especially while having powder thrown around every few minutes! I got hit in the face with a big pink handful of powder at the first station, luckily I had sunglasses on so it didn't get in my eyes, but I did choke a bit and that wasn't fun. There was a dance party at the finish line and we had some more color thrown at us, but we didn't stay too long. There's a nighttime glow stick race in September, Cassi and I are already forming our team! I'm looking forward to that!

A closer look at how pink I got

My multicolored cubital fossa (aka elbow pits)

I came home and took a quick shower (most of the powder came off!), then went to a baby shower for my friend, Eliza. Daniel and Lyle went to see Age of Ultron and I dubsmash-ed with my sisters for a good chunk of the afternoon. I went to Emily C's while Daniel and some of the other guys played their zombie game, it was so great to just relax at the end of a long day!

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Today we were able to host the missionaries in our ward while they talked to their families. It was so great to have them in our home! They are great guys and really enjoyed seeing their loved ones. The whole thing gave me warm fuzzies!

Elders Haueter and Fowler

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Something I love right now: Chopped

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I'm not a huge fan of cooking shows (it's not fair to watch people make and eat something yummy), but I really like cooking competition shows! The Chopped collection on Netflix has been so much fun to watch, I love seeing what crazy foods are in each basket! It's also one of those shows where I don't feel bad watching it when Matthew's around. I try not to watch too much TV around him (I usually have Pandora on instead), but if I just need a little break I can let him play and run around while I chill out a bit. Maybe one day I'll try cooking something crazy I see on the show.

-Jenn

Weekly wrap up

We discovered the joys of Stonefire Pizza with some friends on Wednesday! Matthew loved the water table and the glitchy ride that worked without any tokens. I loved that it was $10 for an unlimited pizza buffet for Daniel and me!

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Thursday was Daniel's last real day of med school!

Daniel's first (8.8.11) and last (4.30.14) days of school

It's SO crazy to think we're almost at the end of this chapter! Some days dragged and others flew by, but soon Daniel will have a couple extra letters after his name and it will all be worth it!

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On Saturday Daniel woke up with vertigo/an ear infection. We had plans to go to Green Bay with the Pughs, so I packed up Matthew and we left Daniel at home. I'm sad that he didn't get to come, we had a great time! We took a tour of Lambeau Field, it was fun to watch Matthew go through the tunnel the Packers run through during each game and to walk around the field. Plus we got to shout the Packers chant (Go Pack go!) and listen to it echo, that was cool!

We went to Bay Beach for the afternoon and had a great time! I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was surprised at how kid-friendly it was! We spent $3 on tickets and ended up having a couple left over! Matthew was a little unsure of the rides, but he loved the race cars and carousel. It was nice having Elise and/or James as ride buddies! We'll definitely be taking another trip there!

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Something I love right now: May

This month is going to be SO exciting! Look at how many things we have going on!

I'm all caught up in the great things that are happening soon and I have a feeling that I'm totally going to crash at the end of the month and freak out because it will all be over. I'm trying not to think about it and just focusing on the fun things because I get really overwhelmed when I think about how much our lives will change over the next couple of months. So for now, YAY MAY!

-Jenn

Weekly wrap up

I usually type these posts up on Saturday or Sunday night. I really should do a little daily post and post them all at the end of the week. Anyway, I didn't blog last week because we were too busy having an AWESOME weekend with friends!
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Things that happened last week...

Matthew had his 1 year check up! He is growing really well and Dr. Barkimer didn't have any concerns. Matthew had to have 3 shots and a blood draw and those were NOT fun. But we were both brave and made it through okay!

Stats
Height: 31" (83%)
Weight: 25 lbs 3 oz (94%)
Head circumference: 47.8 cm (91%)

Matthew's battle wounds

We also got passes to the awesome Betty Brinn Children's Museum downtown! We're excited to use them a lot!

Matthew got the Melissa and Doug Band in a Box for his birthday and he loves using all the instruments, especially the maracas...

On Saturday we went to Madison with the Pughs and Christiansens. We've been to Madison a handful of times but were able to see a lot more than we have before. The weather was fantastic and we had so much fun with our friends!

I took this picture of the Capitol building, I think it's cool

1) An empanada from the Stella's booth at the Farmers' Market (they ran out of spicy cheese bread twice while we were in line, so we settled for these)

2) My BOSS parallel parking job. Daniel coached me through it, it was amazing

3, 6, and 10) Checking out the animals at the Henry Vilas Zoo

4) A super cute couple with a super cute goldendoodle. The kids went nuts!

5 and 7) Hanging out at the Capitol

8 and 9) Scenes from The Pine Cone, a truck stop halfway between Madison and Milwaukee. The food wasn't great, but the desserts made up for it!

On Sunday we skipped church and went to brunch at Cafe Hollander. And it was delicious. We had to wait for awhile because there were a lot of us, but it was so worth it!

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Things that happened this past week...

On Monday we went to the Children's Museum...

Sam and Matthew could be brothers!

...and a Brewers game!

Matthew lasted about 1.5 innings before just wanting to run around. Luckily there were a lot of friends at the game too, so we were able to meet up with them and let the little ones play together. The Brewers lost, but we still had a good time!

I started my new job at the WAC! It's weird to call it a job, I only work 5-6 hours a week, but I'm getting paid! We'll lose a lot of government benefits in a few months when Daniel starts residency, so it's nice that I can bring in a little extra money. 

This is not a great picture, but it shows Matthew's love of books and Daniel's love of reading. I especially enjoy Daniel's little embellishments, like this one: "When he opens the door and feels how chilly it is, he'll ask to borrow a sweater, even though he's a full-grown moose and was outside without a sweater two minutes ago."

I booked my flight home for Jillian's graduation in June! Daniel is going to stay home with Matthew, so I will be baby-free for 4 days! I know I'll miss them a lot, but I'm excited about being able to do whatever, whenever with my family.

I took a shower this morning and came out of the bathroom to find this...

A small tornado tore through our living room and ended up asleep on the couch!

Something I love right now: Sling TV

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Sling TV was basically made for me. It's like a mini cable package without a cable subscription! We get 20-ish channels (ESPN, HGTV, Food Network, History, and A&E being our favorites) and it's $20/month. It's internet based, so we stream it on our Xbox One (Daniel's graduation present to himself) and we can watch live TV and it's no problem. Thanks to Sling TV, we've gotten sucked in to this season of Married at First Sight (we love Sean and Davina!) and Daniel starts his mornings with SportsCenter. It's fun to discover new shows and watch some favorites too!

-Jenn