Freedom! (For a Month)

I'm done with clinical for another semester!  I almost can't believe it, I'm so incredibly excited.  I have one online final and assignment to do and then I'll be home free until the first week of June.  As of now, I've completed just under 1500 clinical hours, and have about 200 left for the summer.  Looking back, I can't believe how quickly it's gone, even though it hasn't felt that way sometimes in the moment.  More than anything, it gives me complete peace of mind.  I know if something were to happen to Marshall or if he were to lose his job again, I could replace his income almost completely.  That's not to say a job would necessarily be available, but since ultrasound is such a specialized field my chances of getting a job are good.  Through ultrasound school, I've gotten to know some amazing people and you might have seen my friend Traci in my marathon post.  She's been a great friend through this whole journey and I can see us being friends for many years to come.  :)

With Traci @clinical, we feel loony half the time....

I was hoping to get hired on PRN (as needed, you pick up shifts) before I was done with school.  You don't have to be registered to work in the state of Utah, but most places it's a requirement.  There is one registry you can take before you graduate, and that's physics.  I've already taken and passed that, and there aren't a lot of students that have taken it yet which puts me at a bit of an advantage.  The region that I've done my clinical in has started looking to hire students since they know us, trust us, that type of thing.  They've hired one student already and it looks like more jobs are going to open up.  I've expressed openly to many of the techs that I'd really love a job and I really would.  Ultimately I'd like PRN because then I could pick up without being on the schedule regularly.  I know I want to work some when I graduate because it's too valuable of a skill to lose, I just want to be able to be home with my boys most of the time.  That brings me to the next issue.  There was a part time job they opened up to the students.  It's at the hospital closest to me.  It's every Saturday and Sunday day, 12 hour shifts.  I'm having such mixed emotions about it and ended up applying for it.  (This is the part that I hope nobody in ultrasound I knows reads this. ;) )  Really I applied because I want them to know that I'm interested in being employed when in reality I don't want to work every Saturday Sunday.  That would mean missing church every week which I don't think I am really prepared to do.  I'm not saying I've got the job in the bag, but I definitely think I'm in the running.  Secretly I hope I am not offered it, but they know I applied and am interested in other positions.  I'm not sure how it would affect my chances of getting another job if I was offered the position and ended up turning it down....I did apply for it after all.  I've played out every scenerio in my head, Marshall and I have talked about it possibly being temporary for a few months until something else became available.  When it comes down to it, it's almost like I know what I should do if I get offered it, but I know what I want to do.  Does that sound terrible?  I'm still not sure where I stand on it, need to do some praying and soul searching.  As I mentioned, I'm hoping that I just don't get offered it, then I don't have to even deal with it.  I'm not sure why I'm even bringing up the unknown, I guess I should cross that path when I get there.  It's just been on my mind a lot.

I'm so excited to spend some much needed time with the boys over the next month and give my house a deep clean and some TLC as well.  Here's to some needed time off!

Baseball

This is Chandler's first year playing baseball!  They practice two times a week and have most of their games on Saturdays.  Chan did great today and even hit the ball a few times.  I think it fits him a little better right now than basketball did just because it seems more fair and he seems to know and be in tune to what's going on.  He was so excited to get his shirt and a Bees hat as well.  I was surprised to see that it wasn't strictly t-ball.  The coaches soft pitch to the kids three times and if they don't hit it then they get the tee (sp?) out for them to hit off of.  Here Chan is up to bat for his first time ever!  (PS - you'll notice Rowan running across in front of the camera.  I think he wanted some attention...)

Salt Lake City Half Marathon

Saturday was the Salt Lake City Half Marathon. I was up bright and early at 4:30 am. I headed to West Jordan to pick up my friend Traci, and then met Avry & Jason at Jason's house.

We rode tracks up to where the starting line was at the Olympic Bridge. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I wanted to finish in 2 hours and that put me at a 9:11 minute mile. I felt a lot more conditioned and ready for this half marathon, but I knew this would be a push. I was glad to have my friend Traci run it with me. We have become very good close friends being in ultrasound school together. She is a very avid runner and I knew she would push me which is exactly what I needed. The first two miles were 9:07 and 9:05. I was feeling really comfortable and we pushed it a bit more. The next few miles were 8:40 and 8:50. I was so surprised we were running this fast! I really started to feel it at about mile 11. At mile 12, there was an uphill part up state street.  It was hard because it was right at the end. I struggled at this part and it was our slowest mile, 9:43. When it was all said and done, we finished in 1:58.36!! This was such a huge stretch to run this fast and I couldn't be more proud!

My time stamp and where I placed.

 

Traci & me right after the race!

Getting a picture with Jason after the race.

The boys and Marshall cheered me in.  The boys were excited to see me, and excited to see the post race creamies (ice cream) that I had for them.

For some reason, I didn't get pictures with Avry when she came in. I'm looking for another half marathon to run this summer sometime to keep my conditioning up and of course will continue training for my marathon in September. It feels good to reach goals!!

Playing Together

I've been thinking about these two little boys of ours a lot the last few weeks. Rowan's communication skills seem to be improving a bit although he's still behind. With improved communication comes ease of play between the boys. Chandler has often been frustrated in the past because he thinks Rowan is in "Spanish Mode" If you don't know where that line is from, you need to go watch Toy Story 3. Chan would want to play with Rowan, Rowan wouldn't understand and Chan didn't really have anyone to play with. Lately they've been playing together, really interacting. We got a slide with a tent underneath and tonight they were in that tent for over an hour talking and playing. Before that they were playing at the park together, and before that they were playing ipad together.


It absolutely melts my heart to see them getting along. Not to say they don't ever fight, but this is sort of what we had envisioned when we had the boys 2 years apart. I hope that they always have a good relationship and love each other.

Easter Hunts & Baskets

We did our Easter bunny celebrating on Saturday. This is how it was growing up for me. Easter baskets and hunts on Saturday, focus on Christ on Sunday. It's a tradition I really loved, so we've decided to do it with our boys. The night before we colored Easter eggs. We had about 4 egg fatalities and even more after they were colored. We had a monster kit and the boys thought it was so much fun!



Here's everything that the Easter Bunny brought.



I just have to add that I love this little pajama set. Rowan looks adorable in it.



We woke the boys up at 8:00 since we had an Easter egg hunt at 9:00. Chandler is NOT a morning person, much like his mama.


We had a neighborhood Easter Egg hunt, it turned out really fun!




I had bought tickets to go to the Easter Eggstravaganza at Thanksgiving Point. I will never do it again. We headed there after we were done with our neighborhood egg hunt. There were so many people, and it seems like you paid to get in just to pay for more stuff. There were tons of vendors and it seemed more like a trade show. They had egg hunts every half hour that didn't seem super organized. We lost Rowan right before the egg hunt and there were massive amounts of people everywhere. I stayed with Chandler, trying not to break down and start crying while Marshall went to look for Rowan. He looked around for a few minutes, said a quick prayer and had an impression that Rowan was over by the blowup toys. He was there. Thankful for the power of prayer! So they basically threw out the eggs and the kids had a free for all for about 30 seconds.


So SO many kids. I stayed in one spot and told Chan to come find me. So you don't have to play Where's Waldo, I've pointed him out below. The eggs were filled with cheap stickers and the kind of candy no one ever eats because it's gross. I guess you live and learn, right?


We let the boys play on the blowup toys for about a half hour and left after that. We went to Chick-fil-a and got lunch and then went home. Overall, we had a great Easter and were glad to be able to spend it as a family.

Easter Sunday

I still have yet to pull pics off my camera from the festivities yesterday, but here are the boys in their new Easter duds after church. I took soooo many pictures and thought I would share the outtakes. There were some pretty funny ones!

Brushing Mommy's Hair

Rowan has always loved my hair. From the time he could start gripping, he was grabbing my hair. It quickly became a comfort for him and even now he will grab and play with my hair. He was trying to brush my hair with a lego today, so I got him a brush. He spent quite a few minutes brushing it, I was enjoying the head massage. Please excuse the messy house, it generally looks like that at the end of a clinical week and I'm trying to muster up the energy to start cleaning. Here's some cuteness for you to watch.

Preschool Pictures

I didn't even realize that Rowan was having school pictures done until he came home with a slip in his backpacks with some proofs. By the time I saw the proof, it was too late to order. So here's a picture of a picture. I keep staring at these little pictures and I can't help but realize JUST how big he is. And his cheesy smile is priceless. I love him. And I love that he's mine.

Funny Things Kids Do and Say

Marshall and I are constantly saying how we need to document the funny things the kids do and say. There are multiple times a day that Chandler says something and I either just shake my head or laugh. Rowan is starting to get that way a little bit too, which is a bit surprising to me. One that I can think right off - Rowan knew that I had hidden some Reese's eggs from him. Yesterday he was looking all over the kitchen and pantry. Then in a sing song voice he said, "Oh candy.....where are you?" Was pretty funny to hear his little voice saying that. Here are a few things that I've caught on my phone (instagram recap to come soon!) that I can't help but document.

I'm sitting on the couch, having a snack. I look over and see Chan literally climbing the wall. Maybe the boy needs some gymnastics. I still can't get over this picture.

This one is from a Sunday night. I had butter softening on the counter for cookies. A little bit later, I see Rowan and his lips and cheek are shiny. I think nothing of it until I see a cube of butter on the coffee table with a chunk bitten out of it. I wonder if he thought it was good....

This picture is actually over a month old, but I still think it's funny. Reenacting a scene from Finding Nemo, those are "Sad turtles in a net."

I'm going to try to be better about documenting the funny things they do and say. It might be random here and there but I want to remember it all!