Early Birthday Celebration(s)

Because we are moving the week of Calvin's first birthday (this week!!), we've had the chance to celebrate early.  One party was with friends, the other was with family.  The day of Calvin's birthday, we'll celebrate with just us in our brand new home.  I wanted to share a few pictures before it was too far in the past.

The party with our friends was more of a "one last get together" than a true birthday party.  But, we had cake and presents, so it counts.  Calvin only tasted a bite of cake, but LOVED tearing the paper off presents.  He got his first hard plastic dinosaur toy, and he fell in love with it.  He also got an few books, a puzzle, and new bedding.

For the family party, I decided to make a dinosaur cake.  That first dinosaur toy triggered a fascination with them, so it was only fitting.  I was pretty proud of it!

From family, Calvin got a few toys, several books, and a couple CDs of music.  His very favorite was his xylophone.  He was so, so very excited about it!

This time, we let him have a piece of cake.  He was a little unsure at first, but after a few tastes he let out a loud "mmm!"

He ate a few bites of cake and then proceeded to make a fun mess.

We've still got a few days until his actual birthday, but I've been thinking about it a lot these past couple weeks.  It's a little crazy to realize it's nearly here.  But, we couldn't be happier in any way with this wonderful little boy of ours!

I'm a Mother

For Mother's Day, I wanted to feel like a mom.  Last year, I was madly in love with a tiny person inside me, but I wasn't quite a mom yet.  Mostly, I was just big and hot and hungry.  Devin made sure to pamper me last year, but the day really was just about me.

Something amazing happened last summer.  A tiny baby Calvin was placed in my arms and suddenly nothing was about me anymore.  I wanted nothing more than to take care of his every need.  I felt like a completely new person.  And, in many ways, I was new.

Since then, many little things about me changed.  My dreams, my instincts, my goals, and my thoughts have all had at least some shifts.  Some changes have been more challenging than others.  But, even on the hard days, I have loved motherhood so, so much.  

When Calvin reaches for me, or says mama, or buries his face in my shoulder, my life feels complete.  When I pick him up from sleep, and he melts into me, I feel content.  I loved to hold him and rock him and smell his hair while he sleeps.  But he's also becoming so much fun!  He does hand motions to songs.  He dances and giggles and will gladly find anyone's nose if you ask him.  He points out his belly button and points his little finger trying to be bossy.  He grabs favorite books and toys when you ask him where they are and says "mmm!" with every bite of food.

For Mother's Day, I wanted to enjoy being a mother.  I didn't feel like I needed a break from it, but I wanted a day where I didn't care if Calvin fought his nap or teething wasn't going well or there were other things I needed to do.  So, we read extra books.  We sang extra songs.  We played extra long. We let him stay up a little late, too.  Calvin was an absolute joy the whole day long, and I soaked up every minute of it.  Then, I rocked him extra long.  I sure do love being this little boy's mother.

Happy (day after) Mother's Day!

Dr. Stephens

Just over five years ago, I met Devin.  During our first conversation, he told me he was "trying to get into med school."  I put the quotation marks around the phrase because I'd known so many people who were "trying to get into med school" before.  They were usually pre-biology majors who changed their minds within a couple semesters.  

Within a short time, I learned that Devin was legitimately trying.  He took his MCAT less than two weeks after that conversation.  He was submitting applications and secondaries and setting up interviews all while finishing his last semester of undergrad--with a major in astrophysics.  

Of course, he also made lots of time for me.  It was a pretty amazing time.  He proposed two days before graduation.  It was perfect and wonderful.  At that point, medical school suddenly became a part of my future, too.  We spent another few months interviewing together (I toured apartments and scoped the town) alongside planning our wedding.  Looking back at that time, it feels like we were just babies.  We were so, so young and naive, but I wouldn't change it.

Once we arrived in Augusta, there were many good times.  But, there were tests and test weeks and tests that didn't so great and tests that went better and then more tests and giant board tests, too.  For two years our lives revolved around a test schedule.  Then came rotations and call and overnight call and weekend shifts and of course, even more tests...and more boards.

Outside of all that, though, we were growing up and growing together and also growing our family.  We got another dog, had a baby, and bought a house.  A new car came along and new jobs and new hobbies.  Devin turned cooking into an outlet, and then we turned it into an art together.  We made time to laugh and dance and sing.  There were hiking trips and camping trips and trips out of town.  Now, we are about to take a more permanent trip out of town.

Just last week, we celebrated our fourth anniversary.  Yesterday, we celebrated Devin becoming a Doctor.  While it's not always been easy, this has been a wonderful, perfect four years.  Happy (belated) Anniversary, Dr. Stephens.  Love.

Snippits

Life is crazy, crazy busy and wonderful these days!  But, that doesn't leave much time for blogging.  I've really, really wanted to be better about it.  However, this neglect may continue until we're settled into our new home in Concord.

Speaking of Concord, we are currently in the middle of trying to find a place to rent (we may sign a lease this week?).  And, we'll likely be headed out in about a month.  I am super excited about our new home.  I couldn't ask for a more family friendly place to live.  There will be plenty for Calvin and I to do to keep ourselves busy while Devin is working as well as lots of fun things for us to explore as a family when he actually has time off.  We should have about two weeks to check out our new town altogether before Devin starts work, too!

Since we are leaving, we've also got our home on the market.  It's a little rough knowing that this home with so many wonderful memories will no longer be ours.  But, I like to imagine that the new owners (whenever they come along) will love it just as much and make lots of happy memories of their own here.  We put a lot of work in on it to hopefully sell a little quicker, too.  It wasn't the most fun spring break ever, but it really does make the house shine.

Calvin continues to be amazing.  My breath catches every time I think about the fact that he is nearly a year old, but he is just sooo much fun.  He dances to any and all music (including hymns at church!).  He mimics any noise he hears including a dog's howl or a cough.  He finds his belly button if you ask him to, and he points out our noses, mouths, and eyes.  Calvin is pretty much down to one nap a day.  I love that he is such a happy, smiling, laughing baby.

In other news, Devin graduates medical school NEXT WEEK!!  We also celebrate our fourth anniversary in  four days, too!  And, we have a million gazillion little things to do to get ready for this move and transition into the next phase of life, but it really is happening and that boggles my mind a little every day.  Even with everything going on, though, life could not be more perfect.  Once I clear my mind of to do lists at the end of the day, I'm left with gratitude for this happy little crazy life of mine.

Happy Doctor's Day!!

Since I'm no longer working in a hospital, Doctor's Day snuck up on me a little this year.  I only remembered it a couple days ago.  But what is even more amazing this year is having the day no longer be about the physicians I work for but the one I'm married to instead.  It got me thinking about the last four years in our journey to now.

Oh White Coat!  We really were such babies back then!  We've certainly done a lot in the years since, but I feel like we have grown up and grown together so, so much since that day.

Eventually, we made it to third year, and Devin started his rotations.  In between was a whole lot of book work, tests, and sitting.  Devin was really excited to be doing something instead of just learning about something.

One of the best parts of finally reaching his rotations was seeing him during the day almost every day.  For the most part, we were in the same hospital all the time and would cross paths.  And, we ate lunch together most days, too!  It was a lot of fun to see him in scrubs and being treated as a doctor.

Finally, we reached Match Day!  In our minds, this has always been bigger and more important than graduation, and now it's done!

He is so very, very close now to officially being a doctor!  Only six weeks, and it will be official!

I'm so proud of all that Devin has accomplished.  It's pretty darn amazing that this part of his journey is nearly complete.  I'm really excited for the rest of white life has to bring celebrating my very own Doctor!

Ooh!

In the middle of showing off some new skills for the camera, Calvin suddenly remembered he had somewhere to be!

We nearly die every time he gets that worried expression and says "ooh!"  Seriously, it's just too cute!

Match Day!

So, it's clearly taken me a little while to process all this (and we've been SO busy in the ensuing 9 days!), but Devin has been accepted to a residency program in Concord, North Carolina!  While this wasn't our top choice, it's a place we are actually very, very excited about.  The program is fantastic, it gives us multiple options for Devin's career path, and we are pretty in love with the town.

Back to the drama of it all, though...we spent the week leading up to Match dealing with Calvin's first ever real sickness.  It was pretty rough.  As in, we were up with a sick, feverish baby until 3 am discussing the future and then waking up with him again at 8 am.  We didn't even get to celebrate the "You've matched!" email.  Finally, on Thursday, he was better enough for us to have a celebratory lunch...and we got food poisoning.  We were honestly doubting whether we'd make it to the Match Day celebration.

Thankfully, we got some drugs and gatorade in our systems, put on our costumes (Calvin & Hobbes & parents!), and made it out the door.  We were sooo grateful to be called in the first hour.  Unfortunately, we only lasted a few minutes past our envelope being pulled, but I'm so glad we made it!  And, we got to celebrate more with Devin's family that weekend.

This weekend, we headed up to Concord to meet the residents, attendings, and many of the other new interns at an informal mixer.  We pretty much love everyone that Devin will be working with at this point!  Calvin made a couple new friends while there, too!  Now, we just have to get our house ready to sell (and then sell it!), find a new place to live, pack up, and move with a baby all in the next couple months!