Christmas Card 2009

Wishing you Joy and Happiness in 2010

Jared is almost all grown up to be a medical doctor, graduating in May. Between his busy hunting schedule, he was able to find time to fly all over the place interviewing and looking for just the right place for a residency program. We will find out on March 18th where we live for the next 4 years.
Jenny has heard rumors, and wonders how residency could be any worse than medical school. J/K! It has been a blessing to live so close to the school where good friends and memories were made that will be cherished forever.
Jace,9, doesn’t really like 4th grade. It’s too much work. But he enjoys his class in the Extended Learning Program and is currently working on a research project on the topic of his choice, cars, that he will give a 30 min. presentation about at the end of the year.
Lance,5, loves preschool. When he grows up, he wants to be either a police officer, piano cleaner, floor mopper, or dishwasher. His preschool teachers asked if he is this clean at home. Mom doesn’t know where got the habits.
Kyle,3, is about laughs and love. His cheerful disposition is contagious. He and Lance have become buddies, and if you come by our place in the evenings you can be sure to hear him and Lance giggling hysterically as they run up and down the hall with toys on wheels, dodging their little sister.
Camille Jane, almost 1, was born on Jan.6 of this year. She made it to the hospital (U of U, also Jenny’s birthplace) just in time to be born*, and was delivered by her Dad (His 2nd delivery – Kyle his 1st). She is now walking and continues to charm us every day.

As we celebrate our Savior’s birth this year, we ponder His profound love for us and the sacrifice that he made, so that we can live with Him again; even to be together as a family, with Evan someday. We know that our Heavenly Father loves us, and He continues to bless and watch over each of us.

Love, The Martins

* http://martinfam6.blogspot.com/2009/01/more-on-cami.html

Christmas Eve

We had Jared's parents over and had a great time, as you can see by these gleeful faces. I think the kids (in new P.J's) were excited for some reason. (More on Jace's glasses later - he loves them)

We did an impromptu Nativity while Jared's Dad read from the Bible. You can't see it very well, but that's Evan's photo in the star ornament, so we are, once again, united together in a photo (I'll post the other one after Christmas gifts are opened). Cami was exhausted and slept through the whole thing just like a perfect baby Jesus.

Then One Foggy Christmas Eve...

Santa came to say,
"Cami, with your nose so bright,
won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

...After a meeting with the corner today. Then the song came on the radio! By the way, that's the corner.

Gettin' Into That Christmas Spirit

Lance has really gotten into the Christmas spirit. He has enjoyed doing services for his family and helping with things around the house. He requests to turn on the Christmas music. He even says, "I have the Christmas spirit!"

This year, the boys drew names for gift giving. (So much simpler!) It was fun watching the kids today as they wrapped their presents. I wasn't prepared for Kyle's reaction. I thought we were just getting the wrapping job done. (I guess I needed to get in the Christmas spirit) We were in the room with the door closed behind us, ready to wrap Lance's gift when Kyle said,

"I want that monster truck! That's my monster truck!"

I told him that this is the gift he's wrapping to give to Lance. He completely didn't like that idea. So I explained (in my best 3 year old terms) that Christmas is about giving and, as a bonus, his brother wrapped a present for him. I waited. He seemed to understand and finally put the tape on. He actually really enjoyed the mechanics of taping. I was relieved that it didn't take too much more explanation (can't imagine what we would have gone through if we had to wrap one from him to each of his siblings!). Afterward, he proudly walked down the hallway past Lance with his beautifully wrapped gift and Lance said, "I wonder what's inside my present?"

Kyle answered simply, "It's a monster tru--"

"Ookay! Let's take it over here and put it under the tree!" I spoke as loudly as I could. Lance was good with my pleading him not to ask Kyle what's in there.

In later news of today's fun, Kyle is continuing to progress in toilet training. He gets an M&M each time he goes. Today he decided to find his own candy once the M&M's were gone. I found an almost all eaten candy bar sitting where the M&M's go. So I asked him if he had eaten it. He nodded his head with no remorse. I asked him where he found it. After he told me, I explained to him that he shouldn't take candy from other people and he needed to go ask Jace if he could have his candy bar. Jace was reading a book when Kyle asked him so sweet and innocently, "May I please have your candy bar?"

Jace looked at it, then went back to his book and said, "Sure now that you've already eaten four-fifths of it."

That's the Christmas spirit!

Christmas Spirit

I needed this reminder. So sweet!

(For best results, push the "PAUSE" button until it finishes downloading)

Happy Thanksgiving!

...from the 80-degree beaches of Carlsbad, CA. I'm thankful for my family near and far, including my dear grandparents that live minutes from this beach!

Just My Cup 'o' Tea

My friend let me borrow her teacup last Friday. I couldn't wait to use it. That night, before dinner, I had the boys quickly throw on their suit coats and ties over what they were wearing. I was impressed that they were such good sports about it. Especially since I pulled them away from playing video games. (Jace gets to play every Friday after he mops the floor - it's a great motivator). They loved getting onto the kitchen table for these shots. Thanks, Jess!

On Jace...

I feel like I have missed pictures and time with Jace because he is gone SO MUCH. He leaves in the morning to reach his bus stop at about 7:30am, and is gone until the bus drops him off at 3:40pm. I have offered to pick him up from school so that he would have more time at home (thus more time to complete his, sometimes mounds of, homework), and he protested, "But Mom! That's my playtime!" He loves the extra time he gets to play with his best friend, Dalton, on the bus rides and at school in the mornings.

By the way, Jace qualified for the Extended Learning Program at his school. It's a program where the subjects of Math and Science are studied at a higher level, and the kids get to do things like a 30 minute presentation and research project, studied throughout the year, about any subject they are interested in. Jace is doing Insects and Arachnids. When I asked him who else qualified, he named off all of the friends that he plays with, including Dalton. There was only 1 person in the 11 that he didn't know. I guess birds of a feather really do flock together.
They get to have a class 4 days a week for 45 minutes during schooltime, usually while their class is having reading time. Jace LOVES his ELP teacher. She is so great at making exponents and square roots INTERESTING and EXCITING. His teacher told the class not to tell their peers how much fun they are having in ELP. If they ask, just tell them it's more work, she told them.

In regular class, the children have monthly presentations (3-5 min) about any subject they choose. I love watching Jace at these. I don't mean to brag, but he is a natural when it comes to public speaking. He remembers what to say, without notes, and looks comfortable up there (even though he says he was nervous). I wish I could do that.

His first presentation was going to be called, "How to Make a Bomb". Way to begin the school year! He chose this idea because he read about it in a book. I remember him laughing as he read this book about a couple mad scientists. However, when his Dad heard what he was going to call his presentation, he advised him to use a different title to so he wouldn't alarm the teacher, or principal :)

So Jace titled it, "How to Make a Bag Pop." He demonstrated using a ziploc bag, vinegar, and baking soda wrapped up in a napkin. It exploded perfectly, and the class loved it. The teacher must have liked it because he got an A+.

Yesterday was his second presentation. He was going to talk about trees, in general, but once he got started, he decided he wanted to talk about how maple syrup is made. I love this topic, but, in all honesty, I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out, because he, like his mom, procrastinated until the night before to decide on his topic. Anyway, it turned out to be another A+ presentation, taking after his dad :). Whew! Way to go, Jace! We discussed it, and next time he wants to give himself a week to work on it.

After school that day, he enjoyed Maple syrup on Blueberry Pancakes. He wishes we could go to Vermont and make our own syrup. Does anyone know if we can make syrup out of our own native Maple trees here in Utah?

Jace Got the Spirit!

My Mom was so cute to send me home with some things inside of a BYU Bookstore bag. Thanks, Mom! However, Jace thought it needed some touching up: It's too small to see, but everywhere that it says, "BYU" in small print, he crossed out the "BY" with his red pen, leaving the "U".

What Are You Gonna Bring?

For Show and Tell this week, the kids in Lance's preschool were asked to bring something that makes them smile or laugh. He said he wanted to bring ME for Show and Tell.

So, today, after hiding from the kids, as I was instructed, Lance showed me off (with some good tickles and laughs). It was so fun.

Aah, he must love me.

Kyle-isms

Mom: "Kyle, did you poop?"

Kyle: A little annoyed, "No. It's still in my hole."

After breakfast, I heard the dishwasher running again for the 2nd time without my turning it on. A very pleased with himself Kyle exclaimed, "My bowl is getting clean!"

Kyle found a ziploc bag of Halloween candy I was trying to throw away. "Mom! This doesn't go in the garbage!"

I guess I'd better put more effort in if that's going to be successful. (He got a couple pieces of candy for that.)

And, my favorite, tonight, Jared got home from a class and began looking for the phone that was off the hook while he was trying to call. We searched the house to find our third phone. They need pagers on those for when they're off the hook. Now that I think about it, they need pagers on my keys, hearing aids, and cell phone.

The kids were in bed, but I was sure I saw a phone earlier somewhere by Kyle's room. I went in, he wasn't asleep yet. I told him I was sorry that I needed to turn the light on to look for the phone and to close his eyes. I looked around his bed, under his blanket, and said goodnights again as I told him to lay back down. I began to leave to look elsewhere. I saw him standing up as I left and told him again to lay down.

"Mom, here's your phone." And he held up one of my socks (the cute blue one with sparkling snowmen on it.)

I picked it up, and there, inside, was our long-searched-for phone. He would have slept with it all night, and we never would have found it until morning!

Little Turkey!

Gotcha!

Far Away, In the Midwest...

So, basically, the interview in Iowa went really well. Jared loves their program, and they seem to really want him there, too. There's a ton of pluses to going to their program and we're really quite excited about it. I know it's sort of jumping the gun a little, being his first interview, so we'll have to see what we find out about the other programs. He's going to Creighton University in Omaha this weekend.
Anyway, I was talking to Lance a little on the way home from preschool today as we were looking at the beautiful mountains that we live RIGHT next to.

I asked him, "What if we move somewhere that doesn't have any mountains?"
He answered easily, "Then we'll just have to get some wet dirt and BUILD one!"

There it is. Hopefully I can keep that mindset if we move somewhere far away...

Today

I believe that the happenings of today are blog worthy because... it was an eventful day.
Last night, Kyle woke up complaining of a tummy ache. Poor guy. After some loving, he fell asleep on the living room floor. I put a pillow and blanket with him and gratefully sunk back into bed to catch a few more zzz's before waking Jace up for school. Later, in the chaos of making Jace's favorite Malt o Meal breakfast, getting him off for school, getting Lance ready, or rather, reminding Lance of the things he needs to do to be ready for preschool, I didn't pay a lot of attention to Kyle's lone bowl of Malt o Meal at his place. After dropping Lance off at preschool, Kyle, Cami, and I headed back to pick up Jared, who had just had his haircut (ya! We have the most awesome hair dresser that does hair cuts at 8am! Exclusively during interview season. He looked great, thanks, Jen!). We headed to the airport to drop Jared off. Tomorrow, Jared will have his first residency interview in Iowa City, Iowa. Exciting! I wanted to get a picture of him because he looked so cute in his travel clothes: the Aloha shirt he bought while we were in Hawaii, and jeans, but... he said no. The camera was in the house anyway, and we were trying to get going. But Oh! It would have been so cute!
So Jared was driving because... we both do better when he drives. We were almost there when suddenly we heard Kyle make a strange projectile sound. I grabbed a diaper and made it just in time! Diapers are amazing. Caught it all. He didn't have much in his tummy, but poor little guy! I'm just grateful that it happened while Jared was driving and not on my way home.
A few diapers later (used for their original purpose) we were outside. I was trying to get on my way to pick up Lance. The small pain in my neck that I had noticed this morning had increased (I think I pulled a muscle), and, have you ever tried to hurry your small children, while, at the same time, not turning your head? Ugh, that just slows me down! Kyle had pooped again, and after changing him, I was headed to the car with Cami and Kyle. Thank goodness for friends outside that helped me get myself together!
I tried to put Cami in her carseat, but she would have nothing to do with that. Then I realized she had a messy diaper. Somehow, I got to Lance's preschool with two clean bums and a stiff neck. His preschool teachers are awesome and very sweet and forgiving. I'm going to write about them in another post. Lance had a great day and was ready for some good reading time. (He has decided that he loves reading because he wants to have a good brain. In the evenings, he loves to bring a pile of books to the living room for us to read and read.)
So we were back home, getting out of the van when I heard a yelp from the other side of the van. The automatic door on our van had closed onto the tip of Lance's finger. He was standing there, stuck to the van. I rushed to open the door. After tears and hugs, I asked him what he was doing. He said he wanted to try and make the door open again while it was closing. (It does that sometimes when pushed hard enough as a safety feature, only this time, not.) A sore finger later, we learned that trying to open the door while it is closing is not the greatest idea. Safety features are there for accidents, not experiments. (No hospital trips allowed when Jared is gone-seriously, it was fine).
Meanwhile, Kyle had a few more nausea spells and messy diapers, and Cami, just messy diapers. I felt like I was constantly marching to and from the garbage outside. Isn't that the definition of insanity? The result remained the same until finally, Kyle was resting in his bed. He continued the nausea after naps and into bedtime. I moved his mattress to the living room so that I can get to him faster (His bedroom is at the end of a very long, sometimes too long, hallway)
So Kyle has had no fever, just 24 hour flu symptoms, and Cami the same, but without the nausea, just diapers. Hopefully things will look up for both of them tomorrow, and no one else gets it.
Then I got a phone call from a euphoric Jared. He had a great time tonight at the informal dinner put on by the residency program. He got along really well with the other residents and things just seemed to click. The schools there are really good, which was one of my questions for the kids. Anyway, there was a lot of things in common with Jared and some of the other residents there, and the program there is really good. Iowa might be a top choice. We'll just have to see. I am grateful for that phone call because it was then that I remembered that exciting things are happening for us, and I need to stay focused on the longer, more fun road.

Happy Halloween!

Turning a New Leaf

I did it. I was inspired by a friend's blog who makes beautiful scrapbook pages and simply blogs them. It just makes sense to me, so I'm going to give it a try. Thanks, Chay!
Here, I love how Cami's pink bow has nothing to do with anything else in the photo, it's just there! It caught my eye in the store, just the day before these photos. You can't see it, but some of the ribbon is pink camo. I didn't know I would be scrapping these photos, but she's so cute in them!

This is in Jared's parent's yard (10/12/09) while the boys are raking up the leaves. That's my next page in the works...

Five Months, Four Days

We're gonna start seeing more of this now. Aren't they sweet? Jared turned in his applications for residency a few weeks ago, and now we get to wait! Interviews begin in November, ending in December. We will get a letter in March stating where Jared has matched and where we will live for the next 4 years.

Jared applied at the following Obstetrics and Gynecology programs:

Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center Program, Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix Integrated Residency Program, Phoenix, AZ

University of Arizona Program, Tucson, AZ

University of California (Irvine) Program, Orange, CA

University of California (San Diego), San Diego, CA

University of Colorado Program, Aurora, CO

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Program, Iowa City, IA

Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education (Rochester) Program, Rochester, MN

Twin Cities Integrated Residency Program, Minneapolis, MN

St Louis University Group of Hospitals Program, St Louis, MO

Washington University School of Medicine Program, St Louis, MO

Mountain Area Health Education Center Program, Asheville, NC

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Program, Winston-Salem, NC

Creighton University Program, Omaha, NE

University of Nebraska Program, Omaha, NE

University of New Mexico Program, Albuquerque, NM

Ohio State University Program/Mt. Carmel Health Program, Columbus, OH

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Program, Oklahoma City, OK

Oregon Health & Science University Residency Program, Portland, OR

University of Utah Program, Salt Lake City, UT

University of Washington Program, Seattle, WA

Medical College of Wisconsin Program, Milwaukee, WI

University of Wisconsin (Madison) Program, Madison, WI

Although we would love to stay in Utah close to our family and friends here, there are some great things that could happen if we expanded our horizons :) So far, he has an interview in St. Louis, Omaha, and here at the U of U.

Jace's thoughts about St. Louis, MO: "We should go to Missouri. That's where Adam-Ondi-Ahman is." I'm glad that Jace is opening his mind to the prospects of living in a different state. He'll be starting 5th grade wherever we go, and Lance, Kindergarten.

There is a doctor in Omaha that teaches surgical techniques that Jared is particularly interested in. This doctor presented a Fertility Surgical Conference in Italy during Jared's 2nd year. Jared met him while he was there presenting his research on Clomid, a fertility drug.

After interviews, both the residency programs and Jared make a rank list stating their top choices. The NRMP (National Resident Matching Program) then comes up with a "match". On Match Day we will enjoy a luncheon with Jared's class where we will open an envelope that contains the match results. Match Day is on March 18th, 2010. But who's counting?

The Day is Done...

This little Daddy's Girl is calling it a day. It was so cute. I didn't think she would seriously go into a deep sleep when I lay her on the floor in our living room, but there it is.

All Aboard!

All Aboard...

Kyle turned 3 years old today!

Departure Time: 12 o'clock noon

Station: Playground outside

I can't believe my baby boy is 3 years old. This is just after he opened his Thomas the Train costume from Mom and Dad. What would every loving parent give for this smile?

I am ecstatic that he had so many friends that were able to come! They had so much fun together! They put on their conductor hats and prepared for the train ride -- Provided by, themselves.

Full steam ahead! My heart melted at the sound of Kyle's laugh.
Red Light, Green Light! (I like Jared's action, capturing the video with Cami in tow.)Kyle laughed so much during this one. It was so much fun until, between a red light and green light transition, he was bumped and fell to the ground. First things first, in tears, he quickly grabbed his little toy Thomas the Train that had been in his tight grasp just before. Good thing the train was alright.

I took this photo before the party. Kyle is "ooing and ahhing" at his cake. He couldn't wait to pull that train off.

Make a Wish!

Yumm.

The air was crisp, the sun was warm, and it was the perfect day for a party. Kyle seemed quite pleased with the day. Later, we had a little family party and he opened the rest of his family gifts and watched the videos of his and Lance's birthdays. He was exhausted. His choo choo's were running out. Once I got him in bed, however, he was so excited that he kept getting up. (Maybe too much sugar?). After I told him the costume would have to come off next time he's up, he was fast asleep, costume and all. With his little train close by. Ah! It was a great day.

What would I give for this smile? Anything in the world.

A New Day!

Cami slept through the night for the first time in a very long time. I felt like a new woman, and she seemed quite happy to see the morning as well. Hopefully this continues. We're staying at the cabin this weekend for General Conference, so we'll see...

... Speaking of General Conference, for the last 2 days of preschool when we're getting ready to go, Lance has requested, "I want my hair like the prophet's hair." So we tried to comb it straight back like President Monsen's hair, but this is what we got.

Lance was pleased with it, and truly believes that his hair is "like the prophet's hair."

We Are a Happy Family

We had a photo shoot of Jared's side of the family at the cabin, done by a family friend, and the results are in:

Don't everybody smile at once! Okay, you can...

What are the odds of having a grandaughter? If you are Jared's parents, the chances are 1 in 11.

Just tell them not to laugh! That usually works.

I love this one of Kyle. His personality shines through in these photos!

Camille, always smiling when there is a camera in sight, is 8 months today!

Now you see us.... Now you don't!

First Day of Preschool... This Year

Lance's birthday is seven days after the deadline for kindergarten. So he's going to preschool... again :) I was bummed about that at first, but now Lance and I are quite excited about the idea of him being the oldest in his class!
Here he is just before going out the door. He specifically wanted "Spikey Hair".

As well as missing his buddy at home, Kyle wants so bad to be a part of this preschool experience! Today, when we went to pick up Lance, Kyle put on a backpack that was huge on him and made him look kind of like Chicken Little. I'll have to remember to get a picture of him if he does it again tomorrow. It was too cute.

Cheesin' for one of his preschool teachers.

Kyle and Lance coming home after the first day. It was great! Lance was named the "Monkey Bar King". He was the only one in his whole class that could get across by himself. He even did it backwards! (Showoff! Like his Mom!)

(Note: He wanted to stand in front of these "blue mountains" instead of the regular colored ones)

Motherhood Memories

I have got to get this down so that I don't forget some of the excitement involved in my motherhood.

Today, I found Lance in the bathroom aiming his mouth at a splattered mirror above his head and spitting at it. My reaction wasn't one I would like to write about or even remember, but then I turned around (seriously, I just turned around!) to find Kyle standing by the toilet, taking his own poop-filled diaper off!

This might make more sense after an explanation. Lance tried to explain to me that he was just trying to see what color his spit is. That's all! He wasn't even trying to spit on the mirror, just curious as to what color the stuff in his mouth is. And Kyle was obviously trying to fix his problem.
At that moment, the last thing in my mind was to laugh. I could smell an urgent need in the direction of Kyle. But tonight, as I looked back on it, I had to chuckle. What are the chances of two children doing such disgusting things at the same time? Oh, I wish I could remember to laugh!

"Atchoo!"

This morning at breakfast Lance told me, "I was atchooing a lot in my bed last night."

Poor little man!

What's Obama Gonna Do?

This morning, I was talking to Jace about the speech that Obama was going to give today to children in classrooms across the nation, kindergarteners through seniors in high school. I was actually excited for Jace to hear it. I read it beforehand and thought it was inspirational.
Lance overheard us talking about it and asked innocently,
"Is he gonna tell the kids to smoke?"
Let's hope not!

Cami's Clown

I was making dinner tonight when I heard the sounds of wonderful, loud laughter, and I turned around to see this sight:

Ah! Music to my ears!

Pink

I love pink. She was being so cute today, I had to grab my camera...

Oh, just look at this face!

Cami and Kyle discovering their musical talents

Mommy's helper - Watch for the bubble at the end...

Peek a Boo!

Could she be more pleased with herself? She just mastered this skill - one handed!

Photo compliments of Lance

Hey! We match! I love this girl!