A Big Congrats!

So one year of Dental School down, three to go. Looking back, this first year actually went pretty fast, although some weeks felt like they just dragged on and on. I'm just glad it's over.
If Dan goes anywhere, Rayce goes into a slight panic wondering where he is. I guess he never got used to not having him around. They've been pretty inseparable since last Thursday. Dan has not been able to get a nap in yet, at least not a good nap. It feels like we should be doing something exciting to celebrate this milestone, instead, we are buying A/C filters at the Home Depot. Oh well, it's better with Dan around. I'm not the only one now saying "Rayce stop that", "Rayce don't touch that", "Rayce stop pulling Danielle's hair". Have I mentioned before he's a little physically high maintenance?


It rained here last week which was so nice, it even cooled down to the low to mid eighties. Rayce insisted on puting on his heaviest winter coat to go outside and play in it.
It only lasted a few days and now the temp has risen back up to around 100 degrees, which is okay because the kids started swim lessons today. I was a little worried that I signed Danielle up for a class that was a tad advanced for her, but she did great. She tries really hard to swim without getting her face wet at all. I've tried to tell her that getting your face in the water is kinda an integral part of swimming, but she seems to think it unnessesary. I don't care how she swims as long as she can. She was excited to wear her new swimsuit we got her at Target yesterday. I was sure it was going to be too big, but it fits her perfectly. I must be in a bit of self denial about how fast she's growing up. Raycey had fun at swimming lessons too, but I don't worry about him as much, he doesn't seem to be afraid of the water at all. Hmmm... that could be more worrysome than Danielle's fear of the water. It's crazy how different our kids are, and how similar too.

Avie is three months old today, and she's recently taken to sucking her thumb. I don't know if it will make her teeth all crooked, but she looks so cute when she does it. It's nice to not have to always be shoving her pacifier in her mouth. We always know where she is too, with all the smacking sounds she makes sucking it. She's a hoot.

Hula, Hula

Okay, so this blogging thing is turning out to be very therapeutic. I can keep my family and friends updated on what's going on, and it's way cheaper and less time consuming than formal therapy.

The days are creeping by at a snail's pace right now. Most likely because I'm so ready for Dan and Danielle to be done with school. Hopefully, we'll have a month or so of time with Dan before round two.

This last Friday the CDM (College of Dental Medicine) had an end of year luau for they're poor worn out class to relax before this last week of exams. It was a lot of good food, which is what usually draws me to any given event. Aside from the food, we were able to chat with all our dental pals and watch a performance of traditional Hawaiian dances. Danielle and I attempted to do the Hula, she looked great, but I have not been blessed with the gene that determine's coordination. It was still a great time.

Other than that, not a whole lot has been going on this week. It is starting to get really hot again, reminding me why I didn't like Arizona when we first moved here. I'm finding that my body has really acclimated to the heat. So, I'm sure when we go to visit Utah, the ninety degree weather will feel a tad chilly. For all of you needing an Avie update, she will be twelve weeks on Thursday and is continueing to grow and entertain us daily. Strangely, she wasn't that impressed with the luau.

Almost There...

Happy Birthday to my awesome husband Dan! He is thirty-two years old today, and I am more in love with him than ever. He is a wonderful father and husband. It's hard to have him gone, but I know he's working so hard to be the best at what he does. I am so proud of him, only about a week and a half left of his first year, YAY!!! His reign as the current class president is about to come to an end (Wahoo!). Although he's not completely out of the woods yet, he still needs to study and take his first year boards, which he is planning to do the beginning of July.What a ride this first year of Dental School has been. Our lives have changed so much this past year and a half. We moved to a new city, Danielle and Dan have both started new schools, we had a new baby. The change has been a lot to take on, but good. We miss our family and friends in Utah so much, but we are having a great experience here. I admire Dan working so hard to do what he wants to do professionally, and not giving up when it got hard.

Anyway, I could go on for a while, so I'll stop now. This last week was pretty uneventful. I was completely caught off guard by Rayce's dental appointment. The good news was he was perfect at his appointment. He did amazingly well. The bad news was he had ANOTHER CAVITY! So he had two fillings. For all of you out there wondering if I ever actually brush my kids teeth, I can say most of the time I do. Rayce just happens to like juice and sugar more than your average child. At least that's what I tell myself. I always say Rayce is the equivalent of having five kids anyway. He is a complete handful and not making too many friends in the neighborhood. He's taken to throwing rocks at the neighbor boy's head. I was not at all prepared for the aggressive nature of a boy, or maybe it's just my boy. Whatever it is I need to put him back in soccer as to channel some of that aggression into something that could make us lots of money someday. Who knows, maybe he'll end up in a profession fitting his personality such as an ultimate fighter.

Crazy Days

What a week it has been! Today we blessed Avie Jo. It was a great blessing, and even though our families couldn't make it we had some great friends there to support us. Avie's dress was huge, not so much long, but really full. The skirt was light pink tulle... a lot of it. I made the mistake of not trying her dress on before the actual blessing, but she looked so sweet, and was a complete angel during the blessing. She is getting so big, she had her two month appointment last week and already weighs ten and a half pounds! She was also put on a small dose of Zantac for her tummy, which is already making my life much, much easier. Oh, yea, it's probably helping her some too. I'm actually discovering what a happy baby Avie is when her stomach isn't hurting. She is smiling more and more everyday.

In my last blog, I explained how Danielle had an abscess tooth...well it wasn't her tooth that was getting a crown put on it. It was a whole other tooth, so not only did she have to have a crown, but she had one of her baby molar's pulled. Too bad Dan isn't a dentist yet. I can already see the savings. It' sounds like with my record we will be needing more dental work in the future and hopefully we can hold off until Dan can handle it. Anyway, they sedated Danielle for the procedure, which was pure comedy for me. I knew the medicine had kicked in when Danielle started saying emphatically "I love the dentist!" (not true). Danielle was a trooper and slept most of the day in the most uncomfortable position I've ever seen. She was a little, a lot out of it. No more goldfish crackers at nine at night.

Danielle's reward for being so brave was getting her ears pierced. She was pretty determined although she knew some pain might be involved. She worked herself up a bit before hand, and I think was a little shocked at how little it actually hurt. She ended up with cute pink flowers.

Ahhh, earrings, expensive dental work, she is so grown up. My next blog will be about Rayce's experience at the dentist. It's sure to not be so pleasant.