Fratty Friday

On a rainy Friday monring who wants to get out of bed?  Not me and not this little guy either.  He was still groggy, but HAPPY this morning.  Maybe it was because Mama and Daddy were both still at home, whatever it was I LOVED it! 

 He was smiling so cute, but my flash kept going off making him squint.  He is so funny!

 When I put him in the car this morning we started singing 'Rain rain go away' and he proceeded to sing it the rest of the way to day care. 

 Wearing his red searsucker and Ole Miss shirt making himself get out of bed and head to class.  He is going to be responsible like his Dad and not skip class like his Mom did.  :)

 I had him stand up in bed just so I could get a picture of his shorts. 

He is telling everyone to have a happy Friday!!  And go Rebels!!  Beat Florida!

Insurance - When did I start to care?

I will tell you when I started to care, it was June 2004.  I was 22 years old, a college graduate, and on my first job interview when the benefits package came up.  How did I go from Social Chair at the Phi Mu house talking about parties to a job interview talking about health insurance and 401Ks?  It happens just like that, you go from a child to an adult and it kind of stinks.  It was one year later after I was married my mom handed me my car insurance and said you can pay this now.  I didn't even know she was still paying it!!  It was my car and I paid for the gas and oil changes, but car insurance never crossed my mind.  Who knew?

I said that to say I found myself excited about the recent insurance news I received, but then quickly felt silly for being excited.  My job offers health insurance for you and 2 dependants.  After the third dependant you have to start paying a premium.  Not a bad deal, but still another monthly bill we don't have today.  And when Matt starts residency family benefits are not great; however, individual benefits are.  Matt can enroll in whatever program his residency offers leaving the 'kids' and me on my insurance.  The fact that I got excited enough about this to blog about it makes me feel even sillier, but this is good stuff people!  God provides!

Silly or not, it just feels good to know these little faces will be taken care of!

Keeping It Real Wednesday

Mary Frances is a great sleeper and I could not be happier!  If you were to ask me if I wanted my child to be the valedictorian of their class or a good sleeper I would say good sleeper hands down!  And she is such a great little sleeper even when you transfer her from her bed to her car seat, she stays asleep!

 I prayed for a good little sleeper and I am SO happy my prayers were answered.  I use to pray like crazy that J-Man would sleep better and those prayers might finally be answered.  I am not sure how to act with all this sleep!

Girls and Boys

We spilt up into girls vs boys this weekend.  The girls headed shopping while the boys stayed home and played!  We did meet back up that night to grill some pork chops and had a blast!

 Jackson and John played at our house for the afternoon while the dads watched them.

 When we got back the girls hung out on the couch while we got dinner ready.  Future Ole Miss roommates right here!

Then there are the boy and they are a mess!  All 3 of them are each one month apart.  Born in June (Jackson), July (Jack), and August (John).  They are so funny playing together and I hope they can grow up knowing each other even though John's dad is moving them to Florida for residency :(!  They were enjoying some chicken nuggets, English peas, and milk.  What a dinner!

 The only kid I did not get a picture of was Rolan, Jack's brother.  He is the newest addition, 4 weeks younger than Mary Frances so he and his brother are 18 months apart as well.

I didn't get any pictures of the adults, but the kids are way cuter.  We are so glad we have everyone here for now and dread when 2 of the 4 families move away.  So we are trying to spend as much time together as we can!

Needless to say we had a great weekend!  Happy Monday!

Southern Belle Sunday

I created a rule for Mary Frances' church attire before she was ever born.  There are dressy dresses and every day dresses.  The every day dresses are not to be worn to church, they are not fancy enough.  Only the dressy dresses are to be worn on Sundays.  We want to give Jesus our best after all.  So in usual Southern Belle form Mary Frances wore a smocked bubble her Aunt Lisha gave her before she was born. Thanks Aunt Lisha!!

 She has not been to church in anything that is not smocked so far and we have been every Sunday since she has had her shots.  Over the top I know, but when you have a little girl people shower you with adorable clothes so we have not really bought any.

 I have said it before and I will say it again, pink compliments Mary Frances' chubby cheeks and double chin so well.  I almost captured her full smile in these pictures, but my flash makes her blink and some of the adorable smile is lost by the time the picture is taken.  Either way she is still adorable and looks just like her brother, but in pink.

And even in her adorable church frock she is still the best nap partner after church.  We curled up on the chair together and took the best nap.  She is so warm and loves be cuddled.  She is just the best!  I wish I had cuddled more with J-Man when he was a baby, but I was too up tight.  And now he is too busy to lay down with me and nap.  But I guess you live and learn. 

Happy Sunday!  I hope everyone has a great week!

Fratty Friday

Oh what a morning!  The fact that I am still alive is a miracle.  This Fratty Friday is more like "Keeping It Real Wednesday!"The morning started out normal and calm.  J-Man did wake up early, but he sat nicely on the bed watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

 And if you know anything about Mickey Mouse Clubhouse you know Mickey asks questions into the camera and the kids answer.  Jackson has never interacted with the show until this morning.  As I was in the closet getting dressed I heard him say "sure Mickey" in the cutest little voice.  It was adorable!

 He even took his attention off of the show to pose for a picture.

 Then these pictures were taken after the chaos ensued.  Franny Bean was a little fussy while I was getting ready, but not too bad.  She didn't want her paci, but stayed pretty calm.  Well, when I went to pick her up I found out what the fussing was about.  She had blown up her diaper and gotten it all over her clothes and the blanket and now I had gotten it all over me. 

 So back to her room for a wardrobe change we went.  Jackson tagged along and sat in her glider as I cleaned her up.  He was being so good.  After getting her ready I promptly put his shoes on (that he had gotten out of his room all by himself) and off I went to change.  During all this Mary Frances kept crying.

 My OCD would not allow me to leave the house without putting the soiled clothes in the washer along with other clothes that needed to be done any way.  So after all that I paused momentarily to do a photo shoot.  After a few snaps of the camera it was out the door we went.  Franny screaming all the way.  Thank goodness she stopped after we got in the car because my nerves were shot!  But backing out of the driveway at 7:30 rather than our usual 7:00 didn't seem like defeat.  I still made it to work by 8:00 with my sanity intact!

It's on days like these that I am grateful for my job.  It allows me the ability to escape the craziness of kids to catch my breath, but then it is on to adult craziness.  I can't complain though, the adults I work with only scream sometimes :)!

Thank goodness it is Friday is all I can say.

Photo Shoot

Last night after the kitchen was clean and J-Man was asleep I finally got around to bathing Baby Sister.  She loves her baths, but then again there is not much this baby does not love.  After her bath and getting ready for bed we had a little photo shoot in her big girl room.  I call it her big girl room because she is still sleeping in our room in her cradle.  Since she is sleeping through the night I need to move her to her room, but can't bring my self to do it yet.  After all, she just started day care this week, one change at a time people.  I had a hard time moving Jackson too.

 She is a paci baby for sure.  I even gave her a bath with it in her mouth.  Although she didn't fuss when I took it out to wash her face.

 And she was really good when I took it out for a second for the photo shoot.

 Can we please discuss these cheeks that as Aunt Co-Co put it "hang off her face."  Jackson's did the same thing!  They are so cute and I could just eat her up!  Everyone says the same thing, "she is so cuddly."  Even the people at church and day care that keep her.  I wonder what it is about her?  Maybe it is because she is so laid back like her mama (just kidding). 

After we put J-Man down at night and all the chores are done I just sit on the couch next to Matt and hold her while she sleeps. It is our only one on one time at night. Then around 9:30 it is time to make our way to bed and feed her for the last time of the day. I will lay her down in her cradle with a full belly and she just drifts on off to sleep. So peaceful and no fussing!  She is a perfect baby and I could not love her any more!

St. Patty's Day Parade

One thing that Jackson (the city) does well is the St. Patty's Day Parade.  Or so I have been told.  This was the first year we had ever been.  The M4's had a tent sponsored by someone else trying to sell them something.  Again, fine with me!  But it was a great time to get together and hangout after such an eventful time in everyones life.

 Our little family pic!  This was at the beginning of the day before we all got hot and sweaty.  I was SO hot by the time the parade started!

 As usual, J-Man was a super cool dude!  He and Mary Frances were so good!  And a huge thank you to Gran Dan and Sheshe, they helped us with the kiddos during the festivities.

 J-Man just hanging out being the center of attention.

 I think this is my favorite picture of him.  It just captures him so well.  Beads, sunglasses, and eating.  Life doesn't get much better than this.

 I would like to point out that I am the only female in this picture NOT in medical school, but they let me in the picture any way.

 More of J-Man being super cool.

 Then it was 1:00 and time for the parade to start and what do my kids do?  Take a nap!  The parade was SO loud, but they didn't seem to care.  Slept through the entire thing!  And can I just say thank you to Mrs. Anne Beyer for Mary Frances' tutu.  She got more compliments on it.  My Aunt Teresa brought J-Man's shirt back from Ireland when they went.  You can't get more Irish than that!

I also discovered that the parade is an excuse for everyone to dress crazy so I played along and wore the blow up leprechaun hat for a bit!  We had a blast and it was the perfect ending to an eventful weekend!  We went home that night and crashed.  We were all in bed by 9:00!

Match Day

WE ARE STAYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Matt matched in orthopedic surgery at UMMC and we could not be happier!  Now on to the details.
On Monday when every medical student in the country got there email stating whether or not they had matched one of the guy's in Matt's class posted this on his Facebook page "I got 99 problems, but the match ain't one!"  How true those words were.  After Monday Matt was relaxed and cool as a cucumber.  I calmed down on Monday, but by the time Thursday rolled around I was a nervous wreck again!  Part of it was because Match Day was quickly approaching and everyone at work was on Spring Break so I was not super swamped in work like I would have liked to have been. 

We had a party to go to Thursday night sponsored by a local bank trying give us more money we don't need.  Don't get me wrong, I sure want whatever they are giving, but don't NEED to take it.  The party was a blast though, they even gave out drink huggies that said Match Day!  I am a sucker for an open bar with huggies.  I do not know when Matt and I have had that much fun on a night out on the town.  My mom was here and kept the kids for us.  We stayed out until midnight and it didn't seem like that big a deal until I had to wake up at 5:30 to feed Mary Frances.  I guess we forgot we were parents of 2 under 2 and had a full day of Match Day activities.

 Barry and Macey, we are going to miss them!  She is doing dermatology in Oregano and Barry and I work together.  I am honestly not sure what Matt is going to do without Macey.  I was really surprised they didn't couples match!  :)

 Hayes, is moving away too.  :(  She is going to Virginia, but it is an awesome opportunity for her!

 Jenni and Courtney, are med school wives with too.  They both have little boys, Jenni and her husband Matt are moving to Daytona Beach, FL (hard knock life huh?), and Courtney and her husband Thomas are staying in Jackson too!!

 Bobby, Jenni, and Matt.  Bobby is the guy with "99 problems, but The Match ain't one!"

 Courtney and Thomas

 These are some of the parents from Matt's class.  The second to last couple on the left are the only other crazy people with 2 kids AND they are 18 months apart just like Jackson and Mary Frances!

Matt and Laura Newman  and Ben and Shannon.

 This was the "after party.'  Yes, Matt Miller and I made it to an after party.  If you look really close you can see pigs flying in the background.

Now on to Match Day.  I only got this one picture of the kids while we waited on Match Day to start.  I was too nervous to concentrate on anything else.  My parents, Matt's parents, Gran and Paw, and Anna were all there to support Matt.

 When Matt walked on stage (thanks for the picture Jenni) the building could have been on fire behind me and I would not have known!  When we opened his envelop and saw our future I could not read his emotions.  He is good at that, keeping a straight face.  Then as he stepped up to the microphone and called out "Matt Miller, orthopedic surgery.............., University of............., Mississippi.  I burst into tears of joy and was overwhelmed with emotions. 

After that I kind of blacked out for a while.  But when I came to we were all so happy and could not be more pleased with how God has blessed us.  Luckily he was in the first 25 or so to be called and there was only 1 other ortho guy called before him.  He matched here as well.  I took that news hard since I knew there was only one spot left.  Or so I thought.  They actually used one of their external spots on another UMC guy.  With 7 guys doing orthopedics from UMC taking 3 actually made sense!  And praise Godd for that too!

 After Match it was on to lunch!  Although, that is nap time for J-Man.  But luckily for us he can sleep anywhere!  These baby nets were not made for use as a hammock, but hey, it works!

 Franny Bean was awake, but as ususal, good as gold!

 Picture time!

 My little ham!

 My little family!!!  SO blessed.

 Andy and Elna ate with us as well.  Match day was less eventful for them since Andy is doing opthomology.  They find out where they are going in January.  Can you say JEALOUS?  Andy and Elna are headed to Oklahoma City!  And just like all of our friends that are leaving, we will miss them terrbily!

Sorry to have overwhelmed you with pictures and a lengthy blog, but the day was overwhelming and didn't end here!  We went to another party, but I didn't get any pictures.  We did go to the St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday and I will post pictures from that soon!

Now Match Day has come and gone and our cup runs over.  We don't deserve any of these blessings we have been given, but I am so thankful for them!