Not an Intern!

The biggest thing that happened this week is Jonathan finished his intern year! I can't begin to express how grateful I am that this year is over. It's been so hard on Jonathan. He has been exhausted, stressed out, and burnt out for several months now. 

It's supposed to get a little easier now that he is a senior resident. I hope so. Sometimes I think, "Wow, only two years left!" Then other times, I'm thinking, "Two years?! Are we going to make it?"

But a little milestone is over. He is now a senior resident. 

As for me and the girls, we are trying to stay cool. Summer is in full force here. But it seems to get easier every year. Maybe because the girls are older and we can do more things. Or maybe I just know what to expect and how to plan for it.

Since Sami turned three, she has really grown up. She is definately not a baby anymore (sniff, sniff).  

She is now really playing house, and pretend, and dress-up. She loves her movies, but she loves her toys just as much.

Janie is starting to skip her afternoon naps (again, sniff, sniff). But she still has to stay in her room until I get my  break. :) She gets tired out early on days when she doesn't sleep. She is still a cuddle bug and she has always been attached to her blanky.

Sami is just finishing up her first month of tumbling and both girls start swim lessons tomorrow. I wanted to get them in swim lessons last year but felt they were still a little too young. But this is the year! I feel like swim lessons are so important here where so many people have pools. I don't want them to fear water, but to understand that they can't just jump in and expect to float.  So I am hoping to get some good pictures this week of them in their cute swim suits.

What Works For Me

On Saturday I was getting my hair done and talking to the cute little stylist. At one point, she said "So, I have a question." Um, ok. "I've always wanted to know how moms with two or more kids can take a shower." Well, it's best if they're asleep or watching a good show. A little later she asked, "Do you ever get out?" I didn't understand. She clarified by asking, "Do you ever get to leave your house?" I guessed what she was really asking was "How can you stand being at home all day long with your kids." So I told her what works for me: I try to do something fun that I want to do everyday. I have a list of things that I need to get done everyday, like laundry, read the scriptures, make dinner, etc. But I have an ongoing list of things that I want to do and I do something off of that list everyday. A lot of times it involves Photoshop, but it could also be reading a novel, watching an old episode of Star Trek Deep Space 9 with Jonathan (ok, so that's never on my list, but I often just get sucked in), or doing a craft, etc. And that is how I stay fulfilled staying at home. I love learning new things, and I've learned that just because I stay at home doesn't mean I can't develop my talents. I love learning new recipes, doing crafts, and mostly I love learning how to do things in Photoshop that I didn't know before. (Although, sometimes when the kids are in bed, I just want to veg in front of tv and I do just that.)

Speaking of Photoshop ( I was, wasn't I?), I feel like I need to make a disclosure. Just so you know, I take short cuts with my projects all the time. ALL.THE.TIME. Case in point, my new blog header. Isn't that cluster frame with Sami and Janie cute? Yeah, well, I didn't make it. I was going through my photoshop stuff last night and when I saw it (I forgot I had downloaded it), I thought it would look so cute on a blog header. So I used it. I got it from here:http://tracireed.com/blog/?p=262. 

And the butterflies.They are so pretty. For my birthday, my friend Katie gave me a gift card to my favorite photoshop site: http://www.jessicasprague.com/. (Thanks Katie!) Almost every Wed., Jessica has some scrapping stuff on sale for a dollar. It's called One-Buck Wednesday and I love it. I bought the butterflies and I kind of forgot about them (again!) and then I thought the colors and look were perfect for what I was going for. It's so easy-peasy when you have supplies you love.

And, mostly, I love the font. I {heart} great fonts! I am also a collector of fonts. I prefer free, but I have paid a dollar here and there for good ones. I paid a dollar for the font on my blog header. It's called Emily and it's from here:http://jonesdesigncompany.com/shop/. I wish I had her handwriting, but I'll take her font if nothing else. I use this font all the time. Love it.

So if you ever see something that you think is cute on my blog, it's ok with me if you say "That's cute. I bet she didn't make it." And chances are, at this time in my life, that you are right. I more than likely put a cute picture under or over something that someone else made. Because instead of working on my blog for three days (that's how long it would take me if I did everything from scratch), I would rather be browsing pinterest and watching old Star Treks with my sweetie.

Another case in point, these pictures of my little darlings. They also got hair cuts this week and I think they are so adorable. And of course, I just put the pictures under some free frames that I got from some scrapbooking site. But I am ok with that, because I love the look. And it's all about quick shortcuts.

The Other Side of Janie

For the most part, Janie just oozes sweetness and cuteness.

Unless she's tired or hungry.

Then we see a side of her that we lovingly refer to as "Beastie Baby."

She's had this problem since she was an infant, mostly why I had to stop nursing. I couldn't give her enough. No one can accuse Janie of not having a good appetite.

I usually see Beastie Baby around 4 pm, when it's too late for a snack but dinner is not quick enough.

So if you ever need a snack, come find me. My purse usually has a selection, thanks to Janie. 

But even when I see Beastie Baby, I have to admit that she's still pretty darn cute.

(These aren't pictures of Beastie Baby. You can forget about taking pictures when she has low blood sugar. But these are pictures of her that I love.)

Anniversay

This week Jonathan and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. Marrying him was definitely the best thing I have ever done!

I have been so blessed because of him. I used to complain (more) about Jonathan's demands in medical school until I realized that it was much more than a career, but a talent and a calling. Once I understood that, things got so much easier when he had to leave or stay up and study.

I am so amazed that when our friends or family really need Jonathan, he is available to help them. Considering his hours, I can see Heavenly Father's hand in this. Jonathan helps comfort them, or answers questions about a diagnosis, or explains what they need to do next. And he is always willing and happy to do it. And he did it for me this week. I was opening a can of chicken and cut my thumb really bad. And Jonathan was home. I yelled that I needed stitches and he came running. Turns out I didn't need stitches but he washed out my cut, applied pressure, put on a steri strip, and bandaged me up. I should also say that I was crying. I was embarrassed and it hurt so bad. I thought for a minute I was going to pass out and Jonathan sat me down and kept working. He was calm and efficient and even nice enough to say I did a good job :).

I love being married to my best friend for eternity.