Happy News!

We found a cute little rent house in Fort Worth! Well, actually, Adam's parents found it for us as they drove around for hours looking out for a place for us to live (thank you.) It is smaller than our current house and I am excited to downsize some of our stuff. We also have a backyard and can walk over to TCU and sweet-talk some college girls into babysitting with Henry & Elliot's cuteness.

I will miss the storage aspect of having a basement but I will not miss carrying laundry down into the basement to do laundry. The washer & dryer are in the kitchen area! Hooray-city.

Seriously, though, thank you to everyone who gave us Fort Worth wisdom, reached out to us, encouraged us & drove around looking for rent houses for us. We are grateful.

All the Fun You Could Have.

It is snowing outside right now. Seriously. Spring has not arrived in Erie- no, no. So, as a mother of an active toddler, what have we been doing? Well, besides the Y & playdates, we...

play with laundry hampers! Here's how:

• tie a belt to a laundry hamper. Ride Henry around in the hamper.
• let Henry climb into the laundry hamper, cover the top with a blanket...fort!
• fill the laundry hamper with stuffed animals.
• turn the laundry hamper upside down. Jump off the laundry hamper. Use the laundry hamper to reach otherwise unobtainable objects and destinations.
• help Elliot sit in the laundry hamper. Dance in circles around him and make him giggle.
• find other laundry hampers. throw all of the dirty and clean clothes out of them and form a large pile of dirty/clean clothes.
• find mom's eyeliner. Scribble on the laundry hamper.
  

Maybe I should write a book?

Second Child Flexibility.

Perfect example of this second child flexibility: I was nursing Elliot & putting him down for a nap. Henry comes into Elliot's room and turns off and on his humidifier. Then, he opens and closes the door, each time saying "Hi!!!!!" Then he asks for more grapes.

I couldn't help it, Henry's hi's are too cute...I was shaking with the giggles. Then Elliot laughed. Then Henry got tickled. Life is crazy & wonderful.

Erie Home

Getting ready to sell our cutie-patootie house.
T'was our first home. We will miss it.
Haven't listed it with a realtor yet so if you know anyone interested, let me know!

PB & Swaddles

Henry loves peanut butter.

Glad he's getting some protein. He doesn't really like meat.

Elliot is still being swaddled & lately I've had to go into his room all throughout the night to put the paci back into his mouth. Also, I'm still nursing him every 3-4 hours at night. He is five months old today. Not quite sure what to think or do about this kid but I sure am sleepy in the middle of the night and thought about throwing him out the window one time (kidding. well, kinda.) I tried letting him fuss for a bit a few times when his paci came out but he screams bloody murder & I just can't handle it. So, I guess that leaves me with suck it up and go put the paci back into his mouth every 45 minutes?

Casey, how do you do the side thing? I'm scared that Elliot would roll onto his face while swaddled if I did it the wrong way.

Sigh of Relief.

A while back, I was with some gals & they were talking about their husbands. Basically they were saying that, while they dearly love their husbands, when their men have time off of work or vacation time, they kinda get in the way at home and mess with the routine. Like, for them, it's almost better when their husbands are at work.

I spoke up because I feel the opposite. I feel most frustrated or tense with Adam when he's not around. The second that he walks in the door, I'm like YESSSS! Henry flocks to his Dada and I take care of Elliot and cook supper or do whatever tasks that I can't do with both boys. We all go run errands together. It is like this huge weight off my chest when he gets home.

On the flipside, if I have an expectation that Adam will be home at a certain time and then he gets held up at the hospital or picks up something on the way home, I'm a crazy shrew. I mean, I try to hold it together and act cool but really, I'm like, Why? Why aren't you here? You said you'd be here! Aggggghhhhhh! (I blame it on being cooped up inside due to snow).

I am not a superwoman. I cannot do everything by myself. I need my husband.

Currently Reading

It is so good. A beautiful allegorical book about Much-Afraid and her journey to the high places.

Same Uterus, Different Kids

Henry, back between 4 and 5 months

Elliot

My boys are so different. I am sure this is a pretty universal experience with siblings but it still surprises me. I was looking back at a post from Henry at almost-5 months (Elliot's current age) and I couldn't change his diaper because he'd roll over everytime I tried. Elliot seems to care less about rolling over. He's just like, Hey man...just chillax. No hurry. No worries. Henry was more like Eeeeeeeeeh gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now!

Kids.

Photos of The Jennings Four

We met up with Danielle Hartland a couple of weeks ago to take some family pictures. She had taken some wonderful 1-year-old pictures of Henry last year and we desperately needed to capture a few pictures of all four of us. It was challenging with Henry sprinting around like a wild man but she managed to get some fantastic family pictures and some beautiful shots of Elliot.

I am so glad that we took an hour to make this happen. No matter if I've lost my baby weight or not, if my hair is a mess, and other vain concerns, we will never regret having captured this season in photographs.

The Jennings Recede?

the Jennings,

coming soon to a Texas town near you

We are in a flurry of emotions over here. I am so excited to be headed closer to family- to be able to hop into the car and drive a few hours to see my parents or to hope into the car and drive 25 minutes to see Adam's parents (Seriously, they live in a suburb of Ft. Worth)! This is amazing to me- for my kids to grow up near their grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins (all in Austin, TX).

I have sad emotions, too. Some of my dearest friends live here in Erie and we have had a really wonderful four years. I can't dwell on those emotions right now, though. I can't even go there- I will really, really miss my girls.

But, alongside the happy news: Fort Worth peeps, thank you for reaching out to us! Lots of alumni from our school (alumnus? alumna?) are in the area and we so appreciate the help and advice and are asking for more! In chapter 20 of Proverbs, it says that when you are making plans, to seek advice. That is us, right now. We are looking for a rental home somewhat near the hospital (10-15 minute drive max). We have some friends in the Keller area but we're thinking that might be a bit far away, especially for Adam's first year doctoring schedule.

Also, do you use the Y? (We love the Y up here.) Does your kid go to a mothers' day out a couple of mornings a week? Church? Parks? THANK YOU for your enthusiasm. We feel cared for & loved and are looking forward to our new adventure in Texas!

We Are Moving To...

the stars at night

are big & bright
deep in the heart of Texas!

Adam got his #1 pick- emergency medicine at John Peter Smith hospital in Fort Worth, Texas!
Thank you, Jesus!

Countdown.

Champagne is chilled.
Adam is at work.
The temperature is supposed to get into the 50's today!
At 1:00 p.m., we'll get the email.

Eeeeeeeh!

p.s. Happy St. Patrick's Day

My Brother.

You know those people that are just really good at everything?



That's my oldest brother.

It's kinda annoying.


He lives in the Austin area and is a carpenter. He basically goes dumpster-diving at commercial sites for tossed-out wood and makes beautiful things out of it.






Here's his website link.

his lightboxes

Good News!

Well, we got the email yesterday at noon saying that Adam had successfully matched to one of the programs on our rank list! YAY! Now we wait until Thursday to find out which program that might be. Regardless, I'm excited about every place that we listed and looking forward to new adventures!

Something that I love about Adam: He, when talking to other med students, often says, "We ranked such-and-such as our number one spot." or other we sentences concerning us and the match/medical process. The other day, someone in the hospital asked him, "Oh...is your wife a medical student, too? Did you do the couples match?" And Adam was like, "No. But we are in this together. Cam got me through medical school!"

I love that about him.

In other news, Henry woke up from his nap yesterday and was babbling away and playing with his stuffed animals in his crib. I went in to turn on the lamp and turn off the fan, then I heard Elliot so I said, "I'll be right back!" and left Henry's door open and him happily playing in the crib. While I was tending to Elliot, I heard the pitter-patter of Henry's feet behind me and him saying, "Heeeeeey".

How did he get out of his crib?

Big Week...

You may be sick of hearing about this but...

this is a big week! Today we find out if Adam matched into one of the programs that he interviewed at & we ranked on our list.

Then, Thursday we find out where he matched into & where we'll be moving next year! YAY!

Also, since it is still very much winter here (I'm hoping that we had our last snow fall yesterday) we bought play-doh for Henry. He & Adam were so cute playing at Henry's little table yesterday. They had a blast.

Happy Monday.

Analogy Time!

Sometimes, at the end of a wonderful, crazy day with two kiddos under two,

______ is to parents

as

gatorade is to athletes!

Answer: a glass of wine

Henry's Birthday Party Theme

He loves trains.
He's got soul.

What better?

Hitting.

Henry hit Elliot today for the first time. It was sad. We were at my friend, Bethany's. This was Elliot & Bethany's son, Jonah moments before the incident.

Then I was moving Elliot to his car seat and WHAM, Henry hits Elliot on the head with a plastic colander. Elliot is in shock, I begin disciplining Henry but then Elliot starts freaking out and I have to nurse him to calm him down after the paci fails. Now Elliot has a red mark on his forehead.

Brothers, c'mon. Brotherly love. Get on board!

Date Night.

Back in April of 2007, Adam & I began a book called All About Us. It's basically a Q&A book where each person answers questions about each other, himself/herself & your relationship. We liked filling it out but we (shockingly) never finished the book.

On Saturday night, Katie came to watch the kids and Adam & I went to the local thai restaurant with a bottle of wine and revisited the All About Us book. I was at a point where I could not talk another second about residency, match or what the future may hold so I grabbed the book on the way out the door. And, guess what? We had so much fun reading our responses from four years and two kids ago. We were also able to answer the questions again and begin finishing the unanswered sections. Fun date.

I recommend this book for you & your spouse. I mean, there are definitely questions that we left unanswered because they were totally inappropriate (i.e. which of your spouse's friends is the sexiest? Pass.) but most of the questions spurred on good conversation and it was just downright fun.

Memory Monday

First off, happy day- I won Casey Wiegand's blog giveaway and it tickles my heart! Yay, yay.

Second off, this is a picture of the jeep cake from Adam's birthday back in 2006. He loved his jeep, like...loved it. Like, we fought about it sometimes because he liked researching & working on his jeep a lot & I didn't quite get that. Guy thing? Jeep thing? But it was a fun, fun car- you know, cruising around with your hair blowing in the wind. Good times.

But then, our first year here, the snow came. And poor ol' Ruby the Jeep couldn't get up the icy hill to our house. So, we traded it in and that was that. But it was a fun time in life, cruising around in the jeep. Okay, now I have to go stop my child from smearing oatmeal everywhere.

He calls oatmeal, "Elmo." It's pretty funny.

Have a great Monday!

Clint.

This has been a sad couple of days for us. We got some horrible news on Thursday night- our friend, Clint Dobson, had been murdered that afternoon. Clint was a pastor of a small church in the Dallas area and the details aren't certain yet but his elderly assistant was severely beaten and he was killed in the church.

Clint was an incredible guy. He was the one who set me & Adam up. For months, we refused to meet each other, thinking it would be awkward but he kept persistently setting up times for us to hang out. In fact, he went on our first two dates with us. We were honored to have him stand with us at our wedding. He was a good buddy.

When we first heard the news, my stomach dropped but then a picture came into my mind. Clint with Jesus. Dancing wildly, filled with joy, gazing on the beauty of the Lord. It's not him that I feel sorry for. His sweet wife, Laura & his parents, his congregation and his friends. This story has been all over the news and I saw the saddest pictures on a news website- his wife, lying on the sidewalk, weeping with her hand over her face in front of the church.

We've gone between tears and laughter this weekend as we pray for Laura and we grieve his loss but we also remember Clint and his silly, sincere, joyful, loving self. We've told stories and celebrated his life. Clint was authentic. God really transformed his life over the past few years and Clint was a man, gentle, kind, devoted to God and to loving all people- rich, poor, the same, different. He loved his wife so much, his family & his friends.

Many will miss Clint but our hope is in the Lord who will...
To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
Is. 61

Doctor & Dreamin'

Whoa, How much do I weigh?

Elliot had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I left Henry here with Katie while E-man & I set out to receive shots and get weighed in on by the doctor & you know, just weighed. He did great but, boy, did his face get red while hollering after those shots.

Two weeks from today, we find out where we are moving! I have been thinking that next year maybe I should sign Henry up for a Mothers' Day Out program two mornings a week. Most of the places that we ranked on our list have lots of churches with MDO programs & he LOVES when we go to the Y. We go every week day and he stays in the childcare while I work out. Henry loves the ladies, loves playing there, loves the other kids. So, I think that he's maybe the kind of kid that will need an outlet like that. Other things that I'm looking into are Gymboree/Little Gym and I definitely want to do a Mommy & Me type swim lesson thing this summer.

Just thinking & dreaming. I'm really excited to know the LOCATION so that I can begin researching!

Bobby Flay...more like Bobby Filet! Yeah!

A friend told me about a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for Chipotle that you could get by just watching a 90 second advertisement for America's Next Great Restaurant (a new reality show).

Heh, heh. Suckers! I thought.

I had no intention of watching this reality show- only of scoring a free burrito.

But then I watched the 90-second video. And It was really good. And now I want to watch America's Next Great Restaurant.

Stinkin' marketing wizards.


Click here for the link- only good through March 8th.

Train Love.

Anyone else jam out to Genevieve and Choo-Choo Soul on Disney?
No?
Just me?
Cool.

Anyways, Henry got a train table for Christmas & we purchased the Imaginarium table. LOVE IT. Well, Adam may not have loved it when he was assembling it at midnight on Christmas Eve but it has served us so well. It is way cheaper (like way-way cheaper) than the Thomas stuff but it is compatible with Thomas trains and tracks. Hot dog, hot dog, hot-diggity-dog!

This is a good train-age, too. Before, I think he would've gotten super frustrated and thrown tracks and trains from here to Hong Kong but now he's pretty good at keeping the trains on the tracks and limiting his frustration to a bridge crumble & "Uh-oh" or two.

Or three.