Wow, I'm really behind.../The longest post ever

Hey everybody! We're still kicking over here! Here's an update to bring you up to speed...
We're rewinding to January and starting with Rowen's birthday week. We postponed his party until Rob could be home Jan. 30th. We had invited a very small crew over but the winter snow had other ideas so we shared a lively evening with the Moormann's because they were the only poor souls to venture out into the snow storm (and they're up-the-street neighbors so they just walked). We had fun and it was nice because we were able to actually eat in something similar to peace and chat while James and Rowen played.

Rob arrived home literally the night before Rowen's birthday party. He braved a record snowstorm and we were ELATED to finally have him home!

I was pretty excited about how this little project turned out.

It was so sweet looking through 2 years of pictures!

These cupcakes were kind of fun. And kind of wonderful :)

I thought this picture was just precious with James helping Rowen blow out his candles!

James, we love you, buddy!

Then The Worst Month came. I was on service medicine in February. 80+ hour work weeks + enough sick sick sick people to make your head spin + Rob's unexpected trip to WV = a total bummer. But, YAHOOOO, we made it! Here we are in March and I never plan to work an 80+ hr work week again! Man, that feels good to say! There are still weeks that approach 70-ish, but nothing like what we just endured. From here on out, residency is much kinder :) I was also given the HUGE honor of being elected chief resident for my 3rd and final year, along with my good friend Spencer Harris, and I couldn't be more excited and humbled to serve.

Sometime during the last couple of couple of months, Sheba celebrated her birthday. We went to a comedy club in VA Beach and it was HILARIOUS. My stomach hurt from laughing so much. It was too much fun! Here's Sheba and her darling husband, Fesal. I had to work for this picture because Sheba isn't terribly photogenic. See, she's so striking and it will appear to the naked eye that she is doing the right thing (i.e. smiling, eyes open) but in fact, once the digital image is examined, she is almost never doing the right thing. I feel so lucky to have this awesome shot of them! Happy birthday, Sheba!


We went to a really neat birthday party for our buddy Kai last week. It was at Hunt Club Farm in Va Beach. Kai turned 3! He's such a fun and animated little guy! He's a big brother to new baby sister Mia, and their parents, Sam and Aya are really awesome, too!

Happy birthday, Kai!

Rowen wasn't crazy about the petting farm for whatever reason. He kind of lost his personality there. Until the end of the party when he found his wits and crashed several adjacent parties. He thought the chickens were so-so, but had no need for the goats or ponies. I took it kind of personally, what with my irrational obsession with miniature donkeys, but maybe we'll have a better go of it next time around. My family lives on a farm so he'll have plenty of exposure when the time is right.

Daddy, Rowen and the goat


Notice that these goats essentially want nothing to do with me.

This little girl was at the party. Upon eyeing Rowen, she looked around and asked,
"Um, who's baby is this? Is this your baby?" Then she moved in for a kiss! How funny!

Rowen has really blossomed in the last few months with his speech. I thought the child would never talk! He is so much fun to talk to! He can say anything he wants. He loves to make himself heard. He even sings a little. He knows most of the letters by sight and sound, numbers 1 through 10, and basic colors. He loves his blue elephant that Granny bought him the day he was born and his blanky from Grandma Leheney. He's just such a cool little boy. We feel so blessed to have him!

Bubbles are funny!

My favorite Monkey

Daddy's buddy

My good friend Lily recently had her beautiful baby boy, Tyler and I visited them last week. They are so beautiful together :) Congratulations, Lily and Bryan!


We are no longer the owners of The Smallest Dishwasher in America! We now have a full sized dishwasher, a double sink and a garbage disposal! The regular dishwasher has made such a difference! It really is a pleasure to load it. We're still waiting to have the rest of the counters replaced to match the new counters, but we have already seen such an amazing improvement! Pics to follow!

Bless your heart. You stuck it out. :)

Have a great week!

Rob's gone again...

You may have heard about the Knighthawk helicopter crash in West Virginia on the news. Thankfully, everyone lived. God is truly good. Because that crew is part of the squadron that Rob cares for, he left emergently for WV last week. He's been on that mountain for 4 days now and will be there for another week.

I'm sure you don't need reminding, but...

HE JUST RETURNED HOME FROM A 7 MONTH DEPARTURE.

What little time I'm not at the hospital--there's not much left after an 80 hour work week--I'm running around trying to see that Rowen is taken care of (Thank God for Vicky...what a blessing she is!) and trying to see that Lady eats at least once a day and gets at least a short walk. And what little time I'm not running around doing those things, I seem to be complaining.

BUT Rob just got home...why does he have to be away again?

BUT this is a terrible month for him to be away because I'm on service medicine and the hospital owns me.

BUT this was the week our kitchen was supposed to be remodeled.

BUT why does the heater have to go out this week?

BUT I wasn't expecting this.

BUT...and the list goes on and on. I think you get the point.

All the while, I know that instead of complaining, I should be thankful.

I should be thankful for the lives that were spared in that terrible crash.

I should be praying for the full recovery of those involved.

I should be thankful that my brilliant husband has been called to serve such an awesome role.

I should be thankful for long hours at the hospital because these very experiences will come to my aid in times of need when I'm caring for sick patients in the months and years to come.

I should be thankful that God even let me become a doctor in the first place. I know I don't deserve His grace.

I should be thankful for our wonderful sitter and friend who has never let me down in caring for Rowen.

I should be thankful that having the heater repaired didn't turn out to be that big of a deal at all.

I should be thankful that working 80 hours is no longer the norm for me and this month is an exception.

I am thankful.

Sometimes it just needs to be said. Or written.

I was inspired (not for the first time!) by my friend Maegan, who posted these verses on her blog today.

⁶ On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the best of meats and the finest of wines.

⁷ On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;

⁸ he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people
from all the earth.
The LORD has spoken.

⁹ In that day they will say,
"Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."
Isaiah 25: 6-9

Thanks for letting me vent. I hope to back to my old self soon. I've been working on something I'm very excited about for several weeks now and hope to post that in the next week or so. Have a wonderful week!

A visit from Gmama & Granny

We had a great visit from my Mom and Granny last week for Rowen's birthday. Rowen loved having all of their attention, eating all of their yummy cooking, and running them ragged every day!

We had balloons (a huge hit!) and a cake and gifts for Rowen on his actual birthday, then his party was today (yes, during the snow storm) so Rob could be here, because (you guessed it!)...

ROB IS HOME!

But, back to last weekend...

Rowen walked around all weekend saying "TOOO-WA" for his new big boy age and asking for cake and b-b-boons (balloons).


Grandpa Snow (who Rowen has been calling Pa lately) and Grandma Cindi sent this awesome Como Zoo hard hat with a head light and Rowen can't get enough of it!

Here's Rowen and Gmama with his birthday cake!

The Sweetest Boy


Having funny with Granny!

Funny story...over Christmas, we were out running errands and Rowen was growing weary. I promised him chicken nuggets if he would just hang on with me and with the most pitiful voice he could muster, he said, "Chiiiicken, bok, bok..." Ok, so maybe you had to be there, but it really was pretty hilarious.

Stay tuned for pics of Rob Coming Home and The Snow and The Birthday Party!

Katie, Cookies, and the Kitchen

We were lucky enough this past weekend to have a long awaited visit from one of my best friends, Katie! We were so excited to have her in town. I was on call but it turned out to be pretty awesome anyway. (Thanks, JE!)

Rowen & Godmama KK

Turns out, Katie and I didn't get any pics together, but there's certainly no shortage of those over the last few years...

I've loved her since I met her :)

With Rowen, at the party she and Adam threw for him when he was
just a month old...
Casino Row-ale

We made these amazing peanut butter sandwich cookies, a recipe I had saved from an old Cottage Living magazine. I had high hopes of eating more than I could count, but these jokers were so rich and filling that I tuckered out after 2! (Well...that's after licking several bowls of batter and frosting...)


The Smallest And Least Efficient Kitchen In America is slowly undergoing its facelift. I am very much enjoying the whitish cabinets and am ECSTATIC to announce the increase wattage in our kitchen! Yes, indeed, our pitiful kitchen was previously sustained on 60 measly watts. Last week I finally got around to changing out an old ceiling fan with 1 light bulb with a very inexpensive casual chandy with 5 sockets! HOLY SMOKES! I now have 5 forty watt bulbs in place and the difference is remarkable! Light makes me so very happy :)

When I took these photos, I had to turn the light off because it was so bright!


Stay tuned...still catching up!

Gingerbread & Books

I can't believe Rob will be home in about 2 weeks. I really am beside myself! It's been a long SEVEN months. Whew...we've almost made it! WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!

While Rob was home for Christmas, we decorated a gingerbread house. So fun! The 3 of us are still waiting to see if our teeth fall out from the awesome amount of pure sugar we consumed.


One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is reading. I just love it so much. I was thinking it would be neat to write down what I've read in the past 12 months or so, and since this site is our family scrapbook, here goes. I have provided a legend for those of you as nerdy as me.

*** = Amazing. Stop what you're doing and read this now.
** = Great. You should read this. Sooner than later.
* = Good. Definitely worth getting around to.
Nothing = Decent.
# = Pretty bad.
## = Two thumbs down.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith ***
East of Eden by John Steinbeck ***
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller ***
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali **
Shop Girl by Steve Martin **
The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty **
Messages from My Father by Calvin Trillen **
About Alice by Calvin Trillen **
Marley and Me by John Grogan **
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb *
How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman *
Better by Atul Gawande *
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert *
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck *
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I know this much is true by Wally Lamb
Sea Glass by Anita Shreve
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant ##

**I should tell you, all but 2 of these were audio books. Listening to books on tape helps me survive my commute to the peninsula every day :)

This is what's on my nightstand now and the ratings so far:

Tepper Isn't Going Out by Calvin Trillen *
Autism's False Prophets by Paul Offett *
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult
Believing God by Beth Moore **
The Bible (this one is a permanent fixture) ***



My favorite book of all time is A Separate Peace by John Knowles, but East of Eden and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn are giving Peace a run for its money. Blue Like Jazz put into words everything I've ever felt about my spirituality and then some. Donald Miller has a beautiful note on how we use love as a commodity and Jesus never intended for us to dole it out like money. Instead, love is something we should give freely as it is given to us. Very wonderful. readitnow :)

Have you read these books? What did you love and what did you think was a waste of time? What should I read next?

Rowen is really into Bob the Builder these days, thanks to a very cool Christmas gift from Shan and Steve! He especially loves this construction hat. He loves to put it on his head and then move all around until it falls off.



I'm behind several blog posts; so forgive me as I try to catch up over the next few weeks. There is literally a running list of things I need to write (and have composed in my head). If only my real posts were half as brilliant as those I compose in my mind. Oh well, I'll get around to it sometime. As long as I have my trusty list :)

See ya!

The Happiest New Year ever

After Christmas, finally back in Norfolk, I returned to work (We're really blessed that my residency program arranges a holiday schedule allowing half of the residents a Christmas break and half a New Year's break) and then we hosted a New Year's Eve Dinner party for several dear friends. Since babysitters were no where to be found for the evening, we decided to stay in with some our our neighbor friends. We ate, talk, and ate while our 4 collective little boys tore the house down ;)

A rare moment of stillness for all 4: Josiah, Rowen, Brock, Owen

Aimee, Me and Janice

Before our NYE dinner, Rob and I took a Scotch Flight. That's when you taste several scotches and compare them. As you can imagine, I love to do this. Here, we sampled Johnny Walker Black (blended malt), Talisker (single malt), and Lagavulin (my all-time fave, a single malt).


In other news, I found this beautiful solid wood adirondack chair at a thrift shop recently for $20! Getting it home was a huge hassle and involved 3 vehicles and 1 dead battery, but here she is! Can't help but feel proud of this beautiful bargain!


Little rps had his first haircut today! Can you believe this child is almost 2 years old and just now had his first haircut? It was really fun! We walked into a barber shop and the sweet lady who cut his hair did an awesome job. He was a good sport. Now he looks like such a big boy! We've been calling him "First" for first grader.



Rob + Lady left Saturday, headed back to Pensacola. Total bummer. BUT, we have a lot going on in the next few weeks...golden weekend coming up, a visit from Katie, a visit from Mama and Granny, Rowen's 2nd birthday, and then... (drumroll please)...

BOBBY SNOW IS HOME FOR GOOD!
(Well...for a while anyway)

And then we'll have a late birthday party for the little mister. We were talking over the holiday about just how challenging this past year has been...finishing internship (I ask myself everyday how we both did internship at the same time. With a child. Thankfully Rowen probably won't remember how little we were home...but he always had a warm and loving home with Ms. Vicky at least!) Then, once the glory (rrrrrright) of being an upper level resident set in, we were faced with a 7-month separation. Yuck. We both feel like 2010 will be such an awesome year...Rob will be home, I will finish my 2nd year and (with God's grace) slide right into the 3rd and final year of residency which affords a much more appealing work schedule and he will also work "normal" hours and we can hang out together and with Rowen and be better friends to our friends...honey, the list goes on and on!

Well, gotta get started on this wonderful life 2010 has to offer ;) Have a great night!

The Merriest Christmas ever

Wow, what a whirlwind these last 2 weeks have been! Bobby Snow arrived home to a snow covered Hampton Roads and we have been so happy to have him and Lady home again!

Hugs all around for Lady!

We scurried around trying to get everything ready for Christmas then headed to Northern Virginia for a great holiday with Gigi and family. We always feel so relaxed and at home in Sheila and Kent's home and loved being there. Rowen was non-stop entertainment for us all.

Gigi's beautiful country Christmas tree

Reading with Granddaddy Kent

While on our holiday trip, Rowen got to play in the snow!

Braving the freezing rain for an extremely short walk

We had a quick stop to see Shannon and Steve in even-further-North Northern Virginia and Rowen had a ball throwing around various fragile knick-knacks and feeding their 2 dogs chocolate and cheese.

At Steve and Shan's

Before we packed up our Christmas decorations, I took a few photos of the outside, which I had a good time editing with the Effects option in Iphoto :)

I bought this sled for $3!

While I was outside taking these pics,
I spotted a little holiday elf peeking through the mail slot.
So cute!

Wishing you all the happiest new year ever!