Celebration!!!

In celebration of what was a big day for our family, a trip to the Anchor Bar seemed to be appropriate. It was our first trip to the home of the original buffalo chicken wings, even though we have now lived here for two and a half years.All fed and watered with acid indigestion. Good times!

Posing in front of some license plates at the Anchor Bar from left to right: Ellie, Ambrey, Alyssa, Anna, Tabitha, and Charlotte.
It could probably be argued David and I have spent more time together over the past 28 months than either of us spent with our families. And now they are headed to Albuquerque, and we are headed to... Buffalo? Right.
Anna's asthma kicked in when she got sick, so here she is doing her breathing treatment while sitting warmly under one of her new presents from Grandma. Kind of a funny story, but Anna has a favorite blanket. It's another one from Grandma, white with little red hearts on it. Well on Sunday Janna and I were resting on our couches with blankets, and Anna came to Janna so they could lay down together. Janna told her to go get her blanket, so Anna went upstairs to her room. After a couple of minutes Anna came back down the stairs empty handed and agitated. I asked where her blanket was and she grunted in an angry manner and pointed up the stairs. I got up to see what the problem was and found that she had tried to man-handle her big, new, heavy blanket down the stairs and it had gotten wrapped around the rail at the top of the stairs. She had left her "favorite" blanket laying on the floor in her room.

Anna and the girls posing with the birthday cake. Poor Anna wasn't feeling well so she didn't get to blow out her candles.

The "Happy Birthday" video for Janna and Anna

The End is Near

No, the end of the world is not here, at least as far as I know. The end I am referring to is the end of school. Okay, so maybe the title is a bit dramatic, but I have been in school for what seems like forever. My last clinical day is scheduled as December 11th, the same day that Anna turns 2 and Janna turns 22 (or something like that). That means that I only have five weeks left; only 16 days of clinical. I have thought about this end for awhile now, anticipating it, and now that it is so close, it almost feels surreal.

I had hoped that by this time I would have all of our moving arrangements lined up, and dates finalized for our trip back across the country to some exciting place in the west. That hope however, will not be realized, at least not at this time. No we will be staying here in Williamsville, at least for another six months. I confess that I am a little disappointed that we will not be moving closer to family, but at least we can let the girls finish out their school year, and I will be able to sign with a good anesthesia group that I am pretty comfortable with. So in response to the poll which has been on our blog for the last month, we will be stayin' put.

11 Months

This is just a quick update on some exciting news that I just discovered. It looks like I will be finished with school (possibly forever) on Janna's and Anna's next birthday (oh, and Casey's too). Yes, that is right, it looks as though my last clinical day will be Friday December 11, 2009. This means that as of this upcoming weekend, I will have only 11 months left at the University at Buffalo. I just thought that I would share my excitement with the one or two of you who find time to visit this blog on occasion.

School has started

Welcome Fall!!! It is cold in NY. This is our neighbors pumpkin, Anna loves to touch it.

Somebody is happy!
Daddy happy about having his picture taken. What is up with that grin?
This picture was taken by Ambrey, she is absolutely professional, if you would like yours done by her let us know she is for hire.

The Triple AAA'S. So cute!

No, I have no nuts in those cheeks.... Why do you ask?

Anna decided to run herself over. Luckily she was happy about it.

Alyssa and Ambrey have started school. Anna and I have 3 hours of just she and I, (heaven). Alyssa is now in 2nd grade and Ambrey has just started pre-K. She loves it. She comes home everyday singing a song and ready to talk on and on about what she did.

Clinicals Have Finally Started

I have finally started my clinical rotation. This is a picture of the Buffalo VA Medical Center, which is where I am currently observing anesthesia. It is located just across the street from UB's south campus. Friday (February 1st) was my first day of observation, and I must say it was nice to be back in the clinical setting. I have spent the last six months doing little more than book work, so this was a very nice change. I will not be starting my full rotation until May, but this will be fun because I will get the opportunity to practice, without having to be evaluated, or take responsibility for the patients well-being.

As a side note, I played basketball on Tuesday for the first time since April of last year. Actually I just shot around while other people played. Still, it was fun to do something physical. The good news is that I have not noticed any significant increase in pain with my knee.

Here are some pictures that I took of Anna today.

Janna is still doing great. She has recovered really well from surgery. We have also been very fortunate to not have Anna sick (at least not yet). Alyssa is doing well with schoool, and Ambrey seems to enjoy being home with Janna and Anna. Also, we are now pretty sure that Anna's hair is going to be red. Not only do we have all girls, but I have three red heads (Janna, Ambrey, and Anna). Thank goodness for Alyssa, otherwise I would really be in for it.

School has Ended, Baby Begins

Schools out for winter! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have the first semester over. I have about one month off until next semester starts.

Janna gives birth in the morning. She is excited, but also nervous. Stay tuned for pictures, my goal is to get a few on the blog tomorrow.

Janna and Ambrey Take off, and Alyssa Goes to School

Before I say or do anything else I need to apologize about the quality of the photos. Janna took the camera with her, so I had to use my phone. This first photo is suppose to be of Janna and Ambrey at the airport. Good luck picking them out, it is kind of like a real life "Where's Waldo" picture, only the picture quality is terrible. They left on the 6th to go home to visit with family. In case you are reading this, "hi hon, we love and miss you (and Boo too)." Yes that's right, Alyssa is stuck with dad. She missed Janna the first night, but she hasn't mentioned her in a while (like maybe 30 minutes). Alyssa had to stay because she started school this week. When she came home today the first thing she told me was that she had homework, and she was smiling while she said it. It must be great to be clueless.

This is a picture of Alyssa getting onto the school bus for her second day of school. Sorry about the sun.
This is a picture of Alyssa the morning after Janna left. I am proud to say that this is the best hairdo have ever done on a girl. Sure it doesn't look even, but look how tight that pony tail is!

Jeremy sent me an email with a link to a website that will estimate how long you will live. According to poodwaddle, my real age is 11.5 years old, and since the average life expectancy is 74 years, I supposedly can expect to live until I am 90.5 years old. Try it, it's kind of fun.

http://www.poodwaddle.com/realage.swf

Let the Fun Begin

This is a Picture of one of the nicer buildings on south campus at UB. Of course it is not a picture of the building that all of my classes are in, but I thought it looked nice.I attend classes in Kimball Tower. This is a picture of Kimball Tower and its 13 stories of ugliness.

So far school has not been too bad. I actually expected it to be worse than it has been, but then this is only the first week. I am taking 16 credit hours, here is a list of my classes:
Pathophysiology
Pharmacotherapy
Nursing Research
Anesthesia Principles I
Nursing Roles I
Nursing Roles II

It is so nice to finally be doing something productive. Sitting around at home was alright, but I felt like I was wasting so much time doing nothing. Janna is glad that school has started too. She says that it has been nice for her to get back on a schedule, but the truth probably is that she is glad to get me out of her way.

Side note: in case you have not heard, Janna and Ambrey will probably be traveling back to Utah next week. They will likely be staying for a couple of weeks, but the whole trip will depend on what her nurse practitioner says tomorrow.