26 days

until finals are over! I have not kept this updated very well and I apologize for that, but life has been hectic!

I can't believe I'm almost done! Less than 4 weeks to go. It feels fabulous! Well, almost. I still have things to do. There are still two exams in High Acuity, but they're on "easier" material and I'm not too worried. I am in a fairly comfortable place in all of my classes. I am also done with clinicals! I was supposed to have one more tomorrow, but it was cancelled. I am so glad to be done with those. My SLCC scrubs are in sad shape and I am really not a fan of royal blue. :)

Last week when I was at work I found out that the newborn ICU at the U is hiring me after graduation. I had hoped, but it wasn't a guarantee. Nursing jobs are in short supply right now! The NICU had already worked Holly and I into their staffing considerations so they're keeping us. Holly is in the program with me at SLCC. We're both so excited! I'll have a couple weeks off after graduation and then I start the didactic orientation on December 28th. Didactic is basically a big fat book that we have to read through and review for 4 weeks. After that's over I'll orient with an RN for 3 shifts and then I'm on my own. I'm also taking an NCLEX review course in January that is one week long. It's going to be a busy month.

School isn't leaving time for much else but we are getting into holiday mode here at home. The twins are beyond excited about Christmas. It is consuming them. I love it! I jokingly call it "Christmas crack." Cami wants a Charlie and Lola movie, Brie wants a Strawberry Shortcake doll. Maddie has a longer, more expensive list. She thoughtfully divided it in half so that Santa can get her 6 things and we can get her 6 things. Too bad the list contains things like a computer, a Nintendo DSi, a swingset...I told her she's going to need to simplify a bit.

If you haven't checked this out already, it's worth a few minutes of your time. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuwid8_O8dk

It's time for the 10 week countdown!

Finals week starts 10 weeks from today. That is a crazy scary thought. I have taken two High Acuity tests, one Community and one Management. I have passed all of them. That is great news. There are still 11 tests on the board (including finals). Six in High Acuity, three in Community and two in Management. Rumor has it that the first four tests in High Acuity are the worst, so if I can survive the next two I'll breathe a little easier. One of those is next Monday, the other is on the 26th. In case you're wondering, finals will be over in 10 weeks and 2 days. Graduation is in 10 weeks and 3 days!

Life has been busy! Between classes, clinicals and my work schedule I've been driving to Salt Lake 4 days a week. Sometimes I have had to make two trips in one day because of Aaron's schedule and Maddie's follow-up appointments on her hand. She also started physical therapy three days a week. That has been fun to fit in to our crazy schedule!

Maddie has started reading the first Harry Potter book on her own. She also has set the goal to read the Book of Mormon by her 8th birthday, and we've been trying to read a chapter a night for the last two months. This has been great for me as well because I find myself taking the time to explain things to her which is helping me focus and understand things better.

Cami and Brie are wearing big girl panties!!!! I am so thrilled about this one. Brie has been doing this for almost 2 months, Cami was more reluctant. She threw a big screaming fit for about an hour one day when Aaron told her no more pull-ups. She kept sobbing "I don't want to be a big girl! I want to be a little girl! I want to wear pull-ups!" We just sent her upstairs so she could have her meltdown in privacy. She eventually came downstairs in panties. It was a fight for a couple of days but she now takes her nighttime pull-up off first thing in the morning and puts on panties. Yay!

Aaron has been working hard at keeping things under control at home. The twins don't make that part easy. We're all surviving and really looking forward to December when I can actually be present at home.

Is anyone out there?

I know it's my fault if not. I have not been great about keeping this updated! Today we are battling the flu. I have not quite succombed, but I fear it's my turn next. The girls are all feeling pretty crummy. Maddie actually seems to be on the mend, her temperature is back within normal limits today. That may mean she can go to school tomorrow, which would be good because she's missed 3 days this week - add that to the two days she missed because of her surgery and we're up to 5 absences since August 20th. That has to be some kind of record for the first month of school.

I am only about 2 weeks into the semester and already feel like I'm neck-deep. The good news is that I passed my first high acuity test. The bad news is it was probably the easiest one of the semester. On Tuesday our lecture in the class was on mixed acid base balances, nullifying effects, V/Q, oxyhemoglobin dissociation curves and other equally as mind-boggling topics. I know these terms don't mean much to you unless you work in healthcare, but don't worry - they don't mean much to me either. Not yet, anyways. I am working on it. Our test on this unit is a week from Monday and I'm desperately working to grasp all of this.

Graduation is 3 months from today!!!

What I did this summer

I thought that I had typed up a draft of the things we have done this summer, but I can't find it. My summer break was nearly 4 months long and it was really nice. It started out with the trip Aaron and I took to Disney World. What a vacation! The first time we've been on our own for a week in years. Maddie finished 1st grade at the end of May.

The twins are often (not always) easier to take out and do things with, so I've been a little more ambitious in my attempts to take them to do things when Aaron's at work. Sometimes it's gone really well, other times it's been just short of a nightmare. We've gone swimming, to the movie theater, to Lagoon, shopping...it's always an adventure. The girls enjoyed having grass in the backyard. to play on - and it's really nice to be able to say "Go play outside!" when they are stir-crazy and I need a little break from the crazy.

As a family we've been to This is the Place Heritage Park, the zoo, camping at Pineview, a weekend in Park City, and a trip with my family to Jackson Hole and Pinedale, Wyoming.

At the end of July we hosted a friend from Aaron's mission for several days. We spent them as tourists in our own city, which was fun. We toured the Oquirrh Hills Temple, went to a dinner show at Showtime Utah, Wheeler Farm, Park City, the State Capitol. We really enjoyed having him here and the girls really had fun getting to know him.

I nearly finished the painting in the living room, kitchen and family room. We found a couch and chair for the loft. Aaron put together a desk and bookcase for our room that will be nice to have this semester. The twins have real beds now, they had spent about 9 months on mattresses on the floor.

Oh - that reminds me. We've had a few mishaps this summer:

*Cami flooded the side yard, a window well and the basement the day before Father's Day.

*Maddie caught her shorts on a cupboard door in the kitchen, stripping the hinge out of the wood. I was able to fix it by breaking toothpicks up in the hole and screwing the hinge back into place. This was all done without Aaron knowing. Maddie couldn't handle the guilt and told him all about it a few days later. :)

*Cami and Brie were monkeys jumping on their beds and Cami jumped right through the slats of Brie's bed, breaking it into unusable pieces. Thank heavens for good return policies at Ikea.

*Maddie learned the story behind "Curiosity killed the cat" after playing with a utility knife even when she knew she shouldn't. An ER visit, 5 stitches, follow-up with a hand surgeon and a surgery later, she's on the mend and hopeful for full recovery. Physical therapy will likely follow once everything has had a chance to heal.

There you have it. A summary of our summer. My classes started yesterday and I'm already missing the freedom.

Aaron works every other Sunday so I'm on my own at church.  It's just such a challenge!  I used to use it as an excuse to skip Sacrament meeting, and then I started noticing how many other moms are on their own on Sundays.  Whether they're single or their husbands are working or their husbands aren't active.  I decided I better stop using the girls as an excuse and I've been working at getting to church on time for Sacrament meeting.  Some weeks are better than others.  Last week, when Aaron was there with us, the snacks turned into a problem and I decided we're taking too much.  I told the girls last week that we would be taking snacks anymore.  They did great today!  Only one book came out of the bag but the majority of the time they were sitting quietly.  

I do have to tell you a funny story about Brie.  This will give you an idea of what she's like.  :)  Cami was sitting on my lap, Maddie was seated on my left and Brie was on my right.  Brie was interested in what the kids behind her were doing, so she was turned around.  I noticed at one point she had slipped her legs through the back of the chair and had her bum up for everyone to see.  I quietly reminded her she was in a dress and to please make sure her bum is covered.  She climbed back through the chair, stood up and lifted her dress up to her armpits.  

Father's Day 2009

Dad,

While I always appreciated your patience, nothing has made me work harder towards being like you than being Cami and Brie's mom.  ;)  You are such an amazing guy.  You might not think so, but you are.  You have come to my rescue more times than I can count.  Thanks for being such a great dad.  I love you!  

Aaron,

I know we are still trying to figure out this parenting thing - pretty much on a daily basis.  I think you're doing a great job.  The girls adore you.  You can't help but acting like a kid yourself when you're having fun with them, and that is one of your best qualities as a dad.  Thank you for working so hard to support us.  I couldn't do what I do without you.  I love you!

Happy Father's Day, everyone!  

Dear Mom,

I love you very much.

You are the best MOM ever.

I am so glad you are my mom.

Thank you for being my mom.

I am so glad God gave me you for a mom.  I love to DO fun stuf with you.

Sinserle,

Madilyn

I am the lucky one.  I love you, Maddie!

Remember me?

I know it's been awhile.  The good news is that I finished up third semester about 3 weeks ago and my summer has officially started!  My friend Nicole summed up third semester quite nicely here.  I have to say that one of the biggest 
benefits of starting nursing school when I did is meeting some of the most amazing girls I know.  I have made some great friendships and I hope that we are all able to stay in touch after graduation.  It's so nice to have a bunch of girlfriends to help you through the rough spots of nursing school!  

My mom gave Aaron and I the best Christmas present ever this past year.  She gifted us a week of her time to watch the girls so that we could get away.  It's the first time we've had that much time alone together since before Maddie was born.  In fact, the last time we took a vacation that long alone was in March of 2000!  We had a week "vacation traveler" package at a Westgate resort and decided on Orlando, Florida when we found a great deal on airfare.  I had never been and Aaron hadn't been since high school.  We bought 6-day park hopper passes and had a great time!  Our trip started on May 8th and we returned on May 15th.  I think my mom had a good time with the girls, in spite of a cold that had her feeling pretty crummy.  Thank you so much, Mom!  

I am currently compiling a list of things to do and places to go this summer with the girls.  We are going to Jackson Hole at the end of July with my family, and will be hosting a friend of Aaron's from his mission for a bit this summer.  He's coming all the way from Scotland!  I met him when Aaron and I were dating and we found him online last fall.  We're really excited to spend some time with him again.  

Fall semester starts on August 26th.  I don't even want to think about it right now!  The fourth semester of the program is rumored to be pretty brutal.  It's only 16 weeks between me and the NCLEX (licensing exam) and I know it can be done.  This summer I'll be going over the Kaplan NCLEX review book and reading over some of the units that are more difficult for me so that I'm hopefully ready for the last of it.  I'm also still doing my internship at the newborn ICU once a week.  I really enjoy it there.  

Three!

Time does fly.  I can't believe you girls are three!  I love to hear you laugh, play together in your room when you don't know I'm listening, watch as you explore new things and hear you repeat songs that Maddie works so hard at teaching you.  You girls love to dance and "shake your booty." You both do this whenever you hear music - whether we're at home or in a store.  You love "super bubbles" in the bathtub.  I love how you both enthusiastically say "Good job!" when someone does something worth noticing - whether it's cleaning or making a good dinner or doing well on a test.  You both shower your family with hugs and kisses and happiness.  

Brie:

You are one spunky little girl.  You experience everything so intensely.  This will serve you well in life, although I have to admit it is a source of frustration for me as a mom.  You have mellowed out over the past several months and we've both found better ways to deal with the emotional rollercoaster.  :)  You have really blossomed this past year.  You are so quick to say "You are the best mom EVER!" to me, "You are the best friend ever!" to your sisters and your dad.  When you tell Cami she is your best friend, she says "No, I'm your sister!" and you reply "But we're best friends, too!" I love to hear the two of you talk and play together.  I will do my best to help nourish the bond you two have with each other and with your big sister, Maddie.  

Cami:

You are a great source of comic relief in our home.  You have always been an entertainer, and I think you are aware of your talent in that respect now.  You love to make people laugh.  You are very concerned about the people you love.  If we're running around while Maddie's at school and I stop to get you lunch or a treat, you always remind me to get something for Maddie.  You are very particular about the things that you want, and are quick to tell me if I leave something out of our bedtime routine.    

I still remember the day I found out we were getting two babies instead of one; the day I found out we were getting two little girls; the day you were born several earlier than we were expecting.  The first year is a bit of a blur in a lot of ways, but you have always brought me joy.  My girls are the best thing I could ever hope for, the best thing I have ever done.  I am lucky to be your mom.  

Happy birthday, Cami and Brie!  I love you!!!

It's April!

That means spring can come.  Any day now!  We had a small glimpse of it for about a week and then winter snuck back.  I am so done with winter!  It's really gotten to me this year.  I am ready for warmer weather and sunshine.  The girls really enjoyed it a few weeks ago.  They spent a lot of time in the backyard playing with bubbles and running around.  I am so glad we were able to put our sod in last fall.  It will be nice to have the yard this year.  

Life is busy, but it is good.  This semester has been hard.  What am I saying, it's all been hard.  The good news is that I am doing just fine, and as long as I can get past Monday's EKG test without totally flunking, I should be able to breath fairly easy the rest of the semester (which ends 5 weeks from today!!!).  I have learned a lot this semester.  I really liked my med/surg clinicals.  I am also feeling more comfortable with my skills and the things I'm learning at the NICU.  I had the hardest day to date there last week, but it was a good opportunity to see how much work (and prayer) the doctors, nurse practitioners and nurses do to try to keep sick babies alive.  

I have strep throat right now, and that's made it hard for me to do much of anything.  It has zapped all of my energy and made me feel like dirt.  Fortunately there was a scheduling issue with our EKG lecture last week so the test was pushed back a week.  That meant I didn't have a test to study for over the weekend.  Of course I was feeling fine until about 9:00 on Friday night.  I was able to sleep and rest most of the weekend, and called the doctor first thing Monday morning.  The fever, aches and pains are gone for the most part but the sore throat is staying strong.  I have been on antibiotics for a little over 2 days, hopefully the sore throat will go away soon!  I cancelled my shift tomorrow, which I'm bummed about, but I am just not up to a 12 hour shift when I feel like this.    

Maddie is looking forward to her spring break because it means she can go to Chuck-A-Rama with her Grandma Nina.  She is very excited about that.  She also has no idea she's going to Disneyland with Aaron for a couple days at the end of the week.  He's going as a chaperone for his brother's HS band tour and got permission to take her with him.  

Aaron and I are going to Florida in May for a week.  Just the two of us!  We have a trial timeshare week to use and the options were kind of in odd locations.  I was leaning towards Richmond, VA so that we could drive to some of the surrounding areas including Washington D.C. but Aaron didn't want to drive in D.C.  So, we decided on Orlando (found a great deal on airfare!).  There's a lot to do there and it will be nice to just get away for a week without the kids!!!  We haven't done anything like this for more than 8 years.  

Cami and Brie are funny, funny kids.  They are so animated and expressive.  Most of the time they appreciate having a built-in friend that's always here to play.  Brie has mellowed out a bit the last few weeks.  They idolize their big sister and that's okay with me, she's a great kid.  :)  While the days are full of things that challenge my patience, I am trying more to take things in stride and just enjoy them.   

Spring break

I finished up my last clinical of the semester on March 5th and then had an exam on March 9th.  I have been on break ever since and it has been so nice!  I haven't done much of anything for school during the break, but that changes tonight.  I have two exams on Monday.

We took the girls to the Living Planet Aquarium and Disney on Ice.  We've been able to just spend some time together at home.  I am hoping to get a sitter on Friday night so that Aaron and I can go out for date night.  I have tried to get caught up on housework, but this is a challenge because I have the same messes to pick up every day and the days aren't long enough to get to the other stuff all the time.  I cleaned out the van and our poor little commuter car.  I painted an accent wall in the living room.  I also rented a few videos from Redbox and enjoyed a couple quiet nights relaxing.  

Yesterday I went to the Journey's End day spa in Lehi.  Aaron and the girls gave me a SpaFinder gift certificate for Christmas and I used it for a massage and pedicure.  The spa was really nice.  I was impressed with the service and the ambiance.  The massage was perfect and my feet look great. 

The weather has been so nice and the girls have been spending some time outside every day.  Today is the first time I've taken the twins over to the little neighborhood playground one street over.  They loved it.  It's nice having grass in the backyard because they'll go out and play with bubbles or sidewalk chalk and run around a bit while I make lunch or Aaron makes dinner.  

We've gone out shopping a couple times and that has been a disaster and a half.  Oh my goodness.  I am so clueless about what to do with Brie sometimes.  I'm sure if I had asked any of the dozens of onlookers at Sam's Club or Maceys, they would have had some opinions.  Yikes.  Only two months of 2-year-olds left, but I worry 3 will be worse!   

Taking a quick study break

I'm having a hard time focusing, so I thought I'd take a break for a minute.  Life is crazy this semester! (as you may have noticed from the lack of new entries the last couple months)

I have at least one test every week.  Sometimes there's more than one, and if that's the case they're both on the same day.  It's been more challenging for me to cope with everything this semester.  Fortunately I have a lot of support and everyone is being patient with me.  I have been more emotional, stressed, anxious, etc.  The good news is that there is less than 2 months left of the semester, and then I have 4 glorious months off before starting back to the 4th (and final!) semester of the program.  

I just finished up my clinicals last week.  That will help relieve quite a bit of stress as it saves me almost 24 hours a week - that's the combined time it took for travel, the 12 hour clinical shift, and the time I spend working on careplans.  My psych clinicals were really draining.  It's so much easier to have blinders on to so many things in this life.  I really struggled with that rotation and I'm grateful it's over!  

I really enjoyed my med/surg clinicals.  I was able to practice a lot of new skills and I saw a lot of new things.  Two of my clinicals were on an oncology unit.  I had been dreading that assignment.  I actually really liked it and would even consider working on a similar unit in the future.  All of my patients were very young, from the young 20's to late 30's.  That made quite an impression on me.  They all had various forms of leukemia.  Putting faces with the facts I had already learned reinforced the need for bone marrow donors.  One of the patients I took care of has been unable to find a match because of their ethnicity.  Their options are limited.  The more I thought about it, the more I considered registering as a donor.  The registration is a painless process.  Think about it.  www.dkmsamericas.org.  Maybe one day you'll be able to save a life.  

Thoughtful

Cami and Brie had a doctor appointment this morning, it was a follow-up from their appointment on Monday. They've both had a respiratory virus of some sort, but their airways were really tight. Home health delivered a nebulizer on Monday night and they've had 4 treatments since then. They sound worse after each one, but it's because their airways are opening up so the gunk is able to "mobilize."

After the appointment today we went grocery shopping. I dread taking them to the store. I tried all my tricks and they did fairly well, we were in and out in about an hour. Not bad considering Brie kept trying to climb out of her cart and Cami was trying to open every package in her cart.

Once we had the groceries loaded in the van I asked the girls if they wanted Wendy's for lunch. Brie said "YEAH!" and Cami said "But Maddie's at school, we wait for Maddie?" I thought that was so sweet. Even after we pulled up to the drive-thru Cami was asking me if we should get lunch for Maddie.

Here we go...again...

I still haven't put together a post about our trip.  One is coming, I promise.  My winter "break" was chaotic and hectic and I didn't get near as much done as I'd hoped to.  I did have a great time with our family and my sister in California, Christmas was low-key but nice.  We got together with friends and family a few times over the break, and I attended nursing orientation at the hospital for my job.  

Yesterday was my first day back to school.  I have pharmacology 2, advanced med/surg and mental health nursing.  It's 11 credit hours.  My pharm class is completely online, med/surg is half in-class and half online.  I have 7 clinicals for med/surg and 3 for mental health.  I start mental health clinicals on Friday and med/surg next Thursday.  Fortunately there's only 2 weeks where I'll have two clinicals back-to-back.  This semester will be challenging because so much of it is online.  The only thing (HA!) that will be hard to schedule it around is the girls and my clinicals.  

I'm overwhelmed by it all, again.  I am not typically an anxious person (I don't think!) but nursing school has changed that.  It's especially difficult for me at the beginning of every semester because it's hard to know what is really expected of me by my instructors.  My anxiety level has typically gone down a bit after the first test in each class.  

Disneyland Pictures!

Here's a very small sampling of pics from our trip a couple weeks ago.  Thanks for looking! 

*Click on this post's title "Disneyland Pictures" 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas seemed to jump out of nowhere this year.  I'm sure it's a combination of having school/finals eat up the first 10 days of December and then taking off for a week's vacation in Southern California (I will post about our trip later this weekend when I get our pictures organized).  We got home late Saturday night, did church and had dinner at a friend's on Sunday, got caught up on laundry and some housework on Monday, did some *very* last minute Christmas shopping on Tuesday, and had 2 Christmas parties/dinners on Christmas Eve.  

This year we had the opportunity to participate in two "Sub-for-Santa's." One of them was done with Aaron's family for the Homeless Youth Resource Center.  Instead of doing a gift exchange, we took the money we would have spent and purchased items to donate for backpacks that they put together for the youth that they provide services for.  I thought it was a great idea.  We bought things like socks, handwarmers, and cup-of-soups.  

We also got together with our friends to help a family in need.  I enjoyed this one especially because it was fun to get the kids involved in picking out what to buy and wrapping the presents.  We went to our friends' house for dinner and a gift-wrapping party.  When we were done the guys took the older kids to drop the gifts off and "doorbell ditch" the house.  It was a great opportunity to teach Maddie about service and it really helped me put things into perspective.  

The girls have been a lot of fun this Christmas season.  Maddie wrote and revised her wish-list for Santa several times.  The final draft was mailed off on Monday.  The twins were enchanted with the lights and decorations and even got into the idea of Santa a bit.  This morning when we were going downstairs I asked Cami if she thought Santa had come.  She said "yes!" and then noticed the living room where presents were laid out and the stockings were overflowing (none of it had been out the night before - too risky!).  Her eyes were huge!  I'm glad we didn't go overboard this year, the twins lost interest in opening presents after two gifts (I think they each had 4 to open).  Maddie's favorite gift is the Barbie laptop that Santa brought and the twins love their baby dolls from Santa.  A close second was the Sleeping Beauty castle with several Disney characters that we bought at Disneyland last week (for 40% off!).  

Aaron was scheduled from noon-midnight today but was called off for the first 4 hours, it was nice to have him home longer than we had expected.  I took the girls up to my parents this afternoon for dinner and a gift exchange.  It's nice to spend some time with everyone.  I left around 6 so I could get home before the roads got icy and the expected storm hit.  The kids all went to bed fairly easily so it's been a quiet night here.  

Short on time

but I'll post a quick update.  First of all, I took my last final on Wednesday.  It was a very busy and stressful week but we got through it.  I passed everything!  I think I'll end up with a B in med/surg, a B+ in OB and an A- in peds.  Not too bad.  I'm so relieved to have second semester over with!  One year left!  A year from now I'll be done with finals for the 4th and final semester and getting ready for the NCLEX.  (That word makes me want to panic but I have another year, right?)  

I'm really looking forward to a few weeks with nothing but time to spend with the girls and Aaron.  I should also do something about the chaos in our pantry and my bedroom that has occurred since August.  

  

Have I mentioned

How much Cami and Brie are talking? Oh.my.goodness. They don't ever stop. 98% of the time I understand what they're saying. They are very conversational. And they have picked up some funny stuff. Here's a sampling of what I've heard the last several days:

"Me-haw, I'm a cowboy!" (said while "riding" a My Little Pony and wearing a cowboy hat) *Cami*
"We're having turkey dinner today. It's delicious!" *Brie*
"Kaden's house is broken!" (the Christmas lights weren't on)
"Kaden's Christmas is better! It's so bootiful!" (the Christmas lights were on again)
"OH NO! What are we going to do?" *Brie*
"I put water in it, Mama" (I was making Chex mix yesterday for a potluck and Cami dumped an entire bottle of almond extract into the dry cereal mix while I was cooking the candy coating for it. Yum.)
"We're going to Disneyland. In 2 weeks! I'm so excited!" *Brie*
"We go to primary today?" *Brie*
"You have a test tomorrow, Mama?" *Brie*
"Is this for your homework?" *Brie*
"I'm brave" *Cami*
"I want you to sleep with me, Mama." *Cami*
"I love you too Mama" *Brie* (She says this out of the blue, not in response to me saying it)
"Are you bootiful?" *Brie*
"I like to move it move it." *Brie and Cami*
"You guys are crazy!" *Cami*

And finally, "Mom, the crocodile is going to bite my toes!" There is a flying crocodile that likes to chase us when we're driving. Who knew? On Thanksgiving he spotted us as we were driving through The Ranches and he was a threat all the way to Murray (about 40 minutes). It was quite the ordeal.

Closer

I took med/surg exam #6 today and it went really well! It's great because it gives me lots of breathing room for the final. That is such good news!!!! I take a standardized test called the HESI on Wednesday, I am not really looking forward to it but it has to be done. Yuck. Nice way to kick off the holiday weekend. Oh well.

Last Tuesday Aaron dropped the twins off at my school so that he could go to work and I could stay for a baby shower for a classmate. They were playing and keeping themselves entertained exploring when Cami fell off a chair and hit her lip and nose on an end table. At first I thought she bit through her lip but she just cut it pretty good on the table. Once we got the bleeding settled down I went to take the girls upstairs to find something to cover it with while I drove to the hospital for stitches. Brie didn't get off the elevator with us but I didn't realize it. I looked for her frantically for a minute or two while a friend went up to the 3rd floor to see if she got off the elevator up there. She was standing there pushing the down button trying to get back down. Luckily it's an open floorplan and she was easy to find, I was feeling SO horrible!!!!

After we got Cami temporarily fixed up we headed up to the ER where Aaron works. I was about 1/2 mile away trying to figure out who I could get to pick Maddie up from school when I saw a cop and realized I was speeding. I slowed down but it didn't matter. He pulled me over and gave me a ticket. I deserved it and I wasn't even surprised that one more thing was being added to my terrible day. (It all started with an absolutely awful score on my third OB exam).

Aaron was surprised to see us, I hadn't been able to get ahold of him (my cell phone battery died). Cami was such a trooper for stitches, I was shocked. She stayed perfectly still and didn't make a sound the whole time the doctor was working on her. We got lunch at Wendy's and Frostys for a treat - the doctor told Cami I'd get her ice cream for being so brave.

Aaron took the stitches out on Saturday and I think it will heal nicely. I feel so bad! Several people have said "Now I'll be able to tell which is which!" Hmph.

Taking a minute

that I don't really have to post an update.  Life is sooooooo crazy at the moment.  I am looking forward to the finish line that is just 4 weeks away - unfortunately the next 4 weeks are jam-packed with clinicals, careplans, tests, and a few shifts at the NICU.  Oh, and Thanksgiving.  (I am taking that day OFF from my real life and just enjoying it!)

First of all, my 30th birthday has come and gone.  Aaron wanted to make sure it was a birthday I'll never forget and pulled together one humongous surprise party.  He was one busy guy for several weeks getting ready.  He invited everyone he could think of, snuck into my email contact list and my facebook contact list.  We had a huge Cafe Rio-type spread of barbacoa pork, shredded beef and chicken - all compliments of Aaron's superb cooking skills.   He also got a bunch of salsa from my favorite salsa place, Morelia's.  It was all so tasty!  I really appreciated all of the thought and effort he put into it.  Maddie even knew about it for several weeks and never once slipped up.  

I am definitely on the downhill slope for this semester.  As it stands, I'm getting the green light to go on to next semester.  I won't feel like I can breath until finals are over, but I'm optimistic at this point.  

That's all I have time for tonight.  I will try to update again soon.  Thanks for checking in!