Happy Birthday to Nick!

We just celebrated Nick's 34th Birthday. Isaac requested that we make Daddy a lion cake. Nick was a good sport to settle for a boxed cake mix and store bought frosting(not to mention the amateur decorating job) instead of a delicious Texas Cake or Double layer homemade chocolate cake like his Mom would have done. Isaac was pretty proud of it though! When Nick started Medical school 7 years ago, he said I'll be 35 years old when I'm finished. I thought that sounded forever away, but now just one more year to go! Nick's next birthday will be a huge celebration for our family.

Savannah likes Chinese

It's a long story but somehow three chinese people ended up at our house in Kansas to watch Isaac during one of his therapy sessions. Emily invited them over to dinner before the session, so we fed the chinese BBQ shredded pork sandwiches. They didn't like the lemonade.

The Chinese have started a program in Beijing China, called Stars and Rain Education Institute for Autism, and were here in Wichita learning some of our programs. Isaac has been receiving therapy for 2 years now. He has made great progress. He will be going to a communications disorder kindergarten class next year and will also do some speech therapy which will be one-on-one. He can read at a second grade level, but still struggles with speech at times and socical skills. He is now potty-trained, which has taken place the last couple of months.
Back to the Chinese, Savannah latched on to Scott(the Chinese guy), but wouldn't go to the girls. Sophia, as usual, won't go to anybody and would scream if they got too close.

Squirt and Monkey

That's the nicknames that I have given to the girls. I don't know why I came up with those, but probably had something to do with the way they act. Savannah is Monkey and Sophia is Squirt. They are saying some words. At least it seems like they are saying moma and dada. I don't know when that started. They are almost a year old. I wish they would hurry and grow up so they can help out around here.
Isaac makes the biggest messes. He uses so much paper between his coloring and printing stuff on the computer. We had an idea to give him folders with only 10 pieces of paper each day, but that isn't working because he has a big stash of papers somewhere in the house. So our house is usually filled with papers that he colors.
Isaac and I went on a father and son's outing that involved the entire stake. We went to some lake north of Wichita. It felt more like a city park. The weather was great. I did notice that around 10:00 at night everything felt wet. It was so humid that our tent was already wet, inside and out. It only got to around 55 degrees at night. I would have slept okay but too many screaming kids running around and also the people camped next to us had there big telescope out and kept scanning around the sky which made mechanical noises each time. We left early the next morning. I rarely have time off and my back lawn is 10 inches high, so I couldn't wait around. I got home and mowed the lawn.
Camping in Kansas is so fun, especially when there are a million people all around you.

Bean Town

"The magical fruit, the more you eat....."
I just got back from Boston. I was there for a conference. The residency paid for the trip. The conference was disappointing as well as the hotel. We were not even in downtown. The hotel was in a town outside of Boston called Revere. I was there with two other residents in my class. We did spend some time walking around Boston and saw some of the historical sites. It has been hot here in Wichita(currently 90 degrees) and I forgot to bring a coat. I ended up buying jacket because Boston is barely into spring right now. On Monday they had the Boston marathon. We didn't see the race, but did see a lot of people that had run and were heading home on the streets or subways.
We walked around Harvard campus one afternoon. I thought somehow I would become more intelligent by the very act. Didn't happen.
Emily's mom fly into town for the week, so she had a great time while I was gone.
Isaac is making progress towards potty training. He has gone on his own, but gets to open a brand new toy each time. This could get expensive fast. His pullups are expensive as well. I hope he continues to make progress.

Emily Speaks!

Nick said it was my turn to write something for the blog. I’m happy to give a brief update on our family. The girls are busy little bodies since they’ve recently learned to crawl. Savannah is standing up with the help of any furniture or person she can grab on to. Savannah is the more aggressive twin, she wants whatever Sophia is playing with, and will plow her over to get it. Sophia will cry for an instant, then calmly get another toy and mind her own business. It’s funny just how different they are, two very distinct personalities. They are so adorable, they do something cute every single day, I love watching them grow up. Sophia is Daddy’s little princess, she just loves him so much. Good thing Savannah is still my little girl. They are too cute together, they crawl around together and make mischief. I can’t imagine how it’s going to be when they’re two years old-they’ll really work together to cause trouble. Isaac is a great big brother, he is so helpful. He’s still not too sure about sharing Nick and I. The other day he wanted my help on the computer, I told him I couldn’t help him right now because Sophia needed me. Isaac said “Take babies to hospital”. He knows that’s where we got the babies, so he probably thinks we can just take them back. He loves to hold them and play with them, at times he’s a little rough, but he’s getting much better. He sure can make Sophia laugh when he wants to. Isaac is doing very well at school, his teachers all love him and are amazed at the progress he’s making. He is so smart in reading and writing. He knows all the months in order and can write them too, he knows what month all of our birthdays are in. He is into calendars and maps right now. Yesterday I gave him some construction paper and he said “Today we’re going to learn about Kansas and Utah.” He drew and colored the states, then cut them out and taped them on the wall. He told us that the Buffalo was the State animal, the meadowlark is the state bird, and the state flower is the sunflower. Today out of the blue he said “George Washington”. He is actually retaining the knowledge he’s learning. He’s been such a good boy at church lately too. I found that bribing him works wonders. If he’s good at church we get to come home and bake an item of his choice, usually it’s chocolate cake or gingerbread men. Nick has been working most weekends lately, so I rely on Isaac to be good, because my hands are full with the babies. Nick is on a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit rotation this month, and I’ll be so happy when it’s over, he has 2 days off all month, he will have worked 26 of the 28 days of February. Nick is a trooper working long hours and then coming home to help with the kids. Just less than a year and a half to go in his residency!!!!!!!!!!!!! We’ve had some great years moving around and making new friends, but we’ll be so happy to be done.

Christmas in Kansas

This year we opened up presents on Christmas eve. I was moonlighting on Christmas day for 12 hours and really Isaac had no clue which day was Christmas or which day we should open up the presents anyway. I heard no protest from the twins either.
Isaac had a great time. He doesn't really know anything about Santa Claus, but loves wrapping and opening presents. He did open up some presents that he wrapped himself(microwave popcorn, macaroni and cheese, etc.)

The girls can now sit up, so we let them sit on the floor by themselves and Isaac handed out presents to everyone. He did a great job and I think we'll let him do it each year. He did open up the presents for the girls because they would just try to eat them.

I had to do my shopping on Christmas eve a few hours before we opened presents. I took Isaac with me to help find something for Emily. I found out later that Emily tried to get Isaac to tell her what we bought for her. Isaac told her we got a dress. She was worried, but we actually got her a jogging suit. She was very happy with her present.

Great Thanksgiving

It was great to be with family for Thanksgiving. It was the first Thanksgiving for me back home in six years. Isaac loved seeing his cousins. The twins already miss everyone and especially all the attention they received. Thanks to everyone for helping us enjoy a great visit. Adam thanks for the headlamp, I use it everyday.

Deer hunt

One of his antlers had been broken off, most likely from fighting with other bucks.

I took a picture of the wheat field after I shot the buck.

Deer Hunt

I only had one evening to deer hunt this year. I got permission to hunt on the farm that I hunted last year. I took my neighbor Mike, a dentist in my ward, hunting with me. He wasn't going to hunt, but wanted to come and watch. We drove down to Ark City and met up with the land owner. He directed us to one of his wheat fields. The weather was very cold yesterday with 25 degrees and 30 mph winds. We put on about 7 layers of clothing and felt pretty good. We only had to sit for 1/2 hour before 2 bucks came out of the trees and began feeding. I commented to Mike that hunting is usually more work than this. The bucks were smaller than I wanted, but his was my only chance. After watching them for over 1/2 hour I decided to take one of them. The deer were almost 200 yards away and with my marlin 30-30 the first shot hit dirt in front of the buck, two more shots and I finally hit him. It was fun and took less than two hours. I was very happy to have Mike help me gut the deer and haul it back to the truck.

Head above water

I finally finished my month of obstetrics. I saw a lot of babies born last month. I did over 60 epidurals. I am exhausted, and so is Emily. I started moonlighting on weekends, which meant my hours worked over the last three weeks averaged 113 hours a week. Now this is tough for me and Emily as well because she is stuck with Isaac and the twins. No help in sight. We felt like we're just keeping our heads above water....but progressively running out of energy. This month will be better. Her mom is coming on the 9th and then they are all flying to Utah.
We are looking forward to Thanksgiving in Utah.
Isaac is back in the tent. I wish he could communicate his reasons for why he does certain things. He is making progress, still only half potty trained.
Savannah is still mean half the time. Emily is excited because she is eating rice cereal. She is truly momma's girl.
Sophia is the nicest little baby ever. We continue the stretches on her neck to try and improve her torticollis.
Emily continues to take care of the kids with kindness and patience and is the best wife ever.

Finally

I felt a strange sensation the other day. It was hard at first to realize what was happening, but then it came to me I wasn't sweating. A wave of relief came over when I realized I was feeling cool crisp air. Yes, it finally cooled down in Wichita. And this morning I actually turned my heater on in my jeep!! I saw a few people with coats on, truly sad.

Torticollis

Torticollis in latin means "twisted neck." Sophia has this condition. I should have seen in sooner, but she was diagnosed last week and we took her to a physical therapist who felt she had a moderate case of it. She has two different muscles that are contracting too much or are too short. We are doing therapy at home which consists of stretching and trying to get her to look to her left, which she hates. We are hopeful that the therapy will start to work before all the bones in her skull fuse, because her head is a little crooked right now. I'll show a couple of pictures of her. Notice how she always has her head in that position.

If you want to know more just google corticollis. Poor little girl and she already had surgery two months ago.

Isaac back in Bed!

For unknown reasons, Isaac has abandon his tent in the basement and is now sleeping in his bed. Isaac had no comment on the move but sources close to him say it has to do with the drop in temperature experienced in Wichita this week.

Isaac still sleeps in his tent in the basement. I decided he should see what it is like to actually camp outside. I have been waiting for it to cool off, but we’re still running our air conditioner in Kansas. The other problem is that Kansas is all private land. The only place you can camp is in a campground at a state park.
The weather called for a low of 58 degrees on Friday night and a slight chance of PM showers. I worked a 24 hour shift on Thursday night and would take Isaac camping as soon as I woke up. Isaac and I headed to Fall River state park, which is over an hour east of Wichita. I made a wrong turn and instead of turning at the state park I turned at Fall River wilderness area. This is a public area where you can hunt or fish. I found a dirt road heading into a river and followed it to the end. I found what looked like a campsite. I still don’t know if we could camp there or not. I did see a fire ring, so we decided to camp there for the night. We actually had a great time until 11:00 pm when the rain started and lots of wind and didn’t stop. In the morning I packed up the tent in the rain. There was no grass where we camped only clay, which when wet sticks to your feet and makes it difficult to walk.
At home I put my tent up in the garage to let it dry out, but the humidity outside was 94%. It is still up in the garage and will probably never dry out. It is pathetic, but I really miss just camping in the West. One thing though, Isaac really had a good time, so we will do more in the future.

Isaac's birthday for real

Isaac finally had his 5th birthday. I don't know that it was any more special than all his other parties this year. We did take him to Chucki-Cheese. He loves pizza and running around playing games. We were going to get him a bike, but he wouldn't even try on the bike helmets at the store, so I held off on getting him a bike. We kept telling him that he was 5 years old now, but every time we'd ask him his age he would say 4 or 6. I don't know why he doesn't like 5.
Isaac does love Chocolate cake and Emily made a very nice cake and Isaac's neighbor friend, Peyton came over to sing to him. Otherwise a nice quiet birthday. Half of the presents that Isaac opened he had wrapped earlier.

Playing favorite

I


Today I told Emily that I like Sophia more than Savannah. Of course she mentioned that she loves them both unconditionally, etc...... The fact is I love them both, but Savannah is either crying or smiling and usually the former predominates. Savannah has been known to laugh at times, but for some reason she can quickly go from being happy to mad then sad. Another problem is that she wants to be held all of the time. As soon as you set her down she starts screaming.

Sophia on the other hand is starting to smile more and is a lot more mellow. She has big blue eyes and loves it when you talk to her. She will lay by herself without crying and she feeds better. She also sleeps better through the night. Someone at church said that Sophia looks like Isaac. Honestly I don't see it. She is on the left side. Savannah on the right.
It is hard not to compare them to each other.

Isaac is on day 20 of sleeping in his tent. If I would have known this we could have used Isaac's room for an office or got a smaller house with less bedrooms.
Nothing to report in Wichita. Still hot and humid(what I would give for snow). I would be willing to skip Fall all together if it meant it would happen tomorrow. My thoughts and dreams are of some place with moutains, clear running streams.... I know I have it good with all the suffering going on right now so I'm through complaining.

Camping in Kansas

I bought Isaac a tent last Christmas. I set it up in the basement from time to time and sometimes he would play in it and other times he would ignore it. 2 weeks ago I set up the tent again in the basement and put his sleeping bag in there and an air mattress. For some reason, Isaac wanted to sleep in the tent, which would be a first for him.
That was 2 weeks ago and Isaac has been sleeping in the tent every night. I wish I could take him camping here in Kansas so he could really enjoy what tents are made for, but until they make an air conditioner for tents, I won't be camping here any time soon.


Isaac's first day of school is today. He cried when Emily left, but not before she took a picture. Isaac will be 5 years old in a few weeks, but he is not starting kintergarten yet, he will continue in the same 1/2 day class that he was in last year.

Getting attention

Even though I hate shopping, I took the family to Sam's club today. Emily says she has a lot of people come up to see the twins and make a fuss about them wherever she goes. Today I saw that firsthand as I pushed around the double stroller through the store. Many people stared my direction, others would come up and look at the girls. While shopping, Isaac saw some halloween costumes and wanted the duck outfit. We decided to have him try it on. He loved it and wouldn't take it off after that. So there we were, shopping in Sam's club with the double stoller and Isaac walking around in a duck costume. Many people were laughing at Isaac, including me, I couldn't stop. I just took a picture to show what I mean, it will be the same look at Halloween, I hope that doesn't spoil it for anyone.

Special Day

I am sure most don't know that 10 years ago on August 5th, Emily and I were married. Many of our anniversaries were spent traveling. I promised Emily that we would finally do something special for our 10th. Well, long story short, it was a Friday and I worked most of the day and we couldn't get a baby sitter for that night or Saturday night. It must be real fun being married to me. You never see me and you get to take care of Isaac and new twins all by yourself. Somehow, Emily has stayed with me all these years. She is the best mother in the whole world.

I wrote this 2 days ago, and I was just thinking that this story of our anniversary should help all the men out there. If your wife doesn't think your anniversary plans were all that special, you can just mention me. Well Nick didn't even ........see how it could work.

Different personality

Savannah smiles a lot more than Sophia. Just this week Sophia has finally started to give us a little smile. It almost seems like they are different ages. Savannah was born bigger and is still bigger and her personality seems more developed. They are over 2 months old now. Time is really flying.
I am counting the days until it cools down here in Wichita. Hot and sticky gets old after a while. I enjoy the nice cool operating room most days.
I am doing heart surgeries this month. It is a lot more stressful than other months. Emily is somehow staying up most of the night with the twins and still takes care of the family during the days.
I couldn't get Christmas off again this year, but I did manage to get the week of Thanksgiving off, so we are coming to Southern Utah that week if anyone wants to see us. The twins will be six months old.