Is it really July 5th?

I cannot believe how fast the weeks are going by. Since I last posted, so much has occurred. The biggest event has been our move to MS. Yes, we have moved. That seems crazy! We are in the process of settling in and eliminating boxes. Just when I think we have made a huge dent, another area of boxes are staring at us. However, it is coming along though. Alex and David are adjusting well and sleeping great in our new house which makes me smile. However, Alex (and us) talk about Little Rock every day and our friends. Today, we got real sad when Alex said she wanted to see her friend, Reagan. I told her we could Skype her. She proceeded to tell me in almost tears that she just wanted to play with her :( Mommy misses our friends so much as well!!!

Since life has been so crazy busy the last few weeks, I have hardly any pics of us in MS, but I have some backlog to post from our last days in LR.



We celebrated Chris' 33rd birthday with Kekoa and Gracie's 2nd birthday. Fun times with friends!



Becky braiding Alex's hair. Becky beautified all the girls with her talented braids at all the latest get togethers. Alex loved her braids and begged me to french braid it. My friend Layla taught me how one afternoon. ha! My fingers were so twisted. I need lots of practice. I did french braid her hair one day. It was so pathetic, but I worked so hard at it that I kept it in until it fell apart by lunch time. ha!



This is one of my favorite pics right now. Alex was so excited about her end of the year dance recital. She still talks about it and dances. Her class did one tap dance in Robinson Auditorium downtown. If we find our video camera software, we can post her dance to Shake Shake Shake (with maracas in hand!!!). So cute!

Some of the girls backstage at dress rehearsal the day before the recital. At first, I thought dress rehearsal was going to be a waste of time for her age. However, I learned it was the best thing ever to figure all this out since it was our first time!



Alex and Reagan at dance rehearsal. Oh, how Alex loves Reagan. She misses her so much!!!



Grandmother came to cheer on Alex....



as well as Grandaddy, Mimi, Hunter (yawning) and Aunt Cathy. Alex loved watching the other dancers after her dance.



Alex had her first haircut last month at the precious Pigtails and Crewcuts in LR. Alex did so well, she got her lollipop early. She was a bit nervous about the haircut at first, but enjoyed it so much that she asked could she get her haircut again everyday for about a week afterwards.



love the do!





"You ain't my Daddy."
I told the workers that Daddy had given David 2 haircuts already. One worker implied it needed straightening up, so David got a mini cut.



Happily doing his chores



My sweet friend, Elizabeth, had baby #3 just before we moved away. We were to thankful we got to meet little Garrett!



Alex yelled for me to come find her. I found her having a ball and chilling out in my new XL dryer. I love my new XL washer and dryer!!!





Alex and David having fun in the boxes as we unpack...



...until sister traps David in.



July 4th with family in Hattiesburg, MS



Alex and cousin Anna Cate played so well together...better than ever. I think it was because Alex was not bullying her this time! They were very sweet!

Chris' Residency Graduation

After 4 years of undergrad, 1 year postgrad in Australia, 4 years of medical school, and 5 years of residency, Chris has reached the end of the road in his medical training. This has been a long journey (14 years!!!) and we are so glad to celebrate the end of this chapter.
The Otolaryngology department at UAMS did a great job to send off the 3 chiefs well. A nice dinner was provided during the program of awards, "roasting" the chiefs presentations, skits, and presentation of diplomas, gifts and the special chair (below). He completed his residency in Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
This was a very special evening in which we were so proud, thankful and excited for Chris as he has worked so hard to get to this point. Although sleep deprived most of residency, he has remained focused and dedicated. We are so proud of Chris!!! Way to go, baby!

A replica of their diploma was presented to each chief.
They will receive the real one once all their check out procedure is completed next week.

The chiefs were presented with a very nice engraved chair as well.
The fam (Craig, Cathy, Mrs. Lee and Mr. Lee, and my mom) came to celebrate.

Chiefs with all the residents, some alumni and most of the faculty

I'm so proud of my hubby!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations Chris, Carrie and Larry!!!

Later this summer, Chris will start as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology and Communicative Sciences at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS. He will be practicing medicine in the field of Otolaryngology with UMC at the Grants Ferry Clinic located on Lakeland Drive and performing surgery at UMC.

Going Away Cookout

Wow! This group of friends have journeyed through tons together including the birth of 15 kids now and 1 preggo again. We will so miss everyone and hope some come visit us in MS. We hope to get back to LR at least once a year to visit.

David's 1st Birthday Monkey Style

Happy 1st Birthday
Little Monkey, Sweetie Pie, Sugar Plum, Sweet Pea, Love Bucket, Love Bug, Lil Man, etc!!!

I can't believe David turned one on May 26! Time is flying by. I love the stages of our children right now (David 1 and Alex 2.5) and love them close together. David's first few months were rough, but it has become so much fun and so much easier.

At one, David
* says mama, da da, nana for banana, hey, all done, mo for more, dog, sisa (only once), nack for snack, buh for ball, and tons of other rambles (grandmother claims she heard him say "i wanna see that" not sure about that one :)
* has 10 teeth!!!!!!!!
* can walk, but won't do it full time yet. has taken up to 15-20 steps.
* officially weaned today...hopefully :)
* will get measurement stats next week



As you can see, David loves monkeys. So, he had a monkey themed first birthday party. It was so much fun planning and preparing and it turned out so cute!

My 3rd homemade cake :)



My first attempt at face cupcakes
These were so much more fun to make than the monkey cake. I found these cute faces in my Hello Cupcake book. The recipe called for purple chocolate covered sunflower seeds for the nose. Well, I thought hard and looked around for a substitute as I was going to have to order the seeds. I could not find anything that shape so I ordered the seeds online. I only needed about 40-50, but had to buy a whole pound of them. They ended up tasting so good that we served them at the party and snacked on them for days.



Simple decor using bananas and David's monkeys.







David loves balloons especially these which had Curious George's face on them.



David's blank look as people sang "Happy Birthday" to him





Blowing out candle on 1st birthday cake



Sweet friends Elizabeth and Stacie

Wendy and Stacie's lil Caleb



Some Moms N More friends celebrate with us



The studdly men: Graeme, Chris, Jason and Patrick (don't know where Clay was)



Samantha, Big Sis Alex and Reagan



Birthday dinner afterwards: pizza and a monkey's fav - bananas!

11th Anniversary

Chris and I celebrated 11 years of marriage together on May 22. Wow! We have been through a lot these past 11 years - growing up together in a since, me finishing college, living in Brisbane, Australia along with 3 different cities in the US so far, traveling tons, med school, seminary, residency, various ministry jobs, births of our precious children, etc... The journey has been fun, yet intense the last several years. We are excited to start a new chapter after residency this summer!

We have no pics from our awesome 11th anniversary date night (kid free thanks to Wendy!!!). So, enjoy some of these honeymoon pics in Cozumel from 11 years ago. Whoa!



We look so young!

Cozumel, Mexico

This is the only beach shot y'all get...the others show too much skin. ha!

Blogger Goof Up

I don't know what has happened, but I can't update my blog with new pics because blogger is not reading my most recent pic uploads. ???? So, I have lots of David's 1st birthday pics and all to post, but can't right now. Sorry!!! If anyone has any helps as to why blogger can't read my uploads, leave me a comment. thanks!

A Peek into May So Far

Our little man has 8 teeth now and he's not even one! This blows our mind as Alex only had 2 teeth until 13 months old.

Our little monkey climbs or attempts to climb on everything. I have found him on top of (or attempting to be on top of) stools, chairs, small picnic tables, coffee tables, the potty, bathtub, fireplace, you name it.



Whew...what a mess! Well, mommy spent some time sorting toys in those big tubs to rotate out or store away if they had grown out of them. After leaving Alex and David to play for a bit, I came back to find everything out of the tubs. Alex said they were "having a fiesta." HA!



After our morning stroll, I often do some exercises in the garage. Alex loves to imitate me. This day, it was calf raises. ha!



...and the one legged calf raise.



Sibling snack time





Singing and dancing with dress up stuff...notice the boa on the cabinet hook. ha!

The weather has been incredible for a while now so Alex often requests to picnic out back.

"Finally, mommy took me to a play date with kiddos closer to my age."



My daredevil wanting to go as high as possible



"Wait for me sister; I'll be climbing up there soon."



Downtown fun





Last day of Kids First Day Out
I would hate to be the teachers in this class...all girls!!! what drama!



Oh, how I will miss these sweet friends and Pinnacle Mountain!



Surprise shower for Elizabeth...hoping baby #3 comes before we move!!!



What sweet memories I have with these precious friends!