Sam's Graduation

So I have over a year and a half to catch up and I’m mad at past Kiley for doing this to me! Just kidding, but I’ll try to remember everything that has happened since June 2023. Better do it now while I recollect these events ha ha!

Let’s start with Sam's graduation from fellowship beginning of June! This was a huge deal because this was Sam's last graduation ever. He’s had five but this one is the one that counted for him. I was so proud of Sam for all these years of medical education that he completed. If we count undergrad, it was 14 years of getting to this point we decided not to take our kids because it was a very fancy event. I don’t think they would’ve enjoyed it anyway. It was held in a courtyard near Jules Stein. And catered with really fancy food. I don’t quite remember all the food as it’s been a year and a half but as always, it was super impressive.

We sat at a table with his co-fellow Nick and his family and enjoyed the atmosphere. I found it bittersweet as we really enjoyed Los Angeles and Sam enjoyed working at UCLA so much and it felt like a door was closing. This has just been such a wonderful opportunity for Sam to learn from the very best and he has come out feeling very confident in his skills. Many other retina docs back in San Antonio will hand him surgical cases they don’t feel comfortable with. Sam was one of the last fellows who has worked with some well-known doctors who have since left. we will forever be grateful that we had this experience in Los Angeles, and I never thought I would love it so much. Here are some photos from the event!

Our fancy table

complete with fancy menu cards

The graduate himself

Sam in front of Jules Stein with Nick and Jiwei

 

The graduation was for residents as well, so we sat through different slideshows and awards. Sam couldn't resist making a roast video for the different doctors he's worked with. He took the roast video he made last graduation and tweaked it for the UCLA doctors.  I think it was well received! There was only one award for Fellows called the Fellowship Teaching Award. The residents rotated through different services in ophthalmology, and the fellows would help teach them.  Sam was sure it would go to another fellow in a different department. His reasoning is none of the residents wanted to retina so he must not have been a good teacher 😂.  The residents were the ones who chose the recipient, and to Sam's surprise (but not mine) he got it! He got a standing ovation and was given a glass apple. Sam really enjoys teaching and academics and I know the residents appreciate his dedication to helping them understand.

Sam receiving the award

Sam showing off his award!

The main course (a yummy beef dish)

They finally called each of the graduates up

 

He was given his certificate by Dr. Prasad

Sam's co-fellow graduate, Nick

Note the photographer cropped me out, haha!

End of an era

Again, what a wonderful experience this was for Sam! Three years before this we (more like I) would never have considered or dreamed this is where Sam would end up. It has really prepared Sam for what he's currently doing in San Antonio and will open so many doors when his military commitment ends. Thank you to all the doctors who taught and inspired him to be the doctor he is today!

Dear Elijah,

Happy 9th birthday! The morning of your birthday you asked to open presents right away and I'm glad we ended up doing that, you got sick in the middle of the day with vomiting, aches and a fever. I felt so awful you had to spend your birthday that way. You spent Christmas that way, too. I'm happy you're feeling so much better and have been able to play with all your presents since then. Let's dive into this letter, shall we?

Looking back at my last letter you are very much the same kid with the same interests, just older (and maybe wiser)! You are quite tall and very skinny I'm constantly buying new shoes for you too. Everyone is just growing fast there is always something I need to get you guys. Although you are growing super fast, you are pretty slow in losing your teeth! You've lost 6, but it's been a while since you lost any. You have a cross bite going on so I have a feeling braces will be in your future. Your favorite foods are still cereal and chocolate. You started liking dark chocolate, so you definitely ave your dad's palette.

 

You started 3rd grade this past fall and seem to be loving it! GT started as well and it seems to be your favorite class as it challenges you plus you get to hang out with your friends. You have two to three really good friends, love doing homework (especially math), and always have a nose in a book at night. Boy do you love to read. You've read series after series. You are finishing up the Wings of Fire books, started Eragon, and have school library books you read as well. I know your love of reading will serve you really well in the future!

Your weeks are rather busy! In addition to school, you do Kung Fu twice a week, piano practice and lessons, and Activity Days. I think you are excelling in these areas rather well. You've been doing Kung Fu for three years now and have made it to green belt in your current dojo. I'm pretty impressed watching you, especially with weapons (staff, nunchucks, and short stick). You're on your way to brown belt (mind blown)! I mentioned piano and you practice almost every day. You even got to play in the Primary Program! Your teacher is a saint with her dedication and giving us a wonderful deal. We ended up in yet another ward and the transition was pretty hard on you at first. You cried almost every week at AD. Things seemed to have settled there at least!

 

Some good qualities you have are dedication, motivation, and strive for perfection. Something you have a hard time with is when you don't meet your own standards or receive any corrections (from me especially). It's hard to watch you get upset the way you do and sometimes we just have to let you have your time to cool down. You memorized the Articles of Faith recently as a challenge we set and you did it! But when you first started reciting them any correction you received hit you hard until you ran off without finishing. You did it the next day just fine, though! Sports and games are hard for you, too. You might be used to being good at things that when you don't get something right away or you lose, you fall short of that standard you set for yourself. I'm sure it doesn't help when you feel pressure from others when they tell you how smart you are so you feel you must be the best.  It's just something we'll work on. The smartest thing you can do is to not quit!

As far as your relationship with your siblings, it's hot and cold. You can sometimes annoy them (on purpose) and then feign ignorance when I tell you they don't like it. But you can be very sweet. You will sit and play with Noah or Eden, or you will listen to Joseph and show interest in his interests. One of his interests that rubbed off on you is your love for herptiles. You bought a Crested Gecko last year at the Reptile Show, and you are currently obsessed with Frilled Lizards. Like, I had to make a costume of one and decorate your birthday cake with one. One interest you share with me is the singer/songwriter Livingston's music. I found his music and we started listening to it to and from Kung Fu. Eventually I took you to Houston for a concert of his and we had a blast! I'm really glad I could bond with you that way.

                                         

Well, I think that is a good overview of your ninth year of life! I can't believe that it will soon be a decade of having you this time next year. Way to making me feel old! I know you will thrive in anything you do. Keep trying even if you don't get it right away. Keep trying to be like Jesus. Remember who you are and what you stand for! I love you, Elijah!

Love,

Mom

 

Dear Eden,

This is a month late, but I still want to wish you a happy 6th birthday in a birthday letter. So happy birthday, Eden girl! We celebrated your birthday in New Mexico and Colorado at the family cabin. It seems we celebrate your birthday in a lot of different places due to the day being in the summer. I wonder where else we will celebrate our girly. I have written this letter but I didn't like how it came across so this is birthday letter 2.0. Now onto the letter!

 

Despite your limited diet (by choice), you are where you should be height and weight-wise. So no concerns there. You don't like to exert yourself too much and claim to be tired a lot. After some tests, there's nothing that came up, so maybe you're like your mom and like to rest up. You did ballet last school year and really enjoyed it. You wanted to try Kung Fu with Eli this past summer but it was a struggle at the end. I'm proud of you for finishing. You will be starting dance back up in September and you are excited to do it again. You really want to be a ballerina when you grow up and recently you told me you will never change your mind. I'm interested to see if you do or not in the future.

I mentioned your diet, and oh boy, it's a chore feeding you. Things you are guaranteed to like are corn dogs, white mac and cheese from a box, PB and J, strawberries, apples, and peanut butter, Mott's fruit snacks, and Little Caesar's cheese pizza. You will also drink ketchup/mayo/honey mustard from the bottle if given the opportunity. There isn't a single vegetable you will eat. You love cupcakes, but only the frosting. It's stressful I must admit, but we are doing our best to introduce new foods. I really hope one day you will grow out of it for your health. 

 

You are a talker! You like to tell me about your day, ideas you have, your opinions, the past (mainly how much you miss California and want to go to Disneyland and drink California water). You want my undivided attention and get mad when I can't give it or zone out (whoops!). It's been getting better when I say you will have a turn after a conversation with someone else or a task I am finishing. Other things you love from me are cuddles. You love to compliment me while cuddling with you and though I don't really feel I deserve it, it's super cute. You are so lovey-dovey and crave physical contact. Nothing makes you happier (than maybe a new toy). You are still a full-on momma's girl!

Some of your interests include anything shiny (I call you my little magpie), dragons, Puppy-corns, stickers, butterflies, Pokemon, Stitch, and the color pink. Very much a girly girl sprinkled with magic. You love material things and get excited when you see something you like at the store. This past year we had a couple incidents with you stealing  (hence being called a magpie). You haven't done it in a while though! When you don't get something you want you introduce your sad face (big eyes looking up, tiny frown with lips moving up and down). I kind of laugh every time you use it, sorry! You think it's a cute face (it really is) and you do love cute things! You like to draw with cute eyes on everything and do have some of the cutest drawings. Your teachers have commented on your drawings in the past and it's hard to throw any of them away. You are a talented girl. Lastly, I noticed you are more willing to complete chores and tasks with little fight. As long as you get to play Pokemon or earn a dollar or two!

 

I've stated that when I was pregnant with Noah, I thought that if I didn't get another girl it would be okay because I had you as a daughter. It was due to how adorably sweet and girly you were. Those things are still very true, although you've become quite the firecracker as well. You fight back when your brothers are bothering you (you have some good nails on you). I'm still not sure what to do there, but I hope you will express yourself more calmly as you get older. And even though your brothers get on your nerves, you do not like to be alone at all. And you always want a playmate. Maybe more friends than enemies, but "frienemies" is the best term to describe your relationship with your brothers. You have friends you've made at school, Wrigley, Dustin and Rubi. You talk about them a lot and we even had playdates with them. I'm so happy to see you create your own relationships. I hope these relationships last through the years!

I love you, sweet girl. I hope you have a wonderful year and grow into that beautiful spirit of yours. I've seen great changes in you and I am so happy to call you my daughter. You are enough for us in many ways and I'm glad you are in our lives. Keep working on being a good sister and great friend. 

Love, 

Mama

Dear Joseph,

Happy 11th birthday! Once again you remind me of the breakneck speed of the time passing. I still remember holding you at our old duplex listening to Clair de Lune and savoring every little part of my newborn. Now that newborn baby is finishing elementary school.  Let's get into your life at eleven years old.

Looking back at your last letter I see not a whole lot has changed. You've gone up a size in shoes and pants, but other than that you haven't passed me in height or shoe size. I have a feeling that will change come next birthday. You also haven't gotten braces like I predicted. The new dentist said we could wait so we'll see when it actually happens. You still like some of the same foods, like sushi, watermelon, dragon fruit, and other tropical fruits, but your biggest obsession is Orange Fanta. Your uncle Matt gave you one when we went to Mexico and you ask for it almost every chance you get. In fact, that's what you spend most of your earnings on. Hopefully, we don't have to make extra trips to the dentist for that too.

As this is your last year in elementary school, we were looking at our options for middle school. I was first leaning toward the middle school you are assigned to, but your dad wanted to look into the magnet schools funded by the school district. We then learned about Jones STEM middle school and you eagerly wanted to go to this one. You are going to have a focus on science which you enjoy the most out of all the subjects. You want to be a herpetologist one day (study of reptiles and amphibians) so I think it will be a good fit for you. Your absolute favorite animal is a hognose snake, so much so that you got one last Christmas. You also like axolotls and geckos. You also asked for a passion fruit vine and a Venus fly trap for your birthday. I just love these things about you.

Concerning fifth grade, I've seen growth. You have done well with testing, so I see a jump in concentration and understanding. Your writing has improved and you are pretty proficient in math. All good things. The biggest things you struggle with are all social in nature. You prefer to be alone most of the time and get mad at other students if they talk to you for any reason outside of school work. You are still in speech learning about back-and-forth conversations. You have gotten super sensitive and don't react well to teasing or scolding. Lately, you have been biting your hand as a coping mechanism. I just hope you can cope with middle school and all the things that go on there.

 

We've recently given you chores that need to be completed to gain screen time. You are so good at completing these chores without prompting, like dishes, homework, and lately taking care of your plants and animals. Thank you for being so responsible.  This helps me feel better about middle school since it requires more responsibility to get to class and remember all the work that needs to be done. By completing additional chores you earned an allowance. Most of it goes to Fanta as I mentioned above, but when we went to the Reptile Show here in San Antonio you wanted to get a new pet so bad. Eli spent his whole savings on a gecko while you bought a mobile fake tarantula. You are hoping to earn money for next year's show. We'll see what happens then!

You've gotten less patient with siblings and there has been a lot of contention, but there are sweet moments too. Right now I can hear you play with Eden (who is at a difficult stage), and you will help watch the kids when I need you to. I'm sorry you have to be the bigger person a lot and also have to help your siblings with things. I appreciate the things you do and the big brother that you are.

I'm sure there's plenty I've forgotten, but no letter can truly capture the person you are, Joseph. I haven't met a person like you, and I just love how unique you are. I can appreciate how passionate you are about the things you are interested in. I find I enjoy learning about these things along with you. It has been so fun being your mom and I hope that I can practice more patience and empathy with you, especially in these coming years. I love you so very much!

Love,

Mom

Dear Noah,

My baby is three. It feels like we had you forever and no time at all. You have made yourself a part of our family through and through and we love you for all your spunk and imagination. Let's capture our little Noah man at three years old.

 

Looking back you haven't changed much in your eating habits. You still love chocolate milk, fruit snacks, and Go-Gurts. But occasionally you will ask for fruit and veggies, like carrots, salad, and even broccoli. You are a tall little guy, being the tallest of all the cousins born around the same time. You are pretty solid as well compared to them. I love my big boy! 

  

Speaking of being a big boy, you are potty-trained! You have been a dream compared to your brothers and even potty-trained earlier than your sister. I finally had a weekend where I couldn't make any excuses not to start and although it took a few days, by Sunday you were requesting to go poop at church and have been doing well since then. Of course, you started regressing with poop, but it hasn't been too bad. Needless to say, I am so proud of you and grateful I had at least one easy child to train!

We stopped therapy since moving to Texas but you have been doing well communicating and with your motor skills. I haven't felt the need to put you back in. You can communicate for the most part, although there are some words I still can't decipher. Some things you have learned include building with tiles, legos, marble run pieces, building forts, and coloring. I think you will be just fine when you get to school age! You even prefer to do things for yourself and always say it's Noah's turn. Noah's turn to brush his teeth, mix his food, get his shoes on, buckle his car seat, bow Mom's cello, say the prayer, etc. You get mad if I do things for you even though you ask me to do it for you ten seconds later when you can't figure it out. It's good to learn to be independent.

 

You have gotten into a lot of things. For a long time, it was Super Mario. You even wanted to wear your Luigi costume a second time for Halloween. Then you got into Spidey and His Amazing Friends. You asked to watch it all the time. Then for a brief time, it was dinosaurs and you wanted to watch Dino Ranch. Now you love Paw Patrol. Thank goodness I didn't get rid of all our Paw Patrol toys. I feel your favorite character changes a bit. It was Chase, then Marshall. Then for a couple of days, you wanted to be called Zuma and corrected us if we called you Noah. Now you correct us and say you are Marshall. What a silly boy!

Since moving to Texas there have been some challenges. Now all your siblings go to school full time and you are stuck at home with me and get bored easily. You can get a bit demanding and it's hard to get a moment of peace. You also have to share a room with a sibling and it gets troublesome at some points because you try to keep them up. We wanted you to share a room with Eli, but Eden freaked out about being alone, so we put you in her room. But you two keep each other up! Currently, you switch between the two rooms and I joke about how you are homeless. Eventually, you will find your permanent room and get more routine. 

I have a feeling you will be pushing buttons this year, but as much as having a three-year-old is challenging, I will miss you being this little and how sweet and innocent you are. I love to see how much you love Nursery and playing with your siblings. I love hearing you talk and laugh and seeing you do silly dances. I hope you have a wonderful year and continue to make your mark in this world. We love you so so much.

Love,

Mama