April and May Update

I think it's time for an update. Sadly I don't remember much of what happened since April, but I'll try. Also, sorry if there are a lack of pictures: I've been fighting something for a solid month now and motivation to do anything, including taking pictures, has plummeted.

Sam started school up end of March full time so it was a little tricky finding a schedule for all of us while we were both in school all day. Can I just say how amazing and convenient it is to have best friend neighbors you would totally trust with your kid all day? We are beyond grateful to have the Boyacks in our lives. It wasn't easy but somehow we made it through.

Jared and Jenny came for their Spring Break beginning of April. It was super fun to have them over for Easter and see their cute kids. We had an egg hunt, a BBQ, long-due family pictures, and the zoo. Sam and I had school so we couldn't come over as much as we would have liked! It was fun seeing you guys!

April also marked Joey's 2nd birthday. It seriously has flown by. I can't wait to be done with school completely to enjoy the small moments more. I've been loving this summer business and am soaking my Joey time up. We planned a birthday party for him the Saturday after his birthday but lucky us we all got a serious virus that week and felt it wasn't worth the stress. There were a lot of school things to do as well. Below is his invite so you can adore what would have been.

We also participated in our stake's youth conference by playing our instruments in their production of "From Cumorah's Hill". This would be Sam's third time participating in this production and my second. They do it every four years. This years sounded pretty awesome. Good job Albuquerque Stake Youth!

Can I talk about this sickness? The week that all of us got it Sam and Joey were puking, had goopy eyes, and a lot of flu-like symptoms. I managed to not get the stomach bug and my eyes weren't as goopy as theirs, but I really feel I got hit the hardest for other reasons. Sam and Joey were about back to normal but I was still feverish and sicky two weeks after it hit. I went to the doctor and found out I got a double ear infection (no fun) and was prescribed amoxicillin (anti-biotic). Sam told me I wouldn't feel better for a couple of days, and that was depressing. But a couple days later I was feeling worse than better. I wanted relief so bad I was willing to wait in the emergency room for five hours at midnight to get the fastest treatment. The doctor gave me a steroid and a new regimen to treat my infection.

Well, a couple hours of getting home I noticed a rash on my abdomen. It wasn't bad but a little itchy so I didn't worry too much about it. By nighttime it spread to my face, arms, and legs and got really itchy. By the morning they were full-on hives. I went to the urgent care this time. I was thinking it was the steroid I was allergic to because it came on shortly after receiving it. But the doctor really felt it was the amoxicillin and had me stop taking it. He also just prescribed me some antihistamines and had me go along my way. I was unrecognizable at this point with my severely swollen face and didn't want to go anywhere. I got to my Mother-in-law's (where Joey was being watched) and felt awful. Chills, fever, nausea and vomiting, and my sweet MIL let me sleep in her bed, took care of Joey all day, got me my drugs, and went grocery shopping for me (I complained I desperately needed to go that day). My skin started turning purple with all my veins bursting from being so dilated, and I was so light-headed sitting and standing up. Sam looked it up and we're pretty sure I had an anaphylactic reaction to the amoxicillin. I feel that steroid I got a few hours before the reaction prevented any airway problems. Regardless, the reaction put me out for another couple of days (luckily I was out of school by then).

I still have achy ears and a nasty cough but I decided to let my body do the recovering and stop going to doctors. I want to thank everyone who thought of me these past few weeks! It has meant so much that there are people who truly care for me!

Mother's Day was super nice. Sam made me crepes for brunch and a nice little present. He also made me an incredible mother's day slideshow that I may or may not have bawled through (I love being a mama to Joey!). My family visited me in the evening. At church the ward put on a "third hour social" for all the women, but I was still trying to recover from that crazy reaction so I went home early.

I guess enough about me! Sam is now officially in his third year of medical school. He is in the middle of his OB/GYN rotation and has already done ultrasounds, delivered a couple babies, sutured a C-Section, had to break bad news to a mama about her baby, and many other things. He LOVES it. Sam said he could see himself as an OB/GYN if not for the crazy hours. He worked three night shifts last week and is working days this week. He'll be sad when it's over. He also is receiving wonderful remarks from the people over him. He's born to be a doctor, folks.

Jessica had her baby! It was a whirlwind for her and her little family but little Dunlap made it. We were having dinner at the in-laws when Jessica called her mom. She just received the news that she would have to be induced in 2 hours. That would totally freak me out and understandably Jessica was overwhelmed. Sam and I were very excited though, haha. Luckily the induction worked and their little girl arrived on the 15th of May. As far as I know she still doesn't have a name. That day Sam and I noticed the nametag on our cashier said Bobette. It's not too late Jessica to have a little Bobette!

If you are reading this sentence congratulations! You made it through. Happy rest of May everybody!

Dear Joseph,

Today marks your second birthday. This year was beyond fulfilling for this mama and I hope it was for you too. What an amazing little boy you are! It is astounding seeing all the things you take in each day. You like to smile and people tell me that all the time. They love your sweet smile! You do have moments where you seem inconsolable and you help me learn how to be your mom. I cannot wait to be done with school so I can spend all my days with you again!

You finally learned how to walk and are doing more than that now! Thank goodness for Physical and Occupational Therapy. They really helped you catch up to where you needed to be. You started walking at 18 months, which was boarder line, but it definitely brought new possibilities to a toddler. You are a lot faster and more efficient when it comes to getting to places.

Speaking of places, your favorite places (now, maybe not then) are the park, the zoo, the library, the duck pond, and grandparents’ houses. You always loved the park pre-walking days and I’m so glad it’s warming up so we can take you again! You weren’t too fond of animals until recently, but now you love them! Especially ducks. You love feeding ducks and getting too close to the edge. Lastly, you love playing with toys at the grandparents’ home, but you don’t like sharing too much with your cousins.

You are beginning to play with other children and it’s just so darn cute. I have to thank your “aunt” Crystal for taking you the days I go to school so you can play with Rachel to your heart’s content.  Another one of your favorite buddies is your cousin Hudson. You two are glued at the hip when you are together. I never saw it coming, seeing as Hudson is three years older, but you play so well with him and he thinks you are a doll! You now have been in nursery for six months. Luckily mommy subbed in nursery during the crucial time period: you never had serious separation anxiety! I worked in nursery and know how difficult it can be for everyone. You love snacks (especially fruit snacks), their cars, and bubbles.

Oh, bubbles. That is another recent thing and one of the few things you can say. You can also say baby, ball, bye, bum-bum, Beau (another cousin), daddy, no, car, cartoon, choo-choo (for train of course), nani (you made it up yourself and it means food), one-two-three-go, mama (on rare occasions – you call me daddy most of the time), and a boat-load of animal noises (they represent the animal themselves). You can point to many parts of your body and the only one you have trouble with are your knees. But you can locate your shoulders, hair, cheeks, bum-bum, hands, feet, belly button, teeth, tongue, ears, eyes, and nose. So cute!

You love movies and cartoons. Your first favorite movie was Cars and the cover is super worn. But you’ve taken a liking to Monsters, Inc., Big Hero Six, and PBS cartoons. At first you loved Dinosaur train, then Curious George, but now it’s back to trains with Thomas the Train. You had a fetish for only cars for the longest time and anyone that knows you knows that! But now you love anything that has a motor. Trains, planes, cars, helicopters, motorcycles. You have a noise for each of those, too! You can entertain yourself fine with a couple of cars and your imagination. I would love to see what you do in that little head of yours.

You are pretty small for your age and I don’t know of many kids your age as small as you are. You kind of drown in two-year-old clothes, but you still look cute in them. You are a little bit of a snake eater in that you eat very little for a few days then pig out for one day. Your favorite foods include cuties (oranges), graham crackers, mac-and-cheese, quesadillas, grapes, cereal (Life, preferably), juice, and candy. Not a lot of substantial things, unfortunately. We can sneak some Miralax in your juice so you stay nice and unconstipated. But you can’t have any milk – it clogs you right back up. But at least we found a system that works for us: hurrah!

You are the sweetest little guy and love to give hugs and kisses. Nothing puts a smile on my face than when we are cuddling and all of a sudden I feel your cute little lips on my forehead. You love Mommy and Daddy’s bed, so it makes it a little hard putting you to bed in your own crib, but Daddy finally has a system and can put you down in no time. Mommy has to work harder, perhaps because you have a harder time seeing her leave your room. But you sleep through the night and we couldn’t ask for anything more.

I love you sweet boy. I hope you continue to be your happy self. You have so much potential and I hope that we can give you the resources and love you need to reach it! Here’s to being two!

Love,

Mommy

Portland Trip 2015

Hi Everyone!

Kiley has been doing a wonderful job at keeping our blog updated. I decided that I should probably do a post, since it has been a while. I took Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), which has a total of 3 parts, a month ago, and I just found out that I passed! Woo hoo! That means that I am literally one step closer to becoming a doctor. :)

Between finishing my exam and starting on some research, Kiley and I decided to take a trip to Portland. This may be the last break that we have together until Kiley graduates in December! So, to make it a little less stressful, we decided to have my mom and dad babysit Joey while we went away. It was great fun to have a second honeymoon.

Day 1: Voodoo Doughnuts and the Temple

On the 7th, we left Albuquerque at 6:05am and arrived in Portland a little after noon. We got our rental car, and we headed straight for Voodoo Doughnuts - a fun little doughnut joint with crazy decorations and a fun pink box for all of our goodies. After getting changed at the hotel (and taking a nice nap after having only a few hours of sleep the night before), we went to the Portland temple. It was gorgeous! Here are a few of our pictures.:

And of course, you can't go to the temple without admiring the beautiful flowers:

Day 2: Church and a Scenic Hike

We headed off to church on Sunday, where we were planning on staying just for Sacrament Meeting. There was a wonderful talk by a youth speaker who just happened to not be a member! He was planning on being baptized after he turned 18, since his parents refused to give him permission to be baptized. He had a great spirit about him, and Kiley and I hope that he gets called to serve a mission in Albuquerque, New Mexico! Wouldn't that be spectacular?

While the next speaker was giving her talk, a member of the congregation started having a tonic-clonic seizure. The bishopric and other members of the ward made sure she was safe. The bishop then stood up during a musical number by the choir and stopped them after the first verse of the song they were singing. "I'm sorry, brothers and sisters," he said. "We have an emergency situation, and the paramedics are here and need some room to work. So we are going to dismiss this meeting and ask that you all exit immediately to Sunday School." That was the first time I had sacrament meeting so abruptly dismissed!

After church, we decided to go on a little hike around Forest Park. We realized that we have very few pictures of just the two of us now that Joey is in our lives, so we took the opportunity to get some couple shots. Please excuse the embarrassing kissy-kissy shots and the geeky tinted-glasses look that I am sporting. But look how pretty the scenery is!

This is the Pittock Mansion. It was a little bit of a hike to the top of the hill, but the view was definitely worth it! In order to get the panorama shot below, I actually had to take around 8 different photos and then photo-merge them in Photoshop. It turned out pretty nice, though!

Day 3: Tillamook Cheese Factory and Oregon Coast

Monday morning, we decided to drive out to the coast to check out the Tillamook Cheese Factory. It was pretty awesome! They let you have free, self-guided tours, and there were plenty of free cheese samples. After spending a little time looking around, we bought a couple little souvenirs, tried out some awesome cheese sandwiches for lunch, and bought some fresh-made ice cream (though we still think Cold Stone is better...). Here is a picture of farmer Kiley ready to milk her pet cow Sam.

Since Tillamook is right on the coast, we decided to make a little drive along the coast to see some beautiful scenery. Here we are at Ecola State Park, looking down at the beautiful beach.

Here's my beautiful wifey-wife taking in the scenery!

We couldn't just look at the amazing beach, though. We had to climb down and visit it for ourselves! Little did we know how much climbing we would have to do. We had to climb down a little cliff in order to make it to the beach. Kiley was very brave; she has an intense fear of heights, but she totally rocked the climbing rope!

This may not look like much, but here is my girl jumping across a gap right next to the cliff face! She is so awesome.

The view at the bottom was spectacular. Here is a little creek feeding into the Pacific:

Being my adventurous self, I decided to try to find my way to another part of the beach. See how my clothes are all wet? Well, I rolled up my pant-legs so I could wade into some shallow waters around a big rock. However, I underestimated the incoming tide, which swept completely over me and soaked me from head to foot! Luckily I didn't lose my glasses (something similar happened on my mission, and I lost my glasses.... But that story is for another time).

No amount of water can dampen my spirits, as long as there are little lady bugs to chomp on.

Again, we had to have more couple shots. However, I was still wet and cold.

After our excursion, we stopped by Ikea before going home. It is a pretty awesome store, even though I'm not really into the whole shopping thing. My favorite part, aside from the great souvenirs we found for Joey, was seeing this awesome, HUGE sign hanging in front of the registers advertising their 50¢ hot dog. I was a bit disappointed that they added the disclaimer (in the red box in the picture below), because that otherwise would have been the best 50¢ I'd ever spent.

Day 4: Zoo

There was a special deal at the Oregon Zoo on Tuesday, so we were able to get in for $4 a person. Oh yeah! We had a nice day at the zoo, and I was glad that they had so many animals that we don't have at the Albuquerque Zoo. However, both Kiley and I agree that our zoo in Albuquerque is much more awesome overall. Here are some of the animals we saw:

Who knew polar bears were so big? (sorry about the weird thing going on with my hand; not sure what happened there...)

Joey's two favorite animals (other than dinosaurs): lions and monkeys! We were a bit sad that he couldn't see these awesome guys with us, but we were glad to not have a stroller to push around.

Finally, a cool lizard and my favorite: the mandrill. We definitely don't have one of those in Albuquerque!

Day 5: Lloyd Center and Back to Albuquerque

Our final day in Portland, we decided to go to the mall and enjoy Portland's complete lack of sales tax. It was great! We went to the Lloyd Center Mall, which has this cool ice rink in the middle. We spent a good few hours shopping around and spending even more money. But it was so worth it! :)

Before our trip, we had meticulously planned all of the details, up to where we were going to eat and at what time. We did this in order to have a less stressful trip. But, as trips go, we ended up throwing out most of those plans. We ate at Burger King more than a couple times (there was one across the street from our hotel) instead of at the famed food carts, and we skipped out on many of the activities we had planned. But it was perfect! We also ate at Elmer's Restaurant twice for breakfast, which both Kiley and I would highly recommend.

After 5 wonderful days and gaining 10 pounds each, we flew back to Albuquerque to see our little Joe man. It is nice to be back, but I think Joey misses all of the attention his Grandma Hobbs gives him. :) Too bad! Now, I start my transitions block in a week, and Kiley has 6 weeks left until the end of the semester. Wish us luck!