Mixed Feelings

I'll be sleeping on the ground tonight...

One tent away from a gaggle of giggly teenage girls...

And it will probably be cold and rainy...

Ask me how I feel about that.

Probably a lot like Ollie felt when I stuck him in the corner for throwing an epic fit in the middle of the aquarium.

side note: Oliver was looking at this picture and said, "Oh, that Oliver needs to put his nose on the wall!"

You've got that right, kid.

The other day, we were headed out the door when I realized that Oliver needed a diaper change

He was so relieved when I was finished changing him that he jumped up, ran out the door, and tore down the  sidewalk without any pants!

 Pretty soon, he realized the error of his ways and began to regret his pants-less jaunt.

It was all rather comical, and in the end, we made it to the Safeway wearing all of the appropriate articles of clothing.

He's Full of Great Ideas

"Hey Mommy!" he said.

"I have an idea!"

"I'll play with my cars!"

"Do you think that's a great idea, Mama?"

Dearest Ollie, I think all of your ideas are great! Keep them coming!

One Whole Year

Hey! Guess what!

As of today, we have officially lived in Maryland for ONE.WHOLE.YEAR!

It's been bumpy, and it has been long. In many ways, it's been the hardest thing we've ever done. 

However, at the same time, it's been an adventure. A great, big, exciting adventure. 

We celebrated today by helping a couple from Utah unload their moving truck a couple of streets over. They've also come for the Physician Assistant program and they've been nice enough to let us take care of them the way that others took care of us last year. Hopefully they don't feel like we're killing them with kindness.

Oliver chose to celebrate by partying it up in the "BIG HUGE moving truck."

I want to thank all of our friends and family for their kindness and love. We've made it through a whole year of PA school in a new place with a young child. We've appreciated every phone call, every letter, every visit, every treat, every gift, and every encouraging word. From everyone.

It's hard not to be intimidated by the upcoming year, but I know that somehow, together, we're going to be just fine.

Purple Haze

 Heather got a new color today, "Purple Haze," chosen by the POPsicle. Doesn't she look great? 

I was "dye"ing to see it, so I skyped her as soon as she popped in after her appointment with Colleen.

Ollie came to see what was up...

I said, "Ollie, do you like Heather's hair?"

"No," he said. "I just like my strawberry milk," and took a swig.

What does a toddler know about hair anyway?

A Slew of Selfies By Ollivander

Jesse taught Oliver to use the camera on the ipod... This resulted in about 4,000,000,000 artistic shots of

Oliver...Oliver...and more Oliver 

I kept them all because I'm his mother and I loved each one! But here, for your viewing pleasure, is a selection of my very favorites. 

Siesta

I had the privilege of walking in on an impromptu Ollie-nap today...

Oliver's feelings about school...

Oliver has a really hard time with the school business.

Jesse is Oliver's favorite person, and that fact that Jesse is always gone, or is always studying makes us all a little blue, especially Oliver.

Sure, he puts on a brave face and distracts himself with toys, snacks, and blues clues.

But when you're reading the monster book about feelings, and you ask Oliver what makes him sad, his little bottom lip will pop out, and he will always say, "I'm sad when my Daddy goes to schoo."

Yesterday, Jesse took and passed his last test of the semester (HOORAY!), He came home and played cars with Oliver. He took Oliver to the park, and snuggled with him on the couch.

Ollie was in heaven!

This morning, Jesse had one more class scheduled, so that the teachers could have one more chance to try to prepare them for their clinical year (on the 28th, Jesse starts a cycle of two back to back five week rotations, followed by two weeks off that will last until August of next year.)

As soon as Oliver heard Jesse talking about going to school, Oliver acted as though he had been tricked! As though all the playing and the park meant nothing if Jesse was just going to abandon him today.

Hopefully we can all make the most of the next two weeks, and then cross your fingers that my plan to distract Oliver with Grandpa, Grandma, Andre, Weddings, Swimming, and so on, will help him get over the shock of the heinous new school schedule.

And hopefully the next year will go by faster than the last one.