2011 Reflection

I am reflecting on the past year of our life. Considering last year's changes, I really thought it was not to be outdone but looking back on this year we have had some significant hurdles and amazing changes. Life sure does throw you some curve balls but how boring would life be if it didn't.

In January of 2011 I started into the year very energetically, signing myself up for the 100 day fitness challenge and looking forward to the year ahead. By mid January we found out that we were expecting our third child! While some may refer to this as a “mistake” or a “surprise” I like to refer to it as the “best gift since 2003”!! We always planned to have 3 children but after being sick for 3 years it became obvious that another child was not in the plans. Just another lesson in my “Never say Never” post :-)

In February my morning, noon, and night nausea kicked in. By mid February we told the girls the baby news and let them deliver the news to the rest of the family shortly after. It was a very exciting time in our household. By the end of February I started a job at a local elementary school working with kindergarten children. By the first of March I picked up every flu bug going at the school, it was like living in a cesspool of germs. March was a rough month of sinus colds and flu...blah.

My husband's dear Grandmother passed away in May. What a precious soul, she always had a smile and a quick witted remark. We all adore her and the girls have a special place in their heart for her. We wish our youngest child could have met her.

In the summer we took a trip to Boston and Maine. It was a fun trip but my husband stated he wouldn't vacation again with me while pregnant. It was really hot in Boston and we must have walked 20 miles in the heat and I was 7 months pregnant at the time so go figure. The rest of the summer was spent going back and forth to Doctor appointments and scans. I think I had 10 or 11 ultrasounds of this baby, every time they'd find something to bring me back the next week. It was concerning as there had been issues with amniotic fluid levels, breach, and heartbeat issues. But nothing that resulted to anything in the end, thank goodness.

September came upon us quite quickly and we eagerly anticipated the baby's due date of September 12th. Well that day came and went with no sign of Baby Wood. But a couple days later our youngest baby girl became part of our family and we became a family of 5. What an amazing experience and we just can't imagine our family without her.

As 2011 comes to an end I am thankful for all the changes life has given us and take them at stride. I am looking forward to what 2012 will bring, as I know we have even more challenges and changes ahead.

One never knows what truly lies ahead, so enjoy every moment as much as you possibly can and hug the ones you love just a little more often because we only get to do this thing called “life” once. I wish you a very Happy Healthy and Safe New Year!! May 2012 be filled with good health and happiness.

Three more sleeps...

Here we are mid-November already. Life in the Wood household is getting as close to normal as it will ever be. We are all finding our way in our new family unit. I'd be lying if I said it was an easy adjustment for all of us. Things are getting smoothed out but not without a few tough moments (or sometimes hours or days).

Our girls are managing well and they are in love with their baby sister. They both have their specialities when it comes to helping out and cheering her up. Recently she has started smiling and cooing and it is such a treat to watch her older sisters make her smile. It has been a huge adjustment for them in so many ways and we've had some hurdles to get over but I'm amazed at their love and support for this new little sweetheart. Our baby girl has been extremely good; she sleeps well and fusses very seldom. The first 6 weeks were very exhausting for me as anyone would expect. But I'm certainly not complaining. I've just felt the tiredness more this time around, I'm sure it has to do with having to go full steam ahead to make sure the rest of the family gets taken care of.

My husband is in full study mode. He writes his first exam of year two in 3 sleeps. We are all just as anxious as him to get it over with. This block has been on Neuro and I've heard more than I'll ever want to know about the brain in the last 12 weeks! He’s amazingly focussed and puts in such long hours of studying, we know he’ll do great. We’ve also been learning more about how things will work when he goes into Clerkship rounds next fall. So basically, next fall he will be working/learning in various hospitals around the province in 6-12 week blocks. Each block being a predetermined speciality/area for example: 12 weeks of surgery, 6 weeks of family medicine etc. This will continue on for 2 years until graduation. But for now we just need to get next 3 days over with :-)

The girls are enjoying their extra-curriculars both are in dance and basketball this year. We're only out 3 nights of the week and then again on Saturdays for games. So far so good.

That’s all for now folks, I’m going to go enjoy this snow day with my girls and we have an extra special guest with us for a couple of days…my mom J Today we have some Christmas baking in store!

It's a Girl!!

On September 15^th, we were blessed with the birth of our 3^rd daughter and we have been on cloud nine ever since. For 9 months we anxiously waited to meet this little child, we had some minor health concerns along the way, but to date she appears to be a healthy little girl.

This experience has been extra special because we have been able to share it with our 2 daughters. It’s been amazing to watch them love this new child. As a parent most of us experience that instant love for our child when he or she arrives into the world but for a 10 and 8 year old to get to experience this love is a precious treat. As our oldest daughter was getting ready for bed the other night she said “Isn’t it amazing that we didn’t even know Baby Ava before and now we love her so much.” And that they do, the girls cannot get enough of her. I know this will change as time goes on but the love won’t, it will just be stronger.

How is my husband managing through all of this? As always he’s my rock and we are a strong team. He is juggling things the best he can, which is pretty darn good I must say. He’s very tired but also focused on his studies while getting special moments in with all of his girls. Thank you for being the amazing husband and Dad that you are…this I am thankful for every day!

I must say how thankful we are to our parents for all the support they have given us along the way. Not only over the last couple of weeks but really our lifetime, you are the ones who have given us the love and support to get us to where we are today! Thank you, we all love you!

As for me, I am feeling great although I’m a little more tired than usual, life is good. We are adjusting well and taking things day by day with some easy ones and some tough ones. I am so very thankful for what we have been blessed with.

Back to school…

I am now 38 weeks and 3 days into this pregnancy so hopefully no more than 2 weeks until we get to meet Baby Wood!! We have been to so many appointments we’ve practically gotten to watch the baby grow each week with all of the ultrasounds. Our girls have been so good about attending these appointment; for the last 5 weeks they have had to sit in the waiting area for at least 2 hours at a time waiting for us. They have not complained or whined about it either (don’t get me wrong they whine and complain at many other events in our life ) but they’ve been super about this baby stuff. They are getting super excited to meet their little brother or sister!

Last weekend we hosted a BBQ and Corn Boil at our house for the Med 1s and Med 2s. Luckily we had perfect weather to host the 60 plus people that came. We had lots of food and I think everyone had a good time. Thankfully we have very understanding neighbours…we live in a court and parking for 60 people is quite a task and inconvenience to others...

My husband went back to school this week to begin Year 2 of Medical School and he’s already spending lots of study time in the dungeon. He’s trying to keep ahead as much as possible so when the baby does arrive he’ll hopefully have a little time with us.

The girls are back to school next week and are getting excited. Our oldest will be starting her final year of elementary school and our youngest starts French immersion. We have them signed up for their extracurricular activities for the year. Here’s to hoping I can fulfill my motherly duties of getting them to all of their activities on time with Baby in tow…I’m sure we’ll make it!

Let 2011-2012 be a fun filled, happy, bully free school year!!

Happy Summer Vacation Everyone!!

Apologies for not posting all summer but we've been busy just like everyone else. We went on vacation as soon as school was out for a week and had a lovely time. The girls and I spent 3 weeks in my hometown so they could attend various basketball camps in the area. We enjoyed time with my parents and got visits in with some good friends and family. My husband lived the bachelor life at home with the dog for those 3 weeks, we missed him and I’m pretty sure his eating habits included a few more drive thrus than usual!

We’re all back as one family now and enjoying our first summer in this house. We love the community life here and have made some great friends. So the transition is going well….yes, we’re still transitioning…it’s a much longer process than I ever anticipated.

My husband’s job is going well but I think it’s getting to him a bit, as it would with any humane person. He’s working in the anatomy lab daily on cadavers, learning amazing things and building his knowledge but at the same time it’s tough. I think he’s looking forward to a little break before school starts at the end of August.

We’re all anxiously looking forward to Baby Wood’s arrival. I’ve been feeling great with just a few rough days. We have to go to lots of appointments lately as they are keeping a close eye on things. The girls have been very understanding and well behaved- not having family around means we drag them to all appts. Last week they got to go on the hospital tour with us and it was so nice to have them there. We have 6 weeks left until this little one will arrive. We’re slowly getting prepared we have the crib setup and the girls have painted pictures for the babe. Also some great friends have given and leant us some great items to help out (Thank you!!). The latest debate is deciding on some names for him or her…I’m sure this debate will continue for the next 6 weeks.

Hello June!!

We have finally started to see some sun; I think we are all appreciating it just a little more this year since we’ve had such a cold wet spring. The Wood family has been enjoying some downtime and attempting to regroup after a busy first year in our new home.

My husband has officially completed his first year of medicine and has enjoyed a couple weeks off. He started his summer job this week at the Anatomy Lab. He is really looking forward to learning lots this summer. It’s so nice to have him around again…not only to get the ‘To Do list’ done.

The girls and I are winding down our school year in 2 weeks and we are all ready for the break. We’re planning a summer vacation somewhere and hope to get a few camping trips in. Last summer was spent packing, moving, painting, cleaning and unpacking, so we really hope to squeeze in some relaxing time this summer.

I am now heading into my 27th week of pregnancy, the 3rd trimester! I am feeling great and the baby appears to be healthy. We’re all getting more excited about the arrival of this little one. Lately the focus has been on narrowing down names and figuring out just how this baby will fit into our home logistically speaking. This is so different from our first 2 children, as we had the room all set up and we had every gadget out there for babies, this time around will be different. We’ll be keeping it simple.

Last month, my husband’s dear grandmother passed away. She was a sweet, kind, proud, and very talented lady who will be cherished in our hearts forever. I am so thankful that our girls got to know her and make memories with her. On June 1st she would have celebrated her 91st birthday, our daughters decided to sing happy birthday to her out on our porch that morning. At the end of the song our youngest daughter said “Ok Nanny you can blow out the candles now!” and a gust of wind blew. The girls came running in to tell us that Nanny just blew out her candles .This is just another sweet memory given to us by Nanny. We love you and think of you often Nanny.

Growing up...

Wow, where did April go? We’ve had a busy month of celebrating and getting ready for Spring! On the weekend we held a BBQ for my husband’s med class and also celebrated our oldest daughter’s 10th birthday. I can’t believe she is ten years old, although I can’t really remember life without her.

I’ve watched many of my little cousins and friends’ children grow through the awkward preteen years of 9 through 12. Now I’m right in the middle of it with my own daughter. She is becoming more independent and hopefully more confident in herself. Which are excellent qualities to be building and I am so happy to see her grow into a strong girl. But with this comes stubbornness, moodiness, strong opinions, and attitudes; this has been a hard battle for us to get through. I know this is “just” the beginning, I can’t even allow myself to think of the teenage years but I believe we are in training now. Some days I have no idea where my sweet little girl went but the next day (or minute) we are back to normal and moving on.

The hardest part for me has been the decreasing time she spends with me (selfish of me, eh!). It seems like I see her at meals, when we are driving somewhere, and when I tuck her in at night. We don’t have as many quiet times together doing crafts or reading together anymore. We do get our moments but not as often. I knew these times were coming but when you are faced with them head on it kind of hits harder. I’m sure we all go through it many times in our children’s lives. It’s just not easy to take some days.

I am so proud of our daughters and hope that we’ve done a good job raising them so far and that they will make their good choices as they become more independent in this big world. There will still be moments when I just want to sit and snuggle them and pretend that they aren’t really growing up.

The storybook “Love You Forever” makes more and more sense as your child grows up ( I remember the first time I read this book I thought it was one of the nuttiest stories but it’s one of our favourite stories now).

Cherish every special moment with your little ones (and big ones!) because they will grow up in the blink of an eye!

“I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always
As long as I’m living my baby you’ll be.” Robert Munsch

Love you my sweet girls!

Life So Far Being Married to a Med Student

So we are 7 months into our adventure of Medical School. Notice I stated “our” since it really has been a family adventure in all aspects. Our lives have all changed in some way or another and we have adjusted well, with a few bumps along the way. I thought I’d make this post about what life has been like since my husband started med school. I haven’t really taken the time to think much about it since we are always running full tilt ahead, so this will be interesting for me to take a minute to reflect.

The first few months are now a blur for all of us. One thing I do distinctly remember is eagerly waiting to hear about his day and the exciting things he learned. He works with a Doctor each week for 4 hours (electives) and it is always interesting to hear where he has worked each time; without the “confidential” details of course. In the fall he did some interesting rounds in the OR, paediatrics, psychiatry (eye opener for him), and obstetrics. It was a great way for him to really get to see different areas of medicine. Then came the 1st exam and the preparation for it, he began studying for the exam 4 weeks before! It was a tremendous amount of information to study and I was overwhelmed with the amount of knowledge one has to cram in…and this is just the beginning. But he pulled it off and did very well!

After Christmas we all began to get into a better routine, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights we never saw much of him as he was in the “dungeon” preparing for his week’s work. By Wednesday night he’s wiped out and exhausted and needs to take a break, which we all welcome. Friday nights are our family nights typically when he is home. We get to enjoy a movie or games on the wii with pizza and popcorn! We may have less time as a unit but we still really enjoy those times and cherish them.

Now (after 7 months of studies) when I ask about what he learned each day or for an explanation about various medical issues, I am reminded that he is definitely absorbing and learning from all the hard work because I have a hard time pronouncing let alone understanding some of the things he tells me. I’m sure that will make him smirk just a little.

As for his recent elective he’s been working in the ER department and he loves it. He gets to learn and see so much there. In school part of this semester he’s learning about human reproduction. How convenient is that? Recently I’ve also been his mock patient for various things, the latest one was gathering patient information (which was simply annoying) and getting a physical done. After hearing what next month’s lessons will be I’ve informed him he’ll have to find someone else to be his mock patient!

All in all life has been great being married to my med student and I couldn’t be more proud of his hard work and dedication. I know busier, tougher times lie ahead. I miss him sometimes but know that he’s working hard to become the best physician he can be. I have no doubt that he will be amazing just as he has been as a husband and a Dad to our children.

We just take things one day at a time and keep trucking!

Decisions, Decisions

We make them every day, little and big ones. Sometimes we don’t even have to think about it. We’re constantly making decisions that may not feel like a big deal at the time but some have a huge effect on our life! Lately my husband and I have been facing more tedious decision making with the upcoming new addition to our family and all the changes involved.

Due to my “age” I am considered on the cusp of being a high-risk pregnancy which opens the door to additional testing and increased complications. One decision we both agree on so far is that we don’t want to know the sex of the baby until he/she is born. I always thought I’d want to know when having a third child but after a very short discussion we both wanted to keep it a surprise, call us old fashion.

The latest upcoming decision is whether or not to have an amniocentesis test done. We’re leaning away from it as I don’t like the idea of sticking a needle near my baby and the fact that it really won’t change the outcome. We’ll have this baby no matter what issues he/she may have. But the question I have is, if we do have it done and an issue is diagnosed, is there something that can be done in utero to help improve the child’s life/outcome? We will be meeting with our new prenatal Doctor this week and hoping she can provide and guide us with some more information. We put so much trust in these professionals.

In writing this entry I had a discussion with my daughters about decision making and it was interesting to hear their responses to my question of “When you are faced with a decision how to you decide what to do?” Both responded similarly saying they think about what will happen, how they will feel, and how it will affect others. One also said they make some decisions with their heart. I think those are reasonably good responses for 7 and 9 year olds.

For now we’ll just do our research and keep moving forward as usual and hope for the best.

Parenting is one of the most difficult jobs in the world! But the most rewarding job ever!!

March here we come...

The countdowns are on…none to a great southern warm destination though. We are looking forward to a March break for the three Wood girls. We have no major plans but do plan to relax and have some fun. My husband has another major exam coming up that week too. So he will be studying pretty intensely, and unfortunately his break is the following week.

We’ve had a couple major snowstorms over the last week and ended up with an early school closure today. The girls are still enjoying the outdoors sliding and playing with our neighbours. I haven’t ventured outside too much over the last few weeks and am ready for Spring!

We wrapped up basketball last weekend, well I thought we did. The girls are starting a 5-week clinic with the local premier basketball team Mill Rats starting this week. They both plan on playing in the local Spring League too. This makes me so happy to have 2 girls that love my favourite sport!

I’m starting to feel better pregnancy wise…but have been battling an annoying sinus infection that’s wearing me down. Hoping that I beat this soon so we can move forward and get feeling great! I am so fortunate to have such an amazing sweet family to help me out. My husband is buried in school work but has been helping when he can and the girls have been sweet and understanding about my newfound low energy lifestyle, not the norm for me!! Each week I have to let the girls know what size the baby is in comparison of a fruit…this week it’s the size of a large peach!

Well well it’s been too long since I’ve made a post but I truly don’t think there is anyone out there checking daily to see my latest news : ) So I think I’m safe.

It’s been a blurry last month and a half, everyone is back to school including me! I am working at a local elementary school until June. It’s nice to finally get out of the house and be with people every day even if they are children!

We found out in early January that we are expecting our third child!! And a few weeks later I began to get pretty sick as expected. My other two pregnancies I was extremely nauseated and sick for months so it’s only fair that this one gets the same entrance! I’ve been extra exhausted but I’m hoping I’ll be feeling better in weeks to come so I can begin to look forward to these exciting times.

We waited a few weeks to tell people including the girls. The girls were getting worried about their mom constantly resting and feeling sick since typically I don’t stop running around all day. My oldest was worried that my Lyme disease was coming back or something so it was more important for them to understand the cause. We told them by playing a game of hangman…”We’re having a baby” They were pretty shocked but very excited. That pretty much sums up everyone’s reaction so far.

While this is a surprise to our family we know we are very fortunate and are cherishing the fact that we have been blessed with another child. Times will be busy as I’m due shortly after the girls go back to school and my husband begins his 2nd year of Medical School!

So my apologies for no entries lately but hopefully in future months my energy will increase and my nausea will decrease. For now though it’s getting late and I must get some rest.

Night night!

Happy 2011!!

Well the crew is back to school and we’re happy to get back into the routine of life. We had some great winter weather and we all got outside and enjoyed it.

We celebrated New Years Eve at home with the girls, my favourite way to spend it. We made pizza for supper, enjoyed chocolate fondue, played some board games and had some fireworks.

We have a special tradition we started a few years ago, each of us write something special about each family member and we read these to each other at dinner on New Years Eve. It’s a lovely way to wrap up the end of the year and make each other realize how much you appreciate them. Here is what I wrote to my super family members:

Oldest daughter– you bring smiles to my face when I see you outdoors playing and when I see you enjoying a good book. You enjoy the little things in life and care so much about others. You bring so much happiness to our lives and to others. I love your jokes and the detail you bring to your stories. When you smile you light up a room. I love you!

Youngest daughter – your laugh makes me laugh. Your common sense makes me chuckle, because you are so young to understand things. I love how you care for others and get to know people. You bring smiles to so many people by simply saying hello or telling them a little story. When you smile you light up a room. I love you!

Husband – you make me proud to be your wife and your best friend. You work so hard and never need anything in return. You don’t complain, you move forward and focus on the good things in life. You teach me how to handle things in life just by being who you are and being comfortable with yourself. Thank you for being the amazing, funny, loving, and handsome husband you are! I love you!

Charlie (our Dog) – you drive me bonkers with your dog hair and barking but I love your cuddles and the way you hang out with us. You still have lots of spunk and remind me that even when your old you can make snow angels (his fav pastime outside)! I love you Charlie!

They all wrote some pretty special things and it truly puts a smile on your face. I even shed some tears, we are so thankful for what we have and love cherishing the great moments. Like any family we have our spats and chaotic times so it’s those little moments when everyone is smiling and content that I love!

I hope you all have a wonderful 2011 filled with great moments!!