Little Moocher

Domonique loves to eat with Daddy at breakfast time. I guess I serve a little later than she would like so when he's sitting down, she joins him. Some times she sits in his lap, and some times she just walks up, gets a bite and then walks to where I am to let me know he shared. It's so cute.

He's done!

Really, he's done with medical school! Can that possibly be?! Wow! The time has really just moved right along and he's done! It seems like just a little bit ago he came home with the inspiration to become a doctor. He had to take classes while he worked his full time job in the Air Force. He had to take tests and put out applications and pack the house and still do his full time job in the Air Force. He had to plan a prepare for a move to the island, get all our stuff packed and moved to Massachusetts, and still do his full time job in the Air Force. He drove the entire way and set up the tent and bedding while we camped our way to the lower 48. He made everything look so easy and it all worked mostly according to plan. He handles the tasks and learns the stuff and all that goes along with it. We moved to the island and he had different experiences than the rest of us (mostly freezing while he studied on campus). Then we had to move back to the US and get some of our stuff to Michigan and find a place to rent. Then he decided to buy a house and moved us again. Before clinicals he had to move the rest of our stuff out to Michigan. Lots of studying and learning and now he is a doctor! He has worked so hard, studied so much, and really learned a ton! He is amazing, to me. He has the next several weeks "off" and will start orientation at the end of June and then the residency starts the beginning of July. Wow. I thought about celebrating, but it just sort of happened and it was just another day. So here's to Dr. Kevin R. Roy!

Note: Kevin said we can refer to him as Dr. Dad.

2 months old

Harmonie had her 2-month well-baby check-up today. Yes, she's a bit older but it'll do. She weighs 12 pounds 8.4 ounces, and is 23 inches long. Average. At the appointment, she started out super happy and ended crying. I fed her and she felt a bit better, and then the nurse gave her some shots and she screamed. I fed her some more and she went to sleep. She is doing really well. I have started to sleep her on her tummy at night and she is getting better at finding her thumb. Last night I think I slept all night - no one got up, made noise or anything. It was really nice. She is also getting better at getting her thumb throughout the day. She may be a right thumb sucker rather than a pacifier baby - although she'll take the pacifier as well.

Peek-a-Boo

I love this little one! She is talking so much and it's so fun to watch her learn and understand.

She is such a little sweet heart - as are all my kids but it's just different at this age.

Glorious Moment

It happened today, and I could have missed it. We went to the library, our normal Tuesday morning activity, and then I thought about going home for lunch. I decided to go ahead and run errands and stop by a park before Harmonie's doctor appointment. I had planned for this possibility so I had granola bars and juice for the kids. We ran our errands and went to the park - surprised the kids and they were so excited! They ran, yelled, climbed, played, and had a good time. I really enjoyed watching them. We couldn't stay very long so I started to take things back to the car to get ready to pack them all up. Xiomara saw me heading to the car and said, "Mom's leaving, it's time to go." Kemiah, Domonique, and Xiomara headed to the car. Marissa saw us and said to the other two, "Mom's leaving, let's go." All six kids were in the car, getting buckled up and I hadn't said a word! No one complained about having to leave so soon or whined about wanting to stay longer. I didn't have to chase them, yell and holler, or threaten them to get them into the car. It was amazing, fantastic, wonderful, GLORIOUS! I got into my seat amid children saying, "thank you for taking us to the park" and we were off! It truly was a moment to remember forever! Thank you guys, for making the trip great. Maybe we'll go to the park every afternoon.

Good new and bad news.

That is what my husband said when he came into the living room this evening. The furnace backdrafted some smoke so we were airing out the basement and main level. He had just closed things down and came back in saying, "I have good news and bad news." I waited. Eventually he said, "Good news is the furnace isn't smoking anymore." Damage was done but at least it wouldn't get worse. I waited. "The bad news is there's a skunk in the garage." Bummer. He opened the garage door in the hopes that it would decide to leave on it's own by morning. We hope it doesn't find a way into the coop where the chicks are because that would just be bad. We hope it doesn't decide to spray and make the garage all stinky. One of the only times I will be grateful for a detached garage.

Dreams do come true.

A little while ago I had a dream that my farmer neighbor helped us with our little garden plot. He brought some workers and a tracker to till up our garden. Imagine my surprise, and delight, when Greg, our farmer neighbor, actually brought his disc harrow and then the cultivator into our garden. He told Kevin he had been waiting for us to clean it up, which Kevin and the kids had done just the day before. It was awesome! Kevin had been working with his tiller and so Greg saved him a ton of work. Especially helpful since Kevin was trying to help our next door neighbor by tilling up a plot of his ground which was thick grass. I just can't express my gratitude for the small act of kindness. I'm sure Greg hasn't thought about it again. It took hardly any time at all. Our family enjoyed watching and the kids enjoyed going through the newly turned up dirt to find our huge carrots from last season. It was a neat moment.

This hurts my eyes

but the kids seem to like doing it. Weird. Maybe this is why we think she has cross-eyed issues.