Catch Up #2 GRADUATION!!!!!

Well, HE DID IT! Meet my husband 'Dr. Dangerfield'. I can't believe it's finally over! What an amazing feeling. What an accomplishment. I'm so proud of my man. Graduation was a very surreal, emotional, and wonderful day.

Proud parents...Dad and Mom Dangerfield.It was so great to have Mom, Dad, Steph and Cory out. We were so grateful that they made the effort to be here to support Shane. Our families are awesome!

My mom and dad were able to make it for the graduation as well. They've been so supportive of us and always make an effort to travel out for special occasions. Dr. Zach (also a recent grad) was able to join us too!It was such an emotional day for Shane and I. We have worked so hard and been through so much to get to this point in our lives. Apparently the divorce rate for medical students is extremely high, but I feel that everything Shane and I have been through over the last ten years-because we have been able to see the 'big picture'- has only made us stronger and brought us closer together. I love Shane so much and I'm so grateful for his hard work and dedication to me and our little family. Congratulations my love! You're amazing.

Playing catch up #1 AVA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

So the last few months have been crazy for our family, leaving me with little time to post anything on our blog. On top of the no time issue our computer has been acting up...so I have a lot to catching up to do. The first event I wanted to document was my baby's 1st birthday. We had Zach and Tirzah and their girls over for a little BBQ party in our new backyard. It was so much fun! I can't believe how fast this year has gone by..... It was a day full of getting messy...nothing new really. I had to go in and frost the cupcakes so I asked my brother Zach just to keep an eye on Ava for me for a minute and this is what I came back to! She had gotten baby food all over herself! Thanks a lot for your help Zach.

So we got the baby food mess cleaned up and then it was time for cake! MMMM

Ava was in heaven!

Of course Ava's favorite gift was the gift bags and tissue paper.



Eliza was in charge of the entertainment for the evening. This was my favorite of the many games and activities she came up with. 'Pin the diaper on Ava'..is that classic or what?! I still laugh when I see this picture.

Daddy nibbling on the birthday girl. We love our little Ava girl. Happy Birthday baby!

Trip to Utah

We took a trip to Utah for my mom's retirement from the Tabernacle Choir. She sang in the choir for twenty years and had so many amazing experiences. It was so awesome to be able to be there to support mom and reflect on the impact that her membership in the choir has had on all of us through the years. Here's a slideshow I put together of our trip. It was great fun!

My little puppies

My instructions to the girls after bath time were as follows: "dry off, lotion up, and put on jammies so I can dry your hair." Simple enough, right? Well, after about 10 minutes or so I went in to check on their progress and this is what I found....

I call them "Panty Head Puppies"

Hailey even took the liberty of drawing a circle around her eye with marker...nice effect.

The instigator of the 'Panty Head Puppies'

I can't believe I've never thought to do this. My girls are so smart.

Anyway, I thought it was pretty hilarious. So typical of my girls to come up with something like this. They always keep me laughing. I sure love 'em!

Cute pics of my baby- enough said!

Match Day! Finally!

Well, it's official! Shane was accepted to the Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency program at Children's Hospital in Detroit. Which means we will be here for another 5 years! This field of medicine fits Shane like a glove. He's going to be an incredible physician. I'm so proud of him.

Match Day 2009 was a lot of fun. First, awards were presented to some of the students based on their outstanding acheivement in different areas of medicine....and guess who received the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation departmental award??? Yep, my husband! It was really cute because Shane was holding Ava when they announced his name for the award, so he went up to the front and had his picture taken with the head of the PM&R department...and Ava. Later they passed out 'THE LETTERS' and had everyone opened them at the same time. We pretty much already knew that Shane was going to be accepted to this residency, but it was sure nice to finally see it in writing! To top off the afternoon, the school provided a nice buffet lunch for all the students and their families.

Shane and his good friend Larry-who was accepted to the Pediatric residency also at Children's Hospital.

Shane and Dr. Pelshaw-the Pediatric PM&R program director... and Eliza in the corner.

Shane and Erin. We really like each other...ALOT. Oh..and Hailey in the corner.

Eliza will be 13 when we are done with residency! How crazy is that?

And Hailey will be 10! OK, now I'm getting a little depressed...

Shane was definately the only medical student present at Match Day with his wife and THREE children! It has been a LONG road for our family, and we know it's not over yet. But we are so excited to be moving on to this next chapter in our lives.

Jeebs

Ava is NINE months old now! She has made it very clear to us during the short time she has been a part of our family that she is 'Queen' of our household. Hailey has graciously stepped down from that postition and has joined the rest of us as lowly serfs in our girl infested castle.

This face has 'TROUBLE' written all over it.

Ok, it also has 'CUTEST BABY EVER!' written all over it.

Ava is really starting to come alive. She is sitting up really well and starting to vocalize a lot. Her favorite words are 'da da' (usually said when she's happy), 'ma ma' (usually said when she's angry), 'Gah', 'Ah vah' (sounds like Ava!), and 'Uh liza' (sounds like Eliza). She is quite the jabber mouth. She laughs a lot, still loves playing with paper and cups and other non-toy objects, and likes to pick up little 'specks' with her little thumb and pointer finger. Yesterday at her doctors appointment in the waiting room I stood her up next to the fish tank and she kept trying to grab the fish though the glass with her fingers. It was really cute.

Here's Ava's now THREE tooth grin. She is actually in the process of breaking the fourth right now. We've had a lot of sleepless nights and crying lately. It's ok though because she really does make up for it by being so darn cute.