Potty Time!

Look at this big girl on the potty! We have started to get her used to sitting on the potty recently. Omi bought her a potty seat and have encouraged us to start potty training Maddie. I was a little skeptical at first because she is still so young, but I must say it seems to be working! I try and sit her on the potty when she gets up from a nap and her diaper is still dry. I sit her on it and she just laughs and laughs! I sing a little song, turn on some water, and hope for the best! She has gone three times on her own so far. It is just a start, but a good start! Diapers are expensive and the sooner we are out of them, the better!

Welcome Houston Olin Reeves!

One of my dearest friends, Jessica was blessed with her precious little boy a few weeks ago. Houston was born on February 19th weighing 8 lbs 7 oz and 20 inches long. What a sweet little miracle he is! Houston is Jessica’s granddad’s name and Olin is her Granny’s maiden name. What a great way to honor her truly special grandparents! I was able to go and see him in the hospital two days after he was born. I immediately cried when I saw him for two reasons-- I was so happy for Jessica and her husband and I thought back just a year ago when I was in the hospital holding Maddie. I have been able to see him two times since he was born. Maddie is very fascinated with him. The first time she saw him I think it startled her that he was actually “real” and not one of her babydolls. Having Houston here makes me so ready to meet my nephew, Carter. Come on Carter, hurry up! We are so ready to meet you, too! Natalie just has two more weeks until her due date, but we are hoping that he will be here SOON!

Our First Baby

Just a quick little shout-out to Brady, the best hound dog there is. I feel so bad sometimes because he has been neglected over this past year. He is such a good boy, though, and has come around. He lets Maddie climb all over him and he is learning that she will feed him yummy stuff from the table! We love you, Brady!

First Trip to the Zoo

We took Maddie to the Greenville Zoo for the first time on Sunday. We have been waiting until she was old enough to kind of "get it" before going. The weather was perfect-sunny and high in the upper 70's. Natalie came along with us and we all had a great time! Maddie's face was just priceless when she first saw the elephants! They are right there when you first walk in. She has seen elephants in plenty of books, but to see them "alive" she was just amazed! Honestly, I think Maddie's favorite part was the snakes. She got right up on the glass and was waving her hands at them. Natalie and I on the other hand stood as far back as we could! Maddie also enjoyed the monkeys, giraffes, the lion, and farm animals. We decided to go ahead and buy a season pass so we can take her any time. She is at the perfect age right now, so I am looking forward to many more zoo trips!

Birthday Celebrations (lots of them)

As most of you know, Gabe, my mom, and myself all have birthdays within four days of each other. We do a lot of celebrating for a week (or more). The weekend before our birthdays, Omi came to visit us. She said it was to celebrate our birthdays, but I got this feeling that she really came to see Maddie ;) Of course Omi came bearing many gifts for everyone, including baby Carter who could be here any day now! She took us to lunch on Saturday at Fatz Cafe and then dinner on Sunday at Arizona Steakhouse. Both were so yummy. Maddie really is good when we go out as long as we bring lots of food for her to enjoy and she gets to taste some off our plates, too. We love to have Omi (and Pop-Pop) visit us! Here are a few pictures of Omi's visit!

The goods from Omi. It was like another baby shower

Trying on one of Carter's sweaters
Talking to Carter telling him to come out so we can play!Future doctor? Omi bought Maddie some scrubs and
she is playing with the doctor kit she got for her birthday


Four generations!

During the course of the next several days we celebrated all of our birthdays in different ways. I got flowers delivered to the house from Gabe for the first time EVER. It was so thoughtful of him, but honestly I told him to not do it again because they are too expensive!!! I know, I know....I am cheap. Hello, med school budget! Maddie got me new pearl earrings and that evening, Gabe and I went to dinner while Mimi stayed with Maddie.

Maddie was pretty excited about Mommy's birthday money!

Two days later, we said Happy Birthday to Mimi. I baked her a red velvet cake with homemade buttercream icing and Maddie drew a beautiful picture for her to be surprised when she came home from work. I made her a coffee mug with pictures of Maddie all around it. Of course she loved it!

And finally, Gabe's birthday was Friday. I made him chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and then that afternoon met him at the gym to workout where I gave him his new Ipod armband for him to use. I also told him we could make a trip to Charleston to go to the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in April as part of his birthday. So we are hoping to plan that as well. That afternoon we had some family time outside playing with Maddie and Brady. Maddie loves bubbles! Finally, that night we went to dinner at Sabrosa Mexican grille and enjoyed Margaritas (ok I enjoyed them) and some delicious food.

The celebrating was not over quite yet. On Sunday, Natalie and Ryan came over to eat lunch and eat cake that mom made for all of us. We put 1-0-8 on the cake because that is the three of ours combined ages. Wheww what a tiring week. No more birthdays for a while....well until baby Carter gets here. Geez, we are going to have a busy March in the future!

An evening with friends!

Gabe and I drove down to Columbia on Saturday evening to go to our friend's "Stock the Bar" shower. I think their bar will be plenty stocked...for at least a few weeks! They are tying the knot the end of April and we look forward to the big day! We enjoyed seeing some old friends (some we have not seen in several years). It was good to be back in Columbia just for a few hours--we kinda miss the place! Who knows we might end up back there one day...

Life as we know it...

Gabe and I were talking tonight and he had a good idea about blogging about our life as a medical student family. I have always focused all the attention on our little girl, so I think I might give it a whirl. What might be even more interesting is I think we all might see a post or two from the medical student himself in the future!

My husband works harder than anyone else I know. He has worked extremely hard to get where he is at today. As a third year medical student family, we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel (although that light is still really dim). The first two years while we lived in Kentucky were beyond stressful. He went to school all day, ate dinner, studied all night, went to bed, and then got up and did the same thing the next day (this included the weekends). Spending time together was rare, but when we did it was very much cherished. When I found out I was pregnant the end of his first year it came as a big surprise. Our little bundle was not planned, so of course it was an added stress to our already hectic lives. She was born in February of his second year in the midst of his most difficult exams of his student career. Gabe took it like a champ though, spending as much time as possible with his new daughter. Maddie and I moved back home in June and Gabe followed in July (after we spent about a month apart so he could study for his step 1 board exams). Our family makes tons of sacrifices everyday and those sacrifices are only going to get bigger in the future. I would do it over and over because this is Gabe's dream. But he always puts us first before anything. He is working so hard to land a good residency close to home so we don't have to move too far away again. I am thankful for him each and every day for everything he is doing for us. He really is an amazing husband and the most wonderful daddy to Maddie.

Life as we know it today involves living off of student loans (lots of lots of student loans), hours of studying, working many hours for no pay, moving somewhere new every couple of years, and just the uncertainty of where to next. I keep telling myself that it will be worth it one day (maybe when I am 40!) Trust me, I can hardly wait until that day when we are finally settled in one place and we are in our first home...it is just taking a little bit longer for us. We will get there....ONE DAY!