Sexy, baby!

My little bother took the Nerd Test from this same site, but this one appeals more to me...

Christmas party!

This year for our Ward Christmas party our so-cool Activities committee (Nate and Caroline Roeth!) broke with tradition and we had a Brunch. Santa appeared first, so no waiting for the kiddos. It also meant that we could get our food in relative peace while the kids were entertained by Santa. A stroke of pure genius, if I may say so. We all had fun.
Here is Myra for her first Santa picture. Also a break with tradition, as she is not only not screaming, she's grinning up a storm. My little social butterfly...

You'll notice that no pictures of Logan appear here. That would be because he spent the entire time running around the building with his friends Ian, Nicky, Carter, and Isaac. They were too cute. Logan breezed by Santa going Mach 2, and identified him as "Santa", but there was no time for lap sitting. Ian was teaching Sunday School (which was SOOOO cute, as his Dad is the Sunday School teacher), and we couldn't miss that!
After the party, we were all pretty tired out. Naptime was a breeze!


Thanks, Nate and Caroline! It was awesome!

What's happening?

So, where have we been? I know I generally post much more frequently than this, but I have a legit excuse!! My computer, the Dell laptop with which I am the most comfortable and do all of my computing has been seriously infected with some nasty malware, and is completely crippled. Logan can't even watch his videos - a great loss, as many of you know. As a result, I am currently attempting to use Mitch's computer, a Mac that is so obsolete that the operating system is no longer compatible with the most current version of Apple's web browser. So, little things like photo uploaders and HTML decoders don't work well. So, here I am slogging through the HTML garbage on my screen to post an update. I hope you all appreciate my sacrifices...

Myra just had her 4 month birthday, with the attendant 4 month well child check. She's a chunky monkey like her brother and weighs in at 15 pounds 4 ounces, which is 85%ile, and is 24 inches long, which is 50 %ile. So, at least she's closer to proportioned than big brother! She got her shots, and I thought she was having trouble with them, as she was grumpy yesterday, but this morning's snot reveals that in fact, Logan has succeeded in passing on his cold. Unsurprising, as he loves his sister and likes to kiss her and try to feed her from his sippy cup. Yay.

Otherwise, she is very well! She's getting better with her head and trunk control. Here she is sitting with Mommy.

And here is her first ride in the baby swing. I'm not sure she's too much of a fan yet...

She seems to like the exersaucer, though.

Logan supervises. He is actually very patiently waiting his turn. He has to do whatever Myra does.

And here she is rolling over!! She had to be unconventional and do it back to front first. She doesn't really like laying on her back, but loves tummy time! No complaints from me. Maybe we can avoid the typical baby bald spot.



And here is Logan, sharing all of his toys with her. Isn't he sweet... She seems a bit perplexed by it all.

And here is a new sling that I finished today. It is a bit of an experiment. I wanted to try out denim for a sling, but it has to be lined, so I used satin for this one. It isn't perfect. The satin is slippery and it makes the sling difficult to adjust, but it sure is pretty!

And Myra seems to like it!

So, that's as much update as I can take for the moment. May the originators of all viruses, adware and spyware be consigned to the deepest pits of the Abyss.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a fun time here at the Deshazer house. My parents came down from Carthage and my brother up from Austin, so we had some of the family here. Except for dessert (which was mostly supplied by some nice little church ladies in Carthage), we did the cooking here as well. Mom and I divvied up the sides and Daddy cooked the meat (and sweet potatoes) outside in the Dutch ovens. Yum!! Here they are getting the coals ready. Logan is a big help.So is Myra. She fell asleep in the swing while I was mashing potatoes and slept all the way through the bread. Sweet! She wasn't any trouble though. If she wasn't asleep, she was happily cradled in Pappy's lap.Or playing with Daddy. Here is what Dan did most of the morning... He's more helpful when it comes time to eat.Logan - helping with the Mac n' Cheese. And perhaps trying to snitch a marshmallow. Oh, Dan took his nose out of his book for a while to play with Logan. He made the balls "disappear" into his lap. Logan thought it was to coolest!

But, when all is said and done, it's really all about the food. Here is our spread. There is turkey, ham, candied sweet potatoes, sage-sausage stuffing, mashed 'taters with gravy, potato bread, mac n' cheese and, of course, cranberry sauce (with lines). It was all super yummy, and we all ate way too much.

Several hours later, a few stalwart souls tried for dessert. There were pies (pumpkin, chess and Kentucky derby), turtle cheesecake, mud splats and rice krispie treats. I didn't manage to try anything until the next morning, I was so stuffed with all the yummy food.

Then there is the football... Mitch is teaching Myra at a young age about the importance of the Dallas Cowboys win over Seattle.

John

I just found out that one of my old college friends died yesterday. Apparently he had an aneurysm. It's still a little unreal. John and I were pretty good friends during Freshman year, although we drifted a little later on, we were always friends. I had only just last month re-connected on Facebook. Here is a picture that I took of him in his dorm room. It is about 13 years old, but he hasn't changed much. He still even has the beard. Of course, hearing of his death has really made me think. At first, selfishly thinking about my own mortality. I think that's a pretty normal reaction when a contemporary dies. But then I got to thinking about John, and how I remembered him. We became friends in our Freshman philosophy class. John was much better at that sort of sophistry than I was and he helped me a lot. Many nights we would spend discussing the whys and wherefore's of the universe into the wee hours. I remember one in particular, we piled into John's enormous sedan and went to Hemisfair park in the middle of the night. 18 year olds being completely indestructible, we didn't worry about the fact that downtown San Antonio is probably not the best place to hang out 'o nights, but youth is stupid. Anyway, we all found a likely bit of pavement, stared up at the stars and contemplated our purpose in the universe. John was, and remained until his death, agnostic. I guess those questions are answered for him now. I keep thinking, did I ever share with him what I know to be true? To be frank, my testimony in my college days was pretty shaky, but it was there. I don't think that I ever shared it during all of those late night philosophy sessions, and now, I never can. I wish that I had. No, I'm not feeling ridiculously guilty, just sorry for a lost opportunity.
I'll miss you, my friend. The world has lost a good person.

Is there anything sweeter?

...than sleeping babies?? I don't think so!

Milestones

As many of you know, I am a pediatrician. This makes me do all sorts of crazy things to my children that normal people wouldn't even contemplate. One in particular is that I keep track of their development with a fanaticism that borders on the insane. There is a tool used to monitor development called the Denver Developmental Screen, which I, naturally, have filled out for both of my kiddos. I know, I'm a freak - whatever. Here is the composite Denver for Logan and Myra. As you can see (maybe) they are both normal, even a bit advanced, although the Denver isn't intended or normalized to assess that. I'll need a new assessment tool when I decide they are gifted...Of course, progressing through milestones also means lots of pictures!! Here is Myra's progress this week...

Holding up her head

Working for a toy, reaching, and crossing midline (woo-hoo, 3 in 1)

And of course, that freaking adorable social smile!

Logan, not to be outdone, is also making strides.

Here he is cutting with scissors.

He is also standing on one foot and making amazing verbal progress (sometimes I am more excited about this than others...). He knows his ABCs and can count from 0 to 50, with a little help, and backwards from 20. He loves to sing and is even beginning to understand pitch and sing on key (Thank you, Music Makers!).

Whew! All this development tires us out!!

Married???

I didn't think it was ever actually going to happen, but James really did get married this weekend! Logan, Myra and I were able to go, although Mitch was having fun on call in the MICU so he couldn't join us. The wedding was lovely. Here is the happy couple. (Mom is chasing Logan in the background - but at least he was quiet.)And here is the family and friends that were there to celebrate with James and Lindsay.

We had lots of fun afterward at a place called Clay's, which was a cool restaurant down the street from the courthouse. There was a giant playground full of kids, sandboxes and even horses and chickens. Although Logan had to be rescued from the horse paddock twice, he had so much fun!!! He had a great time all weekend with his uncles and Oma and Pappy. Myra was another story. Apparently she is not a fan of travelling. The drive to Houston wasn't too bad. We only had to stop once and she mostly slept. Logan played with his computer, read books and pointed out the sights for Mom. Pretty fun. In Houston, Myra was completely wild and wouldn't let anyone but me hold her. I think she was just overloaded with all of the strangeness and Mom is familiar. It did make for a challenging evening, however. The ride home was awful. She did sleep for the first hour, but then woke and no amount of cuddling, nursing, talking or singing could settle her down. Logan even tried singing to her, but no dice. To make it even better, Logan was starting to get tired and grumpy. Boy, was I glad to see our driveway at the end of that!!! Myra was still a little out of sorts last night and wouldn't even let Mitch hold her for long but she's been more like her usual happy self today.

Despite the minor inconveniences, I'm glad that I was able to go and celebrate with them. Welcome to the family, Lindsay!!

Disturbing thoughts

So for the very first time I am actually considering doing a fellowship. Quite a contrast to my earlier grouchy posts, I know. I just had a blast my MICU month. I actually want to study again, which is a DECIDED difference from the last 18 months. The disturbing part is that I really don't know squat about pulmonary/critical care fellowships, and I am unclear what the lifestyle is like. Also, I have been very much looking forwards to finishing residency and actually having a job, with the associate free time and increase in discretionary income (assuming Obama doesn't go too crazy with the progressive income tax). So while I find myself drawn to the field specifically, I am still resistant to the notion in general.

Steven crackers

Uncle Steven's visit this last weekend has left some amusing side effects! For one, Logan is still rolling all over the floor trying to do cartwheels, and he has named ritz cracker and PB sandwiches "Steven crackers". When we got back home after dropping Steves off at the airport, Logan found a package of the aforementioned crackers that Steves had left behind. Steven has diabetes, so he always has something to munch on, and PB crackers are a good balance of carbs and protein. Logan had seen him with them all weekend and as he tore into the package he ran around the house yelling "Steven crackers!" Well, since he enjoyed them so much, I got him some Ritz bits sandwich crackers at the store. It took a few takes, but here he is...

A new Deshazer tradition is born.

Weekend fun!

This weekend we were able to spend some time with Mitch's brother, Steven. Steve's will be heading out on his mission (Anaheim, CA - Spanish) this month, so this'll be the last time we get to see him for a while. My mother also had a long weekend, so she came to play, too. Mitch even got the whole weekend off, which is a minor miracle, as he's in the ICU this month. We all had a great time, especially Logan. He and Steven really hit it off! First, they played with the Rubik's cube... Then did some gymnastics. Steven has been learning gymnastics this summer. Logan LOVED watching him do handstands and cartwheels. He tried to copy everything, but did them his own way...

We made cardboard forts.

And played outside.

Logan even let Steves in on the nighttime routine.

He and Oma had fun, too, but she's not a fan of pictures, so here's the only one that we got.
Even Myra had a big smile for Uncle Steven.

Mom and I got to spend Saturday shopping while the boys - including Logan - played at home. Even though Temple doesn't have much shopping to brag about, it was still fun! And really nice to got to the mall without constant reprimands Logan-ward.

So, by the end of the weekend, Logan wasn't just saying "Good job , mommy," but had expanded his repertoire to include "Good job, Oma!" and "Good job, Steven!"

Good job, Logan!