The Ol' St. Francis Special

4/24/09

When Mark was getting ready to interview for different PA schools 2 1/2 years ago, he did something very unusual--he wanted to go clothes shopping. He had me come to JC Penney with him, where he got himself a brand new suit and a couple of dress shirts and ties. I picked out a nice tan colored shirt and tie for him, which he wore to his interviews and got a ton of compliments on how professional he looked. He figured that was a good omen, so he also wore the same shirt and tie to his white coat ceremony last year, and then again to graduation last weekend.

The administration at Mark's school prided itself on being a thorn in every student's side. They liked to give them what we refer to the "St. Francis Special," in which they'd drive home the point that they owned the students and that their families, money, time, and other personal considerations were of no importance to them. So I had to laugh when I was doing the wash from our trip and found that St. Francis had had the last word. Mark's tassel must have been in the front pocket of his tan shirt, and sure enough, it's ruined now.

I can just hear them saying, "We'll let you graduate, Yoder, but you're never going to be able to wear this shirt again! Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!"

Mark's graduation!

One happy camper

4/20/09

OK...I am deliriously tired...waiting for a Dr. Pepper's restorative qualities to kick in...so forgive me for my rambling, picture-heavy blog post. Our little family has logged 2,500 miles and at least 45 hours on the road these past couple of weeks. I am happy to finally be home for a while--heaven knows I have a lot to do here. But at least I'm back in my own bed and am not living out of a suitcase.

We headed out to Albuquerque last Thursday for Mark's graduation, and my mom ended up coming along. Her mom, my Gma Nora, is still in the ICU there in what has been one of her most serious health crises to date (and if you know how dismal Gma's health situation is even normally, that's saying something). All my mom's siblings came out as well to sit with Gma 24/7 to make sure she didn't keep ripping out her IV, pick line, oxygen, nasopharyngeal tube, heart monitor, blood pressure cuff, and external pacemaker. Poor thing was extremely restless and uncomfortable, but was so out of it that she didn't realize what she was doing. Anyway, she is slowly on her road to recovery and it was nice to see her and my aunts and uncles, even though the circumstances could have been better.

Saturday was the day of Mark's graduation ceremony from the University of St. Francis. The main campus is located in Joliet, Illinois, and the Albuquerque campus is just one small building that has a PA and Nurse Practicioner program. But the president of the university condescended to come down and be the commencement speaker (he's on the far right in the gold and brown robes with the funny hat). He kept going on about Franciscan values and the Pope, which was weird because we'd all seemed to have forgotten that it's actually a Catholic school. (St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint.) They had a graduation Mass at a church beforehand, but we didn't go. Overall, the whole thing was short and sweet, since there were only seven Nurse Practicioner and 29 Physician Assistant graduates.

Mark's good buddy Cole Bryce, the only other LDS person in his class. He has a cute wife Julie and three young daughters. He'll be working in Arizona at an orthopedic clinic.This is Jeremy Parker, who is from Texas. He's a big hunter, an excellent cook, and one of the nicest people I've ever met. Madelyn adores him. We are going to miss him and his girlfriend Nicole.
I've always thought those Master's degree robes and hoods look so distinguished. The gold and brown are the "Franciscan" school colors, and the green edge represents the field of Medicine.

The most beautiful (and pricey--to the tune of $130,000) piece of paper I've ever seen...I show this off to anyone who comes within ten feet of my house.

Enjoying some post-graduation refreshments with my mom Carolyn.

The fates were kind to us and got rid of the clouds that had been dumping snow on us all the day before.This little Miss loves her daddy!

We're so proud of our graduate!!We went out for some authentic New Mexican food afterwards at El Sarape (formally Mi Chante, for those in the know) in Los Lunas near where we were staying at my Gma's house. The food was so good we nearly ate ourselves into a coma. Then we went and saw Monsters vs. Aliens at the movies. It was a fun family outing.

Yeah, I know this is a long post. You can't say I didn't warn you...

The day before graduation, we got to spend some time with our best friends the Richards, and Madelyn (the naked one, who obviously feels right at home there) enjoyed playing and watching Sleeping Beauty with Beckham and Ravi.

On the way home yesterday, we finally kept our promise to Madelyn to stop and let her walk across the bridge that goes across the Colorado River. The visitor's center next to the bridge at the Glen Canyon Dam (which dams Lake Powell) in Page, AZ is always a nice stop on the long road to NM.

And now I've got to go address Mark's graduation announcements, which I failed to order in time and so are being sent out after the fact. Hopefully the next time someone graduates I'll be more on top of things. I figure I've got about 14 years to get ready. That should be enough time, right??? What do you mean--"Your life is going to be even more busy then" ?! Sigh.

Happy Birthday Meg!

4/16/09

Just a quick shout-out to my youngest sister Megan, whom I witnessed being born on Easter morning back in '95. She has been a fun little caboose to our family and she is very talented and smart. I hope she enjoys being 14 because that was probably the most fun time of my life. And since I'm 14 years older than she is, that means I am twice her age now. Egads!

Happy birthday, Meg!

Happy Easter!

4/14/09

Hi again...I'm having to get caught up in my blogging because I'm about to leave town again to go to Mark's graduation in Albuquerque. Wow. Never thought that day would actually come.

We had a nice Easter. Madelyn was dressed to the nines in her pretty gown, gloves, and of course her strand of cultured pearls. She enjoyed dyeing eggs with her G-pa Rich and Auntie Meg. We still haven't gotten around to doing ours, but I know she won't mind doing them again. She ate candy candy candy and made us hide eggs for her all weekend.

I was going to do a slideshow, but the website isn't working (I probably wore it out yesterday) so sorry about the multitude of pictures.

Aunties Maria and Megan
G-ma Carolyn

Now I've got to go finish unpacking from CA so I can pack for NM. My life is just nonstop excitement, I know. And spent mostly in the car.

The best trip ever!

4/13/09

What an awesome vacation. No family reunions involved, no schedule, no time limits, and lots of FUN in the California partly cloudy, breezy somewhat cool, scattered sun. My brother Kevin, his wife Lori and little Hattie came with us.

I'm going to let the many many pictures speak for themselves, but let's get a short explanation.

California day 1: (shown above) After we had spent Sunday night at my brother Tyler's in Las Vegas, we arrived in Anaheim and as soon as Madelyn saw the hotel pool she started disrobing. So we went for a swim and then headed down to Newport Beach. It was Madelyn and Hattie's first time seeing the ocean, and even though it was chilly (and the water icy) they had a great time.

Days 2-3: Disneyland and California Adventure! We had an exhausting two days, but they were soo fun. We managed to get on a lot of "attractions" and Madelyn was beside herself at Sleeping Beauty's castle and all the fairies and princesses she got to meet. She even rode on the Matterhorn roller coaster and was in the very front seat with Mark. She laughed and had fun but thought the two abominable snowmen were "kind of scary" during the ride. She loved everything to do with pirates and all the Disney characters, and even liked the Haunted Mansion. The fireworks were AWESOME.

At California Adventure, we had reservations at Ariel's Grotto, a "character dining experience" that we paid out the nose for. But Madelyn got autographs and pictures with five different princesses, and the food was oh so scrumptious. Better be for $33 a plate!!

Day 4: We spent a couple nights with my G-ma Murset, who is in her 90's but still kicking. She lives in Sherman Oaks, which is close to everything in LA. We were pooped, so we only ended up going to Griffith Obervatory, a big planetarium up on Mt. Hollywood, and then to the Glendale Galleria Mall. G-ma is always fun to visit (thanks in no small part to her hot breakfasts and fresh oranges right off the tree) and now that Mark's done with school, hopefully we'll make it out there more often. I love California!

OK, OK. Time to spill the beans....

4/5/09

...about our baby on the way! A lot of you were already aware of this, but since I miscarried last August, we thought we'd wait till I was safely in my 2nd trimester to break this news to the world at large. I am 14 weeks today and am due October 4th. Exciting, huh?

After a couple of months of blah-ness, I have managed to claw my way out of the festering pit that is the 1st trimester (well, what's your analogy?) and am now feeling pretty good. Whew! Hopefully now I will be able to actually come out and do stuff when my friends invite me, instead of mysteriously not showing up due to me lying on the couch. (Sorry...)

Now if you'll excuse me, I have three months of suppressed pregnancy blogging to do. Maybe I'll start with a recap and a comparison to my (totally miserable) first go-round:

1st trimester with Madelyn:
Location: Cedar City, UT
Due date: January 3rd 2005 (she arrived December 21st)
Occupation: massage therapist at Salon Divo, cashier at Robert's Crafts
School: attending SUU. Was taking anatomy & physiology summer courses at the time.
Weight: dropped down to 98 lbs.
Visage: puce
In general: I felt like I was starving to death, but whenever I'd eat, my stomach would hurt even worse. I was nauseous almost 24/7. Wanted to die, pretty much, for almost 4 months.
Record number of pukings in 24 hours: 7 times. Ended up in the ER with an IV. My favorite!

1st trimester with current baby:
Location: Hurricane, UT
Due date: October 4th, 2009
Occupation: Stay-at-home mom, sometime jewelry designer. Still licensed in massage, but not employed.
School: I'm done, and Mark just finished two days ago. WOO-HOO!!!
Weight: a healthy 111 lbs., thankyouverymuch (although my doctor isn't too impressed, especially since that's a pound less than I weighed last month).
Visage: oatmeal (pale and pasty)
In general: I wasn't as sick as I was with Madelyn, but still didn't feel well for 2 months. Bone-splitting fatigue. Mostly just "blah."
Record number of pukings in 24 hours: 5 times. Brilliant husband with up-to-the-minute drug information had a PA friend call in a prescription for Odansetron (Zofran), which saved the day.

Some other similarities:
*My already sensitive nose amplifies smells 3x more, making everything smell repulsive.
*I already am having to get up to pee up to 4 times a night. Fun.
*During the cruel blood draw that all pregnant women must endure in their 1st trimester, where they take about 10 vials at once for lab tests, I have blacked out and then dry heaved both times. Needles are my sworn enemy.

Like my chiropractor Dr. Pinkston said, "It just makes you want to smack all those women who say they've never felt better in their lives than when they're pregnant." He has given me NAET treatments for my out of control hormones, which have actually helped me feel better.

My 3 month belly picture. I only look this fabulous because I possess the ballerina superpower of being able to hold my stomach waay in.

Oh, and I know a lot of you are wondering:

YES
We realize that our two children will be almost 5 years apart
NO
We didn't exactly plan it that way (call me if you want the full story)
BUT
We are grateful for the wisdom of higher powers who knew that we probably would have killed each other had we added an OHPL (Onery Hungry Pregnant Lady) to the mix of the already present BDLM (Bossy Demanding Little Miss) and OSDH (Overworked Stressed Dear Husband) during PA school.

Sigh... It feels good to finally get all of that out in the open. And now, I must go finish packing for the first vacation we've had in years: we're going to Disneyland!! See you in a week!

Eight Down, No More Rotations To Go. EVER!!!

4/2/09

Well, I never thought I'd say this, but Mark is finally done with rotations!!! Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

OK, technically he is still inputting all his patient contacts and he has to take a big test tomorrow, but then the stranglehold the University of St. Francis has held on us for 144+ weeks will almost be over. (They are still making us come back to Albuquerque for graduation in two weeks.)

Mark's eighth and last rotation was in pediatrics, and luckily our decision to come back to Utah to do it with Madelyn's doctor paid off. Dr. Dowse liked Mark so much that he is going to go back to work for him full time in May! So we will be relocating up to Cedar City in a month or two so that Mark won't have to drive 50 miles each way to go to work like he has been doing.

I sent Mark with the camera, and hoped he'd at least get a picture of him on the inside of the clinic, but whatever. I'm sure I'll get one later.

The types of things he's been doing there (and will continue to do) are your run-of-the mill well-child checkups, ear infections, colds, RSV, strep throat, mono, fever, rashes, the always delightful earwax removal procedures and circumcisions, and the occasional accident or broken bone. The clinic is right across the street from Valley View Medical Center, so he has also helped check out most of the newborns there. Mark has always been wonderful with kids and we know this will be a good field for him.

In the meantime, he has the whole month of April off to get ready for his board exams (and go on two road trips, and try to find a place to live in Cedar, and try to find money for bills...). It's one of those six hour harrowing ordeals that you have to travel to a testing center, pay $425 and sweat bullets over because if you don't pass you have to wait two months before taking it again. So let's all think positive thoughts that he'll pass with flying colors and can start working and making money as soon as possible!

Madelyn is happy to have her daddy here all the time now because he's someone fresh to boss around from sunup to sundown. Also, he does fun things with her, and the most recent was setting up our camping tent in the living room and spending the night out there in their sleeping bags.

I am so proud of my hubby for making it through rotations--heaven knows it hasn't been easy on any of us. Great job, dearest!!