Jackisms

Since our house still looks like a bomb landed on it and we have half unpacked boxes everywhere, I won't be able to scrapbook for awhile. This post is so I can remember some of the funny things Jack has recently said so I can scrapbook them later.
1. "Mommy, did you see that patepillar"? (how he says caterpillar. Said on a walk around our circle)
2. "Daddy, I missed you at work" (said to Matt when he was still in MN working and Jack would talk to him on the phone)
3. "I'm not Matthew, I'm Jack Ryan" (said back to me when I called him his full name, Jack Matthew Ryan)
4. "That's my baby" (in reference to Elizabeth)
5. "Mommy, you didn't give me any tention (aka attention) today" (said after I spent a long day unpacking instead of playing with him, poor guy)
6. "Mommy, I want LOTS of syrup" (while he holds up two hands..10 fingers is LOTS!).
7. "Daddy, can I close the lid"? (said when Matt called to wish me happy anniversary the other day. I was in the shower and Jack got the cell phone off the counter and was talking to him and kept asking if he could close the "lid" of the phone. I asked Matt later that morning why he didn't call to wish me happy anniversary.)
8. "wake up Jeff" and then a giggle when we are trying to sleep. He got this from the Wiggles and it is so hard not to laugh when he does it. Of course, when I laugh it eggs him on and he keeps doing it.
9. "Oh Man Pickle". Said when something isn't going his way
10. "I think that is a great idea" "Mommy, don't you think that is a great idea?"
11. "Daddy, will you be a garbage truck driver with me?"

I should have written them down right away because I can't remember the other funny ones.

Finally done

I wanted to take a moment and say congratulations to Matt. After four years of medical school, three years of internal medicine residency and three years of Heme/Onc fellowship, he is finally done with his training and about to begin his first real job at the age of 35. It has been a long, long, long road (yes, three longs is correct--it's been LONG!), and he has never once complained (not even during his surgery rotation in medical school when he was at the hospital at 4 am, not during his Q3 and Q4 call months, and not during his BMT months). He genuinely loves his job and loves taking care of his patients. He has a passion for medicine and his patients are lucky to have him for a physician. He managed long hours at the hospital and still always had time for me and the kids. He often got up early in the morning with the kids so I could sleep in, even when he was post-call and needed sleep more than I did. He would take Jack to daycare when I was pregnant with Elizabeth so I could have a few minutes to myself in the morning to get ready. He added extra moonlighting shifts to his busy schedule so we could have extra money.
Matt, we love you and are so proud of you and can't wait for the next 6 weeks to have fun as a family.

Hard to say good bye

Hello everyone!
I finally got our internet hooked up today, after several calls to AT&T, and thought I would do a quick update. I don't have much patience for incompetent people and so far my experience with our new phone/internet provider hasn't been great. Although, it has been better than my experience with the garbage company (garbage service requested May 20 and I still do not have a garbage can). Have called the 'village' and garbage company countless times and no one seems to know what is going on. Anyway, enough of my venting on that...

I'm getting settled here (and I say I'm because Matt is still in Rochester). I didn't think it would be so hard to get everything unpacked. Elizabeth is teething and isn't cooperating with the unpacking process. My new strategy is to lower my expectations and to just unpack completely one box a day. I forgot how hard it is to move to a new city and not know anyone and drive around with a phone book map for when I get lost. I have to confess I'm quite lonely (and really miss all my Rochester friends) and the people in the grocery store probably think I'm nuts because I strike up an extended conversation as I check out. Matt is coming this weekend and I plan to go to the Sex and the City movie by myself and enjoy a giant tub of popcorn. I also miss SUPER Target. After my first grocery shopping experience at Wal-Mart, which I vowed never to return to, I did find Target, just not a Super Target. I guess my wallet will be fatter since I no longer live 3 minutes from my favorite store!


It was so hard to say good bye to our house in Rochester. When we left the last time, I stood in the entry way sobbing and tried to capture all our memories from the past six years. It was the first house Matt and I bought. I remembered Matt coming home from work his first day of residency a tired, young doctor learning the Mayo system. It was the first home Jack and Elizabeth lived in. As I stood in the entry way, I remembered the day I brought each of them through the door the first time. I could "see" Jack running to greet me when I came home from work each day. I could "hear" the blinds move in Jack's room as he peeked outside to see what was going on when he was supposed to be napping. It was so hard to lock and shut the door the final time and I cried all the way to our hotel as I said goodbye to our first home. I hope I will never forget those memories and am looking forward to making our new house our home.