Shutterfly Albums

I don't know about you but I take a lot of photos. Digital cameras are fantastic in that you can typically view your photo instantly to make sure no one was blinking but I feel like many of the photos tend to just sit on the computer (or cell phone), tucked away in a file that will rarely be seen or shared outside the digital world of facebook or instagram. I love looking through my family's old photo albums and I wanted something physical for Robbie and I to have so our kids would get the same experience.

Then I discovered Shutterfly. For the past 5 years, I have used this excellent website to create a photo album with all our favorite memories from each year. It has the artistic and creative qualities of scrapbooking but there's no mess and, in my experience, is much cheaper!

Start of the Final Semester

I currently have several things I'm excited about so get ready for lots of exclamation points!

1) Robbie started his FINAL semester of Dental School three weeks ago!

CU has eleven semesters in total (because they are kind of evil and don't give the students any summers off) and we only have one left. Where did the time go?

2) There are only 123 days until graduation!

I know because I have a countdown app on my phone. Robbie has asked me not to tell him the exact number of days because it stresses him out ("I have so much to do still!" -Robbie). What's nice is they have one month after graduation to complete any final requirements so I feel like that extra little cushion of time should help relieve the stress a little. For now, I will just share the countdown with you guys.

3) He took the NBDE part II at the end of December and received this in the mail!

Just look at how beautiful that is.

The First 6 Months of Mommyhood

We've officially survived the first six months of parenthood! I'm not going to lie, guys; it was really rough! I can without hesitation say that lack of sleep makes me a different person. Months 4 and 5 were especially difficult as I was dealing with post-partum depression and I'm just now finally starting to feel like I'm coming out of that dark hole.

Counting Down

Guys, next week is Thanksgiving already! Two weeks after that Robbie's semester will end and he'll take the NBDE part II. Two weeks after that he starts his final semester of Dental School!!! I don't think there can be enough exclamation points on that sentence.

Where did the past 3.5 years go? Didn't we just finish the application and interview process not that long ago? And now we just ordered his Senior photos!

Freaking adorable if I do say so myself.

Two Semesters Left

We're finally here-- the first day of Robbie's 4th year in Dental School! Summer semester was lost in the haze of newborn land. Robbie was able to arrange to have his summer break (yes... two whole weeks! wow!) moved from the end of the summer to the beginning so he would have time off when Jubilee was born. This meant that his first ACTS rotation was moved to the end of the summer instead. He was also able to work it out with the school to have several of his ACTS rotations in or around Fort Collins so we have been able to spend a lot of time with our families.

Update About My Mom

Last August my mom was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. See my first post about it here. I am excited to share that she is now almost completely done with all her treatment (which included chemo, radiation, surgery, and hormone therapy) and her doctor informed her that they could no longer see any cancer! Since finishing the full chemo treatments, her hair has grown back and she is doing really well. Thank you all for your prayers and kind words over the past year.

Here she is back in April, back to her usual crazy self!

Our Birth Story

PREPARATION:
Before we were even pregnant I knew I wanted to aim for a non-medicated birth. I could write a whole blog post about this topic, but for the sake of keeping this brief(ish), my main reasons were:

1) I wanted the benefits of being able to walk and move around during labor and to birth in whatever position I wanted (ie. not on my back).

2) I wanted to be able to listen to my body's natural pushing cues/rhythm to avoid tearing more than necessary

3) Epidurals can slow down labor, sometimes leading to a cascade of interventions that might have otherwise been avoided (ex. pitocin, vacuum extraction, c-section, etc.).

4) When I weighed the benefit of an epidural (less pain) with the potential risks (drop in blood pressure, severe headache, loss of bladder control, itchy skin, back pain, increased risk of cesarean, etc), I felt that the benefit just wasn't that great.