Celebration Day!!!

If Medical School was like a Super Mario game, Hubby is running up that last hill and making the giant leap to the top of the flag of level 2. If that made no sense, today is the last day of FINALS EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! (and the crowd roars!) 2nd year is over. No more classes, No more crazy mid-terms followed a week later by a crazier final. I feel like throwing a party I am so happy. If I am this happy, think how ecstatic Hubby is! He is like a new person this week. As each day passed and with that one last test to take, he breathed a little easier. He has had a smile on his face since Monday and I have heard him laugh more this week than I have in the last couple of months.

It has been a long, grueling, exhausting road, but he did it! Not a single remediation in the bunch either!! I am so proud.

6,240. That is the number of hours in the last 2 years that he has spent studying, NOT including finals weekends. Oh. My. Word.

Tonight, I am taking my guy out for a celebration date. The kids are staying with my parents and Hubby and I are going out on the town. The date has to be like the best date ever because as of Sunday, we go into full blown Boards mode. For tonight, we won't think about that...we will just enjoy Cinco de Mayo for a different reason than every one else.

Happy Half-Way There Day!!!

Oh to be 16 again!

Sorry for the light posting last week, but it was Hubby's spring break. Thinking of my week in review, I thought of a story that made my mom call all of her friends to repeat, so you can be sure it is embarrassing!

Friday is the Medical School Formal, so my SIL so kindly joined me last week for a day of dinner and shopping for a pretty new cocktail dress. This event was a little frustrating to buy for. I have no idea what to expect and I don't know what other girls will be wearing. Hubby said, cocktail dress, so we went off on a hunt for a cute, but still (hopefully) age appropriate dress. We hit every store in the area that offered formal dresses that we could think of. I tried on any and everything that my SIL picked out for me.

Here are the lessons we learned:

1. I can't pull off the cupcake dresses. You know the kind that have 6 layers of ruffles and a huge bow under your bust. Right now, that is 85% of the formal dresses.

2. I need a form fitting dress for my body type. As cute as they are, I can't pull off the flowy shirt dresses or the bubble skirts or I look 5 months pregnant.

3. Tulle is very itchy.

Tulle, what a great transition for my story. Picture this: SIL and I trapped in a small, hot, horribly lit dressing room. She is prepping dresses for me and then zipping me up. While trying on one of those cupcake dresses (we didn't get the point until after like #8) I was telling her how uncomfortable it was underneath. Not only is it layered in taffeta ruffles on the outside, but it has layer upon layer of tulle and stretchy slip material that only measured about half of the length of the dress. It felt like a tulle wedgie. Trying to help me out, she goes up the dress with hands on either sides of my legs to pull the material down for me. With handfuls of material underneath, she says to me, "What is THIS?" and YANKS as hard as she can. Before I can even utter the words...there they are. My underwear by my knees! OH MY WORD, we laughed uncontrollably, tears were rolling down our faces and I am sure the professionals at Dillards wanted to kick us out for being too loud. It didn't matter to us, we were having so much fun. After a few minutes, we regrouped, but that is a moment I will never forget. We had so much fun and I haven't laughed like that in ages!

I finally did find a dress and paired with my super high Black Jessica Simpson heels, I think Hubby will be proud. I will be sure to take a picture and post it and blog all about my Prom night. SIL is sweet enough to offer to keep both kids overnight, so we don't have to worry about rushing home. We are so excited to get all fancy and make some great memories with friends. If finding a dress was this eventful, I can't wait to see what happens Friday!

Dr. Love

There are a bazillion reasons why I love my husband. One is his knack for making me feel like the most important person in the world. This week, he proved my reasoning was true over and over again. We are on a tight budget, but we always try to splurge on each others big days because we don't get the chance to do it at all through the year. This week was my birthday, and he had asked me a while back what I desired. I thought long and hard, and decided I would like to get my boys pics done professionally, because time is just flying by and it is hard to set aside that money. Coming into this week, I already knew my gift, and expected only a quiet dinner out to celebrate with him after finals were over. As you have already read, my sweet Izzy and Mom spoiled me with a surprise party bright and early on my birthday, followed by a full day of fun and dinner out with the family. Friday, my hubby was home and he sent me out shopping for a new outfit for my special dinner that night. I picked Cheesecake Factory and was ready to fall head first off of the South Beach wagon into a plate of yummy deliciousness. As we waited for our table, my brother-in-law and his whole family walked through the doors with big smiles on their faces! It was such a nice surprise. My three nephews made me cards, (the best kind)and I was showered with gift cards from their family. So sweet. We had a great dinner, laughing and enjoying the kids and best of all THE CARBS!!! :)
Just as dinner was wrapping up, my Dad offered to take the boys home for us so we could go to a movie. I was so excited to get a surprise date with my Hubby. I couldn't figure out though, why everyone was doing everything the hard way...instead of switching cars, they switched the car seats and all of the kids stuff. I found out soon enough there was a reason for the chaos.
Hubby pulls into a local grocery store and tells me we are getting candy for our movie. Sounds good to me! Next thing I know, he is opening the trunk and says, "I lied. We aren't going to the movies...look in here." I look to find our luggage packed and ready. *brain processing* Uh...what? Hubby-"I am taking you to a surprise hotel overnight. I packed all of your stuff and we aren't going home until tomorrow afternoon!"

Now, the overnight stay was plenty to be excited about, but for me, I couldn't believe how sweet and thoughtful it was that he had spent a month planning for this day. That he picked out outfits, stole my makeup bag without me realizing it, packed everything I needed and prepared for our kids. He took me shopping for snacks and then we headed off to our hotel. We normally stay in the Sheraton on the Plaza, the place we stayed on our wedding night, but he wanted every part of the night to be a surprise so he took me to the President Hotel which has been recently renovated and restored. It was like taking a step into the 30's and I loved it. Gorgeous hotel and a beautiful view. We had a fantastic night and I felt like I did when I first fell in love with him.

The next morning, we laid in bed watching TV and eating M&M's for breakfast. Right? How more perfect can a birthday get? Then he hits me with another surprise. He is taking me on a double date for Valentine's with our friends and as soon as we got home, I needed to start getting ready!! It just kept coming! What made it even more fun, Stacy didn't know about the date either. She came to our house wearing a blindfold, and J pretended to load a giant present in the back seat while we got in instead. When she finally removed the blindfold, we all busted up in laughter and set off for our surprise Valentine's date. We were all over the city. Dinner at one place, shopping and walking Union Station, Crown Center and then dessert at Zona Rosa and more shopping. It was hysterical and I am still sore from all of the laughing.

This morning, I woke up to a super sweet card, and breakfast made for me and the boys. My boys were showered with candies and chocolates and singing cards. Hubby and I got the sweetest hearts signed from each of our boys and my parents gave me a bag full of goodies too.

This week has made me feel overwhelmed with love. My friends have been so kind and thoughtful. My family went above and beyond to show their love for me and my Hubby...well he should get an award. Serious. I don't know of another wife who gets the kind of special treatment I get all of the time. He should offer training classes in romance. ;) Romance 101- by Dr. Love.

Today is Valentine's Day and I hope everyone was showered in love and kindness the way we have felt in our house today.

Izzy's Quote of the Day: When speaking to him about love and Valentine's Day Marcus said, "Izzy do you know that Jesus loves you even more than Mommy and Daddy love you?" Izzy- "Yes. He loves me like Grandma loves me!!!" :) It is hard to fathom a greater love than that, huh?

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!
M.

What a weekend!

I spoke too soon on my last post. Late Thursday and Friday were spent crying and sick. I am not a wimpy person, I have been through MANY things and lots of them physically painful, but I have never had such a horribly painful stomach virus in my life. I felt so sorry for my poor babies and what they had been through just days earlier.

Once again, my Superman rushed in to save the day. He took care of the kids before school and set me up for my day. I plopped myself on the couch and cried for mercy. Just a couple of hours later, I got a call from Superman himself telling me he had done his mandatory work and was coming home to rescue me. He studied from home for the rest of the day, took care of the kids, cleaned and cooked. *heart melt*

Hubby then woke up at 6:45 on a SATURDAY morning and studied for 12 hours. Sunday was the same routine for him. I know that I could look at this different ways and maybe be a little resentful of the time and dedication it takes to do well in med school, but I simply can't feel like that. I have always been proud of my Hubby. He has from day one of our marriage, put our family first. He has worked so hard and put time and extra effort into every job to not just do his job, but succeed in every position. Every boss he has ever had has said the same thing about him: Give him something to accomplish and he will get it done successfully and in half of the time of anyone else. He is fantastic at time management and has managed to completely balance our family life and the overwhelming demands of med school. Saturday night when I thought he would just collapse (keep in mind he was sick just like the rest of us, and still studied the whole week through) instead, he asked me out on a surprise date. We asked Mom and Dad if we could just run out for dinner and some grocery shopping once the boys were in bed and they gladly sent us on our way. Now dinner and grocery shopping might not seem like much of a date, but these days, it really doesn't matter what we do if we get the chance to catch up and spend some quality time. We had such a fun night and at dinner we couldn't stop laughing. After the week we had, it was exactly what we needed. Once we were home, we snuggled in and watched a movie. Just enough of a break so that poor Hubby's head didn't explode.

The virus wasn't done reeking havoc on our family just yet. Late Saturday night my Mom came down with it. Sunday morning she informed me that my Dad had a very important client that had bought tickets for the 4 of them to go to the New Dinner Theater and she was too sick to join. Guess who got to sub? ME!!! Mommy who spent her whole week, cleaning up vomit, consoling crying kids, hubby, and even myself, cleaning, the non-stop laundry and just plain ol' exhaustion, got to get all dolled up and go on a special fancy work date with my Dad. The dinner was delicious, the show was hilarious and I felt refreshed.

Sometimes caring for everyone can make you just feel like a robot. It was so nice for two days in a row to go out and feel like a young woman. Turns out, I didn't do so badly as my Dads date because his client loved me. If Dad earns a bonus, I might need a cut of it! Cha-Ching!

All in all, last week was a rough one, but ended on a great note. I have a new appreciation for myself and my Hubby. I learned you can will yourself to do pretty much anything even if it is cleaning up vomit one more time. I learned that there is no limit to the pride I feel for my Hubby. He just constantly amazes me with how well he takes care of us and still manages to do really well in school. I don't know anyone else who would put the kind of time in he does and I love him so much for it.