Happy Birthday Tyler!

Tyler turned 1 years old today, March 24th 2009! Happy Birthday little man. It is so fun to have grandma here with us to celebrate! Luke, Audrey and Maddie had a great time jumping on the bed.
We invited some of our good friends (Aimee and Clayton) over to join us for cake and ice cream. This was on Sunday night. For Tyler's real birthday we have been up in Frankenmuth with my mom at "Splash Village".


Jacob and Macen are two of our good friends who also joined us. Josh still enjoys being Spider Man as you can see.

We are ready for CAKE!
"Tyler the Tiger"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TY!

Some of the top things I love about my baby are...

* He is the biggest snuggler ever. I even love it when he snuggles me with a snotty nose.

* He is a great eater. He loves everything and always wants to try whatever I am eating.

* His perfect little head. He has such a nice shaped head. I will admit, I was a little scared when Josh was born and his cone shaped head came out! It took Josh weeks before he had a normal head. But Ty's head is so cute, no wonder we give it kisses all day.

* His smile! Especially now that he has these cute little teeth coming in. I love watching him cheer up people where ever we go with his huge grin.

* He has the greatest disposition. He is easy to please and content 99% of the time. I love that he will go to anyone and be as happy as ever.

* We have loved his hair. It is still holding onto some red.

* His morning noises are pretty hilarious. He makes the strangest noises from his crib in the morning when it is time to get up. It is his own unique morning call for me to come snatch him and take him into bed with me.

* I love watching him in the water. His favorite activity has always been in the tub.

* We love it when he gets excited because he starts squiggling and wiggling with all limbs. We call it "The Tyler Dance." He loves to do the Tyler Dance the most when he is naked. He is my first chubby baby and I love it! Josh and Maddie were always so skinny and petite, but Tyler's round arms, legs and tummy are the cutest.

I will have to write more on another post because there is so much I would love to write about Tyler's first year. I feel like I have enough thoughts and feelings to write a book, so it makes it very difficult to capture my feelings in a few paragraphs, so.....I won't, for now.

We love you Ty.

INDIANA!

YEAHHHHHHHHHH!
We found out we are moving to Indianapolis, Indiana!!!
I have never been to Indiana, but Dave said it was one of his top favorite cities. Indiana was Dave's FIRST interview. It was our number 1 choice, but we were quite shocked to find out today that we "matched" there! Dave is officially DONE with Medical School and begins residency on July 1st. This residency is a 5 year program. It is a triple board program that will allow Dave to do Pediatrics/Child Psychiatry/ and Adult Psych after the 5 years.
Our next plans are to go "house shopping" in the next month and learn as much about Indiana as possible. Dave has his graduation in New York City (In the Lincoln Center!) on June 12th. We hope to come to Salt Lake soon after that before he starts work in July.
We were so happy to hear today that all of our friends matched either their first or second choice! Congratulations to everyone!!

Monkeys on the Bed

A few days ago, Kristine went on a "girls night out" party, so the kids and I decided to have a party of our own. We made popcorn, and watched movies, and most of all, jumped on the bed. So I thought I would share a little bit of what Josh thought was fun for Tyler--I'm not so convinced. My favorite part of the video is watching Maddie constantly jumping around... she has an endless motor. I wish I filmed more, since afterwards, Maddie began "playing the drums" as well.

Sunny Days Preschool

We have absolutely loved our experience with Josh's preschool. Here are his two teachers Miss Mary and Miss Audine. It is a Co-Op preschool which means that the moms are all involved in planning activities, field trips, and being the "working parent". If we were staying in Michigan I would love to have Maddie go to Sunny Days. My kids are (not to brag) pretty amazing at sharing toys and treats as you can see in this picture. Suckers are ok for babies right??!

Ok, take a close look at this picture and you will see something.........Josh and Tyler are matching! The reason I bring this to you attention is because this is the first time EVER that I have matched my kids! All of my sister in-laws are pro's at matching their kids on holidays, parties, and pretty much whenever they feel like it. I, on the other hand, will never be that organized or well planned. But, I was proud of myself for doing it once! Josh was totally excited about it though.

I remember when I was debating whether or not to start a blog there was one thing that kind of bothered me. I feel like the majority of the time, the people I know with blogs, rarely share anything about themselves, but only talk about their kids. I totally and completely understand this. Our kids are our greatest joy and consume the majority of our thoughts. However, don't you ever just want to know how someone is doing, or what they are doing minus the kids? (I hope I'm not in trouble for saying this.) I notice all the time how moms talk about what their kids are doing and their husbands, but it is hard to talk about ourselves.

I want to tell about a few of the things that have gotton me through this cold winter and keep my sanity amongst changing diapers and picking up toys. Here it goes:

1. The best part about this winter in Michigan has been our ice skating rink just down the street from our house. It is free, we all have our own skates, and it is an absolute blast spending time outside despite the cold. We have been ice skating 2-3 times each week and whenever I need to escape for a bit I head over to the rink by myself. It has been totally awesome learning new tricks and improving my skating ability. It's a great workout too!

2. My friend Hilary and I have been working on our guitar skills since last fall. We get together once a week for a jam session. I have loved it. We both keep each other motivated and are teaching ourselves from a guitar method book. Last week we were singing as a crew of men were working on her basement. We felt like idiots because two of the guys had been in bands previously! All I can say is I am SO glad I met Hilary when I did and we share the same love for music.

3. Running has been one of my greatest hobbies just in the last two years. Right now I am training with Terria, Bethany, Jenny V., and Ann K. We are working towards a 25K in Grand Rapids Michigan on May 9th. The training has been going on for the last month and it is so great to have people to run with. My friend Andrea is talking about flying up from Florida to join us. I am so excited!

4. This sounds like a silly thing to get excited about, but I am totally into this step aerobics class I am doing at the gym. It is twice a week and I feel like I have to bend backwards so that I can get there on time. It feels more like a dance class than a workout. I have two friends that do it with me and after a month I FINALLY feel like I can do it. The first week I couldn't stop laughing because I felt like such a dork the whole time.

5. The fifth thing that I have loved lately is my calling in church. My calling is "Music Person" or something like that. Last Sunday the choir sang a number we have been working on for the last few weeks. ("Be Still My Soul.") I am always worried about who will show up and how it will turn out, but it was so beautiful. We had about 12 men and 8 women. Plus, the pianist is one of my piano students and she did absolutely fabulous! I love doing the music in the branch whether in Primary, Relief Society, playing the piano or conducting. I am growing an even deeper love for the hymns now that I spend more time studying them and putting numbers together.

Whoever has read this far is too kind. I am blabbing away because if I stand up, I will have to go do a massive amount of laundry and dishes. I have to say that being a stay at home mom is pretty sweet and I wouldn't trade it for the world! My good friend Julie wrote a cute little saying that was given out today at our "Grosse Pointe Mom's Club" meeting.

"No joy is more demanding, yet heart-expanding as that of Mother. Here's to sharing the joy and confusion, the love and learning, the tears and triumphs, as we grow and give together!"

Bettina's Baby Shower & Citizen Blues...

Last Thursday night Julie and I put on a baby shower for Bettina Grange. She is due in 2-3 weeks with her third baby. ( boy!!) There was a mix between some of the girls in our branch and some of the girls we met in Grenada.

There are always cute little babies that want to join the party too.
All of us in the picture above (except Bettina) are waiting for March 19th to see where our husbands will start residency. It will be bitter sweet going in so many different ways.

Julie always knows how to set a beautiful table with tasty treats.

We are excited for Bettina's little one to arrive!

Kristine, Bethany, Bettina, Jolie, Anna, Tiffany, Hannah, & Roxy

I am trying to take lots of pictures of our last get togethers.

Thank you Julie for the wonderful night and best of luck Bettina!

One more thing...

My cousin Colin passed along an email telling me about his new company. I wanted to let you all know about it. Go ahead and check it out. Best of luck Colin!

Dear friends and family,
I am currently developing a website called CitizenBlues.com that just launched Wednesday, March 3rd. If you are familiar with the website SteepandCheap.com it is very similar. Our website will offer one deal everyday on a particular brand of designer jeans or other similar designer clothing until it either sells or is replaced by another product on the next day. The clothes will be discounted anywhere between 50%-80% off retail price and will be the cheapest available. The site will offer such brands as Diesel, Citizens of Humanity, True Religion, 7 for All Mankind, William Rast, Penguin, G-Star and much more. Keep in mind it is all 100% authentic.
Thanks a lot, Colin

Star Wars Birthday Party

Wow, I have now been a mother for 5 years! My little leap year baby just turned 5...(or is he still 1?!) Last weekend we had a great birthday for Josh. The most special part about it was that his cousins drove up from Ohio for the occasion. Josh debated back and forth between a Spider man party or a Star Wars party. Star Wars won. Josh also made it very clear to me that he wanted an "all boys" birthday party. We put on a mini carnival in our gym in the church. I owe 99% of the credit to my husband for his creativity and enthusiasm. We had 6 or 7 little games for the kids to win tickets and collect prizes at the end.

Here we have the Darth Vader pinata. Maddie is taking her turn.

I remember loving the game musical chairs when I was a kid. However, it kind of seems to be a cruel game at this age. Every time a kid didn't get a chair they were in tears or on the verge. Maddie especially was upset when someone was sitting in her chair.

Here is Josh sitting at the head of the birthday table. Pretty sweet huh?!

We did have a few princesses that snuck into the party.

Dave is going to be in the cake making business one day.

Here we have Yoda holding his light saber.

Happy Birthday Josh!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Christopher Orme Nebeker

This blog is dedicated to a special member of our family who recently moved on to the next life. Most of you may ask, "Who is Christopher?" Well, that is his full name, but many of you know him by his nick name "Cru." Our family dog was put down yesterday. It was his time and this has been very emotional for my mom. I want to share a few memories of Crubie.
One day around 7 years ago I was looking in the newspaper and found a litter of Beagle puppies for sale. I quickly called up one of my good friends, Suzi Grant, and asked her if she wanted to come take a look. I had no intention of actually buying a dog that day, but I will never forget the second I saw Cru run in the room with that cute little tail wagging. There was absolutely no way I could resist such an adorable and loving little guy. The next thing I knew, I had just bought a dog and hadn't even mentioned it to my husband!! Surely he would fall in love with it and not be mad at me right?? That night, I picked Dave up from work and said, "Honey, I have something I want to show you!" I pulled a blanket off the box sitting in the back of the car and there was Cru. I think Dave's eyes popped out of their sockets. He was completely blown away that I had bought a dog without any kind of discussion with him. By the way, I did promise that I would never do anything like that again without speaking with him first.......however, Dave did fall in love with Cru pretty quick. (I was still in hot water for a few weeks.)
Dave named him from his ultimate favorite movie growing up, "Rad". A movie about BMX bike racing. The main character who ends up being the champion is named "Christopher", but "Cru" for short. Dave had always told me we were going to name our first son "Cru", but decided we could name our dog it instead. Cru slept in our bed with us, he went on family trips with us, he went snow caving with Dave and curled up in his sleeping bag, we hiked him into our cabin at Alta, he spend many weeks up at Bear Lake in the summers, and within one year, Cru got a girlfriend named "Sadie Lady". Beagles like to be in packs, so we found the perfect companion for him. Cru had a sweet life with us. He owned our house and he owned us. (It is kind of embarrassing how much time and thought we devoted to our dogs. I guess that all changes once you have kids.)
The time came for us to leave to Grenada and we didn't know how we would ever leave Cru and Sadie. My mom kept Cru and my good friend Jane kept Sadie. Cru became a dear friend to my mom. She treated him like a king. Cru was a loving dog with his own cute little personality and character. Thank you mom for giving Cru such a wonderful home. We will all remember him. (I am sorry I can not find a picture to post.) We love you Cru!

This is an Addendum....

I(David) just wanted to say a few stories about Cru as well. Sorry this is past Kristine's post, but it takes me a little longer to come to grips with emotions and things like this than my wife. And in the mean time, I found a few photos of Cru in past online albums(we wish we had all of pictures, but we didn't catch the digital craze until 04 so all of the puppy pictures are in albums in our mother's basement.

Anyway, I have a few wonderful memories of Cru. First, at our old house on Utopia in West SLC. I had to build a fence, having to recieve permission from a truly insane landlord, for Cru. Then, to build a doggy door was impossible because of the layout, so I had to build a ramp from the basment to a window, and then Cru would learn to climb up the ramp and out the window. This was both effective and hilarious. The ramp was only 12in wide, and so for Cru as a little puppy, you can imagine his fear in learning this trick. But he learned quickly, and soon, my memory is filled the sounds of a huge thud and scamper whenever Kristine and I would come home--we knew Cru was coming inside to say high. If we caught him unawares of us coming home, we could go downstair and call for him and then we would watch him fly through this little window, down this wobbly ramp(which I nailed a moldy old piece or carpet to for friction) and that was Cru's greeting to us.

As a side note to that memory, this door also showed us how intelligent Cru was. See, when it was winter, we would have to close the window and he would always just whimper as he sat at the bottom of the ramp and we would go down to open it up. His friends that would come by, we soon learned, were not as intelligent. Once they went up the open ramp, they would soon go up a closed window too, and that's when I learned how to put in new glass quite quickly. I went through many pieces of glass because of neighbor dogs, but not once did Cru get fooled. And fortunately for me, no law suits were filed due to cuts on other dogs' noses.

My second favorite memory is snow camping a few years ago. I took Cru quite a bit, but this time, up in the Uintas, I forgot my sleeping bag. I had brought a wool blanket for Cru to sleep on, but I had nothing. Don't ask me how that happened, snow caving no less. So that night, instead of going home, I tried to tough it out. I had Cru on one side of me, and Saddie on the other, and then I wrapped the wool blanket around the three of us like a burrito. I won't say I got much sleep, but we did make it through the night. Saddie had to get up and check things out a few times, as she always did, but Cru never left my side. I loved my dog. Even after having to give him to Liz for medical school, when I would come home, he would always remember me, he always let me bathe him when no one else could, and he always wanted me to scratch him like no one else did.

My Wife

HOW DO I LOVE THEE....

This is our 10th Valentines Day together, and since there is nothing more Kristine likes to do than blog, I thought I would surprize her with my first entry of all time. So I was thinking, for the last 10 years, why do I love her....

1. Sexy

I'm a little sorry this has to be #1, but in reality, this is how all relationships start, there needs to be some attraction. Ours started in weight lifting class. I was the teacher's aid, and she was the sexy little junior doing lat pull downs and lunges. I figured, if someone could look hot doing lunges, they must have something going on. I was initially attacted to her flowing bangs. I wish I could find a picture of them, but I guess the indelible image on my mind is enough. I have asked her repeatedly to grow them again, but she refuses. So in a sense, the fact that she still looks beautiful and sexy, despite her best hair style, says quite a bit. Look how hot she looks in that picture, 9 years ago, curves like a railroad track--we still have those swimsuits too.

2. Fun

Our first time hanging out we played captured the flag with a big group of people(of which I'm sure Kristine organized, seperated as teams, and probably determined who would win, but that's for another list). But ever since then, it has been one fun activity over another. My friends were used to sitting in someone's house saying, "what should we do, what should we do." Once I was with her, there was never enough time in the day to do all of her activities. She is still like this. With the kids there is always some activity for them to do, always an event to get ready for, always a new idea.3. Flirty

Sounds a little silly, but when you take into consideration I was quite reserved and nervous, especially around girls, this quality came in quite handy. Kristine has no reservations about taking the initiative, and that showed in our first date, our first kiss, even our marriage. Kristine is quite aggressive in anything she does, hint hint, and it was helpful for a skinny, scared little kid like me to have a girl express herself openly and freely. Plus, it really helps a guy's self confidence when the girl is always grabbing him(inappropriately) and snuggling with him, even when it's annoying, like, all the time, it still makes you feel pretty cool.

4. Adventurous

Of course this goes along with Fun, but in Kristine's case, it deserves another section in itself. Kristine love adventures, she gets it from her mother I think. Kristine will often get more excited about trying a new sport, than to play one she already loves. Out of the blue, we became regulars in a roller hockey league a few years ago, she also decided to pick up soccer one season and bought herself some fantasticly bright blue soccer cleats. She has never been scared for a new callenge, like a first child, or another, or another... What sticks out the most, is her willingness, even eagerness, to move to the Caribbean for two years. Sure many of you think that sounds fun, but I'm willing to bet 90% of you readers wouldn't have let their husbands move to a third world country and live on rice and beans and deal with crazy pot heads hitting on you everyday--as well as the daily occurance of seeing a local man's entire genitourinary system on the side of the road. Of course we had our scars in Grenada, but Kristine always loved it. She is one of the few wives you can talk to who only has wonderful things to say about her stay there. We even want to go back, soon.

5. Voice

Sorry this one is so low, honey. Now, Kristine has an incredible voice. She is always singing and practicing, as well as performing. I never went into dating with the thought, "I've got to find a girl who can hit high C for a wife." But once I did, it didn't hurt. Kristine brings a beautiful spirit into our house with her voice. I especially like it when she gets the kids singing, or the occasional time I catch her singing the kids to bed. I always feel awkward, but occasionally I'll ask her to sing us a song in bed. Plus, some of my favorite memories are watching her performing in random plays, like in Phantom up in Bountiful, or Carmen downtown, and in Grenada, as the sole bright white girl belting out her solo amidst all the Grenadians--that was a fun concert. (This is from one of her music videos)

6. Mother

The best for last. Kristine and I certainly can have our differences, but whenver that happens, I often think about how she is as a mother. That is something I didn't go into marriage thinking, how will this girl be as a mother? So it is pure luck, or destiny, or whatever, that I married someone I admire so much as a mother. She has it right when it comes to that. She is more concerned about having fun with the kids than tidiness, more worried happiness than rules, and more in tune with loving than discipline. I say that because tidiness, rules and discipline are all important as well, it's just that I like her ranking of the important qualities. Sometimes I will be caught up starring at her interacting with the kids, doing workbooks, practicing the piano, telling stories, creating games, she's amazing at creating games to make things fun, like ice skating when it's 10degrees outside. She really is amazing with her kids, and her kids love her to the moon, and so do I.

I LOVE YOU KRISTINE!!!

Ohio...Indiana...Kentucky...

This picture was taken of us in Cincinnati by our good friend Tommy Skidmore. We had an action packed week last Tuesday through Saturday in Lexington Kentucky, and Cincinnati Ohio. I guess you could say this is a pretty crazy/exciting time in our lives right now because in less than 4 months we will be living in a different city (although we have no idea where that city will be), Dave will be done with school and starting his residency, and we will be purchasing our first house. Yippy! So, since there is quite a lot going on right now, I think I will try to sum it up for anyone out there who is interested.

At the end of this month we have to put in our rank list of the top residency programs Dave is interested in. These are all places that he has interviewed with. We are set on our top three choices of either Cincinnati, Indianapolis, or Lexington. Cincinnati and Indianapolis have a better reputation and more financial perks, but our hearts are really set in Kentucky. As soon as I heard all those southern accents, I thought, "I want one of those." I love the way the people talk and how incredibly friendly they are. In Kentucky they hooked us up with perhaps the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. The next morning we all (kids included) went to breakfast with the chief resident. She was so cool and loved our kids. She didn't even look embarrassed when she saw the huge mess we made on the floor. Dave then spent the day at the hospital while I got a tour of the city and spent 4 hours with a realtor looking at houses and neighborhoods. I was a little nervous hauling all three kids around, but Josh and Maddie thought it was the coolest thing ever going into empty houses and exploring every room. I then was dropped off at a girls house who is originally from Utah. She has been emailing us and told me all about what a wonderful place Lexington is to live in. Dave had a great time at the hospital and by the end of the day we both agreed that we would LOVE to live in Kentucky. Did I mention how beautiful it is?

So after a busy day, we drove an hour to Cincinnatti. Dave had two full days of exhausting interviews. Plus two dinners with the residents. The kids and I had a great time checking out the city, going to museums, and most of all playing with the Skidmore's kids: Scotty, Beth and Lucy. Emily was such a trooper to entertain us when her due date was less than a week away. They even let us stay in their home for a night. Thanks for showing us your city. We loved it!

We find out where we will go in the middle of March. We are planning to stay in our apartment in Michigan until the end of May and then pack up and move beginning of June. Dave has his graduation on June 12th in NYC. I think I am more excited about his graduation than he is. Could it be in a better place?! We will see many of our good friends from Grenada that we have not seen in 2 years. Dave then starts his residency on July 1st. If he gets one of his top three choices then it will be a 5 year residency. It sounds pretty nice to be settled for 5 years. If he does not get one of his top three, we could end up in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Utah or Ohio (Akron). Those would all be beautiful places to live as well.

I think a few months ago I felt overwhelmed and sad to be leaving everything and everyone in Michigan that I love. But with each passing day I am getting more and more excited to see where this long journey is going to lead us. We know we eventually want to end up in the west, but we aren't quite ready yet. It is strange to watch all the people we have grown close to in the last 4 years all preparing to go in different directions. We wish the best for each of you. And needless to say, I am so proud of my husband for all his hard work and perseverance!

Oh yes, there is one more thing I am excited about....it is time for our family to have a dog! I am sure the Orme's think I am crazy, but our family can not be complete with out a little wagging tail following us around.

No more throw up please!

I can't handle any more throw up!!! Tyler is the cutest thing in the world, as you will shortly see in the picture's below. However, this picture is not so cute. This particular time happened as I was talking on the phone with my mom. Our conversation abruptly ended. Tyler throws up more in one month than my other two kids combined in two years. It has been especially bad this week. It happens at church, in his car seat, on other people, on the airplane, tonight at a dinner party, but most of all this is what I look like after it happens. Yum! The other night as I was teaching a piano lesson, I decided to let him play in the tub for a while. I can stand at the piano and see into the bathroom. He was just so cute, my student and I could not resist taking a few pictures. He can play in the tub for 30 plus minutes with out getting bored. Why didn't my other babies do this?

You can kind of see his first tooth coming in. Now he is working on his second.

One of Maddie's all time favorite things to do in our house is get in the pull out bed and play games and jump on it. Here are my kids with two of their best friends Esther and Will Grange. They were having a blast. Josh tends to pull "mean" faces every time I take out the camera.

Two snow storms ago, Dave took the kids outside and built a "nice" snowman for Maddie, and a "mean" snowman for Josh. Our neighbor Raven started crying when she saw it. It is pretty disgusting. But sure enough, two days later, we came outside and someone had stolen the mask and the knife. Josh was devastated for a day. We will put that on our list of everything that has been stolen here in Detroit.