Dear Rhys, on your 3rd birthday

Dear Rhys,

Moustache!

Somehow the past year has flown by and you are 3 years old! You are a little boy with solid opinions, a Sheldon-like favorite seat on the couch, and a generally sweet disposition laced with a naughty streak. This year you have gone from talking in sentences to carrying out conversations; from diapers to going to the bathroom by yourself; from needing help with most things to doing them by yourself; from napping to quiet time.

Look at these muscles!

The time we didn't have to put the crib back together at 4 am.

Speaking of that last point, you now sleep in toddler bed and have quiet time in your room instead of in the crib.The first time we tried a real bed, several months ago, went well for about 3 days. Then one night I woke up at about 4 am to find you playing in your floor with all the lights on in your room. Needless to say, we put your crib back together that night and didn't try again for a few months. Now, however, you're getting the hang of staying in bed all night. Quiet time, however, has been another adventure all together. It doesn't always go over so well (meaning you come out of your room about 50 times in 7.5 minutes to talk to us or ask for help). But it is getting better! Except for those days that you really need a nap and don't take one, then wind up falling asleep on the couch at 5 pm.

Failed attempt to skip nap #47

Cora loves playing with you and snuggling with you (most of the time) and you sure love to play with her! The two of you come up with some crazy games and schemes, and usually you just go along with whatever Cora suggests. Her love of pretend play has rubbed off on you, and we often have to run around the house pursued by whatever superhero or bad guy you are being at the moment. Generally you pretend to be Spiderman or Harry Potter, while we either be a bad guy or a Dementor.

Every boy needs a tractor. Even if only for a day.

Still, you often like to play on your own, bouncing balls around the playroom or reading books, or building towers out of legos. While most of your play is active movement, you still have a creative streak when it comes to stacking and building.

Who needs toys when you have packing materials?

You know all your letters by sight and can count really well, with an extra number or two thrown in there to keep it fun (eleventeen and twelveteen should definitely be real numbers), and you enjoy singing us your favorite songs. Singing comes in 2 varieties: pretty and sweet, or loud and more loud.

For some reason you really love to pull the chain on the lamp

My favorite part though? You are still just as cuddly as you've ever been.

Still love to snuggle

In keeping with tradition, let's cover your favorites from the past year!

Foods - Bread (you subscribe to a very high carb diet), cereal (you would eat it for every meal if I let you), pasta carbonara, and cheese. Cheese by itself, cheese on other things, and a side serving of cheese.

Oh, you asked me to smile? Here.

Movies/TV - Like last year, your sister has some influence over what you want to watch, including things like Tinkerbell, My Little Pony, and Strange Magic. But you also still really like The Incredibles and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Surprisingly (or not - you are my son after all) your favorite parts of the Harry Potter movies you've seen are the scary parts. Like the giant spiders and the basilisk. You never once got scared, and you will specifically ask to watch those scenes.

Mouth full of Easter candy

Riding like a champ

Toys -you've grown pretty attached to Twinkie lately (he was your Daddy's toy as a boy) and sleep with him or play with him most days; Nana gave you a sword for your birthday and it has hardly left your side since then; you also love to play with any type of ball from soccer balls to bouncy balls. We can play catch with you for hours!

The serious tough guy face

Activities - swimming, building with legos, reading, pretending to get rid of all the Dementors with your magic wand (which is really just a pencil), and riding your bike round out your favorite activities at home. You also love going to playgrounds and the Children's museum, where you enjoy climbing everything in sight.

Happy birthday, buddy! Sorry you spent most of it in the car!

We love you, Buddy (don't call you sweetie!) and look forward to seeing how much you grow and change this coming year!

Love always,

Mama

Dear Rhys, on your second birthday

Dear Rhys,

Somehow, another year has passed and you have moved from toddlerhood to little boyhood, and it is an exciting and occasionally alarming stage in our house. Although you are no longer a baby, you are still cuddly and loving; rarely do I get a chance to sit down without you (or your sister) climbing into my lap. I love it!

Never a dull moment!

This past year you have gone from walking to running and jumping, galloping, and attempting to do forward rolls. The last one still eludes you, but you have reached a high level of proficiency in the rest. In fact, the only times you are really still and quiet are when you are sleeping. Which, I might add, has improved leaps and bounds! At some point this year you finally started sleeping past 5 am! Now you reliably sleep to past 6, which is a miracle, and you wake up happy - no more standing in bed yelling for Mama to come get you immediately.

Yes, rocks need hugs too.

If you aren't actively moving and running around the house, you are probably playing. Toys are still a big part of your life, but you also love playing with Cora and tend to chase her around the house. Whether this is something she enjoys or despises varies from day to day, but you always love to chase!

You like to "help" bake.

Not only are you active in body, but your little brain has been really developing this year. You can speak in full sentences (although it's still a language that only we can understand), recite your ABCs (you tend to get hung up on K - H I J KKKKKKKKKK L M N….), identify a few colors, and count to 10 pretty reliably.

Playing in the leaves was a fall favorite.

Look at you go!

Pretend play and imagination is big right now, and you continually tell us that you are a superhero; your favorites are Superman, Captain America, and Mr. Incredible. Thanks to your daddy's influence, you are also a budding fan of the Ninja Turtles, or the Ninna Tuddas, as you call them.

Deep in thought.

In January of this past year you started daycare a few days a week. I'm not sure who it was more rough on, me or you! After 18 months of hanging out with you everyday I was sad to not have you around! It took awhile, but we've both adjusted, and now you happily roll into class and are starting to make some friends at school. You are learning to share and not steal, and, although we are having a problem with pinching lately, you always tell us you are sorry when you do.

Snack time!

I don't know who you get this from (yes I do, but it's not nice to point fingers) but you are a flirt! You do this super adorable thing, mostly when around girls, where you cock your head to the side, smile a little closed-mouth smile, and batt your eyelashes. Once you've caught her attention, you either smile bigger and wave, saying "hewwo!" or you laugh and run away. You'll be a heartbreaker, my boy.

See, more baking "help"

There are some definite favorite things in your life:
Books - The Three Little Pigs, Curious George - I am so tired of reading these books that I'm tempted to hide them

I have no idea what this was about.

Food - Pasta, mac and cheese, quesadillas, peanut butter sandwiches, chicken, pizza, and cheese. Lots of cheese. You aren't picky in general, but veggies can be a challenge, and usually get left on the plate.

Somehow, you both still fit in there!

Movies - Frozen (your sister has a little influence in the movie choices, but you always, always, ask for Frozen first) and The Incredibles. You also enjoy some TV shows on occasion: Little Einsteins, Daniel Tiger, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

It's a hard life for a little guy.

Toys - You never connected to a toy the way Cora has to Douglas, for which I am grateful. But you do love your Pirate Ship, Cora's Anna doll (from Frozen), cars and trucks, and playing catch.

Recently you've gone through a shirt-hating phase. 

Activities - Playing with the water table, swimming, blowing bubbles, drawing, and chasing everyone around the house, including the cat. You love to ask us to "be Marshmallow" (also from Frozen, do you see a theme?) and then we chase you around the house too. Basically, we do a lot of chasing.

Shoulders, Daddy, shoulders!

All in all, it has been a wonderful year, full of changes and fun. We all love you and adore you, and I hope that, as you grow, you never lose your sense of wonder or your love of cuddles.

Happy birthday, Little Man,

Love,

Mama

Growing up

I personally don't think I will ever be a "grownup"—not sure I want to be one to be honest—but today we feel more grown up than ever. We signed a contract on our very first house!

Our soon-to-be new home! Door will match the shutters, and posts will match the white trim.

Corn maze!

Now, I know we are way behind on posting about all our travels and family visits this summer. Maybe one day I will put up some pictures from this summer, but this is not that post. This is actually a post about something we did recently. Like, less than a month ago. I know, it's a miracle.

So a few weekends ago we went to a local farm for a corn maze/pumpkin patch/kids free for all play area. It was a blast! There was so much to do and I think we wound up spending almost 3 hours there playing all the games, going down the slides, jumping on the bounce houses, and picking our pumpkins.

Pumpkin heads

Dear Rhys, on your first birthday

Dear Rhys,

Friday was your first birthday! I can't believe you've been with us for an entire year. What a year it has been. You are full of joy and energy and never give us a dull moment. 

At 10 months you took your first shaky steps. By 11 months you were walking on your own but still crawling some. Now you don't bother crawling. Ever. However, you're a big ol' mama's boy and want me to carry you around a good amount of the time. Not that I mind.

Who needs a swimsuit? Clothes are just fine.

Gena's fourth Mother's Day

It's hard to believe this is Gena's fourth Mother's Day! I know Cora's not yet 3, but I believe women become mothers long before their baby is born. I don't think I was a Dad until Coco actually entered the world, but I know Gena was there long before.

Over the last year, Gena has completely redefined her role as "Mom", and I could not be more grateful for, impressed with, and proud of all she has done! Our baby girl is smarter than either of us already, absolutely LOVES to read, regularly states that she "loves science and music", has a penchant for composing beautiful music and lyrics at the drop of a hat, and occasionally amazes us with the love she has for her brother. Rhys is a crawling fool, pulls up on everything, has started "walking" along the edge of the couch or with the walker toy Cora lets him use from time to time, and will most likely be walking before Father's Day. Thank you, Gena, for being such an amazing Mother to our children. Here is Cora and Rhys's Mother's Day song for your listening pleasure.

Before I leave you with the apparently traditional Mama Collage, I want to wish a very happy Mother's Day to all the other Mothers in our lives: Mom, Leta, Stephanie, Alison, Janna, and anyone else reading this post!

Christmas, yes Christmas, 2012

Yes, it's May. Yes, I'm just now blogging about Christmas. Please don't judge me. In case you haven't noticed, the last time I actually posted a blog was to announce Rhys's birth day! That gives you an idea of how this residency has been going. Busy, busy, busy. I try my best to spend as much of the weekend with the kids, and on the few days when they both nap at the same time, we're either cleaning, working in the yard, or sleeping ourselves! Gena has truly been truly amazing staying home with our little monsters this year, I don't know how she does it. I try to let her get out of the house alone (or leave her alone in the house) for a couple hours on the weekend, and I'm barely left standing by the time she comes back. She really is incredible. Enough gushing about her though, Mother's Day is next weekend (thanks Alison for clearing that up for me!). On to Christmas.

We started looking at flights in the fall and realized we would have to take out a 2nd mortgage on someone else's home to afford to fly home for Christmas, so we made the decision to travel in early January (cutting travel expenses by about 60%). This also meant we would be celebrating Christmas with just the four of us for the first time, AND celebrating Christmas with just US for the first time. The closer we got to the big day, the more we realized how uncharacteristically excited we were! Once we removed the stress of travel, we were like little kids looking forward to Christmas morning!

Sleep, wonderful sleep

I have always heard and known that each child is a different person with different habits and attitudes. No where in our children is that more apparent than in their sleep habits.

Cora has always been our easy child. By a few months she was only waking up once a night. By around 6 months she was sleeping 11 hours straight. She never stood up in her crib, never threw major fits, and only fussed or fought when she was sick. The entirety of our sleep training with her consisted of a few days, like maybe 2, of letting her cry it out. Then she was fine. We were those parents that others hate to talk to about baby sleep habits. And we knew it. In fact, we used to joke that we shouldn't have more kids because the next would never sleep and be a terror at bedtime.

Foreshadowing, that's what that last sentence was.

Because Rhys. Oh, Rhys. Dear, sweet, happy baby Rhys. At a few months old he was waking up 3 to 4 times a night. By 6 months he was only waking up 2 or 3 times, and the longest stretch of sleep was about 4 hours. Getting him to sleep for both naps and bedtime involved bouncing his 20+ pound self until our knees hurt, then patting him on the back in the crib until he was silent. Then patting some more just to be sure he was asleep. This was after spending months getting away from nursing him to sleep.

Oh, yeah. He'll sleep in a stroller no problem.

8 months old

Dear Rhys,

It is incredibly hard to believe that you are 8 months old. You are a happy and smiling baby; people are always commenting on your wonderful smile, how happy you are and how your spirit is contagious.

Happy baby

Thanksgiving 2012 Recap

When you host a whole bunch of family, Thanksgiving moves past a single day of celebration and becomes more of a week long event. The celebration started before anyone even arrived, because Monday was my birthday! (And also my mother-in-law's birthday, so I'm sure there was celebrating there as well). I am now officially in my 30's, but still act and feel somewhere around 22.

Once people arrived we spent most of our time playing with cute babies, eating, and laughing. Rhys is about 6 weeks older than his newest cousin Colin, and those 6 weeks were pretty obvious in weight! Colin is just as long as Rhys, but quite a few pounds lighter. They had fun laying around and getting tickled.

Babies! Rhys on the left, Colin on the right.

Freak out!

This is the email I sent to Geoff about or catastrophic trip to the pediatrician yesterday. It was so bad I had to call my own Mama for comfort. 

Oh, man. it was bad.

First, someone messed up the order of appointments, so instead of us being seen at 10:30 (they're usually really prompt), the dr didn't come in until 11. By then Cora was already getting fussy and asking to go home. Good sign there.

So they offered to go ahead and give Cora her flu vaccine, which I would have taken her in for at some point anyway, so I said yes since we were already there. The Dr said the nurses prefer to give the flu mist to children instead of the shot. Whatever, no big deal to me.

Faces

Happy face

Rhys Jester Nichols

After 57 hours of labor, Rhys Jester Nichols was born on July 12 at 3:50pm, weighing 6 Lb. 14 oz. and measuring 20" long. Baby and Mama are in perfect health and Cora's very first act with baby brother was to try to tickle him! Here are a few pics of our first moments with our new son.

Biscuit

Well here we are, 6 months along in this pregnancy, can you believe it? While we do know that we are having a boy this time, we haven't decided on a name yet. But I felt like I needed something to call the baby back before we knew the gender, so Geoff and I came up with the gender neutral Biscuit. I think it's cute, and I think I'll keep using it on my own blog as his permanent nickname.

6 months

Geoff mentioned in his last post that we are leaving Louisiana! This is one source of stress for me (other than still needing to find a job!) since I'll be 7.5ish months pregnant when we move. We have enjoyed our time here in Louisiana, but neither of us would say we are sad to be leaving. In fact, within our first few months here we had already determined that we didn't want to make this our permanent home. Still, there are some things we'll miss about southern Louisiana.

• The food. Cajun food is so delicious, I don't know how we haven't managed to pile on the pounds! Fortunately, I am a good cook, and have acquired a good cookbook full of New Orleans traditions. So we can still have our cajun food, as long as we can find some andouille sausage.

Coco, Mama, and Biscuit

• The mild winters. I will miss these, anyway. Geoff, being from the mountains, may enjoy the cold more than me. I, however, could go the rest of my life without seeing snow and be a very happy gal.

• The live oaks covered with spanish moss. These huge trees are so abundant down here! They line roads and fill parks. Yes, North Carolina is full of trees, but not quite with the beauty of these.

• Our friends. We have been fortunate to make some good friends during our time here, and we are going to miss them. The advent of Facebook and other social networking sites has made it easier to keep up with people, but that doesn't make up for the lack of human interaction.

So once again we're moving up in our careers and starting over. It's exciting, it's a bit sad, and it's a bit nerve-wracking.

News and the Fort Worth Zoo

We're having a boy and moving back to North Carolina!

Whew, it feels really good to say both of those. In truth, we're moving, THEN having a boy. I accepted an offer from the University of North Carolina Cancer Hospital for a medical physics residency starting this July. We are both thrilled to move back to NC, but a little nervous about moving across the country and starting in a new place just a month or two before our child is born. Cora has learned that her Mama's belly is now called "baby", but other than that we don't think she really knows what's going on.

A few weeks ago, we drove to TX to visit the Jester family for a few days. I had just submitted a copy of my thesis to my advisor and John and Stephanie and the kids were all on spring break, so we thought this a perfect opportunity to get back to see everyone. Cora is finally old enough to take part in all of the kids' craziness, as was evident at dinner Saturday night.

(Left to Right) Weston, Cora, Ella and Libby 

The best part of booster seats is their portability!

Weston was absolutely wonderful with Cora; you could tell he's had lots of practice with younger sisters! Ella was really good too, but tended to smother if we didn't keep her in check. Libby and Cora were so cute together, it was so fun seeing them communicate in their own language, and work things out in their own little cave-baby way.

On Monday we loaded up the cars for a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. This was Cora's first zoo trip, so she (and her parents) was very excited! There's really no better way to describe the trip than lots of pictures, so here you go.

After the Zoo we ate lunch at a Mellow Mushroom (fantastic pizza chain, I would highly recommend it!). It was here that we decided to announce our news about having a boy, followed by a video conference call with the Nichols. The video conference hit a few snags, but Cora was still able to annouce "boy" for us over the phone!

I am now incorporating edits suggested by my advisor into my thesis and plan to defend on April 17th. If all goes well, I will put an end to the combined 19 years of higher education between the two of us on May 18th, when I will enjoy a picnic in the park with my wife and daughter while my name is announced at LSU's graduation ceremony, that is sure last much longer than we care to witness.

Here are a few pics of us enjoying the beautiful weather, a great book, and each other's company. Thank you Jesters for a wonderful visit, it was great getting to see you all!

Past, present and future

This post is mostly informative, but I'll try to throw in some cute and a little pregnant to keep you reading.

First, the past. In case you've not heard, I did not get the residency position here in Baton Rouge. We were pretty bummed at first, but quickly realized this was our chance to leave Louisiana!

This brings us to the present. I spent the last two weeks traveling around the country interviewing for other positions. Dallas, Philadelphia and Chapel Hill were all very impressive, and I think any of the three would be an excellent opportunity for me. These cities are also good cities for Gena to find work, and she's currently contacting people in each for job opportunities.

Also in the present is #2, who is rapidly growing at 18 weeks. Both Gena and baby are doing very well. Gena seems to be over the worst of the nausea, which is much better than last time! Here she is at 17 weeks, looking lovely as usual (and pregnant).