Transition time

I wouldn't even call this a transition. It is more like our life has been turned upside down and shaken. Porter and I are mostly staying at Mama and Bill's and Jared is in Daphne so he can work. Porter mostly goes to his new school, but has also stayed with various relatives and babysitters so that I can try to work on the house. He is so scared that I am going to leave him somewhere that he cries every time we go somewhere, so I've been trying to keep the new people and babysitting to a minimum. He is having an adjustment at his new school too. Yesterday before we even turned in the drive he started saying, "no," "no" in the most pitiful voice and was crying before I got him out of the car. Today was a little better and I only got little whimpers when we pulled in and he didn't start crying until we got inside. Yesterday afternoon we went up to my Nannie's and he didn't want to go inside. Probably because he thought I was going to leave him there. How pitiful. Anyway, tomorrow is moving day, so we are fast on our way to a little stability.
I will have to post our construction progress in another post because those pictures are on my phone. I will have to find a spot in town that has free wi-fi or else it might not go. We don't have the right password to get on wi-fi at my parent's house, and there is no 3G for about 100 miles from here. I'm serious.
When we came back to Andalusia this time, I brought Porter's trains so he would have something besides dolls, strollers, and kitchens to play with. He has a tractor, but I feel like I'm melting when we go outside, so tractor time has been cut short a lot.



One of Porter's favorite phrases right now is, "it's raining," even when it's not. When I was taking pictures of him playing with his trains, he got up and went to the door and said, "it's raining!" and I said, "no it's no--oh, you're right. It is raining." The sun was shining, but it was pouring. It was funny at the time. Guess you had to be there.



One last thing. Porter loves to see pictures or videos of himself on my phone. He was just as excited to see himself on the display screen of my new camera when I tried to take a picture of us.

Chatam Elizabeth Cheney

Our friends Todd and Joni Cheney welcomed Chatam into the world on July 16th!!! I hope to be able to visit before we move, but I also know how busy a new baby can be.



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Progress

We are on our way back to daphne from Andalusia. Again. We were there for the weekend painting. Again. It's finally coming together, and it's a good thing because we are moving Friday. I know it wont be completely finished because the cabinets won't be in, and they may still be working on the tile, but we will hopefully be able to love there as of this weekend, and have some sort of normal routine for porter next week.
Here is what we have done so far (with the help of mama, bill, and my nannie, who came and cleaned Saturday):
Painted the family room, kitchen, dining room, guest room, porter's room, porter's bathroom, he guest bathroom, the hall, and new master bedroom and bathroom.
Painted all of the trim in the whole house except for the trim that has yet to be hung in the new bedroom and bathroom.
Minor repairs throughout the house.
Put up a new ceiling fan in porter's room.
Cleaned porter's room, guest room and kitchen.
Unpacked most of the kitchen stuff that I have already moved--very little left to do there.
Here's what is left to do (some by us and some by the construction guys):
Tile the floors and shower
Install the bathtub and toilet
Put in the cabinets, countertops and sinks.
Hang and paint crown molding and baseboards in new addition.
Install closet hardware.
Clean up!!!
Move!!!
I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but those are the big things.
I am sad to be leaving Daphne, but right now I'm just ready to be in just one house instead of 3 (we are staying at mama and bill's house when we are in Andalusia). And I want to stay put somewhere so maybe porter will sleep. This transitional period has gotten him really messed up at night.
I wish I had some pictures to post, bit maybe by the time I get back to the house I will be able to take pictures of some tile.


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More dancing

Compliments of Jimmy buffett. We were watching the concert on cmt.

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Toiletry bag that doubles as a stool

I guess it's packed kinda tight, which makes it useful in another way.



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Look who's a chunky monkey

I was noticing today that the little snacker has been putting it somewhere after all. He's "filled out" some. Our afternoons of constant eating is paying off.
He's also measurably taller every week. We have an area in the kitchen with little marks on the wall.
What else are we doing? Starting to talk in sentences, count to ten (sometimes out of order), sing, and call people by name. Momma is the #1 name and I have heard it 500,000 times. La-line is Caroline, cat-tin is Catherine, papa, da-ey is daddy. His sentences are short, but he is stringing together words, so it counts. "what's that?" "this way" "are you?" (where are you?) are popular ones. There are other longer sentences that aren't English, and he has some words that I can't figure out, but i recognize more of his jabber every day, and he says new things everyday.
He is in a whiny, clingy stage right now, and our break in his normal routine is not helping. His last day at his daycare here was friday, and it was a very sad afternoon. I think the whole family is going to miss Spanish fort FBC. He went to his new daycare a couple mornings this week, and did ok, but they are definitely need to get to know each other better.
Today we are back in Daphne, and will be headed back to Andalusia on Friday to take a load of "stuff." I will be thinning out our stuff as I pack. Hopefully our travels will be during nap times so we have lots of time like this.....



This was also to illustrate his relative chunkiness. Relative.
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The cat in the hat in the car

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Wow! What a party!!!

My mom and Bill threw me a finished with residency party Saturday night. It might have been the best party I've ever been to, but it was for me, so that probably had something to do with it. The event kinda started Saturday around lunch, when I went with my mom to run an errand. It was to Sugar Rush Bakery to pick up the cakes.



This is 2/3 of the three headed monster. Emily, Daniel (not pictured here), and I spent a large part of the first 2 years of medical school in the basement of Volker Hall in Birmingham together studying. Something about that experience makes you bonded forever.


The party was catered by Townsend Catering from Destin, FL. They also did our wedding. They were just as great this time. And let me go on a tangent about them for a minute. I cannot tell you how awesome these people are. They are so very nice and professional, and have amazing food. They came in, set everything up, cooked, and cleaned up before they left. I will make it a point to have another event just so I can get them to do it. Really, I can't say enough good things about them. So, after filling up on coconut shrimp, marinated mushrooms, steamed asparagus and baby carrots, parmesan cheese grits with roasted corn, shrimp, and bacon, crab cakes, chicken wontons, and several other things that I just can't remember right now, we went down by the pool for the real partying. A local band, Smoke and Lace, gave us a reason to dance, and we did!


From left to right: Jon Williams, Dr Emily Williams, Dr Daniel Jones, Vance Doherty, me, Jared, Jessica Ross

Mama, me, Jessica, and Ne Ne Massey.

Me and the Massey girls--Joanna and Jessica. Jessica and I were in the band together in college, and had many (mis)adeventures off the football field as well. Joanna joined us in Tuscaloosa our senior year. Joanna is now my wonderful hairstylist and Jessica is my little librarian via the Washington County Public Library.

THIS is the entire 3 headed monster!!!! Emily, Daniel, and I.

Sisters.....

It did get a little rowdy there toward the end, but for good reason..... I'm done with residency!!!!

I had so much fun. What an amazing night! I got to visit with dear friends I have not even seen since my wedding 5 years ago. Specifically Abbie Sightler Robinson was able to make the trip from Oxford, MS to be here. We did get to visit Saturday morning--she came over to help me paint Porter's room in the new house. Our third, Candi Collier Tait, wasn't able to make it, but her dad was able to come. Daniel and Vance came from Baton Rouge, Jon and Emily came from Monroeville (they don't even need an excuse to get out of town ;) ), and Nancy and Jeremy Wilson came from Niceville, FL. Nancy and I went to school together and have reconnected through blogging and parenting boys the same age. I think that's all the people who came from out of town, and I was so honored to have them all there. Everyone else was from Andalusia, but that didn't make them any less special. I really was shocked at everyone that came to help me celebrate this very joyous occasion. Friends from high school, parents of friends from high school, physicians from the community, and some were just friends from this journey. Unfortunately none of my resident friends were able to make it. They all had to work--imagine that.
Anyway, it was really a night to remember. Great food, great company, and great new beginning!!!

Cut a rug

Here is a clip of Porter dancing at the party.
Party post to follow. Sometime this week.

2 days and counting!!!

I haven't really done any countdown for the end of residency. It just didn't really make any difference to me. I sill had to go to work all of those days. It was more of a reminder that I had to work.
BUT, this morning I couldn't help but smile when I was putting on my scrubs at 5:30am that I would only have to do that at a rime dictated by someone else one more time. Not that I'm going to start rolling into work at 9:00 or anything, but it will just be different.


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