First Day of Kindergarten

It was so nice that Mimi was here for Madelyn's first day of Kindergarten at Whittier School. It was a bittersweet day... happy and sad at the same time that my little girl is growing up and ready to enter school. Madelyn's teacher is Mrs. Baker and she is super sweet and so good with the kids. I can't wait to be able to volunteer and be a room mom.

Birthday with Mimi and Grampie

Mimi and Grampie made their first visit to Chicago on Madelyn's actual birthday. It has been the longest stretch the kids have ever gone without them so they were super excited for them to get there and see our new house. We had her birthday lunch at Rain Forest Cafe, visited Lincoln Park Zoo and showed them around Oak Park.

Madelyn's 5th Birthday

What a lucky girl to have two birthday celebrations with each set of grandparents. We had the first celebration with Baba, Dida, Aunt Jelena, and Uncle John before her birthday. It was great being able to have everyone stay at our house. We visited the Farmers Market in Oak Park and took the train downtown for some shopping. The kids, Nathan, and Dida got to enjoy to some at the beach as well. We also got to take a family skyline cruise on Lake Michigan.

Exploring Chicago

July has been a crazy month! We have been moved in for less than a week before returning to St. Louis so Nathan and I can get to Hawaii for his research presentation. It was a wonderful 5 days! We are trying to pack in as many family days as we can before Nathan starts his fellowship. We have been to the Lincoln Park Zoo which is a really great and also the Shedd Aquarium. Both have amazing views of the city.

602 N East Ave

The kids and I made the drive to Chicago on Saturday, July 9th and Nathan came the day before getting the house all set up. I guess I forgot to mention our first house that we had picked fell through so it ended up coming down to the wire between a nice townhouse and my dream home. To my surprise, we secured a lease on the beautiful house on 602 N East Ave. It was even more beautiful than I remembered. I guess things just worked out the way they were supposed because the kids are really happy in their new home and adjusting very well so far.

Summer

I am really enjoying being home with the kids. It is great to be able to do all the activities we want without having to work around a work schedule. Madelyn had her 2nd dance recital at the end of June. We are taking Madelyn to see The Little Mermaid on July 7th which will be our last night in St. Louis.

Residency Graduation 6/3/11

We have been waiting for this day for the past 5 years! It was a really special day with me getting to attend the research presentations. Nathan was presented with an award for being "the most helpful and spirited" and was presented with a framed UNC shirt.

The graduation festivities took place at the Coronado Ballroom. It was very nice to have both of our families present and hear about all of their accomplishments. What a beautiful venue with great food as well. It was very nice hearing all of the graduation speeches and seeing the emotions that everyone had. I could not have been more proud of Nathan
My last day of work was June 1st so I am now officially a stay-at-home mom and CEO of our household. I am looking very forward to spending the beginning of the summer home with the kids so we can enjoy the rest of our time in St. Louis before we move next month. Lots of packing still to do!

Kidney Stone & Chicago

On Sunday 3/13 I started having extreme pain in my right lower abdomen that radiated to my back. I told Madelyn to continue playing with Christian while I went back and forth to the bathroom every few minutes feeling like I had to go to the bathroom and becoming very nauseus. I called Nathan to let him know I wasn't feeling well and he said he would be home as soon as he could. In the interim, I started vomitting and was back and forth to the bathroom every few minutes. After about 30 mintues, I called Nathan again asking him when he was coming home. Madelyn and Christian were playing together so nicely which made things a little more tolerable.
I decided I would wait a little longer before entertaining the idea of going to the ER. After about another 45 minutes I was writhing in pain, unable to get comfortable. On the way there we had to pull over... yuck. It certainly didn't feel like the flu. I got in a room pretty quickly and was started on morephine. Nathan was impatient so he walked to radiology to get the CT results. To my surprise, it was a large kidney stone causing all the trouble. They decide to put a stent in and have me come back later to treat the kidney stone. I told them I had to get back to my kids as soon as possible and I have to make it to Chicago on Thursday as planned. During the recovery, I literally felt like a 90 year old lady with these issues.

The Chicago trip was a success! We found the perfect house for us in Forest Park, IL. It really has everything we are looking for, and Kotter gets to come as well. I am very excited that Madelyn's school is only a few blocks away as well as the train to get to the city.