oh, life lately

My two month old baby is precious. He is the young love of my life. The first month was so completely magical, yes, but it was also a whirlwind- very overwhelming, sleepless, and intense. The waters have calmed this second month. He is sleeping so well, usually six to seven hours a night. The days of rocking him endlessly are few and far between. He even likes his swing. He almost always falls asleep in his bassinet on his own. He is breastfeeding like the champion of all champions. We are really getting the hang of it. It's not such an all-encompassing-stop-everything-else-you-are-doing-prepare-for-at-least-an-hour-affair now, it is just kind of a sweet, enjoyable little experience I get to share with my baby eight times a day (at least, Mary says). He loves his little Occy (pacifier dragon). His personality has quadrupled within the past month. He is smiling, laughing, grinning, playing, kissing, talking (baby talk, ya know), and cuddling. My heart belongs to that 11 pound 11.5 ounce babe.

nothing like kisses from mama

I am also feeling so much more like myself. I feel like I am getting my body back and am not just the most awkward, pained, subcutaneous creature on earth anymore. I have been exercising, getting dolled up, getting out of the house, oh it's divine. I even wore my cigarette jeans last night! The joy that filled my bosom when they fit was insurmountable.

We just had the best weekend ever. I finally got Dan to myself so we brought the aero bed into the living room and watched movies, had dance parties, made homemade pizza, talked, cuddled, all the good stuff. I'm pretty sure Dan did not get off that bed for approximately six hours on Friday. He needed some R&R. :)

Now that he is two months old we are do have to avoid crowds like the plague anymore. We still avoid them, but boy is it nice to be able to take him to the store! We celebrated Valentine's Day again last night and went out dinner, compliments of Grandma and Grandpa James and Jude. (They got together and decided we needed a night out and arranged it.) We put in our name at Longhorn Steakhouse and since it was supposed to be an hour wait we walked all around the shops at Midtown Village and pushed Jude around in his little pram. It was freezing cold and raining. We didn't mind. Jude was a trooper as he was harshly exposed to the elements between stores. Whenever he is suddenly cold he takes a huge gasp  like he is catching his breath. It is hilarious. Dinner was the most fun ever. We were starving, so bread, water, chicken tortillas roll-ups (our free entree), and two delicious steaks complete with mashed potatoes (of course), sweet potatoes, and salads was the most delicious meal we could have ever dreamed of. Although I wouldn't have minded a little taste of my neighbor's Chocolate Stampede (AMAZING). I was a little nervous when Jude got hungry but I donned my nursing cover and all was well. Our very flamboyant waiter and other father-of-two server were very sweet and made me feel at ease.

We also went to church today. Jude's first time. It was so nice to be there together as a family. I'm a proud mama. He was awake for the first two hours laying contently in his pram, slept for almost one, and then got hungry about ten minutes before church got out. What a good boy.

In sacrament meeting Dan looked over at me and with a sweet smile said, "I've waited for this for so long... sitting in church with my little boy." I will say, looking over seeing my gorgeous husband sweetly cradling our swaddled up sleeping baby was one of those moments where everything makes sense, life is perfect, and nothing matters but the love we have in our little family. The love we have, centered on Christ, is all we need in life. With that we are strong enough to venture our way through the world and be stronger in the end.

Life has been a little crazy. Dan has hardly had five minutes to relax up until yesterday. He has been out of town for the past two weekends, leaving me a lone woman in the wilderness. My shotgun skills are now up-to-date (just in case), I learned that I may not leave the lights on in the car for ten measly minutes while I feed my unhappy, bawling baby or it will die twenty minutes out of town in the back corner of a dark parking lot where the semi drivers sleep and I must trek into the gas station to ask a complete stranger to help me (don't ward a family from the ward just happened to be there), I got caught up on the Bachelor (my guilty pleasure), and ate instant mashed potatoes for every meal. Dan was at MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) in Montgomery. Yes, for the Navy. The Navy?! The Navy. We are pursuing the Health Professions Scholarship in the Navy and the Air Force (shh, don't tell our recruiters). Dan was put up in the fanciest hotel (potential Officer treatment), woken up at a sunshiney 4:00 AM, and had to waddle on his knees in his underwear for a crowd, obtain a urine sample with his five closest strangers while standing on a line of tape and being carefully watched, and other fun things. Oh, the things we do. We also sent in our official acceptance to VCOM!

Life is the biggest adventure. We love it.

a DOCTOR!

We have been on pins&needles since last week when Dan interviewed for medical school in South Carolina... We knew if we got in they would be calling us on Thursday. Thursday morning came...

And went.

I really wanted to be there with Dan if they called to share the "special moment." So he came home in the afternoon in between his classes. He had been home for about ten minutes and...

the phone rang! From an unknown number! It was Mattie...

"Congratulations, Mr. Mulder. We would like to offer you a seat in this Class of 2016, starting this fall...."

He got in! To medical school! He's going to be a doctor! A real live white coat and stethoscope wearing, prescription writing, diagnosing, surgery doin' doctor!  

Jude was thrilled when he heard the big news...

We had to celebrate. At Pepito's. We broke all the rules and took Jude out. We kept him pretty covered. And he did great! There is nothing quite like blaring Mexican tunes to sing you to sleep.

I am so proud of my man.

We continued our celebrations with some bubbly! Martinelli's style...

 

We celebrated again the next night with a few friends.

(The 5 S's in action...)

The two trouble makers, Josh and Dan. They are the cutest best friends ever. You have to admit. 

Here are the details...

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine

Carolina Campus

He has thirty days to confirm, so we are going to wait and be sure we don't hear from anyone else that we may be more interested in.

Dan really liked the school. It was built last year so it's very new, technologically advanced, and a beautiful campus complete with a pond, fountain, and little trail. They said they are very close-knit group. Their mission statement focuses on good values, service, medical missions, and disaster recovery. We really think it is a good fit for Dan. 

So if we decide to go there (which we probably will), we will be moving to South Carolina in August! Still the South, but at least a little more northeast. We will be four hours from Myrtle beach and right at the base of the Blue Ridge mountains. At a little closer to Ashley & Scott. :) We found a cute little community right outside of Spartanburg (where the college is) called Boiling Springs, so we are hoping to find a cute little house there!

It has been quite a journey so far and we know Heavenly Father has led us every step of the way. It has been amazing to see how He has put us right where we need to be and we know we will end up right where he wants us. He truly leads and guides our lives and answers every prayer. 

We feel so blessed and are so excited!

south carolina here we come

nothing is more precious than my little less-than-a-month old laying in his little bassinet at 3:40 in the morning, just looking around, cooing, yawning, flapping his arms through the air, and hiccuping. what a well-behaved little prince. although i surely wouldn't mind if he fell asleep. i am used to being awake all night with him. it's his favorite time of the day. daytime is for sleeeping, silly. it is rare that he will just lay in that little bassinet and be content. we have a swing in the mail! hopeful that it will arrive today and i can get a little more sleep. i usually strap him into the ergo baby and walk with him/rock him for an hour or two until he is (supposedly) sound asleep and then i very carefully unstrap the ergo and put him in his bassinet. if i make a premature transfer he will wake up and we start over. we are in the process right now!

we arrived home from south carolina last night! my sweet dan had an interview for medical school! (VCOM). my goodness. how mature are we?! i am so proud of him. sooo proud. proud as punch. buttons popping off my shirt proud. we left on monday morning and took the six hour trek north. we enjoyed our stop at the chick-fil-a dwarf house half-way there in atlanta. we arrived in the afternoon and checked into our nice little hotel. we then found the campus, made a quick walmart stop and looked at a few houses to get a feel for the area. the sun went down far too fast so we went back to the hotel for some hors d'oeuvres  and drinks and then settled into our plush king-sized bed and watched the national championship. ROLL TIDE! we smoked LSU. it was so much fun. we got to sleep way too late. i spent the night trying to keep jude content and keep the crying to a minimum so dan could get a good night's rest. good luck. jude and i slept for about two hours that night. he's a little night owl.

he owns our hearts.

he is so precious. i just looked down at him in my little ergo baby and he is smiling with his precious blue eyes rolling back in his head. i can hear the quiet lull of his erratic breathing with the occasional sigh. california smile he got from his daddy. he smiles when he is falling asleep. i'm in love.

morning came all too soon and dan got all spiffy for his interview. he looked so sharp in his charcoal grey suit and power tie. bagel for breakfast, practicing interview questions on the way, and off he was. i'm so proud of my man. jude had his longest cry yet on the way back to the hotel. first time being alone in the back seat, not fun. we got our check-out time extended, took a fabulous nap, and got cleaned up and packed up.

before we knew it we were picking dan up and it was time to head home. his inteview was from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm and included three 30 minute interviews, lunch, a tour of campus and spartanburg, and a few other presentations. he feels really good about the interview. we will find out their decision a week from thursday!!  it's been amazing to see where life takes us. we think we are making plans but we are, thankfully, at the will of our Heavenly Father. we are excited to see where life takes us next.

our ride home was long and rainy. jude slept the entire way (explains why we are awake right now), but he did great. he loves his plush little maxi cosi seat. we took a little detour in atlanta, sang our hearts out to hey jude and wicked, and had some nice chats on the phone. overall, a very successful trip!


ps- what i learned about bringing a baby on a trip: 7 outfits is not enough. i thought i was overdoing it and bringing way too many. wrong. he got the spat upon gown PJ treatment the whole way home.