Taking Care of Daddy

For the past month Brad has been doing a Sub-Internship. It's basically a rotation where the medical student is given a lot of responsibility and treated like a resident. Brad worked with the Surgical Trauma ICU service at Harborview. He learned a ton, but worked some pretty long shifts. His days started around 5 am, and he was on-call at the hospital every fourth day. Sometimes he worked for over 30 hours straight with no sleep and no decent meal. We thought that there were some new guidelines this year that changed how long medical students can work, but apparently Harborview didn't get the memo...

One day last week Brad came home after a particularly long shift and collapsed on the couch. He didn't even make it to bed. With no prompting from me, the girls took pity on him:

Leah brought Daddy a book to read and her blanket. Lainy brought a few stuffed animals and tucked them under Daddy's arms. Then they both removed his shoes and Lainy sang him a song.

So sweet.

Seasons

The seasons are changing. I can feel it. The mornings are a little cooler, the sun a little weaker. And though the Seattle skies have not rained in almost two months, I can't help but feel the rain is coming soon.

Summer has been so good to us. Last week we spent almost every evening on the beach soaking in the sun as it sunk over the horizon. The girls played in the sand in their little swimsuits and sundresses. I listened to the waves and watched the boats and the paddle boarders. It was so peaceful and lazy. The perfect way to bid Summer adieu.

Autumn will be here for us when Lainy starts preschool next week. She is so excited. I am too, mostly. My only hang-up is that she is going to ride a little bus to school. I'm just not sure that I'm ready to put my little girl on a bus. I guess I am at one of those bittersweet crossroads as a parent when the rapid passing of time reaches up and taps you on the shoulder, demanding your attention. I'd rather ignore it a little longer.

Brad is working on submitting his applications for residency programs. We have spent most evenings the past few weeks editing essays, picking programs, and going over his application to make sure everything is in order. It has been exciting and stressful and a little hard to believe. But I have to admit, his application is pretty impressive. Let's hope the residency programs agree! It will be interesting to see how everything plays out over the next few months. We should know where Brad matches for residency next Spring.

So, though Summer is ending I am grateful for the sun-soaked and fun-filled memories she's given us. And I'm excited for Fall. We have so much to look forward to!

Lainy's Birthday Party

Lainy has never had a birthday party with friends, so this year I wanted to do one for her. Together, we decided on a rainbow colors theme. Lainy loves coloring and making crafts, and she doesn't have a particular favorite color (she has many) so it seemed to fit her. I was excited to start planning!

We gave these invitations to her friends:

I made a  rainbow cake, and it turned out awesome!

We picked Lainy's favorite foods and had a nice spread:

Apparently we chose a bad weekend for a party because a lot of Lainy's friends couldn't come, but we ended up having a great little group of kids anyway.

The kids decorated party favor bags in bright colors and stickers, made fruit loop necklaces, played a rainbow version of duck,duck,goose, and dancing game with balloons.

Then it was time for cake! All the kids were so excited when I cut the cake and it was all colorful inside! (Okay, I was probably the most excited about it.)

Next Lainy opened presents. She got some really great stuff. Thank you Jackson, McKyla, and Bailey!!

She also got a Bullseye and Jesse pajamas (her special present from Brad and I).

Then we all just hung out, ate food, and played around. Lainy was so cute and fun helping me with everything and playing hostess. We had a fun day!

Happy Birthday Lainy!