Life Lately

Josh started his official clinical duties as a resident on July 1.  It is really starting to sink in that he is really a doctor!  He is prescibing medications people!!  

 Let's take a closer look at this.  I don't think seeing the letters Dr. or MD next to his name will ever get old!

 It is kind of like medical school in that he has different rotations every month.  He started out with a busy one, the inpatient service at the hospital.  One day he came home and told me how he was in charge of the pager that afternoon and he felt like he would be trying to work on an admit or something and then the pager would go off and he'd have to go take care of whatever it was that needed attention and he just never felt like he could completely finish what he was doing.  I said, "Welcome to how I feel every second of the day!!!"  We are both busy and working very hard in our respective areas, he is working about 70 hours a week (it could be worse!!), which means that I am left to take care of most everything around here with 3 small children in tow.  But, I wouldn't trade it.  It is so cool seeing Josh do what he has been working toward all this time, and even better to see how much he enjoys it.  And to get treated well- they really do treat them very well here even as lowly interns.  It is just not something we were used to with Ross!  I have my hands full that's for sure, and get told it several times a day by strangers, but amidsdt the craziness there are always at least a few moments each day that make it all worth it.  Yesterday it was the dance party in my bedroom to Shane's self-proclaimed favorite song (Die Young by Ke$ha- not sure why he likes it so much but every time it comes on he goes crazy!)

I ♥ The Y

We are really really loving it here in Fort Wayne.  Sometimes I feel like parts of this city were designed with me personally in mind. Like the Y.  I'm sure the Y is great everywhere, but look how pretty this one is!  This picture shows about 1/3 of it, it is pretty big with a workout center, indoor track, climbing wall, indoor pool with waterslide, indoor playground, etc. etc.  

The one downside is that I have to call ahead of time to make a reservation for Sadie, but there are trails outside and they let you leave your kids in the childwatch if you are running on them and have your cell phone on you.  So I usually take Sadie in the stroller while Shane and Marissa play inside.  You can kind of see in this picture but there is also a big park next to it.

And if all that wasn't enough, they just opened their new outdoor aquatic center that is included with your membership.  (One of the hospital systems funded it, they really sponsor a lot of cool things in the town).  There is no way I could take my 3 kids to a regular pool by myself, but I can to this one because there are lots of areas for them to just wade around and play.  Marissa likes this area,

and Shane likes the little slide area behind it.  I like that there area lots of areas for me to sit with Sadie and supervise, and several shady areas right next to the pool too.

This was 4th of July, but usually it is a lot busier (and Josh is not usually there)

Basically, we will be spending lots of time here!

My Little Holy Roller

Marissa's latest obsession?  The scriptures.  A good one to have, except we are trying to keep her from ruining all of our nice ones!  They are some of her favorite things to play with, she loves putting them in and out of Shane's scripture bag. 

 She loves flipping through the pages, and will string together random things she's heard and say them as she turns the pages- "prophets.... blessings.... he was mad at him....in the city...."  She loves the prophet song right now too and for some reason is especially obsessed with Enoch.

She can be a real feisty one sometimes, but oh she makes us smile and laugh a lot too!  Sorry future Marissa, had to throw this awful picture on here to document.  I'm pretty sure she got a bug bite/s on her eyelid and it got infected, this picture was before it got even worse, it was swollen completely shut.  Glad it's pretty much back to normal and we can see those big blue eyes again!

A few little reasons why I love where we live lately.

Cute old people in our neighborhood.  One couple stopped us the other day and gave the kids these airplanes they make for all the kids in the neighborhood.

 Watching tractors in the field do their thing.  Since this picture the corn is really growing.  "Knee high by July" is what our neighbor told us makes a good crop, and I think it might be there.

Nightly visits from "Peter Cottontail".

 Picking berries from the bushes in our backyard.  They are currants- too bad I don't can because I've heard they are good for jam.

And one thing we don't love- mosquitos.  I only wish our distaste was mutual.

Miami

We had a great time in Miami, and it's a good thing because Josh and I decided we are not going anywhere again with the kids for a LONG time!!  (It's like giving birth though I think, you start to forget soon after just how painful it really was!)  Marissa got sick on the plane after downing 10 chicken nuggets, 3 packs of fruit snacks, and about 32 ounces of water shortly before takeoff.  Luckily we had carried everything on and so I took her to the bathroom to change, came back and sat her in my lap, and one minute later she threw up again all over both of us.  And then of course Sadie decided she wanted to eat at that very minute.  At least Marissa crashed out in her seat shortly after like this.  Here is my "what the heck were we thinking?" face.  Shane was a gem and so good the whole time, except for leaving his backpack in the lobby of the place we parked our van.  We decided it was a good thing he was our Dominica baby!

 Josh's sister Sarah and her husband Ben had just moved to Miami for his residency, so it was an added bonus that we got to see them and stay at their place.  The kids LOVED spending time with their cousins, and it was cute to watch them together.

 Graham and Sadie are just a few months apart but she was almost as big as him.

 We went to the beach and to the children's museum and had a lot of fun with everybody.

Thanks for letting us crash your place Ben and Sarah, we had a lot of fun!  And to Greg and Shelley for coming too!

Oh Happy Day!

It's official, you can now call Josh Dr. Dettinger (and you better believe I do all the time!).  I am so glad we were able to go to his graduation in Miami on Friday and celebrate this great accomplishment.  Being in Miami with all its tropicalness took my mind back to where our journey started in Dominica and it was fun to reflect on how far we've come these 4 years.  Here we are at the White Coat Ceremony his first week of medical school on the island,

4 years and 2 more kids later

It was not an easy road by any means, there were many sacrifices made on both of our parts, a lot of hard work, stress, uncertainty, dealing with Ross and worrying if everything was going to go as it needed to.  But we made it!  Sometimes I have to pinch myself and wonder if this is all too good to be true. I am so grateful that Josh had this opportunity to get his MD, and while it was not the path we initially pictured, I would not trade our experiences for anything.  We have made lifelong friends, had many adventures, and have grown stronger and closer as a family.  I know residency will be far from a cakewalk, but we are happy to be starting this next chapter.  And I am thankful to have a Heavenly Father who loves us and has a plan for each of us, even when it wasn't what we anticipated, he knows what is best for us and truly has our happiness in mind.    

The Zoo

We have been here about a month now and have already gotten our money's worth out of our zoo passes.  If it's been a few days since we've gone, Shane will tell me "we haven't been to the zoo in a looong time."  They both love it, and have yet to show any inklings of being tired of it.  Shane makes it his personal mission to see all the animals every time we go, and luckily the zoo is not so huge that that is impossible, but it's big enough that it is still fun.  Here are a few pictures from our recent outings

The sea lions really like when you rub money in front of them

 We always have to stop and sing "I like to move it move it" when we see these guys.

Marissa says this komodo dragon is her favorite.

Marissa was timidly holding her lettuce out for the giraffe but couldn't quite bring herself to get close enough

So big brother stepped up for her.

Bless her heart, she is sure not afraid of the goats, they take quite a beating from her.

Upon seeing this bronze turtle Shane yells, "Oh look, it's a dead turtle!!  Did somebody shoot it?"

 Cute Sadie along for the ride.  I have to admit, there are a lot of babies at the zoo right now and I feel like I can relate to the mamas ha ha.