Summer

It has been awhile since we updated our blog so I thought I’d do it since I have a lot more free time now than I have in awhile. I finished up classes a week and a half ago and have loved having free time. I will include pictures of Thomas throughout since all of our pictures nowadays are of him.

Overall this semester was a little too stressful. Coming in to this semester I didn’t think it would be too bad (which is why I interviewed for the Quintiles 20-hour a week job) since I was familiar with 90% of the material (so I thought) that we would be covering. Well, it turned out that although one of the courses I took had the same name as one I took at BYU, it was vastly different and much harder. I haven’t really had a Saturday and Sunday without any homework or studying since January. In February, after talking with Em, we decided it would be best if I spoke with our Bishop about my calling. I was in the young men’s presidency and was assigned to the deacons. I would teach every Sunday (which wasn’t time consuming at all – very easy) but was also required to attend Wednesday night mutual and go on the monthly campouts and attend other service projects. I wished I had the time to do it but it was hard when my Saturdays and Sundays were my ‘catch-up’ days and then I had a campout. It would have equated to very little sleep and no time with Em and Thomas. The bishop was very understanding and moved me to a Sunday school teacher position for the same group of deacons and other 12 year girls in the ward. I have loved it (the kids were really excited when they saw me come in to teach the first time – it made me feel good) and love how it doesn’t require anytime during the week!




My job at Quintiles has been fun. I like working there and it is pretty low stress and still interesting. I work in the Innovation department (specifically the Center for Statistics in Drug Development) and I basically help my advisor, Russell, with implementing new methods to be used in the data analysis of clinical trials. So far I have worked a lot with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Depression, and Anxiety, data – it has been fun.
Overall the semester went well despite me being busy and I am really enjoying this downtime. I love going to bed at night knowing that I have no classes and nothing due the next day! I still work 20 hours a week for Quintiles but that is it. In a little bit I will start studying for my basic exam (the PhD qualifying exam in August – I have to pass it to stay in the program) but I will do the bulk of that studying when we return from our Utah/Hawaii vacation.

Em and I are big in to celebrating milestones (and pretty much anything we can make an excuse to celebrate about – I think I got that from mom) so after my last final we went to the Cheesecake factory for lunch, spent some time at the mall, and then went to Heather and Eric’s house that evening for dinner and to watch Thor. It was a great day. The following Monday we went to their house again to watch Captain America and then tonight we are going out with them to see The Avengers in IMAX 3D! I am very excited. Em is not too into super hero movies but has graciously been willing to watch all these movies with us. I liked Thor more than I thought I would but didn’t like Captain America very much. I am hoping Avengers is good.

The days after my last final were filled with two more celebrations with my friend Doug and his wife Charisse (he is at Duke doing stats) and then with our friends in the ward Keith and Katie. They were both fun nights filled with good food, games, and movies (saw War Horse and thought it was pretty good – althought definitely a one time viewing movie).

Our phone contract with T-mobile ended in April (hallelujah!) and we made the move to Verizon on a family plan with Em’s sister Abbie and her husband Jon. Em let me get an iphone4 while she opted for a basic flip phone. Needless to say, I love the iphone! We have taken SO many more pictures and videos of Thomas because it is always in my pocket. I have also loved being able to check something on the internet (address, food info, etc.) while we are out. Also, I love going running and installing new podcasts, music, or listening to Pandora, while I run – so convenient. The main downside is that there is an Atp tennis app that I have installed that lets me check scores and results instantly… I have now become addicted to checking it. I also find myself checking email too much simply because I can. Em and I had debated for so long on whether or not to get one (me always saying we ‘need’ it and she saying that it wasn’t worth it). Ultimately I think we were both right, it isn’t a necessity but it does provide a lot of things that have made life easier. My main problem with people with iphones is when they pull them out when you are visiting with them. You wouldn’t pull out your laptop when you are eating dinner right? Or when you are it the car with other people and they opt to looking at their phone over making conversation. I can see how it is tempting, but I have made a point not to use it when there are people I could be visiting with.

Em and I have also started getting back into tennis. There is a club about 15 minutes away that has a ball machine that we can play on. We did it the other day and had fun. We also went and played at some local courts just the two of us. Yesterday I played competitively for the first time since Christmas (with Tara) with a 42 year old 5.0 man. I don’t know what level I am in terms of 5.0, 5.5, etc. but because I beat this guy soundly, I think maybe I am 5.5? It was really fun and felt SO good to be out hitting again. He told me that there were lots of leagues 5.0/5.5 that would love to have me be on their team. I think I will do it. Em also said she is going to look for a league or group of women her level that she could get involved with. Have I said how much we are loving summer?!

We have also been taking more walks around the nearby lake, getting fresh fruits and veggies at the local farmers market, playing games every night before bed, and reading the (I am reading the new Brandon Sanderson book – its good). We also are addicted to weekly episodes of Chopped, Modern Family, Food Network Star, and tennis whenever Nadal is playing. Watching cooking shows is fun being married to Em. I can say “Dang, that looks good! We should make it!” and she can. The other day she made a spring vegetable risotto, which looked very complicated and had around 20 ingredients and it tasted amazing.

Thomas is growing up so fast. Em and I looked at pictures the other day of when he was 1 and 2 months old and he looks completely different. In fact, the other day someone told us that Thomas looks exactly like Emily (I was there next to her) which was a first. Emily was thrilled! Mostly people say that he looks like me because of the hair but overall, I think he looks more like his mom. It has been so rewarding having him in our lives. He has a huge smile, and smiles all the time.

He loves Elmo’s song and sometimes dances to it – it’s hilarious. He also smiles and shakes his legs and arms whenever he sees a picture of Elmo. He now grabs things and pics them up and plays with them. He is still working on letting things go – he doesn’t really know how to do that yet. He also has been sleeping through the night (about 10 hours and then a feeding, then sleeps 2 more hours) for a little over a month. It has been great. Em has read in lots of books the importance of keeping the baby on a strict napping/feeding schedule. Also, I know lots of people who do this. Maybe its just me, but then I feel like our whole day is scheduled around his naps and it makes it hard sometimes to do things that we want. So we still definitely give him 2-3 naps a day (usually one between 9-11, another between 1-3, and maybe one around 4)but they are rarely at the exact same time and sometimes he only gets 2. So he is on a schedule which is great, but it is flexible and I feel like the whole family benefits from it.

Thomas can now sit up, just not indefinitely. He will sit up for awhile but if he looks behind him, the weight of his head pulls him down and he falls over. The other day we went for this 6 month checkup and we had to answer this long questionnaire about his development. It asked things like “Does your baby pick up cheerios with his fingers and place them in his mouth?” And after reading the questionnaire I think Thomas may be a little behind in his fine motor skills. But in terms of making noise and trying to talk, I think he is doing very well.

This past week we started feeding him solids. Em made him a avacado breast milk parfait and sweet potato mush, and he didn’t like either of them. He also doesn’t love water. He seems most happy with plain old breast milk.

He is also playing more independently now. We have some toys for him and sometimes he will play with them for 20-30 minutes at a time. He spends most of that time talking to them. Is favorite toy is still his hands. He stares at them and twirls them and talks to them.