Making Dinner with my buddies

Making dinner has become increasingly difficult lately as the boys have become more mobile. They get bored with their toys and like to get into things they shouldn't. I have to come up with ways to entertain the twins until I can put something edible on the table!
The other night, we had a leftover box from our Costco shopping. They had fun playing with the box and it gave me a few minutes to cook.

And here are some pictures from dinner that night....

A Case of the Pertussis

There is an epidemic in our house. Both of the boys have come down with a case of pertussis. However, these horrible coughing fits only occur when the boys are wanting attention. I don't quite understand it because the boys have received their vaccinations :). I just hope their coughs get better soon!

Below is a little glimpse of one of Carter's coughing fits. Oh, pobrecito!!!

I love Costco!

I love Costco because of their shopping carts. Their cart-buying people are incredibly thoughtful to pick carts with double seats!

We did our Costco shopping yesterday and the boys were wearing some outfits I've been waiting for them to grow into and for it to be warm enough to wear. And so I took some pics....

The boys were very intrigued by the package of toilet paper that was behind them. They kept turning around and biting it.

Carter CAN crawl!!!

We were beginning to think that Carter was going to skip the crawling milestone. It's seemed as if he had no interest in doing it, even after seeing his brother crawl all over the place. We've tried sitting him a distance away from his toys in hopes it would motivate him to crawl over to them. This tactic did not work. All of a sudden the other day, though, he started crawling ALL over the place. He's beginning to be more adventurous than Brandt!! We're so excited for Carter (although I was really enjoying only have to run after one little guy). See the video below for proof!!

A couple of videos

I've resorted to pulling out the pack n play again (I put it away when the boys started taking naps in their room upstairs) because the boys are getting into EVERYTHING!! Carter was taking a turn and Brandt saw him in there and crawled over to visit. I pulled out the video camera because the boys were making each other laugh.

Here's a video of the boys rough housing. I have a feeling it's just going to get worse from here!

Carter got a haircut

Carter has had this little patch of hair that has been longer than the rest of his hair, making him look like he has bangs. Well, this week he got a little trim and he is looking cuter than ever!

Before

After

A case of bedhead

Let's go swimmin'!!!

I took the boys swimming for the first time last week. Carter loooooved it. Brandt...not so much. He was fine if I was holding him close to me, but if I tried to have him float on his back or hold him out in front of me, he gets a little nervous.

I think the boys look so cute in their swim trunks :)

Happy Birthday Dad!!

A couple of weeks ago, we went over to my Mom and Dad's for Dad's birthday dinner. We had Dad's cerviche and mom's uber good fried chicken. Her fried chicken might be my favorite thing she makes.

Happy Birthday, Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Match Day!!!!

The countdown is over and it's official! Eric matched with the anesthesiology program at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA. This was Eric's top pick and he is thrilled he will be training there. So this means he will complete his intern year at St. James in Olympia Fields, IL beginning in July and then we will move down to Augusta for Eric to complete his residency.

How exciting! I am so proud of Eric's hard work and determination to complete medical school and to get into a program he loves.

I wanted to explain how Eric came to get the position at St. James because it is truly remarkable. As I noted before, it was very difficult to get ahold of anyone at the places he was scrambling to on Tuesday an there was a max set for the number of places the students could apply. Eric concentrated on trying to find a spot near Augusta as he was fairly confident that is where he was going to match. However, according to a listing provided to the students, there was still a spot open at St. James. This listing was aged as of the day of the DO match (so February sometime), so Eric didn't even know if it was accurate, but he went ahead and sent in his application online.

Well, most of the day went by after sending out his application and Eric was trying to wait to hear back from somewhere. He had a phone interview with a place in Chino Valley, CA, and was told he would receive a phone call back. Eric was in a mindset that he would take the first position offered since most of the day had already gone by. Then, a director from Midwestern came into the conference room where all the "scramblers" were and asked if there was anyone who needed just an intern year (most hadn't matched for anything, but Eric just needed an intern year spot). Eric said yes and this guy told him he'd just gotten off the phone with the person at St. James who managed the intern hiring. He gave Eric his cell phone number and told him to call right away.

Eric had a phone interview with the St. James guy that went really well and was told Eric was first on the list to get the position, but that he needed to see his application first (apparently he was already on his way home for the day). He told Eric he would call him first thing in the morning. This really put Eric in a pickle! He was in a mindset that he would take the first position offered and Chino Valley was going to call back any minute!!

The St. James guy called the Midwestern director back as a reference for Eric and the Midwestern director raved about Eric. Eric then got a call back from St. James and was told that they didn't want to lose him and he was offered a contract!!!! How "convenient" everything worked out in the nick of time. Hmmm...funny how things work out like that!

Brandt standing

The other day I took this video of Mr. Brandt when he was standing and he figured out how to move from the chair to the coffee table for the first time.

It starts off sideways because I was taking pictures before I switched it over to video.

Round two...

And the drama of Match Day continues. I can't even tell you all the things I did today to keep busy as Eric was "scrambling" to find an intern year! What a stressful day, but the house is clean!

What was supposed to be just a few phone calls to find an open intern spot turned into an all day event. The in the past, scrambling has been calling places where there are open spots, faxing your board scores and curriculum vitae (resume) and being told if the intern program will let you have a spot. Well, lucky for Eric, this year has been a year of transition to an online application process. This meant that each program was really doing their own thing. Some places weren't answering the phones, some wanted the application sent through ERAS (the online program), others wanted all the paperwork faxed. It was a mess. Oh, and ERAS would only allow 30 applications to be sent.

Eric sent out applications EVERYWHERE and in the end, he got a contract with St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields, IL!!!! It was kind of on a whim that he submitted his application because there was only 1 spot. We are so excited to go back to Chicago for the year where we have family and friends.

What a testament to our faith! Eric and I left the Match to the Lord knowing wherever He wanted us to go would be the best for us and we would have never thought we'd get to go back to Chicago for a year. How AMAZING!

Now to wait until Thursday when we find out where Eric matched for the anesthesiology program....

Round One of the Match

Eric got the FIRST email today about the match. This email let Eric know he DID match with an advanced program for anesthesiology. Yaaaaay!!!
Now, Eric has to scramble for an intern year spot. As the program Eric matched with is an advanced program, it does not include the intern year. Tomorrow, Eric will have to "scramble" to find an intern year. The scramble is at 9 am tomorrrow. This means we have no idea where we will need to be in July!! It could be anywhere!
Eric will find out on Thursday where he matched for the anesthesiology program. I am so proud of him, I can hardly stand it! 4 years of such hard work and he matched in the specialty he wanted!

Pics from the past week

Eric had a day off and we went to get breakfast. Their first breakfast outing!

Mom and Dad came over for a bit. I think Brandt likes his Grandpa!

The boys are pros with their bubbas. They don't even need help with them anymore :(

The boys got new car seats and Brandt was "helping" me adjust his before we put them in the car.

Brandt playing in the car seat boxes

Carter playing in the car seat box.

For awhile, we've been able to hide some wires with a pillow barricade; however, Brandt found a way through!!

Brandt's new favorite thing is to stand at the jum-a-roo and play with the toys on it.

Carter during his tummy time.

Dad comes to visit!!!

A few weeks ago, Eric's dad came to visit. The boys had so much fun visiting with their Grandpa Groen. There were lots of games of peek-a-boo, visiting their grandpa at his work softball game, and a trip to the park. They looooove their grandpa!

The boys at 9 months

I just read my post of when the boys turned 8 months. They have changed so much in the past month! Every day the boys are making leaps and bounds in their development. It has been so fun to see them do a new skill one day and see them improve and expand on the skill the next day.

This month, the boys have:

• Improved on sitting up. Last month, the boys could both sit up for awhile and then topple over. Now, they can sit for as long as they want to.
• Brandt has learned to crawl! I have witnessed him do it with his tummy off the ground, but for the most part, he does it "army" style.
• Brandt has also learned how to stand up!! This has been so exciting. One day, he learned how to stand in his crib. Then he learned how using pieces of furniture. This has certainly affected his naps, though. It has been so difficult to get him to take naps because all he wants to do is stand.
• Carter has become our little talking guy. It is so much fun to hear him babble on and it seems like each day he tries out a new sound. Eric's has been saying this his first word was "alli babba." I didn't hear this, but Eric says he did say it! He makes sounds like: ah, bah, eh, ayaya. He likes to "talk" and if you make an "eh" sound to him, he'll talk back. Love it!!
• Carter hasn't quite mastered crawling yet, but he is scooting forward now. If he follows in his brother's footsteps, it'll be any day now.

This picture was taken of the boys this past week. They were helping make dinner with me.

A couple of real stand up men

Brandt was using the kitchen chairs to stand tonight after dinner and was really hamming it up. He is so proud of himself!

I think this picture is so cute. You can see his dimple on his left cheek.

Here's all 7 of his teeth!

We got Carter to stand up, too. He's not quite sure of it, though. He's kind of like, "Whoa! What's going on? Why isn't someone holding me?" In these pictures, you can see the progression of Carter's clothes through dinner. He almost always ends up completely naked. I thought it was so funny tonight because he ended up with just a diaper and one sock.

Here he is, just a little dirty:

Just a diaper and a sock!

We love our stand up men!!