My Bad!!!

Okay, with all the craziness of the holidays, work, and family I completely spaced to blog about something just a little bit important. TRAVIS GOT INTO DENTAL SCHOOL!!! The GI-normity of it all has not completely set in yet. We found out on December 1st. After Trav had his interview at OHSU, they told him the soonest he would find out is December 1st at 4pm. Well, literally at 4:15pm he checked his application and it said, "Congratulations!" on it. He came to get me (acting very non-chalant, I might add) and by the time he checked his e-mail at 4:28, he had an e-mail inviting him into the DMD program to be the graduating class of 2013! I know in the past whenever we have gotten good news, I have rushed to blog and send e-mails for prayer, but this time my first thought that this was such good news, I wanted as many people as possible to find out in person or at least over the phone. I had a great time telling people at work the next day. Some of them even got choked up...that meant a lot. They have all been through this whole process with us, from the beginning of Trav starting school and have walked with us through all of our concerns, worries, fears, and victories. It doesn't hurt that I work in a dental office which has let Trav shadow as many times as he wanted or needed to. They have been some of our biggest fans, one of the dentists even wrote an astounding recommendation letter for Trav. It has all been pretty overwhelming.

SO, I am a little late in posting - but the newness has not worn off. I know we will be in for a WHOLE new adventure. I believe God is in the middle of this 100% and I know it will continue to be an amazing ride when He is in the driver's seat (of our van after we lose our house) JUST KIDDING! lol.

For reals, though - we will need more prayer now than ever. Please pray not only for finances, but for strength and endurance during the next 4.5 years. I know there will be some rough patches or like maybe one big, long rough patch but we will need people to remind us, this is only for "a season". I appreciate all of you who have invested time and energy as our friends, to let us talk about the cool stuff and our fears. Plus, your prayers are like gold. They have helped pave this path we are on.

Okay, now it's time to go sort some Christmas stuff while the kiddo's are sleeping! TTFN!

Santaland

Yesterday we took the girls downtown to see Santa at Macy's. We were hoping to leave around 2pm to meet my sister and her family. Well, Mia still had JUST fallen asleep at 2 so needless to say, that wasn't happening. We didn't end up leaving until after 4pm. Trav and I, the girls and our moms' rode Max down to Pioneer Square. We were hoping to see the tree lit up, but it wasn't and I figured it was because it was just getting dark. There were lights on all the other trees though, so that was really pretty.

Trav's mom treated us all to Starbucks because she got a ton of gift cards for her b-day. Thanks Nanna!! The weather was actually perfect. It wasn't raining like it had been earlier in the day and it felt pretty warm. We headed over to Macy's and after that, it got pretty funny. We got in elevator and headed UP since that is where the old Meier and Frank Santaland was located. We just assumed it would be on the highest floor. Nope! We were wrong. We finally asked someone and found out it was in the basement - but which basement? There was A, B, and C "subfloors". We finally figured out it was A. It was pretty funny. There was NO line for Santa!! I guess 5pm on a Sunday is a good time to come! Santa was feeding his reindeer but was only gone a few minutes before he came back. There was one family in front of us. I leaned down and asked Keira what she was going to ask Santa for. She said, "A football." Really? I think she remembered that from the Christmas Story. When she actually got up to Santa she hesitated when he asked her, and then she remembered what she really wanted and said, "A high chair." Well, a LONG time ago her little dolly high chair was broken, but Travis fixed it quite a while ago...I thought that had sufficed since she hasn't talked about it since. Too bad Santa has finished his shopping...lol.

Unfortunately, the picture buying process is a RIP off - of course. But they make you buy a package of pictures if you take pictures with your own camera. The old Santaland didn't do that. I guess times have changed. We bought the cheapest thing which was one 5x7 for 16.95 and then we got a picture CD for $9.99 more. I wasn't going to get the CD because it was going to only have one picture on it - but the girl said she could put two pictures on it so we ended up buying it. I only did it because I will be able to print them out and give them to every one ourselves. So we ended up getting our two favorites. I love the one with Mia looking like "Get me off of here!" The other one turned out really cute, too but I can't seem to format this flippin thing the way I want it so we will just have the one picture on here.

Okay - baby's awake and I still have lots to do! Today is my stay home-organize-declutter day. Hopefully, I will get my Christmas cards made and ready to send. I get paid in a couple of days and I'll be able to go get stamps. Woo-hoo! It's the little things, ya know.

Keira/Mia funnies before I forget

Keira said a couple of things that totally cracked me up and I am ALWAYS forgetting them - so while I'm recording them while I remember.

Last night she had her play stethascope on and was listening to my heart. She said, "Is this where Jesus lives?" Kids are so black and white...my heart melted and I said "Yes it is honey." She said, "Am I squishing him?"

This morning, Mia was especially lovey with Keira. She gave her a big hug and just looked up her with a huge smile. Apparantly, the affection wasn't returned by Keira. Mia had just pooped and Keira was completely disguisted. She said, "Okay, I think that's about enough hugs for now." Lol! She sounded so adult. More and more things are coming out of her mouth that sound like a middle aged adult than a 3.5 yr old child. She is growing up way too fast and her sister thinks she needs to keep up with her!

One thing Mia did that definitely needs mentioning - she has become increasingly fascinated with the potty. She just turned 17 months on Weds. She sat on the little potty and wanted me to take her diaper off. She kept getting up and shutting the lid, then opening the lid, shutting the bathroom door, and sitting down. On Friday morning, during my shopping stint, Trav said he was out of the bathroom for a second and she managed to unroll almost the whole role of toilet paper, in her attempt to get the tp over to her toilet. Crazy kid! I have a feeling she may just be potty trained a bit sooner than her sister - at least she has more interest in it because she wants to be like everyone else. She thinks she's older than she is so we will see...

Holiday Fun

So, it is day after feasting day. I have to say...I did control myself pretty well ALTHOUGH I did have to ask my mom for some sweat pants at the end of the day because mine were getting pretty tight. LOL. We eat pretty early at my moms. Her rationale for that is that everyone is hungry, we might as well eat and then there is more time to make room for pie. :-) I like her thinking. I got up pretty early and started getting ready. Keira got up around 7:30 and helped me stuff almonds in dates. My cousin's wife had done that a couple of years ago and wrapped them in bacon and brought them as heur de'hourves (sp??) and we fell in love with them. They weren't going to be there this year so I decided to try my hand at them. I was also in charge of the relish plate. We got to my mom's around 12:30 and ate shortly after that. I didn't even go get seconds! Well, at least on food. I did have three (small) pieces of pie through the course of the day. ;-) But it's not my fault - Trav's mom and sister make this AWESOME chocolate cream pie and it totally calls my name.

So, we had tons of food and quite a few people this year. We had my mom (obviouslysince it was her house), my aunt and uncle, Trav's mom and two sisters and then our long time friends Sally and Steve, Tara and Rob and their two boys, and Amber. Her husband had to work - lame! After dinner, Tara put both her boys down in the basement for naps and they fell asleep right away. Kendall went home to take a nap and I put Mia down. Meghan, Nanna, and Keira all took naps in the spare bedroom. Rob watched football in the back room. My mom, aunt, and Sal chatted at the dining room table and Travis horded the adds while listening to his IPod and Tara, Amber, and I drank wine and made fun of him. It was so much fun. Giggling with Tara and Amber totally made me feel like it was old times...their family has had Thanksgiving with our family since before Tara and I were born (we're about a year apart in age). So, needless to say, we have quite a few years worth of memories.

It was weird, though. They haven't celebrated with us for the last four years - just had different things going on so having them there really made me miss my dad. It just felt especially odd that he wasn't there - snapping pictures and re-filling everyone's water and coffee like he was so prompt at doing. (sigh) I guess no matter how much time goes by, there will always be that hole there. It makes me look that much more forward to heaven - where stuff won't suck anymore.

Anyway, everyone but our immediate family left between 4 and 5. I grabbed the adds and started researching my plan of attack for today. :-) Then, we started games. Trav, his sisters, mom, my mom, and I all played Scattegories and a couple rounds of Apples to Apples. We didn't leave my mom's until almost 9! It was so much fun.

This morning I got up around 4:30 and my friend Jenny and my neighbor were at my house at 5am - ready to hit the stores. We stopped and got coffee and went to the 205 Target first. The line wasn't very long and the Target employees were SO nice. They came through the line and got people's Starbucks orders and then came back and served them all. Pretty awesome. We spent probably a couple hours at Target and Bed Bath and Beyond. Then we grabbed a quick breakfast at Burger King and then hit Freddies and Kohls. We managed to get about 5 hours of shopping in and I made a huge dent in my Christmas shopping. I'm pretty wiped out but totally amped to get the house decorated and start making my Christmas cards. I love not having anything we have to do or have anywhere we have to go. This weekend is pretty low key as far as plans go. I love it! We'll see how much I actually get done. :-)

Gobble Gobble

Ahh, so the girls are in bed, Travis is hanging out with a couple of friends, and I am on the verge of nighty night time. It has been a long time since I've really blogged - mainly because I have a post waiting with a whole bunch of pictures of October's events on them. Apparantly, blogspot changed how you upload pictures so just when I thought I had it figured out, I didn't. I couldn't seem to get them in any right order so after several frusterating tries...I gave up. SO, I have sort of been boycotting blogspot since than. I will probably try uploading the pictures again over the long weekend, since I will want to upload many more from November.

Today was neat. My mom requested to have today off from watching the girls so she could prepare for the feast tomorrow. Since Trav doesn't have school on Wednesdays, he stayed home with them. They had an awesome day. He took them to breakfast, they came by to see me at work, and I had made him a list and he even did my grocery shopping for tomorrow. Awesome! Plus, he has been doing the laundry for the last several weeks and he did all of it and put most of it away even!! Happy for me!! I loved coming home on lunch and seeing them, even if just for a little while. I got to rock Mia before her nap. It was great!

I have lots to do in the morning, so I need to get to bed soon. My mom has dinner between 12 and 1 so it is an early one for us!

I just have to mention a couple of cute things Miss Mia did the other day. She woke up and was sitting in her bed. She has a big stuffed bear and a big stuffed duck in bed with her. On the floor was a stuffed doggy. She looked at alll three and said, "RAaaaaar, Guck, Woof." SO CUTE!! She calls ducks, gucks just like Keira used to.

Then later in the morning, she put on one of Keira's purses, grabbed some play keys, and put on some chapstick and told Keira and I "byye" while she headed out of Keira's room. Keira and I just looked at each other and started cracking up. I swear sometimes that kid is 17 months going on 17 years. She is 17 months old today, by the way.

Allllrightythen, it is officially bed time.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

October Pictures

Frusterated...that is the one word I can use to describe trying to upload pictures in Blogspot now. I don't know if it's gotten better but I tried to upload these pictures a long time ago and it wouldn't go in any order no matter how I tried to attach them. I completely stopped editing them and am just going to blog what I have. No explanations or anything...sorry. If anyone has any advice, I am open to that! :-)

Tidbits of Cute

On the way to her cousin, Kambrie's birthday party, Travis asked Keira what she was going to say to her cousin when she got there. She promptly rolled her eyes and said, "Whatever". Oh man.

Keira has also become famous for adding "or what" to all of her phrases. For instance, "Mom, are we going to go to church this morning or what?!?" Is it possible to have a pre-teen in a 3 yr old body?

Mia has been surpising us with words. Last night, we were at Nanna's house and (of course) she wanted some candy. She held out the jar to Trav's mom and started that nice little whine that has become oh so familair these days. Nanna said, "You need to say PLEASE." Instantly, Mia understood..."EEEEeeeeese!" She got an M&M, needless to say. It was pretty cute.

I will also ask Mia a question and she will reply with "Mmm-hmmm." Not yes, but "Mmm-hmm." Or an over exaggerated head nod in whichever direction - yes or no. She is also learning to say "eyes" and "ears" usually followed by poking someone in the eye. We're working on that one.

She still calls me daddy though. Everyone is daddy. Oh well. She has started to say "mommomomom." So that's a start.

Crazy, Awesome Day

So - this was it...October 31st, 2008. Travis' interview at OHSU. After almost three long, grueling years of year round schooling, first not even really having a direction to the increasing interest in the dental field, and finally, the a full blown pursuit of dental school. It all seemed so far away and a goal that could ONLY be reached if God Himself were in the middle of it. It felt like the day would never come but eventually, hurdle after hurdle were conquered - in stride even - and the day we were waiting for was upon us.

Travis was up most of the night (as usual) but he had reason not to sleep. Keira has been doing this thing where she wakes up once or twice a night and needs to go potty. I brought her to our bed around 6ish and it was then that Travis got up. Keira and I laid there until almost 7am and then my mind started ticking. What suit is Trav going to wear? How much time should we allow for him to get down town? I should probably make him a big breakfast. AH! All of these last minute things that had been crowded out of my brain by other details of life...until now. I got up to the smell of coffee and made my way to the garage where Trav was gathering his thoughts - or trying to. The plan was that the girls and I would drop him off at OHSU and pick him up at Portland State in the afternoon because his advisor wanted to see the girls all dressed up for Halloween.

Trav and I talked a bit and we prayed, giving God control and attempting to ease his nerves. He had been worrying about stumbling over his answers. The goal was to leave the house at 8am in order to be there by 9am. The interview started at 9:30 but he needed to be there early. Well, little miss Mia was having some "issues" and just as we were heading out the door...she pooped - for like the third time that morning. We got out of the house at 8:11. We prayed again - asking God to be over every detail of the day, including all of the time related activities we had going on. Traffic was crazy...rain is never good here in the Northwest, but combine rain on a Friday and you might as well just stay home. We weaved all around town - trying to find "faster" ways, only to hit more and more traffic. By the grace of God alone, we made it to OHSU at 8:56, time enough to park for one last prayer and making him exactly on time. For all of you who really know us Duffy's, that is nothing less than a miracle. :-)

After the interview was over and I picked him up, I of course asked for a blow by blow of every detail of the day on the way to my mom's for pre-trick-or-treating Chinese food. Basically, two doctors "interviewed" him, but only one of them asked him ONE question. The rest of the time, they chatted with him and told him about the school and a variety of things. One of the doctors said that everything looked really good and said things to most definitely get his hopes up. The kicker is that those two doctors still have meet with an entire committee and discuss if they want him or not. If they unanimously agree, we could know by Dec. 1st if he gets in or not.

We are trying to not "count our chickens" but it was such a positive experience, we are both just thanking God for what He's provided so far - and now we wait. We have agreed that Trav will hold off sending in secondary apps for other schools until he hears from OHSU.

So, for all of you that prayed, here is a big THANK YOU!!! Every single prayer was felt by us. Honestly, yesterday could not have gone any more smoothly. Even the details of getting the girls to all the Halloween functions on time happened better than we could have planned. When I started to get uptight, I remembered how faithful God had already been and there was no need for me to be anxious.

So - December will come quickly, right? :-)

Living Sonoma for One Month

SO, today marks Travis and my one month "anniversary" of the Sonoma diet. We can't say we've lost TONS of weight. I think I've only lost 5 lbs, but just this weekend, people have started commenting that it looks like I've lost weight. I think I must be losing some inches because things are starting to fit differently and I'm finally fitting in a smaller size. Two more sizes to go but I'm celebrating small victories!! Travis has lost about 12 lbs and we both are feeling a LOT better. The Sonoma diet is basically cutting out sugar/white foods/starches. You really limit breads/potatoes/stuff like that. The first 10 days are super strict and then you can slack a bit from there. ;-) We tend to go a bit crazy on the weekends but it seems to be working out okay as long as we are careful during the week. It feels REALLY good to be experimenting with new foods and actually cooking yummy, healthy meals for my family. I really love cooking and I've discovered that allrecipes.com is one of my favorite websites. SO many good ideas and variations of stuff. I usually never stick to a recipe but add and subtract stuff to make it my own. I am slowly starting to become more disciplined in other areas of my life - not just cooking. The working out part is one that I'm having a harder time sticking with, but I'm not giving up. I may not ever find a "perfect" balance but here is what I'm starting to do with my days. I get up in the morning and I try to tell God everything I need/want to get done. Then I say - "okay, YOU know all about the day. Help me remember the important stuff I need to do and balance all the rest and not stress out." I definitely have a long ways to go still, but am having fun learning how to become a much more responsible, well-rounded adult. I have Travis to thank for much of the changes in my life. He is the one that sharpens me more than anyone - whether he believes it or not. ;-)

SO, I will hopefully report back in one more month and see how the diet is going then...of course, that will be RIGHT after Thanksgiving. ;-)

Reminising...

This is a copy of a blog I posted on Myspace - Nov. 11, 2007...I almost forgot why I am so petrified of cold/flu season until I read this and remembered. Not fun!

The discovery of feet, A TOOTH!! AND the Croup Current mood: cheerful

Well, what a week it has been. Last Sunday started it all - with a trip to the ER for little Mia. She was "barking" - had a horrible cough and it seemed like she was having trouble breathing. We took her in and they tested her out and had a chest x-ray done. That's an interesting process for an infant...but she survived and managed to make cute baby noises and smile exactly when they were trying to listen to her lungs. Turns out, she had a case of croup. I thought we were going to see the worst of it in her since it usually hits infants the hardest, but the next day Keira's temp went up to 103 and she started barking and wheezing. Monday was the scariest day for me. I kept Keira in our bed Monday night. There was one point in time where Keira was crying and I had to put Mia down and she started screaming and gagging and Keira's breathing sounded so bad that I almost called 911. That's the night Travis has school so I was alone in my panic. Two year olds can't really communicate what's wrong - they just know they don't feel good and they know when they're scared. I don't think either Keira or I slept much that night - half the time she was laying on me semi-propped up. Mia slept better that night probably due to her lack of sleep on Sunday night. Tuesday morning we took both girls to the doctor where Mia proceeded to coo and smile exactly when they needed her to be quiet. She was good at winning hearts of the hospital/pediatrician staff but not so good at being able to hear her lungs. She was actually doing SO much better but Keira had to have a shot of Cortizone to open her airways. It took so long for the shot to kick in, I thought I was going to have to take her to the ER Tues night. The doctor warned me that I may still need to because her airways were so tight. I ended up missing all three days of work and finally Keira is doing a better. She still isn't back to her normal self - I look in her eyes and they just look drained and tired. Poor little kiddo. She is still funny, though. When I put her down for her nap today she said, "My finger has a heartbeat!" I think she got that from Elf - he says that on there and she is ALREADY quoting movies. We've watched about every Christmas movie you can think of this week - some over and over again - Elf being one of them.

Mia sprouted her first tooth this week!!! I KNEW she was teething. The doctor saw it on Tuesday and I felt it and sure enough, there were little prongs poking back on my finger. That was Nov. 6th and she just turned 4 months on Oct. 26th. Travis thinks I was actually prego longer than we though - like 11 months or something!! What the heck?

Mia also discovered her feet this week. It was the cutest thing - I had her in just a diaper laying in the Boppy on our bed. I went to get something and when I came back she had her legs pulled up to her like she was going to do crunches and was just staring at her feet. I called Travis in and we watched from the door while she just looked at them and then stretched them out. We went in and he said, "Those belong to you, ya know." She was so intense and it was neat to be there in one of those moments of discovery. She seems to take a lot in. She will watch TV, look at books when I read to Keira and smile at people who aren't looking at her just to get them to smile back. It is so much fun to watch her personality blossom. The coolest part is to see the mutual love between her and Keira. She beams any time Keira is near her and Keira is usually always kind to her - even when she's having a "two" moment. That makes me happy. Even after a week like the one I just had, I feel really blessed at the life God has allowed us to partake in.
Keira always runs around our living room in a (small) circle and says, "It's fun being home!!!" That's how I feel right now - it's fun being home.

WHEEEWWWW!!!

Talk about crazy, busy times. The last couple of weeks have been NUTS - but I can't complain. I do admit - I get a bit irritable when life gets TOO busy and I don't feel like we have any down time. So far, Monday's have been my day to try to regain my sanity before the crazy part of the week starts all over again. I actually had my kids in bed by 7:30 tonight. I think that is a record. The most amazing part is that I barely heard a peep out of either of them after I put them down. Apparently, they were tired. It is much better for them to get to sleep early on Monday nights because I have to wake them up between 6 and 6:30 am depending on my work schedule on Tuesdays to go to my moms. They have a pretty long day because they go to Bible study with her all morning, which they have a blast at, but they get pretty worn out.

SO, life events - I don't remember being this busy in the previous Octobers. I know that the month of December is usually INSANE and November starts getting a little crazy - but for us, the holiday season has kicked in full speed. I think part of the business is partly because I feel like I am really beginning to "live". I don't know how to explain it really but I feel like a part of me has come alive again - maybe for the first time? I was so drained/depressed/in a really bad place for the better part of a year, that to come out of that funk makes me want to become the best everything I can be - wife/mom/daughter/friend/child of God. It's like I have a little fire burning on the inside that is actually propelling my behavior - something I have always wanted and not always had...internal motivation. I have been on the upward spiral since about July. I am realizing though, that I think in my attempt to "live life" I have propelled my family into a crazy busy schedule. Not to mention - I am hoping and praying that we all stay healthier than last year. I am having flashbacks of the croup that afflicted my girls the early part of Nov. 2007. Not fun. They are both eating oranges and taking their vitamins. This, combined with lots of sleep and play, and sanitary surfaces (a little OCD) will hopefully give their bodies what they need to stay strong.

Neither Travis or I had a lot of family traditions we did when we were kids so we have decided that we want to start fun family traditions for our kids. Many of our extended family and friends are a part of those traditions which makes it all the more fun. Last weekend, a HUGE group of us went to the pumpkin patch. It is a place called Lee Farms in Tualatin. My sis had discovered it a couple of years ago and it is pretty amazing. They have tons of animals, rides, yummy food - tons of stuff. We went with so many people it was hard to keep track of all of them! It was a great time, though. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and the weather couldn't have been better. Afterwards, we went to one of our favorite restaurants, the Carver Hanger. They have HUGE hamburgers and I guess good pizza - I wouldn't know since I always get a burger. My mom and I actually shared one since I was still feeling the effects of the greasy elephent ear I had consumed. Trav's mom and sister Meghan were with us as well. Our friends, Josh and Meredith and Nate, Teresa and Kambrie came, too. We had two big tables in the middle of the restaurant. It was fun to relax and chat.

This weekend, we had more fall festivites. We went to two harvest festivals and did pumpkin carving on Sunday. Friday night, the harvest festival was at the school Trav's mom works at. Unfortunately, it was pretty lamO. There was only a few things for the kids to do. I felt sorta bad because my sis and her family had come and it was pretty disappointing. On a good note, our kids are small enough that they really didn't know it was lame and had a great time. Trav's mom was planning on taking the kids to spend the night with her and so we asked her if she wouldn't mind having my sis' daughter for an hour or so, so we could all have dinner. She didn't mind, and Kambrie did great! She's such a versitile kid - not fearful, and apparently easy to watch because my MIL said she would watch her again in the future so we could all go out again! Yea! It was fun to have some adult time, over hoppy bear and hummus. ;-)

I could write tons more about the rest of the weekend and the other good times we had but I still have some things to get done before bed. I am mainly just so grateful for my family and my friends. We had a lot of good time with my sis and her family which was really nice. I felt like our girls were able to bond because they spent so much time together. They even all took a bath together Saturday night! LOL!

Pumpkin carving was fun - I spent most of the afternoon in the house, cleaning and preparing homemade chili. The mom's came over and Trav's sisters and his sister Kendall's boyfriend. Our friends Josh and Meredith came over after they got home from Medford and stayed til almost 11:00pm! It was fun chatting with them.

The next two weekends at least, will be crazy again. I'm praying for no sickness in between there. I just feel blessed that we have been able to do so many fun things and have such awesome family and friends.

Hopefully, I will be downloading some pictures in the near future!

Pictures Finally!!!

It took me forever, but I now have pictures of the last few events posted. They start with Josh and Meredith's wedding rehearsal/wedding. I was really bummed that my camera accidentally went home my mom and Keira after the ceremony. I could have gotten some great shots at the reception...OH well.

God's country

Keira refused to get of Meredith's lap at the dinner.
The happy couple thank people for coming. Ahhhh Keira opens her special flower girl present
A froggy bank! Cool!
Me and my beautiful sis
the big day! They clean up well!

Picture time!




the whole gang
pretty girl loved being dressed up




me, my mom, and sis

Keira's first day of her little "movement" class

Kimberly doing a much needed shot at Katie's b-day celebration

Keira shows off her blue tongue from her "twitsy pop" ;-)