Love Month

One of the many perks of having children is that it gives you even more of a reason to celebrate holidays.  Combine that with a love for dressing up my little girl in clothes, especially pink clothes, and you've got yourself a Valentine fashionista.   I definitely took advantage of the 2 weeks prior to February 14th and dressed up my real life doll in her Valentine's day best, practically every day.

If only I looked this good on a daily basis!

Josh is still in New York for a couple more weeks doing a pediatric rotation.  Ryan and I feel so sorry for him in the cold snow, working minimal hours each week, eating out at fun New Yorky restaurants, visiting the main NYC attractions, and visiting old friends from Grenada and England...yes we feel awful for him.  We have no idea how he's surviving.

Anyway, I lucked out that even though he was in New York, I still had the best Valentine a girl could ask for.  She could not get any cuter.

Kisses are free for Mommy though.

Baby firsts come and go so quickly.  First smile, first laugh, first roll, first foods, and now yet another first is in the books, first Valentine's Day.

Starting Over

It's been almost six months since I last posted in this little space of mine in the blog-o-sphere.  Six months.  And it's crazy to think how much has changed.

My little baby Ryan Cathleen transformed into a little girl.

Just Born

7 Months

I hope to catch you all up on the life of my Ryan soon.  She becomes more entertaining every day.  She doesn't miss a beat and constantly keeps me on my toes.  And she brings so much joy to my heart.

Josh is less than two rotations away from finishing his fourth year.  We anxiously await residency placements and life after medical school.  It's hard to imagine life without school, although life without tuition payments sure sounds great.

My absence here is due to many things, most of which I have no intention of sharing.  It's easy in the age of social media to assume that everyone's life is perfect.  After all, we blog about, tweet about, Facebook about, and Instagram about all the picture perfect moments in our lives.  We have gotten pretty darn good (myself included) at making our lives, families, careers, children, homes, etc. look idyllic online.  And perhaps, your life is.  But chances are, each and every person is fighting a battle that nobody else knows about (no matter what their Facebook says).  What I will say is this. 

Marriage is HARD.

Medical School is HARD.

Motherhood is HARD.

Life is hard.  If you don't think so, well I guess maybe you're lucky.  Or perhaps you haven't faced a storm in your life.  But more than likely you will, someday. And it will probably come when you least expect it.  God never promised that we wouldn't have to fight battles or that we wouldn't face difficult times.  In fact, I think He uses the challenges in our lives to draw us closer to Him.  Our faith is strengthened during the struggles of life.

I hope to post a little more frequently than every six months from here on out.  I can't promise that each post will be picture perfect (although my child is pretty perfect) :), because life just isn't. But it will be real.