The Break of all Breaks

I'm finally getting around to blogging about Thanksgiving break. I had been looking forward to last week for so long and it was wonderful, simply wonderful.

We stayed in Kirksville for the break and Tanner's parents came down from Pittsburgh to be with us. Mariah was giddy. She's used to just boring old me all day every day so three other people in the house was a dream come true. She even got to stay up later and skip a couple naps, yippee! (I'm paying for it this week, by the way).

Admiring Grandpa's Silly Face

On Tuesday we traveled down to Liberty Jail and Independence, Missouri. I love being able to visit church sites. They help me to remember the great sacrifices others made so I could be where I am today. It was the perfect thing to do during the season of gratitude.

Tanner got to play a 2 hour card game with his dad. Which was a real treat for him because my attention span for games only lasts a solid 15 minutes.

Mariah's bunny was their third player, I heard he was pretty ruthless. 

And I was able to talk someone else's head off and give Tanner a break, Tanner's mom is so fun to talk with. She has so many great insights and experiences to share. I love it.

Thanksgiving was wonderful and we had so much food. Of course I didn't take a picture of the bounteous meal; who takes pictures of food anyways? Anyone who knows anything knows that you eat food, you don't take pictures of it. We had the Elders over for dinner and they helped put a dent in the feast, but of course, no pictures of them either. But I do have a picture of Baby Girl with the Crossley Cranrasberry sauce on her face. She loved it, she is officially a part of the Cranrasberry Club.

After dinner we went to the Anderson's for pie. They had a great theory, "if everyone got together and brought their pies, there would be more of a variety." Geniuses, pure and simple.

This break was fantastic and made me all the more excited for Christmas. Tanner's mom said it best, "Thanksgiving is a great way to prepare us for the Christmas season by showing gratitude to our Savior."

Tanner's parents are gone and he is back in school. And Mariah and I are going through withdrawals. I think this picture sums up our feelings perfectly:

Yes, I'm one of those parents who takes pictures of their sad child, I just couldn't resist

Finals Week

We are experiencing our first finals week of Medical School. This isn't going to be news to anyone but I'm just going to say it, Medical School isn't easy.

Here's a little perspective: Tanner took as many credits these last four months to equal the average amount of credits it takes to get a bachelors. What I did in 32 months (rough estimation), Tanner has done in 4. He is my hero. 

This has been Tanner's schedule for the past several weeks: 

Leave each morning around 7am (if it's a test day he's studying by 5am)

Come home for dinner at 6pm

Leave for campus at 7pm

Come home around 10-11pm

He has all this ammunition, but I rarely hear Tanner complain. Sure he says that it is hard, but he is not a whiner. I'm pretty positive no one would want to be around me if I were in medical school because I'd be throwing pity-me-parties all the time. But not Tanner. After having ridiculous amounts of information thrown at him each day, he still comes home with a smile and great attitude for Mariah and I. He even helps me out with little things after his killer long days. Yes, I do know how lucky I am. 

One of the blessings that has come from medical school is how we have learned and are still learning to use the time we do have together. I cherish the conversations we have each night as we get ready for bed, and Sundays are heavenly. 

We both are aware of the many prayers that are given in our behalf and are so grateful for all of the support we receive. I know that this is just the beginning but I also know this, we will not just survive medical school, we will thrive in medical school. We have already learned so much and gotten closer and it is just the beginning.  

The purpose of this post wasn't to create pity or sympathy. My hope is that this post will help others to see that hard things can be done. And just maybe, some day these words may give me the strength I need to endure and learn from some other finals week. 

And since I cannot do a post without mentioning baby girl, here's a photo with her cool hairdo... 

The flash was just a teensy too bright but I thought it was kind of hilarious. She makes this medical school business all worth it! 

Holy Cow She's Seven Months Old...

Mom: You are seven months old!

Mariah: Yep!

Mom: Now that you've gone a whole month eating solid foods, what are some of your favorites?

Mariah: I love sweet potatoes, applesauce, bananas and tonight I tried acorn squash for the first time and really loved it. I don't know why it tasted so darn good but after the first bite I got so excited I started waving my arms around and rocking out in my high chair.

Mom: It may have been the butter and brown sugar I put on the squash (yes I know, "a 7 mo. old eating sugar?!" I was too lazy to make something separate for Mariah so I decided to just share the 'big kids' squash with her). You were pretty hyper after that so I think we're going to keep sugar out of your diet for a little longer.

Mariah: Bummer.

Mom: Any food you don't like?

Mariah: Avocados for sure! I can barely gag them down.

Mom: It's alright, I wasn't a fan of them as a child either. What are your favorite things to do?

Mariah: I just love my walker! Right when you put me in it I head over to the stove and dishwasher to talk to my friend.

Mom: I don't blame you; she's pretty cute. Here, I'll put up a video of you going to your happy place.

Mariah: I forgot how fun it was to blow rasberries. I haven't done that for a while.

Mom: Yeah, I was sad when you stopped. What else do you like to do?

Mariah: I love when you or dad throw me up in the air or give me airplane rides. I also really like getting bounced on your knees and playing "This is the Way the Lady Rides". I'm starting to really like it when you read to me too and I get so excited when you turn the page. I love sucking on your face but don't get to do it very often because you are always dodging me.

Mom: I'm not a big fan of that last one.

Mariah: Oh and I love other babies! I smile so big when I see them. I'm also smiling more at strangers which keeps all my admirers at the grocery store happy.

Mom: It sure does. How do you sleep?

Mariah: Bedtimes are much better but I still make sure you come in a couple times before I fall asleep by rolling onto my stomach and crying until you come and turn me back over.

Mom: You'll figure out how to roll from your stomach to your back eventually.

Mariah: Oh I've been working on it! I get up a couple of times in the night to eat but then I go right back to sleep when I'm done. Naps are a mystery each day. I never know how long I'm going to sleep. But that keeps life exciting!

Mom: So exciting. Are you sitting up now?

Mariah: Like a champ! I fell back and bumped my head so now when I don't want to sit up anymore I cry and hope that you'll come and lay me down.

Mom: You're a smart one. Well Baby Girl I love you so much and just love to see you grow and learn new things.

Mariah: love you too mom! Thanks for visiting with me!

Pun'kin Patch

Last year on Halloween Tanner and I really got into the holiday. Tanner worked all day and I made pizza "Crossley style" (it's wonderful, those Crossleys know how to make pizza). Tanner came home and we ate pizza with my little brother Tyler. We didn't even think about costumes. Lame, I know.

Luckily this year we have great friends who threw a Halloween party. This meant I had to come up with costumes. And since I'm such a crafty person, I quickly called my actual crafty mother and begged her to mail us some old classics and then prayed they would arrive in time for the party. The mail Gods were smiling down on us because we got them the day before the party.

A pumpkin patch and its/their? farmer! Took less than an hour to put together which was a good thing because thats all the time we had that day. Plus I think Mariah looks just precious as a little pumpkin, and I think my pumpkin had a slimming effect on me. I know people could argue that we were technically Jack O' Lanterns, but then I would have actually had to come up with something creative for Tanner to be which would have required making a costume. That wasn't happening, so we were pumpkins.
There were a lot of people at this party and I wasn't having much fun running into everyone and everything so my costume stayed on a total of ten minutes. I'm just not that hard core. Sorry.
There were so many awesome costumes though. I wish I would have taken more pictures but this is all that I got:

The first one are of the Hills as Hera, Zeus and Baby Hercules, second picture are the Bouwhuis family minus Princess Peach and their costume is pretty obvious, and the third one is the Miners as well, miners. Yes, these are the people I hang out with, yes I know how lucky I am. Maybe their creativity will begin to rub off on me.  Here's to hoping...
The party was great. We had dinner in a pumpkin, a pinata and minute to win it games. Chelsea and Colette did a great job putting it all together! Thanks guys for getting the Crossleys to actually dress up for Halloween.