It Began with a BBFT

We got home from vacation a few days ago and after reuniting with the twins (They both started crawling while we were gone and Grace got her first tooth) we made a quick turnaround and decided to take an impromptu "tour de midwest". We drove to Chicago on Sunday are are staying with our college friends, the Eleks who have an almost 2 year old (Norah). We were also able to catch up with the Rozkos and a brief stop at Northwestern to visit the newest NICU fellow, Megan Lagoski. We are quite the crew because we brought the dogs too so the car is overflowing with dog crates, pack and plays (baby crates?), formula and diapers. Yesterday we went to millennium park and strolled Michigan avenue (see pics below). Three children don't seem like a lot until you are living with them :). This morning Norah dumped her cereal onto her tray while I was changing Lydia's diaper. We crammed them all into one room last night for the girls first real sleepover. I don't think the pillow talk went well. The Eleks are good sports to allow such chaos into their home (two babies, two dogs, a giant stroller, two good sized adults).



Watching Baby Einstein to give us a break.



Visit with Dr.Lagoski

The nude beach was going to be my title, but the current one is more intriguing don't you think? we're apparently down the beach from a nude resort and since there is only one direction you can really walk from our hotel (the other is too rocky) we have to pass through the "nude gauntlet" every time we want to take a beach walk. Naturally we've had a lot of discussions about whether we would or would not do something of that nature (would not was the answer by the way) as we go by. I try desperately to find something else to look at so they won't think i'm staring but they are everwhere. The ironic thing is that they are carrying on with all the usual beach activities just without clothes on! So on a typical afternoon you will see naked people sitting on their lawn chairs playing cards, running into the waves, sunbathing, etc. They even have a volleyball net which they have thankfully not been using when we have passed by. There is a rooftop pool and they're all perched up around the pool like naked birds on a wire. The best was a woman walking around the beach with a sheer sarong on. .. the kind you are supposed to put over a bathing suit, but no she was using it to for I'm not sure what since it wasn't covering anything. just an accessory I guess. About 75% of them are not what you'd consider beautiful bodies either which makes it even stranger.

I typed this entry in the plane but before I could post it we dropped below 10,000 feet for our descent and I guess that's when wifi has to be turned off. So, here it is a couple of days late, complete with pics.

It's been a busy couple of days. Lots to blog, but for now I'll dedicate this one to our trip. We're (let me clarify the "we" thing--it's just Ryan and I) flying over somewhere and are 1 hour away from Cancun. Ryan's parents graciously agreed to watch the girls for us. I have left the girls overnight quite a bit for work, so I didn't anticipate that I would have such a hard time leaving them for this trip. I started feeling homesick for them even before we left! It's that homesick feeling in your chest that you used to get when you would go away to camp. I would just pine away for my parents like crazy. It's the worst at night too (remember crying in your bunk at night?) so even though I'm feeling fine now I could be a mess later. I told Ryan, "be extra nice to me because there is still a chance I'll just say, screw it we're staying home". Kids do weird things to you. It's not that I'm worried about the girls at all--they will have a great week with their grandparents and Aunts/uncles/cousins in Cincinnati. It's purely a deep-missing-them-feeling. Now, if I post again while we are in Mexico enjoying the sun, pools, ocean and endless breakfast, lunch and dinner dates I will probably be singing a different tune. When I left, the girls were happily playing on the floor, oblivious to my inner turmoil. So girls, if you ever go back in cyber world and read this blog, know that I never wanted to leave you. . . your father made me do it. Before you start feeling too sorry for me, I've placed our lighthearted plane pics up below.

Today is my last day of clinic. For those that don't know where my clinic is, it is in downtown Columbus--I'll be general just to keep it mysterious about where it actually is. Let's just say that when you hear about a shooting downtown, you can bet that it was within a couple of blocks of the clinic. We have a big window where our conference room is so that when we are doing charts we can also observe the urban activity just outside our walls. It's one of my favorite parts of clinic. Here are just a few of the things I've observed over the last few years:
-prostitutes, prostitute and more prostitutes. They don't look like julia roberts either. and interestingly enough they usually return to their post in 30 minutes.
-a woman wearing what appeared like only a sheet wandering up and down the street
-many a drug deal--at least that is what it looked like to us amateurs
-many men peeing in public
-intoxicated individuals
-interesting store fronts such is Jihad's supply store where they sell backpacks, bus driver supplies (not sure what that is) and other miscellaneous sundries. Also the corner market had an awning with many misspelled words including "bueauty suppies" which they have since painted over.

I have also learned that eye contact should be minimal lest a drunk come to your window for assistance and watch closely for people crossing the street because apparently there are no rules whatsoever about that.

sometimes I worry that they can see in our window b/c if they could they would see a wall of faces pressed up against it just watching urban life go by. I don't think they would appreciate it :)

On a more positive note, I have enjoyed my time in this clinic and am pretty good with urban name pronunciation now (did you know neveah is heaven backwards? Of course, that is a very old one) . . . like la-a is really "ladasha" and not "laah" like you'd think and nidia is really pronounced nadia but needs to be spelled nidia because it is aiden (the other twin's name) backwards.

It's been a fun 3 years and i've learned a lot. today is my last day of clinic and now I've seen my last patient and will be walked out by the oh so interesting security guard one more time so that I don't get pillaged or plundered in the parking lot :)

Sarah is refusing to join facebook so I have to post pictures in other ways so she can see them :). I refused to join facebook for quite awhile--so I do understand somewhat. So this post is just for her, and anyone else that needs a little baby picture pick me up.