Life with baby

So it has definitely been too long since my last post, so sorry!! As you already know, Logan was born on election day in November and he has truly blessed and changed our lives! We have been enjoying our time bonding with him as well as watching him grow, learn and make a million faces. In addition, we have been having a wonderful time with all our visitors, family from California and local friends/co-workers. Logan is already 2 months old and I haven't blog since his birth...but I have made a new year's resolution to blog at least once a month! Even though I have more time on my hands now than I ever will, I usually find many other things to do in my down-time, like cleaning up around the house, laundry, paying bills, etc....or just staring at my super cute son! Also, I am often holding Logan in my arms, but it's too difficult to blog one handed. So, I am going to do my best to continue posting updates and pictures here for those who don't have facebook or just feel like reading more of the details. :)

Brian starts back to work/school on Monday, but we have truly had the greatest time this past month while he was off. We love listening to Logie (as we like to call him) and all the cute little noises he makes now. He also is getting so good at holding his head up and grasping toys. Being parents is so magical and we love every moment with him. I will be heading back to work (starting out part-time for the first few weeks) the second week in February - I am looking forward to it (I do love my job!), but I am really going to miss being home with him all day, everyday. 

 I've included some of our favorite pictures from the past 2 months.

This post has taken me almost 10 days to write/finish - every time I started writing, Logan started crying. I think I will try to make my posts shorter and, hopefully, more frequent.

Taste of home

I spent one afternoon skyping with my niece Valentina - she was only about 7 weeks old at the time, but she maintained pretty good eye contact. It was lots of fun. We did it again tonight and she was exceptionally good - such a content, happy baby!!  So thankful for this technology!!

At the end of July we met up with our friend Dan from back home who was in Boston for work. We met him at the amazing tapas place in the South End, Toro, and then drove over to Harvard Square for some dessert at Finale. We also checked out some bookstores and took a late night stroll on the Harvard campus. It was so wonderful to see him again here in Boston. We love visits from our CA friends & family! :)

It's been TOO long!

My apologies for not blogging more, and I am going to try to be better about it!! Here's a little update on the past couple months - I'll try to include lots of pictures.

- - - SEPTEMBER- - -

My friend Alice from nursing school is in the Army and she was in Boston for a conference, so we met up for dinner. She brought a friend she met that day, Heath, who is also a nurse and in the Air Force. We had a lovely Italian dinner in the North End. It's always so good to meet up with friends from California!

Brian's dad came to visit and stayed for a week. Although I had to work a lot, we enjoyed having him here and Brian loved spending quality time with him. We wandered about Boston...




...we napped on Bunker Hill
(my first time here! Brian went when Daniel visited in May)






...and we walked the Battle Road in Lexington and Concord. (A first for us all!)

Brian & his dad also visited the Adams National Historical Park/House, which they really enjoyed.




- - - OCTOBER- - -

We started off October by heading to Cohasset, MA for a retreat for Theology doctoral students and their spouses/significant others'. The retreat house is right on the water and is the coziest house ever! There is nothing like drinking wine and sitting by the wood-burning fire, talking to wonderful friends. It was a beautiful weekend with some beautiful people. We were very thankful that I was fortunate enough to get 3 days off in a row, allowing us to retreat for the entire weekend.

The picture on the left is me with two of our favorite couples - Conor & Kate, and Ben & Tara. We spent Saturday afternoon walking around the small town of Cohasset town and this is a pic of us eating some whoopie pies!

We came across a little obstacle in our path on the way back to the retreat house - the tide had come in, blocking the one road that leads to the house.













It was a wonderful weekend of relaxation, prayer, and fellowship. I really enjoyed getting to know some of Brian's classmates too. At the end of the retreat, we were helping clean things up (part of our youth ministry nature I guess) and we stumbled upon the biggest book ever! Look at that thing!







The wonderful Wintheiser's were visiting a friend in Cape Cod, so we drove down and had dinner with them. It was our first visit to the Cape and it was a memorable one. Mike & Angie drove us around a bit and gave us a little tour of some of the Cape. It's beautiful down there and the beach was perfect (although it was quite windy and cold!). Here's a picture of us at the Chatham Lighthouse.

We went back to the house (which is the vacation home for Angie's childhood friend, Bev) and she and her husband were making a perfect lobster dinner. They had a lobster for everyone and one of them was a biggie! We held it while it was still alive and it was heavy!!! I want to say it was about 5 lbs? That was our first time holding a live lobster - thankfully his claws were still banded together!




Here is Mike with the lobster after it came out of the hot tub.

And the beautiful dinner table (by the way, she made the best homemade Caesar salad dressing EVER!)

After dinner we sat by the fire in the back - it was so peaceful and it felt like we were in the middle of the woods. It was such a wonderful evening!!!
Brian got sick the following week, which resulted in a trip to the ER one evening. He's been having chronic headaches for a while now and we were worried about meningitis when he woke up with fatigue and stiff neck. The ER ruled out meningitis and sent him home with pain meds. The next day he had nausea and vomiting all day but thankfully started to feel better at the end of the night. He woke up the next day - still with the headache, but no more flu-like symptoms, so he headed to the airport to pick up Dick, our long time friend from youth ministry who came to spend the weekend with us. I worked the first day, so Brian took him around town. I was off the next couple days, so the first day we drove to New Hampshire to see some fall colors. We just picked a random place on a map, drove there and found somewhere to have lunch. Then our friend Conor, who's from NH, suggested we drive to Mount Monadnock, so we went there and did some hiking. This is a picture from the top of the mountain...on the other side you could see Boston on the horizon. It was a beautiful place for hiking and we saw some great fall foliage there. Afterwards, we headed to the Boston Seaport for seafood.
We had a great day.

The following day we went to see the Head of the Charles Regatta - an annual world rowing race that takes place on the Charles River in Cambridge. I was super excited because there were lots of vendors handing out free stuff/food, which ended up being our lunch that day. It was fun and I just love checking out events like this around Boston!

We then just wandered about Boston, looking in antique shops, strolling through the peaceful Public Garden, and eating Italian dinner in the North End. After dinner, we went to the Top of the Hub, the 52nd floor of the Prudential Center for drinks...but we soon discovered that we could just get pictures of the view (what we really wanted) without spending a dime. So instead, we headed to Finale, our favorite dessert place. A lovely ending to a lovely visit! :)

The last week of October was going to be spent with my grandparents visiting, but my grandma got sick and they couldn't make it afterall. :( So, this pretty much sums up September and October! We keep ourselves busy and are enjoying all that Boston has to offer (which is a lot!).

Summertime!

At the Harpoon Brewery

WOW! I just realized I haven't posted anything in almost 2 months!! It's definitely time for some updates:

VISITORS - 2 of our groomsmen, Ed & Eddie, visited us for a week in August. Unfortunately I had to work almost every day, but Brian was able to go out exploring and touring with them. On my day off, we drove down to Newport, RI to see the Newport Mansions there, which were quite amazing. Here is a little slide show of their visit:

Then, the weekend after the guys left, our good friend Joe stopped by to visit. He was on his way to Bermuda for work, so he stopped here for the night and met us for dinner. We went to the North End for some amazing Italian food. :)

OUT & ABOUT: We went to the Harpoon Brewery with some friends a few weekends ago. That was my first brewery experience (Brian has been to the Sam Adams brewery twice now) - neither of us are big beer people, but it was still fun to sample and learn about/see the process. My favorite was probably the raspberry beer or cider, but they also had pumpkin and several other beers.

After the brewery we went to watch a cliff diving competition that was being held in the harbor. They were jumping off of a high building (the Institute of Contemporary Art) and landing in the harbor. It was very impressive! Here are a few pics from that event:

WORK - things are going very well at the VA and it is looking like they are going to be hiring us all (new grads) on full time! That's wonderful!! I have been working independently for about 2 months now and it has been such a wonderful, challenging experience. I am still working my per diem mental health jobs whenever possible, but that isn't too often. I usually work 5 8-hour (evening) shifts a week at the VA, which keeps me busy enough.

SCHOOL - Brian took German this summer - he has to learn how to read German and French (the latter will be next summer's course). He is anxiously awaiting for the semester to start after Labor day...such a good student. I love that he loves school/learning so much. :)

Lately

Last month my step-mom's aunt and uncle (Jim & Fran) were visiting Cape Cod, so they drove into the city to meet us for lunch. We ate at the Union Oyster House, which is America's oldest (still-operating) restaurant - really cool place with good food. The Kennedy's ate there often and we sat right across from "The Kennedy Booth". This is a picture of us at lunch - Jim and Fran are next to me and their traveling buddies are next to Brian.

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We had a picnic and went hiking in the Arnold Arboretum with our friends Ben and Tara.

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Thankfully I had the weekend of our anniversary off. So, we celebrated our 1st anniversary by taking a little trip (in our fabulous new car) to Portsmouth, NH. It's a cute little town on the harbor, right next to Maine. We just walked around the town, shopping in the cute stores, went to Kittery, Maine for a lobster dinner (for Brian), and got hour long massages the next day. We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel and they left us some nice chocolate covered strawberries and champagne. On our way home, we drove through New Castle, NH, which is apparently the smallest town in NH and is entirely on islands. We saw some of the cutest houses there - I could move there in a second! Unfortunately we were focused on driving and I didn't get many pictures though. To end our trip, we stopped to have dinner at Hibachi Japanese Steakhouse. It was just like being back home :) We are certain there are places like these in Boston - we just haven't found them yet. Here are some pictures from our anniversary trip:

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I had to work on the 4th of July in the evening, so we had a picnic lunch in the park with our friends Chris and Cate. We also were housesitting the beagles, Lily & Molly over the weekend, which is A LOT easier to do with a car now. Their house is about 15 min walk from the subway stop, so it was kind of a pain getting there before.

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Lastly, I've been working a ton! After our anniversary weekend, I worked 8 days straight (between VA and Whidden) and then had 1 day off before starting a row of 12 work days. On my day off, we went downtown and wandered around as usual. We went to a cupcake shop that we've heard lots about and got mini cupcakes which were amazing. Then we walked on the bridge over the Charles River - it was a beautiful summer day in Boston. To end the fun on my day off, we had dinner at a nice modern restaurant in Newton (something we couldn't do before because we didn't have a car). So, now I am on day 3 of my 12 day stretch. Things are going really well at work - I am officially working on my own, no more orientation at the VA. I am working as an RN for real now - 2.5 yrs after getting my license! HA! And I only have 3 more days of orientation at Whidden and then I will be working per diem there. So, things are going very well over here!!

Recent Visitors

Brian's mom came to visit us and stayed with us for 10 days. The day after she arrived, our friend Daniel came for the weekend. The first day I was working, so Brian took them along the Freedom Trail, and then we went to our first Red Sox game that night. On Saturday the guys went to the Samuel Adams Brewery and I wandered around town with my mother-in-law. We met up with the guys and toured around some more, stopping by Harvard. Daniel left the following day and we just went all around the different areas of Boston with Brian's mom. We had such a great time with them!! And the following week I received a message from a friend back home saying he and his girlfriend were in Boston for a few days, so they came over one night for dessert. It was such a nice, unexpected surprise visit! As I am sure I have mentioned before, we have met some really wonderful people here, but we also miss our California friends and family a LOT! Thus, it was so great being able to spend this time with them and we look forward to having more visitors this summer!

Work life and other updates

Wandering around downtown near Frog Pond

We are doing well over here on the East Coast! I've been really busy with work which is very exciting! I've pretty much been working full time between Bay Cove clinic, Arbour hospital, and babysitting still. Since I haven't written in a while, I should let you know that I didn't get the job at MGH, but that's okay. Of course I was bummed about that, but I know God has a plan for me. I have been enjoying my jobs at Arbour and Bay Cove, and I will be starting orientation at CHA Whidden soon for their psych unit. Hopefully I can keep track of all my jobs! haha. I also just submitted an application for a summer paid externship through the VA, so we'll see!

Arbour life - I have worked 5 shifts on my own now, on 4 of the 5 units. The last two shifts were on the less acute unit and I was looking forward to a slighter easier day, but that definitely didn't happen. My first day I stayed 2 hours late and the 2nd day was 1.5 hrs, but the past couple shifts I left in less than an hour after the end of the shift. Not bad ~ I'm improving! However, when I work the evening shift (3-11:30pm), Brian likes to meet me there so we can take the buses home together. But since it is a locked facility and way past visiting hours, he has to wait outside in the cold...and the waiting lately has been about 45 minutes or so until I finish all my documentation. Another bummer about the evening shift is that buses don't run as frequently at that hour and the last ones are around 12:45am. Last Fri night, I got out at 12:30am and we took a cab home instead of waiting in the cold. I am working 4 evening shifts this week and it is my goal to be out by 11:45 or 12 at the latest! I am definitely learning time management skills...

Just a couple stories for you:

• My first day I was on one of the acute units, had 2 discharges (the first being one of the most impatient people I've seen yet!), and 1 patient who fell 4 times throughout the day requiring wound care the last time which ended up getting him a visit to the ER at another hospital (which means paperwork!). I finally discovered that he was falling on purpose (he wanted to go to the hospital). Note: some of his falls were on/against toilets - ouch!
• On the other acute unit, there was one patient who called me every other name but Theresa - at least he tried I guess. He kept saying he was going to sue us for $85million because that's what his sister has, but then later he asked me (I wasn't even his nurse that day) to get him his 85million clozaril tablets. Hmmm...I think he likes that number.
• I have heard 3 code blues called in the past couple weeks, but I thought I heard someone mention that there were only 2 code blues in all of 2010. Interesting. (Code blues are much less common at this hospital than one might see/hear in a normal hospital.) Although, the first code blue I heard and responded to was a drill. It was so awesome to see how fast everyone got to where they needed to be and how seriously everyone took it even with a fake torso on the ground.

Us with our friends Deb & Kevin near the North End

Other Updates:

• Spring is around the corner! We are looking forward to more sunshine and warmer weather. And the birds are back!! I didn't even realize just how much I missed them until now. Love listening to them :)
• Brian is no longer dog walking Baxter and Millie. I guess they were still going to the bathroom in the house even after their walks, so it wasn't really beneficial anymore.
• We did, however, take on a new housesitting gig not too far from BC. We watched 2 new Beagles, Lily and Molly, for a night (Brian and I had to share an extremely loud and squeaky twin bed with the two Beagles - let's just say it was a very tight fit). Their house was really close to a lake and also had some of the neatest chandeliers - take a look:

• My nursing school friend, Eula Mei, was just here with her boyfriend JP for a graduation. We met them for breakfast at Metropolis - It was SO great to see and catch up with her.

• Also, about a month ago, my cousin Ian was here visiting his girlfriend who is at BU. We went out for a nice dinner and then they came over for dessert another night. It was so fun to spend time with family here. :)

• We went to our first BC Hockey game - they played Northeastern (a local school), so it was pretty crowded. It was a lot of fun and ended up being a tie game 7-7!

• Lastly, we went ice skating at the end of February. After having just been to the hockey game I was amazed at how easy hockey players make ice skating look. I can hardly skate forward, but they can skate in every direction, carrying a giant stick, chasing a puck and ramming into walls. I was impressed!

I think that's just about all the updates for now. I know this was a long post, but thanks for reading!!

Our first dinner guests!

Last month we went to Daryn & Nichole's house for dinner so we thought it was time for us to have them over at our place. Conor and Kate also asked to hang out on Friday night so they came over as well. These were our first guests over for dinner and I think the night went very well!!! I made homemade lasagna (which Brian and I thought tasted really good) and Brian put together a Caesar salad and garlic bread. We cleaned up the house on Friday and it looked awesome! It was our first time pulling our kitchen table away from the wall so that we could all 6 sit. We knew our kitchen was small, but it was REALLY tight with all of us at the table. I liked it though. :) As we were sitting at the table with our new friends I just thought to myself that this is happiness! I was so happy to have them over and getting to know them better. They are all wonderful people and it is so fun that Daryn & Nichole were just married in August and Kate & Conor are getting married in December, so we have lots of fun wedding stuff we can talk about too. I didn't get any pictures of our dinner or guests, but these are a couple of the kitchen table. :)

On Saturday, we met Angel & Dan at Parish Cafe downtown for lunch where we also met their friends Amanda & Josh. They are from Virgina (and were actually at the BC vs. VT game we went to) and they moved here a couple years ago - Dan and Josh work together. We enjoyed our lunch at another great restaurant and then we walked over to the bowling alley. My first two frames were strikes! I was so shocked! Josh won the first game with a 144 I think (and I had a 142 I believe) and I won the next game with a 108. My total for both games was the highest with a 250! :) Brian was bowling really well too! We had fun, but our lane needed repairs - we had to go to the counter all the time because the pins wouldn't set up or they got stuck in the back or something. At least they gave us all free shoe rentals because of it! That was a $8 savings per couple :)

After bowling we walked over to the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival. I found out about it a few weeks ago when looking up things to do, so I thought we should check it out. It was free and we got free samples and tastings. It was fun - it was our healthy trick-or-treating!! :) After Amanda and Josh left, we walked around some more with Dan and Angel and then we left. They walked to the nearby subway station and we waited for the bus which was right outside the building (Brian pointed out that we were at that stop from when we came home from the zoo). So we waited, but then decided maybe we would go back in and buy some vegan pizza for dinner. By the time we got to that table it was gone, so we just walked around once more and sampled a few more things and then left, making it JUST in time for the bus! Perfect!

We ended up going to mass at 8pm at St. Clement Shrine. Brian and I were comfortable in what we were wearing except our faces and ears were freezing!! I believe it was about 37 degrees out at the time (the low that night was going to be 31). Mass was nice - another great homily by Fr. Peter!! It is pretty amazing how many young adults go to that church - I would say that mass had about 93% young adults!! Pretty cool. Unfortunately, it took us so long to get home because the subways were all so busy going in our direction - must be due to halloween although we didn't see too many people dressed up.

We had another wonderful weekend!! The trees are looking amazing, but the leaves are falling quickly it seems. I am worried that there won't be many more on the trees by the time we come home from our trip back to California. We leave on Wednesday to go back home and we are so excited to see our family and friends!! Our days are jam packed with get-togethers, including 2 weddings, but we are looking forward to it!!