Life lately

The day finally came! Cameron graduated from medical school! We are more than thrilled to be done with that part of the journey. A friend of mine wrote about her husband’s graduation ceremony a few months back, and I’m totally stealing what their commencement speaker said: “Life [Medical school] is like a washing machine. You feel all the agitation and get tossed around, but you come out clean.” This medical school journey has kicked my trash at times. It was certainly a roller coaster, but we are now in Portsmouth, Virginia (Yay for being in the state again!) and Cameron is doing the intern year of residency at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth.

The LECOM throne in the background may be a bit much, but we’ll take it!!!! Also can you tell how fun it was to sit with two kids under two through graduation? 😱

Upon graduation from medical school, Cameron was promoted from an Ensign to a Lieutenant. (I don’t have any pictures 😭) It’s our first active duty assignment, and I am enjoying life so far. Cameron put it best “intern year is the best thing that ever happened to you.” That’s a bit of an exaggeration, though not too far off. (We’ll see how my tune changes once he starts the harder rotations and 24 hour shift stuff...bleh). People here are so friendly (neighbors waving in the neighborhood and friendly cashiers at Walmart). There are so many fun things to do with the kids, and I’ve been starting to make some fun friends! This region really is a well-kept secret! Lower cost of living, little to no snow... but the worst driving I’ve seen in my adult life...and bigger insects too!

Let me back track a bit. Before we left Erie, we were able to bless baby Isla.  Marshall was being a two-year old and I didn’t hear much of the blessing, but I hear it was nice 🤪 Thank you to the dear friends who came to support us.

Erie had some phenomenal people there. I won’t miss the cold, but I will miss that little house on Ellsworth Ave. Four years ago, we moved there after the most difficult period of our married lives.  Things were all out of sorts in more than one way. I wondered if we would have kids to fill that three-bedroom home. Our plans to start a family had not gone as I had hoped, but by the time we left, I got a little tearful knowing that I was leaving the home where I brought two babies home from the hospital. It’s the home I have lived in for the longest stretch of time since I graduated high school. And being a military wife, it may be a while before we are stationed somewhere that long again!

Our house here is a great little find. It has a fenced yard 🙌🏻 And I think we’ve finally found all the holes in the fence where Bizmark escapes . I love the layout and would seriously consider having the blueprint rebuilt wherever we end up long term. The house needed a lot of work, the property manager stepped up and helped us out, but even still, getting moved is the worst. Cleaning, pest control, etc. I don’t want to do another DIY move for a long time. Our parents were the real MVPs for all the help they gave us as we struggled to get down here in time for “medical new year” on July1.

A little update on the kids:

Marshall loves school buses. He used to look for them out the bay window at our old house. It was the first toy he’d play with at daycare, and the book he picked out with grandma after baby was born. He says “bus” with such a funny little ‘S’ sound. He loves to run with his little legs dangling around my shoulders and signs “more” as he asks for more running! I showed him how to take a spider outside because I didn’t want to kill it in front of him. He then found some ants and wanted to take them outside too. There were too many to do that buddy 😬 For a while after baby was born, he liked to do whatever she did... The phrase “Marshall, baby Isla is in her car seat, you get in your car seat too!” worked like a charm. He can be protective of his baby at times, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a real slugger either. We’re working on not hitting, and I’m at a loss most of the time. He loves time out and thinks it is a game. He likes to help us clean and he also LOVES toothpaste. When asked why is your toddler crying? My response one time was that he wanted to peel an onion/but a blanket in the bath. He loves peeling onions/garlic 🤷‍♀️ He just celebrated his 2nd birthday and lived blowing out the candles. His face was beaming! He also loves anything water related and is talking a ton.

Isla is a pleasant babe. She’s been sleeping through the night regularly for a little while now! She’s starting to like tummy time a little more. She has rolled maybe once or twice. Everyone comments on how big she is. It’s true. She’s my 90+ percentile babe. But very healthy and happy! She loves to twirl her toes and play with baby toys.

I feel like I’m missing something big! So much has happened between May and now, that it has been hard to keep track of the things I want to remember, but here’s a start!