Is There A Dr. In The House?

Well, I have to say that my hiding under a bushel for my fears of not being able to control my future are finally over. In the past months that I have neglected this poor blog I have re-taken the MCAT, finished my medical school applications including what seemed like hundreds of entrance essays. I have had 2 interviews so far, and today I got a phone call with my second acceptance. Thus, I can now come back out of my hiding space and tell you all of the happenings in the Sowby household. Dr. Sowby will be in the house.... just give it quite a few years for me to finish up :) The important thing is that I am finally on my way! Move over House, Dr. Sowby is on the way up. So far my acceptances are to a school in NYC (HARLEM) and one in the sticks of Tennessee. I'm not sure how I feel about living in the city of cement in a tiny apartment, but Craig hasn't decided yet which he prefers. NY would definitely do well for his line of work, but the school in Tenn. is in the middle of the mountains with great hiking trails. It's a tough call for him :) Anyway, I have fully repented of my folly and will keep up with the updates.

P.S. On other big news, baby #2 is on it's way at the end of May. Man do we have some changes coming to us! I obviously think this is not merely news for a Post Script, but am always unsure on how to break such news. Thus, I have resorted to the PS. Plus, those that get bored up top won't have patients (like my Dr. joke?) to find out the exciting news thus entered:) haha!

Brian May Remembered

This week is the one year mark of my cousin-in-law Brian May's death. He was/is an awesome guy and I can't remember back to when he and my cousin Stacey weren't married. He was a VERY large man and I remember as a child being nervous at his towering above me, but it always wore off after his friendliness came through.

I loved hearing about the way they met and fell in love. Stacey was an early morning custodian on campus at BYU and Brian was at her apartment (visiting her roommate) when she came home looking lovely from the early morning cleaning. I might not be remembering it completely accurately, but it seems that he made some smart comment, she returned one, and she wasn't much impressed with him. Needless to say they later fell in love.

Brian was a BYU football starter and so this past weekend my cousin Stacey was in Provo for a fundraiser etc. She and another BYU football widow were interviewed and carried the alumni flag onto the field at the game.

Here is the clip.



We love you May family and we miss Brian.

Snaggle Tooth

It was getting to Suede's 16 month birthday and I was getting extremely anxious about the fact that no teeth had yet popped into her gum filled mouth.

Web MD says, "Usually, the first primary tooth comes in (erupts) at about 6 months of age, although it can be as early as 3 months or as late as 1 year of age. In rare cases, a baby gets a first tooth after his or her first birthday."

Thus, Suede was EXTREMELY RARE being 4 months past her first birthday. Finally, just as I was getting ready to schedule an appointment with her Doctor (a day after her 16 mo. birthday) a tooth popped in. YEAH!

Again she is unusual in that it wasn't the bottom 2 teeth (that usually come in first), but her top front right tooth. I'm excited that the time of breaking food up in extremely small pieces is almost over. I had to get a picture, but as you can see, she wasn't the happiest about it at the time.


I was told that our friend Brad didn't get his teeth until really late as well, and he seems to have a good brain, so lets hope there's a correlation there :)

Hawaiian in the blood

It all started back in Utah when my Ward (church congregation) was having a Luau. A member of our ward was an AMAZING Polynesian dancer and teacher and she taught us a Tahitian dance and a Hula. It was so much fun I couldn't stop. I started taking Tahitian but soon got pregnant and my expanding hips couldn't take it. Here's a picture of my awesomeness (OK Maybe it's not me. I wish. I'm really white when it comes to this stuff. Someday I'll be able to shake like this).

Thus, I switched to Hula and the same dancer in my ward came over and gave me private Hula lessons right up until I delivered. Let me tell you, it is an amazing leg and hip workout.
Here's a taste of what it supposed to look like

After visiting Hawaii and hearing the music, my Dad became convinced that he was supposed to have Hawaiian blood running through his veins. Now I think I agree.

Anyway, all of this to say that I have once again started taking Hula lessons. I found a Halau in Stafford, Va. (Hoku Hula) and am really loving it. Someday I'll be good enough to share :) As of now I'll just continue to be extremely sore every Saturday afternoon.

Rambo vs. Black Ninja

Those of you who have spent even a short amount of time with me and Craig have inevitably seen us have it out at one point or another. Don't get me wrong, we are madly in love, but what else could happen with two extremely stubborn people. Heads collide and we let them roll. They are (mostly) stupid things that have no relevance to our lives together and we end up laughing at them mere hours later. Yesterday was such a day as we were leaving stake conference (for you non-Mormons that is when a bunch of congregations in the area meet together to listen to the area leaders). We had just left a meeting in which we learned to be more charitable and more Christlike and as we entered the car, exploded into one of these wonderful battles. I argue like this....

With bazookas and machine guns and all out explosions. Craig on the other hand argues like this....

With stealth modes an untrained eye cannot recognize.

Thus commenced our argument. I blowing up the car with yelling and Craig sneakily taking out my feet. It's quite a site if you are ever fortunate enough to observe this theatrical event. Thus brings me to a jewel of a quote provided by my dear husband.

Speaking of our "spiritual meeting" we had just left he replied with a calm voice, "Well I am glad that you felt the spirit...(big pause)... of contention."
This was was followed by some great explosions on my part of course.

Now it is a wonderful laughing matter :)

Old Dogs and New Tricks

Don't believe people when they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. My first experience going anywhere with Craig proved a lot about both of our personalities. We walked up to his car, he got in and I stood in front of my door waiting. He looked at me oddly at first then reached over (from the inside) and opened the car door. I closed it. He opened it again. I closed it. He then shrugged and started to back out. I smiled. He stopped the car, got out and opened my door and we had a lovely afternoon. Needless to say I didn't marry a hopelessly romantic fellow. We spent our honeymoon camping across America (other than the wedding night hotel provided by my parents). Practice has definitely paid off and yesterday I was provided with a WONDERFUL birthday. I awoke to, well, a crying baby, then I was presented with a menu selection.

I chose my breakfast of waffles, got ready, and we went to my favorite store, Barnes and Noble, where I picked up A Left-Hand Turn Around The World to read about all of the left hand places I need to visit, The Female Brain to help me in my quest to help Craig understand how I think (and to understand myself), and My Cousin Rachel by my favorite author Daphne du Maurier. As you can see from the itinerary I was only supposed to pick 2, but I convinced him to let me get 3 since 2 were on sale. We had a wonderfully tasty lunch at Maggiano's and returned home to eat some delicious chocolate cake (made from scratch by my sister-in-law Gina). This cake is labeled WAGONFOOD (as you can see in the video) so I can safely eat it on my diet and still stay "on the wagon".

I then was ushered into the car not knowing where we were going. We arrived at The Whistle Stop Bed and Breakfast in Louisa, Va. and had a relaxing time reading on the porch, putting coins on the train track to get squashed, eating a fruit tart and drinking sparkling apple cider (provided by my sister-in-law and mom), watching a movie, and "going to bed early". It was an awesome birthday thought up entirely by my wonderful husband, who when I first met him was unwilling to make an effort to even open my door. Thus, Old Dog, new trick.
P.S. I have since learned how to operate a car on my own (comment added by Craig as he was proofreading my writing. He has to feel manly somehow I guess. Just know he still does open my door.)

Beaches and Butterflies

We've done a few fun things thus far this Summer. All in all I realize that as soon as you have kids things are changed from, "This will be fun for me." to... "This will be fun for the kids!" The only way they coincide is if you happen to live through their enjoyment (that was said with a smile on my face if you were wondering). A trip to Virginia Beach with my mom and 7 kids (4 of my sister's and 2 of my brother's and Suede) proved my patience has not grown to the heights I had previously thought. It was a fun trip though and I really did like seeing them have so much fun.



Her first visit to the ocean was a big success and I had a hard time convincing her that she wanted to be playing in the sand by the blanket so I could read my book. The water was just to tempting to her and she would run for it at every chance. I did prevail for about 3 pages though.



With DC so close we feel the need to start her experience of the Nation's Capitol early. Last week we rode the metro and visited the Natural History Museum.


Before going to the museum we visited the Old Post Office for lunch and went up to the tower. They have these huge bells and every Thursday evening. the bell ringers come to practice and you can hear it out on 12th street. They do some crazy patterns that don't repeat themselves and have something like 5000 sequences or something (without music). At the tourist shop I saw something you will only find in our wonderful Nation's Capitol. Check out these pre-printed license plates. Not John or Mary but...

and

and


At the Natural History Museum I decided to get her started on her anatomy early. And starting with the skull is always easiest.



It was about 2 hours after nap time while she decided to have a melt down in front of hundreds of tourists, that I vowed never to take her in public again. Luckily that all melted away and I found the trip completely worth it when we visited the butterfly house. It was filled with hundreds of butterflies with the most amazing colors. You first enter a little room so they can ensure that none will escape and as you walk in the door a fan blows down on you to try to keep them contained. After you leave you have to enter another room and get checked to make sure none of the butterflies were hitch-hiking their way to freedom. Although, who would want to leave that paradise of flowers and fruit. It was amazing having them land and sit on me. Suede loved them. If you're ever in DC make sure to go to the Natural History museum on a Tuesday b/c that's when the butterfly house is free. I would suggest getting your tickets early though. We had to wait about 2.5 hours for our time to come up. Hence the break down. All in all it was a great time and I love visiting my favorite city.




Have you ever had a butterfly on your head? Well I have...