Catch up, kind of.

The past few months have flown by. Believe it or not, I have 2 1/2 months left of school. How the heck did that happen? My motivation and ability to focus has flown out the window. I'm just trying to hold it together for the last 1 1/2 months of actual classes and tests. Then it's straight clinicals. Yippee!

Update on my last entry. I watched a vaginal birth and to be honest, it was the most exhilarating experience of my clinicals to date. When the nurse said it was "go time", my heart started beating. Loved it! I got to stand at the foot of the bed and help the mother and watch all the action. Then after it was all said and done, this may gross some of you out, but I actually got to inspect the placenta, and not just with my eyes. Fascinating. The OBGYN showed me how it sat in the woman and then she had me poke it to test it's strength. I promise I was wearing gloves! My OB rotation is done, but I definitely enjoyed labor and delivery more than I had anticipated. Post-partum on the other hand is a little bit too slow for my taste.

After last term was over I flew to Boston to spend time with David. It was fabulous as always. Only draw back, I must have baked over 150 cookies per David's request which means that I ate at least 50% of those myself during the trip. 75 cookies=big butt. Enough said. (But they sure were yummy and I can't promise it won't happen again.)

During the trip we went out to dinner with friends and we found the BEST sushi I have ever had. For all of you spicy tuna fans, we found a jazzed up version of spicy tuna that will knock your socks off. It was incredible! If you are ever in Boston visiting and are craving sushi, you MUST go to Fugakyu . I am literally salivating just thinking about it.

We also had a chance to go to a Red Sox games. This is a must do whether you like baseball or not. Thanks to friends with connections, we were able to go to a game for free. Neither David or I are huge baseball fans, but the game we saw might have converted us. First of all, the Red Sox won. There was a grand slam and a 3 run homer all in the same inning. And to top it all off, we actually saw a fan run across the field, get tackled by security and then get arrested. Now if that doesn't add a little excitement to a game I don't know what would.

David and Mike

I almost forgot about the hurricane we survived. Well, kind of. We obviously survived, it just wasn't much of a hurricane by the time it arrived to Boston. It did rain hard and was super windy, but it could have been a thunderstorm in St. Louis for all I knew. Oh wait, except for the fact that the city asked people to stay off the roads and public transportation was shut down. They definitely don't do that in St. Louis for a measly thunderstorm.

Once I got back from my trip to Boston I decided I should head up to Illinois to visit Kari and her family before school got busy. The weekend was packed full of fun with fire pits (which means smores), soccer games, bike rides at the park and snuggling cute babies.

Waisath Family and Friends

This kid loves smores. I mean he loves food. Can you tell?

Karsten

Morgan

Sweet Baby Katelyn.

Garrett during our walk/bike ride in the park. Eating, again.

Last week David had the chance to go to a critical care conference in Cambridge, England. I tried really hard not to be jealous, but it just didn't work. He would send me pictures and tell me how much I would love it. So, that just means we will be going another time. He also got to visit with friends from Portland that just moved to Winchester, England.




David stayed at Selwyn College in Cambridge. I think I could get used to going to school here. After seeing this picture, I told David I could live in England.

David and the Lavrsen kids. Aren't they adorable!

They were kind enough to let David stay with them at the end of his trip. Michael, David's co-worker from Portland, even drove David all over England from Winchester to Cambridge then to the airport in London when David realized he had left his passport back in Cambridge. Thank goodness for genuinely good people like the Lavrsen's or David would have missed his flight.

This month, there was also one big event that happened in the Lower family. My sweet nephew Zach turned 8 and was baptized. I am so proud of him for his decision. I know he will be blessed throughout his life for this choice.

Kenny, Melissa, Zach, Jackson and Sophie. James is missing, not sure where he was.

That's a little re-cap of what has been happening in our lives. I'll see you back in a couple of months!

Labor and Delivery

No, this post is not about my labor and delivery or a sly way of announcing I am pregnant. I actually started my clinical rotation in labor and delivery. My first day was incredible. I followed the NICU transport nurse and was lucky to see 3 c-sections. Some people don't get to see any, and in one day I saw 3. I could not believe my luck.

On the other hand, this women's health class may be putting a little damper on my desire to have kids. I don't know if they try to scare you or what, but I am not fond of all the changes that happen to the pregnant woman before or during labor. And now if I ever have to have a c-section I am going to have a clear visual image of what is happening on the other side of the curtain. Yikes! When they tell me that I am going to feel some tugging and pressure, I am going to know exactly what they are doing. Yikes again. A c-section is not a clean, delicate procedure. Although, I may prefer a c-section after I see a vaginal birth. I'll let you know what I decide after that happens. Stay tuned.

We made it...

to Boston. We LOVE the area where we live in Coolidge Corner. We literally could not have picked a more perfect location if we had actually flown out here and picked our apartment in person. Everything is within walking distance, well, except church and the temple which both are a taxi drive away, or hopefully a carpool drive away.

We have already tried out a Jewish delicatessen down the street, a Vietnamese restaurant across the street, and a yogurt shop a block away. I think this location might add to my expanding waist line. Hopefully I'll do enough walking to combat it.

Our apt is quaint, but it's clean, updated and the building is nice. We have a pool and a gym, a washer and dryer in our unit and a secure, underground parking space (a hot commodity in Boston). Everything we need and more.

Come visit. I think you might fall in love with the area too!

A month of firsts

I can't believe it's almost the end of May. I spent the first two weeks of May with David. That makes May a very special month. How did I have two weeks off you might wonder, well, it's term break which means I have finished my first term of nursing school! I am officially 1/3 done. (Actually now it is June 6th and I am almost half way done with school!!!)

During my trip back to Portland, David and I attended the first baby blessing of our matchmaking success. Betsy was blessed and it was one of the most tender baby blessings I have ever heard. You could feel the love of her parents and the genuine blessing that she is in their lives. I was so grateful that I was in town to be a part of such a special day.



Later that week we were privileged to be part of another person's special day. David had been working with missionaries and one of their investigators, Jonathan, and his baptism was that week. It was the first time I got to see David baptize anyone.

I enjoyed my first Palaquin deep tissue massage. Thanks David for a perfect birthday gift.

David and I took our first trip to Costa Rica for a relaxing vacation.



I attempted surfing for the first time and was whacked in the nose by the surfboard for the first time. Unfortunately we have no photos of that :).


We enjoyed our first deep sea fishing excursion and caught Yellow Fin Tuna and Black Tuna. We ate the rawest fish we have ever had, a slice straight off the fish we had just pulled out of the ocean.


This trip was also the first time I recovered from from being motion sick while still on the boat. It was a true miracle. And I recovered not once, but twice. Dramamine + soda + barfing does the trick.
It was the first time I have eaten meals made from fish that I have caught. And the first time that two husbands have cooked every meal for the wives during the trip. The meals were delicious.





A first for me, but not David, was our overnight stay in Houston on the way back from Costa Rica. We lucked out to be the volunteers that got booted from the plane. $600 worth of flight vouchers is worth it, especially when we are doing so much flying this year.

I met my new niece, Katelyn, for the first time and she is adorable. She came a couple of weeks early and my trip to Illinois had already been planned for the weekend after she was born, so it worked out perfectly. And, I got to see these other cuties too, plus Karsten.


David made his first commercial debut when he was asked to take part in a commercial for OHSU. He ended up playing the main part, and if I do say so myself, he was quite a natural.

The OHSU Teaching Effect Commercial

And our last first for the month, I found out I made the Dean's list at school. It's pretty exciting because I never did that at BYU. So either BYU is that much harder or I am that much of a better student. (I actually think it's a combo of both.)

Hodgepodge and Happy Easter

My head has been stuck in the books the past few months, but I thought I'd include a few pictures of what we have been up to. Unfortunately most of our adventures have been apart, but we have been able to see each other a few times.

The 1st Sunday in April my parents and I drove up to my sister's house in Illinois to watch general conference and spend time with her family.



Theron passed his oral surgery boards, so we had to celebrate. Congratulations!

That following week my sister's family was traveling to Jamaica for vacation, and this little guy was staying behind. It was a treat for us to get him to ourselves for a whole week. And, Aunt Ashley came in town to visit that week too.

Gar-Man

The kiddos and I found out that my computer video camera can do all sorts of funny things to your face, so we spent lots of time testing out all the different options and laughing until we cried.




Meanwhile, David had a conference in southern California where he ran into Dr. Bailey, a cardiothoracic surgeon from Loma Linda where David did his residency. Dr. Bailey placed a baboon heart in Baby Fae back in 1984 and started neonatal heart transplants, so he is kind of a legend worldwide.


On the way back from the conference there were airplane problems and David got diverted to Phoenix for the night. Lucky for him, he got to see his family. And, all the boys were in town so they went out for breakfast before he flew out the next morning. I think these Bailly boys sure like getting to see each other.

Well, I am almost done with my first term of nursing school. I have finals this week and then I fly home Thursday for 2 1/2 weeks. It will be so nice to be home and to have a break from studying. I can't believe I am almost 1/3 done with school.

New Deliveries

I might possibly have the most thoughtful husband ever. Our friends had their first little girl this morning. Knowing how much I love babies and how excited I am to get to meet their little girl, David helped me to be a part of the experience by video calling me from their hospital room. So even though I am not in Portland, I still feel like I am apart of our life there. Thank you David for always thinking of me!

Being at school, away from David and home for awhile, has allowed me to count my many blessings and to see God's hand in my life. He intricately weaves a pattern out of my life that is more grand than I could ever have imagined and as I sit back and reflect upon it, I am in awe at His love for me. Despite the distance from David, we have grown closer together and we get to "see" each other almost every day. I have been tremendously blessed these past few months and somehow I have made it through 2 months. Only 9 months to go!

Goodbye again already?

It wasn't that long ago that David and I were saying goodbye to California and now I am saying goodbye to Oregon... at least for the time being.

Last night was my going away party. I guess it doesn't feel like I'm really moving since David will still be here for 6 more months and I'll be back to visit twice before he moves to Boston.





We have loved living in Portland and may actually consider coming back this way. In 2 1/2 years we'll know our "final" destination, I hope.

I am excited for this next chapter of our life and for the chance to pursue our dreams. We have been truly blessed this last year and I hope 2011 will be just as great, but hopefully even better.