Newest Development

For all of you who are waiting on the edge of your seats with baited breath to see how the job-search drama unfolds, here's the latest scoop: The other group in Vegas that Brigham sent his CV to has offered him an interview... as well as round-trip flights for the both of us, a rental car, hotel accomodations for 3 days, and dinner! From a friend that used to live in Vegas, this group is over the "swanky" private practice hospital. We don't know any information about the job itself yet, but so far I think they're off to a pretty good start. I'm counting down the days until our Vegas vacation!

Growing Up!

Goodness! It seems like every time I turn around, another week has past! Yesterday my baby turned 8 months old, and I can barely believe it! I couldn't make his first three months go fast enough, but now I'd give almost anything to get my hands on some of that "stop grow" that my parents used to talk about, although theirs obviously didn't work so well.

I took all three boys in for well child check-ups on Wednesday (let's just say that "circus" doesn't do it justice-- I was sweating by the time we were finally finished with the ordeal!), and all of them are doing so well! Benjamin is tall for his age, Jacob is short, and Ty is skinny, but all within normal ranges. How blessed I am to have such healthy and active children!

Job Search Continues

The roller coaster ride is starting to pick up speed! Yesterday Brigham was asked to interview at a hospital in Las Vegas. We decided that if we can't live in Utah, Vegas is probably our next choice, so Brigham did a little investigating and sent his CV to a couple of hospitals there. The response was almost immediate, and unlike with the Utah hospitals, he actually felt like he was being recruited, which was a nice change. He got a call from one of the hospitals that has left us pretty excited. As far as the job goes, it is EXACTLY what Brigham wants. It is a private group of doctors at a Level I trauma center (that means it's as big as hospitals get) that is affiliated with a residency program, which means he would be able to teach residents while he is working (which he loves) without all the downfalls that come with a true academic job (pay cut, pressure to publish, lectures, etc.). The compensation is really good and there are a lot of benefits and bonuses that come along with it as well. Very exciting! The second hospital is supposed to be calling him this afternoon, so we'll see what that holds, but this first job would be hard to beat. Brigham will be interviewing there the third week of next month, and I think that my wonderful in-laws are going to make it possible for me to go with him and turn it into a little vaction! Wahoo!

On the Utah front, yesterday we heard rumors that IHC actually is hiring and that it is a "sweet job"-- whatever that means. It's all rumor at this point, but some phone calls have been made on Brigham's behalf, so we'll see if anything comes of it. Even if there is a job at IHC, I imagine that the competition for it would be pretty intense. But for now, at least it's looking like there are some good alternatives!

Ty On Top of the Food Chain

I spend a surprising chunk of my day cleaning up after Jacob (who chews almost everything to bits and leaves little pieces of plastic, paper, wood, or whatever material his latest object of mastication might be everywhere) to try to keep Ty (who has shown interest in becoming a vaccuum cleaner when he grows up) from choking to death. A couple of days ago I noticed our little Tiger doing some hunting under the table, and I quickly ran over to see if it was a surveillance mission only or if there was actually something edible under there. I didn't see any food on the ground, but what I did see was a trail of ants leading both to and from... nothing. Being the great detective that I am, I quickly put two and two together and did a finger-sweep of Ty's mouth. I found there exactly what I was afraid of-- a dried-out piece of bread covered in dead ants. Ty Dastrup-- asserting his dominance at the top of the food chain.

Jacob and the Cheeseburger Song

So It Begins...

Brigham received his first official interview offer from a hospital in Draper, UT today. We don't know much about the job, so we don't know how interested we are, but it's exciting all the same. It reminds me of a thousand years ago when we received our first interview offer from a medical school-- it didn't matter what school it was, we were just excited to have an interview. Perhaps (even hopefully) in a month or two we will look back on this offer and laugh that we were ever excited about this, but for now it's a start.

Submitting a rank list for the residency match was really stressful, but in the end it was almost a relief to know that we didn't have to choose-- that the decision would be made for us. Now our decision is not only for the next three years, but for who knows how long. For a very long time, I hope. And there are so many things to factor in-- not just salary (which can be very tricky if not impossible to figure out due to the way some groups do it) and location, but we also need to factor in if the city is big enough to provide adequate services for Jacob, if the hospital is big enough for Brigham to continue to learn, etc., etc. We are also trying to determine if we should take a substantial pay cut to live near family or to go for the money somewhere to pay off our debts a lot more quickly. Right now I feel like we're on a roller coaster and headed up the biggest hill of the whole ride. You know what I'm talking about-- the slow clickty, clacking as you stare up that steep incline knowing that in just a few moments you will loose your stomach to the rafters and go screaming out of control. That anticipation is exciting but gives you nervous butterflies. That's where we're at-- just before the crest of that big hill, and I can't wait to see where we end up!

Benjamin's Birthday

Yesterday was Benjamin's 6th birthday. Where has the time gone? Has it truly been six years since that moment when I saw him for the first time-- the moment that changed my life forever? I remember just being in awe at how tiny and perfectly beautiful he was. I also remember being scared to death of him. I remember falling to pieces and having my Mom do his first diaper change at home because he was crying and I couldn't bear to see his little circumcision. We've both come a long way since then!

Benjamin is my smart little sweetheart. He skipped kindergarten this year and is still in the top reading group of his class. He is tender-hearted and looks out for his little brothers. He does like to test his limits from time to time, but overall nobody could ask for a better kid. We love our Benjamin!



On a lighter note, after getting kiddos out the door when the party was over, I came back in to find a big chunk of Benjamin's cake missing and a tell-tale trail of crumbs and frosting leading to a greasy, chocolatey handprint on the couch, and then continuing to the Love Sac where I found a grinning Jacob bouncing and licking the bigger crumbs off his hand. We don't call him the Master of Disaster for nothing!

Cute Little Boys

The big news of the day is that I saw a tooth starting to cut through in Ty's little mouth! That explains a lot. I really can't complain though. Ty is the most fun, adorable baby I have ever seen in my life. He is happy almost all of the time, so I figured that he was probably teething since he's been cranky for the last week or so.

Ty has added a new skill to his growing list (which includes crawling all over and pulling up to standing on almost everything). I call it the "flip and twist". He employs it several times per diaper change, making what used to be a simple proceedure more of an olympic event. The name pretty much says it all. As soon as the diaper is off, Ty does this amazing flip over onto his stomach-- even if I'm holding onto his feet-- and he's halfway across the room before I have time to react if I don't have ahold of him. If I do then it's a wrestling match to get him back over and the diaper on before he does it again. Benjamin told me that he thinks Ty will be in the Olympics some day, and at the rate he's going, I'm inclined to agree with his assessment.

Jacob continues to terrorize our unattended electronics and eat his books. He's enjoying being back in his special preschool program and riding the bus. He's decided that he's a big boy now and that Benjamin's car seat at the back of the van is THE cool place to be. Every time he gets in the car he makes a beeline to Benjamin's seat, sits down, and trys to put the seatbelt on. The first time I decided to let him sit there and helped him put the seatbelt on, he shrieked with joy. The same goes for Benajmin's bed. Every night when Benjamin goes to bed we find Jacob asleep in his place. It's so fun to see Jaoob idolizing his big brother like every other little brother does.

Benjamin is counting down until his 6th birthday (only 2 more days!) and can talk of little else. He is excited for a friend party and being able to stay up as late as he wants!