It's Official

Don passed his preliminary exam!  Now he is officially in the PhD program!  Don's mom and sister Christine were in town when we got the news and we all celebrated that night. I made him his favorite dessert (a homemade buttermilk chocolate cake) and his parents paid for a dinner date, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

While Don's mom and Christine were here, we went on a picnic to Gross Reservoir.  It was a bit rainy, but we had a good time. It was so nice to have the help, particularly when I had to go and do work things.  We miss the company and help and are looking forward to our family reunions.  I'm particularly excited to have Sam meet all his aunts, uncles, and cousins!

Sam has been growing and gaining weight like crazy. The hospital here has a breastfeeding club on Friday where you can go and talk to the lactation consultant and hang out with other new moms.  You can also weigh your baby to ensure they are gaining weight.  The club has been extremely helpful to me as I try to get the hang of breastfeeding (whoever said that this was natural was crazy!) and I love gleaning knowledge from all the other moms.  When I weighed Sam two weeks ago, he weighed 9 lbs. When I weighed him last week he was 9 lbs 14.5 oz. and this week he was 10 lbs. 11.5 oz!  The kid is on his way to being a chunk! 

I decided that each month, I am going to take a picture of Sam next to the same toy (a stuffed Pooh bear) so that I have a record of how much he is growing.  Also, Christine and I had a fun time doing a little photo shot of Sam.  He is such a cute little guy.

Also, a few weeks ago, Don's classmates came over and cooked dinner for us.  The food was fabulous and we had a great time. 

Sam is starting to smile and is awake and alert more often.  He especially loved his Aunt Christine, as you can see below.

We moved last Saturday to our new apartment on the other side of Smiley Court. Now I am official since our door says "Student Manager" and people know where to find me if they get locked out, need a parking pass, etc.  The move was really tiring and our apartment is still a mess since it's hard to get things done with the little guy, but it is so nice to know we will actually be here for a few years.  We have moved 6 times in the 3 1/2 years we've been married and we are ready to be done for awhile.  We are finally getting rid of the boxes we've kept since our move to Tucson.  We've used them for four moves now in the last two years, so they've served us well, but we're thrilled to retire them.

Yesterday was six weeks from Sam's birthday!  I don't have my doctor's appointment 'til Wednesday to get the clear for exercise, but we went on a little hike anyway.  I've been itching to get out and do things, especially because the weather has been so beautiful and everything is so green!  Hooray!

Here is a picture of Sam that Don took today.  He is getting so big!