Brrrrrr....

We are cold.  Freezing in fact.  I am most certainty thankful for all four seasons, but there comes a point when winter gets a little old.  Every day I faithfully look at the weather forecast hoping for a 40 degree day here or there, but with little success.  So despite the great weather, I have tried to fill our days with distraction.  Even though we're lacking in the vitamin D department we have much to be thankful for and we can still be happy, right?!?!  Max sure makes us forget the gloom outside and has us laughing right and left.  He is so sweet and is such a bright spot in our lives right now.
A whoot whoot for my hubby real quick: Tim finished his last "school class" of med school today. Crazy. We find out later today what his rotation (working in hospitals and clinics) schedule will be like for all of year 3, so we are pretty anxious!  He has some tests in a couple of weeks that completely wrap up year 2 of med school, and then he'll take a solid month to finish studying for the BIGGEST test of his life. He takes it at the beginning of April.  It is called Step One and will determine a lot of our future.  If he does really well on it, he will be a competitive applicant for Orthopedic Surgery when we apply at the beginning of year 4.  Orthopedics is one of the most competitive fields out there, so it is crucial he do well on this test.  Tim has been studying for this Step One test for over a year.  He does anywhere from 150-200 + flashcards DAILY going through all of the material he will be tested on.  Not to mention the 1 hour segmented tests he takes several times a week with test material on them. I'm sure he will rock the test, he deserves it!
Sometimes I sit watching him go through the flashcard after flashcard quietly mumbling to himself as he says the answer and want to throw up.  He works so so so hard and is so motivated, it really does make me sick... no not really!  I am so proud of him and am so blessed to have such a diligent student as my husband and as Max's Daddy.  Way to go very soon to be Dr. Ashworth!!
Here is some of Max and the happy spot he is to us:

Big Boy Bed!!!  

On our way to Kalahari, an indoor water park resort about an hour away from our house.  Some of
our friends found a really good deal on groupon and we stayed for two days and one night and
had a blast!  We will have to make this an annual tradition while living in the Cleve!

Making a Play-dough snowman with Daddy.  I got home from somewhere to find
that Tim had done a photo shoot of him and the killer snowman (the odd looking colorful figure to Max's right).  It is moments like that,
that make life really, really good :).

Max's "fake" smile he does more often that not for pictures now...lovely.  

Valentine's Party!  So I mentioned being sick of the cold weather...well, I decided
to organize a V-day Party with our friends to brighten things up a bit and we had a blast!  It was kind
of crazy and included A LOT (Max probably had
one pound ...) of frosting inhaled by toddlers, but so so worth it!

More of the V-day Party.  Since our house is about as big as a doll house, I opted
to do it at our local Institute Building.  That carpet was covered in frosting after, but we
got rid of our evidence pretty good!

It is crazy to think that I could be the mother of doctors.  I have no doubt that this 2-year
old right here will follow right after his daddy.  Max is SO into doctor everything right now.
Here he is checking Tim with Tim's stethoscope.  So cute!


Here are some videos of Max and his adventures :)  Life is really good now and we are so blessed,
I hate to be a pessimist about the weather.  I will not be sad when we can start
playing outside though!!

There is Sunshine in my Soul Today!

So Today, Max and I went to Costco.  We hadn't been in a couple of months, so we basically bought the whole store.  The line took forever, and I was anxious to leave since we had somewhere to be at noon, and it was 11:30am.  To make maters worse, I realized I forgot something and had to leave my place in line and run to the very back of the store to grab it.  (It may or may not have been a Rotisserie Chicken...I know, not necessary, but...well, it was necessary.)  After going through the line again and checking out, Max and I booked it in the parking lot with my HUGE cart full of everything.  While we were running like lunatics, something in the bottom attachment of my cart started to fall without me knowing, and a man loading grocery carts stopped me to let me before I ran over it.  He then said, "Ma'am, let me help you load these groceries into your car and you worry about your baby.  Free of charge!"  I just looked at him in awe and said, "Okay!"
He then proceeded to break out into song at the top of his lungs and load my groceries into the back of my car.  I was so grateful for him, he not only saved me time, but made my day!  After I had buckled Max into his seat and turned my car on to heat us up, I thanked him.  Then in his booming singing voice he sang to me, "Not a problem, have a WONDERFUL day!"
Here is this man who loads and unloads grocery carts at Costco for a living and was happier than I had been all week.  What an eye opener this was to me about being happy and optimistic no matter what your circumstance.  Life is better that way.  Thank you Costco Man for your wonderful example and selfless service!