Ella with her cousin James
Ella loves Abby...as you can see she's getting her riding form down--one hand on the saddle, one hand in the air behind her head.
Dusty was very pleased when she learned how to hold her own bottle...now they can eat at the same time.So, it's been quite a time since we last posted. We've had a lot going on since the middle of December. Dusty finished interviews, Lauren went back to work, Ella doubled her birth weight, and McKenna (Lauren's sister) came to visit for a little while to help with the baby.
We're trying to figure out where we want to do residency. The Neurosurgery program at the University of Iowa paid for Dusty and I to fly to Iowa City and take a second look at the program. We really like the city, and the program is top-notch, so we'll probably try to go there. But, we also like the University of Michigan, the University of Florida, the University of Utah, and Dartmouth. We're trying to decide which one to rank first, because we think there's a high liklihood that we'll get our top choice.
We've appreciated having McKenna around to help with the baby--she's really been great to have around. I went back to work starting in late December and Dusty got a job as an adjunct professor teaching anatomy and physiology at the Community College of Denver. He's also tutoring, which means that he is nearly full-time--a huge blessing since we're hoping to buy a house wherever we go for residency--with the economic downturn, we have to come up with a relatively substantial down payment and Dusty's job will really help us to be able to make it work.
Ella is growing more than we could have ever imagined possible. There was a two week period where she was only awake about 5 hours a day--enough to drain two bottles and go back to sleep. In that time she grew out of her 0-3 month clothes and out of her three month clothes, and now is in 3-6 and 6 month clothes. She was right at 16 pounds at her appointment with the pediatrician last week. Here are some pictures...
