an update

Merry Christmas everyone!

Ella is officially two years old. True to the Cutler in her she is off the normal curb of the growth charts =) Ella is an amazing three feet tall already. And although she doesn't look it, she weighs in at 35 lbs! (maybe she hid a paper weight in her diaper?)

I am doing great. The pregnancy is moving along swimmingly. For those who don't know yet, we are expecting a baby boy in March. My next appointment is on Tuesday during which I get to do my glucose screening (hooray).

Chris is enjoying a really easy radiology rotation. It's nice to have him home more often than usual. He has done three interviews for residency so far and has scheduled five or six more (I lose track). I think it will be hard to choose a favorite program.

Happily we get to visit family for the holidays, perhaps we will get to see you!

Tucsonan Raider

I think people from Tucson should be called Tucsonites. It just flows better. Or maybe Tucsonian. But nope, it's Tucsonan. It sounds as awkward as it looks in writing. But people here are just unique that way, I'm finding. This label was one of the first, vital pieces of information I was sent about the area before arriving to test drive the Emergency Medicine program. Then I got to thinking, I wonder if George Lucas got the idea of a "Tuskan Raider" from these south Arizona dwelling people.  But aside from living in a desert, that's about all they have in common.  Maybe not.  (And yes, I know that the planet of Tattoine was filmed in Tunisia--thanks for the correction, Ra'anan.)

I have today off and thought I'd catch up on some blogging and video editing.  In between these nerdly activities, I'm hiking around the West Saguaro National Park.  It's beautiful.  Yes, I'm thoroughly enjoying myself out here--aside from the crushing loneliness--and I like the change of scenery and culture from St Louis.  People are friendlier; you can order food at a drive-thru and the attendant doesn't make you feel like you just woke them up and ruined their day.  And of course, I love the Mexican influence.

The work is great!  I already knew I liked Emergency Medicine.  I knew I would enjoy never knowing what the day would hold for me and to be constantly learning.  But I'm still amazed at how many cool stories and interesting cases I'm seeing regularly.  It's very motivating.  

In just 87 hours from when this is being written, I will finally be able to see my girls.  I miss being around Mal & Ella.  I think I understand what many of you have mentioned about needing your "Ella-fix."  Well, the following videos will have to do.  I think they're pretty satisfying though.

Chao

let's makeup

To make up for the short length of this blog entry, I've added a new Ella video. She's at that stage where she copies just about everything we do. She has also learned the word "no" and loves to use it:

Me: Ella, do you like to say, 'no'?

Ella: No.

Me: You do?

Ella: No.

Me: Can you say anything other than 'no'?

Ella: No.

(etc....)

Obsession?

Ella loves Princess Ariel. Several times a day she requests that I sing the Ariel song (Part of Your World) or read the Ariel book to her. Occasionally I can coax her to listen to the story of a different princess--usually Cinderella. Ella now refuses to sleep or ride in the car without her princess book. It is an interesting comfort object, but if she is happy so am I.

Why the sudden interest in Ariel? It began when her loving father thought she would enjoy watching the movie since it has fish in it and Ella likes fish. He was right, she very much enjoyed the movie, but it was not the fish that she loved. Now when she talks one of us into letting her watch the princess movie (she tries every day) she wants us to skip the beginning of the movie and jump right to Ariel singing.

It is a cute little obsession she has. Cute until I go crazy from singing that song over and over...

It's heatin' up

It is officially summer here and it sure is HOT.

We have recently learned the secret to surviving a St. Louis summer: water; lots and lots of water. We know of three parks that have fountains for Ella to run through and get thoroughly drenched. We also have our own wading pool in the back yard now. Ella loves to play in the water. Everyday she asks for the "pooh" (note that Ella doesn't pronounce the L's at the end of words) and "wawa". If I need to take her somewhere like the grocery store, Ella will break down in tears because we walk right past the pool to get into the car without getting wet.

the birds

I was recently reminded of Hitchcock's The Birds.

My neighbor called me to let me know she had been watching several birds fly in and out of our BBQ--they were building a nest. I went outside to have a look and couldn't believe how full the grill actually was. Thankfully Chris had the following day off and I had him clean it out.

But the birds didn't go away. A few hours later they had begun rebuilding. It was when I moved the BBQ so its back (where they birds were entering through a hole) was against the wall of the house that I was reminded of The Birds. They weren't happy that we had destroyed two of their nests, and I decided they were planning revenge.

Chris had his own paranoia: he decided they were laughing at him (The birds had become rather loud as they flew around our yard). And when I went outside the next day to catch a bird flying out of the BBQ, even with its back against the wall, I knew that I need not fear the birds. They were indeed laughing at Chris.

Avoiding Tularemia during Easter

Happy spring everyone!

Ella and I love that the weather is warmer. If you check out our Flickr link you will see us enjoying our break from the indoor entrapment we suffered through the cold winter. =)

Actually, it is difficult to coax Ella to spend any time at all indoors. She insists on being outside during all of her waking hours. As a result we have discovered many new parks, and have used up a lot of sidewalk chalk. We are grateful for our neighbor's slide and our backyard swing. We are also glad that we live in a neighbor hood with very little automotive traffic, allowing us to attempt to walk around the block (we have no sidewalks).

Easter was fun here at the Williams' home. Ella wore a very frilly Easter dress to church, and all three of us wore a matching shade of purple. The Easter Bunny even stopped by durring Ella's nap. Ella was pleasantly surprised to find fruit snacks in the plastic "ovals" she found in the living room. Even Chris was surprized to find a bag of purple starburst jelly beans the Easter Bunny hid especially for him.

As Promised: Here's the video of the aforementioned