I can be obedient

Jake and I have been working on obedience lately.  I was getting so tired of saying, "Jake, don't do this," and, "Jake, don't do that."  I decided instead of telling him NOT to do things that I should take a more positive spin and reward him for doing things that he should.  Thus, our experiment with the Obedience Chart came to be.  Whenever Jake was obedient, he could put a star on his chart, and when he filled up his chart we were going to take him to the ice cream shop!  

The verdict: HUGE success!!  For both of us.  Jake loved putting the star stickers on his chart, and would often ask me to ask him to do something just so he could be obedient.  It was not uncommon for him to say things like, "Mommy, I wanna be more 'bedient, can I clean my room?" or, "Mommy, I wanna be more 'bedient, can I share my toys with Eli?"  Ummm...yes!

It took about two weeks until he finally completed his chart.  We were so proud of him and now we need to make a new chart up.  His next reward?  Ice skating (he chose it).  We'll see how it goes!   

Anticlimactic? Maybe...

I said a few weeks ago that we may have an announcement on where we’ll be moving after dental school pretty soon, and guess what?  That day is here!  The contract is officially signed and we can now shout from the rooftops where we're going.  I know you’ve been sitting on the edge of your seats just bursting with anticipation trying to guess where in the world we’ll be. 

DRUMROLL PLEASE….

We’re moving to…Ottumwa, IA!!!

No, I’m not kidding!  Ok…I realize it's a little anticlimactic, but we’re really moving to Ottumwa.  I know!  Where is it?  Umm…the middle of nowhere, Iowa.  What’s that?  You heard me say I would never live in Iowa?  Not in a million years?  Anywhere BUT Iowa?  Oh yeah, I guess I did say that…

Ottumwa, IA is literally the LAST place I thought we would be after dental school.  And yes, I really did say multiple times that I didn’t care where we ended up, just as long as it wasn’t in Iowa.  Don’t get me wrong; I’ve loved our time here.  But I’m also ready to move on to bigger and better (read: warmer) things.  So when this opportunity presented itself, my first impulse was, “Yeah, right!”  However, as we looked at the town and the opportunity a little more, my view started to change.

Joseph is going to be working in a public health clinic where they are desperate for a Spanish-speaking dentist.  They really love him there, and he loves the clinic.  It is a really nice set-up they’ve got going on, and, most importantly (for me at least), by working in this particular clinic he will qualify for federal loan repayment.  How can you turn that down??  Answer: You can't! 

Anyway, we're really excited!  We don't know how long we'll be there or what the future holds for us exactly, but we know that we've been blessed with this opportunity for now, and we're taking it and running with it.  Now, we're in the process of looking for homes (OUR FIRST HOME!!) and researching schools and all that fun stuff that you do when moving to a brand new place.  It is quite a relief to know where we'll be, and we're excited to start the next chapter.  Now, all Joseph has to do is graduate!!

The Name Game

For a few months now, Jake has been learning how to write his name.  He's always wanted me to guide his hand along his paper until just the past few days when he finally decided he could do it all by himself (he's a major perfectionist).  When he was done, he looked at the paper, then looked at me and exclaimed, "Wow, that's a BIG K!" He was so proud of himself that he wanted to take a picture and put it on the blog for all to see!

I'm a little bit proud, too.  :)