Thanksgiving 2012

More Pictures to come...

Avery's Hospital Story (and mine too)

STORY WILL BE ADDED LATER... 

  

  

  

  

Welcome Baby Avery

Avery Melissa Rogers

Born on October 30, 2012

11:57 pm

7 lbs, 4 oz

19.5 inches long

I'm now a Ph.D. Candidate

Today, I successfully passed my dissertation proposal defense. I am no longer a Ph.D. student and am NOW a Ph.D. Candidate. It was very stressful, but I feel SO amazing now that it's over.

Next steps: Start research, write dissertation and graduate! This should take about 6 months and then I am DONE!

First Day of School- Preschool

Today Savannah had her first day of Pre-School. She did Pre Preschool at the same place so she felt very comfortable and was excited to see her friends.

Growing up, my mom always took video of our first day of school and asked us all kinds of questions. I am trying to carry on the same tradition.

The night before we tried on her uniform, checked her backpack, and gave her advice. Brian's advice was, "Savannah, remember you cannot use a regular pencil sharpener to sharpen crayons." He was very serious with his tip. Savannah asked why. Brian's response, "I know right? It totally seems like you can, but don't do it." Later I found out that Brian made this mistake many times in school and hasn't forgotten it. I thought it was so funny that it was the only advice he gave her :)

The night before we made a special gift for Savannah's new Teacher, Ms. Henney. It was a framed picture of the letter H but made out of broken crayons. She loved it and I noticed it was hung in her room when I picked up Savannah.

Here are some videos of when I dropped her off at school. 

Here is the video of when I picked her up.

Savannah's First Joke

Savannah tried to tell her first joke to Brian today.

Savannah: "A porcupine sees a moose and says to the moose, 'What are you doing here you BIG moose?'"

Not sure it was a solid punch line, but we all laughed.

The Circus

Savannah and my parents went to the circus today. She had a blast. They got her a huge, light up, spinning wand, a green snow cone with a light up cup and even got her face painted. She loved it and won't stop talking about it. It was really nice to know that Savannah had something really fun to do while I continued to write my papers for my qualifying exams. Thanks Gammy and Papa!

Swim Lessons

Savannah started swim lessons yesterday. It is so strange how she all of a sudden became terrified of the pool. Hopefully these 8 private lessons will get her back to loving the water. Her instructor tried to get her to use the kick board, but she wouldn't touch it. He said it was for big kids like her, but she wouldn't budge. After the lesson while driving home Savannah told me that she wanted to be a little kid because she wasn't ready for big kid things.

Good thing we have 7 more lessons :)

I feel like...

When Savannah wants something and is trying to be sneaky about it she describes it instead of just asking for it. For example:

I asked Savannah what she wanted for breakfast today. Her reply was, "Hmmm. I guess I feel like something colorful, and cold, and maybe with a stick inside". That is her asking for a Popsicle for breakfast- which didn't happen by the way.

Last night before bed Savannah came to me and said she was hungry. I offered a banana or watermelon. Her reply, "Well, not really, I was thinking something more round and white." She is referring to a white chocolate ball.

She is so darn cute that I just have to write these things down somewhere.

Savannah's Vocabulary

For a three year old I am pretty impressed by Savannah's vocabulary. Here are some examples that make me stop and wonder, "Where did you learn that word?"

"Mommy, I don't want to swim in the deep end- just the shallow end please".

"I don't want to go down the orca slide". (At one of our hotels on our trip there was a slide in the pool in the shape of a killer whale but somehow she knew the correct name was orca)

"Daddy, your next is spongy".  (As she pushed her finger into his neck)

We're having a GIRL!

Last week we found out we are having another little girl. We are so excited. Brian and I both really wanted a girl. Savannah kept telling us it is a girl and definitely NOT a boy- and she was right. It's nice that we already have most of the things we need for this baby. We are pretty set on the first name, but will keep it a surprise until later on. However, we haven't decided on a middle name yet, but we have many months to discuss (argue) about it.

Qualifying Exam Questions

Now that I completed all of my coursework for my Ph.d. I have to advance to candidacy by passing my qualifying exams. It's not an actual exam, but three questions that are thrown at you with a short time frame. I get two weeks for each question and each question is about 20 pages long. I am a little stressed and write about 3-4 hours each day. Here are my three questions:


1. What are the major tenants of feminist theory and how does it apply to the study of women's financial management?

2. Explain the purpose and characteristics of a narrative analysis study and what methodological approach would be appropriate for the study?

3. What is the current state of personal finance and how does gender impact personal financial management?

The only benefit from this process is that the three questions have something to do with your dissertation and will be able to slip write into my dissertation proposal. The proposal is typically 80-100 pages and it will really help to use pieces I have already written. My proposal is due by the end of August so that I can defend it before the fall semester begins. It will be really nice to have my proposal completed as soon as possible so that I can start data collection before the baby comes.

Summer Plans

Brian is teaching summer school June and July, and I have to do my qualifying exams during that time too. However, we do have so much planned.

First, we are taking a trip to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and eat amazing BBQ. Brian won't be able to join us on this trip, but it will be like old times with my family. My parents, Savannah, and my brothers are going on the trip and I am very excited to experience long car trips with them. When I was a kid we drove across the country in my dad's Suburban and laughed the entire time. Peter and I would even get in trouble for laughing too loud. Good memories! We fly into Montana, then drive through Wyoming and end up in South Dakota. I am looking forward to three more states Savannah can add to her list.

Second, my paper, "Financial Literacy: Does it belong in K-12 education?" was accepted for a real educational conference. It's my first one, and I am thrilled that my writing was double-blind peer reviewed and actually accepted. The coolest part is that conference is in HAWAII. I will be going by myself for just 3 1/2 days, but staying in the beautiful Waikiki beach directly on the water. It will be strange going by myself, and not looking forward to feeling like a beached whale on the beach. This is a huge step for my academic career.

Third, I fly straight from Hawaii to Las Vegas. I will be meeting the entire family there for my dad's 60th b-day party. They booked the penthouse at the Bellagio hotel, have cabanas by the pool, and will be taking everyone to Del Frisco's for a delicious dinner.

Fourth, directly from Vegas we will be flying with Aron to Seattle for fishing and sun. We have our annual Lake Chelan trip and Savannah is so excited. She talks about her Grandma and Grandpa's house all the time and tells random people that she will go there in August. She is obsessed with the idea of jumping on their trampoline, playing in their sandbox and eating Popsicles.

Then we are back just in time to start school. Brian, Savannah and I all start on the same day. I will be starting a new job (in addition to Chapman) teaching business finance for Brandman University, Brian will be returning to his same school in Fullerton, and Savannah moves from room 3 to room 7 at Ivy Crest. This is a huge step for Savannah. She is going to pre-school and has to start wearing a school uniform. They are darling and I cannot wait to get her ready on the first day.

We have a packed summer and I look forward to posting lots of pictures of our adventures.

The Shower

I have been growing my hair out for over a year and now it's really long. A couple things I didn't anticipate to experience with long hair:

- Extra time in the shower rinsing out shampoo and conditioner
- More split ends
- Longer time getting my hair colored
- More time blow drying my hair

However, the absolute grossest thing about long hair is cleaning out the shower drain. My dad came over yesterday and I asked why my shower was backing up. He suggested cleaning it out. I have never had to do this before, but sure enough it was clogged. My dad stuck a special stick down the drain and out popped the grossest, smelliest, black ball of hair. Being pregnant, smells don't tend to agree with me. I immediately ran out of the bathroom gagging. But of course, my dad was superman and cleaned it all out. Now, the shower runs perfectly. Thanks Daddy!

Memorial Day Weekend

After a really difficult Friday afternoon with Lily at the vet, we drove directly to Palm Springs. Brian and I didn't want to go home after such a horrible experience.

I absolutely love going to my parents home. It's like staying at a resort. The weather was perfect and the pool was heated. We had a couple surprises from my parents including a night out to the movies and P.F. Changs while they watched Savvy. Also, for our anniversary, they ordered the top tear of our wedding cake for us to enjoy. I don't remember it being so large, but I do remember it being just as delicious! It was a wonderful surprise. Since it was a holiday weekend and Brian had a furlough day at work on Tuesday we were able to spend four wonderful days out there.

Another little surprise was checking my other blog that I started back in March. I was really into posting on it in March and April, but school became overwhelming and I had to stop in May. I went on to check on it and found out that 130,000 people have read it just in May alone! Now that I have more time I am going to start posting again.

 

Goodbye Lily

We found out that Lily has cancer. We have decided to put her down on Friday. It's very sad, but I don't want her to be in pain or have to go through major medical treatments.

We love you Lily.

And Baby Makes FOUR!

Surprise... I am 10 weeks pregnant, due Thanksgiving Day!

So, far I had horrible morning sickness for about 4 weeks and then it just went away. I never had it with Savannah, and so everyone is telling me we are having a boy. I am still up in the air about the gender, but we will definitely find out in 10 more weeks (I can't wait the entire pregnancy). Also, I can't stop eating. I already gained a good 11 pounds while doing the infertility treatments back in  January. After the miscarriage we were just waiting for my next cycle to start to do another round of IUI, but it never came. One day I just decided to take a pregnancy test and boom- pregnant. Apparently, it is pretty common to get pregnant after a miscarriage.

More details to follow later, just wanted to share our good news now.

Cute Conversation

Savannah: Mommy, I need some medicine.

Mommy: Why, what hurts?

Savannah: My Feelings.

Mommy: Your feelings?

Savannah: My show is over (sad face).

Snakes

(Background: Savannah is in bed, and supposed to be sleeping)

Savannah: Daddy, come here!

Daddy: (Brian walks in Savvy's room) What?

Savannah: Daddy, it sounds like there are snakes in my room.

Daddy: I made sure that there are no snakes in your room.

Savannah: But it sounds like a rattle snake and it is making a "ssssssss" noise. Please make it go away.

Daddy: There are no snakes in here- I promise.

Savannah: Oh. Okay. Good night Dada.

Spring Wreath