Baby Fever

Nope, not me. My husband, is the one who has baby fever. With quite a few of our closest friends and family having babies, Drew and I figured we would be able to get our baby fix to hold us off for several years . . . turns out all the cuties are giving Drew baby fever.

Spending the past few weekends with our nephew Gaston have not helped much.

Below are a few videos and photos of the little chicken (his nickname is poulet, which is french for chicken - his Daddy is French so the little guy is speaking both French and English)

Wearing the hat he made with his Papa (Daddy) at playgroup.

Playing and talking in the tub

Outside on a beautiful fall/winter day

Playing "drums" on the stairs with Uncle Drew

Eating pancakes with Ta-ta (Auntie) Marissa and Ta-ta Pancakes (AuntieTiffany).

Oh, we miss the little stinker already!

Last week

So here is a glimpse of how the last week and a half went (and you will understand why I was so overwhelmed).
Two Thursdays ago Drew flew out of state for an interview, on Friday he interviewed, that night while I tried to clean our apartment he flew back home and we had wonderful company arrive that night. The Vickers stayed Friday through Sunday. Fifteen minutes after they left we hit the road for another state, on the way we stopped for dinner at the Keibler's house and then got back on the road to continue the rest of the drive. We arrived Sunday night, checked into our hotel and Drew had his interview Monday. (I relaxed, worked out and worked from the hotel during the day - lucky me!) Then we had a late dinner with the residents Monday night and hit the road around 11:00 p.m. to head back to Springfield. We got back home early Monday morning, slept a few hours, woke up, I dropped Drew off at the train station and headed to court for trial. While I was busy at work on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Drew was going to dinners/receptions and two interviews. Thursday night I packed up. Drew had Friday off (thank goodness). Friday morning I had to drive 3 hours for a court appearance (an hour and a half each way), then I stopped at home, loaded up the car and hit the road to pick up Drew (and have dinner with friends) and head on to another state for a weekend interview. Luckily we were able to relax Saturday with family. On Saturday night Drew and I attended dinner withe the residents and on Sunday he interviewed. After having dinner with family on Sunday night we hit the road and made it home.
And to clarify, I'm not complaining because we are blessed to have these interviews, and I am thankful that I can be so active in the process. But I did want to explain why I have been somewhat missing-in-action. (Hopefully I'll have time to update about the actual interviews over Thanksgiving weekend?)

Un-rejected?

So we got an email today, notifying us that a program had added an additional interview date and that they were pleased to offer Drew an invitation to interview. I then went to look at our list of rejections and realized that we had already received a rejection email from this program. I suppose they didn't have a wait list (because otherwise I imagine Drew would have been on it). Anyways, I thought it was totally odd. But whatever - regardless of how we get an interview, we'll take it!

Full

The first thing that is full - my schedule. I seriously am having trouble keeping up with everything. I feel like many of my cases/clients are undergoing small emergencies that need immediate attention. Thank goodness I do love my job, because I have been at the office late most nights the last several weeks. And it isn't helping that I am trying to go with on a lot of Drew's weekend interviews, and help him stay on top of things. Although I am particularly blessed that my bosses are so understanding and allow me to have such a flexible schedule so that I can have a more active part in Drew's interview process.

The second thing that is full - my heart. My heart is complete and content now that Drew is home. Even though he is in and out during the week (for interviews) it is so nice to have him home.

And finally, something to keep your stomach full:
Super easy pumpkin spice cupcakes/cake

• 1 Box of cake mix (I recommend spice cake)
• 3 eggs
• 1 can of pumpkin
• 1 can of cream cheese frosting

Mix the first three ingredients with a few (2-3) tablespoons of water. The batter below is a little light in color because I used white cake mix because the store was out of spice cake mix. If you use white cake mix I would add some cinnamon to the recipe as well. The mixture will be a little thick (partially because no oil is used). But the pumpkin is a healthy (and tasty) alternative.
Bake for the time recommended on the box of cake mix (it will depend on whether you are making cake or cupcakes). After cooking let cupcakes/cake cool. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

These cupcakes require so few ingredients and are a super easy fall treat! Hope you enjoy!

Interview #3

(I don't have pictures for #2 - they are on Drew's Camera)
We stayed at a nice hotel. It wasn't it the most scenic area but it was one of the better priced hotels. Other hotels in the city were closer to $130+!

And not to forget the retro chair....

Below is a picture of Drew dressed for dinner with the residents.

I didn't attend the dinner, but instead met up with the a wife of a local resident that I have been in contact with.

Below is an early morning picture of Drew before the interview... I need to learn to put more lights on, because otherwise I end up with these pictures with his eyes half open!

Costs:
Hotel: $110.17
Transportation (gas): $35.00
Total: 145.17

Just trying to stay above water

Work for some reason has been crazy busy the last three weeks and doesn't seem to be slowing down. I worked through my lunch today and still didn't get things wrapped up until 7:30! Thank goodness Drew was home to cook dinner.
Things are going well here, just busy! Drew had two more interviews last week and hopefully I'll get time this week to post about them.
We are also trying to gear up as he has one more this week, plus we have visitors coming for the weekend and then beginning Sunday he will have four interviews in seven days!
Well I'd love to update more but there is still some laundry to do and tidying to do before I head off to bed!

Better late than never

Okay so I am a little tardy on this - so please forgive me... but a while ago, AMS of Surviving Long Distance Love. Gave me the Kreative Blogger Award. This is my very first blog award - so thank you AMS!

Here are the rules :
1-Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2-Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3-Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4-Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.

5-Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

6-Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7-Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they've been nominated.

So here goes:
1. Part (big emphasis on part) of the reason I went to law school was because I think I was afraid to go into the real world - and I thought law school would be an extension of college - boy was I wrong!
2. Although I love practicing law, I hated law school.
3. I played college tennis.
4. Someday I would like to have four children.
5. I have a terrible fashion sense.
6. I am a complete Mama's girl and my mother is one of my best friends.
7. My three favorite male celebrities (musician/athlete/actor) are: Tim McGraw, Brett Favre, and Matt Damon.

Okay and my nominations are:
1. Adriana of From Kansas to Pennsylvania
2. Jessica of Acting Adult
3. Abbie of With a Soft Tummy
4. Whitney of the Glamourous Life of a Housewife
5. Bea of Finding Equanimity
6. Cindi of Mommy Life and Me
7. Little Miss Dreamer of the Soon to be Mrs. C

C is for Cookie......

Drew came back (for good) late Friday morning. And as of Saturday we didn't have any Halloween costumes (for a med school party) and Drew didn't have any ideas. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on costumes that we would only wear for one night - it simply isn't worth it when you are on a budget. So on Sunday afternoon we ran to Walmart and picked up a few things and made these costumes (along with things we already had around the apartment). I think we probably made both of them for under $15! (Please forgive the poor picture quality).Cookie monster and his cookie!
Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!