Belated... First Birthday!

So I'm very behind in posting this, by like a month. In fact, Miles turned 1 year old exactly a month ago. But as I have yet to take down the decorations from his party, I'm constantly reminded of my failure not only to take down the decorations but also to write this blog post, so I thought I'd finally get to it and share some pictures. We had so much fun! The theme was The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and with all my free time (meaning I stayed up until 3 the night before), I made the cake myself! It was my first experience decorating a cake/cupcakes entirely by myself, and while it's far from perfect, I think it turned out pretty cute. My inspiration came from Coco Cake Land (link below) and of course, the one and only Eric Carle, my very favorite children's author/illustrator!

Cute boys all cleaned up after cake!

Check out the stunningly perfect caterpillar cake and other adorable creations shared in the Coco Cake Land blog: http://cococakecupcakes.blogspot.com/2009/03/hungry-caterpillar-cupcake-party-train.html. If only I was that talented and creative! 

Daycare Blues

Every morning I drop Miles off at daycare near my work. Some days he is very clingy, won't let go of my leg, and throws a fit as I walk out the door, some days he is too sleepy after the 30 min drive to even notice he's at daycare, and other days he is perfectly happy to see his friends and couldn't care less whether I'm there or not. But even on those days that he is so sad to see me go, as soon as one of his teachers picks him up and gives him a big hug, voila, he's over it! Me on the other hand... you would think I had just run over a kitten* or just read the novel Sophie's Choice... The tears, man! Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little or maybe not, but it's true that my heart breaks a little every time I drop Miles off despite knowing he's only 7 minutes away. Even when I leave Miles at home with Daddy I get a little teary-eyed at the goodbye. I can't help it. It's part of being a mom. Now excuse me while I go cry into my lab notebook and simultaneously attempt to finish this experiment.

But Mom, I don't wanna go to daycare!

*No kittens were harmed in the writing of this post.

Long time, no blog! Living the crazy busy life of a PhD mama...

So I totally meant to write a new post shortly after my last post, but life just caught up with me, and I never got around to it. Since then, I had started the PhD program at UofA, which consumed a large portion of my time. But even more importantly, I was busy growing and then caring for a little person!!

We experienced many changes in 2013:

First Family Photo

Miles Declan was born on St. Patrick's Day, March 17!! That was definitely one of the best days of my life, the other being the day Matt and I eloped. Nothing compares to the love you have for your child. Amazing. My sweet boy just turned 1, and I love being his mama more than anything.













 We did some remodeling in our old house and got it ready to rent while we moved into our new home over the summer. We love hiking in the hills right behind our new neighborhood and having just a little more room for everything. Hurray, Miles has his own room now too!

 

Matt and I both started new jobs. Matt left teaching to work full time on the business team at a computer company, and I switched from the ABBS program at UA to the physiological sciences program. While the new program is more intense in several ways, I actually find that I enjoy it more. The work/life balance is a daily challenge, and some days go more smoothly than others, but on the whole, I've never felt more productive or motivated! And that's a great feeling.

Science-ing