Weekend Road Warriors

Since moving back to Michigan Joel, Kyper, and I have become weekend road warriors. We live in metro Detroit and our extended family lives in West Michigan. It is about a 3 hour drive to our family. This is nice because it does allow us to see family more than we did in Iowa and now that Kyper is in the picture I am sure our family appreciates the closeness even more (I know we do).

Well, it just so happens that this year we were invited to 5 weddings in August and September. Plus, Joel had a bachelor party he needed to go to. The last three weekends have brought us back to West Michigan. First, we celebrated with Scott and Stephanie! We had fun. It was Kyper's first wedding. He decided to make it a memorable one, by having a huge blowout in his diaper that landed on his dad's shirt and pants. So, Joel went to the reception in khaki shorts, a grey t-shirt and flip flops. Here is a picture of the happy couple:

The second weekend in August we celebrated with my cousin Travis and his new wife Melissa. Nothing to memorable happened here--well expect we let Kyper out of our sights for about an hour or two during the reception. Grandma and Grandpa Phillips babysat. This is the same weekend we went to the cottage. Sorry, no pictures this post--look below for a post specifically about the cottage with pictures.

Last weekend, we headed back so Joel could go to Tim's bachelor party. Joel is standing up for Tim, so he really wanted to make it to the party. I wasn't planning on going, but I figures why not come along. I hung out with my parents while Joel was at the party and relaxed. Joel also was able to help his younger brother and sister-in-law pack. (They moved to Milwaukee.) We actually ended up staying an extra night so we could head to the beach. It was so windy that night! Below are some pictures from the weekend:

Burning couch and groom (Tim's bachelor party= guns, pig roast, and fire--what else?!)

Family Picture--sorry you can't see Kyper, he is there. It was too windy to have him out in the open, so we covered him in blankets!

This is supposed to show you how windy it was--see the huge waves?

Kyper's first trip to Captain Sundae--too bad he couldn't have anything. I am sure there will be many more trips though!

We have a two week break where we do not need to go to West Michigan. What are our families going to do without us coming home?! :) (We have a wedding we were invited to on September 5--Joel's cousin, but we are not going to make it. It is in Traverse City and that would be a long drive. Plus, Joel doesn't know what his schedule is going to be like, because he starts a new rotation next week.)

So, September 11, we will be driving on the road again to celebrate with Tim and Melanie. (Yes, the wedding Joel is in.) Then the next week, Kyper and I are going to celebrate with my cousin Kevin and his soon-to-be wife. Wow! I thought we were getting out of the wedding stage. Apparently not yet. That's okay. I enjoy going to weddings.

The cool thing is that both my cousins--Travis and Kevin are my age. We grew up together, so it is exciting to celebrate with them. Travis, Kevin, and I went all the way from preschool to high school together. Actually, Kevin and I went from preschool to graduate school together. (We both went to Calvin for undergrad and then went right from there to U of M--different programs--to get our master level degree.) Isn't that crazy. I would post a cute picture of the three of us when we were little, but it is at my parents and not scanned into the computer.

We are going to end our weekend travels the last weekend in September with a small family get-a-away at my grandparent's cottage. Joel has always wanted to go in the fall and we are going to make it happen this year. It will just be the three of us, so that should be fun. Joel has that weekend free--no studying--because he will be in between rotations.

Needless to say, I feel we have earned the title of Weekend Road Warriors with all this traveling. Fortunately, Kyper still sleeps most of the time and he is a pretty good baby. I am not sure if we are setting him up to hate traveling or love traveling with all this car riding he is doing. I guess we will see what happens. :)

More Exciting News!

I almost forgot the more exciting news. The Koning Clan is growing again. Nope no one is pregnant. Rather a wedding is in the future. My brother proposed to Jen! Congrats guys! I love you both and am so excited to celebrate with you in your engagement.


(Sorry for the repeat picture. It is the only one I can find of the happy couple.)

Exciting News...

So, when September first rolls around I will have one less loan to pay back!! Hurray. I am really excited. Yes, it was a small Perkins loans and we still have some major ones to pay off (not to mention the ones we are still taking out for Joel), but I am rejoicing in the small things. :)

The Life of a Medical School Family

Before going into some details about what it is like to be in medical school. Let me share some pictures.

First: Joel is showing Kyper's pajamas off. After his bath looking at Dad.

I don't think I posted this picture yet. He is relaxing in his maize and blue onesie.

I listened a to a voicemail from Joel on speaker phone and this is the reaction I got from Kyper. He sure loves his dad!

Okay on to the point of this post.
Joel is in his fourth week of his first rotation. One down many more to go. :) Let me explain a little more about medical school for those of you who don't know.

Medical School has two different stages. For the last two years Joel has been in the classroom and labs listening to lectures and studying from books. That is stage one. He has now moved on to stage two: rotations. For the next two years Joel will be rotating through different areas of medicine. Basically every month Joel will be trying something new in the medical field. He still must do a little studying from books, because at the end of some rotations he has what is called a shelf exam-specific to that rotation.

So, for the month of August he has been on his psych rotation. He is following a psychiatrist and is learning what it means to be in that type of work. He has been able to do consults and see electro-shock therapy. (Yes, they still do this to some people who have severe depression.) He has enjoyed the rotation. He does have a shelf exam for this rotation, so he takes that on Friday. Next week, he starts his pediatrics rotation. This month he has primarily been in the hospital and next month he most likely will be in a clinic.

After these two stages Joel will graduate and earn his DO degree. Two years of class work and two years of field work gives him the degree. After that he will still have to do residency--so, he is a doctor but will still have supervision. Finally, after residency he is a full-fledged doctor. Residency programs vary in length depending on the specialty a person wants to go into. So, a primary care doctor will probably have a three year residency where as a nuero-surgeon will have a much longer one.

Now, what is it like to be married to a third year student. Well, I have to say I am so excited for Joel to finally begin doing some hands on work in the field he wants to go into. It may not be the exact speciality each month. I am excited for these two years, because it will be nice when he actually is home. You have to realize though his schedule changes each month. One month he could have really regular hours from 8-5 and other months he may be on call or have to work nights. Even though, he has some shelf exams and still needs to study a little bit the really nice thing is that when he is home he has more time to spend with us. So far this year has been really good, but we are only one month/rotation in. Joel's first rotation has been very easy hour wise. Rarely does he get home after 5. The last three Fridays he has been done at noon. And, it seems like at least one day a week he gets home before 3. Yes, it has been really nice for us. (Especially considering how many times we had to head back to West MI for weddings and other events--3 out of 4 weekends!) I know there are going to be months that are much harder. I think they wanted to ease us into this life. Due to the nicer hours Joel has been able to be a lot of help with Kyper as well. He has got to spend time with him each night and still gets up in the middle of the night for diaper duty. How awesome is Joel?!! (I know there will be nights he is not at home, because he is at the ER or delivering babies.)

There you have it. The life of a medical school family!

A Day at the Cottage

This past weekend we headed to West Michigan to go to my cousin's wedding. It was a very fun wedding! We took Kyper to the ceremony to show him off to my aunts and uncles, but then Grandma and Grandpa Phillips babysat during the reception. We didn't stay too long at the reception, because Joel and I planned on driving up to my grandparents' cottage that night. (I am bummed we missed out on the dance, but the cottage was worth it!)

So, we picked Kyper up and headed north. Kyper did amazing on the ride up and slept the whole way. We didn't wake him up since it was 12:30 when we got there. He did very well that night. On Saturday we were joined by my brother Jeff and his girlfriend Jen, my brother David and his family, and my parents. It was a very nice day at the cottage! The weather was perfect and I was so happy to be able to take Kyper to one of my favorite places in the world! It was also nice to spend a whole day with some of my family. Here are some pictures of the day. (Note: they are not in chronological order).

Jeff and Jen Sydney and Peyton reading to Kyper

Peyton's best friend is Kyper. She loves him and can't stop talking about him. Joy told me that she now has a baby Kyper doll at home and she just takes him everywhere! She asked Joy if baby Kyper was at Grandpa and Grandma's the other day because she missed him.

Joel captured the woodpecker!

There is a swamp behind the cottage. (Yes, Joel this is in the back of the cottage! Joel and I argue over what is the back and what is the front of the cottage. I claim the lakeside is the front. Joel claims that the road and driveway is the front. Who do you agree with?)

Kyper wore pants for the first time!

Joy, Peyton and Joel conversing about life around the fire.

Uncle Jeff with Kyper. (This was the first time that they met!)

Peyton really wanted to hold Kyper, so with her mom's help we made it happen. (Want to know something funny: Peyton is wearing her favorite outfit--pajamas, particularly these ones. She loves them so much she will wear them everywhere and in any type of weather. They actually don't even fit her anymore. The feet needed to be cut off, so she could still fit into them. I love my niece!)

The Phillips family around the campfire. Kyper's first campfire.

Mom entertaining Kyper.

Kyper wanted to be cool and hang out with all the old people on the pontoon boat.

Kyper fast asleep. He is so cute, who wouldn't take a picture of this?

Dipping his toes in Big Star Lake!

My niece Mariah with Kyper--she has the magic touch!

Needless to say--we had a wonderful time up north. It was so much fun. Big Star Lake is my favorite place in the world due to all the memories I have from going there every summer as a child. (I don't think I have missed a summer yet!)I hope that Kyper will get to love Big Star Lake just as much as I do and that we can take him there for years to come.

Pictures and A Short Tour

Okay, I know before giving you a tour of my house many of you want to see a few more pictures of Kyper. Here a few are:

Four of the Mellons got to see each other last weekend so here is Mungo, Mel with Kyper, Me, and Erin with Lucy.

Kyper doing his cute yawn on Uncle JP's lap.

Aunt Katie and Uncle JP came for a few days and helped us unpack and organize the house. Here is Kyper in the hands of Aunt Katie.

Now onto the tour. Here is where we live.

This is from the front door.

The dining area and kitchen. There is a door right by the stove that leads to our washing machine and dryer area. I forgot to take pictures of that. That little room also has pull down stairs, so we can get into the attic. (Nice place for storing boxes--now next time I won't have to collect as many!)

This is a view of the living room from our "hallway" (It's so small I don't know if I should really call it a hallway.)

You can see our bathroom when you look one way in the hallway

Across from the bathroom is the nursery. We used the bedding for a wall hanging and the bumper for a border. I think it turned out great!

Here is the corner of the nursery where I spend time at 4 am. Thanks for the glider David and Joy! Oh, the blanket on the back is a gift from Katrina. Let me tell you a little story about it. First, Katrina is a huge Ohio State fan and I am a big University of Michigan fan. That is one huge rivalry if you didn't know that. Even though, Katrina is a huge OSU fan, she knit Kyper a U of M blanket. However, in one corner are her initials in red and silver (OSU's colors) Don't worry I have that part in the back of the chair. :)

Here is the changing station and you can sort of see his closet.

This is the third room off from the hallway: our bedroom.

They put on an addition a couple years ago, so to get to this room you must walk through our room. We turned the this room into a giant closet/office. Since our room only had enough room for our bed, we put both dressers in this room. (Joel has the small closet in our room and I got the big one in this room.)

There you have it. Our home. Thanks to all who helped move us and unpack us. (I'll try to get a couple more recent pictures of Kyper up soon. He was one month yesterday! He has for sure grown!)