Hales Pediatrics, Can You Move With Us?

We are really, really, really going to miss our pediatricians here!  When we first moved here, we took the children to the only doctor's office in the area that was a preferred provider.  For the most part, we had great experiences with the doctors, but the support staff was, well, not supportive!  When I called to schedule Matthew's first well-baby check-up, I was told that they did not have any appointments available.  Excuse me?  Fortunately, after some pushing, I was able to get an appointment for him.  The appointment did not go very well, though.  We waited in the examination room for one hour and still did not see anyone.  No resident.  No doctor.  Finally, we told someone that we were still waiting to see the doctor, so they decided to investigate.  SHE WASN'T THERE!!!  Why in the world did no one know that the doctor was not there???  I was in tears.  Matthew was so teeny-weeny and I was very concerned about him.  Also, I had wanted to go to nurse Jonathan who was still in the NICU following our appointment but missed his feeding because of the delay.  The doctor did rush over immediately and provided excellent care for Matthew.  She even gave me her cell phone number and had a test expedited to check him for jaundice (he was admitted to Children's Hospital for jaundice that evening).  Nonetheless, at that point, we had really had enough unpleasant dealings with the support staff and thought it was time to obtain care elsewhere. 

I called my friend Sarai who works at a pediatrician's office, called Hales Pediatrics and scheduled an appointment right away.   Upon entering the office for our first appointment, I felt at home.  The support staff was courteous and efficient.  The office was filled with classic toys for children: puzzles, books, bead mazes, even a fun house mirror!  I believe the annoying electronic toys that just flash lights and make noise have been banned from the office!  The walls were decorated with unique quilts.  There was even a sick room to keep the sickies from infecting those seeing the doctor for well check-ups. 

At Hales, they have adopted a very unique approach to pediatric medicine.  There are no nurses or medical assistants or exam rooms!  The doctors see patients in their offices.  They examine babies right on their laps.  And the doctors are the ones to administer the shots!  Did I also mention that they are always on time???  The support staff is incredibly supportive and helpful and efficient and LOVE children!  Also, we have had to call the office with questions on many occasions.  The doctor has been the one to call us back every time.  Not the support staff.  Not a nurse.  Over this past year plus some, we have developed such a love for the doctors at Hales Pediatrics and their way of caring for our children.  We are really going to miss them!

Thunderstorms

I will certainly miss the amazing thunderstorms we have witnessed here in Louisiana!  I expect they will be few and far between in Irvine.  I also expect if we do encounter any they will pale in comparison. 

One time it rained so hard in a short amount of time that the water simply could not be pumped out fast enough.  Our street flooded and the water came halfway up our lawn.  Talk about excitement!

Another time I was at a block party hosted by a local church.  The girls had played many of the carnival games outside including jumping in the bouncy castle.  While we were inside eating and playing the indoor activities, a funnel cloud formed very close by.  It lifted the bouncy castle into the air, swept it down the block and then back again!  Fortunately, no one was inside the bouncy castle at the time:) 

I think the reason that I enjoy thunderstorms is that they are to me an awesome display of God's power. I am sure we will see God's power in other ways in Irvine.  After all, we will be very close to the ocean, also an awesome display of God's power.  Nonetheless, we will definitely miss loud crashes of thunder, bright streaks of lightning across the sky and torrential downpours! 

By the way, these pictures are of Mary and Maggie playing in the rain the other day.  I had to chuckle at Maggie.  She does not like getting wet at all!  One drop of water on her clothes and she wants to change.  Yet, here she is playing in the rain, soaking wet and so happy about it!

Boys--A Whole New World

Matthew and Jonathan have definitely reached the mischievous almost toddler stage.  I can hardly keep up with them!  It seems like the girls are always saying, "Mama, Trouble!"  Dishwasher trouble!  Trash trouble!  Cat food trouble!  Bathroom trouble!  And, sometimes, they just sit quietly and watch them bail cupfuls of water from the toilet without so much as a peep!  I definitely believe that boys and girls are just wired differently.  I submit ten pieces of evidence from my own personal experience:

1. The girls dropped sippy cups from time to time; the boys pretend they are torpedoes!
2. The girls made elevator music with pots and pans; the boys form a marching band!
3. The girls splashed in the bathtub; the boys bail water drenching the floor and Mom!
4. The girls peered into the toilet; the boys bail water from it!
5. The girls tried to take their bibs off; the boys take them off and pretend they are hats dumping food and milk all over!
6. The girls like to play with the trash bags, the boys pull banana peels out of the trash and eat them.
7. The girls never played with the diaper pail.  Period.  The boys, ughhhh!
8. The girls liked to pat things; the boys are honing their carpentry skills!
9. The girls cried when something stood between them and where they wanted to be; the boys just barrel through any obstacle, even if that obstacle is a sister!
10. The girls occasionally tried to eat cat food out of the bowl; the boys dump the food out all over the floor and then try to eat it!

I still love these boys even if they are TROUBLE, I mean, CURIOUS!

Colloquialisms and Snoballs

I know it has been a long time since I have posted some recent pictures of Matthew and Jonathan.  They are the funnest babies when they wake up.  They each stand up in their cribs and just laugh at each other.  They also throw their blankets on the floor and laugh hysterically at the accomplishment. 

Yesterday, I took the whole crew to Walgreen's to pick up a picture (Father's Day surprise for David!) and get more children's pain reliever (I'm sure whoever invented this stuff is raking in the dough!).  While I was looking for the pain reliever, the pharmacist saw the boys in the stroller and said, "MMMMM....They are FINE!"  OK, maybe I shop at Walgreen's a little too much if the pharmacist recognizes me or maybe I am the only one gutsy enough to take four children into the store???  I am getting around to the point of this post, I promise.  In between flea bites, I have actually been getting the teensiest bit sad about leaving New Orleans.  Then, I get another flea bite and I snap out of it:)  Colloquialisms.  I will definitely miss them.  If someone tells you that your baby is fine, that is a HUGE compliment.  It doesn't mean your baby is ok.  It means that your baby is, well, healthy is the nice way of putting it.  Others might say chunky, chubby, pudgy, you know, the way that babies are supposed to look! If your baby has rolls and more than one chin, then your baby is FINE!

Recently, a new grocery store opened up a few blocks away.  I was thrilled because it is the store where I prefer to buy most of our produce and dairy.  While checking out, I told the clerk that I was sooooo glad that they opened.  She asked me, "Do you stay close by?"  That's how you ask someone where they live.  You don't live anywhere in New Orleans.  You stay.

And just one more, which really caught me off guard the first time I heard it.  My girls are always talking about birthdays.  Frequently, they'll tell the cashiers when their next birthday is going to be.  Everywhere else I have lived, one would then ask, "How old are you going to turn on your birthday?" or something of the sort.  Here, the question is, "What year will you make?" or something of the sort.  Also, instead of saying that my boys are one, you could say that my boys just made one. 

Another thing I will miss about New Orleans are the snoballs (yes, I did spell that correctly!).  Snoballs are the glorified snow cone.  Shaved ice, syrup and artificial flavoring.  They are the perfect refreshment on hot and humid summer days as long as you can look past the artificial stuff you're ingesting:)  And, there are so many flavors to choose from, you could buy a different flavor each day for a whole month and never exhaust the options!  Plus, it's always fun to have a purple tongue for a little while! 

And that's all that I time for tonight, but the list does not end there.  Maybe I can post some more soon...

Mary's a Yellow Belt!

Mary is about to throw Jackson!

Last night, Mary took her first Judo promotional exam and she passed!  She is now a yellow belt!!!  First, Tyler led the group in warm-up exercises.  Then, each person asked the person next to him or her a question about the history of Judo and terminology used in the sport.  After that, the group practiced forward rolls, backward rolls, forward falls, backward falls, and sideways falls.

Then, the difficult part began.  Mary had to first name a throw and then use it on Jackson.  She had to do this for a few different throws she has learned.  Then, she had to do the same with hold-downs that she has learned.  Lastly, she had to perform a few counters on Jackson. 

She says her favorite counter is the valley drop.  "Someone comes in to do some Japanese throw (sounds like tie a koshi??) and then you pull them in tight and sit down being careful not to pull them down on top of you!"

After everyone completed their test, there was still time for some practice matches! 

Mary is preparing for a hold-down!

After the match, one of Mary's fellow Judoers told me that if I didn't want to purchase a yellow belt, I could do what his mom did and "put the belts in the washing machine with some yellow stuff so that they come out yellow."  I have yet to talk to her about what exactly she did, but I'm imagining putting the belt in the washing machine with some Rit dye.  Ingenious!

Mary is trying to tackle Jackson in their match.

Here's a picture of my sleepless sickies, who came along in their jammies to cheer Mary on!  What supportive little brothers!

Maggie had a lot of fun running laps in the hall barefoot!

Today's Bounty

David took Mary and Maggie to a used book sale today held at one of the local colleges. Between 10am and 1pm today only, each child could fill a big shopping bag with books for $5. Matthew and Jonathan are pretty miserable because they are getting more teeth AND are sick, so I stayed home to care for them. Plus, we are having an Open House tomorrow, so I felt slightly overwhelmed trying to get things in order around here for that. 

David thought he would need to call to ask whether we already owned books at the sale. Inbetween vacuuming rooms, I checked the phone and was surprised that he didn't call.  Of course he didn't.  He had Mary along. Every time he saw a book that was intriguing, he just asked Mary who apparently has stored in her brain every single book we own!  Maggie was so delighted about getting books that she wanted every book that David picked up even without knowing what it was about.  We paid a total of $10 for a ginormous stack of books!

Here's Mary with the combined stack of books that we bought for $10.  Maggie was so tuckered out she fell asleep on the way home, so she was not available for the picture.

Maggie is enjoying her new Wind in the Willows books.

Mary is deeply engrossed in a book about George Washington from the Childhood of Famous Americans series.  She read the entire book this afternoon and has moved on to one about the Trojan War.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

I'll just go ahead and apologize for the missing photo.  Let me just say I am having issues with Blogger right now.  Some of you have been asking me for my pizza dough recipe.  Finally, I am getting around to posting it.  I make this so much that I don't even need to look at the recipe anymore.

Ingredients:
1 t yeast
3 cups flour (I use 1 1/2 cups whole wheat and 1 1/2 cups white)
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 T milk powder
2 T sugar
1 t salt
1 T oil
1 1/4 cups water

Directions:

1. Pour dry ingredients into bread machine.  Then, add liquids.  Pour yeast into yeast dispenser.  Use the pizza setting if you have one.  On my bread machine, this setting takes 45 minutes.  (Adjust the directions in this step to suit your bread machine, if you have one.  I have never tried it without the bread machine, but I think you would just mix everything together until you have a nice dough and let it rise for 45 minutes.)
2. Knead dough on lightly floured surface until it becomes elastic.
3. Divide into two balls and let rest for 10 minutes.
4. Roll each ball into desired pizza shape on a greased pan.  Prick with a fork.
5. Let rest for 15 minutes.
6. Bake at 340 degrees for 10 minutes.
7. Add toppings and bake for 10 more minutes or until the cheese is melted.  

We usually have our pizza vegetarian style, but the girls pick the veges off if they are visible, so I just add them to the sauce and blend everything together.  Oddly enough, the girls know what goes into the sauce and they recognize that they like the veges in the sauce but not as individual toppings.  Strange, but I'll go with what works! 

This is my method:
Saute an onion, some garlic, a chopped green pepper, up to 8 oz. sliced mushrooms and carrot and/or celery if you wish.  Add 14-16 oz. tomato sauce, a little sugar and a little salt.  Simmer this mixture for as long as you want.  Then, puree it all.  Brush this on the baked dough and top with ~three cups grated mozzarella cheese (total for both pizzas.)  Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Top Ten Things I Will Not Miss About New Orleans

As you know, we're moving to Irvine, California, in less than two months!  While I realize there is no perfect place to live this side of eternity, there are many things I will gladly leave behind in New Orleans.  To be fair to this wonderful city, there are also many things I will miss.  And, drum roll please....the top ten things I will be glad to leave behind in New Orleans:

1. Mosquitoes
2. Stinging Caterpillars
3. No see 'ums
4. Fire Ants
5. Swarming termites
6. Sweltering humidity
7. Crazy-high insurance rates
8.  Divided roads
9. Mardi Gras traffic and road closures
10. Bumpy-does-not-even-begin-to-describe-it roads

Happy Mother's Day!

We're Moving Back to California!

I know it's been like an eon in blogosphere time since I have posted anything.  So, here is a quick update on some major life changes for the Mobleys! 

Back in November, David started applying for faculty positions elsewhere.  We had been planning on the next job search coinciding with applying for tenure (which would have been next year, one year ahead of schedule).  All this happened pretty suddenly.  One day, we were going to be here at least another year.  The next day, we were considering where we would like to live!  David only applied to places that he was sure were looking for someone doing computational work in drug discovery. 

He went on three interviews and landed three job offers.  The position at UC Irvine was the clear front runner.  The interesting part of all this, though, is that this is the second time he has interviewed for this exact position.  He interviewed in 2008 for the same slot but was their second-choice.  The person who was offered the position, though, accepted a position at UCSD and actually recommended David for the opening!  He will inherit the computer clusters that she has already set up and will be the only computational person amongst a department of experimentalists, a great research environment for him!  Three of his graduate students have chosen to follow him there, too, and he already has a post-doc lined up for the fall.  He will actually be in the department of pharmaceutical sciences, but it sounds like he will be able to obtain a joint appointment with the chemistry department so that he can employ chemistry students.  And, he will only be teaching two classes a year, which hopefully will provide him with oodles of time to search for bugs:)  As if that isn't enough, he will continue to supervise a postdoc and postgraduate researcher who are staying behind at UNO and will make quarterly visits to oversee their progress.

I am so happy for David that he will be able to work in such a great environment.  He will have excellent students.  He will teach fewer courses.  He will have lots of opportunities for interesting collaborations.  I believe that this job has come as a blessing from God for David's hard work.  Since we moved here, he has been working harder than he needed to in order to get tenure at UNO.  That has not been his goal.  Rather, his goal has been to please God in his work.

David's official start date at UC Irvine is July 1, although we don't have to be in Irvine until the fall quarter begins.  We are hoping to move sometime in mid-July.  Fortunately for me, UC Irvine is paying for movers!!!  I am ecstatic about that because trying to sell the house is enough work!  I've had to make a lot of changes to make the house look more like a home where someone would like to live and less like a playground!  While I am finished with that work (and hopefully I'll post some updated pics soon) it's not all that easy trying to keep the house neat and orderly when my four children have different organizational ideas than me!  So, how's that for a brief update???  Aren't you glad I chose to spare you the long version???