Starting our new adventure in Lufkin

Our NEW house in Lufkin!

We feel so blessed in how many ways the Lord has blessed our family to get to where we are today!  Derek and I share daily about how much we have seen the Lord's hand in our lives which led us to Lufkin.  We do miss family a lot, but we ABSOLUTELY love our house!

A sneak peek inside our home.  Derek and I have spent a lot of time painting the house and my mom was so generous to come help me with some finishing touches and decorating.  We have done a lot, but there is still more to be done...but I am so exciting how much it is coming together I couldn't wait to share with ya'll.

Entry Wall

Dining Room

Living Room

Kitchen

Derek's Dental Practice

Daddy gave us a tour of his second home for FHE.

Derek getting busy!

I was blessed enough to be Derek's first patient!  It was fun to be with the staff and experience what it is like in the office.  The atmosphere is so fun in his office...These ladies are ALWAYS laughing!  Derek is blessed to have such wonderful staff to work with everyday!

On the day of closing on the practice, Derek and I went on a romantic date to a delicious restaurant called Manhattan.  It was such a nice place where they pull out your chair, put the napkin on your lap, and a classy environment. It was a perfect date to celebrate this amazing moment in our lives, especially for Derek.  He has been dreaming of this moment forever!

Congratulations Derek!

It has been two weeks now that Derek has started working.  He lost 10 lbs the first week and the second week he "only" lost 2.  This has been a very humbling experience for Derek.  The moment he comes home I never know what part of the roller coaster he is on (ha ha).  He will come home like a little boy on Christmas morning or he will be totally exhausted and overwhelmed with the day.  

He is doing a great job!

Here is an excerpt from his posting on dentaltown:

"It has been a roller coaster of a week. Lots of really great things happening and some stressful things. It's mostly just overwhelming everything that is going on.  

Patients: I feel like the patients have been very accepting. Most people received letters and knew they were going to see me when they came in. Many have greeted me and told me, "Welcome to Lufkin!" It has been very nice. I have walked into every room with the biggest smile I can muster and said hello and asked about the patient.

No one has asked me how long I have been a dentist. They have been concerned about whether or not I would give painful injections but several patients have stated that they've been impressed or that "well, you passed the test".

On my first day a 20-year old guy came in with a toothache. He had a direct pulp cap #19 a week or so ago by the previous doc. We did a quick pulpotomy and went on with the day. I called later that night to check up on him. His mother answered the phone and I found out that she is my banker. She said he was out with friends so she figured he must be doing well. She sent me an email a day or two later with a real sincere thank you. She said she would spread the word with her friends about her experience. I replied and told her thank you and asked if she would be willing to post a review on google or facebook. She posted reviews on both and then posted about her experience on her personal page. This was a huge success for me. The staff got excited about it as well. I added the staff as "editors" on our facebook page and they have posted pictures or comments.  

Clinical: This has been fairly challenging for me. I have under-reduced crown preps which has led to very difficult making temporaries, breaking, coming off, etc.
There have been several things that have been challenging that I simply haven't know what to do: white patch under the tongue, blocked salivary duct, loose implant (is it the abutment or the implant, and what do I do with it?), medications people are on and should I extract or refer? etc. etc.
We are still using film xrays. It has been easier than I thought it would be as far as reading the films, although it is very annoying to have to wait for them to develop or to get another one when I feel the need. 

Emotional: Although things have gone well, I have felt completely overwhelmed. I haven't been able to eat in the mornings. I've lost 10 pounds this week. I came home on Thursday and went in the bedroom and just cried. I don't cry often (unless I'm watching a Disney movie with my girls). I just felt so overwhelmed. Another thing that is very different that dental school is that I really want my patients to have a great experience. In dental school, I tried very hard to treat people well but if they seemed unreasonable, I didn't bat an eye. I simply told them if they weren't satisfied with me trying my hardest, they may be better suited to see someone in private practice. Now, having my practice, I want everyone to have a phenomenal experience. If someone doesn't, it really takes a toll on me emotionally. I'm going to have to learn how to balance that."

Derek has found this new obsession with these sponge things.  He is weird and he loves to smell them so I had to take this picture.

I can't believe my baby is going to Kindergarten in 2 weeks!  I get so emotional which means I will cry like a baby when I drop her off for the first day of school.  I found this picture and I can't believe how much this little angel is growing up.  She is far ready for school.  She will do great!  We went school shopping and got a tour of her school by the principal.  She is a little nervous, but more excited!

Our adventures in Lufkin!

We enjoy Lufkin, but there are many things that I miss about Omaha.  In Omaha we were spoiled with all the different amenities.  Lufkin has some that we are trying to discover.

Storybook time at a local bookstore.

There has been a lot of fighting with these two, but they can be the best of friends.  Moments like this make my heart melt and I really have to soak it up because I never know what will happen 5 minutes later.  I think that is one of the hardest things as a parent is the sibling fighting, but hopefully it will be worth it one day with they will be the best of friends...like Lissy and I

Sisters are the best!

"Matchy Matchy" as the girls like to say.

I joined this group on Facebook called MOPS (Moms of Preschoolers) and they post events that happen in the community.  One of the activities is where we went to a locate pizza restaurant and the kids made paper plate pizzas and then they gave us a tour and showed the kids how they make pizza.  At the end they gave each one their own dough ball to play with.  It was so much fun!

We were at the pizza place and let me remind you that most of the families here only have two kids and here I am with four of my kids at this activity.  Well this was my first outing in Lufkin all by myself (without Derek) with all four kids.  I look like a crazy person with all these kids in tow and then these wonderful moms are all telling their kids to not eat the dough and mine are stuffing it in their faces.  I am balancing helping each kid with the activity, while feeding Desiree a bottle, and getting lunch for the kids.  It was one of those moments that I am sure other moms were thinking that I am one crazy lady, while inside I am shouting for joy because everyone had a great time and I survived!  ha ha.

The Zoo

Riding the train

These moments are going by too fast.  I love watching Claire join these girls in play!  Claire is becoming such a little girl...baby no more.

We named it Lenny the Lion (drinking fountain)

We have created a lot of fun at home.  We are still adjusting to the humidity, but my kids don't seem to mind. 

Chalk and riding outside.

Bubbles

Creative inside

Playdo Time

This faces says,  "Mom, don't bother me, I am busy playing"

Desiree gets lots of love from Claire.  Claire is always giving her toys and enjoys saying "DEZZI" in her face.

Ashlyn is so creative.  She made her own Disneyland.  She drew pictures of each of the princesses and put them around the house and they visited each princess.  It was so adorable.  If the girls had fun with this, imagine how much they will LOVE Disneyland!  But for now, this is great and much cheaper :)

Snacktime- ants on a log.  With Claire being allergic to peanut butter it is hard for the other girls to get their dose of pb (dr. orders). Claire would get yogurt and the girls pb to put on their celery.  Well I am learning that it is not worth the risk.  Stupid food allergies. 

P.S. Nothing happened, but I decided that a spoon full of pb is better than pb everywhere and reduce Claire's risk of touching it.

We were in the toy room playing when I realized that each of them had a princess in their hand... I had to take a pic. 

Last week our upstairs air conditioner didn't work and of course it was a Sunday.  We had a camp out in the living room.  

Des turned 6 months this week.  She is getting to big!  I can't believe how much she is growing.  We love her so much and the kids can make this girl giggle!  I love it!

Had her first solid this week.

She absolutely love it!

She can hold her bottle. 

 Full of smiles

Thursdays have become our new Friday... Derek doesn't have open hours on Fridays but has gone in late in the mornings to do some extra work on patients.  So we do our Movie night on Thursdays!

Friday morning in the pool.  Bright and early!  The pool has been our saving grace in Lufkin in so many ways.  It is sooooo humid, there isn't as much to do here, and it is like going somewhere without leaving the house!  The kids would honestly love to stay home to swim, than go anywhere else, but I need other adult interactions.  Ha ha.

Claire is learning to float on her back.  She enjoys doing it with her life jacket on, but when she works with Daddy without it, she doesn't like it so much.  Derek has been working really hard with the kids to teach them survival skills in water so they don't drown.  Claire had an incident where she was in the water on the stairs without her life jacket and went under the water.  She floated onto her back and cried for help.  It is neat to see this survival moment, but I don't want to experience it again. All that hard work with dad was well worth it.  

These are our cute swimmers.  They absolutely love it.  They enjoy playing Ariel while we swim.

Ashlyn loves her goggles!

CANNONNNBBBBAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

I have been running in the morning and so these are my 6:30am running buddies.  It has been so wonderful.  Look how beautiful it is!!!!

I am saving the best for last.  I am so grateful that my mom was able to come and stay with us.  It was so much fun!  This move has been a lot harder than I expected.  I would go to Walmart, Home Depot, and Chick-fil-a and see these people with decay in between their front teeth and their accents (which I actually love) and then the culture here is very thick.  I also felt so isolated living in a house because I was so used to going outside my backyard and having the park with all these moms to chat with and kids to play with my kids with.  I took it for granted.  Also there are few members where we live. So I would cry everyday thinking to myself is this really the culture/place that I want to raise my kids in? 

 With my mom here, it changed everything for me.  She helped me create a sense of home in my new house.  She helped me decorate and put my house together.  Watched the kids so Derek and I could go a couple of dates.  She is a wonderful grandma! She really is amazing!  I feel so blessed that she would take her vacation time to spend with my family!  

Thank you MOM! 

I also haven't cried since she left...Lufkin really is our home! Yay!!!

Pictures from my mom's camera that I want for scrapbooking. 

Des

Ashlyn taking Grandma's pic

Oh how much we miss playing with our cousins!!!!!

Claire has an obsession with shoes!