A lot of ground to cover

Hello once again. We have returned from seclusion and have a lot of ground to cover. I have made a helpful outline to help you keep up. Here is a list of topics we will cover through pictures and words:

-It snowed a few weeks ago.
-John and Erin came to visit.
-We went to Smarty Pants activity center.
-Eleanor can poop in a potty chair (kind of).
-This past Sunday.
-We are moving.

Lot's of interesting stuff to cover. Let's get started. First, it snowed a few weeks ago. I really don't enjoy shoveling the driveway so I made Eleanor do it. That's why people have kids: so they can do the crappy jobs instead.

There is no way I'm shoveling the sidewalk.

I can't believe they made me do it.

After the snow, John, Erin and Wrigley came to visit for Valentine's day weekend. It was a delightful time. We ate Dewey's, played Rock Band 2, and had dinner at Nicola's, a great little Italian restaurant. The highlight of the trip was Eleanor and Erin becoming new BFFs. I don't know if Eleanor remembers Erin from their visit in October, but she wanted to play with Erin the whole weekend. It was adorable, like bunnies or baby ducks.

Love at first sight (since October).

GOOD MORNING ERIN!!!

The artsy look off into the distance.

Eleanor: Did you really have to bring him?
Erin: Well...

John: I love to rollerblade!!!
Eleanor: Isn't it called aggressive in-line skating?
John: Only guys call it that!!!

Eleanor and John chatting over a cup of coffee.
Don't worry, Eleanor drinks decaf.

Catching up with Wrigley.

Wrigley leaving a present for our neighbor.

This past weekend it was rainy, so we decided to venture out and try some new activities. This led us to Smarty Pants activity center. It had a ball pit, which I thought was cool. I'm not sure what else to say about it. Here are some actions shots of Eleanor going down the slide into the ball pit.

SHA-BLAM!!! THAT WAS FUN!!!

Apparently Eleanor had enough bonding time with Mommy.

Trying to make an oatmeal yogurt popsicle hummus pie.
It contains all of her favorites.

Another big development is Eleanor's new potty skills. We recently bought a potty chair and have her sit on it every once in a while just to get the hang of it. She hasn't gone spontaneously, but the other night she made a face like she was going to poop in the tub, so Emily lifted her out really fast and put her on the potty chair, just in time for her to make this deposit:

Eleanor didn't plan to do this in here, but at least it didn't end up in the tub.

Then we get to Sunday. Nothing really exciting happened on Sunday, but we did take two pictures.

The Eleanor and Andy Show
Staring: Eleanor and Andy
Wardrobe provided by: Aunt Molly

The Gunslingers: Eric B. and Eleanor cautiously eye each other from across the table.

Now we get to the interesting part. For those of you who don't know, I have been going through the application and interview process for my predoctoral internship. The predoctoral internship for psychologists is similar to residency for physicians. The matching process for internship and residency is run by the same company. The way it works is candidates apply to sites and are invited for interviews. Candidates rank sites they interview at in order of preference and sites rank candidates they interview. All that information goes into some computer and something happens.

Last Friday was the day we found out whether we matched to a program or not. The preceding week was excruciating. Voreblog was kind enough to keep us distracted on Thursday night by going to see Ben Folds at Xavier with us. Friday morning I got an email saying I matched, and this morning I got an email saying I have been placed at Applewood Centers in Cleveland, which means we will be moving to Cleveland for a year at the beginning of August.

Cleveland wasn't our first choice, but there wasn't any local option, and Applewood has a really good program, so I'm happy to be there. I feel lucky just to have matched because the nationwide match rate is around 70%, which means 30% of applicants don't match (I did the math for you there). We have prayed about this process a lot and tried to place this decision in God's hands, so it looks like God wants us to spend a year in Cleveland. Our family has been so blessed and we are so thankful for this opportunity, as well as everyone around us who has been so supportive during the match process. Thank you all so much for your phone calls, emails, hanging out, and especially for your prayers. I would have gone nuts and quit long ago if I didn't have so many friends and family praying for us and supporting us. Thank you all. Good night...and good luck.

[Andy plays Natalie Merchant's "Thank You" on a tape player; walks out of the office]


Cleveland question of the day - Know any good places to live in Cleveland?