Well, if you didn't get our Christmas card in the mail this year, it's probably because I lost my mind and didn't order enough...at all. Sorry for the shortage. Next year I most certainly will not have a 3 month old baby to contend with when ordering the cards! In the meantime, put a stamp on your computer screen and pretend this came straight from your mailbox:
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Jesus is the reason for the season…but Carter is the
reason that we won’t be getting many Christmas presents this year. Yes, only a few short weeks after we sent you
our Christmas card last year, we found out that we were expecting our first
child, and both of our parents’ first grandchild. As the card alludes, with the birth of the
first grandchild, Jeffrey and I have been rendered invisible, eclipsed by the
greatness of Carter in our parents’ eyes. Don’t worry, we know they still love
us…somewhere…deep down.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. While the world suddenly seemed to revolve
around the impending birth of our baby, there were a few minor loose ends to
tie up before D-day, namely graduating from Medical and Dental School.
Two major obstacles stood between my dental license
and me: the National Board Exam Part II
and the licensing exam for the state of Texas (WREB). The Board Exam was a 400 question
computerized exam. After 21 years of education,
I’m no stranger to standardized tests, so the idea of another one didn’t scare
me. What did scare me was the fact that
many of my friends who took the exam had to take it twice due to computer
errors. More than one student had to
retake the exam because the computers rebooted during their test, deleting all
their answers. Luckily I made it through
all 400 questions without so much as an error message.
The WREB was an exam where students had to find
patients to perform procedures on so that standardized graders can examine our
work. Because of the importance of the
exam and the number of variables involved (if your patient got sick or didn’t
come, you could fail), I felt nauseas the whole time. Then again, I was four months pregnant by
that time, so maybe it was just a little morning sickness. The results of both exams came in after a few
weeks of anxious waiting: Pass!
Jeffrey spent much of the Spring semester enjoying
his fourth year, meaning that he didn’t really do much of anything until March
when he started biting his nails in anticipation of “Match Day,” the day when
every fourth year medical student finds out where they will go to complete their
residency. Match Day came and we found
out that we would be moving to Temple, much to the delight of my grandfather,
Gene, who lives nearby in Rogers. Scott
& White Hospital was Jeffrey’s first choice, and it has turned out to be a
wonderful decision—we love it here!
In May we both graduated from school, on the same
day, no less. (Imagine how excited our
family members were to get to go to TWO graduation ceremonies in the same
day!) Now that we’re both licensed, let
me remind you that if you saved your Christmas card from 2009 (Jeffrey holding
the sign stating “Buy one prostate exam, get one free”), you may now redeem it
at your earliest convenience.
In June I got my very first job as a dentist at Kool
Smiles, a corporate dental office that treats mostly children. Since then, the company has diversified and
now consists of two branches. I work for
the newer side of the company, at an office called Resolution Dental. New name, same pain if you have to get a
shot. Everybody loves the dentist,
right?
July marked the beginning of Jeffrey’s residency. I’m not really sure what’s happened with him
since then…I’ve only seen him twice.
Honestly, he’s enjoying most of residency. Great hospital, great doctors, great hours. (One of those statements is a lie...guess
which one!)
I waddled my way through August and a few days of
September before giving birth to Carter Robert Edwards on September 11th. He has enriched our lives in a way we never
could have imagined. He has fulfilled a place in our hearts we didn’t even know
was empty. He has filled his diapers to
a degree we never could have anticipated.
We love that boy.
Since Carter was born, we’ve had baby’s first
Halloween, baby’s first Thanksgiving, and now we are looking forward to having
his first Christmas. It truly is a
wonderful life at the Edwards’ house.
So that’s 2012 in a nutshell. If you want the extended version or can’t wait
until December 2013 to hear what will happen with us next year, check out our
blog at backwardsforwardsandedwards.blogspot.com.
We love you all and we wish you a Merry Christmas!
Jeffrey, Lauren, and Carter Edwards
No comments:
Post a Comment