Overdue Update

It has been a long time since we have posted anything in regards to our life. Here's a quick update of the Smith family for those faithful followers out there who have been watching and waiting for a year for a glimmer of hope that we still exist (Please don't think this is the beginning of many more posts to come, as that might be a foolish promise on my part).

First, School:

Ben(myself) finished medical school this past June and has since started residency beginning this past July 1st. I applied and got into a Radiology residency here in New Jersey very near to where we already currently live. How convenient, yet expensive (New Jersey isn't cheap). We love it here, and have come to the realization that when its all over we will have lived here for at least 7 years (by far the longest stay in any one place for us). New Jersey has been good to us and we are excited for the times we will have during the next 5 years. Now for me, residency isn't just 5 years in one place. Its actually divided into 1 year of internship/residency, then 4 years of radiology residency. The 1st intern year (as they call it) is still residency but it is a strictly clinical year of working the wards of the hospital, and so it is treated a little differently. Internship can be a year of internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, or a mix of these (called a transitional year). Also it doesn't have to be in the same location either as your remaining years of residency (4 more in our case). For most people the location is the same, but in fields such as radiology, anesthesiology, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, the residency years can be divided. I explain all this only so you understand our situation. Ours is a divided situation. I'm doing my first year (internship) in surgery as it may be beneficial to me when I try to become an interventional radiologist. This intern year is in Brooklyn and the 4 other years are in New Jersey. Rather than move to Brooklyn for 1 year then back to New Jersey, we decided that it would be better if I just commuted to Brooklyn. For any of you who know surgery, it begins early. My typical day starts at 3:45 so I can be in the hospital by 5:00. It then ends between 5-8 pm and then a 60-90min commute is waiting when I finish. I'm learning a lot, but needless to say we will be glad once this year ends and the next 4 years begin.

Addie has just finished 1st grade. She started the year hating reading, but over the last year a little book worm has sprouted out. She has devoted many many hours of her summer break to a chapter book series called the Magic Treehouse. She still loves math and science too. Her teacher has commented most though on her apparent ability to write. Addie is a story teller and writing is a growing avenue of expression for her. She loves her school here in Madison (oh yeah, we moved towns during the last year, forgot to mention that). She has made a lot of friends and that has helped in her excitement to get back to school. I hope that makes 2nd grade as good as 1st grade was to her.

Nathan spent the last year at a preschool run by the local high school kids. He spent a lot of his time flirting with many older women and a couple his age too. He changed a lot this year. We didn't know if he would be ready for kindergarten when the year began but its amazing what a little social stimulation can do for your mind. He has opened up and is excited for kindergarten this coming month.

Carson is at home with Mom and is anxiously awaiting his chance to go to school like his older siblings. He always enjoys the days that he gets to visit and see what school is all about.

Second, location

So I touched on this already. We will be here in New Jersey. My hospital is only 15 minutes away from where we live now. We used to live in Parsippany, NJ but we found a small little town called Madison that has many kids, great schools, an awesome sense of community and many people with the same sense of family/parenting that we believe in so its been a great fit for us. It also has a community pool which is something we lacked in our last town. That's what this summer has been. The year of the pool. 4 times a week our kids are swimming at the pool. They can't get enough. Tanelle loves it here in Madison as well, almost as much or more than she loves me I might say ;). She has many more friends here, and the small community has been a great addition to both her and my life. We love it here in Madison and are happy for 5 more years of it.

Third, numbers

Our family is growing. I guess 3 kids wasn't enough. Number 4 is on the way. Tanelle is expecting in early November. It will be another boy. So 1 girl and 3 boys. You would think the boys would be cheering for this but it caught us all by surprise. We all expected a girl. Tanelle was sick this time the same as she was with Addie. My gut feeling was a girl, but it was wrong. Addie was devastated as she will be even more outnumbered. Even our boys keep saying that they wanted a baby girl. Be that as it may I don't think that means a number 5 will follow in order to try for another girl. We are perfectly content and excited to have 1 girl and 3 boys. So number 4, we look forward to your arrival and will have many fun boy times ahead, with a dash of girl fun on the side for Mom and Addie.

Fourth, Tanelle

So I haven't touched much on Tanelle in this rant (as it has become). But, ALL that I have stated above is a DIRECT result of Tanelle's hard work. She keeps our family running smoothly and keeps it together. I cant say enough praise for all that she does and we should thank her more often for it. She would hate that I am writing this but it is true and I think you should all know it. We love her and think she is great. She has been a trooper and has put up with alot of stuff following me through medical school, residency, and 4 kids.

So that is it. If you were wondering how we were doing or what we were doing now you know. Hopefully it wont been another year before you get to read a long drawn out brag letter/blog post about how we are and what I think of my family. But it may be a year as I don't get around to this all that often.