Happy Birthday Maddie

Well, better late than never!! Maddie turned 6 years old about a week after we arrived in Utah. Things were crazy but we are never too busy to celebrate a birthday. Maddie chose to go to Hogle Zoo and I must admit that I was very impressed. They have made a lot of improvements at the zoo. We had a great time at the zoo and afterward we went home and had a dog party with cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends. It was crazy to say the least but we had a great time. We are glad that Maddie is a part of our family. She always keeps us on our toes and there is never a dull or quiet moment when she ia around. WE LOVE YOU MADDIE!!!

Maddie 2 weeks old

Maddie 6 years old

Just a few of our favorite pictures of Maddie

What great presents!

Our day at Hogle Zoo

Lauren really wanted to hug a monkey but this was as close as she got

Life After Dental School

Ok...So Jeff has informed me that he has officially retired as our family "blogger" and so now it is up to me. I am new at this but how hard can it be? I will do my best to catch you all up on the Allred Adventures over the past two months. After a whirlwind of graduation activities and such, we finally got our truck packed and we all made it safely to Utah. The first day in Utah was quite an adventure. I had to take Lauren into the Emergency Room where they finally diagnosed her with a UTI - urinary infection. We were there forever because they really needed her to pee in a cup......Yea right!! A 2 year old peeing in a cup. A nurse and I finally convinced her to pee in a bowl and she got a green mini car. She thought that was great!! After we all got better we went out house searching. We were just about to sign our lease on a great rental when my dad called me and said he has a friend who has a friend who has an enormous house that they can't sell so they want to rent. We checked it out and LOVED it. The only problem is how can we afford rent on a house that big? We low balled the offer and they accepted. We were happy about it and we are enjoying our time in Kaysville. The only downer.....there is too much to clean. I really need a maid....yea right. I hope everyone is enjoying life after dental school. I can say that I miss Richmond terribly!! I loved how easy it was to have fun and be social with people. I also miss my friends. The other day Maddie asked me how come I don't have any friends. She really knows how to make me feel like a loser. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the pictures. There is a lot more to come when I have another free moment to blog.....Stay tuned!!

As you can see, Jeff and I had a grea time at Gala

Our Home

Saturday Chores

Fun in the sun

Before

During

After

Parker's first time swimming. He LOVED it!

Too much sun for Maddie

Life is Good

Life is good. We now live in Kaysville, Utah, in a nice little home in a nice little neighborhood. Maddie has become the champion of making new friends, she asks everyone that she plays with what their phone # is and most of the time she gets and then they have a play date. She is really enjoying Utah and having a lot of family and cousins around, although she asks to call some of her Virginia friends every once in a while.

Lauren is as cute as ever being a princess. Everyday she dresses up in her "princess" costume, and dances to music. She always wants to be like Maddie so whatever Maddie does surely Lauren is not two seconds behind doing the exact same thing and usually with the same attitude. She is very proud to be a big sister and loves her brother. And as you can see she has made some really funny faces for our camera.

Parker got his very first haircut. We saved his hair so that Grandma Farrell won't cry too bad, he looks a lot older without hair. He is getting close to sitting up on his own (as parent I say close, maybe two months away) but to me that means close. He smiles a lot which is great, it just so happens to be @ 3 AM (strange, I don't mind, but Amy seems to). I tell Amy that she should take some pictures;) ha ha.

As for Amy, she had a severe reaction to a mosquito bite, the inflammation reached about 10 inches before we thought that she should go to the Dr.(a dentist was no longer good enough). They gave her some antibiotics and told her to take benedryl. She has gotten a little weary from not doing any crafting or vinyl, so she cut her first saying for the house this evening, it is very exciting and will look magnificent.

We got a great deal on the home that we are in and I get to try to resurrect the lawn and clean up the yard as a trade off. It has been a lot of fun and a patience builder thus far. I start at the VA this upcoming Friday and it will be nice to think about dentistry again. I haven't thought much about it the last two months. I have golfed every week since being in Utah. I just can't pass up the prices. They are about half of what you get in Virginia and the courses are fantastic. For graduation I used all of the "graduation gifts" that we got to buy us a new Digital SLR D 80 and it has been awesome. It has taken a lot to get used to such a dynamic camera, but the results are great.

I end by saying that I am the luckiest man I know, I tricked Amy into marrying down(age and class) then was blessed with wonderful children, a great family, and wonderful friends (at least from our point of view, they might feel the same)

Life is good. (That usually means to prepare for something rough in the near future)

--Jeff

We went to Busch Gardens last Friday. Maddie and Lauren had a blast. We got wet we laughed and at times we cried. Maddie rode her first big roller coaster the "big bad wolf" she loved it. I had to occupy her mind while we went up to the line but once on the ride she laughed and screamed a lot, it was awesome. Lauren felt really left out, she wanted to ride on every big roller coaster but unfortunately she could only go on the smaller ones.
We got a fun pass so we are trying to go back before we move.

Our Blog

It is finally finished!! A couple of weeks ago Amy said (in a sly and very gentle way) that our blog wasnt' very "cute". So over the past week I worked hard to get our blog up to par. I added all kinds of things and finally tonight I think that I have done it. It is of the Red theme, as I am sure that you can tell. I like blogging. I will probably add a few more little things here and there but for the most part the structure and design is complete. I am sure that it will change soon.

Life seems to be very good right now. I am just waiting to hear from WREBs to see if I passed my boards and then it is just waiting around for graduation and the move. We are moving to Salt Lake on 21 May 2008. That is mine and Amy's 7th anniversary so we decided to not spend it together(she will fly and I will drive). We figure that it is par for the course, we usually travel or spend time with others on our anniversaries.

Maddie is really growing up. She is reading a lot, and getting better at it all of the time, which does my heart good considering in Second grade I had to go to the slow class cause I still couldn't read. (Thanks Eric for teaching me, now if someone could just teach me how to spell, write, and , use, puc,.tuation"";" coreecly I wood be wel onmy waye) Maddie is getting tall and has as of late been very helpful around the house and very obedient. She is happier and more productive.

Yes I did do her hair that day. I think that I am getting pretty good, although Amy still rocks at it, but I am getting there.

Lauren is also getting so old. She is so cute. She has turned into a typical 2 year old, always crying when she does get her exact treat and she doesn't believe us when we tell her that we are out of something, she insists on seeing it. She is always coming up with new ways to surprise us and do something funny. She sings songs for us like twinkle twinkle but sings them like a rock star, and she loves dressing up as a princess everyday.

Parker is getting older too and getting bigger. He weighs over 13lbs. now and is getting pretty good at holding up his head. It is fun to see him grow. He coos at us and smiles a little here and there (strangely right before he farts or poops). But he is a lot of fun.

Thanks for the new blog. You love me enough to not even know I'm not 48!. Love the pictures and all the funny stuff Maddie says to me on the phone. I am getting anxious for May to see the kids. Hope all is well and that you have a good Easter.

The end is in sight!!

I took most of my boards today. Tomorrow I finish with my perio patient. It is very close to being done. It is pretty amazing I am only 29 y.o. and I am already graduating from college. WOW!! I am so proud of myself. The question is how I am going to handle actually making money rather than spending it. I am stoked for next year in Salt Lake City, to have family close by and learn @ the VA is going to be sweet.

Today is Mom's birthday. Happy birthday MOM. Happy 48th. I just want to give a shout out for all of the love and dedication that you have given us over the past 48 years, thanks!! The girls called her and sang her happy birthday, Lauren calls her grandma "Feyo". It sounds like Fello which means ugly in spanish. So we get quite a kick out of that.

I graduate in about two months. Tomorrow I finish my last hurdle -- Boards. I did the majority today, I don't feel like I did my best work but I definitely feel like I did enough to pass.

Here are some pictures of the girls:
http://picasaweb.google.com/allredjg/March2008

Thanks,
Jeff and Family

Another Day another Dollar

Hey all! Parker is just over three weeks old and doing fantastic. He is gaining a lot of weight and looks good. He weighs over 10 lbs now which is awesome. He is sleeping really good, about 6 hrs straight at night, which is so nice for us(Amy) and for him.

Maddie and Lauren are great big sisters. Maddie is practicing violin every day and she is getting to be quite good. She played for her Kindergarten class a couple of weeks ago and did great.

Lauren is growing up fast. She has had to deal with not being the baby anymore and she has done well. She really talks a lot and loves to do what ever Maddie does, good or bad.

Amy is looking hot, and is recovering really good. She is sleeping (as far as I know) and that really makes all of the difference. She is loving taking care Parker and as always is an awesome mom/wife.

I have boards in two weeks, so life is a bit stressful, but I am ready. I took it upon myself to be coordinator for my class and have really tried to make it a success for everyone but there are still those who don't have pts. (So if anyone wants some free dentistry and you qualify let me know) I also am looking forward to going to SLC next. I really hope that the skiing is going to be as good next year as it has been this year. I'm going to get some season tickets the ute football for Maddie and me. It should be fun. It will be nice to be around family for a year so that ya'll can get sick of me and Amy and fall in love with our children again.

Lots of Love.

Jeff

Maddie's teeth

Maddie is really growing up. She is really starting to read, she points to all of the signs and reads them. She came down this morning yelled that she could tie her shoes, then she showed me. It was pretty amazing. Over the last two days she and Lauren have been a real joy.






Parker is doing a lot better. He is completely off of O2 and tomorrow he will give it a go at eating from a bottle, and if that goes well we will be able to move him up with Amy. Speaking of Amy she is doing really well. It really makes a difference to just go in for a c-section rather than going through labor first. Anyway here are some new pictures of Parker and also Maddie's teeth.

Here is the site: http://picasaweb.google.com/allredjg/ParkerJeffrey






--Jeff

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

It is a boy!!! Here are some of the pictures. He was 9 lbs and 21 inches. We love you all very much.

Love,

Jeff, Amy, Maddie, Lauren, and Parker

More Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/allredjg/ParkerJeffrey

We are going to SLC

Hey everyone. I was accepted into the SLC VA Hospital to do a 1 year residency in general dentistry. We are very excited about the opportunity and to be able to be near family for a year before going to Arizona. Amy is seven days away from giving birth to Busta III. I have no inkling whether it is a boy or a girl. I am just counting on having a girl because there just isn't enough estrogen and emotion around the house these days.

I want to give a shout out to all of our friends here in Virginia. You all rock. It's amazing how things change over the course of 4 years. I know it isn't quite over but its close.

Kevin, you are going to love Va and VCU. It is a fantastic school and there are a ton of things to do around here.

I have a big presentation tomorrow and a board exam this Saturday, followed by a crazy man's exam Monday after the Superbowl (I call the Giants upsetting the Patriots by 4 pts).

Anyway be watching the blog for next Wednesday for the big announcement of what we are having and pictures through picasa.

Love ya'll

Jeff and Family