Family Milestone

Today felt like a major milestone for our little family.  Brent finally took the Boards!!!  This ends his nightly obligation to study and frees him up to spend valuable time with Ella and me.  After the test was complete, we met up with his co-residents at a bar & grill to celebrate the culmination of the boards...one last step toward becoming a Board Certified Pediatric Dentist.  I felt like I was inside a Wonder Years Episode with a million thoughts about life reeling through my head as we all gathered to celebrate this happy occasion.  All I needed was Kevin's voice to narrate it all.  It goes without saying that I am so proud of Brent and all he has accomplished.  It never ceases to amaze me what a humble, kind-hearted person he is.  He has breezed through college, dental school, and now residency with such ease...I don't think he truly realizes how smart he is.  But, those who know him do!  Like so many times in our marriage, today I was a proud wife!

But, something else really struck me about this occasion...I'm so proud of us as a family.  It has been four and half months since Ella was born.  She came into the world like a colic whirlwind.  I'm going to be honest, the past few months with Brent studying for boards and working six days a week, I have done most of Ella's care giving.  Not because Brent didn't want to, he just was doing what he had to do for the family which I really appreciate.  There were days when Ella would cry the entire day, Brent would come in, help me in the little time he had, and hand her back over to me when he had to study.  He always felt guilty, but you do what you have to do. I of course understood this, but some days I just longed for a break! But here's the beauty in all this...we made it through Ella's colic and Board Exams.  We didn't have any help, but we did it!  Ella's colic is almost completely gone, Boards are over...we can breathe a sigh of relief.  I realized tonight how independent and self-sufficient we've become while living in Dallas.  It feels really good...empowering!!

Moving to Dallas was such a blessing for us in so many ways.  Brent got to go attend an outstanding residency program, I got to work at an amazing school, we met wonderful friends, we were able to see a top notch fertility group to help us conceive Ella, and we were able to grow and evolve together...just the two of us (now three).  We've grown closer, learned to problem solve, talk out our differences, depend solely on each other, celebrate together, experience a new city together, take risks together, and have a beautiful daughter together.  We would not be the same people had it not been for this opportunity to live in Dallas.  We were blessed the day Brent was accepted to Baylor and will continue to reap the benefits of this experience.  We've done it all...depending only on each other!!  This has been a team building experience at its finest.  We came to Dallas a young couple far from home and will leave Dallas a confident, self-reliant family of three.

Life is such a journey...you never know where it will take you.  But, if you listen to God's voice in your ear, you will certainly find the right path.  Congratulations to Brent and the other pedo residents for completing Boards!  And thank you Brent, for making the life we've created better each day that passes.

Ella giving Brent a pump up talk before Boards!