Iverson year-in-review

Happy Holidays from the Iversons! We decided to do a green Christmas card again this year and put our letter on the blog. So hopefully you received this picture in your mailbox prompting you to come to our blog to read all about how the Iverson's spent the last year of the first decade of the new millennium. I still can't believe we got this shot of every kid smiling -- we only had to take about 15 pictures and that is not bad with a 7 mo old. I think I'll retell the highlights of our year in chronological order. In February, Bill and I hopped 'the pond' for a week trip to Cambridge, England where Bill was working with a medical student educator. Bill and a colleague are doing a joint venture with the medical school in Cambridge changing how communication skills are taught to medical students. We had a great time. It was Bill's first trip outside the Western Hemisphere. Turns out weather.com lied to us and we packed for pleasant 40 degrees and England got it's worse snow in 20 years. At the last minute I did throw in hats and gloves luckily, but we were without our real winter coats-- brrr! But we did all sorts of sightseeing anyhow and Cambridge after a fresh snow is one of the most magical places I have ever seen. I did lots of walking/waddling (I was about 28 weeks pregnant at the time) around town while Bill was working. We did have time in London on both ends of the trip for sightseeing and spent time with our great friends, Lizzie and Phil whom I had seen married in London 10/08. Here we are with the famous tower bridge.

In March the entire clan with my folks was supposed to go on a Caribbean cruise for spring break but I was TPTC-- too pregnant to cruise :-). So off the rest of the family went, my folks came to Iowa to be with me in case of early labor (I was dreaming). Bill and the kids flew out of Chicago and got to meet up with my parents driving east as my folks drove west and they had a nice quick visit on I-88. My mom bought the kids candy supplies for the trip. They had a great time on the cruise and it ended up being a wonderful for the three of them to be together before the arrival of the baby.

They snorkeled, ziplined and toured Mayan ruins. They tanned and ate and dressed up and got along (most of the time) -- success!

I dreamt of going early. I dreamt of going on my due date, 4/20/09. I dreamt of going on a perfect square date, 4/25/09. But alas, the Baby Lucas had other plans and I was induced at 41 weeks and a day on 4/28 and he still took almost an entire day to arrive. By slightly emergent C-section after 18 hours in labor and 4+ hours of pushing, Lucas Hawk Iverson arrived at 1:09 am on 4/29/09. My sweet boy weighed in at 8 lb 13.5 oz. He was face up and turned funny so his head was stuck. After my Ob pulled him out, she remarked... 'you never would have got this guy out by pushing, he was really stuck'. I never knew life could be so sweet as it has been since I had my son. Here is a shot of him right when we got to meet each other in recovery - he spent less than an hr in the NICU for observation. My sweet child was holding on to his mommy with both hands.

Later that day he got to meet his sister and brother. They both have done remarkably well with him around.

And Lucas met his biggest fan, Grandma, a few days after he arrived. Bill took a team to Mexico without me in late May and my mom came to help me with Lucas. It was such a fantastic time. I know not everyone has a great and helpful mom, but my mom is dynamite! and Lucas just loves her. It was a hard transition and the fatigue of having a newborn was overwhelming at times. I am so thankful not only for my parents but for my aunts and sisters-in-laws and friends near and far. I will never be able to fully extend my gratitude for everyone's support getting me through especially those first really hard six weeks. Bill's sister, Susie, did babysit this summer when I went back to work so Lucas didn't go into daycare until August and that was such a blessing.

Because our 'family vacation' was really the cruise, we didn't go anywhere this summer except I took Lucas, who's nickname is the bug, home to NY for a visit in July. Flying alone with a three month old is not for the faint of heart. I almost collapsed into my mom's arms out of sheer exhaustion when we arrived in Syracuse, but turns out she just wanted to hold the baby and not me :-) It was such a fun trip home and I got to show the bug all around my hometown--- I look forward to continuing those traditions in summers to come. Here we are at the famous Manlius Swan Pond.

Summer left and school started. Gabby is in 10th grade and Nile is now in 8th. Nile is still playing soccer and this summer he got pretty serious about playing golf. He and Bill tried to play a few times, but they are just so competitive that it doesn't work out. They compromised and Bill drove Nile around the golf course and then they both enjoyed the day.

Over Labor Day weekend, the Hawkeyes had their season opener. My folks were visiting so my mom stayed in the motor home that we tailgate at with the bug. Nile and I came out at halftime for a visit so I could feed him. Bug got decked out in his Hawkeye gear for each game and what a season we had. We were one high ankle sprain away from perhaps a perfect season. Stanzi is the man-zi! It is a good year (like all years) to be a Hawkeye.

For Father's Day, Nile bought Bill tickets to a Chicago Fire game in August. They went for an overnight and had a great time. Nile has been playing on a club team here in Iowa City and has been getting into watching professional soccer. We got to buy him some Arsenal gear while in England which is his favorite team.

Gabby ran cross country again this fall. She was injured most of last season so never really got in her groove. Did she ever get in her groove this year! She and her teammates trained really hard over the summer and throughout the fall and finished 3rd at State which was held on Halloween. Gabby is smart and doesn't work too hard in school so to watch her work so hard and succeed at something was really awesome - even she'll say this is the first thing she has ever worked for. Bill was bursting with pride at the meet. She was so proud of herself and the work she put in. She got the flu the week before state and didn't train much; she even missed the district meet. She ran her heart out at state, left it all on the course. She usually finished 3rd or 4th on her team, but at state she finished 5th. However if Gabby had not run, they would not have placed 3rd because the top 5 scores count and the 6th girl for Gabby's team was far enough back that the 4th place team would have gotten 3rd. That may all be confusing but suffice to say, Gabby helped her team get it done. Here is a shot of her coming down to the finish.

I have never seen Gabby smile so big as she did on this day after the race and when they got their awards. It was so fun to be there.

The day was only made better by Nile's play by play of Iowa's stunning win over Indiana on the phone- he should be a sportscaster when he grows up.

They are both doing really well in school. Gabby has doubled up in science taking both bio and chem this year so she will have time to take AP biology her senior year. She is enjoying her classes and especially likes Chemistry. She just got cast as Gretel in the Sound of Music which is this year's musical. She will tell you that she is excited her height is finally paying off :-) She is enjoying practice and getting to act like a five year old. The musical is in late February.

Nile is enjoying 8th grade. He doubled up in math and is already a year ahead so that means one of his math classes is the same as Gabby's. Thankfully they have it different periods.

Bill's work is going fine as is mine. I took a 40% faculty job at the PA program in September and am now 50% in the ER. It is a few more days a month at work but the PA days are only 8 hour days so I can get Lucas from the sitter and put him to bed. The 12 hour shifts in the ER were getting to be too much as a new mom- I was never seeing Lucas. I am now working 3 days a week and one weekend a month which is much better for all of us.

We continue our medical work in Mexico and did take Lucas for the first time on our trip in September - he was a champ! He did great with the travel, the insane heat and humidity and the disruption to his schedule. His new favorite toy was a cold water bottle from the ice cooler that he would hug and lick- it was hilarious... poor little guy getting dragged all over the world by his crazy parents. My folks are coming on our trip over New Years to help me with Lucas and I am praying he hasn't started crawling by then or we might be in trouble :-).

Our families are all well. All of our nieces and one lone nephew are delightful and growing up too quickly. My brother David's daughter Madison who lives in Syracuse is totally enthralled with the bug -she's 11- and we have really enjoyed our visits with her when we were home this summer and in early November.

There are alot more pictures and updates from our year on this blog so feel free to browse the archives. How quickly our lives have become sippy cups, teething rings and footed pj's :-). We are so blessed that everyone has been healthy this year. I am thankful for how much Gabby and Nile love their brother and how easy that transition has been. We have put a lot of thought and effort and prayer in how our new family functions. My complete joy at being a mom is boundless and my cup is overflowing with blessings.

Thanks for reading our year-in-review- feel free to leave a comment so I know you visited. We pray that your cup is overflowing as well with blessings and that you and your family have a safe and happy holiday and 2010. I can't begin to imagine what the first year of the second decade of the new millennium will bring the Iversons but we are ready (I hope).

All the best to you and yours,

Katie