Doctor.

It's official.

He's a doctor. 

Joshua John McBride M.D.

Looks good huh?

After 4 years of hard work he did it! He got his doctorate!

I am so proud of my husband. 

Way to Go JOSH!

Excuse me, Dr. Josh.

I got pretty emotional during the ceremony.

 A few times.

The keynote speaker, Nancy Snyderman (you may have seen her on NBC... she's a doctor too) kept talking about how things happen for a reason. She completed her residency at PITT and then got an unexpected job in Arkansas, and as it would turn out - it opened a lot of doors for her. I couldn't help but think that scrambling into SUNY Upstate may be a very important step for us. It wasn't in our plan, in fact, it wasn't what we wanted at all. BUT, we have to remember that things really do happen for a reason, and we need to appreciate that and what it could mean for us. Obviously we don't know the reason right now, and may not for a long while. But this experience may present opportunities we would not have had otherwise. 

I appreciated her insight. Even though she wasn't actually speaking to me. :)

Anyway, onto Josh. I'll write each step as it happened so it will feel like you were there.

They all walked in dressed in their regalia to the song Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1.

We listened to some speakers.

All the Medical Students stood up and recited the Declaration of Geneva.

Then they started presenting diplomas.

Since his name starts with M, he was somewhere in the middle. 

He lined up, and then was announced (this is the other part where I got emotional)

We walked up on stage...

He got hooded by Dr. Paul L. Rogers.

He shook some hands.

His diploma was presented to him by Dr. Arthur S. Levine.

They shook hands too.

And then he became a doctor!

A DOCTOR!!!!

Man, this is a big deal.

Good job honey. I love you. Our little girls love you.

I appreciate all that you do for our little family. I recognize how hard you work. I am proud of you for this huge accomplishment. I hope that you are proud of yourself and excited about the next big step in our lives. I support you in all that you do. I stand behind you completely. I am grateful that you are my husband, I could not ask for a better husband or dad to our girls. Onto Residency!! 

After, we went to celebrate at Olive Garden. 

Brinks gave me a good cheesy smile and Darcy licked her plate clean.

P.S. Brinkley thinks 'Dr. McBride' sounds silly.

 

 

The Bowtie.

I had such a brilliant idea. I would completely do Josh's graduation announcements.

Awesome right? After all, I am getting better with my camera, I have photoshop, I'm the best wife ever for offering... I CAN DO THIS! I thought.

 

Now I see that it was a bad idea. 

Hind sight, right?

Josh was such a good sport when I talked him into letting me do this.

I dragged him all around the neighborhood looking for the perfect spot. 

I stressed about which photo one would be best. 

I stayed up way too late working on them.

Realized I was not a professional graphic artist. Not even close, but went with it anyway.

The first batch or announcements we ordered were cropped WAY wrong and I had to return them.

The second batch were cropped a LITTLE bit wrong and said, "Oh well, they're going out like this."

So we sent out 39 slightly cropped wrong, homemade announcements. In envelopes that were too big.

Oh, and we sent them kinda late. 

My sister still hasn't received hers and he already graduated. 

Oh well.

Lesson learned. 

Regardless, I enjoyed taking his pictures. Here's some more for your viewing pleasure and the final announcement:

(there's some sillies in there too)

 

What a good lookin' fella, eh? And that bowtie, right? RIGHT?

Superhero {girly} Party!

 I feel so lucky that my daughter is a perfect mix of girly girl and boy stuff. 

Of course she likes Princess anything. But she also loves to play boyish games too, like Superheros!

Hence the idea for a girly superhero party. I wanted to invite all her closest friends, and wanted it to apply to everyone too. 

So I got to thinking, and sewing. 

All her friends got a homemade cape {very homemade...hope the mom's don't look to close at the quality or the random fabrics I used from my stash}

We made masks and each kid got to decorate his or her own with glitter and stars and paint.

Then we drew 'bad guys' on balloons and sprayed them with water guns.

(some girls didn't want to draw bad guys, so they drew smiling guys, oh well) 

Then we played some party games.  Like Red Rover.

Then it was time for cupcakes and ice cream and punch!

Our ice cream melted fast in the heat. 

So, we went inside to open gifts. 

Spoiled again!

She got a Cinderella and Prince Lalaloopsy set, princess hair kit complete with blow dryer and straight iron, a bunch of fun outside toys, popsicles, Rapunzel doll, Princess Tiaras, wands, makeup and nail polish, popcicles, and a purple skirt and matching hair flower! 

I'm pretty sure the kids had a good time. They were bouncing off the walls, so there's no way they didn't have fun. :)

I know Brinkley had fun. I could have just tossed herl in the backyard with the water guns and her friends and she would have thought it was the best day ever.

(make that a note to self for next time... if there is a next time)

I cannot write this post without thanking my husband. 

I absolutely could not have pulled off this party without him. I had him running around for the full two hours getting stuff I forgot and setting things up and entertaining the kids while others had to go potty. 

He was amazing and didn't complain once. THANK YOU JOSH! You are the best husband ever. Thank you for ALWAYS supporting my crazy ideas and dealing with my insanity when I realize I have bit off more than I can chew. And then reassuring me I did a good job afterwards. Love you.

I also have to mention this: How cute of a superhero does Brinkley made? I can't stand it. She calls herself 'Supergirl' but occasionally refers to her superhero self as 'Starlet.'  Which is a pretty awesome superhero name if you ask me.

Brinkley's 4th Birthday (picture overload...)

 Happy Birthday to our 4 year old

Brinkley!

What a marvelous day she had. 

She woke up to hanging balloons that she could run through.

Got to eat her favorite cereal (Lucky Charms).

Talked on the phone to a lot of people who love her.

Opened presents (at 9 a.m.! No waiting for this girl)

She got SPOILED! Dress up clothes, paints, candy, a fancy dress, legos, money, wooden dolls to dress up, money and so much more. 

Wanted to then play with all her presents and so we missed the primary activity. 

(She's the birthday girl. She gets what she wants. Even if she regrets it the next day when everybody asks where she was... )

Then we went to the park and played. It was hot and we got hungry. 

So we ate lunch and while Darcy {and mommy} napped, Brinkley and Daddy spent a good two hours building her new lego set. What a hit. I should take a picture of it. Pretty awesome.

We'll be getting more legos with gift money I think.

Then we had dinner. Her choice: Kraft Macaroni and cheese, pigs in a blanket, and strawberries with 'frosting' (whipped cream).

Then we went to Rita's for ice cream and ate it at another park. 

She told everybody she saw that she was four. 

She is still telling everybody she sees that she is four. 

She was sad to go to bed because she knew her birthday was over. 

On Sunday morning when she woke up the first thing she asked was, "It's not my birthday anymore?"

Lucky for her, the Primary party did fall on her birthday so that we postponed her party until Monday. So, she had that to look forward to. 

Sunday evening at bed she asked me, "I'll still be four tomorrow?" and I said "Yep, you'll be four for a whole year." 

I think that went over her head. 

Let's Go Bucs!

 In an unusual bout of spontaneity, my husband bought us tickets to a Pirates game! 

It seems fitting. When we first moved to Pittsburgh we went to one and now it's time to leave, so we started and ended our duration in this city with a Pirates game. 

They lost both times.

Oh well.

Josh and I both agree that the best part of baseball is the atmosphere. The crowd, the awesome  (and tidy) looking field, the leisureness of it, watching the screen when they show people, and the guys selling stuff in the isles (getcher cold beer HERE!).

Our girls were stunned at first by everything going on. For a good twenty  minutes they both just looked around with this confused look on their faces. But it didn't take long for Brinkley to notice the guy selling cotton candy and she wanted some of that 'blue stuff.'

Then it was just a matter of keeping them both from bugging the people in front of us. 

No easy feat. But believe it or not we made it through the whole game!

I managed to miss the one run the Pirates got AND the lady getting hit in the face with a ball because I took Brinkley potty during both of those exciting events. What are the odds?

Oh well.

It was fun. And it was free t-shirt night. Brinks wore hers around and got lots of 'awwws.'

Now we need to get working on the rest of our bucket list. We have quite a bit of Pittsburgy stuff we want to do before we leave and we need to get crackin'!