Time with Auntie Em

When Dana and Karter were here last week I took every opportunity possible to come and spend time with Karterman at Grandma T and Papa's house. He is too cute and has changed SO much since Kamaron and Anique's wedding in August. He can say some words, answers yeah to EVERY question, gives smootches, never slows down, and LOVES his Auntie Em and Uncle Zach (we're his favorite of course!). The following are some pictures that Grandma T took over Karter with his aunt and uncle. Hope you enjoy!

After his afternoon nap on Saturday, his Auntie Em dressed him and of course we had to smile for the camera!

Karter with his favorite aunt and uncle after church on Sunday!

On Wednesday, after work, I came over to see Karter (and Dana) one last time before they leave. We won't get to see them again until Thanksgiving so I was trying to soak up my time with the little guy. He even came to watch me coach the volleyball team that night (even though we lost).

Bye bye Karterman until we see you in Minnesota. Uncle Zach and Auntie Em love you and will miss you (Kristoffer and Dana too)!!

Closest Thing We Have To A Child

As many of you may know, we have a one year old Yorkshire Terrier named Peyton. Grandma Lois House asked us to post some pictures of him, and we can't let her down. Peyton is our family's closest thing to a child for the next few years...he's our trial run. He is only about 5 pounds with a golden head and "blue" body hair. I swear it's really called blue hair even though it is black/gray.

We think he is really cute, but not as cute as a baby. He will do for the time being though. Zach has had several Yorkies growing up, but none as well behaved as Peyton. We really lucked out with him. He is the only Yorkie we have ever met that never barks. He whines when he needs to go out or wants attention, but never truly barks. In case you don't understand the magnitude of this, just visit a house that has a "normal" Yorkie.

Below is a picture of Peyton when he was just a little puppy. He was about 2.5 lbs in this picture. A Yorkie typically weighs around 2-7 lbs depending on the lineage. Peyton is fully grown at 5 lbs.

Around our house Zach takes care of Peyton. He walks him, feeds him, and cleans up after him (just like a dad). Zach does a majority of the work for him, but guess who Peyton likes to spend his time with...Yes, you guessed it, Emily. Most nights you can find Peyton curled up in a ball resting on Emily's legs wrapped in a blanket. For the most part he is a lazy dog, who isn't territorial, and very passive.

The American Kennel Club's description of Yorkshire Terriers is: brave, determined, investigative, and energetic. The Yorkshire Terrier breed is very hostile towards other dogs, growling and barking at them. They are surprisingly brave dogs for their size.

Our description of our Yorkshire Terrier is: passive, lazy, investigative, and loving. He has never found a dog he doesn't like or wants to play with; licking and sniffing them before ever growling. He knows his role in life and lays down when approached by a larger dog. I swear he is 100% Yorkie, but I think he was bred with a cat somewhere down the line. He is more kitten than puppy. We love our dog, especially because he is the best of his breed.

A couple interesting Yorkie facts:

1) Yorkies have hair very similar to that of humans, making them hypoallergenic. They need to be groomed similarly to a human with long hair.

2) Yorkies are an English breed of dog that was bred over many years to gain their particular attributes. They were desired by the lower classes for their small size and investigative behavior. They were commonly used to enter small spaces and flush rats out of holes and walls in the 1800's. In present day society they are sought after by the rich and famous for their cute looks and petite size.

HCPCC Walk for Life

This weekend Zach and I have the privilege to walk in the Henry County Pregnancy Care Center's (HCPCC) Walk for Life. For those of you that don't know about the HCPCC, it is a non-profit organization that helps out women/families in need of pregnancy tests, formula, diapers, clothing, etc. The majority of the women that come to the center are single moms who cannot afford much of anything.

It is a Christian organization that my mom has been a part of since I can remember. Although she has held many positions, her job currently is to counsel women who come in on Mondays and need pregnancy tests or other things. She really enjoys her time there and looks forward to going to volunteer her time. I am sure that mom does an excellent job as she really feels for the children involved with these families. She is a very caring person who is always the first person to lend a helping hand if asked, and I'm sure the women in need that come to the center feel comfort in having my mom as their counselor for the afternoon.

Mom had asked us to walk and although we didn't have any sponsers besides our donation, we were glad mom invited us along to walk for her team. The team consisted of Zach, myself, mom, and Peggy (one of mom's good friends). It was a mile walk around Baker Park in New Castle followed by a small breakfast. The following are some pictures that Zach took of the walk...we didn't get too many as mom took enough for EVERYONE there!

This is my wonderful husband taking a picture of me as we wait for the walk to start!

The small group of people there while we were waiting on mom and Peggy to get there. There ended up being about 200 walkers but this only shows a small portion.

This is what mom did for the majority of the time before that walk started....so Zach thought it only appropriate to photograph mom!

Mom and Peggy talked the whole walk...imagine that!?! Zach and I followed and discussed their gait which I think we will leave undiscussed on the website.

Overall our Saturday morning was a fun filled time of fellowship in support of a great organization and we are already looking forward to next year's walk!

The Brain Game

I have now completed a total of three weeks of neuroanatomy with the med students at IUPUI, and have passed my first exam. It is a never ending job of studying. It is one of the most interesting, yet mind-blowing subjects I have even taken. The below picture is one that came up in a google search and I had to laugh...it captures my life. The rest of the post may give you insights into the life and times of a neuro student, but always remember the kitten picture.

This is one of my textbooks, the small one. It is the atlas of the brain with tons of pictures and diagrams. I like pictures for studying because the lectures make you drag your jaw across the ground. I can actually say a few lectures made me listen with a "dumbfounded stare". They are good lecturers, but too smart for their own good OR mine. The other text for the class are course packets. They are preprinted versions of the lecture notes that fill a 2 inch binder per half semester. It comes down to only about 50-60 slides a class/about 25 pages of notes per class period. Did I mention the class is 60 minutes a day, 5 days a week? I am not the math expert in the house but I am pretty sure that is a slide a minute...good pace for detailed diagrams.

Here is just one basic CT image we get to learn. By the end of the semester I should know every square inch of the picture, but I really don't want to. Just so you know the center black areas are the lateral ventricles, the largest ventricles of the 4, where a large portion of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) is stored. The CSF is made in the cornoid plexus which are stored in the ventricles. This is a very common image that is used to diagnose many head conditions and to look at the levels of CSF.

This picture shows all of the 12 cranial nerves. The cranial nerves serve many different essential functions to survival and perceiving the outside world. For example the the optic nerve helps with vision, the olfactory nerve serves as your sense of smell, and the vagus nerve (my favorite) is the nerve that allows us to breathe because it innervates the diaphragm. The 12 nerves are named and numbered so people commonly remember them by using a pneumonic. The nerves in order with starting letters are: OOOTTAFVGVAH, which to me means: Oh, Oh, Oh, To Touch And Feel Very Green Vegetables AH. I know it doesn't make much sense but it helps me remember. I chose to use the PG version of the pneumonic, but there are other vulgar ones that many others use and didn't feel would be appropriate for such a post. It just goes to show everyone has their own way of remembering difficult things.

I want to finish this post by instilling a little neuro knowledge upon all of you who are reading this. It is an interesting fact I learned. Heroin the highly addictive opiate based drug is actually less potent than morphine. Morphine is created by the breakdown of the inactive heroin. So why is heroin then more addictive and abused than morphine? Heroin is able to cross the blood brain barrier 70 times better than morphine, meaning more heroin gets to the brain and converts to morphine than a straight morphine injection would for the same dose. A less potent drug is therefore more potent because of how it works in the body. I thought it was cool and interesting, but then again I enjoy the class.

I now know how I learn, but don't know if that really helps me with neuroanatomy. I guess I need to build a few more glial cells. HAHA...neuroanatomy joke, I guess you needed to be there.