Backyard Turned Playground

As a gift to Annaliese for her 2nd birthday coming up in November and the birth of the new baby, my parents gave us a swing set/slide/playhouse for the backyard!

She obviously LOVES it! Thanks Opa & Nannie Pie!!!!!

Annaliese will just go round and round, climbing up the ladder and down the slide. It is a wonderful chance for her and me to get outside when we can't get to the park... or many times, before or after we've already been to the park!

Annaliese calls this "Anna's house." She has been talking so much over the past couple of months. I am in disbelief sometimes at how much she understands and says. One of our favorite sayings that she frequently says throughout the day is, "O-tay Baby! Awight, Baby! Let's Doe!" (Translation, "Okay Baby! Allright Baby! Let's Go!") It is so adorable!

So Proud!

At the end of Andy's first week of school in August, all the students were recognized as entering the medical community and were officially draped with their white coats. It was a nice ceremony at the quad on the Health Science campus at USC in which they read the Hippcratic oath.

Andy's family came down for the ceremony/reception to celebrate and we had a wonderful time with them.

Annaliese is certainly proud of her daddy and how hard he works!

Andy is enjoying the beginning of med school and has the daunting task of studying so hard, yet still balancing life at home with a pregnant wife and active toddler daughter - he does so well with all of it though! He rides his bike to school 3 times a week and gets a good work out that way (6 miles each way). He has made some friends with whom he can study with and we've had also been able to get together with a few of them and their wives/kids. It is nice to know we're not the only crazy ones who took a round about way into med school and have a family as well! Next week, I'll try to get a picture of him in his scrubs (he's such a hottie!). He has already gotten to meet patients and has been learning so much!

As the time approaches for our son to enter the world, we're praying that he comes after his due date (Oct. 8th), since the week of Oct. 4-8 is Andy's first week of comprehensive exams! Although it would be excused if he had to miss part of the testing, it would be great to have that first set down before adding another little one to the family! Please join us in praying for a smooth and safe delivery (hopefully after Oct. 8th)!

Mr. & Mrs. Dollahite

We set them up and it worked!!!

Andy's brother Jon & Ashley, a former co-worker at Immanuel Schools, got married in June! [pictured at their rehearsal dinner]

It was a beautiful day in Arroyo Grande and we were both in the wedding party, so it was a little crazy. Fortunately, my parents watched Annaliese so that we could participate in all the festivities without worrying about her! She was an adorable dancer out on the floor though! (sorry we didn't take pics of the lovely bride and groom on the day since they had such wonderful photographers)

We're here!

We've officially been living here in Los Angeles County, in the city of Alhambra (about 6 miles north east of the USC Health Science campus, which is very near downtown L.A.), for a month now! We love our little old house that we're renting, with all it's little quirks and issues.

Although dealing with the drama of getting a truck/trailer from U-haul that was too small (even though we'd reserved a much larger truck nearly a month prior) made things MUCH more difficult, we were so THANKFUL to our friends who helped us load up from my parents' house in Reedley (not pictured) and the friends who came down to help us unload! These guys as well as my mom, who came for the first several days to help settle in, were such a blessing to us - I can't even explain how helpful they all were.

We've loved being able to walk downtown to restaurants/coffee/dessert (while we were being spoiled/treated by mom when she was visiting and we were all unpacking), as well as the library, a couple different parks & grocery stores, and churches we've visited. Annaliese has handled the move with as much grace as you can imagine any almost-2-year-old possibly could. The only real issue we discovered was that we had assumed that she'd gladly go back to her crib (she used to love it), but had been sleeping in a Pack-n-Play for over a month and just preferred to continue. Since her "big girl bed" was one of the things that got left behind when we had the small truck/trailer to move, I'm just waiting to transition her from the Pack-n-Play straight to the bed soon (before the little one arrives).

Annaliese has also been talking up a storm!!! She will mimic anything anyone says or does, so we all have to be extra careful! :) She knows SO MUCH including colors, animals & their sounds, and her favorite tv characters and is learning her letters and numbers. She really is a little sponge right now! Yesterday, she wanted to do "pree har" (pretty hair) with all sorts of bows & clips while I was getting ready in the bathroom. It was a crack-up so I had to share.