{spring break}

Besides Sundays, birthdays, Christmas day, etc, Travis is working. His Ph.D. program requires coursework and research that are constant, ongoing things. But, for spring break this past week he decided to take a few hours out of a couple days to relax and spend some fun time with me and Jake! We started out by going to Maple View Farm where we ate delicious ice cream that they make right there! We could see the cows off in the distance; so picturesque! We also explored Duke campus since I still hadn't seen it yet. The basketball stadium was amazing to see! I'm a huge NCAA basketball fan and had heard about how small it was but wow it was crazy to see in person! So small and unique. We also went inside the amazing Duke Chapel. The stained glass was beautiful. We ate a picnic lunch on campus and enjoyed the absolutely perfect weather! Thankfully Jake loves his carseat and stroller rides so he loved everything about today! It was so nice to go to bed a bit earlier and slow down a bit this week.

{three months}

This month Jake has really been changing a lot! He's awake more, figuring out his arms and legs, making lots of talking noises, and just being as cute as ever! He's also much more predictable these days too which is nice. This month Jake graduated from the infant insert in the tub to just now sitting in the baby tub. We put some rubber ducks in for him and he was so determined to pin them the sides of the tub! We were laughing so hard; Travis finally brought in some folding chairs so we could just watch our little guy. It was the best entertainment. We are so grateful for this little guy!

{ph.d. life}

I've just been in awe these past 9 months Travis has been in this program. He is doing so well! We're almost done with year one! He is in a five year program; the first two years he's in classes and doing research, and the last three years it's all research {oh we are excited for years 3, 4, and 5!}. For him it's a 24/7 job; he is such a hard worker and great opportunities have come and are coming from that characteristic.

He comes home around 5pm or 6pm for dinner then gets right back to to studying and working. He's often up through the night until 1am or 2am---sometimes even close to 3am finishing assignments. I often think of how life will be when this is over and he has a job and comes home at 5pm and is home at 5pm. That doesn't really seem possible! He does take Sundays off completely though, no homework, research, etc. and that has been our saving grace. Sundays we can refuel for the rest of the week.

This semester has been an especially heavy course load. He's taking a pretty intense seminar at Duke too. Many nights I'll go to bed while he's still studying, then I'll wake up to feed Jake in the middle of the night and Trav will just be going to bed!

On one of the these nights, I went to bed close to midnight and Travis stayed up about 2 more hours to work. I woke up at 4am to feed Jake to find the house spotless. He knew that was stressing me out that day and he stayed up to clean it all. He is one of the most selfless and thoughtful people I know. I am so grateful for how hard he is working to provide for our family and to put himself in a position to have a great job in the next few years where he can spend time with us too!