Well we've got quite a bit of catching up to do....almost the whole month of august has flown by! Previous to this post Mark has been reporting on our family's adventures, but this time I decided to try my hand at the blogging thing. So if this report lacks the style and flair that you are used to in your perusal of the lisle news, I apologize. 

The last three weeks had two memorable milestones/events for two members of our family. The first was the white coat ceremony for Mark, which marked the beginning of medical school and his professional training. It was pretty cool actually. The event was held in a gorgeous hall in one of the older prettier buildings on campus. After a speech by a notable doctor who I cannot recall the name of, each student came up in alphabetical order to be "coated." Basically, they came up to the podium and had a faculty member or alumni place the white coat on them, afterwhich they announced their name into the microphone. During the ceremony the Dean explained that the white coat is the tangible symbol of the promise each student makes when they take the hippocratic oath. So, after being coated, the student body rose and took the hippocratic oath. I don't know how many of you are familiar with this, and each school has a slightly different emphasis in their oath, but in a nutshell they promise to practice with integrity, using their knowledge to compassionately help the world around them and always do what is in the best interest of their patients. There is a lot more to it than that, but that is the basic idea. So the ceremony was a really neat experience, and we did get some good pictures right after the event. The only downside was that Mark got a little bit attached to his coat, and despite my coaxing, I was unable to get him to take it off for quite a while. He took to sleeping and showering in it, and what can I say, right place at the right time, I was able to catch a couple rare photos of this phenomenon.

The second major event in our lives happened this past week for Juliette...she started giggling! This was pretty much the most exciting experience ever for mark and I, as we suddenly discovered one day that what used to make her smile now makes 

her laugh. (Peek-a-boo was what started it all.) Basically, she has the cutest baby laugh in the whole world. She's not laughing consistently yet, but she definitely had three good giggling episodes in the last week. We're looking forward to lots more of that in the near future.

Aside from that, Mark started classes a week and a half ago, and things are going well with that so far. Juliette and I are having fun during the day, and keeping busy. I hope this week finds all of you well, we love and miss you all!!

No News But Baby News

Well, that's not exactly true. But it's been a little bit of a slow week. At first, that really bothered me, and I kept trying to find things to do, but then I remembered that school's going to start and it might be a while before Brittany, Juliette and I get another chance to just hang out together. So we spent a lot of time just hanging out. We slept late and sat around and generally enjoyed ourselves. Britt and I sort of went on a date. Actually we went to the mall to get jeans (I got two pairs for $20.00 at Old Navy! Yay for not spending lots of money!) but we did eat there and get ice cream afterwards, so it still counts as a date . . . right? On Saturday we went to the Tyson's Corner mall to look for shoes and visit the Apple Store. That mall is huge! It took like 20 minutes to walk from where we came in to Nordstroms. Mom and Heather: I definitely thought of you. I'm not enough of a shopper to do it justice, but I think you guys would have had a blast. Anyways . . .

The real news here, of course, is Juliette, who is the cutest child to ever grace the face of this planet (followed closely by her cousins). We bought her a little gym. I think that's what they call it. You know, it has a mat and bars hanging over it, with cute little toys hanging off of it. She really likes it, and spends a lot of time kicking her legs wildly and talking to her buddy the giraffe. Speaking of talking, Juliette has starting talking all the time. She loves to sing along with her mom and imitate the sounds she makes. I'm going to try to put a short video of that on if it works (mostly for you, Mom). She also started saying "Hi." One night, when we were all standing around her she just started saying "Hi! Hi! Haaaaaiiii!" over and over. She was obviously pleased that she was getting such a positive response from everybody. This went on for several minutes until she gradually became overstimulated and continued saying "Hi" but with a distinctly frantic edge to it. It's funny the way babies transition so quickly from excited to fussy. I guess adults can be like that too. Hmm . . .

We're really trying to get Juliette to do the tummy time thing. Her legs are super strong, but she hasn't totally figured out her arms yet and she hates tummy time. We bought the gym partially in hopes that it would help her enjoy tummy time a little more, and it has, but she still has trouble. She's very funny when she tries, though. The following pictures show a typical progression from propped up and looking, to one arm behind, to face planted firmly on the ground. I'm sure she'll get it, and in the meantime, we enjoy watching her try. The fourth picture is there just to show that she drools a lot. Seriously, she's like a little fountain.
Oh! I almost forgot! She totally started sleeping through the night this week. Yup, she has started conking out at around 9:30 PM and she doesn't get up until 8:30 AM (actually, she starts to rouse at about 7:00 AM, but if you stick a binky in her mouth she sleeps just fine). It's been really nice. Of course, now she eats a lot more at each feeding, (and in general), but it's a good trade off. We're very excited.

Anyway, I think that's about all we have. We're loving being with the McLerrans, but we're missing the Lisles. School starts on Tuesday, and I'm excited. Basically, we're happy to be where we are, doing what we're doing. We truly are blessed. All our love to all our family and friends!

P.S. As a last note, I'm thinking about buying a Mac laptop. I'm buying a laptop no matter what, and this seems like a good time to switch to Mac, despite the added expense. If any of you have any words of wisdom or advice, please post it here or on my Facebook. Ok, I'm done for reals now.