The little QR code on our holiday card has become a fun tradition to look back and share a bit more of our lives with you. Those who scan the code and read, thank you for sharing this gratitude practice with us as we look back on 2023. In the past, we’ve written this update as ‘us’ or a neutral omnipotent voice; but, we’ve all known this is Emilie all along, right? So in part of embracing a year of honesty, i’m going to write this as me 🙂
This year brought opportunities for growth, finding an ever changing balance and embracing life with toddler. Luke Thomas “LT” (22 months at the time of writing this) keeps us on our feet and active. To begin our training for the year of the toddler, Eric & I ran the Houston Half Marathon together. Neither of our fastest half marathons, but seeing LT with Grandma and Grandpa around mile 8 is a new type of runners high!
January 2023 rounded out with Martinez Family Birthday Week! We were thrilled to have Uncle Theo & Stephy join us from Nashville (after Christmas plans were ruined by the flight fiascos of Christmas 2022) for Luke’s FIRST Birthday! The day was filled with presents, a trip to the zoo, feeding a giraffe and a family dinner with LT at Lupe Tortilla!
That weekend we hosted friends & family for a birthday bash celebrating that “we won the jackpot with this ONE”. Eric really took ownership of the Vegas theme, complete with table games for the kids and sparklers as we sang happy birthday! I have a feeling LT’s 21st Birthday will be spent with Eric in the real Vegas. Hoping i’ll get an invite too.
In the spring we visited family in midland and enjoyed bringing Welo (short for “Abuelo” back to Houston with us for a few days!
Spring also included another half marathon for Eric, LT’s first time at a bike shops, gardening in our backyard, golfing with friends, spectating at the Houston Rodeo Parade and our toddler becoming energetically ambulatory.
Spring also marked the start of the MLS season. Eric has been a legend season ticket holder with the Houston Dynamo since long before I was involved and it’s a hobby of Eric’s I gladly married into. Eric loves soccer; Emilie loves Eric. And, truthfully, we have made the most amazing memories attending Dynamo & Dash games this season! Luke loves the energy of the stadium, the access to unlimited popcorn and his soccer friends including all members of Section 135 and DIESEL the fox himself!
A montage of this season of soccer:
This summer we marked Grandpa Tom’s 70th Birthday! Cowboy Luke Thomas enjoyed celebrating his Grandpa Thomas and was thrilled with all of the rocks, sticks, and sweets the dude ranch provided. We are so grateful for Grandpa Tom’s healthy and big heart.
After the dude ranch, we spent time with the Reinerts as they ended their summer vacation in Houston. It is so fun to watch Luke be interested in his big kid cousins! I can’t wait to watch their relationship grow! Luke sure seems to love them and adores his Tia and Onkel (really trying to make one German word stick in this family!)
We also visited our dear friends the Walters at their new home! I think they’ve made an appearance in each yearly recap thus far so I had to include how much Luke loved meeting his new best friend…and swimming in her pool!
We rounded out the summer with the annual Schlitterbahn vacation! I grew up going to Schlitterbahn as early as I can remember. It is magical to relive the experience through LT! He’s all about sliding fearlessly, spending time with family and trying new snacks (thanks for the cheetos, Uncle Theo!) Memories from this year will stick with a long time; it was extra special to have the Miesners and Reinerts all together!
Luke continues to love his friends & teachers at school. My heart swelled with pride and simultaneously shattered as he proudly walked into his first day as an “Adventurer”. At this rate, it feels like he’ll be heading to college any moment. We are so glad LT’s school is still part of our “village” in 2023! So this is me normalizing loving having your kid in daycare and the balance it affords our family. The June 2022, working mom, guilt-ridden version of myself would have never believed that. Here’s to growth and learning for me and for LT!
That seems like a good transition into the reality check from everything is happiness, smiles and water slides to the truthfulness that toddlers get sick A LOT. Luke has unfortunately been plagued by ear infections and finally got tubes this fall. The difference was immediate! It’s interesting being the parent in PACU and handing your kid over to a surgical team… the whole experience makes me immensely grateful to care for kids on a day to day basis. LT was a trooper and went from reading the pre op instructions to cheerios in PACU to a croissant in the park within 3 hours!
Eric, Luke and I took a family vacation to one of our places – Arizona – for some rest and relaxation …and realized quickly a hotel room with a toddler who recently had ear tubes is neither restful nor relaxing. Luke did live his best life: sleeping in mom and dad’s cozy hotel bed (never happens at home), eating delicious food, lounging in the lazy river and exploring Saguaro National Park.
Eric and I both worked the Thanksgiving Holiday – thanks G&G for childcare logistics!
I am still with the same incredible Pediatric Neurosurgery team and love my role. Looking forward to changes and growth in 2024.
Eric is still at Ben Taub ER. He also volunteers tirelessly with the AAPA in his second term as Director at Large. Recently, Eric was awarded the “Carl P. Fasser Visionary Leadership Award”. A bit of PA History…. Carl is a true legend and was one of the first PAs. He founded the BCM PA program in 1971 and was the program director when I was a PA student (in fact, he called me in January 2012 to say i’d been accepted to the program!) As a proud BCM PA Alumni, I couldn’t have been prouder to see my husband win this award. Carl himself was in attendance and we had the opportunity to have a lovely dinner with Carl and other BCM PA Faculty a few days later. Eventhough Eric didn’t attend the #2 PA Program in the country, he’s still amazing enough to win their awards 😉
We can’t bring this yearly update to a close without reflecting on our two wonderful fur children: Ari & Rugenn. They have truly become the best big brothers to Luke. Despite a certain Weimeraner’s lack of spatial awareness, the are both very patient and gentle with LT. They have him trained to throw the ball and also throw plenty of food on the floor when he’s eating for them to happily clean up.
Rugenn is still my favorite running buddy and paced me for many long runs as I trained for the Provo Valley Marathon this summer. At the end of his longest run, 16 miles, he happily went and got a ball to throw as soon as we got home.
Ari seems to be entering his old man dog era but is increasingly full of personality. He enjoys watching Bravo shows with me on nights that Eric works and is still fond of licks of tequila. His primary passion remains balls – particularly the yellow-green tennis balls he can peel all the fuzz from and leave in little pieces around the lawn.
Again, as we bring this year to a close, we are most grateful for friends and family that make up our village. There are more than we could ever picture below! Please know we are grateful for each and every one of you and everything you add to our increasingly full hearts and lives.
At times, life with a toddler feels crazy and usually requires more caffeine than my cardiologist would like. But, each day I become more certain that someday we’ll miss this kind of crazy.
I realize each year our holiday card has been some big announcement: we’re married! we moved & are pregnant! Meet Luke Thomas! But there’s nothing big to announce this year…. yet!
Until the next kind of crazy,
Emilie & my 4 favorite guys: Eric, Luke, Ari & Rugenn
EPM 