And I'm Back

The last few months have been hectic and at times very stressful.  When life gets too busy and/or stressful I tend to fall off the face of the Earth for a while.  I guess that's what has happened here.  I hope that by starting to blog about our family and life again I can handle everything a little better.  If nothing else I need the outlet to spare my friends and family from my 'problems', LOL!

Back in October I made the very hard decision to leave my wonderful part time position in order to take a full time one.  It was such a hard thing to do.  I enjoyed only working 3 days a week and genuinely like the family I was working for, not to count the fact that I LOVE Aud and Lex with all my heart.  When the opportunity to work full time Monday-Friday fell in my lap in October I felt it was the right thing to do for myself and my family.  So here I am, over 3 months into working full time 6 days a week, and NOT handling it very well.  I never could have imagined it would be so hard!!  I thought I 'needed' to be out of the house all day for work in order to stay sane.  I absolutely LOVE the 12 month old girl I am now working with, but NOTHING about this position has been easy (except that I still get my Zachy twice a week, I adore and love that little guy so much).  LOL, did you catch the '6' in there?  Yup, I still work most Sundays with Sweet Bianca up North.

Okay, enough about me, for now.  There are three other people and a dog in our house. 

J has been extra busy planning and prepping for the big 3-0 this summer.  King's Day 2011 - coming this July to Picadilly Way.  Let's see...making weapons, designing and hand writing invites (in calligraphy), figuring out the games and tokens, and so many more things have kept him very busy.  A funny side note:  He is truly enjoying my laziness around the house.  He just doesn't agree with the level of cleanliness I always strived for.

Adam is going to turn 7 in April and is in the First grade.  Adam definitely has his Daddy and I's love of reading.  From the time school started at the end of July through his conferences in October he gained close to a full grade level in reading and comprehension!  His DRA, what our district uses to asses reading level, was 18 at that 1st conference and is estimated to be at about 30 now.  That puts him at a high 2nd grade or low 3rd grade level.  I couldn't be prouder!  I love that reading is such a strength for him.  Now if I can just get him to take his time when doing his other work so that I can actually read what he writes.  He's so sloppy!  Adam's other big achievement this school year has been that he has now lost 6 teeth in just a few months!!  We teased him at Christmas that "All he wanted was his 2 front teeth.", but really he was missing a couple more.  He has an Orthodontist appointment this Monday.  We expect that he will need teeth pulled since he has a small mouth just like J and I.  This last tooth he lost was actually pushed out by a new tooth so that it could take up 2 spots worth.  Ugh, I see payment plans in our future.

Noelle is in her first year of preschool and just celebrated her 4th Birthday in January.  She started the school year in a district school but I recently switched her to a Christian Preschool close to home.  She spent over 5 months in our school district and never adjusted to the classroom she was in.  I also don't believe she was learning anything at school.  We both LOVE her new Preschool!!  They have been very welcoming and it is clear that she is learning and making friends.  She can't wait to go to school now!  She had her first turn as the Special Helper today and liked getting to take a special 'About Me' poster and lead the class in many parts of their day.  A couple days ago we took away all the pull ups that we have relied on for rest time and overnight  for a year and a half to two years now.  It's an experiment to see if we can train her body to wake her up when she needs to pee.  I discovered that she will potty in the pull up even if she is awake, which is what prompted this whole thing.  It hasn't been too bad so far.  We have her go potty right before lights out and then wake her at about 10pm or so and have her go again.  So far she has woken up at 5:45 both mornings with wet pj's and bed.  I am assuming she is peeing and waking up right afterwards or during, but there really is no way to know.  I want to give this at least a good week to see if it will work.  In the meantime I am doing laundry every morning and night to make sure the wet stuff gets washed right away.

Oh, the dog!  Shadow is such a good doggie.  He is such a puppy still and wants SO much attention!  I love when the backyard is either frozen or dry so that he can be outside to run around.  I think Shadow is the little sibling of the house!  He and Noelle have such a love/hate relationship still.  She adores and hugs on him when she is in a good mood.  But watch out if she is mad or angry because she will take it out on him just as easily as anyone else.

There's so much more in my mind!  But it will have to wait until another day.