Back to School

Pre-mommy life I was a teacher at a small Catholic school.  And I loved it.

I typically don't regret leaving my job because it meant spending precious, valuable time with my children.  But every year, right around back-to-school time, I start to miss teaching.  A lot.

And then last week, I found out that a new Catholic hybrid homeschool in my area was opening up and seeking teachers.  On a whim, without even consulting with Justin, I e-mailed to find out more. It turns out that they needed teachers just two days a week, AND they would offer a free nursery for children of teachers.  To top it off, the day they wanted me to interview just so happened to be Justin's day off from work.  It all just seemed too good to be true.

But, apparently, it's not.  Because I just got the call this afternoon that they want me to teach the first and second grade split classroom.  I start next month.

I am so excited about this opportunity, and I think that this is the best of both worlds for me at this time.  I truly am blessed!

Big Girl Gets Bigger Bed

Xavier had outgrown his mini-crib a long time ago, but we had wanted to delay the inevitable transition to Lissie's crib for as long as possible because that would then mean that Lissie would move on up to a twin bed.

Being at our wit's end, though, regarding Xavier's still lack of sleeping through the night, we decided to make the transition July 4th weekend. So that whole week, in preparation, I kept telling Lissie that cribs are for babies, and she was going to move to a big girl bed.

Well, it wasn't until we were about to start the tear-down, re-build, and convert process that we realized that umm, we sorta forgot a key component: the twin-sized mattress. And the one that we wanted wouldn't be available for another four days.

This normally wouldn't have been a problem.....except that Lissie had taken to heart what I said about cribs being for babies and refused to take naps and sleep in her crib.

Not wanting to wait any longer to deal with Lissie's crankiness from lack of sleep, I decided to do a little experiment: just let her sleep in the full-sized bed that was already in her room (since her room was originally our guest bedroom and we never wanted to get rid of that bed). It worked WONDERS. Best sleep she's had in ages. She loves going to her room and hopping in her ginormous bed and rolling around like a queen.

So, yeah, it wasn't quite the transition we had wanted. But at least she sleeps - sometimes sideways, sometimes upside down with her feet on the pillow, but at least it's sleep!

Now we'll see if moving Xavier to a full-sized crib will help him sleep, too. Fingers crossed!

Xavier's First Birthday Bash

A few of my favorite pics from Xavier's big day:

Peek-a-boo!

Whee!

He is so stinkin' cute....

Family Photo!

Whale Cake made with love by mama!

Pull-String Pinata Fun

A little terrified of the singing and open flame

Showing her bro how it's done.

 

Yummy!

He doesn't wanna grow up

Dear Xavier - One Year

Dear Xavier,

Happy birthday!

As I've been preparing for your big day, I've been reminiscing a lot about last summer: your crazy birth story, your NICU stay, your ups and your downs.

You've definitely managed to keep me on my toes this past year, both with your health issues and your spunky attitude. And I just can't quite grasp the fact that you are now ONE. Looking through the beautiful scrapbooks that your Lola has made to chronicle your first year, I can hardly believe that you - my so-close-to-walking, giggly, such-a-boy you - are the same teensy-weensy three pound fragile baby that I see in those pictures.

Oh, Xavier. This past year has been exhausting, trying, exhilarating, and amazing. You're still not quite sleeping through the night (we're ready for this milestone whenever you are) and ever since you've been on the move, I spend the majority of my time diverting you from trouble. You seem to love spending time at the doctor, always giving us excuses to keep going back to one specialist or another. You may have gained a whopping seventeen pounds since your birth day, but I think you will forever be my delicate little preemie.

Without a doubt, you have grown - literally, figuratively, emotionally, developmentally, physically - so much since June 26, 2012. And it is with mixed emotions that I acknowledge the fact that you're inching evermore closer to toddlerdom than babyhood. Because while I am so excited to see what the future holds for you, I would also be more than okay with slowing down time just a little bit to cherish these sweet, sweet days with my baby.

I love you, little peanut.

Stay forever healthy, happy, and mine.

Love,

Mommy

P.S. As far as celebrations, we had a fabulous first birthday party last weekend. Today, on your actual birthday day, we went to Mass, played at Monkey's Treehouse, opened gifts, and just enjoyed family time.

P.P.S. As far as this past month goes, we discovered two front teeth, a hatred for splashpads, an indifference to pools, and a pure love for crawling, cruising, and food. Here are a few of our favorite pics.

Road Trip!

My youngest cousin on my dad's side got married over the weekend, and Lissie was asked to be a flower girl. What does this mean? Our first family (of four) road trip!



Luckily my parents came with us, which helped out tremendously. We hauled pretty much everything we owned into a rented minivan (in the pouring rain, to boot) and were en route to Grand Haven, MI with a stop in Indianapolis to visit Lissie's godmother on the way.



The drive up wasn't so bad. The kids were intrigued by their new digs, the excitement of something new was enough to entertain them, and five hours (with the necessary potty stops, of course) was a decent amount of time in the car to keep everyone happy.



We enjoyed seeing Auntie Amy, Uncle Brad, and their newest sweetest baby boy. And we were able to get our rest before chugging on for another five hours to Grand Haven.




It was such a whirlwind of a weekend, as are all wedding weekends - filled with rehearsals, pictures, the ceremony, reception, and other family gatherings. The kids met all sorts of aunties and uncles and cousins and lolos and lolas and were enjoying being passed off to another doting relative throughout the course of the trip.



And the flower girl? We spent a lot of time before the trip practicing what to do - we picked flowers and walked down our made-up aisle and we watched youTube videos galore. The rehearsal went great, but my shy little lady had a bit of performance anxiety the day of the wedding. She woke up crabby from her nap and just wanted to eat, eat, eat. Pictures were taken before the ceremony, and she had quite a freak-out session when her dear Uncle Tim picked her up for a pose. The only thing that could calm her down was good 'ole Daniel Tiger streaming from my phone. And apples. And, of course, she wanted to put neither of them down when the ceremony started. I was starting to think that she wasn't going to be able to do her flower girl duties at all, but she pulled through in the end. She grabbed her basket of petals and just stood there until she spotted me in the front. And it was then that she bolted to the front of the aisle and tossed a bunch of petals in my face. The End. Ehh....I'll take it.



Of course, by Sunday, we were all exhausted and ready to be home. And that made the 8-hour drive turn into a 10-hour one, with crabby kids galore. New books, DVDs, stickers, and quiet activities can only do so much when you're two years old and just need to expend that energy. But we trudged on, and we did it.

All in all, it wasn't too terrible. In fact, we're thinking about taking a few more mini trips before summer's end!

Here are a few more of my favorite family pics in and around Grand Haven: